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VOLUME:116 No.113, JUNE 5TH, 2019
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ALICIA WALLACE: STAYING SANE BEHIND THE WHEEL
Bahamian diplomat’s body found in river • Italian police say Alrae Ramsey had head wound • Search begins for Bahamas graduate reported missing By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net
son travelled to Italy from Canada recently to speak at a psychology conference. She said her family remains A BAHAMIAN diplo- hopeful he will be found mat has been found dead in safe. an Italian river while police Multiple Italian news there have organisations begun searchreported that ing for another police saw Bahamian no signs of man reported foul play missing. but noted that The body Ramsey had of foreign serhead wounds vice officer consistent with Alrae Ramsey, a fall. 29, was found ALRAE RAMSEY, above, The Italfloating in and Blair John, below. ian newspaper waters of the Po Courier Torino river in Turin. –– whose ItalProgressive ian language Liberal Party The Tribune (PLP) chairman has translated Fred Mitchell, here to English former minis–– wrote: “A ter of foreign Bahamian dipaffairs, hailed lomat was the Ramsey in a man found dead statement as today, Tuesday, a “brilliant in Turin in the young man, full of hope and waters of the Po river, at the promise”. Isabella bridge. He was 29 The missing man is years old. On the head the Blair John. Mr John’s corpse presents a wound mother, Cathleen RahSEE PAGE THREE ming, told The Tribune her
OFFICERS at the scene in Italy after a Bahamian diplomat’s body was found in a river.
PM URGED TO STEP IN ‘GAFFE SHOULD COST ON NEW LANISHA ROW CA SMITH NEW ROLE’ By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net
BOC Secretary General Derron Donaldson yesterday insisted the organisation’s current THE relationship position is not political or between the Bahamas discriminatory. Olympic ComHe said despite mittee (BOC) the organisaand Youth, tion’s willingness Sports and Culto move past sevture Minister eral issues, things Lanisha Rolle remain at an has become impasse. tenuous, with Mr Donaldson members now asserted that an demanding she immediate resoeither sit down LANISHA ROLLE MP lution is needed for formal talks SEE PAGE SIX or be removed as minister.
By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net OPPOSITION Philip Davis called on the Minnis administration to abandon former Cabinet minister and diplomat CA Smith as their choice to become the next Governor General. Mr Davis insisted Mr
Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper
appointment has not yet been approved by Buckingham Palace despite claims made in a viral video preLeader maturely announcing the yesterday decision. The Cat Island MP noted Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis’ silence on the matter. “CA Smith also said that his appointment was approved CA SMITH by Buckingham Smith’s
SEE PAGE FIVE
PAGE 2, Wednesday, June 5, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
PLP chairman Fred Mitchell.
Social media demand for US visas goes ‘too far’ - Mitchell By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net PROGRESSIVE Liberal Party Chairman and Senator Fred Mitchell yesterday suggested the US State Department’s updated visa requirements “seems to go too far,” as he criticised the Minnis administration for failing to speak up for Bahamians. The updated application will require applicants to provide social media identifiers, keeping in line with President Donald Trump’s March 6, 2017, Memorandum on Implementing Heightened Screening and Vetting of Applications for Visas and other Immigration Benefits and Section 5 of Executive Order 13780. In response yesterday, Mr Mitchell said the move was in line with the United States’ overarching goal of making it more difficult for foreigners to gain access into that country. The former foreign affairs minister said the PLP has
long held the policy that Bahamians should be permitted completely visa-free access to America, on par with the allowances granted to Americans traveling to The Bahamas. Currently, Bahamians are permitted some forms of visa-free travel to America with a police record. However, this is only possible when traveling from The Bahamas through US Pre-Clearance locations at Bahamian airports in Freeport and Nassau. “Well, you know, in line with modern practices, from the time they started this business of fingerprints and all this other stuff I thought they went too far,” Mr Mitchell told The Tribune. “Again, this seems to go too far. But that just seems to be the order of the day with entry into the United States, becoming more and more difficult to do so and I don’t expect for it to change in the near term.” When asked his position on whether The Bahamas should seek a
more beneficial visa-waiver agreement with the US, Mr Mitchell added: “I don’t think that there is anything like that on (the FNM’s) agenda. “I think they accept that whatever the US says, goes. It is a difference in philosophy, but very difficult managing the relationship because, in some instances, the Bahamian public is so hyper-sensitive to the idea that the United States will retaliate against us by shutting down the pre-clearance and then making it more difficult for people to get visas to go to the United States. “But our view as the PLP is that there needs to be reciprocities on this, in the sense that, since Americans have free access to the Bahamas, Bahamians should have free access to the US,” he added. When contacted yesterday, both Foreign Affairs Minister Darren Henfield and Immigration Minister Brent Symonette declined comment.
THE TRIBUNE
Wednesday, June 5, 2019, PAGE 3
Bahamian diplomat’s body found in river from page one that the police investigators, interviewed on the spot, hypothesise was sustained in the fall. The body had been in water for two or three days. The alarm was given by a passer-by who noticed the corpse on the river. The mobile police squad investigates the case. From the first investigations no evident signs of violence on the corpse would emerge.” Another Italian newspaper, la Repubblica, reported that firefighters recovered the body. “The young man,” the report said, “was passing through Turin, in the company of a boy who is missing. The two were staying in a city B&B (bed and breakfast)…We have not heard from (the) fellow traveler, aged 28, for 3-4 days, the date on which the 29-year-old died. The two, from what we learn, had arranged to meet in Turin, where they would arrive on 28 May.” Ramsey was a former student of Saint Augustine’s College. A source said he was on study leave in Vienna and went to Turin on a holiday. His family declined to comment when contacted yesterday but The Tribune understands the last time family communicated with either man was last week Thursday. Ms Rahming, the mother of Mr John, said she has representatives in Italy trying to find her son. “We remain hopeful, prayerful and I am believing God will bring him back safely,” she said. “I’m going to stay positive and that’s what I’m going to hold on to unless I hear otherwise. “There are some persons connected to me who are on the ground, they are keeping me updated. I have some information but I’m not at liberty to disclose it but I have persons there that are in communication with me, they have had contact with the authorities so I have up to date information but at this moment I would like to keep everything under wraps because we don’t know where my son is.” Ms Rahming said her son went to Italy to deliver a
POLICE at the scene in Italy, above, and, below, Alrae Ramsey pictured with then Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell, along with then Ambassador to the UN Rhoda Jackson, second left, and Raylene Ferguson. presentation. The Ministry of Foreign “He is a psychology PhD Affairs said in a statement major and he was reprethat representatives have senting the university and been sent to Turin to verify went over there to comthe facts of the matter. municate his research at “The Ministry of Forthe conference,” she said. eign Affairs is aware of “He was selected based on reports circulating regardhis worth ethic, his grades, ing two young Bahamian among other things to repmen, who have been resent the university.” reported missing in Turin, Mr John’s Linkedin page Italy,” the statement said. notes he is a junior con“Newspapers are reportsultant at the CN Centre ing the discovery of the for Occupational Health & body of a male believed Safety in Canada at Saint to be a Bahamian, which Mary’s University. He is was pulled from the river a psychology graduate stuin the area of the Isadent pursuing a PhD at that bella Bridge in Turin. university. The ministry is investigatFor his part, Mr Mitchell ing this matter with the said the country has lost appropriate authorities in a diplomat with a promising Turin, as well as with Bahafuture. mian authorities. A senior “I am devastated and I diplomat from the Bahahave a deep sense of sadmas High Commission in ness and loss at the news words that a young man his generation. We have an the foreign minister and London has been sent to that Italian authorities with such promise has left obligation to find out what my former colleagues to Turin to speak with police have identified the Baha- us. I worked closely with happened. I remember Mr express my shock and sad- and other officials, in order mian diplomat Alrae him throughout his career Ramsey’s great work in ness. My thoughts and to verify the facts. The Ramsey as dead, found in as a diplomat. He was a the first campaign for the prayers are with the fami- ministry is in close contact waters in Turin, Italy,” he brilliant young man, full Bahamas to be elected to lies of the two young men. with the family of the two said. “The report is that of hope and promise. A the Human Rights Coun- On behalf of the Progres- young men. Our prayers another young Bahamian fine example of the most cil of the United Nations. sive Liberal Party, I offer and thoughts are with both is missing. I am lost for probing young people of I have reached out to our prayerful support.” families at this time.”
