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VOLUME:116 No.151, AUGUST 1ST, 2019

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Hotel room body - Was it suicide?

Family’s expert raises questions over girl’s death

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net THE hanging death of a 25-year-old South African woman in a bathroom at the Atlantis resort last year may have been staged to look like a suicide, a South African forensic pathologist claimed yesterday.

Dr Linda Liebenberg testified that Carla Van Eeden’s alleged suicide was actually the result of ligature strangulation and a “subsequent staging of the body” to “create the impression” she was hanged.

Dr Liebenberg, who conducted the second of two autopsies on Ms Van Eeden, said the young woman also had “numerous” scratches, bruises and abrasions about her body, which were in keeping with a person who had been involved in a “violent struggle”.

Dr Liebenberg also said the deceased woman had “drag mark abrasions” on “large parts” of the rear of her body, as well as an area of bruising to the back of her neck.

And the information

RIGHTS Bahamas chairperson Mona Agenor was arrested yesterday in an alleged violent encounter with police and immigration officials.

Her 15-year-old daughter said the incident has left her emotionally scarred, telling The Tribune: “He said if my mummy didn’t go, he would bodyslam her”.

The Tribune has reached out to officials for comment,

SEE PAGE FIVE

STATESIDE STATES’ RIGHTS SIGNAL TROUBLE FOR TRUMP

SEE PAGE EIGHT

‘WE WON’T BE BULLIED

BY MILLER’ PROGRESSIVE Liberal Party deputy leader Chester Cooper has issued a warning to former Tall Pines MP Leslie Miller, telling him the PLP’s leadership team “will not be bullied”.

The Exuma and Ragged Island MP made the remark to The Tribune yesterday about Mr Miller’s insistence on secuiring the PLP’s nomination in 2022. Mr Miller has said he is running in Tall Pines no matter SEE PAGE NINE

ELEUTHERA NEEDS DISNEY TO SURVIVE

SEE PAGE THREE

but received no response on the matter.

Ms Agenor, the group’s chairperson for Migrant Rights, and several family members were still in custody up to press time last night. In a separate release, the Immigration Department said it had apprehended 28 Haitian nationals in a joint operation called ‘Rising Sun’ with Southwestern Division police and K-9 units.

L SOUR CE

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

OFFICERS ‘BEAT’ SUSPECTS ON IMMIGRATION RAID

By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net

$1

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE death of South African Carla Van Eeden, above, in a bathroom at the Atlantis resort last year may have been staged to look like suicide, an inquest heard yesterday.

MAJOR investments such as Disney’s cruise port are essential if south Eleuthera communities are to “survive into another generation”, the island’s Chamber of Commerce argued yesterday.

Chamber president Thomas Sands said the private sector would back the cruise line’s Lighthouse Point project provided the Environmental Impact Assessment results were “favourable”.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

ARE CABINET WOMEN RESPECTED? NO

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

FORMER official opposition leader Loretta Butler-Turner has insisted that regardless of what female politicians bring to the table they aren’t respected by men who have dominated the political arena.

In a rare public appearance as a guest on a television show where she discussed the state

LORETTA BUTLER-TURNER of politics in the country, Mrs Butler-Turner further pinpointed how political

parties may not encourage the inclusion of female candidates.

Asked if women are respected at the Cabinet level, the former minister said: “No, absolutely not.

“Well, it’s very clear that you know if you have someone who is able to articulate, who is able to process, who is able to start to give a vision, the first thing that people look at is that a man or is that

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

SEE PAGE SIX

A FREEDOM SO LONG DENIED

SEE PAGE 10

PAGE 2, Thursday, August 1, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

STUART Cove Dive Bahamas made a generous donation of snorkeling equipment, including 30 sets of masks, snorkels, fins and snorkel vests, to the Bahamas Reef Environment Educational Foundation (BREEF). This equipment will be put straight to use in the third and final summer BREEF Sea Camp August 6-9 in New Providence.

BREEF executive director Casuarina

McKinney-Lambert said: “By learning how to safely appreciate the marine environment at a young age, the next generation of environmental stewards experiencing Sea Camps and BREEF field trips will be prepared to actively conserve the Bahamian marine environment that sustains our way of life.”

To sign up for Nassau BREEF Sea Camp email breef@breef.org

$37,000 DONATION FOR CHILDREN’S HOME

FROM left: Senator Kay Forbes-Smith, Chairman of the Board for the GB Children’s Home; Lillian Quant, Acting Director of Social Services; Mr Christie; Minister Frankie Campbell; Sheila Johnson-Smith, Director of the GB Children’s Home and Jean Hivert, Treasurer of the Home.

Photo: Lisa Davis/BIS

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net ATTORNEY Brenford Christie, a trustee of the Alice Sauberli Trust, donated $37,000 to the Grand Bahama Children’s Home yesterday.

Mr Christie also made a personal commitment to purchase ten cribs sorely needed at the Home.

Minister of Social Services Frankie Campbell and Senate President Katherine Smith both commended Mr Christie at a press event.

Alice Sauberli was a wealthy Swiss winter resident of Freeport. After her death, a Trust was established in 1989 by Mr Christie, who has made donations to various causes and organisations over the years.

According to Mr Christie, this latest donation to the Home represents the final amount of funds that had remained in the Trust. He is one of the two remaining surviving trustees.

“I made recommendation that we terminate the Trust and pay the proceeds by way of donation to the GB Children’s Home and (the other trustee who is a Swiss lawyer) agreed to that,” Mr Christie said.

The attorney noted that the very first donation from the Trust was made in 1991 to Lady Henrietta St George for the GB Children’s Home. Donations, he said, were also made to the Special Olympics, FIDA (International Federation of Woman Lawyers) to assist with their scholarship programme at the College of the Bahamas, now University of the Bahamas.

He said that the donations were made privately out of the public spotlight.

Mr Christie explained that some two months ago he ran into Senate President Katherine Smith, who mentioned the Children’s Home during their conversation.

“I was aware of their issues for quite sometime and so I said to Kay that I will make a commitment to assist,” Mr Christie said.

Yesterday, Mr Campbell said that the government relies on “valuable” partnerships that can help those who are in need and most vulnerable in society.

He called for a moment of silence in recognition of Ms Alice Sauberli.

“We are here because somebody saw fit, realising they could not take it to the grave that they would consider putting their earthly riches to work for others.

And so we are not all able to do it - all of us are not able to open a Trust, but we all have a part to do,” Mr Campbell said.

“I am aware that the ministry has partnered for a very long time with the GB Children’s Home... it is a testimony of what you have done as custodians, and an indication of how serious you take the commitment that I am sure translates into lives of the children.”

Mr Campbell underscored three ministerial priorities: the children, older persons and persons with disabilities.

“We have a responsibility to pour into their lives to ensure that when they take over the reigns of power they are able not only to sustain the efforts we made, but take us to the next level,” Mr Campbell said.

Mr Campbell noted Mr Christie’s aversion to publicity for his donations, but said it is important that the public is made aware of his generosity.

“I respect your need and want for privacy,” Mr Campbell said, “but I beg your indulgence in allowing us to talk about you and tell the public about you and what you have done.

Because it is moments like this that helps us sensitise what is being done here and to kind of prop the corporate community and others who are able to identify that there are such needs, and to become likeminded and give this kind of assistance.”

Mr Campbell said: “I ask the media when there is a gap because there is no commercial to be played to use those moments to remind persons of the kind generous acts taking place today, with a clip saying ‘there is room for more generosity and more room for work to be done in this regard’.”

The Minister also commended the staff of the Grand Bahama Children’s Home for their good and noble service to the children.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, August 1, 2019, PAGE 3

ALLEGED ABDUCTOR HAS CHARGES UPGRADED TO CHILD STEALING

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net DE’EDRA Gibson, the woman previously accused of abducting four young boys between the ages three and eight, has had her charges upgraded to child stealing.

The 29-year-old hair stylist received her four voluntary bills of indictment (VBI) yesterday, which said the Crown is pursuing the weightier charge against her.

Child abduction carries a maximum prison term

of two years. However, if convicted of child stealing, Gibson would face up to 10 years in prison.

Gibson is now expected to be formally arraigned before Justice Bernard Turner on August 16. She remains on $20,000 bail until that time.

In April, Gibson was charged before Magistrate Samuel McKinney with abducting three eight-year-old boys and a three-year-old between February 16 and March 29.

During her initial arraignment, her attorney Howard Thompson

Jr told Magistrate McKinney that his client has a history of mental health issues. In fact, he said just last October, Gibson spent some time in the psychiatric ward of the Brookdale University Hospital in New York.

At the time, Mr Thompson said he had also received legal instructions from Gibson that ranged from “incomprehensible” to “bizarre”.

As a result, Magistrate McKinney remanded the woman to the Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre (SRC) and adjourned the

matter to have a psychiatric report on her mental fitness to plea presented to the court.

That psychiatric report revealed she is in fact fit to plea to the charges. She subsequently elected to be tried in the Supreme Court.

