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Christie vows to stay as PM ‘Young members of government want me to lead’

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net PRIME Minister Perry Christie said yesterday that he seeks to continue leading the Progressive Liberal Party, including into the next general election, because young members of his government have urged him to do so.

He also suggested that instability would arise in the party if he were no longer leader, similar to what is occurring in the Official Opposition.

He did not name the government members who he said have urged him to continue to lead the party.

His comments came during an appearance on the “Ed Fields Live” show on Kiss FM yesterday evening.

When asked about his

AS Bahamians rage over power cuts during this hot summer, Prime Minister Perry Christie admitted yesterday that the management of Bahamas Power & Light failed to adequately anticipate the challenge of generating electricity during the summer months and prepare for it.

He made his comments

MEETING ANIMALS AT ZOO CAMP

SEE PAGE SIX

during an appearance on the “Ed Fields Live” show on Kiss FM yesterday evening.

“The difficulty is that I thought we had anticipated, that is the management of BEC and the management going forward, that we were going to have a bad summer and I knew that we had to have at least 40 megawatts in addition to what we have now - they were ordered late,” Mr Christie said.

SEE PAGE SIX

YOUNGSTERS at the Ardastra Gardens summer camp meet Daisy the boa constrictor yesterday. The zoo is in its second week of summer activities for youngsters. See page two for more photographs.

Photo: Tim Clarke/Tribune Staff

GOVT HOPEFUL OF AVOIDING DOWNGRADE AFTER MEETING

WORKER ACCUSED OF STEALING $63,000 FROM WATER CORP

THE government is “hopeful” the country’s credit rating will not be downgraded after having a series of “constructive” meetings with Wall Street rating agency Moody’s last week, Minister of State for Finance Michael Halkitis said yesterday.

Mr Halkitis said repre-

A 54-YEAR-OLD woman was arraigned in Magistrate’s Court yesterday in connection with the theft of nearly $63,000 from the Water and Sewerage Corporation during her time as an employee.

Brendalee Lewis appeared before Deputy Chief Magistrate Constance Delancy facing five counts of stealing by reason of employment. It is alleged that the crimes were committed between January 21, 2016 and February 8, 2016.

Lewis, who elected to be tried in Magistrate’s Court, pleaded not guilty to all five charges.

It is claimed that she stole $15,429.47 of deposits SEE PAGE NINE

By SANCHESKA BROWN Tribune Staff Reporter sbrown@tribunemedia.net

sentatives from Moody’s met with both government and private sector organisations over a two-day period and now the Christie administration has to “wait and see” what the agency’s review will be at the end August.

His comments came two weeks after Moody’s announced it was placing the country “on review” for a potential downgrade, due to both its unexpected eco-

nomic contraction and further deterioration in the government’s fiscal position.

At the time, Moody’s pointed out that “debt accumulation” has continued to increase, with the government consistently failing to hit its budget projections, and the adequacy and effectiveness of its policy responses to The Bahamas’ problems.

SEE PAGE THREE

DOCTOR ADMITS TO SEX AND DRUGS BUT DENIES RAPE

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

Home Ownership Seminar Series Home Ownership: Build vs. Buy

DR Gerald Forbes told a Supreme Court that he and a woman who has alleged that he raped her were involved in an intimate sexual relationship and that she allegedly inserted abortion

tablets into her vagina after becoming pregnant, possibly with his child.

Forbes, who is on trial for rape and indecently assaulting a 20-year-old woman, testified under oath that he and the virtual complainant drank rum, smoked some marijuana, and had sex at his home on February 3, 2015.

It is alleged that on February 3, 2015, the 46-yearold doctor rubbed the woman’s vagina and masturbated during an exam, and on March 2, it is alleged that he had sex with the woman without her consent while performing a medical SEE PAGE TEN

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By KHRISNA VIRGIL Deputy Chief Reporter kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

LONG Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner revealed yesterday that the Free National Movement’s finance committee requested that she and Leader Dr Hubert Minnis each raise $100,000 to fund the party’s upcoming convention because the organisation had not inspired supporters to donate money over the past few years.

SEE PAGE SIX

political future, he said: “There are two things. One, that I have enough young people who are a part of my government who have asked me to stay on. Two, that with respect to staying on, everyday of my life I recognise that I provide stability.

“My leadership provides stability to my side. You see what instability means when you look at the opposition and I daresay that this could happen when I demit office as well.

“The country has moved to Pindling, to Ingraham, division in the FNM, to Christie, he’s holding right now, no division in the PLP. “And so the question for us is, moving forward, one of the great advantages the PLP offers to this

‘BPL MANAGEMENT FAILED TO ANTICIPATE SUMMER DEMAND’

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

FNM’S $100,000 DEMAND FOR LEADERSHIP CANDIDATES

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By LAMECH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

PAGE 2, Tuesday, July 19, 2016

THE TRIBUNE

Youngsters enjoy zoo camp

By AARON MILLER YOUNG summer campers at Ardastra met Daisy the Bahamian Boa Constrictor - all five feet of her - yesterday as the Gardens, Zoo and Conservation Centre opened its second week of holiday programmes for children.

Some 14 campers were introduced to the well known snake and learned from her handler a number of interesting facts about Daisy while having the chance to interact closely with her.

Six-year-old Dylan Bethel, a student at Queen’s College said that he had an “amazing and fabulous” time at his first day of Zoo Camp. “My favourite part of today was petting the pigs and meeting the snake, Daisy. We got to touch her and she was scaly and soft. I was not scared to touch her at all. I like animals and I was not afraid. I can’t wait to go back tomorrow. I got a backpack and a water bottle too.”

This week is devoted to teaching the children about pollution and challenging them to come up with solutions to the problem. Air, water, soil, solid waste, hazardous waste and noise pollution are some of the topics to be addressed during ‘Pollution Solution’ week.

The camp offers the youngsters a morning activity, an introductory game, a tour of the zoo, the flamingo show, animal encounters, a team game, a presentation on the importance of “reducing, reusing and recycling’’, petting zoo activities, arts and crafts and journal writing plus snacks and lunch.

Earlier this month Ardastra held a ‘Hands-On Nature’ week to start its summer Zoo Camp. The children begun by learning the importance of water, preventing water pollution and also different ways of trying to preserve water.

On the second day the older campers learned in more depth about the oceans and enjoyed the experience of snorkelling with the Bahamas Reef Environmental Educational Foundation team while the younger one

THE YOUNGSTERS attending the holiday programme at Ardastra Gardens this week.

Photos: Tim Clarke/Tribune Staff

YOUNGSTERS enjoying the summer camp at Ardastra Gardens. made toys in arts and crafts and visited the nearby Bahamas Humane Society.

And for two days the campers were taught the signifi-

cance of each animal’s lifecycle and how each adapts to its environment before finishing with a water-based day given the heat.

DYLAN Bethel being introduced to Daisy the boa constrictor.

CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM NOT A HIGH PRIORITY, SAYS PM

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

FOUR years after saying campaign financing in The Bahamas had sunken to “repugnant” and sometimes “criminal” levels, Prime Minister Perry Christie said yesterday that passing a law to address the issue has not been one of his administration’s highest priorities.

He suggested that the government would begin publicly addressing the matter soon, but he did not say if a law on the matter would be enacted before the start

of the general election.

His comments came during an appearance on the “Ed Fields Live” show on Kiss FM radio yesterday evening.

“Regrettably, the agenda of the government was as such where our legislative agenda just made that second place,” he said, responding to a question from the show’s co-host Rogan Smith.

“That is an important part of the process; electoral reform, we’re going to see how we are going to get around to it. We have to go to Parliament with Nation-

al Health Insurance (NHI) legislation that we just finished. We have a new bill on Grand Bahama to cover the major negotiations that took place there. We have a bill for a National Security Council that would help us better with crime. All of that people have been asking for so you can actually define the process to make more transparent what you are doing in matters of security. All of this has brought us to the point where the importance of campaign finance reform, electoral reform, took second place.

“We’re going to try our best. We haven’t yet named a constituency or Boundaries Commission as required by law, the register has now expired. We are on to a new register so you are going to find that we are going to begin a conversation on this matter shortly.”

Attorney General Allyson Maynard Gibson has long said that her office is working on a campaign finance law.

Nonetheless, the lack of apparent progress the Christie administration has made toward implementing such legislation has symbol-

ised his government’s questionable commitment to transparency and accountability, some critics believe.

Damian Gomez, former state minister for legal affairs, recently told The Tribune that his attempt at getting his parliamentary colleagues to agree to establish a public registry system that would require them to disclose donors to their constituencies hit a wall.

“I asked but people don’t want that sort of information out there,” he said.

In its 2012 Electoral Observation Mission report on

elections in the Bahamas, the Organisation of American States (OAS) recommended that the government implement campaign finance laws.

However, the body said the issue seemed less important to Bahamian politicians than it did to other stakeholders in the country.

More recently, campaign financing became an issue after Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard admitted to giving the Progressive Liberal Party $5m ahead of the last general election.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, July 19, 2016, PAGE 3

Veteran honours the fallen

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

SEVENTY-ONE years after having to help bury eight young Royal Air Force comrades killed during the Second World War, veteran Jack Ryall has returned to the renovated Nassau War Cemetery to pay his respects.

Mr Ryall, a 90-year-old former major and rear gunner in bombers, was delighted to find the graveyard - formerly known as the Royal Air Force Cemetery - had been restored, saying he was taken aback by how “neat and tidy” it is.

Mr Ryall praised the upkeep of the cemetery, telling The Tribune that he is “overawed” with the transformation of the Farrington Road site from previously being “just rows of empty concrete graves and a load of pink shale”.

He said that when he set foot in the cemetery at the weekend for the first time in 71 years, he never expected it to be in the “marvellous” condition it is in. He said the maintenance of the war cemetery, which was built in 1944, and the plots of those buried therein makes fighting in World War II somewhat “worthwhile” and comforting to know “that there’s someone to look after them”.

Mr Ryall laid a wreath at the cemetery on Sunday morning, when he paid his respects to eight of his comrades at arms who perished and were subsequently buried at the site after two planes collided and crashed at Windsor Field on the morning of February 23, 1945.

Mr Ryall said at around seven o’clock, two planes, one taking off and one landing, collided and crashed.

The ten passengers aboard the plane preparing to land all survived but all those aboard the RAF plane preparing to take off perished.

