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VOLUME:116 No.130, JULY 2ND, 2019

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WOMAN: FRESH FACED IS THIS SUMMER’S STYLE

They came to kill Families relive terror of Montel Heights outrage

By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net RESIDENTS of Ethel Street say they have been left “traumatised”, “frightened” and “angry” following Sunday’s horrifying mass shooting at a birthday party that left more than ten people suffering gunshot injuries.

The tight-knit community was rocked by the incident, with relatives noting seven of the gunshot victims were relatives. Chief Superintendent Solomon Cash yesterday told The Tribune police are following “some leads”, however up to press time Superintendent Shanta Knowles said no suspects were in custody.

According to police, 14 people were shot and three injured during the tragic

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

ST ANNE’S MP Brent Symonette said yesterday his decision to step down as a substantive Cabinet minister had “absolutely” nothing to do with recent controversy over a contract awarded to a company tied to his family. Instead, the former financial services, trade and industry and immigration minister said the move was up for discussion between him and Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis for the past six months.

The situation has been shrouded in speculation as it came just two weeks after it was revealed that Bahamas Hot Mix, a company with ties to his family, was awarded a contract to upgrade runways at Lynden Pindling International Airport.

SEE PAGE SIX

incident. However, the Public Hospitals Authority has reported 15 gunshot victims were assisted at Princess Margaret Hospital.

According to police, ten of the victims were female and four were minors — the youngest of which is just ten years old. Up press time, there were no fatalities and, according to Health Minister Dr Duane Sands, seven people remain in hospital in stable condition.

Margaret Oliver, the grandmother of the youngest victim, told The Tribune yesterday the incident made her feel “frightened”.

Standing outside her home, where the party was held, Ms Oliver said she was inside preparing to bring food out to the festivities when the shots began.

WARNING AFTER MAN SUFFERS 16 BEE STINGS

SEE PAGE THREE

‘VIOLENCE BROUGHT ON

BY YEARS OF NEGLECT’

By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net

IN the wake of a weekend marred by serious gun violence, National Security Minister Marvin Dames has condemned the “growing prevalence of assault rifles” possessed by “young, misguided, and immature young men”.

However, Mr Dames insisted crime “numbers continue to trend downwards” - though he stressed this issue will not disappear “overnight” as officials are fighting “decades of neglect”.

His comments came as Englerston MP Glenys Hanna Martin criticised politicians for boasting about statistics, noting these figures “have no relevance and appear self-indulgent” when violence continues to plague the nation.

Meanwhile Democratic National Alliance chairman Omar Smith lamented the “shockwaves of fear” the nation is experiencing, while calling on the government and general public alike to “pull our country together around commonsense solutions”.

SEE PAGE THREE

BRENT: MY DECISION TO LEAVE CABINET

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

IT ALL ADDS UP FACE-TO-FACE: Felicity Darville talks to Jamielle Davis, a Fox Hill girl to the bone.

Interview - Page 8 Photo: courtesy of focus on tuesdays

RECENT “aggressive” bee attacks occurring in Freeport and East Grand Bahama have prompted the Bahamas National Trust to issue an alert to the public.

BNT officials believe that Africanised bees are responsible for these attacks, and that persons should report any aggressive encounters to the local office in Freeport.

Elsworth Weir, BNT Grand Bahama national park manager, reported a team from BNT was SEE PAGE FIVE

SHARK FEEDING BLAMED FOR ATTACKS

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

AN American man survived a shark bite in Abaco last week just days before an American woman was killed, raising further concerns about possible chum dumping in Bahamian waters.

Jonathan Hernandez, the victim, told NBC reporters he blames shark feeding for his attack. “They’re associating

VICTIM: Jonathan Hernandez humans with getting food, and it’s making it very dangerous to be in the water,

whether you’re spearing or you just happen to be snorkeling near where they’re feeding them,” he said.

Mr Hernandez said he is a professional boat captain, fisherman and an experienced diver who was spearfishing with friends off Abaco when he was attacked.

“I got hit so hard from behind I thought the boat had run me over,” he said.

“I immediately looked to

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

SEE PAGE TWO

WAR HERO WHO FOUGHT FOR COUNTRY - AND LOVE

SEE PAGE TEN

PAGE 2, Tuesday, July 2, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

DRUG TRIAL DELAYED AS ACCUSED RECOVERS FROM SHOOTING

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

A WOMAN’S trial over allegations she tried to smuggle drugs to an inmate has been adjourned by another three months after revelations she is still incapacitated from being shot earlier this year.

Wendy Smith was one of four people shot on March 10 during a domestic dispute at a home off

Cowpen Road. A man had an altercation with his girlfriend that resulted him shooting her and the three other people who were in the house.

Smith was shot eight times and was listed in critical condition.

The Windsor Place resident was due to stand trial yesterday over allegations officers discovered an ounce of marijuana concealed in a plate of food during a routine check at the Bahamas

Department of Correctional Services on September 6, 2018 just six months prior to the shooting incident.

When the matter was called, however, a sick certificate was presented to Acting Deputy Chief Magistrate Subusola Swain that indicated Smith was still in no physical position to attend.

The matter was subsequently adjourned to October 23. Smith’s co-accused, 43-year-old Chavon

Johnson, remains on bail until that time.

On September 13, 2018 Smith and Johnson, of Hutchinson Street, Bain Town, were charged before the acting deputy chief magistrate on charges of conspiracy to possess dangerous drugs with intent to supply and possession of dangerous drugs with intent to supply.

According to police reports, shortly after 11am on the date

in question, officers conducted a routine search of two plates of food presented by Smith to the facility’s Property Intake Section. The search resulted in the discovery of one ounce of marijuana, concealed at the bottom of one of the plates. The drugs carried an estimated street value of $100.

Both Smith and Johnson entered not guilty pleas to the charges at the time.

Second victim blames shark feeding for attacks JONATHAN HERNANDEZ, a keen fisherman, talks to the media and shows the damage the shark did to his knee. Below, how The Tribune reported the death of American tourist Jordan Lindsey.

from page one the left side and the shark was right in my face.”

He was bitten on his left calf but successfully swam to safety.

“I was able to get away, kicking away,’’ he said. “I looked in the water, and I could see in the water that my calf was hanging and gushing blood into the water.

“It all happened so fast it was kind of a blur of whitewater and fins and thrashing.”

Mr Hernandez’s friends quickly made a tourniquet for his calf out of weight belts used for diving.

“The fact that the tourniquet went on between 60 and 90 seconds of the actual attack was probably the single biggest factor and why I’m sitting here talking to you today,’’ he said. He told NBC it will be six weeks before he can begin physical therapy on his “shredded” left calf.

Meanwhile, the family of Jordan Lindsey, the 21-yearold killed after a shark attack last week, has raised $71,354 on GoFundMe to take care of expenses resulting from her death. She was attacked by sharks while snorkeling off the coast of Rose Island. Her right arm was ripped off and the sharks bit her other arm and A1MAIN both legs, among other areas.

Dr Erich Ritter, a shark THURSDAY Established 1903 expert, told the Associated Press the behaviour of i’m lovin’ it! sharks in her death incident was abnormal. He said it may 24/7 BREAKING NEWS ON TRIBUNE242.COM HIGH 88ºF have been triggered by nearby LOW 78ºF chum dumping and added VOLUME:116 No.127, JUNE 27TH, 2019 $1 that the snorkeling company should have monitored the area better. It remains unclear OFFICIA which snorkeling company L SOUR CE Lindsey was involved with.

However, The Tribune underCLASSIFIED TRADER: CARS, CARS, CARS & MORE CARS stands the government has reports about chum BPL UNION:received dumping in the area of the BLACKOUTSincident, a matter that will be WORST IT’S examined as part of the overinvestigation into Lindsey’s EVER BEEN all death.

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter The Bahamas has traditionkrussell@tribunemedia.net AS key government facil-ally averaged several shark ities were among dozens of areas struck by power attacks per year. Lindsey’s cuts yesterday, Bahamas Electrical Workers Union president Paul Maynarddeath was the first confirmed said the ongoing situation is at its “worst” as he sug-shark-related death since 2008. gested Bahamians needed

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OBITS INSIDE

US woman dies in shark horror Snorkel trip to Rose Island ends in savage attack

By RIEL MAJOR Tribune Staff Reporter rmajor@tribunemedia.net AN American woman is dead after a shark attack near Rose Island yesterday.

