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The Tribune

Volume:117 No.219, OCTOBER 9, 2020

Established 1903

Weekend

WEEKEND: PIONEERING BAHAMIAN TV SHOW RETURNS

Weekend

Friday, October 9, 2020 photography art gardening food history entertainment puzzles animals

PARTY’S OVER

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net POLICE Commissioner Paul Rolle said his officers will be out in full force to enforce new COVID-19 restrictions, as he revealed that officers have faced challenges recently with young people hosting parties.

A weekend lockdown takes effect today at 7pm until 5am Tuesday. Businesses – including food stores and pharmacies – have been ordered to close during this period and people will only be allowed to leave their homes if they are deemed an essential worker. In person worship is allowed at a church for one hour on Saturday and Sunday.

“I would want to encourage residents... abide by

these rules,” Commissioner Rolle said.

“The lockdown takes effect 7pm on Friday and we will be out, the police will be out, ensuring compliance with it, and so we are asking people to just abide. In recent weeks we’ve been having a lot of challenges with young people in particular having social gatherings and parties.

“I want to say to them, not to do that. If we find that happening, we’ll be taking a more stiffer approach with those persons who seek to defy those orders.”

Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis announced the stricter measures for New Providence and Abaco on Wednesday, amid troubling COVID-19 statistics for the two islands.

KELLY’S House & Home is closing “until further notice” from 6pm this evening rather than offer curbside services.

The Mall at Marathonbased retailer confirmed in a posting on its Facebook page yesterday afternoon that it will offer “no curbside service” and will again close “until further notice”.

Kelly’s employed the same strategy when the Government initiated similar COVID-19 restrictions in early August, electing to close rather offer curbside services. While Kelly’s

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

‘SORRY - $20 VOUCHERS WERE A MISTAKE’

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

SEE PAGE THREE

‘WHY NEED GUNS AT ATLANTIS PROTEST?’

SEE PAGE THREE

Lumber will provide curbside service between 7am and 4.30pm on weekdays, the decision by its House & Home affiliate highlights just how difficult and costly it is for many Bahamian retailers to operate under these restrictions.

One source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that while curbside will allow non-food retailers to generate some revenues and cash flow amid the latest COVID19 lockdown, the practice is a loss-maker that results in many merchants questioning whether it is worth remaining open.

pgs 08 + 09

NATIONAL Food Distribution Task Force chairperson Susan Larson said miscommunication caused 1,500 food assistance recipients in parts of New Providence to get under-valued vouchers this week.

The recipients received vouchers worth $20 when they should have received vouchers worth $40.

Ms Larson said “there was a miscommunication regarding our decisions” at a weekly coordinating meeting earlier this week.

She said zone leaders met Wednesday night and yesterday morning to implement steps to correct the mistake.

KELLY’S SHUNS CURBSIDE AND SHUTS INDEFINITELY

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Pages 04 + 05

Where’s Wally?

Pioneering Bahamian TV show returns

Police blame youngsters for problems caused at illegal lockdown events

ANTOINETTE BUTLERSMITH

WAVE GOODBYE FAMILIES have been enjoying the seaside - including these children at Montagu Beach - before beaches are closed again as part of the latest lockdown orders from Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

OPPOSITION Senator Fred Mitchell yesterday questioned why police blocked protestors from walking over the Sidney Poitier Bridge on Wednesday and decried officers being armed with “assault weapons” at a “peaceful” demonstration.

He spoke a day after scores of Atlantis workers protested for severance pay from the resort. The employees have not worked since March after the resort closed due to the COVID19 pandemic.

“Yesterday, I observed as opposition spokesman for labour, the demonstration by Atlantis employees for the monies owed under the redundancy laws,” Mr Mitchell said at a press conference.

SEE PAGE FIVE

FAMILY QUESTIONS SISTER’S ‘DROWNING’

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

A SISTER of a woman whose body was found washed ashore on a beach in Eleuthera last month is questioning police who say they did not find any signs of foul play and that her sibling had drowned.

On September 19, officers were called to a scene in Lower Bogue, Eleuthera, where a woman’s body was

KEVA CASH found washed up on the shoreline. Family members say the woman is 25-yearold Keva Cash.

Eulena Cash told The Tribune she was updated on Monday by an officer on her sister’s death, but believes there is “no way possible” she could simply have drowned based on the state of Keva’s body.

She said her mother went to identify the body and her sister’s face was unrecognisable. Her mother was only able to recognise the deceased by her hair, Ms Cash said.

SEE PAGE FIVE

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

LOCKDOWN BABY - BUT WITH EMPTY CUPBOARDS

SEE PAGE EIGHT

PAGE 2, Friday, October 9, 2020

THE NEXT EDITION OF THE TRIBUNE WILL BE ON TUESDAY AFTER THE HOLIDAY

THE TRIBUNE

Three in hospital THREE men are in hospital after shooting and stabbing incidents.

According to police, shortly after 9am on Wednesday officers received a complaint of a man being shot in Domingo Heights, New Providence.

Responding officers were told that four men were

involved in an argument and one had produced a handgun, shooting it in the direction of the others.

This left two of the men with injuries. They were both taken to hospital.

One is listed as critical while the other is in stable condition.

Then shortly after 10am

on Wednesday, police were called to a stabbing incident that occurred on St Luke Street.

Officers found a man with injuries about his body and were told that two men were involved in an argument when one of them produced a knife and stabbed the other,

causing injuries. The victim was later taken to hospital where he is in stable condition.

Acting on information the officers proceeded to Sequoia Street where they arrested a man in connection with this incident.

The investigations continue.

CEMETERY ROAD IS REOPENED AFTER calling for the reopening of Eastern Cemetery Lane for over ten years, one resident can now breathe a sigh of relief.

The Cabinet recently approved the request to reopen the thoroughfare, a development that has been welcomed with open arms, Works Minister Desmond Bannister said.

East Cemetery Lane is a north-south public right of way between East Bay Street and Shirley Street on the eastern boundary of Harbour Bay Shopping Plaza.

“It is currently being used as an access to Scotia Trust, UBS Bahamas Ltd, and in the near future — Doctors Hospital’s nursing facility (formerly the Red Carpet Inn) from the East Bay Street end, and UBS from the Shirley Street end,” he said. “A fence was privately installed across the right of way prior to 2018 and in an effort to protect the government’s interest, the Ministry of Public Works took steps to remove the fence, notify all business affected and clear the unpaved section of the right-of-way.”

Mr Bannister added: “This north-south rightof-way had been identified for re-establishment as a paved road during the 1997 Downtown One-Way scheme in order to increase the number of connector roads between East Bay Street and Shirley Street. Construction and implementation of East Cemetery Lane as a oneway south bound road combined with the existing north bound Moseley Lane will create circulatory traffic flow and improve the road network in the area.

“The new link will provide an alternate south bound road for motorists to utilise rather than having to drive an additional half mile to Village Road to access Shirley Street to head in southerly or westerly direction.”

Bruce Raine, a resident, said in 2008 he began campaigning for the road to be restored for its rightful purpose. “I’ve always been interested in history and this road has been there from the 1800s, so we are talking about a road that is over 200-years-old. Here in Nassau there have been a number of 18th and 19th century burial sites. Christ Church Cathedral is the only documented evidence that identifies this ‘Eastern Cemetery’ as being the agricultural grounds formerly the Eastern Cemetery,” Mr Raine said.

“What has now been renamed ‘Mosley Lane’, was and is officially known as ‘West Cemetery Lane’.

A now unidentified road, a little east of West Cemetery Lane, with two identified properties being Red Carpet Inn and UBS Bahamas Ltd, was and is, officially known as ‘East Cemetery Lane.’”

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, October 9, 2020, PAGE 3

ZNS CLOSES ITS DOORS AGAIN AS ENGINEER TESTS POSITIVE

By TANYA SMITHCARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net

AN engineer at the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas has tested positive for COVID-19, causing the BCB to once again close its doors to the public for cleaning.

Yesterday, executive management at ZNS said the BCB’s headquarters at Harcourt “Rusty” Bethel Drive confirmed the station had been hit by the virus.

“While this staff member has not been on duty for several days, management will have the concerned area(s) cleaned and sanitised as a

precaution measure. The Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas, will reopen fully for normal business on October 9, 2020,” ZNS officials said in a statement.

The engineer, who is mostly assigned to the House of Assembly ensuring that ZNS broadcasts the proceedings of Parliament seamlessly, contracted the virus and is said to have responsibly informed his co-workers.

“Thank God that our co-worker was responsible enough to inform us that he has COVID,” a ZNS source said.

“I believe he got the virus...at the House of

Assembly because I heard there (are) a lot of cases (there). He works so hard that anything is possible.

Now to fill the void is going to be a problem because he truly runs this place, whereas engineering is involved. We hope he makes a full recovery and we wish him well.”

Yesterday Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union president Dino Rolle said the union realises COVID-19 has to be dealt with for the foreseeable future.

“The idea is really to sanitise after you would have experienced these cases to mitigate against any further spread because of the exposure,” Mr Rolle said. “And,

Party’s over from page one He said a 7pm to 5am daily curfew and weekend lockdowns will be in place until the situation improves.

Beaches and parks in Abaco and New Providence also will be closed beginning Friday and only virtual learning is permitted for students on both islands.

Sea and airports will continue to operate and there will be no interruption to flights.

Additionally, during the week, religious services may continue based on the Bahamas Christian Council guidelines approved by the Ministry of Health.

Churches may also open for individual/private prayer during the week.

However, other restrictions regarding funerals and weddings will be enforced.

On Wednesday, Dr Minnis said health officials have recommended reverting to previous protocols.

As such, in addition to the officiant and the

151 NEW CASES CONFIRMED ONE hundred and fifty-one additional cases of COVID-19 were reported yesterday, as New Providence and Abaco residents brace for a weekend lockdown to help slow the spread of the disease.

Of the new cases reported yesterday, 115 of them are in New Providence, the island with the highest amount of cases. Officials said two new cases were reported in the Berry Islands, one in Grand Bahama, one in Exuma while one case was listed as location pending.

The country now has 4,864 confirmed COVID19 cases of which 2,084 are active. There are 109 hospitalised cases, 102 deaths and 13 deaths under investigation. undertakers, ten people will be permitted to attend a funeral, which may now only take place at the graveside. Wakes and repasts will not be permitted.

As far as weddings are concerned only ten people will be permitted at a wedding, while wedding receptions will not be permitted.

Exercise is permitted in a person’s neighbourhood Monday to Friday, between 5am and 7pm, but exercise on the weekend may take

place only within a person’s yard.

Gyms will once again be closed.

The Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) has 165 confirmed cases, inclusive of officers and civilian staff, and one COVID-19 related death. Yet, the commissioner expressed confidence in having enough officers to man the upcoming lockdown on both Abaco and New Providence and the other restrictions.

‘SORRY - $20 VOUCHERS WERE A MISTAKE’ from page one

“Reserve financial resources were directed at the affected zone and recipients in the area will receive an additional voucher to make up the difference,” she said.

Philip Smith, director of the Bahamas Feeding Network and member of the Food Distribution Task Force, noted that recipients will receive $40 each week until the end of October before a new programme begins in November. He couldn’t say how much money people will receive then.

The amount of money people receive has been steadily declining because the numbers of people in need increased “tremendously over the last four months,” he said.

He added that the programme, which is currently closed for new registration, serves 55,000 homes containing an average of four people per household.

“Some have as many as six, seven people,” he said.

Mr Smith noted that the

government’s allocation to the task force declined from $16m for three months to $10m for three months.

“If we could take it to $5 million per month that would do well,” he said, appealing for donations.

Ms Larson called this week on people who have returned to work to update their employment status on the task force’s RAPID database and withdraw from the programme.

“Going forward, what we need to do is to focus on those persons who remain unemployed and help them,” she reiterated in yesterday’s press release.

“In this day and age, people often jump to the most negative conclusions.

Justifiably, the issuance of mis-valued vouchers created serious concern among the recipients. But it was a mistake. Our workers and volunteers should not have had to suffer so terribly and unnecessarily from the backlash.”

She added: “People need to understand that the value of assistance they have received over the past few months might not be

sustainable in the future.

The government is working feverishly to revive our economy. Still, the basic fact of the matter is food assistance needs wider assistance. Without it, we will be forced to change our strategy. If any person or entity is interested in contributing please reach out.”

The task force currently offers either food parcels or vouchers to its recipients, with 80 percent of its assistance taking the form of parcels. Many recipients voiced frustration about receiving the $20 voucher on Thursday.

“Y’all might as well don’t give us nothing if y’all (going) to give us $20,” a frustrated mother of six told a local broadcaster.

Another woman said the voucher was first valued at $70 before it was reduced to $50 and then $20 this week.

“Some of us have more than three children living in our homes and $20 can’t do nothing for them. To go to Super Value with $20, you coming out there with nothing,” another mother told EyeWitness News this week.

AMERICAN AIRLINES BACK TO THE BAHAMAS AMERICAN Airlines yesterday resumed service between Miami International Airport and six destinations in the region, including Eleuthera, Freeport and George Town, Exuma.

On October 10, the airline is also planning to resume flights from MIA to Marsh Harbour and from Charlotte Douglas International Airport to George Town.

“As we continue with the steady resumption of our operations throughout the Caribbean and Latin America, our teams throughout the region have been focused on providing our customers with a safe

and seamless travel experience,” said Jose Freig, American’s managing director of operations for the Caribbean and Latin America. “Through efforts that include our clean commitment, and soon, preflight COVID-19 testing in some markets, we hope to restore confidence in the safety of air travel.”

In June, American began to resume flying to Caribbean destinations previously suspended in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. During the month of October, the airline plans to operate more than 300 weekly flights to 23 destinations in the region, including flights to Nassau,

Eleuthera, Freeport, George Town and Marsh Harbour.

“As part of an ongoing effort to help protect customer health and safety, inspire confidence in air travel and advance the industry’s recovery from COVID-19, American is collaborating with several foreign governments to begin offering preflight COVID-19 testing for customers travelling to international destinations.

The airline is engaged with Jamaica and The Bahamas, as well as with CARICOM, about launching these programmes in Caribbean markets,” American Airlines said.

once you do the proper isolation of those persons who may have been exposed also everybody else can return to work. We realise for the foreseeable future we have to learn to live with it.

“To be shutting down operations because you are experiencing exposure, is unsustainable for a long time economically on any business. So while I am concerned about the safety of my members, I, too, have to be cognizant of their livelihoods. So it is a balance that has to be struck and I try to work within those parameters to make sure that there is no undue strain that is placed on the

corporation, but at the same time making sure that they do what is required of them.

I think after we would have had our meeting on the hill, they seemed to have been abiding in that regard.”

Asked about outstanding matters in the industrial agreement between BCPOU and the Broadcasting Corporation that he and his team were very concerned about, Mr Rolle said they are working them out with the chairman.

“I do understand, too, that these are challenging economic times, not only nationally, but globally and management has identified those things that are outstanding. We are having

meetings and we are working with the chairman and others in management to see how best we can satisfy those things that are outstanding,” he said.

In a previous interview, Mr Rolle was irate and said he and his members were sick and tired of alleged disrespect shown to them by management at ZNS. At the time, he called for the resignation of general manager Kayleaser Deveaux-Isaacs, accusing her of bullying staff by threatening in August to downsize because workers were concerned about being exposed to COVID cases in the headquarters where they work.

PAGE 4, Friday, October 9, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

Pintard: We will take action to deal with shanty towns

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net AGRICULTURE and Marine Resources Minister Michael Pintard yesterday vowed to crack down on all unregulated structures on government land in North Andros, insisting officials are “ready” to take action against residents who are still living in illegal structures despite receiving eviction notices.

Reiterating the government’s stance on

unregulated development in the country, Mr Pintard revealed his ministry’s plans to restore government Crown land on Andros for the purpose intended, which is farming.

He said while the numbers of people still living in those unregulated communities have since “dwindled,” officials are “pressing ahead” in its goal to have the issue dealt with in a careful, but lawful manner.

“The committee continues to work within the

guidelines set by the Office of the Attorney General while the numbers of illegal immigrants in the unregulated development have dwindled, we are still pressing ahead to eliminate unregulated development that have persons of different nationalities inclusive of Bahamians and we intend to restore agriculture land for the purpose it was intended and that is farming by registered and approved farmers,” he told reporters at his ministry’s press conference yesterday.

“The minister of financial services, trade, industry and immigration is continuing his work. He’s continuing the work that has been started prior to holding that position and has done a sterling job in ensuring that those who should not be on government land are addressed.”

In February, the government issued eviction notices to Andros residents living in illegal structures, a move estimated to possibly displace some 1,800 people.

However, Mr Pintard

said yesterday the eviction notices expired in March, adding the government will have to take action against those who have not adhered to the orders.

“On the fifth of March 2020, the notices for occupants to vacate the land had expired so the ministry is now ready to take legal action against those who have not vacated the property,” he said. “All illegally constructed buildings will be dealt with. The Department of Environmental Health Services will assist

in cleaning the property and the garbage that has accumulated and derelict vehicles.”

Last month, Works Minister Desmond Bannister told reporters that he, along with members on his team, had planned to visit Andros and assess for themselves what’s actually happening on the ground.

He added that once assessments have been made on the island, officials will subsequently formulate a plan to deal with the issue.

ENTREPRENEUR THRIVING IN THE PANDEMIC

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

GRAND Bahamian Mychal Connolly is an awarding winning entrepreneur in the US who has launched several successful businesses by “thinking outside the box”.

Connolly - who grew up in the ‘Back A Town’ lowincome housing Subdivision in Freeport – now lives in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he is helping to build million-dollar American brands through his consultancy firm, The Launch and Stand Out Agency.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, he has earned six figures within three months.

Mr Connolly formed a baby diaper decorating company called Mr Stinky Cakes, and also Stand Out Truck, a mobile digital Billboard Advertising to

promote brands. Both businesses are doing well.

“You have to create collaborations even when they don’t exist,” said Mychal.

“Everyone thought I was crazy to have a digital truck and drive it around doing nothing. They were convinced I should have been using the truck for deliveries because of the size. I took my truck, uploaded the logo of a major national franchise, and parked in front of their company then reached out to them on social media. By the end of the week, I had a contract to be their official mobile digital billboard. You can’t limit yourself. You must always create a way even if the signs say that’s impossible.”