At the time however, Gibson appeared initially not to want her matter to be tried in the Supreme Court, and at the very least, seemed to be opposed to her family having a part in the decision making, as she could be overheard telling her attorney that “they don’t have no say”.

DE’EDRA GIBSON Nonetheless, after she told the magistrate of her selection, and he remanded her to the BDCS to await service of a VBI, she said in

a disgusted voice: “I hope they happy.”

Gibson was later granted $20,000 bail with two sureties by Justice Gregory Hilton.

As part of her bail conditions, Gibson must have regular check-ups at the SRC every two months, follow her treatment plan and provide proof of compliance to the court.

She was also ordered to surrender her passport and wear an ankle bracelet. She is also ordered to report to the Elizabeth Estates Police Station on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Was it suicide?

THE ATLANTIS resort and, inset, South African forensic pathologist Dr Linda Liebenberg.

Expert suggests scene was staged to create the impression South African woman was hanged from page one about Ms Van Eeden’s injuries, which Dr Liebenberg said she not only saw but “photographed extensively”, was not contained in the autopsy report compiled by local forensic pathologist Dr Kiko Bridgewater.

Additionally, Detective Corporal Rudolph Sweeting, a Crime Scene Investigator, said he was instructed by Dr Bridgewater to take certain post-mortem photographs of Ms Van Eeden’s body while it was in the Rand Laboratory at the Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) on May 30.

However, none of the six pictures he said he was instructed to take were of the posterior nor torso of the deceased’s body where Dr Liebenberg said she observed the “numerous” injuries. The only things Det. Cpl. Sweeting said he was instructed to capture was the deceased’s face; the lanyard around her neck; bruising on the front and back of her neck purportedly due to the lanyard; and an overview of her legs.

While Dr Liebenberg’s evidence raised questions over Ms van Eeden’s death evidence presented at yesterday’s hearing by Atlantis showed extensive analysis of the hotel’s video surveillance system showed no suspicious entry by anyone into the girl’s bedroom before her death.

Further evidence is expected to be produced to challenge Dr Liebenberg’s report.

Dr Liebenberg, who was testifying via Skype from South Africa, had her testimony cut short yesterday due to connectivity issues.

She resumes her testimony today from the Atlantis resort, where the internet connection should not be an issue.

According to the evidence led thus far, Ms Van Eeden, formerly a stewardess on a private yacht, checked into the Atlantis resort on May 14, 2018.

Tanackia Tinker, a front desk employee, checked her in.

Since then, Ms Van Eeden’s financial transactions at the resort were minimal and limited to her first day or so at the resort, based on the resort’s guest activity portfolio. She had only spent $25.88 at the Sip Sip restaurant, and another $150 on a guest attraction on May 15.

Ms Van Eeden’s best friend, Lauren Burke, raised the alarm about the deceased’s whereabouts when she repeatedly called the Paradise Island resort on May 16, claiming she had not heard from Ms Van Eeden and that it wasn’t like her to not call and/or return her calls.

One of the persons Ms Burke ended up speaking with was Bennett Allen, the hotel manager of Atlantis’ Royal Towers, who at

first sought to allay her concerns by reasoning that Ms Van Eeden might have been enjoying herself at the resort and simply forgot to check in with her loved ones.

Mr Allen said people calling into the resort looking for their loved ones is something that happens 15 to 20 minutes daily, and each time it happens, the caller views their situation as an emergency.

However, he said it usually turns out that the person they are looking for is clubbing or having a good time on the property.

But when he had a look at her guest activity portfolio, the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation junkie in him kicked in and “heightened” his suspicions. Thus, he acted on those otherwise commonplace indicators and personally went to Ms Van Eeden’s room to investigate.

When he and another employee, Lisa Ferguson got there, and the latter checked the bathroom, Ms Van Eeden was hanging by her neck from a green and white cell phone laniard, which was in turn hanging from a garment hook on the bathroom door.

Mr Allen, a first responder, said he noticed “major discoloration” and the lower parts of the young woman’s body. It was “basically all blue”, he said. He said he also checked her right hand for a pulse, but didn’t feel any.

Mr Allen said he did not notice anything untoward about the main door to the hotel room. He also said both the door to the balcony as well as the doors that connected Ms Van Eeden’s room to the next room, room 3585, were also locked.

Corporal 3585 Ashley Black, a general investigator at the Central Detective Unit (CDU), said when she arrived at Ms Van Eeden’s room on May 17, it appeared as if Ms Van Eeden had hanged herself.

Cpl Black also said the room didn’t appear to be disturbed.

Corporal Cyril Walkes, the investigating officer who accompanied Cpl Black to the scene, also said that the door that adjoined, was locked. He said when he knocked on the main door to that room, he got no answer, and thus reasoned it was unoccupied.

Meanwhile, Ms Van Eeden’s older brother Nicholas, said the last time he spoke with his sister was on May 9, 2018. At the time, he said Ms Van Eeden, who he described as very active and outgoing, was in a very positive state and spoke about going on vacation with her friends to Las Vegas. He also said he didn’t know his sister to have any physical ailments.

“So yeah, she was happy.

No issues. Same old Carla,” he said.

However, the issue arose

Public Notice LIFE CHIROPRACTIC phone is out of order

Call 357-8040

of Ms Van Eeden breaking up with her boyfriend at some unspecified time prior to her death, something Mr Van Eeden said he never addressed with his sister because it was never a “talking point”.

When prodded on the issue, and whether his relationship with his sister was such that she would discuss such matters like that with him, Mr Van Eeden replied in the affirmative, and added that his sister was usually very straightforward and frank with him. He also said he had a “parental” relationship with his younger sister.

However, Mr Van Eeden said his sister’s relationship status and/or issues with her most recent boyfriend was not as important as say, a previous boyfriend she had named Frank, whom he said was introduced to their family and spent some time with them.

By contrast, he said Ms Van Eeden’s most recent boyfriend was not introduced to the family. Mr Van Eeden said the first time he met him was at his sister’s funeral.

The matter continues today.

Editorial View - Page 4

PAGE 4, Thursday, August 1, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

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What have immigration officers got to hide?

IT happened in the dead of night. At four in the morning, officers from the immigration department swooped in an operation called Rising Sun – but it ended with accusations of violence, claims officers entered a property without a warrant, and a prominent member of a Bahamas human rights group held in custody with family members for hours.

Mona Agenor, the chairperson of Rights Bahamas, was at home when officers reportedly stormed her yard, beat her relatives and handcuffed her.

For its part, the immigration department has spoken out against the “blatant and deliberate assault on our officers” – but questions must be asked about the circumstances that led to the incident spiralling out of control.

It is the details that raise concern.

During the raid, Ms Agenor – a Bahamian citizen – called the vice president of Rights Bahamas, who reportedly heard officers shouting curses at the family and one officer saying he didn’t need a warrant to search their home.

Ms Agernor’s mother also reportedly refused the officers entry without a warrant, while her daughter said one officer said that if Ms Agenor didn’t go with them, “he would bodyslam her”.

Video footage seen by The Tribune shows a chaotic scene – including a female officer and a man in plain clothes attempting to grab the phone making the recording. We must ask – if everything is above board, why would it be a problem for the operation to be recorded?

Another officer reportedly took a phone from Ms Agenor as she was talking to her lawyer, saying “Ain no lawyer inside here”.

A scuffle appears to have broken out amid all this, with teenagers getting involved with officers. There is of course no excuse for acts of violence against officers, but with all the questions raised already, one must wonder how the violence was initiated. At least one witness said officers rushed a 15-year-old after he called them “jokey”.

It’s not the first time that concerns have been raised over the actions of the immigration department. In February, for example, officers were filmed putting a suspected migrant in the trunk of a car – an action the department defended.

Rights Bahamas at the time likened the incident to a kidnapping.

We do not wish to play down the threat that immigration officers themselves face in the course of their duties – but they must abide by the rule of law with regard to warrants and the rights of suspects. If they do not, they endanger the people they are investigating – and they endanger themselves, by possibly turning a tense situation into a violent one.

We sincerely hope this incident is thoroughly investigated. The presence of a prominent activist means this incident is unlikely to fade away quietly – but we worry about the other incidents, the ones that take place out of the spotlight, without people present with access to lawyers and fellow campaigners.

And if officers are stopping people from using their phones – it seems they’re trying to make sure that things take place out of sight, out of mind.

Let’s have a little daylight shone on these raids – and be sure that rights are being respected, not violated.

Two stories - but can family find answers?

THE tragic story of a woman found dead in an Atlantis bathroom has been unfolding in an inquest this week – with conflicting stories from pathologists over her death.

Local pathologist Dr Kiko Bridgewater conducted the first autopsy of Carla Van Eeden, while a South African pathologist, Dr Linda Liebenberg, carried out a second autopsy that to her raised concerns that the incident was not a suicide, but “ligature strangulation” with the body then put in position to create the impression that she was hanged.

With two different stories, the family will undoubtedly be left seeking answers

– how can one autopsy say one thing, but a second say another? Were things missed in the first autopsy? How thorough was the investigation?

