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VOLUME:117 No.162, JULY 20, 2020

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INSIGHT: A HARSH QUESTION ON BLACK LIVES MATTER PAGES

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As returning Bahamians spark COVID surge, Minnis wields the stick

TAKE YOUR MEDICINE

• US travel shut down • G Bahama closed & new curfew imposed • Clear test mandatory • Cruise lines/Atlantis deliver new body blow

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net GIVEN the recent surge of COVID-19 cases in the country, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis yesterday banned all

commercial flights and vessels from entering the country beginning on Wednesday with the exception of those coming from Canada, the United Kingdom and the European Union.

Dr Minnis also announced

the closure of all beaches in New Providence, Paradise Island, Rose Island, Athol Island and its surrounding cays, which will take effect today at 5am. He also ordered SEE PAGE THREE

AND IF FIGURES DON’T FALL, MORE TO COME ROBBERY SUSPECT SHOT BY POLICE LAND AHOY!

By TRIBUNE REPORTER

AN armed robbery suspect is in hospital after he was shot by police on Saturday.

The incident occurred shortly after midnight, when officers were on routine patrol on Collins Avenue and Sixth Terrace. The officers were stopped by a man who told them he had been robbed at gunpoint by a group of four to five males

who ran towards East Avenue. The officers went to the area and observed a group of men gathered in the street.

Upon seeing the police, the suspects ran and the officers pursued them.

“One of the officers observed when one of the suspects brandished an object which was believed to be a firearm,” the RBPF said in a statement. “Having an awareness of the imminent threat towards his life,

the officer discharged his weapon in the direction of the assailants injuring one of the males as the others escaped. The injured suspect was transported to hospital where he is listed in stable condition.”

The incident took place about a month after police shot and killed three men on Cowpen Road, after an officer was “ambushed” by a gunman.

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

SEE PAGE SEVEN

OOPS - NOT AGAIN, SIR

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net THE Royal Bahamas Defence Force has launched a Board of Inquiry to assess the circumstances surrounding the recent groundings of two of SEE PAGE SEVEN

PAGE 2, Monday, July 20, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

CORONAVIRUS CRISIS

Another 15 cases makes it the worst day so far

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net COVID-19 cases have surged to 153, with 15 additional cases reported yesterday alone, the country’s largest single day tally since the pandemic began.

Nine new cases were reported on Saturday while five additional cases were reported on Friday. Director of the National HIV/ AIDS and Infectious Disease Programme Dr Nikkiah Forbes said yesterday while “it’s hard to know at the outset” if the cases in New Providence are linked to community spread, “it’s not the predominant mode of thread at the time.”

As it relates to Grand Bahama, Dr Forbes said she does not believe that the spike of cases on the island are largely a result of community spread as many were linked to travel, suggesting cluster transmission.

Speaking to The Tribune yesterday, she said: “So, the situation is different in Grand Bahama compared to New Providence. Cases in Grand Bahama are travellers or travel related, they’re contacts of those

people who travel. “For the most part (they’re related), but there are a few cases where they have not traveled and they have no known contacts that travelled if you get me but we wouldn’t know if they came into contact with those persons in their day to day activities.

“So, is it mainly community spread in Grand Bahama? No, I don’t think so, but you can’t rule out low level community spread.”

Her comments to this newspaper came hours before Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis announced 15 additional cases in the country, four of which are in New Providence and 11 on Grand Bahama.

Dr Forbes told The Tribune while some cases in New Providence also had recent travel histories or were contacts of people who travelled outside the country, there are others that did not.

This, she said, has caused officials to question the likelihood of low community spread happening on the island. However, she said more information is needed in order for health

officials to make an official determination on the matter.

“Similarly, in New Providence, some of the persons over the last few days had travel, places where we know coronavirus is surging. Some of those cases also were contacts of those persons that had travelled,” she said.

“But as you said, there was some one or two (cases)… that we cannot tie to travel or have a contact that travel so again you have to wonder is it that they came in contact with someone who travelled or is there low level community spread?It’s hard to know at the outset.

“So, is it community spread? It’s not the predominant mode of thread at the time. Perhaps that’s the best way of explaining it but we can’t rule it out and more information is needed in those cases where we’re continuing to get the epidemiological and surveillance information that we know had no history of travel or travel related contact.”

However, Dr Forbes said if more cases were to present with no history of travel or travel-related contacts in the next few weeks,

health officials will be more liable to suspect either lowlevel community spread or cluster transmission.

“In 14 days, if more persons are presenting that don’t have what we call an epidemiological link — they have not travelled or they have no contacts that have travelled — then you will have to put higher up on your suspicions that there’s either cluster transmission going on or there could be low level community spread,” she said.

“It gets clearer when you watch the epidemiological curve on these things and follow cases as they commence, and I can fully tell you that right now but it could be clusters.”

Asked if officials expect to see more cases in the coming days, the director said it was likely that more cases will increase in Grand Bahama.

“It’s probable for Grand Bahama and if you look at the epidemiological information right there and the epidemiological curve for Grand Bahama in that there are a spike of cases there, it’s probable we’re going to continue to see cases in Grand Bahama for the next few days or the information period.”

As it relates to New Providence, she said: “Maybe because at the time, there have been a few cases in New Providence over the last few days so if

the contact tracing is effectively done and persons are put in isolation, if it’s a cluster, you could put in place measures to reduce spread.

“But, if there’s low level transmission happening, then presumably other persons are being exposed especially if persons are gathering in crowds so we do have to closely monitor and see what’s happening in New Providence for the next few days and without a doubt, Grand Bahama.”

There are 100 confirmed cases in New Providence, 39 in Grand Bahama, 13 in Bimini and one in Cat Cay. Eleven people have died from the virus while 91 people have recovered.

PAIR ARRESTED FOR BREAKING SATURDAY NIGHT CURFEW

NEW Providence police arrested two men for breaching the 10pm curfew on Saturday.

According to reports, shortly after midnight, officers from the Operations Unit while patrolling Claridge Road noticed a

black vehicle being driven.

The officers’ suspicion was aroused and the vehicle was stopped. When the occupants of the car were asked their reason for being out during the curfew and whether they were granted permission, they were not

able to give a satisfactory answer, police said, and the men were taken into custody.

Police have also issued a reminder to fish and roadside vendors that selling seafood on the roadside is currently prohibited.

“Persons wishing to do so require a permit from the commissioner of police,” the RBPF said.

“Fishing is only allowed for personal consumption or to be sold to wholesale distributors during this time. Persons found in violation may be arrested and prosecuted and their goods confiscated.

“Police also wish to remind persons wishing to do business as roadside vendors, must have the requisite permits. Persons found in violation may be arrested and have their goods confiscated. Vendors are encouraged to become fully compliant before setting up on any road or highway as we will be fully enforcing these laws,” police said.

Police have also reminded the business community that COVID-19 emergency orders prohibit bars from opening during this period.

If a liquor store allows patrons to drink and socialise on site, they effectively have become a bar and violate the order and will be asked to close.

Liquor stores remain open for takeout or delivery if not allowing themselves to become bars, the RBPF said.

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THE TRIBUNE

Monday, July 20, 2020, PAGE 3

CORONAVIRUS CRISIS

WELLS PUT IN CHARGE OF HEALTH PORTFOLIO

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

BAMBOO Town MP Renward Wells will be sworn in today as the country’s newest minister of health, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis announced yesterday.

As a result of the move, Dr Minnis said the Ministry of Transport will now fall under the portfolio of Labour Minister Dion Foulkes. He added that Travis Robinson will be reinstated as parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation effective today. Mr Robinson was fired from that post in 2018 after voting against the government’s VAT increase.

Describing the Bamboo Town as “a doer who knows how to get things

done,” Dr Minnis yesterday expressed confidence that Mr Wells will perform well in his new role. “While the medical officials continue to lead the charge in the battle against COVID-19, I have instructed Minister Wells to move aggressively to upgrade our health care infrastructure,” he announced.

“He is also charged with working with public health officials on boosting immunisations and vaccinations for various childhood diseases, some of which have lagged during the COVID19 pandemic. He will also work with public health officials to improve our readiness for a variety of public health threats including potential pandemics.”

Mr Wells will replace Dr Minnis as health minister who temporarily assumed the position of following the

resignation of Dr Duane Sands in early May. The former health minister resigned for his actions related to six American permanent residents who landed in the country with COVID-19 testing supplies.

The group had not been tested prior to their arrival in the country and instead were tested for the disease the next day.

When pressed by reporters on the issue during a press conference a month later, the Killarney MP refused to explain his decision for accepting Dr Sands’ resignation during a pandemic, only saying he wished the Elizabeth MP “well” in his future endeavours.

During yesterday’s national address, Dr Minnis also thanked former COVID-19 taskforce coordinator, Dr

Merceline Dahl-Regis for her “outstanding service” to the country after it was revealed last week she was leaving her post. Her departure took effect yesterday.

“Dr Dahl-Regis has put in place strategies, policies and procedures as it relates to managing COVID-19 and is confident in the team that will be led by Chief Medical Officer Dr Pearl McMillan,” he said.

Yesterday, Dr Minnis also announced the establishment of a new Royal Bahamas Police force enforcement unit, which “will coordinate activities to educate and ensure that all Bahamians, residents and visitors are 22 adhering to the enforcement protocols of the Emergency Powers Orders to keep our communities safe.”

The enforcement unit will also monitor individuals

MP Renward Wells in quarantine, beaches and parks and ensure that public is adhering to the COVID-19 orders and that businesses are adhering to the COVID-19 rules.

Dr Minnis also said people found submitting or undertaking false COVID-19 tests can be fined up to $2,000 or can face two years’ imprisonment or both. “It shall be an offence for a person to submit a falsified result of a COVID-19 diagnostic test

or to undergo the test prior to his or her departure from the Bahamas and present the results of the 20 test on his return to the Bahamas as though the test had been carried out in another jurisdiction. Such persons are liable to a fine not exceeding $2,000 or to two years imprisonment or both.”

He also said: “Additionally, where a person knows or reasonably believes that he is infected with the COVID 19 virus and causes another to be exposed or infected that person commits an offence and upon summary conviction is liable to a fine not exceeding $1,000 in respect of each person who has been exposed or infected.’

Airlines and sea vessels can also be fined $500 for permitting passengers entry without a face mask and approved travel health card.

Minnis gets tough from page one the closure of Arawak Cay and Potter’s Cay restaurants, effective today.

The revelation came after Dr Minnis revealed 15 new COVID-19 cases, marking the country’s highest single day increase to date since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

During a sombre national address yesterday, Dr Minnis linked the spike of cases to the re-opening of the country’s borders.

The Minnis administration resumed international commercial travel on July 1 in a move officials said would help jumpstart the country’s tourism industry.

Since then, the Bahamas has seen a spike in COVID19 cases — 49 new cases after July 1 — with the total number now standing at 153. “Regrettably, the situation here at home has already deteriorated since we began the reopening of our domestic economy,” Dr Minnis said. “It has deteriorated at an exponential rate since we reopened our international borders. “…Fellow Bahamians and residents, as I have said before, our battle with COVID-19 will last for some time. We are in a marathon not a sprint.

This is a marathon demanding discipline, endurance, demanding resilience and requiring determination.”

Noting that immediate measures must be taken to contain the COVID-19 threat, Dr Minnis yesterday reimposed a number of former restrictions, including a ban on commercial travel and the shutdown of certain restaurants.

Dr Minnis said the decisions were made after

YOUNGSTERS get a final swim in yesterday before the beaches are closed again.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff “heavy” consultation with health officials.

“International commercial flights and commercial vessels carrying passengers will not be permitted to enter our borders, except for commercial flights from Canada, the United Kingdom, and the European Union. This will come into effect as of Wednesday the 22nd of July 2020 at midnight,” he said.

“Bahamasair will cease outgoing flights to the United States of America, effective immediately.”

Dr Minnis said all outgoing commercial flights will be allowed in an effort to accommodate visitors scheduled to leave the country after Wednesday.

He added: “Private international flights and charters for Bahamians, residents and visitors will be permitted. Pleasure craft and yachts will also be permitted.

“All returning Bahamians, residents and visitors by air or sea from overseas will require a negative RT-PCR COVID-19 test result from an accredited lab. You will be required to present your documents to immigration officials upon arrival.

“These tests must be taken no later than ten days before the date of travel.

All of these individuals must also have an approved health visa to enter the country.”

However, he said residents unable to produce a negative accredited COVID-19 test upon arrival will be required to self-isolate for 14 days and will also be monitored via the Hubbcat monitoring.

“For travellers who do not agree to Hubbcat monitoring or whose premises are not approved by the Ministry of Health for quarantine, they must quarantine at a government-identified facility at their own expense,” he noted.

“At the end of the quarantine period via Hubbcat or at the facility, COVID19 testing will be required, also at the traveler’s

expense. The government will not be responsible for arrangements with private employers.”

He said the quarantine period will be counted as vacation for public servants.

If vacation time is not an option, the public servant’s salary will be deducted.

Meanwhile, Dr Minnis said that domestic travel will continue, with the exception of Grand Bahama. He reminded that domestic travellers must also complete an electronic health visa prior to departure at travel.gov. bs.

“Any airline or commercial sea vessel that permits a passenger to board without the required health

visa will face a fine of $500 per passenger who is not in compliance,” he warned.

Dr Minnis said Arawak Cay, Potter’s Cay and respective beach closures will “remain in place until we are able to ensure that better social distancing can be practiced and enforced.”

Last night, Bahamasair announced it will provide one daily relief flight, starting today until Wednesday, to accommodate Bahamians, residents and people with valid work permits who need to return home.

