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VOLUME:116 No.145, JULY 24TH, 2019

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ALICIA WALLACE: WHEN THERE IS SIMPLY NO EXCUSE

Family of mother who set daughter ablaze

My sister needs help, not just to be punished

DENISE Carey yesterday.

Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/ Tribune Staff

By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net

THE sister of Philipa Marshall, the schizophrenic woman who was convicted of murdering her one-year-old daughter by

setting her on fire, has spoken about the need to help people in such circumstances. In an interview with The Tribune, Denise Carey calls for a national debate about mental health issues as well as changing the laws to identify people suffering

psychological disorders and administer appropriate and corrective action. “You’re not dealing with a monster,” Mrs Carey said. “You’re not dealing with an evil individual ... but an individual who needs help.”

Full interview - Page 3

OBAN: WE’VE NOT GONE AWAY THE BRITISH ARE COMING BACK

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

AS negotiations between the government and Oban Energies continue for a more environmentallyfriendly and sustainable development, a source close to the project says that

Oban officials remain confident and committed to the project.

“Out of respect for the Bahamas government and people of the Bahamas, Oban thought it best not to make public statements while negotiations are ongoing,” said the source.

“But they remain

confident and committed to materialising an environmentally-friendly and economically sustainable sound project that would be good for Grand Bahama and the wider Bahamas.”

The government and Oban are SEE PAGE FIVE

By RIEL MAJOR Tribune Staff Reporter rmajor@tribunemedia.net

TRANSPORT Minister Renward Wells said yesterday the British High Commission is scheduled to return to The Bahamas in August.

Mr Wells, in an interview

with reporters outside of Cabinet after a recent trip to London, said he looks forward to Bahamians no longer having to travel to Jamaica to “sort any business that is required with the United Kingdom”.

“I would tell you too that I was the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs at the

OCTOBER D-DAY FOR NEW ROAD RULES

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

THE government is eyeing an October deadline for the enforcement of amendments that were made to the Road Traffic Act back in March.

According to Transport and Local Government Minister Renward Wells, the months leading up to the enactment will allow the government to roll out an education campaign on the

THE CHANGES criminalise the use of phones while driving. new road rules. “The road traffic amendments are going to be implemented

by the first week in October,” Mr Wells told The Tribune outside of Cabinet yesterday.

“The only thing that we need to do now is put forward the appointed day notice as you know for it to actually become law.

“The reason why we chose October is that we wanted to be able to do the PR [public relations] campaign for the Bahamian people to cause them to

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

SEE PAGE SEVEN

Commonwealth Foreign Ministers meeting. The first one was held at Marlborough House (which) was the castle that was gifted

by The Queen to the Commonwealth,” said Mr Wells.

“It was an extremely important meeting for SEE PAGE SEVEN

TECHNOLOGY

50 YEARS 0N MOON BACK IN NASA COURT

SEE PAGE NINE

PAGE 2, Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Teamwork helps clean up beaches

THE TRIBUNE

THE Rotary Club of Nassau partnered with the Commonwealth Brewery Limited (CBL) for the second annual Barefoot Beach Clean-up which took place last weekend in Adelaide. The wine brand Barefoot has been a long standing leading contributor to coastal clean-up in the America’s region and the brand’s clean-up contributions have matriculated to The Bahamas.

“The Barefoot name is synonymous with beach environments, and fun and creative professional adults

alike,” said Densil Deveaux, Senior Wine and Spirits Manager at CBL. “The brand has been involved in many beach clean-up efforts in numerous countries, to build sustainable practices through teambuilding, while protecting local ecosystems for future generations.”

Over the last two years, CBL has forged a unique relationship that fosters a simple goal, environmental awareness, and partnering with the Rotary Club of Nassau was a win-win for both parties. “We have worked with CBL on

previous projects geared towards environmental awareness and protection,” said Clinton Clarke, President of Rotary Club of West Nassau, “So we were happy to partner on a project that not only showcases our collective concern for the cleanliness of our shorelines, but also highlights the historic community of Adelaide.”

The event was deemed a huge success as more than 130 volunteers, including CBL employees and Rotary Club members turned out in full force to assist with the clean-up efforts.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, July 24, 2019, PAGE 3

This was a tragedy

DENISE Carey talking to Tribune reporter Morgan Adderley. Far left, Philipa Marshall outside the Supreme Court. Photos: Shawn Hanna & Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

My sister’s not a monster.

You’re not dealing with an evil individual. This is someone who needs help

By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net PHILIPA Marshall, the schizophrenic woman who was convicted of murdering her one-year-old daughter by setting her on fire, needs help, not retribution, says her elder sister Denise Carey.

In an interview with The Tribune yesterday, Mrs Carey, 46, called for a national conversation on mental health issues as well as the revision of laws to adequately identify those suffering psychological disorders and administer “appropriate corrective action”.

Mrs Carey said her sister has a long history of mental health issues - including two suicide attempts in as many years. These were problems Marshall, a married motherof-two sons, was receiving assistance with until she had to stop taking medication when she fell pregnant with her baby girl.

Ms Carey was adamant Marshall’s actions that fateful December 2017 night were directly due to her mental illness. She noted her sister adored her daughter and would have never harmed her “had she been in her right mind”.

Describing Marshall as a dedicated mother, wife, aunt and sister, Mrs Carey also noted Marshall was a law-abiding citizen who never displayed a propensity towards violence.

“You’re not dealing with a monster,” Mrs Carey said.

“You’re not dealing with an evil individual. This is somebody to whom something tragic has happened; to whom a terrible, terrible situation has happened.

And this is an individual who needs help. And I believe what has happened is a tragedy.”

Mrs Carey said the first time she was made aware that Marshall was experiencing “challenges” was in late 2015, when Marshall overdosed on pain medication.

It was also revealed that this was Marshall’s second suicide attempt.

“I was shocked,” said Mrs Carey, adding after the overdose, Marshall began seeing a psychologist and was placed on medication.

Mrs Carey also religiously began attending group therapy sessions with her sister.

Shortly thereafter, Marshall became pregnant with her daughter, Philicia. She stopped taking the medication to avoid harming her baby and also stopped attending group therapy.

“Life got hectic,” Mrs Carey added.

Unfortunately, her sister began to regress and reported experiencing “challenges”.

“She continued to suffer, she continued to have hallucinations, she continued to hear voices,” Mrs Carey said. She added Marshall also fiercely believed her

neighbours “fixed her”, a superstitious colloquialism for being a victim of witchcraft.

“We just continued to pray things would turn around,” Mrs Carey continued, noting her sister believed her issues to be spiritual and reached out to many members of the clergy.

“She actively sought help because she was truly tormented,” Mrs Carey said.

“But if you would have met her, you would not have known,” she continued, describing Marshall as warm-hearted and soft-spoken.

Marshall’s daughter, Philicia, was born in December 2016.

In May 2017, the sisters’ mother died of a rare tumour.

Seven months later, Marshall doused her daughter in gasoline and set her afire.

The one-year-old was hospitalised and died of an infection three months alter.

Marshall later told psychiatrist Dr Kirk Christie that she was coaxed to harm her daughter by “demonic voices” which had been “commanding” her to kill herself and do other “bad things”.

While on bail, Mrs Carey said her sister was under surveillance and on a regimen of both oral medication and biweekly injections.

“She has very strong family support, now that

31-YEAR-OLD FROM ABACO CHARGED WITH MURDER

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

A 31-YEAR-OLD Abaco man accused of killing a father of two was charged with murder in the Marsh Harbour Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

Kevin Gabriel, of Crockett Drive, appeared before Magistrate A Evans. It is alleged that on Friday, July 19, the accused by means of unlawful harm intentionally caused the death of 24-yearold Rajim Bethel.

According to initial reports from police, officers were alerted last Friday to gunshots fired in the area

of the Mudd, where officers discovered a man lying on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds in his body. He was taken to the local clinic, but died of his injuries.

Gabriel was not required to enter a plea to the murder charge. Bail was denied and he was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services until September 12.

we’ve put a name and a diagnosis on what she’s suffering the onus is on us as a family to make sure that she’s compliant with her medication.”

