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EX-PMs QUESTION EARLY ELECTION
By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net
end of my term, and thereafter I determined that we ought to move towards a fixed election FORMER Prime Minis- date as far as possible and ter Hubert Ingraham said I therefore held election a consistent election date is in 2002 in May. necessary to ensure people “Perry Christie came are properly advised and along and held it in May prepared for 2007. I came a general back and election. I held it in He was May 2012. asked outPerry Chrisside the tie came House of back, he held Assembly it in May yesterday 2017. about Prime “I thought Minister the public Dr Hubert FROM left, former Prime Min- ought to Minnis’ deci- isters Perry Christie and Hubert have a good sion to call Ingraham talking to PLP leader idea as to an early Philip “Brave” Davis yesterday. when elecelection. tions are “I had one snap elec- gonna be held. We gave tion,” he said. “I called everybody an opportunity [an] election in March of to register to vote.” 1997, which was about SEE PAGE THREE five months before the
SUSPECT WINS $160K FOR POLICE ASSAULT By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net A MAN who was unlawfully arrested, beaten by officers and falsely accused of stealing his own possessions was awarded over $163,000 in damages by the Supreme Court.
Latario Rolle recently sued the Attorney General, Commissioner of Police and a police corporal for malicious prosecution, assault and battery, the loss of six of his teeth and false imprisonment. SEE PAGE SEVEN
DAVIS SETS ‘DEBATE ME’ CHALLENGE By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net
PROGRESSIVE Liberal Party leader Philip “Brave” Davis has challenged Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis to a national debate before next month’s general election. However, Free National Movement Chairman Carl Culmer immediately shrugged off the challenge. He said there was no need for Dr Minnis to debate Mr Davis whose record, he said, only proves his failed representation of Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador for more than 20 years. SEE PAGE THREE
‘US SHOULD BE LEVEL SIX IF WE’RE AT LEVEL FOUR’
By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net
GLENYS’ GOODBYE GLENYS Hanna Martin bids farewell during the lying in state of her father, Arthur Dion Hanna, in the House of Assembly today. The former Governor General and Deputy Prime Minister’s state funeral will be held on Thursday morning at Christ Church Cathedral. See more on PAGE TWO. Photo: Patrick Hanna/BIS
TOURISM Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar yesterday acknowledged the Bahamas’ COVID-19 numbers are high but still better than in the US which has raised our travel advisory status to Level 4. Mr D’Aguilar said while the number of COVID-19 cases has been increasing for quite some time the most important thing for all Bahamians to do is get vaccinated. “Despite our numbers being what they are, they’re a hell of a lot better than the United States... Ninety percent of foreign visitors come from the United States and if they were to be truthful to themselves and... rank themselves, they would be a Level 6. FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS
CRISIS’ TOLL ON NON-COVID PATIENTS By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net FORMER Health Minister Dr Duane Sands believes some people who have sought medical care for non-COVID-19 illnesses in the public healthcare system have probably suffered and died due to the strain the virus has had on resources. In an interview with The Tribune yesterday, Dr
DR DUANE SANDS Sands said various issues have made it difficult to treat cases at Princess
Margaret Hospital as there continues to be “no room at the inn” there. It has come down to triaging patients and making decisions that may not always end up with a positive outcome, Dr Sands said. He was asked if people seeking care were being turned away as the worst health crisis in the country’s history rages on.
Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper
SEE PAGE FOUR
ALICIA WALLACE: WE VOTE IN A BROKEN SYSTEM
- SEE PAGE EIGHT
PAGE 2, Wednesday, August 25, 2021
THE TRIBUNE
TRIBUTES PAID TO A.D. HANNA
GOVERNOR General CA Smith, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, PLP leader Phillip “Brave” Davis and many others attended the lying in state of former Governor General and Deputy Prime Minister AD Hanna yesterday, where they were greeted by Glenys Hanna Martin MP and other family members. Photos: Racardo Thomas/Tribune Staff
WELLS: NO PLANS TO REIMPOSE LOCKDOWN IN COVID FIGHT
HEALTH Minister Renward Wells outside Cabinet yesterday. Photo: Donovan McIntosh/Tribune Staff
By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net DESPITE calls for stricter COVID-19 measures, Health Minister Renward Wells insisted yesterday the government has no plans to reimpose another COVID-19 lockdown to fight the current surge of infections. He said officials are instead relying on vaccinations and public adherence to the health measures to bring rising infection rates under control. This comes as the Progressive Liberal Party said it is putting its drive-in election rallies on hold due to the surge in coronavirus infections. “My understanding at this point in time is that there isn’t a recommendation for stricter measures other than the recommendation for the Bahamian people to continue to adhere to the measures that are in place,” Mr Wells said before going to a Cabinet meeting yesterday. “The EOC (Emergency Operating Centre) is going to be meeting
again tomorrow, Wednesday, where all of the data is going to be looked at again and obviously, recommendations will come out of the EOC meeting and based on those recommendations we have been a very responsive and responsible government in how we have sought to respond to our nation’s circumstances.” This comes as the third wave of the COVID-19 crisis intensifies. One top doctor at Princess Margaret Hospital recently described the state of the public healthcare system as being on the brink of collapse. Last week, a local daily also reported that Doctors Hospital is “out of space” and “out of staff” and has reached the point of choosing which patient is placed on a ventilator. But even as the pandemic worsens, the government has resisted implementing strict restrictions. According to Mr Wells yesterday, this decision is partially linked to the arrival of vaccines which, he says, points to the way out of the pandemic. “We have not had a
lockdown since we’ve gotten the vaccines in country,” the health minister told reporters. “Now remember, during the first and second wave, the real silver bullet that we had was to lockdown folks among their own family or friends to seek to break the chains of transmission of this virus. “It was the surest way and that’s why lockdowns took place over the incubation period which was fourteen days. Sometimes we went two incubation periods of 14 days, which is 28, a month. We now have the elixir which ails us which is we have vaccines in country, and we have a plethora of vaccines,”Mr Wells added. “If you don’t want AstraZeneca, you could get Pfizer. If you don’t want Pfizer, you could get Johnson and Johnson so the Bahamian people have the elixir what ails us as a people and the reason why we have not moved in that direction because we’re expecting that the health protocols along with vaccinations will bring the numbers down to where we can continue to move
forward as a society.” Mr Wells also said he is hopeful more Bahamians will get vaccinated after the US Food and Drug Administration issued its full approval of the Pfizer vaccine. As of August 21, 55,291 people have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, while 76,174 people have received one shot. In a statement yesterday, PLP Leader Philip “Brave” Davis acknowledged the rise in COVID-19 hospital cases and deaths as he explained why his party is putting drive-in rallies on hold. He noted that doctors and nurses have been sounding the alarm that there is no more room in hospitals. “We are extremely frustrated that the government did not do more to prepare for a Delta surge in our country,” Mr Davis said. He said a series of bad decisions have left the country “among the worst off” in the region. He said the PLP has a 10-point COVID-19 action plan that can be viewed on its website, plpbahamas. org.
