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VOLUME:117 No.211, SEPTEMBER 29TH, 2020

THE PEOPLE’S PAPER: $1

WOMAN: WHO NEEDS BEAUTY PARLOURS WITH THIS FASHION?

‘A nice, loving, kind girl - a good mom’

‘Domestic row’ turns to horror as mother and daughter killed

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

A MOTHER and her child were found slain at their Nassau Village home yesterday morning.

Police suspect the double killing came after a domestic dispute.

The child’s father, 35-year-old Edward Wallace, identified his murdered daughter as eight-year-old Ednique Wallace and her mother as Alicia Sawyer, 30.

Officers were called to the scene at Stack Avenue after 8am.

Mr Wallace said he

learned about the horrific incident through his stepdaughter who lived with the two victims.

“My stepdaughter called me this morning,” the grieving father told The Tribune.

“She tell me her mother bleeding on the ground and my daughter have a cut on her neck. She on the ground bleeding.”

He said his stepdaughter is now with his wife.

He described his young daughter Ednique as a “nice, loving, kind” girl and Ms Sawyer as “a good mother” who took care of her children.

SEE PAGE THREE

‘OUR SYSTEM NEEDS TO CHANGE TO STOP THIS’

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

HOUSE Speaker Halson Moultrie said the country needs a “systemic improvement in the entire criminal justice system” after the dead bodies of a mother and daughter in his constituency were found yesterday.

“It seems from the information I’ve been able to

glean so far that it appears to be some domestic violence, some love triangle that went very wrong,” he said.

“I had a chance to speak to the father of the young girl that was murdered and, of course, he’s distraught about everything.

What we’re trying to do as a result of this recent spur of murders, particularly as SEE PAGE THREE

ALICIA SAWYER, 30, and her daughter, eight-year-old Ednique.

‘GOVT ON ENVIRONMENT IS SPEAKER TO FIGHT FOR SAY NOTHING, DO NOTHING’ PARLIAMENT’S POWERS

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

AN activist has branded the government “regressive and secretive” in its handling of environmental issues.

Sam Duncombe, of

reEarth, criticised the Minnis administration over its position regarding how cruise ships are punished for what could be irreparable damage to the seabed.

She said the urgency of the matter is apparent in SEE PAGE TWO

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

HOUSE Speaker Halson Moultrie says he is determined to reduce the power the executive branch of government has over Parliament even if it means

risking his political career.

“It might cost me my job and even my seat, but I am determined to get it done,” he said yesterday.

He was reflecting on the changes he wants implemented, including the SEE PAGE FIVE

NIB MANAGER DENIES FRAUD CHARGES

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

THE manager of the National Insurance Board’s Andros branch who yesterday denied defrauding the organisation of tens of thousands of dollars was denied bail ahead of his trial.

He was arraigned alongside 14 more individuals who were charged with fraud related offences connected to the agency’s

DION Dean outside court. unemployment benefit programme.

Three of them who pleaded guilty were ordered to pay back the money they defrauded before the end of

next month.

Dion Dean, 40, appeared before Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes charged with several counts of forgery, conspiracy to commit fraud, money laundering, and falsification of accounts.

In the first instance, Dean was charged alongside Leroy Poitier, 50, Latoya Neely, 44, Ashanique Neely, 25, Gary Lafleur, 51, and Shevyonne Neely.

SEE PAGE SEVEN

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

ROCKY’S GOT A PLAN TO BRING US ALL SUCCESS

SEE PAGE EIGHT

PAGE 2, Tuesday, September 29, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

‘Govt on environment is say nothing, do nothing’

TOP, marine biologists, scientists, and professional divers participated in a rapid marine assessment of the seabed in Northern Berry Islands on September 8, following reports of habitat damage due to cruise ships anchored in the area and, right, a massive cruise ship anchor and heavy chain observed on hard-bottom at the time of the assessment. from page one continued accounts from fishermen who say the ships are deploying anchors that continue to drag across the ocean floor uprooting everything in its path, creating “unbelievable damage”.

It has ignited serious concerns from these men who depend on the ocean to survive, Ms Duncombe said.

Her comments came as the Bahamas National Trust released a statement yesterday accounting its findings from a rapid assessment of damage from ships anchored in the northern Berry Islands.

The BNT said its study was inconclusive despite its team observing more than ten ships in the area at the time of the assessment with anchors in sandy and hard bottom habitats between 60 to 90-foot depths. It recommended a comprehensive study to determine the effects of cruise ships as long as they remain anchored in Bahamian waters.

Earlier this month, Minister of Agriculture Michael Pintard and Minister of the Environment Romauld Ferreira in a joint statement said government dive teams were being dispatched to investigate damage to marine life and the seabed from ships sheltering in Bahamian waters near the Berry Islands.

The ministers said an initial dive, while limited in scope, showed “significant damage” to the marine environment allegedly caused by ship anchors.

Following this statement, Ms Duncombe urged the government to make

its investigation into the alleged damage to coral and fishing grounds by cruise ships “quick” and “public”.

She is disappointed in the lack of information released since then.

“If there are people who are constantly out gathering evidence then obviously those companies (at fault) need to be fined,” she told The Tribune yesterday.

“I do not really understand the attitude of this government when they know the continued impact that cruise ships have on our environment and in this case, think about it, pretty much since March or April many ships have been anchored in our waters.

Who is actually looking at the damage of every single one of them?

“They are talking about the anchor chains rubbing all over the seabed crushing coral. We can’t afford to be doing anything bad to coral. You know the oceans are warm because of climate change. Coral (reefs) are being affected from that so from our perspective we need to be doing every single thing possible to mitigate any of these issues on our reefs and on our mangroves.

“They are what saves the oceans in terms of the fish having homes to go to and if you remove those homes those fish are gone forever. They will either perish looking for other reefs or they will just move to another reef.”

She continued: “The micro steps that we are taking toward protecting the environment that sustains us is absolutely ridiculously staggering.

“It is standard procedure

for this government to say nothing and do nothing.

“This administration is the most regressive and secretive government I have ever encountered. You always think well it can’t be worse than the last set and then the new set comes in and you go ‘Oh, my God, they are worse than the last set.’ This is the most regressive government we’ve ever encountered.

“They are back on LNG. They are encouraging more private cruise ships, which we know have minimal economic impact for the country and maximum environmental impact. Their attitude on oil and the fact that they still want to go ahead and drill some oil without even attempting to find some other way to get out of this ridiculous stupid regressive idea that we, in 2020, when there is a glut of oil in the world because of COVID-19 and not likely to go away any time soon.”

Recently Ms Duncombe received an email from a fisherman who has seen the ships assemble near Great Harbour Cay. It read: “Presently I am 13 miles west of Great Harbour Cay in the Berry Islands. It is one of our best crawfishing grounds.

There have been up to 27 cruise ships at anchor in the area. Each deploys an anchor chain of up to one mile and as the wind and currents shift the chain is dragged across the ocean floor uprooting everything in its path.

“Coral reefs, the grass sea bed and our crawfish habitats. Each day some boats leave and others return anchoring in new locations there by carving out new paths with their chains. Can

anything be done about this situation?”

In another email, a concerned citizen deemed the damage “unbelievable”.

“We just had a fisherman we know in our shop telling us about his experience seeing 20-plus cruise ships anchored in our waters and the damage their chains are causing to the fishing grounds,” the message noted. “We also have a close friend from Spanish Wells who’s a fisherman and says the same thing... that the damage is unbelievable.”

Carnival has said it was unaware of any issues with its ships related to allegations of seabed and marine life damage caused by vessels sheltering in Bahamian waters near the Berry Islands. While Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, parent company of Celebrity Cruises, also insisted its ships were in compliance.

Earlier this year, the cruise industry was forced to shut down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a result of travel restrictions, a number of cruise ships have been sheltering

within The Bahamas for several months.

The environmental and ecological impact remains largely unknown, BNT said in its statement.

“On September 8, BNT and its partners conducted a rapid marine assessment of the area. The site visit included experts from the BNT’s science department and local organisation partners. Scientists and marine biologists representing Perry Institute of Marine Science, Bahamas Reef Environment Education Foundation, and Atlantis Resort’s Marine Aquarium Operations Department were integral to the assessment. Bahamian scientist, Dr Ancilleno Davis, and underwater photographer and BNT ambassador, Andre Musgrove, were also part of the expedition.

“More than ten ships were surveyed at the time of assessment with anchors in sandy and hard bottom habitats between 60 to 90-foot depths,” BNT said.

“Photo and video documentation reveal evidence of disturbed substrate, seagrass, and associated

algae likely due to large anchors and heavy chain drag. However, the study is inconclusive about the potential effects to coral reefs and fisheries as originally reported. With this recent documentation and mapping of the area, a comprehensive study is suggested to determine the effects of cruise ships as long as they remain anchored in Bahamian waters.”

“BNT and its partners have formally communicated their findings to the Ministry of Environment and Housing, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources, writing to be involved in an Environmental Impact Assessment, if further action is considered.

“Results from official assessments would be used to make informed decisions regarding policy for commercial vessel anchoring in The Bahamas and zoning to allow or prohibit anchoring.

Other possible outcomes would be the valuation of damages for destruction to the seafloor that results from vessel traffic.”

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, September 29, 2020, PAGE 3

‘A nice, loving, kind girl - a good mom’ from page one He said the eight-year-old was a student at TG Glover Primary School and was set to enter the fourth grade.

At the scene yesterday, police press liaison officer ASP Audley Peters said the killings appeared to be connected to a domestic incident based on the evidence police were looking at, adding police were following “promising” leads.

Initially police said the two bodies appeared to have gunshot injuries, but later ASP Peters said officers could not say what the murder weapon was. Both victims did have injuries to their bodies, however, he said.

ASP Peters said Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle has put together a special task force for Nassau Village and the Royal Bahamas Police Force is confident the investigation will be brought to a swift closure.

This double killing came about a week after sevenyear-old Reyes Williams was fatally shot in the Nassau Village community during a drive-by shooting, according to police.

Police said that shooting took place shortly before 9pm on Sunday, September 20, at Alexandria Blvd, when police received a report of gunshots being fired.

Police previously said a blue car approached a residence and an occupant opened fire on the people who were gathered in front of this home, resulting in the boy being hit.

