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VOLUME:116 No.198, OCTOBER 8TH, 2019

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HEALTH: WE MUST LISTEN TO THE SIGNALS OF OUR BODIES

Call for Dames to resign over Abaco

FNM branch STUDENTS ON SONG FOR WORLD TEACHERS DAY chairman hits out over island’s ‘weak security’

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

not have operational control of law enforcement agencies and will not interfere politically with THE chairman of the them, especially after satisFree National Move- fying himself that the police ment’s Central and commissioner and South Abaco condefence force comstituency branch modore are ably wants National securing the Security Minisisland. He also said ter Marvin Dames officials intend to to resign over the increase the number “weak security” on of police vehicles on the island.

Abaco.

“The minister of He told reporters national security NATIONAL yesterday evening Security Minister needs to answer for that as more resithis failure,” Victor Marvin Dames. dents return Patterson complained yes- to Abaco, the number of terday. “I have no more law enforcement officers patience for him.” there will likely increase Mr Dames in response told The Tribune he does SEE PAGE THREE

STUDENTS at Sadie Curtis Primary School perform yesterday as part of the school’s celebrations for World Teachers Day. See page 12 for more.

Photo: Terrel W Carey/Tribune staff

MINISTER DEFENDS GOVERNMENT’S HANDLING OF ILLEGAL MIGRANTS

PM KICKING DOWN DOOR WAS ‘NOT A GOOD IMPRESSION’

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

IMMIGRATION Minister Elsworth Johnson said yesterday the government has done nothing wrong regarding its handling of illegal migrants seeking refuge in the country.

Instead, he insisted, government has abided by the laws of the country.

Mr Johnson was defending government officials’ recent trip to a shanty town in Abaco. He said the trip was not intended to round up illegal immigrants, but to SEE PAGE SEVEN

PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis speaks at the groundbreaking ceremony. Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net BAHAMAS Christian Council President Bishop Delton Fernander said Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis went beyond the duties of his office when he kicked down the back door of a shanty town structure.

In an interview with

The Tribune yesterday, the BCC’s president said this approach did not present a good impression to the world as it suggested the Bahamas is “strongarming” and forcefully handling illegal immigration problems.

As a result of his actions, the prime minister will have SEE PAGE SIX

NEW US EMBASSY ‘WILL AID REJUVENATION OF NASSAU’ COURT HEARS ASH’S BANK

ACCOUNT WAS FROZEN

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

AN official ground-breaking ceremony was held yesterday for the new $318 million US Embassy being constructed on Shirley Street.

Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said the facility, which will reside on a five-acre site, will aid the rejuvenation of Nassau.

He said at the peak of construction, 160 Bahamians will be employed to build the embassy, which is set for completion in the spring of 2023.

SEE PAGE TWO

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

WITNESS Jonathan Ash was cross-examined again yesterday in the bribery trial of former Cabinet minister Shane Gibson and fought off arguments from Gibson’s lead attorney about his honesty and frozen bank account.

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

Mr Ash was also questioned about statements he made to police regarding alleged payments he made to Deborah Bastian, a woman connected to Gibson.

Gibson’s lead attorney Keith Knight referred to Mr Ash’s own testimony, in which he said while Ms SEE PAGE SIX

PAGE 2, Tuesday, October 8, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

DOG FOUND ALIVE AFTER WEEKS UNDER HURRICANE DEBRIS

By LEANDRA ROLLE

‘MIRACLE’ after being rescued in Abaco.

A DOG was miraculously found alive by animal rescuers after being trapped for weeks under mounds of hurricane debris in Abaco.

Spokesperson for Big Dog Ranch Rescue, Chase Scott told The Tribune that the group discovered the dog — now named Miracle — buried underneath a pile of air conditioners and building debris around midday on Friday.

Mr Scott said they believed Miracle was trapped under the debris for about three to four weeks, surviving off rainwater alone.

AT the groundbreaking, from left, are: Addison Davis, Director of the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations; Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis; Stephanie Bowers, Charge D’Affaires; Darren Henfield, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Jim Schaefer, American Chamber of Commerce of The Bahamas President. Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

NEW US EMBASSY ‘WILL AID REJUVENATION OF NASSAU’ FROM PAGE ONE The building will be energy efficient, he said, “with 50 percent energy cost savings from a variety of strategies including the use of LED lighting, solarthermal hot water, and photovoltaic panels.”

“The decision by the government of the United States of America to construct the embassy at this site in the City of Nassau is evidence of the strength of the relationship between our countries,” he said.

He listed all of the ways the city is being revitalised.

“Just down the street,” he said, “the new Central Bank with its sand dollar design will be constructed on the old Royal Victoria grounds.

“The old Central Bank will be repurposed as a museum. Just above the old Royal Victoria site, the former main post office building will be demolished to make way for a new Supreme Court complex. The Pointe, next to the Hilton on Bay Street, is a $200 million-dollar hotel, condo, retail shopping area, and entertainment project that is nearing completion.

“Last year 2.6 million

cruise passengers came to the city of Nassau. In partnership with Global Ports Holding, we are embarking on a quarter of a billion dollar project to redevelop what will become the world-renowned and new

STEPHANIE BOWERS, Charge D’Affaires is pictured giving remarks. Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff Nassau cruise port. The new Nassau cruise port will include: a new terminal, a waterfront park, a harbour village, a new inner harbour, an amphitheatre, a Junkanoo museum, shops,

restaurants and an impact theatre. The number of berthing facilities for cruise ships will be expanded from six to eight, which will mean more cruise passengers and more economic opportunities for Bahamians.

“The city of Nassau is reemerging as a dynamic, vibrant city, celebrating and showcasing Bahamian heritage and history. The government of the United States could not have chosen another location on New Providence to build this new embassy. That the city of Nassau was chosen demonstrates that the US wants to be part of the renewal of this historic city.”

For her part, US Chargé D’Affaires Stephanie Bowers said the new facility will provide a secure and modern platform for US diplomacy.

“It’s central location will facilitate our partnership with the Bahamian government as well as support to US citizens,” she said.

“We wanted our new embassy to be reflective of our strong bilateral partnership so we challenged our designers to incorporate unique Bahamian features in our plans.”

“To survive a month trapped beneath all the heavy materials is a miracle.

The team named him Miracle because you could not see him underneath the air conditioners and building debris. There was another dog next to Miracle that had already passed away.

That’s one of the reasons he is a miracle,” he said.

The story of Miracle is indeed a miraculous one and according to Mr Scott, the pup has already given so much hope to people throughout the country who are trying to cope with life after Dorian. The story has also attracted international

attention.

“So many have sent social media messages and phone calls expressing that Miracle has given them hope for the rebuilding and future of the Bahamas and inspired them in difficult times,” he noted.

“We have heard from countries all over the world and this little (dog) is serving as an inspiration to support Bahamas relief and the spirit of the Bahamas as he is a fighter who will regain strength to live a new and happy life.”

Although Miracle has a long journey to recovery ahead of him, Mr Scott said that he has already made

much progress since being rescued.

“Today, Miracle took his first steps and has put on four pounds since we rescued him Friday. Good signs but, like the Bahamas, he has a road of recovery ahead of him,” he said.

In the wake of Hurricane Dorian, the Big Dog Ranch Rescue has already rescued 150 dogs so far, 50 of whom have already been reunited with their owners.

Mr Scott said the rescue group is committed to helping with the rescue efforts of displaced animals and will continue its missions in the storm affected islands each week.

AT the site of the new US Embassy.

MISSING SINCE HURRICANE DORIAN

CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Michael Dawkins, Claudene Etienne and Lorelda Woodside.

POLICE released the names of three more storm victims who have been missing since Hurricane Dorian.

They are Lorelda Woodside, 57; Claudene Etienne, 54; and Michael Dawkins, 64, all of Dundas Town, Abaco.

According to officials, more than 400 people are still registered as missing since the storm ripped through Abaco and Grand Bahama at the beginning of September.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, October 8, 2019, PAGE 3

40-YEAR-OLD CHARGED WITH THREE COUNTS OF MURDER, THREE OF ATTEMPTED MURDER

MAN DIES FOLLOWING STABBING ON EAST STREET POLICE are investigating another murder after a man died following a stabbing incident on East Street on Sunday night.

According to reports, shortly after 9pm, a man was on East Street in the vicinity of Bahama Avenue, when he got into an altercation with two men. The men stabbed him about his body, before fleeing the scene in a pink Nissan March.

The victim was pronounced dead on the scene.

This latest killing pushing the murder count to 81 for the year, according to The Tribune’s records.

Meanwhile, officers are also investigating a police-involved shooting that occurred Friday night.

Motorcyle According to reports, shortly after 8pm, officers went to Water Lilly Dr, Yamacraw Shores to investigate a complaint. As officers were conducting investigations, a young man on a motorcycle came at one of the officers with a high rate of speed attempting to hit him.

The officer, in fear for his life, withdrew his firearm and discharged it in the direction of the young man, who sped off on the motorcycle, police said.