NEW COALITION FORMED AHEAD OF GENERAL ELECTION By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net MEMBERS of the Bahamas Constitution Party, Bahamas Democratic Movement, and some independent candidates have formed a coalition to contest the next general election. The new group is called the United Coalition. Independent House
Speaker Halson Moultrie is advising the group. Coalition member Ali McIntosh told The Tribune yesterday they are inviting other third parties to join them in an effort to be a viable opponent to the major political parties — the Free National Movement and the Progressive Liberal Party. She explained they started with all the parties at the table, but some left
the talks. As for what the public can expect during the election campaign, Ms McIntosh said “powerful, charismatic, exciting, experienced, and mature” individuals. “Well we expect to put 39 candidates [on the slate] because we are combining the candidates, the BCP and the BDM and some independent candidates….” Asked what they can offer compared to the two
major parties, she replied: “The talent, the energy of righteous men and women who are prepared to govern the nation right and to work on behalf of the Bahamian people – that’s our mandate. We have looked at the PLP. The PLP have governed for many years. The FNM has governed for many years and we’ve seen what they can do. “What the United Coalition is going to be offering
the Bahamian people is a set of people or persons, candidates and a government that will work for the Bahamian people that will make Bahamians a priority in its governance. Our plans are to attempt to balance the budget and to alleviate the debt and the burden of the Bahamian people. A plan that would diversify the Bahamian economy to make sure that the wealth is common and Bahamians
can get opportunities in their nation. So that is the plan of both parties and those who are involved.” She added: “At this point we are bringing the best effort. We’re going to put forth the best candidates. We’re going to put forth all of our energies, all of our resources, our wisdom, our skill to bring to the Bahamian people a new kind of governance and governance that focuses on the people.”
THE TRIBUNE
Wednesday, August 25, 2021, PAGE 3
Ex-PMs question early election
from page one “We announced in advance, ‘listen, if you want to register to vote in this election, please register by the end of the month or by the 15th’ or whenever it was, and gave people lots of time to be able to register, transfer their votes, etc.” Asked directly if he backs Dr Minnis’ move, he said: “I only speak for myself. My record I think speaks for itself on the issue.” Passing legislation to ensure fixed election dates was one of Dr Minnis’
promises in the lead-up to the last election. It is unclear whether Mr Ingraham, who strongly and publicly supported the Free National Movement in 2017, will do so this time. Asked about the FNM’s prospects for winning the election, he said: “I have no views whatsoever, I have no views.” Mr Ingraham also said the current surge in COVID-19 cases did not have to happen. “I am very distressed, very very distressed,” he said. “In my view, it did not have to be this way, it
should not have been this way, but here we are, it’s what we got and I think we have to all work to get out of it, but I am very distressed.” Asked what he would have done differently, he said: “I wouldn’t answer that.” Like Mr Ingraham, former Prime Minister Perry Christie also spoke to reporters after viewing the body of former Governor General and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Hanna, whom he called the greatest loss in Bahamian public life since
the death of Sir Lynden Pindling. Mr Christie said he is concerned about how vitriolic politics has become. He said he was surprised Dr Minnis called an early election. “I assumed he was trying to pre-empt the Speaker, whatever the Speaker was trying to do. I thought he was gonna try to give the country an opportunity to come to grips with the fact that he had a strong programme of vaccination and accelerate that programme over the next four or five months we would be in a
better position than we are now. But prime ministers have a right to do that. He’s decided to do that. The Bahamian people have a right, the chance to say yes or no, so he’s exercised his constitutional right. I would not have at this time myself, but that is how we differ.” He also said job creation is the key to winning an election as the incumbent party. “In the last 20 years, no one has won a second term,” Mr Christie said. “And I, on reflection, I’ve concluded that unless
someone can come in and create 80,000 jobs, they’re not gonna win an election because there’s just too many people in too many different places, particularly young people, who are out of work and have been out of work for a long time. I was a victim of it in terms of elections, Ingraham was a victim of it, I think Minnis will be the victim of that unless he beats back history, but the historical statistic of significance is that in the last 20 years, and this would be 24, no one has won a second term consecutively.”
CABINET MEMBERS DEFEND EARLY ELECTION CALL BY PM By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net
SEVERAL Cabinet ministers yesterday defended Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis’ decision to call an early election against criticism that it could further exacerbate the existing COVID crisis. The ministers insisted an election could still be held safely provided all the health protocols are followed. “We have the requisite health protocols in place and at the end of the day, the only thing that needs to happen is folks need to continue to adhere to the health protocols,” Health Minister Renward Wells said before going to a Cabinet meeting. “The Ministry of Health is also now looking at protocols that we’re actually going to have inside the polling station, the sanitisation of pencils and other things and other pieces of utensils and the other apparatus that’s going to be used... So, we’re going to have a very defined way that someone actually comes in and voted and sanitises to ensure that there is no continued spread of the COVID virus that the country is currently [experiencing].” Preparations for an early election come as the third
MARVIN DAMES wave of the COVID-19 crisis intensifies in the country, with more than 2,500 cases confirmed for this month alone. And with thousands expected to gather at the polls on Election Day, there has been increasing concern the situation could lead to further COVID-19 spread. Asked if there are any alternative plans as it relates to voters dipping their finger in the ink while voting to limit further spread, Mr Wells only said there will still be strict enforcement of current COVID rules like sanitisation, etc. “At the end of the day, folks are actually going to be able to sanitise before they actually dip their finger in the ink. We’re going to
DIONISIO D’ AGUILAR ensure that you have that 70 percent alcohol sanitisation which is going to sit for a couple of seconds before you actually put your finger inside of the ink,” the Health Minister said. “So, that will limit the opportunity for the spread of any potential virus, but, like I said, all of this is being looked at in regard to how we’re going to continue to conduct the kind of safe working environment for the people.” Since Dr Minnis’ announcement of a snap election next month, some have called the move “ill timed.” Addressing those concerns yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister and Works Minister Desmond Bannister said it was important for
DAVIS SETS ‘DEBATE ME’ CHALLENGE from page one
“There is no need for a debate,” Mr Culmer said. “When you have been representing an island for 25 years and have done nothing, how can you want to represent the country? “I won’t allow the PM to sit down and waste time with Brave.” In a press statement yesterday, Mr Davis said in order for voters to make an informed choice, the spotlight should be shone on the people vying to represent them. “When he called a snap election last week, the
Prime Minister said that the country needs to choose which leader it believes can lead us out of the present crisis,” he said. “I agree. We need a reset. And so today I have written to Hubert Minnis, challenging him to a public debate. Elections are all about choice and to make an informed choice, voters need to shine a spotlight on those who seek to represent them. “They need to scrutinise closely the solutions being proposed and they need to have faith that the promises made will be kept. So, let’s have a debate. Around the world, debates
are considered an essential component of a healthy democracy. And so, I say to the Prime Minister, let’s put the choice squarely in front of the Bahamian people. “Come and debate me. Let’s answer the tough questions. Show up and put your track record and your plans before the Bahamian people. I will gladly do the same. “The clock is ticking fast towards Election Day, so we must move quickly. Let’s make the choice real. “Prime Minister, I am confident that the Bahamian people are ready for a new day. Are you?”
‘COMPETENT AUTHORITY TO SAY’ OVER QUARANTINED VOTERS By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net NATIONAL Security Minister Marvin Dames, who has responsibility for elections, said the competent authority will have to say how and whether people in quarantine can vote in the upcoming general election. On Monday, Acting Parliamentary Commissioner Lavado Duncanson said the Parliamentary Elections Act allows people registered to vote to vote as a special voter in the advanced poll under certain circumstances, including illness or infirmity. Such people would have to write to the Parliamentary Commissioner for a special voter certificate. Mr Duncanson, nonetheless, did not specify how people in quarantine will be able to avail themselves of even this option. The advanced poll is on September 9, seven days before Election Day. It is conceivable people could be
in quarantine during both events. Mr Dames said yesterday: “If you’re quarantined, you probably going to have to take the necessary precautions, right? You have to vote, but if you’re quarantined that’s something the competent authority may have to address. That will be an issue that we will probably have to take up and be more specific on. Hopefully we will get some directions from the competent authority [about] how that will actually be. If you are quarantined then it means you have to stay in place. “What I think as the minister is that we should all take steps to be safe. We’re dealing with a pandemic. There is a reason why you have a competent authority and there is a reason why you have orders in place to ensure that we’re all safe.” Asked if people in quarantine won’t be allowed to vote, Mr Dames said: “No I didn’t say that.” Asked how they would vote, he said: “I didn’t say that either. You should get
some more clarity on that. “At the end of the day, you know, we want to ensure at the end of the day that all Bahamians who are registered to vote are given an opportunity in some way. We have to accept therefore that there are some circumstances and times when that is not at all possible but that is a small minority of cases.” Critics say this is a bad time to hold a general election, with healthcare resources depleted and COVID-19 cases surging. “When is it a good time?” Mr Dames countered yesterday. “What is a good and bad time? Do we have some date or time as to when this pandemic will come to an end? According to some persons, this can go for the next few years, so what do we do, hold the election off for the next two years? Come May of next year, you think we’re going to be over this? [It] may be worse, right? We don’t know. There may be any number of variants out there.”
