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The Tribune

Volume: 118 No.202, September 15, 2021

Established 1903

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FATAL STABBING OF PLP WORKER

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

A MAN was stabbed to death outside the Progressive Liberal Party’s Yamacraw constituency office last night.

Police press liaison officer Assistant Superintendent Audley Peters told reporters on the scene that the victim is in his late 30s and is a well-known resident of the community.

At the scene, Zane Lightbourne, the PLP’s Yamacraw candidate, did not want to disclose the deceased’s name publicly, but revealed he was a campaign worker.

However, sources told The Tribune that the victim is Kendrick Cambridge.

ASP Peters explained that shortly after 7pm, police received reports of a stabbing incident that occurred on Antigua Street, Elizabeth Estates. He said it appeared that an argument led to the stabbing and that the victim knew his attacker.

A man is in custody helping police with their investigation.

“On the arrival of our first responders, they met a male lying in front of a constituency office with what appeared to be stab wounds SEE PAGE TWO

AHEAD of tomorrow’s general election, the Ministry of Health said yesterday there has been a “notable decrease” in newly confirmed COVID-19 cases, which it expects to be followed by a decline in the hospitalisation rate.

However, The Tribune’s analysis shows the decline in confirmed cases corresponds to a decline in testing for the virus. In

fact, the COVID-19 positivity rate has shown no sign of regression in recent weeks - it stood at 26 percent for the most recent seven-day reporting period, the second highest weekly positivity rate in the last six weeks.

The Ministry of Health did not discuss the positivity rate in its statement but highlighted a graph that shows COVID-19 cases began to plateau during the first two weeks of August.

SEE PAGE FOUR

- SEE PAGE EIGHT

INGRAHAM: FACEBOOK POST WAS NOT MINE

By TANYA SMITHCARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net

FORMER Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham said a Facebook page bearing his name urging people to “vote FNM” is not his account.

Yesterday several Facebook posts were made from a page bearing the name, “The Right Honourable Hubert A Ingraham”.

The posts, bearing the FNM’s logo and party colours, said, “Vote FNM. It’s About Your Future” and SEE PAGE TWO

OFFICIALS CLAIM COVID CASES NOW IN DECLINE

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

ALICIA WALLACE: IF YOU’RE GOING TO VOTE, STAY SAFE

$750K FOR UNLAWFUL DETENTION

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

PLP campaign worker Kendrick Cambridge, who sources say was the victim of last night’s fatal stabbing outside the PLP Yamacraw constituency office.

THE Supreme Court has awarded $751,900 to a Ghanaian man who was unlawfully detained at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre for nearly seven years after he travelled to The Bahamas from Jamaica for a three-week vacation.

SEE PAGE SEVEN

‘$100BN TREASURE BUT GOVT WOULDN’T LICENCE US’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamian head of an underwater exploration group yesterday asserted the nation has lost between $450m-$500m due to their proposal being “stalled” by government for three-plus years.

Matthew Arnett, P08’s chief executive and cofounder, told Tribune Business its bid to “monetise” up to $100bn in gold,

A MAP by P08 showing shipwreck locations. precious metals and other artifacts scattered among multiple shipwrecks in Bahamian waters has been grounded by the Minnis administration since mid2018 despite assurances it

would receive all approvals necessary to proceed.

Describing the experience as “sad” and “absolutely disheartening”, he said the various roadblocks erected before his group had caused him to question “what does it mean to be a Bahamian” when foreign-led and financed rivals were able to secure the same permits he and his team are seeking.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

TECHNOLOGY APPLE’S NEXT IPHONE ADDS MORE STORAGE

- SEE PAGE NINE

PAGE 2, Wednesday, September 15, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

PLP candidate for Yamacraw Zane Lightbourne and other PLP supporters hold a prayer circle after a man was stabbed to death outside the PLP’s Yamacraw HQ.

Photos: Donovan McIntosh/Tribune Staff

Fatal stabbing of PLP worker from page one

to his upper torso. EMS was called and following their examination of the body, the victim was pronounced lifeless on scene. We have a suspect that is now in police custody,” he said.

“There’s no motive determined at the moment. We are early in our investigations at this time.”

When asked if the person in custody or the suspect was a PLP campaign worker, ASP Peters replied: “From what we understand, both persons are known to

each other. They’ve been known to each other for some time.”

Mr Lightbourne said he was not at the constituency office at the time of the stabbing, as he was in the community speaking to some residents.

“My sincere condolences.

This community is grieving. It’s obviously not a very good scene – not a good scene at all. It’s very heart wrenching. My condolences to his family that I know well,” he said on the scene.

“I know his father. I also spoke to his mother, the person who takes care — looks after him. I was at their house recently and I just saw him earlier this evening before we went into the neighbourhoods.”

He described the victim as a very “helpful young man”.

“He actually was always ready to help and he had just made arrangements to come early in the morning because we were going to give some chicken souse to the residents in the area and whoever comes by.

So, he was very involved in helping us in the campaign.”

A BODY is taken from the scene after a fatal stabbing outside the Yamacraw headquarters of the PLP. In a statement issued Anyone with inforlater, he said: “We were mation is asked to call shocked and saddened to police at 502-9991, 919, lose one of our campaign Crime Stoppers at 328volunteers to a violent TIPS (8477) or the nearest crime today.” police station.

BIMINI MAN SHOT AFTER RALLY

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

A BIMINI man was airlifted to New Providence after allegedly being shot during an argument with Progressive Liberal Party supporters shortly after a Free National Movement rally on the island.

Police said officers of the Alice Town Police station received a report shortly after 9pm on Monday about a shooting incident in Bailey Town.

When officers arrived at the scene, they observed clothing items on the ground covered in apparent blood stains and learned that the victim had been taken to the Bimini

Community Clinic with a suspected gunshot injury to his left thigh.

“Officers also visited the Bimini Community Clinic, where attempts were made to speak with the victim, who at the time appeared to be heavily intoxicated and refused to give any information,” police said.

“The victim was seen and examined by a doctor, who listed his injury as serious and potentially fatal. The victim was later flown into New Providence to seek further medical attention.”

The Tribune understands the victim was leaving an FNM rally when he passed PLP supporters.

An exchange of words led to a physical argument, with

a PLP supporter allegedly shooting the man in his thigh.

Up to press time yesterday, the victim was said to still be uncooperative with police over the incident and has not said who shot him.

He was with his adult son at the time of the incident.

According to a source, when police questioned his son, the man told his son to keep quiet.

The PLP’s candidate for West Grand Bahama and Bimini, former Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe, said he was campaigning in Bimini yesterday.

“Violence like this can never be condoned by anyone,” he said. “The mobility of firearms is just not acceptable.”

INGRAHAM: FACEBOOK POST WAS NOT MINE from page one

“On Election Day Look for the Torch. It’s About Your Future”.

Mr Ingraham said he has no such account and he was not the person who posted those messages.

“I have no Facebook account,” Mr Ingraham said.

“I had one years ago and the same was hacked a long time ago. So that is not me.”

The page in question states it is administered by a “supporter” of Mr Ingraham and not him personally.

Some years ago, Mr Ingraham reported the

matter to Facebook when he had been contacted by many people saying friend requests were sent to them from him or messages asking them what they thought about sovereign funds.

In the past, Cabinet ministers have complained about their social media pages being hacked and those matters were soon rectified.

Mr Ingraham has been in the spotlight recently after endorsing Elizabeth incumbent Dr Duane Sands while joining him on the campaign trail.

Dr Sands resigned as minister of health last

year over a controversy surrounding permanent residents being allowed entry to the country from a plane carrying COVID19 test swabs. Prior to his resignation there had been rumours of a tumultuous relationship between him and Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis.

Speaking about the Elizabeth incumbent, Mr Ingraham said recently: “He’s had a similar experience I had. I used to be a minister before, I got fired, I got elected to the House, and I became prime minister. Hopefully, he can have the same experience.”

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, September 15, 2021, PAGE 3

Minnis: We fell short over Dorian

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis admitted that his government fell short regarding its Hurricane Dorian rebuilding efforts and promised to do more should the Free National Movement be returned to office following tomorrow’s general election.

While outlining his party’s intended plans should it be re-elected, Dr Minnis said, “No party should ever take the support of any constituency for granted.” He also encouraged Bahamians to reject the Progressive Liberal Party’s “false” promises.

Dr Minnis said if the PLP were elected to office, the party would stop much of the projects that were created for Grand Bahama.

“Reject the PLP lies,” Dr Minnis said during a rally in Grand Bahama last night.

“Reject the PLP’s false promises. Reject the PLP. “So, will you give me five (years)? Let’s keep Grand Bahama FNM country.

“Where we have fallen short in our hurricane rebuilding efforts, we are going to do more and better, including in East Grand Bahama.

“We will continue to advance housing and homeownership programmes and opportunities with tax incentives and concessions

throughout Grand Bahama.

“No party should ever take the support of any constituency for granted.”

Dr Minnis promised those affected by Hurricane Dorian in Grand Bahama that there would be further reductions to the cost of land for housing construction if the FNM is re-elected.

“I was in Abaco last night and Abaco like you have gone through difficult times with Hurricane Dorian and the pandemic and for Abaco the land opportunities we have promised, we have already reduced the cost to Abaco by 50 percent because of what they’ve gone through. I said to Abaco that next week when

I go back to Cabinet, I will ask my Cabinet colleagues to reduce that by a further 25 percent.

He continued: “Grand Bahama will likewise be reduced by 25 percent. I want you to know that I have heard, and I understand your many concerns and needs.

“More than $100m in concessions were given across Abaco and the Abaco keys and Grand Bahama under the Special Economic Recovery Zone Act. The Small Home Repair programme provided direct assistance to just under 3,000 homeowners for Abaco and Grand Bahama after the hurricane.

“The FNM is asking you

and I am asking you for the opportunity to continue the work we started before Hurricane Dorian and the COVID-19 pandemic that struck our Bahamas.”

He also promised the creation of an electronic ID, adding Grand Bahama would also become a technological hub under the next FNM government.

During his rally speech last night, Dr Minnis took a swipe at new parties and independent candidates, saying the election is between the FNM and PLP. “Grand Bahama, there are many candidates on the ballot this year. Government will inherit lots of $400. We live in a vibrant democracy. People have a

right to offer themselves for election. However, let’s be very clear about something: this election is a contest between the FNM and PLP. The government of The Bahamas can only be FNM or PLP. “If you want to prevent Brave Davis and his PLP from being in office then your choice is FNM.” He also said: “I know many PLPs in Grand Bahama were disappointed when Brave became their party leader. You never wanted him. He is an embarrassment to you. By coming with us this one time you can get rid of Brave and find a new more suitable leader ten years from now.”

9,000 HOMES STILL RELYING ON FOOD ASSISTANCE SCHEME

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

PLPS claim FNMs are unfairly campaigning after curfew. Keith Russell, centre, at a press conference at PLP campaign office at Regent Centre is flanked by Chayla Cartwright and PLP candidate for Marco City Curt Hollingsworth.

Photo: Denise Maycock/Tribune Staff

CURFEW CAMPAIGN ROW IN GB

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THE Progressive Liberal Party is accusing two Free National Movement candidates and their campaign workers on Grand Bahama of unfairly campaigning after curfew and violating rules.

The FNM has called the claims baseless and accused the PLP of stirring up mischief. A party official said none of its candidates has broken the curfew to campaign.

Keith Russell, coordinator for the PLP’s Grand Bahama and Bimini campaign, said they have video of the candidates out on the road after curfew for the past three to four nights.

“We are here to sound the alarm yet again in the way this election is being treated by the incumbent administration of the FNM,” he said yesterday.

“We have observed FNM candidates, particularly Mr Pintard and Mr Bootle, out campaigning after curfew – we got them on camera after 10pm outside campaigning,” he claimed.

Mr Russell said when the PLP wrote a letter to the assistant commissioner of police in Grand Bahama asking if the PLP can have their candidates and agents out campaigning after curfew, the request was denied.

“The ACP said given the COVID times we are in he could not give us permission to be out after curfew, notwithstanding the FNM candidates and their agents are out at least for the last three to four nights that we have observed. He also indicated that if we want permission, we will have to consult the competent authority.

“I take it to mean that Mr Bootle and Mr Pintard must have consulted the competent authority to be

out after curfew, violating the rules. If the CA would have made a rule… to have candidates and their agents out after curfew, he should make an announcement so that all political parties can have the same privilege and not just the FNM. “So, we want to sound the alarm yet again that the injustice and unfairness going in this campaign must stop,” Mr Russell said.

“As PLPs we want to make sure that the other parties also understand that they must play by the same rule.

It can’t be one rule for the FNMs and their candidates and agents, and another rule for the other parties.”

Curt Hollingsworth, PLP candidate for Marco City, stressed there must be equity among all political parties.

“We are simply asking for equity among all political and equal distribution of opportunity to share our messages so that there will be no unfair play,” he said.

“I believe the PLP has demonstrated to a large extent responsible behaviour in refraining from some of the other activities that we would love to have. And to have candidates and campaign workers after hours campaigning is totally unfair and unacceptable.”

He added: “On Saturday past one of the candidates was out campaigning after 9 and 10pm, and again last night (Monday) with a motorcade throughout the communities and announcements made by the candidates, and we think it is unfair. Let us focus on equity and ensure the Bahamian public has the opportunity to hear every one of us.

“I do not wish to be out there after 9pm but knowing there are some persons out there after 9pm, we would like to have the same opportunity.”

FNM candidate for Pineridge Welbourne Bootle

denied campaigning after curfew hours.

“I don’t break the law, I don’t have no need to do that,” said the retired veteran senior police official.

The Tribune contacted David Thompson, national vice chair of the FNM and chair of Grand Bahama FNM Council, who is also the spokesperson for the FNM regarding the election. He said that none of their candidates has broken the curfew law. He accused the PLP of creating “political mischief”.

“We have heard the baseless accusations of the PLP and its spokespersons, and we in the FNM are a party of law and order. We believe in following the law and none of our candidates have broken the law as it relates to the curfew,” he said.

“All of our candidates have tailored their campaigns to be aware that workers must be home by 9pm each night. The PLP needs to stop making political mischief and should address the substantive issues of the campaign.”

Mr Thompson said if they have proof then they should give it to the police or stop with the red herring.

“If they have something, give it to the police. If they have nothing then do not use the FNM to try and seek to get the competent authority to do something for the PLP that it is not doing for any other political party,” he said.

Mr Thompson insists that the FNM is observing all the protocols and keeping people safe. “Yes, we are out there campaigning vigorously as we try to get a second term in office, but we are not the ones breaking the law. We ask those in the PLP making accusations to look in the mirror and point the finger at themselves,” he said.

Mr Pintard could not be reached for comment.

NEARLY 9,000 households in New Providence continue to rely on the national food assistance programme, an initiative that has cost the government $54m, according to Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis last night.

Speaking to supporters during a drive-in rally in Grand Bahama, Dr Minnis gave a breakdown of the number of families still receiving food assistance throughout the country.

