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VOLUME:115 No.188, AUGUST 23RD, 2018

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We’re in the hotel business ...for now

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE government has made a $10m down payment to acquire the Grand Lucayan resort at a price tag of $65m and expects to complete the purchase from Hutchinson Whampoa within the next 30 days, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis confirmed yesterday.

He spoke in Grand Bahama after touring the resort and the Port Lucaya Marketplace where he spoke to concerned residents struggling to deal with the Lucayan strip’s reduced economic activity following the resort’s closure in 2016.

He also toured the neardeserted International Bazaar shopping area which he views as a cautionary tale of how the closure of a major hotel harms surrounding businesses.

He did not give much details about the purchase or specify the

government’s plans for the three-hotel property, saying he will make a comprehensive communication when Parliament resumes after its summer break next month.

However, he said once the government’s acquisition is complete, a concessions package will be available to prospective buyers of the hotel, the terms of which will be more favourable to Bahamian investors than foreign ones.

He said the government plans to keep the 196-room Lighthouse Pointe open, which reopened in November 2016, and is considering re-opening the 400-room Memories property.

The latter property would require some renovations prior to reopening.

Dr Minnis said the government will assess the costs of reopening it before making a decision.

The government is not considering re-opening the 500-room Breaker’s Cay. SEE PAGES FOUR & FIVE

L SOUR CE

PM ORDERS PROBE INTO BPL BOARD MELTDOWN

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

THE government will launch a formal investigation into the saga at Bahamas Power and Light and the circumstances that led to the shock dissolution of its board of directors and a bitter war of words with top officials.

Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis told the media at a press briefing in Grand Bahama that he met with former board members early yesterday morning.

He later told reporters he has not yet chosen the investigators.

“I have met this morning with the past BPL board members,” Dr Minnis said.

SEE PAGE THREE

THREE YEARS JAIL FOR US COCAINE SMUGGLER

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net

A GOVERNMENT delegation headed by Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis tours the Grand Lucayan Resort yesterday led by hotel manager Veronica Clarke, right.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

AN American man was convicted yesterday and sentenced to three years in prison in connection with a drug seizure at the Lynden Pindling International Airport over the weekend.

Tommy Lee Williams, 30, of Miami Gardens, Florida, stood before Deputy Chief Magistrate Subusola Swain, faced with several drug related charges in connection with the August 18 discovery.

It is alleged on the day in question, Williams presented himself to a US Customs Border Patrol officer for pre-clearance at the airport with a grey carry-on bag, was screened and cleared to go upstairs to his gate.

SEE PAGE 12

ILLEGAL WEB SHOPS TARGET ‘TAX REFUGEES’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

LEGAL web shops yesterday expressed fears that unlicenced rivals are expanding to exploit the imminent five percent patron tax without any interference from impotent law enforcers.

Licenced operators, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Tribune Business that Bet Vegas

- the only web shop chain whose licence application was rejected when the sector was legalised in 2015 - was not only still operating but now expanding to eight locations with the pending opening of a new site in the Carmichael Road area.

They argued that Bet Vegas was expanding in anticipation of enjoying a competitive advantage when the five percent levy on gambler deposits and

over-the-counter lottery sales takes effect on September 1, as itself and other unlicenced operators will not have to impose it.

As a result, licenced operators believe their concerns that increased web shop taxation in the 20182019 Budget will create an expanded gaming “black market” are about to come true, taking the sector back to its pre-regulation days.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

DIANE PHILLIPS: LITTLE KNOWN, BUT LEXION BROUGHT FAME TO NATION

SEE PAGE EIGHT

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THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, August 23, 2018, PAGE 3

FROM left, Hugh Patrick Rollins, Darnell Osborne, Carson B Harreld, Whitney Heastie, and Nicola Thompson.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

PM orders probe into BPL board meltdown from page one “I had a very good meeting with them and I have informed them in light of what has been transpiring that the government will initiate a proper investigation into the BPL saga and when we complete that investigation that will be made readily available to you.”

Minister of Works Desmond Bannister, who has responsibility for BPL, has laid the blame for dysfunction at the former board squarely at the feet of its ex-chair, Darnell Osbourne.

Mr Bannister told the media he only became involved with the operations of the BPL board of directors in a bid to block the company from paying the personal bills of its former chairwoman, including make-up services and the installation of a home security system.

It was later confirmed the home security system had been approved by the board.

It was also alleged by sources close to the matter that the security system was agreed by the board after BPL Executive Director Patrick Rollins shared an experience of having his car destroyed by fire as chairman of Nassau Flight Services. Mr Rollins said only Mrs Osborne among the board members upgraded her home security after he had recounted his story.

The Tribune understands there was a make-up bill submitted for services rendered in connection with a company branding photoshoot, which included scores of other employees. Mr Bannister - made aware of this explanation - contended he was referring to a different bill which reflected make-up services for only Mrs Osborne.

Yesterday, Mr Rollins said he looked forward to getting back on course with major projects at the corporation after a much needed “reset” of its board of directors.

Mr Rollins backed claims levelled by Mr Bannister that the relationship

DR Hubert Minnis pictured yesterday. between himself and Mrs Osborne changed dramatically after he was appointed as executive director.

He insisted he did not have any personal issues with Mrs Osborne, adding the relationship was “pretty good” until his appointment.

“Things had pretty much gone as normal and then once I was announced executive director things took a dive,” Mr Rollins said.

“Nothing was allowed to happen. It got frustrating trying to get things done.

It had to come through her, she wanted to make a point that if she couldn’t have her way nothing would happen.

It was unfortunate but that’s how it was.

“I didn’t have a problem with her,” he continued, “I had a problem that we weren’t getting things done because of the situation.

I don’t think it should be that because I’m not satisfied with the way things are going, I should just bring everything to a halt. At the end of the day it’s not serving the Bahamian people.”

Of the board’s dissolution, Mr Rollins said: “It was a reset, we can get back on course and get things going.”

Mr Bannister’s rebuttal on Tuesday followed

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

accusations of political interference in a statement penned by Mrs Osborne and two former board members, Nicola Thompson and Nick Dean.

In their joint statement issued on Sunday, the former BPL board members defended their tenure and said Mrs Osborne in particular was “continually disrespected and undermined”, suggesting chauvinism was at play.

The group has declined further comment, but sources close to the matter identified other key allegations against CEO Whitney Heastie and Mr Rollins such as unauthorised travel and negotiations contrary to directives of the board; and attempts to subvert the procurement process.

However, Mr

Bannister told The Tribune he believed the discord between board members stemmed directly from Mrs Osborne’s disenchantment over his decision to appoint Mr Rollins to the executive director post after it was vacated by Deepak Bhatnagar late last year.

Mr Bannister further alleged to Tribune Business that Mrs Osborne exposed New Providence residents to power outages by blocking the purchase of critical parts, and as a result, the corporation was facing a $10m-plus loss.

Outside Cabinet, Mr Bannister said he directed Mr Heastie to provide the media with invoices submitted by Mrs Osborne.

However, supporting documents have yet to be released.

Thursday, 23rd August 2018

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THE TRIBUNE

We’re in the hotel business ...for now from page one Noting there is demand for additional rooms at the Grand Lucayan, Dr Minnis said: “I’ve been informed there are a lot of group bookings individuals are trying to bring forth. However, because of the large size of the groupings and the number of rooms, only 196 presently, those groupings are being denied. There are groupings that require 200, 300 visitors that want to utilise the hotel services but we don’t have the capacity but soon we’ll have the capacity to have an even greater impact on the Lucayan strip.”

