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Volume: 118 No.136, June 11, 2021

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‘HOUSING PLAN JUST ISN’T FAIR’

Turnquest’s challenge to PM’s pet project on affordable homes FORMER Minister of Finance Peter Turnquest has criticised Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis’ housing programme for western New Providence, calling the legislation to facilitate it “inherently discriminatory” and open to a court challenge.

The East Grand Bahama MP said the Access to Affordable Homes (Amendment) Bill, 2021 would create concessions for one group of people to the “ultimate exclusion” of others who have equal barriers to homeownership. He urged the government to reconsider the initiative.

“This bill is extremely

worrisome to me as it is inherently discriminatory on many fronts, though well intentioned,” Mr Turnquest said during the budget debate in the House of Assembly yesterday.

“Every citizen of The Bahamas is an equal taxpayer and has an inalienable right to enjoy equal benefits provided by the state. This bill, however, seeks to carve out benefits for a specific group to the ultimate exclusion of other groups equally as disenfranchised when it comes to the affordability of land and construction.

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Minnis administration, which came to power promising to right-size the civil service after the Christie administration hired scores of people, has made at least 2,402 people permanent members of the civil

service and has promoted more than 1,600 people throughout government since taking office.

During his contribution to the budget debate yesterday, Public Service Minister Brensil Rolle also revealed that despite the fiscal woes caused by COVID-19, in SEE PAGE THREE

DISAPPOINTED WITH GOVT OVER MARIJUANA BILL

SEE PAGE EIGHT

FAMILY INSIST ADRIANA IS HERE

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

DESPITE a belief from immigration officials that a missing Cuban woman drowned at sea after the boat she was on capsized, a relative of the migrant says the family has reason to believe she is still alive and being held at a local immigration facility.

SEE PAGE FIVE

SEE PAGE THREE

CUT PUBLIC SECTOR? ER, ACTUALLY WE HIRED 2,400

A COMIC’S VIEW

A MODEL OF SUCCESS A SUCCESSFUL photo shoot in The Bahamas with local models, commissioned by a Jamaican artist, has inspired the Choice Model Management agency to expand its operations from all major US cities into Nassau and the Caribbean region. See today’s Weekend section for more.

PORT AUTH. IS ‘ALL TAKE AND NO GIVE’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE Grand Bahama Port Authority-commissioned report on Freeport’s revival is “all take and no give” and is “highly unlikely” to be supported by the Government, an attorney blasted yesterday.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

‘EMERGENCY ONLY’ AT OVERCR0WDED SHELTER DIANE PHILLIPS

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Humane Society is pleading with the public not to surrender animals this month unless it is an “emergency situation” as the shelter is overwhelmed with animals and has no more space available.

The shelter is also calling on people to spay and neuter their animals to deal with overpopulation and abandoned pets.

A CROWDED puppy shelter at the Bahamas Humane Society.

In a Facebook post, BHS asked people “who are considering surrendering their cats or dogs to keep their pets a little longer.”

“We are swamped with animals and do not have space for any more animals right now,” the post said.

“We anticipate being full for most of the month of June. We can help you by providing food and emergency medical aid, and can put you on a priority list for when there is space.

Perhaps we can help and guide you so that you may decide not to give up your pet.”

SEE PAGE TWO

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

THERE WAS NO ONE QUITE LIKE SYLVIA MUNRO

SEE PAGE NINE

PAGE 2, Friday, June 11, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

‘EMERGENCY ONLY’ AT OVERCR0WDED SHELTER

THE BAHAMAS Humane Society is crowded with puppies and, below, kittens.

Photos: Donovan McIntosh/Tribune Staff from page one When contacted about the issue yesterday, BHS general manager Percy Grant told The Tribune the shelter can “comfortably” house about 300 animals, however the facility is about 200 animals over capacity.

“At this moment, we are sort of beyond capacity right now,” Mr Grant said.

“We just need to get some dogs cleared out so we can comfortably fit more in.

“By the end of June we should be okay but we’re asking the public not to bring any animals in unless it’s an absolute dire strait or an emergency situation and not just regular dogs they don’t want.”

He said the shelter has seen an influx of surrendered animals due to financial hardship and stress brought on by the COVID19 pandemic.

“This year has been horrible since COVID and I think people have been becoming stressed. People can’t afford to (care for their animals).

“We have a day where people come in and they get dog food from us. We share it out as much as we can and to make sure everybody gets something to eat.

So we are doing our best to stay afloat.”

On Sunday, there was an airlift where animals were sent off to Canada to be adopted. There is another airlift at the end of June which Mr Grant stated should give BHS enough room.

He admitted adoptions have decreased locally because of COVID, but was optimistic people would start adopting again.

“Again like I said, because of the constraints of the COVID pandemic, a very small percentage

of people are coming in – very small percentage. We’re hoping as more people get vaccinated and people feel more safe and relaxed I think (they) would come back and start adopting animals again,” he explained.

“Adoption has not been good. It’s very, you know, scanty. It’s been up and down, you know, but it’s not as good as in previous years.”

Mr Grant also highlighted a programme going on right now in conjunction with BAARK every other Sunday that provides spay and neuter services to those who cannot afford it.

Those who are interested should call 427-7729 to schedule an appointment.

Last August, BHS was at full capacity with over 400 animals in the shelter and appeals were made for donations of food and cash.

BHS is a no-kill shelter.

THE TRIBUNE

‘Housing plan just isn’t fair’ from page one “Leaving the fact that the bill is Nassau-centric in its design, the bill proposes to use taxpayer money to grant concessions to one group over another. I’m not sure how we make up the revenue foregone, but what if a young professional is unlucky in receiving one of these lots? Why should they be penalised in the compounding of insult to injury of having to pay full price for their own lots as well as full customs duty for the construction of a home, as well as property taxes, while across the fence their friend and neighbour is fully exempted? Why should I or you be held to a different standard in equal circumstances?

“Again, I get the laudable intent but in my mind this bill goes against the principle of fairness and equal treatment under the law and invites a court challenge. I recommend finding another way.”

Earlier this year, Dr Minnis revealed a planned housing programme geared towards young professionals will include certain

exemptions such as waived customs duty on building materials and appliances and real property tax exemption for up to two years after the homes have been constructed.

The proposed development in western New Providence will allow people between the ages of 18 and 45 to buy lots for about $50,000. However, the lots will be worth $150,000 once the necessary infrastructure is installed.

Yesterday, Mr Turnquest also urged the Minnis administration to make “hard decisions” regarding the viability of state-owned enterprises which have been a “drain” on the central government’s resources.

“We just cannot continue to support these entities with taxpayer dollars and make believe that they will not cause a ballooning in the national debt that will eventually come crashing down around our feet,” Mr Turnquest said.

“The current models are not sustainable and must be fixed sooner rather than later. Overall, the planned increase in expenditure of $252m must be managed extremely carefully and a

tight rein kept to ensure these expenditures do not get too far ahead of planned revenue otherwise a serious cash flow crisis can develop requiring emergency borrowing, which will not be optimal.”

Speaking on the City of Nassau Revitalization (Amendment) Bill, 2021, Mr Turnquest said the current legislation has yet to produce a tangible solution for revamping Bay Street, particularly east of East Street.

“I remind us of the definition of insanity. Truthfully, without an incentive and a concession tied to an action, nothing will happen seemingly and these properties will be passed from generation to generation in their current condition.

“I propose for consideration a carrot and stick approach. Grant the extension of the concessions for one year, two years max if you feel pressed. . .and if development happens extend it for the full five years on application.

If it does not happen in a year or two, the concession should fall away and the full tax become due retroactive to July 1, 2021.

“With New Providence

responsible for approximately 85 percent of GDP today, how do we continue to afford to give these concessions without economic activity to compensate for it?”

He also lamented the pace of restoration efforts in his constituency postHurricane Dorian, a point he has raised in the House of Assembly before.

“I remain disappointed that the DRA has not followed through on its commitment to provide temporary dome homes to residents in the affected area in need of accommodation. I understand the challenges but when one considers the costs allocated to continued debris management, to administration of the programme, the cost to erect and provide 40 resident families with some accommodation is insignificant. I do not accept the present situation and regret that I am forced to mention it again.”