Police said the woman was snorkeling around 2pm when she was attacked.

The victim, believed to be 21-year-old Jordan Lindsay from California, was taken to the shore and then to Doctors Hospital where she was pronounced dead.

A woman, who claimed to have witnessed the

victim being loaded into an ambulance, said it appeared the woman’s legs had been chewed off.

“Oh God, I saw her being lifted into the ambulance by Texaco on East Bay today,” the woman posted in a popular Facebook group. “She was limp. I said a silent prayer but it didn’t look good. Looks like her legs were off. May her soul rest in peace. These sharks are becoming more and more agitated and I don’t understand why. It was never this way before.”

SEE PAGE THREE

SEE PAGE SIX

BURGLAR SHOT AFTER STABBING OFFICER

SARKIS CONFIRMS NEW CLIFTON BAY PROJECT

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

SARKIS Izmirlian is targeting a “substantial” jobs and GDP impact with a 333-acre mixed-use development at Clifton Bay that is focused on “sustainability” and environmental preservation.

Tribune Business can reveal that Baha Mar’s original developer is back in Bahamian real estate development via a proposed project called The Preserve, located in southwestern

New Providence near Jaws Beach.

Mr Izmirlian has teamed with Tom Dunlap, his former Baha Mar president, to produce a “very low density” development on land he is understood to have acquired last year.

While similar in size to the nearby 363-acre South Ocean resort, this newspaper was informed that the duo are aiming for a “live, work, play” concept that embraces traditional Bahamian living.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

to protest against this electricity crisis.

Bahamas Power and Light had little update to give consumers yesterday outside of its Facebook page, which only provided a running list of areas from east to west affected by widespread load shedding.

These included the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services, Sandilands Rehabilitation

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

MDEEZ SUSPECT

32-YEAR-OLD Shamano Cooper, above, was yesterday accused of killing Bahamian singer Devon “Mdeez” Knight last week. Full report - Page 3 Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

A FORMER police reservist yesterday testified how a 33-year-old shop breaking suspect was shot and killed after allegedly stabbing his former partner in the arm almost a decade ago.

Quincy Strachan, now employed with the General Post Office, said his former partner, Reserve Constable Shawn Butler was injured after allegedly clashing with Bradford “Mad Brad” Brown on May 28, 2010.

This, Mr Strachan said, was evidenced by him hearing Mr Butler issue the command “police, stop”, SEE PAGE FIVE

‘POLICE BEAT SUSPECTS? RIDICULOUS’

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

A FORMER police officer’s claim that for decades the Royal Bahamas Police Force has falsified reports, beaten suspects for confessions and sent innocent people to prison was denounced by National Security Minister Marvin Dames and Police Commissioner Anthony Ferguson.

Mr Dames said the former officer,

EX-OFFICER Bernard Swann Bernard Swann, was never an investigator and lacks the credibility to discuss the

investigative tactics of the RBPF. He said the man served in the 1980s to his knowledge. Commissioner Ferguson, insisting officers do not falsify reports, said he has nonetheless dispatched a team to investigate the matter.

Mr Swann made his comments in a recording which were circulated on WhatsApp and Facebook.

He told The Tribune he has received numerous threats

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

SEE PAGE FIVE

STATESIDE SPORT’S SORRY TALE OF FAME AND INFAMY

SEE PAGE EIGHT

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, July 2, 2019, PAGE 3

Families relive terror of Montel Heights outrage

THE SCENE at Montel Heights on Sunday where, hours earlier, there had been mass shooting at a birthday party that left more than ten people suffering gunshot injuries.

Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff from page one Ms Oliver said she immediately dropped the food.

“I run from the kitchen, when I run outside, I see all kind of people on ground,” Ms Oliver said. “They… say it was a high power gun what shoot them.”

When asked about the victims, she noted some have been discharged while a few remain in hospital.

“They coming on,” she said. “They coming on…but (one) is really hurt.

“This a serious thing

what happened…I hope the police deal with this, you understand? Because… it come like it was a driveby shooting…To shoot all these people? They look like they come to kill.”

Krystal Saunders, 32, was at the party, which she said was filled with her friends and relatives.

“We was right here in the middle of the road,” she said. “We was having fun, dancing and all we hear was ‘pap.’”

Ms Saunders said the partygoers assumed the first blast was a firework.

“When we hear the ‘pap, pap, pap’ again, everybody break off running, we realise it was gun. Most of us run in the back of this yard here,” she said, pointing.

“And when we come back to the front, we meet the lil’ girl on the floor, just bodies on the floor, blood everywhere. All we could do was scream, cry, and try get everybody to the hospital.

We tried calling the ambulance, but you know they is take long, so we ain’t even bother (to wait). We just rush everybody the hospital (sic).”

Meanwhile Ms Oliver said the shooting left her feeling “very frightened, angry at the same time”.

“Because it was just woman and children right here. Like, what would make somebody come out and do something like that?

Because it was just kids and woman there. All the males them was down the road there. Ain’ no males them was right here for them to just come out and do some foolishness like that (sic).

“Everybody traumatised. For something like that to happen in the front

here like that, and this our regular hang out spot, everybody traumatised,” Ms Oliver said.

A neighbour who wished to be identified as Ms Johnson, 37, said her 10-year-old son was also at the party.

When the shots began, Ms Johnson said: “I break off running. My daughter say ‘mummy get down, get down’, I just break off running to go look for him.

That could’ve been me, that could’ve been this yard as close as it was. And it happened after 12(am).

“It makes us feel sad

because we don’t have this kind of things in Montel Heights,” she continued.

“First of all, strangers come and shoot lil’ children, so it really hurts…Every day they sits over there and nothing happen. They had a lil’ birthday party and spectators come and maybe they targeted the spectators? So they came and they opened fire on lil’ children.

“We just praying for the set who got hurt and hope they make a speedy recovery.”

Editorial View - Page 4

‘VIOLENCE BROUGHT ON BY YEARS OF NEGLECT’ from page one

Police said 14 people were shot around 12am Sunday morning during a birthday party in Montel Heights, however Public Hospitals Authority officials pegged the number of gunshot victims at 15.

According to police, ten of the victims were female and four were minors — the youngest of which is just ten years old. Three others were said to have suffered injuries that were not gunshot related.

Up press time, there were no fatalities and according to Health Minister Dr Duane Sands, seven people remain in hospital in stable condition.

During a press conference held on Sunday afternoon, Commissioner of Police Anthony Ferguson said the target was a specific individual, not the general crowd.

On Friday afternoon, two men were shot and killed in the yard of a residence in Star Estates. This double homicide occurred less than 14 hours after a man was killed off Soldier Road shortly before 11pm on Thursday.

Mr Dames addressed these matters in a recent interview with The Tribune. “(There) seems to be a growing prevalence of assault rifles in the hands of young, misguided, and immature young men who - all they know is they have a gun in their hands and if you pull the trigger it fires,” he said. “They don’t think of anything else. (Sunday) morning was a typical example. They were hellbent

on shooting an individual, individual ran into a crowd of other people, they continued firing. That is what we’re faced with.

“The double shooting, again: we have to get to a place in this country - the police are making significant inroads. (And) as I’ve said before, numbers continue to trend downwards but it doesn’t mean the problem is going to go away overnight. This is decades of neglect that we continue to experience.

“And so it’s going to take a goodly number of time for us to get back to a place where we need to be. From the enforcement side we’re making those inroads.”

In a statement released on Sunday afternoon, Mrs Hanna Martin regretted the “shocking incident”, although she expressed gratitude it did not end with “much more serious results as well it could have, given the deadly nature of the assault, apparently with the use of a semi-automatic weapon”.

“This gratuitous violence has shaken a close-knit community and caused trauma, pain and suffering and has interrupted a community’s collective peace of mind,” she continued.

“It has highlighted the vulnerability of law abiding citizens to wanton violence in their own communities.

Fear is now heightened.

The time must now come for us to get at the root of this rapid decline in public safety.

“The statistics politicians like to boast of have no relevance and appear self-indulgent, when we continue to see this sustained level of violence in

our country and the tragic fallout.

