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VOLUME:116 No.99, MAY 16TH, 2019

OFFICIA

CLASSIFIED TRADER: CARS, CARS, CARS & MORE CARS

INSIDE

What’s the bill?

Govt carrying out audit on all owed public sector leave

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis announced yesterday he has instructed the Ministry of Finance to quantify how much the government is spending on accrued vacation time across the public sector per year.

This was revealed by the nation’s leader during a heated and at times contentious debate on a proposed amendment to the Royal Bahamas Police Staff Association Act yesterday. The amendment will allow officers elected to serve in the staff association to hold a post for a period up to two years, rather than one as is presently permitted.

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L SOUR CE

RICHARD COULSON IF NEW YORK CAN CLEAN UP ITS ACT, WHY CAN’T WE? SEE PAGE EIGHT

POWER - IT’S MISERY FOR NEXT WEEK

The debate collapsed into chaos after Official Opposition leader Philip Davis implored political organisations to end their overt interference into the day-to-day management of the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF).

The comment drew the ire of several parliamentarians from the governing side, all of whom interpreted Mr Davis’ remarks as a jab at the government’s recent handling of the agency, namely the ordering of several senior officers to take accrued vacation leave. Among those responding to Mr Davis was Dr Minnis, pictured, who from his seat hounded his counterpart to be honest and fair with his assessments and commentary.

By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net

CUSTOMERS in New Providence can expect load shedding to continue through next week, Bahamas Power and Light announced yesterday.

In a statement, BPL communications director Quincy Parker explained the load shedding, which began May 10, is due to the “reality” that the company currently has “insufficient generation” to meet the demand on its system.

SEE PAGE THREE

‘CANNABIS’ U-TURN HITS FIRM HARD

SEE PAGE SIX

SUICIDE HOTLINE ‘NOT A PRIORITY’

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas has experienced what appears to be an abnormally high suicide rate so far in 2019.

However, Health Minister Dr Duane Sands said yesterday he is uncertain if a suicide hotline is effective in reducing such incidents. Still, he noted his ministry has budgeted a dramatic increase in funding for mental health services in the upcoming fiscal year.

THE government’s crackdown on the importation of cannabis products, most notably hemp and CBD, is costing one health food retailer thousands of dollars.

It has also elicited concerns from a Bahamian wholesaler in Florida, who called the government’s stance irresponsible given the country’s high rate of chronic illness.

Julian Smith, of NewLife Natural Vegetation Cell SEE PAGE SEVEN

By RIEL MAJOR Tribune Staff Reporter rmajor@tribunemedia.net

With seven months left in the year, there has already been more suicides this year than the yearly total for any of the past seven years, according to The Tribune’s records. Police suspect five people have committed suicide this year.

Since 2008, there have only been two years that more suicides have been recorded in an entire year: 2012 and 2010, according to this newspaper’s analysis.

From 2008 to 2018, the country averaged a rate of SEE PAGE 11

FRANK Smith outside court yesterday.

Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

SMITH CASE MAGISTRATE TOOK ‘GREAT CARE’ WITH OUTCOME

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

THE Court of Appeal has reserved its decision on whether it will acquiesce to the Crown’s petition to have former PLP Senator Frank Smith retried over allegations he solicited $65,000 in bribes from a woman he was said to have assisted in

getting a cleaning contract from the Public Hospitals Authority.

The decision came after Mr Smith’s lead attorney, Keith Knight, QC, sought to convince the appellate court that, contrary to the Crown’s assertion’s, Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt, pictured, exercised “great care” in

coming to her decision to uphold his no-case submission and acquit Mr Smith of the charges.

Mr Knight asserted that while he would not say the Chief Magistrate’s ruling reached “perfection”, it certainly surpassed “the bar where excellence begins”, and that she SEE PAGE FIVE

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

STATESIDE

CARIBBEAN IN SPOTLIGHT FOR WRONG REASONS

SEE PAGE TEN

PAGE 2, Thursday, May 16, 2019

THE FBI said holes in the hull of the catamaran were inflicted from the inside.

THE TRIBUNE

Newlywed lost at sea declared dead by judge

ISABELLA Hellman has been declared dead at sea, nearly two years after she disappeared while honeymooning in The Bahamas with her husband, Lewis Bennett, who last year pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter.

FLORIDA Associated Press A JUDGE has declared a missing Florida newlywed dead, almost two years to the day she disappeared while honeymooning in The Bahamas.

The May 9th order declares that Isabella Hellman, 41, is presumed dead at sea.

Her husband Lewis Bennet, 42, faces sentencing in his wife’s death this month after pleading guilty in November to involuntary manslaughter. The plea agreement caps his potential prison sentence at 8 years.

Bennet was found alone in a lifeboat packed with provisions and $100,000 worth of stolen coins. He and repeatedly claimed he was asleep below deck and discovered his wife missing when their catamaran took on water on May 14, 2017. Authorities searched for Hellman for four days, but never found her body.

The FBI said an inspection

found that holes in the hull were inflicted from the inside, and hatches were opened in a deliberate attempt to sink the boat.

Palm Beach County Circuit Court Judge Scott Suskauer ordered the FBI to give the keys to Hellman’s condominium in Delray Beach to an attorney representing her parents so it can be sold, the South Florida SunSentinel reported . The condo is valued at $130,000 and her bank accounts totaled $41,117. She had $8,524 in credit card bills.

The judge also ordered that $18,000 be placed in a trust fund for their daughter, Emelia. The child, who turns three in July, now lives with Bennett’s parents in Scotland. The remaining money will go toward debts and defence attorney fees.

Bennett’s sentencing is set for May 28 in Miami.

He apologised to Hellman’s family in court in January, noting their “unimaginable pain”.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, May 16, 2019, PAGE 3

WELLS INSISTS NO JET SKI LICENCES ISSUED TO BAHA MAR

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net

ONE day after clarifying his ministry’s involvement in an ongoing dispute between watercraft operators and Baha Mar, Transport Minister Renward Wells was again challenged on that position in the House of Assembly by members of the opposition yesterday.

Progressive Liberal Party leader Philip Davis questioned if there was a lifting of the moratorium on jet ski licences, to which Mr Wells again insisted that no licences have been issued to the resort property by the Minnis administration.

Mr Wells shot down the claims during debate in the House of Assembly, as he noted that his ministry has moved forward with an audit of previously issued licences to operators in the area to ensure that they are in possession of all of their requisite licences.

“Mr Speaker, no licences has been issued to Baha Mar or any foreign direct investor that is outside of the heads of agreement that they may have with the government of the Bahamas.

That is the first point,” he said.

“Baha Mar has no jet ski licence, let’s put that on the floor of this House.”

Mr Wells continued: “There is, let me say it again, Baha Mar has no jet ski licence or any licence to engage in the watersport business in this country, period.”

“There are a number of Bahamian companies who are involved in the watersports business on Cable Beach. One of those companies happens to be a Bahamian company called Jet Surf. You can go online and see the products that are offered by this international brand, Jet Surf, of which a local Bahamian has engaged with that business abroad and has offered those pieces of equipment for watersports to our touristic visitors.

“This ministry has issued

THE BAHA MAR RESORT licences for Jet Surf, to this franchise, which is a piece of equipment that is used. There is another piece of equipment that is a seaboard, there is another piece of equipment that is an aqua cart and those are the

watersports apparatus that has been licenced.

“There has been no lifting of no moratorium for no jet ski licence,” he asserted.

Mr Davis had called on Mr Wells to clarify the

circumstances surrounding the allowance of a company, based at Baha Mar, to operate within the industry.

Mr Davis asked Mr Wells to state clearly if the moratorium had been lifted, and if not, what was the company at Baha Mar licenced to do.

He also raised issue with the reported appointment of Baha Mar’s security chief to the board of the Port Department.

Mr Davis said these facts, when looked at as a collective, gave great cause for concern.

In response, Mr Wells insisted his ministry was well aware of the issues being raised, and was doing all necessary to address the matter.

To that end, he assured operators that their livelihoods would be safeguarded by the Minnis administration.

However, he never addressed Mr Davis’ concern with regard to a board member of the Port Department serving as a security chief at Baha Mar.

Misery Customers in New Providence can expect load shedding to continue through into next week from page one However, he added the anticipated return of a generating unit to service the week of May 20 is expected to help mitigate the issue.

Mr Parker’s remarks came as a number of companies across the country bemoaned the impact days of power outages have had on their ability to serve customers and conduct business. “(BPL) wishes to confirm that load shedding has been conducted in New Providence since May 10,” the statement reads. “However, BPL expects to return an engine to service in the week of May 20, which will significantly bolster our generation capacity and stability.

“The load shedding of the last week is due to the reality that BPL has, at present, insufficient generation available to meet the demand on the system. Demand has begun to increase toward the summer peak as is customary at this time of year.”

The company acknowledged the “inconvenience and frustration” this has caused and said it is committed to “improving (its) ability to prevent load shedding”.

BPL reiterated two of its larger generating assets at the Clifton Pier Power Station were “rendered inoperable” in 2018, thus reducing the company’s available generation capacity.

“Added to that, routine scheduled maintenance was required on additional generators in advance of the summer peak. The last of

these works remains in progress and is expected to be concluded by the end of the month.

“Additionally, unplanned and unexpected challenges developed over the past week at both the Clifton and Blue Hills Power Stations affecting energy supply. These issues together resulted in the present generation shortfall necessitating load shedding and regretfully impacting our customers.

“The first of the impacted generating units is expected to be returned to service the during the week commencing May 20. The return of this unit will go a long way toward improving the present situation.

Unfortunately, the generation shortfall is expected to persist until this occurs.

“As previously indicated, the ongoing routine maintenance activities will be concluded in June, further boosting the available generation capacity.

“BPL has also sourced 25 megawatts (MW) of additional rental generation for its Blue Hills Power Station. These units are currently being installed and will begin to come online at the end of the month.

