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WHY DO WE NEED TWO NEW RADIO STATIONS?

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A TOP regulator yesterday said concerns about the Bahamian radio broadcasting market being over-saturated “will always be around” as URCA invited bids for two new broadcasters.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

Supply shortage forces temporary halt in issue of first-time vaccines

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net FACED with “low” Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine supplies, the National COVID-19 Vaccine Consultative Committee has decided to offer only second dose jabs in New Providence and Grand Bahama.

According to Dr Merceline Dahl-Regis, committee chairwoman, the decision was made on Wednesday as officials seek to manage

the available supply until a third instalment of AstraZeneca vaccines arrive in the country.

She said second dose appointments are available until July 27 and coincide with the arrival of more vaccines scheduled to arrive July 26.

In addition, she said the committee supports mixing vaccine brands AstraZeneca (Covishield) and Pfizer, according to research reviewed by the committee.

SEE PAGE FOUR

‘SPEEDING’ TRAGEDY

FNM SIGNS OFF ON FINAL CANDIDATES MILLER WON’T RUN PLP VOICES CONCERN A MAN was killed in a traffic accident yesterday on Charles W Saunders Highway, and two more people were taken to hospital, in a crash between a car and a Mack truck. See PAGE TWO for the full story.

Photo: Donovan McIntosh/Tribune Staff

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

HEALTH Minister Renward Wells said “of course” the country could soon hold a general election in view of the current state of COVID19 in the country, even if Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis were to call an early election as early as today.

He spoke after the Free National Movement ratified

its final four candidates for the general election last night.

Mr Wells said rallies can also be held in accordance with COVID-19 protocols.

His comment came as FNM insiders brace for an announcement from Dr Minnis that the election will soon be held. The Tribune understands the FNM has secured its election paraphernalia in the SEE PAGE THREE

AS INDEPENDENT MP ON VOTING CHANGES

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Tall Pines MP Leslie Miller has confirmed he will not run as an independent candidate in the upcoming general election, insisting this vote is far too important not to support the Progressive Liberal Party.

Mr Miller, who has for

several weeks been seen campaigning with various PLP candidates, said he had absolute faith in the opposition party and its ability to get the job done.

Previously, he had threatened to run as an independent candidate if the party did not offer him a nomination for the impending election.

SEE PAGE THREE

THE Progressive Liberal Party yesterday said the Parliamentary Registration Department published information in local newspapers about registering new voters and transferees that is “wrong in law”.

The notices were published yesterday amid anticipation from Free National Movement insiders that Prime Minister Dr

Hubert Minnis is gearing up to call an early election.

The PLP said: “We immediately point out that the condition for transferring as laid out in the public notice is wrong in law. Voters who transfer to a new constituency can legally vote in their former constituency up to one year after transferring if they chose to.

SEE PAGE THREE

LONE GUNMAN KILLS VICTIM OUTSIDE HOME

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A MAN became the country’s latest murder victim after he was killed outside a home in the Elizabeth Estates community yesterday.

According to Assistant Superintendent Audley Peters, shortly before 6pm, police were alerted to a shooting on Mauritius Avenue in Elizabeth Estates.

THE SCENE of yesterday’s murder.

Photo: Donovan McIntosh/Tribune Staff Upon arrival, officers found an unresponsive man on the ground with gunshot wounds.

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

Emergency Medical Services were called and later pronounced him dead on the scene.

“Initial investigations revealed that this victim came to the residence to return an item when he was approached by a lone gunman who discharged a firearm in his direction, fatally wounding him,” ASP Peters told reporters.

ASP Peters said the victim appeared SEE PAGE TWO

PAGE 2, Friday, July 16, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

‘Speeding’ tragedy

By TANYA SMITHCARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net A MAN is dead after a traffic accident in New Providence yesterday.

Police said speed played a factor in the incident in which two other people were injured and taken to hospital to be treated.

The accident involved a RAV 4 Crossover SUV and a Mack truck yesterday.

“Shortly after 11am, police received reports of a traffic collision that occurred on Charles W Saunders Highway,” ASP Audley Peters said. “Officers responded and on their arrival on the scene they found a green RAV 4 had collided into a white Mack truck.

“An inspection of the RAV 4 revealed three occupants which included two males and a female. The two males were in the front seat. One of the males in the front seat was found to be unresponsive and all the persons in the vehicle received injuries.”

Emergency Medical Services were on the scene where one of the passengers of the RAV 4 was declared dead.

“EMS was called and on their arrival they rendered assistance to all passengers,” said ASP Peters.

“However, the male passenger in the front seat succumbed to his injuries.

The female and male were transferred to the hospital via ambulance.

“The preliminary investigation revealed the RAV 4 was travelling east along Charles W Saunders

THE SCENE of a traffic fatality on Charles W Saunders Highway yesterday which left one man dead and two more people hospitalised.

Photo: Donovan McIntosh/Tribune Staff (Highway) when it collided into the Mack truck which was stationary at the time. That is as much of the information that we can give on this incident at the moment.”

“It was the passenger that perished and there is no evidence to suggest that alcohol was involved in this incident. It appears that speed was a factor based on the evidence on the scene.”

ASP Peters was not able to say whether the occupants of the RAV 4 were wearing seatbelts, but he said the investigation will reveal that information.

There were no other cars involved in the incident and witnesses are assisting police.

Police said the surviving male and female who were transported to the hospital appear to be in their late

20s to early 30s. They do not have any information on the person who died in the accident.

In terms of the truck’s positioning partially in the road, ASP Peters said the investigation will “take that to a specific place” and at that time a judgement will be made.

ASP Mario Sweeting, officer-in-charge of the Traffic Division, was also on

the scene. He pleaded for motorists to obey the traffic rules.

“As you can see this accident took a turn for the worse,” he said. “Preliminary inquiries suggested that speed was a factor and we continue to plead with the members of the public to drive with courtesy, with patience and to obey the traffic speed regulations.

“As it stands now, we are

at the initial stage of this investigation and in due time an outcome will be available.

The speed limit on this highway is 30 miles per hour. As the days go by we are seeing an increase in speeding so we encourage persons to drive within the speed limit.”

So far this year there have been 16 traffic fatalities, ASP Sweeting said.

Four of those fatalities were in New Providence.

LONE GUNMAN KILLS VICTIM OUTSIDE HOME from page one to be in his late 20s. He said there was no information to suggest that the killing was gang-related.

When asked if the victim was known to police, the press liaison officer replied: “The victim in this instance has constitutional rights that would be guarded by this office.”

ASP Peters appealed for members in the Elizabeth Estates community who might have information to come forward to assist police with their investigations.

“We simply act on information and we depend on the public to assist us to solve these incidents

because the reality is if they don’t come forward, it’s a possibility that a relative or even themselves can become another victim,” he said yesterday.

“So, if the members in this community know what happened, we simply ask that they come forward and assist us in solving this incident.”

Yesterday’s killing comes after a spate of murders over the past week. Five men were killed in separate incidents between last Thursday and Monday.

Police suspect some of the crimes are linked and are the result of retaliation between “rival” groups.

On Tuesday, National Security Minister Marvin

Dames told reporters Bahamians had no reason to feel unsafe in the country, insisting police have the crime situation under control.

“I don’t think that there should be public concern about a gang war happening as you could see, the police are very much on top of that but these things are going to happen and it just speaks to how important it is for all of us to be playing our respective roles,” Mr Dames said.

Anyone with information on these incidents or any other crime is asked to call the Criminal Investigations Department at 502-9991/2, Crime Stoppers at 328TIPS (8477) or the nearest police station.

A BODY is taken from the scene of yesterday’s shooting. Photo: Donovan McIntosh/Tribune Staff

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, July 16, 2021, PAGE 3

FNM signs off on final candidates from page one

country and has drawn up rally dates.