“We must look with honest and realistic eyes and face the dilemma of the Bahamian people with less political patting on the back. Guns are apparently readily accessible, potentially putting every one of us at risk.”

Noting the country has a “serious problem of violence”, Mrs Hanna Martin continued: “This is not about political trophies but about preservation of our shared way of life and the sustainable quality of life for our people”.

Mr Smith noted the DNA was “horrified” by Sunday’s shooting.

“While it would be inappropriate to speculate on the motives of the shooter, this incident has already sent shockwaves of fear that our beautiful country is descending into a dark place,” he said. “All of our nation’s stakeholders, be they members of the government or of the wider public, have a responsibility to pull our country together around commonsense solutions. Our safety depends on it.”

Mr Dames also spoke to

MARVIN DAMES the issue of fear as he cautioned the public to be wary of social media reports.

“There’s so much misinformation being fuelled by

social media. And that too is driving the fear index up,” he said. “And so I want to caution everyone to make certain that if it’s not from an official website, not from an official ministry or official department like the Royal Bahamas Police Force - especially as it relates to crime - people should not be paying attention to it.

“And there are a lot of videos and text messages rambling all over the place.

If people have information that they deem credible, then they should see to it that the police get a hold of it.”

PAGE 4, Tuesday, July 2, 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 .

Publisher/Editor 1919-1972 Contributing Editor 1972-1991

EILEEN DUPUCH CARRON,

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

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We must work together to stop guns MEMBERS of the community spoke yesterday about the fear, trauma and anger following Sunday’s mass shooting in Ethel Street.

Family members of victims spoke about the shock of an innocent party becoming the target of gunmen. “They say it was a high power gun what shoot them,” said Margaret Oliver, grandmother of the youngest victim. “To shoot all these people? They look like they come to kill.”

We spoke yesterday of the need to clamp down on high power weapons, a concern previously expressed by the Minister of National Security when he lamented that criminals wanted assault rifles rather than handguns now.

Certainly something needs to be done to curb the horror of one partygoer scrambling for cover only to find a little girl shot, “bodies on the floor, blood everywhere”.

Or the mother who hunted frantically for her son in the wake of the shooting.

The people who did this are still out there. The gun that was used is out there too. As one, the community of Ethel Street rejects such violence – so who is supporting it? Who could speak out and save a life? Who could stop these cowards who shoot women and children.

They don’t deserve any protection.

We hope the police are sensitive to the needs of the community – but also make strides to get closer to residents.

This is a moment to ensure the public knows the police are listening, are our friends, and are just as horrified by what has happened.

Trust brings communication – a tipoff here, an early warning there. We are sure the police might try walkabouts to talk to residents – but that should be just the start.

All right-thinking Bahamians know this is unacceptable - we need to fight this together.

A warrior who also fought prejudice CAPTAIN Lionel Rees faced more than one battle in his life. Some were on the battlefield, some closer to home.

In 1916, he was fighting in the First World War – he was shot in the leg but still single-handedly took down ten enemy aircraft. Years later, he returned to fight in the Second World War – but in the years in between, he fought a more insidious foe: prejudice.

You see, the captain fell in love with a Bahamian girl, Sylvia Williams.

They married – but faced opposition in a society that did not want to

tolerate an aviation hero marrying a black woman.

It takes great bravery to fight in battle, and follow the orders of commanders. It perhaps takes greater bravery to stand up and say no to the rest of society.

A jet has been named after Captain Rees – and his family members were there to see the ceremony.

He is a man who fought against some of the greatest evils our world has known – and he deserves his moment of history to be celebrated. We salute you, Captain Rees.

Pictures we don’t need EDITOR, The Tribune

I FIRMLY believe in the citizens right to freedom of expression and of the press so now in the day of social media and with the proliferation and instantaneous postings, government and especially the law enforcement agencies need to wake up and be far more responsive to incidents of public interest.

Regrettably we witness the posting of crime scenes the lurid bloody detail which should be made illegal as the act of photographing

the crime scene is tampering with a crime scene and should be illegal.

The lateness of the police in issuing a statement as a result of an incident….take the recent Montell Heights incident....the incident took place around midnight but the people did not come to the public - media until Sunday late afternoon…..I criticise the police as really they caused a lot of the misinformation as an informed public is better than speculation - innuendo and basic mistruths. Why didn’t the police issue a text release

say at 6am Sunday morning…giving basic confirmed detail of the incident?

Why didn’t the police call a Press conference at say 9-9am Sunday release as much detail that will not prejudice their investigation but boy far more detail than what the Commissioner was willing to release late Sunday…14 hours after…that press conference was a total waste of time.

became independent, the Governor was Sir John Paul. Sir John became the first Governor General on 10 July 1973, the day The Bahamas became independent. He was a colonial Governor out of England and certainly not Bahamian.

In August 1973 Sir Milo Butler became the first Bahamian to ascend to Mount Fitzwilliam as Governor General. He was followed by Sir Gerald

Cash, Sir Henry Taylor, Sir Clifford Darling, Sir Orville Turnquest, Dame Ivy Dumont, the Hon. A. D. Hanna, Sir Arthur Foulkes, Dame Marguerite Pindling and now the Hon. C. A. Smith.

That makes Mr Smith the tenth Bahamian Governor General, not the eleventh.

Count them.

W THOMPSON Nassau July 1, 2019

CA Smith is the 10th EDITOR, The Tribune

IN both their speeches during the swearing-in ceremony Friday morning Prime Minister Hubert Minnis and new Governor General CA Smith got some history wrong.

The Prime Minister referred to His Excellency as the 11th Bahamian Governor General. Then Mr. Smith made the same mistake referring to himself.

Before the Bahamas AFTER Minister of Tourism and Aviation Dionisio D’Aguilar admitted Bimini’s power crisis is “extremely vexing” for the island’s tourism lifeline as visitors cancel bookings, leave early and demand refunds, readers gave their reactions on tribune242.com.

Bahamianbychoice said: “Reading the comments from the tourists in this article . . . when will action be taken to replace management/Board at BPL and, furthermore, Bannister? Over the last year we have experienced unprecedented power insecurity.

The damage to the GDP . . . interruption to the tourism industry/businesses . . . fires at Clifton, Blue Hills, Bimini, Exuma, HI, problems in Abaco and Eleuthera . . . high monthly bills to cover all these additional rentals . . . just goes on and on. I have heard BPL for the first time ever described as a National Security Crisis. Yet the best

CORRECTOR Nassau June 29, 2019 the Minister can do is play politics.”

There was a positive reaction to the news that a total of $1.5m is being spent by the government to give 150 scholarships to public high school students.

Giordano said: “Congratulations to the student awardees and also the government through the Minister of Education for such a collaborative effort of giving and adding values to some local young students. We need to see this kind of good news more often with enough funds to cover more children.”

Symonette exit will cost FNM EDITOR, The Tribune BRENT Symonette’s resignation from the Minnis cabinet is a net loss to The Bahamas and to the FNM. Resignations by Symonette from government is not new; he did so twice before while he served in Hubert Ingraham’s government as attorney general, and again in 2001 when he resigned as the chairman of the Nassau Airport Authority; and he chose to sit out the 2012 General Election.

He and Minnis, though in the same party, were never happy campers.

When out of government, Brent Symonette was in the forefront of those in the party who felt Minnis was not up to the task; and he actively sought to have Minnis removed as the leader of the FNM. Symonette became a FNM candidate in the 2017 election nearly at the last minute. His appointment to the cabinet reportedly came grudgingly. In effect, he was given a portfolio with little in it except for the Department of Immigration and Financial Services and Investments, though they are regulated by the Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Prime Minister.

While in government both he and Minnis continued to trash each other in private. In Symonette’s case, he showed little respect, and in Minnis’ case, he showed contempt.

Minnis is not a forgiving man. Ask Hubert Chipman and company.

Sadly, neither Minnis nor Symonette understand you do not need to like each other or be friends with one another to work together in the government. After all, a party, like a government is one big tent under which are included many different personalities.

On the other hand, Symonette’s vast personal business interest is extensive and provides fodder for the opposition even when

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net the company in which his family hold a minority but not a controlling interest, wins a bid for government contracts fairly and honourably. Unlike some others in the PLP, the Symonette family have declared their business interests.

