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VOLUME:117 No.206, SEPTEMBER 22ND, 2020

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WOMAN: REBUILDING AFTER LOSING FAMILY TO DORIAN

ALL HE WANTED WAS HIS BIRTHDAY PARTY

Reyes spent all day at homework - then was shot going out to play

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net FAMILY of Reyes Williams say all the sevenyear-old talked about was his upcoming birthday party before he was killed Sunday night.

The shy, quiet Thelma Gibson Primary School student never had such a party and beamed at the thought of hosting one on October 17.

“He just wanted little things,” recalled his aunt, Verline Culmer, “a game, stuff like that, but nothing major, he just liked to be around his cousins and family, that’s all.”

Reyes’ 35-year-old

mother was inconsolable when The Tribune visited her house off Alexandria Boulevard in Nassau Village yesterday and did not speak to the press.

Ms Culmer, 40, said the boy’s mother had kept her son inside almost all of Sunday so he could focus on his school work.

“That’s what makes it so hard. She finally let him go outside after keeping him in all day and as soon as she let him out, boop, he got killed,” she said.

Reyes was heading towards his cousin’s house across the street when shots that appeared to come from the back seat of a Nissan Note struck him.

SEE PAGE THREE

Her instructions came after she ruled the respondents Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis; Works Minister Desmond Bannister; Attorney General Carl Bethel; Bahamas Power and Light; and the Water and Sewerage Corporation had not fully exercised their “duty of candour” during the proceedings.

The applicants — Respect Our Homes Ltd and Lumane Nonord, being 177 residents and occupants of shanty towns — had filed an application for discovery calling for the respondents to disclose all documents related to the establishment and work of the Shanty SEE PAGE FIVE

SEE PAGE EIGHT

MARIJUANA BUST NETS $3.4M CARGO A JOINT operation with police, the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, US Coast Guard and other American agencies led to the seizure of more than $3m worth of marijuana yesterday.

The seizure came after drug runners led police on a high seas chase that ended off the coast of Exuma, leaving one officer in hospital with injuries after the suspects “rammed” into the police’s boat with their vessel.

Subsequently, a suspect was shot by police.

Acting on information, the joint operation was launched after 1am yesterday.

SEE PAGE TWO

GOVT MUST HAND OVER PAPERS ON SHANTY TOWN DEMOLITIONS

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

SUPREME Court Justice Cheryl Grant-Thompson yesterday gave attorneys representing the government in a judicial review centred on shanty town demolition 21 days to hand over all documents relating to the plans to eradicate the communities.

She also granted the shanty town residents’ request to have Labour Minister Dion Foulkes answer eight of the 12 questions they put forth in order to gain a full understanding of the government’s position.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MARQUIS OF NASSAU?

ANOTHER ASSEMBLY STAFFER HAS VIRUS

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

REYES WILLIAMS, who died aged seven, after being shot dead as he headed towards his cousin’s house. His family have said all he talked about was his upcoming birthday.

NO REPEAT FOR LARGE POLICE FUNERAL

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

FOLLOWING criticism over a recent police funeral that contravened COVID-19 orders, Police Commissioner Paul Rolle said yesterday the public can be assured that such incidents will not happen again as everyone must abide by the law.

His comments come nearly a week after a police

OFFICERS gathered for the funeral as seen on a live stream. officer’s funeral was held at Woodlawn Gardens, which saw more than 10 people gathered at the site despite the COVID-19 Emergency

Power Order stipulations.

The service, which was live streamed on the Royal Bahamas Police Force’s Facebook page, sparked criticism from the public, who accused officers of being hypocritical by enforcing orders that they themselves were not following.

When asked about the issue yesterday, Commissioner Rolle admitted that

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

SEE PAGE FOUR

A SECOND Parliament staffer has tested positive for COVID-19, raising what House Speaker Halson Moultrie said is concern about “institutional spread” of the virus in the House of Assembly.

Speaker Moultrie said he was told on Friday of the staffer’s positive result, four days after another positive result caused uncertainty about how Parliament would proceed.

SEE PAGE FOUR

PARTNERS IF MONARCH OR PRESIDENT

SEE PAGE NINE

PAGE 2, Tuesday, September 22, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

MARIJUANA BUST NETS $3.4M CARGO from page one A team was conducting surveillance along the Ragged Island chain, when they came upon a speed boat with four occupants on board, police said.

The vessel was asked to stop, however the captain failed to comply and a chase followed.

“The police boat was launched from Exuma to intercept this vessel which they eventually caught up with... they observed this vessel with four males, (police) attempted to stop this vessel and they refused to stop,” Police Commissioner Paul Rolle told reporters.

“And they led them on a chase for roughly one hour and 15 minutes which ended in the Barraterre area of Exuma where the persons on this boat loaded with contraband rammed the police boat in an effort to escape. One officer was injured in the process and he is being transported to hospital now via ambulance. He’s received injuries to the leg and neck having been knocked from the boat.

COMMISSIONER of Paul Rolle yesterday.

Police

“Officers then engaged the persons in this speedboat, discharging their weapon, striking one of the individuals in the right upper chest, which was entry, exit. The driver of the boat then stopped, and along with the helicopter and the persons aboard the police boat, (officers) were able to board this vessel where we discovered some 52 crocus sacks of what we now know to be marijuana.”

The injured officer is in stable condition in hospital, the police chief said.

THE ROYAL Bahamas Police Force with a shipment of suspected marijuana at the Police Marine dock that was seized yesterday morning in the Exuma Cays.

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff The suspects are Bahamian, two of whom are known to police.

The injured suspect is also receiving medical attention.

Asked to comment on the connection between drug sales and street crime, Commissioner Rolle said the two are linked.

“We noticed that over the last few months because of the lockdown, things have slowed a bit and as the country opened back up so (did) our borders. The drug runners who were on their break went back to work but we are there. As it relates to the violence in the community, we know that a lot of the street violence is related to these drug turfs and if we can control the flow of drugs then hopefully we’ll be able to see a reduction in the number of street violence,” he said.

ANOTHER POWER CUT LEAVES FAMILIES AND STUDENTS STRUGGLING

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Power and Light customers have been plagued by frequent power cuts this month, affecting students who are using virtual learning platforms and some small businesses struggling to survive because of COVID-19.

By The Tribune’s count, there have been more than a dozen outages - including an island-wide blackout and other widespread cuts over the past three weeks since September 1.

These service disruptions continued yesterday affecting customers in Winton, East Street South, Ernest

Street, Sea Breeze, Imperial Park, Blue Hill South and North, areas south of Soldier Road and University Drive.

According to BPL, a lightning strike due to inclement weather yesterday sparked the outage.

Angry customers voiced their frustration on BPL’s Facebook page.

One mother commented: “Great, my child can’t finish her afternoon class.”

“What’s going on, virtual class was going on y’all (sic) need to get it together,” another parent said.

“So, you have students depending on electricity and internet for classes and national exams but have the power off in the middle

of the day? Get it together please,” another person complained.

One small business owner who did not want to be named said the frequent power cuts have placed a strain on her already struggling business.

“You know this is already a challenging time for everyone, especially small business owners,” the baker told The Tribune yesterday.

“With the pandemic we have had to fight to continue on. I’ve reopened, but if I can’t continue because the lights are off and on frequently, how am I expected to make a living for myself?

“We pay our bills and can’t get consistent service?

I would say it’s ridiculous.”

Last week, the company advised that certain areas would be without power for three-hour intervals due to planned outages.

These areas - Hurricane Hole, Paradise Island, Blackbeard Terrace along with Expulses and the immediate Cable Beach area – experienced power outages on September 15, 16 and 17 respectively.

And then on September 13, a widespread outage hit New Providence. Areas affected included: East Street South and southern New Providence, commercial areas on Thompson Boulevard, Blue Hill Road - North and South, Musha Hill (Ridgeland Park), portions of Seabreeze

and Abundant Life Road, Mackey Street as far as Madeira Street, and the Twynam area.

It happened as teams were working at the Clifton Pier Power Station to return one of the major generation units to service following maintenance and repairs.

At the time BPL said as these works were progressing, a transformer at CPPS connecting to Station A tripped offline, which led to the disconnection of three engines from the grid.

This, in turn, led to a widespread outage. Teams worked assiduously to address the issue, and by 9.39pm were able to resolve the issue such that

all customers affected by the outage had their power restored, BPL said.

Two days before on September 11, an island-wide outage occurred.

BPL said at around 1.16pm, the system experienced a problem that caused the six engines online at Station A to come offline all at once.

The mitigation systems were unable to deal with the sudden, unexpected loss of half the generation on the grid, which led to an island-wide outage.

Several other service disruptions happened in the days prior back to September 1.

BPL did not respond to The Tribune’s inquiries yesterday up to press time.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, September 22, 2020, PAGE 3

MINISTER of National Security Marvin Dames yesterday.

Photo: Eric Rose/BIS

DAMES: WE WILL CATCH THE KILLERS

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

NATIONAL Security Minister Marvin Dames yesterday issued a stern warning to the perpetrators responsible for killing a seven-year-old boy in Nassau Village on Sunday night, insisting that he has “every confidence” the Royal Bahamas Police Force will find them.

His comments came hours after the child was shot dead after a gunman opened fire outside his residence that night, during a reported drive-by shooting.

Police did not release the victim’s identity, but he has been identified by close relatives as Reyes Williams.

Three people are said to be helping police with the investigation.

Yesterday, Mr Dames sent condolences to the boy’s family. He also told reporters he couldn’t sleep after hearing about Sunday’s tragic ordeal.

“I think it would be remiss if I fail to certainly acknowledge and send condolences to the parents of seven-year-old master Williams who was gunned down so tragically last night in the Nassau village area,” he said at a press conference yesterday.

“And so, it’s fitting that we’re here today talking about police community relations and how we can improve our efforts nationally within the communities throughout the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.”

He added: “It is very important to note therefore that each and every one one of us have a vested responsibility in ensuring that our communities are safe and to the cowards out there who committed that very tragic act last night, I have every confidence that Commissioner Rolle and his team will find you.”