This newspaper further understands that the party is planning a short but vigorous campaign. The expectation of members, however, is tempered by the fact that the decision ultimately rests with Dr Minnis who can change his mind at any moment.

“We’re conducting the opening up of our economy,” Mr Wells said. “Tourists are coming here. The airport is opening. Taxi car drivers are moving. Our people are moving throughout the community. Folks are following the health protocols.

“If the election is called tomorrow, we know how to walk and chew gum at the same time as a people. We have been doing such since November of last year when we began to open up this economy. The Bahamian people can trust us because they know we have done what is necessary to lead this country through extremely difficult times.”

Asked about rallies, Mr Wells said: “There are safe ways to hold rallies, hey, and we don’t need to look any further than what took place in November last year in the United States. Rallies have been held in cars, Democrats stood up on their stage and there were others in vehicles and they were able to speak and get their message out.

“The Republicans on their side, they held in person rallies and the Democrats held rallies where they were on the stage and persons were in vehicles so there are many ways within the confines of the health protocols to hold rallies to be able to get your message

PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Wells was ratified last night alongside Deputy Prime Minister Desmond Bannister, Labour Director John Pinder and officer-in-charge of Road Traffic in Grand Bahama Welbourne Bootle.

out. We live in an age where in social media, through the media, one is able to get his or her message out and at any point in time if we were to move in that direction and I don’t speak for the prime minister, everyone knows the prime minister’s tongue ain’ got no bone, he could speak for himself, but if he was to grab the spear of destiny and point it in the direction of the general election, then the troops of the Free National Movement are ready and able to get out their task and carry the message that we have been carrying over the next four years.

“We have a government that is tried, tested and proven through crisis. There (are) no ifs ands or buts about it. Whether it’s long or short, we gon’ still take flight. Whether the runway is long or short, this administration is still going to take flight.”

The FNM, meanwhile, ratified Dr Minnis, Deputy Prime Minister Desmond Bannister, Labour Director John Pinder and the officer-in charge of Road Traffic in Grand Bahama Welbourne Bootle last night in the Killarney, Carmichael, Fox Hill and Pineridge constituencies respectively.

PLP VOICES CONCERN ON VOTING CHANGES from page one

“The government must correct this error. Further, according to the public notice, voters registering for the first time need only swear an affidavit of their current residence.

“Transferees on the other hand are required to produce evidence of current residence.

This latter is a serious impediment to transferees, in

particular displaced Bahamians from the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama who are currently living with family and friends.

“The government must have recognised that this imposition on transferees in light of the extraordinary circumstances of Dorian amounts to voter suppression.”

The PLP said Dr Minnis should use the discretion of his office to “expand the voting

franchise and encourage voter participation – not suppress the vote.”

The party added: “Many Bahamians view this as a permission and an underhanded political tactic by a vulnerable government led by a prime minister desperate to hang onto power.

“Certainly, this discretionary policy is offensive to the spirit and initial intent of the constitution regarding the voting

franchise.

“Further, the need to transfer by thousands of Bahamians is significantly magnified and complicated by the government’s ill-advised decision to use the 2017 voter’s register as the permanent register rather than creating a new permanent register as was recommended by the PLP. “It is our considered view that based on the information coming to our attention literally

thousands of voters would be disenfranchised – rendered ineligible to vote because they would have moved from their place of residence where they registered (in 2017) for more than one year.

“The Progressive Liberal Party also takes grave exception to the threatening tone and tenor of the notice in regards to the consequences voters can face if they fail to meet the above requirements.”

‘IT’S NOT IN FNM’S INTERESTS TO CALL EARLY ELECTION’

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribu ne Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

PINERIDGE MP Frederick McAlpine said he does not think it is in the Free National Movement’s best interests to call an early election.

He said many Bahamians are still upset with the government’s handling of the pandemic and Hurricane Dorian, among other things.

He spoke after sources told this newspaper the FNM was set to replace him and instead run Grand Bahama resident Welbourne Bootle on the party’s ticket for the Pineridge constituency.

Mr Bootle was among the final FNM candidates who were ratified last night.

Mr McAlpine expressed disappointment that no one from the FNM contacted him about his future with the party.

He previously said if he

did not receive a nomination from his party, he would run as an independent candidate.

Asked about the matter yesterday, the Pineridge MP only said he still intended to run in the next general election and added that more details about those plans will be announced during a press conference today.

There is increased speculation that Dr Minnis — reportedly encouraged by favourable polling numbers — may call an early election soon.

However, Dr Minnis has repeatedly brushed off talk about an early vote, insisting the election is not due until May 2022.

But one FNM official who has been ratified for the election even told this newspaper they would be surprised if the election is not called within the next month or two.

The Tribune understands the party has secured its

election paraphernalia in the country and rally dates have already been drawn up.

Chiming in on the matter yesterday, Mr McApline said he does not believe calling an early election will be to the party’s advantage.

He also reiterated his previous comments that when election is called, many MPs would be one term representatives.

“If elections are called this year, I think it’s going to be interesting,” he told this newspaper yesterday.

“But, if he should call an election, I would say this, people seem to be more angry with the FNM than they are with the other party at this time and this talk about well people don’t like the leader of the opposition and all that, well, I hear that talk but people didn’t necessarily like him (Dr Minnis) when he was leader of the opposition either.

“In the Bahamas, we don’t vote for governments.

Faithfully, for the last 20 odd years, we don’t vote governments in. We vote them out so at the end of the day, people are not necessarily voting for the PLP. If they were to vote, they will be voting a government out.”

He added: “So, if he does (call an early election), I don’t see where it will be to his advantage. It seems in my opinion; it weighs more to his disadvantage because there are too many variables. Sixty percent of the people have not gone back to work at the hotels if I’m correct.

“The unemployment rate is still high. Many people are still not in their homes since Hurricane Dorian.

COVID-19 is still rampant and we have higher (cases) now than we have had than any other given time since the pandemic. You have a Cabinet that is basically not on one page and hasn’t

MILLER WON’T RUN AS INDEPENDENT MP from page one

When they did not choose him and instead ratified former Pineridge MP Dr Michael Darville as the party’s Tall Pines candidate, many wondered whether Mr Miller would live up to his threat.

For months he remained tightlipped over the decision. However, recently he’s been seen campaigning with many PLP candidates, including Centreville pick Jomo Campbell.

Asked what his next move was yesterday, Mr Miller said: “I am not running as an independent.

I am just helping out my colleagues.”

He said his decision came

out of a view that there was no better party to lead the country than the PLP. “It doesn’t make sense to have any split votes,” Mr Miller told The Tribune.

“It’s really too important for me to run and to take any chances with this one.

“To me this is the most significant election since 1967, by far. I think it’s going to be paramount for our country that the right thing happens with this election.

“I have absolute faith in the PLP that they will get the job done, absolute faith.”

Back in February, the veteran politician was adamant that no one could prevent him from running in the impending election

and he expected to beat out Dr Darville for the party’s nomination.

“No one can stop me from running. Who is going to stop me? I am with my people, and they are with me and that’s all I can tell you,” he said at the time.

“If I was to run independent, I will win,” Mr Miller also said earlier this year.

“We will win by a hefty margin over the incumbent who is there now and anybody else who wants to run.”

Asked at the time how his bid for the ratification was going, he responded, “You are saying ‘in my bid for Tall Pines?’ How can it be a bid if I was the MP there from 1987? You need to go interview Darville to

see if my people are with him.”

Officially, the PLP made its final decision in March, when Dr Darville was ratified along with 12 other candidates.

PLP officials expressed increasing confidence at the time that an independent run from the outspoken Mr Miller would be prevented, with some noting Mr Miller enjoys a strong relationship with Dr Darville.

While many expect that Prime Minister Dr Hubert MInnis could call an early election soon, a date has not been announced.

Dr Minnis has repeatedly said the next election is not due until May 2022, however some insiders say signs signal otherwise.

been that way for a while.

“You have a number of disgruntled backbenchers and you have disheartened supporters. The civil service is uneasy. . .I don’t see it but maybe he knows something we don’t know,” Mr McAlpine said.

Mr McAlpine also said it was disappointing and disheartening that no one from the party had yet reached out to inform him of their final decision to replace him as a candidate.

He hit out at what he sees as a lack of leadership and communication skills in the organisation.

“The rumours about this ratification, the leader (nor) any hierarchy of the Free National Movement has had the decency to contact me or to say anything to me with regards to such a move,” he said in an interview with The Tribune yesterday. “Nothing in writing. No phone call, nothing…and again, this continues to show poor

taste and poor judgement by an organisation that has served the Bahamian people for so long and so far that they have reached the standard of mediocre organisational status.”

The outspoken MP said he had no ill wishes for the political hopeful, insisting whoever the party chose was “fine” with him.

Mr McAlpine has long had a frosty relationship with the FNM. In 2019, the parliamentarian broke ranks with the Minnis administration after he voted against the increase of VAT from 7.5 to 12 percent. Shortly afterwards, he was fired as chairman of the Bahamas Hotel Corporation.

Since then he has been vocal and at times scathing in his criticism of the government and Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis.

Mr McAlpine has previously said there were forces within the party that wanted to see him gone.

PAGE 4, Friday, July 16, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

‘No decision’ on protocol if emergency powers end

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

TOURISM Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar said yesterday the government has not yet decided how it will handle protocol for visitors should Emergency Powers Orders end next month.

Last month Attorney General Carl Bethel said

plan has not changed to his knowledge.

The latest emergency proclamation expires in August.

The House of Assembly, however, will be on summer break until September.

Asked yesterday if ending the emergency orders meant the travel visas and COVID-19 testing would fall away for people entering the country, the minister said: “A decision has not been made yet.

state of emergency next month, Mr Wells said, “The state of emergency ends on August 13. If there’s going to be any change to that, obviously the competent authority, the Cabinet of The Bahamas would have to come back to the Bahamian people to say so, but right now there is no discussion about changing the fact that the emergency orders end on August 13.

“But if it was to change, the government of The Bahamas will come to the Bahamian people in the shortest possible time

“But, you know in order to be able to do that, I do believe under the law you would have to go to the House of Assembly and the (House of Assembly) doesn’t meet until the 22nd of September. We would have to call an emergency session and the governor general would have to call the (House of Assembly) back into session to be able to do that, but as it stands now, we’re moving forward,” Mr Wells said.

Last month, Mr Bethel was asked if parliamentarians will break their summer recess to extend the emergency proclamation.

He said at the time: “If the Governor General should form

TOURISM Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar.

Photo: Donovan McIntosh/ Tribune Staff that the emergency persists, the Governor General is always free at any time to issue a new proclamation even during the course of the expired term of the existing proclamation.

Once he does so, then both

the

five days of the issuance of such a proclamation.

“The mere fact that the House (of Assembly) has adjourned beyond the expiration date (of the emergency proclamation) does not prevent the governor general in his discretion should he feel that the emergency persists, to issue a new proclamation, summon the Houses and allow them to debate whether or not to extend the proclamation. Such a proclamation would last for 14 days absent a decision by the Houses to extend the proclamation.

“As it is right now, the government has indicated a view that we could look toward the August period for the removal of emergency powers and that is certainly the aim. Everything depends on how we behave ourselves as a people.”

The way forward is still under Minnis administration wants to remove the COVID-19 emergency restrictions by August but that doing so will depend on infection rates and the behaviour of residents.

Health Minister Renward Wells said on Tuesday the

consideration.”

He could not say when a decision would be made.

On Tuesday, when asked if the government is still hoping to end the current

and inform the country as to what direction we are to go in.

the view

Houses (of Parliament) will be summoned to meet within

SECOND DOSES ONLY - FOR NOW from page one

“The vaccine supply we currently have, I’m not going to give you the exact number of doses, but we have a schedule that goes to the 27th of July,” Dr DahlRegis told The Tribune yesterday.

“Our inventory is low, but we are managing the inventory and we are providing second doses until the 27th of July both in Nassau and Grand Bahama and we certainly expect to hear that the arrival of these vaccines, that the third instalment is before the 27th. This is what they said to us.

“We are committed to doing the second shots so with this low inventory we are doing only second shots.

We made that decision yesterday (Wednesday),” she said in response to concerns about people receiving second doses.

Recently numerous international news agencies reported that although the AstraZeneca vaccine produced in Europe has been authorised by the European Union’s drug regulatory agency, the same shot manufactured in India hasn’t been given the green light.

Asked about this, Dr Dahl-Regis said the committee was not overly concerned.

“We received 20,000 doses of the Covishield that was approved by the WHO and we feel comfortable that the persons who received the Covishield based on the scientific advisory group of experts at the World Health Organisation, that it meets all the standards.”

Those 20,000 vaccines, she said, were from the Indian manufacturer while the subsequent vaccines

DR MERCELINE DAHL-REGIS were from another manufacturer. Both were made available through WHO’s COVAX Facility.

She continued: “So, what I am understanding is the WHO is dealing with the European Group with specific reference to Covishield and what they have approved, WHO approved for the EUL (emergency use listing).

“So, we are not overly concerned. Plus, we’ve had one breakthrough (infection in a vaccinated person) I think with the vaccine but when you look at that incident, it is not unusual, and we are checking on hospitalisations. We have been able to identify if any of the hospitalised individuals are vaccinated.”

Health Minister Renward Wells said on Tuesday the country is expected to receive its first doses of the Pfizer vaccine through the COVAX Facility soon, with additional doses of the brand anticipated to arrive in the country later this year.

Speaking to reporters before a Cabinet meeting, Mr Wells said the first shipment of the Pfizer vaccine will consist of 57,330 doses and added that officials are hoping to have those vaccines here by the end of the month.

“We will have a more definitive date when the Pfizer vaccine will arrive

in the country by Friday of this week,” Mr Wells said.

“The COVAX Facility, through PAHO, has informed the Caribbean region as to what is available, and the Bahamas has been offered some 57,330 doses of Pfizer through PAHO. “You would also be aware that we are entitled to some 33 plus thousand doses of AstraZeneca.

The date for arrival of that vaccine is July 26 and so we are eagerly awaiting AstraZeneca on July 26.

We’re also awaiting the update through CARICOM for the donation directly from the United States as to how much doses of that vaccine we will be receiving. We should have that update this week as well.”

To date, the Bahamas has received 67,200 vaccine doses from the COVAX Facility, with the remaining 33,600 doses expected to be delivered at the end of this month.

Twenty thousand doses were donated by the Indian government in March.

A statement released by the committee later yesterday said the country has also been informed that additional vaccines will be made available in the third quarter of 2021, through a donation from the United States, via CARPHA (Caribbean Public Health Agency), and through the COVAX Facility.

The administration of second doses continues at the Loyola Hall COVID-19 Vaccination Centre on Gladstone Road by appointment only. Regrettably, walk-up appointments cannot be accommodated at this time.

To book an appointment online please visit vax.gov. bs.

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, July 16, 2021, PAGE 5

‘Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line stranded us in Florida’

By TANYA SMITHCARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net RICHARD Brown said he cannot express how disappointed he is in Bahamas Paradise Cruise Lines for leaving him and his wife stranded in Florida, ruining their vacation to The Bahamas.

Residents of West Palm Springs, Brown and his wife, Elaine were originally confirmed to sail to Grand Bahama for vacation on July 8, but the cruise line for some reason, postponed the trip to July 10 only to present a “no-show” on the new date, leaving passengers stranded at the port.

“We had booked a trip because we do a timeshare at Mayfield Beach and Tennis Club which is a wonderful timeshare on Grand Bahama,” said Mr Brown.

“We take the cruise line so that we can bring a little bit more stuff. So we were supposed to leave on July 8 and the day before we were supposed to leave they send an email saying no, that we were not leaving – we didn’t know what was going on.

“So, we kept calling and calling and never got anything back, but later that day we received a reservation for July 10 which was Saturday. This was fine, we missed one day at the timeshare. So we packed all our stuff, we go down to the port. We got there around 12 o’clock and there is a bunch of people there milling around, but nobody from Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line.

“There are people from Philadelphia and New York and we asked what was going on and they said the boat’s here but we can’t find anybody from the cruise line. We went inside the

RICHARD and Elaine Brown, front, were to sail to Grand Bahama on July 8, but Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line postpone the trip to July 10 - and was then a no-show on the new date, leaving passengers stranded. port and got hold of a security guard there and he said, ‘no they’re not leaving, that’s for sure.’ So we were kind of stuck, we didn’t know what to do, so I said let’s go to lunch and relax and see if we can’t fly over there (Grand Bahama).”

After continuously calling the cruise line to no avail, Mr Brown said they went to lunch and turned off their phones while in the restaurant.

“We went home and about 2:15 (pm) that day, we had the phones off when we were in a restaurant, we looked and there was a message. We picked up the

message and it said basically we hope you got our email that we have cancelled the cruise to go to The Bahamas.

“It was 2:15 in the afternoon, but we never got an email from them. We have not heard one single thing from the cruise line after that until today when they left another message. We kept calling and calling and finally we just gave up.

“We never got a hold of them on any of the numbers we called or any of the emails. Between five and ten phone calls never once have we been able to get anyone. The message they

‘GIVE A DATE FOR STRAW MARKET’

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

STRAW vendors are once again calling for the government to provide a timeline on the re-opening of the Nassau Straw Market, saying it’s “unfair” that other tourism businesses are allowed to operate while their place of employment remains closed.

Straw Vendors Advancement Association president Celestine Eneas told The Tribune yesterday that since the market was ordered closed due to COVID-19 over a year ago, vendors have yet to hear from officials when they can return to work.

“It’s been 16 months and we really need them to open that market,” she said.

“We heard the chairlady on the news last night and she was saying she don’t know when the market is going to open.

“But someone in the (Straw Market) Authority needs to say something because after all, we deserve to at least know when we’re going back to work because it been too long. People’s bills are piling up.

“It sounds like what she saying is the market is too crowded. The market is not too crowded. We have 300 and something vendors registered there, but we don’t have 300 and something vendors out there.

We have instances where

one person using two and three stalls but they just don’t listen.”

Ms Eneas said it’s a situation that has disheartened workers who cannot even benefit from the tourists visiting downtown this summer season.

“The (foreigners) are making up all the money on Bay Street,” Ms Eneas said yesterday.

“The government allowed them to have the souvenir stores so I don’t understand why should the foreign man come here and catch the pie and we can’t even get a piece of bread.”

According to the association president, trying to make ends meet continues to be a daily struggle for workers.

She said while vendors are currently receiving some $100 a week in social support from the government, it’s still not enough.

“It can’t even pay our water bill,” she said. “And I’m sure the vendors would welcome additional assistance but we need that market open. There’s no reason why the market can’t open. Why should the government pay a full staff for 16 months and we in the market sitting down doing nothing?

“A whole staff is being paid and we can’t get back in the market. People losing their houses. They losing their cars. Vendors begging and sleeping on the beach because

landlords are putting them out.”

Yesterday, head of the Straw Business Persons Association Rev Esther Thompson shared similar sentiments.

“We definitely need more social assistance. I feel like the government is not treating the vendors good. When you take out VAT out of the $100, they give to us, that’s $88,” she said.

And with the government’s attention now fixed on the upcoming election season, vendors fear their calls for help will fall on deaf ears.

In February, Works Minister Desmond Bannister told reporters representatives from the Straw Market were consulting with health officials concerning the market’s re-opening protocols.

“The Straw Market Authority is constantly seeking advice from the Ministry of Health and that’s why I indicated to you that we have to do some modifications inside.

The way that we did things in the past can’t be the way we do things in the future,” he said at the time.

“It has to be a primary concern that the vendors in there are safe. It has to be a primary concern that the visitors to this country are safe and so there will be some procedures in there that will be discussed with vendors and those things will have to be put in place.”

left today was just that we should call them, but it’s the same thing. No answer.”

The Tribune tried to make contact with Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line several times to no avail.

Phones rang endlessly with no answer.

“After a while of spending half an hour to 45 minutes…. when you’re at home you can do a few chores while you are waiting on somebody to answer the phone, but they have simply not answered the phone to numerous phone calls.

“It was Saturday at the port and normally they cruise. The security guard

said the workers are on the boat. I asked him if they are leaving or not leaving. He said he can definitely tell me they are not leaving.

Why didn’t they just have one person there standing out front telling us they are not going and that we should just go home? There was no spokesperson. No communication at all.

In an online advertisement, Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line attracts cruisers by boasting of being the only two-night cruise sailing from the Port of Palm Beach to Freeport, Grand Bahama. The advertisement also says the cruises

sail every two days.

“We lost our timeshare,” Brown continued. “We’ve lost our vacation. Thank goodness for a wonderful Bahamian lady from the Mayfield, her name is Christina. She is the one who really said the cruise was not coming over. She said when we want to use the timeshare she would fit us in, but my wife has to go back to work.

“This was our annual vacation. Just to be blunt with you, I am very disappointed that we were treated this way… very disappointed.”

When the cruise line set July 10 as the new date. It sent out a communication stating the following reasons for the change: “Based on protocols we have in place for the protection of all our crew and guests and due to terms laid out by the CDC for the return to commercial sailing, under what is known as the Conditional Sail Order (CSO), unfortunately an event occurred on the Grand Classica whereby the consequences mean that we must cancel your pending cruise.

“We will return to our scheduled service of sailings to Grand Bahama Island on the Grand Classica, starting Saturday, 10th July 2021.

“We know this news will be tremendously disappointing as we have all been waiting for over 15 months for the return of cruising and sailing to the beautiful Bahamas. This decision was not taken lightly but given the situation and out of an abundance of caution, we felt we had to make these schedule changes to protect the health and safety of all our guests and crew.”

Up to press time there was still no answer from the contact numbers for the cruise line.

C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S

T O

MRS. SHELAGH STRACHAN ON HER

90TH B I RT H D AY

GOVT MONITORING SITUATION IN CUBA THE Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it is monitoring the situation in Cuba after protests there but noted there have been no reports of Bahamians on the island requiring assistance amid the unrest.

In a statement yesterday, the ministry said it has taken note of reports of the July 11 protest in Cuba resulting from food and medicine shortages.

Reportedly, there were

injuries with at least one fatality confirmed by the government, the statement said.

“On Monday, July 12, public transportation, retail stores, clinics, vaccination centres and government offices were operational.

According to authorities, mobile telephone services and internet were not operational due to mechanical issues,” the statement added.

“On July 13 mobile phone services were restored. There were no reports of Bahamians requiring assistance due to the protests. Bahamians who contacted the embassy were advised to limit their movement around the country to acquiring basic essentials.”

The ministry, through The Bahamas Embassy in Havana, continues to monitor the situation.

From her Children: Cecilia, Cyprian and Jonathan, Yvette and Ashaki; Grand-Children: Cyshae, Carlian, Malique & Mia, and from numerous Nephews, Nieces, (Barbara Campbell) Family and Friends.

We Love You!

PAGE 6, Friday, July 16, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

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Worried about low supplies? Make sure you book when doses arrive IT WOULD be easy to overreact to the news that people can no longer get the first of their COVID-19 jabs as supplies run low.

Let us be clear, it is not a good thing that we have to resort to this measure, not at all, but it is a temporary situation.

The sooner it can be resolved the better, and the government does need to continue to make progress in sourcing vaccines if we are to hit our targets of protecting the population.

That said, people have had plenty of opportunity by now to register for their first jab – and for anyone concerned they are missing out, we hope they will be first in the line to make sure they get that vaccination once the next delivery arrives.

In one way, of course, it is a good sign so many people are wanting to get the shots. It has been heartening to see the pictures in The Tribune this week of people lining up for their shots outside Loyola Hall as the vaccination programme continues.

And with Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis continuing to tell people that the only way out of the pandemic is through vaccination, the more joining that line for their shots, the better.

The Bahamas has received 67,200 doses so far, with the remaining 33,600 as part of our agreement from the COVAX facility due to arrive at the end of this month. Add to that 20,000 doses

given to us by the Indian government and that gives us a good start on our vaccination programme.

That’s just what it is, though – a start, and we’ll need more than that if we hope to reach herd immunity. Bear in mind with the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine that each person needs two jabs, so that total of 120,800 doses fully vaccinates 60,400 people.

For now, the existing supply will be used to continue with the second jabs of those who have already had their first.

That current supply should last until July 27, according to Dr Merceline Dahl-Regis, with the next wave of vaccines due to arrive on July 26.

Any delay might be even more shortlived anyway. Health Minister Renward Wells has said that he hopes to have a date on when the Pfizer vaccine will arrive in the country by today. The Bahamas has been offered 57,330 doses of the Pfizer vaccine. The sooner those doses can arrive, the better So if you’re panicking that you might miss out on the vaccine, make sure as soon as it’s available that you book your jab.

We know there are more vaccines coming right now – but don’t get caught out if this next wave of supply starts to run short before any new deliveries are confirmed.

And in the meantime, stay masked, stay distant, and stay healthy.

China’s rise is peaceful and unstoppable EDITOR, The Tribune.

A deserved honour EDITOR, The Tribune.

IT IS heartwarming to see my friend Algernon Sidney Patrick Benedict Allen receive a well-deserved honour. The honour given can hardly compensate for his charity. His selflessness is his calling card. The ease he displayed in freely giving is a rare quality. I am positively sure that many would quickly jump to their feet in applauding Allen’s contributions to this country. He is selfless. Few have helped more people than he.

I am just wondering if the gesture to honour him was genuine or for political reasons. Many on both sides of the political divide can speak glowingly of his goodnature, fun loving, patriotic, true-true son of the soil.

Allen is well respected by all and can bridge the political divide better than any Bahamian politician, past and present. None was as exciting, energetic and people-driven. Unlike some political leaders of today, he can comfortably mix and mingle with the lowliest and kings. His philanthropy is legendary. We cannot ignore or forget that in 1992, Allen, Minister of Youth, was the driving force behind the “One Bahamas” initiative to

generate a greater sense of identity, pride and community among Bahamian youth.

Allen’s mission was to erase the demarcation line between the haves and have nots, rich and poor, connected or disconnected, from both sides of the track.

One Bahamas co-chaired

by Sir Durward Knowles and Sir Orville Turnquest, with the blessings of Sir Clifford Darling, was well-intentioned.

Sadly, the programme is not given the kind of attention needed by the Minnis administration to continue.

Allen’s compassion is well known. Perry Gladstone Christie showed great confidence in Allen and Cynthia Mother Pratt to cosponsor the revolutionary Urban Renewal Programme that rescued many from the brink of despair. Allen is still relevant in the inner city, being one of the few politicians past and present who can command an audience with ordinary enthusiastic Bahamians. They still trust his opinion.

Allen’s propensity for the protection and love for his “little darlings” saw fit to encourage Philanthropist Philippe Bonnefoy to bring to life an oasis for at-risk youth through The Nazareth Centre, a Child Protection Centre in

Millennium Gardens.

Allen sacrificed his resources to assist the project along the way. Of course, the Catholic has done a yeoman’s job since then in keeping it functioning.

Even though Allen is overqualified for this honour, the tongues are wagging about Minnis timing in this political season, especially since not too long ago, Allen was seen by all in primetime on stage at a PLP convention.

So is this exercise designed to confuse his followers? Was this done to lay claim to Mr Allen as an FNM or neutralise him among the PLP? I hope not? Judging from Hubert Minnis’ modus operandi, one would question his motive.

Of course, the conversation by FNM around the water cooler today is, why did Minnis give such a high honour to someone outside of his inner circle? Minnis would have to explain his rationale, but I would not hold my breath.

The weak in courage is strong in cunning. Cunning is the dwarf of wisdom. Bold enough to be honest and honest enough to be bold.

the back of crime in 2020.

I had argued in an opinion piece last year that the drastic drop in murders and other violent criminal offences was due to the state sanctioned restrictions and curfews issued by the competent authority in order to curtail the spread of COVID-19.

It had absolutely nothing to do with National Security Minister Marvin Dames’ crime fighting strategies.

I have also argued before that Nassau’s shockingly high murder rate is related to vigilante justice. I believe

families of murdered and rape victims are now taking matters into their own hands. The crime crisis in Nassau has been a boon for certain defense attorneys, who can earn upwards to $50,000 for a murder case in the Supreme Court. According to a recent Nassau Guardian article, as of June 30, murders were up 68 percent, compared to the first six months of 2020. Each murder count represents another lucrative job for Nassau’s over bloated legal fraternity, which brings us to

IVOINE INGRAHAM Nassau, July 14, 2021.

W

LETTERS

AT THE recent celebrations for the centennial anniversary of the Communist Party of China attended by 70,000 people and watched by fellow Chinese all over the world, General Secretary Xi Jinping confidently announced that China has fulfilled its first centenary goal of turning China into a moderately prosperous society by putting an end to absolute poverty. This is a historic achievement for a centuryold party, who was born in the throes of a semicolonial and semi-feudal society.

General Secretary Xi also used the occasion to reiterate China’s commitment to peaceful development and to promote world peace and global development, and uphold the international order.

China’s peaceful rise is probably one of the most transformative events of the 21st century. It is the first time in hundreds of years for a non-Western country to achieve nearpar development with the West, but only at a much faster rate and much larger scale, and through means of trade and economic cooperation, rather than war, colonization and plunder.

While most people in the world recognize and welcome China’s progress, there are some in the West who see it as a threat to Western predominance in

letters@tribunemedia.net international affairs. Too accustomed to Western superiority, they cannot accept China going its own way and being successful at the same time.

Some of the worst forms of this mis-perception of China manifested itself in a continuous and dogged campaign to depict China in a negative light in international discourse. In the past few years, such a campaign of slander has reached feverish pitch bordering on paranoia, as can be seen in such horrendous accusations against China as “genocide” in Xinjiang. It is astonishing how short some people’s memory is. They know what genocide is, and aboriginals in different parts of the world experienced it first-hand.

Employing familiar divide-and-rule tactics, these people have found a way to make an issue out of areas on the outer edges of China either inhabited by ethnic minorities or having a colonial history, such as Xinjiang in China’s northwest, Tibet in southwest, Taiwan in the east and Hong Kong in the south, to fabricate and play up different stories about China. This is seen by many in China as a pathetic attempt to hold China down and prevent

another important point.

Nassauvians are now gearing up for another general election, and one of the most important legal matters, capital punishment, is not high on the agenda of either the Free National Movement or the Progressive Liberal Party. The state hasn’t executed a convicted murderer since 2000 - 21 years ago, during the second term of the Hubert Ingraham administration. My question to Nassauvians is this: What are the chances that a defense attorney,

who is an MP, and whose law firm is representing the very criminal elements that are making life a living hell in Nassau, would push for the death penalty?

Moreover, how can I, as a criminal defense attorney, sit in the Cabinet mapping out a strategy to uproot the very clients my law firm is vigorously seeking to exonerate before the courts? Bahamians are not stupid. We know who the criminals are. And we know who their hotshot attorneys are. They will be the very ones knocking on

its rise, which will never succeed.

As General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, China has embarked on a new journey of pursuing its second centenary goal of realizing full socialist modernization by the centenary of the People’s Republic in 2049, and the country has entered an irreversible historical process of rejuvenation.

China’s rise has so far been and will continue to be a story of not only rising prosperity for its own people but also of opportunities shared with countries all over the world through mutually beneficial cooperation and assistance.

In the just concluded session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, more than 90 countries in the world made statements supporting China and opposing the politicization of human rights. This shows the weight of global public opinion.

Those in the West agitating for confrontation need to be aware of a selffulfilling prophesy: make China an adversary, and it would become one. This is a recipe for a lose-lose scenario. Partnership and solidarity would be an infinitely better option.

YIN HAIGANG Chinese Embassy spokesperson Nassau, July 15, 2021

Murder spree a boon for defence attorneys EDITOR, The Tribune.

NASSAU is currently under-siege by a violent group of gangs engaging in a reckless game of tit-for-tat, which has spilled over into communities that were once thought to be safe. Many families in New Providence have lost confidence in the judicial system and in the executive branch of government to keep them safe.

The current uptick in gang related deaths has put to rest the narrative that the Minnis administration had broken

your door days prior to election looking for your vote.

Nassauvians had better wake up and smell the coffee. We are already reaching the point of no return like Jamaica and South Africa. While criminal defense attorneys, who want to sit in Parliament, are laughing all the way to the bank, grieving parents are burying their murdered children.

KEVIN EVANS Freeport, Grand Bahama, July 15, 2021.

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, July 16, 2021, PAGE 7

Man filmed fighting policeman jailed for eight months

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net THE 23-year-old man who was filmed fighting an officer who attempted to arrest him over a traffic violation was yesterday sentenced to eight months in prison.

He was also ordered to make a public apology to the officer he assaulted.

Last week, Julien Butler appeared before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt charged with driving in a manner dangerous to the public while not being covered by third party risk insurance nor having a valid licence.

The charges stemmed from an incident that occurred on Tonique Williams Darling Highway on July 5. At the time, two officers were involved in an altercation with Butler after they tried to arrest him for reckless driving.

The court was told that around 2.30pm that day, PC Smith was on motorcycle patrol in the Market Street area when he observed Butler, who was on a scooter, run a traffic light on Cordeaux Avenue. He said after he beckoned for him to stop, he approached Butler and asked him to produce his driver’s licence. When the accused could not, he went back to his police motorcycle to get a fixed penalty book.

However, when the officer did this Butler jumped back on his scooter and sped off. PC Smith pursued him. During the chase, Butler was said to have driven his scooter against the flow of traffic. He also failed to stop until he lost control of his scooter and fell on the ground.

In his report, PC Smith said when he attempted to dismount his own motorcycle, the accused charged at him in an aggressive manner and began striking him in his face with a closed fist.

The prosecution said when PC Smith attempted

to subdue Butler, he realised the accused was attempting to disarm him.

He said some time later Sergeant 3395 Strachan “came out of nowhere” and instructed Butler to stop resisting while having his police service weapon in a low ready position.

Butler was represented by attorney Glendon Rolle.

In his plea in mitigation, he noted his client was “totally apologetic and remorseful” for his actions. He also said given the “traction” of the case, it would be prudent to allow Butler to partner with the Royal Bahamas Police Force in their community department to do community service. Mr Rolle said he believed a collaboration would be “most honourable” as it would display someone who acted in poor taste “coming together” with officers.

In response, Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt said the fact that the case was highly publicised online did not move her. She also noted the matter could have escalated to “something far greater” if Sgt Strachan was not there to intervene.

She said this fact alone made her “shudder” when she thought of “what could have happened.”

As a result, she fined Butler $1,000 or four weeks behind bars for the driving offences. The accused was also sentenced to eight months in prison for assaulting PC Smith and three months for resisting arrest. Both sentences were ordered to run concurrently.

Yesterday, Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt also ordered Butler to make a public apology to PC Smith who was present at the hearing. When he did, Butler said he “truly was sorry for his behaviour”.

He also said he wanted to “apologise to the law enforcement system and the country” and insisted his behaviour would not happen again.

Butler was allowed to speak with some of his relatives briefly before he was taken into custody.

MAN ‘STABBED HIS LANDLORD IN NECK’

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A TENANT stabbed his landlord in the neck multiple times during a confrontation last month, a court was told yesterday.

Dwight Forbes was accused of causing grievous harm to Prince Albert Kinlock on June 4. He denied the allegations when he first appeared before Senior Magistrate Derence Rolle Davis and the matter was adjourned to trial.

When Mr Kinlock gave evidence during the proceedings, he told the court he had been renting to Mr Forbes for about seven months. He said on the night in question, he came home after hanging out with a good friend. He said when he went into his yard, Forbes came behind him “mumbling insulting words”.

Mr Kinlock said he ignored the accused and went inside, but when he came back out, Forbes ran to where he was standing and asked him, “What you have to say now?” before stabbing him in his neck “multiple times”. The landlord said blood was

“spouting” from the wound after the attack so someone called an ambulance. He said he was then taken to Princess Margaret Hospital where he spent five days in the intensive care unit.

Mr Kinlock said this wasn’t the first time Forbes confronted him since the accused had a habit of coming and telling him the property he was renting was not his.

When Forbes, who was not represented by an attorney, cross-examined Mr Kinlock, he suggested the complainant’s brother was his landlord and that Mr Kinlock was “lying to him the whole time”.

Mr Kinlock denied this, which prompted Forbes to suggest the man attacked him with a cutlass when he came home from work after arguing about him paying rent. The complainant denied this as well.

At the close of the prosecution’s case, Magistrate Rolle Davis said the court found that Forbes did have a case to answer.

The accused said he planned to remain silent but would call his girlfriend to testify on his behalf.

The case was adjourned to August 5.

ARMANI Thomas at court yesterday, where he was arraigned on several counts of importation of firearms and ammunition.

Photo: Donovan McIntosh/Tribune Staff

SUSPECT IN ARMS CASE IS DENIED BAIL

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A 24-YEAR-OLD man who denied importing firearms and ammunition into the country was remanded to prison overnight pending a bail hearing.

Armani Thomas appeared before Chief Magistrate Joyann

Ferguson-Pratt charged with four counts of importation of a firearm into the country and another three counts of importation of ammunition.

Prosecutors alleged the accused smuggled two black and silver .40 Taurus pistols and two black .40 Smith & Wesson pistols into the country between February 2020 and June of this year. He is accused of importing 19 rounds of ammunition along with the

firearms within that same time frame.

Yesterday, Thomas pleaded not guilty to all of the allegations.

However, before Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt could consider the issue of bail, the prosecution requested more time to consider their position.

As a result, the court was adjourned to today for a bail hearing.

Thomas was remanded into custody until that time.

PAGE 8, Friday, July 16, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

Bail granted for customs broker in $2.5m fraud case

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net A CUSTOMS broker who denied stealing from and defrauding Cable Bahamas of more than $2.5m over a 12 month period was yesterday granted bail ahead of her trial.

Precious Moxey-Miller, 34, a broker for Simply Shipping Solutions, appeared before Magistrate Kendra Kelly facing 161 fraud-related charges for her alleged actions between January 2018 and February 2019.

On Wednesday, she pleaded not guilty to 114 counts. When she returned to court yesterday she denied the remaining allegations.

The charges included counts of falsification of accounts, uttering a forged document, fraud by false pretences and stealing by reason of service.

Officers allege that

between January 2018 and February 2019, the accused stole over $480,000 from Cable Bahamas, of which she had custody by reason of service.

It is further alleged that between those same dates, she obtained a total of $1,321,510.17 from Cable Bahamas Limited situated on Old Trail Road by means of false pretences.

She is also accused of uttering several false Bahamas customs forms and making numerous false entries on the forms, purporting to show the bill of lading was consigned to Cable Bahamas knowing the information to be false.

Among the additional charges, Moxey-Miller is accused of fraudulently obtaining from Cable Bahamas Ltd a Royal Bank of Canada cheque in the amount of $90,569.53 on February 15, 2019.

She is also accused of stealing $38,618.24 from

the company, which she had custody of by reason of her service that same day.

Prosecutors allege the accused also made false entries on a Bahamas Customs Department C13 form that she was required to maintain on February 26, 2019.

After denying the remaining allegations, Moxey-Miller was granted $200,000 bail.

Her case was adjourned to October 18-22 for trial.

As part of the conditions of her release, she must sign into George Town Police Station every Monday before 6pm leading up to the trial.

Magistrate Kelly said the accused must also surrender her travel documents and is banned from engaging any of the witnesses or customs brokerage agencies involved in the matter.

Moxey-Miller is represented by attorney Kenyatta Gibson.

PRECIOUS Moxey Miller outside court this week.

Photo: Donovan McIntosh/Tribune Staff

MARINE HONOURED MARINE Seaman Jerard Forbes has been recognised as the Marine of the Quarter for the Military Aid to Civil Authority (MACA) Department.

During a brief awards ceremony at HMBS Coral Harbour, Forbes was presented with a certificate by Captain Shawn Adderley.

Also in attendance were Commander Floyd Moxey, Lieutenant Commander Andrew Bowe, and Warrant Officers within the section.

Photo: Able Seaman Paul Rolle II/RBDF

CELEBRITY ARTIST IS AN ICON THE Celebrity Artist, Jamaal Rolle, who is also the daily cartoonist for The Tribune, is to be named as a cultural icon in a ceremony tonight.

Mr Rolle is one of ten icons from the ten urban communities in the category of Junkanoo, music, arts, entertainment, straw work, wood work and more.

The first Independence Cultural Icon Awards event, hosted by the Urban Renewal Commission, will be held at the Salem Union Baptist Church Hall on Taylor Street tonight, at 6.30pm.

Mr Rolle’s work has been featured around the world.

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, July 16, 2021, PAGE 9

Beach access – whose right is right?

THE toughest political issues – the ones that wake a sleepy village and thrust it into frenzied activity or turn the somnambulant into the firebrand – are those that impact our own backyard.

Not a political activist?

Watch what you become when news that a halfway house for serious sex offenders is about to be built on your street. Don’t care about climate change, figuring they’ll fix it if it gets bad? Watch what happens when your street floods.

Backyard issues are so volatile they can determine the outcome of elections, particularly at a local level.

Even without true local government, there is no greater backyard issue in The Bahamas than beach access. When it comes to beaches, whose rights are right?

It hits all of us, those who own a piece and those who just want to use a piece. The question lingers unanswered, simmering underground, until every now and then, there is a new event, another gate erected, another access denied and the question whose right is it anyway flares up and boils over before it simmers back down and remains that way until the next time.

Whose beach is it anyway? Maybe it would not be so important if the waters were not so much a part of who and what we are. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt so much that we can’t just stop anywhere and go for a walk or swim if the sea were not so blue, so clear, so inviting and enticing.

Maybe it would not feel like we were being deprived

By Diane Phillips

of something we believed we had a right to even if some part of us understands that if that beach were our backyard we may not want strangers hanging out and having a family reunion on it.

But the beach is so close to our hearts, it feels like part of us and we a part of it. We drive by it and yet it is not ours, like a lover we used to have and still long for but can’t touch. A tease, a desire to lie on the warmth of the sand and splash in the cool of the deep. And we keep driving, longing.

Romanticism and emotion aside, the soft sand is a thorny issue.

From a scientific perspective, the reasoning is plausible. We are water beings. Our bodies are made up of 70 percent water. So is Earth. In The Bahamas, the percentage is even higher, (though Wikipedia has it wrong). We are roughly 5,300 square miles of land to 100,000 square miles of open ocean or 260,000 square miles of water if you include the exclusive economic zone which extends from the outer limits of internal waters up to 200 nautical miles outward. Our ancestors sailed the seas and lived on its bounty. Our deep connection to the

water is historic and by extension, our connection to the shoreline is not mere fancy, it is ingrained as surely as our DNA. All of which takes us full circle back to the question whose beach is it anyway?

If only the answer were clear. But it is not and may never be. Of a few things we are certain. The law favours private ownership rights on dry sand, public access rights on the wet sand, or what is referred to as above and below the mean high water mark.

In truth, there are more questions than answers which became apparent after Florida passed House bill 631 in 2018. Signed into law by Republican governor Rick Scott, it tilts in favour of private vs public by putting the responsibility on those seeking access to pursue through the courts instead of those who want to maintain privacy and it takes the power away from a local government to decide such matters, again placing the onus on that entity to establish reason.

The irony in that is that with all the money that goes into beach restoration in Florida, taxpayers may be denied access to a beach or may be arrested for trespassing on a beach their tax dollars helped to restore. About 60 percent

BPC LICENCES EXPIRED IT’S rare to celebrate news that a licence expired but when the Minister of Environment & Housing Romauld Ferreira reported yesterday that licences held by Bahamas Petroleum Company, BPC, had expired and they owed fees to government dating back to 2017 it was hard not to punch the air with joy.

We thank our lucky stars that the initial drilling for oil did not turn up commercially viable quantities. Let’s do what we should have been doing all along, invest in solar, wind and carbon credits. We’ve been given a second chance. Maybe Sam Duncombe can call for a moment of a national sigh of relief. Let’s not waste the reprieve.

of Florida’s beaches are privately owned and we can only surmise that in New Providence, the figure is even higher. In short, it awards “superior right to possession of real property” to those who hold the deed rather than those to whom history and habitation might favour.

Were it to be the case here, the vendors on Cabbage Beach would have no case to bring, but the political climate being what it is during these sensitive

months, it would be surprising not to see some form of compromise and resolution.

While the solution is not an easy one where so much development has already occurred and investors have poured hundreds of millions into resorts where guests enjoy the beauty we often cannot get close to, it is not too late to save access in the Family Islands and on much of Grand Bahama.

One Florida example stands out – after losing much of the south end of the city’s

beaches to private development, the city of Boca Raton in Palm Beach County woke up and smelled the salt air. The entire northern length – some of the most expensive real estate in the southern US – is one public beach after another and all development is on the opposite side of A1A, the ocean road. Residents have the best of both worlds, a view and access, and that is a lesson we can learn before another gate closes and it is too late.

PAGE 10, Friday, July 16, 2021

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Friday, July 16, 2021, PAGE 11

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BIDEN: US WILL PROTECT HAITI EMBASSY - BUT WON’T SEND TROOPS WASHINGTON Associated Press

PRESIDENT Joe Biden said yesterday that the US will bolster security at its embassy in Haiti following last week’s assassination of that country’s president, but sending American troops to stabilise the country was “not on the agenda”.

Haiti’s interim government last week asked the US and the United Nations to deploy troops

to protect key infrastructure following President Jovenel Moïse’s assassination. Biden signaled he was not open to the request, which comes as he is drawing down US forces in Afghanistan this summer.

“We’re only sending American Marines to our embassy,” Biden said.

“The idea of sending American forces to Haiti is not on the agenda,” he added.

Mathias Pierre, Haiti’s elections

minister, told The Associated Press Thursday that he believes the request for US troops is relevant given what he called a “fragile situation” and the need to create a secure environment for elections scheduled to happen in 120 days.

He also said Biden’s comment that sending US troops was “not on the agenda” still leaves the option open.

“This is not a closed door.

The evolution of the situation

Over 60 dead in Europe flooding

will determine the outcome,” Pierre said. “In the meantime, the government is doing everything we can to stabilise the country, return to a normal environment and organise elections while trying to come to a political agreement with most political parties.”

The request for US intervention recalled the tumult following Haiti’s last presidential assassination, in 1915, when an angry mob dragged President

A REGIONAL train sits in flood waters at a station in Kordel, Germany, yesterday, after it was flooded by the high waters of the Kyll river.

BERLIN Associated Press MORE than 60 people have died and dozens were missing yesterday as severe flooding in Germany and Belgium turned streams and streets into raging torrents that swept away cars and caused houses to collapse.

Among those killed were nine residents of an assisted living facility for people with disabilities and two firefighters involved in rescue efforts across the region.

“I grieve for those who have lost their lives in this disaster,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said during a visit to Washington, expressing shock at the scope of the flooding.

Speaking alongside US President Joe Biden at the White House, Merkel said her thoughts were with all those who had lost loved ones or were still searching for them.

“I fear the full extent of this tragedy will only be seen in the coming days,” she said.

Biden likewise paid his condolences for the devastating loss of life and the destruction due to the flooding.

“Our hearts go out to the families who’ve lost loved ones,” he said.

Authorities said at least 30 people died in North Rhine-Westphalia state and 28 in neighboring Rhineland-Palatinate to the south. Belgian media reported eight deaths in that country.

Recent storms across

TWO men stand in floodwaters after the Meuse River broke its banks during heavy flooding in Liege, Belgium, yesterday.

Photo: Valentin Bianchi/AP parts of western Europe made rivers and reservoirs burst their banks, triggering flash floods overnight after the saturated soil couldn’t absorb any more water.

Among the worsthit German villages was Schuld, where several homes collapsed and dozens of people remained unaccounted for.

Rescue operations were hampered by blocked roads and phone and internet outages across the Eifel, a volcanic region of rolling hills and small valleys.

Some villages were reduced to rubble as old brick and timber houses couldn’t withstand the sudden rush of water, often carrying trees and other debris as it gushed through narrow streets.

Karl-Heinz Grimm, who had come to help his parents in Schuld, said he had never seen the small Ahr

River surge in such a deadly torrent.

“This night, it was like madness,” he said.

Dozens of people had to be rescued from the roofs of their houses with inflatable boats and helicopters.

Hundreds of soldiers were deployed to assist in the rescue efforts.

“There are people dead, there are people missing, there are many who are still in danger,” the governor of Rhineland-Palatinate state, Malu Dreyer, told the regional parliament.

“We have never seen such a disaster. It’s really devastating.”

The 52nd Civil Engineer squadron and several volunteers from the US air base at Spangdahlem filled and distributed hundreds of sandbags to help protect homes and businesses in the area, the US European Command said.

In Belgium, the Vesdre River spilled over its banks and sent water churning through the streets of Pepinster, near Liege, where a rescue operation by firefighters went wrong when a small boat capsized and three elderly people disappeared.

“Unfortunately, they were quickly engulfed,” said Mayor Philippe Godin.

“I fear they are dead.”

In Verviers, the prosecutor’s office said several bodies had been found but could not confirm local media reports that four people were killed there.

In Liege, a city of 200,000, the Meuse River overflowed its banks Thursday and the mayor asked people living nearby to move to higher ground.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged to help, and Pope Francis sent condolences, with his office saying the pontiff was praying for those injured and missing, as well as those who have lost their livelihoods.

The full extent of the damage was still unclear, with many villages cut off by floods and landslides that made roads impassable. Many of the dead were only discovered after floodwaters receded.

Authorities in the RhineSieg county south of Cologne ordered the evacuation of several villages below the Steinbach reservoir amid fears a dam could break.

Armin Laschet, the governor of North-Rhine Westphalia state, paid tribute to two firefighters who

Vilbrun Guillaume Sam out of the French Embassy and beat him to death. In response, President Woodrow Wilson sent Marines into Haiti, justifying an American military occupation — which lasted nearly two decades — as a way to avert anarchy.

Biden addressed the situation in Haiti during a joint press conference at the White House with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Photo: Sebastian Schmitt/dpa via AP

died and pledged swift help.

“We don’t know the extent of the damage yet, but we won’t leave the communities, the people affected alone,” he said during a visit to the city of the flood-hit city of Hagen.

Laschet, a conservative who is running to succeed Merkel as chancellor in this fall’s election, said the unusually heavy storms and an earlier heat wave could be linked to climate change.

Political opponents have criticized Laschet, the son of a miner, for supporting the region’s coal industry and hampering the expansion of wind power during his tenure.

Stefan Rahmstorf, a professor of ocean physics at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, said it was unclear whether the extreme rainfall seen in Germany was a direct result of planetary warming.

“But one can state that such events are becoming more frequent due to global warming,” he told The Associated Press, noting that warmer air can absorb more water vapor that eventually falls as rain.

“The increase in heavy rain and decrease in days with weak rain is now also clearly seen in observational data, especially in the mid-northern latitudes, which includes Germany,” Rahmstorf said.

The weakening of the summer circulation of the atmosphere, causing longer-lasting weather patterns such as heat waves or continuous rain, might also play a role, he added.

Rainfall eased later Thursday across Germany, although water levels on the Mosel and Rhine rivers were expected to continue rising.

In the Netherlands, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima visited the hard-hit Dutch town of Valkenburg on Thursday evening to support residents and emergency services.

Flooding turned the main street into a torrent of brown water, inundating homes and businesses.

The Dutch government sent about 70 troops to the southern province of Limburg late Wednesday to help with evacuations and filling sandbags.

Thousands of people in the city of Maastricht and villages along the Maas River were ordered to evacuate Thursday evening amid threats of flooding, and centers were set up to house them. The Maas is the Dutch name for the Meuse River.

In northeastern France, heavy rains flooded vegetable fields, many homes and a World War I museum in Romagne-sous-Montfaucon.

The Aire River rose to its highest levels in 30 years in some areas, according to the L’Est Republicain newspaper.

The equivalent of two months of rain has fallen over two days, according to the French national weather service, with flood warnings issued for 10 regions. No injuries or deaths have been reported, but forecasters warned of mudslides and more rain Friday.

...AND A RAFTER DIES IN GRAND CANYON DURING FLASH FLOODS FLAGSTAFF, Arizona Associated Press

ONE person who went missing from a Colorado River rafting trip in the Grand Canyon during a flash flood was found dead Thursday in frigid water while a second person was found alive, a park spokeswoman said.

The flood was part of monsoon storms that have inundated Arizona this week, including in Flagstaff where city streets were left a muddy mess as water mixed with logs and debris swept through. Cleanup was underway yesterday with the threat of more rain looming.

At the Grand Canyon, a torrent of water rushed through a slot canyon and washed away the camp where two commercial rafts with 30 passengers pulled off the river to stay

Wednesday evening, said Grand Canyon spokeswoman Joelle Baird.

Authorities initially believed that two people had been swept into the river and launched a search by air, ground and water to find them. One was found at the camp that the group had abandoned to seek a safer place to sleep, Baird said. The other was found dead in the water next to the camp that flooded, she said.

Park officials have not released the rafters’ identities. Baird declined to release the rafting company’s name, saying the park has a policy not to out of respect for commercial use permit holders.

A park helicopter took two paramedics to the river late Wednesday to treat and stabilise the injured rafters after receiving a satellite phone call from someone

on the trip asking for help.

Several passengers who were injured were airlifted out of the canyon, Baird said. She wasn’t sure of the extent of their injuries.

Baird said the park will help the other rafters who want to cut their trip short get off the river, she said.

The flood hit the camp set up about 40 miles downstream from where the rafts launched at Lees Ferry near the Arizona-Utah state line.

Forecasters had issued a flash flood watch for the area Wednesday, but it’s not clear whether the rafting guides were aware.

In Tucson, a fire department swift water team rescued a father and his two daughters from the roof of their vehicle after they drove into a usually dry wash and got stranded in the floodwaters, said Golder Ranch Fire District spokesman Capt Adam Jarrold.

FIREFIGHTERS safely rescue a man and his two daughters from the roof of their vehicle after it was swept away in fast moving water just north of Tucson, Arizona, on Wednesday.