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‘I SAW ADRIANA IN SAFE HOUSE’ Witness swears missing Cuban woman was held by immigration officers By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net A CAMEROON native who was released from the Carmichael Road Detention Centre over two months ago claimed she saw missing Cuban woman Adriana Caro at the Department of Immigration’s safe house in early April. She claimed she was told by Mrs Caro to contact her relatives to inform them of her whereabouts. Mrs Caro, 22, was said to have been on board a Cuban vessel that capsized in Bahamian waters
in early March that was later intercepted by Cuban, Bahamian, Turks Island and US Coast Guard officials the same month. Local immigration officials said some 15 to 20 people died in the incident, believing Mrs Caro to be one of the victims. However, in a witness statement filed on June 9, Violet Werengie claimed she met Mrs Caro sometime in early April while being held at the safe house, describing her as a beautiful Cuban woman “of light complexion” with “prominent dimples”. SEE PAGE THREE
BAHAMAS Nurses Union President Amancha Williams said yesterday the union would only support the government’s proposed decision to end the COVID19 emergency restrictions if a comprehensive plan is in
place to mitigate potential virus spread. Ms Williams spoke to The Tribune after Attorney General Carl Bethel told reporters on Tuesday the government wants to remove the COVID-19 emergency restrictions by August. SEE PAGE FOUR
By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net
THE lawyer for a Royal Bahamas Defence Force officer accused of murder said the prosecution’s case was not fully investigated and that his client, who has maintained his innocence, had nothing to hide. However. the prosecution countered that the defence had not provided sufficient information to prove the accused’s alibi, adding the officer had “motive” and a bad temper. The remarks came as a jury listened to three hours of closing arguments from the prosecution and defence counsel yesterday on whether Able Seaman Jevon Seymour was the assailant who fatally shot another marine in a guardroom at Government House in 2019. SEE PAGE SEVEN
MAN KILLED, WOMAN HURT IN SHOOTING
NURSES CAUTIOUS ON ENDING RESTRICTIONS By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net
OFFICER’S KILLER - OR INNOCENT?
ADRIANA CARO, the Cuban woman who was reportedly seen in a Department of Immigration safe house in early April.
US EXPECTING TRAVEL EXPLOSION By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
US PRE-CLEARANCE at Lynden Pindling International Airport expects to be processing 70-75 percent of pre-COVID’s record passenger volumes “by the end of summer”, a top official revealed yesterday. Jeff Mara, area port director for US Customs and Border Protection, conceded to Tribune Business
LYNDEN Pindling International Airport. this was “a tough number” to hit given the 1.4m departures processed in the last full pre-pandemic year but said it was based on
passenger demand data provided by airlines. The 16 percent yearover-year rise in outbound travellers heading to the US in the 12 months to endSeptember 2019 was the highest growth rate for any US pre-clearance station, and Mr Mara said officers have been redeployed from facilities in Canada and Ireland to Nassau with effect from June 6 to cope. FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS
Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper
By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net A MAN was killed and a woman was injured during a daytime shooting at Peardale Road yesterday. The woman was taken to hospital, however, her condition was not known up to press time. Speaking to reporters on the scene, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Audley Peters said that shortly before 4pm, the police control room was alerted to a shooting incident that occurred on Peardale Road. SEE PAGE TWO
BODY FOUND ‘DROWNED’ IN POTTER’S CAY POLICE are investigating the suspected drowning death of a man whose body was fished out of waters at Potter’s Cay yesterday. Around 11am, police received reports of a body found submerged in water under a boat that was docked in the western area of Potter’s Cay. SEE PAGE TWO
PAGE 2, Friday, June 25, 2021
THE TRIBUNE
Munroe: AG cannot request stay on ruling By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net ATTORNEY Wayne Munroe does not believe the Office of the Attorney General can request a stay of the Court of Appeal’s citizenship ruling because “the Court of Appeal has not ordered the government to do anything”. His comment came after Attorney General Carl Bethel said in the Senate on Wednesday that his office will request a stay of the ruling until the Privy Council can deal with the matter substantively on appeal. The Court of Appeal affirmed Supreme Court Justice Ian Winder’s ruling that people born in the country are automatically citizens if either of their parents is Bahamian. Mr Bethel confirmed that since the ruling, people have visited the Parliamentary Registration Department demanding to be registered to vote. However, he said, nothing has changed as a result of the Court of Appeal’s ruling “because the matter is still a matter of contest”. “In my view they cannot get a stay,” Mr Munroe responded yesterday. “The court hasn’t ordered them to do anything. You go to the court and get a stay when there is an order from
WAYNE MUNROE QC the court to do something. The court hasn’t ordered them to do anything so there’s nothing to stay. For that matter, the case is about these five children. The court hasn’t told them to do anything with regard to these five children. The court hasn’t told them to do anything, but people can now make a demand based on the court’s ruling.” He continued: “Let’s look at the right to vote. A person can demand to be registered on the basis of this ruling. If you don’t register them, that’s wrong. If that would affect the outcome of an election, arguably they could come and complain and the result
of a general election could be overturned because if they ought to have been registered then you have a problem. “If they are denied registration and they go to the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court would be bound to follow the Court of Appeal’s decision. There is no rule that says if something is under appeal you can’t be held in accordance with it. “Even if Justice Winder had ruled against me and the Court of Appeal had ruled against me and these people I represented had gotten status in some way, I would have to bring another case to the Supreme Court and you know they would follow the decision of the Court of Appeal’s decision. The Court of Appeal generally follows decisions of previous Courts of Appeal so I would then have to appeal the matter to the Privy Council. In the meantime, the Supreme Court would be bound by the Court of Appeal’s decision unless and until that decision is overturned. The same principle applies in the current circumstance.” For his part, Mr Bethel said Bahamian law has not changed and that it can’t be proven that an unwed man is a parent as he noted the law does not allow for using DNA as proof.
A BODY is taken from the scene of the shooting yesterday. Photos: Donovan McIntosh/Tribune Staff
MAN KILLED, WOMAN HURT IN SHOOTING from page one
“Officers responded and on their arrival, they found a male lying in the streets with apparent gunshot wounds and a female who sustained injuries consistent with gunshot wounds,” he explained. “The initial investigation is that the persons who were in the vehicle came by a residence here and as they stopped some…persons approached them and discharged firearms at the vehicle causing injury to both persons who were in the vehicle.” He said paramedics were summoned and following their assessment the male was pronounced lifeless and the female was taken to the hospital. Asked about the relationship between the two victims, ASP Peters replied: “At the moment, we’ve
FAMILY members in tears at the scene. not been able to substantiate the relation between the persons who were shot, however, they were both in the same vehicle.” The deceased’s father, Christopher Humes, was visibly emotional when he arrived on the scene. He said his son, Christopher Humes Jr, was a cook in his early twenties who recently got a job on Rose Island.
Mr Humes recalled Tuesday being the last day he saw his son alive. The distraught father had some words for the perpetrators. “God be with y’all,” he told reporters. “If I was y’all, turn y’all self in ‘cause y’all kill an innocent fella, man. Y’all kill an innocent man today who just start to work,” he said. ASP Peters appealed to persons to come forward to police with information. “It is a concern to us that individuals would be so bold to carry out these acts but we ask the members of the public themselves to be just as bold or even bolder in informing the police of what occurred. In a community like this, someone saw something and so we’re appealing to those persons who saw what happened to inform us so that we can do our best and bring this matter to some resolution.”
BODY FOUND ‘DROWNED’ IN POTTER’S CAY from page one
ASP Audley Peters said after police arrived on scene, one of the mates from a boat that was nearby retrieved the body from the water. The deceased is a local who frequents Potter’s Cay and was last seen in the area on Wednesday. Police are awaiting an autopsy to determine the cause of death. ASP Peters said the matter is classified as a suspicious drowning. No foul play is suspected, he added, saying the deceased did not have any trauma or visible injuries to his body. The man is said to be in his early 70s. He was identified by people who work at Potter’s Cay as Raphael “Fire” Joseph. A vendor at Potter’s Cay, Stephanie Minns, said she last served the deceased on Wednesday afternoon. “Yesterday as he was passing, I told my husband Fire’s steps were getting shorter and slower. . .usually when I come on the dock he is on the street in front waiting for a lady and he would always be waiting to greet us in the mornings when we reach,” she said. “This morning, he wasn’t there. . .later on I got the news he was on the other end of Potter’s Cay dock in the water. So that was a blow for me because daily I feed him.”