One of those on board that plane was one of his roommates.

“So they were alive at seven and we buried them at 10,” he said. “It was quite a shock. When you’re 19 years old, you don’t expect something like that to happen. You feel invincible when you’re flying. ‘Nothing’s going to happen to me,’ but of course it does.”

He added: “They were the same age as me. I was 18. The others we buried were 19 and 20. It was very, very sad at the time. And everyone laughed at me because they said ‘Oh you’ve been out in Nassau, you’ve not been doing anything’.

A few weeks after the crash, my roommate was in another plane. I could see him in a (B-25 Mitchell bomber), and I was in the B-24, and I could see him and all of a sudden it exploded in mid-air. And there wasn’t a bit left: it just went in pieces.”

Mr Ryall said at the time that he buried his comrades, the Farrington Road site was in a state of disrepair, so much so that he was “ashamed” of it being the burial grounds for them.

However, he said his perspective changed after visiting the site on Friday and seeing “what a wonderful place” it had become.

“I was absolutely overawed with it, because I never expected it to be quite like that,” he told The

MAJOR Jack Ryall at the Nassau War Cemetery on Sunday with his son Mike, daughter Lisa, former British High Commissioner to the Bahamas, Peter Young, and Marine Adena Munroe.

Photos: RBDF Tribune. “I knew someone had started taking care of it, because my granddaughter was down here last year and she took some pictures, but I never expected to see it like that. So neat, so tidy.

“And it’s obvious it hadn’t just been done because I was going. It was obvious that’s how they looked after it, whoever was looking after it, which of course I didn’t know at the time.”

He added: “You feel maybe that that long time ago was worthwhile. That there’s someone to look after (the deceased).”

The Nassau War Cemetery, previously known as the Royal Air Force Cemetery, was built in 1944 and opened by the Duke of Windsor as Governor of the Bahamas. It contains the graves of 46 British and five Canadian casualties

and the Nassau Memorial, which commemorates seven British and two Canadian servicemen.

The cemetery has been under the care and maintenance of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) since 1973 following a post-Independence agreement between the Bahamian and British governments.

Despite the agreement, however, the cemetery had been neglected in recent years and had fallen into disrepair. However, with new funding from the CWGC, a major renovation project was completed in 2014. A local firm, the Installers Company, coowned by Peter Bates and Greg Curtis, has the maintenance contract.

Responsibility for the Nassau War Cemetery

MAJOR Jack Ryall lays a wreath at the Nassau War Cemetery. was transferred from the the Bahamas Peter Young CWGC Head Office in told The Tribune that the Maidenhead, near London, organisation has reached to its Canadian agency in out to the Bahamas governOttawa five years ago. ment in hopes of having the In May, CGWC repre- Farrington Road cemetery sentatives and former Brit- officially preserved as a ish High Commissioner to heritage site.

GOVT HOPEFUL OF AVOIDING DOWNGRADE AFTER MEETING

from page one

Moody’s warned that any potential downgrade could be “by one notch or more.”

The country currently has a ‘Baa2’ rating, two notches away from being cut to socalled “junk” status – a position where it will lose its existing investment grade status.

“We met with them last Tuesday and Wednesday.

They met with the prime minister and Mr Christie gave them an overview of our expectations particularly with investments,” Mr Halkitis said.

“They also had a technical meeting with me at the Ministry of Finance where we spoke about the budget and crunched numbers.

They also met with the Central Bank, the Chamber of Commerce, the Ministry of Tourism, the Bahamas Hotel Association and the Clearing Bank (Association). They have some concerns about revisions to the

economic growth numbers that were released by the Department of Statistics, so they met with representatives from there as well and we broke down the methods and showed what contributed to the data and gave them a better understanding why those revisions took place.

“After all the meetings, they came back to us and asked us for additional information. They have a committee they have to deal with and now we just have to wait and see.”

The country has until August to convince Moody’s not to downgrade its credit rating and is also in the middle of the “six24 month” period set by Standard & Poor’s, another credit rating agency, to determine whether it will follow through on the “greater than one-in-three chance” of a Bahamas downgrade.

In a statement released after the Moody’s announcement, the govern-

PRISONERS pictured in the back of a truck yesterday.

CONCERNS OVER PRISONERS UNSHACKLED IN THE BACK OF OPEN PICK-UP TRUCK A CONCERNED citizen accused the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services of operating in a “slack” manner after witnessing a pickup truck loaded with unrestrained prisoners “weave in and out of cars recklessly” on East Bay Street yesterday.

The motorist, who did not want to be named, questioned why the prisoners were not handcuffed or shackled at the ankles to prevent an escape or whether officials had considered the safety issues that arose with the inmates seated on the back of the truck.

There were around eight prisoners seated on planks of wood on the white gov-

ernment-licenced Ford pick-up truck, the motorist said.

“The driver was weaving in and out of cars recklessly,” the motorist said, “and the prisoners on the back were just swaying and rocking from side to side. It didn’t appear safe neither for us nor them.

“They could also be heard shouting at and cat calling to women drivers who had their windows rolled down.

It just looked slack.”

It is unclear why the prisoners were out or where they were headed when they were seen on East Bay Street.

See a video of this on tribune242.com

ment said the country is not exempt from the lower commodity prices and external investment uncertainty through the loss of correspondent bank services that is being felt in the Caribbean region.

“Although The Bahamas has not been completely exempt from any of these phenomena, the government is confident that this review will reveal that mediumterm economic prospects for the Bahamas are good given projected foreign direct investment, the government’s fiscal consolidation efforts and the implementation of innovative policy initiatives with respect to cer-

tain structural constraints the country has faced in the energy sector and labour market.

“The government’s position is that ongoing construction at various projects around the country is generating significant economic activity.”

The statement added that there “is no question” that economic activity in much of the country is higher than three years ago.

“Growth prospects for the Bahamian economy are also very good with the imminent restart of construction at Baha Mar and its subsequent opening. In addition, challenges within

the energy sector are being addressed by the new private sector management team at Bahamas Power and Light and the benefits of this will be realised in the short-term.”

The government also said it is addressing rising debt through a fiscal consolidation plan, adding that the successful roll-out of value added tax in 2015 shows the Christie administration’s Tuesday, 19th July 2016 commitment to this.

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THE TRIBUNE

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The ‘millionaire’ promise at the root of today’s social problems IN THIS column yesterday we confirmed Mr Richard Lightbourn’s statement in the House that students, caught up in the get-rich-quick euphoria of the drug era, were writing essays on how they wanted to become drug dealers like some of their family members and friends.

National Security Minister Dr Bernard Nottage, shocked by such blasphemy, denied that such a thing had ever taken place. He wanted Mr Lightbourn to provide proof of his statement or withdraw it. Mr Lightbourn made his remarks during Thursday’s House session, which was debating a Bill to take the College of the Bahamas to university level.

Mr Lightbourn had no reason to apologise, or retract anything because what he had said was true. These essays had been brought to our attention by a government teacher who told us that some of her male students when asked to write an essay on what they wanted to do on leaving school wrote that their ambition was to become drug pushers so that they could be millionaires. This, the teacher told us, had started after Prime Minister Sir Lynden Pindling had taken to the airwaves in his New Year’s message of 1986 to say it was possible for everyone to become a millionaire.

The report of the Commission of Inquiry into the transshipment of drugs through The Bahamas, which had been signed on December 14, 1984, had exposed persons from the cabinet level down. After a while, the easy money started to dry up.

On January 2, 1986, under the heading: “‘Become millionaires’ says PM”, The Tribune reported: “Prime Minister Lynden Pindling, in a televised New Year’s Day message, encouraged Bahamians to take advantage of the ‘opportunities’ provided by the Cabinet to become a millionaire.

“Sir Lynden, whose Cabinet was badly shaken by a Commission of Inquiry into drug trafficking, also boasted that government revenues for 1985 increased by $50 million over 1984 and he had good reason to expect a similar increase for 1986.” In other words 1986 was to be a “year of opportunity.”

Of course, he did not encourage anyone to go into drug smuggling, rather he gave suggestions of various businesses that would be opening up or expanding, such as the hotel industry, construction, agriculture, and the like.

“I wish to say this, however,” Sir Lynden continued, “All that my streamlined Cabinet can do is provide the million dollar opportunity: only you can make you a millionaire. If you choose not to take advantage of the opportunities provided and get distracted by the noise in the market, it will be nobody’s fault but your own…”

A light bulb went off in the heads of some of the male students of that era, who wanted to be get-rich-quick millionaires, but didn’t want to waste their time with education — therefore, they expressed their dreams in the school essays. Even then they were not smart enough to know that drug-running was no longer in vogue and to do so would carry severe penalties.

During Thursday’s House debate Mr Lightbourn also mentioned that educational standards had to be raised from the current D- level and that the attitude of students had to change. Society is baffled by today’s youth, but it shouldn’t be. Sir Lynden told them the problem and confessed his guilt some time ago.

We shall let Sir Lynden repeat himself here for such persons as Dr Nottage who

seems to have either a short memory or a short attention span.

On November 1, 1990, under the heading: “Pindling admits Bahamas needs to change attitude,” The Tribune reported: “Prime Minister Pindling admitted to the PLP Convention last night that he had changed his mind on the Bahamian attitude.

“Sir Lynden said too many young men avoid work like the plague because parents often require too little work of them.

We told them they were too good to be gardeners, too good to be sanitation men, too good to work their hands…

“As a great grandson of a slave I told many of my brothers many of those things myself. At the time, I was trying to elevate their goals, I wanted to spare them some pain and suffering,” said Sir Lynden.

“But I didn’t know then what I know now, that any work breeds character. Too many young men lack character today: too many, too often shirk responsibility because they have never been held accountable for their actions at home, in school or in society. Therein might lie the heart of the problem.”

Sir Lynden continued: “When we tell a young Bahamian male to be a man and he looks at us with his mouth opened he may be truly wondering what we mean. Why should he wonder? The answer is simply this: many do not know how to be men because no man ever took the time to teach them what manhood is all about.”

Manhood, said Sir Lynden, “is not about how many women a man can sweetheart, or how violent he can be with his brother or sister on Saturday night, or how boisterous or rude he can be around people he does not even know; or getting high every day to escape the challenges and pressures of modern life, or blasting his radio as loud as it can go simply to draw attention, or burning rubber with his car on Bay Street, or driving to the front of a line of cars waiting at a stop light because he lacks enough patience and respect for others to wait until it is his turn to go.