More information can be found on the airline’s website.

Editorial View - Page 6

Grand Bahama isolated by new daily curfew

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis implemented a new daily curfew for Grand Bahama and banned international and domestic travel to and from the island, following a resurgence of COVID-19 cases there.

During his national address yesterday, Dr Minnis said Grand Bahama has recorded 31 new cases of COVID-19 over the last two weeks. He said he believed this increase coincided with the resumption of international flights and sea transport, adding that “surveillance teams have

traced many of the cases to Bahamians returning to The Bahamas.” While outlining the stipulations for the island, he said more restrictive measures may be introduced, including a lockdown this Friday, if efforts to stem the rise in cases are unsuccessful.

Starting today, a 7pm to 5am daily curfew will be implemented in Grand Bahama, and effective immediately, all public and private beaches and parks on the island will be closed.

On Wednesday, he added, the island’s borders will be closed to all incoming and outgoing flights and sea vessels. Only emergency transportation and travel to transport essential goods

and services are exempt.

Yesterday, Dr Minnis also announced that ferry boat operations between East End, Grand Bahama and Crown Haven, Abaco will not be allowed, effective today.

He said health officials in Grand Bahama have also recommended “stricter enforcement of social distancing and mask wearing, with fines for non-compliance.”

“To address the potential for community spread, indoor dining will be closed effective (today),” he stated. “Outdoor dining, takeaway and curbside delivery will be permitted.

Bars remain closed. All fish fry’s inclusive of, but not

limited to Eight Mile Rock, Smith’s Point, West End and Williams Town, will be closed effective (today).”

Dr Minnis said “congregant activities and gatherings, inclusive of religious services, weddings, funerals and sporting activities will not be allowed” effective today. However, he said students will still be allowed to sit their national examinations.

He added: “Grand Bahama has experienced an increase of 31 new cases over the past two weeks.

Health officials are closely monitoring this situation. If efforts to decrease the number of cases are unsuccessful, other restrictive measures may be

recommended, including a lockdown beginning Friday, July 24.”

Dr Minnis said a sevenmember team from the Ministry of Health travelled to Grand Bahama on Saturday to “enhance the capacity” of health officials on the island in terms of early identification.

He said the team is “assisting with identification and testing and mapping of contacts for characterisation of the epidemiological situation,” following the increase of COVID-cases on the island.

Dr Minnis said the health team is made up of three physicians, one microbiologist and three nurses.

Their assistance, he said,

will include public education sessions, data gathering exercises, case investigations, contact tracing as well as sample collection.

“I wish to make a strong plea to the residents of Grand Bahama to cooperate with the health measures,” Dr Minnis urged.

“If we address the current increase in confirmed cases as quickly as possible, Grand Bahama can return to a greater sense of normalcy as soon as possible.

Let us work together to get Grand Bahama back up and running as quickly as possible. I ask Grand Bahamians to work in a spirit of unity in the battle against COVID-19.”

PAGE 4, Monday, July 20, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

CORONAVIRUS CRISIS

INAGUA RESIDENTS CONCERNED BY HAITIAN ARRIVALS

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

INAGUA residents yesterday expressed anger over the government’s decision to allow some 20 Haitian migrants to be taken to the island after they were intercepted by US Coast Guard officials on Thursday.

In a press statement, the RBDF said officials were called to assist a US Coast Guard cutter after receiving information that about 23 migrants aboard a Bahamian vessel were being apprehended while in US waters. Two of those

migrants have since been flown out for medical reasons. “The transfer between both the USCG cutter and the Defence Force patrol craft was conducted at Goulding Cay, located west of New Providence on Saturday, 18 July,” the RBDF said. “There were initially 23 migrants, however two were flown out for medical reasons. Following the transfer, HMBS Bahamas proceeded to Great Inagua, where it arrived on Sunday.”

The RBDF said they took the migrants into custody and later transferred them to immigration officials for

further processing after a change of plans.

“Instead of being housed at the defense force’s maritime facility as initially intended; plans were changed prior to arrival in Mathew Town where the detainees were immediately handed over to immigration officials on the island for further processing and staging at the police station.”

This comes after a group of residents staged a protest on Friday, raising concerns about the island’s COVID19 level of preparedness should a case arise on the island as a result of the move. Videos of the protest

made the rounds over social media, showing locals with placard signs reading: “We have no doctor. We have one nurse. We have no test kits. We have zero tolerance for s**t.”

Inagua resident Darren Cox told The Tribune yesterday even though he did not protest on Friday, he stands in solidarity with his fellow residents.

“I didn’t protest, but I was out there,” he said. “They had the whole town in their cars protesting but I wasn’t on the line behind them driving around but everyone was pulling together.

“But I don’t feel like

Teachers should have been consulted, says Wilson

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Union of Teachers president Belinda Wilson has criticised the Ministry of Education for not consulting teachers on the dates for the re-opening of schools after it was learned that teaching lessons for students will begin in late September.

In a press statement

released on Friday, Education Director Marcellus Taylor said instructions for students will start on September 21, while noting that teachers are expected to report to work on September 7.

This comes amid much uncertainty on how schools across the country will reopen for the fall semester amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In March, the

government mandated the closure of schools after the country recorded its first COVID-19 case, resulting in many local institutions moving to online classes to allow students to continue their studies at home.

However, it is not clear whether students will have to report to their respective schools or continue with virtual classes when the fall semester begins. Mr Taylor has said a decision

they should’ve brought them (the migrants) there because only a couple people live here and I don’t think they should bring them here.”

Another resident Vaughn Cox expressed similar comments to this paper, saying he felt the migrants should have been sent elsewhere.

“In Inagua we don’t have no COVID, not yet,” he said. “And so we have to be very careful because the population only might be one 1,600. If one case happen, we gone.”

According to the 2010 Census, Inagua has a population of just over

900 residents. “I don’t think we’re ready for that because everybody live in the same settlement. It isn’t like in Nassau or Freeport. Because everybody live in one settlement so if one person’s get infected, he gone home you understand,” Mr Cox said.

Last week, an undocumented male migrant in Grand Bahamas tested positive for COVID-19.

Yesterday, the RBDF maintained that officials are closely monitoring the migrants for any COVID19 related symptoms.

However, none of them has exhibited symptoms so far.

THE BAHAMAS Union of Teachers president, Belinda Wilson Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

will be made on the matter at a later date.

“Decisions regarding whether students must present themselves at the school’s campus will be determined at a later date.

Such decisions will be made in accordance with the prevailing public health conditions on each island,” he said.

As it relates to teachers, Mr Taylor said workers are expected to return to their assigned schools on September 7 for mandatory professional development activities, which will continue for the entire week.

“Any teacher wishing to access these sessions away from the school campus must seek the approval of their principal by way of a written request,” he continued. “Conclave sessions will take place on Monday, 31 August, and Tuesday, 1 September 2020, and will be conducted virtually. All school administrators must participate in this event.”

Calling the move “disrespectful” and “unprofessional”, Mrs Wilson told The Tribune she felt that a discussion should have been held between education officials and all Ministry of

Education stakeholders in advance before an official decision was made.

“This is just another example of the disrespectful attitude and unprofessional of the director of education... (there has been) no consultation with the teachers or administrators,” she said.

“All of whom are a part of the education system and if you want the process to run smoothly, then everyone should know what the plan is. The plan should be clear and a document of this nature that is setting out new dates and times, that type of decisions should be discussed and reviewed by all stakeholders.

“So, there should’ve been a coming together and a meeting even as extensive as a few hour sessions so you could look at the pros and cons of the re-opening.”

A memo was sent to Ministry of Education staff on Thursday, informing teachers of the new changes.

However, according to Mrs Wilson, there is still a need for more details outlining the way forward as it relates to the reopening of schools in the country.

“The (memo) is still

saying that they are unsure how schools will open and that’s very important so to send out a circular that is very general in its detail without a plan attached is a waste of time and this shows the gross incompetence of the director of education,” she claimed.

Education Minister Jeff Lloyd recently told reporters that officials will make an announcement this week on the changes that will be implemented for the upcoming school year.

The Tribune also understands he will address all concerns surrounding the re-opening of schools when he speaks in the House of Assembly this week.

Mr Lloyd has previously said officials are considering implementing a blended learning environment, one that will include class rotation and limited faceto-face instruction. “...Plans are being finalised this week and an announcement will be made and disseminated across the spectrum of the Bahamas early next week and all parents and students and others will be clearly informed as to what,” he said on Tuesday.

RESTAURANTS CAN OPEN UNTIL 9PM

By EARYEL BOWLEG ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

RESTAURANTS can now operate between 5am and 9pm daily.

According to an amendment to the emergency

powers order issued on Friday, mobile takeaway restaurants can also operate between 5am and 9pm, but will need a valid business licence issued under the Bahamas Licence Act, 2010 and have been certified by the Ministry of Health. These mobile takeaway restaurants must also meet aesthetic standards as approved by the Ministry of Works and been granted written approval by commissioner of police to occupy a location.

This comes after it was reported in The Tribune last week that the Myers Group of restaurants was allowed to remain open until 9pm while other businesses had to follow the general rule of closing by 8pm.

A letter dated July 9 was signed by David Davis, the permanent secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, and addressed to George Myers, the chairman and CEO of the Myers Group.

The letter said: “I refer to your letter dated 3rd July, 2020, and in which you requested permission for your restaurant group (Kentucky Fried Chicken, Burger King, Dunkin Donuts and Anthony’s Caribbean Grill) to remain open until 9pm.

Please be advised that the ‘competent authority,’ the

Most Hon Prime Minister, has approved your request.”

Attorney General Carl Bethel had previously told this newspaper last week that an order had been prepared to permit all restaurants to remain open until 9pm. However, the update was not released until Friday.

The Emergency Powers (COVID-19 Pandemic) (Amendment)(No 2) Order 2020 permits indoor dining provided the restaurant’s seating has a maximum of 50 percent occupancy with a minimum of 30 square feet per person.

Restaurants will have to arrange seating in line with physical distance protocols. Staff will wear masks and sanitise tables, chairs and other implements used after each patron. Patrons also will be required to wear masks when entering and leaving.

However, restaurants and food vendors at Arawak Cay are unable to do indoor dining. These establishments were only permitted to operate under a clause for those unable to carry out the guidelines needed for indoor dining. This clause permitted those businesses to only operate utilising curbside pick-up or delivery, drive-thru, take away, or outdoor dining.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, July 20, 2020, PAGE 5

HEASTIE: WE’RE ON WAY TO BEING SELF-SUFFICIENT

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS POWER and Light CEO Whitney Heastie said he believes the company is well on its way to becoming self-sufficient and non-reliant on government funding.

In a press conference at the company’s headquarters, Mr Heastie said BPL has executed a strategic plan that has helped the company begin the process of addressing its shortfalls.

“We believe we have begun to correct the inefficiencies of our national

electrical utility and that BPL is at last on a path that will lead to self-sufficiency and an end to government subventions,” he said. “This is due in large part to the steady execution of our strategic plan.”

Mr Heastie made the statement after speaking about BPL’s “first ever fuel hedge transaction,” which has set the fuel charge for BPL customers “at about 10.5 cents per kilowatt hour from July 2020 through January 2022.”

He said: “As I said earlier in announcing the hedge, fuel is a pass-through cost, therefore there is no

savings to the company. All savings go to the customers and those savings can be significant.”

Mr Heastie said hedging has brought “stability and predictability” to fuel costs in a way that has never been seen in the country before. He added that the “conservative view is that projected savings for the average customer will be about 30 percent (now) through January 2022.”

When asked when customers could expect to see improvements to their bills, he stated: “There are two components to the bill. One

is the tariff that has always been set and now the fuel charge which is the second component, which will be set at about 10.5 cents. The only other variable that the customer sees is the consumption rate and so that is totally in the hands of the consumer.”

He added that as the fiscal year continues, BPL plans to “roll out” more projects that will help them “gather and process necessary information to improve energy efficiency, manage costs more effectively and improve customer service.”

BPL chairman Donovan

Moxey, also said he believed BPL had an incredibly positive year in the 2019/2020 fiscal period.

“Our growth has been steady and despite the extreme challenge of the global COVID-19 pandemic, our hardworking team...are all working together to right the ship here at BPL,” he said.

When asked what he would say to critics who believed there was no appetite for BPL’s debt on the market as it related to the rate reduction bond, he stated: “Within the rate reduction bond legislatively, we’ve gone to and

had Parliament approve the imposition of a newer charge on everyone’s bill.

And so that particular charge that is associated with paying back investors, is covered in law. So when you talk about an appetite for BPL’s debt, what you’re taking on is a very different structure than one would normally expect to as part of a bond. “...We’re trying to get the rate reduction bond completed as quickly as we possibly can. Ideally for us we’d like to get it done before the end of this calendar year.”

‘Outages not related to load shedding’

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net BAHAMAS POWER and Light executives said the two system disturbances that left customers throughout New Providence without power on Friday were not related to load shedding.

On Friday, the company reported that a fault on the transmission network caused Big Pond Primary Substation and Blue Hills Power Station to go offline.

This affected customers in the east, southeast and central portions of the island, leaving them without electricity for hours.

During a press conference at BPL’s headquarters a day later, Whitney Heastie, BPL’s chief executive officer, revealed that two separate system disturbances caused the power outages. “(In) the first instance, the disturbance caused outages in the eastern end of the island — that was restored,” he said. “The second system disturbance caused outages in the western end of the island. That took a little bit longer to restore.”

Sterling Moss, BPL’s director of field operations, added the main line between the company’s Clifton Pier and Blue Hill Substations “came out of fault,” which resulted in areas around Clifton Pier being affected.

