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It’s grim and not getting better any time soon

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis yesterday announced the government’s intention to extend the country’s state of emergency until November 30.

A resolution to effect this, he said, is expected to be debated during next week’s sitting of Parliament. Earlier this month, Dr Minnis said the discontinuation of COVID-19 Emergency Powers Orders would depend on an improvement of the current situation. However,

this has not happened and the nation continues to see a rise in cases – more than 400 over the last several days.

Last night, it was also confirmed that Dr Minnis and the Cabinet would have to go into self-quarantine after Minister of Works Desmond Bannister tested positive for COVID-19.

Before the announcement, Dr Minnis painted a bleak economic picture, saying with tourism mostly ground to a halt, the economy “is in the worst state ever in our modern history, indeed much worse SEE PAGE THREE

...AND ON THAT NOTE, MINNIS AND MINISTERS HEAD INTO QUARANTINE SHAUNAE’S FURY OVER RIVAL’S RETURN FRONT PORCH

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

SHAUNAE Miller-Uibo cried “foul play” yesterday over the ruling that saw rival Salwa Eid Naser’s doping rule violation ban overturned.

Bahrain’s Naser, the 400m world champion, avoided a ban on a technicality after charges for missed tests and filing failures were dismissed by a tribunal.

Miller-Uibo said: “My

SHAUNAE Miller-Uibo after winning the 200m at the Weltklasse IAAF Diamond League meeting in Zurich.

concern is not just with the athlete missing four tests and having the charges dismissed. It’s with the international federation and the integrity unit that was assembled to protect this sport. In my opinion, the World and Athletics and the Athletics Integrity Unit were caught with their hands in the cookie jar as it pertains to this case.”

She added: “I cry foul play and I believe there is a deeper explanation.”

FULL STORY - SEE SPORTS

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

POPE FRANCIS AND THE GOSPEL OF LOVE

PAGE EIGHT

PAGE 2, Thursday, October 22, 2020 POLICE are continuing investigations into a traffic accident that took the life of a motorcyclist on Tuesday.

The accident occurred shortly after 5pm on the Eastern Road involving a red 70cc Yamaha motorcycle and a red and black 70cc Yamaha Crypton motorcycle. Both cyclists were travelling west along the Eastern Road when they reportedly collided into each other.

This resulted in the riders, both men, being thrown off their motorcycles and receiving extensive injuries.

THE TRIBUNE

DEATH CRASH PROBE Paramedics were called. One man was pronounced dead at the scene while the other was taken to hospital in critical condition.

The coroner visited the scene and traffic police are investigating.

Police are also investigating an armed robbery that occurred just after midnight yesterday.

According to police, a man was at the intersection of Washington Street

and Balfour Avenue when he was accosted by two males who exited a red Chevy vehicle, one armed with a handgun. They robbed him of cash and a cell phone.

The culprits then headed east on Balfour Avenue. Moments later, a mobile unit stopped a vehicle fitting the description on Marathon Road with three occupants. A search was conducted, and officers found a quantity of cash.

The suspects were arrested and taken into custody.

‘CUT JOBLESS PAYMENTS TO $75 A WEEK’

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net THE Economic Recovery Committee has recommended a reduction to extended National Insurance Board unemployment benefit payments to $75 per week.

In preliminary recommendations for immediate recovery from the COVID19 pandemic the ERC submitted the recommendation among several others on August 22.

Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis has said the government is reviewing the recommendations, but will not take all of them on board.

“Extend unemployment benefit payments, subject to available fiscal resources,” the ERC said in an executive summary report tabled in Parliament yesterday.

“To avoid social dislocation, seek to extend unemployment benefits payments at a reduced subvention rate at the end of the current 13 weeks - ie, from $150 per week to $75 per week.”

The ERC also recommended suspending the $500 personal border tax allowance for returning residents for a period of six months. Its report said the border tax allowance per person encourages people to travel and shop abroad.

“To discourage shopping trips and to promote domestic purchases, the allowance should be suspended for a period of six months,” the report noted.

However, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said yesterday the

government rejected this recommendation.

Recently, NIB cut unemployment benefits to $100 a week.

The reduction sparked outrage from some, leading Public Service and NIB Minister Brensil Rolle to defend it last week saying: “We’re doing the best we can.”

He said: “We realise that it is not perhaps what individuals have been accustomed to or what they have been making, but you got to also take into context that we’ve been doing this now for six months and we’ve been making payments to individuals for this period and we must be assured that basically we started (at) $200 a week and it has reduced to $150 and now it’s to $100.

“I hear the frustration as well from some individuals and I say we hear your cry and we know it’s tough, but we too are taking the position that we must do some things and one of the things we are doing is providing some form of income support to families that may be out of work.”

The National Insurance Board has paid out more than $160m in benefits and assistance cheques to unemployed workers directly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with over $12m spent towards Hurricane Dorian victims to date.

Mr Rolle revealed the figures during his ministry’s press conference last week when he noted that the organisation’s total expenditure towards both Hurricane Dorian and COVID-19’s initiatives has amounted to $176m.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, October 22, 2020, PAGE 3

It’s grim and not getting better any time soon

from page one than the Great Recession of 2008.”

With record tourism levels reported before the pandemic, he said people must prepare for the reality that these figures will not return for some time.

“The pandemic is not close to ending,” he said.

“We will still be in it well into next year.

“Bahamians should not think of this pandemic as a short-term diversion in our lives, that when over it will quickly lead to the resumption of how we once lived.”

However, Dr Minnis referred to several initiatives conceived in a bid to help the Bahamas recover from its COVID19-induced economic slump and assured Bahamians that a “rebound” is coming.

Speaking in the House of Assembly yesterday, Dr Minnis revealed several recommendations from the Economic Recovery Committee, adding the body was instructed to be bold and specific with its suggestions to combat the current economic crisis.

The group’s recommendations include the full legalisation of marijuana for medicinal, religious, and recreational purposes coupled with a regulatory regime that oversees the production and manufacturing, sale, consumption and export of marijuana.

He said the government was also reviewing the possible legalisation of a hemp industry.

He added the government is significantly increasing funding to the Small Business Development Centre with a view to embracing the ERC’s recommendations.

The Killarney MP said $250m over five years will be given to SBDC as a

PM AND MINISTERS QUARANTINE AS BANNISTER TESTS POSITIVE

PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis yesterday. broad, sustained recovery marijuana is fully legal in 11 requires Bahamian busi- states. Medical marijuana nesspeople to have the is legal in more than 30. funding required to create Hemp is legal at the federal jobs. level.”

The ERC has also said Dr Minnis continued: a review of the Sovereign “The Bahamas National Wealth Fund legislation Commission on Marijuana is needed to determine recommended decrimiwhat amendments might nalisation of possession of be required and how a small amounts of marijuana National Sovereign Fund in its report in January of may be constituted. this year.

“In the past few years, “The government the world’s view on will begin next year, the marijuana has changed dra- expunging of records of matically,” Dr Minnis told those convicted for the posparliamentarians yesterday. session of small amounts of “Marijuana is one of the marijuana. varieties of the cannabis “The Commission recplant. Uruguay and Canada ommended allowing are the two countries medicinal marijuana use. that have fully legalised The ERC has recmarijuana. ommended the full “In numerous other juris- legalization of marijuana dictions there has been for medicinal, religious decriminalisation of the and recreational purposes possession of small amounts coupled with an appropriof marijuana while also ate but nimble regulatory legalising cannabis plants regime that oversees the for various medicinal and production and manufacindustrial purposes. In the turing, sale, consumption United States, for example, and export of marijuana.

PLP OPPOSE EXTENSION TO EMERGENCY THE Progressive Liberal Party says it will not support another extension of the state of emergency to extend “the sole competent authority’s power to control the lives of the Bahamian people” for another month.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis tabled a resolution in the House of Assembly to extend the country’s state of emergency to November 30, one month past the previous expiration date of October 31.

The resolution will be debated when the House meets on Monday.

“The country has proclamation fatigue,” PLP leader Philip “Brave” Davis noted in a statement reacting to the news. “The Prime Minister is trying the same old methods, the numbers keep going up in deaths and infections, yet the Prime Minister does the same old things.

“The Bahamas has recorded more COVID-19 positive cases in the past few days than Barbados has recorded since the pandemic began in March of this year. We must change course.

“What will it take for this Prime Minister to understand that a lockdown is not a plan? Yet again, he has revealed no plan. He employs the same failed strategy.”

He repeated his party’s “ten point plan” to deal with the coronavirus crisis, which includes offering free testing for all; contact tracing and testing for those who have come into contact with a COVID positive case and isolate those who test positive for the virus, among other ideas.

“It is important to note that case counts are low and stable in many Caribbean countries, but in The Bahamas, we’re nearing six thousand cases and still climbing,” Mr Davis added.

“Our country has become a case study for how not to manage a public health crisis.

“The Prime Minister seems to have run out of ideas or even interest.

When reporters and the public have questions, he is nowhere to be found, sending out others to defend his failed policies.