THE TRIBUNE
Friday, June 25, 2021, PAGE 3
‘I saw Adriana in safe house’ from page one “She stood out to me because at the time she was the only female in the safe house that did not have a child or children,” said Ms Werengie in her affidavit filed in support of a habeas corpus application filed by attorneys representing Mrs Caro. The attorneys also represented Ms Werengie in an unrelated immigration matter. “I spoke to Adriana a few times because she was able to understand English very well and even spoke a little English so we were able to communicate. Adriana told me about the accident on a boat and that her husband was a United States resident. She said she has been asking to speak with her husband and the officers keep denying her calls to her husband and family in the USA.” Ms Werengie said upon leaving the safe house on April 7, Mrs Caro asked her to contact her husband and later tried to give her his phone number on a piece of paper. However, she claimed immigration officers intervened and “barred” the Cuban woman from handing out the information. “The immigration officers move people around so frequently. I have no idea where she is now or if she has been deported, but I am absolutely certain that I left her in the safe house on the 7th of April 2021,” the affidavit says. “While I was in custody of the Department of Immigration, I observed that they would hide some of the detainees and many of us complained about not being able to speak with our family or retain lawyers to assist us.” In an affidavit filed earlier this month, Officer in Charge of the CRDC Peter Joseph claimed Mrs Caro was never at the facility, adding he believed she was one of several passengers who died aboard the illfated vessel. Meanwhile, Immigration Minister Elsworth Johnson said he was informed of the same. However, in a second
THE CARMICHAEL Road Detention Centre, above, and Adriana Caro, right. affidavit, attorney Paul Princess Margaret hospital a Peruvian, by a ‘similar Whitfield said he believed among other things. name’ not a Venezuelan. Mrs Caro was being held The attorney then went Mr Joseph was not present “incommunicado” at the on to refer to Mr Joseph’s during any of the conversaDetention Centre, despite response to his conversation tions I had with Ms Johnson immigration officials with another immigration and is therefore unable to adamantly denying the official, who told him in speak directly to the same,” matter. March that Mrs Caro was the affidavit continued. Mr Whitfield also con- being held at the facility, Last month, Justice Bertended that the affidavit but later backtracked on nard Turner granted the filed by Mr Joseph was the statement. attorneys representing Mrs “vague”, “incomplete” and Mr Joseph claimed Mrs Caro leave to issue a writ “inaccurate”. Caro was mistakenly iden- of habeas corpus against “There is no factual basis tified as another female Immigration Minister in the Peter Joseph affida- detainee by the immigra- Elsworth Johnson, Immivit to permit Mr Joseph to tion officer, who he said was gration Director Clarence speculate that the applicant “distracted” at the time. Russell and Mr Joseph, who was one of the persons who However, to this, Mr are the respondents in the perished at sea during the Whitfield said: “At no matter. alleged boating incident,” time whatsoever and in no The hearing continMr Whitfield’s affidavit manner whatsoever did Ms ued yesterday, but was stated. Johnson indicate to me that adjourned after Justice Mr Whitfield also she had been ‘distracted’ Turner gave the attorneys pointed to the fact that Mr by some other matter that representing the respondJoseph’s filing lacked per- she was dealing with at the ents additional time to file a tinent information such material time, leading to return and affidavit for Mr as the number of people her giving me erroneous Russell in relation to Mrs aboard the vessel, the information. Caro’s case. number of passengers res“She claimed that the The matter is expected cued, and the names and other woman being taken to continue on July 21 at age of the victims treated at to court that morning was 10am.
FOULKES SAYS 8,000 JOBS CREATED OR COMING SOON By TANYA SMITHCARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net
LABOUR Minister Dion Foulkes said yesterday that some 8,000 jobs have either been created recently or will come on stream soon. He told the Senate that the 52-week jobs programme, which has helped train and employ 1,000 participants, has been renewed. His ministry’s ‘Labour on the Blocks’ programme has delivered over 1,500 new jobs, he said. “We incentivised and worked with the private sector and business community to encourage them to retain their existing employee numbers and where possible create new job opportunities,” he said. Mr Foulkes added that a new expansion at Baha Mar has created 500 construction jobs and 700 permanent jobs while Nassau Cruise Ports has created 500 construction jobs and hundreds of permanent jobs will be created upon completion. He said the newly expanded and renovated Sandals hotel has employed hundreds of Bahamians in its construction stage and will employ 1,000 Bahamians on a permanent basis. He added that the Aqualina condo development in Cable Beach will provide 300 construction jobs while The Point resort, which will be opening in two weeks, will engage 400 permanent employees and will be 98 percent Bahamian. Other jobs include 175 Bahamian workers at the Goldwynn development in Cable Beach and the Sterling Global Group development on Paradise Island which will employ 500 Bahamians.
“Some 8,000 jobs were created recently or will come on stream shortly,” he said. During his contribution yesterday, Mr Foulkes also took a swipe at the Progressive Liberal Party, questioning if it will raise taxes and eliminate benefits for Bahamians should it win the next general election. He said in the Senate, “On June 2, 2021, during the budget debate in the lower house, Chester Cooper, the deputy leader of the PLP said: ‘a new administration will have to look under every rock and make some hard decisions.’ If the PLP wins the next election, which we know will not happen, are they planning on increasing taxes and eliminating benefits Bahamians now enjoy? “What does Chester Cooper mean by every rock? Are they planning to increase VAT again? Are they planning to increase the gas tax? Are they planning to increase NIB contributions? Are they planning on reducing social services benefits? “Make sure he and the PLP do not have the opportunity to look under every rock….vote FNM.” There are over one hundred workers who will be regularised in the civil service. According to Senator Foulkes, these workers were in the system for quite some time with no benefits because of their employment status. “The Department of Local Government continues its efforts in processing the confirmation of 138 persons who were regularised from the Local Government District Councils throughout the Family Islands,” he said. “These employees have served at least ten years
DION FOULKES, Minister of Labour. or more without any benefits and will now be able to look forward to retirement benefits and other remunerations for their services.” Senator Foulkes also said the plan for personalised licence plates is back in motion. “It is also noteworthy that we will be pursuing additional revenue streams
for the Road Traffic Department this fiscal year,” he said. “These initiatives will be inclusive of those that were previously hampered by the effects of COVID19; namely, the specialty/ organisational plates, novelty tourism plates and the personalised vanity licence plates.
“We will achieve this by upgrading and enhancing the licence plate production facility at the Bahamas Department of Corrections with a capital injection of approximately $1m. “The new colour for the self-drive plates will be introduced during this fiscal period. We anticipate
that the plates will be available in New Providence by the end of August. The colour of the plates will be a white backdrop with green prefixes and lettering; eliminating the confusion that presently exists with deciphering the difference between taxis and self-drive (rental) vehicles.”
PAGE 4, Friday, June 25, 2021
THE TRIBUNE
Nurses cautious on ending restrictions from page one However, Mr Bethel noted doing so will heavily depend on infection rates and the behaviour of residents. Asked if the BNU would support the move, Ms Williams said members would lend their support, but only on condition that officials have a proper plan in place. She said the country cannot afford to let its guard down against the virus, even though cases and virus-related hospitalizations appear to be somewhat declining. According to the latest data released by the Ministry of Health, 60 new cases were confirmed on Wednesday, pushing the nation’s tally to 12,467. Of this count, 703 of those cases are still active. Meanwhile, 37 people are said to be in hospital sick with the virus. “We still have some challenges with COVID-19 and I don’t want anyone to believe it’s gone and so you want to move forward with a plan,” Ms Williams said yesterday. “If you ain’t got no plan, you might as well stay where you’re at. It’s safety. You must have a plan, a strategic plan. “Emergency orders can be moved, fine but you must have a plan and I hope in this interim, they are planning and not just going back to the same old things. Have everything up and running to be able to facilitate any outbreaks. “Have a development team that is going to look at the various challenges so that we could be ready for anything that comes. Have a plan, a strategic plan and that’s the most important thing. “Because CDC (US Centres for Disease Control) said with these vaccinations, at the end of the day you’re still going to need a booster so how are you going to deal with that and so all of these things have to be looked at.” Yesterday, Ms Williams said she believes vaccinations are an important tool
TOTAL CASES
TOTAL DEATHS
NEWLY CONFIRMED CASES WEDNESDAY 60 CASES
RECENTLY CONFIRMED DEATHS
12,467 245
• A 40-YEAR-OLD WOMAN FROM NEW PROVIDENCE.