He said 8,979 households in the capital were benefitting from the programme, while 5,127 were on the programme in Grand Bahama.

In Abaco, 2,006 families were on the programme, 1,576 on other Family Islands and 312 in Eleuthera.

“To date approximately $54m has been spent on

food assistance across The Bahamas during this pandemic,” he told supporters. “At the height of the pandemic the feeding programme supported 57,000 households and today as part of how our economy reopened approximately 18,000 households are still being assisted.

“We are grateful for the partnership with feeding NGOs and hundreds of volunteers that have made such a massive and consistent feeding programme possible,” the prime minister also said.

In August, Public Service and National Insurance Minister Brensil Rolle said more than $500m had been spent by the government to assist ordinary Bahamians affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking in the House of Assembly at the time, Mr Rolle said the money was used to fund various

COVID-19 relief initiatives including the government’s food assistance programme and its unemployment benefits among other things.

“The National Insurance (Board) has spent nearly $100m as a form of income support to COVID-19 and that is separate and apart from the $180m in real money spent by this government as a form of income support for thousands of ordinary Bahamians affected by COVID-19 and their job layoffs,” Mr Rolle said back in August during debate on the resolution to extend the country’s state of emergency to November 13.

“That does not include the total spending or the additional spending that was brought about in job retention and the food programme which is near another $100m and I’m talking real money impacting real Bahamians.”

and well-connected, and they gave VAT breaks to multinational corporations in Grand Bahama.

“And who could forget that they reduced business licence fees not for small businesses, but for those with more than $50m in annual sales. They did all that only months after they promised you it was going to be ‘the people’s time’.

“We have been told by credible sources that the government called a snap election because their back is against the wall with the country’s creditors; they’re ready to raise your taxes but they ain’ planning’ to tell you that until after you vote. And they’re going to raise your taxes because they are too afraid of their wealthy donors to raise theirs, and because they have no new ideas and no clue how to create economic growth.”

Mr Davis also said: “This government called an election without even a plan to offer you; now they are shouting last-minute promises at you from the rally stage. A hastily-thrown together list of promises isn’t the same thing as a strategic plan. And they are likely to keep these new promises about as well as they kept the ones they made in 2017 — which is to say, not at all.

“It’s extraordinary, how many Bahamian and international investors have told me the same thing: under this government, the Office of the Prime Minister is where good ideas and big plans go to die.

The prime minister has no business being the minister of finance; things are too serious and growing our economy is too urgent to have an amateur in charge.”

Mr Davis said a PLP administration would encourage major international sports leagues to use The Bahamas as a base during off seasons.

“Under the current administration, sports have not been a priority,” he said. “Grants to sporting federations have been cut and subventions to our athletes have been reduced.

That makes no sense to me.

Look at how well our athletes are performing on the international stage – from our Olympic medal winners to a certain second baseman playing in Miami to our basketball and football and track stars. They are a credit to our country and an inspiration to our children. Those are some of our differences on taxes, the economy and sports.”

Mr Davis also reiterated his plan for “free and widespread” COVID-19 testing.

DAVIS: MINNIS WILL RAISE TAXES

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

PROGRESSIVE Liberal Party Leader Philip “Brave” Davis claimed last night that the Minnis administration would raise taxes if re-elected.

A government led by him, however, would reduce value added tax and raise revenue by asking the wealthiest to pay more instead of taxing others, he said.

While experts believe the next administration will face major taxation choices, the PLP has not supported its claim about the Free National Movement with proof and Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis has denied he intends to raise taxes if his party wins tomorrow’s general election.

“We’re going to reduce VAT to 10 percent. It’s going to help you a little; it will lighten the load during these tough times, and make every dollar go a little farther,” Mr Davis said during a virtual rally yesterday.

“The current government, on the other hand, is getting ready for a repeat performance – they raised VAT 60 percent for you, while handing out special tax deals for the wealthy

ROLLE: IT’S NOT UNUSUAL TO SEE UNION UNREST AT VOTE TIME

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

PUBLIC Service and National Insurance Minister Brensil Rolle suggested yesterday that it’s not unusual to see industrial unrest in the public sector when a general election approaches, saying “unions do what unions do” and “perhaps react based on the times”.

His comments came after services at public hospitals and several Family Island airports were affected Monday after members of the Bahamas Public Services Union refused to show up to work in protest at unresolved workplace grievances.

Monday’s industrial action prompted the closure of airports on Abaco, Bimini, Cat Island, South Andros and San Salvador and also caused the suspension of services at Princess Margaret Hospital’s morgue.

Responding to union unrest yesterday, Mr Rolle, who also was a former unionist, said: “Unions do what unions do.”

“They, perhaps, react based on the times. I was active in the unions and so I know what the unions do. I have a good relationship with the public service union and other unions and what I tried to do is work with them to make sure their working conditions are satisfactory.

“I said to them from last year that I could not speak specifically on monies but my duty was to make sure the environment in which they work is safe and they’re comfortable and that’s what they sought to do.”

Last week, BPSU president Kimsley Ferguson, who represents some employees at the hospital as well as airport staff, warned there could be major disruption in hospital and airport services if workers’ longstanding concerns are not immediately resolved.

The union is calling for hazard pay; salary increases and uniform allowances among other things as part of its industrial agreement

terms, which they are still waiting to finalise.

Speaking on the issue of workplace benefits, Mr Rolle told reporters: “If they were in the public service, they would have received an increment every year until they reach a service bar and if they’re outside of the public service, then I can’t speak to them.”

Mr Rolle also spoke about his ministry’s efforts to regularise just over 1,200 workers in the public sector.

At a rally held in Abaco on Monday, Mr Rolle told party supporters that dozens of Abaco residents will be made permanent employees of the ministry and the National Insurance Board.

“We made a commitment to young people who joined the programme, the national job creation programme that if they performed and did their work then we would consider them to become permanent,” Mr Rolle told reporters ahead of yesterday’s Cabinet meeting.

“We made that commitment to them when we hired them in the programme last summer and this summer, we began the process of engaging them so I can say that 99.9 percent of those individuals have now gotten their letters or will get their letters to indicate that they’ve joined the system and they’re placed on 12 months’ probation by the government and I’m

sure they will continue their excellence and become permanent in the service.”

Mr Rolle also thanked the Bahamian people, specifically Garden Hills residents, for their support during his time in politics.

Earlier this year, the NIB minister told parliamentarians in the House of Assembly that he will not be running for re-election and will be retiring from politics.

“I want to commend and thank the people of Garden Hills who saw fit to elect me. I did my best for them.

I will continue to advocate on their behalf but they give me an opportunity and I’m eternally grateful for them,” Mr Rolle said yesterday.

PAGE 4, Wednesday, September 15, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

Dames warns voters must follow protocols as Election Day nears

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net NATIONAL Security Minister Marvin Dames said the Bahamian people can be assured COVID-19 protocols will be strictly enforced on Election Day amid concerns about further virus spread now that quarantined people are allowed to vote.

Mr Dames, who has responsibility for elections, spoke to reporters after the Office of the Prime Minister announced on Sunday quarantined people will be permitted to leave their isolation to take part in tomorrow’s voting.

The statement also came days after the advanced poll was held, where thousands gathered and stood in long

lines in the blistering heat with little to no social distancing seen at many voting locations.

Yesterday Mr Dames also said officials are doing all they can to ensure voters remain safe on Election Day and added the public can expect several changes due to lessons learned from last week’s early vote.

“It has always been our intention to treat the environment as if every voter is quarantined and that’s our intention,” Mr Dames said before going to a Cabinet meeting. “I mean it didn’t work perfectly through the advance poll but you can expect some changes coming to Election Day. “I met with the Parliamentary Commissioner and his team yesterday

(Monday) as well as the top brass of the Royal Bahamas Police Force and Defence Force and they’re currently going through a series of debriefings and briefings and you could expect come Election Day that you will see any number of those issues that you saw at the advanced poll rectified.”

Last week, Health Minister Renward Wells told reporters health officials had made recommendations on how people in quarantine for COVID exposure or those with the virus could be allowed to vote.

Dr Nikkiah Forbes, director of the National HIV/ AIDS and Infectious Diseases Programme at the Ministry of Health, also recently said it would be

OFFICIALS CLAIM COVID CASES NOW IN DECLINE from page one

“It is noteworthy to mention that for the next four weeks or four reporting cycles, there was a decrease in the number of cases,” the ministry said. “This result has been the effect of the aggressive vaccination campaign implemented by the government. It was previously predicted that once a reasonable percentage of citizens and residents become vaccinated, such a result would be experienced.

“Even though there is a decrease in COVID19 cases, hospitalisations continue to increase. It is expected that as the COVID-19 cases continue to decrease, there will be a decline in the hospitalisations reported. The Bahamas experienced a peak of 40 deaths during the week of August 22.

As the cases continue to decrease, it is also expected that the number of deaths will decrease,” the Ministry of Health said.

The Ministry of Health said it analysed COVID-19 data for the period of January 1 - September 12, 2021.

During this period there were some 11,584 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 302 deaths and on average 54 persons hospitalised per week, it said.

Experts believe the positivity rate is an important COVID-19 indicator and the World Health Organisation recommends that countries keep that rate below five percent.

The Bahamas has seen a gradual decline in confirmed COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, from 892 in the week beginning August 17 to 655 in the week beginning September 7. However, the positivity rate has changed

little during these periods, standing at 26.7 percent during the August 17 week and 26.3 percent during the September 7 week, according to this newspaper’s analysis.

Dr Sabriquet Pinder-Butler, head of the Consultant Physicians Staff Association, said yesterday that the positivity rate is “absolutely” a better indicator of the COVID19 situation in the country than the raw number of confirmed cases even as she stressed that many people with COVID-19 are likely not getting tested.

“We always have to remember two things, that one, the testing or the counts that the ministry has are related to the PCR test and we have always had challenges with the translation of numbers versus actual cases because not all patients get PCR tested,” she said.

“We always know numbers are higher than what is reflected because not all patients are having the tests done. The other component is that persons who have to pay for testing have been paying more for rapid tests than they have been for the PCR test and their results aren’t reflected in the data.

People may know someone who has tested positive and rather than get tested themselves, they assume they have COVID and just quarantine. The raw numbers do not always add up because of those factors.

We also know that sometimes there is a reporting lag with testing.

“What I’m seeing in clinics and from physicians and colleagues in the hospital is that we’re seeing quite a significant number of cases. The hospitalisation rate is an indication of the type of COVID-19 circumstance we’re dealing with.

If hospitalisation numbers are going up I would think it means you still have a number of people out there with the virus who haven’t been confirmed.

“If I know that seven out of ten people are supposed to do well and two or three people are not going to do well, then if my two to three factors are going up then that still means the other seven people have to be out there and the question is, why am I missing them? Am I not looking for them? Because of the level of community spread, we don’t have a robust surveillance team because we’re into vaccinations and to holding down people who have COVID. We’re not able to properly contact trace because of the level of widespread community involvement. That’s why testing is really important.”

According to The Tribune’s analysis, the positivity rate in each of the last six reporting periods stood as 26.3 percent, 24.7 percent, 24.8 percent, 26.7 percent, 23.6 percent and 25.5 percent.

The Minnis administration, meanwhile, will allow quarantined people to vote in tomorrow’s election alongside everyone else.

“It’s not something we encourage, not something we hope to happen,” Dr Pinder-Butler said. “Mentally, we are preparing ourselves for what could potentially be a trying situation in the country. We are already struggling and in other countries elections have led to surges.”

Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis is expected to address the nation about the COVID-19 situation today.

At last report, 182 people were in hospital with the virus while there have been 467 confirmed COVID-19 deaths.

safer for people in this category to vote online or in a “remote” forum.

Asked why the government did not follow those recommendations, Mr Dames replied: “Well, again, I don’t have the benefit of those before me but our intention has always been as a government that we want to ensure that every registered voter is given the opportunity to exercise his or her rights during the election period and every step is being taken to ensure that that happens in the safest possible way in this environment and we have to taken steps to ensure that. We’ll see how it works out come Election Day.” Mr Dames was asked if he was concerned about

low voter turnout due to public fears about contracting the virus at the polls.

“Well, you may have quarantine voters among you right here, right now,” he said. “Quarantine voters are all around us. You don’t know who they are and again, our intention is to ensure that we go into assuming that every voter is quarantined and so we’re going to take extra steps and additional steps.

“The Parliamentary Registration Department along with the police and defence force will take extra steps come Election Day to ensure that voters are masked, and they are keeping their distance and that they’re sanitised.”

In a statement released Monday, the Parliamentary

Registration Department outlined several health and safety protocols it plans to utilise on Thursday in collaboration with the Ministry of Health.

The department said election workers were encouraged to be vaccinated or at least have begun the vaccination process.

Additionally, all voters, poll workers and election agents are required to always wear a face mask while in the polling station.

The masks should cover the nose and mouth properly.

The statement also noted that hand sanitising stations will be available throughout the polling site, especially upon entry to polling divisions and individual workstations should be at a distance of three to six feet.

NURSES SUFFERING ‘BURN-OUT’

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net NURSES are burnt out and suffering physically and mentally due to the strain COVID-19 cases have placed on hospitals.

Bahamas Nurses Union president Amancha Williams said they are still challenged with a manpower shortage leading to nurses experiencing “burnout” while working to cover and provide round-theclock care for patients.

“We’ve had nurses moved from various areas. We’ve only been doing emergency cases to facilitate the need of the (hospital’s) demand during this wave and so we have a bed shortage. We have a manpower shortage and we’ve been seeing a lot of deaths in the (last) two months, or, I should say eight weeks. So all of this psychology, physically, mentally is causing stress on the nurses working in the hospital environment.”

The union leader has been outspoken in the past about how nurses have had to deal with poor working conditions such as air-conditioning units not working in certain wards at

FOUR MORE COVID DEATHS FOUR more COVID-19 deaths have been added to the nation’s tally, bringing the figure to 467.

The four victims are 46, 59, 63 and 80 years old. They are all New Providence residents — two men and two women — who died between August 29 and September 4.

Health officials also said 89 new cases were recorded on September 13. There have now been 19,690 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic.

Officials said 182 people are in hospital, with 21 of those cases in the intensive care unit.

Princess Margaret Hospital.

Moreover, nurses leaving the hospital have posed a challenge.

Yesterday, the Ministry of Health issued a press release stating that there was a decrease in COVID-19 cases. The ministry’s graph showed the number of cases plateaued during the first two weeks of August 2021, but went down the next four weeks or four reporting cycles.

Despite the decrease in cases, hospitalisations continue to increase.

Ms Williams said regardless of officials reporting a decrease in cases, hospital workers are still under significant stress.

“Did you hear anybody reporting that we’re not under stress? I can’t see how

they could say at the end of the day there is a decrease in COVID cases, but why are we still having the challenges in the hospital?

