06182020 NEWS AND SPORT

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VOLUME:117 No.141, JUNE 18TH, 2020

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CLASSIFIED TRADER: CARS, CARS, CARS & MORE CARS

INSIDE

NO TEST - YOU’RE NOT COMING IN Rising infections in US force retention of test for visitors after July 1

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net TRAVELLERS will need a negative COVID-19 test result to enter the country when international commercial flights resume on July 1, Tourism Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar announced yesterday.

The Minnis administration had intended to allow visitors into the country after July 1 without proof of testing but rising infection rates in the US has forced a U-turn.

Mr D’Aguilar said the country has lost almost one billion dollars in tourism

revenue and close to 40,000 visitors because of the COVID-19 crisis.

While international flights will resume soon, he said it is unclear when cruise ships will return.

Cruise ship companies are negotiating their resumption of transport with the US Centres for Disease Control, he said, with late August to early December identified as the range of time within which they are expected to return.

Mr D’Aguilar said: “The Nassau Cruise Port is projecting cruise arrivals into Nassau to decline by SEE PAGE THREE

NATIONAL Security Minister Marvin Dames yesterday defended his character amid controversy surrounding the government’s handling of missing Hurricane Dorian victims, insisting that whenever he sees wrong “whether inside or outside Cabinet”, he will “express” himself.

Giving an impassioned contribution in the House

of Assembly yesterday, Mr Dames rebuked critics over the matter, insisting he will never support any wrongdoing as it is his duty to protect the Bahamian people. His comments came after former Health Minister Dr Duane Sands blasted the Minnis administration’s handling of missing Dorian victims, noting that an explanation was needed for how hundreds of names were culled from official lists.

SEE PAGE FOUR

L SOUR CE

N ANDROS ‘10,000 JOBS’ PROPOSAL

By TRIBUNE REPORTER

A US-BASED billionaire is behind a proposed North Andros “free trade zone” that aims to create up to 10,000 construction jobs over the project’s lifetime, it was revealed last night.

Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong, inventor of a worldrenowned cancer drug, is heading a group that plans to invest $200m-$250m over the first two phases of a development targeted at the Morgan’s Bluff area.

The proposal for the North Andros Green Free Trade Zone is currently being worked up in preparation for a formal submission to the Minnis administration and its investment agencies, with sources close to developments indicating this could potentially happen within “a few weeks”.

The project is focused on “value-added” manufacturing involving the creation of finished products from aragonite and other Bahamian natural resources, SEE PAGE TWO

ATLANTIS CUTS STAFF TRANSPORT

By EARYEL BOWLEG ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

DAMES - IF I THOUGHT IT WRONG, I’D SPEAK OUT

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

$1

SMILE FOR THE CAMERA PHOTOGRAPHER Blair J Meadows hopes to capture moments in time with her unique aesthetic and shooting style. Look out for a focus on the SCAD graduate’s work in tomorrow’s Weekend

AN ATLANTIS executive has confirmed the company is unable to provide transportation for workers when the hotel reopens next month due to cost cutting and job preservation.

However, the move has reportedly upset the Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union (BHCAWU).

A notice to workers issued on Tuesday with a BHCAWU logo revealed the resort indicated the service for employees’ transport to and from work will not be provided when Atlantis reopens on July 7.

SEE PAGE THREE

FLORIDA RESCUE FOR GB STRAYS FRONT

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

ANIMAL rescue organisations in the US have come to the aid of The Humane Society of Grand Bahama after it had to deal with an influx of homeless dogs and cats since Hurricane Dorian, a situation made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Halo No-kill Rescue, of Sebastian, Florida, was

ONE of the rescued dogs.

Photo: Janet Begley able to take 51 dogs and 18 cats from the HSGB in Freeport, as well an

additional 18 dogs at the Bahamas Humane Society in Nassau, to the US via a private charter flight sponsored by GreaterGood.org.

Many of the rescued animals were young, about seven to 10 months of age, however some adult dogs were also taken.

Tip Burrows, executive director of HSGB, is grateful for the international rescue assistance provided

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

SEE PAGE TWO

PORCH

BY SIMON SEE PAGE EIGHT

PAGE 2, Thursday, June 18, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

FLORIDA STEPS IN TO RESCUE GB STRAYS from page one

to the shelter, which is “struggling” financially due to the economic woes here on the island caused by Dorian and the coronavirus.

There are still another 50 dogs and puppies, and 24 cats and kittens, with

more coming in daily, she reported. “Without the international help since Dorian, we probably would have to close our doors,” she said. “The majority of the help we received after the storm was from abroad, and as you probably know we get no assistance from

the government whatsoever, despite the fact that there has been money in the government budget for us in the last four years, but we have yet to see those funds.”

According to Ms Burrows, HSGB has been working with Halo Rescue for several years, especially since Hurricane Dorian, and also with GreaterGood. org, Wings of Rescue, and IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare).

She said: “Our local (animal) adoption has never been that great, and since the storm, it’s been even fewer, and more dogs have been coming in due to the storm effects and now due to the COVID-19.

“So, now with things relaxed a bit, Wings of Rescue has been able to come in and get these dogs, and our partner at Halo was able to take 51 dogs, and 18 cats and kittens.”

Ms Burrows stressed that it is important for pet owners to spay and neuter their animals to control the animal population.

Unfortunately, she noted that their spay/neutering funding has been cut, limiting the number of free surgeries that can be performed. “We are hoping that (the cut in funding) is temporary, but we don’t know yet. All the spay and neutering we are doing is at our own expense unless people can afford to pay,

and a lot of people can’t afford to pay and so we are doing a lot of free surgeries, but we are really having to limit it because we are struggling financially just like everyone,” she explained.

“When the economy is bad people can’t afford to properly care for their pets, they can’t afford to make donations or help with fundraisers. And at the same time, there are more animals in need than ever. So, the irony is that while our funding has been greatly diminished and cut, the need for our services is greater than ever.”

The HSGB, which suffered significant flood damage during Dorian, has rebuilt its main office and has acquired a mobile clinic to provide veterinary services.

Ms Burrows said plans of constructing a separate building for a clinic and to replace its cattery have been put hold as a result of the economic effects of the pandemic. “We are much better off than last September, but we still have a ways to go, and it is sort of uncertain how that is going to happen,” she said.

Ms Burrows is urging people, as well as animal breeders, to do their part to help control the stray and unwanted animal population.

Editorial View - Page 6

N ANDROS ‘10,000 JOBS’ PROPOSAL from page one

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rather than simply exporting the raw material.

Besides creating more employment for Bahamians, Dr Soon-Shiong and his team feel this will generate higher margins and bring in greater foreign currency earnings.

Besides an airport and seaport, the project’s other components include eco-tourism and medical tourism based on a medical research centre and clinic. Dr Soon-Shiong, who is based in Los Angeles, is heavily involved in the global healthcare sector through three foundations, visiting professorships at universities and his NantWorks network of health and technology start-ups.

One contact, speaking on condition of anonymity, said of the project: “It was just a proposal sent to the government. There was not a formal application yet. It was sent in to say: ‘This guy, and his group, are looking to do a project in The Bahamas’. He had his people

send it in to say that was the framework we are looking at. The project is based around manufacturing, and creating a new airport and seaport in North Andros, and obviously healthcare. The whole idea is to manufacture product here and export it. The reason I’m pushing this project is because of the state we’re in. We need a capital injection, and a project that can be done locally, and an injection of foreign money to create jobs.”

Describing the scale of the project and its investment as “massive”, the source said details leaked into the public domain had either been altered or were incorrect. They denied that the North Andros Green Free Trade Zone would compete with Freeport and the Hawksbill Creek Agreement, although there would be similarities in terms of the tax concessions sought.

The source also said talk of it requiring 500,000 acres was incorrect, as “90 percent of that acreage is out of the project. It’s not even close”.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, June 18, 2020, PAGE 3

Rising infections in US force retention of test for visitors after July 1

TOURISM Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar in the House yesterday.

Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff from page one over 60 percent in 2020 compared to the record numbers in 2019. But they also project that by 2022 we should be back to preCOVID-19 numbers and then, moving forward, add an additional one million cruise arrivals into Nassau every five years.”

As for requiring a COVID-19 negative test for entry to the country, Mr D’Aguilar said increasing COVID-19 cases in the United States has put “the Bahamas in an extremely difficult position”.

“On the one hand,” he said, “we need foreign visitors to return to our country to restart our economy. Foreign visitors from the United States, especially from nearby Florida, Georgia and Texas and the northeast states of New York and New Jersey and Connecticut and Massachusetts, form the bulk of our annual visitors. We need them to come to restart our tourism sector and put our people back to work. On the other hand, however, there are the legitimate

health concerns that these very people that we need to restart our virtual tourism sector and put our people back to work, could end up causing a spike in COVID-19 cases here in the Bahamas and undoing the excellent results that the Ministry of Health has achieved in keeping our death rate low.

“Being the accountant that I am, I have looked at the number of COVID-19 fatalities in the aforementioned states and have calculated that were all 380,000 of us Bahamians located in Florida, we would have suffered 55 fatalities and not the 11 we have; were we all in Georgia, we would have suffered 87 fatalities and not the 11 we have; and were all 380,000 of us Bahamians located in New York, we would have suffered 466 fatalities, and not the 11 we have.

“As a country, we have fared far better than all of the states in the United States in terms of keeping our people safe and alive and I salute the prime minister, the former minister of health and all of the nation’s

health care workers for a job well done. So, what are we to do now? As mentioned, we have opened the country to foreign visitors wishing to come here by private plane or pleasure craft or yacht. These persons will require a molecular swab PCR COVID-19 test with a negative result to enter the country.

“Given the spike in the number of positive COVID19 tests in the United States and the uncertainty surrounding just how many cases will require hospitalisation, the government of the Bahamas has decided to maintain the current status quo until further notice. When we made our initial decision, evidence supported the opening of

the tourism sector without the test. We had the full support of the tourism sector for this decision. But things have changed. The situation became unclear and ever changing so a prudent government must reassess and readjust all decisions related to this CVOID-19 virus as the situation evolves on the ground. And that is what we are doing here today.”

Mr D’Aguilar said officials will prioritise domestic tourism growth and plan to unveil a comprehensive promotional campaign encouraging Bahamians and residents to vacation domestically. On the international travel front, he said officials will prioritise markets with short haul

flights, such as Florida, Atlanta and New York.

He said officials will also promote secluded Family Island and beach vacations.

“Less-populated destinations such as the Family Islands may see an increase in tourism as the appeal of space and seclusion become more important factors in vacation planning,” he said.

The government allowed domestic travel to resume on June 8. On Monday, the borders were opened to boaters, yachters and private aviation. People in this category, as well as returning residents from overseas, were required to present a negative COVID-19 test to be cleared for travel.

Editorial View - Page 6

ATLANTIS CUTS STAFF TRANSPORT from page one

The union said the services are provided for in section of 29 of its industrial agreement with the resort.

The union’s letter explained: “This change was done without a full discussion and agreement from the union. However, we will engage the company in a discussion to ensure that the employees’ rights are protected.”

When contacted, Atlantis’ executive president of hotel operations, Russell Miller expressed “surprise with respect to the notice to union members”.

Mr Russell said via email that he had a discussion with the BHCAWU president Darrin Woods on Monday afternoon.

This was then followed an official letter to Mr Woods confirming the resort’s position which was discussed as well.

Mr Russell added: “We advised Mr Woods that we cannot provide transportation at this time, due to the cost involved and that we are looking at all ways to preserve jobs. As a result, we would have to forgo the provision of transportation until further notice.”

However Mr Woods later told this newspaper that while he was advised

by Atlantis officials about the change, “there wasn’t no lengthy discussion on it”.

He said he told Mr Russell the union does not agree with the decision. He told The Tribune: “I’m sure we can come up with a way to reduce the cost. . .”

Mr Woods said he understands the hotel sector is operating in unprecedented times, but still thinks there is room for negotiation.

“We believe that it’s not a ‘this is what I want - take it or leave it (situation).’

They are still supposed to be willing to negotiate even in the midst of this pandemic, employees still have a right. We wrote to them saying we’re still prepared to discuss it. You can’t just leave it like that - we have to discuss it. We want to discuss it.”

Atlantis is set to open its doors days after July 1, when commercial international travel is expected to resume in the country.

MAGISTRATE DISCHARGES MAN FOR LOCKDOWN VIOLATION

By FARRAH JOHNSON fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A MAGISTRATE discharged a man who violated a weekend lockdown after the accused said he only went across the street to get something from his car.

