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Volume: 112 No.190
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2016
PRICE - $1 (Abaco / Grand Bahama $1.50) The Tribune
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Weekend
Dance troupe steps it up Inside Weekend
Miller blames govt over BPL
meet the pirates Page 10
Dancing o n air
Famed NY C troupe ste ps it up
in Nassau
Entertainment , page 11
SEARS: IT’S DELEGATES THAT COUNT, NOT PM’S VIEW
By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net PROGRESSIVE Liberal Party leader hopeful Alfred Sears, QC, said yesterday he is not concerned about Prime Minister Perry Christie’s recent dismissal of him as a potential threat. “It’s not what the prime minister says, it’s what the delegates determine, and how they vote,” he calmly stated. SEE PAGE SIX
MP says managers picked because they were white and foreign By SANCHESKA BROWN Tribune Staff Reporter sbrown@tribunemedia.net TALL Pines MP Leslie Miller yesterday blamed the government for the failures at Bahamas Power and Light and questioned why management at the corporation have not offered a solution to the public for the frequent power outages. In an interview with The Tribune, Mr Miller said it is obvious that the government “does not believe in Bahamians” because if the Christie administration did, PowerSecure would have never got the approval to manage the former Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC).
Mr Miller said “with all due respect” he believes that PowerSecure was chosen over Bahamians because the investors are “white and foreign.” The Progressive Liberal Party MP said PowerSecure does not care about the Bahamian people and are only concerned with “collecting money and turning people off”. “We (the former BEC board) presented our plan to the government and our plan meant that by June 2016 we would have new engines and would have brought the cost of electricity down for all customers, regardless of the price of SEE PAGE SIX
NYGARD MURDER-FOR HIRE LAWSUIT IN COURT NEXT WEEK By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net
THE contentious murder-for-hire lawsuit against Lyford Cay fashion designer Peter Nygard and lawyer Keod Smith is expected to start in the Supreme Court next week. After months of controversy, the claims filed by several Save The Bays (STB) directors and a pastor will be heard by Supreme Court Justice Indra Charles for a default judgment as the defendants
failed to enter a defense. Yesterday, attorney Fred Smith, a STB director and plaintiff in the suit, said plaintiffs continue to receive threats of harm with no response from law enforcement. “Despite our continuing complaints to police about harassment and threats of harm that were the focus of this action, police have never progressed any of the investigations that we ask them to,” he said. “We remain anxious about our wellbeing.” SEE PAGE SEVEN
PRIME Minister Perry Christie helps to dig the first shovel full of dirt at the ground breaking ceremony for a new junior high school in Holmes Rock, Grand Bahama.
DEALS SIGNED FOR BUILDING OF $12M HOLMES ROCK JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL
By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net TWO government contracts - worth $12m - were signed for construction of a new junior high school in Holmes Rock on Thursday, fulfilling a ten-year promise to residents in West Grand Bahama.
The school is expected to be finished in 18 months and will cater to students graduating from the West End Primary and Holmes Rock Primary Schools. Prime Minister Perry Christie attended the groundbreaking ceremony on the land, which was acquired by government from the Waugh family.
Also attending were Deputy Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, Education Minister Jerome Fitzgerald, Minister of Tourism and MP for West Grand Bahama Obie Wilchcombe, Minister for Grand Bahama Dr Michael Darville and Glenys Hanna Martin, minister of transport and aviation. Two contracts were
signed with two contractors - Brickhouse Construction and RCL Construction – to build the school. Mr Christie noted that Mr Wilchcombe had envisioned a school a long time ago and promised residents that one would be built there. SEE PAGE FIVE
ROBERTS SLAMS FNM OVER POSITIONS ON BAHA MAR By KHRISNA VIRGIL Deputy Chief Reporter kvirgil@tribunemedia.net PROGRESSIVE Liberal Party Chairman Bradley Roberts has branded the Free National Movement a deeply divided party as the organisation is perceived to have taken two contrasting positions over the unsealing of documents related to the new deal to open $3.5 billion Baha Mar resort. On Sunday, the FNM announced that it is collecting signatures for an online petition to demonstrate the level of public displeasure with the sealed deal. However, on Tuesday, FNM Senator Carl Bethel told The Tribune that
legally there is nothing the party can do to force the judiciary to unseal the records. He explained that there is no legal basis for the political organisation to assert a right to know in court in connection with this matter. These differing positions, Mr Roberts said, was the latest clear example of the “woefully deficient” decision making process and overall judgment of FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis. Last month Mr Roberts called on Mr Bethel to petition the Supreme Court to unseal the documents and to argue his reasons for having it done, if the FNM was serious about its argument. SEE PAGE SIX
PLP Chairman Bradley Roberts.
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