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VOLUME:117 No.191, SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

HO US E & 16 THE PEOPLE’S PAPER: $1

WOMAN: CARING FOR A SPECIAL NEEDS CHILD AT HOME PAGES

SCHOOLS OUT

New term delayed ’til Oct 5 - and then only virtual classes

By TANYA SMITHCARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net SCHOOLS across the country will now reopen on October 5 with virtual learning only for the islands of New Providence, Abaco and Eleuthera, Minister of Education Jeff Lloyd announced yesterday.

However, some parents of Abaco students are incensed, saying without utilities they cannot participate in that method of learning. Schools on Grand Bahama — which has the second highest number of COVID-19 cases — and other islands will be allowed to reopen with face-to-face learning.

These dates apply to both public and private schools,

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net WHILE castigating the Minnis administration for its lack of a plan to mitigate economic fall out due to COVID-19, the Progressive Liberal Party is urging the government to disclose more specifics about the country’s financial footing.

Following the release of the Ministry of Finance’s budgetary performance report for the fourth quarter of the 2019/2020 fiscal year, PLP deputy leader Chester Cooper said the document is of little use to Bahamians.

This is because the government’s disastrous

mismanagement of the COVID-19 crisis has wreaked havoc on the economy and people now fear economic fallout more than they do the virus, Mr Cooper said in a statement yesterday.

As he claimed the latest snapshot’s information was “dated”, Mr Cooper called on the government to make public the country’s monthly revenue collections and deposits as well as the balance of the Consolidated Fund and any overdraft facilities.

He said the deficit had now ballooned to 350 percent more than the previous year.

SEE PAGE TWO

THE WOMAN CENTRE STAGE IN OUR PERFORMING ARTS

SEE PAGE EIGHT

PM URGED TO OPEN THE DOORS ON CHURCHES

Mr Lloyd said. Schools were previously expected to open for the fall semester on September 21.

Mr Lloyd also said national exams, which were halted months ago due to the pandemic, will resume on September 14.

“The targeted opening date of schools across The Bahamas is Monday, October 5,” Mr Lloyd said. “This goes for public and private schools. One size does not fit all. Thus, schools on the islands of New Providence, Abaco and Eleuthera will open in a completely virtual environment.

That is online. While schools on Grand Bahama and all other islands will open face-to-face.

SEE PAGE FIVE

COOPER CALLS FOR DEEPER INSIGHT ON STATE FINANCES

HOME

SEVERAL religious leaders have called on the Minnis administration to reopen churches, saying they cannot continue to accept the government “crossing the line” into the work of the church.

A letter signed by 20 pastors said when the pandemic began they gave “unequivocal support” as they believed then that the emergency orders and the protocols were necessary and imperative.

“We have now concluded that this crisis, though new and unprecedented, is missing the power and essential benefits of collective, public worship,” the letter sent to the media yesterday said.

SEE PAGE FIVE

‘Dorian took my girls’

‘COVID CAN BE SPREAD IN AC UNITS’

CARLINE Edgecombe’s two daughers, Jendayia and Myeisha, died in Hurricane Dorian. The girls, aged 17 and eight, were found in one another’s arms. A year on from Hurriane Dorian, Mrs Edgecombe tells of the loss and her heartbreak. See the full story on page four.

AN infectious disease expert has suggested that air conditioning may be playing a role in the spread of COVID-19, but says ultraviolet light may be a viable source of sterilising areas where the virus is present.

Edward Nardell, a professor of medicine and global social medicine at Harvard Medical School, has been looking at insights related to tuberculosis and how ultraviolet lights have SEE PAGE THREE

RBDF OFFICERS’ NIGHT SPOT ‘CURFEW BREACH’

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net FOUR Royal Bahamas Defence Force officers who were accused of violating the COVID-19 emergency orders by attending a nightclub in Abaco during the national curfew were yesterday granted $500 bail before their trial.

Lamon Johnson, 36, Ashton Darville, 28, Yocomica Bethel, 37 and

Shavargo Greene, 35, were charged after officers found them at Farm Club in South Abaco around 11pm on August 22.

During their hearing before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt all of the defendants denied the allegation. As a result, the matter was adjourned to November 19 for trial and each defendant was granted $500 bail in the interim.

Darville was also accused of stealing a $1,500 iPhone

from Eliandra Johnson on the night in question.

Darville also denied that charge and the matter was adjourned to November 19 for trial.

Although the defendant was denied bail yesterday, his counsel said they planned to submit an emergency bail application to the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, Johnson was also accused of using

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

SEE PAGE SEVEN

EXTREMISTS HAVE STOLEN BLACK LIVES MATTER BANNER

SEE PAGE NINE

PAGE 2, Tuesday, September 1, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

BACK TO THE BEACH

BAHAMIANS head back to the beach yesterday after a change to emergency powers allowed their reopening from 5am-9am in New Providence.

Photos: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

COOPER CALLS FOR DEEPER INSIGHT ON STATE FINANCES from page one “Given the severity of the crisis, the information in this report is dated,” Mr Cooper said.

“The government’s disastrous mismanagement of the crisis has wreaked havoc on the economy, making it worse than it had to be as businesses have been unable to plan and pivot as quickly as the rules change.

“Bahamians continue to suffer, many lacking basic food and shelter as a result of inefficient programmes and (a) failed rental assistance programme.

We reiterate our belief that the fear of the economic fallout has, perhaps, surpassed the fear of the virus itself.

“Nearly six months into the crisis, it is disgraceful that there is no plan to mitigate the economic fallout from the pandemic and the decisions of the competent authority, and no plan for the future to create jobs or grow the economy.

“We have already asked the Treasury Committee for a review of government finances, but have only gotten an evasive answer from the Minister of Finance.”

He continued: “What we would like to see are the reports of monthly revenue collected and deposits, as well as the balance on the Consolidated Fund and any overdraft facilities. It

is proposed that we examine the actuals compared to projections as well as comparisons to the prior year by month.

“We request the Ministry of Finance provide a copy of the most recent report of the Fiscal Responsibility Council as it would have sight of internal Ministry of Finance reports in preparing its analysis.

“We remind that this is now legally mandated under the much-touted Fiscal Responsibility Act. We wish to examine all loan documents signed this year, including the Central Bank’s debt sustainability analysis given its new legislation which limits its ability to lend to the government.

We also would like a review of all facilities with multilateral lenders such as the IDB, the CDB and the World Bank.”

Regarding the deficit, Mr Cooper said the PLP remains concerned.

“We note that the deficit, at $788m, is roughly 350 percent more than the prior year and almost $110m more than forecasted in June,” he said.

According to the report released by the Ministry of Finance on Sunday, Hurricane Dorian and the COVID-19 pandemic led to an estimated increase in the fiscal deficit to $788.1m in the 2019/2020 fiscal year from $219.3m in the previous fiscal year.

The report stated that

total revenue for the fiscal year decreased by $337.1m or 13.9 percent to settle at $2.09bn, in the fourth quarter alone, while the government saw contractions across its tax categories by 55.2 percent — led by a harsh reductions in value added tax receipts, which fell by $169.2m or 55 percent.

Mr Cooper also said: “We remain concerned that the government continues to account for the full spending on the Grand Lucayan Resort as an investment notwithstanding that it paid much more than the appraised value and spending continues pending a sale.

“The government needs to advise the public as to our specific financial exposure on this so-called investment.

“The report notes the impact of Hurricane Dorian and COVID-19. While Dorian is casually used as the substantial reason for missed targets, the people of Abaco and Grand Bahama still suffer from lack of restoration and not being able to touch, see or feel the impact of the spending.

“We decry the lack of restoration in light of the newly projected deficit,” Mr Cooper said.

Minister of Finance Peter Turnquest is expected to hold a press conference on Wednesday to discuss the fiscal report.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, September 1, 2020, PAGE 3

Gibson: Don’t allow visitors into homes in Long Island LONG Island MP Adrian Gibson has strongly cautioned constituents against allowing visitors into their homes after the island recorded its first confirmed COVID-19 case on Sunday.

According to Mr Gibson the case involves a man, who is his close relative.

He blamed “outsiders” for potential community spread sparking the need to have several people on the island tested for the virus.

“We do not know how he contracted the virus,” the MP said in a statement on social media. “He has no recent history of travel and he is mostly home based.

“It is widely known that several new persons have been seen in the community. These persons have either not lived in Long Island for years or have come to Long Island because of its now formerly COVID-free status and the lack of a curfew/lockdown.

“Sometime last week, he (went to a) doctor in New Providence for another matter. However, upon being again examined by doctors on Saturday and tested, he was determined to also be COVID-19 positive. He is presently in hospital.

ONE MORE DEATH AND 50 NEW CASES A 77-YEAR-OLD man from New Providence has died from COVID-19, according to the latest update released by the Ministry of Health last night.

The man died yesterday morning, and his death brings the total of confirmed deaths from COVID-19 cases to 44.

There were 50 new cases confirmed yesterday, with 33 of those “The doctors have shared that he is in stable condition. Kindly keep him in your prayers for a speedy recovery.”

Mr Gibson urged Long Islanders against inter-island travel, unless necessary, among other things.

“I strongly urge against interisland travel except for medical or emergency reasons. I also urge that you report anyone you see coming to Long Island without permission, without a test and who are not in quarantine (whether by boat or plane).

“I am advised that such travel

‘COVID-19 CAN BE SPREAD IN AC UNITS’ from page one been long used to remove TB from the air.

He thinks the same could apply to SARS-CoV-2, the strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

Dr Nardell, who is also a professor of environmental health and immunology and infectious diseases at Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, said hot summer temperatures can create situations similar to those in winter when respiratory ailments usually surge - leading people to go indoors where they breathe and rebreathe air that is typically is not refreshed as it would be outside.

“The states that, in June, are already using a lot of air conditioning because of high temperatures are also the places where there’s been greater increases in spread of COVID-19, suggesting more time indoors as temperatures rise,” Dr Nardell said in an article published in the Harvard Gazette. “The same [thing] happens in wintertime, with more time indoors.”

While it has been understood that COVID-19 is mainly transmitted through large droplets expelled from talking, sneezing or coughing, Dr Nardell said evidence has risen that some cases have occurred by airborne transmission.

It occurs when COVID19 particles in smaller droplets don’t settle out within six feet and instead hang in the air and drift on currents.

Airborne transmission is thought to have been a factor in the coronavirus’ spread among members of a Washington choir, through an apartment building in Hong Kong, and in a restaurant in Wuhan, China, Dr Nardell said.

Airborne transmission would make people even more vulnerable to the virus in a closed room, Dr Nardell said, adding that in an office occupied by five people, as windows are closed and air conditioners turned on, CO2 levels rise steeply, a sign that occupants are rebreathing air in the room and from each other.

“As people go indoors in hot weather and the rebreathed air fraction goes up, the risk of infection is quite dramatic,” Dr Nardell said, adding that the data, while gathered related to tuberculosis, would apply to any infection with airborne potential.

He outlined this work in June during an online presentation sponsored by the Massachusetts Consortium on Pathogen Readiness (MassCPR).

Dr Nardell told participants that a dynamic similar to that in the US south is being played out in other parts of the world.

He noted air-conditioner sales in India where units there are designed to bring in only a small amount of outside air, which again increases transmission chances.

Ultimately, Dr Nardell maintained that being outside or increasing ventilation inside can be effective in slowing transmission, though the ventilation systems in many corporate settings limit how much fresh air can be brought in.

He recommends the use of portable room air cleaners, though they can have limited air flow. Further, germicidal lamps, a technology that Dr Nardell said is almost 100 years old, have been proven effective in protecting against tuberculosis infection and are already in use in some settings to fight SARS-CoV-2.

Compared with mechanical ventilation and portable room air cleaners, the lights, according to one study, have been shown to be up to 10 times more effective, Dr Nardell said.

The lamps are set up to shine horizontally, high in the room where sterilisation is needed.

Air currents, stirred in part by warmth from human bodies, circulate up to the ceiling, where the ultraviolet light kills floating pathogens, and then back down again.

Dr Nardell said this technology is not only proven, it can be deployed cheaply and easily in a number of settings as society reopens.

The lights are not a panacea, however, and the predominant route of transmission needs to be considered in determining whether they are appropriate, he said.

Despite the need for disinfection in nursing homes, for example, transmission there may be mainly through close contact between staff and patients, making them less-thanideal sites for the germicidal lights, Nardell said.

“Where [the lights] should be considered in the upcoming resurgence … would be, obviously, in a health care setting, but also in public buildings such as stores, restaurants, banks, and schools,” Dr Nardell said. “We need to know where transmission is occurring to know where they should go.”

Replacing the standard filters currently in use on the return vents of central air conditioning units with HELP Filters and installation of UV lamps on the air handlers at the earliest possible opportunity may also help prevent any air transmission of the virus.

The cost of doing this is relatively cheap, running to just a few hundred dollars depending on the size of the system in use.

in New Providence.

There were two cases in Grand Bahama, three in Inagua, and Long Island had one case, its second in as many days after previously being case-free.

Mayaguana also suffered its first cases, with two people diagnosed with the virus.

A further nine confirmed cases had their locations pending.

- and interaction with Long Islanders by outsiders - has resulted in potential community spread and the need for several other persons to be tested.

“I am further advised that recent deaths on Long Island are also subject to review. I strongly caution you against allowing visitors in your homes.

“Long Islanders are reminded to practice all COVID-19 protocols, ie wearing a face mask when you leave home; maintaining a physical distance of six feet from others; and washing your hands often.”

PROPERTY FOR SALE Edmund L. Rahming, in his capacity as court approved Receiver, is soliciting offers for the purchase of the debtor’s right, title and interest in Condominium Unit 16 located within the Harbour Mews Club situated in the Western District of the island of New Providence, one of the Islands of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.

The property is being sold on a “as is, where is” basis with no representations, warranties or conditions to be provided to the purchaser. The deadline for the submission of unconditional offer forms is September 18, 2020 and are submitted to info@intelisysltd.com.

Please visit the website link https://www.hmc-16receivership.com/ for more information, including Offer Forms.

Harbour Mews Unit 16

PAGE 4, Tuesday, September 1, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

‘Dorian took my girls’

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A YEAR ago, Carline Edgecombe’s worst fears came true when her only two daughters were taken from her after Hurricane Dorian destroyed the church in which they had sought shelter with their father.

Hours before the storm hit, Mrs Edgecome said she remembered telling her eldest daughter to never let her younger sister out of her sight no matter what happened, only to find out later that they died in each other’s arms.

“All parents look at their children like if something happens to them, how would you react? That was my worst fear for them and it actually came true,” the Abaco mother recalled.

Mrs Edgecombe said it seems like yesterday when her youngest daughter, Myeisha Edgecombe, had fought to be with her father to ride out the Category Five storm, a battle in which she eventually won.

“She said ‘I want to go to daddy, mummy’ and I said ‘Myesha, you hurt my heart’ because my heart broke when she said that and I said anyway ‘If that’s what you want, so be it.’”

Mrs Edgecombe said she did not know that the day she carried them to their father, it would be the last time she laid eyes on her two young girls.

Jendayia Edgecome, 17, and Myeisha, eight, were never seen alive again after the roof of a local church in which they had sought shelter collapsed.

CARLINE Edgecombe’s two daughers, Jendayia, left, and Myeisha, who died in Hurricane Dorian.

“The last time I saw and he just died’ and I was other’s arms as they drifted them was August 31,” she like ‘oh, that’s so sad’. That near the church. told The Tribune yesterday. same Sunday she showed She believes their fate “That was the last time I me the guy (who had died), had come to her youngest saw them. I didn’t see them and she was like ‘mommy daughter in a dream. the next day because I he crashed’ and she literally “My young one did spoke to them on the phone didn’t know that that day dream about that and the but I didn’t see them. was her last day too. dream came exactly how “Their last words was that “I told her to make sure she told me,” she recalled. same day when the storm to keep (the) little one close “She dreamed that they came, that same Sunday. I to her. I said no matter did float away. She said saw them the 31st around what, don’t let the baby ‘Mummy, I dream Abaco 7pm to 8pm. Actually my go. She says ‘yes mommy, I was full of water and I was oldest daughter sent me a know how you go with your floating away.’ picture of a police (officer) baby. I get her.’ She calls “She said ‘we was floating who was in a car accident her ‘lil monkey’ and she away. Me and my sister was and that’s when she told me said ‘Don’t worry, I got your floating away.’ And I said ‘mummy, do you know this lil monkey.’” ‘where mummy and daddy person?’

Mrs Edgcombe said while was?’ and she said ‘y’all “I said, ‘yeah I know she never saw their bodies, gone y’all separate ways (him)’, and she said ‘he locals told her they found and I was crying for you just was in a car accident the two girls holding each mummy, I was crying that I

want my mummy’ and the oldest one say ‘don’t worry Myeisha, they going to find us.’”

A year after the monster storm took her precious daughters, Mrs Edgecombe said she plans to go to the beach today to seek solace.

“I’m going to try to go somewhere far. If I could go by the beach just to be out of it,” she said.

Mrs Edgecombe told The Tribune trying to cope with life and find closure after Dorian has not been an easy pill to swallow.

However, she credits her faith in God for helping her to weather one the most difficult storms in her life.

“With Christ in the vessel I can smile at the storm and I’m still smiling through my storm and through my pain because I have Christ in my vessel with me. It’s okay.”

She also said she plans to honour her daughters by creating a foundation in Abaco for orphans.

“Right now, I’m trying to ask God to open up a foundation for children,” she said. “Children who don’t have no parents. That’s my wish. . .”

Dorian hit Abaco on September 1, 2019, as a Category Five storm. The storm’s official death toll is 74, however many more people remain missing.

ABACO STILL STRUGGLING TO REBUILD

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

ONE year after Hurricane Dorian ripped through their homes — leaving behind a trail of unimaginable and widespread destruction — many Abaco residents are still struggling to rebuild their shattered lives.

Yesterday, The Tribune told just a few of their stories. Like today’s accounts, there are many others who have terrible ordeals to relate.

Martha Roberts, who hails from Man-O-War Cay, a small cay located about eight miles northwest from Marsh Harbour, believes that life will never be what it once was for Abaco residents. It is a harsh reality she has come to terms with.

“It will be a very, very long time if it’s ever the same because some buildings have gone down that were a hundred years old so you look at those places and no matter what build back up. It’s not the same,” she told The Tribune.

Mrs Roberts said while her home did not experience any major damage during the storm, her two sons along with many others were not so lucky.

The situation, she said, has forced them to relocate elsewhere, robbing her of the opportunity to spend quality time with her grandchildren.

“Fortunately, we were blessed. Our home, we didn’t have a lot of damage.

We had a lot of water in, but we didn’t have a lot of roof damage. Water came but we were blessed because both of our boys lost their houses,” she said.

“So, this first anniversary is very, very emotional. I look back at my motherin-law having to live with us. She lost her home (to the storm). My mother and father both had passed but they had a beautiful home on the hill overlooking the ocean and their house was demolished. So, it’s been a lot of sadness.”

Mrs Roberts said there are some 300 people currently living in Man-O-War Cay to date, many of whom have just recently returned from abroad and elsewhere.

“So many left – families with children to get to

DESTRUCTION caused by Hurricane Dorian is seen from the air in Marsh Harbour last September.

DAMAGE in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian in Marsh Harbour last year.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff school or felt they were government really, really who asked to be kept traumatised by what they’d let us down by not receiv- anonymous. been through and then ing help from them like we A year after Hurricane to keep looking at things should. But we had so much Dorian, the resident told around here and their outside help.”

The Tribune that only some Some 9.3 miles away 25 percent of repairs on the homes are too damaged to from Man-O-War Cay lies island has been completed, live in,” she said.

“A man could find some- Great Guana Cay, home to thanks to the resilience of where to shack up but you the exclusive resort, Baker’s the Guana Cay people. talk about families with Bay Golf and Ocean Club.

“The only thing that’s On Great Guana Cay, being done is what the no electricity, nowhere to sleep, nowhere to dry. It’s there is a feeling of neglect people are doing physidifficult. Gradually some of among islanders there who cally for themselves… What the families are now coming say they are disappointed Guana Cay looks like now home but like with (my with the government and is what it looked like back in lack of progress being (Hurricane) Floyd,” he said. son), it’s not happening.”

Asked about the resto- made.

With no electricity, the “The Prime Minister resident, who is also a busiration process on the cay, she said it is progressing has not been here. We’ve ness owner, said he spends tremendously, thanks to not seen any sign of help over $3,000 per month on the help of the various non- from the government. It’s diesel for a generator to run just a mess, a total mess,” one of his establishments. governmental agencies.