“No! These are not the characteristics of real men,” he said. “To the contrary, this represents the behaviour of fellows who have never been taught how to be men and don’t know what manhood is really all about.”

Saying that as a nation and a people Bahamians could not afford to look the other way because “for all those reasons the Bahamian family is in trouble, and when the family is in trouble our country is in trouble as well. In our race for prosperity we have forgotten a thing or two about being Bahamians. That’s why we have problems now and that’s why we need to deal with it openly and honestly.”

Of course the churchmen — Catholic, Anglican and Baptist — were quick to react to Sir Lynden’s millionaire remark.

“I really think that it’s an unrealistic goal and it might be misinterpreted. I would have thought that a more appropriate emphasis would be what people would contribute to our country, rather than setting materialistic goals,” said the late Archbishop Lawrence Burke of the Catholic Archdiocese. What these ministers had to say, even their comments on the drug trade, would be instructive today.

No, as Sir Lynden promised – but later regretted – today’s problems started when young Bahamians were told that if the PLP were elected they would no longer be “hewers of wood and drawers of water”. However, today they had better understand that they also will be jobless unless they leave school with a higher grade than D-.

British blood donors EDITOR, The Tribune I WATCHED with interest this evening an appeal on ZNS news for donations of blood from The Princess Margaret Blood Bank, Doctors Hospital Blood Bank and The Bahamas Red Cross.

My blood type is O Negative. People with O Negative blood are considered universal donors and make up just 6.6 per cent of the population. I have no blood born diseases, I have never been treated for cancer and I am never anaemic. Despite this, none of the blood banks will take my blood

because, as I jokingly tell my friends, I am English.

Despite having lived exclusively in The Bahamas since 1991, I did for a while live in the UK and the fear is that I, and all the other British expats living in the Bahamas, will pass on the deadly disease known as Creutzfeld-Jakob Diease (CJD), the human version of “Mad Cow Disease”.

In 1991 in the UK, there were 36 deaths from CJD out of a population of 57.42 million people. Any Bahamian travelling to the UK and eating a burger from any burger chain has as much chance of

transmitting CJD as I do.

There is no consistency in this rule, and I suspect little science.

British people are pretty generous when it comes to giving blood, especially if there is a can of Guinness on offer at the end of it. It therefore makes good sense to rethink this policy. Donating blood would be an excellent way for people like me to thank Bahamians for the privilege of living in their marvellous country.

ELIZABETH HAWKINS RN Nassau, July 18, 2016

Bahamian brain drain EDITOR, The Tribune

I WAS shocked to see yet another statement emanating from our Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration that seemed to be way off base, perhaps even delusional.

This time it was in reference to the so-called ‘brain drain’ effecting our Bahamian communities and it was uttered in the House of Parliament while debating the University of Bahamas Bill this past week.

Mr Mitchell indicated that the ‘brain drain’ that we have been witnessing (for decades I would say) was “not a major problem for The Bahamas”. According to the news report in The Tribune, this MP continued to say that “a good living is had by many people in this country”.

Does Mr Mitchell not read the media reports (especially relating to murder, rape, etc)? Does he see the statistics coming from the Ministry of Education, the census reports on unemployment, the crime and poverty our people sadly endure, the current state of NIB (while people are unable to pay their rent and feed their families due to the delays and backlog of payments), the recent decision by our populace to deny women equal rights under the law here?

I could go on, but suffice it to say, the quality of life is not ‘good’ here for many of us and in no way does it inspire our young college

LETTERS

letters@tribunemedia.net graduates that are educated abroad to return home and ‘give back’; to start a career, raise a family, purchase a home here, etc.

What proverbial rock has this Harvard educated MP been living under? Unemployment of our young people remains about 30 per cent. Jobs are difficult to come by and often offer no prospect of advancement. Pay scale is low, especially when compared to our counterparts living and working abroad, yet the cost of living is considered high. The average high school graduate here has barely a D grade in Maths and English. This no doubt, contributes to the “unemployable” youth here with few skills and little to offer a corporate employer. The crime rate is escalating (despite what Mr Mitchell’s colleague, the Minister for National Security may say).

Last year’s murder count was said to be 146, a record high. Let’s not even consider the armed robberies and other criminal assaults on our friends and neighbours.

“Brain drain”, where Bahamian students attend colleges and universities abroad, then choose not to return to their homeland, is indeed a very real problem.

Especially when considering what it is they are coming home to. I have three

children, all of whom attended colleges in the USA. My younger two have opted to stay abroad, as have most of their friends. My older son is in the process of leaving Nassau for a safer and more fulfilling life in one of the Family Islands.

This is not a problem that can be easily fixed. And I don’t purport to have the solution. Nor it is an issue that originates from one or the other of our more prominent political parties.

Clearly, if any solution is possible it must involve a concerted and unified effort from all of us. Do not increase the divide, but rather work together for the good of all of us; be a part of the solution.

Help the youth to get trained and become ‘employable’. Provide outlets where the disenfranchised can turn to for relief and improve their livelihoods.

Make The Bahamas attractive for our young, college graduates to stay in or to return home to! It is one of the prettiest countries in the region, full of untapped potential. Potential that will only be realised given the proper support, guidance and governance. Let’s get our young people helping to move the nation forward, onward, upward, together!

Mr Mitchell, please wake up and smell the coffee. We do have a problem.

BARBARA SON Nassau, July 15, 2016.

THOMP-

Island time EDITOR, The Tribune.

AS The Bahamas seeks to enter into mainstream reality and second world status it would be well to understand something of your so-called Island Time.

Island Time is just another way of saying “I really don’t care about you”.

There is no place on earth, where things actually work, where this type of attitude is acceptable.

Someone who is chronically late is simply saying, “My time is more valuable than yours.” Period. If in a work situation, this attitude, and chronic lateness should and would get you fired.

Let’s face it, time is based on numbers, just like money. If your employer shorted you $50.00 every week you’d notice, right? Well, how is it that someone who can add and subtract can be consistently late? There really can only be one answer.

They value their time more than the person they make wait.

See, if you take my money, I can hope that I may get it back. If you steal my time, there can be no hope of ever getting that back.

Being late is a very selfish act. Being consistently late is a great way to let the person or people waiting that you are more impor-

tant than them. I can see this no other way. Being consistently late is rude, unprofessional, selfish and unbecoming of a rational adult. I am constantly amazed that people who can be good with money, can be such failures at keeping their word on time. Being consistently late is dishonest. It is lying repeatedly.

In a Christian nation, this type of dishonesty and selfish behaviour would be frowned upon.

NORMAN TRABULSY Jr Mangrove Cay, Andros, July 15, 2016.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, July 19, 2016, PAGE 5

RENEW BAHAMAS: FORMER EMPLOYEES TO BE PAID IN FULL

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net

RENEW Bahamas CEO Michael Cox was dismissive yesterday of claims that the landfill operator had backed out of agreements to pay several former employees “in full,” as current staff members continue to agitate for delayed salary payments.

Mr Cox told The Tribune that Renew Bahamas has come to an agreement with several of its former employees and vendors on outstanding payments, stating that those persons could expect to be “paid in full”

by July 31.

“This is a group of five

to six employees that we have outstanding payments for. We have agreements in place where those employees will receive payment by the end of this month; we will have them paid in full,” he told this newspaper.

On Monday, The Tribune spoke to four former workers at the landfill site.

While none of them wanted to be named, all claimed that their dismissal from the property came as a surprise and once they were let go, no clarification was provided on when they could expect payment.

Additionally, several workers still employed by the company noted that persons on staff have not been paid for the past three

pay periods – a claim Mr Cox denied.

“We have communicated with all employees, those still with us and those that are no longer with us. We have been open and upfront on the process that is going on. Up to two times a week, we have discussions with the employees to make them aware of where we are,” he said.

Mr Cox continued: “This is a stressful time for everyone involved and that is why management made the decision to keep the dialogue open with all the workers. We understand the position many of these workers are in and we want them to feel assured that we are doing our best to address their concerns.”

However, one disgrun-

tled employee who contacted The Tribune yesterday had a different story. The worker claimed that whenever the matter of overdue salary payments was raised with an executive, employees were told that the official had “more important” things to worry about.

Renew Bahamas has been plagued with issues in recent months.

Earlier this month the landfill management company announced that 40 employees were made redundant at the Harrold Road dumpsite.

Additionally, the company announced that Mr Cox, former chief operational officer (COO), had replaced Gerhard Beukes as CEO.

According to various reports, the company has been cash-strapped for most of the year, and as a result, has approached the Christie administration to re-work the parametres of its operational contract in an effort to make the deal more profitable.

In a recent interview with The Tribune Business, Mr Beukes confirmed that company’s financial situation isn’t good.

Mr Beukes described Renew’s deal as “a classic frontier investment,” suggesting that there had been numerous “unknowns” that Renew Bahamas was now aware of.

In addition to fire and security issues, industry experts have continued to

suggest that Renew over estimated the money it could gain from a recycling effort in the Bahamas.

Moreover, experts have also stressed that the millions invested by Renew have to be considered as a loss to this point.

Despite these realities, Mr Cox on Monday seemed confident that major fixes were on the horizon, contending that talks with the Christie administration were still “ongoing.”

To date, Renew has not made public how many employees are still employed at the company or specified how much money is owed to former employees. Renew Bahamas’ current agreement will run through 2019.

Energy provider ‘out of its depth’

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

DEMOCRATIC National Alliance Deputy Leader Chris Mortimer yesterday criticised Bahamas Power and Light for the recent wave of power outages, charging that the electricity provider is “out of its depth” in providing quality electrical services for Bahamians.

Mr Mortimer, in a statement, said despite BPL being the government’s “previously touted saviour of the country’s energy sector,” it has since failed to “provide the necessary relief and reliability of services which Bahamians demand.”

Mr Mortimer said in the face of the rolling blackouts, Bahamians “have yet to see or hear the company’s long-term plans to move (BPL) forward in a meaningful way.”

His statements yesterday came as disgruntled residents across New Providence continued to endure load shedding over the weekend, which BPL had previously attributed to lack of proper maintenance

DNA Deputy Leader Christopher Mortimer. as well as extreme heat that put immense pressure on its aging generators.