MAN WHO BEAT VICTIM TO DEATH WITH CEMENT BLOCK FOR SLAPPING HIS MOTHER JAILED FOR TEN YEARS By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net A 29-YEAR-OLD man has been sentenced to a decade in prison for beating a 50-year-old man to death with a cement block because he slapped his mother. Justice Gregory Hilton sentenced Devon Strachan to ten years in prison concerning the January 1, 2017, death of Benjamin Rolle. However, Strachan’s sentence was reduced to seven years, seven months and three days to reflect the two years, four months and four days he has spent on remand. According to a witness statement dated January 3, 2017, Rolle lived on Peter Street and was a “known alcoholic”. The witness said a few months prior, a woman who used to sleep in a garbage bin across the street from Minnis Service Station on Market Street moved in with Rolle. The witness said to the best of his knowledge, that woman had two sons: Strachan, and an older son who sold water with her on Baillou Hill Road near the National Insurance Board who appeared to be “slow-minded”. According to the witness, sometime in the last
week of November 2016, while walking home from work, he observed Rolle standing at the front door of his home on Peter Street, with another male angrily grabbing him by his shirt collar. The witness said he heard when Rolle told the man, “Bey ease up.” The witness said he subsequently ran over to the pair to see if he could be of any assistance because he knew Rolle was not a fighter and was also sick. He said as he got close, he noticed the man who had Rolle by the collar was Strachan, who he said used to date someone named “Fly Man’s” niece. According to the witness, Strachan, while brandishing a piece of a cement block in his right hand, told Rolle to “slap me like you slap my mother”. The witness said Strachan subsequently
slapped Rolle to the right side of his head with the block. Rolle began to stumble and stagger and again shouted “ease up”, the witness said. He said he tried to help by telling Strachan “stop that settled, Ben can’t do anything”. However, he said Strachan didn’t listen and again slapped Rolle with the block. After that blow, Rolle fell backwards and stumbled into his house, colliding with two partitions along the way, before falling to the floor, the witness said. He said it was at that point he noticed Strachan’s mother sitting in the house along with Strachan’s brother. He said they seemed shocked but didn’t say anything. The witness said Strachan subsequently picked up a bucket that was in Rolle’s home and began
to beat the man about the body with it. The witness said Strachan also grabbed a piece of the partition that was on the floor and beat Rolle with it. The witness said Strachan eventually stopped beating Rolle, walked out the door and slammed it. A few seconds later, he said Strachan’s mother opened the door. He said Rolle subsequently stumbled to the door but “fell out”.
The witness said Rolle sprawled out on the floor in the doorway and appeared to be passed out. He said Rolle stayed there for hours until an ambulance came, along with an officer from the Quakoo Street police station. The witness said he knew Rolle was admitted to hospital, but later learned that he had died. On January 23, 2017, Strachan was arraigned
before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt with murdering Rolle. However, The Tribune understands the charge was downgraded to causing dangerous harm following certain negotiations with the Crown. Stanley Rolle from the Office of the Public Defender represented Strachan. Joel Seymour represented the Crown in the matter.
PAGE 4, Wednesday, June 5, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
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Maybe they’ve all got a point, Lanisha TROUBLE seems to follow Lanisha Rolle around. In today’s paper, we hear about the latest blow-up involving the current Youth, Sports and Culture Minister. Members of the Bahamas Olympic Committee (BOC) say the minister has failed to build a relationship with sporting federations – and broke protocol for her trip to the 2019 IAAF World Relays last month, saying in a follow-up letter that she wasn’t bound by such protocol. BOC Secretary General Derron Donaldson says she has shown no willingness to sit down for talks with the BOC - to say that members are upset would be an understatement. Now it might well be that some things in Minister Rolle’s portfolio could do with shaking up. It might be that longentrenched organisations could do with a fresh eye. It might even be that some departments and workers might have a problem with being told what to do by a woman – such things linger on even today. But this is becoming a familiar song about Mrs Rolle. Let’s flash back to February of last year – when we reported how the Persons with Disabilities Commission was said to be “in complete disarray” with the then Social Services Minister at the helm. Late for meetings, failures to apologise, commission meetings not held for months, “running roughshod” over the rules – so went the complaints. Earlier still, in December 2017, she described marital rape as a “private issue” – which as she held the post of minister with responsibility for women’s issues understandably provoked concern. There were other stories of upset behind the scenes at Social Services and, in the end, the proof is perhaps in seeing her moved from the post by the prime minister. Even before winning election, she
ran into difficulties, making disparaging comments on tape about several FNM MPs, which led to her stepping down from her role as a Senator – “to focus on a few personal matters”. That resignation was described by one FNM parliamentarian at the time as “sweet music to my ears”. There are two possibilities here – either Mrs Rolle is trying to change the systems around her and running into resistance, or she stirs up problems that need not be caused. When the same concerns keep getting raised, maybe she ought to ask herself if there’s a good reason for that. And if this latest clash ends up in another reshuffle? We would not be surprised.
The beam in Davis’ eye As inevitably as night follows day, Opposition leader Philip ‘Brave’ Davis pounced on the news of CA Smith’s gaffe over being chosen to become the next Governor General. Dump him, says Davis. And if Smith only blurted out the news about his appointment because he was repeating what he was told by the prime minister? Well, Mr Davis is coming after the prime minister too! Mr Davis is a prime example of the parable about the mote and the beam, busily pointing out the mote that spoils the FNM eye while routinely failing to notice, or criticise, the large wooden beam spoiling the PLP’s own. Mr Smith was in the wrong, absolutely, but to suggest throwing away the lifetime of experience that brought him to this appointment for the moment of indiscretion in his protocol breach is nothing more than political baiting. If the slightest blemish is enough to warrant Mr Davis’ disapproval, then we’ve got a few questions for him about the previous PLP administration.
Chaos of migration EDITOR, The Tribune. I BELIEVE that most people would agree that the dissolution of the traditional family has contributed significantly to most of our societal ills and criminality, but I cannot help considering the influence of another factor. It is said that illegal immigrants come to our country to seek a better way of life. No person should be faulted for wanting to have better, but there is a right way to do it as shown by the pains legal immigrants take to find gainful employment! What I have been sensing is a global trend for illegal immigrants to believe that they are entitled to break a country’s laws in their pursuit of “better”. Their poverty or hardship, in their mind it seems, makes their pursuit of a better life justifiable, even if it calls for breaking another country’s laws. But am I entitled to enter another person’s home and take what I want because I have six children that I cannot support properly or because I have not taken advantage of educational opportunities freely
given in this country and am unemployable as a result? We have, with the credulousness of the now extinct Arawaks, viewed this breach of our sovereignty as acceptable without considering several simple things. Firstly , when an immigrant enters this country illegally they have knowingly and wilfully disregarded the laws of a sovereign country and believe that they have the right to do so. No man enters another man’s house without his knowledge and believes he is doing the right thing! They believe that their personal situation and desire to seek a better way of life are far more important than any of the laws of this country. At the centre of their drive to get here is pure self-interest and survival. Having risked life and limb in pursuit of a better way of life, why would we expect people so driven to survive, while having no regard for law and order to magically become lawabiding occupants of this country. In fact, so strong is the desire to survive,
that circumventing laws becomes a way of life, encouraging corruption and increasing disorder on a societal level. These same ones soon scrounge up and save enough money to send home to finance the passage of the next wave of disregarders of our laws and sovereignty. And so it has been for decades and so has the social disorder multiplied. Parents with this survival at all costs mentality will naturally pass this trait on to their children, intentionally or vicariously. I can only wonder how much this has contributed to the lawless mindset that pervades this culture. It is my view that the “importation” of large numbers of uneducated, illegal immigrants with a reckless disregard for our sovereignty and laws, who do not speak the language and who will do anything to survive, has contributed significantly to the social and moral chaos that currently exists in this country! JB Nassau, June 3, 2019.