“I’m sorry to say that our said one longtime resident, “You have people who

don’t have no electricity, no cold water, no bathing water to start with so they have to buy five gallons of water to bathe with. You have to be able to have a grocery store to have something to eat or drink especially for their workers and being out in the hot sun.

“We got microwaves in the grocery stores so they could come and heat up their foods. We have a lot of them that come in around four or three in the afternoon and they line up by the microwave and they heat up their cold pizzas, sandwiches just to eat dinner. People don’t know.”

In Hope Town, there is also a strong feeling of abandonment among residents there. The issue, however, is also compounded by looting and theft concerns.

Junior Mernard, a longtime resident of Hope Town, claimed the cay has not seen a police or defence force officer since May. The growing problem, he said, has become the island’s new norm and poses a major threat to the future of the island and its residents.

He said: “There is no law and order here on the island and about two weeks ago, we literally had a riot here where a young man was physically attacked by a mob and the worst part about that was the fight

escalated into a roadblock.

“We have not had a police station on this island since the month of May. I think some homeowners have been having second thoughts about restoring their home and continuing their investments in Abaco — Hope Town in particular.”

He added: “I have been agitating to the minister of national security, Marvin Dames who has just been a total failure to this hope town community.”

Asked how many people are currently living on Hope Town, he replied: “I would say about 400 and of that 400, a lot of them are here (undocumented migrants).”

Last week, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis told reporters clean-up is essentially “complete” on the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama. While he said Bahamians will be “shocked” at the work that has been done to date, Dr Minnis told reporters it is unfortunate that many feel progress should happen overnight.

“I am very very pleased with the progress that is being made,” he said in response to a question from The Tribune. “I think that you would be very very surprised when the ministry does a one-year report and you could see. I think the entire Bahamas would be extremely shocked.”

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, September 1, 2020, PAGE 5

New term delayed ’til Oct 5 and then only virtual classes from page one “This delay allows the ministry and parents/caregivers the opportunity to secure the needed devices for the full participation of all involved in the teaching and learning process.

There is also a need to complete the installation of the adequate level of internet service needed for connectivity to the Department’s Virtual Platform for thousands of students who will now remain at home in both the public and the private education sectors.”

According to Mr Lloyd, in anticipation of the return of some 55,000 students to the classroom, be it virtual or face-to-face, the Ministry of Education projects its 2020 summer repairs programme to cost some $27 million dollars.

Prior to Mr Lloyd’s press

MINISTER OF EDUCATION JEFFREY LLOYD conference, parents of Abaconian students and some from Eleuthera, reached out to the media with their concerns.

“We have no jobs, we have no running water, we have no electricity, we barely have a roof to live under, how are we getting devices for our children and what is going to power those devices?” asked

Mercia Burrows. “Until this government takes Abaco seriously, we cannot get out of the hole we are in. The majority of the people on this island have no utilities, how are our children going to learn?

“It’s easy to say they are sending this and that to us.

They make it sound so easy.

There is no power here. We are not living like we used to. If you send something here to some of the people, it will be just a situation where at nightfall, someone comes and takes it from you, anyway. Before you talk about virtual learning and all this high falootin mess, you need to fix the situation in Abaco. Let us live like human beings again.”

Asked about concerns, Mr Lloyd said, “For those who have no ability to engage any of the modalities, we will be printing resource instructional

material for those persons to be able to be assisted.”

Also addressing the concerns of students in Abaco, Deputy Director of Education Donovan Turnquest said the Patrick Bethel School will not be completed until early 2021, but within the next month will have 12 classrooms completed to accommodate high school students. Director of Education Marcellus Taylor spoke about a device that will be made available to ensure instruction.

“A device that will be used to provide content to those places and persons who may not have infrastructure up and running,” Mr Taylor said. “We are already targeting Moore’s Island for that and we are also targeting Grand Cay for that. We, along with one of the NGOs that assisted Abaco in the recovery, are providing solar powered chargers for

devices. So we believe that it is not a perfect situation. We have a lot of persons who are moving to Abaco, but then a lot of public officers who are not necessarily going to service the needs, so we have to be able to do the best that we can in the situation that we are in.”

Mr Lloyd also addressed the suspension of the BJC and BGCSE examinations earlier this year. He gave new dates for when those exams will be facilitated by his ministry and also noted that this is the last opportunity to take them this year, as they will be cancelled if there is another unforeseeable delay.

“The Ministry of Education will resume the administration of national exams beginning Monday, September 14, 2020 and ending Friday, October 2, 2020. The Examination and Assessment Division will prepare new general

timetables to be issued to schools and unattached candidates. The timetables will be placed in the local print and electronic media, published this week Thursday.

“I should make it clear, though, that this is the last time we will re-start the administration of the national exams. If for any reason – any reason whatsoever – that the exams are again interrupted, before its completion on Friday, October 2, they will be cancelled.”

Minister Lloyd said the marking of the examinations already sat will commence as early as September 2 and will continue through the end of October. He also said as was previously the case, all necessary social distancing and hygiene protocols will be in place, along with all necessary PPE equipment and thermometers.

PM URGED TO OPEN THE DOORS ON CHURCHES

from page one

“(More than 40) Bahamians have died from COVID-19 and hundreds more have contracted the coronavirus; the Bahamian economy is teetering on the edge; the healthcare system is being challenged; social issues are being exacerbated; weddings and funerals – major planks of our Bahamian life and culture – cannot take place (without restrictions). And now an active hurricane season is threatening us once again.

“It is ludicrous, contradictory, and somewhat suspicious that churches can be used as soup kitchens and hurricane shelters, but not for collective public worship,” the letter says.

“The Christian church, in its highest form, is not a secular institution, and cannot always cower to the dictates of the state. COVID-19 seems to have caused the state to cross the line and make encroachments into the calling and work of the church. This is extremely unfair, and we cannot accept this any longer.”

The letter said while private and even virtual worship have merits, there is no substitute for the fellowship of believers for those who need communal service.

“The fact that communal

worship is not an option for the church is unacceptable.

“The closure of churches for communal worship diminishes the power and efficacy of two or three people lifting their collective voices in praise and adoration. Christian believers worship a Holy God because we are imperfect and finite.

“In this national crisis, when everything nailed down seems to be coming loose, if Bahamians can worship collectively while obeying established social distancing, sanitisation, and other protocols, we believe they are better fortified with spiritual resources to face the unexpected.

“We have concluded that the government should revert to its previous decisions that communal worship, as well as funerals and weddings, should be allowed according to the size of the church’s edifice and once social distancing and other relevant protocols can be put in place.

We will continue to encourage our most vulnerable members and/or visitors to take additional precautions or to worship virtually or privately.

“Again, we stress that we are not prepared to go much further with the current secular, shortsighted decisions.”

The letter was signed

by Apostle Christopher Russell; Apostle Stefan Russell; Apostle Larick Kemp; Bishop Simeon Hall; Bishop Stanley Ferguson; Bishop Ian Brathwaite; Bishop Samuel Fowler; Bishop Mark Knowles and Bishop Walter Hanchell.

Other signees are Bishop Wesley Thompson; Bishop Hubert Kemp; Bishop Samuel R. Mackey; Archdeacon James Palacious (ret’d); Rev Dr Phillip McPhee; Rev Dr R E Cooper; Father B Bradley Miller; Father Ethan Ferguson; Father Shazzasbazzar Turnquest; Rev Geoffrey Wood and Rev James Newry.

Although many lockdown restrictions have been eased in New Providence and Grand Bahama, churches on these islands and several others are not allowed to hold in person services.

According to the latest emergency order, churches on islands included in the second schedule of the document can only host a worship service via livestream from 7am to 1pm as long as no more than 10 people participate in the service.

In person church services across the country resumed in early June after being halted during the first wave of the pandemic.

THE PROPERTY where a body was found.

Photo: Vandyke Hepburn

POLICE PROBE SUSPECTED SUICIDE POLICE in Grand Bahama are investigating a suspected suicide after a 23-year-old man was found hanged on Sunday night.

According to police, shortly after 9pm on Sunday officers were called to a home in the Martin Town community of Eight Mile Rock where they met a man’s body hanged in a bedroom.

Police said they are awaiting an official report from a pathologist to determine cause of death, but the matter is currently being investigated as an alleged suicide.

The deceased has been identified as Malik Higgs, a welder.

His girlfriend De’Adra Knowles told The Tribune that Mr Higgs had a sweet soul, but may have been suffering from

“stress or depression”.

“He was hardworking, caring, loving, he had a sweet soul,” Ms Knowles said.

“I promised that I was never leaving his side and he just slip away from me just like that (sic).”

Many of the deceased’s friends expressed their grief on Facebook.

“From the age of 12 until now, Malik Higgs you left me with wonderful memories and I thank you for them, the only thing I have left to hold on to,” one person wrote.

In January, Grand Bahama police reported another suspected suicide after a man was found unresponsive in a vehicle outside his home.

He was later identified as Trevor Bethel, the long time personal butler of Sir Jack Hayward.

PAGE 6, Tuesday, September 1, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

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Remember those we lost to Hurricane Dorian TODAY is a day to grieve.

A year ago, Hurricane Dorian made landfall in The Bahamas. Not all of us made it through the storm.

The stories of the horrors experienced as the hurricane tore apart Abaco and Grand Bahama have been told many times. They should continue to be told many more. We must not forget this wound that Dorian carved into our nation.

In today’s Tribune, the stories continue to be told. We urge you to read them. We urge you to listen to the story of Carline Edgecombe, who lost her two daughters in the hurricane when the church they sought shelter in with their father was destroyed. The girls were found arm-in-arm.

We urge you to listen to the story of the residents of Abaco still talking a year on about rebuilding their lives, their homes, their communities.

Throughout the year, there have been questions about whether we have done enough to help. We cannot restore the lives that have been lost, but have we been there for the families in mourning, or the people fighting to rebuild their homes as much as we should be?

Perhaps part of the answer to that question is in how we are marking this dreaded anniversary. There has been no mention of flags being lowered to half mast. There is no moment of silence announced. Indeed, until last night, there was no word of how Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis would mark the occasion. A late-night notice revealed that he will deliver a message at 5pm today. And that, it would seem, is that.

Consistently through the year, residents have spoken of not having enough support from government. Not enough materials, not enough police, not enough feet on the ground. In today’s Tribune again, a Great Guana Cay resident says: “The Prime Minister has not been here.

We’ve not seen any sign of help from the government. It’s just a mess, a total mess.”

As we battle the new tragedy of COVID-19, we must not neglect the tragedy that struck us a year ago, or

the people who are still reeling from its after-effects.

The storm victims could have been any of us. No one is safe from a hurricane of that magnitude. Each of us would want to be remembered with honour by those we leave behind, and it falls upon us to remember those who were taken by Dorian with equal honour.

So take a moment today and say a prayer for those who were taken. Then ask again what we can do to help those who survived.

Marking Hurricane Dorian’s anniversary must not be an afterthought. Too many of our countrymen and women lost their lives a year ago. We must remember them.

A united approach The Deputy Leader of the PLP, having called for details of the country’s financial footing and received it according to a schedule that was already planned, now wants more.

He wants more facts, more figures, the monthly revenue and deposit reports, the Consolidated Fund’s balance, overdraft facilities, and so on.

And what then, Mr Cooper? We’re all for revealing information – but what about coming up with a solution?

Whoever forms the next government will have the after-effects of the economic crash to deal with. There will be few magic bullets to solve those problems.

Dr Minnis has said on a number of occasions he is open to ideas – so can parties set aside their political differences to come up with a united front on how to take the economy forward?

Or if invited to sit down, roll up their sleeves and join in the heavy lifting, will the PLP decline to show up, as its party leader did when invited to Cabinet for a briefing?

We applaud Mr Cooper for wanting to know more. But will he take the next step to doing more?

We keep hearing about how we need to work together – well, now’s the time.

No one has answers EDITOR, The Tribune.

MANY Bahamians were loud in their condemnation of Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis when he announced that their one week home confinement would continue for another week.

With a hurricane travelling it only took him overnight to revoke his order to give Bahamians an opportunity to stack up on essential supplies. The foodstores, gas stations and all the other essential service providers were back in business.

The Prime Minister is not the only world leader who, with little or no worthwhile medical information, had to enforce the only prevention yet known to keep the COVID-19 virus at bay.

With no known cure, the only prevention medics can offer is a mask, avoid crowds and learn to enjoy your own company. Political leaders — regardless of their country – find themselves in the same position as Prime Minister Minnis – a position of be “damned if you do, or damned if you don’t.” In this scenario, the only fools are the complainers, who resist wearing masks, and keeping their distance from their friends. So what is the solution? Even the medics – like our prime minister

— without a medical cure, recommend the obvious — steer clear of the virus.

The solution came from the lips, shown on CNN this morning (August 21), of a heavy set woman, tubes in her nose saying her final goodbyes.

Apparently, she was one of those who resisted the mask. However, her dying words to her family were: “Please wear your masks!” She had learned her lesson the hard way, but for her it was too late.

On July 17 Utah Gov. Gary Herbert issued an order requiring masks be worn on school property and buses.

In other words all students, teachers, staff and visitors on school property had to wear a mask. Violating the order is a class B misdemeanor punishable by six months in jail and a fine of $1,000. “The mask mandate is not intended to penalize students, parents or teachers — it’s intended to create a universal standard of a safe, commonsense practice,” an official said.

Already Utah has at least 47,521 Covid-19 cases, and 277 deaths. The last I heard of this was that at least one school was being prosecuted where a class of teachers and students had rebelled.

It would seem that even an education is no help to those who refuse to employ

the only safety tool in their empty arsenal – commonsense. So, don’t feel badly, Mr Prime Minister, there are many fools in this world who claim they have the answers, but when “push comes to shove,” although they don’t know what to do, it’s fashionable to join the protesters and make plenty of noise! These are the politicians, who, in the words of Shakespeare, will be carried off “mewling and puking” in their nurses arms —all without a mask, and no answers as to how to curb COVID-19.

Meanwhile the Mayor of Los Angeles recently ordered the lights turned off at a TikTok Hollywood Hills home party. The Mayor had announced that all utilities — lights and water— would be turned off in his state to prevent dozens of people crowding into a room to party all night.

So, Mr Prime Minister, don’t get discouraged. You did what you thought was best, when you saw that for the moment it was not the right timing, you pulled back.

Don’t let the background noise deter you — regardless of what they say, not one of them has the answer.

DISGUSTED Nassau, August 21, 2020.

Is Minnis giving in or is it science at play?

EDITOR, The Tribune.

THE entire country’s economy has basically been reopened as of Monday, August 31. Most businesses, inclusive of omnibus drivers and barber shops, are now able to operate on a health restricted and social distancing protocols. This is welcome news to a ton of Bahamian employees and business owners who were forced to languish for the past five months on bread and water, literally.

What caused or promoted the Competent Authority to capitulate or to reconsider his previous draconian posture? Was it based on “fear” of societal unrest and mayhem or was it based on scientific data?

This is one of the main things which got people ticked off with Dr Minnis... lack of comprehensible communications and an apparent style of “talking down” to the unwashed masses.

He seems to now be getting the right balance. Yes, we are not out of the woods yet and there is much more work to be done by all Bahamians, from the top political and economic leaders straight down to the coconut vendors; peanut ‘boys’ and the average Bahamian, there are no exceptions. I am more than persuaded, however, that we are up to the task.

The initial handling of the pandemic was excellent and the government is to be commended for the containment for the first three months. We were doing

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net quite fine with recording low number of suspected cases and actual related untimely deaths.

Once the borders were reopened, prematurely in my view, and Bahamians were allowed to travel to the USA, with almost no restrictions and health protocols, the pandemic resurged dramatically and we have now recorded almost 50 COVIDrelated deaths. This could have been avoided or minimised.

With the fast approaching general elections, there will be ample time to critique and analyse the response of the Competent Authority, et al. Now may not be the best time as we as a nation now go into deep waters as we seek to recover and rebuild decimated businesses. That the economy MUST be reopened with as few restrictions as possible is a given.

There is only so much taxpayers’ monies available to fund the administration.

The sustainability and durability of the economy are critical going forward.

The right balance is to reopen BUT ensure, by law, strict enforcement of the recommended health protocols and to maintain social distancing. This is a good time for individuals and embryonic business to step forward and where possible expand their operations and to invest in

digital platforms. The next few months of this year will be exciting and innovative ones.

I am so pleased to see and hear Dr F V back at the podium speaking eloquently and coherently while giving reassurances to an anxious people during recent press conferences. The Competent Authority himself, praise the Lord, is now looking (by way of his dress code) just like the rest of us.

His facial expressions and way of speaking are still a work in progress but he is making verifiable progress.

To God then, in all things, be the glory.

ORTLAND H BODIE, Jr Nassau, August 31, 2020.

Down on the farm

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Re: Down on the farm.

The Tribune August 28, 2020, A Comic’s View.

OK, but which animals will be in charge of the funeral homes?

KEN W KNOWLES, MD Nassau, August 31, 2020.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, September 1, 2020, PAGE 7

Man accused of fatal stabbing

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A MAN was remanded in custody yesterday after he was brought to count to face a murder charge.

Jared Albury, 27, appeared before Chief

RASHILD JOHNSON

Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt charged with the death of Stancel Todd on August 25.

According to initial police reports, shortly before 8am that day, a group was gathered outside a business on Pinedale Road, when an argument between two of the men began. Police said this resulted in one of the men producing a sharp object and stabbing the other man multiple times about the body. The victim was then transported to the hospital by a private vehicle where he later died.

During the arraignment, Albury was not required to enter a plea and the matter was adjourned to December 2 for service of a voluntary bill of indictment (VBI).

Bail was denied and the defendant was remanded into custody until that time.

Yesterday, Rashild Johnson also appeared before Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt after he was accused of attempting to kill Travino Seymour on August 22. He was also charged with being in possession of an unlicenced .9mm Taurus pistol that same day.

Like Albury, Johnson was also not required to enter a plea and his case was adjourned to December 2 for service of a voluntary bill of indictment.

In the interim, Johnson was denied bail and remanded to prison until trial. He has a right to apply to the Supreme Court for bail.

Meanwhile, Theofanis Huyler, 22, appeared before Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt after he was accused of being in possession of a black Austria Glock .40

JARED Albury outside court yesterday. pistol along with 39 unfired rounds of ammunition on August 29.

He denied the

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

allegation and the matter was adjourned to February 18, 2021 for trial.

Huyler was denied bail

and remanded to prison.

He also has the right to apply to the Supreme Court for bail.

FATHER OF MISSING BOY MOURNING AFTER BODY FOUND

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

THE father of a 17-yearold boy who went missing says he is “doing terribly” after a male’s body was discovered in the Carmichael Road area on Sunday.

Police reported a badly decomposed body of a male was found after 4pm in bushes at the rear of a residence on East Avenue off Carmichael Road. Police could not say if it was the body of 17-year-old Lavard McKenzie.

When his father Lavard Mckenzie Sr, 48, spoke to The Tribune yesterday morning, he was at CDU getting ready to go to the hospital to hopefully identify the body. Nonetheless, he was sure it was his son.

However, the authorities decided a visual

THE SCENE off Carmichael Road where a body was found. Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff identification of the body would not be appropriate and now Mr Mckenzie has to wait for the results of a

DNA test to determine if the body is that of his son.

Last Friday, police issued a missing person bulletin for

the teen of Millers Heights off Carmichael Road. The poster said he was last seen Thursday, August 27, at

10am at his residence.

Mr McKenzie Sr explained his son lived with his mother, adding he was informed through her about the discovery of the body. He recalled when the boy went missing Thursday afternoon.

“Everybody had already left home,” he said. “He was the only one home at the time. The guys them came, knock on the door...

He went with them. He knew them.”

Mr McKenzie Sr said his son was not troublesome and never bothered anybody nor had problems in school. However, his father admitted he began to keep company with the “wrong people”.

“He just started keeping company with some guys in the area. One of the same guys too.”

He described his son as

“intelligent” with “many talents”.

“My son can drive trailers and dump trucks from when he was eight or nine,” Mr McKenzie Sr said. “That’s my job, operating machines and driving big trucks. I taught him from a very young age to do the same.”

The teen was a senior in high school. Mr McKenzie said the two had a bond which began when the boy was young.