Asked if the government is seeking a private sector operator to manage the hotels, which some observers believe is essential, Dr Minnis demurred. He suggested such matters will be determined by a newly formed committee tasked with examining all matters related to the resort.

“What the government would like to do is get in and out as soon as possible,” he said. “At present we are establishing a committee, a committee comprising of professionals that is chaired by (Hotel Corporation Chairman) Michael Scott, which would look and plan the way forward.

That would not be done by me or politicians, but a professional group that are involved in businesses.”

To the Minnis administration, the need to buy the hotel despite considerable criticism was made clear

A GOVERNMENT delegation headed by Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis toured the Grand Lucayan Resort yesterday. through the experiences of workers on the Lucayan strip who expressed frustration with the “horrible” state of their businesses.

One vendor who spoke to Dr Minnis complained of struggling to make $50 a day.

“A lot of people in The Bahamas saying that’s the wrong move but we wearing the shoes, the hard shoes,” she said. “We are the ones that got to pay the bill and now that he doing that it gives us a chance to

make money and to put people back to work so I thank God for the sale.”

The Minnis administration has not said whether any investors have expressed interest in purchasing the resort from the government, but he said he has no “intention to run a hotel”.

“It is our intention to save the jobs of the Grand Bahamians who work at this hotel, approximately 400 individuals and you can see the impact and you

would’ve heard the straw vendors spoke about it,” he said. “You had the closure of this hotel. You have on this Lucayan strip the straw market, taxi drivers, the tour drivers, other commerce, the supermarkets and other industries. You would’ve heard them say and we do believe similarly that should this hotel close you’d have a devastating economic impact on Grand Bahama and under no circumstance can a government sit idly by and allow

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

such a thing to happen.”

In a nod to potential Bahamian investors, Dr Minnis said the government is prepared to offer a sweet deal.

“We,” he said, “would like to see the hotel purchased from the government by Bahamians and I think the opportunity and the time has come for Bahamians not only to be given the concessions that are laid out in Heads of Agreement given to foreign investors, but time has come when government takes its own step to get them in the hotel business. Examples are out there throughout all the Caribbean when you look at ‘Butch’ Stewart (owner of the Sandals resort chain) and Jamaica and we would like to create our own ‘Butch’ Stewart right here.”

Dr Minnis ended his commentary with a warning to parliamentarians not to seize on the purchase of the Grand Lucayan resort to award political supporters.

“We are in a holding mode,” he said. “We are holding the hotel

to preserve and protect the economy of Grand Bahama. Once a sale is available, this hotel goes as soon as possible. I do not want my Cabinet colleagues come forth with their lists saying ‘these are my ten constituents I need to be hired, these are my 20,’ – it won’t happen so you heard it through the horse’s mouth, it won’t happen.

Don’t bring the list. If the management accepts the list, that manager will be fired, so know this Kwasi, know this Pintard. But as the Memories open you could bring the list because we’ll need more staff but the list should be fair.”

Last week, Tourism Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar said the government was forced to act to save the Grand Lucayan hotel properties because its owner Hutchison Whampoa had been threatening to shut down the property.

At the time, Mr D’Aguilar stressed the move was “the best of a bad choice” in an “emergency” situation.

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THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, August 23, 2018, PAGE 5

THE GRAND Lucayan Resort yesterday.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

STRUGGLING STRAW VENDORS BACK PURCHASE

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

MANY struggling straw vendors at Port Lucaya Marketplace support the government’s decision to purchase the Grand Lucayan resort and believe it would boost sales for them and others small businesses.

While in Grand Bahama yesterday, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis stopped and talked with many vendors after he and his Cabinet toured the threehotel resort property.

Sylvia Larrimore Major was one of those vendors who fully supports the purchase and says those who criticise the move are not “wearing our shoes”.

“I thank God for (giving them) the vision to purchase the hotel,” she said.

“I am not worried about the critics. The ones who criticise and saying not to buy the hotel, they are not wearing our shoes in Grand Bahama. And even some of the ones in GB too might be complaining saying we should not buy the hotel.”

Ms Major, who has been a straw vendor for 18 years at Port Lucaya, believes reopening the hotel would create a big boost for Port Lucaya Marketplace.

Although cruise ship passengers visit the marketplace, the merchants and vendors there rely on traffic from guests at the hotel.

According to Ms Major, when the hotel was open prior to October 2016, she operated two shifts at her booth because of the increase in business.

Now, she says she barely makes $50 in a day.

“By the hotel being open, we will not have to depend on the ships. The visitors from the ships do not spend money like how the people who come to the hotels – they are the big spenders.”

When asked by a reporter how much money she made yesterday, Ms Major replied: “You sure you want me to tell you? Yesterday I made $30. Today we have three boats in, and I have not hit $50 yet.”

Still she said something was better than nothing.

“When the hotel was open, I had two shifts - a morning shift and an evening shift. Because the hotel closed, I only have one shift.

I can’t afford to have two shifts. So that (hotel) will be greatly appreciated.”

Another vendor, Antoinette Smith, said that things have been rough since the property closed after hurricane damage in October 2016.

“I am all hats off to the government for purchasing the hotel for us small business owners. It was hard.

This is my government, and I support it. I am all for it.

I can’t wait for the renovation to be completed and we start seeing the benefits.

So I am happy,” she said.

During his tour of the market, many visitors were excited to see to the prime minister. Dr Minnis was very accommodating, stopping to talk and take

photographs with them.

Despite the heat, he kept on walking through the marketplace also meeting with some of the merchants there.

A vendor identified as Carolyn said to see the prime minister take time to talk with them was an honour. “I feel great, honoured and blessed to know we have someone who cares,” she said.

“I think buying the hotel would be very good for business. We have been waiting on this now. I look around and three boats are in today and no tourists.

They are all taken to Taino Beach.”

“I feel fantastic,” said Jewel Russell, another vendor. “I feel happy about what they are doing. It is a start because the closure has affected the business out here.”

Phillipa Burrows, a straw vendor, indicated that this is the worst business has been in her 20 years at Port Lucaya.

She noted many people are unemployed and have to take care of their families.

About 1,000 jobs were lost when the 2,500-room Grand Lucayan property closed two years ago due to significant damage to the property following Hurricane Matthew. Lighthouse Pointe, the smaller of the three hotels at the property, is open but does not provide sufficient visitor traffic.

“People will be able to get some jobs (now),” said the mother of four who has

lost two sons.

Ms Burrows noted that this time of the year is very slow with the reopening of schools.

“Students are going back to school all over the world, but once the hotel is opened we will have (more) people flowing in – we will make it,” she said.

Ms Burrows said the government should also look into getting things at the International Bazaar back on stream.

She added: “Furthermore, they need to check on the Bazaar too because people go out to the Bazaar too, and the Bazaar is hurting. So at the same point, they are checking on other hotels, check on the Bazaar too and try to get that up and running.”

Aldora Dillet agrees that once the hotel opens things will get better. “I feel good about it. I know if the hotel is sold and once it is opened I know we have a flow of tourist and we will be making some money.”

Deanne Moxey, a straw vendor of 14 years, said the hotel opening would bring some relief for them.

“I feel very good that the government is buying the hotel,” she said. “At least it is a little relief. I don’t know what is going to happen, but we all are hoping and praying for the best because we need help.

“It is rough. And right now anything he (the prime minister) can do that would help this situation is greatly appreciated,” Ms Moxey said.

“There are critics that say he should not buy the hotel. I think he should.