Thankfully, Atlantis themselves can provide some of those answers – the hotel’s surveillance system is there to provide answers in these situations, and their recordings showed no suspicious entry by anyone to Ms Van Eeden’s room before her death.

All the same, we hope that the differences between the two autopsies can be resolved at the inquest – to bring peace to Ms Van Eeden’s family as they wrestle with a horrible situation.

A booming rental world EDITOR, The Tribune SLOWLY people are realizing that the biggest economic betterment that has come about in the past 3-4 years is the “service tourist accommodation” the AirBnB service condohouse, etc.

Nassau alone AirBnB has some 2,300 units times 4-beds, means potential of accommodating 9,200.00… units renting from 90-150 plus or more for homes and especially upwards, when beach and swimming

pool is included, that hits $2,000.00 plus a day. The beauty of this is Tax Free straight all the way into the bank. The renter pays VAT at source.

Do these create additional employment? Yes, a unit needs maid service at least every other day and at end of rental. Needs maintenance garden, pool, etc., and probably every 6-months a quick paint touch up.

Compare this to Baha Mar, Atlantis or any other hotel! Which puts most

money in the hands of a Bahamian? Obviously the AirBnB property owner.

Tourism might not admit it, but the boom in the islands, is directly from AirBnB and serviced property 100%.

Very healthy investment….families get together invest especially units in the islands, with airports bringing indirect flights from the USA. R H ALBURY Nassau July 31, 2019

Too many sign eyesores EDITOR, The Tribune Re: We need regulations to control the signs everywhere.

I agree 100 percent with the letter writer, Monkeedoo. The once beautiful sea vista at Montagu is marred by the tacky billboards erected by public and private sector entities.

These billboards are garbage. The garbage continues across the street to the litter-strewn privately-owned lot under the shadow of the EyeWitness News billboard.

How is it that people are allowed to erect these ugly, oversized billboards willy-nilly and destroy an exquisite waterfront view?

It is a national disgrace and neither the Bahamians, nor the many tourists who

frequent the area should have to confront it. What happened to the promised crackdown against billboards by the Department of Public Works and the Bahamas Public Parks and Public Beaches Authority?

All talk, no action.

These oversized plywood billboards are an eyesore. They cheapen the environment and reflect poorly on the park and surrounding areas.

We were told the authorities would not tolerate this often-called ghetto form of advertising, ºIf they can’t deal with it, find someone who can.

ATHENA DAMIANOS Nassau July 31, 2019

Bahamas is all we have EDITOR, The Tribune BAHAMIANS old enough would recall the name Salman Rushdie, famed British Indian novelist and atheist, who got himself in trouble with the Islamic world with his 1988 publication, The Satanic Verses. The novel was about the life of the Prophet Muhammad and the three Arabian pagan goddesses, Allat, Uzza and Manat. In Islamic countries, untoward remarks about Muhammad and Allah are not tolerated, warranting the death penalty as mandated by Sharia Law. With the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, issuing a fatwa in early 1989, that called on all Muslims to execute Rushdie, the British government moved into action by placing the controversial novelist under police protection. Had Rushdie lived in Iran with its draconian theocratic laws, he would obviously be your quintessential candidate for asylum or political refuge in the United States or Canada, due to Iran’s abysmal track record with respect to human rights. According to a 2008 British WikiLeaks report, between 4,000 and 6,000 gays and lesbians were executed by the Iranian government since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Just this past January, the Iranians hanged a 31-yearold man in Kazeroon, on suspicions of engaging in homosexual sex. Religious minorities, called infidels

by Muslims, are routinely persecuted and harassed by the Iranians also. With a reported 1.8 billion adherents, Islam is a force to reckon with. Thankfully, with The Bahamas coming under the jurisprudence of Christianity, the rights of every citizen, whether homosexual or heterosexual, are protected under our constitution.

Yet despite The Bahamas’ sterling track record on human rights, when compared to Iran at least, LGBT Bahamians seeking asylum and political refuge in Canada and the United States are intentionally

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net sullying the image of this country abroad, in an effort to garner support from the two First World countries.

With over 85 percent of our tourists hailing from North America, the goal of the LGBT community is obvious: economic blackmail.

In Canada and many parts of the United States, same sex marriage is legal. This can explain why hundreds of Bahamian homosexuals are flocking to our two most important allies to the north. International organisations such as the United Nations and the Organisation of American States are routinely mentioned and appealed to by LGBT Bahamians, with the obvious intent of getting these two massive organisations to strong arm The Bahamas into adopting their liberal homosexual policies. It is my belief that the recent United Nations report titled, Global Trends: Forced Displacement in 2018, is based mainly on the over-exaggerated plight of LGBT Bahamians in this country.

The over 800 Bahamians who have sought asylum and refuge in Canada and the United States in 2018 did so on the basis of them not being legally allowed to enter into same sex unions in The Bahamas.

LGBT Bahamians were apparently livid with their heterosexual counterparts for their outright rejection of the Progressive Liberal Party’s 2016 constitutional referendum -- owing to the widespread fear that one of the proposed amendments would open the backdoor to same sex unions. Homophobia is such a broad term among LGBT apologists, which can be used against Bahamian evangelicals and traditionalists who simply disagree with homosexuality. It is my contention that the sympathies of the two host countries of these Bahamian refugees are based on false assumptions.

According to Attorney General Carl Bethel, the

Bahamian government isn’t even given the opportunity to state its side of the story before the Canadians and Americans. Hence, Canada and the United States and other First World jurisdictions are left with the impression that homosexuals are faring no better in The Bahamas than in Iran.

As a Bahamian, I am deeply offended that this county’s reputation is being maliciously sullied by LGBT Bahamians before our two most important benefactors and strategic allies. If these lies continue to go unchecked, the United States State Department will eventually slap an economic embargo on The Bahamas, by making it extremely difficult for Americans to travel to this country on the basis of rampant homophobia.

And with every 75 cents out of each dollar coming from tourism, The Bahamian economy would mirror Haiti’s in no time. LGBT Bahamians are aware of the potential danger and irreparable damage they are exposing this country to. But the welfare of The Bahamas is obviously the least of their concerns.

The right to openly express their sexual orientation is far more important. In the event that the government finds out the names of these treasonous Bahamians; and discovers that their allegations are baseless, the government should then move swiftly to permanently revoke their citizenship, if such a move is allowed by the constitution. This will cause them to think twice about ruining this county’s reputation abroad. In the meantime, LGBT activists such as Alexus D’Marco and Erin Greene should advise their people to stop spreading untrue statements about this country in order to get accepted into the United States and Canada. The Bahamas is all we have.

Ruin this country, and there will be nowhere for Bahamians to run to.

KEVIN EVANS Grand Bahama July 25, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, August 1, 2019, PAGE 5

ABOVE: Evenson Maxine; top right: Stephanie St Fleur and Dawrin Thompson of Rights Bahamas; right: a neighbour showing damage she says was inflicted by law enforcement officers on her home.

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

Officers ‘beat’ suspects on immigration raid from page one After further processing, 16 people were committed to the Carmichael Road Detention Centre for various immigration offences, including illegal landing and overstaying, the release said.

The operation began at 4am, the release continued, and covered Flamingo Close, Jubilee Gardens, Venice Bay, Area 51 Haitian Village, Carmichael Road, Sir Milo Butler Highway, McKinney Drive and Bedrock Haitian Village off Bacardi Road.

Immigration’s press statement does not refer to a specific incident; however, it warned the general public the department will not tolerate “blatant and deliberate assault on our Officers while executing their duties”.

Ms Agenor, a Bahamian citizen, was reportedly arrested sometime after 5am.

Yesterday, her daughter recounted the harrowing moments when law enforcement officials allegedly stormed her yard on Carmichael Road, beat her relatives and handcuffed her.

She said she was arrested along with eight other family members, and remained in police custody for four hours with her two younger siblings.

The teenager said she felt “traumatised” after the incident.

In a statement released yesterday, activist group Rights Bahamas described the incident as a “vicious, brutal and illegal attack”.

“In the dead of night, officers forced their way into her home and began beating Mona and her children - all Bahamian citizens and detaining (them) without lawful cause,” RB’s statement read.

“During the assault, Mona called (RB Vice President) Dawrin Thompson, who could hear officers shouting curses at the family, one officer even declaring that he does not need a warrant to search their home.

The statement continued: “Rights Bahamas can confirm that the victims were subjected to severe human rights abuses and today bear the scars and swollen faces to prove it.”

The Tribune canvassed Ms Agenor’s

neighbourhood yesterday, where relatives and neighbours alike expressed their disgust with the way officials carried out the search.

The officers demanded to be let onto the property, but Ms Agenor’s daughter said her mother refused them entry without a warrant.

The teenager said her 15-year-old male cousin described the officers as “jokey” - which prompted the attack.

“They rush up on him and start beating him,” she said, estimating about 9 officers were involved.

She said another cousin went towards the scuffle and was also beaten.

“They hold him down…

And they point a gun to his body and started beating him too.”

