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VOLUME:115 No.177, AUGUST 8TH, 2018

THE PEOPLE’S PAPER: $1

ALICIA WALLACE: THANK GOD FOR JUDGES’ INDEPENDENCE

Unlawful killing No. 2 - by the SAME officer Father’s relief at jury’s ruling on son’s death

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net A CORONER’S Court jury yesterday ruled the 2013 police involved shooting death of Terrique Fowler, 22, was an unlawful killing.

The verdict marks the second unlawful killing ruling rendered against the officer involved in that shooting, Corporal Adrian Miller, in less than a week.

A 3-2 verdict was returned to Coroner Jeanine Weech-Gomez a little more than an hour after she excused the jury to

deliberate on a verdict of lawful or unlawful killing over the June 7, 2013, Fox Hill shooting.

It was ruled that Cpl Miller unlawfully shot Fowler in his back, resulting in his death.

In early July, pathologist Dr Caryn Sands testified Fowler died from a single gunshot wound to the back following the fatal 2013 encounter with several officers.

According to the evidence led during the inquest, the bullet travelled from Fowler’s back to the SEE PAGE THREE

‘INJUNCTION WRONG - BUT SO IS PLAN’

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

PROGRESSIVE Liberal Party Leader Philip “Brave” Davis says the Minnis administration’s shanty town eradication policy lacks resolution, sensitivity and coherence.

“Shanty towns must be eliminated but with

resolutions and sensitivity,” he told The Tribune.

“The current process seems more about public relations, seeking to (confuse) the public with a lot of activity but no action.

Resolution would be that they would have moved this morning to set aside the injunction.”

SEE PAGE FIVE

TYRONE FOWLER, the father of Terrique Fowler, who was killed in 2013.

TURNQUEST U-TURN OVER PROPERTY TAX INCREASE

By NATARIO MCKENZIE Tribune Business Reporter nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

THE government intends to revert to the previous definition of owner-occupied properties that was in effect up until June of this year, Finance Minister Peter Turnquest said yesterday.

This comes after concerns from affluent Lyford Cay residents were published in The Tribune last week, saying the government’s increased property taxes would drive wealthy

DEPUTY Prime Minister Peter Turnquest. second homeowners out of the country and deter new ones.

In a statement, Mr Turnquest noted the government

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

had sought to increase taxes on foreign-owned undeveloped land in The Bahamas, in an effort to discourage land speculation and to encourage development of any such property.

He said the government had also taken steps to improve the tax yield from homes used for commercial purposes by recasting the definition of “owneroccupied” properties and by imposing value added tax on vacation home rentals.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

JOHN BULL ROLEX ROBBERY: TWO CHARGED

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net TWO New Providence men were charged in the Freeport Magistrate’s Court yesterday in connection with the brazen robbery at the John Bull store in Grand Bahama.

Corradon Cockburn, 30, of Mangrove Avenue, and Diego Carey, 23, of Soldier Road, were arraigned in Court One in Freeport before Deputy Chief Magistrate Debbye Ferguson.

SEE PAGE TWO

PAGE 2, Wednesday, August 8, 2018

CORRADON COCKBURN, 30, arrives at court for his arraignment.

THE TRIBUNE

Photos: Vandyke Hepburn

DIEGO CAREY, of Soldier Road, was charged in Freeport yesterday in connection with a robbery at John Bull in Grand Bahama.

John Bull Rolex robbery: two charged from page one Carey appeared to be suffering from an injury to his right foot and was walking with the aid of a crutch. During the arraignment, Carey accused the police of brutality, claiming he was “tortured” by officers while in police custody, and was not allowed to call his relatives.

When asked about his

injuries, he explained he had broken his femur bone two months ago while working and had a metal rod and screws in his right foot.

The men were charged with conspiracy to commit robbery. It is alleged that on July 23, the accused with others, who are unknown, conspired and stole 35 men’s and women’s Rolex watches and two Breitling watches valued at $427,000,

the property of John Bull Limited.

They pleaded not guilty to the charge.

According to initial reports, two men disguised as women, wearing long wigs, entered the John Bull Store at the Port Lucaya Marketplace on the morning of July 23, and smashed a glass display case stealing a number of highpriced watches and escaped in a stolen vehicle.

Police later said the stolen merchandise was valued in excess of $900,000.

Cockburn was also charged with possession of proceeds of criminal conduct. It is alleged that on July 29 in New Providence he had $21,281 cash of both US and Bahamian currencies.

He pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Carey was also charged with receiving. It is alleged

that on July 31 he dishonestly received five Rolex watches in Grand Bahama, valued at some $58,400, the property of John Bull Limited, knowing they were stolen.

He pleaded not guilty to the receiving charge.

Carey was represented by Osman Johnson.

Magistrate Ferguson asked the men if they wanted the matters to be heard in Magistrate’s or

Supreme Court.

They both opted for summary trial in Magistrate’s Court.

The prosecution objected to bail. Magistrate Ferguson informed the accused men that bail was denied and remanded them to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services until October 4, for trial.

The men have the right to apply to the Supreme Court for bail.

WOMAN WHO STOLE FROM EMPLOYER ORDERED TO PAY BACK $55K

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net A 23-YEAR-OLD woman was yesterday ordered to repay the $55,005.90 she stole from her employer between November 3, 2017, and June 5, or serve a threeyear prison sentence.

Magistrate Samuel McKinney ordered Krystal

Rolle, a former assistant who had responsibility for payroll and bill payments at Simply Business Solutions, to reimburse her former employer at least $30,000 of the sum before she is eligible for release from custody.

He further specified she repay the remaining $25,005.90 in $2,500 monthly instalments once released.

Additionally, Rolle, who

pleaded guilty to 11 theft and money laundering charges last week, was also fined a total of $5,500 or $500 per charge.

Rolle is required to pay the fines in full before being eligible for release.

Failure to do so would result in an additional 18 months in prison, according to Magistrate McKinney.

Rolle was accused of stealing a total of $66,585.84

from her former employer and funneling the funds through her bank accounts and those of her boyfriend, L’Shabazz Forbes, 23.

Rolle’s former employer discovered the scheme after being questioned by the bank about various transfers made from the company’s credit card to at least two RBC accounts.

The accounts were later identified as being

registered to the couple.

According to account records, $11,579.94 of the sum was stolen by Rolle, while concerned with Forbes, between Tuesday, January 30, and Thursday, March 1.

The money was reportedly laundered through her boyfriend’s RBC bank account.

Forbes has maintained a not guilty plea.

The prosecution’s case against Forbes on three counts of theft and one count of money laundering was adjourned to Thursday, August 23.

Lawyers for the coaccused are Keevon Maynard and Howard Thompson.

Rolle has until Monday, August 13, to appeal the sentencing to the Court of Appeal.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, August 8, 2018, PAGE 3

Unlawful killing No. 2 - by the SAME officer from page one front of his body, exiting at the ventral side of the young man’s genitals. , however, contradicted the initial police reports of the matter, particularly that of Corporal 933 Kyle Capron, which maintained that a male, later identified as Fowler, had sustained a shot to the abdomen, specifically the front-right lower abdomen.

Additionally, according to the reports of Corporal Miller, the officer who fired the fatal shot; Detective Constable 2609 Maurice Arthur; and another officer, Fowler was shot whilst running towards them, and after being ordered to drop a firearm he was brandishing.

Cpl Miller’s initial report stated that he, along with two other officers, received information concerning a group of males in the Bernard Road area opposite the government library, all armed with firearms and planning a gang retaliation and initiation.

Another Coroner’s Court jury last week ruled that Cpl Miller unlawfully killed 31-year-old Girred Clarke at a party on August 17, 2013.

He was represented by attorney Bjorn Ferguson in the Clarke matter while attorney K Melvin Munroe represented him in court yesterday. Mr Ferguson has said he will appeal the first verdict.

In an interview with The Tribune following yesterday’s verdict, Fowler’s father, Tyrone Fowler, hailed the ruling as an “end” to a five-year-long “agonising journey”.