It was later discovered that a young man was shot and was taken to the hospital where he is listed in stable condition, police said.

The officer was injured and transported to hospital where he was treated and discharged.

Investigations are ongoing in both matters.

Police are appealing to members of the public who may have information that can assist with this investigation or any other incident, to contact the Central Detective Unit at 502-9991/2, Crime Stoppers at 328-TIPS (8477) or the nearest police station.

EDUARDO Carey outside court. Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

By RIEL MAJOR Tribune Staff Reporter rmajor@tribunemedia.net

A 40-YEAR-OLD man appeared in Magistrate’s Court yesterday accused of murder and attempted murder.

Eduardo Carey, of Wilson Street, stood before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt charged with three counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder.

It is first alleged that on December 15, 2018, he intentionally and unlawfully caused the death of Ryan Omar Butler and attempted to cause the death of Deangelo Bethel and Kevon Bethel.

Carey is also accused of attempting to cause the death of Richard Brown on August 7.

It is also alleged that on August 25, he caused the death of Justin Davis and the

death of Anthony Wright on September 15.

Carey was not required to enter a plea to the charges and the case was adjourned to December 5 at noon for service of a voluntary bill of indictment (VBI).

Bail was denied and he was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services in the interim.

Tonique Lewis, Carey’s lawyer, told the court Carey was willing to participate in an identity parade, for all the matters he was accused of, but was denied the opportunity.

Carey added that Richard Brown, one of the men he is accused of attempting to murder, went to the Central Detective Unit with his lawyer and was denied the opportunity to participate in an identity parade by Inspector Sherman.

CALL FOR DAMES TO RESIGN OVER ABACO

FROM PAGE ONE

van the man was in. The person whose stuff was stolen went driving around with his cousin until they spotted the van. They tried to call the police and had no luck. They reached out to me and I reached out to the MP (James Albury), and he reached out to the police but had no luck. He spoke to a police woman and she said she could not bring a vehicle to meet them for whatever reason.

“That is not acceptable.

We don’t expect perfection after a disaster like this but this security failure is ongoing, it needs to end and if the minister of national security cannot handle this he needs to resign.

“I am extremely displeased with his performance and the security situation feels like a betrayal for us. Every other minister and ministry have been falling over themselves to be helpful but I haven’t had any luck with the Ministry of National Security.”

Residents like Mr Patterson want law enforcement to construct checkpoints at entrances to Murphy Town and Dundas Town, ensuring people aren’t transporting stolen items.

Mr Dames travelled to Abaco with national security officials over the weekend to get a firsthand account of the security situation. Videos he took showed officers

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MINISTER of National Security Marvin Dames on a recent visit to Abaco and the surrounding cays. patrolling Marsh Harbour at night and neighbouring cays in the day. In one video, police drove through the mainland for some time before encountering a vehicle on the street. In another video, a woman on a cay praised defence force officers for how they conducted their work.

“We went throughout the entire settlement of Marsh Harbour and the streets were very desolate,” Mr Dames said.

“There was no movement on the streets whatsoever and we patrolled for a significant period. I think there was one vehicle stopped along the way and persons gave a justifiable reason for why they were on the streets.

“There may be need to increase the number of people there even further

as the recovery and construction begin to intensify so we’re doing daily assessments of that and the commissioner and commodore are doing that...Based on our assessment over the weekend, we feel the police and the defence force have the situation under control.”

For his part, Mr Patterson said generally residents are displeased with the government’s overall response to the storm but said this can be improved with a prudent approach to rebuilding.

The FNM won both of Abaco’s seats in the last general election and the constituencies are considered FNM strongholds.

“There are a lot of very angry people,” Mr Patterson said. “That is hardly up for dispute. The feeling is Abaco has contributed a great deal of revenue to the

treasury over the years and now when we need the government, many people, and I’m not one of them, but many people feel the government’s response has not been sufficient. The security failure has caused a lot of the resentment, that’s 80 percent of our problem. But it’s not like anybody here is suddenly in love with the Progressive Liberal Party.

No one here is saying ‘if only Perry Christie or Brave Davis were prime minister the situation would be different.’ The feeling is just general disillusionment but there is no doubt the ship can be righted.”

Mr Patterson said despite some concerns, most ministries have been responsive and helpful in his view. “The Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Transportation, all these people have when I got in touch with them been able to flick their fingers and make things happen,” he said.

Last week, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said he was not happy with the security situation in Abaco, saying that Cabinet would consider implementing a curfew in Abaco.

“We requested an additional 150 personnel,” he told the Nassau Guardian on Wednesday.

“We will again talk to the defence force.

“We have, I was told, 40, 50 individuals who may have retired.

“You know they force retirement early, at 55. So we will call all those individuals back so that they can assist with security.

“Cabinet and I, we will have to decide whether… once I survey and have a better understanding of the situation, we will make a determination as to whether we will institute a curfew.

“There is no reason for people to be about moving in the darkness.

“We need extra manpower.

PAGE 4, Tuesday, October 8, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

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Impeachment tests Dems in swing districts VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — In front of New Hope Baptist Church in Virginia Beach, supporters of President Donald Trump hollered for his reelection. Behind it, taped-up signs on the doors warned, “Firearms Not Allowed.”

And inside, Rep. Elaine Luria personally delivered her call for Trump’s impeachment, drawing a standing ovation from more than half of the 200 or so people attending her town hall — and a few jeers, shut down quickly by church security officials.

“I got no problem throwing you out,” the Rev. James Allen, the moderator, told one heckler. “If you can’t sit here and be respectful, get out.”

The man, a Trump supporter, agreed to quiet down and stay. But the signs were there that Luria’s call last month for Trump’s impeachment sits uneasily among some of her constituents in one of the most deeply split congressional districts in the country. It’s not clear, though, that the calls for formal charges against Trump have generated a voter backlash, even in districts like Luria’s.

The majority voted for Trump in 2016, but Luria, a Democrat, won it two years later, helping hand her party control of the House. Here, national security is understood perhaps better than elsewhere: 1 in 5 people are active military personnel, veterans or their families.

So House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and national Democrats are closely watching districts like it for clues to whether their drive to impeach Trump supports or imperils the party’s congressional and presidential ambitions in 2020.

Win or lose next year, Luria and six other freshmen who flipped Republican districts will have played a critical role, with considerable risk. They resisted calls for the Republican president’s impeachment over Russia’s election interference. But details of Trump’s pressure on Ukraine’s president to investigate the Biden family was, Luria and the others wrote in The Washington Post, a clear abuse of power and an impeachable offence. Their column, in part, freed up Pelosi to launch formal impeachment proceedings, specifically under the terms Luria and other freshmen had requested: clearly articulated, focused on Ukraine and brought to a quick conclusion.

Luria and the other national security freshmen have quietly become a force within Democratic politics, at a time when the party is struggling to nominate a presidential candidate and project a unified message.

But there’s been nothing quiet about their first visits home this after their calls for impeachment. In Michigan, another frontline Democratic freshman and co-author of the op-ed, Michigan’s Elissa Slotkin, faced boos — and then applause — when she started explaining why she, too, had called for an impeachment investigation. In New York’s Staten Island, freshman Rep. Max Rose, like Luria, got a standing ovation from many in his audience when he announced he was supporting the impeachment inquiry, according to news reports.

Back in Virginia, walking around the block of her leafy Norfolk-area neighborhood, Luria acknowledged the impeachment decision may cost her.

“This is a situation where I have to do the right thing,” said Luria, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and black belt in taekwondo.

Her home, a short walk from spectacular views of the Virginia Port Authority and not far from Norfolk Naval Station, is adorned with ceramics and other souvenirs that she and her husband, Robert Blondin, picked up on their global travels.

Luria says if she loses her seat over the impeachment call, “I will have been on the right side of history.”

It’s a sentiment Luria repeated that night at the town hall at the E. Ray Cox Sr. Convocation Center. Eight miles away, 12 people were killed during the May 31 mass shooting at Virginia Beach Municipal Center — including Ryan Keith Cox, the pastor’s son. Luria opened the event by noting that the last time she spoke there, it was for the younger Cox’s funeral. His coffin rested where she now stood to answer questions.

But the moment did little to ease the crackling political atmosphere in the

room. A few hours earlier, Trump had exhorted China to help investigate the Bidens, defiant in the face of calls for impeachment over the same approach to Ukraine. At the town hall, Trump supporters who were coordinated for the event waved signs reading, “Impeach Elaine” and “Pelosi Puppet.”

Luria, like Pelosi and other Democrats, argued she’s doing her day job even amid the impeachment drive. Pelosi has referred to that technique as operating on two tracks — legislative and oversight — while Trump has insisted that when there’s investigation, there can be no legislation.

The retired naval nuclear engineer, 44, pointed out four people in the front row helped by her office on immigration, health care and veterans issues. And she mentioned work she’s doing leading House subcommittees on seapower and disability assistance as a member of both the Armed Services and Veterans Affairs committees. She also said she’s working on “commonsense universal background checks” for gun purchases.

