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WHY IT’S TIME TO SAY YES

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RIGHT THE WRONGS

TRIBUNE SUPPLEMENT ON CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENDUM

Why the June Referendum 7 Constitutional is - the four bills so important explained

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Heartbreaking families broke stories of inequality and n by past victimisation

The Tribune Established 1903

Being Bound To Swear

Patterson: I’m voting no to Bill 4

THE VOTING begins in the Constitutional Referendum, with long lines at the advanced polls yesterday for police, defence force staff and poll workers. The vote is on June 7.

Christian Council president praying over other Bills

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Christian Council President Rev Dr Ranford Patterson yesterday said he is “unequivocally” voting against the fourth Constitutional Amendment Bill, charging that a ‘yes’ vote would eliminate the need for “Parliament to ever come back to the Bahamian people to do anything as it relates to marriage”.

He also said he was still “praying” about what he should vote on the three other bills.

Dr Patterson, breaking his silence on the controversial gender equality referendum, suggested that inserting the word “sex” into Article 26 of the Constitution - as bill four proposes - would subsequently give Parliament free reign to alter the specifics of what le-

Master

Photo: BIS

GRAY: VOTE HIJACKED BY RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemeda.net

MICAL MP V Alfred Gray said the fourth constitutional referendum bill has been “hijacked by the religious community.”

Speaking to reporters outside Cabinet yesterday, he also weighed in on the contentious debate surrounding transgender people in the country, saying even if a man or a woman undergoes a sex change, they are still their original sex.

SEE PAGE TWO

DAME JOAN: REFERENDUM A RUSE FOR LGBT RIGHTS

gally constitutes a marriage as outlined in the Matrimonial Causes Act, with or without the consent of the public.

Dr Patterson said he is also concerned that adding the word “sex” to Article 26 may allow for persons to freely express the gender they identify with as opposed to their biological sex, or as Dr Patterson put it: “If someone is a man, you cannot tell this man he cannot come to work for me dressed up in a dress because it will be discrimination based on Article 26.”

“That’s what I gather from what people told me in this article, what I studied, and what I’ve learned from this article, and it scares the hell out of me,” Dr Patterson said. “There’s some things I think we should always be able to discriminate on.”

SEE PAGE TWO

To The Dogmas Of No

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Christian Council President, Rev. Dr. Ranford Patterson, pictured speaking to media in a press conference on the gender referendum. Photos SHawn Hanna

WOMAN ACCUSED OF KILLING ZNS HOST AND STEALING HIS IPHONE

By LAMECH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

A WOMAN accused of killing ZNS radio broadcaster Scott Richards and stealing his iPhone during a gunpoint robbery was arraigned in Magistrate’s Court yesterday afternoon on murder and armed robbery charges.

However Raquel Johnson, 30, of Plantol Street SEE PAGE FIVE

FNM FOUNDING FATHER HITS OUT AT MPS’ ACTIONS

By KHRISNA VIRGIL Tribune Staff Reporter kvirgil@tribunedmedia.net

MAURICE Moore, regarded as one of the Free National Movement’s founding fathers, has strongly rebuked the six opposition members of Parliament who threatened to have FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis constitutionally removed, insisting that their actions “are not

becoming” of people who want to be leaders.

Mr Moore told The Tribune yesterday that he was “disappointed” by the MPs’ attempts to oust Dr Minnis from the top FNM post.

He said this was counterproductive and proof that each of the MPs only “wanted their own way” and were solely concerned with further dividing the organisation.

SEE PAGE SIX

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

FORMER Court of Appeal President Dame Joan Sawyer has claimed that the Christie administration is using the upcoming gender equality vote as a “ruse” to implement lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights in order to conform to international human rights policies.

In a speech at a recent Bahamas Bar Association forum on the upcoming referendum, Dame Joan SEE PAGE THREE

NO DEATH PENALTY FOR KILLERS OF AMERICAN SAILOR

By LAMECH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter ljohnson@tribunemedia.net THREE men who were convicted of the murder of American sailor Kyle Bruner during his attempt to prevent a robbery of two visitors were spared the death penalty yesterday.

Justice Indra Charles had been urged by the Crown to sentence Craig Johnson, SEE PAGE FIVE

PAGE 2, Wednesday, June 1, 2016

THE TRIBUNE

Gray: vote hijacked by religious community from page one “We’re too smart a people to let a few foolish people tell us sex means male or female but it opens the door to same-sex marriage,” he said about critics of the fourth bill.

Among those people who oppose the fourth bill are Marco City MP Greg Moss, former Court of Appeal President Joan Sawyer and Grace Community Church Senior Pastor Lyall Bethel.

A group of pastors behind the Save Our Bahamas committee have also launched a campaign against bill four over fears it will lead to gay marriage.

Like other prominent officials who support a ‘yes’ vote for the referendum, Mr Gray said he believes the

‘NO EVIDENCE’ OVER CLAIMS OF BALLOT IRREGULARITIES PARLIAMENTARY Commissioner Sherlin Hall has said officials have no evidence of irregularities during yesterday’s advance poll despite claims on social media that some voters who cast ballots for the constitutional referendum may have received a wrong date stamp to their voter’s cards.

“I have no evidence of it and I would have to see the same,” he told The Tribune when he was contacted. “I think it is just political mischief.”

Unsubstantiated claims that circulated on social media yesterday suggested that officials from the Parliamentary Registration Department may have mistakenly stamped some voter’s cards of those who voted in the advance poll in New Providence and Grand Bahama with a March 31, 2013 date instead of March 31, 2016.

Full voting for the referendum will take place on June 7.

failure to pass the fourth bill would lead to same-sex marriage rather than prevent it.

“All the bill says or seeks to do is define the word sex,” he said. “In Section 15 of the Constitution it says no one should be discriminated against on the basis of religion, creed, some other words, and sex. But it did not say in the Constitution presently what sex means.

This bill seeks to define sex as male or female. I do not understand how same-sex marriage gets involved in this.

“People are too smart in the Bahamas to accept that if they read the bill, that it would lead to same-sex marriage. Allow me to say this; if we do not vote for it, that’s where the door gets opened to same-sex mar-

riage because I can see some people going to the courts not long after to test it. And because the Constitution is the supreme law of the Bahamas, if we don’t have in the Constitution what sex means, the court will be left to interpret it. And if you have a liberal court that interprets it to mean a change of your gender by operation, a change of your gender by some impostors feel where if you feel like you’re a man, you’re a man, (then it could lead to samesex marriage.)”

With unprecedented visibility, the transgender community has recently come forward to seek respect and greater acceptance within the Bahamian community.

Mr Gray, however, dismissed their points of view as he suggested they are

confused about their true nature.

“A man is a man at birth,” he said. “A woman is a woman at birth. You can have as much operations as your money can allow, but you can’t change what God has done. And if we do not say male or female in the Constitution, trust me, somebody will hear me and live to regret it.

“You cannot change male or female by operation. You can have sex change if you want but if at birth you were male, that’s what you are.

If at birth you were female, that’s what you are and always will be. You may prefer women; you may prefer men; you may prefer to be a man or you may prefer to be a woman; but it’s what you are not your preference and all of us were born

QUEUES at the advance polling yesterday.

Photo: BIS

PATTERSON: I’M VOTING NO TO BILL 4

from page one

Dr Patterson added: “I am not comfortable with bill four. When you add ‘sex’ in the long list of attributes in Article 26 of our Constitution, it does something with that Article that I am not comfortable with.

Therefore, I wish to state unequivocally that I am voting no on referendum day.”

Dr Patterson also refuted recent assertions by Constitutional Commission Chairman Sean McWeeney, QC, that a ‘no’ vote against bill four may actually make it “easier to overturn the existing ban on same-sex marriage.”

“I’ve gone around to all of the debates that were going on around town, and I am convinced that some of the things that they are dealing with presently in this referendum can be dealt with in the House of Assembly,” Dr Patterson said. “My fear is if we add ‘sex’ in Article 26, there’s no need for the Parliament to ever come back to the Bahamian people to do anything as it relates to mar-

riage. They could change it at 12 midnight or 6 o’clock in the morning and we have no control over it. So what Sean McWeeney said, more

power to him, but I prefer the Constitution to remain the same.”

He added: “From 1973 to present we had no chal-

lenge to it (the Constitution). Until there is a challenge - there’s not been a challenge, there’s no need for me to believe anything.”

Dr Patterson said he is “still praying” for an answer to how he should vote on the other three bills, but still outlined the various “challenges” he has with the respective amendments.

