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Ingraham: Time for FNM to unite L! ADS SEL PHOTO 351 002 / 502-2

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By KHRISNA VIRGIL Deputy Chief Reporter kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

AS THE Free National Movement prepares to head into its much-anticipated national convention on Wednesday, former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham last night issued a strong plea for unity regardless of who clinches the top post in the party following what is expected to be a fiercely contested electoral process.

The former FNM Leader, who has shied away from speaking publicly about the party’s ongoing internal challenges, said it is essential that the Leader and the party quickly move toward complete oneness after the event, especially as it

faces an impending general election. If this cannot be achieved, Mr Ingraham said, the party will fracture and go into a general election unstable and disunited.

Electorates, Mr Ingraham added, reward party unity and stability and punish the lack of it in a political organisation. He went on to insist that whoever emerges as FNM Leader must demonstrate the maturity and the wisdom to engage in open dialogue with all sections of the party.

He added that unity will not be fostered and the FNM will remain divided if there is a closed mindset or if there is a programme of retaliation against opponents.

This comes amid alle-

gations from leadership hopeful, Long Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner, that should she be defeated, not only will the party abandon her but party Leader Dr Hubert Minnis would most likely seek vengeance against her. “Whoever is elected FNM Leader must demonstrate the maturity and the wisdom to engage in open dialogue with all sections of the party,� Mr Ingraham said in a statement last night. “Unity will not be fostered and the FNM will be divided if there is a closed mindset toward or programme of retaliation against opponents.

VICTORY FOR LONG ISLAND IN MISS BAHAMAS CONTEST

SEE PAGE THREE

VIDEO HAILS MINNIS AS BUTLER-TURNER OPTIMISTIC HAVING A ‘SOLDIER’S HEART’ ABOUT LEADERSHIP RACE

By KHRISNA VIRGIL Deputy Chief Reporter kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

DESPITE a leadership term defined by infighting and party division, the “Roc Wit Doc� campaign yesterday debuted a video celebrating Free National Movement Leader Dr Hubert Minnis as a man admired by party supporters who fuelled unity and growth within the organisation since taking control of it in 2012.

The nearly six-minute long video, which highlighted the testimonials of five of the party’s 2017 general election candidates, acclaims the Killarney MP as a strong and competent leader with “a soldier’s heart�.

SEE PAGE THREE

By KHRISNA VIRGIL Deputy Chief Reporter kvirgil@tribunemedia.net  DESPITE failing to reach a portion of the party’s 410 delegates, Long Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner insisted that she won’t give up and will remain optimistic “until the last minute� about emerging the Free National Movement’s new leader following the FNM convention later this week.

Speaking to The Tribune yesterday, she explained that her “Forward Together� campaign has failed to reach FNMs with voting power in the Family Islands, due in part to issues with the FNM’s election process.

SEE PAGE THREE

THE WINNER of the Miss World Bahamas pageant is Ashley Hamilton, the entrant from Long Island, pictured receiving her crown at last night’s ceremony. For more photographs, see page two.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

CALL TO CHANGE APPROACH TO MORE ACCURATELY RECORD LONG-TERM EMPLOYMENT

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement Deputy Leader Peter

Turnquest yesterday urged officials at the Department of Statistics to adjust the line of questioning used in its biannual unemployment survey “accordingly,� claiming the

survey does not differentiate between temporary and longterm employment status.

Last week, the Department of Statistics announced a 2.1 per cent decline in the

national unemployment rate, with officials again for the second consecutive year pointing to Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival as a major contributing factor.

The East Grand Bahama MP said respondents to the survey, some who were temporarily employed when questioned, were being “misguided� into identify-

RIGBY: ‘ABSOLUTE NONSENSE’ THAT CHRISTIE IS ALL THAT IS HOLDING THE PLP TOGETHER

By KHRISNA VIRGIL Deputy Chief Reporter kvirgil@tribunemedia.net  AS BAHAMIANS, including young PLPs, become increasingly frustrated with the leadership of the government, it is “absolute nonsense� for Prime Minister Perry Christie to assert that he is the glue holding the organisation together, former party Chairman Raynard Rigby said

yesterday.

He suggested that this current administration lacked ideas and vision, which has stagnated the country’s growth and fed frustration among young Bahamians that there are limited opportunities available of which to take advantage.

In an interview with The Tribune, Mr Rigby was critical of the PLP-led government, insisting that it

CANDY BAR CRAVERS, MEET CANDY BAR FLAVORS.

failed to push progressive policies.

The former party executive added that if Bahamians want to change the course of the country, the electorate must move away from correlating personalities with the ability to govern as this has not served the needs of the country over the last several decades.

SEE PAGE EIGHT

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ing themselves as employed despite knowing the temporary status of their line of work.

SEE PAGE SIX

RESORT WORKER KILLED IN CRASH

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net A MAN killed in a traffic accident in Freeport on Saturday has been identified as 37-year-old Gregory Cartwright, of Pioneer’s Loop, Freeport.

Mr Cartwright was driving a 2004 green Toyota Corolla that was involved in an accident with a 1999 white SEE PAGE SIX

PAGE 2, Monday, July 25, 2016

THE TRIBUNE

ANDREA BOWLEG, Miss New Providence, one of the competitors in the Miss World Bahamas 2016 event.

WINNER of the Miss World Bahamas pageant Ashley Hamilton during the competition.

VICTORY FOR LONG ISLAND IN MISS BAHAMAS COMPETITION

THE SCENE at the Miss World Bahamas 2016 event in the Melia Grand Ballroom.

MISS World Bahamas 2015-2016 Chantel O’Brian giving her final walk at last night’s event.

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

TEARS of joy from the winner, Ashley Hamilton, after receiving her crown and sash.

THE TOP three, from left, Pischia Adderley, 1st runner-up; Ashley Hamilton, overall winner, and Rotalya Williams, 2nd runner-up.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, July 25, 2016, PAGE 3

‘We must do more to honour Ingraham’

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net

SENATOR Dr Duane Sands said the Free National Movement has not done enough during the past four years to recognise the “tremendous successes” of former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham.

“I think the biggest tragedy of the last four years is that we have not taken the time out to commend the one leader in our party’s history that led us to victory,” the senator said on Sunday.

Dr Sands contended that

in a party “filled to the brim” with political mentees of Mr Ingraham, more should have been done to celebrate the career of the former North Abaco representative.

“He has, through his career worked tirelessly to ensure that our country is in a better state . . . Mr Ingraham, in his years of service to this country, I think we all can agree, represented this country well.”

Dr Sands added: “He is only one of 400 plus delegates that will have their say this week. However, what is so compelling is the fact that this man is still garner-

ing attention. He has given every indication that he has moved away from politics, but despite that, he is still very influential and charismatic.

“That is why I always make a point to say that the Hubert Ingraham’s era is not over because many of those in the political arena, not just FNMs, will continue to benefit from his advice and directives.

“I spoke to him ahead of my current bid. I am sure that those on the other side – Minnis/Turnquest camp – have spoken to him as well, we all understand what this man represents in our party

and in our country so any chance there is to sit with him and learn from him is something we all try to do.

Hubert Ingraham has always been and will always be an exciting, attentiongrabbing figure in Bahamian politics.

“He, like the first prime minister (Sir Lynden Pindling) has developed a following. People trust his words and claims. That is his power in this process.

His beliefs and ideas are supported by so many in the FNM, so when he shares something, it is supported by a number of people.”

There has been much

focus given to Mr Ingraham in recent weeks, with many questioning whether the former prime minister would make a surprise move on the FNM’s convention floor to contest the party’s leadership post like he did in 2005.

At the time, Tommy Turnquest was the leader of the FNM, which was in opposition at the time.

When contacted for his views, FNM Deputy Leader Peter Turnquest said he does not expect Mr Ingraham to enter the political arena this week.

“It’s exciting and suspenseful,” Mr Turnquest

said. “While we do not expect him to nominate, we are confident that in the work we have done.”

When questioned by reporters on Friday, Mr Ingraham insinuated that he will not return to frontline politics.

“I am a retiree,” he told the media on the sidelines of the renaming ceremony of the Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC) headquarters to the E George Moss Building.

The FNM’s convention is scheduled for this Wednesday through Friday at the Melià resort, Cable Beach.

INGRAHAM: TIME FOR FNM TO UNITE from page one “FNM supporters throughout the country and nonaligned voters are eagerly waiting to see the direction the party takes following the convention. If the party moves toward real unity rather than simply talking about unity, many voters will feel reassured.

But if the Leader and leadership of the party do not make every effort to unite the party and to co-operate with others, the FNM will fracture and will face a general election unstable and disunited.

“I strongly urge the party to come out of the convention in a spirit of unity, which will require all sides, especially those who are victorious, to reach out in a spirit of reconciliation and collegiality. This is a time for magnanimity by all sides. The enduring theme of the Free National Movement is “All Together”. It is my sincerest hope that the party comes together in a spirit of unity in order to defeat the PLP and rescue the country.”

He pointed to the spirit of collegiality and co-operation upon which the party was

founded.

“The best way to ensure stability and unity is through a spirit of collegiality and co-operation, which must be fostered and exemplified by the Leader of the party. This spirit of collegiality is the cornerstone upon which the FNM was founded.

It is a foundational value of the party and of a parliamentary democracy with its system of cabinet government and collective responsibility.

“During the 19 years I had the privilege of serving as party Leader, I sought to unify the FNM by working alongside and bringing into government those with whom I may have had policy or political disagreements and those who ran against me for the leadership of the party.

This spirit of collaboration and creating a team out of a diversity of voices and perspectives is the best way for a party to move forward and to gain the confidence of its core supporters and the electorate in general.

“It is typical in a parliamentary democracy, as evidenced by recent events in the United Kingdom, that rivals be brought together for the good of the party and for the good of the country. Electorates re-

ward party unity and stability and punish the lack of same in a political organisation,” Mr Ingraham said.

During the party’s threeday convention beginning on Wednesday, Dr Minnis and Deputy Leader Peter Turnquest will go head-to-head with Mrs Butler-Turner and her running mate, Senator Dr Duane Sands, for the FNM’s top two posts.

During the party’s last convention, Dr Minnis was elected Leader after he defeated Mrs Butler-Turner by three votes to one. At the time, she ran a solo campaign.

However, in this instance, the former party deputy and Dr Sands have chosen to run a joint campaign. He too contested the deputy leader’s post in 2014, but was defeated by Mr Turnquest.

Mr Ingraham, 68, served as Leader of the FNM for 19 nonconsecutive years and resigned effectively on August 31, 2012, after the Progressive Liberal Party was elected to government in a landslide defeat of the FNM in the May 7 general election. He served three terms as Prime Minister, from 1992 to 2002 and 2007 to 2012.

DR Duane Sands with former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham. The pair were pictured at the swearing-in ceremony for new FNM senators last month, marking the appointment of both Dr Sands and Monique Gomez.

VIDEO HAILS MINNIS AS HAVING A ‘SOLDIER’S HEART’ from page one

Its release is perceived to be a strategic move to shore up the support of the majority of the FNM’s 410 delegates who will gather on Wednesday to begin the organisation’s highly anticipated three-day convention.

Bamboo Town MP Renward Wells, FNM Southern Shores candidate Frankie Campbell, Halston Moultrie, the party’s Nassau Village hopeful, Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador candidate Gadville McDonald, and Fox Hill

candidate Shonel Ferguson are featured in the video.

