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CRASH COPTER’S BLACK BOX FOUND

• Wreckage brought to surface and shipped to US lab • Families mourn four young women, inseparable friends • Aircraft was on emergency dash to Florida hospital

FRIENDS Brittney Searson (left), Delaney Wykle (centre), Kameron Cline (right) and Jill Clark (below) all died when the helicopter they were in crashed into the sea last Thursday. Left: the helicopter being brought to the surface.

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net OFFICIALS have successfully located the flight recording device of the helicopter that crashed in waters off Abaco on Thursday, killing all seven people on board including American coal magnate billionaire Chris Cline.

Bahamas Air Accident Investigation Department

(AAID) Chief Investigator Delvin Major said the August SPA helicopter’s “black box” has been recovered and is heading to the National Transportation Safety Board in Washington, DC, for a read-out and further analysis.

An update from the AAID’s website said the debris from the ill-fated helicopter has been salvaged and is en route to Florida.

Once there, the helicopter

will be transported to a “secure facility” for further analysis.

Following confirmation of the complete craft at the facility, analysis and further documentation inclusive of sampling and the removal of certain parts and/or components will occur. Those parts will then be sent to other facilities as needed for

further analysis under “more controlled conditions,” the AAID’s website said.

Thus, Mr Major said officials won’t know exactly what went wrong on Thursday “for some time”. The AAID’s website said it is still “too early” to determine the causes of contributing factors in the accident. However, it said as more information is

gathered it will be “released as appropriate”.

According to the AAID, assisting in the investigation are representatives from Italy, where the aircraft was designed; Canada, where the aircraft was manufactured; the USA, where the helicopter was registered as well as The Bahamas, where the aircraft crashed.

Cline, a 60-year-old American coal tycoon, his 22-year-old daughter

Kameron and five other people, including the pilot, were on board the helicopter, registration number N32CC, that departed Big Grand Cay in the Abacos at around 2am for Fort Lauderdale to take one of the guests to hospital for an unspecified medical emergency.

It is suspected the chopper crashed minutes after takeoff.

SEE PAGE THREE

AS NATION CELEBRATES, GG PLEADS - REJECT DIVISION

By FARRAH JOHNSON

BAHAMIANS must “reject” the things that stir up division if they want to “preserve” the country’s legacy of hospitality, urged Governor General CA Smith.

Addressing the public on National Pride Day at a ceremony in Rawson Square on Friday, Mr Smith said Bahamians should strive to be on one accord and reject “divisiveness” that stems from “race, culture (and) creed”.

NATIONAL Pride Folk Festival.

“My fellow Bahamians, as we celebrate our 46 years as a sovereign nation, let us

remember that though we are many islands, we are only one nation called The Bahamas,” he said.

“Our little country could be an example to the world that there can be unity in diversity...We must reject those things that tend to divide us and commit to a spirit of love… and an abiding respect for our fellowmen and our country.”

Mr Smith said Bahamians should “hold their heads

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

SEE PAGE TEN

FREE tomorrow: your 46 years of independence supplement.

PAGE 2, Monday, July 8, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

AMERICAN Jordan Lindsey was killed by sharks while snorkeling with her family in waters off Rose Island.

Third shark attack in two weeks

AN American tourist was bitten by a shark while snorkelling in waters off Guana Cay on Thursday, becoming the third reported person attacked by a shark in Bahamian waters in two weeks.

Police said the Fort Lauderdale, Florida resident was snorkeling with two other Americans off Nippers Beach around 5.30pm on July 4 when he was bitten by the shark. Officers and paramedics from Marsh Harbour, Abaco responded and met the victim at the Marsh Harbour dock.

The 32-year-old man was taken to the Marsh Harbour Clinic and later flown to New Providence for further treatment, police said. His current condition is unknown.

The incident came a week after an American woman was killed by sharks while snorkeling with her family in waters off Rose Island.

Jordan Lindsey, a 21-year-old college student from California, was swimming when she was attacked on June 26, police said.

Her right arm was ripped off and the sharks bit her other arm and both legs, in addition to other areas. She was taken to hospital where she later died.

Days before that fatal attack, an American man survived a shark bite in Abaco, 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 humans with getting food,

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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 recently.

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 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.

The Bahamas has traditionally averaged several shark attacks per year.

Lindsey’s death was the first confirmed shark-related death since 2008.

THE TRIBUNE

WEEKEND: OSANO’S DREAM ELTON AND THE JAZZ MAN

Monday, July 8, 2019, PAGE 3 Sushi by the sea

INDEPENDENCE DAY TRAGEDY

JULY 4 HORROR US billionaire among seven Americans Food from the world at

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pages 8 & 9

killed in helicopter crash near Abaco

THE BODIES began to arrive in Grand Bahama early this morning.

Photo: DENISE MAYCOCK

By AVA TURNQUEST and DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Straff Reporters A HELICOPTER crash off Grand Cay, Abaco claimed the life of billionaire coal tycoon Chris Cline, his daughter and five other people yesterday.

Mr Cline died a day before his 61st birthday after their helicopter crashed as it was flying back to the United States, Close family friend West Virginia Governor Jim Justice confirmed the deaths in a series of tweets yesterday evening following reports that seven Americans had been found in a submerged helicopter some two miles offshore.

According to police, the helicopter (N32DCC) took off from

Big Grand Cay around 2am yesterday, on its way to Florida.

“The aircraft was reported missing to the Royal Bahamas Police Force at about 2.53pm on Thursday after it did not arrive at the intended destination,” the police statement read.

The helicopter was found overturned in 16 feet of water, off Grand Cay. Other victims were identified as David Jude, two young adults from Beckley, West Virginia, unidentified friends and an unidentified helicopter mechanic from Florida, according to the Register-Herald, a West Virginia newspaper.

Tourism and Aviation Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar told The Tribune the incident happened around 2am yesterday, however

local officials did not release information until last evening.

“It’s all very scant,” he said when asked about the reporting delay.

Mr D’Aguilar continued: “I’m sure the police will provide that information. I was advised it happened early this morning (Thursday). What then transpired from then and where we are now is still under investigation.”

Tributes poured in on social media for the seven passengers who perished in the crash, with many expressing shock and heartbreak over the tragedy.

The aircraft was headed to Fort Lauderdale with four women and three men, according to police.

SEE PAGE THREE

HOW The Tribune reported the accident last week.

BILLIONAIRE coal tycoon Chris Cline who died in a helicopter crash yesterday.

‘KNEE-JERK REACTION’ WON’T STOP CRIME

By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net

NATIONAL Security Minister Marvin Dames insists law enforcement will not allow emotional, “kneejerk” reactions to drive decision making in the fight against crime.

In interviews with The Tribune yesterday, both he and Commissioner of Police Anthony Ferguson stressed the importance of a “systematic” and “sustainable”

MARVIN DAMES approach.

Commissioner Ferguson highlighted officers will continue to be

“visibly seen” across New Providence.

Their comments came after a spate of gun violence in the capital, including a traumatic incident on Sunday where more than a dozen people were shot while attending a birthday party in Montel Heights.

“These things, these incidences. . . didn’t get here overnight,” Commissioner Ferguson said. “And so you’ll find that you’re SEE PAGE THREE

A COMIC’S VIEW

NO SURPRISE AS BPL STILL PUBLIC ENEMY NO. 1

SEE PAGE EIGHT

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

THE DOOMED helicopter is brought to the surface. from page one It wasn’t until 12 hours later, however, at around 2.53pm on Thursday, July 4, that the helicopter was reported missing. After the aircraft was reported overdue, search and rescue efforts were immediately launched. The helicopter was later discovered submerged in 16 feet of water about two miles off Grand Cay, Abaco, where Cline owned a private cay.

The tragedy drew widespread tributes for Cline throughout the US, including from President Donald Trump who tweeted on Friday: “My deepest sympathies go out to the family and friends of great businessman and energy expert Chris Cline, his wonderful daughter, Kameron, and their friends, on the tragic accident which took place in the Bahamas.”

In addition to Cline and his daughter Kameron, the other five persons on board died. They were Brittney Layne Searson of Palm Beach, Florida; Jillian Nicole Clarke of Los Angeles, California; David Jude of Kentucky; Delaney Wykle of Washington, DC; and the pilot, Geoffrey Lee Painter of Barnstaple, United Kingdom.

According to an Associated Press report, Ms Cline and Ms Wykle were childhood best friends. Wykle had recently graduated from West Virginia University with a nursing degree, and had travelled to The Bahamas to be with her friend.

“She passed her (nursing) boards on Tuesday,” her father Paul Wykle said.

“And died on Thursday.”

Ms Cline, Searson, 21, and Clark, 22, were also friends and were graduated from Louisiana State University (LSU) in May. Searson was also Ms Cline’s classmate at the Benjamin School in Palm Beach, Florida.

According to a report quoting her mother Kimberly Searson, her daughter was “a leader, strong, smart girl, beautiful” who

CORRECTION

IN the July 5 edition of The Tribune, under the headline “Gibson Retains Knight To Be His New Attorney,” it was incorrectly reported that former Cabinet minister Shane Gibson had fired English attorney Edward Fitzgerald as his lead counsel.

While Mr Gibson did retain a new lawyer, Jamaican lawyer Keith Knight, to represent him in his upcoming bribery trial, The Tribune understands Mr Fitzgerald remains a part of the legal team. The Tribune apologises for the error.

Black box found as crashed helicopter brought to surface The vessel arrived at about 12.39am at the Police Marine Base in Lucaya, near the Grand Bahama Sailing Club. Morticians from three local funeral businesses removed the bodies, which were placed in five hearses and transferred to the Rand Memorial Hospital morgue.