Surrounded by Ida Symonette, Fowler’s mother, his two young children and other relatives, Mr Fowler said he had on several occasions wondered if “justice” would ever be served.

“We sat back for years and wondered,” he told

JASON RUTHERFORD, left, brother of Terrique Fowler, who was killed in 2013, and Tyrone Fowler, father of Terrique.

The Tribune. “Every day we would hear the points of view from so many people that didn’t know our boy.

They would talk it up and say what they thought happened. And you know, for a lot of Bahamians, anyone that goes against the police, they’re considered the guilty party.

“Now my son’s name has been cleared.

“Now we can hold up his memory and name and tell people that what happened to him was wrong and it was not deserved,” he said.

“This sends a message, loud and clear to the public that police are now being held accountable for what they do ... justice prevails

57-YEAR-OLD ACCUSED OF ATTEMPTED UNLAWFUL SEX WITH TEN-YEAR-OLD GIRL

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net

A 57-YEAR-OLD man was arraigned in a Magistrate’s Court yesterday charged with attempted unlawful sexual intercourse with a ten-year-old girl.

Kirk Moss, of Grant Street, stood before Magistrate Samuel McKinney charged with the one count concerning an incident which allegedly

occurred last Friday.

Moss was not required to enter a plea to the charge and the case was adjourned to September 21 for service of a voluntary bill of indictment.

Bail was denied and he was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services (BDCS) until that time or until he is successful in securing bail from the Supreme Court.

POLICE HUNT FOR ROBBERS AFTER THREE SEPARATE RAIDS POLICE on New Providence are seeking the public’s assistance in solving three recent armed robberies.

The first incident occurred shortly after 4pm on Monday when two men, one armed with a firearm, entered a wholesale liquor store on West Bay Street, held employees up and robbed the place of cash before escaping in a grey vehicle.

Hours later, shortly

after 11pm a gunman entered a wash house on Robinson Road and Minnie Street, held an employee up and robbed the laundromat of cash before running away.

The last incident occurred shortly after 2am yesterday. A man had just arrived at his residence on Spikenard Road when he was approached by two armed men who robbed him of his red 2005 red Toyota Corolla.

CAR STOLEN NEAR OAKES MONUMENT A GRAY-COLOURED 2008 Honda Accord EX Sedan, licence #AM1405, parked near the Oakes Monument, was stolen around noon yesterday.

The theft was reported to the police and an all points bulletin was issued. Anyone seeing the vehicle is asked to call the police at 911.

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and the truth comes to light,” Mr Fowler said.

Fowler’s mother added: “My child’s name is cleared.

We suffered from 2013 to now, now we know and the world will know that my child was killed.”

The Coroner’s Court does not determine criminal, civil or disciplinary liability; it ascertains facts surrounding a person’s death. When an inquest is completed, the court must forward its findings to the attorney general who has the power to order that an inquest be reopened, according to the Coroner’s Act. An appeal of a ruling to the Supreme Court must be filed within a month of the Coroner’s

Court ruling. The Supreme Court could confirm or set aside a finding, could substitute a finding that appears justified by the evidence, could order that the inquest be reopened or that a fresh one be held.

A Tribune special report last year detailed the severe backlog in Coroner’s Court and the toll it was taking on families whose relatives had died after incidents with police. Fowler’s case was featured prominently in that report.

Speaking with this newspaper in December 2017 on the backlog at the Coroner’s Court, attorney Christina Galanos said: “As with all things there are going to be those

matters where sure, the police acted correctly.

The deceased would have put the police in a position where either ‘I’m going home to my family tonight or not so I had to make a decision for my survival.’ The point is

that all these families are entitled to an inquest at the Coroner’s Court and the law gives them that.

They’re not asking for any favours.”

Ms Galanos represented Fowler’s family during the inquest.

GN 2063

PAGE 4,Wednesday, August 8, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

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Maybe there’s another way for shanty towns THE Bahamas is not the first country to experience the dilemma presented by what in some places is called squatters’ settlements or slums or what we have come to call shanty towns. As immigrant populations grow around the world and where it is difficult for those immigrants to assimilate or afford standard housing, communities of substandard housing pop up.

Left uncontrolled as leaders rub their chins and scratch their heads about what to do about them, they blossom like garden weeds on steroids. But it is not the fault of the people who call that shanty town home, especially in New Providence and Abaco where, according to the Minister of Labour, the Attorney General and others, 90 percent of the land on which the substandard housing sits is Crown Land that was leased for agricultural purposes.

In other words, they say, it was not leased to the people who live there now nor are most of the residents of New Providence’s shanty towns squatters. They pay rent to someone and that someone or the someone to whom the land was leased and decided to turn it into a revenue generator is the person who should be held accountable.

Accountability is a serious issue that must be addressed and will be left for the administration and courts to decide.

The concept we want to raise and the conversation we want to generate is that shanty towns provide an unparalleled opportunity for The Bahamas to shine through design while demonstrating humanity.

In New Providence an opportunity is staring us in the face to transform select shanty towns into models of new urban development. The idea is not so far-fetched as it seems. From start to finish, it offers architects, planners and students an opportunity to create new physical space, building on the strengths and surprising character that pokes its head out of the most unlikely spots.

Re-creating the space with adequate infrastructure and acceptable conditions that meet the stringent building code will also provide construction jobs, build pride in the residents who will occupy the new towns and who will have access to a park and green space where once

rambling slipshod buildings stood. It will clear some of the clutter while allowing two or three storey construction with playgrounds and small shops to serve local residents’ needs.

This model has been tried and proven to work in other places. One of Colombia’s worst slums and highest crime areas was transformed with the result that crime declined as pride increased.

There is probably no better example of transformation from slum to proud community than an area called Foggy Bottom in Washington, DC. It, too, was started by an emigrant, a German who purchased 130 acres along the Potomac more than 200 years ago. Over the years, the area deteriorated to the point where it was a slum staring the Beltway in the eye. Instead of razing all the buildings, architects built on what was there, allowing the organic nature of the origins and the contemporary design of the 1950s and ‘60s to marry. Today, that award-winning project is home to luxury condos along with the Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts and other national treasures.

We do not deny that some substandard housing and lack of adequate infrastructure in our shanty towns is a problem.

Lack of proper facilities, continued use of outdoor toilets, seeping sewage, makeshift roofs, illegal electrical usage with rigged wiring and cords running from the window of one structure to the kitchen of another are not acceptable. It is only a matter of time until there are more fires and families are left to contend with the tragic aftermath.

But we strongly believe that before we wholeheartedly displace large groups of people, a move that could easily be judged inhumane by any outside observer who sees the struggle of the poor trying to survive against the governing body, with their tax dollar paid cell phones and personal drivers saying, “Too bad, we need to clean this place up”, as unjust and unfair.

There is no denying the quandary government finds itself in and we sympathise with the dilemma. But we believe there is a better way than a total bulldozing to solve the problem. It is called imagination, ingenuity, funding and hope.

More patrols to save lives EDITOR, The Tribune.

RULES of the road for drivers of motor vehicles have to be followed to the tee unless we want headlines of more victims from accidents.

Not prejudging the recent ones but it would seem the drivers might have been texting or speaking on their cellphones plus speed and their tragic end became a reality.

Didn’t the Commissioner receive a lot of new motor cycles recently? Where are

they? Surely we should have saturated patrols on all our busiest streets and the outlying ones where speeding occurs regularly?

You rarely see a RBPF Traffic motorcycle unless it is upfront of a VIP rushing because they are late to a meeting or appointment!

Speeding on Airport Road - you ever see a traffic cop?

West Bay Street the same, except there once a month as regular as Wednesday comes before Thursday the full Police complements are in the road checking license

and ting whilst the rest of the month vehicles speed - drivers text - eat food, etc, etc.

Doesn’t the Road Traffic Act state that a driver must have both hands on the steering wheel at all times?