The teenager also noted at one point, the officers fired a gun into the air.

Two other male cousins reportedly joined the scuffle - including 18-year-old Evenson Maxine.

“When I see all them jump up on my cousin and start hittin’ up on him, I tried to stop it,” Mr Maxine said. “I was like ‘he only 15, y’all can’t do that’. And one of them grab me and put me right against the fence, start roughing me up- hold me and choking me n ting.

And then the next come up out of nowhere like he

wanted to hit me. And then (another officer) said ‘lock him up, put him in the bus.”

Mr Maxine said while on the bus, the officers seated his younger cousin next to him.

“They let him sit next to me and they was running on with him. And he mussy say something to them -he was mad- and they hit him. “(The officer) punch him so hard, he hit my head and my head buck the glass on the bus.”

Ms Agenor’s daughter told The Tribune she recorded some of the scuffle on her cellphone. She added because of this, a female officer became aggressive with her.

The Tribune has seen two video clips which show a woman officer, and another man in plainclothes attempting to grab at the recording phone amidst a chaotic scene.

“She came at me like she wanted to attack me,” the teenager said. “My mummy and sister stood in front of me.”

She said as they retreated inside the house, the officers followed.

“All of them was towards my mummy. My mummy was on the phone with her lawyer. The officer said ‘ain no lawyer inside here’.

The teen continued: “He yucked my phone and my

mummy phone. All them wanted my phone so bad because of that video.

He ended the call with the lawyer. He said if my mummy didn’t go, he would bodyslam her.”

The teenager said she was “scared” during the ordeal.

For his part, Mr Maxine described the situation as as “very disrespectful”.

A neighbour, who wished to be identified as Ms Roberts, 33, echoed similar sentiments about the officers’ conduct - noting they also “stormed inside” her home.

Ms Roberts said they presented no warrant yet pried her kitchen door open with a crowbar and “kicked open every door” inside.

“I was afraid and angry,” she told The Tribune.

She added the officers demanded identification and left after she showed them her and her children’s passports.

Ultimately, Ms Agenor, her 18-year-old daughter Eldeanna, her sister Jacintha, her three nephews and her three minor children were arrested and taken to the Carmichael Road Police Station.

Ms Agenor’s three minor children were released after roughly four hours in police custody.

RB President Stephanie St Fleur as well as Mr Thompson were present at the station.

In the statement, RB noted Ms Agenor has been “diligently working” on the organisation’s fight against the government’s “illegal demolition policy” for shanty towns.

“We have no doubt that this incident was a case of calculated retaliation and as such, an extremely serious violation of international human rights rules,” the statement continued, adding RB is reporting the incident to its international partners.

RB also promised to “immediately file” for protections for Ms Agenor and her family. It also said it is going to “ take immediate legal action over the abuse of their constitutional rights, and seek to commit the organisers of this attack to prison”.

Yesterday, the Immigration Department’s release read: “We will continue to conduct our duties without fear, favour or malice in a civil, humane and fair manor consistent with both local and international laws.

It continued: “The Department will not tolerate the blatant and deliberate assault on our Officers while executing their duties or continued breaches of the Statute Laws of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas.”

Editorial View - Page 4

PAGE 6, Thursday, August 1, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

ARE CABINET WOMEN RESPECTED? NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT from page one

a woman? Well, if it is a woman then she needs to go and sit down.

“If it’s a man whether he can articulate or not we rather have him than her,” the former Long Island MP said Monday night as a guest on Beyond the Headlines with host Clint Watson. It is something

that she’s both experienced and seen happen to other women.

While she misses front-line politics, Mrs Butler-Turner said she does not see herself re-entering the political arena.

However, the former State Social Services Minister said she’d like to carry on in a capacity of mentorship and educating prospective women politicians.

From her view, seeing increased female presence came down to making politics attractive to women and them receiving the same treatment is their male counterparts.

“We have more than 50 percent women that make up our general population and we have less than 10 percent representation in Parliament and even less

Don’t be petty, warns Bannister over $9,000 rent for the GG’s home

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net THE Minnis administration could indefinitely foot a reported $9,000 per month bill for Governor General CA Smith’s rental home.

This was the suggestion of Minister of Works Desmond Bannister yesterday, as he

revealed that works officials in the process of scoping Government House for needed repairs are finding more than what meets the eye.

He told The Tribune as the work involves an historic structure, officials are sensitive with its handling, adding “we can’t be petty about what we are doing with respect to restoring a national landmark”.

If that means paying the Governor General’s rent until Government House is restored to its original glory then that is what will happen, Mr Bannister insisted.

The minister could not reveal how long the works could take, but highlighted restorative projects around the world, saying in some places it could be “years”

than that around the Cabinet table. “…There is no direct correlation between our population and representation in Parliament and even less so around the Cabinet table.”

“You can legislate it but at the end of the day you know you just don’t want to have women there just to make up numbers so a lot of countries just shy

away from quotas,” Mrs Butler-Turner also said when asked her views on whether legislating the issue would improve the number of women in politics.

“I think that what you really need to do once again is to make it approachable for women.

The first thing that your have to understand is that most of the financial

backing in political parties they give it to men and that is essentially what happens.

“I remember my very last campaign as an FNM, I did not receive one penny and that was under the Ingraham administration, but of course you know you got the collateral material, but not one penny.”

WE can’t be petty about what we are doing with respect to restoring a national landmark, said Minister of Works Desmond Bannister yesterday.

Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff before historic structures are fully repaired.

He could neither say when the project will begin.

“We can’t be certain when its going to begin because we are still scoping Government House,” the Carmichael MP said when he was contacted yesterday.

“Government House was built I think it 1804 and the minute you start to look at

one thing other things come up and they have to be reproduced with a certain fidelity to historic needs of the building.

“As we go in and every time we look at something if you look in a wall you think there is one thing there and then you go and find that you have to go and do a couple other things.

So we are approaching the

project very carefully so that we can preserve the historic nature of the building and that requires our guys to be very patient as we move ahead with it.”

He also said: “Let me just say this to you, we can’t be petty about national offices and we can’t be petty about what we are doing with respect to restoring a national landmark.

“We have to think like statesmen and we have to do the things that are appropriate for our country and if that means that we have to pay something for the Governor General, we have to pay something for him until Government House is restored to its historic stature. That is important for our country.

“In other countries when you have these restorations they go on for years. If you go in the United States and you see when they restore some of the places it takes years to restore them. So we cannot inject petty politics into something that we are trying to do at a national level for the country and for the Bahamian people, for your grand children and great grand children.

“That’s a building that’s more than 200 years old.”

As the scoping process is ongoing, he could not reveal what price tag could be facing taxpayers.

However it will likely be something not put out to tender, but a very capable contractor chosen, he said.

“I don’t know whether we will put something like Government House out to tender. You have to be careful.

“That’s something government is going to have to look at to find the most capable contractor we can find to do the work,” Mr Bannister said.

Last month, Deputy Prime Minister Peter Turnquest stressed the importance of “comfort and security” following news that government was set to spend $9,000 a month to rent a home for Mr Smith.

At the time Mr Turnquest declined to confirm the rental price but noted the safety measures required

by Mr Smith “come with a cost” and called for maturity regarding this situation.

Mr Turnquest he also highlighted it was to be a “temporary” arrangement.

He approximated these works will take a “couple of months” but did not provide a specific timeline.

To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, August 1, 2019, PAGE 7

CRAWFISH SEASON OPENS WITH WARNING ON RULES

By RIEL MAJOR Tribune Staff Reporter rmajor@tribunemedia.net

AGRICULTURE and Marine Resources Minister Michael Pintard has warned stakeholders to comply with Fisheries Regulations as crawfish season opens today.

The legal size limit for a crawfish tail is five and a half inches, while the limit for whole

crawfish is three and a quarter inches carapace - its hard upper shell.

“All commercial fishing vessels being 20 feet and larger are required to be licensed for commercial fishing purposes by the Department of Marine Resources,” Mr Pintard told reporters yesterday.

“It is an offence for any vessel being 20 feet or larger - commercial or recreational - to

possess 250 pounds or more of marine resources without first being licensed.”

He continued: “The occupants of foreign-owned vessels that have been licensed for sportsfishing purposes are reminded to adhere to the stipulated bag limits, inclusive of that which relates to the crawfish and the queen conch, which are enshrined on the rear of their permits. They do have a bag limit and I intend

to make adjustments to this in the not too distant future. A dive compressor permit is required for the use of the mentioned fishing gear. Further, the device should only be used between the depths of 30ft - 60 ft.”

The minister said under no circumstances will compressor permits be issued to individuals on work permits.

He said: “As we indicated to commercial vessel owners one year ago,

and as we have stated in our various meetings with fishers throughout the country the past 12 months, only Bahamian-owned fishing vessels are allowed in the sector.

“In the case of spousal permits, we have not issued compressor permits but this does not prevent those persons from working in any sector of our economy that is not in law, reserved for Bahamians.”

Crawfish season starts August 1, 2019 and ends March 31, 2020.