He also urged anyone with information to come forward and assist the police with their investigations to catch the “cowards” responsible for robbing Williams of his life.

“And this is a testament too to demonstrate who we are as a people because I am certain that there is someone out there who knows who is responsible for this act and I trust that you would bring that individual in as quickly as possible or you will communicate to the police who that person or who those persons are.”

Williams’ killing pushes the country’s murder count to 50 for the year, according to this newspaper’s records. He is one of several children who have been wounded by gunfire this year, but the second to have been shot fatally.

Calling for an end to the “senseless killing of

children,” the Bahamas Christian Council yesterday pledged their solidarity with the RBPF in bringing those responsible to justice.

“The Bahamas Christian Council strongly condemns all acts of violence most especially the killing of our young children as well as our teenagers and young adults, many of whom have been taken away from us much too soon and certainly before they were able to realise and fulfil the God given potential and purpose,” the religious group said in a statement yesterday.

“The murder of innocent children is unacceptable, and we stand with the leadership and members of the Royal Bahamas Police Force in their efforts to bring the person or persons responsible to justice as soon as it is humanely possible.”

According to Police Commissioner Paul Rolle, three individuals are currently in police custody assisting officers with their investigations.

“CID (Criminal Investigation Department) is continuing their investigation in that matter as we speak,” the police chief said.

“We just left the ministry and we have a team from neighbourhood watch that we have dispatched into the Nassau Village community to speak with those persons in their area so we are hopeful that we will be able to bring some resolution to this in due course.

“But I still want to appeal to persons who may have information as to who is responsible for that murder this morning with the seven-year-old to come forward and help us to solve this most heinous matter.”

Williams’ killing also comes after a woman’s body was found in an abandoned building on Dowdeswell Street Sunday morning and another woman was found washed ashore on a beach in Eleuthera on Saturday.

Police said foul play is suspected in both of those incidents.

Asked yesterday for an update on police investigations into those matters, the police chief replied: “The one in Eleuthera, the female, that is still early so we have to wait for an autopsy. We are speaking to a person of interest I would say at this stage because I don’t know the exact cause of death as it stands.”

Pertaining to the killing on Dowdeswell Street, Commissioner Rolle said officers are still in its early stages of investigation on that matter.

“We have to try and do some DNA and we also appeal to persons who may have (information) as to what may happen there to come forward and help us with that,” he added.

SHOOTING VICTIM IN HOSPITAL A MAN is in hospital after he was shot on Sunday night.

Police said a man was walking through a track road around 8.50pm in the area of Colleton Road, Ridgeland Park, when he heard the sound of gunshots and collapsed.

He was taken to hospital in a private vehicle but police said his condition is not known at this time.

An investigation into this matter is ongoing.

Police also said a restaurant manager was issued

several fixed penalty notices on Sunday for breaches of the COVID-19 Emergency Power Order.

Shortly after 6pm, police responded to a restaurant “where there was a large gathering”.

“The manager was issued several fixed penalty notices. . . for allowing patrons to enter the establishment without wearing a mask, not practicing social distancing and allowing more than the authorised persons into the establishment,” police said.

A TEDDY bear left at the scene of the fatal shooting of Reyes Williams, pictured below, who died aged seven.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/ Tribune Staff

ALL HE WANTED WAS HIS BIRTHDAY PARTY from page one The car, Ms Culmer said, had circled the area at least three times before the shooting, including twice on Saturday and about 15 minutes before occupants opened fire in the direction of the little boy shortly before nine on Sunday night.

Ms Culmer said the target of the shooters seemed to be occupants of another silver car that was parked in the yard where the boy lived.

“The person in that car doesn’t live here but does (come) here every other day,” she said, declining to elaborate on the person’s identity. “Their car was targeted. After the shooting they left the area.”

According to the family, there was no crossfire as initially suggested by police. They said shots from the shooter grazed two other children, a 12-year-old and a

14-year-old. A teddy bear has since been placed in the spot where Reyes’ body laid lifeless. The shooting, family said, was the first in the area in some 20 years.

Reyes did not have many friends, according to his family, and he was said to be a boy of few words.

“He was one of the best little children I’ve ever known.

Sweet, loving, caring little boy who didn’t bother with anybody. He didn’t even like to talk to anybody. He loved the beach, loved to swim. I tell them they have to bury him on his birthday and just have a party,” said Ms Culmer.

She said Reyes has two other siblings on his mother’s side and was very protective of them.

“We ain’ doing well at all,” she said while sending out a plea to authorities to “find out who kill him”.

“Everyone (is) losing kids but this got to put a stop to this,” she said. “Police have

THE SCENE of Sunday’s shooting in Nassau Village.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

CCTV cameras so find out who car it was and bring us justice. Our society has to speak up. Too many kids are losing their life for foolishness.”

Several children have been wounded by gunfire this year. In June, a two-year-old girl was left in critical condition after she was shot by gunmen in Eleuthera. She was shot while being held in her grandmother’s arms, as the two sat on the porch of the woman’s home in Hatchet Bay. Gunmen got out of a car and opened fire, police said. Moments later, the grandmother realised the toddler, Da’Nyla Roberts, had been shot.

Lorencia Simmons

Walkes, 10, died on Sunday, June 7, more than a week after she was shot in the Carmichael area. The fifth grader attended Sybil Strachan Primary School. She was among three people shot on May 29, after occupants of a gold coloured vehicle approached a group in front of a home at Belville Circle off Iguana Way shortly after 1pm, police said.

Three men got out of the car with firearms and fired shots at the group, according to police.

Anyone with information on these incidents or any other crime is asked to contact police at 502-9991, Crime Stoppers at 328TIPS (8477) or the nearest police station.

PAGE 4, Tuesday, September 22, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

NO REPEAT FOR LARGE POLICE FUNERAL from page one

the event had exceeded the amount limit, insisting that officials will do their best to ensure that it does not happen again.

However, the police chief acknowledged that officers sometimes struggle on how to deal with the funerals with large crowds especially if the service is still ongoing.

“I think the matter as it relates to the funeral at the cemetery was addressed already,” he told reporters yesterday. “I don’t know if there’s much more that I can add to it other than to say it did happen and that’s about as much — I couldn’t say why the persons (were there) but there were three funerals that were going on side by side and, of course, when people see the police, they

love the police and they came over.

“And naturally a lot of persons were there and so again, it is what it is and so we just have to make sure that as far as the police part of it that we don’t allow it to happen no more because we do have a few of our police colleagues who have passed and there are funerals.”

He continued: “We keep saying to the families what is permitted and it’s up to

persons to abide but when you arrive at the cemetery and you meet a large crowd, I mean it’s, you’re in the ceremony. Do you stop and run the people out? That is the difficulty for us.

“We simply have to ask people to abide and not only in funerals but straight across the board.”

In March, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis issued a number of restrictions on social gatherings, including

weddings and funerals in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Under the initial order, only ten members of the immediate family could have attended a funeral service excluding the officiant and mortuary workers.

This still applies to New Providence, where services can only be held by the graveside.

However, in certain Family Islands like San

Salvador and Rum Cay, funerals can be held in churches or other religious facilities with up to 20 people once in accordance with the Bahamas Christian Council guidelines approved by the Ministry of Health.

Yesterday, the RBPF released a statement urging all concerned religious leaders, morticians and family members to comply with the orders.

Another Assembly staffer has virus from page one Speaker Moultrie said only four of Parliament’s 17 staff members have taken the COVID-19 test to date, including himself, Parliamentary Clerk David Forbes and the two positive cases.

Despite this, he confirmed the House of Assembly is expected to meet tomorrow with more than a quorum of members.

“It is a concern of mine that it is taking an inordinate amount of time to get these tests done,” he said.

“I think some of the difficulties would be that some persons are afraid to take the test, second some don’t have the proper facility established that Doctors Hospital demands, some people may not be in the financial position to pay for the test.”

Despite so many staffers not getting tested, Speaker Moultrie said their quarantine period ends in time for them to return to work tomorrow.

The second confirmed COVID-19 case at the House of Assembly does not typically work upstairs in the building where parliamentarians meet but comes into contact with those who do, he said.

“The medical authority has indicated to me that the spouse of that person is exhibiting all of the symptoms as well, so that is a concern,” he said. “Several of the staff members have registered to have their test but we haven’t received any additional results yet.”

Although Speaker Moultrie told the press that he expected parliamentarians to quarantine for 14 days after news of their

exposure last week, Cabinet Office later released a statement saying only members who interacted with the positive case for more than 15 minutes without wearing a mask or maintaining physical distance had to quarantine.

Asked about the discrepancy between his view and that of the Cabinet Office, Speaker Moultrie said: “I took it upon myself out of an abundance of caution to personally quarantine and I suggested to staff members and members of Parliament that they should quarantine. I was of the view that in a situation where you are uncertain of whether there was institutional spread, which seems possible now that we have more than one staff who tested positive, it would be in the best interest of everyone to take the test and quarantine for 14 days. That was not information received from any medical experts, but information based on the existing COVID-19 health protocols.”

It is not clear whether parliamentarians have taken the COVID-19 test.

Former Health Minister Dr Duane Sands is regularly tested because of his profession. He has said public health officials should thoroughly investigate the matter and issue individual, not general, recommendations to parliamentarians.

Pineridge MP Frederick McAlpine said yesterday he will not attend tomorrow’s House sitting.

“If we are practising what we preach we should all be in quarantine for two weeks based on two persons said to have tested positive,” he said. “Businesses are closing down when this happens yet Parliament refuses to follow its own rule?”

48 NEW CASES AND ONE DEATH REPORTED AS MINISTER TAKEN ILL WITH FOOD POISONING THE Ministry of Health confirmed 48 additional cases of COVID-19 and one more related death yesterday.

There are now 3,418 cases of COVID-19 in the country, the bulk of which are in New Providence, which has 2,381 confirmed cases on the island.

Of the new cases reported yesterday, there are 41 in New Providence,

four in Abaco, and one each in Grand Bahama, Long Island and Andros.

The latest death is a 64-year-old New Providence man who died yesterday.

There are also three additional deaths under investigation, the Ministry of Health said.

