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VOLUME:116 No.129, JULY 1ST, 2019

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FIFTEEN people were shot early yesterday morning in Montel Heights during a birthday celebration that turned into a nightmare.

According to police, ten of the victims were female and four were minors — the youngest of which is just ten years old. Up to press time, there were no fatalities and according to the Public Hospitals Authority only one person remained in critical condition.

Minister of National Security Marvin Dames described this as a “tragic and unfortunate incident”.

Both he and Commissioner of Police Anthony Ferguson stressed that the target was a specific individual - not the general crowd.

The Tribune canvassed

the Ethel Street community hours after the mass shooting occurred.

Neighbours insisted the gathering was a birthday party for a pregnant woman. The uncle of the celebrant said seven of the gunshot victims were their relatives. The pregnant woman was not injured.

“They (were) having a family get together,” Devon Oliver, 37, said.

“It was my niece’s birthday and her and her friends had a little gathering. And everyone was having a nice time and two males came from the back corner, come up…and opened fire on the crowd, hitting 15-16 persons, including a child.”

According to Mr Oliver, among the victims were parents, siblings, cousins, and friends. He added his family has lived on that street for “generations”.

SEE PAGE FIVE

HO RR OR TW O

By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net

HO RR OR

• Ten women among 15 shot as gunman attacks birthday party • Carnage followed just 48 hours after double gangland hit • Police Commissioner insists: Public has no need to be afraid

ON E

BLOODBATH TOP: After the shootings in Montel Heights yesterday, police conduct door-to-door enquiries.

Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff BELOW: One man - Ian “Irie” Porter - lies dead after a double homicide on Friday off Prince Charles Drive.

Police are not connecting the two incidents.

Full story - Page 5

SYMONETTE RESIGNS FROM CABINET

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

TWO weeks after revelations that a company with ties to Brent Symonette’s family was awarded a contract to upgrade runways at Lynden Pindling International Airport, the St Anne’s MP resigned from his substantive Cabinet position.

It is not clear whether this situation factored into

QUIT: Brent Symonette his resignation from the post of minister of financial services, trade and industry

and immigration. It was not immediately known if he voluntarily left the post or was asked to resign by Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis. Mr Symonette will remain member of Parliament for the St Anne’s constituency.

As a result, Yamacraw MP Elsworth Johnson, the most recent state legal affairs minister, is set to take over this substantive Cabinet portfolio.

The change comes into effect

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

today. The Tribune understands, according to a well-placed source, there may be another shuffle in Cabinet later in the term.

Mr Symonette could not be reached yesterday for comment.

The government yesterday afternoon issued a brief statement, which confirmed the resignation. It noted: “It is notified for general information that Brent SEE PAGE SIX

PAGE 2, Monday, July 1, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

CA SMITH TAKES REINS AS GOVERNOR GENERAL

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

CORNELIUS Alvin Smith was sworn in as the 11th Governor General of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas on Friday, an appointment that sealed his rise from humble beginnings at Snow Hill, Long Island, through a long career in the civil service.

During his first speech as Governor General, Mr

Smith pledged to discharge his constitutional duties with impartiality and urged Bahamians to strive toward renewing bedrock values such as altruism, empathy, and generosity of spirit.

He said these were necessary in fostering oneness in the country.

Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said the Governor General’s journey had been one that mirrored the country’s national journey, inclusive

of the attainment of majority rule and independence by a proud sovereign nation.

In his response to the commission of appointment at Rawson Square, the new Governor General said: “Ladies and gentlemen, our nation is blessed by a surpassing natural heritage and a rich cultural heritage. We have utilised and blended these gifts to create a peaceful democratic nation that has

CA Smith being sworn in as Governor General on Friday. caused the global commons to mark the manner of our bearing.

“We’ve excelled in the arts, athletics, and academics. Now as we approach the 50th anniversary of independence we should celebrate our accomplishments and also our potential. We should also take stock of the road that we still tread to better promote the values of inclusiveness, civility, fairness and national harmony.”

He added: “Let us also pledge to renew bedrock values such as altruism, empathy, and generosity of spirit, which are necessary in fostering one Bahamas.

“These values, which propelled our fore parents to fight against discrimination and for a more equitable and just society must be renewed through the practice of voluntarism

Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

and public and community service.

“Let us renew this spirit and these values in our communities, in our homes, in the institutions of government, in religious ministry, in civil society, in our schools, in commerce and in industry.

“I dedicate myself to helping to promote and to renew a greater national commitment to community service and voluntarism.”

He thanked former Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling for her years of service to the nation.

For his part, Dr Minnis said he was pleased to have recommended the former member of Parliament for the appointment to the highest office in the country and highlighted much of his achievements.

He said: “Given your

long and distinguished public career, your diplomatic and community service and your love of country, it was my happy task to recommend to Her Majesty (Queen Elizabeth II), your excellency’s appointment as Governor General.

“We look forward to your tenure and the role you will play in fostering national unity and a greater commitment to community service.

We are confident that your excellency will represent our country with distinction at home and abroad.

“Your excellency, as has been said on a previous occasion, we ask that you express to her majesty, the Queen, the gratitude of the Bahamian people for her having acceded to our request by appointing you to this nation’s highest office.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, July 1, 2019, PAGE 3

BL A

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FU NE RA

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Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

‘Don’t sweep our boys’ deaths under the carpet’

By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net

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AM SE Y’S FU NE R

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THE family of Blair John, one of the two young men found dead in Italy last month, has raised concerns that authorities initially attempted to sweep the investigation into their deaths “under the carpet”.

The bodies of John and Alrae Ramsey were found in the Po River in Turin, Italy, on June 4 and 5 respectively. Results of the autopsies conducted in Italy

earlier this month state drowning as the cause of death. Both young men were buried after separate funeral services held on Saturday in New Providence.

In John’s obituary, the family expressed thanks to his sister and two other individuals “for traveling to Italy to find our sons”, in the wake of the tragedy.

“Their actions are what drew attention to the entire matter,” the obituary continues. “Something the authorities appeared to want to dismiss and casually sweep under the carpet.”

Minister of Foreign Affairs Darren Henfield delivered remarks at both services.

Ramsey, 29, was a foreign service officer who was on study leave in Vienna.

“From the time we heard of his tragic demise, Alrae’s family at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have been deeply saddened and remain in shock at his sudden passing,” Mr Henfield said. “I say family, because he was not only a colleague but our very own Alrae.

Our hearts are full because we cannot imagine he is now gone.

“Alrae was among several foreign service officers to join the Ministry on December 9, 2013.

Alrae showed promise to excel at the highest level. He was loved by all within the ministry. He provided so many with comfort through humorous conversations and was an admirable example of what it meant to be a gentleman,” he said.

Mr Henfield also lauded John, who he noted obtained his PhD in industrial/organisational psychology posthumously.

“Dr Blair John was a son,

brother, coworker, a son of the soil, and from all accounts a true gentleman and scholar,” he said.

“He was blessed academically and athletically, however despite his many achievements Blair remained humble and personable.

Blair knew what his purpose was in life and he remained dedicated to what God had called him to do, even until his untimely demise.

“Blair had ambition, he had determination and he had a hunger for excellence. Dr Blair John represented the Bahamas well. He was a gift to us all.”

PAGE 4, Monday, July 1, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

The Tribune Limited NULLIUS ADDICTUS JURARE IN VERBA MAGISTRI “Being Bound to Swear to The Dogmas of No Master”

LEON E. H. DUPUCH,

SIR ETIENNE DUPUCH,

jamaaltheartist@gmail.com

Publisher/Editor 1903-1914 Kt., O.B.E., K.M., K.C.S.G., (Hon.) LL.D., D.Litt .

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EILEEN DUPUCH CARRON,

C.M.G., M.S., B.A., LL.B. Publisher/Editor 1972-

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We must stop the flow of automatic weapons IN AN instant, a celebration turned into horror. A birthday party for a pregnant woman in Montel Heights became the target of a mass shooting. Video clips circulated online showed how panic suddenly struck as people scrambled for cover.

Fifteen people were shot, ten of them female and four of them children. A ten-year-old was among those injured.

Three more people were hurt with nongunshot injuries.

It’s a miracle that no one was killed.

Sadly, it was far more likely that such an attack could take place given the number of guns in circulation. More than that, while the investigation is still in its early stages, we fear for the type of gun that might have been used in the incident.

Last year, also in Montel Heights, another mass shooting injured five people, including a child, again at a party. In April, five people were shot with an automatic weapon in the Montagu Beach area.

Again in April, six people were injured in a drive-by shooting in Kemp Road as they stood outside a nightclub.

The list goes on.

National Security Minister Marvin Dames sounded the warning alarm back in February. He said that assault rifles were the weapon of choice now.

“You know, people want assault rifles now. So one time you go to shoot, you

fire and you hit one person. You have assault rifles now, you fire, you ain’t hitting one person, you hitting about two or three,” he said.

That’s far too dangerous a slope to go down, and we applaud every effort by the police in their battle against such attacks.

It has to start before responding to the scene, of course. We must find these weapons and stop them from getting into our country.

If that means police having to conduct more searches, so be it. If that means more road blocks of areas at risk, so be it. If that means thorough examination of imports, so be it. These guns are bigger than handguns too so should be easier to find.

And as a community we should know it doesn’t start with the police. If we know of someone with such a weapon, then it is for no good. We should tell the police so we can help them weed them off the streets.

If you know of someone with such a weapon and don’t report it – and it ends up being used in a crime – you are partly to blame. You could have stopped a shooting. You could have stopped a murder. Act before it gets too late and tell the police.

These types of weapons should never be acceptable in our communities.

We must never let this type of attack become commonplace.

A devoted public servant BRENT Symonette has a long history of public service to the country.

As he steps aside from his post, we welcome that service that he has given – and will no doubt continue to give for his constituents in St Anne’s.

It is difficult in our country for successful businessmen to wear the hat of both private company boss and public servant as MP, and we thank him for seeking to serve at a time when he could easily have sat back and lived off the fruits of his business success.

At the same time, however, while we do not know the exact reasons for his departure, questions had certainly been raised about Mr Symonette – in one part

over his part ownership of the Town Centre Mall where the new post office had relocated, and also about his connections to Bahamas Hot Mix and any contracts it had been awarded or was vying for.

Again, that can be difficult in our country. The reason that Hot Mix gets so many contracts is in part because there are few companies in The Bahamas of the size and reputation to rival them.

His departure eases that perception – but also removes from the Cabinet a keen business mind that is an asset to the country.

His successor, Elsworth Johnson, will have big shoes to fill. We wish him luck.

No time to privatise EDITOR, The Tribune

JUST as residents of New Providence tuck into another muggy summer of intense load-shedding that (by official statement released in late winter) is not happening, the Guardian chooses this time to call for the selling off of the utility.

One sometimes wonders if those in charge do not share such ambitions, which are (in some minds) advanced by the failure of BPL right in the midst of one of the hottest summers on record.

My first sentiment on reading the Editorial headline “Time to Privatize” was “yes, of course, privatization is the cool, modern thing - this being 1979 and all….”, then I recalled that the headlong rush to sell off state assets and utilities actually proved to be the scam of the (last) century.

In Britain, profiteers have wrecked the rail system to the point that there is a national clamour for renationalization and the last remaining vestige of Anuerin Bevan’s welfare state, the NHS, is the single most cherished institution in the UK, Windsors included. Unlike us, British people have good television and international news (funded by the BBC license fee) and are therefore able to look at the dire, third world mess of the US’ private healthcare system and take a vigorous pass. Last

month, a flippant statement of the US Ambassador to the effect that a post-Brexit trade deal may require limited privatization of the NHS almost derailed the Brexit process completely.

