PAGE 4, Tuesday, September 6, 2016
THE TRIBUNE
The Tribune Limited NULLIUS ADDICTUS JURARE IN VERBA MAGISTRI “Being Bound to Swear to The Dogmas of No Master”
LEON E. H. DUPUCH,
SIR ETIENNE DUPUCH,
jrolle@tribunemedia.net
Publisher/Editor 1903-1914 Kt., O.B.E., K.M., K.C.S.G., (Hon.) LL.D., D.Litt .
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EILEEN DUPUCH CARRON,
C.M.G., M.S., B.A., LL.B. Publisher/Editor 1972-
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Obama cancels meeting with new Philippine President VIENTIANE, Laos (AP) — President Barack Obama called off a planned meeting Tuesday with new Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, seeking distance from a US ally’s leader during a diplomatic tour that’s put Obama in close quarters with a cast of contentious world figures. It’s unusual for one president to tell another what to say or not say, and much rarer to call the other a “son of a bitch.” Duterte managed to do both just before flying to Laos for a regional summit, warning Obama not to challenge him over extrajudicial killings in the Philippines. “Clearly, he’s a colourful guy,” Obama said. “What I’ve instructed my team to do is talk to their Philippine counterparts to find out is this in fact a time where we can have some constructive, productive conversations.” Early Tuesday, National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said the meeting with Duterte was off. Duterte has been under intense global scrutiny over the more than 2,000 suspected drug dealers and users killed since he took office. Obama had said he planned to raise the issue in his first meeting with Duterte, but the Philippine leader insisted he was only listening to his own country’s people. “You must be respectful,” Duterte said of Obama. “Do not just throw questions.” Using the Tagalog phrase for “son of a bitch,” he said, “Putang ina I will swear at you in that forum.” He made the comment in a televised news conference in southern Davao City. Eager to show he wouldn’t yield, Obama said he would “undoubtedly” still bring up human rights and due process concerns “if and when” the two do meet. The bizarre rift with the leader of a US treaty ally was the most glaring example of how Obama has frequently found himself bound to foreign countries and leaders whose ties to the US are critical even if their values sharply diverge. In Hangzhou this week, Obama’s first stop in Asia, he heaped praise on Chinese President Xi Jinping for hosting the Group of 20 economic summit in his country, an authoritarian state long accused of human rights violations. His next stop was another one-party communist country with a dismal rights record: Laos, where mysterious disappearances have fuelled concerns about a government crackdown.
And sitting down with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Obama made no mention in public of the roughly 35,000 people Erdogan’s government detained following the summer’s failed coup in Turkey. Instead, he worked to reassure the NATO ally the US would help bring to justice whoever was responsible for plotting the coup. Obama also spent about 90 minutes Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, another leader whose fate seems intertwined with Obama’s in all the wrong ways. On opposing sides of many global issues, the US and Russia are nonetheless trying to broker a deal to address the Syrian civil war and perhaps even partner militarily there. “President Putin’s less colourful,” Obama said, comparing him with Duterte. “But typically the tone of our meetings is candid, blunt, businesslike.” Managing Duterte has become a worsening headache for Obama since the Filipino took office on June 30, pledging his foreign policy wouldn’t be constricted by reliance on the US. Washington has tried largely to look the other way as Duterte has pursued closer relations with China, a marked shift for the Philippines considering recent tensions over Beijing’s aspirations in the South China Sea. A public break from the Philippines would put Obama in a tough position, given the Southeast Asian nation’s status as a longtime US ally. The Obama administration has sought to compartmentalise by arguing that military and other co-operation won’t be jeopardized even if it detests the current Philippine leader’s tone. Last month, Duterte said he didn’t mind Secretary of State John Kerry but “had a feud with his gay ambassador — son of a bitch, I’m annoyed with that guy”. He applied the same moniker to an Australian missionary who was gangraped and killed, and even to Pope Francis, even though the Philippines is a heavily Catholic nation. He later apologised. With a reputation as a tough-on-crime former mayor, Duterte has alarmed human rights groups with his deadly campaign against drugs, which Duterte has described as a harsh war. He has said the battle doesn’t amount to genocide but has vowed to go to jail if needed to defend police and military members carrying out his orders. By Josh Lederman and Kathleen Hennessey of the Associated Press
Troubles with RBC EDITOR, The Tribune.
I HAVE had it with The Royal Bank of Canada. On Wednesday, August 31 (after much frustration over the disappearance of my personal and legal documents from the safe deposit box at the Prince Charles Drive branch), I addressed a letter of complaint (‘Lost documents - poor service at RBC Prince Charles branch’) to Mr Nathaniel Beneby, Market Head Personal Banking at the Head Office, East Hill Street. I called his office on Friday morning and was informed by his executive assistant that the matter had been referred to their Area Manager, Ms Joyce Riviera, who is stationed in Abaco. I wrote: “I have been an RBC customer for more than fifty years and I am now writing to express my extreme displeasure with the horrible service at the Prince Charles Branch.
