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Volume: 120 No.150, August 9, 2023

MP TO FACE COURT OVER SEX ATTACK CHARGE

Cornish resigns as Parliamentary Secretary, maintains his innocence

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune News Editor rrolle@tribunemedia.net

NORTH Abaco MP Kirk

Cornish maintained his innocence yesterday, hours before he was expected to be arraigned in the Magistrate’s Court concerning sexual assault and death threats in a case that had hovered over the political landscape for most of 2023.

“I am fully confident

that the facts which emerge during the judicial process will prove my innocence,” he said, breaking his silence more than four months after The Tribune reported that his ex-girlfriend filed a complaint with police making serious allegations.

“I look forward to ending this nightmare. The facts will show that this was a breakup that was manipulated

SEE PAGE THREE

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

THREE months after Chief Justice Ian Winder ordered the demolition of two shanty town structures built in contravention of a previous court injunction, a senior Ministry of Works official confirmed yesterday that those buildings have yet to be removed. Building control officer Craig Delancey confirmed

to The Tribune yesterday that the structures remain.

“We are going to look into that as we are dealing with some matters,” he said. His comment came after Works and Utilities Minister Alfred Sears told reporters his ministry undertook several measures to deal with the structures, though he

Fox Hill Day celebrated in churches

ELECTED officials marked Fox Hill Day by visiting various Baptist churches yesterday. The government’s delegation included Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper, Fox Hill MP Fred Mitchell, Works and Utilities Minister Alfred Sears, Agriculture, Marine Resources and Family Island Affairs Minister Clay Sweeting and others. They were joined by Leader of the Official Opposition Michael Pintard and St Anne’s MP Adrian White. The group visited St Paul’s Baptist Church, Mt Carey Baptist Church, Macedonia Baptist Church and St Mark’s Baptist Church. Photos: Moise Amisial

MP to face court over sex attack charge

and exploited for political reasons and nothing more. The truth will set me free.”

Mr Cornish’s statement, released by a spokesman for the Office of the Prime Minister, came after Philip “Brave” Davis said he requested and accepted Mr Cornish’s resignation as parliamentary secretary in the OPM.

“I want to assure the people of North Abaco that efforts to build opportunities and relief in your communities are on the way and will face no interruptions,” he said.

“An independent director of public prosecutions has determined that there is sufficient evidence to bring charges. It is now up to our judicial system to resolve the outcome, so I will not be providing additional

comment except to say that my prayers are extended to all who are suffering because of this matter.”

Mr Cornish expressed no intention to resign his seat as MP. The law only requires an MP’s resignation when they are found guilty of a crime.

Almost a month ago, Director of Public Prosecutions Cordell Fraizer recommended Mr Cornish be charged. By convention, the police always follow the recommendation of her office.

However, it remained unclear in recent weeks what would happen and when, with top police officials proving difficult to reach or remaining silent on the matter.

On June 12, after receiving the recommendation from the DPP, Police Commissioner Clayton Fernander told The Tribune

“just stand by”, suggesting movement in the case would be immediate.

n July 30, when pressed on this newspaper’s understanding of what the DPP recommended, he said his intent would be disclosed within a week.

Police ended the mystery when they released a statement yesterday afternoon, announcing that a 48-yearold man from Abaco would be arraigned after preliminary reports indicated “that around 7.30pm on Friday, April 7, 2023, a 35-year-old female of S.C. Bootle Highway reported to police that she was sexually assaulted and threatened by a male known to her”.

Bjorn Ferguson represents the accuser in the matter. Mr Cornish is to be

at the Nassau Magistrate’s Court at 10am today.

DESPITE FAILURE TO CONSULT OPPOSITION, PINTARD DOES NOT OPPOSE SENDING TROOPS

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

AND LETRE SWEETING

Tribune Staff Reporters

FREE National Movement leader Michael Pintard complained that the government failed to consult the Official Opposition and the public before pledging to send 150 troops to Haiti as part of a potential multi-national force.

Mr Pintard said the FNM nonetheless does not oppose sending troops.

“The prime minister has an obligation to apprise the opposition, to consult with us in terms of his intentions,” he told reporters yesterday.

“We have demonstrated a willingness to put what is in the common interests of The Bahamas above partisan politics, and we are disappointed that it does not occur to the prime minister that he ought to speak with the opposition.

“He ought to apprise the general public of the facts that he has that the rest of us do not have that’s motivating him to make the decision.”

The Davis administration has said Defence force officers sent to Haiti would help the Haitian national police force through technical assistance.

Former Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis has said the administration should

debate a resolution in the House of Assembly before sending personnel abroad.

A condition for sending troops is that the United Nations Security Council establish a multi-national force. It is unclear whether unanimity exists to pass such a mandate.

For his part, Coalition of Independents Leader Lincoln Bain said 150 troops would not improve Haiti’s crisis.

“Sending 150 troops to Haiti is out of order,” he said. “We should not be sending our Bahamian troops. What we should be doing is securing our borders.

“The government says we’re doing all that we can here. They can’t control the situation here in The

DESPITE APPROVAL, SHANTY HOMES NOT DEMOLISHED

Bahamas. Why would you send some of our reinforcements to Haiti, where it’s wasted?

“We need those 150 on our sea. We need them at our borders. We need them to process illegal immigration. We need them home. And we should not put our Bahamians at risk for another man’s country who doesn’t seem to care about his own country.”

“The role that The Bahamas should play in Haiti is a diplomatic role with the government of Haiti to ensure that they have proper elections. Outside of that, we should not interfere, we should secure our borders to make sure that those persons are not able to flood into The Bahamas.”

COI DELIVERS LETTER TO GG URGING A COMMISSION OF INQUIRY INTO THE ACTIONS OF IMMIGRATION MINISTER

THREE months after Chief Justice Ian Winder ordered the demolition of two shanty town structures built in contravention of a previous court injunction, a senior Ministry of Works official confirmed yesterday that those buildings have yet to be removed.

from page one

did not reveal what was done or the status of the buildings.

Mr Delancey said the matter was with the Office of the Attorney General. However, Attorney General Ryan Pinder referred this newspaper to Minister Sears.

In May, Chief Justice Ian Winder ordered the demolition of shanty town structures belonging to just two people in The Bahamas.

The Office of the Attorney General wanted the court to order the demolition of more than 260 structures in New Providence and Abaco that were built despite an injunction prohibiting such construction.

The OAG initiated the action after Justice Cheryl Grant-Thompson lifted her injunction earlier this year, ruling that the Minnis administration’s shanty town eradication policies were lawful.

However, the chief justice found that people,

save two, were not properly notified of that injunction and could not be penalized for the breach.

The two structures belonged to Rose St Fleur and Aviole FrancoisBurrows and were to be removed in 45 days.

He permitted the government to remove them at the expense of the women if they failed to comply.

It is unclear why the government has not as yet demolished the structures.

By LETRE SWEETING Tribune Staff Reporter lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

COALITION of Independents Leader Lincoln Bain and party supporters delivered a letter to the Office of the Governor General yesterday urging a commission of inquiry into the actions of Immigration Minister Keith Bell.

The Commissions of Inquiry Act empowers the governor general to initiate an inquiry for the public’s benefit.

The letter addresses several recent controversies involving Mr Bell. The letter accused Mr

Bell of unlawfully interfering with an immigration operation to release 65 Chinese nationals found at the British Colonial Hilton. It also accused Mr Bell of unlawfully granting citizenship and “other immigration status designations” to illegal immigrants. “We are concerned about human trafficking, because of the obvious dangers of it. We should not have corruption in our immigration department,” Mr Bain claimed yesterday.

“Based on his actions we must have a commission of inquiry. We’ve had a commission of inquiry for lesser

things. We’re going to file for a commission of inquiry and we hope that this leads to more. It is informing the world of the crisis that is going on here in The Bahamas. We cannot accept this.

“We are also writing to the King of England, King Charles III. The application for the commission of inquiry is already drafted, and the letter to the king is already drafted. There’s more action that we’re going to take. We’re looking into legal action and judicial review against the government. This is our first step,” Mr Bain said.

arranged

NORTH Abaco MP Kirk Cornish maintained his innocence yesterday, hours before he was expected to be arraigned in the Magistrate’s Court concerning sexual assault and death threats in a case that had hovered over the political landscape for most of 2023.

FNM LEADER MICHAEL PINTARD

COALITION of Independents leader Lincoln Bain, along with Charlotte Green, William Knowles, and other members delivered a letter to the Governor General’s office urging a commision of inquiry into the actions of Immigration Minister Keith bell.

Photos: Shaquille Johnson

WSC signs $2.3m industrial agreement with Water and Sewerage Management Union

By JADE RUSSELL Tribune Staff Reporter jrussell@tribunmedia.net

THE Water and Sewerage Corporation signed a $2.3m industrial agreement with the Water and Sewerage Management Union (WSMU) yesterday, the terms of which are uncertain because the agreement was not released to the press.

Works and Utilities Minister Alfred Sears said the signing was a significant milestone because 86 people would benefit from the agreement. He said the last industrial agreement with WSMU was signed 12 years ago.

The new agreement covers the period from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2025.

WSMU president Montgomery Miller said the 2020-2025 agreement

would address allowance schedules, promotions, staff transfers, contracts, and medical insurance.

“We have ensured equity across the corporation such that employees and managers alike are duly incentivised and compensated in accordance with their objectively measured performance,” he said.

“For the long-term sustainability of Water and Sewerage, we have agreed to a group medical insurance premium cost-sharing proposal for new employees to ensure the ongoing provision of affordable medical insurance for all of our members.”

Mr Miller said the new agreement had enhanced provisions to prevent “malicious” and unjustified transfers of managers.

“With respect to

short-term employment contracts, we have sought to narrowly define the terms of reference for such engagements and to ensure that duly capable current management employees are assigned to short-term experts,” he said.

He said the agreement adjusted “decades-old allowances and related provisions”, closing the remuneration and benefits gap for managers.

Mr Miller said some of the allowances and salary schedules had been adjusted, though he did not disclose details.

Asked when the employee benefits would take effect, Mr Miller said most of the financial provisions came into effect on August 1, 2023.

The value of the agreement is $2,374,000, officials said.

CritiC al information missing from ProteC tion against ViolenCe aC t, says Women’s grouP s

WOMEN’S groups said critical information is missing from the Protection Against Violence Act, a notion they expressed during a meeting with Social Services Minister Obie Wilchcombe last week.

A press release purportedly supported by Marion Bethel Sears, Women United Caribbean Women in Leadership (CIWiL), Therese Turner Jones, BUYDC, Women of Strength Association, Everyone Counts Organisation, Rights Bahamas and Roots of Change said the groups support a comprehensive bill that addresses genderbased violence.

“A productive meeting took place last week

between our representatives and the Minister of Social Services, where concerns regarding the current state of the bill were discussed,” the press statement said. “We emphasised the importance of critical information that was missing that would render the bill accessible and supportive for all members of society. It is clear from the meeting that the government is committed to passing the Protection Against Violence bill instead of the Gender-Based Violence bill. We are therefore constrained to working within the parameters of the new Protection Against Violence bill and must focus our efforts towards securing amendments that will bring

m an on bail for murder gets SIX MONTHS FOR BAIL VIOLATIONS

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunmedia.net

A MAN on bail for murder was sentenced to six months in prison after he admitted to not obeying his bail conditions for the fourth time since being charged.

Magistrate Raquel

Whyms charged Keith Stubbs, 27, with 10 counts of violating bail conditions.

He was granted $20,000 bail in 2020 for his alleged involvement in the death of 58-year-old Craig Trevor Smith in 2018.

While on release, Stubbs failed to charge his electronic monitoring device (EMD) and breached his residential curfew on ten separate occasions between April 24 and June 12.

Stubbs was previously granted a conditional

discharge for two of his prior bail violation charges and was fined $300 for the charge that preceded this one.

Although he pleaded guilty to the charges, he claimed the EMD was malfunctioning that he requested a device upgrade from Metro Security.

The prosecutor noted that the security company has no record of the defendant filing a complaint for his most recent EMD issues.

When the magistrate told Stubbs he had failed to take his bail conditions seriously, he cried for mercy. He said he hid his EMD to keep his job and had to take care of his infant child. Stubbs was sentenced to six months in prison. His murder trial begins in September.

it in line with some of the fundamental elements of the Gender-Based Violence bill.”

The Protection Against Violence bill has passed the House of Assembly and the Senate.

“We appreciate the opportunity to engage in meaningful dialogue with the Minister of Social Services,” said Prodesta Moore, President of Women United and a representative from the women’s groups. “Our intention is to ensure that the legislation is not only useful but also embodies the spirit of the GenderBased Violence bill which we had been working on for over 10 years now.”

The minister has

scheduled a meeting at 9.30am on August 14 in an effort to refine the existing bill in line with our proposed amendments. We will submit our concerns in writing before the meeting. We remain optimistic about the prospect of meaningful changes and are hopeful that the minister’s commitment to amend the bill will result in a more comprehensive and effective piece of legislation. We also note and appreciate that despite the numerous representations during the debate in the House of Assembly to the contrary the attorney general admitted that the new bill ‘is a shift from the 2016 bill’. We seek to clarify with him and the minister why

we feel changes need to be made to the Protection Against Violence bill.

“However, we must be clear that the introduction of the Protect Against Violence Bill, was not made readily available for review by many women’s groups nor were they consulted as multiple government representatives have expressed. Since we raised our voices we have learned that there was very limited consultation and inadequate distribution of the bill, with inaccurate versions circulating when requested.

“Furthermore, the educational efforts surrounding the new bill were limited in scope, focusing solely on Nassau and excluding

other islands, we feel inaccurately noted by the Prime Minister in response to our request to delay the debate. “We want to stress the importance of a nonpolitical and transparent approach in the creation of legislation designed to protect the rights and safety of women and children.

Charlene Paul from CIWIL, Caribbean Women in Leadership (CIWiL), said: “We firmly believe that the wellbeing of women, who constitute over 50% of our society, should transcend political boundaries. Transparency, inclusivity, and a duty of care must be at the core of the presentation of any legislation aimed at safeguarding our women.”

LUSCO aware of oil particles discovered on the shoreline following Buckeye oilspill

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Staff Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

OIL particles were reportedly discovered this week along the coastline in several upscale residential communities in the Lucaya area.

In a statement on Tuesday, Lucaya Service Company Limited (LUSCO), said it is aware of the recent discovery of trace amounts of oil particles along the shoreline and embankments near Fortune, Churchill, and Spanish Main beaches.

“The matter is under investigation and being contained and remediated with the utmost level of urgency,” said LUSCO.

LUSCO is responsible for the maintenance of properties in subdivisions developed by the Grand Bahama Development Company Limited (DEVCO).

The company indicated that it is in communication with the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP), the Government Port Department, the Grand Bahama Port

Authority’s Environmental Department, and the relevant agencies and stakeholders for ongoing monitoring.

On August 2, Buckeye Bahamas Hub reported that a spill occurred at approximately 5.54am on August during a flushing operation to facilitate the transfer of products between two tanks at its marine terminal off Pinder’s Point.

The company said approximately five to ten barrels of product fuel was released, and that was estimated that between two and three barrels of the

product went into the water. Environment and Natural Resources Minister Vaughn Miller, Senator Michael Halkitis, State Minister for Finance, and acting Minister for Grand Bahama, and a team from various government agencies travelled to Freeport to assess the situation and met with Buckeye officials. The government agencies leading the investigation are the Port Department, the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection, and the Department of Environmental Health Services.

Works and Utilities Minister Alfred Sears and Minister of Labour Keith Bell, along with other WSC executives at the Water and Sewerage Corporation industrial agreement signing with the Water and Sewerage management Union (WSMU).

Photo: Jade Russell

BUCKEYE boats spotted working to clean the oil spill from Berth 8 at their Grand Bahama facility last week.

Photo: Waterkeepers Bahamas

Police in joint operation seize $10m cocaine at Stella Maris Airport over the weekend

POLICE in Long Island seized cocaine valued at $10m over the weekend.

Chief Superintendent of Police Chrislyn Skippings said officers acting on intelligence found the drugs at the Stella Maris airport shortly before midnight Sunday.

Officers had observed a blue and white Aztec aircraft, she said.

“Officers conducted a search of that aircraft,” she added, “and they found 16 White crocus sacks containing suspected cocaine. An additional search of the aircraft revealed five additional crocus sacks of suspected cocaine and so we’re actively investigating this particular drug bust.”

She said two Bahamians, one believed to be 61 and

the other 49, have been arrested in connection to the incident.

“As you know, many of the crimes that occur within our country are caused as a result of drugs and firearms and so it is always good when our agencies can collaborate and work together to interdict such drugs from coming into the country,” she said.

For his part, Chief Superintendent Roberto Goodman, the officer in charge of the Drug Enforcement Unit, said police have seen an uptick in cocaine smuggling, but pledged to crack down on drug traffickers. He said: “We really continue to be relentless in the Drug Enforcement. As long as we get the information,

we will be arresting those persons who continue to continue to traffic drugs in our Commonwealth.”

CSP Skippings also appealed to members of the public to work with police in helping to get drugs off the streets.