Beating children is our sport EDITOR, The Tribune. IN all my many years of buying and reading the dailies, both The Tribune and The Nassau Guardian, I have never seen anything as ridiculous and nauseating as an editorial letter written to this very newspaper. In said letter, the writer, calling themselves an “advocate” for corporal punishment, had the gall to say that beating children with belts and other implements, to the point where marks and bruises are left on their bodies, is NOT child abuse, and is in fact exactly what is needed to enforce discipline in schools and keep “vile” students in check. To this person, I ask, in Bahamian vernacular: “You fa real?” In this country we call The Bahamas, it would seem that beating children is our “national sport”. We make songs about beating children and getting “cut hip”. We brag about “half killing” our children with our neighbours and co workers. We post videos on Social Media of children getting lashed with belts, beaten with broomsticks, and slapped with open hands. We even draw editorial cartoons about it. In this country, you’re considered a bad parent if you don’t give your kids a severe licking with any object you can get your hands on. We jubilantly boast about the many “benefits” of beating children, and how it helps to make “good” boys and girls. It’s sickening to think of how many Bahamians - and
It comes as absolutely no surprise whatsoever that a recent report found more than 600 cases of child letters@tribunemedia.net abuse in this country for Black people in general - one year, with the majorare such fervent supporters ity of cases being physical of this barbaric, antiquated, abuse, as well as incidences and wholly ineffective form of child neglect. I have seen people slap of discipline known as cortoddlers as young as two poral punishment. To these people, I ask: if full force in the face, while beating children is so effec- screaming “SHUT UP!” tive, why is our crime rate when the child began crying so out of control? If corpo- in reaction to pain. I have seen people strike ral punishment is not child abuse, why is it banned in children in their heads with shoes. I bore witness to a 57 countries? If beating children to the music teacher smashing a point where bruises, marks, 4th grade student, girl, in and welts are left on the the head with a text book. Unbeknownst to the bodies is not abuse, then what is? Broken bones, teacher, the girl suffered bloody cuts, internal inju- from a neurological problem that caused nosebleeds, ries, perhaps? Corporal punishment is and sure enough, the unforfemale student the last remaining legacy tunate of slavery and White began to bleed after getcolonial rule. The same ting “crowned” by this nut barbaric methods that job teacher. How is this not were used to subjugate and abuse? I strongly urge Educacontrol our ancestors in Africa, America, and the tion Minister Jeffrey Lloyd Caribbean is now being and this FNM government used to control “unruly” to stop dilly-dallying, stop cowing to the religious children. We have all seen the fanatics in this country who controversial and fiercely have completely misinterdebated video of the preted that infamous Bible teacher forcing a student verse (you know which to lean against a wall in a one), and ban corporal classroom, who was then punishment in all its forms literally whipped across the completely. Until they do, we’ll only back with great force. The student in question see more and more online was accused of having a cell videos of child beatings on phone in class, and even social media, and cases of when he said he was not child abuse will only conthe one with the phone, and tinue and rise. eyewitnesses backed up his DISTURBED AND claim, the teacher whipped DEEPLY him anyway. It was a scene straight out of “Roots”, CONCERNED Nassau, minus the 21st century June 3, 2019. modernisation.
LETTERS
THE TRIBUNE
Wednesday, June 5, 2019, PAGE 5
‘Gaffe should cost CA Smith new role’ from page one
Palace. This is untrue and is therefore of great concern to us,” Mr Davis said at a press conference yesterday, “I now note that he has, in fact, apologised.” When questioned further, Mr Davis said: “I think (the FNM) needs to revisit the matter. The apology for example did not take into account this mistake on his part. “But what we know is,” he continued, “if a person is so (blatant), unless he has some reasonable explanation why he would have said what he said, in other words, if for example the prime minister told
OPPOSITION leader Philip ‘Brave’ Davis.
him, ‘well I already got the answer from Buckingham,’ and he’s repeating the prime minister, then I can excuse him and then I’ll go after the prime minister. “But on the face of it, we know that, that has not happened as yet.” Yesterday, the Office of the Prime Minister declined comment on the matter. Mr Smith broke the news to staff at a farewell luncheon at the Passport Office in Grand Bahama - a move he later explained was done in “strictest confidence”. The farewell lunch marked Mr Smith’s resignation as the non-resident ambassador to Panama, and
a portion of his remarks were recorded on a cell phone and shared on social media. “As a result of Her Majesty the Queen appointing me to be governor general I found it necessary to have to resign in the position,” Mr Smith said in the video, “I had to be transited to another position. The swearing-in will take place on the last Friday of June in Nassau.” Mr Smith has declined further comment on the matter. In his written apology, he explained his announcement was done in “strictest confidence” as a private discussion that was never intended to be made public.
BNT: WE NEED OUR OWN FINES OVER WASTE DUMPING By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net
THE Bahamas National Trust said yesterday the county needs the ability to enforce its own fines where it is discovered that cruise lines dump waste in Bahamian waters, adding this kind of penalty would provide recourse where fines are paid out in the United States. In the aftermath of Carnival Corporation’s $20m settlement over violating terms of its probation, the BNT further questioned whether recent findings of environmental infractions in the Bahamas by the cruise line were just the tip of the iceberg. Additionally, the repeated fines are an indictment on the corporation’s actions, the BNT said, but seem not to be a sufficient deterrent. The company admitted to six violations of its Environmental Compliance Plan (ECP), one of which involves having its ship, Carnival Elation, discharge plastic mixed with food waste in Bahamian waters on December 16, 2018 in violation of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL). Other violations include falsifying records, communicating with the US Coast Guard through a back channel, failing to give enough authority to the company’s environmental compliance officer and rushing to clean up ships ahead of visits by a court-appointed monitor. The Tribune published news of the $20m fine on Tuesday. “As a sovereign nation, the Bahamas needs to be able to levy fines for dumping activity in our waters, as the result has a detrimental impact on our number one economy,” the BNT said in a statement expressing outrage yesterday. “It seems counterintuitive that none of these penalties are paid to the Bahamas government, despite the fact the infringements are taking place in Bahamian waters. “An important reality that has emerged from this public legal case, is that as a nation, we have not invested in sufficient capacity to properly monitor this industry. This case and its associated findings, reveal that this industry has been dumping in our waters over an extended period of time. “It is fairly obvious that if this the issue had not been regulated in the US and brought before the US courts, this flagrant abuse
HILTON EVACUATED AFTER FIRE ERIC CAREY, BNT executive director. of our oceans would still be undetected. These fines are a serious indictment on their actions, but the real question is, what else is happening out there - could this actually be just the tip of the iceberg? “As such it is imperative that while we are committed to legislative and policy reforms to address this issue, we also need to increase our national capacity to police and monitor our oceans. We cannot continue to depend on others to be the watchdog protecting our waters for us. “Finally, we note with emphasis, that this second fine is a penalty for a violation of Carnival’s probation, having already been found guilty of serious environmental infractions. This leads us to wonder whether these penalties are in fact a sufficient deterrent.” BNT Executive Director Eric Carey furthered that that negative actions from Carnival and other cruise lines undermine marine conservation efforts that have been made. He said: “The Bahamas is recognised globally for its efforts to protect the marine environment. We have created one of the most impressive national park systems in our region, including the oldest land and sea park in the world, and further the Bahamian government has committed to protecting 20 percent of our nearshore marine environment by 2020. The actions of Carnival and possibly other cruise line, shipping corporations, and private vessels undermine the marine conservation efforts we have undertaken. “The ocean is our number one asset sustaining so much of our very way of life. The Bahamas allows the cruise industry to use our oceans to support their
business. We as a nation are working so hard to protect our marine environment, and we have every right to hold Carnival Cruise Lines accountable for protecting what is also a key asset to their own success.” In noting comments on the issue by several Cabinet ministers, he said the BNT would now like to see a clear strategy that takes the Bahamas towards robust policies and appropriate legislation to address this issue. Early last month, Transport and Local Government Minister Renward Wells said the Attorney General’s Office was assessing the extent of criminality attached to sewage and food waste discharged from Carnival’s vessels in Bahamian waters. He said the government would also seek compensation or recompense if it finds damage was done. He said an accelerated investigative process is now underway in an effort to make decisions. However, over a month later, there has been no update regarding this. Through the new settlement agreement, which contains the $20m fine, the company has agreed to allow additional audits and visits from its monitor and third party auditor. US District Court Judge Patricia Seitz approved the agreement on Monday. At a previous hearing she threatened to block Carnival from docking in US docks. According to the Associated Press, she said this week: “The concern I have is that senior management has no skin in the game. My goal is to have the defendant change its behaviour.” She reportedly said future violations might be met with prison time and criminal fines from individuals.
By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net
FIREFIGHTERS extinguished a small fire at the Hilton hotel yesterday, forcing guests and employees to evacuate the Bay Street property. Chief Superintendent of Police Walter Evans said there was no major
damage to the hotel and nearby businesses. “After 11 this morning we received a call and we immediately responded with three units minutes after receiving the information about the fire,” the head of Police Fire Services said. “We met smoke coming from the eastern section, the top level area. Officers
immediately entered the facility and we discovered some workmen were doing work in the elevator area and that would have been the cause of it. The fire was extinguished. Prior to that the building was evacuated of guests and staff of the hotel and the companies which occupy the office block in the eastern wing.”