Dr Minnis and Deputy Leader Peter Turnquest will defend their positions against Long Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner and her running mate Senator Dr Duane Sands. The remainder of the party’s executive posts also will be up for challenge.

In the campaign video, Mr Wells said Dr Minnis’ work over the last four years has impressed the electorate to the extent that they now see him as the next prime minister of The Bahamas.

“Now some would say

that it is because of the failings of Prime Minister Perry Christie. That’s a part of (it),” Mr Wells said. “But you see whereas the prime minister could create moments in history, the leader on the other side has the opportunity to make the moment.

“That is what Dr Minnis has been doing. That is why the Free National Movement is where it is today as a result of the leadership Dr Minnis has shown over the last four years.

“This man would have stood there and took the whippings and led the Free National Movement back to

a sense of wholeness. This is my view. You could disagree with me. I am a recent comer and this is my view,” Mr Wells said.

Meanwhile, Ms Ferguson went on to insist that there was a general feeling among Bahamians that Dr Minnis deserved the chance to bring a transformational change to the country. This kind of change, she said, was what the FNM was known for.

She said: “I walk through the constituency of Fox Hill and people – women and men and children – give me messages to take to Dr Minnis. One mother

said to me ‘my son wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Dr Minnis. Take him my blessings. Give him my good will.’ This is what I hear on the ground time after time.”

Ms Ferguson added: “They are with Dr Minnis. They want Dr Minnis to have this chance to bring this transformational change in the tradition of the FNM. The FNM is known for transformational change and Dr Minnis carries on that legacy.”

Mr Moultrie pointed to Dr Minnis’ plans for the inner city community. He said Dr Minnis impressed him

with his strong vision.

“I was impressed with Dr Minnis from the very beginning in that he had the discipline that is required of a leader and in that he knew what he wanted for himself in terms of his self-actualisation,” Mr Moultrie said.

“He knew what he wanted for The Bahamas. He possessed a vision particularly as it related to the Over-theHill communities, the black belt grass root communities.

He spoke of those things frequently from way back before he was thrust into the spotlight of the leadership of the Free National Movement.”

BUTLER-TURNER OPTIMISTIC ABOUT LEADERSHIP RACE

from page one

And with 10 months until the next general, Mrs Butler-Turner urged delegates to focus on the party’s inability to “get out of the blocks” over the last four years. This, she said, was because the FNM lacked strong, competent leadership.

During the next two days before the event kicks off on Wednesday, Mrs ButlerTurner said her campaign intends to target the delegates who have yet to grasp the full understanding of what she and running mate Senator Dr Duane Sands’ plans are for the party and the country.

In addition, Mrs ButlerTurner said she intends to allay concerns that have arisen from “propaganda and falsehoods” over the last few weeks.

Meanwhile, the “Forward Together” campaign released a statement yesterday castigating FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis and Deputy Leader Peter Turnquest, accusing the two of being insensitive and out of touch with the issues confronting the Bahamian people.

“I am a perennial optimist and I remain very optimistic about the way forward,” the Long Island MP said when she was contacted yesterday. “Dr Sands and I have been able to offer a ray of hope to the gloominess that exists.

“The delegates must be able to see that this is for them, especially the ones that feel burdened and victimised. The reality is this; I haven’t spoken to all of the delegates. These are some of the reservations with regards to process. I am realising that the process is not where it needs to be and I can either go along with the process or I can continue to share with those persons I have already talked with.

“At the end of the day, I don’t think that any electoral process will go without challenges, but regarding this one I would submit that in the future the party lays out very clear guidelines and follows the constitution to the ‘T’. There seems to be some ad hoc type decisions.”

She added: “We have two days to reach delegates that I haven’t reached to this point.

“Most of the delegates that I have reached have been Nassau-based where I have had phone contacts for persons throughout the island but our message is very simple. The enemy is not within the party, but in the PLP and its incompetence. We want to win the government and be able to turn this country around.

“What is on the top of the minds of most delegates is the unification, growth and expansion of the party and for us to be battle ready. We are trying to address that head on and address propaganda and mischief making among various camps.

“I have run two successful general election campaigns and I am not going to give up at the last minute despite having not reached a portion of the delegates.”

In a press statement, Mrs Butler-Turner’s campaign said she and Dr Sands were capable leaders that have not only presented a sound vision but have proven themselves.

The statement read: “Over the last few weeks FNM delegates had a great opportunity to compare the two teams seeking to lead the FNM. Many have written off the Christie government and do not take it seriously. The country is screaming for leadership.

Dr Minnis and his silent sidekick deputy continue to conduct a campaign that suggests that they are either

insensitive to the times or completely out of touch with the issues confronting the Bahamian people.

“Loretta Butler-Turner and Duane Sands have run a serious and thoughtful campaign. Their meaningful theme reflects the urgency of the times. The time is now to move a stagnant and divided FNM and indeed the Bahamas Forward Together. ?

“Loretta and Duane have subjected themselves to the scrutiny of FNM voters and the general public.

They have participated in delegate town hall meetings and have faced off with the toughest radio talk show hosts. They even appeared at the ‘Candidates’ Debate’ hosted by Anthony Newbold and Minnis and his team were a no show.”

It continued: “They can answer the hard questions.

If Minnis and his silent sidekick deputy can’t take on a talk show host how do they intend to take on Bradley Roberts and the PLP? Loretta and Duane have made themselves accessible and accountable to the people...and Minnis and his silent deputy have adopted a less serious attitude; they just want to ‘roc’. They have opted to have parties and concerts. Serious times require serious leaders.”

Last week, Mrs ButlerTurner contended that if Dr Minnis scored another victory at the party’s conven-

tion this week, she believes the FNM would abandon her.

This is the second time the MP is facing off against Dr Minnis for the leader’s position of the party. She lost three votes to one to Dr Minnis during the last convention in 2014.

She has predicted that Dr Minnis will likely seek vengeance against her and five other members of Parliament who threatened to petition Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling to have him constitutionally removed if he walks away from the event yet again victorious.

PAGE 4, Monday, July 25, 2016

THE TRIBUNE

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Lynden Pindling said ‘tell the truth’ - that includes Baha Mar “GET up and get going or you will be gone!” was the swift kick in the pants that the late Prime Minister Sir Lynden Pindling gave his MPs on the last night of the PLP’s 35th national convention. The date was November 7, 1990. The MPs obviously did not take him seriously because two years later – August 19, 1992 – after 25 years in office they were gone. Given the heave-ho by the Bahamian people who by then had had enough of being taken advantage of. Bahamians went to the polls and turned the government over to Hubert Ingraham’s FNM. The situation at that time was the same as it is now — unemployment was high, the economy was in trouble, and internationally the Bahamas was known as a ”nation for sale.” The FNM, under the astute leadership of Mr Ingraham, stepped into the breach and governed for the next 10 years, soon erasing “the nation for sale” tag from our nation’s escutcheon.

Although Sir Lynden did not follow his own advice, this is what he told his MPs on the last night of the 1990 convention.

“The last thing that we must do today to ensure continued success tomorrow,” he said, “is to be straight with the Bahamian people. We must tell the good news when it is good and the bad news when it is bad, “Our people can be trusted with the truth. They will forgive us when we are wrong, as long as we tell them the truth they will understand our mistakes, so long as we admit them and set about to correct them.

“We must tell the Bahamian people the right and the wrong, the good and the bad. We must continue to be straight with the Bahamian people.

“Wherever we have made promises in our constituencies and have not kept our word, we must go back to our people and tell them we are sorry. Tell them we were unable to do what we promised and why.

“We must be straight with the Bahamian people. Don’t promise them a job when looking for votes and then hide from them when they come looking for you to see if you really mean it.

“We must be straight with the Bahamian people,” he repeated. “When we are straight, when we consistently tell them the truth, the good and the bad we will continue to enjoy their confidence and we will continue to earn their support..”

Sir Lynden reminded parliamentarians that they existed to serve the Bahamian people, not the other way around.

Today we see the results on all sides when one ignores such sound advice — today even when on infrequent occasions Bahamians are told the truth, they do not believe it and use the most colourful language to dismiss the hapless politician - one only has to read some of the comments on tribune242.com to understand their disgust and disillusionment.

In May, against the background of a foreign publication predicting that the once promising Baha Mar resort would bankrupt the Bahamas, the resort’s court appointed receiver announced that there is a “good expectation” that the $3.5 billion hotel will be sold before September - in other words in two months time.

And on the Ed Field’s show last week Prime Minister Christie disclosed that China’s Export-Import Bank has a possible buyer in mind. “The bank,” said Mr Christie, “would have only chosen someone with an incredible capacity to finance a $2.5 billion deal and finish it. And so these things I think are in progress, I think we are closer than we’ve ever been before.”

If the name now floating around on the sip-sip train is the potential buyer to whom the prime minister refers then it is true that his group has the billions to finance the completion of Baha Mar, but unfortunately, the organisation also has the billions to buy the government and

turn this little archipelago off the toe of Florida into a second crime-infested Macau.

In The Tribune on Monday, July 18, under the heading: “Why Baha Mar’s new owner cannot be Ho” the writer reported the rumour that the Stanley Ho family of Macau heads the list of preferred bidders for the resort.

“The Ho family,” he writes, “has made its money in Macau, the gambling mecca of China, which carries with it an unseemly reputation of organised crime, prostitution, drugs and money laundering. All it takes is a quick internet search to find that the Ho family, and its patriarch Stanley Ho have been right in the middle of the controversy.”

The Daily Telegraph of January 26, 2011 in a feature article: “Stanley Ho: the Macau gambling king who defied the odds” – reported that Mr Ho refused to cooperate with an organised crime investigation in the Philippines, telling the South China Morning Post: ‘These reports only say that I know some triad (criminal gang) members. Well, maybe you have come across some. To be associated with or to know someone is completely different.”

And the late Lee Kuan Yew, the legendary first prime minister of Singapore who was credited with turning the small port city into a wealthy global hub, reacted in shock in 2007 on the announcement that the local Gentling firm had announced that it had tied up with Mr Ho. Gentling was quickly told that its casino licence could be in jeopardy.

“We don’t want any of the activities that go on in Macao here,” Lee Kuan Yew warned.

A few years ago friends of ours on a visit to Macau wrote a lurid report of their visit. The following paragraph gives a vivid picture of what they saw and were told. “ˆIn Macau,” they wrote, “there are hotels, owned and operated by the Ho Family that had prostitutes that would walk in circles in the lobby of the hotel. They were not permitted by law to sit, so their ‘pimps’ had them parading through the hotel like cattle.

“We were also told that in cases where Chinese patrons at the casinos were unable to pay their debts, warning signs were posted on their businesses, to intimidate them into paying.

“Our tour guide also added that this family essentially ‘ran’ Macau, and there was nothing that took place in Macau that they didn’t authorize, or share a part of.”

If any part of this is true, where is our Immigration Minister Fred Mitchell, who was quick to tell Baha Mar’s desirable developer – Sarkis Izmirlian – that he should “consider making the appropriate steps to live elsewhere if he cannot conform with the expected conduct of an ‘economic guest.” Mr Mitchell also told Mr Izmirlian, a permanent resident, that what he had said to Prime Minister Christie was “offensive” and “incompatible with someone who is not a Bahamian citizen.” All Mr Izmirlian had done was to write to government reminding it that it had not paid the employees of the now shuttered Baha Mar on time as promised.