Then Luria took questions, drawn from a plastic box and read by Allen. A bit more than half were supportive of her call for Trump’s impeachment.

“Bravo,” said one questioner, noting Luria’s “brave patriotic decision on the impeachment inquiry.”

Navy veteran Joe Deleon, 70, of Virginia Beach, shouted something, prompting the rebuke from Allen.

“I like her, she’s a good congressman,” Deleon, wearing a “Vietnam” Navy cap, said afterward.

He said he sees nothing wrong with Trump’s pressure on Ukraine for election help against a political rival. But he sees trouble in Luria’s decision.

“If she continues this farce, she is going to get voted out. This district voted for Trump, and they’re going to vote for him again.”

Luria won the race over Republican retired Navy SEAL Scott Taylor by a little over 2 percentage points, while Trump won the district by more than 3 percentage points.

That makes the district, which straddles the place where the Chesapeake Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean, a key bellwether in a state where people don’t register by party.

Both political camps are weighing into the 2020 race. The House Republicans’ super PAC and Luria’s 2018 opponent, Taylor, are trying to link Luria with liberals. The Congressional Leadership Fund on Sept. 30 launched a digital ad that featured a photo of Luria surrounded by photos of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders, along with footage of Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s now famous vow to “impeach the mother-----.”

And the Democrats’ campaign arm has pledged to jump into races waged by front liners who have come out for impeachment, including Luria. They’re sharing internal polling and help with messaging, including on how to characterise the transcript of Trump’s call with Ukraine’s president.

“I think that district has a great test for whether Luria and Democrats can bring along kind of maybe disaffected Republicans and moderates to not only vote against the president but also to support an impeachment inquiry,” said Kyle Kondik, an elections analyst at the University of Virginia Center for Politics. “I don’t necessarily know if there’s majority support in that district for that ... it remains to be seen how persuadable a lot of those voters may be.”

At the town hall, a man who gave his name as Chris Columbus is exactly the type of constituent Luria hopes to influence.

He said he’s an independent, troubled by the way the media reports on Trump and how public sentiment has shifted.

“I’m kind of on the fence about certain things, and one of them is directly related to the impeachment,” he said. “I think she jumped on the bandwagon too quick.”

(This article is by LAURIE KELLMAN of the Associated Press. Associated Press researcher Rhonda Shafner and senior producer Tracy Brown contributed to this report.)

Our bank is still manual EDITOR, The Tribune.

WHEN RBC Royal Bank was going through its mega downsizing in the Bahamas, a friend of mine posted a photo on Facebook of an empty Main Branch at 2:30pm, with a caption: Mission Accomplished! No more customers!

Well that was some while ago, but it really hasn’t gotten much better. With debit & credit cards expiring in September, my son went along to the designated branch to collect his cash account debit card for his joint account with his wife. The bank had two cards for his wife but no card for him. So they told him to come back Next Week and they would have him sorted. Somehow my own debit card was also expiring in September, so I went along soon after my son, only to be told, after

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net standing in line for fortyfive minutes, that they did not have a card for me at all. But they promised to have one next week. The reason for next week, it seems, is that the entire RBC back office is now in Trinidad and I guess they have the only card printing machine in the Caribbean.

Now Trinidad is 2,885 miles from Nassau but Toronto is only 1,290 so one has to wonder, who decided that Trinidad was a better place to sub out the Bahamas back office. More than twice as far away?

O.K. so I also have a Business Credit Card at the Main Branch, also expiring in September, so I ask if I might get the new card while I am there. Sorry,

sir, you have to go to the Business Office on Thompson Boulevard to get that one. Hello, you think I got all day to ride around the island, eh? No, I didn’t say that but I certainly thought it. Of course, if I want to use this Card to get cash from an ATM, the Business Office is not able to “PIN” the card, so I will just have to come back to the same branch that I am at. So who in the bank decided that this would be a good idea?

This is the bank that bludgeoned us all into going DIGITAL, at break neck speed, but can’t figure out an efficient way to distribute its own digital tools.

It seems passing strange that now that we are all DIGITAL our bank is still Manual.

BRUCE G RAINE Nassau, October 3, 2019.

Brave Davis – The Empty Suit EDITOR, The Tribune.

Opposition Leader Philip Brave Davis is what the dictionary defines as an empty suit: “a prominent person regarded as lacking substance, personality, or ability.”

His performance during and after Hurricane Dorian reveals someone lacking in substance, vision and a sense of political propriety.

He has shown that he lacks the ability to think in-depth on complex problems.

Brave Davis thinks and acts in sound bites, clichés and gimmicks.

While the people in Abaco and Grand Bahama were still struggling in the immediate aftermath of the most powerful hurricane to hit the Bahamas, he was in Pinewood Gardens doing a photo opportunity and publicity stunt with PLP flags flying.

He was smiling like a Cheshire cat even as others were suffering.

Davis was roasted online for his adolescent and silly behaviour. This stunt was quite inappropriate. He tried to immediately politicize the hurricane for his narrow political benefit even as others were working to save lives on Abaco and Grand Bahama.

He has become what he once called Hubert Ingraham. Brave Davis is now Papa Clown himself.

Let’s not forget that this is the same man who, some years ago during an election campaign when the PLP was in opposition, was seen grinning from ear to ear with billboards advertising various crime statistics, including in areas heavily visited by tourists.

It was an unpatriotic thing to do. The billboards quickly came down because of criticism from many people, including PLPs. But obviously this level of political immaturity and shallowness suggests a pattern.

Davis seems to lack a mind of his own. It appears that he is being led around like a child by PLP Chairman Fred Mitchell, who is desperate for power and glory. If Brave Davis ever becomes prime minister, the country knows who the most powerful person in his government will be. That possibility should scare Bahamians of all political persuasions.

The PLP has given control of itself to an erratic puppet master who controls the Leader of the PLP, who is proving to be an empty suit with no vision, little personality, no gravitas, and very little ability to think strategically on the big issues confronting the country.

We cannot give power to this empty suit and the puppet master who runs the PLP show from behind the scenes.

CFP Nassau, October 7, 2019.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, October 8, 2019, PAGE 5

TIRED AND STRESSED: EVACUEES STRUGGLING TO RESTART LIVES

By RIEL MAJOR Tribune Staff Reporter rmajor@tribunemedia.net AFTER one month of living in shelters, many evacuees are struggling to restart their lives.

Speaking to The Tribune on the grounds of the Kendal G L Isaacs Gymnasium yesterday, Arolz Joseph, an Abaco evacuee, said he’s tired of living in the shelter.

“Tomorrow will make a month I’ve been living here,” he said. “I tried to find a job, but I haven’t found a job in Nassau.

Someone called me to come back to Abaco, but I have nowhere to stay.

“I want to go back to Abaco, I don’t like Nassau.

I don’t know nothing about Nassau and if I live in Nassau, I have plenty to learn because I don’t know nothing. My wife and my children are in the shelter and tired too.”

Mr Joseph said his family is sad, but they still thank God for life.

“We lost everything, but I

can’t kill myself because we lost everything we had,” he said. “I have to give thanks because we still have life.”

A mother-of-two, who wanted to be identified as Ms Jean, said she has been overthinking and stressed about her next move. She is hunting for a job, but hasn’t had any luck yet.

Interviews “Since I’ve been here, I just was thinking and stress out wondering what I will do next,” Ms Jean said. “I would prefer to go back to Abaco because I don’t like it here. I’d rather move to Exuma or Eleuthera until Abaco is rebuilt. But I’ve been on two interviews and I haven’t gotten any call backs yet.”

She said the living conditions in the shelter are good, but she hates the food and living in a place with so many people.

“I’m not comfortable living with so many people.

I’m not used to be around

this many people, and I don’t enjoy the food. I don’t like the type of food they feed us. We never had a big meal like rice and chicken, I haven’t had any sensible meals. They give us hotdog and rice or mackerel with rice,” Ms Jean said.

“Whenever someone comes to see me, they bring me something to eat. The food isn’t good, they give us water and we never get juice.

Actually, I haven’t eaten the food for two weeks now because every time I eat it, it gives me a stomach-ache or I (vomit). But, once my kids eat, I’m okay…sometimes I go the day without eating and drink water.”

Meanwhile another evacuee who only gave her name as Ms Gray said some residents living in the shelter are “selfish” and accused them of hoarding donated clothes.

The mother-of-one said: “People in there have more than five bags full of clothes but they still won’t let other people get. Like right now I haven’t got any clothes and I’ve been here from

THE KENDAL GL Isaacs Gymnasium pictured last month. the sixth (of last month). back Abaco, I don’t get no People are so selfish; they place to go back to. If I find get clothes and even if they a job here, I’d start life here can’t fit, they still won’t give until Abaco catch back up it to you. and I’ll just go back. I want “They still would take it a job, but I also don’t know and you would think they where to look. would grab two or three “Everywhere over here, pieces of clothing and leave they need a resumé. I don’t some for the rest who don’t have a resumé or references. have. They carry all the I don’t have nobody to do good stuff and leave the not these things for me.” so good stuff for everyone According to an update else.” from the National EmerStill Ms Gray said “it gency Management Agency doesn’t matter” where yesterday, there are 913 she lives, she just wants to evacuees in nine New restart her life.