I think it is a good move because before he became prime minister he used to come through here and talk with us one on one, and he promised and said to hold the faith. You can’t just shoot him down; you have to give him a chance. There was plenty mess to clean up. I think it is a good move and I pray to God everything goes well for him and for us,” she said.

A vendor named Dorothy said: “I have been a vendor all my life I started from the Bazaar as a little girl. I don’t think it (the government’s purchase of the hotel) is a good idea, but we need something to be done. It is a start,” she said.

DAMAGE at the Port Lucaya Marketplace as seen during the prime minister’s tour.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

PAGE 6, Thursday, August 23, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

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Republicans tend to shrug off Trump accusations WASHINGTON (AP) — After President Donald Trump was implicated in a federal crime, members of both parties dismissed talk of impeachment, with Republicans shrugging off the accusations or withholding judgment.

The legal entanglements surrounding Trump — the guilty plea by former lawyer Michael Cohen and the fraud conviction of one-time campaign chairman Paul Manafort — delivered a one-two punch on Tuesday that left lawmakers struggling for an appropriate response ahead of the midterm campaigns.

Trump’s strongest supporters echoed his “no collusion” retorts, suggesting that, absent any evidence that he worked with Russia to influence the 2016 election, there is just no highcrimes-and-misdemeanors case for impeachment.

Democrats, meanwhile, are trying to tamp down expectations from their liberal base of taking on the president for fear that impeachment talk will cause GOP voters to rally around Trump in November.

The dynamic underscored the political difficulty of impeachment proceedings on Capitol Hill, especially for Republicans who have been reluctant to criticise the president but now face a new chapter in what has been a difficult relationship.

In pleading guilty to campaign-finance violations and other crimes on Tuesday, Cohen said Trump directed a hushmoney scheme before the 2016 election to buy the silence of porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, both of whom said they had sexual relationships with Trump. Trump has accused Cohen of making up “stories in order to get a ‘deal’” from federal prosecutors.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, brushed past reporters Wednesday without answering questions about Cohen or the possibility that the lawyer’s accusations about an illegal campaign cover-up are grounds for impeachment proceedings. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis, who is away from Washington, had no direct response. An aide said he needs more information.

Other Republicans, though, filled the gaps.

“No collusion = no impeachment,” tweeted the influential radio host Hugh Hewitt, setting the day’s tone. He explained that impeachment is a political and legal term of art and said there needs to be a tipping point in public opinion that would push Congress to act. It’s not there yet, he tweeted.

Doug Deason, a Texas-based donor and major Trump supporter, said voters simply don’t care that Trump behaves badly at times and has associated with people who broke the law.

“In no way, shape or form did we think we were hiring St Trump to repair the morals of the country,” he said.

Jerry Falwell Jr, the president of Liberty University and a Trump confidant, said: “Anything short of the campaign actually conspiring with Russia to try to impact the election, anything short of that will just be background noise.”

Even those few Republicans who have

been willing to speak out about Trump are treading carefully in the wake of Cohen’s guilty plea.

“I don’t think I’ve witnessed anything like I’ve witnessed over the last year and a half. Probably, the American people haven’t in modern times,” said retiring Sen Bob Corker, R-Tenn. But he stopped short of passing further judgment on the Cohen case.

“I’m sure there’s going to be other revelations that come up,” he said, “and I think we ought to just let the process work.”

The president defended the hushmoney payments yesterday, saying, incorrectly, that the effort outlined in Cohen’s guilty plea wasn’t “even a campaign violation”. Trump told Fox News in an interview that the payments “didn’t come out of the campaign, and that’s big:.

The accusation from Cohen has inflamed public debate about impeachment.

Democratic donor Tom Steyer’s Twitter feed called for others to join his campaign to impeach the president.

“How much more corruption do we need to see?” he tweeted.

Ben Wikler, Washington director for the liberal advocacy group MoveOn, wants Democrats in Congress to join organisations like his that have been demanding impeachment for weeks.

“Now that Trump’s personal lawyer has implicated him in a crime, not supporting impeachment feels like a dodge,” Wikler said. “Impeachment doesn’t have to be the core of your message to the electorate, but it’s not something you can bury your head in the sand and ignore.”

But House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, said that unless other information emerges, impeaching Trump is “not a priority” for Democrats if they regain control of the House this fall. Pelosi said she prefers to see Democrats work to ensure special counsel Robert Mueller can finish his investigation.

“If and when the information emerges about that, we’ll see,” Pelosi said on Tuesday as the news about Cohen was unfolding.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, used the developments to press the Democrats’ case against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, saying Republicans should hit “pause” on their push toward confirmation.

He expressed concern about Kavanaugh’s unwillingness to indict a sitting president, as is Justice Department policy, or subpoena a president to testify. Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing is set for Sept 4, despite his efforts to postpone it.

“This Republican Congress has done almost nothing to check this president,” Schumer said. “We cannot allow the Supreme Court to be captured as well.”

Meanwhile, senators of both parties warned that Trump should not consider granting Manafort a pardon. “It would be an enormous mistake and misuse of his power to pardon,” said Sen Susan Collins, R-Maine.

The House is on summer break for campaign season.

Toppling Trump EDITOR, The Tribune.

by early 1945, except for a group of fascist cronies, he TODAY’S startling was loathed by all Italians headlines in the US about as nothing but Hitler’s laptwo simultaneous crimi- dog, and they strung him nal convictions, of Messrs and his mistress up by their Manafort and Cohen, hit heels at a Milan gas-station. me just as I was finishing I do not predict a similar a brilliant book about the fate for President Trump. sufferings and emotional But yesterday’s convicreversals of the Italian pop- tions may well mark the ulace during Word War II. beginning of the end of his Italy was led into the historically brief political fighting by Il Duce, Benito dominance. It is hard to see Mussolini. When he con- how he, or any President, quered Ethiopia in the late can survive the sworn tes1930s, he was admired as the timony that he directed the heroic leader who had uni- payoff of a couple of misfied the country and “made tresses to keep them quiet.

Italy great once again”.

Of course he has his Only a few years later, implacable supporters, like

Musssolini’s cadre of fascistic, who defend him through any impeachable “high crimes or misdemeanors”.

But their numbers are bound to shrink, and their influence wane, among the rational majority of American citizens.

And I do not suggest any parallel for The Bahamas, except that every political leader should never forget the Biblical warning “Lo, how the mighty have fallen”.

RICHARD COULSON Nassau, August 22, 2018.

Gambling that hurts our nation EDITOR, The Tribune.

WHILE driving on Wulff Road recently, I could not help but notice that a building that was previously occupied by a commercial bank is now occupied by a gambling house. In my view, it is a further prophetic sign of the new Bahamas. And it is a vivid reminder of how numbers gambling is destroying the economy of The Bahamas and the industry of Bahamians. Numbers gambling is an economic parasite that sucks the financial life blood of legitimate businesses, and it is an economic vice that destroys the industrial drive of Bahamians.

It is instructive to consider that on that very same Wulff Road and East Street location, where, for more than five decades, Bahamians went to deposit savings and receive loans to buy homes, operate businesses, educate their children, and for other worthwhile purposes, Bahamians will now be going to gamble away their hard-earned money.

The commercial bank that was formerly at that location, like other commercial banks, help people and the economy. The numbers house now at that location, and other numbers houses, harm people and the economy. Those who argue otherwise should pay attention to the gambling addiction signs that are posted around the country. They are a case in point reminder of the harm that gambling is inflicting on people. We now need signs to remind us of the harm that gambling is doing to the economy.