the government to have an election in the shortest time possible so the next administration could create a new mandate to address the challenges ahead. “It’s very important to have the election in the shortest possible period of time,” Mr Bannister said yesterday. “It’s important for the government to have a mandate on what we’re doing, and Bahamian people could say what they want in governance, but it is also important for it to be as short as possible and that’s what we’re doing. “In the shortest possible time, we have imposed
DESMOND BANNISTER restrictions for the health and safety of Bahamians, and I urge everyone to follow and comply with those restrictions for the health of everybody who we come into contact with.” Meanwhile, National Security Minister Marvin Dames had this to say to critics: “For those persons saying now is not the best time then tell us when the best time is?” He also conceded that the virus will be with us for a long time, adding that there is no good time to call an election as circumstances may be worse next year.
“There are what, six or eight different variants out there and according to some persons, health professionals globally they will tell you that we expect to be living with COVID maybe for the next two plus years, so when is a good time?” Mr Dames questioned. “There are persons out there who would come and say these things, but they can’t offer you any sensible alternative so if this is not a good time, when is a good time? It is what it is… Who knows what next year will bring. It might be worse than this time.” Tourism Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar said he didn’t believe it would make much difference if the election were called at a later date and also said he believed the vote could still be held safely. “I’m of the view that we are deploying safe protocols. Certainly, when I campaign, I only use vaccinated persons. I socially distance and I talk from afar…and I think that we could conduct it safely and I’m certainly using those strategies in my campaigning.” The election is set for September 16.
PAGE 4, Wednesday, August 25, 2021
THE TRIBUNE
Crisis’ toll on non-COVID patients from page one Deaths, not just those related to COVID-19, appeared to have increased recently, as seen in The Tribune’s obituaries that have published full 48-page editions along with surplus pages for several weeks now. In the previous months, the obituary section has also been fully subscribed. “This ain’t got nothing to do with insurance,” Dr Sands said. “Whether you have insurance or don’t have insurance right now the inn is full. So, this has to do with bed availability, a reduction in services, the availability of nurses and the impact on certain physicians being out sick. “So, right now it is very difficult to get certain types of cases done and to admit certain patients unless they are critically ill and even then, you know we have critically ill patients who are trying to get in hospital particularly from the Family Islands and we can’t bring them in.” In some instances, he said a patient may be sent home to monitor their condition or simply wait until the hospital is able to accommodate their care. “I mean you basically try
to do triage to determine what is the most effective use of scarce resources and sometimes you get it right and sometimes you don’t,” Dr Sands said. “Dr [Charles] Diggiss, [Doctors Hospital chief executive officer] has been very vocal on this matter as well and he says that they’ve had to make difficult decisions about who goes on a ventilator, who doesn’t go on a ventilator and that doesn’t only apply to COVID patients that applies to all the patients. “So, let me give you an example. I took care of a gentleman with a very serious injury yesterday. There are no ICU beds in the hospital. Any other time that I would have taken care of him there would be absolutely no doubt that he had to go to the intensive care unit. “There were no intensive care unit beds. This patient was critically injured, and we had to manage out of the intensive care unit. Now fortunately he survived, but that speaks to the handicap that has been placed not just on the public healthcare system but on the healthcare system period.” He continued: “If you come in with a chest pain now you may end up being sent home even though
Ellice Sallyann Lockhart-Pratt
Ellice Sallyann Lockhart-Pratt
you are having a heart attack because the system doesn’t have the capacity to function at the level that it ideally functions and so are you having patients suffer or die as a result of the impact of COVID? The answer is probably yes. “And you can only do the best that you can do, and this is very, very frustrating for staff. For instance, if you have a standard nurse to patient ratio in a given area and you say that on such and such a ward, we do one to five, one to six, one to three, one to two, nowadays that’s gone. All of those ratios at times will have to be stretched because you only have so many nurses and they can only work so many hours and so if you have somebody who is working 10 straight 16-hour shifts at some point in time she has to go home and rest. “So, what are you gonna do? You will do the best that you can.”
PFIZER NOD GIVES CONFIDENCE BOOST By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net THE US Food and Drug Administration’s full approval of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine gave more confidence to those who received the vaccine at the Kendal G L Isaacs National Gymnasium yesterday. Pfizer is now the first COVID-19 vaccine to be FDA approved and will now be marketed as “Comirnaty for the prevention of COVID-19 disease in individuals 16 years of age and older,” according to the FDA. When The Tribune visited the gym, many people expressed hesitancy about getting the jab but were motivated to do so for various reasons such as protecting loved ones and themselves from the virus or having seen how the virus affected others. Yet, the news of the approval did give them more confidence in the vaccine. “I had made my decision
prior to the FDA approval, but having read that the FDA had approved this vaccine, yes it was a little more comforting knowing that you know that it is approved by the Food and Drug Administration,” said Michelle Knowles. She went to the gym with her mother and sister to take her first dose. Ms Knowles recounted her hesitancy at first, but noted a personal experience that highlighted the reality of the virus. “Well, early in the year when there were so many unknowns even with the virus itself hearing so many different versions of it,” she said. “My husband had COVID earlier in the year. It came [front and] centre for me in my home so at that point you realise it’s not propaganda. COVID is real and people do get sick and they do die.” Monique Mckenzie was hesitant in getting the vaccine but decided she needed to take it after doing research and the nature of her job as a social worker.
She also knows of at least three people who died as a result of getting COVID. Ms McKenzie remembered: “For me, it was very heart-wrenching for the last [person] who just died two nights ago… on the Family Island, wasn’t able to come to Nassau because there were no beds or anything. So definitely that also helped me to realise that I was doing the right thing by getting the vaccination today.” The stamp of approval from the FDA was good news to her. “Yes that was good to hear because you know even though I had made up my mind to get it I was a bit hesitant but after hearing that it has been FDA approved, yes I feel so much better now,” she added. For Michael Lewis, the Pfizer FDA approval made him feel a bit “more confident”. “I mean I already had my date booked before they approved it yesterday so it made me feel a bit more confident.”
SAWYER BOY IN HOSPITAL WITH COVID By TANYA SMITHCARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net
LOCAL comedian Timico “Sawyer Boy” Sawyer has been admitted to hospital suffering from complications related to the COVID-19 virus. Last week, Mr Sawyer was admitted to Princess Margaret Hospital and diagnosed with COVID-19. “Unfortunately I’ve been diagnosed with COVID19,” the comedian said in a Facebook post on August 18. “It isn’t an easy battle, but I have professional help guiding me through. Staying positive is a must.” Just two days later Mr Sawyer posted again on his Facebook page, this time making a joke of his appearance at the time of his admission and directing his fans to watch his
comedic acts on YouTube while he is convalescing. “I glad they didn’t use the actual pic of me being rushed to hospital for COVID-19, cause I did look like that one time James Brown and Katt Williams take them mug shots. I’m fighting the good fight [sic]!” The Tribune reached out to Mr Sawyer for an update on his illness. He didn’t respond, however, his brother did, simply saying the family does not want to comment, but the public should keep the comedian in their prayers. Mr Sawyer, the owner of Sawyer Boy Entertainment, is a Bahamian Icon Award and Elevation Award winner. He has been featured in brand projects with KFC, Kalik, Island Luck, Fine Threads, BTC, Friendly Ford and Kanoo,
to name a few. He often says he is just a “Bahamian who loves to make people laugh,” something he discovered at an early age. After exploring several career paths, his family encouraged him to “do something with his talent”. This is how SawyerBoy TV came about. He also has a TV show on Our TV entitled “The New Sawyerboy Show” and works as a radio personality on Star 106.5FM where he has a show called “The Fix on 106 with Sawyerboy”. On Monday, Mr Sawyer posted a more sombre note on his Facebook page which read, “Thank you for all the prayers. I appreciate y’all. It’s rough, but I’m holding on.” It is not known if the entertainer has been vaccinated.
