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‘GOVT TARGETING FNM MP GIBSON’ Police seize rental vehicles belonging to party’s Long Island representative

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net OPPOSITION Leader Michael Pintard has accused the Davis administration of targeting former Water and Sewerage executive chairman Adrian Gibson, after several rental vehicles belonging to Mr Gibson were allegedly seized on Long Island as part of a police investigation.

When contacted yesterday, Assistant Commissioner of Police Leamond Deleveaux

confirmed that officers were in Long Island conducting investigations concerning WSC. However, he would not confirm whether police had taken several of Mr Gibson’s rental vehicles into custody. Further, he would not say whether the Long Island MP was being investigated.

But sources familiar with the matter told The Tribune yesterday that some of Mr Gibson’s vehicles were seized by police last week.

SEE PAGE THREE

NEWLY appointed Bahamas Power and Light chief executive officer Shevonn Cambridge last night defended his new appointment, insisting that all necessary protocols were followed before he assumed the senior role at the power company.

Last week, BPL announced Mr Cambridge, the former director of utilities and

energy at the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority’s (URCA), as the power provider’s new CEO. The move came weeks after former BPL CEO Whitney Heastie and human resources director Evis Missick resigned from the company.

However, questions have been raised about the “objectivity” of BPL’s decision given Mr Cambridge’s background.

SEE PAGE FIVE

By PAVEL BAILEY

POLICE are currently investigating two homicides that occurred over the weekend after one man was shot to death and another man died after being stabbed in a reported family dispute.

The first incident happened on Friday shortly before 9pm on Sierra Leone Avenue, Flamingo Gardens.

Upon arrival, authorities found a man lying in the street suffering from suspected gunshot wounds.

When Emergency Medical Services arrived on the scene, they said the victim showed no signs of life.

SEE PAGE FOUR

CALVIN SMYRE PICKED FOR US AMBASSADOR NOMINATION

NEW BPL CEO: ALL PROTOCOLS FOLLOWED FOR APPOINTMENT

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

TWO MORE KILLED IN WEEKEND VIOLENCE

CALVIN Smyre has been named by United States President Joseph Biden as nominee for ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.

President Biden made the announcement in a press statement on May 13.

According to that release, Mr Smyre has served for 48 years as an elected representative in the Georgia State Assembly, and was chairman of the Democratic Caucus within the Assembly for over a decade.

SEE PAGE FOUR

SUNK BY RECORD RAINFALL

A CAR swallowed up in flood water over the weekend as a record amount of rainfall hit New Providence. See PAGE TWO for more photographs.

Photo: Racardo Thomas/Tribune Staff

By PAVEL BAILEY THERE was a record 12.37 inches of rainfall on Saturday as the western part of New Providence experienced serious flooding sparked by torrential downpour.

Wayne Neely, a veteran weather forecaster, in a post on Facebook over the weekend said the rain resulted in hurricane level flooding throughout the western part of New

Providence including the areas of Cable Beach, West Bay Street and Coral Harbour.

In explaining the significance of the flooding, which left several cars stalled out on the road, Mr Neely said that it is not unusual for rain in May but this level of rainfall is unprecedented, with the average rainfall for the month only hitting around six inches.

Basil Dean, former

deputy director in the Meteorology Department, echoed Neely’s sentiments that this was a near record amount of rainfall in the nation’s capital.

A resident of Cable Beach himself, Mr Dean described how he had to use water boots to get from his house to his vehicle and that his driveway’s concrete pyramids were under at least 12 inches of water.

SEE PAGE TWO

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

POLICE PROBE CRUISE LINE SEX ATTACK

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net BIMINI police are investigating an alleged sexual assault involving two crew members on board a Virgin Cruise Line.

According to a senior police officer, a male crewman was arrested and is assisting police with their investigations.

SEE PAGE THREE

PAGE 2, Monday, May 16, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

FIGHTING THROUGH FLOODS CORAL HARBOUR

GLADSTONE RD

BLAKE RD

CARMICHAEL RD WEST from page one Mr Dean, however, said that there should be gradual improvement in the weather over the next few days.

“We will start to see some improvements in rain patterns soon. On Monday there could be morning showers and another round in the afternoon, but by Tuesday things should start to level off. But in looking back at these weekend events it was a phenomenal amount of rainfall, especially considering the average rainfall for May averages around six inches normally.”

Mr Neely further remarked that The Bahamas stands a higher risk of more intense flooding incidents occurring in the future due to effects of climate change and a higher water table in New Providence.

“This does not bode well

for the country with the higher water table and climate change flooding will become more frequent if not the norm. Flooding is getting more severe and we are going to feel the brunt of it,” Mr Neely said.

Mr Neely said the Meteorological Department could no longer be put on the backburner.

“Gone are the days of the government putting the Meteorological Department and the weather on the back burner. This is now a priority and the best the government can do is try to mitigate flooding in the country.”

When asked what the public can do in the face of increasing flood risks and the upcoming hurricane season, Mr Neely recommended that they prepare for both floods and hurricanes by renewing their insurance and ensuring that they have the necessary supplies in stock.

CARS in deep flood water over the weekend.

Photos: Racardo Thomas/Tribune Staff

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, May 16, 2022, PAGE 3

‘Govt targeting FNM MP Gibson’ from page one This newspaper also understands that Mr Gibson is currently out of the country and is scheduled to return this week, after which he will speak more to the issue.

Meanwhile, during a press conference held following the Free National Movement’s conclave on Saturday, Mr Pintard told reporters that the FNM was still waiting to be appraised of all the facts.

He said it was apparent to the party that Mr Gibson was being targeted, adding that officials were hoping that whatever allegations being made against the Long Island MP would be found false.

He said: “As you are fully aware, the present Progressive Liberal Party has targeted Mr Gibson. We do not know all of the facts in this matter, but they are going out of their way to drip feed the public with a fair amount of information suggesting a conclusion that has not been arrived at yet. So, we are waiting to hear the full set of accusations being made by the Progressive Liberal Party and Mr Gibson is a young talented Bahamian and we’re praying that anything that they’re asserting is absolutely false, but we are going to hear all of the facts. He’s a member of our family that we care about dearly and so we’ll wait and see.”

Mr Pintard was also asked how the FNM felt about Mr Gibson being allegedly investigated by police.

However, the opposition leader only said the party felt troubled over the fact that many FNM supporters were being unjustly victimised and targeted by the Davis administration.

“Listen, we feel terrible that many FNMs are presently being savaged by the Progressive Liberal Party,” the Marco City MP added. “Urban Renewal workers and members from social services

throughout the Ministry of Environment where contracts have been ended.

“In almost every ministry, this government has determined that persons who have been hired or contracted over the last four years will be the focus of their attention both in terms of how they characterise them and in terms to how they end their livelihood. So, when you ask about my feelings, don’t confine it to one person. I ask you to look broadly at the incredible savagery that is being meted out to so many Bahamians who are challenged economically at the moment.”

Earlier this month, The Tribune reported that police questioned WSC General Manager Elwood Donaldson for hours as part of their investigation.

He was placed on leave in December.

The details of those investigations are not clear but an audit into the corporation –– which was leaked last month –– allegedly found red flags in the operations of the institution.

Reportedly, the Internal Compliance Division at the institution allegedly revealed “high-level corrupt transactions” concerning multiple projects. The audit accused a former executive member of conflict of interest and fraud.

The investigation, according to the report, is part of a probe into the issuance of contracts and the management of the corporation under the Minnis administration.

Mr Gibson’s tenure at the corporation was put under spotlight last year after he was accused of awarding no bid contracts to a company that was allegedly owned by people he knew.

However, he has since denied the allegations, saying the false claims were the sad reality of “silly season” and “mudslinging” that have become features of Bahamian politics.

FNM HOLDS CONCLAVE ON COVID, CRIME AND TAXES

By PAVEL BAILEY

THE Free National Movement hosted a conclave on Saturday to discuss their plans for the future and criticising the Davis Administration’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, crime and government’s mixed messages on taxes.

At a press conference held at FNM headquarters senior party members, including Opposition leader Micheal Pintard, came together to discuss their parties‘ plans to bounce back from the last election.

Following the conclave, the party intends to run a grassroots campaign across the nation to reconnect with their base who they believe felt abandoned during the previous Minnis administration.

It was also during this conclave that several prominent FNM party members took aim at the current administration with what they described as the PLP’s mishandling of the nation.

Among them was FNM chairman Dr Duane Sands, former Minister of Health.

He acknowledged the recent spike in virus cases

and stated that he is not surprised by this recent development.

“There is certainly no surprise, the metrics of COVID in The Bahamas have been demonstrating an uptick, an increase now for several weeks. We have seen an increase in the number of cases, an increase in the hospitalisation rates. We’ve had two additional deaths, we’re now at 800 (deaths),” Dr Sands said.

Dr Sands attributed the recent COVID spike to growing public disillusionment with safety protocols.

While not calling for a restoration of stricter health guidelines, Dr Sands said that stronger adherence to existing measures could help bring the numbers back down.

“The challenge unfortunately is that the message of discipline is no longer popular, and as much as we would all like to move beyond COVID, unfortunately around the world in the United States, at our backdoor COVID is very much here.

“The Bahamas has not been as aggressive with its vaccination uptake as we perhaps would like. And certainly, all of these things put together unfortunately

POLICE PROBE CRUISE LINE SEX ATTACK from page one

Assistant Superintendent of Police Stephen Rolle reported that shortly after 7am on Thursday officers at the Alice Town Police Station received a report of a sexual assault on board a Virgin Cruise Line. He said a team of uniform officers were sent to investigate the matter.

According to initial investigations, shortly after 12am on Wednesday,

May 11, 2022, a female employee reported that while at the crew bar she met a male crew member.

The woman told officers that they engaged in a casual conversation and eventually went into her cabin. While there, she said that the male crew member had sexual intercourse with her against her will.

ASP Rolle said officers took the male into police custody. He said investigations are underway.

places us in a somewhat challenging position with COVID. By the grace of God and with a little bit more adherence to the COVID protocols we might see this tampered down over time but right now we are in a difficult spot.”

Mr Pintard, when questioned on the PLP’s recent crime conclave he criticised the move.

He said it was not an effective collaboration to face high crime rates head on, adding the meeting only gave a police briefing on the surge of gang

violence and homicides in the nation with no real action to address the issue being taken since then.

“In terms of it being a real collaborative meeting where we could have discussed a range of possible solutions, whether it’s direct crime fighting that the police oversees, whether it is issues with respect to the judiciary, whether it’s social and other interventions by the ministry of social services, etc, those discussions were not had in any meaningful way.” He went on to

describe the conclave as a “public relations exercise.”

The leader of the opposition went on to urge the government to clarify its tax position.

He said: “We hope that the government would explain its plans to meet the revenue projections that they have stated, I think it’s somewhere around 1.3 billion. They claim that they don’t intend to introduce new taxes the prime minister has made that statement. But his ministers have clearly signaled that they intend to raise taxes.

“So, they have to get on the same page in terms of what is the message of this government in terms of how they are going to reach the revenue targets that they have and essentially without raising taxes. That’s one thing, the second is that they forecasted that they are going to cut the staff in multiple ministries and the allocation to multiple ministries. Again, the messaging is confusing, because the prime minister has said one thing on the subject, his other ministers have said something else.”

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PAGE 4, Monday, May 16, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

CALVIN SMYRE PICKED FOR US AMBASSADOR NOMINATION from page one

CALVIN SMYRE

He continues to serve as Chairman Emeritus of the Caucus.

He is the ‘Dean’ of the Georgia House of Representatives and serves on the Appropriations, Rules, and Higher Education Committees.

Mr Smyre is President Emeritus of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL), and a member of the National Conference of State Legislators. In the private sector, he served for almost four decades as

the Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs for Synovus Financial Corporation.

Further, Mr Smyre represented Synovus on the Financial Services Roundtable in Washington, DC, and was the President of the Synovus Foundation.

Mr Smyre served on the Board of Trustees of the Medical College of Georgia Foundation; the Morehouse School of Medicine; the Jack D Hughston Foundation and the Fort Valley State University Foundation as its chair.

He earned his Bachelor of Science from Fort

Valley State University, Fort Valley, Georgia, and has received over 200 local, state and national honours and awards.

In 1985 and 2005, he was selected by his peers as the National “Legislator of the Year.”

Last month, US Senator Christopher Dodd said he was told that officials were making progress to find a new US ambassador to The Bahamas, more than 10 years after the last American ambassador stepped down.

The country has not had an American Ambassador since 2011 when Nicole

Avant stepped down from the post. She was appointed to the position in June of 2009 by President Barack Obama.

There were several people nominated for the position over the years.

Among the most recent picks for the position were real estate developer Douglas Manchester and entrepreneur and philanthropist William A Douglass, who were both nominated

by US President Donald Trump in 2017 and 2020 respectively.

However, both nominations were withdrawn.

YOUTH PARLIAMENT MEETS

PARTICIPANTS in the Youth in Parliament meeting on Friday discuss mental health.

Photos: Racardo Thomas/Tribune Staff

TWO MORE KILLED IN WEEKEND VIOLENCE from page one

According to the official police report, the male victim was having a conversation with someone in a vehicle when a man pulled up in another vehicle. The police said that this man then opened fire on the

victim before fleeing the scene.

Police did not release the victim’s identity.

Police said: “A male passenger armed with a firearm exited and discharged the weapon at the male. He was struck several times about the body, resulting in fatal injuries. This matter

remains under active investigation.”