“Our teams worked to address this issue and around 5.30pm (on Friday) we had all customers restored,” he continued.

“At present, the reasons behind both outages are under investigation...so by sometime next week, we will be able to determine what is the cause for both faults.”

Asked whether the company was still confident in their newly installed generators, given the most recent power outages, he added: “It’s important that we make clear that the incidents yesterday had nothing to do with generation. “... We have had no incidents of load shedding during the summer. The generation on this island is sufficient. So these are not connected issues, these are not related to load shedding.”

Last summer, BPL made headlines for extensive load shedding exercises that forced many to believe that the company was in the midst of a crisis.

On Saturday, Mr Heastie agreed the difficulties BPL experienced last year could be categorised as a crisis, since BPL did not “have the supply to meet the demand,” at the time. He also admitted the company was “not there on the generation side of the house” either.

“The customer really doesn’t care where the outages are,” he said.

“The customer just wants power and so whether it’s

actually a generation issue or transmission issue, or a distribution issue, the customer just wants to know the complete network is intact.”

Mr Heastie said BPL had 380 megawatts in its system that could be dispatched “at any time” and load wise, BPL “typically peaked around 250mw.”

He also said he was not sure whether the company would reach the peak, since a lot of the island’s hotels are closed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and BPL has not hit 240 megawatts for the year.

“So generation is not bad but...this is not about generation or TND (transmission network distribution),” he said.

“This is about reliability to our customers. We want to make sure that our customers know at the end of the day that we’re going to be reliable.”

Mr Heastie said BPL requires $30 million to $40million on a “monthly basis just to run their day-to-day operations,” a figure he said doesn’t even “account for capital improvements.”

“And so just to put in the new infrastructure to export the power out of the west at Clifton Pier, where our largest consumers are on the east, we need more transmission networks,” he said.

“Right now, we’ve got four transmissions networks: the transmission network between Clifton Pier and Skyline, the transmission network between Clifton Pier and Big Pond and the (one) between Clifton Pier and Blue Hill Power Station.

That’s not enough if we want to put more generation here, because the maximum load is in the east that is spared from these two primary substations.”

Ian Pratt, BPL’s chief operations officer, said the company has used “quite a bit of capital” over the last year to increase generation capacity. He said executives did this because they wanted to ensure BPL had sufficient generation capacity to meet the needs of the island.

“Any transmission distribution system is susceptible to various potential impacts. So you can have

BPL chairman Donovan Moxey, left, and CEO Whitney Heastie.

Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff weather related impacts (or) you could have what we call human interference (like) kites. “...The thing is to make sure you have the systems in place to contain those outages as much as possible and prevent them from spreading throughout the network. So some of the work we’re doing right now is to improve those systems that are aimed at containing potential events.”

Mr Pratt said BPL plans to carry out “additional work” on the TND side to improve the company’s protection systems and increase capacity on the transmission side.

“So we did increase the capacity on the generation side and what we are aimed at doing over the course of this year, and (the) next, is to increase the capacity on the transmission side as well. (This will) bring all of that power that we’re now generating at Clifton Pier up onto wherever the customers are, which are predominantly on the eastern side of the island,” Mr Pratt said.

When asked if he could give a dollar value on what the investment would look like, Mr Pratt said he believed the “budget line item” was somewhere around $40 million. A sum geared towards ensuring the company had redundancy in the network and sufficient capacity to bring the new generation when Station D came online.

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PAGE 6, Monday, July 20, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

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Bold decisions at a time when they are needed WE said it was crunch time for Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis ahead of his national address yesterday – and the stakes only got higher as the country set a new single-day record for COVID-19 cases.

It was a time for tough decisions, and whether you agree with the choice he made or not, it was certainly a bold moment in closing down commercial travel to and from the United States once more.

It’s a difficult decision indeed, because Dr Minnis knows what it means to the economy, but with Atlantis delaying its reopening indefinitely too, both government and private businesses are looking at the tourist market from the US and realising the danger it represents right now, with COVID-19 still surging there.

Yesterday alone, Florida had 12,478 new cases, taking the state total alone to more than 350,000, nearly as much as the total population of The Bahamas.

In this column, we had argued previously that the government ought not to be afraid of saying no to the US if cases were at such a level that they presented a risk to our nation’s health.

The soaring number of cases there – and the increase in cases here since people started to come back in from the US – shows the level of risk we face.

Grand Bahama, which had gone for such a long time without new cases, has seen 30 new cases in the past two weeks.

A series of new clampdowns there take effect today, and a medical team has been despatched to monitor the situation more closely.

So is Dr Minnis doing the right thing?

Largely, we would say yes. No one wants to roll back the hard-earned freedoms we have rediscovered as our number of cases has reduced, but here’s the most important thing – we know these measures worked before, we know they can work again.

We might quibble over whether closing the beaches again is necessary, because if people want to gather together they can go and do that in restaurants instead in a more enclosed environment.

We might wonder whether the newly instituted COVID-19 enforcement

unit of the police force could not keep people from large gatherings and allow those who respect social distancing to act a little more freely.

We might, in the other direction, wonder whether private flights from the US should also be stopped in addition to commercial flights.

But we know that we need to stop this virus again, and we need to do so now.

Closing things down again in response to a clear surge – and that’s what we’re seeing – is understandable.

We might wish for the opportunity to ask more questions of the Prime Minister in those moments – but that’s a weight that will fall on his newly minted Minister of Health. Renward Wells MP is an engineer, not a man with a medical background, but he is Dr Minnis’ choice to lead the Ministry of Health as the full-time successor to Dr Duane Sands.

It is a big task, and a big moment, and we shall see if Mr Wells is able to rise to the occasion.

We do hope he takes a leaf out of Dr Sands’ book in being present at briefings, and willing to answer questions about why the government is taking particular actions. It helps Bahamians immensely to be able to understand the process, and know that their concerns can be aired by reporters in order to gain an official response.

Simply put, the government has asked Bahamians to forego some of their liberty for a while to combat the disease, and it is only proper that they present a public face to reassure and explain.

It’s a big decision to close the doors again to the US. Already, as we write this column, people on social media in the US are carrying the news on The Bahamas and condemning the US president that it would come to this.

We would say only this – that we wish the very best for our neighbour and that we hope that it can wrestle the pandemic affecting it into submission. America is often held up as the greatest nation in the world, and it has the power to rise to this challenge.

We look forward to seeing our friends and our visitors as soon as possible.

There is only one unwelcome guest to our shores – the coronavirus itself.

I’m glad my two boys now manage to get some sleep EDITOR, The Tribune I WAS depressed and fighting despair. How am I to, not only take care of my two boys, but also fix my roof with no income.

No this isn’t a Covid story, this is a Dorian one. After the aftermath of the Hurricane a lot of good-natured people and organisations came in and assisted, but that assistance soon left Abaco with the onset of the pandemic. Which I can understand, your family or wherever some of them were from were suffering.

I must say a special thank you to the DRA, they

stayed! Even during the height of the pandemic. I don’t have any family in Nassau to go to and who will shelter me and my two boys? I applied for several funding programmes but only got through with the small home programme that the DRA has, they sent someone to do an assessment and then told me I would qualify for 7,500. I was overjoyed, could I have used more…sure, but this was to try and get my roof sorted out and try to stretch it to get the windows sealed.

I was sceptical at first that this would also fall through the cracks but they had a

list of approved people in Abaco that I could use and that could get the work done and they would pay for the material and labour.

In two weeks after applying my house was sealed. I am now looking for further assistance to help replace furniture other essential items lost in the storm.

However I can rest my head at night knowing that rain or light weather won’t disrupt my youngest from sleeping at night any more.

CLAIR ARMBRISTER Marsh Harbour, Abaco, July 17, 2020

A bitter but effective dose EDITOR, The Tribune INDIVIDUAL rights and freedoms are so sacrosanct that the framers of our constitution made it the third chapter, right behind declaring itself to be the supreme law of the land and the convoluted definition of citizenship.

Fourteen of the sixteen sections of Chapter III of the constitution deal with protecting our rights. Our very freedom flows from these rights.

But section 29 of Chapter III gives the Governor General the right to suspend all of those rights enshrined to us by the constitution if we are at war or if a state of public emergency exists.

The current global pandemic was the first ever trigger of this provision of the constitution, making it the duty of the government to protect the lives of each and every one of us.

The drafters of the emergency powers legislation could have found a better name for the chief executor of these emergency powers than “competent authority”.

Despite its negative connotations, the legislation and the actions of the competent authority have no doubt saved lives since it was implemented.

The Prime Minister assumed the role of the competent authority and by happenstance his previous occupation was medical doctor, sworn to an Hippocratic Oath to first do no harm, but ultimately to save lives.

That was undoubtedly his instinct and he acted on it to save us from our own self-destructive demons.

Some responsible Bahamians who always put the common good above their own became incensed by the actions of the PM to limit the movement of Bahamians during these trying times.

Our lockdown measures have by no means been the most draconian undertaken in this region or in the world. But when followed, they have been surprisingly effective in saving lives.

For large swaths of our population, the default behaviour is to flaunt rules in pursuit of self-pleasure.

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net We know that given the opportunity, some of our countrymen imbibe too much, display loutish behaviour and side-step regulations designed to keep us all safe.

Social media details a sordid proclivity to gather in large groups, disregard masks and social distancing guidelines in pursuit of a virtual orgy of alcohol infused, profanity laced pleasure.

This is exactly the petri dish in which Covid-19 spreads. Exhibit A in this regard is just 200 miles from Nassau where the beaches of South Florida were teaming with patrons acting as if corona was just the name of a beverage.

As a result, the entire state of Florida has become the global hotspot for Covid-19 with unprecedented numbers of new infections which are traced right back to people ignoring sound public health advice for momentary pleasure.

The Prime Minister was captured on social media touring the fish fry on the first weekend when he eased the lockdown. The recommendation was to enjoy yourself responsibly by keeping social distance and wearing masks.

In the video the only people wearing masks and social distancing were the Prime Minister and his security detail. Our fellow Bahamians frolicked and partied like it was junkanoo morning.

Who then should have been surprised when the PM locked off the beaches over the Independence Day holiday weekend. Deep down we knew that those people who have no behaviour would ruin it for those who know how to comport themselves with health safety guidelines.

Yet that didn’t stop some members of elite society from patching hell on the Prime Minister for robbing them of the opportunity for a sea bath, or access to a preferred picnic spot after weeks of home

confinement. Make no mistake, the action by the PM slowed the virus, despite the short-term economic pain and the denial of a day at the beach.

The world has seen that by reducing the mobility of the population countries have flattened the pandemic curve. Therefore, the PM had a constitutional duty to restrict gatherings and public outings for the common good.

Things seldom happen in isolation. Had our borders not opened on July 1, then a case could have been made to permit beach outings. But we did begin to open up on July 1 and by July 10, Independence Day, some Bahamians had gone to and come back from Florida and as the evidence shows, Covid-19 hitched a ride here with some of them and probably those tourists who outsmarted our border dragnet.

Imagine if the newly arrived partied on the beaches over the long holiday weekend spreading the virus and laying waste to the stay-at-home sacrifice we made in April, May and June.

While the Prime Minister implored us to not travel to Florida, social media showed people lining up to go and mingle in Miami where tens of thousands are infected and many more don’t know it.

After flattening the curve for weeks on end, our infection rate shot up by dozens soon after we opened the border.

It’s a known fact that less mobility by the population leads to enhanced social distancing. Absent a vaccine, this is the most effective way to slow Covid-19.

The “competent authority” has earned our thanks and our gratitude, even if it must be given grudgingly.

As hard as it is for some to accept, fighting the pandemic is absolutely necessary to rescue the economy. Evidently Dr. Hubert Minnis understood this from day one of this pandemic.

His medicine, though bitter, is effective.

THE GRADUATE Nassau.

July 19, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

LAND AHOY! OOPS - NOT AGAIN, SIR from page one

their vessels. In a press statement, the RBDF said the grounding of the HMBS Rolly Gray on July 13 marked the “second unfortunate incident in recent times” which has led the agency to launch an official investigation to “determine the events” surrounding both incidents.

“The Royal Bahamas Defence Force wishes to reassure the general public that those placed in command positions are highly trained naval officers who have graduated from international training academies and colleges with high performance standards,” the statement continued.

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net ALVETA Russell, 71, who was found dead in a pond in South Ocean Village, was remembered by relatives on Friday as a “giving and honest woman”, who was kind to all who knew her.

“My mummy was very friendly, okay, even as she got older and as her memory (declined), but she still held a regular conversation,” her daughter, who did not want to be named, told The Tribune in an interview on Friday.

“She was very giving to a number of persons, even her friends. She fed herself, bathed herself and everything…I was her only child.”

Acknowledging that her mother sometimes suffered from dementia, her daughter maintained that Ms Russell was still in good health, saying the 71-yearold often cleaned the house and even cooked her own meals.

“She always was in the backyard and I used to say: ‘Mummy, what you doing in the back there?’… and just to set the record straight, she did not have Alzheimer’s. When somebody have Alzheimer, they can’t do nothing for

“The Royal Bahamas Defence Force has taken measures to strengthen the assessment, selection and professional development of our officers to ensure that such incidents are minimised in the immediate and future.”

According to the RBDF, some of the measures include the reinstatement of their prospective craft command qualifying courses; bridge resource management simulation training for all ship crews; onboard assessments of the crew conduct and competency and coordination levels by their mobile sea training team.

RBDF officers will also participate in incident analysis workshops of previous mistakes to help

identify “instances of human error and corrective measures” to avoid future occurrences.