On July 16, Marshall was unanimously convicted of murdering her daughter after the jury considered the case for less than one hour.

She returns to court on September 19, at which time it is expected that both a psychiatrist and probation report will be prepared. She is remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services (BDCS) until that time.

“I’d like to see the laws be revised in regards to mental illness,” Mrs Carey

said. “Because I believe that once we have our laws properly structured it would allow latitude to the justice system to identify persons correctly and to appropriate the corrective action that needs to happen with these individuals.

“And definitely I believe that this requires a conversation, a national conversation. Because I think that many people… just do not have an appreciation for mental illness.”

She noted the stereotypical image of a mentally ill person is often a “crazy person” or a vagabond.

However, Mrs Carey emphasised that any ordinary member of society can be a victim of a mental disorder.

“I believe that if we start to have conversations, that people would be more sensitive to the issue and they would be able to identify signs, early warning signs that they may see in a coworker, in a student.

“When we start to have these kinds of conversations, and we start to raise awareness, I believe that Philicia’s story, Philipa’s story, does not have to repeat itself.

“And I believe that revisions to our laws would allow these persons to be properly dealt with. Because locking them away in Fox Hill is not the answer. That is not going to solve our problem.”

PAGE 4, Wednesday, July 24, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

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

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Laws which make sense - for the safety of us all IT’S NOT often you can look at an incoming piece of legislation and honestly think - about time.

From the first week in October all motorists will be subject to a set of rules which should make us all safer. They are all obvious and should have been in place years ago.

So, to avoid any doubt, over the next few months the government is going to embark on an education drive to make sure we know if we get behind the wheel that’s going to mean: * No mobile phone * No open top alcohol * You must have a full driver’s licence * You must have insurance Some of these stipulations are going to be easier to achieve than others.

Insurance will be an issue for many motorists simply because of the costs involved. How many people do you know who happily drive without insurance believing they’ll get away with it so long as they are not involved in an accident.

From October you get pulled over for speeding and an officer will ask for insurance then the gamble will cost more than obtaining insurance in the first place.

Open top alcohol should be a nobrainer. Should anyone be driving with a bottle of beer in their hand? Most countries have a virtual zero tolerance policy when it comes to alcohol and driving.

We suspect it’ll be many a year before such a thing arrives here but everyone

should be able to drive from Point A to Point B without having to have an alcoholic drink in their hand.

Having a proper driver’s licence seems obvious but we should ask just how rigorous is the process in obtaining one? Most developed countries insist would-be drivers have a long series of lessons - both practical and theoretical - before sitting a live-drive examination.

Often many fail the first time and have to repeat the process all over again.

Finally there is the curse of the cell phone drivers. At any point, on any road in our country you will see a driver with a phone pressed to their ear. We stood outside The Tribune office on Shirley Street this afternoon for no more than 10 minutes and there dozens of drivers we saw go by on their phones.

Part of the problem may be a lot of the cars on the roads here are older, imported vehicles which do not have hands-free capability where the cell phone can use a bluetooth connection allowing the driver to take calls over the car’s sound system. Some reduction in this may happen over time as the imports reach a stage when handsfree became a standard feature of most vehicles.

There have been initiatives before to encourage people not to use their phones behind the wheel. They’ve all failed. Now it’ll be the law and a fine if you take the risk.

We hope it works - for the safety of all of us on the road.

We should welcome Britain’s return WITH impeccable timing the government announced yesterday the British High Commission will reopen in Nassau next month.

The Commission was closed 20 years ago with its responsibilities picked up

by British diplomats in Jamaica. Now, as Boris Johnson assumes the British premiership, the Commission will return.

The decision to bring back a High Commissioner was taken many months ago and can be tracked back directly to the tortuous Brexit drama which has crippled British politics for more than two years and led to Johnson’s ascendancy.

The reasons for its return are obvious. As Britain pulls up its drawbridge on Europe it is going to need as many friends as it can get, especially if the

former European partners decide to make things tough on the UK as a trading partner.

No doubt the British Foreign Office thought who better than our old colonial friends? Australia, New Zealand, India and Canada will be at the top of the British charm offensive owing to the size of their markets but smaller nations like us will also soon find ourselves welcoming missions from the likes of the Confederation of British Industries, Chambers of Commerce and universities desperate to open their classes to our students (alongside the fees they will to pay).

The Bahamas, we are sure, will welcome our old friends and masters but with our eyes wide open. Times have changed since 1999 and we are wiser to the ways of the world.

We must hold on to those things that make us who we are EDITOR, The Tribune I AM a Bahamian who has grown weary of reading editorials about why we need to cut ties with our British or colonial heritage. I see nothing wrong with it at all. All countries or nations can attest to the fact that unpleasant events took place in their past. However, we all live and learn. Even in our individual lives we have all done or experienced things in our past that we are not proud of but we do not try to erase or cut off our past. We focus on becoming better individuals and simply work on improving what we have. In the same way, The Bahamas simply needs to focus on ensuring that we become a better

nation but we must hold on to those things that make us who we are.

I look forward to watching the procession for the opening of the legal year.

I have no problem with the queen or the royal family. Those who are chosen to receive royal honours should be proud as it is something to be proud of. These things do not negate our “Bahamianness”, they are simply a part of us.

I find that some “educated “ persons have a problem with anything colonial and all they rant about is how our forefathers were enslaved and how the “white man” did this and that. I have heard enough. I am a proud black Bahamian who agrees that

blacks experienced injustice but so did some white people and so did other races. Leave My Bahamas just as it is with our colonial connection. There is so much rich history intertwined in it all. What the complainers should do is sit down and think of ways to help the at risk young men and women who are committing crimes and so forth. We cannot blame the queen or slavery or our colonial history with that.

We must blame ourselves as a nation. We as a people must focus on how to “fix” our present condition and stop complaining about the past.

PROUD BAHAMIAN Nassau July 18, 2019

Shrewd play by the PM EDITOR,The Tribune THERE is a theory that the Prime Minister was being cunning like a fox when he chose to stare at the leather in his shoe rather than look the international boss of BTC directly in the eye.

The PM must have known that he could have been perceived as double dealing by his visitors who later turned out to be uncouth, undiplomatic and culturally tone-deaf. The PM presides as corporation sole with ownership stakes in both BTC and the newest telecoms kid on the block, Aliv.

Damage one and the other is the immediate beneficiary. Aliv got another lifeline tossed its way by the self-inflicted wounds and body-blows to BTC by their new foreign owners.

When Hubert Ingraham sold BTC to Cable & Wireless in 2011, ownership transferred to this storied old British company with well-established roots in the Caribbean.

Years ago, when a titan of Jamaican business Mayer Matalon was chairman of Cable &Wireless, he was on a first name, look-’emdirectly-in-the-eye basis with every Prime Minister in the region, including our own. Matalon would have fired on-the-spot any of his managers who so egregiously upbraided a prime minister in public.

But these are different times and companies are run by men and women driven almost exclusively by the almighty dollar, and the American boss of Liberty Latin America (as the latest iteration of Cable & Wireless is now known), Balan Nair is the poster boy of this new dispensation.

The American media advises that we should always follow the money when trying to get to the crux of a story.

Balan Nair became the big boss of Liberty only last year and he obviously wants to be a hands-on manager.

Who can blame him? They paid dearly for C&W – over $3 billion in cash – and they assumed over $2.5 billion in debt. Obviously, somebody figured out that there was telecoms gold in this neck of the woods.

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net Liberty is a publiclytraded company and the market can be brutal on stocks that don’t perform up to expectation. Cable & Wireless had four jewels in its crown at the time Liberty became a suitor. There was Mas Movil in Panama, BTC, LIME (everywhere else in the Caribbean except the Bahamas), and C&W Seychelles.

For what much was paid, much more in profit is expected.

Liberty rode Flow (as LIME was rebranded) hard and the Jamaica unit started to show good results, never mind that complaints and customer fury spiked.

BTC, faced with competition from Aliv as well as other legacy problems, performed reasonably, but not well enough to warrant a pep-rally from Mr Nair.

