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Weekend

Volume:116 No.152, AUGUST 2ND, 2019

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Weekend

WEEKEND: CHALLENGERS FOR MISS UNIVERSE CROWN

Hotel death - no signs of crime

AN American homicide detective yesterday counteracted suggestions by a South African forensic pathologist that the hanging death of a 25-year-old female guest at the Atlantis resort last year was likely a homicide staged to look like a suicide.

John Buhrmaster, a 42-year veteran Miami police detective retained

by Atlantis to investigate Carla Van Eeden’s death, said based on his findings,

BAHAMAS Swimming Federation president Algernon Cargill wants a national programme to teach people how to swim, saying government research shows fewer than 10 percent of Bahamians can swim to save their lives.

A COMIC’S VIEW

A LITTLE ADVICE FOR THE UPCOMING FOOTBALL WIDOWS SEE PAGE EIGHT

‘HELP OUR BOY WITH CANCER’

SEE PAGE THREE

$3BN BISX BOOSTS IN DEBT MOVE

SEE PAGE THREE

SEE PAGE SEVEN

A ‘Juicy’ Summer

THE mother of an 11-year-old boy who was diagnosed with stage three cancer this summer is making a passionate plea for assistance.

The family needs $25,000 to cover medical bills to “adequately and effectively” address her son’s health concerns. Kaiden Davis was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma stage 3A on June 21.

nothing in the young woman’s room at the Royal Towers or any of the surveillance videos he scoured suggested any foul play in her death.

Conversely, Mr Buhrmaster suggested that based on the crime scene photographs he saw, Ms Van Eeden may have tried to strangle herself, and at some point decided to back out of it, but failed to appreciate just how quickly she would have slipped into unconsciousness.

Mr Buhrmaster, whose

Six locals have drowned this month. Many of them have been young, including 15, 16 and 19-year-old men.

That is the most Mr Cargill can recall drowning in such a small period of time.

“This has never happened before,” he said. “My son went to Cornell University and for him to graduate and

Page 8

By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net

ONLY ONE IN TEN TAUGHT TO SWIM

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

LIVE

HOLOGRAMS

Bodine celebrates creative arts page 9

Atlantis’ expert suggests woman ‘strangled herself’

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

Friday, August 2, 2019

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

WHAT DID WE DO?

RIGHTS Bahamas chairperson Mona Agenor, pictured with her daughter Eldeanna yesterday, says she feels violated after she and family members were arrested in a joint operation with police and immigration officers. Full story - Page 5 Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

BAHAMAS International Securities Exchange chief executive Keith Davies yesterday hailed its listing of $3bn in government debt securities as “a day I never doubted would come”.

Mr Davies said the move represented “one of the biggest steps we’ve taken” in BISX’s history and “speaks volumes to BISX’s growth and development”.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

FISHERMEN REJECT CLOSED SEASON ENJOY THE

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

2019

GRAND Bahama fishermen and vendors yesterday rejected arguments for a closed conch season, telling The Tribune such a move would seriously impact their livelihood.

As debate continues about declining numbers, Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources Michael Pintard revealed this week a national survey is

CONCH is always popular. being conducted among stakeholders for a closed conch season to protect

stocks. Mr Pintard said a decision would be made after the government canvasses all stakeholders.

In Grand Bahama, conch vendors and divers sell conch every day at the fish and vegetable market, near the International Bazaar.

Many of them yesterday were opposed to the idea of a closed conch season. “I do not support a closed conch season because diving and selling conch is our

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

SEE PAGE SIX

HOLIDAY

YOUR TRIBUNE WILL BE BACK WITH YOU ON TUESDAY

PAGE 2, Friday, August 2, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

BRITISH EMPIRE MEDAL, Civil Division, Nicole Martin for service to industry pictured with family and Tribune Media President Robert Carron. Below: New Year Honours Presentations of Insignia and Warrants of Appointment Photos: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

IT’S A PRIVILEGE TO THANK THESE FINE MEN AND WOMEN, SAYS PM

By RIEL MAJOR Tribune Staff Reporter rmajor@tribunemedia.net

SEVEN distinguished Bahamians received the 2019 Queen’s New Year Honours at Government House yesterday. During his remarks, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis expressed his gratitude to recipients “who devoted their full measure in service of their fellow citizens”.

Dr Minnis said: “It is my privilege to thank these fine men and women who have been appointed to various honours as a part of the Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s 2019 New Year Honours.

“I note that today’s honourees exemplify this spirit of service, altruism, empathy and generosity of spirit. They exemplify the best of the human and the Bahamian spirit. Over many decades they have touched the lives of many thousands of their fellowcitizens. On behalf of the Government and people of The Bahamas, I thank these Bahamian patriots.”

Dr Minnis continued: “As I have noted on a previous occasion, a nation’s wealth cannot be solely measured in terms of economics and natural resources. A nation’s wealth and wellbeing must equally be measured by the quality of service and generosity of its people in the promotion of the common good.

“In honouring those who served with distinction; we offer current and future generations fine examples of national and community service.”

Camille Faye Johnson, Cabinet Secretary, was named the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (CMG) for her outstanding services to the education and to public service.

Ms Johnson is a career public servant with more than 44 years of service as an educator, senior diplomat, and permanent secretary.

Dame Janet Gwennett Bostwick was named the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire Civil (DBE). Dame Janet was appointed Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire on March 28.

Reverend Monsignor Alfred Cedric Culmer, Reginald Ferguson QPM

and Chief Apostle Leon Wallace were the recipients of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE).

Reverend Culmer is the Chancellor of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese and Pastor of St. Joseph’s Parish. Reverend Culmer also served as an educator and has generously contributed to national life, including service on a number of public boards.

Mr Ferguson, QPM, was the fifth Commissioner of Police serving from 2008 to 2010. He has served more than 44 years on the Royal Bahamas Police Force.

Chief Apostle Wallace is a well-known pastor and has spent more than 50 years in the Christian ministry.

Jason Harrison Hanna, Nicole Michelle Martin and Alfred Kenneth Russell received the British Empire Medal Civil Division (BEM).

Mr Hanna is a businessman and entrepreneur who owns his own plumbing company.

Ms Martin was the first woman to lead the Bahamas Hotel, Catering and Allied Workers Union which was the largest trade union in the Bahamas with approximately 6,000 members. Ms Martin also served as the president for almost a decade, from 2009 to 2018.

Mr Russell was elected to the House of Assembly in 1997 for the High Rock constituency. Mr Russell became a Cabinet minister in 2001 and served in the House of Assembly until 2012.

At yesterday’s ceremony, Ms Martin said she was grateful to God and grateful for the opportunity to have served.

Ms Martin said: “I’m very grateful for being recognised for my contribution and I think if we do what we are supposed to do you don’t have to ask to be recognised. I’m grateful.”

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, August 2, 2019, PAGE 3

Help my son beat cancer, pleads mum

from page one His mother Shikera AdderleyDavis, 33, told The Tribune yesterday the diagnosis has deeply affected the family both emotionally and financially.

“Because we never thought cancer would hit home,” Mrs Davis said, “especially without any previous warning or signs.”

Kaiden, set to begin the seventh grade next month, was described by his mother as a “very generous, outgoing, sociable child” and “full of energy”.

Mrs Davis added he is very creative and a natural-born leader.

“In his (spare) time he reads books, plays games and loves to travel the world,” she continued, noting his dreams of becoming

an air traffic controller or pilot when he grows up.

Regarding Kaiden’s reaction to the diagnosis, Mrs Davis told The Tribune: “He does understand and he (is) dealing with it better than expected.

(His main) concern is losing his hair during the treatment process.

“But his first thought was cancer doesn’t have much good results – everyone dies. But he was made to understand his is treatable and he has to be determined to fight all the way.”

However, this treatment comes at a steep cost.

“Health care bills will amount to 25k for chemotherapy treatments,” Mrs Davis said.

Kaiden is being treated at the Bahamas Heart Centre on Collins Avenue. The family held a cookout on July 6th, the proceeds of which

covered previous bills. However, now his relatives are seeking help for phase two – chemotherapy.

Although another cookout is scheduled for November, Mrs Davis also set up a GoFundMe page to assist with raising money. However, no donations have been listed as yet.

On the page, Mrs Davis notes “countless doctor visits, immense agony and discomfort, sums of medical receipts and overdue payments” have haunted the family in the weeks since his diagnosis.

Although treatable, Lymphoma is a cancer that affects the white blood cells called lymphocytes and can be challenging to overcome physically and costly to treat.

Kaiden’s GoFundMe campaign is titled: “Let’s Help Kaiden fight Cancer”.

Hotel death - no signs of crime from page one experiences have seen him appear on the American television series The First 48, said based on the crime scene photographs that captured Ms Van Eeden’s body in situ, the young woman could have possibly saved herself by simply standing up, but waited just a bit too long to do so.