He called for the removal of derelict vehicles and also said no attention has been

NIB PAID OUT $263M BENEFITS

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE National Insurance Board paid out $263.6m in employment benefit and assistance between August 25, 2019 to May 18, 2021, according to Public Service Minister with responsibility for NIB Brensil Rolle.

Mr Rolle also revealed during his contribution to the budget debate yesterday that the government is starting a project to upgrade NIB cards so money can be sent directly to people’s accounts and accessed with the cards. Mr Rolle said the challenge of getting money to people on islands and cays struck by hurricanes illustrated the need for such a move.

“In collaboration with the Ministry of Finance for example, we’re talking to them about (the) sand dollar, applying funds to your card,” he said. “Very shortly it is our view, and our wish and our desire that there is going to come a day very, very shortly when you don’t have to go to NIB or go to the Sports Centre to pick up a cheque.

We gonna send the money directly to your card and you determine exactly how you gonna spend it.

“Imagine how when we complete this card, how

BRENSIL Rolle outside Cabinet.

Photo: Donovan McIntosh/Tribune Staff that’s going to impact the ability to do it, they’re lives of ordinary Bahami- working on it and they will ans who need funds and deliver for the government are not within reach of an of The Bahamas.”

NIB office, or they’re in He said $15.6m was paid crisis, or they’re on the to Hurricane Dorian surFamily Islands. This con- vivors, benefiting 4,392 cept is revolutionary, but people. Sixteen million I’ve been assured that the was paid through the selfleadership of NIB has the employed government

funded unemployment assistance programme, benefiting 7,261 people. One hundred and thirty-four million was made through the government funded unemployment extension programme, benefiting 34,069 people. The National Insurance Unemployment benefit paid out $97.4m, benefiting 39,652 people.

Mr Rolle said despite historic challenges, “NIB stood the test of time.”

Nonetheless, Mr Rolle called on business owners and self-employed people to make their contributions.

“Those individuals who collect people’s National Insurance, deduct it out of their salaries but don’t immediately put it into National Insurance, that’s not right, that’s illegal, that’s criminal. “For those of you who don’t know, every single person in National Insurance now, every person who is working, has the ability to call National Insurance and see whether a contribution was made on their behalf.

“They can check and before now many did not check because they thought it was paid...and they find out later on that the boss didn’t put my money in and they call NIB and NIB say, ‘we don’t have any contributions on your behalf.’”

$140M STILL OWED IN STUDENT LOANS

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

MORE than $140m is still owed to the Education Loan Authority for its student loan programme, according to chairwoman Miriam Emmanuel.

Giving her contribution to the 2021/22 budget debate in the House of Assembly yesterday, Mrs Emmanuel noted that when she first joined the agency in 2018, she found that more than $150m was owed in loan payments by students.

However, since then, she said the agency has made considerable strides to decrease that amount, with the current outstanding loan balance now standing at some $142m.

The MICAL MP told Parliament: “At the beginning of my tenure in January 2018, the entire loan scheme stood at 4,426 loans which include two

portfolios managed by the BOB, the combined value at the time being $152,092,274. During the June 2020 budget communication, the authority’s outstanding balance stood at $129,933,372 which accounted only for the two portfolios under the authority management at that time.

“The complete turnover by the Bank of the Bahamas was finalised in December 2020 with the closing of all individual saving accounts. As of January 2021, the authority now manages four loan portfolios with 3,496 loans valuing $142,330,422.

“Mr Deputy, for the period of January 2021 to March 2021, the authority has 132 persons that have upgraded to current status.

This leaves our delinquent files to 3,364.”

She also said the ELA continues to make progress in its debt recovery

initiatives, pointing to the government’s student loan repayment incentive programme.

“The incentive programme implemented in 2016 remains active and has proven beneficial to loan holders. To date, 657 persons have taken advantage of this programme,” Mrs Emmanuel continued.

“The incentive programme has a total collection of $3,684,990 since its launch in 2016.

Mr Deputy, this valued programme gives loan holders reasonable options for repayment including a 60 percent discount on the total balance all interest fees waived etc receiving a 60 percent discount on the principal balance once a one-time payoff is feasible.”

She added: “Mr Deputy, during my mid-term budget communication, I mentioned that we were working towards obtaining the service of two

collection agencies to assist in our debt recovery efforts.

Today, I am elated to report that although the work was tedious, the contracts were signed in April of this year and the agency presently has the charge of the combined collection of 2,677 loans.

“This accomplishment is attributed to the hardworking board of directors, the staff of the Education Loan Authority. We are now working with the Bahamian agency in our collection initiatives. Mr Deputy, despite COVID’s impact, she added the agency continues to be able to meet its financial commitments.

“The government of the Bahamas guarantees the payment of the authority’s bond interest payment. I am proud to report that we were able to once again meet these payments in August 2020 and February 2021, which totaled $2,618,934.”

Friday, June 11, 2021, PAGE 3

paid to the dock at Sweeting’s Cay or Water Cay, adding he has been “begging” for a replacement seawall in High Rock.

Mr Turnquest, who is not running for re-election,

ended his speech by thanking former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham for giving him the initial opportunity to be the Free National Movement’s standard bearer in 2012.

CUT PUBLIC SECTOR? ER, ACTUALLY WE HIRED 2,400

from page one

June and July the government will retroactively pay public officers money consistent with the increments, reclassification and salary advances they did not receive last year because of the pandemic.

“We’re gonna pay them and we’re gonna make their pay retroactive to the date that they were supposed to be promoted,” he said.

Mr Rolle said of the hires under the Minnis administration, 600 were part-time workers who didn’t have status and are now fully employed. Seven hundred of them are people such as those who work in the Ministry of Education as teacher’s aides and security officers – all those persons who perform those essential services,” Mr Rolle said.

One thousand one hundred and two of them are people who were a part of the National Job Creation and Skills Enhancement Programme, also known as the 52-week programme.

Although the programme was established to provide unemployed people between 19 and 30 with hands-on skills to enhance their ability to find gainful employment, the government has decided to permanently hire the people. The programme began in 2018 and was renewed the following year.

The 1,102 people who now join the ranks of the civil service include 81 in Abaco, 31 in Acklins, 17 in Central Andros, 15 in Mangrove Cay, 87 in North Andros, 15 in South Andros, six in the Berry Islands, eight in Bimini, 27 in Cat Island, 14 in Crooked Island, 14 in Central Eleuthera, 25 in North Eleuthera, 46 in South Eleuthera, 18 in Exuma, 139 in Grand Bahama, 24 in Inagua, 38 in Long Island, 17 in Mayaguana, seven in San Salvador and 461 in New Providence.

When the Minnis administration came to office, it attacked the hiring practices of the previous Christie administration. A Department of Statistics Labour Force survey released in 2018, estimated that up to November 2017, 2,500 people were let go by the Minnis administration.

Mr Rolle has previously rejected this figure and did so again yesterday.

In 2019, Mr Rolle told The Tribune that the government rehired a larger number of the people who were engaged from 2012 to 2017 and subsequently let go under the Minnis administration.

After vowing to right-size the civil service upon taking office, Mr Rolle yesterday praised the many hires of the Minnis administration, saying the hires demonstrates his government’s record for building capacity.

“It shows that we continue to invest in human beings because that’s how we build a country, that’s how countries exist,” he said.

Mr Rolle said between June 2017 and December 2020, 1,600 people have been promoted in the government system.

“We hired hundreds of individuals, now we are promoting them in the system,” he said.

He added that the number does not include 471 pending matters for the Department of Immigration, 278 matters for the Customs Department, the largest promotions exercise ever for the Department of Corrections and some 300 people who will be promoted at the Ministry of Public Works.

“I said to (Minister of Works Desmond Bannister) privately, man, it look like you promoting every single person in the Ministry of Works. I told my staff who has responsibility for the Ministry of Works, please don’t bring me no more Ministry of Works things because every day you bringing me something from the Ministry of Works about promotion. But it speaks to two facts. One, that for a long time we’ve ignored some of the ministries and departments and the DPM has made a carefully considered position and he has bought into the argument that these persons who are performing should be promoted.”

Mr Rolle said the administration wants to ensure that workers have the “capacity to earn a pension like everybody else.”

