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VOLUME:116 No.188, SEPTEMBER 24TH, 2019

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Migrants warned: We will follow the law No amnesty from repatriation for evacuees

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said undocumented immigrants affected by Hurricane Dorian face no protections and will be subject to the country’s laws of apprehension and deportation.

“Our laws will be followed, full-stop,” he told The Tribune. “We have laws and they will be followed and adhered to.

Those who have broken the law will be dealt with according to the law.”

The government had suspended apprehension and deportation exercises in areas affected

by Hurricane Dorian in the immediate aftermath of the storm, but officials yesterday suggested

that undocumented people displaced by the storm cannot expect to go about their lives as if they are protected from repatriation permanently.

Many displaced residents, especially undocumented ones, are believed to be staying in shelters on New Providence.

Immigration Minister Elsworth Johnson said the suspension of repatriation exercises in Grand Bahama and Abaco was to ensure that everyone, regardless of status, received social assistance and healthcare in keeping with international norms.

Now, he said, undocumented immigrants must ensure that they have at least applied for legal status in order to escape deportation.

SEE PAGE THREE

RESIDENTS from The Mudd cleaning clothes outside the Government Complex in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Dorian.

Photo: Terrel W. Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

SHANTY TOWN DEBRIS WILL BE CLEARED

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net IRAM Lewis, the new minister of state for disaster preparedness, recovery and reconstruction, said the government will contract companies to remove debris from The Mudd and Pigeon Peas.

Three weeks after Hurricane Dorian ravaged the Abaco shanty town communities, rubble is all

that remains in the areas. Some fear human and animal corpses lay underneath the rubble, yet to be retrieved.

With reconnaissance work completed, Mr Lewis said within a month companies will move in to clear the debris under the watchful eyes of law enforcement officers and undertakers.

“Contracts are being prepared, equipment and manpower have already been mobilised,” he said.

“We are as we speak in the process of moving things in Abaco. We’re going to use all the Bahamian companies and do an inventory of all the machines we have. That’s being formulated because we’ve never done this before. We will go layer by layer in the areas just in case we do find bodies. Undertakers and the police will be escorting us at all times because of what we might find.”

SEE PAGE SIX

BRAN: GIVE SHORT-TERM PROVISIONAL STATUS

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net FORMER State Immigration Minister Branville McCartney thinks undocumented migrants who were displaced by Hurricane Dorian should be given provisional status as a measure for the government to get a handle on an illegal migration problem that could easily spiral out of control.

In an interview with The Tribune yesterday, the former minister

explained that this measure would allow proper monitoring of those in the country illegally.

Once done, he said, stipulations could then be put in place that make it mandatory for these status holders to pay taxes.

This designation, he said, should come with an expiration date at which time the government may then decide whether or not to renew it.

Mr McCartney is the second public figure to come forward in

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

recent weeks with the concept of granting provisional status to those affected by Hurricane Dorian.

Earlier this month, Haitian Chargé D’Affaires Dorval Darlier called on the government to allow temporary asylum for those undocumented migrants affected by the monster storm. He said this would be the best way the Minnis administration could help his people as it would take years for them to rebuild their lives.

SEE PAGE SEVEN

PAGE 2, Tuesday, September 24, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

SUPPLIES being distributed by NEMA at Independence Park in Freeport on Saturday.

Photos: Vandyke Hepburn

Independence Park hosts NEMA relief distribution

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net HUNDREDS gathered at the Independence Park for Operation Relief Saturday – a major event organised by the National Emergency Management Agency to distribute much needed supplies, water, and hot meals to residents in a family fun atmosphere.

Families from near and far came with their children at the park from noon to 6pm on Saturday to collect supplies. There was also music, face painting, bouncing castle and slides, and free ice-cream.

Elnet Maritime Agency partnered with NEMA on the weekend, also delivering and donating trailers of goods for distribution at the park.

Senate President Kay Forbes-Smith, coordinator of NEMA Grand Bahama, said the venue served as an ideal central location for the distribution of relief supplies to residents.

“We started last week going in neighbourhoods but decided we would move to the Independence Park because we still had so many complaints of people saying they weren’t getting supplies,” she said on Saturday. “So, we wanted to find a location that most people can get to and give out relief supplies to persons.”

People stood for hours in line to have their boxes filled with relief items. However, many did not seem to mind the wait, chatting with

ELNET CEO Elbert Hepburn and his wife Gina Hepburn talk to relief coordinator Senator Kay Forbes-Smith.

GINA Hepburn gives a teddy bear and backpack to a youngster.

each other, enjoying the breezy conditions.

“I am so sorry that the line is so long, but that is indicative of the need. We are going as fast as we can, and we have volunteers doing the best they can, and I thank all the volunteers out here today,” Mrs Forbes-Smith said.

Additionally, various services were available on site, including counselling provided by counselors from the Department of Social Services, and representatives from Bahamas Customs/Inland Revenue, Department of Labour, Bahamas Red Cross, and BTC were also present.

Following the passage of Hurricane Dorian, relief supplies poured into Grand Bahama from many organisations and individuals,

RESIDENTS collecting supplies on Saturday.

both locally and overseas.

The supplies are stored at NEMA’s warehouse at Freeport Transport building, where they are sorted and packaged for distribution.

Mrs Forbes-Smith said it is important to get the relief supplies out of he warehouse and trailers and in the hands of those who desperately need them.

“The relief is going well, but we have to address people’s basic needs as people are still requiring and need supplies, and so that’s all we trying to do.

I am big on nothing being stored in the warehouse or trailers; I am big on getting it out the best way I can,” she stressed.

• Residents of Marsh Harbour, Sweeting’s Track, Spring City, Dundas Town,

Central Pines, Murphy Town and Great Cistern were last night alerted that food products, water, and supplies are available at Central Abaco Primary School, which is being used as a distribution centre.

Distribution of lunches (1pm) and dinner (6pm) is also taking place daily at Central Abaco Primary School.

In addition, residents are advised that forms for duty-free importation of replacement vehicles can be found at the Office of the Prime Minister in Abaco.

Application forms for NEMA building supplies are also available there.

The Office of the Prime Minister in Abaco is open Monday to Friday, 9am5pm.

The distribution centre is open Monday to Saturday, 9am-5pm.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, September 24, 2019, PAGE 3

Migrants warned: We will follow the law from page one “Now that we are in the restoration and rebuilding phase, we are enforcing our laws,” Mr Johnson said.

“Dorian did not give persons amnesty. If you were without status before the storm, you remain without proper status after the storm. If you don’t have your stuff, look at what the law requires. The laws will be applied in a way that maintains the dignity of people. We are in the rebuilding phase in Abaco and businesses must also ensure that the persons they hire are legal.”

Dr Minnis said Cabinet will further discuss immigration matters today.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a ceremony at Government House, he also said he still has confidence in the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). Under the Disaster Preparedness and Response Act, NEMA is responsible for coordinating and implementing the general policy of the government with respect to “mitigation of, preparedness for, response and recovery from emergencies and disasters in The Bahamas,” all of which now characterises the role of the new Ministry of Disaster Preparedness, Recovery and Reconstruction.

Asked if he has confidence in NEMA’s leadership, Dr Minnis said: “I have confidence in NEMA. You must remember, this is a storm that was never ever seen before so they had to work with what they had under the conditions that were presented to them.”

According to people familiar with his thinking, the confidence of former Prime Minister Perry Christie in NEMA’s head,

PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis with the newly appointed Minister of State for Disaster Preparedness, Management and Reconstruction, Iram Lewis, yesterday.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff Captain Stephen Russell, was shaken in the aftermath of Hurricane Joaquin, a storm that devastated central and southern islands in 2015.

Even though he valued Mr Russell’s ties to regional organisations like the Caribbean Disaster

Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), Mr Christie believed NEMA took too long to mobilise, according to two sources who spoke to The Tribune on the condition of anonymity. In the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian, local and international criticism

has centred on the pace of mobilisation of local resources.

Iram Lewis, the newly minted state minister, declined yesterday to criticise NEMA, saying the organisation will be playing an important role under his ministry.

“I don’t want to get into the name blaming, I would never criticise NEMA, because, like the rest of the country, we’ve never faced this level of superstorm before,” he said.

“NEMA will be a way of reinforcing what I’m doing. Ongoing training

is certainly necessary (at NEMA). Insofar as what NEMA has to do, nothing in particular, but the whole ministry, we have to focus to see how we can work hand in glove to ensure that if we go through another serious storm like this, that we will be prepared.”