“It’s agonising to see other countries put in place science-based policies to protect their citizens while here our doctors and nurses are under siege, Bahamians are locked up every weekend, and suffering from the economic fallout has become widespread.

“We can’t keep failing – the costs are too high. The PLP continues to call for a major shift in testing policy.

We need widespread testing

so we can find the virus, help people get treatment, trace their contacts, and break transmission chains.

“The government must move quickly to knock down barriers to testing. We need more testing centres, we need to test frontline workers regularly, and we need to add antigen tests to our testing arsenal -- these tests are not perfect, but they are inexpensive and quick and can help us identify cases when they’re most infectious.

“Testing should be free, because your ability to protect yourself, your family and your co-workers from COVID shouldn’t depend on your income.

The Prime Minister must move quickly to adopt Free Testing – and if he won’t, he should explain why he believes that, as a deadly virus spreads, it is morally acceptable that a person’s wealth could determine their health.”

The country has been under a state of emergency since March. During the first wave of the pandemic, cases and deaths were relatively low — with just over 100 confirmed cases at the beginning of July and 11 deaths.

Those numbers have surged since July 1, with 6,051 cases reported as of Tuesday and 127 confirmed deaths.

PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis and all Cabinet ministers are to quarantine after Minister of Works Desmond Bannister tested positive for COVID-19.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Works, all Cabinet ministers, including Dr Minnis, who came into direct contact with Mr Bannister will self-quarantine.

Dr Minnis and other Cabinet ministers will work from home and will be “fully engaged with their ministries” during the quarantine period, the statement said.

“There is this consistency in the recommendations of both the Marijuana Commission and the ERC: Our cannabis laws are outdated and must change.

The global legal cannabis market is already in the billions of dollars with significant projected growth in the years to come.

“We are reviewing the possible legalisation of a hemp industry. We will report back to the nation following greater public consultation,” Dr Minnis said further.

“A hemp industry would include variations of cannabis low in THC. Bahamian-owned or majority Bahamian-owned companies must and will lead any new hemp industry in The Bahamas.”

Regarding small businesses, Dr Minnis said funding has been the greatest barrier for entrepreneurs.

“That is why my government created the Small

Contact tracing is being carried out by the Ministry of Health’s Surveillance Unit, the statement adding, noting that all established health protocols are being followed.

Mr Bannister was not present in the House of Assembly yesterday, however he did attend a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday and gave an interview to several reporters without a mask before going inside the building.

Earlier this month, Environment Minister Romauld Ferriera tested positive for the disease.

Business Development Centre, extending millions in funding to those who want to start or expand a business. We will now significantly increase the funding to the centre, embracing a key recommendation of the ERC. “My government will provide $250m to Bahamian businesses over five years. A broad, sustained recovery requires Bahamian businesspeople to have the funding required to create jobs.

“We need our Bahamian entrepreneurs to have money to create new businesses, or to expand existing ones. With entrepreneurship comes risk.

Not every idea we lend to will work.

“But some will and the successes of these Bahamian entrepreneurs will be our shared success.”

Apart from this, the Prime Minister said three major investment projects are still projected to come

In a statement released at the time, the Cabinet Office said Mr Ferreira was not experiencing symptoms and was in quarantine.

As a precautionary measure all Cabinet ministers who came in “direct contact” with Mr Ferreira were tested and self-quarantined.

“The prime minister did not have direct contact with Mr Ferreira,” read the statement.

It was later revealed those Cabinet ministers who came into contact with Mr Ferreira tested negative. on stream.

These include a port operation and lease agreement with Nassau Cruise Port Ltd for the redevelopment and operation of Prince George Wharf and related areas, with a capital investment of $200m.

Environmental studies are complete and work is ongoing.

The demolition of the customs warehouse has taken place and the demolition of Festival Place is imminent, Dr Minnis said.

ITM and RCCL’s purchase of the Grand Lucayan Hotel and related properties; as well as the re- development of a cruise port remains on stream and the GoldWyn’s construction remains on target.

Dr Minnis also revealed that work on two schools has started. This includes a new government-operated school on Ragged Island, near completion and preliminary work for a school in Inagua.

THREE MORE DEATHS AND 128 NEW CASES OF COVID-19 ONE hundred and twenty-eight additional COVID-19 cases were reported on Tuesday along with three more deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.

A 51-year-old woman died on October 10, while a 62-year-old man and a 77-year-old man both died on October 20. The victims are all New Providence residents.

This pushed the COVID-19 death toll to 127. Fourteen deaths are under investigation.

The cases recorded on Tuesday include 104 in New Providence, 10 on Eleuthera, seven on

the Berry Islands, five on Grand Bahama and one on Crooked Island.

There were five cases with locations pending.

Although these new cases add up to 132, officials reported there were 128 additional cases.

However, the Ministry of Health said a “data cleaning exercise” was performed on the total confirmed cases by islands which led to some changes in data.

“It was discovered that some cases were from the island of New Providence and not from the Family Island

previously indicated.

Hence four cases have been subtracted from the islands with an asterisk and added to total confirmed cases for New Providence.”

This led to a case being subtracted from Long Island, Bimini, Cat Island and Andros.

Those four cases were added to New Providence’s total, which stood at 4,645 up to Tuesday.

One hundred and nineteen cases are in hospital while 3,633 cases have recovered.

Wednesday’s data was not released up to press time.

PAGE 4, Thursday, October 22, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

LEGALISING MARIJUANA URGED - AND EXPUNGING RECORDS

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Economic Recovery Committee has recommended that up to two ounces of marijuana be made legal for personal use in The Bahamas – this as Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis announced yesterday that criminal records for those convicted of having small amounts of the substance will be expunged starting next year.

The Minnis administration has not revealed what will constitute having a “small amount” of the drug, but the ERC, in a plan released yesterday, has

recommended that “unapproved possession of any amount greater” than two ounces be punishable with a fine only. The Bahamas National Commission on Marijuana recommended earlier this year that possession of up to one ounce of the substance be decriminalised for people over 21.

“There is this consistency in the recommendations of both the Marijuana Commission and the ERC: Our cannabis laws are outdated and must change,” Dr Minnis said during a communication in the House of Assembly. “The global legal cannabis market is already in the billions of dollars with significant projected growth

ZNS ACCUSED OF FAILING ON PROTOCOLS

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

A LOCAL civic leader has accused management at ZNS Freeport of not following proper protocols when an employee there recently tested positive for COVID-19 and is currently hospitalised.

Rev Glenroy Bethel, Founder of Families for Justice, claims that employees exposed to the individual were not quarantined, tested for COVID-19 and that the ZNS office was not shutdown for sanitisation, in compliance with the health and emergency protocols.

He noted that reports surfaced that the employee had fallen ill last Wednesday.

“It is alleged that an employee of ZNS was infected with COVID-19

or became ill and went to the hospital and is hospitalized as we speak and that this person was in contact with several employees of ZNS, said Rev Bethel. If this is true, then ZNS (Freeport) should have been shut down, and those employees should have been quarantined and tested for COVID-19. If true, we demand an answer to why it has not been done over a week later.”

The Tribune was able to confirm with management on Wednesday that a ZNS staffer had tested positive for the coronavirus. It is the first case at the ZNS office in Freeport.

Rev Bethel said FFJ is concerned about why protocols are not reportedly being followed by ZNS management in Freeport.

He noted that other private entities are complying by

in the years to come.”

Dr Minnis said the government is also reviewing the possible legalisation of the hemp industry and will update the public on this after further consultation.

Hemp has low amounts of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive compound in cannabis, and is usually used for industrial purposes. When ingested, it does not produce the psychotropic effects that marijuana does.

“Bahamian-owned or majority Bahamian-owned companies must and will lead any new hemp industry in The Bahamas,” Dr Minnis said. “Hemp is used

in multiple products from clothing to building materials and even in tea bags, such as some Lipton’s tea bags.”

Quinn McCartney, cochair of the Marijuana Commission, said yesterday that his team is gathering information on how many people could be eligible for record expungement.

“We’re hoping to get more concrete figures and I know the Rehabilitation of the Offenders Committee is doing some research as well looking at expunging records of people convicted of various crimes,” he said.

“We’re trying to collect the information to see the magnitude of the impact this could have.”

People taken to court for small amounts of marijuana are rarely sentenced to prison. Under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, young people and first-time offenders can have their marijuana possession conviction expunged after two years. Everyone else is eligible after five years. This opportunity does not apply to those convicted of having an intent to supply.

The ERC has recommended that under a new regulatory regime for marijuana, cafes, resorts and guesthouses be allowed to provide “on-premises consumption of cannabis subject to special licensing arrangements as a

means to support potential cannabis related leisure, medicinal and touristic sub-industries.”

The committee has also recommended that the government make Crown land available to “Bahamians to cultivate cannabis (with special provisions for small scale farmers and the Rastafarian community), and manufacture cannabisbased products.”