The statement concluded: “Service members have been encouraged by the commander (of the) defence force, Commodore Raymond King to embrace the concept of continuous improvement, training and professional development as the Royal Bahamas Defence Force transforms itself marked by the pursuit of performance excellence.”

In April 2018, a clip went viral of Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis admonishing then Royal Bahamas Defence Force Commodore Tellis Bethel about marines “mashing up” defence force vessels, adding that

Monday, July 20, 2020, PAGE 7

officers must “learn to navigate”.

Dr Minnis’ comment came after a set of propellers on HMBS Rolly Gray was damaged that month after the boat departed Coral Harbour, the third time such an incident had taken place in a six month timeframe. At the time, Commodore Bethel, through information provided to Press Secretary Anthony Newbold, said the commanding officers of two vessels involved in recent incidents have been reassigned.

It was also revealed in April 2018 that the cost of repairing HMBS Arthur Dion Hanna , which sustained damage to its port shaft and gear box in November 2017, was $1.5m.

Daughter remembers her mother as a kind and honest woman

themselves. I would’ve never left her there by herself if she could not function,” she said.

“A neighbour had said that my mother had Alzheimer’s but that was not the truth,” she added.

Ms Russell was reported to police on last Monday as missing after she was last seen at her residence in South Ocean Village at 8.30 am.

However, her body was found by police two days later “submerged” in a pond in the community.

Describing the moment she realised her mother was missing, her daughter said: “It was an unsettling feeling… because she looked fine the last time I saw her…I gave her breakfast (that morning) as usual and I left her in the bed and her

last words to me was ‘drive safe’ as usual.

“When I went in the room, I give her the medication, I turned on the TV to the news and I haven’t turned on the TV since this incident happened and I put on the news and passed it to her and said ‘don’t forget and don’t open the door for anybody.’ So I did a regimen of things for her in the morning and as I would say it, she would be repeating things exactly.”

After leaving for work, her daughter said she called the house several times to check on her mother, but received no answer.

She said initially she was not alarmed by the situation because her mother sometimes did not answer the phone when she’s occupied in the yard.

She said: “Sometimes she used to be out in the yard when the phone ringing and I would rush off from work and she in the yard and I would say ‘Mummy, I’m calling you’, but she would say, ‘I ain’t hear the phone’ so I thought that was one of those days.

“I called her after I had my meetings at work. I called her about 13 times, and I said ‘mummy mussy outside in the yard’ because it happened before and she was outside in the yard.

“So, I said ‘I ain’t rushing up there’ because every time I rush up there, ain’t nothing to be alarmed (about). But the day I chose not to come, she most likely needed my assistance. That was the one day I chose not to come, and I was like what happen?”

Speaking at the scene on Wednesday, press liaison officer ASP Audley Peters told reporters that officials were awaiting an autopsy report to determine the cause of death.

However, he said officers did not suspect that foul play was involved.

Asked her thoughts on the matter, Ms Russell’s daughter said she believed her mother accidentally slipped into the pond while strolling in the area.

“I believed she slipped because she’s not a strong swimmer and so I believe she end up slipping and forgetting you could just float on your back until somebody saw you,” she said.

She said the family is saddened by her mother’s death and will deeply miss her.

PIT BULLS PUT DOWN AFTER ATTACK ON WOMAN

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

THE owner of three pit bulls that attacked a woman earlier this year was fined $3,150 in the Magistrates Court on Friday and the dogs were ordered to be euthanised.

Jason Barr, 44, was ordered to pay the fine after he admitted that three dogs of which he had charge attacked and

injured Casmena Gardiner on February 21. During the hearing before Magistrate Kara Turnquest-Deveaux, Barr also admitted that he allowed the ferocious dogs to “be at large” on the day in question.

According to initial police reports, shortly after 3pm on the day of the incident, Ms Gardiner was walking to her vehicle on Sequoia Street when she was attacked and bitten about her body

by the dogs. At the time, an ambulance took her to hospital where she was listed in stable, but serious condition.

On Friday, the court was told that officers received a call about a woman being attacked and bitten by dogs. When they arrived at the scene, they saw the victim being taken away by EMS after receiving multiple bites on her body and face. According to the prosecution, Animal Control

was also present and confiscated the three pit bulls.

Sometime around 3.40pm, the dogs’ owner, Barr, was arrested in connection with the attack. He admitted to the offences brought against him in an interview with police.

When given an opportunity to speak during the hearing, Barr told the magistrate he wanted to apologise for the actions of his dogs.

He also claimed that he thought they had been

secured, but that appeared not to be the case. Barr also said he was at work when he got a call telling him his dogs had attacked his neighbour.

He said he went “straight” to the scene on receiving the news.

As a result, Magistrate Turnquest-Deveaux fined Barr $3,000 or one year at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services on count one and another $150 or a year at BDCS on count two.

POLICE HOLD HAITIAN WITH THREE PASSPORTS A HAITIAN man was arrested on Saturday morning after he was found with $11,000 in cash and three passports, police said.

According to a police report, shortly before 7am police received information about a man at the Leonard Thompson International Airport in Abaco who presented himself for security screening. The man was found with more than $11,000 in cash and three Haitian passports, police said.

“He was unable to give a satisfactory account of how he came to be in possession of the items,” police said.

“He was arrested and taken into police custody.”

Police are also looking for several suspects responsible for three separate armed robberies which occurred on Friday.

In the first incident, police were told that shortly after 8am a man was at his residence on Taylor Street, Nassau Village when he was accosted by two men, one armed with a handgun, who robbed him of cash and a cell phone.

In the second incident, shortly after 2pm, three men, one armed with a handgun, accosted a woman while outside a business on Prince Charles Drive. However, the woman screamed and frightened the robbers who then fled east on Prince Charles Drive.

In the third incident, shortly before 4pm, two men, one armed with a handgun, entered a business on Malcolm Road and robbed the cashier of an undetermined amount of cash. The suspects fled the scene in an unknown direction.

ROBBERY SUSPECT SHOT BY POLICE from page one Meanwhile, New Providence police are also investigating a shooting incident that occurred on Friday, which resulted in a man being detained in hospital.

According to reports, shortly before 1pm, a man was walking through a short cut off Shirley Street when he was approached by several men. One of the men produced a gun and shot him. The victim was transported to the hospital via a private vehicle and is listed in stable condition.

Investigations into these incidents continue.

PROBATION FOR MAN WHO ADMITTED THREATENING TO KILL

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A 34-YEAR-OLD man was placed on probation for one year after he admitted to assaulting and threatening to kill another man last week. Wilton Armbrister was accused of assaulting and issuing death threats to Anthony Nottage on July 15.

The court heard around 9.20am on the day in question, Armbrister accused Mr Nottage of moving money from his pocket.

As a result, a verbal argument followed which led

to Armbrister punching Mr Nottage in his left eye and threatening to kill him. An investigation into the matter led to Armbrister’s arrest. In an interview with police a short time later, he denied the allegations.

During the hearing, Armbrister told the magistrate the incident happened because Mr Nottage had a habit of going into his room and stealing things. Armbrister said he’d tell other people in the house about Mr Nottage’s actions, but nothing would be done.

He also said the incident only occurred because the

complainant had taken his “last $20 and he just wanted to question him”. Armbrister insisted he never punched Mr Nottage and stated he only pushed him that day because he was “a little hot.”

Still he pleaded guilty to both counts during his hearing before Magistrate Kara Turnquest-Deveaux on Friday and was placed on 12 months’ probation for sending death threats and three months’ probation for assault. Both sentences were ordered to run concurrently.

On Friday, a 48-year-old man also appeared before

Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes after he was accused of assaulting his wife on July 15.

The man pleaded guilty during his arraignment and was conditionally discharged for 12 months, on the agreement he would attend anger management classes and domestic violence counseling. If he fails to comply with the conditions of his release, he will spend three months in prison.

Prosecutor Lincoln McKenzie said around 10.15pm that night, the complainant was at home with her husband when

they got into an argument over whether she had a “sweetheart” or not.

Sgt McKenzie said the woman told police when the situation escalated, her husband broke down a door and hit her several times with the palm of his hand. As a result of her complaint, the defendant was arrested. In an interview with police, he acknowledged getting into an argument with his wife, but denied hitting her.

When given an opportunity to speak on Friday, the accused also told Magistrate Forbes the altercation between the couple

was verbal and not physical. Still, he admitted that his actions were wrong and said he was ashamed for bringing “shame to his household and family”.

In response, Magistrate Forbes told the defendant as it related to the law, the offence of assault did not necessarily have to be physical since it could be an “act that intimidates a person to the extent they feel threatened”. After sentencing the defendant, he also encouraged him to seek marital counselling from a professional to assist him and his wife with their challenges.

REMANDED FOR CARRYING ILLEGAL FIREARM SELLING MARIJUANA BECAUSE HE HAD NO JOB

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A 27-YEAR-OLD man who claimed he carried an unlicensed firearm because he had to get food for his family was sentenced to 15 months in prison on Friday.

Edward Paul appeared before Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes charged with being in possession of an unlicensed firearm and a quantity of ammunition. The allegations came after officers seized a black and brown .380 Springfield Armory 9mm pistol and nine unfired rounds of 9mm ammunition from Paul on July 15.

The court heard on the day in question, officers

approached the accused near Dumping Ground Corner and informed him that he would be searched in connection with dangerous drugs and firearms.

During their investigation, the officers discovered the pistol and ammunition in Paul’s front right pocket.

When Magistrate Forbes asked Paul why he had the illegal weapon in his possession, he told him he had to get food for his family.

A teenager was also remanded to the Simpson Penn Centre for Boys on Friday for illegal firearm and ammunition possession.

The 15-year-old appeared before Magistrate Kara Turnquest-Deveaux after he was accused of being in possession of a XD-99

sub-compact 9mm pistol and four live rounds of 9mm ammunition.

During the hearing, the youngster, who was accompanied by both parents, denied the allegations and the matter was adjourned to October 7 for trial. Bail was denied and the defendant was taken into custody.

He has a right to apply to the Supreme Court for bail.

After setting the trial date, Magistrate Turnquest-Deveaux warned the juvenile to behave while he was at the centre. She said if he didn’t, he would have to be rehoused and the only other place he could be sent was the adolescent section of the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A MAN just released from prison who claimed he was selling marijuana because he could not find a job was fined $500 on Friday.

Ryan Brennan, 28, was charged with dangerous drug possession with intent to supply after officers seized 1.5 ounces of Indian hemp from him on July 16.

He pleaded guilty in a hearing before Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes and was fined $500 or three months at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.

The court heard that officers went to Brennan’s

residence around 1pm that day. When they arrived, they approached the defendant and informed him that they would be conducting a search in reference to dangerous drugs and firearms. During their investigation, officers found a yellow bucket with 18 silver foil wraps outside the residence.

When given an opportunity to speak during the hearing, Brennan told the magistrate he only sold the drugs because he was “trying to make a living”. He explained that he had just been released from prison after spending six years on remand for a charge of armed robbery.

Brennan also said he was trying to find a job, but no one would give him one so

selling drugs was “the only way (for him) to make a couple (of) dollars.”

Renaldo Bullard, 25, also appeared before Magistrate Forbes on Friday. He was charged with marijuana possession with the intent to supply after officers seized 3.5 ounces of Indian hemp from him on July 16.

Prosecutor Lincoln McKenzie said when officers approached the defendant that day, he threw two clear bags which both contained a quantity of suspected marijuana on the ground. He was subsequently arrested. In an interview with police a short time later, he admitted to the offence and told the officers he had a smoking habit.

THE STORIES BEHIND THE NEWS

MONDAY, JULY 20, 2020

If black lives really matter, why are we killing each other, abusing our women and selling each other drugs?

By TANYA SMITH-CARTWRIGHT ts-cartwright @tribunemedia.net In a period of severe racial unrest in the United States, Philadelphia-based pastor Gino Jennings, tells black people to stop giving bigots a reason to stereotype them.

PASTOR Gino Jennings, head pastor of First Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, spoke to The Tribune from his church’s headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The church has branches in America and other countries around the

world including Nassau at Honeycomb Street off Hay and Flint Street. Pastor Jennings is known for hardhitting sermons around the world which can be seen on YouTube.

“I agree fully that the black man has been stereotyped by racist bigots for many years, but that doesn’t justify us in giving them a reason to stereotype us,” Pastor Jennings said.

“That’s why I tell our black men, ‘pull your pants up, man’. Why would you want to advertise your behind? What’s the reason?

“I tell my black brothers and sisters, don’t be lazy, don’t be afraid to work, stop

thinking that the only way out of the ghettos of America or the world is to be a rapper or to play ball. Why would you just look at that and think you can’t do anything else? Parents should encourage their children and tell them that they can be a doctor, or a nurse or the President, or a governor or a mayor. If parents are limited in their vision, then the children will be limited on how to approach what they want to accomplish in life. The scriptures teach us that, ‘If there is no vision, the people perish’. That is not just narrowed down to church, but that’s in life.”

Jennings was criticised

recently in his native America for ridiculing those involved in the “Black Lives Matter” movement by asking them if black lives really matter in a society where blacks are killing each other, black men abuse black women and sell drugs to other black men.

Asked about these remarks, Jennings told The Tribune: “Black brothers need to have more selfrespect, self-decency. The quote here in America - as you have seen in the demonstrations - is “Black Lives Matter”. I addressed that on a live webcast and I told them the slogan is powerful, but it is only verbalised

when a black person is murdered by a white policemen.

Black lives should matter across the board.

“I say this, if black lives matter so strongly, why is this statement only stated when a black man is killed?

Why doesn’t it matter when a black woman is abused by black men? Why doesn’t a black life matter when a black woman is raped by a black man? Why doesn’t it matter when a black woman is beat up by a black man?