“Notwithstanding these difficult times, we are promoting hundreds of people,” he said.

The International Monetary Fund has repeatedly encouraged the government to slash its civil service wage bill.

PAGE 4, Friday, June 11, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

‘Hopeful’ that Junkanoo will have parade this year

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

THE chairman of the Junkanoo Corporation New Providence is “optimistic” and “hopeful” the cultural community will be able to hold “some sort of parade” this year.

Dion Miller said no official decision has been made, however.

“In terms of Boxing Day and the New Year’s Day parade, no official decision has been made if the parade will be held this

year,” Mr Miller told The Tribune.

“The focus right now is on containing the COVID virus and so right now we’re focusing on making sure that our members and the community vaccinate as much as possible so that when the decision is made we can begin those plans.”

“As I said the country has been trending in the right direction… in terms of the amount of persons that are vaccinated. So I’m optimistic and I’m hopeful that with continued progress in

regards to the pandemic that we will be able to hold some sort of parade.”

Junkanoo parades for the 2020/2021 season were scrapped due to COVID19, but Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis previously suggested in March the possibility of having Independence Day and Junkanoo celebrations later this year.

The JCNP chairman explained the push for vaccinations has been going “as best” as it can.

“You know the JCNP (has) not mandated that

TOTAL CASES

TOTAL DEATHS

NEWLY CONFIRMED CASES WEDNESDAY 40 CASES

RECENTLY CONFIRMED DEATHS

persons have to be vaccinated to partake in Junkanoo. We encourage persons to do what’s best for themselves. We have a lot of executives and a lot of members that are vaccinated.”

Asked what type of restrictions would be in place if there were a parade this year, he noted: “So there are several different plans that we have in place in regards to the year. So first and foremost, we’ll have to revise the law that governs the parades to make certain amendments

because the financial and other elements will be challenging this year. We have to put a plan in place to ensure the safety of the public as well as our participants as well. So it may be different than years past,” he said.

The Valley Boys resigned from the JCNP last year saying they will no longer participate in upcoming parades managed by the body. News of their resignation came after the Saxon Superstars were crowned the official winners of the Boxing

Day and New Year’s Day parades while Valley Boys took second place in both events.

Mr Miller noted he was in talks with the Valley Boys chairman, but he did not go into detail about the conversation.

He revealed: “I could say that the chairman of the Valley Boys organisation and the chairman of the JCNP have been in constant talks over the various past months and I would just leave that right there. I won’t disclose those conversations at this time.”

12,092 236 NEW PROVIDENCE 29 GRAND BAHAMA 10 ABACO 1

• 72-YEAR-OLD WOMAN FROM NEW PROVIDENCE ON JUNE 5.

• 45-YEAR-OLD WOMAN FROM NEW PROVIDENCE ON JUNE 6.

THE STRAW market prior to its closure due to the pandemic.

TALKS HELD ON REOPENING 101,084 40 4 11,081 STRAW MARKET TWO MORE DEATHS CONFIRMED TOTAL TESTS

HOSPITALISED

By TANYA SMITH-CARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@tribunemedia.net TWO more COVID-19 deaths have been recorded, pushing the toll to 236.

The Ministry of Health said the latest victims are a 72-year-old New Providence woman, who died on June 5, and a 45-year-old New Providence woman who died on June 6.

Meanwhile 40 cases have been added to the country’s overall infections.Twentynine of those infections are in New Providence, 10 are in Grand Bahama and one is in Abaco.

However, health officials said that the total number of newly confirmed cases does not represent the number of confirmed cases for the past 24–48 hours.

Instead this number also takes into account seven additional unreported cases between March 25 and May 10.

In terms of gender, 22 of the new cases are females and 18 are males.

Just this week, Minister of Health Renward Wells expressed concern about the number of those who are hospitalised with the virus.

As of June 9, 40 people were in hospital with 12 of them at Doctors Hospital,

CASES IN ICU

RECOVERED

three at South Beach Acute Care and Referral Centre, 21 at Princess Margaret Hospital, two at Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre and two at the Grand Bahama Health Services. Four of those people are in the intensive care unit of Doctors Hospital.

There are 28 deaths being investigated.

Out of the 40 new cases, only four people have had a history of recent travel – three from New Providence and one from Abaco.

The Bahamas has had 11,081 people who have recovered from COVID-19 with some 101,084 tests for COVID completed to date.

In total The Bahamas has had 12,092 cases of COVID and currently 692 of them are active.

Health officials are hoping that the number of cases drop so that the country can return to some level of normalcy.

Inoculations, they say, can play a major role in lessening the numbers.

As of June 5, 62,183 AstraZeneca doses had been given to residents of The Bahamas. Of this figure, 48,434 have received one dose. Meanwhile 13,749 people have had two shots, meaning they are fully vaccinated. This represents roughly four percent of the country’s population.

By TANYA SMITHCARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net

WHILE there is still no date for the opening of the Straw Market, the association representing vendors has confirmed preliminary talks with the Straw Market Authority on health protocols for reopening have started.

However, Straw Market Association president, Rev Esther Thompson said opening the market has to be mutually agreed upon in order for both the Market Authority and the vendors to be satisfied.

The market has been closed since the start of the pandemic in March last year. Since then, vendors have expressed publicly that they cannot pay their bills and their lives have changed drastically.

Recently, the tourist

attraction received a noticeable facelift having been painted with bright neon colours. Along with that, the Market Authority has also given notice to the vendors who owed a backlog of rental fees for their stalls. Those vendors will not be returning when the market reopens.

“We don’t have an opening date as yet,” Rev Thompson said yesterday.

“We are having a conversation about dealing with the health side of things now. They (Straw Market Authority) don’t want all of the vendors to return so we are trying to work with them to see if we can get all the vendors to return one time.

“Judging from what we see so far, I don’t feel we will have an issue because a lot of vendors have been put out from the rent issue.

So we should have enough space in there to accommodate all those who are left.

They should have a good amount of vacant stalls so those who are there could be spread out.”

Asked if she was excited about the ship that has been in harbour this week, the association president said no, and offered an explanation as to why.

“No,” she said about optimism on the ship being in the harbour. “Those ships that are coming now, we must remember they are coming to ‘home port’.

“That’s not our market.

Our market is cruise ships that come in to spend a day or however many hours.

That’s our market. That is not happening as yet.”

The home porting to which Rev Thompson referred is when a ship uses a port/marine terminal as its home, regardless of its port of registry. This allows passengers to begin or terminate a cruise in the home

port and positively impacts ground transportation and tours.

Cruise passengers may also fly into the island to board vessels.

“This means nothing to the straw vendors,” she continued. “Maybe it means something for the country and the taxi drivers and the hotels, but not the straw vendors.”

Having not worked for the past 15 months, Rev Thompson was asked how the straw vendors managed without income.

“They are not managing,” she said. “They are not managing at all, but what can we do? It’s simple, if that is their primary source of income taken away for over a year and the only assistance they get is the little $200 every two weeks from the government, that can tell you how rough it has been. They have mortgages, school fees and all that sort of stuff so they are in a dilemma.

“I don’t feel optimistic that the market will open soon. For us to want it to open it has to make sense to the vendors. Remember now once they open the market that’s rent the vendors will have to pay. If they are not making any money, then they are going out there to look to pay their bills. So when we decide to open the market, then we must agree that it has to make sense for the vendors.

“You cannot open the market just to say its opening. We are in talks now to try to accommodate the vendor. We don’t know as yet when we will open as they are now saying they have to go according to the health protocols. We are not that far in the conversation yet for us to even determine when we will open.”

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, June 11, 2021, PAGE 5

Family insist Adriana is here from page one Adriana Maria Caro, 22, was said to have been onboard a Cuban vessel that was intercepted by Cuban, Bahamian, Turks Island and US Coast Guard officials in early March.

According to court documents, for some “unknown reason” there was an accident on Cay Sal Bank and the boat exploded and sank.

It has been said that some 15 to 20 people died in the incident.

Immigration officials believe Mrs Caro was one of the victims who died in the incident.

However, family members have pushed back against this assertion.

In an interview with The Tribune yesterday, Illiana Perez, Mrs Caro’s cousin and adopted mother, claimed there were two women held at the facility who saw her at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre (CRDC) and are willing to testify to that fact.