The PLP and its leader Philip Davis have no grounds on which to complain but that has never stopped Davis or his party.

The PLP prevented Bahamas Hot Mix, from bidding on contract work while the now leader of the opposition was Minister of Public Works.

In the case of the Harrold Road project from the Bethel Avenue and Milo Butler Highway junction to Balliou Hill Road Bahamas Hot Mix won the bid for the works but the government refused to award the contract to the company.

Strangely, that company became the subcontractor to the company to which the contract was awarded – Bethel’s Trucking.

Subsequently, however, the same PLP administration granted a $6 million no-bid contract to Bahamas Hot Mix to construct the runway at the international airport in Marsh Harbour.

The PLP government also tried to prevent Bahamas Hot Mix from bidding on the project to develop the Blue Hills Park. That was only prevented because of IDB Rules which requires all IDB funding projects to be transparently open to all qualified bidders.

And, the PLP government discussed renting space in the Town Centre Mall owned by Symonette together with his brother to house the general post office. When after the FNM’s 2017 general election win, the government continued those discussions and

concluded an agreement to lease space, the PLP found it unacceptable.

I agree that the optics of Bahamas Hot Mix winning all of the bids for Family Island water works is unfortunate.

The government had previously pre-qualified companies eligible to bid on the CDB Family Island Projects. When the evaluating company recommended awarding all of the contracts to a single company, the government might have instead rejected some bids as it is entitled to do.

I say this in spite of the explanation proferred by the Minister of Works, the Hon. Desmond Bannister. The government is not bound to award all of the contracts for the works to Bahamas Hot Mix. The same thing would apply if it had been another company winning all the bids.

The government might then have offered contracts to other bidders at Bahamas Hot Mix’s price. After all there are many mouths to feed in The Bahamas.

If this was unacceptable to the CDB then another source of funding could and should have been found.

Incidentally, Bahamas Hot Mix lost a $20 million contract at the Lynden Pindling International Airport between 2007 and 2012 because it did not comply fully with the bidding requirements. An American company was awarded the contract.

Mr Symonette’s departure will make the PLP happy. Some FNMs will also be happy. I expect that the Bahamian business community will be concerned that one of their own is no longer around the table.

Whatever the reasons were for Mr Symonette’s resignation it is likely that his departure will cost the FNM who are frittering away their political support.

THE RECORDER July 1, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, July 2, 2019, PAGE 5

RENTAL DELAYS FORCE CONTINUED LOAD SHEDDING

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Power and Light’s generation challenges are continuing and have been exacerbated by the delay of some rental generators.

Load shedding was continued in portions of eastern New Providence yesterday, with many residents lashing out on the power provider’s Facebook page that they had been suffering in the heat for hours.

This included one woman who complained that her sick father and his nurses on the Eastern Road had been without power for three hours.

A BPL spokesperson told The Tribune that rental generators with 14 megawatts of power were up and running since Sunday afternoon.

Last week, BPL executives said last week the rental units were to be fully installed by last Saturday.

“There was a delay with the rest and it may be exacerbating the issue

but it is not the cause of it,” a BPL spokesman told The Tribune. “So the load shedding is continuing because of the generation shortfall.”

An additional four megawatts of power were expected to be in operation today to help alleviate the strain of the generation shortfall.

Yesterday’s power cuts were a continuation of weekend outages, which were widespread.

The issues continued well into the afternoon with BPL reporting shortly before

4pm that Palmetto Village, Carmichael Road west, Kennedy Subdivision, Winton #2, East Street South #2, Spanse Invest, Harbourside West, Lyford Cay, Soldier Road west, Moss Road and Village Road were all offline.

On Facebook, consumers did not hold back their emotions as they blasted BPL for continued disruptions that have affected many in various ways. One customer went as far as calling for the resignations of the company’s entire executive board.

BPL apologised a little over a week ago after rolling power cuts affected the entire island.

BPL chairman Donovan Moxey at the time called it an anomaly as he said it was unacceptable that there had been widespread load shedding, grossly inconveniencing thousands of paying customers.

At the time, he explained that BPL took measures to avoid continuous load shedding.

He said the company did anticipate elevated summer demand and had

planned to have rental generators in place by June 18. However rainy weather created a delay in their delivery.

He also noted then that BPL had anticipated that the rental Aggreko units to be fully installed between last Wednesday and Friday at a cost of just under $2m a month.

As for when the situation is expected to get better, Mr Moxey said realistically not until this fall, when the new power plant is expected to be fully functional.

Minnis touches down in St Lucia

PRIME Minister Hubert Minnis arrived in St Lucia yesterday for the 40th Regular Meeting of Heads of Government of CARICOM: the Prime Minister and his wife are pictured being met at the airport upon arrival. Prime Minister Minnis leads a delegation that includes Minister of Foreign Affairs, Darren Henfield; Minister of Tourism & Aviation, Dionisio D’Aguilar; Bahamas Ambassador to CARICOM, HE Reuben Rahming; and Adrian Gibson, MP. Regional leaders will discuss tourism, finance, the situation in Venezuela, security and other matters.

Photos:Yontalay Bowe/BIS

Warning after man suffers 16 bee stings from page one recently attacked on June 12 while conducting a bird survey in the vicinity of East Grand Bahama.

The team was on Lightbourne Cay, located south of Sweeting’s Cay, when they encountered an aggressive swarm of bees around 600 metres into the native vegetation, resulting in team members receiving numerous stings, with one person being stung up to 16 times.

He said science officer Scott Johnson was among the team when the incident happened.

“They were cutting their way through, and Scott chopped a tree and did not realise there was a bees nest in there, so the bees were disturbed,” Mr Weir said. “They ran and the bees followed them and they started attacking them.

They had to make their way out of there with the bees chasing them.”

Mr Weir said that there were also anecdotal reports of bee attacks in Freeport and Sweeting’s Cay. He explained that attacks usually occur when the bee nest or hive is disturbed.

“In Scott’s situation, the bush was so thick and they were trying to cut their way

through; it was kind of an unusual situation because normally you would see signs or be able to tell if a bee hive is around once you start seeing them,” Mr Weir said.

“Based on the extreme aggression of their behaviour, the BNT believes that these may be Africanised bees,” a BNT statement noted. “We do also acknowledge several anecdotal reports from Grand Bahama, namely Freeport and Sweeting’s Cay, regarding attacks from aggressive bees that therefore affirm our suspicions. The BNT has communicated with the

Department of Agriculture regarding this issue and has requested an inquiry into this matter.”

To prevent being stung, Mr Weir stressed that persons should be alert and avoid disturbing a hive.

He warned that once the hive is disturbed, the bees send out or emit pheromones which alerts all the other bees to attack.

“It smells like bananas.

So once you start smelling them, then you know the other bees have been alerted and they are just going to keep coming. At that point you walk or run away,” he said.

In 2014, The Tribune

reported that a Grand Bahama man, Kevin Johnson, was lucky to be alive after being viciously attacked by a swarm of killer bees.

Mr Johnson, a resident of South Bahamia, was sitting at a bus stop shelter on West Sunrise Highway in October 2014 when noise from a tractor doing landscaping work in the area upset the beehive. Passing motorists watched in horror as he lay helpless on the ground covered by the swarm. Police, firemen and a pest control company were called to assist and Mr Johnson was taken to hospital.

At the time, a senior pest technician at Budget Pest Control told this newspaper that Africanised hybrid bees – also known as killer bees – attacked Mr Johnson.

The bees, the technician said, are known to be very aggressive and easily provoked.

Persons who encounter or see a hive can contact the Grand Bahama Beekeepers Cooperative at 814-7922; the Ministry of Agriculture’s Animal Control Unit; Mr Weir at eweir@bnt.bs or 352-5438, or science officer Scott Johnson at sjohnson@bnt. bs or 393-1371.

PAGE 6, Tuesday, July 2, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

from page one However, yesterday, Mr Symonette gave insight into what led to the decision.

“I told the prime minister I would not go beyond my 65th birthday and we decided it would be better to do either within the fiscal year or before the new one began, which started today (yesterday),” Mr Symonette said in an interview with The Tribune.