“Many of our young men’s lives have been spared because of the interdiction and so we need members of the public to understand how important it is for them to collaborate and provide that intelligence to the police department at all times,” she said.

“It is when we intercept drugs that we save lives and we save the lives of our young men in particular that we see being gunned down on the streets daily.” POLICE in Long Island seized cocaine valued at $10m over the weekend.

GB businessman Kenneth Symonette loses battle with cancer

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Staff Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

WELL-KNOWN Freeport businessman Kenneth Symonette died on Saturday in Grand Bahama after a battle with cancer. He was 63. His death was a shock to his family and the many employees at the Burger King, Pizza Hut, and KFC franchise businesses, and at the Awards and Signs store, in Freeport.

“It has been a tremendous blow to us, we were not expecting it,” Pastor Elvis Burrows, his brotherin-law and business partner, said on Tuesday. Ken was an integral member of our family,” he added.

“I have come to know Ken for 40 years. He and

I married two sisters, who are the daughters of the late Havard Cooper. And over the years he and I have grown to become real brothers and good friends.”

Mr Symonette grew up in Eleuthera and Bimini. He attended St John’s College in New Providence and worked at the Gaming Board.

He launched his bakery/ pastry business in Freeport known as Mr Baker. The business flourished for many years.

He, along with his wife, Emil, was also integrally involved in the Cooper Burrows, and Symonette family franchise businesses.

Rev Burrows described Ken as a “businessman extraordinaire”.

“He was very a good businessman, customer-oriented

and respectful to everyone, and he was one who I would say made a difference to the growth, success, and prosperity of the businesses, and he and I, and our wives operate the two businesses on Yellow Pine.

In addition to being a savvy businessman, Mr Symonette was described as a good Christian and family man. “He served as the musical minister for eight years at Central Zion Church in Eight Mile Rock, and he always did things that brought the two families together. He was also a very selfless and kind-hearted individual who helped a lot of folks,” Mr Burrows recalled.

Mr Burrows accompanied his brother-in-law to

Cuba for treatment about four months ago.

“I spent a week with him and we talked and got to really bond a little bit more and I can say without fear of contradiction that Ken will be missed by so many folks, not only those for whom he provided employment but those who he touched in church and the Grand Bahama community.”

Mr Symonette is survived by his wife, two children, Fallon and Noah; his daughter-in-law Andrea, and one grandson.

In a statement, Prime Minister Philip ‘Brave’ Davis extended condolences to Symonette’s family, including his wife, Emil. He said Mr. Symonette’s achievement is an example of “a wonderful Bahamian story”.

RALLY CALLS FOR END TO SEXUAL VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND CHILDREN

A RALLY calling for an end to sexual violence against women and children was held on Saturday at Christie Park. The event was organised by the Gang Reducation Intervention Programme and International Men’s Day Bahamas and called for people to “unite and declare war on this demonic force”. The event included guest speakers, live performances and refreshments.

KENNETH SYMONETTE

Photos: Shaquille Johnson

The Tribune Limited

Justice must be given a chance in Cornish case

THIS morning, Kirk Cornish MP is to be charged with sexual assault and threats of death.

Yesterday evening, ahead of the charges, P rime Minister P hilip “Brave” Davis announced that he had accepted Mr Cornish’s resignation as P arliamentary Secretary in the Office of the P rime Minister. Mr Cornish has not resigned as an M P and remains in P arliament on the government benches.

Mr Cornish himself issued a statement saying that the allegations are “totally false” and signalling that he would endeavour to continue to serve the people of his North Abaco constituency even as he deals with the legal battle he now faces.

In his statement, he also attributed the events that led to the charges as “a break-up that was manipulated and exploited for political reasons”. He did not elaborate further on who was behind such manipulation or exploitation or point to any evidence of such.

What happens next is that the law will follow its course. That is as it should be. In fact, it is what must happen.

The court will follow its process, and if it proceeds to a jury trial, the jury will consider the evidence as it is laid out in court.

AFTER The Tribune reported that Cynthia “Mother” Pratt was favoured to be the next governor general, readers of www.tribune242.com had their say on the matter.

ThisIsOurs was unimpressed, saying: “This is ridiculous, what is this the retirement mecca for politicians? Choose someone with the necessary qualities who by the probabilities can serve for 10 years minimum. A 10 year term “might” begin to justify the pension.”

Sheeprunner added:

“Just for y’all to know a GG retires with FULL 6 figure salary & perks for life & perpetuity.

“This country is carrying a heavy load by holding on to the Crown. It is totally asinine for these GG to get two and three retirement

This trial should not be conducted on social media, that can only hinder the progress to a fair outcome, be it conviction or acquittal. A jury must be given a fair opportunity to weigh the evidence presented.

There have been questions about how we got to this point – chiefly to ask whether this investigation was following the same path as others. So too now must the court process be allowed to follow its proper path, and not be derailed.

The charges are very serious, and it appears the process thus far has not been treated lightly. The alleged victim will, if matters proceed accordingly, have the opportunity to present her case in court. Mr Cornish will have the chance to reply.

As P rime Minister Davis said in his statement last night, the independent Director of P ublic P rosecutions determined “there is sufficient evidence to bring charges”.

He added: “It is now up to our judicial system to resolve the outcome, so I will not be providing additional comment except to say that my prayers are extended to all who are suffering because of this matter.”

Justice must be given a chance. Tomorrow, that process will begin.

be a non-political position. The alternative would be a republic and elected head of state. I would suggest staying with “the devil we know.””

Govt not serious about solar

EDITOR, The Tribune.

H A PPY Emancipation Bahamas!

This Emancipation holiday in this 50th anniversary year of Independence provides the opportunity to reflect on ‘how we get so’?

has operated in a gub -

pay outs from the government for this so-called “service to country” ........ while the regular citizen has to pinch pennies to just get by each day.”

Alan1 countered: “The Crown is our stable anchor. Republics have poor track records and would cost money as well for a President.”

Believer1 said: “The GG is not a politician and represents the Head of State. Whether you like the Monarchy or not, we need a Head of State which should

MoncurCool said: “Not one GG is not a politician. They are put there by the party of power because of their political persuasion. The only GG who was a non-politician since Independence was Sir John Paul, and he stayed in office for less than one month.”

Sickened said: “All this money being spent on past and present GG’s. You wouldn’t think there are 10’s of thousands of hungry Bahamians and living in clapboard houses on illegal land with minimal electricity.”

www.tribune242.com

One of the “hottest” (pun intended) topics in the media these days is our country’s energy crisis. Our “politricksters” have been throwing blame back and forth across the floor of the House of Assembly whilst we, the people, are now experiencing the escalation of our energy bills month by month, along with the rising temperatures and no doubt, also the bottom line of the country’s debt (which amounts, I would hasten to add, we will not know for sure due, ironically, to the present un-emancipated Freedom of Information Act)!

Meanwhile, the pockets and the pocketbooks of the average Bahamian continues to decrease!

How many flowery speeches have we heard about climate change and global warming during this decade, and the commitment of ‘gubments dem’ – locally and all around the world - in reaching the 2030 UNESCO goal of the reduction of fossil fuels? Talk is cheap and frankly, we the people, are getting more than tired of hearing empty air promises when our eyes are seeing that nothing is really happening on the ground.

Here in The Bahamas we must ask why the obvious commonsense solution of greater solar power availability and implementation is not an immediate priority. Why is B P L taking so long to reduce their reliance on fuel by converting more of their plants to solar power, especially on the smaller Family Islands? Would not such an investment be to the country’s and the people’s benefit?

Have the powersthat-be looked into the feasibility of investing in a solar power panels

manufacturing industry in the country to not only provide jobs, but to also gain greater access to and lower cost for the components? Have they considered reducing the shipping and VAT costs for the importation of solar systems to encourage and incentivise private citizens and businesses (particularly the large hotels) that might be able to afford solar power and subsequently reduce the load on the energy grid?

A light bulb turned on the other day with the announcement that a newly formed local solar company received the contract for a government solarisation project. It is perplexing to note that we have established local solar power companies that have been operating for many years and have the knowledge, expertise, personnel, and wherewithal to offer competent and cost effective solar power services, yet we would prefer to offer a contract to a “newbie” - why? How might this affect our country’s escalating debt if they get it wrong (the Abaco and Freeport Domes debacle being a classic case in point)? We have been told in other instances, that secrecy is necessary for national security and this is understandable. However, it would appear that secrecy is also necessary for national secrecy! It was quite a pleasant change to hear the present CEO at B P L offer feasible explanations for the challenges faced by the country’s power company. If qualified Bahamians are hired to do a job, let them do it!

P etty partisan “politricks” and secret dealings are retarding the development of this country. For too long our country

ment environment based largely on “who you know” and not “what you know”! P utting unqualified persons in positions of national importance is shameful and it needs to stop! Have we so soon forgotten that black Bahamians fought so hard for majority rule because the’ “haves” continued to get whilst the “have nots” got nuttin’? Why have we reverted to doing the same thing to our own? We cannot continue to dumb down talent in order to perpetuate a corrupt status quo which is detrimental to us all!

Meritocracy, not mediocrity, needs to be the measure for the manner of our bearing! We, the people, deserve better and need to demand better!

Mankind might be the highest animal on the chain of existence, but they sure are the dumbest in the greater scheme of things. Human beings have not learned how to be their brother’s keeper – it is indeed an “all for me, dog eat dog world” out there. P ower rules – whether through oppression, suppression, or greed – and very few are checking for “the greater good”.

It is indeed Emancipation Day in The Bahamas, but slavery is still alive and well in all its nefarious forms throughout the wide world! Nothing has really changed if you look at the essence of who we are as a human race. Neither the scourges of COVID-19 worldwide, nor the ever-approaching destructive threat of global warning in this decade, has opened our eyes to check the unmitigated greed for profit over people.

When are we going to listen to Mother Earth, and act appropriately?

THE HEAT index is all the way up for this fire-eater.

Photo: Shaquille Johnson

Acklins school named in honour of Loftus Roker

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

THE Acklins Central High School was renamed the Loftus Roker High School on Friday, honouring one of the few surviving signatories to The Bahamas constitution.

Loftus Roker witnessed the official renaming during

a ceremony involving Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, Education Minister Glenys Hanna-Martin, and National Security Minister Wayne Munroe. The former national security minister, who was born in Acklins, said the honour was the “greatest thing” that was done for him.

“I’m happy about that. That’s the only thing that

MAN CHARGED WITH SEX WITH 15-YEAR-OLD BOY

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A 24-YEAR-OLD man is behind bars after he was allegedly caught having sex with a 15-year-old boy last weekend in Palmdale.

Acting Chief Magistrate

Roberto Reckley charged Mario McPhee with unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor of the same sex and possession of child pornography.

McPhee was allegedly

found having sexual relations with an underaged boy by officers on mobile patrol in the Palmdale area around 2am on August 4. Later that same day, officers allegedly found nude videos of the underaged boy on the defendant’s smartphone. McPhee was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services. The accused’s case will be moved to the Supreme Court through a voluntary bill of indictment slated for service on October 26.

T WO MEN HELD IN JAIL, CHARGED WITH SEPARATE SEX ASSAULTS

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

TWO men were sent to prison after being accused of two separate attempted sexual assaults of two women in New Providence earlier this month.

Acting Chief Magistrate Roberto Reckley charged Osteen George, 41, and Nicholas Knowles, 50, with attempted rape. Knowles is accused of

trying to force a woman to have sex with him on August 1. George is accused of attempting to sexually assault a 42-year-old woman on August 2. The defendants were both remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services. Their cases will be transferred to the Supreme Court through a voluntary bill of indictment set for service on October 26.

MAN GETS 18 MONTHS IN JAIL FOR UNLICENCED FIREAR M POSSESSION

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN was sentenced to 18 months in prison after admitting to having an unlicenced gun while in Nassau Village last week.

Magistrate Raquel

Whyms charged Jekiel Johnson, 30, with possession of an unlicensed firearm with the intent to shoot and possession of ammunition.

Police on mobile patrol observed a group of men acting suspiciously near a vehicle on Williams Street

they offered me that I wanted,” he said.

He reflected on his time at the school.

“I never went to a high school, but I got a high school education at this school –– that’s the difference,” he said. Mr Davis reflected on his experiences with Mr Roker and his “critical role” in one of the most important

moments in national history.

“Only four of the signatories to our independence agreement are still with us, and so we are grateful that we can still turn to Loftus for reminiscence, for his firsthand accounts of critical moments in Bahamian history, for guidance and, of course, for his very candid views,” he said.

“What an incredible journey –– from a childhood in Acklins to participating in the events that altered our nation’s course and delivered to us our national sovereignty.”

Mrs Hanna-Martin said Mr Roker was a prominent voice in parliament and Bahamian national life.

“He’s particularly remembered for the strong

stance taken on our territorial security and the issue of illegal immigration and its threat to our way of life,” she said. “Whatever is said of Loftus Roker, he’s a true Bahamian patriot who has contributed qualitatively to our advance as a people. Renaming this school in his honour is therefore most fitting and an action in which we are well pleased.”

in Nassau Village around 10.15pm on August 3. Officers found a black Austria Glock 20 Gen 5 10mm pistol tucked under the defendant’s arm. Authorities also found eight unfired rounds of 10mm ammunition in Johnson’s possession.

In a subsequent police interview, Johnson said he owned the gun for protection. After pleading guilty, he was sentenced to 18 months at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.

ACKLINS Central High School was renamed the Loftus Roker High School on Friday, honouring one of the few surviving signatories to The Bahamas constitution. Loftus Roker witnessed the official renaming during a ceremony involving Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, Education Minister Glenys Hanna-Martin, and National Security Minister Wayne Munroe.

We have a long way to go

THE Government of The Bahamas has made the decision to be lazy and to, once again, scapegoat the Bahamian public in its attempt to provide an excuse for its refusal to perform one of its primary functions — to protect, promote, uphold, and expand human rights. It made the decision, without proper consultation with civil society, to not only shelve the marital rape bill, but to shelve the years-old Gender-Based Violence bill and instead pass the nonsense “Protection Against Violence” which makes no reference to gender and does not even have an elementary level definition of violence.

The Attorney General, in his statement intended to defend this administration, said that the public would be confused by the word “gender”. This Progressive Liberal Party-led administration has determined that “gender” is too scary a word. This comes after a Progressive Liberal Partyled administration dubbed the constitutional referendum on nationality rights a “gender equality referendum” in 2014, and after the same administration “expanded” the Bureau of Women’s Affairs into the Department of Gender and Family Affairs in 2016.

Then Minister of Social Services and Community Development Melanie Griffin said the Department would “be tasked to coordinate, advocate and inform policy for, and on behalf of, women and girls and men and boys, as well as the family unit”.

At some point, the Progressive Liberal Party had at least a vague understanding of gender. It was not afraid of the word, nor was it quite this terrified by the reactions of general public to the term. It believed, it would seem, that it was possible to educate the public on gender and the

By Alicia Wallace

importance of a gender approach in Social Services, where the Department sits, and in governance. It understood that women and men, currently the only two genders they dare to acknowledge, are perceived differently, are socialised differently, have different needs, and require different approaches to achieve particular outcomes. In fact, in the first year of monthly non-governmental organisation meetings organised by the Department, it was determined the genderbased violence was an issue that we could organise around and work to address with relative ease because people generally agreed that gender-based violence was a scourge, much like today, that needed specific attention. In fact, it was considered “low-hanging fruit”. Today, the Progressive Liberal Party does not even want the words “gender-based violence” in the bill that it led us to believe was meant to address gender-based violence.

In 2015, the Strategic Plan to Address Gender-Based Violence was published. This Plan fed directly into the 2016 drafting of the GenderBased Violence bill. The Department of Gender and Family Affairs held meetings with regard to the bill, and one of the particular areas of focus was the development of the institutions that the bill would create including the Gender-Based Violence Authority (now absent from the nonsense

“Protection Against Violence” bill). At the time of her 2017 visit to The Bahamas, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women emphasized the need for comprehensive law addressing violence against women (VAW). Violence against women, it is important to note, is a form of gender-based violence. It is as important to note that women and girls disproportionately experience gender-based violence. This is not because women and girls are inherently at-risk, but because they are put at risk by harmful gender stereotypes and ideology that simultaneously suggest that women and girls should be subservient and that men and boys should be dominant and domineering. These harmful gender stereotypes reduce masculinity to violence and denigrate the feminine while putting it in opposition to masculinity. The Bahamian public is not incapable of understanding gender. It is not necessary for everyone to study gender theory. The important piece for us to all understand is that both women and girls and men and boys are taught that they need to behave in certain ways, perform certain tasks, and occupy space in specific ways. We are all socialised and come into our gender performance based on what we see in our homes, schools, workplaces, and other places where we spend time with and are influenced by other people.

Project Manager

This is a rare and exciting opportunity to join an outstanding and ambitious team at Inspired who has already proven to be incredibly successful and is now moving into its second year. We are looking for an exceptional Project Manager, who brings outstanding experience, high standards and a solution focused approach.