Closer to home, one wonders whether the Guardian has objectively considered the history of BTC (once Batelco) since privatization. To put it mildly, the sale of this proud, old Bahamian asset at an undervalue has been no matter of pride to any thinking Bahamian.

It represented missedthe-boat thinking in two respects. Firstly, by 2011, most of the arguments for urgent privatization in the telecoms sector were already defunct, given the state of technology and proprietorship. And secondly, it was sold to a company bearing the ‘Cable and Wireless’ name, after the original Cable and Wireless had already been gutted of most of its valuable assets.

Huawei, the Chinese giant, had already bought many of the most valuable assets and transported the administration to China. But that did not stop our government from being dazzled by the name.

And therein lies our problem: we get dazzled by names and images, rather than facing obvious realities. And here is the most obvious reality of all: BPL’s failures are the predictable result of the confluence of

two factors – the successful economic development of New Providence and the failure to plan (and fund) for that development in advance.

The first of these factors is obvious, as ‘load shedding’ hardly if ever happens in the less developed islands.

In the last decade, Baha Mar has been built from the ground up, Atlantis has expanded and Albany has steadily grown. Meanwhile, the population increased by almost 50,000 between 2000 and 2010. Has there been a corresponding investment in generation capacity (in advance)?

Meanwhile, government feels compelled to pretend that the utility will either turn a profit or not be a “burden” on the taxpayers it is serving – a fiction that constrains our ability to fund upgrades in advance. Instead, they wait until things are at breaking point, then go looking for ‘radical’ solutions.

Capital investment in infrastructure has obviously been insufficient to deal with the growth of demand in New Providence. As in so many other areas, government needs to spend more. And for this, we have to stop fooling ourselves that we can make do without expanding revenues.

NO WAY JOSE Nassau June 30, 2019

Three ministers stood out in the budget debate EDITOR, The Tribune THE budget debate has now, mercifully, been concluded. The majority of the contributors, inclusive of several ministers, really had nothing of value to say and it is questionable whether or not so many members need to speak. The assorted cabinet ministers trumped their accomplishments over the last year, such as they were.

Three ministers stood out: the Hon Minister of Tourism & Aviation; the Hon Minister of Social Development & Urban Renewal and, of course, the Hon Minister for the Public Service & National Insurance Board.

The Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Attorney General seem to be under performing and have, in fact, botched a number of salient issues and public policy initiatives. The Most Hon Prime Minister may well need to conduct a cabinet shuffle mid-way into this term in office. Why? In the case of the Ministry of Finance we have an ongoing and long established inability or unwillingness to collect on hundreds of millions of dollars for outstanding real estate taxes.

This is beyond understanding. You own property on which a building exists.

That property attracts taxes as mandated by law. The collection of any outstanding arrears should not baffle anyone. All the Ministry of Finance needs do is get cabinet authorisation and place the collection of arrears in the hands of private but reputable outside agencies.

Where necessary, property could be forfeited and auctioned off to recover the arrears. In addition, a dedicated branch of the Magistrates Court should be set up for legal enforcement purposes.

It is a natural disgrace that the Ministry of Finance cannot seem to get it right when it comes down to actually collecting on the massive sums which some of the established web houses are reputed to ‘owe’ the government. How is this possible? The government has the legal authority to withhold a gaming licence if the particular operator plays crazy when it comes down to collecting what has been mandated by law.

This hand-wringing and shedding of fake tears is unacceptable.

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net The ease of doing business is still too cumbersome for tons of average Bahamians. What is needed, in my view, is a one stop shop operation where all of the relevant commercial arms of the administration are located in one complex and tied into each other via a dedicated computer system.

As it is right now, the right hand does not, necessarily, know what the left one is doing. Inland Revenue is way down on Carmichael Road. The Public Treasury is on East Street. The Registrar General’s Offices are on Shirley Street with no direct access to public parking. Incorporation of companies require one to have either a credit or a debit card. 75% of potential Bahamians and wannabe entrepreneurs have neither.

The Office of the Attorney General appears to be in shambles and the judicial officers in most cases, are not known to be ‘legal eagles’ as they appear to lose more cases as opposed to winning. The evidence that is often marshalled by counsel is disjointed and irrelevant. Too often, I am informed, promotions of Bahamian counsel is ‘over looked’ to bring in foreign born advocates under terms and conditions which are often publicly unknown.

As we approach 46 years of independence, it is a disgrace of epic proportions to witness our importation of foreign lawyers to prosecute Bahamians.

The Civil Division of the AG’s Office also seems to be ‘weak’ when it comes to civil litigation. There are cases in the system which have been ongoing for years if not decades in certain matters. A non profit or charitable organisation’s proposed incorporation has to be vetted by this office.

The procedure takes forever and a day. It is time for this office to be deployed outside of the cabinet. It makes no sense to have an AG sitting in cabinet, with all of the perks, and be giving ‘independent’ advice to the government of the day.

Several other ministries are led by political knuckleheads. At this juncture,

I will not name and shame any of them save and except for the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Agriculture. The Ministry of Transport & Local Government also needs to pull up its boot straps and low hanging pants.

This budget is a bits and pieces budget and does very little to advance the economic viability of the country. What Minnis and crew really should be doing, post haste, is to focus on the proposed Ports here in New Providence and Freeport; encourage and facilitate the sale and redevelopment of South Ocean; get the Eleuthera Disney Project out of the discussion stage and start pouring concrete into the ground; the urgent redevelopment of Potter’s & Arawak Cays is critical; old and abandoned governmental buildings here in New Providence either need to be demolished and new purpose designed buildings be constructed, the dilapidated Post Office; the Rodney Bain and Clarence A Bain buildings come readily to mind.

The former Phil’s Food Service Building on Gladstone Road is yet another asset in our Crown Jewels that successive administrations have allowed to languish while paying exorbitant rents to cronies and political hacks. Wastage of governmental funds and taxpayers monies have now reached unacceptable levels. This budget, which does nothing, in my view, to enhance budgetary and fiscal matters is one of smoke screens and mirrors. What has been presented is merely voodoo economics 2.0.

The Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) does its best to counteract the bogus proposals put forward by the administration but did not spell out, precisely, what it will do once it is returned to high office. It is a given that when one is in opposition that he/she might not be able to influence public policy initiatives, directly, but at the very least put forward credible and affordable alternatives.

One should not oppose merely for the political purpose of opposing. To God then, in all of these mundane things, be the glory.

ORTLAND BODIE Jr Nassau June 27, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, July 1, 2019, PAGE 5

HOSPITAL ON ALERT AFTER SHOOTINGS

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

POLICE at Montel Heights yesterday. Inset, blood at the scene.

Photos: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff from page one “This road (Ethel Street) is a quiet area. Everybody on this road is actually family. We work as a team…it’s not no troublemaker on this road. Now the area itself, it do have its ups and downs. But on this road, we don’t have that type of violence on this road.

“It’s just sad to know, why would you want to open up shots or open shoot in a group with lone females? Because mostly it was females and kids.

It wasn’t no big blast music.

One lil’ box playing music.

Women and children. I don’t know why they (would) do that.

“I pray God that everything work out well and they pull through,” Mr Oliver said. “And I praying for them. I would like for the public to pray for them, to pull them through.”

Police initially reported there were a total of 14 gunshot injuries, four males and ten females, with three victims in critical condition. The statement also said three other victims with non-gunshot injuries were admitted to Princess Margaret Hospital.

However, in a statement released yesterday evening, PHA said 15 gunshot victims were assessed at PMH. It noted six of the victims were discharged and one person remains in critical condition.

Mr Dames addressed the matter in an interview with The Tribune yesterday.

“It’s a very, very tragic and unfortunate incident. Certainly, given that it occurred while persons were at a function to celebrate and then you had this very unfortunate occurrence, it speaks to where we are in the country.

“Someone was shooting at a particular individual. And based on the information that

Ten women and four minors shot at party we have, that individual ran into the crowd. So I want us to be extremely careful that based on what police know at present, wasn’t that the intent was go there and shoot up everybody.

“But it shows too the cowardice of these persons who are engaged in these kinds of activities,” Mr Dames said.

Commissioner Ferguson echoed these remarks during a press conference held yesterday afternoon.

He said police received a report of the shooting shortly after midnight.

“Additional information is a male was walking towards the party, when he was confronted by two men who (began) shooting at him resulting in persons being shot,” Commissioner Ferguson said.

He confirmed the targeted person was indeed one of the people shot, adding he sustained an injury to his leg.

The commissioner declined to confirm whether the targeted person or perpetrators are known to police.

However, he noted police “are aware” of who they are looking for and added police are “following significant leads”.

The commissioner also insisted this incident is not connected to the recent homicides in the country - particularly Friday’s double homicide. One of the victims in that double shooting was a man previously wanted by police for murder.

“We don’t have any intelligence, absolutely no intelligence, that suggests that,” he said.

Despite these incidents of violence, the commissioner underscored the public should feel safe.

“Members of the general public, I wish to advise that you can move about in your normal daily business. This is not a situation where persons are going around shooting anybody.”

When asked if he thinks the public feels safe, Commissioner Ferguson replied: “I feel safe and I think you feel safe.”

He admonished people to “be very aware of the company that you keep.”

He also warned the public to be “very careful of the misinformation” being spread on social media.

Editorial View - Page 4

PRINCESS Margaret Hospital cancelled admissions and elective surgeries yesterday until further notice following a Montel Heights mass shooting, which compounded an ongoing overcrowding and boarding issue at the Accident and Emergency Department.

No one died in the incident, but 15 people were admitted to PMH with gunshot wounds, according to a Public Hospitals Authority press statement yesterday.

While one person remained in critical condition, six of the gunshot victims underwent surgery and are recovering in stable condition. Six of them were discharged and two left without being seen, against doctors’ advice.

Three others received medical care for non-gunshot injuries, Health Minister Dr Duane Sands told The Tribune.

“The Public Hospitals Authority wishes to confirm that a total of 15 gunshot victims were assessed in the Accident & Emergency Department, Princess Margaret Hospital on Sunday June 30, 2019 commencing at approximately 12.30am in relation to a reported incident in New Providence,” PHA said yesterday.

“Seven of the 15 persons assessed were admitted to hospital, six of whom were taken to theatre and received surgery.

Currently, six of the victims are in stable condition, and one person remains critical.

“Of the total number of persons who presented at hospital, six were discharged, and two left without being seen against medical advice.”

For his part, Dr Sands said while this was not the worst incident of this kind in Bahamian history, it was “very unfortunate” and spoke to other issues present in the country.

“Violence and trauma diverts the most precious and scarce resources from the care of other problems and other patients,” the health minister said in the aftermath of the shooting incident.

Police have said it happened shortly after midnight at Ethel Street.

“Whether we are talking about blood, whether we are talking about operating times, the Intensive Care Unit, space or staff, this issue of violence and trauma seriously impacts the delivery of healthcare to deal with other problems.”

He praised the response of medical staff saying they were “absolutely” able to manage the situation.

“The staff at Princess Margaret Hospital performed absolutely incredibly. They performed with skill. They performed with professionalism and they managed these victims in the emergency room in the operating room.

“So I think that when we look at what happened in Eleuthera on (last) Monday and when we look at what happened this morning I couldn’t be prouder of the entire medical team for how they have managed to deal with what could have been much worst outcomes.”

He was referring to a tour bus crash in Eleuthera that left about 26 passengers hurt last Monday.

PMH was also forced to appeal to members of the public to donate blood as the blood bank was in urgent need.

The blood bank operates from Monday to Friday at 8am to 4.30pm, Saturday at 9am to 3.30pm and is closed on Sundays.

THREE GUNNED DOWN AND KILLED WITHIN 14 HOURS

By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net

IN less than 14 hours, three people were killed in two separate shooting incidents in New Providence last week.