“From he (was) born, his mummy never come out of bed, change Pampers ...to make a bottle - none of that. That was my (job),” he added. “Everywhere I go from he (was) born I had him strap on my back on my bike... Everyone who know me in Nassau (could tell you) everywhere I go my son used to go (sic).”

Police investigations are ongoing.

JAMAICANS DENY HAVING $60K OF COCAINE

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net TWO Jamaican men were remanded to prison yesterday over allegations they were found with over $60,000 worth of cocaine.

Kemal Daley, 36, and Dave Daley, 34, appeared before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt charged with dangerous drug possession with the intent to supply, after officers seized eight pounds of cocaine from them on August 27. According to the prosecution, the drugs had an estimated street value of $65,340.

During the hearing, both defendants denied the allegations and the matter was adjourned to September 30.

As a result, both men were denied bail and remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services. They both have a right to apply to the Supreme Court for bail.

Yesterday, another man appeared before Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt for a drug related offence.

A Private Graveside Service for GERALD PHILIP STRACHAN, 78 of Richmond Avenue, Blair Estates, will be held on Thursday, September 3rd, 2020 at Woodlawn Gardens, Soldier Road. Officiating will be Archbishop Patrick Pinder.

Due to current Government regulations in respect of Covid-19, attendance at the graveside service is limited to ten (10) family members.

KEMAL DALEY, left, and Dave Daley.

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff Lazaro Ferguson, 27, was charged after officers seized marijuana from him on August 30.

The court was told officers found two clear plastic wrappings on Ferguson at the time of his arrest. The court also heard officers seized $4,981 which they found in Ferguson’s pants pockets during their search, as the proceeds of crime.

According to the prosecution, the drugs had a $40 street value.

Ferguson pleaded guilty to one count of simple possession and was placed on probation for 10 months.

Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt said if the defendant fails to be of good behaviour during that time frame, he will spend four months in prison.

PROBATION FOR DEATH THREATS

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

RBDF OFFICERS’ NIGHT SPOT ‘CURFEW BREACH’ from page one

a handgun to place Erica Johnson and Rahja Russell in fear of their lives on the night in question.

He pleaded not guilty to two counts of firearm possession with the intent to put another in fear and was granted $1,500 bail with one surer.

A 24-YEAR-OLD man who last month assaulted and threatened to kill his former landlord was yesterday placed on probation for two years.

Juwan Poitier was accused of assaulting and issuing death threats to his former landlord on July 20.

The prosecution said Poitier also trespassed onto the woman’s Kennedy Subdivision property.

During the hearing, Poitier admitted to the offences.

The court heard the complainant told police she was at her residence when Poitier came there in a very hostile manner. At the time, the woman reported that Poitier came on her property and pushed past her without her permission.

She also said he threatened to kill her which put her in

fear for her life. As a result, she requested police action.

Poitier was arrested a short time later. In an interview with police at a nearby station, he admitted to the offences.

During the arraignment, Poitier’s attorney told the magistrate the incident only occurred because his client allowed his emotions to take control of his actions. He insisted Poitier was remorseful for what he had done and noted the incident was his first brush with the law.

As a result, after accepting Poitier’s guilty plea, Magistrate McKinney placed him on probation for two years. Still, he warned Poitier if he was convicted of a crime within that time frame, he would be fined $1,500 or sentenced to six month in prison.

He is survived by his Wife: Marie Strachan; Daughters: Darlene Curry, Paula Strachan-Reckley and Pamela StrachanSmith; Sons: Philip Strachan and Paul Strachan; Grandchildren: Danielle and RiQashan Curry, Jonae Reckley, Nicole Strachan, Tregg and Traci Strachan, and Alexys-Marie and Ashton Smith; Siblings: Janet Newlands, Brenda Jagnandon, Godfrey Strachan, Meritta Strachan, Everette Strachan, Terrance Strachan, and Kendal Strachan; Sisters-in-Law: Jeanie Strachan, Rhonda Strachan, Estelle Strachan, Joan Pinder and Exrella Roberts, Brother-in-law: Andrew Newlands; Sons-in-law: Jefford Curry, John Reckley and Marvin Smith; Daughters-in-law: Madeline Strachan and Vinincia Strachan; Cousins: Beverly Burns, Anthony Simons, Vincent Simons, Gwenette Simons, Valderine Newton, Sidney Forbes, Clarinda Mackey, Ziverlyn Mackey, Paulamae Miller, Yvonne Mortimer, Annie Gibson, Bernadette Ellis and all of their respective families; Nieces: Inga Banks, Shamine Johnson, Sophia Hutchinson, Monique Moree, Terrell Green, Tennielle, Treva and Cori Strachan and Kendra Strachan; Charmaine Dawson, Charnea Leoncé, Dionne Heath, Deidre Bullard and Dellarese Roberts: Nephews: Keith Moree, David Newlands, Sean Jagnandon, Rodger, Gerrard, Terrance Jr., Kendal and Julian Strachan, Ernest Roberts, Donnassio and Dario Roberts, and numerous Grandnieces and Grandnephews. Numerous other relatives, friends and business associates including: Norbert and Stephanie Boissiere, Vernon Ford, Wilfred Hepburn, Robert Lightbourne, Patrick Hanlan, Arnold Neely and Richard Adderley; members of Board of Directors and current and former members of the management and staff of Family Guardian Insurance Company and FamGuard Corporation Limited, Directors and members of Culture Village Bahamas Limited, Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace, Craig “Tony” Gomez, Julian Francis, Robert Pantry, Kosta Berdanis, William Wong, Kendal Major, Paul Hepburn, Bryan Knowles, Derek Osbourne, the Rotary Club of West Nassau, Joanna Farrington and many others. Special thanks to The Most Reverend Patrick C. Pinder, STD, CMG, Archbishop of Nassau and to his in-home and health care team: Sandra McKenzie, Dr. Theodore Turnquest, Dr. DeVaughn Curling, Dr. Margo Monroe, the nurses and staff at Doctors Hospital, and Nurse Wring and all the nurses of Angels Elite Nursing Agency.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in memory of Gerald P. Strachan, to the Male Empowerment Programme, c/o Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nassau. Your contributions can be made out to: “Roman Catholic Archbishop of Nassau, Bahamas” (RCANB). For any inquiries email: rcchancery@batelnet. bs. To honour the life of Gerald, support the mentoring of boys & young men in The Bahamas and uphold his mantra of “Stop and Give A Helping Hand”.

Friends may pay their last respects at Bethel Brothers Morticians & Crematorium, #44 Nassau Street on Wednesday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 pm.

PAGE 8, Tuesday, September 1, 2020

Delores still takes centre stage in the story of our performing arts A JUBILANT personality and an effervescent spirit, Delores “Red” Archer-Adderley has been committed to the promotion of Bahamian culture and art - specifically performing arts - for decades.

She is the manager of the Dundas Centre for the Performing Arts, and like curators of theatres and museums all around the world, she is fighting for its survival in the midst of the global pandemic.

Since March, the doors of the Dundas have remain shut. No songs can be heard bellowing through its halls; no lights strobing across the stage; no actors and set crew bustling about and no throngs of patrons filling the seats. The theatre still costs $1000 a month to maintain even though it’s closed. And without income coming in, Delores fears for its future.

“COVID-19 is a doom for us,” she said.

“Financially, we are strapped. No rentals, no income. Several shows that were slated during this time have been cancelled and some international performances slated for later in the year have been cancelled.

“We are hoping that they will allow us to operate soon with at least half capacity, because our

THE TRIBUNE

Face to Face

By FELICITY INGRAHAM

bills keep growing. We are thankful for Urban Renewal... they have been keeping the grounds clean and only recently stopped.

“We have an initiative called ‘Tin Ferl’ which offers food in our outdoor courts.

When we started it, it was catching on well. Vendors with a variety of foods would have their tents, some offering breakfast, some lunch and dinner. People enjoyed coming for food and appreciated the ambience of the Dundas grounds. But even that has been affected by the lockdowns. We have to see what happens as things open up now.”

Delores’ work at the Dundas is a labour of love.

Without government funding, she and other workers will not have income until shows are held at the centre once again. The building meanwhile has suffered a break-in and has also been vandalized.

She said: “The community has to understand that the Dundas is theirs. We depend on you, the people.

THE SIX children of Delores’ deceased son, Estwood.

AN OLD photo of the Granger family

DELORES with her children Estwood and Tia.

DELORES Archer Adderley It’s yours! Take care of it. It is a Dundas. Her passion treasure and for it was well known. we want it When she died in to be there 2014, Delores took for the next over as manager generation.” while Philip is the Her love artistic director affair with and chairthe Dundas man of the began in Dundas.

DELORES 1992, upon Philip played “Granthe invite and ny” in ‘Der Real of Philip NicoTing’ Ringplay Burrows, lette (as productions playwright executive and director, director) well known for established creating some of the Ringplay procountry’s best productions. ductions and She met Philip while workShakespeare in ing on the Quincentennial Paradise, which Celebrations of Christohelped keep pher Columbus’ landing. the spirit of A secretariat was created theatre alive to pull off the historical in the country. celebration for the counDelores not try, under the leadership only helped to of Executive Director facilitate proDavidson Hepburn. ductions, but she Delores was workeven performed ing at the Bahamas from time to time.

DELORES with General Post Office Other members of this Phillip Burrows at the time and was fine ensemble include: and Skeebo Robseconded to work at David Burrows, Carrie erts of Ringplay the secretariat. She Collins, Skeebo Roberts, project productions worked in the culmy voice Claudette Allen, Aaron tural section under the all the way Knowles, Patrice Francis, late Winston Saunders, to the back Giovanna Hepburn, and one of the biggest names in of the room. Marcel Sherman.

Bahamian theatre and culMuch-anticipated proThe skills she taught ture. He brought together me are with me still to this ductions were held during Delores with cultural greats day.” the repertoire season from such as Burrows, Claudette The late great Clem- January to May. During “Cookie” Allen, Patricia ent Bethel was her teacher that time, they built up a Bazard, Cleophas Adder- at one point and he, too, strong audience base, which ley, Antonius Roberts and ingrained cultural impor- included students who were others. They not only pulled tance in her mind. She bussed in to enjoy the matioff spectacular cultural cel- was also a good athlete in nee shows. Their folklore ebrations, but it was also a school, as was her sibperformances kept stutime of cultural renaissance lings, dents in touch Brenda, for The Bahamas. The Baha- Keith, with their Godmas National Children’s and frey roots, and and The community Youth Choirs were estab- Beverley. the Shakelished. So was the National Delores has to understand speare Youth Orchestra and the was perforthat the Dundas is National Art Gallery of The good at mances theirs.

We depend Bahamas (NAGB), as well many were on you, the people. as other institutions vital to sports right It’s yours! Take care the preservation of art forms and in line with a Bahamian flair. of it. It is a treasure with even Delores was proud to be made their and we want it to working in such an environ- the syllabus. be there for the ment and felt comfortable national They next generation.” working with Winston Saun- softball also ders, who was her cousin. team, travelattracted His mother, Miriam ling around the international per“Kiddie” Saunders made a region to compete. This forming artists from positive impact on her life. kind of upbringing made around the United States “When I was a child, she her strong in her devotion and the region, including taught me how to speak to national development. countries like Guyana and and how to recite poetry,” After the quincenten- Jamaica. Popularity called she said. nial celebrations, Delores for performances at other “She would have me went back to her routine at venues, such as NAGB. For reciting and performing the post office, where she three years now, the group all over town. I performed served for 32 years before has produced “Short Tales” for the YWCA (Young retiring at the age of 49. But - ten skits each ten minutes Women’s Christian Asso- the cultural bug had already in length. The public gets a ciation), the Mother’s Club, bitten her, and all the per- chance to submit the skits, Wesley Hall, Government forming she thought she was and the best ten are chosen.

High School Auditorium... done with as a child came Today, they are considering I remember being in that surging back into her life. new ways of reaching the auditorium. It was packed Philip asked her to fans who look forward to and I could see her standing join him at the Dundas; their performances. in the back gesturing to me. she obliged and has been In her professional and I knew she was telling me to involved from 1992 to civic involvements, Delores today. Initially, she was has always been a committed assisting Philip and Nico- team member: “I am influlette Bethel with their enced in my way of living by productions. At the time, my ancestors and the values, my sister’s godmother and principles and structure that a mentor of mine, Betty they displayed. Family is Knowles was managing the also important to me.”

THE ARCHER clan

Delores was born in a home in Chippingham and delivered by a popular midwife at the time - Lottie Tynes. Her mother Isabel Archer (née Granger) was a seamstress. Isabel’s mother, Linda Smith, lived on the island of Inagua to the age of 103. Isabel’s father was John Alfred Granger. His parents David and Catherine took Isabel when she was just three-months-old.

Delores’ father was Millard Archer, better known as ‘Barney’ - a veteran hotelier whose career started at the age of 14. He was born in Marsh Harbour and his mother, Grethel, was the sister of the late great educator Enoch Pedro Roberts.

Delores spent most of her life in Chippingham and still lives there today.

She attended Sands Preparatory, then Quarry Mission School, followed

by Western Junior and Senior Schools. In addition to the full and exciting life she had growing up in Chippingham, Delores also spent time growing up in the East with her father’s family, the Archers.

She recalls walking down Shirley Street to attend St Matthew’s Church... she is still a devout Anglican and attends Holy Spirit church today.

She recalls walking down Bay Street to see the shops and to go to Junkanoo. She also recalls fond memories of watching the neighbour Anthony Carrol make his costumes out of newspaper, sponge, banana leaf and other materials and says that she and her siblings were always around music, dance and art.

‘Out East’ was not as crowded as it is today.

Founding families in that district of New Providence included names like Demerittes, Campbells, Barnetts, Roberts, Styles, Rodriguez, Whites, Bowes, Munroes and Fountains.

She was initially married to Elliott Thompson, with whom she had two children, Estwood and Tia. Her children have given her eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Later on in life, she remarried Hugo Adderley and moved to Long Island, where she was instrumental in cultural events there.

She lost her son to violence right in her own yard three years ago. A year earlier, her husband took ill and died. Despite these tragedies, Delores still manages to continue to smile and try to focus on the things she can change. She believes she still has much to offer to this world, to her country and to her descendants, whom she hopes will continue to carry the torch of pride in self and in nation.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, September 1, 2020, PAGE 9

Extremists have stolen the BLM banner and could end up giving Trump a lifeline WATCHING on Thursday evening last week the concluding proceedings in the grounds of the White House of the fourday Republican National Convention, the hour was late and bedtime called.

The climax was President Trump’s formal acceptance of his party’s nomination for a second term. His speech seemed to go on forever – in fact, it lasted for just over an hour – so it was around midnight before the whole event broke up. Invited guests started walking quietly back to their nearby hotels and, whatever one’s political persuasion, many would have had to admit it had been a spectacular and, in many ways, impressive racism and police brutalevening. ity as long as this is done Imagine the horror, without violence. But, more therefore, of waking up the widely, it is clear mob rule next morning to the news - has overtaken Democratapparently filmed on mobile run cities like Minneapolis, phones - that, before reach- Portland, Chicago and New ing their hotels, some of York – and now Kenosha in those same people had been Wisconsin – with looting, set upon by an angry crowd arson and killing perpeof Black Lives Matter trated by anarchists and activists of all colours who agitators. jostled and spat at them The nation may still be while screaming obsceni- gripped by the coronavirus ties. The most high profile pandemic that has precipiamong them was Kentucky tated a faltering economy.

Senator Rand Paul and his But it appears that this wife who were surrounded crime and violence is of by dozens shouting threats major concern to the public to kill them. He said later so that safety, they were security in fear for ‘Reportedly, a and law and their lives but crowd of masked order have were saved men and women, become the by their number one police escort. who had been issue in the Earlier, roaming around the forthcoma mob had city, surrounded ing general gathered election. outside the [a woman] with President White House clenched fists and Trump has letting off heckled her with put this at fireworks the heart of and blowing demands she should his campaign horns in an raise her arm to and is stoking attempt to fears that the salute and support disrupt the Democrats, BLM. She refused to if elected, President’s speech. do so, however, and would wreck This latest the nation no one was hurt.’ manifesin a varitation of ety of ways violence, by activists pro- with their Left-wing politesting in the name of BLM cies. Whether voters will against racial discrimina- believe this remains to be tion and police brutality, seen. But his poll numbers came after last week’s video are rising which suggests footage of a chilling inci- the Democrats may have dent of an attack on a misread the effects of the woman dining outside with BLM protests before finally a companion at a Washing- condemning the violence ton restaurant. Reportedly, after previously ignoring it, a crowd of masked men and it now seems more and and women, who had more people consider the been roaming around the situation is playing in to Mr city, surrounded her with Trump’s hands and may win clenched fists and heck- him re-election. led her with demands she Meanwhile, having studshould raise her arm to ied the thorny subject of salute and support BLM. race relations while at She refused to do so, how- school many years ago ever, and no one was hurt. in Massachusetts, I recall She explained afterwards vividly the famous 1963 that, even though she her- march on Washington led self had been on BLM by Martin Luther King and marches, she would not be his ‘I have a dream’ speech. coerced in this way. Unsur- But last week’s march – also prisingly, the video has on Washington – to mark gone viral and has sparked its 57th anniversary was a widespread backlash. altogether different.

To the outside observer, Bringing their demands it is hard to believe these to the doorstep of power sort of incidents involv- seemed the right way foring such thuggish bullying ward for the BLM group. and threats of violence can But this time the emphasis take place in downtown was on anger and grievance Washington DC near the against a background of residence and offices of the hatred and violence, shown most powerful statesman in in particular, it seemed the world. They have been to me, by the stridency of condemned by moderate the speeches. Compare BLM leaders who, most that with Martin Luther people agree, are pursuing King’s condemnation of legitimate grievances about violence as immoral and institutional and systemic self-defeating - as well as

BRITAIN BRACES FOR FINAL RUSH OF DESPERATE REFUGEES

The Peter Young column

MARKING TIME TODAY marks the anniversary of Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939.

This was followed two days later by Britain’s declaration of war and the Second World War - the most destructive and widespread conflict in history - had begun. This prompted me, out of curiosity, to look at other important historical events during the month of September and the results were interesting.

It is a truism that history is being made before our eyes and that there are so many important events, with widespread repercussions and significance, happening all the time throughout the year.

But September saw one of the worst events in modern

history --- the terrible terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre in New York on the eleventh day of that month in 2001, known as 9/11 and which requires no further explanation.

My research showed up a variety of other significant events during September over the years - from the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, the departure in 1620 of the Mayflower from Plymouth in England carrying the Pilgrim Fathers to America and the Treaty of Paris ending the American revolutionary wars in 1783 to - in more recent times - the reunification of East and West Germany in 1990 and the death of Mother Teresa in Calcutta in 1997.

SEN RAND PAUL, centre, and others, escorted by Metropolitan Police after attending President Donald Trump’s acceptance speech at the White House on Thursday. Photo: Yuki Iwamura/AP destroying any thought and peaceful protest, they of brotherhood - and his reject violence and destrucespousal of the ideal of tion and are sick of it. freedom and justice for all If recent events are a through peaceful means portent of things to come rather than division and in an America riven by hatred. chaos, one shudders to Viewed from outside its think what might happen borders, it is all too easy to during the coming weeks in exaggerate the current crisis the run-up to the election in the US. As a nation, it on November 3. It will be a has always overcome its nasty campaign and the two difficulties and challenges scheduled Trump/Biden and emerged triumphant. debates will make compulBut some local commenta- sive viewing. tors now say the current Political prediction is a mayhem represents a seis- thankless task. But, since mic shift and that even the voters want security, staAmerican dream has died. bility and a successful Suggestions that forces of economy, it is now lookorganised crime are inciting ing as though Mr Trump the riots and strife make the may build up momentum situation all the more sinis- following the Republican ter. Criminal justice reform convention and become the in any country ought to be front runner. He remains under regular review as a divisive figure and it will society changes and devel- be a herculean task to heal ops. But lawlessness and deep wounds, restore stabilthe activities of armed mobs ity and bring back a strong and anarchists will surely economy. But it is he who not be tolerated much has promised to make longer because it is clear America great again - howthat, while the majority of ever hollow an aspiration people support legitimate that now seems to be.

IMMIGRATION is generally regarded as a complex and sensitive issue. Any country has the right to control its borders in order to protect its citizens and their way of life and The Bahamas, of course, applies its regulations vigorously in response to attempted illegal immigration from neighbouring Haiti by deporting in a timely fashion those who are caught contravening the law.