Job Summary:

As an Inspired Project Manager, you will manage the construction and Capex-related matters for our projects in the Bahamas. This role requires a leader with a track record of delivering local construction projects within budget and on time. The successful candidate will be expected to manage a team of professionals and subcontractors to ensure the highest quality of workmanship is delivered to international standards of excellence.

Responsibilities:

• Develop and execute a comprehensive project plan that includes project timelines, budget, resources, and deliverables.

• Oversee the project team, including architects, engineers, contractors, and subcontractors, to ensure project milestones are met. Manage the tendering process.

• Work closely with the quantity surveyors and our internal Commercial Manager to control project costs, including contractor variations to ensure the project is delivered within budget.

Manage the construction schedule, ensuring that all work is completed on time

• Ensure compliance with all building regulations, including health and safety requirements.

• Develop and Manage project risk register and develop contingency plans to minimise any potential issues.

• on project progress and addressing any concerns.

• Foster a collaborative work environment, promoting teamwork and communication among project stakeholders.

• Ensure all project documentation is complete and up-to-date, including contracts, change orders, and project reports. Manage Value Engineering processes and ensure that the design and other schedules are met to avoid delays.

• Manage the full critical path for project delivery and retain ownership of stage gates.

• Establish best practice reporting and systems of working; dashboards, weekly reports, monthly reports – tracking progress etc.

Requirements:

• Essential: experience managing projects in the Bahamas with major contractors Bachelor’s degree in construction or project management, engineering, or management or minimum of 10 years of experience in project management in the construction industry.

• Experience managing large-scale construction projects, preferably some in the education sector. Strong leadership and communication skills, with the ability to motivate and inspire team members.

• Demonstrated ability to manage project budgets and schedules, ensuring projects are delivered on time and within budget.

• Thorough knowledge of construction best practices, build sequence, and regulations. Ability to work collaboratively with various stakeholders, including clients, architects, engineers, contractors, and subcontractors.

• experience working with project management software like MS Project, ASTA or Primavera.

When joining King’s College School, The Bahamas, you will join the family of the award-winning Inspired Education Group, the leading global group of premium schools, with over 80 schools operating in 23 countries.

some of the very best schools worldwide.

To apply please send a CV and letter of motivation to admin@kingscollegeschool.bs

For example, girls are given dolls to pretend and practice motherhood while boys are denied dolls, even when they want to play with them. Boys are sent to play outside, allowed to run around and climb trees, and scolded for crying because that is reserved for girls. These are some of the ways to confine people, based on their gender, to particular activities, expression, and ways of being. It is not difficult to see how these seemingly small experiences from childhood are connected to the electives girls and boys choose in school, programmes they enter after high school, structure of their families and households, and their ability and willingness to negotiate salaries and seek promotions. We can look to our own experiences to see how people treat others when they deem their behaviour or performance to be outside of the constraints outlined for all of us, and it is not difficult to see how people, frustrated by these limitations and/or failure to adhere to them, respond in violent ways, and with impunity. There is no excuse for violence. People make excuses for it quite often, and use gender to do it. In simple terms, gender-based violence is harm inflicted upon a person because of their gender or that is disproportionately experienced by people of a particular gender, and it can take various forms including verbal, physical, sexual, psychological, and financial. We need a law that specifically addresses gender-based violence. The Gender-Based Violence Bill is not, as some people believe, focused on criminality and punishment. There is significant focus, in the bill, on creating systems that enable survivors of gender-based violence to access the services and resources they need with ease. A general violence bill entirely misses the mark. We need a system that takes care of the survivors of gender-based violence, and this can only be built on the understanding that gender-based violence is not (a subset of) general violence. Prevention of and intervention in gender-based violence requires an understanding of and changes to societal knowledge and attitudes about gender. Collecting and analysing data on gender-based violence is critical. There can be no shortcuts. If the

Government of The Bahamas is truly interested in ending gender-based violence and if it actually cares about women and girls in this country, it cannot throw its hands up and declare the people too stupid to be engaged, educated, and sensitized. It cannot be too afraid to pass laws to benefit people who are at-risk. If this administration is not prepared to legislate, make policies, and meet human rights obligations, it ought to make the way clear. There is work to be done, and we do not need seat-warmers.

But what is the difference between sex and gender?

There is a difference between sex and gender. The term “sex” is used to refer to biological characteristics which have, in recent years, been used to put people into two supposedly distinct groups — female and male. Sex is assigned at the time of birth based on the appearance of genitalia. There are two main factors that complicate sex as many understand it. One is that sex is not binary, meaning there are not just two sexes as is still indicated by many forms that have two checkboxes — one labeled female and one labeled male. The two sexes that are widely recognized are also not opposites.

Sex, while treated as though it is biological, is actually a social construct. People, many years ago decided that having specific genitalia meant that a person was a particular sex. At the same time, we all learn about sex chromosomes in grade school. As a refresher, chromosomes carry the genes that determine sex. Cells with two X chromosomes determine that a human being, and other mammals, is female.

Cells with X and Y chromosomes determine that a human being, and other mammals, is male. Every person does not have XX chromosomes or XY chromosomes. Some people have XXY chromosomes, and there are other variations. In addition, some people have both ovarian and testicular tissue. These biological differences are not in keeping with the idea that there are two sexes. Intersex people, with different chromosomes and with differences in their internal and external sex organs, exist. People are assigned “female” or “male” based on their external sex organs

at the time of birth, but sex cannot be determined on a biological basis without further examination. Intersex people are sometimes incorrectly assigned “female” or “male” and later find out they are intersect, sometimes during puberty when their bodies go through changes that are considered inconsistent with their assigned sex. In some cases, where there is a noticeable difference in genitalia such as a newborn having both, doctors, based on their own assessment of which one is most dominant, preform a procedure to disguise the other, and this can result in complications later on as genitalia are not the only factor in sex.

The insistence that there are only two sexes excludes intersex people in many ways, and it continues a harmful ignorance that can be violent. In reading the description of the biological differences that intersex people may have, another word may have come to mind that was widely used decades ago. “H***********e” is a derogatory word and is no longer to be used. The appropriate word and sex is “intersex.”

Gender is not the same as sex. Gender refers to the socially constructed characteristics (constraints) and behaviours required of people based and the relationships between people based on their assumed sex. Society decided, and continues to decide, how people should be in the world, and this can vary greatly from one region to another and from one country to another. In some places, like The Bahamas and many countries in the Caribbean, people have difficulty understanding and accepting that there are more than two genders. In other countries, like India, there is an officially recognised third gender. In other places, through a combination of education, sensitisation, advocacy, and interest in respecting the humanity of people, people understand that gender is spectrum and gender should not be forced upon anyone or used as a weapon against anyone.

We have a long way to go. We obviously do not have a government that is prepared for the journey. Civil society has to step up. If you’re interested in learning more and doing more, get in touch with Equality Bahamas at equalitybahamas@gmail.com.

In simple terms, gender-based violence is harm inficted upon a person because of their gender or that is disproportionately experienced by people of a particular gender

NEW ZEALAND PARTNERING WITH BLACKROCK IN AIM TO REACH 100% RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY

By NICK PERRY Associated Press

WELLINGTON, New Zealand

(AP) — New Zealand’s government said Tuesday it will partner with U.S. investment giant BlackRock in its aim to become one of the first nations in the world to have its electricity grid run entirely from renewable energy.

The government said it was helping BlackRock launch a $1.2 billion fund to ramp up investments in wind and solar generation, as well as battery storage and green hydrogen. Some of the investment is expected to come from government-owned companies.

New Zealand’s electricity grid already runs off about 82% renewable energy after it damned rivers decades ago to produce hydroelectric power. The government said it aims to reach 100% renewable generation by the end of this decade.

The announcement comes two months out from an election, with the government hoping to burnish its green credentials. Critics point out the nation’s overall greenhouse gas emissions have barely budged since the government symbolically declared a climate emergency in 2020.

“This is a gamechanger for the clean-tech sector, and an example of the pragmatic and practical steps the government’s taking to accelerate climate action while actually growing our economy and creating jobs,” Prime Minister Chris Hipkins told reporters in Auckland.

Hipkins said the fund would allow New Zealand companies to produce intellectual property that could be commercialised across the world.

“Partnering with, and supporting, industry to solve the climate

crisis is a no-brainer,” Hipkins said.

BlackRock released few details about the planned 2 billion New Zealand dollar ($1.22 billion) fund, but did say it would initially target institutional investors. It was the first time BlackRock had launched an initiative of its kind, said Andrew Landman, the head of BlackRock in Australia and New Zealand.

“The level of innovation is far greater in this country than we see

elsewhere in clean tech,” Landman told reporters. “We are seeing enormous visionary capabilities out of those investee companies.”

BlackRock said making the grid completely green would require a total investment of about US$26 billion.

BlackRock Chief Executive Larry Fink said on social media that “the world is looking for models of cooperation between the private and public sectors to

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS TELLS ILLUSTRATORS TO STOP USING AI TO GENERATE ARTWORK

By MATT O’BRIEN AP Technology Writer

The Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game franchise says it won’t allow artists to use artificial intelligence technology to draw its cast of sorcerers, druids and other characters and scenery.

D&D art is supposed to be fanciful. But at least one ax-wielding giant seemed too weird for some fans, leading them to take to social media to question if it was human-made.

ensure an orderly, just and fair energy transition.”

David Seymour, the leader of New Zealand’s libertarian ACT Party, said the plan would push up power prices for little environmental gain. “New Zealanders don’t want to be subject to a ‘world first’ climate change experiment that will mean the government micromanages their lives,” Seymour said in a statement.

into next year, more repairs needed

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer

CAPE

CANAVERAL,

Fla. (AP) — Already running years behind, Boeing’s first astronaut flight is now off until at least next March.

Problems with the parachute lines and flammable tape surfaced during final reviews in late spring, ahead of what should have been a July launch for the Starliner capsule. Boeing said Monday that it should be done removing the tape in the coming weeks. But a redesigned parachute system won’t be ready until December.

If a parachute drop test goes well late this year, company officials said the spacecraft should be ready to carry two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station as early as March. Starliner’s first crew flight will need to fit around other space station traffic, however, so it’s too early to set even a tentative date, according to officials.

To ensure there are no other problems, NASA and Boeing are conducting independent reviews.

Boeing programme manager Mark Nappi said technicians are almost halfway done peeling off flammable tape that was used to protect capsule wiring. Tape that cannot be removed from vulnerable

spots will be covered with a protective coating.

The original guidelines for usage of the tape were confusing, according to company and NASA officials, but they later determined it could not be used in some areas because it was flammable.

The parachute issue will take longer to resolve. Part of the parachute lines known as soft links did not meet safety standards, having gotten past improper testing years ago. A new, more robust design will be incorporated into upgraded parachutes already in the works.

“There’s always the mystery of something else that can pop up,” Nappi told reporters. But given the current situation, “we have a pretty good schedule laid out” to launch as early as March.

NASA hired Boeing and SpaceX nearly a decade ago to deliver astronauts to and from the space station. SpaceX is now three years into its taxi service. Boeing has only had a pair of Starliner space test flights with no one aboard.

NASA said it still wants two competing crew launchers, even as the projected 2030 end of the space station programme draws ever closer. The goal is to fly one Boeing and one SpaceX crew flight each year.

Hasbro-owned D&D Beyond, which makes online tools and other companion content for the franchise, said it didn’t know until Saturday that an illustrator it has worked with for nearly a decade used AI to create commissioned artwork for an upcoming book. The franchise, run by the Hasbro subsidiary Wizards of the Coast, said in a statement that it has talked to that artist and is clarifying its rules.

“He will not use AI for Wizards’ work moving forward,” said a post from D&D Beyond’s account on X, formerly Twitter. “We are revising our process and updating our artist guidelines to make clear that artists must refrain from using AI art generation as part of their art creation process for developing D&D.”

Today’s AI-generated art often shows telltale glitches, such as distorted limbs, which is what caught the eye of sceptical D&D fans.

Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast didn’t respond to requests for further comment Sunday. Hasbro bought D&D Beyond for $146.3 million last year. The Rhode Island-based toy giant has owned Wizards of the Coast for more than two decades.

The art in question is in a soon-to-be-released hardcover book of monster descriptions and lore called “Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants.” The digital and physical version of the package is selling for $59.95 on the D&D website and due for an Aug. 15 release.

The use of AI tools to assist in creative work has raised copyright and labour concerns in a number of industries, helping to fuel the Hollywood strike, causing the music industry’s Recording Academy to revise its Grammy Awards protocols and leading some visual artists to sue AI companies for ingesting their work without their consent to build image-generators that anyone can use.

Hasbro rival Mattel used AI-generated images to help come up with ideas for new Hot Wheels toy cars, though it hasn’t said if that was more than an experiment.

Boeing’s 1st astronaut flight Bumped

A UNITED Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is rolled out of the Vertical Integration Facility, last year, at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Boeing’s first Starliner flight with astronauts aboard has been delayed until at least next March.

(Joel Kowsky/NASA via AP, File)

SHEEP graze near wind turbines at the Trust Power’s Tararua Windfarm near Palmerston North, New Zealand, in 2004. New Zealand’s government said Tuesday, it will partner with U.S. investment giant BlackRock in an aim to become one of the first nations in the world to have its electricity grid run entirely from renewable energy. (Dean Purcell/New Zealand Herald via AP)

Kenyan intervention in Haiti? More work needed

NO one should yet be pouring champagne to celebrate the announcement by the US government that Kenya has agreed to lead a multinational police force to help subdue gangs and improve security in Haiti. This announcement is rightly far from a done deal.

The US exerted a great deal of diplomatic effort in trying to persuade many countries to lead a multinational force into Haiti – a principal request of Haiti’s unelected Prime Minister, Dr. Ariel Henry. Among the countries that declined was Canada, which opted to provide direct support to Haitian forces.

Many nations are cautious about leading or even participating in such a force in Haiti, not least because they recognize that, within Haiti, while the people want an end to the kidnappings, violence, rapes, and other atrocities associated with the rise of gangs, a significant number are concerned about further foreign intervention in their country.

These nations also know that the underlying reasons for Haiti’s condition are the economic actions by France which crippled the country’s economic prospects for over a century; a US invasion and its

World View

By SIR RONALD SANDERS

economic consequences; the convenient maintaining by foreign governments of avaricious Haitian leaders; and the general impoverishment of the country.

Haitian civil society groups have widely opposed the deployment of any foreign force, referencing bitter experiences with previous intervention and fears that intervening forces would be proppingup the present unelected regime which they regard as partially responsible for the country’s crises.

Further, all governments are keenly aware that a multinational force in Haiti’s present circumstances would not be a traditional United Nations (UN) peacekeeping force. What Dr. Henry has requested is a force that will help the Haitian police confront and conquer the more than 60 gangs that now dominate the safety and security space in Haiti, leading to potential bloodshed.

For its part, the Kenyan government has said that it is ready to deploy 1,000 police officers to help train and assist Haiti’s police to “restore normalcy in the country and protect strategic installations”. The form of assistance was not clarified, and the government also made it clear that its “proposed deployment will crystallize” once it gets a mandate from the UN Security Council “and other Kenyan constitutional processes are undertaken”.

The Kenyan need for a UN Security mandate explains why the US, which is the Chair of the Security Council for the month of August, has announced that it will propose a UN Security Council resolution authorizing Kenya to lead a multinational police into Haiti. Getting a Security Council mandate will not be easy. Already the US has been unable to obtain endorsement of the work plan for its Chairmanship

because of Russia’s objections primarily due to the inclusion of Ukraine.

Interestingly, while UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, has welcomed Kenya’s announcement, he has described it as “a non-UN multinational operation in Haiti”. Where such a development places Kenya’s offer is left to be seen, particularly as the government has publicly stated that it wants “a mandate from the UN Security Council”.

What is troubling about this development is that it is not awaiting the outcome of several initiatives seeking “a Haitian led solution”. Among these initiatives is the CARICOM Eminent Persons Group of three former Caribbean Prime Ministers, working to bridge division among stakeholders in Haiti and to arrive at an agreed plan to take the country forward. Their work is not concluded, nor have they pronounced on whether their mission has any chance of success.

Another initiative was the UN Security Council’s unanimous Resolution on July 14, 2023, asking the Secretary General to produce options to help combat Haiti’s armed gangs. The time for the submission of the Secretary

General’s report has not yet elapsed. The US Ambassador to the UN, Linda ThomasGreenfield, disclosed that the US will be seeking Security Council endorsement for Kenya to lead a multinational force into Haiti, saying, “This is not a traditional peacekeeping force, this is not a traditional security situation [...] We have gangs that have overtaken the country, ... that are terrorizing civilians every single day.” She admitted that the situation is “unusual”.

What is being proposed is not a traditional UN peacekeeping force, but a military exercise designed to eliminate heavily armed gangs, which were created by elements of the political and business classes of Haiti, and which are now out of their control.

While no one would disagree with the US that Haiti desperately needs stabilization, not everyone will be convinced that a foreign multinational force, especially one that is not fully endorsed by the UN Security Council, is the answer.

Equally concerning is that any intervention in Haiti should be at the expressed wish of the majority of stakeholders in Haiti, including political parties, civil rights groups,

the business community, and the influential Haitian diaspora.