The boy 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.

Yesterday, ASP Peters said the loss of a minor’s life is an incident that is “very disheartening” for anyone who is a parent or any sensible thinking person.

A BODY is taken from the scene in Nassau Village yesterday.

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

THE SCENE of the double homicide in Nassau Village yesterday.

“That’s why it’s imperative for people who are aware of these persons who are in possession of firearms, who are participating in illegal activities that could cause what we consider to be casualties of war.”

As it relates to domestic violence concerns, he explained: “The home is supposed to be the safest place. Apparently for a long time in our community that has not been the case in all aspects and so whenever complaints of domestic violence come to the attention of the police we seek to act on it as quickly as possible.

However, in some instances individuals ... report to police and they return and decide not to continue with those reports.

“We understand that there is a process that persons, whether it be the victim or whether it be

the perpetrator, it’s a process that they go through when violence occurs in the home and so what we can as police officers, all we can do is take the initial complaint and act at the request of the victim. Where we can we refer the persons to the Ministry of Social Services for counselling or the relevant agencies who can assist with respect to family parenting and so we are concerned. In our concern, our actions are limited as to what we can do to eliminate the act in itself in its entirety.”

Anyone with information on these incidents should call police at 502-9991, Crime Stoppers at 328TIPS (8477) or the nearest police station.

Police last night said a man had been arrested in connection with the incident.

‘OUR SYSTEM NEEDS TO CHANGE TO STOP THIS’ from page one

it relates to young people, is to see if we could bring the community together.”

The killing of the eightyear-old girl yesterday is the second child killing this month. Another Nassau Village child, Reyes Williams, seven, was killed on September 20 during a drive-by shooting outside his home.

Speaker Moultrie said the

country should do more to deal with repeat offenders, illegal gun trafficking and to prevent people suspected of serious crimes from being given bail.

“While I agree that you should have a speedy trial and you should be released if you don’t have your trial in a reasonable time, I don’t accept that we are putting the mechanisms in place to prioritise certain types of crime,” he said.

“Violence against the

WOMAN HURT IN INAGUA CAR CRASH AN immigration officer was involved in a traffic accident in Inagua on Sunday.

According to a release from officials, around 1.15am on Sunday, an accident occurred involving a Department of Immigration Jeep Wrangler and a civilian vehicle.

The woman civilian driver received serious injuries, however, the immigration officer was not seriously injured, the department said.

A silver coloured fivedoor foreign vehicle driven

by the civilian female also received extensive damage, while the department’s Jeep Wrangler received some damage.

Local medical teams and officers of the Royal Bahamas Police Force were reportedly on the scene while police and senior immigration officials are on their way to Inagua to engage in further detailed investigations regarding this serious matter.

The department said it sends “thoughts and prayers” to the injured party and her family.

TWO IN HOSPITAL AFTER SHOOTING TWO men are in hospital after they were shot Sunday night in Grand Bahama.

Police said shortly before 11pm, officers were called to a business in West End where two men were reportedly shot in their legs

by an unknown man who was dressed in dark clothing and wore a mask.

Both victims were taken to Rand Memorial Hospital. Their injuries are not life-threatening, police said.

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person, rape, murders, should be prioritised and brought before the court as quickly as possible. I believe that repeat offenders, particularly who have been convicted, should be put in a special category when it comes to applications for bail.

“We just need to find a way to speed up the process. You can’t have a circumstance where someone is charged with a serious crime and there is 18 months, three years

before you can proceed with a trial date. You can’t have someone waiting that long when he or she can be innocent. We need a systemic improvement in the entire criminal justice system particularly with respect to serious crimes against the person.”

He continued: “There’s no justification for someone to feel they can pick up arms and take the life of anyone no matter what the circumstances are in

any relationship. The solution I believe is in the education process but in the interim I think we need to take a more serious, serious approach to eradicating the proliferation of illegal firearms throughout The Bahamas, not only in Nassau Village.

“The same effort we put into eradicating this COVID where the police were present throughout the communities and every street corner, we could

put a dragnet operation in place to acquire as many of these illegal firearms as possible in this country. We have to take a concerted effort to accomplish that.

So far I know police have been doing a wonderful job finding people who commit crimes, but these are after-the-fact measures and we need to find a way to take a more preventative approach by first of all going after the guns,” he said.

PAGE 4, Tuesday, September 29, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

Two students test positive at Windsor

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

TWO high school students at Windsor School in Albany have tested positive for COVID-19, officials confirmed to The Tribune yesterday.

Lisa Sawyer-McCartney, Windsor’s director, confirmed the students tested positive for the virus last week.

The situation, she said, has prompted officials to activate the private school’s COVID-19 response plan, allowing for deep cleaning and sanitisation of the areas of contact by the positive cases.

“We have a booklet which outlines what happens in the event somebody presents with a case on the part of our COVID readiness and all that,” she said.

“What we did is we had to deep clean the classrooms of course that the child/children were present in and yes, notified the community and notified the Ministry of Health and made sure that the children aren’t (at) school.”

It is not clear how the students contracted the virus. However, Mrs Sawyer-McCartney said as far as she was aware, none of the other staff members have tested positive for

COVID-19 to date.

“We’ve had teachers tested,” she said. “That’s part of our protocol and I haven’t been advised that there’s a challenge with any of our staff. We’ve undertaken that if we do have situations like this, a part of our protocol says we allow the teachers who are in contact to be tested.”

Despite this, she said operations at the school are still resuming as normal, with strict protocols in place.

She said: “We sent a letter from school saying that a child, actually two children that tested positive for COVID. So, we did send it out to the community. We always let parents know so that they can make an informed decision as to whether they want to be online or whether they want to do face-to-face.

“We’re still running a hybrid programme because understandably, there aren’t parents who aren’t comfortable coming to school and so parents have a choice.”

Still, Mrs Sawyer- McCartney said officials are committed to doing all they can to minimise COVID exposure where possible.

She added that they are constantly in contact with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health on the matter.

“We have very strict protocols in place with the plexiglass separators for our kids, hand washing stations and hand sanitising stations. The kids are wearing masks… parents know what we’re doing to prevent spread,” she said.

“Fortunately, we have quite a bit of space on all of our campuses, so we were able to keep kids pretty separate and we feel comfortable and, like I said, we’re speaking with the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health.

“We also have some private doctors that we are consulting with or (who are) just longtime associates of the school who we lean on for advice and recommendations on the situation.”

In March, the government mandated the closure of schools after the country recorded its first COVID19 case, resulting in many local institutions shifting to online classes to allow students to continue their studies at home for the remainder of the school year.

While public schools in the country are not set to reopen for the new school semester until October 5, many private institutions have since re-opened, using both virtual learning and face-to-face methods.

65 NEW CASES AND TWO DEATHS CONFIRMED THE latest udpate from the Ministry of Health yesterday saw 65 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed, all in New Providence.

Two more deaths were also confirmed, of a 61-year-old woman and an 86-yearold woman, both from New Providence amd who died on September 27.

One more death previously under investigation is now classified as nonCOVID-19 related.

The confirmed death toll now stands at 91, with 13 deaths under investigation.

There have been 2,822 confirmed

GN-2447

cases of COVID-19 in New Providence, 628 in Grand Bahama, 135 in Abaco, 54 in Bimini, 28 in Exuma, 22 in Eleuthera, 19 in Inagua, 15 in the Berry Islands, 12 in Long Island, eight in Cat Island, seven in Acklins, six in Andros, five in Crooked Island, three in Mayaguana, and 139 locations pending.

A total of 19,161 tests have been completed. There are 92 people in hospital.

There have been an extra 67 recovered cases - the total of recovered cases now standing at 2,072.

POSITIVE CASE AT BIS

THE offices of Bahamas Information Services have been closed to the public for three days after an employee tested positive for COVID-19.

The closure took effect yesterday.

BIS will be open for normal business on October 1, a notice from the Cabinet Office said.

EVICTION NOTICES ‘BEING RENEWED’ TO STAY LEGAL

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

MONTHS after issuing eviction letters to residents in newly built illegal structures on Abaco, Central and South Abaco MP James Albury said the government is now working “to renew” some of those notices to ensure they are compliant with the law.

His comments came after Works Minister Desmond Bannister confirmed last week that eviction letters had been posted on some 50 newly built structures on the island since June.

However, yesterday, Mr Albury told The Tribune that some of the notices issued are currently in the process of being renewed.

“My most up to date information is that they’re having to renew some of the notices for them to be compliant and I know they are working with the Attorney General’s Office to make sure that everything is done correctly so as of right now, all I can really say is that they’re working on those and basically getting proper eviction in place to be served,” he told The Tribune Before Hurricane Dorian decimated them last year, shanty towns across Abaco had more than 1,000 homes and an estimated population size of 3,500, according to government reports.

Now, one of the few shanty towns left in Abaco post Dorian is the Farm, located in Treasure Cay. The community was estimated to house nearly 1,000 people before the Category Five storm hit the island in early September.

It is estimated that some 400 illegal structures have been constructed in the

Farm shanty town since Dorian last year.

In a bid to rectify the issue, Mr Bannister told reporters last Tuesday that officials began posting the notices on the shanty town structures in Abaco in June.

“The Ministry of Works has posted eviction notices on a whole variety of these illegal structures, on the mainland of Abaco and on Elbow Cay. Many of them have been posted since June,” he said.

“We’ve documented every one with photographs and the dates when they were posted and so there is a government inter-ministry agency that is looking at taking the next steps, but our job with respect to posting them has started in June and we are relentless in ensuring that we do what the Bahamian people ask us to do.”

Since the recent eviction announcements, many shanty town residents have been left fearful and panicked as to where they and their families will move.

Asked yesterday if the government has alternative housing plans for those residents, Mr Albury replied: “I think that’s the million-dollar question, but the reality is we can’t allow these structures to be built or continue to be built. But as far as alternative housing arrangements, that’s out of preview.”

“But the fact of the matter is we’re trying to nip it in the bud before we have several more fullblown shantytowns because it’s already becoming a problem.”