Jamal Jones, 31, appeared before Magistrate Samuel McKinney after officers found him on Cowpen Road around 6.10pm on Saturday, June 6.

He pleaded guilty, but said that he only left his home to

go “right across the street” to get something from his car. Prosecutor Kendrick Bauld told the court that evening, officers on mobile patrol in the Cowpen Road area observed a male on the side of the road standing near a car. Sgt Bauld said when questioned by officers, Jones said the car was his. Jones also told them he lived across the street and had only gone outside to get something from his car. After hearing the facts, Magistrate McKinney noted that his explanation

matched the initial statement he gave police and granted Jones a complete discharge.

Meanwhile, officers found James Juste, 26, on Robinson Road around 11.45pm on June 12. He pleaded guilty to violating the national curfew and was fined $500 or three months at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services. Prosecutor Bauld said when Juste was interviewed at a nearby station, he told officers he was by his aunt’s house and had left

to bring his mother’s medication to her. When given an opportunity to speak, Juste told the magistrate that his mother was asthmatic. He claimed that he got a call from his sister telling him that their mother was “acting up,” so he tried to see if he “could make it back home to be with her.”

James admitted that he was intoxicated at the time.

Officers found Laton Pinder, 27, on Moonshine Drive around 9.08pm on June 7. He pleaded guilty to the curfew violation and

was placed on 12 months’ probation. The court heard that officers on mobile patrol that night observed the defendant walking.

When they stopped and questioned him, he told them that he was walking home, but realised that he left his key “by his boy,” so he went there to retrieve them.

During the hearing, Pinder told the magistrate that he had gone to a friend’s home “two or three houses down” from his to wash his car earlier

that day. He claimed that he and his family were hungry and washing cars was his “only income” for the time being. As a result, Magistrate McKinney placed Pinder on probation for a year. Still, he warned the defendant that if he violated the emergency orders again he would be fined $500 or face six months at BDCS. The weekend lockdown was discontinued on June 12, however a daily curfew remains in effect from 9pm-5am.

PAGE 4, Thursday, June 18, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

IF I THOUGHT IT WRONG, I WOULD SPEAK OUT, SAYS MINISTER

from page one

Although Mr Dames did not directly address Dr Sands in his speech yesterday, he made a veiled reference to the former Cabinet minister.

He said: “I hold no grudge against anyone, no indifference against anyone. I take my job very seriously because at the end of the day, I have to account to the people who elected me to serve as their member of Parliament and account to the party who entrusted in me their confidence and account to my leader for having selected me to serve as the minister within this Cabinet.

“Because we can come into this place as is and that’s what been

going on for decades and we can make up but at the end of the day, the Bahamian people know best.”

He continued: “This generation can see beyond the fluff and the nonsense and the waste of time, they can see beyond that and each and every one of us will be measured. Don’t come here and say what you could’ve done or what should’ve been done. The question is when you had an opportunity to effect change, did you do it?”

Speaking in the House of Assembly last week, Dr Sands criticised the government’s handling of Dorian missing victims, saying too many government agencies were involved in dealing with the process, creating a “recipe for disaster”.

His comments came weeks after ACP Solomon Cash told reporters 33 people were still missing from the Category Five Storm.

However, after the former health minister resurfaced the issue last week, Mr Dames revealed that 279 people were listed as missing after Hurricane Dorian.

On Tuesday, Mr Dames told reporters he cannot say why the number of people he identified on Sunday as missing after Hurricane Dorian differed from the figure ACP Cash gave.

“The numbers that were given are not Marvin Dames’ numbers,” he said outside Cabinet on Tuesday. “They are the numbers compiled and taken from the centralised listing…All of these

numbers are now in the hands of the police. Let’s not get fixated on this and I think sometimes we get caught in a position where we say ‘oh something is amiss, what is amiss?’”

Saying he takes his job “very seriously”, the Mount Moriah MP insisted yesterday that his duty is to serve the Bahamian people.

In view of this, Mr Dames said if he felt the Minnis administration was heading in a direction that went against his beliefs, he would resign.

He said earlier in his speech: “I also said to the leader that I am who I am and anytime I feel that the Cabinet is taking a course or direction that goes completely against who I am and how I was

brought up, he need not worry, I will tender my resignation and go in another direction. You see, Mr Speaker, I hold no one’s bag.

The person you see out here today is the person you see in Cabinet or anywhere else, you see. That’s who I am. That’s how I was brought up and I will never change for anyone.

“My obligation as the Minister of National Security and the Member of Parliament for the great constituency of Mount Moriah is to the people of this country, not to any one individual.

Not to any one individual and whenever I see wrong whether it’s in Cabinet or outside Cabinet, I’m going to express myself – the only way I know how to.”

EX COMMODORE BETHEL GIVEN ROLE TO INSPECT SECURITY FORCES

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

NATIONAL Security Minister Marvin Dames talking about the fight against crime in the House of Assembly yesterday.

Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

Body cams by August - Dames

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net THE long-awaited body cams for law enforcement officers are now in the country and are expected to be officially rolled out by August, National Security Minister Marvin Dames revealed in the House of Assembly yesterday.

In the meantime, the minister said officers will continue with virtual training until the “cutting edge” equipment is fully implemented in the system.

Giving his budget contribution in Parliament yesterday, the Mount Moriah MP said: “Mr Speaker, in February of this year, $688,561 was invested for 200 body worn and 200 dash cams for patrol vehicles. The technology is now on island.

“They’re now on island and in order to meet our projected roll-out period, training is continuing online and this is as a result of COVID-19 so we don’t want to lose any time. Meanwhile, the singnalling units for the dash cams have been installed in the new police vehicles; $232,357 will be invested during this month while the duplicate amount will be paid during the

upcoming fiscal period for maintenance. Mr Speaker, this cutting edge police technology is expected to provide critical evidence for both internal and external investigations. It is anticipated that projected roll out period will be August of 2020, not long now.”

The minister’s comments come amid public outcry against Saturday’s police involved shootings, which left three men dead in Cowpen Road. Their deaths brought the country’s police-involved killings for the year to eight, according to this newspaper’s records.

Police said an officer was “ambushed” by gunshots from the suspects, who were in a dark tinted car, prompting police to return fire and fatally wound the men. No officers were injured, however. Relatives of the three men do not believe they fired at police.

Yesterday, the minister said officials have been exploring “less than lethal devices” for police officers, adding that further information on the matter will be provided to the public at a later date.

“I will wish to advise the public that we have been exploring less than lethal devices for the use by our

police officers. . .We will keep the public informed of the implementation of this,” he said.

Mr Dames also said during the period of January through the end of May, crime fell by some three percent compared to the same period last year. However the country was under a lockdown and curfew beginning in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and some observers feel this contributed to a slow down in crime during the period in question.

He also said: “Mr Speaker, of the 31 recorded murders (from January until the end of May), 20 or 64 percent were on New Providence; eight or 26 percent were on Grand Bahama and three or ten percent on the Family Islands. Irrespective, Mr Speaker, of the islands, the murder count in the Bahamas continues its downward trend, which means that our investments are paying dividends.”

According to Mr Dames, the police statistics show a considerable percentage of the murders were motivated by conflict or retaliation and drugs.

“Approximately 32 percent of the murders were motivated by conflict or retaliation,” he said.

Meanwhile, “19 percent was motivated by drugs, according to police statistics.”

“Of all of the murder victims, 26 persons or 84 percent were males and the remaining females. Of the total victim count, 20 persons or 65 percent were prolific offenders known to police.” “…The high propensity of men being killed has an historical precedence in The Bahamas, similar to the global trend. Men between the ages of 15 and 29 are of the highest risk of becoming victims and most likely perpetrators of murders.”

Acknowledging the importance of seizing unlicensed guns in the country, Mr Dames said he was pleased to announce that over 100 firearms have been captured by officers to date.

In other crime matters, the minister noted that over 1,000 people have been arrested for curfew violations since the prime minister’s COVID-19 orders were implemented in March.

“From March 24 to May 1, 2020, there have been 1,134 persons arrested and charged, Mr Speaker, for curfew violations. Approximately, 783 persons or 69 percent of the violation was on the island of New Providence.”

FORMER Commodore Tellis Bethel has been appointed the security standard inspector at the Ministry of National Security, a role that will allow him to review the ministry’s “respective agencies and programmes” and make recommendations where necessary.

This was revealed by National Security Minister Marvin Dames during his budget contribution in the House of Assembly yesterday.

“I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude to the outgoing commander of the defence force Commodore Bethel,” he said in Parliament.

“He gave many years of dedicated service to the Royal Bahamas Defence Force and by extension, the people of this nation. The same is extended to all the officers who would have recently retired from that great great organisation.

“Mr Speaker, Mr Bethel will continue his service in his new role as the standard inspector of the security forces within the Ministry of National Security.”

Mr Dames said the new role will allow Mr Bethel to further the ministry’s efforts to better serve the Bahamian people.

He said: “In his new role, he will be working through the permanent secretary and the Ministry of National Security to support the three agencies and their ambit to provide high quality, effective and responsive service to their clients, to our clients - the people of the commonwealth of the Bahamas, reviewing the respective agencies and programmes in accordance with their mandates and making recommendations to the minister.”

Mr Bethel’s new post was confirmed by Mr Dames last month, but it was not revealed until yesterday what those duties will exactly entail.

Mr Bethel was placed on vacation last October as a part of a move by the Minnis administration to prevent officers from accumulating so much leave that they have to be paid substantial sums of money when they retire.

Some of those officers

have since retired, while three others have returned from vacation leave but have been transferred to other government agencies.

Asked by reporters last month what took officials so long to reveal their plans for the commodore’s future, the minister replied: “…

When you’re dealing with persons retiring or demitting office, I’m of the view that that is not something that you conduct in the press. You can’t conduct the affairs of another in the press.”

Insisting that the new appointment was not a demotion, Mr Dames previously said he felt confident that Mr Bethel will perform well in his new role.

The outgoing commodore has since been replaced by Commodore Raymond King, the eighth person in the country to have attained the prestigious rank.

As the ministry and its agencies continue to experience a “period of transformation,” Mr Dames said officials are also considering giving a new role to former Police Commissioner Anthony Ferguson.

He said: “Mr Speaker, Mr Ferguson is currently being considered by this government to take up another position and I hope to announce that very shortly. Mr Speaker, the police force continues to go through a period of transformation, and it is now headed by now commissioner, Mr Paul Rolle, the eighth commissioner of police in the independent Bahamas.

“His executive team includes the first female deputy commissioner of police...We believe in women, we believe in women. Mr Speaker, the government continues and remains committed to the manpower audit carried out during 2018.”

TELLIS BETHEL

MOVES TO IMPROVE SANITATION AT DEPT OF CORRECTION

By EARYEL BOWLEG ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

NATIONAL Security Minister Marvin Dames says the government will rectify the problem of Bahamas Department of Correctional Services officers having to collect human waste in bags and transport it away in trucks.

Due to a lack of toilets in some areas, a slop bucket system is used for inmates to urinate and defecate. The minister told Parliament yesterday the maximum security unit was

built without plumbing, so consequently no space for toilets was considered.

He laid out initiatives to improve sanitation at BDCS and said the longstanding issue had “fallen on deaf ears”.

“The men and women at the Department of Corrections have been crying out to their leaders. However, their cries have fallen on deaf ears….. We will not accept, not this government, that officers in a modern Bahamas will have to collect and transport human feces in bags and trucks. Although

we are in difficult times, we have begun a pledge to rectify this problem once and for all. Mr Speaker to improve conditions, biodegradable sanitised waste bags. . .were introduced to the inmates (so they) can properly and securely dispose of their waste.”

Mr Dames announced a sanitation truck will be purchased in the upcoming fiscal period for safe transport and removal of the waste. Yet, he admitted the remand centre water system is challenged when trying to supply water to

the cell blocks for hygienic purposes.

Despite issues at the facility, he said there are no COVID-19 confirmed cases at BDCS. Mr Dames also noted the improvements that have been done so far at BDCS in effort to help with rehabilitation. He said: “We’re trying to transform the prison…it’s a very old facility. . .You can say we need a new one but we’re not in that financial state where we can have a new prison at this moment but we can certainly improve the

condition of the one that’s currently there.

“See, you can’t talk about rehabilitation. You need a plan for rehabilitation … there has to be a process. You can’t rehabilitate someone if they living in a hog pen. You ain’t serious about it.”

He held up a picture of the prison’s administrative building explaining the roof was destroyed after Hurricane Matthew and work was done to address the issue.