I agree with the Commissioner the rate we are going this year we will have an exceptionally high total of traffic fatalities…drivers this island is 21 by seven…take ya time and get home safe!

W THOMPSON Nassau, July 31, 2018.

Wrong model EDITOR, The Tribune.

I WRITE today in reference to recent comments from the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources stating that they would boost wholesale exportation of the Bahamian lobster. There won’t be any marine resources left to have a ministry of if we do that!

If we boost wholesale exportation of our fish, what do we have to export in 20 years time when they

are all gone? Look at Florida - they used to have as much conch, grouper and lobster as us and where has it all gone? They made the decision once to boost wholesale exportation and now they raid our waters without consequence.

We need to be pushing more sustainable ideas such as eco-tourism and conservation of our marine resources. There are villages in North Western Mexico that through a change in mindset and

Beware of buying Lucayan EDITOR, The Tribune.

IT is unfortunate that the deal to sell the Lucayan hotel in Grand Bahama didn’t work out. The hotel has been closed since Hurricane Matthew late in the hurricane season of 2016.

The hotel closure caused more than 1,000 direct and indirect job losses in Grand Bahama. The FNM government wants it reopened.

The last PLP government wanted it reopened. However, it seems no investor wants to pay the price to buy it, fix it and operate it.

The government is now saying it will buy the hotel.

It wants to get people back to work and jumpstart Grand Bahama’s economy.

That’s admirable but I warn the government to think carefully before pulling the trigger on a purchase.

Buying the hotel is one thing. Does the government have the money to repair and open it? I’ve read speculation in the newspapers that the repair and opening cost could be more than $100m.

After opening, it is the government prepared to pay salaries and energy

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net costs and marketing costs open ended? If no guests are coming would the government be willing to close the hotel or would politics make it keep it open, losing more money?

The best option is to keep trying to find a private sector buyer. The government is better off sweetening the pot through tax breaks and other subsidies. If still no one wants the hotel, then the government and people of Grand Bahama might have to accept a harsh reality: The property is finished as a resort, for now.

A business has to be something desired by others that could at least carry the cost of its operation. When no one wants the product, or the business can’t make money to survive, closure is the best option.

In free market capitalism there are winners and losers. The weak die out and the strong persevere.

Keeping alive zombie businesses is dangerous. It’s

especially dangerous when a government tries to do it.

Businesses should be run with profit and efficiency in mind. Governments do things to keep the support of voters. When they try to run businesses they often lose lots of money because they don’t want to do the ruthless things necessary to make the business viable.

The government wants to do what is best for Grand Bahamians. What might be best for them is to let that hotel go and continue working on bringing new industry to Grand Bahama.

If the island’s economy were to become vibrant again, some investor might look at the old, over-grown Lucayan hotel and see a business case for purchasing it and fixing it up, or demolishing it and putting something modern in its place.

The government should be careful with what it is about to do. Getting stuck with that hotel might cause serious drain on the treasury at a time when money is tight.

DARWIN R LUTHER Nassau, August 7, 2018

Grand Bahama hotel a gamble EDITOR, The Tribune.

education, have transIN the 1970s, the Pindling formed from dire poverty to government embarked on tourist hot spots. Fish popu- its disastrous programme of lation has returned and the hotel ownership to create villagers have sustainable, jobs for Bahamians. long term employment. The venture failed big People are better off than time, saddling future genthey were before. erations of Bahamians with Let us think long term massive debt. before we lose one of the The cost of the loans to most precious resources in buy and build hotels was the world. added to the national debt and the government (the ABS people) will never repay it – Nassau, they’ll just keep borrowing August 3, 2018. more to service the debt.

After reading Paul Wynn’s reasons for not buying the Lucayan Beach Hotel (Tribune Business August 2) and the warnings raised by CFAL President Anthony Ferguson (Nassau Guardian August 3), I don’t see how the government can justify taking such a HUGE risk with the people’s taxes.

Have we not learned from the utter fiscal madness of Hatchet Bay Farms, the hotels, BARTAD, BAMSI and Carnival? Our taxes were just increased

significantly to help reduce the size of the debt racked up by this type of foolishness.

I understand the situation in Freeport is dire and the government is working hard to revive the economy, but that doesn’t justify pumping at least $100m of public funds into buying and relaunching a deteriorated structure that no-one else seems to want.

ATHENA DAMIANOS Nassau, August 6, 2018.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, August 8, 2018, PAGE 5

Shanty town residents’ joy at injunction on evictions

By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net SHANTY town residents expressed joy yesterday at a Supreme Court injunction barring the Minnis administration from moving ahead with its August 10 deadline eviction deadline for unregulated New Providence communities.

Despite the injunction, the government is pushing ahead with surveys of shanty towns in the Family Islands.

Yesterday, Labour Minister Dion Foulkes underscored to reporters the injunction only applies to the shanty towns in New Providence, adding task forces on Family Islands are either being established or already underway.

Supreme Court Justice Cheryl Grant-Thompson granted the interlocutory injunction blocking evictions and service disconnections on Saturday, during a telephone conference with Attorney General Carl Bethel and human rights attorney Fred Smith, QC. For residents of a shanty town off Cowpen Road, the court’s decision was welcome news as many claimed they did not have the money to move out of the community.

A man who identified himself only as Fenol, who has lived in that community for 22 years, said he already rented a house and moved his belongings in preparation for the deadline.

However, Fenol was still pleased that the other residents have more time, in light of the eviction deadline being put on hold.

“Yea that’s better,” he said, speaking in broken English. “If (the government) don’t (make it) August 10, I am very happy because…I think some people (still needed time).

“Some people don’t have (enough) money to rent house…Plenty people already moved. Because they think (the evictions) will happen for sure, August 10.”

Walking through the

A NEW Providence shanty town yesterday during a visit by The Tribune.

A COWPEN Road resident named Fenol speaking to The Tribune. shanty town, Fenol directed this newspaper to a group of men gathered in the centre of the community. The men, both residents and friends of residents, all expressed their appreciation for the injunction.

A Haitian-Bahamian resident, who wished to be identified as “Horse”, referenced the impact the injunction would have on families, especially with the new school year approaching.

“I glad the people postponed all of this, because people gotta buy school clothes and all kinds of other things, man,” he told The Tribune. “Some more time, that’s a good thing for

HORSE, left, and Caesar speaking to The Tribune.

the people still.”

The resident said he has lived in the community his whole life. He added that he had “no intentions” of moving, regardless of the deadline.

“I born here. I ain’t got nowhere to go. I was waiting.”

When asked if he was waiting to see happened, “Horse” replied: “See what happen? I feel like I wasn’t going nowhere.

Point, blank, period.”

Another man who goes by “Caesar”, said he has been spending time in the community for years. He described the injunction as “fair”, both from a moral and legal perspective.

“Well I think it’s a joy to know they gave them the injunction,” Caesar said. “I think everyone is human beings, everyone deserves to have a fair chance and a fair trial to anything.

“That’s as simple as even if you do a crime. So it’s just right is only right. And it’s only fair.”

Two women, one who did not give her name and another who identified herself as Tewfja, had their comments translated by Horse from Haitian Creole to English.

The first woman said she has lived in the shanty town with her five children for the past five years. She said

‘INJUNCTION WRONG - BUT SO IS PLAN’ from page one

“Sensitivity would mean that they had a plan in place to deal with displaced persons. The present plan lacks those characteristics. It’s the government’s methodology that is lacking. We support the objective and not the methodology.”

Mr Davis’ comment came after the Supreme Court ordered the government and utility providers to halt planned service disconnections or evictions in shanty towns, set for August 10.

It’s not clear how long the injunction will be in place.

Mr Davis, during his monthly press conference, also criticised the government’s intention to spare two shanty towns from demolition because the homes therein are built to code.

“The policy is incoherent, destroying shanty towns,” he said. “What criteria, how do you define criteria?

Would you say Arawak Cay is a shanty town? Or Potter’s Cay? To say that homes in a shanty town will escape being destroyed because of

whatever reason, it was not a shanty town in the first place if that be the case. It just shows an incoherency of the policy.”