He came to Nassau, presumably to discuss with the PM, picking up the shares of BTC that they don’t already own (if it’s doing so badly, why do they want more?). Then there is the pesky problem of the 2% golden shares that the country owns that puts the power on our side of the table.

Getting more for less is essentially Nair’s job.

Standing up for the Bahamian people is essentially the PM’s job.

Divulging tales outside of the schoolhouse was not supposed to be Mr Nair’s job but he obviously got caught up in what the former Chairman of the US Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan used to call “irrational exuberance”. In local parlance: he got swung by his Jamaican audience.

To mock our PM publicly is bad. To not know that somehow in the Caribbean it wouldn’t get back to the PM is just plain out dumb.

Mr Nair is a wealthy man. He earned over $13 million in cash and stocks last year. As the Liberty stock goes up, so does his wealth. According to stock filings, he reportedly trades 10,000 units of stock over 10 days, valued on the

week of his transgression at $170,000.

Nair was tone deaf to the rivalry and derision that characterises the Bahamas-Jamaica special relationship. While to him that was the right audience in front of which to belittle the Bahamian PM, it was salt in the wound to Bahamians.

For starters, while ethnically and culturally similar, economically we are chalk and cheese. His audience gets paid an average of $15,000 a year. A similar crowd at BTC would cost him over twice that amount.

Jamaica has 3.5 million subscribers, we have about 450,000 (land and cellular).

Jamaicans don’t pay to receive calls, we do. It is cheaper to call the Bahamas from abroad than it is to call Jamaica despite their scale advantage. Somebody has to pay for Jamaicans to receive free calls.

Mr Nair was insensitive to the challenges faced by BTC, not just from Aliv.

He should concentrate on fixing those before berating the Prime Minister for enforcing our Bahamianisation policy.

We got an apology of sorts from Mr Nair. Perhaps he was sorrier that he got caught than he was for putting his foot in his mouth.

In any event, the mea culpa from him will never satisfy all Bahamians. Mr Nair has a bigger boss, a reclusive American billionaire named John Malone. He is worth about $7 billion. He is a stealth operator who former US vice president Al Gore once dubbed “Darth Vader”.

He needs to come down, look Dr Minnis squarely in the eye and apologise for Balan Nair’s vacuous words.

Besides, by insisting that BTC keeps its call centre here, the PM might have inadvertently done us all a favour. Imagine having to deal with a Guyanese call centre to explain how your call dropped on a mail boat ride to a Family Island just as you were about to find out what number to call.

THE GRADUATE Nassau July 21, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, July 24, 2019, PAGE 5

OBAN: WE’VE NOT GONE AWAY AND ARE STILL CONFIDENT from page one

renegotiating extensive changes to a heads of agreement with Oban Energies for a $5.5 billion oil refinery and storage facility in East Grand Bahama. The government initially signed the Heads of Agreement in February 2018, but after much public controversy decided to review it.

According to the source, Oban remains confident of the project going ahead. “Oban is keenly aware of the environment concerns expressed, and will make relentless efforts to make this project

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net PROGRESSIVE Liberal Party leader Philip “Brave” Davis pivoted last night from rhetoric discouraging a challenge to his leadership team at the upcoming PLP convention.

He directly acknowledged the looming challenge of Obie Wilchcombe for the first time and said the former West Grand Bahama and Bimini MP should run if he believes he could offer what the current team cannot.

The Tribune reported last week that Mr Davis told nearly 200 stalwart councillors in Grand Bahama last month that he wanted no challenges to his team, which includes Chester Cooper as deputy leader, Fred Mitchell as chairman and Robyn Lynes as deputy chairman. His remark was a signal to Mr Wilchcombe who has been eying another run for party chairman.

Critics, nonetheless, blasted his plea as undemocratic.

The Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador MP returned last night to Grand Bahama, the bedrock of Mr Wilchcombe’s support in the party, with a different message.

“I want everyone who is here,” he said, “those who may be supporting Obie, those who may be supporting anyone else, just let me

environmentally-friendly.

It will be sustainable and create hundreds of jobs for Bahamians.”

The source also indicated that Oban remains with a presence in the Bahamas and has signed a tentative lease for an office. “It is said that once the project begins, up to 600 to 1,200 Bahamians would be hired immediately in the first phase,” the source said.

This comes months after Alexander Grikitis, president of Oban Energies, declared his confidence in the future of the project after a lengthy meeting with government officials at the Ministry of Labour.

At the time, Mr Grikitis gave no details about what happened in the March meeting, telling reporters “agreements and confidentiality” dictate he not speak about it. Asked if he is confident the project will still go ahead, he said in March: “I am, 100 percent.”

“We’re in negotiations and some things they have requested to change, but I can’t really make too many statements at this point but (today) we’ll be more open to talk,” Mr Grikitis had previously said.

The government wants to amend Oban Energies’ Heads of Agreement (HoA) to adjust environmental

clauses, economic terms and several restrictive legal conditions. The project has been opposed by environment organisations. An environmental impact assessment for the project has not been disclosed to the public.

Promoted as a multibillion-dollar investment in Grand Bahama, Oban Energies became a lightning rod for criticism early last year when unflattering information about some of the people representing the company were publicised and it was discovered that Peter Krieger, the company’s former non-executive chairman, signed the HoA on behalf of Satpal Dhunna,

the former president of the company, at a public ceremony.

In addition, Mr Krieger pleaded guiltily to firstdegree felony of organised fraud in 2006. He also faced accusations of misappropriating more than $3.7m of investor monies, which he denied doing.

The Tribune also revealed last year that Mr Dhunna was dismissed by his former employer, CreditSights, in 2010 for “alleged gross misconduct.”

Additionally, research showed that Oban Energies’ previous senior vice-president, Russell Erickson, purported to

have a wealth of experience designing, coordinating and managing large logistical supply chain strategies, was experienced only in boat manufacturing.

Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis has admitted Cabinet made mistakes with the project.

“We would still be assessing what is best for the Bahamas, ensuring we do all the proper investigations, ensure environment impact studies, ensure our environment is protected,” Dr Minnis said in March when asked about Oban’s future.

“So whatever is in the best interest of The Bahamas will be done.”

Davis now happy to take on challengers say it clear and loud, whoever wants to run for any position should run. This is the time, at convention, to sort these things out. This team, Brave’s team, we are feeling really good about the party’s progress with the Deputy Leader Chester Cooper, with the chairman, Senator Fred Mitchell and with our Deputy Chairperson Robyn Lynes. We feel good about the party’s progress. These are exciting times. We rather not interrupt the momentum of a party that is growing and

is on the move but if Obie wants to make an argument about why that interruption is necessary and worthwhile, he should do so.”

He continued: “(Obie) asked me about running and I told him I don’t see that he has the support and that continues to be the case. I rather spare him another loss but no one is gonna stand in his way of ambition. I just want every PLP and stalwart councillor to realise that the party is progressing, the party is moving and the party is

on the way to victory. It is my view, you may have a different view but it is my view, that it is not time to interrupt that progress, it is not time to interrupt that growth, it is not time to change mates on the SS PLP and that is my view and I wish to persuade you that that is the view that you too should take.”

Mr Wilchcombe’s potential challenge has caused tension in the PLP. The former tourism minister received 208 fewer votes than Mr Mitchell when he

PROGRESSIVE Liberal Party leader Philip “Brave” Davis. ran for chairman in 2017 and some believe he poses a greater challenge this time.

In response, Mr Davis and his allies have sought to make the chairmanship race a test of loyalty to Mr Davis, often reminding people that the chairman must be someone the leader is comfortable working with.

“The question,” Mr

Davis said last night, “is at this time, are the team members each working well with each other, and the answer is yes, that is happening. As your leader I say to you the team is working and I am satisfied with that team, and that’s all I come to tell ya.”

The PLP convention will be held July 25 - 26.

UNION CONTINUES ASSAULT ON BTC MANAGEMENT

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union continued its verbal assault on BTC’s leadership yesterday, this time attacking the credibility of CEO Garry Sinclair.