As a young boy at age nine in Grand Bahama, Mychal was always thinking of ways to earn money. His grandmother Nora Connolly told him to sell candy

Funeral Service For

Vernesser Anishka Ferguson, 40 affectionately called “Nesser” a resident of Coral Harbour who died at The Princess Margaret Hospital on Thursday, September 17th, 2020 will be held 10:00 a.m.

Tuesday, October 13th, 2020 at the Gravesite of Lakeview Memorial Gardens, John F. Kennedy Drive and Gladstone Roads. Rev’d Father DeAngelo Bowe assisted by Rev’d Father’ Joseph Mycklewhyte will officiate She is survived by her Father: Osborne Alphonso Ferguson; Brothers: Osborne Ferguson Jr. (Rochelle), Quentin Ferguson; Nieces and Nephews: Kyle, Ethan and Hannah Ferguson of Atlanta, Georgia, Jada Ferguson of U.S.A.; Aunts: Myrtis Beneby, Thelma Ferguson, Naomi Ferguson, Brenda Smith, Veronica Delancy, Judy Delancy, Clarice Delancy, Kim Delancy-Gibson, Karen Delancy-Clarke (Jacinth), Patricia Sands and family, and Minerva Delancy; Uncles: Alkin (Donna) Delancy, Walter Delancy, Christopher Delancy, Roland Ferguson, George Ferguson and Willard Williams; Numerous Cousins: Janice Young, Yvette Charlie, Anastasia Delancy-Jones, Demetrius Delancy, Cleveland Delancy, Carla Delancy, Al-Marie (Berlin) Smith, Al-Leecia Delancy, Alkin Delancy Jr., Rosetta Delancy, Christopher Delancy Jr., Byshon Delancy, Jacintha Clarke, Jayda Clarke, Jayden Clarke, Fredrick, Benjamin, Antoinette, Eleanor, Paul, Stephen, Ricardo, Rochelle, Lester, Karen, Cheryl, Wendy, Kevin, Lavonda, Carl, Caroline, Wenise, Bonnie, Des’mond, Andrea, Carolyn, Don, Jewel, Brian, Bianca, Brent, Bradley and Branell; Other Relatives and Friends: Patrona Kemp and Family, Judith Williams and family, Kelsey Williams of Wemyss Bight Eleuthera, Rudolph Williams and family, Doris Gibson and Family, Trudy Hooker and Family, Marsha Gibson and family of the U.S.A, Charmaine Davis and family, Wilfred Delancy and family, Alfred, Eleanor, Henry, Philip, Joe Delancy, Kevin, Dwight, Wayde Delancy, Wilson Delancy, Margaret Thurston and family, Abigail, Anastacia, Wilkie, Delancy, Children of Helen Culmer, Catherine Rolle, and family, Leoni Cartwright and family, Elaine Thompson and family, Deloris Bethel and family, Dianne Bowe-Pindling and family, McArthur Thompson, Cara Young, Joseph Major and family, Marion Fernander, Sherryann Sands, Father Deangelo Bowe and family, Fr. Joseph Mycklewhyte and family, the Wemyss Bight, Eleuthera community and Holy Spirit Anglican Church family and the Western Warriors Cell Group and the 7 a.m. morning congregation at Holy Spirit.

Relatives and friends may pay their last respects at THE CHAPEL OF MEMORIES THE NEW COMMONWEALTH FUNERAL HOME, INDEPENDENCE DRIVE on Tuesday from 8:30-9:30 a.m.

GRAND Bahamian Michael Connolly and his digital truck mobile billboard. at the tuck shop she operated from her home.

Mychal took the candies to his school at Freeport Primary but realised kids did not like them and preferred other brands and flavors. He told his grandmother and begged her to buy the better flavoured candies.

“I tripled her sales in the space of three weeks simply because I realised what the customers wanted,” he recalled. “I was nine-yearsold and I didn’t realize it but I had a successful marketing plan and executed it so well, she had enough to generate a steady income.”

Mychal received a commission from his grandmother and was able to purchase video games, which was “a big deal back then in the late ‘80s.”

He stated that his grandmother was able to continue the business until she passed away in 2005. To this day, he said he continues to execute that strategy for his businesses and his clients.

As a successful

entrepreneur, Mr Connolly has also written a book, ‘Launch and Stand Out,’ about how persons can launch their ideas into profitable businesses, and how to stand out with marketing and branding to put their product and services above the rest.

“His tough big brother style is one that gets people to see their inner potential in a big way. His clients have included the creators of million-dollar brands and he thrives on connecting people to the right networks so that they can build together,” according to a press release.

Additionally, Mr Connolly has helped hurricane victims, mentor single parents, and has helped a dozen foster children who have lived with his family.

“I have two sons who are my world,” says Mychal.

“They’ve inspired me to be a better man in more ways than they can imagine and they are the reason I understand the importance of legacy building, teaching children the proper tools when it comes to

generational wealth and so much more.”

“My sons are a big part of my business even though they are teenagers and when the pandemic hit and they were home with us, they got to see a whole lot more than usual. My foster children as well have taught me so many lessons and when they leave our home, I hope that they leave with the tools we have given to them so that when they age out of the system or find forever homes, they have a life skill to set them up.”

His sons Mychal, Jr., and Aiden also participates in his newest venture, Stand Out Truck, in nearly every aspect from getting clients to switching out the signs.

Mr Connelly said: “It gives us time to be together to communicate and communication is so key in business.”

He believes that sharing information with others is important. “Whether it’s as simple as offering something through a social media post or video, or

selling that information in a book or workshop,” he explained.

Mr Connolly thinks it is very important for young black boys to see black men in attainable roles, other than athletes or entertainers.

“2020 has shown us so many things as it relates to black men in the USA, and growing up in the Caribbean, I realize me and my children are living two different experiences,” he said.

“As black men, we have to be there. At the same time, we have to be able to understand that we have to create products and services so great, that people won’t see it because of the owner but rather because it’s an amazing product,” he said.

Finally, Mr Connolly who also mentors Grand Bahamian online - is encouraging Bahamians to “hang in through the tough times.”

He said they must surround themselves with people that will help develop a growth mindset.

HAITIAN JAILED FOR SIX MONTHS FOR HAMMER ATTACK

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net A HAITIAN who attacked a man with a hammer during a dispute over a cell phone was sentenced to six months in prison yesterday.

Miguel Duverne, 21, appeared before Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes charged with one count of causing harm, after he was accused of hitting Martin Grant of Harbour Island in the face with a hammer on August 7.

The court was told that that night, Mr Grant told police a young Haitian man whom he knew as Miguel came to his residence to return a cell phone that had gone missing three days

earlier. Mr Grant said when he checked the phone at the time, he noticed its chip was missing. When he confronted Duverne about it, an argument followed and the defendant struck him on the side of his face with a hammer.

The prosecution said the blow caused a wound and laceration and the complainant had to be taken to New Providence for medical attention. As a result of his injuries, Mr Grant filed an official complaint with police.

Duverne was subsequently arrested. He was then taken to the Harbour Island police station where he admitted to the offence in an interview with police. According to the prosecution, the

defendant has no legal status in the country.

During the hearing, Duverne was represented by attorney Nathan Smith.

He told the magistrate his client had one child and was employed as a construction worker in Eleuthera. He also noted how Duverne admitted his guilt from the onset of the investigation and argued that he had only committed the offence because he was acting out of anger. Saying that the defendant understood that the circumstances that triggered his anger did not excuse his actions, Mr Smith insisted that Duverne was remorseful for the harm he had caused.

Ian Cargill, the attorney representing Mr Grant, also attended the hearing

yesterday. He told the magistrate that Duverne had been on the run for two weeks before his arrest and was working illegally in the country. He also said his client had been hospitalised for two weeks as a result of the injuries suffered during the incident and insisted Mr Grant was still suffering from pain and trauma.

As a result, Magistrate Forbes sentenced Duverne to six months at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services and ordered him to be handed over for deportation on the completion of his sentence.

As the defendant has been on remand since August 14, he has four more months to spend in custody until he is sent to the director of immigration.

ANGER MANAGEMENT CLASSES FOR THREATS TO KILL

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A 25-YEAR-OLD woman who threatened to kill another woman while under the influence of alcohol was ordered to attend anger management classes.

Police arrested Anette Metellus after she threatened to shoot and stab a woman on October 5.

She admitted the offence during a hearing before Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes yesterday.

The court was told around 6.15pm on the day in question, the woman was visiting her property on East Street when an unknown female who lived in the yard next to her started taunting her. The court heard the complainant attempted to ignore the defendant, but she persisted shouting: “I will shoot you and jick you in your head (sic).”

Metellus’ comments made the woman fear for her life, so she filed a complaint against her with the police. The defendant was

arrested a short time later.

In an interview at a nearby station, she said she was intoxicated at the time of the incident and could not remember what happened.

During the hearing, Metellus was represented by attorney Alex Dorsette.

He told the magistrate his client was at her mother’s birthday party and had drunk about “12 cups of liquor” in addition to a “few beers”. Mr Dorsette claimed Metellus’ child and some other children were playing in the vicinity

and the defendant was concerned about the complainant’s driving putting the children at risk. He insisted Metellus would have never found herself in court if she did not drink excessively that day.

As a result, Magistrate Forbes granted the defendant a conditional discharge on the agreement she would attend anger management classes at the Department of Social Services. He warned her if she failed to do so, she would spend three months in prison.

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, October 9, 2020, PAGE 5

‘WHY NEED GUNS AT ATLANTIS PROTEST?’

from page one

“This was not a PLP demonstration, but as the shadow minister I was tasked by the leader of the party to ensure that the rights of the demonstrators were protected and they were free to exercise the right of peaceful protest.

“I expressed my concerns by phone to the Attorney General about the fact that the bridge was closed to access by the protestors, even though any pedestrian is normally free to cross the bridge.

“Secondly, while I have no quarrel with police presence, I am again concerned about officers showing up with assault weapons in the face of a peaceful demonstration and no viable evidence of non-lethal methods of crowd control.

“It is ironic that the FNM authorities have now got

PROTESTORS and police at the demonstration. themselves into a bind of hypocrisy again since they in their history led at least two demonstrations on the Paradise Island bridge,

Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

one of which was actively encouraged and supported by the now Prime Minister when he was leader of the opposition. Now it appears

they have forgotten all that.

“Had the FNM authorities allowed the peaceful march across the bridge,

they would not have had videos on Bay Street chanting ‘Minnis got to go!’”

Mr Mitchell noted that one person, who he said started the chant, was arrested.

“This raises the issue of the tensions in this society because of the management of this pandemic by Dr Hubert Minnis.

“Unfortunately, the normal institutions to deal with this thing like the House, the Senate and the courts no longer seem to be available to ordinary men and women as a means of redress and peaceful dissent is being suppressed.

“Over my objections today, the Senate again adjourned sine die without conducting any business for which it was convened and without a fixed date to resume.

“I have in my hand the copy of an action filed in the courts on August 14

and although it is ex parte, no judge has been assigned to hear it. The question then is, when the vendors at Arawak Cay say they need redress from the courts because of unconstitutional discrimination and they cannot get a date in court, what are they to do?

“The Atlantis workers are in the streets because they are left with no choice.”

The government has suspended the Employment Act provisions that mandate employers must pay full severance/redundancy to workers who have been furloughed, or sent home, after 90 days/13 weeks or otherwise recall them to work.

This provision is suspended until 30 days after the government’s COVID19 emergency powers orders — currently in effect until the end of October — cease.

COVID-19 blamed for lack of police complaints progress

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Police Complaints Inspectorate has been critically disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and has not completed its prioritised tasks, according to chairman Tanya McCartney.

The civilian organisation – an important police oversight body – is supposed to ensure investigations into police complaints are conducted properly.

The US State Department noted in its human rights report last year that

the body had not met as of September 2017.

The Minnis administration subsequently appointed five people, including Ms McCartney, retired assistant commissioner John Ferguson, Matthew Aubry, Allan Emmanuel, Franklyn Bethel and Hilbert Collie.

Ms McCartney said yesterday the members were reappointed when their 12-month tenure ended in July.

She said last year that the body would focus on “ensuring enhancement of existing processes for making complaints by informing the public of

the current procedures, reviewing and making recommendations to the minister where opportunities are identified for improved efficiency, benchmarking of our own complaints procedures against those of more developed countries and earnestly reviewing the handling of complaints which are pending today”.

She also said the body would review all active complaints lodged with the Complaints and Corruption Branch of the police force.

Yesterday, she said: “We began our review of existing or pending cases and of

COMMISSIONER Paul Rolle and officers at Sarah Ingraham Park distributing food items, school supplies, face masks and safety brochures.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

POLICE HAND OUT SUPPLIES TO HELP

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

COMMISSIONER of Police Paul Rolle and a team of officers gave out school supplies and face masks to Hospital Lane residents in the Bain Town community yesterday.

Many children and some adults waited in line and sanitised their hands to receive the goods. School supplies were given to young ones while the adults received bags with bottled water and drinks.

Commissioner Rolle estimated about 300 children

were assisted at the event.

“Some of our corporate sponsors who came forward saw what we were doing and offered us 840 cases of Vitamalt,” he explained.

“I got a 10,000 donation of face masks and everybody got a face mask here this morning and we want to continue to give those face masks and encourage persons to wear your mask (as) much as possible, practice social distancing, and let us protect one another.”

Police presented supplies, masks, and the beverages to Pastor Sharon Nairn of the New Unity Fellowship International Ministry.

“We take nothing for granted. Don’t care how small it is. It means nothing to me but to another child or another house it’s very important - especially the mask and the sanitising and all the other stuff that we need to help prevent the spread of the virus,” she said.

Unemployed mother Sakina Pratt, 42, was appreciative of the school supplies.

“I’m appreciative of what the government is doing – the commissioner is involved with what he did with the community today,” she said.

FAMILY QUESTIONS SISTER’S ‘DROWNING’ from page one

“When she went to identify (the body)... every tooth in Keva’s mouth, front teeth up, top, and bottom, was gone… You see her jaw was broken,” she said.

“I saw her that night (before she died),” she added. “Keva did not have a bruise on her face nor her neck, her hand, her skin.

Keva had all of her front teeth... no missing teeth.

“So that means she beat herself up, she took at all her teeth - that’s what you’re trying to tell me?”

When the body was taken out of the water, Ms Cash said the family saw that her face appeared beaten and bruised. However, she

claimed the officer could not give an answer to her when she brought this up.

“When I began to tell him exactly how they saw the body, he could not answer me, he gone speechless and I was like wow!” she recounted.

“He hung up and I called him and I messaged him and I said to him, ‘Can we do an autopsy ourselves?

Can you show me how to go about that?’ No answer.”

Keva was last seen around 7.30pm on Friday, September 18.

Her sister previously told The Tribune that Keva was expected at a relative’s birthday the next day, but never showed. Relatives were soon told her body had been found on the beach.

She suspects someone the family knows had something to do with her sister’s death although police never reported that anyone was in custody. She recounted a remark this man allegedly told her mother before Keva’s body was found.

She said: “That Saturday morning when my mother was coming to hike up to the party she went looking for her daughter. She asked the person, where is her daughter. He said in front of multiple people who were standing around the area ‘...by the beach, I put her to sleep for good’.”

When contacted for comment, an official from the Central Detective Unit told The Tribune Keva’s death has been ruled a drowning.

cases that were high profile and in the public domain to ensure they were resolved expeditiously. That was really beginning in earnest when we were interrupted.

“We were provided by police with the listing of all pending matters, what was live and current, but none of this information is digital and it requires a review of files and documents.

Because of the pandemic, we haven’t been able to do our deep dive into the files.

Hopefully we get some normalcy where we can resume our work.”

Attorney Elliot Lockhart previously served as head of the inspectorate.

US human rights reports have frequently highlighted either the body’s low output of work or the lack of information about its actions.

Since the Police Act 2009 established the body, little has been revealed about its work.

In 2018, the US State Department wrote that the Inspectorate had not met as of September 4, 2017.

In 2017, the US wrote it did not provide statistics in 2016 and in 2016 it wrote that it did not meet as of October 2015.

In 2015 and 2014, the US wrote that “no information was available on the outcome of PCIO

proceedings” for 2014 and 2013 and in 2013, the US wrote that “the government declined to provide more recent data” concerning the PCIO for 2012, adding: “The PCIO, which is composed of five citizens met eight times during 2011 to consider 60 complaints against officers, most of which involved assault and unlawful arrest cases. No information was available on the outcome of the PCIO proceedings.”

Critics have complained about the lack of transparency surrounding investigations into accusations of police misconduct.

PAGE 4, Friday, October 9, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

The Tribune Limited NULLIUS ADDICTUS JURARE IN VERBA MAGISTRI “Being Bound to Swear to The Dogmas of No Master”

LEON E. H. DUPUCH,

SIR ETIENNE DUPUCH,

jamaaltheartist@gmail.com

Publisher/Editor 1903-1914 Kt., O.B.E., K.M., K.C.S.G., (Hon.) LL.D., D.Litt .

Publisher/Editor 1919-1972 Contributing Editor 1972-1991

EILEEN DUPUCH CARRON,

C.M.G., M.S., B.A., LL.B. Publisher/Editor 1972-

Published daily Monday to Friday

Shirley & Deveaux Streets, Nassau, Bahamas N3207 TELEPHONES

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It’s not snitching, it’s saving lives YOU have a weapon against COVID-19.

Yes, you. And it’s a weapon you should not think twice about using.

The weapon is nothing more than your telephone – and you can use it to call the police when rule breakers hold social gatherings that they shouldn’t.

You might think this is snitching. It isn’t. It’s reporting a public health threat.

Think of it this way – if you looked out and saw a neighbour’s house burning, would it be snitching to call for a fire engine? Of course not. It would be a responsible action that could save lives.

Calling for help is the right thing to do when lives are at risk – and that’s exactly what gatherings are doing at this time, in the middle of a pandemic that has seen another 151 confirmed cases just yesterday in The Bahamas.

Ask yourself this as you sit inside your home this long lockdown weekend – do you still want to be sitting there at Christmas with this virus unchecked? As COVID-19 sweeps unchecked across The Bahamas, killing our people and our economy? Of course not.