CHRIS Cline speaking in 2014 as Marshall University dedicates the new indoor practice facility as the Chris Cline Athletic Complex in Huntington, West Virginia.

travelled regularly with the Cline family. The Benjamin School described Ms Kline and Ms Searson as “caring and humble students.” Steven Anderson, a social studies teacher, said in a statement the pair were “inseparable, just terrific.”

Ms Clarke was remembered as a star volleyball player at Mount Carmel Academy in New Orleans.

All three were sorority sisters at Phi Mu, which held a candlelight vigil for them on Saturday.

Cline was said to be an avid risk-taker, who owned several passenger jets, a 160-foot yacht named Mine Games, and had installed a

go-cart track and 200-foot waterslide at his house in Beckley. He is survived by children Tanner, Logan, and Candace; and brothers Greg and Kenneth.

When news of the tragedy broke Cline’s older brother Greg Cline told reporters: “I still can’t believe it. It’s like a dream. ... We were so close. All of us were.”

Greg Cline said his brother was a philanthropist who built orphanages in Haiti, donated $8.5 million to Marshall University and gave $5 million to West Virginia University. He also developed a sports centre in his father’s name in Beckley, the southern West

Virginia city their family called home and where Chris Cline will be interred.

Cline’s political activities included a $1 million donation to President Trump’s inaugural committee and hosting a reception for Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in 2012.

Greg Cline said his brother “gave to anybody that needed anything. ... He always knew what to do.”

The remains of the victims were taken by boat from Abaco to Grand Bahama early Friday morning by officers of the Royal Bahamas Police Force Marine Division.

At about 2.45pm on Friday, the bodies of the victims were put on a Bahamasair jet flight to Nassau.

AAID will provide updates on its website at www.baaid. org, on its Twitter page at bahamas_aaid, and through its WhatsApp Chat.

Editorial View - Page 4

PAGE 4, Monday, July 8, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

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Will reparations talk ever be more than just talk?

HAS the time now come for serious discussion about reparations?

Certainly former Minister of State for Legal Affairs Damian Gomez feels the question should be raised.

Angered by Brent Symonette’s comments about race in The Bahamas, Mr Gomez put the matter squarely back on the abuses suffered by the ancestors of black Bahamians – and said that there is a need to talk about race in The Bahamas, but that we should be talking about reparations.

Reparations is a perennially thorny issue, and one that has surfaced again in recent times internationally.

In the US, the discussion has renewed after scholar Ta-Nehisi Coates testified before Congress on the issue. It’s become a talking point in the Democratic candidate race too, but will it ever be more than a talking point?

During the last PLP government, a committee of no less than 22 people was formed to explore the issue of reparations. There were pastors and businessmen, journalists and poets, historians and educators. An action plan was promised – and the Bahamian government endorsed a ten-point plan in 2014 with CARICOM heads of government to seek a formal apology, some form of debt cancellation and reparations from former colonisers such as Britain, France and The Netherlands.

Little has been heard since. That seems to perpetually be the case when the topic comes around.

Committees form. People talk. Nothing happens.

There are practical concerns of course as to how reparations should work.

Who should pay for the harm caused by racial subjugation of the past – and who should be compensated? For example, while Britain might be held to account for those subjected to slavery under its watch, what of the 7,000 or so slaves freed by the Royal Navy from slave ships intercepting the trade in the 19th century who were resettled in The Bahamas? Who is to account for those reparations?

It’s complex – and anyone holding out for their share of land or their lump sum of cash is more than likely to be left waiting. And waiting.

Are there better ways to benefit descendants of slaves? Britain might well be seeking new trade discussions if Brexit goes ahead – could such debate be part of that? Package benefits for Bahamians such as agreements on education in the UK, or investment into the country in health or schools that will benefit future generations. Perhaps seeking more tangible benefits that will help people to thrive and use that to close off the past is the way – rather than another round of meetings that go nowhere.

The slave trade was absolutely an injustice, and injustices should be paid for – the question is not whether such reparations are deserved, the questions is what is the best way to deliver to lift the descendants of slaves as a whole?

We’d love to think there is a chance of real progress on the issue – but experience shows that is less than likely.

The faces of tragedy THE pictures told the story. As each of the victims of the fatal helicopter crash in Abaco was identified, so too did we see the pictures of the youngest to have lost their lives.

Vibrant photos of young people doing what they should – enjoying their lives and living it to the fullest. Filled with laughter, having fun

– it makes the disaster all the worse.

They had everything to live for, the world at their feet – and instead it was all snatched away in a horrific moment.

Our hearts go out to the families of the victims. No one should have to suffer such a loss, and for so many families to do so is truly a tragedy.

Enough to make your eyes bulge EDITOR, The Tribune A POPULAR phrase these days is, “there are many ways to skin a cat”, with apologies to cat and animal lovers. In the context of retail, or commercial business, one might find the cat being skinned by a not very subtle increase in the selling price. Or, a little more subtly, a reduction in the quantity of the product being sold but at the previous price. In the world of our good friend Junior Roberts, if he should slip, either way on products that are “price controlled” the authorities will be around with the cuffs, and ready to take him downtown.

But our not so favourite internet and television provider Cable Bahamas, seems to be immune to things like this, although they are supposed to be governed by the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority.

Cable Bahamas tend to use the more subtle method of skinning the cat and just

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net change, or remove, or substitute, the programming that they have contracted to provide us, for the price that we have agreed to pay.

Several months ago, pleading financial difficulties, they summarily dropped the Fox News Channels and substituted something else. No reduction in the package price mind you, but when enough people screamed at them, they reluctantly brought it back, but at AN INCREASED PRICE. Recently, they’ve had their financial scissors out again, upsetting another segment of their clientele, by cutting TCM, AMC, Hallmark, and a couple of popular sports channels.

And then, to add insult to injury, they are replacing these programmes with Spanish language programmes, as if we are

a multicultural Spanish/ English society, when, if anything, we are French Patois/ English.

But that’s not all, and the media bluster you hear about the sister company ALIV, one might think that they are rolling in money, but on a recent visit to their Mall store, with a service complaint, I was given a site visit time between 1.0 and 3.0 on …….. eight days away? It used to be three days max, so now, for the same service price they have almost tripled the service time lag. With bulging eyes, I asked the young lady if I would be given a pro-rata credit on my $250.00 a month billing, as I had no TV service and would not have any for the next eight days. She was a little taken aback I think, but she seemed totally unaware of what’s happening behind the scenes at her company.

BRUCE G. RAINE Nassau July 7, 2019

Uninformed opportunist chasing clicks EDITOR, The Tribune

to break up the nation.”

In all likelihood, the PLP I SAW a Facebook video chairman was referring to of a Free National Move- a group of white Abacoment (FNM) supporter nians called the Greater alleging that a contro- Abaco Council or the versial media personality Abaco Independent Moveand political opportunist ment. The Greater Abaco has described Prime Min- Council, led by former ister Dr. Hubert Minnis Marsh Harbour MP Erras being an Uncle Tom. ington “Bumpy” Watkins, Undoubtedly, this latest Leonard Thompson and inflammatory rhetoric by Sherwin Archer, all fought the political opportunist is tirelessly for Abaco to stemming from the award- secede from The Bahaing of several government mas, after it was revealed contracts to Bahamas Hot by the then PLP governMix, a company which St ment under Sir Lynden Anne’s MP Brent Symon- Pindling that it would push ette reportedly has familial for independence, no later ties with. When Symon- than 1973. With a debilitatette’s father, the late Sir ing economic recession in Roland Symonette, was the United States due to honoured by the Advisory OPEC’s oil embargo on the Committee for National West for its support for the Honours in July 2018, State of Israel, independProgressive Liberal Party ence figured prominently (PLP) National Chair in the PLP’s 1972 general Fred Mitchell vehemently election platform, seeing opposed the move, even that Pindling and Co. were going as far as labelling utterly powerless to curtail Free National Movement the negative impact of the Chair Carl Culmer as an economic drought, brought Uncle Tom. Among the list on by external forces. of reasons cited by MitchIn late 1971, Watkins ell for not awarding the along with Messrs Thomplate Symonette with such son and Archer went to a prestigious honour was England to plead on behalf that “he gave aid and com- of hundreds of white Abafort to a group that wanted conians who feared the

prospects of being severed from the United Kingdom.

They apparently did not trust the black PLP government managing this country’s external affairs.

With the dissolution of the Greater Abaco Council in 1972, Watkins would go on to lead the Council for a Free Abaco along with Chuck Hall and Albert Albury, which also vehemently opposed The Bahamas becoming an independent state. Watkins’ initiative was supported

by FNM Parliamentarians Cleophas Adderley, Michael Lightbourn and Sir Roland Symonette. For all intents and purposes, Sir Lynden and the PLP were successful in countering the anti-independence arguments of the Abaconians before the English. Apparently, the PLP has never forgiven Sir Roland for lending moral support to the ambitious Watkins and his Abaco Independent Movement, whose undertakings could’ve easily been construed as treasonous to black Bahamians. Serving for a staggering 52 years in the House of Assembly, Sir Roland’s support for Watkins and Co was one of the

few mistakes committed during his illustrious career in politics. I don’t believe the PLP should hold this against him anymore than FNMs should hold anything against Sir Lynden, despite allegations that they were systematically victimised by his PLP administration during the 1970s and 1980s.