Historically, Britain has offered a safe haven to those genuinely suffering persecution in their own countries and, with its gradual withdrawal from empire, immigration rules were developed with the aim of treating with fairness and compassion those from Commonwealth countries seeking to settle in the UK. But in modern times - at least until 1997 when a Labour government took power - the importance of immigration tended to be played down.

In the mid-1990s, net annual migration to the UK was about 50,000, but by 2015, it had risen dramatically to 300,000.

This was partly because of an increase of EU migrants that had led from an earlier decision by the Labour government to favour more open borders, not least allowing entry from new states of the European Union from eastern Europe. But such a level was considered too high and the free movement of workers within the EU became a major issue in the Brexit debate.

Now, what the UK terms the Europe migrant crisis is taking centre stage. It involves large numbers of people crossing the English Channel from France in small boats to seek political asylum in Britain, though many are economic migrants simply seeking

a better life. The figures are startling. In 2019, nearly 1,900 people made the crossing but, by June this year, that number had already been exceeded.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that, if migrants come to Britain’s shores illegally, they will be sent back to France. However, even though under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea a country has the right to take action against inbound vessels carrying illegal migrants, it has to respect their rights as asylum-seekers that are protected by the European Convention on Human Rights.

Thus, entering the UK illegally does not constitute automatic grounds for an asylum claim to be rejected. So there are legislative as well as operational barriers to be overcome - given that deportation has to be agreed by France as the receiving country even though under EU rules those in need of protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach that has a wellfunctioning asylum system.

Despite the limitations on the government’s scope for action, this should change after the end of the Brexit transition period and the UK’s departure from the EU is made final on December 31. Early next year, as Britain takes full control of its immigration, a major overhaul of its so-called ‘broken’ system is planned with introduction of a fairer, skills-led and points-based one.

It is said the current increase of refugees and asylum seekers trying to enter Britain is due to pressure to make the journey before the rules are tightened up in this way - and it looks as though their fears may well be realised as Britain becomes fully independent again.

PAGE 10, Tuesday, September 1, 2020

TEXAS SUES OVER PLANS TO SEND MAIL BALLOT APPLICATIONS

By ACACIA CORONADO and PAUL J. WEBER Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The fight over mail balloting in Texas, one of the few states not allowing more people to vote by mail in November, grew Monday when the state sued to stop more than 2 million registered voters around Houston from receiving applications to submit their ballots by mail.

Harris County this month announced plans to send all registered voters the application, regardless of whether they qualify to vote by mail — which is generally restricted in Texas to voters who are 65 or older, disabled or will be outside the county on Election Day. Several states have loosened mail voting restrictions this year because of COVID19 concerns, most recently New York. But Texas’ GOP leaders have resisted calls to expand mail balloting, keeping them aligned with President Donald Trump, who has claimed that making mail voting more widespread could increase election fraud and uncertainty. There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud through mail-in voting.

“Harris County’s scheme can lead to voter fraud & compromise election results,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said on Twitter.

The lawsuit filed by Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asks a judge to stop Harris County from sending the applications.

Harris County officials said they previously sent applications to all registered voters over the age of 65, and that it would be up to other voters who receive applications

to decide for themselves whether they’ll be eligible and want to cast a mail ballot.

“If the Secretary of State would take the time to meet with us instead of jumping into court, they would see that the information we plan to share with voters provides clarity about voters’ rights and eligibility to vote by mail,” Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins said.

The Texas Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that fears of contracting the coronavirus do not qualify as a

IN this June 29, file photo, Harris County election clerk Nora Martinez, left, helps a voter, in Houston. (AP Photo/ David J. Phillip File) disability under Texas election law. Voters filling out a mail-in ballot application have to check a box indicating which criteria they meet and return for processing by county officials.

Texas Secretary of State Ruth Hughs received a letter from the U.S. Postal Service in July saying that under the voting timeline allowed under Texas law, some voters may not receive their ballot in time to vote and some ballots mailed in closer to the state’s Nov. 4 deadline for receiving ballots run the risk of not arriving in time to be counted.

The Texas Secretary of State’s office has not said whether they will make any adjustments to voting deadlines in response to the USPS letter.

THE TRIBUNE

BIDEN UNLEASHES ATTACKS, BLAMES TRUMP FOR PROTEST VIOLENCE

By JONATHAN LEMIRE, ALEXANDRA JAFFE and WILL WEISSERT Associated Press

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Accusing President Donald Trump of “poisoning” the nation’s values, Joe Biden condemned violence at recent protests Monday and blamed Trump as the battle over who’s at fault and who can keep Americans safe emerged as the sharpest dividing line for the campaign’s final weeks.

Biden, in his most direct attacks yet, accused Trump of causing the divisions that have ignited the violence, delivering an uncharacteristically blistering speech and distancing himself from radical forces involved in altercations.

He said of Trump, “He doesn’t want to shed light, he wants to generate heat, and he’s stoking violence in our cities. He can’t stop the violence because for years he’s fomented it.”

Biden also tried to refocus the race on what has been its defining theme — Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic that has left more than 180,000 Americans dead — after a multi-day onslaught by the president’s team to make the campaign about the violence rattling American cities.

Biden himself has largely remained near his home in Delaware to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, but he stepped out in a new phase of his campaign on Monday, in a speech in Pittsburgh and a brief stop at a local firehouse.

Trump and his campaign team believe that the more

DEMOCRATIC presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at campaign event at Mill 19 in Pittsburgh, Pa., Monday. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) the national discourse is about anything other than the virus, the better it is for the president. They have seized upon the recent unrest in Portland and Kenosha, Wisconsin, leaning hard into a defence of law and order while suggesting that Biden is powerless to stop extremists.

Biden rejected the charge, firmly decrying the clashes.

Urgent Set aside on Monday were his lofty appeals about the “soul of the nation,” a staple of his usual stump speech, replaced by an urgent call for action and and his fierce accusation that Trump was a “toxic presence in this nation for four years” who was “poisoning the values

this nation has always held dear, poisoning our very democracy.”

The president and his team continued to hammer away on what they believe is a powerful electoral argument, contending that Biden is in thrall to leftist forces and emphasising chaotic protest images they believe could send worried suburban and senior voters back to Trump’s column.

“Just watched what Biden had to say,” Trump tweeted soon after the former vice president concluded his remarks in Pittsburgh. “To me, he’s blaming the Police far more than he’s blaming the Rioters, Anarchists, Agitators, and Looters, which he could never blame or he would lose the Radical Left Bernie supports!”

Trump also plans to visit Kenosha on Tuesday despite pleas from Wisconsin’s Democratic governor to stay away for fears of sparking tumult in a city where tensions continue to simmer.

Biden has been pushed by worried Democrats — including some voices inside his own campaign — to deal with the violence head on and at greater length, though he had previously condemned it. With Trump pounding the issue in his convention speech, which was then followed by more bloodshed over the weekend, many in Biden’s party, still shell-shocked by 2016, urged the former vice president to get ahead of the rare issue that has broken through the national focus on the pandemic.

But Biden didn’t just play defence, he went on the attack, lambasting Trump not just as inciting violence but for his ties to Russia and his handling of the nation’s economy.

Following up his Democratic convention address, in which he didn’t mention Trump’s name Biden on Monday invoked Trump’s name 32 times, directly assailing the president in remarks that seemed intended to silence worries in his party and the Beltway’s chattering class. He pulled no punches about the violence.

“It’s lawlessness, plain and simple. And those who do it should be prosecuted,” Biden said.

Career He also accused Trump of being too “weak” to call on his own supporters to stop acting as “armed militia.”

And he leaned on his own 47-year career in politics to defend himself against Republican attacks.

“You know me. You know my heart. You know my story, my family’s story. Ask yourself: Do I look like a radical socialist with a soft spot for rioters? Really?”

He declared that that even as Trump is “trying to scare America,” what’s really causing the nation’s fear is Trump’s own failures. He pointed to a rise in murders this past year, the 180,000 dead Americans from the coronavirus and the economic damage done by the pandemic.

“You want to talk about fear? They’re afraid they’re going to get COVID, they’re afraid they’re going to get sick and die,” Biden said.

In Kenosha, Wisconsin, the National Guard has been deployed to quell demonstrations in response to the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man,

that have resulted in some looting, vandalism and the shooting deaths of two protesters. And this weekend, one of Trump’s supporters was shot at a demonstration in Portland, Oregon, prompting multiple tweets from Trump.

Trump and other speakers at last week’s Republican National Convention frequently highlighted incidents of violence at protests that were sparked by the police killing of George Floyd last May, predicting that if Biden is elected in November such incidents will become the norm.

For months, Trump has tried to distract from the

US President Donald Trump speaks at a news conference in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Monday. (AP Photo/ Andrew Harnik) pandemic, and at times he seemed to receive slight positive bumps in support when touting the possible economic recovery. But other attempts to change the narrative with cultural wedge issues fell flat, including a defence of Confederate monuments, and polling suggested that Trump was far out of step with the Black Lives Matter movement, which enjoyed wide public support.

Though a law and order push backfired when the president cleared Lafayette Square of peaceful protesters in early June, the Trump campaign has seized on the violence as a means to drive up Biden’s negatives and bring home disenchanted suburban voters.

The former vice president’s speech Monday appeared to jump-start the general election campaign a week ahead of its normal Labor Day kickoff, as both Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, will begin venturing out despite the pandemic.

Biden, who may make his own visit to Wisconsin this week, has missed the gladhanding of a traditional campaign and managed to have a brief moment of retail politics Monday when he delivered pizzas to Pittsburgh firefighters.

The setting for Biden’s speech was no accident: Pennsylvania, his native state, is a vital battleground with both candidates competing for its working class voters. Trump, whose campaign is focusing on the state’s rural counties, eked out a 44,000-vote win in 2016 but Biden, who is running strong in the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia suburbs, also made certain on Monday to make a pitch on an issue of local interest.

“I am not banning fracking, no matter how many times Donald Trump lies about me,” he said.

PAGE 12, Tuesday, September 1, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

‘More than 200 Bahamian men and residents projected to die of prostate cancer this year’ September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. The Bahamas as a nation is trying to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. This time last year, the country was attempting to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Dorian.

This article is the first in a five-part series for the month of September dedicated to creating awareness and understanding of prostate cancer.

I decided to become urologist after seeing my maternal grandfather, Ulysses Davis, a well-known building contractor and Catholic, suffer and die from advanced incurable prostate cancer over a very difficult four-year period.

More than 200 Bahamian men and residents are projected to die from prostate cancer this year.

COVID-19 has created a national health crisis, but prostate cancer continues to silently, and needlessly, lead to the deaths of far too many Bahamian men and residents.

Sadly, prostate cancer continues to be a national health disaster with hundreds being diagnosed locally every year with advanced stage cancer. Early detection of prostate cancer leads to almost certain cure and education is key in our nation’s quest to save our men.

Prostate cancer will develop in one in six Bahamian men and residents in their lifetime. Most men diagnosed are in their late 50s or older.

The Bahamas has the 14th highest per capita incidence of prostate cancer in the world.

Early prostate cancer diagnosis can lead to 99 percent prostate cancer specific survival at 10 years. Early detection is imperative for the best opportunity for cure. Prostate cancer is a very curable disease when detected at a stage when the cancer is confined to the prostate.

The prostate gland is a walnutsized organ located underneath the bladder and its primary role is related to male fertility and aiding the sperm to fertilize the ovum.

Many Bahamian men are at a greater risk of developing prostate cancer due to their racial profile, genetics, overall high obesity rate and relatively high alcohol intake.

Studies have shown that men who drank at least seven drinks per week between the ages of 15 to 49 had a more than three-fold greater likelihood for developing high-grade prostate cancer than men who did not drink.

Bahamian men who are obese and overweight put themselves at a greater risk of developing a more aggressive form of prostate cancer. A study from Norway that followed 950,000 men for an average of 21 years found that a body mass index (BMI) of greater than 30 kg/m² increased the risk of prostate cancer by nine percent. However, obese men aged 50 to 59 years at study completion

had a 58 percent increased risk of prostate cancer; no other age group had such a statistically significant increased risk.

African ancestry is in itself a high risk factor for developing prostate cancer Prostate cancer is a very “racist” and “prejudiced” disease, one could say. Black Lives Matter has gained a worldwide spotlight this year. Prostate cancer singles out men of African ancestry, with these men developing a more aggressive form of the disease on average six to seven years before their other racial counterparts.

Early detection of prostate cancer makes cure an almost certainty, with minimally invasive curative options available, including non-surgical curative options.

Prostate cancer can be cured on a weekend with minimal recovery versus the often devastating consequences of advanced prostate cancer such as kidney failure, being confined to a wheelchair because cancer has invaded the spine, cancer spread to the bones of the skeletal system or being forced to have a urinary catheter for the rest of your life. Advanced prostate cancer often leads to horrific medical consequences for afflicted men, and often emotional and financial horrors for the entire family of such men.

A very sad typical scenario is that a man in the prime of his life, and the primary provider for his family, is stricken with incurable advanced prostate cancer and he

becomes an immediate burden to his family for many years before a sad demise follows.

New promising research recently published in the British Journal of Urology International has revealed that a simple urine test could diagnose prostate cancer as well as detect aggressive prostate cancer cases that are eight times more likely to require treatment five years earlier than other routinely used diagnostic tests. Researchers in the United Kingdom developed an experimental urine test called the PUR (prostate urine risk) that can determine who will and who will not likely require prostate cancer treatment within the first five years of prostate cancer diagnosis.

This promising urine test can potentially be groundbreaking in the management decisions for men diagnosed with very early stage clinically insignificant prostate cancer and therefore offered active surveillance as a treatment option.

Active surveillance is an often safely employed treatment option for men diagnosed with low volume, early prostate cancer, that has no clinical significance.

Active surveillance for prostate cancer involves closely monitoring a patient until the disease upstages in terms of volume and or pathological stage or PSA numbers that would dictate implementing curative management.

The PUR urine test can potentially identify the subset of early

THE UROLOGY DOCTOR IS IN...

Dr Greggory Pinto

prostate cancer patients that would require curative treatment within the first five years of diagnosis.

Many patients on active surveillance can safely be monitored for as long as eight to 12 years before they require curative treatment.

The most commonly used diagnostic and surveillance tool for prostate cancer is the PSA (prostate specific antigen) blood test.

Unfortunately, PSA values are not highly specific for prostate cancer. PSA values can be elevated in cases of infection of the prostate, incomplete bladder emptying or a very large noncancerous prostate, benign prostate hyperplasia. A high PSA value does not necessarily mean prostate cancer is present. Conversely,

a low or normal PSA value does not mean that prostate cancer cannot be present, but statistically it is unlikely.

PSA is a protein produced by the cells of the prostate. In the case of prostate cancer, there is a breakdown of the basement membrane and there is a leak of PSA into the bloodstream. The normal range for PSA prostate specific antigen is 0 to 4 ng/ml.

PSA velocity is the change in the PSA value over a specific time interval.

A high PSA velocity in itself is a warning sign for possible prostate cancer even if the PSA values are all in the normal range.

PSA Density calculates the PSA per gramme of prostate so that high PSA values secondary to only large noncancerous prostates can be adjusted in terms of the risk for prostate cancer.

Free/total PSA ratio is calculated by laboratories when the PSA value is between 4 to 10 ng/ ml; which is above the normal range. The lower the ratio, the higher the likelihood of prostate cancer being present.

Prostate Cancer Antigen 3 PCA3 is a non-coding mRNA protein that is elevated in 95 percent of prostate cancer tissues.

There are several blood and urine bio-assay prostate cancer diagnostic tests under active research and development.

Bahamian men are at great risk of developing prostate cancer in their lifetimes due to African ancestry, obesity, relatively high alcohol intake, high dairy product intake and the BRCA 2 gene mutation found in the some of the populace.

In Great Britain, the lifetime risk of a man of African or Caribbean ancestry developing prostate cancer is one in four.

All Bahamian men need to start prostate cancer surveillance at the age of 40 with a least a simple PSA blood test.

Men with a strong family history of prostate cancer with more than two first degree relatives developing prostate cancer earlier than the age of 50 should start prostate cancer screening at the age of 35.

My article next week as a part of this Prostate Cancer Awareness Month will address the numerous prostate cancer management options.

• Dr Greggory Pinto is a board certified Bahamian urologist and laparoscopic surgeon. He has trained in Germany, South Africa and France, and is a member of the European Association of Urology. He can be reached at the OakTree Medical Center, #2 Fifth Terrace and Mount Royal Avenue. Call (242) 322-1145-7.

E-mail welcome@urologycarebahamas.com or visit the website www.urologycarebahamas.com.

Keep your kids active!

Health coach Ethan Quant, CEO of Elite Wellness Solutions, has succeeded in his weight loss journey and now wants to share his methods with the Bahamas in an effort to foster a culture of wellness and conquer the obesity epidemic.

As the new school year is upon us and there are many students that will be engaging in remote learning via online platforms, I have been asked repeatedly how parents can ensure that their kids stay active during this time.

Below are some general guidelines that you can use to ensure that your kids are getting the recommended amount of physical activity while they are home schooling.

Infancy

• 0-6 months Tummy time! Aim for an hour a day or more in spurts.

This is the baby equivalent of physical activity. Parents are encouraged to let the baby have tummy time throughout the day as it helps the baby build strength in their heads and neck and helps keep their heads nice and round.

ETHAN QUANT

HEALTH COACH So during the day let babies have lots of tummy time with supervision of course.

• 6-12 Encourage gross motor skill development.

We want to continue to encourage physical activity during this time as most babies at about six months of age are sitting up and around nine months of age are standing, holding on to things and cruising around, and by one year they are getting ready to take their first steps. You want to encourage and provide the environment for them to get as much movement as possible because this help to develop gross motor skills which serves as the foundation for physical literacy.

Toddler (1-3 years)

Build physical literacy with lots of opportunities for active play.

It is still very important at this age to continue to encourage the development of gross motor skills which then progress at this age to fundamental movement skills. Things like running, jumping, skipping, riding a tricycle and swimming and creating lots of opportunities for active play, like going to the park focusing on things that get kids outside, out of the stroller and really moving around.

Preschool (3-5 years)

Develop fundamental movement skills like running, throwing, catching, kicking, swimming and skating.

Parents should play with their kids and encourage them to try out lots of different sports. Try to avoid picking a sport that you like and sticking with it. Kids tends to stick with sports and activities they like because its fun.

Primary school (5-12) Focus on fun.

Physical activity should be fun and interactive. Those team sports may not be an option yet, but sports is still a great way to get in some much needed movement. Dancing and playing games are good as well. You may also want to look at some video games designed to get kids moving. I know my daughter and I used to like “Let’s Dance” on the Nintendo Switch.

High School (13-18)

Make fitness time family time!

This is the age that most kids lose interest in physical activity, especially girls. Look for activities that you can do together as a family, that could even be house work or yard work. You can walk the dog or have a day at the beach; you can go for bike rides. Also, you want to support

whatever types of physical activity your child shows an interest in, because if they like it they are more likely to stick with it.

Remember, just like everything else in life it always better to plan and schedule it out during the day.

Kids, no matter there age, need structure. A great way to increase their participation is to let theme help come up with a schedule that works for them. Once they get everything in that’s all that matters.

If you would like help with this or any other aspect of your health wellness and fitness journey please feel free to reach out to me directly.

• You can contact Ethan Quant at ethan@elite-wellnesssolutions.com or on Instagram at @ethanquant.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, September 1, 2020, PAGE 13

Bridal professionals fear decline of profitable industry

By JEFFARAH GIBSON Tribune Features Reporter jgibson@tribunemedia.net It’s been a seemingly neverending roller coaster for those in the wedding industry, who have found themselves in limbo in recent months with the constant changes and restraints that have been placed on weddings due to the pandemic.

Under the emergency orders established during the second wave of COVID-19 no weddings were allowed to happen, leaving those in the industry questioning why Bahamians were denied the

right to marry over the past four weeks.

New orders were issued last week adding amendments that now allow for the continuation of weddings with only 10 people, excluding the officiant, present.

It was unclear though whether receptions could happen given the orders also stated 20 people can gather at a home or private residence if the proper social distancing protocols are followed.

The orders were then clarified this past Sunday when it was announced that social gatherings in a private residence or facility are prohibited unless for a specified homeschooling programme, wedding ceremony, or

as otherwise permitted under the order. It also states wedding receptions are prohibited.

Though this clarification has now been made and small ceremonies can resume, members of the local bridal and wedding industry are still awaiting an answer from the competent authority concerning a dialogue on the way forward, as the industry, like others, has taken a heavy hit.