So black lives should matter in every perspective.”

Highlighting relationships between black men and black women, he said he would really like to see black men respect black women more. He said young, black men should stop running the streets and “knocking up every woman you meet”. And, he also said these men will soon have daughters and then reap what they sow.

“I want our black brothers to respect the black sisters,” Jennings noted.

“Our names will cease to exist without the females and our children taking on our names. How can you love yourself as a black man and hate the black woman?

So I warn our brothers to stop beating their women.

Stop verbally abusing your women. Take care of your women. You cannot criticise society for stereotyping if you constantly give them something to stereotype.”

Pastor Jennings has very strong views about the current demonstrations by black people in America.

He is not hopeful that these demonstrations will make a difference with the growing racial tension there.

“One thing I will say about Trump is that he is an open bigot,” said Jennings.

“He makes a lot of Republican politicians nervous because he says in the open what they say behind doors. He is an open racist! And, what I am saying to you on the phone, I will say the exact same thing on television. Blacks will demonstrate! Blacks

will fight! Why should you have to fight for a right that America says is already yours? Think of it, why do we have to demonstrate if it’s true that all men are created equal? When the constitution of the United States was written blacks were not included.

“There will be more demonstrations and more murders. If you research the history of America, the blacks have demonstrated continuously. And, now you have all these white companies coming along with the slogan, “Black Lives Matter”, you have television stations playing more black movies and black entertainment. To me that is sheer hypocrisy and white guilt because if these companies are legitimate in what they are saying just see how many black women they have on their board of directors.”

Pastor Jennings labeled this apparent appeasement of blacks in America as a mere “illusion of progress to make it seem like something is happening”.

He said blacks in America have built the society there, but yet are still hated by whites. He also said many businesses and industries like the cotton industry has been built off the backs of black people and have made whites rich.

“They can take down all the statues they want in America, that won’t stop racism,” he continued.

“They are taking down those statues and moving them into museums. So what’s the purpose of taking them down if you are going to still have them somewhere else for people to see? As far as the confederate flag is concerned where the south was trying to fight for slavery, that’s one thing, but you have to take it further and realise that it was under the current American flag when blacks had to sit in the back of the bus. The protests will die down and then America goes back to the norm like nothing had happened.”

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EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

INSIGHT

Minnis warns of a marathon - but is Wells the right man to carry the baton?

RENWARD WELLS, an engineer not a doctor, is the new Minister of Health

By MALCOLM STRACHAN WITHIN the past few months, the country has lost two of the most respected medical minds from the frontlines of the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. First, former Minister of Health Dr Duane Sands, and most recently Dr Merceline Dahl-Regis – both stepping down at a time when The Bahamas could most use their contributions.

Since Dr Sands’ departure, the controversial decisions to not ramp up our testing capacity and seemingly abandon what science and plain common sense would have been telling us prior to relaxing travel restrictions has led to a surge in coronavirus cases. Prime Minister Dr Minnis yesterday prepared the nation for the long haul in this battle, saying this is a marathon, not a sprint.

With the country just experiencing its highest single-day case count - 15 infected with COVID-19 yesterday – Dr Minnis chose his man to lead the health ministry in our hour of need: Renward Wells.

However, Mr Wells is an engineer, not a doctor, and with the populace accustomed to a medical professional serving in this capacity, some adjustments will have to be made.

More important than the personality, though, is the policies that will need to be implemented going forward.

We discussed here how detrimental it would be for the safety of the Bahamian people if we only focused on reopening without a sober discussion on stringent measures that would have prevented the coronavirus from entering the country. Bahamians being able to return home without any form of screening after international trips of less than 72 hours and the allowance for foreigners to visit our country with a nearly two-week old coronavirus tests have been crucial missteps. To boot, our porous defences against fraudulent tests have put us all in a vulnerable place as we will not know the extent to which we have been exposed, at least for the next few weeks.

The thinking behind allowing citizens to travel abroad and return home without a COVID-19 test seemed like a game of Russian roulette from the time it was first shared publicly.

Now, as they say, the chickens have come home to roost.

In a response to that, the government have closed the gates on the United States once more, announcing an end to commercial flights and sea traffic from Wednesday.

We know very well, if a Bahamian travels anywhere for less than 72 hours, we all can make an educated guess where their destination would have been. With Florida’s cases looking more and more like the Big Board on a good day at the New York Stock Exchange, a closure of the borders once more to travel to and from the US is a major step, but one that will curb those 72-hour getaways.

The renewed clampdown in Grand Bahama certainly shows the government is ready to respond whenever there are spikes in cases – but questions remain, chiefly why aren’t we doing more testing? Are we hoarding the tests for the apocalypse?

When we couple the lack of testing with the overly relaxed measures for travel going out and coming into the country we have seen previously, we have created quite the quagmire for ourselves. We can only hope Dr Minnis’ choice of Renward Wells as Minister of Health puts someone in the post able to execute at a high level.

The country, now more than ever, needs a high performer – someone who has a heart for people, can think on their feet, make smart decisions, and is an effective communicator.

Dr Minnis called Mr Wells a “doer” – well, it’s time to see what he can do.

Perhaps, even more importantly, Mr Wells must show he can be a great leader. With the team at the Ministry of Health sometimes seeming as though they’re splintering, Dr Dahl-Regis’ leadership, command and counsel will be missed.

Concerning her departure, what has been very

apparent is that the technicians are bound by the decisions of the policymakers. Moreover, the truth of the matter is that our policies, after being very encouraging in the early stages of the pandemic, have left a lot to be desired of late. Mr Wells doesn’t have any option except to get this right, as the Prime Minister’s chances for re-election hinge greatly on Mr Wells’ performance.

Dr Minnis is certainly bestowing a great deal of trust in Mr Wells.

We have learned that we are going to have to step our game up on multiple fronts if we are going to survive this virus. It’s time to ratchet it up, Government of The Bahamas.

FORMER Minister of Health Dr Duane Sands

MONDAY, JULY 20, 2020 PAGE 9

PAGE 10 MONDAY, JULY 20, 2020

INSIGHT

EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

Guyana political circus has outrun its time IT IS long past time for good sense to prevail in Guyana among the leadership of the APNU-AFC coalition that has been a caretaker government since the March 2 general and regional elections.

Without exception, the regional and international community has clearly indicated the result of the elections – now awaited for four and a half months – must be declared on the basis of a national recount of the votes that was scrutinised by a CARICOM team and observed by the Organization of American States (OAS).

Being entered into the Guinness Book of Records is usually for a remarkably deserving event. Guyana has now been inscribed in its pages for the unworthy event of having achieved the longest delay, in the world’s history, between an election and the declaration of a result.

The unfortunate, but obdurate, response of the APNU-AFC leadership has been to lash-out at everyone who has urged they must concede defeat and allow the Guyanese people to move on, taking advantage of their newly found oil wealth that could transform the country from being the second poorest in the Caribbean to the richest.

It seems everyone is wrong but they. And the list is long. It ranges from the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, through the former Chair and present Chair of CARICOM, Prime Ministers Mia Mottley and Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, two former Caribbean Prime Ministers, Owen Arthur and Bruce Golding, who

led the Commonwealth and OAS Electoral Observer Missions, Sir Hilary Beckles, the Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies and even the smaller countries of CARICOM. The latter were accused of having populations “too sparse” to understand Guyana’s history, politics and nuances, or to “rightly tell us what to do or give us even proper guidance as to what to do.” Ignored in this false narrative are the facts that, apart from the coup d’état in Grenada in 1979 – and unlike Guyana – the countries of the Englishspeaking Caribbean have a proud history of free and fair elections and abiding peacefully by the results; they have also been the refuge for Guyanese who have been fleeing Guyana since the 1960s. Putting aside, the institutional treaty relationship of CARICOM, both on their own democratic record and their accommodation of Guyanese, CARICOM countries have a right to speak.

Whether ill-advised by their lawyers, or illinstructing their lawyers, the APNU-AFC, using surrogates, have indulged in the worst form of abuse of the Court system to delay the delivery of democracy in Guyana. Guyana’s highest Appellate Court, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), has pronounced

authoritatively on this matter. As Dr Ralph Gonsalves, the current Chair of CARICOM observed in a “Personal Editorial on Guyana”, published on July 15 (and Dr Gonsalves is himself an experienced lawyer in Constitutional matters), “any attempt, however ingeniously clothed, to litigate all over again this or that matter upon which there has been a final determination or upon which the CCJ has pronounced authoritatively, is tantamount to an abuse of process of the court or is frivolous and vexatious”.

In other words, democracy delayed is democracy denied.

In truth, Guyana has many friends and admirers in the Caribbean and beyond, and that applies to some of the leaders of APNU-AFC whose implacable positions have been cause for sadness. They would have preferred these leaders to accept the elections result gracefully and carry on their lives, political or otherwise, in dignity. They are astonished at the egregious rejection of democracy whose vicissitudes, at the will of the majority of their electorates, they have had to respect. In this regard, democracy in Guyana is not the exclusive domain of any political party; it belongs to the nation of Guyana and to the CARICOM region of

which Guyana is an integral part.

No one, outside of Guyana, has any interest in one political party or the other winning the election.

The only interest is in a credible election result and the peaceful transition to an elected government.

The situation in Guyana has become a political circus of tiresome ploys to hold on to power in a country that has not had a Parliament for a year-anda-half. The patience of the regional and international community has worn thin.

Not surprisingly, action is now being taken in frustration over the recalcitrance of officials of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and the caretaker government.

Those, in the leadership of APNU-AFC and others, upon whom the US government has imposed visa restrictions because they “have been responsible for, or complicit in, undermining democracy in Guyana” have brought this upon themselves, as they have brought the humiliation to Guyana.

The US has not identified these persons; they will be denied visas when they seek to travel. The fact that, because of privacy laws, the persons have not been officially named, should be no comfort to anyone. It is the beginning of sanctions that will be graduated in proportion to further violations of democracy and the rule of law.

That the governments of Canada, Britain and European Union countries are contemplating similar action demonstrates that they have reached the end of the long rope they gave

US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo to Guyana officials to pull back from the precipice to which they took themselves.

The Permanent Council of all 33 member states of the OAS will meet on July 21 to consider the situation in Guyana. The matter will not end there, particularly as three of the largest OAS members, Brazil, Canada and the US, have now announced strong positions publicly.

The next step would be a ‘Ministerial Meeting of Consultation’ at which all member states could be urged to take actions, including sanctions, in accordance with their own laws and capacity.

The people of Guyana, who have shown remarkable patience, deserve

freedom from the suffocating circumstances into which they have been plunged. And, any government that comes to office must honour the Guyanese people by delivering good governance and policies of equality and transparency that tolerate no form of discrimination.

The writer is Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the US and the OAS. He is also a senior fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London and at Massey College in the University of Toronto. The view expressed are entirely his own. Responses and previous commentaries: www. sirronaldsanders.com

THE TRIBUNE ATLANTA Associated Press JOHN Lewis, a lion of the civil rights movement whose bloody beating by Alabama state troopers in 1965 helped galvanise opposition to racial segregation, and who went on to a long and celebrated career in Congress, has died. He was 80.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi confirmed Lewis’ passing, calling him “one of the greatest heroes of American history.”

“All of us were humbled to call Congressman Lewis a colleague, and are heartbroken by his passing,” Pelosi said. “May his memory be an inspiration that moves us all to, in the face of injustice, make ‘good trouble, necessary trouble.’”

Lewis’s announcement in late December 2019 that he had been diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer — “I have never faced a fight quite like the one I have now,” he said — inspired tributes from both sides of the aisle, and an unstated accord that the likely passing of this Atlanta Democrat would represent the end of an era.

Lewis was the youngest and last survivor of the Big Six civil rights activists, a group led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. that had the greatest impact on

Monday, July 20, 2020, PAGE 11

Obama leads tributes for John Lewis, the lion of civil rights

JOHN LEWIS, who was presented with a 2010 Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama, inset the movement. He was best known for leading some 600 protesters in the Bloody Sunday march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. At age 25 — walking at the head of the march with his hands tucked in the pockets of his tan overcoat — Lewis was knocked to the ground and beaten by police. His skull was

fractured, and nationally televised images of the brutality forced the country’s attention on racial oppression in the South.

Within days, King led more marches in the state, and President Lyndon Johnson soon was pressing Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act. The bill became law later that year,

removing barriers that had barred Blacks from voting.

“He loved this country so much that he risked his life and its blood so that it might live up to its promise,” President Barack Obama said after Lewis’ death. “Early on, he embraced the principles of nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience as the

means to bring about real change in this country.”

Lewis joined King and four other civil rights leaders in organising the 1963 March on Washington. He spoke to the vast crowd just before King delivered his epochal “I Have a Dream” speech. A 23-year-old firebrand, Lewis toned down his intended remarks at the insistence of others, dropping a reference to a “scorched earth” march through the South and scaling back criticisms of President John Kennedy.

It was a potent speech nonetheless, in which he vowed: “By the forces of our demands, our determination and our numbers, we shall splinter the segregated South into a thousand pieces and put

Pandemic rebounds around world as deaths top 600,000 BERLIN Associated Press THE coronavirus pandemic has found fresh legs around the world, as confirmed deaths pass 600,000 and countries from the US to South Africa to India struggle to contain a surge of new infections. Hong Kong issued tougher new rules on wearing face masks, Spain closed overcrowded beaches and Germany reported another outbreak at a slaughterhouse.

Pope Francis said “the pandemic is showing no sign of stopping” and urged compassion for those whose suffering during the outbreak has been worsened by conflicts.