“Lastly, BPL has engaged additional technical services to first expedite the diagnosis and repair of the remaining generators and then to provide additional operational and maintenance assistance to supplement our teams. This assistance is already on the ground and has begun the necessary assessments.”

On Monday night, BPL reported on its Facebook page that parts of the

Abaco were without service after the feeder to the cays tripped. Areas affected included Hope Town, ManO-War and Guana Cay. More outages were reported across the Abacos throughout Tuesday and yesterday.

Diane Sweeting, administrative assistant of Hope Town Harbour Lodge, an Abaco resort, said the resort keeps notes of whenever there is a power failure and listed to The Tribune all the times power went off from May 8 to yesterday.

“We have to run our generators quite a bit and it did inconvenience some of the guests,” Ms Sweeting said.

“We weren’t very happy; we were glad they were able to fix it but the load shedding wasn’t appreciated…But I do understand sometimes they have to do

THE BAHAMAS Power and Light head office.

Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

maintenance and things.

“Usually as soon as it goes off within five minutes we have our generator on...

And the guests will come and of course when the power goes off you usually lose Wi-Fi. If they’re in the middle of something they do complain.”

Regarding the outages, Arnold Hall, owner of Lighthouse Liquors in Hope Town, told The Tribune: “Just get used to it, that’s the only criticism I have. You get used to it after a while, learn to deal with it. For the most part, lately the power has been fine, it’s just recently…

Other than that I don’t have a problem with (BPL).

When I call them, they respond.”

He added he purchased a new generator yesterday.

Shop proprietors in

Nassau expressed similar complaints.

Pam Burnside, manager and owner of Doongalik Art Studio on Village Road, said the outages make it very difficult for businesses to operate.

She added it affects everything from the doorbell to phones to credit card machines — meaning customers without cash cannot be serviced if power is out.

“It is very annoying when it does go out because we do not have a generator,” Ms Burnside said.

“It’s very difficult, you know without computers and things like that, very difficult to operate.

“Something as simple as getting the doorbell to ring, which is a very simple thing—you don’t know who’s outside unless they ring the doorbell. Luckily, I

have a handheld bell that is handmade,” she continued, noting she has to put a sign up telling customers to ring the bell.

“And of course, you have no credit card (service) or anything like that…so all of those things really impact the way you run or cannot run your business.”

The recent load shedding exercises came less than a month after BPL executive Patrick Rollins said the company would do its best to minimise its occurrence.

Meanwhile, the company has recently announced the appointment of Ian Pratt as acting chief operating officer. This came a little over a month after former COO Christina Alston seemingly abruptly left the company less than two years after taking the position.

PAGE 4, Thursday, May 16, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

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

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jamaaltheartist@gmail.com

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The truth about murder THERE is a harsh reality behind the statistics of murder that is rarely seen in all its brutal truth.

Read Richard Coulson’s column today on page eight and he’ll give you a glimpse from his days as a lawyer in New York.

He talks of how the police recognise when a shooting is of an innocent – or as a result of criminals turning on their own.

As he saw, in such cases, the investigation was perfunctory, the paperwork signed and the police moved on. The family of the victim mourned by only those closest to them, but that was all.

It’s an experience our own reporters share. Some crime scenes have a resigned air from investigators, others have a feel of an urgent need to find the shooter. When it’s the former, you know the police might recognise the victim from previous encounters, especially in a community as small as ours.

We hope that doesn’t affect their professionalism in finding a killer – after all, that killer may spark a cycle of retribution, and we are encouraged when suspects are quickly brought to court after a shooting. But we also recognise that in other shootings, the police presence is stepped up significantly and it is clear to see the incidents that attract more urgency than others.

The police are the first to be blamed when crime spikes. What are you doing to stop this, goes the cry. But what are we doing to prevent it from starting?

Police officers aren’t there to tackle poverty. Police officers aren’t there to solve the problems of broken homes or missed education. They aren’t there in

the home when a parent raises a fist to a child, or when a child is sexually abused.

No police officer is sitting on watch when a young person is offered his first drug. Or his first gun.

The police have to pick up the pieces of our broken society afterwards – and when we want change, we have to be aware that it takes time. Sometimes a generation. More.

But it can be done. As Richard Coulson notes, 40 years ago New York’s crime was out of control, but now their murder rate is miniscule compared with ours.

Last year, The Bahamas had 91 murders. We have a population of around 400,000. New York had a total of 289 murders, from a population of 8.6 million. The difference is stark.

So what can we do to learn from the success of others? Again, Richard Coulson has suggestions – publishing crime maps, tough anti-gun laws, better education and more.

To that we would add that we should reach out to those jurisdictions which have had success in driving down crime, and draw on their experience.

Not every tactic will transpose to our islands, but let us be sure we know what has worked elsewhere and see if it can apply here.

One thing is certain – there will be many more nights when the call comes about another murder. That is the harsh reality we live in.

Read Richard’s column - there’s tough language at times. Don’t get angry at him for saying it, get angry that we’ve allowed the situation to become as bad as it is today.

Evil always prospers EDITOR, The Tribune KINDLY indulge my compulsion to respond to Bishop Simeon Hall’s clarion call to pray for 30 days without murder.

Surely the good Bishop is aware that “it is from within, out of a person’s hearts that evil thoughts come – sexual immorality, theft murder, adultery, greed, malice....

(Mark 7: 21 NIV). The problems that society grapples with therefore lies with the evil hearts of men and not with God. All sexual immorality, theft, murders, sweethearting and

back room deals are the result of evil thoughts that become manifest through actions. We can ask God to help change human hearts, but He certainly will not impose His will on those with evil hearts because they are free moral agents. It is for this reason only that evil is manifest in the world.

Evil always prospers when evil men with evil hearts abound. It is for this reason that moral instruction is essential from the time a child can understand. There are many institutions that

give that instruction, but too few choose to follow that instruction and even fewer model the right way to live before our young people. We can pray all we want for change, and we should, but until people in and out of the church admit that their hearts are evil and seek to change, chaos will reign.

After all just a generation ago, 30, 60 or even 90 days without murder was the norm!

JB Nassau May 14, 2019

Relays were no loss EDITOR, The Tribune THIS weekend if the decision of the past was maintained Nassau would have had the IAAF relays, but fortunately this time it went to Japan.

Japan much bigger population…held in a large city still the bleachers of the stadium could not be filled…not as bad as Tommy Robinson but there were a lot of large open spaces.

Hotels I understand in Nassau this CHAMBER of Commerce chief executive Jeffrey Beckles told Tribune Business The Bahamas “must perform critical surgery on our economy” to return to the 3 percentplus average GDP growth enjoyed pre-recession.

Readers gave their reaction on tribune242.com.

John posted this comment: “The bottom line is government sent the economy into haemorrhage by trying to extract too much taxes out in a short period of time.

Not only did this place a burden on consumers who

weekend were full even though it was Mother’s Day. Best decision of Ministry of Tourism to cancel and save a ton of money and embarrassment of having such a prestigious in an empty Stadium.

Next cancellation…Popeye Ball American Football event.

K DUNCOMBE Nassau May 13, 2019

were already struggling to survive but businesses that were struggling to keep their head above water went under. Some never resurfaced. And many who had plans to start businesses put their plans on hold or scaled them down.

It is mostly food (wholesale retail and fast food) that is keeping the local economy

going (and web shops).

Everything else is in a worse position than it was two years ago. ” While admitting officials don’t know why the GDP performance fell below the IMF’s forecast, Finance Minister Peter Turnquest said critics have no legs to stand on as consistent economic growth is apparent.

TheMadHatter had this to say: “KP is correct. How can there be criticism over financial figures, when we don’t have them to even look at?”

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

When illegals can be a bonus EDITOR, The Tribune THERE are few subjects that evoke as much emotion as that of immigration in Bahamian society. I would like to focus on illegal immigration.

Most Bahamians feel that illegal immigrants deplete our resources and are more of a burden on our country because they somehow receive public healthcare and education and are prone to construct and inhabit shanty towns. Some feel that illegal immigrants lower wages and bring down the standard of living that we presently enjoy and are accustomed to.

The present administration has recently embarked on a movement to somehow clean the country of illegal immigrants which we all are aware are the Haitian population. Let’s for a moment put on our intellectual heads and leave out emotion, the reality is that we, along with any other country will never eliminate illegal immigration. We can only limit it.

There is a strong “push and pull” factor that continues to drive the illegal immigration issue. The “push” factor are the dire straits that Haiti finds itself, which historically, are not theirs of their own making but after years of poor government the country continues to be one of the poorest countries in the world. Haitians have to make the hard decision of existing at a bare subsistence level or somehow take a rinky-dink boat, cross the treacherous seas and get to another country, preferably the United States or The Bahamas, in an attempt to find work and better themselves. Many of them perish on the high seas but some manage to make it to a country where they can find work. One must admire anybody that leaves his own country under these circumstances and arrives in another land with little or no skills, unable to speak the language and in relatively short periods of time better themselves exponentially.

What’s the “pull factor”?

The consistent need for low wage labour that The Bahamas needs and desires.

Illegal immigrants are in general more reliable, more productive than the average Bahamian worker who

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net in most cases are unwilling to perform the low wage labour that businesses desire and need. The cost of production must be at the level that guarantees the existence of many businesses. It makes little sense to pay the high labour costs that Bahamians so call demand or their employers whom are already struggling to exist in a climate of extreme taxes and difficulty in doing business.

The illegal immigrant over decades in the Bahamas has freed up the low wage Bahamian worker and allowed them to take the higher wage jobs in the tourism sector, it allowed them to become contractors and successful businessmen when ordinarily they wouldn’t have been.

Examine the various businesses that exist throughout our country, many of them have had an illegal immigrant at one time or another that contributed to the building of their businesses. Imagine the construction industry, the retail and wholesale merchants, the agricultural sector, the regular Bahamian household and all of the hard and dirty work required on a daily basis without illegal immigrants, we would simply collapse as a functioning economy.