Mr Buhrmaster also confirmed previous evidence that based on surveillance footage of two cameras that had Ms Van Eeden’s room door in their plain sights— the likes of which he said he studied “multiple times”, no one but two Atlantis employees entered and/ or exited Ms Van Eeden’s room after she entered it on May 15, apparently intoxicated.

And as to whether the young woman’s alleged assailant could have been the person in the room next to her, Mr Buhrmaster said the surveillance videos only showed a guest who tried to get into Ms Can Eeden’s room, but turned around and realised their room door was directly behind them.

Mr Buhrmaster’s evidence came after Dr Linda Liebenberg, who conducted the second of two autopsies on Ms Van Eeden, testified that Ms Van Eeden’s death was more likely a homicide as opposed to a suicide.

Previously, Dr Liebenberg testified Ms Van Eeden’s alleged suicide was actually the result of ligature strangulation and a “subsequent staging of the body” to “create the impression” she was hanged. The young woman was found hanging from a green and white cellphone lanyard around her neck, which was in turn hanging from a garment hook on the back of the bathroom door.

Dr Liebenberg said said

the young woman also had “numerous” scratches, bruises and abrasions about her body, which were in keeping with a person who had been involved in a “violent struggle”.

Dr Liebenberg also said the deceased woman had “drag mark abrasions” on “large parts” of the rear of her body, as well as an area of bruising to the back of her neck.

Thus, she said she was “taken aback” and “puzzled” when she discovered that the various injuries she found on Ms Van Eeden’s body were not recorded in the first autopsy report compiled by local forensic pathologist Dr Kiko Bridgewater.

Yesterday, Dr Liebenberg surmised that the bruise at the back of Ms Van Eeden’s neck was not consistent with an injury inflicted by hanging, and posited that it could have been inflicted by a “rabbit chop”, a swift, sharp blow to the nape of her neck.

And Dr Liebenberg said she observed a patterned imprint on some of the injuries on Ms Van Eeden’s body and “photographed extensively”. She said it appeared as if those injuries were caused by a “woven” surface.

As for the scratch marks, Dr Liebenberg submitted that some of them may have been self-inflicted, but inadvertently. She said she strongly believes Ms Van Eeden’s “long acrylic nails” were used as “weapons” in self-defence, and in the process scratched herself about the body.

Thus, Dr Liebenberg ultimately posited that whomever Ms Van Eeden’s assailant was knocked her out, and once she was limp, utilised a “conveniently available” cellphone lanyard to stage the hanging with minimal difficulty.

Meanwhile, Giselle

Pyfrom, the attorney for Atlantis, suggested the various bruises Ms Van Eeden sustained were likely due to her “very rough” activities on the water slides prior to her death.

Taking the witness stand however, Mr Buhrmaster firstly read off his findings based on the surveillance video he examined. He said on May 15, Ms Van Eeden left her room at 10.11am. At 10.30 she caught a taxi cab from in front of the hotel.

At 11.37am she returned to her room. She exited her room alone at noon.

At 12.11pm Ms Van Eeden arrived at an unspecified pool alone. While there, Mr Buhrmaster said she was served several cocktails, met an unknown couple and had a conversation with them. The majority of the time Ms Van Eeden was at the pool she was on her cellphone, Mr Buhmaster said.

At 4.38pm she left the pool alone with a drink in her hand. She arrived at her room at 5.11. According to Mr Buhmaster, Ms Van Eeden appeared to be slightly impaired as she walked down the hall to her room. Nonetheless, he said from 5.11, no one was seen leaving or entering Ms Van Eeden’s room.

At 11.30am the following day, Mr Buhmaster said the mini-bar maid entered the room and exited 19 seconds later. At 12.00, Rhonda Ranger, a housekeeper, entered the room and left 40 seconds later.

From that point on, Mr Buhrmaster said no one entered or exited Ms Van Eeden’s room until her body was discovered sometime between midnight and 4.41am on May 17.

Thus, when asked if he felt Ms Van Eeden was involved in some sort of struggle as suggested by Dr Liebenberg, Mr Buhrmaster said: “I would have to

CARLA VAN EEDEN say that nothing occurred in that room just because of the (undisturbed) condition of the room”. He also said that what Ms Van Eeden was wearing at the time was not torn. He also said none of her nails were broken, but were instead in “pristine” condition.

Mr Buhrmaster added based on the crime scene pictures, Ms Van Eeden’s hair was in place. He said he further verified with the persons who were on the scene that no strands of the young woman’s hair were torn out and strewn on the bathroom floor or anywhere else in the bedroom.

“I don’t see that there was any violent fight,” he said. “…I don’t see - especially because you would be fighting as an individual for defence - I just don’t see it”.

Mr Buhrmaster said that in his expert opinion the scene was not staged. His opinion, he said, was based on the crime scene photographs of Ms Van Eeden’s body as it hung from the bathroom door he had the opportunity to examine. He said lividity, dark purple or red patches and/or spots caused by blood draining to the “lowest level” on the body, was evident in her hands and lower extremities due to her hanging.

Mr Buhrmaster said if the scene was staged, and she was laying on her back and/or her stomach, that’s where the lividity would be.

However, he said that was not the case in any of the photographs.

He also ruled out the possibility of someone entering the room through the inner doors, as well as the balcony. Due to the fact that Ms Van Eeden’s room was on the third floor, it would have been impossible or near to impossible to scale the building, he said. There was no construction taking place at the time, meaning no commercial ladders or scaffoldings were available to be used nefariously.

Additionally, Mr Buhrmaster ruled out the possibility of someone entering Ms Van Eeden’s room from a balcony on the same floor, due to columns of “pretty smooth stone” that are situated in between the balconies, making it next to impossible for someone to scale across.

Thus, Mr Buhrmaster said while Ms Van Eeden’s death was not a natural death, he could not say it was a homicide. Conversely, he said he would classify it

as either a suicide or accidental death.

The latter, Mr Buhrmaster explained, was based on his experiences on handling many cases in which people tried to strangle themselves to see how far they would get, but don’t realise just how fast they would go unconscious.

Mr Buhrmaster subsequently pointed to the way Ms Van Eeden’s legs were bent and her feet were on the floor in one of the crime scene photographs. He said, if in fact the incident in question was anything like the situations he previously dealt with, Ms Van Eeden “possibly could have saved herself” by standing up “at any time”.

However, he said Ms Van Eeden perhaps “waited just that little second too much” and was unable to do so.

And he said such a likelihood was “very apparent” in the way her legs were bent.

The matter continues.

Public Notice LIFE CHIROPRACTIC phone is out of order

Call 357-8040

PAGE 4, Friday, August 2, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

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Don’t let profit kill our conch IMAGINE a Bahamas without conch.

That’s the prospect the country faces – and it’s not a new warning.

In January, the Shedd Aquarium group warned the country’s conch supply could be wiped out in as little as ten years after surveying 42 sites across The Bahamas.

Theirs hasn’t been the only warning.

In response, BREEF executive director Casuarina McKinney-Lambert said the organisation has been sounding the alarm for decades, and that Queen Conch populations had collapsed in the region.

Back in 2012, The Tribune reported a warning from Bahamas National Trust executive director Eric Carey that conch stocks faced extinction if harvesting levels continued as they were. Out of that warning came the Conchservation campaign. Sadly, it doesn’t seem to have taken hold with fishermen and vendors in Grand Bahama.

Almost as one, they turn their noses up at the idea of conch being at risk – and universally snubbing the idea of a closed conch season.

They shrug off the scientific evidence – even one man who admits “yeah, we have to go a little further for conch

now” rejects the idea of a shortage. We are tempted to say there are none as blind as those who will not see.

We understand this is people’s livelihood. We understand that if there is a closed season, it will impact them as they have to find other ways to make ends meet.

But extinction is just that – gone. Forever. And it could happen in as little as a decade.

What then for those who would make their living from conch? What then for a tradition deeply rooted in The Bahamas?

Fishermen in the Grand Banks never thought cod supplies would crash – until they did. Hunters of the rhinoceros were trying to feed their families – until their weren’t rhinos to hunt any more.

This willful blindness shows exactly why the government needs to step in if stocks are in danger – those who don’t believe that stocks are dwindling aren’t going to regulate themselves.

Let the evidence lead the way – and make sure any changes are strongly enforced – or else we might not get to enjoy a Bahamian conch salad in future at all.

A startling statistic - and an opportunity to change IT’S A startling figure – fewer than one in ten Bahamians can swim to save their lives.

That’s the figures according to Algernon Cargill, president of the Bahamas Swimming Federation, and those figures are put into keen focus by the six deaths by drowning this month alone.

He is calling for a national programme to teach people how to swim – and he’s right. So let’s take it seriously and put a real effort together.

We call on Lanisha Rolle, the Minister of Sport, to partner with her colleague at the Ministry of Education, Jeff Lloyd, to launch a campaign to get people swimming.