The first murder took place on Thursday shortly before 11pm off Soldier Road. One man was pronounced dead at the scene.

The second incident was a double homicide, which occurred shortly after 12.30pm on Friday in the Star Estates subdivision off Prince Charles Drive. Two men were shot dead in the front yard of the home of one of them.

Chief Superintendent Solomon Cash said the two victims were getting out of a vehicle outside the house when two people emerged in the yard and opened fire.

The Tribune understands one of the victims to be Ian “Irie” Porter, who was well known to police. Porter was wanted for questioning in connection with a murder investigation in 2016.

The investigations into both matters are continuing. CSP Cash added it is too early to say whether these incidents are connected.

“According to reports, shortly before 11pm, the

police were alerted to reports of gunshots in the area of Calvin and Linkford Streets off Soldier Road,” police reported of the first incident.

“Shortly thereafter, the lifeless body of an adult male was discovered lying on the ground at Linkford Street, with injuries. Paramedics were called to the scene and attempted to revive the man, however he was pronounced dead at the scene.”

Regarding the second incident, officers initially reported: “Police are presently on scene of a double homicide at Star Estate off Prince Charles Drive. Two adult males are confirmed dead.”

CSP Cash provided further details at the scene.

“Shortly after 12.30pm today’s date, police

THE SCENE at Star Estates last Friday. Left: Ian Porter. Main photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff responded to a gunshot report here at Star Subdivision off Prince Charles Drive,” he said.

“Once the officers got here, they met two bodies that were lying on the ground in a yard just to the rear of me. And those officers summoned EMS who came to the scene, examined both victims and pronounced them dead.

“We launched a comprehensive investigation

into this area, but the only information we are working with thus far is that shortly around that time I mentioned earlier, two persons emerged on a yard and they approached two victims who were exiting the vehicle just parked beyond me. They opened fire on both persons, subsequently shooting them.

They succumbed to their injuries.

However, a person in the

area told The Tribune it is believed that the two men were waiting for Ian Porter to return home. When the car pulled into Porter’s driveway, before the driver could get out of the vehicle he was shot dead.

Porter made a dash for it only to be confronted by a second man with a gun who came from around the house and shot him. He fell face down on his front lawn.

He too was dead.

“We are appealing to members of the public who live in this area, who may have been walking in the area during the time of the incident, to contact the police with any information they get at 911/919, or the Central Detective Unit at 502-9991/2,” he said.

TCSP Cash said the motive behind the double homicide was unknown.

He approximated both victims to be in their 40s, and noted Porter is known to police.

When asked if the victims were related, CSP Cash replied: “We don’t know that, we can say from our information that we suspect they were riding in the same vehicle.”

He added it is too early to confirm whether Shotspotter technology was used.

He also appealed to any citizens whose private surveillance cameras may have picked up “anything concerning this incident” to please contact police.

Regarding whether the two matters are related, CSP Cash said on Friday: “It is too early for us to say that, we haven’t established that during the course of the investigation last night, nor have we established that during the course of this investigation today.”

PAGE 6, Monday, July 1, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Symonette resigns from page one Symonette has tendered his resignation as minister of financial services, trade and industry and immigration, with effect from July 1, 2019.

“Elsworth Johnson will assume portfolio responsibility for the Ministry of Financial Services, Trade and Industry and Immigration with effect from July 1, 2019.”

This was followed by a statement from Dr Minnis who thanked Mr Symonette for his service over many years.

Dr Minnis noted: “While he will no longer serve in Cabinet, his constituents in St Anne’s will continue to have an MP who cares about them. I wish Mr Symonette all the best in his future endeavours.”

Dr Minnis said he was confident that Mr Johnson will serve the country well in his new capacity.

When faced with questions about Bahamas Hot Mix getting government contracts in 2009, Mr Symonette explained that his children’s trust may have a small investment in the company, but he did not. At the time, Mr Symonette, who was a Cabinet minister in the Ingraham administration, said he played absolutely no part in any of the competitive processes or negotiations of contracts related to BHM. In response to the news, Progressive Liberal Party Leader Philip “Brave” Davis said this will do nothing to resolve the perceived conflicts of interests in the government, adding the resignation decision was long overdue.

“The PLP welcomes the resignation of Brent Symonette from the government,” Mr Davis said yesterday. “It is long overdue. He is emblematic of conflict of interest and selfdealing in the government.

There are others who need to follow him.

“Unfortunately for him and Prime Minister Minnis, the conflicts will not be resolved by simply stepping away from the government, he will remain in the House and will continue to be an influence on the body politic. Further, there must be a complete and thorough investigation and report of all that Mr Symonette has accumulated since his latest foray into the government

BRENTT Symonette has tendered his resignation as minister of financial services, trade and industry and immigration. and whether he can account to the Bahamian people on the issue of self-dealing.”

He continued: “We call on the country not to be distracted by this resignation because the light now shines fully on the prime minister who led a government full of self-dealing and conflicts of interest.”

The situation has also dredged up memories of Mr Symonette’s 2001

resignation as chairman of the Airport Authority during the second Free National Movement administration.

Then-Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham asked Mr Symonette to resign from the post after it was revealed the latter had awarded BHM a contract to carry out paving operations at the Lynden Pindling International Airport

without approval from the board of directors.

According to previous reports, Mr Symonette later explained that he had done so because the matter was urgent and not enough board members were on the island to form a quorum at the time.

When the board did meet again, it approved Mr Symonette’s decision, the Nassau Guardian

Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

previously reported.

Opposition allegations of conflicts of interest were renewed in June when BHM beat five other companies for the rehabilitation work to Runway 09/27 and Taxiway India at LPIA. The Nassau Airport Development Company stated the capital project was valued at just under $20m.

According to NAD, the

MINNIS HEADS TO ST LUCIA FOR CARICOM CONFERENCE PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis will travel to Gros Islet, Saint Lucia today for the 40th Regular Meeting of the Conference of the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

Dr Minnis will lead a delegation of senior government officials to the three-day meeting, including Minister of Foreign Affairs Darren Henfield; Minister of Tourism Dionisio

D’Aguilar and high commissioner of the Bahamas to CARICOM, Reuben Rahming.

Dr Minnis will also be accompanied by his wife, Patricia Minnis.

Discussion items on the meeting’s agenda include security, the situation in Venezuela, blacklisting and the CARICOM single market and economy.

Caribbean leaders are also

scheduled to discuss matters related to regional tourism and finance.

Dr Minnis will meet with Erna Solberg, prime minister of Norway, to discuss matters of mutual interest to both countries.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance K Peter Turnquest will act as prime minister Dr Minnis’ absence. Dr Minnis returns to the country on Saturday July 6.

request for tenders (RFT) for asphalt paving services was initiated in April and was sent to four international and two Bahamian firms.

The contract’s award angered many as it marked the second time since the Minnis administration took office that an entity with ties to the MP was receiving a substantial contract.

The government is now renting Town Centre Mall at a cost of around $900,000 per year to house the General Post Office. The building is partly owned by Mr Symonette.

The government is renting 75,000 square feet of space in the mall at a cost of $12 per square foot, which worked out to be around $4.5m over the five-year life span of the lease.

Editorial View - Page 4

DAVIS DISMISSES ARAWAK PLAN AS ‘KNEE-JERK’ REACTION

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

PROGRESSIVE Liberal Party leader Philip “Brave” Davis has said Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis’ plan to redevelop Junkanoo Beach and Arawak Cay was a “knee jerk” response because his administration

realised its 2019/2020 Budget fell flat.

Mr Davis said this was evident as there is no allocation anywhere in the budget to facilitate the plan.

Dr Minnis’ announcement of an overhaul for the strip was the highlight of his budget contribution, despite failing to provide a projected cost to taxpayers

or a timeline of completion. “I think that was a knee jerk response to the fact that there were no plans that were quite visible coming from the budget,” Mr Davis told reporters on Friday following the swearing-in of Governor General C A Smith. “You recall that despite his announcements of those plans there was no

allocation made for it. You would have heard before the minister of tourism speaking to the redevelopment of Junkanoo Beach.

So what has happened to the minister of tourism’s plans with that?

“But overall what I can say to you is that from the approval of the acquisition of The Pointe, part of

the development plan of The Pointe was to include a redevelopment of Junkanoo Beach right to the Fish Fry to make it more cultural and more authentic and to ensure that we could have a place that people could truly enjoy.

So there were plans in place with The Pointe for the redevelopment.

“So now it seems we have three plans – one by (Tourism Minister Dionisio) D’Aguilar, one by the prime minister and one that was left in place by us.

“Now which one they’re going to go with, I don’t know, but what I can say is that it is nothing but promises that finds itself nowhere in this budget and for him to announce at this time you would expect it to be reflected in the budget and it’s not.”

In June, Dr Minnis said Arawak Cay and Junkanoo Beach are set to receive

PLP leader Philip Davis. an extensive overhaul while revealing the plan is to feature a sky bridge and tax-free zoning as an incentive for Bahamian businesses.

Following the redevelopment, the strip will be known as the Nassau Entertainment District.

Pertinent details of time and cost were not available as the plans are in the infancy stage, The Tribune was told. The Killarney MP also suggested only Bahamian businesses would be allowed to operate in this zone.

POLICE HUNT ARMED ROBBERS

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

GRAND Bahama police are investigating an armed robbery that occurred at a business place in Freeport.

According to reports, shortly before 4pm a man walked into a business on Yellow Pine Street, armed with a handgun and demanded money

from the cashier and a customer. After robbing them, the suspect fled on a bicycle.

Assistant Superintendent of Police Terecita Pinder said police are actively investigating the matter.

She is appealing to anyone with information to call the Central Detective Unit at 350-3107 through 12, 911, 919, or call the nearest police station.

MONDAY, JULY 1, 2019

THE STORIES BEHIND THE NEWS

By Dialynn Dwyer at Boston.com

T

HERE is black ink just above Stefanie Schaffer’s left elbow that slants in graceful script to form one word — “miracle”.

It’s a term the 23-year-old has heard often in the last year.

From her hospital bed in Florida, she listened to the attending physicians tell their residents outside her door: “The girl in this room is a miracle.”

“It took me a long time to sort of realise that it actually was,” Schaffer said from a different hospital bed, almost a year after a tour boat explosion in The Bahamas changed her life.

“And I really don’t understand how I survived. When I hear about how bad I was and how bad the circumstances were, it honestly just doesn’t make sense to me how I survived.”

Schaffer, along with her younger sister, mother, and stepfather, were on their way to see the swimming pigs of the Exuma Cays on June 30, 2018. Shortly after departure, the boat, which was carrying two crew members and ten American passengers including the family from Rutland, Vermont, exploded.

One of the passengers, Maleka Jackson of Atlanta, Georgia, who was on a trip celebrating her 15th wedding anniversary with her husband, died from her injuries. Her husband, Tiran, was severely injured and had to have his left foot amputated.

Stacey Bender, Schaffer’s mother, was thrown from the boat and suffered a collapsed lung and fractures to her leg, wrist and ribs.

Schaffer, who was found under wreckage from the explosion, was medevacked first to a hospital in Nassau and later airlifted to Florida. Both her lower legs had to be amputated, and she suffered a burst fracture in her back and other broken bones.

She spent more than a week in a medicallyinduced coma and experienced kidney failure.

At first, Schaffer said she couldn’t remember anything when she woke up.

“I didn’t even remember that we had been there,” she said. “Now I remember getting onto the boat that day and getting there early that morning. And I remember the trip starting, but then I don’t remember hearing anything or seeing anything really happen.”

What she does remember are the feelings she was having — thinking she was dying.