The World Health Organization said that 259,848 new infections were reported on Saturday, its highest one-day tally yet.

While the US leads global infections, South Africa now ranks as the fifth worst-hit country in the pandemic with more than 350,000 cases, or around half of all those confirmed on the continent. Its struggles are a sign of trouble to come for nations with even fewer health care resources.

India, which has now confirmed more than 1 million infections, yesterday reported a 24-hour record of 38,902 new cases.

In Europe, where infections are far below their peak but local outbreaks are causing concern, leaders of the 27-nation European Union haggled for a third day in Brussels over a proposed $2.1 trillion EU budget and coronavirus recovery fund. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said there is “a lot of good will, but there are also a lot of positions” in the talks,

THERE is little social distancing on the beaches of northern Germany at the weekend which have have laid bare divisions about how the countries hit hardest by the pandemic, such as Italy and Spain, should be helped.

She said the talks could still end without a deal.

As scientists around the world race to find a vaccine to halt the pandemic, Russia’s ambassador to Britain rejected allegations by the United States, Britain and China that his country’s intelligence services have sought to steal

information about vaccine efforts.

“I don’t believe in this story at all, there is no sense in it,” Ambassador Andrei Kelin said when asked in a BBC interview about the allegations. “I learned about their (the hackers’) existence from British media. In this world, to attribute any kind of computer hackers to any country, it is impossible.”

Confirmed global virus deaths risen to nearly 603,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins.

The United States tops the list with over 140,000, followed by more than 78,000 in Brazil. Europe as a continent has seen about 200,000 deaths. The number of confirmed infections worldwide has passed 14.2 million, with 3.7 million in the United States and more than 2 million in Brazil. Experts believe the pandemic’s true toll around the world is much higher because of testing shortages and data collection issues.

them together in an image of God and democracy.”

It was almost immediately, and forever, overshadowed by the words of King, the man who had inspired him to activism.

Lewis refused to attend Trump’s inauguration, saying he didn’t consider him a “legitimate president” because Russians had conspired to get him elected.

When Trump later complained about immigrants from “s---hole countries,” Lewis declared, “I think he is a racist ... we have to try to stand up and speak up and not try to sweep it under the rug.”

Lewis said he’d been arrested 40 times in the 1960s, five more as a congressman. At 78, he said he’d do it again to help reunite immigrant families separated by the Trump administration.

“There cannot be any peace in America until these children are returned to their parents and set all of our people free,” Lewis said in June, recalling the “good trouble” he got into protesting segregation as a young man.

LOS ANGELES ON BRINK OF LOCKDOWN LOS ANGELES Associated Press LOS Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said the city was “on the brink” of new widespread stay-at-home orders as Los Angeles County continued to see the state’s largest increase in confirmed coronavirus cases. California reported on Saturday its fourthhighest daily total of newly confirmed coronavirus cases, with more than 9,000.

Appearing on CNN Sunday, Garcetti was asked about a newspaper editorial that criticised the rapid reopening of California, which was followed by a spike in new COVID-19 cases and hospitalisations.

“I do agree those things happened too quickly,” Garcetti said, adding that the decisions were made at the state and county levels, not by city officials. But he also said people in general had become less vigilant about taking precautions to avoid transmission.

“It’s not just what’s open and closed,” he said. “It’s also about what we do individually.”

Infections have been soaring in US states including California, Florida, Texas and Arizona, with many blaming a haphazard, partisan approach to lifting lockdowns as well as the resistance of some Americans to wearing masks.

In Florida, where health officials reported nearly 12,500 new infections and nearly 90 additional deaths yesterday, US Sen. Marco Rubio called for consistent, nonpartisan messaging.

“We’ve seen a lot of these things turned into sort of a partisan fight or a political statement,” he told South Florida television station CBS4 yesterday.

PAGE 12, Monday, July 20, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

NBA going with shorter games for Disney exhibition openers

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida (AP) — The first exhibition games of the NBA restart will go a little more quickly than usual.

The NBA is tweaking the rules for those initial matchups, going with 10-minute quarters instead of the usual 12 minutes. The change is for several reasons — among them, not wanting to overly tax players after they went more than four months without games, and because some teams do not have their full rosters at Walt Disney World yet because of coronavirus and

other issues. The change will apply only to the first exhibition for teams; their second and third exhibition games at Disney will use standard timing. All teams are slated to play three exhibitions.

“This is a different situation,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said Saturday. “In all areas, really. ... I do think that there’s some latitude to do some different things.”

Exhibitions start with a four-game slate Wednesday and continue through July 28. Plans call for all 33 exhibitions to be televised by some combination of local TV, national TV, NBA TV or NBA League Pass.

“I believe that it’s done just trying to get safety first for the players,” Orlando coach Steve Clifford said of the shorter first exhibition.

“I think most teams are like us, where everybody is just feeling their way and guys aren’t in the type of condition they would normally be in in a training camp situation.”

The league is still working on some of the specifics for the first games, even whether to give teams the option of wearing uniforms or practice gear. Most teams, as of Saturday, were still planning to wear their usual regular-season uniforms for all three of their

exhibitions -- the new jerseys featuring social justice messaging will not debut until the seeding games that count begin July 30.

Other changes for the exhibition games may include using more than three referees in a rotating system, though that also remains under discussion.

Players apparently had not been told the first exhibitions will go faster.

“I don’t know about that yet,” said Oklahoma City guard Chris Paul, the president of the National Basketball Players Association. “So, I’ll find out.”

The exhibitions will be played like normal games

— score and stats will be kept, and it will be a chance for the league’s stat crews that were hired to work for three months at Disney to work out any kinks in the system.

Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said he’s taking a different view than he does for typical preseason matchups.

For the first time, he’s talking with the coaches of the teams the Heat will face — Sacramento’s Luke Walton and Utah’s Quin Snyder — to see if there are any specific situations those clubs want to work on in those games.

Spoelstra simply bumped into Snyder in the lobby of a Disney hotel and from there, the idea of one team helping out another in the exhibitions was born. The Heat and Jazz will not play in a seeding game and couldn’t meet in a game that counts at Disney until the NBA Finals.

“You have to fast-track so much before you get to that eight-game regular season. ... We’ll approach it that way and play probably everybody available, but definitely work on some things and do a little bit of evaluating as well,” Spoelstra said.

The exhibitions will be helpful in breaking up the monotony of practice, Denver coach Michael Malone said, but he stressed that player health will come before anything else in those games.

“The No. 1 thing for me is can we get through these three scrimmages healthy and not getting guys put in a position where they’re overworked, playing too many minutes and getting hurt,” Malone said.

“I think the vast majority of the 22 teams will approach it the same way.”

LILLARD TURNS TO RECORDING MUSIC INSIDE THE BUBBLE

By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr WHEN Damian Lillard finishes his daily hoop duties for the Portland Trailblazers, he will spend most of his downtime inside the NBA bubble working on his other passion: music.

The All-Star point guard turned part of his suite into a mini recording studio at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex, where his team will make a push for a playoff berth.

The league constructed a social bubble to resume the NBA season and protect 22 teams from COVID-19 while at the resort, which features several activities such as walking trails, a bowling alley and a lake to fish or boat.

But under his rap persona Dame D.O.L.L.A., Lillard expects to turn his attention to laying down tracks when he is not occupied with basketball.

He’s striving to make his rap persona just as known as his pro basketball identity, like the Emmy-winning actor Donald Glover who won multiple Grammys under his alter ego, Childish Gambino. “That’s the point I want to get to,” he said. “I admire him with how he’s established himself into two different lanes. People respect him in each lane. That’s my goal.”

He said the setup in his room is “simple,” but it’s good enough for him to create music in a room where he can isolate himself.

WNBA PLAYERS ADJUSTING TO LIFE IN THEIR FLORIDA BUBBLE

By DOUG FEINBERG AP Basketball Writer SUE Bird has seen a lot in her storied playing career in the WNBA, overseas and the Olympics. While nothing the 39-year-old Seattle Storm guard experienced has prepared her for life in the WNBA bubble, she is making the best of the situation.

The WNBA put all 12 of its teams at a single site — the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida — in hopes of playing the full 22-game season amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“The bubble is part summer camp, mixed in with the Olympic village, playing overseas and an AAU tournament with a little bit of college life thrown in,” Bird said in a phone interview.

Two weeks into the experiment, players and coaches have been adjusting to their temporary homes.

“It’s like overseas, but a little bit easier as far as access to things as you can order in and it’s less isolating since you have so many of your friends around,” Bird’s teammate Breanna Stewart said. “In the end, getting here and seeing how everything has come to fruition, I know it’s going to work, as long as everyone’s smart and continues to be safe. We’re trusting everyone that’s here is going to be safe.”

Stewart is living in a villa with some of her Storm teammates while Bird is staying at the hotel on site. Players were given the option of where they wanted to live.

The street where the villas are located — a few minutes from the hotel — has the feel of a sorority row.

Each team was given two golf carts and they are usually parked in front of the villas where the players or operations staff are staying.

Atlanta glossed up its carts with the team’s new logo on the front.

“You say hello to people and could bump into someone a few times a day from another squad,” New York guard Sabrina Ionescu said. “It feels like the Nike Nationals AAU Tournament. You could be eating next to a team or hanging out at the pool with players that you’re going to be playing against later that day.”

While a few players voiced their concerns the first few days about the quality of food and accommodations, the league quickly addressed those issues.

With their quarantines concluded, players and staff now have a robust array of food options offered daily at the hotel. Or players can get groceries delivered and cook for themselves in the villas. The hotel is also where the league does its daily virus testing.

“Food has been great.

Service has been great.

People have had issues with their housing. but there is no protocol for this, and the league took care of it,” Phoenix Mercury veteran Diana Taurasi said. “This is the first time anyone has done this. The WNBA has gone far and beyond what I thought would happen.”

Even with the WNBA in the bubble, the virus is still on everyone’s mind. Players wear masks unless they are eating. When they line up for food and testing, marks on the ground remind them to stand at least 6 feet apart.

People can hang out in the hotel lounge, which has tables spread apart to maintain social distancing. The pool has become a popular spot during the day and at night.

Even with the leisure activities, many players spend their free time relaxing in their rooms.

“There is a lot of sitting in your room, FaceTime with your family,” Taurasi said. “It’s not ideal, but everyone’s trying their best to make sure that we are comfortable mentally and physically.”

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, July 20, 2020, PAGE 13

Play ball? Experts send mixed signals on MLB 60-game season

By JAKE SEINER AP Sports Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Thirty baseball teams from 28 cities, trying to play 60 games each amid a coronavirus pandemic that seemingly hasn’t peaked in the United States.

Plausible? Worthwhile?

Unconscionable?

Even among experts, it depends on who’s talking: “Baseball games can work,” said Dr David Hamer, professor of global health at the Boston University School of Public Health.

“I think it’s feasible.”

“There are certain sports that are higher risk versus lower risk,” said Dr Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “Baseball is sort of an intermediate risk.”

“I’m very nervous about MLB’s plan,” said Dr Zach Binney, an epidemiologist at Emory University. “It could be a disaster.”

Public health experts have mixed feelings about baseball’s hopes to open its season July 23. There is optimism because of the nature of the sport itself, which produces less on-field risk than basketball, football or hockey. Then again, players and their families face a daunting task staying safe away from the ballpark, especially with teams travelling to and from hard-hit regions, including Florida and Texas.

Unlike the NBA and NHL, Major League Baseball teams won’t be sequestered into bubbles — they’ll be travelling all around the country.

Most of all, though, there’s uncertainty. “I don’t

think you can completely quantify exactly what the risk will be,” Adalja said.

MLB has provided teams with a 113-page operations manual detailing protocols for its pandemic-shortened 60-game regular season.

Players will be tested every 48 hours. Masks and social distancing are a must at all times, except on the field. Backups can watch games from the stands instead of the dugout. No sunflower seeds. No spitting. No licking fingers.

Even the mascots won’t be allowed to get close.

There are protocols for air travel, bus travel, private cars and hotels, along with general guidance to avoid contact with people outside of the baseball world.

Can all of that keep players safe?

Can it keep MLB from straining resources in their host communities?

What if fans are allowed to attend games in September and October, as some team owners have suggested?

In short, can it work?

Two weeks into preseason camps, there’s some reason for optimism.

According to data released Friday by MLB, just 0.4 per cent of samples from players and coaches tested since June 27 have come back positive.

That’s far below the national positive rate of about nine per cent.

There have been delays in testing, most notably around the July 4 weekend, and all but two of the 30 teams have had at least one person test positive.

Still, the results are undoubtedly encouraging.

“That’s a good starting point,” said Hamer, an

UMPIRE Carlos Torres (37) sanitises his hands between batters during an Atlanta Braves intrasquad baseball game in Atlanta on July 16. (AP) infectious disease specialist at Boston Medical Center who has advised other pro sports leagues.

It’s too soon to say if that can last.

Testing is a critical pillar of MLB’s plan, but it’s hardly foolproof.

Set aside frustrating delays that forced several teams to cancel practice — even when screenings are handled perfectly, there are flaws.

Players and on-field personnel provide samples every 48 hours, and results are supposed to take one to two days to process.

That means players can take a test, participate in one or two games or practices and not find out until after that they have COVID-19. “There’s so

many cases, you may not catch them fast enough,” Binney said.

So transmission risk has to be kept low, even with coronavirus-positive players in uniform.

The nature of the sport should help. “It’s not fleeting contacts that spread this virus,” said Adalja, who is also on the NCAA’s COVID-19 advisory panel.

“It’s close contact for 10 to 15 minutes, so something like people hanging out in the dugout is much more likely, epidemiologically, to lead to the spread of the virus.”