Regarding bill two, which would allow a Bahamian woman married to a foreign man the right to secure for her husband the same access to Bahamian citizenship as a Bahamian male has with his foreign spouse, Dr Patterson said his vote depends on whether that condition applies to “Bahamians all over the world who are marrying same-sex couples.”

“I need the Constitutional Commission to tell me whether that applies to that as well, and then I’ll determine my vote on bill two,” he said.

Regarding the first bill, which seeks to allow Bahamian women who are married to foreign men the right to pass on their Bahamian

nis was a “deep hypocrite” for failing to publicly support a ‘yes’ vote.

The FNM yesterday fired back that Mr Christie was the true hypocrite for his turnaround in the 2002 referendum, characterising the prime minister’s statements as “typical political talk from an old-time politician that is trying to cling to power.”

The party countered that Mr Christie was afraid of the people and fearful of giving them a “true say” in their future because of the unprecedented level of corruption under his watch.

The statement said the “bizarre attack” on its leader was an attempt to deflect attention from the government’s “abysmal record”.

“The true fact is that Dr

Minnis has always believed that the upcoming referendum was an opportunity for the people of the Bahamas to weigh in on their future,” the statement read.

“He and the FNM trust the people – when empowered with the facts and armed with the ability to educate themselves they will decide what’s best for our country.

“The prime minister fears this approach – trusting and empowering the people – because it is his government that has taken corruption to a stunning new level. A level where government contracts are lavished on friends, families, and allies, and transparency and accountability are things to be feared and pushed aside.”

Mr Christie’s remarks

follow a series of claims by Dr Minnis that the government was not doing a good job at educating the public, and was allegedly offering bribes for a ‘yes’ vote. Dr Minnis called the government’s funding of the YES Bahamas campaign biased and undemocratic.

The FNM insisted that Mr Christie’s role in the failure of the 2002 referendum was a sign of “true hypocrisy”, adding that his political legacy reflects his willingness to do or say anything to seize more power.

In a second statement released yesterday, Dr Minnis blasted the prime minister over his failure to present a crime plan to tackle the country’s rising murder rate during his 2016-2017 Budget Communication.

Recalling the prime minister’s 2012 charge that crime ills were a direct result of poor governance, Dr Minnis suggested that Mr Christie heed his own words when faced with record high murder rates over the course of his term.

“This government has had years to offer concrete plans to fix the crime rate,” Dr Minnis said, “yet its repeated failures have only made it worse. Under their abysmal leadership, our country is setting yearly records of murders that take place on our streets.

“How can the prime minister offer a budget communication that allows this frightening trend to continue? The country is at a critical crossroad and all this government serves up on crime is warmed

BAHAMAS Christian Council president Rev Dr Ranford Patterson speaking to the media yesterday.

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

citizenship to any child of that union regardless of where that child is born, and the third bill, which would grant any unmarried Bahamian man the right to pass on his Bahamian citizenship to any child he fathers with a foreign woman with proof of paternity, Dr Patterson said the focus should instead be on addressing the “thousands” of Bahamians “who are stateless right now who are entitled to citizenship who are not getting it”.

“We need to fix the loophole that’s in our system,” he said. “Let’s deal with the thousands of young people that I see every day that can’t get a job, can’t open a bank account.”

Dr Patterson also called for the Constitutional Commission to “give the Bahamian people the pros and the cons of the changes that you think we as a people need to make.”

He also called for the commission to present the public with amendments to the Constitution that “we are crying for and not what you feel we need to have.”

over, failed proposals that haven’t fixed the growing problem.”

He added: “What do we tell the families that have lost loved ones to a violent crime, and what do we say to the children that won’t see a parent ever again?

The prime minister and this government seem content with telling them that there is no major problem that this is off our imaginations.

“But we know that you can’t fix a problem like crime if you continue to ignore it.”

Dr Minnis said the government failed to lead and make an impact, and pledged that his party will deliver concrete plans to demonstrate real leadership in getting the country “back on the right track”.

FNM: GOVT IS CAJOLING BAHAMIANS, NOT EDUCATING THEM

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

THE FREE National Movement yesterday accused the government of “cajoling” Bahamians to support the upcoming referendum instead of truly educating them on the proposed changes to the Constitution. In a statement, the party also defended its leader Dr Hubert Minnis against criticisms over his lack of involvement in the referendum despite his support of the four Constitutional Amendment Bills in Parliament.

The party was responding to disparaging remarks levelled at Dr Minnis by Prime Minister Perry Christie, who told The Nassau Guardian that Dr Min-

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, June 1, 2016, PAGE 3 DONNA Nicolls speaking at yesterday’s press conference, flanked

by Terneill Burrows and Noelle Nicolls.

Photos: Tim Clarke/ Tribune Staff

We must stop the hate

By SANCHESKA BROWN Tribune Staff Reporter sbrown@tribunemedia.net

THE deputy director of the Bahamas Crisis Centre yesterday called for peace and tolerance after she said the constitutional referendum debate has turned into “an intolerable hate fest.”

At a press conference, Donna Nicolls said the hatred and intolerance for differing opinions “is spreading throughout the airways and on social media” like wild fire. She said adults are setting a terrible example for children who are in turn mimicking this negative behaviour.

“Over the past few months, the gender equality debate has turned into

‘

Over the past few months, the gender equality debate has turned into an intolerable hate fest, with some persons preaching and praying for the outright violation of the human rights of members of the community.’

Donna Nicolls an intolerable hate fest, with some persons preaching and praying for the outright violation of the human rights of members of the community,” Ms Nicolls said.

“We seem to be forgetting that beyond the referendum we have a community at war that is suffering under the weight of inequities, forgetting that violence and inequity go hand in hand.

“Just look at the number of murders and sexual assaults reported in the past two-week period.

“The hatred being evoked by the referendum debate is not unrelated to the wider violence in our communities.

“We call on all Bahamians to respect the rights of their fellow citizens, and to desist from treating one another in unkind and de-

meaning ways and desist from using or advocating for the use of all forms of violence, including verbal violence, against fellow citizens just because they share different belief systems.”

“We invite people in The Bahamas to adopt a more tolerant manner of engaging others,” Ms Nicolls said.

“My plea today is for us to move together with a vision of a Bahamas free of violence. The plea today is that we might work together to build a more caring, peaceful, tolerant society.”

When it comes to the referendum, Ms Nicolls said she plans to vote “yes” to all of the questions.

The referendum is slated for June 7.

• Sean McWeeney on referendum, see page eight.

T IME TO

RIGHT THE WRONGS

Why the June 7 Constitutional Referendum is so - the four bills exp important lained

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Heartbreaking sto families broken ries of inequality and by past victimisation

The Tribune

INSIDE TODAY TRIBUNE SUPPLEMENT ON CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENDUM Established 1903

Being Bound To Swear To

The Dogmas Of No Master

‘VOTE WON’T BRING SAME-SEX MARRIAGE BUT WILL HELP RIGHTS’

By SANCHESKA BROWN Tribune Staff Reporter sbrown@tribunemedia.net

ERIN Greene speaking to the press yesterday.

HUMAN rights activist Erin Greene said yesterday she does not believe the fourth constitutional amendment will pave the way for same-sex marriage in the Bahamas but she said it will give members of the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender community the “rights” they deserve.

Ms Greene said now is the time for the LGBT community to stand up and be a part of the national conversation because in 50 years, young Bahamians will look to her and say: “Ms Greene you had your time and you did nothing.”

“I am not of the view that this opens the door to same-sex marriage,”

she told reporters. “I rely on my understanding of Chapter 3, Article 26 of the Constitution that allows Parliament to discriminate in relation to same-sex marriage.”

“What that means if we entrench discrimination based on the basis of sex in the Constitution, Parliament will still be able to create legislation that discriminates on the basis of sex.

So despite being bringing gender equality, Parliament would still be able to maintain the ban in the country as it relates to same-sex marriage.”

When asked why the LGBT community decided to advocate for rights during the same time as the referendum conversation, Ms Greene said: “This exercise is also about us.”

“LGBT people can rely on the provisions in the amendments for protection against discrimination based on the basis of sex.

That is why we are here,” Ms Greene said.

“We are here because this exercise is about us.

LGBT discrimination is sex-based discrimination.

So it is more than reasonable for LGBT people to demand they are a part of the conversation. We are not attempting to hijack the exercise or jump in ahead of our time. This is the time for us to stand and present ourselves and if those who are supposed to represent us refuse to represent us, then we must represent ourselves. We are here to be a part of the discussion that determines what the Constitution

should say.”