PAGE 6, Wednesday, June 5, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
PM urged to step in on new Lanisha row from page one if all sides are to move forward amicably. The state of Mrs Rolle’s relationship with BOC was first highlighted by Progressive Liberal Party Leader Philip “Brave” Davis, who yesterday at his party’s monthly press briefing called on Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis to immediately intervene. Mr Davis suggested that it would be “unnecessary and foolhardy” for Mrs Rolle to pick a public fight with local sporting organisations and BOC. He said while the Official Opposition wouldn’t immediately move to call for her removal, it viewed Cabinet intervention as critical to the overall state of sports in the country. “It appears that (Mrs Rolle) is ignoring the federations… in keeping with what appears to be a policy of this government to shut out sports culture and you know, only weigh in when there are successes in these areas,” he said, pointing to what he referred to as a lacklustre response to the Carifta team’s recent success. “When it comes down to dealing with the processes to be able to get those successes, and deal with the administrators who worked tirelessly, selflessly and very often without pay to see to those successes, the government turns a blind eye,
LANISHA ROLLE, Minister for Sport. a deaf ear and it appears things came to a head that it’s business as usual, between the two sides foland we don’t need to pay lowing Mrs Rolle’s decision no attention to you or hear to travel to Yokohama, Japan last month for the you,” Mr Davis insisted. Meanwhile, when con- 2019 IAAF World Relays seeking BOC tacted yesterday, Mr without Donaldson claimed that accreditation. Mr Donaldson said prosince being moved to the and protocols Ministry of Youth, Sports cedures and Culture, Mrs Rolle mandate that state officials has refused to build a rela- seek accreditation at a tionship with the various national level via that country’s national sporting body, sporting federations. Mr Donaldson said which would then write its
Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff international counterpart to present at those meetings.” arrange all formal aspects Mr Donaldson continof the trip. ued: “We wrote her on this “You see, that did not and in her response letter happen,” he told The Trib- she said she was not subject une. “She travelled by to, or bound by, any agreevirtue of an IAAF invite ment of protocol relative without note to the BOC to the BOC. We as a sportpresident. That’s not pro- ing community demand tocol at all. Added to that, more and we deserve more. she took meetings there Hence our position. and didn’t even make an “We accept that she attempt to arrange to have may be unaware of certain the local sporting bodies, things relative to the post on the ground for the event, of minister of youth, sports
and culture, that’s why we are asking that she sits down with us as we look to fix the issue. “But if she isn’t interested in doing that, then we can move to the next step. But this is all up to her,” he added. When asked if Mrs Rolle has shown a willingness to sit down and hold talks with the BOC, Mr Donaldson said to date, she has not given any indications. In the letter referenced by Mr Donaldson, Mrs Rolle wrote that ministers are committed to Cabinet meetings on Tuesdays and therefore, it would be inconvenient and not customary to schedule meetings on that day. However, she didn’t make any further recommendation for a meeting date. Mrs Rolle was one of four Cabinet minister reassigned last July, going from social services and urban development to youth, sports and culture. While in her former role, Rights Bahamas called for her resignation after she asserted that marital rape should be viewed as a private issue. The remark came as a shock as she is the only woman in the Cabinet and it was made at a time in when the government was facing pressure to amend laws to protect the rights of women. Mrs Rolle could not be reached for comment yesterday.
DAVIS: IS TRAVEL BUDGET A CAMPAIGN FUND? By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net
THE financial allocation set aside for travel and several other in-house expenses at the Office of the Prime Minister in the 2019/2020 budget could be viewed as the government’s attempt to finance campaign-related activity, Progressive Liberal Party Leader Philip “Brave” Davis has suggested.
He also accused the government of using ZNS, the state-run broadcast network, to advertise the governing party. Mr Davis also took issue with the government’s allocation for consultants across various government ministries and departments, contending that the Free National Movement while in opposition relentlessly ridiculed the PLP for the same. “That’s how we can wrap up this government: poster
boys for hypocrisy,” Mr Davis said. “(The prime minister) is travelling around the islands, he’s not using the ordinary flights, he not going on Bahamasair or any other flight; he seems to be chartering all the time. There is no doubt he is campaigning. And they have very strong advertising process going on, particularly using ZNS through… (Press Secretary Anthony Newbold’s show).
“Anyone can see that it’s campaigning.” The government has allocated $256,738 to OPM for domestic travel, and an additional $401,850 for international travel. The domestic travel budget is up considerably from the 2018/2019 budget cycle, which came in around $136,416. However, it should be noted that of that $136,416 allocated for the 2018/2019 cycle, only $74,000 was actually utilised.
Other noticeable increases at the OPM include allowances, which jumped from $182,522 to $222,600; office supplies and stationary, which jumped from $8,000 to $72,820; and food, ice and drinking water, which also jumped from $10,400 to $115,330. Meanwhile, Mr Davis in response to a question on the increase in the consultancy allocation at the OPM, added: “First of all, that consultancy service you see, you see that in the Office of the Prime Minister. But, if you go to the other ministries, that is just a drop in the bucket to all of the consultancy services. “If you listen to the budget communication, they’re still setting up other consultancies where they are going to be bringing people in to pay. Now you’re going to have to see where those funds are going,” he added. The government has allocated $520,000 for consultancy service at the OPM this fiscal year. That’s up from $120,000 last year and $30,000 during the 2017/2018 budget cycle. Mr Davis continued: “The 2019 budget has sealed the fate of this FNM administration as the most dishonest in the history of an independent Bahamas and of this minister of finance as the worst minister of finance in our history. “Last year, I predicted that this arrogant and heartless government would make ordinary and vulnerable Bahamians pay for their unrealistic campaign promises by increasing the VAT rate. This prediction was correct, and the effects were as I had predicted. “At 1.6 percent, this is well short of the economic growth predicted at two percent. The government has failed to achieve its revenue and deficit targets. They spent $216 million more than they spent during the last fiscal year. They borrowed more than $2 billion since coming to office. They borrowed four times in this current fiscal year to pay salaries. “They begged RBC to extend the overdraft facility to pay salaries. So,
where did all the borrowed money go? Where did the 60 percent VAT money go? Bahamians are asking Mr (Peter) Turnquest. They will miss their deficit target by a mile. They will miss their revenue target by hundreds of millions.” All this, he said, despite having the good fortune of the opening of the Baha Mar resort, a robust and buoyant United States economy and no natural disasters. Mr Davis added: “Despite the repeated deceitful assurances of the minister of finance in Parliament and everywhere else, there was no study or mathematical modelling around the VAT increase — an unbelievably poor decision. Let’s briefly look inside the numbers. The finance minister said that revenue collection this fiscal year ending June 2019 would be $2.4bn or 42 percent more than the government reported as collected in March 2018. “This is not likely as the government as of March 2019 collected $1.6bn or an average of $187.6m per month. Over 12 months, this translates to $2.25 billion and a revenue shortfall of $397m in comparison to the original budget. This 15 percent revenue shortfall without any external shock to the Bahamian economy, is catastrophic and speaks to the high degree of incompetence of the minister of finance.” In line with this, Mr Davis said Mr Turnquest’s request for roughly $72m in new funding or an average of $6 million per month, would also be unrealistic. Mr Davis said he has evidence that suggests the government currently does not have funds necessary to operate over the next fiscal year. To that end, he predicted lengthy delays in payments to government vendors and setbacks for the financially vulnerable due to a lack of resources. All, he said, leading to a recession and an increase in the economic pain for the Bahamian people. Parliamentary debate on the 2019/2020 budget will get underway this morning.
THE TRIBUNE
Wednesday, June 5, 2019, PAGE 7
Armed robbery suspect says police beat him with a bat By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net A MAN who was arraigned on an armed robbery charge in Grand Bahama yesterday accused police of beating him with a baseball bat while in custody and coercing him to sign a report. The claims were made by Chauncey Smith, 23, who was arraigned with a 17-year-old boy, both of Freeport. It is alleged that on May 28, at Freeport, Smith and the teen, while armed with a handgun, robbed Prestige Fresh Market 2 of $1,014 cash. They were represented by Brian Hanna. They were not required to enter a plea to the charge. Bail was denied and the matter was adjourned to September 23 for a preliminary inquiry.