As for the injunction imposed on the government’s plans to demolish unregulated communities, Mr Davis said on principle he disagrees with injunctions imposed against governments based on ex parte hearings. The government and lawyer Fred Smith dispute whether the weekend hearing before Justice Cheryl Grant Bethel was ex parte, where a judge makes a decision without all parties present, or inter parte, however.

Mr Davis said: “I’m always concerned when a court would grant an injunction ex parte against the crown or any government.

There is a presumption that all governments act and will conduct itself in the public good and in the public interest. That’s the presumption. I have always thought during my heyday of practice that when you’re suing the government and you’re seeking an injunction against the government at the very least what

should happen is the government should be made aware of what’s going on and be present. It should never be ex parte.

“We understand the concern of the urgency of the matter but judges ought in my view seek to at least have the crown present when injunctions are being sought. You call the other side in and the other side normally would give an undertaking, will not proceed with in this instance the breaking up of homes until we are heard.

“Another mechanism is the granting of a conservatory order until you could hear both sides as to whether or not an injunction should be granted.

Again, judges, they have their discretion how they exercise it but I’m always concerned when ex parte injunctions are issued against a government.”

Mr Smith made an ex parte application seeking an injunction on the government’s move to demolish shanty town homes. However, Attorney General Carl Bethel has queried Mr Smith’s interpretation of what happened.

she was “happy” the deadline had been put on hold.

When asked if she had been planning to leave the shanty town, Horse translated: “She say no because she couldn’t find a house.”

Tewfja has been a resident of the shanty town for a decade. The Tribune asked the motherof-five her thoughts on the injunction.

“She say she happy because she have school clothes to buy,” Horse

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff translated.

“Yea, she had plans to move,” he added. “(But) she ain’t had no money and she couldn’t find a spot.”

When questioned by reporters yesterday, Mr Foulkes said he was given instructions to continue with shanty town related efforts in the Family Islands.

“I want to indicate that the prime minister has given me firm instructions and our task force firm instructions to proceed with all of the programmes that we have in the Family Islands, namely in Abaco, Eleuthera, and North Andros in particular,” Mr Foulkes said.

Mr Foulkes said the Abaco task force has already been established, and its shanty town survey is “almost 90 per cent completed”.

“They have to go to Hope Town this coming weekend and we anticipate that they would be finished by early next week. So we should get a good picture in terms of the population of the…five shanty towns in Abaco and

in Hope Town.”

He added task forces are also being established in Andros and Eleuthera, noting Eleuthera has 11 “relatively small” shanty towns, the largest of which is in Spanish Wells.

“The court injunction is specific to New Providence only. The attorney general will deal with all of the comments dealing with the court action. I will not say anything further with respect to any matters dealing with the shanty towns in New Providence,” Mr Foulkes said.

When asked if he was feeling nonetheless “discouraged” by the injunction and it impeding the work of the Shanty Town Action Task Force, which he chairs, Mr Foulkes said the process is a constitutional right.

“We live in a democratic society, and every person who lives in the Bahamas [has] the right to access our legal process.

“It’s something that’s constitutionally guaranteed and I leave it to the courts to decide.”

PAGE 6, Wednesday, August 8, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

Davis: I would not have let govt buy Grand Lucayan

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net OPPOSITION Leader Philip “Brave” Davis said if he were the country’s leader, he would not let the government buy the Grand Lucayan hotel properties, likening Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis’ intention to do so to his ridiculed pre-election promise to renegotiate the Baha Mar deal after Chow Tai Fook Enterprises acquired the property.

Mr Davis said he would continue fighting to find a private buyer for the resort, insisting it will be too costly for the government to own and operate a hotel that wasn’t making a profit even before it was shut down.

“First of all, it’s not a going concern,” he said during his monthly press conference at Progressive Liberal Party headquarters yesterday.

“If the Grand Lucayan hotel was a going concern with 400-600 workers employed and working, I would reconsider my view

LEADER of the Opposition Philip “Brave” Davis. on whether they should purchase it. But it is not a going concern. The property is closed. It did not work in private hands. Do you think it will work in government hands? That’s the question and I think not.”

Paul Wynn, CEO of the company that previously sought to purchase the property from CK Property Holdings/Hutchison Whampoa, has said it could

Photo: Terrel W Carey/Tribune Staff

take as much as $120m to reopen the hotels.

“I don’t know if they understand what they are getting into,” Mr Davis reasoned. “It’s not just buying the hotel, a hotel that’s been closed for how many years since Hurricane Matthew. You need money to renovate it, probably need to think about what product you want that hotel to be offering. Will it just be

a convention type offering? Would it be a casino, sun sand and sea offering?

What is going to drive the property? What is going to be the attraction? How are you going to brand it?

Will you run it through the Hotel Corporation? Will you bring in a management company to do it and if so, which one, and what will be the management fees?

It’s not just ‘I will buy the

hotel’, just as he said ‘I’m going to sell Baha Mar’.”

During his national address in July 2017, Dr Minnis said the government would get the Grand Lucayan opened by the winter season, a target that has long been missed.

Observers expect the resort will be closed for yet another winter season.

At the time, Dr Minnis said the government was eyeing taking an equity stake in the property to help Grand Bahama’s economy rebound.

In late July, he told supporters on the island the government will purchase the hotel if it cannot be sold to a suitable buyer.

The Minnis administration has set no timeline for its prospective purchase of the resort.

With the hotel’s closure, Freeport has seen 59 percent of its room inventory taken out of stock.

Press Secretary Anthony Newbold said he expected the resort to be discussed at length during yesterday’s Cabinet session.

“It is a matter of priority,”

Mr Newbold said yesterday. “We may hear about it (today). We may not. Those decisions and timelines haven’t been expressed yet by the prime minister, primarily because it has to go before Cabinet.”

Asked if the administration has a cap on how much it is willing to spend on the project, he said: “The prime minister said, ‘Listen, we need to have this hotel opened.’ What that will require we don’t know yet.

First of all, you have to decide what it’s going to cost to get into this thing in the first place, but no cap, another one of those tough decisions the government has to make.”

The Grand Lucayan resort featured three brands: Memories, the 500room Breaker’s Cay and Lighthouse Pointe.

The hotel closed in October 2016 for repairs after it suffered damage from Hurricane Matthew leading almost 1,000 people to lose their jobs.

In November 2016, only the 196-room Lighthouse Pointe reopened.

SCHOOL UNIFORM ASSISTANCE ‘WILL BE DONE BY NEED’

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

PEOPLE wanting school uniform assistance will be assessed according to need, Social Services and Urban Development Minister Frankie Campbell said yesterday.

The minister further insisted there was no “hard and fast rule” at the Department of Social Services stipulating those who received assistance last year would not receive help this year.

However, he admitted there was a possibility some

students could miss receiving uniform assistance as his ministry is no different from others in that it is financially constrained.

This comes amid criticisms from Englerston MP Glenys Hanna Martin on the issue.

Last week, the shadow minister for social services and urban development called for an immediate reversal of changes to social assistance policy which she said was limiting aid for school uniforms.

Mr Campbell said: “The policy of the Ministry of Social Services and Urban Development as it relates to

uniform assistance is similar to all of its assistance programmes. It is there for the needy. I emphasise needy because there is some grey line about who is in need and who is not.

“The department has a procedure of assessment in determining who is needy. There was some talk about persons who received assistance last year not receiving assistance this year. I want to make it emphatically clear that persons will be assisted according to their need. So all persons who are in need are eligible and entitled to apply. They will

be assessed on their own merits and demerits.

“So there is no hard and fast rule that if you were assisted last year you will not be assisted this year.

So there is no hard and fast rule across the board. There is no absolute,” the minister also told reporters.

Asked whether there was a possibility some students could be left without uniforms, he said: “There is always a possibility, not just with social assistance. With assistance for any ministry there is always that possibility that there are some things that you want to do that you can’t do.