‘GOVT TO WAIVE FEES TO REPLACE DOCUMENTS’

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net A SPOKESPERSON for the United Haitian Community Front says government has agreed to waive fees associated with replacing documents of people who lost all belongings due to Hurricane Dorian.

According to Louby Georges yesterday, the organisation has also been asked to help the government dispel falsehoods that portray negatively on Bahamian-Haitian relations.

He noted allegations that Bahamians killing Haitians by fire was one of the more gruesome rumours that those in the community had been working to debunk.

He told The Tribune these matters among others were discussed during a courtesy call yesterday with Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis at the Office of the Prime Minister on West Bay Street.

He said: “We were generally concerned about how documentation would go about. The government said that those that would have already been documented into the system, with work permits and other sorts of legal status, that the government was going to waive the fees for the replacements for those individuals and we think that was a good thing, that was one of the major concerns.

“If you need to go to the

registrar general for example, people who were born here or maybe marriage certificates whatever, they would waive the fees for evacuees who registered with social services and immigration fees to replace, let’s say, a lost work permit.

“The government also said that there were checks and balances to try to detect fraud and we know that that may also come.

“We are willing to assist the government in whatever way they see fit even if it is just educating on how processes will go.”

Mr Georges said the group requested a meeting with the prime minister because its members had been presented with many questions that they were not comfortable answering.

“We as a unit we have been inundated with questions and so we wanted to put forward the questions to relevant individuals and so the more relevant one would be the prime minister. “We didn’t want to start answering people and putting stuff out there that isn’t confirmed.

“We also wanted to do what any person would do and that is to formerly introduce the committee to him to make ourselves available to the government so that they would know there was a committee that was able and ready to work along with the government in any way that they would see fit.

“One of the things that we agreed that we could help with and we’ve been trying to help with is dispelling a lot of the myths and fake news that is out there.

“For example, the one where persons were claiming that Bahamians were burning Haitians, which we know to be a lie. You know the government side brought that up and asked

if we could assist with that in calming things down and keeping things cool. So we would help with that and point things out to them to dispel negative rumours.”

He said the government’s six-month construction ban on The Mudd and Pigeon Peas shanty towns was also discussed. The group has no issues with this matter, Mr Georges said yesterday.

LOUBY GEORGES

PAGE 4, Tuesday, September 24, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

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Disaster exposes Haiti-Bahamas strains THE complicated relationship between The Bahamas and the Haitian migrants who come to call the country home is increasingly being laid bare by tensions after Hurricane Dorian.

In the aftermath of that storm, Immigration Minister Elsworth Johnson said that repatriation exercises would be suspended in Grand Bahama and Abaco.

The obvious question that prompted was what happened to residents of those islands who evacuated to safety?

It is perhaps of little surprise that some decided to remain in the hurricaneaffected areas, uncertain as they might be as to what would happen to them if they came to New Providence or another island where repatriation exercises were still in operation.

This is particularly the case for those who might have lost their documents during the storm, walking away with only their lives and perhaps a surname that might require them to convince immigration officers of their status.

The simple truth is that amid the reconstruction after a storm of the magnitude of Dorian, many parts of the government - and our society at large will be under strain trying to cope.

Recently in this column, we suggested perhaps introducing some form of provisional status lasting maybe a year or 18 months, and it is interesting to see this call coming too from Branville McCartney, who had a fierce reputation during his time as immigration minister.

The advantages would be two-fold - first, it would take the pressure off in the immediate aftermath of the storm, meaning migrants wouldn’t be forced into hiding or, worse, crime while they tried to evade officers at a time when they have already lost everything.

Second, it could be the basis of trying to find a long-term solution to the vexing matter of immigration.

Of course there are hurdles - for example, you would want to ensure it was only available for a short period of time to those who are here now, rather than fresh arrivals trying to capitalise on it.

Goodness knows that the situation in Haiti itself is a mess. On today’s back page, you can read of a photographer, Chery Dieu-Nalio - whose work has often appeared in these pages - being shot as a government senator pulled a gun and opened fire amid a crowd of protestors.

Haitians living in The Bahamas have effectively been discouraged from returning to their home country by the embassy here, with the Chargé d’Affaires, Dorval Darlier, warning the country is “in a situation of crisis” with no legitimate government in place.

Add to that an average per capita income of about $350, inflation rocketing to 19 percent and fuel shortages, and you can see our southern neighbour is in the throes of a disaster of its own.

So is there a better way for us to deal with the situation of displaced individuals after the storm? If they leave the shelter they are in to try to get the documents they need, will they face the risk of being scooped up and detained?

It’s not an easy situation to be in and politically unpalatable for many in office. There are not many politicians who would be eager to be seen as being soft on immigration. But practical doesn’t have to mean soft, and a temporary solution doesn’t have to be a long-term commitment.

It feels like there is an impasse in how to deal with this issue - falling somewhere between supporting hurricane victims and being tough in support of the law. Perhaps a middle way can be found.

As a nation, we suffered together.

It would show our strength if we could rebuild together too.

Failure of government to aid Abaco EDITOR, The Tribune.

IN one way Hurricane Dorian has made me bitter towards so many people.

Like how the government has put up so much red tape that it has handicapped relief efforts. And how the government who will not stop the looting, and who through a combination of restrictions on supplies, along with the lack of law enforcement, has turned “normal” people into looters.

Those looters have not only destroyed the town but have created an atmosphere of fear that has further handicapped rescue and relief efforts, and discouraged people from rebuilding.

Most people just dropped everything and left out of fear of the looters or fear of the cholera rumour. Others that were not injured or didn’t have injured family members were going to stay and save what they had left.

But so many left simply out of fear, they left wet homes shuttered up knowing mould would destroy their homes, they left boat

motors and car engines to seize up that could have been easily serviced and got running again, they left basic roof repairs unfinished knowing more rain would destroy their homes further, they left family members that were still unaccounted for because they were afraid to go through the looters looking for them.

No doubt many of the flood victims were washed out to sea but no search and rescue effort by boat occurred the first few days out of fear of the looters.

I personally had a boat ready to put in the water that I was going to use to go look for family members but was afraid to leave my family and home unattended.

What adds insult to injury is that all of the foreign law enforcement in the country were willing to provide security and stop the looters, but the Bahamas government and law enforcement pretended to have the situation under control when every resident on the ground were crying for more help.

The cholera rumour could have been dispelled with one simple news conference where a leading doctor in The Bahamas could have explained what cholera is and how to avoid contracting it.

All of the governments unwillingness to act gave a lot of people the impression that the government was wilfully trying to destroy the town which led to even more people dropping everything and leaving, further handicapping the situation.

There are so many conspiracy theories one of which is that the government didn’t ask any foreign organisations to remove and search under the rubble for survivors or bodies because they plan on bulldozing the rubble and burying it to hide the real death toll that is exponentially higher than their official report.

Total government failure is the most common phrase that I’m hearing.

AMOS WEATHERFORD Marsh Harbour, September 23, 2019.

Praise for Miriam Emmanuel EDITOR, The Tribune.

THE staff at the Education Loan Authority have been working along with the chairman, Miriam Emmanuel, from the time she came in January 2018.

We, the staff, have seen the injustice that has been said; victimising and the malicious lies that were told in the papers which are totally untrue.

Madam Chairman met all staff on contract, and every staff contract had an expiry date in 2018 also. And, yes, she renewed everyone’s contract even employees who turned the offer down.

When it comes to the working condition at Education Loan Authority all staff are treated fairly. Some of the former employees who scandalise the madam chairman’s name and the Authority did not want order as it relates to general orders of a government entity. Be at work on time, do your assigned work and many others.

Chairman Emmanuel has a heart for her staff and will go the extra mile for all, in every which way she can so the authority can run effectively.

Hence, it really bothers the

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net staff at Education Loan Authority to see old staff spreading lies about Chairman Emmanuel.

Mrs Emmanuel, Chairman of the Education Loan Authority, is a gem, and she is a very responsible and hard working lady.

She came to this authority with excellent ideas in reference to ensuring client pay and payoffs, which is succeeding.

Yes, some of the staff feel as if they should have more privilege than others, but when Chairman Emmanuel came she treated everyone equal and with respect, unlike previous employers. “Madam chair” as we called her always quote: “I treat people the way I would want to be treated.”

She stands firmly by that.

Months ago, in parliament when she gave her speech and made a mistake, she was ridiculed terribly for something anyone of us could have done. What type of country are we living in today? We are so unkind.