On 9th June, 2016, I attempted unsuccessfully to access the safe deposit box #252 that was purportedly assigned to me and the following day a locksmith was called in to open the box in the presence of Ms Krystelle Gibson and myself, whereupon it was discovered that the box was EMPTY except for a large folded manila envelope with the name of another person and the bank’s return address on it. (See exchange of correspondence with the former Manager Ms Evette Burrows for your information). In her last communication on 29th July, 2016, before leaving the branch, Ms Burrows assured me that the bank’s lawyers had obtained certified copies of the lost documents and that they were in the process of preparing the mortgage satisfaction. Since her departure, I have been trying unsuccessfully to get an appointment to see the new
branch manager. I was in the branch two weeks ago and again last week to ask for an appointment and on both occasions the receptionist informed me that she could not give me an appointment and would send an email note to the manager and ask her to call me. As of today’s date, I have not heard from the bank and it’s impossible to get through on the telephone. I am still very concerned about the loss of the original documents, some of them dating back to the fifties and cannot understand HOW this could have happened. Is it gross negligence or fraud? In any event, because of my total frustration with the situation I am now bringing this matter to your urgent attention, failing which I will be going public.” ROSEMARY C HANNA Nassau, September 2, 2016.
Delaporte needs to reconcile EDITOR, The Tribune. DELAPORTE Point Limited (DPL) has for years been plagued with the questionable handling of company finances and the inability to release financial statements on time. A recent Auditor’s report claims DPL can’t support about $307,000 due to owners, and in 2010 over $300,000 was reported missing. Despite these serious financial issues, the Directors consistently fail to release audited financial statements on time. To date, audited financial statements for the year ending June 2015, which should have been released last year, have not yet been released. The audited financial statements for 2012 and 2013 were late, and the audited financial statements for 2014 were not released until November 2015! This was over a year late and contravenes DPL Articles of Association. The 2014 financials also show that the Auditor issued another qualified opinion that states: “We
LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net were not able to obtain evidence to support the Due to Owners and Tenants account reported at $307,106 - the balances reported in the Statement of Financial Position was not reconciled to client account bank balances.” Despite the Auditor’s report, and the fact that some owners are trying to reconcile large sums of money owing to them, Directors signed the financials and along with other Directors used proxies to approve them at a meeting on November 25, 2015. Year after year, requests for information to reconcile accounts have been denied. For example, on October 2, 2014, DPL Directors, under pressure from owners to account for missing funds, losses of revenue from rental accounts, funds owing to owners from a painting fund and unexplained spending on cars, legal fees and other items, sent this
notice to Delaporte Point owners: “DPL is not in a position nor authorised to divulge information pertaining to Delaporte Point Ltd. to unnamed persons/ parties.” After Directors organised an EGM to stop recovery of $300,000 unaccounted for funds, and despite a 2014 Auditor’s Report questioning $307,000 due to Owners, and despite a petition by owners not to issue a Special Assessment until DPL accounts were accurately reconciled, the Directors proceeded to charge owners with a $600,000 Special Assessment (over $6,000 per owner) without a vote of the members. DPL Directors should immediately provide a detailed breakdown of $307,000 due to owners and show proof the cash is available (not from Special Assessment funds) to reimburse owners. DELAPORTE POINT OWNERS HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW! Nassau, August, 2016.
Blood pressure alert EDITOR, The Tribune. ONE can always count on your Monday edition to raise one’s blood pressure sufficient to manage the week ahead. From Gowan Bowe on the front page, to Rick Lowe on the editorial page, to Dick Coulson’s excellent “Insight” article on the ongoing Baha Mar fiasco, and Robbie Myers headlining the business section, one can only wonder if our Government isn’t truly “deaf, dumb and blind” as they
say. With sincere apologies to anyone with any one of these actual maladies. Except for Dick Coulson’s Insight article, the other contributions centre on the Government’s stated intention to retaliate against Butch Stewart’s temporary closure of one of his hotels in the Bahamas. These other writers warning that such retaliation against Stewart, will be akin to the medieval idiom of “throwing the baby out with the bathwater”. While the Government may feel that sealing the
court documents on the Baha Mar purported sale, is critical to it actually happening, one can only wonder when it will decide that the voices and pens of people like Bowe, Lowe, Coulson, Myers et al, should also be sealed, lest the damage that they will do to any potential investor in The Bahamas, will be guaranteed. Shoot the messenger, ignore the message! BRUCE G. RAINE Nassau, September 5, 2016.
Cheque received EDITOR, The Tribune TO follow up on my previous letter (‘Chase for College payment’, August 24) concerning a missing College of the Bahamas/
Bahamas Food Services and Bristol Wines & Spirits cheque, I am pleased to advise you that I received a phone call from the College (Academic Affairs) with instructions to go to the Busi-
ness Office. I went there that very day, obtained the cheque and deposited it into my bank account. ISABELLA PIERI September 4, 2016