“So it would have been better to do it at the beginning of the fiscal year rather than wait until December when my birthday is and have a Cabinet minister leave then. I vowed that I wouldn’t be a Cabinet minister a day past my 65th birthday.”

Asked pointedly whether the resignation had anything to do with controversy over contracts, he said: “Absolutely not.”

He will remain a member of Parliament.

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

On Sunday the government issued a brief statement, which read: “It is notified for general information that Brent 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.

The Tribune understands Mr Johnson will receive

It was my decision to leave Cabinet, insists Symonette his instruments of appointment today at 9.30am. Mr Johnson is the most recent state minister for legal affairs.

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 Bahamas Hot Mix. 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. “It is long overdue. He is emblematic of conflict of interest and self-dealing 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 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 had 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 request for tenders (RFT) for asphalt paving services was initiated in April and was sent to four international and two Bahamian firms.

BAHAMAS HOT MIX STILL IN DISPUTE OVER ANTIGUA WORK

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Hot Mix, the company awarded a major $20m contract to upgrade two runways at Lynden Pindling International Airport, remains locked in dispute adjudication board proceedings over contracted work in Antigua, The Tribune understands.

BHM was initially contracted in 2017 to build an airport runway and construct several new roads in the south Caribbean nation, but halted operations following a dispute.

Valued at roughly $16m, the project was financed by the United Kingdom’s Caribbean Infrastructure Partnership Fund (UKCIF), which is administered by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).

Lionel Hurst, chief of staff in Antigua’s Office of the Prime Minister, described the project as “long overdue”, telling The Tribune in a recent interview that the redevelopment of roadways were considered “vital” at the time of the contract’s execution.

When asked what triggered BHM’s stoppage, Mr Hurst pointed to a disagreement over the project’s “time of completion.”

“BHM was awarded a contract to complete two major highways here in Antigua: Friar’s Hill Road and Airport Road. When the work got underway, it was determined that the utility company would use the time to put down new pipes for water… fibre optic cables… and instal under ground power lines,” he explained. “As such, BHM said they would need additional time to complete all of their work and asked for an extension to the contract with pay. It was determined that there was still sufficient time left on the deal to complete the work and on budget.”

He added: “They said the utilities took too long, and the government said regardless, there was time remaining to do what needed to be done.”

Mr Hurst said to date, some two years after the deal was agreed to, BHM has “not done very much work” and “taken an inordinately long time.”

“This has been going on for some time now. All they’ve done is dug some troughs for the utility companies to put down their lines and some troughs for water to drain off of the road. That is all,” he added.

Mr Hurst’s comments came in the wake of weeks of scrutiny for BHM in the Antigua press.

Scores of news articles and editorials have

analysed BMH’s handling of the project, with some going as far as to slam the company for its failure to complete the job.

A spokesperson for BHM declined comment when contacted by The Tribune, insisting the terms of the contract bar both sides from discussing the deal publicly until a resolution is determined.

BHM has long been linked to now-former Immigration Minister and St Anne’s MP Brent Symonette, as his children’s trust has an investment in the company. In addition to the $20m airport runway contract awarded in June, BHM has also been awarded three contracts — $2.01m, $2.11m and $1.91m — for water improvement projects in Long Island and Crooked Island.

In each scenario, government officials have maintained that BHM was the most qualified company to be considered.

Addressing the award of the runway contract last month, Tourism Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar said the Nassau Development Company invited more companies to bid, but BHM was the only Bahamian one to do so.

Moreover, he said the work of building a runway presented a “very technical piece of real estate, a very technical piece of asphalt”, claiming BHM had the mechanisms in place to “check and recheck” where the need presented itself.

Meanwhile, for his part, Works Minister Desmond Bannister said the contracts awarded to BHM on his watch were either the lowest bid or given to the company deemed to be the most qualified to carryout the contract.

According its website, BHM was founded in 1984 by a group of Bahamian businessmen.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, July 2, 2019, PAGE 7

WELCOME HOME, BARRY

ROTARIANS turned out at Lynden Pindling International Airport to welcome back Barry Rassin after his year as Rotary International President.

Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

Kwasi sorry to see 20 jobs axed at Grand Bahama firm

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

MINISTER of State for Grand Bahama Kwasi Thompson has expressed sadness over lay-offs at Pharmachem Technologies in Grand Bahama where it is believed that some 20 persons were affected.

The industrial company - which had commenced a $180 million expansion of its facility in Freeport in 2016 - has run into unexpected increased costs and delays in the construction that resulted in job cuts.

“We are very saddened to hear of the loss of

employment at Pharmachem in Grand Bahama. It is always difficult, particularly in Grand Bahama, to hear of the loss of employment,” he said at the Office of Prime Minister in Freeport.

When asked how many persons were let go, Mr Thompson said that Pharmachem would be confirming that information.

However, Tribune Business has reported that some 23 workers were let go, the majority of whom were Bahamians.

Deputy Prime Minister Peter Turnquest said the layoffs represent a significant blow to Grand

Bahama’s still struggling economy.

It is believed that the total could rise to 40 via a potential “second tranche” of lay-offs depending on whether construction progress speeds up, with the first wave understood to include both full-time employees and persons on short-to-medium term contracts.

The Pharmachem project was one of several projects that the government had touted as creating and providing much needed jobs for Bahamians in Grand Bahama.

Mr Thompson said to date the company has

POOR AC FORCES WORKERS TO GO HOME AT LUNCHTIME

By FARRAH JOHNSON

WORKERS at the Department of Environmental Health Services are voicing their concerns over unacceptable conditions that have been forcing them to go home early and only work half a day.

Employees at the department’s Farrington Road location told The Tribune they have been leaving work at 1pm since the building’s air conditioning system has been out of service.

Dahl Bethel, a health inspector for the department, said the issue has been occurring “off and on” since 2010.

“When you look at the steel roof... there is no foam installation,” he said.

“So you could get the most brand new air condition system and it’ll still break down because... of this building.

“We have 200 workers and minimum wage is $210, so that’d be like $5.25 an hour. That calculates per year (to) about $208,000 the government lose in man hours by sending these people home at one o’ clock everyday,” he added.

Other employees also voiced their frustrations about working conditions and other issues.

“If you ask me, they ain’t giving no promotion and thing because they feel as though we ain’t working,” one worker said. “They say ‘They getting off at one so we ain’t got to give them no promotion or transfer.’

POOR conditions inside a Department of Environmental Health Services building.

They feel as if they are doing us a favour by letting us go home one o’clock,” she explained.

Another employee said the Vector Control building has mould “coming through the sheetrock and ceiling tiles” that makes it difficult to breathe.

He alleged the building is also “infested with termites,” and claimed that when it rained, water leaked into the building from the ceiling.

Mr Bethel furthered that in addition to sanitary issues, workers in the department also struggle with obtaining company vehicles to carry out their duties. “If you have 10 cars that are supposed to ensure surveillance of general sanitation and that’s your mandate, but instead the cars are just being used as personal vehicles for managers, then that means you’re wasting your resources,” he stated.

When asked to respond to allegations made by staff, Melony McKenzie, the department’s director, said there is “not a building in the country that does not

have any problems from time to time.”

When asked about the claims regarding company vehicles, Mrs McKenzie said she knew nothing about the matter.

Insisting the air conditioner issue is being dealt with, she also stated: “That’s a process. So we have to go through the Ministry of Works, we have to find the funds, we have to pay for them (and) they have to be shipped in. All of that has been done.

“This one needs a shaft, this one needs a compressor. The compressor has been purchased (and) the Ministry of Works will come in and fix it.”

While Mrs McKenzie said she could not pinpoint the exact time the air conditioning system will be fixed, she asserted the compressor is “in place” and a new shaft has been ordered.

“I understand when staff iare distraught because yes, it is hot. So when you’re hot we say ‘If you’re hot leave’... because there is absolutely nothing that can speed the process up except dealing with it,” she said.

29 FISHERMEN ARRESTED FOR VIOLATIONS

A BAHAMIAN fishing vessel with 29 Bahamians on board was apprehended on Sunday afternoon by the Royal Bahamas Defence Force for fisheries violations.