If only one in ten can swim to save

their lives, those who can’t swim aren’t going to be taking the next generation to the beach to learn – and so the problem goes on down the years. Access to the opportunity to learn how to swim – and that’s where the government can come in.

Let’s put in the resources needed to get children swimming. We live on islands, after all – why should they be denied the chance to swim in the waters we boast to the world about?

It will need transport, and it will need tutors – but it will save people’s lives. If we can change one generation’s inability to swim, it will pay off for decades too.

And wouldn’t it be wonderful if it might unearth a future Olympic champion too? Over to you, Mrs Rolle.

I cry shame on you, Mr Bennett Minnis EDITOR, The Tribune THE garbage of Mr Bennett Minnis…seems he is embarrassed that Milton Taylor who hailed from Long Island and formed the first political party in The Bahamas which eventually became the PLP. Milton Taylor was also a past Governor General holding that rank alone surely allows for some dignity and bearing?

I cry shame on you, Mr Bennett Minnis.

Long Islanders for

years were represented by Donald D’Albenas of the UBP…it is only because there is no UBP around for Long Island to support that they support the FNM which is as all known a ‘subsidiary’ of the UBP and without the UBP money they, FNM, would never have become a Government.

Mr Minnis the last thing we need is a further fragmentation of our already deeply divided society, so please maintain decorum and politeness…what

was wrong in the PLP visiting the grave of our past Governor General - cemeteries are public open spaces and I am not aware of an impediment for New Providence residents to freely travel to Long Island, let alone any other island in our Commonwealth.

You must have been having a ‘bad day’ - Mr Minnis…an apology.

W THOMPSON Nassau July 18, 2019

Don’t change Arawak Cay - it’s a native area EDITOR, The Tribune I SAW the plans proposed by the Prime Minister for Arawak Cay and I feel that these plans should not take place. Arawak Cay is a native space. This is the main reason for its appeal to visitors and Bahamians alike.

The plan proposed by the Prime Minister is modern and ridiculous. The government cannot adequately maintain schools

and government buildings so why do they want to build another structure that they will be unable to maintain? When a hurricane comes and destroys this fancy structure where will the money come from to fix it? Arawak Cay does not need to be changed, It can be improved but it should not be turned into what the Prime Minister proposes.

Leave Arawak Cay as a native area. The

bathrooms should be renovated, the areas in the front and back should be kept clean and landscaped and if the individual owners of each restaurant wants to upgrade his property in some way then let him or her do so. Otherwise, leave Arawak Cay alone.

SENSIBLE BAHAMIAN Nassau July 18, 2019

Obie stunt blows up in his face EDITOR, The Tribune THANK God for the drama that unfolded over the fight for chairman of the PLP, otherwise their just-concluded convention would have had the same effect as a handful of sleeping pills.

Nothing new came out of the convention except for the usual fluff about turning over a new leaf (to reveal the same old dross).

What’s news about the convention was all the stuff that happened behind the camera and out of view of the conventioneers.

Obie Wilchcombe surprised absolutely no-one when he decided to rain all over Philip “Brave” Davis’ coronation. Davis wanted to portray that he had the party on lock-down, but it became painfully obvious that not all regard him as the natural successor of Lynden Pindling and heir to the Pingdom.

Wilchcombe has long coveted that crown. He believed that Davis was malleable and so he reverted to his default position. He overplayed his hand. His platform was nothing more than bluster. The “people” told him to run, said he. Apparently, he has trouble with math because only 341 of “the people” showed up to vote for him. He got rolled out by Fred Mitchell, the incumbent who desperately wanted to be returned unopposed, as were the two sitting House members – Brave and Chester Cooper (leader and deputy respectively).

Mitchell has been trying to put his stamp on a party post that is still pretty much haunted by the ghost of Bradley Roberts, it’s largerthan-life verbose former chairman who is no longer of this earth.

Bradley was good largely because he was not afraid of Perry Christie, he could raise hell and he could raise

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net money. No strategist was he.

Fred’s strength seems to be his loyalty to Brave (born more out of pragmatism than dogma), and his ability to articulate and execute a public relations platform that is heavy on propaganda and social media and glaringly light on policy or message.

Curiously, one would have expected a more central role for the lone female candidate on the PLP’s parliamentary team, Glenys Hanna Martin. Mrs Martin is a likeable rabble-rouser who should have featured on the poster for the “new” PLP. She is female and a Hanna.

Unfortunately for her, the sip-sip on the convention floor was that she is too closely aligned to Wilchombe’s rudderless political ambition to carve a lane for herself on the PLP’s highway to La La Land.

Right out of the box Brave says he will bring a motion of no-confidence in the Prime Minister over his handling of the Post Office relocation. He must realise that dog can’t hunt. The cabinet minister involved jumped (or was pushed) out the door. The workers were so sickened by the appalling conditions at the old post office that even a tent outside would have been an improvement, and the people (separate from Obie’s “people”) are not up in arms about having to visit the Town Centre Mall to transact their philatelic business.

Like Obie, Brave seems to have a problem with math. He controls four votes in the House. The target of his parliamentary fire controls the other 34 and a half (the other

half belonging to the temperamental member from Pineridge).

Obie got bludgeoned on the convention floor, including with snide jabs from Pindling’s daughter who says the family is sick and tired of people washing out their mouths with her late father’s name. Ms Pindling could use a lesson on what luxuries public figures give up when they enter the political arena. Pindling’s name is synonymous with his policies and that is ours to dissect for the ages.

Obie now wants Brave to let him into the same tent that he spent the run-up to the convention micturating all over.

Politics makes for strange bedfellows but making nice with Obie serves no form of expediency for Brave. West Grand Bahama is probably unwinnable by the PLP in the next general election and so the PLP strategy must be to dig elsewhere for election gold.

They run the risk of looking like hypocrites when they use as a defense against sleeping with Obie in the same bed again, the dubious argument about not running has-beens.

That would immediately preclude Brave, Mitchell and a handful of other veterans of parliament and cabinet that any leader would be well served to take advise from.

At the end of the day, the role of chairman of any of our political parties is largely irrelevant. All of the action is with the leader, who, in case Obie needs to be reminded, heads the nomination committee.

Quick, there’s banknote with Pindling’s picture on it for anyone who can name the chairman of the FNM. And no, it’s not David Wallace. Good guess though.

THE GRADUATE Nassau July 31, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, August 2, 2019, PAGE 5

PM’S WIFE PRESENTED WITH AWARD FOR MENTORING GIRLS

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

PATRICIA Minnis, wife of Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, was awarded for her commitment to mentoring girls throughout the country.

Mrs Minnis was honoured at a “Flames of Inspiration and Commitment Grand Gala”, a celebration that marked 25 years of the organisation’s - Students Promoting Awareness,

PATRICIA Minnis at the awards night.

Responsibility, Knowledge and Service (SPARKS).

The gala was staged at the Mark C. Marin Centre in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands on July 20.

It was hosted by SPARKS Founder Ms Judy M Gomez, former Senator and member of the US Virgin Island’s Board of Education.

Mrs Minnis was recognised for her staunch support of women, girls and initiatives that encourage positive adolescent

development. She is one of the co-founders of the Lady’s Chamber, a girls mentoring programme in the Gambier community that seeks to improve self-image and outlook of teenaged girls.

SPARKS travelled to The Bahamas to meet Mrs Minnis in 2008.

Mrs Minnis hosted the group at C.I. Gibson High School, where they had the opportunity to participate in a special school assembly, and also enjoyed lunch and a tour.

‘What did we do? I felt so violated. My children were afraid. I was crying ...What I do? Am I a criminal?’

MONA AGENOR, Jacintha Vesilor and Eldeanna Agenor yesterday.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

POLICE INSIST THEY FOLLOWED THE RULES OVER ARRESTS OF RIGHTS BAHAMAS ACTIVISTS

By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net RIGHTS Bahamas chairperson Mona Agenor yesterday said she feels deeply violated and humiliated after she and family members were arrested in a joint operation with police and immigration officers.

Ms Agenor is calling for immigration officers to wear body cameras, insisting officers abused their power when they allegedly stormed into her home, threatened her and her family, and beat her nephews on Wednesday.

However, Chief Superintendent Bruce Arnett, of the Carmichael Police Station, yesterday insisted the officers’ actions were lawful.

“In executing our duties, we always find ourselves within the law,” Mr Arnett said.

Mr Arnett did not respond to claims levelled by the family, and the human rights organisation that suggest Ms Agenor was targeted for her activism.

“What did we do? They came in my house, they didn’t search anything, they didn’t ask me any questions,” she said.

“I felt so violated. I felt like they just took me, stripped me bald naked and put me on Bay Street whipping me. That’s how I felt. My children crying, they were afraid. I was crying.”

“What I do? Am I a criminal?” she asked.