The second murder happened on Saturday morning shortly before 4am at a residence on White Fin Tuna Road off Carmichael Road.

Police were called to a residence there in response to a stabbing incident.

Police found a man lying

on the floor with wounds consistent with a stabbing in the front room of the residence.

EMS later pronounced him dead at the scene.

“Investigation thus far revealed that a male and female were involved in an argument which resulted in the female stabbing the male with a sharp object. A female

is in police custody, assisting with the investigation into this matter,” police said of the incident in a press statement.

While police yesterday would not confirm that the victim and alleged perpetrator were relatives, a source familiar with the situation said there was a familial

relationship. The victim’s identity was not released up to press time.

Authorities are asking anyone with information on these matters to contact the Criminal Investigations Department at 502-9991/2, Crime stoppers at 328TIPS (8477) or the nearest police station.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, May 16, 2022, PAGE 5

New BPL CEO: All protocols followed for appointment

from page one According to Opposition leader Michael Pintard, the URCA Act - the regulator’s governing legislation- stipulates that its executives must undergo a year-long ‘cooling-off’ period upon leaving the agency before they can take up a post with any private sector entity, they once were responsible for supervising.

However, this condition can be waived if approved

by URCA’s board, which is appointed by the government.

Asked about this yesterday, Mr Cambridge said: “I think there are some misunderstandings with regard to the purpose of the cooling off period, but I can assure you that all of the relevant provisions of statute has been complied with so I think the concern is kind of moot or unwarranted at this time.”

When pressed if his

SHEVONN Cambridge speaking last night. appointment was approved passed whatever resoluby the board, the BPL CEO tions were necessary to give added: “All of the necessary effect to that decision.”

Mr Cambridge’s appointprovisions of the URCA act were complied with me ment comes at a time coming over to the utility. the utility is struggling to The board would’ve consid- finance capital upgrades ered it and they would’ve and maintenance ahead of

peak summer demand.

It also comes amid concerns about soaring inflation and rising fuel costs, with fears that BPL light bills could increase sometime later this year.

“The rising fuel cost is something that’s a global concern,” the BPL CEO said when asked how the power provider plans to mitigate rising fuel costs.

“We don’t have that much control over that aspect of it but we can control the basket the fuels that we utilise. I know the prime minister has also placed some emphasis on the integration of green and renewable energy mix and if we’re successful in doing that then we can drive the costs down a bit, but other than that, there are a number of other tools available to us and we’re exploring hedging options and changing the different fuels in the basket, as I said. That would give us some what we call physical

hedging options.”

Meanwhile, in recent weeks there have been complaints about frequent power cuts throughout New Providence.

Asked about the cause of recent outages, Mr Cambridge could not say yesterday, noting that he had not yet been fully briefed on the situation since assuming office last week.

“I can’t really speak to the power outages because I haven’t been briefed by the team. I know about the ones in the last two and three days and they were all weather related and I’m getting updated on those and the teams are actively out, they’re trying to correct the situation for all and we’re going to take the necessary preventative measures to try and mitigate these outages,” he said.

“What we’re going to do is implement some reliability centre maintenance programmes that’s going to

be focused on preventive and mitigative type things as well as we’re going to be doing some capital works that are going to enhance the efficiencies in our system so basically through performance monitoring and maintenance data analytics, we’re going to hope to drive down the current rates that you’re seeing.”

According to BPL, Mr Cambridge spent 25 years at the Bahamas Electricity Corporation, working through the ranks of assistant engineer, senior manager, regional manager, assistant general manager and deputy general manager prior to his appointment at URCA. “At this critical juncture, Cambridge brings a methodical level of leadership, experience and qualifications needed to manage and champion the transformation envisioned for the company,” the company said in a statement last week.

BUSINESS LEADERS ATTEND CONFERENCE AT ATLANTIS DOZENS of delegates from across the region attended the opening of 2022 Chief Executive Officers’ (CEOs) and Leadership Conference at Atlantis resort last night.

The four-day event, hosted by Bahamas Power and Light in partnership with CARILEC, is being held under this year’s theme, “Leadership Matters: Living and Learning through Disruption and Dislocation.”

Prime Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis brought the keynote remarks at yesterday’s opening ceremony, discussing the importance of strong, steady leadership in the face of climate change and a post COVID world.

“This conference is particularly essential given the fall out of the COVID19 pandemic. While the lockdowns and restrictive approaches to managing COVID had devastating impact on economies, leaders in all spheres must now think and act. Leadership in today’s world now requires innovation, transcending vision and a superlative gift of strategic planning to navigate the unprecedented challenges to recovery. We can see that your theme brightly acknowledges that leaders really matter.”

He also said: “Energy has long been established as a key source of economic growth. Recognizing

PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis cuts a ribbon to mark the start of the 2022 Chief Executive Officers’ and Leadership Conference.

Photos: Racardo Thomas/Tribune Staff this, my government has determined to make massive investments in infrastructure, energy and technological upgrades.”

This year’s conference allows for regional leaders in the energy sector to affirm shared interests and also come up with solutions to challenges being faced in the industry.

“In terms of relevance, we’re able to share with our peers the experiences,” said BPL CEO Shevonn Cambridge. “It’s not like a North American conference. It’s a Caribbean conference so we all have similar environments and similar challenges like I said. It’s a time for peers to get together and share

experiences and resources.”

Meanwhile, BPL chairman Pedro Rolle said it is his hope that all participants in this year’s conference

will leave “with a renewed sense of urgency regarding leadership.”

“We are grateful to CARILEC who has been

an exceptional partner to our organisation for many years, most recently during a clarion call to our regional counterparts in the electricity industry to send assistance to Abaco after Hurricane Dorian,” he added.

“The association’s mission to enhancing the effectiveness of its members is evident in the planning and organization of this conference. Here in the Bahamas, we are no stranger to living and learning through disruptions and dislocations throughout our archipelago, we are still reeling in the wake of Hurricane Dorian and the compounded impact of the COVID-19 pandemic which introduced newer challenges to us as individuals and organizations alike.”

At last night’s ceremony, delegates were treated to performances by the Royal Bahamas Police Force Band and a rush out by the One Family Junkanoo group.

The conference is slated to end May 18. It is also being hosted alongside a Legal Officers’ and Corporate Secretaries’ Track which will take place on May18-19.

PAGE 6, Monday, May 16, 2022

The Tribune Limited

THE TRIBUNE

PICTURE OF THE DAY

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

Publisher/Editor 1903-1914

LEON E. H. DUPUCH,

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Flooding shows impact we face from climate change IT IS a little more than six months since the climate summit in Glasgow that catapulted Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis briefly into the international spotlight.

The weekend’s flooding after record levels of rainfall brought into sharp focus the reality of the possible effects of climate change for many Bahamians.

Streets were flooded throughout areas of western New Providence particularly. The lake road lived up to its name, becoming an extension of the lake in many parts, while other roads became rivers.

A number of cars stalled on the roads, while many people had to act quickly to try to prevent their homes from being flooded – or to limit the damage if the waters got in. The Bahamasair hangar flooded, and everything ground to slow motion around the island as people picked their way carefully through the waters.

Weather forecaster Wayne Neely said that the level of rain was so high that it broke records. He said we had 12.37 inches of rainfall – and added that to put that in context, you would normally expect eight to 12 inches of rainfall from a category 1 to 3 hurricane passing over the island.

Fellow weather expert Basil Dean said he himself had to use water boots to get from his house to his vehicle, and his driveway’s concrete pyramids were under at least 12 inches of water.

Mr Neely added: “This does not bode well for the country - with the higher water table and climate change, flooding will become more frequent if not the norm. Flooding is getting more severe and we are going to feel the brunt of it.”

He added: “Gone are the days of the government putting the Meteorological Department and the weather on the back burner. This is now a priority and the best the government can do is try to mitigate flooding in the country.”

Frightening words – but not ones we should be surprised by.

After all, Prime Minister Davis has described climate change as “the greatest existential threat that The Bahamas has ever faced”. His predecessors used similar terms. Former Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said in 2019: “When one storm can obliterate an island-state or a number of states in one hurricane season: how will we survive, how can we develop, how will we continue to exist?”

Before that, former Prime Minister Perry Christie in 2015 warned of an “existential threat to the survival of a number of small island developing states” and in 2009, former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham said climate change “is a serious threat to our economic viability, our social development and our territorial integrity”.

So this kind of flooding, shocking in the moment, has been a long time coming – and Mr Neely is right that we need to be prepared for this to become more frequent.

So how prepared are we? Six months on from that conference in Glasgow, the government has made moves towards bringing in extra money for the country through the use of carbon credits.

Essentially, because we do not pollute as much, we can use that to be paid by polluters to offset their output. So what will that income go towards? That part is a little more hazy so far.

In practical terms, we have not seen plans announced for an array of flood walls, for changing zoning to create flood plains, legislation requiring increased standards for construction, significant moves towards renewable energy, and so on. It is only six months, so we shouldn’t have expected a revolution by now – but the focus seems to be on income rather than cleaning up our own house in preparation for rising flood waters.

That’s the missing part of the talk on climate action so far – and that’s the part that more obviously will impact people’s lives.

So while Mr Davis has put himself in a good position with his Glasgow speech, and there has been talk of taking a lead on climate change, there appear to be few steps taken so far that would have had an impact with regard to the weekend’s flooding – or any repeated flooding a year from now, two years or more.

Climate change is a more significant threat to our country than any invader might be, and we need to devote resources accordingly. We have the RBDF equipped with ships to handle incursions from any unwanted ships in our waters – but what do we have to handle incursions on our land from the rising sea levels?

This is the next step we need to take.

Or else we need to be prepared, as Mr Neely says, to feel the brunt of it.

As our streets this weekend showed, the rising waters cannot be stopped.

PEOPLE embrace yesterday outside the scene of Saturday’s shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.

Photo: Matt Rourke/AP

Banks no longer want to serve us EDITOR, The Tribune.

BANKS and their lack of any customer service or what is their job description. Haven’t you noticed how banks don’t want to serve you personally anymore?

Why today with COVID behind us you have to still line up outside your socalled friendly bank for at least 30 minutes and then wait on line inside for a further 15 minutes to get what used to be friendly service?

Why? In one bank out west imagine customers on line outside of the branch were held up by robbers...yes held up by robbers. The robber had a gun!

Is this a game... Annoy the customer enough and they will see what we, the Bank wants - we don’t want to continue to give friendly personal service use that machine and stop annoying us and disturbing us as we continue to add on service charges whilst reducing

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net almost all personal one on one service!

Hear cheques could be the next hit.... I am totally convinced the Canadian banks have the fullest backing of the Governor of the Central Bank and if so he should be ashamed as surely his job is to ensure Joe Public continues to receive a reasonable level of service on a personal basis......imagine a bank west has a sign on the door...for personal services make an appointment for Saturday!

Oh, yes, all this hype on digital is just that - Central Bank launched their digital thing Sand Dollar and seems to be a failure [total lack of understanding and pre-concept research would have told you what the Family Island people want].

Now hype Central Bank

will launch Sand Dollar as a main street service in direct competition with RBC-Scotia and CIBC – stupid you just falling into the plan of those once friendly Canadian banks.

My opinion, Central Bank should never have permitted the banks to leave the islands... what was wrong with a twice weekly bank-plane visit... it worked for years... banks profited so much they built or rented space then Ottawa’s blindness came down and Central Bank accommodated.

Thank goodness we have a friendly locally owned bank... which is going to have to expand and defy the interdict of Ottawa that a friendly personal banking service is best - Central Bank thought you were supposed to be on the People’s side?

STEPHEN MOSS Nassau, April 30, 2022.

Readers have say on issues READERS have been speaking up on issues in the news on The Tribune website, www.tribune242.com.

After Minister for Economic Affairs Michael Halkitis defended the decision to approve price increases of certain breadbasket items, ondrap4 said: “Those who earn 6 figure salaries do not really care about cents. Every thing is relative.

“A tin of evaporated milk was sold for 1.09 three weeks ago. Now going for 1.39. Cents, yes but percentage wise the increase was 28%. The more expensive brand yester day was costing 1.89.

“1 gallon mazola corn oil was 13.95 without vat last December. Now it is 19.74 vat inclusive. Much more than cents but perccentage wise it was 42%. And now it will cost even more as the international price recently went up.

“The greatest shortcoming of humanity is its inability to understand

percentages.”

Bahamianson said: “Slap me and wake me up please.

Hold on, you said you are going to lower VAT. You lowered VAT buy added it on to other items? Now the same items you added 10% on, you want to increase the cost on. Wait, doesnt. that mean we will pay even more VAT on something we weren’t paying VAT on under the Fnm? Boy, we got swing.”

Tribanon added: “Like Davis himself, this most deceitful, condescending and cruel SOB thinks the less fortunate among us complain way to much about the 10% VAT on breadbasket food items and the higher gasoline tax.

“The privileged political ruling class callously refuse

to acknowledge the severe hardship many Bahamians are experiencing and therefore steadfastly reject providing the kinds of relief so clearly warranted in the circumstances, e.g., VATfree breadbasket food items and a gasoline tax holiday for at least the rest of this year and possibly all of next year.”

Hrysippus said: “It is very simple; the government either approve the price increases in these Breadbasket items or they do not. If they do not then the wholesalers cannot afford to import them, the retailers cannot afford to sell them at a loss and the items will disappear off of the grocery store shelves.”

M0J0 added: “To be honest no matter what they increase or hike, the consumer still has all power, simply don’t buy it if its not a necessity. Demand always controls supply. Making noise over something you hold most power over really don’t make sense to me.”