This increases the number of deaths under investigation to 21 and

the confirmed death toll now stands at 75.

• Minister of Social Services Frankie Campbell was admitted to Doctors Hospital for food poisoning, the Cabinet Office announced yesterday.

According to the brief statement, Mr Campbell is in stable condition and is expected to be released from hospital shortly.

TURNQUEST LOOKS TO SMALLER HOTELS MCALPINE: I’D VOTE NO

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

DEPUTY Prime Minister Peter Turnquest said the Minnis administration is hopeful that the re-opening of smaller hotels will help jumpstart the tourism industry.

This comes after several of the country’s top resorts including Baha Mar, the Melia Nassau Beach property and Club Med in San Salvador announced they will not reopen on October 15, the date recommended by the Ministry of Tourism.

Acknowledging the challenges this poses for the government, the finance minister said the Minnis administration is hoping that smaller size hotels will resume operations to help attract more tourists to the country, thereby aiding in the economic recovery from COVID-19.

“Well, obviously this presents an additional challenge for us. As we’ve said from the beginning, our plan recognises that we will not have any significant tourism activity until the November time frame,” he told reporters on Friday on the sidelines of a United States Embassy equipment handover.

“We’re still hopeful that though the major hotels have announced that they may not be opening right away that the smaller hotels will be open, and we will start to see some activity both here in New Providence as well as in the Family Islands.”

He added: “We know for instance that the Family Islands bring high value tourists and so that will go some way for providing opportunities for residents in those communities to contribute to the overall economic wellbeing of the country.”

“Of course, the Ministry of Tourism continues to work with the ministry of tourism stakeholders to try and bring back tourists as quickly as possible, establishing the protocols as to how we will do that safely and we certainly hope for the best – that all their plans will work out and we will be able to get through this as quickly as possible.”

Since the hotels’ announcements, many have called for more financial assistance from the government with workers uncertain about their future.

In March, the government launched its unemployment benefit programme for self-employed people directly connected to the tourism sector and later expanded it to include self-employed people outside of the industry.

The government’s unemployment assistance programme was extended to July, but is now set to end later this month.

Asked whether there will be a continuation of the programme, the East Grand Bahama MP replied that the programme is currently being reviewed by officials and a decision will be made.

He said: “So, the National

Insurance Board unemployment benefit programme will continue to address those persons who would’ve been let go because of the situation.

The government’s own assistance programme – we will be assessing that and in fact, we’re assessing that now. And we will determine how much further we can go – whether we have to adjust the benefits package to ensure that everybody is able to at least receive something.

“Again, to do as best we can with the resources that are available to us to help people through this difficult period.”

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis pleaded with Bahamians to comply with COVID-19 protocols for at least three more weeks.

However, Dr Minnis did not make it clear exactly what will happen when the period ends, provided that Bahamians comply with the rules.

Asked if the public can expect to see more restrictions to be relaxed when the three week period ends, the minister replied: “I think the Minister of Health, as well as the Prime Minister, has indicated that we are trending more or less in the right direction and so with continued diligence and discipline amongst all of us, we can hopefully achieve our objective of bringing those cases down to an acceptable level so that we can have a full reopening of the economy.”

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

PINERIDGE MP Frederick McAlpine said he too would vote against extending the state of emergency if he were attending tomorrow’s Hours of Assembly meeting.

The outspoken MP is avoiding sittings of the lower chamber following its recent exposure to some staffers with COVID-19.

Explaining why he opposes extending the state of emergency, he said: “The government has not been able to give us a balancing act as it relates to the state of emergency and our economy which is suffering. Somehow the competent authority has placed us all in the predicament where people are unable to deal with their deficits in their personal lives, that is mortgage, rent, school fees.

Some people haven’t worked for seven months. The numbers are still growing but you have planes coming in.”

Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis pleaded with Bahamians last week to follow COVID19 protocols for at least three more weeks as the country continues to reopen. Last week, he also tabled a resolution in Parliament outlining the government’s intent to extend the

state of emergency until October 31.

The emergency orders are currently slated to end at the end of the month.

Mr McAlpine took aim at Free National Movement officials who appeared to be campaigning in New Providence over the weekend in spite of the pandemic and subsequent restrictions.

“To add insult to injury,” he said, “you have on the table an extension for whenever you need to use this emergency order, yet you have members of your party campaigning, going house to house in a COVID environment? Why would the competent authority allow members of his party to go door-to-door in numbers in a COVID environment? Then you want to tell me I can’t go to my relative’s funeral? How do you do this? The time it takes to campaign, they should actually figure out how they will get this economy moving.”

Mr McAlpine said he agrees with former Minister of Health and Elizabeth MP Dr Duane Sands who said last week the Prime Minister alone should no longer have the power to create emergency powers orders. “The competent authority shouldn’t be one man. One man shouldn’t have all this power,” he said.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, September 22, 2020, PAGE 5

Govt must hand over papers on shanty town demolitions from page one Town Action Task Force (STATF), as well as notes showing the “extent of the Crown’s interest in the land in question,” among other concerns.

Martin Lundy II, lead attorney for the applicants, said the requested documents were necessary because his clients were “in the dark” as it related to the creation of government policy concerning the eradication of shanty towns. He said this factor made it difficult for them to determine under what law the government sought to justify its actions.

Kayla Green Smith, on behalf of the Crown, said the “global discovery” would amount to nothing more than a “fishing” expedition that could further prolong the matter.

Yesterday, Justice GrantThompson granted four out of seven of the applicants’ document requests, after noting the respondents had a “duty” to assist the court by supplying “full and accurate explanations of the relevant information”.

She insisted in order to determine whether the authorities treated the

applicants fairly, a clear understanding of the policies they relied on needed to be established.

In her ruling she stated: “In reaching its decision, the court performed a balancing act on the one hand ensuring that the duty of candour imposed on the respondents by law was fulfilled, and on the other hand, ensuring the applicants’ application for discovery was not used as a fishing exercise.

“The court is satisfied that the duty of candour owed by the respondents has not been fully exercised and I hereby order that the respondents deliver to the applicants the following documents forthwith: All documents including notes, memoranda, meeting minutes, discussion papers, press releases, correspondence, consultations or other documents that relate to or evidence the formulation of the government’s apparent policy to eradicate or irretrievably eliminate shanty towns in The Bahamas; all documents relating to the establishment of the STATF including any documents evidencing its constitution, terms of reference, composition and authority; all documents evidencing the

HOMES in a shanty town area. extent of the Crown’s title to and/or interest in the land in question in these proceedings including any title deeds, plans, grants, leases, licences, agreements, charges, easements, covenants, options, assignments or other documents; and the Building Assessment Report conducted by the Ministry of Works and referred to in a Bahamas Information Services press release.”

Justice Grant-Thompson said the court denied the remaining three categories because it believed they were “unnecessary” and would result in the applicants “conducting a fishing expedition”.

“This is my ruling,” she asserted. “I hereby order that the respondents deliver the requisite documents to the applicants within 21 days having regards to the

conditions in the country relative to the global pandemic and the difficulty in accessing government offices and documents.”

In their application for interrogatories in the matter, the applicants sought to have Mr Foulkes answer questions relative to his May 2, 2019 affidavit, since he could provide the “principal evidence” in response to the leave to apply for judicial review.

The applicants said they were making the request because they were restricted in their ability to prepare their case adequately without “proper particulars of the decisions they seek to review”.

They argued that Mr Foulkes should know what the government’s policy is on the alleged eradication of shanty towns. As a

result, they want him to state whether the government, a person or an organisation acting with its authority, decided to take possession of the land and disconnect utilities on it. They also want Mr Foulkes to state whether any policy of the government calls for the “irretrievable elimination” of shanty towns in the country.

In her ruling, Justice Grant-Thompson said she would allow interrogatories related to the “correct statement of the proper position of the government on its policy relative to the shanty towns” to give the applicants efficient time to prepare their case and “properly advise their clients in the interim to observe the law”.

She said for similar reasons, she would admit a formal set of questions

related to the “propriety of the notices served in July, in order to confirm whether new streamlined notices would now be prepared and served containing further and better particulars relative to the houses which may be compliant with the BRA building code”.

Still, Justice GrantThompson said she would refuse the request for questions relating to the ownership and possession of the land, since she believed the discovery request for documents relative to the Crown’s title of the land would provide the necessary information the court would need to determine which land was Crown land from which was not.

A hearing to determine which party will cover the costs of both applications is scheduled for October 1.

HANNA MARTIN DEMANDS TRANSPARENCY OVER POLICE BREAKING LAW

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

ENGLERSTON MP Glenys Hanna Martin said there has to be a “transparent accountability process” as it relates to investigations where officers are accused of breaking the law.

“I know I’ve had issues where I had to call the police and they’re the best faces I’ve ever seen and I just want to put my arms around them where I so appreciate them,” she said.

“But we do have instances where certain things have happened that raised concerns and questions.”

Ms Hanna Martin said “police powers are constrained by the law” and insisted officers cannot act on discretion where they handle a situation based on how they see fit.

“They don’t have discretionary law (where) you see a situation and you deal with it like how you think you should deal with it –it doesn’t work like that,” she said. “When it is alleged that a police officer has gone outside of that constraint that is an issue of lawlessness, just like the persons they are seeking to apprehend.

“Unlike when there’s an ordinary citizen where

there’s accountability, the question arises about whether what is the accountability when you are alleging that it is a rogue officer. And that is where we have not progressed in the way in which we should.”

Ms Hanna Martin made the comments while speaking about police involved killings during the Progressive Liberal Party’s new Facebook show, Coffee Break with Apryl, on Sunday.

She also said there needs to be a “transparent accountability process” when officers are accused of acting “outside of the

law”. She said in the current system, the police are “basically investigating” themselves.

“That is not allowed in any other adjudication process where you’re seeking justice and that’s long overdue. I think that there (have) been many allegations and the danger you run is that if people feel that there is no accountability for those who enforce the law…then you are going to create an environment that is destabilised.

“And (then) it grows and becomes bigger and bigger and it has deep social issues.

It’s a very serious thing.