“So that’s not confined only to the Ministry of Social Services but I would have said earlier based on our resources and our assessed need, persons will be assisted, notwithstanding the speculation that if there are four children (in a home) only two will be assisted or the speculation that if you were assisted last year you won’t be assisted.”

Mr Campbell also suggested some people needing government help waited until the last minute to seek the assistance and then demanded help right away.

“I can say though that we are a people who naturally wait until the last minute but we won’t, when we speak out, say that we waited until the last minute and that’s why we weren’t assisted in a timely fashion. “(People should be) mindful that there is some assessment that has to be done. That you won’t just walk in this morning and walk out with a set of uniforms. Persons ought to appreciate that you need to start the process early enough so that you could be assisted early enough,” the minister added.

FIVE PERCENT WEB SHOP STAMP DUTY ‘MAY NOT BE FOREVER’

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

WHILE the government will forge ahead with its new five percent stamp duty

on web shop deposits, it does not mean this tax will forever remain at this rate, Tourism and Aviation Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar said yesterday.

It comes as FML Group

of Companies CEO Craig Flowers warned the new tax will discourage many customers from gambling and could lead to a loss of one third of the industry.

However, it seems there

is come confusion as to when the tax will be implemented. Yesterday, the minister said it was still to be brought on stream this coming Monday. However, Mr Flowers told The

Nassau Guardian the date has been pushed back to September 1.

Mr D’Aguilar told reporters the tax study is ongoing but could not reveal who the hired consultants were or how much the undertaking costs.

Asked whether there was a possibility the five percent rate would be reduced, Mr D’Aguilar said: “Every tax gets changed. No government is going to stand here and tell you that no tax will ever change.

“So we will look at it we will look at all taxes as we do every year or whenever we look at it and we will tweak whatever we think needs to be tweaked.

“No government minister has ever stood up here and said that’s it, that’s it forever, maybe about the value added tax but no one’s ever going to say that.”

Earlier, The Tribune asked the minister whether the government had any concerns that the tax would affect the government’s revenue projections based on Mr Flowers’ assertion the industry would shrink.

He said: “Obviously. I mean obviously we are concerned about every allegation or every proposal made by the gaming industry. We look into it.

“This is why we decided

based on their suggestion that we look further into it.

That’s why we’re looking into it.

“May I remind you that governments are always tweaking taxes? Every budget year we increase this tax reduce this tax so this is nothing out of the ordinary.

“They’ve made a proposition that this is going to negatively affect their business. Everybody said that about the introduction of the VAT at 7.5 percent.”

He continued: “Yes there is probably a little dip to begin with but people resume their consumption patterns. So we’ll do what we said we were going to do. We’ll look at it and get back to you with a decision.”

Initially, the government said the stamp tax was to take effect on July 1.

Last month, Mr D’Aguilar explained there had been a delay because there was a need to modify point of sale systems and gaming platforms.

However, until it does happen, Mr Flowers said the entire industry is at a standstill.

In May, Deputy Prime Minister K Peter Turnquest said the new stamp tax on web shop deposits and digital online sales was to come on stream at the same time as a new sliding tax scale on gaming houses.

At the time, he said: “We are increasing the taxation of gaming house activities through the introduction of a sliding scale of rates applied to taxable revenue, namely: up to $20m, a rate of 20 percent; between $20m and $40m, a rate of 25 percent; between $40m and $60m, a rate of 30 percent; between $60m and $80m, a rate of 35 percent; between $80m and $100m, a rate of 40per cent; and over $100m, a rate of 50 percent.”

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, August 8, 2018, PAGE 7

Two pedestrians killed in traffic accidents

By FARRAH JOHNSON TWO pedestrians are dead after they were killed in separate traffic accidents, including a hit-and-run.

According to police shortly after 9pm on Monday a man walking on Carmichael Road around Boatswain Hill was struck by a vehicle and seriously injured.

Paramedics were called to the scene, but a Ford Expedition hit the ambulance they were driving in while emergency personnel were attending to the victim.

The accident caused minor damage to the emergency vehicle, but the victim died at the scene.

All of the drivers remained on scene and are aiding police with their investigations.

The second accident occurred shortly after 3am yesterday when a man walking on Graham Drive in Yellow Elder Gardens was struck by a silver coloured two-door car, which left the scene.

Paramedics were called but were unsuccessful in reviving the victim who also died.

Superintendent Marino Hynes of the Traffic Division reported the vehicle which killed the second victim “stopped for a brief moment” before taking off.

Confirming the incident has been classified as a hit-and-run, Supt Hynes

said police are appealing to anybody who may have witnessed the accident to report their account to police.

Supt Hynes said the victim was a resident of the area, adding it was still unclear whether the victim was trying to cross the road at the time of the accident.

He added police have seen an increase in the number of traffic fatalities and accidents due to drivers being distracted.

“We have been appealing to persons to not drive with their cell phones. Use some hands-free device, some bluetooth device, which would cause them to keep their hands on the wheel.

And if they must speak

while driving they can do both simultaneously,” Supt Hynes said.

He also urged the driver from yesterday’s incident to turn themselves in to police.

“We are appealing this morning to the driver of this vehicle to please come into (the) Police Traffic Department, identify yourself, and take responsibility for this human life,” he said.

“We want that person to know that we will find you, so please use the human dignity that you have to coming to us and speak with us so that we can bring some resolution to this matter and this grieving family,” he said.

Investigations are continuing.

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DWIGHT Major at a previous court appearance.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

DWIGHT MAJOR DRUG CASE DELAYED OVER DATE MIX-UP

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net

WITNESS testimony in the $280,000 Dwight Major drug case was yesterday adjourned for 24 hours following an apparent mix-up in the appearance date for Major and the man with whom he was arrested.

Major, 50, who is on trial for one count each of conspiracy to possess dangerous drugs with intent to supply and possession of dangerous drugs with intent to supply stemming from the April 4 incident, stood before Magistrate Samuel McKinney as his

attorney Ian Cargill argued that the matter was initially adjourned from July 12 to August 8.

According to both the records of the court and the prosecution, Major was due back in court on August 7, yesterday, as testimony in the case was expected to get underway.

However, according to Mr Cargill, the prosecution, in its decision to pursue separate cases against Major and his co-accused Romell Virgil Rolle, adjourned Major’s case to August 8 and his co-accused to August 7.

It is alleged that on the date in question, the two conspired to possess and

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According to initial reports from police, shortly before 4am on Wednesday, April 4, Drug Enforcement Unit officers assisted by Mobile Division officers, while at Tonique WilliamsDarling Highway and Baillou Hill Road, stopped and searched a Nissan March with two male occupants and discovered 283 pounds of marijuana.

The two men were taken into custody.

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PAGE 8, Wednesday, August 8, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

We should applaud our judges for defending everyone’s rights F

OLLOWING the holiday weekend the country is abuzz with news of the injunction granted

by Supreme Court Justice Cheryl Grant-Thompson.

The injunction pauses utility disconnections and evictions by the government until there is a judicial review of the government’s plan to bulldoze shanty towns.

The leave for judicial review was filed on behalf of 177 residents and families — increased from 50 in July — in New Providence and Abaco shanty towns and Respect Our Homes Ltd and granted last Friday.

EXTENSION?

There has been talk about the deadline which was “extended” from July 31 to August 10, many people suggesting the government granted this reprieve to give human rights lawyer Fred Smith time to file for an injunction. In their minds, the government does not want to get rid of the shanty towns, is doing this for show and wants Smith to win. According to Smith, however, Head of the Shanty Town Action Task Force Dion Foulkes found the notices issued in June to be invalid. This led to a notice being issued on July 9, allowing 30 days for residents to vacate before the structures would be bulldozed. The 30-day period would have ended on August 10. It was not truly an extension, but the correction of an error. The pending judicial review is in reference to the July 9 notice.

ROLE OF THE COURT

People have been asking what Grant-Thompson was thinking when she granted the injunction? It has been said she should have looked at what the government is trying to do as positive and beneficial to Bahamians, and that

HOMES in a shanty town area where official government notices were recently handed out and stapled to doors.