But what about the drain on our social services like health care and education?

Illegal immigrants prefer not to go to the public hospitals for fear they might be exposed, they are in general law-abiding hoping to avoid the police and immigration officials that might get them deported. To say that the illegal immigrants are happy when they are deported because they are given $100 to $200 and a ride on Bahamasair is just stupid. Many come at the mature age and don’t have the need to enter the public school system, but if they have children that do, they excel and contribute tremendously to our society, just look at our school system. Even if they receive a little health care or education they have paid for it in the form of cheap labour. They pay taxes

just like the rest of us, but slightly higher when you consider the percentage of their income.

The Bahamas has little intellectual or cheap labour. For the past 15-20 years. We have been producing functional illiterates whom have little desire to work for a minimum wage.

Many are ill disciplined and are socially incapable of holding a minimum wage job for any sustained period. Many businesses have gone beyond the call of duty to employ these people, but to little or no avail. We have lost the culture of discipline and hard work of the sixties and seventies and nobody, including the government, knows how to instil it back into our society. The illegal immigrant has taken the place of these ill disciplined citizens and no matter what happens to the illegal immigrant the low wage Bahamian worker will not step up to the plate.

But what about the illegal immigrants taking us over?

Some people claim that the illegal immigrant represents an assault on our sovereignty. If this were true, then it would be the first time in world history that the country has employed its invaders.

When an illegal immigrant enters The Bahamas there is a Bahamian citizen waiting to hire them and benefit in some manner from their labour.

Finally, criminalising immigration does not solve the problem, it was Milton Friedman who stated that “when bad laws that makes socially advantageous acts illegal only leads to the undermining of morality in general”.

We are economically and culturally asleep with little prospects for the future, we have lots of land to develop and an economy to build. We cannot grow by exclusion we need more inclusion. We cannot allow talk show hosts, politicians and lawyers whom insight xenophobia and prejudice against the illegal immigrant to drive the debate we need economists, the labour department and researchers to give us a clearer view of this muddled discussion.

EUGENE BECKFORD Nassau May 15, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, May 16, 2019, PAGE 5

LLOYD CALLS FOR PUNITIVE SANCTIONS OVER VIRAL VIDEOS

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

EDUCATION Minister Jeffery Lloyd has decried a viral video depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor, saying the government must pursue punitive sanctions against people who spread such videos.

His statement in the House of Assembly yesterday came after three separate videos depicting minors in vulnerable situations went viral this week.

Mr Lloyd did not say which video he was referring to but he appeared to be alluding to film of a man begging a high school female student for sex after she was caught seemingly performing a sexual act with another man.

The video shows the girl pulling up her underwear behind a building as another man seemingly in his 20s stands next to her.

The man recording the video tries to blackmail the girl, threatening to post the video if she failed to fulfil his wishes.

Yesterday, Mr Lloyd, pictured right, said police are investigating the matter. He said: “It is disturbing to me as the Education Minister in The Bahamas the insensitivity and the abject disrespect that is exercised in our circumstance here in the Bahamas with regard to minor children who have now become the subject and object of ridicule, disparagement and offence.

“There is the Electronics Communications and Transactions Act which speaks

more specifically to commercial matters but it also has a provision, I think, in section 20 that speaks to the transmission of information by electronic means which could be considered to be defamatory. I am sure that our government is going to at some point apprehend the necessity of whatever means may be necessary to protect... from incalculable harm which as you know and I know can extend well into posterity in their lives.”

“The circumstances which I presume now is known to this community and this assembly has exposed the identity of this individual with such a graphic representation that it is really

impossible for her to hide and for the persons related and associated with her now to be mortally offended by this issue. I just wish to appeal to our Bahamian community, to our adults in that community, to please with the great facility of discretion exercise sense and sensitivity to our young people.”

“If an adult wishes to expose themselves and parade themselves before the electronic world in a manner which visits ridicule and abuse upon them that’s their business but children must enjoy the protection of the civil society in which those children are required to exist.”

“I am disturbed as I become more aware, I am now advised and

I wish to advise this House that the circumstances attracted the attention of the Royal Bahamas Police Force and again it is a deeply disturbing circumstance to her family and to everyone affiliated and associated, the entire school body. The entire school body is now upset, if not traumatised especially in a school environment which has been unfortunately the subject of some public observation with regard to other unfortunate incidents of this type.

“I invite our government to consider punitive sanctions for persons who knowingly record via electronically and display or transmit to the wider world community matters, incidents, circumstances, acts which can bring an individual’s life into endless and probably unimaginable disrepute.”

Court of Appeal reserves decision on Smith retrial

from page one

should thus be “congratulated” for having come to such a decision.

This is, he said, because the Chief Magistrate had to contend with a “political presence” in Cabinet ministers Dr Duane Sands and Marvin Dames, conflicting witnesses, and “tenuous” evidence that all compromised the credibility of the Crown’s case against his client when coming to her decision.

Mr Knight said the Chief Magistrate had to take all of those things into consideration when determining whether the main witness Barbara Hanna was credible, though he noted that the way the case was structured, once her evidence failed it didn’t really matter if anyone else’s evidence passed.

“If the evidence is not credible then it is not sufficient,” Mr Knight said, adding that the Chief Magistrate cannot be faulted for the manner in which she came to her decision.

On Tuesday, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Garvin Gaskin charged that the Chief Magistrate made numerous errors in arriving at her conclusion that a case had not been sufficiently made out against Smith to compel him to answer to the allegations.

He asserted that the Chief Magistrate conducted the no-case submission stage of the proceedings as if it were the end of the trial.

Mr Gaskin said she did this by making numerous “findings” about the evidence or the witnesses that proffered it, which he claimed were the result of her analysing the evidence to determine whether the Crown’s case had been proven beyond a reasonable doubt, instead of correctly analysing the evidence with a view to determining whether a sufficient enough case had been made out.

And in doing so, Mr Gaskin said she essentially “short-circuited” the required approach to a nocase submission, as there is no such test in law that would require the Chief Magistrate, during the nocase submission stage, or “half-time”, to accept or reject in full, or accept and reject in part, the evidence led by the Crown.

Those submissions by the DPP emanate from the Crown’s attempts to have its appeal of Smith’s acquittal

in February allowed and the matter retried before another magistrate.

Yesterday however, Mr Knight asserted that contrary to Mr Gaskin’s suggestions, there is no inherent “magic” in the word “find”, and further asserted that when used in the legal sense, it is not synonymous with “verdict”.

Against that backdrop, and that of his previous submissions that the Chief Magistrate had a duty to assess the evidence and was also well within her rights to assess the credibility of the Crown’s witness in accordance with the “fused jurisdiction” afforded to her by way of her role as magistrate, Mr Knight suggested that in order to determine the sufficiency of the evidence, an “analytical approach” is required and a decision must be the end result.

Thus, he said the Chief Magistrate making findings or conclusions were inconsequential; the only relevant issue was whether the “rope test” had been breached, that is, whether the Chief Magistrate properly analysed the evidence “strand by strand” before deciding whether based on that evidence, there was a case to answer.

And in Mr Knight’s view, the Chief Magistrate did just that. He said she adequately dealt with the preliminary aspects of the case, and correctly examined and applied the various legal authorities presented to her. He further submitted that based on her ruling, there is an obvious understanding of what the relevant law is, and a proper application of those legal guidelines.

Mr Knight further charged that whatever position she took based on the authorities, she operated within her boundaries.

And it was only after the “most careful analysis” and “keeping totally within her lane” in exercising her judicial functions, the Chief Magistrate found that she could put little confidence in Mrs Hanna’s evidence

QC KEITH KNIGHT

FRANK Smith with his wife Sharlyn outside the Court of Appeal yesterday.

Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/ Tribune Staff

and the evidence in general, Mr Knight submitted.

Concerning the issues of credibility, Mr Knight said the Chief Magistrate would have had to consider the discrepancies, inconsistencies and demeanour among the various witnesses. And given that she “clearly” found all of those issues to be present throughout the evidence, so much so that portions of it was “so out of whack with reality” that it rendered some of it “almost irreconcilable”, Mr Knight said she was obliged to uphold his no-case submission.

Thus, Mr Knight asserted that where a judge and/ or adjudicator has a feel for the case in its entirety, and would’ve had the opportunity to observe the demeanour of the witnesses, the court of review cannot substitute its decision for that of the trial judge.

He further submitted that in such circumstances, the appeal court would defer to the lower court, save for instances where something went “patently wrong” in the process, that is, if there was either misunderstanding or misapplication of the relevant law. And in the present case, Mr Knight said no such thing happened.

In February, Chief Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt acquitted and discharged Mr Smith of all 15 criminal charges after finding fault with numerous “inconsistencies” and “discrepancies” in the Crown’s case, which she further said was “undermined” by its own witnesses.

In particular, the Chief Magistrate said there were “inherent inconsistencies” throughout the evidence of

the virtual complainant in the matter, Mrs Hanna, and that her claims were “manifestly unreliable” and ran contrary to “reason and all common sense”.

Chief Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt also criticised both Dr Sands and Mr Dames for the “egregious” way in which they interacted with Mrs Hanna prior

to a police investigation into her claims, charging that their conduct gave the appearance of a “political flavour to a curious bystander.”

The Chief Magistrate especially criticised how a “serving member of Parliament” and Cabinet minister, Dr Sands, “entertained” Mrs Hanna in the circumstances despite her contributing some $300 towards his political campaign in the lead up to the 2017 general election.

She further commented on how Dr Sands approved a $1.9m contract for Mrs Hanna’s business without the approval of the Public Hospitals Authority’s (PHA) board of directors, at a time he said he was fully aware that Mrs Hanna was a contributor to his most recent campaign.

And, she said she could not “overlook” the fact that Dr Sands admitted that Mrs Hanna told him about Mr Smith’s alleged acts of extortion sometime in November 2016, which he never reported to the police.