“I know for sure as it was explained that we’re still triaging and patients are still on the porch from the meeting on Friday and each department is expressing the overwhelming (nature) of what is happening and each department is expressing that. The staff is overwhelmed from maternity cases to accident and emergency and the wards are full.”

Public Hospitals Authority Chairman Julian Rolle said on Friday COVID-19 has strained public health, leaving the system completely “overburdened” and in “unprecedented stress”.

‘MINIMAL’ DISRUPTION FROM AIRPORT ACTION

By TANYA SMITHCARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net

MINIMAL disruption was reported at Family Island airports on day two of industrial action by some employees, according to Director of Aviation Algernon Cargill.

On Monday, operations on many Family Islands were halted for a period when some employees refused to show up to work over unresolved issues.

Because of the “no-shows”, airports on Abaco, Bimini, Cat Island, South Andros and San Salvador were closed for long periods on Monday.

Yesterday, Mr Cargill again called the industrial action “illegal,” expressing disappointment in employees who are members of the Bahamas Public Services Union. He said he has been very transparent with the union in negotiations.

“The airports are all open,” Mr Cargill said.

“There was minimal disruption yesterday as is the case this morning (Tuesday). However, we do have 31 employees in the Family Islands airports who have not called in nor have they reported to work. We sent a team from Nassau to the Family Islands and the airports are remaining open.

Our focus is to minimise the disruption to the traveling public, both Bahamians and tourists, during this illegal strike action by the Bahamas Public Services Union.

“During the entire process, we have been transparent with the union. We have sat to the table. We’ve agreed on the payments to the Family Island employees. The union is fully aware that the payment requests have been sent on for approval and nonetheless they organised and held an illegal strike action.”

Mr Cargill said the impact on Monday was minimal and he hopes to keep it that way until matters are resolved.

“Yesterday (Monday), the airports opened by 10am, but the employees remained away from work,” Mr Cargill said. “We were able to send employees on Bahamasair and other flights to the Family Islands and the last airport to open was Cat Island. That airport is open.

“This is simply to ensure that we minimise the disruption during this period of the illegal action by the Bahamas Public Services Union.

“I use the word ‘illegal’ because we have been transparent with the union. We have kept the union fully updated. We’ve had several working sessions with the union where we have gone over the calculations and the payments. The union’s representatives have agreed to these payments. We met the deadlines in terms of advancing the proposal for consideration and the union is fully aware of this. So despite everything that we have done to comply with their request and ensure that we have resolved the situation, the illegal strike action was still held by the Bahamas Public Services Union.”

Asked what happens to the 30 employees who neither called in nor reported to work on Tuesday, Mr Cargill said that is not his focus at this time.

“I’ve not even thought about that,” he said. “My primary focus today is to ensure that we keep these airports open in order to minimise disruption to tourists and employees, particularly during this time when the economy in some of these islands are starting to rebound. We want to ensure that we have minimal disruption for the traveling public and that

has my complete focus and attention. I haven’t thought about the impact to the employees because that’s really secondary right now.”

Asked if there had been any discussions between himself and BPSU president, Kimsley Ferguson, since the action started, Mr Cargill said although he tried, there were no talks.

“I haven’t spoken to the president of the union,” Mr Cargill continued. “He sent me a message this morning that I have responded to. I called several times yesterday on the telephone and none of my calls were answered.

Nonetheless we remain open as always to communicate with the Public Services Union. We have a meeting scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday) on another matter. I’m hoping they come to the meeting and hopefully their negotiating team can discuss this matter in more detail.”

The Tribune reached out to Mr Ferguson to ascertain whether the industrial action would continue, but he did not offer much of a response on it.

“I am working on the issues of the Bahamas Public Services Union with the authorities,” Mr Ferguson said. “I will alert the press when we have come to some sort of agreement.”

Last week, BPSU members demonstrated outside Princess Margaret Hospital, citing unfair promotion practices, outstanding industrial agreements and other unresolved grievances.

At the time, Mr Ferguson, who represents some workers at the hospital as well as airport staff, warned there could be major disruption in hospital and airport services if workers’ longstanding concerns were not immediately resolved.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, September 15, 2021, PAGE 5

Will Elizabeth pick stability or opt for change?

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net ELIZABETH residents are weighing the costs and benefits of choosing stability over change in one of the most closely watched races of the 2021 election cycle.

Pundits agree their socio-economically diverse constituency is among several seats that may indicate which party will win the general election, having voted for the victorious party in three of the last four cycles.

The constituency is attracting further interest because of the outsized presence of former Health Minister Dr Duane Sands, a maverick candidate with leadership aspirations and the full-throated backing of former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham who has publicly endorsed him and only one other Free National Movement candidate: Pineridge’s Welbourne Bootle.

Dr Sands won 61 percent of the vote in 2017 compared to the Progressive Liberal Party’s candidate, Henry Storr, who won only 30 percent of the vote. He won all but one of Elizabeth’s polling divisions, losing the second division, home to Elizabeth Estates, by just 16 points.

To win the seat, the Progressive Liberal Party’s candidate, Senator Jobeth Colbey-Davis, will need to boost her margins in Elizabeth Estates and mirror or exceed what former PLP MP Ryan Pinder achieved in 2017 when he carried the division by 93 votes over Dr Sands.

Both parties hope to lose little ground in the typically close first polling division, which stretches from Barrine Close in the west to Fox Hill Road in the east.

Dr Sands carried the division by just 11 votes in 2017 and only two votes in 2012.

Yesterday, a number of residents in that division appeared willing to give the FNM another chance, though some leaned toward the PLP or a third party.

Faithful party supporters like 80-year-old Mary Wright, who consistently supports the FNM after voting for the PLP in the days of the United Bahamian Party, and Paris Edwards, a longtime PLP supporter, said they see no reason to switch allegiances now.

Meanwhile, frustrated Barrine Close resident Gloria made clear her vote will come with a price.

“I’m not voting unless someone gives me some money because I don’t never see them. I need me at least $1,000, nothing less than $500,” she said with no hint of humour. “I ain’ never get nothing from them, I just does go and vote but I mean you does vote every (five years) and after election you don’t see nobody, you don’t hear nobody, you can’t even make an appointment with anybody.”

Some PLP supporters have complained in recent days that the Minnis administration’s decision to let those in quarantine vote alongside others is an effort to drive a low voter turnout.

No evidence suggests, however, that low voter

turnout will affect one party more than the other. J Williams, a 29-year-old Barrine Close resident, is leaning towards the FNM but is unsure she will vote at all because of COVID-19 and the possibility that protocols will not be followed on Election Day. “I saw videos of the lines at the advanced polls and there wasn’t any social distancing,” she said. “I’m still thinking about it and it’s likely that I will (vote) but I’m not sure. The three times I’ve voted I haven’t voted for the same party. I don’t attach to the party.”

Ms Williams said if she votes at all, she will likely vote for the same party on Thursday that she did in 2017.

“The reason being for that is how the people in the parties reacted when certain decisions were being made to get through the pandemic,” she said.

“That was a big thing for me because it really showed how they valued the lives of Bahamians. That’s a big factor because we’re still in the pandemic. For now, I prefer stability. I don’t think a drastic change is best right now.”

Scientific research this cycle has suggested that a high number of undecided voters have entered the final quarter of the political season. In 2017, such voters appeared to break big for the FNM, and PLP insiders are betting that they will benefit from a similar boost this time as the opposition party.

Some undecided Bahamians like first-time voter Terron Musgrove are still

ELIZABETH constituent Terron Musgrove said he was “seriously scared for my country”. unclear who they will support.

“I’m seriously scared for my country,” Mr Musgrove said, “even though Minnis did his best and no other prime minister faced what he faced. How they go about on these big floats like we having Carnival and we having big COVID and they doing that. I most likely gon’ vote but I don’t think it makes sense to vote because it ain’ like even if you change government it gon’ be any different.

Governments will continue doing what they always do, bettering themselves rather than bettering the people.”

As many as 15 parties will have candidates contesting seats in the general election. Thirty-one other candidates are running as independents.

Chabince Lane resident Pauline, 53, said she supported the PLP in 2017 but is strongly considering a third party or an independent candidate this time.

“Both the Free National Movement and the Progressive Liberal Party, both of those parties were already given chances so I’m trying to look at a third party to see if I could support one of those candidates. It’s still a question mark but I would have preferred for election to be next year where you could get more time to meet more of the new candidates from the other parties,” she said.

For some political observers, the sometimes uneasy relationship between Dr Sands and Dr Minnis is another reason to pay close attention to the constituency.

Gatewood Lane resident Britney Ferguson is an enthusiastic supporter of Dr Sands, but she said she won’t vote for him because of the way Dr Minnis has treated him.

“I will support Duane Sands until he stops being Duane Sands,” she said.

“Duane Sands is my

member of Parliament, my prime minister, my minister of health. . .and everything else from he came into office until today. He saved my husband’s life two weeks ago moments before Nomination Day against advice of people who felt he should’ve been in whatever meeting after my husband completely severed his radial artery. I reached out to Dr Sands to get assistance. He operated on my husband.

“I can’t support the FNM because what I can say is that at the end of the day Dr Sands is a man of his word and he is very accountable. The prime minister is not accountable.

The way he called election, my cousins who were excited to vote can’t even vote. And while you want to vote for the best representative, the reality of it is you know it’s about party so if the prime minister can’t respect someone like that?”

UNION: GOVT VIOLATED CONSTITUTION

By TANYA SMITHCARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net THE union representing customs and immigration officers has taken court action against the government for alleged breach of contract and violating the Constitution.

Last Thursday, officers of the Immigration Department staged a sick-out, citing general poor treatment from executives and the lack of proper promotions in the ranks.

Yesterday, the Bahamas Customs, Immigration and Allied Workers Union held a press conference where its president, Sloan Smith, revealed that two court actions have been filed.

“Over the past four years we have been trying to engage the government to sign contracts to the extent that we have given them two separate proposals even when things had changed going into COVID and all of that,” Mr Smith said.

“Today this follows up on the fact that obviously we are unable to sit with the government for whatever reason. So we filed a court action for breach of contract.

“The breach of contract had to do with a term in our industrial agreement which we had arrived at which calls for, effective January 1, 2018, uniformed allowance would go from $200 to $250. It is now 2021 some 43 months later and there are about 131 customs officers not receiving the $250 uniform allowance.

“That translates per person to about $2,250 or thereabouts. When you multiply that by 131 then you have an idea of the overall costs of doing that.

That is not a difficult thing to solve.

“In talking to the Controller (of customs), she sent it on to the public service seeking to get them to go ahead and get it paid.

For some reason they never responded to her.”

Mr Smith said the union felt too much time has passed with its members being ignored so on September 6, the action was filed.

“We feel that is easily resolvable but for some reason although it was forwarded to the permanent secretary and the financial secretary, both of whom are aware of that email asking them to resolve it in 14 days otherwise we will take necessary procedures to get it done. No one said anything. So it is three months later and we thought we should file the court action.”

Besides the cost of uniforms, the union also takes issue with the lack of staff promotions and the way in which executives were hired.

“The second filing we did on September 10 had to do with the procedures for hiring immigration officers,” said Mr Smith. “The government hired the gentleman, Clarence Russell to be the Director of Immigration and they hired Stuart Curtis to be the Assistant Director of Immigration.

They also hired David C Rolle to be senior immigration officer.

“The union’s position is that the fact that you hired people in those offices, you totally bypassed the hiring practices as is outlined in the Constitution and 191 of the Immigration Act Section 7. They bypassed that process so nobody was able to apply for those posts or be promoted to those posts.

“So the three persons put in place are persons retired from the police force, that is Russell and Stuart; and the last gentlemen, Rolle, retired from the prison.”

The union feels deserving officers are being overlooked for promotions.

“What do we have now, no immigration (officer) can tell you they have been promoted. And, those who they said were recently promoted were really not

promoted.

They were simply confirmed in their positions,” he said.

“There is 13 months in probation and then you are confirmed in the post. So

there are people who joined in 2010, 2014, 2016 and 2017 ... each of those persons

should have been confirmed 13 months after their hiring.

This is now 2021.”

PAGE 6, Wednesday, September 15, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

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Don’t be lulled by drop in COVID numbers Treasure hunt IS THERE a glimmer of hope in the number of COVID cases being recorded?

The Ministry of Health has said there is a “notable decrease” in the number of newly confirmed cases – and recent daily dashboards have seen a drop in the count, it is true.

That said, alongside the reduction in confirmed cases, there has been a reduction in testing – and the positivity rate still stands at about the same, 26 percent.

What does all that mean? Well, there may indeed be fewer cases. Not as many people may be seeking testing because not as many people think they have it.

That positivity rate shows the virus is still out there, though, and we are still seeing a large number of people hospitalised and too, too many deaths.

A reduction in hospitalisations and deaths tends to follow a short while after a drop in cases – so we can hope.

What it absolutely should not mean, however, is that we take things easy as we head into election day.

When you go to vote, do so with the presumption that all those around you have the potential to be carrying the virus.

In today’s column by Alicia Wallace, there are good, sensible tips for how to approach election day, in order to give yourself the best chance to protect your health.

The same protocols will be in place on election day as there have been at the height of the wave – wear masks, keep your distance, all the same routine we have been urged to abide by for so long.

One change is that you may be in line next to people who have come out of quarantine to vote – so bear that in mind as you think about the distance you need to keep.

If you have a concern, speak up – tell a police officer or a poll worker if voters are being crowded in too closely.

This news of a reduction in cases is welcome, let’s make no mistake about that, and we hope it continues as the days go on. But don’t drop your guard.

Vote wisely, and vote safely.

The seas around The Bahamas have often been said to be our greatest treasure – and it seems there are treasures underneath those waves too.

A number of companies have expressed an interest in finding the wealth contained by shipwrecks on the ocean floor, with one licence already granted to Allen Exploration, led by Carl Allen, owner of Walker’s Cay. A separate Bahamian company reveals in today’s business section that they had a proposal on the government’s desk back in 2018, which could already have brought in up to $500m in revenue for the nation, but that plan has been stalled by the government.

The co-founder of that group, Matthew Arnett, despaired over the roadblocks put up for his group, asking “what does it mean to be a Bahamian” when his group got turned down for a permit, while foreign-led and financed rivals get the go-ahead.

Given the sums of money potentially available – Arnett’s group estimated $100bn in gold, precious metals and more – this is the kind of project which should be getting a lot more attention, but the government has been very quiet about it.

This could bring billions to The Bahamas, at a time when our finances could certainly use it. With silence comes caution – is this being handled the right way?

We have already said this needs to be dealt with in a transparent fashion, including the reporting of finds, to make sure there is no risk of corruption.

But that transparency would also benefit Bahamian companies, so they can see why they have been left hanging while other non-Bahamian companies get the go-ahead. It’s a level playing field, nothing more, and people should be able to see they have been treated fairly.

Whichever party leads the government after tomorrow’s election, we hope they can offer transparency as clear as the waters around us.