“I’ll get panicky sometimes, and I’m like, ‘Why am I panicking?’ Because I can’t even remember,” Schaffer said. “I think actually that not knowing for me has actually been worse — because it has such a significant impact on my life that I want to know… it just feels wrong to not know what happened to make my life change like this.”

She still constantly asks for details of the explosion.

From her mom and from her stepfather. From the family friends who were with them and helped find a

WHEN I hear about how bad I was and how bad the circumstances were, it honestly just doesn’t make sense to me how I survived, says Stefanie

After a year and a day Stefanie’s fight to survive Abaco explosion goes on pickup truck to rush her to the hospital.

“I really do almost have this like need to know the details,” Schaffer said.

“And they’re not afraid to tell me what they saw. And I think a lot of people who might have been in their position might have been scared to tell me, scared to hurt me more. But it makes me feel better when they tell me, and I can just appreciate how much they helped me.”

Her 14-year-old sister, Brooke, tried to keep her calm and still during the 45-minute race across the island’s small roads.

“She remembers everything,” Bender said of her younger daughter. “So from that standpoint, of the trauma and the flashbacks, it’s the hardest probably on her.”

Schaffer said she believes her sister’s efforts that day saved her life, or at the very least kept her from becoming paralysed. With a burst fracture in her back, loose pieces of bone were in her spinal cord, and Brooke wouldn’t let her sit up in the truck.

“If she had let me, I probably would have gotten it worse,” Schaffer said. “I don’t even know what the outcome would have been — but I don’t think it would have been great.”

When she was informed of the extent of her injuries — that her legs had been amputated below the knees — while in the hospital in Florida, Schaffer said it didn’t really sink in or make sense to her.

It didn’t feel real.

“It took seeing videos of the explosion to understand that I had been on that,” she said.

something that hadn’t been as challenging in a hospital setting.

“I think for the first week or two I would just lay in bed and cry every day,” Schaffer said. “Then once again, you’re sort of thrown into a hard situation and you have to make it work.

It’s not comfortable and it’s hard, but all of sudden it just becomes comfortable again.”

Overall, her recovery had been going well, she said.

The 24-year-old has thrown herself into physical therapy, working with a woman who has become like a big sister to her. She’d worked up to using crutches, instead of using a walker or her wheelchair.

A group of local car dealerships gave her a car, modified so she could drive it. She’d started doing adaptive sports, using a hand-cranked bicycle, which helped keep her spirits up. Schaffer was a dancer until she was 15 and had played soccer all through high school.

“I was getting a lot more independent — I was driving on my own,” Schaffer said. “Everything had been going really great.”

Except for her right knee, which she said had “locked up” due to the trauma she’d undergone. It made it difficult for her to climb stairs or to sit down, and her doctors recently decided it was permanent.

Last month, she underwent an aboveknee amputation at Massachusetts General Hospital. She’ll be able to jump back into physical therapy, she said, to keep moving, but will have to wait eight weeks to get

It wasn’t until she and her family arrived in Boston, where she underwent care at Spaulding, that her new reality — and what she had gone through — began to sink in.

Schaffer said she was in a “bad place” for a while.

“I felt so broken, I couldn’t move at all from laying in a coma and laying in bed for so long,” she said.

“I had lost even the muscles to be able to sit up on my own. So I couldn’t understand — it didn’t even feel worth it at the time. I know it sounds terrible to say. But I was, in a way, angry that I was stuck in this body that I didn’t want.”

Mandatory sessions with psychiatrists and social workers are what helped her to move forward.

“When I said the words out loud — that I was angry that people hadn’t just left me — when I heard myself say that, I was like, ‘Oh my God, what are you saying?

You’re alive,’” Schaffer said.

That moment was when everything switched.

After that, instead of watching funny shows and not being able to laugh, she was the one making jokes and bonding with her nurses.

“All of a sudden, I was just OK,” Schaffer said.

Five months to the day after the explosion, Schaffer returned home to Vermont, which presented its own reminders of how her life had changed.

The last time she had been home, she had been running up and down the stairs, not knowing that anything bad was about to happen to her, she recalled.

In those early days, she would fall, trying to do

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Amazing courage of Exuma boat blast victim

I don’t want to stay like this... I gotta keep trying

By NINA KECK Vermont Public Radio

FOR 22-year-old American dancer turned double amputee Stefanie Schaffer, the trauma stemming from last summer’s deadly Exuma tour boat explosion has not subsided.

In an interview with Vermont Public Radio (VPR), the Rutland, Vermont native said she was still working daily to reclaim her life after only being given a 50 percent chance of survival.

“I just remember, like, sheer panic,” she told VPR. “And I couldn’t tell you what was going on at the time. That’s just … wake up, and I remember, like, something terrible happened.”

On June 30, 2018, a 40-foot chartered tour boat was travelling in waters just off Barraterre, Exuma with 10 passengers and two crew members on board when an engine exploded causing the vessel to catch fire.

The incident killed Tennessee native Maleka Johnson and injured several others, including Ms Schaffer and her mother, Stacey Bender.

The two women were airlifted to Nassau where doctors, working to save Ms Schaffer’s life amputated both her lower legs.

She was later flown to a hospital in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where she was placed

STEFANIE Schaffer works hard every day to recover from last summer’s deadly boat explosion.

NEW ROLES FAIL TO LABOUR DAY DRIVER HALT JOBLESS RISE - EIGHT NEW CHARGES

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

THE country’s unemployment rate has increased since November 2018 despite the addition of just over 2,300 jobs to the labour force.

Eight months ago, the rate was 10 percent, but as of November 2018, 10.7 percent of people continue to be unemployed.

This increase was further compounded by the fact that unemployment in New Providence also climbed from 10.1 percent to 11 percent. However,

despite these grim prospects, Finance Minister K Peter Turnquest attempted to shift focus from the growth of unemployment to the 10,400 net jobs added to the economy as of November 2018 since the Minnis administration took office in 2017.

“Preliminary results from the most recent Labour Force Survey shows 2,305 net new jobs were added to the Bahamian economy between May and November 2018,” the minister said in a press statement. “While these gains are noteworthy, the rate of job growth is still SEE PAGE SIX

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

A VOLUNTARY bill of indictment was served on Travis Lamar Sawyer yesterday, the driver of the truck which mowed into a crowd during last year’s Labour Day parade, with some eight counts of causing harm by negligence being added to his list of charges.

That raises the number of charges against him to 12, which includes four counts of manslaughter by negligence stemming from the June 1, 2018 incident

that killed four women and injured 24 people. The 23-year-old Silver Gates resident will appear before Justice Bernard Turner on February 15 for his formal arraignment.

Last September, Sawyer was charged before Acting Deputy Chief Magistrate Subusola Swain with negligently causing the deaths of 41-year-old Tabitha Haye, 48-year-old Tami Patrice Gibson, 51-yearold Kathleen Fernander and 55-year-old Dianna Gray-Ferguson.

Shortly after 10am on June 1, those taking part in SEE PAGE SEVEN

STEFANIE’S journey of recovery and how The Tribune reported on her story in January (above).

SEE PAGE NINE

NYGARD GIVEN FINAL COURT DEADLINE

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

PETER Nygard has been given one last chance to appear in court to be sentenced for breaching a judge’s order prohibiting him from engaging in any illegal dredging near his Lyford Cay home on two separate occasions.

Justice Cheryl GrantThompson ordered Nygard

MISSING: Peter Nygard.

Monday to be punished for dredging the sea bed

March and April 2015, and again in October of 2016, despite a June 2013 injunction prohibiting him from doing so.

Otherwise, Justice GrantThompson said she would rule on attorney Fred Smith’s application to have Nygard show cause why he should not be committed to prison for failing to show up for his own sentencing hearings last week and again yesterday.

FACE-TO-FACE NURSE OPHELIA - A LEGACY TO BE PROUD OF

SEE PAGE EIGHT

fitted for her new prosthetic leg with a microprocessor knee.

As the anniversary of the explosion approached, Schaffer said she was focused on walking again without the aid of crutches.

“Most of the time I’m so sure and I’ve convinced myself that I’m going to walk again,” Schaffer said.

“But there’s always that little voice of doubt that creeps in at the worst of times.”

When that happens, she heads to physical therapy.

When she’s moving, she said she feels strong. That’s one of the motivators for getting more involved in adaptive sports.

“It sounds funny, but I miss being competitive,” Schaffer said. “With sports, I loved it. I loved being competitive, and I always wanted to play for the best team and win the game, score a goal. You feel sort of useless when you can’t be. And I watch my little sister play all these sports, and I’m like — I miss it more than anything.”

The owner of the tour company, Four C’s Adventures, and the captain of the boat, are both facing charges of manslaughter by negligence and nine counts of causing harm by negligence in The Bahamas.

From her hospital bed at Mass. General, Schaffer said she wants to see some acknowledgement that something wrong was done.

“That’s all I really want,” she said. “I just want someone to stand up and say, ‘We’re sorry’.”

The ongoing support from the community surrounding them in Vermont, and the doctors and nurses and hospital staff that became like family, remain the “bright spots” in the last year, Bender said.

“People are what get you through,” she said.

That includes the people who come up to Schaffer when the family is out in public and tell her they know her story, that they’re inspired by her.

The 24-year-old said that having her experience be widely known helped her when she went home — she didn’t have to explain what had happened. And it means a lot to her to hear from people that they find her inspiring — though she says all she’s been doing is “survive and recover”.

“When I have a bad day, I can sort of remember when everybody has told me that,” Schaffer said. “And the times that I do just want to crawl into bed and pull the covers up and not get out, I just think of all the people that have said things to me like that. And I’m like, no you got to get up, you’ve got to keep doing this because people believe in you.”

Schaffer will soon be graduating from Castleton University, where she has been studying public health.

Next, she said she wants to get a master’s degree, most likely in social work, so that she can become a counsellor for people who have experienced trauma.

She doesn’t think she would have been able to recover physically if she hadn’t recovered emotionally with the help of social workers and psychiatrists.

“Now that I’ve gotten to a better place, I feel like there has to be a reason that this all happened and I think since I’m able to handle it well, maybe it happened to me for a reason,” Schaffer said. “To handle it well and to show other people how to handle it well. And just be OK with living this new life. It really is a miracle that I’m alive.”

Already, her advice for people who have suffered trauma is to “focus on the good.” Nothing is comfortable the first time you try it, she said, but the harder you work in recovery the better you’ll feel mentally. And soon, it will become more comfortable and more normal.

If there’s one thing she wants people to learn from her experience, it’s that you should be grateful for every moment.

“I wasn’t doing anything dangerous or risky,” she said. “I lived a very normal and safe life. I walked onto a boat and sat in the wrong seat. And my life turned completely upside down in ways I never would have expected and I could have died. And my family members could have died. And it really shows how important it is to be kind to other people and to tell people you love and appreciate them and show respect for people who have cared for you. And just be a good person. Because you don’t know what could happen to you.”

PAGE 8 MONDAY, JULY 1, 2019

INSIGHT

EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

BY CHARLIE HARPER

H

UGH Hewitt was regaling a private New York audience late last week after the first two Democratic debates of the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Hewitt, a 63-yearold pundit and Harvard graduate who is resolutely conservative, has emerged in recent years as an acceptable right-wing voice on left-leaning or centrist American media such as CNN, MSNBC and the Washington Post. Now he was trying to put into perspective the first night of Democratic debates.

“I want to recall for you the seminal moment of the last presidential campaign,” Hewitt said. It was early August 2015 in Cleveland.

“The very first question posed by the moderator in that debate,” Hewitt said, “was the pivotal moment that night, and we’re still feeling its effects,” he said.

That first questions to the candidates on stage in a then-fractious Republican field was “Who will not pledge to support the eventual Republican candidate in 2016? Who will not rule out an independent run for president if they are not the Republican nominee?”