Attempts to reach both Mr Bannister and Attorney General Carl Bethel for an update on the matter were unsuccessful up to press time yesterday.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, September 29, 2020, PAGE 5

KNIGHTHOOD AWARDED TO GODFREY KELLY GODFREY Kenneth Kelly was knighted in a ceremony at Government House yesterday.

Mr Kelly - now Sir Godfrey - received the Insignia of Knight Commander, the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, KCMG, from Governor General CA Smith.

Sir Godfrey is the second person to be knighted at a local investiture in The Bahamas.

The Governor General said: “On behalf of Her Majesty, the Queen, I wish to offer

my congratulations to you. May God continue to bless you and your family,” he said.

“You have provided stellar leadership during your career and have provided exemplary service to our country, and for that we thank you.”

Sir Godfrey said: “I have lived a very long life at 91, almost 92. And I have really enjoyed my journey thus far,” he said. “I am really grateful and truly appreciate this gesture.”

Sir Godfrey was born in Nassau on December 21, l928.

Speaker to fight for Parliament’s powers from page one passage of a Parliamentary Service Act that would give the institution control over its own administration, staffing and financing.

He said within weeks he will change the make up of committees to diminish the powers Cabinet ministers have on those bodies. Some committees, including the Rules and Business of the House Committee, rarely meet, he said, attributing this to the fact they are led by ministers.

Bamboo Town MP Reward Wells, the leader of

government business in the House, currently leads the Rules Committee.

“The Speaker has the right to reconstitute those committees,” Speaker Moultrie said. “I’m in the process of reviewing that at this moment. By the next sitting I will announce those reconstituted committees.”

He added: “Can a man be separated from himself and safely cast out Satan?

I’m not calling the ministers Satan, but my position is the role of Parliament and the legislative branch is to scrutinise the executive branch. That is very clear in the constitution. It

is not the function of the executive branch to scrutinise themselves. It makes a mockery of democracy.”

Last year, the Speaker sent a draft bill to the Office of the Attorney General for the creation of a Parliamentary Service Commission that would control the budget and administration of the Senate and House of Assembly. Under that bill, the Commission would have a board of directors that would govern affairs of the institution by setting policy, reviewing its structure and raising funds.

He said his team used Canada, Australia, the

United Kingdom and Barbados as benchmarks for its proposal.

However, he noted the executive branch has the power to determine if such legislation is ever passed.

He also criticised successive governing parties for avoiding question and answer sessions in the House.

“In my estimation, there is absolutely no justification for any government to not answer questions and we’ve seen where the past administration refused to answer questions and this administration is trying to justify its decision based on the fact

that the previous administration did not answer questions,” he said.

“How can the Parliament function if the executive branch does not answer questions? That defeats the entire structure of the Westminster model and the rules do not help the matter at all because the rule gives Parliament the right to determine the agenda even if it means overriding the provision that says the second Wednesday of each month is the day for questions.

“The rule is, in my estimation, undemocratic and not in the best interest of

the minorities in Parliament because they will never have the majority vote.

This is not a new issue. For a while I took the position that you should eat what you serve. Don’t put rules in place when you are in government that you cannot live with when you’re in opposition, particularly undemocratic rules.

“But I don’t think it’s the role of the Speaker to sit by and accept something that he knows is wrong and undemocratic. No matter what party he’s elected under, he has a moral obligation to make sure the principles are carried out.”

MSC DONATES FOOD SUPPLIES TO HELP FEED GRAND BAHAMA

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

A MEDITERRANEAN Shipping Company (MSC) vessel arrived at Freeport Harbour on Monday afternoon with a donation of food supplies to the National Food Task Force for distribution on Grand Bahama.

It was the first of three MSC vessels expected to call at Freeport over the next three days with food donations to the Bahamas Government.

Senator Jasmine Dareus, deputy director of Urban Renewal, was on hand to accept the donations on behalf of the Office of the Prime Minister and Urban Renewal in Grand Bahama.

“We are really excited about the donation from MSC,” she said. “We are really grateful.”

Mrs Dareus said that donated food items, such as rice, meat, flour, water, and pastries, will be distributed evenly to the five Urban Renewal Centres on Grand Bahama.

She noted these are

difficult times for the residents, particularly families in Grand Bahama.

“I am sure residents will be happy during this difficult time,” she added.

Senator Dareus stressed anyone who has a need can collect food supplies.

She noted the UR centres also serve as a distribution hub for food vouchers.

In late August, due to increased applications for food assistance on Grand Bahama, the government expanded its food distribution programme, with the help of Urban Renewal, to

help address delay issues.

During that time, Minister of State for Grand Bahama Senator Kwasi Thompson reported the Feed GB programme had assisted some 7,754 households, which represented over 30,000 residents who had received vouchers.

Mrs Dareus said the government is pleased that corporate citizens and companies are partnering to assist and help feed Bahamians.

“We are happy for the donation; it speaks to the humanitarian effort of MSC

and all other persons who are helping and donating to the GB community at this time,” she stated.

Rick Sasso, of MSC, said Bahamians have faced serious challenges following Dorian and the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As a family-owned company in the seafaring business for more than 300 years, the MSC Group has a long-standing commitment to supporting our family and friends in times of need,” he said.

“The people of the Bahamas have faced significant

challenges in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian and now have the added challenge of coping with the fallout of the global COVID-19 crisis.

With MSC Cruises and MSC Cargo as part of the Bahamian family for decades, we feel it is our responsibility and obligation to do what we can for the people of the Bahamas.

MSC Group – through the MSC Foundation – is honoured today to be able to donate much-needed food supplies to the community of Freeport,” he said.

PAGE 6, Tuesday, September 29, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

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How urgently are we treating seabed damage?

EARLY this month, a warning bell rung loudly over damage to the seabed caused by the anchors of ships sheltering in Bahamian waters as COVID-19 brought the cruise industry grinding to a halt.

Environment Minister Romauld Ferreira said an initial dive had shown “significant damage” to the marine environment – reportedly from anchors dragging across the surface.

“More detailed enquiries” were promised and stern words were said about how “sheltering ships must at all times anchor safely to protect life and the environment”.

Since then, what has happened?

Well, to hear activist Sam Duncombe tell it, not a lot. She says the urgency with which the matter is being treated can be shown by accounts from fishermen saying that ships are continuing to deploy anchors that drag across the ocean floor damaging the seabed.

She is critical of the amount of information released since then – or lack thereof – and wants the government to make its investigation “quick” and “public”.

Quick and public are two things this government is not very good at in the best of times – and we are living in far from the best of times.

However, when activists on the forefront are turning round and saying, as Sam Duncombe does, “Oh, my God, they are worse than the last set” and declaring the government as being “the most regressive government we’ve ever encountered”, then people should be sitting up and taking notice.

If Mrs Duncombe is right, and damage is continuing, then we are talking about weeks of unchecked environmental damage.

We do not know the progress of those “more detailed enquiries” promised

by Mr Ferreira – or even the nature of what those enquiries might be. Are teams of divers inspecting the damage already caused? Are there groups in place to monitor the continued presence of cruise ships in our waters and their activities? Does the sum total of our monitoring add up to fishermen warning about how much damage is being caused to their fishing grounds?

The questions about how seriously we take our environmental monitoring and stewardship come at a timely moment – with the prospect of drilling for an oil test well taking place before Christmas.

If we’re not monitoring the damage from ship anchors, how well are we

monitoring oil drilling, with its potential for so much more destruction if the worst were to happen?

We see no reason why there would be a lack of updates from the government on this matter – a matter they appeared to be taking seriously in their statements. There is of course a difference between words and actions – just as there has been in this government’s words about transparency and its ability to demonstrate it.

Over to you, Mr Ferreira. We await your update. In fact, some demand it.

Moultrie is right In the past in this column, we have upon occasion criticised House Speaker Halson Moultrie. We would like then to take a moment to praise him.

He says he is determined to bring changes to Parliament – many of them much needed and long overdue.

For example, there are committees that rarely meet, a fact that Mr Moultrie suggests is down to their being led by ministers. He wants to reduce the power Cabinet ministers have on a number of committees.

He clearly paints a future where the roles of Parliament are more separate from the executive branch. “It is not the function of the executive branch to scrutinise themselves,” he says, “It makes a mockery of democracy.”

He points to successive governing parties avoiding question and answer sessions in the House, asking “How can the Parliament function if the executive branch does not answer questions?”

He’s right. We could very well do with less showboating, fewer words of acknowledgment for this constituent or that constituent – and more examination of the issues so that we can make the governance of our country better.

Mr Moultrie very wisely says: “Don’t put rules in place when you are in government that you cannot live with when you’re in opposition, particularly undemocratic rules.”

As ever, it should not be about one side or another – but what benefits the people as a whole, and rigorous debate would let people see the advantages and the flaws in the laws we create.

We wish Mr Moultrie luck in his endeavour – and we urge his colleagues to support him, even if that makes life harder in Parliament every now and then.

Death penalty vote EDITOR, The Tribune.

BAHAMIAN criminals who fire shots randomly into a crowd with children are ignoble savages. These callous criminals should receive the death penalty.

Advocacy groups such as Rights Bahamas must stop unwittingly defending these murderers by arguing against the merits of capital punishment, as the absence of an effective deterrent is why the murder rate is so high. The Tribune reported on Monday that a boy, between the ages of seven and 10, was gunned down in the Nassau Village community on Sunday.

This latest incident involving a minor occurred four months after the shooting death of 10-year-old Lorencia Summon Walkes. I have an 11-year-old daughter. I cannot imagine her life being snuffed out by a gunman. But this is where The Bahamas currently finds itself, where parents

are having to bury their toddlers because of the reckless, irresponsible behaviour of a group of profligates.

The Free National Movement (FNM) administration has gone on record as stating that it supports capital punishment. The FNM must be commended for ignoring the calls by the French NGO group Together Against the Death Penalty to abolish the death penalty in 2019. I find it telling that this group and Rights Bahamas are deafening silent after gruesome murders are committed. Only when government officials start talking about the death penalty in the media do these people find their tongue.

I see no sense in the Bahamian government being guided by the United Nations’ moratorium on the death penalty, as the state hasn’t executed anyone since 2000 when David Mitchell was hanged. Whatever constitutional changes the Minnis administration was

contemplating on enacting, the powers-that-be simply need to start the process. May I suggest that the FNM government put the issue to the Bahamian people to decide via a referendum in order to settle this issue once and for all.