Rules breakers should not be able to rely on neighbours not wanting to cause trouble while they go ahead and hold events that could become super spreaders, infecting more people and continuing this wave that we are struggling under.

The decent thing to do is to think of the partygoers’ parents, their grandparents, their relatives with vulnerable conditions – and call the hotline to bring the police, and to send people packing, hopefully before they have a chance to become infected.

The hotline number is 702-9967.

Remember it. Call it.

And if the police don’t come running?

Well, call us. We’ll be sure to cover it and hold police to account if they don’t deal with it.

How many more nights do you want to be cooped up at home? How many more weekends do you want to have to go through lockdowns? How many more weeks do you want to be worrying

over whether you have a job because the economy can’t get moving again because of this virus?

Those holding parties and gatherings right now are being selfish. They don’t care about you. So why should you cover for them?

You have a weapon. Use it.

Was Keva murdered?

We must be very careful that a case of a woman whose body was found washed ashore on a beach in Eleuthera last month is not dismissed too readily.

Family members are concerned following the death of Keva Cash, aged just 25, that it is being too quickly ruled to be nothing more than a drowning.

Police have reportedly told the family they have found no signs of foul play – and an official from the Central Detective Unit told The Tribune that the death has been ruled a drowning.

But wait a minute, that’s the job of a coroner to declare.

The family has legitimate concerns – Keva’s teeth were all knocked out and she had a broken jaw. She had bruising on her skin.

More than that, one man is alleged to have told Keva’s mother as she was looking for her that she was “by the beach, I put her to sleep for good”.

There are serious questions here and they should not be dismissed so readily.

We would hate to think too that because Keva was a woman with the mind of a child that her case was not being taken seriously because of that.

Those with disabilities already suffer enough setbacks in our society in life, that should not be the case in death too.

So we call on the coroner to conduct a proper investigation. If there is no foul play, let that stand up to the light of a proper probe – and let us not be haunted by the prospect of a potential murder being swept under the carpet by investigators who just can’t be bothered to find out the truth.

Virtue signalling EDITOR, The Tribune.

NOW that the understandable furore over the unlawful killing of George Floyd in the US has subsided, we should assess the lessons to be learnt from this distressing event. First and foremost, we have to identify the reason why Floyd’s death caused so much public anger. That is easy enough. It is because blacks have been discriminated against and ill treated for decades, particularly in the US. Then, we have to look at the way people chose to address these injustices. For want of a better phrase, they took to the streets to air their grievances.

In the cold light of day, we have to judge whether the social unrest we witnessed on our TV screens almost daily was the best way to solve the problem of racism in our society. To do this, we have to decide how successful the demonstrations and protest marches were. In doing so, we have to rationalise the action taken. We would then recognise that the toppling of statues and other criminal damage were a knee-jerk reaction, which have done some good in the short term by forcing the authorities to take immediate action.

In Bristol, the UK, for instance, buildings are no longer named after the slave trader Edward Colston. In the US, pop

groups and American football teams have changed their names out of respect for African Americans and Native Americans. While it is cruel to suggest that these actions were motivated by political correctness, they are only sticking plasters for the problem of racism overall. This is because racism is deep-rooted in our society and derive from our upbringing, among other things.

In all honesty, we cannot solve the problem. The only thing that we can really do is to try to change people’s attitudes on race.

To do this, we have to persuade people that racial discrimination is not viable in today’s world.

We have to lobby governments worldwide for a long time and encourage them to change unfair laws to show that racial discrimination will not be tolerated publicly. Further, we have to demonstrate to governments the wisdom of changing their practices to reflect the multi-cultural landscapes in which they operate.

In addition, we have to go out into the wider community and try to change people’s beliefs on the subject of race. Town Hall meetings and conferences would be useful places for broaching this subject. This is provided that enough security measures are put in place to guarantee the safety of the speakers and

audiences at these events.

Again, such action would have to be taken over many years.

In short, the problem of racial discrimination can only be tackled if we are prepared to devote the time and effort to do so. A three hour protest march alone just won’t cut it! We can only deal with this problem effectively through prolonged, reasoned dialogue with all sides of the debate.

Browbeating people into taking the view that racism is unacceptable, will be counter-productive.

It is also important to note that a distinction has to be drawn between racial discrimination on a public level and that on a private level. We have to acknowledge that national governments can only legislate against anything that amounts to public racial discrimination. They are, however, powerless to do anything about people’s private racial prejudice.

While a long-term reasoned approach may not cure society of racism, it will definitely be more effective than the emotive alternative on offer. Toppling statues and “taking a knee” are purely symbolic acts. They are fads and as everybody knows, fads come and go.

ROMER CHERUBIM United Kingdom October 7, 2020.

Repetition of failure EDITOR, The Tribune.

THERE is a name for those who do the same things repeatedly expecting a different result, but that name escapes me now.

In order to compensate for his obvious lack of problem solving skills, the competent authority reverted to his tried and true method of encouraging the mass gatherings he wants to avoid, while asphyxiating the already moribund local economy by ordering another lock down.

Never mind the insistence of PCR only testing or the gross failure of contact tracing, let’s just consider the process of decision making.

If one were to write a book on how to fail repeatedly at managing a pandemic, this country would be a perfect case study. In the chapter likely to be called “Common Sense Not Needed”, one would learn that they do not need to ask basic questions in order to address problems. One does not need to ask how and when the spread of the virus is most likely to take place and what should be done to address it, because if that question were asked we might find that several things contribute to the continued spread. In this vein, we must consider the roles of the lack of public education and the failure to

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net enforce existing mandates.

Many confuse education and information. When one cannot adapt and laterally apply information, it is unlikely education has taken place. The public education arm of the ministry of health has only been giving information, because if the average person really understood that this is mostly an airborne virus that can remain in an enclosed environment for up to three hours, they would wear masks properly, willingly engage in ventilation of enclosed shared spaces while wearing masks and practice social distancing.

In other words, police officers would not be driving around with windows up with two or more officers from different households in the same car, regardless of the use of masks.

Bus drivers would have open windows in their vehicles while ensuring that passengers are properly spaced and wearing masks.

Churches would understand that it may be better to meet outdoors while properly spaced than to close windows to worship indoors while running an air conditioner with people singing

and shouting. People who share enclosed work spaces would frequently open windows (if they have them at work) to ventilate the air, while also wearing masks.

Is it possible something so radically simple and inexpensive can help to reduce the spread of the virus without lock downs?

Now consider coconut vendors being hauled before the courts, while during the last lock down one restaurant was able to “Get Away” with remaining open and serving food to various patrons. Or consider a night club owner on East Bay Street receiving multiple visits from police officers regarding hundreds of persons, some unmasked, congregating at his property and then we realise that we have two standards of law enforcement! The inequitable application of the law may be a vector for the spread of COVID-19! When last, for instance, was the designated shopper mandate enforced at any store?

In my view, a little bit of consistency and common sense would go a long way in helping to curtail the spread of this virus, but by all indicators, both are lacking!

JB Nassau, October 8, 2020.

Americans won’t come EDITOR, The Tribune.

THE Bahamas will only go as far as Nassau goes.

A friend of mine told me that his South Androsian relative, in the bone fishing industry, complained about all of his scheduled American guests canceling their vacation at his lodge in Andros. Undoubtedly, this is due to the US State Department’s travel advisory to The Bahamas, which reads in part: “Do not travel to The Bahamas due to health and safety measures and COVID-19 related conditions.... The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a Level 3 Travel Health Notice for The Bahamas due to COVID-19.”

With the scheduled reopening of the tourism industry on October 15, I do not foresee tens of thousands of Americans breaking down the gates to

visit this country anytime soon.

Concerning the Androsian mentioned above, his American guests have erroneously conflated New Providence with Andros. When a potential tourist reads about the 3,545 confirmed COVID19 infections in New Providence, he would automatically assume that the entire Bahamas is in the throes of a pandemic. Consequently, he would then avoid The Bahamas like the plague.

No pun intended.

Unfortunately for Family Islanders, the entire Bahamas is tied to the hip of Nassau. Grand Bahama, with its 652 confirmed cases, has seen a steady decline, due to Grand Bahamians mostly complying with the rules given by Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis as competent authority.

On the other hand,

Nassau people have challenged and resisted Minnis every step of the way.

Hence, the skyrocketing COVID-19 infection rate with no relief in sight.

Despite the lock-downs and repeated curfews, you never see Grand Bahamians engaging in violent protests.

We are quite aware of the economic challenges facing Nassau. But bear in mind that Grand Bahama has been in a protracted recession since 2001. No one on New Providence can lecture Grand Bahamians about economic hardships. We have been there and we have done that.

Family Islanders are now going to stand on the side and watch the spectacle of Nassau people sinking the entire country along with them.

KEVIN EVANS Freeport, Grand Bahama.

October 8, 2020.

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, October 9, 2020, PAGE 7

Taskforce to assess seabed damage from cruise ships

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

COURT QUASHES MAN’S $7,000 THEFT CONVICTION

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

THE Court of Appeal recently quashed the conviction of a man who was accused of stealing over $7,000 from his employer.

This came after the appellant argued the guilty verdict imposed on him was based on speculation and inferences from conflicting theories which were not supported by the evidence brought before the court.

In late 2017, Elvardo Farrington was employed at Bahamian Brewery & Beverage Co. His role required him to maintain the cleanliness of the company’s store, keep the shelves stocked and help any customers in need of assistance. Just before closing on November 7, 2017, the store’s manager gave Farrington a deposit drop to place in the establishment’s safe. When the accounts were being reconciled the next day, a deposit drop in the amount of $7,650.15 was discovered missing. Farrington was subsequently arrested and charged with stealing by reason of employment.

During his trial, he was found guilty and ordered to repay $ 7,650.00 and perform 80 hours of community service on or before May 31, 2018. At the time, Farrington was told if he failed to comply he would be faced with a fine or a 12 month custodial sentence.

Farrington appealed his conviction after arguing the guilty verdict was unreasonable and could not be supported having regard to the evidence.

Last week, Justices Michael Barnett, Brian Moree and Milton Evans set aside the appellant’s conviction and sentence after concluding the prosecution did not prove that Farrington was guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt and suspicion”.

According to a judgment posted on the court’s website, after the appellant returned from placing the money in the safe that day, the store manager, Anell Walkes, asked him if he made the drop and locked the safe. In response, he told her: “Yes of course did you think I’m stupid.”

Dickenson Orville, a cashier with the company, also testified that he had

made several cash drops on November 7, 2017. Still, he said the following day he discovered the first deposit, which was about $4,390.00 cash and $3,560.00 in cheques, was missing.

During the trial, Mr Orville said he was “not present the following Monday when the safe was reopened”.

“The evidence of Clayton Russell was that he was aware that at about 6:15 pm on November 7,2017, the appellant was given a cash drop and deposit slip to put into the safe,” the court documents continued. “Mr Russell said he saw the appellant enter the customer service office and about 45 seconds to a minute later, he exited the office. He said that the appellant asked that he (Russell) confirm that he (the appellant) had locked the safe. They went into the office and confirmed that the safe was locked.

Mr Russell further testified that Mr Orville’s deposit was in the safe prior to the appellant asking him to go into the office with him to confirm he had locked the safe.”

A complaint was made to the Central Detective Unit on November 8, 2017. A week later, Farrington was interviewed by Sergeant 2461 Deveaux. During the interrogation, the appellant confirmed he was given a bag to place in the safe and also said he saw other bags in it while doing so. He denied removing any of the deposit bags. He also said he went to the freezer to get a shot after locking the safe because he did not want the boss to see the bottle.

During the interview, Farrington also denied stuffing the deposit bag under his shirt to steal it.

“The evidence of W/Sgt 2461 Deveaux was that she viewed the video recording (of the events). She testified that she observed Anell Walkes giving a deposit bag to the appellant who then called Mr Russell to where he was in the office,” the court documents read.

“Mr Russell exited the office leaving the appellant in the office. She said that when the appellant exited the office there was a noticeable bulge under his clothing which was not visible when he entered the office. Further, she saw

that the appellant walked to the area of the cooler and stayed there briefly then walked to the bathroom area and left the store along with other employees as the store closed for that day. She also stated that she observed Dickenson Orville taking a deposit bag into the office where the appellant was when he called Mr. Russell over to him.”

In his argument, Farrington’s counsel noted the fact that the store’s safe remained open until the end of business day and shift meant anyone had the opportunity to access the money inside. He further argued the “noticeable difference in the appellant’s clothing entering and exiting the office as a standalone circumstance would require a leap to find that the bulge was the missing cash drop.”

In his ruling, Justice Evans noted the case was based on circumstantial evidence. He also highlighted the fact that the prosecution was not able to produce any witness who actually saw Farrington remove the cash drop from the safe. He said the fact that the video recording did not show the appellant removing the drop from the safe caused him to doubt the safety of the verdict.

“In my view, the learned magistrate fell into error in failing to appreciate the significance of the prosecution not being able to show when the cash drop went missing,” he stated. “This was a coexisting circumstance which in my view weakened if not destroyed the inference of guilt which the prosecution sought to prove. The magistrate found that the appellant’s behavior was suspicious.

“However, the burden on the prosecution is always to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt and suspicion, even great suspicion will not suffice. In the circumstances, as I have found them, I am of the view that the conviction of the appellant is unsafe and is not consistent with the evidence. I would therefore quash the conviction and set aside the sentence imposed. I would not order a retrial as in my view there was insufficient evidence on which to base a conviction.”

A SPECIAL task force has been established to fully investigate the damage of seabed and marine life allegedly caused by cruise ships while sheltering in waters near Berry Islands, officials confirmed yesterday.

Speaking during the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources’ press conference yesterday, acting director of Marine Resources, Gregory Bethel said the group was approved by Cabinet members and is now awaiting directives from environment officials, who are heading the taskforce.

“I can say that Cabinet has approved the formation of a task force which my department, the Department of Marine Resources, is a part of. Second and apart from that, we (were a) party to the initial investigation of the damage that was alleged to have been done in the area,” he said.

“Our findings, preliminary findings found that yes, there is significant damage and so we await for the Ministry of Environment who is the lead agency in this matter to bring all the parties involved together.”

In a joint statement released last month, Agriculture Minister Michael Pintard and Environment Minister Romauld Ferreira said officials had received reports about possible damage to the country’s marine environment due to ships sheltering in the area.

This, the ministers added, prompted them to launch an investigation into the matter.

According to officials, an initial dive - while limited in scopeshowed significant damage to the fishing grounds allegedly caused by ship anchors.

They added that a team was being mobilised to provide a comprehensive assessment to determine the extent of the damage and quantify the value of the damage and the potential remediation costs.

“It is well established that while in Bahamian waters, sheltering ships must at all times anchor safely to protect life and the environment,” the statement continued.

“This requires, by international safe practice: sufficient depth of water to provide a generous margin for vessel safety; sufficient distance between each vessel’s anchorage to assure that the ships cannot interfere with each other; sufficient length of anchor chain along the sea bottom to assure a proper angle of holding force to keep the ship safely in place —this has some localised effect on the seabed, but is not permitted to impact essential marine resources; and sufficient distance from any designated essential marine resource.”

Local environmental watchdogs have since spoken out against the issue, saying they want the government’s investigation into the damage reportedly caused by cruise ships to be “quick” and “public”.

PAGE 8, Friday, October 9, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

Lockdown baby - but with nothing in our cupboards A Comic’s View

BY Wednesday past, owners having listened to the Prime Minister’s speech in the House of Assembly, Bahamians in New Providence and Abaco were singing that Solo tune made famous by talk show host Rodney

By INIGO ‘NAUGHTY’ ZENICAZELAYA Moncur: “Lockdown baby, lockdown baby.”

Maybe it wasn’t singing the reduction in food assis- Possibly. Is it an so much as crying while tance vouchers was placed effective long term scrambling to find money to (quite roughly) at the feet solution? No, it is head to a food store to join of Bahamians. Some people not. But like Snow lines longer than Rapun- have been abusing the pro- White reaching for zel’s hair. What’s that you gramme, they say. There a poisoned apple, our say? Rapunzel is a fairy was no mention of possi- Prime Minister seems tale? Well, so is believing ble mismanagement of the unable to resist a lowthat a $20 voucher - cour- programme that enabled hanging lockdown tesy of the so-called feeding the abuse that led to this fruit. network - can feed a person disgrace.

To listen to the Com(much less a family) for a Since we’re dealing in petent Authority tell week. fairy tales, the story, it would seem Yet, this is ‘The lockdown itself it’s like Bahamians are also to what Bahami- is still a subject of blaming blame for the explosion ans faced until Hansel in cases we have seen it turned out bitter debate in and Gretel since July 1st. In to be all a mis- this country. Will for being making his latest POLICE handing out take: twenty a hard lockdown hungry weekend lockvouchers lately - but measly dollars and saying down decree, there seems to be to spend in temporarily slow the they should an emphasis more blame to go the food store spread of COVID-19? be happy on Bahamians round than money for to prepare Possibly. Is it an to survive “partying” and food. for a threeon candy Air BnBs as day “hard effective long term because the causes of our are afraid lockdown”. that’s better predicament was solution? No, it is of the conEven after not. But like Snow than starv- implicit. sequences the mistake ing in the Yes, Bahamians need of another series was revealed, White reaching for woods. to do better in following $40 isn’t going a poisoned apple, Never safety protocols. And by of lockdowns. Hotels are to go much our Prime Minister mind that “Bahamians”, that includes uncertain when and how farther. they were the party-animal members they will resume busiwithout effective It’s deli- seems unable to in truth of parliament and govern- ness ciously dumb resist a low-hanging only fat- ment ministers who caught mass testing protocols and to believe tened (with COVID or had to go into affordable access to it. lockdown fruit.’

In case you were wonderthese meagre unhealthy quarantine. But in the PM’s ‘handouts’ food, I address, there was no apol- ing, the Ministry of Tourism serve any purpose other might add) to be supper ogy or acknowledgment is like Little Miss Muffet in than to frustrate the recipi- themselves later. And never for the policies or poorly this story, happily slopping ents. Worse still is watching mind that their parents, timed re-opening that led up a bowl of tourist sponPrime Minister Minnis who had the moral respon- us to this place. Jack had to sored curds and whey only regurgitate numbers like sibility to feed them, were fight off the Giant (named to abandon it at the appear“a million dollars a week” the ones who delivered COVID) because Jack ance of a spider. Never mind that other multi-billion of taxpayer money going them to a witch’s lair. planted the seeds. to this programme knowing The lockdown itself is still So into lockdown we dollar corporations moved even Goldilocks couldn’t a subject of bitter debate limp. We are Cinderella swiftly to protect their prodswallow those stats. in this country. Will a hard missing a shoe after the uct, we, instead, chose to sit on our tuffet.