During the arraignment, Deputy Chief Magistrate Debbye Ferguson asked if they had anything say. Smith told the court he wanted to make a police brutality report. He claimed while at CDU officers had taken him to a room upstairs where they handcuffed him and turned off the light. Smith claimed that officers came back in the room with a baseball bat wrapped with a soaked towel, and they hit him in his side and back. He also claimed the officers hit him in the face with a telephone book. Smith also claimed that officers coerced him to sign a report. “They put a report in front of me and told (me) if I signed it I will get to see my girlfriend, but I never see my girlfriend,” he told the judge. He claimed he eventually signed the report out of
fear of being beaten again. “They take me upstairs on Sunday, and I could not take it no more so I signed it,” he said. Smith did appear to have some injuries on this face, including a swollen lip and a blister just above the cheek. He also stated the names of the officers in court. He also claimed that he was not arrested at his residence at 5pm last Thursday as officers had reported, but rather at Bell Channel around 9pm. Smith said he does not know the juvenile whom he is being charged with. “I don’t even know this man. I didn’t even know he was a juvenile,” he told Deputy Chief Magistrate Ferguson. The judge said she will have the matter looked into. In reference to the juvenile, his aunt complained police officers had kept her
WESLEY Delhomme outside court yesterday.
A 19-YEAR-OLD is responsible for shooting another teenager to death and attempting to kill three other people while they were walking on Raymond Road last week, police have alleged. Wesley Delhomme was charged before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt with murdering James Dalean and trying
to kill Kevin Telusnord, Walvins Garconville and Bryan Morley on May 28. According to initial reports, shortly before 11pm on the date in question, three males were walking on Raymond Road when they were approached by three armed men who opened fire in their direction and injured them before running away. The victims were later transported to the hospital, where one of them, a juvenile, was pronounced dead.
The other victims were said to be in serious condition. Delhomme was not required to enter a plea to the charge and the matter was adjourned to July 17 for service of a voluntary bill of indictment. Bail was denied and he was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services in the interim. He has a right to apply to the Supreme Court for bail. Delhomme is represented by attorney Nathan Smith.
FOOD SAFETY SEMINAR TODAY By RIEL MAJOR Tribune Staff Reporter rmajor@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas Agricultural Food Safety Authority will host a food safety seminar today. Christopher Worrell, BAFSA executive director, said on December 20, 2018 the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed June 7 as World Food Safety Day. Mr Worell said: “For the first time in 2019 the world speaks with one voice, one focus and with one goal in mind and that is to make food safe. The food safety and quality unit of the Bahamas Agriculture Health and Food Safety Authority (BAHFSA) will celebrate the significant milestone in the global food industry and has literally sounded the alarm on
unsafe food practices. “The World Food Safety Day brings greater focus on the best practices that should be employed at all stages of the food chain: farmers, processors, distributors and all persons that come in contact with food that is intended for human and animal consumption should practice food safety every day from the farm to the fork.” The food safety seminar will be held at the National Training Centre today from 9am to 4 pm. Mr Worrell said various presenters will discuss how private and public relationships can address food safety issues. He added: “To ensure our food is safe, BAHFSA is committed to strengthening the regulatory scientific and technological capacities to address the rising
like torture, but you are asking if he was illegally locked up, and the police has the authority to hold him,” she explained. Smith was also charged with disorderly behaviour. It is alleged that on June 2, the accused acted in a disorderly manner while at Central Police Station. Two other men were arraigned on armed robbery charges in the Freeport Magistrate’s Court yesterday. Frankie Seymour, 30, and Allen Simeon, 23, both of Freeport, appeared before Deputy Chief Magistrate Ferguson where they were charged with two counts of armed robbery and two counts of attempted armed robbery. Seymour was represented by K Brian Hanna, and Simeon was represented by Ernie Wallace. It is alleged that on May 30, at Freeport, the accused
men being concerned together or with others unknown while armed with a handgun robbed Henry Guerrier of a wallet and personal items, including a NIB card, driver’s licence, and a Honda car key, together valued at $300. It is also alleged that on the same date and place, the armed pair robbed Robyn Strachan of a handbag and other personal items, together valued at $226. The men are also accused of attempting to rob Jordan Forbes and Arlette Fertil on the same date. Seymour and Simeon were not required to enter a plea to the charges. A preliminary inquiry will be held to determine if there is sufficient evidence for them to stand trial in the Supreme Court. Bail was denied and the matter was adjourned to September 23.
Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
TEEN ACCUSED OF MURDER By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net
nephew locked up in custody too long and described the ordeal as “torture” for them. “It was like a torture because they had him locked up two and three days and did not charge him with anything. I want to know why they waited ‘til last night to charge him,” she asked. The teen’s aunt said that police claim they have a video of her nephew in the act of committing the armed robbery, and wanted to know if they could see the video evidence. The judge explained a police investigation takes time and the police have to investigate before they can charge someone with an offence. The judge further explained the police can continue to hold a suspect up to 72 hours. “It is a torture for families and anyone who come through these walls; it feels
concerns of food safety and as much as possible help to mitigate the health risk due to food borne pathogens. “Safe food equates to good nutrition and strengthens our food security. Food security ensures that food is accessible, and this create a sustainable system that promotes the economic development of the Bahamas.” Dr Patricia Johnson, director of food safety and quality, shared five key food safety tips. “Always be clean and to clean your contact surfaces where you’re preparing your food. Also, to wash your hands constantly and thoroughly at least for 20 seconds with warm soapy water to remove any dirt and reduce that contamination. Separate your raw food from ready to eat food,” Dr Johnson said.
PAGE 8, Wednesday, June 5, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
Imagine, keeping calm behind a bus until it’s ready to move off I
KNOW very few people in Nassau who do not hate driving. I know some who plan their days around peak traffic times, some who get someone else to drive, some who play a particular genre of music to keep themselves calm and some who complain about it every single time they have to do it. Even newly licenced drivers eventually come to dislike the traffic that comes with their increase in independence. Parents remind their children: “You ain’ just drivin’ for you. You drivin’ for you and them.” Every time a traffic light turns green, we have to wait for a few cars to run the red light before we go. On roundabouts, we must be constantly vigilant of the people refusing to yield and
The
Alicia Wallace
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those who are in the wrong lane and could hit us if we are not ready to avoid it. We lose time and sometimes come close to accidents when others do not use signals when making their turns. Potholes slow us down, people stopping to chat with others in incoming traffic bring us to a stop, and tourists on scooters make us nervous as they all-too-happily get in the mix. There is already too
much to think about, pay attention to, anticipate and navigate around. Mobile devices should not be a part of the equation, but we have all seen people (almost) causing accidents who were obviously distracted. All of this contributes to bad moods, anxiety and noise pollution. These things happen elsewhere too, but it is a bit different in a small place where we complain there are too many cars.
One of the things I noticed during my recent time in Barbados was the general calm and patience of drivers. Over the course of nine months, I only ever saw three cars overtake others. People typically wait their turns to get out of corners, stop to let pedestrians cross the street and, most shockingly to me, waited behind stopped buses for as long as it took for them to start moving again. Where possible, buses pulled to the side of the road, but drivers did not appear to be irritated when they were stopped for a minute or two. I found this perplexing. I could not help but ask a few Barbadians why they
are so relaxed on the road. Responses typically pointed to the size of the island, the true distance they were traveling, and knowing they will get to where they are going anyway. No one said they leave earlier or plan for delays, or even when there is traffic, it moves at a reasonable speed, but I imagine these are factors too. I do not enjoy driving in Nassau, but it has to be done. I made a decision a few years ago, after spending a few years getting riled up by other drivers, to make better plans for the current reality. I do as much as I can online and by phone to reduce the time and money I spend going
‘You ain’ just drivin’ for you. You drivin’ for you and them.’
to banks, offices and stores. When I do have to go out, I wait for morning traffic to die down and try to be finished before lunch time. It is a small window, but it has been working for me. Perhaps most importantly, I try to actively, intentionally choose my responses to traffic events. I may think, “What an idiot,” but I try not to let that turn into a burning desire to tell the person what I think or show them with gestures of frustration. It probably helps that I do not know who is likely to escalate. It is better to allow ourselves more time, find the windows where there is less traffic and commit to remaining as calm as possible. We have enough challenges. High blood pressure does not need to be one of them.
Discipline takes work SPEAKING of high blood pressure, it was impossible to miss how many of us had strong reactions to the parent’s post about his child being beaten at St Augustine’s college. I fully support bringing an end to corporal punishment and I recognise this kind of beating as violence.
The photo shared showed the message being sent by the school official responsible for the black, blue, and purple marks left on that child. It is one of dominance. This form of punishment is barbaric, ineffective and relies on fear and embarrassment to discipline.