Providence shelters. The She said: “I really need Ascension Anglican Church a job and it don’t matter is also housing five evacuwhere I live because if I go ees, for a total of 918 people

in emergency shelters.

Last month, Works Director Melanie Roach said 51 percent of residences in assessed Abaco communities sustained major damage from Hurricane Dorian, with nearly half of them not salvageable.

Her revelation about damage to homes in Spring City and Central Pines, both government subdivisions, came as she revealed results of the government’s initial assessment of buildings in Grand Bahama and Abaco.

Works Minister Desmond Bannister has indicated that officials still have thousands more structures to assess.

NATURAL DISASTERS CREATING MORE ‘CLIMATE REFUGEES’

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

COMMONWEALTH Secretary General Patricia Scotland, QC, paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis yesterday. Photo: Yontalay Bowe/BIS

NATURAL disasters like Hurricane Dorian have created more “climate refugees” globally leading the Commonwealth to consider what can be done to enable citizens to stay in their home countries when tragedy strikes.

According to Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland, QC, there will have to be a push to deal with the issue country by country with a view to creating sustainability in economies.

Baroness Scotland spoke to reporters yesterday following a courtesy call with Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis at his office on West Bay Street.

The meeting came after she and a delegation toured Abaco.

Describing the Abaco devastation as “daunting” and “heartbreaking,” Baroness Scotland said she planned to take images of the destruction to all international meetings to stress climate change implications and the need for countries to work together to combat the issue.

“I believe this is a global challenge and one of the issues which has been really important for us to consider how climate change is making more climate refugees . . .and trying to deal with that country by country by being able to create sustainability in each state to enable people to stay home,” the Baroness said.

She was responding to a question from The Tribune about whether the Commonwealth had any ideas on how the Bahamas might combat immigration issues

that have increased in the wake of Dorian. Many Haitian migrants have been displaced by Dorian and the government has doubled down on illegal immigration rhetoric.

Shanty town lands are being razed and no undocumented person is safe from deportation, officials have said.

“This is a global problem. Look at Syria.

“One of the reasons that Syria had difficulty was because of the climate change that took place in that country and migration, so this isn’t just an issue for the Bahamas this unfortunately is a global issue,” the Baroness added.

“Every country is going to have to think together as to how we do this.”

Devastation This issue aside, the Secretary General said her visit to the country came out of a need to see the devastation in Abaco in person, noting that for three decades the Commonwealth had worked very hard to raise climate change matters.

She also plans to visit Grand Bahama this week.

“As many of you all know I came because I wanted to see for myself what had happened both in Abaco and Grand Bahama.

The Commonwealth has for many years been raising the whole issue of climate change.

“Way back in 1989 the Commonwealth of 53 countries of which the Bahamas is one said that if you had any delay in addressing these climactic issues then we would have the sort of

damage that we are seeing now in the Bahamas today.

“For those 30 years the Commonwealth has worked really hard to raise this issue of climate for the global community.

“However we have seen that nature can be very unpredictable and since 2013 the nature of the hurricanes has become more extreme and more damaging and Dorian is perhaps the biggest hurricane we’ve ever seen in our world today. It stayed longer and it created more damage than almost anything in any other small island state.

“So we are now looking at what do we do now,” she continued, “How can we come together as a Commonwealth, as a world and do everything in our power to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

“But I find it heartbreaking to go to Abaco to see the utter devastation of people’s homes and their lives.

“To see buildings crushed, trees snapped as if they were twigs and the destruction of homes was quite daunting and painful.

“I am glad that I had the opportunity to see for myself what others had described to me because it means that we have to work even more urgently to bring together the sort of tools that we need to make a difference.”

The Commonwealth has formulated a number of initiatives to assist countries dealing with the effects of climate change, Ms Scotland told reporters.

These include the Climate Finance Access Hub and the Blue Charter, with action groups looking at how to implement the needed changes.

PAGE 6, Tuesday, October 8, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

COURT HEARS ASH’S BANK ACCOUNT WAS FROZEN

FROM PAGE ONE

Bastian told him that he needed to “forego $250,000”, the woman never actually told him who the $250,000 was for.

Mr Ash’s June 28, 2017 statement to police quoted the witness as saying: “Ms Bastian said ‘I need $250,000,’ and I told her she got to be joking.

And I picked up my cellular phone to call my daddy, and she told me I cannot use my phone in here.”

Yesterday, however, Mr Ash conceded that he “assumed” Ms Bastian meant that the $250,000 was for Gibson, and that given the context in which the demand was made—during a meeting between those three about his outstanding funds—he would have to pay to get his money. “…She said I needed $250,000 in order (for you) to receive your payment. So at that point I understand—ain’t no one had to tell me nothing else—I understand that in order for me to get paid, Mr Gibson have to be paid,” Mr Ash explained.

However, Mr Knight drew Mr Ash’s attention to the fact that according to his statement, Ms Bastian did not specifically say “I need $250,000 for Mr Gibson,” and further highlighted the difference between that request and

her saying: “I need $250,000.”

However, Mr Ash said he corrected that bit in a second statement to police. And during yesterday’s proceedings, he said of Ms Bastian: “She said to me that the payment was for Mr Gibson.” But then he said, “Maybe not in wording, but in context, yes.”

Nonetheless, Mr Knight “politely” called Mr Ash a “liar”, something the man vehemently denied.

“I’m not lying, sir, it’s the truth,” he replied.

“The records speak for itself. The WhatsApp message. It speaks for itself. ‘Any shingles today’? It speaks for itself. I am not lying, sir. It speaks for itself.”

According to the Crown, shortly after the request was made and Mr Ash began making payments to Ms Bastian, the man started to receive money owed to him for hurricane clean-up by way of multiple government cheques.

However, Mr Knight suggested that the outstanding money was more likely the result of the intervention of then-permanent secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, Jack Thompson.

Mr Knight, in cross-examining Mr Ash, yielded evidence that the day after making an initial payment of $50,000 to Ms Bastian, allegedly on

Gibson’s behalf, Mr Ash met with Mr Thompson at his office at the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Harrold Road.

While there, Ms Bastian walked into the office with Mr Ash’s bills, Mr Knight said.

Mr Thompson subsequently took the bills from Ms Bastian, retrieved a sheet of paper from his personal file, stapled it to the bills and wrote: “Urgent, pay immediately,” Mr Knight said, an assertion to which Mr Ash agreed.

The following day, Mr Knight said, Ms Bastian contacted Mr Ash and told him his cheques were ready, though Mr Ash maintained that only one cheque worth $250,000 was ready at that point.

Nonetheless, Mr Knight said Mr Ash ultimately received four separate government cheques worth $250,000 each in “quick succession” between January 17 and 19, 2017.

And Ms Bastian was the one who contacted Mr Ash and told him when the cheques were ready, Mr Knight said.

Later yesterday, Mr Knight highlighted the fact that despite Mr Ash being the Crown’s “star witness,” the government had issued a “freezing” order on his account at Commonwealth

JONATHAN Ash and Shane Gibson outside court during earlier appearances.

Bank because he “fraudulently received public funds”.

“That’s how the government view you,” Mr Knight told Mr Ash. Mr Knight said via the freezing order, Mr Ash, who has been granted immunity from prosecution, is now being portrayed as a “dishonest person”.

And as a result of the freezing order, Mr Ash is restricted in dealing with whatever assets he has in that bank.

Mr Ash said despite the freezing order, he still has access to some of his money.

However, Mr Knight revealed that Mr Ash is limited to retrieving $100,000 a week from his account, and cannot freely use his account.

Nonetheless, Mr Ash said he “never” saw the freezing order, and neither did his lawyer tell him why the government decided to freeze

his assets. Mr Ash agreed that up to this day, he does not know why his assets were frozen. He said he asked the Attorney General’s Office, but they never gave him an answer.

Mr Ash maintained: “I ask for my money to be unfrozen because I worked for it.”

However, when Mr Knight asked if the Crown said they would release his money, Mr Ash said: “No sir.”

Gibson is charged with 15 counts of bribery.

It is alleged that between January 16 and 19, 2017, and being concerned with Ms Bastian, he had solicited more than $200,000 from Mr Ash as an inducement to or a reward for him giving assistance or using his influence in approving outstanding payments owed to Mr Ash by the government.

The Crown further asserts

that on various dates between January 19-31, 2017, Gibson, still concerned with Bastian, consequently accepted $100,000 worth of payments from Mr Ash. Then between January 30 and February 28 of that year, Gibson accepted several cash payments from Mr Ash totalling some $100,000.