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, May 16, 2022, PAGE 7

Three accused over drug find

By PAVEL BAILEY TWO MEN and a woman faced a charge of drug possession with intent to supply in a Magistrate’s Court on Friday.

Jadri Evans, Darius Brown and Kelley Nottage appeared before Senior Magistrate Samuel McKinney on a shared charge of possession of dangerous drugs with intent to supply.

At around 5:30pm on May 10 on Fire Trail Road police stopped the three suspects in a Blue Nissan Bluebird for suspected drugs and firearms. Upon conducting a search of the vehicle authorities uncovered a black plastic wrap containing Indian Hemp

in the front passenger seat.

Another clear plastic container with hemp in it was also found in the vehicle’s armrest resulting in a combined seizure of 9 1/8 ounces of Indian Hemp.

In court, Evans pleaded guilty to the offence while the other two accused pleaded not guilty.

Evans then told the magistrate that he admitted owning the drugs to his arresting officers and further claimed that he was on the way to take them to Carmichael Road Police Station at the time.

Evans’ attorney, Ian Cargill, as part of his client’s plea of mitigation pointed out that the accused had no prior record and had admitted guilt to both the court

and police at the earliest opportunity to save their time.

While Cargill said that the other accused were unaware of the drugs in the car and that Evans is a smoker, he still asked that the court give a remorseful Evans a second chance to be an upstanding citizen.

In view of this the Magistrate ordered Evans to pay a $1,000 fine or face six months in prison. The other two accused were discharged.

Before being ushered from the courtroom Evans asked Magistrate McKinney if he could pay half of his fine before his release to which the magistrate agreed on condition that he pay the balance by May 17.

PROBATION FOR THREAT TO MOTHER

By PAVEL BAILEY

A MAN was put on probation for two years on Friday for threatening to kill the mother of his child.

Letero Pyfrom, 27, faced Senior Magistrate Samuel McKinney accused of threats of death.

On May 10 in New Providence Pyfrom is accused of threatening to kill Philicia Saunders, his girlfriend of eight years and mother of his two-year-old child.

In court the accused pleaded guilty to the charge

with an explanation.

Pyfrom told the court that he and Saunders had got into an argument on the morning of the day in question. He explained that while they were arguing Saunders accused him of cheating on her, causing him to curse her and say that he would kill her.

While the accused admitted to making this death threat, he claimed he didn’t really mean anything by it and never intended to do Saunders harm.

As he asked the court

for leniency in sentencing, Saunders pointed out that he had admitted to the offence at the earliest opportunity to both the court and police to spare their time. He also said that he didn’t want to jeopardise his recent promotion at work.

In view of this, Magistrate McKinney placed Saunders on two years’ probation for the charge, failing which he will go to prison for one year. The magistrate also warned Saunders not to go near Saunders or her residence.

JAILED FOR STEALING FROM CAR

By PAVEL BAILEY

A MAN was sentenced in a Magistrate’s Court on Friday to four years in prison for stealing almost $3,000 worth of goods from a car.

Kirkland Saunders, Jr, 31, faced Assistant Chief Magistrate Carolyn Vogt-Evans on charges of stealing, receiving and possession of dangerous drugs.

On May 6 at Yamacraw Beach Estates, Saunders is accused of stealing $2,918

worth of items from Lamon Dean’s grey 2012 Kia Sportage.

These items included a $400 10-inch kicker subwoofer, a $330 Toshiba Tuner cartridge, a $600 3M Electronic vacuum, a $185 black and red backpack service tool bag, $300 worth of assorted tools, a $950 Lenovo ThinkPad laptop and $150 Samsung wireless earphones.

Saunders is also alleged to have been found by the police with 1oz of Indian

Hemp on May 11.

In court the accused pleaded guilty to all three charges.

Saunders was then convicted by Magistrate Vogt-Evans and sentenced to four years on the theft charges and 18 months on the drug charge. These sentences are to be served concurrently at the Bahamas Department of Corrections.

The accused has within seven days of the court’s ruling to appeal.

$300 FINE FOR KNIFE ATTACK

By PAVEL BAILEY

A MAN was fined $300 in a Magistrate’s Court on Friday for attacking another man with a knife.

Terran Mackey, 21,

appeared before Assistant Chief Magistrate Carolyn Vogt-Evans on a charge of assault with a dangerous instrument.

At around 9:30am on May 10 on Ethel Street, Mackey is accused of unlawfully

assaulting Shamar Mackey with a knife.

He pleaded guilty to the charge.

The magistrate fined him $300 for the offence or risk three months in prison.

EMERGENCY EXERCISE FOR AIRPORT ON Wednesday at Lynden Pindling International Airport stakeholders will conduct a full-scale emergency exercise. \The drill scenario will begin at 10.30am with a call to Nassau Airport Development Company’s Operations Centre from Air Traffic Services concerning an aircraft inbound to LPIA, from Rock Sound, Eleuthera, with 60 persons, including crew onboard.

The aircraft will be reported as having engine trouble and will be involved in a simulated crash.

Local and international aviation regulations require airports to establish an emergency plan commensurate with the aircraft operations and other activities conducted at the airport. Regulations also mandate that a full-scale emergency exercise should be conducted at intervals not exceeding two years to evaluate the emergency plan.

Bahamas Immigration and Royal Bahamas Defence Force recruits will pose as crew members

and passengers involved in the incident and volunteers from The Bahamas Red Cross will act as distraught family members and friends.

In addition, teams from local emergency response agencies, including the Royal Bahamas Police Force, Royal Bahamas Defense Force, Civil Aviation Authority Bahamas, Bahamas Air Navigation Services Authority, Air Accident Investigation Authority, National Emergency Management Agency, National Emergency Medical Services, Airport Authority, Bahamas Red Cross Society, Princess Margaret Hospital, Doctors Hospital, The Department of Public Health, Bahamas Immigration, Bahamas Customs, United States Customs and Border Protection, the US Embassy, the British High Commission, Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD) and Bahamasair will participate in the drill.

Bahamasair, the national carrier, will act as host

airline for the exercise.

Deborah Coleby, NAD’s Vice President of Operations, said putting LPIA’s emergency plan to the test allows all agencies involved to assess their individual level of preparedness and orchestrate a coordinated response. “Upon completion of the exercise, a debrief will be conducted and a final report generated will provide feedback by local and international evaluators. Improvements are made based on the findings of the final report and the airport’s Emergency Plan is updated accordingly,” Ms Coleby explained.

Wednesday’s exercise is expected to last approximately four hours.

Passengers are advised that air travel to LPIA will not be affected during the drill.

Members of the general public are also advised that there will be emergency response vehicles in the vicinity of the airport during the drill.

NAD encourages travellers to proceed with their travel plans as scheduled.

THE STORIES BEHIND THE NEWS

MONDAY, MAY 16, 2022

KALUSH Orchestra fro celebrate after winn m Ukraine ing the Grand Final of the Eurovis ion at Palaolimpico aren Song Contest Saturday, May 14, a, in Turin, Italy, 2022.

Photo: Luca Bruno/ AP

TIME FOR OUR OWN REGIONAL SONG CONTEST?

By MALCOLM STRACHAN

ONCE a year, a unique occasion captures the world’s attention. The Eurovision Song Contest is a weird, camp, remarkable music event that manages to be both ironic and wears its heart on its sleeve all at once.

The Euro part of the name is, of course, for Europe, but I say the world’s attention because such is its appeal to its ardent fans that Australia campaigned to be able to join in and was accepted.

Israel became the first Middle Eastern country to join in back in 1973.

The US has noted its wide appeal and created its own version, the American Song Contest, with artists from all 50 states, five US territories and Washington, DC, battling it out over weeks to win a prize – though it doesn’t seem to have caught the attention that Eurovision has.

Eurovision instead manages to combine each nation’s cultural influences, pop appeal, folk music, weird costumes and often weirder songs and an attitude of tweaking the nose of authority figures.

This year, it is impossible not to notice that the contest had a political element to the outcome, with a huge public vote in support of Ukraine – while Russia was banned from the contest.

Still, in a world where the media influence often looks westward, to songs sung in English and from a western perspective, it is a perpetual reset that allows people to look at a broader picture. It’s a spotlight that shines brightly on places where the spotlight might not often linger.

What of our own cultural spotlights? Where do we shine the light here at home?

We have, after all, our own commonwealth of islands, 700 of them as we proudly proclaim, but how often does our spotlight shift away from New Providence?

In cultural terms, one

recurring feature is the E Clement Bethel National Arts Festival – which has been going on for year after year without seemingly making much difference in the lives of the participants, save perhaps at a personal level.

It’s no national platform to launch people on to further success, certainly, though it does have the benefit of giving everyone an opportunity to perform.

Still, we get a newspaper spread of pictures here, a video segment on ZNS at a time that would otherwise be dead air there. It’s not a serious attempt to elevate our nation’s performers, or examine the culture of The Bahamas, or how it might vary from island to island.

Other efforts have happened – and disappeared – over the years.

Back in 2015, a song contest was launched for example to find a song that would fit a conference of education ministers that was coming to The Bahamas. I bet not one of you could hum the tune created by the winner.

That same year, a more successful contest was launched to find a winner for the Bahamas Carnival Song Competition, with $50,000 in cash prizes.

And there perhaps is the key – put money on the line and people will take it seriously.

That year, Sammi Star won the first Music Masters contest, walking away with $20,000 for his song Jump In The Line – though there were boos from some in the crowd who were angry with the decision. Ericka Lady E was second with My Islands In The Sun. Since then, the Da Bahamian Ting song contest has seen the winner walk away with $25,000. Da Family was the first winner of that competition in 2017 with the song Das Da Bahamian Ting.

The Bahamas is home to a lot of musical talent, but as a nation we are not very good at giving our talent the opportunities they deserve.

Sometimes it’s financial – not putting enough money down for performers who

BAHAMIAN performers Sammi Starr, above, and Lady E.

are working hard every day to make ends meet to pay proper attention to the event.

Sometimes it’s political – where a winner is perceived as having been picked because they favour the political party that appointed the judges.

Either way, we’re not doing enough to elevate the talent we have, to celebrate our performers, and if we don’t know our performers and their work here at home, there isn’t a chance of amplifying them internationally.

So while we can’t imitate the unique spirit of Eurovision, what can we do to look at what we’ve got and give those performers a platform?

Is it a battle of the islands, for example? Do we need to see New Providence go toe-to-toe with Long Island and Grand Bahama, Andros and Cat Island, with each island having its own set of votes?

Or can we look wider – and have The Bahamas lead the way for a Caribbean Song Contest? Or

wider still in the region?

I know, it’s not something on anyone’s agenda right now, and with the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian and the pandemic, there isn’t any money in a pot somewhere that doesn’t have somewhere it can be used.

But we are restarting carnivals, and Junkanoo, and now’s the time to think about how that cultural reboot can be lifted higher than what we were doing previously.

Is the E Clement Bethel festival as high as we can go? Is having a well-funded song contest every few years enough? Or do we need more to help our culture shine? Other countries in the region are ahead of us in giving artists a pipeline into the music industry internationally – so what’s our plan?

I’m looking at it from the outside, but there will be people with better ideas already out there, in the industry, trying to make things happen. It would be good to start a debate – and then give those at the forefront of the industry what they always need. Give them the mic.

EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

INSIGHT

MONDAY, MAY 16, 2022 PAGE 9

My solemn vow WHEN two people choose to marry and unite their lives into one, they make a legally binding contractual commitment to be together and love one another from that day forward, in sickness and in health. It is a solemn vow that they pledge in front of a priest or wedding officiant and a congregation of friends and family. But I often wonder, if people could look into the future and see the trials that they’ll endure as a couple, if they could see the sickness as well as the health, would they still be as readily forthwith in reciting those very same vows.

Late last year, I recall reading about a husband who filed for a divorce from his wife of 14 years, five days after she suffered a spinal stroke and became paralysed from the waist down. He, like many spouses across the world, forgot or ignored the solemn vow made at their wedding and instead added to the national divorce statistics, which remain staggeringly high each year.

But for others, like the patient discussed in today’s report, the answer is easy.

She and her husband have been married for 50 years and despite their medical setbacks, have supported and loved one another unconditionally every day since their wedding. She’s asked me to refer to her as Mary and this is her miraculous story.

At age 23, Mary had no medical problems but began experiencing intense recurrent migraines that lasted between 24-48 hours. Each episode was more debilitating than the last. Eventually, she was evaluated by her general practitioner and he advised her to take pain meds and switch her birth control pills, which did little to alleviate her symptoms. A cold shower in fact offered more, albeit temporary, relief than her prescription medication. With no successful remedy at her disposal, her migraines persisted off and on for the better part of 10 years.

Then one day Mary developed a migraine more severe than she’d ever experienced and it lasted unabated for three weeks. It was a constant and intense pounding sensation on the right side of her head. She was nauseous and had extreme sensitivity to light even at its dimmest setting. Her neck felt painful and stiff and her arm was notably weak. She went back to her family doctor but he refused to prescribe a stronger medication than she was already taking. The pain was severe and relentless. Then the vomiting began. She knew something was seriously wrong. So, with her husband at her side, she saw another physician for a second opinion.

That doctor discontinued her current medication and prescribed something else.

But, based on his examination, he also advised her that her condition appeared neurological so he referred her to a neurologist for further testing.