Govt to carry out survey on views about closed conch season

By RIEL MAJOR Tribune Staff Reporter rmajor@tribunemedia.net

AGRICULTURE and Marine Resources Minister Michael Pintard said a national survey is being conducted among stakeholders about a closed conch season which would protect stocks.

Speaking to reporters yesterday at the Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Pintard said: “We have been very clear in the ministry in terms of the measures that we were pushing, and I can outline those, but I should also say that a survey is being conducted nationally to get the views of all stakeholders.

We will make decisions at the end of having canvassed all stakeholders.

“The principle position we have been pushing is one that we want fishers to give serious consideration to the possibility that we will ask them to land conch in the shell since lip thickness is the best way to determine the maturity of the conch. We heard a lot about persons having small conchs. The assumption is for every small conch you

see somebody is engaged in something illegal.”

He added: “When there are some species of conch that are fully matured but maybe somewhat small, landing in the shell does have some logistical issues that we are seeking to work through, but it is one of the things that we are pushing. The second thing is we are reducing the quota of exports and the goal is to eliminate the export of conch from our standpoint unless someone has the science to dissuade the government from that position.”

The minister said next season there will be a substantial reduction of the quota for every company assigned in the Bahamas.

He said: “There are some on one hand who feel that we’re not moving fast enough, that we should do it suddenly.”

Mr Pintard said businesses should be looking at species other than conch and to the local market rather than exports.

Enforcement, he added, would be boosted by the recruitment of 37 new fisheries officers through which “the government can do its part in protecting conch

stock and marine protected area”.

“We are stepping up the education, the ongoing communication with fishers about safe sustainable fishing practices as well,” he said. Tourists, he added, would also face new restrictions and will “definitely catch less”.

“We won’t give the specifics, but we believe conch should not be harvested by visitors in The Bahamas and so that is one of the measures we intend to include.

Also, to reduce the amount and pounds they are able to capture on sports vessels as well as pleasure crafts.”

Edison Deleveaux, marine resources acting director, said Florida recently put a restriction concerning produce caught in Bahamian waters being taken back to the States.

He said: “What used to happen in the past is that persons would have caught resources here and taken those resources back to the States but now the Florida State Fisheries and Wildlife commission has banned that so right now it’s illegal for them to take product from us back to their jurisdiction.”

AGRICULTURE and Marine Resources Minister Michael Pintard.

Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff Mr Pintard added that in October a “proposed” schedule of penalties will be presented in the House of Assembly and should be passed by the end of this year.

“I say proposed only

because other than the fisheries advisory group which has done a great deal of consultation - there are other Bahamians who have a notion of what penalties should be in and what the new fisheries act should

look like so we want to give the public the opportunity to review it.”

A petition on a closed conch season was created by Malcolm Adams and has so far gathered more than 8,000 signatures.

PAGE 8, Thursday, August 1, 2019

A

MERICA is the United States of America. The 50 states all agreed, upon gaining entry into the confederation that is the USA, to subordinate their preferences in several areas to those of the federal government in Washington, DC. Areas often cited for exercise of this federal primacy are national defence, foreign affairs and intelligence operations.

Other examples are maintenance and development of transportation networks such as federal roads and waterways.

While the US has generally withstood internal centrifugal forces over its 243 years that might threaten national unity, there have been some dramatic exceptions. Primary among these was the American Civil War of 1861-65, which featured the secession from the union of South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas. When the fighting actually began, these seven states were joined by Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina. And during the war, shadow Confederateleaning governments were formed in Kentucky and Missouri, but never actually gained control of those state governments.

Now, 155 years later, as the US begins to seriously prepare for next year’s elections, every one of those 13 Confederate or Confederacy-leaning states except Virginia helps form the core of the strength of the Republican party. Toss in some midwestern and intermountain states in the West and you have the GOP’s base.

Among the countless anomalies and incongruities of the era of US President Donald Trump is that a real estate developer from ultra-liberal New York City should sit atop the Republican Party. But it’s no surprise the GOP leader of the Senate is from Kentucky, nor that states of the old Confederacy have

THE TRIBUNE

States’ rights could signal trouble ahead for Trump

STATESIDE

with Charlie Harper

loyally and reflexively sent Republicans to the Senate since Lyndon Johnson

dragged the Democratic Party away from the politics of segregation and Richard

Nixon moved the Republicans into the resulting political vacuum.

Since Abraham Lincoln freed American slaves and enforced his decision by vanquishing the Confederacy in the Civil War, one of the most reliable code words for continued racial segregation in America’s Deep South has been

“states’ rights”. States’ rights, or local options, cloaked de facto racial separation in education until the Supreme Court struck down those policies in 1954 in the case of Brown v.

Board of Education. Civil and voting rights legislation passed by Congress under President Lyndon Johnson continued this progressive trend a decade later.

But now, in the chaotic era of Trump and his unfiltered racist Republican ascendancy, the forces of regression are threatening what most Americans thought was the end of racial disharmony when Barack Obama was elected president in 2008. And the issue of states’ rights is back at the centre of the debate.

As Trump relentlessly divides the country, though, the states’ rights issue is cutting both ways. The liberal Democratic states, just as reflexively loyal to their party as are the old Confederate states to the Republicans, have moved off in their own direction on the environment, and may veer away in other areas.

Federal suzerainty over the states may get challenged as rarely before as a result.

States’ rights are now playing politically potent roles in three current

IF YOU ARE HEADING TO FLORIDA, WATCH OUT FOR THE ROADS THINKING about a late summer vacation in the US? You might be interested in a new survey of the safest and least safe states in America. An online outfit called wallethub.com rated Mississippi the least safe and Minnesota the safest. The states were rated in five broad areas: Personal and residential safety (violent crime); Financial safety (unemployment); Workplace safety; Environmental safety

(climate-related disasters and losses), and Road safety (auto fatalities and high rates of uninsured drivers).

Taking the road safety index as most significant for Bahamian visitors to the US, four of the least safe states overall also had poor road safety marks. These states are Alabama, Texas, Mississippi and Florida.

The Sunshine State also had one of the highest rates of uninsured drivers. If you want good odds for a safe

vacation in your rental car, head for New England, where Massachusetts has the fewest auto fatalities and New Hampshire is also near the top in this category, or to the mountain west, where Utah and Wyoming have good road safety marks.

If your options are limited to Florida, watch out on the roads.

But then, if you’ve experienced I-95 between West Palm Beach and Miami, you already knew that.

disputes.

Republicans in the Senate, led by “Moscow Mitch” McConnell (so called because he has rebuffed any effort to strengthen American voting security in the face of continued Russian attempts to subvert it), have refused to entertain any legislative reform after the Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that “preclearance” was outdated. Preclearance was a process enshrined in the 1965 Voting Rights Act that provided for federal oversight of states’ voting procedures, to ensure they did not discriminate against minorities. Since 2013, the states have been able to restrict minority voting in the U.S. without much, if any, federal interference.

But two California-led initiatives also challenge federal oversight, from a liberal perspective. First, California governor Gavin Newsom has just signed a bill barring from future elections any presidential or gubernatorial candidate who has not released the past five years of his or her tax returns. Trump is the obvious target here.

And California, with a dozen other states and four leading automakers including Ford, BMW, Volkswagen and Honda, has signed a pact binding all signatories to the Obamaera reduced emissions standards for automobiles.

This is in direct defiance of Trump’s decision to weaken and delay those environmentally-friendly measures.

The California initiatives will face resolute legal challenges, but they might represent the beginnings of a real movement to resist federal policies some states feel are wrong and contrary to those states’ interests.

States’ rights is rising again.

An eagle, golf clubs and some dollar bills

THE DODGY presidential seal and, inset, Charles Leazott.

IT WAS a routine appearance by Donald Trump. Appearing before a group of enthusiastic conservative high school students at an event sponsored by a rightleaning group called Turning Point USA, Trump regaled his appreciative audience for 80 minutes. Affixed to the presidential lectern, as is customary for such occasions, was the traditional presidential seal. Its centrepiece is a proud American bald eagle clutching arrows in one of its talons and an olive branch of peace in the other. Nothing unusual there.

Displayed on a large screen behind the president on this recent occasion was a somewhat different version of the presidential seal, and it’s still not entirely clear how this new version came to be used as part of the president’s backdrop.

The “presidential seal” behind Trump

featured a double-headed eagle that has long symbolised Russian power. In one of its talons was a collection of golf clubs; the other talon grasped a fistful of greenback dollars. The logos of two of Trump’s Scottish golf clubs were prominently displayed.

The phoney presidential seal had been designed a couple of years ago by a disillusioned online store owner named Charles Leazott. Contacted by the New York Times, Leazott admitted he had designed the fake seal incorporating “every petty little thing I could think of. Trump has been driving me bananas with his policies.”

When he noticed his handiwork displayed behind the president, Leazott said that “it made my day”.

At least one staffer associated with the event experienced a different outcome. He was fired the next day.