In true Minnis Adminis- lockdown temporarily slow dance. tration fashion, the fault for the spread of COVID-19?

Take, for example, the Meanwhile, business THE TRIBUNE

asleep.

National Basketball Association, which successfully created a bubble around their money-makers.

What’s that, you ask? How can we bubble a country?

Well, God has blessed us with an archipelago. Right now, New Providence and Abaco are on the bench, but the other islands can be marketed – aggressively – as our bubbles.

None of this will matter unless we figure out mass testing. According to worldometers.info, we are currently 108 in the world in testing as a percentage of the population. When it comes to testing - and contact tracing for that matter - we are like Sleeping Beauty, who has stumbled onto a thimble and fallen

Ministry of Health “Live” Beta Test of A Super Rapid COVID-19 Concept @ Wild Thyme Restaurant, East Bay St

The Tribune Established 1903

Being Bound To Swear To The Dogmas Of No Master

So where do we go from here? Well, nowhere this weekend. But when we awaken from our slumber, we need to do better.

We need to do better with wearing masks and social distancing. We need to do better with tests. We need to make a plan and see it through without panicking and locking everything down. We need to do a better job at leadership because Bahamians are hungry, and need to eat.

Have you heard the story of Hansel and Gretel?

You’ll never believe what happened after they escaped starvation and certain death. They made their way back to their negligent parents’ home and then–

TUESDAY, MARCH 24TH, 2020, PAGE 15

THE TRIBUNE

TORY LANEZ

Rapper Tory Lanez charged with shooting Megan Thee Stallion LOS ANGELES Associated Press LOS Angeles prosecutors yesterday charged rapper Tory Lanez with shooting artist Megan Thee Stallion during an argument earlier this year.

Lanez is accused of shooting at Megan Thee Stallion’s feet, hitting her, after she left a SUV during a fight in the Hollywood Hills on July 12, according to a release.

He faces two felony charges — assault with a semiautomatic firearm and carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle. The complaint states Lanez “inflicted great bodily injury” on Megan Thee Stallion.

A message sent to Lanez’s representative was not immediately returned.

Lanez, a 27-year-old Canadian rapper and singer whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, is due to be arraigned on Tuesday in Los Angeles.

If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of roughly 23 years.

Lanez was arrested the night of the shooting but released after posting bail.

Prosecutors are recommending that his bail be set at $1.1m at his arraignment.

Megan Thee Stallion, whose real name is Megan Pete, is identified in the felony complaint only as Megan P. She had declined to name Lanez as the person who shot her in social media posts and videos on the subject for more than a month. But on Aug 20, she said in an Instagram video that “Yes ... Tory shot me,” and urged him to “stop lying” about the incident.

She’s discussed the shooting in several often emotional Instagram videos, calling it “super scary” and “the worst experience of my life”.

She declined to tell police that night that she had been shot, and initial reports were only that a woman had foot injuries consistent with broken glass. She has said that she was too frightened the situation would have escalated if she revealed to police that there had been gunfire.

Lanez has not spoken publicly about the incident.

Friday, October 9, 2020, PAGE 9

Next Trump-Biden debates uncertain, though Oct 22 is likely WASHINGTON Associated Press

T

HE campaign’s final debates between President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden were thrown into uncertainty yesterday as the rival camps offered dueling proposals for the remaining faceoffs that have been upended by the president’s coronavirus infection.

The chair of the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates told The Associated Press that the final debate, scheduled for Oct 22, was still slated to go on with both candidates present as planned. But next Thursday’s debate seemed to be gone, after the Trump team objected to the commission’s format change.

The whipsaw day began with an announcement from the commission that the town hall-style affair set for Oct 15 in Miami would be held virtually. The commission cited health concerns following Trump’s infection as the reason for the change.

Trump, who is eager to return to the campaign trail despite uncertainty about his health, said he wouldn’t participate if the debate wasn’t in person. Biden’s campaign then suggested the event be delayed a week until Oct 22, which is when the third and final debate was already scheduled.

Next, Trump countered again, agreeing to a debate on Oct 22 — but only if face to face — and asking that a third contest be added on Oct 29, just before the election. But Biden’s advisers rejected squaring off that late in the campaign.

After the release late yesterday of a letter from Trump doctor Navy Cmdr Sean Conley that the president had “completed his course of therapy” and could resume campaigning this weekend, the Trump campaign called on the commission to hold next week’s debate in person as originally scheduled.

“There is therefore no medical reason why the Commission on Presidential Debates should shift the debate to a virtual setting, postpone it, or otherwise alter it in any way,” said Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien.

But commission chair

DEMOCRATIC presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden and vice presidential candidate Sen Kamala Harris, D-Calif, walk together to speak to the media at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, in Phoenix yesterday.

Photo: Carolyn Kaster/AP Frank Fahrenkopf said late yesterday that the decision to hold the debate virtually, guided by its medical advisers at the Cleveland Clinic, was not going to be reversed.

The commission said it made the announcement in order to “protect the health and safety of all involved”, including the everyday citizens invited to ask questions of the candidates.

The debate commission, which has the unenviable task of finding common ground between the competing campaigns, already came under scrutiny after the first debate between Trump and Biden deteriorated, with the president frequently interrupting his opponent and the moderator unable to take control.

The Oct 22 debate in Nashville, Tennessee, is scheduled to feature a format similar to the first.

Biden’s campaign has suggested that it be modified to the “town meeting” format, though the Trump campaign has not weighed in.

Founded after the 1984 presidential election, the commission has organised every general election debate since 1988 — and typically selects the dates, moderators, formats and locations without input from the candidates.

Biden moved quickly to make sure he would still appear in front of a television audience next week.

Instead of debating Trump yesterday, he will take part in a town hall sponsored

by ABC News. As he campaigned in Arizona, Biden said he would indeed attend the Oct 22 debate.

“We agreed to three debates back in the summer,” Biden said. “I’m showing up. I’ll be there.

And if, in fact, he shows up, fine. If he doesn’t, fine.”

For Trump, who is recovering from COVID-19 at the White House after spending three days in the hospital, the health-induced changes are an unwelcome disruption to his effort to shift focus away from a virus that has killed more than 210,000 Americans this year.

In an interview with Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo shortly after the commission’s announcement, Trump insisted he was in “great shape” and called the idea of a virtual debate a “joke”.

“I’m not going to do a virtual debate,” he declared.

Stepien said Trump would stage a rally rather than debate next yesterday, though it’s not yet clear if he will be well enough to do that.

With less than four weeks until Election Day and with millions of voters casting early ballots, pressure is building on Trump to turn around a campaign that is trailing Biden in polls nationally and in most battlegrounds, where the margin is narrower. A debate before an audience of tens of millions of television viewers could provide that reset.

But another debate could

also expose Trump to political risks. GOP strategists say the party’s support began eroding after his seething performance against Biden last week when he didn’t clearly denounce a white supremacist group.

Trump’s apparent unwillingness to change his style to win back voters he needs — particularly women — was on display again yesterday during his Fox Business interview when he referred to Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris as a “monster”.

Campaigning with Harris in Arizona, Biden called Trump’s characterisation of the first Black woman on a major party’s presidential ticket “despicable” and added that it was “so beneath the office of the presidency”.

This would not be the first time Trump has skipped a debate. During the 2016 Republican primary, he boycotted the last debate before Iowa’s first-in-the nation caucuses, holding a fundraiser for veterans instead — a move he later speculated may have contributed to his loss in the state.

Trump fell ill with the virus on Oct 1, just 48 hours after sharing a stage with Biden in person during the first presidential debate in Cleveland.

While the two candidates remained a dozen feet apart, Trump’s infection sparked health concerns for Biden and sent him to undergo multiple COVID-19 tests before returning to the campaign trail.

US HITS ALL OF IRAN’S FINANCIAL SECTOR WITH SANCTIONS WASHINGTON Associated Press THE Trump administration has blacklisted virtually all of Iran’s financial sector, dealing another blow to an economy that is already reeling under US sanctions.

The move will deepen tensions with European nations and others over Iran.

Yesterday’s move hits 18 Iranian banks that had thus far escaped the bulk of re-imposed US sanctions and, more importantly, subjects foreign, non-Iranian financial institutions to penalties for doing business with them. Thus, it effectively cuts them off from the international financial system.

“Today’s action to identify the financial sector and sanction eighteen major Iranian banks reflects our commitment to stop illicit access to US dollars,” said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. “Our sanctions programs will continue until Iran stops its support of terrorist activities and ends its nuclear programmes. Today’s actions will continue to allow for humanitarian transactions to support the Iranian people.”

The action targets 16 Iranian banks for their role in the country’s financial sector, one bank for being owned or controlled by a another sanctioned Iranian bank and one militaryaffiliated bank, Treasury said in a statement. Some of them had been covered by previous designations but yesterday’s move places them all under the same authority covering Iran’s entire financial sector.

The targeted banks are the Amin Investment Bank, Bank Keshavarzi Iran, Bank Maskan, Bank Refah Kargaran, Bank-e Shahr, Eghtesad Novin Bank, Gharzolhasaneh Resalat Bank, Hekmat Iranian Bank, Iran Zamin Bank, Karafarin Bank, Khavarmianeh Bank, Mehr Iran Credit Union Bank, Pasargad Bank, Saman Bank, Sarmayeh Bank, Tosee Taavon Bank, Tourism Bank and Islamic Regional Cooperation Bank.

Foreign companies that do business with those banks were given 45 days to wind down their operations before facing so-called “secondary sanctions”.

US layoffs still high, but so is skepticism on jobless data WASHINGTON Associated Press THE number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits dipped last week to a still-high 840,000, evidence that layoffs remain elevated seven months into the pandemic recession.

Yet economists say they are increasingly dubious about the unemployment claims figures, even though there is little doubt that hiring has slowed and employers have continued to lay off workers.

One reason layoffs remain high is that companies often hold on to workers when a recession begins, if they can, in hopes of outlasting the downturn. Yet if the recession drags on, many will eventually give up and cut jobs.

“Some of these new layoffs are coming from firms that didn’t want or didn’t have to lay people off at first,” said Constance Hunter, chief economist at KPMG. Now, “they have no choice but to start reducing their workforce.”

Consider Luke McCann.

He had hoped through September that business would finally pick up at his online

marketing company, CollectionAgencyMatch.com, based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

It didn’t. So McCann was forced to lay off seven of the 15 staffers at his company, which helps businesses find collection agencies.

His revenue had shrunk as small businesses either closed down or decided not to pursue customers who hadn’t paid their bills, McCann said.

A loan from the government’s Paycheck Protection Program had helped McCann stave off cutting workers. But “without more (government help) on the way and demand not picking up, we had to lay off employees to help save expenses to stay in business”.

At face value, the Labor Department’s report Thursday indicated that more than 800,000 people are still being laid off each week, a historically huge number — more than in any week during the 2008-2009 Great Recession. Weekly applications for unemployment benefits have long been considered a proxy for job cuts.

But the flood of layoffs during the pandemic

recession and the creation of some new jobless-aid programs have overwhelmed state unemployment agencies. A result is that the jobless claims figures the government has been reporting have become an object of skepticism.

“We can’t view it as realtime job separation data,” said Elizabeth Pancotti, a policy adviser at Employ America, a left-leaning advocacy group, referring to layoffs. “We’re still seeing massive overcounting of initial claims.”

Some states are still processing backlogged applications from this summer, Pancotti noted.

California, for example, stopped accepting new claims for two weeks so it could clear a backlog of 600,000 applications that are more than three weeks old.

In many states, the data for initial jobless claims also includes workers who had been laid off previously, then found temporary work or were recalled temporarily — only to lose their jobs again and reapply for unemployment benefits.

These repeat applicants account for roughly half of jobless claims in California,

according to the California Policy Lab. Till von Wachter, an economist at UCLA and director of the Policy Lab, said that initial applications can also include workers who have used up their 26 weeks of state unemployment and are transitioning to an extended benefits programme that provides three additional months of payments.

And this spring, Congress created a new programme, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, or PUA, that made self-employed and gig workers eligible for unemployment aid for the first time. Yet in many states, to qualify for the PUA program, the unemployed must first apply for regular jobless benefits. Only after they have been rejected under that system can they apply for PUA. Last week, more than 464,000 people applied for aid through PUA. These figures aren’t adjusted for seasonal trends, so the government reports them separately from the traditional jobless claims. Yet the figure may include some people who applied under the traditional benefits programme.

Organised fraud has also been a problem, particularly in the PUA programme, in which it’s difficult for states to verify applicants’ incomes. Contractors and gig workers, for example, rarely have W-2 tax forms, which employees in traditional jobs receive.

Yesterday’s report from the Labour Department said the number of people who are continuing to receive unemployment benefits dropped one million to 11 million. The decline suggests that many of the unemployed are finding work. But it also reflects the fact that some have used up the 26 weeks of their regular state benefits and have transitioned to extended benefit programs.

About two million people are receiving aid under a federal extended benefit program created this spring, and an additional 11.4 million people are doing so through PUA. All told, 25.5 million people were receiving some form of unemployment aid in the week that ended Sept. 19, the government said.

Yet those figures are also likely inflated, mostly by double-counting.

California and other states have counted retroactive payments under PUA as multiple payments to separate individuals.

“Nobody knows exactly how many people are receiving unemployment insurance benefits right now,” said Heidi Shierholz, policy director at the Economic Policy Institute and former chief economist at the Labour Department.

That is a “reminder that we need to invest heavily in our data infrastructure and technology”.

The figures nevertheless point to a flagging recovery and come two days after President Donald Trump cut off talks over a new rescue aid package that economists say is urgently needed.

A failure to enact another round of government aid would crimp household income and spending, and some economists say it would raise the risk of a double-dip recession.

In the meantime, the pace of layoffs shows little sign of flagging. Disney said last week that it would cut 28,000 jobs. And American Airlines and United Airlines combined furloughed 32,000 employees last week.

SPORTS SECTION E

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2020

Rutherford ready, set...

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net AFTER graduating from Providence Academy as a two-sport star in track and field and basketball, Peter ‘JP’ Rutherford Jr, pictured, is now making his transition at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas where his concentration will be solely on track as a sprinter.

The 18-year-old son of Peter Chavez Rutherford as been at the division II school where he intent to pursue a degree in criminal justice since August, but he admitted that he’s trying to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, which has affected his room-mate.

“My room-mate has contracted the virus, but it’s not that bad. I’m okay. I don’t have any symptoms, so I feel fine,” Rutherford Jr said.

“I have taken the necessary precautions to take care of myself. I’ve doubled up on my vitamins and drink plenty fluids.”

At Harding University, Rutherford Jr said the Bison track team have already started practicing for the 2021 season and he’s making the adjustment from high school to college in his freshman year.

SEE PAGE 11

Chisholm can’t stop Marlins exit

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net JAZZ Chisholm made his Major League Baseball postseason debut in what turned out to be the final game of the season for his Miami Marlins as they were eliminated from the playoffs.

Chisholm started at second base and hit sixth in the lineup of the Marlins’ 7-0 loss to the Atlanta Braves yesterday in game three of the National League Division Series at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas.

He became just the second Bahamian born player to play in the MLB postseason following Ed Armbrister’s run with the Cincinnati Reds in the 1970s.

Chisholm finished 1-3 with a walk, but the entire Marlins lineup struggled offensively with just five hits on the afternoon.

His first postseason hit of his career came in the bottom of the ninth inning, a double to left centre off the Braves’ Shane Greene.

Chisholm’s double hit off the top of the wal, inches away from what would have been a solo home run. The Marlins challenged, but the call on the field was upheld by the umpire.

He walked in his first plate appearance and eventually advanced to third after a hit and run from Miguel Rojas and a groundout from Magneuris Sierra.

Chad Wallach struck out to leave Chisholm stranded at third to end the second inning.

The Braves erupted for four runs in the third inning to take control for good and the Marlins failed to capitalise on several scoring opportunities.

Chisholm’s second plate appearance came in the home half of the third inning with the bases loaded, but the Marlins again left runners stranded with an opportunity to score. With two on and no out, Jesus Aguilar and Brian Anderson both struck out before Garrett Cooper

walked to load the bases.

Chisholm’s hit traveled 105.5 mph, the hardest of any hit on the afternoon and the second hardest hit ball of his young MLB career, but Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies was in a position to field it and close out the inning unscathed.

The Braves would go on to score one run in the fourth and two runs in the fifth for the game’s final margin.

Chisholm was moved into the starting lineup and Jon Berti, who had started at second in each of the four previous postseason games, moved to right field.

Marlins manager Don Mattingly told MLB.com that he had confidence in Chisolm to have an impact and expressed excitement at his future impact with the club.

“Jazz is a different little dude, just his way of thinking, but I think he’s going to be really good. I think he’s going to have to make sure he continues to mature in his work, especially at the plate [and in] his discipline and work more than anything else,” Mattingly said.

“He sees the ball really well.

He sees it early, which is a trait of guys that really end up really hitting that are able to [see] balls so quickly and recognise. So his energy’s been great, he works extremely hard. We just got to make sure it works consistently, works smart.”

Chisholm has traditionally played shortstop but has played predominantly at second for the Marlins since his callup.

“Usually, those guys in the middle can play just about anywhere. Jazz has come up as a shortstop.

I’m sure he’s played some second at some point somewhere in his life. You play baseball, you play all over.

Guys like him, they’re so athletic, quick … second base is probably even easier for him,” Mattingly said, “The reasons, probably, he’s at short mostly coming up is he’s got a cannon, he’s got an arm that plays at short and obviously that bat. That power potential there is a

guy that you expect to play short. It’s a game-changer in that respect.”

Chisholm made Bahamian baseball history with several milestones this season. The Marlins’ No. 4 prospect and No. 61 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 list, was expected to start the season with the Marlins’ AAA affiliate, the Wichita Wind Surge of the Pacific Coast League.