Like the Marijuana Commission, the ERC has recommended that the government avoid over regulating the market, saying this could sustain the black market for those unable to “navigate complex bureaucracies”.

and sanitise the whole floor.

This was before we even knew; it was just as a matter of precaution we took on (last) Wednesday evening.

“The employee did not get tested until Monday five days later,” Mr Meadows said. When they contacted me and said the test came back positive, we already did sanitisation and met with the staff and with the union and we spoke with our executive management in Nassau.”

Mr Meadows explained that there was no need (to shut down) at that point since they had already sanitised. He noted that staffers were informed that if they have any symptoms not to come to work and to contact management.

“This is the first case we (at ZNS Freeport) would have had, he said. When the employee said they were not feeling well, we immediately sanitised the entire floor. We did not wait until they said they tested positive.”

The deputy general manager said all staffers were informed of the situation and what happened.

When asked if employees exposed to the individual that day were sent home to quarantine and tested, he said: “No, because the individual was out. But everyone around her for

that day would have been wearing masks and social distancing. We had not received confirmation that the individual had tested positive. We informed staff to get tested, but they were comfortable and there were no internal complaints.”

In the meantime, Mr Meadows stated that staff has been asked to remain in their particular departments and not to visit other departments. There are also hand sanitisers throughout the office and masks for staff.

“We don’t know how long this COVID will last, and we want to be able to manage it, and if they remain in their area and don’t interact with other departments, we can isolate that department and sanitize it,” he explained.

He indicated that the staff have been receptive to that. “None of the staff would have come to me and voice a complaint or concern,” he said.

Rev Bethel also claimed that the union is aware of the situation and has not spoken out on behalf of the concerned employees.

The Tribune attempted to contact Bahamas Communication and Public Officers Union (BCPOU) president Dino Rolle, but efforts proved fruitless up to press time.

SANITISATION under way at ZNS in Freeport. shutting down their facilities for sanitisation, and quarantining and testing staff when an employee tests positive for the disease.

“We pray the individual pulls through,” he said.

“We have some concerns because it is a serious issue that those in authority (there) playing around with.

Our concern also is for the families, and the employees of those families.”

“How is it that the managers took the responsibility not to quarantine, test, and still allow them people to go back to work and go back to their families?”

“We are demanding some answers. I don’t care who get mad…there must be

some accountability. The deputy manager of ZNS Freeport, if this is true, sir, why haven’t you locked that place down, and quarantine those people and have them tested? Why they still to work? Did you report it to your superiors, the union, government, the chairman, and the Minister responsible for Broadcasting?”

“We expect that those people who are employed be protected… and your department to heed to all protocols,” demanded Rev Bethel.

When contacted yesterday, Deputy General Manager for ZNS Northern Service Darren Meadows confirmed that an employee was ill last week, and went to the hospital to be tested on Monday.

He noted that ZNS followed all protocols and that the staff and union are satisfied with how the incident was handled and addressed.

“We did have an employee that was out of the office on leave for about one week, and when they came back to work and said they were not feeling too well, we asked them to go home and go to the doctor. We had no evidence that the person had COVID-19 and we took the proactive approach to get Town and Country to spray

PAHO: TESTING THE BEST WAY

By TANYA SMITHCARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net

THE Pan American Health Organisation says testing is the best way to slow the spread of COVID-19 and countries in the region should take that route.

“Slowing the spread of COVID-19 rests on the ability of countries’ health personnel to figure out when someone is sick,” said Ashley Baldwin, PAHO representative.

“At the individual level, accurate testing allows patients to be better managed and prevents the virus from infecting others. At the community level, it allows countries to track changes in the spread of the virus and adjust the response.

“PCR diagnostic tests, which are highly accurate and must be conducted in lab settings, are the gold standard of COVID-19 testing. However, while they are hugely reliable, they require specialised laboratories, personnel and equipment. This type of equipment is only available in a limited number of laboratories and samples must be shipped under controlled conditions from collection sites.”

Ms Baldwin said this means that for many hard to reach areas in this region, it can take several days for results to become available.

The new rapid, antigen

tests, however, she said, will enable primary healthcare workers – even those working in remote locations – to diagnose and care for patients immediately, stopping future infections in their tracks.

“It is important to highlight, however, that PCR tests are, and will remain, the gold standard for COVID-19 testing,” she said. “While we are very excited about the possibilities that the new antigen tests imply, it is important to emphasise that they do not replace PCR testing.”

PAHO/WHO representative Dr Esther de Gourville said there is little evidence that the spread of COVID-19 is slowing in New Providence and Abaco. She said PAHO is very concerned about how overwhelmed local health services are.

“The main elements of the discussion (between PAHO and health officials in The Bahamas) were an overview of trends in the COVID-19 outbreak over time, the progress made in several islands but little evidence of slowing of the outbreak in New Providence and more recently Abaco, concerns about health services being increasingly overwhelmed by the volume of cases, recent trends in age group distribution of cases and deceased persons, and the links between health and the economy,” she said.

“PAHO advocated for an

‘all of society’ response to bringing the outbreak under control. PAHO considers that public participation and compliance with public health interventions of mask use, hand hygiene and physical distancing must be implemented in all areas to reduce transmission.”

Dr de Gourville said since the start of the outbreak PAHO/WHO have recommended public health policies for the consideration of their member countries and territories.

And, she said, as a sovereign country, The Bahamas’ authorities decide on the policies they wish to adopt.

“A comprehensive range of measures and policies have been adopted in health and other sectors and are well publicised by the government of The Bahamas,” she continued.

“I am unable to speculate on the differences between outbreaks in different Caribbean countries. However, I can say that surges in cases have been seen elsewhere, similar to the situation in The Bahamas.

“In reviewing the number of reported cases, one also has to consider the population sizes and the particular epidemiological context of each country.”

The country has now recorded more than 6,000 cases of COVID-19, according to health officials. The bulk of these cases came after July 1, when the country reopened its borders after closing them in March.

PAGE 4, Thursday, October 22, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

LEGALISING MARIJUANA URGED - AND EXPUNGING RECORDS

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Economic Recovery Committee has recommended that up to two ounces of marijuana be made legal for personal use in The Bahamas – this as Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis announced yesterday that criminal records for those convicted of having small amounts of the substance will be expunged starting next year.

The Minnis administration has not revealed what will constitute having a “small amount” of the drug, but the ERC, in a plan released yesterday, has

recommended that “unapproved possession of any amount greater” than two ounces be punishable with a fine only. The Bahamas National Commission on Marijuana recommended earlier this year that possession of up to one ounce of the substance be decriminalised for people over 21.

“There is this consistency in the recommendations of both the Marijuana Commission and the ERC: Our cannabis laws are outdated and must change,” Dr Minnis said during a communication in the House of Assembly. “The global legal cannabis market is already in the billions of dollars with significant projected growth

ZNS ACCUSED OF FAILING ON PROTOCOLS

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

A LOCAL civic leader has accused management at ZNS Freeport of not following proper protocols when an employee there recently tested positive for COVID-19 and is currently hospitalised.

Rev Glenroy Bethel, Founder of Families for Justice, claims that employees exposed to the individual were not quarantined, tested for COVID-19 and that the ZNS office was not shutdown for sanitisation, in compliance with the health and emergency protocols.

He noted that reports surfaced that the employee had fallen ill last Wednesday.

“It is alleged that an employee of ZNS was infected with COVID-19

or became ill and went to the hospital and is hospitalized as we speak and that this person was in contact with several employees of ZNS, said Rev Bethel. If this is true, then ZNS (Freeport) should have been shut down, and those employees should have been quarantined and tested for COVID-19. If true, we demand an answer to why it has not been done over a week later.”

The Tribune was able to confirm with management on Wednesday that a ZNS staffer had tested positive for the coronavirus. It is the first case at the ZNS office in Freeport.

Rev Bethel said FFJ is concerned about why protocols are not reportedly being followed by ZNS management in Freeport.

He noted that other private entities are complying by

in the years to come.”

Dr Minnis said the government is also reviewing the possible legalisation of the hemp industry and will update the public on this after further consultation.

Hemp has low amounts of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive compound in cannabis, and is usually used for industrial purposes. When ingested, it does not produce the psychotropic effects that marijuana does.

“Bahamian-owned or majority Bahamian-owned companies must and will lead any new hemp industry in The Bahamas,” Dr Minnis said. “Hemp is used

in multiple products from clothing to building materials and even in tea bags, such as some Lipton’s tea bags.”

Quinn McCartney, cochair of the Marijuana Commission, said yesterday that his team is gathering information on how many people could be eligible for record expungement.

“We’re hoping to get more concrete figures and I know the Rehabilitation of the Offenders Committee is doing some research as well looking at expunging records of people convicted of various crimes,” he said.

“We’re trying to collect the information to see the magnitude of the impact this could have.”

People taken to court for small amounts of marijuana are rarely sentenced to prison. Under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, young people and first-time offenders can have their marijuana possession conviction expunged after two years. Everyone else is eligible after five years. This opportunity does not apply to those convicted of having an intent to supply.