Ms Agenor, a 37-year-old Bahamian, was arrested by police and immigration officers around 5am Wednesday.

She and others were released from the Carmichael Road Police Station sometime after 10 that night.

The adults’ charges included threats of harm, resisting arrest and obscene language, harbouring, and obstruction, according to Ms Agenor.

They each paid $1000 in police bail each before they were released.

Their attorney, Martin Lundy, confirmed the group is set to be arraigned on August 14.

A 15-year-old boy, however,

remains in police custody and is facing charges of making threats of death. The minor will need to apply to the Supreme Court for bail.

In an interview with The Tribune yesterday, Ms Agenor insisted she was not given due process, claiming no officer advised her of her rights nor was a warrant presented at the time of the arrest.

She also claimed no official asked her for her status during the ordeal.

“All of the officers were inside my front room. No one asked if I was a Haitian, a Bahamian, a Jamaican, a Cuban. No one asked me for no kind of status or nothing. They didn’t go search my rooms, they didn’t search my kitchen,” Ms Agenor said.

As the turmoil unfolded around her, she noted her children were sobbing – the sounds of which broke her heart.

Ultimately, Ms Agenor, her 18-year-old daughter, Eldeanna, her sister Jacintha, her three nephews and her three minor children were arrested.

Ms Agenor’s minor children were released after roughly four hours in police custody.

“They were speaking a few months ago about police getting body cam. Immigration officers need body cam,” Ms Agenor continued. “Some of them are like animals on that force. They taking this thing for a game…

They taking this for fun. Like people life don’t matter. Or once you have a French last name your life don’t matter.”

“They taking advantage and they’re abusing their powers.”

She also confirmed the family will be pursuing legal action regarding this matter, as previously noted by a Rights Bahamas statement released yesterday.

“Legal action will be taken against them. Because (the) abuse, the severe beating- I wouldn’t wish that on no one.

And no officer or no minister could tell me we acted out of line.”

In February 2018, the Department of Immigration announced the trial acquisition of a suite of surveillance equipment to

bolster its enforcement services - including four body-camera system.

Immigration Director Clarance Russell said at the time the equipment, once put to use, will not only ensure the safety of officers and those with whom they interact, but will also ensure the accountability and integrity of the department.

Officials have not directly addressed the incident; however, the Immigration Department said it apprehended 28 Haitian nationals in a joint operation called ‘Rising Sun’ with Southwestern Division police and K-9 units on Wednesday.

The release read: “We will continue to conduct our duties without fear, favour or malice in a civil, humane and fair manner consistent with both local and international laws.

It continued: “The Department will not tolerate the blatant and deliberate assault on our Officers while executing their duties or continued breaches of the Statute Laws of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas.”

TWO SHOOTING INCIDENTS AND SPATE OF ARMED ROBBERIES POLICE are investigating two shooting incidents and a spate of armed robberies this week.

A man was standing outside a shop on Davis Street, Fox Hill when he was fired at by passengers of a dark coloured vehicle on Wednesday evening. The man was taken to hospital after the shooting, which occurred shortly after 10pm.

On Monday, a man was standing outside a home on Crepe Myrtle Avenue, Garden Hills when two armed men opened fire on him. The men escaped, also in a dark coloured vehicle shortly before 10pm.

Both victims were reportedly in stable condition at hospital, according to police.

Meanwhile, two men armed with firearms robbed a man and woman as they sat in a car in the area of the Fox Hill Creek on Wednesday.

The culprits stole the black 2007 Honda Civic LP# AP 2777 and cash shortly after 10pm. The car was recovered a short time later at Obadiah Street, Springfield Road.

On Tuesday, a woman was robbed of cash while at a store on Russell Road, Horse Shoe Drive.

The woman was approached by a man armed with a handgun shortly before noon.

An hour later, police were alerted to another robbery at a store on Prince Charles Drive.

According to reports, three armed men entered the store and robbed the cashier of cash and cheques before escaping in a dark coloured vehicle.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 328-TIPS (8477) or the Central Detective Unit at 502-9991/2.

PAGE 6, Friday, August 2, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

IN GRAND BAHAMA, conch vendors and divers sell conch every day at the fish and vegetable market Photos: Denise Maycock

Fishermen reject closed season from page one

livelihood, said Nado Forbes.

“We come out here everyday and sell our conchs. If they have a closed season, we can’t go out to get the conch and we won’t be able to support our families.”

Since 2015, the Bahamas National Trust launched a

national campaign geared towards sustaining the country’s severely declining Queen Conch populations, called the “Conchservation” campaign.

According to BNT, studies conducted on conch fishing grounds indicated conch populations are threatened by overfishing. BNT Executive Director Eric Carey stated the declining conch

numbers were the result of the harvesting of conch species not yet given the chance to reproduce.

In January 2019, Chicagobased Shedd Aquarium group warned the country’s conch supply could be wiped out in ten to 15 years. The group conducted research at 42 survey sites throughout the Bahamas between 2009 and 2017.

Despite this research, some fishermen are sceptical about the findings.

Mr Forbes said even though they now have to go out further from shore to dive conch, there is no conch shortage.

“I do not believe there is a conch shortage,” he said.

“Yeah, we have to go a little further for conch now because people leave the shell in the water near the shore so the conch run away from the shell, and that’s why they go further. When people knock out the conch and throw the shell in the water, the living conch go somewhere safer which is further out,” he explained.

Mr Forbes has been diving conch since age 13, and said it all depends where a diver goes.

“Sometimes conchs are scattery (less) in certain areas, and then sometimes you see it full. So you can’t say there is a shortage out there because spots are hidden and you get bigger conchs. I would not support a closed conch season.

I been doing this for a very long time,” he said.

Bernadette, a seafood vendor, was at the fish market purchasing conchs for her business. She operates Bernie’s Tiki Hut at Silver Cove, near the Island Seas Resort.

She said: “I feel that there is no conch shortage in The Bahamas. I am more than 50 years old, and from I know myself, we always had conch. For how conch spawn, we would never have a shortage of conch.

I don’t think that would happen. This is The Bahamas, and God give us these beautiful waters, and he put what’s in there for us,

and it is always going to be enough conch in there for us to have.”

She said that she would not support a closed conch season.

Perry, a diver, said conch is plentiful in the sea.

“I tell you one thing, plenty conch out there, he said. They don’t dive. I am a diver and I know what I see. What else is there to do around here if there is a closed season for conch?” he asked.

“I was doing this for seven to ten years now. It will affect just about everyone in the fishing industry.

I don’t think we short of conch. We short of some boats - that’s what we need more of, boats to get some conch,” he said.

When asked if he believes BNT and the research conducted about a conch shortage, Perry said: “You can dive in any one of them canals over the bridge and get conch, so judge the open sea. I do this everyday.”

He said that the small conchs are often closer to shore so that’s why they have to go further for adult conchs.

“We do not fool with the small ones which are more inland; we have a problem with that in West End now.

That’s what’s making it look like ain’t no conch out there because they fooling with the little baby ones inside the harbour,” he claimed.

“Plenty conch out there, man; I ain’t move from this ground yet, and I was working this ground for almost two months. And when I go back in the boat I going right back there (to the same spot) again. I ain’t gone away from that area yet, so what that tell you?

They ain’t know what they talking about.”

A fisherman named Frederick also opposes a closed season for conch fishing.

He noted that conchs produce about three million eggs, just like the lobster.

He said some are eaten by fish, turtles, and other sea creatures, but many survive.

“I understand what they are trying to do, but you got to look at how big these conchs are and depending on where it is - in Grand Bahama, Long Island, and Bimini. Conchs do not need a season,” he insisted.

Frederick said implementing a closed season would hurt many conch fishermen. “What are they are going to do if they can’t find jobs out there during the closed season. You taking fishermen off the water to come on land when they got families to feed.”

Martin, a conch vendor, does not support it either.

“I don’t support that in no way. Conch is a big commodity - you got restaurants that need fresh conch everyday. People ain’t going to wait three months to eat fresh conch, so closing it don’t make no sense,” he said.

However, he agreed measures must be taken to stop the harvesting of juvenile conchs. “They need to get on that and stop that from happening, but closing the season ain’t a good thing,” he said.

Yves said that fresh conch salad is a daily Bahamian staple. “Bahamians love conch salad, and you need fresh conch for that. I can’t see people not eating fresh conch salad for six months,” he said.

Editorial View - Page 4

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, August 2, 2019, PAGE 7

ONLY ONE IN TEN TAUGHT TO SWIM from page one

get a diploma he had to be able to swim to both ends of the pool. Same thing with Columbia University, you have to be able to swim. If universities could do it, it should trickle down to high school as a skill you have to have. We need to take it seriously.”