Mary admitted to her neurologist that she’d been

By DR KENNETH D KEMP

having mood swings and emotional outbursts often directed at her husband and the people she loved most in life. He sent her for an MRI and the results were positive for a partially ruptured giant brain aneurysm.

By this time, she could no longer open her right eye because the blood began to pool within her brain and had compressed the nerve that controlled eye movement. Her situation was precarious. She was immediately referred to a specialist hospital in the US to not just save her sight, but to save her life as well.

She had to have open brain surgery, which was nearly nine hours long. Mary was semi-conscious during the procedure and recalls hearing when the doctors alarmingly noted whenever her blood pressure began to drop. Despite the risk and complexity, her surgery was successful, her vision today remains intact and she hasn’t experienced any migraines as severe since that time.

Apart from undergoing routine gallstone surgery several years later, Mary remained relatively healthy until one day she wasn’t.

She started having excruciating back pain that radiated down her right leg, often leaving her writhing in agony. Her family doctor prescribed oral anti-inflammatories and referred her for physical therapy but given her last ordeal, she opted to get a second opinion at the same hospital in the US where she had life-saving surgery.

Before leaving, however, her husband began experiencing episodes of vomiting, weakness and fatigue, swelling in his feet and ankles and considerable pain in his abdomen.

His doctor referred him for a colonoscopy and without warning, he was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer.

Mary could barely stand up straight some days but summoned the strength to support her husband as he endured a vigorous and potent treatment protocol of chemotherapy and radiation. Following this, he underwent surgery to remove his entire colon.

While tending to her husband, Mary’s back pain became progressively worse. She ignored the pain as best she could and personally cared for her husband with the same gentleness that he displayed during her life-threatening illness. Despite her efforts to remain strong, there were days when she cried hopelessly, in unadulterated physical distress, desperate for any relief. Two years later, once her husband was stable and able to take care of himself, she finally underwent spinal surgery.

But, in a cruel twist of fate, her surgeon accidentally punctured her Dural sac, which is a membranous

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sheath that encompasses the spinal cord. So instead of alleviating her pain, it became exponentially more intensified. The puncture ultimately had to be patched but she lived in constant pain, significantly more excruciating than before her surgery, and so crippling that she could now barely walk. Following revisional surgery by another neurosurgeon, her pain is now mercifully much more manageable but has never resolved entirely.

A few years following this surgery, Mary began experiencing fainting spells.

While ambulating she often collapsed without warning and whenever she awoke, it felt like her entire body was spinning uncontrollably.

She was afraid that she had developed another brain aneurysm but to her surprise, she was diagnosed with a sinus infection. Her prescribed medication never helped and she saw three other doctors subsequent to that and they also failed to determine the precipitating cause of her fainting.

While at home getting out of her car, Mary by chance and without great expectation, consulted with her neighbour who happened to be a family medicine specialist. She quickly dismissed the notion that Mary was suffering from sinus and informed her that the symptoms were near definitive for a heart

abnormality. A local cardiologist examined her and as her neighbour suspected, an EKG revealed that she had a very low resting heart rate of 29, when normal is 60-100. A pacemaker was implanted the following day and immediately after placement, Mary felt like she got her life back and not once since has she fainted.

Over the years and with each medical issue, Mary and her husband have taken their problems in stride, honouring and clinging to their initial vow to support one another in the best and worst of times.

Her take home message is to pay attention to the signs that your body gives and to never be afraid to

get a second and sometimes third opinion. She says to trust your instincts when something is not right. You know your body better than anyone.

Mary hopes that other couples preparing to enter into marriage appreciate that there will be 100 reasons to leave but all you need is one good reason to stay. Married or not, we can each learn a lot from this story about love, strength, loyalty, faith and courage, which even to this day consistently remains among the highest attributes of man.

This is the KDK Report.

• Nicknamed ‘The Prince of Podiatry’, Dr Kenneth D Kemp is the founder and medical director of Bahamas Foot and Ankle located in Caves Village, Western New Providence.

He served as the deputy chairman for the Health Council for five years and he currently sits on the board of directors for the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation in his role as co-vice-chairman.

PAGE 10 MONDAY, MAY 16, 2022

INSIGHT

EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

Wise heads should prevail at Summit of the Americas THE Summit of the Americas, scheduled to be held in Los Angeles from June 8 to 10, should be regarded by all the Heads of Government, as a golden opportunity to address the many challenges now confronting the hemisphere.

Indeed, the impact of the present global environment on the economies, health and people of the area, is crying out for collective attention at the highest levels.

Of critical importance are: the threat to world peace and stability, posed by Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine; the economic impact of the war in Ukraine and the consequent sanctions on Russia that have disrupted the global supply of food and oil, creating high costs and increasing inflation; economic recovery from the disastrous effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and planning for future pandemics; the urgency for action to halt Climate Change that remains as a dagger at the heart of every

World View

By SIR RONALD SANDERS

hemispheric nation, particularly small island states; and the preservation of democracy, including human, civil and political rights.

But the golden opportunity is being lost. The Summit is in danger of poor attendance.

Governments of several Latin American and Caribbean states regard an official US government statement, made on April 27 by Assistant Secretary of State Brian Nichols, that Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela would not be invited, as exclusionary.

They have indicated a reluctance to attend if the three governments are snubbed.

Since Nichols’ statement and the response by these governments, President Biden’s Press Secretary,

Jen Psaki, said on May 10, that “We haven’t made a decision about who will be invited, and no invitations have been issued yet”. This may be an indication that some re-thinking is being done in the White House, and there could be modification of the plans that were previously being pursued and to which Nichols provided insight. We must hope that is the case.

But President Biden is under severe domestic political pressure to exclude Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela while he is also being urged to invite Juan Guaidó as the “Interim President” of Venezuela. The latter is a farce, started under the presidency of Donald Trump, that the

Biden administration has these dictatorships instead continued even though of with their victims, you are Guaidó has no control over welcome to stay at home.” anything in Venezuela – a All this places President fact tacitly acknowledged Biden in a difficult situation.

by US authorities when, on Both he and his advisors March 7, they dispatched a are aware that the Summit high-level team to Caracas is a “Summit of the Amerito explore the possibility cas”; it is not a US Summit. of the NicoThe US is lás Maduro Chairing ‘The Summit government the Summit is in danger of pumping because it more oil to poor attendance. requested to help offset the host it. But effects of Governments does hosting sanctions on of several Latin the meeting Russian oil American and give the Chair sales. the right to Caribbean states While disqualify Biden may be regard an official attendance by able to drop US government other Heads any plans of Governfor inviting statement, made ment? Also, Guaidó to on April 27 by clearly the the Summit, Assistant Secretary US governthus satisment – and fying some of State Brian many other governments Nichols, that Cuba, governments that have Nicaragua and – are consteadfastly cerned about not recog- Venezuela would the violations nized him as not be invited, as of democratic President of exclusionary. They principles Venezuela, it and practices would be dif- have indicated and of human ficult in the a reluctance to rights in some present US hemispheric attend if the three political clistates. Theremate for him governments fore, does to invite Cuba, are snubbed.’ the Summit Nicaragua and not present the Maduro Government an opportunity for a frank even if he wanted to. discussion by all, including The pressure on Presi- the Governments of Cuba, dent Biden is coming from Nicaragua and Venezuela, a number of sources, includ- of these issues? ing US commentators and It could not have escaped more particularly Con- those who want a fully gresspersons, such as Marco inclusionary Summit to recRubio and Bob Menendez ognise that such a discussion who have adopted a hard would have to happen. The line on the governments in risk would be that it would Cuba and Venezuela. There dominate the Summit are as many Congressional which could become rancorepresentatives from the rous, and which would fail Democratic Party as they to deal with crucial issues are from the Republican that should be discussed. party who feel the same way. In other words, the Summit One commentator has sug- could be in danger of gested that Biden should tell imploding, accomplishing those who suggest that they nothing but the creation of will not attend the Summit, a very divided hemisphere.

“If you want to side with All countries would have

to think carefully about the immediate and long-term effect of such a development because there should be no doubt that the majority of countries in South and Central America, would side with the US. They will, after all, be very concerned about their own national interests, including trade, transportation links, investment, and development assistance.

At one point, consideration was being given by governments, including some in the Caribbean, to attend the Summit, and to argue for the positions of Cuba and Maduro from within the meeting. There is still every reason to maintain this position, thereby preserving the benefits of the Summit while putting forward arguments for an improvement in the relationship with the Cuban and Venezuelan governments.

Advancing vigorous arguments within the Summit on behalf of Cuba and Venezuela has to be better than being absent from the table and achieving nothing for anyone.

There is need for understanding by other governments of the difficulties faced by President Biden should he invite the governments of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, and a willingness, at the very least, by the President not to seek to impose Juan Guaidó on elected leaders.

The Summit is an opportunity. Wise heads should guide the actions of all.

• Responses and previous commentaries: www. sirronaldsanders.com (The writer is Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the United States of America and the Organisation of American States.

He is also a senior fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London and Massey College in the University of Toronto).

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EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

INSIGHT

MONDAY, MAY 16, 2022 PAGE 11

WHAT’S BEHIND THE BABY FORMULA SHORTAGE?

By STEVEN A ABRAMS University of Texas at Austin

A BABY formula shortage has added to the woes of American parents already confronted with the pressures of raising an infant during a pandemic in a country ranked low for family-friendly policies.

Media reports have highlighted the plight of mothers, fathers and caregivers across the US who have scrambled to find scarce supplies, or driven long distances to buy formula.

But what is behind the shortage? And how can it be prevented from happening again? The Conversation asked Dr Steven Abrams, a leading expert on pediatric health at the University of Texas who has advised both the formula industry and government on infant nutrition, these questions along with what advice he could give parents facing problems getting adequate supplies of infant formula.

1. Why there is a shortage of formula now?

There are really two factors that have driven the current shortage. First, we have the supply chain problem, which has affected all REP Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, hands out infant formula durmanner of goods since the ing a baby formula drive to help with the shortage on Saturday onset of the pandemic. It in Houston. Parents seeking baby formula are running into bare eased off a little, but then supermarket and pharmacy shelves in part because of ongoing at the beginning of 2022 it supply disruptions and a recent safety recall.

Photo: David J Phillip/AP became worse.

Then in February a major produce and store sufficient the primary source of baby formula manufac- amounts of breast milk. nutrition. So there may turing plant in US went But the shortage will still be a risk of nutritional down. The FDA shut down affect some parents more deficiencies, such as iron Abbott Nutrition’s factory than others. Not surpris- deficiencies. in Michigan. The closure ingly, the most affected came after Abbott’s nation- parents are those on the 4. Are there any viable wide recall of multiple lowest income. The federal alternatives? brands of formula, includ- food programme for poorer Over the age of six ing routine Similac cow women, infants and chil- months of age, for only milk-based formulas such dren, called WIC, provides reasonably short periods as Similac Advance and formula for a majority of of time, parents can feed several specialty formulas babies in low-income fami- infants whole cow milk and for allergic babies, includ- lies. But costs have gone up look into iron supplements. ing Similac Alimentum and and formula has become It isn’t ideal, and only and Similac EleCare. applies for older babies. scarcer.

Closing the factory had to I’m hearing of some For those under six months be done amid an investiga- families driving two hours old, cow milk is a real tion into bacterial infections to find stores selling for- problem. It doesn’t have in connection to powdered mula. Obviously that will the right protein blend for formula produced at the be harder to do for poorer babies and has next to no plant, and the deaths of at families as there are costs iron – risking anemia in least two babies. involved. Like- very young babies. Cow The problem is ‘I believe wise, more milk also has a misbalance there just isn’t America also affluent parents of minerals, especially for much redunmay be able younger babies. dancy in US needs to look to buy more infant formula at the country’s expensive, so5. So what guidance production. In breast feeding called elite is there for low-income other words, brand formulas. parents? there aren’t support system.

It is challenging and The other enough other Don’t get me thing to note is I can’t provide a magic factories to wrong, some that the short- answer. But food banks pick up the age is affecting and the WIC program have slack when one parents will both regular been a crucial lifeline. The goes down. The always need infant formula, WIC program in particular Michigan plant formula. But and specialised has proved itself to be very is the largest versions. Regu- flexible during this shortage. producer in those who want lar or standard When Abbott had to recall the country, so to breast feed formula is products and then couldn’t when it goes need everything the type most provide enough nondown, it put families are recalled formulas in states added strain on possible done to familiar with, in which they were the WIC the entire US support them.’ and around provider, WIC was able to formula distri95 percent of change providers and reprobution system, especially formula-fed babies get the gram EBT cards to allow for certain formulas for standard type. Specialised low-income parents to buy babies with high-risk aller- formula is for babies with different brands. gic diseases and metabolic unusual requirements, due disorders.

6. What can be done to to allergies, damaged intesOver the last couple of tines or special nutritional prevent this situation hapweeks the shortage has needs. Before the Michigan pening again in the US? gotten worse. I can’t say for factory closed, it made most First we need to help sure why this has happened. of the specialised infant families regain confidence But I suspect there has formula used in the US. So in the formula production been some hoarding going it is an absolute crisis for and supply system. This will on as parents get anxious. families needing that type prevent problems such as Stores can limit the amount of formula. hoarding or making home of formula that people can brew formulas. buy, but that doesn’t stop Then we need to look at 3. What are the potenpeople going online to buy tial consequences of the how to make sure one plant more. going down doesn’t affect the shortage?