The ERC has recommended that under a new regulatory regime for marijuana, cafes, resorts and guesthouses be allowed to provide “on-premises consumption of cannabis subject to special licensing arrangements as a

means to support potential cannabis related leisure, medicinal and touristic sub-industries.”

The committee has also recommended that the government make Crown land available to “Bahamians to cultivate cannabis (with special provisions for small scale farmers and the Rastafarian community), and manufacture cannabisbased products.”

Like the Marijuana Commission, the ERC has recommended that the government avoid over regulating the market, saying this could sustain the black market for those unable to “navigate complex bureaucracies”.

and sanitise the whole floor.

This was before we even knew; it was just as a matter of precaution we took on (last) Wednesday evening.

“The employee did not get tested until Monday five days later,” Mr Meadows said. When they contacted me and said the test came back positive, we already did sanitisation and met with the staff and with the union and we spoke with our executive management in Nassau.”

Mr Meadows explained that there was no need (to shut down) at that point since they had already sanitised. He noted that staffers were informed that if they have any symptoms not to come to work and to contact management.

“This is the first case we (at ZNS Freeport) would have had, he said. When the employee said they were not feeling well, we immediately sanitised the entire floor. We did not wait until they said they tested positive.”

The deputy general manager said all staffers were informed of the situation and what happened.

When asked if employees exposed to the individual that day were sent home to quarantine and tested, he said: “No, because the individual was out. But everyone around her for

that day would have been wearing masks and social distancing. We had not received confirmation that the individual had tested positive. We informed staff to get tested, but they were comfortable and there were no internal complaints.”

In the meantime, Mr Meadows stated that staff has been asked to remain in their particular departments and not to visit other departments. There are also hand sanitisers throughout the office and masks for staff.

“We don’t know how long this COVID will last, and we want to be able to manage it, and if they remain in their area and don’t interact with other departments, we can isolate that department and sanitize it,” he explained.

He indicated that the staff have been receptive to that. “None of the staff would have come to me and voice a complaint or concern,” he said.

Rev Bethel also claimed that the union is aware of the situation and has not spoken out on behalf of the concerned employees.

The Tribune attempted to contact Bahamas Communication and Public Officers Union (BCPOU) president Dino Rolle, but efforts proved fruitless up to press time.

SANITISATION under way at ZNS in Freeport. shutting down their facilities for sanitisation, and quarantining and testing staff when an employee tests positive for the disease.

“We pray the individual pulls through,” he said.

“We have some concerns because it is a serious issue that those in authority (there) playing around with.

Our concern also is for the families, and the employees of those families.”

“How is it that the managers took the responsibility not to quarantine, test, and still allow them people to go back to work and go back to their families?”

“We are demanding some answers. I don’t care who get mad…there must be

some accountability. The deputy manager of ZNS Freeport, if this is true, sir, why haven’t you locked that place down, and quarantine those people and have them tested? Why they still to work? Did you report it to your superiors, the union, government, the chairman, and the Minister responsible for Broadcasting?”

“We expect that those people who are employed be protected… and your department to heed to all protocols,” demanded Rev Bethel.

When contacted yesterday, Deputy General Manager for ZNS Northern Service Darren Meadows confirmed that an employee was ill last week, and went to the hospital to be tested on Monday.

He noted that ZNS followed all protocols and that the staff and union are satisfied with how the incident was handled and addressed.

“We did have an employee that was out of the office on leave for about one week, and when they came back to work and said they were not feeling too well, we asked them to go home and go to the doctor. We had no evidence that the person had COVID-19 and we took the proactive approach to get Town and Country to spray

PAHO: TESTING THE BEST WAY

By TANYA SMITHCARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net

THE Pan American Health Organisation says testing is the best way to slow the spread of COVID-19 and countries in the region should take that route.

“Slowing the spread of COVID-19 rests on the ability of countries’ health personnel to figure out when someone is sick,” said Ashley Baldwin, PAHO representative.

“At the individual level, accurate testing allows patients to be better managed and prevents the virus from infecting others. At the community level, it allows countries to track changes in the spread of the virus and adjust the response.

“PCR diagnostic tests, which are highly accurate and must be conducted in lab settings, are the gold standard of COVID-19 testing. However, while they are hugely reliable, they require specialised laboratories, personnel and equipment. This type of equipment is only available in a limited number of laboratories and samples must be shipped under controlled conditions from collection sites.”

Ms Baldwin said this means that for many hard to reach areas in this region, it can take several days for results to become available.

The new rapid, antigen

tests, however, she said, will enable primary healthcare workers – even those working in remote locations – to diagnose and care for patients immediately, stopping future infections in their tracks.

“It is important to highlight, however, that PCR tests are, and will remain, the gold standard for COVID-19 testing,” she said. “While we are very excited about the possibilities that the new antigen tests imply, it is important to emphasise that they do not replace PCR testing.”

PAHO/WHO representative Dr Esther de Gourville said there is little evidence that the spread of COVID-19 is slowing in New Providence and Abaco. She said PAHO is very concerned about how overwhelmed local health services are.

“The main elements of the discussion (between PAHO and health officials in The Bahamas) were an overview of trends in the COVID-19 outbreak over time, the progress made in several islands but little evidence of slowing of the outbreak in New Providence and more recently Abaco, concerns about health services being increasingly overwhelmed by the volume of cases, recent trends in age group distribution of cases and deceased persons, and the links between health and the economy,” she said.

“PAHO advocated for an

‘all of society’ response to bringing the outbreak under control. PAHO considers that public participation and compliance with public health interventions of mask use, hand hygiene and physical distancing must be implemented in all areas to reduce transmission.”

Dr de Gourville said since the start of the outbreak PAHO/WHO have recommended public health policies for the consideration of their member countries and territories.

And, she said, as a sovereign country, The Bahamas’ authorities decide on the policies they wish to adopt.

“A comprehensive range of measures and policies have been adopted in health and other sectors and are well publicised by the government of The Bahamas,” she continued.

“I am unable to speculate on the differences between outbreaks in different Caribbean countries. However, I can say that surges in cases have been seen elsewhere, similar to the situation in The Bahamas.

“In reviewing the number of reported cases, one also has to consider the population sizes and the particular epidemiological context of each country.”

The country has now recorded more than 6,000 cases of COVID-19, according to health officials. The bulk of these cases came after July 1, when the country reopened its borders after closing them in March.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, October 22, 2020, PAGE 5

Moultrie in ultimatum over office

A VIEW of the Churchill Building, location of the Cabinet Office in Downtown, Bay Street.

Photo: Patrick Hanna/BIS

NEW BUILDING FOR CABINET PREPARATIONS are afoot for a new Cabinet Office.

Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis announced that designs are in the making for a new Cabinet Office, which will remain on the existing site -- Rawson Square, Bay Street.

Dr Minnis made the announcement in Parliament as he tabled the Economic Recovery Committee Report yesterday.

He said, “I am placing the Bahamian public on warning that the Cabinet office will be temporarily relocated.

We are creating a design so that all would be able to see. This will be done

by Bahamians so as to maximise and maintain our historical value. We will not compromise Rawson Square. In fact, we will create more space for them to have future events or any events.

“I want the Bahamian people to

know that every time it rains Cabinet Office, not the [section] that Cabinet meetings are held but the floor that my office and the staff are located. Every time it rains that facility is a pond,” he said.

“We just repaired the roof last year but in spite of that the Cabinet office building is still a pond. There are serious challenges with that building.”

Dr Minnis said the front section of the building, known as the Adderley Building, has not been in use for 20 plus years and has been condemned.

“Times are changing. I want the people to recognise that we do understand the history of the Cabinet Building/Adderley Building, but sometimes we must move on - but we can still utilise the same location.”

The Cabinet Office will be temporarily relocated.

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

HOUSE Speaker Halson Moultrie said he will turn in the key for his office at the end of this month because of its poor condition and that parliamentarians can hold a vote of no confidence in him over his position if they want.

His comments came after Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said the Cabinet Office will be relocated from its home in the Adderley building as it was to be replaced with a new structure due to its dilapidated state.

Mr Moultrie said he raised concerns on September 30 that, in addition to having mould, his office at the House of Assembly had no running water, no bathroom facility and has been declared a security risk by police.

“I cannot sit here idly by

as the presiding officer of this Parliament and accept such conditions,” he said yesterday.

“On the 31st of October, 2020, the Speaker will turn in the key for the Speaker’s office because this Speaker will not be utilising that office in the condition that it is in after the 31st of October.

“If it is determined that it is not in the best interest to give proper facilities, then the Speaker will be without an office because I will not be attending that office.

“This decision is up to the executive branch, who has the majority. If you want to remove the Speaker because of the Speaker’s position, prorogue the House, bring a vote of no confidence in the Speaker because the Speaker is not resigning. The Speaker is going to fight for the right of the legislative branch’s

independence and autonomy. Let the record reflect that.”