The field of play — even the batter’s box — should be fairly safe, except perhaps for the catcher and plate umpire. Adalja also said the baseball itself

shouldn’t be an issue, since surface-based transmission is less common.

“The risk of onward transmission to teammates is going to be very low,” Hamer said.

Adalja and Hamer are hopeful about MLB’s protocols, noting that exposure can be limited on socially distanced chartered flights, in hotels and at spacious ballparks without fans.

“The risk of aerosol transmission on a plane is pretty much limited to the row you’re in and maybe a row ahead and a row behind,” Hamer said.

“I do think that they do provide substantial benefit and decrease the risk of transmission,” Adalja said of baseball’s off-field protocols. “But it’s not going to be ironclad.”

Binney is more concerned. He thinks bubble systems like those used by the NBA and NHL are a worthwhile gamble, but he’s worried that MLB’s protocols will be inadequate in virus-stricken areas like Florida and Texas. “That can all stop a few cases, and maybe even a moderate number of cases,” he said of MLB’s plans. “But if you’re getting cases from the community left and right, I have some concerns about its ability to withstand that.”

Experts aren’t worried that travelling ballclubs might endanger communities in a significant way.

The travelling parties will be relatively small, and because they’ll be using private transportation, there shouldn’t be much interaction with people not affiliated with the league in some manner.

In fact, the opposite is likely true — if the league

fails, it may be because players can’t avoid the virus in the hours when they’re away from teammates.

“I’m more worried honestly about the exposures in the community,” Hamer said. “Going out for dinner or drinks or whatever after the game, and what kind of exposures they might have there that increase the risk of being infected rather than the other way around.”

MLB is also trying to ensure its roughly 10,000 weekly tests don’t strain public resources by using private facilities.

Adalja said such a conflict might arise in some regions, but he also thought MLB’s investment might encourage much needed innovation and increased production in testing.

There’s one way MLB could pose a grave public risk, according to Binney — by opening its doors to fans.

Owners of the New York Yankees, Texas Rangers and Houston Astros have said they hope to host limited-capacity crowds by the end of the season.

Binney called the idea “completely unreasonable” until a vaccine is developed.

“When you start talking about fans, you’re adding a whole lot of risk, particularly to the public’s health,” Binney said.

“And the only benefit is money in the pocket of owners and stadium authorities.”

Adalja and Hamer think that socially distancing a stadium — bleachers, bathrooms, concession lines and elsewhere — was plausible but tricky. Before any of that can be considered, though, the virus has to be curbed.

PLAYERS PLEAD WITH NFL TO ADDRESS HEALTH, SAFETY CONCERNS

By ROB MAADDI AP Pro Football Writer NFL players are publicly pleading with the league to address several health and safety concerns on the eve of training camp.

The league informed teams on Saturday that training camps will open on time even though discussions with the players’ union regarding testing for the coronavirus and other health and safety protocols are ongoing.

Rookies for Houston and Kansas City are set to report today and rookies for other teams are due on Tuesday. Players for all teams are scheduled to report by July 28.

Many prominent players expressed their thoughts in a social media blitz yesterday.

“We need Football!

We need sports! We need hope!” Saints quarterback Drew Brees wrote on Twitter.

“The NFL’s unwillingness to follow the recommendations of their own medical experts will prevent that.

If the NFL doesn’t do their part to keep players healthy there is no football in 2020.

It’s that simple. Get it done @NFL.” Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson said he is

concerned because his wife, Ciara, is pregnant.

He wrote: “My wife is pregnant. @NFL Training camp is about to start..

And there’s still No Clear Plan on Player Health & Family Safety. ???? We want to play football but we also want to protect our loved ones. (hashtag) WeWantToPlay.”

NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith and President JC Tretter addressed the union’s concerns in a 90-minute videoconference call with reporters on Friday.

They want players tested daily for the virus.

A joint committee of doctors, trainers and strength coaches formed by the NFL and NFLPA recommended testing every other day.

Other outstanding issues include the number of preseason games.

The league has planned to cut the exhibition schedule from four games to two while the union wants no games.

Players also wanted a 45-day acclimation period to help avoid injuries.

The league asked them to report early but the union declined.

Questions remain on protections for players who want to opt out of playing.

All 32 teams have sent the union their Infectious Disease Emergency Response that have been approved by joint infectious disease experts and NFL chief medical officer Dr Allen Sills, according to a person familiar with the details.

The person, speaking to The Associated Press on

condition of anonymity because protocols haven’t been finalised, said the union has approved several and continues to review them.

On Friday, the league sent players and teams an Education Protocol for camp which requires clubs to distribute joint educational materials and to conduct

educational sessions for players, staff and family members. Tretter, a centre for the Browns, wrote: “What you are seeing today is our guys standing up for each other and for the work their union leadership has done to keep everyone as safe as possible.

The NFL needs to listen to our union and adopt the

experts’ recommendations (hashtag)wewanttoplay.”

Under the collective bargaining agreement, the NFL has the right to impose report dates and teams can fine players who don’t report. The NFLPA could file a grievance to argue the league isn’t providing a safe work environment under the labour deal.

PAGE 14, Monday, July 20, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

HIGGS WILL BEGIN PRO BASKETBALL CAREER IN SPAIN FROM PAGE 16

talent. We have to be patient because we have a lot of work ahead. The team takes a leap in the physical plane compared to past seasons. Beyond having more height, we have more physical capacity, it is a more athletic team. You have to wait for the fans to identify with the players. Hopefully they can go to enjoy the pavilion.”

Since the NCAA basketball season came to an end in March, Higgs signed with Sports International Group (SiG). The agency represents some of the biggest names in WNBA basketball, including Angel McCoughtry, Candace Parker and fellow Bahamian Jonquel Jones.

“Personally it was a big step for me and them being

a well-known agency as well as representing some of the most well-known players in basketball is huge,” Higgs told the Tribune.

After going undrafted in the WNBA Draft, Higgs continued to await the next opportunity.

“I guess everyone’s path is different, but I am still trying to achieve every part of my goals and aspirations.

I just have to take another path to get to the WNBA and see where it leads me,” she said. “If it’s the WNBA then great, but if it’s not, I still have to move on with my career. I just have to be appreciative of what I have. It could have been worse, but I’m still playing basketball.”

Higgs had her fifth year and senior season cut short when the COVID19 pandemic forced the

cancellation of the NCAA women’s tournament.

“As a freshman you think this is going to take forever but then when it finally gets there it’s a bittersweet moment because you want to see what else is out there for you but at the same time this is something you’ve been around for four years and in my case five years.

I would consider it to be a very blessed moment because I got to finish what I started and I feel like that’s a big moment for me personally because it’s just something I’m proud of for accomplishing,” she told Longhorn TV. “I would hope that my legacy is not so much to basketball, I would hope I leave one to keep fighting in any area of life and to be that light for others however that may be.”

In 28 games of her final collegiate season, including nine starts, Higgs has averaged 9.3 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. She scored a season high 19 points off the bench in a 66-60 win over the then No. 17 Tenesseee Volunteers, December 8 on the road in Knoxville, Tennessee.

The Harbour Island native played in 137 games as a Longhorn with 52 as a starter. She ranked as the seventh all-time in the Longhorns’ history for games played and 28th in career points scored with a total of 1,288.

As a junior in November 2018, Higgs was diagnosed with a season-ending torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her left knee.

Through three games, she was averaging 16.3 points, five rebounds and 4.3 assists

per game on 56 per cent shooting from the field before the season-ending injury. Despite her limited time on the floor, she became the 44th player in Texas history to reach the 1,000-point plateau when she scored 20 points in a 64-54 win over North Texas.

In the offseason, The Big 12 approved a hardship waiver for Higgs, making her eligible to return to the Longhorns for a fifth season.

Higgs entered her senior season projected to be one of the top players in the Big 12 conference and was named to the 10-member Preseason All-Big 12 Team.

She came off a junior season where she claimed All-Big 12 Second Team, Big 12 All-Defensive Team, USWBA National Player of the Week and Big 12 Player of the Week.

Though sidelined, Higgs received her third selection to the Academic All-Big 12 Teams. She was one of just eight student-athletes in the conference to have at least three selections.

As a junior, she started 35 games and averaged 12.8 points per game, which ranked third on the team, 3.3 rebounds per game and was third on the squad with 1.4 steals per game. She scored in double figures on 21 occasions, including four 20-plus point performances.

In her sophomore season, Higgs averaged eight points, three rebounds, 1.5 assists and one steal in just over 17 minutes per game.

She built upon the numbers from her freshman season when she averaged

LASHANN HIGGS 7.2 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game in 13.2 minutes.

She came to the Longhorns heralded as the preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year, and was consensus All-American at Cedar Ridge High School (Round Rock, Texas).

She emerged as the No. 7-ranked player overall and third-ranked guard in the class of 2015, according to ESPN.com.

GB hit by closure of all sporting activities FROM PAGE 16 “I think it causes our track and field community to reflect on what they are not doing and certain things that are just more expedient to training in a new COVID-19 environment.”

With no possible end in sight over the horizon, Archer said its going to be incumbent for all stakeholders in the sport to be more inventive in the way they progress for the rest of the year.

Simply put and hypothetically speaking, Archer said instead of just looking at lemonade, they now have to look at making lemonade, which happens to be his favourite drink.

Mario Bowleg, president of the Bahamas Basketball Federation, which was preparing to launch its national team programme next month, said he’s still trying to find out why New Providence is being hit with the park closures.

“We believe that any sporting activities that are taking place, the organisers would have taken the necessary safety procedures and social distancing,” he charged.

“So for me, I could see the parks in Grand Bahama being closed because of the spike in cases there, but in New Providence, I don’t see why people can’t go on the beach and exercise and use the parks because for the most part, people have been adhering to social distancing and wearing their masks.”

Bowleg, however, said while Minnis made mention of the beaches and parks, he didn’t hear of any of the gymnasiums being closed so that should allow the professional athletes and the national teams to resume their training.

“We hope that they will be allowed to continue their training under the social distancing protocols and the wearing of masks,” he said. “There was no indication that those activities will not be allowed to continue.

“There are only a limited amount of persons who are

engaged in these activities and there is a small amount of persons under the basket at any given time, so I don’t see, for all indications, that it won’t affect us.”

With about 20 men and women home and utilising the AF Adderley and Kendal Isaacs Gymnasiums for their training sessions, Bowleg said they hope that their opportunities to work out won’t be affected over the next month or so.

Perry Newton, newly elected president of the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association, said while he was shocked at the announcement, he understands the situation that the country is going through.

“Because of the lack of sporting activities in Freeport, I think they feel it the most, in terms of being locked down again, so they can’t do any sporting activities” he said.

“So far, he hasn’t said anything about Nassau. The players in Nassau still have the opportunity to play and train, so we still have some optimism because we still can do some sporting activities.”

However, Newton erred on the side of caution as well.

“Whatever we do, we still have to do it in a safe environment. We don’t want us to go back to the point that we were in early March and April.

“We’re praying that the cases don’t rise and everybody remains healthy and do our best to practice safety and social distancing.”

Still in the planning phases since resuming the leadership of the association a few weeks ago, Newton said they are taking the necessary precautions to ensure that all of their players are in a safe environment.

Just in the nick of time, IC Bahamas - a private entity - concluded a week long training programme in Grand Bahama over the weekend that was conducted by national team players Larikah Russell and Rodney Carey Jr.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, July 20, 2020, PAGE 15

Rahm’s wild day ends with Memorial win and No. 1 ranking

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — The drama was more than Jon Rahm wanted. The result was what he always imagined.

Rahm became the No. 1 player in the world yesterday with a victory in the Memorial in which he watched an eight-shot lead at the turn shrink to three shots with three holes to play, and then hit what he called the greatest shot of his life that turned into a bogey because of a penalty.

All that mattered was that fist-bump — not a handshake — with Jack Nicklaus, and taking his place along his idol Seve Ballesteros as the only Spaniards to reach No. 1 in the world.

With a two-shot penalty for his ball moving the length of a dimple on his chip-in behind the 16th green, Rahm closed with 3-over 75 for a three-shot victory over Ryan Palmer.

Rahm got up-and-down on the final four greens, which made it feel even sweeter.

“One of the best performances of my life,” Rahm said.

“Yesterday was probably one of the best rounds of my life, and finished today with some clutch up-anddowns. As a Spaniard, I’m kind of glad it happened that way.”

The fiery emotion is his hallmark. He showed it with a tee shot that sailed left into a creek on the 11th hole, Rahm slamming his club into the ground in a pique of anger. And it was evident with that ferocious fist-pump when his flop shot from deep rough behind the 16th green rolled into the cup.

Birdie or bogey, it was a winner, a shot that would have made Ballesteros proud.

“I still can’t believe it, I’m not going to lie,” he told Nicklaus off the 18th green.

With the penalty — Rahm had no idea it was an issue after his round, but accepted the penalty when he saw a video that zoomed in close on the ball — he finished at 9-under 279 for his 10th career victory, fourth on the PGA Tour.

Muirfield Village played its toughest in 42 years, with only five players under par, the fewest for the final round since this tournament began in 1976. Rahm’s 75 was the highest finish by a winner since Roger Maltbie shot 76 the inaugural year.

The rough wasn’t cut all week. The greens were allowed to go to the edge because they are being replaced. Crews already had stripped the entire fifth green as the leaders were on the back nine.

Rahm looked to be playing a different course. He played bogey-free on the front nine with birdies on the two par 5s. That put him eight shots clear on his way to No. 1.

And then he made bogey on the 10th. Not a problem.