Between February 10 and March 27, 2017, Gibson solicited and accepted a total of $80,000 each from Ash, but this time he was not concerned with Bastian, the Crown maintains.

The Crown claims Mr Ash initially made the payments to Gibson through Bastian for the first set of payments totaling $200,000, but made them directly to Gibson for the remaining $80,000.

Gibson has denied the allegations.

The case continues.

PM KICKING DOWN DOOR WAS ‘NOT A GOOD IMPRESSION’ FROM PAGE ONE

BISHOP DELTON FERNANDER, President of the Christian Council.

to face whatever criticisms might come his way, Bishop Fernander said.

“Obviously he is the leader of the country and he is trying to be I guess visibly seen on the front lines doing things, but I don’t think that’s a job for the prime minister,” he told this newspaper.

The Nassau Guardian reported yesterday that Dr Minnis kicked down the back door of a structure in the Sand Banks shanty town in Treasure Cay, Abaco during a brief walk through of the community last week.

Dr Minnis was accompanied by several police and Defence Force officers and told the newspaper he wanted to make a point.

“It’s a job for the authorities in that area. They know how to do it they know what to do,” Bishop Fernander continued.

“It’s not a good impression to the world to see our prime

minister kicking down doors if that is the case and leading in that kind of rush.

“I think he is doing beyond his office.

“He is taking us down a road as a country where we seem to be strong-arming and doing this in a very forceful way.”

Duties Speaking for himself, as the BCC has not as a body discussed its position on illegal immigration matters, the bishop said the country needed to find a medium between humanitarian duties and obligation to law. “…At this point I believe the execution of the duties must take place,” he said when asked for the BCC’s position on the issue.

“We do not want ourselves back in a place where thousands of people can be affected by poor structures and things that can lead

to their demise.

“I know it’s a difficult time for us to be correcting that problem and maybe the approach is really hard, but it is a problem that needs to be addressed and frankly we don’t need to put anybody in that kind of living conditions where disastrous results can be the same.”

He added: “So we stand as a church and I’m ready to speak in behalf of those who have a genuine right and maybe it’s loss of documents or maybe the process of renewal and if they’re being treated unfairly then the church will speak on their behalf.

“We do not expect the state to be defiling the place of sanctuary called the church in an act of just being strong armed, but we as a church will do our part not to be harbouring anybody that is illegal or anyone that is not properly documented in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas and we are willing, the church, to work

along with the state in this regard so that those who legitimately have a right and those who might have reached the age and has not applied we can work with them so that this can be brought to a humane conclusion.”

He also appealed to Bahamians to treat others as they would want to be treated.

Structures Shortly after Hurricane Dorian wiped out shanty town structures in Abaco, the Minnis administration announced a six-month construction ban in those areas.

Last week, Dr Minnis revealed he had asked Attorney General Carl Bethel to compulsorily acquire the land where shanty towns in Abaco once stood.

Dr Minnis also told undocumented migrants to leave the country voluntarily – or be forced to leave.

MARIJUANA COMMISSION HEADING TO JAMAICA ON FACT-FINDING MISSION

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Marijuana Commission is fighting to meet its October deadline to submit its recommendations to the public but the group is heading to Jamaica on a fact-finding mission this month, commission Co-Chairman Quinn McCartney said yesterday.

The commission was given its mandate by Cabinet last year to comprehensively examine issues surrounding marijuana.

The group was initially expected to produce its findings by the end of April but the deadline was later extended.

“It’s Important to make a trip to Jamaica or Canada meeting with authorities,” Mr McCartney said. “Jamaica made some adjustments to their legislation in 2015 so they would’ve been the first country in the Caribbean to do things in terms of decriminalisation.

“We want to talk to them and get an idea of the process they followed and any lessons they learned, whether there was anything they would’ve done differently.”

Mr McCartney said the commission hasn’t reached a conclusion on whether the country should change the status quo on marijuana use.

“We’re still looking at what is happening around the rest of the Caribbean and bigger countries, Canada and states that legislated marijuana,” he said.

“We won’t say we will do it because Jamaica did it or Canada did it. The solution has to be applicable to our country, our culture and we’re still trying to keep an open mind.”

The commission has completed its public consultation process, which involved hosting events around the country inviting residents to share their thoughts on marijuana.

Meetings “The persons who attended the meetings were certainly much more liberal, much more open to marijuana,” Mr McCartney said. “I think it’s a given that medical marijuana is a no-brainer. Most people see the benefits or the potential benefits.

“We’ve not seen much resistance to that but the views are varied in terms of recreational marijuana and decriminalising that.

“There seems to be an interest in how the decriminalisation thing would work. It’s been an interesting discourse.”

The commission was supposed to travel to Jamaica in August but couldn’t do so, the former deputy commissioner of police said.

“We really want to have that sit down talk face-toface with the persons in Jamaica so that may delay us a little bit but we’ll still try to make the deadline,” Mr McCartney said.

“The report will definitely be released this year.

We’re not going to take this into the next year for sure.”

THE TRIBUNE

MINISTER DEFENDS GOVERNMENT’S HANDLING OF ILLEGAL MIGRANTS FROM PAGE ONE meet with the Abaco Chamber of Commerce.

The government has said undocumented migrant storm victims are not protected from deportation, prompting an outcry from local and international human rights groups.

“We have to follow the rule of law,” the minister said as a guest on Guardian Radio’s The Revolution with host Juan McCartney.

He also said: “I want to say to persons, sometimes we don’t come checking for you in that light (for raids). We come checking that we can get the entire society up and running for people to return, for commerce to return, for financial services to return.

“For a government and a country dependent on Abaco and Freeport for them not to return to, not to normal, but to be better than what they were before and so that’s one of the things I want to highlight to persons when they see me move through.

“When we went down, we went to see the persons from the Chamber of Commerce.”

He was asked pointedly if the trip was set up so officials could ask for identification and fingerprint non-nationals.

To that, he replied: “I would say if that is required we would do that and to be quite honest we went to see officers who were living there.

We had to take them out and send in another crew so when we moved about, yes, we were checking for identification, yes, we did check some status, but could we take them into custody?

“Some of the conversations were ‘How are you? Where is your parent?’

“The paper saying ‘oh they gone down there to pick them up’ but if we decide to go and pick up we are ensuring that we follow the laws of a democratic and sovereign country.”

Mr Johnson said Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis invited the International Organisation for Migration to monitor the Bahamas’ immigration practices, adding “so we haven’t done anything wrong.”

Tuesday, October 8, 2019, PAGE 7

WORKERS CALL FOR NEW PUBLIC HOSPITAL IN GRAND BAHAMA

have been given advice to semidemolish those portions of the facility that were contaminated.

“We are not talking about knocking the whole building down, just removing walls and floorings, we have been instructed that from the lower level to over five feet of walls would be knocked down and removed, and then make a `determination as what if anything we are able to salvage,” he said.

“If we are able to safely salvage that space then we have the opportunity to rebuild in those areas, being mindful of the fact it is still in a flood zone.”

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

HOSPITAL workers took to social media to call for a new public hospital in Grand Bahama following closure of the Rand Memorial Hospital after it was severely flooded during Hurricane Dorian in early September.

They are concerned that the facility – which had been exposed to black water intrusion (raw sewerage) as well as mould – is unsafe and needs to be “demolished,” according to workers who voiced their concerns on a video that was posted to Facebook on Monday.

“I feel it needs to be demolished in my opinion,” said one worker. “We need a new hospital, and we need one now.”

“No matter how much cleaning they do…we absolutely need a new hospital,” a nurse added.

The video showed areas that were flooded, the operating theatre, and other parts of the hospital that were in total disarray. Some workers were seen wearing facial masks as they spoke.

Relocated The hospital’s administration and business offices have been relocated outside where Hospital Administrator Sharon Williams, her staff, and other office staff are working under tents.

The Tribune contacted Health Minister Dr Duane Sands yesterday for comment regarding the concerns of hospital workers in Grand Bahama about a new hospital.

While he agrees with them and shares their sentiments, Dr Sands indicated that one cannot be built overnight as it requires proper planning. He also noted that government is committed to building a new hospital on Grand Bahama.

“We all want a new hospital and we are prepared to seek a public-private partnership in order to accomplish a new hospital, but it cannot be built

Agreement

A STILL from a video showing flooding in the Rand Memorial Hospital after Hurricane Dorian. tomorrow,” he said. “It would have to be planned, consultations done, and find an appropriate site chosen where a climate change resilient facility can be built.”

Samaritan’s Purse is presently operating a field hospital on site near RMH, providing health services to the public. The nonprofit group will be in Freeport for 90 days when the agreement expires.

In the video, the hospital said workers have been advised that “not only is the hospital unsafe to provide care in, but unsafe to provide work space for staff and administration.”

“So, we find ourselves in tent offices – this is the administrative offices and the remaining tents would be home to all of the staff that report to the work site on a daily basis,” she said pointing to the tents.