Mr Moultrie’s critical and surprising commentary has occasionally made headlines since the start of his tenure. Last month, he told The Tribune he is determined to reduce the power the executive branch of government has over Parliament even if it risks his political career.

“It might cost me my job and even my seat, but I am determined to get it done,” the Nassau Village MP said at the time.

Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, who was in Parliament when Mr Moultrie made his comments yesterday, did not respond.

However Renward Wells, leader of government business in the House of Assembly, said the government would address the concerns.

TURNQUEST HITS OUT AT ILLEGAL OIL DUMPING DEPUTY Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Peter Turnquest yesterday condemned those responsible for illegal oil dumping in East Grand Bahama and warned they will be aggressively pursued by police.

Mr Turnquest, East Grand Bahama MP, commended those in the community who brought the matter to the attention of authorities.

“The illegal dumping of a significant quantity of oil discovered today in the East Grand Bahama area is cause for serious concern,” he told The Tribune shortly after raising the matter in Parliament.

“It impacts the safety of residents and harms the environment. Sanitation Services rapidly responded and the matter is being aggressively investigated by police.

Those responsible will be identified and held accountable.”

In a statement released yesterday, the Grand Bahama Development Company Limited (DEVCO) said it had taken steps to ensure a swift clean-up of the hazardous material that was disposed of in the Lucaya area.

DEVCO and its maintenance company, Lucaya Service Company Ltd (LUSCO), are working with the relevant authorities and environmental agencies to identify the offender(s).

“LUSCO management stated that there is zero tolerance for this type of action, and that they consistently work to maintain and improve the subdivisions and public areas of Lucaya.

“Unfortunately, littering and illegal dumping continue to occur throughout the area, which is a detriment to Grand Bahama’s economic and environmental health. Action such as this recent dumping is illegal and will not be tolerated. Further, they remind and encourage all residents to utilise the services of Sanitation Services Limited or related licensees when they need to dispose of waste materials,” the LUSCO statement advised.

Residents who require more information about proper disposal of garbage and waste materials may contact the LUSCO hotline at 350-9016 or email info@lusco. org.

SOME of the oil waste dumped in Grand Bahama.

PROTEST GROUP STOPPED FROM MARCHING TO PARLIAMENT

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

MEMBERS of the advocacy group Operation Sovereign Bahamas along with some out of work Atlantis employees were stopped yesterday morning from marching to Parliament.

Despite the pouring rain, the group met at the old City Market building on Market Street for their planned protest.

Police were at the scene and advised the protesters to refrain from marching.

But the group went into their cars instead of leaving the area. They made a move when police left the parking lot of the old building, thus individuals started walking from the meeting spot.

But according to protester Wellington Roberts, police prevented the group from going anywhere near Parliament even though the marchers were trying to lawfully assemble and have a peaceful protest.

“We attempted to access Parliament Street,” he said. “They didn’t even allow us to access Parliament (Square) or even get near Parliament House.

We made an attempt to access Parliament Street from Shirley Street and some of us came from Bay Street and it was just a huge number of police.

“They forcefully pushed

us back. Not physically but forcefully giving commands to just go back and persons like they rushed over the hill.”

He said it was a “complete misuse of police resources” to have 20 to 30 officers just to usher 30-50 people from downtown.

He claimed letters were forwarded to the relevant authorities, including Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle.

Earlier this month, Mr Roberts was arrested at the group’s last protest near Parliament Square calling for Atlantis workers to receive their severance pay from the resort.

Unlike the previous event, bull horns were not used so there wouldn’t be accusations of inciting any form of a riot, organisers said.

This time Mr Roberts was not arrested or taken into police custody while The Tribune was present.

Operation Sovereign Bahamas managing director Adrian Francis said the goal was to send a message to members of Parliament.

“Today we’re standing, whether it’s in the rain or it’s in the snow, we’re going to stand in their faces. We’re going to hand out letters to each parliamentarian. The watchwords in these letters is, if we can’t hear your voice we don’t want to see your faces in our houses.

“Independents speak on the behalf of the Bahamian

people because they are hungry and we’re going to march and protest until the government gets the message.”

The advocacy group has decided to march and protest every Wednesday against the government, the hotel union, and Brookfield for Atlantis staff.

He pointed to large sums of money the government has borrowed in less than four years, but Bahamian people still need assistance.

“We need to know where that money has gone,” Mr Francis said.

The group is calling for “an immediate shut down of the education system until January,” an immediate mortgage and rental assistance programme, full disclosure regarding Bahamas Power & Light and the “complete eradication of the shanty town environment”.

Atlantis worker Latasha Lewis, 41, said she has been at the hotel for 18 years.

She is not happy with the way workers have been treated during the pandemic.

“I fought so hard to bring up that hotel, to bring up the Ministry of Tourism,” she said. “This is what the government and hotel are gonna do to me? They ain’t send me no information. They ain’t give me no money. They ain’t did nothing. To get treated that way, I felt that was a slap in my face.”

Photo: Grand Bahama Development Company Ltd

PAGE 6, Thursday, October 22, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

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What do economic measures mean for you?

READERS may be forgiven if, after looking at the announcements made on extending the emergency powers and the recommendations for the recovery of the economy, they asked one question: What does all this mean for me?

Let’s start with what was predictable – the continuing surge of cases of COVID-19 in The Bahamas has meant the extension of emergency powers. The noises about reopening the economy at the start of November were looking increasingly hopeful rather than confident – and the sight of Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis and the Cabinet packing themselves off into quarantine after a positive test result for Minister of Works Desmond Bannister is as clear a picture as you can see of where we’re at right now. Our best wishes to Mr Bannister for his recovery, and to the Cabinet that they test negative.

We’ve talked a lot in this column about safety measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and this one example shows the consequences of a single case around a number of people.

But of the moves announced yesterday, it’s the economic ones that may well affect individual readers the most.

First, the bad news – the recommendation to reduce unemployment payments further will hit those already feeling the pinch in their pockets. The reasoning here is simple – with money thin on the ground, spread it out as long as possible. It’s not pleasant. It’s not welcome. The proposal shows how tenuous our situation is – and perhaps might be a necessity.

With tourism ground to a halt, Dr Minnis warned the economy “is in the worst state ever in our modern history, indeed much worse than the Great Recession of 2008”.

This we knew – so what will we do to help it rebound?

Marijuana legalisation is one of the cards being played – but while marijuana may be used as a treatment for many ailments, it will not be a cure for our economic ills on its own. Partnered with clearing records – and fewer jail sentences with it no longer being a crime – it will however cut costs on one side, give people a path back into work and raise some income. It needs to be done quickly, though, and the committee handling that side of the process has been anything but quick so far.

There will be extra funding for small businesses – and that is a smart move.

The big engines of the economy such as Atlantis or Baha Mar are one thing but it’s the small businesses that keep those engines turning – the suppliers, the contractors and so on, and the money

they pay to their workers quickly filters down through the system and gets things going. It also encourages the possibility of diversifying the economy. It’s nothing new, again, with the Small Business Development Centre well established, but it nudges things along. Still, it’s only $50m a year that’s being put on the table, and that can be gobbled up fast.

Some other things we know about – the cruise port, the Grand Lucayan project and so on – have also been highlighted, but again those are things that were in the works.

The demolition of the Customs warehouse and Festival Place is said to be “imminent”, and that will cause consternation for some finding alternative arrangements, but the timing of such a redevelopment is useful, in the tourism lull.

What’s on the table will help to grease the wheels, but it isn’t a revolution. This is a change of oil to help as the engines get going again, and welcome for that – not a whole new engine.

Now perhaps some of that isn’t a surprise – it’s not as if people weren’t trying to boost the economy before the pandemic, but there’s little out-of-the-box thinking on show.

There are pointers towards increasing agriculture, but not a detailed path for how to do so, and there aren’t indicators of plans to grow new industries, complete with offering work permits to lure them in.

We hope this is a starting point – and that there’s more to come, because the more ways we can find to reinvigorate our economy, the better.

Splashing out

Out with the old! Apparently, a new Cabinet Office is being planned – to be built on the existing site in Rawson Square.

It will tackle problems such as the unwanted indoor swimming pool in the office every time it rains – not a feature that is desired.

Apparently, the front section of the building is condemned.

The work will be done by Bahamians, so whatever is spent on it will go back into the economy, which might be a timely boost for some.

If we want an efficient government, then government needs an efficient space to operate in. Let’s get the job done and then demand officials deliver on their side of the equation.

Preferably without an indoor swimming pool this time.

Front Porch eating crow EDITOR, The Tribune.

THE individual or individuals behind the pseudonym, Front Porch, now a weekly columnist for The Tribune, are paragons of Bahamian left-wing liberalism.

In an October 2019 write-up entitled “Twisted theology and rancid homophobia of Rev Delton Fernander,” Front Porch said the following: “Infamous fundamentalists Franklin Graham, Jerry Falwell Jr and Pat Robertson have all manically claimed that hurricanes are often God’s punishment for homosexuality.”

This Front Porch piece was published on October 24, which was 54 days removed from Hurricane Dorian’s catastrophic landfall on Abaco and Grand Bahama.