He added: “We have an

initiative organised by Swift Swimming where they teach primary school students from several public schools how to swim for free and this has been going on for seven, eight years, but overall there is a concern that more residents don’t know how to swim, particularly because we’re a nation surrounded by water?” People

can learn to swim to save their lives while in elementary school but Mr Cargill said existing programmes are a “drop in the bucket” in terms of how many youth they cover.

“There is a limited amount of pools, limited amount of resources and swimming, unfortunately, has this stigma of being an

elitist sport and is a lot more difficult to implement than track and field where you could just go and run outside so a lot more resources are necessary but we do have an opportunity to reduce this factor,” he said.

His organisation, he added, would be ready to facilitate an expanded swimming programme.

ALGERNON CARGILL

“We are a governing body for aquatics sports but we would be willing to partner with the Ministry of Education or any other agency that wants to sponsor a learning programme,” he said.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have the resources to do it.”

Editorial View - Page 4

TEENAGERS GET A TASTE OF THE HIGH LIFE CARNIVAL Cruise Line ships Liberty and Glory hosted more than 200 teenagers from a police summer camp during port calls in Freeport.

The visits gave the campers a glimpse of operations aboard Carnival Cruise Line ships. Participants enjoyed a day of fun that included a full-service lunch, a meet and greet with the ship’s captain and senior officers, a tour of the ship, and games and activities in the Club O2 teen facility.

The collaboration is an extension of Carnival Corporation’s ongoing community engagement program for Grand Bahama.

“We are so pleased that we had the opportunity to partner with the Royal Bahamas Police Force Summer Camp, offering a truly unique experience to children from Grand Bahama. Seeing the excitement and wonderment of these young adults as they boarded the ships and got to experience being on a cruise ship was a true delight,” said Marie McKenzie, Carnival’s Vice President of Global Ports & Caribbean governments.

The Police camp is open to children from the age of 8 to 17 and involves children from throughout the various communities of Grand Bahama, including West End, Eight Mile Rock, Freeport, High Rock, East End and Sweeting’s Cay. “We were thrilled with the hospitality shown by Carnival Cruise Line to our campers. It was an experience they won’t soon forget and hopefully added new horizons to their perspectives, broadening their views as to how a cruise ship works,” said Loretta Mackey, Chief Superintendent of police, who also attended the tours with the children.

PLP WON’T COMMIT ON FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY ACT

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Progressive Liberal Party will not commit to leaving the Fiscal Responsibility Act in place if it returns to power, PLP chairman Fred Mitchell indicated yesterday.

Robert Myers, a member of the Organization for Responsible Governance (ORG), told Tribune Business on Wednesday the opposition should publicly affirm its intention to stick with the fiscal consolidation plan outlined in the 2018 Act whenever it is reelected to government.

“Frankly, we need to be hearing more from the opposition that they’re committed to that plan also,” he said. “People would like to hear that. I’d like to hear the PLP saying the future is the Freedom of Information Act, the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the Integrity Commission Bill and all those other issues.”

Although the integrity commission bill has been tabled in Parliament since 2017, the Minnis administration has given no indication that it will soon debate and pass the bill.

The Fiscal Responsibility Act establishes deficit and debt targets and safeguards to limit government spending.

Mr Mitchell yesterday called the legislation ill-conceived, adding: “The PLP has no obligation to confirm or deny any such thing in the face of a demand from an organisation that is not credible. This organisation is one of a group of Fred Smith affiliated organisations that engaged in sustained propaganda campaign of disinformation and FNM talking points in the last general election campaign. Try as they might they cannot wipe that stain of political bias from their organisation. Those FNM

talking points continue today.”

“Further, the public record with statements from both the leader and the deputy leader show the PLP’s position on the fiscal responsibility legislation. It is all show to please the foreign minders but can be dispensed with by the finance minister at the stroke of a pen.”

During debate on the bill last year, PLP Deputy Leader Chester Cooper said there is nothing in the Act that prevents the government from breaching its fiscal targets and approving new expenditure.

“The bill talks about doing many things without consequences for not doing so,” he said.

Mr Mitchell added: “Mr Myers himself has a credibility problem having confessed to cheating Bahamas Customs. A good place to start with fiscal responsibility might well be for each citizen to pay his or her taxes.”

In 2014 Mr Myers stepped down from the Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors following a valuation dispute with the customs department over a hybrid Porsche SUV he imported from the US. In a statement yesterday evening, ORG emphasised its longstanding calls for a FRA and noted that both the Minnis administration and the opposition has found value in its work. The organisation also said Fred Smith, Q.C., is not a part of its leadership.

“Our highest priority at The Organization for Responsible Governance (ORG) is to develop and advocate for sustainable, long term solutions to the issues hampering our nation’s development,” the organisation said.

“We are deeply and consistently committed to transparent, open, accountable, and fiscally

responsible governance.

The passage and enactment of a Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) is one of ORG’s founding concerns. Fiscal Responsibility legislation is a modern and essential tool to protect the people’s money from mismanagement and provide financial stability to our government.

ORG’s advocacy on the critical need for this legislation to the governing party and opposition of both most recent administrations is well documented. As such, it is ORG’s ongoing mandate, as an apolitical civil society organisation, to continue to advocate for adherence to this crucial measure.”

“ORG is not alone in believing that the Bahamian people deserve to feel assured that public money is being spent responsibly and transparently. The implementation of an FRA in The Bahamas has been lauded as in line with international best standards

by The Inter-American Development Bank, The International Monetary Fund, and, notably, Brash Consultancy – the consulting group hired by the last administration at the implementation of VAT. ORG has and continues to work similarly with many pieces of legislation including the Freedom of Information Act and The Integrity Commission and Ombudsman Bills. ORG regularly shares our policy recommendations with both parties in Parliament.

We have felt privileged to hear this policy analysis quoted on the floor of the House by members of both the government and the opposition on numerous occasions. As lately as last week, during the Non-Profit Organization Amendment Bill Debate, ORG proudly listened on as the deputy leader of the opposition made his case, informed by benchmarking

and consultation provided

by Civil Society Bahamas and The Organization for Responsible Governance.

ORG is committed to the involvement of all stakeholders in actionable and sustainable solutions. As such we are proud to work with civil society groups, the private sector, clergy, academia, the media, government ministries and parliamentarians on both sides of the fence who express sincere interest in collaboration for accountable governance, education reform or economic development. We

PLP’S Fred Mitchell count members of all political parties in our committees and membership.

ORG is similarly dedicated to our own transparency and our staff and leadership

are publicly disclosed and easily viewable to all at www.orgbahamas.com.”

ORG steadfastly adheres to a principle of non-partisanship collaboration as the only way to achieve truly sustainable and actionable solutions. To this point, ORG Chairman Robert Myers has called for representatives on both sides of the aisle to stop attacking each other as the entrenched, unyielding partisanship that often characterises Bahamian politics is to the detriment of the people and national development.”

PAGE 8, Friday, August 2, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

NOW JACK SHOWS US HOW TO DEAL WITH MARIJUANA

AS our National Commission on the legalisation and decriminalisation of marijuana continues to operate at a snail’s pace, the world continues to operate at break neck speed.

(Obviously other nations got the memo in regards to this billion dollar global industry).

Now in Tallahassee, the capital of Florida, marijuana possession cases will no longer be prosecuted in Tallahassee, and the surrounding areas.

Jack Campbell, the State Attorney for Florida’s 2nd Judicial Circuit, informed law enforcement agencies that the difficulty in easily differentiating hemp and marijuana led to the decision.

The action was taken in response to the legalisation of hemp in Florida earlier this year and at the federal level with the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill.

SPITTING IMAGE : Campbell also reminded the local media, “Hemp products look and smell exactly like marijuana products.”

“And while they may seem to be made from marijuana based on their smell or appearance, there isn’t a way to tell without sophisticated laboratory analysis.”

Campbell, whose biggest concern was wrongful

arrests, said that his office would no longer prosecute marijuana possession cases due to the difficulty of differentiation, regarding illegal marijuana and illegal hemp.

“Until such time, that a scientifically proven test, that can be introduced into evidence, that can distinguish illegal marijuana from legal hemp, is available, we will no longer prosecute marijuana possession cases.”

NOT BY SMELL ALONE : Additionally, Campbell also informed all police departments and sheriff’s departments in the 2nd Judicial Circuit that his office would no longer authorise search warrants based on field tests for THC, the smell of marijuana, or an alert from drug-detecting dogs.

“Much of the search and seizure law hinges on either the officer’s or K-9’s ability to smell. This seems to now be in significant doubt.”

Considering the prevalence and popularity of both, Indian Hemp and Sinsemilla (Marijuana strain) in the Bahamas.

Tallahassee’s approach and plan, offers several viable options for us to examine and potentially implement in our national plan, for an effective, a successful legalisation and decriminalisation process.

JACK CAMPBELL, State Attorney for Florida’s 2nd Judicial Circuit

Football widows beware JACKSONVILLE Jaguars during an NFL football practice yesterday PENDING ‘FOOTBALL WIDOWS’ TAKE NOTE: Yesterday, I was standing on line at BPL trying to pay my power bill before another ‘load shedding’ exercise takes place.