While on routine patrol, HMBS Rolly Gray, under the command of Senior Lieutenant William Sturrup, apprehended a fishing vessel named “Sweet Dreams” in the Cay Sal Bank area with a large quantity

of conch and a compressor on board. Skiffs belonging to the vessel were also in the immediate area with compressors on board. Additionally, a search of a nearby cay uncovered several more compressors.

The vessel and its crew will be escorted to the capital where they will be turned over to relevant authorities for further investigation.

injected millions into the island’s economy, and has created over 100 construction jobs.

“They have invested over $61 million, particularly in Bahamian construction companies. And their project is an ongoing and they continue to move forward with respect to their project,” he stated.

“They anticipate that there is going to be some $30 million that remains that will continue to be injected into their project.”

The junior minster said the company has indicated that as a result of the increase in costs and also the delays of being able to

complete the facility that “they have had to resort unfortunately to letting some staff go.”

“They are, obviously, saddened by that result; they have been a very good corporate citizen. They have arranged an institution in Grand Bahama and we believe that they will move forward with continuing to keep their facility, and eventually open that facility, and that things will be back to normal at their facility.”

Mr Thompson said officials have been in contact with the Department of Labour, which will be proceeding with the normal protocol for assisting those

persons who have been affected by the layoffs.

Last March, the company’s chief financial officer, Kevin Seymour, had announced that two foreign companies - Integrated Project Services (IPS) and KPC International, a European firm - were hired to provide specialised engineering expertise for the project.

Pharmachem Technologies manufactures the active ingredient in HIV/ AIDS drugs Atripla, Truvada and Viread, which are used to treat about one million people worldwide.

Gilead Sciences, a global bio-pharmaceutical leader, is its single client.

PAGE 8, Tuesday, July 2, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

It’s all adding up for the girl from Fox Hill JAMIELLE Davis; below: Jamielle with friends Evan, Kiley and Hillary who started an on-campus Christian ministry; bottom left: Jamielle, right, with her mother, Dorcas and sister, Shaquille.

J

AMIELLE Davis is a Fox Hill girl to the bone.

Her homestead is in Fox Hill, as is her church and the school she spent all of her formative years in.

If you have ever witnessed the Fox Hill Day service held at the historical St Paul’s Baptist church, you would have seen Jamielle. She often moderated the service and also performed well-received recitations, including “Roses on my shoulders, sandals on my feet, I’m my mommy’s black eye, baby don’t you think I’m sweet?” and “What you looking at me for… I ‘aint’ come here to stay, I just came to tell you, that today was Fox Hill Day!” She enjoys serving as an ambassador for her community. She placed third in the Little Miss Fox Hill pageant in 2005. She was also very involved at her church, St. Paul’s, under the leadership of Bishop J Carl Rahming and Minister Evangline Rahming.

She served in SURGE youth ministry, the usher board and planning youth events such as the annual ‘lock in’. She graduated from St Anne’s School, Fox Hill in 2015 after spending all of her school years there, from kindergarten straight through to grade 12.

“My community is a big part of me, not only because my home, school and church is located there, but because my heart lives there too,” said Jamielle.

From St Anne’s, Jamielle went on to study at Morgan State University, graduating this past May as Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting & Marketing degree and a 4.0 grade point average.

Dr Jacinta Higgs, a noted Fox Hillian, was there to cheer her on. She introduced me to Jamielle, a young lady she considers her godchild; one she watched grow up in Fox Hill.

One week before her high school graduation, Jamielle was applying to a school in Toronto where she experienced a payment issue with her room and board.

On her way to the bank, she received a phone call from her advisor at Junior Achievement Bahamas stating there was a Morgan State Recruiter at her office. At this time, Jamielle

never knew about Morgan State, the institution that would change the course of her life. After reviewing her college application profile, she was immediately extended a Martin D Jenkins Scholarship.

Jamielle started her tertiary-level journey in the fall of 2015. Since then, Jamielle has served as Chief of Staff in the Student Government Association for her sophomore class, Secretary for the Caribbean Students Association and a Campus Student Ambassador who volunteered to give tours to prospective students since her freshman year.

Through the business school’s Graves Honours programme, she was chosen to be the student representative for the global exposure trip to Toronto in her freshman year, then to Dublin in her sophomore year. During the winter of

her junior year, she worked with the Office of Study Abroad to study Japanese Anime and Popular Culture for a semester in Tokyo at Seisin University.

In her senior year, she served as the Chief of Staff and Budget and Finance Manager for the Campus Activities Board which is responsible for planning major school events such as Homecoming, Back to School Week, and ‘I Love Morgan’ Week.

She is also a member of Beta Gamma Sigma Business Honour’s Society, the National Association of Black Accountants and she was the President of the Accounting Honour’s Society, Beta Alpha Psi. During her last year, Jamielle blazed her own trail by starting a campus ministry with a group of her friends Evan, Kiley, and Hillary.

“We gathered every

Wednesday night with others from our campus as well as students around the area for connect group & midnight praise and prayer,” said Jamielle.

“Although this came with many sacrifices and pruning seasons, we were humbled to be a vessel used by God. We currently extended the ministry online with our all-access prayer line and Instagram live on Sundays & Wednesdays at 8:30pm.”

Jamielle also writes monthly devotionals and anyone wishing to sign up for them should send her an email at lifestylechangeagency@gmail.com.

“When I do have my quiet time, I enjoy reading God’s word and writing monthly devotionals that I send out through Lifestyle Change Agency,” she explained.

“I am passionate about being a Lifestyle Change Agent for Christ (LCA).

An LCA is an agent for Christ, who lives out every area of their lives to the fullest, capitalising on all opportunities presented to them and giving God all the Glory for it. We are Christ’s agents, speaking on behalf of Him, mirroring what Paul spoke about in 2 Corinthians 5:20; ‘So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, ‘Come back to God!’ “When I am not writing devotionals or trying some new fun activity, I love cooking an authentic Bahamian meal and trying new recipes for my friends and family to enjoy at game night. I also love to hang out with my friends and try adventurous outdoor activities. Just recently, we went glow in the dark ziplining and climbing in the woods about 20 feet above ground.”

This summer, Jamielle’s top priority is to pass her CPA (Certified Public Accountant) examinations, which she is studying assiduously for as she will be sitting all four parts. She told me that it was while taking Mr Rosson’s accounting class at St Anne’s that she first fell in love with the subject. She went on to apply those and other business skills in Junior Achievement, further cementing her choice to become an accountant. She went on to intern at KPMG Bahamas during her freshman year and PwC Atlanta during the summers of her sophomore and junior years. She will be moving to Atlanta this fall to start with PwC as an Assurance Associate.

The community spirit in Fox Hill became a source of support for Jamielle, who adds that her mother, Dorcas Miller, is “such a blessing” in her and her sister’s lives.

“I am forever grateful to my grandmother, Olive W Davis ‘Ms. Tita’, who truly impacted me with wisdom and teachings that she continues to share with us,” she said.

“I am also grateful for Daddy Super, Philip Miller, and the love and support he has shown me in all my pursuits.”

Jamielle has an acronym that motivates her: “I would encourage everyone to have VISION.” • V - Value your self worth and all that you are.

View your self in a way that you probably don’t see now, but you know that it is coming. Vision is what we see when our eyes are closed.

• I - Ignite every flame of your being to strive to be the best that you can be.

• S - Seek help when you need it! Every day is a learning moment.

• I - Inspire others even when you don’t feel inspired.

• O- Overcome obstacles.

These trials are building character for the journey ahead. Know that if God is before you then who can stand against you.

• N- Never give up - Don’t allow fear to paralyse you, friends’ opinions to stop you, or lack of resources to hinder you! If God gave you a vision don’t stop until it is manifested.

Everyday, give your best in all that you do because you will never get this moment back again.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, July 2, 2019, PAGE 9

SEA LICE WARNING ISSUED FOR BEACHGOERS

By RIEL MAJOR Tribune Staff Reporter rmajor@tribunemedia.net

THE MINISTRY of Health has issued an advisory warning beachgoers following an eruption of sea lice and jellyfish bites.

Health Minister Dr Duane Sands said officials received many complaints about sea lice and released the statement to educate the public about the problem after concluding there was a significant presence of the parasite.