No one is perfect!

Mrs Emmanuel is

intelligent, humble, smart, courageous, loving and kind towards all with whom she comes in contact, especially employees at the authority. The FNM Government could not have chosen a better candidate for MICAL. Indeed she is a woman of God and responsibilities lay in her hands in which she is more than capable of handling.

Therefore, I submit, to every reader, those articles written by unruly former staff in the past about Chairman Emmanuel are completely untrue. This article here written is all truth about Chairman Emmanuel. The staff at Education Loan Authority appreciates her for the high morale she has set and the standards in this department, you have made the workplace a friendly environment for all.

Chairman Emmanuel, remain steadfast, keep up the good work, standard, and morale at the authority. We are so thankful to have you. Well done from the bottom of our hearts, you came and made that difference.

CONCERNED Nassau, September 23, 2019.

Abject apology EDITOR, The Tribune.

I RECENTLY read in a newspaper (not The Tribune) an account of conditions in the storm shelter at the old Bahamas Academy gym.

One of the storm refugees, a gentleman who said he was there with his girlfriend, is quoted as saying, “The way we are living, socially, it’s not really how it’s supposed to be.”

The report went on to cite other complaints

including how people had to hang their washing out to dry where other people could see it.

Permit me, please, on behalf of the donors and volunteers, to abjectly apologise to this gentleman, his girlfriend and any others whose expectations at the shelter were not met.

I apologise that conditions at the shelter were not conducive to ideal social living.

I apologise that there was no laundry service or

washing machines at the shelter.

I apologise for any other inconvenience that the gentleman, his girlfriend and the others had to endure.

You see, there was this catastrophic hurricane and thousands of people… But the gentleman, his girlfriend and the others must know about that.

I am still …

FLABBERGASTED Nassau, September 23, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, September 24, 2019, PAGE 5

Restoration begins at Grand Bahama Children’s Home

By RIEL MAJOR Tribune Staff Reporter rmajor@tribunemedia.net

RESTORATION efforts of the Grand Bahama Children’s Home and Columbus House are currently being carried out, according to Social Services Minister Frankie Campbell.

Speaking to reporters yesterday on the side-lines of a press conference about Older Persons Month, Mr Campbell said the residents of the Grand Bahama Children’s Home (GBCH) were placed in homes in New Providence post-Hurricane Dorian.

He said: “(They were) divided between the Children’s Emergency Hostel, Elizabeth Estates Children Home, and The Ranfurly Home according to their age grouping. Work is being done to restore the Grand Bahama Children’s Home and the Columbus House, which housed the older children.

“But in the interim, the same level of care that children received while in Grand Bahama they are receiving here in New Providence. …They are missing some of the caregivers that they would have had, and we are making efforts to see if we could (have a) reunion in that regard. All of our children are well.”

Mr Campbell said his ministry has not received any information suggesting any child has been orphaned as a result of the storm.

“That isn’t to say that it hasn’t happened, but no information would have reached the Ministry of Social Services that here is child a who is now orphaned as a result of the

CLEARANCE work begins at Grand Bahama Children’s Home. storm. “. . .If there was such traumatizing experience for an incident, maybe other our children. relatives would have taken “However, the directhem in, but no information tors of the homes have all has reached us indicating been in constant contact that,” he said. with me, reassuring me that In a press statement our children are being well issued Sunday, GBCH exec- taken care of. That has utive director Sheila been a relief for our entire Johnson-Smith said the team and has made it a facility sustained significant little easier to focus on the damage. rebuild efforts.”

She said: “What wasn’t She added: “At this time, totally destroyed is now we simply have nowhere mould-infested, so we to house anyone or take are literally starting from anyone in, which is why the ground up. This has this restoration effort is so been a harrowing and very important. We understand

Photo: GBCH/Barefoot Marketing that now, more than ever, our services will be in great demand and we are working along with the Department of Social Services to assist where we can until we are able to reopen our doors as a place of safety and protection for our children.”

Sarah Kirkby, GBCH executive board member, said the home needs money.

She said: “As our children are now in Nassau, we are not asking for any perishables. Sadly, we need to rebuild our three housing areas, our offices, and

(build) two new wings in preparation for any additional children that the Department of Social Services may wish to place with us, following this horrific hurricane.

“Spartan Builders is already on-site; we have limited insurance to rebuild, but we are determined to get going right away,” Ms Kirkby noted. “Our plan is also to use local builders, in order to support our Grand Bahama economy. It is the corporate entities here and the people of Freeport who have kept us

open all these years.”

The statement also said: “Thanks to the overwhelming assistance from volunteers and because of the staff’s around-theclock dedication, the home has been cleaned, gutted, and had the mouldy, waterstained sheetrock walls cut out and discarded.”

Anyone interested in helping with the restoration of the GBCH is encouraged to donate to the organisation’s GoFundMe account: Rebuild Grand Bahama Children’s Home.

SOCIAL SERVICES TO REVIEW BUDGET FOLLOWING STORM

By RIEL MAJOR Tribune Staff Reporter rmajor@tribunemedia.net

THE Ministry of Social Services will have to review its budget as it balances previous commitments with an increase in demand for public assistance in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian, according to Social Services Minister Frankie Campbell.

He also said his ministry is working tirelessly so displaced residents from Abaco and Grand Bahama can return to their islands and “be a part of the cleaning and restoration” process.

The minister said the storm hasn’t changed the Ministry of Social Services’ focus or mandate, but has intensified the ministry’s efforts.

“Social Services is the humanitarian arm of the government. We believe in the philosophy that man’s basic needs are food, shelter and clothing.

Those are items that we would have been addressing prior to the storm.

We are intent on reviewing our budget, mindful that we would have to provide those services for more persons than we had anticipated when the budget would have been

passed,” he said.

“I would have made it clear during the budget, we found that personal emoluments would have been set aside for persons who are no longer there.

Those personal emoluments would have been moved so unless you’re suggesting to me that we are having problems with persons we now have to pay that is a moot point,” he told reporters.

He added: “Nothing else was decreased in the budget as it relates to social assistance. However, mindful of the aftermath of Dorian we now have to review those various same

services that we would have been giving because we now realise that the numbers will increase.”

The number of evacuees in shelters is about 1,700, a reduction of previous figures, Mr Campbell told reporters on the sidelines of a press conference to announce Older Persons Month.

The government hopes to get many of these victims back to their home islands soon.

He said: “. . .Psychologically, persons want to be in an environment that they’re more familiar with.

We know Abaconians and Grand Bahamians don’t

necessarily like New Providence. They come here and do their business and they go back as soon as possible so we want to put them in that frame of mind where they’re in an area that they’re most familiar and happy with.

“That said, the assessments are geared towards identifying persons who, based on minimal damage of their own houses, could with small assistance go back to their houses and start to seek some form of normalcy.”

He added: “And the second stage would be persons who need greater assistance be it labour

etcetera, the central government has set aside arrangements to cause those things to happen while we continue to work with our international partners for the long term.”

Two weeks ago, NEMA said the number of people reported missing was 1,300.

Mr Campbell said yesterday the number has decreased but could not provide a specific figure.

He said: “I can’t say (the number) for fear of giving you wrong figures. I won’t give any figures but persons are continuing to be reunited and so the number has decreased.”

PAGE 6, Tuesday, September 24, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

THE EXTENSIVE damage and destruction to The Mudd from Hurricane Dorian.

Shanty town debris will be cleared from page one

THE SWEARING-in ceremony for Iram Lewis as Minister of State for Disaster Preparedness, Management and Reconstruction alongside Governor General Cornelius A Smith at Governmetn House.

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

When the grim work begins, Mr Lewis said it will be important for civilians not to hinder workers.

“Persons must not be allowed to inhabit areas where we are working,” he said. “For example, in Abaco where we have to clean obviously The Mudd and Pigeon Peas where we don’t know what we are going to find when we take the debris out, it will be very tedious process, it’s going to be very sensitive, there will be exposure to a lot of dangerous chemicals

so we don’t know what will be on the ground. In order to keep people safe and do our work, it is paramount that we have the area clear.

It is difficult to renovate a room when the room isn’t clear. We won’t force anybody out but we will ensure that whatever is needed for us to be effective, will happen.”

Mr Lewis, the Central Grand Bahama MP, was previously the parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Works. He was sworn in as the country’s newest state minister at a ceremony at Government House yesterday.