However, Mr Gaskin has asserted that it was “wholly inappropriate” for the Chief Magistrate to have not only criticised the two Cabinet ministers for their involvement in Smith’s now-disposed of criminal matter, but also connect it to her decision to acquit him of all charges.

Though he did not say outright that the Chief Magistrate demonstrated bias by making those remarks, in response to a question by appellate Justice Roy Jones, Mr Gaskin said the average observer could very well draw those types of inferences from her statements in the circumstances.

“Some things are better left unsaid,” the DPP stated.

PAGE 6, Thursday, May 16, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

What’s the bill?

MINNIS AND DAVIS INVOLVED IN HEATED EXCHANGE AS PRIME MINISTER ORDERS AUDIT ON ALL OWED PUBLIC SECTOR LEAVE PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, left, and PLP leader Philip Davis, right. from page one Dr Minnis noted the government’s recent action only evolved into a political issue after Mr Davis suggested that most of the officers to receive directives were associated with the Progressive Liberal Party.

These statements were published in newspaper articles.

Defending his claims in that article yesterday, Mr Davis said he made those comments in the context of defending his party against assertions that it had, in the past, politicised the force with several promotional exercises; aspects of which were highlighted in a 2018 manpower audit carried out by the Minnis administration.

The assertion prompted Dr Minnis to take his feet, where he announced his decision to have the Ministry of Finance quantify the government’s expenditure

on accrued vacation leave across the sector.

He said: “We did a manpower audit, the government. The government looked at different agencies where individuals had an accumulation of vacation leave, and decided individuals having these long one year, two year vacation leave [could not work].”

Dr Minnis continued: “I am trying now to find out from the Ministry of Finance how much millions of dollars we spend annually on vacation leave for individuals who refuse to take vacation leave.”

However, responding to the government’s intention, Mr Davis said he could present the prime minister with a list of other senior officers still on active duty holding more accrued vacation time than those sent on leave.

He suggested the government was selective in its decision making, naming and shaming senior officers

who they suspected of having ties to the PLP. “Do you want me to give you the list of others you could have let go and send home too?”

Mr Davis shouted across the floor to Dr Minnis.

“You were selective,” he repeated emphatically.

This led Dr Minnis to say: “They gave me a list. If you ever [get the chance] - and you will never sit in this chair - then you can look up the list yourself.”

Mr Davis responded: “They said that about you too. Even those who were

SPEAKER Halson Moultrie

in your own party said that about you, alright…but you were selective. There are members on the force today, with equally as much vacation as (those) you kept on. You go to the other services and will find that too.”

Mr Davis continued: “Mr Speaker, I just want him to know, because very often he makes these comments without appreciating or understanding. You (referring to Dr Minnis) don’t even understand the history of what your own party did.”

To which Dr Minnis responded: “The member said I did not know or was unaware of what my own party did. In 2009 (the FNM) brought forth a communication to the police where we allowed them to take a one year package in addition to their vacation leave pay and then go into retirement.”

Dr Minnis added: “I refuse to pay individuals for vacation, allow them to

take their vacation and then go into retirement. I am not spending the government’s money (like that).”

A back and forth went on for nearly five minutes before House Speaker Halson Moultrie was forced to stand to his feet to regain order of the debate.

Once things settled down, Dr Minnis read aloud several lines from a second newspaper article which reported on the finding of the 2018 police force manpower audit, referring to the audit’s observations as key motivating factor in the government’s recent decision.

He insisted the audit be viewed as “fact,” insisting that it substantiates the government’s determination that more needed to be done to restructure the police force. “(The audit) outlines critical challenges in the organisation from the resource management practices, flawed and bias promotion excises, and the senior command of the senior command being too top heavy. The latter of which the audit recommends becoming more lean because there appears to be a lack of conceptual, transformative leadership,” Dr Minnis said, reading from the article.

“Facts, not fiction,” he shouted at Mr Davis.

In response, Mr Davis said: “Since he drew me into this as a lawyer, and he talks about facts and opinions. Let me tell him the distinction just from what he read. What he read was the opinion of someone who was (asked to compile a report). The facts were, you have for example 500 constables, and the opinion was, that is too much.”

He added: “You raised the issue of what is fact and opinion. I am trying to let you understand what is fact.

The facts there were, you had 200 constables maybe, and the opinion of the report was that, that is too much.”

In a final response, Dr

Minnis asserted: “Since he argued law, I’ll argue medicine. If the facts show that the department can run with five obstetriciangynaecologist (OBGYN) and I hire 20, the facts are that I have more than I need. That’s facts, that is not an opinion.”

This year, the Minnis administration directed some law enforcement officers to take accrued vacation leave, either in the lead up to retirement or with a view to return to service following their time off.

The move has been met with some criticism, with at least one senior police officer saying the process was not handled well.

Recently, two deputy commissioners at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services accused the government of exploiting vacation leave policies to unfairly sideline senior law enforcement officers.

Those two officers, Doan Cleare and Bernardette Thompson-Murray, have alleged in affidavits that National Security Minister Marvin Dames forced them to take vacation leave to facilitate last month’s appointment of Charles Murphy, their junior, as commissioner of corrections.

They want the Supreme Court to quash Mr Murphy’s appointment and declare it invalid.

Their attorney Wayne Munroe, QC, has gone on record to state that he believes similar dynamics are at play in the RBPF. In line with this, he suggested that five of eight senior police officers instructed to their leave do not have enough vacation time to last into retirement.

The Tribune also understands that some of them have fewer accumulated vacation leave and are further from their scheduled retirement than the three senior police officers allowed to remain on duty.

MAN, WOMAN CRITICAL IN HOSPITAL AFTER SHOOTING A MAN and a woman were left in hospital after they were shot on Tuesday night.

According to police, shortly before 9pm a group of people were outside a business on Dunmore Avenue and West Street when they were approached by a gunman who opened fire on them. Two people were injured and transported to hospital where they are listed in critical but stable condition.

Police also seized suspected cocaine during

a search of a suitcase at Lynden Pindling International Airport.

Shortly after 11pm on Tuesday, Drug Enforcement Unit officers and K-9 Unit officers acting on information conducted a search of a suitcase at LPIA and discovered seven taped packages of suspected cocaine. No one was arrested in this incident.

The drugs weighed 1.4 pounds and have a street value of $8,500.

Investigations are ongoing.

THE TRIBUNE from page one Food Ltd, told The Tribune he invested up to $100,000 to secure exclusive rights to the local sale of the Medterra brand of CBD oil and related products.

The CBD products were flying off the shelves, according to Mr Smith, who said he was on his third shipment when Health Minister Dr Duane Sands announced the Department of Customs and police had been put on alert to ban both CBD and hemp products.

Moreover, Mr Smith said the sale of health food supplements like hemp milk and hemp seed protein powders, and topical products derived from hemp like soaps and shampoos, account for some 20 percent of his revenue.

He noted hemp products have been widely sold in the country for at least a decade, and has called on the government to soften its approach.

“Prior to bringing it into the country I spoke with the [Department of] Customs authority and I spoke with the Ministry of Finance,” Mr Smith said this week, “nobody had no issue with it. If I had heard there was any challenges with it I just wouldn’t have bothered with it, to move to the point of trying to secure the licence for it. Now that I know, I would make a recommendation to the government to soften their approach towards it.

“I want to fully comply but I want them to use their discretion on how they go about trying to assist us, especially small business.

This business employs 25 Bahamians and every one of them are dependent on their job. When stuff like this happens, it cuts deep down to our bottom line, deep down.”

Health Minister Dr Duane Sands announced in Parliament earlier this month that his ministry has met with Department of Customs officials and police over the influx of CBD and THC products hitting shelves locally.

Dr Sands warned consumers and businesses alike that the Dangerous Drugs Act restricts “every compound, manufacture, salt derivative, mixture or preparation of such plant or resin” unless given a special permit for medical or scientific purpose.

The health minister urged Bahamians to be patient while the Bahamas Marijuana Commission completes its report as there is no guarantee of the safety and efficacy of products imported illegally.

The commission was due to submit its report last month but got a three month extension.

However, Mr Smith suggested the government could provide some leniency to established health food suppliers, and further underscored the high quality of the CBD products he

Thursday, May 16, 2019, PAGE 7

Crackdown on importation of cannabis products is bad news for health food retailer

JULIAN SMITH, owner of NewLife Natual Vegetation Cell Food.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

imported. He said he has dozens of testimonials from customers who saw therapeutic results for a number of ailments within two weeks of use, and pointed to a CBD product for pets that resolved worming issues in a matter of days.

“It’s certified and validated by the US government and the state of California,” he said. “There is no mind altering drug or anything involved. In the US, they say the CDB it’s legal but with the THC you need to go to pharmacy to get a prescription. It’s sold over the counter as a CBD oil, so my thing is I need to see exactly what is the greatest challenge with this on the medicinal end.”

Mr Smith continued: “The minister is aware of the epidemic with the sickness in the country. Allow persons at least to have access to the healing aspect of it. We have an epidemic with all these diseases in the country, anything that assists with that you should be aiding that to try and see how you can curtail some of

BAHAMIAN CBD wholesaler Tony Grant Jr

the sickness in the country.”

Dr Sands’ comments in Parliament signalled a shift in tone from earlier this year, when he was asked

by The Tribune about the boom in CBD products hitting shelves locally.

It’s led one Florida wholesaler to question whether there is any correlation to the country’s major dependency on the pharmaceutical industry.

Tony Grant Jr, a Bahamian who sells wholesale CBD products to retailers in Florida, said: “Many Bahamians have taken steps to explore more natural and homeopathic remedies in order to relieve their dependency on pharmaceuticals. Sadly, The Bahamas is the regional leader in heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Given the aforementioned, it is no shocker that we are also amongst the top in pharmaceutical dependency in the Caribbean as well.”