In a statement, officials from the Ministry of Health said sea lice are the larvae of jellyfish and are barely visible to the human eye as they float on the water surface, becoming entrapped in the swimwear of swimmers.

“Skin contact with sea lice often produces a skin reaction called dermatitis or seabather’s eruption described as a ‘prickly’ sensation which progresses into a bumpy red rash noticeable between four hours to 24 hours post exposure. Lesions from the skin rash can last up to two

weeks. Other symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, fever, muscle spasms, joint pains and difficulty sleeping,” the Ministry of Health’s statement noted.

Treatment is limited to supportive management with the administration of antihistamines and corticosteroid creams, the ministry said, adding that in severe cases, epinephrine and other intramuscular steroids may be needed.

“Bathing in colloidal oatmeal preparations and applying

calamine lotion to rash sites may provide comfort,” the ministry added. “Ensure fingernails are clipped short to avoid further skin damage by scratching of lesions. Seabather’s eruption is not considered contagious but can affect all swimmers in a particular location.”

The statement recommended beachgoers prevent being affected by sea lice by being aware of the risks.

“Avoid wearing t-shirt and one-piece bathing suits while swimming; females are strongly

advised to wear two-piece bathing suits,” the ministry noted. “(Additionally), after swimming, change out of swimwear immediately and wash in detergent, dry via artificial heat.

Reoccurrence of symptoms may present when wearing a bathing suit that was air dried.

“If you suspect you’ve been affected by sea lice and are noticing the other symptoms listed along with the reach, seek immediate medical attention at your nearest healthcare provider.”

150 scholarships for students

By RIEL MAJOR Tribune Staff Reporter rmajor@tribunemedia.net A TOTAL of $1.5m is being spent by the government to give 150 scholarships to public high school students to continue their studies abroad.

The announcement was made at the 2019 Public School Scholars Award ceremony at the Melia Nassau Beach Hotel on Friday.

It was one of two events honoring the students last week. “With these great and outstanding partners that we have from the number of universities who are here present, who I’m sure you’ll be meeting in a short while, this particular group we are spending over one and a half million dollars in counterpart funding for your education and I want to tell you that we are proud to do it, more than proud,” Education Minister Jeff Lloyd said at the event.

“When I became the minister of education and I give all credit to Ms Monique Hinsey, this brilliant young lady tireless in her work started out with approximately 20 students, today it’s 150. She started out with partnering with three or four

THE MINISTRY of Education hosted a meet and greet for recipients of the Public School Scholars Award at the National Art Gallery universities, today we have almost 40 universities.”

The programme is a movement designed to give more Bahamian public-school graduates a chance of a college degree by using the existing Ministry of Education scholarship budget and partnering with international colleges and universities.

Mr Lloyd said when the scholarship division was established, the majority

of the recipients were from private schools and he asked, “What about the public school students?”

He said: “We have 60,000 public school students in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, only 25,000 in the private schools. Why aren’t they getting a certain benefit? So, we established this particular programme so that it is exclusively (for public schools). In

my first meeting with Ms Hinsey, I said we do not want to restrict ourselves to the United States and Canada, I want you to go to China, New Zealand, Australia, Brazil, South America, Africa and find universities who want to partner with us so that we can have our children go all over the world in support and by the support of the Bahamas government.”

Olano Thelusmar, CI

Gibson student and awardee, said despite the many trials in his life, he is a success.

The student said: “You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have. Ladies and gentlemen, everything in life won’t go as expected, but what God has for you no man can take away.

“Today as a result of my endurance I have found my inner strength and can boast

of the following accomplishments. I am a proud 2019 graduate of the great CI Gibson Senior High School, a member of the national high school debate championship team, a 2019 public school scholarship programme awardee.”

The Public School Scholars Programme was launched in 2015. To date, more than 513 students have benefited from the programme.

PAGE 10, Tuesday, July 2, 2019

O

N JUNE 17, three generations of a lowprofile Bahamian family boarded flights to a remote town in Wales where the man who was their father and ancestor would receive one of the highest honours ever accorded.

For the first time in more than half a century, a jet would be named after an individual. His name – Captain Lionel Rees VC, honouree of a Victoria Cross, the most coveted, prestigious and highest bravery award in the British honours system.

Pomp and circumstance including blessings by the mayor, an historical exhibit for visitors and schoolchildren and a flyover would mark the aircraft naming ceremony where the three generations of Bahamians would be the guests of honour.

The jet would be called the Group Captain Lionel Rees VC in recognition of the man who more than 100 years earlier on July 1, 1916, at the height of battle in WWI, though shot in the thigh, single-handedly took down 10 enemy aircraft. His skill and courage saved untold numbers of his own company and innocent men, women and children on the ground. Years later, Captain Rees VC returned to serve in WWII. This is the story of Captain Rees, legendary airman, war hero and a man who, having achieved the highest honours and served as military advisor to King George, sailed to The Bahamas, fell in love with a young Bahamian woman and because he wed her, faced the most heroic of all his battles – against the white oligarchy who rose up in horror at the thought of a recognised aviation pioneer and icon who trod on tradition and wed a black Bahamian he first met as his maid.

Olvin Rees remembers his mother better than his famous father. She was strong, he said, and disciplined, a fanatic about keeping a proper home and ensuring that her three children grew up appreciating the value of hard work.

He also remembers the pain she endured, putting on a good front, head held high, holding jobs as a domestic in Lyford Cay after his father died. It wasn’t until recently that the younger Rees fully understood the agony she quietly suffered or realised the full extent of his father’s bravery.

The elder Rees was born in Caernarfon, Wales, in 1884. As a child he was restless and endlessly curious.

His fascination with things that fly started early. He was once given a camera and decided to attach it to a kite to try to take what we know today as an aerial photo. It flopped and he lost the camera but not his interest in what goes aloft.

He attended a prep school, then Eastbourne College in Sussex, England, excelling in math and sports.

He made it into the Royal Military Academy without showing a lot of promise – admitted 62nd out of 80 students. But by the time he left there was almost no one who could touch his grades nor his talent in athletics and his skill in the field.

Posted to West Africa, he felt at home with the locals and developed an admiration for - and connection with - tribesmen who managed to live simply in the

THE TRIBUNE

How a British war hero and a young Bahamian woman proved that love really can conquer all heat of the tropics. It was a respect that would serve him well later in life. An officer in the regular army when WWI broke out, he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps and two years later after being shot himself ignored the bullet in his leg, bravely fighting off up to 10 enemy aircraft to become the most decorated man in the British military.

But it is the human side of Captain Lionel Rees VC and the legacy and family he left behind that makes his story and that of the second and third generation of Rees’ so heart-wrenching, endearing and compelling.

It is an important part of Bahamian history overlooked in classrooms and rarely mentioned in public conversation.

The story begins after the end of the war to end all wars. Captain Lionel Rees VC had enough of artillery and the sound of gunfire.

A loner by nature, he took up sailing, setting off from the UK planning to head to New York, but the prevailing winds carried him far south of his intended destination and quite by accident, Rees became the first person to sail the Atlantic to the Caribbean singlehanded.

Once in the region, he sailed through The Bahamas, exploring islands (declaring then that fish and crawfish were easy to find), before heading further south as far as South America, but something kept drawing him back to The Bahamas.

In Andros, the man once called “the bravest man in the world” decided it was time to put down roots.

He was 61, tall, lanky, talented, erudite and decorated, a friend of British royalty – a prime catch for any of the women who had met him previously during his stops in Nassau. Instead, he found in a woman he first hired to help him in his new home-type life a partner who would be as strong and resilient as he.

She was 18-years-old, beautiful and black. And high society in Nassau went wild. “They weren’t alone,” says son, Olvin, now 65.

“When she got pregnant, my grandfather wanted to kill her.”

Neither the Captain nor his new bride, the former Sylvia Williams, paid any heed to what high society said. There would be two more pregnancies, a total of three children, two boys and a girl.

If Nassau’s upper crust curled its upper lip, Andros was the opposite. There, the man who could build or fix anything was welcome as one of them. “We lived on a hill in Mangrove Cay and had the first house to have electricity,” recalls Olvin Rees. “I remember the windmill and we had solar energy as well from that time. We had these big tanks on stilts painted black to store and heat water providing a gravity feed through the house.”