NEW PROVIDENCE 43 GRAND BAHAMA 12 ANDROS 2 BIMINI & CAT CAY 2 BIABACO 1
TOTAL TESTS
105,035
HOSPITALISED
37
CASES IN ICU
4
RECOVERED
11,434
40-YEAR-OLD WOMAN LATEST COVID VICTIM
AMANCHA WILLIAMS in helping to defeat the virus and agreed that more people need to take the shots in order for the country to move on from the pandemic. However, she said the Minnis administration’s current methods to get more people vaccinated is not the way to go, calling the tactics “discriminatory”. Pointing to the government’s proposed “vaccination day” and newly released measures for fully vaccinated people, the BNU president said the government must be careful not to infringe on people’s rights. As it stands now, fully vaccinated people can now engage in private gatherings and other social events in homes and elsewhere
provided all attendees are also fully vaccinated among other things. But, Ms Williams contended yesterday that this is not healthy for a democratic nation. “The major thing is education. You have to educate so at the end of the day continue to educate, continue to go to various institutions, various communities and educate,” she said. “I can see you saying a free meal if you become vaccinated or a free grocery bag or something like that or things that you know people are really in need of like a free cell phone or something like that. “But, you’re going to then tell me I cannot be on the road because I’m not
A 40-year-old New Providence woman died from COVID-19 on June 23, pushing the nation’s death toll to 245, according to the Ministry of Health. Twenty-nine other deaths are said to be under investigation. The Ministry of Health also reported 60 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday, which were recorded on Wednesday. These cases brought the nation’s confirmed virus toll to 12,467. Forty-three of those new cases are in New Providence, 12 are in Grand Bahama, one is in Abaco while there are two new cases each in Andros as well as Bimini/Cat Cay. The latest figures came days after local infectious diseases expert Dr Nikkiah Forbes urged people not to let the guards down, warning the country has not emerged from its third wave yet. On Sunday Dr Forbes said at this point it is difficult to determine the likelihood vaccinated and supposed I don’t want to take it but because of my health so all of these variables have to be taken into consideration,” she added. “You can’t just make a statement like that because you’re going to leave out a grouping of people and you’re not going to be fair. This is a democratic
of the country experiencing a fourth wave and what a surge like that would look like. “There’s vaccinations now and that can help to reduce the number of cases if you were to have a robust effective vaccination programme,” she explained. “But we also have to consider emerging new variants like the Delta variant which is more contagious. And all of those things would play into what subsequent waves or outbreaks would look like, or even what the current outbreak would look like and so it’s hard to predict that given those factors.” She added: “COVID is not going away so we’ve got to learn and do the things we know to protect against getting it and spreading it and that is the public health measures and vaccinations at this time. Of course, there are also public health remedies (such as) testing, identifying cases, isolation, contact tracing and quarantine and other measures.”
country so what are you saying that this isn’t democratic anymore? It’s based on if you’re vaccinated? No, and we have had a number of campaigning (for the next election).” Yesterday, the BNU president also spoke on the many challenges still being faced by workers in the country’s health care system. Key among these include staff shortage issues and poor working conditions. “We have nurses leaving every day,” she said. “At Freeport, I was told 60 nurses left in a year so that is really serious and that’s not Nassau yet and out of that, probably only ten retired so it’s something to be looked at. People are tired and we’re losing nurses because they’re getting discouraged just because of how they’re being treated in this pandemic.” As it relates to hospital working conditions, Ms
Williams said the air conditioning system in several wards at Princess Margaret Hospital has been down for several weeks, something she said has been frustrating workers. “The air conditioners are not working in various major wards, the medical area, the surgical area. Nurses are working with 15 to 21 patients with no air condition. Relatives have to bring fans for their loved ones,” she said. “On the wards, you have diabetic foot wounds. Could you imagine, because of the heat, the sweat and the growth of germs. That’s why most hospitalisations have rules and regulations, and the temperature should be at a certain number… For four weeks, we can’t get the air conditioning up and running,” she said. “Why are we operating a hospital in poor working conditions?”
BAHAMAS NOT ON UK LIST By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net
THE United Kingdom is poised to add 16 countries to its “green list” – though not The Bahamas – as it expands its list of countries to where travel is safe. The countries that will move from the amber list to the green list in the coming days include Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Balearic Islands, Barbados, Bermuda, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Madeira, Malta, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands. Those countries have had very few if any COVID19 cases in recent days, in contrast to The Bahamas, which just confirmed 28 cases on Tuesday and 60 on Wednesday. This news comes about three weeks after the first
British Airways flight in over a year landed at Lynden Pindling International Airport. Before this, direct flights between The Bahamas and the UK had been suspended since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The UK currently advises its residents against travelling to countries to which it has given an amber or red designation. The Bahamas is in the amber category. People who travel to England from amber countries must quarantine at home or in the place they are staying for ten days and take a COVID-19 test on or before day two and on or after day eight. To date, 245 people have died in the Bahamas from COVID-19. Twentynine deaths are still under investigation. Thirty-seven people are currently hospitalised, including four in the intensive care unit. To date, there have been 12,467 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country.
THE TRIBUNE
Friday, June 25, 2021, PAGE 5
D’Aguilar says supply chain to blame for Sandals delay By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net TOURISM Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar is confident that Sandals Resorts International has pushed back the reopening of its Sandals Royal Bahamian resort in New Providence because of supply chain issues related to construction and nothing else. Sandals, which is undergoing a $37m renovation, says it will reopen the property on January 27, 2022. “What we’re hearing is that construction is behind and has been significantly impacted by supply chain
problems,” Mr D’Aguilar said yesterday. “I know for a fact that my contractor – I have someone building something for me – there was a period where there was no concrete or plywood on the island. I think they were of the view that they are definitely excited about the prospect and they are on board with getting it done and I think their plans have taken on more ambitious renovations than they initially thought so they could see now that 1st of November they couldn’t achieve that opening date. It’s slightly frustrating, but nonetheless it is what it is.”
Mr D’Aguilar says Sandals has indicated it will invite about 910 of its employees back when it reopens. He could not say what the postponement of its reopening means for the employees whose unemployment benefits will lapse in September. Last year, SRI executive chairman Adam Stewart said Sandals should not be held to its February 1, 2021 reopening date for its Bahamian resorts because the country’s COVID-19 restrictions were “creating confusion in the market.” Mr D’Aguilar gave an assurance that such considerations have nothing to
do with the current postponement of the resort’s reopening. “I personally toured that site with Adam,” he said. “They seemed very upbeat on the property and getting it renovated. I don’t think we should look any further than the fact that there are some supply chain issues and they are focused on getting it operational rather than create a muddled product. “The hotel is something that you can’t change the opening date. Once you trigger your booking system, people book and it becomes very, very difficult at the last minute to change it. If you say you’re opening
November 4, people arrive on November 4. You have to be absolutely sure when you pull the trigger. You have to get this right. You don’t want people to show up and they’re in the middle of a construction zone because then I’m going to be pissed. Pushbacks happen all the time. Adam Stewart is very bullish on the Bahamas. Now if I went down to the property and there was nothing going on I would be concerned, but they’ve gutted the place and they are moving full steam ahead.” In a statement issued on Wednesday, Mr Stewart said delaying the resort’s
opening was a hard decision to make. “Moving the opening date from November 4 was a very difficult decision,” Mr Stewart said. “While we could reopen much of the resort, worldwide demand for commodities and supply chain disruptions are delaying our ability to complete the project’s full scope. Keeping this hotel under wraps until it is absolutely ready is the right thing to do. We’re in an environment of great expectation and when our guests arrive, it will be a place of Caribbean calm and cool that will definitely have been worth the wait.”