Donald Trump was the only one who raised his hand, tentatively at first, then more confidently as he realised no one else had responded as he had. He followed with a shrug and then a fatuous remark or two. You can see it all on YouTube.

Hewitt, recalling this moment, noted it was then the 2016 race became all about Trump. “Politics became entertainment at that moment. It became about what Trump would do.”

Four years later, that still basically defines American national politics.

Twenty of the Democrats vying to oppose Trump next year took to the stage in Miami last week on NBC, MSNBC and Telemundo in the first of ten scheduled debates over the next 31 weeks. The line-ups for the two debates were determined by lottery.

Each was trying to find a magic moment that would propel them ahead of the competition.

Here are some observations: Biden.

Anxious for headline moments from the debates, the national news media pounced on the former vice president’s uneasy exchange with California senator Kamala Harris on school busing. African-American Harris went after Biden’s civil rights record, which is lengthy and mixed. She was clearly seeking a magic moment and Biden looked unsettled and retreated a bit under her attack.

Thoughtful pundits reminded viewers in the following days that Barack Obama also did poorly in his first debate back in 2007, but recovered to serve two terms as president.

That may offer comfort for Biden, who is clearly evoking his eight years as Obama’s wingman as a centrepiece of his campaign so far. But Biden looked old on TV. That’s partly because he is old. He is 76.

He appears to have lost some weight, and his eyes sometimes have a startled look. He should do some remediation on both his appearance and defending his record, but as long as black voters believe he has the best chance to beat Trump, he’ll likely remain the front runner.

Harris. The former California attorney general has been in the Senate for 18 months now, as Obama had been in 2007 prior to running for president. His success then makes her audacity in running now much less consequential.

She seemed the best prepared of all 20 candidates and also channeled her passion effectively on several issues. She looked effective and adult in criticising the verbal “food fight” around her at one point when the discussion became heated.

She gets high marks for preparation and delivery.

Sanders. Haven’t we all seen this before, when he ran four years ago? Sanders is now 77-years-old, still hammering relentlessly,

DEMOCRATIC presidential candidates last Thursday: From the left, Marianne Williamson, John Hickenlooper, Andrew Yang, Pete Buttigieg, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand, Michael Bennet and Eric Swalwell.

Everyone in search of a magic moment but they came up short

KAMALA Harris gets high marks for preparation and delivery. angrily and with a mildly grating Brooklyn accent on issues he doesn’t pretend are not socialistic. He seems to want to get our attention with his verbal fusillades, then worry later - after Inauguration Day - about details like paying for his proposals. He may still be a formidable force when Democratic primary elections begin to appear on the calendar early next year, but it’s increasingly difficult to picture this ageing heckler as a viable presidential candidate, particularly against a formidable foe.

And Trump is a very formidable foe.

Booker. One of three candidates to show off their Spanish language skills during the debates, this young, photogenic New Jersey senator repeatedly emphasised where he lives – apparently in a transitional Newark neighbuorhood.

That’s admirable, and probably courageous, considering he doubtless has many more secure alternative residential choices.

A star football player at Stanford, Rhodes Scholar at Oxford and holder of a Yale law degree, Booker ran for Newark mayor against black machine politician Sharpe James, lost, and returned four years later to win against a James protegee. He was sworn in as a US senator over five years ago. His career is worth a read online.

Booker was a prominent first-day participant. He appeared to get the most time on camera. Not uniformly sure-footed in such a setting, he still did well.

One good soundbite: “We have tried to arrest our way out of (opioid and other drug) addiction.”

Warren. This is a woman on a mission. An obvious idealist who is clearly outraged by the structural inequalities in the world’s richest nation, the Massachusetts senator, 70, did not surprise or disappoint in the debate. Her default setting is intensity. She used the corruption word more than anyone else, and in her trademark nearschoolteacher mode, she castigated Trump and his cronies repeatedly. But it’s

much bigger than that for Warren.

Forceful but compassionate, appearing vaguely small and pinched but outspokenly courageous, personal and patriotic, Elizabeth Warren will be reckoned with long after next year’s election, either from the White House or as a Senate stalwart in the manner of predecessor Ted Kennedy.

Klobuchar. This practical Minnesotan often seems bemused by the process in which she is participating.

She looks and speaks like a pragmatist. She came out swinging against Trump, and spoke strongly about student debt and free community college. She is clearly looking to appeal to younger voters, saying at one point that “17-year-olds like the Parkland (Florida) student activists will lead our way.”

To some observers, Klobuchar is unintentionally auditioning for vice president. She looked and acted the part, as she remained calm, humorous and under control as verbal fistfights erupted around her.

Gillibrand. Perhaps most of all participants, New York’s junior senator visibly searched for her passion in the beginning stages of Day Two. Not an especially active early participant, she found her voice on women’s issues and health care. On the latter issue particularly, she ultimately held her own in a passionate exchange with several others.

Appearing to speak directly to America’s women, she was fiercest in defending women’s rights, from pay issues to abortion rights.

“Women are on fire,” she said.

Beto.

Like Booker, former Texas congressman O’Rourke spoke Spanish at several points in his remarks. Tall and lanky, he seemed at times uncomfortable with his height and posture. He was vague on policy specifics at times, and occasionally a bit disjointed in his delivery.

Strong on immigration and border issues, he was still not impressive overall. He will have to overcome the

impression that his peak moment occurred three years ago when he came much closer than expected to ousting Ted Cruz from the US senate.

Mayor Pete. South Bend, Indiana mayor Buttigieg is a media darling. Initially dismissed by Trump, this openly gay politician talked comfortably about his male spouse and, indeed, about everything else except one thing. A white police officer shot and killed a black man in South Bend recently, and it is a measure of Mayor Pete’s rapid ascent that one of his debate competitors thought enough of his prominence to score points by attacking him on this issue. Buttigieg was initially wrong-footed, but seemed to recover.

Otherwise, he was the Klobuchar of Day Two: Calm, reasonable and thoughtful, he was undeniably impressive. He seemed most of all practical rather than ideological. Even on the police shooting, he eventually took the blame for whatever systemic flaws in his city’s policing that were indicated by the tragic incident.

Castro. This former San Antonio mayor was the third candidate to rely on Spanish in some of his answers, and he did not miss his marks in appealing to a Latino constituency that figures to be influential in primaries and next year’s general election. In the early stages of Day One, his eyes appeared hooded, and this distracted from the general seriousness and sincerity of his message. He cleared this up later in the debate.

G

AINING passion and force as the debate moved on, Castro was regarded by some observers as the big winner of this first day. He was effective on what he called “reproductive justice” for women.

He scored points when he scorned the “criminalisation of desperation” of immigrants at the U.S. southern border. He duked it out with O’Rourke on immigration. He garnered applause on guns. It was later reported he earned the most Google searches on the first day.

In no particular order, those discussed above seemed to constitute the top ten of the 20 candidates who earned the right to appear on the stage for the first two debates of 2019.

What about the rest? All made an impression, and some really surprised with their impact.

Gabbard. This poised, businesslike Hawaii congresswoman touted her military service throughout

her debate, and why not?

Like Mayor Pete, she has actually experienced war first hand, and she made sure the audience knew it. She smartly focused on national security issues, though her evasion of most other issues did not go unnoticed. Still, she scored some military-related points on both guns and gay rights. She played a mediocre hand pretty skilfully.

Delaney. A former Maryland congressman, he highlighted his business experience and projected a reasoned approach to the issues introduced by the debate moderators. He tried several times to interject in discussions by others, with mixed results. “Keep what’s working, reform what isn’t,” he offered at one point. Calm and mature, his staying power is worth watching.

Williamson.

Situated at the left end of the ten debaters on Day Two, this best-selling author had to work hard to insert herself in this heavyweight tussle involving many of the front-runners. She attacked Trump, presented her lack of political credentials as a distinct advantage, and offered trenchant, cogent comments. It isn’t clear how far she can carry her campaign.

Inslee. The Washington governor, who from the beginning of his campaign has put climate change at the centre of his message, frankly disappointed. After several impressive appearances on talk shows and newspaper interviews, he looked a bit wooden on stage and despite touting impressive accomplishments as chief executive of a progressive state, he failed to make a commensurate impression on Day One. He was almost too civil for the debate context.

Hickenlooper. A former governor of Colorado with a lot to brag about, he said at the outset of Day Two that “I’ve actually done what the others on this stage are just talking about.” He was able to back this up with impressive examples, but his manner was bland and he was unable to project the kind of energy viewers may have been looking for.

If the Democrats manage to win the White House next year, Hickenlooper is a perfect candidate for several cabinet posts.

De Blasio. As mayor of New York City, he has more executive responsibility than many governors and he projected a forceful air of confidence and achievements. In a lowerprofile Day One field, he was strong, bold, progressive and tall. Looking straight into the TV cameras, he unflinchingly told of his biracial son and his

father, a military veteran who committed suicide.

For De Blasio especially, though, there really was no magic moment. Considering his platform, he left too little of an impression on viewers.

Swalwell. This fresh-faced 38-year-old East (San Francisco) Bay congressman shocked Democratic icon Pete Stark in a 2012 primary and has been noticed in the House of Representatives since that upset election. He went after both Biden and Mayor Pete on Day Two, demanding Biden pass the torch to a younger political generation, and that Mayor Pete fire his police chief after the shooting of the black man in South Bend.

The others visibly bristled at this brash interloper, but he stuck to his guns. He left the impression he will be heard from in this campaign or a future one.

Bennet. One of Colorado’s incumbent senators, this civilised man had to work too hard to make an impression on the Day Two stage. He said mostly the right things, but his fellow debaters projected too much energy, and left him behind to some degree. He also suffered by appearing on the same stage as former governor Hickenlooper, who was able to take credit for a lot of Colorado’s progress. Poised and articulate, Bennet looked to make a splash but had to settle for a ripple.

Ryan. Representing in Congress a blighted rust belt district in eastern Ohio since 2003, Ryan should be the workingman’s candidate, strongly pro-union and strongly advocating against the plutocrats presently controlling politics in Washington. He didn’t register as much as he could have done, and took a solid shot from Gabbard when he misspoke about the Taliban. He made several clear points, but left no lasting impression.

Yang. A venture capitalist and entrepreneur with an enviable record of smart philanthropy, Yang suffered more than anyone by drawing the Day Two star-studded cast of debate competitors. He did offer some sensible advice for his party: “We need to solve the problems that got Trump elected.” With few if any magic moments, he received little notice.

In the wake of last week’s debates, Trump travelled to Japan for a G-20 summit and was photographed chuckling with Russian President Vladimir Putin about fake news, foreign interference in American elections and the nuisance value of an independent free press. Then it was on to the Korean DMZ and Kim Jong Un.

EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

INSIGHT

MONDAY, JULY 1, 2019 PAGE 9

by Malcolm Strachan

I

MAGES of the families of Blair John and Alrae Ramsey as the British Airways flight carrying their remains landed on the runway at Lynden Pindling International Airport were absolutely heartbreaking.

For their parents - who are undoubtedly still in disbelief over the untimely ends of two lives full of such promise - the nation mourns with them. One can only imagine the sheer horror of having to bury your child. Worse, not even being afforded the solace of knowing what actually happened to them.

From the initial break of the story, Italian authorities have seemingly tried to wrap up this investigation with little public relations blowback – so that people do not think that Italy is a dangerous place for foreigners. This tragedy has been painted as an accident – two students out drinking and having too good a time, slipping and falling into the Po River, leading to their demise. Oddly enough, instances of accidental deaths by drowning in the Po River are few and far between. Additionally, the conflicting reports about their bags being found in a dumpster, and then later discovered in a locked room in the bed and breakfast where the two stayed would typically be evidence of foul play. Nonetheless, the Italian police have reported otherwise, and despite having not released the toxicology reports, they are calling this tragedy an accident – stating the cause of death of both John and Ramsey was drowning.