Ironically, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s Rapid Response Team along with Samaritan’s Purse were in Abaco and Grand Bahama

days after the passage of Dorian, assisting thousands of needy Bahamians and Haitians.

With the devastation to the Rand Memorial Hospital, the healthcare system being virtually at a standstill on Grand Bahama.

Samaritan Purse’s presence on Grand Bahama was a God-send. The announcement that Samaritan Purse has established a field hospital in Nassau with the aim of assisting the Public Hospitals Authority’s ongoing fight with the COVID-19 pandemic is welcome news, especially with the COVID19 Dashboard recording over 5,600 confirmed infections in addition to 116 deaths.

According to The Tribune, Samaritan Purse will provide a 28-bed COVID19 isolation and treatment centre.

The Billy Graham Rapid Response Team, I understand, will work in conjunction with Samaritan’s Purse.

Ironically, both relief

organisations are headed by the “infamous fundamentalist” Franklin Graham.

What I find deeply disturbing and highly inappropriate about the aforementioned opinion piece was the timing of Front Porch’s broadside.

I stated last year in response to the columnist’s hit-piece that attacking Graham amounted to nothing more than biting the hand that feeds us and that an apology was in order.

Now approximately one year later, Mr Graham’s organisations are back in The Bahamas doing humanitarian work.

Meanwhile, Front Porch, to the best of my knowledge, has yet to acknowledge his wrongdoing in attacking the man for no legitimate reasons, other than the fact that Graham is an evangelical conservative.

KEVIN EVANS Freeport, Grand Bahamas.

October 19, 2020.

Time to build new hospital EDITOR, The Tribune.

WITH COVID 19 spreading like wildfire in The Bahamas, the Bahamian people are now finally focusing on the facilities at the Princess Margaret Hospital. They say it’s too small, it isn’t efficient, and a new one should be built.

Many years ago, Dr Andrew Esfakis and I were discussing the Princess Margaret Hospital. This was fifty years ago and his opinion was that, because of the traffic and the difficulty of getting there in an emergency, the hospital should be moved.

Years later, I had my first experience. My father-inlaw was seriously ill at his home in Nassau East. An ambulance was called to carry him to the hospital. I rode with him in the ambulance to the hospital.

It was during rush hour and the traffic was bumper to bumper. It took us almost two hours to get there. By the time we arrived, he was dead. As the years go by, the traffic gets worse. The time getting to the hospital gets longer.

When the large expenditure for the “new” hospital on the present site was discussed, I objected and said that the hospital should be moved; however, it was built anyway.

Several years ago, a member of our staff was rushed to hospital. One of my staff members dropped me at the entrance. When I entered the new section of the hospital, I was floored at the beauty and space of the entrance. I asked which door would take me to the emergency section.

A very helpful member of the hospital staff pointed to a door. I opened it, and to my shock the same old hospital was in front of

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net me. When I entered the emergency room, it was crammed full of people and appeared smaller than I remember the emergency room to be.

The doctor in attendance said that the patient needed to be in a dark room. He was rolled into a closet where only the gurney could fit. The closet was full of medical equipment.

Now they speak of spending so many millions to build this wing and that wing. It appears to be a real topsy-turvy operation.

We still can’t get there quickly in an emergency.

Same ol’ same ol’. So why not bite the bullet, move the location and build a completely new hospital?

It should be built on a large piece of land. Highways going to it should be large enough so that in an emergency cars would have room to pull on the side to get an ambulance through.

It should have adequate parking and room for a helipad so that patients from the family islands could get to the hospital easier.

And it should be designed in a modular fashion where new additions could easily be added.

Is this asking too much?

Aren’t our people entitled to that?

Where do we get the money? Good question.

Firstly, design it so that the entrance doesn’t look like a hotel lobby. Make it efficient.

Cut out the frills. For example, how much did those steps from Shirley Street to the Hospital’s entrance cost?

Are they used?

Close all of those

“pay-off” accounts in Miami, and insist on paying the “real” price for supplies.

Having now cut off the fat, let’s look at the bone.

Where’s the rest of the money coming from?

Believe it or not, the Princess Margaret Hospital is sitting on one of the most valuable economic properties in The Bahamas. Sell it! But not like it’s usually done. Divide the property into a real “economic subdivision”, and sell it to the various financial institutions, shops, etc.

Be sure that government doesn’t sell it all to one of its cronies at a low price and let him/her sell it at a real profit. Yes, folks, they know what I’m talking about.

Having covered most of the cost by the sale of the land, any bank would be happy to lend the rest of the money needed to finish the project.

But, before anything is done, there are no payoffs or under the table deals.

When I was a Cabinet Minister, a well-to-do gentlemen came to me to discuss investing in The Bahamas.

We talked about many things and when the meeting was over he said to me: “How much do I owe you, Minister?”

Shocked, I told him there was no charge and asked him why he asked me such a question.

He replied, “I was told that you had to pay the Minister.”

He was equally shocked when I told him that there was “no charge”.

So folks, there it is for what it’s worth. I know of what I speak.

PIERRE V L DUPUCH Nassau, October 21, 2020.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, October 22, 2020, PAGE 7

Six months jail for joint of marijuana

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net A 33-YEAR-OLD man who claimed he smoked marijuana to help him breathe better was yesterday sentenced to six months in prison.

Darius Burnside was charged with dangerous drug possession after police found a marijuana joint in his pants’ pocket on October 19.

The court was told that officers found the silver coloured foil wrap while they were searching Burnside at Fox Hill police station.

The prosecution also said officers found a knife with a six-inch blade attached to the defendant’s waistband during their search.

During his arraignment before Senior Magistrate Derence Rolle-Davis yesterday, Burnside was also charged with unlawfully carrying arms.

He pleaded guilty to both offences.

The court heard officers arrested Burnside near Grants Street around 9.55am on the day in question.

The prosecution said the defendant matched the description of a man who was wanted for assault with a deadly weapon. As a result, officers approached the defendant and arrested him. He was then taken to the Fox Hill police station.

When he was searched there, officers found a silver and black handle knife attached to his waistband.

They also found one silver foil wrap containing a gram of suspected marijuana in one of his pants’ pockets.

When he was questioned

by officers, Burnside said the marijuana was his. He also claimed he carried the knife with him for “work purposes”.

When given an opportunity to speak during the hearing, Burnside told the magistrate he worked as a car repairman. He said in addition to using the knife for work, he would carry it with him for “protection” when he “walked home in the night”. Burnside also said he had been in an accident involving “rusty iron on a boat trailer” and as a result, had developed respiratory issues. He claimed he “had to smoke marijuana” because it helped him breathe properly since his chest and throat “clogged” frequently.

In response, Magistrate Rolle-Davis told the defendant his explanation defied logic since smoking would kill a person if they couldn’t breathe. He told Burnside if he put something foreign in his nostrils it would not help him breathe better. He also noted the defendant had been convicted with the same offence three times in the past. Magistrate RolleDavis said it appeared as if Burnside’s previous punishments did nothing to deter his behaviour. As a result, he sentenced the defendant to six months at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.

He also fined him $50 for unlawfully carrying arms.

Magistrate Rolle-Davis said if the defendant failed to pay the fine, he would spend an additional ten days in custody.

Yesterday, another man appeared before Magistrate Rolle-Davis for a drug

related offence.

Trevor Bethel, 25, was charged with marijuana possession with the intent to supply, after officers saw him throw $120 worth of Indian hemp out of a window on October 20.

The court was told that around 3.20am on the morning in question, officers, acting on information, proceeded to a two-story yellow stone structure.

Upon their arrival, they saw Bethel fling a plastic bag out of a window from the second floor. Officers then proceeded to the area where the bag was thrown and examined it. When they did, they discovered that it contained 16 silver foil wraps all containing a quantity of suspected marijuana.

Bethel was subsequently arrested. In an interview with officers at the Drug Enforcement Unit, the defendant said he was in the area where the drugs were found, but denied being the owner of them.

During the hearing, Bethel was represented by attorney Jomo Campbell.

He told the magistrate his client was a father of two who was gainfully employed before the pandemic. Mr Campbell said because things were slow, Bethel decided to take a chance by selling drugs to see if he could make some money.

Still, he said, his client has come to the realisation that the drug business was not for him.

As a result, after accepting the defendant’s guilty plea, Magistrate RolleDavis fined him $1,000.

He warned him if he failed to pay the fine, he would spend three months behind bars.

BAIL GRANTED IN ROAD DEATH CASE

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net A 25-YEAR-OLD man who was accused of killing another man last month by driving recklessly was granted $10,000 bail ahead of his trial.

Rashard Newman was charged with one count of killing in the course of dangerous driving.

The prosecution alleged that around 9.50 o’clock on the night in question, Newman drove his vehicle along East Bay Street in a manner dangerous to the public, which ultimately led to the death of Devon Johnson on September 15.

He denied the allegation in a hearing before Senior Magistrate Derence RolleDavis yesterday.