“We need a new hospital? Certainly, we need a new hospital immediately,” she said.

Another staff member believes that a new hospital is necessary

because the current facility is located in a flood zone.

For his part, Dr Sands said there was black water intrusion in about 75 percent of RMH, including the operating room, Intensive Care Unit, and the wards, which were all contaminated.

He said that a thorough multiple agency assessment was done.

“And since that time, we have had unsafe levels of mould in certain areas in the hospital and we had to on the basis of safety concerns move out everyone from that portion of the hospital,” he explained.

According to Dr Sands, the only areas that were deemed safe were the emergency room, psychiatric area, and the imaging department.

“We acknowledge the fact that this was an act of God and that there was nothing we could have done to prevent this, but the next step is how do we proceed,” Dr Sands said.

The Elizabeth MP said officials

Dr Sands said that a new hospital cannot be built 30, 60, or 90 days, bearing in mind the existing agreement with Samaritan’s Purse expires in 90 days from September.

“We will seek to extend, but obviously we cannot insist they extend their stay in the Bahamas.

In order for Grand Bahama to function, there has to be adequate capacity for health services to be provided. We are very mindful of the fact the hurricane season has not yet ended,” he said.

“We do not have the luxury of continuous discussions and debate because the clock is ticking, and industry (here in GB) requires adequate health services and the residents require adequate health services.

“And while the ultimate plan is, indeed, to seek a green site for complete restoration of health services in a new facility, that cannot happen tomorrow.”

Dr Sands noted that government would also have to determine how to fund a new hospital.

Additionally, the minister said there are destroyed health facilities in High Rock, Pinder’s Point and McLean’s Town, and damage to emergency vehicles and medical records.

“This has been a catastrophic, devastating impact if we focus our attention on health,” he said.

PAGE 8, Tuesday, October 8, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Giving back – Doug’s deep connection to The Bahamas I

MET William “Doug” Douglass through my father, Allan Ingraham. Daddy was very excited to tell me how Doug was building a recreational court for the kids in a settlement near Doug’s home in South Eleuthera back in 2017. It was a near $200,000 investment in a basketball/volleyball court and rock climbing facility at the Wemyss Bight Primary School. Later on, Doug had delivered hundreds of pairs of Converse sneakers to kids all throughout the island so they could more actively participate in sporting events.

Since then, he has sponsored basketball clinics for the community’s kids. hen speaking to the children, he tells them to never give up on their dreams, no matter how lofty, because great people have come out of Eleuthera. Among them, gold medal Olympian Chris “Fireman” Brown. Brown hails from Wemyss Bight and Doug is very close with his family, especially his mother, Nola Brown who has worked

W

Face to Face

By FELICITY DARVILLE

with Doug for many, many years.

“The Bahamas has been an important part of my life since 1962, and I have a deep respect and love for the Bahamian people and their culture,” Doug said.

“My heart and soul are the sand and beautiful waters of these islands and its residents. As an accomplished sailor, I have navigated the waters both fishing and sailing throughout the Bahamas and I have a deep connection to the country.”

“My favourite memory as a child in The Bahamas is going fishing with my grandparents and their friends. I remember bringing my friends from the United States to Eleuthera and showing them the communities and settlements that

1992 - a 20 year-old Doug showing off the fish he speared in his beloved Eleuthera.

I was a part of. There was a time when I was the limbo king of South Eleuthera!

Nobody could beat me at limbo in Governor’s Harbour… and there are people who can attest to that!”

Doug’s history began here visiting his grandparents and witnessing their investment in Eleuthera. In 1960, Juan T Trippe and his wife Betty (née Stettinius) purchased vast tracks of land in South Eleuthera from Arthur Vining Davis in the name of South Eleuthera Properties, Ltd. The early history of the development was very promising and there was a period of time that Cotton Bay Club and the surrounding resorts were thriving and bringing prosperity to an undeveloped island.

Large investments were made in the island’s infrastructure, including an airport with a runway more than the 7,000 feet in length, and a power plant providing the first electricity and running water to the island.

There were two resorts functioning under his umbrella and Trippe built the Cotton Bay Club with its Robert Trent Jones championship golf course, considered for many years to be the best golf course in all of the Caribbean. As the founder of Pan American Airways, Trippe brought proper airlift to Nassau and Rock Sound – eventually a Boeing 707 jet provided regular service between New York City’s JFK airport and Miami to both Nassau and Rock Sound, Eleuthera. He built a proper market for food

DOUG (also pictured right – inset) takes this Abaco family and their dog to Nassau on his plane just after Hurricane Dorian. supplies for the residents of South Eleuthera. He also built the Preston Albury High School for the community as well as a medical clinic.

“Juan Trippe’s legacy here remains legendary,” Doug proudly says of his grandfather.

“I have been visiting our house in Cotton Bay, Rock Sound, Eleuthera, continuously for the past 57 years.

Following in the footsteps of my grandparents, I too have been giving back to the people of the Bahamas. I have supported those going to schools abroad, and I have contributed a number of charities serving the residents of Eleuthera. In particular, I have supported the incredibly successful Island School in Eleuthera. Founded by Chris Maxey, a former Navy Seal, The Island School focuses on sustainable development. In twenty-five plus years, the school has made a significant impact on its students who come from the United States and locally.”

“When Chris first came to the Bahamas in 1981, he was at Yale and I was at Vanderbilt (university). I took Chris and his family into the settlements and showed what it was like to be part of the community, as I was. That is a part of what hooked Chris and his family to first buy a home in Eleuthera, and then eventually to come back and create the Island School, which the Bahamas benefits from today.”

Doug wants his fellow Americans to know that despite the fact that Grand Bahama and Abaco were devastated by Hurricane Dorian, the rest of The Bahamas, including Eleuthera, is still open for business.

Shortly after the passage of the hurricane, I produced a column which outlined some of the history between The Bahamas and America and how some 30,000 Bahamians worked in several states on “The Contract” during a 23-year period. I was elated to see several days later, an appeal from Doug for Bahamians to receive US Temporary Work Permits in order to recover from the hurricane. Florida Senators Rick Scott and Marco Rubio had already made an appeal for the same. These appeals touched my heart because I feel that if given the chance, Bahamians would continue to make valuable contributions to the US as many are doing today. Among them, my recent interviewee Marilyn Rose, who was named one of Houstons’ top 30 Women in Business.

“The US administration should consider issuing anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 temporary work visas to displaced Bahamian workers,” Doug suggested in an open letter delivered to Bahamian and US media outlets.

“Bahamians don’t want to emigrate to the US, nor are they at risk of overstaying their welcome. Bahamians want to live in The Bahamas, full stop. In tandem with the Bahamian government, the US Border Patrol should consider expediting a process wherein temporary Visa recipients could work in the US on a short-term basis, at no cost to state and federal budgets, immigration officials or American taxpayers. With a scarcity of employees in the hospitality and service industries, the benefits of offering Temporary Work Visas to displaced Bahamian workers would be a win-win for both

US businesses and Bahamian employees.”

Doug goes on to note that American companies have been quick to offer help to The Bahamas in the aftermath of the disaster.

“Power plants, hotels, and housing and communications infrastructures are among the areas most in need of substantial American capital investments—all of which offer extraordinary opportunities for a wide variety of US businesses,” he added.

Doug warned: “If the U.S. doesn’t step in, the Chinese will—and have already. In Dorian’s wake, Bahamian and Chinese officials committed to continuing their

“Following in the footsteps of my grandparents, I too have been giving back to the people of the Bahamas.

I have supported those going to schools abroad, and I have contributed a number of charities serving the residents of Eleuthera.

In particular, I have supported the incredibly successful Island School in Eleuthera.” bilaterial relationship. The goal, according to one source, being to ‘get a better distribution of our population throughout the archipelago’.

For years, both the State Department and the Department of Defence have been concerned about an Asian presence so close to the United States—and unless they take proactive steps to counteract this incursion, they are right to be worried.”

“In short, the US could surpass its already-extraordinary efforts by offering short-term work opportunities to afflicted Bahamians, thereby providing muchneeded breathing room to the area as it struggles to rebuild. In turn, US companies would benefit from welcoming a temporary,

limited influx of Bahamian workers, while continuing to invest more aggressively in The Bahamas, with the promise of substantial longterm returns. Both would go a long way toward discouraging the Chinese government from encroaching more than they have already on a region situated just over 40 miles off the US coast—a longtime concern and red flag for US government officials.”

The Bahamas, spread over nearly 180,000 square miles, is strategically vital to the US, he notes. In the 1980s in particular, drug interdiction and smuggling were serious issues, and human trafficking has been an ongoing concern.

Strategically, the Bahamas is important as the US Navy has maintained US Submarine testing facilities here since at least the 1960s.

As a man with an island upbringing should, Doug loves the ocean. A world class international sailor, Doug owns the Goombay Smash racing programme, which includes a racing fleet of three boats, each enjoying their own international success over the past eight years (goombaysmash.com).