And so I think that it’s a

matter of priority and it’s overdue that there should be a process for the investigation of complaints from citizens against those who are empowered to enforce the law.”

Several people have been killed by police this year. In June, Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle said police shot and killed three men on Cowpen Road, after an officer was “ambushed” by a gunman.

During the interview, the Englerston MP also spoke about COVID-19’s impact on the country.

“The pandemic has been a challenge globally so

we’re no different,” she said. “But I think that for us as a people, it has exposed a lot of vulnerabilities (and) a lot of underdevelopments in our national life.”

She added: “You look at the healthcare sector.

It (did) not take very long before it became overwhelmed. They had to spill over in other areas and you’re hearing the stories now about people who are allegedly falling between the cracks in our healthcare system.

“I think the first observation I’d make is that it has exposed the weaknesses in our national life and even in the economy.”

PAGE 6, Tuesday, September 22, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

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Battling to hide documents is no sign of transparency ANOTHER day, another setback for the government at the Supreme Court.

This time, the setback comes over the demolition of shanty towns – and yes, if you’re thinking that has been an area where the government has lost before, you’d be right. In 2018, the Supreme Court brought a halt to disconnections and evictions pending a judicial review.

Indeed, it is an area of long-rumbling dispute, with Attorney General Carl Bethel vowing in December last year that the government “will prevail” against injunctions filed to stop the demolition of shanty towns.

Certainly, there is an ongoing problem – we do not want people to be living in unsafe conditions, and the recent sprouting up of new shanty properties in Abaco shows it is a difficulty that is not going away. Simply put, people need a roof over their heads. Kicking people out of properties doesn’t take away that need – so where do those people go? And, if the government is going to follow through on evicting people, they must make sure the process is transparent and fair.

The article in today’s Tribune sees 177 residents of shanty towns file an application. To stop the demolition? No. To let them stay where they are? No. Just to see the documents about the demolition.

The court ruled that Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, Works Minister Desmond Bannister, Carl Bethel, Bahamas Power and Light, and the Water and Sewerage Corporation were not exercising their “duty of candour” during proceedings.

Applicants said they were “in the dark” over the plans – not the first time BPL will have been leaving people in the dark, but a damning indictment of those members of a government that has repeatedly trumpeted the importance of transparency and accountability.

So now the government has 21 days to hand over all documents relating to the shanty town plans. We’ll see if they can hit the target.

More to the point, though, why does it have to come to this? This far into the 21st century, why are such documents not routinely made available to citizens for all manner of matters? Whether it is Bahamian citizens or residents, whether it is someone living in a Lyford Cay estate or a shanty town shack, why do we make it so hard for people to see the documents that relate to their lives?

We do not anticipate this case will change the government’s mind on such access – but it should. Keeping such information out of sight makes it harder for people to make their case in the courts – whether citizens or immigrants – but if the law is fair, why make it harder for anyone at all?

Transparency should not just be a buzzword that gets thrown around on the election trail – it should be a commitment to finding every way possible to make it easier for people to see the work and processes of government.

Had the government published these papers, they would not have faced this particular challenge in court, or this particular defeat. Of course, they may fear their opponents will now be better

prepared for a different legal challenge – but shouldn’t the government just make sure they get the legalities right in the first place?

We await to see the next developments.

One rule for all?

How many of us have known someone who has lost a relative or friend in the past months, and endured the agony of not being able to say farewell because of restrictions on funerals?

Funerals have been delayed to try to fit around the rules that limit the number of attendees. Each family has had to make agonising decisions at a time when all they should have to do is mourn. Instead, they are working out which family members should be allowed to attend, how to honour the memory of the person they loved, and who to exclude from final farewells.

And people have abided by these rules – because they have been told this is what needs to be done, this is how we defeat this virus that has laid the world so low.

How, then, must those people who abided by the rules feel when they see a funeral service going ahead for a police officer that clearly contravenes the emergency orders about only ten people being gathered at the site?

The service was live streamed on the Royal Bahamas Police Force’s Facebook page – leading members of the public to ask why can they do that and we can’t?

Police Commissioner Paul Rolle said that officials will do their best to ensure that it does not happen again. Happen again? Why did it happen in the first place? If officers can arrest people and take them to court for offences such as selling coconut water by the side of the road, why then do police have free rein to change the rules to accommodate themselves?

We of course extend our sympathies to the family, friends and colleagues of the fallen officer for their loss – just as we extend our sympathies to those who were not able to bend the rules.

COVID-19 will not turn away just because someone is wearing a uniform.

This virus will not flinch at the sight of an officer’s badge. These rules are there to reduce the chances of the transmission of the virus. Every event such as this that exceeds the number of people gathered increases the chance of the virus spreading.

Commissioner Rolle asks what do you do if you arrive at a ceremony as an officer and find a large crowd: “Do you stop and run the people out?”

That’s not a question you should be asking, Commissioner. From the time the rule was put in place, you should know what action you should take – or else the rule isn’t worth the paper it is written on.

Don’t leave people feeling that there is one rule for them and a different one for others. Treat these emergency orders the same for everyone.

Peril of the power of one EDITOR, The Tribune.

I AWOKE this morning feeling burdened by a desire to put pen to paper once again to continue the thoughts penned earlier in the morning on my Facebook page which reflected a sense of malaise that seems to be settling ominously over our beautiful country.

How have we reached this bleak point? The words in WB Yeats’ poem “The Second Coming” reverberates: Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.

Admittedly the current global pandemic conditions could well spawn such a negative attitude, but this is not a good place to be in, and I shudder to think that we are mirroring the disastrous shenanigans of our neighbour to the north who when it sneezes, The Bahamas catches its deadly cold!

As a matter of urgency, I would therefore like to put out a call to action for the Bahamian people to pause, reflect, and take serious stock of those dark clouds that threaten to obliterate

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net the rays of bright sunshine that define who we are as a people. We desperately need an impenetrable buffer of protection to blanket us from this imposing threat!

Individual independence and a proud sense of self formed from a firm foundation of history and culture endows a people with dignity, pride, and confidence.

Just as a baby bird has to learn to leave its nest and fly on its own in order to survive – so too must human beings possess the beliefs, knowledge, confidence, and ability to do the same, and provide for themselves and their family.

Our colonial past, coupled with the recent toxic and debilitating “gubment” formula of engendering and encouraging dependence over these post-independence decades, has ironically enough brought us to this ignoble space.

There is no doubt that there is, and has been, a serious disconnect for too long between the “powers that be” and the masses of the Bahamian people. This is the fundamental “spoke in the wheel” which the dual disasters of Dorian and COVID have exacerbated and unveiled with stark clarity.

Mr Prime Minister, with all due respect, the “power of one” perception in the six plus months of your

“competent authority” role has run its course and should be halted immediately! We are where we are today because there is much too much to do, and it is physically, mentally and realistically impossible for one person to effectively manage such responsibility!

What our country needs now is leadership that is anchored firmly instead within unity, collaboration, and community.

In these unprecedented times when we should be working together, the reality on the ground reflects the total opposite! Our country needs unity now than ever before! Everybody needs to put their shoulders to the wheel, including your cabinet colleagues and their respective charges who are aimlessly “turning and turning in the widening gyre”.

No longer will the distinctive division between “us” versus “them” serve or solve our challenges and our needs – it must be “us together” if we are truly “all in this thing together”, otherwise “the centre cannot hold” and we are headed for disaster!

Public frustration is palpable, things are falling apart, and a different course must be set with extreme urgency! We can ill afford any further hesitation. To do so will be at our utmost peril.

PAM BURNSIDE Nassau, September 21, 2020.

Restrictions are too onerous EDITOR, The Tribune.

I AM a longtime visitor to Nassau from Ontario, Canada. I first came when I was a child over 55 years ago to visit my Bahamian grandparents. Now I have been bringing my wife and two children. Every visit has been enjoyable not only seeing family but touring around the visitor spots, beaches and restaurants.

We normally come for a month in August before the children return to school.

However this year we could not come because The Bahamas has ceased to be a visitor friendly destination. I read in your edition today that The Prime Minister wants to reopen fully

by October. But who would ever want to visit with the current requirements?

I do not think the Tourism Ministry has given much thought as to how the difficult conditions to enter can be completed. People who would travel have just been coming out of months

of restrictions themselves.

They want to be free of these burdens and go around normally.

They do not want to be in a quarantine and then those, like ourselves staying over 14 days, be forced to pay expensive further COVID-19 tests.

For four people that could be $1000 Bahamian or $1400 Canadian. Was any thought given to how persons in Canada or elsewhere could complete all the requirements to get your

new Health Visa and be on the ground in Nassau in five days? It seems unbelievable. It is difficult and time consuming for Canadians to even find a health clinic which will give healthy persons a COVID-19 test. How much research was done?

Our local travel agent says that prospective visitors at their large office are being steered away from The Bahamas to other destinations where the requirements are a lot less restrictive.

Most people cannot be bothered and do not have time to proceed with a Bahamas vacation. It is just too much of a hassle.

No wonder your hotels and resorts are empty and Air Canada has cancelled nearly all of their flights.

How can The Bahamas afford to destroy the tourism sector as it is the lifeblood of the nation?

We feel very badly that we cannot return to Nassau at this time and sincerely hope that the

government will change the rules quickly, especially for Canadians and other overseas people from countries where the pandemic has been contained and there are very few cases. Who would travel anyway if they were ill? It is essential to make changes quickly as people are now booking winter and spring vacations.

DAVID JOHNSON Newmarket, Ontario, Canada, September 17, 2020.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, September 22, 2020, PAGE 7

Police leadership hailed - as new vehicles arrive to battle crime

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net THE Royal Bahamas Police Force has been selected “as the 2020 IACP leader in community policing” out of more than 100 competitors, Police Commissioner Paul Rolle announced yesterday.

The police chief gave the news during a press conference at the Ministry of National Security, which also saw liaison officers who are a part of the National Neighbourhood Watch Council being gifted with a fleet of patrol vehicles designed to help them better connect with their respective communities to reduce crime.

Commissioner Rolle said the accomplishment highlights the deep commitment of police officers to build safer communities throughout the country.