During the arraignment,

Newman was also charged with driving without insurance as well as driving without a valid driver’s licence.

He pleaded guilty to those charges. However, because he denied the first charge, Magistrate RolleDavis adjourned the matter to December 14 for trial.

In the meantime, Newman was granted $10,000 bail.

MAN DENIES LYING TO POLICE OFFICER

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net A MAN who denied lying to a police officer was granted $1,000 bail ahead of his trial.

David Major was accused of deceiving Woman Constable White on October 18. The prosecution said the defendant committed the act in an attempt to evade arrest.

During a hearing before

Senior Magistrate Derence Rolle-Davis, Major denied the allegation and the matter was adjourned to January 28, 2021 for trial.

The defendant was granted $1,000 bail in the interim.

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PAGE 8, Thursday, October 22, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

Pope Francis and the Gospel of Love WHEN Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina was elected as pope in 2013 at the age of 76 and took the name Francis in memory of St Francis of Assisi (1181 or 1182-1226), a beloved relative proclaimed: “Pope Francis is not just going back to St Francis. He is going all the way back to Jesus and the gospel of love and mercy.”

Throughout his papacy Pope Francis has emphasised the priority of love and mercy, and the radical dignity of and respect for all human beings, especially those marginalised and stigmatised. Like St Francis, the poor are at the heart of his priestly and papal ministry.

Pope Francis’ pastoral, warm and compassionate leadership has manifested itself in myriad ways, sometimes controversially. In the past few weeks, he has again provoked the conscience of the world and his church.

He recently released Fratelli Tuti, his latest encyclical, on fraternity and social friendship, inspired

by St Francis and his abiding commitment to care for creation and the poor. He signed the new encyclical at the tomb of St Francis.

Pope Francis noted: “I was in Assisi to sign the new encyclical, Fratelli tutti, on fraternity and social friendship. I offered it to God on the tomb of Saint Francis…”

The encyclical and its critique of the degradation of the planet, rampant materialism, vast global

inequality, the various forms of rapacious capitalism, the mistreatment of migrants and minorities and other manifestations of discrimination, among other topics, provoked criticism from various quarters, including some corporate interests who benefit from an unjust social order.

In the encyclical, Pope Francis also sought to provoke the consciences of the rich and middle classes and how we all use the world’s goods and care for or abuse the environment through our personal and social habits, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and the global climate emergency, both of which are devastating the poor.

Like Jesus and St Francis, Pope Francis invites us to feel the sting of conscience and the demands of love and justice.

The head of the Roman Catholic Church has pressed the demands of racial equality, spoken of how the arms race continues to deprive the poor of basic goods and consistently spoken out against capital punishment and inequities in criminal justice.

There is a seamless gospel of love and mercy in the heart of Pope Francis.

The call to fraternity and social friendship evidenced in Fratelli Tuti, is the same spirituality and love for those who are discriminated against, such as gays and lesbians. For Pope Francis, love must be the animating force of our being and our attitudes and actions.

FAMILY Yesterday, as noted in an Associated Press story: “Pope Francis became the first pontiff to endorse same-sex civil unions in comments for a documentary that premiered Wednesday, sparking cheers from gay Catholics and demands for clarification from conservatives, given the Vatican’s official teaching on the issue.

“The papal thumbs-up came midway through the feature-length documentary ‘Francesco,’ which premiered at the Rome Film Festival.”

Pope Francis stated: “Homosexual people have the right to be in a family.

They are children of God. You can’t kick someone out of a family, nor make their life miserable for this. What we have to have is a civil union law; that way they are legally covered.”

The Pope’s comments are remarkable and will stir considerable reaction. They are reminiscent of other comments he has made about love for our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters.

In 2013, on a flight back to Rome from Brazil, Pope Francis sparked controversy in response to questions as to whether there was a “gay lobby” in the Vatican.

He responded in part: “If

a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?”

His fellow Jesuit Fr. James Martin, SJ, noted in a commentary at the time in The Washington Post in response to criticism of the Pope, including from various prelates and some religionists: “Throughout the exchange on the plane, Pope Francis, speaking in fluent Italian, used the English word ‘gay’. Previous popes and the majority of church leaders have been more likely to use words like ‘homosexual’, ‘homosexually oriented’ and even ‘persons suffering from same-sex attraction’.

“The pope moved rather quickly from a question about a ‘gay lobby’ in the Vatican to a comment about gay people in general. That is, he did not say, ‘If a gay priest is searching for God,’ but ‘If a gay person is searching for God.’ Then his remarkably compassionate comment: ‘Who am I to judge them?’”

Fr Martin continued: “So there is something new. ... But there is also something old. Pope Francis has not changed church teaching on homosexual activity. ... Instead, he turned to a portion of the old teaching that often goes overlooked: The Catechism says that gays and lesbians are to be

treated with ‘respect, compassion and sensitivity.’

HYPOCRITE “Even older is the unwillingness to judge... Jesus uses hyperbole to make sure his listeners understand, saying that you must take the ‘log’ out of your own eye before you can take the ‘speck’... from another person’s eye. In other words, if you want to judge someone, judge yourself. And just to be clear, Jesus adds: ‘You hypocrite!’”

Fr Martin directly addressed the question of judging: “The pope also knows that Jesus’s comment does not mean any of us will escape judgment. The Gospels are greatly concerned with judging moral activity... God’s judgment of our actions means that God is concerned about what we do. A God who doesn’t judge is a God who doesn’t care.

“But in the Gospels, it is God (or Jesus) who does the judging, not us.

Jesus counsels his disciples not to judge but rather to show mercy. Indeed, Jesus not only counsels this, he demonstrates it by consistently approaching public ‘sinners’ with an offer of forgiveness rather than condemnation.”

In 2013, when the Pope

demonstrated this love for and compassion toward gays and lesbians, some religious ministers at home called him reckless. He is in good company. Both St Francis and Jesus were also reckless with extraordinary acts of love.

Gays and lesbians are not so much seeking an affirmation of their so-called “lifestyle” – a derisive terms often applied by homophobes and those ignorant about many aspects of human sexuality – as much as they are seeking and rightly deserving of an affirmation of a shared humanity.

While prejudice, ignorance and hatred are still directed against homosexuals, we have made moral progress in The Bahamas in terms of loving and seeking to protect from abuse and discrimination our gay brothers and sisters. But we still have a long way to go to ensure greater justice and equality for gays and lesbians.

Pope Francis has called on the peoples and nations of the world to search their hearts, consciences and legal codes to root out injustice and to secure love and mercy for all of God’s children, including those who are gay and lesbian, and who will continue to demand justice and equality.

IN this May 21, 2015 file photo, Mauro Cioffari, left, puts a wedding ring on his partner Davide Conti’s finger as their civil union is being registered by a municipality officer during a ceremony in Rome’s Campidoglio Capitol Hill.

Photo: Gregorio Borgia/AP

THE TRIBUNE

A FRIEND here in Washington keeps close tabs on the US and its upcoming big election. She watches cable TV and she also reads some big American newspapers online and looks at The Economist, a British publication that may offer greater insight than many American news outlets. All things considered, she is up to date.

And, she thinks Donald Trump will absolutely win re-election in less than two weeks. Why? For the past year, she has been consistent in her rationale.

“I believe that Americans actually approve and agree with Donald Trump’s policies more than they don’t agree,” she said. “Sure, many folks are turned off

by Trump’s basic rudeness.

He seems to just burst out with whatever is on his mind at the moment. Not the greatest formula for avoiding insults or lies.

“Politics has become theatre in the US. It’s a diversion from our daily cares. And everyone’s talking about Trump. ‘What did he do today? Did you hear what he said’?”

She paused for a moment.

“But put all that aside.

Think about what he has actually done. Consider his foreign policy, for instance.

American Presidents have pretended for over 50 years that the US was committed to a just peace for Palestinians in any agreement with Israel. What nonsense!

The US has been Israel’s most steadfast and often only ally since just after the Second World War when Israel was created. Trump doesn’t pretend. He openly

Thursday, October 22, 2020, PAGE 9

WATCH OUT FOR THOSE POLLS - THERE’S A WHISPER THE DONALD COULD ACTUALLY WIN ANY OF THIS SOUND FAMILIAR? CUBANS in Miami have long been a pretty conservative bunch.

After all, they are descended from refugees who fled Fidel Castro’s Cuba and its socialist/Communist regime. South Florida Cuban-Americans have helped to keep the critical state of Florida moving gradually to the right and into a position where it has been decisive in national American elections. Remember Bush v Gore in 2000?

The current presidential election is playing out in Miami along deeply fractured ideological lines,

just as it is almost everywhere else. In response to some particularly harsh anti-Biden rhetoric recently, a more liberally-inclined Cuban-American wag offered the following list of ten things on his Dictator’s Checklist.