The COVID-19 pandemic canceled Minor League Baseball in 2020 and shortened the Major Leagues to a shortened 60-game season. The Marlins were one of the teams hit by the pandemic early in the season and had the highest roster turnover of any team in the league.

The 22-year-old Chisholm made his historic debut on September 1 against the Toronto Blue Jays at Marlins Stadium.

He entered the game as a defensive substitute in the top of the eighth inning for Rojas and officially became just the seventh Bahamian to play in the major leagues.

On the very first pitch he saw defensively, Cavan Biggio hit a line drive shot directly to Chisolm who fielded it for his first MLB out. He discussed the thrill of the callup with reporters following his debut.

“Everyone was telling me they were so proud of me and that I’m an inspiration to them and some of them were the guys that I was looking up to when I was younger so it touches me that I can touch anyone’s heart in the Bahamas. We know how the struggle has been back home for the past year with COVID-19 and I got called up to play on September first which makes a year since Hurricane Dorian passed, so all of that made it a special time for me,” he said, “Having my debut in Miami the closest place to home when I can’t be home, I’m always at a loss for words when I think of it. Getting called up to a playoff potential team, and I believe we’re going to make the playoffs, it’s just amazing.

I think the whole Bahamas are Marlins fans now.”

In 21 games this season he hit .161 with a .563 OPS a .242 OBP, nine hits, two home runs, nine runs, six RBI and two stolen bases.

He recorded the first hit of his MLB career on September 5 with a single against the Tampa Bay Rays and scored the first run of his career the following day against the Braves on September 6.

Chisholm’s breakthrough at the plate came on September 9 against the Braves when he recorded his first major league home run, RBI, triple and multihit game.

He became the third youngest Marlins player to have a game with a home run and a triple. The only players to do it at a younger age were Giancarlo Stanton and Jeremy Hermida.

Chisholm had his best game of the year in the regular season finale when he blasted his second home run of the season and finished 2-4 with three RBI and scored two runs.

The Marlins were one of the most improbable stories in the MLB this season.

They were the worst team in the National League a season ago at 57-105 and returned in 2020 to finish 31-29 for their first winning season since 2009 and earn their first playoff berth since 2003.

Adversity hit the club early in the year when they were hampered by a COVID-19 breakout which forced a constant roster turnover throughout the season. Eighteen players tested positive for COVID19 and the Marlins had more transactions than any other team in an effort to fill roster spots. Their 16 season playoff drought was the second-longest active streak in the majors.

Once they reached the postseason, the No.6 seeded Marlins advanced to the NLDS with a two game sweep of the No.3 Chicago Cubs in the Wild Card round on the road at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois.

TRIBUTES ARE PAID TO COACH McPHEE

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net GEORGE McPhee, a former veteran player, who went on to coach a number of the rising young players in the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association, passed away at his home on Wednesday morning two days before his 69th birthday today.

Remembered as a humble man, who could always be seen wearing his signature white tennis outfit, McPhee is survived by his wife Wanda McPhee, son Navarro McKenzie and a host of relatives and friends.

His wife, recalled that after enjoying 24 years of martial bliss, the only thing her husband didn’t have was wings.

“He was an angel,” said McPhee, who was looking forward to their 25th anniversary on December 30. “That man treated me like a queen.

I never one day had an unhappy day in my life with him. We were just two happy people.

“Even thought I am grieving, I had so many memories to make me smile, to make me feel warm inside because of him. I will have those memories for the rest of my life. Some people have 50 years of misery, I had 24 almost 25 years of bliss. That’s what I had. So when I say the only thing he didn’t have was wings, I meant that.”

McPhee got involved in tennis at the age of 17 and went on to the Britannia Hotel courts where he eventually got his professional teaching certificate from Dennis Van Der Meer, the founder of the Professional Tennis Registry and the Van Der Meer Tennis University.

John Farrington, who also earned his certification from Van Der Meer, said he remembered McPhee, also known as ‘Tight’ because he also had his shirt tucked in his pant and was neatly dressed.

GEORGE McPHEE “I know George from his was at Britannia and then he took over as the head pro at Sandals,” Farrington recalled. “He also had a mustang like my first black mustang.

He made sure he kept that clean.

“He was a good guy.

He never really played any tournaments. He hit the ball very good, but he was around with players like Leo Rolle and Bob Isaacs at Britannia Towers before they changed everything. He did a lot of teaching.”

Highly acclaimed rising young female tennis player Sydney Clarke was one of those players who benefitted from McPhee’s coaching expertise at the Tom ‘the Bird’ Grant Park since she was four years old.

In an emotional interview from Huntsville, Alabama, where the 18-year-old is now enrolled in her freshman year at the University of Alabama at Arlington (UAB), Clarke said McPhee taught her everything she learnt about the basic fundamentals of the game.

“He was the best coach I ever had,” said Clarke, who stayed with McPhee until she was eight years old, but they kept their relationship tight knitted no other who coached her afterwards when she attended CR Walker and then Windsor High School where she became apart of the Albany Tennis Academy before graduating this year.

“At first, I wasn’t always the best student.

Sometimes I wouldn’t SEE PAGE 11

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, October 9, 2020, PAGE 11

RUTHERFORD READY, SET... from page ten

“I’m looking forward to improving my times,” he stressed.

“Hopefully I can get into the weigh room and work on developing my strength.”

Although he’s had a fantastic performance as a member of the Patriot men’s basketball team at Providence Academy, the 6ft, 3in Rutherford Jr said he decided to focus his attention on track because he feel he have the best opportunity to succeed in the future.

“I just want to be able to compete as well as I could for the school, just as I did for Providence,” said Rutherford Jr of his expectations at Harding. “I prefer to compete in track and I know I have a chance to do very well in the sport.”

In Searcy, according to Rutherford Jr, everyone is taking the virus seriously and are doing all they can to ensure that they stay safe.

“Everywhere we go, people are wearing masts and abiding by the rules, so that is good,” Rutherford Jr summed up. “At school, we are also taking the

necessary precautions.

It was a bit of surprise when my room-mate got the virus, but we are dealing with it.

“I just thank God that I don’t have any symptoms and I am doing okay right now.”

As a forward, Rutherford Jr led the Patriots basketball team with an average of eight points, seven rebounds, four steals and two blocked shots. Two years ago as a sprinter on their track team, JP ran his lifetime achievement of 11.00 seconds in the 100 meters and 23.1 in the 200m.

In December, he was sidelined with a gradeA right hamstring injury in December and had worked his way back into form and was preparing to compete outdoors this year before all sporting activities was suspended because of COVID-19.

That hampered Rutherford Jr in his quest to secure an athletic scholarship to a more prestigious division one college. But Rutherford Jr said he’s quite contended where he’s at and looking forward to making his presence felt next year at Harding University.

Tributes are paid to coach McPhee from page ten

want to play or I had an attitude and he sent me home and told me to come back another day when I am ready to play. Despite all of that, he still believed in me and he pushed me and he eventually told my mommy to start bringing me every day until I was able to master my backhand and forehand.

“His training has helped me to improve as a player ever since because he was able to give me the basic fundamentals, a good foundation.”

Like Farrington, Clarke said if there was another that stood out in her mind about McPhee was his professionalism in his attire that he brought to the court.

“I always admired how neat I saw him. He would always have his pants ironed and his shirt tucked in. He always looked like a professional,” she noted. “He would always critique my game.

Sometimes I would hate it, but it was good for me.

“He would always pushed me and never let me settled for mediocre. He always knew that I could do better and be better.

He was always looking to find ways to make me better. Even when I wasn’t his coach, he would come to my games and watch me play. He was always happy for my accomplishments on and off the court.”

GEORGE McPhee with legendary Dennis Van Meer.

Immediate past president of the BLTA, Darnette Weir, said when she got the news of his death, she had to reconfirm with someone else in the BLTA who knew him and his family more personally.

“I met coach McPhee some 13 years ago, but forged a closer relationship with him since becoming mainstream tennis some six and one half years ago,” she stated.

“Besides his warm smile and signature shorts he wore whenever he was on the courts, I remember his unwavering support of BLTA tournaments.

“I would look around in the crowd and could always count on him being there spectating and cheering on his favorite players or his students/former students in his own quiet way. Whether it was the Junior Nationals, ITF Junior Tournaments, Senior Nationals or Open Nationals, coach George

would make his way to the National Tennis Center some how.”

Newly elected BLTA president Perry Newton said McPhee’s passing was definitely a sad loss to the tennis community and he will be missed.

“George was a very humble man. He was very dedicated. From the time I knew him over the past several years, he was always interested in coaching juniors and those who had an interest in learning tennis,” said Newton, of McPhee, who was stationed at the tennis courts at the Tom ‘the Bird’ Grant Community Park on the Tonique Williams Darling Highway.

“He was always willing to assist the association in any way he could. He was willing to come out to our tournaments and be a stringer or help to encourage the players in any way he could. I guess the best way for me to describe him would be his dedication to the sport and helping plyers to reach their full potential in the sport.”

Fellow coach Steve Taylor said over the years, he got to watch and emulate how McPhee conducted himself on and off the court, both as a player and a coach.

“He was always willing to teach tennis to the youngsters in any area wherever he could get on a tennis court,”

Taylor said. “He wasn’t limited to just being at the National Tennis Center. I saw him over the summer teaching in Fox Hill.

“He was very dedicated.

He was very serious. He always said he was on a strict diet. He didn’t eat any bad food. He was a very nutritious guy. He didn’t drink any alcoholic or smoke. He was really keen on coaching the young players.”

Weir said she often encouraged McPhee to come over to the NTC to coach, but he insisted that he preferred to remain at the Tom ‘the Bird’ Grant facilities, which was a staple for him.

“He was fierce as a coach on the court with his students, but off the court, he did not like confrontation,” Weir stressed. “He had as quiet nature and always stayed in his own lane. He knew when to speak and when not to speak.”

Weir said McPhee was loved, well respected and a proud coach to his former students like Philip Major Jr, Iesha Shepherd and Sydney Clarke. Before he got into coaching, Weir said McPhee was a competitive and talented tennis player.

She said he made his invaluable contributions to the growth and development of the sport of tennis in the Bahamas.

May his soul rest in peace.

COLEBY MAKING WAVES IN TURKISH LEAGUE

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net DWIGHT Coleby has been posting major numbers in the Turkey Federation Cup to set the stage for what is expected to be a productive season in his second stint in the Turkey Basketball League.

Coleby has averaged 15 points and 8.3 rebounds per game as Merkezefendi Belediyesi Denizli completed Group D atop their division. They will advance to

DWIGHT COLEBY face his former club, Sigortam.net, in the semifinal.

In yesterday’s

quarterfinal, Coleby finished with 10 points and seven rebounds to help Merkezefendi to an 88-81 win over Manisa Metropolitan.

He opened the tournament with 17 points and 10 rebounds in his team’s 86-74 win over Akhisar Belediye. In game two he followed with 15 points and six rebounds in a 71-58 loss to Balikesir and posted 18 points and 10 rebounds in an 85-75 win over Mamak.

The TBL is the second

tiered league in the country. The league features 16 teams and the first place finisher is promoted to the top tier Turkish Basketball Super League. Teams ranked 2nd place to 9th place, compete in playoff format and the winner of the playoff also promotes.

The last two teams are relegated to the third tier Turkish Basketball Second League.

In his first stint in Turkey in 2018, Coleby averaged 11.5 points and a team

leading 8.5 rebounds for Sigortam.net ITU in the BSL League.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Coleby spent approximately a month of the previous season in Italy’s Lega Basket Serie A with perennial league contender Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari.

His last game with the club was on March 10, when he scored 11 points in a loss to San Pablo Inmobiliaria Miraflores Burgos in the quarterfinals of the

Champions League. After he signed with the reigning European Cup Champions in February. He appeared in just three regular season games and five Champions League games where he averaged 4.8 points and 4.2 rebounds per game.

Coleby spent a portion of the 2019-20 season alongside his brother Kadeem Coleby with the Akita Northern Happinets in the Japanese B-League following a short stint in Belgium with Liege Basket

PAGE 12, Friday, October 9, 2020

ALL QUIET ABOUT THE COWBOYS THE

PRESS BOX ZELAYA

BY INIGO ‘NAUGHTY’ ZENICA

MUM’S the word on my Cowboys, we are in a bad state right now. In fact if the Cowboys were a horse they would have to be put down humanely, to put their fans out of their suffering. Now back to mum’s the word!

On another note all four of my fantasy football teams are doing well and in great position in their respective leagues.

5 MUST DROPS Speaking of fantasy football, here are five players you MUST DROP in your league, if you still want to be competitive moving forward.

Jordan Howard, RB – Dolphins Matt Breida was on this list last week and his neighbor in the running-back room joins him in Week 5.

Myles Gaskin is the clear starter in that backfield and Jordan Howard seems to be losing his role as the goal-line guy with each passing week.

He’s gone from eight to five to three to two carries over the course of four weeks and is averaging just 4.9 half-PPR points per game, posting just .4 last week.

Chris Thompson, RB – Jaguars The blueprint for Chris Thompson to succeed this season as the passing-down back in Jacksonville was there, but through four weeks they don’t seem to want to use him enough to be fantasy relevant. The eight-year veteran saw zero touches in Week 4, and only has 14 total so far in 2020.

If you’re in a PPR league and desire some pass-catching back goodness, you may want to let Thompson go and grab someone like Chase Edmonds or Nyheim Hines.

Jack Doyle, TE – Colts The tight end landscape is a scary place after the top few tiers, but Jack Doyle is not the guy in 2020.

There was supposed to be magic with him and QB Philip Rivers but he’s being outplayed by Mo Alie-Cox. Even the often injured Trey Burton out-produced him this past week. Doyle is still on 11% of rosters as we head into Week 5, which speaks volumes. There are plenty of other tight ends with greater opportunities in their respective offenses like Dalton Schultz, Robert Tonyan and Logan Thomas.

JK Dobbins, RB – Ravens Many of you drafted JK Dobbins as a “super sleeper” who is averaging a meager 3.75 rushes and 1.75 targets per game. He sits eighth in the Ravens offense in PPR points per touch. It’s time to jettison the rookie until next season when he will take over the lead back role as Mark Ingram heads into free agency.

Giovani Bernard, RB – Bengals If you acquired Giovani Bernard off the waiver wire when reports of starting RB Joe Mixon chest injury surfaced over the weekend, it time to send him back into wire. Mixon appears to be healthy and now Bernard’s fantasy value isn’t worthy of a spot on a 10- or 12-team squad.

BACK IN THE HIGH LIFE As we prepare to head into the lockdown again hopefully tonight will provide a silver lining for loyal Laker fans through out the Bahamas as our beloved Lakers capture their 17th NBA title tying the Boston Celtics fir must all time.

That will carry me through the weekend no matter what my bi polar Cowboys do!

We can about who should have won the MVP AD or LeBron next week!

THE TRIBUNE

CORREA POWERS ASTROS PAST ATHLETICS 11-6 TO CLINCH ALDS

By BETH HARRIS AP Sports Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Carlos Correa hit a goahead, three-run homer after Michael Brantley’s two-run shot in the fourth inning, helping the Houston Astros beat the Oakland Athletics 11-6 on Thursday to clinch their home-run heavy AL Division Series in four games.

Correa drove in five as the Astros — October villains to many a year after their sign-stealing scandal was exposed — advanced to the AL Championship Series for the fourth consecutive season.

It will be their first ALCS under Dusty Baker, their 71-year-old manager. Baker earned his first closeout win since the 2003 NL Division Series and improved to 4-13 in closeouts.

“It’s been a long, tough road, but we’re halfway there,” Baker said. “I’m thankful and happy, but I still got some happiness left to give.”

Houston will play either the New York Yankees or Tampa Bay Rays in the best-of-seven ALCS in San Diego. The Rays lead their ALDS 2-1.

The Astros and A’s combined for 24 homers — 12 each — the most in a postseason series of five games or fewer.

Houston clinched at Dodger Stadium, where it won the 2017 World Series in seven games.

The Astros’ sign-stealing scheme used during their title run was revealed last year by former teammate and current A’s pitcher Mike Fiers, who didn’t pitch in this series.

The scandal led to season-long suspensions of Houston general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch, who both were fired. Boston manager Alex Cora and Mets manager Carlos Beltrán also lost their jobs as fallout their roles with the ‘17 Astros, and Houston still draws ire of other players and fans.

Correa said outside opinions did nothing to motivate the team.

“We’re motivated because we want to win and we want to bring another championship to the city of Houston,” he said. “We know what it feels like and

kept him from starting Game 3, allowed four runs and five hits in 4 2/3 innings.

He struck out four and walked one.

• TRAINER’S ROOM Athletics: Melvin said he developed a foot issue during batting practice and didn’t make the pitching changes because “I didn’t want to limp out there and limp back and take a bunch of time.”

GREAT CATCH With Oakland trailing 3-0, Josh Reddick robbed Matt Olson with a spectacular catch in right. Reddick reached over the low wall to snag the ball and fell on his backside, holding up his glove. The Astros bullpen had a front-row seat to the catch and cheered; Greinke let out a visible sigh of relief on the mound.

HOUSTON Astros’ Michael Brantley (23) celebrates with Carlos Correa after hitting a solo home run against the Oakland Athletics during the fifth inning of Game 4 of a baseball American League Division Series in Los Angeles, Thursday. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis) we want to have that feeling again.”

Houston’s star-loaded lineup did little during the regular season to quiet criticism that the club could only hit when it was stealing signs. The Astros ranked 20th in the majors with a .240 average and 14th with 279 runs.

Batting The slump continued through the wild-card round before Houston turned Dodger Stadium into a launching pad against Oakland. The team batted .322 in the ALDS, with Correa, Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker each batting over .400, and George Springer at .389.

“We never gave up because we had a down year offensively,” Correa said. “We kept going to the cage. That helped us in this series.”

Much of that damage came against Oakland’s vaunted bullpen. A’s relievers combined for a 6.27 ERA in the series, including six earned runs Thursday.

Facing elimination for the fourth time this postseason, Oakland’s Ramón Laureano hit a pair of homers, including a threerun shot in the second that

gave the West champion A’s the early lead for the fourth straight game.