Foreign intervention in Haiti is unlikely to secure the desired broad consensus among Haitians, unless the terms are agreed by them, including oversight, agreement on its purpose, and the expiry of its stay.

Moreover, the essential question of who is in charge of the country while it endures these events still remains. Will it continue to be an unelected group, or a transitional government comprised of representatives of political parties, civil society, the business community, and qualified Haitians in the diaspora? Achieving a Haitian consensus on a multinational force and the terms and objectives of its operations should be the first effort on which energies should be exerted.

(The writer is Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the United States and the Organization of American States. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London and Massey College in the University of Toronto. The views expressed are entirely his own. Responses and previous commentaries: www.sirronaldsanders. com)

State Funeral held for Reverend Dr Lloyd C Smith

POLICE take cover from rocks thrown by demonstrators protesting insecurity in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, Aug. 7, 2023.

Photo: Odelyn Joseph/AP

A STATE-recognized funeral was held for Reverend Dr. Lloyd C. Smith, president of the Bahamas National Baptist Missionary and Educational Convention at Mount Horeb Baptist Church, August 4, 2023. Interment was at Lakeview Memorial Gardens and Mausoleums.

Photos: Patrick Hanna/BIS

Ukraine accuses Russia of targeting rescue workers with consecutive missile strikes

UKRAINE Associated Press

UKRAINIAN officials on Tuesday accused the Kremlin’s forces of targeting rescue workers by hitting residential buildings with two consecutive missiles — the first one to draw crews to the scene and the second one to wound or kill them.

The strikes Monday evening in the downtown district of the city of Pokrovsk killed at least seven people, including an emergency official, and wounded more than 80 others, most of them police officers, emergency workers and soldiers who rushed to assist residents, Ukrainian officials said.

The Russian missiles slammed into the centre of Pokrovsk in the eastern Donetsk region, which is partially occupied by Russia. Emergency crews were still removing rubble on Tuesday. The Iskander missiles, which have an advanced guidance system that increases their accuracy, hit within 40 minutes of each other, according to Donetsk Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said.

Since the start of the war, Russia has used artillery and missiles to hit targets and then struck the exact same spot around 30 minutes later, often hitting emergency teams responding to the first blast. The tactic is called a “double tap” in military jargon. Russians used the same method in Syria’s civil war. “All of (the police) were

there because they were needed, putting their efforts into rescuing people after the first strike,” Ivan Vyhivskyi, chief of Ukraine’s National Police, said Tuesday. “They knew that under the rubble were the injured — they needed to react, to dig, to retrieve, to save. And the enemy deliberately struck the second time.”

Russia’s Ministry of Defence claimed it hit a Ukrainian army command post in Pokrovsk. Neither side’s claims could be independently verified.

Among those injured was Volodymyr Nikulin, a police officer originally from the now Russian-occupied port city of Mariupol.

Arriving at the scene after the first missile strike, Nikulin was wounded in the second strike when shrapnel pierced his left lung and left hand.

“Today is not my happy day because Russian criminals committed another awful crime in Pokrovsk,” he said in a video he sent to The Associated Press from a hospital ward.

In the video, he is seen lying on a bed shirtless, with dried blood on his side and covering his left hand. He moves with pain to show his wounds.

Pointing his camera to show other wounded security forces in the ward, he says: “Look, these are Ukrainian heroes who helped (injured) people.”

He told the National Police in a video that he feared a second strike but went to

help anyway.

There were so many injured at the hospital that Nikulin was still waiting for surgery on Tuesday morning. He was later transported to a hospital in Dnipro, where he was to have the shrapnel removed.

Nikulin had already witnessed some of the war’s horrors. He helped an AP team escape after Russian troops that besieged Mariupol entered the downtown area and searched for them.

He was featured in the award-winning documentary “20 Days in Mariupol,” a joint project between The Associated Press and PBS “Frontline” about the earliest phase of the invasion of Mariupol.

In a statement, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine, Denise Brown, described the latest attack as “absolutely ruthless” and said it was “a serious breach” of international law and violated “any principle of humanity.”

Since the beginning of Russia’s invasion in February 2022, 78 employees of Ukraine’s State Emergency Service have been killed and 280 have been wounded while responding to Russian missile strikes, according to agency spokesperson Col. Oleksandr Khorunzhyi.

Ukrainian officials say rescuers are protected by international conventions as they are providing humanitarian assistance and are not engaged in combat operations.

The head of the Pokrovsk city administration, Serhii Dobriak, described the attacks as “a typical Russian scenario,” with 30 to 40 minutes between missiles.

“When rescuers come to save people’s lives, another rocket arrives. And the number of casualties increases,” he said in a video comment to local media.

Kyrylenko, the regional governor, said that 12 multistory buildings were damaged in Pokrovsk, as well as a hotel, a pharmacy, two stores and two cafes.

The roof of one building was partially demolished,

and rubble filled the sidewalk outside. Across the road, a children’s playground was wrecked.

Russian missiles, drones and artillery have repeatedly struck civilian areas in the war. The Kremlin says its forces target only military assets and claims other damage is caused by debris from Ukrainian air defences.

Meanwhile, an overnight attack on the town of Kruhliakivka, in the northeastern Kharkiv region, killed three people and injured nine others, Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said.

Russia also dropped four

Associated Press

HERE we go again: COVID-19 hospital admissions have inched upward in the United States since early July in a small-scale echo of the three previous summers.

With an updated vaccine still months away, this summer bump in new hospitalisations might be concerning, but the number of patients is far lower than before. A look at what we know:

For the week ending July 29, COVID-19 hospital admissions were at 9,056. That’s an increase of about 12% from the previous week.

But it’s a far cry from past peaks, like the 44,000 weekly hospital admissions in early January, the nearly 45,000 in late July 2022, or the 150,000 admissions during the omicron surge of January 2022.

guided bombs on a village near Kupiansk, in the Kharkiv region, killing two civilians, Ukraine’s presidential office said. Rescuers later came under fire, and two of them were wounded, it said.

Also on Tuesday, Russianinstalled authorities of the Donetsk region accused Kyiv’s forces of shelling the region’s namesake capital and killing three people. The Moscow-appointed leader of the Donetsk region, Denis Pushilin, said Ukrainian shelling of the Russian-held city of Donetsk also wounded 11.

Associated Press

NOW that last month’s sizzling numbers are all in, the European climate monitoring organization made it official: July 2023 was Earth’s hottest month on record by a wide margin.

July’s global average temperature of 62.51 degrees Fahrenheit was six tenths of a degree Fahrenheit higher than the previous record set in 2019, Copernicus Climate Change Service announced Tuesday. Normally global temperature records are broken by hundredths or a tenth of a degree, so this margin is unusual.

The United States is now at a record 15 different weather disasters that caused at least $1 billion in damage this year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Tuesday. It’s the most mega-disasters through the first seven months of the year since the agency tracked such things starting in 1980, with the agency adjusting figures for inflation.

“These records have dire consequences for both people and the planet

exposed to ever more frequent and intense extreme events,” said Copernicus deputy director Samantha Burgess. There have been deadly heat waves in the Southwestern United States and Mexico, Europe and Asia. Scientific quick studies put the blame on human-caused climate change from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas.

The previous single-day heat record was set in 2016 and tied in 2022. From July 3, each day has exceeded that record. It’s been so warm that Copernicus and the World Meteorological Organization made the unusual announcement that it was likely the hottest month days before it ended. Tuesday’s calculations made it official.

“We should not care about July because it’s a record, but because it won’t be a record for long,” said Imperial College of London climate scientist Friederike Otto. “It’s an indicator of how much we have changed the climate. We are living in a very different world, one that our societies are not adapted to live in very well.”

The global average temperature last month was 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit

warmer than pre-industrial times. In 2015, the nations of the world agreed to try to prevent long-term warming — not individual months or even years, but decades — that is 2.7 degrees warmer than preindustrial times.

Last month was so hot, it was 1.3 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than the average July from 1991 to 2020, Copernicus said. The world’s oceans were half a degree Celsius (0.9 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than the previous 30 years and the North Atlantic was 1.05 degrees Celsius (1.9 degrees Fahrenheit) hotter than average. Antarctica set record lows for sea ice, 15% below average for this time of year.

Copernicus, a division of the European Union’s space program, has records going back to 1940. July’s temperature would be hotter than any month the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has recorded and their records go back to 1850. But scientists say it’s actually the hottest in a far longer time period.

“It’s a stunning record and makes it quite clearly the warmest month on

Earth in 10,000 years,” said Stefan Rahmstorf, a climate scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Research in Germany. He wasn’t part of the Copernicus team.

Rahmstorf cited studies that use tree rings and other proxies that show present times are the warmest since the beginning of the Holocene Epoch, about 10,000 years ago. And before the Holocene started there was an ice age, so it would be logical to even say this is the warmest record for 120,000 years, he said.

While much of the world broiled in July, the United States only had its 11th hottest July in its 129year record, according to NOAA. But Arizona, Florida, Maine and New Mexico had their warmest Julys on record.

Arizona broke its record by nearly 2 degrees Fahrenheit and Phoenix averaged 102.8 degrees for the entire month making it the hottest month for any city in t he United States, according to NOAA Death Valley reported its hottest midnight temperature on record with 120 degrees Fahrenheit on July 17.

“It is ticking up a little bit, but it’s not something that we need to raise any alarm bells over,” said Dr. David Dowdy, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

It’s likely that infections are rising too, but the data is scant. Federal authorities ended the public health emergency in May, so the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and many states no longer track the number of positive test results.

Since early June, about 500 to 600 people have died each week. The number of deaths appears to be stable this summer, although past increases in deaths have lagged behind hospitalizations.

The amount of the COVID-19 virus in sewage water has been rising since late June across the nation. In the coming weeks, health officials say they’ll keep a close eye on wastewater levels as people return from summer travel and students go back to school.

Higher levels of COVID-19 in wastewater concentrations are being found in the Northeast and South, said Cristin Young, an epidemiologist at Biobot Analytics, the CDC’s wastewater surveillance contractor.

“It’s important to remember right now the concentrations are still fairly low,” Young said, adding it’s about 2.5 times lower than last summer.

And while one version of omicron — EG.5 — is appearing more frequently, no particular variant of the virus is dominant. The variant has been dubbed “eris” but it’s an unofficial nickname and scientists aren’t using it.

“There are a couple that we’re watching, but we’re not seeing anything like delta or omicron,” Young said, referencing variants that fuelled previous surges. And mutations in the virus don’t necessarily make it more dangerous.

“Just because we have a new subvariant doesn’t mean that we are destined to have an increase in bad outcomes,” Dowdy said.

This fall, officials expect to see updated COVID19 vaccines that contain one version of the omicron strain, called XBB.1.5. It’s an important change from today’s combination shots, which mix the original coronavirus strain with last year’s most common omicron variants.

It’s not clear exactly when people can start rolling up their sleeves for what officials hope is an annual fall COVID-19 shot. Pfizer, Moderna and smaller manufacturer Novavax all are brewing doses of the XBB update but the Food and Drug Administration will have to sign off on each, and the CDC must then issue recommendations for their use.

Dr. Mandy Cohen, the new CDC director, said she expects people will get their COVID-19 shots where they get their flu shots — at pharmacies and at work — rather than at dedicated locations that were set up early in the pandemic as part of the emergency response.

“This is going to be our first fall and winter season coming out of the public health emergency, and I think we are all recognizing that we are living with COVID, flu, and RSV,” Cohen told The Associated Press last week. “But the good news is we have more tools than ever before.”

COVID-19 HOSPI TAL ISAT IONS IN THE US ARE ON THE RISE AGA IN, BU T NOT L IKE BEFORE

European scientists make it official - July was the hottest month on record by far

A MAN stands in a fountain in Bucharest, Romania, on a hot afternoon, July 25, 2023. European climate monitoring organization made it official: July 2023 was Earth’s hottest month on record by a wide margin.

Photo: Andreea Alexandru/AP

IN this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, people carry a wounded person from a damaged building after Russian missile strikes in Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Monday, Aug. 7, 2023. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP Photo)

SPORTS

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2023

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

B

The Bluejays used an impressive 14-0 run to start the third quarter as they built on a 59-43 halftime lead and they never looked back as they blew away the Club Obras from Argentina 111-89 yesterday at the Atlantis Ballroom.

All 15 players in uniform scored for the Bluejays as the small crowd of Bahamians got a chance to watch

as King made his presence felt with eight points and two rebounds in just eight and-a-half minutes on the court.

ahamian Fredrick King and his Creighton Bluejays men’s basketball team have completed their mission here with a three-game sweep of their matches played this week in the Bahamas Basketball Federation’s Summer of Thunder.Creighton, who played without All-BIG East guard Trey Alexander, who left on Monday to participate in the Nike Skills Academy camp, got 16 points, seven rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals from Mason Miller.

Brian Halums led Club Obras with a game high 17 points and three rebounds as they suffered their second straight loss here. They will close out play at Baha Mar against Louisiana State University at 4:30pm on Friday.

The Bluejays, coached by Greg McDermott, won their opener here on Friday with a 108-55 rout over the Raw Talent Elite before

they held off BC Zalgiris Kaunas 76-62 on Sunday. They will now prepare for practice in September before playing in an exhibition game on November 3 against Wayne State. Their

regular season opener will take place on November 7 against Florida A&M.

Meanwhile at Baha Mar, Louisiana State University knocked off Raw Talent Elite 120-59 and Furman University out-scored Lucayans Basketball 105-73.

LSU 120, Raw Talent 59 Will Baker and Tyrell Ward both scored 18 points for Louisiana State University, who opened play here with a 86-82 win over the Puerto Rico national basketball team.

Raw Talent Elite, who suffered their second loss after opening with a close encounter, was led by Van Hutchinson Jr with 16 points. Both Jackson Jacob and Demari Davis added 10 apiece.

Furman University 105, Lucayan Basketball 73

Ben Vanderwal led a balanced scoring attack with 19 points and five rebounds in the win, their second straight here.

Ray Smith paced the losers with 13 points.

Joshua Symonette and Lamont McPhee both contributed 12 points each and Michael Johnson added 11. It was the third straight loss for Lucayan Basketball.

The tournament continues at noon today at Atlantis with the Pirates taking on Penn State University, followed by BC Zalgiris Kaunas facing Texas A&M University at 2pm. At the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium, the Puerto Rico national team will face Iowa State University at 4pm.

DAEJHA MOSS

DAEJHA MOSS RETIRES, VENTURES INTO COACHING

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

SHE’S walking away from the sport that she loves, but is now venturing into an area where she feels her participation in track and field has groomed her for the aftermath of her competitive days.

Daejha Moss, the versatile field competitor at North Dakota State University, has officially retired from competing, but will be taking on a new role as an elementary physical education teacher at Deer Creek Elementary in West Fargo, North Dakota.

“I’m excited to be able to use my studies for the past few years to good use,” Moss said. “I am a huge fan of sports, and look forward to cultivating lifelong movers through physical education.”

No doubt, Moss is just getting her feet wet, but she said she has an appetite to get to the next level in coaching and she will be using this introduction to the profession as a learning experience.

“This is definitely just a start,” she pointed out. “My dream job is to coach track and field, specifically jumps, for a Division I programme. No dream school in mind yet.”

HANNAH D’Aguilar has been welcomed as a walk-on to the Delaware State University Equestrian Team, becoming in the process the first international rider on the Delaware State squad.

A graduate of Queen’s College and long-time rider at Camperdown Equestrian Centre under trainer Kimberly Johnson, D’Aguilar brings an impressive résumé of achievements from her junior riding career to the Delaware State University team. These include a 5th place finish in the 2022 Marshall and Sterling Equitation Finals and numerous local championships, including the Bahamas Junior Classic.

D’Aguilar chose Delaware State because the school is the only HBCU

to compete in Women’s Equestrian as an NCEA/ NCAA Division I Team.

Delaware State competes in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) of the National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA), which works in conjunction with the NCAA to provide opportunities for female collegiate equestrian student-athletes to compete at the highest levels.

Delaware State Equestrian head coach Jennifer Ridgely expressed her enthusiasm for D’Aguilar, saying: “We are excited to welcome her to the Hornet family.”

The Hornets’ season opens at home against the University of Minnesota (Crookston) Golden Eagles on September 22.

HANNAH D’Aguilar and her trainer, Kim Johnson, raise the Lady Marie Dupuch Perpetual Trophy to celebrate her victory in the Bahamas Junior Classic. D’Aguilar finished the season on a high note and now looks forward to joining the Delaware State University Equestrian Team.

Jamaica’s Women’s World Cup ends, but their fight for support continues

By ANNE M PETERSON AP Sports Writer

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Jamaica’s Women’s World Cup run might be over for now, but the team’s fight for support back home continues.

The Reggae Girlz were disbanded 15 years ago when the Jamaican federation cut funding for the team. Revived in 2014, they’ve scrapped for resources ever since.

Jamaica’s performance at the global tournament in Australia and New Zealand may be turning that around. The Reggae Girlz became the first Caribbean nation to reach the knockout round, advancing in just their second appearance.

The campaign came to an end last night when Jamaica fell to Colombia 1-0 in Melbourne. Catalina Usme’s goal was the only one that the Reggae Girlz

conceded over the course of the tournament.