The relative also claimed her cousin’s whereabouts were confirmed by a nurse who she said spoke to her shortly after the incident.

However, in an affidavit filed this week, officer-incharge of the CRDC Peter Joseph said he believed Mrs Caro died along with the others onboard the ill-fated vessel.

He explained that Mrs Caro was mistakenly identified for another female detainee who was in custody

in relation to a separate matter and added when officials tried to correct the error, their explanations were not accepted.

“The applicant was not being detained at the detention centre and was never in the detention centre custody... I verily believe that the applicant was one of the persons that perished on board the vessel,” the affidavit said.

Still, the relative insisted yesterday: “We know she’s alive because there’s two witnesses that saw her and was there with her…Two weeks after the accident, because I have called every day and I would call Princess Margaret Hospital and I got lucky that the nurse would answer the phone two weeks after the accident.

“She was nice enough and I was on the phone over two hours with the hospital and the nurse told me and I could hear she was going through the list of papers with the people that had come in and she went all the way to the day after the accident and she told me very nicely ‘your daughter was here.’”

Ms Perez spoke after a virtual hearing on the matter held before Justice Bernard Turner was adjourned yesterday.

Last month, Justice Turner granted the attorneys representing Mrs Caro leave to issue a writ of habeas corpus against Immigration Minister Elsworth Johnson, Immigration Director Clarence

Russell and Mr Joseph, who are the respondents in the matter.

The hearing continued yesterday but was adjourned after Justice Turner gave the attorneys until June 21 to file additional evidence needed to proceed with the case.

This came after Fred Smith, QC, who represents Mrs Caro, took issue with the affidavit filed by Mr Joseph, noting that most of its content to be hearsay and not based on actual experience.

He also asked for a return to be filed by Mr Johnson and Mr Russell, as they too have been listed as respondents and have been ordered to prove that they acted lawfully when they allegedly detained Mrs Caro.

In response, Raquel Whyms, who represents the respondents, said she would have them filed in two weeks.

Speaking after yesterday’s proceedings, Ms Perez said the family is anxious for the case to continue so they can get the answers that they are desperately searching for. She also said they fear for her life.

“I am more than anxious,” she told this newspaper. “...We want it to be solved and I fear for her. My daughter has a hot body, she’s a hot mama and there is a black market for prostitution in The Bahamas and that is my fear.”

The matter is expected to resume on June 24 at 10 am.

ADRIANA MARIA CARO, who is missing.

SHANTY RESIDENTS: ‘WE’LL STOP NEW CONSTRUCTION’

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

RELIEVED residents of an Abaco shanty town have vowed not to let outsiders construct new structures in The Farm following this week’s favourable Supreme Court judgement.

Justice Cheryl GrantThompson on Monday ordered that a standing injunction prohibiting the government from evicting shanty town residents and disconnecting services to their communities be extended to include all unregulated communities in Abaco.

She ordered the government cease and desist further interference with those communities until the judicial review of the matter is completed.

Officials must now get approval from the court before demolishing any further structures.

Although Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Works Desmond Bannister has criticised the ruling – which the Office of the Attorney General intends to appeal – The Farm residents are ecstatic, according to a community leader.

“The situation in Abaco is such that even if you have money, you can’t find a place to rent,” said the man, who asked to be identified as Jonathan Pierre.

“Where these folks are staying, they are out of the way, they are not in anybody’s way. The monies they got from the Red Cross, that’s what they used to stay in Abaco. We have a housing problem here. A one bedroom place is like $800.”

Before Justice GrantThompson’s ruling, the Ministry of Works began demolishing occupied structures in The Farm.

Mr Bannister insisted only structures built after Hurricane Dorian in 2019 were targeted for demolition.

Hoping to now gain favour with the government after this week’s ruling, residents are eager to ensure no additional structures are built in The Farm, Mr Pierre said.

“People are saying they’re not going to allow anybody else to build any

house in The Farm area anymore,” he said. “Right now they don’t have no place to build and they don’t want no one go down and make it worse for them.

If they find out people are building they will report those people so we’re just hoping that they don’t build anymore.”

Mr Pierre estimated that about 3,000 people are currently in The Farm. Those whose homes have already been demolished are living with relatives and friends in the community.

“This news of the ruling came at such a good time because folks didn’t know what they were going to do if more homes were destroyed,” he said.

“There’s no shelter, the government don’t provide nothing. What do they want people to do? They tell people go to Social Services; Social Services wasn’t doing nothing.”

The government sought to provide temporary shelter for people displaced

by Hurricane Dorian by building domes capable of housing up to 1,000 people.

Mr Pierre, however, said most of the people occupying domes are from Spring

City where the structures are located.

“The only persons who get those domes are Bahamians and you have to know somebody in the government to get those domes. I don’t think it’s four or five Haitians who get them,” he said.

Mr Pierre said the shanty town residents realise they still have much to fear given that the court case is not finished.

“I was telling them they should come together, get a lawyer, put their monies together and buy private property and do everything by the book and build on that property,” he said. “Just as they can find $12,000, $13,000 to build a house illegally, do it differently.”

In the meantime, he urged the Minnis administration to think of the social consequences of demolishing homes of people who are struggling financially.

“Even if they appeal the ruling, they don’t have a plan,” he said. “When you demolish these houses, where these people gon’ go? We have so much land sitting in Abaco doing nothing. Why not lease the land so money could go into the treasury?

“All of this is a political move. The government knows they did nothing for Abaco so they use the Haitians because they know

Bahamians will be happy.

That is to sway them for what they aren’t doing. A lot of people are still living in tents, still living in cars.

Some people were living in old houses. Now people are returning back home to fix their homes up. It’s hard out there.”

PAGE 6, Friday, June 11, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

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Turnquest’s turn to question Budget FIRST a former Health Minister, now a former Finance Minister has taken issue with the government’s plans in the Budget debate.

After Dr Duane Sands urged a realistic view of the nation’s finances if we’re going to face up to the debts we have to pay, Peter Turnquest – previously Deputy Prime Minister alongside his finance portfolio – took centre stage yesterday.

And just as with Dr Sands, he urged an approach that dealt with our situation – and wasn’t guided by “political expediency”.

It is good that such senior voices are being added to the debate – it’s just a shame that they speak so clearly as one and possibly both are leaving office.

Mr Turnquest raised a number of concerns – over new compliance measures, over tenants being left “on the hook” for the property tax debts of landlords, and more.

He also urged the creation of a service like the US Internal Revenue – which would collect taxes without fear or favour of which party someone might have connections with. After all, if we are used to seeing senior figures dodge paying what they owed, what does that do to our sense of civic duty to pay our own?

“We have to build that into our culture,” said Mr Turnquest. “It goes against political expediency and wanting to help people, but revenue management and collection has to be uppermost. It has to be all of this. The only way to get fairness and equity and collect what the state is owed.”

He’s right, of course. Some might say he could have done more about this when he was the minister, but he’s still right.

He also quite rightly raised concerns about Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis’ housing programme for western New Providence, calling it “inherently discriminatory” and open to a court challenge – and goodness knows this government seems to win few of those.

He asks why one person buying one of those lots would have to pay full price and full customs duty for construction while their neighbour was fully

exempted. There certainly seems an imbalance.

He also asked about the continued burden of state-owned enterprises swallowing up money.

We welcome such voices as Mr Turnquest’s being added to the Budget debate, especially in examining the areas in which we need to do better. It comes at a strange time, with the prospect of an election soon and political futures of a number of Parliamentarians in doubt.

This is the kind of examination that a Budget should get every time. We gain nothing by pretending everything is perfect, when plainly it is not. We have big hurdles ahead of us – and suggestions of ways to improve revenue collection or to patch holes in our Budget should be welcomed. That is how we move forward.

Promises, promises When the FNM campaigned for office in 2017, there was much talk of fiscal discipline. Goals included having entrepreneurs drive the economy, and creating an “efficient public sector” that was “essential to achieving optimal economic growth”.

One item promised to “progress public sector reform to create an efficient public service committed to improving the ease of doing business with the government”.

On coming into office, there was indeed a drive to reduce budgets for different departments and yet… now we have more workers in government than before.

The party has ended up swelling the numbers by 2,400 – with another 1,600 promoted since the FNM taking office.