Executive producer of the Bahamas Bridal Show Tommy Stubbs has reached out to the government in order to have this conversation along with others in the industry.

“We have asked the competent authority to invite the Bahamas

Bridal Show group to assist with protocol measures, moving forward, to take some pressure off him/them and advise bridalrelated businesses and couples,” he told Tribune Woman.

“We have sent suggestions and requested meetings with the competent authority group to discuss the way moving forward to weddings to no avail. The bridal/ wedding industry in the Bahamas is vital and is now at a crossroads with millions of dollars of losses to business owners and thousands of jobs.”

While brides, grooms and wedding professionals understand the government is doing its best to keep everyone safe, professionals

fear if the restrictions remain in place for a longer period of time it could mean the decline of an industry that has been extremely profitable in the Bahamas.

Mr Stubbs, who is a consultant at Buttons Bridal & Formal Wear, echoes the sentiments of those in the industry who believe many businesses will not survive if there is not a measured approach to how weddings can happen locally.

He believes a dialogue with government officials is necessary and could result in a positive outcome for the sector, as well as the brides and grooms who desire to get married during the pandemic.

Dating over Zoom? Don’t be surprised if those online sparks fizzle in person

By SHERIL KIRSHENBAUM Associate Research Scientist, Michigan State University For those dipping their toes into the dating pool during stayat-home orders, it’s been like swimming in a version of Netflix’s reality series “Love is Blind.”

In the show, contestants must get engaged before ever actually meeting one another in person.

And while a lockdown engagement might be a bit extreme, it’s entirely possible that two people have grown to really like one another over the previous weeks and months. Maybe it started with a match on a dating app, followed by flirting over text. Then came regularly scheduled Zoom dates.

Perhaps they’ve even started envisioning a future together.

Now, as states start to ease restrictions, some may have broached taking the next step: an in-person rendezvous.

What are the chances that their online connection will lead to true love?

In my book, “The Science of Kissing,” I describe how compatibility requires engaging all of our senses. And absent the touch, taste and smell of a potential partner, people dating online during quarantine have essentially been flying blind.

Muzzled neurotransmitters

Human attraction involves the influence of cues that evolved over millions of years.

On a traditional date in a restaurant or move theater, we actively gather details about someone by walking side by side, holding hands, hugging and – if things get far enough – kissing.

These experiences send neural impulses between the brain and body, stimulating tiny chemical messengers that affect how we feel. When two people are a good match, hormones and neurotransmitters bring about the sensations we might describe as being on a

SMELLING good! Studies have shown that women nearly always express a preference for the odour of men who differ genetically from them in immune response to disease.

natural high or experiencing the exhilaration of butterflies. Finding love isn’t rocket science – it’s anatomy, endocrinology and real chemistry.

One of the most important neurotransmitters involved in influencing our emotions is dopamine, responsible for craving and desire. This natural drug can be promoted through physical intimacy and leads to the addictive nature of a new relationship.

Of course, dopamine is just one player in a chemical symphony that motivates behaviour. Intimate encounters also promote the release of oxytocin, which creates a sense of attachment and affection, and epinephrine, which

boosts our heart rate and reduces stress. There’s also a decrease in serotonin, which can lead to obsessive thoughts and feelings about the other person.

In fact, one study showed that people who report that they’ve just “fallen in love” have levels of serotonin similar to patients suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder. This chemical cocktail can even lead to trouble sleeping or a loss of appetite – symptoms people often attribute to meeting “the one.”

Our noses also play a powerful role in who we fall for. The famous “sweaty T-shirt experiment” reported that a man’s natural scent may influence

how women choose a partner.

The women in the study nearly always expressed a preference for the odour of men who differed genetically from them in immune response to disease. Scientists theorize that selecting someone with genetic diversity in this region, called the major histocompatibility complex, could be important for producing children with flexible and versatile immune systems.

A kiss can make or break it While a man’s natural scent may not be something women consciously notice early on in a heterosexual relationship,

getting up close and personal can serve as a kind of litmus test for a couple. A kiss puts two people nose to cheek, offering a reliable sample of smell and taste unrivalled by most other courtship rituals. Perhaps that’s one reason a 2007 University of Albany study reported that 59 percent of men and 66 percent of women have broken off a budding romance because of a bad first kiss.

Complicating matters, factors that typically grab our attention in person are less obvious to recognize in a witty profile or photo.

Studies of online dating behaviour reveal superficial features are correlated with the level of interest an individual receives.

For example, short-haired women do not tend to get as much attention from men as those with long, straight hair, while men who report a height of six-foot-three or six-foot-four fare better than their peers at interacting with women.

The initial focus on appearance promotes pairing based on characteristics that aren’t significant in lasting relationships, compared with more important factors for long-term compatibility, like intimacy and shared experiences.

Still, at a time when many of us are feeling more isolated than ever, online dating does offer some benefits. Quarantine has encouraged men and women to take additional time to learn about each other prior to meeting, sparing the anxiety of rushed physical intimacy.

For some couples, a real-world date will kindle the spark that began online. Many others will realise they’re better suited as friends.

This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com.

SECTION A

Bahamian parents struggle to tell kids of ‘Black Panther’ star’s death

By CARA HUNT Tribune Features Writer cbrennen@tribunemedia.net When the world heard the shocking news this weekend that “Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman had died after a fouryear-battle with colon cancer at the age of 43, mothers on social media all had one question: “How do I break the news to my son or daughter that their beloved superhero has died in real life?”

For many Black children, little boys in particular, Chadwick’s portrayal of T’Challa, King of Wakanda, in “Black Panther” and other Marvel movies was hugely significant, as he was a superhero who looked like them; someone they could look up to.

Here in the Bahamas, screenings were packed for weeks, with both and young and old enjoying doing the signature “Wakanda Forever” salute. Little kids were all excited to dress up as “Black Panther” for Halloween as well.

The movie made over $1.3 billion worldwide and was an unbelievable success. Filming for

its sequel was supposed to begin next year. The movie’s director and cast members have all written loving tributes to Boseman, but it is as yet unclear how the “Black Panther” franchise will move forward.

Bahamian mothers told Tribune Woman it was challenging sharing the news of Boseman’s death with their children, especially in these already fraught times.

“My son loved the ‘Black Panther’ movie. He has seen it at least 10 times,” said Krystal.

“I didn’t tell him until Sunday morning when he woke up and all he said was, ‘Yeah, but he a superhero, he can back like in Endgame,’ because he thought I meant the character and not the actor and when he realised what I meant, he was like, ‘Wow that really sucks because no one else can play Black Panther.’ He definitely was sad.”

Tanya noted that both her daughters are huge Marvel fans and cried when they heard the news.

“We had a conversation about giving your best, because you

know he was ill when he was filming and so I tried to use that as a ‘teachable moment’... that you do all you can, the best you can, like the Black Panther,” she said.

Lydia said the news really upset her seven-year-old son, whose life has already been turned on its head due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s just been a really difficult year and the hits just seem to keep coming,” she said.

Amber added that she and her family watched the special commercial-free showing of “Black Panther” on ABC on Sunday evening.

“I was washed away in tears and my son was like, ‘Mommy, it’s OK. It was just his time, but at least we have these cool movies to remember him.’ I think our kids are a lot more resilient when it comes to death then we were at that age,” she said.

Mom-of-two Thia added: “These boys lost a lot in Kobe (Bryant) and now this; it’s a lot for them.”

Teen artist ready to take on the world

CHADWICK Boseman does the “Wakanda Forever” salute at the 2018 Oscars.

(Photo/Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

Art by Hannah Percentie

By ALESHA CADET Tribune Features Reporter acadet@tribunemedia.net At 17 years old, Hannah Percentie is probably much more self-assured than your average teen. She is confident and knows what she wants. Hannah describes herself as a fearless public speaker, a writer, peer tutor, and an artist who aspires to make a name for herself on the Bahamian art scene.

Although her prospective career lies in architecture, Hannah’s love for art led her to take her painting more seriously this year. She even created a page on Facebook called “Percentie

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

Decorative Art” to share her various artworks.

“I hadn’t picked up a paint brush in two years until December of last year...I started painting throughout the quarantine. My grandmother was an artist as well,

thus I would like to believe I am doing her justice,” she told Tribune Woman.

“During rather uncertain times such as these, it brings about hope and a distraction to pass the time. What I like most is the

recognition, along with the positivity that comes from fellow Bahamians with posting photographs of my work.”

Hannah has been consistently painting since the end of March and has learned some new tricks and skills during lockdown.

“What I have learned as a combination of consulting with my old teacher, Ms Julie Knowles, and YouTube videos is invaluable. I have grown a stronger appreciation for art and respect for other artists,” she said.

Watercolour is her medium of choice, but she often uses acrylics to give paintings an additional vibrancy. The aspiring artist said her paintings are all mostly done on paper and canvas, but she has also done an abstract painting on sheet rock with acrylics for experimental purposes.

“I wholeheartedly believe that art is the rawest form of expression possible...and by (creating art) one can reap benefits - economically, spiritually and mentally. It is curative and puts me in a safe space,” the teen said.

Hannah usually starts a new project by diving head first into subjects that intimidate her. It may been an unusual approach, but it works for her.

“I always struggled with drawing, in particular, portraits and humans. I have pushed myself to push out pieces that were more than leaves and flowers, such as portraits, buildings, animals, et cetera. Though a great deal of them were trial and error, I look at them more so as learning opportunities rather than failures and disappointments,” she said.

Hannah said she is always appreciative when people comment on her are, especially on her improvement.

“When I had first made my art page I feared that my art did not measure up. Nonetheless, I have never gotten negative feedback. It has always been constructive criticism. COVID-19 is a fine example of a situation that can make you or break you. I truly believe this is a time to risk it all, take chances and learn as much possible about both yourself and your craft. To call it ‘experimenting’ would be an understatement. As a student, artist, as well as an entrepreneur, it is imperative to keep high hopes and focus despite the challenges.

We all can easily get sidetracked and be cavalier in our actions.

Although the world is now put on pause, when the grass is green again we must be equipped,” she said.

SPORTS PAGE 15

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

Heat take Game 1

Spas, gyms and outdoor exercise still prohibited

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

W

MILWAUKEE Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo handles the ball during the second half of last night’s conference semi-final playoff game against the Miami Heat in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The Heat won 115-104 to take a 1-0 series lead.

(AP Photo/Mark J Terrill) SEE THE FULL STORY ON PAGE 19

PRO BASKETBALL PLAYERS RETURN TO COURT IN EUROPE

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net SEVERAL Bahamian pro basketball players have returned to the court in their respective leagues in Europe for preseason play ahead of their 2020-21 campaigns.

Lashann Higgs officially began her rookie season with Embutidos Pajariel Bembibre PDM in Spain’s Liga Femenina Endesa, the top division of women’s basketball in the country.

Higgs scored 14 points to help her club to an 87-61 win over Club Deportivo Zamarart in her debut.

The Liga Femenina Endesa includes 14 teams and a 26-game regular season.

The top eight teams make the playoffs, while the bottom two seeds are relegated to the second division.

Pepe Vazquez, head coach of the club, said he expects Higgs to provide an immediate impact with her versatility.

“She is a very good level player,” he said at Biembre Digital at the time of her acquisition. “She is a very physical and explosive player. Extraordinary out in the open and on the run...I like her defensive intensity.

She is versatile, a combo that can play either guard position.”

Dominick Bridgewater made his debut with Sapela Basket 13 of France’s Nationale Masculine 2 (NM2) League.

Bridgewater, a member of the For-Sur-Mer

PAGE 16

hile the Bahamas Government is slowly opening up the economy in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, spas, gyms and outdoor exercise groups are still on the prohibited list.

Joel Stubbs, president of the Bahamas Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation, expressed his concerns yesterday for the sporting events remaining closed.

“Many businesses were allowed to reopen their doors to the public and of course, we were hoping that the gym doors would have opened also,” Stubbs said.

“Unfortunately we will have to wait a little while longer to safely enjoy something we truly love doing which is working out to keep the body healthy and fit.”

Stubbs revealed that they sent letters to the Office of the Prime Minister, Attorney General, Minister of Sports, Minister of Health, Deputy Prime Minister

and other Ministry of Health COVID-19 advisors requesting a meeting, gym facility inspection, viewing or some consideration from April 2020 and to date they have not had any response, acknowledgement or return calls.

“Apart from the athletes and clients suffering, the rent, utilities and maintenance bills have not stopped, employees cannot be paid and their families are affected and gym owners have not been given any type of stimulus package of financial assistance, hence many may have to close their doors for good,” Stubbs said.

“At this junction, whereas businesses that propose a much higher risk in terms of crowding, lack of sanitation or COVID-19 protocol monitoring, closeness of one-on-one services and have no benefits of improving health have been allowed to open, we ask why in spite of all the efforts made have our gym facilities still been denied opening.”

With at least 10 major gym facilities in New

Providence and another five in Grand Bahama, Stubbs said to date, according to the Ministry of Health reports, there were no COVID-19 positives traced back to a gym facility, nor a gym member, trainer or owner.

“In addition we see the newspaper articles highlighting the fact that obesity has risen during the COVID-19 lockdowns, many of the COVID-19 victims were in poor health and had pre-existing conditions as a result of poor fitness lifestyles and the fact that the most susceptible persons to the COVID-19 are those with weakened immune systems and poor fitness lifestyles,” he stated.

“Yet the gym facilities and personnel that can help to correct these national concerns and be proactive in the healing and preventative health of the Bahamian people have been forced to close, first ones to close and the last to open.”

Stubbs said their plea is in no way political or intended to undermine the nation’s leaders or those in authority. But he said the

Thunder force Game 7

SEE PAGE 17

FIFA CHANGES MAKE IMPACT ON BAHAMAS

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

Provence Byers Club, was placed on loan to Sapela Basket 13 this offseason and his promotion to NM2 is the highest of his career thus far.

Sapela has played exhibitions against the Byers and St Valliers thus far and Bridgewater has seen substantial playing time at point guard.

It has been a seamless transition to the professional level for the 20-year-old Bridgewater after standout seasons as a member of the Byers’ Epoirs (Junior League – U21) and NM3 League teams.

“We are pleased to be able to official the loan of our young leader Bahamian, Domnick R Bridgewater,” the Byers said in the official announcement.

“Domnick will be able to complete his training in NM2 under the orders of the former assistant of Giuitta Rémi, Alexandre Casimiri.”

Veteran national team player Kentwan Smith also plays in the NM2 League and re-signed with Garonne ASPTT for a second consecutive season.

He got off to a quick start in the preseason and made his first three field goals of their debut.

In 16 games with the club last season, he averaged 12.9 points per game and Garonne ended the regular season with the second-best record in the league.

Smith’s pro career has taken him to five different countries on three different continents.

FIFA’s Bureau of the Council approved changes to the organisations’ international calendar with a regional impact for the Bahamas.

The FIFA-Confederations COVID-19 Working Group proposed new dates for several tournaments, including the CONCACAF Gold Cup tentatively scheduled to commence July 10, 2021 - August 1, 2021.

Preliminary rounds will take place July 2-6, 2021, with a mandatory release starting on June 28, 2021.

The Bahamas will be one of 12 teams to participate in the preliminaries round that will take place in the United States.

Other participating teams will include Barbados, Bermuda, Cuba, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Montserrat, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago.

The CONCACAF “Road to Gold Cup Qualifiers” were originally scheduled to take place March 2020 and June 2020, however, play was suspended due to COVID-19.

The Bahamas returned to regional competition last year in the CONCACAF Nations League and emerged as the top group team in League C, Group B. The Bahamas finished as group winners with 10 points, and earned a berth in both League B and the 2021 Gold Cup qualifiers.

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health of a nation is the wealth of a nation and not only do gyms play a vital part to this equation, but the gym owners contribute to the local economy and their athletes have taken the islands of the Bahamas to the world.

He said all of this can still be accomplished safely obeying the rules and protocols given.

But with the gyms, including the fitness centres remaining closed, Stubbs said it would also have an adverse effect on their Novice and National Bodybuilding Championships and subsequently the Central American and Caribbean Bodybuilding Championships.

“As for the Novice/ Nationals, persons/athletes have been putting in the time as best they can in remaining fit and in stage competition shape so to be eligible in representing The Bahamas at this year’s CAC games in Bridgetown, Barbados,” Stubbs said.

“This comes as no surprise, we are and forever

OKLAHOMA City Thunder guard Chris Paul (3) brings the ball upcourt against the Houston Rockets during the second half of Game 4 of their first-round playoff series last night in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. He scored 15 of his 28 points in the 4th quarter as OKC stayed alive with a gutsy 104-100 win over the Rockets.

(Kim Klement/Pool Photo via AP)

PAGE 16, Tuesday, September 1, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

Gauff suffers early US Open exit in stunned silence NEW YORK (AP) — Coco Gauff won over New York and became an instant fan favourite during her run of inspired tennis a year ago at the US Open. A year later, no fans, no energy, and no singles victory for Gauff — the teen sensation is out of the US Open on Day 1.

Anastasija Sevastova knocked off the 16-yearold Gauff in three sets, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. The 31st-seeded Sevastova sent Gauff to her earliest exit from a Grand Slam tournament in four appearances. She had never lost in the first two rounds.

“Just the beginning,” Gauff said yesterday. “I just got on tour a little over a year ago, so I still have a lot to learn and a long ways to go.”

She’s good enough at 16 to impress a veteran like Sevastova.

“I wish I would play like this when I was 16 years old,” Sevastova said with a laugh. “Great player. Nothing more to say. I think she maybe started a bit slower than me, but she was getting better as the match went on.”

Gauff lost in Louis Armstrong Stadium, where she won two matches last year and made it to the third round before losing to 2018 champion Naomi Osaka in a match that ended in tears for the teen and a hug from the winner.

After collecting a singles trophy at Linz, Austria, in October — becoming the youngest WTA title winner since 2004 — Gauff began the 2020 Grand Slam season by defeating Venus Williams and winning a rematch against Osaka at the Australian Open en

route to the fourth round there.

Gauff was largely off her game against Sevastova and had 13 double-faults, an unsettling result after she also lost in the first round in the Western & Southern Open, the tournament that preceded the US Open at the same site.

She was also beaten at Lexington, Kentucky, this month in the semi-finals of her first tournament after tennis was suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“The main part that hurt was just getting matches under my belt, getting experience,” Gauff said. “That’s what I need on tour. I’m playing against people older than me who have been in more situations, difficult situations, than I have. I think the biggest thing is I just need experience.”

Gauff, though, has found her voice on social issues and delivered an impromptu speech at a Black Lives Matter rally in Florida in June, when she implored the audience to vote. Gauff said she wanted to continue to speak out on racial injustice and police brutality.

“I feel like, especially my generation, has been popular to speak out, not be afraid to use our voice,” she said. “I think that just has something to do with it because other young people my age are also using their voice. I’m not as afraid to use it.”

Sevastova had been 1-8 in singles in 2020 and got the breakthrough win she needed again in New York.

Sevastova was a semifinalist at the US Open two years ago.

“I think it’s tough for everybody coming here,” she said. “But, yeah, this first hurdle, I won a match again.

I think it’s going to give me a bit of confidence.”

THROW IN THE TOWEL Towel service is on a break at the US Open.

The days of grabbing a towel from a ballperson between points have gone the way of fans and postmatch handshakes in this pandemic-altered tournament.

Like a toddler with a security blanket, some players need that constant towel break in the heat of action as part of the routine. Some players want a towel after every point — but because of the pandemic, players now need to fetch their own towels. There were boxes behind the baselines for players to lay the towels on at some courts; at others, players draped them over a fence or an advertising placard.

“I have sort of like a history with the towel. I used to have a towel when I was 3, 4 years old and I would always carry it around,” said Stefanos Tsitsipas, who won his first-round match.

“It was like my toy, basically. The towel resembles something special in my life. It does provide some sort of amount of comfort.”

Hailey Baptiste found herself out of sorts without the towel exchange and soon out of the US Open with a first-round defeat.

“I think it definitely puts a little more pressure on you with the time because you have to go back and forth to get it yourself,” Baptiste said. “Some points,

COCO GAUFF, of the United States, returns a shot to Anastasija Sevastova, of Latvia, during the first round of the US Open tennis championships yesterday in New York.

TOP - Gauff serves to Sevastova.

(AP Photos/Frank Franklin II) you kind of catch yourself rushing or you have like a few seconds left and you’re running up or just kind of rushing your routine.”