“We’ve put ourselves on the map and we’ve showed what we can actually do,” goalkeeper Becky Spencer said.

“I think with more funding and more resources, it just shows you what kind of team that we’ve got and we can only get better. I’m hoping that the federation starts to take us seriously and just pays attention to what we’re doing out here.”

Reggae legend Bob Marley’s daughter, Cedella Marley, heard about the team’s plight in 2014, and has since served as the team’s ambassador and fundraiser. The Bob Marley foundation is one of the team’s sponsors.

Despite her efforts, the Reggae Girlz still struggled to prepare for the World Cup after qualifying last year. Ahead of the tournament, Khadija “Bunny”

JAMAICA’s Drew Spence reacts after missing a scoring chance during the Women’s World Cup round of 16 soccer match against Colombia in Melbourne, Australia, yesterday. (AP Photo/Hamish Blair)

Shaw and Cheyna Matthews posted a lengthy statement on social media.

“On multiple occasions, we have sat down with the federation to respectfully express concerns resulting from subpar planning, transportation, accommodations, training conditions, compensation, communication, nutrition and accessibility to proper

resources,” the statement said. “We have also showed up repeatedly without receiving contractually agreed upon compensation.”

The post spurred a pair of crowdfunding campaigns to help the team pay for a pre-tournament camp and support staff.

SEE PAGE 16

And just how did it all get started for Moss.

“I applied for jobs in the Fargo area. I interviewed at three different schools, was offered the position to all three and made my decision based on several personal factors,” she admitted without getting into the full details.

She will officially start her new vocation on August 25, but as she looks back at her tenure as a track and field athlete, coming from Queen’s College too, she admitted that it was a roller coaster ride.

“I definitely expected more but some things just happened that were out of my control,” she pointed out. “Overall though, I am so grateful for my

SEE PAGE 16

USA BASKETBALL ROLLS PAST PUERTO RICO IN WORLD CUP TUNE-UP OPENER, 117-74

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer

LAS VEGAS (AP) —

Anthony Edwards and Cam Johnson each scored 15 points, and USA Basketball used a 20-0 run in the second half on the way to rolling past Puerto Rico 117-74 on Monday night in the first World Cup tune-up game for the Americans.

Mikal Bridges scored 14 for the US, which finished with seven players in double figures.

Jaren Jackson Jr scored

12, Jalen Brunson scored 11 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, and Bobby Portis and Brandon Ingram each scored 11 for the Americans. Tyrese Haliburton finished with 12 assists for the US, which held a 53-27 rebounding edge.

Tremont Waters scored 17 for Puerto Rico, which got 12 from George Conditt IV and 10 from Jordan Howard.

There were spectacular moments, there were sloppy moments, there were botched plays and big-time plays. And in the end, the team with far more talent pulled away.

In other words, it went exactly as expected.

Paolo Banchero pretty much blocked a shot with his elbow, Edwards’ head nearly hit the backboard on a dunk, Austin Reaves got cheers the moment he checked in — after all, Las Vegas is a Lakers’ town — and those yells only got louder when he made a jumper just seconds into his

SEE PAGE 17

EQUESTRIAN HANNAH FINISHES SEASON ON HIGH NOTE

FREDRICK KING

Soler’s homer helps Marlins rally for 3-2 win over Reds

By MITCH STACY AP Sports Writer

CINCINNATI (AP) — Jorge Soler hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning and the Miami Marlins rallied for a 3-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds in a matchup of NL wild-card contenders last night.

Soler connected on a four-seam fastball from reliever Lucas Sims (3-3), sending it just out of the reach of leaping centre fielder TJ Friedl.

The Marlins held on to snap a five-game skid and move within one-half game of the Reds for the final wild-card spot. Cincinnati has lost seven of eight.

“I don’t put any added pressure on these guys, that ‘You have to win today or else’ type of deal,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said.

“I think they go about it the right way. When you play games like that, where it’s pitching, really good defence, timely hitting, that’s kind of the recipe we had during the first half.” Marlins’ centre fielder Jazz Chisholm Jr was back in the starting lineup after an MRI showed no structural damage to his right hamstring.

Chisholm has missed 21 games with the injury. He had a pinch-hit homer off reliever Ian Gibaut in Miami’s 5-2 loss to the Reds on Monday night. Miami starter Braxton Garrett (6-3) gave up two runs and six hits in six innings with three strikeouts.

‘JAZZ’ CHISHOLM JR BACK IN STARTING LINEUP AFTER MRI SHOWS NO STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO RIGHT HAMSTRING

“His two-seamer was really effective,” Miami shortstop Joey Wendle said. “Caught a lot of ground balls, but a lot of good plays behind him.”

Pinch-hitter Joey Votto drew a two-out walk from David Robertson in the ninth, but the reliever — acquired from the New York Mets last month — struck out Christian Encarnacion-Strand to earn his second save with Miami and 16th overall. Miami went ahead in the second inning on two-out doubles by Jake Burger and Joey Wendle. Reds starter Luke Weaver allowed

another hit and walked the bases full but got out of the jam by inducing a grounder from Nick Fortes.

Friedl drove in the Reds’ first run with a double in the second. In the fifth, Stuart Fairchild turned a blooper into a triple and scored on the errant throw home to put the Reds ahead 2-1.

Weaver allowed one run and five hits with six strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings.

“They made some nice plays,” Reds manager David Bell said. “No question we need more opportunities on the bases. They did a nice job in keeping us off the bases.”

Astros stun Orioles

7-6 on Tucker’s grand slam off Félix Bautista

BALTIMORE (AP) —

Kyle Tucker’s grand slam off Félix Bautista in the top of the ninth inning gave the Houston Astros a 7-6 victory over the Baltimore Orioles last night.

Houston trailed 5-0 after Ryan Mountcastle and Adley Rutschman homered off Framber Valdez in the first and second innings, but the Astros pulled off a remarkable comeback in the ninth.

Pinch-hitter Jon Singleton led off the ninth with a walk, and Jose Altuve followed with a single. Bautista (6-2) struck out Alex Bregman, but Yordan Alvarez came within a few feet of tying it with a drive to centre.

Jorge Mateo — a shortstop making only his second start of the year in center field — couldn’t catch it, and the ball bounced off the wall for a very long single.

Tucker then battled Bautista for nine pitches, finally hitting a 100 mph fastball to right-center field for his 20th home run of the year. Bautista had allowed only five earned runs all season before Houston scored four on him in two-thirds of an inning.

Ryne Stanek (3-1) won in relief, and Ryan Pressly pitched a perfect ninth for his 27th save in 31 chances.

Baltimore’s lead over Tampa Bay atop the AL East dropped to two games.

BRAVES 8, PIRATES 6

PITTSBURGH (AP)

— Orlando Arcia hit a twoout, two-run double in the ninth, and Atlanta rallied from three runs down to beat Pittsburgh.

Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr hit a leadoff homer but left the game in the sixth when he was hit on the left elbow by a pitch from Pirates reliever Colin Holderman. The Braves said X-rays were negative.

Kevin Pillar tied the game in the ninth with a two-out RBI single against Pirates

closer David Bednar (3-2) before Arcia put the Braves ahead. Major league-best Atlanta stopped a threegame skid.

Kirby Yates (6-0) pitched a scoreless eighth. The Pirates put two runners on in the bottom of the ninth, but Raisel Iglesias got Jack Suwinski to hit a game-ending comebacker for his 21st save in 23 chances.

CUBS 3, METS 2

NEW YORK (AP)

— Mike Tauchman hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning off Drew Smith (4-4) and Jameson Taillon retired his final 16 batters to win his fourth straight start as Chicago beat New York.

Cody Bellinger also went deep and Yan Gomes had an RBI double for the surging Cubs, who won for the 16th time in 21 games.

Pete Alonso hit an early two-run homer for the sinking Mets. New York has lost seven of eight since trading Justin Verlander and other veterans at last week’s deadline.

Adbert Alzolay worked a one-hit ninth for his 15th save in 16 tries. He started a 1-6-3 double play on Daniel Vogelbach to end it.

Taillon (7-6) allowed three hits in seven innings and improved to 5-0 in his past six outings.

ROCKIES 7, BREWERS 3

MILWAUKEE (AP)

— Milwaukee’s Andrew Chafin and Abner Uribe combined to allow three straight bases-loaded walks in the 10th inning and hand the win to Colorado.

The Rockies’ Nolan Jones went deep twice, the first multi-homer game of his career. Other homers came from Colorado’s Elias Díaz and Milwaukee’s William Contreras and Andruw Monasterio.

Chafin (2-4) walked Michael Toglia to start the 10th before Brenton Doyle loaded the bases with a bunt

ELECTRIFYING Fairchild made something out of almost nothing to put the Reds ahead in the fifth. His blooper down the right-field line bounced past Marlins right fielder Jesús Sánchez.

By the time Sánchez retrieved the ball from the corner and got it in, the speedy Fairchild was rounding third at full speed and ran through the stop sign of third-base coach J.R. House. He scored thanks to an offline throw to the

plate by second baseman Luis Arraez. It was scored a triple and an error, but Fairchild still got to wear the Viking-style helmet normally reserved for dugout home run celebrations.

“When I was halfway to third base, I saw (House) waving me,” Fairchild said. “He threw on the stop sign right when I was touching third base. I was too far gone. I just kept going.”

LOTS OF Ks

Elly De La Cruz is exciting to watch on base paths

but lately has a strikeout problem. The Reds rookie has struck out at least once in each of the last 15 games. He was 0 for 4 with a pair of strikeouts yesterday and has 81 this season.

UP NEXT Marlins RHP Johnny Cueto (0-3, 5.32 ERA) is the scheduled starter against Reds RHP Graham Ashcraft (6-7, 5.18) in today’s finale of the threegame series.

single. Automatic runner Harold Castro scored the go-ahead run when Chafin walked Cole Tucker on four pitches. Uribe came in, started the at-bat with a pitch clock violation and then threw three more balls to Ezequiel Tovar. Uribe then walked Ryan McMahon on four pitches to put the Rockies ahead 6-3.

Matt Koch (1-0) worked 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief and Justin Lawrence retired the side in order in the bottom of the 10th.

RAYS 4, CARDINALS 2 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Yandy Díaz, Brandon Lowe and Randy Arozarena hit RBI singles in the eighth inning and Tampa Bay beat St. Louis.

Josh Lowe opened the eighth with a triple against Miles Mikolas (6-8).

Andre Pallante entered and retired pinch-hitter Harold Ramírez on a grounder before Díaz hit a groundball single to center that made it 2-1 — the first of four consecutive base hits.

Díaz went 4 for 4 and raised his average from .315 to .322 as the Rays improved to 7-3 over their last 10 games. Isaac Paredes hit his 22nd homer of the season in the seventh inning, when he knotted the game at 1-all.

Tampa Bay center fielder Jose Siri helped preserve the 1-all tie with a leaping catch at the wall on Nolan Gorman’s two-out drive off Jason Adam (3-2) with a runner on first in the top of the eighth.

Pete Fairbanks gave up a solo homer to Willson Contreras in the ninth before nailing down his 15th save and completing the five-hitter.

GUARDIANS 1,

BLUE JAYS 0

CLEVELAND (AP) — Tanner Bibee pitched seven innings and Ramón Laureano drove in the game’s only run in his debut for

Cleveland, which ended Toronto’s four-game winning streak.

Bibee (8-2) allowed six singles — three by Whit Merrifield — and remained unbeaten in his last nine starts.

Laureano, claimed off waivers on Monday from Oakland, hit an RBI double in the second inning off Yusei Kikuchi (9-4), who gave up three hits in seven innings.

Trevor Stephan pitched the eighth and Emmanuel Clase worked around two infield singles in the ninth for his 30th save.

YANKEES 7, WHITE SOX 1

CHICAGO (AP) — Aaron Judge and Kyle Higashioka homered and New York beat Chicago.

Clarke Schmidt (8-6) pitched neatly into the sixth inning and combined with two relievers for 13 strikeouts.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit a two-run double and scored during New York’s four-run fourth against Touki Toussaint (1-5), and the Yankees scored three more in the eighth behind the long balls by Higashioka and Judge off Tanner Banks. Luis Robert Jr. hit his 31st homer for the White Sox, whose three-game winning streak ended.

PHILLIES 8, NATIONALS 4, GAME 1

NATIONALS 5, PHILLIES 4

GAME 2

PHILADELPHIA (AP)

— Joey Meneses’ second homer of the game was a solo shot off Philadelphia All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel (6-3) in the ninth inning that gave Washington a doubleheader split.

Meneses also hit a tworun shot off reliever Jeff Hoffman in the seventh that tied the game at 4-all. Bryce Harper hit a two-run homer for the Phillies.

Jordan Weems (3-0) tossed a scoreless eighth and Kyle Finnegan worked the ninth for his 18th save, fanning Harper to end it.

In the opener, Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber homered twice off Washington’s Trevor Williams (5-7) to reach 30 for the season and drove in five runs.

Zack Wheeler (9-5) settled down after allowing early homers to Lane Thomas and Keibert Ruiz, working six innings.

TIGERS 6, TWINS 0

DETROIT (AP) —

Eduardo Rodriguez pitched seven solid innings and Detroit stopped Minnesota’s five-game winning streak.

Rodriguez (8-5) allowed four hits — all singles — struck out five and walked three. Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera went 2 for 4 and scored a run. He has 3,142 hits, passing Tony Gwynn and moving into a tie with Robin Yount for 19th place on the career list.

Twins ace Sonny Gray (5-5) struck out 10 in six innings. He was charged with three runs — two earned — and seven hits.

ROYALS 9, RED SOX 3

BOSTON (AP) — Drew Waters, MJ Melendez and Michael Massey each hit two-run home runs and Kansas City beat Boston to snap a three-game skid. Brady Singer (8-8) allowed three runs over 6 2/3 innings. Adam Duvall homered for Boston, which has lost five of six. Kutter Crawford (5-6) allowed three runs in 3 1/3 innings.

HOUSTON Astros’ Kyle Tucker, right, celebrates his ninth inning grand slam with Jose Altuve, left, Jon Singleton, second from left, and Yordan Alvarez (44) during a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles yesterday in Baltimore. The Astros won 7-6.

(AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

JON Jay celebrates with Jazz Chisholm Jr, right, following the team’s baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds yesterday.

JAZZ CHISHOLM JR, centre, celebrates with teammates after Jorge Soler (12) hit a two-run home run against the Cincinnati Reds during the seventh inning.

(AP Photos/Jeff Dean)

DAEJHA MOSS: ‘MY DREAM JOB IS TO COACH TRACK & FIELD’

experience and have absolutely no regrets. It is hard saying goodbye to track and field though.”

So is she really done with competing?

“I am 100% done with competing in track and field,” she declared. “My last year in athletics solidified this decision. My body has completely rejected this sport now. It was a harsh reality I had to face, but we moved on.

“My goals are now to gain experience with teaching, lesson planning and instruction. So that eventually I can transfer those skills to a coaching job.”

As she ventures into coaching, are there any regrets for the former outstanding junior CARIFTA medallist, who didn’t get the opportunity to display her skills as a senior athlete?

“I honestly have no regrets when it comes to track and field,” she stated. “I’ve done track

and only track since the age of seven. It has taken me to so many different countries, made me lifelong friends, awarded me a full ride through a division one programme where I obtained a master’s degree

in education, and now a profession as a teacher. I can only look back on my years of track and field and be grateful for all it has afforded me.” If there were any low points in her career, Moss

said it would have been her final year competing, which encouraged her to lean more towards her retirement.

“I just battled so much mentally and physically. I had to juggle graduate school, athletics and annoying injuries that came along the way,” she said. “It was the hardest year of my life. But, throughout this difficult time, I’d reflect on some of my highs.”

But despite the way she ended it, Moss said there were many positive aspects that she will take away from

competing, including winning the silver and bronze medals at the 2017 CARIFTA Games in the high and long jump respectively.

If that’s not enough, she will cherish her performances at the 2019 NACAC

Under-23 Championships where she produced a leap of 1.75m in the high jump for a fourth place finish, despite competing with a torn hamstring.

Moss, however, said her time spent in North Dakota will be highlighted on her résumé because she was able to produce a lifetime

best of 1.78m in her signature event.

This placed her as the third best high jumper in NDSU history.

The 24-year-old Moss also competed on NDSU’s 2023 victorious outdoor conference team after recovering from their heart-shattering losses the previous two seasons.

Moss is the daughter of Raquel and Delvin Moss and she has five siblingsPrince and Petra Ferguson, Danielle Moss-Whymms and Diamond and Demi Moss.

FRANCE ENDS MOROCCO’S RUN AND ADVANCES TO QUARTERFINALS OF WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

ADELAIDE, Australia

(AP) — France coach

Herve Renard high-fived his staff on the sideline as it became clear his team was on its way to the quarterfinals of the Women’s World Cup.

Only 23 minutes had been played at Adelaide’s Hindmarsh Stadium yesterday, but France was already 3-0 up against Morocco and on course for a showdown with co-host Australia.