BPL has been load shedding intermittently for the past two weeks but there have been numerous power cuts before that as the electricity provider continues to struggle with a significant generation shortfall.

This comes months after American company PowerSecure was contracted to

take over management at the government-owned utility provider. The new management deal was touted by the government as being the answer to sub-par electricity service and high electricity bills.

“Since assuming management control of the corporation formerly known as BEC, Power Secure International, the government’s previously touted saviour of

READERS GIVE VIEWS ON ISSUES IN THE NEWS FORMER State Minister for the Environment Phenton Neymour told The Tribune this week that power outages will continue if Bahamas Power and Light does not get $200m - which did not sit well with readers on tribune242.com.

Alfalfa said: “Interesting comments from a man, who a few short years ago, had the power to purchase generators, or to upgrade our system to more ecosustainable clean electricity, but choose to do nothing but blame the previous administration.”

Proudloudandfnm was critical of the current government: “The PLP is steeped in stupid. Hire a management company to manage a company that does not have enough equipment to accommodate the island’s needs and the first thing the PLP does is deny the new management company a rate hike that they need in order to buy the equipment needed to accommodate the needs.”

Licks2 offered this: “The FNM needs to send out a ‘new and better face’ ... this one done been out here before and did not get the job done! Sorry, Mr Neymour, you don’t get to ‘rag on’ the PLP none ... you did not do any better ... you had about ten years to do so!”

There was also a lively reaction to Arawak Homes chairman Sir Franklyn Wilson’s call for ‘risk takers’ to do more if the Bahamas is to shake off its economic malaise.

Asiseeit said: “The main problem is the fact that Bahamians, especially political Bahamians are vindictive and petty. They will give a foreign group far less hassle than a Bahamian group of the opposite political affiliation. Permits appear out of thin air for a foreign project but Bahamians must jump through hoop after hoop.”

Observer had this to say: “This is an excellent time to invest hard earned money into the Bahamian economy. With VAT, increased business license fees, increased national insurance rates, BEC destroying all of your equipment, Baha Mar

shut down, Moody’s threatening to downgrade us to junk, Opposition fighting amongst themselves like a bunch of children, D average workers, lack of internal controls at Post Office Bank, money missing from

Road Traffic, pothole filled roads, foreigners buying up the Family Islands, government increased fees on bank transfers, VAT on international services to financial firms, I could go on and on.

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the country’s energy sector, has been unable to provide the necessary relief and reliability of services which Bahamians demand,” Mr Mortimer said. “In fact, this summer, like the ones before it, continues to be marred by lengthy outages, load shedding and overall public outrage. Even in the face of such challenges, however, Bahamians have yet to see or hear the company’s long-term plans to move the electricity provider forward in a meaningful way.”

Mr Mortimer also accused BPL CEO Pamela Hill of offering no new solutions to the rolling blackouts.

Last week, the BPL CEO acknowledged that power cuts this year have been more frequent than 2015, but said BPL is looking to bring in additional rental generators later this summer to help with reliability. In the long-term, Ms Hill said the company is looking at the viability of solar power.

“In essence, it remains business as usual for the electricity provider,” Mr Mortimer said yesterday.

“Sadly, the statements made

by the company’s CEO offer no innovative solutions, instead her comments suggest that the company will continue to do what has always been done.

“The reality is, however, that until we move away from the conventional ways of energy production here in The Bahamas, the consumer will continue to bear the brunt of the burden.”

Mr Mortimer said the DNA is committed to implementing the “Bahamas Clean Power Project,” a $1b plan he proposed in April of last year that he has said would transform electricity provision should the DNA become the government of The Bahamas.

Key components of that project include, but are not limited to the conversion of power generation at Clifton Pier to General Electric LM600 aero derivative gas turbines within three months of coming to office, committing to a target of 40 per cent renewable power by 2027, as well as the design and construction of a utility grade solar power facility in Andros.

“Around the globe, energy efficient countries such

as Germany, Japan and Italy have crafted energy plans which use a combination of solar, wind, waste and even energy to create forward thinking energy policies which have benefited their people,” Mr Mortimer said.

“The introduction of such ideas backed by strong and well thought-out legislation cannot only improve reliability and lower costs but have an immediate positive impact on the quality of life for our people.”

On Sunday, BPL began load shedding for what the company said would be one-hour intervals in various areas across New Providence. Power outages were also reported on Saturday.

On Sunday, former State Environment Minister Phenton Neymour said customers would continue to suffer power outages if BPL does not get $200m to turn it into an efficient powergeneration entity.

PAGE 6, Tuesday, July 19, 2016

THE TRIBUNE

FNM’S $100,000 DEMAND FOR LEADERSHIP CANDIDATES from page one

PRIME Minister Perry Christie on the Ed Fields Live show yesterday.

Photo: Tim Clarke/Tribune Staff

CHRISTIE VOWS TO STAY ON AS PRIME MINISTER

from page one

country is a very stable government, one with the capacity to guarantee continuity in governance and one that has been meaningfully employed in major reforms in this country, the latest one of which is the University of The Bahamas.”

Political pundits frequently talk about succession planning and the future of the PLP, with some Bahamians critical of Mr Christie’s decision to hold on to the leadership of his party.

While in opposition, Mr Christie said he would consider stepping down as party leader mid-term and name a successor. However, he later said those comments were misconstrued and he intended to serve a full term if elected as prime minister in 2012.

In January 2015, he said it would take a “compelling, tangible” reason for him to lead his party into the next general election.

But last September, in the face of speculation that Deputy Prime Minister Philip Davis was eyeing a leadership run, Mr Christie declared that he would go into the PLP’s convention as leader and emerge as leader.

The party’s convention is scheduled for November after several delays. The PLP has not held a convention since 2009, even though the party is mandated by its constitution to hold one each year.

However, the MP, who is challenging Dr Minnis for the FNM’s top post, insisted that to ask a leadership contender to raise mass sums of money to cover convention costs was “unheard of” in the party’s history.

She told The Tribune this was “troubling” as it spoke to the more serious issue of whether the FNM will be able to launch a successful general election campaign with money issues gripping the party.

These issues, she said, are in part due to the fact that the FNM is still struggling to settle $1m in “legacy debt” left behind from the last general election in 2012 and the North Abaco bye-election, which followed four months later.

The convention is estimated to cost the party $350,000, FNM Chairman Sidney Collie confirmed yesterday.

While he did not speak directly to the party’s financial problems, he said both the leader and the Long Island MP were asked to raise $100,000. He said the finance committee is also responsible for raising $150,000 to cover the cost of the highly anticipated July 27 to 29 event.

So far, Mr Collie said Dr Minnis had submitted all of his convention contribution, while Mrs Butler-Turner turned in half of what was requested.

Regarding this, Mrs Butler-Turner explained that although she was in possession of the remainder of her convention funds and had been for sometime, she decided to delay surrendering the money as she felt excluded from some aspects of the convention planning. The former FNM

deputy leader added that she and her “Forward-Together” campaign had been waiting for transparency and clarity on some aspects of the event.

The finance committee, Mr Collie told The Tribune, has also raised and submitted $50,000 with $100,000 outstanding.

Asked whether he was confident that the FNM could meet its financial obligations, Mr Collie said he would not comment other than to say that an agreement was made and he was waiting for the commitment to be fulfilled.

Mrs Butler-Turner said: “Each of us has to pay $100,000 but it is the responsibility of the leader and the finance committee to raise money. The party has been in stagnation for the last two years in being able to meet its debts and raise funds.

“Given that the date was set and a place was selected but it couldn’t be confirmed. So when the Meliá (Nassau Beach Hotel) started to give pressure, an emergency meeting was called to see how we would raise the funds. It was agreed in my absence that both persons would have to raise and contribute $100,000.

“That defrays the convention cost, the voting delegates transportation and rooms.”

She continued: “I feel like I am a contender and having to raise this money is something that I have never experienced. Never in the history of this party has a contender had to raise money for the convention.

“That speaks to the bigger issue of whether we will be able to launch a successful election 2017 campaign.”

In June, The Tribune reported that

the party was struggling to find the hundreds of thousands of dollars required to host the convention. It came as debate was sparked over who was responsible for finding the funds.

Former FNM Cabinet minister Tennyson Wells was among those who sided with Dr Minnis, saying the people who fought for an early convention should find the funds to host it.

Others, like former Deputy Prime Minister Brent Symonette, said that the responsibility lies with the party’s leader.

The Tribune has been told by sources that the party’s payment of utility bills such as light and cable, as well as real property taxes and staff salaries has been inconsistent in recent years as the party struggles to raise money. Sources told this newspaper that the FNM’s big financial backers refrained from providing money because of discontent with Dr Minnis.

It is not unusual for opposition parties to have financial problems.

After the Progressive Liberal Party lost the 2007 election, it owed the Broadcasting Corporation of the Bahamas nearly a quarter of a million dollars.

In late 2011, the government-run broadcaster secured a Supreme Court judgment against the PLP, then leader of the opposition Perry Christie, and PLP Chairman Bradley Roberts for the payment of $247,974.16.

Earlier this month, former Deputy Prime Minister Brent Symonette said the party had got over the financial hurdle in relation to the convention, as supporters were amenable to donating money to the party.

‘BPL MANAGEMENT FAILED TO ANTICIPATE SUMMER DEMAND’ from page one

“The fact is (that the management is) anticipating relief by a certain date that they can give. And the relief would be where you add to the capacity as it exists now; the 40 megawatts that they say should be able to balance out the challenges that we have.”

Mr Christie was referring to temporary generators that the company has ordered to assist with power generation for the summer.

Former Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) Chairman Leslie Miller has

said that the former board of the corporation planned to provide steady electricity generation this summer by refurbishing the Clifton Pier plant, providing greater maintenance to the plant’s old generators.

Mr Miller has criticised Mr Christie’s Cabinet for not signing-off on the plan.

Mr Christie, however, seemed to suggest his plan wasn’t feasible in light of the transition the government was overseeing involving BPL. Mr Christie said: “It’s all well and good to say you are going to fix the machines you have and the machines

are going to work efficiently and so forth but it’s another expense in the transition of PowerSecure to BPL to new management to recruiting new management, all of that in transition this thing (would’ve had to take) place.”