The fourth Constitutional Amendment Bill has been mired in controversy due to belief from some quarters that a “yes” vote would lead to same-sex marriage.

The proposed change seeks to update Article 26 of the Constitution to outlaw discrimination based on sex, which has been defined as being male or female.

In May, Prime Minister Perry Christie insisted that same-sex marriage would never happen in the Bahamas during his lifetime.

In an earlier interview with The Tribune, Mr Christie appeared agitated by the continued argument that the fourth bill could lead to same-sex marriage, telling reporters that he is “almost embarrassed by” this line of thinking.

DAME JOAN: REFERENDUM A RUSE FOR LGBT RIGHTS

from page one

suggested that the government’s aggressive support for the YES Bahamas campaign is a push to ensure that all Bahamians are “in step” with LGBT rights as prescribed by the United Nations.

She insisted that the vitriol levelled at her in recent weeks because she does not support the referendum occurred because the government viewed her as a hindrance to their attempt to sway the public into a “yes” vote.

“The hidden agenda, I say, was deposited last October when the leader of this country said in a public statement published in The Guardian, that we as Bahamians need to get in step with the rest of the world with regard to the LGBT agenda.”

It is unclear which statement Dame Joan was referring to, however in March

2015 The Tribune reported that Prime Minister Perry Christie told College of the Bahamas students that leaders of conservative countries must consider how their nations could “co-exist in a world” where global attitudes towards social issues like homosexuality are shifting.

According Dame Joan, the four referendum bills are being presented in a certain manner to dupe voters. She claimed that matters of citizenship that are contained in the first three bills are being masqueraded as the crux of the vote as a way to misguide voters away from the intentions of bill four. This bill seeks to eliminate discrimination based on sex, which has been defined as being male or female.

She stressed that the government could make the necessary changes proposed by the referendum without a public vote.

“Must I allow you to

brainwash me and claim that you are helping my children and grandchildren?

Don’t play with people’s minds. We are not toys, we are human beings, we have the capacity to think. Don’t insult our intelligence,” she said.

“I know they carried me to war because I honestly said I hadn’t read the bills. I saw no need for me to read the bills because the bills in my humble opinion, in my very humble opinion, are not worth the paper they are printed on.

“Am I crazy, or I can’t read now? Why do you insult me and think that I must swallow drivel poured down my throat, incisively?

“Must I allow you to brainwash me and claim that you are helping my children and grandchildren? Who are you helping and what is the purpose of all this waste of time, money and energy?

“I am not a part of the ‘no’ vote campaign, I sim-

ply said what Joan Sawyer would do. I am not trying to tell you how to vote. But I am not going to vote for nonsense. It is time we get it right, we need to raise the level of debate.”

Dame Joan, who is also a former chief justice, also accused the government of dumbing-down the population.

“We are dealing with human beings and we are trying to establish a code of decency and public and moral conduct. You cannot build a country on immoral conduct, you not build it.

“I don’t care what they say, you must have a firm moral base. When England was Christian it conquered one-third of the world.

Where are they now? When Spain was Christian how much did it have? Where is it now? America is imploding. America is at war with itself.”

Dame Joan said that global and local standards should not be changed to

align with “personal problems.”

“Standards must stay in place, they are set as goals for which we ought to strive.

Not as soon as it suits us, put them on one side and then we accommodate whoever. Where will it end?

“What happened to us?

Are we so enamoured (by) this thing called money that we have forgotten who we are? How important we are as people? How important life is? How important it is to strive for excellence? Are we going to always consider

going with the lowest common denominator rather than the highest common factor?”

Advance polls for the gender equality referendum were held yesterday.

General voting is scheduled for next Tuesday across the country.

PAGE 4, Wednesday, June 1, 2016

THE TRIBUNE

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

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The importance of the Constitutional Amendments ON JUNE 7th, Bahamians will be given the chance to right the wrongs committed against the family - Bahamian women and children in particular - in a Constitutional Referendum that was lost just before the 2002 election. In that year, the quality of life for the family was sacrificed on the altar of selfish politics.

An election had to be won and so, having agreed to the wording of the proposed amendment that would have enabled a Bahamian woman to transfer her Bahamian nationality to her foreign-born husband as a Bahamian man could always do for his foreign wife, the PLP suddenly decided to pull its support. The only excuse that they could find was that they had made a mistake.

This did not say much for their intelligence considering how much time the then Ingraham government had given them to consider and debate the matter among themselves and then on the floor of the House. Everything to which the PLP had objected was deleted by the Ingraham government for the sake of unanimity when they went to the people.

After agreeing, Mr Christie suddenly announced that his party had a change of heart. All sorts of rabbits were pulled out of the hat to justify their breach of faith in their lust to win the government in 2002. However, the biggest rabbit to be grabbed onto to justify their bad faith was the Church. They had not sought the Church’s blessing before deciding to give the same rights to Bahamian women as Bahamian men had on marrying a foreign wife, or so they claimed.

Eleven years later, that poor old rabbit was a sinister joke when another referendum was held - this time it was a proposal to legalise the web shops gambling. Churchmen and their followers campaigned vigorously against the legalisation of gambling. And much to the embarrassment of Mr Christie, who swore that he had “no horse in the race”, the churchmen and their followers won the vote.

The 2002 Constitutional Referendum on equality between Bahamian men and women would be binding, the Gambling referendum was not. In fact, there was no need for it. Caught between the Church and the gambling bloc, the Christie government quickly explained that it wasn’t really a referendum, it was just an opinion poll. Yet, this government has never justified spending $1.2m of the people’s money on a decision that could have been made on the floor of the House of Assembly - with the same results and at no cost to anybody.

And now many Bahamians, seething with anger about having been duped in 2002 and again in 2013, are prepared to deny Bahamian women their equal rights to spite the Christie government by voting against the June 7 referendum.

On all sides, the question is now being asked: “Why did they tell us to vote ‘no’ in 2002 and now in 2016, they are telling us to vote ‘yes’. What do they take us for?”

Don’t push our computer fingers too far, or we might just tell you the truth about what they take you for. However, our advice is to read those four questions and start thinking for yourselves - after all, it is hoped that all of you did not get a D grade in school.

As we have already said in this column, now is not the time for revenge. Save your anger for 2017 when your opinion can really do damage - that is the time to mark your X and vote them out. The referendum is all about giving Bahamian men and women equal status in their own country.

Yesterday a young man, who was being swept into the “no” corner, decided to read the four referendum proposals

for the first time. When he was finished his simple remark was: “I don’t know what all the fuss is about. They seem pretty straightforward to me.” They are straightforward.

And for those men, hiding their own insecurity behind the Biblical text that a woman with veiled head should walk so many paces behind her husband, can choose to do so in their own homes - provided they can find a docile woman who will go along with their beliefs. However, in this world where a woman is educated and competes in the working world, she should not be kept on a lower scale than her male counterpart when it comes to the family home. The law will make them equal. It is then for them to choose their own private lifestyle.

This also goes for the man who has a child out of wedlock. The law will be there if he wants to give his nationality to his child. There is no obligation for him to do so. However, it should not be denied the Bahamian man who might want to confer his nationality on his child.

And as for Bill 4, which has created hysteria that it will open the door to same-sex marriage, it is much misunderstood. As stated for the June 7 referendum it will do no such thing.

However, now that the Pandora’s Box is ajar, this will be another fight on a different playing field. Same-sex marriage is now a world issue, so don’t be so naive to think that the time will not come when it will have to be considered. However, it will not automatically enter on June 7 through Bill 4 of the referendum.

Many of those who are pushing the “no” vote maintain that the whole truth is not being told. That is true. In the House of Assembly on December 21, 2001, it was admitted that bureaucracy in the Immigration Ministry had turned citizenship dreams for many foreign-born spouses and their Bahamian wives into “nightmares”.

The truth that is not being told is what happens to families whose rights are not protected by the law. Today, The Tribune brings you the truth of what can happen and did happen and can continue to happen to Bahamian families if women are denied equal status as their menfolk.

Bahamian families who feel secure in their own marriages should think of what their daughters and granddaughters could face should they choose a foreign husband.

As for the commentator on The Tribune’s website, who claimed that this problem only arose among white Bahamians - those who could afford to send their daughters away to school where they met and married a foreigner. We ask him to look at the ethnic cleansing in Inagua and tell us what colour those people were.

The few stories that we have told in The Tribune’s special section - ‘Time to right the wrongs’ - today are only a small glimpse of the suffering of many families in this country. We have seen tears roll down the face of a grown man when, having lived all his life here and raised a solid Bahamian family, he received news that he was not welcome in “PLP” land.