According to the Minister of Tourism, Dionisio D’Aguilar, the government estimates that Bahamians spent over $500m on gambling in 2017. Where did

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net this enormous sum come from to squander on gambling? We know it did not come from discretionary income. The answer is obvious: Largely, those funds were diverted from the legitimate obligations and responsibilities of gamblers. Therefore, when we consider the demise of some local businesses and banks nowadays, numbers gambling should feature prominently as one of the chief reasons for their demise.

The gambling house that is now in the space formerly occupied by a commercial bank is a picture that’s worth a thousand words. It communicates in vivid colour, the contrast between the old Bahamas and the new Bahamas.

In the old Bahamas, while a few people gambled, most people sought to get ahead through discipline and industry; they worked, and worked hard, for what they wanted. In this new Bahamas, many try to get ahead through luck and chance; they gamble, and gamble hard, for what they want. In the old Bahamas, many were poor, but they were the working poor, so they had a good chance of working themselves out of poverty. In this new Bahamas, many who are poor are the gambling poor, so their only real chance is gambling themselves deeper into poverty. And in this new Bahamas, banks are being vilified while gambling houses are being glorified.

Meanwhile, the operators of gambling houses are doing their best to try to sanitise the vice of gambling. They refuse to call

it by its true name “gambling”; they deceptively call it gaming. They spend money on paint and graphics to give their locations a professional, harmless look.

They pay public relations firms to try to convince people to believe the lie that numbers gambling is a good thing for our country.

And they’ve even seduced a few preachers, who have gone the way of Balaam, to support the legalisation of numbers gambling. But none of those efforts can change what gambling is; it is an addictive, destructive vice that people need to be warned against and protected from.

Therefore, despite the newly introduced 5% tax on monies gambled by gamblers, the hundreds of millions of dollars squandered in numbers houses will not decrease. Actually, I believe the annual trend of increased gambling in numbers houses will continue. This is one of the economic characteristics of vices; their demand is inelastic to price increases.

Yes, this is the new Bahamas. And that gambling house that now sits where a commercial bank once sat is a reminder of this reality.

However, I continue to pray that the Lord will give us a better Bahamas — a Bahamas in which we repent and return to God and to the national commitments laid out in our constitution’s preamble: self discipline, industry, loyalty, unity, and an abiding respect for Christian values and the rule of law. Others are praying for this as well. And we are all waiting for our Sovereign Lord to hear and answer our prayers (Daniel 4:35).

PASTOR CEDRIC MOSS Nassau, August 21, 2018

Political interference EDITOR, The Tribune.

THERE has been a lot of foolish talk about “political interference” during the public debate over events at Bahamas Power and Light (BPL), and some people who should know better have participated in this misrepresentation. It is a pity that journalists covering the story did not take this opportunity to educate the public on this point.

It is especially ridiculous when a Minister under whose portfolio a corporation falls is accused of political interference in the affairs of that corporation. It seems some people did not even get the

point when Minister Desmond Bannister admitted, tongue-in-cheek, that he did in fact “interfere”.

So what is political interference in the case of a public corporation? If a party hack or some other unauthorised person were to attempt to exert political influence over the affairs of a corporation then that could be described as political interference.

But the Minister responsible for the corporation has a right -- indeed a duty -- to intervene in the affairs of a corporation in the public interest. No government corporation is completely autonomous.

In fact, in most cases, the

legislation creating public corporations makes this very clear by giving the Minister the right to be informed of the activities of the corporation and the right to give “general and specific” directions to the corporation.

A Minister can most certainly be criticised on the merits of any action he may take, but to style as political interference an intervention into the affairs of a corporation by the Minister who is responsible for that corporation is plainly wrong.

CORRECTOR Nassau, August 22, 2018.

THE TRIBUNE

Row breaks out in FNM over meeting cancellation

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net A ROW has erupted over the cancellation of the Free National Movement’s monthly council meeting, according to a letter obtained by The Tribune.

The open letter was reportedly sent to FNM chairman Carl Culmer by national deputy chairman Brad McPhee, who makes an appeal for the meeting to be reinstated.

Mr McPhee further expressed a desire for all national officers to stand up and express their views.

“I write openly not to offend you but because I sincerely believe in and respect the constitution of the Free National Movement,” the letter read.

“Council is the highest authority in our party outside of convention. All councilors are equal, we may hold different offices and roles, but no man is superior to another. What then gives you or the secretary general or the treasurer or any other officer the authority to cancel or postpone a constitutionally mandated meeting?”

It continued: “We are the governing party and governance in this current climate means serious business, no breaks or pauses.

“People need to voice their concerns and those of their association members and constituents, the constitutionally mandated

Thursday, August 23, 2018, PAGE 7

FROM left, BTVI pPresident Dr Robert Robertson; Antique Auto Club founding president Don Aranha and BTVI associate vice president of fund development Alicia Thompson.

Photo: Shantique Longley

$1,000 FOR STUDENTS WITH DRIVE FOR the second consecutive year, the Antique Auto Club of The Bahamas has invested in the training of future mechanics with a $1,000 scholarship donation to the Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute (BTVI).

FNM CHAIRMAN CARL CULMER meeting protects this “Mr chairman this is not right. Do you believe that to offend you, this is not to cancelling is reasonable or hurt you but this message responsible?” is to help you help yourMr McPhee formerly self. Please do not make served as president of the this grave mistake. Do Torchbearers and national not turn your back on the vice chairman. constitution.

Both Mr McPhee and “I am requesting all FNM chairman Carl national officers to voice Culmer declined comment their opinions on this, yesterday. to do it respectfully and However, sources close to the matter confirmed Mr honestly. We must not be cowards when it comes to McPhee did pen the letter.

The letter continued: upholding the constitution “Our constitution protects of our party.

“The constitution is the us from even ourselves, it keeps us from making only vessel guaranteed to decisions contrary to the protect us, if we let it die principles of our organisa- under attack or disregard tion. When we stray away then we all die politically. from our constitution we Stand up and be counted kill the spirit and intention willing to live or sit down of our forefathers. and die a coward.”

In memory of Charles Johnson a skilled mechanic who was passionate about young people learning the trade - this scholarship will aid in helping students studying auto mechanics at BTVI. Team BTVI will be out

in full force at the club’s auto show and steak out on August 25 at Arawak Cay. Last year, part proceeds from the show went towards scholarships for students to obtain a diploma in auto mechanics.

PAGE 8, Thursday, August 23, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

He brought fame to The Bahamas and when he died few noticed

By Diane Phillips AS The Bahamas prepares for yet another state funeral and honours are bestowed on new deserving recipients, a man who brought joy and wonder to tens of thousands and fame to The Bahamas slipped quietly away almost unnoticed.

His name was Lexion Louissant. He told people to call him ‘Joe’ and for 50 years from 1959 until he retired a half century later, he strode into the centre arena at Ardastra Gardens, Zoo and Conservation Centre in Nassau followed by a flock of squawking flamingos. Rough estimates put his performance record at more than 40,000 shows.

In the 1960s and ’70s, Ardastra’s world-famous marching flamingos were to The Bahamas what the swimming pigs of Exuma are today. They were the country’s most famous attraction, drawing visitors from around the globe to experience something so unlikely - a leggy troupe of flamingos in a military-like drill with a touch of humour thrown in - they had to see it for themselves. Joe, who received his initial training from Ardastra founder Jamaican botanist Hedley Edwards before taking over the troupe of worldfamous marching flamingos, was once the subject of a 17-page spread in National Geographic called “Pretty in Pink”. He also became their protector.