It is now Mr Mitchell’s duty to inform the Chinese government, on behalf of the Bahamian people, that if this indeed is their proposed purchaser — regardless of their wealth —they are undesirable and will not be tolerated in this country. It is also the duty of Prime Minister Christie to tell the Bahamian people what agreements his government has with the Chinese government. Need we remind him of what Sir Lynden, his mentor, advised: “Tell the truth and Bahamians will respect you.” And, according to the Bible “it will also set you free.”

Money but no voice EDITOR, The Tribune.

AFTER “chequing” out Sideburns cartoon in this morning’s Guardian and having recently read other less than flattering remarks made about Mr Symonette

in various media by both PLPs and FNMs, the stark reality is that many black Bahamians even after almost fifty years of majority rule, still feel that white Bahamians should have no voice or place in politics or

government, they’re only needed for their money.

Sit small and shut up but send the cheque!

IAN MABON Nassau, July 21, 2016.

The very odd political couple EDITOR, The Tribune.

WHETHER in desperation or naiveté Dr. Hubert Minnis keeps befriending political failures. His latest bromance (aka fondness amongst kindred spirits) is none other than the Prince of Blabber, Leslie Miller, the loud-mouth PLP recently chased from his job as chairman of the Bahamas Electricity Corporation.

We all fondly remember the many nights we suffered through sweaty darkness, compliments of Miller and BEC. Fortunately, BEC no longer turns off our lights.

That privilege has been delegated to Bahamas Power & Light.

If anyone needed further evidence to bring a bill of indictment against Minnis’ exceedingly poor political judgment they need look no further than his latest doozy. Some advance consultation with his colleagues might have averted this spectacle but Minnis has yet to acquire a nodding acquaintance with the indispensable element of collegiality which is at the centre of our system.

Minnis has become perhaps the first Opposition Leader to mount his party’s public podium to embrace a sitting government MP. In so doing Minnis revved the engine on the bus that he will probably use to roll over the unfortunate FNM candidate who stands against Miller in the general election. Even Perry Christie doesn’t have the dexterity to back two horses in the same race.

Miller is a blowhard who styles himself a potcake barking as loud as he can supposedly to protect the rights of the small man.

But the small man knows enough to be very wary of any bullfrog dressed up in soldier’s clothes.

Remember the bad ole days when the small man lifted up one of their own to speak on their behalf and represent their interests in the halls of power? Nowadays it seems that self-appointed multi-millionaires are selling the small man salt pork inside a salt beef barrel.

Is the richest man in Parliament, Minnis, really intent to join forces with the deadbeat, light bill owing fellow multi-millionaire, Miller to throw a lifeline to poor people drowning in debt and left behind in Per-

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net ry Christie’s stalled downgraded economy?

There is nothing wrong with millionaires making pots of money. That’s capitalism. Minnis would never understand this concept but progressive politics is about creating opportunities to lift struggling citizens out of poverty. To create a rising tide of economic growth to lift the rich man’s yacht and the poor man’s dinghy.

Minnis went trawling in PLP waters again. This time he caught a slippery bonefish. Some bonefish can be very tasty. Others can leave you promising on your children’s lives to become a vegetarian.

The jury is still out about Minnis’ latest catch, the ubiquitous Mr. Miller, who worked the crowd of red shirts on the night the incumbent FNM Leader launched his campaign to Junkanoo fanfare.

Instead of trying to convince FNM delegates that he would unite the party if they re-elect him, Minnis rubbed into their faces his belief that the FNM belonged exclusively to him to do with as he pleases. And it obviously pleases him to snatch another fish from Perry Christie and the PLP. Never mind that these are fish that Christie kept in the hold on the leaking s/s PLP and he was relieved to be rid of. With minnows Andre Rollins and Renward Wells picked off by Minnis, it seems Miller, a natural predator, got lonely in that hold and went in search of new prey now that Christie has finally become weary of his bully antics.

Androsians know that a bonefish is so full of itself that it will launch an attack on a slow moving crab, and despite the implausibility of that meal, it will relentlessly pursue that hard shell crustacean.

Minnis is Miller’s “prey de jour” and so he crashed the FNM leader’s Roc concert to give a full-throated endorsement of Minnis as “the best man to lead the FNM.” Or was he invited

by Minnis dem to “drop by for some fish and a cold beer”?

As M&M (Minnis and Miller) locked in a sweatdrenched embrace, Renward Wells gushed into the microphone that Miller

was moving to “perhaps, his new home”. The docers and doc-ettes swooned.

FNMs reading about it later got dizzy too, but from nausea.

Miller brought his own brand of divisive politics, seeing in Minnis’ choice of venue, Christie Park in Bains Town, an example of his connection with grassroots voters. Miller cast aspersion on the choice

by Loretta Butler-Turner to launch her campaign in venerable Rawson Square.

It was lost on him that Rawson Square is the true public arena, the scene of most of the significant political and social movements in our history.

Or perhaps Miller has blocked from his mind that Rawson Square is the scene of one of his most egregious displays of misogyny. In the House of Assembly, looking down on the people’s square, he regaled members with a jokey tale of how he assaulted a woman sweetheart. The fact that he was dead serious at the time was not funny.

The same square where Butler-Turner’s grandfather, national hero Sir Milo Butler, helped orchestrate the hurling of the mace out the window of the House in defiance of minority rule.

The majority, the theory went, were in Rawson Square. Touché Ms. Butler Turner!

Could it be that Christie danced a Junkanoo shuffle at Gambier House when he learned that Miller was now locked on Minnis? Sensing that the National General Council of the PLP were getting sick and tired of his disloyalty and hard mouth, is Miller sucking up to Minnis in the hopes of getting an FNM nomination?

And don’t think that is too far fetched to be credible. Minnis, the man who pledges to unite the party (something he hasn’t done in four years of not trying), is busy cooking up all sorts of schemes to purge long-standing FNMs and to separate sitting MPs from future nominations.

Why should Minnis listen to sage advise from battled-tested FNM old guards when he can bask in the thick fog created by yet another PLP mole willing to blow smoke up his chimney?

THE GRADUATE Nassau, July 24, 2016.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, July 25, 2016, PAGE 5

Fort Charlotte campaingers angered by Rollins criticism

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net

FORT Charlotte MP Dr Andre Rollins has enraged several of his former campaign generals with his recent criticism of Prime Minister Perry Christie and his refusal to accept responsibility for his “poor” performance as a representative.

One of Dr Rollins’ former senior campaign strategists, who spoke to The Tribune on the condition of anonymity, labelled the MP a “coward” for his recent actions.

Last Wednesday, Dr Rollins accused Mr Christie of manufacturing a sketchy reason to substantiate his decision to remain leader

after the prime minister suggested he is the glue holding the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) together.

That statement came days after Dr Rollins said the PLP should carry the blame for the inability of MPs to make good on campaign promises.

This source, a person who has worked on successful campaigns for several former PLP candidates, told The Tribune that Dr Rollins was only successful in the Fort Charlotte area because he ran on the merits of former MP Alfred Sears and the PLP. “Without them, he would be another failed politician holding a book of dreams unable to get anything done,” the

source said.

“Who is he to speak on the government failing the people of Fort Charlotte?

It is his job to, when the government is failing the state, ensure that those that voted for him still have a fighting chance to survive.”

That source added: “When we ran with (Alfred) Sears, win, lose or draw; we had plans to guarantee the people in Fort Charlotte had a chance.

Those were the systems that he (Dr Rollins) met in place and those were the systems that he moved away from out of greed and need to stroke his own ego.”

The Tribune reached out to Mr Sears for information on whether he had in

fact left such programmes in place ahead of the 2012 general election.

Mr Sears, stressing that his remarks should not be perceived as criticism of Dr Rollins, said he has longheld the notion that “proper education and wellplanned out interventions” can “drastically improve” the lives of many residents within inner-city communities.

The respected attorney noted that when he left political office in the spring of 2012, he did so having left in place several programmes and initiatives designed to improve the lives of his constituents.

He told The Tribune those initiatives ranged from social-based activities to after school classes for

FNM HAS ALL THE FUNDS IT NEEDS TO PAY FOR CONVENTION

By SANCHESKA BROWN Tribune Staff Reporter sbrown@tribunemedia,net

THE Free National Movement (FNM) has raised all of the money the party needs to fund its national convention this week, Chairman Sidney Collie said on Friday.

Mr Collie told The Tribune that the FNM’s finance committee had received a “substantial payment” on Thursday evening and he has also been informed that Long Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner has paid the remainder of her outstanding balance.

Leadership challenger Mrs Butler-Turner and incumbent Leader Dr Hubert Minnis were each asked to raise $100,000 to fund the FNM’s national convention on July 27-29. The convention is estimated to cost the party $350,000, with the party’s finance committee tasked with raising the remaining $150,000.

As of Wednesday, Dr Minnis had paid in full, Mrs Butler-Turner had only paid half and the finance committee had contributed $50,000. Mrs Butler-Turner told The Tribune on Thursday she was hesitant to pay the remaining balance because she had questions about the “transparency and accountability” of the event.

However, Mr Collie said he met Mrs Butler-Turner on Thursday night and, as far as he is concerned, “the

FNM chairman Sidney Collie. problems have been ironed out.”

“We got a substantial payment from the finance committee and I have been told Mrs Butler-Turner has paid her balance but I am still confirming. So if that is the case, we are only about $10,000 or $5,000 short of our $350,000 goal, which we can get by next week,” Mr Collie said.

“I met with Mrs ButlerTurner and she put her concerns forward. She and I had a long conversation and she promised to send me an email with her concerns. I took the concerns to the finance committee and went through them one by one. If

she has any other issues, she is not a deep freeze, so I am sure if there was anything else she would have said.

But from where I sit it is all good.”

Mr Collie said Dr Minnis is expected to have a major rally on Tuesday, before the convention opens the following day.

He said nominations for the party’s top five positions will remain open until the

last night of the convention.

So far, only Dr Minnis and Mrs Butler-Turner have announced that they are vying for leader, while Dr Duane Sands will challenge East Grand Bahama MP Peter Turnquest for his deputy leader post.

It has been speculated that former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham will return to frontline politics and vie for leader of the party.

However on Friday, Mr Ingraham told reporters that he is a “retiree”.

The theme for this year’s convention is “Because You Matter” and is scheduled for three days at the Melià Nassau Beach Resort, Cable Beach.

Mr Collie said evening sessions begin at 8pm and are open to the public. The convention will also be carried live on Our TV, ZNS TV, ZNS Radio, Peace FM and Star FM. It will also be streamed live on Facebook.

minors.

The former Fort Charlotte MP said he is focused on “re-instituting” those kinds of programmes if he is re-elected.

“We view our country’s (social) ills as obscure matters that aren’t capable of being addressed. As governments go, the plan has to be about moving beyond reacting and working from behind,” he said.

“That is what we did (in my time) in Fort Charlotte.

So when those residents speak, they speak from a standpoint of knowing how effective programmes work.

Education and social intervention are key, courses and vocational studies; when you provide residents with those types of initiatives that moves them away from

being dependent on any government or government assistance, and that is what we need.”

Earlier this month, residents in Fort Charlotte insisted that Dr Rollins had already “sealed” his fate as the worst MP in the history of the area.

Those constituents took Dr Rollins to task over several failed promises, forcing the Free National Movement MP to fire back with claims that the Christie administration should carry the brunt of the blame for the reported failures in Fort Charlotte.

When contacted this past weekend and given a chance to respond to these claims Dr Rollins, who quit the PLP last year, opted not to comment.