NO REGRETS Croatia’s Borna Coric was among those who tested positive for COVID19 during a no-distancing charity event organised by Novak Djokovic in June.

He had mild symptoms, fully recovered, and in retrospect realises it was a mistake to play without taking precautions.

“There were some mistakes which we all did, including me,” he said yesterday, following a 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 win over Pablo Andujar.

“I think we all got a little

bit loose and we can just relax.”

Part of the attraction of the event was a chance to play near his hometown in Croatia.

“I was sad it finished that way but it was for a good cause so I don’t have any regrets,” he said.

WORTH THE TRIP Anhelina Kalinina was in a quandary. Should the 145th-ranked Ukrainian make the long trip to New York for the US Open not knowing whether she’d be in the field?

She took a chance that paid off, even though she lost in the first round.

Kalinina was on court for only 62 minutes during a

6-4, 6-0 loss to top-seeded Karolina Pliskova on Monday morning.

She set off for New York needing help reaching the field — she was fifth in line for a slot — but moved in when other players dropped out.

“Suddenly out of nowhere I was in, so actually it was a great decision,” she said.

It wasn’t entirely a bad day’s work for Kalinina: She still pockets $61,000 for a first-round loss. She had limited practice time and hadn’t played a match because of the COVID-19 precautions. “Where I’m practicing, we don’t have opportunities — not like here,” she said.

AP SOURCE: NFL TAKES OVER WASHINGTON FOOTBALL INVESTIGATION

By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Sports Writer

THE NFL has taken over the independent investigation into workplace conduct within the Washington Football Team, a person familiar with the situation said yesterday.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the decision had not been publicly been announced. The person

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said Commissioner Roger Goodell discussed this step with owner Dan Snyder, who was supportive.

After The Washington Post reported 15 female former employees saying they were sexually harassed during their time with the team, Snyder last month hired Washington law firm Wilkinson Walsh LLP to review the team’s culture, policies and allegations of workplace misconduct.

Attorney Beth Wilkinson

now reports directly to the league office.

The change of course comes less than a week since the Post reported additional examples of workplace sexual harassment, along with allegations that Snyder was personally involved.

Wilkinson and a spokesman for Snyder did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

Lawyers Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, who represent

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more than 15 former team employees, met with NFL senior vice present and special counsel for investigations Lisa Friel yesterday.

The law firm of Katz, Marshall and Banks LLP sent a letter to Goodell on Thursday asking the league to launch its own investigation.

“Our clients would gladly participate in such an NFL investigation but do not feel safe speaking to investigators hired by Mr Snyder

and do not trust the investigation that is currently underway,” Banks and Katz wrote in the letter.

Banks and Katz called their meeting a “productive discussion” and said they learned the NFL and the team agreed to release current and former employees from any non-disclosure agreements so they can speak with investigators.

“We are pleased and encouraged that the league is taking this matter

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seriously and we expect that it will take appropriate action against Daniel Snyder and the Washington Football Team upon conclusion of the investigation,” they said.

Snyder vowed to change the culture inside the organisation amid 42 women speaking out about their experiences working for Washington.

In July, he said after the investigation was complete the team “will institute new policies and procedures and strengthen our human resources infrastructure to not only avoid these issues in the future but most importantly create a team culture that is respectful and inclusive of all.”

After the Post reported a former cheerleader saying Snyder invited her to a hotel room with one of his friends, and that longtime team executive Larry Michael made extra cheerleading videos for the owner showing sensitive material that wasn’t made public, Washington’s owner denied those specific allegations.

“I want to unequivocally state that this never happened,” Snyder said of the report he invited a cheerleader to a hotel room in 2004.

“Furthermore, I do not have any knowledge of the 10-year-old videos referenced in the story. I did not request their creation, and I never saw them.”

In a separate statement, the team said it was “deeply distressed by these terrible allegations and (is) committed to investigating them fully.”

Goodell said the league strongly condemns the “unprofessional, disturbing and abhorrent behaviour and workplace environment alleged in the report, which is entirely inconsistent with our standards and has no place in the NFL.”

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, September 1, 2020, PAGE 17

AP source: 7 US Open players put in ‘bubble in the bubble’

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer NEW YORK (AP) — As the US Open got underway amid the pandemic yesterday, seven players were put in what one described as a “bubble in the bubble” because they were in contact with Benoit Paire, the Frenchman dropped from the tournament after testing positive for the coronavirus, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.

The seven players were not identified to the AP by the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the US Tennis Association has not announced the names of anyone involved.

But two players from France acknowledged their involvement: Kristina Mladenovic, who is seeded 30th in women’s singles, and Edouard Roger-Vasselin, who is entered in men’s doubles.

“We cannot confirm any numbers or names of players due to health laws,” tournament director Stacey Allaster said. “In the case of Edouard Roger-Vasselin, as he has publicly stated he is one of a select number of players in the enhanced protocol plan, I can confirm that he is one of those players.”

Mladenovic acknowledged after her first-round victory on Day 1 at the Grand Slam tournament that her movements were restricted because she spent time with Paire. She said she practiced with Paire for about an hour and spent 30-40 minutes playing cards with him and others in the lobby of a hotel being used by the USTA for what it has called a “controlled environment.”

A MEMBER of the USTA crew watches a match during the first round of the US Open tennis championships yesterday in New York.

(AP Photo/Frank Franklin II) “I am basically in a new ‘bubble in the bubble,’ so there’s not very much I’m allowed to do, which makes it tough for me to compete and mentally be kind of fresh and ready,” said Mladenovic, who doubled over and let out a loud yell after beating Hailey Baptiste of the United States 7-5, 6-2.

Asked to describe what she can and cannot do, Mladenovic chuckled.

“Let’s make it simple: I’m allowed to play my match,” she said. “Literally, not allowed to do anything else.”

Allaster said the players potentially exposed to the virus because of contact with Paire now must be

BBFF President Joel Stubbs (centre) with new professional bodybuilders Jamiel Hamilton and Lakeisha Miller.

SPAS, GYMS AND OUTDOOR EXERCISE STILL PROHIBITED FROM PAGE 15 will be a power dynamic in bodybuilding in the Caribbean. The Bodybuilding and Fitness International Federation have provided guidelines in which a competition can be had with all the necessary safety protocols including distancing of athletes on stage.”

Stubbs, who earned his professional card as a winner of the CAC Championships in 2003 in Nassau, said they saw a few competitions in the month of July with a number of international competitions in which all guidelines were observed and complied with.

“That’s the same platform we intend to utilise here in October for our event,” said Stubbs about the projected date they had set for the Nationals. “Of course, all emergency orders given and MOH Directives takes precedence.

“We the executives and members are anxiously awaiting permission to get back to our third sanctuary so as to safely give persons that opportunity to gain their professional status or just simply the ability to triumphantly become victorious on the local home front amongst their pairs; whatever their desires are.”

While they are still waiting on the clearance from the Ministry of Health officials to resume their activities, Stubbs indicated

that they would hope that the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture will honour their financial commitment to the BBFF so that they can salvage the season and be in a position to finish off the unprecedented 2020 on a strong note.

“Thank you to our few sponsors, the media houses, the government and mostly to our Almighty God for keeping us through this pandemic and the ongoing times of uncertainty,” Stubbs summed up. “We know we are a strong people and with God’s help, wisdom and guidance, this too shall pass.”

Stubbs was once listed as possessing the biggest back in the world as he made a successful transformation from playing basketball after suffering an injury to competing in bodybuilding as he worked on getting through his rehabilitation.

He said as the Bahamas is one of the region’s leaders in the sport of bodybuilding and fitness and indeed many other sporting disciplines, the BBFF is still planning on attending the CAC Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships in November in Barbados with the hopes of regaining its championship form.

But he said they are hoping that they can be allowed to get their competitors back into the gyms training so that they can properly prepare themselves.

tested daily for COVID-19, instead of every four days.

Mladenovic said she was told she can spend time with her brother but “no one else,” and has been banned from working out at the gym and “any other facilities that have been put in place for the players.”

“It’s pretty tough for me to accept that ... because it’s not like I’m part of (Paire’s) entourage,” Mladenovic said.

Paire is one of two people to have tested positive so far and the only player. The other was a fitness trainer; two players he was in contact with — Argentina’s Guido Pella and Bolivia’s Hugo Dellien — were

kicked out of the Western & Southern Open, the tournament that preceded the US Open at the same site.

As for the difference between those two players who potentially were exposed being dropped from the field and this more recent group remaining eligible to play, Allaster said: “Each case is determined by the facts and circumstances. We will not discuss how the two are specifically different because this is protected health information.”

The new limitations on Mladenovic were jarring for her to deal with, she said — and a reminder, as if there weren’t already so many others, of the challenges of

OPEN

attempting to stage a major international sports event these days.

Monday’s matches gave a taste of what this US Open will be like: mostly empty, mostly quiet courts with no fans and only handfuls of people present.

There are full complements of line judges only at two courts; the rest are relying on a chair umpire and electronic calls.

Everyone is supposed to wear masks unless they’re playing.

Players have to walk to get their own towels instead of having them handed over by ball people.

There were about 15 people in the seats at

14,000-capacity Louis Armstrong Stadium for the start of 2016 US Open champion Angelique Kerber’s 6-4, 6-4 victory over Ajla Tomljanovic.

When Kerber broke to take the first game, one person — her coach — clapped.

“It’s kind of a little bit the feeling when you play, like, practice matches,” Kerber said.

There were seven people in Court 11’s bleachers — six after one left in the middle of the seventh game — for No. 27 Borna Coric’s 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 win over Pablo Andujar, whose complaint to chair umpire Fergus Murphy about serve-clock management was easily audible.

Andujar: “In my opinion, it’s too fast. ... Can you please give a little bit more (time)?”

Murphy: “No.” Andujar: “No?” And other than some fake, piped-in crowd noise and loud music blaring on changeovers, there was almost no sound at all in cavernous Arthur Ashe Stadium for its first match of the 2020 tournament, No. 1-seeded Karolina Pliskova’s 6-4, 6-0 victory over Anhelina Kalinina.

Said Pliskova: “I was like, ‘Should I cheer myself?’”

Two seeded men exited in the afternoon.

No. 18 Dusan Lajovic lost to Egor Gerasimov 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

No. 9 Diego Schwartzman was hampered by cramps, wasted a big lead and was beaten by Cameron Norrie 3-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 7-5, then went out without a shirt to watch a match in Ashe — all seeded players were given a normally high-priced suite to use as a personal lounge.

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Revenue unit makes $39m ‘fiscal impact’

Thursday, June 4, 2020

TUESDAY, JUNE 9, 2020

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KLAY’S STATUS UNCLEAR UNTIL THE WARRIORS ARE BACK

PAGE 18, Tuesday, September 1, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

ITALY’s Alessandro De Marchi, centre, rides with the pack during the third stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 198 kilometres (123 miles), with start in Nice and finish in Sisteron, southern France, yesterday.

(AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Caleb Ewan slaloms to sprint win, Alaphilippe leads Tour de France SISTERON, France (AP) — A basketball player weaving through the defence. A skier dancing between the gates. A soccer player dribbling zig-zag toward the goal.

Australian rider Caleb Ewan borrowed the playbook from other sports as he slalomed through the bunch to win a sprint finish and claim the third stage of the Tour de France yesterday, while Julian Alaphilippe held onto the yellow jersey that he claimed with a dramatic stage victory a day earlier.

With about 100 metres to go, Ewan trailed five other riders before slinging himself through a narrow slice of road near the advertising barriers on the right side of the street.

Then -- after more than five hours in the saddle -- Ewan darted to the left to overcome Sam Bennett and claim his fourth career stage win in the Tour by more than a wheel.

“I found my way through the wheels,” Ewan said.

“Coming from behind, it’s a bit of a risk, but I found my way along the barrier and I came with a lot of speed and it worked.”

Living up to his nickname of “Pocket Rocket,” the 1.65-metre (5-foot-5) Ewan reached a top speed of 68.8 kph (42.7 mph) in the finale.

It was a perfectly timed acceleration.

“In the last k (kilometer) I was a bit too far forward so I dropped back a bit into the wheels,” Ewan said.

“That gave me time to rest the legs just a little before the last hit out,” Irish champion Bennett, a teammate of Alaphilippe’s at Deceuninck–Quick-Step, crossed second and European champion Giacomo Nizzolo came third -- both with the same time as Ewan.

Alaphilippe crossed with the main pack and retained a four-second lead over Adam Yates, with Marc Hirschi still third overall, seven seconds behind.

“We had a really good day. The team really controlled everything. We tried to go for the sprint and Sam got second today. You can’t see, but I’m smiling,” Alaphilippe said behind a mask. “We defended (the yellow jersey) today and we’ll do it again tomorrow.”

Ewan, who rides for the Lotto-Soudal team, won three stages last year, including the coveted final leg on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. He said this win proved “that last year wasn’t just a fluke.”

Ewan had a difficult start to this race with a crash in Stage 1 and a last-place finish in Stage 2. His team was hurting, too, with Philippe Gilbert and John Degenkolb forced to withdraw after also crashing in the rain-slicked opening leg.

“We need to take every sprint opportunity that we can because they’re quite rare this year,” Ewan said.

After the opening two stages in the Mediterranean city of Nice, the race veered inland over a 198-kilometre (123-mile) route to Sisteron, which is labelled the “Gateway to Provence.”

The route featured four minor climbs before a flat finish suited to sprinters.

Three French riders -Anthony Perez, Jérôme Cousin and Benoît Cosnefroy -- broke away at the start and established an advantage of nearly three minutes.

Cousin then launched a solo attack midway through the stage and created a lead of more than four minutes.

Cousin was finally caught by the main pack with 16 kilometres remaining.

AUSTRALIA’s Caleb Ewan celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the third stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 198 kilometers (123 miles), with start in Nice and finish in Sisteron, southern France, Monday, Aug. 31, 2020.

(Benoit Tessier/Pool via AP) Perez, meanwhile, crashed into his team car on a high-speed descent after puncturing a tire and broke his left collarbone -- forcing him to abandon the race.

It was an especially unfortunate accident for Perez, since he had already gained enough points to don the polka-dot mountains classification jersey after the stage.

Stage 4 today features the race’s first uphill finish with a climb to Orcières-Merlette that should force the overall favourites -- such as defending champion Egan Bernal -- into action.

The three-week Tour, which was postponed from its usual July slot due to the coronavirus, ends in Paris on September 20.

FRANCE’S JULIAN ALAPHILIPPE, wearing the overall leader’s yellow jersey celebrates on podium after the third stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 198 kilometers (123 miles), with start in Nice and finish in Sisteron, southern France, Monday, Aug. 31, 2020.

(Kenzo Tribouillard/Pool via AP)

IN SUMMER OF COLLEGE ATHLETE EMPOWERMENT, WHAT WAS GAINED?

By RALPH D RUSSO AP College Football Writer

COLLEGE athletes come and go, cycling through their programmes and campuses in about four years. Organisation has been difficult to attain. Motivating people to band together and fight for reforms when they might not be around to reap the benefits is challenging. This summer there have been signs that is changing.

College athletes have called out coaches and administrators, backed causes both social (Black Lives Matter) and political (changing the Mississippi state flag) and demanded to be part of the discussion about whether sports can be played safely during a pandemic. They have organised campus marches, threatened boycotts and trended on social media without stepping foot on a field.

If this moment spawns a sustained movement, it will be

because college athletes have learned to harness their collective power and laid a foundation for their successors.

“We all know that this isn’t a movement for the present,” said Jaydon Grant, an Oregon State defensive back and a leader of the Pac-12 We Are United group. “As far as establishing something that lasts, I know that we’ll all be gone in a few years, all removed from college football, but I don’t look at it any differently than how you build the culture of a programme.

“With good leadership and good morals you build successful programmes in college football and college athletics,” he said.

“And that’s kind of the same thing we’re trying to do.”

We Are United grabbed headlines last month with a bold and broad list of demands and a threat of mass opt outs of practices and games if the Pac-12 did not address them. The coronavirus

and athlete compensation issues got most of the attention, but concerns about racial injustice in college sports truly spurred their movement.

Within days, Big Ten United emerged — a group spun out of College Athlete Unity, founded earlier this year by athletes to “address systemic injustices in our communities.”

Within a week, those two groups connected with players in other conferences, most notably Clemson star Trevor Lawrence to create the social media campaign #WeWantToPlay, which called for, among other things, the formation of a college football players association.

“The scale of the discussions was never what it is right now,” said Michigan defensive back Hunter Reynolds, a College Athlete Unity founder. “It’s athletes from all across the country, all sports in all divisions kind

of talking among themselves now. I think that’s probably the biggest takeaway: Starting the connections, like, the nationwide connections.”

The specific goals of each group are not perfectly aligned. As some conferences postponed their fall seasons, players pushed to play and some are still doing so.

Still, the players say they don’t need unanimity to work together.

They have been encouraged to see their efforts attract a wide range of athletes from future NFL millionaires such as Lawrence and Oregon offensive lineman Penei Sewell to walk-ons and athletes outside of football.

“We all look at each other as equals,” Grant said. “We all realise that no man or woman is more important than the other. No sport is more important than the other.”

Longtime observers of college sports and the NCAA marvel

over what athletes have accomplished this year.

Tim Nevius, an attorney and former NCAA investigator, said too often the debate over whether college athletes should be paid overshadows other issues. That the NCAA made its COVID-19 guidelines to members schools mandatory after athletes pushed for more stringent requirements was a huge win for players’ rights, he said.

“I think that the message that the players are sending has staying power,” Nevius said. “They’re advocating for basic rights and fundamental fairness.”

College sports leaders often tout the NCAA’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committees as a shining example of how athletes are given the opportunity to influence policies. SAAC representatives sit on all sorts of committees. They have input in the legislative process and voting rights.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, September 1, 2020, PAGE 19

Jimmy Butler scores 40, Heat top Bucks 115-104 for 1-0 series lead

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida (AP) — Jimmy Butler scored a playoff career-high 40 points, Goran Dragic added 27 and the Miami Heat clamped down defensively in the final three quarters to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 115104 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series last night.

Game 2 is Wednesday.

Bam Adebayo had 12 points, 17 rebounds and six assists for the fifth-seeded Heat, who are 3-1 overall against the top-seeded Bucks this season. Tyler Herro added 11 points for Miami, which improved to 5-0 in the postseason.

Khris Middleton scored 28 points for Milwaukee, which also dropped Game 1 of its first-round series against Orlando. Brook Lopez had 24 points on 8 for 10 shooting, and Giannis Antetokounmpo had 18 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for the Bucks.

But Antetokounmpo’s night will likely be best remembered by what he did at the foul line: The reigning MVP went 4 for 12 from the stripe, the worst performance by anyone with at least 12 free-throw attempts in a playoff game since Andre Roberson went

2 for 12 for Oklahoma City on April 23, 2017 against Houston.

Kyle Korver added 11 for the Bucks, who scored 40 points in the first quarter and managed 64 the rest of the way.

Miami led 92-86 after three quarters, after trailing for most of the game to that point -- then managed only three points in the first 6:30 of the fourth quarter.

The Bucks didn’t exactly exploit that slump.

Marvin Williams’ threepoint play with 7:40 left got Milwaukee within 95-93, and it stayed a one-possession game for nearly five minutes.

Antetokounmpo scored for a 96-95 lead midway through the fourth, before Butler drove and got a baseline floater to fall on the next Miami possession to put Miami back on top.

Butler’s 3-pointer with 3:03 left pushed the lead to 102-96, and Herro — after Adebayo extended a possession with an offensive rebound — connected on a 3 with 1:34 left to make it 109-101.

Middleton had 21 at halftime, while Lopez added 19 by then for the Bucks and Dragic had 19 at the break for the Heat. Milwaukee led 40-29 after the opening quarter and 63-60 at the break.

MIAMI Heat’s Jimmy Butler (22) dunks the ball after getting past Milwaukee Bucks’ Donte DiVincenzo (0) during the second half of their conference semi-final playoff game last night.

(AP Photo/Mark J Terrill) TIP-INS Heat: Miami is now 24-20 in Game 1s. ... Duncan Robinson, a big part of Miami’s success this season, had only one shot in the first half -- a banked-in 3-pointer. ... Butler’s previous high in a Heat uniform was 38 points. His previous playoff career-best was 36, for Philadelphia last year.

Bucks: Milwaukee is now 20-32 in Game 1s. ...