In front of me were two women deep in conversation, the television on the wall which is usually on was off, so the women’s conversation in front of me would have to serve as entertainment.

As I tuned in I could hear the gist of the conversation. One of the women was monologuing about how her husband really understands her after all these years.

RANDOM WOMAN : “Girl I feel so sorry for my sweetie”.

“He so lost without real football games.

The NFL still “practising games”.

(Major laughs on my part at this juncture).

“He tell me he so hate dem practice game before the season start, he decided to renovate the guest bathroom.”

“Girl I been on him like white on rice for years to do that. He got a finish date too, August 24th.

That means in three and a half weeks I will have a new brand bathroom. He loves me.”

(More laughs from me at this point.)

Ah the naiveté!

Being a woman her natural instinct was to assume that this was some love offering from her loyal, devoted, loving husband.

NOT! LOST IN TRANSLATION: Poor lady was clueless, missed her husband’s plea entirely.

Since I’m fluent in several languages and dialects, including ‘Native Bahamian’ ‘Jungaliss’ ‘Spanglish ‘Man code’ and ‘Footballese.’

I knew exactly what her husband was saying: “I can’t wait ‘til the NFL Preseason is officially over.

My team ga be carrying on this year.

So since the vibes done set, I will renovate the guest bathroom so you will have nothing to nag me about and run on with during football season.

The three week time frame will keep me focused and save me from having to watch the Real Housewives from wherever or another Lifetime original movie, because if I have to stomach another one, I’ll take my chances drinking ‘flit’ (cockroach repellent for you millennials.)

So when the season starts remember this gift and don’t ask me to do anything non football related until after the Super Bowl.”

Right there and then, in BPL the light bulb went on in my head.

I had to think quick, after all I was in BPL a ‘blackout’ could strike at any moment.

With no disrespect to the ‘mandom’ I think I need to enlighten some of the ladies out there.

Especially the younger

ones, who could potentially get hot under the collar and ruin a whole football weekend for their man, because she’s not fluent in ‘Footballese’ and what her man said, was sadly lost in translation.

Here’s a few translation tips, so you ladies, soon to be ‘“football widows” actually know what your man is saying in ‘Footballese’ and more importantly what he actually means.

HE SAYS : I’m going to watch football!

HE MEANS: I ‘m going to get dead drunk sitting in my boy’s house, or in my favorite sports bar, with my homies.

Ice cold beer in one hand, chicken wing in the next, (as I try to line up a wing, I’ve been gnawing on for an hour with the last of the ranch dressing).

HE SAYS: It’s a guy thing!

HE MEANS: Women will never understand it. There is no rational thought process connected to it.

You will make nothing logical out of it.

But instinctively you will try to stop it, because women hate seeing men having a good time without them.

HE SAYS: Can I help with dinner?

HE MEANS: Well muddoes my food ain’t ready yet?

I dead hungry, I should have stopped @ “KFC. Dis ga be long, and gas ga kill me.”

HE SAYS: “My wife doesn’t understand me.”

HE MEANS: “She’s sick of me watching football and drinking beer, all day Saturday, Sunday, Monday night and Thursday night.

HE SAYS: “Take a break honey.

You’re working too hard.”

HE MEANS: “Why you decide to clean and run that loud clanky vacuum cleaner while the game on? I hope there are some sickening girl movies on Netflix or Lifetime, to occupy your time, at least until halftime of the 4pm games.”

HE SAYS: “We’re going to be late.”

HE MEANS: “Buckle up, now I have a reason to drive like a jackass.

The game is about to kick off in three minutes, we are seven minutes away, and I need to get to my lucky seat at the sports bar.”

HE SAYS: “I’ve read all the classics.”

HE MEANS: “I’ve been looking at Playboy and Sports Illustrated (never missed a swimsuit issue) since I was five.”

HE SAYS: “I got a lot done!”

HE MEANS: “All eight of my fantasy football teams won, I won the office weekly pick ‘em pool and my team won today.”

And finally if HE SAYS : “That’s interesting dear.”

HE MEANS: “Are you still talking?

Monday Night Football is about to start, I have no interest in potential new drapes and their color patterns for our bedroom.”

Well there you go ladies, hopefully you all a have better understanding of ‘Footballese”, so it makes decoding what your man says a little more fun and less stressful in the future.

I on the other hand have to go!

My wife calls, I wonder what I have to do now, she’s a veteran ‘NFL Widow’ who’s fluent in ‘Footballese’ so I can’t swing ... um run on, with her!

I can never seem to catch a break, it’s so unfair. I was just off to the den to relax and read a “classic.”

THE TRIBUNE

BY SEBAS BASTIAN

M

ODERN economies are complex and interdependent systems whose components should work together to create value.

Technological advancement, taxation, consumption, and productivity, for example, are all forces that work together to power the economic machinery. Each of these components has a critical part to play in driving economic expansion or creating economic recession depending on if they are working individually and together as they should.

In The Bahamas, we hear quite a bit about the tourism and financial services industries—two of our largest sectors counting for the lion’s share of our economic activity. We know when tourism numbers are up or down, and we are all aware when our financial services industry is under threat from external forces, like blacklisting.

Both of these sectors rely heavily on external dynamics like foreign direct investing (FDI), the disposable income of foreign nationals which might translate to tourist spend, or the health of international capital markets. We do not, however, hear enough about the components that drive our economy internally.

Tracking activity in the housing marketing, for example, is one of a number of indicators that can predict the health of the wider economy. As a barometer for consumption, the housing market, among a number of other benchmarks, can signal economic expansion, caution or recession.

When we refer to the housing market, we mean the supply and demand of residential units—both the construction and purchase of houses.

Building permits, and housing starts—the number of new residential construction projects that have started during any period— can be early indicators of activity in the housing market specifically.

In developed economies, like in the United States, analysts watch the housing starts figures each month, comparing them with previous months’ data and year-over-year periods to spot trends in the market and to get a sense of the direction of the broader economy.

The importance of this sector cannot be understated because new housing construction leads to other types of economic activity. Housing starts influence related industries, such as banking, the mortgage sector, insurance raw materials, employment, construction, manufacturing, and real estate. Government revenue also increases through real property tax, employee contributions and other forms of taxation.

Friday, August 2, 2019, PAGE 9

Housing market is key but we need to speed things up

WE do not hear enough about the components that drive our economy internally, says Sebas Bastian.

Tracking building permits can provide an estimate of the number of new housing units that have been authorized by the government. Sustained growth in building permits is often viewed as a positive sign for economic growth and indicates that more investment will likely be allocated to the housing market.

Given the importance of the housing market as an economic driver and housing starts and building permits as indicators of economic health, this sector and its regulators must operate efficiently.

As an experienced real estate developer, with both residential and commercial properties as a part of our portfolio at Brickell Management Group, I echo the

recent concerns expressed about the lengthy delays for the approval of building permits. The building permit process can be delayed for longer than six months in some instances.

I acknowledge the government’s stated commitment to slashing the time taken to obtain building permits by 75 percent, but based on the comments made by Gustavus Ferguson, President of the Institute of Bahamian Architects (IBA), we are still a long way off from realizing this policy goal.

As Mr Ferguson stated recently in a local daily, just like in the US, construction is a vital component in “stimulating the Bahamian economy and getting the money to flow.”

A primary example of this is during the 2008 global recession where there was a considerable slowdown in the construction sector in The Bahamas, especially as it relates to the domestic investment in the sector, according to the State of the Nation Report.

The assertion of a slowdown in the construction sector is supported by a fall in residential construction permits from 2005 to 2018.

More recently, the number of new construction permits issued in the third quarter of 2018 (413) was higher than in the third quarter of 2017 by 112 or 37.2 percent. Simultaneously, the number of new construction starts increased by 36 or 41.4 percent between the third

quarter of 2017 (87) and third quarter of 2018 (123).

While this suggests some economic expansion, permit approvals seem lower than where it should be to stimulate economic growth.

Without the six-month delay, how many more permits may have been issued? Would we have seen even more significant real investment and growth in this sector? What would have been the effect on the broader economy?

Beyond just delays in permitting, according to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) publication, “The State of Social Housing in Six Caribbean Countries,” a housing needs study conducted in 2000 estimated that to meet new household formation,

reduce overcrowding and replace old dwellings, The Bahamas would have to produce 28,530 units between 2000 and 2011, or an average of 2,378 units annually over that period.

As the statistics on housing permits and starts above suggests, we do not approach the recommended average yearly production amount for new residential units, creating an ongoing housing deficit.

Along with a more efficient approval process, and as a part of a cohesive policy solution to the housing deficit, the government should consider incentivising developers to build residential units.