To improve sleeping conditions, he explained the government invested some

$409,000 for 100 bunk beds which were constructed by inmates. A fund of $328,000 was invested in renovations of maximum security’s southern wig transforming it into a modern cell block.

This consists of new flooring and masonry.

More than $1m will be invested for security and communication equipment and $200,000 for primitive fencing to reduce intrusion, escapes, and entrance of contraband. Some $46,368 will be invested for an x-ray and ultra-scan machine, he said.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, June 18, 2020, PAGE 5

ACTIVISTS UNHAPPY ABOUT AG CITIZENSHIP APPEAL

By TANYA SMITH-CARTWRIGHT ts-cartwright @tribunemedia.net

ACTIVISTS have criticised the Office of the Attorney General’s appeal of Justice Ian Winder’s landmark ruling on citizenship.

Local group Equality Bahamas and the Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights, an international organisation, said they welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision, saying this is an important step towards upholding equal nationality rights for Bahamians without discrimination on the basis of gender or marital status.

In a joint statement, the organisations took issue

with the government’s appeal of this decision.

“We are pleased with the interpretation of the Constitution as inclusive and rights-giving rather than restrictive and punitive,” said Alicia Wallace, director of Equality Bahamas and Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights coalition member. “It is unfortunate that the attorney general is positioning himself as a defender of the Constitution and his narrow view of it, rather than a defender of the people for whom the Constitution was written. We continued in our work toward constitutional reform and the expansion of women’s rights.”

The court’s decision, if upheld, could benefit thousands of

children of Bahamian men born outside of wedlock to non-Bahamian women. Justice Winder ruled last month that children born out of wedlock to Bahamian men and foreign women are citizens at birth and do not have to wait until 18 to apply for citizenship, which is the common interpretation of the Constitution. If the ruling stands, it could affect the status of many people in the country.

The Bahamas is one of three countries that discriminates against unmarried fathers in their ability to confer nationality on their children. It also remains one of 25 countries globally whose nationality law denies married women the right to confer

nationality on their children on an equal basis with men, the activists said. Married Bahamian women lack the right to pass nationality to children born abroad, a right reserved for married Bahamian men. The Bahamas is also one of approximately fifty countries that denies women the same right as men to confer nationality on a non-citizen spouse.

A Constitutional referendum in 2016 attempted to address the disparities, as well as introduce a new article banning sex-based discrimination, however all four questions were rejected by a wide margin.

“The Supreme Court decision is an important step towards achieving equal nationality rights

for Bahamian women and men,” said Catherine Harrington, manager of the Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights.

“The persistence of gender discrimination in the nationality law of The Bahamas undermines women and men’s equal citizenship and equality in the family. We urge the government of The Bahamas to build on the recent momentum and take concrete action to advance equal nationality rights for all citizens.”

Justice Winder’s ruling focused on whether a reference to “father” in Article 14 (1) of the Constitution is applicable when interpreting Article 6 of the document.

Article 6 says: “Every person born in The

Bahamas after 9th July 1973 shall become a citizen of The Bahamas at the date of his birth if at that date either of his parents is a citizen of The Bahamas.”

Article 14 (1) says: “Any reference in this chapter to the father of a person shall, in relation to any person born out of wedlock other than a person legitimated before 10th July 1973, be construed as a reference to the mother of that person.”

The judge concluded that if drafters of the Constitution wanted Article 14 (1) to apply to Article 6, they would have used the words “either father or mother”, not “parents” in Article 6.

In an application filed on June 10, government lawyers have asked for his judgment to be set aside.

‘Awesome’ Sands is backed by his people

By TANYA SMITH-CARTWRIGHT ts-cartwright @tribunemedia.net DAYS after former Health Minister Dr Duane Sands criticised his former Cabinet colleagues over the handling of Hurricane Dorian victims, members of the Free National Movement’s Elizabeth Association have come out in his defence.

Sandra Stuart, a resident of Elizabeth and a member of the association, said she fully supports Dr Sands and has seen him grow over the years.

“Dr Sands has been an awesome MP for us in Elizabeth,” she said. “He has brought Elizabeth a far way.

Whether he spoke out then or is speaking out now, we fully support him, unconditionally. It’s supposed to be the people’s time and the people want to hear the truth.

So I have no problem with him speaking out. The matter

of Dorian was handled poorly and that is a fact so why people want to get mad because he said so. I think he would be a good leader of the FNM. He was a novice just like the current Prime Minister. He was thrown into the ocean and someone yelled, ‘swim’. He has been swimming ever since.”

Ms Stuart said she finds Dr Sands to be compassionate and a good listener.

She also said she is sorry that he is not minister of health anymore and she is still waiting to see the “fine print” as to why Dr Sands’ resignation was accepted by Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis.

Another constituent and member of the Elizabeth Association, Larry Pinder, also supports Dr Sands and recalled how the surgeon has encouraged him in his own life.

“He encouraged me to get my business licence in landscaping, lawn maintenance,” Mr Pinder said.

“He also pushed me to pursue many other things.

So on a personal note, I have to say thank you to Dr Sands for pushing me to be an entrepreneur, a hard worker and a family man.

Naturally I support him.”

Another association member, Anieka Major-Hanna, said it is unfortunate Dr Sands’ resignation was accepted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The acceptance of his resignation was unforeseeable and unfortunate for our country leaving us in a vulnerable state during a worldwide pandemic,” she said. “Dr Sands speaking out shows his integrity and dedication to the people of our country, displaying that doing the right thing in following protocol is better than not doing anything at all. I applaud him for his commitment in bringing forth information and questions people want and need to know.

FORMER Health Minister Dr Duane Sands has the support of the FNM’s Elizabeth Association “The true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is watching.

Dr Duane Sands, is a giant of a man, articulate, intelligent, affable, a man of integrity, and a true visionary. Dr Sands has proven to be knowledgeable not only about the health and medical aspects of the country, but in other areas that are important for good governance.”

Dr Sands resigned last month over his actions related to the arrival of six American permanent residents into the country with COVID-19 test supplies, but who had not been tested until a day after their arrival. He initially told this newspaper he had no plans to resign, but did just that a day later.

During a recent interview with a local daily,

he suggested he resigned after a letter, which he did not write, began making the rounds on social media. That letter stated Dr Sands had been “deeply apologetic” and offered to resign, however Dr Minnis “graciously refused to accept it”. Dr Sands said he was angered because he had no input in the later. He released his own resignation letter about 30 minutes later, which Dr Minnis accepted.

He has since been making media rounds.

While a guest on 96.9 fm radio show, Paradigm Shift, on Tuesday, he was

asked about unanswered questions about bodies of victims in the aftermath of the storm. Dr Sands has called for full accountability in the matter.

“I want us to give a full accountability of the entire situation,” Dr Sands said.

“We have to report to the people... How we deal with this is critical. This is our George Floyd situation here in The Bahamas.”

Dr Sands said the handling of bodies of Dorian’s victims was taken from his portfolio before he resigned and turned over to the Office of the Prime Minister.

PAGE 6, Thursday, June 18, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

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Worried about US COVID-19?

Open tourism to Bahamians “SO, what are we to do now?”

That’s a question we have been asking – but these are not our words, these are the words of Tourism Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar.

The problem, simply put, is the scale of the COVID-19 outbreak still affecting the United States.

We’ve done our part. For all the criticisms there might be over the circumstances surrounding Dr Duane Sands’ resignation as Health Minister and the failure of Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis to explain those, in terms of clamping down on the spread of the virus, The Bahamas and the ministry’s health team has done well.

But now, as we reach the point of reopening, we look at the runaway number of cases in the US and despair.

Mr D’Aguilar puts the numbers in stark context – saying if our population was in Florida, we would have had five times the numbers of deaths, in Georgia nearly eight times, in New York, 42 times the number we suffered. If the virus had reached us in the level it has affected the US, our healthcare services would likely have been overwhelmed.

When it comes to restarting tourism, how do we open our doors to a location where the virus is still rampant? That’s not just a balance of economy against health – imagine, heaven forbid, an outbreak of cases at a hotel leading to a rush of patients needing treatment and everyone who had booked at that hotel cancelling. A health crisis and a financial crisis all at once.

So the government has taken a change of tack. To come into the country, visitors will have to do the same as Bahamians on repatriation flights have been doing – present a negative test result to enter the country.

That will, of course, reduce the numbers coming, simply because of cost and availability of those tests. It will also not be a complete guarantee as someone might pick up the virus after taking the test. But it is a prudent measure and at this point prudence saves lives.

So, to return to the question, what are we to do now?

Well, one thing we’ve said before in this column is to market the country to Bahamians. Let Bahamians rediscover their country. Open venues for staycations. The prices may well need to come down a bit, offering discounts for locals as long as the costs of operations are covered, but it will get things going again and businesses can make their money back as more countries overcome the virus.

We are delighted to see that Mr D’Aguilar says officials will prioritise domestic tourism growth with a promotional campaign encouraging just that.

With some of the bigger resorts keeping their doors closed until later in the year, it’s also a prime opportunity for some of the smaller locations to shine, especially in the Family Islands.

As we wish our friends in the US well as they try to win their own fight with COVID-19, let’s give them a glimpse of what is waiting for them when they do.

Failing our animal friends WHILE we hail the ways in which we have succeeded, we should also own up to our failings.

The story of 70 animals being rescued from Freeport by US animal rescue organisations is a feel good one in the sense of the animals being saved – but a sad indictment that we are unable to take care of our own.

Part of that failing in Grand Bahama has been down to the damage from Hurricane Dorian – but we only have to look at the number of stray dogs roaming the streets in New Providence to recognise that there would have been a problem regardless of the impact of a major storm.

It is not of course the first time rescuers have come to the aid of animals in The Bahamas – even dating back to

when horses had to be saved from the closure of the Hobby Horse Hall race track. But we need to take care of our own nation. We need to be in a position to do so. There’s a quote by Gandhi that comes to mind: “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”

That’s not just a high-minded way of looking at animals, it’s simply highlighting the bedrock of compassion in a nation. In the case of Grand Bahama, it’s highlighting the struggle the whole island is going through after Hurricane Dorian.

We need to deal with our strays, we need to neuter animals to stop more dogs suffering on the streets. We can do better, and we should.

A museum is now the right place for Columbus statue EDITOR, The Tribune IT IS no coincidence that the debate surrounding the statue of Christopher Columbus has resurfaced in recent weeks. At a time when protests over racism in the United States and around the world are in full bloom, it is only logical that we are again talking about Columbus. The two issues are inextricably linked.

The protests that started with the death of George Floyd have in some parts of the United States led to renewed calls for the removal of confederate and Columbus monuments.

And rightly so. Knowing what we know about the true legacy of Columbus, why do we continue to hold him in such high honour?

Some have questioned the importance of this discussion when there are so many seemingly more pressing issues facing us.

For me, the answer to that question is this: it is important because it affects how we see ourselves. It is the difference between us continuing to be a loyal vassal, continuing to pay homage to European dominance on the one hand and recognising and embracing our own value as a people on the other. The statue of Columbus on the steps of Government House looms large as a symbol of European imperialism. Certainly, his “discovery” of the “New World” marked the advent of the great age of Atlantic exploration and trade. But it also marked the violent end of the indigenous population in the region and the eventual slave trade and colonisation by the Europeans.

The calls for the removal of the statue of Columbus do not signal a denial of history. The historical impact of Columbus is as

undeniable as the impact of Adolf Hitler on the history of Europe. We recognise it, but why celebrate it? Yes, history has brought us to where we are today. Let us not forget history, but let us put it in its place. Columbus’s place is in the history books and museums. This will forever allow us to remember how we came to where we are, but it is time that we move beyond our allegiance to European colonisers and slave masters.

The removal of this symbol of colonialism would for us represent a rejection of the neocolonialism that still grips us today. Such action would be much more than symbolic. It might actually begin to change our mindset and empower us to finally recognise our self-worth.

TERRI BELLOT Nassau June 15, 2020

Step up, fathers EDITOR, The Tribune SUNDAY will be celebrated as Father’s Day, but no one really expects a bevy of activity or fanfare. A few vendors, if any, will be strewn along the roadways selling their wares and traffic will be free flowing. For the paltry few good fathers who may be feted they may even have to foot the bill themselves. When did we get here? How can this situation be turned around?

Why did you become a father? Was it to show your deadbeat dad that you are better than he is (was) at this fathering thing? To pass your name along? Or was it because you have oftentimes heard that you are not a man until you can impregnate a woman?