Photo: Gonzalo Gaudenzi/AP

CENTRAL Grand Bahama MP Iram Lewis at his swearing-in as Minister of State for Disaster Preparedness, Management and Reconstruction yesterday.

Funeral Service For

Thelma Delores L. Sands, 90 of Hamsphire Drive, Cable Beach, will be held on Thursday, September 26th, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. at Calvary Bible Church, Collins Avenue. Officiating will be Pastor Tommy Albury, assisted by Pastor Fredrick Arnett. Interment will follow in Woodlawn Gardens, Soldier Road.

Left to cherish her fond memories are her Daughters: Leslie (Collingwood), Gayle (Jamal) and Sharon (Earl); grandchildren: Dr. Nisha and Nadja Armbrister, Lesley Taylor, Jeremy Long, and Symphony Knowles (William); great-grandchildren: Jai Smith, Jonathan Cartwright, Isabella Knowles; Brother: Edward Major; Brothers-in-law: John Harvey and Dr. Bernard Rolle; Sisters-in-law: Beryl Campbell, Roberta, Orry and Cheryl Sands, and Christine Francis; nieces; Ingrid Knowles (Daniel), Deidre Knowles (Peter), Monique McCaskill (Rodney), Kim and Candace Major, Sanfra Foster, Diane Stewart, Renee Lockhart, Elma Campbell, Katina Campbell-Bowe, Disa and Tamara Campbell, Carol Strachan (Anthony), Andre Sparks, Davina Francis, Dr. Caryn Sands, Dr. Noelyn Farquharson (Floyd), Heather Hunt (Dario), Lydia Watkins; nephews: Michael Ford (Linda), Ian Ford (Joyce), Anthony Major (Gwendolyn), Quentin Harvey, Gregory and Glen Major, Jason Foster, Robert (Sandy) Sands (Michelle), Dr. Basil Sands, Hon Dr. Dwayne Sands (Laurika), Carlton Francis, Christopher Francis (Anastacia), Derek Sands (Marcia), Darren Sands, Bede Sands, Bernard (Ted) Rolle; grand-nieces: Daneal Knowles, Yacasta Ford-Marcelli, (Joseph), Yasmin Ford, Kimberley Major, Laquera Ford-Ferguson, Terae Ford, Jada Johnson, Ashley and Holly Sands, Aysia Dorsette, Adrane and Mila Sands, Malaika Chase, Dr. Krysti Bowe, Rhyan Rigby, Riley Harper, Amber Sparks, Tiffany Hutchison, Maja Francis, Sy’rai Butler, Samantha and Morgan Sands, Hannah D’Aguilar, Aaliyah Rolle, Leah, Llaila and Lily Hunt; grand-nephews: Michael Ford, Trent Ford, Drew Knowles, Delano (Georgette), Omar and Lauren Sands, Dana and Dylan Stewart, Basil, William, Tyler and Brett Sands, Kai Strachan, Justin and Jonathan Lockhart, Brandon and Nicholas Sands, Amadeus Durhan, Ché Chase, Carlos Sparks (Emily), Christoph and Kyle Williams, Liam Francis, Daniel D’Aguilar, Jordan, Peter and Samuel Farquharson and Liam Rolle; great-grand nieces; Gabriella Sands, Dior Stewart and Drew Brennen; great grand-nephews: Eldin (Eli) Ferguson, Trevor Miller, Dave Sands, Derron and Dimani Stewart, Thierry Chase; god children: Pequita Huyler and Phiulip Allen. Other relatives and friends: Esme Bain, Janis Sanders, Morris Farrington, Pat McNeal, Kim Bain, Val Middleton, Carol Ban, Rosie Grant and family, Jestina and Sharice Major, Catherine Storr, Deidre Rolle, Troy Williams and Bruce Niro, Winnie Knowles and family, Barbara Albury and Family, BEC retirees, PHM Yellow Bird Auxiliary, the Petal Pushers, Carla Minns and Tyreek Munroe, Paul and Portia Fernander and family, Philippa Farquharson and family, Cheryl Smith and family, Ena Williams and family, the Long family, pastor Rob and Elizabeth Elliot, Pastor Frederick and Helen Arnett, Pastor Tommy and Cathy Albury, and members of Calvary Bible Church, the colony village park walking crew, Coopers Terrace Family, the Betty K staff, Dr. Zenna Friend-Sturrup and the Family Medicine Centre staff, Dr. Locksley Munroe and staff and Nurse Anna Forbes.

Friends may pay their last respects at Bethel Brothers Morticians & Crematorium #44 Nassau Street on Wednesday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and at the Church on Thursday from 9:00 a.m. until service time.

FROM left, Patricia Minnis and her husband, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, Governor General Cornelius A Smith, Iram Lewis MP and his wife, Heather Tynes-Lewis.

CENTRAL Grand Bahama MP Iram Lewis and his wife, Heather Tynes-Lewis.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, September 24, 2019, PAGE 7

Reservist cleared of sex charge - but guilty of abduction and assult of girl

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net RESERVE Sergeant Dwayne Decosta was unanimously acquitted yesterday of having sex with a 13-year-old girl at a police station last year, but was convicted of abducting and assaulting her.

A nine-member jury—five men and four women—unanimously found the 56-year-old security officer guilty of committing the two lesser offences at the South Beach Police Station on July 14, 2018.

Decosta, who is married with two children and five grandchildren, will be sentenced on October 2. His bail continues until that time.

After Decosta was convicted, Crown attorney Perry McHardy said the prosecution is seeking the maximum sentence for both convictions—three years for assault and two years for abduction.

However, Decosta’s attorney Murrio Ducille questioned the logic behind such a submission given that Decosta was a firsttime offender.

“The law doesn’t operate that way,” he said. “It’s not asinine.”

Additionally, Mr Ducille submitted that no evidence was adduced, either through the teenager or the other Crown witnesses that would “constitute” or satisfy the ingredients of the two offences.

In any event, Mr Ducille appealed for the judge to be merciful, as he submitted that she would not be taking “any risks” in applying her discretion “in a lenient way” in sentencing his client.

Mr Ducille further submitted that it is not every case that warrants the “deprivation of one’s liberty,” and asserted that Decosta is “not the sort of individual” society should be apprehensive about.

Mr Ducille further noted

DWAYNE Decosta outside court previously.

Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff that while he could not give a character reference on Decosta’s behalf, he has known his client from the time he was a prosecutor, and said the man has an “unimpeachable and impeccable character”.

Justice Cheryl GrantThompson indicated that she needed further time to consider Decosta’s sentence, and adjourned the matter to next week.

During trial, it was initially alleged that Decosta digitally penetrated the teenager, who is now 14, and made her perform oral sex on him in a room upstairs in the station’s fire services garage. It was alleged the acts occurred while Decosta was working the 1am to noon shift.

The allegations emerged from a statement the girl gave to Inspector Altida Bowles in her mother’s presence on the same date of the incident.

It was alleged that after being taken to the police station by her father’s neighbour around 6am on July 14, and while sitting in the foyer, an officer in navy blue called the girl from the foyer and directed her to a room upstairs at the rear of the building.

According to the evidence, Decosta beckoned for the girl to come outside at 11.53am.

While upstairs in the fire

BRAN: GIVE SHORT-TERM PROVISIONAL STATUS from page one

“The government certainly did the right thing in suspending deportations in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian,” Mr McCartney told The Tribune.

“I think what needs to happen initially is to ensure that the persons who have been displaced, firstly determine who they are and I think this is a good opportunity to determine who the persons who are illegal in this country are and it is certainly suggested that now is the time to start registering these people.

“Had the hurricane not occurred, these persons would have still been in this country, thousands of them.

So, I think this is an opportunity now to register who’s in your country.

“Now the rebuilding and restoration is going to take some time. It’s not going to happen overnight and while that is happening I would assume the deportations would cease for a certain period of that time. We don’t know what timeframe that is.

“So the suggestion is that these persons be registered.

The unfortunate event of the hurricane has occurred.

Many of these persons have been displaced and now is the time for registration and as I’ve suggested, it may be prudent during that period of time for these persons to have some kind of temporary status with a time limit placed on it for a renewal of that status or a determination as to whether or not that status ought to be renewed, so that these persons who are here in light of the suspension of the repatriations now can help contribute to our society by paying their taxes and being able to do certain things so that it doesn’t all fall on the

government and the tax payers of this country.”

He continued: “I think we need to, from an immigration standpoint, see how best we could start to rectify our illegal immigration concerns. If this is not handled right, certainly we stand on the cusp of a more serious problem.