THE TRIBUNE
Wednesday, August 25, 2021, PAGE 5
Bannister: We are stilll monitoring shanty towns By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net WORKS Minister Desmond Bannister has said his ministry continues to monitor the development of unregulated shanty towns across the country and is ready to act as soon as an opportunity presents itself. In the meantime, Mr Bannister said officials will abide by the law until the court has made its final ruling on a judicial review centred on shanty town demolition. “We are a law-abiding government. We abide by what the court says. We are still waiting on the ruling of the court on the issues before it and [whenever] the court makes a decision, we will be able to analyse it and take steps from there,” he told reporters ahead of yesterday’s Cabinet meeting. The government was banned from evicting shanty town residents and demolishing homes in 2018 after a Supreme Court granted an injunction protecting shanty towns in New Providence as well as Abaco. After Hurricane Dorian hit Abaco in 2019, the government sought to have the 2018 injunction varied to exclude Abaco shanty towns and their residents, insisting they no longer needed to be protected as the communities were virtually wiped out by the storm.
DEMOLITIONS pictured previously in Abaco in this image taken from video. The government’s bid, however, was rejected in June after Supreme Court Justice Cheryl GrantThompson ordered an extension of her injunction to include all unregulated communities in Abaco. Her ruling came after the government launched a
joint sting operation on the remaining shanty towns in Abaco and began demolishing newly built structures. Officials must now get approval from the court before demolishing any further structures. Asked if he thought the ruling has emboldened
more shanty town dwellers to erect illegal structures now that they have protection, Mr Bannister did not directly answer, saying he didn’t want to speak specifically to the ruling. “I’m not going to criticise a court ruling because, you know, I’m a lawyer,”
he said. “What’s important now is I want to send a message out that we are monitoring all these things that are happening and the minute there’s an opportunity to protect the health of the Bahamian people, we’re going to take that opportunity
and we’re going to follow up with it because what is happening out there is unconscionable.” Mr Bannister said his ministry continues to receive increasing reports about illegal structures springing up across the country and vowed to deal with the issue when the opportunity is made available. “We have many reports, all over the place. All over New Providence, proliferating all over the Family Islands,” he said. “It’s going to impact your lives and as people who value what we have in this country, it’s going to be important for us to protect it. All of us and not just me as a minister. Every single one of us has an obligation to our children and grandchildren that we’re going to protect the water table. “We’re going to protect the health and we’re going to do certain things to ensure that they could have the same similar type of standing that we’re going to have so it’s really critical that we get to the bottom of it and deal with these sorts of challenges.” Due to health concerns surrounding shanty towns, Mr Bannister was also asked if the government is considering visiting the communities to offer COVID-19 vaccines to undocumented migrants who may be fearful about being deported. To which, he replied: “Vaccination centres are not immigration centres.”
ACTING CORONER TO BE APPOINTED ‘VERY SOON’ By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net
CHIEF Justice Brian Moree said an acting coroner will be appointed “very soon”, allowing for the resumption of inquests into police-involved killings and other matters. The Bahamas, which has one of the highest rates of police-involved killings in the world, has not had an inquest into a killing in 17 months. Inquests were halted in March 2020 because of COVID-19. They were supposed to resume after the Coroner’s Court was outfitted with plexiglass barriers in April of this year. Former Coroner Jeanine Weech-Gomez was sworn in as a Supreme Court justice in May and has not been replaced. However, Justice Weech-Gomez did oversee an inquest relating to the deaths of missing
Hurricane Dorian victims earlier this year before her reassignment. Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt has served as the acting coroner and has visited scenes of killings, but has not held any inquests. Outside Parliament yesterday, Chief Justice Moree said: “The Judicial Legal Services Commission has advised the Governor General to make an appointment of an acting coroner, which will be announced probably sometime, I believe, this week or next week. At the moment we do have three or four deputy coroners so the work of the coroner has continued, but an acting coroner will be announced very shortly. “Inquests will resume. One of the functions of the coroner is to sign release documents when persons die. That is being done by the deputy coroners. The
inquests will resume very shortly after the appointment of the acting coroner. We expect that to happen if not this month, certainly the first week of September.” Chief Justice Moree could not say how many cases are a part of the backlog. “The former coroner, now Justice Weech Gomez, was working her way through the backlog, including some of the Dorian cases, so we have a schedule, I’d have to get that number for you, but there are quite a few so the Coroner’s Court and the inquests are going to be very busy,” he said. Before court proceedings for police involved killings were suspended last year, the court was scheduled to hold an inquest into the 2018 death of Deangelo Evans, a 20-year-old man whose killing in Masons Addition alarmed the community.
ROBBERY SUSPECT: YOU HAVE THE WRONG PERSON By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net A 25-YEAR-OLD man charged with armed robbery yesterday claimed that police had arrested the wrong person. Kendall Raphael was arrested after he was accused of using a handgun to rob a man of his $20,000 car, $1,200 iPhone and $70 set of keys on August 20. He was not required to enter a plea during his arraignment before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt; however, when he was given an opportunity to speak, he claimed that he had a serious medical condition that did not allow him to move freely. Raphael said he had an apparatus inside of him and was unable to “run or help himself”. After showing the magistrate a copy of his medical records, he insisted he could not have robbed anybody in his current condition because he had an “open wound”. In response, Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt said the prosecution would make a note of his complaint and the Department of Public Prosecutions would review it . She said if they agreed with him, it is likely the matter
would not proceed. She also said she would make a note of his medical challenges and bring it to the attention of the officers at the prison. In the meantime,
Raphael was denied bail and remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services. He has a right to apply to the Supreme Court for bail.
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THE TRIBUNE
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If you promise to fix a date, why call an early vote? WHEN the FNM laid out its manifesto for the 2017 election, one item was very clear – a fixed date for General Elections. It’s a promise that remains unfulfilled. In January 2019, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis told The Tribune that the government intended to move legislation for fixed election dates, as well as term limits for the prime minister, that very week – but again, nothing materialised. Indeed, what we have instead now is the very opposite – with first of all a guessing game over when the election would be called, followed by a date for the vote that is months early. What is the advantage of a fixed date for an election? Well, it gives the nation the opportunity to be prepared, to start with. Each party can have its manifestos prepared, the best candidates for the job chosen for each constituency, and everything put in place for any possible transition – whether it is from one party to another or changes of ministers if a party remains in place. The time of year can matter, too. Heaven forbid, but this election is happening in the middle of hurricane season. How well would a new government be prepared for any possible storm coming our way only a week or two into their administration? Former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham weighed in on the subject yesterday too, saying that he felt a consistent election date is necessary to ensure people are properly advised and prepared for a general election. “I had one snap election,” he said. “I called an election in March of 1997, which was about five months before the end of my term, and thereafter I determined that we ought to move towards a fixed election date as far as possible and I therefore held election in 2002 in May.” Fellow former Prime Minister Perry Christie said he was surprised at the early election call by Dr Minnis. He said: “I thought he was gonnna try to give the country an opportunity to come to grips with the fact that he had a strong programme of vaccination and accelerate that programme over the next four or five months we would be in a better position than we are now. But prime ministers have a right to do that. He’s decided to do that. The Bahamian people have a right, the chance to say yes or no, so he’s exercised his constitutional right. I would not have at this time myself, but that is how we differ.” Cabinet ministers were dutifully supporting the election call yesterday, from Renward Wells saying that we have the protocols in place to vote safely to Marvin Dames saying if “now is not the best time then tell us when the best time is”, which shows how little weight he gives the manifesto he ran on in 2017.