By Alicia Wallace

should have led her to a different decision. This commentary shows we do not truly understand the way our government functions or the importance of separation of power.

The judiciary, executive and legislature all perform different functions. The law is the great equaliser and that cannot be true if the

judiciary favours or takes instruction from the executive or the legislature.

“The Supreme Court has the constitutional responsibility to protect human rights and it is the one institution which is independent of the executive and the legislative,” Fred Smith said.

He added we are fortunate, as a small country, to enjoy

FUNERAL SERVICE FOR LEXION LOUISSAINT, 82 of Wright’s Lane, Fox Hill, will be held on Friday, August 10th, 2018 at 9:00 a.m. at Our Lady of the Holy Souls Catholic Church, Deveaux & Young Streets. Officiating will be Father Jackson Fabius. Interment will follow in Lakeview Memorial Gardens, John F. Kennedy Drive and Gladstone Road.

He was predeceased by his wife: Louissa Richemond-Louissaint; Left to cherish his memories are his Son: Edieu (Monique); Daughters: Tania and Nadia Louissaint; Grandchildren: Lud-Marie Rhonny, Tiffany and Gerald Jr.; Brother: Garion Louissaint; Sisters: Etrenne Louissaint, Mrs. Francois Delly, Berlicia and Delanie-Jean-Pierre; Brother in Law: Elismond Brisson, Delima Richemond and Emmanuel Pierre-Aime; Sister in Law: Inata Richemond-Brisson, Genevieve Dorsette Louissaint, Natalia Louissaint; Nephews: Bernard Joseph, Jempsy Fils-Aime, Volcey, Jean Aime Souffrant, Fedner, Yvener, Èlie, Lunès, Deny, Enel, Vila, Francis, Lesley, Alec, Alexandre, Daniel, Jean Marie, Sony, Evenise, Sterving, Vixon, Jean Ronell, Homere, Mecen and Jean Herald; Nieces: Marise, Villian, Carlene, Wisnada, Darlen (Guy), Jacquline (Blandell), Maggie, Maud, Fedena, Paulna, Suse, Ketteline, Marie Katiana, Djina; Cousins: Déjanese, Oknell, Leons, Theola and Noel Jean-Pierre, Reval, Nounce, Olès, Élia and Roseanne Mocombe, Estephen and Dieuville Souffrant; A Host of other family members: Novalia Dorisca, Theona (Avenel) Louis, Osianie “Sule”, Patrick (Jayde), Ralph, Pedro, Mr. and Mrs. Marcel Baptist, Laveera, Mrs. Wildred Jean, Wesly (Claudia) Predelus, Innocent (Marceline) Richemond, Lucrecia Michel, Presantie Prosper, Revan Mocombe, Florence “Belle” Predelus, Abecen; Close Friends: Mr. and Mrs. Mème & Family, Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Morancey, Charite Joseph, Mrs. Arnold, Eramen, Lucille Richard Bernard & Family, Aline Nicholas, Tiffany Burrell Roberts & Family, Merla Atus & Family, Dr. M. Braynen, Dr. Spence-Prince, Avis Wright & Family, Madlyn Timothy & Family, Mrs. Clavens & Family, Elvita & Family, Ardastra Gardens and Zoo Conservation Center, Queen of Peach R. C. Church, Simon’s Transport Ltd. and many others too numerous to mention.

Viewing will be held in the Celestial Suite at Restview Memorial Mortuary and Crematorium Ltd., Robinson and Soldier Roads on Thursday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and at the church on Friday from 8:00 a.m. until service time.

an independent judiciary that is not intimated by the government.

It is just as important to have a judiciary that is not intimidated by the Bahamian people. Many Bahamians are angered by the injunction and do not care about the legality of it nor the government action it impedes. They want the shanty towns gone, by any means necessary. There is little concern about the housing needs of the people who would be displaced. The court, however, must concern itself with the law and how it is or is not being followed. When this case goes to trial, a judge will review evidence from both sides in order to determine whether or not the notice issued on July 9 is legal.

The government will try to justify what it is doing and prove it to be legally correct. It is a case, not only of procedure, but also of human rights and possible ethnic cleansing. The trial will ask whether or not the notices sent by the government are legal, but it will also question the legality of what has been called an “eradication policy”. Fred Smith will argue it is contrary to Article 26 of the constitution on anti-discrimination as it targets communities comprised of “95 percent Haitian ethnic origin”.

HOW WE REALLY FEEL

In a social media post, Stephen Aranha, doctoral student and former Chair of the School of Social Sciences at then College of The Bahamas, said: “The public disappointment that an injunction stops us from destroying the lives of fellow human beings is palpable.”

We often behave as though there are only two types of people in The Bahamas — Haitians and none Haitians. We may concern ourselves more with identifying and creating separations from those of Haitian descent than we do with identifying and celebrating people and things Bahamian. We concern ourselves with ownership and exclusivity more than what is legally correct. “By any means necessary” has been used over and over again in reference to the eradication of shanty towns. Listening to the rhetoric, it is easy to forget the residents will not simply disappear if their homes are destroyed.

IS IT CROWN LAND?

The Tribune recently reported the government’s audit of the Lands and

Photo: Terrel W Carey/Tribune Staff

A COWPEN Road shanty town resident speaking to The Tribune after the injunction.

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff Surveys Department would not be available until December 2018 and this has led to ROHL refusing to accept that all of the land in question is Crown land. It also remains to be seen whether or not the Crown still holds the title and right to retain it since after 30 years of occupation, residents can claim ownership.

In a brief conversation, I asked Fred Smith about the ownership status of the land and the process the government has undergone. He pointed out the government has not gone to court to ask for an eviction. This would be the most direct course of action by a land owner.

Instead, the government is using building, sanitation and health regulations to force residents out of the shanty towns. It may be a shortcut, knowing the timeline for the audit is outside of the government’s shanty town eradication plan. It could also be the long way around because there is no direct route. We probably will not know for sure before the end of the year.

OPINIONS AND LAW

We all have opinions on immigration practices and policy. They can be informed by many factors, from personal experience to direct study and can make for long, intense discussions. The productivity of

those discussions depends heavily on our willingness to explain our positions, admit our biases and truly listen to what others are saying. The place for this is almost anywhere. These opinions, however, do not belong in court. We cannot expect our opinions to magically become court rulings.

The law is the law. There are historical conventions that come into play. It is open to interpretation, but based on the fundamental principles of objectivity.

There are, of course, liberal and conservative leaning judges and this is a factor in court decisions. It is a reflection of society, but without being held hostage by society or popular opinion.

The court may be vilified for protecting people’s lives and the right to fight for their rights, but it is functioning as it should. The decision does not mean the shanty towns will not be destroyed, but that the government will not be allowed to act before it is decided its plan is legal. Whether we realize it or not, we are fortunate to have seen this decision — not only unpopular, but infuriating to many.

The law — not public opinion on the humanity of others and the rights we believe they should or should not have — will be the final word.

PAGE 10, Wednesday, August 8, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

Nurses could be poached if dispute cannot be resolved

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net AS nurses pressure the government to resolve longstanding industrial issues, Health Minister Dr Duane Sands admitted he is concerned that an approaching recruitment exercise could syphon public sector nurses out of the country.

It seems foreign entities want to capitalise on strained relations between the Bahamas Nurses Union and the government at a time when a nurse shortage presents major challenges to public health services.

Just last week, the BNU’s patience appeared to be wearing thin as it threatened strike action. The union raised 14 issues in total.

But as Dr Sands insisted “excellent progress” has been made and nurses are set to receive money owed this month, “predatory” recruiters present new problems. The government can only hope a large number of nurses do no opt to take the offerings of foreign recruiters, Dr Sands said yesterday.

He suggested the government’s introduction of low-cost housing lots and duty-free building materials was in part with a view to make the career path more attractive.