In a letter to the editor, Mr Grant continued: “The questions to ask are right in front of us. The industry for hemp-derived CBD products will exceed over $22 billion by 2022 according to the Brightfield Group. Assuming a sharp spike in sales in The Bahamas, is it now being strongly enforced to protect the interests of a few? Twentytwo billion dollars in sales will certainly result in a loss of profits for ‘Big Pharma’ so I ask once again has the good doctor found himself in a difficult position?

“Why not issue temporary contingency permits to current active local distributors and then crackdown on those selling without permit until the government has an official position?

“Alternatively,” Mr

Grant said, “why not sever the issue of CBD from THC and make a decision on that aspect only? If this is done, I believe we will find a healthy mixture of sole-proprietors along

with a handful of pharmacies would be issued these permits.

“We need answers when it comes to CBD and not simply, ‘It’s illegal.’”

Mr Grant Jr added he

expected the Ministry of Environment to encourage the use of natural, biodegradable and recyclable hemp materials to accompany the 2020 ban on single-use plastics and Styrofoam.

PAGE 8, Thursday, May 16, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

N If crime-ravaged New

ASSAU has just recorded 13 killings in 21 days, including two double homicides. The much vaunted decline in criminal violence seems to have hit a road-block.

In the eyes of the Lord, every human life is equally sacred and every murder is an equal tragedy. But in the harsh world of law enforcement, things don’t look quite the same.

Cops on the beat can smell when the victim ranks about as low on the virtue scale as the perp. Even a drive-by shooting of a guy sitting on his porch is rarely a bullet to a lily-white innocent. The death of a marine sentry at Government House is naturally investigated with more vigour than some unfortunate found lying dead on Potter’s Cay dock.

I learned this reality years ago when as a young lawyer I worked for the New York City Police Commissioner (“PC”), head of 25,000 cops policing a city of over eight million. I was a member of the “Department”, not of the “Force”, carrying neither fire-arm nor power to arrest. In the cops’ eyes I was a mere “civilian”, slow to be trusted.

Fortunately, I was befriended by two lieutenants, Irish naturally, McCahey and McCauley, who rose through the ranks of patrolman and detective to get law degrees and become the right hands sitting outside the PC’s office door. They had seen everything the New York crime scene could offer, from Harlem gang shootings and drunken family stabbings, Mafia extortion and Wall Street swindles. Like all cops, tight as clams to outsiders, they gradually opened up to me, taking me around to gritty precinct houses and occasional crime scenes.

While some victims were wrapped up and rolled away with a sympathetic stare and a shaken head,

York could clean up its act, why can’t we?

Richard Coulson the cops had a only a muttered epitaph for others: “So one scumbag got shot by another, tough shit”.

The incident boss would fill out the paperwork and go through the motions, and that was the end of it.

As Lt McCahey put it to me: “Maybe a tear for a grandpa or a kid caught in the crossfire, but for one of these punks in a hoodie?

Forget it.”

Nassau’s police are no different.

The laconic newspaper stories give us no details about the killings, nothing about prior words or contacts, just that one guy “approached” on foot or by car, opened fire and took off. Our officers have enough street-smarts to know the cause was a drug deal gone wrong, a missed payoff for an AK-47, or a turf war between gangs fighting for zone control. The body on the ground may have a grieving mom weeping over his bloody chest, a hard- working lady who has struggled to bring him up right. But she probably fell for a gold-chained

dude (or two or three) who left her without a penny of child support and no interest in sending another bastard kid to school.

Commissioner Ferguson and his uniformed men and women cannot be held responsible for reversing this sorry chain of repeating events. They are not social workers, or development economists. All they can do is apprehend and turn over a perp to the magistrates, for eventual removal to Fox Hill, and later return to the streets, often on bail.

But steps can be taken.

Forty years ago New York looked hopeless, particularly in fire-blackened Harlem and South Bronx.

Now, the city is one of the safest in the nation. Compared with our figure of 100 homicides on 400,000 population in 2017, in New York the count had dropped by about 70 percent to 290, on 8.6 million souls spread over five boroughs.

The city’s anti-gun laws have been tough for years, making possession of a concealed weapon risky even in

a vast metropolis with thousands of entry points over innumerable streets, a sieve compared with Nassau with imports only possible by sea or air. A crime-fighting regime known as CompSat has been developed in New York and many other American cities. It involves computer-based crime maps with pinpoint locations of every incident, backed up with detailed case histories describing all parties involved with their links and motives.

The same could be done here with proper training and resources. Crime maps could be published monthly, showing the public graphically that violence is not spread at random but

concentrated in specific enclaves or emerging from well-known booze joints.

Our police surely know the focal points of weapons use in our limited geography.

Just on strong suspicion, they could seize thousands of hand-guns in hidden caches, if not deterred by civil rights activists claiming violation of privacy. Is it unconstitutional for the police to round-up knots of idle youths and quietly disperse them before trouble brews? What is the purpose of vagrancy sanctions?

Eventually, better education will give a fairer shot to our inherently bright young men who are presently unemployable, and a more competitive business

structure will provide jobs.

All boats will be lifted in our social harbour as our crime-breeding slums shrink through natural attrition.

But that’s still some time off, and until the Hallelujah Day arrives I put more faith in a few hard-headed measures than in the nationwide prayers for divine intervention called for by Bishop Simeon Hall. He is quite right that family ties should not excuse harbouring criminals, but is that realistic in our tight-knit Bahamian society? And I note he asks only for a “moratorium” on murders. To me, that means “pause”. Then what, does it start right up again?

Editorial View - Page 4

TOP and left: Pictures of recent crimes in The Bahamas.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, May 16, 2019, PAGE 9

Man feared drowned after body found in submerged truck

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

GRAND Bahama police are investigating an apparent drowning in Freeport after the body of a man was discovered in a truck submerged in a canal on Tuesday evening.

ASP Terecita Pinder reported police were called shortly after 9pm to Port of Call Drive in Bahama Terrace near the canal where a white truck was underwater.

She said Marine Unit officers, with the assistance of a private vessel and crew, hoisted the vehicle out of the water and recovered the body of a lifeless victim.

While police are withholding the identity of the victim, ASP Darold Weir, an officer from the Central Detective Unit, told reporters at the scene Tuesday evening the victim was a dark-skinned male, and the vehicle was a white SM truck.

He said the body was taken to Rand Memorial Hospital where doctors pronounced him dead.

Police are awaiting the results of an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.

In other crime news, police in Abaco arrested two men after officers discovered a quantity of suspected marijuana at a residence in Marsh Harbour on Tuesday.

According to reports, shortly after 10pm officers executed a search warrant at a residence where they found 1.6 pounds of suspected marijuana, with an estimated street value of $1,600. As a result two male occupants were arrested and taken into police custody.

Investigations are continuing into the matter.

Photos: Vandyke Hepburn

NO ROOM FOR ONCOLOGY CENTRE IN GB, SAYS SANDS

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THE indefinite delay of an oncology centre in Grand Bahama is due to the inability to identify available space for such a facility that was promised for cancer patients almost two years ago.

While in Grand Bahama recently, Minister of Health Dr Duane Sands, pictured right, spoke with The Tribune on the status of the cancer centre.

Although he assured that the centre remains on the priority list, he was unable to give a timeline as to when it would come to fruition.

“Almost two years ago we would have spoken about a commitment to bring cancer care to Grand Bahama separate and apart from just having itinerant travel of oncologists to Grand Bahama,” he said.

“That is one of the unmet needs, one of the things that remains on the priority list.

I would like to be able to give a timeline but we still don’t have an identified space to bring this to fruition. And so, rather than give you some empty promise, I think we will have to heighten our resolve to get this thing done as soon as possible.”

In June 2017, Dr Sands first revealed plans to create a cancer centre in Grand Bahama so patients can receive chemotherapy here instead of having to go to New Providence. He previously indicated that cancer services should be available on the island before the end of the year.

For years, cancer patients from Grand Bahama have been traveling back and forth to Nassau for chemotherapy treatments.

They are burdened with finding accommodations and

having to pay additional incidental costs, such as meals and transportation, etc.

It has been reported that Freeport patients occupy 50 percent of the 12 rooms at the healing centre provided by the Cancer Society of the Bahamas in Nassau.

In August 2018, Loren Miller, president of the Cancer Society of Grand Bahama, said that an oncology unit is desperately needed in Grand Bahama, and that they are still advocating for one. The Cancer Society assists cancer patients from Freeport who have to travel to Nassau for treatment by providing accommodations.

During a recent interview, Dr Sands said: “The fact that you ask this question now is an impetus to once again to speak with Dr Curling who heads the Department of Medicine at PMH, and who also heads the Division of Oncology, to determine what options we have.”

He noted that the Rand Memorial Hospital in Freeport is the midst of very significant changes to improve healthcare services.

“We expect to have an addition to the kitchen and corridor, and additional bed space for an extension of the ICU and more bed facilities etc. We are now using the clinic space across the street and that has improved services tremendously. Whether or not we can put an oncology centre in that building, I will need to speak with the hospital administrator.”

In 2017, Dr Sands said he was aware that persons have been requesting and asking for a cancer centre in Freeport.

“I think having considered the challenges and emotional distress associated with the physical demand of patients going through the treatment, we think it makes good sense and that it is the humane thing to do,” he said at the time.

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PAGE 10, Thursday, May 16, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

T In the spotlight for all the wrong reasons

HE Caribbean region doesn’t frequently figure in US national politics, but a hurricane, convulsive civil disturbances and a return of Cold War politics have thrust the region into American headlines more than usual already this year.

Hurricane Maria devastated large swathes of the American territory of Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017, claiming over 3,000 lives and wreaking devastation that is nowhere nearly restored 20 months later.

The persistent, defiant failure of the Trump administration to provide more assistance to the island remains a sore point for many, including world champion Boston Red Sox manager Joey Cora, who is from Puerto Rico. Cora was among many on the team who did not attend a White House ceremony in their honour last week. The snub made front page headlines.

Many black and Latino players on the Red Sox also found reasons not to attend the event at the White

STATESIDE

with Charlie Harper

ELECTRICITY poles and lines lay toppled on the road after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in September, 2017.