It seems inconceivable – with Blair John described as being “fit” and “a strong swimmer” by his mother, and Ramsey also being described by family members as an experienced swimmer – that they should drown after slipping and falling while walking alongside a river. Coupled with the mysterious misplacement of their bags and the lack of a reason as to why that may have occurred, many questions are being left unanswered. The Italian police reports sound more like a clean-up job than good investigative police work.

Thus, it has been disheartening to hear the prime minister place such strong faith in the Italian authorities, who by all indication, seem to have been committed to damage control and protecting the country’s international reputation from the onset of this investigation. While we know a country of our size and power can only do so much through diplomatic channels, it still was not comforting to hear the prime minister state his satisfaction with the Italians’ investigation into the deaths of these two Bahamian men, particularly with who the men were.

Notwithstanding the fact that each life should be valued, but in a time when the narrative about Bahamian young men is such a poor one, you would think

We should be demanding answers, not watching these men’s deaths swept under a rug

THE FAMILIES of Blair John and Alrae Ramsey were at Lynden Pindling International Airport last Thursday when the bodies of the two men were returned home.

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff that we would treasure men who were trailblazing in their own right, as they have gone too soon.

Blair John, a PhD candidate, whose mother is convinced was well on his way to make an indelible imprint on the world, was snatched away full of potential. In interviews with local media, she discussed his passion for studying the human mind and his belief that if we were able to focus on changing the mindsets of our brothers and sisters, we can cure much of our other societal ills. And Ramsey, a young man truly representing his country in the international arena as a diplomat furthering his studies – his future was also extremely bright.

What better way to memorialise these young men than to show them how much value their lives were worth by fighting for answers more substantial than what feels like dirt being swept under a rug.

While the ministry of foreign affairs may have, in fact, done all it could to assist in keeping the families abreast with developments since this horrific ordeal began, is it truly enough? For families to

lose their loved ones and not be given any kind of closure is truly unfortunate.

Hopefully, behind closed doors, the government is advising these families of how they should proceed.

Attorney General Carl Bethel stated in the Senate the government will not stand in the way of the family if they wanted to pursue other options, as they should not.

However, what are those options at this point?

The Bahamian government, which does not have jurisdiction to investigate a crime that occurs in a foreign country, obviously will not play an integral role going forward. Still, for the families of John and Ramsey, there are some avenues that can be explored.

In 2016, an American teenager who had just completed his first year of university suffered an all too familiar fate. Ironically enough, Beau Solomon drowned in the Tiber River after he was reportedly robbed and assaulted mere hours after arriving in Rome. A trip that began with a young man – like John and Ramsey - with his whole life in front him

setting out to broaden his horizons ended way too soon. Even more unsettling, during the few years prior to Solomon’s death, there

were four other American students murdered in a similarly suspicious fashion – first being attacked and robbed with their bodies then being thrown into the Tiber.

Solomon was walking along the Tiber when he was attacked. Authorities reported two head wounds which likely knocked him unconscious before his body was thrown into the river where he drowned.

The similarities connecting these different tragedies are chilling. Likewise, they also offer what may be some potential scenarios that the families can explore.

All of them were international students out partying before their disappearances. This is likely why Italian officials are unbending in their position that the deaths of the two young Bahamian men were accidents.

In 2017, Solomon’s parents filed a civil lawsuit against the university for what they deemed to be negligence and recklessness, having not informed their son about the area and the incidents in the years prior. Earlier this year, they settled with the university for an undisclosed sum of money, which no matter how generous will not replace their son’s life.

Likewise, as the families of Blair John and Alrae Ramsey still struggle to cope with their losses, they face a similar circumstance.

It’s true - nothing will be able to bring back these two young men. However, rejecting the assertion this was a case of “two drunken students”, and pushing further, maybe the world can be alerted to what is occurring in Italy. Maybe someone else’s child can be protected from these apparent hate crimes.

It is tragic to see such beacons of light snuffed out, particularly with bright, ambitious Bahamian men becoming a dying breed. Certainly, it is now a time for the families to grieve. But hopefully, they will soon, if they have not already, begin exploring legal options.

These families deserve far more.

PAGE 10 MONDAY, JULY 1, 2019

I

F WE want to stop violence, we need to understand what causes it in the first place. Young men who carry out acts of serious violence are often experiencing deep-rooted problems. The majority of youths in custody are themselves victims of abuse. Some experience suffering and violence at home; the struggle many of these children have experienced so early in their short lives is a key factor in their violent criminal behaviour.

Kids start developing their sense of self as babies, when they see themselves through their parent’s eyes. Your tone of voice, your body language and your every expression are absorbed by your children.

Your words and actions as a parent affect their selfesteem more than anything else.

Parents - how involved are you in your children’s lives? How well do you think you know them? Do you attend regular parent’s teacher’s association (PTA) meetings? Or better yet do you know the names of your children teachers?

How about their friends and their friends’ parents?

Do you know what your children are doing after school?

We have been hooked onto our phones, or social media or somewhere else while we should have been paying attention to our children. Parenting is a skill which must be practised diligently, it is one of the most challenging jobs in the world to raise a problem free child who is a proper balance of morals, values and discipline. Each child is different and so is the parent. The idea of rearing a child differs from parent to parent.

Are you too carefree as a parent, giving your children the power to decide everything? In such cases, kids become their own masters, going to bed late, getting up late, doing absolutely everything at their will.

Owing to hectic lifestyles and both parents working, no one does the work of disciplining the kids as life is already chaotic. If this is how your children live their lives, this is what they will do when they visit their

INSIGHT

EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

We have to make time to be involved in our children’s lives

aunt or cousin. They simply would not know how to behave appropriately. Discipline is the only way your kids grow up knowing right and wrong. Parents need to do some real hard work to raise children who know how to behave properly.

There will be times when

kids will test the parents by breaking rules, hence parents need to establish and clearly communicate the consequences of breaking those rules.

Prents - are you giving your children any of your time? Guilty of being glued to your phone screen when

your child is demanding you play with him/ her?

Got an official call and cannot listen to your child telling you about his/her day? Stop! Your children do not just need food or money from you, they want to speak to you, share their experiences and sometimes need to hear your comforting words. Communication is the only thing that will strengthen your bond, not expensive gifts. The deal should be to be the parents your children want to hug and spend time with, not the ones who are like ATM machines. Kids may inadvertently perform odd behaviour to attract parent’s attentions. At the end of the day, the most overwhelming key to a child’s success is the positive involvement of parents Put your children on a schedule. Kids are more likely to pick up negative activities or fall into the wrong crowd when they are not on a schedule. After school programmes such as subject lessons are a great option to ensure your child has an advantage in class. Other options such as sporting teams, music and band participation are also great options. I know as parents you get so busy trying to provide the best for your little darlings that you just do not view these things as important, but an involved parent is a more

informed parent and it lessens your children’s chances to succumbing to peer pressure, experimenting with drugs, becoming teen mothers and getting - involved with gang activity. Children who are properly cared for become more competent and independent adults.

Speak life into your children - labelling them as lazy or dumb and using these words in public can significantly hurt a child and lower his/her self-esteem.

Likewise, if you criticise your child’s efforts or look down upon him/her by comparing with others achievements, then your child may develop feelings of jealousy and resentment Do not fulfil every wish that your children has.

Every parent wants the best for their children, and some can practically afford almost everything a child desires. Do you reach out to your pocket the moment your child sets his/her eyes on a new toy or a new dress?

Hold on! Buying everything your child lay their finger on is again a sign of bad parenting. Such kids fail to understand the value of money. They will demand anything from you anytime expecting you to present it to them, whatever your circumstances. Even after they grow up, such kids end up hopelessly on financial fronts and are unable to level responsibilities.

Sometimes, this need may provoke them to steal, lie or become rude. We must set good examples and be a positive role model in our children lives. Be the person we want our kids to be.

Parents - let’s raise good productive children. · Do not turn a blind eye when your child is doing wrong · Do not start disciplining your children at the adolescent stage. At this stage, their mind-set is already develop and is open to peer pressure · Start discipline at the toddler stage · Have structure in your child’s life · Know their whereabouts at all times · Do not leave your children uncared for to be at risked. Get involved with every aspect of their lives · Give your children a strong foundation of discipline and godliness · Boost their self-esteem · Set limits and be consistent with your discipline · Make communication a priority · Tell your children that you love them and show that your love is unconditional · Teach them that manners, respect for themselves and others will take them through the world · Be more aware, attentive and alert.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, July 1, 2019, PAGE 11

Shark attack doesn’t stop tourists going into the sea TOURISTS enjoying their time on the beach over the weekend Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net “IT won’t stop me from going in the water,” Donna McHugh, a visitor from Massachusetts, said of Wednesday’s fatal shark attack.

Ms McHugh, a mother of two, was among visitors The Tribune interviewed on Friday while canvassing Cabbage Beach, following an advisory from the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources that warned the public to “exercise extreme caution” while “in and around” the waters of New Providence, Rose Island, and Paradise Island.

Like Ms McHugh, the tourists regretted Wednesday’s tragedy, which claimed the life of 21-yearold Jordan Lindsey, a woman from California who was killed by sharks while snorkelling with her family near Rose Island.

However, the guests underscored their belief that the tragedy was an accident and overwhelmingly told The Tribune it will not stop them from enjoying the beach. If anything, a number of them reported the incident increased their sense of awareness and encouraged them to become more educated.

Ms McHugh said she has been visiting The Bahamas three times a year for over a decade. “I always thought The Bahamas is pretty safe,” she said. “I’m not concerned about going in the water here (at Cabbage Beach), but I have snorkelled in the water at Rose Island.”

Ms McHugh added that she was informed that it is currently mating season for sharks. “I didn’t know it was mating season so maybe that’s why (the accident occurred). It won’t stop me from going in the water but it will stop me from snorkelling this time of year and stop the kids,” she said. “It causes me to be more educated, do more research.”

Fred, a visitor from Virginia, said he was on a snorkelling expedition to Rose Island on Wednesday – one hour before the tragedy occurred. “Everything seemed fine, no safety concerns. It was a nice time,” Fred said of his tour experience.

Fred said he saw no sharks, but added other tour boats were feeding bread to the fish. When asked if the attack gave him any concerns about snorkelling in The Bahamas, he replied: “It scares me a little bit. If people are feeding the fish, I’m not going out there. But otherwise I’d still go out there.”

However, he said he had “no concerns” about being in the water on Friday. He added there have been shark attacks in the water in Virginia, where he lives.

Lauren Whitt, of Colorado, said she snorkelled

in the Rose Island area last week. “We’ve been coming here for the past 22 years and still believe The Bahamas is one of the most beautiful places to visit. We will continue to come,” she said.

Alex and Daniella, visitors from New Jersey, said they went in the water on Friday with “no issue”.

Describing the attack as still “concerning”, one of them added: “It’s good to be aware of what’s going on.”

Hartman Rolle, manager of Stuart’s Cove Dive Bahamas, also spoke to The Tribune in a recent interview, describing the fatal attack as “an unfortunate and tragic situation for the whole Bahamas”.

“Almost everywhere you go around Nassau, there’s a possibility of sharks being in the area,” he said. “The thing is, if they want you to see them, you’ll see them.

They tend to be very shy.”

Mr Rolle added the company does have a protocol for if a shark gets too close during an excursion.

“We’ll abort the trip/ move to another location,” he said.

“I just think that people need to be vigilant,” he continued. “If you see something, be very careful. I mean, people swim with them,” he said, noting sharks play a “big part of the economy” as tourist attractions.

“If you’re not an expert and don’t know the signs, take the best precautions or stop the activity.”