On top of that, the In the first six months, whole system. The federal shortage has gained wide babies should only have government can’t stockpile publicity in newspapers, breast milk or formula – formula in the same way it on TV and in political anything else fed to them might stockpile oil, as forspeeches. All that public- will be nutritionally incom- mula has a shelf life. But ity feeds into public sense plete. So there is a risk diversifying infant formula that the system is failing, that a shortage will mean production is a possibility. prompting more panic that babies will not be get- This would involve making buying and hoarding. ting the nutrition they need sure multiple factories and to develop. That could companies are making the 2. Who is the shortage lead to a range of health formulas that this country affecting? problems affecting their needs. This doesn’t necesA majority of parents will physical growth and brain sarily mean increased costs feed babies with formula at development.

– competition could potensome point to meet their Then there are concerns tially drive down prices. nutritional needs, especially that parents may be using I believe America also older infants. At birth and unsafe alternatives, like needs to look at the counin days immediately after, watering down their baby’s try’s breast feeding support around 80 percent of babies formula. People have been system. Don’t get me receive all their nutrition known to try and make wrong, some parents will through breast milk. But their own by mixing pow- always need formula. But by the age of six months, dered milk or vegan milk those who want to breast the majority of babies get with vitamins. Not only are feed need everything posat least some formula. The these alternatives not nutri- sible done to support them. proportion of year-old tionally complete, they may That includes better family babies receiving formula is not be entirely sterile. leave policies, and help for even higher. This is largely After the age of six low-income mothers who the result of social dynam- months, things get a little want to pump and store ics and pressures - mothers better once the infant is milk while they work. going back to work after able to start eating solid giving birth, but not receiv- food. But even then, for• Originally published at ing sufficient support to mula or breast milk remains www.theconversation.com.

PAGE 12, Monday, May 16, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

PARTNERSHIP BRINGS BREAKFAST TO SCHOOL STUDENTS

THE KIWANIS Club of New Providence during its visit to Cleveland Eneas Primary, above and right.

A NEW partnership between Kiwanis New Providence and Commonwealth Brewery Ltd seeks to combat hunger by increasing access to breakfast for over 600 students.

Research has shown that access to breakfast for school-age children can significantly improve their ability to concentrate throughout the school day and positively impact their academic performance.

Recently, The Kiwanis Club of New Providence relaunched its Healthy Breakfast Programme to provide complimentary breakfast to more than 600 students across five primary and secondary schools throughout Nassau.

Club president Pamela White-Gaitor said: “The programme has been running for nine years; where initially, we assisted the students attached to the welfare programmes within two of our sponsored youth schools bi-weekly. However, we saw there was a greater need and decided to host all our Kiwanis Kids (K-Kids) schools, increasing our numbers from 50 students per school to one

hundred and 150 students per school. Through this programme, each student will be able to receive a hot meal of tuna or sausage with grits, a fruit and a beverage of choice.”

This partnership comes as Commonwealth Brewery made strides to refocus its philanthropic commitment to the local community and actively engage staff through volunteerism.

Kendria Ferguson, corporate relations and sustainability manager, said: “For Commonwealth Brewery, we understand the private sector’s role in assisting organisations like Kiwanis address some of our most pressing social issues. The Bahamas has had a tough last three years.

The rise in food prices is compounding the challenges from Dorian and the ongoing health pandemic.

So, we were delighted to offer a food donation to Kiwanis and lend our support to this worthy cause.”

To date, an estimated 300 students from First Step Academy and Cleveland Eneas Primary have been fed, with three more breakfast giveaways forthcoming.

“The need is great, and I must commend Kiwanis for all their work, but more must be done. At Commonwealth Brewery, we are constantly looking at our community to identify the needs and where we can help - not only in Nassau but also throughout the Family Islands,” said Ms Ferguson.

In addition to Kiwanis Healthy Breakfast Programme, the Kiwanis Club of New Providence also hosts many other projects that benefit the children, elderly and needy of various communities. Some of these projects include their annual Reading Fair that promotes the importance of literacy, soup kitchens that provide a hot meal to those in need and baby item drives that allow Kiwanis to assist expectant mothers at Andrea Archer school for girls (formally known as PACE).

They also host the Builder’s Club and Key Club for high school students at Aquinas College, LW Young, CH Reeves, LN Coakley and Doris Johnson, fostering students’ leadership skills and involving them in acts of service.

THE KIWANIS Club of New Providence with children at First Step Academy.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, May 16, 2022, PAGE 13

White gunman sought out black victims to kill BUFFALO, New York Associated Press THE white 18-year-old who shot and killed ten people at a Buffalo supermarket had researched the local demographics and arrived in the area a day in advance to conduct reconnaissance with the “express purpose” of killing as many black people as possible, officials said yesterday.

The chilling revelation prompted grief and anger in the predominantly Black neighborhood around Tops Friendly Market, where a group of people gathered to lead chants of “Black Lives Matter” and mourn victims that included a an 86-yearold woman who had just visited her husband in a nursing home and a security guard who fired multiple shots at the suspect.

“Somebody filled his heart so full of hate that he would destroy and devastate our community,” the Rev Denise Walden-Glenn said.

Speaking at the National Peace Officers’ Memorial service at the US Capitol, President Joe Biden said “we must all work together to address the hate that remains a stain on the soul of America”.

As the country reeled from its latest mass shooting, new details emerged about the gunman’s past and Saturday’s rampage, which the shooter broadcast live on Twitch. New York Gov Kathy Hochul, a Buffalo native, demanded the technology industry take responsibility for its role in propagating hate speech and violence.

Hochul said she wants technology companies to tell her whether they’ve done “everything humanly possible” to make sure they are monitoring violent content as soon as it appears.

“If not, then I’m going to hold you responsible,” she said.

Twitch said in a statement that it ended Gendron’s transmission “less than two minutes after the violence started”.

The shooter, identified as Payton Gendron, had previously threatened a shooting at his high school, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.

Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia confirmed at a press conference that the then17-year-old was brought in for a mental health evaluation afterward.

Federal law bars people from owning a gun if a judge has determined they have a “mental defect” or they have been forced into a mental institution — but an evaluation alone would not trigger the prohibition.

Federal authorities were still working to confirm the authenticity of a racist 180-page manifesto that detailed the plot and identified Gendron by name as the gunman. A preliminary investigation found Gendron had repeatedly visited sites espousing white supremacist ideologies

ALMOST three months after Russia shocked the world by invading Ukraine, its military faces a boggeddown war, the prospect of a bigger NATO and an opponent buoyed yesterday by wins on and off the battlefield.

Top diplomats from NATO met in Berlin with the alliance’s chief and declared that the war “is not going as Moscow had planned”.

“Ukraine can win this war,” NATO SecretaryGeneral Jens Stoltenberg said, adding that the alliance must continue to offer military support to Kyiv. He spoke by video link to the meeting as he recovers from a COVID-19 infection.

Ukraine said it held off Russian offensives yesterday in the east, and Western military officials

AN ARRAY of presidents and prime ministers continued to descend on the United Arab Emirates yesterday from around the world to pay their respects to the federation’s late ruler. They also came to praise his successor, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan — a vivid sign of Abu Dhabi’s influence in Western and Arab capitals.

The first Western leader to jet to the oil-rich emirate was French President Emmanuel Macron. He met with Sheikh Mohammed to pay tribute to Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the long-ailing ruler who died on Friday at the age of 73 after years presiding over the country’s rapid transformation into a global business hub and regional power centre.

FINLAND AND SWEDEN MAKE NATO MOVES

SHARON Doyle gathers with others outside the scene of a shooting at a supermarket, in Buffalo, New York.

Photo: Matt Rourke/AP All others, the document cooperating with investiga- wounded ten and just over said, were “replacers” who tors, the law enforcement a year after ten were killed should be eliminated by official said. in a shooting at a Colorado force or terror. The attack The Buffalo attack was supermarket. was intended to intimidate just the latest act of mass “It’s just too much. I’m all non-white, non-Chris- violence in a country unset- trying to bear witness but tian people and get them to tled by racial tensions, gun it’s just too much. You can’t leave the country, it said. violence and a recent spate even go to the damn store It wasn’t immediately of hate crimes. It came in peace,” Buffalo resident clear why Gendron had just a month after a shoot- Yvonne Woodard told the traveled about 200 miles ing on a Brooklyn subway AP. “It’s just crazy.” from his Conklin, New York, home to Buffalo and that particular grocery store, but investigators believe Gendron had specifically researched the PAYTON Gendron during his demographics of the popuarraignment on Saturday. lation around the Tops and race-based conspiracy Friendly Market, the offitheories and extensively cial said. researched the 2019 mosque He conducted reconnaisshootings in Christchurch, sance on the area and store New Zealand, and the man the day before the shooting, who killed dozens at a Gramaglia said. summer camp in Norway in Gendron had appeared 2011, the law enforcement on the radar of police last official told AP. year after he threatened Portions of the Twitch to carry out a shooting at video circulating online Susquehanna Valley High showed the gunman firing School around the time of volley after volley of shots graduation, the law enforcein less than a minute as he ment official who spoke raced through the park- on condition of anonymity ing lot and then the store, said. The official was not pausing for just a moment authorised to speak pubto reload. At one point, he licly on the investigation. trains his weapon on a white New York State Police person cowering behind a said troopers were called checkout counter, but says to the Conklin school last “Sorry!” and doesn’t shoot.

June for a report that a Screenshots purporting 17-year-old student had to be from the broadcast made threatening stateappear to show a racial epi- ments. He spent a day and thet scrawled on his rifle, as a half at the hospital before well as the number 14 — a being released, authorilikely reference to a white ties said, and then had no supremacist slogan. further contact with law Authorities said he shot, enforcement. in total, 11 black people and Gendron surrendered to two white people. police who confronted him “This individual came in the supermarket’s vestihere with the express pur- bule and convinced him to pose of taking as many drop the rifle he had put to black lives as he possibly his neck. He was arraigned could,” Buffalo Mayor later on Saturday on a Byron Brown said at a news murder charge, appearing conference yesterday. before a judge in a paper The manifesto, posted gown. online, outlined a racist ideFederal agents served ology rooted in a belief that multiple search warrants the United States should and interviewed Gendbelong only to white people. ron’s parents, who were

WEST SAYS RUSSIA ATTACK LOSING MOMENTUM KYIV, Ukraine Associated Press

WORLD LEADERS PAY TRIBUTE TO UAE LATE RULER

said the campaign Moscow launched there after its forces failed to seize the capital of Kyiv has slowed to a snail’s pace.

Ukraine, meanwhile, celebrated a morale-boosting victory in the Eurovision Song Contest. The folk-rap ensemble Kalush Orchestra won the glitzy pan-European competition with its song “Stefania”, which has become a popular anthem among Ukrainians during the war.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed that his nation would claim the customary winner’s honour of hosting the next annual competition.

“Step by step, we are forcing the occupiers to leave the Ukrainian land,” Zelenskyy said.

The band’s frontman, Oleh Psiuk, said at a news conference yesterday that the musicians were “ready to fight” when they return

home.

Ukraine’s government prohibits men between 18 and 60 from leaving the country, but the all-male band’s six members received special permission to go to Italy to represent Ukraine in the contest.

They will return to a country still fighting for survival.

Russian and Ukrainian fighters are engaged in a grinding battle for the country’s eastern industrial heartland, the Donbas.

Even with its setbacks, Russia continues to inflict death and destruction across Ukraine.

Over the weekend, its forces hit a chemical plant and 11 high-rise buildings in Siverodonetsk, in the Donbas, the regional governor said. Governor Serhii Haidaii said two people were killed in the shelling and warned residents still in the city to stay in underground shelters.

FINLAND’S government declared a “new era” is underway as it inches closer to seeking NATO membership, hours before Sweden’s governing party yesterday backed a plan to join the trans-Atlantic alliance amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Russia has long bristled about NATO moving closer to its borders, so the developments will be sure to further anger Moscow.

President Vladimir Putin has already warned his Finnish counterpart on Saturday that relations would be “negatively affected”.

SPORTS PAGE 14

MONDAY, MAY 16, 2022

WNBA, page 16

Ayton and Suns eliminated

By DAVID BRANDT AP Sports Writer PHOENIX (AP) — Luka Doncic scored 35 points, Spencer Dinwiddie added 30 and the Dallas Mavericks stunned the top-seeded Phoenix Suns with a 123-90 Game 7 blowout last night, advancing to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2011.

Dallas broke through on the road after the home team won the first six games of the series, dominating in a hostile environment from start to finish. Conversely, it was an embarrassing no-show for the playoff-tested Suns — who advanced to the NBA Finals last season with a very similar roster. The fourth-seeded Mavericks travel to face Golden

DONCIC LEADS MAVS OVER SUNS 123-90 IN GAME 7 BLOWOUT State in Game 1 on Wednesday.

Doncic earned the Mavs an early lead, making his first three shots, including two 3-pointers. That helped Dallas push to a 27-17 advantage in the first quarter and a whopping 57-27 cushion at the halftime break.

Doncic and Dinwiddie, who came off the bench, combined to pour in 48 of the Mavericks’ 57 points.

PHOENIX Suns centre Deandre Ayton (22) looks away after being fouled during the first half of Game 7 of an NBA basketball Western Conference playoff semifinal against the Dallas Mavericks last night. The Suns were eliminated.

(AP Photo/Matt York)

Game 7 drama? Not in the desert.

Simply put, the Suns looked overwhelmed by the pressure of a Game 7. They missed shots they usually make, made bad passes they usually don’t make and looked nothing like the team that won an NBA-best 64 games during the regular season.

By halftime, many Suns fans were booing at the unsightly display.