PLP’s silent Long Island candidate EDITOR, The Tribune.

WHEN will the Progressive Liberal Party candidate for Long Island, Tyrel Young (PLP), address the people of Long Island?

PLP Tyrel Young has not uttered a word to the general public of Long Island, so is he expecting to win off of PLP Leader Brave Davis’ few utterances?

The People of Long Island are asking Tyrel Young to speak on his plans for Long Island and Long Islanders.

Long Islanders have always been revered as hardworking, book smart and an independent set of people.

For years, Long Island has been a stronghold for the FNM, Free National Movement, who carry and live by the “Red And Ain’t Scared” motto, guaranteeing a sure Red seat for the FNM party.

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net MP Adrian Gibson, has been branded as Long Island’s All Time Greatest MP, with a track record to prove it, even beating out former Long Islanders who ran as Member of Parliament, on the FNM tickets of time passed.

Long Island gone Gold, Crabs Crawling is the narrative being spun, but Long Island has never birthed a set of gullible people yet.

Long Islanders are known to be Head Strong and not to easy Swing.

Where is the PLP’S record of accomplishments for Long Island?

Where is the record of accomplishments from the MP of Cat Island and the Leader of The PLP, Brave Davis?

We are couple days away from elections and there is nothing to show the people of Long Island. Nothing from the PLP and not one word from the PLP candidate.

The only thing that the PLP is showing for Long Island is “crabs crawling”, music blaring up and down Queens Highway, people becoming super COVID spreaders and just eating up free food and drinking up free rum, but No Plan.

What does the PLP candidate for Long Island have to say to the Long Island people and about his plans for Long Island.

How can I cast a vote for someone, like PLP Tyrel Young, when I don’t even know his plans for Long Island’s future.

PHILIPPA CARTWRIGHT Nassau, September 14, 2021.

Readers have their say AFTER Public Services and National Insurance Minister announced dozens of Abaco residents will be made permanent employees of the ministry and the National Insurance Board, readers had plenty to say.

Mandela said: “Now we see how the public sector becomes so blotted, days before the election, this the same man who upon taking office fired thousands at NIB saying it was blotted, promises, promises they are a comfort to fools, and so all who fall for these promises are just that fools.”

However, licks2 said: “I happen to know that the promotion exercise was something in the works for about 3 to 2 years now!! The FNM attempted to “clear out” all those promotion that “got stuck” in the maze call public services. I had some family members who got “plenty” promotion...

thousands of them in the last year or so that we heard nothing about!!

“But I must add... Mr Rolle did look “a lil amatureish” on stage “playing” like they “just gee” them workers their promotions!!

Them promotion are “old news”...possibly to have greater “affect” on voters buying just before the election!!”

Tribanon added: “Elected and other senior government officials should be banned by statute law from doing the following after a national general election has been called until the

outcome of the election is known and the next government administration takes the reins of power: “1) Using the public purse to hand out jobs and other freebies in a blatant bribery effort to obtain voter support; “2) Making significant appointments and promotions of any kind within the public sector aimed at ‘vote buying’ and/or frustrating the next elected administration; and “3) Signing material contracts for non-essential goods and services.

“The corrupt Minnisled FNM administration is guilty of having done all of these things and much more since Minnis announced the September 16 Election Date.”

• Have your say - and follow our election day coverage - on www.tribune242. com.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, September 15, 2021, PAGE 7

$750k for unlawful detention from page one The sum was awarded to Joseph Amihere for the physical, emotional and psychological abuse he endured while in custody. Of that figure, Registrar Camille Darville Gomez awarded Mr Amihere $551,200 for general damages; $100,000 for exemplary damages; $50,000 for assault and battery; another $50,000 for aggravated damages and $700 for special damages.

No money was awarded for constitutional damage by way of compensation and vindication.

While the award is a notable size, it is still less than 10 percent of the $10.6 million Mr Amihere requested when he initially launched legal action against the Attorney General, Minister of Immigration, Commissioner of Police, Director of Immigration and the officerin-charge of the detention centre. Still, in her ruling, Registrar Darville Gomez

said the award will be accompanied with “interest to accrue from the date of the issue of the writ at the rate of 6.25 percent”.

Mr Amihere travelled to The Bahamas from Kingston, Jamaica as a “lawful visitor” on September 25, 2010.

A week later he was unlawfully held and taken to the detention centre by police officers. He remained there until May 2017, when he was released on a successful habeas corpus application heard by

‘I WAS FORCED TO SMUGGLE COCAINE’

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A JAMAICAN man who said he was forced to smuggle $20,000 worth of cocaine into the country to prevent his family from being killed by drug lords was yesterday sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Police arrested Junior Reid, 28, after he imported 2.3 pounds of cocaine into the country on September 9.

He pleaded guilty to possession of dangerous drugs with the intent to supply, conspiracy to import dangerous drugs and importation of dangerous drugs when he appeared before Magistrate Samuel McKinney yesterday.

The court was told that around 12.50pm on the day in question, officers acting on information went to the Bahamas Customs Hall at Lynden Pindling International Airport. When they arrived, they noticed Reid, who appeared to look in their direction before acting in a suspicious manner.

The prosecution said officers approached him and informed him that he would be searched for dangerous drugs and firearms.

During their investigation, they noticed he was wearing compression tights. The court was told when officers examined them, they found four packages which all contained a quantity of cocaine. Reid was subsequently arrested.

Yesterday, Reid told the magistrate he smuggled the drugs into The Bahamas “against his will.” He claimed he came from a poor family in Jamaica and was sent away for a better life. However, he said his

JUNIOR Reid outside court.

Photo: Racardo Thomas/ Tribune Staff mother and daughter still resided in the inner city in Kingston.

Reid said a month ago, he was contacted by a mafia leader who told him he’ll have to transport the drugs to this country or his family would be killed.

The accused said he was told if he “dropped off the drugs” his family would be safe. Reid said he didn’t bother contacting the police in Jamaica because he knew if he did, the gangs would automatically kill his mother and child. He also said he did not have the opportunity to contact any of his family members since his arrest.

After accepting his guilty pleas, Magistrate McKinney sentenced Reid to 18 months in prison. He also fined the accused $10,000 and told him if he failed to pay the fee, he could risk spending an additional six months behind bars.

In a separate case, American Roy Watkins was ordered to pay $300 to avoid spending a month locked up.

The Brooklyn, New York native was arrested after officers found two methamphetamine pills on him at the airport on September 11.

The court was told around 1pm that day, American border patrol agents on duty at the US Customs Hall contacted police in reference to a suspected drug bust. When officers arrived, the agents pointed out Watkins, who they said was attempting to travel back to the States after vacationing in the country. The prosecution said the US custom officers also gave police two green pills that they had confiscated from the accused. Watkins was then arrested and taken to a nearby station. When he was interviewed in custody, he admitted the offence and said he had the drugs during his stay at the Warwick hotel.

When he appeared before Magistrate McKinney yesterday, he pleaded guilty to one count of possession. As a result, he was fined $300 or one month in prison.

Yesterday, Perez Collie also appeared before Magistrate McKinney after they found amphetamine pills at his residence on September 13.

He told the magistrate someone gave him the tablets after telling him they were antidepressants. He said he never bothered taking them, but police found them when they searched his residence on the night in question.

After pleading guilty to simple possession, he was fined $1,500 or six months at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.

Supreme Court Justice Bernard Turner.

His attorneys said Mr Amihere was never taken before a court of law for breaching any immigration laws nor was he the subject of a deportation order under the Immigration Act. While he was in custody, he said he was beaten several times by Royal Bahamas Defence Force officers and Department of Immigration officers during routine searches of CRDC dorms.

“On several occasions when the defendants

conducted searches in the dorms, they threw Joseph Amihere’s clothing outside and if he objected, they would use their hands and punch him repeatedly,” court documents recorded.

Mr Amihere’s attorneys said he “was forced to sleep on the hard and dirty floor” of Central Police Station and subsequently on box springs or the floor of the crowded Carmichael Road Detention Centre.

“The toilets were always clogged and there were no cleaning products provided

to properly clean the bathrooms so they could use them with dignity,” the court documents filed in support of his lawsuit state.

“Mr Amihere had to bathe in dirty water that rose nearly a foot off the floor in the clogged open showers.

The floors were extremely dirty and stunk all the time.

“As a result of the matters aforesaid, Joseph Amihere was deprived of his personal liberty for almost seven years and has suffered injuries, sustained loss and damage.”

ZONTA THROW SUPPORT TO WOMEN CANDIDATES THE Zonta Club of New Providence has thrown its support behind every woman candidate vying for office on September 16.

“Equal representation of women in politics is one of Zonta’s many goals in advancing the status of women here and around the world and we stand fearlessly behind all women offering themselves for candidacy in this election,” said ZCNP President Marisa Mason-Smith.

“We believe having more women in Parliament would allow for inclusive policy making that affects more than half of the population here in The Bahamas.

“We make note of the parties that have included women in their offerings and we are confident that whether they win, lose or draw, these female candidates will redefine the political landscape in their parties and in the nation for other women to follow in their footsteps.”

MARISA MASON SMITH, Zonta Club of New Providence A Zonta press release said studies have shown that having more women in politics and in Parliament affects the breadth of policies as well as the solutions that are considered.

The ZCNP believes that women in key political positions are important to having policies in place to support the advancement and empowerment of women.

Zonta, along with partner Caribbean Women in Leadership (CIWiL) and other NGOs, made history on December

11, 2020, by leading the first ever Women in Parliament session. This resulted in two resolutions presented: to eliminate gender-based violence by 2030; and to increase women leadership in Parliament and national office and to encourage and support government, official opposition and all political parties to deliver the requisite training.

The groups also want all political parties to institute quotas to ensure that no less than: • 50 percent of senatorial appointments by both government and opposition are women; • 50 percent of candidates chosen to contest local government elections are women; • 50 percent of Cabinet appointments be women; and • 50 percent of the constituencies in 2026 general election be reserved for women, so that The Bahamas will achieve its obligations to the Bahamian people.

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PATRICK CAREY, second left, Shepfield Rolle, third left, and Kirk Brennen, right, outside court.

Photo: Racardo Thomas/Tribune Staff

THREE MEN IN COURT ON GUN CHARGES

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

THREE men who denied being the owners of two loaded guns were yesterday remanded to prison pending a bail hearing.

Police alleged that

Patrick Carey, 27, Shepfield Rolle, 25, and Kirk Brennen, 22, were found with two G3C Taurus pistols and 24 live rounds of ammunition on September 11. They further alleged the trio were in possession of a 9mm extended magazine.

During their arraignment

before Magistrate Samuel McKinney, the men denied the allegations. They return to court on September 17 for the magistrate to determine whether he will grant them bail before their trial.

Carey, Rolle and Brennen were all taken into custody until that time.

PAIR ACCUSED OF ARMED ROBBERY

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A MAN and teenager were charged with armed robbery in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

Police arrested Justin Williams, 21, and Le’andre

Lightbourne, 18, after they were accused of using a handgun to rob a woman of $150 on August 29.

Due to the nature of the offence, the accused were not required to enter a plea and their case was adjourned to December 10 for service of a voluntary

bill of indictment.

In the meantime, Lightbourne and Williams were denied bail and remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.

They have a right to apply to the Supreme Court for bail.

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PAGE 8, Wednesday, September 15, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

If you’re going to vote tomorrow - stay safe

By Alicia Wallace TOMORROW, we go to the polls. Well, some of us. I have heard from numerous people that they are definitely not going or are still very unsure about voting in the election due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the current raging wave of cases as well as the video evidence of an obviously disorganized advanced poll. For many, uncertainty turned into definite opt-outs when the announcement was made that people who are supposed to be in quarantine will also be allowed to present at the poll and vote alongside everyone else.

There is no disputing every registered voter must be allowed to vote.

The issue is the process has not been designed in response to our current circumstances. We will have to wait to see the participation rate, but the failure to implement sufficient COVID-19 safety protocols along with frustration with the two major political parties who, yet again, do not have platforms outside of the usual “We’re not them,” will likely result in far too many people being left out of the process. It would be improper to call this choice when our health is on the line.

There was a time when an alphabetical grocery shopping schedule was announced in the attempt to reduce crowds inside and lined up outside of grocery stores. There was no Junkanoo, and there is no telling whether or not there will be Junkanoo this year. Weddings and funerals were postponed and now have a limited

ADVICE FOR KEEPING HEALTHY ON THE VOTING LINE

number of attendees. Students are attending school virtually. There is a curfew in place. Yet, somehow, it makes sense to the Prime Minister – the “competent other people and let people authority” – to have an know when they are too early election, and in the close. Take as few items same fashion as previous with you as possible. elections.

Make sure you are There has been no inno- hydrated when you get vation. There has not even there. Take water with you. been thought to the logistics Check the weather before of the process and creating you go and determine a different and safer way whether or not you need for people to vote. Not an umbrella. Cue up some even a drive-thru option entertainfor those ment for ‘It is obviously on in quaranthe wait tine? Hand us to keep ourselves and be sure sanitizer to have safe.

If you are going and advisearphones. to the polls tomorrow, ing people Noiseto social take hand sanitizer canceling distance are headwith you.

Wear two not sufficient phones clean masks.

Do not measures to would be make par- touch the cloth once even better. ticipation in We all you have the masks the electoral know how process safe on. When you need to easy it is to for every- remove the masks, do be sucked one.

How into other will it all be so by using the strings people’s enforced? at the back. Do not complaints How will touch anything or and how long lines they tend to anyone.

Stand six — and the make you people on feet away from other more aware them — be people and let people of the heat, managed? tired legs, It is obvi- know when they slow-movously on us are too close. Take ing lines to keep our- as few items with and every selves safe. other negaIf you are you as possible. tive aspect. going to the They may polls tomorrow, take hand be right, but it does not sanitizer with you. Wear help you to hear it, so if you two clean masks. Do not can escape through music, touch the cloth once you audiobooks, podcasts, or have the masks on. When games on your personal you need to remove the electronic device, get them masks, do so by using the ready so all you have to do strings at the back. Do not is press play. touch anything or anyone.

Voting is important. All Stand six feet away from eligible people should be a

part of the process. We should all be confident in the process and be able to participate safely. In the middle of a pandemic, this is beyond challenging, especially without proper planning based on our circumstances and the goal to encourage and accommodate the participation of every member of the electorate. It is clear that the latter was not and is not a goal. In fact, as has been the case before, there seems to be an attempt to dissuade people from voting. We are being told to show up and vote, but our needs are not being met. It is being made clear that it is on us to keep ourselves safe. Not everyone is prepared to take that risk, knowing that we have to rely on others to take precautions.

It is important to note party “diehards” will not stay home. They are going to show up to vote, no matter what. Those frustrated by the electoral process beyond the immediate circumstances were probably already minded to opt out, seeing no good options. If we want out of the current administration and if we want to avoid another supermajority, a large number of us need to vote for independent candidates. We need to get some of them elected.