Visitors to Ardastra marvelled as the flamingos

began their twice or thrice daily march. ‘Hup, two, three, four, about face, turn right,” Joe would bark and they would follow as audiences looked on in wonder and amazement.

As they marched, Joe told the story of the West Indian flamingo, what they ate, how they reproduced, what role they play in nature, why they were threatened with extinction, combining the serious side of conservation of the threatened species with the performance.

It was Joe who encouraged school children on field trips and visitors from afar to come forward at the end of the show and stand on one leg for photos.

There must be framed photos of children and their teachers, parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents making momentary flamingos of themselves on bookshelves around the globe, many snapped so long ago the Brownie was the camera of choice and a selfie would have just been a misspelled word.

Ironically, as performances were staged at Ardastra, the threatened West Indian flamingo was making a comeback.

Thanks to legislation barring the capture or consumption of the national bird and the Bahamas National Trust and the US Audubon Society, conservation efforts at the Inagua National Park were succeeding and numbers zoomed from almost extinct

A FLAMINGO - the national symbol of The Bahamas - and, right, Lexion Louissant, whose role marshalling the birds at Ardastra Gardens brought fame to the country. to a flock of nearly 50,000, scurry as fast as a flamingo flamingos at Ardastra. though we were warned that doesn’t fly can to take Every Wendy’s burger only continuing efforts its place in the parade of that didn’t cut corners helped keep the gates would guarantee long-term pink.

The occasional leggy of Ardastra open, he survival of the species.

The same success was actor who elected to fall out said on more than one not always the case for of formation got the kind of occasion.

Since Mr Solomon’s Ardastra. After years of look usually reserved for a fascination with the leggy defiant child and audiences death in 2008, his widow ballerinas, there were times chuckled as that recalci- Katherine Solomon, has in the 1990s when business trant bird mended his ways worked with the small staff to keep Ardastra curwas slow and only a few and rejoined the march.

It is hard to say whether rent, sharing animal and people dotted the rows of wooden bleachers in the the show would have been bird stories online, caring small arena. But Joe and so readily applauded in for wounded birds, hosting his flock of flamingo fol- today’s times as it was hands-on nature summer lowers never let the lack of when it first started. There camps for local kids, teacha full house get in the way is greater sensitivity now ing them about a range of of a chuckle-a-minute per- to training of animals, species from the wide-eyed Madagascar formance. When a flamingo birds, mammals and dol- ring-tailed got out of line, he would phins for entertainment lemur to the two-toed sloth, scold it like a naughty child yet in the decades during a creature so slow it is said and in a flash, it would which opinions evolved by the time it reaches the tens of thousands of adults top of a tree, it has forgotand children had a unique ten what it was going for. opportunity to see firsthand Ardastra is both a then the majesty of the regal kind of place and a now flamingos. kind of place.

Perhaps their experience To understand how it would make them greater evolved you have to appreprotectors later in life – ciate the history. In 1937, just as Joe was. Not only Jamaican horticulturist did Joe begin his remark- Hedley Edwards acquired able escapade to bring the the approximately four marching flamingos to the acres of land at the northimmediacy of a small ring, ern end of Chippingham, he became the guardian much of the land marsh. father of the flock. When Edwards dreamed of crea storm approached, Joe ating a tropical garden fed cared for his birds as if they by the natural swamp and were his children. When the nurtured by the sun. He heat was too intense, it was planted all manner of flowhe who ensured they spent ering shrubs, fruit trees and more time in their well- hardwoods, including an shaded pond and less time Indian banyan. Today, its in the sun. base is more than 60 feet Through an arrangement across. with the Bahamas National Over the years, he carved Trust, Ardastra was the out pathways and created only place outside Inagua tranquil spaces, a wooden National Park where the bench under a coppice pink flamingo was pro- canopy, a secret hideatected yet the public could way here, a bridge over a get up close and personal pond there. Edwards was with the national bird. fascinated by the possibiliArdastra never made ties, planting Allamanda money and when its owner, (golden trumpet), desert Norman Solomon, was roses, crown of thorn, red alive, he thanked his restau- ginger, Royal Poinciana, rant chain, Wendy’s, every firecracker plants, bougainday for ‘feeding’ the injured villea. But he also knew he birds, exotic animals and needed birds if his garden

was to flourish and fruits to blossom.

He brought in the first flamingos and in 1959, took Lexion Louissant from Haiti under his wing, nicknamed him Joe, and put him in charge of the small flock of flamingos he brought in to brighten up his parcel of tropical paradise.

For 50 years, even long after Edwards death and during a period of time between owners, Joe remained faithful to his flock and they to him.

His entire life revolved around the birds and life at Ardastra. A regular visitor would walk in and know they would find Joe with a Moluccan cockatoo named Toby on his shoulder, or he’d be ‘chatting’ with a macaw or looking after a rare born-in-captivity Bahama parrot.

Ardastra’s meandering gardens remain a welcome explosion of colour and fragrance, one of the stunning places of natural beauty in New Providence. The birds are there, the marching flamingos perform three times daily, but the man who gave Ardastra’s marching flamingos to the world and made us all appreciate the royal nature of the regal national bird is gone. He died on July 31.

He never did receive an honour. He was just another working Haitian Bahamian who helped make The Bahamas famous and taught Bahamas National Trust staff members like Shelly Cant the importance of respect for God’s lesser creatures.

HOW DO WE PERSUADE ALL THESE CRUISE PASSENGERS TO STEP ASHORE? ON A recent Saturday at around the middle of the day, I drove from Cable Beach to Paradise Island.

I returned at around 3pm.

There were four cruise ships in port when I headed west with a fifth coming in to port.

It struck me on both drives through town how few visitors I saw walking around, all the way from Junkanoo Beach to Paradise Island. This led me to make some inquiries. I tried to find out what percentage of cruise passengers remained on board while the ships were in port.

I was unable to find any precise numbers. However, I asked people from the industry and received estimates ranging from 70 to 50 percent for the number of visitors who remain on board while their ship is in Nassau. Even if it were only 45 percent, it is still high.

Against this background, consider the tens of millions of dollars spent to get visitors to our shores and that Nassau received 803 cruise ships in 2017 which brought over 2.6 million visitors. These numbers are running higher thus far for 2018. If half of these visitors remain on board, we are talking about possibly almost 1.5 million people this year who don’t step on land.

Now to my point. Let’s think of these visitors as low-hanging fruit. It must be easier and cost less to try to persuade these visitors to

come ashore and spend their $90 or $100 than it costs to entice a new visitor all the way from their home land.

Maybe we should assign more of our promotional resources to lure these visitors ashore.

I don’t have the answers but I am sure it would be worthwhile for those in the private and public sectors who are involved in the business to look at this opportunity to pick more of this low-hanging fruit.

I am sure the eating will be sweet.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, August 23, 2018, PAGE 9

BAHAMAS Union of Teachers President Belinda Wilson at an orientation ceremony for new teachers held at Uriah McPhee Primary School yesterday.

Wilson: Talk to teachers union

By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net BAHAMAS Union of Teachers President Belinda Wilson yesterday called on the Ministry of Education to consult and collaborate with the union more while also encouraging new teachers to join the BUT. Mrs Wilson’s appeal came at yesterday’s orientation exercise for newly appointed teachers where Education Minister Jeff Lloyd had been due to speak but was absent as he was on a cabinet tour of the Grand Lucayan in Grand Bahama.

Permanent Secretary Lorraine Armbrister delivered remarks in his place.