After filing a trade dispute against BTC, BCPOU president, Dino Rolle, said in a statement: “The truth is a foreign concept to CEO Garry Sinclair.

“Unlike what was conveyed, Mr Sinclair has yet to complete the negotiations with the unions relative to the VSEP packages being offered and, more seriously, we have not signed any industrial agreement with BTC.” The BCPOU filed a trade dispute arguing that BTC failed to negotiate in good faith on proposed voluntary separation packages (VSEP).

Mr Rolle said: “On Friday, July 19, Mr Sinclair emailed me and very pointedly stated in his email that he is ‘respectfully concluding our consultative discussions’ and he will be moving ahead with the launch of the VSEP programme at BTC in the coming days. You can’t get clearer than that. Unfortunately, it seems as though Mr Sinclair was attempting to deter the unions and had hoped that we would have gone away quietly and forfeited the rights of our

members. Now he’s stating in the dailies this week that BTC is only in the ‘planning phase’ of its VSEP programme.”

Mr Sinclair told Tribune Business this week that BTC is readying another round of VSEPs to help cope with increasing competition. He said no forced redundancies will be involved and added that the new VSEP packages will be more generous than previous offerings.

Nonetheless, Mr Rolle said: “Our only aim is to ensure that our members are treated fairly and offered equitable packages commensurate with their years of service. Additionally, we have to be very deliberate with our actions to ensure that the VSEP packages are designed appropriately primarily because pensionable individuals accepting the packages will be transitioning a financial burden to the already multi-million dollar mounting debt of the public purse—subsequently the Bahamian people.

“This is an unfortunate position which carelessly came about under the terms of the BTC sale to CWC. I find the actions of the BTC CEO, Mr Sinclair, to be most disingenuous. You can’t treat the staff with disdain, call them inefficient and ‘dead wood’ behind closed doors and call for unity in the public face.

Staff can’t be efficient when

TRIBUNE PICTURE CAPTION IN the July 23 edition of The Tribune, in a photograph next to the headline “Man On Attempted Murder Charge”, Shaquille Bethel Hamilton was incorrectly identified as Shannon Wilson.

The Tribune would like to clarify that Hamilton was not charged with attempted murder, but was brought to Magistrates’ Court on

Monday to face charges in connection with killing in the course of dangerous driving related to an incident that occurred on June 14 when the car he was driving clammed into a tree and rolled into a ditch, leaving his passenger dead. Hamilton has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.

The Tribune apologises for the error.

they are not provided with the tools to perform their job functions. This business has not made any major capital investments in BTC for almost five years.

“As a part of the

shareholders agreement, CWC (Cable and Wireless Communications) is paid a two percent management fee to manage BTC. They need to do their jobs. It’s appalling that all advanced

level activities for the technical departments, namely IT and engineering have been outsourced to Miami. Local technicians must also rely and coordinate with external persons from Barbados,

Jamaica and Curacao to offer simple services to our customers. This isn’t globalisation. This is CWC’s clever way of reducing costs and removing jobs from Bahamians,” Mr Rolle said.

PAGE 6, Wednesday, July 24, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

AUGUST DEADLINE SET TO TACKLE TRANSPORT PROBLEMS

By RIEL MAJOR

TRANSPORT Minister Renward Wells yesterday announced August as the new deadline for a Cabinet sub-committee to tackle lingering issues surrounding the transportation industry.

Mr Wells said the Cabinet subcommittee is scheduled to meet this month and is hoping to present its findings to Cabinet by the following month.

He said: “My talks with the taxi drivers continues - it’s not a single conversation. As I would have said in the past, the Cabinet of The Bahamas…the prime minister in his wisdom has put together

a sub-committee of about six Cabinet ministers to deal with the entire transportation business.

“Not just taxi cab drivers but bus drivers (and) delivery drivers to deal with road traffic so that we can have one cohesive policy.

That [will be] both accepted by the government of The Bahamas and more so bought into by the Bahamian people and bought into by those persons who are involved in the transportation business.”

He added: “As you [would] know the prime minister has already spoken as to some of things he would like to see take place. This is his administration and is our job to say how we are

going to implement that which he so desires to see take place.”

In an interview with The Tribune, Wesley Ferguson, president of the Bahamas Taxicab Union (BTU) said he has a meeting scheduled with the prime minister “sometime” this week.

Mr Ferguson said: “We are in deep negotiations and I had to give them a little leeway because…the minister was off the island for the last two weeks and he just got back into office Monday, so he saw me Monday morning and we spoke briefly and since then the prime minister has contacted me for a meeting this week.”

In June, taxi and jitney drivers joined forces and threatened a “massive shutdown” if the government didn’t take their concerns seriously, stating: “We will no longer be pushed aside.”

At the time, Mr Ferguson and president of the Bahamas Unified Bus Drivers Union Frederick Farrington told Tribune Business that government had until July 1 to meet with them and work on resolving their issues.

Earlier in July, jitney drivers withdrew their services after government officials failed to meet with the Bahamas Unified Bus Drivers Union before their July 1 deadline.

Mr Farrington told The Tribune the demonstration was just “the tip of the iceberg and a fullfledged strike” may occur in the near future if their concerns aren’t heard.

Mr Farrington said previously: “We put [our concerns] out there and said we would give the minister one month to meet with us [to discuss] our issues within the industry. It seems like the minister has pushed the union aside actually, it seems like he is not union friendly.

“We [withdrew] services from each route - like 90 percent of buses,” he said, which means about 80 to 90 bus drivers took part in the protest.

Wells insists Post Office is in the right place

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net TRANSPORT Minister Renward Wells fiercely defended the Minnis administration’s decision to lease the Town Centre Mall to house the General Post Office yesterday, insisting the government hid no element of the deal.

And despite calls for the lease agreement to be tabled at Parliament, Mr Wells did not commit to this, saying it was a discussion that needed to be had at another level.

He also refused to set the record straight on whether former Immigration Minister Brent Symonette had been involved in any of the discussions surrounding the deal.

This has been a point of contention for many after the St Anne’s MP, who is part owner of the mall, previously revealed that Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis called him to personally negotiate the deal last year.

However, Mr Symonette and government officials have also said he was not a part of Cabinet talks surrounding government renting the mall.

Nonetheless, Mr Wells said he doesn’t think the controversy surrounding the post office relocation will hurt the Minnis administration’s public image.

“Everything that was spoken to in the press was spoken to in the House of Assembly,” the minister said yesterday as he rejected criticisms about

the situation. “The resolution was put forward, transparency was given to the Bahamian people, it was debated, reports were laid, people had their say and there was a vote and we moved.

“But yet still we have come back in this era to try to adjudicate something that was already adjudicated in the high court of Parliament. “…Ain’t nobody was ducking under no rock [or] hiding nothing. It was there for all the Bahamian people to see, for people to ask questions, for the opposition to debate, for them to lay documents and we spoke to the issue and so the fact of the matter is and so my statement is going to end there. What could be more transparent?”

He also said: “The process has been transparent and I don’t see any issue as to why we’re back at adjudicating the process. As I said from the beginning we were transparent and we still are.”

While he would not speak to the engineer’s report done on the Phil’s Food Services building at Gladstone Road, the Bamboo Town MP said the government had good reason not to go with that location.

Earlier this month, The Tribune reported that the Minnis administration’s rationale in a Parliament resolution last year for abandoning the Phil’s building as the site of the General Post Office was not supported by the assessment of independent

engineers contracted to evaluate the building.

The Tribune asked Mr Wells yesterday if the building had already been gutted of electrical wiring when the report was done. He did not answer the question.

“I am going to say this: we said that it was about structural and other technical issues. I spoke to all the technical issues. The second-floor mezzanine that was inside the Phil’s building [was] completely gone. [There was] no more second floor. [It was] completely gone because of structural issues. [The] electrical system gutted, this isn’t something that we hid we spoke to this in the House of Assembly - ain’t nothing new there.”

Mr Wells said he stood by the government’s decision and was confident it has been handled the right way.