MAIN picture: the Congressional Cemetery; inset, top right, J Edgar Hoover and, bottom, Marion Barry.

House, causing one Boston wag to note than only the “white” Sox were present.

Red Sox icon and maybe baseball’s best-ever designated hitter, now-retired David Ortiz of the Dominican Republic, said “You don’t want to shake hands with a guy who is treating immigrants like ___.”

Meantime, as Trump and Florida politicians like Republican Senator Marco Rubio pander to the Venezuelan expatriate community in South Florida in their zeal to condemn Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro, some observers are wondering if the tactic will backfire if Maduro is not replaced relatively quickly, or at least before next year’s US elections.

Those hoping for a quick change in Caracas will be disappointed by a recent

attempt in Venezuela to displace Maduro in favour of widely-recognised challenger Juan Guaido. The peaceful coup attempt sputtered so badly that it was being compared in some quarters with the calamitous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961.

Cuban expatriates, mostly in Florida, New York and New Jersey, have long supported Republican and other politicians who have echoed their resolute refusal to have anything to do with the Communist regime in Havana. New polls suggest attitudes are changing, however, and that younger Cuban-Americans are starting to feel differently. Some pundits are speculating the GOP’s return to Cold War measures on Cuba may not work as well at the ballot box as in past elections.

How Hoover and Barry ended up on the same side of town IT STRADDLES several city blocks, occupying real estate once among the most valuable parcels in America’s capital city. Now, just far enough from two freeways that their traffic noise is just a distant, muffled flow, and tucked in among several slowly gentrifying town house neighbourhoods in the far shadow of the US capitol, the Congressional Cemetery beckons visitors almost shyly.

For many years in the 19th century, Congressional was the preferred burial spot for members of Congress and other politically and socially prominent Americans. Now, the famous and near-famous aspire to eternal rest in Arlington National Cemetery across the Potomac River in Virginia.

Arlington National sits on broad riverfront land once the property of Robert E Lee, whose mansion dominates the nearby hillside. On the other hand, Congressional lies in remote far southeast Washington, somewhat hard for tourists to find and dominated by the ominous, slit-windowed brick monolith that is the DC central jail. The passage of years has rendered many of Congressional Cemetery’s old markers and memorials difficult to decipher, but there is a kind of unabashed informality and charm about the place. There’s even a waiting list for those who want the privilege of walking their dogs on weekends along the old cemetery’s quiet, worn paths.

Along one of those paths, in uneasy 30-pace proximity to each other, lie in rest two men whose paths crossed but briefly but whose spirits must not be content with their current location. In a fenced family plot with his parents lies J Edgar Hoover, essentially the founder and longtime director of America’s national police force, the FBI. Serving under eight presidents, Hoover amassed power partly by spying on his bosses and then ensuring his

tenure by holding embarrassing information on them and others.

No president dared to fire Hoover.

Only his death in 1972 could remove him from office. By then, he had led crusades against real and suspected Communists in the US and hardly concealed his distaste for black activists and anti-war protesters in the 1960s. Among those activists was a young firebrand from Mississippi who would become Washington DC’s most prominent, notorious and significant politician.

Marion Barry first came to Washington in 1965 and jumped into political activism. By 1971 he won a seat on the city’s school board and was elected to the city council three years later. In 1978 he was elected mayor at age 42.

He was twice re-elected, once with 82 percent of the vote, and would have won again in 1990 but for a cocaine bust at a downtown hotel organised by Hoover’s successors at the FBI. After a brief stretch in prison, he ran for city council again in 1992, and won again. “He may not be perfect, but he’s perfect for DC” was his campaign slogan. By 1994, Barry was elected mayor again.

Marion Barry throughout his career defied the expectations of white observers. He presided over an almost unimaginably corrupt, incompetent city government in many of the earliest years of home rule, a 1973 Congressionally mandated form of self-government granted to the District of Columbia.

But voters loved the charismatic Barry, and voted for him at virtually every opportunity.

He died in 2014, and rests under an impressive memorial uncomfortably close to J Edgar Hoover. Cynics might say they deserve each other, but both were undeniably important actors on the stage of 20th century American history.

England’s fantastic four IT’S NEVER happened before, and it might be quite a while before it happens again, so fans of English Premier League soccer should enjoy these next weeks. Europe’s major two club championships are both being contested by teams from the EPL. In the much more important match, Liverpool and Tottenham will face off June 1 in Madrid for the Champions League trophy. In the tournament final of the second-tier Europa League, Chelsea and Arsenal will seek European soccer’s other major trophy May 29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Two big English clubs missing from these tourney finals are Manchester United, still estimated to be the world’s most valuable sports franchise, and

LIVERPOOL’S TRIUMPH crosstown rivals Manchester City, who on Sunday won its second consecutive EPL title – something that has not been done since Man United won its third straight crown a decade ago. Together with Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham, the Manchester clubs make up England’s so-called Big Six. And these Big Six once again claimed

the top six positions in the final 2018-19 EPL standings.

No nation has previously dominated these championships as have the English clubs in 2019. By far the most competitive club league in Europe, the EPL has nonetheless in recent years been dominated by the Big Six teams with budgets that allow them to compete with continental giants like Real Madrid and Barcelona in Spain, Paris St Germain in France, Bayern Munich in Germany, Juventus of Turin and other big Italian teams in Rome and Milan.

This season has seen slumps and underperformance by several of the biggest continental clubs, so the English teams will need to take advantage of that while they can.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, May 16, 2019, PAGE 11

Sands: Suicide hotline is not a priority from page one

MINISTER of Health Dr Duane Sands

three suicides a year. In an interview with The Tribune, Dr Sands said the budget process isn’t complete yet, but the ministry has prioritised certain things and now is waiting to see what the budgetary allocations will be. “...Then we will have to reprioritise depending on what that final number is. Certainly, a suicide hotline was not a budgetary priority or a problematic priority. Not that I’m being stubborn, but I believe we can use scarce resources more effectively.

“Our big problem is that we have stigmatisation of mental illnesses. We talk about the ‘Crazy Hill’.

Oh I don’t want to go to Sandilands (Rehabilitation Centre) …I’m not going to see no psychiatrist.’ There is where our emphasis needs to be, it’s on removing the stigma that prevents people from getting much needed help.”

Dr Sands said the country needs to shake off the stigma that getting help for mental health issues is a sign of weakness.

“As you talk with people who have family members battling depression, schizophrenia, anxiety disorder and so on and so forth, this is one of the most least supportive countries in the

world. We look at our major medical insurances they don’t have much coverage for psychiatric disorders; major medical plans. “…If you look at community psychiatry options, community psychology options available to public patients, (it’s) limited very limited. That’s where our emphasis is and that’s one of the reasons why we sought to renew the mental health tribunal so they can now start looking at these kinds of issues to adjust the approach for persons with mental health challenges.”

When asked if he thought The Bahamas needed a dedicated suicide hotline, Dr Sands said: “Now you have a hotline, now what?

You got people employed 24 hours a day covering this hotline seven days a week and then you ask the question ‘did it make a difference’ and some will say at least you had it, you did something. Well (there’s) no point doing something that won’t work.

“Maybe the investments ought to be on a public education campaign or further mental health strengthening to get people to recognise the signs and symptoms of depression, educate the public that this is not about not being strong enough and you’re not a weak person because you’re depressed. There are so many other things that

are necessary to strengthen the support for persons with mental health challenges.”

He added: “If we had a more sophisticated network of support services for depressed people or people who are potentially suicidal then I would say fine that’s the next step but we have other steps we have to take that we haven’t taken yet that would probably be more effective.”

Last week, police said they were investigating an apparent suicide after a woman was discovered unresponsive with injuries to her body in a residence on Falcon Crest, Eastern Estates.

Last month a man was found hanging from a beam in a closet of a residence on Haven Street off Lightbourn Street in Chippingham.

A family member found the man, said to be in his mid-50s, unresponsive.

In February, a man was found with what police believed was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his upper body at an apartment in Kennedy Subdivision.

In March, two people allegedly committed suicide in separate incidents: a man at a Winton Estates residence and a woman at a residence on Paradise Island.

The man, 41-year-old Dimaggio Darrell, was a father of four.

PAGE 12, Thursday, May 16, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Sunscreen wouldn’t have saved Bob Marley from melanoma, and it won’t help other dark-skinned people

By ADEWOLE S. ADAMSON Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine (Division of Dermatology), University of Texas at Austin MELANOMA is a potentially deadly form of skin cancer linked to overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun.

Sunscreen can block UV rays and therefore reduce the risk of sun burns, which ultimately reduces the risk of developing melanoma.

Thus, the promotion of sunscreen as an effective melanoma prevention strategy is a reasonable public health message.

While this may be true for light-skinned people, such as individuals of European descent, this is not the case for darker skinned people, or individuals of African descent.

The public health messages promoted by many clinicians and public health groups regarding sunscreen recommendations for dark skin people is incongruent with the available evidence.

Media messaging exacerbate the problem with headline after headline warning that black people can also develop melanoma and that blacks are not immune. To be sure, blacks can get melanoma, but the risk is very low. In the same way, men can develop breast cancer, however, we do not promote mammography as a strategy to fight breast cancer in men.

This message is important to me as a black, board certified dermatologist and health services researcher at Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin, where I am director of the pigmented lesion clinic. In this capacity I take care of patients at high

risk for melanoma. In the US, melanoma is 20 to 30 times more common among whites compared to blacks.

In blacks, melanoma usually develops in parts of the body that get less sun exposure, such as the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. These cancers are called “acral melanomas,” and sunscreen will do nothing to reduce the risk of these cancers.

When was the last time you had a sunburn on the palms or soles? Even among whites, there is no relationship between sun exposure and the risk of acral melanomas.

Famously, Bob Marley died from an acral melanoma on his great toe, but sunscreen would not have helped.