Production lines still standing idle THERE hasn’t been too much talk about it lately, but Boeing’s decision to ground its commercial fleet of 737 MAX jets remains in effect, and continues to have a major influence on the flight operations of the largest US carrier, Southwest, as well as two of the biggest “legacy” carriers in American and United Airlines. No end to the continuing review of the problematical jet is in sight, and federal authorities in Washington have set no deadline for a decision on

when or even if the planes can return to the air.

Some news outlets are reporting the American Federal Aviation Administration’s oversight of the troubled jetliner has been flawed almost since the 737 MAX began flying, and that FAA investigators did not really understand the control systems whose failures led to the tragic crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia.

Meantime, an estimated $30 billion worth of airliners sit grounded at Boeing headquarters in Seattle, with

production of the planes already reduced by over 20 percent and company officials suggesting if delays continue too much longer, the entire production lines for the 737 MAX may be temporarily – or permanently – shut down. If that happens, the ripple effects will be felt in several key sectors of the US economy.

Airlines other than Southwest, United and American have reportedly not been directly affected so far by Boeing’s troubles with its 737 MAX.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, August 1, 2019, PAGE 9

FORMER Tall Pines MP Leslie Miller

We won’t be bullied by Miller, insists Cooper from page one what, even if it means do so as an independent candidate. He said he supported Obie Wilchcombe in last week’s PLP chairmanship race because he believed the former tourism minister would better look out for candidates like himself who lost in the last election and want to run again.

“We will not be bullied,”

Mr Cooper said in response.

“There is a process for candidate selection and vetting. Anyone interested in a PLP candidacy should acquaint themselves with it. Our party is fresh off a successful convention and is in a period of renewal.

We will do what we must to regain the trust, confidence and vote of the Bahamian people and we will not be distracted. Our process allows us to field credible

candidates representative of the demographics of our country.”

PLP officials want to run mostly new candidates in 2022, a desire that may collide with the ambitions of past candidates.

Last year Mr Cooper said he would prefer to see fresh candidates run in the next election. PLP Leader Philip “Brave” Davis also this week that he expects a “slate of new candidates.”

PAGE 10, Thursday, August 1, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Emancipation but not freedom THIS year marks the 60th anniversary of the milestones of economic, political and social freedoms for Bahamians that occurred in 1959, long promised under the Emancipation Act of 1833. University of The Bahamas faculty Dr Tracey Thompson and Dr Olivia Saunders mark the anniversary by exploring these shifts in an article entitled “Emancipation but not Freedom”.

Dr Thompson directs “From Dat Time”: The Oral & Public History Institute.

Dr Saunders teaches and writes on economics and economic history.

By TRACEY THOMPSON & OLIVIA SAUNDERS University of The Bahamas SLAVERY in The Bahamas brought with it so many “mustn’ts”. That is what the foundational work of Dr Gail Saunders, together with contributions from scholars like Ms Patrice Williams and Dr Howard Johnson who have built on that foundation, make plain.

Enslaved men and women found themselves intentionally hobbled by the laws that structured their enslavement. They must not move about freely.

They must not gather among themselves on their own terms. They must not carry objects their rulers deemed to be dangerous weapons. They must not give evidence against a white person except in certain circumstances. They dare not speak threateningly to whites. Certainly they dare not involve themselves in seeking to change the social order. They must not involve themselves, either, in certain economic activities.

If they wanted to rake salt on their own account rather than under the aegis of a white manager, for instance, the salt would be taken from them, they were told, and the Crown would sell it and would keep the money.

If they wanted to move through the community selling dry goods they must not – mainly because their vision and spunk would cut into the income of members of the merchant elite.

Limits such as these on their freedom of voice, action and initiative only grew as their numbers in the community rose. In their youthful years some of them might not have known they were subject to limits: the awareness might have come only over time. But if they lived long enough, the realities of having to squeeze themselves under whatever ceiling

of aspiration a master or mistress dictated - and the frightening and bloody reprisals that awaited them if they stepped out of place - taught them bluntly how narrow was the space to which a rigid social order had consigned them.

What would likely have come into focus was the master class saw their power and potential, judged them to be a deepseated threat and directed the force and advantage towards denying enslaved persons their humanity.

Those shackles were enough by themselves to make slavery chafe; but there was more to the tale than that telling. There was anxiety that ran alongside the risk of having one’s life uprooted.

By the time Emancipation came, for 40-odd years the cotton economy in the islands had been crumbling. What that meant was enslaved persons who were living as families – as many of them were doing – faced a very real prospect of being sold and so of being separated from one another. There was uncertainty in everyday life as well. Since the discretion of a master lay largely

unfettered, enslaved men and women might face decency and kindness or, equally, negligence, viciousness and malice.

There was moral discomfort, surely. How else could intelligent minds and compassionate hearts respond to blatant, daily, unwarranted transfers of wealth from one group of people to another and to the brutality that kept such transfers in place?

Not everything was bleak, admittedly. With the reprieve that the fall of cotton had brought them, by the time Emancipation lay on the horizon enslaved men and women had been able to carve out for themselves lives of passing good health and of variety in the work they carried out.

Some of them had been able to gain and practice skill in a wide range of trades. On plantations some of them were even placed by their absentee owners in charge of the undertaking.

But as a socioeconomic class they knew from raking salt how harsh and exhausting labour could be. They knew from cooking meals and washing clothes how much tedium and drudgery work could bring. They knew from keeping house in the master’s home how irksome could be ceaseless scrutiny. They knew what it was to work day in and day out – whether at feeding animals or ginning cotton or sawing timber or cutting stones or piloting boats or making shoes or dressing hair – only to have, at the end of the process, little or none of what they would have had if they had been free men and women.

In view of how dedicated to controlling their lives and exploiting their labour their masters proved themselves to be, what could they conclude but that a ruling class stood determined to grant them as little as possible and to extract from them as much as possible no matter, for those who were enslaved, the cost?

Emancipation pulled back some of the leeway which that master class had used to stop enslaved men and women from escaping their control, from developing their potential as human beings, and from coming into wealth and independence.

In August of 1833 Parliament in Britain, acting in its imperial capacity, passed landmark legislation. Part of the title of the legislation announced the promise that it offered to enslaved persons. The law declared itself to be, in part, “[a]n Act for the Abolition of Slavery throughout the British Colonies . . . .” It stated emphatically that in the following year its target population would become “free and discharged of and from all Manner of Slavery, and shall be absolutely and for ever manumitted”. It soon fulfilled that promise.

In most of the British Empire, at one stroke, on August 1, 1834, slavery expired as an institution sanctioned by law. What was more, as the Act looked ahead to apprenticeship as a framework which its colonies might choose to use on a temporary basis for structuring labour relations between former masters and formerly enslaved persons, it anticipated the potential for former masters and mistresses to abuse the framework and it explicitly put in place steps to forestall such abuse.

The year 1834 seemed to deliver from an intolerable structural predicament the 10,000-odd men, women and children in The Bahamas – rather more than half of them women and girls, and the great bulk of them born in the Americas rather than in Africa – who on the eve of Emancipation carried the status of ‘slave’.

How disappointing, then, for newly emancipated men

and women in The Bahamas, that the impact of Emancipation upon their lives seemed to be far more ambiguous. To begin with, in contrast with legislators in some other colonies, Bahamian legislators did choose to use the apprenticeship system.

What apprenticed Bahamian men and women found as a result was their lives were still enveloped in a system of supplying former masters with their labour or its cash equivalent on exploitative terms.

What was more, those who had the will and the means could still be required to pay former masters for their full release from bondage. What that looked like in practice, for instance, was that 81 Bahamian apprenticed men and women paid, in 1835, about 582 pounds sterling (£) for their emancipation – at today’s prices, some $2.6 million.

On the other side of the coin, former masters discovered a happy circumstance; and well did they know their good fortune. So pleased were they with the apprenticeship framework they asked the governor to prolong it past its expected ending date. What they liked, no doubt, was how it blunted any tendencies to turmoil the process of dismantling slavery might invite; how it allowed them to continue immorally to receive the fruit of others’ labour and others’ passion to be free; and how it hampered the flexibility of emancipated persons to move afield into swathes of

THE POMPEY Museum of Slavery & Emancipation in Nassau

unused land and build lives fully independent of their control.

Apprenticeship kept in place the subordination of former slaves and the power and privilege of former masters. As much as it sought to abolish slavery and to put in place, temporarily, a structure that would safeguard social stability, reward skills, and lend former slaves greater educational and religious exposure, what the Act achieved was to preserve unequal relations of power between men and women who had been masters and men and women who had been enslaved.

‘Keeping society stable’ was but another way of saying that economic and social practice should be interfered with as little as possible. That apprenticeship left in place deeply asymmetrical power relations was only, therefore, to be expected. What now enhanced still more the power of the master class were provisions that the Act proposed with respect to money.

In the legislation, the British government authorised its treasury to build a fund of up to £20 million – called the West India Compensation Account – to facilitate the aims of the Act. It was a huge commitment. It constituted fully 40 percent of Britain’s total public expenditure for that year. In today’s money, instructively enough, that sum would equal £336.7 billion.