His love for Bahamians led him to get on the ground in Abaco after the hurricane.

He assisted in evacuating 65 residents in Marsh Harbour, and he hosted seven families in his home for a period after the tragedy.

He is a self-made successful businessman who co-founded K2 Advisors in 1994. He retired four years ago after selling the firm to Franklin Templeton in 2012.

K2 Advisors is one of the largest fund of Hedge Funds in the world with approximately $12 billion under management in the recent past.

“As an American first the country I love, there is a long rich relationship between both The Bahamas and The United States of America,” Doug said.

“I want both to thrive and thus my passion.”

DOUG plays with a baby as he listens to residents’ stories of devastation in Marsh Harbour.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, October 8, 2019, PAGE 9

C H REEVES TEACHERS HAVE ‘A HOST OF CONCERNS’

By LEANDRA ROLLE lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A TEACHER at C H Reeves Junior High School criticised Education Minister Jeff Lloyd’s response to the industrial action taken by teachers last Wednesday for protesting against conditions at the school.

“The charge was given for us, the teachers at C H Reeves, to ‘explain the legitimate, credible and justifiable reason’ for the recent industrial actions taken…. firstly, I submit that there is no singular ‘reason’ for our action, as there are a host of concerns,” said one teacher, who did not want to be named.

Topping the list of concerns, the teacher said, is the delay in the completion of the main block at the C H Reeves.

“Let me help sensitise to you why this is such a major issue. It is the largest of our four teaching spaces and houses the largest percentage of classrooms, offices, and the main assembly meeting space. Because it is out of use, there are cases where teachers have been asked to combine classes in a singular space,” she said.

She noted that teachers were initially told that

the block would be open by mid-September, but it didn’t happen.

“Additional challenges faced because of it include, multiple teachers floating and clashing in rooms that are already occupied, a more confined and chaotic assembly space and chaos during break and lunch time as there is only one tuck shop open for usage by nearly 1,000 students,” she said.

Up to press time, Mr Lloyd could not be contacted for comment.

However, responding to the concerns highlighted, Education Director Marcellus Taylor acknowledged that contractors were “behind” in completing work at the block, but he explained that due to Hurricane Dorian, everything got delayed.

“The hurricane stopped work,” Mr Taylor said. “It also stopped our focus and things like that. But the idea is for the contractors to work either after hours, on the weekends or depending on the type of work, for them to complete the work in the main block until it is all sorted out.”

He continued: “Some teachers at C H Reeves feel that unless everything is exactly the way they want it, then they don’t think they

NYGARD WANTS PRIVY COUNCIL TO REVERSE COURT OF APPEAL DECISION

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

CANADIAN fashion mogul Peter Nygard wants to petition the Privy Council to reverse the striking out of his appeal of a contempt of court conviction for breaching a court order prohibiting him from engaging in any illegal dredging near his Lyford Cay home.

Nygard wants the London-based tribunal to set aside the Court of Appeal’s decision to effectively affirm his convictions for dredging the sea bed near Nygard Cay between March and April 2015, and again in October of 2016, despite an injunction prohibiting him from doing so.

In particular, Nygard wants said relief under the conditions that he, within a period not exceeding 90 days from the date of the hearing of his application, enter into “good and sufficient security” to the “satisfaction of the court” in a sum not exceeding $2,861 for the “due prosecution of the appeal”.

Condition Nygard says he wants that condition to also apply to the “payment of all costs as may become payable” in the event of himself not obtaining an order granting final leave to appeal or of the appeal being dismissed for “non-prosecution”, or of the Privy Council ordering him to pay costs of the appeal.

In July of last year, retired Justice Rhonda Bain found Nygard guilty for the third time for breaching her June 2013 order prohibiting him from engaging in any illegal dredging near his Simms Point/Nygard Cay property.

That came just over a year after Justice Bain convicted and fined Nygard $50,000 for breaching her injunction sometime in December 2014.

If the fine was not paid

by March 21, 2017, Nygard faced 14 days in prison.

He was further ordered to remove the excavated sand and return it to Jaws Beach

by April 7, 2017 or face an additional $50,000 fine and a $1,000 fine for each day that order is not adhered to.

Nygard paid the fine before the specified deadline, but has since appealed that ruling.

CANADIAN fashion mogul Peter Nygard.

On October 1, the tribunal of appellate President Sir Hartman Longley, Justices Jon Isaacs and Stella Crane-Scott dismissed Nygard’s appeal of his 2018 conviction because he hadn’t obtained leave to launch the appeal.

As a result, Nygard was ordered to pay the legal costs for the Coalition to Protect Clifton Bay, one of the respondents in the matter.

In a notice of motion filed the day after, which was obtained by The Tribune, Nygard asserts that the appellate judges were wrong in both fact and law in failing to hold that the appellate court was “functus officio” - having served its purpose - and that the matters were “res judicata”, or already adjudicated on.

Appeal Nygard asserts that the appellate court, without “regard” to his view on whether leave was needed to appeal Justice Bain’s decision, and in the exercise of its “inherent jurisdiction”, gave its decision on the “very same application and issues” on May 2 of this year.

Nygard’s appeal stems from his ongoing battle with the Coalition over allegations the construction/ development activities at his Lyford Cay home have led to a substantial growth of the property.

The group claims Nygard has almost doubled the size of his property, from 3.25 acres to 6.1 acres since he acquired it in 1984, by allegedly reclaiming Crown land from the sea.

should work. I just think that it’s not responsible. We have students who have to be prepared for exams and students who have a right to the education, and they should be able to access education.”

Other concerns raised

by teachers included issues with running water and increasing tensions between some school leaders and teachers.

To this, Mr Taylor responded that the problems with water at the school have already been

resolved.

Speaking on tensions among staff, he noted that the Ministry of Education has procedures put in place for staff to resolve complaints.

“At the end of the day, the students are the ones

being punished and being denied their basic human right. That’s the children of Montel Heights, the children of Podoleo Street, the children in all that area around there that go to C H Reeves….yet, some people just see it as trivial,” he said.

FUNERAL FOR TENNYSON WELLS TO BE HELD FRIDAY AN official funeral will be held for former Cabinet minister and businessman Tennyson Wells on Friday.

The funeral will start at 11am at Christ Church Cathedral on George Street. Interment will follow at Woodlawn Gardens Cemetery, Soldier Road.

The body will liein-state in the foyer of the House of Assembly from 9am on Thursday until the body departs for the church on Friday.

Viewing for the general public will be from 1pm - 7pm on Thursday.

PAGE 10, Tuesday, October 8, 2019

JUDGE SAYS NEW YORK PROSECUTORS CAN SEE TRUMP’S TAX RETURNS

By LARRY NEUMEISTER ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK (AP) — With President Donald Trump under siege on Capitol Hill, a federal judge dealt him a setback on another front Monday and ruled that New York City prosecutors can see his tax returns for an investigation into matters including the payment of hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels and a Playboy centerfold.

U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero emphatically rejected Trump’s attempt to keep his financial records under wraps, calling the president’s broad claim of immunity from all criminal proceedings “extraordinary” and “an overreach of executive power” at odds with the Constitution.

For now, at least, the tax returns remain beyond the reach of prosecutors. The president’s lawyers appealed the judge’s ruling to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which put the matter on hold while it considers the case on an expedited basis.

At issue is a request from Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. that Trump’s accounting firm turn over eight years’ worth of his business and personal tax returns dating back to 2011.

Vance, a Democrat, is investigating payments made to buy the silence of Daniels and model Karen McDougal, both of whom claimed to have had affairs with the president.

“The Radical Left Democrats have failed on all fronts,” Trump fumed on Twitter after the judge’s ruling, “so now they are pushing local New York City and State Democrat prosecutors to go get President Trump. A thing like this has never happened to any President before. Not even close!”

The district attorney’s office declined to comment.

The investigation is unfolding with Trump already facing a fast-moving impeachment drive

by House Democrats that was set off by his attempts to get Ukraine’s leader to investigate his political rival Joe Biden.

Trump’s lawyers have said that Vance’s investigation is politically motivated and that the request for tax records should be stopped because Trump is immune from any criminal probe as long as he is president.

The judge swept that claim aside as overly broad.

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TRUMP DEFENDS HIS DECISION TO ABANDON KURDISH ALLIES IN SYRIA

PRESIDENT Donald Trump winks as he listens before a trade agreement signing with Japan in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Monday, in Washington. (AP)

By ROBERT BURNS, LITA C. BALDOR and MATTHEW LEE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday cast his decision to abandon Kurdish fighters in Syria as fulfilling a campaign promise to withdraw from “endless war” in the Middle East, even as Republican critics and others said he was sacrificing a U.S. ally and undermining American credibility.

Trump declared U.S. troops would step aside for an expected Turkish attack on the Kurds, who have fought alongside Americans for years, but he then threatened to destroy the Turks’ economy if they went too far.