Of the incoming generators, he said: “This is me saying now, that looking at what has happened, we could have ordered and should have ordered these things a few months before we did. The fact of the matter is they weren’t ordered.

They’re now in progress.

And (the management of BPL) are trying to get the

extra power here.”

Mr Christie said BPL has paid for the generators with help from the government.

“They’re funded by Bahamas Power & Light but again backed up by the Ministry of Finance,” he said. “We’ve always indicated that we’re prepared to assist in the transition going forward. There’s no question about that.”

Frequent power outages this summer have angered Bahamians, some of whom complain not only of having to deal with record heat without reliable electricity, but of having appliances destroyed as well because

of the unpredictable power outages.

Some business owners have also complained about the affect of power outages on their business.

Nonetheless, Mr Christie did not second-guess his government’s decision to hire PowerSecure to manage BPL. He said, for instance, that the company offers much in terms of the development of renewable energy services.

“We would be able to take advantage of their expertise in that regard,” he said. “And so both here and in the Family Islands we expect a tremendous move-

ment forward once everybody is settled and in place and we have power going on to be able to introduce new methods like solar and other methodologies.”

Mr Christie also said his government is not interfering with BPL, noting this was an important element of the agreement struck with PowerSecure.

His statement is unlikely to persuade critics, many of whom pointed to his Cabinet’s decision to deny BPL its request to raise rates to fund personnel and equipment upgrades as an example of potentially harmful government interference.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, July 19, 2016, PAGE 7

Miller supporting Minnis but sticking to his PLP roots

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net

TALL Pines MP Leslie Miller yesterday shot down speculation that he has been a vocal supporter of Free National Movement Leader Dr Hubert Minnis to gain favour in case he is spurned by the PLP and not given a nomination for the 2017 general election.

Mr Miller stressed that he has strong roots within the Progressive Liberal Party, but added that Dr Minnis is a close friend who has the “heart, mind and compassion” to lead The Bahamas.

He also said those who are trying to remove Dr Minnis as leader are “fake” and are trying to “mislead” voters.

Over the past few weeks, Mr Miller has been a staunch supporter of Dr Minnis and even attended the doctor’s campaign launch earlier this month.

During an earlier interview with The Tribune, Mr Miller dismissed Long Island MP Loretta ButlerTurner, who is Dr Minnis’ rival for leadership, saying

LESLIE Miller made a surprise appearance at the launch of the FNM leadership campaign of Dr Hubert Minnis, to loud cheers at the event.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff she represents the “elitist” demographic.

When contacted yesterday, he elaborated on why he supports Dr Minnis.

“They (Mrs Butler-Turner and her running mate Dr

Duane Sands) can’t hide the truth as hard as they try.

We can see that they are fake and attempting to mislead the voting public,” Mr Miller said.

“Dr Minnis is a close

personal friend of mine, we have similar views and mind. We both want the best for the small man because we came from the same areas that they came from. I know where his heart is; it is with the people. He is the best person to run the (Official) Opposition and despite what those other people are saying, they are not for the poor black and white Bahamians, they want to keep the poor man down.”

“Like myself, Dr Minnis was born in the heart of the inner-city, just like Sir Lynden (Pindling), (Perry) Christie and a string of other great men in this country.

When you come up in places like that you are raised with the heart to treat others right. You care for people who come from those types of environments and that is something they don’t have.”

Mr Miller said he would be more comfortable if the future of the Bahamas was in the hands of Dr Minnis, rather than the hands of Mrs Butler-Turner and Dr Sands.

“Look at their views,

their background and financial backers; elitist people attempting to stifle grassroots Bahamians, that is the only way to describe it.

The nature of these people is obvious despite the image they are trying to promote.

“You can’t fake the natural nature of your heart. Bahamians see the difference and they can tell when you are being fake. Don’t blame Leslie Miller for calling a spade a spade. They should blame they damn self, because we can see through their act.”

Mr Miller also dismissed the belief that his public backing of Dr Minnis is being done in an effort to gain favour in case he is snubbed by the PLP ahead of the next general election.

“Hell no, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

I was born a PLP in McCullough Corner and trust me there is no changing that. So you can just forget that. My point with Minnis is and has always been that he is a man of the people.

“Like I said before, (Dr) Minnis is my friend. Yes we have different political views but we are the best

of friends. (Hubert) Ingraham and (Perry) Christie are great friends, you can’t get in between the two if you tried; just like Sir Lynden (Pindling) and Sir Cecil (Wallace-Whitfield) were, they were the best of friends. Politics can differ between two people but the love doesn’t change.”

The leadership battle within the FNM has ramped up in recent weeks as the party’s convention date nears.

Dr Minnis launched his “Roc with Doc” campaign earlier this month. The campaign is built around economic empowerment for grassroots Bahamians and tax breaks for the Overthe-Hill community.

Meanwhile, Mrs Butler-Turner and Dr Sands launched a campaign billing themselves as the “best team” to refocus the country socially and economically.

Mr Miller contended that the duo’s bid to refocus the country will, in time, result in “doom” for poor Bahamians.

The FNM’s convention is slated for July 27-29.

SANDS: I’M NOT SUSPENDING DEUPTY LEADER CAMPAIGN

By SANCHESKA BROWN Tribune Staff Reporter sbrown@tribunemedia.net

SENATOR Dr Duane Sands yesterday said “desperate people do desperate things” as he denied rumours that he was suspending his campaign to become deputy leader of the Free National Movement.

Dr Sands told The Tribune he won’t engage in a “smear campaign with the other side” who find it necessary to spread misinformation “in order to win a

campaign” they can’t win by focusing on the issues.

His comments came in response to a rumour posted on Facebook that claimed he was suspending his campaign because he could not gain the support of FNM delegates.

While Dr Sands refused to say who he believed started the rumour, he said it “has to be someone who is clearly scared of what I have to say and offer.”

“It is nothing but a smear campaign. I have a big smile on my face because obvi-

ously desperation has set in and these people find it necessary to spread misinformation in order to win a campaign they can not win otherwise,” Dr Sands said.

“I will not be distracted.

I will stay focused and talk to the delegates. So far Mrs Butler-Turner and I are quite pleased with the response we are getting from the delegates. I suspect as we get closer and closer to the convention more and more of this type of gutter politics will come up but I won’t engage in it. I hope

the Bahamian people realise that this is just a ploy and know we will stay focused.”

Last month, Long Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner and Dr Sands announced their intention to run as a team in a leadership race against Killarney MP Dr Hubert Minnis and East Grand Bahama MP Peter Turnquest at the FNM’s convention at the end this month.

The pair ran for the same positions in 2014 and lost to the current leadership duo, though they did not run as a

team on that occasion.

This time around, Dr Sands said it “feels different” and he is “more confident” going into this convention than he was two years ago.

“I think we have a really good chance,” Dr Sands said.

“Something feels different, it is a different mood.

We are focusing on the almost 410 delegates. While we understand the importance of letting everyone know what our plans are, we have to get the delegates

to understand why we are the best team. We are focused on getting the FNM together and then getting our country together.”

Mrs Butler-Turner and Dr Sands are hosting a meet and greet Tuesday night at S C McPherson Jr High at 6.30pm.

At that time he said the pair will unveil their “plans to ignite, unify, restore and defeat” the Progressive Liberal Party in 2017 general election.

The FNM’s convention is scheduled for July 27-29.

PAGE 8, Tuesday, July 19, 2016

THE TRIBUNE

The blah blah blah of the so-called tit for tat T

HE United States embassy’s security message/travel advisory issued last week caused quite the uproar … and lots of banal dialogue … almost as boring as the advisory itself.

Why was it such a big deal? It’s so routine I want to yawn. In fact, I had to keep re-reading it because my thoughts drifted about 14 times while I tried to absorb it. Dull, dull, dull.

Albeit accurate and sensible.

By NICOLE BURROWS

I’m convinced Bahamians just like “‘picking fight”. Us, the little ant on America’s pinky toe. One flick and squash and we finish. What wrong wit’ y’all?

I’m not suggesting you have to butt-kiss, or always be in agreement, but why are we running out here, for no reason at all? This warning/

advisory/message is not a point of contention. It really shouldn’t be.

Nonetheless, Bahamians want to call the statement by the US embassy petty and retaliatory. I don’t know … is that something you really want to call out boldly in public? Posting it publicly on Facebook and

Funeral Service For Eugene Benjamin Butler, 66

a resident of Boston, Mass. & formerly of Nassau, Bahamas will be held at Bahamas Christian Fellowship Center, Carmichael Road, on Thursday, 21st July, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. Officiating will be Apostle David Butler & Apostle Paul Butler, assisted by Rev. Dr. Ivan Butler, Jr., Rev. Timothy Stewart, Rev. Patrick Levarity, Rev. Edward Mortimer & Rev. Ivan Butler, Sr. Interment follows in Southern Cemetery, Cowpen & Spikenard Roads.