But rather than handing freedmen and freedwomen that pot of gold, or at least a portion of it, to compensate them for decades of unpaid labour and to supply them with capital needed for them to launch successful agrarian, maritime, or other ventures, the legislation supplied freedmen with no relief at all. In utter contrast, monies were paid out, and handsomely so, to the class which had been elevated for so long. The reasoning was that masters and mistresses should receive compensation for losing the services of a people who generated their wealth, privilege and leisure.

The owners of Bahamian slaves were able to tap that legislative largesse. What they received, all told, was £126, 848.78 – today equivalent to £5,340,333,638.64.

Such owners included Henry Greenslade, for example, who garnered £244.56 for his 13 slaves; James McKinney, who secured £419.28 for his 29 slaves; Sarah Poitier, who accepted £1,828.56 for her 152 slaves; and Henshall Stubbs, who collected an impressive £2,298.95 for his 192 slaves. Money buttressed the master class in using remaining laws to continue to constrain and coerce former slaves.

In The Bahamas, then, the impact of the Emancipation Act was to invigorate, not restrain, the ascendancy of a racialised economic and political elite.

Looked at through the eyes of enslaved persons, the moment of Emancipation might well have seemed to be a sleight of hand. What had come, it appeared, was emancipation but not freedom.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, August 1, 2019, PAGE 11

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THE IMAGE that appears to show two uniformed officers dragging a handcuffed woman across the road.

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net ENGLERSTON MP Glenys Hanna Martin is demanding answers from the Royal Bahamas Police Force in view of a “disturbing” viral image that appeared to show two uniformed officers dragging a handcuffed woman across the road.

Videos posted to social media showed the woman acting bizarrely and disrupting traffic in the middle of a busy street in front of a police station.

Mrs Hanna Martin said yesterday: “I have seen a newspaper story and photograph which appears to depict a woman being dragged by a uniformed officer along a tar road.

This photograph is most disturbing and requires an urgent explanation by the police so as to allay concerns about alleged police conduct.

“We all understand the difficult daily task of law enforcement officers,” she continued, “and we support the police as they carry out their lawful duties to

protect our citizens but we do not relinquish the protection of the law for every single person, nor will we forfeit our cherished constitutional rights. An immediate explanation is required.”

Police officials have not responded to the image despite repeated requests for comment.

The Tribune reached out to several officials on Tuesday, but there was no response.

When Police Commissioner Anthony Ferguson was asked about the matter

yesterday, he said: “I have not seen it so I will have to research on the circumstances.”

The viral image outraged some Bahamians who found it inhumane.

One woman on Facebook wrote: “Y’all sure these police officers or gang members, can you imagine me seeing my husband doing that?”

Another user said: “What the hell am I looking at?

This has to be photoshopped and have to be in North Korea. This just can’t be.”

PAGE 12, Thursday, August 1, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

‘THE GOVT IS BROKE AND MISMANAGED’

DESMOND EDWARDS, Bahamas Ambassador to UNESCO, paid a courtesy call on Ellison Greenslade, the Bahamas High Commissioner to the Court of St James’s, and Marche Mackey, Third Secretary and Vice-Consul recently at the High Commission, Bahamas House in London. Ambassador Edwards was accompanied by his wife, Leonette and son, Joshua. Pictured seated from left: Mr Mackey, Mrs Edwards, Joshua, Ambassador Edwards and High Commissioner Greenslade.

READERS have been discussing the stories making the news on tribune242.com.

After Algernon Cargill, director of aviation, voiced surprise that the Nassau Flight Services privatisation had attracted just three bids from potential Bahamian purchasers, DDK referred to a specific part of the story: “‘And a downsizing of the company’s 244-strong workforce, featuring 166 full-time workers and 78 temporary staff, is almost inevitable given the need to better align costs with income. This, though, will not be easy given the

presence of trade unions via the Airline, Airport and Allied Workers Union and an existing industrial agreement.’ This, in a nutshell, given respective sizes of work forces and respective unions, is one of the top reasons that all Government Corporations and entities, including the Government itself, are broke and mismanaged.”

Tourism Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar described recent amendments to the Gaming Act as a “happy medium” while calling on one gaming operator to modernise to avoid being negatively impacted by the changes.

That prompted this response from Moncurcool: “I don’t understand how people who run government believe that if they just tax something then they will get more money.

Do they not realise that people will always seek to avoid paying more taxes?

SO the little area that is 5-6% of the markets as the minister claims, where they go to do the most taking, people will just shift and go elsewhere. The reality is that we need to find better industries and create more opportunities for people to start legitimate businesses which can impact our economy.”

And after Education Minister Jeff Lloyd said nearly $9m has been budgeted for critical school repairs, as he toured four schools in New Providence which are undergoing repairs, Sickened had this to say: “We hear this every year! We also hear (in late August) that ‘most of the repairs have been completed. There are just one or two projects that won’t be finished on-time.’”

PAGE 14, Thursday, August 1, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

NORTH KOREA SAYS IT TESTED CRUCIAL NEW ROCKET LAUNCH SYSTEM SEOUL, South Korea Associated Press NORTH Korea said yesterday leader Kim Jong Un supervised test firings of a new multiple rocket launcher system that could potentially enhance its ability to strike targets in South Korea and US military bases there.

The report by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency differed from the assessment by South Korea’s military, which had concluded Wednesday’s launches were of two short-range ballistic missiles.

The launches from the eastern coastal town of Wonsan were North Korea’s second weapons test in less than a week and were seen as a move to keep up pressure on Washington and Seoul amid a stalemate in nuclear negotiations. Pyongyang has also expressed anger over planned U.S.-South Korea military drills.

KCNA said Kim expressed satisfaction over the test firings and said the newly developed rocket system would soon serve a “main role” in his military’s land combat operations and create an “inescapable distress to the

forces becoming a fat target of the weapon.” The report didn’t directly mention the United States or South Korea, but experts say the rocket system, along with new short-range missiles the North tested in recent weeks, could potentially pose a serious threat to South Korea’s defense.

The agency provided no specific descriptions of how the “largecaliber multiple launch guided rocket system” performed during the launches, but said the tests confirmed the system’s technical characteristics and “combat effectiveness.” North Korea’s state

media didn’t immediately release images of the tests.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday that the weapons it then assessed as missiles flew about 250 kilometers at an apogee of 30 kilometers, a range that would be enough to cover the metropolitan area surrounding capital Seoul and a major US military base just south of the city.

When asked whether it failed to distinguish between multiplerocket launchers and ballistic missiles, Kim Joon-rak, an official from the JCS, said the South

Korean and U.S. militaries currently share an assessment that the flight characteristics from Wednesday’s launches were similar to North Korea’s new short-range missiles tested last week. He said further analysis was needed to identify the weapons.

South Korea’s military had said the flight data of the missile launched last week showed similarities to the Russian-made Iskander, a short-range, nuclearcapable missile that is highly maneuverable and travels on lower trajectories compared to conventional ballistic weapons.

FROM left, Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, DN.Y., former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., Andrew Yang, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio stand for the National Anthem as they are introduced before the second of two Democratic presidential primary debates hosted by CNN in Detroit yesterday DETROIT Associated Press THE ideological divisions gripping the Democratic Party intensified last night as presidential candidates waged an acrimonious battle over health care, immigration and race that tested the strength of early front-runner Joe Biden’s candidacy.

The former vice president was repeatedly forced to defend his decades-old political record against pointed attacks from his younger, diverse rivals, who charged that Biden’s eight-year relationship with President Barack Obama was not reason enough to earn the Democratic nomination.

The attacks on Biden in the second presidential debate were most vivid coming from California Sen. Kamala Harris, who declared that his willingness to work with segregationists in the US Senate during the 1970s could have had dramatic consequences on the surge of minority candidates in political office. And, she said, it could have prevented her and fellow presidential candidate Cory Booker, both of whom are black, from becoming senators.

“Had those segregationists had their way, I would not be a member of the United States Senate, Cory Booker would not be

Go easy on me, kid Biden’s plea to Harris a member of the United States Senate, and Barack Obama would not have been in a position to nominate” Biden to become vice president, she said.

When pressed, Biden repeatedly leaned on his relationship with Obama.

“We’re talking about things that occurred a long, long time ago,” Biden said.

“Everybody’s talking about how terrible I am on these issues. Barack Obama knew who I was.”

The dynamic showcased the challenges ahead for Biden and his party as Democrats seek to rebuild the young and multiracial coalition that helped Obama win two presidential elections. Those differences were debated on a broad menu of issues including health care, immigration and women’s reproductive rights.

But it was the discussion of race that marked an escalating rift shaping the Democratic primary. At the

JOE Biden listens as Kamala Harris speaks during last night’s debate. same time, polls show that Biden has far more support from minority voters than his challengers, especially in the crucial early voting state of South Carolina.