“It is certainly understandable for the repatriations to cease for a period but use that period of time to get information on those persons who are here illegally in particular.

“Look at it as doing something that would allow them, since they are here, to pay for their way here by paying the taxes, because we do know that a lot of the illegals, they use our social services, they use our educational system and our health system and this is a drain our society and they are not paying any taxes. So while they’re here put it in place where they are able to pay taxes.

“Now I think that covers both bases in the sense of looking at a humanitarian point of view, the government would be suspending the repatriations for a period of time and in the meantime those persons who are here illegally will have to contribute to this society,” the former Bamboo Town MP said.

However, yesterday, government officials indicated that while repatriations of affected persons had been suspended in the immediate aftermath of the storm, the migrants face no protections and will be subject to the country’s laws of apprehension and deportation.

Immigration Minister Elsworth Johnson said about three weeks ago that officials had no intention of granting undocumented storm victims any special status.

services garage, Decosta was alleged to have forced the girl to commit sex acts.

According to the evidence, the girl returned to the foyer at 12.21pm.

However, when the girl gave sworn evidence, she denied telling police about any sexual acts allegedly committed by Decosta, and in fact said the contents of her statement were “incorrect”.

The teenager said

although she signed her statement, she did not read it over before she signed, and neither was it read back to her by the interviewing officer. She also said she didn’t sign the document truthfully.

The girl also testified in open court that she could not remember if her mother was present during the interview.

And those admissions came after she doubled down on her previous testimony that “nothing” sexual happened between her and Decosta at the South Beach Police Station.

Insp Bowles, who took the statement from the girl and conducted Decosta’s record of interview, has since said that not only did she read the girl’s statement back to her, but the eighth grader signed it “in four places” along with her mother before she herself signed it.

During the trial, the girl confirmed that she told police that while inside the station, an officer wearing navy blue, said to be Decosta, approached her.

She initially denied telling police that the officer called her outside, but then told the prosecutor that an officer did in fact call her outside.

The teenager went on to confirm that she told police that Decosta told her to go to the rear of the building, which she said she did.

She confirmed that she told police that Decosta followed her to the rear of the building before instructing her to take a flight of stairs.

She said she told police that Decosta was behind her the entire time.

According to the evidence, that area of the fire services shed is “restricted” and not operational due to mould. Civilians in particular are not allowed in that area, according to the evidence.

Subsequent to the nocase submission stage of the trial, it was revealed that the charge of unlawful sexual intercourse was no longer before the jury, but rather the lesser charges of abduction and assault.

On Mr Ducille’s advice, Decosta elected to remain

silent and not to give any evidence to counteract the Crown’s claims, though he maintained: “I’m innocent of all charges.”

However, as a result of Decosta’s new charges, Mr Ducille appealed to the jury to apply “common sense” in deciding his client’s fate, as he questioned how his client could be made to answer to an assault charge when the court ruled he had no case to answer on the unlawful sexual intercourse charge.

The attorney also insisted that no evidence had been led during the trial to satisfy any of the charges, hence his client’s choice to remain silent despite having “the sword of Damocles over his head”.

However, lead Crown prosecutor Jacqueline Burrows urged the jury to accept whatever evidence the girl was willing to give, that of what she said took place from Decosta called her outside and directing her to the rear of the building, notwithstanding that the girl was unwilling to tell her true story in court.

PAGE 8, Tuesday, September 24, 2019

New structure for handling disasters YESTERDAY’S press reports about the creation, in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian, of a new ministry to deal with disasters will no doubt be widely welcomed.

Having argued in last week’s column for the appointment of a heavyweight supremo to oversee and coordinate the recovery and reconstruction of Abaco and Grand Bahama, I think it is good news that a separate ministry will now be in place not only to carry out this task but also to take charge – on a permanent basis and reporting directly to the Prime Minister – of disaster preparedness and the handling of major incidents in the future.

This is a significant development because having a government minister directly responsible

THE TRIBUNE

THE PETER YOUNG COLUMN provides the required authority and weight to achieve success in such vital work. With energetic and imaginative leadership, it should also help to give the staff in the new ministry the necessary delegated authority to be able do their jobs effectively.

MINISTER of State for Disaster Preparedness, Management and Reconstruction Iram Lewis with Governor General Cornelius A Smith during his signing ceremony yesterday.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

BRITISH AIRWAYS - A HUNDRED YEARS OF REACHING FOR THE SKY

AFTER writing last week about the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War, it might be interesting to note another anniversary of a much happier kind. This is the centenary last month of the establishment of international air services in 1919 by a forerunner of British Airways. There were a number of celebratory events to mark BA’s 100th birthday but the milestone seems to have attracted only limited publicity.

BA traces its history back to August of that year when a company called Aircraft Transport and Travel started operating a daily flight between London and Paris – from Hounslow Heath which much later developed into the mighty Heathrow -- and Le Bourget, using a small British-built, single engine biplane carrying a few passengers together

with mail. This was considered to be the world’s first international commercial air service.

Nowadays, BA operates some 800 flights a day to 200 destinations around the globe and has developed into one of the world’s leading airlines. Four fledgling airlines merged to form Imperial Airways Ltd in 1924, and another amalgamation created the privately-owned airline which was later nationalised and became BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation) and BEA (British European Airways) operating, respectively, international and short-haul European and domestic routes. In 1974 these were combined to form British Airways which was privatised in 1987.

It would be foolish to claim that as an airline BA is not without its critics. While many are generally satisfied with BA’s performance,

it is the case that others complain about high fares, computer failures, check-in difficulties, lost baggage, indifferent food and unhelpful cabin staff. Some still recall the teething troubles at BA’s relatively new Terminal 5 at Heathrow; and, most recently, many have condemned the current industrial action by pilots who, by most people’s standards, are already well remunerated, and deservedly so for what is a highly skilled and responsible job.

Reportedly, such strike action

by BA pilots is unprecedented. It has caused serious disruption of schedules and unacceptable inconvenience to passengers together with continuing uncertainty – and, if this strike is not called off, the repercussions could do irreparable damage to the airline.

From comments online, it is clear that most people do not want

to know the details. But that the strike has happened at all suggests to many observers that BA’s management has been incompetent, if not irresponsible, by allowing such a harmful situation to develop – instead of reaching some sort of compromise in such a sophisticated and competitive industry.

Such a litany of criticism sounds serious and perhaps this is not the moment to be singing BA’s praises. All that said, however, many of its faults and problems are common to most, though not all, airlines. What is surely the top priority for most people is commercial aviation safety. So it is worth emphasising that BA was rated one of the safest airlines in 2017 and 2018 and has had only one fatal accident since it was formed in 1974 – and that was a midair collision later blamed on an air traffic control error.

AUTUMN - A TIME FOR REFLECTION ACCORDING to the meteorologists, autumn in the northern hemisphere starts on September 1 and lasts until the beginning of December which is the onset of winter.

The astronomers say it is the period from the autumn equinox – when the length of day and night is roughly equal -- until the winter solstice as the shortest day.

Be that as it may, to most people autumn is simply defined as the season between summer and winter. Unlike in the tropics where the months of August, September and October are the height of the hurricane season, autumn in temperate climes is a period of quiet and consolidation. It signals the slow descent into the

hibernation of winter, with the days becoming progressively shorter and the clocks going back while temperatures slowly decline.

The wonder of nature is such that the leaves of deciduous trees drop after changing into the beautiful fall colours so spectacularly evident in New England.

With the warmth of an autumnal sun and the harvest already complete, the season is a period of ripeness, mellowness and maturity.

In France, the beginning of September means ‘ la rentree’ when people return en masse to Paris from their summer holidays on the Cote d’Azur.

Autumn in England means cool, still and crisp days, log fires and mulled wine,

back to school and the start of the football and rugby seasons while in Germany the Oktoberfest in Munich, the capital of Bavaria, attracts six million beer lovers wanting to attend this annual beer festival.

Amidst all this, I can think of nothing nicer than to listen, in solitary splendour, to the mellifluous tones of the incomparable Ella Fitzgerald singing about autumn in New York.

The season of autumn induces for many a sense of return to the normality and certainty of familiar everyday life after the excitement and activity of high summer and foreign travels. It can also be a period of reflection and readjustment while seeking balance and contentment. It is associated

with Halloween, Thanksgiving and Remembrance Day. Often it is a time of sadness as a reminder of physical deterioration and decline and of loss and the impermanence of life itself.