PAGE 6, Monday, July 25, 2016

THE TRIBUNE

THIS year’s Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival Road Fever Parade which has been credited with influencing the drop in unemployment a revealed in figures from the Department of Statistics last week.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/ Tribune Staff

FNM CALL TO CHANGE APPROACH TO MORE ACCURATELY RECORD LONG-TERM EMPLOYMENT from page one

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“The questions asked in those surveys do not specify whether that job is temporary or permanent, all it asks is whether that person is working or not. A person employed in May, through Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival would automatically say ‘Yes, I am employed,’” he said.

He added: “(Respondents) know full well that in a couple of weeks of answering those question their jobs will be gone, but the questions are worded in a way to reflect the overall picture. They are worded in a way to present a high point that the government has used for the past two years to sell a particular notion - jobs are being had.”

The Department of Statistics carries out its survey in late April to early May and then again in November.

Most recently, when officials surveyed country’s job market, they found a decrease in the unemployment rate, which fell from 14.8 per cent last November to 12.7 per cent in May. A survey conducted in the May 2015 survey showed that at that time, the national unemployment rate fell by 3.7 per cent, from 15.7 per cent in November 2014 to 12 per cent in May 2015.

However, there was a major spike in unemployment between May 2015 and November 2015 - rising by 2.8 per cent in that six-month window.

Mr Turnquest told The Tribune that he “fully expects” a similar jump again in the Fall of 2016, contending that once the survey is carried out again later this year statistics will show a spike in unemployment.

“The department has again given us figures that we can see through. The question has to come to mind on whether we should accept these numbers. I am not attempting to devalue the work done by the Department of Statistics at all, but at the same time we see that these numbers aren’t doing a proper job of telling the complete story about our country’s unemployment figures.

“I mean it is no surprise why we see a decrease in May around carnival time and increase in November when temporary jobs start to phase out. The proof is right there, it is up to us to perceive it how we may,” he said.

Friday’s report also stated that youth unemployment, which covers people 15 to 24 years old, is higher than any other area. However, this category declined from the rate of 30 per cent

recorded in November 2015 to 25.8 per cent in May. In addition to jobs provided by Junkanoo Carnival, the survey results said the 2.1 per cent decrease in the unemployment rate was influenced by jobs in the manufacturing sector increasing by 26 per cent.

This sector accounts for four per cent of total employment, the department said. The results of the survey also indicated that since November 2015, the labour force grew by 1.7 per cent and now totals 215,880 persons.

During a press conference on Friday, officials at the Department of Statistics suggested that a monthto-month comparison, from May 2015 to May 2016, would probably be needed to get a more accurate depiction of the unemployment rate.

When pressed by reporters on the possibility of moving the survey date from May to another month in which temporary jobs were less of a factor, officials indicated that such a move wasn’t likely.

Statistics’ Deputy Director Leona Wilson stated: “The original survey was always in May. I can think about it (changing the date), but I would really be reluctant to changing it.”

RESORT WORKER KILLED IN CRASH from page one

Lincoln limousine around 3pm on Saturday on Coral Road, near the junction of Nansen Avenue, according to Grand Bahama police. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Mr Cartwright was single and worked at Island Seas Resort. He celebrated his birthday earlier this month and was planning to go back to the College of the Bahamas to pursue his Bachelor’s degree, according to friends. He had graduated with an associate degree a year ago.

Four passengers in the Lincoln were also injured and taken to the Rand Memorial Hospital for medical attention.

Police are investigating the accident, which is the fifth traffic fatality in Grand Bahama this year.

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insight@tribunemedia.net

THE STORIES BEHIND THE NEWS

MONDAY, JULY 25, 2016

FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis launched his campaign by unveiling a ‘Roc wit Doc’ sign in the House of Assembly last month.

Photo: Yontalay Bowe

Conventional wisdom hard to find at home and abroad

L

ast week the US Republicans held their convention in Ohio and this week our Free National Movement (FNM) will hold theirs here in Nassau.

The two have one thing in common: they both mark the “outs” trying to become the “ins”.

As I watched TV snippets of the Grand Old Party’s Cleveland rumpus, I recalled the Republican convention of 1956 in San Francisco, where I was invited to take the big job of donning white coveralls to wield a hose inflating balloons rising from the floor of the vast Cow Palace - I was more visible than most of the delegates.

Forty years ago America was a different world from today: complacent, tranquil, unthreatened.

President Eisenhower, as promised, had ended the Korean War after 30,000 American deaths and was now running unopposed for his second term. Not only around the convention but across the country “I like IKE” buttons flashed on every street. Even the Democratic candidate, the estimable Adlai Stevenson, laughed “I like him too, but” and went down to a predicted crushing defeat.

As in 1956, this year’s Republican convention offered no real suspense. As expected, Donald Trump was quickly awarded the bulk of delegates. Looking only at the thousands of his gleeful, shouting, stomping supporters filling the Intuit Loans Arena, one might think Trump was wildly popular throughout America ... and would be totally wrong. On the first afternoon, an unprecedented near riot erupted on the floor when the Chairman overruled anti-Trump delegates on a crucial rules issue. On Tuesday night, over 700 delegates out of 2,400 voted formally for Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio or John Kasich. The speakers’ list was bare of Republican luminaries like the Bush family, Mitt Romney, John McCain, Lindsay Graham even Sarah Palin, too snug up in Alaska!

Senator Mitch McConnell’s and Congressman Paul Ryan’s dutiful endorsements were lukewarm at best, and Kasich, Republican governor of the host state, gave the ultimate snub by refusing to attend. The pro-Trump speakers were slanted much more antiHillary Clinton: “Lock her up!” demanded retired General Michael Flynn, and “Guilty, Guilty, Guilty” declaimed New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

Then, on the third night, Cruz was cheered on to the speakers’ platform for his expected Trump endorsement and later booed off it when he flatly refused to say the words. Bitter spite between the two would surface soon once again.

Clearly, even within the arena,

“I have a totally unscientific hunch that Hubert Minnis has the edge, having re-created himself as the lively ‘Roc wit Doc’ and overcome the smell of fish delivered by deadbeat Toggie (or is it Toogie?) Bullard.

Whatever the result, the winner and the loser and ‘The Gang of Six’ must bury any previous grudges and join forces to present a unified front.”

DONALD Trump’s acceptance speech on the final night of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland was simply preaching to the converted by the party’s presidential candidate. Photo/CAROLYN KASTER/AP

This week’s Free National Movement summit will thankfully be open, unlike Trump’s annointment in Ohio, Richard Coulson says the vocal enthusiasts did not represent the Republican unity that party leaders had desperately wished. And out across the nation, they lead but one faction of the fractured Republicans, the blue-collar evangelical Christian populists whose interests have been too long ignored by the fancy-pants party chieftains in Washington. And, of course, they barely make a dent in the vast number of traditional Democrats, ranging from blacks, Latinos and big-city unionists to modern career women and “brain” workers.

Donald Trump’s acceptance speech on the final night, warning of national doom that only he could conquer, did nothing to heal any breaches as he was preaching to the already converted. It’s hard to believe that, in November, the angry Trump bloc will prevail.

Unpopular Hillary Clinton may be outside her little clique, grossly careless of sensitive e-mails; nevertheless I predict, perhaps rashly, that voters will prefer her. It may be a strange election, decided by cross-overs: Democrats who loathe Hillary so much that they vote for Trump, and Republicans who despise Trump enough to vote for Hillary.

Here in Nassau I meet Trump

supporters understandably fed up with “political correctness” - but how could our nation ever feel warm towards a Republican administration of old-line white Americans who, after all these years, still barely accept black people as their equals? To maintain the diplomatic civilities, one wonders who Trump would find to be his ambassador.

Our imminent FNM convention is not a lock-up like what we just saw in Cleveland. We will have an “open” event in which the preference of the 410 delegates may not be known until the final count. We can be sure that this week they are being vigorously canvassed and stroked (I will not say “rewarded”) by both sides, but in the absence of the omnipresent polls that chart every US political trend (why don’t we have at least one professional Bahamian poll-taker?), I have no basis for predicting between the Minnis/ Tunquest team and their ButlerTurner/Sands opponents, or even a possible Papa Ingraham surprise.

I have a totally unscientific hunch that Dr Minnis has the edge, having re-created himself as the lively “Roc wit Doc” and overcome the smell of fish deliv-

ered by dead-beat Toggie (or is it Toogie?) Bullard. Whatever the result, the winner and the loser and “The Gang of Six” must bury any previous grudges and join forces to present a unified front - and look better organised than when scratching for last-minute cash to pay convention bills. The new leader cannot forget that even today’s wounded Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) can call out thousands of devoted loyalists to cast unthinking ballots.

That man or woman will not have any idea who he or she will face in battling the PLP. The choice made by the so-called People’s Party remains a multi-faced enigma that may not be resolved until their November convention.

We read columnists every day who claim that Perry Christie is “delusional” in claiming that he is supported by young Bahamians and that national stability demands him to stay on. But columnists and their literate readers don’t call the crucial shots, which are fired by the roughly 2,400 party delegates entitled to vote. Many of them are long-time “stalwarts” linked to Mr Christie by his warm friendship or by steady jobs. If they stay solid, he will be hard to dislodge.

But even loyal stalwarts may fade away if they sense a true groundswell of national opinion surging against their favourite, and waves of this are already emerging from the traditionally reliable “over-the-hill” constituencies. Mr Christie knows how to keep his ear to the ground, and a major erosion of his power base may compel a graceful retreat suitable for this respected elder statesman.

Then what? Will he simply leave the bones to be fought over by his hungry ministers Davis,

Mitchell, Wilchcombe, Gibson and Fitzgerald? Or, Mexican style, will he anoint one of them by pointing a firm-fingered “dedazo”, possibly at his apparent favourite, the tall-but-tarnished Jerome Fitzgerald? He has made amply clear his doubts that any of them can lead his beloved PLP to victory and beyond.

Maybe his dilemma will be solved by the old/new face of his friend Alfred Sears riding in like Shane to save the homestead from the bandits. Already a sure bet to retake Fort Charlotte for the PLP, smooth attorney Sears might ease Perry’s path up to the pleasant sinecure of GovernorGeneral, where he could still enjoy the pomp and circumstance of prominence without the burdens of responsibility. It would take all of Sears’ skill to negotiate the stand-down of the dignified Dame Marguerite, particularly to a politician who delayed her ceremonial cutting of the Independence cake.

But anything is possible.

The next ten months will be an exciting time for Bahamian politics. Today, no one knows who will lead either of our two main parties. Maybe the electorate, disappointed with both of them, will turn to the Democratic National Alliance or even elevate the hopeful minority outfits that seem to be springing up like weeds. This time, we will not be accused of clinging to the stodgy politics of the past.

• Richard Coulson is a retired lawyer and investment banker born in Nassau and from a long line of Bahamians. He is a financial consultant and author of A Corkscrew Life - adventures of a travelling financier. Comments and responses to insight@tribunemedia.net.

PAGE 2 MONDAY, July 25, 2016

Email: insight@tribunemedia.net

‘Toilet man’ is being let down by an uncaring system

I

t would only be fair that I defend publicly the facts in my article ‘Resident left to live in a toilet for eight years’ in The Tribune on July 5 and the response to it by the Department of Social Services.