“Here we have recruitment teams from wealthier nations coming in to prey on smaller countries,” Dr Sands told reporters yesterday.

“There are countries in the world where their entire professional medical staff have been gutted, devastated to the point where they can no longer provide essential health care services.

“Certain African countries that’s happened. It’s happened in the Caribbean and so at a very high level at the Commonwealth and at the World Health Organisation now there are

MINISTER of Heath Dr Duane Sands during a tour of the Princess Margaret Hospital to view renovations to the Corey Newbold Ward and the Maternity Ward this week.

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff interventions being made to try and stop this predatory behaviour.

“And so if you have a lot of money and you can come in and throw money and benefits and steal, suck up the personnel - bear in mind that the Bahamian people paid for the training of every single one, just about all of these nurses - and so the Bahamian people invested and now to have a foreign entity come in and say thank you very much we are going to take them because we need them in this hospital in Florida

and this hospital in Mississippi (and) in this hospital in Arkansas.”

He continued: “Is that right? So we do the very best that we can. We value the human resources that we have and we do the best that we can with the resources that we have.

“Bear in mind that there are many Bahamians struggling to make ends meet.

There are many, many Bahamians trying to pay school fees, trying to keep the light on, to keep their children clothed and fed and so the government of

The Bahamas must do as well as they can.

“But that doesn’t mean that we are going to be able to match what somebody with very deep pockets can throw and so you do the best that you can and you hope that that’s good enough.”

An ever-present nurse shortage compounds the issue, he further lamented.

“It is absolutely concerning and certainly the fact that there are higher bidders. They are taking advantage of a situation that we have in The

Bahamas and we have to respond.

“But your ability to respond is dependent on the ability of your economy and so when we made low-cost lots and duty-free homes available with nurses having a preferred spot on the line that was one step and as we roll out additional incentives. Hopefully some nurses will say that this is enough.

“Others will say it’s not enough. The problem is that the people that pay the price for this are Bahamians and so, as we try to retain

doctors and nurses and teachers bear in mind that we’re competing with deep pockets from all over the world particularly from the United States and Canada.

We’ve got to do our best and provide services to people who don’t have a choice to go anywhere else.

“When you got big money and you have insurance you can go anywhere but there are a lot of poor people who can only get health care in The Bahamas, they are my main responsibility,” Dr Sands said.

BLESSING CEREMONY HELD FOR MATERNITY UNIT

By FARRAH JOHNSON

THE Princess Margaret Hospital’s Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology

held a blessing ceremony yesterday for its newly renovated Maternal & Child Health Labour Unit, and also revealed the introduction of a Maternal & Child

Health Day Assessment Unit.

Reverend Canon S Sebastian Campbell served as celebrant for the ceremony and prayed over the

rooms, equipment and staff of the maternity ward.

“We have all been made in the image and likeness of God … our mission is a mission of the delivery

GN 2062

of healthcare which is to restore God’s people to that original image intended by God,” he said.

Addressing the motive behind the renovations, Dr Leon Dupuch, head of the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, explained the department decided to upgrade the labour ward due to years of complaints regarding poor conditions.

He added the main goal was to make the section “more presentable for the mothers that come there to deliver,” and stated the department spent a total of $25,000 on the renovations.

“We used some of our departmental funds and with the support of the hospital administration, the nursing staff, the Public (Hospitals) Authority and the ministry we’ve managed to upgrade it to what I think is quite a considerable upgrade, and (one) that I think moms would be quite happy with,” he said, a day after Minister of Health Dr Duane Sands took reporters on a tour of the ward.

Renovations in the maternity ward include the replacement of the floor and ceiling tiles, the upgrade of the nurse’s station and a paint job for the entire section.

Bahamian art was also placed on some of the walls for decoration.

Dr Dupuch stated the area could accommodate “about seven or eight patients at one time”, although they have had occasions when they had to accommodate more.

Speaking on the introduction of the day assessment unit, Dr Andrea Griffith-Bowe, director of maternal and child health, said a “stand alone space” was needed to accommodate mothers who were not yet in labour.

She said the hospital had developed a “huge overcrowding problem” in the labour ward, and in

response decided to create a separate space for pregnant women not in labour, who still needed assessments.

Dr Griffith-Bowe said the unit will accommodate expecting mothers who had “coughs and colds, ruptured membranes, or who were experiencing pain but were not necessarily in labour.”

She added that the day assessment unit is also equipped with “an ultrasound unit, monitors required for mother and baby, as well as a dedicated staff” to tend to patients.

“What we have introduced is a six-bedded unit.

So we have six beds in our day assessment for mothers, and we have another seven labouring beds over here for labouring mothers,” she said.

“So we’ve actually doubled our capacity by doing this renovation,” she said.

Nurse Bertha Sands, area manager for the department, also confirmed that the unit will have the complement of staff needed to run it effectively.

“We have just recently had 14 new midwives who will be entering into the department so this would help us with our cadre of staff,” she said.

Speaking on additional renovations to other divisions of the hospital, Jessica Cartwright, PMH deputy hospital administrator, confirmed there are several other “ongoing projects”.

She added the hospital is “in the middle of completing” a med-surgical unit, and also stated they plan to reinstate beds back into service from that process.

“We have been and the minister has been very clear about the Accident & Emergency Department, and so those two are two of the high ticket important projects we’re taking on for patient care areas and we also have a few others that are on the drawing board,” she said.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, August 8, 2018, PAGE 11

Wild for new

shoes

THE KENTUCKY Wildcats men’s basketball programme launched their Big Blue Bahamas Tour with a community outreach initiative. The Wildcats partnered with Samaritan’s Feet International to conduct a free shoe distribution to children in the Fox Hill area at the Faith Assembly of God, Johnson Road and Scott Alley.

Team members and head coach John Calipari washed the feet of over 150 children and supplied them with new pairs of socks and sneakers.

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

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PAGE 12, Wednesday, August 8, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

BARBADOS FORMER MP ARRESTED NEW YORK Associated Press

A FORMER member of the Parliament of Barbados has been arrested in Florida on conspiracy and money laundering charges filed in Brooklyn federal court.

Donville Inniss, a legal permanent US resident and ex-member of the Barbados parliament and a former industry minister there, was arrested on Friday.

US Attorney Richard Donoghue announced the arrest, saying an indictment was unsealed on Monday.

The 52-year-old Inniss was released on a $50,000 bond after appearing in Tampa federal court. His lawyer did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Prosecutors say Inniss conspired to accept $36,000 in bribes from high-level executives of a Barbadosbased insurance company in 2015 and 2016.

EL SALVADOR EX-PRESIDENT ‘GUILTY PLEA’ SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador Associated Press FORMER President Tony Saca will plead guilty to accusations of embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars in government funds in return for a lighter sentence, his lawyers said Tuesday.

Attorney Lisandro Quintanilla said Salvadoran law allows for a more lenient punishment in view of a guilty plea.

Saca, 53, was arrested in October 2016 and accused of diverting $301m in public money. He had faced up to 30 years in prison if convicted.

Under the deal, prosecutors will ask for Saca to get ten years — five for embezzlement and five more for money laundering.

PUERTO RICO FRAUD OVER TUTOR SCHEME SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico Associated Press A PUERTO Rico company has been accused of fraud involving a US program that provides tutoring to needy children in struggling schools.

Creative Education and Psychological Services Inc. submitted false invoices for tutoring sessions as it billed taxpayers nearly $25m over three years, the US attorney’s office said yesterday.

A grand jury indicted the company owner and three employees on charges that include mail fraud and conspiracy to commit theft. Two of the employees entered pleas of not guilty in court on yesterday and were released on bond with restrictions that include being prohibited from working for the Puerto Rico Department of Education or any other place that has federal or state contracts.

NINE DEAD AFTER FUNERAL FOOD POISONING LIMA, Peru Associated Press AUTHORITIES in Peru say at least nine people have died from food poisoning following a funeral ceremony.

Health officials said yesterday that another 20 people were hospitalised with stomach pains and vomiting after a wake the previous day in the Ayacucho region of south-central Peru.