He yanked his tee shot into a creek on the par-5 11th, and that was a bigger problem based on how hard he slammed the club into the ground in a pique of anger. He made double bogey. Palmer made birdie on the 12th, and then Rahm made another bogey from the bunker on the 14th.

Just like that, the lead was three shots.

Only a week ago at Muirfield Village for the Workday Charity Open, Justin Thomas had a threeshot lead with three holes to play and wound up losing in a playoff to Collin Morikawa.

Rahm was worried his tee shot might find the back bunker, though the rough was not a great option with how fast the greens were running. Rahm was thinking anything inside 10 feet would be good. This was perfect, the ball landing on the fringe and sliding down the slope into the cup.

As for the penalty?

“It doesn’t change the outcome of the tournament,” he said. “It just puts a little bit of an asterisk in it in the sense of I wish I could just keep that birdie because it was one of the greatest shots of my life, right?”

The chip was similar — but from a different angle — to Tiger Woods chipping in from behind the 16th green when he won the Memorial for the fifth time in 2012.

JON RAHM, of Spain, celebrates after the 18th hole to win the Memorial golf tournament yesterday.

(AP Photo/Darron Cummings) Woods, in his first competition since February 16 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, shot 76 and tied for 40th.

“Tough, tough conditions to start out my first week back, Thursday and Sunday,” Woods said. “But it was good to get the feel and the flow of competing again.”

Matthew Fitzpatrick had a 68 for the low score of the final day to finish third.

The consolation prize went to Palmer (74) and Mackenzie Hughes (72), who earned spots in the US Open at Winged Foot in September as the leading two players from the top 10 who were not already eligible. Henrik Norlander could have taken the final

spot with a par on the 18th, but he missed the fairway well to the right, couldn’t reach the green and made bogey.

Norlander and Hughes tied at 3-under 285, but the spot went to Hughes because he had the better world ranking.

That ranking now starts with Rahm, who only four years ago was at the Memorial to receive the Jack Nicklaus Award as the nation’s best college player.

Now he’s the best in the world, a ranking that McIlroy had since February 9.

“He deserves it,” McIlroy said after his tie for 32nd.

“He’s been playing great for a long time. Even the display this week, it’s pretty impressive.”

DE GEA MISTAKES SEE CHELSEA BEAT MAN U TO REACH FA CUP FINAL

By ROB HARRIS AP Global Soccer Writer LONDON (AP) — At least David De Gea was spared having a crowd inside Wembley to witness his latest mistakes in the Manchester United goal.

Gifted goals to beat United 3-1 yesterday, Chelsea will be returning to the national stadium on August 1 to face Arsenal in an allLondon FA Cup final.

De Gea’s first mistake came in the 11th minute of first-half stoppage time.

Olivier Giroud’s closerange deft touch from Cesar Azpilicueta’s cross was pushed into his own goal by De Gea. United, which was rocked

by Eric Bailly being hospitalised with a first-half head injury, returned to the field early for the start of the second half but was just as sloppy.

Diving to his left, De Gea let Mason Mount’s longrange strike go through his gloves.

There was shared United culpability for the 46thminute goal since Brandon Williams gave the ball away around the halfway line with a misplaced pass that Mount seized on.

“David knows he should have saved the second goal but that’s done now,” United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær said. “It’s hard for a keeper to make amends, apart from David making two or three fantastic saves after.

“But you see Brandon ... probably feels a bit responsible and the rest of the half he was absolutely outstanding.”

It summed up United’s misfortune that the third goal in the 74th came from captain Harry Maguire accidentally turning the ball past De Gea at the near post when under pressure from Chelsea’s Antonio Rüdiger.

Usually Sergio Romero plays in goal for United in the FA Cup. De Gea hadn’t played in the competition since the 2018 final when Chelsea beat United.

With three years remaining on De Gea’s contract, United has a quandary over the future of one of its highest-paid players who was once considered one of the world’s top goalkeepers.

United can so often rely on winning a penalty. But even earning a 19th spot kick of the season — converted by Bruno Fernandes in the 85th after Anthony Martial was fouled by Callum Hudson-Odoi — could not spark a late comeback.

It means Frank Lampard’s first season as Chelsea manager will end with a cup final. It will be a harder route to a second final in August, with Chelsea trailing 3-0 to Bayern Munich in the Champions League round of 16.

“We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves,” said Lampard, who won the FA Cup four times as a Chelsea player. “But we can certainly enjoy the performance and the result.”

In this pandemic-delayed conclusion to the season, which prevents fans attending games, Solskjaer is also chasing continental glory through the Europa League with United.

Chelsea and United will be hoping to secure Champions League spots in the upcoming final week of the Premier League season — and not be relying on winning continental competitions to qualify.

LEICESTER COLLAPSE Leicester’s 3-0 loss at Tottenham in the Premier League yesterday means the 2016 champions risk dropping out of the top four after being there since September.

Fifth-place United remains only behind Leicester on goal difference and has a game in hand against West Ham on Wednesday before playing Brendan Rodgers’ side on Sunday.

Chelsea is a point ahead of Leicester going into Wednesday’s game at newly crowned champion Liverpool and Sunday’s finale against Wolverhampton.

KANE DOUBLE Tottenham’s victory over Leicester was secured by Harry Kane setting up the opener before netting twice to take his tally to 23 goals in this injury-restricted season.

Tottenham, which moved up to sixth place in its pursuit of a Europa League place, took the lead in the sixth minute after Son Heung-min ran onto Kane’s pass before sending in a shot that was deflected in

by James Justin.

Lucas Moura played in Kane for a low finish in the 37th and the Brazilian set up the striker again three minutes later for a shot curled into the far corner.

RELEGATION Bournemouth is in relegation trouble after being beaten 2-0 by Southampton, remaining in next-from-last place.

Bournemouth is three points below 17th-place Watford, with an inferior

goal difference and having played a game more ahead of next weekend’s season finale at Everton.

Trailing to Danny Ings’ opener, Bournemouth thought it had secured a point in second-half stoppage when. But Sam

Surridge’s goal was ruled out by VAR for offside against Callum Wilson.

And Bournemouth’s frustration was compounded in the ninth minute of stoppage time by Southampton substitute Che Adams scoring a second.

SPORTS SECTION E

MLB, PAGE 13

MONDAY, JULY 20, 2020

GB hit by closure of all sporting activities

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

P

rime Minister Hubert Minnis yesterday announced some recurring safety measures to try and help curtail the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in New Providence and Grand Bahama.

Minnis said on the advice of health officials and out of an abundance of caution, public and private beaches and parks on New Providence, Paradise Island, Rose Island, Athol Island and surrounding cays will be closed until further notice.

The same goes to Grand Bahama, which has also been hit by the closure of all sporting activities.

Minnis further noted that if efforts to decrease the number of cases are unsuccessful, other restrictive measures may be recommended, including a lock down beginning on Friday, July 24.

In Grand Bahama, Quinton ‘Three Ounce’ Hall, president of the Grand Bahama Amateur Basketball Association, said it’s business as usual with no sporting activities for the past few months.

“He (Prime Minister) has to do what he has to do,” Hall said. “I can’t go against what the boss say. If that’s

how he feels, it’s the best for the country and Grand Bahama, I’m all for it.

“The most important thing is that you have to stay safe and you need to be healthy in these times. So I’m all for whatever decision he makes to make sure that we stay safe.”

The GBABA would not have been adversely affected by the decision because Hall said all gymnasium and parks were already closed because of the pandemic.

“We would resume in the new year, so there won’t be any basketball right now,” Hall said.

“We didn’t plan to do any summer programme.

It’s in everybody’s interest

to stay away from the large crowds.”

From a personal perspective, Hall said he’s still trying to get his family through the hurricane Dorian ordeal that left them devastated, so he’s taking whatever safety measures prescribed by the health officials.

One of those associations which will be affected is the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations, whose president Drumeco Archer said they made the decision to cancel their National Track and Field Championships, which would have been staged this weekend.

“In light of all that has been happening and with

the resurgence of the virus, we won’t be holding the nationals because we were expecting some numbers to come out of Grand Bahama,” he said.

“So in light of that, we won’t be having our nationals. There is the possibility of us having some individual invitationals, similar to what World Athletics has done recently. We might have an invitational 200 metres or a long or high jump competition, but we won’t have a social gathering taking place.”

As for Minnis’ statement, Archer said he is in charge of the executive board of the country and he and his cabinet decided that it was in the best interest to

take these necessary measures. “What I can say, as it affects sports, is yes when you look at it on its face, sports across all lines have been affected,” Archer said. “When you look at it, athletes have been able to continue their training with virtual instructions from their coaches.

“It takes us back to the days when we were once athletes where we trained in isolation of group settings and that was effective.

I don’t know if there is anything to prove that athletes training in groups show greater results than those athletes who train in smaller groups or in isolation.

SEE PAGE 14

LASHANN HIGGS WILL BEGIN HER PRO BASKETBALL CAREER IN SPAIN

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

SHOWN (l-r) are Keith Joseph, NACAC general secretary, Carlos Clemente, ESA general secretary, Sebastian Coe, WA President, Geen Clarke CRC President, Calixto Sierra, HON President, Isaac Vargas, CADICA general secretary, Michael Serralta, NACAC competition director, Mike Sands, NACAC President, Helen Delanay, World Athletics, Deon Sutherland, BIZ President, Juan Carlos Ramirez, ESA President, Max Mollined, GUA President, Xiomara Larios, NCA President.

Photo courtesy of NACAC

MIKE SANDS HAS MADE CONSIDERABLE STRIDES WITH NACAC CONFEDERATION

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net SINCE coming into office last year, president Mike Sands has made considerable strides with members of the North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Confederation.

While their actual meetings have been hampered this year by the coronavirus, Sands was able to hold a series of virtual meetings that have proven to be beneficial to all members.

Over the weekend, the latest meeting took place via Zoom with World Athletics President Lord Sebastian Coe accepting the invitation to meet with the presidents of CADICA or the Central America countries.

“It’s part of our plan to be all inclusive and so we wanted to meet with CADICA, who indicated during the election

campaign that there are about seven of them who didn’t feel like they are a part of the NACAC membership,” Sands said.

“I have given them my commitment that going forward, we will look at their sub division and to hear their concerns and to see how best we can address them.

“We know we can’t solve all of their problems, but at least we will know what they are and try to address them as best as we can,” he said.

One of the main concerns coming out of the meeting was how NACAC can assist CADICA in developing their schedule of events where it will be equatable to all of their members.

“On average, if you took Nicaragua for example, a lot of events are held in El Salvador and people in Nicaragua would have to drive for about 16 hours to get into the competition

and turn around and go back,” Sands said.

“So these are some of the things that we can’t solve overnight because those are logistical problems, but certainly we can find ways to help them lessen the back and forth to help their athletes.”

Technical training for the membership of CADICA was also discussed as NACAC listened to the six member presidents as they voiced their concerns.

Sands, whose administration has gotten the approval of World Athletics as he sits on the board as the area representative, said the CADICA members were also delighted to hear directly from Coe, who expressed his gratitude for the invitation and once again pledged his commitment to NACAC. Since taking over from Victor Lopez as president, Sands was able to relocate NACAC’s office from Puerto Rico and it is

now based at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium.

Coe, along with a host of other dignitaries, were on hand for the official opening in January.

NACAC was also in the process of staging a track and field meet for athletes in the region here at the stadium, but those plans had to be shelved because of the coronavirus.

Sands indicated that they are still working out the details and whether or not it would be feasible for NACAC to still stage the event in the coronavirus environment.

Sands said they also hosted their first ever NACAC Gender Leadership Workshop over the weekend with more than 80 attendees from throughout the NACAC family, including Olympic and world champion sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who sat through the entire six-hour programme.

“There’s a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes.

It’s just that COVID-19 has slowed us down,” Sands said.

“We’re trying to focus on as much as we can without physically meeting. That’s the upside of this pandemic. We still can meet over Zoom.”

Sands congratulated the tech team at the National Stadium for assisting NACAC in pulling off the meeting that was hosted by vice president Catherine Jordan from Barbados, Bermuda’s president Donna Raynor and Secretary General Cydonie Mothersill from the Cayman Islands.

The tech team was led by Dwayne Davis Jr. Two Bahamians, Simone Robinson, the daughter of the late Tommy Robinson and Ms Salvador, served as the the local interpreters during the sessions, which also featured a number of workshops.

LASHANN Higgs will begin her pro basketball career in Spain.

Higgs will join Embutidos Pajariel Bembibre PDM of the Liga Femenina Endesa, the top division of women’s basketball in the country.

The league includes 14 teams and a 26-game regular season. The top eight teams make the playoffs, while the bottom two seeds are relegated to the second division.

Higgs described her game to Bembibre Digital as “a fast and explosive player.”

“I like to apply myself in defence, and I hope to help the team in any way,” she said.

The former Texas Longhorn added that she is eager to learn about the Spanish basketball culture.

“I hope that the Endesa Women’s League, one of the best in Europe, will give me a new experience and give me the opportunity to learn and improve my game in a different environment so that my jump to FIBA basketball is easier,” she said.

“Spain is a very beautiful place, a country in southern Europe. I’m looking forward to trying the food. I’m excited to learn more about Spain and Bembibre.”

Pepe Vazquez, head coach of the club, said he expects Higgs to provide an immediate impact with her versatility.

“She is a very good level player. We cannot have WNBA players, but she has had a great university career. She is a very physical and explosive player.

Extraordinary out in the open and on the run,” he said. “She has many resources to finish in oneon-one with a good shot. I like her defensive intensity.

She is versatile, a combo that can play either guard position.”

“It is a young team, eager to work, but not without

SEE PAGE 14