Thus, it is a reminder to people to embrace the present – carpe diem – and to appreciate and savour what they have before it disappears for ever.

But for the optimist there is always the anticipation of a resurgence of new life and of opportunities and pleasures to come after autumn turns into the fallow period of winter which then gives way to the coming spring.

Even in the dullest depths of a northern hemisphere winter the promise of spring and hope for the future is never far away!

Having travelled on a variety of airlines in many different countries during a long diplomatic career, one has inevitably faced greater risks -- not least in West African countries whose air safety records are, at best, variable – than taking the shuttle from London to Manchester or Edinburgh.

But I, for one, board any BA flight with confidence because of its reputation for good, thorough and effective maintenance and the sure knowledge that its pilots are well trained, well qualified, competent and experienced.

For all its other shortcomings – many of which are, I believe, often exaggerated -- BA scores highly for its safety standards, and that is surely what matters most.

So, let us hope the airline will continue to prosper -- perhaps for another 100 years?

CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS IN THE UK? NO, this is not directly about Brexit again but a constitutional matter that has arisen in that context.

At the time of writing, the Supreme Court in England is due to reach a verdict this week on the legality of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to prorogue or suspend the Westminster Parliament.

In last week’s column I mentioned that the indications were the Supreme Court might heed the government’s submission that the courts should not “cross the boundaries and intrude upon the business of Parliament”.

However, according to UK press reports over the weekend, opinion has

apparently moved against the government’s case after last week’s three-day hearing so that many now believe the court will find Mr Johnson’s advice to The Queen about prorogation to have been unlawful.

This is both intriguing and a matter of great concern that could be potentially dangerous for the nation’s democracy. The prospect of such a momentous verdict, which would mean the judiciary interfering in what is purely a political matter, has been described as likely to set off a “constitutional eruption of volcanic proportions”.

Everybody is surely now awaiting the outcome of this case with trepidation.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, September 24, 2019, PAGE 9

‘More storms like Dorian’ warns UN secretary general UNITED Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres sounded the alarm on climate change at the UN’s Climate Action Summit yesterday, saying images of Hurricane Dorian’s destruction in Grand Bahama and Abaco will be seen more frequently if action is not taken.

“A few days ago, I was in the Bahamas where Hurricane Dorian pounded the country for two unrelenting days,” he said at the summit, which was held at the UN’s headquarters in New York. “The destruction was not simply appalling. It was apocalyptic.”

Secretary Guterres noted the impact of other destructive weather phenomena on the world: in Tuvalu, people are fighting against rising seas; in Mozambique, residents are facing the after effects of unprecedented back-to-back cyclones.

“Seas are rising and oceans are acidifying. Glaciers are melting and corals are bleaching. Droughts are spreading and wildfires are burning. Deserts are expanding and access to water is dwindling, Heatwaves are scorching and natural disasters are multiplying. Storms everywhere are more intense, more frequent, more deadly,” he said.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, temperature rise above 1.5 degrees will cause major and irreversible damage to ecosystems.

“But science also tells us it its not too late,” Secretary Guterres said. “We can do it. Limiting warming to 1.5 degrees is still possible.

But it will require fundamental transformations in all aspects of society, how we grow food, use land, fuel

PRESIDENT Donald Trump listens at an event on religious freedom during the United Nations General Assembly yesterday in New York, with UN Secretary General António Guterres, left.

Photo: Evan Vucci/AP our transport and power our economies. We need to link climate change to a new model of development - a fair globalisation - with less suffering, more justice and harmony between people and planet.”

“As the scientific community has told us again and again, we need to cut greenhouse emissions by 45 percent by 2030; reach carbon neutrality by 2050; and limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees by the end of

the century. And we need to accelerate financial support. The replenishment of the Green Climate Fund is crucial, as is fulfilling the commitment by developed countries to mobilise $100 billion a year from

public and private sources by 2020 for mitigation and adaptation in developing countries.

“Even if we succeed in reducing emissions, many people are already living with the dramatic

effects of climate change.

Adaptation has therefore become a top priority and an essential condition for increasing the resilience of countries and communities and avoiding human suffering.”

PAGE 10, Tuesday, September 24, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Vehicle swept off Glass Window Bridge by waves

By LEANDRA ROLLE lrolle@tribunemedia.net TWO men had a close call in Eleuthera last week after their vehicle got hit by monstrous waves at the Glass Window Bridge and was tossed onto rocks.

One of them has faulted officials for not closing the bridge sooner, due to the sea conditions.

Eleuthera resident Edgar Seligman said it was shortly after parking his truck on the side of the road last Wednesday when weather conditions at the bridge started to deteriorate drastically.

“As my friend and I got out the truck, the ground beneath our feet was dry.

We watched helplessly as the first monster wave swept my truck like a piece of Styrofoam over a concrete barrier and onto the rocks below with my dog, Harry, inside,” he said. “I then took a calculated risk and ran to rescue Harry, who was shaken up as I was, but not injured.”

According to Mr Seligman, his truck was

hit by waves around 1.45pm. Shortly after the incident occurred, the Glass Window Bridge was closed by officials due to strong sea surge. Police in Nassau issued an advisory shortly after 2pm that day.

However, according to Mr Seligman, a special marine advisory was not issued until 5pm. He told The Tribune that if he had been notified of bad conditions at the bridge in advance, he would not have travelled there.

“We need to share information as quickly as possible. I’ve been told by a neighbour of mine that police were actually at the bridge assessing the situation at 11.30 in the morning… People could say ‘oh, you lived there, you saw the waves’ but when I got out of my truck, the ground beneath my feet was dry. It could’ve been avoided if people (the police) had shared information earlier,” he said.

When contacted for comment, Chief Superintendent Stephen Adderley, of the Governor’s Harbour Police Station, explained that once

officers were notified of the situation and investigations were made, the bridge was closed with the public immediately being made aware.

“If you know what Eleuthera is like, the bridge sits between North Eleuthera and Gregory Town and if we’re patrolling in those areas and we have been made aware that the conditions exist, then we’ll shut down the bridge if we’re aware. We made our observations when we came there and shut it down,” he said.

“Sometimes conditions like that one are impromptu. It was without warning… Even though the Met Office might put out a marine advisory, it has nothing to do with the Glass Window Bridge per se. Once we understand that the conditions there exist that would put road users at risk, then we will shut the bridge down.”

Police officials confirmed yesterday morning that the all clear has been given for the Glass Window Bridge, noting that it is now open for both pedestrian and vehicular traffic.

THE VEHICLE that was swept off the road in this picture published in the Eleutheran.

READERS RESPOND TO CREATION OF NEW MINISTRY AFTER Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis announced the creation of a new Ministry of Disaster Preparedness, Management and Reconstruction readers gave their reactions on tribune242.com.

K4C had this to say: “‘We Were Defenceless’ – That’s a statement that is 100% accurate, what is needed is a new political mindset, the days of this third world mentality are done, where are the forward

thinking avant garde Bahamians? They exist, the time is NOW for them to show their presence.

Gbgal said: “While the planning and preparation are being activated, review a streamlined approach to

reduce/eliminate the red tape our ministries enjoy extending to simple procedures. That would certainly provide a refreshing change to getting things done.

Wonder how long all this will take?”

Akbar asked: “What defence can you mount against a storm that probably couldn’t be measured?”

Which prompted this response from DonAnthony: “Lots. Do not build in flood prone areas or right

on the shoreline. Stricter building codes that new structures must be a certain elevation above sea level. Build shelters that can withstand 200+ mph winds. Will be expensive so let shelters be dual purpose e.g. the new schools should be built to this standard so will not have to rebuild after these storms and they could double as shelters that will not fail.

Plan properly, pre position assets before storm, etc.

The list is endless of how we can defend against these storms.”

Concerned799 posted this comment: “Instead of trying to reassemble things from damage, what about not continuing to cause the climate change that drives these monster storms to become bigger and more impactful? Can we still continue to move forward with LNG and brand new refineries and more cruise ship terminals when it’s clear

this will all contribute to more climate change?”

Geostorm posted this: “A step in the right direction Dr. Minnis. Good that you are getting assistance from FEMA and others with the restructuring.”

But there was doubt from The_Oracle: “Well what the hell, throw another ministry at it, that always works right?”

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

THE TRIBUNE

The long history of hurricanes in The Bahamas T

HE Bahamas has come face to face with many catastrophic hurricanes in the past, and has always proven its resilience. But there is no doubt that these powerful storms change the Bahamian landscape and impact the economy. There are lessons to be learned, and a good way to do that is to take look back in time.