Men would look to Rees to help them fix something on their boats or anything that had an engine. He was as clever with his hands as he was with the tools of his mind and continued to write scholarly articles, historic treatise pamphlets and one particularly controversial piece on the parting of the

WING Commander Lionel Rees VC, OBE, MC, AFC, Officer Commanding RAF Helwan, Egypt, 1942 and, right, Mrs Sylvia Rees and Aline (Eileen) at Mangrove Cay, Andros, April 1952.

Red Sea. In Andros, with sufficient supplies of fresh water, life was good. Olvin Rees, a serial entrepreneur, and long-time chairman of Bahamas National Pride, says only hatred and mistreatment, particularly of his mother, spoiled what would have been an idyllic early childhood.

“A lot of things were denied him – more honours, Queen’s honours, titles, invitations, perhaps a knighthood,” says Olvin. “Here was a man who had been around the world, had so many adventures, who would have dreamed he would end up in Mangrove Cay?” Olvin’s childhood memories are filled with thoughts of running down a hill, chasing after his parents to climb aboard the boat and go fishing, until his father’s health began to fail. The journey toward death was long and hard. The same rejection that spewed hatred at the thought of a highly decorated aviation hero marrying a black Bahamian less than half his age met them at the entrance to the hospital.

According to Tribune publisher Eileen Carron, who was a junior reporter on her father’s paper in the early to mid-1950s, the Dupuch family had to intervene. “She was his wife, the mother of his children and they would not let her visit him in the hospital just because she was black and they disapproved of the marriage,” Mrs Carron recalls vividly. “We had to intervene and plead with them. Finally, she was allowed in to see him.”

After her husband’s death in 1955, Mrs Rees suffered greater indignities.

According to one source who asked not to be named, the white oligarchy from Nassau stormed the house in Mangrove Cay and took what they felt she had no business having, including his decorations and honours. They stole everything of value, he says. The children were left with nothing, the offspring of a man his biographer would later call “the most interesting character ever to be awarded the Victoria Cross.”

A pastor from a Nassau

THREE generations of a Bahamian family in Wales last month where a plane was named after Lionel Rees VC

church who had been entrusted with funds by Captain Rees pursed them out as he felt he could when the need was great, sometimes accompanied by an apology. For 40 years, Mrs Rees continued to fight the system, working as a domestic and trying to collect the pension to which she was entitled and finally received.

In Lyford Cay, employers did not want to let her go. They respected her work ethic and the strong ground she stood. Eventually, through hard work and perseverance, she bought a little house. Sylvia Rees died in 1995 at the age of 66. She had been accepted at last and her funeral was attended by hundreds. She had not lived long enough to see the jet being named after her husband.

All three of the children, two light-skinned and Olvin who is dark, share a powerful respect for their mother.

During the trip to Wales where they and their children and grandchildren were treated as royalty, they reunited over a love story for the ages with its duality as in most love stories. Its angst, its joy, its tears and its triumphs.

“We had three generations of our family attending the RAF event, travelling from The Bahamas and USA and were all extremely honoured and excited that my father was being recognised in this way,” said,” said Olvin, speaking for the family. “ If the world marks the manner of Captain Lionel Rees VC and an RAF plane is the first to carry an individual’s name in more than 50 years, the Rees family is equally proud of their mother, a woman who never complained about the financial wounds and verbal knives she endured because she fell in love with an interesting man – maybe the most interesting ever to live in The Bahamas – and he with her.

Editorial View - Page 4

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, July 2, 2019, PAGE 11

Hong Kong police evict protesters HONG KONG Associated Press HUNDREDS of protesters swarmed into Hong Kong’s legislature last night, defacing portraits of lawmakers and spray-painting prodemocracy slogans in the chamber before vacating it as riot police cleared surrounding streets with tear gas and then moved inside.

The three-hour occupation, which ended early today, came on the 22nd anniversary of the former British colony’s return to China, a city holiday, and reflected mounting frustration with Hong Kong’s leader for not responding to protesters’ demands after several weeks of demonstrations. The protests were sparked by a government attempt to change extradition laws to allow suspects to be sent to China for trial.

Protesters whacked away at thick glass windows until they shattered and then pried open steel security gates. Police initially retreated as the protesters entered, avoiding a confrontation and giving them the run of the building.

Demonstrators stood on lawmakers’ desks and painted over the territory’s emblem on a wall. The

A PROTESTER holds up a placard during a rally in Hong Kong yesterday. crowd also wrote slogans calling for a democratic election of the city’s leader and denouncing the extradition legislation. Many wore yellow and white helmets, face masks and the black T-shirts that have become their uniform.

Police then announced that they would soon move in. A spokesman had earlier broadcast a warning that “appropriate force” would be used. Officers approached shortly after midnight and entered the legislative chambers after protesters had already left. There was no

immediate word on any arrests or injuries.

The actions prompted organizers of a separate peaceful march against the extradition bill to change the endpoint of their protest from the legislature to a nearby park, after police asked them to call it off or change the route. Police wanted the march to end earlier in the Wan Chai district, but organizers said that would leave out many people who planned to join the march along the way.

Police estimated 190,000 people

joined the peaceful march, the third major one in as many weeks.

Organisers estimated the number at 550,000.

The extradition proposal has heightened fears of eroding freedoms in the territory, which Britain returned to China on July 1, 1997.

Debate on the measure has been suspended indefinitely. Protesters want the bills formally withdrawn and Hong Kong’s embattled leader, Carrie Lam, to resign.

Lam, who has come under withering criticism for trying to push the legislation through, pledged to be more responsive to public sentiment but has not responded directly to protesters’ demands.

In an address after a flag-raising ceremony marking the anniversary of the handover, Lam said the protests and two earlier marches that attracted hundreds of thousands of participants have taught her that she needs to listen better to youth and people in general.

“This has made me fully realize that I, as a politician, have to remind myself all the time of the need to grasp public sentiments accurately,” she told the gathering in the city’s cavernous convention centre.

JAPAN RESUMES COMMERCIAL WHALING DESPITE LOW DEMAND HONG KONG Associated Press

JAPANESE whalers returned to port yesterdat with their first catch after resuming commercial whaling for the first time in 31 years, achieving the long-cherished goal of traditionalists that is seen as largely a lost cause amid slowing demand for the meat and changing views on conservation.

A fleet of five boats left the northern Japanese port of Kushiro and brought back two minke whales.

A crane lifted them and slowly placed them on the back of a truck to be taken to a portside factory for

processing. Workers in blue plastic overalls poured sake from paper cups onto the first whale to express thanks and celebrate the first catch.

It was the first commercial hunt since 1988, when Japan switched to what it called research whaling after commercial whaling was banned by the International Whaling Commission.

The Fisheries Agency said the hunts will stay within the country’s exclusive economic zone, and the catch quota for the rest of this year will be 227 whales, fewer than the 637 that Japan hunted in the Antarctic and the northwestern Pacific in its research programme in recent years.

A WHALE is unloaded at a port in Kushiro, Japan yesterday.

TALIBAN BOMB KILLS SIX AND INJURES OVER 100 KABUL, Afghanistan Associated Press

THE Taliban set off a powerful bomb in downtown Kabul yesterday, killing at least six people and wounding more than a hundred, and sending a cloud of smoke billowing over the Afghan capital.

At least 26 children were among the wounded, many of whom were cut by shards of glass when the bomb shattered nearby windows, government spokesman Feroz Bashari said. He said a total of 105 people were hurt.

An education ministry spokeswoman, Nooria Nazhat, later raised the number of students who were slightly wounded to 51, from two schools.

The Taliban claimed the attack, which came as the insurgents were holding their latest round of talks with US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in the Gulf state of Qatar, where they have a political office.

The attack ended nearly 10 hours after it began with all five attackers dead, according to Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi.

Two police, a child, a private security guard and two passers-by were killed in the attack that began with a powerful car bomb, followed by a series of smaller explosions and a daylong gun battle, said Rahimi.

The Italian-run Emergency Hospital in Kabul — one of the largest hospitals in the Afghan capital treating war victims — said in a statement that it had received two bodies, including a child. Dozens more injured were treated, many of them later released.

The insurgents struck during the morning commute, and ambulance sirens wailed across the downtown area.