Antetokounmpo’s son Liam was among the first fans in bubble history; Monday was the first day that some NBA players could have family members join them at the restart. ... Lopez had two fouls at the half, then two more in the first 40 seconds of the third quarter.

RILEY ARRIVES Heat President Pat Riley was at the game, though

he’s not allowed to be near the team or their hotel because of the health and safety rules of the restart.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said he was glad Riley and general manager Andy Elisburg — who was at some first-round games as well — could see the “historic” bubble. “It’s still enough to be able to feel the emotions of the playoffs and where we are,” Spoelstra said.

VOTING SITE Fans will be able to go to Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum this fall, to vote.

The city of Milwaukee announced yesterday that the Bucks’ home arena will be an early voting site for the 2020 general election, open from October 20 through November 1.

Election Day is November 3.

FAMILY REUNION: NBA PLAYERS BEGIN SEEING GUESTS IN BUBBLE

By BRIAN MAHONEY AP Basketball Writer LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida (AP) — Fred VanVleet hasn’t seen his family in more than two months.

With his Toronto Raptors coming off a bad playoff loss, their longawaited reunion was a great way to cheer him up.

Players began reuniting with family members in the bubble yesterday, giving them a feeling of home during a marathon road trip.

“I think last time I saw them was Father’s Day, so it’s been a while,” VanVleet said. “But it will be good to see everybody and right on time after getting our butts kicked yesterday. So, that’ll kind of take my mind off it a little bit today and I’ll get prepared and get locked in for the game tomorrow.”

NBA teams began arriving at Disney on July 7 but the Raptors have been on the road even longer. They came to Florida on June 22 to begin practicing at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, rather than gather back in Toronto and have players who had been in the US forced to quarantine.

The Raptors had one of the low moments of the trip Sunday when the Boston Celtics beat them 112-94 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semi-finals.

Families began arriving in the Orlando area last week so they could quarantine before being permitted in the bubble. Once inside, they will be subjected to the same daily coronavirus testing and mandatory wearing of masks as players and staff.

They’re experiencing firsthand what their loved ones have been enduring, so it’s not a typical Disney World vacation for family members. They won’t be permitted to leave campus, so that could make it tough on children, who may get bored inside the bubble.

“I mean, we’ll see how it goes. We’ll see how well they feel in this environment as well,” said Lakers guard Danny Green said.

“It’s a different adjustment for them too, so I think it’ll be good for a week or two until we figure out how smoothly it still runs, if guys stay longer than that.”

Monday was the date that had been targeted because it would have been into the second round, with the number of people inside the bubble reduced after eight more of the original 22 teams on campus for the restarted season had departed.

However, because there were no games for three days last week as players focused on social justice concerns after the Milwaukee Bucks didn’t take the court on Wednesday in reaction to the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, there are some first-round series that haven’t been completed.

The Los Angeles Lakers were set to meet with members of their families after their practice. Green said last week that his fiancée had travelled to Florida, adding that he wished his

dogs had also come but pets weren’t allowed.

“I think that’ll make things a lot easier for everybody, to have their wives, girlfriends, some of their families, their kids, even though the situation is not exactly kid-friendly,” Green said.

“The kids, they’ll be excited. They haven’t seen their dads in two months.

So yeah, that will definitely lighten the mood.”

In most cases, players would be limited to four guests. They would also get one ticket authorising entry for one adult — who could hold a child 2-foot-8 or shorter — to each of that team’s playoff games.

Not all players planned to bring families, with some having children who are just beginning their school year and didn’t want put them through that situation even if there were virtual classrooms. And not all who did were going to see them yesterday.

Family members who quarantined at home and then travelled privately faced only a four-day quarantine, while those who didn’t needed to quarantine seven days upon their arrivals.

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Tuesday, September 1, 2020, PAGE 21

Pintard refutes claims of no fisheries action FROM PAGE 24

council as it is constituted has not convened in many years. This is something that the NFA has been asking for, but it has not manifested.

However, Mr Maillis added: “There have been many meetings with fisheries stakeholders and the ministry but it has not been done under the umbrella

Local businesses optimistic despite slow return

FROM PAGE 24

Toya Tinker, general manager of KEVCO Digital Printing, said: “We had a few customers early yesterday but things were kind of slow.

We hope things would pick up by the end of the day.

of the Fisheries advisory council.”

Mr Pintard also responded to other claims made by Mr Pinder in that the ministry has not been taking Dominican poaching seriously, saying: “That’s their boogeyman, the Dominican fishermen is their boogeyman as if there is not unreported and unregulated fishing by Bahamians. We’re dealing with the Dominicans. This

is the first time two years in a row that a minister has not signed one compressor permitting Dominicans to dive during the lobster season. In addition, neither has the minister of labour or the minister of immigration agreed at the cabinet level that they would not sign any labour certificate or work permit with regard to working in the fisheries sector.”

“People have been coming in for banners and social distancing signs. These seem to be the most requested things now.”

Tia Allen, general manager of Furniture by Design, said: “Right now our first day we are just doing deliveries and taking inventory to go out and do deliveries we have scheduled for the rest of this week.

“So far, so good. No complaints. These are orders we

had backed up from before the lockdown that are just coming in. Due to COVID19, for the past four or five months it has been very difficult for our store here in Nassau and also for our store in Fort Lauderdale because of the back-up.”

Ms Allen is looking to clear the backlog in orders by the end of the week.

“Business is going good thus far. So far, so good and no complaints.”

Zoom rides pandemic to another quarter of explosive growth SAN RAMON Associated Press ZOOM’S videoconferencing service is deepening its integral role in life during the pandemic as tens of thousands more businesses and other users pay for subscriptions to get more control over their virtual meetings.

The surge in paying customers enabled Zoom to hail another quarter of explosive growth. The company yesterday reported that its revenue for the May-July period more than quadrupled from the same time last year to $663.5m, boosted by a steadily rising number of users converting from the free to paid version of Zoom’s service.

Zoom finished its fiscal second quarter with 370,200 customers with at least ten employees, a gain of about 105,000 customers from the end of April. Just a year ago, Zoom only had 66,300 customers with at least ten employees paying for subscriptions.

All that money pouring in helped Zoom earn nearly $186m, or 66 cents per share, during its latest quarter, up from just $5.5m at the same time last year.

“Organisations are shifting

from addressing their immediate business continuity needs to supporting a future of working anywhere, learning anywhere, and connecting anywhere on Zoom’s video-first platform,” Zoom CEO Eric Yuan said.

Investors have latched on to Zoom too. After having already increased by fivefold so far this year, Zoom’s stock price is poised to to climb to even loftier heights. The exuberant response to its quarterly report lifted the company’s shares by nearly 23% in yesterday’s extended trading.

If the stock follows a similar arc during today’s regular trading session, Zoom for the first time will boast a market value of more than $100bn — exceeding the combined value of two storied automakers, General Motors and Ford, and two major airlines, American and United.

Back in early June, Zoom warned that it might suffer a wave of subscriber cancellations during the second half of the year if efforts to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus allowed more workers to return to offices.

But the ongoing outbreak has prompted many major employers to keep their offices closed through rest of the year and possibility into

GB in approval for 70% water potability FROM PAGE 24

installation. Since our late July update to customers, we can confirm that a number of additional areas of the island are now receiving fully potable, tested and safe drinking water.

“The Environmental Section of The Building and Development Services Department (BDS) of the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) is responsible to ensure GBUC is delivering water that meets WHO standards.”

According to Nakira Wilchcombe, director of the building department, “The GBUC has undergone rigorous testing of water quality, and potability is confirmed only when the water has consistently met WHO standards and is confirmed by an independent lab. As a regulator, the GBPA is satisfied that those areas identified are now receiving water that is considered potable.”

GBUC confirms that the following areas are now receiving safe drinking water: Heritage Grasmere, Civic Industrial Area, Mayfield Park, Regency, Coral Reef, East Coral, Queens

Cove, Holmes Rock, Russell Town, West Section, Gambier Point, Freetown (old & new), Pinedale, High Rock, Turtle Reef, West End, Deadman’s Reef, Martin Town, Hepburn Town, Bartlett Hill, Hanna Hill, Jones Town, Seagrape, Martin Hill, Harbor Area and Warren J Levarity Highway.

“We want customers to understand that there are some subdivisions that feed from different distribution lines and different wellfields,” said Mr Wilchcombe. He added: “In those cases, some parts of a subdivision may have potable water while other parts do not. Those areas include Central Area, East Section, North Bahamia and Yeoman Wood. We’ll be sharing more specifics on our social media channels and we encourage you to follow us for details on each subdivision as we progress. Despite COVID19 and the challenges it brings, our team is working hard to restore all customers in all areas, and we won’t stop until we’re done.”

Senator Kwasi Thompson, Minister of State for Grand Bahama, recognised GBUC’s progress and acknowledged the work still ahead. He said: “With the devastation of Hurricane Dorian still fresh in our minds, and the added challenges wrought

by COVID-19, we are grateful for the determination shown by the GBUC team

in returning the island’s drinking water to our communities. It has been almost a year since Dorian and I know it hasn’t been easy, but we trust the utility’s strategy and investment will ensure Grand Bahamians are never again without clean drinking water for a prolonged period following a storm. The Government of The Bahamas will continue to work with the GB Utility Company to ensure we have full restoration of our water supply.”

The release also said: “As the utility works toward island-wide potability, the 25 percent discount currently reflected on the water portion of customers’ bills remains in place for residents that do not have potable water. Additionally, the utility confirms that it will continue to provide free drinking water at its water distribution sites around the island.”

Ms Grant also said: “Today, 70 percent of our customer base has potable supply. That means safe drinking water that has had regulatory approval and met all requirements including monitoring, WHO guidelines and testing that has been validated by independent labs. We appreciate our customers’ patience, and we’ll continue to keep residents apprised as we progress toward island-wide potability in the coming months.”

next summer, a development that could propel Zoom to even greater heights.

In a show of confidence, Zoom raised its revenue projection for its fiscal year ending in January to nearly $2.4bn, up from roughly $1.8bn that the San Jose, California, company predicted in early June. The forecast is now more than double the $910m revenue that Zoom had anticipated as it began its fiscal year.

Zoom has been thriving largely because the worst pandemic in a century shut down large parts of the economy in March, with employers shuttering their offices and schools closing their campuses. That forced millions of workers and students to hop on to Zoom and other videoconferencing services to get their jobs and schoolwork done.

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52WK LOW 3.13 20.91 0.67 1.79 1.67 5.40 5.39 2.00 5.05 3.62 5.60 11.05 2.71 2.64 9.60 7.10 13.04 3.20 8.00 13.90

PREFERENCE SHARES 1.00

1.00

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CORPORATE DEBT - (percentage pricing) 52WK HI 100.00 100.00

52WK LOW 100.00 100.00

115.92 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 102.00

104.79 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

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BAHAMAS GOVERNMENT STOCK - (percentage pricing) Bahamas Note 6.95 (2029) BGS: 2015-1-3Y BGS: 2014-12-5Y BGS: 2015-1-5Y BGS: 2014-12-7Y BGS: 2015-1-7Y BGS: 2014-12-30Y BGS: 2015-1-30Y BGS: 2015-6-3Y BGS: 2015-6-7Y BGS: 2015-6-30Y BGS: 2015-10-3Y BGS: 2015-10-7Y

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LAST CLOSE 3.51 17.43 1.62 1.79 1.67 6.00 6.75 2.99 5.10 3.77 6.10 11.26 2.39 5.30 9.95 8.44 14.30 3.99 8.97 15.20

CLOSE 3.51 17.43 1.62 1.79 1.67 6.00 6.75 2.99 5.10 3.77 6.10 11.26 2.41 5.30 9.99 8.44 14.30 3.99 8.97 15.20

CHANGE 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.02 0.00 0.04 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

1.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 0.90

1.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 0.90

LAST SALE 100.00 100.00

CLOSE 100.00 100.00

CHANGE 0.00 0.00

107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

VOLUME

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

EPS$ 0.239 0.932 0.000 0.000 0.070 1.760 0.369 -0.438 0.140 0.184 0.449 0.722 0.102 0.467 0.646 0.728 0.816 0.203 0.939 0.631 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

VOLUME

DIV$ 0.170 1.260 0.020 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.260 0.000 0.000 0.120 0.220 0.720 0.434 0.060 0.328 0.240 0.540 0.120 0.200 0.610 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

P/E 14.7 18.7 N/M N/M N/M N/M 18.3 -6.8 36.4 20.5 13.6 15.6 23.6 11.3 15.5 11.6 17.5 19.7 9.6 24.1

YIELD 4.84% 7.23% 1.23% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 3.85% 0.00% 0.00% 3.18% 3.61% 6.39% 18.01% 1.13% 3.28% 2.84% 3.78% 3.01% 2.23% 4.01%

0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 6.25% 7.00% 6.50%

INTEREST Prime + 1.75% 6.25%

19-Oct-2022 30-Sep-2025

6.95% 4.00% 4.25% 4.25% 4.50% 4.50% 6.25% 6.25% 4.00% 4.50% 6.25% 3.50% 4.25%

20-Nov-2029 30-Jul-2018 16-Dec-2019 30-Jul-2020 15-Dec-2021 30-Jul-2022 15-Dec-2044 30-Jul-2045 26-Jun-2018 26-Jun-2022 26-Jun-2045 15-Oct-2018 15-Oct-2022

MATURITY

MUTUAL FUNDS 52WK HI 2.34 4.41 2.11 198.39 168.29 1.69 1.85 1.77 1.24 8.34 10.26 7.08 12.15 12.71 10.81 10.00 8.98 11.79

52WK LOW 2.11 3.30 1.68 164.74 116.70 1.64 1.79 1.73 1.06 6.41 7.62 5.66 8.65 10.54 9.57 9.88 8.45 11.20

FUND CFAL Bond Fund CFAL Balanced Fund CFAL Money Market Fund CFAL Global Bond Fund CFAL Global Equity Fund Leno Preferred Income Fund Leno Growth Fund Leno Diversified Fund Leno Global USD Bond Fund Royal Fidelity Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Secured Balanced Fund Royal Fidelity Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Targeted Equity Fund Royal Fidelity Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Prime Income Fund Royal Fidelity Int'l Fund - Equities Sub Fund Royal Fidelity Int'l Fund - High Yield Fund Royal Fidelity Int'l Fund - Alternative Strategies Fund Colonial Bahamas Fund Class D Colonial Bahamas Fund Class E Colonial Bahamas Fund Class F

NAV 2.34 4.41 2.11 196.40 163.60 1.68 1.81 1.76 1.07 8.30 9.90 7.08 11.27 12.71 10.23 N/A 8.93 11.27

YTD% 12 MTH% 2.13% 4.00% 0.91% 2.59% 1.04% 2.39% 0.65% 2.50% -1.88% 3.33% 1.10% 2.34% -2.43% 1.49% 0.34% 2.43% -11.07% -9.92% -0.45% 8.36% -3.20% 11.46% 2.10% 5.15% -6.17% 3.54% 2.92% 5.55% -4.66% -3.81% N/A N/A -4.20% 0.20% -8.60% -2.90%

MARKET TERMS

July 20th

BISX ALL SHARE INDEX - 19 Dec 02 = 1,000.00

YIELD - last 12 month dividends divided by closing price

52wk-Hi - Highest closing price in last 52 weeks

Bid $ - Buying price of Colina and Fidelity

52wk-Low - Lowest closing price in last 52 weeks

Ask $ - Selling price of Colina and fidelity

Previous Close - Previous day's weighted price for daily volume

Last Price - Last traded over-the-counter price

Today's Close - Current day's weighted price for daily volume

Weekly Vol. - Trading volume of the prior week

Change - Change in closing price from day to day

EPS $ - A company's reported earnings per share for the last 12 mths

Daily Vol. - Number of total shares traded today

NAV - Net Asset Value

DIV $ - Dividends per share paid in the last 12 months

N/M - Not Meaningful

P/E - Closing price divided by the last 12 month earnings

TO TRADE CALL: CFAL 242-502-7010 | ROYALFIDELITY 242-356-7764 | COLONIAL 242-502-7525 | LENO 242-396-3225 | BENCHMARK 242-326-7333

NAV Date

30-Jun-2020 30-Jun-2020 26-Jun-2020 30-Jun-2020 30-Jun-2020 31-Jul-2020 31-Jul-2020 31-Jul-2020 31-Jul-2020 31-May-2020 31-May-2020 31-May-2020 31-May-2020 31-May-2020 31-May-2020 30-Jun-2020 30-Jun-2020 30-Jun-2020

PAGE 22, Tuesday, September 1, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

DEBIT TRANSACTIONS IN 42 PERCENT DECLINE

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net

THE Central Bank reports that the value of debit card transactions fell by 23 percent and overall debit transactions declined by 42 percent.

The bank, in its monthly financial and economic developments for the month of July, said: “As The Bahamas continues to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, the curtailment

BRICE: 2020 ‘CAN’T BE A WASH’

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net MANAGER at Mario’s Bowling and Family Entertainment Centre is not calling the remainder of 2020 a “wash” as they hope to reopen before the end of the year.

Leslia Brice, the company’s general manager, told

in private consumption expenditure was reflected in retail payments indicators for the second quarter of 2020.

“Specifically compared to the first quarter of 2020, the volume of debit card transactions declined by 41.6% to 2.3 million, while the corresponding value fell by 23.4 percent to $370.3m.

Further, when compared to the previous quarter, credit card usage reduced by 24.9 percent to 607,152

transactions, while the associated value decreased by 31.5 percent to $150.0m.”

“Relative to the second quarter of 2019, debit card transactions dropped in volume by 6.5 percent and in value by 8.3 percent; credit card usage fell by 10.8 percent, but with total payments for goods and services softening by just 0.2 percent.”

The bank also said: “Meanwhile, although the number of ATM/ABM

terminals increased to 382 from 379 in the first quarter, both the volume and value of transactions contracted, by 28.6 percent to 1.7m and by 11.2 percent to $448.4m, respectively, in the second quarter; comparisons were also decreased by 22.6 percent and 4.2 percent respectively, against the 2019 estimates.”

The bank cautioned however, “Despite many businesses experiencing losses due to mandated

Tribune Business yesterday when asked if the remainder of 2020 would be a wash for her: “It can’t be a wash, we need to open. I have staff that need to work. I’m sure we have some Bahamians that need to relieve some stress and get the kids out of the house and bowling definitely does that.

“No, this can’t be the end of the year. No, no, no, I’m hoping that as soon as government protocols say that we can open, we’re going to open.”

Ms Brice added: “Nobody (from the competent authority) is in

communication with us, we’re just going by what was sent out over the weekend where it gave a list of companies and businesses that are not able to open and entertainment was listed there, so we assumed that was for us.”

Over the weekend, prime minister, Dr Hubert Minnis, announced that several sectors would be reopening as of yesterday, however cultural and entertainment facilities, including discotheques and casinos and cinemas, were to remain prohibited until further notice.

Young professional appointed Family office CEO

JOB VACANCY Receptionist for law firm Small law firm seeking full time Receptionist. You will also assist the wider office with general administration, providing an efficient and flexible service to our lawyers and support staff. The successful candidate must be adaptable, reliable and self-motived individual with some Receptionist experience, ideally gained within a law firm, or accountancy practice, and competent in the use of Microsoft Office software.

Applicants must be confident, well-presented and a team player with a positive and energetic approach to work and can thrive in a busy environment. You must have good time management skills, excellent attention to detail and strong communication skills.

Please apply by email attaching current resume and cover letter outlining your suitability and salary expectations to

Recruitment242@outlook.com

A LOCAL investment management and real estate development firm appoints a new chief executive officer.

In a release, the Davis Family Office, a familyowned privately held company focused on investment management and real estate development is pleased to announce the appointment of Liam R Davis, pictured, as chief executive officer of the newly structured entity.

Executive chair of the company’s board of directors, Thavon T Davis explained, “As CEO, Liam will manage the operations and investments of the Davis Family Office. He will be principally responsible for overseeing the company’s administrative, financial and risk management strategies while developing carefully curated investment management solutions for our firm.

“Liam shares our entrepreneurial and inventive spirit and we are confident that this, combined with his business acumen and experience will position the Davis Family Office for future growth and expansion. We also see this appointment as an

closures, the total number of merchant accounts firmed by 2.5 percent to 15,247 accounts in the three-months to June. The outturn was underpinned by a 3.1 percent growth in New Providence to 10,754 accounts and a 4.1 percent rise in the Family Islands, to 2,680 accounts.”