He also credited the National Neighbourhood Watch Council (NNWC) for helping aid the RBPF in its fight against crime.

“The Bahamas has done extremely well and being a part and a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and we have one of our own officers who also in the person of superintendent, Dr Chaswell Hanna, who is privileged I might add to

also serve on the executed of the IACP, which is essentially a body comprising well over 178 countries,” he said.

“And it is my privilege today that the Royal Bahamas Police Force has been selected as the 2020 IACP leader in community policing. That is for large, policing agencies and for that, I am humbled and indeed grateful.”

National Security Minister Marvin Dames, who was also present during yesterday’s press conference, commended the RBPF for the achievement, noting it as a demonstration of its “improved relationship” between the community and the police.

“The award given to the Royal Bahamas Police Force is an award that is cherished and sought after by many countries around the world. We have well over 165 countries that are involved in the IACP, International Association of Chiefs of Police with tens of thousands of numbers,” he noted “And so, this is the number one law enforcement agency in the world today and to be recognised as the nation with the leading top community police programme in the world is something that ought not to be taken lightly.

It’s something that is very

SOME of the new vehicles on show yesterday. special, and that award really demonstrates the ongoing relationship and the improved relationship between the police and the community.”

He also thanked the NNWC for its contribution in helping to create a safer and better Bahamas for everyone. The council, which is made up of neighbourhood watch group leaders and civil society, was launched in 2018 to assist with crime prevention.

In June, the Jubilee Gardens Neighbourhood Watch Group achieved second place in Neighbourhoods, USA’s (NUSA) 2020 “Neighbourhood of the Year’’ category.

At the time, Mr Dames told reporters the

NEW RECOMMENDATIONS ON HEALTHY CRUISE TRIPS

NEW recommendations from a panel of globally recognised medical and scientific experts say that by relentlessly focusing on prevention and other measures – including the testing of guests and crew members – public health risks associated with the pandemic can be mitigated in a cruise ship environment.

The Healthy Sail Panel submitted its recommendations yesterday to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in response to a CDC request for public comment that will be used to inform future public health guidance and preventative measures relating to travel on cruise ships. The panel was formed in June

by Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. The panel comprises globally recognised experts in medical practice and research, public health, infectious diseases, biosecurity, hospitality and maritime operations that have applied the best available public health, science and engineering insights to their recommendations, according to a press release from the two cruise lines.

The Healthy Sail Panel’s 65-plus-page report includes 74 detailed best practices to protect the public health and safety of guests, crew and the communities where cruise ships call. Recommendations include testing, the use of face coverings, and enhanced sanitation procedures on ships and in terminals. The panel is chaired by Governor Mike Leavitt, former US secretary of health and human services, and Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration.

“The Healthy Sail Panel spent the last four months studying how to better protect the health and safety of guests and crew aboard cruise ships,” said Dr Gottlieb, according to the press release. “Taken as a comprehensive approach, we believe the panel’s robust public health recommendations will help inform strategies for a safe resumption of sailing.”

Gov Leavitt said: “This panel undertook an ambitious, cross-disciplinary,

public health examination to develop standards and guidelines that create the highest level of safety in the complex environment of a cruise ship. We studied the industry’s experiences combating the pandemic – and we then incorporated the many lessons learned and advances made by medicine and science over the past six months. The panel’s recommendations are grounded in the best scientific and medical information available and are intended to meaningfully mitigate public health risks to those who sail.”

“We understand our responsibility to act aggressively to protect the health and safety of our guests and crew, as well as the communities where we sail, and we asked the panel to help us learn how to best live up to that responsibility,” said Richard D Fain, chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Group.

“We were inspired by the depth of the panel’s work and their determination to help us establish the strongest protocols in the travel industry.”

“The Healthy Sail Panel’s recommendations are robust and comprehensive, and they reflect the intense focus the panelists brought to their work,” said Frank Del Rio, president and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. “We know that both authorities around the globe and consumers expect cruise lines to provide the safest, healthiest vacations we can, and this work demonstrates our commitment to doing just that.”

Mr Fain and Mr Del Rio said each company will use the panel’s recommendations to inform the development of new, detailed operating protocols, which will be submitted to the CDC and other authorities around the globe for review and approval– an important milestone in the process of resuming sailing around the world.

According to the press release, the panel’s work is open sourced for others to incorporate in their protocols as well; Governor Leavitt and Dr Gottlieb expressed appreciation that authorities and other cruise companies had already

engaged in the panel’s work as observers.

The Healthy Sail Panel identified five areas of focus every cruise operator should address to improve health and safety for guests and crew, and reduce the risk of infection and spread of COVID-19 on cruise ships: testing, screening and exposure reduction; sanitation and ventilation; response, contingency planning and execution; destination and excursion planning and mitigating risks for crew members.

In July, the CDC announced the extension of a No Sail Order for cruise ships through September 30. This order continues to suspend passenger operations on cruise ships with the capacity to carry at least 250 passengers in waters subject to US jurisdiction, according to the CDC’s website.

“Cumulative CDC data from March 1 through July 10, 2020, shows 2,973 COVID-19 or COVID-like illness cases on cruise ships, in addition to 34 deaths,” the CDC reports. “These cases were part of 99 outbreaks on 123 different cruise ships.”

accomplishment of the Jubilee Gardens association

Photo: Eric Rose/BIS showed the deep engagement of people helping,

sharing and caring for one another.

Press Release

CABLE BAHAMAS LTD. PROVIDES EARLY REDEMPTION USD PREFERENCE SHARE SERIES 8,10,& 12 Cable Bahamas Ltd. Notifies Preference Shareholders of Early Redemption Rights NASSAU, The Bahamas, September 21, 2020.

Pursuant to Section 99 of the Securities Industry Act, 2011, Cable Bahamas Ltd. (CBL) hereby notifies all Preference Shareholders of record of its intention to exercise its early redemption rights effective 30th September 2020 for its United States Dollar currency Series 8, 10 & 12 Preference Shares.

CBL confirms that it will waive the ninety (90) day advanced written notice requirement and will in lieu of same pay interest for the ninety (90) day period through to 30th December 2020.

CBL also confirmed that notices have been forwarded to all Financial Compliance authorities and Brokerage Houses.

Founded in March 1995, CBL Group has grown from a cable TV service provider to become the first communications provider in The Bahamas to offer ‘triple play’ service. Today, the 100% Bahamian owned company is publicly listed on BISX with over 3,000 Bahamian shareholders. The network is comprised of 14 free-to-air broadcast systems, eight stand-alone cable TV systems and four triple play systems networked by submarine fibre. CBL Group is the only 100% Bahamian owned communications provider, delivering residential and corporate broadband internet, cable television and fixed line calling, to 99% of the Bahamianpopulation, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

PAGE 8, Tuesday, September 22, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

Whatever happened to the Marquis of Nassau?

DURING my years as a full-time reporter for The Tribune, I had the opportunity to not only write for news, but also for features, sports and business.

I actually ended up in the business department working under Neil Hartnell as senior business reporter before I left to hone my skills in broadcasting with ZNS news.

While at The Tribune, I also wrote for the editorial section Insight on many occasions. In this section, I wrote in-depth, investigative reports on issues of the day, thanks to then managing editor, John Marquis.

He saw my talents and gave me room to develop them.

The Tribune has always been an excellent training ground for journalists.

Even after I went on to do television news, I never really left The Tribune. I deeply admire this newspaper’s founder, Sir Etienne Dupuch as a journalist and an agent for change in this country in his day.

The legacy he left at The Tribune – “Being Bound to Swear to the Dogmas of No Master” – still lives on, as his daughter Eileen Carron continues to carry the torch and lead us in our pursuit of journalistic excellence.

I recently caught up with John Marquis to find out how life was treating him all these years after he left The Bahamas to return to his native United Kingdom. As expected, he is still in touch in some ways with this sunny clime now thousands of miles away.

John produced Blood and Fire: The Duke of Windsor and the Strange Murder of Sir Harry Oakes back in 2005, addressing what is considered by many as the “greatest murder mystery of the century”.

It happened right here in New Providence in July of 1943 when Sir Harry Oakes was 68 years old.

The details surrounding his death have never been entirely determined and the case has been the subject of several books and four films.

John’s book is still selling steadily all over the world and is stocked by leading universities such as Harvard, Princeton and the University of California. His 2007 publication Papa Doc, a look at former Haitian President Francois Duvalier, is similarly stocked.

John utilised a part of his time during the UK’s COVID-19 lockdowns to create a rewrite of Blood and Fire. He penned 92,000 words based on “very new information on the Oakes case from a leading Nassau source”. Death in

Face to Face

By FELICITY DARVILLE

the Night will be released before Christmas and he is hoping that his Bahamian “supporters… and even enemies… will buy a copy”.

John’s affair with The Bahamas started in the 1960s when he was in his early 20s.

“In 1966, I saw an ad in the Daily Mail. The Nassau Guardian was advertising for three expat journalists.

There was a shortlist of 19 candidates. They specified that they only wanted single men. I was married but I managed to convince them to hire me,” John explained.

“I worked for two years as their political and parliamentary reporter. I arrived just in time to cover the great election of 1967. I had been there only about five months when elections were held on January 10, 1967.

the other areas of Over the Hill.”

John worked at the Guardian for two years before moving to The Tribune.

The Guardian, he said, was taken over by American John Perry, who “changed the whole tone of the newspaper and it became ‘uncomfortable’ for expatriates”.

“I was approached by The Tribune… Sir Etienne asked me if I wanted to join and I did,” he said.

“Sir Etienne and I had a great working relationship; he was a super guy - a wonderful character and I was very fond of him. I spent about a year-and-a-half there. Nikki Kelly was on staff back then.