As for the Uncle Tom reference by the controversial media personality, he was undoubtedly influenced by Mitchell. As a well read politician, Mitchell, unlike the political opportunist, is obviously familiar with Harriet Beecher Stowe’s 1852 novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which laid the groundwork for the Civil War in the United States between 1861 -- 1865. One of the main factors leading to the war was the 11 Southern States seceding from the Union in 1860, over their unwillingness to end slavery. Thankfully, the Abaco Independent Movement did not lead to an civil war in The Bahamas, although one can argue that the motivating factor which led to the opposition to independence was fear among the white Abaconians and United Bahamian

Party elements within the FNM. It had nothing to do with racial superiority.

That’s one reason I have no issue seeing Sir Roland on our $50 banknote or him being considered a national hero by the Advisory Committee for National Honours.

While I didn’t read Beecher Stowe’s novel, I did watch the 1987 film adaptation of the novel, starring prominent African American actors Avery Brooks, Phylicia Rashad and Samuel L Jackson. In the United States, an Uncle Tom is an African American who is devoutly loyal to white people. This may have been the thinking of renown American entertainer Harry Belafonte, when he in 2002 labelled then Secretary of State in the George W Bush administration Colin Powell a “house slave.” Considering the United States’ abysmal record in its treatment of African Americans and other ethnic minorities in the Antebellum South during Jim Crow, Belafonte’s controversial remarks had historical context, especially in light of the lopsided ratio of whites to

blacks on Capitol Hill. In The Bahamas, however, the racial situation is markedly different. With a population of nearly 400,000, 92.7 percent of which is black, whites make up only 4.7 percent. Clearly, if there’s any racial marginalisation in this country, it has to be felt by our white brothers and sisters.

In both the Lower and Higher Houses of Parliament, of the 39 MPs and 16 senators, only three are white: Brent Symonette, James Albury and Clay Sweeting.

This ethnic disparity in The Bahamas in 2019 is unacceptable. With that being said, Minnis being labelled an Uncle Tom is totally inappropriate. The charge makes no sense, considering the racial context of The Bahamas in 2019.

If anything, it should be the other way around.

The uninformed political opportunist was only looking to create a clickbait among his gullible grassroots following.

KEVIN EVANS Freeport Grand Bahama July 4, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, July 8, 2019, PAGE 5

LGBTI GROUP WANTS TO STAGE PRIDE PARADE IN 2020

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

THE local lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex community has set its sights on 2020 to host a pride parade.

Spokeswoman Alexus D’Marco told The Tribune that the recently formed Bahamas Organisation of LGBTI Affairs

and community allies have formed a working group called Pride Bahamas to stage events under the theme “The Rebirth of Pride Bahamas Centering LGBTIQA People in The Bahamas’ Future”.

“The objectives of Pride is to create and celebrate a sense of belonging in the Caribbean as being LGBTI,” Ms D’Marco said.

“Pride is an opportunity for

PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis.

Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net THE decision to lease the Town Centre Mall to house the General Post Office has come under renewed scrutiny after former Cabinet minister Brent Symonette revealed Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis called him personally to negotiate the deal last year.

Yesterday, the Office of the Prime Minister declined to confirm the date of that call, and further suggested the admission made by the former Minister of Financial Services, Trade and Immigration represented a breach of confidentiality.

“As a rule, the Prime Minister never breaches confidentiality when it comes to private discussions he has with Cabinet ministers, which he has on a daily basis,” read an OPM statement in response to questions put forward by The Tribune.

“The assertion that the Prime Minister would personally and unilaterally negotiate a proposal that has gone on over two administrations is nonsensical,” it added.

Mr Symonette, who has a 50 percent stake in the property and resigned from Cabinet last week, said he discussed “the whole question of conflict of interest” during that call, and was informed of the decision to table a resolution in Parliament.

His comments on ZNS radio show “The Conversation” with host Shenique Miller last week contradicted the statement he gave last year, when he told The Tribune he had no knowledge of the resolution.

The Official Opposition and the Democratic National Alliance have called for Dr Minnis to resign alongside a full disclosure on the matter.

Opposition Leader Philip Davis told The Tribune his parliamentary team was still considering its options; however, the next step could see a call for a vote of no confidence in Parliament.

Yesterday, Pineridge MP Frederick McAlpine - who voted against the resolution last year - said he would not go so far as to support a no confidence vote. However, Mr McAlpine said he felt vindicated in his stance against the deal and questioned whether the phone call between Mr Symonette and Dr Minnis took place ahead of a Cabinet decision on the matter.

Attorney General Carl Bethel declined comment on the matter.

The OPM statement read: “The post office relocation agreement was a collective decision by the Cabinet of The Bahamas and was debated on the floor of the House of Assembly for the entire public to witness. This process was carried out in a very transparent manner. The government fully vetted every possible option and the Town Centre Mall location was the best, as even the PLP admitted.”

On the ZNS show last week, Mr Symonette sought to quash claims of self-dealing and conflict of interest that have plagued his political tenure.

“I had no discussion with anyone about it,” Mr Symonette said, concerning the Minnis administration’s use of the building.

LGBTI Bahamas to reflect on their journey to mark the strides and the chart the way forward to an inclusive Bahamas where they can be there more free, respected, loved and accepted. .

“We are currently in our planning stages and our aim is to create a safe and enabling environment for all. Providing a safe space for our community and guests that will join us

in our rebirth of pride is one of our main obligations and priorities.”

The launch is set for May 2020, with events to be held in June.

The Bahamas Organisation of LGBTI Affairs was formed earlier this year to establish a formal office for advocacy against stigma for the community.

Ms D’Marco said the organisation was critical in order to have

a seat at the table at respective regional levels.

She is also the lead spokesperson of the D’Marco Group and the newly launched United Caribbean Trans Network (UCTrans).

Pride parades are events that celebrate LGBT social and self acceptance, achievements, legal rights and dignity. They are staged around the world.

New calls for Minnis to step down over links with Symonette “I figured there’s no way they were going to rent from my brother or myself so I left it alone. The phone rang one morning… I was in Mexico. It was early in the morning, the PM and I get up early, and PM said to me we’re going to go ahead with the lease. I said, ‘PM I can deliver it by Christmas if it’s no Rolls Royce.’

Mr Symonette continued: “We got to reduce the size of the building. It can’t be 70,000 -80,000 sq ft. It has to be a Volkswagen not a Rolls Royce, we had that discussion. I said, ‘you have to deal with the whole question of conflict of interest.’ He said, ‘we’ll do a resolution in the House of Assembly,’ and he said, ‘what will the rent be?’ And I said, ‘$12 a sq.’

“And I came back,” he said, “my partners dealt with the Ministry of Works, everything else. We pretty (much) did the plan that was left in place by the PLP government except for the cafeteria upstairs and some other space and the building was opened after some massive changes in the plans, at the rent of $12 a sq ft for some 56,000 sq ft. At $12 as opposed to $25.”

According to those figures, the government is renting the building at $672,000 per month, and $8,064,000

per year. However, the lease agreement remains unsigned as the government is reportedly still deliberating over the square footage, particularly the lease of additional storage space.

Mr Symonette furthered the landlord outfitted the facility with “some $500,000 worth of extras” like furniture, which the government will pay back over 60 months at an interest rate of prime.

During last week’s show, the St Anne’s MP did not disclose why he was in Mexico at the time of the phone call with the prime minister.

However, he traveled to Mexico with the Bahamas Financial Services Board to attend the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners LATAM Conference 2018. The conference was staged October 4-5, 2018.

The Tribune reported on the government’s plan to bring a resolution to Parliament concerning the lease of facilities at Town Centre Mall in an article published on October 17, 2018.

When contacted on October 16 for comment, Mr Symonette said he was in Miami, Florida and knew nothing about the proposed rental of the property.

“I’m not sure because I have been out of town so I wasn’t part of Cabinet

today. I’m at a conference in Miami,” Mr Symonette told The Tribune at that time.

Mr Symonette added: “I wouldn’t have been part of any Cabinet discussions on that.”

At Parliament on October 17, Dr Minnis told reporters there was “complete transparency”.

“I think it’s complete transparency and I don’t want to get into any details because they are going to debate it,” Dr Minnis said, “but I think it’s complete transparency and if you have done due diligence, searched around, the Bahamian public have been without an adequate post office now in excess of three years the matter must be resolved.”

Mr Symonette declared his interest in Town Centre Mall to Parliament on October 24. “The mall is owned by my brother 50 percent and myself 50 percent,” he said on ZNS. In a statement yesterday, the Office of the Prime Minister maintained the decision to relocate the General Post Office to the Town Centre Mall was best deal for the Bahamian people, adding the details of the agreement were a matter of public record.

“The proposal was 50 percent cheaper than the plan approved by the PLP

for the same capability and at the same location,” the statement read.

“This administration worked quickly and diligently to make sure the more then 100 postal employees and the post office issue were resolved in a cost-effective manner.

“Something the opposition never did,” it added.

Yesterday, Mr Davis said Mr Symonette’s admission cast the government’s unprecedented resolution in a new light.

“The government has leased many buildings in the country,” Mr Davis said yesterday, “this is the first time in the history of Parliament, to my knowledge, that any lease was brought to Parliament to be approved by Parliament. What should have been brought was a resolution to excuse him from vacating his seat because the government was leasing from him…they eventually brought that.

“But it was extraordinary and now you understand why he wanted the resolution, to try and bolster his cause to say there was no conflict. A resolution of Parliament cannot solve that.”

“We’re reviewing all our options on it,” Mr Davis added, “we are calling for the prime minister to account and step aside.”