The research on the association of UV radiation and melanoma among blacks

NOTICE ANNUITANT VERIFICATION As part of the verification of benefits procedure, Colina Insurance Limited requires all recipients of annuity payments to produce evidence of their continuing eligibility to receive such payments twice each year – during the months of May and November.

To be verified during the month of May 2019, annuitants must visit any of the following Colina locations and be verified by a Customer Service Representative: • • • • • • • •

21 Collins Avenue 56 Collins Avenue Carmichael Road (Walk-In Medical Clinic bldg) 12 Village Road RND Plaza West East Mall & Poinciana Drive (Freeport) Don McKay Boulevard. (Marsh Harbour) Turnquest Star Plaza (George Town)

Clients may also visit CFAL (308 East Bay St., 3rd Fl.) The following documents must be presented at the time of verification: • Annuity card, and • Valid Passport, Drivers License or Voters Card Annuitants residing outside of The Bahamas, or those who are unable to visit our offices physically, may download the Life Certificate Form from the Company’s website, www.colina.com.

The form should be completed, validated by a Notary Public and delivered to our office at the address below.

Colina Insurance Limited 21 Collins Avenue, P. O. Box N-4728 Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas Annuitants who fail to verify on or before May 31, 2019 will have their payments suspended until this process is completed.

Should you require additional information, please contact our Customer Service Centre at 356-8300.

is lacking. Most studies assessing the relationship exclude patients of darker skin types. In the largest study of this question to date, no connection was found between UV index or latitude and melanoma among black people.

Many dermatologists often point out that black patients tend to show up to the doctor with later stage melanoma, which is true.

However, this is an issue of access and awareness and has nothing to do with sunscreen application. Black people should be aware of growths on their skin and seek medical attention if they have any changing, bleeding, painful, or otherwise concerning spots, particularly on the hands and feet.

However, the notion that regular application of daily sunscreen will reduce an already extremely rare occurrence is nonsensical.

UV radiation does affect dark skin and can cause DNA damage; however, the damage is seven to eight times lower than the damage done to white skin, given the natural sun-protective effect of increased melanin in darker skin.

To be clear, using regular sunscreen may help with

reducing other effects of the sun’s rays such as sun burns, wrinkling, photoaging and freckling, which are all positive, but for the average black person sunscreen is unlikely to reduce their low risk of melanoma any further.

If sunscreen was important in the prevention of melanoma in dark-skinned patients, then why have we never heard of an epidemic of melanoma in sub-Saharan Africa, a region with intense sun, a lot of black people, and little sunscreen?

In certain sub populations of black people, such as those with disorders causing sun sensitivity, albino patients, or patients with suppressed immune systems, sunscreen use may reduce risk of melanoma.

But if you don’t fall into one of these categories, any meaningful risk reduction from the application of sunscreen is unlikely.

When it comes to the public health message related to sunscreen, skin cancer, and black people a one-size-fits-all approach misses the mark. The facts simply do not add up for the recommendation of sunscreen as prevention of melanoma in black people.

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Many dermatology and skin cancer focused organisations (a few of which I’m a member), promote the public health message of sunscreen use to reduce melanoma risk among black patients. However, this message is not supported by evidence. There exists no study that demonstrates sunscreen reduces skin cancer risk in black people. Period.

This issue of regular sunscreen use in black people was made even more pressing after the release of a study last week on sunscreen absorption in the Journal of the American Medical Association. This study showed that significant amounts of certain chemical sunscreen ingredients can get in the blood when used at maximal conditions, with unknown impacts on human health.

To me, the most shocking part of the study was that most of the participants were black, the group least likely to derive any meaningful associated health benefits from sunscreen, while being exposed to potentially harmful levels of chemicals.

As dermatologists and public health advocates, we can do a better job educating patients and the public about melanoma prevention, without promoting public health messages that are grounded in fear and/or lack evidence. Black people should be informed that they are at risk of developing melanoma, but that risk is low.

Any dark skinned person who develops a new, changing or symptomatic mole should see their doctor, particularly if the mole is on the palms or soles. We don’t know what the risk factors are for melanoma in black or dark skinned people, but they certainly are not UV rays. theconversation.com

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, May 16, 2019, PAGE 13

FREEPORT STUDENT FIRST TO RECEIVE BLIDC SCHOLARSHIP

JOYANN STUART, CBC Grand Bahama manager; Patrick Knowles, scholarship recipient, and Nikia Wells, CBC marketing manager, communications.

FREEPORT primary school student Patrick Knowles has been awarded the first ever Bahamas Light Industries Development Council (BLIDC) and industry partners scholarship.

He is headed to the Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Academy in the fall. Patrick will receive a six-year, full ride scholarship, thanks to the BLIDC, Digiprint, Purity Bakery, Epic Battery, Blanco Chemicals, Aquapure and Cartwright’s Bedding.

The Grand Bahama student initially applied for the Caribbean Bottling Company’s (CBC) Carleton Williams Scholarship. That award went to Gabriel Hall, but the interview panel was so impressed with Patrick’s

performance that BLIDC Vice President and CBC Brand Manager Karla Wells-Lisgaris was inspired to reach out to her fellow board members about creating a scholarship for him.

“All of the young men and women that we interviewed were exceptional, but Patrick blew us away,” Mrs Wells-Lisgaris said.

“We were impressed by his confidence, intelligence and eagerness to learn.”

Jonathan Cartwright, BLIDC president and Cartwright’s Bedding CEO, added, “As manufacturers, the BLIDC wants to support the development of Bahamian talent and nourish bright, young, potential Bahamian entrepreneurs. We recognise the importance of small

and medium-sized businesses and are focused on the growth of future businesspersons. Because of this, we were happy to support this scholarship initiative, and we hope that by investing in young Bahamians, like Patrick, we are investing in the advancement of the country, as a whole.”

Patrick will have 50 percent of his tuition expenses covered for the duration of his high school career as long as maintains his stellar academic performance.

The BLIDC is an organisation that was formed by and for Bahamian manufacturers and producers.

Its primary objectives are to promote, expand, preserve and protect light industries operating in The Bahamas.

‘Vaccinations have profound impact on infant mortality’

By FARRAH JOHNSON THE manager of the country’s National Immunisation Programme says vaccines have “profoundly” impacted the infant mortality rate as well as the spread of other communicable diseases in the country.

Ruth Bastian, a registered nurse from the Department of Public Health, said the country has “averted deaths” and seen a reduction in a number of cases of vaccine preventable diseases, in a presentation to the Rotary Club of Nassau on Tuesday.

“There’s about 26 vaccines that are available but each country makes the decision on what vaccines

they would introduce to their population,” she said.

“And that is based on what needs they find in terms of diseases that may be occurring in the population at any given time.”

According to Nurse Bastian, 17 of the 26 vaccines are administered to the Bahamian population.

She added that she doesn’t believe the Ministry of Health will introduce anymore, because the country is already “at the max”, in terms of the vaccines that are available.

Nurse Bastian also revealed that the immunisation schedule has been “reorganised” this year to “bump up” the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR)

vaccine. “Previously we had doses given at one year and then at four years [of age].

The recommendation was already there for us to make a change, but our measles cases in February this year sort of pushed us to change our immunisation schedule.

“So for our second dose of MMR, we moved that to 15-months of age and so now our babies will be receiving their two doses of measles prior to the age of two,” she explained.

She furthered that the decrease in maternal mortality in the country is also the result of sterility practices that encourage women to deliver in hospitals.

“Years ago you had where woman delivered at

home so there was always that risk of the mother developing tetanus.

“Now, because we routinely give all of our women tetanus [vaccines] during antenatal, as well as pertussis, we have now reduced that risk of any maternal tetanus or pertussis occurring in the newborn infant,” she said.

Still, Nurse Bastian said while this can be considered an achievement, the country should not get “complacent” just because some diseases “have not been seen in the country” for some time.

“We are meeting some of our targets in terms of elimination of diseases in our country; however, my

concern is complacency because we do not live amongst ourselves.”

Nurse Bastian said because Bahamians tend to travel frequently, there is still a high risk for an unvaccinated citizen to get infected outside the country and return home with a disease.

She added that some of the “biggest challenges” seen in the immunisation programme come from anti-vaccinators who use autism as an “excuse” to avoid immunising their children, as well as hesitant parents, who are apprehensive about immunising their child again after they had a reaction the first time.

As for the future,

Nurse Bastian said the programme is aiming to “heighten the awareness” about the importance of immunisation through “increased coverage” in schools and throughout local communities.

“We’re a tourist country.

We have over six million coming in every year and just how they’re traveling to Europe and going into the US and causing havoc, the same thing can happen here,” she said.

Two cases of measles in children have been reported in the country for the year.

The patients were siblings, both tourists, and officials believe they were exposed to the virus while travelling outside of the country.

PAGE 14, Thursday, May 16, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

OFFICIAL SAYS CUBAN VISITS TO NICARAGUA ARE UP 900%

Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) Limited

(Incorporated under the laws of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas) Consolidated Statement of Financial Position (Unaudited) As of 31 March 2019 and 31 December 2018 (Expressed in Bahamian dollars)

ASSETS Cash on hand and at banks Investment securities Loans and advances to customers Other assets Assets held for sale Investments in joint ventures Property, plant and equipment

2019 $

2018 $

126,782,582 83,016,216 439,787,010 7,851,779 13,844,133 226,433 10,141,152

106,498,105 83,057,535 439,699,830 4,668,546 13,319,401 215,957 10,441,514

Total assets

681,649,305

657,900,888

LIABILITIES Deposits from customers Accrued expenses and other liabilities Debt securities

549,122,683 1,306,238 34,518,982

532,734,531 1,333,981 33,964,458

Total liabilities

584,947,903

568,032,970

EQUITY Capital – ordinary shares Capital – preference shares Revaluation reserve Reserve for credit losses Retained earnings

20,380,694 15,000,000 319,950 61,000,758

20,380,694 15,000,000 330,695 54,156,529

Total equity

96,701,402

89,867,918

681,649,305

657,900,888

Total liabilities and equity

MANAGUA, Nicaragua Associated Press

MORE than 5,000 Cubans have visited Nicaragua so far this year, a 900% increase over the total for all of 2018, Nicaraguan officials said yesterday. It lends evidence to anecdotal accounts from Cuban migrants who say they passed through Nicaragua en route to the US-Mexico border, where they are requesting asylum.