Just after Hurricane Dorian had swept over us earlier this month, I spoke with veteran meteorologist Wayne Neely about the storm. He has 14 bestselling books on hurricanes, but had never witnessed anything like the destruction Hurricane Dorian left in its wake. At that time, we spoke about how Bahamians may not have taken hurricane warnings and watches seriously in the past, but that things were likely to change after the perfect storm made its presence felt.

“When I wrote these books, I wrote them with one thing in mind. I wanted these storms to be template storms - storms that we could learn from and that could help with hurricane preparedness and so on,” Wayne said.

“If we read about them, we will be able to learn from them and appreciate why they are called ‘great storms’. They are notable in the history of the Bahamas and we can learn what disasters could be like and figure out how to mitigate losses.”

After the first edition of my conversation with Wayne, many readers expressed to me that they did not know about them… like the Great Abaco Hurricane of 1932. So, I decided to expand and share more about what I learned from Wayne about the major storms that affected The Bahamas.

Great Abaco Hurricane of 1932 • Struck The Bahamas at Category 5 intensity • Sustained winds of 160mph.

• One of only 4 Category 5 hurricanes to impact The Bahamas: 1 Great Abaco Hurricane of 1932; 2 CubaBrownville Hurricane of 1933; 3 Hurricane Andrew of 1992; and 4 Hurricane Dorian of 2019.

• Lowest Minimum Pressure: 930 mbar.

• Death Toll 18 persons most of them in Abaco.

• Devastated the entire Abaco mainland and Keys especially, Hope Town, Green Turtle Cay and Bluff Point (families had to relocate from Bluff Point to Murphy Town after the hurricane).

• Formed August 3- dissipated September 12, 1899.

• Damage total in The Bahamas: unknown…but estimated in the millions.

The Great Bahamas Hurricane of 1929 • Struck The Bahamas at Category 4 intensity with sustained winds of 140mph.

• Lowest Minimum Pressure: 924 mbar.

• Death Toll 142 persons most of them sponge fishermen caught at sea. Among

Face to Face

By FELICITY INGRAHAM

the loss were some of the crew on the sponging vessel ‘The Repeat’.

• Devastated the NW Bahamas and stayed over Nassau and Andros for 3 consecutive days moving at 2 mph (similar to Hurricane Dorian but the 1929 Hurricane lasted a day longer).

• Formed Sept 22- Dissipated Oct 4, 1929 • Damage total in The Bahamas: unknown… but estimates placed it at over $1m.

The Great Okeechobee Hurricane of 1928 • Struck The Bahamas and Florida at Category 4 Intensity with sustained winds of 150 mph.

• Lowest Minimum Pressure: 929 mbar.

• Death Toll 4,112 total deaths, 3 in The Bahamas, ‘At least 2,500’ in the USA with approximately 1,400 of them being Bahamian migrant workers.

• Hurricane went over Lake Okeechobee and flooded the surrounding settlements with lake surge drowning most of these residents who were comprised primarily of Bahamian migrant workers working on the farms in that area.

• Devastated the West Palm Beach District.

• Formed Sept 24- dissipated October 5, 1929 • Damage total: $1.46bn.

Unknown total in The Bahamas.

The Great Nassau Hurricane of 1926 and The Great Miami Hurricane of 1926 • The Great Nassau Hurricane Struck The Bahamas at Cat 4 Intensity with sustained winds of 140mph.

The Great Miami Hurricane Struck The Bahamas at Cat 4 Intensity with sustained winds of 150mph.

• 77% of the annual budget in 1930 and 1931 was devoted to the rebuilding efforts of the Colony.

• Lowest Minimum Pressure: 967 mbar and 930 respectively.

• Death Toll 258-268 persons for both hurricanes but most of them were sponge fishermen caught at sea and passengers and crew of some vessels/mail boats. Among the loss were some of the crew and passengers on the mail boats ‘The Mountain King’ and ‘The Brontes’. Both of these crew and passengers were lost at sea during the hurricane with one notable exception. Napoleon Rolle was the lone survivor.

Napoleon had convinced the captain of the Mountain King to try and outrun the storm and make his way through the Exuma Cays.

The storm still caught them and ironically, only Napoleon was ever found.

• This 1926 season of 2 Category 4 Hurricanes and 1 Category 1 hurricane was the impetus for the introduction of ZNS (Broadcasting Corp. of The

populous islands in the Caribbean, the death toll was very high. The official death toll was approximately 22,000 people but some historians have put the death toll as high as 27,500. Specifics on the hurricane’s track and strength are unclear since the official North Atlantic hurricane Bahamas) - as a Hurricane database only goes back as far as 1851. Even so, it is a Warning Station.

• Devastated the entire fact that this hurricane had Bahamas but the great- a tremendous impact on est devastation occurred economies in the Caribbean in Nassau hence the name and parts of North Amer‘The Great Nassau Hurri- ica, and perhaps also played cane of 1926’ formed July a major role in the outcome 22 and dissipated August of the American Revo2, 1926. ‘The Great Miami lution. This thoroughly Hurricane of 1926’ formed researched history considSeptember 11 and dissi- ers the intense storm and its aftermath, offering an pated: September 22.

• Damage total in The exploration of an important Bahamas in the Nassau historical weather event Hurricane: more than $5m that has been neglected in and in the Great Miami previous study.

Wayne covers other Hurricane: more than $2m. major storms in Great Bahabooks such as mas Hurricane ‘Hurricanes “The Major Hurof 1899 (also are monsters ricanes to Affect called The Great The Bahamas” San Ciriaco of nature and they which includes Hurricane): all of the major • Struck The have a single hurricanes to Bahamas at Catimpact The egory 4 intensity overriding Bahamas from • Sustained purpose.’

1500 to 2005, winds of 150mph. including: Hurri• Lowest Minicanes Frances, Jeanne-2004; mum Pressure: 930 mbar.

• Death Toll 334 persons Wilma-2005; Michelle-2001; most of them sponge fish- Andrew-1992; Floyd-1999; ermen caught at sea near David-1979; Betsy in 1965; Exuma and in the vicinity Donna-1960; and 1933 hurricane season, which had of The Mud in Andros.

• Devastated the entire 21 named storms, including four hurricanes and one Bahamas.

• Formed August 3- dis- tropical storm impacting The Bahamas during this sipated September 12, 1899 • Damage total in The season… with one being a Bahamas: Unknown…But Category 5 hurricane. estimated in the millions.

The Great Bahamas Hurricane of 1866 • In October 1866, a powerful Category 4 hurricane struck the Bahama Islands.

• Winds well over 140 miles per hour and even higher gusts that toppled trees, sank ships, peeled away rooftops, and destroyed vital infrastructures, the massive storm battered the islands with great ferocity.

• When the seas finally calmed and the winds died down, the massive storm had killed more than 387 people in the Bahamas alone and left a massive trail of destruction.

The Great Hurricane of 1780-The story of the Greatest and Deadliest Hurricane of the Caribbean and the Americas: • The Great Hurricane of 1780, also known as Hurricane San Calixto II, is one of the most powerful and deadliest North Atlantic hurricanes on record. Often regarded as a cataclysmic hurricane, the storm’s worst effects were experienced on October 10, 1780.

• This storm likely generated in the mid-Atlantic, not far from the equator. It was first felt in Barbados, where just about every tree and house on the island was blown down. The storm passed through the Lesser Antilles and a small portion of the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean between October 10 and October 16 of 1780.

• Because the storm hit several of the most

Tuesday, September 24, 2019, PAGE 11

He also authored “Rediscovering Hurricanes”. This book includes all of the major Hurricanes of The North Atlantic from 1494 to present including: Hurricanes Andrew, Mitch, Katrina, Camille, David, Betsy, the Great Hurricane of 1780, Hurricane Gilbert, the Hurricane of 1495 and countless others.

Over the years, Wayne has written or contributed to numerous articles on hurricanes and other severe weather events for some of the major local and international newspapers and magazines, including: National Geographic, Weather-Wise Magazine, Weather Brains, HurricaneCity, The New York Times, Time, Newsweek, People, Huffingpost, The Washington Post, and the American Meteorological Society. He speaks at schools, colleges and universities around the world and at home. He is featured on radio and television interviews both locally and abroad about the history and impact of Bahamian, American and Caribbean hurricanes and hurricanes in general. He has been a hurricane advisor for both “Jeopardy” and “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” on several occasions. He contributed to and was featured in the very popular PBS/NOVA Documentary called “Killer Hurricanes”.