“Listen no one disagrees that the post office is in the right place,” he said when asked if this could be a stumbling block for the government.

“The place where it is, is the right place. As a matter of fact, the opposition thought that the centre where it is being so right they decided that they didn’t want to go there because of whatever reasons, so where they went?

“Did they go to the west end of the island or the east end of the island?

“No, they went right cross the road in Independence Shopping Centre. So, everybody agrees it’s the right place. Everybody agrees it is the right spot on the island.

Everybody agrees that it is

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TRANSPORT Minister Renward Wells defended the Minnis administration’s decision to lease the Town Centre Mall to house the General Post Office the right place according to their own reports and so at the end of the day what are we debating? Tit-for-tat, butter for fat; you kill my dog, I kill your cat?

“Come on let’s be serious

about statecraft and about what is required.”

As for the lease agreement, Mr Wells said it was signed and there is nothing else about it that hasn’t already been said. He said

the government had previously said it was paying $12 per square foot for 56,000 square feet. Additionally, the lease leaves room for government to rent up to 75,000 square foot if need be.

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THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, July 24, 2019, PAGE 7

British on way back to The Bahamas

from page one Commonwealth countries all together on the same page before the...

Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Rwanda next year in Kigali so I was happy to represent the Minister of Foreign Affairs in that regard. I can tell you since 1729 The Bahamas has always had a British High Commission in the country.”

He added: “We all know a few years ago the British packed up and left. We now know that by August they will return to the country and one of the wonderful things that I was privy to and happy to see take place

was the exuberance on the part of the British for coming back to the Bahamas as an official High Commission.”

Peter Young, the last British High Commissioner to The Bahamas, served from 1996 to 1999 when the High Commission was transferred to Jamaica. However, he remained in The Bahamas as British honorary consul until his retirement in February 2013. He and his wife Verona have made Nassau their home.

Last year, then-British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson announced the decision to reopen a diplomatic office in The Bahamas among other countries.

In announcing the move, Mr Johnson said in April 2019: “As a Commonwealth family of nations, it is in our shared interest to boost prosperity, tackle security issues and clear up the environment. These new diplomatic posts are in regions which provide huge potential and opportunity post-Brexit for British businesses and will help us to deepen our relationships across the Commonwealth. After we leave the EU, global Britain will remain outward facing, open for business and a champion of the rules-based international order.”

Editorial View - Page 4

BAHAMIANS will no longer having to travel to the British High Commission in Jamaica, above, to “sort any business that is required with the United Kingdom”.

FRAUD TRIAL OVER FAKE DEGREE CLAIM NOW SET FOR 2020

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

A DATE in 2020 has been set for a man’s trial alleging he used fraudulent documents to secure his admission to the Bahamas Bar. Acting Deputy Chief Magistrate Subusola Swain said Shavon Bethel will stand trial on January 22 next year on 10 criminal charges stemming from his alleged fake certifications.

The case was due to be heard on Monday, however, Crown attorney Patrick Sweeting told the court the lead prosecutor, Darnell Dorsette, was mourning the death of a close family member.

According to a Court of Appeal ruling on the matter, Bethel was called to the Bahamas Bar on August 14, 2013.

Bethel allegedly claimed to have been awarded an LLB law degree by the University of London. To back up this claim, it is said he produced fake degree certificates dated March and July 2005.

The claims were made in 2006, when he applied to become a student member of the Inner Temple and was also used when he was called to the Bar by the Inner Temple in 2013.

However, the Bar Association would later obtain a letter from the University of London that asserted that a Master’s degree in Law and a Bachelor’s degree in Law presented from that institution were forgeries, information that did not come to the attention of the Bahamas Bar until a month after then-Senior Justice Jon Isaacs, now an appellate judge, made an order for the Bar Association to provide Bethel with documents that were crucial to him practising as a criminal attorney in the Bahamas.

According to the Court of Appeal ruling, after he was called to the Bahamas Bar, Bethel’s employer at the

time, Terrel Butler, by way of letters dated September 23 and 26, 2013, wrote to the Bar Association for a certificate of good standing and a bar identification card on his behalf.

According to the ruling, the documents Bethel requested are necessary for lawyers to practise in the Bahamas, particularly those who practise in the criminal courts. This, the ruling said, is because of an apparent policy at police stations for only persons who possess a Bahamas Bar ID card can be allowed access to their clients.

However, Ms Butler did not receive an acknowledgment or reply to any of those letters.

On October 1 of that year, Ms Butler sent another letter to the Bar Association referring to her previous letters and advising that she did not receive an acknowledgment or reply. However, she got no reply to that letter either.

After not getting a reply from the Bar Association, Bethel filed an application for judicial review asking the court to grant him a declaration that he was entitled to receive the certificate and the ID card.

When the matter came on for hearing before thenSenior Justice Jon Isaacs in November 2013 there was no appearance by or on behalf of the Bar Association, the respondents in the matter.

As a result, the matter was heard in their absence, and Bethel was granted the declarations he sought.

Elsworth Johnson, then the Bar Association’s president, was served personally with a copy of the November 2013 order that was endorsed with a Penal Notice; however, there was a refusal to comply. An amended order was granted by the court on November 14 of that year, fixing a time of three days for Mr Johnson to comply.

Mr Johnson was served with a copy of the amended order and yet again, he

refused to comply. As such, Mr Johnson and the Bar Association did not issue Bethel the documents.

In December 2013, Bethel again approached the court to have Mr Johnson and the Bar Association committed for contempt.

The respondents appeared and resisted Bethel’s application, and also filed a summons seeking to have the court’s order set aside on the grounds that Bethel had secured admission to the Bahamas Bar by using fraudulent documents.

Justice Isaacs did not make a finding of contempt, but instead ordered that Bethel be provided with the certificate and the ID card.

The judge also dismissed the Bar Association’s summons.

The Bar Association consequently appealed Justice Isaacs’ decision to dismiss its summons. That appeal remains outstanding.

Meanwhile, Bethel was charged before the Magistrate’s Court with four counts each of possession of a false document and uttering a false document; deceit of a public officer; and perjury. Mr Johnson was listed as a witness in the matter.

When the case commenced before the magistrate, Bethel took issue with those proceedings on the basis that they were an abuse of process because the basis for those charges had already been raised or could have been raised in the December hearing.

The magistrate consequently stayed the proceedings to allow Bethel to contest the charges.

Subsequent to that, Bethel applied to the Supreme Court seeking a permanent stay of the criminal proceedings in the Magistrate’s Court, however, the application was dismissed by the judge.

Bethel unsuccessfully appealed that decision, thus paving the way for his impending trial in the Magistrate’s Court next year.

OCTOBER D-DAY SET FOR NEW DRIVING RULES from page one

understand exactly what it is that we are intending to do in regards to being able to turn left on the stop light, in regards to communication devices and also too some other issues that have been going on with road traffic.”

The amendments criminalise both the use of phones while driving and driving with an open alcoholic beverage. Motorists will also immediately have to produce proof of insurance and a driver’s licence upon the request of a police officer.

The amendment also requires the payment of outstanding traffic offence fines before renewing a driver’s licence.

Driving instructors will further be prohibited from holding electronic devices under the new law but the stipulation will not apply to those driving emergency vehicles or a vehicle that is lawfully parked and not impeding traffic. The amendments also mean motorists will be able to make a cautious left turn on a red traffic light.

The amendments were passed earlier this year after they were tabled in September 2018.

Editorial View - Page 4

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PAGE 8, Wednesday, July 24, 2019

H

OW often do you think about the power you have? As a parent, employer, or citizen, you have a certain amount of power that people who are not in the same position do not. If you are a parent, you have an incredible amount of power over your children.

You can decide where they will and will not go, what they wear, who they spend time with - the list goes on.

Those who view you as an authority will defer to you, hesitate to defy or contradict you and want to stay on your good side. This is one of the reasons sexual harassment is understood and given consideration in the workplace.

We know a person in authority may abuse their power and the victim may not be in a position to advocate for themselves. A policy must exist and the human resources department has to be prepared to deal with it. With this understanding, let us turn our attention to the case of the immigration officer who faced a rape charge.