The series might have been close but the individual games usually were not.

Three of the first six games were decided by at least 20 points and none of the games came down to the final possession.

Game 7 followed a similar pattern, except the team doing all

SEE PAGE 17

Armando Moss qualifies for triathlon ahead of the Commonwealth Games

MAKO SWIM CLUB WINS ALPHA AQUATIC SPRING INVITE

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

A RAINY weekend in New Providence held up just long enough for the Bahamas Triathlon Association to crown new champions in the return of its National Championships which served as both a CARIFTA and Commonwealth Games qualifier.

Armando Moss emerged as the overall men’s champion and simultaneously qualified for the upcoming Commonwealth Games following his standout performance Sunday morning at Jaws Beach.

Moss, 30, completed the course in 1:06:54 seconds - a 10:17 swim, 30:28 bike, and a 24:30 second run. Jorge Marcos finished second overall at 1:11:19 and Shawn Andrews was third at 1:13.26.

The Commonwealth Games will be held from July 28 to August 8 in Birmingham, England.

Carolyn Thompson was the overall women’s champion after she completed the course in 1:19:35. Suzy Eneas was second in 1:20:35 and Sylvia Bateman third in 1:21:37.

The event featured a sprint distance for the open division

- 750m swim, a 20 km bike ride, and a 5km run.

Additional men’s age group winners included Barron Musgrove Jr (16-19) in 1:26:37, Ralph Wood (20-29) in 1:13:58, Dion Cunningham (30-39) in 1:16:51, Simone Bertoldo (40-49) in 1:14:09, Andrew White (50-59) in 1:18:05, Gerald Walthen (60-69) in 1:21:18 and Ulrich Filser (7099) in 1:41:52.

Women’s age group winners included Kami Roach (16-19) in 1:26:32, Barbara Kiraly (30-39) in 1:27:54, Lynn Pritchard (40-49) in 1:29:49, and Sanchia Fitzmaurice (50-59) in 1:31:54.

The 13-14 age group competed in a 400m swim, 10km bike, and 2.5km run.

The 11-12 division featured a 200m swim, 5km bike, and 2km run; the 9-10 division featured a 100m swim, 5km ride, and a 1km run, while the 8U division competed in a 50m swim and 1km bike ride.

In the 13-14 division, Ayden Bain won the boys’ race in 37:53 while Launy Duncombe was second in 38:12 and Enea Gervasini was third in 39:53. Erin Pritchard won the girls race in 44:16 followed by Anjaléah Knowles in 54.45.

ARMANDO Moss

Lauchlan Menzies took first place in the boys 11-12 in 27:14 followed by Jayden Smith in 27:44 and Sibby Fynn Potter in 28:23.

Taylor Knowles finished first among girls in 37:59 and Paityn Burrows was second in 40.55.

Frasier Menzies took the top spot in the boys’ 9-10 in 14:42 followed by Lyall Menzies in 15:03 and Stafford Sweeting in 15:15.

The 8 and Under division top spot was claimed by Alan Gervasini in 6:11, Jay McCoy was second in 8:10 and Amelia Rolle was first among the girls in 5:55.

The 2022 CARIFTA Triathlon and Aquathlon Championships are slated for September 23-24 at Clearwater Beach, Southside, Bermuda.

Headed into the National Championships, there were 21 CARIFTA qualifiers with nine spots outstanding as the association looks to field a 30-member team.

The CARIFTA age groups are 11-12, 13-15, 16-19, and under-21.

Team members will be selected using a points system with combined scores from both the Nationals and the Powerade Potcakeman Triathlon in March.

• Full event results are available at www.raceprompt.com

THE Mako Swim Club carted off the overall title in the Alpha Aquatic Spring Invitational held at the Betty Kelly Kenning Swim Complex over the weekend.

Mako, coached by Travano McPhee, dominated the twoday event by collecting a total of 1,026 points, well ahead of the Barracuda Swim Club with 921. 50.

Host Alpha Aquatics ended up in third place with 606.50 points.

Rounding out the rest of the field in order were the Blue Waves Swim Club in fourth with 544 5; Lyford Swim Club was fifth with 480; Mantas Swim & Water Polo Club sixth with 445. 50 7; Black Marlins Swim Club seventh with 238. 50 8; Lightning Aquatics eighth with 99 9; Turk and Caicos Aquatics Club ninth with 56; Unattached - Alpha Aquatics tenth with 40 and the Sea Waves Aquatic Team 11th with 31.

SEE PAGE 18

Windsor High Men’s national School rowing soccer team team takes title split games

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE collaboration between the Nassau Rowing Club and the Windsor High School Rowing Team, both coached by Canadian Olympic champions, produced a competitive inaugural Lake Cunningham Classic on Saturday on Lake Cunningham.

The dual competition was won by Windsor High, coached by Rob Gibson, a 2012 Olympic silver medallist, but the Nassau Rowing Club, coached by Andrea Proske, a two-time World Cup medallist and an Olympic medllist, made it a stiff challenge.

The event also served as the Nassau RC’s qualifier for the team that will be compete at the CanAmMex in Canada in July.

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE Nassau Rowing Club and Windsor High School Rowing Team produced a competitive inaugural Lake Cunningham Classic on Saturday.

Vivian Profitt, the social qualifier for the Pan Am in and events coordinator for Canada in July,” she said. the Nassau RC, said while “So the kids were basically this was the first time they fighting for a spot on the hosted the event, they plan team. It was very exciting.” to make it an annual affair.

Isiah Ellis, a 14-year-old “Even though it’s two dif- ninth grader at Windsor ferent clubs, they both train together, but today was a SEE PAGE 15

AFTER winning their opener by a pair of goals, the Bahamas men’s national soccer team lost by one to the Turks and Caicos Islands in the second game of their two friendly matches played over the weekend at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium.

Thanks to goals from Wood Julmis in the 10th minute, Daylan Russell in the 34th and Lesley St Fleur in the 45th, the Bahamas took a 3-1 lead into the half and added their final goal in the 64th from Evert Julmis in the second half to hold onto the win.

Turks and Caicos, who got the equaliser from Cory Williams in the 10th minute of the first half, added their last goal in the 62nd from MarKenley Amilcar, but it wasn’t enough to push them over the top.

Saturday was a different story.

Turks and Caicos jumped out to the initial lead in the 25th minute as Billy

Forbes found the back of the net in the first half. They extended it to 2-0 at the 48th mark on Junior Paul’s boot. The Bahamas redeemed itself in the 65th minute on Wood Julmis’ goal, but they fell short.

“Over the two days, it was really good,” said Bahamas head coach Nesly Jean. “We really put on the match to see how the team would look going into the games on June 3. We tried new players just coming on the team and using some different formations.

“They’re buying into what we’re trying to do and hopefully by June 3, we will be ready to go.”

The Bahamas Football Association used the friendly matches to prepare the team for the qualifying round of the CONCACAF 2022 Nations League where the winner and the top teams advance to the playoffs.

The Bahamas will open up play in their pool on June 3 at the TAR National Stadium before heading on the

SEE PAGE 18

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, May 16, 2022, PAGE 15

Equestrian form alliance BAHAMAS Equestrian officials had much to celebrate at the recent Pan-American Equestrian Confederation 20th anniversary Gala Event held in Wellington, Florida.

The Pan-American Equestrian Confederation (PAEC), a member of the Pan-American Sports Organisation (PASO), is comprised of the National Federations of the Americas and the Caribbean and was founded in 2001 to promote sustainable equestrian sport in the Americas.

EB officials joined representatives from the FEI and fellow delegates from PAEC member nations to commemorate the organisation’s anniversary.

From a national perspective the most significant event of the weekend was The Bahamas’ formal entry into the Caribbean Equestrian Association (CEA), a group which already counts Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Haiti, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago as members.

Formed in 1997, the CEA’s objectives include encouraging equestrian activity within the Caribbean, promoting the training of equestrian officials in the region, and facilitating intra-Caribbean equestrian events.

By STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer

CARIBBEAN equestrians enjoy a moment of fellowship! L-R: Jason Walters, NF Secretary-General (Jamaica); Carrie Saidi, NF Assistant Secretary-General (Bahamas); McKeisha Smith, NF President (Bermuda); Heidi Mello, CEA President; Sharon Hinds, NF President (Cayman Islands); Monique Archer, NF President (Barbados); Heidi Lalor, NF President (Jamaica); Cathy Ramsingh-Pierre, NF President (Bahamas); Mark Samuel, FEI Vice-President and Group IV Chair; Regine Fitzner, NF President (U.S. Virgin Islands); Eve van den Bol, Caribbean Equine Relief Fund.

The President of the CEA, Heidi Mello of Bermuda, welcomed The Bahamas as the newest CEA member. She spoke of her goals for equestrian sport in the Caribbean, placing a priority on the education of officials, coaches and athletes.

As the CEA Jumping Representative for The Bahamas, EB President Cathy Ramsingh-Pierre noted that “Bahamian

equestrian sport will benefit hugely from this regional partnership, and from the wealth of knowledge President Mello brings to the CEA”.

She praised Mello for the creative initiatives the CEA is now putting in place to revitalise equestrian sport in the Caribbean.

“These initiatives fall into three broad categories,” explained

Ramsingh-Pierre.

“First Heidi has made it a priority to facilitate training opportunities for regional officials. Under her guidance the CEA is also implementing a coaching certification programme to certify Caribbean equestrian coaches, and expanding regional competition formats by implementing the Caribbean Mini Jumping Challenge.

Equestrian

Bahamas looks forward to active participation in each of these initiatives.”

The Caribbean Equestrian Association Mini Jumping Challenge (MJC) was developed to offer a regional competition for up-and-coming riders and is open to all CEA member countries.

Equestrian Bahamas expects to hold its inaugural MJC event in the fall of 2022.

ROWING FROM PAGE 14

in the Junior Men’s Single Sculls in six minutes and 39 seconds. Kenneth Hart was the runner-up in 7:02.

“I made sure that I had a clean path on the water and I finished strong,” Ellis said. “It was a great experience competing in the first regatta for the Bahamas.

It’s a great environment. I love all of the classes. It’s a great school.”

In the junior women’s doubles sculls, sisters Jessica and Poppy Profitt emerged as the winners in the junior women’s double sculls in 6:43 over the Windsor duo of Anjaleah Knowles and Bianca Johnson, who finished in 8:07.

“I think we did great. We worked a long time towards it,” said Jessica Profitt, the oldest sister at age 15.

“We had some really good coaches in the past couple of weeks, like Olympians and high volume coaches so that really helped us get to where we are.

“We enjoyed going out and doing our best. We had a lot of fun coming together and competing with each other. It was a like community thing in rowing.”

Poppy Profitt was just as thrilled about their performance.

“We really learned a lot from the coaches. In the beginning, we were really enthusiastic, so that really helped,” said Poppy Profitt.

“I really liked how the Nassau Rowing Club and Windsor Academy came together. I think it really helped us because we can only grow the sport.”

In the junior women’s single sculls, Crachante Laing, an 18-year-old 11th grader at Windsor High, won the race in 7:09. She was followed by Breanna Gayle in 7.27 with Leah Bethel taking third in 7.39.

“It was really unexpected because you really didn’t know how it was going to be because it was our first time doing something like this, but it went off very, very smoothly,” Laing said.

“For me personally, there was a lot of adrenaline at first. I didn’t know what to expect.

“These are girls that I don’t normally practice with, so I didn’t know their strokes and how competitive they were, but it was so surreal when I won. If you could have heard me, I was shouting ‘yes, yes’ when I saw the gap I had and I did in fact win.”

Harrison Schindel and Will Watson combined to capture the junior men’s double scull in 6.05.

Carl Van Gemerden and Sandor Bianchi got second in 6.30. “We’re great

PENALTY SAVE DENIES CITY VICTORY, KEEPS EPL TITLE RACE ALIVE

THE Nassau Rowing Club and Windsor High School Rowing Team produced a competitive inaugural Lake Cunningham Classic on Saturday. Some of the winners are shown above. together because we have the actual same height and we both weigh the same and we care a lot about the sport,” said Watson, a

17-year-old ninth grader at Lyford Cay. “It was some good competition, very friendly. We all worked together.

“It was a friendly, good atmosphere.”

Schindel, born in Canada, has been at Lyford Cay School for the past

year and he was pleased to share in the victory.

“I feel like when we get on the water, we are in our own zone,” Schindel said.

“We just go out there and do it all.

It was an amazing competition, especially seeing my team-mates from the Nassau Rowing Club getting in some competition from the Windsor High. It was really nice.”

There was also a showdown dubbed the Windsor Junior Men’s Coxed Four versus the Nassau RC Men’s Quadruple Scull that saw the team of Matthew Simms, Sam McCullery, Harry Winchester and Jake Young prevail in 6.12 over Kameron Taylor, Ellery Cartwright, Jamal Hanna and Harper Romer, who finished second in 6.30.

ANOTHER Premier League trophy was virtually in Manchester City’s hands. All it needed was Riyad Mahrez to convert a penalty, like he had done in each of his previous seven attempts from the spot this season.

Not this time.

There’s still plenty of life in this absorbing title race after Mahrez had a penalty saved in the 86th minute, leaving City to settle for a 2-2 draw at West Ham yesterday and a four-point lead over Liverpool heading into the final week of the season.

Liverpool heads to Southampton for its game in hand on Tuesday, needing at least a point to take the title race to Sunday — the last day of the season.

A win is probably required, though, given City has a superior goal difference of 7 compared to Liverpool.