Left to cherish his fond memories his Children: Staff Sargent Omar Butler (South Korea), Rose Butler (Detroit, Michigan), Melissa Butler, Sheena Butler (Boston, Massachusetts), Benjanique Butler (Miami, Florida), Benique Butler (Miami, Florida); Grandchildren: Omarah Butler, Alyssa Darville, Pizzario Brennen; Brothers: Abraham Butler, Apostle Paul J. Butler, Apostle David S. Butler, Nathaniel and Michael Butler; Sisters: Louise Butler-Simmons, Mary Elizabeth Butler-McMinns; Nephews: Revaugh Simmons, Abraham Renaldo Butler (Richmond Virginia), Paul Butler Jr., Nathaniel Butler Jr., Kirk, Michael Butler Jr., Eugene and Matthew McMinns; Nieces: Dr. Jennifer Butler (Chicago, Illinois), Monique Butler, Michelle Butler, DeNisha Butler, DeNia Butler, and Keziah Butler; Sisters-in-law: Edith, Maxine, Rose, Jennifer Elaine, Katie Butler; Brothers-in-law: Tyronne McMinns, Harry Simmons; Uncles: Rev. Ivan Butler Sr., Arlington Miller and Willis Michael Levarity (Green Turtle Cay, Abaco); Aunts: Iris Miller, Adelaide Pinder, Erma Levarity Iteah Ritchie, Ruby Davis, Carnetta Rahming, Jocelyn Hanna and Minerva Benson (San Salvador, Bahamas) and Susan Rita Levarity (Green Turtle Cay, Abaco), Victoria Levarity (Grand Bahama); Other Relatives: Rose Smith Butler, Patricia Minus-Swaby; Friends: Constance Simmons, Sandra Redley, Maureen Lesbott, Rev. Dr. Ivan Butler Jr., Wrensworth Butler, Johnathan Butler, Chief Superintendent Samuel Butler, Nathan Butler, Rev. Emmanuel Butler, Earl Miller, Paul Butler (Detroit, Michigan), Steve Butler, Janet Ward, Williard Ward, Frank Ward, Anthony Boone, Apostle Clement Neely, Maxwell Bain, Arthur Levarity, Rudy Levarity, Tanya Levarity-Pratt, Malcolm Levarity, Rev. Patrick Levarity, Ademain Pinder, Alexian Pinder, Lester Levarity, Bernardo Levarity, Kirk Pedican, Willis, Dennis, Rontonio Levarity, Andre’ & Marie Lyvonne Thorpe (Detroit, Michigan) Christine Neely, Theresa White, Joan Smith, Ingrid Levarity, Virginia Rolle, Tanya Mackey, Una Delancy, Levinna Rolle,Alelia Adderley, Karen Green, Breanne Levarity, Cindy Levarity, LaTrese Torres, Robert and Cynthia Lightfoot, Selvina King, Edna Levarity, Myrtle Levarity, Wendell King, Donna Williams, Ralph Butler Jr., Princess Butler, Pastor Mavis Major, Deacon Harrison Butler, Stanmitz Butler, Marjorie McKinney, Attorney Jacinda Butler, Dr. Vidalia Butler, Dr. Sharmaine Butler, Attorney Truman Butler, Julie Curtis, Lanna Fernander, Winifred Thompson, Anthony Mckinney, Jan Davis, Andrew Mckinney, Terrance Major, Cordell Major, Ricardo Major, Shavonne Major, Garfield Butler, Attorney Sonia Serette, Cheryl Brown, Edward, Timothy, Pamrica Rodgers, Carriemae Hunt, Alvera Storr, Winifred Campbell, Superintendent Hendrick Nairn, Dilith Nairn, The Scott Family, Mr. Charles Sawyer, Rosemary Gibson, Elsa, Merrill, Kendall Levarity, Mark Levarity, Hiliary Deveaux, Attorney Rawson McDonald, Michael Adderley, Consul General to Washington D.C. Paulette Zonicle, Anthony “T.J” Johnson, Trevor Adderley, Charles Sturrup, Carlton Martin, Theresa Woodside-Spence, Jackie Knowles, Hon. Leslie Miller, M.P., Rev. Dr. Reuben Cooper Jr., Van Diah, Michael Cooper, Dr. Ronald Knowles, Hon. Perry Gomez, M.P., Dr. Franklyn Walkine, Daisy Almgreen, Jeff Williams, Calvin Knowles, Anthony Archer, Mark Clarke, Butch Burrows, Sen. The Hon. Greg Burrows, Charles Johnson, Roland & Emily Cox, Burke Williams, John “Moon” Archer, Gaye Knowles, Doris Barry, Bernal Bullard, Keith Cartwright, Sir Arthur Foulkes, Hon. Dr. Bernard Nottage, M.P., Clifton Colebrooke, Coors Light Softball Team, Black Skins Football Team, Ambassador Track Club, Lorenzo Lockhart, Samantha Sawyer, Rose Almgreen-Deal, The Church family of St. Peters Baptist Evangelistic Church, The Church family of World Outreach Christian Center Ministries, The Church family of Bahamas Christian Fellowship Center, The Church family of Kemp Road Ministries and others too numerous to mention.

Friends may pay their last respects at Demeritte’s Funeral Home, Market Street, from 12-5:00 p.m. on Wednesday & on Thursday at the church from 10:00 a.m. until service time.

other rant-and-rave e-loca- people whose main goal in tions? life seems to be to go shopBecause the fact is this: if ping in the States; 3) they the United States is indeed have bigger fish to fry in as petty as you suggest, it other places. can, at the very least, take I wonder if anyone on issue with your commen- the ground in The Bahatary, or, at most, revoke, sus- mas, in our government, pend, notate or deny you a in the Ministry of Foreign US visa, or, really, anything Affairs, can see coming a else that has anything to do day when a police record with you having something is no longer sufficient for to do with, in, or near their Bahamians to use for travcountry. And they can/will el to America from The do it blatantly or surrepti- Bahamas … and a visa tiously, whatever suits their for that same travel will purpose or agenda should be that much harder to they have one. obtain. Alas, we are not a We sound off on Face- forward-thinking people. book or in other social meWe get stuck in the way dia, very publicly (although things are and the way we nothing is private there any- want things to be, and then way), without thought of re- get completely caught off percussions guard when we assume ‘I wonder if anyone those things couldn’t pos- on the ground in change.

I sibly occur the Bahamas can see suppose it’s or impact human nacoming a day when ture to get upon us.

The Unit- a police record is no stuck and ed States is stall when longer sufficient for life changes the biggest proponent of Bahamians to use unexpectfree speech for travel to America edly, but in in the world, the tumult but being from the Bahamas of current able to ex- … and a visa for that world politipress your- same travel will be cal and soself freely, cial affairs, or undertak- that much harder to I’m not so ing to do so, obtain.’ sure it’s the doesn’t mean best way for there are no associated a whole country to be. costs.

We need to re-work our And no, it doesn’t mean thinking on this and on you have to go silent or stay the ease at which we glide silent on issues that matter through life in The Bahato you or things you stand mas, reliant on things like proudly by, but don’t shoot tourist dollars and US preoff your mouth and then be clearance, with little to no surprised or offended by the preparation for what may fallout ... direct or indirect, follow after now. immediate or eventual.

People who took issue The mere notion that with the US message/adAmerica could be interest- visory also harped on how ed in playing a diplomatic lengthy it was and how trivversion of ‘tit for tat’ with ial the content appeared.

The Bahamas is ludicrous, But could it not be just as when 1) they need not play plausible that, perhaps, the anything, just enforce, to embassy implemented a flex their muscles; 2) they new format, or maybe hired know they do and always a new person for the job of will have the upper hand, preparing and delivering especially over a country of such messages?

The only thing I found - and still find - odd about the message is that it didn’t seem to be prepared in the US embassy’s usual, exceptional manner or voice. Some things in it were somewhat repetitive, in a ‘this wasn’t properly edited’ kind of way. There was structural deficiency within … like the use of adverbs at the end of a sentence, somewhat loose and lazy in an official communique. But, other than that, as far as content goes, it sounded like a warning you might get in any large city in the world. It was all common sense.

The bigger message embodied by the advisory that Bahamians need to digest is that this is finally, clearly, where we are at in Nassau, in 2016, in our little town, where not long ago on any given day all you could be annoyed by was the sound of birds chirping and calling. Our largest and friendliest ally has reinforced this point. Is that really why there is uproar? Who thought Nassau would be like this today?

As far as I am concerned, the whole notice, in its lengthy entirety, is valid.

If you don’t like it, or take great issue with it, it’s because you’re looking for issues to take.

Really, the only thing wrong with the US travel advisory/security warning is the use of the phrase ‘ATM machines’.

Because, if, since the time ATMs were made available for public use, people still don’t know ATM stands for Automated Teller Machine, and you have to tack on ‘machine’ on the end for clarification, then maybe we’re all worse off than I realised.

But this might be petty, too, I don’t know.

Send email to nburrows@ tribunemedia.net

Patience running out on power failures THAT WE still have this very ridiculously significant problem with adequate power supply is sheer madness.

Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) will drop tools and exit before long, when they see how business is really done in The Bahamas.

And we will be right back to square one with our power supply problems.

CEO Pamela Hill can’t say what it costs BPL/BEC to rent the generators because of concerns about competitive negotiations.

She can’t say what it costs to maintain existing equipment, and why that would be a secret who could really say?

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Works Philip Davis says to the Bahamian people: “Be patient. We’ll have an answer soon.”

What comfort. And, at the same time, what big tes-

tes. This, as the Bahamian people are calling for blood.

This, as he is marched to and fro by hungry reporters whose heads he and the other politicians have a grand time toying with.

These so-called leaders love being flanked and chased after for three or four words. The cat-andmouse relationship is one they thoroughly enjoy. They love the power of being the one to decide what, where, when, who, if, how … and the reporters only ever get what these well-dressed men want to give when it comes to any comments.

They think this is fun, to be sought after, and to throw crumbs out every so often to keep the eager young news gatherers sniffing and searching for the nothing they will continue to receive. And much, if not most, of this is still due to the fact that, even in news reporting, the players are

too familiar, too friendly.

You have to be friendly enough to get the quotes you need for your story. Because that’s how you have to work it in The Bahamas.

Anywhere else with a responsible group of leaders would understand their responsibilities to the people they lead, but not these parliamentary pretenders. It’s all too cozy. It’s always been too cozy. That’s the way we’ll stay. The news media’s hands will forever be tied by the way Bahamians practice politics. Reporters in The Bahamas can never realise their true potential as bona fide journalists, and they can never be truly investigative because the people they report on want to see friendly smiles before they talk, not serious faces expecting serious comments about serious situations.

Send email to nburrows@ tribunemedia.net.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, July 19, 2016, PAGE 9

Convict: Woman only hid me because I forced her

By LAMECH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

MURDER convict Ormand Leon told a magistrate yesterday how the woman accused of harbouring him during his two weeks on the run had only been found with him because he had allegedly forced her into a car.

Leon, who is currently serving 41 years in prison for murder, pleaded guilty to an escape charge while his former love interest Sharlene Stubbs pleaded not guilty to the charge of harbouring a criminal during their arraignment in February.

Stubbs maintains that she in no way attempted to aid Leon in evading police after he escaped police custody on February 2, for which he was subsequently sentenced to 24 months imprisonment.

In yesterday’s continuation of Stubbs’ trial, the accused called on Leon as a defence witness after earlier testimony that she had long severed ties with Leon.

Leon, who gave testimony by video link from the remand centre at the Department of Correctional Services, was asked

by Stubbs’ lawyer Bernard Ferguson if he knew his client. Leon said he did.

“I know her from around the area and we talked on a level,” Leon added.