When asked if something should be done to better police the industry, Mr Rolle replied: “(In terms of) policing it, there should be court people who are making sure people (operators)…are following protocols”.

Meanwhile “a beautiful, gentle soul” is how Lindsey’s family described the young woman who was tragically killed.

“Jordan was 21 and such a great daughter and person. We already miss her terribly,” Lindsey’s father, Michael Lindsey, told ABC News.

“Myself, my two boys, and Jordan’s girlfriend, Gianna, were on another part of the island, just swimming on the beach side,” he said. “My wife, Kami, and Jordan went snorkelling on another part of island. My wife was near Jordan, a few feet away, when the shark attacked.

“She said it happened so fast, and no one yelled anything. My wife got to Jordan and pulled Jordan to shore by herself. The medical staff said they still had to do an autopsy. My wife said no one told her there were three sharks.”

Lindsey’s right arm was torn off and her left arm, both legs, and buttocks were bitten, according to the ABC article.

Following the tragedy, the Ministry of Agriculture

and Marine Resources issued a public advisory.

“The public is advised to exercise extreme caution in and around the waters of New Providence, adjacent islands and cays, in particular the areas of northern shoreline of New Providence, the northeastern shoreline of Paradise Island, Rose Island and along the Montagu foreshore,” the statement reads.

“The public is further advised to avoid the cleaning or discarding of fish waste in the water as this practice attracts sharks into areas often utilised for swimming by the public and our guests. Further, if a shark is seen in the swimming area, persons are advised to leave the water and in no circumstance molest or play with the animal.

“Also, if injured and bleeding while in the water, it is recommended that you leave the water as sharks are attracted to blood.

“The public is encouraged to report all sightings to the Public Authority.”

Despite the anxiety some may feel about last week’s incident, experts say shark attacks are rare.

PAGE 12, Monday, July 1, 2019

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net A CROWN prosecutor on Friday claimed a man attacked him and ordered another man to stab him earlier this year because of his role in having another one of the man’s friends convicted of a crime.

Joel Seymour said Daltino Thurston fought him at the K-Souse restaurant on January 5 because he was the lead prosecutor in Javon Alexander Rolle’s criminal trial in the Supreme Court less than a month earlier.

However, the attorney for the accused men painted Mr Seymour as the aggressor in the incident, saying surveillance footage showed him pursuing Thurston and taking a swing at him.

According to Mr Seymour, Thurston was Rolle’s alibi witness during the trial in December, and was also good friends with Rolle, who was at the time engaged to one of Thurston’s cousins.

And that fight, Mr Seymour claimed, came after he heard Thurston point him out to the other men with him and tell them that he was responsible for having Rolle convicted, and that he should thus “deal with him”.

Mr Seymour also said Thurston made other threatening remarks to him, such as “it’s killing season” and that “police and prosecutors could get it too”.

He also said Thurston made sure to show the other guys what kind of vehicle he was driving.

However, Mr Seymour claimed that because he won that initial fight thanks to his training from being a former maximum security prison officer, Thurston had to call his “bigger, little brother”, 27-year-old George Rahming, to come to his aid.

Mr Seymour claimed Rahming did this by striking him on his head with some sort of metal object during a second argument with Thurston, which resulted in injuries.

The evidence was given during trial before Magistrate Kara Turnquest-Deveaux concerning allegations Thurston and Rahming attacked and

THE TRIBUNE

Prosecutor claims he was attacked for his role in convicting man’s friend in different case injured Mr Seymour on January 5.

The pair also face obstruction of justice charges.

Rahming is accused of injuring Mr Seymour because Seymour was the court official who was the prosecutor in a criminal matter, while Thurston is accused of attempting to intimidate, and commit violence against Mr Seymour for the same reason.

Both men have denied the charges.

Taking the witness stand on Friday, Mr Seymour said that around 10.30pm on January 5, he went to the K-Souse restaurant on Baillou Hill Road to get some food. K-Souse, he said, is owned by his cousin.

He said he ordered some food, and while waiting for it, he ordered drinks.

He said he waited for the food at the front of the establishment.

Mr Seymour said he eventually got the first drink - a beer - and drank it. Afterwards, he said he proceeded to his truck to retrieve his tumbler cup. Mr Seymour said his truck was parked on Palmetto Street.

He said while walking to his truck, he passed Thurston and another man, who were both standing some ten feet away from his truck. Mr Seymour said he just minded his business, hoping Thurston wouldn’t recognise him.

Mr Seymour said he eventually made it to his truck without saying a word to Thurston. However, he said, while he was getting the tumbler, he heard

Thurston say to the other male “ya boy there is a prosecutor, he’s the one who send Javon to jail”.

Mr Seymour also indicated that Thurston told the other man to stab him.

Mr Seymour said he was taken aback when he heard those remarks.

Mr Seymour said when he looked up, both Thurston and the other man had already started to approach him, with Thurston in the lead. He said when Thurston reached him, both of them grabbed each other by the collar almost simultaneously.

Mr Seymour said both of them subsequently exchanged blows. While doing so, Mr Seymour said Thurston told him: “You joking, you jail my boy!”

Mr Seymour said he replied by saying: “Your boy pull gun and rob women and children. I just doing my job.”

My Seymour said a group of patrons came out of the establishment after hearing all the commotion and ended up separating them.

He said he was sent back to the front of the establishment, where he was initially waiting for his food.

Mr Seymour said once back at the front, people started inquiring about the scuffle. He said he told them how Thurston was a defence witness in a case he had just prosecuted. At that time, Rolle had already been convicted by the jury, but Justice Renea McKay had adjourned the matter for sentencing, Mr Seymour said. But Mr Seymour said

during Rolle’s testimony, as well as that of Thurston’s, it was discovered that not only were the two friends, but Rolle was engaged to Thurston’s cousin.

Mr Seymour said he ultimately decided to leave the establishment. While walking to his truck, Thurston was standing in the road with a group, some ten feet away. And at that time, Mr Seymour said Thurston was telling the other guys “Yeah bey, ya boy is a prosecutor. He must be ain’t know where he is, aye? It’s killing season.”

He also said Thurston said “police and prosecutors could get it too”.

Mr Seymour said as a Crown attorney, he is accustomed to receiving threats on a regular basis. However, he said the breaking point was when he said Thurston started pointing out his truck to the other men.

Mr Seymour said Thurston essentially marking his truck made him afraid but also upset, as he reasoned that what the accused did had the potential to put his life in “extreme danger”.

Mr Seymour said he consequently proceeded to approach Thurston, to get him to stop what he was doing. He said before he could get the words out of his mouth, he felt a sudden blow to the left side of his head.

He said as he stumbled backwards, he looked up and realised it was Rahming, donned in a beanie, who had hit him.

Mr Seymour said he started bleeding. As he turned to leave, he said he heard Thurston say, “Shoot him, shoot him!”

He said these words prompted him to run.

He said unknown persons later brought his truck to him and put him inside, while someone held some sort of compress to his head. He said he was subsequently taken to Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH).

Mr Seymour said when he got there, he did not feel safe, as he is aware of situations where persons follow injured people to PMH to “finish off what they started”. Thus, he said, he requested to go to Doctors Hospital, where he was treated and given medication.

While there, Mr Seymour

said he was interviewed by police officers about the incident, and gave a statement.

Days later on January 8, he said he was contacted by officers at the Central Detective Unit (CDU), who asked him to attend the University Drive office to conduct an identification parade. He said he immediately recognised Rahming as the one who hit him in the head. He also said he was shown a rogues gallery, from which he was able to identify Thurston almost immediately.

During cross-examination, however, Ramona Farquharson-Seymour, attorney for the accused men, accused Mr Seymour of being the “aggressor” in the situation, something that was the end result of a mixture of him being drunk and being someone who acts “poorly” when in social settings.

Mrs FarquharsonSeymour brought Mr Seymour’s attention to the existence of a video of the incident, that was captured by the surveillance cameras on a house on Palmetto Street belonging to her client’s mother, Lavita Thurston.

In that video, Mrs Farquharson-Seymour said Mr Seymour is seen “pursuing” Thurston and “swinging” at him. However, she said Thurston takes a step back, and as Mr Seymour is going in to hit him, Rahming intervenes by hitting Mr Seymour once in the head. All the while, Mrs Farquharson-Seymour said the video shows Ms Thurston trying to calm Mr Seymour down; however, Mr Seymour said he did not remember Ms Thurston being on the scene.

Mrs Farquharson-Seymour also asserted that Mr Seymour’s friends or cousins were also trying to hold him back from going after Thurston because he was “so out of control”. Mr Seymour denied her assertions.

Nonetheless, Mrs Farquharson-Seymour asserted that Mr Seymour’s claims are merely his attempts to avoid having to account for him behaving “like a beast in the road” as evidenced by the video tape. Mrs Farquharson-Seymour further asserted that had it not been for that video, Mr Seymour would have continued with

the “lies” against Thurston.

Mrs Farquharson-Seymour also noted that in the statement Mr Seymour gave to police on January 6 while in the hospital, he only referred to one physical altercation involving Thurston.

Over a month later on February 8, however, she said he gave a second “typed statement” to CDU officers in which the contents are “altered” to include mention of a second fight and/or physical altercation with Thurston.

And the reason for that second statement, Mrs Farquharson-Seymour asserted, was because the video not only captured him “in a rage”, but went viral on social media, causing observers to “condemn” and speak negatively about his behaviour.

Mr Seymour argued that with him having been struck in the head, and due to him being under the influence of medication, he could not have given a “perfect and precise statement”, even though he said he tried to as best as he could in the circumstances.

Thus, he said, the purpose of the second statement was to essentially fill in the gaps of what he might have missed in giving the first statement.

However, Mrs Farquharson-Seymour pointed out that he still had the “clarity of mind” to recall specific details like him prosecuting Rolle’s criminal trial in the second week of December 2018.

Mrs FarquharsonSeymour noted that Mr Seymour also had the clarity of mind to tell police that later in December around the Christmas holidays, subsequent to Rolle’s conviction, he visited K-Souse and noticed Thurston in the area, but the accused didn’t say anything to him at the time.

In any event, Mrs Farquharson-Seymour told Mr Seymour that if he were so afraid for his life as he said he was, he should have left the area and gone to the nearest police station, as opposed to approaching Thurston and trying to “throw him down”.

“Had you left, you would not be seen on tape pursuing him and throwing a blow,” she said.

The case continues on July 19.

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THE TRIBUNE

A PASSENGER on the tourist bus that crashed at Rock Sound, Eleuthera, last week has spoken of how he helped survivors in the immediate minutes after the crash.

American Nick Dale is a nursing student at Jacksonville University. He said he and his buddy, Chase Hollingsworth, jumped into action to help passengers.

“It was quite a chaotic and kind of a scary event,” said Dale.

When the ship arrived at Eleuthera Dale and his friend signed up for a day-long cave excursion which involved taking a tour bus.

“It was literally just kind of a spontaneous summer trip,” Dale said. “I was looking out the window one second, next thing I know, a tree branch is hitting the bus, and we’re spinning sideways,” Dale said.

“There were a lot of people who were injured, and the first thing you think about is, ‘Am I OK? Are the people I’m with OK?’ And then I immediately started to react and look for other people, (to) see if they were all OK.” Nursing students, both men, starting triaging people and getting them away from the bus.

“There were lots of lacerations, so lots of blood. There’s a couple people that were pinned inside the bus,” Dale said.

Dale said an 18-year-old college

Monday, July 1, 2019, PAGE 13

student was stuck under the bus. “Since he was trapped, he was pinned, they really had to worry about if they moved the bus or if they moved him, if he would have any internal injuries that would suddenly cause him to become very critical,” Dale said. “I did my best to try to stay with him, mainly because when you’re trapped in a situation like that, I just kept thinking what I would have wanted someone to do for me.”