THE TRIBUNE

Why now there is simply no excuse The

Alicia Wallace

column

Last week, The Tribune reported a senior Immigration Officer refused to acknowledge the inappropriate nature of his behaviour toward a former detainee who had been released into his custody.

He argued he did not rape her and that they had

consensual sex. Whether or not the woman agreed to sexual activity of any form, it was an abuse of power.

Power and authority must be considered here.

How do your children respond when you tell them to do something completely out of the norm?

How do your employees respond when directed to perform tasks outside of their job description? How do you respond when a person senior to you gives a directive?

Whether it is right or wrong, fair or unfair, you are sure to need a minute to decide what to do. You do not want to be disrespectful, but you do not want to be disrespected either.

What do you do when an authority figure makes respect a one-way street and can negatively impact your life in some way if you refuse them?

The officer was in a position of power. The woman was in a particularly vulnerable situation. It was

improper for her to be in his exclusive custody and unacceptable for a state actor to put her in that position. What were her options in that situation? Was she able to freely give consent

to a man who had her in his custody?

The excuse presented by the officer is not acceptable. If he can behave this way against a person in his custody it does not bode well for any of us.

Enjoying a happy change of plans

JODI Minnis’ art exhibition.

OPPORTUNITY comes in many different ways and it is sometimes disguised as something else. On Saturday, my day did not go the way I expected. I had a list of things to do and everything was thrown off by one change. I wanted to spend a few hours working on a project, but my workspace was unavailable due to an error that has since been resolved. It meant I had to make a few schedule changes, but also created space for me to do something else.

Jodi Minnis — a young Bahamian artist exploring gender, race and culture through multimedia — had a 24-hour drawing performance at Popop Studios. I had planned to “show my face” for a few minutes after work, but since it had started at 9am, I decided to go during my new “free time” slot. It was a good decision. I met a few people there, and during the three hours I ended up spending, I was able to reconnect with more people I had not seen in a while.

Jodi worked through the entire 24 hours without food or sleep, stopping only for a few minutes between pieces. I arrived during a break of less than five minutes and was there for the next one which I’m sure was even shorter. During the event, Jodi completed eight new charcoal drawings, and they were on display for the Sunday evening opening. If you missed it the first time, I

Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff heard there may be another opportunity coming up, so look out for it.

Jodi’s performance highlighted and reminded me of a few important things.

First, it was an exercise of discipline. She decided that she wanted to take 24 hours to do the work.

She removed almost every distraction, even in the forms of nutrition and rest.

Every minute counted, so she gave herself no more time than she needed for the necessary functions to sustain life.

Second, it made clear the importance and purpose of community. In the time I spent there, numerous artists stopped in to watch Jodi work, share photos and videos on social media, encourage her and offer to bring back anything she may have needed.

Painters, photographers, fashion designers and writers showed up.

Third, it was a demonstration of turning inspiration into something fresh while acknowledging the origin. In her event description, Jodi explained that hers was not the first of this kind. Similar events had taken place and Popop Studios had been used in similar ways before. Hers may have looked and felt different, but the 24 hour drawing performance was one event in a line of events that made the artist’s work — including the creation of the work — public.

Fourth, I thought about the vulnerability that comes

with being watched. We all know that feeling of someone closely monitoring as we make a phone call, assist a customer, prepare a meal or navigate traffic.

How much more intense is it to be watched — with curiosity or criticism — for a full day as you make decisions, begin, change your mind, make mistakes, correct mistakes, look at your work, think about it and keep going?

I appreciated the opportunity to watch Jodi work.

I’ve only started paying attention to the art scene over the past ten years, but I have always wondered how. How do they do it?

How do they come up with the ideas? How do they know where to start? How do they know they can?

How long does it take? Saturday did not answer all of my questions, but it fuelled my curiosity even more.

I have the utmost respect for artists and their work, and I’m sure no two artists have identical processes. I enjoyed being able to see a clean slate be worked and reworked to become what the artist intended. I do not know if I would ever expose myself in the same way, but it seems like a good exercise for building community, expanding the comfort zone and creating intimacy between the work and those who consume it, whether or not by purchase.

For a full report and pictrue special, see Weekend in Friday’s Tribune.

PAGE 10, Wednesday, July 24, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

By MELINA KOURANTIDOU Postdoctoral Fellow, Marine Affairs Programme, Ocean Frontier Institute, Dalhousie University

T

HE world’s fish stocks are in decline and our increasing demand for seafood may be one of the main drivers. But the true extent of the problem is hard to estimate, especially when fishing occurs in the high seas, which lie beyond national jurisdiction and are hard to monitor.

Conservation planners face growing pressures to combat illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing, the value of which has been estimated at $10-23.5 billion annually. This is an important cost for society as a whole, but also for the major high seas fishing countries such as China and Taiwan that subsidise their fleets and may have low labour costs.

Artificial intelligence (AI) could address this global environmental concern — and satisfy the need of seafood retailers and consumers to know if what they’re selling and eating is sustainable. Social scientists are beginning to think of ways that can bring AI, ecology and economics together — to design policies that target socially desirable outcomes such as preserving biodiversity values and returning the benefits of fishing to society.

At a February meeting of HUMAINT, a European Commission-led initiative on human behaviour and machine intelligence, I discussed the ways AI can be used to help marine resource management.

Using artificial intelligence to combat illegal fishing

Poached fish Fisheries and conservation managers have put a lot of effort in recent years in establishing spatial management tools such as marine protected areas to help fish stocks recover from past over-exploitation.

Fish biomass in no-take marine reserves can be on average 670 percent greater than in unprotected areas.

Even though they are protected, these areas are not always immune to IUU fishing. Poaching occurs and cannot be tracked easily.

This can make it difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of the protected area in a rigorous scientific manner.

IUU fishing results in environmental, economic and social costs — namely declining fish stocks — and can lead to a loss of profit for those fishers who play by the rules. It can turn the industry against the regulatory authorities that impose these spatial restrictions, undermine public trust in fisheries management and conservation science.

Tracking fishing with AI Traditionally, observers have been employed, at high cost, to monitor fishing

activity on board vessels.

But in remote locations, such as the Arctic, it can be difficult to find observers.

AI tools have the potential to lower monitoring and operational fishing costs and improve efficiency in fisheries management.

Examples include automatic review of video footage, monitoring vessel sailing patterns for IUU fishing and illegal at-sea trans-shipments (moving goods from one ship to another), compliance with catch limits and bycatch or discard regulations, and improving assessment of fish stocks.

AI tools can also help build trust among fishers, scientists and society through improved seafood traceability.

Image recognition using AI can help identify the size of a vessel and its activity. It can help conservation managers understand who fishes for what in international waters where it is unclear who the fish belong to. It may also contribute to a better understanding of how commercially fished invasive species are spreading.

However, there are also

SNOW Crab is an invasive species that has been fished commercially in international waters of the Barents Sea and the Svalbard Fisheries Protection Zone of the Arctic. Above, A tuna fishing port in Japan

potential risks. Some fear the data may be used for unintended purposes or that AI tools might replace manually performed tasks and make human labour obsolete, a big concern for small, coastal fisherydependent communities.

The way forward The

Global

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Fishing

Watch platform, an independent organisation that emerged through a collaboration between Google, SkyTruth (a digital mapping non-profit organisation) and Oceana, is an excellent example of how combining AI and satellite data can change our understanding of global fishing activity.

Global Fishing Watch shows vessel movement

in near real-time. Its work goes beyond tracking vessel activity: the neural network (computer programme) it uses can identify vessel size and engine power, the type of fishing being done and the gear used. The ambitious project goes as far as tracking human slavery and rights abuse, a well-known phenomenon in the fishing industry.

The developments in AI applications have been impressive in recent years, allowing for a better understanding of fishing activity across the globe. Further progress in making them more widely applicable has been limited partly by the costs involved for the industry.

Concerns about the impact of digital surveillance on privacy interests are also an issue.