PAGE 6, Monday, July 8, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

LOAD SHEDDING TO CONTINUE FOR REST OF WEEK

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

LOAD SHEDDING will continue this week in New Providence as beleaguered Bahamas Power and Light attempts to get more assets online, according to Executive Director Patrick Rollins.

Still, Mr Rollins maintained the company’s position that the country was not in the midst of an energy crisis.

“Crisis mode is when there is no improvements in sight,” Mr Rollins said.

“We have to get a couple of assets on this week to significantly minimise the amount of load shedding the company will have to do.”

Over the weekend, consumers across the capital experienced rolling outages in two to three hour blocks and a sustained outage in western New Providence of more than seven hours yesterday.

According to BPL, a main transformer for western New Providence tripped during a storm on Sunday morning.

“Initial call came in to

PATRICK ROLLINS BPL at 8.23am,” read an update posted to the power company’s Facebook page.

“As a result, crews were dispatched to the area and were able to restore service around 4pm. However, due to a blown overhead fuse, a small number of customers in the Venetian West area are experiencing low power conditions,” the Facebook update read. “An overhead team is expected to be onsite within 15 minutes to remedy the problem. Updates will continue as necessary,” read the update, which was posted at 6.30pm.

BPL Abaco also reported an Island wide outage at 4am that was restored 6.30am yesterday.

• OFFICIALS at Bahamas Power and Light have confirmed that a police report was filed over the illegal dumping that reportedly caused an island-wide blackout last week.

An official confirmed the police report was filed at the Western Police Station by a security guard.

The dumping occurred within close proximity of a transmission pole, which caused volt lines to clash into each other.

It led to a major fault on the transmission network on Tuesday, according to

Works Minister Desmond Bannister. He told Parliament on Wednesday the incident had nothing to with BPL nor its historic generation and transmission issues. The incident could have very easily resulted in the illegal dumper being tragically “fried” Mr Bannister said, had he gone any closer to the electricity pole.

BPL has been grappling with generation issues this summer and began load shedding on June 19. Officials have said the situation will not likely improve until this fall.

Entrepreneurs hedging their bets with a $2m cannabis investment

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

PIONEER Bret “King of Kush” Bogue and former IT director Yorick Brown are hedging their bets on a Bahamian cannabis industry with a $2m investment in a local growing facility.

Mr Brown, of Browns Point Ventures Ltd, said he and Mr Bogue - as partners in the firm Imperial Investments - have inked a memorandum of understanding with Lucayan Tropical Produce to lease a 20,000 sq metre hydroponic greenhouse with expanded capacity of up to 60,000 sq metres.

“As far as investments,” Mr Bogue said, “our initial investment will be upwards US$10m and from that we anticipate upwards of $30m in total financing for the projects that we are undertaking. Our key projects…what we are trying

PARTNERS of Imperial Investments speak about their investment in cannabis. Pictured are, left, Bret Bogue and Yorick Brown.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

to provide is an alternative solution to banking and the insurance business, as far as it pertains to the cannabis and hemp industry.

“We see that not only

the United States and the European Union are having a difficult time banking the money that have been made (in cannabis) and we feel that we have a system right

now that, with checks and balances, would allow for transparency for not only this country but the world to use us as the go to on how to bank and insure.”

Mr Brown said the firm plans to go after mass production of hemp as its first target, given it was not psychoactive and therefore held less stigma, and could be used for both medicinal and industrial uses.

“Cannabis will change the world and we want to be the leaders,” said Mr Brown, who underscored its diversity with applications across a wide range of sectors like food, clothing, shelter, education and energy.

“Bret is a master grower, he’s a legend in his own right. Obviously, the lease agreement has not started as yet because there has been no permission by Minister (of Health Duane) Sands…but we’ve locked down the exclusive right to use the greenhouse for a year with the view that hopefully within a year, the government will have made its decision.”

He continued: “What (Lucayan Tropical) doing is growing micro greens and other things. They have been doing that for quite a while, but the Symonettes as you see they have been going into other actual avenues. So me coming along and saying let me take that off your hands, that was something they were interested in.”

Health Minister Dr Duane Sands has maintained the government will not consider granting any applications for cannabis use under the Dangerous Drugs Act until the Bahamas National Commission on Marijuana has completed its report codifying Bahamian attitudes.

Mr Brown quit his job as an IT director two years ago to plunge headfirst into an industry he believes will dramatically improve the country’s economic, and environmental, sustainability.

He said the decision to lock down exclusive rights to the greenhouse facility for a year, represents an undertaking of good faith as all signs point to a global end to cannabis prohibition by early next year.

Mr Bogue, an industry pioneer, is the founder of North Californian seed breeding company Apothecary Genetics. Imperial

Investments is a division of the firm targeting banking futures and reinsurance of international hemp and cannabis businesses.

It aims to provide “a closed loop transparent ecosystem for the hemp and cannabis industry to bank and insure worldwide”.

The two are pursuing the hemp venture as an entry point. “We’re focused more on hemp,” Mr Brown said, “because of the fact that we have hemp plywood that we can actually use. We’re ready to go right now, with biomass out of the US and be able to have a place in Freeport that makes plywood and planks that you can get for around $8.

“That’s what we are focusing on,” he continued, “that’s what we want the Bahamas to realise, it’s more than the guys smoking on the block.”

For his part, Mr Bogue has over 30 years in the cannabis industry as a grower and was the first American to win the coveted Cannabis Cup at a leading trade show and festival in the Netherlands for the strain “Kaia Kush” in 2007. He won again in Jamaica in 2015 for the strain “Jah Cure OG”.

“The Bahamas has a chance to separate itself from the other Caribbean islands,” said Mr Bogue, who yesterday underscored the importance of public education on the distinction between hemp and marijuana.

The pair spoke to The Tribune as they gear up for the start of filming a docsseries on the potential for a cannabis industry in The Bahamas.

Mr Brown said the series, called “HEMPire” will focus on developments in the country and the track of his company and its challenges.

The series will be produced by Bishop-Lyons Entertainment, whose projects include partnerships with Fox, MTV, AMC, HGTV, CBS Films, Discovery, he said.

“We are going to show step by step, where in The Bahamas we could potentially grow,” Mr Brown said, “when we get permission of course.”

MONDAY, JULY 8, 2019

THE STORIES BEHIND THE NEWS

Why vilify Symonette?

The white oligarchs were Biggest And Best!by replaced OBITS black ones who INSIDE have failed us : CARS, CARS, CARS & MORE CARS

he Tribune A1MAIN

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/7 BREAKING NEWS ON TRIBUNE242.COM

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T BLAME BPL

By Malcolm Strachan

It’s absolutely preposter- colour overshadows what award himself a conshould otherwise be a tract. The Cabinet made ous thinking.

Have we stopped to think decorated career in poli- the decision to select THIS past week potentially marked former how the average standard tics. Moreover, if we were the Town Centre Mall to Minister of Financial Ser- of living has plummeted in to lose sight of the larger house the new post office. vices, Trade and Industry the last half-century? We picture and only focus on Bahamas Hot Mix was and Immigration Brent would be fooling ourselves Symonette’s race or the judged the most qualiSymonette’s last time in if we believe Symonette is wealth he’s amassed, we fied bidder for the water the Cabinet - and if we are solely to blame. Rather, we would be missing the forest improvement projects on the Family Islands and brave enough to look our- should all replace the polit- for the trees.

“I think if I had run as extensions for the runway selves in the mirror, it may ical kool-aid with some be an instructive moment in truth serum and realise we leader of the FNM there at Linden Pindling airwere duped by many of our would have been a bar- port. The facts are these our history.

Symonette’s decision to black leaders. While the rier, if I tried to run as PM, were decisions made by resign - though inconceiv- Pindling-led government but I’m Bahamian. You Cabinet, yet somehow able when looking through that defeated the UBP exe- see the backlash against Symonette walks away the prism of political biases cuted a memorable feat, my resignation and all the - was no doubt tough. This how has life changed for comments, maybe The Bahamas isn’t ready for it,” isn’t to suggest he is enam- common Bahamians?

They promised us every Symonette said in a recent oured with the pomp of er being a Cabinet Minister. black Bahamian would interview.

It’s sad to say it, but he Rather, because anyone be wealthy and live abunely dantly. However, we can may be right. that nets the kind of bottom ce The reality is we live in line Symonette does in pri- look around us today and de an overwhelming majorsee that was a farce. vate life has to have a true ed The white oligarchs ity black country, and the on dedication to service to put es. up with how brutal Baha- were simply supplanted by likelihood we will have a black ones. And as for the white prime minister in the ed mian politics can be. ars There will be many who common Bahamian, we near future is minimal at in best. Some may even say it offer a more sinister motive know their story too well. aris more likely we will have Incessant murders. for Symonette’s decision se unemployment. a female prime minister to re-enter frontline poli- Record before one that is white and tics after falling back from Record cost of living. viEvery time another male. Certainly, this is the the scene in 2012 when the by PLP dethroned the FNM. murder occurs in the inner case with so many backen But one has to wonder cities, it is a young black ward mindsets around the lls es why anyone would subject man dying. The excruciat- country - many of whom nts themselves to such abuse, if ing screams we hear are are members and supportnot for a passion to see the those of the black mother ers of the PLP that are staring down at the blood- responsible for promoting ercountry move forward. cle Symonette, to his credit, soaked body. And each such divisive thinking. gal It is a crying shame what has had to shoulder a huge election cycle, it is usually a seone would do for a vote black man who walks up to burden being the son of ne their front porch and asks – infecting the minds of the nation’s first premier, es. impressionable voters just Sir Roland Symonette – for their vote. for the pendulum to swing Who’s to blame?