Fear and embarrassment, however, are far more likely to lead to anger and resentment. If you have to cause bodily harm to a child to send a message, you need help with your communication skills. There are better ways, and they may take more time, energy and
planning, but isn’t it worth it? Whether or not you support corporal punishment, I would like to think there is a line and that you see where it was crossed. It has been mind-boggling to read responses from alumni who believe the school official was right because they had the same experience and “turned out fine”, or because that institution could do no wrong in their eyes. We should all be able to see that there is room to do much better. We should understand that research, experience and the differences between generations
require us to innovate, change the way we do things and respond to the needs of today’s society. Schools have introduced summer uniforms when no one thought it would ever happen. It is a response to changing conditions. Each generation learned math in a different way, so most of our parents had challenges in helping us with our homework. Things change. Why should this barbaric act that has long masqueraded as discipline remain the same? The rod of correction can take many forms. It does not have to be the beam
that breaks our children’s backs while crushing their spirits, teaching them to do the same to others. To require more of them, we have to be willing to give more ourselves. Let’s think about what that could look like and how we can guide young people with a positive view of their energy and individual (as well as highly generalised generational) characteristics rather than a disdain for youth and desperation to control without reason. We are building the future every day, with everything we do. Leave violence out of it.
THE TRIBUNE
Wednesday, June 5, 2019, PAGE 9
APPLE
TECHTALK
PREVIEWS NEW SOFTWARE AS IT DIVERSIFIES BEYOND iPHONES By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer
APPLE CEO Tim Cook, left, and chief design officer Jonathan Ive look at a Mac Pro in the display room at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, Calif., Monday. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Apple, beset by falling iPhone sales, announced upcoming changes to its phone and computer software intended to highlight its increasing emphasis on digital services and to further position it as a fierce guardian of personal privacy. The revisions previewed Monday during a conference in San Jose, California, included a new feature that will let people log into apps and other services with an Apple ID instead of relying on similar sign-in options from Facebook and Google — two companies that mine data to sell advertising. Apple said it won’t collect tracking information about users from that service. As part of that feature, Apple will also let users mask their true email addresses when
ation for the trade war being waged by Another potential problem looms for Apple. Regulatory complaints and a consumer lawsuit both question whether Apple has been abusing the power of its iPhone app store to thwart competition and gouge smaller technology companies that rely on it to attract users and sell their services. Apple is trying to adapt by squeezing money from digital services tailored for the more than 900 million iPhones currently in use. The transition includes a Netflix-like video service that Apple teased in March and thrust to centre stage again Monday with a preview of one of the new series due out this fall, “For All Mankind.” But the iPhone remains Apple’s marquee attraction. The next version of its iPhone operating software, iOS 13, manages to offer both privacy features and an aesthetic “dark mode” for the screen — a feature already available on Macs.
• NEW FEATURES ON iPHONE IOS 13 • MAJOR MAKEOVER OF APPLE MAPS • ITUNES REPLACED BY THREE APPS signing into apps and services. That will involve faux email addresses that automatically forward to the user’s personal email. When the next version of the iPhone software comes out this fall, Apple is also promising to give people the option of limiting the time apps can follow their locations and prevent tracking through Bluetooth and Wi-Fi signals. The revisions are part of Apple’s ongoing attempts to differentiate itself from other technology giants, many of whom offer free services in exchange for personal data such as whereabouts and personal interests, which in turn fuels the advertising that generates most of their revenue. Apple, by contrast, makes virtually all its money selling devices and services, making it easier for CEO Tim Cook to embrace “privacy is a fundamental human right” as one of the company’s battle cries in an age of increasingly intrusive technology. Monday’s software showcase is an annual rite that Apple holds for thousands of programmers at the end of spring. This year, however,
Photos
APPLE CEO Tim Cook waves after speaking at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) Apple is grappling with its biggest challenge since its visionary co-founder, Steve Jobs, died nearly eight years ago. Although still popular, the iPhone is no longer reliably driving Apple’s profits the way it has for the past decade. Sales have fallen sharply for the past two quarters, and could suffer another blow if China’s government targets the iPhone in retali-
Apple executives also claimed that iOS 13 will open apps faster and features a new version of the Face ID system will unlock your phone 30 percent faster. The software also will introduce more artificial intelligence to enable Apple’s digital assistant, Sir, to speak more like a human and, if so assigned, automatically tackle even more tasks, such as reading incoming messages out loud as Apple tries to catch up to the digital assistants made by Google and Amazon. Apple’s improvements in artificial intelligence also hatched a new photo-management tool that picks out the best photos taken on a certain day or in an entire month or year. Apple Maps will get the biggest makeover of any of the company’s built-in apps. Beginning with iOS 13 the maps will include granular street and place data that Apple says it collected with street and aerial footage — tactics its largest mobile app rival Google has been using for years. Apple also unveiled several new apps for its smartwatch, including independent apps that don’t rely on the iPhone in another sign of the company’s determination to lessen its dependence on that product. The App Store will be available on the watch, making it possible for people to find and download apps right on their watch — expanding the availability of purchases that generate commissions for Apple. The iPad will also get its own operating system instead of piggybacking on the iPhone software as Apple tries to cater to consumers who would like the tablet to be able to do more of the things a laptop computer can do. In its laptop and desktop businesses, Apple is breaking up its iTunes software for computers into three apps: Apple Music, Apple Podcasts and Apple TV. Apple debuted iTunes 16 years ago to sell and manage digital music for the iPod, which paved the way for the iPhone. Apple has already de-emphassed iTunes on the iPhone and iPad, but now it will do the same on the Mac as well later this year. ITunes will still be available on Macs using older versions of the operating system, as well on all machines running on Microsoft’s Windows. CRAIG FEDERIGHI, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering, speaks at the conference. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
• THE German government is extending a system of incentives to buy electric cars by 18 months until the end of 2020. The programme launched three years ago was supposed to expire at the end of June, but demand for electric cars has remained disappointing. It is backed by a 1.2 billion-euro ($1.3 billion) fund, half financed by the federal government and half by the auto industry. Announcing the extension on Friday, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said that “we need continuity in support” for electric cars. The incentives will continue at their current level: buyers of purely electric cars will continue to get 4,000 euros and people buying plug-in hybrids will get 3,000 euros. Altmaier said applications for the incentives have been rising “but more slowly than we had hoped.” • YOUNG space enthusiasts in Virginia will be able to chat live with NASA astronaut Christina Koch about what it’s like to live in space. The Slover Library in Norfolk will be the host site for a live downlink event from the International Space Station on Aug. 9. Koch is set to be in space for 328 days, setting the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman. Approximately 200 students will at the library to ask Koch questions. Slover Library was selected because of its strong attachment to the Space Science community. The library previously hosted STAR Net’s Discover NASA exhibit. It is currently partnered with Old Dominion University and the Virginia Space Grant Consortium to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing through an intergenerational contest. • NASA’s major projects are busting budgets and schedules like never before, according to a congressional watchdog agency. The U.S. Government Accountability Office reported last week that NASA’s major projects are more than 27 percent over baseline costs and the average launch delay is 13 months. That’s the largest schedule delay since the GAO began assessing NASA’s major projects 10 years ago. The still-in-development James Webb Space Telescope is the major offender. The projected launch date for this advanced successor to the Hubble Space Telescope is now 2021, with an estimated $9.6 billion price tag, the GAO noted. Its original target launch date was 2007, with initial cost estimates as low as $1 billion. NASA’s yet-to-fly mega rocket, the Space Launch System, also faces big cost overruns because of production challenges and, likely, even more launch delays. On the bright side, the Parker Solar Probe launched last summer and looping ever closer around the sun came in millions under budget and was also on time. The GAO defines a major project as having at least $250 million in lifetime costs. Altogether, NASA plans to invest $63 billion on the 24 major projects listed in the GAO’s latest report. The partial government shutdown, which stretched from December to January, was not factored into the report.