The French scored once more in the second half to win 4-0 and end Morocco’s historic debut run at the World Cup.

“The result speaks for itself,” Renard said. “We were able to score four times and now we’ve got a foot in the door for the quarterfinals. Things are getting a little bit heated. Only eight teams left in the running. The objective now is to pull off the best performance that the French team has ever done.”

France took fourth place in 2011 and this is the fourth straight time it has advanced to the quarterfinals of the World Cup.

A three-goal burst in nine minutes took the game away from Morocco, with Kadidiatou Diani, Kenza Dali and Eugenie Le Sommer all scoring early in the match.

Le Sommer, who is France’s all-time leading scorer, headed in a fourth in the 70th minute to complete the win. She has now scored 92 goals for her country — more than any French player, male or female.

“Her game was exceptional,” Renard said. “Her legs, it was as if she was 25... I hope that this lasts. Each time I’m actually blown away by what she’s capable of doing.”

Renard knows France has a sizable task to get past Australia when the teams meet in Brisbane on Saturday for a place in the semifinals.

France lost a friendly to the Matildas leading into the tournament. But Renard said the pressure of being a co-host, along with New Zealand, could weigh heavily on the Australians in front of their home fans.

France was eliminated as hosts in the quarterfinals in 2019.

“It can be hugely disappointing, and it was for France when they were knocked out in the quarterfinals,” Renard said.

“And we are hoping to put Australia through exactly what France went through when they were the host country... We’ve come with great ambition and if you come with great ambition you need to be capable of beating the best teams.”

Morocco’s tournament is over after it became the first Arab nation to advance to the knockout stage.

The Atlas Lions were also the first Arab team to register a win at the Women’s World Cup by beating South Korea in the group stage. They followed that by upsetting group winner Colombia to advance to the round of 16 at the expense of No. 2-ranked Germany.

But overcoming France, one of the tournament favourites, was a step too far for Reynald Pedros’ team.

“I’m not disappointed, because we got to the round of 16. This was our first World Cup and we knew that the further in the competition we got, the harder it would be,” Pedros said.

He added that his team’s success was even more remarkable than Morocco’s

historic semifinals run at the men’s World Cup last year.

“Let’s not forget that three years ago we were just putting together a women’s team in Morocco,” he said.

Diani opened the scoring for France in the 15th minute when she was left unmarked in front of goal to head in Sakina Karchaoui’s cross from the left. It was Diani’s fourth goal of the tournament after her

hat trick in France’s 6-3 win over Panama in its final Group F match.

Dali scored five minutes later after Diani cut back from the right. Dali struck a first-time shot low into the corner to beat Morocco goalkeeper Khadija Er-Rmichi.

And France was 3-0 up when Diani blocked the attempted clearance of Nesryne El Chad into the path of Le Sommer to convert.

Le Sommer got a second goal when she headed it in at the far post from Vicki Becho’s looping cross with 20 minutes left in regulation.

Australia advanced to the quarterfinals with a 2-0 win over Denmark. Star striker Sam Kerr returned from a calf injury to make her first appearance at this World Cup. She was a secondhalf substitute against the Danes.

Jamaica’s Women’s World Cup ends, but their fight for support continues

FROM PAGE 14

The Jamaican Football Federation released a statement lamenting that such efforts took away focus from the team’s historic achievement — while at the same time welcoming the financial assistance.

“I think we showed what we can do with little support,” Matthews said, adding that the team could do so much more with more preparation, games and competition.

Cup round

16

Jamaica coach Lorne Donaldson said after the team played in the 2019

Women’s World Cup nothing changed.

He noted that this year the Reggae Girlz had no international games in six months leading up to the tournament.

“Hopefully we all can come together now and try to figure something out,” Donaldson said. “We have some decent young players, so we can have a decent transition ... and start preparing for the future tomorrow.”

The Reggae Girlz don’t have much time to regroup following the loss.

Next month they’ll play

Canada in Toronto for the second CONCACAF spot in next year’s Paris Olympics. The United States already secured the other berth.

Canada got knocked out of the World Cup in the group stage.

“I think we’ll kind of have momentum,” Jamaica’s Chantelle Swaby said. “I think we still have momentum even though we lost. And obviously with Canada’s result it will be a great challenge because they’ll be hungry to win. We’ll be just as hungry to compete.”

FRANCE’s Kenza Dali is congratulated by teammate Kadidiatou Diani, right, after scoring her team’s second goal during the Women’s World Cup round of 16 soccer match against Morocco in Adelaide, Australia, yesterday.

(AP Photo/James Elsby)

COLOMBIA’S LEICY SANTOS, up, and Colombia’s Daniela Caracas celebrate at the end of the Women’s World

of

soccer match against Jamaica in Melbourne, Australia, yesterday. (AP Photo/Hamish Blair)

DAEJHA MOSS, the versatile field competitor at North Dakota State University, has officially retired from competing, but will be taking on a new role as an elementary physical education teacher at Deer Creek Elementary in West Fargo, North Dakota.

WILSON HAS 28 POINTS AND 14 BOARDS AS ACES REBOUND FROM LOSS WITH ROUT OF WINGS

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — A’ja Wilson scored 28 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, Kelsey Plum added 20 points and the Las Vegas Aces eased past the Dallas Wings 104-84 last night.

Las Vegas responded to its lowest-scoring game of the season — a 99-61 loss to New York on Sunday — with a 54-point first half. The Aces scored the opening 16 points of the game and led 54-26 at halftime behind double-digit scoring from Jackie Young (12), Chelsea Gray (13) and Plum (15).

Analysis: USA World Cup quest off to a fast start, with bonds being forged

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer

THEY are finishing each other’s sentences already. They’re sitting side by side at breakfast. They’re talking on defence, getting everyone involved on offence, celebrating each other’s successes as if this team has been together for years.

It hasn’t been years. It didn’t even take a week. That’s a good sign for USA Basketball’s men’s World Cup team.

Getting along as a 12-man unit guarantees nothing in terms of wins, losses and medals, but it was an important first step for the Americans.

The team was leaving Las Vegas yesterday to start, what it hopes, is a five-week overseas odyssey — a week in Spain, followed by a week in Abu Dhabi, and then, if all goes right, three weeks in Manila for the World Cup.

“It’s an adjustment, but it’s fun,” said US big man Jaren Jackson Jr, the reigning NBA defensive player of the year from the Memphis Grizzlies. “This is not an opportunity that is going to repeat itself with the same guys at the same time. You know you’ve got to embrace every opportunity and practice. We’re having a lot of fun.”

The fun was obvious Monday night when the team played its first of five pre-World Cup games,

opening that stint by routing Puerto Rico 117-74. There was a moment early in the fourth quarter that might have summed the whole thing up: Tyrese Haliburton could have tried to score himself on a 2-on-1 break, but sent a little lob to Cam Johnson instead. Johnson slammed it home, Haliburton did a little leap for joy, and everyone on the bench got to their feet in unison — except for Anthony Edwards, only because he was getting held down courtesy of a giant hug from Bobby Portis. It’s already very much looking like nobody on this team will care about stats. That’s a very good sign. The goal: Win gold. They all knew each other — some were college teammates, a couple are teammates in New York, a couple are teammates in Brooklyn — before arriving in Las Vegas for training camp last week, but the bonds are much stronger after a few days together.

USA Basketball CEO Jim Tooley saw the proof of that very early in camp. Players were in a hotel ballroom for breakfast, and usually a couple of guys sit here, a couple sit there, often eating in relative quiet. Not this group. The first batch of players to arrive filled one table, and the later arrivals filled another. No need for spacing out; the team just wanted to be together.

“It’s been really good,” Tooley said. “And I can’t stress enough the high character of the team.”

Edwards and Jalen Brunson gave another example of how in sync the team already is, simultaneously answering a question with “for sure” without knowing the other guy was going to say it. The only thing anybody has complained about so far is this: the 10-hour flight from Las Vegas to Spain is on a plane not equipped with wi-fi.

“We’re building, man,” Edwards said. “We’ve got a lot of guys from different teams, but we play against each other so we kind of know each other, and we’re getting closer and closer

off the court. So, I think it’s going to make us a lot better on the court.”

Puerto Rico had only three players for Monday’s game with NBA experience, and nobody with more than 40 games.

The Americans have players who’ll earn a combined $210 million or so in the NBA this coming season (and that’s even with the massive extensions that Edwards and Haliburton got this summer not kicking in until 2024), so Monday should have been a blowout, and it was.

It gets tougher from here. Luka Doncic and Slovenia, a team that has had its core together for years, await Saturday.

Spain, the No. 1 ranked team in the world according to FIBA, awaits Sunday. Greece and Germany will be the opponents in Abu Dhabi.

And once the Americans get to Manila, while the fans will be rooting for the US, nothing will get opponents more fired up than seeing NBA players in the opposite huddle.

Winning this World Cup will not be easy. But the first step toward becoming a championship team is done. A group of players is already looking like a team.

“The whole group is connected,” US coach Steve Kerr said. “And it’s really fun to watch.”

Wilson, who celebrated her 27th birthday yesterday, also had nine points and 10 rebounds in the half.

The Aces (25-3) shot 51% from the field in the first half, including 11 of 17 from 3-point range. Las Vegas finished 16 of 32 behind the arc with four apiece from Plum, Young and Gray.

LYNX 88,

SKY 79

CHICAGO (AP) — Napheesa Collier scored 29 points, Jessica Shepard added 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists and the Lynx beat the Sky. Minnesota (14-15) scored the opening seven points of the fourth quarter to take a 72-62 lead. Kayla McBride made a long 2-pointer to extend it to 81-71 and Shepard added a jumper from the free-throw line with 3:01 left for a 12-point advantage.

After a Chicago turnover, Lindsay Allen made two free throws with 23.1 seconds left for an 85-79 lead. Collier added two free throws on Minnesota’s next possession for an eightpoint lead.

Kahleah Copper scored 15 of her 23 points in the first half for Chicago (1216), which had a three-game win streak snapped.

SPARKS 87, FEVER 80

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Nneka Ogwumike had 20 points and 11 rebounds, Layshia Clarendon added 17 points and the Sparks beat the Fever.

Los Angeles (11-18) trailed 71-64 before scoring 15 of the next 17 points, capped by Jasmine Thomas’ wide open 3-pointer from the corner to take a 79-73 lead with 3:17 remaining. Thomas added a baseline jumper with 44.1 seconds left, after her initial shot was blocked, for an 81-76 lead.

Indiana guard Grace Berger was called for a technical foul with 36.1 seconds left and Jordin Canada sealed it with a free throw for a six-point lead.

USA BASKETBALL ROLLS PAST PUERTO RICO IN WORLD CUP TUNE-UP

FROM PAGE 14

first stint with USA across his chest. It was the first of five exhibitions before the World Cup for the Americans, and the only one that will be played in the US. The team flew to Malaga, Spain, yesterday for games this weekend against Slovenia and Spain, then heads to the United Arab Emirates for games in Abu Dhabi against Greece (August 18) and Germany (August 20).

From there, it’s on to Manila.

The World Cup will be held in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia; the US will be in Manila for the entirety of the tournament, and opens against New Zealand August 26, followed by Greece August 28 and Jordan August 30.

The Americans are tuning up for a World Cup that, they hope, avenges the disappointment of four years ago. The US was seventh at the World Cup in China in 2019, the worst finish for any American men’s team in a major international tournament.

The game turned into a runaway in the third when the Americans outscored Puerto Rico 34-18, turning what was a sevenpoint halftime lead into a 23-point edge going into the fourth. The big run sparked that; what was a 74-61 game late in the third became a 94-61 game early in the fourth.

TIP-INS

Puerto Rico: Like the Americans, Puerto Rico will play its group-stage World Cup games in Manila — but in a different group.

Puerto Rico will meet South Sudan on Aug. 26, Serbia on Aug. 28 and China on Aug. 30. … Waters spent past of last season playing in France with BoulogneLevallois — the team that had No. 1 overall draft pick Victor Wembanyama, now of the San Antonio Spurs.

USA: The Americans — since using NBA players for these games — improved to 11-0 in World Cup exhibition tour games on U.S. soil, and 24-1 overall in those games. The loss was at Australia in 2019. … Reaves and Cam Johnson made their USA Basketball debuts. Josh Hart was held out to rest; his national team debut could come Saturday in Spain.

FOR OPENERS

The first starting lineup US coach Steve Kerr sent out this summer: Bridges,

Ingram, Edwards, Brunson and Jackson Jr.

SHOWING SUPPORT

Kevin Durant — a three-time Olympic gold medallist, a FIBA World Cup gold medallist and a member of USA Basketball’s board of directors — was among those at the game, as was former USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo, two-time Olympic gold medallist Draymond Green, Olympic and World Cup gold medallist DeMarcus Cousins, New York coach Tom Thibodeau, Utah coach Will Hardy and New Orleans guard Jose Alvarado.

UP NEXT

Puerto Rico: Visits Italy in Ravenna, Italy on Saturday. USA: Plays Slovenia in Malaga, Spain on Saturday.

UNITED States’ Anthony Edwards dunks against Puerto Rico during the first half of an exhibition basketball game on Monday night.

(AP Photos/John Locher)

UNITED States’ Jaren Jackson Jr dunks against Puerto Rico in the first half of an exhibition basketball game on Monday in Las Vegas.

(AP Photo/John Locher)

UNITED States’ Mikal Bridges (5) dunks over Puerto Rico’s Tremont Waters (51) during the first half of an exhibition basketball game on Monday night in Las Vegas.

‘Smooth sailing’: Resort’s $30m amnual GB boost

percent will require work permits,” the EIA affirmed.

“As previously mentioned, Weller Development Company’s priority is to employ Bahamians. The development team anticipates a need for approximately 50 employees to run management and day-to-day operations, of which ten will need work permits.” The document, which has already been submitted to the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP), pledged that the economic impact and benefits to The Bahamas from the project will be “significant”.

“It is estimated that the project will contribute about $50m to the Bahamian economy during the construction period and about $30m per year after the completion of the project and commencement of operations,” the EIA said. “It is conservatively estimated that the project will impact the local economy by generating approximately 100-plus local jobs, of which 70-plus percent will reflect on-going jobs created by the operations phase of the project.”

Describing Six Senses as “arguably the number one hotel brand in the world with a sustainability focus [and] locations across many of the world’s most soughtafter remote locations”, the EIA added that its arrival on Grand Bahama will help shift the island’s tourism product upmarket by appealing to a higherspending, more discerning visitor market.

“Each of the various project components are anticipated to positively impact the local economy and allow it to grow as a more prominent destination in the Caribbean with the growing sophistication in tourism and residential product in Grand Bahama,” the document said, adding that it will increase visitor spending and also boost a

variety of government tax revenues including VAT, tourism departure taxes, work permit fees and National Insurance Board (NIB) contributions.

Giving an insight into Weller Development’s plans, the EIA said: “Six Senses Resort at Discovery Bay, Grand Bahama, is a development of 70 resort keys, 29 branded residences and [includes] a wellness and spa centre, three restaurants, an event space and a beach club....

“Site development will seek to utilise low-impact development principles to increase climate resiliency. This will be accomplished through restoration of the dune landscape along the beachfront, and lush natively landscaped open spaces integrated throughout the site.

“All built structures will be raised to respond to regular storm surges and flood conditions. In addition, site circulation seeks to minimise paved surfaces and automotive uses for predominantly pedestrian experience in and around the resort development.”

All hotel villas will be low-scale and single storey, and the EIA said: “The development team is pursuing a zero-waste strategy for the pre-fabrication of these structures while ensuring that the vast majority of the assembly is done locally with the talented Bahamian carpenters and trades people in mind to promote job growth and economic impact to Grand Bahama.....

“Materials for the 70 villa resorts and 29 branded residences are to be ethically sourced to meet both sustainability goals of the resort and meet the sustainability criteria inherent to the Six Senses brand standards. Worn timber, natural stones, board formed concrete and lush local endemic plant species will create the visual palette that will bring together the resort

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that ODILET LAPIN of P.O.Box N-720 Claridge Road, New Providence, The Bahamas applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration

Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twentyeight days from the 9th day of August 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

AHAVA 18 LTD.

Incorporated under the International Business Companies Act, 2000 of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas registered in the Register of Companies under the Registration Number 204894 B. (In Voluntary Liquidation)

Notice is hereby given that the liquidation and the winding up of the Company is complete and the Company has been struck off the Register of Companies maintained by the Registrar General on the 12th day of June, 2023.

Dated this 9th day of August, A.D. 2023

Jairo Braverman Waitman LIQUIDATOR

and branded residences proposed throughout the resort.”

Some 22 hotel villas will be constructed on a rebuilt jetty structure. “Each villa is being proposed over a 25-foot wide ‘jetty enhancement area’, supported on structural piers with a designated finish floor elevation of 10 feet. Sewage/ waste will be handled on the land side and run much like a roadway below the centre of the jetty until reaching the force main within the resort core,” the EIA added.

Little has been heard publicly of Weller’s Six Senses project since the Grand Bahama Business Outlook in February this year. However, Mr Weller previously told this newspaper that the environmental permits from both the DEPP and Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) are the final approvals that the development needs to obtain before it can move to physical construction at the 30-acre site it previously acquired from Marriott.