Whatever your reason is to become a father or whether you can(not) find a reason, the fact remains that you are a father and there are responsibilities that come with being a father. The very day you became a father you gave up your individuality. It is no longer me but rather me and my child(ren).

What traits/values are you passing on to your children? Will they remember you as the negative father (the abuser, the ‘cusser’, the womaniser, the absentee parent, the parent who never sacrifices) or the positive father (the listener, the provider, the priest, the protector, man of his word, godly character, firm, but loving)?

The Caribbean man is at a grave disadvantage when it comes to fathering because of our colonial history. During slavery the man was taken from woman to woman to deposit his seed to produce offspring to continue the work on the plantation. He was never given the chance to be the provider, protector, or the priest. He was simply a seed donor. Now that slavery has been abolished, this behaviour has continued. It is even glorified in our musical heritage. Nuff Gal by dancehall king Beenie Man comes to mind.

A father is a very noble calling. I urge you fathers who have not signed for your child(ren) to do so. If you have doubts, then do a paternity test but do not allow that child to grow up in a world where they feel

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net unwanted and unloved, which often leads to bitterness and resentment.

No excuse can or must be accepted for your inaction as a father. There are many model fathers around, some of whom never had a father in their lives, who can be observed and emulated. Fathering takes great effort, time, and money.

However, when done right it is a rewarding job.

The Bible refers to God as father. When we as fathers fool around we cause many in the world to not want anything to do with our Father God. They cannot imagine coming to Father God after being mistreated by their earthly father.

A family feels secure when the father is doing his job. A child loves to know that there is safety in daddy’s arms. It is quite disheartening, however, that the devil has crept into the hearts of a few fathers who have abused their children verbally, physically, and sadly, sexually.

God intended for fathers to raise godly offspring who will lead productive lives and make positive and lasting contributions to their communities, country, and the world on a broader spectrum. It is God’s will that fathers instruct their children in the right way and to carry on his legacy. For this to happen the father must be present and there must be a father/child bond.

Since the dawn of the feminist movement there has been a deliberate attack on masculinity. Masculinity is vilified and femininity continues to be glorified.

Do not get me wrong I do believe that the woman needs to be heard and given her right place in society.

However, we have swung the pendulum too far back and what we are now reaping are terrible rewards of that action.

There are women who just need a child. They are only concerned about getting pregnant and could care less about the father since they can easily provide financially for the child because of their economic standing. This ideology is

a serious threat to the stability of society and must be halted. A father’s role can never ever be taken over by a mother. Mothers must mother and fathers must father, which are completely different roles. It does not matter how many books the mother has read or how many earned college degrees she has she can never ever father her own child.

The prevalence of this behaviour has only encouraged our men to be careless and the seed donor mentality to persist. It will also increase the number of people who are already on a quest to find out who their father is; a knowledge that they want to possess as this gives them a sense of identity.

If God intended for one of the sexes to play dual roles there would not be any need for the male’s sperm to fertilise the female’s egg. Women are not parthenogenetic (ability to reproduce without the male). We need both sexes to reproduce. That is what God intended. Parenting is so complex that God has assigned it to two people – a mother and a father.

Tons of research have shown the traumatic effects on the society by an absentee father. A quick search on any web search engine will reveal that a child is five times more likely to commit suicide, to be incarcerated, to experience more social and mental behavioural issues, to divorce and have relationship issues, increased rates of depression and anxiety, decreased education levels and increased drop-out rates, and substantially increased rates of substance abuse.

With this information I would imagine that those who are tasked with fixing the social ills of our society would be lobbying to save the fathers! Where are the lobbyist groups?

We have been trying to fight crime and fix societal problems, but the answer lies with our fathers. Once we as fathers step up to the plate and start doing our jobs then many of the social ills in our society will start to disappear.

PASTOR CARLYLE PEART Nassau June 16, 2020

Thursday, June 18, 2020, PAGE 7

Six put on probation after they admit part in cheque fraud case

By FARRAH JOHNSON fjohnson@tribunemedia.net ONE man and five women were placed on 12 months’ probation and ordered to compensate a marketing agency they defrauded two years ago, after they pleaded guilty to a string of fraud-related charges in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

The defendants appeared before Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes charged with possession of forged documents, uttering forged documents and fraud by means of false pretences, after they were accused of defrauding HR Business Solutions of more than $40,000 with fraudulent FirstCaribbean International Bank (FCIB) cheques between August and September of 2018.

According to the prosecution, Carlos Valdes, 37, was found in possession of a fraudulent FCIB cheque on August 31, 2018. Prosecutors said he uttered the forged document to draw $2,500 from an account in the name of HR Business Solutions, which he then made payable to himself to obtain the cash that same

day. After pleading guilty, he was ordered to compensate HR Business Solutions $2,500.

Likewise, Arnell Armbrister, 24, was also accused of forging and uttering a $2,500 cheque to obtain money from the same company’s account on August 30, 2018. She was also accused of committing the same offences to obtain another $3,200 on September 21, 2018. After admitting to the offences, she was ordered to repay HR Business Solutions $5,700.

It is alleged Kendrea Smith, 28, forged and uttered a $1,200 cheque which was drawn from the marketing agency’s account on August 2, 2018. It is further alleged she forged and uttered another cheque to obtain $2,000 two weeks later. During the hearing, Smith pleaded guilty. She was ordered to repay HR Business Solutions $3,200.

Anavia Thompson, 22, was accused of forging and uttering a cheque on August 23, 2018 to obtain $2,500 from HR Business Solutions’ account.

She and Smith were also charged with conspiracy

MAN DENIES PUNCHING A POLICE OFFICER IN THE EYE

By FARRAH JOHNSON fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A MAN was arraigned in Magistrate’s Court yesterday, accused of punching a police officer and acting disorderly at a police station.

Edwin Thompson III, 27, appeared before Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes after he was accused of causing harm to Reserve Police Constable 718 Taylor on June 14. He was also charged with acting in a disorderly manner while at the Elizabeth Estates Police Station that same day.

Prosecutor Lincoln McKenzie said around 10.40pm that night, PC

Taylor was on duty in the cell block area of the Elizabeth Estates Police Station, when he approached the defendant who was acting in a disorderly manner. Sgt McKenzie said when PC Taylor asked Thompson III to refrain from doing so, he punched the officer in his right eye.

During the hearing, Thompson III denied the allegations and the matter was adjourned to Sept 29 for trial. Bail was denied and he was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services in the interim. He has a right to apply to the Supreme Court for bail.

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

THE TRIBUNE

CARLOS VALDES

GISELLE CAPERNAUS

ANAVIA THOMPSON

ARNELL ARMBRISTER

KENDREA SMITH

CHIQUIA ROLLE

to commit fraud after they were accused of conspiring together to commit fraud that same day. After pleading guilty, she was ordered to compensate HR Business Solutions $2,500.

Giselle Capernaus, 30, was accused of forging a $2,500 cheque and uttering the same to obtain the funds from the company’s bank account on August 30, 2018. She also pleaded guilty and was ordered to compensate the marketing agency for the funds she stole.

Finally, the prosecution alleged that Chiquia Rolle, 26, was found in possession of a forged FCIB cheque in the amount of $3,200 on September 20, 2018, which she then made payable to herself to obtain cash from HR Business Solutions’ account that same day.

She was ordered to repay HR Business Solutions $3,200. During the hearing, Rolle was also charged for

disorderly behaviour after she pulled away from the female officers that were escorting into the Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

She was discharged after her lawyer explained that she only resisted because she “really needed to use the bathroom”.

Prosecutor Lincoln McKenzie said the owner of HR Business Solutions told police that she was reviewing her cheque logs on September 24, 2018, when she noticed a number of fraudulent cheques with a combined value of $43,800.

Sgt McKenzie said she filed an official complaint with the Financial Crime Unit and an investigation was launched. This led to the arrest of the defendants, who admitted to the offences in an interview with police. Sgt McKenzie said the officers were also able to break up the fraud ring, although they were still looking for two suspects

who they suspected were the “ring leaders of the operation.”

During the hearing, Valdes was represented by attorney Barry Sawyer.

He told the magistrate that his client was prepared to make restitution to the virtual complainant. Likewise, attorney Ian Cargill, who represented Armbrister and Smith, noted that Armbrister was a mother of a six-month-old, while Smith was a single mother who was raising two boys. During his plea in mitigation, Mr Cargill said that both defendants were extremely remorseful and insisted they were used as pawns by the leaders of the fraud ring. Attorneys Roberto Reckley and Krystal Smith represented Rolle and Capernaus respectively.

Mr Reckley noted that his client was the mother of three young children aged one, three and four. Mrs Smith, on the other hand, told the magistrate her client

only found herself in her situation because she trusted someone she shouldn’t have.

After listening to the pleas in mitigation from the defendants’ counsel, Magistrate Forbes told them that the offences they committed were serious and carried a penalty of five years in prison if they were convicted. He also noted that all of the defendants were adults and told them they needed to realise that their decisions not only impacted themselves, but everyone who is connected to them.

“I need all of you to appreciate from this day forward that your actions have consequences,” he stated.

All of the defendants were subsequently placed on probation for one year.

Magistrate Forbes also gave them until August 30 to pay back HR Business Solutions the money they defrauded.

PAGE 8, Thursday, June 18, 2020

FRONT PORCH

BY SIMON “The past is the present, isn’t it? It’s the future, too.

We all try to lie out of that but life won’t let us.”

- Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night IN THE spring of 1992 the late President George W Bush toured a burnedout neighbourhood of South Central Los Angeles following protests and riots in the predominantly African American area.

The unrest was ignited after a jury acquitted three white and one Hispanic Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer accused in the vicious beating of Rodney King following a high-speed chase. The beating was videotaped, sparking national outrage.

Following the acquittal of the officers, from a police department notorious for racial abuse of black civilians, thousands of people erupted in anger in LA for six days after the verdict.

After his tour of the neighbourhood Bush acknowledged: “I can hardly imagine – I try, but I can hardly imagine the fear and the anger that people must feel to terrorise one another and to burn each other’s property.” Given his extraordinarily privileged background and the worlds he inhabited, it was no surprise that Bush could barely understand the seething outrage.

Bush desperately tried to show some level of understanding but betrayed his limited mindset of the response to the verdict by using the word “terrorise”.

THE TRIBUNE

How privilege blinds us from seeking justice and equality He failed to fully appreciate that many of those who rioted, who did not have his level of access to wealth and privilege and opportunity, might view property and ownership quite differently than the 68-year-old scion of a wealthy family.

Bush was speaking from the confines and limited worldview of a Connecticut-born WASP and son of a US Senator. He spoke as a former congressman, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and head of the Republican National Committee. He spoke as a graduate of the prestigious schools Andover and Yale.

An Op-ed piece in the New York Times by Jason C. Deuchler, a black writer, the day before Bush visited the black neighbourhood, observed: “White people sometimes think that if blacks could act more like whites, everything would be all right.”

Language When he witnessed or saw the results of protests and rioting in American cities, Dr Martin Luther King, Jr counselled against violence while acknowledging “a riot is the language of the unheard”.

Empathy and understanding are like muscles.

They grow stronger through exercise, usage and practice, no matter how difficult and sometimes halting. As in physical exercise, the benefits accrue the more one exercises certain habits of the heart or consciousness.

The late Sir Durward Knowles, known for his outstanding community service and philanthropy, was also a man of wealth and privilege. He went well beyond the confines of his privilege of class and race to understand the racial history of The Bahamas.

Sir Durward was a

founder of the One Bahamas Foundation which was committed to the oneness and unity of the country across the Family Islands, race, class and other areas of national life. He celebrated the diversity of the country and the various threads of the Bahamian tapestry.

In Grand Bahama some years ago Sir Durward apologised for the discrimination and treatment of black Bahamians over many centuries, including the pre-majority rule period of the white oligarchy which used its privilege to secure wealth and deny opportunity and political power to black Bahamians.

Sir Durward said at the time: “Boys and girls, you are living in a great country. I was brought up when white people were in charge of these lands and they treated the black people very badly. I’m here to apologise on our behalf. Today,

we’re living in a great society. We’ve [beaten] all the trials and temptations and now we’re here as one Bahamas.”

Sadly, quite a number of white Bahamians of his generation and younger still fail to acknowledge or appreciate the legacy of racial oppression and discrimination at home and abroad. Privilege often blinds one to the realities beyond one’s gated communities and gated mindsets and gated hearts.