Deputy Prime Minister Desmond Bannister said it was important to hold an election in the shortest time “so the next administration could create a new mandate to address the challenges ahead.” It should be noted this isn’t an issue on which the PLP is seeking to make much of an issue. Opposition leader Phillip “Brave” Davis has previously said he has “no issue” with term limits, which is hardly a ringing endorsement one way or the other, while saying that no “responsible opposition” should be caught off-guard. But at its heart, this is an issue about a party that said one thing on the campaign trail and then in government is operating exactly the opposite way. If a fixed election date was what the party desired, it could have done just that rather than jumping the gun. Dr Minnis has said he will legislate the issue as quickly as possible if he wins another term. Is that a promise he will keep?
Compensation
Latario Rolle, who was unlawfully arrested, beaten by officers and falsely accused of theft has been awarded $163,000 in damages by the Supreme Court. He was punched so hard in the face that it is expected he will lose six teeth from the injury. Ten months after his arrest, the prosecution withdrew the case against him. None of his goods – which he was accused of stealing – have been returned to him. All that took place six years ago, and the court criticised the Attorney General’s office, saying “the matter was attended to with no care or urgency. Crown counsel failed to call any witnesses, cross-examine or even file submissions to defend the allegations. This demonstrates an impenitent disregard towards the plaintiff.” How often have we seen that disregard? So often, especially in immigration cases, we have seen a failure by the Attorney General’s office to adequately present a case, resulting in people discharged after years of unlawful detention. It is right that Mr Rolle has been compensated – although we would note one thing. Douglas Ngumi was awarded just $750,950 after six and a half years of unlawful imprisonment and inhumane treatment. Mr Rolle deserves his compensation, but the price of depriving innocent people of their liberty should be higher. And it should be matched by a determination by the Attorney General’s office to do better, and for those officers, whatever uniform they wear, to be held responsible for such detentions.
FNM ‘lie machine’ EDITOR, The Tribune.
IN the run up to the 2017 election, seemingly the entire Bahamian media fixated on some leaked email exchanges involving Jerome Fitzgerald. The narrative was that, as Minister of Education at the time, Mr. Fitzgerald broke some (as yet unspecified) rule relating to conflicts of interests. It was an appalling mischaracterisation, based on total ignorance of Westminster conventions (which Mr Fitzgerald’s actions did not in any way breach) and animated by a deeply biased media (compare the reaction to Brent Symmonette’s documented conflicts of interests). There is nothing improper about a minister discussing a private contractual matter that has no relation to his ministerial portfolio with a private citizen. If there were, then every minister
who ever haggled with a taxi driver over a fare, or negotiated a sale or purchase of property, would be guilty of impropriety. It was arrant nonsense. But it worked. So, predictably, the FNM propaganda machine is at it again. This time images are appearing of PLP leader Brave Davis in unflattering postures or in controversial company, while words like “corruption” are recklessly thrown about. No evidence is offered. Just hints and innuendoes, targeting simple and prejudiced minds. Do these people think Bahamians are stupid enough to have forgotten their refusal to disclose to the auditor general the full list of beneficiaries of covid-19 related public expenditures? Or the crooked Oban affair with its still-missing file? Or the political show trials that ended in utter failure (and for which they refuse
to disclose the costs to the public, who funded them)? Apparently so. For a party that has virtually nothing to show for its various stints in power aside from the steady decline of our middle class and the advancement of foreign and plutocratic interests at the expense of Bahamians, there was never going to be anything to appeal to in voters apart from cheap prejudice and over-played stereotypes. So these tactics really shouldn’t surprise anyone. Nonetheless, Bahamians have every right to feel insulted that, when called upon for an accounting of four wasted, tortuous years in office, all their government can do is scramble for the same old tired playbook of lies, gossip and distraction. ANDREW ALLEN Nassau, August 22, 2021.
Are FNMs ready for PM Davis? EDITOR, The Tribune. I BELIEVE that diehard Free National Movement (FNM) supporters must now come to terms with the possibility of Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Leader Philip Brave Davis becoming the next prime minister of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. Three years ago, Davis becoming this nation’s leader seemed farfetched. However, the onslaught of COVID-19 and the catastrophic passage of Hurricane Dorian have placed this highly coveted job well within reach of the PLP leader. With the election season upon us, tempers from both sides of the political aisle have flared up. The current atmosphere is acrimonious, with PLPs and FNMs arguing on Facebook over which party deserves to be elected to government. The pendulum has undoubtedly swung in the PLP’s favour, with many political pundits predicting a landslide victory for the official Opposition. I am sensing that certain FNMs are feeling angry and uncertain. In the event that Davis becomes prime minister, what would this mean for these FNMs? I would encourage these FNMs to continue being law-abiding denizens, with
LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net the realization that the Davis administration will need all hands on deck to steer The Bahamas through this most difficult time. FNMs must be both supportive and submissive to Davis, as he would be their delegated authority whom God would’ve sovereignty appointed through our electoral system to govern us. Whether FNMs would want to admit it or not, if Davis becomes prime minister, it would definitely mean that he was chosen by God. In Jeremiah 27, Yahweh through His prophet cautioned Moab, Ammon, Zidon, Tyre and Edom against rebelling against the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, whom He had appointed to reign over these Gentile nations. Even the Southern Kingdom of Judah was not exempted from Nebuchadnezzar’s reign. Moreover, as leader of The Bahamas, FNMs would also be morally obligated to honour Davis, according to 1 Peter 2:17. It would be an egregious sin to revile Davis as leader. We can respectfully disagree with his policies, but to denigrate him or to
speak disparagingly about him would be a clear violation of biblical law. Not only should FNMs honour Davis, but they should also pray for him as their leader (1 Timothy 2:13). If Davis were to succeed as prime minister, then all Bahamians would succeed. Him failing would serve no meaningful purpose. Nor should FNMs root for him to fail. At the end of the day, The Bahamas is at stake, not the PLP or the FNM. If FNMs cannot bring themselves to honour the person holding the office of prime minister, then at the very least they should honour that important position. In the final analysis, whoever is prime minister on the morning of September 17 will not change the immutable fact that the Lord Jesus Christ, Adonai, rules the universe He created for His pleasure. If Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis is removed from his position on September 16 in order to make way for Davis, FNMs can find comfort in the fact that it is Yahweh who “removeth kings, and setteth up kings” (Daniel 2:21). KEVIN EVANS Freeport, Grand Bahama, August 24, 2021.
A big decision EDITOR, The Tribune. WELL it’s election season and it would appear the two main parties are not short of cash. Almost overnight both sides have planted thousands of verge side signs. There is a noticeable difference from now to just before the last election. Then the PLP were handing out millions of $ in dubious
contracts for sidewalks and the likes. One thing the PLP loathe to down when leaving office is to leave any funds in the Treasury. Well who to vote for? One thing for sure Dr Minnis in poker terms got a dead man’s hand with Dorian followed in short order by COVID. He managed by and large to keep us safe and to put money
in people’s pockets whilst keeping the economy ticking over. So do you want a New Day with the PLP and all that implies or are you concerned for the future? Big decision and hugely important for the Bahamas. Vote wisely. THE REALIST Nassau, August 24, 2021.