There was much made of police promotions taking place just before the election last time, but with another election around the corner, those are the kind of numbers that make you wonder – especially with a promise to hire more young professionals too.

Were all these extra staff really what the FNM was promising? It certainly doesn’t seem to match up to their pledges.

Readers speak up READERS have been posting their views on the stories making the news on tribune242.com.

After North Eleuthera MP Rickey Mackey assured Spanish Wells residents that the Minnis administration will not let Crystal Cruises use the island as its port-of-call during its Bahamas cruise schedule if residents do not want it, DWW asked: “What’s wrong with Hatchet Bay or Gregory Town or JC or Deep Creek? I’d bet they would live to see the business. Spanish Wells and ‘Briland have strong economies which the cruise wants to leech off of. Meanwhile the areas where economic activity is needed are disregarded.”

That prompted this response from Clamshell: “I know what you mean, but I’m having trouble imagining hundreds of upscale cruise ship tourists wandering the pathways of Deep Creek or JC, wondering why they’re there and what they should do.”

• House Speaker Halson Moultrie accused the executive branch of government of disrespect while complaining about an “atheist” who works in the government.

ScubaSteve had this to say: “This is why it is

critical to have a clear separation of Church and State. The personal religious or non-religious beliefs of any member of the Government is completely irrelevant. What is more relevant is their education, character, prior success or failures at being a leader and government official, etc. Anytime someone uses religion or the lack of religion in this fashion (such as the Speaker of the House did) they come across as moving society and mankind ‘backwards’.

Haven’t we evolved as a species and society? Or, are we no different from prior generations going back thousands of years?”

Only for Raymfran to post this: “My fellow Bahamian, the constitution of The Bahamas says ‘a Christian Nation’, so you cannot

have a separation of Church and State.”

Which led to ScubaSteve saying: “In that case, there SHOULD be a clear separation of Church and State.”

• Health Minister Renward Wells said nurses who worked directly with COVID patients can expect “something” extra in their bank accounts perhaps as early as the end of June.

Bahamianson said: “Yeah, smart move to borrow to pay salaries. On the way? You mean it will come out just in time for elections.”

There was this from CoolCatBD: “Nurses should be paid first, they save lives.”

And in The Tribune’s online poll, we’re asking readers if they agree that sport fishing for blue marlin should be stopped.

At the time of going to press, the majority of those voting – 78 percent – thought it should be stopped.

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

Answer on flying of Pride flag EDITOR, The Tribune.

“IN THE beginning God created the heaven and the earth and all creatures on this earth, including man and woman and God saw that everything that He had created was very good, “ so says the Bible, the book by which many Christians live and on which we all swear when we take a solemn oath to tell the truth.

Earlier this month a letter writer to The Tribune expressed his horror – “flabbergasted” in fact was the word he used – on reading that our government had given the American Embassy permission to fly the LGBTQ flag on its property.

In fact, I do not think that the Americans would need permission from our government, as the land on which their Embassy stands is American.

And by flying this flag once a year their country was expressing the belief that every man, woman, and child — straight or gay — on this planet has equal rights and opportunities.

However, if as the letter writer says, be believes that all God’s creations are good

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net – because God Himself said they were good, then, do, pray tell, who created the homosexual (LGBTQ - lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer)?

I am sure that a good God, in whom the letter writer admits he believes, could not possibly condone anyone, including the letter writer, dismissing anyone of His creations and removing him/her from even being a member of the human race.

My friend, you cannot have it both ways. If you believe in God, and you believe what God said that all his Creation is good, then where did the LGBTQ come from if he was not created by God, and in God’s eyes is equally as good as the person who wrote the letter to The Tribune?

God created the homosexual and put him (her) on this Earth, not to be shunned and ridiculed by those who were born “straight”. These people

were created by God, and are different, not by their own choice, but by God’s decree - and so who is the letter writer to say that on one day a year a flag should not be flown to demonstrate that we are all God’s creatures — although some of us were born different, we are all of equal value in God’s eyes.

In my opinion all God’s creation was for a purpose — and that was not for one group to be ridiculed by those who consider themselves “straight” – because in God’s creation they are all of equal value.

So, when this letter writer goes to his church, he should ponder on God’s creation, which God Himself said was good – not part of it, but all of it.

No, I am not a homosexual — as straight as they come — but I acknowledge that all of God’s creation is for a purpose and it is not for me to judge the worth of any part of it – especially when it comes to the human race.

A TRUE BELIEVER Nassau, June 9, 2021.

End child labour EDITOR, The Tribune.

I AM deeply traumatised that the Zimbabwean Government is in a struggle to end the persistent scourge of child Labour.

In Zimbabwe, more than 13 percent of under aged children farm and are used as house maids.

These children under 18 face the major problems such as low wages, extra work, long working hours, lack of holidays,

harassment, sexual exploitation, physical torture, ill treatment, lack of welfare facilities, absence of social security measures, lack of rest, development of fatigue and lack of freedom.

It is painful that many of these children are forced to take jobs in the farming sector where living conditions are extremely harsh.

Poverty, high school dropouts, early marriages are forcing under-age children to work in Zimbabwe. The

heartless Zimbabwean government has failed to end child labour. Some of these children may end up crossing river Limpopo seeking work in neighbouring South Africa. President Emerson Mnangagwa should step up efforts to end child Labour in Zimbabwe or step down from his leadership role.

KUDZAI CHIKOWORE London, June 8, 2021.

And the winner is...

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, June 11, 2021, PAGE 7

ONE lucky employee of Aetos Holdings Ltd is the owner of a new car after a company raffle yesterday.

Lorine Walkine, an employee of Popeyes on Carmichael Road, was the lucky winner of a Nissan March.

Aetos is the local franchise holder of Wendy’s, Marco’s Pizza and Popeyes.

THE MOMENT when Lorin Walker, general manager of Popeyes, wins the car in the Aetos company raffle.

Photos: Donovan McIntosh/ Tribune Staff

SPEAKER RENEWS COMPLAINTS OVER ATHEIST PUBLIC OFFICIAL

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

HOUSE Speaker Halston Moultrie said yesterday he has “issues” with the atheistic beliefs of Finance Secretary Marlon Johnson as he doubled down on his criticism of the senior public officer by saying he insulted Parliament and disrespected the Speaker’s Office.

Speaker Moultrie – who never identified Mr Johnson directly – took apparent aim at the decision of the executive to resume a lunch programme at Parliament without his knowledge and with Mr Johnson’s assertion to him in private that the cost of a new Hansard for the House of Assembly was too high.

He raised the matter earlier this week, but did so again yesterday after East Grand Bahama MP Peter Turnquest, the former Minister of Finance, started his contribution to the budget debate by defending Mr Johnson.

Speaker Moultrie interrupted Mr Turnquest after the MP accused him of “unfortunately inadvertently” misleading the House when he “chastised the acting financial secretary”.

Denying that he took aim at a civil servant, Speaker Moultrie said: “Certainly I don’t think that anything that I said was unwarranted because I simply reported the facts. Those facts haven’t changed. They remain the same so I don’t want you, as you proceed, to attribute anything to me in your efforts to protect…

any member who may be a civil servant. The remarks I made with respect to the person that I addressed, I thought about those remarks before I made them and I stand by them. I don’t see them as an attack on a civil servant.

“He expressed his beliefs publicly. I have issues with those beliefs because they are inconsistent with mine and I expressed my view with respect to those beliefs and I am satisfied that when I sat and met with the individual he presented information to me as the presiding officer and head of the legislative branch. He was disrespectful because he did not first of all have the courtesy to consult with the Speaker or anyone else in this Parliament before decisions were taken that would affect the Parliament and in the second instance, he made allegations that the documents that were presented to him were inflated and I asked him to produce the evidence.

“He was unable to produce one scintilla of any evidence to justify that claim. That claim was offensive to me because from that I perceived that he was suggesting that information which was sent… we had four quotes, it was approved by the Tenders Board and it was sent on to the Cabinet and approved by the Cabinet but he had the audacity, in my estimation, to come and sit before the Speaker and suggest that it was inflated.