And a small child clinging in fear to his father’s legs when a PLP underling at the airport threatened not to let his father land because the form in his passport had been stamped by the UBP government.

Read this section on what has happened and then sit down and consider how you will vote on June 7.

We leave you with the wise words of Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the American Declaration of Independence: “In the questions of power let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.”

Simple math EDITOR, The Tribune.

BRADLEY Roberts requested that Terrance Bastian reveal the method he used to determine how millions of dollars were lost at Road Traffic.

I suspect that most right thinking individuals realise that Mr Bastian probably used fundamental mathematical principles like addition, subtraction and multiplication.

It is unlikely that he used the voodoo economic principles cherished by this present government.

JB Nassau, May 13, 2016.

Pay up and say sorry EDITOR,The Tribune.

ON September 9, 1958, I was employed by The Board of Education, on East Bay Street, as a Student Teacher and posted at Eastern Senior School with Headmaster Donald W Davis. On January 7, 1959, I was confirmed as a teacher by Governor Sir Raynor Arthur.

Throughout the years, I obtained professional qualifications and attended The Bahamas Teacher’s College on Gregory Street. In 1980, I obtained my BSC in Education from The University of Miami and in 1981 my MA in Education from Loyola University.

I took a letter, my certifi-

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net cate and a copy of it to The Ministry of Education’s headquarters, on Shirley Street, asking for my salary to be reassessed, but without results, even after asking all Prime Ministers and also my Parliamentary Representatives at the constituency offices and the House of Assembly.

In March 1988, my employee number was changed from 9458 to 4708. Shortly after that, my file disappeared from The Ministry of Education’s headquarters on Shirley Street.

I would like for Prime Minister Perry Christie and all members of Parliament, to give me the same courtesy given to Mr Louis Bacon and Mr Peter Nygard. As a Bahamian born citizen, by finding my file and the person who removed it, pay me all of the monies owed after working as a teacher in The Commonwealth of The Bahamas, for 30 years and also an apology for my being a victim of The Bahamas Government.

Thanking you for your co-operation.

HELENA CAMPBELL-CLARKE Nassau, April 26, 2016.

FNM rift

EDITOR, The Tribune.

I HAVE been following the growing internal conflict within the FNM party since the initial airing of their grievances in the press.

And the more I read the more it reminds me of the comical scene in the Monty Python movie in 1979 called the “Life of Brian”.

The scene I am referring to is where two groups

opposing Roman occupation of Judea, one called the Judean People’s Front and the other, the People’s Front of Judea, are both invading the Roman Emperor’s Palace from the basement tunnel and they unknowingly encounter each other. They start a heated argument as to who is the legitimate group to fight for Judea and expel the Romans. They draw their swords and begin fighting each other, eventually kill-

ing each other while the Roman soldiers guarding the basement of the Palace look on in perplexity and amusement.

I think there is an analogy that can be drawn to the current situation in the FNM party and the Monty Python movie. What do you think?

minded that the PLP have in the past through legislation shown they are at the minimum sympathetic to the gay movement as we remember in the 1980s it was the PLP who amended the law on buggery to consenting adults in private.

It is my perception that the whole push the issue down our throats, the YES vote has and will backfire so badly after June 7, that it will need all the new ambulances and gallons of blood to try to save the PLP for what I have to suggest they

will have brought on themselves.

When a government tells the populace they are stupid - ignorant if they don’t support their position then it is inevitable what will be the consequences: a massive wholesale rejection even if there is logic to the arguments.

The bull in the china shop attitude of the leadership has cast the dye.

CHARLTON KNOWLES Nassau, May 31, 2016.

Gay agenda?

EDITOR, The Tribune.

I FOUND it interesting if not naïve that two candidates of the PLP would raise or even whisper the alleged gay agenda in the referendum.

To have a gay agenda means that there are potentially enough persons of the persuasion who would support the gay side of a policy and would vote accordingly.

An admittance that there are hundreds of gay sympathisers which there are.

We might be well re-

U ROLLE Nassau, May 22, 2016.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, June 1, 2016, PAGE 5

WOMAN ACCUSED OF KILLING ZNS HOST AND STEALING HIS IPHONE

from page one

was not charged with aggravated murder and therefore would not face the death penalty if convicted at the end of trial.

A crowd of Richards’ friends and colleagues shouted “Justice for Scottie!” as police escorted Johnson through the Nassau and South Streets court complex to stand before Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes concerning the May 26 fatal shooting.

Before proceeding with the arraignment, the chief magistrate asked Johnson if she had a lawyer. She said she had not.

She was then told that she would not be allowed to enter a plea to the allegations until she was formally arraigned in the Supreme Court after the case is transferred by way of a voluntary bill of indictment

(VBI).

Johnson was charged with armed robbery where it is alleged that she robbed Richards of a $300 iPhone 3G and murder under Section 291 (1)(B) of the Penal Code.

A charge under this section does not attract the discretionary death penalty if a conviction is reached at the end of the trial.

The 2011 amendment to the Penal Code, which followed the Privy Council’s decision in the Maxo Tido decision, notes that only certain types of aggravated murder are currently punishable by death. These include murder of a law enforcement officer; murder of a judicial officer, including judges, registrars and prosecutors; murder of a witness or juror; murder of more than one person; murder committed by an accused who has a prior murder conviction; and murder

in exchange for value.

The amendment further provides that any murder committed in the course of/or in furtherance of a robbery, rape, kidnapping, terrorist act, or any other felony is punishable by death, with no explicit requirement of intent to cause death.

According to initial police reports, on Thursday, May 26, officers from the Carmichael Road Police Station were on routine patrol near Bonefish Pond when they found Richards’ body about 100 feet away from a grey Durango vehicle.

Richards was a radio announcer for ZNS Inspiration 107.9 FM. The chief magistrate told Johnson that her case would be fast-tracked to the Supreme Court on June 27 at her next Magistrate’s Court appearance.

She was remanded to the

RAQUEL JOHNSON, aged 30, outside court yesterday.

Photo: Lamech Johnson/Tribune Staff Department of Correction- tion to the higher court for asked. al Services without bail, but pre-trial release.

“No, sir,” the accused re“Any questions Ms John- plied before police took her was informed of her legal right to make an applica- son?” the chief magistrate to await the prison bus.

NO DEATH PENALTY FOR KILLERS OF AMERICAN SAILOR

from page one

23, Anton Bastian, 22, and 24-year-old Marcellus Williams to death for their role in the events that led to Bruner’s fatal shooting on May 13, 2013.

Instead Johnson was sentenced to 45 years imprisonment for murder and 12 years for each of the two counts of armed robbery of which he was convicted.

His fellow convicts, Bastian and Williams, received 40 years for murder and 12 years for armed robbery.

Their sentences were ordered to run concurrently from the date of conviction.

They were credited for the time spent on remand. All three have been in custody since May 2013.

In the sentencing hearing yesterday, she acknowledged the seriousness of the offences and the circumstances under which the killing occurred, but determined that other cases with more egregious circumstances did not see the death penalty imposed or affirmed by higher courts.

Last November, a jury returned unanimous guilty verdicts for Johnson, Bastian and Williams for Bruner’s murder. The three men were further convicted with

KYLE BRUNER, the US sailor who was killed in Nassau.

32-year-old Jamaal Dorfevil on two counts of armed robbery as they were alleged to have held up two women while armed with a firearm, robbing one of $150 cash, her $3,000 handbag and the other of cash, a handbag and an iPhone.

Justice Charles noted that the cases of Simeon Bain and Peter Meadows were useful authorities in helping her arrive at a decision.

“Both were dealt with by the Court of Appeal and the rationale of the Court of Appeal is that they qualify for the death penalty. In the instant case, based on the (statute) law, it does qualify for the death penalty. I’d go further to say it also qualifies for life (imprisonment) because that is what the law says, death or life.”

“Even if the court is going

BAHAMIANS AND CHINESE HELD IN SMUGGLING SWOOP

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THREE Bahamians, with 28 Chinese and one Colombian, were taken into custody on Sunday evening

by Bahamian authorities in connection with a suspected human smuggling operation in Grand Bahama.

In a separate incident, 12 Chinese were apprehended on Saturday when the vessel they were on capsized in waters off Grand Bahama.

That brought the total number of Chinese immigrants taken into custody during a 24-hour period in Freeport to 40.

Department of Immigration press officer Napthali Cooper reported that around 11pm on Sunday immigration officials received information concerning a group of Chinese nationals at a location in the Lucaya area who were said to be making preparatory steps to be smuggled into the United States.