THE TRIBUNE
Suspect wins $160k for police assault
from page one
The legal action arose from an incident that occurred on January 9, 2015. According to court documents, Mr Rolle left his home that day to return a PlayStation game to his cousin. While he was walking in the Elizabeth Estates area, he was stopped by police officers who were on patrol. When they searched Mr Rolle, they found a photograph of a gun in his phone and subsequently handcuffed him and escorted him back to his residence. “Upon arrival, the plaintiff [while still cuffed] was dragged to the backdoor which was forced open by the police after they received no response at the front door,” the court documents said. “Once inside, the police [who entered without a search warrant] searched and ransacked the plaintiff’s home. Despite the fact that nothing illegal was discovered, the police charged the plaintiff with unlawful possession of jewellery, the PlayStation console and games discovered in his home.” According to the ruling, Mr Rolle immediately asked the officer how he could just “break open his house and arrest him for his own property”. Mr Rolle said it was at that time that the officer charged at him, while he was still cuffed, and began repeatedly punching him in his face. This caused one of his teeth to fall out and another one to become loose. He said despite his injuries, he
was denied medical attention while he was in police custody. A dental report later disclosed that Mr Rolle “will eventually lose six teeth” as a result of the injury inflicted upon him. Four days after his arrest, Mr Rolle was arraigned in the Magistrate’s Court and granted bail. However, he was unable to satisfy the conditions and was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services until January 19, 2015. Ten months later, he was discharged when the prosecution withdrew their case against him, but he said despite the fact they have not attempted to reintroduce any charges against him, none of his goods have been returned to date. Mr Rolle sought over $800,000 in damages from the government after claiming his constitutional rights had been violated. However, after reviewing the circumstances of the case, Assistant Registrar Renaldo Toote awarded Mr Rolle $163,060.85 as compensation for the treatment he endured six years ago. In his ruling, he stated the “stability of justice is eroded whenever a person’s liberties are violated by those who are sworn to protect and preserve human rights in a civil society.” “The fundamental freedoms and liberties afforded by the Constitution are the essential elements to any democratic society to which the doors of justice are hinged, and its doorbell is the rule of law which reverberates the equitable
maxim nemo est supra legis: meaning ‘No man is above the law’,” he said. “Simply put, the police are duty bound to act fairly. If these liberties are found to be violated, the courts ought to compensate the victim with the same even handedness in order to vindicate the constitutional right which has been infringed. At all times, the court’s intention will be equality achieved through justice.” Registrar Toote also criticised the Office of the Attorney General for how they handled the matter. “Let me say for the record, that the Attorney General’s conduct in this matter was rather distasteful and most disheartening as representatives of the state,” he said. “The matter was attended to with no care or urgency. Crown counsel failed to call any witnesses, cross-examine or even file submissions to defend the allegations. This demonstrates an impenitent disregard towards the plaintiff.” Registrar Toote said the failure to cross-examine or call witnesses in matters where the basic rights of a citizen are allegedly abused by those responsible for protecting “the constitutional dignity” did nothing to “rebuff such abhorrent conduct”. “I reiterate, that at all times, the court’s intention will be equality achieved through justice; as there is no adequate amount of money that could be awarded to restore the public’s confidence in the police when it has been eroded by abuse.”
Wednesday, August 25, 2021, PAGE 7
Sign of the times as man accused of stealing FNM election posters By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net
A 41-YEAR-OLD man accused of stealing nearly $500 worth of Free National Movement paraphernalia from the Mount Moriah constituency was charged in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday. Police said Matthew Sandilands stole 55 FNM “It’s About Your Future” posters off utility poles in the Yellow Elder Gardens area sometime between August 20 and 22. According to court dockets, the posters were worth $495. National Security
Minister Marvin Dames, who is the FNM’s incumbent candidate for the Mount Moriah constituency, is also listed as the first witness on the court document. Sandilands pleaded not guilty to one count of stealing when he appeared before Magistrate Shaka Serville and the matter was adjourned to December 1 for trial. In the interim, Sandilands was granted $500 bail. Since Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis announced an early election last week, posters, billboards and lawn signs have flooded the streets of New Providence. In a recent statement,
Police Commissioner Paul Rolle reminded the public that it was an offence to tamper with “party paraphernalia”. “It was brought to the attention of the commissioner of police that some persons are deliberately destroying party paraphernalia posted throughout the city,” he said on Sunday. “These are permitted during election time as political parties campaign. The commissioner wishes to remind the public that it is an offence to interfere with or destroy party paraphernalia and persons caught doing so will be prosecuted.”
PAGE 8, Wednesday, August 25, 2021
THE TRIBUNE
We vote in a broken system which fails us and the options in most cases are terrible By Alicia Wallace
THE signs are here – and they are terrible. The uninteresting, uninspiring, unsightly lawn signs litter New Providence with red, yellow and not much else. The Progressive Liberal Party’s “A New Day” signs and the Free National Movement’s “It’s about your future” add nothing to the political discussion would be a good change and give no information on from verbose Christie. party platforms. It was not long before The FNM and PLP are we saw how uninterested continuing the lazy habit Minnis was in communicatof pointing fingers at each ing with the people of The other and campaigning on Bahamas. He said he would not being the other party. address the nation twice That does nothing to help per year and hold quarterly voters to make impor- press conferences. This did tant decisions not actually about what ‘By now, we happen and his they will do in disdain for the the booth, but know it actually media and, by it has, over is important to extension, the the past few have a Prime people of The decades, been Bahamas, was Minister with enough for the made abuntwo parties to public speaking dantly clear. take turns. skills. That is a We went They tag through years each other in part of the job of disrespect every five years and not one that from Minnis after they comwe can ignore.’ and his entire pletely lose the administratrust and incur tion, then sat the wrath of the electorate. This time around, we are through Minnis’ address follooking at the same terrible lowing Hurricane Dorian. options we had in 2017, but That, for many people, was the moment that it was with more at stake. By now, we know it actu- most obvious he is a terrible ally is important to have a speaker and we do, in fact, Prime Minister with public need a Prime Minister who speaking skills. That is a is able to address the public part of the job and not one with appropriate language, that we can ignore. When attitude, tone and presence. Now, as the COVID-19 Minnis became leader of the FNM, this issue was pandemic rages on and we raised and FNM support- struggle to strive, we are ers waved it off, accused subjected to even more of anyone critical of Minnis of his addresses. The content being a PLP supporter and seems new to him every insisted public speaking was single time and his tone is not important and Minnis akin to one that may be
used to read a story to kindergarteners. It is difficult to believe he knows what he is talking about, wants the best for the country, or cares whether or not we understand what he is saying and why. FNM supporters often say, in Minnis’ defence, that he has had a difficult term because of the crises of Hurricane Dorian and COVID-19, but he was an appalling Prime Minister and abysmal communicator before either of those events. Unfortunately, the leader of the PLP is no better at communication. It is clear he is committed, like many previous leaders of the opposition, to simply disagreeing with whatever the Prime Minister says. His comments over the past four years have lacked substance and, in many cases, left us wondering what he was trying to say. Most people admit that they have no confidence in Davis and do not believe him capable of leading the next administration. Even those who are dissatisfied with Minnis do not want to cast their votes for Davis. Neither party leader deserves our votes. We find ourselves in this position again and again, not knowing what to do