“In the minister’s absence, PS, I’m going to give you the charge,” Mrs Wilson said.

“I urge you and your team, in this 2018-2019 school year to truly understand the whole picture… because in so doing you will eradicate the status quo. It cannot be business as usual.

“You have changed the modus operandi, the mode of operating in an outdated ministry and department of education. Ma’am, you must demand accountability from educational leaders at all levels.

“If education is to succeed, then year after year we cannot accept the lame excuses that the public service is a bureaucracy.

“Productivity cannot be expected only from teachers, but from all of us. Therefore, it is imperative that we work together, that the union is consulted, that we collaborate and that we ensure that schools are healthy, safe learning environments.”

Mrs Wilson called for innovative training and professional development opportunities, noting: “We expect teachers to be creative so our leaders must assist us with that.”

She also said the curriculum must be transformed to “guarantee” all students, with varying abilities, are able to “master basic education”.

Noting the Bahamas is spread over 90,000 square miles of water, Mrs Wilson pondered if Bahamian students are being prepared to understand the blue economy.

“Are we preparing them for careers in the maritime area? When are we going to produce our first naval architect to design one of the watercraft for the Royal Bahamas Defence Force?

“What about our green economy? Is our system ready to produce maybe the first clean car mechanic in the Bahamas so that they will be able to repair the hybrids and the electrical cars? Think on these things.

“Therefore, ma’am, I impress upon you the urgency of the administrative department of education to acknowledge that change is a part of understanding the whole picture.”

Addressing the new teachers, Mrs Wilson said they have started their careers “at a time when teachers are being required to produce more with less” and have to face an “astronomical” demand.

She added teachers have to contend with social ills such as unemployment, an increase in value added tax, and issues with Bahamas Power and Light, “a power company that is challenged to provide adequate power.”

In this vein, Mrs Wilson said: “You have the right to join the union today. Don’t let anyone tell you anything different.

“You have the right to be free from intimidation and victimisation. You have the right to attend union meetings… You have the right to due process. You have the right to stand with your union.”

Mrs Wilson also said teachers are encouraged by dedicated students.

“But what encourages us is when students like the head boy, who is also the valedictorian of Doris Johnson Senior High, Johnson Davilma, who against all odds was able to achieve a cumulative GPA of 3.76,” she said.

Earlier this month, The Tribune reported how Johnson, 17, was able to beat the odds of a poverty-stricken upbringing to become a star student.

Johnson has been accepted into multiple American tertiary institutions, including Florida Memorial University, Fisk University, and Philander Smith College, and been offered partial scholarships to two of these schools.

However, in order to make his dream a reality, Johnson requires additional funding.

Unfortunately, his status as the child of Haitian immigrants means that he does not meet the criteria for receiving Bahamian government scholarships.

And as a 17-year-old, he is a full year too young to apply for Bahamian citizenship.

Photo: Patrick Hanna/BIS

PAGE 10, Thursday, August 23, 2018

SENATOR Fred Mitchell.

THE TRIBUNE

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

Mitchell: All PLPs have made disclosures

By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net AFTER it was announced on Tuesday that two senators have failed to make their annual disclosure of assets and liabilities in accordance with the Public Disclosure Act, the Progressive Liberal Party confirmed all of its senators and members of Parliament are in compliance with the law.

In a statement released yesterday, PLP Chairman Fred Mitchell said: “All PLP senators and members of Parliament have disclosed their income, assets and liabilities in accordance the provisions of the relevant law.”

On Tuesday, Press Secretary Anthony Newbold revealed that Prime Minster Hubert Minnis had instructed the chairman of the Public Disclosure Commission to give the Office of the Attorney General information on the officials who have not complied.

PDC Chairman Myles Laroda said Tuesday two senators have not yet filed their annual disclosures.

“There are two outstanding as of 10.15am today (Tuesday),” he said.

Asked how many people missed the March 31 deadline, he said: “There were a few people who had missed the March 31 deadline. The communication I shared with the prime minister and the leader of the opposition

(Tuesday) morning was that there were two outstanding (senators) who had not submitted their declaration of which he instructed me with regards to dealing with those two.”

When asked if he will give Attorney General Carl Bethel information about those who missed the March 31 deadline but have since filed their disclosures, Mr Laroda said he did not yet know.

PLP Leader Philip “Brave” Davis previously said the PDC should provide information to the Attorney General’s Office about all officials who missed the deadline for disclosures, not just those with outstanding disclosures as of Tuesday.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, August 23, 2018, PAGE 11

THE SCENE of the blaze in Grand Bahama.

Photos: Vandyke Hepburn

Body found after blaze hits building POLICE in Grand Bahama found human remains in a wooden structure that was destroyed by fire yesterday morning.

Shortly after 1am, police from the Fire Department were called to a building

fire in Pinedale, Eight Mile Rock on I-95 corner where they met a single story wooden structure completely destroyed by fire.

Inside the charred structure, officers discovered the remains of a body. The

Central Detective Unit is involved in this investigation. An autopsy will be performed to determine the person’s exact cause of death.

The investigation into this matter is ongoing.

PAGE 12, Thursday, August 23, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

Three years jail for US cocaine smuggler from page one However, officers were suspicious of him and took him back to the screening area, where a secondary search of his bag was conducted and three packages of suspected cocaine were discovered.

The drugs weighed 6.4 pounds and have a street value of $43,000.

Williams, at the time of the discovery, confirmed the bag was his, but he opted not to answer anything further.

Williams yesterday pleaded guilty to one count each of possession of dangerous drugs with intent to supply, conspiracy to possess dangerous drugs

with the intent to supply, conspiracy to export dangerous drugs from The Bahamas and taking preparatory steps to export dangerous drugs from The Bahamas.

On the four charges, Williams was sentenced to three years respectively, with the sentences to run concurrently.

Prior to handing down her sentence yesterday, Deputy Chief Magistrate Swain asked Williams if he was able to communicate with representatives at the United States Embassy in The Bahamas, to which he replied yes.

Williams indicated he was also successful in sending some form of communication to his family in Florida

via the embassy.

However, he said up to the time he was arraigned yesterday, he was unsuccessful in receiving any form of response.

He also issued an apology to the court, indicating it was his first offence at any level - “an isolated incident,” he said.

The father-of-five also issued a separate apology to his family.

Williams was not represented by an attorney in the matter.

Deputy Chief Magistrate Swain, before turning him over to officers, ordered that all drugs recovered in the case be destroyed and informed Williams he has seven days to appeal her sentencing.

DEPUTY High Commissioner Nick Astbury and the scholars.

CHEVENING SCHOLARSHIPS AWARDED THE British high commissioner to The Bahamas has announced that two Bahamians have been awarded Chevening Scholarships to study in the UK. The 2018-19 Chevening Scholars are D’Andra Johnson and Therell Smith.

Chevening Scholarships are awarded to individuals with demonstrable leadership potential who also have strong academic backgrounds, a press release noted. The scholarship offers full financial support for future leaders to study for any eligible master’s degree at any UK university whilst gaining access to a wide range of exclusive academic, professional, and cultural events.

British High Commissioner Asif Ahmad said, “I am pleased to announce an increase in the number of Chevening Scholars from The Bahamas this year. This shows the UK’s

commitment to the relationship between our countries.

“As we look to re-opening our High Commission in The Bahamas we will continue to seek ways of strengthening our partnership through trade and education. The UK is a world leader in education and home to some of the world’s best universities and I hope more Bahamian students will look to the UK as a destination for learning.