“Hurricanes are monsters of nature and they have a single overriding purpose,” Wayne said.

“Once we understand their purpose, we

can understand them in general.”

Hurricanes actually have benefits, he explains. They act as the earth’s filter system by removing toxic and polluted air out of The environment. If there were no hurricanes, the air would eventually get extremely more toxic and not support life on this planet. They act as a temperature balance by removing heat from the equator and transferring it to the poles.

The cold front on the other hand, transfers cold air from the poles to the equator. That’s their primary mandate and if the temperature balance didn’t take place, the Equator would get progressively hotter and hotter and the polar regions would get progressively colder and colder and not support life.

Ocean currents and upper level winds also have similar functions. Hurricanes and hurricane related systems like tropical storms and easterly or tropical waves accounts for 60% of the rainfall in the tropics and if there were no hurricanes, it would spell disaster for industries like agriculture, chemicals, bottled water, manufacturers and other industries dependent on water resources.

They replenish plant life by removing weak or dying trees and plant life. Hurricanes also replenish barrier islands.

Find Wayne’s books on hurricanes on Amazon as well as in local bookstores.

Email him at: wayneneely@ hotmail.com.

PAGE 12, Tuesday, September 24, 2019

PRESSURE ON TRUMP OVER TRANSCRIPT

CONGRESSIONAL Democrats yesterday pressed their demands for full disclosure of a whistleblower’s complaint about President Donald Trump and intensified calls for impeachment. Trump insisted he did nothing wrong in his conversation with Ukraine’s leader that is at the centre of the complaint.

Republican lawmakers remained largely silent amid reports the president pressured Ukraine’s leader to help investigate political rival Joe Biden at the same time the White House was withholding $250m in aid to the nation.

Trump acknowledged the phone call and said he didn’t want to give money to Ukraine — if there were corruption issues. His comments raised further questions about whether he improperly used his office to pressure the country into investigating the former vice president.

BRITAIN BLAMES IRAN FOR SAUDI OIL ATTACK BRITAIN joined the United States yesterday in blaming Iran for attacks on key oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, but the Iranian foreign minister pointed to claims of responsibility

by Yemeni rebels and said: “If Iran were behind this attack, nothing would have been left of this refinery.”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the U.K. is now “attributing responsibility with a very high degree of probability to Iran” for the attacks by drones and cruise missiles on the world’s largest oil processor and an oil field.

He said the UK would consider taking part in a US-led military effort to bolster Saudi Arabia’s defences.

THE TRIBUNE

PHOTOGRAPHER WOUNDED AS HAITI SENATOR OPENS FIRE

RULING party Senator Ralph Fethiere fires his gun outside Parliament as he arrives for a ceremony to ratify Fritz William Michel’s nomination as prime minister in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, yesterday. Opposition members confronted ruling-party senators, and Fethiere pulled a pistol when protesters rushed at him and members of his entourage. The photographer who took this picture was wounded in the incident.

Photo: Dieu Nalio Chery/AP PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti pistol during a confrontation with from a Port-au-Prince hospital and approve Fritz William Michel’s Associated Press opposition protesters. Dieu-Nalio was expected to undergo further nomination as prime minister. SevChery was hit in the jaw by what treatment this week to remove the eral hundred opposition supporters AN Associated Press photog- appeared to be a fragment of one of object from his jaw. Another person confronted ruling-party senators rapher has been wounded in a the bullets fired by Senator Ralph outside the Senate also suffered an and Fethiere pulled a pistol when shooting that erupted outside Hai- Fethiere yesterday morning. apparent wound to the stomach. protesters rushed at him and memti’s Senate when a senator fired a Chery was treated and released Senators were convening to bers of his entourage.

Climate change: UN talks - but where is the action?

UNITED NATIONS Associated Press

LEADER after leader told the United Nations yesterday that they will do more to prevent a warming world from reaching even more dangerous levels. But as they made their pledges at the Climate Action Summit, they and others conceded it was not enough.

Sixty-six countries have promised to have more ambitious climate goals and 30 swore to be carbon neutral by midcentury, said Chilean President Sebastian Pinera Echenique, who is hosting the next climate negotiations later this year.

Outside experts say they hear a lot of talk but not the promised action needed to keep warming to a few

tenths of a degree. They say it isn’t adding up to the dramatic changes the world requires.

Bill Hare, who follows national emissions and promises for Climate Action Tracker, called what was said “deeply disappointing” and not adding up too much.

Before world leaders made their promises in three-minute speeches, 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg gave an emotional appeal in which she chided the leaders with the repeated phrase, “How dare you.”

“This is all wrong. I shouldn’t be up here,” said Thunberg, who began a lone protest outside the Swedish parliament more than a year ago that culminated in Friday’s global climate strikes. “I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you have come to us young people for hope. How dare you. You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words.”

She told the UN that even the strictest emission cuts being talked about only gives the world a 50 percent chance of limiting future warming to another 0.4 degrees Celsius (0.72 degrees Fahrenheit) from now, which is a global goal.

Those odds are not good enough, she said.

“We will not let you get away with this,” Thunberg said. “Right now is where we draw the line.”

“The ball they are moving forward is a ball of promises,” said economist John Reilly, co-director of MIT’s Joint Center for Global Change. “Where the ‘ball’ of actual accomplishments is, is another question. We have not seen global emissions drop dramatically — they dropped for a couple of years but crept back up. So the ball of accomplishments is well behind the ball of promises.”

David Waskow, international climate chief at the World Resources Institute, said smaller nations are making commitments, but the big carbon polluters — the US, China, the European Union and others that make up the majority of emissions — still aren’t stepping up.

“What we’ve seen so far is not the kind of climate leadership we need from the major economies,” said World Resources Institute vice president Helen Mountford. She did say, however, that businesses, as well as small- and mediumsized countries, had “exciting initiatives”.

Heads of nations such as Finland and Germany

ENVIRONMENTAL activist Greta Thunberg, of Sweden, addresses the Climate Action Summit in the United Nations General Assembly, at UN headquarters yesterday. Photo: Jason DeCrow/AP promised to ban coal within a decade. Several also mentioned goals of climate neutrality — when a country is not adding more heat-trapping carbon to the air than is being removed by plants and perhaps technology — by 2050.

US President Donald Trump dropped by the summit, listened to German Chancellor Angela Merkel make detailed pledges, including going coal-free, and left without saying anything.

The United States did not ask to have someone speak at the summit, UN officials said. And Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had told countries they couldn’t be on the agenda without making bold new proposals.

Even though there was no speech by Trump, who has denied climate change, called it a Chinese hoax and repealed US carbon-reduction policies, he was talked about.

In a none-too-subtle jibe at Trump’s plans to withdraw the United States from the 2015 Paris climate agreement, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said countries “must honour our commitments and follow through on the Paris Agreement”.

“The withdrawal of certain parties will not shake the collective goal of the world community,” Wang said to applause.

Hilda Heine, president of the Marshall Islands, said she represents “the most climate vulnerable people on Earth”. Her tiny country has increased its emissionscut proposals in a way that would limit warming to that tight goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times.

“We are now calling on others to join us,” Heine said.

Guterres opened the summit by saying: “Earth is

issuing a chilling cry: Stop.”

“Time is running out,” he said. “But it is not too late.”

Several leaders talked about getting off coal, but Climate Action Tracker’s Hare said it wasn’t enough and Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley said if the world can make driverless cars, it can tackle climate change.

“There simply can be no more coal power plants after 2020 if we are serious about our future,” she said.

Speaking for small nations already being eaten away by sea level rise and blasted by stronger storms, Mottley said: “We refuse to be relegated to the footnotes of history and be collateral damage.”

“The nations of the world are not fighting a losing battle, but the nations of the world are losing this battle today,” Mottley said.

“It’s within our battle to win it. The only question is: Will it be too late for the small nations of the world?”

French President Emmanuel Macron reminded leaders they must include climate change in their trade and finance policies so they don’t import goods that increase carbon pollution, or fund polluting plants in other countries.

Macron begged other nations to increase their pledges to the Green Climate Fund, which helps poorer nations with climate issues.

France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Norway, Denmark and Sweden have recently doubled their pledges.

“We are now at $7bn,” Macron said. “The target is $10bn to make up for the United States withdrawal,” and he then suggested America should reconsider adding money, to the applause of other leaders.

“Action, action, action,” Macron urged. “We cannot leave our young people to spend all of their Fridays protesting.”