A team of immigration and Defence Force officers went to the location where they discovered 22 Chinese men and six women, along with one Colombian man.

Mr Cooper said that the officers also took into custody two Bahamian men and one Bahamian woman who were also found with the group.

Investigations revealed that all of the immigrants had arrived legally in the Bahamas, but had overstayed their time.

Chinese rescued from capsized vessel On Saturday, a group of 12 Chinese were discovered clinging to an overturned

vessel between West End and Grand Cay. According to reports, sometime around 1pm the Royal Bahamas Police Force Marine Division, along with immigration officials, were notified that a vessel with possible illegal migrants on board was in distress and had possibly overturned in the water.

When authorities arrived at the location, they met with persons on board a US registered vessel who had rescued the migrants from the overturned boat. There were ten women and two men.

Mr Cooper said that a pleasure boat was passing in the area when they saw the Chinese clinging to the overturned vessel without any life vests on. They assisted the group on board their vessel and remained in the area until officials arrived and took the group into custody.

Bahamian authorities went to the location of the overturned vessel to check for any additional migrants, but a diver found no one else under the vessel.

The group was transferred to Royal Bahamas Police Force vessel base and taken to the Department of Immigration headquarters where they were processed.

All of the Chinese had entered the Bahamas legally but had overstayed their visitor’s time. Mr Cooper said it is believed that there was an attempt by someone to smuggle the Chinese into the US when the vessel capsized.

He said that an investigation continues into matter as to who were the operators of the vessel.

to impose the death penalty, there should be some starting point. To say that we must not look to common law in this case is not helpful,” the judge said on that point previously raised by the Crown.

Meadows was convicted and initially sentenced to death in 1988 in the murder of Deanette Strachan, who was fatally shot during an armed robbery of a convenience store.

In 2014, his commuted life sentence was reduced to 35 years’ imprisonment after he relied on the Court of Appeal’s ruling in the case of Angelo Poitier where it outlined a range for murder cases where life imprisonment was not warranted.

The court noted that Meadows was 23 at the time of his conviction in 1988 and was a person of good character up to that time.

In the case of Bain, the 44-year-old had his life sentence reduced to 55 years by the Court of Appeal for the throat-slashing murder of former Burger King restaurant manager Rashad Morris.

Justice Charles, in yesterday’s sentencing decision, stressed that the court had to consider the nature and gravity of the offence, char-

acter of the person, conduct or influence that caused the murder as well as the convict’s prospect for rehabilitation.

The judge came to the conclusion that Bruner’s murder was not as outrageous or premeditated as the case of Simeon Bain who seduced his victim as part of a plot to kidnap him from the Charlotte Street location of Burger King, took him to the Tonique Williams-Darling Highway location where he had been the manager and stabbed and slashed the man’s throat in the restaurant’s parking lot after failing to get access to the safe inside the store.

Justice Charles also recalled the opinion of psychiatrist Dr John Dillard that a person was capable of being rehabilitated the younger they were.

For those reasons, along with the request from Christina Cataldo Bruner’s sister - that the killers be spared the ultimate punishment, Justice Charles said: “This court will not impose the death penalty on any of the three defendants.”

Concerning Dorfevil, the judge recalled that he, based on the evidence, “was the driver of the getaway

vehicle and he didn’t know of the presence of the firearm.”

She noted that a conviction of robbery carried a sentence of up to 14 years imprisonment.

Justice Charles said she considered a number of cases to arrive at a reasonable sentence.

She noted Dorfevil had no previous convictions and expressed remorse for life that was lost. She also acknowledged that his former employer said he would rehire him and commended him for taking a course while at the prison and received a certificate during his remand.

Dorfevil was sentenced to six years in prison on each of the two counts of robbery. The sentences will run concurrently from the date of conviction. He was credited for the time spent on remand, which is three years to date.

All four convicts denied having any involvement in the armed robbery and the killing of Bruner, who was shot in the neck as he tried to help two women who were being mugged by two armed men.

They testified that they were at home on the early morning in question and had been lied on and as-

saulted by the police, who produced videotaped interviews of Johnson, Williams and Dorfevil taking officers through the crime scene.

The jury heard evidence from Sean William Cannon, a first mate aboard the Liberty Chipper sailboat, who witnessed the shooting and later identified Johnson during an identification parade.

The Crown also submitted the police statement of another witness, Delano Smith, which implicated the remaining accused men concerning the crimes.

Johnson, Bastian, Williams and Dorfevil were represented by attorneys Mr Smith, Roberto Reckley, Walton Bain and Sonia Timothy respectively.

A fifth accused, 21-yearold Leo Bethel, had all charges discontinued against him by way of a nolle prosequi within moments of Justice Charles concluding her summation of the evidence. He was defended by Ian Cargill.

PAGE 6, Wednesday, June 1, 2016

THE TRIBUNE

‘I always knew Rollins would backstab Minnis’

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemeda.net

MICAL MP V Alfred Gray said yesterday that the fracture in the Free National Movement is “too deep to mend,” predicting that the party will “self-destruct” and feature an “almost permanent” split regardless of the outcome of its current debacle.

In an interview with reporters outside Cabinet yesterday, he also attacked Fort Charlotte MP Dr Andre Rollins, calling the parliamentarian a “danger to politics” and a “loose cannon” who he always believed would “backstab” Dr Minnis.

His comments came as the long-brewing infighting in the FNM reached new heights over the past few days, with some MPs demanding an early convention so Dr Minnis’ leadership could be challenged.

He said: “No matter how this ends up, the FNM (is not going to) be the same because Minnis ain’t going to trust (the six parliamentarians urging him to call an early convention) anymore.

To put them in his Cabinet, you talk about ousting, they would oust him the first Cabinet meeting.”

Mr Gray, expressing a viewpoint put forth by some supporters of Dr Minnis, also said powerful forces in the FNM are trying to regain control of the party.

“I heard (Hubert) Ingraham want come back,” he said without elaborating on his sources. “Other people want come back. (Brent) Symonette want come back.

They see an opportunity to come back but no matter how they do it, the FNM’s split is almost going to be permanent; mark my words on that. If Minnis is going to

ANDRE ROLLINS, Member for Fort Charlotte. be leader, there’s that group tarians gave Dr Minnis an of six who won’t trust him. ultimatum last week: either And I guarantee he wouldn’t hold an early convention or they would petition Govtrust them no more.”

“If he is not the leader, ernor General Dame Marhe and his group (are not guerite Pindling to have going to) trust the new lead- him removed as leader of ers who might be elected so the Official Opposition.

The Tribune understands where is the togetherness going to come from? I don’t this was discussed at a parsee it happening again. It’s liamentary meeting on too deep a divide to be Thursday and that Dr Rolmended. They might patch lins raised the matter in a it up on the face of it but if subsequent council meeting Minnis is ousted I doubt he that night. Six of the FNM’s gon’ follow the new set un- 10 MPs were said to be in less he is the weakling many support of the move.

Mr Gray, commenting on say him to be.”

As reported previously, a Dr Rollins’ role in the matgroup of FNM parliamen- ter, offered pointed criti-

‘The Bahamas’ own street philosopher’

cism of his former PLP colleague yesterday.

“I always saw loose cannons for who and what they are,” he said. “Dr Minnis is just learning the hard way.

Rollins and (Renward) Wells came over to save him from the same group that’s now trying to overthrow him. Now they have Rollins on their side so they’re a little stronger. It’s unfortunate that ‘he who is in my bosom is now turning out to be my greatest enemy.’

And I told him that the man called Rollins was always a danger to politics.

“He believes he knows

everything about everything; he’s the smartest thing in skin; and the opposition is just learning that he was never intended to follow anybody. He likes his own way; he must have his own way like a little spoiled child and if he doesn’t have his way there will be no way. And Minnis ought to have learned that from how he spoke to and treated the prime minister whose fighting for him caused him to be in Parliament today. If he did it to (Prime Minister Perry) Christie, what make you think he wouldn’t do it to Minnis? He ain’ got no

love for anybody but himself.”

Dr Rollins quit the PLP last June. He joined the FNM last November at the same time as Bamboo Town MP Renward Wells, who announced his resignation from the governing party before he crossed the floor.

When they joined the PLP, political observers said it was a move by Dr Minnis to block some FNM MPs who at that time had already drafted a letter to send to the governor general requesting his removal as leader of the Official Opposition.

FNM FOUNDING FATHER HITS OUT AT MPS’ ACTIONS

from page one

Despite the infighting, Mr Moore maintained that the public is supporting Dr Minnis as the opposition leader and believes he can lead the Bahamas.