We have, in previous election periods, considered this impossible. This time around, it is even more challenging. If enough of us do it, we get more than just the PLP and the FNM in the House. If not enough of

Recommendations In Treatment. A decade after season three ended, In Treatment is back. This time, Uzo Aduba plays Brooke, the therapist seeing three patients — home health aide Eladio whose employers pay for his sessions, recently released from prison for white collar crime Colin, and queer teenager Laila whose wise grandmother wants to control the process.

Brooke’s on and off boyfriend shows up from time to time along with the shadows of their relationship issues.

Brooke sees patients in a multimillion dollar Los Angeles home designed by her father. This show is a glimpse into therapy and how it can help people. Each patient has a different

reason for being there, and Brooke serves as an advocate and a mirror for them, allowing them to see themselves and be able to ask for what they need.

For Brooke, there is her AA sponsor Rita. In Treatment takes place during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it is not dramatically presented or frequently referenced. This gives the show the realistic feel without overwhelming viewers with the world we, quite frankly, would like to escape.

The Other Side of Paradise by Staceyann Chin. In this memoir, Staceyann Chin shares the circumstances of her youth, and she maintains a focus on herself. She manages to be honest and express her own emotions

without casting blame, even when it seems blame is due. Hers is not the usual story of survival, but one of doggedness. She believed in her right to a good education, grand opportunities, and happiness. She pursued them all with little thought to what her efforts might look like to other people. She was unafraid of asking for what she needed, and being denied was of little consequence when she could ask again or try another way. This is her story of growing up in Jamaica, navigating complicated family dynamics, forging friendships, and finding her own path to freedom.

us do it, we may just “split the vote.”

We cannot predict the outcome. What we can do, however, is commit to ongoing participation in governance and understanding our role in a much broader way than casting a ballot every five years. We need to hold the next administration accountable. We need to make our demands clear. We need to be aware of the commitments the Government of The Bahamas has already made at the national, regional and international levels.

We can look, for example, at the commitments we have made — and not met — regarding women.

As it was in 2017, there is insufficient representation of women in the major parties’ slates of candidates.

There has been no attention to the specific needs of women in their “plans” and they have demonstrated their lack of commitment to gender equality. The FNM manifesto says it has “more women as candidates” which is almost laughable because in 2017, only four of its candidates were women. “More” means very little, especially when the call for a quota has been clear, the minimum recommendation has been 30 percent. Seven out of 39 is a long way off.

The Bahamas ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1993.

The State was not forced to ratify. It chose to do so, thereby acknowledging and accepting its responsibility to end discrimination against women. Its sixth periodic report was made in 2018. In its Concluding Observations, the CEDAW Committee said it “remains concerned about the low participation of women in political and public life, in particular in decisionmaking positions, which can be attributed in part to patriarchal attitudes, lack of such measures as statutory quotas or a parity system for political appointments, limited access to political networks, and insufficient capacity building programs for women in leadership and political skills.”

The Committee called on the State to “establish concrete goals and time frames

for strengthening the equal participation of women in public and political life at all levels and create the conditions necessary for the achievement of such goals, such as implementing statutory quotas.”

The Committee acknowledged the transition from the Bureau of Women’s Affairs to the Department of Gender and Family Affairs, and it highlighted areas of concern including lack of human resources, weak institutional structure and the (continued) delay in adopting a gender policy and a strategic plan for the Department.

The Department of Gender and Family Affairs has faded into the background, failing to even engage with non-governmental organizations that are and have been at the forefront in the women’s rights space. Its monthly meetings seem to be a thing of the past, and it only seems to pop up when an international observation day rolls around. It is unclear whether or not the Department is responsive to critical issues such as women’s political participation and, more specifically, the lack of women being supported as candidates.

We do not hear the Department call for genderresponsive budgeting, or have any indication of its participation in such processes which is necessary to ensure gender is mainstreamed in all government ministries and departments and money is allocated for this purpose. Gender should not be isolated to one Department, but a primary consideration in all spaces and in the planning processes that impact the delivery programmes and other resources. As an example, with a gender perspective, hurricane relief efforts would include the provision of menstrual hygiene products, single women and children would be housed separately from men, contraceptives would be provided, and pregnant people would have access to healthcare services and appropriate nutrition. The needs of people who have been displaced would be anticipated and fulfilled without them having to individually make special requests.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, September 15, 2021, PAGE 9

TECHTALK AMAZON BRINGS PALM-SWIPING TECH TO RED ROCKS CONCERT VENUE

By JOSEPH PISANI AP Retail Writer

SEEN on the screen of a device in La Habra, Calif., new iPhone 13 smartphones are introduced during a virtual event held to announce new Apple products Tuesday. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

APPLE’S NEXT iPHONE MIRRORS LAST YEAR’S, ADDS MORE STORAGE

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer

SAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) — Apple unveiled its next iPhone line-up, including a model that offers twice the storage available in earlier versions and other modest upgrades to last year’s editions that proved to be a big hit among consumers devouring the latest technology during the pandemic.

The pre-recorded video event streamed Tuesday gave Apple a chance to present a polished story following a turbulent few weeks.

The recent bumps included a hastily patched security vulnerability that could let hackers secretly take control of iPhones and other Apple devices; a backlash to the company’s plans to scan iPhones for images of child sex abuse and a federal judge’s ruling that chipped away further at the competitive barrier Apple built around its app store, which generates billions of dollars in profits each year.

SEEN on the screen of a device in La Habra, Calif., new Apple Watch Series 7 models are introduced during a virtual event held to announce new Apple products. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

As has been the case since Apple’s late co-founder unveiled the first iPhone in 2007, Apple executives talked reverently about the latest model, even though it isn’t dramatically different from the version Apple released nearly a year ago.

A PORTION of the new iPhone 13 Pro smartphone is seen on a device display.

(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Like last year’s model, the new iPhone 13 will come in four different designs, with prices starting from $700 to $1,100. They’re scheduled to be in stores September 24.

“It’s an incremental upgrade,” said Gartner analyst Tuong Nguyen. “Some of the new features are impressive, but most of them are not noticeable or practical for most users.”

Possibly the most notable change in the latest high-end iPhone 13 will be an option for a full terabyte of storage — that’s 1,000 gigabytes — on the device, up from its previous maximum of 512 gigabytes. That’s enough storage to accommodate roughly 250,000 photos, or about 500 hours of high definition video.

Having a massive amount of storage could become more important to many consumers with the advent of ultra-high definition video and ultrafast wireless 5G networks that will make downloading content faster and easier, Nguyen said.

Apple is also promising better cameras on the iPhone 13, including an improved ultrawide lens, a cinematic-like video feature and

technology for better nighttime pictures. (The latter mirrors a feature Google has long offered in its line of Pixel phones, which haven’t been big sellers yet.) As usual, the latest iPhones are supposed to have longer-lasting batteries, too.

“We keep making the iPhone more capable,” Apple CEO Tim Cook boasted.

These kinds of incremental upgrades have become routine for Apple and other device makers in recent years as the pace of smartphone innovation slowed, even while prices for some phones have climbed above $1,000. That trend has prompted more consumers to hold on to their older smartphones for longer periods.

But the release of last year’s iPhone 12 unleashed one of Apple’s biggest sales spurts since 2014, possibly because the pandemic helped make homebound people realise it was time to get a newer and better model than what they had been using. Through the first six months of this year, Apple’s iPhone sales have surged by nearly 60% from the same time last year.

That boom has helped push Apple’s stock price near its alltime highs recently, giving the company a market value of about $2.5 trillion -- more than twice what it was before the pandemic began 18 months ago.

Apple’s shares dipped 1% Tuesday in a sign that that investors weren’t excited by what they saw in the new iPhones.

Although the iPhone is still by far Apple’s biggest moneymaker, the company has been trying to supplement its success with peripheral products such as its smartwatch.

The Cupertino, California, company used Tuesday’s showcase to provide a preview of its next Apple Watch, which will feature a thinner, more rounded and brighter display.

NEW YORK (AP) — Your palm could soon be your ticket into a concert.

Amazon says it is bringing its palm-recognition technology to the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Denver and it will be available at other venues in the coming months. It’s the first time the technology, called Amazon One, will be used outside some of Amazon’s stores, where shoppers can pay for groceries and snacks by swiping their palms.

Starting Tuesday, concertgoers at Red Rocks can sign up to connect their palm to a ticketing account by hovering their hand over a device.

They only need to sign up once and then can use their palm to get into other shows and events at the venue.

An Amazon account is not needed to use it.

Amazon signed a deal with entertainment company AEG to bring the technology to Red Rocks, which sells tickets on AEG’s ticketing site, AXS. Bryan Perez, CEO of AXS, said other venues plan to add the technology in the coming months but he declined to say where or how many. AEG partners with more than 350 stadiums and theaters around the world.

Concertgoers can get to their seats faster with their palm than holding up their phone to an attendant to scan a bar code, Perez said.

Those who want to scan their palms will have a separate lane to enter.

“You don’t have to fumble around with your phone,” said Perez. “Your hand is always attached to your body.”

Privacy experts have warned against companies using biometric data, such as face or palm scans, because of the risk of it being hacked and stolen. Amazon said it keeps the palm images in a secure part of its cloud and doesn’t store the information on the Amazon One device.

Users can also ask for their information to be deleted at any time, Amazon said.

TOP FREE iPAD APPS: 1. Destiny Run, Voodoo 2. Make ’Em, SUPERSONIC STUDIOS LTD 3. Get Lucky 3D, HOMA GAMES 4. YouTube: Watch, Listen, Stream, Google LLC 5. Netflix, Netflix, Inc. 6. Disney+, Disney 7. ZOOM Cloud Meetings, Zoom 8. Roblox, Roblox Corporation 9. Google Chrome, Google LLC 10. Hulu: Stream movies & TV shows, Hulu, LLC

PAGE 10, Wednesday, September 15, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

Call to charge Haiti PM over president’s slaying PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti Associated Press HAITI’S chief prosecutor asked a judge yesterday to charge Prime Minister Ariel Henry in the slaying of the president and to bar him from leaving the country, a move that could further destabilise a country roiled by turmoil following the assassination and a recent major earthquake.

The order filed by Portau-Prince prosecutor Bed-Ford Claude came on the same day that he requested that Henry meet with him and explain why a key suspect in the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse called him twice just hours after the killing.

“There are enough compromising elements ... to prosecute Henry and ask for his outright indictment,” Claude wrote.

A spokesman for Henry could not immediately be reached for comment.

Claude said the calls were made at 4:03am and 4:20am on July 7, adding that evidence shows the suspect, Joseph Badio, was in the vicinity of Moïse’s home at that time. Badio once worked for Haiti’s Ministry of Justice and at the government’s anti-corruption unit until he was fired in May amid accusations of violating unspecified ethical rules.

In the two-page document, Claude said the calls lasted a total of seven minutes and that Henry was at the Hotel Montana in Port-au-Prince at the time.

He also noted that a government official tweeted last month that Henry told him he never spoke with Badio.

On Monday, Justice Minister Rockfeller Vincent

IN this July 20 photo, Haiti’s designated Prime Minister Ariel Henry, centre, and interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph, right, pose for a group photo with other authorities in front of a portrait of slain Haitian President Jovenel Moise during a memorial service for Moise.

Photo: Joseph Odelyn/AP ordered the chief of Haiti’s National Police to boost security for Claude because the prosecutor had received “important and disturbing” threats in the past five days.

The Associated Press obtained a letter dated Monday in which Henry told Claude he was firing him for an undefined “serious administrative fault” and that the decision was effective as soon as he received the document. It wasn’t immediately clear whether Claude received it or whether his instruction to charge Henry was valid given the letter. Claude did not immediately respond to

a request for comment.

The judge in the case, Garry Orelien, is required to investigate based on Claude’s request and has three months to determine whether to take action.

Robert Fatton, a Haitian politics expert at the University of Virginia, said there was clearly a power struggle within the government between Henry and those who supported Moïse.

“We have a very confusing situation, a power struggle at the moment, and we will see who will win it,” he said. “It’s not clear where we are going, and

it’s not clear what the international community thinks about everything.”

In recent days, Haiti’s ombudsman-like Office of Citizen Protection announced it was demanding that Henry step down and asked that the international community stop supporting him.

Henry has not specifically addressed the issue in public, although during a meeting with politicians and civil society leaders on Saturday, he said he is committed to helping stabilize Haiti.

“Rest assured that no distraction, no summons

or invitation, no maneuver, no threat, no rear-guard combat, no aggression will distract me from my mission,” Henry said. “The real culprits, the intellectual authors and coauthor and sponsor of the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse will be found and brought to justice and punished for their crimes.”

Moïse had appointed Henry as prime minister shortly before he was killed at his home in an attack that also seriously wounded his wife, Martine Moïse.

More than 40 suspects have been arrested in the case, including 18 former

Colombian soldiers.

Authorities are still looking for additional suspects, including Badio and a former Haitian senator.

The investigation is ongoing despite court clerks going into hiding after receiving death threats if they didn’t change certain names and statements in their reports.

In addition, a Haitian judge assigned to oversee the investigation stepped down last month citing personal reasons. He left after one of his assistants died in unclear circumstances.

A new judge has been assigned.

CLAIM TOP US OFFICER FEARED TRUMP COULD ORDER CHINA STRIKE WASHINGTON Associated Press

FEARFUL of Donald Trump’s actions in his final weeks as president, the United States’ top military officer twice assured his Chinese counterpart that the two nations would not go to war, according to a forthcoming book.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley told Gen Li Zuocheng of the People’s Liberation Army that the United States would not strike.

One call took place on October 30, 2020, four days before the election that defeated Trump. The second call was on January 8, 2021, just two days after the insurrection at the US Capitol by supporters of the outgoing chief executive.

Milley went so far as to promise Li that he would warn his counterpart in the event of a US attack, according to the book “Peril”, written by Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa.

“General Li, I want to assure you that the American government is stable and everything is going to be okay,” Milley told him in the first call, according to the book. “We are not going to attack or conduct any kinetic operations against you.”

“If we’re going to attack, I’m going to call you ahead of time. It’s not going to be a surprise,” Milley reportedly said.

Selections from the book, which is set to be released next week, were first reported by The Washington Post yesterday.

The second call was meant to placate Chinese fears about the events of January 6. But the book reports that Li wasn’t as easily assuaged, even after Milley promised him, “We

are 100 percent steady.

Everything’s fine.

But democracy can be sloppy sometimes.”

Milley believed the president suffered a mental decline after the election, agreeing with a view shared

by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a phone call they had January 8, according to officials.

Pelosi had previously said she spoke to Milley that day about “available precautions” to prevent Trump from initiating military action or ordering a nuclear launch, and she told colleagues she was given unspecified assurances that there were longstanding safeguards in place.

Milley, according to the book, called the admiral overseeing the US Indo-Pacific Command, the military unit responsible for Asia and the Pacific region, and recommended postponing upcoming military exercises.