EE a figurehead still to this on election day – with total Certainly, the times have day, symbolic of the disenfranchisement of black not been kind to the aver- disregard for how all of the age Bahamian. The power hate that is spread leaves Bahamians.

However, the question company is an abysmal us.

Can we honestly say our which still looms is: how laughing stock – which got to handle guinea pigsby yesterday - theblacks one in theblack picture leaders is called Darwin as part of Ardastra Zoo’s Summer have - done is led majority longYOUNGSTERS are we going to use Camp programme. The zoo runs a regular summer campofbringing youngsters closer tothat animals. such a great job it is Dylan Bethel, pictured left, within the portfolio a this said: excuse successive “We for had to train the guinea pigs to respond when we called.”

Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff se okay for Brent Symonette Cabinet Minister who is governments’ failings to ng expand the distribution of also black. Yet, rather than to become the poster child it performance, race too for pre-independence and wealth in the country? ns often becomes the topic of UBP rulership?

Has it not been 52 years Sadly, the inaugural PLP discussion. of the government being ve government were responThat, friends, is the bigger composed by an emphatic f it majority of black Baha- problem. Brent Symonette, sible for transforming the it mians? Hasn’t a black on paper, is exactly the kind culture of Bahamian politics into another kind ofwould soon implement person we want totook see By

By NICOdethroned SCAVELLA the ofPhillipa MORGAN ADDERLEY Marshall er Bahamian ugly – one where friends,sweeping searches and offer themselves for service Tribune Staff Reporter Tribune Staff Reporter her one-year-old daughhe Bay Street Boys as the family and lovers wouldroad checks, Bishop Ferlife.

His resume nscavella@tribunemedia.net Philicia Marshall away madderley@tribunemedia.net ch majority owner of busi- interpublic to another room, poured benefit. Such a system isnander asked the public to speaks for itself.

In addition nessesA MAN on Bay Street?

DAYS after more than be receptive to law enforcefell asleep with togasoline on her and setbusiher is what has proliferated Bahahim being a shrewd Aren’t the oil barons in the a dozen people were shot ment being a “bit more ablaze while her husband ht all three of his children by nessman, mian society today and has he has also been country black? attending a birthday Isaac Marshall two sons while to his side, only to wake up the recognised been intheMontel most injurious toaggressive”. as aand hardworkYet, Brent Symonette’s party Heights, next morning to discover slept soundly.

He spoke during a er our existence as a people. ing minister in each Cabinet Bahamas Christian Council that his schizophrenic wife existence in the political Sgt Gibson said when she National Crime Council t...

While many would point he’s served in rising to hadistaken youngest one arena stillthesomehow a arrived at the Marshall’s president Delton Fernander meeting, where it was noted nd to the poor optics self-a state of emergency was rankGardens of deputy prime said residents must of give her boogeyman’ on fire at the the signand the set ‘white Faith residence ng some in“freedoms” so asrecently implemented in dealing government in thein Ingraham behest to of “demons”, is coming take over jurors and minister on the morning question, up bcan stem isJamaica to fight crime, with yesterday. theenforcement reason Symonette she noticed Philicia had no law sendheard us back into an era of administration.

Sergeant Tamika Gibson vilified, he alone cannot It’s unfortunate his skin crime. segregation.

While predicting police

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‘NIGHT MY WIFE SET FIGHTING CRIME WILL DAUGHTER ON FIRE’ COST SOME FREEDOMS

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testified she was told how

SEE PAGE NINE

SEE PAGE TWO

BAHAMAS NOT READY FOR A WHITE PM

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Cabinet minister Brent Symonette yesterday suggested the country was not ready for a white prime minister as he reiterated his call for a national discussion on race and wealth in politics.

BRENT SYMONETTE “I think if I had run as leader of the FNM there I’m Bahamian. the have been a barrier, HOWwould The Tribune reported Brent Symonette’s viewsYou last see week. if I tried to run as PM,” he backlash against my resignatold this newspaper. “But tion and all the comments,

maybe The Bahamas isn’t ready for it yet.

When asked whether he wanted to prime minister, Mr Symonette said “absolutely not”, noting he had witnessed the toll it took on his father, the country’s first premier.

The St Anne’s MP also told The Tribune he did not consider wealth distribution to be an issue as the same disparity existed throughout the world.

SEE PAGE SIX

STATESIDE SUPREME COURT PLAYS BOTH SIDES OF TABLE

SEE PAGE EIGHT

being the evil villain. That says a lot about where we are as a society.

Whether we agree with Cabinet’s decision or not is a matter for another debate.

Today, we must have an honest conversation and no longer ignore the elephant in the room.

The truth is there is a huge issue with race in the country that we must confront. By exhibiting attitudes that say to white Bahamians they’re not

allowed – we limit what we could become by alienating diverse thinking in the political directorate.

Subsequently, as the country grows a year older, our politics still fails to mature. And this is perhaps the greatest impediment to our evolution as a society.

It’s been 52 years and we’re still carrying the baggage of unresolved racerelated issues. It’s time for us to grow up.

PAGE 8 MONDAY, JULY 8, 2019

INSIGHT

EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

Reforesting an area the size of the US is needed to help avert climate breakdown RESTORING the world’s forests on an unprecedented scale is “the best climate change solution available”, according to a new study.

The researchers claim that covering 900m hectares of land – roughly the size of the continental US – with trees could store up to 205 billion tonnes of carbon, about two thirds of the carbon humans have already put into the atmosphere.

While the best solution to climate change remains leaving fossil fuels in the

ground, we will still need to suck carbon dioxide (CO2) out of the atmosphere this century if we are to keep global warming below 1.5˚C. So the idea of reforesting much of the world isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds.

Since the dawn of agriculture, humans have cut down three trillion trees – about half the trees on Earth.

Already 43 countries have pledged to restore 292m hectares of degraded land to forest worldwide. That’s an area ten times the size of the UK. But what the new study advocates is reforesting something like ten times that amount.

Returning habitats to the wild and reforesting may be easier in the future as the world is already becoming a wilder place in many areas. This may seem a

strange prediction, given the global population will grow from 7.7 billion to 10 billion by 2050, but by then nearly 70 percent of us will live in cities and have abandoned rural areas, making them ripe for restoration.

In Europe already, 2.2m hectares of forest regrew per year between 20002015, and forest cover in Spain has increased from eight percent of the country’s territory in 1900 to 25 percent today.

Massive reforestation isn’t a pipe dream and it can have real benefits for people. In the late 1990s, environmental deterioration in China became critical, with vast areas resembling the Dust Bowl of the American Midwest in the 1930s. Six bold programmes were introduced, targeting over

100m hectares of land for reforestation.

Grain for Green is the largest and best known of these. It reduced soil erosion and stabilised local rainfall patterns. The ongoing programme has also helped to alleviate poverty by making payments directly to farmers who set aside their land for reforestation.

Better yet, the new study suggests bringing back 900m hectares of forest wouldn’t impact on our capacity to reserve land for growing food. This is certainly possible, and in line with other estimates. Reforestation may even result in production from farmland increasing, as was found in China when more stable rainfall and fertile soil followed the return of forests.

No solution without emission cuts There should be more scepticism about how much CO2 900m hectares of new forest could store though.

The paper insists on 205 billion tonnes of carbon, but this seems too high when compared with previous studies or climate models.

The authors have forgotten the carbon that’s already stored in the vegetation and soil of degraded land that their new forests would replace. The amount of

carbon reforestation could lock up is the difference between the two.

Mature forests can store a lot of carbon, but this capacity is only reached after hundreds of years, not a couple of decades of new forest growth as assumed in this study. The most recent estimate from the IPCC suggests new forests could store on average an extra 57 billion tonnes of carbon by the end of the century. This is still a huge number and could absorb about one sixth of the carbon that’s already in the atmosphere, but reforestation should be thought of as one solution to climate change among many.

Even if warming is stabilised at 1.5˚C, the study indicates that one fifth of the land proposed for reforestation could be rendered too hot for growing new forests by 2050. But this concern ignores the role of carbon dioxide fertilisation – when there are higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, photosynthesis is more efficient, meaning plants need less water and can still be productive at higher temperatures. Today, the most immediate threat to tropical forests is deforestation by people and the fires they light which get out of control, not the more subtle impacts of higher temperatures.

Reforesting an area the size of the US will have massive benefits on local environments and will store a huge amount of manmade carbon emissions. It is not, however, a substitute for reducing those carbon emissions.

Even if the world reduces its carbon emissions to zero by 2050, there will still need to be negative global carbon emissions for the rest of the century – drawing CO₂ out of the atmosphere to stabilise global warming at 1.5˚C. Reforestation is essential for creating negative emissions – not reducing the amount of carbon that humans are still emitting.

There is another sting in the tail. Massive reforestation only works if the world’s current forest cover is maintained and increasing. Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest – the world’s largest – has increased since Brazil’s new far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, came to power.

Current estimates suggest areas of rainforest the size of a football pitch are being cleared every single minute.

It won’t be easy, but society needs to protect the forests we’ve got, and protect new forests in perpetuity to permanently keep carbon sequestered in trees and out of the atmosphere. theconversation.com

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INSIGHT

EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

MONDAY, JULY 8, 2019 PAGE 9

Making a difference: the example of António Guterres

I

N HIS three and a half years as SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations, António Guterres has proved himself sensitive and alert to the difficulties confronting Caribbean states. He has been an example that Secretaries-General of other inter-governmental organisations would do well to emulate, particularly those interested in being elected for second terms.