PAGE 10, Wednesday, June 5, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
TWO YEARS ON - AND NO GOVT RESPONSE ON THREATS By RIEL MAJOR Tribune Staff Reporter rmajor@tribunemedia.net
IT has been two years since Rights Bahamas activists were granted protective measures by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights but to date the government has yet to report on its efforts, the group said. In a statement issued this week, Rights Bahamas called on the government to answer “fully and honestly” to the request from the commission of observation on the abuses against human rights defenders reported between December 2016 and February 2017. The statement read: “We call on the government to publicly say what it has done to live up to the stipulations of Precautionary Measure MC706-16 issued on November 4, 2016. We demand that the government pass a
Hate Speech Act and take public steps to discourage its supporters and all Bahamians from seeking to denigrate, intimidate or strike fear into human rights defenders because of their work.” The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) confirmed it has had to reiterate its request to the government in a letter to Rights Bahamas, dated May 22, 2019. “The threats in question were reported to the commission in December 2016 and early 2017, towards the end of the former PLP administration. They occurred in the face of an order from the IACHR requiring the government to protect five activists from Save The Bays, after it was found that they were ‘in serious and urgent situation, since their lives and personal integrity face an imminent
MARVIN DAMES, Minister of National Security.
risk of irreparable harm,’” the statement said. “On November 4, 2016, (the) commission issued precautionary measures requiring The Bahamas to: adopt the necessary measures to protect the lives and personal integrity of the activists and their families; ensure that they can pursue their work freely; come to an agreement with the activists on what measures should be taken to protect them; and report on what actions were taken to investigate the threats in order to prevent their repetition.” Rights Bahamas added the incidents complained of included threats of prosecution and imprisonment by government officials, attempts to target the activists for harm, break-ins, damage to personal property, and numerous instances of hate speech, menacing remarks and threats of violence from
Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
political supporters of the former administration. The earlier request for a response from the government went unanswered, prompting a second official request, issued on May 22. According to the statement, Rights Bahamas doesn’t know of any effort made from the Progressive Liberal Party or the Free National Movement living up to the stipulations of the precautionary measures. “...Certainly, the activists have not been consulted on any measures to protect them, as was required by the commission. Nor have any actions been taken to discourage verbal, online and physical attacks on activists generally,” the statement read. “Meanwhile, instances of hate speech and threatening remarks against human rights defenders have continued and even increased, particularly over the last few weeks in the wake of a
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WITH respective elected officials set to begin debate today on the Minnis administration’s 2019/2020 budget, one Cabinet official says it will be evident that things are “getting better”. Despite suggesting his ministry did not receive what he considered an ideal financial allocation, National Security Minister Marvin Dames said yesterday the government is doing well all things considered. The ministry will receive $6,653,923, which is less than the $7,455,580 it was given in the 2018/2019 budget. “I don’t think you will ever get a ‘yes’ answer from any minister, not only in these times that we’re in but in previous times,” Mr Dames said when The Tribune asked him if he was pleased with his budget allocation. “You always want more, you always wish you can have everything. But the fact of the matter and reality is these are the times that we’re living in and as government we say that and we preach that we have to get our fiscal house in order. “If you look all around us and see and compare us
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to other nations and see what is going on throughout this region you will clearly understand the position that we all find ourselves in and it cannot be a free for all any more. “We cannot continue to practice the same fiscal strategies that previous governments have been doing in the past and you see that throughout this region. There are a lot of lessons now to be learnt because many nations now are feeling the full brunt of poor fiscal management and so we’re a government of transparency and we are going to put out there for the Bahamian public to see where we are and where it is that we need to go.” He continued: “I liken it to a house. You have a home the Bahamian people have entrusted you to manage and unfortunately when we took over that house was in total disrepair and destroyed to the foundation. “We have a responsibly to rebuild that house, to rebuild the trust of the Bahamian people (and) to get our economy in shape. It’s not an easy task it’s a difficult task. We have to be meticulous. We have to be responsible. We have to regain the trust of the
Bahamian people (and) we have to regain the trust of our neighbours and those nations that we engage in confidence with. This is not easy. “But one thing I will assure you that it is getting better and all of the indicators are pointing to that. Yes, we all wish that someone could wave a magic wand and we will have feasting almost immediately, but unfortunately that’s not the way that economies work.” Mr Dames said there are a lot of things he could not do this year due to budgetary constraints, but did not say what they were. “There are a lot of things that I hope I could do but then again we will have to work with what we can until we can do better. “From our ministry’s perspective all signs indicate that we are certainly trending in the right direction and we will show that come budget time, but these are the times that we are living in. “We have to exercise restraint. We have to be responsible. We promised the Bahamian people prior to coming into office that we would be and we have to do it until we can do better and so its incrementally little piece at a time.”
HOSPITALS NEED MORE PHARMACISTS By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net
THE PUBLIC Hospitals Authority will need 13 more pharmacists before existing staff can stop working extra shifts, according to Deputy Director Lyrone Burrows. The deficit was further exacerbated in March when six Cuban pharmacists were withdrawn near the end of their contracts due to relicencing issues raised by the Pharmacy Council. “Licencing is an issue that has been going on for sometime between the PHA and the Pharmacy Council,” Mr Burrows said. “I think there was some
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Smith, Francisco Nunez, Joseph Darville, Kirkland Bodie and Romauld Ferreira that asked the IACHR to request that the Bahamas government adopt precautionary measures to prevent irreparable harm to their lives. The IACHR found that the five members of Save The Bays were in “a serious and urgent situation since their lives and personal integrity face an imminent risk of irreparable harm”. The precautionary measures urged the Bahamas government to adopt the necessary measures to protect their lives and those of their families, to ensure the five men could pursue their work as human rights defenders without being subject to threats, harassment or intimidation, to agree with the petitioners on the measures to be adopted and to report on investigative actions taken within a 20-day period.
Dames: Budget cut but things are getting better By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net
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hearing before the IACHR in Jamaica on the treatment of migrants in the Bahamas. “Members of our delegation to that hearing have been vilified and threatened by members of the public with everything from violence to deportation to prosecution for treason, yet the government has remained silent. Nothing has been said or done to affirm or support activists’ right to do their work unmolested.” Rights Bahamas stated it will continue to report to the commission “any and all threats against human rights defenders” in the Bahamas. At the time of the initial complaints, Rights Bahamas was known as the Grand Bahama Human Rights Association (GBHRA). In 2016, the GBHRA submitted a petition on behalf of Fred
concerns related to whether the requirements of the facilities from which these Cuban pharmacists would have graduated from, whether they met all of the criteria.” “That had been an ongoing matter, it kinda reached its pinnacle around the time their contracts were expiring. But we were able to resolve it with a further one year extension and additional criteria for any further engagement of Cuban pharmacists.” The significant staff reduction forced temporary operation hours that required all discharge orders be sent to the pharmacy before 2pm
to be processed that day, according to a Princess Margaret Hospital minute paper obtained by The Tribune. The Cuban pharmacists were disengaged for several weeks before it was resolved, according to Mr Burrows, when the pharmacists were granted a one-year extension. Mr Burrows said: “There is a substantial deficit of local pharmacists to meet public demand. It requires us to look abroad to reduce that deficit. The key now is we have the one-year extension, and any new pharmacist coming in would have to meet the specific requirements made by the council.”
THE TRIBUNE
Wednesday, June 5, 2019, PAGE 11
How Kodi Lee shattered stereotypes about disability By STAN LINK Associate Professor of the Composition, Philosophy and Analysis of Music, Vanderbilt University IF you haven’t seen Kodi Lee’s May 28 performance on America’s Got Talent, it’s worth a watch. The 22-year-old Lee is blind and has autism. His rendition of Leon Russell’s A Song for You brought the crowd to its feet – and thrilled viewers at home. “Loved this moment so much! Stood up and cheered in my living room!” Oprah tweeted. Much of the media coverage portrayed Lee as someone who, in developing his musical ability to such a high level, overcame all odds – a common though sometimes troublesome trope used to describe people with disabilities who achieve any measure of success. Lee is certainly an exciting talent. But as someone who teaches a course on the intersection of disability and music, I was moved by other aspects of Lee’s performance as well. Lee stunned the judges during his May 28 performance on America’s Got Talent. One challenge for people with disabilities can be that others tend to conflate their disability with their personality and identity. Their disability becomes the defining aspect of who they are, which can prevent people from realising that those with disabilities can have rich interior lives. So listening to Lee sing
about love – mature, adult love – I heard a 22-year-old man whose voice and delivery brimmed with emotion and rang with authenticity. “I’ve been so many places in my life and time,” he begins. “We’re alone now and I’m singing this song to you,” he croons, evoking deep intimacy and connection. Infantilising and desexualising people with disabilities is still commonplace – as though physical or intellectual disability should necessarily exclude the
KODI LEE pictured performing on Amaerica’s Got Talent. Watch Kodi Lee perform at http://bit. ly/2Xslhor
ability to feel desire and the longing to be desired. Lee shatters these notions. To sing these lines believably means to have lived them or to have imagined their truth. Perhaps the most joyful aspect of Kodi Lee’s performance, however, is rooted in the dimension of time. Philosopher and disability theorist Licia Carlson has written that “the experience of disability may
be defined in negative terms when people fail to live according to what is considered to be normal time.” In other words, because many tasks can take longer for someone with a disability, keeping pace can feel like a constant struggle. This is where music can be such a beautifully transporting experience. It has its own time that’s not tied to that of the real world. With its tempo, rhythm
and dramatic pacing, music creates its own temporal universe. While listening to Lee perform, everyone in the audience was listening along at his speed, which, as the performer, he controlled. It was a rare opportunity for disabled and non-disabled to be fully present together, under the same umbrella of time and space. Finally, I think it’s important to return to the title of the show: America’s Got Talent.