That stage appears to have now been reached, with the GB Chamber’s Mr Carey yesterday voicing relief that Weller had not halted its plans amid the uncertainty created by the Government’s recent criticism of the GBPA and its shareholders, the St George and Hayward families, and demands for changes to

Freeport’s quasi-governmental authority and the Hawksbill Creek Agreement itself.

“That is very positive at this point,” he said of the EIA’s release and hearing date. “We were beginning to wonder if this was another announced project for a bit. These things go through quite a process, and in Grand Bahama it’s a dual process with the Port Authority and the Government.

“This is very positive news, and we hope that once this is done it all goes ahead. I’m happy to hear it and I hope it will be smooth sailing from this point on. I expect there will be some environmental concerns when it goes public, but that’s normal and we just hope it goes sailing ahead.”

Acknowledging fears that the Government’s attacks on the GBPA could have a potentially chilling effect on investment targeted at Freeport, Mr Carey added: ‘“There was a concern, in light of the Government having a go at the Port Authority, which I previously talked to you about when I said I wonder if some things will pause to see what happens.

“There was a concern about the Weller Group project; about whether it would pause or go ahead. It’s one of those things that happens when there are public spats of those charged with oversight of

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that CHARLES FERDINAND of P. O. Box N-864, West Winds, New Providence, Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/ naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 2nd day of August, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

development. I hope it all goes well now, along with some other things.”

Speaking to the Six Senses project’s forecast $30m annual economic impact, Mr Carey told this newspaper: “Given where we are currently, that is huge. Once those dollars are put into the local economy it means they are circulated and add to the whole structure of the economy. That’s exactly what we need.”

He added that the arrival of Weller, and like-minded developers, was essential to rebuilding Freeport’s critical population mass which has been lost due to 18 years of economic stagnation plus the fall-out from Hurricane Dorian and COVID-19. “It would be great to see that population return and grow,” Mr Carey said. “Projects like Weller’s add to the development we are waiting for. The bottom line is that this is significant.”

Freeport and Grand Bahama, though, now need to prepare for tourism’s potential shift upmarket and the higher-end visitors that Six Senses will attract.

“We appreciate that a highend product certainly brings high-end expectations and higher dollars,” Mr Carey said.

“We’ve been having a conversation with the Port Authority and, by extension, the University of The Bahamas in terms of

looking to get programmes and certification courses going under the management of the university in terms of customer service. If we’re going to have highend customers and residents coming, we’re going to have to up our game in terms of service and be mindful of everything we do and say.”

Terence Gape, a Freeport-based partner with the Dupuch & Turnquest law firm, told Tribune Business of Weller’s Six Senses ambitions: “It’s very critical because they have a plan that encompasses development of the waterway. It’s going to be very beneficial for Freeport because we have to rebuild our tourism product. The attraction of a Six Senses hotel, which is the number one brand in the world, is a major accomplishment.”

Suggesting that Six Senses could have the same impact for Grand Bahama’s tourism industry as Atlantis had for New Providence in the mid-1990s, Mr Gape added: “It will prove that Freeport can provide the highest level of service, which is now more or less the norm in the industry and what Atlantis and Baha Mar provide. That’s what we need.

“There’s no sense in catering to a low-level market because we cannot rebuild the product with that. We are already at zero. We can only hope and pray.”

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that DAYNE A. BARNES of Faith Avenue off Carmichael, New Providence, The Bahamas applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twentyeight days from the 9th day of August 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

Union boss: BTC trying to make staff ‘look bad’

per month, and that the unit must be expanded if it is to function properly.

BTC’s union woes erupted just as Liberty Latin America, its ultimate parent, unveiled 2023 firsthalf results that showed its Bahamian carrier’s revenues for the first six months of this year fell by 1.5 percent, dropping from $96.1m in the same period last year to $94.7m this time around.

The 2023 second quarter showed similar trends to the first three months, and the second half overall, with revenues down 1.7 percent year-over-year at $47.6m compared to $48.4m during the same period in 2022 - a drop of $600,000. Liberty Latin America’s results do not show the profit performance of its subsidiaries, but BTC’s top-line slidalbeit modestly - during the 2023 first half.

BTC, in which the Government holds a 49 percent stake, fared better in adding new subscribers during the three months to end-June 2023. Liberty Latin America’s statistics showed it added some 3,300 subscribers, or revenue generating units (RGUs), among nonmobile customers during the period.

Internet and video/TV subscribers rose by 1,800 and 1,100, respectively, compared to end-March 2023, while phone RGUs rose by 400 over the same period. BTC’s mobile subscriber numbers, while remaining relatively flat during the 2023 second quarter, still fell by a total 400 as the carrier shed 300 pre-paid subscribers and 100 postpaid. This, at end-June, left it with 167,900 total mobile customers - 144,100 of the pre-paid variety, and 23,800 post-paid.

Mr Knowles, meanwhile, confirmed that yesterday’s protest by BTC union representatives and their members was a response to the outcome of Friday’s meeting between leadership of both unions and Mr Bhatti. “We didn’t get what we were looking for in the meeting, so we went ahead with the demonstration,” he told Tribune Business. “They did not convince us that their plan will not result in a loss of jobs. We were not convinced of that.

“That’s why we took the action to demonstrate. We want them [BTC], the public and the Government to know they plan to send Bahamian jobs out of BTC and out of the country. The indications we saw at that

meeting brought us to that conclusion.”

This newspaper reported last week on BTC union concerns that the carrier plans to outsource Bahamian jobs at its customer contact centre to a Pakistanbased vendor. BTC, which declined to comment further on the situation yesterday, referred Tribune Business back to its response last week in which it denied there would be any job losses.

“The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) has not outsourced the job of any Bahamian employed in its contact centre. On the contrary, BTC has consistently onboarded new colleagues and last year increased its contact centre complement to meet the growing demands of our customers,” BTC said.

“The contact centre remains an integral part of the BTC business, and the company is focused on onboarding even more local talent to provide best-inclass customer care. We also have plans to onboard young, Bahamian talent through our graduate programme. BTC is currently working on several digital projects and initiatives to modernise its customer care platforms to make them

more accessible to custom-

ers at their convenience.”

Mr Knowles, though, yesterday reiterated that the unions have not been reassured by this public pledge. Referring to their Friday meeting with Mr Bhatti, he said: “He pretty much confirmed that the [Pakistani] vendor is engaged by CWC, and they’re doing some other work for BTC that resulted in the outsourcing of some other functions.

“The meeting was very informative on the outsourcing of some functions. We are already using the same company to do credit collections. That was interesting. They want to use them again because they are an approved vendor, and felt comfortable with an approved vendor instead of a new vendor. That was the excuse why they did not come to us first.”

Mr Knowles said both unions took the stance that this was “not acceptable”, and that they should have been informed before a decision was taken, given that it potentially involves “outsourcing the functions of the business” and a potential threat to Bahamian jobs and employment.

“He identified challenges in the contact centre. He did not identify a plan to meet those challenges. He did

FLAMBOYANT ‘PHILANTHROPIST’ FACING FRAUD CHARGES RETRIAL

FROM PAGE A24

“The allegations against the respondent arose out of several transactions he conducted through five accounts he controlled in the Post Office Savings Bank because he appeared to have withdrawn more money out of

the accounts than he had deposited in them,” appeal justice Isaacs wrote in his verdict.

“I observe that, according to the Savings Bank Rules made pursuant to section 14 of the Savings Bank Act, the purpose of the bank is to

encourage thrift and that it is not to be used as a current account.” The repayment of funds deposited into the Post Office Savings Bank was also governed by the same rules.

“It would appear from the facts of this case that

the Rules were ignored routinely by those who were mandated to scrupulously obey them,” appeal justice Isaacs added.

“The respondent [Mr King] was allowed to open five accounts at the Post Office Savings Bank in the names of himself and four companies. It appears that he did not operate these accounts as they were intended, namely for saving money, but given the volume of recorded transactions conducted in respect of each account, he used them as one would use a current account.

“At the respondent’s trial, the appellant [Commissioner of Police] called some 20 witnesses who spoke to the purpose of the Post Office Savings Bank and the rules governing the operation of accounts with the Post Office Savings Bank. They also spoke directly to those accounts the respondent operated, and his apparent failure to produce his passbooks when requested to do so by the former Post Master General, Mrs Pennerman- Seymour.”

However, magistrate Rolle-Davis found for the ‘no case to answer’ submission from Mr King and his attorney, former minister of state for legal affairs, Damian Gomez KC, in relation to the five counts of fraud by false pretences and five counts of money

not have a plan that would resolve our concerns of job losses,” the BTC management union chief said of Mr Bhatti. “He showed us a presentation he was going to make to the Board showing calls answered and calls made. We felt it was misleading as it did not provide segmentation and what is contributing to the volume of calls.”

Mr Knowles said, based on the statistics he was shown, the 35 BTC contact centre staff were dealing with around 43,000 calls per month. It was suggested that the high call volume was attracting “a low answer rate” from workers, but he added: “We shut that down and said it was not acceptable and, if that is presented to the Board, it’s misleading.

“The volume of calls is high because the network is failing; it is not being upgraded. And customer calls are not being answered because they do not have the staff resources.” Mr Knowles questioned why there was no IVR recorded message to inform customers of network outages impacting specific areas so they would not be inconvenienced in holding on the phone for 15 minutes or more.

“Are you not doing it because you want to make

laundering that the wellknown impresario was charged with. He ruled that there was “a gaping hole” in the prosecution’s case, as “no fraud has been shown on this evidence alone”. The magistrate added that most of the witnesses had confirmed “Mr King did what he was supposed to do, and that they signed and checked the passbook, and all was in order”. Thus he concluded “that no crime has been committed”, with the prosecution failing to make its case, and Mr King was acquitted “of all charges”.

However, appeal justice Isaacs found that magistrate Rolle-Davis erred in focusing on the need for original copies of documentary evidence. As a result, he “chose to disregard the evidence entirely and thereby failed to properly and adequately assess the evidence that the prosecution had adduced. Thus, the magistrate could not reasonably arrive at his conclusion that there was no case for the respondent to answer”.

Mr Gomez, in response to a question at the Court of Appeal hearing, also conceded that the magistrate “seemed to ignore” evidence showing all the transactions that occurred involving Mr King’s five Post Office Savings Bank accounts, including deposits, withdrawals, dates and sums involved, even though these were admitted into evidence.

“Had the magistrate given attention to schedules and to

BTC staff look bad to justify what you’re doing?” he asked. “We went directly to the company, asked what is going on and they did not satisfy our concerns with answers. They did not come and discuss it with us first. They said it would only be temporary, and after a while they would revert back. No, we don’t believe that.

“We want visionary leadership in the company. If they don’t communicate how they’re going to address these challenges, that tells me they don’t know how to address these things or don’t want to address these things.” Mr Knowles, who said he has been with BTC for 30 years, indicated he is well-placed to assess network performance as he implemented and managed the carrier’s dial-up Internet.

He added that CWC was “not delivering” on its promises of improved customer service, experience and a stronger financial performance at BTC - all of which it had promised at the time of the 2011 privatisation. “We’re not seeing that,” Mr Knowles blasted. “Instead they’re taking jobs from BTC and moving them elsewhere.”

the offences charged individually, he would have noted, for example, that the record reflects that a deposit of a small amount was made at the main Post Office on one day and a larger amount was withdrawn from the same account at a sub-post office on the same day,” appeal justice Isaacs ruled.

“Prima facie, this discloses that a representation was made by the respondent that the larger sum was available to his order than was the sum that was, in actuality, in his account. The appellant contends that this was the actus reus [guilty act] of the offence of fraud by false pretences.....

“The intent to defraud can be inferred from the circumstances of the deposit of a lower sum, and the purported presentation of a request to withdraw a larger sum, thereby obtaining a monetary gain that is the difference between the deposit and the withdrawal.”

Appeal justice Isaacs ruled that, by excluding admissible evidence provided by the prosecution, “the magistrate proceeded from a wrong premises and arrived, therefore, at a flawed conclusion.... There was a failure by the magistrate to evaluate all of the evidence adduced by the prosecution at the trial... I am satisfied that the magistrate’s decision to discharge the respondent was precipitous and that the acquittal on all of the charges must be quashed”.

‘We’ll show true story’ on title to $29m cays

said the fraud meant the later sale of both islands to companies owned by a Virginia-based developer, David Tilton, was “null and void”.

His verdict detailed allegations that the two islands were sold to Mr Tilton for a combined $1.8m - a sum equivalent to just 6.2 percent of their combined appraised value. Lumber Cay, in particular, was said to have been appraised at $20m alone, and offers a prime real estate/ tourism development opportunity as a 30-acre parcel located just 700 feet south of Staniel Cay, the renowned boating and second home destination.

Mr Allen was also described in the judgment as acting for Mr Tilton and his companies. He was said to have been a president, director and shareholder of Archipelago Development & Resorts III and Jim Cay Company, with Mr Tilton funding the quieting action,

but Mr Allen subsequently vehemently denied that there was any land fraud or that he played a role in any such conspiracy, adding that the Chief Justice’s verdict got it “very, very wrong”.

He yesterday told Tribune Business that the latest Quieting Titles petition by Mr Burrows, with Gardie Nixon no longer involved, will expose “the actual story” concerning both cays. Jim Cay is an eight-acre island situated north of Lansing Cay, between Musher and Hog Cay, and Mr Allen said the new action is “based on a completely new set of circumstances” to what was before Sir Ian.

Asserting that there are no plans to ‘flip’, or sell, either cay to Mr Tilton or anyone else should his client be successful, he added that Mr Burrows’ claim is based on a possessory title - meaning that he actually lived on, or worked on, both cays for an extended period of time - “without those documents tying us to” the estate of the

STAFF AND UNIONS BLAST BTC DURING PROTESTS

FROM PAGE A22

Cable & Wireless need to show that they care for the people.”

Mr Knowles maintained that workers at BTC’s contact centre are “overworked”, and questioned if management was reducing staff in an attempt to push Bahamian workers to resign so that foreign labour can be employed. He added that skilled workers hired by BTC do not follow a training plan so that their understudies can learn during their employment.

He charged: “Workers are being overworked.. they’re giving the job of five people to one person, and then they compare our output with other regions that have supporting staff. We only have 35 people in

the call centre and they’re comparing us with regions that have hundreds. Why are you doing this? Why you frustrating people out of the business to cause them to leave the job and resign? So that you can justify bringing in foreigners?”

“Why is the Government of The Bahamas giving work permits for functions that have been carried on in this company by employees? They claim to bring a skill set that we don’t have, but yet they are training no one. On the application they are putting names of persons they are supposed to be training, but these persons say I don’t know anything about it; they are not training me. Where’s the training plan? How long are they going to be here?”

late King Richard Nixon, whose other children successfully overturned the previous title certificate in the case before Sir Ian. “We’ve started it all over again and are testing the question of possession,” Mr Allen told this newspaper. “The court has taken no objection so far.... The issue that’s important to us is that this property is being quieted on the basis of possession, not documentary. Samuel Burrows, there’s sufficient evidence of him being in possession of both cays.”

Sir Ian, in his verdict, found that Mr Burrows “misled the court” by failing to disclose that he was placed on Lumber Cay by Wayde Nixon, a member of the Nixon family, to be a caretaker. And one witness testified in the trial that he had been promised a boat and a house “if he testified that Samuel lived on Lumber Cay for the last 20 years”.

However, Mr Allen yesterday said: “We’re going to present the true story. We

have the opportunity to present the actual story. This is Samuel’s possession, and if something was taken fraudulently from King Nixon, then prove it. Prove he owned it and it was taken from him. We’re saying King Nixon’s estate never owned the property.”

Mr Burrows, who is the late King Nixon’s brotherin-law and uncle to all his children, many of whom successfully opposed him in the original Quieting Titles action, will likely fresh challenges and adverse claims from them again over his bid to obtain documentary title to the two cays. However, Mr Allen said the estate holds a confirmatory conveyance, not the original deed, giving him confidence in his client’s claim.

“This is a new action based on a completely new set of circumstances,” he told this newspaper. “What it does reflect is that the Chief Justice did not give the cays to them. He restored the status quo and left the cays

in exactly the same condition as before, which made us feel we were entitled to quiet them again.”

Asked if the two cays would be sold if Mr Burrows was successful, Mr Allen replied: “There’s no commercial aspect to this. We’re just quieting.” In a previous interview with this newspaper, Mr Allen said of the Chief Justice’s verdict: “We deny it was fraudulent, and I was not a defendant in the action. We disagree with the finding of fraud profusely.”

He added that his clients had been claiming a possessory title to the two cays, and not relying on King Nixon’s will and purported documentary title. “The focus was to simply show that the estate of King Nixon had no connection to the property,” Mr Allen said.

However, Chief Justice Winder ruled that Mr Tilton and the companies were “not bona fide purchasers for value” under the Quieting Titles Act. “This could not be said to have been an

arm’s length transaction,” his verdict said. “Additionally, the ultimate beneficial owner of the purchasers was the person who funded the quieting action.”