After all, it is rank-and-file Bahamians who are being senselessly gunned down by the miscreants in our midst.

The government should be, to use Abraham Lincoln’s words, the government of the people, by the people and for the people. I am 100 percent confident that the Bahamian people will vote “yes” for the administering of the death penalty. When that happens, the Bahamian government can simply point fingers at its subjects once the UN and other international advocacy groups start poking their noses in our domestic affairs.

KEVIN EVANS Freeport, Grand Bahama, September 21, 2020.

Preventing COVID-19 (part two) EDITOR, The Tribune PART ONE of this article (published in yesterday’s Tribune) presented a multi-faceted approach to prevent and treat COVID19 using modalities that are currently available. Part two discusses a potential vaccine for COVID-19.

As discussed in part one, treatments for COVID-19 are available. The proof is that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Bahamian PLP leader Philip Davis and countless others have been successfully treated for COVID-19.

Although treatments have been available for months, we have been led to believe that we cannot move forward with our lives until there is a vaccine for COVID-19 and the majority of the population is vaccinated. So vaccines that normally take years to create are being rushed to develop and distribute in “Operation Warp Speed.”

Rushing vaccines to market is irresponsible and potentially dangerous.

Reports also indicate that the virus mutates. So even if a vaccine is supposed to be safe and effective in clinical trials, mutations of the virus could reduce or eliminate the efficacy of the vaccine when distributed to the public.

Before receiving a COVID-19 vaccine it is important to ask a lot of questions. If those involved in the testing, production, promotion, sales and administration of the vaccine truly believe in the product, they should be willing and able to

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net accurately answer the following questions: 1. Is the vaccine safe and effective? What criteria qualifies it as “safe” and “effective?” Is objective, independent scientific proof regarding the safety and efficacy of the vaccine readily available to the public?

2. Who has the vaccine been tested on? (Age, weight, gender, ethnicity, and pre-existing conditions of all participants in clinical trials.)

3. How many people participated in the safety and efficacy study of the vaccine, and how long did the study last?

4. Does the vaccine prevent the recipient from developing COVID-19?

5. If the vaccine does not prevent COVID-19 but it reduces the effect of the disease, how much does it reduce the severity of the disease?

6. Is it a live-attenuated vaccine, inactivated vaccine, protein-based vaccine, viral vector vaccine, or the new mRNA vaccine that has never been licensed before?

7. What are all of the ingredients in the vaccine?

Are you allergic to any of the ingredients?

8. Where was the vaccine manufactured and how has it been stored from the time of manufacture to the time of administration?

9. Is the vaccine packaged as a single dose or are multiple doses in one vial?

10. Is the vaccine administered via an injection, inhaled through the nose or given orally?

11. Is one vaccine or are two vaccines necessary?

12. If two vaccines are necessary, how long should the recipient wait between the administration of the first and second dose? Do both vaccines have to be from the same company?

What if a second dose is not available?

13. Does the vaccine provide life-time protection?

14. What are the shortterm side effects of the vaccine? (As the vaccine is being rushed to market we do not know the long-term side effects).

15. Who is responsible if you experience an adverse vaccine reaction and are you entitled to compensation?

Policy makers, decision makers and medical protocols come and go but each one of us has to live with our body for the rest of our lifetime. We are not the property of the government, medical community, pharmaceutical industry or anyone else. We have the right to know about – and have access to – all potential treatments for COVID-19, and we have the right to choose which protocol to use.

Please stay safe, ask the right questions, demand the truth, and work together to protect the rights and freedom that our forefathers entrusted in our care.

FORWARD, UPWARD, ONWARD, TOGETHER Nassau, September 25, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, September 29, 2020, PAGE 7

NIB manager and workers deny series of fraud charges from page one The prosecution alleged the group conspired to commit fraud by false pretences sometime between June 23 and July 14 of this year.

It is alleged Dean forged a NIB claim for an unemployment benefit form bearing the name Darin Bethel on June 23. It is also claimed he forged four other fraudulent forms bearing the name of his co-defendants and another person named Kacey Duncombe on that same date.

Dean was also charged with falsification of accounts after the prosecution argued he entered fraudulent claims for unemployment benefits in the NIB’S V3 system for the named individuals that same day.

Dean and Latoya Neely were also accused of obtaining $3,574.48 from NIB’s short-term benefit and assistance account held at the Royal Bank of Canada by means of false pretences on July 6. Dean and Lafleur were

further accused of fraudulently obtaining another $4,225.52 from NIB’s bank account on July 7. The prosecution alleged Dean and Shevyonne Neely also received $3,574.48 from the same account on July 8, while Dean and Poitier were accused of fraudulently obtaining $2,962.70 from NIB’s RBC account on July 14.

In this specific case, Dean was charged with another count of fraud by false pretences as well as five counts of money laundering acquisition after he was accused of acquiring a number of thousand-dollar cheques from NIB on June 29 and July 2, while knowing they were the proceeds of crimes.

The rest of his co-defendants were also charged with one count each of money laundering concealing, for fraudulently acquiring the cheques in July. They were further charged with abetment to commit fraud after the prosecution argued they abetted Dean as he committed fraud.

During this hearing, all of the defendants denied the allegation and the matter

TEEN ACCUSED OF ROBBERY

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A TEEN was charged with armed robbery in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

Kenah Armbrister, 18, appeared before Senior Magistrate Derence Rolle-Davis after he was accused of using a handgun to rob Jonathan Deal of his $21,200 jeep on

September 21.

He was not required to enter a plea and the matter was adjourned to December 3 for service of a voluntary bill of indictment (VBI).

Due to the nature of the charges Armbrister was denied bail and remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional services in the interim.

He has a right to apply to

was adjourned to February 9 for trial.

Yesterday, Dean was also charged alongside Lakeshia Tucker, 43, Gillian Thurston, 40, Takia Smith, 44, Santoine Major, 26, and Kalisa Miller, 26.

They were charged with fraud by false pretences after they were accused of obtaining $3,081.80 from NIB’s RBC account on June 9.

Dean was further charged with four additional counts of money laundering acquisition for obtaining the fraudulent cheques which were made payable to his co-defendants on June 8.

It is alleged Dean, Major and Smith also obtained $4,125 from the bank account that same day.

It is further alleged Major also converted two RBC cheques in the amounts of $625 and $2,500 on June 24.

During the hearing, Dean, Poitier, Ray Rigby, 32, and Jermiane Evans, 35, were also accused of conspiring to commit fraud on May 4. Dean was further charged for forging another set of unemployment benefit forms during the first week of May. It is alleged the manager dishonestly acquired several more fraudulent cheques from the NIB during that same timeframe. The prosecution also argued Dean posted several forged unemployment benefit forms in NIB’s V3 system on May 16.

Due to the nature of the allegations, the defendants were denied bail and remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services in the interim.

They all have a right to apply to the Supreme Court for bail.

LEROY POITIER

SHEVYONNE NEELY

GARY LAFLEUR

ASHANIQUE NEELY

LATOYA NEELY

LAKEISHA TUCKER

GILLIAN THURSTON

TAKIA SMITH

KALISA MILLER

PAGE 8, Tuesday, September 29, 2020

Rocky’s got a plan which can bring us all success

THE TRIBUNE

Face to Face

EXCELLENCE is something we encourage our children to strive for. We want them to give their all and be their best at noble pursuits that will enrich their lives and the lives of others. We know that if they strive for excellence, it By FELICITY DARVILLE will set them apart and help them to survive the trials of accustomed to has us sit- position on July 1, 2020, life. ting looking at our phones and since then, he has been When Rocky Nesbitt was and waiting for something getting acquainted with Head Boy at Abaco Cen- to come to us. We see prob- all the departments and tral High, he had already lems, we have solutions, but the inner workings of the developed this mind- we are not action-based. corporation. His plan set and became a leader We come up with great provides preliminary among his peers. He stood solutions; we are visionar- concepts that will at the school ies; we can see be further develpodium and what needs to oped, resulting in ‘Fifty, sixty years gave speeches be done. But a comprehensive on great- ago, long before many would and strategic ness and the the digital age, complain and action plan, importance not actually considering the they got out there of doing your take the steps input of the best.

When and worked hard. necessary to Board of Direche left school, We have to put in do something tors, executive he continued about it. management that sweat equity. to hold fast to “Fifty, sixty team and the those virtues Some people years ago, operations staff. and has built are running long before The BLUE a professional the digital Project stands away from this career that age, they got for: “Building a sets him apart. country – looking out there and Lean Uniformed EcoToday, he is at Canada and worked hard. nomic network” with a taking on his We have to vision to “improve the other places for biggest chalput in that quality of life for all Bahalenge to date a better life. But sweat equity. mians by facilitating a and is rising to at the end of the Some people stable and fully employed the occasion. are running society in which every day, The Bahamas Rocky is the away from Bahamian will become newly-instated is our home.’ this country economically empowered.”

General Man– looking at BAIC believes that a ager of the Canada and other places vibrant small business Bahamas Agricultural and for a better life. But at sector can be the basis of Industrial Corporation the end of the day, The a fully employed Bahamas.

(BAIC) and the youngest Bahamas is our Properly operated small to ever hold the position. home. It’s up to business I have liaised with him on us to find ways projects in the past; I have to improve seen him in action and he is our country a consummate professional and make it who is reliable and highly what we want effective. I was, there- it to be, not fore, elated to see him be only for ourappointed to the post and selves, but gave him a call to congratu- for our future late him. I love to see young generations.” professionals like Rocky As a take the helm of organiza- father-oftions and make a difference one, Rocky by bringing a fresh perspec- knows all tive and lots of vigour to the too well that position. time flies “I worked hard for this and, without job,” he told me. affirmative “There was a two-month action, the assessment process.

I country worked hard to develop a could be left comprehensive plan. I did behind in a my research and I prepared fast-changing my presentation. I was world filled carefully vetted along with with innoother applicants. The Board vation and was really impressed with implementamy plan and I succeeded. It tion. wasn’t given to me. I put my He was TOP, Rocky, second all into it. excited to enterprises left, as a FAMU Col“It gives me an oppor- share with by indelege student visitng tunity to be a shining me “The pendent a MLK historic site in example of the fact that Blue ProentrepreAtlanta during spring young millennials can take ject” – a neurs can break, and above with this country forward and strategic provide Prime Minister Dr succeed. plan he needed Hubert Minnis.