TEAM INSPECTS ECOSYSTEMS IN GB STUDY By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net
A TEAM was in East Grand Bahama for a twoday field trip observing the natural habitat and ecosystems, as part of the Implementing Land, Water, and Ecosystem Management in the Bahamas (IWEco The Bahamas) project. Following Hurricane Dorian, there was massive devastation to the environment, habitats, and ecosystems in East End, which is considered one of the most natural and pristine areas on Grand Bahama. The project’s main objective is the restoration of major habitats, ensuring sustainable
ecotourism developments of East Grand Bahama, and implementing and strengthening environmental monitoring and evaluation. BRON, a multi-disciplinary consultancy firm based in Nassau, is part of the consultancy team that is leading the biodiversity aspect of the project. BRON representatives Scott Johnson and Mark Daniels are focused on animal life and plant life in EGB and shared their observations in the field. According to Mr Johnson, bird numbers are still low in the area. “Since Dorian, sadly we are still seeing some low number of organisms, namely birds,” he said. “I do a lot of work with birds in the country, and because of Hurricane
Dorian it has negatively affected the pine-land and the mangrove ecosystems of that area.” Mr Johnson explained that for ecosystems to thrive there must be very diverse species occupying the different niches to help encourage the resilience of an environment, among other things. He stressed that bird diversity in EGB is still low but recovering. “It will take a little while for the numbers to bounce back, but there are still a few species that have been seen out there.” Mr Johnson is seeing birds like willets, common ground doves, mourning doves, and a few other species. He noted that it will take some time for those
MEDICAL SCHOOL TO RECEIVE STUDENTS BY NEXT JANUARY By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net STATE Minister for Grand Bahama Kwasi Thompson said yesterday construction of a medical school in Grand Bahama by the Western Atlantic University School of Medicine is progressing and should be ready to receive students by January next year. Mr Thompson also stated Doctors Hospital has announced a new private hospital project in Grand Bahama in partnership with the Cleveland Clinic. Mr Thompson said the island can expect a boost to both medical tourism and opportunities for tertiary education as a result. Turning his focus to East Grand Bahama, he said construction of a $1.9m new East End School is included in this budget for construction work to begin. He also noted there are plans for the construction of the East End microgrid project. “Four million out of the $30 million for renewable energy projects is for microgrids in East Grand Bahama, with the buildout to commence this year,” Mr Thompson added. Turning to the economy, Mr Thompson said that “there is no full national recovery without the return of the Grand Bahamian economy.” In the past two years, the island has suffered two major crises with Hurricane Dorian and the COVID-19 pandemic. “Despite everything that the island has experienced and the trauma of these experiences, Grand Bahamians have persisted. Grand Bahama is strong, and it is not alone. We are working around the clock to bring opportunities to fruition. The future is bright for Grand Bahama,” he said. Mr Thompson indicated that the success of Grand Bahama means success for us all. He highlighted several developments that are already moving ahead to revitalize the island’s economy.
KWASI THOMPSON, Minister of State for Grand Bahama. “I have never been more optimistic about the future of Grand Bahama,” Mr Thompson said. “Prior to the passage of Hurricane Dorian, this government executed a Heads of Agreement with Carnival Cruise Line Corporation for the development of a $100m cruise port. The port is to be the largest purpose-built cruise facility ever constructed in the Bahamas. We expect that this new development will attract about one million guests annually to the island. The permitting stage continues.” Even though those projects have been delayed as a result of COVID-19, he said they are nearing an end to the transactions and that there will be more to say in a few weeks. The minister also talked about the proposed mixeduse resort development that has been approved in Grand Bahama. The Weller Group Discovery Bay Project that has been approved by the government calls for the development of a mixeduse resort, consisting of a 25-key boutique hotel and restaurant, 30 residential estate lots, 12 townhouses, 12 bungalows, a beachfront rental pavilion, a 30-slip marina (to be situated in the existing canal system), and a back of house facility. The project, he said, is estimated to be more than $100m. As for the hospital and airport, Mr Thompson
stated that some $21m has also been expended on the refurbishment of the Rand Memorial Hospital, of which the first phase has now been completed. Additionally, he said $19m has been allocated to construct a new four-story level addition for in-patient services and care. Mr Thompson stated that the Public Hospitals Authority has been granted Cabinet approval to engage an architectural firm to develop detailed architectural and engineering plans for a new climate-resilient hospital and clinic facility and a local committee has already begun work on the new design. On the airport, he said a special purpose vehicle (SPV) will be created to operate and redevelop the Grand Bahama airport – as was done with the Lynden Pindling International Airport. “The government has stressed the priority for Grand Bahama’s airport to be rebuilt as a world-class facility that can withstand major storm conditions in the future. We look forward to the upcoming PPP process that will engage with private sector capability, capacity, and efficiency to seek competitive redevelopment proposals that deliver value for money to The Bahamas. The Government will also be holding an industry forum this month to meet with persons interested in submitting proposals,” he said.
species to rebound from an experience like Dorian. Mr Johnson noted that their work ties in with other aspects of the project – the ecotourism plan project and the watershed management plan project, which are being led by consultants Dr Vikneswaran Nair and Dr Henrique Chaves. Mr Johnson stated that increased biodiversity will enhance eco-tourism offerings for guests who will want to come back and spend time and more money would be pumped into the East Grand Bahama area. With the watershed plan, he noted that information they gather about the birds and plants can tell them about the health of the ecosystem. “And by us giving that information to the watershed and eco-tourism aspect it can help move things forward with figuring out what we need to do to increase biodiversity, to help guides attract customers or people to the area,” he explained. Trained botanist Mark Daniels, associate principal of BRON’s environmental department, said there has been a massive die-off of the pine species within the pine ecosystem in East Grand Bahama. “Unfortunately with Dorian, because of severe flooding that happened over most of Grand Bahama, especially over the northern extents, we have massive die-off of the pine species within the pine ecosystem,” he reported. “You can see it as you travel throughout Grand Bahama, it is very
noticeable. The pines are missing their leaves; they are missing tops; they are broken; they are twisted, and fires are happening. So, the system is slowly trying to heal itself and the objective of this consultancy is to assist nature to rebound so it can provide those ecosystem services that Grand Bahamians have enjoyed,” Mr Daniels said. He said in the northern islands the pineland ecosystem is most dominant and noticeable. “It is the signature of these islands,” he added. Although past hurricanes and storms have impacted the pineland before, Mr Daniels said Hurricane Dorian was unprecedented. “The main issue with the pineland ecosystems and storms is saltwater inundation in the freshwater lenses, or plants and habitats being submerged. The pine trees do not react well to salt, and so there is usually a die-back that happens,” he said. Project coordinator Melissa Ingraham said the IWEco project is intended to have outputs of eco-tourism and environment restorations and developments. “This will then provide a biodiversity inventory with monitoring and evaluation capacity behind it. It will feed into the Watershed Management Plan to ensure that all aspects of the environmental, social, economic, and considerations are incorporated into the long-term monitoring and overall capacity increase in the country,” she said. She said the training capacity ensures that
persons locally have experience, exposure, and knowledge to encourage a sustainable movement of the entire output of the project, the Watershed Management Plan, the monitoring of biodiversity component, restoration of the creek systems, and eco-tourism sector to be beneficial for the persons. “This is really a community-engaged targeted project,” she explains. For his part, Dr Chaves said they are looking at vulnerabilities and potentials of the area, not only as far as water and the environment are concerned, but also the social and economic aspects. He explained that they must look at future and potential threats such as climate change that would affect sea-level rise, seawater intrusion, coastal erosion. He stressed that it is important when looking also at the socio-economic, legal, and biodiversity aspects, they seek and discuss alternatives with local stakeholders and governments on the way forward. “A very effective watershed plan will only reach its objective and goals in the end if those stakeholders are involved from the beginning,” he said. The consultants’ work on the IWEco project is expected to end by December. Dr Chaves said implementation will take place over a couple of years on the different aspects of the project. He said the plan will be implemented by the Department of Environmental Planning and
PAGE 6, Friday, June 25, 2021
THE TRIBUNE
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The light at the end of the tunnel THE Americans are coming. IN today’s Tribune, we report on the expectation that US pre-clearance expects to be processing around threequarters of the passenger volumes we reached before COVID hit the world. Not next year or the year after, but “by the end of summer”. After the past year and a half, people are longing to travel again, it seems. Some will have suffered financial struggles with the economic impact of COVID-19, but for those able to do so, many are wanting to pack their bags and get away from a life of lockdowns. The US has one of the highest rates of vaccinations in the world now, and those who are vaccinated are ready to make the most of their ability to travel again safely. About 45 percent of the US population is now fully vaccinated, with that number climbing every day. Jeff Mara, the area port director for US Customs and Border Protection, said: “Our seat recovery numbers, we’ve estimated by the end of this summer, will be at 70-75 percent of pre-COVID levels… If that forecast is achieved, it would place The Bahamas on track to achieve a rate of around one million US departures on an annual basis by the time the summer travel season ends in September.” These aren’t predictions by hopeful officials in The Bahamas, but rather from passenger demand data from the airlines that will be bringing people to our shores. Further, Mr Mara acknowledges how big a result that is, given the record levels of tourism before COVID. We’re not just trying to get back to normal, we’re trying to get back to our best year. What does that mean for us? Economically, it is huge, of course. Those visitors will need places to stay, and will want to spend their money. That means income for businesses across the country, and staff being brought back to work. If you wanted to see the light at the end of the tunnel, this is it. We still have to do our part, but with talk of the government trying to end restrictions by August, you can see how that matches up with the surge in interest in travel. We need to be ready for that number of people arriving – with no repeat of scenes at the airport when cruise passengers had to wait for hours for processing. The US is relocating staff to meet the demand from other countries that have not opened up as much yet, and we need to match that capacity with our own airline staffing. And then there’s the virus itself – we
need to keep doing our part to keep that in check. We know the routine when it comes to social distancing, wearing masks and so on – but what has opened this door is vaccination. The more of us that can get vaccinated, the more it will help the economy. More than that, it will also save lives. A report yesterday showed that nearly all COVID-19 deaths in the US are now among people who weren’t vaccinated. If you don’t take the vaccine, you take that chance. So let’s welcome back these visitors – and be ready for them.