City finishes at home to Aston Villa and that throws up an intriguing storyline.

Villa is coached by Liverpool great Steven Gerrard, who was never able to win the league for Liverpool.

He still could — but as a manager of another team.

Liverpool hosts Wolverhampton in its last game and still, somehow, retains hope of an unprecedented quadruple of major trophies having won both domestic cups and reached the Champions League final.

“We couldn’t expect different with this Liverpool — they are almost the perfect team,” City manager Pep Guardiola said. “We didn’t expect to win the title with three, four or five games to spare.”

It could have basically been over by now, however, had Mahrez put his spot kick past Fabianski.

Guardiola hardly flinched when Fabianski dived to his left and clawed away the penalty, which was at an inviting height for a goalkeeper.

After a few seconds, Guardiola scratched the side of his head and rubbed his face, and didn’t appear too disheartened at the final whistle as he shared an embrace with Mark Noble — West Ham’s long-serving midfielder who is retiring at the end of the season and was making his final home appearance for the club.

It’s Mahrez’s first failure from the spot this season, but he has history.

In the 2018-19 campaign — another City vs. Liverpool title race that went to the final day — the Algeria winger smashed a penalty over the crossbar late in the game in a 0-0 draw at Anfield.

City went on to claim the title and is favorite to do so again.

“We won’t look at anyone else — we’ll just try and win our game,” Guardiola said. “I’m pretty sure the Etihad Stadium will be full and they’ll be supporting us.”

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUALIFICATION The race for Champions League qualification is heading for the final day, too, with Tottenham climbing into fourth place — two points ahead of north London rival Arsenal — by beating Burnley.

Kane grabbed what proved to be the winning goal in the eighth minute of first-half stoppage time, converting from the spot after the ball struck the outstretched arm of Burnley striker Ashley Barnes following a flick by Tottenham defender Davinson Sanchez.

Over to you, Arsenal.

Mikel Arteta’s team has two games remaining compared to Tottenham’s one, the first coming at Newcastle today.

Tottenham finishes the season at Norwich, while Arsenal hosts Everton.

PAGE 16, Monday, May 16, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

JONES POSTS DOUBLE DOUBLE IN WIN

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net THE reigning WNBA MVP posted a double double en route to a home opening win for the Connecticut Sun. Jonquel Jones finished with 16 points, 12 rebounds, two assists and two steals to lead the Sun to a 77-60 win over the Los Angeles Sparks Saturday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.

Her Sun frontcourt mate Alyssa Thomas had 23 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and a steal.

“She was the MVP for a reason,” Thomas said.

“We knew she was going to have a monster night.

They really had nobody that could guard her. So it just speaks volumes to the type of player she is. And when she’s playing like that, we’re just a really dominant team.”

Jones got off to an early start with 10 points and six rebounds in the first quarter. The Sun led by as much as 24 in the first half and maintained that advantage through the second half.

Jones was in foul trouble for much of the contest and fouled out with just over seven minutes left to play.

“They were terrific in the first half, both of them, and there was intent to play through them,” said Sun

SUN forward Jonquel Jones (35) fends off Sparks forward Jasmine Walker, left, and guard Jordin Canada (21) on Saturday. head coach and general manager Curt Miller.

Jones opened the season with 15 points, seven rebounds, two blocks, two assists and two steals but the New York Liberty upset her Sun 81-79 on May 7 in the season opener for both teams.

The Sun looks to exact revenge on the Liberty and improve to 2-1 when the teams meet for the second time this season on May 17 at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, New York.

A promising 2021 season saw the Sun franchise produce the MVP, Most Improved Player, Coach of the Year, set franchise records in wins, winning percentage, and points allowed.

They finished the regular season 26-6 but the year ended in a disappointing

fashion with a loss to the eventual champion Chicago Sky in the semifinals.

“We’ve been talking about championship or bust, last year was a bust because we didn’t get a championship,” Jones said during training camp. “This year is the year to finish things and we feel that and we know that.”

In addition to league MVP, she was also named to the All-WNBA First Team, All-Defensive First Team, the Associated Press Player of the Year and AP First-Team Honours.

She also won the WNBA Peak Performer Award as the league’s top rebounder for the third time in the last five seasons and was named the WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the months of May, August and September.

CONNECTICUT Sun forward Jonquel Jones (35) beats Los Angeles Sparks centre Liz Cambage (1) to a rebound during a WNBA basketball game on Saturday in Uncasville, Connecticut.

(Photos: Sean D Elliot/The Day via AP)

Detention of WNBA’s Griner in Moscow extended by 1 month MOSCOW (AP) — WNBA star Brittney Griner had her pretrial detention in Russia extended by one month on Friday, her lawyer said.

Alexander Boykov told The Associated Press he thinks the relatively short extension indicated that Griner’s case would go to trial soon. The 31-yearold American basketball player has been in custody for nearly three months.

Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medallist who plays for the Phoenix Mercury, was detained at a Moscow airport in February after vape cartridges containing oil derived from cannabis were allegedly found in her luggage.

She faces drug smuggling charges that carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

Griner appeared for the brief hearing at a court outside Moscow handcuffed, wearing an orange hoodie and holding her face down. She did not express “any complaints about the detention conditions,” Boykov said.

The Biden administration says Griner is being wrongfully detained. The WNBA and US officials have worked toward her release, without visible progress. “Today’s news on Brittney Griner was not unexpected, and the WNBA continues to work with the US government to get BG home safely and as soon as possible,” the basketball league said in a statement.

Hours after the extension, the Mercury star’s agent Lindsay Kagawa Colas tweeted that Griner’s team expects the government “to use all options available to immediately and safely bring Griner home.”

State Dept spokesman Ned Price said diplomats from the US Embassy in Moscow spoke with Griner on Friday and reported she “is doing as well as can be expected in these circumstances.”

Russian officials have described Griner’s case as a criminal offence without making any political associations. But Moscow’s war in Ukraine has brought US-Russia relations to the lowest level since the Cold War. Despite the strain, Russia and the United States carried out an unexpected prisoner exchange last month — trading

WNBA star and twotime Olympic gold medallist Brittney Griner leaves a courtroom after a hearing, in Khimki just outside Moscow, Russia, Friday, May 13, 2022.

Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medallist, was detained at the Moscow airport in February after vape cartridges containing oil derived from cannabis were allegedly found in her luggage, which could carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. (AP Photo/ Alexander Zemlianichenko)

former Marine Trevor Reed for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot serving a 20-year federal prison sentence for conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the United States.

While the US does not typically embrace such exchanges, it made the deal in part because Yaroshenko had already served a long portion of his sentence. The Russians may consider Griner someone who could figure into another such exchange.

The State Department last week said it now regards Griner as wrongfully detained, a change in classification that suggests the US government will be more active in trying to secure her release even while the legal case plays out.

The status change places her case under the purview of the department’s Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, which is responsible for negotiating for the release of hostages and Americans considered

wrongfully detained. Also working on the case now is a centre led by Bill Richardson, the former US ambassador to the United Nations who helped secure the release of multiple hostages and detainees, including Reed.

It’s not entirely clear why the US government, which for weeks had been more circumspect in its approach, reclassified Griner as a wrongful detainee. But under federal law, there are a number of factors that go into such a

characterisation, including if the detention is based on being an American or if the detainee has been denied due process Besides Griner, another American regarded as unjustly detained in Russia is Paul Whelan, a corporate security executive from Michigan.

Whelan was arrested in December 2018 while visiting for a friend’s wedding and was later sentenced to 16 years in prison on espionage-related charges his family has said are bogus.

HOWARD SCORES 33 POINTS TO HELP DREAM BEAT FEVER 85-79 INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Top-pick Rhyne Howard had a career-high 33 points — the most in any WNBA game this season — to help the Atlanta Dream beat the Indiana Fever 85-79 yesterday.

In a matchup that featured the two top picks in last month’s draft, Howard made 9-of-18 from the field and 12-of-17 from the freethrow line with three steals.

Indiana’s NaLyssa Smith — the No. 2 overall selection — scored a season-high 18 points before leaving the game with about 6 1/2 minutes left due to a right ankle injury.

Cheyenne Parker scored eight of her season-high 11 points in the fourth quarter for Atlanta (3-1), including a layup and then an offensive rebound and putback that gave the Dream an 81-76 lead with 55.3 seconds left after Kelsey Mitchell hit a 3 that pulled Indiana — which led for just 12 seconds in the second half — within a point about a minute earlier.

Howard and Nia Coffey each made two free throws from there to seal it.

Coffey finished with 14 points, Aari McDonald added 11 and Monique Billings scored 10 for Atlanta.

Mitchell, who went into the game averaging 20.8 points per game, third most in the WNBA this season, finished with a season-high 27 points — her third consecutive game scoring at least 24 points.

The teams play again Tuesday night in Indianapolis.

FINALLY, A FIRST Lexie Hull, the No. 6 overall selection in last month’s draft, made her first WNBA field goal when she hit a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter. The 6-foot-1 guard, who shot 39.3% from 3-point range last season for Stanford, missed her first 10 shots of the season.

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Monday, May 16, 2022, PAGE 17

Williams has 27, Celtics make 22 3s in Game 7 rout of Bucks

By KYLE HIGHTOWER AP Sports Writer BOSTON (AP) — Grant Williams scored a careerhigh 27 points and hit seven 3-pointers, Jayson Tatum added 23 and the Boston Celtics set a Game 7 record with 22 3-pointers to eliminate the NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks 109-81 last night in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Boston will face topseeded Miami beginning Tuesday in a rematch of the 2020 East finals. The Heat beat the Celtics in six games in that series at Walt Disney World.

The Celtics trailed early but outscored the Bucks 61- 38 in the second half to cruise to the victory. Boston used a whopping 54-point advantage from behind the arc to improve to 25-9 in decisive seventh games.

The Bucks are now 3-9.

They went 4 for 33 (12.1%) from the 3-point line. That’s the second-worst 3-point percentage in a playoff game ever (minimum 30 attempts).

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 25 points, 20 rebounds and nine assists. But he was just 3 of 11 in the paint in the second half, including 1 for 6 the fourth quarter. Jrue Holiday added 21 points and eight assists.

Brook Lopez finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Williams finished 7 for 18 behind the arc as the Celtics

MILWAUKEE Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) shoots at the basket as Boston Celtics centre Al Horford (42) defends during the first half of Game 7 of an NBA basketball Eastern Conference semifinals playoff series yesterday in Boston.

(AP Photo/Steven Senne) finished the comeback after dropping Game 5 at home to fall into a 3-2 hole.

Boston started the second half on an 11-4 run to open a 59-47 lead.

It was 63-53 when Tatum went to the bench after being whistled for his fourth foul. But the Celtics rallied

without him, outscoring the Bucks 16-11 the rest of the quarter to take a 79-64 lead to the fourth.

The Bucks led the entire first quarter as Antetokounmpo scored or assisted on 24 of Milwaukee’s 26 first-quarter points. He ended the period with 10

points, eight rebounds and six assists to help the Bucks grab a 26-20 lead.

Boston began to claw back in the second quarter, drawing a third foul on Bobby Portis at the 8:49 mark. TV cameras showed him tossing his goggles as he went to the bench area.

He’d been wearing the goggles since suffering a right eye abrasion in Game 2 of Milwaukee’s first-round series against the Bulls.

With Portis on the bench, the Celtics took their first lead of the game on a dunk

by Al Horford that punctuated a 12-2 run.

Boston led 45-43 in the final minute of the half when Tatum was called for an offensive foul on Grayson Allen – Tatum’s third foul of the game.

Following an unsuccessful challenge by Celtics coach Ime Udoka, the teams exchanged misses.

But after Smart’s steal near midcourt, Antetokounmpo fouled Smart as he attempted a last-second, 3-point heave.

Smart connected on each of his three free throws to give Boston the 48-43 halftime lead.

Celtics centre Robert Williams III was available to play after missing three straight games with soreness and a bone bruise in his surgically repaired left knee. But he didn’t play.

TIP-INS Bucks: There was a pregame moment of silence held for the victims of mass shootings this past week in Milwaukee and Buffalo. …

Forward Khris Middleton missed his 10th straight playoff game with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee.

Milwaukee missed their final 11 3-point attempts of the first half.

Celtics: Were 9 of 22 from the 3-point line in the first half.

Patriots team owner Robert Kraft sat courtside, along with Patriots quarterback Mac Jones and receiver Kendrick Bourne.

PHOENIX Suns centre Deandre Ayton and Dallas Mavericks centre Dwight Powell, left, tip-off to start the first half of Game 7 of an NBA basketball Western Conference playoff semifinal, last night in Phoenix.

(AP Photo/ Matt York)

DJOKOVIC RESPONDS TO ALCARAZ LOSS AHEAD OF FRENCH OPEN

AYTON

FROM PAGE 14 the damage was the road team. Doncic was fantastic, making shots from all over the floor and finishing 12 of 19 from the field, including 6 of 11 on 3s. He also got some help: Dinwiddie was fantastic in the first half with 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range.

Meanwhile, Phoenix’s All-Star backcourt of Chris Paul and Devin Booker was never a factor. The 37-yearold Paul is a 12-time All-Star that has done just about everything possible in the game except win a championship.

After this setback, it’s fair to wonder if there will be many more opportunities. Booker finished with 11 points and shot 3 of 14.

Paul had 10 points and four assists. The Suns shot just 37.9% from the field.

Dallas beat the odds with the win: After the Celtics defeated the Bucks earlier yesterday, the home team was 110-33 (77%) in NBA Game 7s.