In a 2006 commentary Bahamian poet and author Helen Klonaris, who celebrates her Greek-Bahamian identity, described the penchant of a number of white Bahamians to eschew the broader history of The Bahamas.

Klonaris wrote: “As a Greek Bahamian who grew up in Nassau, my life has been deeply and profoundly influenced by African Bahamian culture.

“For me, I have come to understand, this has been a privilege which afforded me lessons, insights and ways of seeing and being I could not have learned anywhere else; certainly not in America, where the majority Anglo populations again and again turn away from the possibility of creating something new out of real engagement with communities of colour; the possibilities for transformation that the perspectives of non-white cultures might offer.”

Interview She referenced a 2005 interview between Bahamian Rhodes Scholar Christian Campbell and businessman and former cabinet minister Brent Symonette, which appeared in The Weekender publication.

Klonaris wrote: “What I read in that interview was shocking at first, but, I had to admit, disturbingly representative of a vast number of white Bahamians, especially of middle and upper classes. …

“It concerns me that a leader who is white and Bahamian could express wonder at why race is still an issue in today’s Bahamas. That somehow to come to grips with our history means to accept it and move on.”

She continued: “I think what white Bahamians really mean when we say this is black people should accept what happened and move on. What we are really saying is ‘I don’t want to have to think about how I, as a white person, have developed an identity in an age of racism; I don’t want to have to think about how 400 years of European enslavement of Africans affected who I am today.’

“We don’t want to have to think about white privilege and how it most certainly does affect how we live in the world, perceive ourselves, how others perceive us, our presumed power…”

In Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison recently had to apologise

for denying the history of slavery in his country. In the aftermath of the George Floyd killing and the ensuing global protests, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson downplayed the level of racism in Britain.

Systemic He now says he will establish a commission on racial equality. We will see if this is yet another talking shop leading to little concrete action in terms of greater equality for people of colour in the U.K. and a greater acknowledgement of the systemic racism from the country at the heart of the black slave trade.

Many in Britain have not forgotten the horrid comments of Johnson in a Daily Telegraph column he wrote in 2002 when thenPrime Minister Tony Blair was visiting the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Johnson wrote: “They say he is shortly off to the Congo. No doubt the AK47s will fall silent, and the pangas will stop their hacking of human flesh, and the tribal warriors will all break out in watermelon smiles to see the big white chief touch down in his big white British taxpayerfunded bird.

“What a relief it must be for Blair to get out of England. It is said that the Queen has come to love the Commonwealth, partly because it supplies her with regular cheering crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies; and one can imagine that Blair, twice victor abroad but enmired at home, is similarly seduced by foreign politeness.”

The George Floyd killing has sparked significant change and awareness about white privilege and systemic discrimination.

But why did it take so long?

Why do so many white people including leaders still refuse to acknowledge the festering depth of racial inequality and injustice?

Why do so many refuse to acknowledge so much of the history of racism and slavery?

The road to justice is still arduous and dangerous because the systems and mindsets of white privilege and supremacy remain entrenched in certain generations and mindsets that still ultimately believe that whites are inherently superior and blacks inherently inferior.

It is a conceit and bastion of white privilege that remain as resident abroad as it is at home, no matter the platitudes from some quarters about equality. The evil of racism will have to be dismantled and destroyed root and branch for generations to come!

As O’Neill reminds us in Long Day’s Journey into Night: “The past is the present, isn’t it? It’s the future, too. We all try to lie out of that but life won’t let us.”

We saw this in brutal relief in the eight minutes and forty-six seconds and the sixteen times George Floyd gasped that he couldn’t breathe.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, June 18, 2020, PAGE 9

TRUMP LOSING SUPPORT OF INTELLIGENCE ANALYSTS PRESIDENT Donald Trump is not being paranoid when he accuses mainstream media like The Washington Post and CNN of being out to get him. They absolutely are out to get him.

Headlines and Breaking News on these and other outlets regularly pillory the president and eagerly anticipate the day when he will no longer occupy the White House.

One must, therefore, consider the source (the Post) of the following story. Still, it is sobering.

It seems quite a few retired American intelligence analysts

and officials feel queasy when observing the current state of American executive politics and society.

‘I’ve seen this kind of violence,” one analyst said of the massive American protests against police violence and the occasionally deadly responses, and Trump’s bellicose stance toward the protests. “This is what autocrats do.

This is what happens in countries before a collapse. It really does unnerve me.”

Many will recall Trump’s call earlier this month for US governors to “dominate the streets”

STATESIDE with Charlie Harper LET’S be frank: being geographically and culturally close to the US has been good for The Bahamas in many ways for much of its existence as a sovereign, independent state.

The ties that bind our country to America, especially to Florida but also to many other states for various reasons, are strong and enduring. Lots of us go to college in the US. Some of us marry Americans.

Many of us have relatives who work there. Shopping in South Florida has been mostly taken for granted as almost a birthright of Bahamian citizenship. Airline pre-clearance centres at our major airports make such visits easier and make us feel special – usually in a good way. Our dollar is pegged at par with the US dollar.

We watch American TV, listen to American music.

We are deluged by their culture. And it’s really pretty cool that American icons like Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan obviously have a soft spot for our country, visiting favourite places here regularly and even investing here.

Tourism from the United States significantly fuels our economy in normal times and contributes to thousands of good jobs for Bahamians.

Through the generally benevolent engagement of American civilian departments and agencies and military branches, our national defence and law enforcement efforts are strengthened. While The Bahamas remains a proud member of the British Commonwealth and CARICOM and the UN, the old truism remains potent and accurate: When the US sneezes, The Bahamas catches a cold.

We caught a pretty bad cold back during the drug wars over 30 years ago.

What Bahamian family was not touched by the scourge of cocaine and its transshipment through Bahamian territory? This country clearly was victimised by the lucre and seduction of a massive criminal commercial enterprise that devastated us simply because of our convenient geographical location close to Florida.

We are suffering from a different kind of cold now and it’s also one that portends much future suffering. And our

geographical proximity to Florida is again the source of our misfortune.

As the prime minister continues to guide the Bahamian economy toward greater relaxation of virus-related restrictions and there are encouraging signs of our recovery from COVID-19, recent data released in the US suggests things are going in the opposite direction in Florida and elsewhere.

The Sunshine State, led by a governor who is a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, was one of the 14 American states to heed Trump’s exhortations and most quickly lift restrictions to restart its economy. Among those 14 states, there has since been a staggering 26 percent rise in new reported coronavirus cases. Florida is clearly trending in the wrong direction.

Since many of our foreign visitors come from Florida, this is a particularly bad sign. Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas are also on the list of states now experiencing a spike in new cases since lifting social and economic restrictions. The implications are dismal. Arrivals here from the American southeast, at least in the near term, will likely shrink because of health or economic hardship. And those who might visit could potentially expose us to the virus all over again.

In addition to these depressing statistics, the overall economic news from the US is uncertain.

You probably realised this already, but the United States officially slipped into an official economic recession in February, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. Normally, a recession signifies two straight quarters of economic shrinkage. But in this case, the bureau considered rapidly rising unemployment and domestic production declines in rendering its judgment.

The American Bureau of Labour Statistics just announced that it had adjusted the nation’s unemployment rate following discovery of a “classification error” for March, April and May. The actual jobless rate was 19.7 percent for April and 16.3 percent for May. A positive retail report this week buoyed Trump and stock indices. But

BOLTON BOOK LIKELY TO SPARK SOME FIREWORKS WHILE we are in the realm of foreign affairs, little has been heard in recent months from former UN ambassador and Trump National Security Adviser John Bolton, the smart but scary conservative foreign policy maven whose mastery of Washington bureaucracies was matched by his unflinching defence of President George W

JOHN BOLTON

Bush’s misbegotten invasion of Iraq in 2003 and his relentless opposition to the theocrats who rule Iran, among other outspoken passions.

After basically forcing Trump to fire him (or did he resign, as he claims?), Bolton retreated from public life to write his tellall memoir.

Next week, it will hit bookstores. Lawsuits and threats of more will no doubt increase in numbers and volume over the coming days as Trump’s lawyers and Bolton’s lawyers bicker about whether or not Bolton revealed classified information and thus violated federal law in writing his book. One certain result will be to increase book sales.

and use as much force as needed to disperse mostly peaceful protesters. “If you don’t dominate, you’re wasting your time,” Trump reportedly said.

This prompted another retired official to say Trump’s actions and words “reminded me of what I reported on for years in the Third World. Saddam. Bashar. Qaddafi.

They all did this.”

A former Trump envoy told the Post that “the imagery of a head of state in a call with other governing officials saying ‘dominate the streets! dominate the battlespace!’ – these are

PRESIDENT TRUMP

images that will define America for some time. It makes it much more difficult for us to distinguish ourselves from other countries we are trying to influence or oppose.”

None of this deterred Trump loyalist and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo from decrying Chinese crackdowns on peaceful Hong Kong protesters. “If there is any doubt about Beijing’s intent, it is to deny Hong Kongers a voice and a chance,” Pompeo said in a news release.

It’s likely the irony of his remarks was lost on the secretary.

If we’re not really careful a very, very bad cold may be coming our way

AMERICAN icons like Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan have a soft spot for The Bahamas, visiting favourite places regularly and even investing here.

Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell warned “significant uncertainty remains about the strength and timing of this recovery”.

The American Congressional Budget Office has long fulfilled its mandate to offer to the US Congress unbiased and nonpartisan economic forecasting. The CBO now estimates American unemployment rates will stay above ten percent through next year and that the US economy won’t fully recover until the end of this decade.

Maybe all this data and these forecasts will prove to be merely a misguided overreaction. Maybe the US economy and health picture will brighten much more quickly and the healthy and lucrative flow of visitors from the US will resume strongly and soon.

But it certainly wouldn’t be prudent to count on it.

PAGE 10, Thursday, June 18, 2020

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THE TRIBUNE

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, June 18, 2020, PAGE 11

Officer who shot Brooks is charged with murder ATLANTA Associated Press PROSECUTORS yesterday brought murder charges against the white Atlanta police officer who shot Rayshard Brooks in the back, saying that the black man posed no deadly threat and that the officer kicked him and offered no medical treatment for over 2 minutes as he lay dying on the ground.

Brooks was holding a stun gun he had snatched from officers but was running away and was 18 feet, 3 inches from Officer Garrett Rolfe when Rolfe opened fire, District Attorney Paul Howard said in announcing the charges five days after the killing outside a Wendy’s restaurant rocked the city.

“I got him!” the district attorney quoted Rolfe as saying.

The felony murder charge against Rolfe carries life in prison or the death penalty, if prosecutors choose to seek it. He was also charged with 10 other offenses punishable by decades behind bars.

“We’ve concluded at the time that Mr Brooks was shot that he did not pose an immediate threat of death,” Howard said.

A second officer with Rolfe, Devin Brosnan, stood on a wounded Brooks’ shoulder as he struggled for his life, Howard said.

Brosnan was charged with aggravated assault and other offenses but is cooperating with prosecutors and will testify, according to the district attorney, who said it was the first time in 40 such cases in which an officer has come forward to do this.

Rolfe was fired after shooting, while Brosnan was placed on leave.

An attorney for Tomika Miller, Brooks’ widow, welcomed the

THIS screen grab shows Rayshard Brooks speaking with Officer Garrett Rolfe at a Wendy’s restaurant on June 12 prosecutor’s decision and said Miller wasn’t aware of many of the details released, such as Brooks being kicked. “It’s heartbreaking, but it’s an attempt to redefine justice,” L. Chris Stewart said.

The news came as Republicans on Capitol Hill unveiled a package of police reform measures and the movement to get rid of Confederate monuments and other racially offensive symbols reached America’s breakfast table, with the maker of Aunt Jemima syrup and pancake mix dropping the 131-year-old brand.

The shooting sparked new demonstrations in Georgia’s capital

against police brutality, after occasionally turbulent protests in response to George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis had largely simmered down. Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields resigned less than 24 hours after Brooks died, and the Wendy’s restaurant was burned.

About 50 demonstrators were gathered in the parking lot of the restaurant — now a burned shell with “RIP” and “Rayshard” spraypainted on it — as the charges were announced. The news prompted a few raised fists.

Police were called to the restaurant over complaints of a car blocking the drive-thru lane. An

BOLTON SAYS TRUMP ASKED CHINA FOR HELP TO GET HIM RE-ELECTED WASHINGTON Associated Press PRESIDENT Donald Trump “pleaded” with China’s Xi Jinping during a 2019 summit to help his re-election prospects, according to a scathing new book by former Trump adviser John Bolton that accuses the president of being driven by political calculations when making national security decisions.