“I was away from The Bahamas for 30 years before I

DEATH IN T THE NIGH

trange r and the S of Windso ke u s D e ke h a T O Sir Harry Murder of

RQUIS

JOHN MA

Blo nt sequel to The brillia

“Back then, it was a British colony, so it was quite a different place; but a wonderful place to be. Anyone could wander freely around the Overthe-Hill area. We would go to clubs like Cat ’n Fiddle, Banana Boat and the Drumbeat, ran by Peanuts Taylor. They were wonderful clubs. We used to wander freely in Grants Town, Bain Town and all

od and Fire

returned. Amazingly, a lot of the politicians I had covered in the 60s had become senior figures in Bahamian political life. I knew Sir Lynden when he was in his 30s. At a personal level, I got along quite well with most of them, but we did have our differences. It was a challenging, but in a good way.”

John was 26 years old when he left Nassau to return home with the

JOHN Marquis with one of his successors as managing editor of The Tribune, David Chappell.

ambition of her landing a job in the on Fleet Street stairin London which case. at that time was still The other home to most of Britwas David JOHN ain’s leading newspapers.

Mitchell of MARQUIS “I enjoyed my threeAbaco, conand-a-half years in The always victed for Bahamas, but I felt if I had a dream to live the murder didn’t go back soon, I may in the west country, of two Scanlose my chances of getting where the winters were danavian tourists a job on Fleet Street,” he milder and the scenes of in a villa. They were nature are awe inspir- to be hung on the same shared.

Having served as a ing. He was in his 40s and day. Someone managed to Reuters Bahamas corre- thought it a good time to smuggle razor blades into leave the city. Higgs’ cell and he comspondent before He ended up in mitted suicide. Mitchell he left Nassau, ‘I always told Cornwall in the became the last person to John got a job my fellow far southwest of receive capital punishment at Reuters journalists that Britain. headquarters in The Bahamas to date.”

“Cornwall on Fleet Street. Nassau is the “I always told my fellow beautiful… journalists that Nassau He thought he best news town is one of the most is the best news town in would make his in the world beautiful places the world outside of a war career at Reuters, but found outside of a war in the world, zone, because it throws up with a wonder- so many unusual stories! that it wasn’t zone, because ful coastline, Sometimes I would file to really his idea it throws up so rivers, cliffs Reuters and they would of what he beaches… a glo- write me back asking if wanted to do. many unusual rious place,” he I’m sure. Like the time He ended up stories!’ said. moving on when a man was sentenced It was 1986 to lashes with the cat-ofto join the when John nine-tails for attempting Thompson Corporation, one of the world’s largest moved there, becoming to rape an 80-year-old information companies. editor of a local newspa- woman. He served jail time Included in its many per group which produced and received another eght brands at the time were ten weekly newspapers. He lashes on his way out.”

The Times and the remained there for 13 years He felt his time was when the island breezes well spent here: “I felt Scotsman.

John worked from started calling him back at home at The Tribune the London head- here. He said he wanted because I shared its jourquarters where four “one big last challenge”. nalistic ideals. Sir Etienne morning papers He returned and became Dupuch and Eileen and 14 evening papers the managing editor for Carron always repreThe Tribune, a position he were produced. sented the best traditions He spent seven- held for a decade. of our great craft, and “It was great being back and-a-half years my ten years as managing there and ended in Nassau and it was a editor were the perfect wonderful way to end my up becoming end to a very happy half a the chief boxing career,” he said. century in newspapers.”

He moved back here with correspondent: A young John left school “It was the his wife, Joan and their at the age of 16 and entered two youngest children – golden era of his journalism apprenticeboxing and the last seven Johnny and Anabella, who ship shortly after his 17th attended Queen’s College, years of Muhammad Ali’s birthday. As he continued reign as heavyweight cham- making lifelong Bahamian to write a Tribune column friends.

Altogether, they pion. I travelled all over after he returned to Engthe world… the Far East, have eight children and 16 land, his career lasted 51 grandchildren… the 17th is America, all over Europe. years, from 1961 to 2012.

“I wanted to climb the on the way.

According to holdthefront“Being managing editor ranks in Thompson and I page.com, a UK journalism became an assistant editor at The Tribune took me all website, he has worked, the way to my retirement at on one of the evening age 65. I was at war with the directly or indirectly, for papers.” more titles than any other Having fulfilled his ambi- politicians most of the time. British journalist – 50 tion on Fleet Street, John But that’s all part of the altogether, including staff set off on another goal. He game. Together, The Trib- positions and freelance was born in Leicester in the une’s brilliant young staff contracts. He won one of heart of the country but and I created a paper that Britain’s top press awards everyone wanted to read.

We produced some won- in 1974 after exposing two derful stories. I remember a child negligence scandals reporter from a leading tel- at hospitals in the London evision network in the US area.

In addition to writcalling me after the Anna Nicole story broke. ‘I have ing, John has found a new to admit’, she said, ‘You calling in art. His bright, colourful drawings seem beat the hell out of us!”

The Anna Nicole to be a nod to this vibrant saga and the stories that country and people. He unfolded in The Trib- sold his “quirky” art pieces une led to four staged at the annual arts festival protests outside The Trib- and at street markets in une, demanding John’s Cornwall prior to the lockdeportation. Demonstra- downs. He took up art after tors yelled, “Marquis must two life-threatening operago!” Eventually, Cabinet tions – for cancer and heart Minister Shane Gibson was disease – in 2013.

During retirement, he forced to resign from govhas written several books ernment over the ordeal.

He recalls other memo- on The Bahamas, including rable moments covering Long Hot Summer, Hard news here: “Rupert Nairn Pressed - a journalist’s was set to be executed and memoir and Evil and Son he wanted me to witness – the murderers Sante and his execution. His lawyer Kenny Kimes. He has also David Bethell managed to written a boyhood memoir secure a reprieve with an and several booklets.

He has several projects eleventh-hour plea to the Queen for clemency. I was currently planned, including a book about famous greatly relieved.

“I remember in 2000 writers who settled in during my first year back in Cornwall, a book about his Nassau, two men were sen- career as a boxing writer tenced to death. One was (Spitoon Blues) and a John Higgs, a beautician homage to Cornwall, his from Fox Hill, convicted of home from 1986 to the prekilling his wife and burying sent day.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, September 22, 2020, PAGE 9

Partners still whether it’s with a monarch or president A

s most people will be aware from the extensive media interest, the Governor General of Barbados formally announced, in her Speech from the Throne last week, plans for the island state to become a Republic. Having retained The Queen as Head of State since independence in 1966 and thus being one of 16 different Realms of which she is monarch, the nation now intends to make the transition from a parliamentary constitutional monarchy to a republic by November next year.

Predictably, there have been dramatic press headlines screaming The Queen has been ‘ditched’ and Barbados was now ‘going it alone’ after ‘suffering from British rule’ for too long.

But the reality is somewhat different because this decision has hardly come out of the blue and the practical difference of changing the nation’s status from a realm to a republic will not be as wide ranging as many seem to think.

Certainly, it signals a new era in the history of Barbados, but it is far from being the constitutional crisis that some people are labelling it - and becoming a republic should not affect in any material way the nation’s relationship with Britain which has been involved in the country since the 17th century.

Buckingham Palace has issued a statement that this issue is a matter for the government and people of Barbados and the British government has commented officially that ‘we have an enduring partnership and will continue to work with them along with all our valued Caribbean partners’.

As long ago as 1998, a constitution review commission in Barbados recommended the nation should become a republic but a proposed referendum was not followed up, though more recently - in 2015 - the government announced there would be a move towards republicanism in the near future.

Meanwhile, the country had ‘delinked’ itself from the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London as

its final court of appeal and opted for the Caribbean Court of Justice instead – a move described as ‘decolonising its jurisprudence’. So last week’s decision was not unexpected.

In her speech, the Governor General stated it was now time finally for Barbados to leave its colonial past behind and have its own

“Realms are wholly independent sovereign states and there is no involvement or interference by Britain of any kind in their business.

So any question of Barbadians having a greater say in running their own affairs does not apply, since power is already in the hands of the people through their elected parliamentary representatives.” head of state. In her words, ‘we feel this is the right thing to do. It is the ultimate statement of confidence in who we are and what we are capable of achieving. Having gained independence over

BRITAIN’S Queen Elizabeth. (AP Photo/Chris Jackson, File) half a century ago, our country can be in no doubt about its capacity for self-governance’. The Prime Minister, Mia Mottley, has added her voice to this while making it clear the move was in no way meant to be disrespectful of The Queen.

Reportedly, it requires a two-thirds majority in parliament to approve the move, though apparently there are no plans for a referendum.

Apart from Britain itself and The Bahamas, the 16 Realms include Australia, Canada and New Zealand as well as, in our part of the world, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Saint Kitts and Nevis.

Meanwhile, Dominica, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago have already become republics.

In recent years there has been talk in Jamaica about changing to a republic but Saint Vincent rejected the idea in a referendum in 2009.

In her speech, the Governor General said a republic would be ‘better-suited to modern times and more

responsive to the needs of Barbadians who want a greater say in the running of their national affairs’.

This is puzzling because realms operate under the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy which means The Queen does not have executive authority but exercises her constitutional and ceremonial powers and duties on the advice of her ministers in the realms who are part of an elected parliament.

A Governor General is Her Majesty’s personal national representative, who is appointed on the advice of the country’s Prime Minister and carries out those powers and duties.

Delegated All such matters are thus delegated. Realms are wholly independent sovereign states and there is no involvement or interference

by Britain of any kind in their business. So any question of Barbadians having a greater say in running their own affairs does not apply,

since power is already in the hands of the people through their elected parliamentary representatives. Moreover, despite having the same monarch, each realm is separate and independent of all others.

Thus, although there will be a constitutional change, with the loss of The Queen as a symbol of stability, there should be no alteration of Britain’s long standing relationship with Barbados and its commitment to working together constructively on a range of issues.

It will surely continue to co-operate with Barbados on a bilateral basis, but I imagine there will be a new emphasis on collaboration within the Commonwealth - that 54-member, free and equal association of independent sovereign states, the majority of whom were former colonies.

Since the creation of the modern Commonwealth in 1949, promotion of peace, democracy and human rights has been central to its members’ shared purpose and these are enshrined in the Commonwealth Charter to

which all member states are committed.

It is a unique organisation with its shared language, history, culture, values and customs as well as common legal systems, institutional frameworks and longstanding close trade links – so much so that it has been described as an unparalleled network of professional expertise.