I am not an employee or investigator for The Tribune or any publishing entities outside being an internationally self-published author. I am simply a concerned citizen who was given the responsibility to act based on what I had seen, experienced and was shared with by an elderly Bahamian. After my article, the Department of Social Services apparently conducted an “investigation” and felt the need to publish a statement refuting parts of what I had written. In the statement it said “an official stressed that the department “is satisfied that the building being occupied is not a toilet, but a renovated wash house. And the amenities it lacks are accessible in a family-owned house on the same property,” Social Services Director Mellany Zonicle said.

The purpose of my story did not come with any ill intentions. However, respectfully, it would been better and easier for the Department of Social Services - and whoever else is responsible for helping this individual - to take responsibility for their failing system; do the right thing as human beings responding in aid of another fallen brother that is in distress; and just let it be. But rather than doing that, they attempt to discredit me, my purpose and the gentleman who is in his seventies.

Although I had person-

Three weeks ago, Tribune reader Deno P Ellis expressed his concerns for an elderly man living in straightened circumstances in a converted toilet. Here he responds to the Department of Social Services “investigation” into the matter and bemoans a lack of action ally met and spoken with Mr Saunders, in the event I had misheard him or doubted my own self, to satisfy my thoughts, I went back to his property at the rear of the Needle’s Inn Club on Washington Street and Lincoln Boulevard for a second conversation. He was not home but, fortunately, with two other witnesses as I had done before I was able to speak to a lady sitting at the rear of the property to the larger house, just in front of the little shack Mr Saunders calls home. This lady, I later learned, was his younger sister.

The lady named Mr Saunders as “her mother’s child”, among other things that were shared negatively about him. Notwithstanding that, I asked the lady, who seemed bitter and angry with “her mother’s child”: “What was that building before Mr Saunders moved into it?” She replied: “That was an old storage house.” I asked about the condition of the building and it leaking heavily during rainy seasons. She continued, “It’s like that, because he wants to live that way. He hasn’t grown up as yet; and until he does, that is the way he let himself live.”

I asked whether Mr Saunders collects pension and other benefits from the government. She said: “Oh

yeah ... he gets that, and he also works. But unless one of you three gentlemen can teach him how to be a man, he wastes away his money, and have to live like that.”

“Did you said that he works?” I asked “Oh yeah, he’s a carpenter. A very good one. He could fix that roof himself.

But like I said: he doesn’t know how to be a man”.

I then asked about the septic and it overflowing during the rainy season.

“Well, he did told me that something wrong with the pipes in there. The plumber, who initially set that up, connected it the wrong way so it doesn’t flow the way it should.”

My follow up to that, was: “Do you let him use the facilities in your house?”

Her response was: “Oh no! I used to, but I has since stopped, because he is too wicked.”

“Where does he use the bathroom and clean himself?”

“He uses the toilet in there, and tote water in the buckets to flush it. In the small bathroom section, he cleans himself using a bucket.”.

I proceeded to ask how does he eat or prepare his meals. She said, “I don’t know, and really, I don’t care! He has his girlfriend and my sister who lives right there (attached

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house). I think she gives him food.”

With that, one of the gentlemen asked: “He has a sister that lives there?”

“Yes! If you drive around and see a little (colour) car, she’s home.”

Mr Williams, who was with me, was able to look into the house and saw some things that troubled him. We asked if she needed anything. She simply replied: “I want nothing. But if you gat a lot of money, I’ll take that!”

We smiled, thanked her for talking, wished her well and left.

The three of us got into the car and drove around.

The coloured car was parked in the driveway of the sister’s house so we decided to stop. The lady was in the kitchen preparing her family meal and beckoned us to the side of the kitchen door where she stepped outside.

A nice, settled lady, calm and humbled spirited, she said that Mr Saunders was

Images of the squalid conditions in which the elderly Mr Saunders is living in Washington Street.

was not in the running to hold the position long-term, saying that a permanent replacement for former NIB Director Rowena Bethel could be named in the coming weeks.

Email: insight@tribunemedia.net her brother. In regards to his living situation, she said: “He was staying with a lady Lewis Street, and he use to paint, do her lawn and others chores to cover his rent. But he has sugar diabetes and pressure, and after he took sick and was unable to work around her place. He had to move. He was practically homeless without any place to go. So my husband built that li’l place for him to be in. You see, that was an old toilet that my husband filled in, leaving the bowl, and built around so that he would have a place.

“This was our mother’s place, but we all have our family differences. I took this piece that you see fenced off; my sister is in the other part, and he got that piece in the back.”

As if I hadn’t heard, for confirmation and the satisfaction of all of us, I asked: “What was that place before Mr Saunders stayed there?”

“It was an old toilet,” she replied.

I then asked about the amenities such as cooking, toilet usage and shower and she confirmed most of what the other sister had said in regards to how he gets by. She also confirmed that he gets a small pension, and said that now and again, she and other family members would give him a plate if he comes over and requests it.

I then asked about the job.

She said, “No (he) doesn’t work. He is not healthy. After he took ill with sugar and the pressure, he can’t do very much for himself as far as working.

He does need help. People tries to help him, but ... they’re not treated very well from my sister (among other things) so they doesn’t bother.”

Once she was done sharing, I told her who I was and what I had done on her brother’s behalf as far as sharing his story. She said she hadn’t seen it, but would try to get a copy of the newspaper. I asked both sisters if anyone from Social Services was at the house, and had brought any help to their brother. Both said “they hadn’t seen or met with anyone”.

Finally, as I did with the first sister; I asked if she and her family were ok and did they needed anything. She said her and her family was making it alright. The only problem she

Last week, Ms Bethel indicated that there were no plans to renew her contract with NIB once it expired on July 3.

She was contracted to replace former chair-

sau Guardian’s National Review suggested that Ms Bethel’s decision to step away from NIB was made only after the government refused to acknowledge her ultimatum to either move

The government agency is also battling organisational and technical issues over the past few weeks as it works through faults in its new V3 processing system.

greatest impact was being felt by persons seeking disability benefit claims, along with customers seeking short-term benefit claims, such as maternity, sickness, injury and unemployment.

The corporation also

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As of Monday, officials at NIB were working on a shortlist of candidates and hoping to name a permanent director by the start of August, a source familiar with the process said.

MONDAY, July 25, 2016 PAGE 3

Resident left to live in a toilet for eight years

Tribune reader Deno P Ellis raises the plight of one elderly Nassau resident and makes a plea to government to help its citizens AT THE rear of the Needle’s Inn Club on Washington Street and Lincoln Boulevard on the right of the street sits a small brick/ wooden structure disguised a little by a patch of bush.

Last month, I was asked to accompany an associate to this residence of an elderly Bahamian living in extremely poor and unhealthy conditions.

The occupant is a man in his seventies respectfully named Mr Saunders, but who has been nicknamed “Toilet Man” by the community as a result of his living arrangements.

Although Mr Saunders lives in a constituency that borders those of Prime Minister Perry Christie and Glenys Hanna-Martin, Minister of Transport and Aviation, for the past eight years, he has been calling an outside toilet with plywood built around it to hold a bed, home.

Invited onto the property and greeted by the kind gentleman, he respectfully gave me the opportunity to take a few pictures inside and outside the shack. Taking a peek inside - and declining the invitation to step in due to the strong stench

escaping from the door - I took notice of a few things.

Linedup in the tiny block area was a number of buckets that Mr Saunders said he often used for toilet and water touting purposes. In the wooden area was a dirty bed on bricks with a string tied from one end being used for a closet.

He said that during rainy conditions, the roof leaks heavily, the sewage overflows in and out of the tiny shack as well as all over the yard that he and his family members share. There is a larger house on the property, occupied by a family of 15 including teenagers and small children. “There is no room for me,” he told me.

“I begged my family to have work done to the sewage, because it overflows and settles into the yard, where I can hardly get out unless I walk through it.,” he continued. “But no one wants to do it. I don’t know if they have the money, but it has to be done. I have a few buckets inside that I use when the septic floods and I have to take the stuff (waste) and throw it into the bushes down the road.”

As if the sight of his condition wasn’t painful enough, on hearing his story I desperately struggled to fight back tears.

I believe that Mr Saunders is only one of the many families that are living in these kind of conditions today in the Bahamas. Others with small children are liv-

ing in buildings with floors falling out, buildings with holes in the roof, etc. But it seems as though we, the people of this nation, have migrated from looking out for each other to becoming accustomed to accepting this as okay.

The provision of practical and cost effective living to accommodate the wider extent of the Bahamian people who are living dollar to penniless, is necessarily urgent.

Politicians are indulging themselves in extreme greed while allowing the people to live like dogs.

This is the Bahamas and we, the birthright inheritors of it, should not be forced to live like this. It is not healthy for Mr Saunders to be living, much less eating in and breathing in sewage waste. In the sight of God, this is very sad and not right. However, it will only get worse if the people of this country don’t stand up and speak out against those who allow such living coniditions for too many of us.

It doesn’t matter who we are in this Bahamas - “Everybody is somebody”. No matter what our intellectual or economic divide may be, we all have a value and that virtue should be respectfully recognised by our political leaders. There are many issues that confront the poverty-stricken ghetto communities and whether it’s participation through organisational programmes

former zns reporter ordered to pay $15,000 in contempt ruling

or government funding, it is vitally important that the government gets involved to help the people.

It is an uphill battle.

Nonetheless, I think the burden is on the political leadership in these constituencies to operate with compassion, clarity and integrity to make the message clear that all lives matter in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, especially at the grassroots level. The reason why there is so much violence in this town and among our men and boys is due to the lack of people’s empowerment.

The people are hopeless and there isn’t much enthusiasm or encouragement towards their future in this country as a result of hardship. It is a vital must that emergency assistance reaches these communities without prejudice and all of the bureaucracies. Indeed, I think it is distasteful for the government to use people’s desperate poverty-stricken situations to exploit them handing out T-shirts and a few bucks to push their political agenda.

For the sake of generations behind, for the sake

said they had was flooding of “Government staff the yard during rains, which treat most people as makes it difficult the for them to from page one matter to be dealt with mansions at Lyford Cay. Mr by her get in and out. She said courtthey would fly “in Bacon, though they are a an environment althe face of court” and be a ist, claims that Mr Nygard Mr Brown in contempt of proper were “promised drain“mockery of courts and a co- has retaliated against him court, she should have di- lossal loss problem to them, and time”. because he believes it was rected the attorney age” but have yet to getofthatjudicial any general Noting Mr Brown Mr Bacon who complained to lead prosecution against had not complied with the about that theenvironfunds which the alleged work done in Peattempt solve Mr Brown under the Norwich to Pharmacal order, mental damage being done nal Code so he would have Justice Charles said he was by the dredging of the seasome oftrialtheir flooding issues. faced a new were allocated for the under analso not under any pressure bed to expand the Nygard other judge. or coercion he had not Cay property.

With I thanked herandfor Justice that, Charles said she admitted to providing false purpose of helping Mr Bacon is suing Mr found this view “novel” and testimony nor has me, meeting and chatting with he shown Nygard for $100m for defatherefore invited the at- any remorse for his actions. mation.

He has alleged that people are struggling torney general to assist in then left.

“Every good citizen obeys the fashion designer organproviding an interpretation court orders,” she said. ised rallies, marches and of Section of the Penal ofJustice The82majority citizens theirs. have all Charles ruled that protests where he They was deCode, which concerns per- the defense must pay in- famed, created and distribjury. in this country have issues, demnity cost. uted defamatory T-shirts of these claws that After doing so, a repCounsel a forlittle Mr Brown and signs, published deand respectively, need resentative of the Office was given up to yesterday famatory accusations about of the Attorney General evening to prevent people from say whether they him and used websites helpthat in aone another. to argued secondway trial or will seek a stay in the mat- defame him. under another judge was in- ter so they could be grantAlthough I, too, edam going However, Mr Nygard getting help, even at deed necessary. leave to appeal Justice filed a $50m countersuit in However, Louis Adams, Charles’ through personal struggles, I ruling.