“I asked him to produce the evidence. He indicated that he was not at liberty to produce the evidence. Now I happen to be a trained

attorney. You can’t come convince me and build a case and refuse to produce the evidence and so I am of the particular group with respect to what happened and what my experience was and I’m not going to permit anyone to suggest that I was being unfair to him because I think what he did was insulting and disrespectful to this Parliament and to the Speaker.”

In response, Mr Turnquest suggested the Speaker missed his point and should have let him finish his thought.

“Honourable member, you started off wrong,” Speaker Moultrie replied.

Mr Turnquest responded: “With due respect Mr Speaker, you have the right to state your opinion and I have a right to state my opinion.”

Speaker Moultrie then said: “And your opinion cannot infringe on my rights.”

The two argued for several minutes but Speaker Moultrie ultimately declined to let Mr Turnquest continue. The former minister soon explained that he made the decision to cancel lunch for parliamentarians last year.

Earlier yesterday, Speaker Moultrie accused unidentified parliamentarians of planting stories about him on social media sites.

His comment followed a speech from Minister of Public Services Brensil Rolle.

“You raised the issue of social media and social media in my estimation is a double-edged sword,” he said. “Like you said, things

that you may have done and many things that you would not have done may appear on social media but we, as honourable members in this place, have got to maintain the standard and ensure that we are not the initiators of some of those things that we see and hear in social media. Because I am aware and information has reached me that some of the media stories that I have received and some that have went out about me were initiated by some of you and some stories that have gone out on other members in this place have been initiated internally and that is disgraceful in my estimation for any member of this chamber to engage in such activities.

“I don’t want to have to name anyone but believe me, I was on the verge of doing so on a number of occasions but I don’t believe that would be in the best interest of this institution or the members who have been identified to me.”

HALSON MOULTRIE, the Speaker of the House of Assembly.

PAGE 8, Friday, June 11, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

AMBASSADOR Priest Rithmond McKinney.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

Disappointed with govt over Bill on marijuana AFTER a candid round or two (or three or or four or five) with several of my closest classmates from high school, the topic of the Marijuana Bill came up, along with several others that seem to have been bungled by the current administration.

One of my peers who’s been a devout Rastafarian for decades (yes, every Bahamian group of friends has their very own ‘Rasta’ in the crew, it’s a known fact) expressed his disillusionment with the present Marijuana Bill and the government’s lack of vision regarding it.

THE MORE THINGS CHANGE

His plight made my mind run on to another of my good Rastafarian brethren, the royal ambassador for the Ethiopian African Black International Congress, Mr Rithmond McKinney, high priest of the local Rastafarian Bobo Shanti Tribe, who raised points of contention with the proposed law changes in the proposed Marijuana Bill.

“With the present government about to table the new Medical Cannabis Bill 2021, the injustices our communities have faced for over 50 years still exist.

We are bluntly trampled on by this unclear repressive bill that’s not designed to benefit just the Rastafarian community, but the wider Bahamas,” McKinney recently stated in the press.

McKinney has long called for and lobbied publicly for the Rastafarian community to be a part of the marijuana industry when it finally becomes legal.

Citing that Rastafarians have suffered the most because of their open religious usage of marijuana.

McKinney also stated that he remains disappointed by the government’s delay in bringing the proposed bill to Parliament and the lack of movement on amendments to the Dangerous

A Comic’s View

By INIGO ‘NAUGHTY’ ZENICAZELAYA

Drugs Act 2021, that would allow for Rastafarians to freely smoke marijuana as a religious sacrament.

their members for privately growing and using cannabis for spiritual purposes and for the sole purpose of connecting with the “Almighty Creator”.

“The impugned law which was enacted in the year 1994 is hostile and Now taking all of this intolerant to persons prointo consideration, might I fessing the Rastafari faith suggest that the local Rasyet we are in a new contafarian community take framework a page from the Rastafari stitutional Society of Kenya’s play- following the promulgabook and file a specific tion of the Constitution of court case, petitioning to lift Kenya 2010 that is progresall the laws that criminalise sive and accommodative marijuana in The Bahamas. of diversity,” said lawyer Shadrack Wambui (Kenyans have great names) who represents TRSK. Wambui says the use of The Rastafari Society of Kenya has filed a case marijuana is solely used in in court seeking to lift the either “meditation” and law criminalising the use of “reasoning sessions” which marijuana. are religious The society ‘The injustices meetings that filed a petition involve group this past May, our communities meditation. seeking to be have faced for Eerily simiallowed to over 50 years lar dilemmas smoke mariin both nations juana as a still exist. We and further religious pro- are bluntly proof that the cess to connect current admintrampled on with the “most istration needs by this unclear high”. to revisit the The society repressive present form of is seeking to the Marijuana bill that’s not suspend impleBill and make designed to mentation of the necessary Section 3 of benefit just the beneficial addithe Narcotics tions before it’s Drugs Act as Rastafarian passed, so that far as it involves community, all Bahamians the arrest, pros- but the wider may benefit in ecution and one way, shape conviction of Bahamas.’ or form from its members for their spiritual and pri- the lucrative Marijuana vate growth and use of and Hemp industries withmarijuana in their private out fear of persecution or homes or designated places victimisation.

Please, Prime Minister of worship.

They claim the police Minnis don’t allow this to continue to harass, intimi- become yet another “spedate, arrest and cause the cial interest” monopoly.

It just might get you prosecution, persecution and even imprisonment of re-elected!

JUST A SUGGESTION

BACK TO AFRICA

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, June 11, 2021, PAGE 9

THERE WAS NO ONE QUITE LIKE SYLVIA MUNRO AND NOW SHE’S GONE, LEAVING THE SAVING OF A LEGACY BEHIND

CHARLES Munro with photosphere created by his grandfather JE Williamson and, right, Sylvia Munro with stamps recognising the world’s first undersea post office.

By Diane Phillips

THE death notice was a simple one: Sylvia Munro, nee Williams, Born Jan 17, 1929, in Chicago, ill. Passed away peacefully in Nassau on April 3, 2021, at the age of 92.

It was easy to miss the notice. Fortunately, The Tribune’s astute Eileen Carron called it to my where the reefs of Andros attention, suggesting I were preserved and remain reach out to Sylvia Munro’s on display today. son, Charles, former BahaWilliamson’s justification masair chief pilot. for taking the corals was I met Charles, now 63 education and science, says and retired, at a family cot- grandson Charles, one of tage on Lightbourne Lane. three children born to WilThe cottage itself is over liamson’s daughter Sylvia, 100 years old and restora- who passed away quietly tion is ongoing, but it is in her sleep in April at age the object outside that was 92, her death triggering a spellbinding. reawakening of interest in I’d always heard of The the Williamson impact on Bahamas undersea post Bahamian history and what office but to see it on land, could be the single most up close, its rusting but still valuable and underrated proud belly-shaped camera moveable artefact in the lens with the cap over the country. drop slot for mail on top, Now it is up the grandthe thick prism glass on the children. Charles and his front, was jaw-dropping. younger brother, Larry, You know, when you get both became pilots, Charles those moments when you for Bahamasair and Laker see something you know Airways, Larry, now a capyou will never forget? It tain with Southwest. Sister was like that.

Cynthia became a teacher.

The photosphere that Now retired, she lives in served as housing for his Florida.

Only Charles underwater filming and in remains in The Bahamas 1939 became full-time. the undersea ‘Sylvia’s childhood Sylvia, his post office was mom, was the market- must have been born during ing stunt of the kind dreams that possibly inventor and environmenare made of filmmaker tally tarnished John Ernest - swimming, time when (known as JE) diving, sailing, Williamson Williamson, was working the recently starring in her on the Chifather’s films, deceased cago exhibit.

Sylvia Mun- movie reels Her mother ro’s father was a welland Charles’ capturing her as known actress she swam the sea and both mom grandfather.