The FNM, Mr Moore said, has spent too much time focusing on internal matters when it should be focused on winning the next general election.

Mr Moore said: “The way I see it is we have one leader and twice during a democratic process he was voted in as the FNM’s leader.

“What those six members have done publicly is counter productive to the Free National Movement and is only something that will divide the party despite what Loretta Butler-Turner says.”

He was referring to the Long Island MP’s comments that a petition to the governor general to have Dr Minnis removed as leader of the Official Opposition would be a last resort as it was hoped that an “amicable” resolution on an early convention date could be reached.

He continued: “It is a democratic process for everyone in the party no matter who you are. So to challenge Dr Minnis our leader, the way he is being challenged out in the open now, is unbecoming of people who say they want to lead this country.

“They have to remember that they were elected under the auspices of the

‘

It just shows us that they just want to have their own way and that they want to divide our party. I am disappointed in what they are doing. They are not following the democratic process and its wrong when you have that kind of behaviour from people who want to be leaders.’

Maurice Moore

FNM not by themselves.

In a Westminster system, you should deal with it at the national council or the executive level. You should exhaust every possible avenue internally.

When that is done and you don’t make headway then you can go public and go tell the governor general whatever it is you want to tell them.

“But it just shows us that they just want to have their own way and that they want to divide our party. I am disappointed in what they are doing. They are not following the democratic process and its wrong when you have that kind of behaviour from people who want to be leaders.”

The discord within the FNM reached a new level on Monday as Fort Charlotte MP Dr Andre Rollins lambasted supporters of Dr Minnis, accusing them of “espousing the tactics of a demagogue interested in dumbing down the debate because the leader has no substance or vision for this country.”

He insisted that those FNM members characterising recent actions by him and several other FNM

MPs as a move by “elitists promoting a UBP agenda” were only underscoring the “weakness of the current leadership.”

In a statement posted to his Facebook page on Monday, Dr Rollins said this line of attack was only strengthening the position of the government.

Last week, The Tribune reported that the majority of the FNM’s parliamentary team had threatened to petition Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling to remove Dr Minnis as leader of the Official Opposition unless an earlier convention date was set.

This newspaper has since been informed by a highlevel party insider that discussions are now underway over hosting the convention in early July.

The effort from the parliamentary team has the support of six of the opposition’s 10 MPs, The Tribune understands.

This includes St Anne’s MP Hubert Chipman, Montagu MP Richard Lightbourn, North Eleuthera MP Theo Neilly, Central Grand Bahama MP Neko Grant, Mrs Butler-Turner and Dr Rollins.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, June 1, 2016, PAGE 7

AN overturned car in an accident near Old Fort Bay yesterday. There were no fatalities in the crash, police confirmed, but the condition of the occupant was not available at the time of going to press.

Phase one of water project nears completion in Holmes Rock

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THE first phase of a potable water project in West Grand Bahama is nearly complete and residents will soon no longer have to install their own individual pump and well at their property.

Minister for Grand Bahama Dr Michael Darville on Monday viewed the progress of the work taking place in the Holmes Rock community. Waugh Construction is the contractor carrying out the work, which is being done in three phases.

Phase one, which also includes installation of two fire hydrants, is expected to be complete by the end of June.

The undertaking involves the Ministry for Grand Bahama, member of Parliament for West Grand Bahama Obie Wilchcombe, Urban Renewal, the Ministry of Works, the Water and

Sewerage Corporation and the Grand Bahama Utility Company.

A similar project is also underway in East Grand Bahama, according to Minister Darville.

“This project is a project that is taking place in Grand Bahama to provide residents of East and West Grand Bahama with potable water who have been waiting for many years,” he said.

Residents in these areas have been petitioning successive governments for potable water for the last 30 years.

Dr Darville said government is committed to ensuring the project is completed as soon as possible and that the necessary funding is in place.

Work in the area, where there are homes to 102 families, started two and a half weeks ago.

Dr Darville said this is a major accomplishment for the residents of Holmes Rock because for years

each individual home had their own pump and well.

The new infrastructure, he said, will allow new, young families who want to build their homes in the area to have access to the basic necessities.

“We are quite pleased with the work that the construction company is doing and the speed in which he is doing it,” said Dr Darville.

Brenda Bullard Colebrooke, administrator for the West Grand Bahama District, said residents of West Grand Bahama are pleased to see the work in progress.

“The residents of this area now will have the option of connecting to the city water and will be able to enjoy the benefits of water that is of a quality that they can now drink and that will assist them in providing better healthcare for themselves,” she said.

Work in East Grand Bahama is expected to begin in June.

HAITI COUNCIL CONSIDERS POSSIBLE ELECTION RE-RUN

By DAVID McFADDEN Associated Press Port-au-Prince

HAITI’S electoral authorities begin deliberating yesterday whether they should annul results of the disputed presidential election’s first round, as recommended by a special commission that reported finding significant fraud.

Electoral council chief Leopold Berlanger declined to comment on the verification commission’s findings on Monday night, saying his panel would need until June 6 to examine the report and announce a new election calendar for the troubled country. The Provisional Electoral Council has the final say on election matters.

The leader of the verification commission, Pierre Francois Benoit, said that members of his panel were so troubled by their monthlong review that they had no choice but to recommend starting anew and scrapping a presidential runoff vote that has been postponed three times. The panel examined 25 per cent of the roughly 13,000 tally sheets from polling stations.

The commission was formed by interim President Jocelerme Privert, who took power in February amid the continuing electoral impasse due to a widespread perception of electoral fraud.

“After digging into it, we started seeing a pattern where a lot of votes could not be traced to a voter or to a group of voters. I call them ‘zombie votes’,” Mr

Benoit said.

Concurring with what Haitian observer groups said shortly after the October 25 election, Mr Benoit said numerous accreditations issued for political party representatives appeared to facilitate multiple voting because “many people voted more than once”.

He said the conduct of a number of polling station workers was questionable.

While the October vote also included a slew of legislative contests, Mr Benoit’s commission made no recommendation of new balloting for those races.

Haiti’s Parliament is nearly complete from last year’s two voting rounds and getting various senators and deputies to vacate their seats would greatly complicate matters.

Mr Privert has repeatedly said Haiti cannot restart balloting without first building confidence in the electoral machinery. Lawmakers who named Mr Privert interim president in February had envisioned him making way for a newly elected president on May 14. But late on Monday, Mr Privert said the electoral council has a responsibility to hold a legitimate vote so an elected leader can take power sometime in early 2017.

There was no immediate comment from US officials about the verification panel’s recommendations that the presidential vote be annulled. US taxpayers contributed more than $30m for Haiti to hold elections during this cycle. Representatives of the Organiza-

tion of American States, who monitored the verification panel’s work and had said last fall’s official results looked legitimate to them, also declined to comment.

The official tally gave first place to Jovenel Moise, the Tet Kale party candidate who was hand-picked by previous President Michel Martelly. The results were disputed by local observer groups and virtually all the other candidates, most notably the runner-up, Jude Celestin. He has called the results showing Mr Moise with nearly 33 per cent of the votes a “massive fraud” and many civil society groups expressed concern about the legitimacy of the vote.

Members of Mr Moise’s political faction said they had no immediate comment on the commission’s report.

In recent days, several foreign embassies have warned their citizens in Haiti that the release of the report could lead to civil unrest across the country.

But after the commission’s announcement, downtown Port-au-Prince appeared calm. There was a heightened presence of United Nations peacekeepers and Haitian police on the streets around the National Palace compound.

Jean Pierre, a Port-auPrince resident who has a small wedding photography business, said he hoped Haiti’s political class accepts the findings and moves on. “Whenever their protesters take to the streets and burn tyres and smash cars it just takes the country backward,” he said.

FROM left, West Grand Bahama administrator Brenda Bullard Colebrooke; Minister for Grand Bahama permanent secretary Melvin Seymour; Grand Bahama Utility general manager Geron Turnquest; Minister for Grand Bahama Dr Michael Darville and Waugh Construction president Godfrey Waugh.

Photo: Immerse Bahamas

PAGE 8, Wednesday, June 1, 2016

THE TRIBUNE

McWeeney answers referendum concerns

Constitutional Commission Chairman Sean McWeeney, QC, replies to Pastor Dave Burrows, of Bahamas Faith Ministries International, seeking to quell concerns about the Constitutional Referendum.

I

N reference to your open letter to the Prime Minister (which you kindly copied to me), I’m wondering whether you have fully considered the implications of a no vote on bill number four.