April accusing Mr Bacon of attorney for Louis Bacon, when things Justice Charles’ ruling a times “vendetta” against him, argued that this was op- stems unselfishly shared thefromstory of including an ongoing harassment and tional. feud between Mr Bacon frivolous litigation. are desperate and Each Justice Charleselderly someone and helpless. agreed and fashion designer Peter has denied the other’s allewith him, saying a failure for Nygard, who own adjacent gations.

I, too, have to seek the assispeople are hurting. It’s tance of Social Services, NIB $90,000 coldhearted!” scholar helping for miss teen bahama s winner and others for aship hand HIGH School student gain knowledge from other ed a priceless component Ariannah up notWells-Bain out. I was waspeople.” blatantly to the pageant. Not only crowned Miss Teen BahaAriannah said the schol- hascouldn’t back any benefits MTBI becomeget an endenied and(MTBI) was told heads mas International arship toby Liberty University richment programme that on Sunday night, winning has eased at least one worry teaches despite the number of years of the young ladies couldn’t inof the departments process a scholarship why for her I family. “I’ve taken makeup application, selfto Liberty University worth such a burden off my moth- defence, payments were taken out counselling,that fitget a helping hand up.

After $90,000. er. It’s incredible for me ness, communication, vidShe now goes on to rep- to know I was able to help eography and paid on my behalf. putting in almost eight years of - and more - but, resent The Bahamas in with my own education. She it has now become an imJacksonville, I know all too thisofis the happy, Governand that makes me portantTherefore, service Florida, at one gateway to tertiary summer at the Miss Teen happy.” education the young wellforwhat it lais like dealing International competition.which ment entities paid my Runner-up Lezlia Jones, dies.

“I’m most looking for- received a $30,000 scholarThe field people, of 18 youngand government with ward to sharing my plat-onship contributions time, every to Liberty University women was a mix of public form on an international while Marechan Burrows school, private school and most as though staff who treat time and after level,” she ... said.struggling, “Now that received $20,000. college students.

I have the opportunity to Anthony Smith, MTBI’s they are a problem to them, almost nine weeks of back and take it to an international National Director, said the Full story and photoarena, it will be so exciting academic partnership with graphs, see that Womanthe and and waiting ...

I went to sectionfunds which were toforth, share my knowledge, and Liberty University has add- today allocated for the purpose of NIB where I was told why I

THIS WEEK IN THE TRIBUNE

Today

Insight - Richard Coulson looks at the leadership battles in Bahamian politics, starting with this week’s FNM convention, and contrasts them with the US Republican party’s rumpus in Cleveland Business - a leading QC has backed calls for liberalisation of the legal profession in the Bahamas, saying “Bahamianisation has been more of a curse than a blessing”. Neil Hartnell reports Sports - reports and photographs from the Northern Bahamas body-building championships in Grand Bahama; plus the first of our athlete profiles in the 242 on the Road to Rio series Plus the latest properties for sale and rent in the Home Buyers’ Guide

The ouTside toilet with plywood built around it that Mr Saunders has called home for the past eight years of your sons and daughters, for the sake of Mr Saunders, the “Toilet Man”, and all of

us, we must stand up, speak out and fight back against our oppressors.

Tuesday Woman and Health - weekly advice on taking care of your mind and body and women making waves in the Bahamas Plus comment from Nicole Burrows and sporting mischief and mayhem with Inigo “Naughty” Zenicazelaya

Wednesday helping struggling people are theirs. They have all of these claws that prevent people from getting help, even at times when things are desperate and people are hurting. It’s coldhearted!

So please, heads of Government departments, don’t make an excuse and act as though you care because from personal experiences, I know you don’t!

Rather than taking the time out to comment on an article, Mr Saunders and thousands like him who are deeply in distress and struggling, should have had help taken to them at the same time the “investigation” took place. This man, and others like him, has been living this way for years, and people accepted it for what it was, and continued with their busy lives. This includes politicians.

However, I saw it and did something. I respectfully ask, that you do the same.

• Comments and responses to insight@tribunemedia.net

Tribune Tech - a weekly look at what’s new in the world of technology Thursday Obituaries and Religion, a weekly review Young Man’s View - trenchant opinion from Adrian Gibson on the hot topics in the country ‘On da Hook’, a weekly look at fishing in the Bahamas

Friday Weekend - a 28-page section devoted to the best in arts, music, fashion, food, books, entertainment, gardening, animal matters, fitness, history and interviews Sports - The Finish Line, a look at the local sports scene, by Brent Stubbs Plus A Comic’s View - Naughty’s unique take on the week in the Bahamas

Saturday The Tribune’s Top 5: a special video review of the week’s top stories by Khrisna Virgil on www.tribune242.com Every day in The Tribune, news, business, sports and Classifieds Trader.

Plus breaking news and updates on your mobile-friendly tribune242.com

PAGE 4 MONDAY, JULY 25, 2016

EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

Call to educate Bahamians on issues ahead of election

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net AS ELECTION season kicks into high-gear, nonprofit action group Organization for Responsible Governance (ORG) today launches its own campaign to educate Bahamians on national issues and the critical need for reform.

The initiative, called “The Campaign for the Bahamas”, targets three key areas for reform: government accountability and transparency, education and economic development.

“The Bahamas is strug-

gling to move forward and not enough action is being taken to turn it around,” said Dionisio D’Aguilar, ORG council member.

“Disaster is looming right around the corner and something needs to be done to change, and change fast.

“It is necessary people understand the issues so they can understand their importance to the future of the country and its citizens.”

The campaign’s website, www.campaign242.org, will be the group’s primary tool for spreading awareness and engaging public participation, along with print and radio advertisements,

which start today.

Current legislation being supported includes the Freedom of Information Act and the Whistleblower Act. “We need the right information and documentation from our government,” said Robert Myers, chairman of the ORG council.

“If we see something that isn’t right, we need to have the right to say something.

“At this point in time, we have but this one chance to get the governance and management of this country right. Or it will, without a doubt, be thrust into a more desperate and unsustainable state.”

In a statement, ORG pointed to 2012 statistics of national test scores that indicate 56 per cent of students in The Bahamas perform at a grade D level or lower.

“Combine that with the number of students who either dropped out or didn’t take the Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE), and the statistic becomes even more staggering, with 70 per cent of young people undereducated and therefore unable to pursue gainful employment or a college education,” the statement said. “Statistics show that there has been no improve-

ment in the country’s education system in the last 35 years.”

The group underscored the direct correlation between education and the economy, challenging that the undereducated populace is wreaking havoc on the country’s socio-economic development, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and citizenry.

“Quality education is critical to develop a more informed public who can access good jobs with livable wage employment and contribute back to the country’s economy,” Mr Myers said.

“The Campaign for The

Bahamas is about effecting positive change in these critical areas,” says Myers. “But we cannot do this alone. This is a fight we all must take on. We need family, friends and neighbours to lend their voices and support to this effort. We need civil society, corporations, associations and political organisations to partner and do their part.

“With the entirety of the Bahamian community working together, we can ensure the successful future of our county.”

ORG is a non-profit foundation dedicated to addressing long-standing issues plaguing The Bahamas.

IN this July 19, 2016, file photo, a tray of Aedes dorsalis and Culex tarsalis mosquitos are shown collected at the Salt Lake City Mosquito Abatement District near Salt Lake City. Five cases of the virus have now been confirmed in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

FIVE CASES OF ZIKA VIRUS CONFIRMED IN TURKS AND CAICOS FIVE cases of the Zika virus have been confirmed in the Turks and Caicos Islands by the Ministry of Health over the weekend.

“As of Friday July 22, 2016, the Turks and Caicos has recorded five cases of Zika virus,” a media statement read. “Three of these cases are associated with a

recent history of travel to areas where cases of Zika have been reported. The other two are being investigated.”

Zika can cause fever, rash, joint pain and reddened eyes, though many of those infected show only mild symptoms or none at all. Pregnant women are

considered most at risk because the virus has been linked to microcephaly, a birth defect in which a baby is born with an abnormally small head.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Centre (CDC) says there are lots of uncertainties about Zika and preg-

nancies including no confirmation on how the virus affects the likelihood of transmission from infected mother to unborn baby, clarity on when in the pregnancy infection may harm foetus and it is unknown whether sexually transmitted Zika affects the babe in the womb.

Over the weekend several cases of the virus were reported in the US. A civilian contract worker has become the first person with a confirmed case of Zika on the military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, after being diagnosed with the mosquito-borne virus following a trip to Jamaica, the Navy said on Friday.

New York has confirmed its first case of a baby born with a Zika virus-related case of microcephaly, a potentially serious birth defect in which a baby’s skull is much smaller than expected, the Department of Health said on Friday.

And Alaska health officials say a Midwest man working in south east Alaska has tested positive for the Zika virus following a recent visit to Central

America. Officials say the man has returned to his home in the Midwest and that he was never hospitalised in Alaska.

Dawnell Smith, a spokeswoman with the Alaska Department of Health, says a blood specimen was collected from the man at a southeast Alaska clinic on July 18 while he was sick.

She said she did not know where the man’s hometown is and that his is the first positive Zika test at an Alaska facility.

Meanwhile Puerto Rico’s governor has announced that he will not authorise aerial spraying with the insecticide naled to fight an increase in Zika cases as US health officials have urged.

Instead, Alejandro Garcia Padilla said he will support the spraying of Bti, an organic larvicide. He said it should be sufficient to fight the mosquito-borne virus along with other ongoing efforts, but hoped no child would be “born with congenital defects because of the decision I took”.

Puerto Ricans in recent weeks have organised several protests against the use

of naled, raising concerns about its potential effects on people and wildlife. The CDC recently said Puerto Rico lacked an integrated mosquito control programme as it fights what it called a silent epidemic.

Eight out of 10 people show no symptoms of Zika. So far, Puerto Rico has 5,582 Zika cases and is seeing a 20 to 30 per cent weekly increase in those cases, said Health Secretary Ana Rius.

There are 662 pregnant women infected with Zika, and up to 80 of them have given birth, all to healthy babies, she said.

Garcia’s administration has fought the virus in part by fumigating public housing units where pregnant women live, distributing about a million condoms and picking up more than 1.65 million old tyres to cut down on mosquito breeding sites.

The CDC has estimated that more than 20 per cent of Puerto Rico’s 3.5 million people could be infected with Zika in an outbreak expected to peak by this summer. Local health officials have dismissed that number as exaggerated.

PAGE 8, Monday, July 25, 2016

THE TRIBUNE

PM says he is a target for ‘hunter’ after criticism

By KHRISNA VIRGIL Deputy Chief Reporter kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Perry Christie said on Friday that as the country heads into election season, he will be a target for “the hunters” as he gave a vague response to MP Philip Galanis’ scorching critique in which he branded the nation’s leader “delusional” over his vow to remain leader of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP).

“I would say that given the season we’re in, I’m a

subject for the hunters,” Mr Christie said while standing to give remarks at the official naming ceremony of the Water and Sewerage Corporation headquarters at Thompson Boulevard.

The building was named in honour of E George Moss, the corporation’s first General Manager.