His address to the 40th Regular Meeting of the CARICOM Heads of Government on July 3 was the most important statement made by any UN Secretary-General about the Caribbean region. It deserves more attention than it has received.

What will be a most enduring depiction of Guterres’ concern about the well-being of the Caribbean peoples was his appearance in Dominica and in Antigua and Barbuda in 2017 after the devastation wrought by Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

Of all the Secretaries-General of inter-governmental organisations to which Caribbean countries belong, he was the only one who turnedup in the aftermath of the destruction.

On October 7, standing amid the wreckage of decimated Barbuda from which every person had to be evacuated by the Antigua and Barbuda government, a visibly shaken Guterres declared: “I have been in areas torn by conflict. In my own country, I have seen earthquakes, I’ve seen storms... I have never seen such a high-level of devastation like the one that I witnessed in Barbuda.”

And, he did not leave it there. He put the blame for the devastation squarely where it belonged, acknowledging that Caribbean countries are victims of the profligacy of larger and richer nations. He called for immediate and long-term help for the affected Caribbean countries, saying: “This is an obligation of

the international community, because they (the Caribbean countries) are suffering the effects of climate change but they have not contributed to it.”

He then went back to UN headquarters in New York to launch an appeal for international assistance.

The fact the response was large on promises and small on delivery was not Guterres’ fault. Indeed, it is troubling to think how much less might have been delivered if the SecretaryGeneral had not taken a personal interest.

At the forefront of Guterres’ thinking is that Climate Change is the root of the problem, not only for the Caribbean and Pacific small islands devastated by brutal hurricanes, but for the entire world. This thinking was evident when he addressed the meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government on July 3.

His message was meant more for the leaders who were not in the room, including those who deny the existence and effects of Climate Change. It was also intended for those leaders on all sides of the political divide in big countries who shy away from the urgency of convincing their

populations that, in the interest of the world, their carbon emissions must be significantly reduced.

“I am asking all leaders, from governments and the private sector, to present plans – at my Climate Action Summit or at the latest by December 2020 – to cut greenhouse emissions by 45 percent by 2030 and get to carbon neutrality by 2050,” he pleaded.

But, the experience of Climate Summits has not been encouraging. Promises have been made to help the countries in the front-line of climate devastation with funds to build resilience from the worst effects of disasters. Yet, the problem of devastation will never stop until Climate Change itself is stopped. That is the inconvenient truth all the international conferences have refused to confront.

Promises of money to help build resilience does no more than contribute to a waiting game whose result, if greenhouse emissions are not halted, is the extinction of small island states.

Guterres minced no words in agreeing the money for building resilience is necessary now and the unlocking of its flow

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is urgent. He said: “I also agree with you that the speed and predictability of climate financing, especially for Least Developed Countries and SIDS, should be improved.”

The Secretary-General also identified himself with the crucial issues confronting the region to which the international financial institutions, and the major countries that control their policies, pay little more than lip service.

His own words are worth emphasising.

On vulnerability: “I have assisted too many technocratic discussions about vulnerability and what it means but having visited several Small Island Developing States in the Pacific and the Caribbean I never found one that was not a clear case of vulnerability.

That should be recognised by all.”

On de-risking: “The small size of their domestic markets and their limited capacity to participate in global markets, particularly in damaging when it translates itself into the isolation of their financial systems from the global financial system, hinder them in generating economies of scale.”

On the restriction from access to concessional financing on the sole criterion of per capita income: “Eligibility for Official Development Assistance

ANTÓNIO GUTERRES and other forms of concessional financing should include vulnerability criteria, in addition to Gross National Income per capital... For middle-income countries that are particularly vulnerable, the multilateral development banks and development finance institutions have key roles to play in providing more long-term, low-cost debt financing.”

On debt: “The time has also come for the international community to consider seriously how best to address the rising problems of over-indebtedness of middle-income countries.”

And he pledged to act: “I am determined to change that by bringing more resources and strengthening UN support to SIDS.” On a related matter, the 14 CARICOM countries have been divided over the situation in Venezuela, most visibly in the Organization of American

States where four of them have sided with anti- Nicolás Maduro supporters to seat a designee of the selfproclaimed President of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, as the representative of Venezuela. Other CARICOM countries regard the seating as contrary to the rules of the Organization and international law.

In stark contrast, Guterres has steadfastly maintained a position of honest broker over the situation in Venezuela. In the margins of July 3 CARICOM meeting where the Prime Minister of Norway, Erna Solberg, was also present, the UN SecretaryGeneral expressed strong support for the Norwegian facilitation initiative on Venezuela, and called on all parties in Venezuela to avoid any actions that might increase tensions in the country and undermine the facilitation initiative.

The difference exhibited

by António Guterres is striking; it could make a difference for the Caribbean.

The writer is Ambassador of Antigua and Barbuda to the United States and the Organisation of American States. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London and at Massey College in the University of Toronto. The views expressed are entirely his ow). Responses and previous commentaries: www.sirronaldsanders.com

PAGE 10, Monday, July 8, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

COUNTDOWN TO INDEPENDENCE DAY

ABOVE: The Royal Bahamas Police Force and The Royal Bahamas Defence Force hosted their annual Beat Retreat yesterday in Rawson Sqaure. from page one high”, knowing with certainty that the country is world renowned, despite its relatively small size.

He insisted the nation’s 46th independence anniversary is a major achievement that was only accomplished through “the grace of God”.

“My fellow Bahamians, I encourage you to continue what was started decades ago by our early nation builders.

“Let us commit to serving

with a passion for excellence and giving unselfishly in all that we do, showing love, demonstrating unity and practising traditional Bahamian civility and respect for one another.”

Mr Smith also appealed to Bahamians to come together to “enjoy the spirit of national pride,” that the independence celebrations commemorate.

He insisted that as the country celebrates another “historical milestone,” Bahamians should “proudly salute the flag” and “cherish

their thriving democracy.”

“Let these celebrations continue to remind and inspire us to remain unified and strong, forging ahead to create a brighter tomorrow for all Bahamians,” he said.

“There are many challenges and difficulties which confront us as a nation, but in the words of our theme, together we will beat and overcome these challenges.

Yes we can, and yes we will.”

Also speaking on the relevance of this year’s theme, Youth, Sports and Culture

Minister Lanisha Rolle said it is “essential” for the country to “maintain the mindset of togetherness.”

“If we can’t do it together, it can’t be done. And so looking forward now from 46 and beyond, we want to continue to unite and...recognise that we’re all in this together,” she said.

“And once we continue to maintain that mindset and composure, I think the country is going to continue to grow by leaps and bounds.”

Mark Humes, Fort

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

Charlotte MP and chairman of the Independence Secretariat, also told The Tribune that one aspect of this year’s independence theme is to “highlight the fact that the country is drifting further apart in some ways”.

“When you look at where we are as a society today, we’re in some ways a very polarised society,” he said.

“I think we are more polarised around our (political) colours and our various communities more so, over the idea of just being Bahamian.”

NATIONAL Pride Folk Festival at Smugglers and Pompey Square.

He insisted that Bahamians should be proud of their country and encouraged the public to use the Independence activities as a way to celebrate the nation’s history and heritage. “...The only way to achieve great things as a country is to be united under this banner of Bahamian.”

On Wednesday, July 10, The Bahamas will celebrate its 46th independence anniversary. National Pride Day marked the official launch of this year’s celebrations.

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

NATIONAL Pride Day in Rawson Square on Friday.

Photos: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

GRAND BAHAMA UNHAPPY WITH ITS EARLY START

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

SOME residents of Grand Bahama are angered that the island’s independence celebrations have been moved to today instead of July 9.

Kirk Russell, vice-president of the Bahamas Hotel Managerial Association and a member of the Coalition of Concerned Citizens, and several pastors are strongly opposed to the date change, and say that many other residents of Grand Bahama are as well.

They stressed that independence is an important national

event and that Grand Bahamians should celebrate on the same date as the rest of the country.

Minister of State for Grand Bahama Kwasi Thompson recently announced the date change of this year’s 46th independence celebrations in Freeport, stating the festivities would take place today. He explained that the change would allow for the first time, the Governor General and the prime minister, along with some Cabinet ministers, to travel to Freeport for the celebrations at Independence Park, in Freeport.

However, Mr Russell believes there are certain events and

situations in the country that one cannot change. “The weight of independence of your country carries a greater weight than anything else, and there should be no modification or adjustment to independence,” he stressed. “We are here to join other Bahamians to express concern regarding the change of the independence celebration date.

We know that independence is on July 10, and the celebration is held on July 9 and goes into the 10th as it has always been from 1973 when the Union Jack was lowered at 11.59pm, and our national flag was raised at midnight. Up to 2018, that has

always been the tradition,” Mr Russell said.

Pastor Eddie Victor, of Living Waters Assembly of God Church, and president of the Coalition of Concerned Citizens, said: “We believe firmly that the change of celebrations from the traditional July 9 to July 8 is an injustice to our country, especially the people of Grand Bahama.

“I stand here not only as a pastor, but as a nationalist and a concerned citizen. Independence Day is a landmark in the development and the history of our country; it represents when our country transitioned from a colony to an independent nation. We also must

realise that with the significance of Independence Day that it is important that every year we remember, and we also rehearse what took place on July 10, 1973.”

Pastor Lloyd Rolle, of Bethel Deliverance Centre Church in Jones Town, Eight Mile Rock, and Pastor Terrence Jones, of Eternal Light Deliverance Centre, do not support the date change either.