“Over the last 35 years, over a hundred Bahamians have been selected for a Chevening Scholarship and have subsequently gone on to become respected leaders across a range of sectors. Becoming a part of the Chevening network instils a strong sense of pride and responsibility.

I’ve personally seen how this opportunity is able to transform lives.”

Ms Johnson is currently an attorney working with Lennox Paton as an associate at the firm in the Litigation Department. She will study for a LLM in comparative and international dispute resolution at Queen Mary University of London.

Ms Smith is a registered nurse and now manager in the Quality and Patient Safety Department of the Public Hospitals Authority. She will pursue a master of science in health care management at Swansea University, Wales.

She intends to apply all the knowledge gained to enhance the quality of care offered to the Bahamian people.

Applications for Chevening Scholarships to study in the UK for the next batch are open until November 6, with applications to be submitted via www.chevening. org/apply.

MAN’S BODY PULLED FROM SEA POLICE pulled a man’s body from waters at Potter’s Cay Dock after 9am yesterday.

The Royal Bahamas Police Force said foul play is not suspected at this time.

It is suspected the man drowned, however an autopsy will take place to

determine the exact cause of death.

This comes less than a week after the Royal Bahamas Defence Force pulled another man’s body from the area.

The Defence Force’s Harbour Patrol Unit responded to reports a man had jumped into the sea at

the western end of the dock last Thursday, but had not resurfaced.

A body was found at the eastern end of the dock shortly after 6.40pm by military divers, and turned over to officials from the Coroner’s Unit, according to a press statement issued last week.

THE TRIBUNE

Missing 70-year-old woman found dead

By FARRAH JOHNSON fjohnson@tribunemedia.net AN elderly woman who was reported missing by family this week was found dead yesterday.

Yesterday afternoon police said they were waiting on an official identification to confirm the woman’s identity but said they suspect she is 70-yearold Icelyn Fowler of Lumumba Lane.

Fowler was last seen at her residence on Monday, police said in a report issued on Tuesday.

Yesterday police said the body of an elderly female they suspect to be the missing woman was discovered in a field on Rose Close off Hanna Road yesterday.

The Tribune reached out to Marcia Fowler, a daughter of the deceased, who told the paper her mother had been found dead, but declined to make any further comment.

Before the

confirmation of her death, her other daughter, Letitia Fowler, had previously told the paper her mother had suffered from “dementia and severe depression”.

Describing the moment she realised her mother was missing she said: “When I woke up at about 6am, I would’ve noticed that she was not on the other bed in the same room where I sleep, but I took for granted that she would’ve been out in the living room with my daughter because they’re very close.”

Ms Fowler said as she prepared to leave the house she realised her mother was not sitting on the couch like she usually does every morning.

She said this prompted her to wake her daughter to see if she knew where the elderly woman could be, but her daughter did not know either.

“I continued to get dressed and I went to the Elizabeth Estates Police Station – I would’ve gotten

PUBLIC NOTICE Due to the amount of calls received, the Family of the late Franklyn Donaldson advises the public that persons and business houses wishing to make payment for newspapers already received, can do so by contacting his Mother, Sylvia Sands at 323-4787, 556- 3925 or 455-0278.

We take this time to thank all those persons for their act of kindness during this most difficult time.

May God continue to bless you all.

Franklyn’s Family!

there around 8(am) – and I gave them a statement,” she shared.

Ms Fowler said the police organised a search party and the group looked all night “into the early hours of the morning” with no luck.

“When I spoke to my daughter after I came from the police station just to see if there was any other information she could give me, that’s when she told me she woke up between 3am and 4am and she found out the front door was open.

“And so I’m thinking mum had to have left around that time because that’s around the time that someone said that they spotted her or a person fitting the description that we put out there,” she shared.

Ms Fowler added none of her neighbours “saw anything” because around the time her mother left the house everyone “would’ve still been asleep.”

Speaking on how the family was coping before confirmation of her mother’s death, Ms Fowler said: “You don’t know what to feel, you don’t what to think and you try not to let your imagination run wild with you and get carried away and then become overwhelmed on speculation.

“And so I am one that my hope is in the Lord and he knows all things, he knows exactly where my mother is and he’s my heavenly father.

“Whatever the report is, all is still well,” she said.

Thursday, August 23, 2018, PAGE 13

70-YEAR-OLD Icelyn Fowler, of Lumumba Lane, was found dead yesterday, after being reported missing by family on Monday.

PAGE 14, Thursday, August 23, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

ATTEMPT TO HACK DEMOCRAT PARTY FAILS CHICAGO Associated Press AN attempt to break into the Democratic National Committee’s massive voter database has been thwarted, a party official said yesterday, two years after Russian operatives sent the party into disarray by hacking into its computers and facilitating the release of tens of thousands of emails amid the presidential election.

A web security firm using artificial intelligence uncovered the attempt. The DNC was notified on Tuesday, it said. Hackers had created a fake login page to gather usernames and passwords in an effort to gain access to the Democratic Party’s voter file, a party official said. The file contains information on tens of millions of voters.

The attempt was quickly thwarted by suspending the attacker’s account, and no information was compromised, the official said. The FBI was notified.

Government and tech officials say it’s too early to know who was behind the attempt. The FBI declined to comment to the AP. The attempt comes as Democrats gather for their summer meeting. The party’s cybersecurity has been an issue since the 2016 presidential election, when Russian hackers compromised DNC servers and publicly revealed internal communications that exploited divisions between Bernie Sanders’ and Hillary Clinton’s campaigns as the two candidates vied for the Democratic presidential nomination.

EARTHQUAKE AFTERSHOCK HITS VENEZUELA CARACAS, Venezuela Associated Press A STRONG aftershock jolted Venezuela’s northeastern coast yesterday following the most powerful earthquake to hit the area in more than a century, though officials said neither caused major damage or deaths, apparently due to their depth.

The magnitude 7.3 quake on Tuesday was the largest to strike Venezuela since 1900, according to the US Geological Survey. But at a depth of some 76 miles (123km) beneath the Earth’s surface, it appeared to have caused only limited damage even near its epicenter a few miles off the Cariaco peninsula that stretches into the eastern Caribbean.

The magnitude 5.8 aftershock at 9.27am yesterday also was centered relatively deep, 61 miles (98 kilometers) below the surface.

It was felt lightly in the capital.

The earthquake also was felt in Guyana, Trinidad, Barbados and Grenada.

A WOMAN uses her smartphone to surf the internet in Havana, Cuba, yesterday.

Photo: Desmond Boylan/AP

MOBILE INTERNET ACCESS COMES TO CUBA HAVANA Associated Press

ONE of the world’s leastwired countries was a little more connected yesterday.

The state telecommunications company of Cuba launched the second, and most extensive, of two test runs of a mobile network that would give ordinary citizens greater access to the internet than has

existed before on the island.

Service was to be free of charge from early in the morning until midnight as the company, known by its initials as ETECSA, tested the capacity of the system, which the government had previously said would be available this year.

People across Cuba said they were able to gain access, though others said they couldn’t get online

or were able to do so only after repeated attempts because of an apparent flood of users.

Cubans like Isbel Ortiz, a 48-year-old resident of Havana who works as a government-approved tour organiser, said she would work and check Facebook and chat with her sister in the US from her phone instead of having to walk seven blocks to the nearest

Wifi hotspot. “This is a good work opportunity for me,” Ortiz said.

Student Marcos Marzo said he was able to get online while visiting a relative in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba, using his phone to watch a Jennifer Lopez video on YouTube and chat with a friend in Costa Rica using WhatsApp. “It was a very fluid

connection with voice and video,” he said.