After the Industrial Revolution, the ability to contribute labor and earn a pay cheque became defining features of what it meant to be American. If being a “true” American traditionally implied independence and autonomy, this one element of national identity alone could be enough to stigmatize people with disabilities. Kodi Lee belted out an overwhelming assurance – as if it should have ever been needed – that a blind
PAGE 12, Wednesday, June 5, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
Biden’s $5tn climate plan By BILL BARROW Associated Press DEMOCRATIC presidential candidate Joe Biden is pitching a $5tn-plus climate proposal that he says would lead the US to net zero emission of carbon pollution by 2050. The former vice president calls for $1.7tn in federal spending over ten years, with the rest of the investments coming from the private sector. Biden proposes covering the taxpayer costs by repealing the corporate tax cuts that President Donald Trump signed in 2017, while eliminating existing subsidies to the fossil fuel companies. Biden’s plan — a mix of tax incentives, federal spending, new regulation and more aggressive foreign policy on climate issues — comes as he pushes back on rivals’ assertions that his environmental agenda isn’t bold enough. Climate activists largely praised his pitch Tuesday, although some said the Democrats’ 2020 front-runner still hasn’t gone far enough to challenge the fossil fuel industry. His proposal calls the Green New Deal pushed by some Democrats on Capitol Hill “a crucial outline” but stops short of some of its timelines for weaning the US economy off power from fossil fuels, even as he promises a “clean energy revolution” nationwide and internationally. “I will lead America and the world, not only to confront the crisis in front us but to seize the opportunity it presents,” Biden says in a campaign video posted online, warning that failure to act threatens “the livability of our planet” and will accelerate natural disasters that are “already happening.” Biden also joined many of his Democratic primary opponents in pledging not to accept campaign contributions from the fossil fuel industry and promising to keep the US in the United Nations climate agreement signed in 2015
MELBOURNE, Australia Associated Press
FORMER vice president and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden at a campaign event yesterday. Photo: Elise Amendola/AP while he was vice president under contrasts, saying at a Michigan “a good start”. Prakash also gave President Barack Obama. Trump, campaign stop that Biden’s “pro- climate activists credit for pushing who calls climate science a “hoax,” posals really lack teeth and they Biden to the left following their has pledged to withdraw from that lack ambition that is necessary outcry after a recent news report to defeat the climate crisis.” He asserted Biden was looking for a accord. But the release of Biden’s plan added, “We don’t have 30 years to “middle ground” on climate. Biden was not without controversy. The get this job done. We’ve got to start disputed the report at the time. campaign was forced to amend acting now.” As president, Biden says he’d League of Conservation Voters start by reversing many actions of the proposal because a handful of passages did not credit some of its lobbying executive Tiernan Sit- the Trump administration, then sources. The Biden campaign said tenfeld was more complimentary, turn to necessary congressional “several citations” had been “inad- applauding Biden for “committing action and executive branch reguto ambitious goals”. Greenpeace, lation, while using US political and vertently left out”. Biden’s plan is similar in size and which recently released a scorecard economic muscle to limit emissions scope to what former Texas Rep. ranking Biden second to last among from other nations. Beto O’Rourke has proposed. Its Democratic candidates, called the He acknowledges that such an total price tag falls short of Wash- outline “a critical step forward”, overhaul would affect existing US ington Gov Jay Inslee’s pitch for but spokesman John Noel added energy workers — coal miners and $3tn in federal spending over a that if Biden “wants to become a power plant operators especially. decade and Massachusetts Sen. leader on climate, he needs to out- He calls first for pension and benElizabeth Warren’s $2tn green line a plan to phase out fossil fuels”. efit protections for all such workers At the pro-Green New Deal Sun- and promises an “unprecedented manufacturing plan, also unveiled rise Movement, executive director investment” in retraining and redeTuesday. Inslee took advantage of the Varshini Prakash called Biden’s plan velopment in those communities.
TRUMP FLATTERS MAY, BUT PUTS NHS DEAL ON TABLE LONDON Associated Press MAKING nice at the end, President Donald Trump eased up Tuesday on his frequent criticisms of outgoing British Prime Minister Theresa May over her handling of the tortured Brexit deal, declaring that history will remember her fondly if the United Kingdom can successfully leave the European Union. The latest chapter in the allies’ storied “special relationship” played out as anti-Trump protesters — with the infamous Trump baby balloon bobbing overhead — thronged the streets of nearby central London. The president’s unexpected compliments for May come just days before she was set to resign the leadership of her party after failing to secure a Brexit deal. She will depart as prime minister once her successor has been chosen. “I have greatly enjoyed working with you. You are a tremendous professional and a person who loves her country very much,” Trump told May at a news conference near the prime minister’s Downing Street office. But he couldn’t resist a slight dig, evoking the two years of broadsides he had lobbed at her
GUNMAN OUT ON PAROLE KILLS FOUR IN AUSTRALIA
BRITAIN’s Prime Minister Theresa May greets President Donald Trump outside 10 Downing Street in London yesterday. Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP by recalling that he had urged her to sue the EU rather than try to negotiate a departure. Trump said he would have “sued and settled, maybe, but you never know. She’s probably a better negotiator than I am.” And he added that the deal May came away with was a good one and “perhaps you won’t be given the credit you deserve.” May voiced hope her successor
will be able to achieve Brexit. “I still believe — I personally believe — that it is in the best interest of the UK to leave the European Union with a deal. I believe there is a good deal on the table,” she said. “Obviously, it will be whoever succeeds me as prime minister to take this issue forward. What is paramount, I believe, is delivering on Brexit for the British people.”
Earlier in the day, Trump jokingly suggested that May “stick around” until a new US-UK trade deal was brokered. May and her aides chuckled at that. Trump said Britain and the US would be able to strike a “phenomenal trade deal” once the UK had left the EU — music to the ears of pro-Brexit Britons. But, in words sure to alarm those in Britain concerned about Brexit, he said that “everything”— including the National Health Service — would be “on the table” in future trade negotiations. In a later interview that will air today on ITV’s “Good Morning Britain”, Trump appeared to back away from that idea, saying he didn’t envision the health service being part of the talks, adding, “That’s not trade.” Most Britons are protective of the state-run NHS, which delivers free health care to all, and many worry that private US health care firms could try to gain access to chunks of it as a condition of a trade deal. On a separate issue, Trump said he anticipated “no limitations” on the future sharing of intelligence with the UK as the US continues to press its longtime ally to ban Chinese company Huawei amid espionage and trade concerns.
A MAN who was out on parole was arrested after fatally shooting four men and wounding a woman in an hour-long downtown rampage on Tuesday in the northern Australian city of Darwin, police said. Police did not reveal a motive for the shotgun attack, but ruled out terrorism. It was Australia’s third mass shooting since the country introduced tough gun laws in response to a 1996 massacre in which a lone gunman armed with two semi-automatic assault rifles killed 35 people in Tasmania state. Mass shootings are usually defined as those resulting in at least four deaths excluding the shooter. In Tuesday’s rampage, four men were killed and a woman was wounded at five places around Darwin, said Northern Territory Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw. The 45-year-old suspect was released from prison on parole in January and was wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet, Kershaw said. Police did not say why he had been in prison or whether the bracelet helped police arrest him.
PARKLAND DEPUTY IS CHARGED MIAMI Associated Press THE Florida deputy who knew a gunman was loose at the Parkland high school but refused to go inside to confront the assailant was arrested Tuesday on 11 criminal charges related to his inaction during the massacre that killed 17 people. Scot Peterson was on duty as the resource officer at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School during the February 2018 shooting but never entered the building while bullets were flying. He was charged with child neglect, culpable negligence and perjury — allegations that carry a potential maximum prison sentence of nearly 100 years. In the weeks after the attack, Peterson was seen on surveillance video rushing with two staff members toward the building where the shooting happened. When they arrived, Peterson pulled his weapon and went forward but then retreated and took up a position outside, where he stood with his gun drawn. The charges follow a 14-month investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.