Pastor Rolle said: “It is a slap in the face to Grand Bahamians. It appears we are always left behind in Freeport; our economy here is dying, and those that make the decision sometimes need to sit back and think about how and what to do.”

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, July 8, 2019, PAGE 11

It’s time to talk seriously about reparation, argues Gomez

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net FORMER Minister of State for Legal Affairs Damian Gomez believes a national conversation on race should start with reparations.

Mr Gomez said he was appalled by the tone struck by former Cabinet minister Brent Symonette, who suggested he faced political barriers and attacks due to his skin colour.

On Wednesday, the former deputy prime minister suggested the country was not ready for a white prime minister and reiterated his call for a national discussion on race and wealth in politics.

In a letter to the editor, Mr Gomez said: “I am appalled at the beneficiary of racism attacking the victims of racism.

“I am a Bahamian of African decent,” said Mr Gomez, who noted the displacement and genocide of Africans due to the slave trade.

“After the abolition of slavery, the emancipated Africans were forced into servitude for a fixed period.”

Mr Gomez said: “Black Bahamians of African decent are entitled to be outraged at the abuses of our ancestors and of us as

individuals. While white people profited at our collective expense, while England collected taxes from the blood and sweat of the efforts of African descendants, no one in the white community ever sought out forgiveness, not even thought us worthy of seeking it.”

Mr Gomez added that the English did “precious little” to acknowledge their debt to Bahamians or West Indians of African decent.

He underscored the legendary “orgy of corruption” that followed after World War 2 by white merchants was documented in a Royal Commission of Inquiry Report.

“Since then the heirs and successors of these criminals have used ill-gotten gains of their forebears to the disadvantage of everyone else, including white Bahamians uninvolved in the corruption,” Mr Gomez continued.

“How can those involved in our oppression question us, the victims of racism, about our distrust of you who have been at the forefront of our affliction? Yes, there is a need to discuss race in The Bahamas, but let’s start talking about reparations. Let’s talk about returning lands obtained through Crown grants while the recipients held public office.

“Let’s talk about taxing

BAHAMIAN DETAINED AS HAITIANS CAUGHT

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

TEN Haitian migrants, including six minors, were intercepted at sea last week by the US Coast Guard and taken to Grand Bahama on Thursday.

Two men, two women, and six minors - five girls and one boy ranging in age from 14 years to 17 years - were turned over to Department of Immigration officials in Freeport.

A Bahamian man, who is believed to be the operator and captain of the vessel,

along with five other persons were detained in custody by the US Coast Guard and taken to the US for further investigation and to face possible human trafficking charges.

Immigration officer Napthali Cooper reported that the USGC Cutter Bernard C Webber arrived in Freeport around 5.30pm on July 4 with the migrants.

He said that persons were interdicted at sea on Wednesday, July 3, while travelling in a 30ft Cuddy Cabin vessel, approximately 10 miles east of Boynton Beach, Florida.

SEVEN ROBBED AT GUNPOINT

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Minister of State for Legal Affairs Damian Gomez.

these people in a meaningful way to enable the just compensation of those who have been savagely wronged.”

Mr Symonette’s comments made in several interviews last week sparked widespread debate over his privilege and perceived victimhood.

On Friday, Central and South Abaco MP James Albury told The Tribune the merits of a prime minister’s character should matter more than the colour of their skin.

For himself, Mr Albury, who is white, said he is comfortable with the idea of the country never having a white prime minister.

Mr Albury said young Bahamians and subsequent generations will not be easily baited or politically exploited on matters of race because they did not hold living memory of the divisive struggles of the country’s history.

“I’ve always felt that race relations in our country have been more relaxed than what you might observe around the world or even amongst our own neighbouring countries,” Mr Albury said.

“I’m sure there are those who would say I’m not qualified to comment on such things, but that has been my experience as an MP and as a Bahamian.

“I think it’s more important to remember that for myself, and thousands of other young Bahamians, there is no living memory of the UBP, the struggle for majority rule and independence, the 25 years of PLP administration, etc. It’s important to remember our history and our progress, but it will get more and more difficult to evoke and exploit that feeling of separation amongst the public as newer generations come up and assert themselves.”

Mr Albury said he felt Mr Symonette’s departure from Cabinet would have been controversial regardless of the reason or timing due to his tenure in front line politics.

“This is the case for anyone who has been in the public eye and frontline politics so long. But the spectre of the UBP, and the inseparable role the Symonette family played in the formation of the modern Bahamas, means the lens is magnified that much more,” Mr Albury said. “There may someday be a white prime minister. There may never be one. Both outcomes, in my eyes, are fine.”

Mr Albury added: “The merits of a prime minister’s character should matter more than their melanin content.”

Editorial View - Page 4

SEVEN people were robbed at gunpoint of cash, cellphones and vehicles in separate incidents over the weekend. Of those incidents, four took place on Friday and involved mostly women.

The other three incidents took place on Saturday night.

Shortly after 8am on Friday, a woman was walking on Unison Road when she was approached by a man armed with a firearm who robbed her of her handbag containing cash, a cellphone and other personal items.

The suspect fled in a silver coloured vehicle.

Less than an hour later, a woman was at a residence on West Avenue when she was approached by an armed man who robbed her of her handbag containing cash and other personal effects.

The suspect subsequently fled on foot in an unknown direction.

Hours later, and shortly before 11pm, a woman was at a residence at Avocado

Gardens off Faith Avenue when she was approached by an armed man who robbed her of a handbag containing cash and other personal items. The suspect then fled on foot.

Then shortly before midnight, a man was in the area of a business establishment on Evergreen Close, off Gladstone Road, when he was accosted by three men, one armed with a firearm who robbed him of cash before escaping in a silver coloured vehicle.

Almost 24 hours later, and shortly before 10pm on Saturday, two men were sitting in front of a home on Ferdinand Avenue when they were approached by two armed men who robbed them of cash before running away.

A little over an hour later, a man was standing outside a home on Bedrock Court off Bacardi Road when he was approached by two men, one armed with a firearm who held him up and robbed him of cash and other items, before getting into his white 2010 Chevy Silverado truck, licence plate number AP9449, and speeding off.

ARMED ROBBERY AT FOOD STORE

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

POLICE are investigating the armed robbery of a Super Value food store yesterday morning.

According to police, the incident took place shortly after 8am at Super Value’s East Street and Robinson Road location.

Reports said that an armed man entered the store, held up the employees and robbed the store of an undisclosed amount of cash before escaping.

No injuries were reported in the incident.

Last month, Super Value’s Baillou Hill Road location was the victim of a burglary, where the suspects stacked shopping carts to escape the store through a hole cut in the roof.

According to police, officers responded to an alarm activation at the store shortly after 1am on June 28 when they discovered the culprits had cut a hole into the store’s roof, before

lowering themselves into the building using ropes.

Police said the assailants searched the store, before stacking several dozen shopping carts together for use as a ladder. The makeshift contraption allowed the assailants a way back into the roof, from where they escaped.

On November 12, 2017, Super Value’s Nassau Street branch was robbed by two armed robbers who put a gun to the head of one of the cashiers and forced their way inside the store. Afterwards, the suspects told the cashiers to get on the floor, then put a gun to the assistant manager’s head and forced him to the safe where they took a float.

Afterwards, the robbers tried to get money out of the cash registers but couldn’t get the drawers open, whereupon they left. However, the incident was so traumatic that three female employees had to be sent to hospital to be treated for “shock”.

PAGE 12, Monday, July 8, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Man represents himself and has rape conviction quashed

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net A MAN has successfully argued his own appeal against a 25-year sentence for raping a woman at gunpoint and robbing her of almost $200 after burglarising her West Bay Street home.

Oscar Ingraham, who was not represented by an attorney, was successful in convincing the appellate court that he was not the one who the Crown claimed was behind the October 28, 2011 incident.

The appellate tribunal of

Justices Stella Crane-Scott, Roy Jones and Milton Evans quashed both his conviction and 25-year sentence. No retrial was ordered.

During his appeal, Ingraham maintained the DNA report the Crown used in support of its case was inconclusive and contained no evidence that linked him to the crime. And for that reason, he successfully asserted the case should have never gone to a jury but ended at the no-case submission stage.

This is not the first conviction Ingraham has had overturned.

In August 2017, Ingraham had his 30-year sentence for the home-invasion, armed robbery and rape of a woman on the night of an island-wide power outage in May 2012 overturned.

The appellate court found the forensic evidence in that case was insufficient to have been left to the jury for deliberation.

The appellate judges at the time did not order a retrial as they found that it would not have been in the interests of justice to do so.

In February of 2017, the appellate court quashed Ingraham’s conviction for raping a woman after

burglarising her home and robbing her at gunpoint in February of 2012. However, the court ordered a retrial after determining the trial judge misdirected the jury during summation in that if they had reasonable doubt, they should convict him.

There has been no final outcome in that matter.

In both of the latter two appeals, Ingraham led his own defence, though he initially did have an attorney, Ryszard Humes to represent him. However, the two were at odds for more than a month at the time on what arguments should be made concerning those appeals.

TREYVANE Dorsett outside court.

23-YEAR-OLD CHARGED WITH ARMED ROBBERY

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

A 23-YEAR-OLD male resident of Grand Bahama was charged with last week’s armed robbery of Coca Cola in Freeport.

Treyvane Dorsett, of Eight Mile Rock, appeared before Magistrate Rengin Johnson on two counts of armed robbery.

It is alleged that on June 28, at Freeport, the accused,

while armed with a firearm, robbed an employee of Coca Cola.