Others come to buy hardto-find goods for resale in Cuba, and Nicaraguan officials say still others are drawn by the country’s volcanoes and lakes. “We have has a very significant arrival from Cuban tourists,” Ana Carolina García, Nicaragua

National Tourism Institute promotion director, said on the pro-government Channel 4. “Last year we had 556 Cubans and today we’ve already had more than 5,000.”

Nicaragua has made it easier for Cubans to obtain visas. They need just a passport, photos and a $30 fee.

García said the visits increased after Venezuelan airline Conviasa started a Havana-Managua-Caracas route three times a week in December. The deteriorating economic situation for many Cubans and the loosening of visa restrictions helped make Nicaragua a favored destination.

While some come to shop, others embark on an overland trek to the U.S.Mexico border.

Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) Limited

HAPPY 130TH BIRTHDAY, EIFFEL TOWER

Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income (Unaudited) For the Three Months Ended 31 March 2019 (Expressed in Bahamian dollars) 2019 $

2018 $

16,553,755 929,998

15,013,051 855,769

17,483,753

15,868,820

Interest expense

(3,066,525)

(3,403,890 )

Net interest income

14,417,228

12,464,930

710,926 20,156 73,240

688,227 20,156 81,816

15,221,550

13,255,129

2,973,677 2,971,204 2,632,268 346,125

2,818,907 2,522,456 2,099,775 368,067

8,923,274

7,809,205

6,298,276

5,445,924

10,476

-

6,308,752

5,445,924

524,732

834,011

6,833,484

6,279,935

28,805,104

28,798,789

0.23

0.21

INCOME Interest income Bank deposits, loans and advances Investment securities

Fees and commissions Rental income Other income EXPENSES General and administrative Salaries and employee benefits Provision for loan losses Depreciation and amortisation

Operating profit Share of profits of joint ventures Net income from continuing operations Profits of assets held for sale Net income and total comprehensive income

Weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding Earnings per share

PARIS Associated Press

Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) Limited Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity (Unaudited) For the Three Months Ended 31 March 2019 (Expressed in Bahamian dollars) Capital – Ordinary Shares $

Capital – Preference Shares $

Revaluation Reserve $

Reserve for Credit Losses $

Retained Earnings $

Total $

20,380,694

15,000,000

330,695

-

54,156,529

89,867,918

Net income

-

-

-

-

6,833,484

6,833,484

Total comprehensive income

-

-

-

-

6,833,484

6,833,484

Depreciation transfer

-

-

(10,745 )

-

10,745

-

Total transfers

-

-

(10,745 )

-

10,745

-

Issuance of ordinary shares

-

-

-

-

-

-

Dividends – preference shares

-

-

-

-

-

-

Dividends – ordinary shares

-

-

-

-

-

-

As of 1 January 2019 Comprehensive income

Transfers

Transactions with owners

Total transactions with owners

-

-

-

-

-

-

As of 31 March 2019

20,380,694

15,000,000

319,950

-

61,000,758

96,701,402

Dividends per share

-

-

Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) Limited

Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity (Unaudited) For the Year Ended 31 December 2018 (Expressed in Bahamian dollars)

As of 31 December 2017

Capital – Ordinary Shares $

Capital – Preference Shares $

Revaluation Reserve $

Reserve for Credit Losses $

Retained Earnings $

Total $

20,363,328

15,000,000

373,659

4,090,372

49,489,244

89,316,603

Effects of changes in accounting policies

-

-

-

(1,803,042 )

(5,893,414 )

20,363,328

15,000,000

373,659

-

47,686,202

83,423,189

Net income

-

-

-

-

22,364,469

22,364,469

Total comprehensive income

-

-

-

-

22,364,469

22,364,469

Depreciation transfer

-

-

(42,964 )

-

42,964

-

Total transfers

-

-

(42,964 )

-

42,964

-

17,366

-

-

-

48,562

65,928

-

-

-

-

(975,000 )

(975,000 )

As of 1 January 2018

(4,090,372 )

Comprehensive income

Transfers

Transactions with owners Issuance of ordinary shares Dividends – preference shares Dividends – ordinary shares Total transactions with owners As of 31 December 2018 Dividends per share

-

-

-

-

(15,010,668 )

(15,010,668 )

17,366

-

-

-

(15,937,106 )

(15,919,740 )

20,380,694

15,000,000

330,695

-

54,156,529

89,867,918

0.52

0.65

Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) Limited Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited) For the Three Months Ended 31 March 2019 (Expressed in Bahamian dollars) Capital Management The objectives of Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) Limited (the Bank) when managing capital, which comprises total equity on the face of the consolidated statement of financial position, are: 

To comply with the capital requirements set by the Central Bank of The Bahamas (the Central Bank).



To safeguard the Bank’s ability to continue as a going concern so that it can continue to provide returns for its shareholders and benefits for other stakeholders; and



To maintain a strong capital base to support the development of its business.

Capital adequacy and the use of regulatory capital are monitored by the Bank’s management, employing techniques designed to ensure compliance with guidelines established by the Central Bank, including quantitative and qualitative measures. The required information is filed with the Central Bank on a quarterly basis.

The Central Bank, the Bank’s principal regulator, requires that the Bank maintains a ratio of total regulatory capital to risk-weighted assets at or above a minimum of 14.00%. For the three months ended 31 March 2019 and the year ended 31 December 2018, the Bank complied with all of the externally imposed capital requirements to which it is subject.

In 2017, the US government ended the so-called “wet foot, dry foot” policy, which essentially had allowed Cubans who reached US soil to stay.

Rather than attempting to cross to the Florida coast on rickety boats, Cubans began moving through Central America and Mexico to the border.

Along the US-Mexico border, 10,910 Cubans crossed in a six-month period, more than the 7,079 in the prior 12 months.

García, the tourism official, said the influx of Cubans had softened the blow to Nicaragua’s tourism industry since antigovernment protests were violently repressed beginning more than a year ago.

PARIS wished the Eiffel Tower a happy birthday yesterday with an elaborate nighttime laser show retracing the monument’s 130-year history. Earlier in the day, the monument invited 1,300 children to a giant “snack time” beneath the tower.

After nightfall, a 12-minute laser display began flashing across the facade. Professional climbers scaled the monument to mount the lights for the unprecedented show.

The Eiffel Tower opened to the public for the first time on May 15, 1889, several days after its inauguration at the World’s Fair.

Trump’s Iran moves trigger new warnings WASHINGTON Associated Press SUDDEN White House moves in the Mideast sparked alarm in Congress yesterday as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned President Donald Trump away from war with Iran and lawmakers in both parties demanded more information on his thinking.

The top leaders in Congress — the so-called Gang of Eight— are to receive a classified briefing from the administration today. But Pelosi said the White House has resisted a wider presentation for all lawmakers, part of what Democrats say is a pattern of stonewalling.

Some Republicans, including Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, sought out their own briefings as the administration called US personnel home from Iraq and sent military might to the Persian Gulf, claiming unspecified threats linked to Iran.

Pelosi said Trump has “no business” moving toward a Middle East confrontation without approval from Congress.

“We have to avoid any war with Iran,” she told

fellow Democrats in a private meeting, according to a person in the room who was granted anonymity to discuss it.

Yesterday, the US ordered all non-essential personnel to leave Iraq, and last week an aircraft carrier group and other resources were shifted to the Persian Gulf region. In public and in private, officials are sticking by the administration’s warnings of serious threats from Iranian-backed forces in the region, yet they reject the idea that the US moves are a prelude to war. Trump himself denied a report that the administration had reviewed a plan to send 120,000 troops.

Still, the actions are exposing skepticism in the US and among foreign allies, a legacy of the 2003 invasion of Iraq that was based on false intelligence.

US officials have not publicly provided any evidence to back up claims of an increased Iranian threat.

“Congress has not authorised war with Iran, and the administration, if it were contemplating military action with Iran, must come to Congress to seek

approval,” said Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He said he had never seen anything like the “non-answers” coming from the administration.

Republicans who have been briefed said the threats are real.

The chairman of Foreign Relations Committee, Jim Risch of Idaho, said that based on the information he received he supports the administration actions, including the repositioning of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier to the Gulf.

And Republican Marco Rubio of Florida said the information he’s seen shows “by far the single most imminent potential conflict of this significance” in his eight years in Congress. He said, “The intelligence is unmistakable and clear and it’s backed by observable movement on the ground.”

Still, Romney expressed support for the Senate Democrats’ request for more information in a classified briefing, and Risch said a broader briefing for senators, perhaps next week, was “in the works.”

ALABAMA MOVES ABORTION TO CENTRE OF 2020 CAMPAIGN WASHINGTON Associated Press

ALABAMA’S new law restricting abortion in nearly every circumstance has moved one of the most polarising issues in American politics to the center of the 2020 presidential campaign.

The state’s legislation — the toughest of several anti-abortion measures that have passed recently, with the only exception being a serious risk to the woman’s health — prompted an outcry from Democratic presidential candidates, who warned that conservatives were laying the groundwork to undermine the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. The White House, meanwhile,

didn’t comment on the Alabama bill, signed into law by Republican Gov. Kay Ivey, as President Donald Trump tries to balance his conservative base against the potential of antagonising women who are already skeptical of his presidency.

The furor over abortion quickly took over on the Democratic campaign trail.

Rallying supporters in New Hampshire, Sen. Kamala Harris said she would back a legal challenge to Alabama and Georgia’s restrictive abortion laws though she declined to go as far as presidential rival Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who has promised to only nominate judges ready to preserve the 1973 ruling that established a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion.