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VOLUME:116 No.140, JULY 17TH, 2019

THE PEOPLE’S PAPER: $1

ALICIA WALLACE: NOT READY FOR PLASTIC REVOLUTION

OUT OF ORDER PM’s office blasts Jamaican CEO on BTC remarks

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

IN an extraordinary statement, the Office of the Prime Minister blasted the head of BTC’s parent company yesterday for “distasteful” and “insulting” comments mocking Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis and criticising BTC. The comments of Balan Nair, president of Liberty Latin America (LiLAC), were made during an internal staff meeting in Jamaica last week and were captured on videos that have since gone viral.

In the clips, Mr Nair says the difference between BTC and its Jamaican counterpart, Flow, was “night and day” . He also joked that Dr Minnis could not look LiLAC officials in the eye while calling for more Bahamians to be employed at the company.

BTC has seen its profit

margins decline since Aliv emerged as a competitor in November 2016.

Yesterday, Pakesia Parker-Edgecombe, parliamentary secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, called Mr Nair’s comments “unacceptable and extraordinarily inappropriate”.

“I am deeply disappointed by the distasteful and insulting comments,” she said in a statement.

“The comments contained in video clips making the rounds on social media represent a troubling mindset and extraordinarily poor judgment. Mr Nair insulted the prime minister, Bahamian workers and the Bahamian people. No matter one’s political affiliation, it’s incumbent upon all Bahamians and the opposition to be of one accord in rejecting Mr Nair’s insulting comments toward

HOSPITAL SABOTAGE IN HANDS OF POLICE

SEE PAGE THREE

WATER and Sewerage Corporation board director Bennett Minnis yesterday doubled down on his viral homophobic rant against the leadership of the Progressive Liberal Party.

Mr Minnis insists his attack on PLP executives was a reaction to their recent presence at his late cousin Sir Henry Milton Taylor’s grave in Clarence Town, Long Island.

In a voice note widely circulated on social media, the Free National Movement’s Mount Moriah constituency association chairman called the Official Opposition a party of “corrupt, thieving, no good, bastard, homosexual, African monkeys”.

The PLP has called for the government to force Mr Minnis to resign from his WSC post, and for the Free National Movement to condemn his remarks.

PLP leader Philip SEE PAGE THREE

By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net

THE American man who was recently injured in a boating accident in Exuma has lost his arm, Superintendent Shanta Knowles confirmed yesterday.

The 63-year-old man has since been airlifted to the United States, according to Health Minister Dr Duane Sands. The incident occurred on Sunday evening in George Town, Exuma.

“According to reports, shortly before 5pm, a tour boat was sailing in Elizabeth Harbour, George Town, when the captain felt something hit the rear of the boat,” the police report states. “He and others made a check of the water and discovered a male with injuries to his hand.

SEE PAGE SEVEN

FNM OFFICIAL STANDS

BY HIS FOUL PLP RANT

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

AMERICAN LOSES ARM IN BOATING ACCIDENT

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

BEAUTY AND THE BEACH

A BRILLIANT fashion parade showing off the best in swimwear was held at the Melia. For a full report, don’t miss Weekend magazine, out on Friday. Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

MAN’S REMAINS FOUND IN FIRE DEBRIS

By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net

POLICE found human remains, burnt beyond recognition, in a house that was extensively damaged in a structural fire yesterday morning.

Chief Superintendent Walter Evans said shortly after 11am, police received reports of the fire at a single-story home located on Sunlight Village, off East Street. After extinguishing

A BODY is taken away. the fire, officers found the remains of what appeared to be an adult male.

Speaking to reporters at the scene, CSP Evans said the cause of the fire has yet to be determined and the investigation is under way.

In addition to the main fire, he said a Surrey horse carriage, located in the yard of the house, received some charring and a nearby home received some minor fire damage.

“Shortly after 11am this morning, the Police Fire Services had received a report of

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

SEE PAGE TWO

AS Princess Margaret Hospital grapples with rescheduling more than 50 non-emergency surgeries that were cancelled over sabotage suspicions connected to the facility’s chilling system, officials plan to follow through with prosecution if recommended by police.

This is according to Health Minister Dr Duane Sands yesterday, who was adamant the “chips will fall where they may”.

SEE PAGE SEVEN

TECHNOLOGY

HOW LANDING ON MOON CHANGED LIFE ON EARTH SEE PAGE NINE

PAGE 2, Wednesday, July 17, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Man’s remains in fire debris

POLICE investigate the scene of a fire at Sunlight Village off East Street, which appears to have claimed the life of a male.

Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

from page one a structural fire located through Sunlight Village,” CSP Evans said.

“Three minutes after receiving this information, units had arrived and they met heavy flames coming from the top rear section of a single-story structure. Officers vigorously attacked the fire and upon extinguishment, suppression, officers found what appeared to be lifeless human remains at the rear of the structure.

“At this stage, this has been classified as a death investigation and officers from the Police Fire Services along with officers

from the Central Detective Unit are collectively conducting investigations into this incident.”

Regarding the state of the body, CSP Evans said: “We found the body, it was burnt beyond recognition.

It appears to be that of a male. An autopsy has to be performed to confirm the cause of death in this incident today.”

CSP Evans added officers are “not certain” whether the victim was a resident of the house, and added two people are assisting them with information.

When asked to respond to claims that the fire occurred in the middle of a robbery, CSP Evans replied: “We cannot confirm that

information, but we will have to verify that and that will come out as our investigation develops.”

He noted according to police information, the victim was the only person inside the home.

CSP Evans could not yet say whether the fire was a result of arson, reiterating the matter is under investigation. However, he noted the fire was extinguished although the house was “extensively damaged”.

He added Bahamas Power and Light was called into the scene, as is a “normal precautionary measure”, and electricity in the immediate area was disconnected.

NEW WARNING ISSUED OVER ‘AGGRESSIVE BEES’

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

A WARNING was issued yesterday advising Freeport residents to be aware of “aggressive bees” in the area of Wellington Drive and Ponce de Leon.

Police were called to the area around 9am yesterday after a beehive was disturbed by workmen at Sanitation Services.

ASP Terecita Pinder reported no one was harmed, but officers were on the scene to ensure residents were aware of the situation and warned them not to venture outside.

She said professionals were called in to assist in the removal of the beehive.

There have been recent “aggressive” bee attacks occurring in Grand Bahama, particularly in Freeport and East Grand Bahama.

The Bahamas National Trust issued an alert to the public about two weeks ago. BNT officials believe that Africanised bees are responsible for the attacks, and that persons should report any aggressive encounters to the local office in Freeport.

A team from BNT was recently attacked on June 12 while conducting a bird survey in the vicinity of East Grand Bahama. People were stung, and one individual was stung up to 16 times as the team fled the area.

Elsworth Weir, BNT park manager in Freeport, said attacks usually occur when the bee nest or hive is disturbed.

Africanised honey bees are dangerous stinging insects that have been known to chase people for more than a quarter of a mile once they get excited and aggressive. This is why

they earned the nickname “killer bee”.

The Africanised bee is a hybrid of the western honey bee species, produced originally by cross-breeding of the East African lowland honey bee with various European honey bees.

Mr Weir warned that once a hive is disturbed, the bees emit pheromones that smell like bananas to alert the other bees to attack.

Persons who see an aggressive beehive are advised to leave the area immediately and to report the incident to BNT officials, or the police.

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

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, July 17, 2019, PAGE 3

FNM OFFICIAL STANDS BY HIS FOUL RANT AT PLP LEADERSHIP from page one Davis added the matter has also been referred to Police Commissioner Anthony Ferguson due to Mr Minnis’ threat to block party executives from entering Clarence Town again.

Yesterday, FNM chairman Carl Culmer did not directly condemn or justify Mr Minnis’ comments, but said the PLP should “clean their own doorstep”.

Mr Minnis told this newspaper the PLP’s recent presence at the gravesite incensed relatives. He further alleged the party did not get permission from the family to hold a memorial service at the site. “They came and did that stuff without contacting family members and they had no right,” said Mr Minnis, who said he was the family’s spokesman.

“Just the audacity,” Mr Minnis continued, “let them make a big fuss, it don’t move me no way. I don’t care. If the prime minister move me from the board then I accept it, but I don’t think he will because the PLP cussing the FNM everyday, cussing the prime minister, they playing the race card with Brent [Symonette]. I don’t see what they making a big fuss about it. They wasting their time.”

Mr Minnis said: “They went to Long Island to my cousin’s grave.

They had no right carrying they [homophobic slur] around the grave. I have a right to say what I want to say. I said what I said, and I mean what I said.”

Sir Henry was one of the founders of the PLP and the country’s third governor general.

Mr Davis and PLP chairman Fred Mitchell led an annual memorial service for Sir Henry last week, and hoisted a flag at his grave in the Catholic cemetery with his grandniece Erica Darville. The party also hosted a similar event last year.

Yesterday, Mr Minnis told The

Opposition is a party of corrupt, thieving, no good, b*****d, homosexual, African monkeys Tribune he stood by his voice note description of Mr Davis as a “black African monkey”.

He also continued his attack on Mr Mitchell, repeatedly calling him a (slur omitted) during an interview yesterday. However, Mr Minnis explained his hate-filled comments were only directed at the party’s leadership and not its members.

He told The Tribune he was self-employed and not beholden to the government post, adding he has never received a public contract. Mr Minnis said he has received many calls of support for his position, and brushed off claims that he had made the recording while intoxicated.

“I’m not worried about the

PLP leader Philip Davis and chairman Fred Mitchell pose with members of the party and Sir Henry Taylor’s grandniece Erica Darville at a memorial service at his grave in Clarence Town, Long Island last week.

WSC board director Bennett Minnis PLP. I don’t like them, never liked them, and I’m not talking about ordinary PLP supporters, just the leadership. I never liked them from Pindling, to Christie, to now Brave. I directed that at the leadership of the party, it ain’t have nothing to do with race. Brave is a black African monkey and I am a black Long Island man. I don’t care what they have to say about me, you can kill the body, but not the soul.”

Mr Minnis added: “I don’t drink, I don’t smoke cigarettes, I don’t do drugs and I never been lock up. I don’t have no criminal record. I have a clear mind in whatever I say or do.”

Yesterday, Mr Culmer pointed to “PLP operatives” behind nasty and defamatory comments and memes against Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis and other FNM ministers and MPs. Mr Culmer insisted the PLP did not have the moral compass to pass judgment.

“At the end of the day, if they want to talk about morals – I’m not trying to justify – but what I’m saying is you can’t look at it from one side of it. For months, the PLP has all kind of nasty memes and notes and [Mr Mitchell] has not once condemned it. All this prejudice and disgrace, clean their own doorstep before you try clean someone else,” Mr Culmer said.

“There are a number of people behind the scenes making all the nasty memes. The PLP don’t have the moral compass nor in the position to advise anybody about prejudice and all the nonsense.”

Editorial View - Page 4

PM’s office blasts Jamaican CEO over BTC comments from page one

The Bahamas. While the government welcomes partnership with international investors, it is unapologetic and steadfast in its efforts to ensure that Bahamian workers are treated fairly and with dignity, whether at BTC or any other entity.

“At every opportunity, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis works to secure opportunities for Bahamians at all levels of employment as well as the good name of The Bahamas.

The Bahamas is an exceptional destination for international parties and investors, who are welcomed to invest in our country, which continues to lead the region in a number of areas. International partners should work with goodwill in the ongoing development of The Bahamas and should not pander to various regional audiences.”

In one of the viral clips, Mr Nair said Jamaica is LiLAC’s best performing country. “There is one downside,” he added.

“Everywhere I go I tell everybody else, ‘but Jamaica can do it.’ So if you go to any of our other operations like Bahamas or somewhere else, they’re not going to like you very much.

That’s the only downside because everybody is going, ‘what are they drinking in Jamaica that they can do all these things that nobody else can?’ We were just in The Bahamas on Monday and Tuesday too. It’s like a night and day difference.

“My biggest wish is one day they will say ‘we can be like Jamaica, we can do what they’ve done in this country’ and Gary (Sinclair, BTC’s CEO), that’s one of the reasons we asked Gary to take over a larger (role) and be personally in The Bahamas to help them make this transition because he’s done it here and he can do it there and when he does it there, this company will be an even bigger rocket ship because the people in The Bahamas is no different from people in Jamaica. It’s all about attitude. If you feel like

you can win, you will win and that’s how the feeling is here.”

In another clip, Mr Nair referred to Dr Minnis when responding to an employee questioning when Jamaicans will be given more senior posts at the company. While laughing, he said: “It is so funny.

I’ll tell you a story. Gary and I and a few others was meeting with the prime minister of The Bahamas on Monday and you can see him standing there and his crown jewel, BTC, is run by a Jamaican who’s sitting right across from him and he’s like, he brought up more than once, we need more Bahamians, and he’s not trying to make eye contact with Gary…”

BTC’s CEO Garfield Sinclair said in a statement yesterday that Mr Nair’s comments were taken out of context. However, he did not elaborate on what the proper context was.

“To be clear, no fire has been started,” Mr Sinclair noted. “The statements were taken out of context and do not convey the full essence of the message that was delivered.

BTC maintains a good working relationship with the government of The Bahamas and will continue to work together to drive economic growth. Furthermore, Liberty Latin America is extremely supportive of BTC, values its employees, and remains committed to building a culture of high performance where colleagues are able to thrive and deliver moments that matter to our customers.”

BTC employees reacted bitterly to Mr Nair’s comments, according to

BALAN NAIR, president of Liberty Latin America (LiLAC).

Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union officials who said they have received non-stop calls from angry staff.

Dion Rolle, BCPOU president, called Mr Nair’s comments disgusting and insulting.

The Progressive Liberal Party also offered criticism, with chairman Fred Mitchell saying the comments were “derogatory and derisory of Bahamians and Bahamian work ethic as well as disrespectful in the

extreme to the Bahamian prime minister”.

“The Liberty executive’s comments come against the backdrop of bad service by BTC, the unreliability of its

platforms both telephonic and data, and the absence of any indication of forward planning and investment in The Bahamas,” Mr Mitchell said in a statement. “In

fact, this executive has a nerve to make fun of Bahamians and the prime minister when their company, Liberty, seems only interested in extracting profits, dismissing employees, stripping the company of its assets and moving jobs overseas.

“Mr Liberty executive, the laugh and joke are on you. You simply run a company poorly and it has nothing to do with Bahamians and their productivity.”

The FNM, in a statement, did not address Mr Nair’s comments directly but attacked the PLP’s response. “Let us be clear,” the party said, “the PLP is attempting to pull the wool over the country’s eyes once again with a fake show of nationalism. What they should instead be doing is using the coming weeks to personally apologise to us all for their five years of corruption, mismanagement and failure.

“First and foremost, we as a country and a party must again thank Prime Minister Minnis for always standing up for us and our jobs. During the campaign and throughout his time in office, he has always made it a top priority to provide good jobs and put Bahamians in leadership positions in all companies.

Once again, he’s proved that he always walks the walk and talks the talk.”

Editorial View - Page 4

PAGE 4, Wednesday, July 17, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

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

LEON E. H. DUPUCH,

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No place for water board member’s disgusting rant IT is less than a week since Bahamas Independence celebrations – yet it already seems forever ago that people were calling for unity and an end to political divisiveness.

Let us turn then to the foul-mouthed tirade of Bennett Minnis, a board member at the Water and Sewerage Corporation.

Mr Minnis, also the Mount Moriah constituency association chairman for the FNM, derided the Progressive Liberal Party as “corrupt, thieving, no good, bastard, homosexual African monkeys”.

The message came in a voice note that has been circulated widely – but when asked about it by The Tribune yesterday, he didn’t back down in the slightest, saying: “I said what I said, and I mean what I said.”

Needless to say, the PLP has called for his removal from his post at WSC, and rightly so. Take your pick of reasons why – slander, homophobia, racially-charged taunts. His comments are completely unacceptable, and that he continues to stand by them should make removing him an easy decision.

Sadly, the first FNM to respond has shown the lack of moral courage that encourages such attitudes as these.

FNM chairman Carl Culmer, rather than criticising Mr Minnis, accused the PLP of making nasty and defamatory comments and memes about Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis and other FNMs instead. He told the PLP to “clean their own doorstep” before looking at the FNM’s. Well, that’s the kind of behaviour that leads us to an eye for an eye and the world goes blind.

There must be no place in our political landscape for such commentary.

There must be no place in our working environments for such behaviour. This should not be a party issue – in this day and age there should be no room for calling people “monkeys”, no room for using accusations of homosexuality as an insult, no room for making allegations without foundation.

We sincerely hope that Mr Culmer isn’t the last word on tending the FNM’s own doorstep – and that the party leadership chooses to do the right thing.

Whatever the other side might have done? Let that be condemned in its own turn – that is no excuse for turning a blind eye to this.

This is disgusting, and there is no place for it – no matter what colour the shirt of the person saying such things.

BTC chief should say sorry SPEAKING of distasteful comments, the president of Liberty Latin America – the parent company of BTC – managed to insult his workers in this country, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis and Bahamians nationwide, all in one short video clip.

Balan Nair was recorded saying Dr Minnis couldn’t look executives in the eye when trying to persuade the company to hire more Bahamians, and Mr Nair’s other comments have sparked bitter complaints from BTC employees, according to their union president.

The employees are quite right to be upset – if the president feels so dismissively towards Bahamians then perhaps

he should get out of the market and leave it to Bahamians themselves.

At a time when BTC has had a share of its market taken by newcomer Aliv, Mr Nair would also do well not to alienate more of his service’s users. At the very least, he owes Bahamians an apology.

A statement from Pakesia ParkerEdgecombe in the Office of the Prime Minister called the comments “extraordinarily inappropriate”. We agree – though we can’t help but feel those words might have been better coming from the Prime Minister’s mouth himself.

Then we could see if Mr Nair could look him in the eye in return.

People should be free to march EDITOR, The Tribune

In response to the LGBT march letter to the editor ONE word…freedom. Is the Bahamas not a free country? Whether you agree or disagree with people’s choices, all of us living in this country have the right to free speech and free expression.

While this march apparently offends some people is beside the point. It is everyone’s right as a citizen to speak out, march, or protest as they see fit, regardless of any backlash. Squelching freedoms is the actual slippery slope here, Mr Evans. Without THE news that Abaco’s main shipping port faced a “make or break” inspection prompted readers to voice their concerns on tribune242.com.

Well_mudda_take_sic said: “The shipping companies that use the port need to start cleaning up on a daily basis and on their dime all of the mess they create at the port each and every day. They should be paying for all security and safety costs at the port directly themselves rather than by way of fees/taxes levied on them by government. As we all know, fees/ taxes that government collects for one thing are

these freedoms afforded to us, this country would become a place run by fear and intimidation. My suggestion to you and everyone else out there who disapprove of other’s choices is to stay home and not attend. That is your right. But by the same token, this march is their right as well.

As a country, let’s not continue to promote this negative thinking which only serves to divide us and harm those trying to live their lives.

Isn’t that what freedom is truly about?

SUE LIGHTBOURN Nassau July 16, 2019

always spent on another thing.”

Islandboy242242 posted this comment: “Seems kinda like fear mongering. They said the mock inspection was done June 18th, they said they have been working since to fix the issues in time for July inspection. Either they did or they didn’t correct it and will only have themselves to blame.”

And there was this from Crawfish: “Go ahead and change the subject from the crisis at hand. No matter how the FNM ‘found’ the Marsh Harbour Port in 2017, it has had two full years to correct the situation. Notice the Port Director advised Nassau AFTER the Coast Guard issued its warning a month ago. So, if the issues have persisted for two full years, and suddenly they could be resolved in less than 4 weeks, it begs the question of what has the Port Director and those responsible been doing in the interim?”

Join the debate on tribune242.com.

Time to end the suffering at Potter’s Cay EDITOR, The Tribune THIS is a plea for the saving of the economic lives of the Bahamian Potter’s Cay licensed businesses, that sell conch salad, food, and drinks to many visitors and locals alike.

Their very existence is threatened by the heavy handed and mindless reaction to a murder, over which the vendors had no control. To use the Minister of National Security’s own logic, the mass shooting in Montell Heights, “they were not random shootings, the targeted person ran toward a group of people and consequently 14 persons got shot.”

Potter’s Cay Dock is a not a place where random shootings take place, perpetrated by persons who emerge from cars parked in front of the stalls. You would not plan a drive- by shooting on Potter’s Cay on a busy night, simply because at all times there is always congested traffic. Many people just drive on to the dock with no intention to stay or spend money; just embracing the spectacle

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net and activity of locals and visitors getting down; it is accepted that traffic moves slowly and you do not hear cars blowing horns in frustration, as you enter or exit the dock no matter how busy. If you want to get to the East quickly, you do not drive through Potter’s Cay period.

The business at Potter’s Cay did not develop as a venue accessible to pedestrians only, but will surely become desolate, as it has now, by the new parking rules being mercilessly enforced. I witnessed cars being towed and one distraught vendor offering to, and in effect, “valet park”,my car to get my business on Sunday. It was because of that vendor I promised I would write this letter.

The PLP have already jumped in the fray, but the elections are three years away. Surely my caring FNM government will see the devastation and

reverse the policy, they have created, to cause the devastation. I don’t recall who said that the vendors should call their patrons to come and spend money; alas business does not work that way. The taxi drivers who bring the tourists are also being frustrated because the customer satisfaction is being diminished.

The police can prevent drive by shootings wherever they have occurred, by simply banning vehicular traffic in those areas, effective but not practical.

There have been murders on Arawak Cay, have patrons been prevented from parking in front of stalls there?

Please Mr National Security Minister, admit there has been an over reaction; the desolation at Potter’s Cay is there for all to see; so will the restoration with the reversal of the draconian policy now in place.

Please end the needless suffering of our Bahamian Potter’s Cay vendors.

EDROY DEVEAUX Nassau July 11, 2019

Poor leadership puts Bank of Bahamas on the critical list EDITOR, The Tribune.

I AM always saddened and angered when I think, hear, or talk about our beloved Bank of Bahamas (BOB). It has become the self-inflicted scorned legacy of the last three administrations; inclusive of the present regime – while the bank continues on life support.

It is a true reflection and revelation of the overt black misrule and political corruption in The Bahamas - in our lifetime. The Hubert Ingraham and Perry Christie governments of 2007 and 2012 respectively are where the most damage was done to the

looted Bahamian bank, and Bahamian pride.

The credit policy was simply reduced to plunder: Lend to our lovers, family and friends at all costs. The Bahamian people are now left holding the bag while the haemorrhaging of BOB continues.

Absent and prudent political and financial leadership on the part of Ingraham, and Christie have resulted in a Bank of Bahamas which shames us all today. The loss is too great to ignore.

A significant lot of the VAT money to date has gone into keeping the raped Bank of Bahamas afloat, and great lot more will be

used to purchase hundreds of millions of dollars of more toxic loans from the frail bank – by the Minnis leadership.

To add insult to the ongoing injury, the present Prime Minister-Minnis, has offered his two predecessors national hero status and recognition.

Bank of Bahamas (BOB) continues to be gravely ill.

All because of the tradition of inept black and arrogant political leadership in The Bahamas.

God help us.

DENNIS DAMES Nassau, July 2, 2019.

THE TRIBUNE

By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net NEARLY a month after being bitten by a shark while in the waters off Waderick Wells Cay, 50-year-old American Salvador Ruiz has been discharged from a Florida hospital.

Mr Ruiz, a charter captain and fishing guide, was snorkelling when he was attacked by a six-foot reef shark on June 17, leaving a large gash on his leg.

Describing the incident as a “bite and a lot of pain”, Mr Ruiz was flown to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Centre in Miami where he underwent five surgeries, according to the Sun Sentinel.

Although Mr Ruiz was discharged on Sunday – with the help of a walker – he needs more surgery, “including skin grafts and rehabilitation,” according to the newspaper.

A GoFundMe page has been set up for Mr Ruiz, which states that in a best case scenario he will require six to 12 months of treatment and rehabilitation.

“Salvi is a self-employed charter captain and fishing guide that depends on his physical abilities to make a living,” the GoFundMe page reads.

“He lives very modestly, lives alone, and doesn’t have disability insurance coverage. Although his

Wednesday, July 17, 2019, PAGE 5

American leaves hospital after attack by reef shark

medical insurance will (for now) continue to pay his medical expenses, he has no other means of providing for himself or covering his day-to-day living expenses while undergoing medical treatment and rehab.”

This incident is one of several shark attacks that have occurred in the country in recent weeks.

On July 4, a 32-yearold American tourist was

airlifted to New Providence after being bitten by a shark while snorkelling in waters off Guana Cay, Abaco.

Police officers and EMS personnel took him to the Marsh Harbour Clinic where he was treated for his injuries. Shortly before 9pm he was taken by emergency flight to New Providence for further medical treatment.

On June 26, another

American visitor, Jordan Lindsey of California, was killed in a shark attack while snorkelling off Rose Island.

Concern that the Bahamas’ tourism market could suffer a blow after this fatal shark attack has created the impetus for officials to consider a number of measures to protect snorkellers.

On Monday, CEO and Executive Director of

the Tourism Development Corporation Janet Johnson, told The Tribune several safeguards are being considered.

Lindsey’s family has criticised tour company Sandy Toes claiming there were no basic medical supplies and no attempts made by staff to save the college student’s life.

Ms Johnson agreed that these supplies should be

mandatory, adding officials were going to work “quite diligently” to make the necessary changes.

Stakeholders also want emergency and training protocols put in place, she said.

The GoFundMe for Mr Ruiz can be accessed at: https://www.gofundme.com/ medical-and-rehabilitationneeds#nt=interstitial-manual

Judge offers to recuse herself in rape case

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net AN attorney said yesterday he will consider a judge’s offer to recuse herself from presiding over a Jamaican woman’s lawsuit against the government over allegations she was raped by a senior immigration officer while in his custody five years ago.

The revelation by Fred Smith, QC, came after Justice Indra Charles revealed she previously ordered the Department of Immigration to reinstate Norman Bastian and pay him damages after a preliminary inquiry into the rape allegation was thrown out three years ago.

Mr Smith said he had “no idea” of that fact prior to commencing legal action on his client Claudia Edwards Bethel’s behalf; however, he said he is going to “consider the situation” as it is “important not to make recusal applications unless they are warranted”.

The revelations were made in Mrs Bethel’s civil suit against the government after her rape case was tossed out of Magistrates Court in March 2016. Mr Bastian was thus never tried on the offence and consequently never convicted.

He denies the rape and maintains the sex was consensual, claiming it was initiated by Mrs Bethel, who has waived her right to anonymity.

Yesterday’s revelations were spurred by Assistant Director of Immigration Dwight Beneby’s refusal of Mr Smith’s invitation to issue a formal apology on the department’s behalf because of his squad mate’s and now subordinate’s alleged actions

in December 2014. Mr Smith said his reason for asking for an apology was because his client is seeking aggravated damages because of the Department of Immigration’s failure to apologise to his client for its employee’s alleged actions.

However, Mr Beneby said there was no reason to apologise because the 2016 preliminary inquiry into the rape allegation was ultimately thrown out by Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt because Mrs Bethel’s testimony at the time was deemed not credible and “terribly shaken”.

The preliminary inquiry was to determine whether there was sufficient evidence for Mr Bastian to stand trial in the Supreme Court over the allegations.

However, the matter ended at the no-case submission stage in Mr Bastian’s favour.

The decision was not appealed by the Crown.

“And so there’s nothing to apologise for,” Mr Beneby said. However, Mr Beneby said if it ever came to it, “Mr Bastian is quite able to do that himself.”

Lead Crown attorney Kayla Green-Smith objected to Mr Smith inviting Mr Beneby to apologise, charging that the assistant director of immigration has “absolutely nothing to apologise for” and that Mr Smith’s invitation was “improper”.

For her part, Justice Charles expressed her reservations about Mr Beneby being made to oblige Mr Smith’s invitation, and subsequently revealed she presided over Mr Bastian’s action shortly after the charges were dismissed.

According to Justice Charles, shortly after the preliminary inquiry came

to an end, Mr Bastian, who was interdicted and on half-pay, launched an action seeking to compel his reinstatement since the allegations never got off the ground.

At the time, she said Mr Bastian was claiming “substantial sums of money” owed to him. She said there was talk about whether he should receive a promotion, but said the court didn’t deal with it at the time.

Justice Charles said she ultimately ruled that the Department of Immigration should fully reinstate Mr Bastian and give him damages.

As such, she told Mr Smith: “If you wish me to recuse myself now, I could.”

However, despite acknowledging that what she said was a surprise to him, Mr Smith said he would like the opportunity to fully consider the present situation, as the parties are “deep into this trial” and a judge’s recusal is a “serious issue”.

Also during yesterday’s hearing, Mr Beneby revealed Mr Bastian was never disciplined for his alleged actions, despite acknowledging that Mr Bastian did not have a female immigration officer with him when he took Mrs Bethel from the Carmichael Road Detention Centre (CRDC) on December 15, 2014.

According to the evidence, prior to retrieving Mrs Bethel, Mr Bastian went to the McDonald’s fast-food restaurant downtown and retrieved his friend Marsha Curry. He later dropped Ms Curry off on Montrose Avenue, leaving Mrs Bethel in his exclusive custody.

But Mr Beneby said

MAN CRITICAL AFTER POLICE SHOOTOUT A MAN is in hospital after he was wounded by police during a shootout following a car chase that ended in the Freeman Subdivision.

According to police reports, shortly before 8pm last night, officers were on patrol in the southeastern part of New Providence when they saw two men in a blue Honda. The men began acting in a suspicious manner and the driver sped off after seeing police. The officers pursued the vehicle, which came to a stop in Freeman Subdivision.

The male passenger exited the vehicle armed with a firearm and discharged it in the direction of the officers, police said.

The officers, “being in fear for their lives”, fired their service weapons in the direction of the man, injuring him.

Paramedics transported the injured man to hospital where he is presently listed in critical condition.

No one else was injured during this incident. A 9mm pistol and a quantity of dangerous drugs were recovered on scene.

• POLICE on Eleuthera are investigating an apparent drowning yesterday.

According to reports, shortly before 6.0pm, a group of men were walking along the water’s edge in Hatchet Bay, Eleuthera, when they decided to jump into the water. One of the men, when he surfaced, called out for help, but became submerged a second time. He was eventually retrieved from the water and transported to the community clinic, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

yesterday that Ms Curry was not an immigration officer. Nonetheless, he suggested that Ms Curry not being an immigration

officer was inconsequential, and that her mere presence as a female was sufficient. Mr Beneby also said he was surprised that

Mr Bastian was accused of rape, because doing so is “not his character”.

The matter continues today.

PAGE 6, Wednesday, July 17, 2019

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net PINERIDGE MP Frederick McAlpine yesterday called on Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis to account for his personal phone call with former Cabinet Minister Brent Symonette regarding the government leasing a portion of Town Centre Mall, insisting the matter could not be considered confidential.

Mr McAlpine said he felt the matter had “gone too far” to contemplate reversing the decision, however, he said it was time to ensure it never happened again.

He suggested that there may be evidence to support claims that Parliament was misled on the resolution on the deal.

“The matter at hand now is that when the resolution was put before the House [of Assembly] and the second to last paragraph said there was no discussion with then said minister. Based on what the former minister said one can almost say it seems like can one be led to believe the House was misled or we debated on the premise of a resolution that did not have full disclosure.

“I think we’re too far gone to consider a re-do but we have to put mechanisms in place to make sure this never happens again.

“People don’t want to hear from ministers, they want to hear from their leader. He didn’t call ministers, he called the prime minister’s name and the prime minister has an obligation to the Bahamian people to clear his name.”

Controversy over the lease of the Town Centre Mall returned to the spotlight when Mr Symonette revealed earlier this month that Dr Minnis called him personally to negotiate the deal last year.

The Office of the Prime Minister has declined to confirm the date of that call, and further suggested the admission made by the former minister represented a breach of confidentiality.

THE TRIBUNE

McAlpine calls on Minnis to explain his telephone call with Symonette Yesterday, Mr McAlpine said he did not feel Bahamians found the OPM’s statement satisfactory, adding the issue now rested with Dr Minnis to account for what transpired ahead of the deal.

“You can’t holler confidentiality,” Mr McAlpine said. “The man wasn’t in the Cabinet, and he wasn’t supposed to be there. So if there is a confidentiality issue it would be on the part of the prime minister and not Brent Symonette.”

Mr McAlpine also shot down his party’s argument that the former

administration’s consideration of the Town Centre Mall as a post office site neutralises conflict of interest concerns.

The outspoken backbencher argued it would have been better optics if the post office was relocated under the former administration despite the significantly reduced rate offered to the Minnis administration.

“If the PLP had done it, it would have been fine,” Mr McAlpine said, “[Mr Symonette] wasn’t a member of Parliament or Cabinet then so

that argument is null and void. The mere fact [Mr Symonette] is a MP and a member of Cabinet makes it a whole different kettle of fish.

“It would have been far better for him to have gotten it under the PLP… we would not be in this quagmire. Even though it was more money, the reality is it would not look like a conflict of interest or anything untoward.

The fact that [Mr Symonette] is an MP, but not so much being a MP as he [was] a member of the Cabinet, and the fact that

PINERIDGE MP Frederick McAlpine Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

he is known to be a major contributor to the party puts us in a more conundrum as it relates to this matter.

“Because [Mr Symonette] got it under the FNM regime there are more questions than answers,” Mr McAlpine said.

“I want to hear what [Dr Minnis] has to say. The reality is I don’t know what my party is thinking, we’ve lost ground from day one. I’ve seen it, and what seems to be coming forward more and more is our government don’t seem to be a government that’s leaning

towards trying to assist the masses.

“You may not have gone up on VAT but so many other things we are paying for,” he added, “you’re killing the small man in this country.”

On Tuesday, Mr Symonette told The Tribune the matter had been fully explained.

“I have nothing more to add to it. My interest in the Town Centre Mall has been disclosed for years,” Mr Symonette said.

“I’m not hiding anything, I’m just tired of answering questions about it.”

DNA CALLS FOR VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE OVER POST OFFICE RELOCATION

By RIEL MAJOR Tribune Staff Reporter rmajor@tribunemedia.net

DEMOCRATIC National Alliance leader Arinthia Komolafe has called on the Official Opposition to put forward a motion for a vote of no confidence in the government over recent revelations regarding the General Post Office’s relocation to Town Centre Mall.

She said yesterday, “We implore the opposition leader, Mr Davis to exercise his duty and act in the best interests of the Bahamian people. He should ignore his assumption that members of Parliament on the governing side will not vote in the affirmative in a vote of no confidence.”

Mrs Komolafe also urged Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis to address the renewed controversy surrounding Town Centre Mall.

She also called on Cabinet to refute the statements made by former Cabinet minister Brent Symonette over the lease of Town Centre Mall or resign.

She spoke to reporters at a DNA press conference outside the mall.

“We in the DNA demand that the Cabinet either disassociate itself from the chain of events as explained

by Mr Symonette and demonstrate to the Bahamian people that they are not a rubber stamp Cabinet and that there is integrity in the awarding of government contracts.

“Otherwise, the DNA demands the immediate resignation of the Cabinet of the Bahamas. . .

“On behalf of the Bahamian people, the DNA launches its 10 days of activism demanding transparent,

ARINTHIA KOMOLAFE accountable and anti-corrupt governance.”

She added: “Bahamians, we have stooped to an alltime low. Our government has no shame. Our leaders have no shame. They are an embarrassment to the existence of this great Commonwealth of the Bahamas.”

Mr Symonette has a 50 percent stake in the mall, and recently revealed that Dr Minnis called him personally about the deal. The Office of the Prime Minister has refused to divulge the date of that call, or whether it took place prior to a Cabinet discussion, telling The Tribune it is a matter of confidentiality.

Mr Symonette has since said furor over his comments is misplaced, telling The Nassau Guardian on Monday that he has been truthful and transparent on the matter.

Public Service Minister Brensil Rolle said on Monday that the government followed every protocol in leasing the mall from Mr Symonette.

Mrs Komolafe also said: “Mr Symonette openly admitted that the prime minister called him and informed him that he would be awarded the contract for the post office. He was so surprised that he pulled off this great feat in spite of the obvious conflict of interest that he could not contain

his excitement. Why did Prime Minister Minnis contact Symonette on the matter? Is the prime minister responsible for the Post Office or is he the head of procurement for the government? The answer is no, because this prime minister is the first prime minister to go without portfolio. “Is the prime minister unaware of the fact that he ought not interfere with the portfolio of another Cabinet minister?

“The prime minister has yet to address whether Mr Symonette is telling the truth or whether Mr Symonette is misleading the public regarding Prime Minister Minnis’ involvement in the awarding of the contract. Where is the supposed prime minister of transparency and accountability? Why is he so quiet on this matter? The Bahamian people want an explanation from you Mr Prime Minister.”

Last week, the Office of the Prime Minister rejection any allegation that Dr Minnis personally negotiated the deal.

“The assertion that the prime minister would personally and unilaterally negotiate a proposal that has gone on over two administrations is nonsensical,” OPM said previously.

Mrs Komolafe said a DNA government would expose “sweetheart” deals awarded to special interests and order a Commission of Inquiry into the actions of successive administrations.

Mr Symonette resigned from his Cabinet post effective July 1, but has maintained the decision was not connected to the post office situation, but because he wanted to spend more time with family once he reached the age of 65.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, July 17, 2019, PAGE 7

AMERICAN LOSES ARM IN BOATING ACCIDENT from page one

PRINCESS Margaret Hospital which has had to deal with rescheduling more than 50 non-emergency surgeries

Hospital sabotage in hands of police from page one

FOR SALE

He insisted the Public Hospitals Authority had substantial evidence to support its claims that the chilling system’s failure was the subject of tampering to some degree.

PHA yesterday began installation of a temporary 250-tonne chiller, which is to service the hospital until the permanent air conditioning unit is successfully installed.

As a result, the main driveway to the legacy entrance of PMH off Shirley Street at Burnside Lane was temporarily closed yesterday morning and will remain so for a period of five months to facilitate work on both units.

“The investigation now would be in the hands of the Royal Bahamas Police Force,” Dr Sands told reporters outside Cabinet. “We

have no interest in telegraphing or micromanaging or getting involved in the investigation.

“We will turn over all of the information we have and we will allow the Royal Bahamas Police Force to deal with this investigation the way they see fit.

“We have made a decision that the results of the investigation, if there are findings and if there are recommendations for prosecution, justice should be served. So, let the chips fall where they may. No matter who it is that’s involved,” Dr Sands added, as he responded to Public Services Union President Kimsley Ferguson’s remarks on the situation.

Mr Ferguson has said the union would take legal action should its workers again be falsely accused of tampering with the systems.

The BPSU represents workers in

PMH’s engineering department. “I found those comments quite interesting because as I would have said at no time did the PHA or the ministry say anything about members of the BPSU or any other union,” Dr Sands continued.

Dr Sands told The Tribune following Cabinet that “over 50” people could not have elective surgeries last week. He said officials did not yet know how many people were affected last week.

Asked if medical personnel would have to work more hours to fix the back log, the minister said: “The teams consistently, at least orthopedic and vascular surgery as a routine, work every weekend to reduce the backlog. So now this has created yet another issue for patients waiting to get certain procedures done.

“The medical teams certainly

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have tried to keep the waiting lists down. This has now bumped it back up and we’re going to have to determine how that can be most effectively managed.

“We hope that we don’t have anymore problems. I can’t say the length of time that it’s going to take to get all of those persons inconvenienced back on the schedule, but certainly I know from the surgical consultants and the anaesthesia teams that they are quite willing to try and get the backlog down to the manageable level,” he said.

Caribbean International A/C Services Limited signed a contract valued at $1,151,622.08 with PHA officials last week for air conditioning work.

Dr Sands said at the time the process will take five to six months to complete, inclusive of construction time for the new system.

“The injured man was retrieved from the water and transported to the Exuma medical facility where he was treated and later airlifted to a hospital on New Providence. He is listed in serious condition.”

Supt Knowles, police press liaison officer, added “nothing suggests” the victim was on the boat.

Dr Sands told The Tribune yesterday, after being taken to Princess Margaret Hospital, the man was airlifted to the United States at 10.30am on Monday.

This incident occurred a little over a year after a horrific boat explosion in Exuma claimed the life of an American woman and seriously injured two others who lost limbs.

Shortly after 9am on June 30 last year, the 40ft chartered Four C’s Adventures tour boat was travelling in waters off Barraterre, Exuma, with ten tourists and two Bahamians on board, when an engine exploded, causing the boat to catch fire.

The company’s owner and one of his captains will stand trial in 2020 over allegations of negligence in the fatal tour boat explosion.

To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394

PAGE 8, Wednesday, July 17, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

The

Alicia Wallace

column

A whole new world and we don’t look anywhere near ready THE commitment has been made to ban singleuse plastic in The Bahamas by next year. There have been a few mentions in the media since 2018, but I have not seen much happening to prepare the public for the changes to come.

Earlier this year, I read that single-use plastic bags would be banned in Halifax, Nova Scotia by the end of this year. I was surprised because plastic bags were being phased out for years.

When I attended university there, it was a norm to separate waste. When I came back to Nassau on breaks, I’d walk around with cans or bottles for a long time before realising I would not come across the appropriate bin since we do not sort waste. In addition, while I was there, grocery stores started charging for plastic bags. The options were simple — pay ten cents for each plastic bag, buy a reusable bag from the grocery store, or bring your own reusable bag. Everyone there, including students from other countries, got with the programme. Eventually, plastic bags were not even an option in some of the stores.

On a recent trip to Antigua, I quickly realised there were

no plastic bags. Some stores offered paper bags, some sold reusable tote bags and others encouraged customers to bring their own. I kept a canvas tote bag hanging on my door to remind myself to take it with me when I went to any store. Here, we fuss about certain items not being double-bagged and I have never seen anyone take their own bags to the grocery store. I rarely see anyone refuse a bag when they could put their small purchase in a bag they already have. How will we adjust when the ban is in place?

Major grocery stores should be taking the lead in preparing the public for the changes. They could start selling reusable bags at a reasonable price. Takeout restaurants and coffee shops could encourage customers to bring their own cups by offering discounts on beverages and promoting the option. It is time for a small business to make reusable utensils and lunch kits available for sale. We may even have the raw material to make them. Find out how the Small Business Development Centre can assist in getting that kind of business off the ground. Individuals can start buying the

necessities, if only one item per month, to avoid a heavier burden at the end of the year. We don’t all want to get bamboo forks, spoons and straws for Christmas, nor do we want to see significant increases takeout prices in 2020. Let’s start talking about the options that exist, and those we can create. Prepare, prepare, prepare.

It is also important to note the ban on plastic straws is not as simple as it may seem. If it is not already, the Ministry of Environmental Health Services needs to specifically engage the disabilities community as bendable plastic straws are necessary - and not substitutable - for some people living with disabilities. The ban on single-use plastic will affect some of us more than others.

If this is the tunnel, where is the light?

WHILE many celebrate the arrival of summer, this has to be the most difficult time to be in Nassau. It is hot with seemingly no relief unless you have the luxury of air conditioning. It is infuriating that something so basic - and increasingly necessary over the years as temperatures rise - is so cost-prohibitive. Many forgo the use of air conditioning because electricity bills are already too high. Even some who are willing to make the sacrifice are made to suffer as Bahamas Power and Light fails to properly manage its equipment. Even the free relief — dipping in the ocean — has been halted due to reports of sea lice or thimbles that bite and leave people itching for days. In this kind of heat, that is a risk many of us are not willing to take.

The outages come without warning, and there are two types of people — those who charge every device when they get below 80 percent and have a battery-operated fan, and those who are caught off guard every time and have come to almost enjoy posting angry comments on social media.

The bar for Bahamas Power and Light is so low that some of us were impressed when a loadshedding schedule was shared last week Monday.

Unfortunately, it did not include every area, and the

practice did not continue.

We were, the very next day, back to being completely in the dark. We are all upset. We all say we’ve had enough. How many of us are prepared to stop paying the bill? How many are prepared to be without electricity? How many are willing to take action to compel BPL and the government to clean up the mess and provide one of the most basic needs for the residents of this country?

We are often stuck in cycles of recognising an issue, complaining about it, getting temporary relief (often knowing it will not last) and descending to the previous condition. The ongoing issue with BPL is one example. We are at the place where we do not care about the transformer problems and illegal dumping excuses. We want the problem resolved, but we keep getting bandaids. As we continue to pay electricity bills, however high the

climb, sweat it out in our corners, purchase generators and keep them fuelled - and drive around for hours just to be in air conditioning - we ease the pressure. We signal that, even in our frustration, we are only prepared to whine about it for a few minutes.

BPL cannot even be bothered to give us schedule. It does not believe that we, as customers, deserve to know when the service we pay for will be disrupted.

They are making decisions about who will be turned off and when, and choosing not to advise the public. Is this not enough to fire us up? To stop all payments?

To get comfortable in the air conditioning on Tucker Road for a few hours?

Maybe that is too extreme, requires too much planning and convincing, or would inconvenience us too much.

Maybe there is another way to demonstrate our displeasure and apply pressure to the people who can do something about it for more than a few hours at a time.

Are we ready to imagine, discuss and act on it yet?

The battery-operated fans, generators, air conditioned cars and mobile data are making us more comfortable and, yes, helping us to function, but let’s not get complacent. The problem still exists and it’s getting worse. We, the affected, may have to be the ones to inspire the resolution.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, July 17, 2019, PAGE 9

5

5 0 Y E A R A N N I V E R S A R Y O F A P O L L O 11 M I S S I O N

MOON-LANDING INNOVATIONS THAT CHANGED LIFE ON EARTH

By JEAN CREIGHTON, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (The Conversation)

MUCH of the technology common in daily life today originates from the drive to put a human being on the Moon. This effort reached its pinnacle when Neil Armstrong stepped off the Eagle landing module onto the lunar surface 50 years ago.

As a NASA airborne astronomy ambassador and director of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Manfred Olson Planetarium, I know that the technologies behind weather forecasting, GPS and even smartphones can trace their origins to the race to the Moon.

1. ROCKETS October 4, 1957 marked the dawn of the Space Age, when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first human-made satellite. The Soviets were the first to make powerful launch vehicles by adapting World War II-era long-range missiles, especially the German V-2.

From there, space propulsion and satellite technology moved fast: Luna 1 escaped the Earth’s gravitational field to fly past the Moon on January 4, 1959; Vostok 1 carried the first human, Yuri Gagarin, into space on April 12, 1961; and Telstar, the first commercial satellite, sent TV signals across the Atlantic Ocean on July 10, 1962.

The 1969 lunar landing also harnessed the expertise of German scientists, such as Wernher von Braun, to send massive payloads into space. The F-1 engines in Saturn V, the Apollo programme’s launch vehicle, burned a total of 2,800 tons of fuel at a rate of 12.9 tons per second.

THE 363-feet Saturn V rocket carrying the Apollo 11 crew, launches from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (NASA via AP) Saturn V still stands as the most powerful rocket ever built, but rockets today are far cheaper to launch.

For example, whereas Saturn V cost US$185 million, which translates into over $1 billion in 2019, today’s Falcon Heavy launch costs only $90 million. Those rockets are how satellites, astronauts and other spacecraft get off the Earth’s surface, to continue bringing back information and insights from other worlds.

2. SATELLITES The quest for enough thrust to land a man on the Moon led to the building of vehicles powerful enough to launch payloads to heights of 21,200 to 22,600 miles (34,100 to 36,440 km) above the Earth’s surface.

At such altitudes, satellites’ orbiting speed aligns with how fast the planet spins – so satellites remain over a fixed point, in what is called geosynchronous orbit. Geosynchronous satellites are responsible for communications, providing both internet connectivity and TV programming.

At the beginning of 2019, there were 4,987 satellites orbiting Earth; in 2018 alone, there were more than 382 orbital launches worldwide. Of the currently operational satellites, approximately 40% of payloads enable communications, 36% observe the Earth, 11% demonstrate technologies, 7% improve navigation and positioning and 6% advance space and earth science.

3. MINIATURISATION Space missions – back then and even today – have strict limits on how big and how heavy their equipment can be, because so much energy is required to lift off and achieve orbit.

These constraints pushed the space industry to find ways to make smaller and lighter versions of almost everything: Even the walls of the lunar landing module were reduced to the thickness of two sheets of paper.

From the late 1940s to the late 1960s, the weight and energy consumption of electronics was reduced by a factor of several hundred at least – from the 30 tons and 160 kilowatts of the Electric Numerical Integrator and Computer to the 70 pounds and 70 watts of the Apollo guidance computer. This weight difference is equivalent to that between a humpback whale and an armadillo.

Manned missions required more complex systems than earlier, unmanned ones. For example, in 1951, the Universal Automatic Computer was capable of 1,905 instructions per second, whereas the Saturn V’s guidance system performed 12,190 instructions per second. The trend toward nimble electronics has continued, with modern hand-held devices routinely capable of performing instructions 120 million times faster than the guidance system that enabled the liftoff of Apollo 11. The need to miniaturise computers for space exploration in the 1960s motivated the entire industry to design smaller, faster and more energy-efficient computers, which have affected practically every facet of life today, from communications to health and from manufacturing to transportation.

ASTRONAUT BUZZ ALDRIN, lunar module pilot, walks on the surface of the moon during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. (Neil Armstrong/NASA via AP) . GLOBAL NETWORK 4 OF GROUND STATIONS Communicating with vehicles and people in space was just as important as getting them up there in the first place. An important breakthrough associated with the 1969 lunar landing was the construction of a global network of ground stations, called the Deep Space Network, to let controllers on Earth communicate constantly with missions in highly elliptical Earth orbits or beyond.

This continuity was possible because the ground facilities were placed strategically 120 degrees apart in longitude so that each spacecraft would be in range of one of the ground stations at all times.

Because of the spacecraft’s limited power capacity, large antennas were built on Earth to simulate “big ears” to hear weak messages and to act as “big mouths” to broadcast loud commands.

In fact, the Deep Space Network was used to communicate with the astronauts on Apollo 11 and was used to relay the first dramatic TV images of Neil Armstrong stepping onto the Moon. The network was also critical for the survival of the crew on Apollo 13 because they needed guidance from ground personnel without wasting their precious power on communications.

Several dozen missions use the Deep Space Network as part of the continuing exploration of our solar system and beyond. In addition, the Deep Space Network permits communications with satellites that are on highly elliptical orbits, to monitor the poles and deliver radio signals. . LOOKING BACK 5 AT EARTH Getting to space has allowed people to turn their research efforts toward Earth. In August 1959, the unmanned satellite Explorer VI took the first crude photos of Earth from space on a mission researching the upper atmosphere, in preparation for the Apollo programme.

Almost a decade later, the crew of Apollo 8 took a famous picture of the Earth rising over the lunar landscape, aptly named “Earthrise.”

This image helped people understand our planet as a unique shared world and boosted the environmental movement.

Understanding of our planet’s role in the universe deepened with Voyager 1’s “pale blue dot” photo – an image received by the Deep Space Network.

People and our machines have been taking pictures of the Earth from space ever since. Views of Earth from space guide people both globally and locally. What started in the early 1960s as a U.S. Navy

satellite system to track its Polaris submarines to within 600 feet (185 metres) has blossomed into the Global Positioning System network of satellites providing location services worldwide.

Images from a series of Earthobserving satellites called Landsat are used to determine crop health, identify algae blooms and find potential oil deposits. Other uses include identifying which types of forest management are most effective in slowing the spread of wildfires or recognising global changes such as glacier coverage and urban development.

THE APOLLO 11 Lunar Module ascent stage, carrying astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, approaches the Command and Service Modules for docking in lunar orbit. Astronaut Michael Collins remained with the CSM in lunar orbit while the other two crewmen explored the moon’s surface.

In the background the Earth rises above the lunar horizon.

(Michael Collins/NASA via AP) As we learn more about our own planet and about exoplanets – planets around other stars – we become more aware of how precious our planet is. Efforts to preserve Earth itself may yet find help from fuel cells, another technology from the Apollo programme. These storage systems for hydrogen and oxygen in the Apollo Service Module, which contained life-support systems and supplies for the lunar landing missions, generated power and produced potable water for the astronauts.

Much cleaner energy sources than traditional combustion engines, fuel cells may play a part in transforming global energy production to fight climate change.

We can only wonder what innovations from the effort to send people to other planets will affect earthlings 50 years after the first Marswalk.

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

TECHTALK • RESIDENTS in Providence, Rhode Island, are paying more for a ride on the city’s popular electric bikes.

JUMP, an Uber-owned company, announced a change in its pricing model Monday.

A $2 fee now buys only six minutes and 40 seconds on the electrified bike share.

Last week, that same $2 could buy a 30-minute ride. An hour-long ride costs more than four times as much, going from $4.10 to $18.

The company says it has also “temporarily paused” the monthly subscription service.

JUMP riders and city officials criticized the new fee structure.

The Providence Journal reports that city spokesman Ben Smith says Providence is “disappointed in this fee increase.”

Smith says the city will advocate for JUMP to reevaluate the price changes and expects the monthly plan to return soon.

• ALEXA will see you now.

Britain’s health care service is teaming up with Amazon’s digital voice assistant to help answer medical queries with advice from the service’s official website. Critics, however, warn about risks to data privacy.

The British government said Wednesday that the system will help people get quick and accurate health information. It will be especially useful for senior citizens, blind people and others who find it hard to access the internet while also easing pressure on doctors.

Using Amazon’s algorithms, Alexa can answer voice questions from users about common maladies such as the flu or chickenpox with information verified by the National Health Service.

It’s part of the British government’s long-term modernisation plan to provide more digital health services.

“We want to empower every patient to take better control of their health care,” said Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

Privacy campaigners said that while making it easier for people to access reliable medical advice was a step in the right direction, they were concerned about the partnership and its implications.

“Amazon is a company with a worrying track record when it comes to the way they handle their users’ data,” said Eva Blum-Dumontet, a researcher at Privacy International. “Our medical information is often the most sensitive data there is about us and a lot can be inferred from the questions we ask and the searches we make when we have health concerns.”

Privacy concerns surrounding voice assistants have come into focus amid reports that services like Alexa are listening and recording conversations in homes. A lawsuit filed last month in U.S. federal court alleged that Amazon is violating laws in eight states by recording children without consent through Alexa devices.

Amazon on Wednesday sought to reassure users that their information will be kept confidential, and not shared with third parties, used to sell products or to build a health profile.

“Customer trust is of the utmost importance, and Amazon takes privacy seriously,” the company said in a statement, adding that users control their voice history and can delete recordings.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, July 17, 2019, PAGE 11

Extra $15m for clinic upgrades, says Sands

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net NEARLY $15m has been earmarked for South Beach Health Centre and Elizabeth Estates Clinic to upgrade both facilities for emergency care, Health Minister Dr Duane Sands said yesterday.

It is hoped that, once completed, the improved facilities will play a key role in alleviating demand on Princess Margaret Hospital’s Accident and Emergency unit.

Dr Sands said he was unsure when the work will begin, but said it is expected sometime this quarter.

“The architectural work is essentially done,” the minister told reporters yesterday outside Cabinet. “The funding has been identified. It’s been budgeted in the 2019/2020 budget allocation. When the first shovel will go in the ground it is difficult to say, but I expect it to be certainly this quarter.”

HEALTH Minister Dr Duane Sands

He continued: “That’s South Beach Health Centre and Elizabeth Estates, which will have minor functional changes.

(It) will alleviate some of the stress from A&E as well as there are significant upgrades to Accident and Emergency.

“All told, we’re probably looking at just shy of $15m for everything, the entire project.”

Dr Sands last October spoke about the need for upgrades to both clinics as he confirmed $5m in upgrades for A&E. At the time, he said: “We’ve been talking about the challenges at PMH and A&E. If you look at some of the numbers, in just four years, A&E has managed almost 8,000 assaults, 1,300 stabbings, it has outgrown the current footprint and leaves a lot to be desired.

“We’re now ready to move forward with that project, and it ties in nicely with redevelopment of the imaging department. We now have a brand-new X-ray department, and by November 1 we

will have completed preparations for a new CAT scan as well.

“The next step is the renovation of A&E, not just the physical plant but the staff, service and perception. A lot of people say fix it and we’re fixing it. We budgeted for it, we would have put that in 2018/2109 budget. Also in that budget was money for the urgent care development at Elizabeth Estates and South Beach clinics.”

Dr Sands said last year that architectural and engineering plans were under way for those clinics, with construction likely to start for Elizabeth Estates first once the project had gone out to tender.

“We had to have a plan,” he added, “a part of the plan is to control the haemorrhage, to cut any waste, and augment revenue, to find out ways to capture revenue that does not put the burden on the most vulnerable, and then the service.”

SIXTH SUICIDE HIGHLIGHTS MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES

By RIEL MAJOR Tribune Staff Reporter rmajor@tribunemedia.net

IN the wake of the sixth suspected suicide of the year, Health Minister Dr Duane Sands said the challenges surrounding mental health and depression is “very real”.

Speaking to reporters at Cabinet, Dr Sands said Bahamians don’t take suicide seriously and trivialise the challenges of mental health.

“Suicide is increasing around the world including The Bahamas perhaps,” said. “And I say it that way because when we look at our numbers, the numbers have been low year after year after year so, to determine whether or not the number of suicides that we have had, let’s

say in the last six months, is statistically significantly different than the norm, requires a statistical review.

“To just say, well we had two last year and three this year, whatever the numbers are statistically may be an invalid assessment. But make no bones about it we have a challenge with mental illness in The Bahamas.”

With just over five months left in the year, there have already been more suicides this year than the yearly total for any of the past seven years, according to The Tribune’s records.

Police suspect six people have committed suicide this year.

Since 2008, there have only been two years that more suicides have been recorded in an entire year: 2012 and 2010, according to this newspaper’s analysis.

From 2008 to 2018, the country averaged a rate of three suicides a year.

The health minister said people show support and concern to other illness but tend to shun mental illnesses.

He said: “We tend to dismiss it; we tend to shame or blame the victims of mental illness. We still believe that mental illness and I’m speaking generally now is a sign of weakness or it’s a sign that you’re not connected to Jesus or that you’re just not strong enough.

“If people would of break a leg, if people would of get cancer, if people would of get high blood pressure or diabetes there is a tremendous outpouring of support and concern. But if you suffer from a major mental illness then often times you are greeted with

scorn, ridicule, contempt and embarrassment.”

Dr Sands said many people are ashamed to seek help from the Sandilands Rehabilitative Centre.

“That is a very unfortunate reality because many of these problems can be controlled if not completely eliminated with appropriate therapy whether that’s pharmaceutical therapy, talk therapy or other modalities,” he said.

“I think that this one of the very important conversations that we should have as a people to not be dismissive, to recognise there are people around that are suffering.”

Earlier this week, police were investigating an apparent suicide after a teen boy was found, unconscious, hanging in a closet.

In May, police said they were investigating an apparent suicide

after a woman was discovered unresponsive with injuries to her body in a residence on Falcon Crest, Eastern Estates.

In April, a man was found hanging from a beam in a closet of a residence on Haven Street off Lightbourn Street in Chippingham. A family member found the man, said to be in his mid-50s, unresponsive.

In March, two people allegedly committed suicide in separate incidents: a man at a Winton Estates residence and a woman at a residence on Paradise Island. The man, 41-year-old Dimaggio Darrell, was a father of four.

In February, a man was found with what police believed was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his upper body at an apartment in Kennedy Subdivision.

PAGE 12, Wednesday, July 17, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

VON DER LEYEN CONFIRMED AS NEW EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT BRUSSELS Associated Press

URSULA von der Leyen was confirmed as the European Commission president yesterday, becoming the first woman to hold one of the most prestigious positions in the European Union and who will be one of the most prominent faces from the bloc on the world stage.

The European Parliament voted 383-327 with 22 abstentions to approve von der Leyen’s nomination. The confirmation required an absolute majority of 374 votes and the outgoing German defence minister

scraped through with barely nine votes to spare in a cliffhanger vote. “A majority is a majority in politics,” she said when questioned about her narrow escape.

Von der Leyen will replace Jean-Claude Juncker when his term expires at the end of October. She was put forward as a last-minute candidate by EU leaders as part over an overall appointments package, sidestepping parliamentary wishes. Many legislators felt cold-shouldered and said they would oppose her out of principle, not over personal considerations. “There was a great deal of resentment,” she said.

Von der Leyen insisted the challenges facing the EU, from climate to migration and internal division, were such that there was no time to look back. “My message to all of you is: let us work together constructively,” she said.

Earlier in the day, Von der Leyen set out her political objectives on a greener, gender-equal Europe where the rule of law continues to hold sway.

Her approval was a key part in the package of top jobs that EU leaders agreed upon early this month. Under the deal, the freemarket liberal Renew Europe group got Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel as European

URSULA VON DER LEYEN

Council president and the Socialists won the top parliament job.

France’s Christine Lagarde was put forward as head of the European Central Bank.

Von der Leyen told lawmakers in Strasbourg that the gender element as embodied by herself and Lagarde will be an essential part of her job. “I will ensure full gender equality” in her team of 28 commissioners. “I want to see as many men as women around the college table,” she said.

Pointing out that since its inception in 1958, less than 20% of commissioners had been women, she said: “We represent half of our population. We want our fair share.”

ASTRONAUT ON APOLLO 11 BACK AT LAUNCH PAD CAPE CANAVERAL Associated Press APOLLO 11 astronaut Michael Collins yesterday returned to the espot where he flew to the Moon 50 years ago with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Collins had the spotlight to himself this time — Armstrong has been gone for seven years and Aldrin cancelled. Collins said he wished his two moonwalking colleagues could have shared the moment at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A, the departure point for humanity’s first Moon landing.

“Wonderful feeling to be back,” the 88-year-old command module pilot said on NASA TV. “There’s a difference this time. I want to turn and ask Neil a question and maybe tell Buzz Aldrin something, and of course, I’m here by myself.”

At NASA’s invitation, Collins marked the precise moment — 9:32 a.m. on July 16, 1969 — that the Saturn V rocket blasted off. He was seated at the base of the pad alongside Kennedy’s director, Robert Cabana, a former space shuttle commander.

Collins recalled the tension surrounding the crew that day. “Apollo 11 ... was serious business. We, crew, felt the weight of the world on our shoulders. We knew that everyone would be looking at us, friend or foe, and we wanted to do the best we possibly could,” he said.

Collins remained in lunar orbit while Armstrong and Aldrin landed in the Eagle on July 20, 1969, and spent 2 ½ hours walking the lunar surface.

TOP, from left, Rick Armstrong, the son of Neil Armstrong, and Vice President Mike Pence, unveil Neil Armstrong’s Apollo 11 spacesuit at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum yesterday. Left, astronaut Michael Collins speaks to Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana at Launch Complex 39A. Above, the Apollo 11 crew, from left, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin.

Trump’s racist tweets condemned by House WASHINGTON Associated Press IN A remarkable political repudiation, the Democratic-led US House voted last night to condemn President Donald Trump’s “racist comments” against four congresswomen of colour, despite protestations by Trump’s Republican congressional allies and his own insistence he hasn’t “a racist bone in my body”.

Two days after Trump tweeted that four Democratic freshmen should “go back” to their home countries — though all are citizens and three were born in the USA — Democrats muscled the resolution through the chamber by 240-187 over near-solid GOP opposition.

The rebuke was an embarrassing one for Trump even though it carries no legal repercussions, but if anything his latest harangues should help him with his die-hard conservative base.

Despite a lobbying effort by

PRESIDENT Trump plunged on Trump and party leaders for a unified GOP front, four Republicans voted to condemn his remarks: moderate Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Fred Upton of Michigan, Will Hurd of Texas and Susan Brooks of Indiana, who is retiring.

Democrats saved one of the day’s most passionate moments until near the end. “I know racism when I see it,” said Rep. John Lewis of

Georgia, whose skull was fractured at the 1965 “Bloody Sunday” civil rights march in Selma, Alabama.

“At the highest level of government, there’s no room for racism.”

Before the showdown roll call, Trump characteristically plunged forward with time-tested insults. He accused his four outspoken critics of “spewing some of the most vile, hateful and disgusting things ever said by a politician” and added, “If you hate our Country, or if you are not happy here, you can leave !” — echoing taunts long unleashed against political dissidents rather than opposing parties’ lawmakers.

The president was joined by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California and other top Republicans in trying to redirect the focus from Trump’s original tweets, which for three days have consumed Washington and drawn widespread condemnation. Instead, they tried playing offense by accusing the four congresswomen — among the Democrats’ most

left-leaning members and ardent Trump critics — of socialism, an accusation that’s already a central theme of the GOP’s 2020 presidential and congressional campaigns.

Even after two-and-a-half years of Trump’s turbulent governing style, the spectacle of a president futilely laboring to head off a House vote essentially proclaiming him to be a racist was extraordinary.

After a delay exceeding 90 minutes, No. 2 House Democrat Steny Hoyer of Maryland said Pelosi had indeed violated a House rule against characterizing an action as racist. Hoyer was presiding after Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri stormed away from the presiding officer’s chair, lamenting, “We want to just fight,” apparently aimed at Republicans.

In tweets last night, Trump took a positive view of the vote, saying it was “so great” that only four Republicans had crossed party lines and noting the procedural rebuke of Pelosi. “Quite a day!” he wrote.

JUDGE ORDERS R. KELLY HELD IN THREE DEAD, FOUR MISSING IN JAIL WITHOUT BOND IN SEX CASE FLOAT PLANE CRASH IN CANADA CHICAGO Associated Press

A FEDERAL judge yesterday ordered R. Kelly to be held in jail without bond after a prosecutor warned that the singer accused of having sex with minors and trying to cover up the crimes would pose an extreme danger to young girls if set free.

“If he was attracted to middle school girls in 1999 then he’s still attracted to middle school girls,” Assistant US Attorney Angel Krull told US District Judge Harry Leinenweber. “That’s who the defendant is and that, your honor, makes him a danger today.”

Leinenweber said that under

federal law Kelly would have to prove that he was not a danger to the public and Kelly’s attorney, Steve Greenberg, had failed to do so.

Kelly faces an array of sexrelated charges in Chicago and New York. Appearing in court wearing an orange jumpsuit and shacked at the ankles, he said only two words, “Yes, sir,” when the judge asked him if he understood the charges.

The ruling means Kelly, who pleaded not guilty to the charges contained in the Chicago indictment, will remain in custody to face a separate indictment in New York.

He is charged there with racketeering, kidnapping, forced labor and the sexual exploitation of a child.

ST JOHN’S, Newfoundland Associated Press

FOUR occupants of a downed float plane remained missing yesterday after the aircraft crashed into a lake in the Eastern Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, killing three others on board. Air Saguenay President Jean Tremblay said the de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver was carrying four fishermen, two guides and the pilot. It left Three Rivers Lodge on Crossroads Lake, east of Schefferville, Quebec, on Monday headed to a fishing camp on Mistastin Lake in Labrador. The plane didn’t return as planned that evening.

The wreckage was spotted from

a Hercules aircraft at about 5 am yesterday. It was submerged about a mile from the shore, identified by the visible tail and other wreckage in the water.

Rescue officials said two search helicopters were sent to the site, and a second float plane was also dispatched to assist in search efforts. Maj. Mark Gough of Maritime Forces Atlantic, which is coordinating the rescue effort, said it’s still unknown what time the plane when down. “If someone was to have survived the crash they would have had a bit of a swim to get to land,” Gough said The cause of the crash remains unclear but Gough said “the weather was fair.

FLORIDA EXPERT CAPTURES ELUSIVE ALLIGATOR AT CHICAGO LAGOON CHICAGO Associated Press

THE alligator had a good run as day after day the people hunting for him in a Chicago lagoon came up empty, but in the end he was no match for an expert the city shipped in from Florida.

The male gator, nicknamed ‘Chance the Snapper,’ was first spotted in the Humboldt Park lagoon about a week ago.

After local enthusiasts tried and failed to trap the reptile, Frank Robb arrived from St. Augustine on Sunday. By early yesterday, he had caught the 5 foot 3 inch animal using something that even cartoon alligators know to avoid: a fishing pole.

“I brought my fishing rod and it went down pretty fast,” Robb said. At about 1.30 am — about 36 hours into the hunt — Robb said he “saw his eye shine and caught him on the fishing rod. One cast... and it was done.”

Chance looked pretty calm as Robb pulled him out of a big plastic tub, and he didn’t squirm as he settled into Robb’s grip. Robb moved around a bit so all the photographers snapped pictures — Chance couldn’t do any snapping of his own thanks to a thick band holding his jaw shut tight.