Williamson gardens off Athol and daughis best known ter would star for his early Island. She was in JE Wilnicknamed the cinematogliamson’s raphy, most Little Captain.’ underwater notably his films. Sylvia’s superb version childhood of 20,000 Leagues Under must have been the kind the Sea, a movie produc- dreams are made of tion ahead of its time. Shot swimming, diving, sailing, in 1914, it was the industry’s starring in her father’s films, first full length, hour long movie reels capturing her feature film. Its underwa- as she swam the sea garter set made it even more dens off Athol Island. She thrilling. But Williamson, was nicknamed the Little the genius behind the cel- Captain. luloid strip, was more Sylvia and her husthan a maker of movies. band, Charles Munro Sr, With a passion for every- met through sailing. As thing ocean, he seemed son Charles tells it: “My to explode with ideas for mother spotted the man she inventions. Some called him wanted, he ‘rescued’ her eccentric, a nutty scientist, during a sailboat race in the cranky as he aged, loud and harbour and she got him.” animated, a showman com- Though it’s hard to imagine manding an audience and a woman as comfortable fulfilling its expectations. in the sea as anyone could Nearly everyone called him be needing to be rescued, the most alive person they she got her man. Goodknew. looking, he, too, loved the Williamson brought Hol- water. Sylvia and her new lywood to The Bahamas husband shared that love and showed the majesty of Bahamian waters and coral reefs to the world.

Lest we paint a too-perfect picture of the original Bahamian legend of the deep, not everything that JE Williamson did would be approved today. In 1928, he led a team from the Field Museum in Chicago digging up living coral reefs in Andros to create an exhibit at the museum. They loaded their haul of Andros coral reefs onto boats bound for Florida and from there on SYLVIA MUNRO to cargo trains to Chicago

of the sea, even if he spent a little too much time on it to lead a fully productive life, according to family lore. He was an Olympic athlete who sailed in the Star class with Durward Knowles and Godfrey Kelly in the 1960 Games. Charles Munro played around with boats, worked at his trade in accounting for RH Curry, and later operated a small shipyard called Consolidated Boatworks specializing in fibreglass and paint. A quiet man, he passed away in 1995.

Now, Charles who has buried both of his parents, has taken on the task of firing up interest in a facet of Bahamian history that can never be replicated. It’s right outside what will be his bedroom window when renovations on the historic homestead are complete.

The photosphere weighs four tons. It’s been moved three times, first onto land where the Williamsons, including Charles’ mom, Sylvia, lived on East Bay Street west of Sir Sidney Poitier Bridge and the former Pan Am building, Later, it resided at a family cottage at the eastern end of Fox Hill Creek and now, its six foot tall hulk and cylindrical body containing a series of oiled canvas coated steel rings, sits hidden among the trees in bird’s eye view of the Harbour Bay Shopping Centre on a narrow lane of Bahamian style cottages.

The Smithsonian wanted that beast of history for its collection but Prime Minister Lynden Pindling understood its value and refused to allow it to leave the country. Perhaps he envisioned it in front of what was going to become the National Museum, Collins House.

Truly one of the nation’s most historic artefacts, the officially homeless photosphere is not unappreciated by the grandson of the genius who refined an invention his own father had initially developed and used to expose the rare beauty of a Bahamas teeming with life under the sea.

Coral reefs were alive back then. Even Bahamian currency was decorated with the vivid hues of marine resources, a sight that would be hard to find today.

In August, 2014, on the 75th anniversary of the undersea post office, Sylvia Munro, who never lost her love of the sea or her goal to keep the legacy alive, was honoured during the unveiling of the Bahamian stamp celebrating her father’s novel underwater attraction.

Eileen Carron adds to the memories of JE Williamson, the man we have failed to celebrate and to his daughter, Sylvia, who spent the last 20 years of her life bringing recognition to her father’s.

“I remember the last day I saw him,” says Mrs. Carron. “He was a frequent visitor to The Tribune, where he was always bristling with new ideas, blue eyes sparkling with excitement over his future plans.

I vividly recall that last day.

As usual he was full of plans for his post office. However, he was tired, and asked if I would give him a lift home.

At that time they had left the Eastern parade and lived a little farther down Bay Street. I took him home. It was the last time I saw him. He took to his bed and died shortly afterwards.

“He was a most exciting human being, full of wonderful plans, a face that age had not creased, blue eyes and an infectious smile.

I wonder what invention he told God about when he arrived at the Pearly Gates!”

PAGE 10, Friday, June 11, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

Biden pledges 500 million doses - and calls on others to join him ST IVES, England Associated Press PRESIDENT Joe Biden urged global leaders Thursday to join him in sharing coronavirus vaccines with struggling nations around the world after he promised the US would donate 500 million doses to help speed the pandemic’s end and bolster the strategic position of the world’s wealthiest democracies.

Speaking in England before a summit of the Group of Seven world leaders, Biden announced the US commitment to vaccine sharing, which comes on top of 80 million doses he has already pledged by the end of the month.

He argued it was in both America’s interests and the world’s to make vaccination widely and speedily available everywhere.

“We’re going to help lead the world out of this pandemic working alongside our global partners,” Biden said. He added that on Friday the G-7 nations would join the US in outlining their vaccine donation commitments.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson wrote in The Times of London newspaper that it was now time for wealthy countries to “shoulder their responsibilities” and “vaccinate the world”. His country has yet to send any doses abroad or announce a solid plan to share vaccines. Johnson indicated Britain had millions of doses in surplus stocks.

French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the US commitment and said Europe should do the same.

“I think the European Union needs to have at least the same level of ambition as the United States” and be able to make a similar announcement, he said at a news conference.

Biden said the US was sharing its doses “with no

PRESIDENT Joe Biden speaks about his administration’s global COVID-19 vaccination efforts ahead of the G-7 summit in St Ives, England, yesterday.

Photo: Patrick Semansky/AP strings attached” or “pres- was not released, but the among the leaders of the US is now set to be COV- global recovery. Nearly sure for favours.”

“We’re doing this to save AX’s largest vaccine donor 64 percent of adults in the lives, to end this pandemic, in addition to its single larg- US have received at least est funder with a $4 billion one vaccine dose and the and that’s it,” he said.

Biden had faced mount- commitment. average numbers of new The global alliance has positive cases and deaths in ing pressure to outline his global vaccine sharing plan, thus far distributed just the US are lower now than especially as inequities in 81 million doses and parts at any point since the earlisupply around the world of the world, particularly est days of the pandemic. have become more pro- in Africa, remain vaccine The Organization for nounced and the demand deserts. White House offi- Economic Cooperation for shots in the US has cials hope the ramped-up and Development last dropped precipitously in distribution program can week projected that the US be the latest example of a economy would grow at a recent weeks.

“In times of trouble, theme Biden plans to hit rate of 6.9 percent this year, Americans reach out to frequently during his week making it one of the few offer help,” Biden said, in Europe: that Western nations for which forecasts adding that the US doses democracies, and not rising are rosier now than before would “supercharge” the authoritarian states, can the pandemic. global vaccination cam- deliver the most good for US officials hope the paign. “Our values call on the world. summit will conclude with White House officials a communique showing us to do everything that we can to vaccinate the world said the 500 million vac- a commitment from the cines will be shipped G-7 countries and nations against COVID-19.”

The US commitment is to starting in August, with the invited to participate to do buy and donate 500 million goal of distributing 200 mil- more to help vaccinate the Pfizer doses for distribution lion by the end of the year. world and support public through the global COVAX The remaining 300 million health globally. alliance to 92 lower-income doses would be shipped in National security adviser countries and the African the first half of 2022.

Jake Sullivan told reportAfter leading the world in ers Wednesday that G-7 Union, bringing the first steady supply of mRNA new cases and deaths over leaders are “converging” vaccine to the countries much of the last year, the around the idea that vaccine that need it most. A price rapid vaccination program supply can be increased in tag for the 500 million doses in the US now positions it several ways, including by

countries sharing more of their own doses, helping to increase global manufacturing capacity and doing more across the “chain of custody” from when the vaccine is produced to when it is injected into someone in the developing world.

Biden harked back to the Detroit-area workers who 80 years ago built tanks and planes “that helped defeat the threat of global fascism in World War II”.

“They built what became known as the arsenal of democracy,” Biden said.

“Now a new generation of American men and women, working with today’s latest technology, is going to build a new arsenal to defeat the current enemy of world peace, health and stability: COVID-19.”

He noted that Pfizer’s plant in Kalamazoo, Michigan, is not far from Detroit.

Last week, the White House unveiled plans to donate an initial allotment of 25 million doses of surplus vaccine overseas, mostly through the United Nationsbacked COVAX program, promising infusions for South and Central America, Asia, Africa and others.