Regional health director Jhon Tinco tells a local radio station that the victims reported eating a meat dish and consuming a drink of fermented corn called Chicha.

Tinco says health officials continue to investigate to determine what could have led to the deaths.

STUDY REVEALS EXTENT OF ZIKA IMPACT ON CHILDREN IN this December 16, 2016, file photo, Puerto Rico resident Michelle Flandez caresses her two-month-old son Inti Perez, diagnosed with microcephaly linked to the mosquito-borne Zika virus, in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. In the first long-term look at what happened to children of US mothers who were infected with Zika during pregnancy, one in seven developed some kind of health problem - ranging from birth defects to conditions that became apparent only later. Health officials released the findings yesterday.

Photo: Carlos Giusti/AP NEW YORK Associated Press ONE out of every seven babies born to US mothers who were infected with Zika during pregnancy developed some kind of health problem, according to the first long-term look at those children.

Yesterday’s study focused on the children of women in Puerto Rico and other territories, where most of the US cases were seen when the disease swept across the Americas more than two years ago.

Most people infected with Zika don’t get sick. In others, it can cause a mild illness, with fever, rash

and joint pain. But infection during pregnancy can lead to severe brainrelated birth defects.

Earlier studies focused on those birth defects. The new research is unique in that it’s a large study that looked for conditions that became apparent only later, said Margaret Honein of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one of the authors.

The researchers looked at 1,450 kids who were at least one year old and whose mothers were infected with Zika while pregnant. Most were in Puerto Rico, but the count included American Samoa, the Marshall Islands, the US Virgin Islands and Micronesia.

Of those children, six percent had birth defects, such as abnormally small heads, damaged brains or eye irregularities. That’s about 30 times what’s seen in children generally.

The percentage rose to 14 when the researchers also counted laterdeveloping problems possibly caused by Zika, including seizures, developmental delays and difficulty swallowing or moving.

Researchers also found that not enough kids were being checked for problems. For example, only about a third received recommended eye exams by a specialist, half got a hearing evaluation, and less than two-thirds got brain scans.

Medical services have been

disrupted at times in hurricanebattered Puerto Rico. Still, it means kids who need therapy or treatment may not be getting it, Honein said.

Most Zika infections are spread through the bites of infected mosquitoes, but it can also be spread through sex or blood transfusion.

The CDC previously has advised couples planning to conceive to abstain from sex or to use condoms for at least six months after a male partner comes down with Zika.

Yesterday, health officials changed the recommendation to three months in the wake of research that found the risk of sexual transmission is shorter than originally feared.

Peace accord ahead for Colombia leader BOGOTA, Colombia Associated Press THE young protégé of a powerful former president was being sworn in as Colombia’s new leader yesterday, tasked with guiding the implementation of a peace accord with leftist rebels that remains on shaky ground.

Ivan Duque, 42, who will be the youngest Colombian chief of state ever elected in a popular vote, describes himself as a centrist who will unite the nation at a time when many are still fiercely divided over the peace agreement that ended more than five decades of bloody conflict.

His detractors fear he will be little more than a puppet for Alvaro Uribe, the conservative ex-president who led a referendum defeat of the initial version of peace accord in 2016. Uribe is still backed by millions of Colombians, though he is perhaps equally detested by legions who decry human rights abuses during his administration.

Yesterday, hours before Duque’s inauguration ceremony, thousands of his opponents gathered at

COLOMBIA’s new President Ivan Duque. public squares in Bogota and a dozen more cities across Colombia to express their opposition to the incoming president.

At the rallies, protesters bore white flags and signs that called for the preservation of the peace deal.

“We are ready for dialogue,” said opposition Senator Ivan Cepeda, one of Duque’s and Uribe’s fiercest critics. “But we are also ready to mobilise and exert our opposition if he enacts policies that limit people’s rights.”

Duque is taking Colombia’s presidency at a critical juncture: Coca production

is soaring to record levels, holdout illegal armed groups are battling for territory where the state has little or no presence and a spate of killings of social activists has underlined that peace remains a relative term.

On Monday night, a motorcycle bomb exploded outside a police station in the western province of Cauca. The National Liberation Army, a smaller guerrilla group that is still in peace talks, last week kidnapped three policemen and a soldier in an attack that highlighted the government’s struggle to bring law and order to Colombia’s most remote areas.

“If Duque is not able to solve this problem and find a way to bring the state into the countryside, we’re going to keep having the same problems we’ve had for decades,” said Jorge Gallego, a professor at Colombia’s Rosario University.

Duque is the son of a former governor and energy minister and friends say he had harbored presidential aspirations since early childhood. But his rise from unknown technocrat to a

popular senator and now president has been extraordinarily rapid, thanks in large part to the support of his mentor, Uribe.

Just four years ago, Duque was a Washington suburbanite with a job at an international development bank. It was there that he developed close ties to Uribe, assisting the former president when he taught a course at Georgetown University. Later Duque helped Uribe lead a United Nations probe into Israel’s deadly attack on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla and helped him write his memoir.

Then in 2014, Uribe propelled Duque into the political limelight when he encouraged him to return to Colombia to run for a Senate seat and placed him on a list of newcomer candidates that he urged his multitude of supporters to elect.

Within Uribe’s conservative Democratic Center party, Duque’s reputation as a more moderate voice can at times put him at odds with the solidly right-wing faction.

Uribe’s support is thus considered crucial for Duque to rule with the full backing of his party. But he will need to build a broader alliance to

pass laws in Congress.

In the weeks since Duque’s resounding victory over leftist ex-guerrilla Gustavo Petro, the president-elect has signaled both his loyalty to Uribe and a conviction to chart his own path. While many of his Cabinet picks have ties to Uribe, there are also a number of incoming ministers with no links to a traditional political party.

“So far I think he has shown more independence than some sectors believed,” Gallego said. “Treating Duque as a puppet of Uribe is a very simplistic way of analysing things.”

At the top of Duque’s agenda are likely to be Colombia’s economy and the peace accord as well as reversing coca production that last year reached levels unseen in more than two decades of record keeping and $10 billion in US counter-narcotics work.

Throughout his campaign, Duque promised to push changes in the peace agreement, including creating tougher penalties for former leaders of the now defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

BATTLING CALIFORNIA’S BIGGEST BLAZE FIREFIGHTERS struggled against rugged terrain, high winds and an August heat wave Tuesday to slow the spread of the biggest wildfire ever recorded in California, an inferno that exploded to be nearly the size of Los Angeles in just 11 days.

The 450-square-mile (1,165-square-kilometer) blaze, centered near the community of Upper Lake, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of San Francisco, spread fast because of what officials said was a perfect combination of weather, topography and abundant vegetation turned into highly flammable fuel by years of drought.

Firefighting efforts were also initially hampered by

stretched resources, said the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, also known as Cal Fire.

When the fire started July 27, thousands of firefighters were hundreds of miles north battling a massive blaze that spread into the city of Redding, destroying more than 1,000 homes, in addition to a dozen other major blazes.

A few days after the Upper Lake fire started, Cal Fire Battalion Chief John Messina told a community meeting that with so many fires already raging in California, “resources are already committed” so officials were forced to prioritise public safety and private property.

“After those two things are

addressed then we’ll go after the pieces of fire that are in remote areas,” Messina said.

“Typically, we’d go at all at once. There is just not the resources for that.”

The flames were raging in mostly remote areas, and no deaths or serious injuries were reported.

But at least 75 homes have been lost, and thousands of people have been forced to flee. The blaze, dubbed the Mendocino Complex, was reported 20 percent contained on Tuesday.

“For whatever reason, fires are burning much more intensely, much more quickly than they were before,” said Mark A Hartwig, president of the California Fire Chiefs Association.

CRYSTAL Easter uses a pot of water to put out spot fires around her home, as her neighbour’s home burns to the ground in the background on Monday in Spring Valley, California.

Photo: Kent Porter/The Press Democrat via AP