“There are opportunities has progoods and there, but we have to take posed for services in the charge. The digital life- BAIC. He was economy.

The style we all have become appointed to the plan places emphasis

ment of agri-business in The Bahamas. It was implemented to market agricultural products nationally and internationally, and to foster creation and BAIC general development manager Rocky of commerce Nesbitt, top, and and industry, on left, pictured as a among other the young boy. things. domestic enterWith Rocky prise sector at the helm, the and Bahamian team at BAIC entrepreneurship. is working through “I trust that this draft document will be a the pandemic towards the catalyst to formulate rec- increase of economic proommendations to enhance duction through the growth and expand strategies that and profitability of farmers would result in greater and manufacturers.

“BAIC must become productivity, efficiency and results-based opera- agile in its commercial and tional, technical and corporate operations to financial activities ensure that it is profitable,” by the Corporation,” he contends.

His plan includes the Rocky said. of KPI His plan has eight introduction software to ensure the corstrategic goals: • Create a business poration is able to track, data-driven model analyze and create timely for BAIC decision reports within the Agribusiness and Industrial making process • Create a cor- sectors. BAIC will operate porate/ business with strategic IT governculture at BAIC that is ance by having a single focused on the finan- Chief Information Officer (CIO) and one Assistant cial growth of BAIC • Build or partner CIO for each territory, who with an e-commerce will focus on improving IT system to promote for their office-specific serBahamian business vices and programmes. It owners in the Agri- will build an even stronger business and the network with artisans, local farmers, and manufacturIndustrial sector.

• Facilitate ers. Rocky also wants to see prosperity for Baha- BAIC benchmark top tier mians, particularly global entities and mirror on the Family proven systems to ensure Islands by streamlin- best practices.

This charismatic, effiing the production supply chain to ensure faster cient and ultra-professional leader has been making access to market goods.

• Strategic Crown land steady strides in his life, application process that and he credits his grandparwill focus on sustainable ents who were instrumental technology to withstand in raising him. Born in adverse weather and global Freeport, Grand Bahama, economic crises. BAIC will Rocky was the second-toensure that leased lands are last of six children. Yet, he being used for the intended still managed to stand out purposes of farming and/or and did well at St George’s manufacturing of agricul- and Walter Parker Primary Schools. His grandparents tural products.

• Introduce a strategic Sylvia and George Ruscommunication strategy sell took him under their that highlights the Entre- wing and nurtured him preneurial ingenuity of the with the loving care that grandparents often give. In Bahamian people.

• Implement new Soft- this environment, Rocky ware and programmes that was instilled with strong move towards a distribution moral and Christian values network for commercial and good “broughtupsy” as Bahamians like to say. entities at BAIC. • Modernize the Indus- George Russell was a trial Parks to International well-known and respected Standards to ensure true customs officer in Grand incubation, accreditations, Bahama.

Rocky grew up between and ISO standards.

Each strategic goal has Grand Bahama and Abaco an extensive plan outlined, and the island upbringing all working towards revolu- gave him an appreciation tionizing BAIC. Since 1981, for his beautiful country the corporation has existed and a desire to play his part to help sustain the develop- in improving it. Even as a

ROCKY’s grandparents, George and Sylvia Russell.

young boy, Rocky knew that he wanted to be a CEO and business owner one day. After graduating, he attended Florida Memorial University, where he obtained a Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice. He went on to achieve a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from Nova Southeastern University. He holds a Caribbean Development Bank certificate in Policy Cycle Management and is currently pursuing certification from Project Management Institute.

He began his career in Government as an educator in the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and progressed to the position of lecturer in the Training Institute of the Bahamas Department of Corrections. He currently lectures business, criminal justice and communication disciplines at Southern College.

Rocky has over 13 years’ experience in the public and private sectors covering project management and national development, foreign direct investment, national security, and academic and technical education.

Before becoming BAIC’s general manager, Rocky served as project coordinator in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM). He had responsibility for several projects in the ambit of the Over-the-Hill Community Development Initiative (OTHCDI) Programme, which was developed by Prime Minister Hubert Minnis. The initiative was designed to restore and transform the environment and improve the socioeconomic conditions of the Bain Town, Grant’s Town and Centreville residents.

He effectively implemented and managed the rejuvenation, social and economic empowerment and the smart technology projects relating to the White Paper on the OTHCDI in the targeted communities.

Rocky also served as a project team member with the Bahamas Investment Authority, a unit in the OPM that has administrative oversight for the National Economic Council (NEC). It is a sub-committee of Cabinet Ministers that makes decisions on foreign direct investment (FDI) applications. In this position, he had responsibility for the management of brownfield and greenfield FDI projects. He coordinated project inspection site visits and town hall meetings on New Providence and the Family Islands.

He owns a small company which focuses on project management – his passion, along with business management, media and communications, and software development.

In addition to his corporate pursuits, Rocky also has a strong penchant for community service and charitable causes. He is President of the “Marathon Cares” a non-profit organization that assists and supports the residents in the Marathon area. Although he has just arrived at BAIC, he has already led charitable causes for the corporation.

“I believe in praying on my feet and not on my knees,” he said.

“So I am putting action behind all the things I am involved with, so that I can do my part to help make a difference in my country.”

THE TRIBUNE

Whichever way we turn in this crisis there is a bitter pill to swallow A

fter so many months of endless debate and controversy, some may regard further comment about the COVID-19 pandemic to be superfluous. But what appears to be a second wave of the virus in Europe - resulting in imposition of new restrictions - has reignited argument about the efforts of governments to control its spread.

Here at home, even as the figures for infections continue to rise, there appears to be a partial return to something approaching normality, with - for example, among other signs -- no more queues at supermarkets and pharmacies. But some question the need to extend the emergency powers until the end of October and wonder what will happen after that.

Action taken to combat COVID-19 has varied, of course, by country. But, in studying developments in Britain, I found it interesting to do a trawl of the UK press about comments on the government’s restrictions and the curtailment of people’s lives.

It is clear levels of anxiety remain high as infections and hospital admissions have started to rise again and hopes of a return to normality in the autumn are fading. Everybody finally realises the pandemic is here to stay, at least until a vaccine is available and possibly after that as well.

So, instead of government using coercion of the public to try to defeat or eradicate the virus, it has almost become a cliché that the only way of dealing with this scourge is to learn to live with it and adapt accordingly - in the same way human-beings have had to learn to live with other diseases that blight their lives.

Even though the state has a role to play, the majority of people accept that it cannot protect everybody from pathogens in the air.

Thus, during the current crisis it is incumbent on individuals themselves to take precautions like social distancing and the wearing of masks to minimise the health risk.

That being the case, although the original lockdowns seemed to be the

and dearest at the end of their lives, destroy your wedding plans, wreck your education, ruin your holidays, take away your job and set the police on you for not wearing a mask.

What is more, ministers have been encouraging people to report their neighbours for not adhering to the rules and there is arrogant bullying by officialdom in enforcing lockdown measures. As Hitchens puts it so colourfully, Boris Johnson wants to burn down the house twice to get rid of a wasp’s nest then stand in the ruins and blame everybody else for what amounts to a ‘futile catastrophe’.

right approach to try to limit the spread of the virus at the beginning of the crisis, universal restrictions applied indiscriminately cannot be maintained ad infinitum because the social and economic costs are too high. Without using heavyhanded coercive measures, political leaders somehow have to apply imagination and inventiveness in helping to contain the spread while allowing individuals to exercise their instinct for self-preservation and to have the freedom to get on with their lives to enable the country to function properly.

Advice There is now a widespread view that in Britain Prime Minister Boris Johnson is floundering in the face of conflicting advice.

His principal scientific specialists - some of whom are accused of scaremongering - are recommending further tough restrictions while some of their colleagues are saying these are undesirable since they will only defer the problem.

Apparently his own Chancellor of the Exchequer has warned the financial impact of a second lockdown will have a catastrophic effect on the economy.

The mix of commentary is fascinating. At one extreme, Peter Hitchens, the well-known contrarian, bluntly says the government has had the power to smash up one’s business, make you stay at home, part you from your nearest

Predictions On the other hand, many say that in the greatest crisis faced by the nation in a generation it is foolhardy in the extreme to downplay the seriousness of what is happening. No responsible government could simply stand back in the face of the virus spiralling out of control and fail to react to the predictions of the scientists with measures to combat its spread. So Mr Johnson, who, of course, was himself struck down with a nasty bout of COVID-19, is on a hiding to nothing.

That said, the issue now is whether the new strategy of restrictive measures chosen

by UK ministers in face of the so-called second wave with a quarter of the British population now under some form of lockdown that threatens to propel them once more into financial ruin - is the right one in face of serious doubts about its need or effectiveness.

In a democracy, if the state curtails civil liberties, it has to provide convincing evidence that its action is necessary and works.

With the social and economic impact of further lockdown measures that are seen as draconian and hard to enforce, plus the prospect of months of uncertainty ahead with no end in sight, more and more people are questioning whether they can be justified when increasingly it looks as though the cure is worse than the disease.

Most people will surely say even one death from the virus is one too many.

A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR BORIS - HE COULD DO WITH ONE

BRITISH Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks in a pre-recorded message which was played during the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Saturday, at UN Headquarters.

(UNTV Via AP )

I

n connection with my piece today about coronavirus, I was delighted to read Boris Johnson’s pre-recorded speech at the UN General Assembly on Saturday.

In his positive address, he called for the world to overcome divisions created by the virus and unite to defeat the pandemic. He set out an ambitious five-point plan – to establish a worldwide network to identify dangerous pathogens before they start; to develop manufacturing capacity for treatments and vaccines; to design a global pandemic early warning system to predict a coming health crisis; to agree global protocols ready for a future health emergency and to reduce the trade barriers which have impeded the coronavirus response.

He also announced significant new British investment in COVAX, the

international COVID-19 vaccines procurement pool, with the UK contributing an initial $90 million to secure purchase rights for up to 27 million vaccine doses for its own population.