Let’s assume that Dame Joan Sawyer and Fred Smith, QC, are correct that Article 15 of the Constitution already provides protection against discrimination based on sex. Article 15, it will be recalled, includes “sex” as a specific, albeit undefined, ground in relation to fundamental rights, along with race, place of origin, political opinions, colour and creed.

(Article 26, by contrast, mentions all these latter grounds but does not include “sex”. Indeed that is precisely what bill number four aims to add).

Let’s also assume that what Greg Moss and others in the no campaign have been saying is correct, namely, that the word “sex”, if left undefined, may end up being interpreted by the courts as including sexual orientation. If that were to happen, the argument goes, same-sex couples could then claim that the ban on same-sex marriage under the Matrimonial Causes Act discriminates against

them based on sex and that it must accordingly be struck down as unconstitutional, leaving them free to marry.

So, if you accept those assumptions, the choice you face when you go into the voter’s booth on June 7 is this: either vote yes to bill four so that the word “sex” can be added to Article 26, along with a definition of “sex” as “meaning male or female” (not straight, lesbian or gay or any other term of sexual orientation).

Or vote no to bill four, thereby leaving the Constitution exactly as it is.

You will still have the word “sex” in Article 15 and it will still be undefined. And if the “no” advocates are correct that the word “sex”, if left undefined, could end up being defined by the courts as including sexual orientation, then same-sex marriage might end up being let in through the very door you thought you were closing by voting no to bill number four!

Once again, do you vote yes to the addition of the word “sex” in Article 26 along with a definition of “sex” that limits its meaning to “male or female”, or do you vote no, thereby leaving the law unchanged, thereby leaving the courts free to define the word “sex” in Article 15 as including sexual orientation so that same sex couples might then have the same protection under the law that straight couples have (including the right to marry)?

The irony here seems to have escaped the no advocates. They seem not to appreciate that if their own arguments and assumptions are correct and if they succeed in defeating bill four, they may actually be making it easier for same-sex marriage to become law, not harder. A classic case of having to be careful about

SEAN MCWEENEY QC, chairman of the Constitutional Commission, with Attorney General Allison Maynard-Gibson as the House of Assembly debated bills for constitutional reform. what you wish for. You just rights to redress discrimi- the Matrimonial Causes bill four. might get it! Only later do nation. However, discrimi- Act will be constitutionBottom line? Bill four, you discover that it had ex- nation based on “sex” is ally sanctified, as it were, if if it becomes law, will not actly the opposite effect to not included in Article 26. - but only if - bill four is ap- open the door to same-sex what you thought you were Bill number four seeks to proved by a yes vote in the marriage. Not even a little correct this by adding it as referendum. Art. 26 (4) (c) bit. But if it does not begetting.

Be that as it may, the a ground. In doing so, how- already provides that dis- come law, it may indeed truth of the matter is that ever, bill four aims to tie crimination in relation to become a little easier the arguments and assump- the court’s hands when it “marriage” laws is permis- certainly not harder - to tions of the no campaign comes to interpreting what sible but at present this only overturn the existing leare wrong to begin with, sex means. “Sex” is there- applies where the marriage gal ban on same-sex marfore defined in bill four as law in question discrimi- riage. dead wrong! “meaning male or female”. nates based on “race, place Finally, returning the irstly, Article 15 This precludes other defi- of origin, political opinions, spotlight to where it really does not, in point of nitions - based on sexual colour (or) creed”. These should be, what bill number law, give any protec- orientation - from being ap- are the only grounds that four will accomplish is this: the anti-discrimination pro- it will give women a right to tion against discrimination plied.

By extension, it would visions of Article 26 can ap- go to court to obtain justice based on sex (or any other ground for that matter). also preclude claims of ply to at present. However, where a law treats them less The Privy Council has con- discrimination based not if “sex” were to be added as favourably than men; and sistently held that Article 15 on sex (male vs female or a ground (as it will be if bill conversely, it will give men does not create enforceable female vs male) but on sex- four passes), it would mean the right to go to court to legal rights; that instead it is ual orientation (eg where that marriage laws that obtain justice where a law only a preamble. (Newbold two people of the same discriminate based on sex treats them less favourably v Commissioner of Police sex claim an entitlement would be constitutionally than women.

[2014] UKPC 12 at para- to marry). The latter type permissible as well. The If anyone has a problem graphs 27 to 33; Campbell- of claim would not be cov- Matrimonial Causes Act with that, he should vote Rodriques v Att Gen [2007] ered by the definition of is such a law. Accordingly, “no’. If he doesn’t have a UKPC 65 at paragraph 12.) “sex” in bill four and thus a its prohibition of same-sex problem with it, you should Secondly, Article 26, in claim based upon it would marriage would be consti- vote “yes”. tutionally embraced if “sex” contrast to Article 15, is fail.

When you shut out all the Thirdly, the existing ban is added as a ground under noise, bill number four is as the constitutional provision that creates enforceable on same-sex marriage in Article 26, as proposed by simple as that.

F

THE THETRIBUNE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, June 1, 2016, PAGE Wednesday, June 1, 2016, PAGE A99

EN JOY TH E

RID E

UNIVERSAL Orlando Resort theme park’s new Skull Island: Reign of Kong attraction’s Great Wall, which opens this summer.

VR and new tech add to US theme parks attractions

THRILLING new experiences await visitors at theme parks across the United States this summer, with park-goers no longer just sitting back to enjoy the ride.

Thanks to virtual reality, interactive features and other new technology, they are playing roles and experiencing rides as never before.

“In terms of virtual reality, this has the chance to revolutionise the roller coaster experience,” said Colleen Mangone, director of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions. “The guests physically ride the roller coaster while wearing the virtual reality headsets. So their visual line follows a story line or they could be accompanying a superhero. They are flying next to the superhero and as the superhero dives down, the coaster is diving down.”

FLORIDA Universal Orlando will debut one of the most anticipated rides in the country when ‘Skull Island: Reign of Kong’ opens in July. Visitors will explore the jungle home of the legendary beast. The 30-foot-tall, 18-footwide Kong will be brought to life by 3-D technology and animatronics.

SeaWorld Orlando’s shark-themed ‘Mako’, opening June 10, will hit speeds of up to 73mph with the high-

TECHTALK

RIDING the new Superman The Ride Virtual Reality Coaster at Six Flags in Agawam, Mass.

est point at 200 feet covering nearly a mile of track. It’s a hypercoaster, which means speed, tight turns and a weightless feeling.

At Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, the dark ride ‘Frozen Ever After’ is scheduled to open in late June in Epcot’s Norway Pavilion. A boat takes riders into the kingdom of Arendelle during the winter festival, where they will encounter characters from the megahit “Frozen” while hearing music from the movie and voices of the original cast.

At Disney World’s Animal Kingdom, night safaris launched over Memorial Day weekend, allowing guests to see nocturnal animals and observe their habits.

CALIFORNIA On July 4, Universal Studios Hollywood is slated to open ‘The Walking Dead’, based on the hit AMC show. Few details have been released but riders should expect a maze of horror.

Also at Universal Studios Hollywood, fans can immerse themselves in the recently opened ‘Wizarding World of Harry Potter’. It’s similar to the original Potter land at Universal Orlando, but the marquee ride, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey,

has added some unique 3-D technology.

Legoland California in Carlsbad joined the interactive fray when it debuted Ninjago in early May. Riders actually influence the outcome of the battle by using hand gestures to shoot, rather than laser guns, to help fight off evil during the experience.

At Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, ‘The Joker’, a hybrid steel and wooden coaster, has added steel tracks to the wooden frame of the Roar coaster, built in 1999, to create the hybrid experience. The 3,200-foot-long Joker will also include inversions, which the park says is a first for a wooden roller coaster, and will feature 15 moments of what the park is calling “extreme” airtime.

MASSACHUSETTS Six Flags New England in Agawam debuts ‘Superman: The Ride Virtual Reality Coaster’ on June 11.

Riders will wear wireless headsets providing high-resolution imagery and 360-degree views synchronised to the coaster.

OHIO Cedar Point in Sandusky opened ‘Valravn’ in early May. It’s being called the world’s tallest, fastest

PEOPLE ride ‘The Joker’, the latest roller coaster at Six Flags Great Adventure. and longest dive coaster. Riders will hang over the edge of the first hill, 20 stories high, for four seconds before dropping at a 90-degree angle at 75mph.

TENNESSEE Dollywood has unveiled its hot rod-themed ‘Lightning Rod’ ride. It’s billed as the world’s first launched wooden coaster and fastest wooden coaster, capable of reaching speeds of up to 73mph.