Cuba still lags behind the rest of the Western Hemisphere in internet connectivity, a legacy of government control of technology and communications that began to be eased under former President Raul Castro.

Public access to the internet in Cuba was limited to tourist hotels until 2013.

US president lashes out at former lawyer’s claims WASHINGTON Associated Press PRESIDENT Donald Trump accused his former lawyer Michael Cohen of lying under pressure of prosecution yesterday as his White House grappled with allegations that the president had orchestrated a campaign cover-up to buy the silence of two women who claimed he had affairs with them.

Confronting mounting legal and political threats, Trump took to Twitter to accuse Cohen of making up “stories in order to get a ‘deal’” from federal prosecutors. Cohen pleaded guilty on Tuesday to eight charges, including campaign finance violations that he said he carried out in coordination with Trump.

Behind closed doors, Trump expressed worry and frustration that a man intimately familiar with his political, personal

and business dealings for more than a decade had turned on him.

Yet his White House signaled no clear strategy for managing the fallout. At a White House briefing, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders insisted at least seven times that Trump had done nothing wrong and was not the subject of criminal charges. She referred substantive questions to the president’s personal counsel, Rudy Giuliani, who was at a golf course in Scotland. Outside allies of the White House said they had received little guidance on how to respond to the events in their appearances on cable news. And it was not clear the West Wing was assembling any kind of coordinated response.

Trump himself publicly denied wrongdoing, sitting down with his favored program Fox & Friends for an interview set to air today. In the interview, he

argued, incorrectly, that the hush-money payouts weren’t “even a campaign violation” because he subsequently reimbursed Cohen for the payments personally instead of with campaign funds. Federal law restricts how much individuals can donate to a campaign, bars corporations from making direct contributions and requires the disclosure of transactions.

Cohen had said on Tuesday he secretly used shell companies to make payments used to silence former Playboy model Karen McDougal and adultfilm actress Stormy Daniels for the purpose of influencing the 2016 election.

Trump has insisted that he only found out about the payments after they were made, despite the release of a September 2016 taped conversation in which Trump and Cohen can be heard discussing a deal to pay McDougal for her story

of a 2006 affair she says she had with Trump.

The White House denied the president had lied, with Sanders calling the assertion “ridiculous”. Yet she offered no explanation for Trump’s shifting accounts.

As Trump vented his frustration, White House aides sought to project a sense of calm. Used to the ever-present shadow of federal investigations, numbed West Wing staffers absorbed near-simultaneous announcements on Tuesday of the Cohen plea deal and the conviction of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort on financial charges.

Manafort faces trial on separate charges in September in the District of Columbia that include acting as a foreign agent.

That Cohen was in trouble was no surprise — federal prosecutors raided his offices months ago — but Trump and his allies

were caught off-guard when he also pleaded guilty to campaign finance crimes, which, for the first time, took the swirling criminal probes directly to the president.

Both cases resulted, at least in part, from the work of special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russia’s attempts to sway voters in the 2016 election.

Trump yet again denounced the probe yesterday as a “witch hunt”.

Meanwhile, Cohen’s lawyer, Lanny Davis, said yesterday that Cohen has information “that would be of interest” to the special counsel.

“There are subjects that Michael Cohen could address that would be of interest to the special counsel,” Davis said in a series of television interviews.

Davis also said Cohen is not looking for a presidential pardon.

SUBPOENA FOR COHEN IN TRUMP FOUNDATION PROBE ALBANY, New York Associated Press

INVESTIGATORS in New York state have issued a subpoena to Michael Cohen as part of their probe into the Trump Foundation, an official with Democratic Gov Andrew Cuomo’s administration confirmed yesterday.

The subpoena was issued after Cohen’s attorney said his client has information of interest to both state and federal prosecutors. As Trump’s long-time lawyer and self-described “fixer,” Cohen could potentially be a significant source of information for state investigators looking into whether Trump or his charity broke state law or lied about their tax liability.

“We can confirm that a subpoena has been issued to Michael Cohen for relevant information in light of the public disclosures made yesterday,” said James Gazzale, a spokesman for the state’s tax department.

If evidence of alleged crimes is found, the matter could be referred to state Attorney General Barbara

Underwood, who could pursue criminal charges and seek the release of Trump’s tax returns.

Anyone charged with a state crime in relation to the investigation could not be cleared by a presidential pardon.

Cohen pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court Tuesday to campaignfinance violations and other charges, saying he and Trump arranged the payment of hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels and a former Playboy model to influence the election.

“I do believe that he has information about Mr. Trump that would be of interest both in Washington as well as New York state,” Cohen’s attorney Lanny Davis said on Tuesday on CNN’s “Cuomo Prime Time,” a show hosted by Chris Cuomo, brother of New York’s governor.

The state’s investigation follows Underwood’s lawsuit alleging Trump illegally tapped his Trump Foundation to settle legal disputes, help his campaign for president and pay for personal and business expenses.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, August 23, 2018, PAGE 15

CONFERENCE TO TACKLE CHILD EXPLOITATION ADVOCACY group Bahamas Against Crime is hosting a conference next month to address the exploitation of children.

“The high level of crimes against children and the exploitation of children in The Bahamas is cause for great alarm,” the group, led by Rev CB Moss, said in a press release. “The magnitude of the problem is greater than publicly acknowledged.”

The conference is set for September 13 at the British Colonial Hilton. It will run from 9am to 4pm.

“We want to bring a wide cross-section of stakeholders together to discuss this serious problem and to inform the Bahamian people better,” Bahamas Against Crime said. “According to the Ministry of Social Services, suspected cases of child abuse matters stood at 460 in 2017. That number represented physical, sexual and emotional abuse as well as neglect, incest and abandonment.

“The exploitation of children has serious national implications. To this end, we invite Prime Minister

Dr Hubert Minnis, Cabinet ministers and national leaders to participate along with knowledgeable technical persons and other interested individuals.”

Minister of National Security Marvin Dames is set to deliver the luncheon address, the group said.

Representatives from the Ministries of Social Services, Youth and Culture are also expected to deliver remarks.

To attend, contact BAC at 325-4357, 328-8984 or email revcbmoss@hotmail. com. The registration fee of $25 includes food.

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THE TRIBUNE

Suspect accused of taxi driver killing

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net A 20-YEAR-OLD man was arraigned in a Magistrate’s Court yesterday over allegations he murdered a

DONTE RILEY

taxi driver in Hollywood Subdivision, off Cowpen Road in June.

Donte Riley stood before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt charged with one count each of murder and attempted

ANITA MCDONALD, aka Kayla McDonald. armed robbery, as well as armed robbery in connection with two separate matters which occurred on June 9 and July 17 respectively.

It is alleged that on June 9, he murdered and attempted to rob Wilton Brown.

According to initial reports from police, shortly before 10pm on the date in question, Brown had arrived at his Hollywood Subdivision home when a car pulled up behind him.

He was shot dead and the assailant escaped.

Riley was not required to enter a plea to the charge and the matter was adjourned to October 2 for

service of a voluntary bill of indictment (VBI).

In the second incident, it is alleged that on July 17, Riley, while being concerned with Anita McDonald aka Kayla McDonald, 31, of Royalty Estates, robbed Wesley Smith of $50 in cash while in possession of a handgun.

The pair were not required to enter a plea to the charge and the matter was also adjourned to October 2 for service of a VBI. Bail was denied and the two were remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services in the interim.

Neither Riley nor McDonald were represented by an attorney.

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