In addition, he reported the UK had committed some $650 million in aid funding to help the world’s poorest countries access a coronavirus vaccine while also pledging substantially increased funding to the World Health Organisation over the next four years – thus making the UK its third largest donor.

In response to Mr Johnson’s speech, I imagine many in different countries will applaud him and his colleagues for pushing such an ambitious and welcome agenda.

Could it herald the beginning of a turnaround in the struggle against a virus that has turned the world upside down?

Tuesday, September 29, 2020, PAGE 9

A SIGN is placed across a closed road in London, Thursday, after Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a range of new restrictions to combat the rise in coronavirus cases in England. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) But, according to the World Health Organisation, the death rate from coronavirus is very low - between 0.5 and one percent of infected cases.

Critics are now pointing to the latest revealing

“Without using heavy-handed coercive measures, political leaders somehow have to apply imagination and inventiveness in helping to contain the spread while allowing individuals to exercise their instinct for selfpreservation and to have the freedom to get on with their lives to enable the country to function properly.” statistics in the UK. Of the total average number of some 1,600 deaths daily that are attributable to all causes, fewer than about 40 are now due to the virus.

Since March, around 300 people under the age of 45 have died of the disease

and, of the some 52,500 virus deaths recorded by the Office of National Statistics, 89 percent have been over-65s.

So, it can be argued that universal restrictions ought not to be applied indiscriminately since the risk to younger people is relatively low.

Meanwhile, UK National Health Service figures show more than 95 percent of patients who die from coronavirus in hospital have an underlying health condition such as diabetes, heart disease or obesity - and records show that in recent months there have been more deaths from cancer, strokes, heart attacks, diabetes and other diseases which are not being diagnosed or treated properly because of the emphasis on the virus and people’s fear of going to hospitals.

Apart from the severe damage to the economy, with the huge loss of jobs and the national debt now at an all-time high of the equivalent of over $2.5 trillion, the sad fact is that as a result of the lockdowns there has been an increase in social ills - isolation, loneliness, hopelessness and worry, depression, mental health issues and suicide – that are now likely to

become worse during the dark cold days of winter.

So, public attitudes seem to be hardening.

More and more see the issue as wider than the science which appears to be dictating the government’s strategy.

They consider the social dimension should be given more weight.

It is surely not a simple choice between saving lives and preserving the economy.

There are wider issues and the economy is life itself. If it seizes up, everything else fails - including treatment by the NHS of COVID sufferers - and the standard of living that we all take for granted will collapse.

Perhaps there are lessons for others in all this.

The key for the future must surely be to encourage and, where necessary, enforce good hygiene and social distancing measures, develop more testing and tracing, compel those testing positive to self-isolate, protect the vulnerable and improve medical facilities. But shutting everything down in a misguided belief that the state can protect its citizens from all risk and misfortune is no longer a justifiable option.

PAGE 10, Tuesday, September 29, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

Funeral Service For Dr. Phillip Wellington Thompson, MBBS, F.R.C.S., F.A.C.S., F.C.C.S, 72 of South Lucayan Tower, Freeport, Grand Bahama and formerly of New Providence, will be held on Thursday, October 1st, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. at St. Agnes Anglican Church, Baillou Hill Road, Grants Town, Nassau, Bahamas. Officiating will be Archdeacon Keith N. Cartwright, Archbishop Drexel W. Gomez, Canon Warren H Rolle, Rev’d Dr. James Moultrie, Deacon Peter L. Ferguson and Deacon Ruel J. Strachan. Interment will follow in St. Agnes Cemetery Nassau Street, The Bahamas.

He was Pre-Deceased by: Parents: William and Cashena Thompson; Brothers: Venerable Arch Deacon William Edward Thompson, Adopted Brother: William R. Wallace; Sister: Jesslyn Thompson; He Is Survived by: Brother: Retired Assistant Bishop Gilbert A. Thompson; Sister: Veronica Hutchinson; Sisters-in-law: Olga L. Thompson & Rose Marie Thompson; Children: Dion (Gillian) Thompson, Erald (Joyanne) Thompson, Tamara (Greg) Belinfanti, Phillip A. Burrowes, Phillippa, Dr. Phillip W., Michael, Tamia & Milahn Thompson; Grandchildren: Joshua, Eraise, Hannah, Tristen, Matthew & Erald Thompson III, Eleanor, Julian & Gabrielle Belinfanti; Nephews: Gilbert Thompson (Dr. Jahzreel), and Calvin Smith Jr.; Nieces: Maude Angela Williams, Heather Ann Maynard (Clement II), Pamela Rodgers, Phillipa Rolle & Colette Knowles, Terez & Lesley Hutchinson, Antoinette Hutchinson-Nouguez; Grandnieces: Kennadya Rodgers-Archibald (William), Falon Williams, Amelia & Mary Maynard, Piya Barnett and Phillippa Rolle; Grandnephews: Gilbert Jr & James Thompson, Paul Barnett III & Justyn Rolle; Special Friend: Dr. Monique Pratt; God Children: Valentina Green, Travano McPhee, Kahsheriff Munnings, Kendra Jones, Dr. Symone Sawyer, Dr. Joh Neely, Jameka Dean, Mathias Dean, Jewel Dean, Akilah Gibson, Javin Smith, Alissa Gibson, Enrico Fitzgerald, Taria Bain, Mikhail Dean, Dr. Candice Shaw; Numerous Cousins Including: Audley & Zelma Dean & Family, Maria Ferguson & Family, Kirkland Brown & Family, Whittington Brown & Family, Father Whitfield Hutcheson & Family, Jerry Hutcheson & Family, Albert Hutcheson & Family, Edward Hutcheson & Family, Janet Hutcheson & Family Victor Hutcheson & Family, Maurice Hutcheson & Family, James Hutcheson & Family Billy Brown & Family, The Family of the Late H.W. Brown, Gwen Moncur & Family Andrea Pinder & Family, Melanie Hepburn & Family, Irma Hepburn & Family Leonard Hutcheson Jr. & Family, The Family of the Late Cardinal Hutcheson, Nellie Strachan & Family, The Family of the Late Rodney Braynen, Shelagh Strachan & Family Elsie Strachan & Family, Gloria Strachan & Family, The Family of the Late Hugh Strachan, Brenda Archer & Family, Kingsley Robinson & Family, The Family of the Late Anzlo Strachan, Dr. Leslie Culmer & Family, Dr. Kirklyn Culmer & Family, Sanford Culmer & Family, Stuart Culmer & Family, Raymond H. Culmer & Family, Ingrid Culmer, The Family of the Late Van Bethell, The Family of the Late Pa Bethell, Earl Bethell & Family, Craig Bethell & Family, Oswald & Coral Sawyer & Family, The Family of the Late Ermath Munroe, Alma Adams & Family, Pat Paul & Family, Kendal (Funky) and Rev Emily Demeritte & Family, Maureen Rahming & Family, Gwen Reed & Family, Courtney Strachan & Family, Rosie Fernander-Samuda & Familythe Family of the Late Mrs. Merle Coakley, The Family of the Late Calsey Johnson, Ivan & Florence Deveaux, Edward & Beverly Deveaux, Emily Osadabey & Family; Other Family Members Including: Madge Morrison, Edris Thompson (Ex-Wife), Dr. Anne Burrowes, Jan Lundy Michele Thompson (Ex-Wife), Charmaine Knowles, Rosalia Bowe, Karen Marshall (FPO); Numerous Friends Including: The Most Honorable Dr. Hubert Minnis & Mrs. Patricia Minnis, The Honorable Philip “Brave” Davis & Mrs. Ann-Marie Davis, The Right Honorable Perry Christie& Mrs. Bernadette Christie, The Right Honorable Hubert Ingraham & Mrs. Delores Ingraham, Prince & Willie Francis & Family, Arthur Gibson & Family, Paula Gibson-Balfe, Keith A. McSweeney & Family, Felix Stubbs & Family, Mr. & Mrs. Hubert Chipman & Family, Arnold “Bain Boy” Bain & Family, Bernard Storr & Family, Jeffrey August Williams & Family, The Family Of The Late John Chipman, Mr. & Mrs. Percy “Vola” Francis & Family, Willis “Kool Aid” Bain & Family, The Family Of The Late Winston “Gus” Cooper, Alexander (“Lick”) and Vadie Green & Family, Toby Austin& Family, Herbert Styles Sr. & Family, Eugene (“Sparky”) Fountain & Family, Willamae Cravatt & Family, Ethlyn Ferguson & Family, Emily Munnings & Family, Franklyn (“Bob”) Taylor & Family, Kendal “KC” Campbell & Family, Jameko “Air Time” Dean, Gregory “Pepper” Clarke & Family, Anton Dean & Family, Eddie Dames & Family, Shawn “Carwash” Smith & Family, Winston “Shem” Sherman & Family, Members Of The Saxons Superstars Junkanoo Group, Especially His Bretheren and Adopted Junkanoo Sons from The Park Boyz Shack: D. Wright, Peter Runks, The Major Family, The Lee Family, Donny Stuart, Lennie Rolle, Selvin Rolle, J. Lee & Stacy, Bonehead, Glen, Naboo, Arrow, Big Laing, Limpy, Elliott, T. Pratt, Leo, Frank, Gregory, Vonnie, Cheryl, Alley, Bodie, Pee-Wee, Fat Boy, All Da Lifters, Moxey (Welder), Neville (Air Brush), Neilly’s Family, ‘Merican, Carl and All Of The People Of Mason’s Addition, The Honorable Algernon Allen & Dame Anita Allen, Samuel “Bookie” & Inez Johnson & Family, Maurice & Lynn Glinton & Family, Dr. Marcus Bethel & Family, Dr. Paul Ward & Family, Dr. Pamela Etuk & Family, Dr. Paul Hunt & Family, Dr. Vincent Burton & Family, Dr. Robert Gibson & Family, Dr. Nigel Lewis And Family, Dr. Danny Johnson & Family, Dr. Herbert Orlander & Family, Dr. Candice Shaw & Family, Dr. Ronald Knowles & Family, Dr. Patrick Whitfield & Family, Dr. Robin Roberts & Family, Dr. Adrian Sawyer & Family, Dr. Nelson Clarke & Family, Drs. Larry & Carol Carroll & Family, Dr. Charles Rahming & Family, Dr. Conville Brown & Family, Dr. Percievel McNeil & Family, Kayla J. Hield, Sylvia Moxey, Josslee Hepburn, Diocesan Bishop Laish Z. Boyd Jr. & Family, Retired Archbishop Drexel W. Gomez & Family, The Venerable Arch-Deacon Keith Cartwright, Reverend Ranfurly Brown & Family, Fr. Hugh Bartlett & Family, Reverend Wesley Thompson & Family, Gevon Moss & Family, The Anglican Men Church Council, Clergy of the Anglican Diocese, Amos McPhee & Family, The Staff at The Princess Margaret Hospital, The Staff at the Rand Memorial Hospital, The Staff At Sunrise Medical Center, The Staff At Physicians Alliance Limited, The Medical, Surgical and Administration Staff At Lucayan Medical Center, The Government High School Class of ’66 & ’67, The University of The West Indies Medical Class Of 1975, The Caribbean College Of Surgeons, Lorna Johnson & Family, Melanie Roach, Doris Cargill & Family, Rosemarie Hanna & Family, Valentine Grimes & Family, Philip Stubbs & Family, Susanne Bain & Family, Roger Simmons & Family, Patrick Williams, Beverly Wallace Whitfield, Gerald & Barbara Sawyer & Family, Dr. Wesley Francis & Family, Sir Franklyn & Lady Sharon Wilson, Laverne Major & Family, Andy Gomez & Family, Patrell Rolle-Morrison, Mr. & Mrs. Paul Major & Family, Mr. & Mrs. Hillary Deveaux & Family, John & Charlene Neely & Family, Adalee Wisseh & Family, Anthony Woodside & Family, Clifford “Cliffie” Humes, Melverna Wong & Family, Patricia Isaacs & Family, Irringtion (“Minky”) Isaacs & Siblings, Ednol & Andrea Smith & Family, Lenworth Smith & Family, John “Moon” Archer & Family, Francis “Gordo” Hunt, Anton Saunders & Family, Stan Burnside & Family, The Late Jackson Burnside, Pamela Burnside & Family, Family of the Late Tyrone “Dr. Off” Fitzgerald, Family Of The Late Zeus Samuels, Family Of The Late Sir Arlington & Lady Sheila Butler, Family Of The Late Brother (“Bree”) & Corinne Fountain, Clint Mccartney & Family, Kim Major & Family, The Staff Of McCartney’s Pharmacy, Villel Reed & Family, Lana Gatrey & Family, Berkoff Davis, Cheryl Turnquest, Peter Adderley, Franklyn & Pandora Pratt & Family, Evia Hill & Family, Richard “Spider” Marshall & Family, Pauline Knowles, Gurney & Debbie Armstrong & Family, Mitzi Swaby, Kingsley “Redneck” Pickering, Godfrey & Julian Edgecombe, Emmanuel Wallace, Leslie “Red” Darville, John Fraser, Jacqueline Finlayson, Silbert & Arlene Ferguson & Family, David Musgrove & Family, Keva McKinney & Family, Charlie Major Iii & Family, Conra & Lorn “Caffee” Mccartney & Family, Claudia Ferguson & Family, Ricardo “Ala Cup” Richardson & Family, Christopher Richardson & Family, Paul “Teddy Bear” Lightbourne & Family, Isaiah Taylor & Family, Anishka Smith & Family, Ricardo Deal, Mr. & Mrs. Adelbert Mackenzie & Family, The Family of The Late Rupert “Sexy” Miller, Mrs. Paula Miller, Gladstone “Moon” McPhee & Family, Phil “Big Mama” Stubbs & Family, Alphaeus “Hawk” Finlayson & Family, Anthony Braynen & Family, Dr. Phillip Huyler & Family, Mrs. Janeen McCartney & Family, Sonia Dames & Family, Ches & Debbie Wood, Glen Archer & Family, Arthur Duncombe, The “Farm Road” Community, Ali Campbell & Family, Adam Campbell and The Crew At “Somewhere Lounge” In Freeport, GB, Kelley and The Crew At “The Hurricane Lounge” In Freeport, GB, Campbell Cleare & Family, Andrew Conliffe & Family, Rodney Williams & Family, Darren Bastian & Family, Greg “Sir Harry” Woodside, Max Woodside, Dr. Ken Newbold & Family, Rudy Stubbs and family, Roosie Godet and Family, Mr. & Mrs. Doyle Burrows & Family, Dean Patrick & Mrs. Astrid Adderley & Family. **If your name has been inadvertently omitted it was not intentional ** Viewing will be held in the Halcyon Suite at Restview Memorial Mortuary and Crematorium Ltd., Robinson and Soldier Roads on Tuesday & Wednesday from 10: 00 am to 6:00 pm there will be no viewing at St. Agnes Anglican Church.