GEORGIA Six Flags Over Georgia in Austell opened a DC Super Friends kids area over Memorial Day weekend with five family experiences themed on superheroes and villains: a Superman Tower of Power, Batcopters, Wonder Woman Flight School, Harley Quinn Games and The Joker Funhouse Coaster.

The lure of VR

but I couldn’t help ducking anyway.

Virtual reality is all the rage these days.

Mae Anderson tried it for the first time.

MY DESCENT from the boat, gliding through schools of fish and clouds of phosphorescent jellyfish, seemed to be going pretty smoothly - at least until the shark emerged from the gloom and tried to tear its way into my protective cage.

Of course, it wasn’t really a shark. And I wasn’t really in a cage, or underwater, or even anywhere near the ocean. But it felt like I was.

At its best, this is exactly what you can expect from the much-hyped technology of virtual reality (VR).

All you have to do is put on a headset that blocks out the surrounding world and replaces it with one that’s fake but often utterly realistic. Suddenly it’s like you’ve stepped out of your life and into someone else’s.

With the debut of new VR headsets from Facebook’s Oculus unit, Samsung and Sony over the past few months, virtual reality hype has been off the charts. To its proponents, it’s the ‘Next Great Thing’, a whole new way of “immersing” yourself in games, movies, even live

music or sports.

Until a few weeks ago, though, the prospect left me cold. The first wave of VR entertainment consists largely of video games, which have never much interested me. Reports that VR can make you nauseous also put me off. Eventually, though, I had to try it, and my first brush with the technology was intriguing enough to keep me exploring.

Just not enough to fork out more than $1,000 for a full-fledged VR system any time soon. Current VR offerings have a lot of room for improvement; many of them get old quickly once the initial “wow” factor wears off.

It’s also hard not to feel selfconscious wearing goofylooking headgear, especially when surrounded by strangers you can’t see.

The experience, though, had its moments. Zombies and sharks pushed me uncomfortably close to real terror; a few contemplative moments lost in a blind man’s virtual diary, by contrast, proved unexpectedly affecting. And there was another

TERRANCE HARRIS Associated Press

OCULUS RIFT virtual reality headset. big plus: no queasiness (for me, at least. Your experience may differ.)

ROLLERCOASTER My first plunge into VR involved a virtual roller coaster. Which is funny only because the real things scare me to death.

This Samsung demo, featuring the company’s Gear VR system, got extra points for realism. Its VR video, shot at a Six Flags park, was synced to mechanical chairs that jerked around in time with the coaster’s virtual movements. And of course, the video put me in the first car.

For all that, the virtual ride proved tame, at least for a coasterphobe like me.

For once, I could keep my eyes open and enjoy gawking

at fellow passengers or the trees below me. It may not have matched the adrenaline rush of the real thing, but that was just fine.

ZOMBIELAND A demo of Sony’s PlayStation VR headset, due out in October, was mostly devoted to games ranging from space shoot-em-ups to family puzzle games. A lot of them were enjoyable, but few were as dramatic as “The Deep”, which had me shaking alone in a dimly lit shark cage while what felt like the real thing circled outside.

I had a similar moment playing “Until Dawn: Rush of Blood”, a horror game set in a zombie-infested amusement park. I knew the zombies weren’t really rushing at me through the darkness,

FILM FESTIVALS Film festivals are starting to showcase VR films as directors explore the new medium. At New York’s Tribeca Film Festival in April, I watched “Allumette,” a dreamy short based on the fairy tale “The Little Match Girl”.

For 20 minutes, the story took me around a dollhouselike town built in the clouds.

It was charming to crane my neck to look at houses from different angles; at one point, I even stuck my head into a flying boat to see what was going on.

“Notes on Blindness: Into Darkness,” meanwhile, translates the audio diary of man who had gone blind into a virtual representation of his world. I found myself in a minimalist landscape in which sounds from a park formed ephemeral images laughing children, barking dogs - that dissipated as their echoes faded.

My VR experiences to date have mostly been interesting, but still not entirely compelling. It’s clearly a medium in its infancy, and creators are still devising new storytelling techniques that can exploit the technology’s power. But it’s impossible to deny the technology’s underlying potential.

• FACEBOOK, Twitter, Microsoft and YouTube have agreed to new rules to tackle online hate speech. The Internet titans agreed yesterday to a new code of conduct by the European Union that takes aim at illegal hate speech and terrorist propaganda posted online. They have committed to reviewing within 24 hours of receipt the majority of notifications about a social media post that may contain hate speech. They have also agreed to remove the post if necessary.

Under the rules, the companies will also communicate with one another, with governments and with law enforcement agencies about keeping up with potential abuse.

• WITH the north American summer whale watching season approaching, conservation advocates and government agencies who want to protect whales say a mobile app designed to help mariners steer clear of the animals is helping keep them alive.

The Whale Alert app provides a real-time display of the ocean and the position of the mariner’s ship, along with information about where whales have been seen or heard recently. It also provides information on speed restrictions and restricted areas, and recommends routes shippers can take to avoid endangered species such as the blue whale and the North Atlantic right whale.

More than a quarter of the entire North Atlantic right whale population visited Cape Cod Bay this season. Collisions with high speed ships are one of the leading causes of death for some species of whales, and many mariners often try to navigate around them using outdated equipment.

• MICROSOFT and Facebook are building a new underwater Internet cable that will cross the Atlantic Ocean, carrying customers’ data between North America and southern Europe. The giant tech companies say they helped design the high-speed cable to carry data for their growing numbers of online consumers and commercial customers. The project will be operated by an affiliate of Spanish telecommunications firm Telefonica, which will sell unused capacity on the cable to other customers. It will connect data hubs in northern Virginia and Bilbao, Spain.

• THE Copa America, which kicks off on Friday, will employ the Hawk-Eye system, marking the first use of goalline technology by the soccer’s governing bodies for South America and for North and Central America and the Caribbean. The 16-nation tournament will be played at 10 US sites from June 3 to 26. The centenary tounament opens on Friday with the USA playing Colombia. Chile are the defending champions while Haiti are in a goup with Brazil.

• THE solar-powered airplane making its way around the world arrived in Pennsylvania last week after a 17 hour flight from Dayton, Ohio.

The Swiss-made Solar Impulse 2 landed at Lehigh Valley International Airport in Allentown and will make at least one more stop in the United States - in New York - before crossing the Atlantic Ocean to Europe or northern Africa.

The globe-circling voyage began in March, 2015, from Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates.

PAGE 10, Wednesday, June 1, 2016

THE TRIBUNE

THE CUTTING of the ribbon to mark the opening of the rejuvenated back yard project by Lyford Cay International School. The Students Helping Awareness Respect Education (SHARE) initiative cleaned up and reconstructed Great Commission Ministry’s backyard which was filled with waste.

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

Bringing life to backyard for the sake of children TAMBEARLEY School was celebrating at the weekend after completing the transformation of a backyard space at Great Commission Ministries.

Students from the school’s SHARE programme - short for Students Helping Awareness Respect Education - began the project in January after a suggestion from parents.

A website, logo, and social media pages were created - before a detailed plan of the backyard space was created to begin the transformation for the children of Great Commission Ministries.

The last five months included many letters and phone calls to companies asking for their assistance - with support coming from

companies such as Bahamas Waste, The Island House, Western Hardware, Avis Bahamas, Goodfellow Farms, The Paint Place, and Calypso Palms.

On Saturday, the finished backyard was shown to sponsors, friends, family, and school members, as well as the children from Great Commission Ministries.

MEMBERS of Students Helping Awareness Respect Education pictured with Bishop Walter Hanchell and his wife, Mrs Hanchell.

ONE of the youngsters speaking at the event.

STUDENTS from the project beside the SHARE sign.

STUDENTS at the unveiling of the refurbished backyard at Great Commission Ministries.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, June 1, 2016, PAGE 11

Honouring 35 years of a

GRADES two and three at Palmdale Primary School entertain headmistress Janet Gardiner at an event to mark her retirement.

Photos: Tim Clarke/Tribune Staff.

teacher’s work

STUDENTS at yesterday’s event to celebrate Palmdale headmistress Janet Gardiner.

HEADMISTRESS Janet Gardiner enjoying her day at Palmdale Primary School where the students rolled out the red carpet for her. She is retiring after 35 years as a teacher, the last 28 of which have been spent at Palmdale.

THE MIGHTY Beacons performing yesterday for Palmdale Primary School headmistress Janet Gardiner.

YOUNGSTERS take part in the celebrations.