Dale did get an update that the young man is out of surgery, awake and alert.

The two worked alone for about 20 minutes before being joined by nurses headed to work and paramedics.

Injuries for four people were so severe, that they were flown to the US for treatment.

A total of 28 others were treated at local hospitals.

No other vehicles were involved in the crash, which remains under investigation.

Dale said he was just doing what anyone would do. “When you’re in a situation like that, it shows the best of humanity,” Dale said. “I think that the people that responded, responded as best as they could.”

Carnival has suspended all operations by the tour operator and they’re helping affected guests and their families.

How passenger helped bus crash victims

PAGE 14, Monday, July 1, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

UN CHIEF WARNS PARIS CLIMATE GOALS STILL NOT ENOUGH ABU DHABI Associated Press

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres took his global message urging immediate climate action to officials gathered in the United Arab Emirates yesterday, where production of hydrocarbons remains a key driver of the economy. He is calling on governments to stop building new coal plants by 2020, cut greenhouse emissions by 45% over the next decade and overhauling fossil fuel-driven economies with new technologies like solar and wind. The world, he said, “is facing a grave climate emergency.”

In remarks at a summit in Abu Dhabi, he painted a grim picture of how rapidly climate change is advancing, saying it is outpacing efforts to address it.

He lauded the Paris climate accord, but said even if its promises are fully met, the world still faces what he described as a catastrophic three-degree temperature rise by the end of the century.

Arctic permafrost is melting decades earlier than even worst-case scenarios, he said, threatening to unlock vast amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas. “It is plain to me

that we have no time to lose,” Guterres said. “Sadly, it is not yet plain to all the decision makers that run our world.”

He spoke at the opulent Emirates Palace, where Abu Dhabi was hosting a preparatory meeting for the UN Climate Action Summit in September. Guterres was expected to later take a helicopter ride to view Abu Dhabi’s Noor solar power plant.

When asked, UN representatives said the lavish Abu Dhabi summit and his planned helicopter ride would be carbon neutral, meaning their effects would be balanced by efforts like planting

trees and sequestering emissions.

The UN says carbon dioxide emissions account for around 80% of global warming.

Guterres was in Abu Dhabi fresh off meetings with The Group of 20 leaders in Osaka, Japan.

There, he appealed directly to heads of state of the world’s main emitters to step up their efforts.

The countries of the G20 represent 80% of world emissions of greenhouse gases, he said.

At the G20 meeting, 19 countries expressed their commitment to the Paris agreement, with the only the United States dissenting.

In 2017, President Donald

Trump pledged to withdraw the US from the Paris climate agreement as soon as 2020, arguing it disadvantages American workers and taxpayers. Trump has also moved steadily to dismantle Obama administration efforts to rein in coal, oil and gas emissions.

The secretary-general’s special envoy for the climate summit, Ambassador Luis Alfonso de Alba, said it was disappointing that the US has pulled out from the accord. However, he said there are many examples of efforts at the local and state level in the United States to combat climate change.

Let’s do it: Trump and Kim at DMZ PRESIDENT Donald Trump walks to the North Korean side of the border with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone yesterday.

PANMUNJOM, Korea Associated Press “OK, let’s do it.”

With those words, a deliberate step and a pat on the arm of Kim Jong Un, President Donald Trump became the first sitting American leader to step into North Korea yesterday as the two made history at the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone. The made-for-television moment was unthinkable just two years ago, when the men were trading base insults and grim threats.

Trump’s three-hour stop at the DMZ — of which about 80 minutes were spent with Kim — was a display of handshake-diplomacy for the history books, but also a chaotic spectacle reflective of the last-minute nature of the invitation to the authoritarian leader to join him at the border between the Koreas.

Afterward, it was unclear whether the meeting was more

show than substance. Other than the headline-grabbing moment and the unprecedented images, Trump’s only accomplishment appeared to be securing an agreement to restart nuclear talks that he himself had walked out on in February during his last summit with Kim in Vietnam.

Trump had long planned a visit to the DMZ, dating to 2017 when a scheduled trip was canceled by fog, but aides said the public invitation for Kim to join him there was as spontaneous as it seemed. In typical Trump fashion, it started with a tweet. “I would meet him at the Border/DMZ just to shake his hand and say Hello(?)!” Trump posted about 30 hours before the visit.

The secrecy that had surrounded the ill-fated attempted visit two years ago was replaced by a media frenzy stoked by the president himself.

Trump said North Korea quickly

responded and expressed interest in the invitation. US and North Korean officials spent much of Saturday evening trying to surmount the immense logistical and security hurdles on such a tight timetable.

Even Kim seemed unable to contain his surprise when the meeting occurred. “I never expected to meet you at this place,” he told Trump as they shook hands across the concrete slab marking the Military Demarcation Line between North and South.

It was Trump who first broached the notion of walking into North Korea. “Would you like me to step across?” he asked Kim as an interpreter translated his words to Korean. “Would you like me to?”

Kim waved Trump over, replying through an interpreter of his own: “If your excellency would step forward, you will be the first US president to cross the border.”

As Trump took his first steps,

the former reality television star quickly moved to stage-manage the show of his own creation.

“Come on,” he said to Kim, tapping his elbow, as they walked side by side 10 paces into the North.

After a moment, they turned to face the press waiting in the South.

Trump escorted Kim back to the South as a scuffle broke out between reporters and North Korean security guards, with officials shoving and trying to block the press from capturing the moment.

The jostling intensified as the leaders moved to the Freedom House on the southern side of Panmunjom, where they made brief remarks to reporters and then met for roughly 50 minutes. At one point, incoming White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham side-checked a North Korean guard who was blocking reporters from the room while others security officials tried to cordon off the area with yellow rope.

KYLIE IN TEARS AS SHE LOOKS BACK AT HER CANCER FIGHT SINGER Kylie Minogue put on a powerful performance as she took to the stage during Glastonbury yesterday. During her 75-minute set, the 51-yearold became overwhelmed with emotion as she discussed cancelling her scheduled gig back in 2005 following her breast cancer diagnosis.

She told the crowd: ‘In 2005 I was meant to be here. Circumstances meant that I did not make it. I wished things were different, but life is what it is. We are all together in this moment’. Gesturing to the crowd, songstress Kylie expressed how her performance was one of the moments where she ‘realised not only this story but our story. Thirty plus years together’.

The singer added that 14 years ago, when she missed the festival, she instead watched the music event at home. She explained: ‘Some of the artists covered some of my songs and that is the spirit and gracious nature of Glastonbury.’

Kylie then invited Coldplay star Chris Martin to join her on stage where they performed her hit Can’t Get You Out Of My Head. Later into her set she sang with fellow Australian Nick Cave for a duet of their 1995 track Where The Wild Roses Grow.

KYLIE in action

THREE MILLION PEOPLE FLOOD MANHATTAN TO CELEBRATE 50 YEARS OF LGBTQ PRIDE NEW YORK Associated Press

Three million people crammed the streets of Manhattan yesterday for the WorldPride Gay Pride parade marking the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. The global Gay Pride celebration commemorates the June 28, 1969 riots sparked by police raids on the Stonewall Inn, a well-known refuge for the gay community in New York’s Greenwich Village.

People gathered outside the bar where patrons resisted the raid. Thousands also turned out for a larger parade that packed Fifth Avenue, where rainbows were on display across everything from flags to T-shirts.

Eraina Clay, 63, of suburban New Rochelle, came to celebrate the anniversary.

“I think that we should be able to say we’ve been here for so long, and so many people are gay that everybody should be able to have the chance to enjoy their lives and be who they are,” Clay said. “I have a family.

I raised kids. I’m just like everybody else.”

Alyssa Christianson, 29, of New York City, was topless, wearing just sparkly pasties and boy shorts underwear. A Pride flag was

THE LBGTQ Pride march yesterday in New York. tied around her neck like a cape. “I’ve been to the Pride parade before, but this is the first year I kind of wanted to dress up and get into it,” she said.

Christianson said she is concerned that the movement could suffer setbacks during the Trump administration, which has moved to revoke newly won health care protections for transgender people, restrict their presence in the military and withdraw federal guidance that trans students should be able to use bathrooms of their choice.

“I’m definitely a little scared of how things are going, just the anger and

violence that comes out of it and just the tone of conversation about it. We’ve come so far, especially in the last few decades, that I don’t want to see that repressed in any way.”

In May, Trump tweeted about Pride Month and praised the “outstanding contributions” of LGBT people. But his administration has also aligned with some religious conservatives in arguing that nondiscrimination protections for those same people can infringe on the religious beliefs of others who oppose same-sex marriage and transgender rights.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, July 1, 2019, PAGE 15

Jet rolls into hanger

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net A DECOMMISSIONED Western Air plane collided with an overhang during routine mechanical checks in Nassau early on Friday morning, according to an airline official.

Sherrexcia Rolle, VP of operations and general counsel at Western Air Ltd, told The Tribune there were no passengers or crew on board the aircraft, and no personnel on the ground were hurt during the incident.

Photographs posted on social media of the aircraft showed it appeared to have collided with an overhang structure. The front wheel of the aircraft collapsed causing the nose to make contact with the ground.

When contacted on Friday, Ms Rolle reported that sometime around 6.30am, mechanics in Nassau were performing routine run-up engine tests on a decommissioned SAAB 340A aircraft.

“It (the aircraft) was out of passenger services; it was not an aircraft that was scheduled to do any flights, and as they were doing checks the aircraft jumped over its parking chock that is used on the tyres and proceeded forward and made contact with a concrete area, which caused it to tilt forward,” she said.

“It is really important to note that there were

no passengers or crew on board. I saw some of the comments (on social media) about pilots - there were no pilots involved and no personnel was harmed, and the aircraft was not in flight service. It was decommissioned and completely out of passenger service.”

Ms Rolle said the airline is continuing to investigate.

“Obviously, this is incredibly rare and does not happen often so we are grateful that no one was harmed, and that it was on an aircraft that was not being utilised,” she said.

She added that Western Air is continuing to offer flights as usual, including additional jet flights for the upcoming North Andros Regatta in early July.

“We always increase frequency of flights based on volume, and we anticipate doing that in the early part of July as people continue to travel,” she said. “We try to keep up on what is going on each island.”

The airline also provides some newer routes, including Exuma, Cat Island, and Abaco, from Nassau. She said the routes are doing well.

“We have some additional flights that we will be adding to Exuma. And our Nassau to Freeport 701 morning flight, we will be moving earlier, instead of 7am, to 6.30am to accommodate people who want to have a longer stay to Freeport,” she said.

MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER AND ATTEMPTED MURDER FROM TWO YEARS AGO

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

POLICE have charged Tico Omar “Pitbull” Lightbourne with murdering a man and attempting to kill another at an inner-city bar over two years ago.

The McCartney Lane resident was arraigned before Senior Magistrate Carolyn Vogt-Evans on Friday for the March 25, 2017, murder and attempted murder of John Hutchinson and Jason Satchell respectively.

According to reports at the time, shortly after 1.30am on March 25, Hutchinson and Satchell were at a club on Quintine Alley and Wulff Road when they were shot.

The two men were taken to hospital where Hutchinson later died.

Hutchinson, 32, was reportedly killed just two days before his birthday.

Police subsequently put out an all-points bulletin (APB) for Lightbourne’s capture. Reports at the time were that he had left the island.

In August 2017, thenAssistant Commissioner of Police Clayton Fernander revealed that Lightbourne was found in Haiti by law enforcement officials.

On Friday, Lightbourne was not required to enter a plea to the charges and the case was adjourned to September 26 for service of a voluntary bill of indictment.

Bail was denied and he was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services in the interim. He has the right to apply to the Supreme Court for bail.