Andros postal clerk accused of fraud

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net THE chief postal clerk of the Post Office in Andros was remanded to prison over allegations she defrauded the government establishment of thousands of dollars between 2015 and 2020.

Terry Neymour, 52, appeared before Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes charged with 11 counts each of stealing by reason of employment and falsification of accounts.

The prosecution alleged Neymour failed to make several entries in the Post Office’s domestic money order ledger and deposit fund income cash book to record money orders for which she was required to show the orders were sold and that funds were received for them.

In the first instance, Neymour is accused of falsifying two orders sometime between May 3, 2019 and February 7, 2020. She is further accused of stealing $4,244.77 within that same timeframe.

It is alleged she also falsified accounts sometime between May 26, 2019 and February 7, 2020 to steal $10,799.84.

The prosecution claims Neymour falsified another set of accounts on August 6, September 6, and October 6

of 2019 to steal three large sums of cash in the amounts of $14,574.84, $13,370.48, and $12,195.62.

The prosecution argued the defendant repeated the crime on November 5 and February 3 of that same year to steal two more sums of cash in the amounts of $13,477.42 and $2,139.36.

Neymour is accused of falsifying another set of accounts sometime between January 21, 2015, and February 7, 2020, to steal $4,244.77.

She is further accused of committing the same crime in December 2015 and December 2016 to steal two large sums of cash in the amounts of $10,799.84 and $14,574.84.

The prosecution said the defendant also falsified accounts sometime between January 31, 2018 and February 7 of this year to obtain another $13,370.48.

During the arraignment, Neymour denied all of the allegations and the matter was adjourned to February 8 for trial.

Due to the nature of the charges she was denied bail and remanded to the Department of Correctional Services until that time.

Her attorney, Ramona Farquarson-Seymour, told the magistrate she was in the process of applying for bail for her client in the Supreme Court.

PAIR ACCUSED OF STEALING PARTS FROM CAR

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

TWO men were remanded to prison for one year after they admitted stealing parts from another man’s car last week.

Ryan Forbes, 18, and Cordero Clarke, 20, were accused of stealing a black marine battery, two speakers and a CD player amplifier, which all had a combined value of $798.48, from Javano Farrington sometime between September 20 and 23.

The court heard on the day in question, Mr Farrington visited his exgirlfriend’s house where his 2011 Honda car was parked.

The prosecution said the complainant left his car there the day before with everything intact. When Mr Farrington checked his car that day, he noticed his pioneer radio set and amplifier had been stolen. As a result, he filed an official complaint with police.

The court was told the complainant also conducted his own inquiries on the matter. Acting on the information he received, he then headed to Forbes’ residence where he observed his car battery in the hood of Forbes’ vehicle. After informing the defendant

that it was his battery, he removed it and notified the police. This led to Forbes’ arrest. In an interview with police, Forbes claimed he got the battery from his co-defendant Clarke, and insisted he was unaware it was stolen.

During his interview with police, Clarke told officers he had a car with transmission problems and was

by Forbes working on the vehicle when an unknown man approached them and told them he had parts he could sell them. Clarke said the car in question was then towed to Forbes’ residence where he removed the car parts and placed them in his own vehicle.

When given an opportunity to speak yesterday, Clarke told Senior Magistrate Derence Rolle-Davis he was wrong for what he did. During the arraignment, Forbes also said “things were a little rough for him” and he didn’t think his actions through.

In response, after accepting both of the defendants’ guilty pleas, Magistrate Rolle-Davis said the court could not take their actions lightly since stealing was one of the greatest fears people who work and own anything have. As a result, he sentenced them to one year behind bars.

TWO DENY FRAUD CHARGES TWO women were charged with fraud in the Freeport Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

Wendy Fawkes, 38, of Edgar Place, and Renae Harvey, 51, of Imperial Park, appeared before Magistrate Laquay Laing on charges of fraud by

false pretences, possession of a fraudulent document and uttering a fraudulent document.

They pleaded not guilty and were denied bail. They were remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services until December 7, 2020, for trial.

THE TRIBUNE

OFFICER IN BREONNA TAYLOR CASE PLEADS NOT GUILTY

By BRUCE SCHREINER, REBECCA REYNOLDS YONKER and PIPER HUDSPETH BLACKBURN Associated Press LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The lone Kentucky detective facing charges related to the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor pleaded not guilty Monday.

Brett Hankison’s plea comes five days after a grand jury indicted him on three counts of wanton endangerment for firing into the home of Taylor’s neighbours. If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison on each count.

Hankison’s lawyer asked that his client be allowed to keep firearms for selfdefence, saying Hankison, who was fired in June, “has received a number of threats.” The judge turned down the request.

The grand jury declined to charge Hankison or the other two undercover narcotics officers who opened fire inside Taylor’s house with her shooting. The decision not to charge the officers set off protests in Louisville and across the country.

On Monday, Louisville’s mayor lifted the curfew put in place after people refused to end their nighttime protests.

Mayor Greg Fischer’s statement said the 9 p.m. curfew had served its purpose.

“We sadly saw some violence, including the shooting of two police officers, one of whom remains hospitalised, dealing with complications of his injuries. But we believe the curfew helped, by ensuring fewer people were out late in the day,” Fischer said.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said the protests were largely peaceful, with a few people taking advantage of the situation to commit violence.

“Let me say this, 99.99% of people that took to the streets or the sidewalks did so peacefully, raised their voices to be heard and we should listen. We should listen to the trauma and to the pain,” Beshear said.