In modern times, the Commonwealth is exceptional for the diversity of its partnerships, and the scope for trade and investment and technical co-operation is almost limitless.

Many people will hope that, despite its constitutional change, Barbados will continue to gain in many areas from its membership of the Commonwealth.

I plan to write next week about recent action, following the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in London in 2018, to develop greater collaboration and coordination across the organisation, from which Barbados - and, indeed, The Bahamas as well – will be able to benefit.

BREXIT AND THE GOOD FRIDAY AGREEMENT

V

subject to certain EU rules – for example, iewers watching on TV leading the EU’s State Aid scheme - should be fully Democrats in the US speaking part of the UK customs territory, as agreed out against the UK’s new post- in the Northern Ireland Protocol, so that Brexit Internal Market Bill (IMB) may well businesses based there should have ‘unfethave been confused by the fierceness of the tered access’ to the rest of the UK without Biden/Pelosi response. Both have threat- paperwork. ened that any UK trade deal with the US Some of the provisions of this protocol will not be approved if this Bill in its present were apparently drafted in a broad-brush form becomes legislation that affects the way and are ambiguous, with the detail peace process between Northern Ireland left to be resolved in a Joint Committee.

(NI) and the Republic of Ireland, known as Prime Minister Boris Johnson has now said the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement. he and his colleagues are hearing the EU Some believe neither of them has grasped would use an extreme interpretation of the the meaning of the provisions Agreement to impose a full-scale in the new draft legislation trade border down the Irish Sea that, it is argued, override sigand not only impose tariffs on nificant parts of Britain’s EU goods moving from Great Britain Withdrawal Agreement (WA) to NI but might even try to stop – together with its Northern the transport of food products Ireland Protocol - and therethere. fore break international law.

The IMB is a necessary piece of The UK left the EU under the legislation to ensure the proper terms of this agreement on Janworking of the UK internal uary 31 this year. market and customs union after No doubt these top Demopowers are restored to it from the crats will have been influenced EU on January 1. The governby the criticism of the new Bill ment is now proposing measures by two former British Prime enabling ministers to act within Ministers - Sir John Major domestic law to protect the integand Tony Blair, both of whom rity of the UK. This would be a PRIME Minister favour Britain staying in the safety net, only to be used if the Boris Johnson.

EU. They seem to have exagEU threatened the right of the gerated the importance of the rest of the UK to export to NI – matter, but their action has certainly fuelled and, of course, any such action by the EU the resulting political row in the UK. would in itself constitute a breach of the During the current transition period WA and of international law. Nonetheless, which ends on December 31, Britain and in the face of opposition, Mr Johnson has the EU are trying to agree a trade deal, now agreed an amendment to the IMB and constitutional lawyers are now arguing requiring parliamentary approval before about whether or not the new provisions ministers could use such new powers. of the IMB concerned do, in effect, unilatIt will be interesting to see how all this erally tear up the WA and are, therefore, develops. But there can be no doubt about in breach of international law. But from Britain’s commitment to the Good Friday reports I have seen the situation is less Agreement. It is important to look at the complex than it appears. broader purpose of the Northern Ireland It is understandable that after Brexit Protocol. It was surely designed as a way the EU needs to protect its single market of implementing the needs of Britain’s exit by controlling goods crossing directly into from the EU in a manner that worked for the Republic of Ireland, an EU member NI in relation to its trade but, at the same state, from NI which is part of the UK time, maintaining the peace process and that is no longer in the EU. But a key ele- the delicate balance between both commument of the Good Friday Agreement was nities’ interests. that this border should remain open. A So I imagine Mr Johnson and his colsignificant problem, therefore, is how to leagues will be giving US political leaders ensure the continuing flow of trade to NI suitable assurances of Britain’s strong comfrom other parts of the UK without those mitment to this as an absolute priority goods finding their way into the Republic – and, indeed, Foreign Secretary Dominic without EU tariffs or other controls. It is Raab visited Washington last week, preimportant to ensure that NI, even if it is sumably for this purpose.

Private Funeral Service For Amelia Rebecca Schurton, 49

of #32 Charles Drive, Faith Gardens, will be held at 10:00a.m. on Thursday, September 24th, 2020 at the Chapel of Cedar Crest Funeral Home, Robinson and Baillou Hill Roads. Officiating will be Archdeacon Kingsley Knowles, assisted by other members of the Clergy.

Interment will follow in Lakeview Memorial Gardens, John F. Kennedy Drive and Gladstone Road.

Amelia was predeceased by her mother, Brunell Munroe; and her sister, Rowena Munroe.

She is survived by her Husband: Steve Schurton; Children: Jasmine and George Schurton; Father: Ellis N. Curling, Jr.; Grand Mother: Louise Curling; Brothers: Richard (Adrianne), Dr. Locksley (Marjorie), Alaric, Sr. (Sheila), Alan (Vanina) and Sheldon (Phillis); Sisters: Carmelina, Blondell (Johnny), Carla and Gail (Gawin); Nephews: Dr. Lo’Mar (Tatum), Lerone, Sr., Willis (Zeleka), Bjorn, Alaric, Jr., Cedric, Keno, Kevin, Rico, Remardo and Aleksei; Nieces: Michelle (Kenny), Candia (Sheldon), Annie-Laurie, D’Andra (Darryl), Alexandria, Ellise, Asha and Shelisha; Grand Nephews: Stefano, Alverez, Tarik and Lerone, Jr.; Grand Nieces: Sasha, Selah, D’ana and Re’Miyah; Uncles: Ricardo (Maxine), Edgar (Bevey), John, Elvis Curling, Joey Woods, Silbert Mills, Lester, Sr. and Prince; Aunts: Ella, Patricia, Shirley, Clarice, Dolly, Sabrina and Helena; Cousins: Maneica, Kimberly, Sherrell, Kito, Daryn, Damon, Marlon, Daria, Tenielle, Renaldo, Kia, Tamar, Lester Jr., Tameko, Talea, Reno, Ricky, Edkeisha, Edgario, Edkeira, Chrystal, Desmond, Misty, Elvis Jr. and Mia; Special Friends: Nerika, Della, Aldeka, Bahiyyah, Nhomsa, Chandrice and Glen; Numerous Family Members including: Priscilla Johnson & families, Schandles Daniels, Patrick (Rose) Lockhart & family, Camille Johnson, Leonard (Valerie), Ernie, Kurt (Callonna), Wayde (Shavon) Wallace & families, Francina Thurston & families, Alfreda, Christina, AnnaRosa, Diana, Janice, Debra Burnell, Jr., Anthea, Myrna and Nataki, Thecla, Olga, Adeana, Cora and families, Faycita, Kendall, Jacob, Angela, Horace, Harlem, Micheline and families, Delmita Seymour and family, Hilda, Ernal, Ralph and families, Ann, Johnny, Lester and families, Sheila Curling and families, Florinda and families, Maudline Maycock and families, Enid Lockhart and families, Osbourn Pintard and Herman Munroe and families, All of the Moxey families; and a host of other relatives and friends including: the entire Ragged Island and Christ The King Parish Church community, and many more too numerous to mention.

Relatives and friends may pay their respects at Cedar Crest Funeral Home and Crematorium Ltd, Robinson and Baillou Hill Roads on Wednesday from 12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m.

PAGE 10, Tuesday, September 22, 2020

BIGGEST UNKNOWN WITH BETA IS HOW MUCH RAIN IT WILL BRING

By JUAN A. LOZANO Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — As Tropical Storm Beta neared the Texas coast Monday, the biggest unknown was how much rainfall it could produce in areas that have already seen their share of damaging weather during a busy hurricane season.

Beta’s winds were weakening as it got closer to making landfall sometime Monday evening and the storm was not expected to strengthen into a hurricane. But its path along the Texas coast over the next couple of days once it gets inland could produce bands of showers with heavy rainfall, forecasters said. Rain from Beta was already coming down Monday in the Houston area.

“This still is probably the most uncertain part of the forecast,” Dan Reilly, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in the Houston-Galveston office, said about rainfall from Beta.

Earlier predictions of up to 20 inches (51 centimetres) in some areas were downgraded Monday to up to 15 inches (38 centimetres). Texas coastal counties were most likely to see 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 centimetres) with 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 centimetres) farther inland, Reilly said.

Damage Forecasters and officials reassured residents Beta was not expected to be another Hurricane Harvey or Tropical Storm Imelda.

Harvey in 2017 dumped more than 50 inches (127 centimetres) of rain on Houston, causing $125 billion in damage in Texas.

Imelda, which hit Southeast Texas last year, was one of the wettest cyclones on record.

Beta’s maximum sustained winds were 45 mph (75 kph) Monday afternoon. Beta was moving northwest at 5 mph (8 kph) at about 4 p.m., forecasters said.

It was about 25 miles (40 kilometres) southeast of Port O’Connor, Texas.

Storm surge up to 4 feet (1.2 metres) was forecast from Port Aransas to Sabine Pass in Texas.

After Beta makes landfall, it is expected to move northeast along the coast and head into Louisiana sometime mid-week, forecasters said.

Flash flooding was possible in Arkansas and Mississippi as the system moves farther inland.

In Galveston, an island city southeast of Houston, there was already some street flooding from rising tides and part of a popular fishing pier collapsed due to strong waves.

Farther south on the Texas coast, Maria Serrano Culpepper along with her two daughters and dogs left their home in Magnolia Beach on Sunday night as Beta was predicted to make landfall in nearby Matagorda Bay. Culpepper said she didn’t want to be trapped in her home, three blocks from the beach, with wind, rain and possibly no electricity.

She and her family evacuated to a friend’s home in nearby Victoria.

Culpepper said her home should be fine as it’s on stilts 13 feet (4 metres) off the ground and was built to withstand strong storms.

“I’m feeling OK now.

I had two nights without sleeping because I was worried about (Beta) being a Category 1 hurricane.

“I calmed down when the storm lost power,” said Culpepper, who works as an engineer at a nearby chemical plant.

On Monday, Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for 29 Texas counties ahead of Beta’s arrival.