Mr Ferguson then asked: “Did you see Ms Sharlene Stubbs during the two weeks that you evaded police after your escape from custody?”

The witness said yes and said this was on February 16.

When asked where he saw the accused, Leon said: “I see her on East Street when I was riding. That was around 8.30 (pm).”

When asked what he did next, Leon told the court: “I saw her walking and I ride up a little ahead of her and let my (boy) call her so she could come close to the car.

I tell her, ‘Let’s go, jump in the car.’”

Mr Ferguson asked: “What did she say?”

“She tell me she ain’t coming in the car but I repeated myself and tell her come in the (expletive) car,” the witness said.

“Once she saw I was serious she came in the car.

When she came in the car, I drove off. She asked me where I was carrying her and I told her ‘Relax, you going with me you straight,’” Leon said.

When asked by Mr Ferguson where he took her, Leon said: “I take her with me (to) where I was, to my spot on Fire Trail Road.

When I get there, I let my boy drive straight in the back and let me and her out the car,” the witness said.

Leon added that he instructed his friend to lock the gate on his way out.

When asked by the lawyer how long they were alone for, Leon said about 90 minutes or so.

“Did you see her before your escape and calling her into the car?” the lawyer asked.

“No, I didn’t see her or hear from her,” Leon said.

“During the time she was with you, did you allow her to leave?” Mr Ferguson asked.

Leon said no and when asked why, he explained that he was trying to get answers from Stubbs.

He said police came to the property not long afterwards and they were arrested. He said Stubbs had no role in his escape or evasion of the law.

When cross-examined by police prosecutor ASP Clifford Daxon, Leon was asked what had he done to compel Stubbs to stay with him during those 90 minutes.

“I threatened her to stay with me until I was ready to go. I told her ‘I want to reason with you and then I’ll let you go,’” the convict said.

“What do you mean by reason?” the prosecutor asked.

“I wanted to talk to her about the situation and how she dissed me when I was in jail, how she abandoned me...all of that I wanted to talk to her about,” the witness said.

The convict claimed that Stubbs only visited him on

three occasions after his initial incarceration when she told him that she was no longer interested in a relationship.

“Did you tie her up and make her stay?” the prosecutor asked.

Leon said no but claimed he was in possession of a handgun that he did not hesitate to show her when talking with her.

Leon also claimed that he asked her about the visible bite marks on her neck and expressed displeasure at her response.

He allegedly commanded her to cornrow his hair so that he could further avoid police detection.

“Did police find a gun when they came?” the prosecutor asked. The convict said no.

“I put it to you that you did not have a gun,” ASP Daxon said “Well I telling you I had a gun,” the witness said.

“If you did, police would have found it when they searched you and searched the home,” the prosecutor added.

“No, sir, that ain’t true,” Leon said.

The prosecutor suggested to the convict that he was trying to protect Stubbs from incarceration by giving false testimony.

“I telling the truth, just how it went down, sir,” Leon contended.

The case continues before Deputy Chief Magistrate Constance Delancy.

ORMAND Leon outside court during a previous appearance.

WORKER ACCUSED OF STEALING $63,000 FROM WATER CORP from page one

on January 21 and separate February 1 deposits of $9,199.51 and $19,250.53.

It is further claimed that three days later, on February 4, she stole $9,529.41 in deposits and another $9,024.64 on February 8.

The public corporation

had reportedly discovered that daily deposits that were marked for the bank were arriving later than expected.

After an internal audit

investigation, WSC found that five deposits were unaccounted for. The corporation’s contracted armoured car company and the bank verified that they had not

received the five disputed deposits.

Lewis will stand trial on September 7 and has retained Khrisner Higgins to represent her.

She was remanded to the Department of Correctional Services without bail, but was advised of her right to apply for a bond to the Supreme Court.

PAGE 10, Tuesday, July 19, 2016

THE TRIBUNE

MAN JAILED FOR 24 YEARS FOR STRANGLING GIRLFRIEND

By LAMECH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

to Strachan, he said: “Not guilty to murder, but guilty to manslaughter.”

Around 7am on the day in question, Rolle was found unresponsive inside her Nassau Village home and was pronounced dead upon the arrival of EMS personnel who were called to the scene. Initial reports suggested she was strangled.

Police detectives received information from a neighbour of Rolle who said that she had recently moved into the apartment no more than two weeks prior to her death and on a number of occasions, the accused had been seen assisting her in moving furniture to the apartment.

On the night of April 16, the neighbour saw Strachan enter the apartment on two occasions but never saw him leave.

He heard a thud sound sometime after midnight but heard nothing else until after 8am when he awoke and saw police officers at his neighbour’s residence and learned that she had

A MAN yesterday accepted a plea agreement that landed him in prison for 24 years for strangling his girlfriend after she struggled against his sexual advances.

William Gregory Strachan, 47, of Nassau Village, initially appeared before Justice Bernard Turner to stand trial in connection with the April 17, 2015 death of 55-year-old Doretta Rolle.

Strachan would have faced between 30 years and life imprisonment if convicted of murder at trial.

However, Strachan and his lawyer, Christina Galanos, made a plea deal with prosecutor Desiree Ferguson ahead of the start of trial, negating the need for the jury that was dismissed from court prior to the re-reading of the charge against the accused.

When the murder charge and particulars were read

been murdered.

Strachan’s employer also assisted police with their investigation, Justice Turner was told.

He told police that sometime after 7am, Strachan came to his house and told him that something happened at his girlfriend’s residence.

Strachan claimed he was unable to wake her and believed she was dead.

The employer called the police and told Strachan to return and let the police know what had happened.

An autopsy was performed by Dr Caryn Sands on April 17, 2015 who discovered the cause of death to be the result of blunt force trauma to the head and neck as well as asphyxiation from strangulation.

Strachan, meanwhile, gave two statements to police.

In his first record of interview, he indicated that Rolle was his girlfriend with whom he had a frequent sexual relationship, claiming that she usually al-

lowed him to come into the house and had sex with her on a number of occasions.

Following the autopsy report and further inquiries, another record of interview was recorded from Strachan.

He stated that on the day in question, he went to Rolle’s home and made sexual advances towards her. She refused and put up a struggle.

She picked up an iron and in defending himself, he held her by both hands and she fell to the ground, falling on the iron causing the injuries to her neck. He held onto her throat and choked her for about 15-20 minutes until she stopped breathing.

He tried to see if he could have revived her by slapping her in the face and shaking her shoulders but got no response.

He said he called out for help but no one was around to assist him. He waited until the sun came up and went to his employer Leslie Ingraham’s residence and informed him of the same.

Strachan’s lawyer said

her client is “extremely remorseful for his actions.”

“The scenario haunts him day and night. M’lord, it is submitted that that in itself is a form of punishment.”

Ms Galanos stressed that her client did not waste the court’s time and pleaded guilty before the start of trial.

“As the court is aware, there is a plea agreement in place between the Crown and defence whereby it is agreed that Mr Strachan would plead guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter and the sentence of 24 years imprisonment would be recommended.

We would also ask that the court take into consideration Mr Strachan’s 15 months on remand. We are aware that any agreement made between the Crown and the defence in these circumstances is subject to the court’s approval.

“We humbly ask the court to acknowledge and honour the agreement,” Ms Galanos concluded.

Though the prosecutor

offered no further submissions, Justice Turner told Strachan that his actions “have resulted in the death of a human being whom according to the indication in the evidence was a person whom you had a relationship.”

“The court is mindful of your counsel’s indication that that death haunts you (and) that is undoubtedly a part of the sentence that you have inflicted upon yourself by your actions,” the judge added.

Justice Turner said he would honour the agreement of a 24-year sentence that would be further reduced by 15 months spent in custody.

“The period of imprisonment will provide you an ample opportunity to consider your actions so that when you are eventually released you do not find yourself in such a situation again. You’re no longer a young man compared to those persons with whom you’ll be housed,” the judge concluded.

DOCTOR ADMITS TO SEX AND DRUGS BUT DENIES RAPE from page one

ter, and had also gone out together drinking at bars.

According to Forbes, he met the woman on January 24, 2015 after a close friend referred her to him for employment at his Carico Medical Clinic in Freeport.

She was an unemployed mother of a seven-monthold child at the time.

abortion procedure at his clinic in the Pioneers Professional Plaza.

Dr Forbes denies the charges. During his testimony, he claimed that he and the virtual complainant had sex on several occasions after their first sexual encoun-

He instructed her to bring a resumé and any family members who lived with her to the clinic so he could go over a confidentiality clause and explain the importance of patient confidentiality. The virtual complainant brought her boyfriend whom she was living with at the time.

Dr Forbes said she was excited about coming to work at the clinic. However, he claimed that she was depressed over her lack of money, and sad that her boyfriend was unemployed.

“My heart went out to her because we were very close and we spent the first two weeks during her employment getting to know each other.

We went drinking at bars in the daytime because business was slow,” he told the court.

Dr Forbes said he would buy the complainant lunch and would sometimes take her to pick up her son in his car.

“Would you spend time together outside of work hours?” asked his attorney Osman Johnson.

Dr Forbes replied that they did. On February 3,

he claimed that he and the complainant went to Coral Road Bar where they had drinks. After leaving the bar, they got some marijuana and went back to his apartment and smoked it.

“She taught me a new trick with the Coke can; We did not have anything to wrap (the marijuana) in so she folded the Coke can and put the marijuana in the middle and inhaled it through the can so you could get high,” he explained.

Dr Forbes said he had three Guinness drinks and she had four or five Steel Reserves. They went into his bedroom and as they were laying in his bed smoking, he asked the complainant if she was still breastfeeding to which she replied “yes.”

“I asked her if I could see her breast which was producing the milk… we took her bra off and we kissed, fondled each other, and we had consensual sex,” he claimed.

Mr Johnson asked, “Did she say no or stop at anytime?

“No,” replied Dr Forbes.

On the night of February 13, he said the virtual complain-

ant invited him to a bar where she was working as a waitress and bought him two Guinness drinks. He said sometime around 2am when he was getting ready to leave, the complainant told him she needed a ride home, but he told her he could not hang around until 4am when she got off.

The following morning he said the virtual complainant did not show up for work and called to say that she was tired and could not make it.

Dr Forbes said on February 19 he had to go to Nassau because his sister had died, and prior to leaving he saw the woman. He said he knew she was pregnant because of his 20 years of experience as a medical doctor.