Meanwhile, Kentucky state Rep. Lisa Willner, a Louisville Democrat, said Monday that she’s starting to craft legislation that would narrow the scope of the state’s rioting statute.

Her proposal, which she intends to offer in next year’s legislative session, would protect people from being charged with first-degree rioting if they’re present but don’t engage in destructive or violent actions. Her response comes after Democratic state Rep. Attica Scott was charged with the felony last week while participating in Louisville protests for racial justice.

Tuesday, September 29, 2020, PAGE 11

TRUMP, BIDEN PREPARE TO DEBATE AT A TIME OF MOUNTING CRISES

By JONATHAN LEMIRE and JILL COLVIN Associated Press

CLEVELAND (AP) — In an election year like no other, the first debate between President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, could be a pivotal moment in a race that has remained stubbornly unchanged in the face of historic tumult.

The Tuesday night debate will offer a massive platform for Trump and Biden to outline their starkly different visions for a country facing multiple crises, including racial justice protests and a pandemic that has killed more than 200,000 Americans and cost millions of jobs.

The health emergency has upended the usual trappings of a presidential campaign, lending heightened importance to the debate. But amid intense political polarisation, comparatively few undecided voters remain, raising questions as to how, or if, the debate might shape a race that has been defined by its bitterness and, at least so far, its stability.

Biden will step onto the Cleveland stage holding leads in the polls — significant in the national surveys, closer in the battleground states — but facing questions about his turn in the spotlight, particularly considering Trump’s withering attacks. And Trump, with only 35 days to change the course of the race, will have arguably his best chance to try to reframe the campaign as a choice election and not a referendum over his handling of a virus that has killed more people in America than any other nation.

“This will be the first moment in four years that someone will walk on stage as co-equal to Trump and be able to hold him to account for the malfeasance he has shown leading the country,” said Steve Schmidt, senior campaign aide for John McCain’s 2008 Republican presidential bid and a frequent Trump critic. “If Biden is unable to indict Trump for all that he has done, (that) would be profound failure.

There is no spinning that away.”

The president’s handling of the coronavirus will likely dominate much of the discussion. The pandemic’s force will be tangible as the candidates’ podiums will be spaced far apart and the traditional opening handshake scrapped.

And the debate could be shaped by an extraordinary

A WORKER sprays sanitiser on a lectern as preparations take place for the first Presidential debate in the Sheila and Eric Samson Pavilion, Monday, in Cleveland. The first debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden is scheduled to take place today. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) confluence of other recent moments: the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, allowing Trump to nominate a conservative jurist to replace a liberal voice and reshape the high court for generations, and the blockbuster revelations about Trump’s long-hidden tax history, including that he paid only $750 a year in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017 and nothing in many other years.

older and female voters, particularly in the suburbs, and his path to 270 Electoral College votes, while still viable, has shrunk.

Polls suggest fewer undecided voters remain than at this point in the 2016 campaign.

And several high-profile debates in past elections that were thought to be game-changing moments at the time ultimately had little lasting effect.

Four years ago, Democrat

FORMER Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump.

(AP) But the impact of the debate — or the two that follow in the weeks ahead — remains unclear.

The tumult of 2020 is difficult to overstate: COVID-19 has rewritten the rules of everyday life; schools and businesses are shuttered; and racial justice protests have swept the nation after a series of high-profile killings of Black people by police.

Despite the upheaval, the presidential race has remained largely unchanged since Biden seized control of the Democratic field in March. The nation has soured on Trump’s handling of the pandemic, and while his base of support has remained largely unchanged, he has seen defections among

Hillary Clinton was widely seen as besting Trump in their three debates, but she lost in November. In 2012, Mitt Romney crushed Barack Obama in their first meeting only to falter in the rematches.

But some debates have mattered: most famously, a turning point in the 1960 race was when John F. Kennedy was perceived — at least by TV viewers — as outdueling Richard Nixon.

And in 1980, Ronald Reagan was able to reassure nervous

voters that he possessed a presidential temperament when he delivered a winning performance against incumbent Jimmy Carter.

While both sides anticipate a vicious debate between two men who do not like each other, the Biden campaign has downplayed the night’s importance, believing that the pandemic and the battered economy will outweigh any debate stage gaffe or zinger. Conversely, the Trump campaign has played up the magnitude of the duel, believing it will be a moment for the president to damage Biden and recast the race.

Trump had told advisers that he is preparing an all-out assault on Biden, claiming that the former senator’s 47 years in Washington have left him out of touch and that his family, namely his son Hunter, has benefited from corruption.

The president on Monday also repeated his demand that Biden take some sort of drug test, asserting without evidence that the Democratic nominee was somehow using a performance enhancer.

That continued a curious round of expectations setting: While Trump’s campaign has of late praised Biden’s debate skills, the president has also vividly portrayed his opponent as not being up to the job, potentially allowing Biden to come off well as long as he avoids a major stumble.

“This guy doesn’t have a

clue. He doesn’t know where the hell he is,” Trump said recently, likening the debate to a boxing match and pointing to his head. “To win matches you need that up here. This wins, probably, it’s 50% of it. This is not prime time for Joe.” But Trump — never a polished debater, though a commanding presence on stage — has done little in the way of formal preparations, which may mean he is walking into his own trap.

“Historically, incumbents do less well in the first debate, largely because they’re unaccustomed to being challenged openly,” said presidential historian Jon Meacham.

“The most important single debate in terms of direct impact on outcome came 40 years ago, with the single Carter-Reagan meeting a week before the election. The key question then — ‘Are you better off than you were four years ago?’ — has fresh and compelling resonance.”

Biden’s performances during the primary debates were uneven, and some Democrats have been nervous as to how he will fare in an unscripted setting. But his team views the night as a moment to illuminate Trump’s failings with the pandemic and economy, with the former vice president acting as a “fact checker on the floor” while bracing himself for the onslaught that is coming.

A Private Service of Celebration for the life of the late Illustrious Past Grand Master & Deputy Commander in Chief,

JOSEPH ROLLE, 78

Funeral Service For MS. MELANIE ROSANELL THOMPSON, 23 of Stapleton Gardens, Nassau, New Providence and formerly of Freeport, Grand Bahama, will be held on Wednesday, September 30, 2020 at 10:30 a.m. at The ProCathedral of Christ the King, East Atlantic Drive & Pioneer’s Way, Freeport Grand Bahama. Officiating will be Canon Curtis Robinson.

Left to cherish her fond memories are her parents: Steve and Rosanell Thompson; sister: Stephanie Thompson; grandparents: Icelyn Grant, Bernell Rolle, Mother Rosenell Flosetta Johnson, Thomas Smith and Roscoe Thompson; special friend: Christopher Adderley; uncles: Ricardo Smith, Anthony Higgs, Thomas Smith Jr., Trevor and Kenrick Thompson, Jason and Barrington Rolle, Basil Damianos and Jonah Hepburn II, Troy Stubbs and Calvin Russell; aunts: Helen Hepburn, Omece Russell, Sarah Higgs, Alexis Smith, Shantosha Thomspon, Leavern Stubbs Thompson, Arodeana Stubbs and Andrea Damianos; godfather: Roscoe Dickenson; grand uncles: Leroy Smith, Victor Willis, Milton Grant Sr., Dwight Thompson, Jerome Pitter and Patrick Pitter; grand aunts: Joy Filmore, Lovely Sweeting, Irene Lightbourn, Donna Grant, Victoria Bain, Lonna Wilson, Marylee Davis, Ruth Bowe-Dean, Fredricka Nottage, Flosetta Johnson, Helen Folk, Dorothy Henfield and Glendane Williams; her legacy will continue to live on in the lives of her numerous cousins, family members and friends.

Special thanks to the Staff of Caribbean Bottling Company, University of the Bahamas, Bonaventure Lab, Exuma Hair, Rev. Fr. Grant and Mrs. Grant and St. Judes Church family.

of Claridge Road, will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, September 30th, 2020 at Mt. Horeb Baptist Church, Sandyport. Officiating will be Rev. Dr. Lloyd Smith. Interment will follow in Lakeview Memorial Gardens and Mausoleum, John F. Kennedy Dr. Due to current Government regulations in respect of Covid-19, attendance is limited.

Left to mourn his precious memories are his darling Wife: Educator Geneva Rolle; Children: Ricardo Rolle and Endicia Outten; Sisters: Ismae and Ruthmae Newbold; Brother: Sam Rolle; Sisters-in-Law: Margaret Collie and Emberald Cash; Brothers-inLaw: Basil and Ednol Cash, and Mr. Collie; Adopted Children: Ricardo Fernander, Kingcade Dural and Rev. Melaina Fernander of Orlando, Fl; Inspector Ricardo Richardson 330 Past Grand Master, Christopher Richardson, Mario Curry 330 Past Grand Patron, Wayne Rodgers, Associate Grand Patron, Eloise Fernander, Fran Suze Fernander, Dr. Zettle Cambridge, Shenique Williams, Annamae Davis, Iva Williams and Rachquel Ferguson; Aunt: Augla Frazier; Nephews: David Frazier, Londly Frazier, Remorn Frazier and Harris Frazier; Other Relatives & Friends Including: Vernisha Guaitor, Susan Darville, Rebertta, Jessie and Edna Guaiter, Ednol Cash Jr., Wilson Kelly, Claudia Hudson, Shanell Cash, Elaine Ferguson, Palma Culmer, Danisha Banister, David Frazier, Calvin Frazier, Issie Frazier, Corene Frazier, Floria Ferguson, Ismae Newbold, Enenia Newbold, Debbie Williams, Kendenley Newbold, Ennick Newbold, Joan Kenny Williams, Iva Williams, Shenique Williams, Bianca Claridge, Dale Gardner and family, Lower Bogue, Eleuthera family, Ross Corner family, Garden Hills family, Ruthmae Newbold, Nadina and Stacy Rolle, Gwendlyn Conliffe and family, Queen Adderley and family, Vernette Hanna and family, Melvane Bain and family, Rev. Oswald Pinder and family.

May His Soul Rest in Peace!

Friends may pay their last respects at Bethel Brothers Morticians & Crematorium, #44 Nassau St. on Tuesday September 29th from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.