Houston starter Zack Greinke held up two fingers facing Laureano and catcher Martín Maldonado before Laureano homered 440 feet to left for a 3-0 lead.

It might have appeared that Greinke was signaling his pitch, although he has at times used a hand signal to switch sign sets mid-inning.

“I just switched the pitch so I don’t waste time shaking off,” Greinke said. “Just a way to save some time.”

It was the first postseason homer Greinke allowed since last year’s Game 7 of the World Series against Washington, when Anthony Rendon’s solo shot began the Nationals’ comeback.

Laureano’s leadoff homer in the fifth cut Oakland’s deficit to 5-4, but the A’s would get no closer.

Frankie Montas couldn’t withstand Houston’s onslaught in the fourth, when the Astros sent 10 batters to the plate and scored five. Altuve led off with a walk and scored on Brantley’s homer to pull the Astros to 3-2. Bregman and Tucker had back-toback singles and scored on Correa’s shot to left that he stood and admired, giving Houston the lead for good, 5-3.

Brantley added a solo shot in the fifth and Altuve had a two-run blast in the seventh that extended the Astros’ lead to 11-4.

Houston’s Cristian Javier got the victory in relief.

He retired five in a row before giving up back-toback, two-out singles to Robbie Grossman and Sean Murphy in the seventh.

Marcus Semien — a free agent-to-be playing perhaps his final game with Oakland — flied out to left and Tucker backed up to the wall to make the catch for the third out.

Runs No A’s starter pitched beyond the fifth in the series. Loser Montas gave up five runs and seven hits in 3 2/3 innings. He struck out three and walked one.

“We just couldn’t do enough on the pitching end to hold them down,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “And then you start to press a little bit even though our guys had a good attitude every inning even going into the ninth inning and get some guys on. We battled until the end as you would expect, just not enough.”

Greinke, who had experienced arm soreness that

• BACK TO THE ALCS The Astros became the third team in AL history since 1969 to reach four straight AL Championship Series. The Yankees did so from 1998-2001 and the A’s went to the ALCS five times from 1971-75.

• GOING LONG Brantley, Springer and Correa all have multi-homer games this postseason, making Houston the first team since the 2003 Chicago Cubs — managed by Baker — to have three different players register multi-homer games in the same postseason.

• DAY-O The A’s played their 10th straight day game dating to a doubleheader on Sept. 26.

The last time they played over nine consecutive day games was April 23-May 8, 1949, when they had 16 in a row, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

All four games in the neutral-site series were played during the day. After the first three games in the 90s and 80s, the temperature cooled to 75 degrees for Game 4.

• UP NEXT Athletics: Host the Milwaukee Brewers in their spring training opener on Feb. 27.

Astros: Travel to San Diego for the AL Championship Series.

SERBIA OUST NORWAY, ADVANCE TO EURO 2020 PLAYOFF FINALS

By GRAHAM DUNBAR AP Sports Writer

GENEVA (AP) — Sergej Milinkovic-Savic scored twice to lift Serbia into the European Championship playoff finals with a 2-1 extra-time win over Norway on Thursday.

Serbia kept Norway’s feared forward Erling Haaland quiet and found its own unlikely threat in the Lazio midfielder who had not previously scored for the national team.

Milinkovic-Savic was on hand to score from close range after a free kick into the penalty area in the 82nd minute, before Norway leveled through Mathias Normann’s angled low shot in the 88th.

An exquisite piece of skill won the game in the 102nd, as MilinkovicSavic tricked Norway goalkeeper Rune Jarstein with a deft, slow chip from the edge of the six-yard box.

Serbia will host Scotland in one of four playoff finals on Nov. 12 that will complete the 24-nation Euro 2020 lineup. Scotland beat Israel in a penalty shootout in Glasgow after a 0-0 draw.

The eight playoff semifinals played Thursday included four nations that will host games at the Euro 2020 tournament.

Hungary and Scotland advanced to stay in contention for getting two home games in the group stage next June. Ireland and Romania were eliminated.

The playoffs involve teams who won their Nations League groups, or had a high placing, two years ago but did not advance to Euro 2020 directly from the traditional qualifying groups last year.

The games were originally scheduled in March before UEFA shut down its competitions and postponed Euro 2020 by one year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

• LEAGUE A Iceland recaptured the feelgood spirit of their run to the Euro 2016 quarterfinals in beating visiting Romania 2-1.

Gylfi Sigurdsson scored twice with

SERBIA’S Sergej Milinkovic-Savic cheers after his and Serbia’s second goal during the Euro 2020 playoff semifinal soccer match between Norway and Serbia at Ullevaal Stadium, in Oslo, Norway, Thursday.

(Fredrik Varfjell/NTB scanpix via AP) low, left-foot shots in the first half, before Romania closed the gap with a penalty midway through the second.

Iceland go to Hungary, which eased to a 3-1 in at Bulgaria, for the top-tier playoff final at the Puskas Stadium in Budapest.

The winner will join the toughest-looking Euro 2020 group, with defending champions Portugal plus the past two World Cup winners, France and Germany. It will be played in Munich and Budapest.

• LEAGUE B Penalty shootouts decided both games, with Northern Ireland winning one and Ireland losing the other.

Northern Ireland beat BosniaHerzegovina 4-3 in the shootout after a 1-1 draw in Sarajevo. Bosnia took the lead through Rade Krunic’s goal in the 14th and Niall McGinn leveled in the 53rd.

Slovakia and Ireland were goalless in Bratislava, before the home team won the shootout 4-2.

Northern Ireland will host Slovakia on Nov. 12.

The winner enters the group based in Bilbao and Dublin with Spain, Poland and Sweden.

• LEAGUE C Two more tense games went to extra time in Oslo and Glasgow.

Serbia, who played at the 2018 World Cup, were an outlier in the Nations League third tier two years ago and proved too strong for a young Norwegian team.

Scotland was pressed back for much of a 0-0 draw against Israel, then struck a post from the last attack in extra time.

The Scots scored all five penalties in the shootout, and goalkeeper David Marshall made one save.

Serbia will host the final in Belgrade.

The winner on Nov. 12 goes into the London-Glasgow group with England, Croatia and the Czech Republic.

• LEAGUE D Kosovo’s quest to reach the European Championship at the first attempt ended with a loss at North Macedonia.

World soccer’s newest national team, joining UEFA and FIFA in 2016, was beaten 2-1 in Skopje with all the goals coming in the first half.

Kosovo trailed to an own goal, leveled though defender Florent Hadergjonaj’s 25-metre chip into an unguarded goal, and were beaten

by Darko Velkoski’s 33rd-minute header.

North Macedonia next travel to Georgia to see which country will make a Euros debut.

Georgia held off Belarus 1-0 after getting a seventh-minute penalty earned and scored by Tornike Okriashvili.

The winner on Nov. 12 will join a Euro 2020 group with the Netherlands, Ukraine and Austria. Games will be played in Amsterdam and Bucharest.

PAGE 14, Friday, October 9, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

Govt ‘lacked interest’ in early COVID test offer FROM PAGE 20 done months ago. The impetus just wasn’t there.

Now the impetus is there.”

Mr Myers said that proposal, submitted in ORG’s name, offered a “lower cost” RT-PCR rest to the government with results produced in 24 hours, backed by the more rapid antigen test that would be used by employers to test their workers. “People would have had access to a more reasonable price,” he added of the ORG offer.

Many observers believe

lack of testing capacity has been a major contributor to COVID-19’s so-called second wave spread in The Bahamas, with results from the PCR test taking too long to come back and determine who has the virus before they spread it to others.

Dr Sands’ confirmation of Mr Myers’ revelations indicates the government was slow to react to the need for ramped-up testing, seemingly believing it had contained COVID-19 in The Bahamas via a series of lockdowns and other restrictions prior to the July 1 border re-opening.

“Had they employed a faster testing regime much earlier in this pandemic I don’t think we’d be where we are,” Mr Myers said.

“The problem is that we’ve not been doing enough testing or rapid testing that gets people quarantined and out of the spreading environment.”

The prime minister’s inconsistent response to COVID-19 has caused increased frustration and anxiety among many Bahamians, having performed a rapid u-turn on his August lockdown and subsequently suggesting that no such

measures would be needed again as the ‘second wave’ appeared to be easing, only to reverse course again this week.

“It’s devastating for businesses, absolutely devastating,” Mr Myers said of the restrictions unveiled this week. “They were only just getting some traction back, and now they’ve been shut down again. It’s got to be devastating for restaurants, gyms and anything like that.

“We’ve got to do something to get this under control, but can’t do it by hope. My position is that over the next two to three weeks until November 1 we’ve got an opportunity, but we have to get serious about the violators and get serious about rapid testing.”

LWCC is developing a technology-based screening and testing regime that will allow government entities, businesses, non-governmental organisations and churches to better protect their staff and customers from the pandemic.

The structure, which

LWCC hopes to launch by mid to end-October, is designed to give all Bahamas-based entities, whether in the private or public sector, affordable access to relatively cheap mass testing that would be able to provide results within 15 minutes.

Arguing that this will be “700-800 times’ more efficient” and rapid than the present testing regime, Mr Myers said earlier this week that it was designed to minimise “workplace disruption” by enabling employers to instantly detect which staff were COVID-19 positive and remove them from their premises to quarantine.

Those who prove negative can immediately be dispatched back to work, he explained, improving company productivity while also allowing industries and firms to develop their own specific COVID-19 health and safety protocols and target which staff need to be tested more frequently.

While this regime will

NHI’s secondary care expansion ‘not feasible’

FROM PAGE 20

inflicted by the multiple lockdowns and other restrictions imposed by the government to counter COVID-19, coupled with the tourism industry’s closure.

“While there is substantial support from the Bahamian population for ‘NHI 2.0’, it requires the implementation of an employer mandate and additional funding by the government. Given the economic and fiscal landscape, such an investment is not feasible at this time,” the Authority acknowledged in a nod to the new realities.

“Additionally, the health system, particularly as it deals with COVID-19, lacks the foundation necessary to efficiently transition into this new environment.

Therefore, the NHI Authority and the Government of

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

Monday, October 12, 2020

The Bahamas have agreed that establishing the groundwork to enable the transition to NHI 2.0 and, eventually, universal health care, without any additional taxes or employer mandate should be the focus at this moment.”

The so-called “NHI 2.0” version is intended to expand the scheme’s benefits such that it provides “comprehensive coverage for select conditions or treatments, all of which have a high prevalence in The Bahamas, including the most commonly diagnosed cancers, select cardiac procedures and endstage kidney disease.

“The structure of the high-cost care programme would ensure that along with NHI-enrolled beneficiaries, those with private insurance will be covered if they have exceeded (to-be-determined) maximum mandated coverage for these conditions.”

Dr Robin Roberts, the NHI Authority chairman, acknowledged in the position paper that it has had to rein in its ambitions - at least for the moment. “The journey towards universal health coverage (UHC) was not supposed to be easy,” he added. “We have faced and overcome numerous challenges, all to ensure we prioritise a healthier Bahamian future given limited resources.

“However, the current reality of an economy impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and a healthcare system which is operating

only be available to those signing-up with the coalition, there are no fees for joining. Instead, companies have to sign-up with its electronic platform, state how many testing kits they will require and pay for those.

“This proposal is being acted upon completely independent of the government,” Mr Myers said of LWCC’s initiative. “We said to hell with it, we’ve got to do something and have to do it ourselves. We have to do a better job of rapid testing and getting infected people out of the workforce and community. It’s the only way of getting ahead of this.

It’s the only way it’s going to happen.”

Dr Sands, who backed LWCC’s efforts, said it taken “the addition of 50 percent more testing capacity to reach where we are now and we’re still not there”. Acknowledging that the “pendulum is moving” in favour of increased COVID-19 testing, he urged the coalition to “flesh out” its plans. beyond its capacity, and with minimal integration, has made it difficult to act immediately on some of the larger objectives of universal health coverage, such as coverage for high cost care.”

The NHI Authority’s paper said its proposal to transform primary healthcare in The Bahamas will effectively act as a bridge to “NHI 2.0” by tackling the weaknesses and inefficiencies in the existing public system.

It argued that the duplication of primary care services offered by NHI, the Public Hospitals Authority (PHA) and Department of Public Health’s clinic network had created a fragmented, non-aligned structure that duplicated resources and resulted in inefficiency and waste.

“There are barriers that exist in our healthcare system that need to be addressed in order to facilitate a successful and sustainable transition to NHI 2.0. Duplication within the public healthcare system means that both the NHI programme (which delivers services by partnering with private clinics) and the existing public clinic model are operating in parallel,” the Authority said.

“This means that any transition to NHI 2.0 would become prohibitively costly without the integration of these two parallel systems.....

Over the past decade, resources have been allocated to develop and implement various targeted primary healthcare programmes. While such actions are well-intentioned, this approach has been done in silos, and has led to the inefficient and costly delivery of primary healthcare services.”

LYFORD STORAGE & COMMERCE PARK IS SEEKING TO FILL THE POSITION OF

ASSISTANT MANAGER OF DEVELOPMENT LOCATED ON WESTERN ROAD, LYFORD CAY, N.P.

Key Responsibilities: • The successful candidate will be

responsible for managing the day to day operation of a new Storage, Warehouse and Commerce Park.

• Operate proprietary software for accounting, security and operational systems • Pursue marketing strategies, meet with potential clients, negotiate leases and coordinate client requests with team members

Prospective candidates should possess the following qualifications: • Strong customer service skills required to accommodate discerning client requests

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• Proficiency in MS Office applications • Good organizational and record keeping skills • Ability to multi-task and work independently • Marketing or Customer Service experience a prerequisite • A Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Management or equal accreditation advantageous

Resumes should be submitted to:

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THE TRIBUNE

Kelly’s rejects curb-side; dealers eye 40% fall-off

FROM PAGE 20

Khrystle RutherfordFerguson, the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employer’s Confederation’s (BCCEC) chairman, warned earlier this week that “retail businesses will be impacted as there are practical issues regarding limiting its commercial activity to curbside pick-up only without including appointments “We also acknowledge that many of our members are not able to offer delivery and curbside pick-up due to the nature of the goods and services they offer,” she added. And retail merchants are not the only ones affected by the return of curb-side restrictions as the government bids to get COVID-19’s spread under control on both New Providence and Grand Bahama.

Rick Lowe, Nassau Motor Company’s (NMC) director/ operations manager, predicted to Tribune Business yesterday that sales and business volumes will suffer “a 30-40 percent drop” as a result of the new measures sending the auto dealership back to curb-side across-theboard in its parts, service and sales department.

“It’s certainly going to have a dampening effect on business,” he said of the curb-side restrictions. “It’s an inconvenience for our customers and everybody for sure, but I understand the reasoning behind it. It’s a dampener on the economy; a huge dampener.”

Pointing out that the constant cycle of lockdowns/opening up threaten to further undermine already-fragile business and consumer confidence, Mr Lowe added: “I’ve grown so frustrated with the whole process I’ve kind of given up in a way. People aren’t up for all this inconvenience and up and down; you make arrangements and then something changes

Friday, October 9, 2020, PAGE 15 again. That creates much uncertainty.

“It is what it is. We’re dealing with the consequences of people being irresponsible.

We’ve got to try and figure our way through that minefield.” Giving an insight into the difficulties curb-side poses for auto dealers, he added: “It’s so inconvenient for people. It slows the process down so much, especially in parts.

“You have to check the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number), the catalogue.

You could have two different parts that fulfill the same purpose for different models depending on the year or make. It slows the process down so much more that you cannot get the flow.”

Fred Albury, the Auto Mall’s proprietor, told this newspaper that sales and business volumes will likely drop-off by between 20-25 percent as a result of switching from in-store to curb-side, but added that this was “better than nothing”.

He argued that the latest COVID-19 restrictions were “a necessary pill” for New Providence, in particular, to swallow if it was ever to bring an infection rate running at between 50 to 100 new cases per day under control and permit the tourism industry to re-open.

“In my opinion, based

on the number of cases out there and what is happening in the workplace, that’s the safest way to be for the time being,” Mr Albury told Tribune Business, “not having people in the showroom, service reception area and parts.

“It will have some impact, and we’d love to have people inside the showroom and building where it’s more comfortable with the air conditioning, but it’s a fair balance with keeping businesses open and going compared to a full board lockdown.”

Mr Albury, saying he had anticipated the Prime Minister’s announcement of a weekend lockdown, extended curfew and curbside for retail, added that three members of the Auto Mall’s staff had been sent home to quarantine for 14 days after their family members came down with COVID-19 even though they themselves had tested negative.

“The curve has to be flattened in order for us to open up on November 1 and catch any part of the winter tourism season. This has to be done now,” Mr Albury said. “It’s a necessary pill we’ve got to take otherwise the numbers will go up and up. As much as I hate to do curb-side, it’s the better compromise compared

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to what we’re up against out there.

“Look at Grand Bahama as an example. When they did a full lockdown for two weeks their numbers started coming down. What also needs to be done is the police or competent authority have to enforce the rules out there.

I’m glad there’s a number people can call and report gatherings to, but they really have to enforce the rules out there. There are people screaming, bitching and crying, but it’s a necessary pill to swallow.”

Voicing hope that the restrictions may last for just two to three weeks, especially with the November 1 date for tourism’s re-opening remaining intact, Mr Albury added: “It’s going to be a painful year this year. We’ve done everything we can to cut expenses, and have not laid anybody off or anything to that effect.

“Hopefully we’ll get through this and next year will be another year, and we will get this behind us. We’ve done some things like suspending our pension plan, things of that nature. The rent we pay to our holding company that owns the real estate, we suspended that, too.”

Construction prevents ‘alarming’ disorder rise FROM PAGE 20 happening at the weekend is very, very minimal impact” While obtaining building materials and supplies could be made more time-consuming, and less efficient, by hardware stores being forced to offer curb-side services only, the ex-BCA chief said contractors would swiftly adjust through ordering their materials in bulk.

The greatest impact from curb-side, he added, will be felt by homeowners needing to obtain supplies for their own projects.

However, Stephen Wrinkle, another ex-BCA president, told Tribune Business he was more

concerned about retail’s switch to curb-side than the weekend lockdowns or 7pm curfew during the week.

“I don’t know if the weekend lockdowns are going to affect us as much as having to do curb-side shopping,” he said. “That’s not as big a headache as curb-side services and not being able to go into a store to get what you need.