Missing Adriana The story of Adriana Caro is a disturbing one. The Cuban woman was said to be on a boat that capsized in Bahamian waters. A number of people from that incident were picked up. Local immigration officials now say that Mrs Caro was not one of them and that she is thought to have died. However, there is another story. First, one relative says she was told Mrs Caro was in the emergency room at hospital, then when she contacted the detention facility, she was told Mrs Caro was there “safe, in good health”. When she rang back, she was told it was a mistake and the wrong information had been given. It doesn’t end there. Relatives say two women saw Mrs Caro at the detention centre and were willing to testify. And in today’s Tribune, we report on testimony from a Cameroon woman who says she spoke to Mrs Caro in a safe house, who she described as being a beautiful woman “of light complexion” with “prominent dimples”. She said Mrs Caro “stood out to me” and that they spoke a few times, with Adriana telling her about the boat accident and about her husband, who she said officers denied her the chance to call. The family’s fear is that Mrs Caro has been taken for a black market in prostitution. There are clearly questions that remain about Mrs Caro and where she might be – and we need a full account. Every log must be checked, every video recording reviewed. If Mrs Caro really never made it to shore, why are there such inconsistencies, and why do people remember her so clearly? That detail about her dimples stand out – it is one of the first things you notice when you look at a picture of Adriana. Why would anyone make that up? We need to know more.
Seeking a reply EDITOR, The Tribune. I WOULD appreciate it if you would publish this letter to Mr Richard Hardy, Director (Acting) of Lands and Surveys, in the hope that I shall get a reply to my question. Dear Mr Hardy, As per my Crown Land Lease agreement offered on the 7th January, 2020 by the Government of the Bahamas and accepted by Paradise Island Lighthouse & Beach Club Co. Ltd. on the 9th January, 2020 there are two parcels of Crown Land: Parcel A and Parcel B. In our recent discussions with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, they advised me that they have received a Crown Land Lease for seven acres of Crown Land from the Office of the Prime Minister, which seems rather peculiar and I would appreciate some clarity please. Please see the “Survey Plan” attached as prepared by the “Surveyor General”
Thomas Ferguson on the 1st March, 2020 provided to me by Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines today. As you can see, it states “Showing Two Parcels of Crown Land Labeled and totaling 5.00 acres”, which can be seen as Parcel A and Parcel B: the same parcels included in my Crown Land Lease. More disturbingly is the fact that it has highlighted in pink “7 acres to end of beach” which Royal Caribbean Cruise Line believe is now theirs. While this whole “Survey Plan” appears to be prepared by an amateur or perhaps a toddler, it raises more questions than it has answers. As it relates to Paradise Island Lighthouse & Beach Club’s Crown Land Lease, can you please advise if this is in fact a valid “survey plan” and since this appears to push the seven acres marked in pink over my parcel B, is this correct? How is the Government of the Bahamas negotiating Crown Land that is before the courts? Who
is responsible in government for negotiating this? Can I kindly request that since this matter is before the Supreme Court and since my Crown Land appears to be included with RCL’s seven acres, could you please advise if RCL’s parcel includes any land that is in my Parcel A or B? Also, since RCl’s application, I understand, is for seven acres and there’s approximately only five acres between my Parcel B and the private residential land, it would seem apparent that at least two of the seven acres would be from my Parcel B. I sent and you acknowledge. We’ll keep the light on for you. TOBY SMITH Lighthouse Keeper Paradise Island Lighthouse & Beach Club Co. Ltd. No1 Paradise Island, The Bahamas. Nassau, June 24, 2021.
The question of citizenship EDITOR, The Tribune. COLLECTIVELY we as real Bahamians have kicked the can filled with questions of citizenship too far down the road for too long. With the splendid ruling by a majority of the Court of Appeal recently (God bless them forever) the long vexing and debilitating question of citizenship is finally coming to a dramatic close. I have long held and still do as a Christian-minded person and a constitutional lawyer to boot, that anyone who is born physically, in any country is a natural citizen, automatically, of that particular nation. The Bahamas is included in that. There can be no other legal way except the individual concerned opts, at age 18 years or older, to renounce that particular citizenship. This is mere common sense and there is no need in my view, to dance around this salient and on the ground fact. Many Bahamians are xenophobic and many fear invasions by undocumented persons born in this country along with their equally undocumented parents of whatever nationality, but especially Haitian. Historically most of you Bahamians have no problem with utilising so-called Haitian labour or to engage in relationships of all sorts of nature, inclusive of sex. But no citizenship for your Bahamian-born children and, for sure, none for you if you came here, illegally, by boat or plane. It is agreed that the original “fathers” of our constitution, The Bahamas Independence Order 1973, that there are vague references to the “father” which has long negated “the mother”. My position from
LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net a constitutional point is that with medical and forensic advances over the past 30 odd years, especially DNA tests being almost 100% accurate, that those two adjectives are interchangeable. Constitutions are what we legally trained people call “evolving” and constantly dynamic. They are not written in stone, but subjected to ever changing circumstances. So is it, I submit, with our own constitution. Back in the day any man could have claimed to be the daddy of any and all out of wedlock children. Not so today. If I as a Bahamian man were to father a child right here in The Bahamas or anywhere else for that matter (keeping in mind that I am a happily married man), why should that ‘illegitimate’ child of mine not be entitled constitutionally to be a recognized and registered Bahamian citizen? The learned AG says that the government will appeal to the Privy Council over in the UK. Why is this necessary and how much will this exercise in futility costs the taxpayers? We have yet to know how much of the same was expended on the failed prosecutions of Messrs. Shayne Gibson and Frank Smith? Accountability and transparency? There are also questions as to whether or not the recent ruling by the Court of Appeal allows for persons who fall into this grey area to immediately apply for citizenship et al. The AG and his ministry are not known to be swift with applications or in addressing simple matters. They
seem to take forever and at least one day. In addition, they have yet to win any major cause celebre. I am more than satisfied that at the end of the day there will be yet another judicial defeat for this administration. I also have no doubt that the FNM will seek to use such an anticipated defeat in the Privy Council as a political weapon in the general elections. On the other hand I would strongly advise the Leader of the New PLP and others within that party, to refrain from commenting on this landmark ruling by the Court of Appeal until the appellate process would have been completed. The Leader and National Chairman are both seasoned lawyers and would appreciate that if and when the AG files the application to the UK that the law is, in fact, as declared by the Court of Appeal but they are also aware that the administration will stonewall all such applications for citizenship for as long as possible. Once the AG has filed the appeal and seeks a stay of execution from the Court of Appeal, qualified persons may apply. They should not, however, hold their collective breath for a successful response. The FNM will accuse the New PLP of giving aid and comfort to these persons who would apply realising that at least two referenda on this matter was soundly rejected by the people of this wonderful nation for whatever reasons. I suggest there be no formal statement issued by the New PLP and its stellar leadership. To God then in all things be the glory. ORTLAND H BODIE, Jr Nassau, June 24, 2021.
Vaccination EDITOR, The Tribune.
IT IS a Must and Pleasure to thank so much all the volunteers taking care of you at Loyola Hall. Twice I had help with a wheelchair – both
times so pleasant, that I nearly regret not having to go back for a third shot. KIR Nassau, June 24, 2021.