Officials say a quarter of that excess will be kept in reserve for emergencies and for the US to share directly with allies and partners, including South Korea, Taiwan and Ukraine.

China and Russia have shared, with varying success, their domestically produced vaccines with some needy countries, often with hidden strings attached. Sullivan said Biden “does want to show — rallying the rest of the world’s democracies — that democracies are the countries that can best deliver solutions for people everywhere”.

The US-produced mRNA vaccines have also proven to be more effective against both the original strain and more dangerous variants of

COVID-19 than the more conventional vaccines produced by China and Russia.

Some countries that have had success in deploying those conventional vaccines have nonetheless seen cases spike.

Biden’s decision to purchase the doses, officials said, was meant to keep them from getting locked up by richer nations that have the means to enter into purchasing agreements directly with manufacturers. Just last month, the European Commission signed an agreement to purchase as many as 1.8 billion Pfizer doses in the next two years, a significant share of the company’s upcoming production — though the bloc reserved the right to donate some of its doses to COVAX. Global public health groups have been aiming to use the G-7 meetings to press wealthier democracies to do more to share vaccines with the world.

Biden’s plans drew immediate praise.

Tom Hart, acting CEO at The ONE Campaign, a nonprofit that seeks to end poverty, said Biden’s announcement was “the kind of bold leadership that is needed to end this global pandemic.”

“We urge other G-7 countries to follow the US’ example and donate more doses to COVAX,” he added. “If there was ever a time for global ambition and action to end the pandemic, it’s now.”

Others have called on the US to do even more.

“Charity is not going to win the war against the coronavirus,” said Niko Lusiani, Oxfam America’s vaccine lead. “At the current rate of vaccinations, it would take low-income countries 57 years to reach the same level of protection as those in G-7 countries.

That’s not only morally wrong, it’s self-defeating given the risk posed by coronavirus mutations.”

POLITICS IN CLASSROOM AS FLORIDA BRINGS IN RACE BAN TALLAHASSEE, Florida Associated Press

Private Service For Ms. Margaretta Hepburn, 100

of Golden Gates II and formerly of the Cove, Cat Island, Bahamas will be held on Saturday, June12th, 2021, 10:00 a.m. at Lakeview Memorial Gardens, John F. Kennedy Drive and Gladstone Road. Officiating will be Rev. Dr. Stephen E. Thompson assisted by Rev’d Colyn Thompson.

She was predeceased by her son: Prince Hepburn; adopted daughter: Alma Johnson.

Left to cherish her memories and continue her legacy are sons: Ishmael, Garfield, Reuban and Maxwell Hepburn; daughters-in-law: Ellen, Linda and Zelma Hepburn; grandchildren: Margaret Hepburn, Patrice Darville, Kevin Hepburn Sr., Jerome, Vernon, Mario and Zenovia Hepburn, Welva Davis, Princess Mills, Indie, Italia, Ava Hepburn, Latara NewMan and Astronique Hepburn; great grandchildren: Deje Hepburn, Jeremiah Hepburn, John Williams, Makayah Hepburn, Deshante Davis, Leterio Hepburn, Liam Hepburn, Kayden Hepburn, Kaylnn Armbrister, Luther Saunders Jr., D’ante Darville and Georgia Darville, Kevin Hepburn Jr., Zachary Hepburn, Kamyyah and Tarlyn Newman; grand son-in-law: George Patrick Darville; sisters-in-law: Gloria Campbell and Marguerita Simmons; great great grandchildren: London Saunders and Nyah Saunders; nieces and nephews: Irma Smith, Preston and Debora McCoy, George, Max, Philip, Sister Janice, Peter and Anthony Coakley, Nelson, Craig, Anthony Stephen, Humphrey, Willie and Kino Simmons, Donnalee Simmons, Sandralee Cartwright and Jaqueline Simmons, Jerome, Michael, Scott Moxey, Delovis Davis, Laverene Fawkes, Janice Roberts, Robert Newbold, Louise Newbold, Mazie Newbold, Deangelo and Garvin Simmons, Debbie Emmanuel, Godfrey and Floyd McCoy; other relatives and friends: Roland Brown and family, Wilfred Taylor and family, Preston and Josephine McCoy, Bill Poitier and family, children of Rev. Garnet and Marion Hepburn, Terry Goldsmith and family, children of Firstena Hepburn and family, children of Shirley Strachan and family, Newbold, Stuart, Stubbs and Seymour families of Orange Creek Cat Island, Turner and Bannister families of Tea Bay, Fred Brown and family, St. Paul Baptist church and Minister Eurina Turner, The communities of Smith Bay, Knowles, Tea Bay, Stevenson, Industrious Hill, Gaitors and the Bluff, King and Moncur Families of Knowles, Ramsey and Steven families, Rolle and Saunders families of the Cove and Employees of Bill Simmons Construction Company and many others too numerous to mention.

Viewing will be held in the “Serenity Suite” at Restview Memorial Mortuary and Crematorium Ltd., Robinson and Soldier Roads on Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

FLORIDA’S state Board of Education banned “critical race theory” from public school classrooms yesterday, adopting new rules it said would shield schoolchildren from curricula that could “distort historical events”.

Florida’s move was widely expected as a national debate intensifies about how race should be used as a lens in classrooms to examine the country’s tumultuous history.

Republican Gov Ron DeSantis appeared by video at the top of the board’s meeting, urging its members, many of whom he appointed, to adopt the new measures he asserted would serve students with the facts rather than “trying to indoctrinate them with ideology”.

The Black Lives Matter movement has helped bring contentious discussions about race to the forefront of American discourse, and classrooms have become a battleground. Supporters contend that federal law has preserved the unequal treatment of people on the basis of race and that the country was founded on the theft of land and labor.

Opponents of critical race theory say schoolchildren should not be taught that America is fundamentally racist. Governors and legislatures in Republican-led states around the country are considering or have signed into law bills that would limit how teachers can frame American history.

Both sides accuse the other of politicising classroom instruction and violating the free speech rights of countless people by limiting the allowable points of view.

Florida law already requires schools to provide instruction on a host of fundamentals, including the Declaration of Independence, the Holocaust and African American history, but the topics have often been muddled. Current events, including the killings of Black people by police, have intensified debates.

Some have called for a “faithful” interpretation of US history that honours the founding of the country — as a rebellion against oppressive British rule. But some Americans — particularly Blacks, Native Americans, Latinos and Asian Americans — argue that dissenting perspectives are often missing from text books and classroom discussions.

The new rules say classroom instruction “must be factual and objective, and may not suppress or distort significant historical events”. It goes on to mention the Holocaust, slavery and the Civil War, as well as the civil rights movement and the contributions of Blacks, Hispanics and women to the country.

But it also makes specific mention of “theories that distort historical events” that are inconsistent with board policy, including any teaching that denies the Holocaust or espouses critical race theory, which the new rules say asserts “that racism is not merely the product of prejudice, but that racism is embedded in American society and its legal systems in order to uphold the supremacy of white persons”.

During his brief appearance Thursday, DeSantis called it “outrageous” how some instructors are deviating from what he and others consider the fundamentals of history.

“Some of this stuff is, I think, really toxic,” DeSantis told the school board. “I think it’s going to cause a lot of divisions.

I think it’ll cause people to think of themselves more as a member of particular race based on skin colour, rather than based on the content of their character and based on their hard work and what they’re trying to accomplish in life.”

The Florida Education Association had called on the board to reject the proposal.

The association, which represents teachers across Florida, called on the board to strip away inflammatory language from the proposed rules. A particular sore point was the use of “indoctrinate” in the rule, which the union says presents an overly negative view of classroom instruction. That word, however, remained in the rules adopted by the board.

“The job of educators is to challenge students with facts and allow them to question and think critically about information, and that’s the antithesis of indoctrination,” Cathy Boehme, a public policy advocate for the association, told the board. “No matter our colour, background or ZIP Code, we want our kids to have an education that imparts honesty about who we are, integrity and how we treat others, and courage to do what’s right.”

More than two dozen members of the public spoke on the matter, their opinions divided and impassioned. The board meeting, held at a state college in Jacksonville, was briefly recessed when one speaker went over his time limit and began chanting in support of teachers.