“That slows everything down and is extremely time consuming. If they don’t have what you need you have to go to another store and be on a long line. I can live with the weekend lockdown, but would like to get back to some normality on weekdays.”

To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394

PAGE 16, Friday, October 9, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

Pharmacies will be COVID ‘hot spots’, govt now warned FROM PAGE 20 “We understand the need for additional measures at this time.

However, we implore the competent authority [Prime Minister’s Office] to recognise the difficulties and specialised logistics associated with curbside pharmacy service. We are a healthcare facility providing confidential medical essential services, not an optional public retail store,” Ms McBride continued.

“The reduction of hours, Monday toFriday, up to 6pm, causes delays in efficiently filling the increased

volume of prescriptions with limited staffing due to in-house social distancing protocols. Patient health and safety is compromised by having ‘sick’ patients, elderly included, line up in the elements - humidity, sun intensity, rain.

“And already-ill patients must stand waiting for service that may be delayed due to the length of the line and filling timelines. Curb-side pharmacy service lines are like a COVID-19 ‘hot spot’ as distancing guidelines are not readily adhered to on the outside, and patients tend to fatigue and are agitated upon their wait.”

The association chief added: “Pharmacy curb-side lines pose additional challenges due to the additional staff (security) needed to manage the social distancing

lines; limited or no privacy for patient consults; and pharmacy logistics especially for NIB Drug plan patients, insurance and managing telepharmacy inside; increased frequency of patients having to return to the pharmacy site due to re-scheduled pickups or delays in filling at that time; and accessibility of patients needing cold and flu or over-the-counter consults.

“Pharmacists humbly serve the nation with every effort being extended to decrease the exposure rates of COVID-19 at pharmacy facilities whilst providing medication filling, consultation or over-thecounter recommendations.

“And we implore the competent authority to allow a limited amount of patients to enter the pharmacy at a given time to decrease the exposure risk to patients outside, allow for the patients to receive professional and proficient pharmacy service, and offer patients their privacy for consultation.”

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EXEMPT ABACO CAYS FROM COVID CURBS, PRIVATE SECTOR URGES FROM PAGE 19 hours so there are less people in the store at any given time.” Along with permitting residents to go to the beach, Mr Hutton added that the government needed to allow Abaco’s schools to remain open.

“For many Abaco school children this past week was the first week back in the class in over a year,” Mr Hutton said. “School is a critical education and social institution for our children. Most Abaco schools do not have the ability to teach remotely. Statistically, COVID infection rates for children are basically zero so there is very little chance of them getting the virus.

“Having children attend school also benefits the community in that it allows families to finally get back to work and re-establish a sense of normalcy to their lives.

The effect on the mental health of the children is also a serious factor to consider in that returning to the classroom brings back a routine and level of comfort not felt since before Dorian.”

Finally, Mr Hutton urged the authorities to provide Abaco residents with improved information so they can make better decisions with regard to COVID-19. “The information provided is aggregated from the beginning of the pandemic and does not provide an accurate, current ‘snapshot’ of the situation,” he added.

“We would like to know symptomatic versus asymptomatic cases, current number of active cases, number of recovered cases, infection hotspots, comorbidities of active cases, etc.

To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, October 9, 2020, PAGE 17

‘Landmark’ Bills set to overhaul govt finances THE government yesterday launched consultation on two “landmark” Bills that are intended to transform how The Bahamas’ public finances and national debt are governed and managed.

The Ministry of Finance, confirming that feedback on both the Public Debt Management Bill and Public Finance Management Bill is being sought by November 17, said the reforms will address “gaps and inconsistencies with international best practices” in the current fiscal stewardship framework.

With the initiative having assumed added importance due to projections that the national debt will breach the $10bn mark by June 2021 due to COVID-19, the legislative changes are designed to produce better governance, accountability and transparency in how the government manages its finances.

The Bills attempt to more clearly defines the roles and responsibilities of the minister of finance and his top officials, while also strengthening the sanctions regime for public officials found guilty of misconduct with taxpayer money.

The Public Finance Management Bill also brings state-owned enterprises (SOEs) under its oversight.

The same Bill will require individual ministries to prepare annual plans and reports, which must be tabled with the annual budget, along with mid-year reports. An Internal Audit Committee will be formally established, and the Ministry of Finance said the Bill - once passed by Parliament - will be implemented in a phased approach given the need to “build capacity” in the public sector.

The Public Debt Management Bill, meanwhile, will legally codify the requirement for the government to prepare and implement a debt management plan, along with a borrowing strategy. It will also provide a framework for the establishment of sinking funds and their management.

K PETER TURNQUEST Both Bills had considerable input from external sources. The Ministry of Finance confirmed that the Public Debt Management Bill was drafted by the Commonwealth Secretariat, with considerable input from local stakeholders, and was also reviewed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and its local affiliate, the Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre (CARTAC).

The latter also engaged the person who prepared the Public Finance Management Bill’s initial draft, with the legislation developed over an 18-month period. Both Bills underwent a review to ensure they aligned with the Fiscal Responsibility Act. “Currently, the legal provisions for the management of public debt in The Bahamas are spread across many statutes, namely the Financial Administration and Audit Act 2010; the Development Loans Act 1990; and the Bahamas Registered Stock Act 1973,” the Ministry of Finance said of the Public Debt Management Bill.

“Apart from fragmentation, many of the legislative provisions have become outdated, and there are observed gaps and inconsistencies with international best practices for transparency and accountability in public debt management activities.”

As for the Public Finance Management Bill, the Ministry added: “During the preparation of the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2018, a review was also undertaken of the Financial

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that ANGELO DARIO CALIXTE of Woods Street, Ridgeland Park, New Providence, The Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 2nd day of October, 2020 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that CLERVA LOUISSAINT of East Street, New Providence, The Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 2nd day of October, 2020 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that HENRICK ETIENNE of Wilson Track, New Providence, The Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twentyeight days from the 2nd day of October, 2020 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

Administration and Audit Act, which identified significant weaknesses relative to acceptable best practices for public financial management.

“Given the extensive revisions required to address these concerns, it was agreed that it would be best to repeal the administrative provisions of the Financial Administration and Audit Act and draft a new public finance management law—one that was consistent with modern public finance management law and that would improve the effectiveness of the government’s fiscal policy outcomes.”

K Peter Turnquest, deputy prime minister and minister of finance, said in a statement: “The Financial Administration and Audit Act is a very outdated framework for public financial management.

“It does not have provisions governing cash management and forecasting, and it has inadequate provisions for public entity accountability, in-year fiscal reporting requirements and even on the specification of roles and responsibilities for fiscal management.”

He added: “One of the pillars of the Resilient Bahamas Plan is to accelerate government reforms and strengthen our systems as we prepare for the reopening of the economy. At the Ministry of Finance, we

To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394

are doing this by advancing our legislative agenda to strengthen the overall fiscal management framework in the country.

“The government’s debt activities are understandably of great public interest, and the legislative reform will strengthen the government’s capacity to manage public debt effectively and provide mechanisms for more transparency and public accountability.

“It will bring about some long overdue changes like modernising the issuance of government securities and establishing a framework for government lending and granting of guarantees.”

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that MELAND A. MICHEL of Kool Air Sub Road, Nassau, Bahamas., is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 9th day of October 2020 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

MARKET REPORT www.bisxbahamas.com

THURSDAY, 08 OCTOBER 2020

BISX ALL SHARE INDEX:

CLOSE

CHANGE

2094.72

0.11

%CHANGE

YTD

YTD%

0.01 -136.88

-6.13

(242) 323-2330 (242) 323-2320

BISX LISTED & TRADED SECURITIES 52WK HI 4.08 22.65 2.00 1.79 2.46 6.00 6.75 4.80 8.59 4.50 6.16 12.77 3.64 5.50 10.88 8.44 16.99 4.25 9.40 15.21

52WK LOW 3.13 20.91 0.67 1.65 1.67 5.40 5.39 2.70 5.05 3.62 5.60 11.05 2.71 3.19 9.60 7.50 13.04 3.20 8.00 13.90

PREFERENCE SHARES 1.00

1.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

1.00 10.00 1.00

1.00 10.00 0.90

SECURITY AML Foods Limited APD Limited Benchmark Bahamas First Holdings Limited Bank of Bahamas Bahamas Property Fund Bahamas Waste Cable Bahamas Commonwealth Brewery Commonwealth Bank Colina Holdings CIBC FirstCaribbean Bank Consolidated Water BDRs Doctor's Hospital Emera Incorporated Famguard Fidelity Bank Focol Finco J. S. Johnson

SYMBOL AML APD BBL BFH BOB BPF BWL CAB CBB CBL CHL CIB CWCB DHS EMAB FAM FBB FCL FIN JSJ

Bahamas First Holdings Preference Cable Bahamas Series 6 Cable Bahamas Series 8 Cable Bahamas Series 9 Cable Bahamas Series 10 Colina Holdings Class A Fidelity Bank Class A Focol Class B

BFHP CAB6 CAB8 CAB9 CAB10 CHLA FBBA FCLB

CORPORATE DEBT - (percentage pricing) 52WK HI 100.00 100.00

52WK LOW 100.00 100.00

115.92 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 102.00

104.79 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

52WK HI 2.35 4.43 2.12 198.39 168.29 1.69 1.85 1.77 1.24 8.34 10.26 7.08 12.15 12.71 10.81 10.00 8.98 11.79

52WK LOW 2.11 3.30 1.68 164.74 116.70 1.64 1.79 1.73 1.06 6.41 7.62 5.66 8.65 10.54 9.57 9.88 8.45 11.20

SECURITY Fidelity Bank Note 22 (Series B) + Bahamas First Holdings Limited

SYMBOL FBB22 BFHB

BAHAMAS GOVERNMENT STOCK - (percentage pricing)

MUTUAL FUNDS

MARKET TERMS

Bahamas Note 6.95 (2029) BGS: 2015-1-3Y BGS: 2014-12-5Y BGS: 2015-1-5Y BGS: 2014-12-7Y BGS: 2015-1-7Y BGS: 2014-12-30Y BGS: 2015-1-30Y BGS: 2015-6-3Y BGS: 2015-6-7Y BGS: 2015-6-30Y BGS: 2015-10-3Y BGS: 2015-10-7Y

BAH29 BG0203 BG0105 BG0205 BG0107 BG0207 BG0130 BG0230 BG0303 BG0307 BG0330 BG0403 BG0407

LAST CLOSE 3.95 17.43 1.62 1.79 1.67 6.00 6.75 2.99 5.10 3.76 5.99 11.26 2.21 5.50 10.28 8.44 14.30 3.97 8.97 15.20

CLOSE 3.95 17.43 1.62 1.79 1.67 6.00 6.75 2.99 5.10 3.76 5.99 11.26 2.21 5.50 10.42 8.44 14.30 3.97 8.97 15.20

1.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 1.00

1.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 1.00

LAST SALE 100.00 100.00

CLOSE 100.00 100.00

CHANGE 0.00 0.00

107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

FUND CFAL Bond Fund CFAL Balanced Fund CFAL Money Market Fund CFAL Global Bond Fund CFAL Global Equity Fund Leno Preferred Income Fund Leno Growth Fund Leno Diversified Fund Leno Global USD Bond Fund Royal Fidelity Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Secured Balanced Fund Royal Fidelity Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Targeted Equity Fund Royal Fidelity Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Prime Income Fund Royal Fidelity Int'l Fund - Equities Sub Fund Royal Fidelity Int'l Fund - High Yield Fund Royal Fidelity Int'l Fund - Alternative Strategies Fund Colonial Bahamas Fund Class D Colonial Bahamas Fund Class E Colonial Bahamas Fund Class F

BISX ALL SHARE INDEX - 19 Dec 02 = 1,000.00 52wk-Hi - Highest closing price in last 52 weeks 52wk-Low - Lowest closing price in last 52 weeks Previous Close - Previous day's weighted price for daily volume Today's Close - Current day's weighted price for daily volume Change - Change in closing price from day to day Daily Vol. - Number of total shares traded today DIV $ - Dividends per share paid in the last 12 months P/E - Closing price divided by the last 12 month earnings

CHANGE 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.14 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

VOLUME

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

EPS$ 0.239 0.932 0.000 0.000 0.070 1.760 0.369 -0.438 0.140 0.184 0.449 0.722 0.102 0.467 0.646 0.728 0.816 0.203 0.939 0.631 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

VOLUME

NAV 2.35 4.43 2.12 196.40 163.60 1.68 1.81 1.76 1.07 8.30 9.90 7.08 11.27 12.71 10.23 N/A 8.93 11.27

DIV$ 0.170 1.260 0.020 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.260 0.000 0.000 0.120 0.220 0.720 0.434 0.060 0.328 0.240 0.540 0.120 0.200 0.610 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

P/E 16.5 18.7 N/M N/M N/M N/M 18.3 -6.8 36.4 20.4 13.3 15.6 21.7 11.8 16.1 11.6 17.5 19.6 9.6 24.1

YIELD 4.30% 7.23% 1.23% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 3.85% 0.00% 0.00% 3.19% 3.67% 6.39% 19.64% 1.09% 3.15% 2.84% 3.78% 3.02% 2.23% 4.01%

0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 6.25% 7.00% 6.50%

INTEREST Prime + 1.75% 6.25%

19-Oct-2022 30-Sep-2025

6.95% 4.00% 4.25% 4.25% 4.50% 4.50% 6.25% 6.25% 4.00% 4.50% 6.25% 3.50% 4.25%

20-Nov-2029 30-Jul-2018 16-Dec-2019 30-Jul-2020 15-Dec-2021 30-Jul-2022 15-Dec-2044 30-Jul-2045 26-Jun-2018 26-Jun-2022 26-Jun-2045 15-Oct-2018 15-Oct-2022

YTD% 12 MTH% 2.95% 4.23% 1.39% 3.17% 1.60% 2.52% 0.65% 2.50% -1.88% 3.33% 1.10% 2.34% -2.43% 1.49% 0.34% 2.43% -11.07% -9.92% -0.45% 8.36% -3.20% 11.46% 2.10% 5.15% -6.17% 3.54% 2.92% 5.55% -4.66% -3.81% N/A N/A -4.20% 0.20% -8.60% -2.90%

MATURITY

NAV Date

31-Aug-2020 31-Aug-2020 28-Aug-2020 30-Jun-2020 30-Jun-2020 31-Jul-2020 31-Jul-2020 31-Jul-2020 31-Jul-2020 31-May-2020 31-May-2020 31-May-2020 31-May-2020 31-May-2020 31-May-2020 30-Jun-2020 30-Jun-2020 30-Jun-2020

YIELD - last 12 month dividends divided by closing price Bid $ - Buying price of Colina and Fidelity Ask $ - Selling price of Colina and fidelity Last Price - Last traded over-the-counter price Weekly Vol. - Trading volume of the prior week EPS $ - A company's reported earnings per share for the last 12 mths NAV - Net Asset Value N/M - Not Meaningful

TO TRADE CALL: CFAL 242-502-7010 | ROYALFIDELITY 242-356-7764 | COLONIAL 242-502-7525 | LENO 242-396-3225 | BENCHMARK 242-326-7333

PAGE 18, Friday, October 9, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

AMERICAN RESUMES FLYING TO THREE BAHAMAS DESTINATIONS AMERICAN Airlines yesterday restarted flights from its Miami hub to three Bahamian destinations, and plans to resume service to Nassau and Marsh Harbour before month’s end despite their lockdowns.

Eleuthera, Freeport, and George Town were the trip to welcome American Airlines flights yesterday, with the carrier planning to service each of these destinations give times per week.

American Airlines added in a statement that it will start its once weekly flight from Charlotte, North Carolina, into George Town tomorrow, as well

as resuming service from Miami to Marsh Harbour.

It added that flights to Nassau will restart later in October among 300 routes it will operate to 23 Caribbean countries during the month.

The carrier’s return will provide a boost for efforts to jump-start the Bahamian tourism industry with effect from November 1, when the 14-day mandatory quarantine requirement for all visitors will be eliminated. American Airlines remains in talks with the government about offering pre-flight COVID-19 testing to all travellers heading to The Bahamas.

AMERICAN Airlines crew ready to resume service.

THE WEATHER REPORT

5-Day Forecast

TODAY

ORLANDO

High: 89° F/32° C Low: 74° F/23° C

TAMPA

TONIGHT

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

Partly sunny with a stray t‑storm

Mostly cloudy with a brief shower

Clouds and sun with a stray t‑storm

Partly sunny with a thunderstorm

Cloudy with a thun‑ derstorm

Mostly sunny and pleasant

High: 88°

Low: 79°

High: 88° Low: 78°

High: 88° Low: 78°

High: 87° Low: 78°

High: 89° Low: 77°

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

96° F

85° F

98°-86° F

98°-87° F

97°-86° F

99°-83° F

High: 91° F/33° C Low: 77° F/25° C

The exclusive AccuWeather RealFeel Temperature® is an index that combines the effects of temperature, wind, humidity, sunshine intensity, cloudiness, precipitation, pressure and elevation on the human body—everything that affects how warm or cold a person feels. Temperatures reflect the high and the low for the day.

N

almanac

E

W

ABACO

S

N

High: 85° F/29° C Low: 81° F/27° C

8‑16 knots

S

WEST PALM BEACH High: 88° F/31° C Low: 79° F/26° C

8‑16 knots

FT. LAUDERDALE E

W

FREEPORT

High: 89° F/32° C Low: 79° F/26° C

N

S

E

W

High: 88° F/31° C Low: 77° F/25° C

MIAMI

High: 88° F/31° C Low: 79° F/26° C

8‑16 knots

Statistics are for Nassau through 2 p.m. yesterday Temperature High ................................................... 88° F/31° C Low .................................................... 75° F/24° C Normal high ....................................... 86° F/30° C Normal low ........................................ 73° F/23° C Last year’s high ................................. 91° F/33° C Last year’s low ................................... 75° F/24° C Precipitation As of 2 p.m. yesterday ................................. 0.00” Year to date ............................................... 52.43” Normal year to date ................................... 30.51”

ELEUTHERA

NASSAU

High: 88° F/31° C Low: 79° F/26° C

Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2020

High: 86° F/30° C Low: 82° F/28° C

N

KEY WEST

High: 89° F/32° C Low: 83° F/28° C

High: 86° F/30° C Low: 81° F/27° C

N

S

E

W

10‑20 knots

S

8‑16 knots Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

The higher the AccuWeather UV IndexTM number, the greater the need for eye and skin protection.

tiDes For nassau High

Ht.(ft.)