He also asked senior officers to swear an “oath” that Milley had to be involved if Trump gave an order to launch nuclear weapons, according to the book.

Milley was appointed by Trump in 2018 and later drew the president’s wrath when he expressed regret for participating in a June 2020 photo op with Trump after federal law enforcement cleared a park near the White House of peaceful protesters so Trump could stand at a nearby damaged church.

Requests for comment from Milley were not immediately returned. Milley’s second warning to Beijing came after Trump had fired Secretary of Defense Mike Esper and filled several top positions with interim officeholders loyal to him.

The book also offers new insights into Trump’s efforts to hold on to power despite losing the election to Democrat Joe Biden.

IN this image released by Sea Shepherd Conservation Society the carcasses of dead white-sided dolphins lay on a beach after being pulled from the blood-stained water on the island of Eysturoy which is part of the Faeroe Islands on Sunday.

SLAUGHTER OF DOLPHINS ON FAEROES SPARKS DEBATE OVER TRADITIONS COPENHAGEN, Denmark Associated Press THE slaughter of 1,428 white-sided dolphins over the weekend, part of a four-century-old traditional drive of sea mammals into shallow water where they are killed for their meat and blubber, has reignited a debate on the small Faeroe Islands.

The hunt in the North Atlantic islands is not commercial and is authorised, but environmental activists claim it is cruel. Even people in the Faeroes who defend the traditional practice worry that this year’s hunt will draw unwanted attention because it was far larger than previous ones and seemingly took place without the usual organisation.

Heri Petersen, the foreman of a group that drives pilot whales toward shore on the central Faeroese island of Eysturoy, where the killings took place Sunday, said he was not told about the dolphin drive and “strongly dissociated” himself from it.

He told the news outlet in.fo. that there were too many dolphins and too few people on the beach to slaughter them.

Islanders usually kill up to 1,000 sea mammals annually, according to data kept by the Faeroe Islands. Last year, that included only 35 white-sided dolphins.

Olavur Sjurdarberg, chairman of the Faeroese Pilot Whale Hunt Association, feared Sunday’s slaughter would revive the discussion about the sea mammal drives and put a negative spin on the ancient tradition of the 18 rocky islands located halfway between Scotland and Iceland. They are semiindependent and part of the Danish realm.

“We need to keep in mind that we are not alone on earth. On the contrary, the world has become much smaller today, with everyone walking around with a camera in their pocket,” Sjurdarberg told local broadcaster KVF. “This is a fabulous treat for those who want us (to look

bad) when it comes to pilot whale catching.”

Faeroese Fishery Minister Jacob Vestergaard told local radio station Kringvarp Foeroya that everything was done by the book in the dolphin hunt.

For years, the Seattle-based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has been opposing the sea mammal drives that date from the late 16th century. On Facebook, the organization described the weekend’s events as “an illegal hunt.”

The white-side dolphins and pilot whales are not endangered species.

Each year, islanders drive herds of the mammals — chiefly pilot whales — into shallow waters, where they are stabbed to death. A blow-hole hook is used to secure the beached whales and their spine and main artery leading to the brain are severed with knives. The drives are regulated by laws and the meat and blubber are shared on a community basis.

SPORTS PAGE 11

SYDNEY CLARKE EXCITED ABOUT YEAR AHEAD AT UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net HER sophomore year as a member of the Blazers women’s tennis team won’t start until October, but in the meantime, Bahamian phenomenon Sydney Clarke is taking advantage of all of the amenities that she missed out on as a freshman at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Limited to what could be done on campus because of the coronavirus pandemic last year, Clarke said she’s finally getting to feel what college life is all about with a lot of the restrictions lifted, although they are still in a Covid-19 environment.

“Since I got back, things have been going really great,” Clarke said.

“We’re finally back with in person classes, so it’s very exciting. It’s a lot of fun, but it’s a lot of what I anticipated when I first came here last year.

“I’m very excited because not only have I been able to meet a lot of new people, but in tennis, we are doing a lot more things together as a team.

Compared to last year when a lot of tournaments were not held, we have a lot on the schedule for this year, so I am very excited about this year.”

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2021

Third place finish for Anthonique Strachan in Zagreb

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WITH the international track and field season winding down, sprinter Anthonique Strachan got in one more competition as she competed at the Memorial Borisa Hanzekovica on Tuesday at the Sports Park Mladost in Zagreb, Croatia.

Competing along with her training partners from Jamaica, Strachan picked up a third place finish in a time of 23.05 seconds. The race was won by 18-yearold Christine Mboma of Namibia in 22.04 with 27-year-old Shericka Jackson of Jamaica taking second in 22.30.

Strachan, who turned 28 on August 22, was the lone Bahamian competing in the two-day meet that got started on Monday. High jumper Donald Thomas was the last Bahamian to compete in the latest meets, finishing sixth last week at the Wanda Diamond League Final in Zurich with a leap of 7-feet, 4 1/4-inches

or 2.24 metres.

The Diamond League Final is the culmination of a series of 14 of the best invitational athletics meetings around the world. Athletes generate points in order to qualify in their various disciplines at the end of the competition.

The Diamond League, which got started in 2010, began this year in Gateshead, Great Britain on May 23. It followed with events in Doha (May 28th), Rome (June 10th), Oslo (July 1st), Stockholm (July 4th), Monaco (July 9th), London (July 13th), Eugene, Oregon (August 21st), Lausanne, Switzerland (August 26th), Paris, France (August 28th) and Brussels, Belgium (September 3rd).

At the Wanda Diamond League Final, Mboma pulled off the victory in the women’s 200m in a meet and area record time of 21.78 with Jackson second in a personal best of 21.82.

Great Britain’s Dana Asher-Smith was third in 22.19.

Strachan was ineligible to compete in the Wanda Diamond League Final as she had not competed in the previous meets to secure sufficient points to qualify.

However, Strachan did get a chance to compete against her rivals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games where she didn’t advance out of the semifinals and was 11th overall in a season’s best of 22.56.

Mboma went on to win the silver medal in 21.81 behind Jamaican Elaine Thompson-Herah, who completed the sprint double by adding the 200m in a national record of 21.53 to her crown in the 100m. American Gabrielle Thomas won the bronze in 21.87.

Strachan is a training partner of Thompson-Herah and Jackson in the MVP Maximising Velocity and Power Track & Field Club MVP Track Club in Jamaica that was founded in September 1999

by Stephen and Paul Francis, David Noel and Bruce James.

ANTHONIQUE Strachan in action. (File photo)

Wins During her freshman year last year, Clarke was second on the Blazers’ team with 18 singles wins, posting an 8-2 win-loss record. She ended 2021 on a six-march winning streak. She will be one of six returning players from last year with three rookies making up the nine-women roster this year.

“With the experience I got last year, I feel a lot more comfortable this year,” Clarke said. “I feel like I’m a junior or senior.

I feel more comfortable, like I’ve been here for so long.”

With a year under her belt, Clarke said she’s anticipating an even greater season this year.

“I feel like I can do a lot better than last year. I want to be able to elevate my game to where I am able to get through matches mentally where I won’t be too stressed,” proclaimed Clarke, who is aiming to be one of the top three players on the team. “I just want to be able to relax and be comfortable.”

With the three freshmen on the team, Clarke said the Blazers’ coaching staff intends to review the performances of each player over the first half of the season before they make their determination on who will play what positions in both singles and doubles.

Clarke, named the 2020 Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture’s Female Athlete of the Year, represented the Bahamas as the number two ranked player on the team that competed at the Billie Jean King Cup, formerly the Fed Cup, for women in June in Panama City, Panama where the team placed third.

That trip to the Dominican Republic in July really helped to boost her confidence in going back to college, admitted Clarke, who has also joined a club on campus at the UAB where she get to do some SEE PAGE 12

FROM LEFT: Rolando ‘Lonnie’ Greene, Anthaya Charlton, Devynne Charlton, Megan Moss, Jaida Knowles and Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie.

THE BAHAMIAN CONNECTION GETS STRONGER AT UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WITH the addition of versatile junior athlete Anthaya Charlton, head coach Rolando ‘Lonnie’ Greene said the Bahamian connection at the University of Kentucky just got stronger as a contender for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Track and Field Championships.

The 100 and 200 metre sprinter and long jumper begins her freshman year as a member of the Wildcats women’s track team at UK where she joins fellow St Augustine’s College graduates Jaida Knowles, now in her sophomore year, and Olympian Megan Moss, who is entering her junior year.

Additionally, Greene is also coaching Charlton’s older sister, Olympian Devynne Charlton, the Bahamian national women’s 100m hurdles record holder who serves as a volunteer coach at for the Wildcats.

Golden Girl Debbie FergusonMcKenzie, a five-time Olympian, is also on the coaching staff as an assistant coach.

“We are in week two, but we are still dealing with the Covid-19 challenges like everybody in the

“We are in week two, but we are still dealing with the Covid-19 challenges like everybody in the world. But we’re done a week of training and they are all doing well. Within the next 4-6 weeks we will know exactly how well they are doing and what they are capable of.”

Head coach Rolando ‘Lonnie’ Greene world,” said Greene of the Bahamian connection. “But we’re done a week of training and they are all doing well. Within the next 4-6 weeks we will know exactly how well they are doing and what they are capable of.”

If there’s one word to sum up his expectations for the Bahamians on the Wildcats’ team, Greene said it’s “greatness.”

He noted that the athletes have all showed up to the University of Kentucky where they are eager to start competing when the indoor

season starts over the weekend of January 15-16 at the McCrary Green Invitational.

Charlton, who has produced a personal best of 11.51 seconds in the 100m with her victory at the 2019 Carifta Games in the Cayman Islands in the under-18 division, is expected to follow in the footsteps of Devynne Charlton, who competed with Greene when he was the head coach at Purdue.

“Anthaya brings depth and she brings quality,” said Greene of the daughter of Laura and Dave Charlton. “We have a great group of girls and so when you have a talent like that, and she can learn from those women who were there before her, she will only get better for us as she goes through the growing pains as a freshman.”

He noted that they are excited to have Knowles back after she suffered a hamstring injury during her freshman indoor season that prevented her from running outdoors last year.

“We could have pushed the issue, but by pushing the issue, we would have only made things worse for her,” Greene said. “So we made the decision to shut down her season and let her properly heal so she will be better available for us this year.

“We had several athletes in the system that sitting her out would not have affected our programme, so I think we made the right decision for her.”

Knowles, the daughter of Tameka Forbes and Geoffrey Knowles, is studying kinesiology. Her hobbies are listed as boating and diving and she has a fun cosmetic line named JaidaK Cosmetics.

As for Moss, she went on to represent the Bahamas at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games as a member of the women’s 4 x 400m relay team that didn’t finish their preliminary race.

“No one goes to the biggest stage in the world and doesn’t want to win,” Green pointed out. “To go there just because you have an opportunity to go there is not just something any athlete would think about.

“I think the coaching staff put together the best team they could without using Shaunae (MillerUibo) and not putting her at risk because of her bid to go for the 200/400 double. I think Megan went out and did the best she could with the team there. It just didn’t work out for the team.”

Moss, the daughter of Nekeva SEE PAGE 12

PAGE 12, Wednesday, September 15, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

THE BAHAMIAN CONNECTION GETS STRONGER AT UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY FROM PAGE 11 and Tito Moss, ran on the team with Doneisha Anderson, Grand Bahamian Brianne Bethel and Anthonique Strachan.

However, on the final leg with Team Bahamas well out of contention, Strachan eventually stopped running with a slight injury.

Prior to representing the Bahamas on her first major senior international team, Moss was named Academic All-District Team this year at the University of Kentucky and was SEC First-Year Academic Honour Roll.

On the track during the indoor season, Moss made the first-team All-American in the 4 x 400m relay as the Wildcats finished fifth at the NCAA Championships and shed was second-team All-America in the 400m with a 13thplace finish.

The accolades carried over to outdoors where Moss was a part of the eighth-ranked 4 x 400m team at the NCAA Championships that ranked the third fastest time of 3:28.68 in UK history as they earned first team AllAmerican honours.

The human health sciences major, whose hobbies include baking and arts and crafts, also ran 52.13 in the 400m at the NCAA East Preliminaries to get the fourth best ranking on the all-time UK outdoor list.

Looking back at Charlton’s sixth place performance in 12.74 in the women’s 100m hurdles at the games in Tokyo, Japan in August, Greene said he couldn’t ask for anything better. She finished behind UK’s alumni Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico, who won the gold over American Keni Harrison.

“She went there ranked at number eleven in the world, but she finished at number six,” Greene said. “So with the challenges she had, she really bounced back and performed very well. I think she will have a great season next year at the World Championships.”

Greene, a former athlete himself, said he’s also delighted to have Ferguson-McKenzie as a member of his coaching staff. He noted that she provides a wealth of experience as a five-time Olympian, who had an illustrious career where she’s earned more than 50 international medals as a sprinter.

Ferguson-McKenzie joined the Wildcats’ staff in September 2018 after she spent the previous four years as an assistant coach at the University of Houston where she helped to build the Cougars’ track and field programme into a nationally relevant contender.

SYDNEY CLARKE

FROM PAGE 11

community work.

“Fed Cup was really great. To have a tournament like that to play during the summer has really helped because coming back to school, I felt confident in my ability,” she noted. “I wasn’t scared or anything. I am getting better and I’m just embracing the challenges. So the Fed Cup has really prepared me for this season.”

The former CR Walker Secondary High School standout, graduated from Windsor High School where she was a part of the Albany Tennis Academy powered by Australian pro Lleyton Hewitt, who was a former number one player in the world.

As the top ranked female junior player, Clarke played on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) circuit where she posted her highest ranking of 261 in the world in 2018.

Clarke, now 19, is the daughter of Shayvon and Bernard Clarke. She has a younger sister, Sarai, who is now enrolled in Webb School in Tennessee where she is in grade seven, but not allowed to compete on the varsity team yet, but she’s eligible for cross country.

WASHINGTON Nationals’ Juan Soto hits an RBI double, and reaches third on an error, during the third inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins at Nationals Park, Tuesday, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Zimmerman and Fedde power the Nationals to 8-2 victory over Marlins WASHINGTON (AP) — Ryan Zimmerman homered, Erick Fedde pitched five solid innings and the Washington Nationals beat the Miami Marlins 8-2 on Tuesday night.

One night after being no-hit for 6 2/3 innings, the Nationals scored early and pounded out 14 hits in winning for the second time in three games.

Fedde (7-9) beat the Marlins for the second time in less than a month, allowing a run on three hits with eight strikeouts and no walks. On Aug. 24, he gave up a run on six hits in 6 1/3 innings with a career-high 10 strikeouts.

Fedde improved to 4-0 with a 1.10 ERA in six career starts versus Miami.

“Maybe the last two times I’ve started against them there’s a lot of new, younger guys on the roster ... but there’s definitely guys I’ve face before and maybe I feel comfortable against,” Fedde said. “But it’s always nice to feel like you have a team’s number when you step out there.”