The ceremony also attracted former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, Deputy Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis and former National Security Minister Tommy Turnquest.

Continuing his remarks, the Prime Minister said: “So it’s so good to see my former colleague Prime Minister walk in on this occasion because I know he wouldn’t call me delusional.

“I am almost tempted to suggest to him that he explain to those who here do so, why he himself wouldn’t do so because he knows and that’s as far as I go.”

However, when reporters attempted to press Mr Christie further when the ceremony ended, he did not offer any elaboration.

His response came after

Mr Galanis on Wednesday chastised Mr Christie for his assertion that the PLP could become unstable without him at the helm, saying this was the “height of nonsense” and bordered on “delusional”.

In a frank interview with The Tribune, Mr Galanis said there are many persons within the party that are capable of bringing a breath of fresh air into the country, ridding it of the “Christie fatigue” it now experiences.

Mr Galanis insisted that if it was Mr Christie’s desire to remain as Prime Minister,

from page one

ing this was the “height of nonsense” and bordered on “delusional.”

Initially Deputy Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis also rejected Mr Christie’s position, but told reporters on Friday that leaders carry a duty to hold their organisations together.

In response to Mr Galanis’ criticism, Mr Davis said: “I think we need to be respectful to our leaders.”

“The Progressive Liberal Party is a strong vibrant organisation and is the oldest political party in The Bahamas,” Mr Rigby told this newspaper when he was contacted yesterday.

“We have gone through many peaceful, orderly transition of leaders. No one thought that after the 1997 general election with Sir Lynden Pindling leaving

the scene, the party would survive. It did lead to Dr Bernard Nottage leaving and forming the Coalition for Democratic Reform.

But the party remained focused on its core principles and ambitions.

“It is absolute nonsense for Mr Christie to assert that he is the glue that holds the organisation together. What is holding the PLP together is the burning desire and philosophy to help the poor and to create broad based opportunities for Bahamians among other things,” Mr Rigby said.

He continued: “Now the leader he does get the vision and a message and sells it to the Bahamian people.

But the thing that holds the party together is the burning vision that is in the bosom of the party’s standard bearers.”

“If you talk to those in the young generation of the PLP in their 20s, 30s and even 40s, many of them will tell you they are frustrated by what is perceived to be a limitation on opportunities to reach to the highest level, they are frustrated with the dynamics on both sides of the political divide and perhaps more frustrated with the governing party and leadership. We need to stop getting caught up in personalities.”

Mr Rigby said after 43 years of independence, it was a sobering thought to live in a country where there were fewer opportunities for young Bahamians.

This is due to a deficiency of innovative leaders who are visionaries, he said.

“We are at a standstill because we need men and women to step forth and lend ideas, vision, and aspirations,” Mr Rigby said.

“If Mr Christie could deliver that then fine, and if (FNM Leader Dr Hubert) Minnis can deliverer that then fine.

“But what we know is the course we have been on for the last 20 years will not serve the needs of our people.

“What we have seen is the government hasn’t been progressive in putting forward policies, which could create a deep sense of hopefulness. The question is how do we correct that?”

Mr Rigby said we must all come to the realisation that the current political dispensation has created a barrier for those who want change and until this happens the country will not move forward.

When asked about his political future during an appearance on the “Ed Fields Live” show on Kiss FM last Monday, Mr Christie said: “There are two things. One, that I have enough young people who are a part of my government who have asked me to stay on. Two, that with respect to staying on, everyday of my life I recognise that I provide

he should just be intellectually honest and say so.

He went on to explain that despite Mr Christie’s constant mantra that his team was a “bridge to the future”, his declaration on Monday was an admission that he failed to appoint persons who could actually succeed him.

Asked if he believed the party should have an earlier convention, Mr Galanis said the PLP should because the planned November timeline was too late to change leaders and draft a plan to direct the country.

Meanwhile, former PLP Cabinet Minister George Smith was adamant that while no one should underestimate the importance of Mr Christie’s role as leader, the organisation is bigger than any one person and would not fall apart should he retire.

Mr Smith said he believes Mr Christie is being encouraged to remain leader of the governing party by some PLPs and members of Parliament who fear without him they will not have the same level of “clout” under new leadership.

RIGBY: ‘ABSOLUTE NONSENSE’ THAT CHRISTIE IS ALL THAT IS HOLDING THE PLP TOGETHER Mr Rigby spoke in response to Mr Christie’s declaration last week that he seeks to continue leading the Progressive Liberal Party, including into the next general election, because young members of his government have urged him to do so.

He also suggested that instability would arise in the party if he were no longer leader, similar to what is occurring in the Official Opposition. He did not name the government members who he said have urged him to continue to lead the party.

This sparked a wave of response across the political divide, with former PLP MP Philip Galanis among the critics who chastised the prime minister, say-

RAYNARD RIGBY stability.

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

“The country has moved to Pindling, to Ingraham, division in the FNM, to Christie, he’s holding right now, no division in the PLP. “And so the question for us is, moving forward, one of the great advantages the PLP offers to this country is a very stable government, one with the capacity to guarantee continuity in governance and one that has been meaningfully employed in major reforms in this country, the latest one of which is the University of the Bahamas.”

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

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

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

DNA: CHRISTIE SHOWING POOR SUCCESSION PLANNING PRIME Minister Perry Christie’s suggestion that he is holding the Progressive Liberal party together is “arrogant” and shows “poor succession planning” within the governing party, Democratic National Alliance Leader Branville McCartney said yesterday.

“The greatest failure of any leader, is the failure to train and appoint a successor,” Mr McCartney said in a statement. “As part of our country’s current political narrative we see the devastating effects such poor succession planning playing out within the Free National Movement and clearly the governing Progressive Liberal Party is making the same mistake.

“Earlier last week, the (prime minister) declared himself the glue holding his party together and even suggested that his decision to remain in frontline politics was made on the advice of the young people within the party. Sadly, Mr Chris-

tie’s comments not only betrayed his own selfish political ambition, but are also an indictment on his leadership style.

“After 40 odd years of public life, it appears that the prime minister has entered a period of political senility and should, at the earliest possible moment, be committed to the political equivalent of an assisted living facility to eke out the remainder of his days. The idea that he, and he alone is fit to lead the PLP is more than just arrogant, it is in fact delusional as some within his own party have suggested.”

Last Monday, Mr Christie said that he seeks to continue leading the PLP because young members of his government have urged him to do so.

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

His comments came during an appearance on the “Ed Fields Live” show on Kiss FM. According to Mr McCartney, his party is inundated by young people “who complain that this Christie led administration is simply out of touch with their needs.”

He added: “There are scores of bright young men and women who can’t find work because of the ineffective economic policies of this government. Each year, we lose thousands of college graduates who are simply choosing not to come home to contribute to building this country. Why? Because even after 40 years of service, our leaders will not step aside.”

The DNA has long pushed for term limits for a prime minister.

Mr McCartney said if the DNA assumed office, no leader would be able to serve more than two terms as the prime minister.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, July 25, 2016, PAGE 9

THE CUBAN migrants wait to be transported to the Carmichael Road Detention Centre.

Photo: Petty Officer Jonathan Rolle/RBDF

FOURTEEN CUBANS DETAINED AFTER BEING FOUND NEAR HIGHBOURNE CAY FOURTEEN Cuban migrants have been turned over to officials at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre in New Providence

after being apprehended by the Royal Bahamas Defence Force on Saturday afternoon.

While on routine patrol,

the RBDF’s patrol craft P-128, coxswained by Petty Officer James Darling, intercepted a 20ft makeshift motor vessel two nautical

miles east of Highbourne Cay in Exuma Sound at 12.30pm.

The 14 undocumented Cuban men were taken

aboard the Defence Force vessel and transported to Coral Harbour Base, where they were handed over to Immigration officials for

further processing.

Twenty-six Cuban migrants have been apprehended by Defence Force officials this month.

Doctor in rape case called ‘a wolf in sheep’s clothing’

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net DR GERALD Forbes was described as “a wolf disguised in sheep clothing” by the prosecution during closing arguments in the Supreme Court in Grand Bahama on Friday.

“We must expose him,” Erica Kemp told the jury of four women and five men. “This is a case where a trusted healer breached the trust of his patient/employee,” she said, referring to the alleged indecent assault and rape of a 20-yearold woman at his clinic in February and March, 2015.

Osman Johnson, Dr Forbes’ lawyer, on the other hand, described the 46-year-old doctor as a man who is being “robbed” of his career and a medical practice he has worked to build because of lies concocted by the virtual complainant.

“I can’t imagine the nightmare the doctor is going through,” he said. “His career is finished, his medical practice is finished and he is broke and destitute.”

The jury first heard from Mr Johnson, who delivered a fiery and lengthy closing address. He noted that the two charges against his client are very serious, and that Dr Forbes is under no obligation to prove his innocence. The doctor, he said, is innocent until proven guilty and that the burden is on the prosecution to

provide evidence in support of what is being alleged.

It is alleged that in February, 2015, while at his Carico Medical Clinic, Dr Forbes rubbed the complainant’s vagina and masturbated while performing a physical exam, and that in March he allegedly had sex with the woman without her consent while performing a medical abortion procedure.

On March 16, Dr Forbes was arrested at his clinic in the Professional Plaza on Pioneer Way. Mr Johnson delivered a fiery and lengthy closing address, noting the seriousness of the two charges and arguing that there is no evidence in support of the charges. There is no DNA or forensic evidence, no corroboration by any medical reports or witness statements that the complainant was raped and indecently assaulted, he said.

He noted that the matter is one of ‘I say, you say’ and comes down to one single verbal allegation, on which it is not enough to condemn someone. The lawyer indicated that there was no semen found, no eyewitness, and that a medical report from a doctor had indicated that the complainant suffered no injuries.

Mr Johnson claimed that it is unbelievable that the incidents are alleged to have happened in the middle of the day in a medical office that is open to the public, and with other businesses

PAIR CLEARED OF MURDER OVER DRIVE-BY SHOOTING

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net

TWO MEN accused of murdering a man at a funeral repast celebrated their freedom on Friday after they were acquitted by a jury.

Garvin Pratt, 21, shouted “freedom, freedom, freedom” outside the Supreme Court after the 12-member jury returned unanimous not guilty verdicts against him and Eduardo Carey, 36, The decision brought to a close a two-year ordeal brought on by the August 23, 2014, shooting death of 29-year-old Delano Brice.

Brice was shot in the neck during a drive-by shooting at Quakoo Street where a repast was being held. He died four days later in hospital.

Pratt and Carey pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were formally arraigned in the Supreme

Court on January 16, 2015.

If found guilty, the men each faced 30 years to life in prison, subject to whether the Crown opted to seek the the discretionary death penalty.

On hearing Friday’s verdicts, Pratt and Carey showed relief.

Wallis Carey, Eduardo’s mother, told The Tribune that the verdict provided her son with an opportunity to again live a regular life.

“He is still relatively a young man, he still has an opportunity to live his life,” she said. “He has a wife, he has kids; this means that he can now return to his family as a free man and live for them.”

Romona FarquharsonSeymour appeared as counsel for Pratt, while Tonique Lewis, of Munroe and Associates, represented Carey. The Crown’s case was presented by Anthony Delaney, assisted by Timothy Bailey.

next door in the same building. He also noted that the complainant did not contact the police immediately after the alleged incident in February, and waited two weeks after the second incident in March before reporting it.

“Would a reasonable woman do what she did … and stay in the office.