Forecasters ran out of traditional storm names on Friday, forcing the use of the Greek alphabet for only the second time since the 1950s.

Beta is forecast to dump heavy rain on the southwestern corner of Louisiana three weeks after the same area got pounded

by Hurricane Laura.

The rainfall and storm surge prompted Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards to declare a state of emergency.

THE TRIBUNE

TRUMP EXPECTS TO MAKE COURT PICK

BY SATURDAY, BEFORE GINSBURG BURIAL

By LISA MASCARO, JONATHAN LEMIRE and ALEXANDRA JAFFE Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday he expects to announce his pick for the Supreme Court by week’s end, before Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is buried, launching a monumental Senate confirmation fight over objections from Democrats who say it’s too close to the November election.

Conversations in the White House and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office are increasingly focused on two finalists: Amy Coney Barrett, who was at the White House on Monday, and Barbara Lagoa, according to a person granted anonymity to discuss the private deliberations. Trump himself confirmed they were among the top contenders.

Barrett has long been a favorite of conservatives and was a strong contender for the seat that eventually went in 2018 to Brett Kavanaugh.

At the time, Trump told confidants he was “saving” Barrett for Ginsburg’s seat.

Trump said he is planning to name his pick by Friday or Saturday, ahead of the first presidential election debate.

Ginsburg’s casket is to be on view mid-week on the iconic steps outside the court and later privately at the Capitol.

She is to be buried next week in a private service at Arlington National Cemetery.

Democrats, led by presidential nominee Joe Biden, are protesting the Republicans’ rush to replace Ginsburg, saying voters should speak first, on Election Day, Nov. 3, and the winner of the White House should fill the vacancy.

Trump dismissed those arguments, telling “Fox & Friends,” “I think that would be good for the Republican Party, and I think it would be good for everybody to get it over with.”

The mounting clash over the vacant seat — when to fill it and with whom — injects new turbulence in the presidential campaign as the nation reels from the coronavirus pandemic that has killed nearly 200,000 people, left millions unemployed and heightened partisan tensions and anger.

Democrats point to hypocrisy in Republicans trying to rush through a pick so close to the election after refusing to vote on a nominee of President Barack Obama in February 2016, long before that year’s election. Biden is appealing to GOP senators to “uphold your constitutional duty, your conscience” and wait until after the election.

Ginsburg, 87, died Friday of metastatic pancreatic cancer. She would be the first woman to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol. Rosa Parks, the civil rights leader, lay in honour, after her death in 2005.

Lagoa has been pushed by some aides who tout her political advantages of being Hispanic and hailing from the key political battleground

PRESIDENT Donald Trump speaks to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House, Monday, before leaving for a short trip to Andrews Air Force Base, Md., and then onto Ohio for rallies.

(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) state of Florida.

McConnell vowed on Monday to have a vote “this year” on Trump’s nominee. With just over a month before the election, he said the Senate has “more than sufficient time.”

Announcing a nominee on Friday or Saturday would leave less than 40 days for the Senate to hold a confirmation

BARBARA Lagoa (AP/Florida Supreme Court) vote before the election. No nominee has won confirmation that quickly since Sandra Day O’Connor — with no opposition from either party — became the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court in 1981.

Protesters are mobilising for a wrenching confirmation fight punctuated by crucial issues before the court — healthcare, abortion access and even the potential outcome of the coming presidential election. Some showed up early Monday morning outside the homes of key GOP senators.

Trump said Monday he had five finalists, “probably four” — all women — and had started speaking to them over the past two days. He said his preference was for someone younger who could

hold her seat for decades.

Trump admitted that politics may play a role. Late Monday, he gave a nod to another battleground state, Michigan, and White House officials confirmed he was referring to Joan Larsen, a federal appeals court judge there.

The president also indicated that Allison Jones Rushing, a 38-year-old appellate judge from North Carolina, is on his short list.

His team is also actively considering Kate Todd, the White House deputy counsel who has never been a judge but was a clerk for Justice Clarence Thomas.

As the Senate returned to Washington on Monday, attention focused on Republicans Mitt Romney of Utah and Chuck Grassley of Iowa for clues to whether Trump and McConnell will be able to confirm Ginsburg’s replacement quickly.

Four Republicans could halt a quick confirmation and Trump criticised Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska for opposing a vote before elections. The president warned they would be “very badly hurt” by voters.

Trump went so far as to disparage reports that Ginsburg had told her granddaughter it was her wish that a replacement justice not be confirmed until the inauguration of a new president. “It just sounds to me like it would be somebody else” who said that, Trump said, providing no evidence and pointing to political foes including Rep. Adam Schiff, the House Intelligence Committee chairman.

Schiff said Trump sank to a new “low” with that comment. He denied any involvement in Ginsburg’s dying wish but said he would “fight like hell to make it come true.”

RUTH Bader Ginsburg. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) A day earlier, Biden appealed to Republicans to join Murkowski and Collins in opposing a confirmation vote before the Nov. 3 election. He said, “Let the people speak. Cool the flames that have engulfed our country.”

Jamming the nomination through, Biden said, would amount to an “abuse of power.”

AMY Coney Barrett (Robert Franklin/South Bend Tribune via AP, File) On Monday, Biden focused on joblessness and the pandemic rather than the court vacancy as he campaigned in Wisconsin, aligning himself with the country’s workers, especially those who voted for Trump in 2016 after having backed President Barack Obama and Biden as vice president four years earlier.

He noted that COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. are surging past 200,000 and said of the count, which many

Democrats say Trump has done too little to stop, “I worry we’re risking becoming numb to the toll that it has taken on us and our country and communities like this.”

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer objected to McConnell’s “utterly craven” pursuit of Supreme Court confirmation under such circumstances, warning it would shatter Senate norms. “It’s enough to make your head explode,” he said.

The sudden vacancy is reshaping the presidential race, which to this point has been largely a referendum how Trump had managed the COVID-19 pandemic.

It seems certain to electrify both sides: Democrats were breaking fundraising records while a packed Trump crowd in North Carolina Saturday loudly chanted “Fill that seat.” But it remains unclear if the high bench vacancy — which could impact everything from abortion rights to legal challenges to the 2020 election — would persuade disenchanted Republicans to return to Trump or fire up women or suburban voters to break for Biden.

Republicans hold a 53-47 edge in the Senate. If there were a 50-50 tie, it could be broken by Vice President Mike Pence. ___ Jaffe reported from Philadelphia. Lemire reported from New York. Additional reporting by Laurie Kellman, Mark Sherman, Zeke Miller and Kevin Freking in Washington, Bill Barrow and Steve Peoples in New York.

ENORMOUS CALIFORNIA WILDFIRE THREATENS DESERT HOMES NEAR LA

By CHRISTOPHER WEBER Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — An enormous wildfire that churned through mountains northeast of Los Angeles and into the Mojave Desert was still threatening homes on Monday and was one of more than two dozen major fires burning across California.

Five of the largest wildfires in state history are currently burning and more than 5,600 square miles (14,500 square kilometres) have been charred, an area larger than the state of Connecticut, Gov. Gavin Newsom said.

At 165 square miles (427 square kilometres), the Bobcat Fire is one of the largest ever in Los Angeles County after burning for more than two weeks. It’s just 15% contained.

Evacuation orders and warnings are in place for thousands of residents in foothill and desert areas, where semi-rural homes and a popular nature sanctuary have burned. Statewide, at least 23,000 people remain evacuated, Newsom said.

No injuries have been reported for the fire about 50 miles (80 kilometres) northeast of downtown Los Angeles.

Erratic winds that drove flames into the community of Juniper Hills over the weekend had died down, said U.S. Forest Service spokesman Larry Smith.

“It’s slightly cooler too, so

hopefully that will be a help to firefighters,” Smith said.

Numerous studies in recent years have linked bigger U.S. wildfires to global warming from the burning of coal, oil and gas, especially because climate change has made California much drier.

A drier California means plants are more flammable.

Officials said it could be days before teams determine the scope of the destruction in the area burned by the Bobcat Fire Early estimates are that 6,400 buildings have been destroyed across the state, but Newsom said “by no stretch of the imagination do we think this tells the entire story.” Damage assessments are ongoing, he said.

The Bobcat Fire started Sept. 6 and has doubled in size over the last week as it ripped through forested areas that hadn’t burned in decades. The cause is under investigation.

Firefighters battled back against another flareup near Mount Wilson, which overlooks greater Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Mountains and has a historic observatory founded more than a century ago and numerous broadcast antennas serving Southern California.

Flames destroyed the nature center at Devil’s Punchbowl Natural Area, a geological attraction that sees some 130,000 visitors per year.

A wildlife sanctuary on the

JESSE VASQUEZ, of the San Bernardino County Fire Department, hoses down hot spots from the Bobcat Fire on Saturday, in Valyermo, Calif.

(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) property was undamaged, and staff and animals had been evacuated days earlier.

Nearly 19,000 firefighters in California are currently battling 27 major blazes, Newsom said.

At least 7,900 wildfires have erupted in the state this year, many during a mid-August barrage of dry lightning ignited parched vegetation.

Twenty-six people have been killed.

Officials were investigating the death of a firefighter at another Southern California wildfire that erupted earlier this month from a smoke-generating pyrotechnic device used by a couple to reveal their baby’s gender.

The death occurred Sept. 17 in San Bernardino National Forest as crews battled the El Dorado Fire about 75 miles (120 kilometres) east of Los Angeles, the U.S. Forest Service said in a statement. That blaze is 59% contained.

In Wyoming, officials warned that gusty winds on Monday could cause more growth of a wildfire burning toward cabins and an important water supply reservoir that’s a major source of water for the state’s capital city, Cheyenne.

The fire in the Medicine Bow National Forest is burning in heavily forested, rugged terrain which would usually would be busy now with hunters at the start of elk hunting season.

And in Colorado, more evacuations were ordered on Sunday as winds caused the state’s largest wildfire to grow.

Firefighters had to temporarily retreat from the massive Cameron Peak Fire near Red Feather Lakes.

Flames later spread into flatter ground which gave crews a better chance to battle the blaze, fire managers said.