Even Trump’s staunchest Republican congressional allies expressed outrage at the prospect of abandoning Syrian Kurds who had fought the Islamic State group with American arms and advice. It was the latest example of Trump’s approach to foreign policy that critics condemn as impulsive, that he sometimes reverses and that frequently is untethered to the advice of his national security aides.

“A catastrophic mistake,” said Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the No. 3 House Republican leader.

“Shot in the arm to the bad guys,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

Trump said he understood criticism from fellow GOP leaders but disagreed.

He said he could also name supporters, but he didn’t.

Pentagon and State Department officials held out the possibility of persuading Turkey to abandon its expected invasion. U.S. officials said they had seen no indication that Turkey had begun a military operation by late Monday.

Trump, in late afternoon remarks to reporters, appeared largely unconcerned at the prospect of Turkish forces attacking the Kurds, who include a faction he described as “natural enemies” of the Turks.

“But I have told Turkey that if they do anything outside of what we would think is humane ... they could suffer the wrath of an extremely decimated economy,” Trump said.

In recent weeks, the U.S. and Turkey had reached an apparent accommodation of Turkish concerns about

the presence of Kurdish fighters, seen in Turkey as a threat. American and Turkish soldiers had been conducting joint patrols in a zone along the border.

As part of that work, barriers designed to protect

“I campaigned on the fact that I was going to bring our soldiers home and bring them home as rapidly as possible.”

US President Donald Trump the Kurds were dismantled amid assurances that Turkey would not invade.

Graham said Turkey’s NATO membership should be suspended if it attacks into northeastern Turkey, potentially annihilating Kurdish fighters who acted as a U.S. proxy army in a five-year fight to eliminate the Islamic State’s so-called caliphate. Graham, who had talked Trump out of a withdrawal from Syria last December, said letting Turkey invade would be a mistake of historic proportion and would “lead to ISIS reemergence .”

Pivotal This all comes at a pivotal moment of Trump’s presidency. House Democrats are marching forward with their impeachment inquiry into whether he compromised national security or abused his office by seeking negative information on former Vice President Joe Biden, a political rival, from Ukraine and other foreign countries.

As he faces the impeachment inquiry, Trump has appeared more focused on making good on his political pledges, even at the risk of sending a troubling signal to American allies abroad.

“I campaigned on the fact that I was going to bring our soldiers home and bring

them home as rapidly as possible,” he said.

The strong pushback on Capitol Hill prompted Trump to recast as well as restate his decision, but with renewed bombast and self-flattery.

He promised to destroy the Turkish economy “if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits.”

Sunday night the White House had said the U.S. would get its troops out of the way of the Turkish forces. That announcement came after Trump spoke by phone with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

One official described that White House announcement as a botched effort appeared aimed at making Trump look bold for ending a war. The official said attempts by the Pentagon and State Department to make the statement stronger in its opposition to Turkey’s military action were unsuccessful.

That official, like others interviewed, was not authorised to speak on the record and was granted anonymity to comment.

The official added that Erdogan appeared to be reconsidering his earlier resolve because he was relatively quiet Monday. But damage done to relations with the Kurds could be irreparable.

An official familiar with the Erdogan call said the Turkish president was “ranting” at Trump, saying the safe zone was not working and that Turkey couldn’t trust the U.S. military to do what was needed. And in reaction, Trump said the U.S. wanted no part of an invasion and would withdraw troops.

The announcement threw the military situation in Syria into fresh chaos and injected deeper uncertainty into U.S. relations with European allies. A French official, speaking on condition of anonymity on a sensitive topic, said France wasn’t informed ahead of

time. A Foreign Ministry statement warned Turkey to avoid any action that would harm the international coalition against the Islamic State and noted the Kurds had been essential allies. It entirely omitted any mention of the United States.

TURKEY’S President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (AP) U.S. involvement in Syria has been fraught with peril since it started in 2014 with the insertion of small numbers of special operations forces to recruit, train, arm and advise local fighters to combat the Islamic State.

Trump entered the White House in 2017 intent on getting out of Syria, and even before the counter-IS military campaign reclaimed the last militant strongholds early this year, he declared victory and said troops would leave.

Decision Trump defended his latest decision, acknowledging in tweets that “the Kurds fought with us” but adding that they “were paid massive amounts of money and equipment to do so.”

“I held off this fight for almost 3 years, but it is time for us to get out of these ridiculous Endless Wars, many of them tribal, and bring our soldiers home,” he wrote.

In his later remarks, Trump asserted that American troops in Syria are not

performing useful work.

They are, he said, “not fighting.” They are “just there,” he said.

Among the first to move were about 30 U.S. troops from two outposts who would be in the immediate area of a Turkish invasion.

It’s unclear whether others among the roughly 1,000 U.S. forces in northeastern Syria would be moved, but officials said there was no plan for any to leave Syria entirely.

Bulent Aliriza, director of the Turkey Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that a U.S. withdrawal from Syria would be a major boost to Russia’s position there.

He added that other allies in the region, including the Kurds, will “look at this withdrawal as U.S. unwillingness to stand up for its rights and maintain its alliances in the region.”

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., another strong Trump supporter, said in an appearance on “Fox & Friends” that he had concerns.

“I want to make sure we keep our word for those who fight with us and help us,” he said, adding that, “If you make a commitment and somebody is fighting with you, America should keep their word.”

Former Trump administration officials also expressed concern.

Nikki Haley, who served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said the U.S. “must always have the backs of our allies, if we expect them to have our back. ... Leaving them to die is a big mistake.”

Turkey considers the People’s Protection Units, or YPG, an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has waged an insurgency against Turkey for 35 years.

• With contributions from Associated Press writers Zeynep Bilginsoy in Istanbul; Zeina Karam and Sarah El Deeb in Beirut and Lori Hinnant in Paris.

BARRICADES BURN AS HAITI ENTERS FOURTH WEEK OF DEADLY PROTESTS

By DÁNICA COTO ASSOCIATED PRESS

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Stones flew and barricades burned in parts of Haiti’s capital on Monday as the country entered its fourth week of antigovernment protests that have paralysed the economy and shuttered schools.

Opposition supporters gathered in areas including the front of the National Palace to demand the resignation of President Jovenel Moïse as tear gas wafted through some neighbourhoods. Dozens of protesters banged rocks on metal posts as others cried out, “Thief!”

James Jozil, a 26-year-old mechanic, yelled at heavily armed police officers who are part of Moise’s security detail and were briefly stationed in front of the palace.

“Jovenel Moïse has to go because people can’t go to school, people are hungry,” he said.

Observing the gathering crowd in downtown Port-au-Prince was Gesner Denis, a 47-year-old social studies teacher who said the country’s situation had become unacceptable and that the government was incapable of governing.

“I’m thinking of my people,” he said. “Where is this country going?”

Denis’ three children are among the two million students who have

A POLICEMAN dismantles a barricade set up by protesters demanding the resignation of Haitian President Jovenel Moise, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) been unable to attend school for nearly a month. He said his oldest child is already in college.

“His future is a question mark,” he said.

The normally congested streets of Port-au-Prince were empty of traffic just days after thousands of Haitians marched in front of the United Nations’ headquarters in one of the largest demonstrations in weeks.

The protests have been fueled by anger over corruption, rising inflation and the dwindling of basic supplies including food and

gasoline. At least 17 people have been killed in the ongoing demonstrations and another nearly 200 injured, including the son of Dominique Grillon, whose son was hospitalised after being hit by a car as he set up barricade last week.

“There will never be any change in Haiti,” Grillon said, adding that protests occurred in the past and that they don’t necessarily lead to better things.

The U.N.’s Mission for Justice Support in Haiti said it was deeply concerned about what it called a

ANTI-government protesters toss stones over a wall spray-painted message that reads in Creole: “Down with the thief Jovenel”, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) protracted political crisis. It urged found that at least 14 former the government to ensure the government officials under the normal functioning of schools, administration of former Presihospitals and emergency services dent Michel Martelly — an ally and allow aid to reach the most of Moïse — allegedly misused huge sums linked to a Venezuevulnerable people.

“The mission stands ready to lan-subsidised oil programme. support peaceful solutions, which The senate’s investigation also only Haitian actors can devise, named a company once owned by to resolve the current situation Moïse, who has denied corruption and alleviate the suffering of the allegations.

A government spokesman said population, in accordance with democratic standards and human the Organization of American States has granted Moïse’s adminrights principles,” it said Sunday.

Many protesters are demanding istration $17 million to strengthen a more in-depth investigation into anti-corruption institutions in corruption after Haiti’s senate Haiti.

PAGE 12, Tuesday, October 8, 2019

CELEBRATING WORLD TEACHERS DAY

STAFF and students at Sadie Curtis Primary School celebrated World Teachers Day yesterday. The event – part of a campaign

by UNESCO and Education International – is held every year, with the theme for 2019 being “Young Teachers: The future of the Profession”.

PHOTOS: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune staff

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