She ran out in the street and returned to work.

And then three weeks after that put yourself in a position to be with the doctor again alone, naked from the waist down?”

Mr Johnson asked the jury. He claimed that the complainant and her boyfriend lied under oath and are seeking the destruction of Dr Forbes.

Dr Forbes denied the charges. He testified that, in February, he and complainant left the clinic because business was slow and went to a bar. After that, they got some marijuana and went to his home where they drank rum, smoked and had consensual sex. He also claimed that when the com-

plainant discovered that she was pregnant she tried to terminate the pregnancy by inserting abortion pills into her vagina.

In her closing address to the jurors, Prosecutor Kemp said while they accepted that there is no forensic evidence or corroboration, the case is one based on credibility, about who is telling the truth.

“There is no forensic evidence. We are not running from that, but that does not prove rape,” she said.

She noted that a rape does not have to be a vicious attack. She said that Dr Francisco testified that she did not expect to see bruises or lacerations on the complainant.

Mrs Kemp said that there is no corroborating evidence because the complainant said that only she and the doctor were there at the time. “There is a wolf among us disguised in sheep clothing,” she said.

Mrs Kemp also said the complainant, who was the mother of a young infant at the time, and her boyfriend,

were unemployed.

She said that the complainant was required to have a physical when she was hired to work at the clinic and the doctor told her he could do it for her.

While examining the complainant, Mrs Kemp said the doctor indecently assaulted her and masturbated.

“The complainant felt that something was not right. And as it got worse and the rubbing continued, she jumped up and sees the trusted doctor has his penis out his pants and stroking his penis. She ran to the bathroom and he knocks on the door. She opens it and he holds her on the shoulder and tells her, ‘I am an old man it won’t take me long to bust, just stand there and let me finish’. He continued masturbating and ejaculated on the floor,” Mrs Kemp said.

Mrs Kemp told jurors that the complainant and her boyfriend were broke and had a child to feed. “You know … employment opportunities are few and far

between. She had a mouth to feed. When you are a mother there are things you would endure,” she said.

She said that sometimes people of 19 or 20 are not yet mature and make the stupidest judgments in the world. “Young people make the some of the stupidest decisions and judgments and then when you are older you look back and say what was I thinking,” she said.

The prosecutor said the doctor and the complainant were the only ones at the office during work hours. The two people supposedly employed at the clinic - Jumelia Mathieu, a janitress who opened the clinic around 7am, and returned again around 5.20pm to clean and close and Alonzo Pinder, the supposed officer manager, who was in and out of the office and who did not even know the complainant’s name - were hardly there, Mrs Kemp said.

The trial will resume today when Justice Estelle Gray Evans will give closing summation.

PAGE 10, Monday, July 25, 2016

THE TRIBUNE

MARCO Alert is ‘effective immediately’, says Nottage

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

NATIONAL Security Minister Dr Bernard Nottage on Friday solicited the engagement of local media outlets to assist in disseminating the Mandatory Action Rescuing Children Operation (MARCO) Alert, which he said is activated “effective immediately”.

Dr Nottage told a press conference at Police Headquarters that should a child be reported missing under the proposed regulations, radio stations will be requested to broadcast an alert no less than three times a day. However, he said it would be more practical “if (radio stations) did it as frequently as possible during the course of the day”.

Television stations, Dr Nottage said, are requested to broadcast the alert when it is issued and subsequently at each news update, while newspapers are to publish the alert daily. Once the child is recovered, police will notify the relevant media and broadcasting of the alert “shall cease immediately”.

Dr Nottage said the regulations currently do not compel media outlets to heed the requests, but merely “assumes that those entities will give maximum co-operation”.

However, he said if media outlets are unwilling to co-operate, the government would seek to make an amendment to the relevant Act to “make it legally mandatory”.

Meanwhile, the Bain and Grant’s Town MP said Police Commissioner Ellison Greenslade has taken the regulations and put them in the form of a “force order” for use by police officers.

As such, every officer with a copy of the force order will need to know what the order requires and conduct

themselves accordingly if a child is reported missing.

“The agreement that we have with the police now is that - effective immediately - this process will be used,” Dr Nottage said.

The regulations that will govern the MARCO alert system were introduced in the House of Assembly this year. The MARCO alert, as well as a proposed sexual offender’s register, are the by-products of the death of 11-year-old Marco Archer, who was murdered by convicted pedophile Kofhe Goodman in 2011.

Under the MARCO alert, when a child is reported missing and authorities are satisfied that there is a risk of harm or death, the Commissioner of Police will be required to use the alert.

According to Dr Nottage, on issuance of the alert, the Commissioner “shall cause an alert to be broadcast via commercial radio stations, television broadcasts, teletext communications, electronic network systems, the erection of billboards, or such other means as the minister responsible for national security may deem appropriate.

“The expectation and hope is where children go missing, we can have a more rapid onset of dissemination of information, that we can have full co-operation with the various media houses and media personnel, to give the maximum broadcast of the alert,” Dr Nottage said.

“So what we’re saying here is we want the alert to go out very quickly, that it should be broadcast mandatorily on radios, televisions, in newspapers, and of course we have social media now which is better than all of them put together. Certainly the information gets out more quickly.”

He added: “In the law, the regulations do not now

DR BERNARD NOTTAGE, Minister of National Security. compel newspapers or ra- offender register and the dio stations or television activation of the MARCO stations, but it assumes Alert system in a viral prothat those entities will give test on Friday night.

Non-profit group Solidarmaximum co-operation.

And if they are unwilling to ity242 called on Bahamians do so, I guess the next step to flood social networks for us would be to make an with hashtags and videos amendment to make it le- in a bid to grab the attention of lawmakers who have gally mandatory.”

Dr Nottage described the been slow to fully enact creation of a sexual offend- amendments to the Sexual er’s registry as “a challenge, Offences Act and the Child because there are issues of Protection Act. “It has been five years privacy and confidentiality, since The Bahamas was etc”.

“But we have almost rocked by the brutal death completed the creation of of Marco Archer and yet the regulations required Marco’s Law is not fully thereto, and a sexual of- functional. There is no sex fender’s register will be cre- offender’s registry, there ated in the not too distant is no MARCO Alert,” said Kishlane Knowles, future.”

Dr Nottage made the co-founder of Solidaranouncement a day after ity242.

“Our children are being activists said they were planning to harness the left vulnerable and we as power of social media to de- Bahamians have to push mand the creation of a sex back and demand that the government does its part in protecting our children, as promised. Sexual predators are walking among us, nameless and faceless,” Ms Knowles said.

Solidarity242 urged people to post on social media using hashtags like #justiceforMarco, #MarcosLaw, #protectourchildren and #Solidarity242.

Meanwhile, Dr Nottage said the Christie administration is in continued discussions with the providers of closed-circuit

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff television (CCTV) with Alert system. an aim to install cameras “The Department of Sothroughout New Provi- cial Services certainly weldence and, to some extent, comes the import of this in Grand Bahama. He said process,” she said. the government should “It’s very important; the soon be in a position to care and protection of our make a formal announce- children is very important ment on the matter “rela- to us. We have a child protively soon”. tection unit which is fully Dr Nottage also said manned with social workthe government is in dis- ers and they deal with the cussions with multimedia care and protection of chilcompanies to “determine dren on a daily basis, and whether or not we can get we work very closely in all more penetration through aspects of the ministry in the community by using all any event with the police. the technology that’s avail- So this is just another area able for us” as he said the that our involvement will be country’s archipelagic na- intertwined again.” ture could pose a challenge In late 2013, the governto the dissemination of the ment tabled two amendMARCO Alert. ments, one to the Sexual Dr Nottage also called Offences Act and the other for the establishment of to the Child Protection Act, “voluntary assistance” by which would create a sexumembers of the community al offender register, and a if and when children are re- MARCO alert for missing ported missing. children, respectively.

He added: “We really The Child Protection need to have an efficient Amendment Act 2014 came and effective system of be- into operation on August ing able to establish contact 26, 2015. The sexual offendthroughout the country, er’s register would place all throughout the communi- persons who are convicted ties, throughout the neigh- of sexual offences on the bourhoods in order to give proposed list. us the best chance of reAccording to Dr Notcovering people early on tage, any person who causes so that they do not come to an alert to be issued conany harm.” trary to the provisions of Social Services Minister the Child Protection Act Melanie Griffin, who was or falsely reports a child to present at Friday’s press be missing is liable to sumconference, praised the ac- mary conviction and a fine tivation of the MARCO not exceeding $2,000.

Summer travel safety tips for parents SUMMER is a special time for having fun with family and friends.

This is also the season when individuals enjoy family vacations, locally and internationally. The Royal Bahamas Police Force National Crime Prevention Office offers tips for safe travel.

Before you go Children of all ages need a current, valid passport if travelling anywhere in the world.

Ensure that you research information about the island or country that you plan to visit.

Go over basic safety information, with your children such as what to do if you or any other adult should become sick or lost.

Make sure that you have a first aid kit packed, along with baby wipes and a pocket sewing kit.

When packing Try to pack light, and only pack essentials in your carry-on bag.

Please remember the rules for what you can carry on the plane or boat and what needs to be checked in when travelling.

These rules also apply to liquids such as milk or formula, when flying.

At the airport and in the air Explain safety and security procedures, rules and

Police advice

By CORPORAL MAKELLE PINDER

instructions.

Instruct your children to cooperate with airport security officials.

Check requirements for strollers, diaper bags and other baby and child equipment, when travelling.

In your hotel Check your hotel room for potential hazards, such as electrical outlets and furniture with sharp corners.

Find the nearest fire exits, fire alarm and fire extinguisher or hose to your room.

Teach your children basic emergency procedures, such as what to do in case of a fire.

Keep potentially hazardous items, such as toiletries, out of the reach of children.

Supervise your children at all times.

Out and about Supervise your children closely, particularly in public restrooms, large crowds and near swimming pools or bodies of water.

Make sure your children cross the street with your

supervision.

If lost, instruct your children to go to an agreed upon safe place and stay there.

Dress your children in distinctive or brightly coloured clothes to make them more visible.

Write down your contact information on an index card and place it in your kids’ pockets to make contacting you easier .

Tell your children not to take anything from a stranger or go anywhere with a stranger .

If applied, the safety tips provided can minimise your child’s chances of becoming a statistic, making the rest of your summer safe and enjoyable.

• For information pertaining to safety during the summer, or any crime, please contact the National Crime Prevention Office at 302-8430-1 or call the police emergency at ‘919’ or Crime Stoppers at 328-tips (New Providence), 1-3008476 (Family Islands).

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, July 25, 2016, PAGE 11

BLOOD DONORS UNITE TO HELP THOSE IN NEED

THE first Unity Blood Drive was held at the Mall at Marathon on Saturday, with a number of organisations taking part with the aim of collecting at least 300 units of blood to bolster dwindling supplies.

The Princess Margaret Hospital Blood Bank, Doctors Hospital Blood Bank, Bahamas Red Cross Society, One Blood and Friends of the Blood Bank all took part.

Last year, 3,954 donations were accepted at PMH - but 12,487 units were needed.

THE FIRST Unity Blood Bank held at the Mall at Marathon had representatives from PMH, Doctor’s Hospital, Red Cross, One Blood and Friends of the Blood Bank.

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

ABOVE and below, some of those who donated blood at the Unity Blood Drive.

1 PC. CHICKEN (Thigh, Leg or Wing) + Individual Fries + Biscuit + 16 oz. Pepsi