The White House was working furiously to block release of the book, whose China revelations carry echoes of Trump’s efforts to solicit political help from Ukraine that led to his impeachment.

Bolton, Trump’s national security adviser for a 17-month period, called Trump’s attempt to shift the June 2019 conversation to the US election a stunning move, and wrote that it was among innumerable conversations that “formed a pattern of fundamentally unacceptable behavior that eroded the very legitimacy of the presidency.”

Deeply critical of the president, Bolton wrote that because staff had served him so poorly, Trump “saw conspiracies behind rocks, and remained stunningly uninformed on how to run the White House, let alone the huge federal government.” He added that while he was at the White House, Trump typically had only

two intelligence briefings a week “and in most of those, he spoke at greater length than the briefers.”

The 577-page book paints an unvarnished portrait of Trump and his administration, lending the most vivid, first-person account yet of how Trump conducts himself in office.

As for the meeting with

the Chinese president in Japan, Bolton wrote that Trump told Xi that Democrats were hostile to China.

“He then, stunningly, turned the conversation to the coming US presidential election, alluding to China’s economic capability to affect the ongoing campaigns, pleading with Xi to ensure he’d win,” Bolton said.

officer found Brooks asleep behind the wheel of the car, and a breath test showed he was intoxicated.

Police body camera video showed Brooks and officers having a relatively calm and respectful conversation for more than 40 minutes before things rapidly turned violent when officers tried to handcuff him. Brooks wrestled with officers, snatched one of their stun guns and pointed it at one of them as he ran through the parking lot.

An autopsy found that Brooks was shot twice in the back. One shot pierced his heart, the districtd attorney said.

CHARLESTON TO REMOVE STATUE OF SLAVERY ADVOCATE COLUMBIA, S Carolina Associated Press DESPITE a South Carolina law protecting monuments, officials in the historic city of Charleston yesterday announced they plan to remove a statue of slavery advocate John C Calhoun from a downtown square. Mayor John Tecklenburg announced he will send a resolution to the City Council to remove the statue on the fifth anniversary of the slaying of eight black church members and their pastor in Dylann Roof’s racist attack at a Charleston church.

“What a beautiful show of support from our City Council,” Tecklenburg said, adding that he was happy to see so many come together in the effort “not to erase our long and often tragic history but to begin to write a new and more equitable future.” The mayor anticipated the statue will go to a local museum or educational institution.

• THE governing body of Oxford University’s Oriel College has recommended the removal of a statue of Victorian imperialist Cecil Rhodes that has long been the target of protests — though it won’t be taken down immediately. Rhodes made a fortune in the late 19th century from gold and diamond mines where miners laboured in brutal conditions. His statue was removed from the University of Cape Town in South Africa in 2015.

SPORTS SECTION E

THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2020

MLB: International Signing Period begins Jan. 15

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

A

s the status of the 2020 Major League Baseball season hangs in the balance, the organisation made a decision that could affect several Bahamian prospects.

MLB officially announced that the International Signing Period will be postponed from its traditional July 2 date and will now begin on January 15.

According to Baseball America, the move was another cost cutting measure by the MLB as negotiations on the 2020 season continue.

“The MLBPA agreed to allow teams to defer all but $100,000 of draft signing bonuses into 2021 and 2022, but international amateurs

signing bonuses were not automatically deferred in that March agreement,” the report said. “With MLB teams across baseball trying to save on cash flow, pushing the signing period to next January will keep teams issuing from multi-million dollar cheques this summer, pushing those expenses into 2021 instead.”

International Elite Sports Academy products Adari Grant and Kristin Munroe were listed by MLB Pipeline as some of the top infield prospects in the current class and were considered highly sought after prospects. The Bahamian pair were the only players from the English-speaking Caribbean on a list dominated by prospects from the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Venezuela.

The players who are eligible to sign (anyone who turns 16 by

August 31 this year) will remain the same in the delayed signing period which will conclude December 15, 2021. The current 2019-20 international signing period was set to expire earlier this week, but was extended through October 15, 2020. Despite the extension, teams are unable to sign players due to the MLB’s transaction freeze.

The international signing period is a time when many Bahamian prospects have signed minor league deals in recent years.

MLB is negotiating a proposal that could lead to a shortened season that begins in July. The MLB draft was also shortened to just five rounds.

The international signing period is when major league clubs sign amateurs from anywhere outside the United States. MLB can push the 2020-21 period back to January

2021, and the 2021-22 period back to January 2022. Teams will also not be allowed to trade international bonus slots in 2020 or 2021.

As a byproduct of the COVID19 fallout there has also been a reported agreement in place with the MLB to reduce the number of minor league affiliate teams by 40.

MiLB currently fields 160 teams across its various leagues, but that number could be reduced to as much as 120 and the remaining teams could face realignment.

Prior to the suspension of all baseball activity, many of the 16 Bahamian players in the minor leagues had yet to receive their assignments for the upcoming season. Up to press time last night, the MLB and players’ association continued their negotations. MLB sent a proposal for a 60-game season at full prorated pay.

World’s fastest man suspended for missing doping tests

By JAMES ELLINGWORTH and PAT GRAHAM AP Sports Writers THE likelihood that the world’s fastest man, Christian Coleman, might miss the Olympics next summer increased yesterday when he received a provisional suspension for failing to be home when drug testers showed up last year.

Coleman, the reigning world champion at 100 metres, said his latest flareup with the anti-doping system stemmed from a miscommunication that could have easily been resolved with a phone call from the doping-control officer who came to his house on December 9. It was his third whereabouts infraction in a 12-month span and could carry a ban of up to two years.

His path to the starting line at the Tokyo Games may now be through a hearing room.

Coleman’s argument is being undercut, in part, by the fact that he was well aware of the ins and outs of the “whereabouts rule” because of a case against him that was dropped last year, before this latest incident. “I think I can just be more mature about it,” Coleman said last year in discussing his close call.

The Athletics Integrity Unit, which handles antidoping cases for World Athletics, said phone calls are not part of its testing protocol because they can

make it easier for athletes to manipulate the testing process.

“Any advanced notice of testing, in the form of a phone call or otherwise, provides an opportunity for athletes to engage in tampering or evasion or other improper conduct which can limit the efficacy of testing,” the AIU said in an emailed statement.

Coleman’s status going forward remains murky.

According to the AIU website, his provisional suspension is listed as May 14, 2020 -- 13 months before the start of US Olympic Trials. The Tokyo Olympics, postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic, are scheduled to open July 23, 2021.

An email to his agent and his sponsor, Nike, weren’t immediately returned.

Last season, Coleman got ensnared in doping drama after word of his whereabouts failure leaked to the media. The US AntiDoping Agency ended up dropping the case over a technicality in a very confusing rulebook. He went on to capture 100-metre gold at the world championships in Doha, Qatar, last September.

Through it all, the 24-year-old Coleman endured some damage in the court of public opinion.

There were those ready to lump him in with a list of other big-name Americans such as Tim Montgomery, Marion Jones, Justin Gatlin and Tyson Gay

CHRISTIAN COLEMAN, of the United States, poses after winning the men’s 100 metre race during the World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar, on September 28, 2019. Reigning world champion Coleman insists a simple phone call from drug testers while he was out Christmas shopping could’ve prevented the latest misunderstanding about his whereabouts, one he fears could lead to a suspension.

(AP Photo/Martin Meissner) who have been busted for doping over the years.

“At the end of the day, I didn’t do anything wrong,” Coleman said after his race in Doha.

Elite athletes across the world are required to fill out a “whereabouts form” to make it possible for antidoping authorities to carry out surprise testing outside of competition.

A violation means an athlete either did not fill out forms telling authorities where they could be found, or that they weren’t where they said they would be when testers arrived.

Three missed tests in a 12-month period can be considered an anti-doping violation.

Coleman noted in a wide-ranging blog he posted Tuesday night that his December 9 whereabouts failure occurred when drug testers showed up at his residence while he was Christmas shopping. He also missed a test on January 16, 2019, and another on April 26, 2019, due to a filing failure.

He said there was no record of anyone coming to his place and that if he had been called he was five minutes away at a mall.

Coleman questioned in his post why he didn’t receive a phone call when the testers were unable to find him, saying he had received calls “every other time” he was tested. He said he’s been appealing the latest missed test with the AIU for six months.

On Twitter, Coleman had an exchange with reigning Olympic pole vaulting champion Katerina Stefanidi after she wrote: “Just to be clear...testers DO NOT call you when they can’t find you. I have only heard of this happening to US athletes (many different athletes and occasions).

Unless USADA has different rules than WADA, testers don’t call. You’re either where you said you’ll be or you’re not.”

Coleman responded: “What was your purpose in commenting? You’re wrong, I’ve had many DCOs (drug collection officers) tell me the protocol is to call the last 10 mins of the hour. And why would we have to input our contact info if this wasn’t the case? If you had nothing positive to say why say anything at all.”

Some of Coleman’s earlier missed tests were not

with the AIU but with USADA, whose own handbook for athletes says phone calls are usually reserved only for the last five minutes of a time slot and “to confirm the unavailability of the athlete, not to locate an athlete for testing.”

In a statement, USADA said: “We can confirm the latest proceeding involving Mr Coleman and we are collaborating with the AIU on the matter.”

The AIU filed a similar charge this month against women’s 400-metre world champion Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain. She was already under investigation when she won gold in Doha last year in the fastest time since 1985.

Before the missed test in December, Coleman mentioned being more attentive about updating his whereabouts.

“Sometimes you just go different places and do different things and that’s not pressing on your mind to update the app about every single thing you’re doing,” Coleman said.

“Going forward, I just try to do a better job about being more diligent about it.”

MINISTER VISITS ANDRE ROGERS NATIONAL BASEBALL STADIUM MINISTER of Youth, Sports and Culture Lanisha Rolle and a delegation from her ministry visited the construction site of the new Andre Rodgers National Baseball Stadium June 12.

Michael Foster, project architect at Arconcepts, Ltd., along with Ministry of Public Works architect Terran Rodgers, led the tour as the group interacted with construction stakeholders and discussed the possibilities in the use of the entire stadium’s structure.

Among those on the tour were permanent secretary Eugene Poitier, under secretary Montez Williams, acting under secretary Renee Bullard, director

of sports Tim Munnings, office manager Aileen Spencer, consultant Telford Mullings, National Sports Authority chairman Burton Rodgers and other NSA officials.

Rolle announced in the House of Assembly last week during her debate o the 2020/2021 budget that the new stadium should be completed by December 2020 at a cost of $27,486.658.00.

MINISTER of Youth, Sports and Culture Lanisha Rolle and a delegation from her ministry visit the Andre Rodgers National Stadium site on June 12.

Photo: Eric Rose/BIS

MLB, PAGE 15

HAPPINETS RE-SIGN KADEEM COLEBY IN JAPAN B-LEAGUE

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net KADEEM Coleby will return to the Akita Northern Happinets for his fourth consecutive season of pro basketball in Japan.

The club announced that it re-signed the veteran forward and extended his tenure with the team in the Japanese B-League following a COVID-19 shortened season.

Through 34 games this season, Coleby averaged 10.6 points per game on 54 per cent shooting from the field. He also averaged 6.9 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in just over 26 minutes per game.

Amid the pandemic, the B-League suspended play in February and attempted to return in March.

Arenas were filled with players, essential personnel and television crews only, however, it was a brief return to action as the season was eventually cancelled in late March.

Following the monthlong layoff, Coleby finished with 12 points (6-7 from the field) and eight rebounds to lead the Happinets to an 87-83 win.

In game two, he posted a double double with 14 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks in an 84-79 loss.

The league returned to

SEE PAGE 14

LIFE PREP ACADEMY PIPELINE FOR BAHAMIAN STUDENT ATHLETES

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

LIFE Prep Academy continues to be a pipeline for Bahamian student athletes across various sporting disciplines.

Over the course of the past two months, the school has announced several new additions to its institution in Wichita, Kansas to join its basketball, track and field, football and soccer programmes.

Former CI Gibson Rattlers point guard Kenvon Farrington was the latest addition last week.

“We are excited to announce that Kenvon Farrington will be bringing his talents to Life Prep Academy” the LPA staff said.

“He is an explosive point guard who has an exceptional work ethic. Kenvon is a great leader on and off the court. We can’t wait to get him here and get to work.”

D’Angelo Dawkins is another addition to the basketball programme.