Juan Soto had three hits, an RBI and a walk for Washington, and Keibert Ruiz had three hits.

“I really liked our approach tonight. We didn’t expand the zone very much,” Nationals bench coach Tim Bogar said. “We swung at some very good pitches. I liked the patience, especially big situations. Not trying to

included two bases-loaded walks.

AND SOTO GOES Soto has reached base safely in 17 of his last 18 games.

During that stretch, he’s 25 for 61 (.410 ) with two doubles, a triple, four homers, 14 RBIs and 13 runs scored.

TRAINER’S ROOM Marlins: Mattingly said RHP Sandy Alcantara was fine the day after being hit on the left knee by a smash from Juan Soto in the fourth inning of an eight-inning, one-hit effort. … C-OF Jorge Alfaro, who left Saturday’s game with left calf tightness, was available to pinch-hit.

Nationals: Martinez, who had an operation on his left ankle Sept. 2 and has been wearing a cast, had a followup procedure Tuesday.

WASHINGTON Nationals starting pitcher Erick Fedde throws during the first inning.

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon) do too much.”

Bogar managed the club in place of Dave Martinez, who had a medical procedure earlier in the day.

Lewin Diaz homered twice for the Marlins and is 5 for 10 with four runs scored in his last three games.

Recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville on Sept. 8, the 23-year-old rookie is hitting .190 for the season.

“Anytime you see a game

like this it shows you what he can be,” manager Don Mattingly said.

“We knew we were going to get extended at-bats for Lewin, and it’s a chance for him to show he can you consistent good at-bats.”

Miami starter Jesus Luzardo (5-8), drafted by the Nationals in 2016, allowed four runs on seven hits and was lifted after 4 1/3 innings.

Zimmerman’s 14th homer

of the season, an oppositefield blast into the upper deck in right-center, gave the Nationals a 1-0 lead in the second.

“I felt like I could get him with the fastball,” Luzardo said. “I just missed my spot and left it up for him.”

Washington led 4-1 before Diaz’s second home run cut it to 4-2 in the seventh.

The Nationals pulled away with a four-run eighth that

UP NEXT Marlins: LHP Trevor Rogers (7-7, 3.73) faces the Nationals for the third time this season. He’s 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA and nine strikeouts in 10 innings. He hasn’t won since June 10, and the Marlins are 2-7 in his nine starts since.

Nationals: LHP Josh Rogers (1-0, 3.65), who signed a minor league contract with the Nationals in June, makes his third start for Washington.

He has allowed 12 hits in 12 1/3 innings, while walking four and striking out six.

WISDOM, RIVAS HOMER AS CUBS BEAT FADING PHILLIES 6-3

By DAN GELSTON AP Sports Writer

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kyle Gibson retired the first 12 batters. Not a bad start.

Then Gibson embodied the Phillies’ late-season malaise and watched 12 straight outs dissolve into three runs allowed in 12 consecutive pitches.

The pennant race in Philly has turned into a September slog.

Patrick Wisdom and Alfonso Rivas hit back-toback homers for the Chicago Cubs in a 6-3 win over a Philadelphia team running out of time to make a serious run in the NL playoff race.

“On however many teams, the calendar obviously runs out,” Gibson said. “I think we’re getting to the point there where it does.”

The Phillies lost again to another team long out of the postseason hunt. The Phillies just dropped three of four at home to Colorado, which is 21-51 on the road.

The Phillies remained 4½ games behind first-place Atlanta in the NL East and 2½ games behind Cincinnati in the wild-card race.

San Diego and St. Louis are ahead of the Phillies for the second wild card.

“I don’t want to make it seem like we aren’t playing with a sense of urgency, because I think we are,” Gibson said. “I also don’t necessarily want to make too much of the situation.”

The Phillies fell to .500 at 72-72 and have lost six of

VELASQUEZ GONE The Phillies released RHP Vince Velasquez. He was designated for assignment last week. Velasquez went 30-40 with a 4.93 ERA and made 116 starts over six seasons with the Phillies.

CHICAGO Cubs’ Patrick Wisdom reacts after hitting a two-run home run off Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Kyle Gibson during the fifth inning, Tuesday, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

CARPENTER DIES Ruly Carpenter, Philadelphia’s former owner and president from 1972-81, has died.

He was 81.

The Phillies won their first World Series in 1980 under Carpenter. He sold the team in 1981.

“Passionate about winning, we welcomed his presence in the clubhouse and always thought of him as a teammate or an equal and he treated us the same way,” Hall of Famer Steve Carlton said in a statement.

seven with 18 games left.

“We’re working every day, we’re trying to get guys right,” manager Joe Girardi said. “We still have an opportunity here. We just need to play better.”

Bryce Harper had an RBI double in the sixth, continuing continued his torrid pace, and scored in the inning to make it 4-3.

He entered with an MLBbest 1.032 OPS, which would have made the star outfielder a more serious MVP candidate had the Phillies truly been in a pennant race.

Harper may see his chances wane with each September loss.

This Phillies’ loss was like so many others, a trend so predictable that only 16,170

TRAINER’S ROOM Cubs: Placed OF Jason Heyward on the seven-day concussion IL (retroactive to Sept. 12) and selected OF Trayce Thompson from Triple-A Iowa.

OF Michael Hermosillo was transferred to the 60-day IL. Phillies: C JT Realmuto sat out with a sore right shoulder.

“It seems like every time it’s turning the corner and he’s getting better, he’ll do something, whether it’s a swing and a miss or he’ll dive for a ground ball, that sort of thing,” Girardi said.

“He had an injection to take care of the inflammation and we expect him to play (Wednesday).”

fans were announced for a so-called important game.

The Phillies were humming along 1-0 on a leadoff homer

by Odubel Herrera and four perfect innings — with seven strikeouts — from Gibson (10-7)).

Poof, it was gone.

Wilson Contreras led off the fifth with a single, Wisdom hit his 26th homer of the season and Rivas followed with the first of his big-league career. It was 3-1 in 12 pitches.

Rafael Ortega added an RBI double for a 4-1 lead. He added an RBI double in the seventh to make it 5-3 and scored on Ian Happ’s double.

Wisdom hit the latest crushing homer against the Phillies facing two strikes.

Colorado’s Garrett Hampson hit two 0-2 pitches for homers in Sunday’s 5-4 win.

“There’s too many 0-2 pitches right in the heart of the zone,” Girardi said. “If a guy takes a pitch down and away and it’s just on the corner and he hits that, you kind of go, ‘OK.’ But not the ones that are in the heart.”

Adrian Sampson (1-2) gave up two runs in five innings.

“The thing that stands out to me is just the way he pitches and throws strikes,” Cubs manager David Ross said. “He’s never in a ton of trouble. You feel like he’s a grounder away.”

Rowan Wick struck out the side in the ninth for his fourth save.

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Wednesday, September 15, 2021, PAGE 13

AFTER RETURNING FROM ACL, BARKLEY FACES A SECOND GAME IN FOUR DAYS

By TOM CANAVAN AP SPORTS WRITER EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Saquon Barkley beat the odds in returning from a major knee injury in less than a year.

The New York Giants star running back faces a quick second test, another game in four days.

While the timespan between games might be a first for an NFL player coming off an ACL injury, Barkley is up for the challenge when the Giants face Washington on Thursday night in an NFC East matchup.

Neither team played well Sunday in losing their openers. New York dropped a 27-13 decision to Denver and Washington was beaten 20-16 by the Chargers.

Like the teams, Barkley’s numbers were not impressive. The 2018 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year gained 26 yards on 10 carries and caught a pass for a yard.

His longest run was a 5-yarder on the first play from scrimmage. It was his first carry since Sept. 20, the day he was hurt against the Bears in Week 2.

Barkley insists his explosiveness as a runner is still there. He just has to knock off the rust, read the blocks better, react to the holes and break a tackle or two.

“I didn’t really give myself the opportunity or had an opportunity to break a long one, so I guess I couldn’t show that,” Barkley said of his big-play ability. “Just got to stick with the game plan, stick with the runs, take the dirty runs. When I get the opportunity to make a big play, make a big play.”

Barkley said he actually wrote that in his notes in going over the game.

The one thing that was normal was the Monday morning soreness, Barkley said. He job now is to recover quickly.

Barkley said he only was on the field for 25 to 30 snaps so his body was not taxed. He added the feeling of playing was great.

The Giants will need to pick up the running game if they want to improve. They had 20 carries for 60 yards.

Quarterback Daniel Jones led the team with 27 yards rushing, all in the second half.

“We’ve got to get the run game going against a very talented defence — probably one of the best defences in the league,” Barkley said. “That’s going to be important to get your run game going. Watch film, learn from what I did, get the rust off and try to do a better job this week.”

The Penn State star, who was the second pick overall in the ‘18 draft, isn’t pushing coach Joe Judge for more carries.

With 16 games to go, he knows he is going to get more touches. That’s why he doesn’t mind letting the coaches and medical staff plan his workload.

“Obviously, I want to go out there and try to be that do-it-all guy and help the team win, but it’s a nature of what I’m coming off of,” said Barkley, who rushed for more than 1,000 yards in each of his first two seasons.

“The way I get back into the flow is just by taking the plays that I get and trying to capitalise as much as I can and staying locked in on the sideline when I’m not in, mentally and physically.”

SAN Francisco 49ers running back Raheem Mostert runs against the Detroit Lions in the first half of an NFL football game in Detroit, Sunday. Mostert will undergo season-ending surgery on his knee after getting injured in the season opener. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

49ers RB Raheem Mostert to undergo season-ending surgery

By JOSH DUBOW AP Pro Football Writer SAN FRANCISCO 49ers running back Raheem Mostert will undergo season-ending surgery on his knee after getting injured in the season opener.

Coach Kyle Shanahan had said Mostert was expected to miss eight weeks because of chipped cartilage in his knee, but Mostert announced on his Twitter account Tuesday that he will miss the rest of the season.

Mostert said he was “gutted” by the news, but after consulting with multiple doctors felt this was the best decision for his long-term future.

“This gives me, without a doubt in my mind, the best possibility at coming back 110%,” he wrote. “I have ALWAYS come back stronger and I will this time too! ... This is

obviously not what I worked so hard for. I wish more than anything I could be out on the field with my brothers!!!”

The injury to Mostert is the second season-ending injury suffered by a key 49ers player already this year after the 2020 season was derailed by injuries. Cornerback Jason Verrett tore the ACL in his right knee in the season opener at Detroit.

Both players were placed on injured reserve Tuesday with the Niners signing cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick and promoting cornerback Dontae Johnson from the practice squad to take their place on the 53-man roster.

After winning the NFC in 2019, the Niners went just 6-10 last year when they played long stretches without quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, edge rushers Nick Bosa and

Dee Ford, tight end George Kittle, cornerback Richard Sherman and Mostert among others.

Mostert played only eight games last season because of ankle and knee injuries and lasted only four snaps this year. He had two carries for 20 yards on the opening drive of a 41-33 win at Detroit before getting hurt.

Sixth-round rookie Elijah Mitchell took advantage of the opportunity and rushed for 104 yards and a TD in his NFL debut.

The 49ers also have Jamycal Hasty and third-rounder Trey Sermon, who was a healthy scratch for the opener.

The Niners also signed former Lions running back Kerryon Johnson to the practice squad. Johnson rushed for 1,225 yards in 34 games with the Lions.

Mostert is a former special teams

standout who was cut seven times and carried the ball only eight times in his first three seasons in the NFL. But he emerged as a star during the stretch run in 2019 when he led the team with 772 yards rushing in the regular season before a breakthrough game in the playoffs.

He rushed for 220 yards in the NFC championship game that season against Green Bay for the second-most yards rushing in a playoff game to Eric Dickerson’s 248 for the Rams on Jan. 4, 1986.

Mostert was the first player to rush for at least four TDs and 200 yards in a playoff game.

For his career, Mostert has 1,610 yards rushing on 284 carries. His 5.77 yards per rush in the regular season and playoffs combined are the best for any running back in NFL history with at least 300 carries.

RAVENS’ DEFENCE A QUESTION MARK AFTER LATE LEADS SLIP AWAY

By NOAH TRISTER AP Sports Writer

MARLON Humphrey was beaten so badly on the winning touchdown that he slowed to a jog while the pass was still in the air.

It was that kind of night for Baltimore’s secondary.

The Ravens arrived in Las Vegas determined to show that they could still play to their usual standard despite a rash of preseason injuries.

Instead, Baltimore fell 33-27 to the Raiders in overtime — and it was hard not to think about the missing players who could have helped.

Much of the attention lately has been on Baltimore’s backfield, which was ravaged by season-ending injuries to J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards. But the secondary was hurting too with Marcus Peters (knee) gone for the year and Jimmy Smith (ankle) out for this game.

Derek Carr threw for 435 yards and two touchdowns for Las Vegas, and with the game on the line, the Ravens could do little to slow the Raiders. Las Vegas scored on four of its final five possessions, and the one stop by Baltimore came on a fluky interception that caromed to Anthony Averett in the end zone in overtime.

“I was very, very happy with the team’s effort. The toughness, the resiliency, fighting back,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “Even there at the end, the example is the goal-line stand, those are the kind of things that make us who we are as a team. We just didn’t close the game out when we had the opportunity to do it, three or four times.”

That interception gave the Ravens new life, but the offence couldn’t take advantage, and when

LAS Vegas Raiders wide receiver Bryan Edwards (89) dives for yardage against Baltimore Ravens cornerback Brandon Stephens (21) during overtime in an NFL football game, Monday, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Lamar Jackson lost a fumble for the second time in the game, Baltimore was on the ropes again. Carr ended it with a 31-yard touchdown pass to Zay Jones.

“That ticked me off. I hate fumbles,” Jackson said. “I hate any type of turnover.”

The Ravens led 14-0 at one point and took a 27-24 lead on Justin Tucker’s field goal with 37 seconds remaining — only for the defence to allow two quick completions, which put Las Vegas in position for a long field goal that forced overtime.

WHAT’S WORKING Baltimore’s big priority this offseason was shoring up the passing game, and newly acquired receiver Sammy Watkins had a nice night with four catches for 96 yards. Jackson had a quarterback rating of 118.8.

WHAT NEEDS HELP The Raiders certainly used tight end Darren Waller effectively, targeting him 19 times. He caught 10 passes for 105 yards and a touchdown, but by the end of the game, the Ravens were having trouble covering anyone.

Baltimore allowed 327 yards of offence after halftime.

“We have a lot of fight and a lot of heart, but we have a lot of room for improvement,” defensive end Calais Campbell said.

“Where we’re at right now, I just feel like this was a tough one.”

STOCK UP Ty’Son Williams ran for 65 yards on nine carries in his NFL debut and broke free for a 35-yard touchdown. He also had three catches for 29 yards.

Despite all the injuries,

the Ravens rushed for at least 100 yards for a 40th consecutive game. They are now three games shy of the record set by the Pittsburgh Steelers during the 1970s.