with the one vote we have. to put that aside, focusing We know the leaders of on the microlevel, prioritizthe FNM and PLP, we hear ing our communities. empty rhetoric from the Voting in the upcomother party leaders every ing election, we have two now and then, and none options—go the same old of them have engaged us route and vote for (or, in in conversations about the most cases, against) a party way forward. or party leader, or put in Once again, we are stuck the work and find out who with parties that are doing all of the candidates are nothing more than pointing in our constituencies, find fingers at the FNM admin- out what you know about istration while it tells us it them, contact them and ask has a rough four years and their positions on critical hopes we will stop talk- areas, and vote for the one ing about the unfulfilled most likely to represent our promises (including a fixed concerns. election date and term I highly recommended limits for the Prime Min- voting to support the best ister). None of the options candidate in your coneven prompt a neutral stituency or spoiling your response, and part of the ballot to register your disissue is the electorate is content with the options not able to participate in available to you. (If you do the nomination process. not understand the option Candidates are thrust upon to spoil your ballot, you can us, and we are expected to easily find more informachoose from the selection tion by searching for the that is predetermined by a Out Da Box 242 campaign small group of which ran people. ahead of the ‘Any candidate We, quite serious about 2017 election). obviously, It is okay need a differ- being a Member to vote for ent system. We of Parliament independent say it often, but is aware of the candidates and we have done those reprevery little work issues facing the senting parties to get there. constituencies that are not It requires they want to the FNM or research, PLP, as long as represent. They imagination you are clear and collabora- ought to have on their prition at the very more than ideas. orities, areas least. of interest and The people Demand that willingness and benefiting from they articulate ability to repthe antiquated, resent you and their plans.’ frustrating raise the issues system are few, affecting your but they are in touch with constituency. one another, communicatThere are many areas of ing and keeping it together. concern for us right now, The rest of us need to be and we need to ask candijust as coordinated and dates for their positions, cooperative to create what their plans, and how they we need and have it imple- will execute them. We need mented. Maybe this is the to be prepared with our election that propels us questions, and they need to in that direction and we, be prepared to answer. It is across party lines, can come not enough for candidates together based on this to spew rhetoric and simply shared interest and use our agree with what you say. collective power to make You need to know that they the change. have thought about the For now, we must vote. issues that are affecting you The options, in most cases, and your constituency, and are terrible. that they are aware of the We may have moved, position of their party or to a certain extent, away other supporters. Be clear from party voting, but we on their plans to address still want our vote to count the issues. Whatever your toward the Prime Minister, areas of concerns may be, often to the detriment of you need to ask the candiour constituencies. In the dates in your constituency: current, very flawed system, • What is your position a vote for a candidate for on this issue? Member of Parliament • What is the position of becomes a vote for that your party on this issue? (If member’s party leader. This applicable) time around, we may need • What is the solution
you propose? • How did you arrive at that solution? • Who else is on board? • Who will oppose this, and how will you respond? • What other challenges do you expect to face? • What resources are required? How will you access them? • What kind of support do you need from the constituency (beyond voting)? • If your solution is blocked or fails in some other way, what is the next course of action? Any candidate serious about being a Member of Parliament is aware of the issues facing the constituencies they want to represent. They ought to have more than ideas. Demand that they articulate their plans. Find out how much thought they have put into it. Determine whether or not they have the ability to assess the environment, engage stakeholders like you, make a plan, execute a plan, respond to the factors they cannot control, and recover from failure. Be sure that they are prepared to represent you, not sit quietly or be roped into some other agenda. Tell them what you expect, ask them if they can meet your expectations, and insist that they tell you how they will do that. This, of course, requires that you are clear on the issues and what you want from a representative. If you have clear recommendations for the next administration, share them. Equality Bahamas is still collecting responses to its survey which is guiding the development of Feminist Standards for Governance. Members of the public are invited to share their thoughts, ideas, and demands on issues related to health, education, women and LGBTQI+ people, youth, social services, environment, and labour and economy. There is also space to share concerns and solutions on the critical areas of gender-based violence, climate change, and disaster management. You can respond to one, some, or all of the questions, responses can be any length, and there is an opportunity to join the working group that will review responses, draft the Feminist Standards for Governance, and participate in activities beyond the launch. Contribute at tiny. cc/feministsg.
THE TRIBUNE
Wednesday, August 25, 2021, PAGE 9
PERSEPHONE, THE ROBOT GUIDE, LEADS VISITORS IN A GREEK CAVE
PERSEPHONE guides the visitors inside Alistrati cave, about 135 kilometres (84 miles) northeast of Thessaloniki, Greece. By COSTAS KANTOURIS Associated Press ALISTRATI, Greece (AP) — Persephone is a tour guide in Greece, but perhaps not the type people are used to. Billed as the world’s first robot tour guide inside a cave, Persephone has been welcoming visitors since mid-July to the Alistrati Cave in northern Greece, 135 kilometres (84 miles) northeast of the city of Thessaloniki. The multilingual robot covers the first 150 metres (roughly 500 feet) of the part of the cave that is open to the public. In the remaining 750 metres (2,400 feet), a human guide takes over. The robot was named Persephone because, according to one version of the ancient Greek myth, it was in a nearby plain that Pluto — the god of the underworld who was also known as Hades — abducted Persephone, with the consent of her father Zeus, to take her as his wife. The robot can give its part of the tour in 33 languages and interact at a basic level with visitors in three languages. It can also answer 33 questions, but only in Greek. Nikos Kartalis, the scientific director for the Alistrati site, had the idea of creating the robot when he saw one on TV guiding visitors at an art gallery. Seventeen years later, “we got our funds and the robot guide became a reality,” Kartalis told The Associated Press. The robot was built by the National Technology and Research Foundation and cost 118,000 euros ($139,000). “We already have a 70% increase in visitors compared to last year since we started using” the robot,
says Kartalis. “People are enthusiastic, especially the children, and people who had visited in the past are coming back to see the robot guide.” “It is something unprecedented for them, to have the ability to interact with their robot by asking it questions and the robot answering them,” he said. “Many foreign visitors couldn’t believe Greece had the capacity to build a robot and use it as a guide in the cave.” The robot moves along a walkway, passing through an ornate landscape of stalactites and stalagmites. These varied formations can reach 15 metres (50 feet) tall and are seen throughout the cave’s nearly 1 kilometre (1.6-mile) walkway, which is accessible to people with limited mobility. “This cave is one of the most beautiful, not only in Greece but in Europe, as well,” says Kartalis. “It has stalactites and stalagmites in many shapes and colors, even red.”
He said the cave was 3 million years old and was first explored in 1974 by the Hellenic Speleological Society and a team of Austrian speleologists. It opened to visitors in 1998. Persephone, with a white body, black head and two luminous eyes, moves on wheels, guiding visitors to the first three of eight stops along the walkway. She can do two more stops, but her low speed slows down the tour, which is conducted in three languages simultaneously. Persephone’s creators are considering ways to speed her up. The robot’s begins by saying: “My name is Persephone, I am the daughter of the goddess Demeter and the wife of Pluto, the god of the underworld. I welcome you to my under Earth kingdom, the Alistrati Cave.” Many visitors are intrigued by the robot guide. “It was surprising for me. I’ve never experienced such a thing. Actually, honestly, I prefer a live
a few testers and is now expanding it, the company said. It would not say how many vehicles are involved or when it plans to pull the human backups. The approach is similar to what Waymo did in Phoenix when it started a limited ride-hailing service in 2017. The company says it has given thousands of fully autonomous rides in metro Phoenix since October of 2020. People who want to join the programme can do so by downloading the Waymo One app.
82 ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING STATIONS COMING TO LOUISIANA
(AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos) guide, but it’s interesting doing it this way. And I like the pace of the robot. It goes slower, so I can look around,” said Patrick Markes, a Czech visitor. Markes listened to the first three stops from the robot in his native language and the rest in English from a human tour guide. “I should thank Persephone, our robot, she said very fine things,” said Christos Tenis, a Greek visitor. “I’m impressed by the cave. Of course, we had a flawless (human) guide, she explained many things. I’m very impressed.” Persephone is not the only technology used inside the cave. There’s a cellphone app in which a visitor, scanning a QR code, can see the Alistrati Beroni. That’s a microorganism that is only found in this cave, in the huge mounds of bat droppings left behind when the cave was opened and the bats migrated elsewhere. Evdokia Karafera is one of the tour guides who partners with the robot. “It is helpful, because it speaks many languages. “There’s just a little delay in the touring,” she said. “Most find it fascinating, especially the children, and find it interesting that it speaks many languages.” Karafera insisted, however, that human tour guides cannot be completely replaced. “Robots, at some point in the future, will take over many jobs. But I believe they cannot replace humans everywhere,” she said. “(Visitors say) ‘the robot is interesting, original, but can’t substitute for the human contact with the guide and the conversation we can have on the way back.’”
