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VOLUME:114 No.128, MAY 25TH, 2017
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Anti-corruption pledge by FNM
Legislation lined up for campaign finance By KHRISNA VIRGIL Deputy Chief Reporter kvirgil@tribunemedia.net
IN keeping with its campaign promise to wipe out malfeasance in government and increase transparency, the Free National Movement administration pledged yesterday to create and enforce anti-corruption legislation for parliamentarians and public officers. Legislation was also promised to amend the Public Disclosure Act to include a campaign finance component and allow for a matter to be referred to an independent prosecutor. The new administration also promised yesterday to give the Office of the Auditor General more autonomy. For several months ahead of his party’s crushing defeat of the then governing Progressive Liberal Party, stamping out acts of corruption was a common theme upon which now
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PLANS TO REDUCE, NOT REPEAL VAT ON COMMON GOODS By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net IN yesterday’s Speech from The Throne, the new government said it will reduce value added tax on breadbasket items, as the Minnis administration also outlined plans to transform Over-the-Hill communities. It is not clear if this is a shift in the administration’s VAT plans, as the Free National Movement had repeatedly promised in recent years to repeal VAT on such items, not just to reduce the tax rate on them. Details of the government’s tax plans were outlined in yesterday’s Speech from The Throne, read by Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling. The government said it “will take action to effect a reduction of VAT on breadbasket items”. SEE PAGE SIX
WORKING WITH COMMUNITY TO FIGHT CRIME ON GOVT AGENDA By SANCHESKA DORSETT Tribune Staff Reporter sdorsett@tribunemedia.net PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis presents Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling with the Speech from the Throne yesterday. Photo: Peter Ramsay/BIS Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis capitalised. The government recommitted itself to achieving this objective, as it was one of many goals detailed in the Speech from the
Throne yesterday – delivered by Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling in Rawson Square. The auspicious event, brimming with pomp and pageantry was filled with
scores of elegantly dressed Bahamians who gathered to listen to the Minnis administration’s “ambitious” five-year plan. “When we look around the world, we easily come
to appreciate how fortunate we are, and what a privilege it is to be a citizen of The Bahamas,” Dame Marguerite said. SEE PAGE THREE
REFERENDUM PLANNED ON TERM LIMITS, RECALL SYSTEM By KHRISNA VIRGIL Deputy Chief Reporter kvirgil@tribunemedia.net THE Minnis administration will seek the consent of the electorate by way of a referendum on instituting term limits for the prime
minister, a recall system for nonperforming members of Parliament and an independent Constituencies Commission and Electoral Commission, the Speech from The Throne revealed yesterday. The speech, which revealed the government’s intended plans over
the next five years, was read by Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling. The government also intends to create an Office of the Ombudsman to provide a direct source of relief. It is hoped that people who have legitimate grievances
due to the actions or inaction of the government or any public agency will have a form of recourse through this mechanism, the Speech from The Throne noted. SEE PAGE THREE
PLP: FNM IS FOLLOWING IN OUR FOOTSTEPS
By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net
THE Progressive Liberal Party tried to brand much of the government’s agenda in
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the Speech from The Throne as a continuation of the previous administration’s plans. “We listened intently and the reality is that the Speech from The Throne is an acknowledgement of the
transformative foundation already constructed by the PLP government,” Official Opposition Leader Philip “Brave” Davis said at a SEE PAGE FIVE
THE newly elected Free National Movement government yesterday promised to “implement modern crime fighting initiatives,” collaborate with civic leaders, including the religious community and initiate neighbourhood safety programmes in an effort to “reduce the culture of violence” in The Bahamas. The Minnis administration also promised to have a zero tolerance for all crimes, including minor infractions. Yesterday, the government also said it would work to reduce youth and overall unemployment and invest in skills training. In the Speech from the Throne, which was read by Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling at the opening of Parliament, the government also promised to enact legislation to establish the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and formally establish a Guns and Gangs Unit. SEE PAGE SEVEN
SECURITY GUARD STEPS IN TO SHOOT KNIFE ATTACKER By SANCHESKA DORSETT Tribune Staff Reporter sdorsett@tribunemedia.net
A CONCERNED citizen shot and severely injured a
suspect yesterday morning, moments after the man allegedly stabbed another man on a public bus. The incident took place shortly after 11am on Carmichael Road.
According to a police report, two males attacked a man on a public service bus and stabbed him. A concerned citizen, who witnessed the incident, intervened and
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shot one of the suspects with his licenced shotgun. The Tribune understands the shooter was a security SEE PAGE SEVEN