THE TRIBUNE
Friday, June 25, 2021, PAGE 7
Officer’s killer - or innocent?
from page one
The eight-member panel is expected to deliberate on the issue next week. This comes after over two weeks of evidence concerning the April 28, 2019, shooting death of Petty Officer Percival Perpall. Seymour is on trial before Senior Justice Bernard Turner for the murder as well as the attempted murders of Marine Seamen Calvin Hanna and Ellis Rahming. Yesterday Murrio Ducille, lawyer for the accused, told the jurors they were the “judges of the facts” who had the task of deciding who was telling the truth. Mr Ducille argued that the “case was not fully investigated” and claimed the prosecution “haven’t even started to investigate the matter properly”.
He also noted that when Sergeant Sherwin Braynen gave evidence, the officer stated that two people were in custody in relation to the offence at the time of the incident. “If they were so sure it was Seymour, why would they have two persons in custody after Hanna had told them it was Seymour?” he asked. “Obviously, they did not believe Hanna.” Mr Ducille further contended that the 12-man photo line-up from which witnesses had identified Seymour was “unfair”, because it only showed the faces of the suspects and not the height, build, or weight of any of the men included in the gallery. During his testimony, Marine Hanna said he threw himself behind an office desk when the assailant stood in the doorway of the guardroom and began firing.
Referring to the photo of the office desk that was exhibited during the trial, Mr Ducille said he found it interesting how the desk Marine Hanna claimed to jump behind “did not appear to be disturbed.” He added that Seymour chose to take the stand because he had “absolutely nothing to hide”. Mr Ducille also argued that the four witnesses who gave evidence on the accused’s behalf also “corroborated” his testimony. “You have heard the evidence and facts,” Mr Ducille said. “In as much as the case spanned over two to three weeks, (it is) still fresh in your minds. I’m asking you to return a true verdict according to the evidence you heard from the witness box. “(There is) only one sensible verdict you can return and that is not guilty,” Mr Ducillle said.
In his closing arguments, prosecutor Terry Archer asserted the defence had “failed” at their job. He noted the Crown called 22 witnesses who all had statements or reports that were handed to the defence from July 2019. Mr Archer said the first time the prosecution heard of two of Seymour’s witnesses were when they entered the witness box during trial. “For 730 days we never got these alibi noises, but my witnesses wrote down every document that was produced in court from reports, exhibits, statements and photos,” he said. “We have nothing to hide but (Petty Officer Atama) Bowe was his friend and fellow defence force officer. Don’t you think (Seymour) would have known from then that Bowe could testify on his behalf? He never once mentioned defence force
Officer Bowe (and) he never once said he had this (other) witness from the Valley Boy Party at The Farm.” Mr Archer also questioned why Seymour’s counsel never produced the camera footage the accused claimed to have as proof of his whereabouts on the morning in question. “If someone accused you of murder and you are innocent why woudn’t you turn that over?” he asked the jurors. “They want you to believe their story, but it doesn’t add up. The main person who (Seymour) told police he was with never came and the (other) witnesses were hostile and raised their voices no matter what question was asked. “(That’s) because they are the accused’s friends. They already got together and discussed what they were going to do.” Stating that there was
also “evidence of bad blood” between Seymour and PO Perpall, Mr Archer reminded the jury that “shortly after” the petty officer returned from assignment in Ragged Island, he was dead. During the trial, Seymour denied being angry with Petty Officer Perpall, his superior, for reporting him absent without leave (AWOL). Seymour had been deployed to Ragged Island earlier in 2019 with the deceased officer. “(Seymour) had motive, opportunity and certainly a bad temper,” Mr Archer insisted. “A father died on April 28, 2019. This is a serious matter... people are usually killed by people who know them. We don’t know the emotions of humans.” The jurors will deliberate after Senior Justice Bernard Turner’s summation of the case on June 29.
SIX YEARS FOR THIEF 15 CUBANS DETAINED OFF ANGUILLA CAY By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net A REPEAT offender who claimed he went on a stealing spree to support his two children and unborn baby was yesterday sentenced to six years behind bars. After spending 18 months on remand for stealing in 2019, Durant Dean found himself back before Senior Magistrate Derence Rolle Davis charged with a number of theft charges. Police said Dean committed sacrilege when he stole two hurricane impact windows from Believers Faith Outreach Ministries on June 20. The court was told that around 7.35am that morning, a security officer at the church observed Dean, who did not appear to be a member of the worship centre, trying to put the windows in his car. The prosecution said the security officer then took a photo of the accused before restraining him until police arrived. The pastor of the church also gave police a statement indicating that he had never given anyone permission to enter or remove anything from the church’s premises. Dean was further charged with stealing a 50-pound gas tank from Jasmine Collie’s residence on May 22. The court was told that when the woman realised her $200 tank was missing, she gave a statement to the officer and requested police action. The prosecution said a
man also reported that his $400 water pump had been stolen sometime between May 21 and 22. Police said $150 worth of damage was also inflicted to the pump at the time the crime was committed. After the complainant provided police video footage of the incident, Dean was arrested. When he was questioned in custody, he admitted to all of the offences and said he had sold Ms Collie’s gas tank to someone in the Haitian Village. During the hearing, Dean told the magistrate he was unemployed and “things were rough”. He also said he had twin girls and a seven-month pregnant “baby mother” and insisted he was “trying to make ends meet”, but when his children told him they were hungry, he became desperate. In response, Magistrate Rolle Davis said while he considered Dean’s early guilty pleas, he was recently convicted of stealing and returned to court “within a year on the very same charges”. He said the court was of the view that Dean had no regard for other people’s property and was only remorseful because he was caught. As a result, he sentenced the accused to five years for sacrilege, another year for stealing and damaging the man’s water pump, and three months for stealing Ms Collie’s gas tank. In total, Dean will spend six years and three months at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.
41-YEAR-OLD Antonio Baillou outside court yesterday. Photo: Donovan McIntosh/Tribune Staff
COCAINE SUSPECT AWAITS BAIL HEARING By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net A 41-YEAR-OLD man who denied importing 23 pounds of cocaine into the country was remanded to prison pending a bail hearing. Antonio Baillou appeared before Magistrate Samuel McKinney after he was accused of conspiring to possess the drugs with the intent to supply sometime between March 6 and 11 of 2020. The prosecution accused Baillou of smuggling the cocaine into the country
during that same timeframe after he was found with the drugs on March 11, 2020. Yesterday, Baillou pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to possess dangerous drugs with the intent to supply, possession of dangerous drugs with the intent to supply, conspiracy to import dangerous drugs and importation of dangerous drugs. He returns to court on July 2 for a bail hearing. The accused, who is represented by attorney Moses Davis, was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services until that time.
CUBANS being examined shortly after arrival at Coral Harbour Base. A GROUP of Cubans are currently being detained at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre after they were apprehended in the southwest Bahamas by a US Coast Guard vessel earlier this week. The 15 individuals were
captured after being sighted on Anguilla Cay on Tuesday, June 22. They were taken aboard the US Coast Guard Cutter, Charles Sexton, and handed over shortly after 7pm to the Royal Bahamas Defence Force patrol craft, HMBS Durward Knowles, under the
Photo: Petty Officer Al Rahming/RBDF command of Senior Lieutenant Jataro McDonald. The Cubans were subsequently brought into the capital early yesterday morning, where they were handed over to the relevant authorities. The Cuban Embassy has since been notified.