WAYMO EXPANDING AUTONOMOUS RIDE SERVICE TO SAN FRANCISCO WAYMO, the Google self-driving vehicle spinoff, is expanding its autonomous ride-hailing service to San Francisco. Selected “trusted tester” customers in the city by the bay will be able to hail a ride in selfdriving Jaguar I-Pace electric vehicles, the company said. For now the vehicles will have human backup drivers on board. But at some point the company plans to run the vehicles without them like it now does in the Phoenix area. Waymo began the programme last week with
TECHTALK
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — More than 20 government agencies, universities and electric utilities in Louisiana soon will be getting electric vehicle charging stations worth more than $1.7 million. The Department of Environmental Quality is awarding grants to 26 entities for 82 charging stations, using money from the state’s $19.8 million share. The money comes from a settlement worth nearly $3 billion between the U.S. Justice Department and Volkswagen over violations of the Clean Air Act, The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported. Volkswagen sold about 590,000 vehicles equipped with devices that worked against their air pollution control features, resulting in increased emissions of nitrogen oxide. Almost $12 million of Louisiana’s share of the 2016 settlement was set aside to replace 351 diesel engine buses owned by 16 school boards. The new engines will reduce nitrogen oxide emissions and other pollutants such as sulphur dioxide, volatile organic compounds, and particulate matter. Another $7.3 million was given to the state Department of Transportation and Development and the Department of Agriculture to replace old diesel equipment and vehicles. The new grants are aimed at helping entities that either plan to buy or already have bought electric vehicles, by providing them with three different levels of charging stations: — A Level 2 light-duty electric vehicle station which provides 240-cycle electricity that can charge vehicle batteries over several hours. — A direct current fast charger, which can charge a vehicle in as little as 30 minutes. — A paratransit charger station that’s designed to service multiple vehicles at once.
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A WAYMO minivan arrives to pick up passengers for an autonomous vehicle ride, in Mesa, Ariz earlier this year. Waymo, the Google self-driving vehicle spinoff, is moving to expand its autonomous ride-hailing service to San Francisco. The company says selected “trusted tester” customers in the city by the bay will be able to hail a ride in self-driving Jaguar I-Pace electric vehicles. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
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THE TRIBUNE
YOUNAIKA rests next to her mother Jertha Ylet, who was injured in the earthquake one week prior, at the Immaculate Conception Hospital, also known as the General Hospital of Les Cayes, Haiti, on Sunday. Photo: Matias Delacroix/AP
Nowhere to go for Haiti quake victims upon hospital release LES CAYES, Haiti Associated Press ORDERLIES pushed Jertha Ylet’s bed from the center of the hospital ward to one side so Dr Michelet Paurus could plug in his electric saw. She was silent as the doctor cut off her plaster cast in measured strokes. Today she would have to leave the hospital, the doctor said. Ylet had resisted until the cast came off. She’d been at Les Cayes’ General Hospital since being brought there August 14, unconscious and with her leg crushed, after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake destroyed her house, killing her father and two other relatives and seriously injuring her brother. There is no home to return to. A surgeon inserted a metal rod in her lower left leg on Thursday. Ylet, 25, had not been out of bed, much less tried to walk, since she arrived. Her 5-year-old daughter, Younaika, who was not injured, shared her bed and spent her days playing with other children around the ward. More than a week after the earthquake on Haiti’s southwestern peninsula killed at least 2,207 people, injured 12,268 and destroyed nearly 53,000 houses, Ylet represents an emerging dilemma for the region’s limited health
care services: how to turn over hospital beds when discharged patients have nowhere to go. “I said to the doctor, ‘I don’t have any place to go,’” Ylet said. “I told them everything. The doctor doesn’t understand.” In the first days after the quake, the hospital was overwhelmed with patients. The injured lay on patios and breezeways awaiting care. Now there are still people in those areas, but they are discharged patients or people who were never admitted at all, who have been drawn by the donations of food, water and clothing that arrive at the hospital daily. “We have a lot patients who have been discharged, but are still hanging out in the yard,” said hospital director Peterson Gede. “The fact they know they will receive food and water... they don’t have any intention to leave.” On Monday, Gede issued an order for hospital staff to begin to “motivate” patients to leave, “to make them understand that we need beds for new patient admissions”. It proved easier said than done. Not having a home to return to was a significant obstacle for Ylet and many others. Ylet lost consciousness when a wall of her cinderblock house in Camp-Perrin fell on her as the quake
struck. Her boyfriend, Junior Milord, had left 20 minutes earlier for work. He froze in the street until the shaking stopped, then ran back to Ylet’s house. He found her buried near the front of the building, which unlike the back, had not completely collapsed. “I thought she was dead when I first started removing the blocks,” Milord said. He pulled her out and flagged down a passing car, which took her to the hospital in Les Cayes. “When I woke up I was in the hospital,” she said. Milord then returned to help dig out the bodies of Ylet’s father, cousin and brother-in-law. Their bodies are still at a funeral home, because the family doesn’t have the money to bury them. Milord lost his own home, plus two uncles, an aunt and a brother in the quake. Milord said some of Ylet’s surviving relatives are camping in her yard. If Ylet and her daughter have to leave, he said, they will end up there too. About 22 beds spread across Ylet’s ward. Nurses and doctors wear masks, but patients do not, despite virtually no one in Haiti having been vaccinated for COVID-19. Nurses huddle around a wooden table at one end. Medical waste is tossed into a cardboard box in a corner.
BIDEN KEEPS TO KABUL DEADLINE US PRESIDENT Joe Biden is sticking to his August 31 deadline for completing a frantic airlift of Americans, at-risk Afghans and others seeking to escape Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. The decision defies allied leaders who want to give the evacuation more time, and opens Biden to criticism that he caved to Taliban deadline demands. The United States in recent days has ramped up its airlift amid new reports of rights abuses that fuel concern about the fate of thousands of people who fear retribution from the Taliban and are trying to flee the country.
Pentagon officials expressed confidence the airlift can get all Americans out by next Tuesday, the deadline Biden had set long before the Taliban completed their takeover. But unknown thousands of other foreign nationals remain in Afghanistan and are struggling to get out. The Taliban, who have wrested control of the country back nearly 20 years after being ousted in a US-led invasion after the 9/11 attacks, insist the airlift must end on August 31. Any decision by Biden to stay longer could reignite a war between the militants and the approximately 5,800
American troops who are executing the airlift at Kabul airport. In Kabul, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told a news conference the US must stick to its selfimposed deadline, saying “after that we won’t let Afghans be taken out” on evacuation flights. He also said the Taliban would bar Afghans from accessing roads to the airport, while allowing foreigners to pass in order to prevent large crowds from massing. It was not immediately clear if they would stop Afghans who are escorted by foreigners or in the process of being evacuated by Western nations.
ROLLING STONES DRUMMER DIES LONDON Associated Press
CHARLIE Watts, the self-effacing and unshakeable Rolling Stones drummer who helped anchor one of rock’s greatest rhythm sections and used his “day job” to support his enduring love of jazz, has died, according to his publicist. He was 80. Bernard Doherty said yesterday that Watts “passed away peacefully in a London hospital earlier today surrounded by his family”. “Charlie was a cherished husband, father and grandfather and also as a member of The Rolling Stones one of the greatest drummers of his generation,” Doherty said. Watts had announced he would not tour with the Stones in 2021 because of an undefined health issue.
CHARLIE Watts of the Rolling Stones.