Dorsett was not required to enter a plea to the charges. He was denied bail and remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services until October 22 when a preliminary inquiry is expected to be held into the matter.

Meanwhile, the prosecution has indicated that it intends to proceed by voluntary bill of indictment.

THREE IN HOSPITAL AFTER TWO SHOOTING INCIDENTS

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THREE men are in hospital after two shooting incidents, one in Nassau and the other in Freeport, over the weekend, police reported.

The latest shooting occurred shortly before 4am Sunday at a nightspot on East Sunrise Highway in Grand Bahama, where a lone gunman opened fire, hitting two males.

Assistant Superintendent of Police Terecita Pinder reported one man was shot

in the upper body and the other in the lower body.

They were transported by EMS to the Rand Memorial Hospital, where they are detained in serious condition.

Meanwhile hours earlier on New Providence, a man was injured while walking on Gibbs Corner after 10pm. The victim was approached by an armed man who shot him before running away, police said.

He was taken to hospital by paramedics, where he is listed in stable condition.

Investigations are ongoing.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, July 8, 2019, PAGE 13

BAHAMIAN FISHERMEN DENY USING BANNED APPARATUS

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

MORE than 30 Bahamian fisherman have denied allegations they were caught fishing in the Cay Sal Bank area with prohibited fishing apparatus last month.

The 34 fishermen, ranging in age from 19 to 72, all entered not guilty pleas before Senior Magistrate Carolyn Vogt-Evans on Friday to the two fisheries violations they are accused of committing on June 30.

The fishermen, who make up the crew of the Bahamian vessel Sweet Dreams, were each charged with two counts of possession of a prohibited apparatus.

The charges are contrary to Section 69 (a)(b)(c) and

(d), and Section 73 of the Fisheries Resources (Jurisdiction and Conservation) Regulations, 1987.

According to the regulations, a prohibited apparatus is any device, other than a snorkel, that enables a person to breathe whilst underwater.

The former charge asserts that on the date in question, they had one air compressor in their possession with intent to use it for fishing.

The latter charge further specifies that they were found in the Cay Sal Bank with an air compressor without a permit authorising its use contrary to the authorised dates of August 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020.

According to reports from the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF), HMBS Rolly Gray, under

the command of Senior Lieutenant William Sturrup, was on routine patrol when it apprehended Sweet Dreams in the Cay Sal Bank area. A large quantity of conch and a compressor were on board at the time.

Skiffs belonging to the vessel were also in the immediate area with compressors on board, according to the RBDF. Additionally, a search of a nearby cay resulted in the discovery of several more compressors.

During Friday’s arraignment, and after the 34 men had pleaded not guilty, their attorney Joseph D’Arceuil petitioned the court to dismiss the latter of the two charges against his clients and have them removed from the docket.

Mr D’Arceuil argued that Section 73 of the regulations

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does not specifically provide for a charge. Rather, he said, it merely gives the minister the authority to authorise the use of an air compressor upon payment of a prescribed fee.

Section 73 reads: “A person desirous of using during the period 1st August to 31st March a prohibited apparatus that is commonly known as an air compressor at a depth of not less than 30 feet nor more than 60 feet, may make application to the minister in

form three in the first schedule for a permit authorising such use and upon the issue thereof the prescribed fee shall be payable.”

Mr D’Arceuil said the charge in question is “redundant” and doesn’t provide for a penalty.

He said if the prosecution relies on that section, it would mean that his clients are actually being charged with not making an application.

Mr D’Arceuil added that

the charges against his clients do not make Sweet Dreams liable for forfeiture. To that end, he relied on Section 20 of the Fisheries Act, which he said mandates that the only vessels liable for forfeiture are foreign vessels. Conversely, he said, Sweet Dreams is a licenced Bahamian vessel.

Magistrate Vogt-Evans adjourned the matter to July 24 to give the prosecution time to respond to Mr D’Arceuil’s submissions.

PAGE 14, Monday, July 8, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

UK AMBASSADOR CALLED TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ‘CLUMSY AND INEPT’ LONDON Associated Press

BRITAIN’S ambassador to the United States described the Trump administration as “diplomatically clumsy and inept” and said he doubted it would become “substantially more normal,” according to a leaked diplomatic cable published yesterday.

The memo was one of several leaked documents published

by in which Ambassador Kim Darroch made highly negative statements about the government of Britain’s closest ally. “We don’t really believe this administration is going to become substantially more normal; less dysfunctional; less unpredictable; less faction riven; less diplomatically clumsy and inept,” Darroch wrote in one memo.

Asked about the leaked cables, President Donald Trump told

reporters that Darroch “has not served the UK well.”

The United States and the UK enjoy what each describe as a “special relationship” that has held strong since World War II. But the ambassador communicated deep unease with Trump’s foreign policies, which have broken with Britain’s on key issues such as climate change and preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

FIVE people were hospitalised after the opening bull run of this year’s San Fermin festival in Pamplona, including two Americans and a Spaniard who were gored by bulls, officials in the northern Spanish city said yesterday.

Britain’s Foreign Office did not challenge the authenticity of the leaked documents, which covered the period of 2017 to the present.

It called the leak “mischievous behavior” and said the public expects diplomats to provide honest assessments of the politics in the countries where they are posted.

The Foreign Office said the leaks would not harm the productive relationship between

the British government and the Trump White House. A formal investigation of the leak may be set in motion in the coming days.

The British Embassy in Washington informed the White House on Friday that the memos would be published over the weekend, according to a person familiar with the matter, and the two sides were in touch throughout the weekend.

Chief defends conditions at border stations WASHINGTON Associated Press

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ACTING Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan yesterday defended conditions at US Border Patrol stations following reports of crowded and unsanitary conditions that have heightened debate about President Donald Trump’s immigration policy, a trademark issue for his reelection campaign. “It’s an extraordinarily challenging situation,” McAleenan told ABC’s “This Week.”

The Homeland Security Department’s internal watchdog provided new details about the overcrowding in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, the busiest corridor for illegal crossings.

The report said children at three facilities had no access to showers and that some children under age seven had been held in jammed centres for more than two weeks. Some cells were so cramped that adults were forced to stand for days on end.

Government inspectors described an increasingly dangerous situation, both for migrants and agents — a “ticking time bomb,” in the words of one facility manager. The report echoed findings in May by the department’s inspector general about holding centers in El Paso, Texas: 900 people crammed into a cell with a maximum capacity of 125; detainees standing on toilets to have room to breathe; others wearing soiled clothing for days or weeks.

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Trump went further than McAleenan in defending his administration’s response, accusing the news media of “phony and exaggerated accounts” but without providing evidence.

“Border Patrol, and others in Law Enforcement, have been doing a great job. We said there was a Crisis - the Fake News & the Dems said it was ‘manufactured,’” Trump wrote.

Federal detention centers “are crowded (which we ... brought up, not them) because the Dems won’t change the Loopholes and Asylum. Big Media Con Job!” Democrats faulted Trump for not offering an immigration overhaul that could pass a divided Congress. “The president is acting like we are some weak, pathetic country,” said Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, a Democratic presidential candidate. “We have the ability to treat human beings humanely.

We have the ability to lead our hemisphere in a discussion about how to deal with this refugee crisis,” he said on “Fox News Sunday.”

McAleenan said that since the first of the year, 200 medical providers have

been added to facilities, including personnel from the US Coast Guard and the Public Health Service Commission Corps.

“We have pediatricians in border patrol stations for the first time in history trying to help address conditions where children are coming across 300 a day in ... April and May,” McAleenan said.

“We’ve built soft-sided temporary facilities. These are spaces that are much more appropriate — high ceilings, more room for children and families. We’ve put them both in Donna, Texas, in South Texas as well as in El Paso to provide additional space. ... We’ve bought buses to transport people to better places.”

McAleenan disputed reports of especially troubling conditions at a border station in Clint, Texas, where a stench was coming from children’s clothing and some detainees were suffering from scabies and chickenpox. “There’s adequate food and water,” he said. “The facility’s cleaned every day, because I know what our standards are and I know they’re been followed because we have tremendous levels of oversight.”

QUAKES PUSH CALIFORNIANS TO PREPARE FOR THE NEXT BIG JOLT CALIFORNIA Associated Press

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CHILDREN line up to enter a tent at the Homestead Temporary Shelter for Unaccompanied Children in Florida in February.

SHAKEN residents were cleaning up yesterday from two of the biggest earthquakes to rattle California in decades as scientists warn that both should serve as a wake-up call to be ready when the long-dreaded “Big One” strikes.

California is spending more than $16 million to install thousands of quakedetecting sensors statewide that officials say will give utilities and trains precious seconds to shut down before the shaking starts.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said

it’s time residents did their part by mapping out emergency escape routes and preparing earthquake kits with food, water, lights and other necessities.

“It is a wake-up call for the rest of the state and other parts of the nation, frankly,” Newsom said at a news conference on efforts to help a desert region jolted by back-to-back quakes.

A magnitude 6.4 earthquake Thursday and a magnitude 7.1 quake Friday were centered 11 miles from the small desert town of Ridgecrest, about 150 miles from Los Angeles.

The quakes buckled highways and ruptured gas lines that sparked several house fires, and officials said about 50 homes in the nearby small town of Trona were damaged. No one was killed or seriously injured, which authorities attributed to the remote location in the Mojave Desert.

“Any time that we can go through a 7-point earthquake and we do not report a fatality, a major injury, do not suffer structure damage that was significant, I want to say that that was a blessing and a miracle,” said a Kern County Fire Department spokesman.

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