In the past, the government may have taken on the task of bridging the void left by the housing deficit. But given our current fiscal position, the government must instead find a means of tapping, monetising, and then channeling the resources it does have through a strategically selected set of incentives, mandates, or tax advantages that will make the development of housing for working and middleclass Bahamians a paying proposition.

This approach to a holistic and cohesive housing policy solution will not only spark a construction boom, but also solve the ongoing housing deficit. However, no solution will work unless the permit approval process is working efficiently.

The Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit report indicated that the government is working to reduce the time taken to obtain permits from 120-plus to 30 days. This commitment must be taken seriously for the health of the Bahamian economy and the benefit of Bahamian consumers. This reduction in the time taken to obtain building permits should sit within a comprehensive policy to spur growth in the housing market, solve the problem of the housing deficit and drive economic expansion.

As a Bahamian developer, I stand ready to assist the government in any way I can to improve the ease of doing business in this sector. I am sure I can speak for the many other professions and business whose livelihoods depend on the housing market when I say, we all stand ready.

PAGE 10, Friday, August 2, 2019

F

OR my 50th birthday, our close friends Jackson and Pam Burnside gave me a very sexy, seethrough piece of lingerie.

It was an all-in-one panty and top with ever so thin straps, made all of lace and imagination. The occasion fell not long after I had lost a breast to cancer and Pam, who survived breast cancer earlier, wanted to make sure that I did not feel less of a woman because one breast was now rebuilt out of available body flab, not that there was much of it at the time.

The touching if somewhat embarrassing gift was presented aboard a boat where the birthday party with friends and family was being celebrated. We all laughed and cheered as I held up the skimpy lingerie and danced around, pretending to model it.

The next morning, I tucked it between two sheets of tissue and carefully put it away in the back of my drawer for a special occasion. About once a year, I would take it out and wonder if this was the right time. Last year, as I was cleaning and re-lining the drawer, I looked at it and knew the time had passed, I had waited too long. The material had deteriorated, the colour yellowed.

So much has happened since that extravagant gift was offered. Jackson, an extraordinary Bahamian who helped shape this country’s history, passed away far too young with still so much more to give.

Pam has continued to show her strength of character and cultural conviction a thousand times over, starting the day of his funeral when those of us present saw her do something we have never seen since, tell politicians who arrived late to find a seat where they could, she would not be moving seated mourners.

The lingerie-in-waiting remained as years turned into decades. Prime Ministers have come and gone.

THE TRIBUNE

That sexy lingerie… why, oh why did I save it all these years?

JUNKANOO groups put on One Last Rush to honour the life of Jackson Burnside, pictured above, when he died in 2011. Jackson Burnside and his wife Pam gave Diane Phillips a special 50th birthday present.

The American presidency has changed hands and parties more times than I want to share lest you guess my age. Volcanoes have erupted, earthquakes shattered poor nations, hurricanes flooded major cities and rendered small islands

uninhabitable. And all the while I was waiting for the perfect moment to wear the gift from my special friends.

I finally parted with it and shed a tear, not for the loss of a garment, nor for the loss of a wonderful human being whose death

still seems unreal, but for the fact that I kept thinking tomorrow was the right time. That somehow the memories I would make in the future would be better than the ones I can make today.

I was sharing this story with a casual friend this week who said I should write about why we save the things we do. Why, for instance, do we save all the old vinyl records when the re-mastered sound that can be easily downloaded is so much better? Why do my husband and I still have a chess board with a leather

board cover and miniature wooden legs that a friend gave us when we don’t play chess and someone we could give it to might treasure it? Why do we squirrel away everything but money? I have a folder bulging with great writing samples, lists of books to read, scraps of paper with notes, story ideas, Family Island places I want to stay and beaches I want to walk before climate change erodes the chance. Maybe there was a lesson in the lingerie that stayed hidden away for a perfect moment after all.

And the most offensive sign of the week?

THE tasteless award of the week goes to Yanni’s on East Shirley Street for plastering the wall of the old hotel property at the corner of Shirley and Village Roads with a sign that screams Keys Cut While You Wait.

Isn’t it bad enough that you have already fouled the whole block with coloured blinking lights, duplicate parking signs and more? Who gave one business the right to spoil the view for hundreds of motorists a day? The physical environment belongs to all of us.

On behalf of baked cauliflower and southern fried pickles SPEAKING of dinner selections, it’s sad but true.

Some foods get a bad rap before they ever reach a taste bud while others get away with pretences.

No one criticises apples just because they contain sugar (yes, we know it is not refined). On the other hand, offer cauliflower in a crowd and see how many takers you get, waving arms like they’d won the lottery.

Or lima beans. Okay, I get the last one. I would have to be pretty close to eating cardboard decorated with the picture of food before I would voluntarily swallow a mouthful of lima beans.

Truth is, almost every

food has its good points when prepared right. Like cauliflower in a package where the only marking I could find read Real Food from the GROUND

UP. Four ounces of cauliflower prepared with cassava, tasty snack with 1g of sugar only, gluten-free, pure veggie, delicious, available at Whole Foods in the US and highly recommended for importing to The Bahamas. And if you haven’t had southern fried pickles – an original recipe I believe created by super chef Bahamian Gavin Skolnick – well, you just haven’t had pickles.

Wishing you emancipation from the kitchen on Monday, the holiday, and appreciation for the real meaning of the holiday, freedom for all.

‘ONLINE PETITION WILL HAVE NO INFLUENCE ON DISNEY’ AFTER South Eleuthera’s Chamber of Commerce said major investments such as Disney’s cruise port are essential if the island’s communities are to “survive into another generation”, readers gave their views on tribune242.com.

Clamshell said: “The amount of influence an online petition will have with Disney can be measured in the distance between these two dots: . .”

That prompted this response from Well_ mudda_take_sic: “But each and every voter on that petition will get their retribution at the polls come the next general election.”

Only for Clamshell to reply: “I’ll bet 95% of the people who signed are from the US, Canada or England. Besides, on Lutra both the PLP and FMN support the Disney plan.”

Minister of Works

Desmond Bannister said the government could indefinitely foot a reported $9,000 per month bill for Governor General CA Smith’s rental home.

That prompted this from Moncurcool: “So if that is the case then just demolish the whole building and build a new one and take about 18 months, rather than years. Besides, in our democracy, we don’t even have an official residence for the prime minister.

Really? In the 21st century? Even in England, who we supposedly pattern our system after, they have Buckingham Palace and

10 Downing Street. Is the Queen out of Buckingham Palace for ‘years’ for repairs? Let’s improve on this.”

Birdiestrachan said: “Banister should be ashamed of himself and all of the FNM cabinet. They knew for at least two years that Government House was in need of repairs – 9,000 per month rent indefinitely is much – when there is a shortage of beds in both hospitals, the 60% in VAT that hurts the poor.

And he speaks of petty.

Banister is a petty man.”

And in The Tribune’s current online poll, we’re asking readers if they think the PLP has chosen the right team to lead them into the next election. At the time of going to press, 84 percent do not think the party has the right team.

Don’t miss your chance to join the debate on tribune242.com.

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, August 2, 2019, PAGE 11 IN this July 20, 1969 photo, Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin works on a solar wind experiment device on the surface of the Moon.

What’s our space story in 50 years time?

By MONICA GRADY Professor of Planetary and Space Sciences, The Open University WE’VE just celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first Moon landing, glorying in the achievements of three astronauts and the team of engineers and scientists behind them. From that perspective, we can look back and see what we have learned from the mission. But what if we take a giant leap forward in time and look back at the legacy of Apollo from 2069 – a century after the historic event?

It was thanks to the rocks collected by the Apollo astronauts that scientists could work out the age of the Moon, its evolutionary history and how the Earth and other planets evolved.

Continued study of the samples, complemented with new information from orbiting spacecraft, also showed that the Moon was not the dry and desiccated body we had thought.

Rather, the Moon has abundant water reservoirs, stored as ice below its surface and in shadowed craters at the poles.

There’s also water locked within specific minerals and absorbed into the lunar

soil from impacts of tiny meteorites.

This finding led to a resurgence in the idea of the Moon as a starting point for exploration of the further reaches of the solar system. That’s because water can also be used as a fuel. If you separate the hydrogen and the oxygen that make up water, you can then let the two gases react with each other – this is essentially what goes on in a rocket engine. The oxygen can also be used to provide breathable air for astronauts, opening up new opportunities for habitation and long-distance space travel alike.

But how do you extract these gases from water ice?

The Moon’s permanently shadowed regions are close to areas that are sunlit for more than 80% of the time.

If the sunlight could be harvested using solar panels, sufficient energy could be generated for electrolysis – chemical decomposition splitting the extracted water into pure hydrogen and oxygen by passing an electric current through a liquid or solution.

Today, discussions about lunar exploration have moved away from establishment of a permanent lunar base as a preliminary

for extended exploration.