“I looked in her eyes and told her she was pregnant,” he told the court. He estimated that he probably had 10 sexual encounters with her between February 3 and 19 when he went to Nassau.

Dr Forbes claimed that he remained in Nassau for two weeks because he also had a medical clinic at Carmichael Road. He claimed that they were involved in a discrete

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relationship and she would call him three or four times a day on WhatsApp. He claimed that the complainant told him she had a lot of responsibilities taking care of her son and wanted to terminate her pregnancy.

“I told her it would be a cold day in hell that I will kill an unborn child,” he said. “She takes it upon herself and inserted tablets in her own vagina to terminate the pregnancy. She calls me on February 28 and says she is not keeping this child. I told her on the phone that she’s fired.”

He claimed that when he returned to Freeport on March 2, Ms Matthews, another employee at his clinic, picked him up from the airport. They went to the clinic and unlocked the bars on the doors, but the clinic was not open for business and he did not see any patients that day.

He claims that he could not have raped the complainant at his clinic because it was not open on the day in question.

The doctor also claimed that he saw the complainant on several other occasions between March 2 (the day of the alleged rape) and March 16 when he was arrested at his clinic.

Dr Forbes said he was in the middle of seeing a patient when the complainant inquired about $100 owed to her. He told her he owed her nothing.

He said he later sent an officer to drop the money off to her at home, but she was not there. An hour later, he said plain-clothed officers came to his clinic and picked him up. He was taken to Central Police Station and arrested for rape.

During a police interview, Dr Forbes said he was instructed by his attorney Cassietta McIntosh to tell the police that he had nothing to say when questioned.

Dr Forbes said that the package of Methotrexate the police showed him during the interview is used for the treatment of cancer and also used in abortions. He said he never administered the medicine, but had written a prescription for Methotrexate.

Dr Forbes got very emotional on the stand and said that he was unable to save the baby because he was locked up for three months and the judge called a 15-minute break.

“Why did you take an interest in the virtual complainant’s pregnancy?” asked Mr Johnson.

“We had a sexual encounter on February 3, I was aware of the pregnancy and there was a possibility the child could be mine,” he said.

He said that the prescription he had given the virtual complainant in his office was progesterone, which is used to preserve pregnancy.

Dr Forbes said he provided two alibis to the police of persons whom he was with on March 2, the date in question.

The trial resumes on Tuesday. Justice Estelle Gray Evans is presiding over the matter. Erica Kemp of the Attorney General’s Office is the prosecutor.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, July 19, 2016, PAGE 11

WORK TO BEGIN ‘SOON’ ON $21M BASEBALL STADIUM

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WORK will start “as soon as possible” on the new $21m, 4,500-seat Andre Rodgers Baseball Stadium, which will be erected east of the Government High School in the Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Works Philip ‘Brave’ Davis, made the announcement yesterday at the site of the new stadium, almost three years after the groundbreaking took place.

Among those at the announcement were Prime Minister Perry Christie, Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, Dr Daniel Johnson and executives from the local baseball fraternity, including Senator Greg Burrows and Bahamas Baseball Federation president Theodore ‘Teddy’

THE ARTIST’s impression of the new stadium, by Arconcepts.

Sweeting.

Mr Davis said that the original Andre Rodgers National Stadium, built in honour of The Bahamas’ greatest baseball icon in 1966 adjacent to the original Thomas A Robinson Track and Field Stadium, was demolished in 2006 to facilitate construction of the new TAR National Stadium.

A month after the

groundbreaking ceremony in November, 2014, the Government agreed to start preparation of the site for the stadium under the supervision of the Ministry of Works and Urban Development, Mr Davis said. The architectural firm Arconcepts Ltd was appointed as the project design team to complete the full construction drawings.

In 2015, Arconcepts pro-

vided the full architectural and project management services for the National Baseball Stadium and Dant Clayton, of Louisville, Kentucky, was engaged to provide the design services for and to fabricate the grandstand at a cost of $3,963,000.

This year, tenders were submitted from four businesses to the Ministry of Finance on February 23 to

erect the grandstand, the site works and infrastructure, landscape and furnishings, construction of the baseball field, installation of the scoreboard and required equipment as well as the stadium lighting.

Woslee Construction, whose bid was the lowest at $24,956.004, agreed to a project cost reduction of 10 to 15 per cent (about $3.3m) to reach a final figure of $21,351,507 after the evaluations were made by J D Chisholm & Associates with the assistance from the Ministry of Works.

Woslee won the bid over Forbes Construction ($34,077,621); Scorpio/ Inline Construction J/V ($29,980,689) and Consolidated Construction Management/Cavalier Construction J/V ($26,017,915).

Additionally, Mr Davis revealed that provisional sums totalling $4m were approved for statutory utility

connections, baseball accessories and installations, digital/video scoreboard and installation, supply and construction of synthetic field, stadium lighting, stadium ‘Smart Technology’ design, PA system, AV system and security/surveillance system install.

When completed the new Andre Rodgers Baseball Stadium will have a seating capacity of 4,500, two auxiliary practice fields to the east of the stadium, locker rooms, meeting rooms, physical/therapy/training rooms; vendor spaces, eight luxury boxes, state of the art audio/visual scoreboard, parking and offices for the sport’s partner, the Bahamas Baseball Federation.

Andre Rodgers was the first Bahamian to play in the major leagues.

See Sports for more on this story

URGENT CALL FOR BLOOD DONATIONS

By AARON MILLER

AN URGENT need for blood donations in the Bahamas will be addressed by the first ‘Unity Blood Drive’ at the Mall at Marathon on Saturday, a group of organisations announced yesterday in an appeal to donors.

The Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) Blood Bank, Doctors Hospital Blood Bank, Bahamas Red Cross Society, One Blood and the Friends of the Blood Bank have partnered to plan and coordinate the drive, which aims to collect at least 300 units of blood for the dwindling supplies at both hospitals.

Blood donation at the PMH remains critical as the registered requests for blood outweighs the number of donations. Last year,

3,954 donations were accepted by the PMH Blood Bank against a request for 12,487.

Basil Christie, the founder of Friends of the Blood Bank, a non-profit organisation, said the summer is traditionally a season when the donation of blood is very low and the time that it is needed the most. “There are people dying every week because they need blood,” he said.

“We get all kinds of excuses from people saying that they are anaemic and that they have low iron but they are all temporary problems.”

Mr Christie said that everyone is capable of giving a pint of blood and is encouraging people who think they are not in the correct health to still show up and let Unity Blood Drive officials determine if they are

AT the Blood Drive press conference were, from left, Evan Miller (supervisor), Zonya Bain (supervisor of blood drive), Mario Williams (tranfusion medicine), Mark Palmer (friend of blood bank), Basil Christie (friend of blood bank).

Photo: Tim Clarke/Tribune Staff capable of donating.

“Persons from the ages of 16 and above are asked to donate,” he said, spelling out some of the rules about donation. “Individuals that are under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult. People must eat a heavy meal at least 30

minutes before donating.

People with any piercings or tattoos that are at least one year old are eligible to donate as well.”

Mr Christie and representatives of the other organisations, including Zonja Bain, of Doctors Hospital Laboratory Ad-

ministration, appealed to the public to donate blood, emphasising that the need is “desperate” and that patients require blood, every day and every hour of the day. Mr Christie, a blood donor since 1967, said he hopes at least 300 pints of blood will be donated and

his organisation’s aim is for every eligible Bahamian to become a frequent volunteer donor.

Saturday’s ‘Unity Blood Drive’ will take place from 10am to 6pm at the Mall at Marathon.

• See Letters, page 4

PAGE 12, Tuesday, July 19, 2016

THE LADIES’ Friendship Club of Long Island has received support from the Sandals Foundation.

Helping hurricane victims EIGHT months after the devastating Hurricane Joaquin, Long Island’s community centres are being restored to full working order thanks to the support of the Sandals Foundation.

The Foundation initiated a campaign across all its properties, which received great response from team members and guests, to assist with the island’s recovery. The initial response focused on getting much needed items such as water, non-perishable food and school supplies after the category four storm struck the southern islands of the Bahamas in October, resulting in severe damage and leaving hundreds of people homeless and without basic supplies.

The Foundation committed to three major projects in Long Island - the rebuilding of the Senior Citizens’ Home, repairs to the Long Island branch of the Cancer Society and to

furnish and equip the Resource Centre that serves the entire island.

On June 30, the Foundation made two official handovers, to the Senior Citizens Centre and the Cancer Society, after donations of over $40,000.

The Senior Citizens Centre and Home for the Elderly had been destroyed by the hurricane following an expansion three months earlier. The Sandals Foundation lobbied and raised funds to complete repairs and purchase all the furniture and appliances needed to get the Centre re-opened. The Recreation Centre’s normal function is to cater to all seniors free of charge five days a week and has been in operation since 2008 through sponsorship

by The Ladies’ Friendship Club of Long Island assisted by the Department of Social Services.

Olivia Turnquest, President of the Ladies’ Friend-

ship Club of Long Island, expressed the club’s gratitude to the Foundation.

“On viewing the damage to the Seniors’ Centre and Home for The Elderly after the hurricane, we were devastated,” she said. “The Home for The Elderly, which was just completed and ready for occupancy, was severely damaged and our funds were depleted.

We knew it was going to be very difficult as we depend on donations and fundraising for our projects. How could we recover? Then came hope from a most unexpected source, Sandals Foundation. We saw light at the end of a dark tunnel.

We, the Ladies’ Friendship Club of Long Island, will be forever grateful for your generous donation.”

Based on the understanding of the value and services provided by the Long Island branch of the Cancer Society, the Foundation responded with urgency. The

property was badly damaged and required funding of over $10,000 to cover roof repairs and replacement, damaged interior walls and windows as well as being painted.

The Foundation bought equipment including computers, monitors, laptops, printers and scanners valued at over $6,100 to equip the Resource Centre that the Ministry of Education had undertaken to repair.

Through the collaborated efforts of the Ministry and the Foundation, the Resource Centre can now be restored to normal operation with upgraded facilities. The Centre is utilised as a Service, Library and Research Centre for educators and offers community members services such as laminating, copying, reproduction of GLAT, BJC and BGCSE exam papers and production of programmes for district events.

THE TRIBUNE