Booker, who at times adopted the position of peacemaker, also took Biden to task over criminal justice issues and his role in passing a crime bill while a Delaware senator in the 1990s. When Biden fought back by criticizing Booker’s tenure as mayor of Newark, New Jersey,

before becoming a New Jersey senator, Booker shot back: “You’re dipping into the Kool-Aid and you don’t even know the flavor.”

In Detroit, a city where Democrats desperately need strong minority turnout to beat President Donald Trump next year, Biden, 76, repeatedly clashed with the two black candidates in the race, as well as the only candidate of Mexican heritage, all of whom are more than two decades his junior. Biden

emphasized his work as vice president to help the auto industry and the city repair its bankrupt finances.

For Democrats, the internal fight, while common to almost every primary cycle, is one many would rather avoid, favoring instead a focus on defeating Trump.

Several candidates said they thought Trump should be impeached and others called him a racist.

“The first thing I am going to do is Clorox the Oval Office,” New York

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said.

Biden’s struggling 2020 competitors see no better way to undermine his candidacy than raising questions about his commitment to black voters and women.

Anticipating a rough night, Biden greeted Harris onstage by quipping, “Go easy on me, kid.”

She did not — and he often responded in kind.

Biden charged that Harris’ health care plan would cost taxpayers $3 trillion even after two terms in office and would force middle-class taxes to go up, not down. He said that would put Democrats at a disadvantage against Trump.

“You can’t beat President Trump with double talk on this plan,” he said.

Harris slapped back that Biden was inaccurate.

“The cost of doing nothing is far too expensive,” Harris said. She added: “Your plan does not cover everyone in America.”

PUERTO RICO BRACED FOR CLASHES OVER ISLAND’S NEXT LEADER SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico Associated Press

PUERTO Rico’s political crisis appeared to deepen yesterday as the island’s outgoing governor and legislators — including those from his own party — clashed over who should be the next leader of a US territory unbalanced by massive protests. The upheaval has raised fears that a government in chaos will

have trouble negotiating for more federal funding for recovery from Hurricane Maria and coping with the island’s grave economic woes.

Gov. Ricardo Rosselló announced that he had chosen Puerto Rico’s former non-voting representative to Congress, Pedro Pierluisi, as his secretary of state — a post that would put Pierluisi in line to be governor when Rosselló steps down tomorrow.

But he’s unlikely to be approved by legislators, several of whom proposed instead naming Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz, a declared candidate for the 2020 governor’s election.

Some lawmakers complained about Pierluisi’s work for a law firm that represents the federal control board that was created to oversee Puerto Rico’s finances before the territory,

saddled with more than $70 billion in public debt, declared a sort of bankruptcy. Pierluisi’s brother-in-law also heads the board, which has clashed repeatedly with Rosselló and other elected officials over demands for austerity measures.

“That’s a serious conflict of interest,” Rep. José Enrique Meléndez said.

Rep. Milagros Charbonier

and House of Representatives President Johnny Méndez also said they would vote against Pierluisi and urged Rosselló to instead nominate Rivera Schatz. All three legislators are members of Rosselló’s prostatehood New Progressive Party.

Méndez has said Pierluisi does not have the votes needed in the House of Representatives.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, August 1, 2019, PAGE 15

$3.26M CONTRACT FOR ELBOW CAY

PRMIE Minister Hubert Minnis heads the delegation at Elbow Cay, Abaco.

THE government has signed a $3.26m contract with Bahamas Marine Construction Co. Ltd. for the shoreline stabilisation of ‘Dune Road’ at Elbow Cay, Abaco.

The project aims to provide safer passage for residents traversing the area, and the anticipated length of the contract work is 30 weeks.

Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis led a delegation from New Providence for the contract signing ceremony.

Dr Minnis underscored the rich history shared by Hope Town and Elbow Cay, adding the residents of the area have preserved its heritage with great dedication and care.

“You are known

throughout The Bahamas for the preservation of your cultural heritage, your civic involvement and your robust involvement in matters of local government.

“I am happy to be here today to acknowledge these community attributes and to offer you some good news for which you have been waiting for some time,” he said.

THE TRIBUNE

BY SEBAS BASTIAN

M

ODERN economies are complex and interdependent systems whose components should work together to create value.

Technological advancement, taxation, consumption, and productivity, for example, are all forces that work together to power the economic machinery. Each of these components has a critical part to play in driving economic expansion or creating economic recession depending on if they are working individually and together as they should.

In The Bahamas, we hear quite a bit about the tourism and financial services industries—two of our largest sectors counting for the lion’s share of our economic activity. We know when tourism numbers are up or down, and we are all aware when our financial services industry is under threat from external forces, like blacklisting.

Both of these sectors rely heavily on external dynamics like foreign direct investing (FDI), the disposable income of foreign nationals which might translate to tourist spend, or the health of international capital markets. We do not, however, hear enough about the components that drive our economy internally.

Tracking activity in the housing marketing, for example, is one of a number of indicators that can predict the health of the wider economy. As a barometer for consumption, the housing market, among a number of other benchmarks, can signal economic expansion, caution or recession.

When we refer to the housing market, we mean the supply and demand of residential units—both the construction and purchase of houses.

Building permits, and housing starts—the number of new residential construction projects that have started during any period— can be early indicators of activity in the housing market specifically.

In developed economies, like in the United States, analysts watch the housing starts figures each month, comparing them with previous months’ data and year-over-year periods to spot trends in the market and to get a sense of the direction of the broader economy.

The importance of this sector cannot be understated because new housing construction leads to other types of economic activity. Housing starts influence related industries, such as banking, the mortgage sector, insurance raw materials, employment, construction, manufacturing, and real estate. Government revenue also increases through real property tax, employee contributions and other forms of taxation.

Friday, August 2, 2019, PAGE 9

Housing market is key but we need to speed things up

WE do not hear enough about the components that drive our economy internally, says Sebas Bastian.

Tracking building permits can provide an estimate of the number of new housing units that have been authorized by the government. Sustained growth in building permits is often viewed as a positive sign for economic growth and indicates that more investment will likely be allocated to the housing market.

Given the importance of the housing market as an economic driver and housing starts and building permits as indicators of economic health, this sector and its regulators must operate efficiently.

As an experienced real estate developer, with both residential and commercial properties as a part of our portfolio at Brickell Management Group, I echo the

recent concerns expressed about the lengthy delays for the approval of building permits. The building permit process can be delayed for longer than six months in some instances.

I acknowledge the government’s stated commitment to slashing the time taken to obtain building permits by 75 percent, but based on the comments made by Gustavus Ferguson, President of the Institute of Bahamian Architects (IBA), we are still a long way off from realizing this policy goal.

As Mr Ferguson stated recently in a local daily, just like in the US, construction is a vital component in “stimulating the Bahamian economy and getting the money to flow.”

A primary example of this is during the 2008 global recession where there was a considerable slowdown in the construction sector in The Bahamas, especially as it relates to the domestic investment in the sector, according to the State of the Nation Report.

The assertion of a slowdown in the construction sector is supported by a fall in residential construction permits from 2005 to 2018.

More recently, the number of new construction permits issued in the third quarter of 2018 (413) was higher than in the third quarter of 2017 by 112 or 37.2 percent. Simultaneously, the number of new construction starts increased by 36 or 41.4 percent between the third

quarter of 2017 (87) and third quarter of 2018 (123).

While this suggests some economic expansion, permit approvals seem lower than where it should be to stimulate economic growth.

Without the six-month delay, how many more permits may have been issued? Would we have seen even more significant real investment and growth in this sector? What would have been the effect on the broader economy?

Beyond just delays in permitting, according to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) publication, “The State of Social Housing in Six Caribbean Countries,” a housing needs study conducted in 2000 estimated that to meet new household formation,

reduce overcrowding and replace old dwellings, The Bahamas would have to produce 28,530 units between 2000 and 2011, or an average of 2,378 units annually over that period.

As the statistics on housing permits and starts above suggests, we do not approach the recommended average yearly production amount for new residential units, creating an ongoing housing deficit.

Along with a more efficient approval process, and as a part of a cohesive policy solution to the housing deficit, the government should consider incentivising developers to build residential units.

In the past, the government may have taken on the task of bridging the void left by the housing deficit. But given our current fiscal position, the government must instead find a means of tapping, monetising, and then channeling the resources it does have through a strategically selected set of incentives, mandates, or tax advantages that will make the development of housing for working and middleclass Bahamians a paying proposition.

This approach to a holistic and cohesive housing policy solution will not only spark a construction boom, but also solve the ongoing housing deficit. However, no solution will work unless the permit approval process is working efficiently.

The Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit report indicated that the government is working to reduce the time taken to obtain permits from 120-plus to 30 days. This commitment must be taken seriously for the health of the Bahamian economy and the benefit of Bahamian consumers. This reduction in the time taken to obtain building permits should sit within a comprehensive policy to spur growth in the housing market, solve the problem of the housing deficit and drive economic expansion.

As a Bahamian developer, I stand ready to assist the government in any way I can to improve the ease of doing business in this sector. I am sure I can speak for the many other professions and business whose livelihoods depend on the housing market when I say, we all stand ready.