Despite all the progress in AI science and the development of advanced algorithms that improve the quality and speed of information transmitted for ongoing fishing activities at sea, there is still very little formalised integration of science, regulatory authorities and the fishing industry.

Making the best use of what AI tools have to offer requires experts to transcend their disciplinary boundaries and actively collaborate — so they can provide value to ongoing management efforts to conserve biodiversity and build trust among seafood consumers.

theconversation.com

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THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, July 24, 2019, PAGE 11

COLLEGE HAPPY TO OPEN ITS NEW ALUMNI OFFICE

CHERELLE CARTWRIGHT, SACAA president, and Fred Albury, owner of AutoMall, at the opening of Saint Augustine’s College Alumni Association’s new office.

SATURDAY July 20 marked a new page in the Saint Augustine’s College Alumni Association’s book.

Due to damage caused by successive hurricanes, the alumni office, which for many years was originally located on the campus of St Augustine’s College, Fox Hill, could no longer be used. This, combined with the fact that the former office space is slated to become an integral part of the school’s field of dreams project, meant that SACAA executives had to find a location where alumni business could be relocated.

Fred Albury, owner of AutoMall, helped by generously donating office space in the Toyota Automall showroom building on the

corner of Buen Retiro Rd and Shirley Street.

At Saturday’s ribbon cutting ceremony, SACAA President Cherelle Cartwright expressed thanks to all who helped make the new office a reality.

The office opening was also used as an opportunity to announce two upcoming projects; a mix and mingle on August 3 at the BMW showroom on Shirley Street and the second annual Lighthouse Awards and Gala slated for October 26 at the Hilton.

The mix and mingle event will launch fundraising efforts to establish a scholarship fund for current and prospective students at SAC who meet the requirements.

An entrance fee of $30 will be collected at the door and

pledges will be accepted.

This event is opened to the general public.

The Lighthouse Awards & Gala will be held under the patronage of Patricia Minnis, wife of Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis.

This year’s honorees are: Sir Michael Barnett, Malcolm Adderley, Bishop Arnold Josey, Kevin Cambridge, Dr Jacinta Higgs, Dr Giavana Jones, Dr Charlene Wallace, Dr P Samuel Bain, Bridgette Francis, Basil Christie, Laverne Eve, Brent Stubbs, Giovanni Johnson, and the Galanis family.

For more information you can reach the alumni office at 397-1744, email thesacalumni@gmail.com or its website at www.thesacalumniassociation.org.

Rolle: NIB serious about collecting missing $17m

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net THE National Insurance Board is serious about collecting $17m in outstanding contributions, Public Service Minister Brensil Rolle said yesterday, revealing some employers have gone before the courts for committing the offence.

Although he could not say how many have been prosecuted, the minister said he believes it is

possible to collect every cent of the money.

He said officials have found that there are businesses of every size and category guilty of failing to pay into the social security net on behalf of workers after deducting from salaries.

“I just know that matters have been placed before the courts and we are negotiating with some individuals who have made a commitment to paying,” Mr Rolle, who has responsibility

for NIB, told reporters yesterday.

“It must be doable,” he said, when he was asked if it was possible to collect the large sum of money owed.

“That’s money owed and in some cases money collected from individuals and it’s to sustain the social security network.”

While many have gone into NIB to make arrangements to settle their debt, Mr Rolle urged employers to “pay up” as this was their duty.

“What I would say to them is they have a responsibility not only to NIB but to the persons whose salaries they have deducted and make sure their commitments are made because this is something that will not go away. These individuals, once they retire or get into some issues, they want to fall back on the welfare of the state and welfare is paid through commitments and through the NIB board.”

Last month in the House of Assembly the minister

warned non-compliant employers that time was running out.

At the time, he also revealed that in 2018 NIB has been paying out more money that it earned.

He said preliminary unaudited figures showed that contribution revenue intake was $283m for 2018 while expenditure was around $292m.

Faced with a serious shortfall, Mr Rolle said NIB wants to go after large employers and the

In Loving Memory

Shantell Michelle Bain SUNRISE: Aug 19th, 1972 SUNSET: July 24th, 2017

We Love You! Rest In Peace FIANCE: Craig Dwight Forbes Sr.; CHILDREN: Trinity, Craig Jr, Malik & Viacrio Forbes, PARENTS: Carmen & Oscar; SISTERS: Debbie & Shayana; BROTHERS; Pedro & Jermaine; NEPHEWS: Vijay, Jamaal & Rashad; NEICES: Mikey & Nyah

self-employed who owe between $14m and $17m.

To satisfy the shortfall, Mr Rolle said NIB has set an aggressive target for contribution income in the upcoming budget year.

This includes an assertive public relations campaign, targeted inspections, increased avenues to pay contributions electronically, efforts to make payments easier and the establishment of relationship officers for improved services.

PAGE 12, Wednesday, July 24, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

UK’s new leader faces Brexit test LONDON Associated Press BORIS Johnson, Britain’s blustering Brexit campaigner, was chosen as the UK’s next prime minister yesterday, with a resounding mandate from the Conservative Party but conflicting demands from a politically divided country. He will have just over three months to make good on his promise to lead the UK out of the European Union by Octoberr 31.

Famed for his bravado, quips in Latin and blond mop of hair , Johnson easily defeated Conservative rival Jeremy Hunt, winning two-thirds of the votes of about 160,000 party members across the UK. He will become prime minister once Queen Elizabeth II formally asks him to form a government, replacing Theresa May. The embattled May announced her resignation last month after Parliament repeatedly rejected the withdrawal agreement she struck with the 28-nation bloc, leaving Britain stranded in Brexit limbo. The UK’s departure from the EU was delayed from its long scheduled exit in March.

Johnson radiated optimism in a brief victory speech to hundreds of party members and lawmakers, pledging to “deliver Brexit, unite the country and defeat Jeremy Corbyn,” leader of the opposition Labour Party.

“I say to all the doubters: ‘Dude, we are going to energise the country, we are going to get Brexit done,’” said Johnson, a former London mayor and

NEWLY elected leader of the Conservative party Boris Johnson arrives at Conservative party HQ in London.

British foreign secretary. Hunt, a stolid politician compared to the flamboyant Johnson, said he was sure his rival would “do a great job”.

“He’s got optimism, enthusiasm, he puts a smile on people’s face and he has total, unshakable confidence in our amazing country,” said Hunt, who is likely to be removed as foreign secretary by the new prime minister.

Johnson wooed Conservatives by promising to succeed where May had failed and lead the UK out of the EU — with or without a divorce deal.

Johnson insists he can get the EU to renegotiate, something the bloc insists it won’t do. If not, he says Britain must leave the EU by the October 31 deadline, “come what may”.

The EU is adamant that the deal with May will stand, saying Britain has to take it or leave it.

Michel Barnier, the bloc’s chief Brexit negotiator, said he looked forward “to working constructively” with the new Conservative leader “to facilitate the ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement.”

Economists warn that a no-deal

Brexit would disrupt trade and plunge the U.K. into recession . Fears that Britain is inching closer to crashing out of the bloc weighed on the pound once again Tuesday. The currency was down another 0.3 percent at $1.2450, nearly a two-year low.

Carolyn Fairbairn, director of the Confederation of British Industry, said businesses needed a withdrawal agreement with the EU to restore confidence that has been badly shaken by uncertainty about the terms of Brexit.

“On Brexit, the new prime minister must not underestimate

the benefits of a good deal,” she said.

Johnson faces a host of other challenges, from dealing with Iran’s seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker to forging a relationship with US President Donald Trump, but Brexit is his overriding problem.

Trump was scathing about May’s inability to achieve a Brexit deal and has said Johnson will do a better job. Yesterday he said Johnson “is going to do a good job” and “will get it done.”

“We have a really good man is going to be prime minister of the UK now, Boris Johnson,” Trump told a youth conference.

“Good man. He’s tough and he’s smart. They say ‘Britain Trump,’ they call him Britain Trump, and people say that’s a good thing.”

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow described Johnson as “a breath of fresh air. I think he’ll complete the Brexit process.”

More than three years after Britain narrowly voted to leave the EU, the country remains divided over whether to leave, and on what terms.