“D’Angelo is 15 years old. He is a 6’2 combo guard that is ranked one of the top up and coming basketball players in the Bahamas,” the LPA staff said. “He is a huge offensive threat who can shoot from the outside and get to the rim. D’Angelo is a great kid with an extreme work ethic. He takes his academics serious as well. His goal is to continue to develop

SEE PAGE 14

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, June 18, 2020, PAGE 13

After 100-day wait, English soccer returns and takes a knee

By ROB HARRIS AP Global Soccer Writer MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Players kneeled in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and victims of the coronavirus were remembered as the Premier League made a somber return yesterday from a 100-day shutdown that deprived England of its national sport.

Back on the touchline at Manchester City was Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, whose positive COVID-19 test led to English soccer’s longest suspension since World War II. Britain is still trying to contain one of the world’s worst outbreaks of the coronavirus while also convulsed by a reckoning over racial injustice that roused the campaigning passion and anger of Premier League players following the death of George Floyd.

The text “Black Lives Matter” replaced player names on jerseys during Manchester City’s 3-0 victory over Arsenal and Aston Villa’s 0-0 draw with Sheffield United.

The symbolic move that will continue in this weekend’s round of games is being accompanied by demands from players for substantive changes to end discrimination and promote diversity.

After the opening whistle blew in the first game at Villa Park, every player took a knee in a tribute to Floyd, who was killed by a policeman in Minneapolis last month.

In Manchester, the same gesture took place just before kickoff in a nearempty stadium. “Obviously it is going to be an odd experience without fans,” Premier League chief

By ANDREW DAMPF AP Sports Writer

MANCHESTER City’s Kevin De Bruyne, centre, a referee and another player take a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement before the English Premier League match between Manchester City and Arsenal at Etihad Stadium yesterday. The English Premier League resumed yesterday after its three-month suspension because of the coronavirus outbreak.

(Peter Powell/Pool via AP) executive Richard Masters said. “The Premier League won’t be back with a capital ‘B’ until fans are back.”

Supporters won’t be allowed into stadiums for the coming weeks at least.

“There’s no doubt that this is a hugely symbolic moment,” Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said about the restart at the government’s daily briefing an hour before the games, “an important step forward in our careful journey back towards normality.”

The resumption of the Premier League comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government faces criticism for not ordering a nationwide lockdown until March 23 and for easing restrictions in England too soon given still-high levels of new cases and deaths.

The UK as a whole has

recorded more than 42,000 coronavirus-related deaths.

The virus had been rapidly spreading from Italy and Spain to the rest of Europe in March but it took a decision by the Premier League itself — after Arteta’s positive test — to halt the competition.

The move, which came after the government had said sports competitions could go on, has been credited with saving lives by keeping hundreds of thousands of fans from being infected in, or around, stadiums.

As well as a Black Lives Matter logo, Premier League jerseys for the rest of the season will feature a badge thanking Britain’s National Health Service.

The latest example of the league’s clout came this weekend when 22-yearold star Marcus Rashford

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TO BE PLAYED AT MINI-TOURNAMENT IN LISBON

By GRAHAM DUNBAR AP Sports Writer GENEVA (AP) — The Champions League will finish with a minitournament in Lisbon, restarting in August after a five-month suspension caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Eight teams will play from the quarterfinals in knockout games at two venues over 12 days, the UEFA executive

RONALDO CAN ONLY WATCH AS NAPOLI WINS ITALIAN CUP TITLE

committee decided yesterday.

The final will be held at the home stadium of Portuguese club Benfica on Sunday, August 23 — the latest date in the competition’s 65-year history.

UEFA will decide next month if fans can attend the games. Currently, games in Europe’s most prestigious leagues are being played without fans.

“We don’t know if only the local fans, or no fans,

or fans from different clubs could travel to the venues (in Portugal),” UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said.

The unprecedented solution also sees the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul — the originally scheduled host for the final — pushed back by one year. Future finals hosts St Petersburg, Russia, Munich, Germany, and London will also take their turn one year later.

publicly demanded that Johnson’s government reverse its decision to halt school lunch vouchers for poor students over the summer holidays.

The Manchester United and England player cited his own childhood experience of relying on free school lunches and food banks.

His campaign to protect hungry children drew wide support, prompting Johnson to make an abrupt policy U-turn Monday and continue the vouchers.

Johnson then called Rashford to thank him.

After the announcement Rashford tweeted: “I don’t even know what to say.

Just look at what we can do when we come together, THIS is England in 2020.”

During the lockdown and with the resumption of the season in doubt, the

league had feared it could lose more than $1 billion for failing to meet broadcasting commitments.

Of the five biggest soccer nations in Europe, England is the fourth to get back on the field. Germany was first last month, while Spain and Italy resumed this month. France cancelled the remainder of its season while the virus was still peaking — as did England’s neighbour, Scotland.

The Premier League plans to finish the remaining 92 games of its season

by July 26. There are also contingency plans for what to do if a second wave of infections that causes another shutdown but not about how to resolve an incomplete season.

Once all the national leagues are done, the country’s beloved FA Cup final will be held on August 1.

ROME (AP) — Cristiano Ronaldo never had a chance.

Arkadiusz Milik converted the decisive spot kick in a penalty shootout as Napoli won its sixth Italian Cup following a 0-0 draw with Juventus yesterday.

Ronaldo was likely Juventus’ last penalty taker but after Paulo Dybala had his shot saved and Danilo blasted high over the goal, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner could only stand at midfield and watch as Napoli won the shootout 4-2.

Afterward, Ronaldo appeared on the verge of tears.

“He was a little sad at the result,” explained teammate Juan Cuadrado. “It’s always a lottery when it goes to penalties.”

Ronaldo had a good look at the goal five minutes in but his effort was pushed away by Napoli’s second-choice goalkeeper Alex Meret. As the match wore on, he made less of an impact.

Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri said Ronaldo is struggling to regain his famous acceleration speed after the shutdown forced by the coronavirus pandemic.

“Unfortunately that’s normal when you’re not playing games,” Sarri said.

The game went straight to penalties without extra time being played -- a precautionary measure for players still getting back into shape in only their second match of the restart.

PAGE 14, Thursday, June 18, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

2020 US Open plan: Fewer line judges, ball people, events

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer ELECTRONIC linecalling will be used instead of line judges for US Open matches at all courts except the two largest arenas, while singles qualifying and mixed doubles, junior and wheelchair competition are being eliminated entirely.

There also will be three ball people instead of six at courts other than Arthur Ashe Stadium and Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Those are among the changes announced yesterday by the US Tennis Association as it outlined plans for running a scaled-down, no-spectators version of its Grand Slam tournament in New York City amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“Without question, this is a journey. Things are evolving,” new tournament director Stacey Allaster said during a video conference. “We have the plan today. We’re in daily contact with both tours.”

At a minimum, there will be testing for COVID19 via nasal swabs upon arrival at what Allaster termed “US Open world,” and then once weekly thereafter. If there is the possibility that the tournament “bubble” has been breached by the virus, there could be testing every other day.

It is unlikely players would be asked to sign waivers absolving the USTA of responsibility should they get sick.

The tournament received the go-ahead from the New York state government Tuesday to be held in its usual location in Flushing Meadows, Queens, from August 31 to September 13.

In an unusual arrangement, the hard-court tuneup

HAPPINETS RE-SIGN KADEEM COLEBY IN JAPAN B-LEAGUE FROM PAGE 12 confusion and mixed reactions from players and coaches, according to the Japan Times. The matchup between Coleby’s Happinets and the Sunrockers was one of few B-League games without incident as the league returned, according to “The Times.”

Several players or referees from other games were diagnosed with fevers.

Akita finished 19-22 on the season, fifth in the league standings.

Last season, Coleby took home the trophy for the league lead in blocked shots (2.4 per game) in his second season with the Happinets.

In 52 games, he averaged 12.8 points and 8.4 rebounds and his aforementioned league lead in blocks in 30 minutes per game.

He shot 54 per cent from the field and also added 1.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Coleby completed his second season with the club after they were promoted from the B2 League last year.

In 2017, his first campaign with the club, he posted averages of 11.9 points, 6.9 rebounds per game on 58 per cent shooting from the field and 1.6 blocks per game.

DEBATE ON RACISM RENEWS CALLS FOR REDSKINS TO CHANGE NAME

By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Sports Writer

SERENA Williams returns a shot to Bianca Andreescu, of Canada, during the women’s singles final of the US Open tennis championships in New York on September 7, 2019.

(AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez) tournament normally held in Cincinnati will be held right before the US Open — and at the Open’s site.

There are still lingering questions about which top players will participate, but one made her intentions clear yesterday: 23-time major champion Serena Williams said she is planning to play at the US Open.

Williams said in a video message that she “cannot wait to return” to the major championship she has won six times. She was the runner-up there each of the past two years.

Among the other changes: Men’s and women’s doubles will be reduced from 64 teams each to 32, with players who are entered in the singles fields not allowed to enter doubles.

With qualifying cut, each of the 128-player fields for men’s and women’s singles

will include 120 players who get in via their ranking and eight who receive wildcard invitations.

Players will be allowed up to three guests and up to two rooms — one paid for by the player, one by the USTA — at a pair of designated hotels. There also will be the option for players to rent a house outside of Manhattan.

The USTA has not decided exactly how many entourage members will be allowed on-site.

Also Wednesday, the women’s and men’s professional tours issued what they called “provisional” calendars to resume sanctioned competition in August after being suspended since early March because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The WTA said its first event would be the Palermo Ladies Open in Italy the week of August 3.

The ATP said its players would return to action at the Citi Open in Washington beginning August 14.

That is normally a combined tournament for men and women, but WTA CEO Steve Simon said discussions about his tour’s participation was ongoing.

And after that, the ATP-WTA tournament usually held in Cincinnati will be played in Flushing Meadows.

Two tournaments now dropped from the August schedule: the Rogers Cup in Canada and the Winston-Salem Open.

After the hard-court “doubleheader” in New York, the tours will shift to European red clay for tournaments in Madrid and Rome, before the French Open’s main draw new start date of September 27.

The WTA said it anticipates all of its upcoming tournaments will be held

without spectators but that could change. The ATP is hoping the coronavirus situation will allow for fans at some events.

The French Open already was postponed from May to September because of the pandemic and now is being pushed back an additional week.

The French Tennis Federation says its Grand Slam tournament’s main draw will be played at Roland Garros from September 27 to October 11. That doubles the gap from the end of the US Open.

The French Open originally was moved from a May start to September 20. Now its qualifying will begin September 21 and finish September 25. The federation says it is working with the French government to “set out suitable measures that will ensure the health and safety of all people present.”

THE recent national debate over racism has renewed calls for the NFL’s Washington Redskins to change their name, with Native American advocates believing the climate is right for action despite no evidence owner Dan Snyder is considering it.

It could take pressure from the other 31 owners and the league office itself to force Snyder’s hand.

A Redskins spokesman said the team had no comment.

The NFL did not immediately respond to questions about the future of the name. “(It) might be easier if the NFL as an institution or a corporation mandates the change because then it takes the pressure off of the Washington team themselves and Dan Snyder,” University of California, Berkeley, assistant professor of psychology Arianne Eason said yesterday.

Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser last week called the name “an obstacle” to the team building a new stadium and headquarters in the District, which would likely be on land leased by the federal government.

The site of the team’s former home, RFK Stadium, is one option, along with locations in Maryland and Virginia when the current lease at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, expires in 2027.

As Florida virus test numbers rise, NBA prepares for Disney

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer THE rate of positive coronavirus tests in the Orlando, Florida, area has been soaring in recent days. The NBA hopes that doesn’t matter.

After spending weeks putting together an incredibly elaborate series of health and safety protocols — the word “testing” appears 282 times in the document — the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association believe they have done what’s necessary for the health and safety of the 22 teams and others that will be part of the season restart at the Disney campus near Orlando next month.

Ready or not, basketball is almost back.

“No one is suggesting that this is going to be an infection-free, guaranteed environment,” NBPA executive director Michele Roberts told The Associated Press.

“I guess, unless we go to ... well, where would we go? What state has the lowest rate? There’s just no way of finding a sterile environment probably on this planet, but certainly, not in this country.”

Among the details that were included in the protocols released to teams Tuesday night: players will be invited to wear what the league calls a “proximity alarm” that will set off an audio alert when the person is within 6 feet of another person for more than five seconds and therefore not following social distancing guidelines, plus they can choose to wear a ring that will generate “a wellness

LIFE PREP from PAGE 12 as a student athlete and earn a division one basketball scholarship when he graduates. We can’t wait to get him here and get to work.”