The list conjured up memories of Fidel Castro and other authoritarian leaders, but the pundit told the Washington Post the present occupant of the White House also checks all these ten boxes: 1. Wants military parades 2. Holds huge self-glorifying rallies

3. Loves to see his name on buildings 4. Appoints family members to key government jobs 5. Muses about jailing the press and political foes 6. Dreams about being President for life 7. Keeps his finances a secret 8. Suppresses the vote 9. Enriches himself while in office 10. Encourages vigilantes and militias Donald Trump as America’s Fidel Castro? Hmmm..

STATESIDE

with Charlie Harper

supports Israel, and clearly couldn’t care less about the Palestinians.

“It may not have been the best move for Trump to appoint his Jewish son-inlaw as his Mideast envoy, but Jared Kushner has appeared to help broker formal diplomatic ties with Bahrain and the UAE. More legitimacy could follow as Oman and others sign up with Israel.

“And you can’t deny that pushing back against China and its sneaky, technologystealing ways was a good move. No other recent American President has stood up to Beijing like

Trump has done. China and President Xi can’t push Trump around. I like that.

“And at home, his immigration policies actually fit where America is right now.

You’ve got rising unemployment, lots of people behind on their home mortgages, and with the virus still ravaging the population, you just don’t want a bunch of new immigrants coming in to take US jobs, and maybe bringing the virus with them.”

The economic boom over which Trump presided for the first three years of his presidency is still fresh in the minds of many in the

US, never mind the calamitous developments of this critical year. And many people are pointing to a very recent Gallup survey.

That poll found that 56 percent of Americans said they were better off now than they were four years ago, before Trump won the White House. That’s over ten percent better than Barack Obama, George W Bush or even Ronald Reagan polled at a comparable time before the election to decide if they would get a second term.

All of them, of course, did get their second term.

Still, other polls report that

only 42.2 percent of likely voters will choose Trump.

But some of those same polls were anointing Hillary Clinton as America’s first female President at about this same time four years ago.

That’s what the Democrats keep hammering, night and day. Don’t be complacent!

Let’s not repeat the mistakes the Clinton campaign made in 2016. Keep the faith! Stay the course! Keep pushing until the final bell rings!

At the same time some Republicans, especially in the Senate, are talking like they believe Joe Biden will prevail in the presidential race. Several, including Texas’ John Cornyn and Nebraska’s Ben Sasse, have virtually conceded the presidential contest already.

Are they just grandstanding to try to turn out the vote, and in Cornyn’s case, win re-election by seeming to part company with the President whose popularity is declining? Who knows?

And, outside parts of their own states, who cares?

What we do know is that nearly 35 million people have already voted, and that it appears as many as twothirds of them may have cast their ballots for Biden.

Trump spoke with the conservative American Enterprise Institute the other day. “Look, all I can do is create the greatest economy ever and we’ve done that,” he said. “I think Americans are going to want a great economy again as soon as we beat the virus. They know I can deliver. And I also think people are going to want law and order.”

Rioting and bloodshed in the streets of major American cities from Portland, Oregon to Washington, DC and from Atlanta to Minneapolis has underscored the need in many minds for tougher policies and more conservative judges.

Trump flubbed his first debate with Biden and now faces the last one tonight in Nashville. Some think it’s the President’s last chance to score real points in this campaign. Trump may feel it doesn’t matter how well some viewers feel he does as a debater. Many have reportedly already voted or made up their minds how they will vote, so the President might be correct.

What counts is whether or not the voters feel they are better off now than they were when he took office. If most voters feel their answer is ‘yes’, as the Gallup poll suggests, Trump may confound the pollsters and the odds and the conventional wisdom and win again.

And you thought we had it bad THIS has indeed been a sobering year, especially for public health and its effects on the human condition. A look back provides a bit of perspective, some of it downright scary. It does make you kind of wonder what we as a species have really learned in the past century.

One hundred years ago in 1920, the US was emerging from the

devastation of an avian flu pandemic that killed 675,000 people in America and an estimated 50 million worldwide. As estimated 500 million people were infected.

At the time, that was over five percent of the earth’s population.

The American Centers for Disease Control, still widely regarded as the gold standard of public health agencies despite President

Trump’s occasional contrary views, says the following on its website: “The properties of (the 1918 virus) that made it so devastating are still not well understood.

With no vaccine to protect against influenza infection and no antibiotics to treat secondary bacterial infections that can be associated with influenza infections, control

efforts worldwide were largely limited to isolation, quarantine, good personal hygiene, use of disinfectants and limitations of public gatherings, which were applied unevenly.”

Of course, we now have much more sophisticated antibiotics.

But does any of the rest sound familiar?

Now, the global population is

approximately four times as large as it was a century ago. That projects to a potential loss of 200 million people if social habits worldwide don’t change pretty dramatically and medical science doesn’t soon develop, test, manufacture and distribute a safe vaccine.

It all sort of puts other daily news into perspective, doesn’t it?

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PAGE 10, Thursday, October 22, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

The slaves who were experimented on by the ‘father of gynaecology’

By HEIDI DOWNES Antenatal Screening Counsellor Midwife, Queen Mary University of London

WHEN she was just 17, a slave girl called Anarcha was “given” to an ambitious young medic, along with two other slaves named Lucy and Betsey. They were branded “breeders” and forced to undergo torture in the form gynaecological experiments. Statues have been put up in honour of their torturer – the so-called “father of gynaecology”, Marion James Sims – yet their names have been expunged from the medical history books.

I am a midwife. In 2019, my journey in midwifery took an unexpected turn.

Six years after I qualified, I stumbled across this dark and harrowing fragment of midwifery’s history. As a midwife, I treat each woman and her family with kindness, respect and compassion – as laid down by the Nursing and Midwifery Council code.

The discovery of this hidden aspect of my profession’s history was a shock. It changed my practice forever and inspired me to launch a campaign to get recognition for these women and to make sure we continue to stand up against racial bias in healthcare.

I want this crucial part of obstetrics history to be part of the curriculum. The story

THIS 1952 painting by Robert Thom is the only known representation of Lucy, Anarcha and Betsey. of what these women went recognised. forgotten black women. through must be passed My petition (which now The atrocities perpedown to students. Anar- over has over 8,500 sig- trated by Sims occurred cha and the other women natures) is calling for a during the antebellum who were treated in this permanent sculpture or period in America in the barbaric way deserve to be statue to honour these mid-1850s, just before the start of Civil War. Sims was a young gynaecologist and desperately trying to make a name for himself.

NO PAIN RELIEF FOR SLAVES Anarcha, Lucy and Betsey were just three of the young, black, enslaved women who were gifted to Sims by their slave owners.

They had recently given birth and suffered irreparable post-delivery trauma which meant they were unable to work to their full capacity.

Research by the American historian Deidre Cooper Owens found that these women would have been seen as “breeders” whose “primary value” lay in their ability to reproduce.

The injuries these women suffered was referred to as Vesico-vaginal fistula (or VVF). This injury is often seen postnatally, following a difficult delivery and creates an abnormal connection between the bladder and the vagina, which often causes incontinence.

These injuries made the three young women perfect specimens for Sims and his experiments. He went on to use them to perfect his techniques in the most abhorrent conditions imaginable. Sims believed

Pearson Museum, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine that black people did not study found that “disparfeel pain like white people ity exists in maternal and so he did not use any form infant birth outcomes of of pain relief. Documenta- black, Asian and minortion showed how Anarcha, ity ethnic (BAME) women aged just 17, suffered up to giving birth in the UK, 30 brutal operations at the compared with the majorhands of Sims. ity”. The paper stated that Some of the gynaeco- maternity healthcare prological techniques and viders need to modify their tools Sims developed are current services to include still widely recognised. For “culturally competent” serexample, the “Sims posi- vice provision, meeting the tion” is recommended for diverse needs of evolving pregnant women who find demographic profiles. it comfortable for sleepThe Royal College of ing and the Sims speculum Obstetricians and Gynaeis stocked on every labour cologists has acknowledged ward in every NHS hospi- my petition and this year tal in the UK. But the story launched an “equality taskof how Sims perfected his force”, stating that “implicit techniques is still largely racial bias from medical unknown. staff can hinder consultations”. The RCOG said the aim of the new taskforce was to “better understand and tackle racial disparities in women’s healthcare and racism within the I learnt of Anarcha, Lucy obstetrics and gynaecology and Betsey’s story from workforce”.

Amali Lokugamage, an This is a great first step. obstetrician, gynaecologist But we want to create a and honorary associate pro- movement within the midfessor at University College wifery education system London. It was her work to acknowledge the input on decolonising the medi- of these forgotten women. cal education system that I hope this will filter down opened my eyes and forced into the care received by me to question the impact BAME women in the historical practices were maternity service. having on the care given Until we can acknowlto women from black and edge our past and honour Asian backgrounds. all of those people who A report from 2018 have contributed to our revealed that black women history we will not be able were almost five times more to move on and create an likely to die from preg- equal healthcare system for nancy and childbirth related all.

causes. Asian women were • Originally published on nearly twice as likely to die. theconversation.com Meanwhile, another

TODAY’S RACIAL BIAS