Johnson won the leadership contest by persuading Conservative members, who are strongly pro-Brexit, that Britain will leave the bloc “do or die.”

Opponents say Johnson is reckless on Brexit and unrepentant about offensive and racist comments, such as calling Papua New Guineans cannibals and comparing Muslim women who wear face-covering veils to “letter boxes”.

Senate approves bill to extend 9/11 victims fund WASHINGTON Associated Press THE Senate gave final legislative approval yesterday to a bill ensuring that a victims’ compensation fund related to the September 11 attacks never runs out of money.

The 97-2 vote sends the bill to President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it.

The vote came after Democratic senators agreed to allow votes on amendments sponsored by two Republican senators who had been blocking the widely popular bill.

The Senate easily defeated the amendments proposed by GOP Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Rand Paul of Kentucky. The two men were the only senators who voted against the bill’s final passage.

Democratic Sen Kirsten Gillibrand of New York said 9/11 first responders and their families have had “enough of political games” that delayed passage of the bill for months.

“Our 9/11 heroes deserve this program as written,” Gillibrand said. “Let our heroes go home and live in peace and finally exhale.”

The bill would extend through 2092 a fund created after the

CHUCK Schumer and Democratic presidential candidate Kirsten Gillibrand at a news conference on the 9/11 victims fund on Capitol Hill.

2001 terrorist attacks, essentially making it permanent. The $7.4 billion fund is rapidly being depleted, and administrators recently cut benefit payments by up to 70%.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates the House-passed bill would result in about $10.2 billion in additional compensation payments over 10 years, including more than $4 billion for claims already filed.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said

the bill guarantees “once and for all that the heroes who rushed to the towers 18 years ago will no longer have to worry about compensation for their families when they’re gone.”

First responders “won’t have to return to Congress anymore to fight for the compensation they always should have been given,” Schumer said. “They will be able to go home. That’s what they always wanted to do, just take care of themselves and their families.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who been the subject of withering attacks from comedian Jon Stewart and other activists, also hailed passage of the bill. The legislation makes “solemn commitments” to firefighters, police officers and other first responders who “rushed selflessly toward the World Trade Center” just moments after the 2001 terrorist attacks began, McConnell said.

“Congress can never repay these men, women and families for their sacrifices. But we can do our small part to try and make our heroes whole,” McConnell said.

The collapse of the World Trade Center in September 2001 sent a cloud of thick dust billowing over

Lower Manhattan. Fires burned for weeks. Thousands of construction workers, police officers, firefighters and others spent time working in the soot, often without proper respiratory protection.

In the years since, many have seen their health decline, some with respiratory or digestive-system ailments that appeared almost immediately, others with illnesses that developed as they aged, including cancer.

More than 40,000 people have applied to the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, which covers illnesses potentially related to being at the World Trade Center site, the Pentagon or Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after the attacks.

More than $5 billion in benefits have been awarded out of the $7.4 billion fund, with about 21,000 claims pending.

Stewart had sharply criticised Congress for failing to act. He told lawmakers at an emotional hearing last month that they were showing “disrespect” to first responders now suffering from respiratory ailments and other illnesses as a result of their recovery work at the famous “pile” of rubble left by the 2001 attacks.

DEMOCRATS HOPING MUELLER IMMIGRATION PLAN THAT WILL SPARK NEW OUTRAGE EYED 2,100 NETS 35 ARRESTS WASHINGTON Associated Press

WASHINGTON Associated Press

DEMOCRATS are pretty sure America didn’t read the Mueller report. Today, they’re hoping the nation will be glued to the TV version.

Former Trump-Russia special counsel Robert Mueller’s appearance before two House committees promises to be the TV event of the year in the US House, where lawmakers will question him for roughly five hours about the booklength report he released in April.

Democrats hope that by putting Mueller on television and highlighting the parts of the report that they believe describe President Donald Trump’s most egregious behavior, they will be able to ignite new outrage and renew public interest in their investigations.

But Republicans will be there, too, defending Trump and turning some of their fire on Mueller’s investigation , which the president condemns as a “witch hunt.”

Trump himself first said he wouldn’t be watching, then he conceded, probably “a little bit.”

Though he keeps talking about the probe, many Americans seem to have moved on. That’s why the Democrats hope a daylong presentation, with Mueller repeating out loud some of the findings that might have faded in print, will revive interest.

Whether they will be able to

AN IMMIGRATION enforcement operation that President Donald Trump said was part of an effort to deport “millions” of people from the United States resulted in 35 arrests, officials said yesterday.

Trump billed the operation targeting families as a major show of force as the number of Central American families crossing the southern border has skyrocketed.

There are about 1 million people in the US with final deportation orders, the operation targeted 2,100.

Of those arrested, 18 were members of families and 17 were collateral apprehensions of people in the country illegally encountered

by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. None of those arrested resulted in the separation of family, officials said.

While the effort was demonised

by Democrats as a full-force drive to deport families and trumpeted

by Republicans as a necessary show of force to prove there are consequences for people coming here illegally, career ICE officers described it as a routine operation, one expected to net an average of about 10 to 20% of targets.

A separate nationwide enforcement operation targeting immigrants here illegally who had criminal convictions or charges

ROBERT MUELLER accomplish that is unclear. Congress will leave town two days after the hearings, possibly blunting any legislative or political momentum.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said she will not pursue impeachment, for now, even as an increasing number of Democrats call for at least beginning the process.

The nation has heard the special counsel speak only once — for nine minutes at a press conference in May — since his appointment in May 2017. And he will do his best not to generate fireworks today.

He’s said his testimony will stick to what was in his 448-page report, giving Democrats few new avenues to gain attention. Yesterday, Democrats granted his request to have his top aide in the investigation, Aaron Zebley, sit at the table with him.

But Zebley is not expected to be sworn in for questioning.

netted 899 arrests. And officers handed out 3,282 notices of inspection to businesses that may be employing people here illegally.

Acting ICE director Matthew Albence said the operations would be ongoing, stressing the importance of enforcement. “Part of the way you stop people from coming is having a consequence to the illegal activity when you do come,” he said.

The operation targeted families centered on those who had been ordered deported by an immigration judge in 10 cities around the country who were subjected to fasttrack proceedings. It was canceled once after media reports telegraphing when and where it would begin, though Trump announced it would be postponed following a phone call with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who urged him to do so.

The second effort began July 14 and again was met with media attention noting where and when it was to start, including from Trump who announced the date.

Albence conceded the number was lower than other operations.

A similar operation in August 2017 netted 650 arrests over four days, including 73 family members and 120 who entered illegally as children. There were 457 others encountered during this operation also arrested.

Albence said Trump’s comments didn’t hurt the effort because it had already been the subject of media reports for weeks.

CELLPHONES SOUGHT IN PUERTO RICO AS POLITICAL CRISIS DEEPENS SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico Associated Press

A PUERTO Rico judge issued search warrants for the cellphones of government officials involved in a crude online chat whose leak has set off a political crisis that threatens to bring down the US territory’s governor.

One of the search warrants said that government officials used the chat to transmit official and confidential information to private citizens in potential violation of ethics laws.

Kelvin Carrasco, a spokesman for the island’s Justice Department, said yesterday that the warrants were approved overnight and issued to those who had yet to turn over their phones. He did not identify the officials and would not comment further.

The possibility that some of the 12 men in the chat, including former and current government officials, could face legal trouble deepened the crisis around Gov. Ricardo Rosselló.

One of the men who was part of the chat, Rosselló confidant and chief of staff Ricardo Llerandi, announced his resignation Tuesday, saying he and his family have received threats.

“The last few days have been extremely difficult for everyone,” he said. “At this historic crossroads, I need to put my family above everything.”

Llerandi joins more than a dozen officials who have resigned since the chat was leaked, including former Secretary of State Luis Rivera Marín, Rosselló spokeswoman Dennise Pérez, ex-president of the Economic Development Bank Gerardo Portela and former chief financial officer Christian Sobrino, who also held five other positions.

GOV. Ricardo Rosselló