Low

Ht.(ft.)

Today

1:05 a.m.

1:40 p.m.

2.4 2.9

7:09 a.m.

8:16 p.m.

1.1 1.3

Saturday

2:04 a.m.

2:41 p.m.

2.4 3.0

8:09 a.m.

9:17 p.m.

1.1 1.2

Sunday

3:09 a.m.

3:43 p.m.

2.5 3.1

9:15 a.m. 1.1 10:16 p.m. 1.0

Monday

4:13 a.m.

4:43 p.m.

2.7 3.2

10:21 a.m. 0.9 11:11 p.m. 0.7

Tuesday

5:12 a.m.

5:38 p.m.

2.9 3.3

11:23 a.m. 0.6 ‑‑‑‑‑ ‑‑‑‑‑

Wednesday 6:07 a.m.

6:31 p.m.

3.2 3.5

12:02 a.m. 0.4 12:21 p.m. 0.3

Thursday

3.5 3.5

12:50 a.m. 0.1 1:16 p.m. 0.0

6:59 a.m.

7:21 p.m.

sun anD moon Sunrise Sunset

7:05 a.m.

6:48 p.m.

Moonrise Moonset

none 1:42 p.m.

Last

New

First

Full

Oct. 9

Oct. 16

Oct. 23

Oct. 31

ANDROS

SAN SALVADOR

GREAT EXUMA

High: 86° F/30° C Low: 81° F/27° C

High: 86° F/30° C Low: 82° F/28° C

N

High: 87° F/31° C Low: 82° F/28° C

E

W S

LONG ISLAND

tracking map

High: 86° F/30° C Low: 82° F/28° C

H

uV inDex toDay

CAT ISLAND

E

W

“As we continue with the steady resumption of our operations throughout the Caribbean and Latin America, our teams throughout the region have been focused on providing our customers with a safe and seamless travel experience,” said Jose Freig, American’s managing director of operations for the Caribbean and Latin America.

“Through efforts that include our Clean Commitment, and soon, preflight COVID-19 testing in some markets, we hope to restore confidence in the safety of air travel.”

8‑16 knots

MAYAGUANA High: 87° F/31° C Low: 81° F/27° C

Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

CROOKED ISLAND / ACKLINS RAGGED ISLAND High: 86° F/30° C Low: 82° F/28° C

High: 86° F/30° C Low: 82° F/28° C

GREAT INAGUA High: 89° F/32° C Low: 82° F/28° C

N

E

W

E

W

N

S

S

7‑14 knots

6‑12 knots

marine Forecast ABACO ANDROS CAT ISLAND CROOKED ISLAND ELEUTHERA FREEPORT GREAT EXUMA GREAT INAGUA LONG ISLAND MAYAGUANA NASSAU RAGGED ISLAND SAN SALVADOR

Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday:

WINDS SE at 8‑16 Knots ESE at 7‑14 Knots SE at 10‑20 Knots SE at 7‑14 Knots ESE at 8‑16 Knots ESE at 7‑14 Knots E at 6‑12 Knots E at 6‑12 Knots E at 8‑16 Knots ESE at 8‑16 Knots ESE at 8‑16 Knots ESE at 8‑16 Knots SE at 8‑16 Knots ESE at 7‑14 Knots NE at 6‑12 Knots ENE at 7‑14 Knots ESE at 8‑16 Knots E at 7‑14 Knots E at 6‑12 Knots E at 7‑14 Knots E at 10‑20 Knots ESE at 7‑14 Knots E at 7‑14 Knots ESE at 6‑12 Knots SE at 8‑16 Knots ESE at 7‑14 Knots

WAVES 2‑4 Feet 3‑5 Feet 1‑3 Feet 1‑3 Feet 2‑4 Feet 2‑4 Feet 2‑4 Feet 2‑4 Feet 2‑4 Feet 2‑4 Feet 1‑3 Feet 2‑4 Feet 1‑2 Feet 1‑2 Feet 1‑3 Feet 2‑4 Feet 1‑3 Feet 1‑3 Feet 3‑5 Feet 2‑4 Feet 1‑3 Feet 1‑3 Feet 1‑3 Feet 1‑3 Feet 1‑3 Feet 1‑3 Feet

VISIBILITY 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 6 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles

WATER TEMPS. 84° F 84° F 84° F 84° F 85° F 85° F 85° F 85° F 86° F 85° F 84° F 84° F 84° F 84° F 85° F 85° F 86° F 86° F 85° F 85° F 84° F 84° F 85° F 85° F 85° F 85° F

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, October 9, 2020, PAGE 19

HARD QUESTIONS FOR A COVID RECOVERY

O

NCE the COVID-19 emergency has passed, and your business can safely open without interruptions, you are considered to be in the recovery phase. By all accounts this could take anywhere from 12 months to four years to complete.

For a country such as The Bahamas, which relies so heavily on travel, tourism and hospitality, the road ahead is certainly going to be a challenging one.

This is an important time to take stock and look at your options before making

decisions about your future.

Some businesses may decide to exit the market, while others will move to restore their operations and begin recovery efforts in a bid to revitalise your prospects.

As the world braces for post-COVID recovery, anticipating a vaccine and other preventative medication, we must start asking ourselves some tough questions. Here is a list of what every business leader should be thinking and asking moving forward: • Have you refocused your efforts towards recovery?

• Have you assessed your current financial situation?

• Have you made adjustments to your strategic business plan?

• Have you addressed the concern over COVID-19 outbreaks in the future?

• Have you provided training and education programmes for your team regarding work in the new normal?

• Have you identified any support or assistance you may be entitled to, including but not limited to, government and foreign stimulus packages and programmes?

• Have you kept staff and

key stakeholders informed of all changes you have made to your plan, marketing strategy, products, etc.?

• Have you set priorities, timelines and recovery options?

• Have you ensured key customers, media and suppliers are made aware of your recovery process?

• Have you looked at all options that may enable the business to retain staff?

• Have you restored your computer backups and other necessary information?

• Have you analysed the potential demand for your

services post-COVID? • Have you secured adequate resources (staff, finances) to bring the business back to normal operating levels?

• Have you considered exiting the business, and do you have an exit strategy?

• NB: Ian R Ferguson is a talent management and organisational development consultant, having completed graduate studies with regional and international universities. He has served organsations, both locally and globally, providing relevant solutions to their business growth and

GAS STATION RESTRICTIONS ‘FINAL NAIL IN THE COFFIN’ EXEMPT ABACO CAYS FROM COVID

By YOURI KEMP weekends due to the latest guys [the government]; they CURBS, PRIVATE SECTOR URGES Tribune Business Reporter lockdown. had Hurricane Dorian and ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A GAS station operator yesterday branded the reinstated COVID-19 ban on in-store customers and reduced hours as the “final nail in the coffin”.

Vasco Bastian, owner/ operator of Esso’s East Street South and Soldier Road location, told Tribune Business: “I think the petroleum industry, whether Rubis, Esso and Sun Oil, we are all hanging on by a thin threadline, especially the Rubis and Esso franchise-owned and operated sites.

“So I think by the mere fact that the government now is going to reduce the hours and the customers’ ability to come inside the store, this is the nail in the coffin for the retail aspect of gas stations in The Bahamas.”

Mr Bastian spoke out after the prime minister, in his House of Assembly address, reimposed the prohibition on customers going inside gas stations’ retail stores with effect from 7pm on Friday. The industry will also have to cope with the reduced hours produced by a 7pm weekday curfew on New Providence and Abaco, and the loss of

“I understand that the government is trying to marry economics and health, and I support the health aspect of it,” Mr Bastian said, “but closing down this country and denying customers access to the gas station is foolishness. We can let in one or two persons at a time. It is a sad day for gas stations, for The Bahamas, for retailers and entrepreneurs all over this Commonwealth of The Bahamas.

“I think that the prime minister needs to widen his counsel and the people he gets advice from. He needs to widen that scope. He needs to go get some small and medium-sized entrepreneurs around the table to discuss this. This kneejerk reaction in dealing with this economy cannot continue. I also think that the Bahamian people need to behave more responsibly as to avoid these types of lockdowns because when the government locks down the country, it is hurting everybody.

“I don’t agree with the prime minister, but we have to take some responsibility for the lockdowns ourselves and as Bahamians. I know it must be hard for those

now they have COVID-19, but come on,” Mr Bastian added.

“It must be a collective effort to stop COVID-19 in The Bahamas, and all hands are on deck - from retailers, wholesalers, entrepreneurs - all must help to reduce the spread to get this country back to where it used to be some two or three years ago.

“We are now on our knees; the only thing left for us to do now is cut off our legs. As a person who employs 30-plus persons directly this is a sad day for gas station operators. This is a sad day for entrepreneurs, sad day for retailers, but we also have to blame our fellow Bahamians who are not social distancing and are not spraying down their hands and not wearing a mask.”

Mr Bastian said the government needed to also seek input from younger Bahamians, adding: “The Chamber of Commerce is limited in that scope, and they don’t reach out to everybody. We need to get this economy opened, and get these people back to work.

We need to get the COVID19 numbers down.”

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

ABACO’S Chamber of Commerce has urged the prime minister to exempt some of the island’s major cays from the new restrictions due to the presence of tourists and minimal number of COVID-19 cases.

Ken Hutton, pictured, the Chamber’s president, in an October 7, 2020, letter to Dr Hubert Minnis argued the case for Green Turtle Cay, Guana Cay, Man-O-War Cay and Elbow Cay “to operate without the restrictions of the mainland”.

He added: “COVID cases on the cays have not seen significant increases, and they currently have a number of tourists in place.

Ferries do not run after 5pm daily so there will be no interference with the mainland curfew.”

The relief requested for Abaco’s cays was one of eight “exceptions” requested by the Abaco Chamber after Dr Minnis confirmed the reintroduction of weekend lockdowns, coupled with an earlier 7pm curfew start and a mixture of restrictions on businesses, in a bid to halt the surge in

COVID-19 cases on both New Providence and Grand Bahama.

Backing the government’s move to bring the number of cases on Abaco, which stood at 157 confirmed on Tuesday, under control, Mr Hutton said of the pandemic: “The threat it poses to life and livelihood must be confronted with intelligent, effective and verifiable strategies.

“The majority of the regulations you announced are just such strategies and we commend you for it.

The strategies must also, however, take into account the situation on the ground in Abaco and some of the special circumstances here when compared to New Providence.”

As reported by Tribune Business yesterday, Mr Hutton called for construction to be exempted from

IAN FERGUSON BY

development issues. He may be contacted at tcconsultants@coralwave.com. the weekend lockdowns to facilitate the ongoing Hurricane Dorian recovery effort.

“Many people are only able to work on their property on weekend, and the nongovernmental organisation community needs to be able to complete critical community projects that Abaco needs and the government has authorised to be done,” he explained.

Besides allowing farmers and fishermen to work at weekends, the chamber chief argued that gas stations and food stores should also be allowed to remain open. “Many in Abaco are still without power and rely on generators which need fuel,” Mr Hutton said. “As well, the take-away vendors provide many people the only hot meal of the day since they have no cooking facilities or power to run them.”

The chamber also urged the prime minister to allow Abaco food stores to maintain their normal operating hours, with Mr Hutton writing: “Because there are few food stores in Abaco, any reduction in hours causes crowding and massing of people, which defeats the entire purpose of the restriction.

“If anything, perhaps encourage the proprietors to extend their operating

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Kelly’s rejects curb-side; dealers eye 40% fall-off

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

K

ELLY’S House & Home is closing “until further notice” from 6pm this evening rather than offer curb-side services that auto dealers predict will be up to 40 percent down on their normal in-store sales.

The Mall at Marathonbased retailer, one of The Bahamas’ oldest and most prominent merchants, confirmed in a posting on its Facebook page yesterday afternoon that it will offer “no curb-side service” and will again close “until further notice”.

Kelly’s employed the same strategy when the

• Top retailer to close ‘until further notice’ from 6pm • Auto industry laments ‘inconvenience’ of curbs • But ‘necessary pill to swallow’ to restart tourism government initiated similar COVID-19 restrictions in early August, electing to close rather offer curbside services. While Kelly’s Lumber will provide curbside service between 7am and 4.30pm on weekdays, the decision by its House & Home affiliate highlights just how difficult and costly it is for many Bahamian retailers to operate under these curbs.

One source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that while curb-side will allow non-food retailers

to generate some revenues and cash flow amid the latest COVID-19 lockdown, the practice is a loss-maker that results in many merchants questioning whether it is worth remaining open.

“They don’t want to be bothered by curb-side,” they added of Kelly’s House & Home. “That’s a pain in the ass. You’re staying open to please. You cannot make any money; you cannot. It slows down your transaction rate and slows down the number of customers coming in.”

While some Kelly’s customers reacted by asking when the retailer will develop an online presence, others in the private sector have confirmed that curb-side is not a substitute for ins-store sales. Brent Burrows, CBS Bahamas (Commonwealth Building Supplies) general manager, said in August that curb-side was equivalent to just 20 percent of normal sales and “not as easy” to pull-off as many think.

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Govt ‘lacked interest’ in early COVID test offer

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A FORMER Cabinet minister last night confirmed the government showed “no interest” in a proposal made “months ago” to significantly ramp-up COVID-19 testing during the pandemic’s early stages.

Dr Duane Sands, exminister of health, backed assertions by Robert Myers, the Organisation for Responsible Governance’s (ORG) principal, that the group had offered a testing solution to the government but received no encouragement to take it forward,.

“Robert and I have been talking about this for some time,” the Elizabeth MP said of COVID-19 testing.

“This has been evolving.”

Recalling ORG’s earlier proposal, he added: “There

• Ex-minister confirms governance group’s approach • ORG said proposal made ‘months ago’ not acted on • Adds faster testing regime may have eased crisis

DR DUANE SANDS

ROBERT MYERS

was no interest. Now there’s quite a bit of interest. I think it’s much needed, but at the time there was no interest.”

He spoke out after Mr Myers earlier this week disclosed that the ORG proposal, which is separate

and distinct from the private sector-driven Living With COVID Coalition (LWCC) solution and testing regime being developed now, did not get the necessary support from the Minnis administration.

“Believe me, the Cabinet was presented with that proposal months ago and it didn’t happen,” Mr Myers said of the need to introduce widespread antigen testing for COVID-19 in The Bahamas. “Now we’ve presented it again [through LWCC] but it’s still not a mandatory requirement.

“We’re going on the good graces and sensibility of accepting businesses to do something. It should have been done months ago when we first talked about it. We couldn’t get them to take it up. We don’t know why. That should have been

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Construction prevents ‘alarming’ disorder rise

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A FORMER Bahamian Contractors Association (BCA) president yesterday said construction is preventing “an alarming number of things happening” due to its employment of unskilled young men.

Leonard Sands signalled to Tribune Business that levels of crime and social disorder could be much higher if it were not for the sector hiring workers who might otherwise find themselves on “the streets” amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Arguing that construction was “underpinning” The Bahamas’ fragile economy at present, Mr Sands said the halt that will be caused by the weekend lockdowns on New Providence and Abaco will not have a material fall-out for the industry given that it was largely a 9am to 5pm Monday-Friday operation.

“The sector is strong. It’s not necessarily where it was before COVID-19, but right now we’re underpinning this economy,” he told this newspaper. “The home building sector is doing what it’s doing. There are not a lot of projects, but enough to keep young men employed.

“There could be more work, but the sector is an essential service. A lot of people are getting paid, and it’s underpinning the economy. If those people in construction were

unemployed you’d see an alarming number of things happening, but the sector’s holding its own which is a bright spot with all of this.

It’s holding its own.

“It’s a lot of people who are not about on the streets.

Not all those people are employed, but enough are employed to not have the kind of issues we could have, and that’s a good thing.”

The last Department of Statistics workforce survey showed just shy of 20,000 persons are employed by the Bahamian construction industry, making it one of the key sectors to revive and stimulate in a bid to pick up the slack from the tourism industry.

Construction has always been viewed as an industry able to absorb many of The Bahamas’ semi-skilled and unskilled workers. While always dangerous to stereotype, higher unemployment among this labour force segment would further strain Bahamian society amid COVID-19’s devastating impact and likely result in even worse crime levels.

Mr Sands, meanwhile, said the impact of the latest COVID-19 restrictions on the construction industry was “not worth the discussion”. He explained: “In my view, the weekend activity activity across the country is not as much as people would expect, so I think the effect of construction not

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Pharmacies will be COVID ‘hot spots’, govt now warned

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net PHARMACISTS yesterday warned the government that forcing them to offer curb-side services only could transform patient queues into “COVID-19 hot spots”.

Shantia McBride, the Bahamas Pharmaceutical Association’s (BPA) president, in a statement responding to Tribune Business inquiries, said the group “is in full support of The Bahamas government’s strategies to decrease COVID-19 rates within the nation, specifically New Providence and Abaco”.

Adding that the industry has a duty “to maintain the optimum health of our patients”, she said: “Amidst COVID-19 we have made in-depth efforts to safeguard our patients’ health by following the protocols set by the Ministry of Health social distancing, wearing of masks, hand sanitizing upon entry.

“In addition, we have limited the amount of persons entering the store, provided tele-pharmacy, and enhanced our virtual patient services via online and social media portals to decrease exposure at pick-up and delivery sites.”

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NHI’s secondary care expansion ‘not feasible’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

EXPANDING the National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme to cover secondary care for select conditions “is not feasible at this time” due to COVID-19’s fall-out, its governing body has confirmed.

The NHI Authority, in its 25-page consultation paper on transforming primary healthcare, said its ambitions to expand the scheme to “NHI 2.0” have been delayed - not abandoned - due to the pandemic’s financial impact on the businesses

and Public Treasury that will be required to finance the initiative.

It had originally been proposed that all Bahamian employers be “mandated” to provide health insurance cover for their employees, with the costs shared between company/worker via a payroll tax similar to how National Insurance Board (NIB) contributions presently work.

However, many businesses will be unable to absorb the extra financial burden this so-called employer mandate will impose due to the losses

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