The Act only protected “bona fide purchasers for value without notice of fraud”, and the Chief Justice added: “Andrew Allen is a director and controlling mind of the purchasers. Allen is the attorney for the purchasers as well as for Gardie and Mr Burrows in the transaction.

“Allen was also the counsel, and therefore agent, for Gardie and Mr Burrows in the preparation of the quieting action. In the circumstances, given the relationships, I am satisfied that such knowledge of the fraud as Gardie and Samuel may have possessed ought to be imputed to the purchasers.”

Fidelity mulls five for one stock split

FROM PAGE A22

was really to have it under $5. If we split at $4.50, any price increase carries it to the $5 mark, so we are mulling a five-for-one.”

Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) is not the only BISX-listed firm planning a stock split. Family Guardian, the life and health insurer, yesterday confirmed that it is initiating a three-for-one stock split, where current shareholders gain two extra shares for each one they currently own, as of September 1, 2023, for investors of record as at August 15.

Stock splits are nothing new to the Bahamian capital markets. Commonwealth Bank, FOCOL Holdings and Cable Bahamas are just a few of the other BISX-listed companies to go down this route in the past. They are typically done to make an in-demand stock more affordable to retail investors, in particular, as well as broadening liquidity, boosting trading volumes and expanding the investor base.

Mr Bowe, meanwhile, acknowledged that Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) share split had been a while coming, but said it was due to a combination of

the required legal work, updating the bank’s 45 year-old memorandum and articles of association to ensure they met 21st century requirements, and management’s focus on its 2022 audit and other matters.

“I tried to say to the shareholders it’s best to keep the bank running well so the share price continues to rise rather than focus on the share price and it stops,” he added. As to the benefits of the move, Mr Bowe said: “We recognise we’re a publicly-traded institution, and therefore shareholders have a right to issue their views on how the bank should manage its corporate affairs.

“While our management team knows it [a stock split] doesn’t intrinsically change the value of the shares, investors deserve to have it happen. From that perspective, our fiduciary duty is to hear their views and carry out their wishes. There’s nothing debilitating by doing it. It’s not a case of shareholders requesting something reckless and us resisting it in the best interests of the company. It’s one that has no harm being done, so if it’s the wish of the shareholders it’s our responsibility to carry it out.”

GOWON BOWE

STAFF AND UNIONS BLAST BTC DURING PROTESTS

SEVERAL dozen Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) workers yesterday joined with executives from the company’s two trade unions to demonstrate against feared job losses and other grievances with the carrier.

Members of the Bahamas Communications and Public Managers Union (BCPMU) and the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU), which represent the company’s middle managers and line staff respectively, marched and held placards outside BTC’s Perpall Tract head office as they protested over concerns that jobs at the company’s customer contact centre are being outsourced to a Pakistan sub-contractor.

Sherry Benjamin, the BCPOU’s president, voiced

fears that the move could compromise data security and protection for BTC’s Bahamian customers if the company, which is 49 percent owned by the Government, outsources the handling of complaints submitted via What’s App to Pakistan. She also argued that many Bahamian staff at BTC’s contact centre are still under temporary contracts, and have yet to be made permanent, despite holding their posts for several years.

“They are just outsourcing more and more jobs that Bahamians were supposed to be doing,” Ms Benjamin said. “They are outsourcing to foreign entities and having Bahamians train them to do their jobs. And they have a lot of persons here on contract that they are frustrating because they’re keeping them up to eight years as temporary or contract workers. These people cannot make any plans for their life.”

Ms Benjamin questioned the risks involved in allowing third-party vendors access to the personal information of BTC customers, warning that this could be exploited by “unscrupulous” individuals who can sell this data to criminals or abuse it themselves.

“We have to live here, and it’s going to be our parents, our neighbours, our siblings, that are going to be taken advantage of if our communication

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information is used unscrupulously by these people,” she added. Ms Benjamin said she was not accusing the Pakistani vendor or its employees of wrongdoing, but said attempts to convince BTC management to reconsider the arrangement were “fruitless” so the unions decided to show their disdain over the situation publicly.

“We just want to send a message to BTC,” she added. “We’ve tried diplomacy. We had a conversation with the chief executive every other day. Every day last week we were in communication with the chief executive. Myself and the president of the managers union were in communication with the chief executive, asking them to rethink this whole decision. We had a meeting on Friday that was very fruitless. We didn’t realise any good outcome from that meeting.

“We are now letting them know, and letting the public know, and letting our government know, that the unions are upset about this. The workers are upset about it and we don’t think it’s a good idea for - not just the workers and BTC - but for the country as a whole.”

BTC declined to comment further yesterday, instead referring Tribune Business to the statement it issued to this newspaper last Thursday when it denied there were any plans to outsource Bahamian jobs.

“The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) has not outsourced the job of any Bahamian employed in its contact centre. On the contrary, BTC has consistently onboarded new colleagues

and last year increased its contact centre complement to meet the growing demands of our customers,” BTC said then.

“The contact centre remains an integral part of the BTC business, and the company is focused on onboarding even more local talent to provide best-inclass customer care. We also have plans to on-board young, Bahamian talent through our graduate programme. BTC is currently working on several digital projects and initiatives to modernise its customer care platforms to make them more accessible to customers at their convenience.”

The situation is a tricky one for the Davis administration. It has made much of putting Bahamians first, yet is a 49 percent shareholder - and has three Board seats, albeit a minority - in a company accused of planning to outsource local jobs overseas. BTC is controlled by Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC), its immediate parent, which is itself owned by Liberty Latin America.

Kendrick Knowles, the managers union’s president, meanwhile said BTC is using foreign labour for managerial and line staff positions in a bid to replace Bahamian workers.

“We have a number of concerns; the outsourcing is just one of them,” he added. “But, on that particular point, we are seeing jobs on the line staff level as well as management level leaving this country. And the question we have is ‘why’. This company, which was called BaTelCo, was built by Bahamians… and they are replacing these staff with foreigners.

“What is the reason for that? It’s not because we’re not able to do the work. We obviously built a company big enough for you to be interested in purchasing it.

So why aren’t we given an opportunity to be a part of the development and the success of the company?”

Mr Knowles asserted that the relocation of BTC’s head office from JFK Drive to Perpall Tract demonstrated the company’s view of its employees and that they are no longer viewed as “important” by management.

He said: “They don’t see us as being important any longer. And we see this in what they do… They moved us from JFK. It’s a perfect example. A head office on a highway, very visible, bring us into back here in what used to be a storage room.

“We have a corporate office in the back of Perpall Tract, outside of anybody. That is showing a reduction in our identity, who we were as a people. The pride we used to have as being a part of this company is now being pushed in the back of the bush.”

Mr Knowles said recent changes have not benefited BTC or its employees, and he maintained that customer dissatisfaction with the company is at an “alltime high”.

“Why are Pakistanis answering for ‘tier one’ and ‘tier two’ support for our customers? We’ve been doing this for over 100 years. We know how to do this. So the point is that they’re reducing us to a level of unimportance; to reduce it from a capital ‘B’ to a lowercase ‘b’; from a head office and multifloor to a storage facility in the back of the bush in the pond. This is where we’ve been reduced to,” he added.

“Did the sale [of BTC] benefit The Bahamas? Did it benefit employees at BaTelCo? Did it benefit Bahamians? The company is supposed to be more profitable; they’re supposed to be more visible; they’re supposed to be a staple of this country. But what we’re seeing now, our customer dissatisfaction is at an alltime high.”

Mr Knowles also criticised the conditions BTC workers in Abaco face, alleging that four years after Hurricane Dorian the bathroom facilities have not been repaired at the BTC office. He said “Why aren’t there bathrooms in Abaco? Four years after the hurricane our employees have to use the bathroom of another company.

“This is not acceptable for The Bahamas. This is not who we are. And this is not who we should be as a company. All we’re saying is listen, Liberty and

SEE PAGE A21

WEST BAY PROJECT IS ‘TOTALLY SOLD OUT’

Business that the project’s units had sold out two months ago as the development readies to complete its final phase.

A WEST Bay Street development is “sold out” and will totally finish construction by next year April, one of its principals disclosed yesterday.

Randy Hart, Villanova’s president, told Tribune

“It’s been a few months now that we’ve been sold out. So, let’s say since June of this year, every single unit is under contract, and so when people call me to buy something, the answer is that we’re sold out, unfortunately,” he said.

The $14m Villanova development has been built over three phases. The first was completed last year, while the second is now finished with tenants already moving in. The developer is now “in the process of completing the third building, which is about 65 percent done”.

The minimum price for a studio unit starts at

$195,000, scaling upwards to $380,000 for a three-bedroom unit. It is designed to appeal to foreign investors “looking for an affordable luxury option under $500,000”.

“We love the location, but the initial issue in that area was that the road was a bit low and there was no drainage,” Mr Hart explained. “So we fixed

the road with the Government, and we had a deal with the Government. We put in the drainage and now there’s less water and flooding than most parts of New Providence. We solved the problem and we have the perfect location close to West Bay Street and all of the major points of interest.”

Villanova features a 50/50 split between local and international buyers. “I’m mostly looking forward to finishing the construction and then, once it’s all completed, it will enhance the valued for the existing owners,” Mr Hart said. “By next year April everything should be finished at the Villanova. By next year, I will be on the beach.”

Water Corp managers in $2.3m industrial deal

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net

MIDDLE managers at the Water & Sewerage Corporation yesterday signed a three-year, $2.3m industrial agreement with the state-owned utility that will last until mid-2025.

This is the first industrial deal for the Water and Sewerage Management Union (WSMU) and its members in a decade, the last having expired in June 2013, will be in effect from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2025.

Montgomery Miller, the union’s president, said: “Through the signing of this 2022 to 2025 industrial

agreement, we have sought to address issues such as performance management by aligning the performance assessment of the individual manager with that of the corporation as a whole.

“Further, we have ensured equity across the Water & Sewerage Corporation such that employees and managers alike are duly incentivised and compensated in accordance with their objectively-measured performance. For the long term sustainability of the Water & Sewerage Corporation, we have agreed to a group medical insurance premium cost-sharing proposal for new employees to ensure the ongoing provision of affordable medical insurance for all of our members.”

Robert Deal, the Water & Sewerage Corporation’s general manager, said the industrial agreement’s value is in the “range of about $2.3m, which is shared over all of the existing middle managers and also a series of benefits payments that will also be due to managers who have retired from the corporation during this period as well”.

Mr Deal added: “That’s the total figure. It is all-inclusive, including the amount required moving forward.” He added that a presentation on the Water & Sewerage Corporation’s business plan was made to the Davis Cabinet in July, but there are further documents that need to be provided to policymakers. The state-owned

enterprise expects that the plan will be completed “over the next few months”.

Alfred Sears, minister for public works and utilities, said yesterday marked the first time in well over a decade since both Water & Sewerage Corporation unions, the management union as well as the Bahamas Utility, Services and Allied Workers Union (BUSAWU) that represents line staff, both have signed industrial agreements.

Meanwhile, Mr Sears, said of Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) that “there has been a forensic investigation and, in due course, that investigation will be released”.

THE WEATHER REPORT

‘Smooth sailing’: Resort’s $30m amnual GB boost

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

FEARS that a major resort development may have stalled were eased yesterday after it was revealed the project will generate a $30m annual boost for Grand Bahama’s ailing economy once fully operational.

James Carey, the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce’s president, told Tribune Business he hopes Weller Development’s $250m Six Senses project will enjoy “smooth sailing from this point on” after the release of its Environmental Impact Assessment

Flamboyant ‘philanthropist’ facing fraud charges retrial

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A FLAMBOYANT

Bahamian businessman and “philanthropist” faces a retrial on fraud and money laundering charges after the Court of Appeal found the rules governing his Post Office Savings Bank accounts were “ignored routinely”.

Appeal justice Jon Isaacs, in a July 26, 2023, unanimous verdict backed by his colleagues, found that magistrate Derrence RolleDavis reached “a flawed conclusion” in determining that Rudolph “Rudy” King had no case to answer over allegations that he defrauded the Post Office Savings Bank of some $661,648 between 2012 and 2015.

Quashing Mr King’s acquittal, and sending the case back for trial before a

new magistrate, the Court of Appeal found that his five Post Office Savings Bank accounts were operated in breach of the Savings Bank Rules that accompany the Savings Bank Act. This was because they were used like current accounts, which was forbidden by these Rules, to handle multiple deposits and withdrawals instead of being employed merely to accumulate savings.

SEE PAGE A20

Fidelity mulls five for one stock split

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

FIDELITY Bank (Bahamas) is mulling a fivefor-one stock split due to its present share price, its chief executive has revealed, with the long-awaited move finally set to happen this quarter. Gowon Bowe told Tribune Business that the BISX-listed commercial lender is eyeing an increased stock split beyond the three or four-for-one initially eyed so as to bring the share price comfortably inside the $5 range it is targeting.

Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) share price closed at $17.50 last night and, as it hovers close to $18, he added that a greater split may be necessary. Mr Bowe, who confirmed that shareholders were briefed on the plans at the bank’s recent annual general meeting (AGM), said the the legal work is “nearly completed” and the necessary regulatory filings to give effect to the stock split are “going to be completed this quarter”. He added: “It may be five-for-one because the share price is near $18. A four-for-one would put it at $4.50, and the whole point

SEE PAGE A21

(EIA) indicates progress towards obtaining all necessary permits and approvals for construction to proceed.

Speaking after it was disclosed that the public hearing and consultation on the EIA will be held on September 7, 2023, at the Pelican Bay hotel, he added that himself and others “were beginning to wonder if this was another announced project” that then fails to move forward given Grand Bahama’s recent history of much-touted developments that ultimately failed to materialise.

The GB Chamber chief, reiterating his concern that the recent dispute between the Government

and Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) could deter investors and freeze their plans, voiced relief that Weller is still moving ahead with its Discovery Bay plans and described the forecast economic impact as “huge” given Freeport’s still-struggling economy.

The EIA, drawn up by Bahamian environmental engineer, Islands by Design, and its principal, Keith Bishop, disclosed that the Six Senses project will inject an estimated $50m per annum into the Bahamian economy over the two to three-year construction timeframe. Marc Weller, Weller Development’s founding partner and president, previously told this

newspaper that he was targeting a construction start in early 2024 with completion and an operational start in 2026. Some 100 construction tradespeople, of whom 80 percent will be Bahamian, will be required for the construction phase with “100-plus” local created by a fulloperational resort that will 70 resort keys (units) and 29 branded residences. “It is estimated that the number of persons required for the construction phases will be approximately 100 trade workers, of which 80 percent will be of Bahamian nationality and 20

Union boss: BTC trying to make staff ‘look bad’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A UNION leader yesterday accused the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) of trying to make Bahamian staff “look bad to justify” outsourcing local jobs as the carrier’s 2023 first-half revenues fell by $1.4m.

Kenny Knowles, president of the Bahamas Communications and Public Managers Union (BCPMU), which represents BTC middle managers, told Tribune Business the placard-carrying demonstration outside the carrier’s Perpall Tract headquarters (see article on Page 22B) was just the “first step” after Friday’s meeting with chief executive, Sameer Bhatti, failed to achieve the desired results.

Declining to detail what his union and the Bahamas Communications and

Public Officers Union (BCPOU), which represents BTC’s line staff, plan to do if the grievances of their members are not satisfactorily addressed, he added that senior management “failed to convince us” that their plans will not result in the loss of Bahamian jobs.

Mr Knowles told this newspaper he was especially concerned by a study that Mr Bhatti purportedly

said he intends to present to BTC’s Board on the performance of the carrier’s customer contact centre.

This, the middle managers union president asserted, suggests that there is a “low answer rate” to customer calls and complaints compared to other countries in the wider Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) and Liberty Latin America group.

Branding this “misleading”, and suggesting the findings were not properly “segmented” and lacked analysis of what was causing the high call volumes, Mr Knowles suggested the latter is resulting from frequent “network outages” sparked by lack of investment in BTC’s infrastructure. And he asserted that the 35 contact centre staff was simply an inadequate number to cope with 43,000 customer inquiries

show true story’ on title to $29m cays

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A FRESH bid to resolve the title to two Exuma cays, valued at a collective $29m, has been launched by some of the parties previously ensnared by the Chief Justice’s land fraud conspiracy ruling last year involving the same islands.

Andrew Allen, attorney for Samuel Burrows, who is now seeking to obtain a certificate of title to both Lumber Cay and Jim Cay via the Quieting Titles Act, yesterday asserted to Tribune Business that the new Supreme Court action will “present the true story” concerning ownership of both cays.

Both Mr Allen, son of late finance minister, Sir William Allen, and Mr Burrows, were among those who featured in Sir Ian Winder’s September 12, 2022, verdict where he set aside a previous

Certificate of Title to both islands on the basis that it had been obtained via fraud and abuse of the Quieting Titles Act.

The certificate had been obtained by the same Mr Burrows in partnership with Gardie Nixon, with both men represented by Mr Allen. But, slamming the “falsehoods” and “deliberate concealment” employed by the duo to obtain title to the islands, which was granted by the Supreme Court via a different case on July 18, 2017, the Chief Justice

SEE PAGE A21

‘We’ll

RUDOLPH “RUDY” KING