PAGE 8, Friday, June 25, 2021
THE TRIBUNE
Lots of talk but little action when it comes to citizenship A Comic’s View
By INIGO ‘NAUGHTY’ ZENICAZELAYA THIS week, I watched something that I usually (aggressively) try to avoid; the televised Senate proceedings. My aversion to Senate debates stems solely from the fact that the “upper chamber” is quite boring. Actually, compared to the ‘Bam! Bam! Bam!’ business of the House, the Senate still needs a few fistfights, a ripe slap, and a cuss word or two (looking at you, Brave) to reach boring status. Alas, as far as entertainment goes, watching senators argue is like watching ink dry on a very big, very wet rubber stamp. Which, ironically, is what happens there. Yesterday, though, faced with the House on hiatus for half of the rest of the year (no, seriously), I grudgingly tuned in to the Senate. Lo and behold, imagine my surprise at witnessing sworn enemies – senators Carl Bethel and Fred Mitchell – agree on, well, anything. (That’s one of the signs of the apocalypse, right?) Attorney-General Bethel and Mr. Mitchell found an issue they united around; our own Court of Appeal’s recent decision
around citizenship. They both want an appeal to the Privy Council in London. Blimey! Who knew all it took to end their bitter blood feud was the idea of having ten British lords and two British ladies (sipping tea more than 6,000 miles away) tell Bahamians who is and isn’t a Bahamian? I grabbed a cuppa myself and glued my eyes to the screen. Their friendly-ish exchange was indeed a thing to behold: Yes, they agreed, the AG Office needs to get a stay and appeal our Appeal Court’s decision. Sure, they opined, judicial rulings are fair game for fierce, political criticism. Because, after all, no law is above the law! And just when I thought they would join hands and sing ‘Kum Ba Ya,’ their fragile alliance fell apart. Mitchell insisted that when it comes to judicial decisions, the jurisdiction ‘resides with the judge,’ meaning a judge in our system can make a decision on a case before our courts from anywhere in the world. Bethel found this ludicrous, asserting, “The Court of Appeal resides in The Bahamas.” legislation passed means neither group had Mitchell was back on his feet, saying a leg to stand on. jurisdiction –- like a bad case of gas – travUntil the Appeals Court took a position els within the person of a judge, who can let this week. loose anytime, anywhere. Now our AG is alarmed and arguing And with that, Bethel and Mitchell were against what he was arguing for just three back to bickering. short years ago. More interesting than their short détente To up the political ante, the AG also was what they did not say. But reading made a dodgy claim that millions of people between the lines, it seems that neither the supposedly stormed government offices government nor the opposition is prepared like Gollums searching for “precious” votto address the citizenship and immigration er’s cards. In the two days since that ruling! issues plaguing our country. Not passports, mind you, but voters The Appeals Court now says that a child cards! born to an unwed Bahamian If you’re expecting Fred father is a citizen at birth, as Lo and behold, Mitchell and the Progresis currently the case with an imagine my surprise sive Liberal Party to do unwed Bahamian mother. at witnessing sworn anything differently, think AG Bethel disagrees. again. In 2017, Prime Minister enemies – senators Mitchell wants to keep Dr Hubert Minnis promised Carl Bethel and Fred the status quo. In other sweeping amendments to Mitchell – agree words, go beg your minister the Immigration Act, which like you’ve always done. should have addressed some on, well, anything. In 2018, Senator Mitchell of these issues before our (That’s one of said, “the Bahamas Nationcourts. ality Act gives the minister the signs of the On November 6, 2017, the power to give citizenThe Tribune reported on apocalypse, right?) ship to any child. So there how Carl Bethel himself is no need to do anything said that “the Minnis administration will other than improve the administrative not just grant automatic citizenship to chil- procedures.” dren of Bahamian women born abroad Note how the two major parties may disupon application, but to children of unwed agree, but on immigration, they don’t really Bahamian men as well”. disagree. By 2018, not much got done, and Doc There is a reason these two rivals agree joked, “We’ve only been in one year and on bringing the Privy Council into this mess a half, you know. You want me undo eve- of our making. The plan was always to talk rything in one year and half? We still have a lot, but do very little. Citizenship and immigration are mere talking points. seven and (a) half more years to go.” But now, the Appeals Court has spoken, Bethel’s promise to put the two disenfranchised groups on “broadly equal upsetting the apple cart. So, all that is left to do is wait and see footing” was prescient, in that governments’ consistent failure to get any which way the wind breaks across the pond.
A Rose that will always bloom
THE TRIBUNE
THERE are photographers and then there was Roland Rose. Other photographers gave him his title, the Dean of Bahamian photography. Some called him the Master. When he passed away on June 16 at the age of 84 from cancer and a note went out from friend and fellow photographer Linda Huber, more than a few tears flew back and forth across a circle of photographers who knew that even at their very best, it would be hard, if not impossible to do what Roland Rose did. He aimed a lens and captured a world. In vivid colour for nature and black and white for emotion, Rose seized moments and froze them, preserving them for the day he would no longer be here to record them. Peanuts Taylor beating a drum so powerfully you could see it in slow motion, building momentum, then a crescendo. You could feel the wind and water whipping from an approaching storm surge barreling down on a small vessel, the pulsing gyrations of a Junkanooer. Rose created images so alive they told a story without words, vibrating with energy or quieted by stillness. And yet from this same man came a gentle body of work of the flora and fauna of The Bahamas unmatched by anyone who followed. The soft sand of a beach so lifelike you can feel the warm grains slip through your fingers. Flamingoes marching. A two-toed sloth making its way up a tree. The sun’s waning rays casting a shadow on a beached dinghy. Yellow elder in bloom or his favourite, the deep magenta bougainvillea
Friday, June 25, 2021, PAGE 9
By Diane Phillips that he often used to frame a subject when just a touch of colour turned image into art. Nothing was beyond Rose’s camera reach. From portraiture to breaking news, Rose was agile, antsy, ready and a perfectionist who demanded from others the same standards he applied to himself. But there was one incident he could not master, a tragedy that haunted him to his dying day – the burning of his official photography of The Bahamas Independence ceremony at Clifford Park in July 1973, the exploding with pride moment when the flag of Great Britain was lowered and the Bahamian flag raised. Negatives and photos were accidentally thrown into a fire during a clean-up at the Bahamas News Bureau. Two years before that in 1971 and at the same Bahamas News Bureau, Rose met a young and eager photographer named Wendell Cleare who at 21 had just walked into his first job. It would be the start of a lifelong friendship between the photographers. Cleare was among those shaken by the loss of the Master. He shared these thoughts: “As a young photographer, Roland treated me as a little brother. He trained me and gave me directions in the dark room and on the field. He was always willing to teach me. He was always willing to show me and assist me with
any request I had. He was special to me; not only in the photography world but in life itself.” Linda Huber (Flowers of The Bahamas, Nassau’s Historic Landmarks) also praised Rose for his willingness to share, never hesitating to demonstrate the best angle, what aperture to use, judging light, speed. Rose was so Bahamian it was hard to think of him as anything but. In fact, he came to this country at the age of eight or nine from Italy when his father accepted a job as head of groundskeeping and landscape for the owner of what was then Hogg Island, now Paradise Island. Taking pictures of what became such a passion that by the time he was 13, he traded in his most prized possession, a harmonica, for a camera. As a teenager, he joined the Bahamas Development Board, the precursor of what is now the Ministry of Tourism, and for the next nearly seven decades chronicled the highs and lows and special moments of Bahamian life. With his wife, Barbara, and two children, he travelled the world and though he grew up in a developing island nation, was always eager to experience something larger, newer, different and every photographer who knew, or all but worshipped the work he produced, marvelled at how quickly he adapted to digital and how proficient he became at using
‘Rose created images so alive they told a story without words, vibrating with energy or quieted by stillness. And yet from this same man came a gentle body of work of the flora and fauna of The Bahamas unmatched by anyone who followed.’ Photo by Derek Smith
DEREK Rose with Peanuts Taylor at the Central Bank Gallery, in the exhibit A Rose and a Fleur: Motion & Emotion, open from January–March 2008. Photo: Eric Rose technology to enhance images effectively. Says Derek Smith, another of the greats with a camera: “Roland was a true professional. I met him in the early 70s at the Camera Club of The Bahamas, that’s when the professional photographer taught the budding photographers how to take good photographs and he became my mentor. Roland always kept up with the times with his camera equipment, he always had the best. He used Canon equipment and I do, too. I recall in 1993 at a Photographic Exhibition held by six professional photographers at the Central Bank, he pulled me to the side and said ‘You remind me of me the way
you take photographs’.” To Smith, that was the greatest compliment of all, for the Dean of Bahamian Photography to say he resembled him in style. In recent years, Rose’s work appeared on The Tribune’s most colourful page, Through a Rose Coloured Lens, which ran every Friday in the Weekend section. In our office, we worked with Roland Rose over the years on wide-ranging assignments from the gardens, animals and birds at Ardastra to official ribboncuttings. In 2008, I helped arrange and coordinate a photography exhibit at Central Bank showcasing the work of Fleur MelvillGardner and Roland Rose,
both now deceased. It was called ‘A Rose and a Fleur: Motion & Emotion’ and many of the images that circulated upon news of his death came from that show. It was the least I could do for someone who, every Christmas, remembered us at DP&A bringing us a large, framed Roland Rose photograph. They decorate nearly every wall. I gaze at a b&w of a closet with discarded choir robes, a few drums and a tear rolls down one cheek, Wendell Cleare, you were right when you said: “The photography world in The Bahamas was blessed to have Roland and you will be sorely missed. I love you, Roland.” We all do. We always will.