Instead, there has been a significant advance in planning the construction of the Deep Space Gateway – a space station in orbit around the Moon. This is an international project between a number of different space agencies.

Commercial companies are also playing an important role in this project, which is much more than an extension of the International Space Station. The spacecraft will be a hub of scientific and engineering activity. It will be serviced by the Orion module and will act as a test bed for astronauts preparing for longer duration missions, such as to Mars. Missions could also eventually be launched from there, saving money on fuel as the rockets won’t have to make it through the Earth’s enormous gravity.

The experiments scientists could do there – such as monitoring the external environment of the Moon, including radiation levels – would certainly help prepare us to send missions to Mars and beyond. And testing the physiology of astronauts in a low gravity environment would not only be of use for planning future space missions,

but may also lead to the development of medical interventions to alleviate the effects of ageing.

Different space agencies have separate visions for how lunar exploration could progress, with varying levels of detail published.

NASA’s programme of lunar exploration is based on using the gateway to facilitate a regular series of visits to the Moon by astronauts. The European Space Agency has a similar set of objectives and is working closely with Russia’s RosCosmos to drill at the lunar south pole and with Japan’s JAXA to return samples from the Moon.

Resources available on the Moon’s surface include metals from the lunar soil (especially titanium) and solar energy to provide power. This could eventually enable infrastructure to be built, allowing humans to create an actual lunar base soon – even though plans are now focussing on getting the gateway done first. One exciting possibility that is actively being explored is the idea of a lunar base built from modules that are 3D printed on the lunar surface using fuel extracted from the lunar soil as an energy source and building material.

Between 1969 and 1972, 12 men landed on the Moon, spending, in total, just over three days exploring the lunar surface. They planted the flag of a single nation, collected rocks and undertook a few simple experiments. Between 2019 and 2069, what might we actually hope to see? A permanent, international lunar base on the Moon’s surface, surrounded by flags of all the nations involved, would certainly be possible.

There would have to be refreshed space law to make this possible though, including a specific Lunar Treaty reinforcing the idea that only peaceful use of the Moon is permitted, that international cooperation is paramount and commercial exploitation of resources forbidden. Currently, the legal framework is contradictory and confusing.

There would most likely be a changing roster of (male and female) astronauts of all nationalities in continuous occupation of this base. They would be not be “astronauts” per se though. They would be scientists undertaking experiments and collecting data from instruments based on the Moon (including the far side) as well as engineers designing,

building and maintaining infrastructure for further exploration, plus ancillary support staff. A regular shuttle service would operate between the lunar surface and the Deep Space Gateway and also between Earth and the Deep Space Gateway, for personnel and resources.

It is likely that the tourist trade will be burgeoning, necessitating a transport infrastructure on the lunar surface, plus a hotel, with its attendant caterers, cleaners, tour guides and so forth.

All this activity would require a spaceport, not just for transfers between the Earth and the Moon, but also for spacecraft using the Moon as a launchpad for exploring further afield.

Indeed, by 2069, we could be seeing the start of regular journeys to Mars.

This will be too late for me: by 2069, my travelling days will be over – I will be 111-years-old. But maybe if the medical benefits from occupation of the Moon are transferred into terrestrial health services, I might still be sufficiently alert to receive messages from my grandson and his family as they holiday on the Moon.

theconversation.com

PAGE 12, Friday, August 2, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

EUROPEAN HEATWAVE THREATENS GREENLAND BERLIN Associated Press THE heatwave that smashed high temperature records in five European countries a week ago is now over Greenland, accelerating the melting of the island’s ice sheet and causing massive ice loss in the Arctic.

Greenland, the world’s largest island, is a semiautonomous Danish territory between the Atlantic and Arctic oceans that has 82% of its surface covered in ice.

The area of the Greenland ice sheet that is showing indications of melt has been growing daily, and hit a record 56.5% for this year on Wednesday, said Ruth Mottram, a climate scientist with the Danish Meteorological Institute.

She says that’s expected to expand and peak on

Thursday before cooler temperatures slow the pace of the melt.

More than 10 billion tons of ice was lost to the oceans by surface melt on Wednesday alone, creating a net mass ice loss of some 197 billion tons from Greenland in July, she said. “It looks like the peak will be today. But the long-term forecast is for continuing warm and sunny weather in Greenland, so that means the amount of the ice loss will continue,” she said.

The scope of Wednesday’s ice melt is a number difficult to grasp. To understand how much ice is being lost, 1 billion tons — or 1 gigaton — of ice loss is equivalent to 400,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools, the Danish Meteorological Institute said.

And 100 billion tons corresponds to a 0.28 mm rise in global sea levels.

THE HOT air which produced the recent extreme heatwave in Europe could be heading toward Greenland

Trump goes on attack but avoids race

CINCINNATI Associated Press

PRESIDENT Donald Trump arrives to speak in Cincinnati last night.

PRESIDENT Donald Trump used a revved-up rally in Cincinnati last night to tear into the Democrats he has been elevating as his new political foils, attacking four liberal congresswomen of color and their party’s urban leaders, while also training fire on those he could be facing in 2020.

But the president mostly avoided the racial controversy that has dominated recent weeks as he basked in front of the raucous crowd for nearly 90 minutes, unleashing broadside after broadside on his political foes.

Trump, who had faced widespread criticism for not doing more to stop the chants of “Send her back” about Somali-born Rep. Ilhan Omar at a rally last month, seemed to want to avoid further furor, urging his supporters ahead of the rally to avoid the chant and largely sticking to a greatest hits performance.

But while he did not mention Omar or her three colleagues by name in the opening moments of his Ohio gathering, the target of his attacks was unmistakable.

“The Democrat party is now being led by four left-wing extremists who reject everything that we hold dear,” Trump said of Omar and her fellow House Democrats Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts.

But the fleeting mention did not lead to further chants. Nor did an extended attack on Democratic leaders of urban areas, which Trump has laced into in recent days as part of his incendiary broadsides against Rep. Elijah Cummings and the majority-black city of Baltimore.

“No one has paid a higher price for the far-left destructive agenda than Americans living in our nation’s inner cities,” Trump said, drawing cheers from the mostly white crowd in the packed arena on the banks of the Ohio River. “We send billions and billions and billions for years and years and it’s stolen money, and it’s wasted money.”

The rally was the first for Trump since the “Send her back” chant at a North Carolina rally was denounced by Democrats

and unnerved Republicans fearful of a presidential campaign fought on racial lines.

In the early moments of the rally, Trump declared, “I don’t want to be controversial.” He mostly stuck to it.

With the eyes of the political world shifting from two days of Democratic debates to see if Trump would stoke racial anger, the president largely delivered his standard stump speech. But Trump, the most avid cable news viewer in the history of the office, could not resist delivering his review of the Detroit debates.

“That’s was long, long television,” Trump said. “The Democrats spent more time attacking Barack Obama than they did attacking me, practically.”

He mocked some of the leading Democratic contenders, reviving his nickname of “Sleepy” for Joe Biden, teasing Elizabeth Warren for claiming some Native American heritage and lashing the Democrats for their health care and immigration proposals.

“The Democrats have never been so far outside the mainstream,” Trump claimed.

BLOW FOR BORIS IN UK BYELECTION LONDON Associated Press

PEDRO Pierluisi has been put forward to take over.

PUERTO RICANS HAVE NO IDEA WHO IS IN CHARGE

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico Associated Press

LESS than 24 hours before Gov Ricardo Rosselló was expected to leave office, Puerto Ricans had no idea who would replace him as political chaos threatened to paralyze the island with a constitutional crisis.

Rosselló has promised to step down at 5pm today in response to huge street protests by Puerto Ricans outraged at corruption, mismanagement and an obscenity-laced chat that was leaked in which the governor and 11 male allies made fun of women, gay

people and victims of Hurricane Maria.

As one of his last acts, Rosselló put forward veteran politician and lawyer Pedro Pierluisi to fill the vacant secretary of state post, next in line for the governorship under the U.S. territory’s constitution.

The Puerto Rican House of Representatives is expected to vote on Pierluisi’s confirmation this afternoon. If he is rejected, Justice Secretary Wanda Vázquez automatically becomes governor as the next in the order of succession, even though she has said she would unwillingly accept the job.

BRITISH Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s governing Conservative Party has a lost a byelection, leaving it with a wafer-thin working majority in Parliament of just one vote.

Jane Dodds of the Liberal Democrats won the Brecon and Radnorshire constituency in Wales with 43% of the vote. Conservative Chris Davies, who was fighting to retain the seat after being ejected for expenses fraud, got 39%.

The pro-EU Liberal Democrats have seen their support surge across Britain as Brexit looms.

The result, announced early this morning, makes it harder for Johnson’s government to pass laws and win votes, with Brexit less than three months away.

Johnson says Britain will leave the European Union on October 31, with or without a divorce deal. But Parliament could well try to thwart his plans.