“These improvements overshadowed the 3.3 percent reduction in Grand Bahama, to 1,813 accounts.

With the concerns about

endorsement of the unlimited and unique potential of young professionals in The Bahamas.”

Mr Davis (Liam) explained, “I am both excited and honoured to assume this leadership role with the Davis Family Office. Throughout my educational and professional career, I have consistently sought out diverse developmental and exposure opportunities to broaden and deepen my expertise and knowledge base.

With shared values of collaboration and excellence, I believe that I am well-positioned to manage the company’s administration, governance, asset and investment management.”

Liam Davis was appointed effective August 1, 2020; he is not related to the principals of the Davis Family Office.

Liam holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Morehouse College where he graduated valedictorian in 2016, and a master of science in accounting from Wake Forest School of Business.

The 26-year-old certified public accountant gained his CPA designation in 2017, while working as a

COVID-19 as a likely factor, more businesses and customers utilized contactless solutions, including electronic banking. Over the quarter, there was a 5.0 percent boost in the number of electronic banking users, to 84,275, compared to a 52.2 percent hike in 2019.

Expectations are that beyond the pandemic, consumers will embrace greater use of electronic banking and other digital payments solutions.”

business analyst at Deloitte Consulting LLP in Atlanta, Georgia. Liam has gained diverse financial sector experiences having most recently worked as a senior associate at Deloitte Cayman Islands.

Liam’s addition to the team is congruent with the Family’s commitment to supporting and empowering young Bahamian professionals and entrepreneurs. The company also appointed its own Thavon Davis as executive chair of the board of directors. He is a Bahamian entrepreneur and investor with extensive local and international experience.

Before returning to The Bahamas, he was a member of the Goldman Sachs Investment Banking teams in both New York and London.

He holds a master’s in business administration from Stanford University (2018) and a bachelor’s degree from Morehouse College where he graduated as Salutatorian in 2014. Thavon will work collaboratively with Liam to deliver on the firm’s mandates.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, September 1, 2020, PAGE 23

Trump administration finalises coal plant pollution rollback

BILLINGS Associated Press THE Trump administration yesterday finalised its weakening of an Obamaera rule aimed at reducing pollution from coal-burning power plants that has contaminated streams, lakes and underground aquifers.

The change will allow utilities to use cheaper technologies and take longer to comply with pollution

reduction guidelines that are less stringent than what the agency originally adopted in 2015.

It’s the latest in a string of regulatory rollbacks for coal power under Trump — actions that have failed to turn around the industry’s decline amid competition from cheap natural gas and renewable energy.

The latest rule change covers requirements for cleaning coal ash and toxic

heavy metals such as mercury, arsenic and selenium from plant wastewater before it is dumped into waterways.

Utilities are expected to save $140m annually under the changes, which Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a statement would protect industry jobs in part by using a phased-in approach to reducing pollution.

But environmentalists and a former EPA officials warned the move will harm public health and result in hundreds of thousands of pounds of pollutants annually contaminating water bodies.

The new rule largely exempts coal plants that will retire or switch to burning natural gas by 2028.

Coal plants are responsible for as much as 30% of all toxic water pollution

from all industries in the US. In the Southeast, that number is even higher.

“This rule is going to continue to let these coal-fired power plants pour these toxics into the nation’s rivers and streams, contaminating drinking water and fisheries for 2.7 million people,” said Betsy Southerland, who was the science director in the EPA’s water office before retiring in 2017.

THE WEATHER REPORT

5-Day Forecast

TODAY

ORLANDO

High: 92° F/33° C Low: 77° F/25° C

TAMPA

TONIGHT

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

Partly sunny and warm

Partly cloudy

Partly sunny and breezy

A shower or storm in the morning

Mostly sunny; breezy at times

A t‑storm around; partly sunny

High: 91°

Low: 81°

High: 91° Low: 80°

High: 91° Low: 80°

High: 90° Low: 80°

High: 89° Low: 79°

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

103° F

88° F

101°-89° F

102°-88° F

100°-87° F

99°-86° F

High: 90° F/32° C Low: 80° F/27° C

The exclusive AccuWeather RealFeel Temperature® is an index that combines the effects of temperature, wind, humidity, sunshine intensity, cloudiness, precipitation, pressure and elevation on the human body—everything that affects how warm or cold a person feels. Temperatures reflect the high and the low for the day.

N

almanac

E

W

ABACO

S

N

High: 88° F/31° C Low: 83° F/28° C

4‑8 knots

S

WEST PALM BEACH High: 91° F/33° C Low: 78° F/26° C

4‑8 knots

FT. LAUDERDALE E

W

FREEPORT

High: 91° F/33° C Low: 81° F/27° C

N

S

E

W

High: 91° F/33° C Low: 81° F/27° C

MIAMI

High: 92° F/33° C Low: 80° F/27° C

4‑8 knots

Statistics are for Nassau through 2 p.m. yesterday Temperature High ................................................... 91° F/33° C Low .................................................... 77° F/25° C Normal high ....................................... 88° F/31° C Normal low ........................................ 75° F/24° C Last year’s high ................................. 89° F/32° C Last year’s low ................................... 73° F/23° C Precipitation As of 2 p.m. yesterday ................................. 0.00” Year to date ............................................... 38.43” Normal year to date ................................... 25.03”

ELEUTHERA

Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2020

High: 88° F/31° C Low: 83° F/28° C

NASSAU

High: 91° F/33° C Low: 81° F/27° C N

KEY WEST

High: 91° F/33° C Low: 84° F/29° C

High: 88° F/31° C Low: 83° F/28° C

N

S

E

W

6‑12 knots

S

tiDes For nassau Low

Ht.(ft.)

8:00 a.m.

8:22 p.m.

High

2.9 3.4

2:06 a.m.

2:08 p.m.

0.6 0.5

Wednesday 8:41 a.m.

9:00 p.m.

3.0 3.3

2:44 a.m.

2:49 p.m.

0.6 0.5

Thursday

9:19 a.m.

9:37 p.m.

3.1 3.2

3:20 a.m.

3:29 p.m.

0.6 0.6

Friday

9:57 a.m.

10:13 p.m.

3.1 3.1

3:55 a.m.

4:08 p.m.

0.6 0.7

Saturday

10:34 a.m.

10:48 p.m.

3.0 3.0

4:29 a.m.

4:47 p.m.

0.7 0.8

Sunday

11:12 a.m.

11:25 p.m.

3.0 2.8

5:03 a.m.

5:28 p.m.

0.8 0.9

Monday

11:52 a.m. ‑‑‑‑‑

3.0 ‑‑‑‑‑

5:38 a.m.

6:11 p.m.

0.9 1.1

Today

Ht.(ft.)

sun anD moon Sunrise Sunset

6:51 a.m.

7:28 p.m.

Moonrise Moonset

7:32 p.m.

6:11 a.m.

Full

Last

New

First

Sep. 2

Sep. 10

Sep. 17

Sep. 23

High: 88° F/31° C Low: 82° F/28° C

High: 88° F/31° C Low: 83° F/28° C

ANDROS

N

High: 89° F/32° C Low: 82° F/28° C

E

W S

LONG ISLAND

tracking map

High: 88° F/31° C Low: 82° F/28° C

L

The higher the AccuWeather UV IndexTM number, the greater the need for eye and skin protection.

SAN SALVADOR

GREAT EXUMA

7‑14 knots Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

uV inDex toDay

CAT ISLAND

E

W

The estimate of people impacted is from the analysis that was done for the Obama-era rule, she said.

The revised rule is expected to affect 75 out of 914 coal power plants nationwide, compared to more than 100 plants affected by the 2015 rule.

That’s in part because coal power usage has dropped dramatically over the past decade and many plants have been shuttered.

7‑14 knots

MAYAGUANA High: 89° F/32° C Low: 82° F/28° C

Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

CROOKED ISLAND / ACKLINS RAGGED ISLAND High: 88° F/31° C Low: 82° F/28° C

H

GREAT INAGUA High: 90° F/32° C Low: 82° F/28° C

N

N E

W

E

W

H

High: 88° F/31° C Low: 82° F/28° C

S

S

8‑16 knots

8‑16 knots

marine Forecast ABACO ANDROS CAT ISLAND CROOKED ISLAND

L

ELEUTHERA FREEPORT GREAT EXUMA GREAT INAGUA

L

LONG ISLAND MAYAGUANA NASSAU RAGGED ISLAND SAN SALVADOR

Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday:

WINDS SE at 4‑8 Knots ESE at 6‑12 Knots E at 6‑12 Knots ENE at 7‑14 Knots E at 7‑14 Knots E at 8‑16 Knots ENE at 8‑16 Knots E at 8‑16 Knots E at 6‑12 Knots E at 7‑14 Knots S at 4‑8 Knots ESE at 4‑8 Knots E at 7‑14 Knots E at 8‑16 Knots NE at 8‑16 Knots E at 8‑16 Knots ENE at 8‑16 Knots E at 8‑16 Knots ENE at 8‑16 Knots E at 8‑16 Knots ESE at 6‑12 Knots E at 7‑14 Knots NE at 8‑16 Knots E at 8‑16 Knots E at 7‑14 Knots E at 8‑16 Knots

WAVES 2‑4 Feet 2‑4 Feet 1‑2 Feet 1‑3 Feet 2‑4 Feet 3‑5 Feet 3‑5 Feet 3‑6 Feet 2‑4 Feet 3‑5 Feet 1‑2 Feet 1‑2 Feet 1‑2 Feet 1‑3 Feet 3‑5 Feet 3‑6 Feet 2‑4 Feet 2‑4 Feet 4‑7 Feet 4‑8 Feet 1‑2 Feet 1‑3 Feet 3‑5 Feet 3‑5 Feet 1‑3 Feet 1‑3 Feet

VISIBILITY 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 6 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles

WATER TEMPS. 87° F 87° F 88° F 88° F 86° F 86° F 85° F 85° F 86° F 85° F 84° F 85° F 88° F 88° F 85° F 85° F 87° F 86° F 86° F 85° F 88° F 87° F 86° F 86° F 86° F 86° F

business@tribunemedia.net

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

$3.98 Local businesses optimistic despite slow return

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net LOCAL business owners have shared business was slow but expected to pick up after the first day of reopening yesterday following the additional one month COVID-19 shutdown.

Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, back on August 3, announced a total country wide shut down for all commercial activity except for food stores, gas stations and other essential services. Yesterday, marked the first day back for business operations after that lockdown.

Lucy Burrows, Goeffrey Jones’s general manager, told Tribune Business yesterday: “We have been busy for the morning, people have been coming in for refrigerators and gas stoves as well as washing machines.

I’m being positive that things are going to continue for the rest of the week.”

Cordianne Higgs, floor supervisor at Jim Whitehead Florist, said: “Things are going smoothly, we have a couple of orders and thank God for that, but I think business will taper off by the midday.

“We get our calls first thing in the morning, basically. We had a couple of birthday orders and we had a few ‘missing you’ orders and then we had a happy anniversary order. Hopefully when it comes closer to the weekend, we will have a couple of orders for funeral arrangements.

“We get work from weddings, funerals, it is like a balance. But from last year we are like 75 percent down in sales, but bear in mind September is the slowest month for florists because everybody is doing back to school stuff.”

SEE PAGE 21

Correction TRIBUNE Business published an article, “Fiscal deficit soars 259%”, in yesterday’s paper stating that: “The government’s deficit widened by 259 percent from last year’s $788m, the Ministry of Finance has revealed.”

The correct version is: “The government’s deficit widened by 259 percent from last year to $788m, the Ministry of Finance has revealed.”

$3.98

$4.03

Foreign reserves takes $45m hit, the Central Bank reports

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net

T

HE Central Bank says foreign reserves contracted in the month of July by $45m and will continue to fall on the back of weak tourism demand as they also forecast the economy will continue on this path for the reminder of the year.

The bank, in its monthly financial and economic developments for the month of July, said: “Amid the ongoing pandemic, along with international travel restrictions, external reserves contracted by $45.5m to $1.983bn during the month of July, a turnaround from an $18.3m expansion a year earlier.

“Underpinning this outturn, the Central Bank’s transactions with commercial banks reversed to a net sale of $65.1m, from a net purchase of $32.5m in the previous year. Further, commercial banks recorded a net sale of $58.8m to their customers, following a net intake of $30.6m in 2019.

Providing some offset, the Central Bank recorded a net purchase of $18.5m from the public sector, visa-vis a net sale of $41.7m in the preceding year.”

THE CENTRAL BANK HEADQUARTERS Usable reserves increased to $959.71m for July, 2020 from $797.26m or 20.36 percent. In addition, excess reserves—the narrow measure of liquidity—rose by $31.2m to $1,270.5m, but was lower than the $38.5m expansion in 2019.

“Monetary sector developments will continue to feature healthy banking sector liquidity, as a result of commercial banks’ conservative lending stance.

However, a sizable reduction in external reserves is anticipated owing to a falloff in foreign currency receipts related to tourism sector activity and an increase in imports to aid reconstruction efforts. Nonetheless, external balances are poised to remain adequate to sustain the Bahamian dollar currency peg.”

The bank mentions that tourism “remained contracted during the month of June, as travel restrictions

related to the COVID-19 pandemic largely eliminated both air and sea arrivals.

“As the border was partially re-opened to international travellers by private aviation and boat on June 15, preliminary data provided by the ministry of tourism revealed that total foreign arrivals for the month of June reached 3,935, relative to the 18.8 percent increase to 641,410 a year earlier. Specifically, sea arrivals totalled 2,230, in contrast to the 22.9 percent expansion to 473,018 in June 2019. Similarly, air arrivals were just 1,705, in comparison to an 8.7 percent growth to 168,392 in the previous year.”

Despite this, the bank said that they will “retain its targeted accommodative stance for private credit, and continue to pursue policies that maintain a favourable outcome for external reserves.”

The bank further states the domestic economy will continue to contract as “Economic indicators suggest that the domestic economy will contract in 2020, dominated by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with the fallout from Hurricane Dorian. As global economic activity and travel remained subdued owing to the spread of the virus, tourism output is anticipated to decline, with any prospects expected to be contingent on progress in the international health front and the complete removal of imposed travel restrictions.

Nevertheless, several new and ongoing foreign investment-led projects, along with post-hurricane rebuilding works, are anticipated to provide impetus to the construction sector. In this environment, the unemployment rate is projected to remain sharply elevated over the near-term, with any job gains concentrated mainly in the construction sector, and only the limited re-engagement of tourism sector employees. Meanwhile, inflationary pressures are expected to remain contained, notwithstanding any shocks in international oil prices.”

Cooper: Deficit amount dated, show us current state

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net THE opposition’s shadow minister for finance says that the deficit is nearly 350 percent than presented in the ministry of finance’s latest fiscal snapshot for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2019/2010.

Chester Cooper, pictured, also the Progressive Liberal Party’s (PLP) deputy leader, said in a statement: “While the marketing department of the Ministry of Finance is to be thanked for yet another colourful fiscal snapshot report, these are of little use to the Bahamian people at this point.

“The PLP is less interested in last quarter’s fiscal performance than it is in

examining the current state of the Public Treasury and having sight of this administration’s plan for economic recovery.

“Given the severity of the crisis, the information in this report is dated. We are nonetheless examining the numbers closely and will have more to say in due course.

“The government’s disastrous mismanagement of the crisis has wreaked havoc on the economy, making it worse than it had to be as businesses have been unable to plan and pivot as quickly as the rules change.”

“As for the fiscal snapshot, we are on record that the management for fiscal affairs over the last three years has been horrendous, even before COVID-19 and Dorian.

“We note that the deficit, at $788m, is roughly 350 percent more than the prior year and almost $110m more than forecasted in June.”

The ministry of finance released its fourth quarter fiscal snapshot report over the weekend where they said that the fiscal deficit rose by 259 percent to $788.1m from $219.3m in fiscal year 2018/2019. The government attributed this stark rise in the deficit to Hurricane Dorian spending and continuing fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr Cooper further states, “We remain concerned that the government continues to account for the full spending on the Grand Lucayan Resort as an investment notwithstanding that it paid much more than the appraised value and spending continues pending a sale.

“The government needs to advise the public as to our specific financial

exposure on this so-called investment.

“While Dorian is casually used as the substantial reason for missed targets, the people of Abaco and Grand Bahama still suffer from lack of restoration and not being able to touch, see or feel the impact of the spending. We decry the lack of restoration in light of the newly projected deficit.

“With the one-year anniversary of Dorian today, there is still salt water coming out of taps in Freeport and no electricity in East Grand Bahama.

Abaco is still in a frightening state and still not fully re-energised.

“More must be done for those who have directly suffered through both crises,” said Mr Cooper. “Finally, we would point out that on April 10, 2020, we issued a plan to mitigate the economic fallout of COVID-19.

The plan included advice to go to the market early and proactively when the cost of money was low.”

$3.95 GB in approval for 70% water potability

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net THE Grand Bahama Utility Company (GBUC) has received regulatory approval that deems 70 percent of the island’s water is safe to drink, making due on its $5m investment.

In a release, the GBUC said: “One month after its most recent update to the public on its progress to return water potability to Grand Bahama residents island-wide, the GBUC has received regulatory approval that deems 70% of the island’s water safe to drink.”

“Following the devastation of Hurricane Dorian, which inundated the majority of GBUC’s wellfields with salt water, the utility has worked to repair and rebuild its infrastructure.”

“Following significant revisions to our rebuild plan and capital investments of over $5m, we are now on a sure path to full potability for Grand Bahama,” said Ms Philcher Grant, director of operations, GBUC. The release continued, “Reaching potability, which requires a high standard of testing for purity and consistency as established by the World Health Organization (WHO), means the water from your tap is safe for all uses, including drinking and cooking.

“We know that the impacts of climate change, including more significant storm activity such as we are seeing this year, will continue to challenge our natural resources. Our efforts today must not only restore water potability, but also ensure a reliable, storm-hardy system that can withstand and quickly recover from future storm events.

“GBUC’s $5m investment includes a three million gallon reverse osmosis system and a new water plant pumping station and wellfield. As a measure of preparedness for the impacts of storms, its reverse osmosis system will be portable to ensure equipment can be moved to limit the chance of damage due to flooding or high winds.”

“We continue to repair damaged infrastructure, replace equipment, and drill and commission new wells as we progress in restoring water potability,” said Remington Wilchcombe, GBUC engineering manager. “We’ve also advanced our reverse osmosis investment, finalised the design, and have undertaken surveying for construction and

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Pintard refutes claims of no fisheries action

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net THE minister for agriculture and marine resources calls a Spanish Wells fisherman’s complaints about lack of consultation with the industry “patently untrue”.

Michael Pintard, responding to a voice note circulating on WhatsApp from Spanish Wells fisherman Chuck Pinder and the latter’s claims that the fisheries advisory council, of which he is a member, has met only once in the last seven years, told Tribune Business: “What he is saying is patently untrue.

First of all, the ministry of agriculture and marine resources, through its minister has done a series of community consultations including in the community where Mr Pinder lives since I have been in the chair and I have been in the chair for

MICHAEL PINTARD two years.”

Mr Pintard also said: “My predecessor has also done consultations. We are meeting members of the community inclusive of members of this advisory committee that is dispersed throughout the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. I have done extensive meetings in Eleuthera, in Spanish Wells, in Long Island, in Grand Bahama and so on.

We have been consulting with the community.

“In addition, we have been meeting, through the

Department of Marine Resources and myself, with a number of the regional fishers associations that I presume Mr Pinder is also a part of. That would include the team that involves Keith Carroll, Paul Maillis in Grand Bahama, Fritz Thompson, we have also met with the fly-fishers association led by Prescott Smith the Long Island network as well as the South Andros network. We are in constant contact with the various associations.”

Mr Pintard also told us that Keith Carroll, interim president of the National Fisheries Association (NFA) is a member of the fisheries advisory committee and has been meeting “regularly” with members of the fishing community in trying to establish the Fisheries Act which is in the process of going to cabinet. He also said that calling a meeting does not

necessarily have to depend on the leadership of the ministry as a co-chair can call for a meeting and one can be established.

Keith Carrol said about the fisheries advisory council not meeting in several years: “It has not been for seven years, but at least for three years going on to four.

You would have to call the ministry and ask them why that is.”

Paul Maillis, a director with the NFA, on the other hand, said: “The advisory council has not met for several reasons, some of the individuals on it are no longer alive and you cannot meet without a full board.

There are also some people that are still on the list that should not be there and that is why they have not reconstituted it and have no new meetings.

“The fisheries advisory

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