Baltimore did release running back Trenton Cannon on Tuesday.

STOCK DOWN It wasn’t a great night for the offensive line, which allowed three sacks — including the one that caused Jackson’s second fumble.

“Sometimes you can’t go through your reads, you got to make something happen,” Jackson said. “That’s what I tried doing on that last one. I saw it breaking down, try to push a lineman, try to get out of the pocket and he hit me while I’m doing it.

So, I’ll try and hold onto the ball next time.”

INJURIES Offensive lineman Tyre Phillips was carted off with a knee injury and did not return. He was put on injured reserve Tuesday.

KEY NUMBER 98 — Before Monday, the Ravens had won 98 straight games in the regular season when leading by at least 14 points.

NEXT STEPS The next test for the Ravens and their struggling secondary figures to be even harder. They host Kansas City on Sunday night. Between now and then, Baltimore will need to evaluate the veteran running backs the team brought in recently.

Le’Veon Bell and Devonta Freeman have been on the practice squad. Latavius Murray was active and had 10 carries for 28 yards and a touchdown Monday.

PAGE 14, Wednesday, September 15, 2021

JUVENTUS BEAT MALMO 3-0 FOR 1ST WIN SINCE RONALDO’S EXIT MALMO, Sweden (AP) — Juventus claimed its first win of the post-Cristiano Ronaldo era by beating Malmo 3-0 in the Champions League after a flurry of first-half goals on Tuesday.

Alex Sandro’s 23rdminute opener was followed by goals in the space of 60 seconds by Paulo Dybala — from the penalty spot — and Alvaro Morata on the stroke of halftime in the south of Sweden.

Juventus has failed to win any of its three games in Serie A this season, the last two being losses that came after the departure of Ronaldo to Manchester United.

A trip to the Swedish champions offered some respite from its domestic problems for Massimiliano Allegri’s team, which can take some momentum into a big match in the Italian league against AC Milan on Sunday.

“We came here after some bad results, but we knew that this is another competition and we knew what to do,” Dybala said. “We did it, playing with serenity.”

Sandro’s goal — a stooping header from a right-wing cross from Juan Cuadrado that was flicked on by Rodrigo Bentancur — came just as Malmo was starting to apply some pressure on Juventus.

After that, the visitors dominated.

Morata was brought down by Malmo center back Lasse Nielsen just inside the area for a penalty that Dybala was forced to wait to take, with the VAR making a check for offside against the Spain striker.

Dybala slipped as he took the spot kick, but it went down the middle to beat goalkeeper Ismael Diawara in the 45th minute.

Almost immediately from the kickoff, Adrien Rabiot fed the ball forward, Nielsen failed to make a clearance, and Morata ran through before scooping a finish off his shin and against the inside of the post.

“If we had reached the break at 1-0, we could have spoken about it and laid down a new game plan,” Malmo midfielder Anders Christiansen said. “But at 3-0, it was game over.

Then it’s just a matter of limiting the damage and not conceding more goals.”

Allegri was able to make some early substitutes with the game against Milan in mind, and one of the replacements — Moise Kean — thought he’d added a fourth goal after rounding Diawara and slotting home from fellow sub Weston McKennie’s through ball.

It was ruled out for offside.

Kean, signed to replace Ronaldo, was also denied in the 90th by the outstretched right foot of Diawara after being played in by a deft flick from Dejan Kulusevski, a Sweden international.

“I asked the guys to finish the game without conceding a goal because that helps you and takes away your anxiety,” Allegri said.

“It was important to win because otherwise the streak would get too long.”

It was Allegri’s first win since returning to Juventus in the offseason for a second spell in charge.

He made his Champions League debut as Juve coach against Malmo seven years ago, winning 2-0 in Turin.

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LUKAKU SEALS CHELSEA WIN OVER ZENIT TO START CL DEFENCE

CHELSEA’S Romelu Lukaku celebrates with his teammate Jorginho after scoring his side’s winning goal during the Champions League Group H soccer match between Chelsea and Zenit St Petersburg at Stamford Bridge stadium in London, Tuesday. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

By ROB HARRIS AP Global Soccer Writer LONDON (AP) — Four games. Four goals.

Just what was expected of Romelu Lukaku. Just what Chelsea missed so often last season. And just what he couldn’t produce in his first spell at Stamford Bridge.

The striker who couldn’t even get on the field in the Champions League a decade ago for Chelsea is back as the leading targetman.

On his European debut for the club, the 28-year-old Belgian ensured Chelsea made a successful start to its Champions League title defence by clinching a 1-0 victory over Zenit St. Petersburg on Tuesday.

The goal showed why Chelsea invested a clubrecord 115 million euros ($135 million in August) in signing from Inter Milan the player it offloaded in 2014 as a peripheral figure.

Lukaku darted into space in the penalty area, evading the defence, to meet a cross from Cesar Azpilicueta and head it into the net in the 69th minute against the Russian champions.

“That is why he is here,” Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel said. “It is another step ahead, because winning and another clean sheet is super important for the belief and for our process. We are not finished, but are in a good place to improve.”

It added to the three

CHELSEA’S Romelu Lukaku heads the ball to score. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) goals — including two in Saturday’s win over Aston Villa — Lukaku has already scored in the Premier League this season.

“We have to keep growing. Today was a better performance than the weekend,” Lukaku said. “It was a beautiful ball from Cesar. I just had to get my timing right and then place

the ball in the corner.”

Juventus’ goals means it has the early edge in Group H after beating Malmo 3-0.

As European Cup wins go, Chelsea’s triumph has seemed understated, just as beating Manchester City in the final in May was unexpected.

Coronavirus restrictions denied Chelsea a victory

parade in May. There wasn’t even the parading of the trophy around Stamford Bridge before the start of the title defence on Tuesday.

There were, however, individual European season awards handed out to players and Tuchel by UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin after an explosion

of fireworks above the main stand.

The head of European football received a smattering of jeers from the Chelsea fans, although this isn’t a club with a great grievance against UEFA. Especially as Chelsea fans protested the club’s ill-fated pursuit of a Super League in April that Ceferin opposed.

YOUNG BOYS STUN MAN UNITED 2-1 WITH LATE WINNER IN CL

By GRAHAM DUNBAR AP Sports Writer

BERN, Switzerland (AP) — Cristiano Ronaldo had done his work when he was substituted in the 72nd minute of another tough Champions League evening for Manchester United in Switzerland on Tuesday.

Ronaldo had scored an early goal — a record-extending 135th in the competition — then forced the Young Boys’ goalkeeper to save a stinging shot and almost earned a penalty after breaking clear when the score was still 1-0 early in the second half.

It was 1-1 when he was replaced

by Jesse Lingard as United — playing defensively after a red card in the 35th minute for defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka — withstood increasing pressure from the unheralded Swiss champion roared on by most of a noisy 31,120 crowd.

But there was a late twist as Lingard’s misplaced back pass deep into stoppage time teed up a current United States forward — who was sent on by the former U.S. international who coaches Young Boys — to settle the game with almost the last kick.

Jordan Pefok pounced on the loose ball behind the United defence to shoot past goalkeeper David De Gea, handing United a shock 2-1 loss and giving coach David Wagner a stellar start to his first Champions League campaign.

“This is something absolutely extraordinary,” Wagner said, though adding “we have to say it was deserved.”

Pefok’s goal came from Young Boys’ 19th effort on goal, compared to two for United — both from Ronaldo — and none after the 24th minute.

Asked why he removed his 36-year-old superstar from the action, United coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said “he’s exceptional but we have to look after him as well.”

“It felt like the right moment to take him off,” Solskjaer said, noting that the Swiss champion’s artificial surface — the only plastic pitch of

MANCHESTER United’s Cristiano Ronaldo, left, looks dejected after Young Boys scored during the Champions League group F soccer match between BSC Young Boys and Manchester United, at the Wankdorf stadium in Bern, Switzerland, Tuesday.

(Peter Klaunzer/Keystone via AP) the 32 Champions League teams this season — “takes its toll as well.”

It all added up to a third groupstage loss for Man United in Switzerland in the past decade after two defeats at Basel.

Both coaches cited Wan-Bissaka’s red card as a game-changer. His cleat went through the ball in a challenge on Christopher Martins deep in the Young Boys half.

“It was never reckless or malicious but probably a little bit inexperienced to go through there,” Solskjaer said.

Ronaldo’s goal in the 13th minute was created by Bruno Fernandes’ clever pass with the outside of his right foot into the path of his Portugal teammate for a low shot that squirmed under goalkeeper David von Ballmoos.

Young Boys deservedly levelled in the 66th when midfielder Nicolas Moumi Ngamaleu met a low and

deflected cross into a crowded goalmouth with a shot that beat De Gea at his near post.

Ronaldo claimed a share of more Champions League history just by playing his first United game in the competition since the 2009 final.

His 177th career appearance in the Champions League proper tied the record held by Iker Casillas, his longtime teammate at Real Madrid.

Both Ronaldo and Casillas have played an extra four games in qualifying rounds.

Those Champions League qualifying rounds seemed to have prepared Young Boys well for facing a starstudded Man United team playing just its fifth competitive game of the season.

The Swiss team was sharp and physical in its 13th game of a season that started in mid-July with the first of six Champions League qualifiers.

“We always knew that they are

a high intensity, energetic, athletic team.” Solskjaer said, noting his team’s failure to create more counterattacks after Raphaël Varane came on for the second half to steady the defence.

Solskjaer also lamented a penalty kick not given by French referee François Letexier when Ronaldo had broken clear of Young Boys defender Mohamed Ali Camara in the 54th.

“That’s what sometimes you get with young refs,” the Man United manager said, suggesting Letexier “probably didn’t dare do it because he had to send (Camara) off then.”

Still, the later result in Group F was favourable with Villarreal and Atalanta drawing 2-2 in Spain.

Man United hosts Villarreal on Sept. 29 — a rematch of last season’s Europa League final that it lost.

Atalanta hosts Young Boys on the same day.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, September 15, 2021, PAGE 15

BAYERN BEAT BARCELONA 3-0 FOR 1ST LOSS OF POST-MESSI ERA BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Bayern Munich showed Barcelona exactly how dreary life will be without Lionel Messi on Tuesday when it dealt the Spanish team its first loss since the exit of the star forward.

Thomas Müller scored a goal and Robert Lewandowski added two more to help Bayern ease to a 3-0 victory at Camp Nou in their Champions League opener.

Müller’s 34th-minute strike took his career tally to seven goals against Barcelona, including the two he netted in the 8-2 shellacking Bayern dealt Barcelona the last time they met in August 2020.

Without Messi to rely on as it had for years, Barcelona was running scared from the start as it focused on protecting itself from another embarrassing defeat.

The final score hid the total dominance of the Bundesliga powerhouse. Julian Nagelsmann’s team turned the once great attacking juggernaut of Barcelona into a jittery bunch hunkered down in their own area.

Lewandowski capitalised on Bayern’s complete control with goals in the 56th and 85th, both times putting in rebounds from shots that came off the post to the striker.

“We gave little away at the back,” Müller said.

“Going forward, we could have scored one or two more. It’s a lot of fun playing here, the boys enjoyed it.”

Even having its fans back at Camp Nou, which was at 40% capacity, for the first time in the Champions League since the start of the pandemic could not muster a better showing from the home squad.

Barcelona had two wins and a draw in its three previous matches, all in the Spanish league, that it had played this season after its wretched finances had kept it from resigning Messi.

“We would like to have competed better, but this is what we have right now,” Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman said. “I can’t complain about our attitude, we tried our best. But there is a difference in talent and a difference between a team that has played a long time together and our team with lots of young players. It is difficult to accept, but we have to keep working.”

After going undefeated in 38 consecutive Champions

League home games until last year, Barcelona has lost three in a row. Bayern, meanwhile, increased its record unbeaten run away from home in the competition to 19 straight games.

Also in Group E, Benfica drew 0-0 at Dynamo Kyiv.

When Bayern routed Barcelona in the 2020 Champions League quarterfinals, Barcelona could count on Messi, Luis Suárez and Antoine Griezmann.

They are all gone because the club could not afford their wages.

Barcelona’s attack is now speared by Memphis Depay, one of the few bright spots for the club this season. He was joined by new arrival Luuk de Jong, who made his debut after a last-minute move from Sevilla.

Neither, however, could receive a ball in a scoring position from their teammates.

Barcelona fell into defending deep inside its area and paid for it when Müller was left alone outside the box.

His unchallenged shot took a deflection off Eric García, leaving MarcAndre Ter Stegen no chance to save.

Barcelona didn’t produce a shot on goal in 90-plus minutes. The closest it came to even making Manuel Neuer work was a desperate try by Sergio Busquets from long range that sailed wide shortly before Lewandowski doubled the lead when he put in a rebound from a shot by Jamal Musiala.

Seeing the defeat was assured, Koeman gave Champions League debuts to 18-year-old Yusuf Demir and 17-year-old Gavi. A hamstring problem that forced Jordi Alba off let 18-year-old Alejandro Balde make his competitive debut.

Philippe Coutinho came on as a late substitute for his first match for Barcelona since a left knee injury he suffered in December.

A loss of possession by Demir led to Lewandowski’s double when he again was alone to put in a shot

by Serge Gnabry that came off the upright.

“We came to win this game and we knew that we had to show respect to Barcelona,” Lewandowski said. “When you play at the Camp Nou against them they are always dangerous.

But we had this game under control and we showed we were here for the three points.”

BAYERN’S Thomas Mueller celebrates scoring the opening goal.

(AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

BAYERN’S Robert Lewandowski celebrates scoring his side’s 2nd goal with Bayern’s Alphonso Davies during a Champions League group E soccer match between F.C. Barcelona and Bayern at Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday.

(AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

PAGE 16, Wednesday, September 15, 2021

VILLARREAL HELD BY ATALANTA IN RETURN TO CHAMPIONS LEAGUE VILLARREAL, Spain (AP) — Villarreal was frustrated by Atalanta in its return to the Champions League after a 10-year absence, being held to a 2-2 draw at the start of the group stage on Tuesday.

The Europa League champions rallied to take the lead in the second half but conceded late to fall short of an opening home win. Villarreal had won its last six home games in European competitions.

Robin Gosens equalised in the 83rd minute after Remo Freuler had put the visitors ahead six minutes into the match at La Ceramica Stadium in southeastern Spain.

Villarreal got on the board with Manu Trigueros before halftime and went ahead with a goal from Arnaut “Danjuma” Groeneveld in the second half.

“We leave with a bittersweet taste because we wanted the win in front of our fans, but we are

satisfied with the attitude of the squad,” Villarreal midfielder Dani Parejo said. “We struggled in the beginning of the match but we regained control and got the lead before everything changed in one minute as they equalized and we lost a player with a red card.”

Villarreal played the final minutes with 10 men as Francis Coquelin was shown a second yellow card for a foul in the 84th, just after Atalanta scored its second goal.

THE TRIBUNE