It’s the second straight year the Suns have lost a playoff series after having a 2-0 lead. They won the first two games against the

By ANDREW DAMPF AP Sports Writer

DALLAS Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) celebrates a basket against the Phoenix Suns during the first half of Game 7 of an NBA basketball Western Conference playoff semifinal last night in Phoenix.

(AP Photo/Matt York) Bucks in the NBA Finals last season before losing four straight games.

TIP-INS Mavericks: Doncic and Dinwiddie were the first teammates to have at least 20 points in a half in Game 7 since Patrick Ewing and Allan Houston did it for the Knicks in 1997, according to ESPN Stats & Info.

Suns: Phoenix shot just 6 of 23 (26.1%) from the field in the first quarter. ... The

Suns hosted another sellout crowd at Footprint Center.

Celebrities in attendance included baseball great Alex Rodriguez and rapper Lil’ Wayne. The Suns are the second team in NBA history to win at least 64 games in the regular season and not make the conference finals. The other was the Mavericks in 2007.

Phoenix has still never won a title since coming into the league in 1968.

ROME (AP) — That loss to Carlos Alcaraz seems to have motivated Novak Djokovic to step up his game.

Just in time, too.

A week after his defeat to the 19-year-old Alcaraz in Madrid, Djokovic won the Italian Open without dropping a set yesterday for his first title of the year.

Having missed a large portion of the season because he wasn’t vaccinated against the coronavirus, the top-ranked Djokovic beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-0, 7-6 (5) for his sixth Rome title.

Now, both Djokovic and Alcaraz need to be considered as top favourites for the French Open, which starts next Sunday.

“I go there with the highest ambitions,” Djokovic said. “I really like my chances. … The way I’ve been feeling on the court and off the court in the last few weeks, I really think I can go far.”

SERBIA’s Novak Djokovic kisses the trophy after winning the final match against Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Italian Open yesterday. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) The status of Rafael Nadal, who has won 13 of his record 21 Grand Slam titles at Roland Garros, remains uncertain after the Spaniard’s Italian Open ended earlier than expected when his chronically injured left foot began bothering him again.

“Right now, Carlos Alcaraz or Novak Djokovic,” Tsitsipas said when asked to pick the French

Open favourite — without even mentioning Nadal’s name.

As for the women, the overwhelming favourite is Iga Swiatek, the top-ranked player from Poland who defended the women’s title in Rome by overwhelming Ons Jabeur 6-2, 6-2 to extend her winning streak to 28 matches.

Swiatek was a surprise champion at the French Open in 2020 when she was ranked No. 54. Now the 20-year-old Polish player goes to Paris on a completely new level.

“I already know that I did some great stuff this season, so I feel like I can just play freely,” Swiatek said. “For sure the expectations around are higher, but I never had a problem to cut it off and not to think about it. Also I’m gaining experience at that.”

Swiatek has won five straight titles during her run. “All these tournaments that I’ve won seem pretty surreal right now,” she said.

PAGE 18, Monday, May 16, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

Men’s national basketball team players take spotlight

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

POSTSEASON basketball continues for several Bahamian senior men’s national team players in their respective leagues throughout Europe and South America.

Travis Munnings and Sporting Lisboa Benfica have advanced to the semifinal in Portugal’s Liga Portuguesa de Basquetebol (LPB).

Benfica completed a two-game sweep of Povoa in the quarterfinal. In game one, Munnings had five points, four rebounds and three assists in his team’s 77-59 win.

In game two, Munnings had a perfect shooting night from the field (5-5) and finished with 16

MAKO

FROM PAGE 14

The meet was the second one for the Bahamas Aquatics’ calendar since the national team returned home with their fourth consecutive victory at the recent CARIFTA Swim Championships in Barbados over the Easter holiday weekend.

And according to Alpha Aquatic Club’s president Celestial Deveaux, it was good to provide the opportunity for the New Providence-based swimmers and those coming home from college to compete in a tune-up for the National Swim Championships in June.

Winning the high point trophies for the outstanding performances in the various age groups were the following: Under-8 girls - Isabella Munroe and Leniah Hamilton provided a 1-2 punch for Mako Aquatic with first and second places with 54 and 31 points respectively.

Under-8 boys – Mantas’ Asher Bastian captured the title with 45 and Alpha’s Fraser Menzies was the runner-up with 33.

9-10 girls – Tiah Seymour of Mantas Swim & Water Polo Club won with 46 over Mako’s Taylen Nicolls, who had 37.

9-10 boys – Mako got another sweep of the top two spots as Keiron Lloyd won with 52 and Blair Thompson trailed with 29.

Girls 11-12 – Two different clubs prevailed as Saleste Gibson emerged the winner for the Barracuda Swim Club with

points and eight rebounds in an 84-67 win. They will advance to face the winner of CAB Madeira and Munnings’ former club UD Oliveirense.

In 28 games this season, Munnings averaged 7.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game while shooting 61 percent from the field and 34 percent from beyond the arch.

The 6’6” wing is currently in his second season in the LPB. Last year he averaged 12.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game for UD Oliveirense.

Benfica eliminated UD Oliveirense in the quarterfinals of last season’s playoffs.

Benfica looks to finish the local LPB on a high note and claim back-to-back titles after they were eliminated from FIBA EuroCup playoff contention in

April. Munnings finished with a team high 19 points and eight rebounds, but Benfica dropped a crucial 89-72 to Sporting CP. In 14 EuroCup games, Munnings has averaged 8.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.

Zane Knowles and Levski Sofia find themselves in an 0-2 hole to Balkan Botevgrad in the semifinal of Bulgaria’s NBL. In game one, Knowles came off the bench to finish with eight points and four rebounds in an 80-74 loss.

He moved into the starting lineup for game two, and he finished with 17 points and five rebounds in a 76-72 loss.

Game three is set for May 17.

Knowles finished with a dominant 28 point, eight-rebound performance in a 116-74 win over Beroe in the first game of

54 and Alexia Zatarain of the Lyford Swim Club was second with 42.

Boys 11-12 – Mako Swim Club again posted a 1-2 finish with Lenin Hamilton earning 57 and Trace Russell got 41.

Girls 13-14 – The Lyford Cay Club shined as Elina Fiaux took the title with 37 over Adriel Pratt of the Black Marlins Swim Club, who had 34.

Boys 13-14 – The Turks and Caicos Islands got some hardware as Tajhari Williams collected 56 to out-dual Alpha Aquatics’ Jarrod Charles with 40.

Girls 15-and-over - Delaney Mizell got another boost for the Lyford Swim Club with 42, Mia Sastre of the Black Marlins Swim Club came up short in second with 40.

Boys 15-and-over – The same results occurred as Roman Pinder came through for Lyford Swim Club with 45 over Joshua Murray of the Black Marlins Swim Club with 41.

Although she didn’t get to peak at the results because of the duties she had to fulfill on deck, Deveaux said Alpha Aquatics was quite pleased with the performances from the clubs and the swimmers who participated.

“I’ve been in touch with our coaches and they have been telling me that the kids have been dropping their times,” she said. “I checked the meet mobile and it was true, so I’m very pleased with where our club is heading into Nationals.”

Although all of the spotlight is placed on track and field, Deveaux assured the fans that swimming is

the quarterfinals. His statline was highlighted by his first threepoint field goal of his career.

Last season while preparing for the season in Hungary with Zalakerámia ZTE KK, Knowles sought treatment for what he described as a minor hamstring injury when doctors discovered a rare Arteriovenous Fistula (AVF) that required surgery.

In seven games since he has returned to play, he has returned to form with averages of 16.6 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.

Tavario Miller and Minas Belo Horizonte advanced to the semifinal in Brazil’s Novo Basquete Brasil (NBB) but currently trail Flamengo in their series.

Miller had just three points and three rebounds in the 76-67 game one loss. Minas advanced with a

3-1 series win over Unifacisa in the qaurterfinal. In game one, he finished with six points and five rebounds in an 85-65 win.

He followed with 22 points and seven rebounds in a 90-81 game two loss before 13 points and six rebounds in a 88-85 win.

In the closeout game of the series he finished with 12 points and seven rebounds off the bench in a 75-63 win.

Minas finished the regular ranked third in the league at 25-7.

The team also finished third in the FIBA Basketball Champions League of the Americas with a win over Quisima in the bronze medal game last month.

In his first season with the club, Miller is averaging 11.5 points and seven rebounds per game on 65 percent shooting from the field.

SWIMMERS in action at the Alpha Aquatic Spring Invitational held over the weekend at the Betty Kelly Kenning Swim Complex.

Photos by Racardo Thomas/Tribune Staff definitely the sport to watch and she encouraged the spectators to come out to the nationals and watch the keen competition on display at the stadium.

Despite the action being interrupted on Friday because of the rain, the meet came to a successful conclusion on Saturday.

What made it even more exciting was the rhymical sounds of the junkanoo music that was played in the stands.

Up next on the Bahamas Aquatics’ calendar will be the Mako Aquatics Swim Meet on May 28, followed by the 50th edition of the National Swim Championships that will be held in honour of the late swim executive extraordinaire John Bradley July 7-10.

Quite a number of swimmers attained the qualifying standards to be eligible to compete in the nationals, while there were three swimmers who qualified for the Central American and Caribbean Amateur Swimming Confederation’s Championships (CCCAN), scheduled for July 8-14 in Barbados.

But according to Bahamas Aquatics’ president Algernon Cargill, the Bahamas won’t be participating in CCCAN as it conflicts with the dates for the Nationals.

Nonetheless, Barracuda’s Saleste Gibson qualified in the 11-12 girls 50m butterfly in 31.38, surpassing the standard of 31.45, while Lenin Hamilton of Mako Aquatic posted a pair of marks in the boys 11-12 50m butterfly in 29.78 (standard 29.90) and the 50m freestyle in 27.71 (standard 27.92) and Caleb Hepburn of Alpha duplicated the feat in the boys 13-14 50m free in 25.23 (standard of 25.58) and the 100m butterfly in 1:00.63 (standard 1:01.76).

SOCCER

FROM PAGE 14 road to play Trinidad & Tobago to play on June 10.

Their final pool play match will be against Nicaragua.

Jean said by the time the tournament gets underway on June 3, the Bahamas should have its full team in place.

“We have a lot of players who haven’t arrived yet.

They are still overseas of to school. They should be here by next week,” he said.

“Once we bring them in and everybody understand what we are trying to do, I think we will do well.”

For those players overseas, Jean said they have been provided with the formations the team will be using through a WhatsApp group, so it shouldn’t be a problem for them getting adjusted to what they need to do when they come home.

Keith Jeffrey, who took over as the head coach of the Tucks and Caicos three weeks ago, said he was impressed with the way they played, going home with the split as they now prepare for their pool play against Bonaire in their opener on June 3 before they follow that up against both the US and British Virgin Islands.

“Coming after the first game and what we came out and did in the second game, we had a better idea of what the Bahamas is offering and we were able to play to our strength and took away their strength,” he said.

“I want to commend the players for their hard work and I think going forward, going into the Nations League, this is a morale

booster for us. I think we will be very good.”

With most of their players employed in the fledging tourism and construction industries, Jeffrey said he has been forced to

work with who can make it out for their early morning practice or late evening sessions. As a result of their performances here, Jeffrey said the plan has worked for Turks and Caicos.

AFTER winning their opener by a pair of goals, the Bahamas men’s national soccer team lost by one to the Turks and Caicos Islands in the second game of their two friendly matches played over the weekend at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium.

Photos by Racardo Thomas/Tribune Staff

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, May 16, 2022, PAGE 19

IOC QUESTIONS OLYMPIC BOXING LEADERSHIP AFTER IBA ELECTION

By GRAHAM DUNBAR AP Sports Writer GENEVA (AP) — With boxing’s status at the Olympics in doubt, the IOC was not impressed on Saturday with the leadership election of the sport’s governing body which was stripped of recognition in 2019.

International Boxing Association members re-elected their Russian president Umar Kremlev by acclamation two days after the only other candidate, from the Netherlands, was removed by an independent vetting panel.

“The events surrounding IBA’s general assembly, in particular the elections, merit careful analysis and are just reinforcing the questions and doubts around IBA’s governance,” the International Olympic Committee said in a statement.

Saturday’s vote marked the third presidential election in less than four years where boxing officials worldwide have elected a winner in defiance of IOC advice.

The IOC has for several years expressed concerns about the integrity of IBA’s management and finances,

GENERAL Secretary of the Russian Boxing Federation, member of the Executive Committee of the International Boxing Association (AIBA) Umar Kremlev holds a news conference in Moscow, Russia, on October 27, 2020.

(AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko) and potentially improper judging of bouts at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics under previous leadership.

The Olympic body excluded IBA from helping to organise boxing at the Tokyo Games last year, and left it off the initial slate of sports for the 2028 edition in Los Angeles.

Without a share of Olympic revenue from Tokyo, Kremlev has won support in boxing for clearing millions of dollars of IBA debts, though seemingly from a single Russian source.

“The various IOC concerns, including the financial dependency on the state-owned company Gazprom, are still not

resolved,” the IOC said.

Boxing is due to be at the 2024 Paris Olympics but the IOC last week warned IBA members of concerns with the proposed qualifying path for hundreds of boxers.

The IOC said its executive board “will receive an update on the latest developments in IBA” at a two-day meeting next week.

Kremlev’s intended election opponent Boris van der Vorst has filed an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport against being barred from the election.

He faced complaints about prohibited collaboration with candidates for other IBA positions.