PAGE 12, Friday, June 25, 2021
THE TRIBUNE
MANY FEARED DEAD AS FLORIDA CONDO COLLAPSES
AN AERIAL photo of the 12-story oceanfront Champlain Towers South Condo that collapsed early yesterday morning in Surfside, Florida. Photo: Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP
SURFSIDE, Florida Associated Press A WING of a 12-storey beachfront condo building collapsed with a roar outside Miami early yesterday, killing at least one person and trapping residents in rubble and twisted metal. Rescuers pulled out dozens of survivors and continued to look for more. Nearly 100 people were still unaccounted for at midday, authorities said, raising fears that the death toll could climb sharply. But officials did not know how many were in the tower when it fell around 1.30am.
“The building is literally pancaked,” Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said. “That is heartbreaking because it doesn’t mean, to me, that we are going to be as successful as we wanted to be in finding people alive.” Hours after the collapse, searchers were trying to reach a trapped child whose parents were believed to be dead. In another case, rescuers saved a mother and child, but the woman’s leg had to be amputated to remove her from the rubble, Frank Rollason, director of Miami-Dade Emergency Management, told the Miami Herald. Video showed fire crews
removing a boy from the wreckage, but it was not clear whether he was the same person mentioned by Rollason. Gov Ron DeSantis, who toured the scene, said television did not capture the scale of what happened. Rescue crews are “doing everything they can to save lives. That is ongoing, and they’re not going to rest,” he said. Teams of ten to 12 rescuers were entering the rubble at a time with dogs and other equipment, working until they tire from the heavy lifting, then making way for a new team, said Florida Chief Financial
Officer Jimmy Patronis, the state’s fire marshal. “They’re not going to stop just because of nightfall,” Patronis told Miami television station WPLG. “They just may have a different path they pursue.” Patronis said he was deeply moved by the image of a bunk bed near the nowexposed top of the building. “Somebody was probably sleeping in it,” he said. “There’s all those what-ifs.” Authorities did not say what may have caused the collapse. On video footage captured from nearby, the center of the building appeared to fall first, with a section nearest the ocean teetering and coming down seconds later as a huge dust cloud swallowed the neighborhood. Work was being done on the building’s roof, but Burkett said he did not see how that could have been the cause. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said she got a call from President Joe Biden, who promised to provide any federal aid that was requested. “We’ll be there,” he said at the White House. Hotels already had opened to some displaced residents, the mayor said, and deliveries of food, medicine and more were being hastily arranged. Rescue officials tried to determine how many people might be missing and asked residents to check in with them. About half of the building’s roughly 130 units were affected, the mayor told a news conference. Rescuers pulled at least 35 people from the wreckage by mid-morning, and heavy equipment was being brought in to help stabilize the structure to give them more access, Raide Jadallah of Miami-Dade Fire and Rescue said. The tower has a mix of seasonal and year-round residents, and while the building keeps a log of guests, it does not keep track of when owners are in
residence, Burkett said. Nicholas Fernandez spent hours after the collapse trying to call two friends who were staying in the building with their young daughter. The family had come to the United States to avoid the COVID19 outbreak in their home country of Argentina, said Fernandez, of Miami. “The hope is that, perhaps, someone hears the call. I know there are dogs inside,” he said. “I know it may sound ridiculous what I’m saying but there’s always hope until we hear different.” The Argentine Consulate in Miami said a total of nine people missing in the collapse were from Argentina. Three citizens of Uruguay were also missing, along with four people from Venezuela, representatives of those countries said. The collapse, which appeared to affect one leg of the L-shaped tower, tore away walls and left some homes in the still-standing part of the building exposed in what looked like a giant dollhouse. Television footage showed beds, tables and chairs inside. Air conditioners hung from some parts of the building, where wires now dangled. Piles of rubble and debris surrounded the area, and cars up to two blocks away were coated with with a light layer of dust from the debris. As crews went through the rubble around midday, smoke wafted through the area. The source was not clear. Barry Cohen, 63, said he and his wife were asleep in the building when he first heard what he thought was a crack of thunder. The couple went onto their balcony, then opened the door to the building’s hallway to find “a pile of rubble and dust and smoke billowing around.” “I couldn’t walk out past my doorway,” said Cohen, the former vice mayor of Surfside. “A gaping hole of rubble.” Eventually rescued with his wife by firefighters,
Cohen said he raised concerns years ago about whether nearby construction might be causing damage to the building after seeing cracked pavers on the pool deck. Surfside City Commissioner Eliana Salzhauer told WPLG that the building’s county-mandated 40-year recertification process was ongoing. Salzhauer said the process was believed to be proceeding without difficulty. A building inspector was on-site Wednesday. “I want to know why this happened,” Salzhauer said. “That’s really the only question... And can it happen again? Are any other of our buildings in town in jeopardy?” At an evacuation site set up in a nearby community center, people who live in buildings neighboring the collapse gathered after being told to flee. Some wept. Some were still dressed in pajamas. Some children tried to sleep on mats spread on the floor. Jennifer Carr was asleep in a neighboring building when she was awakened by a loud boom and her room shook. She thought it was a thunderstorm but checked the weather app on her phone and saw none. The building’s fire alarms went off, and she and her family went outside and saw the collapse. “It was devastation,” Carr said. “People were running and screaming.” The seaside condo development was built in 1981 in the southeast corner of Surfside. It had a few two-bedroom units currently on the market, with asking prices of $600,000 to $700,000 in an area with a neighborhood feel that provides a stark contrast to the glitz and bustle of nearby South Beach. Patricia Avilez considered spending the night in her brother-in-law’s vacant condo on Wednesday but didn’t, only to awake to news of the collapse. “And then I came here, and it’s gone,” she said. “Everything is disaster.”
RUDY GIULIANI SUSPENDED AS LAWYER IN NEW YORK NEW YORK Associated Press
AN APPEALS court suspended Rudy Giuliani from practicing law in New York yesterday because he made false statements while trying to get courts to overturn Donald Trump’s loss in the presidential race. An attorney disciplinary committee had asked the court to suspend Giuliani’s licence on the grounds that he’d violated professional conduct rules as he promoted theories that the election was stolen through fraud. The court agreed and said suspension should be immediate, even though
FORMER New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. disciplinary proceedings aren’t yet complete, because there was an “immediate threat” to the public. “The seriousness of respondent’s uncontroverted misconduct cannot
be overstated,” the court wrote. “This country is being torn apart by continued attacks on the legitimacy of the 2020 election and of our current president, Joseph R Biden.” Trump called the suspension a politically motivated “witch hunt”, while Giuliani said it was a “disgrace” on his afternoon radio show. The court’s opinion, Giuliani said, was based on hearsay and “could have been written by the Democratic National Committee”. “The bar association should give me an award,” the Republican told listeners on WABC-AM. “I defended an unpopular
client. I’ve been threatened with death. I’ve had a good deal of my income taken away. I’ve lost friends over it.” “This is happening to shut me up,” he added. “They want Giuliani quiet.” The ruling will prevent Giuliani from representing clients as a lawyer. The court held that Giuliani, as a lawyer for Trump, “communicated demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers and the public at large.” Giuliani, a former New York City mayor and US attorney in Manhattan, claimed the investigation violated his First Amendment right to free speech
and that he did not knowingly make false statements. The court rejected those arguments, noting that in Pennsylvania, Giuliani failed to “provide a scintilla of evidence for any of the varying and wildly inconsistent numbers of dead people he factually represented voted in Philadelphia during the 2020 presidential election.” “False statements intended to foment a loss of confidence in our elections and resulting loss of confidence in government generally damage the proper functioning of a free society,” the court wrote. Interim suspensions are often a precursor to
disbarment but are typically “reserved for lawyers convicted of a crime”, said Bruce Green, a former federal prosecutor who directs the Louis Stein Center for Law and Ethics at the Fordham University School of Law. “It’s rarely done in cases involving lying lawyers.” Still, Giuliani will be allowed to fight the suspension and even call witnesses as part of his challenge — a process that could take months to play out — and Giuliani’s attorneys said they expect him to be reinstated “once the issues are fully explored at a hearing”. “He gets another day in court,” Green said.