On the soccer pitch, they added Ainsley Brown.

“A 5’9 190lb goalie/striker.

Ainsley has helped his team in the Bahamas win five championships. His goal is to earn a college

assessment derived from metrics such as body temperature and respiratory and heart rate.”

Players and staff also will be given thermometers and a pulse oximeter so they can track their data and record it on the league’s daily health platform.

“I am optimistic about the NBA’s return-to-play policies and procedures,” said Denver coach Michael Malone, who found out last month that he had already beaten COVID-19 after an antibody test showed he had the virus.

“They are going to do whatever it takes to make this the safest environment as possible. There are no guarantees and there will be a risk, but I feel confident in the measures to be taken pre-Orlando and once in Orlando.”

True, there will be a risk.

And the league acknowledges that no plan can be perfect.

“These Protocols are designed to promote prevention and mitigation strategies to reduce exposure to, and transmission of, the coronavirus,” the league said.

“However, it is possible that staff, players, or other participants in the resumption of the 2019-20 season nonetheless may test positive or contract the coronavirus.”

But by following strict rules — including regular testing, no leaving the Disney campus without returning to quarantine, no unauthorised guests, no family members being permitted to arrive until late August and, though this likely didn’t need to be said, no spitting on the court — the NBA and the NBPA hope the risk is

scholarship and play professional soccer in Europe,” LPA said.

“Ainsley is a great student with a strong work ethic and we can’t wait to have him here next year.”

On the baseball diamond, 6’2” 235 power hitter Jeffrey Pierre has also committed and plans to play two sports with the addition of football to his athletic résumé.

“A first baseman/outfielder from Freeport, Bahamas, he is a great athlete who has a lot of pop. Jeffrey will definitely add another power bat to the heart of our

minimal as teams prepare for a Disney stay that could exceed three months for the teams that make the NBA Finals.

“It’ll still probably bother everybody that we’re not home,” Miami centre Bam Adebayo said. “But at the end of the day, we’ll be happy to play basketball.”

The NBA’s arrival at Disney is looming as the rate of positive tests around the state is rising, and officials such as Governor Ron DeSantis are facing criticism for re-opening many parts of the state’s economy. But if NBA players aren’t venturing out among the public, the hope is that no matter what’s going on beyond Disney’s fences, the quasi-bubble for basketball won’t be affected.

The rate of positive tests in Orange County, which includes Orlando, in the seven-day period

ending Tuesday was 6.5 per cent.

For the seven days immediately preceding that, it was 2.5 per cent — meaning the rate has more than doubled in a one-week span.

For tests conducted Tuesday, state officials said that Orange County’s positive rate was 11.9 per cent — almost 10 times the rate of 1.4 per cent recorded as recently as June 3. “It’s concerning but not surprising,” Roberts said.

“I’ve watched this governor behave as if the virus is an inconvenience as opposed to a virus.

So I guess watching the way the state is adhering or not adhering to CDC guidelines, it’s not surprising that these numbers would go up.”

DeSantis has said Florida’s rising numbers reflects more testing and other factors, though the percentage of positive tests is also significantly higher than was the case just a couple of weeks ago across the state and in the Orlando area.

The state’s agriculture commissioner, Nikki Fried, tweeted Tuesday that DeSantis “has lost control” of Florida’s response to the pandemic and recklessly reopened the state “despite the data screaming for caution.”

DeSantis is a Republican; Fried is the only elected Democrat to hold a statewide office.

“My solace is that our guys are not going to be out and about in the city of Orlando,” Roberts said. “The players will be flown in noncommercial, and they will essentially be on campus for the entirety of their stay until such time as their season ends.”

lineup. He will also be a big addition to our football programme,” he said. “We are grateful for a hard working, talented, student athlete like Jeffrey to choose Life Prep Academy.”

Roheim Kelly will join both the athletics and football programmes.

“Roheim is a 5’11 220lb football player from the Bahamas. He also plays other sports, including track, where he was the national gold medallist in the discus,” LPA said.

Jace Smith will also be an addition to the gridiron.

“Jace is a 5’9 230lb football player. He is strong, athletic and excited to push himself towards his ultimate goal of earning a college scholarship,” LPA said. “Jace will be in Grade 11, so he will have two years to develop under our coaching staff. We are blessed to add a highly motivated, good character kid to our programme.”

Several Bahamians starred athletically for Life Prep last season, highlighted by Traimaine Ferguson and underclassman Michael Johnson on the basketball court.

SPURS coach Gregg Popovich. (AP)

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, June 18, 2020, PAGE 15

Manfred, Clark reach framework: 60 games, with full prorated pay

By RONALD BLUM AP Baseball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — After days of angry exchanges over money between Major League Baseball and the players’ association, baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred started to doubt whether there would be a 2020 season and said as much on national television.

He then called union head Tony Clark and offered to fly from New York to Arizona to meet for the first time in three months. They spoke one on one for hours Tuesday in a room at The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa in Scottsdale and emerged with what MLB considers a framework to play the pandemic-delayed season in empty ballparks, not just a proposal.

The plan includes full prorated pay, even if games are played in empty ballparks, people familiar with the details told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity because details were not announced.

Each team would play 60 games over 10 weeks starting July 20, though a Sunday opener on July 19 could be added. The framework would result in players receiving about 37 per cent of their salaries and would come to roughly $1.48 billion from salaries originally totalling $4 billion.

Baseball’s postseason would expand from 10 teams to 16 this year, and the two wild card games would transform into an eight-team wild-card round with eight best-of-three series. That would create a minimum of 14 new playoff games whose broadcast rights could be sold, and MLB would have the option of 14 or 16 postseason teams in 2021.

MLB would guarantee a $25 million postseason players’ pool, creating postseason shares for players in the event no tickets are sold.

The designated hitter would expand to all games

for the first time, also involving games between National League teams, for 2020 and 2021.

Both sides would contribute jointly to initiatives for social justice.

Players with so-called split contracts, who get paid at a lower salary rate when sent to the minor leagues, would not have to repay the advance they already have received: $16,500, $30,000 or $60,000, depending on their contract.

MLB considers it a framework for each leader to sell to each side. The union did not comment.

“At my request, Tony Clark and I met for several hours yesterday in Phoenix,” Manfred said in a statement yesterday.

“We left that meeting with a jointly developed framework that we agreed could form the basis of an agreement and subject to conversations with our respective constituents.

“Consistent with our conversations yesterday, I am encouraging the clubs to move forward, and I trust Tony is doing the same,” Manfred added.

The union’s last offer on June 9 was for an 89-game schedule at full prorated pay, which would result in 55 per cent of salaries and about $2.2 billion.

Top stars Mike Trout and Gerrit Cole would each get about $13.33 million under MLB’s latest plan and $19.78 million under the union proposal.

A player with a $1 million salary would get $370,370 under the club plan and $549,383 under the players’ proposal. The $563,500 minimum would be worth $208,704 under MLB’s plan and $309,577 under the union’s.

The union also would waive additional claims that could cause an expensive grievance.

Manfred and Clark got into such detail during the meeting they recessed for a period to allow Manfred to consult owners on MLB’s labour policy committee.

After considering the framework, players could

DIACK TRIAL: PROSECUTORS REQUEST FOUR YEARS BEHIND BARS, BIG FINE

By JEROME PUGMIRE AP Sports Writer PARIS (AP) — French prosecutors yesterday requested a four-year jail term and a fine of 500,000 euros ($562,000) for Lamine Diack, the former IAAF president standing trial for corruption, money laundering and breach of trust.

Prosecutors say that Diack, an 87-year-old Senegalese who led track and field’s governing body for nearly 16 years, directly or indirectly solicited 3.45 million euros ($3.9 million) from athletes suspected by the IAAF of doping.

The athletes allegedly paid to have their names cleared in order to continue competing.

“The IAAF tripped on the hurdle of corruption,” prosecutor Arnaud de Laguiche said Wednesday on the hearing’s penultimate day. “(People like) Diack live like little emperors, they have their little courts and people court them.”

The Paris court has considered allegations that top athletes paid millions of dollars in illicit payoffs to corrupt administrators led

by Diack — once among the most influential leaders in Olympic sports.

About two dozen Russian athletes were reportedly involved, with Russian marathon runner Liliya Shobukhova testifying that she paid 450,000 euros ($506,000).

“The main issue here is how could doped athletes take part in competitions?

The first layer is institutionalised doping in Russia. The second layer of the (cake) is the slowing down of suspensions,” de

Laguiche said. “The IAAF is the paradise of conflict of interests. ... Diack tied the slowing down of suspensions of Russian athletes to his (election) interests in Senegal.”

A lawyer representing the World Anti-Doping Agency, a civil party to the case, also took a swipe.

“Between 2011-15 Mr Diack chose money, dishonesty and corruption - that’s a reality,” Emmanuel Daoud said yesterday. “Can Mr Diack look in the mirror with pride?”

The IAAF at the time under Diack’s guidance provided “a system of total protection (for Russian doping) ... (whereby) the cheats are never punished,” Daoud added.

Wearing a light blue robe on Wednesday, Diack sometimes looked forlorn as he sat slumped in a chair with his head bowed. But at other times he was sprightly, cheerful and smiling as he grabbed one person by the arm and led him away for a quick talk during a break in proceedings.

Prosecutor FrancoisXavier Dulin expanded on Diack’s links with Russia, alluding to the apparent benefit gained by slowing suspensions.

“In 2011 Lamine Diack went to Moscow, where he was received by Vladimir Putin,” Dulin said, later adding: “Diack built houses in Dakar for his IAAF employees.”

Diack signed an agreement to pay his son Papa Massata Diack $1,200 per day and expenses for consultancy work, negotiating tens of millions of dollars in sponsorship deals for the IAAF. The Diacks both deny corruption.

BASEBALL commissioner Rob Manfred speaks to the media at an owners’ meeting in Arlington, Texas.

(AP Photo/LM Otero) counter with a higher amount of games, perhaps by adding doubleheaders.

Before this week, Manfred and Clark had not met since March 13-14 in Arizona, the two days after spring training was suspended due to the new coronavirus.

Manfred maintained last week he was “100 per cent” sure there would be a season, but following angry exchanges last weekend he said Monday “there’s real risk” of no season.

Baseball deteriorated into labour strife while the NBA, NHL and MLS have moved forward with restart plans.

Amid that backdrop, and with the prospect of collective bargaining to replace the current labour deal that expires on December 1, 2021, tensions ratcheted up when the virus struck.

The sides reached a deal on March 26 that called for players to receive prorated pay, $170 million in salary advances and a guarantee of service time even if no games are played this year.

In exchange, players waived claims for additional pay, giving up a right to test whether Manfred could successfully invoke the provision in Uniform Player Contracts allowing him to suspend those contracts during a national emergency.

When it became apparent the season would have to start in ballparks without fans, MLB told the union on May 12 that teams would combine to lose $640,000 for each

additional regular-season game, claiming 40% of revenue is gate and gate-related. The union challenged MLB’s figures and asked for additional documentation.

MLB then made its first economic proposal May 26, offering an 82-game schedule and saying additional pay cuts were needed.

Players refused to entertain additional cuts and asked for 114 games. MLB moved to 76 games and then 72 last week, reworking the finances but still refusing full prorated pay.

While the union wants to extend the postseason into November, MLB says it fears a second wave of the virus in the autumn would jeopardise $787 million in broadcast revenue.

Players cut off talks Saturday, a day after MLB’s last proposal, and said additional negotiations were futile. Players told MLB to unilaterally set the schedule but Manfred said MLB would not while there was a threat of a grievance.

MAJOR LEAGUERS COMMIT $1M TO SUPPORT MINOR LEAGUERS NEW YORK (AP) — Major leaguers have committed $1 million to support minor leaguers whose leagues appear unlikely to start this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Major League Baseball Players Trust, a not-for-profit affiliate of the Major League Baseball Players Association, made the announcement.

While MLB and the union are trying to reach an agreement to start the big league season in empty ballparks, minor leagues don’t have large broadcast contracts and have not announced any plans to take the field.

“The game is also their livelihood and there is no doubt the financial impact has been challenging,” said St Louis reliever Andrew Miller, a trustee of the trust.

“We hope to help them navigate these difficult times.”

Players with big league contracts received up to $286,500 each in salary advances from MLB, and players with minor league deals got $400 weekly allowances from MLB through May. Many teams have extended the allowances.

PAGE 16, Thursday, June 18, 2020

THE TRIBUNE