11012022 NEWS, SPORT AND BUSINESS

PHARMACIES CLOSE DOORS

...and retailers ignore deadline as price control row escalates

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE government was last night facing an open revolt after private phar macies were urged to “temporarily” close today due to the failure to resolve the price control expansion dispute by the November 1 deadline.

Shantia McBride, the Bahamas Pharmaceutical Association’s (BPA) presi dent, yesterday advised

members that the standmeant it was in “the best interest” of pharmacies to close their doors from today. There was no indication how long “temporarily” means. Meanwhile, food retailers are not implement ing proposed price controls by today’s deadline - and would not rule out closing their doors too if price con trol inspectors this morning descend and dish out fines for infractions.

HOSPITAL ALERT OVER RISE IN KIDS’ RESPIRATORY ILLNESS

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

PRINCESS Margaret Hospital is making the necessary adjustments to accommodate the rise in respiratory illnesses among children, hospital administrator Mary Light bourne-Walker said.

She said the number of children admitted to the

hospital on average has “tripled” because of the respiratory illness.

In a statement released earlier this month, the Public Hospitals Author ity said that there has been a “sharp” rise in respiratory illnesses fol lowing the reopening of school.

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter

FORMER Prime Min ister Dr Hubert Minnis yesterday criticised the Ministry of National Secu rity’s consultants on their “ineffective” performance in helping to address the country’s crime problem, saying the workers are “receiving the people’s money” but are not produc ing the desired results.

Dr Minnis also accused

WOMAN GOT A CALL TO COME OUTSIDE - THEN WAS SHOT DEAD

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

A WOMAN in her 40s was fatally shot after she was prompted to come outside of her home by a phone call early yesterday morning, police said. She has been identified by relatives as 42-year-old Patrice Sawyer.

According to Chief Superintendent Michael Johnson, sometime after 5am police received infor mation about the incident.

“Upon the officers’ arrival, they met the life less body of a female just on the outside of her residence, with apparent gunshot wounds to the upper extremities,” he told reporters at the scene.

“The information thus far that we’re working with is that sometime after five, we believe that she was summoned outside by a

this rate, this year’s murder count will no doubt outpace last year’s tally of 119.

“It will surpass last year’s numbers. That’s not a debate,” the Killarney MP told The Tribune yes terday. “But I would say that the PLP has failed to deliver a crime plan that works. Killings continue.

New Providence is becom ing increasingly lawless, but we have a lawless government.”

By JADE RUSSELL jrussell@tribunemedia.net

LAKEITHRA Russell was shot dead minutes after stepping off her mother’s porch to walk to a relative’s house who lived down the street.

A relative of the 27-yearold woman who was shot and killed on Sunday said Ms Stubbs had spent her last moments with her family.

“She didn’t know when she stepped off her moth er’s porch that would have been the last time,” the rel ative said.

the Davis administration of not having a workable plan to deal with the nation’s rising crime and said at

Hubert Minnis.

WITH PHARMACIES CLOSED, WHERE CAN YOU GET ASSISTANCE?

FOLLOWING the announce ment by the Bahamas Pharmaceutical Association with regard to the temporary closure of pharmacies, both the Ministry of Health and Wellness and the Public Hospitals Authority issued statements advising of the avail ability of clinic services.

The ministry advised hat the following clinics are available for the accessbility of pharmaceutical drugs:

• Elizabeth Estates Clinic,

9am-9pm

• Flamingo Gardens Clinic, 9am-9pm

• Fleming Street Clinic, 9am-8pm

• South Beach Health Centre, 9am-5pm

• Exuma Primary Care Centre, 9am-5pm.

Family Island residents are urged to contact their commu nity clinics for all pharmaceutical needs, as usual.

The Public Hospitals Authority

said that in response to the tem

porary closure of privately owned pharmacies, hours and staffing capacity would be extended at public facilities.

Princess Margaret Hospital remains open from 8amk-4pm to fill outpatient prescriptions. Until 10pm, PMH offers an oncall pharmacist for emergency requests. Additional pharmacists will be scheduled per shift to pro vide support.

Grand Bahama Health Services

is offering extended hours as follows:

• Eight Mile Rock Clinic, 9am-7pm

• Freeport Community Clinic, 8am-7pm.

The Hawksbill Clinic (8am-4pm) and Pearce Plaza (9am-5pm) will maintain out patient pharmacy services as usual.

Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre has resumed hours of 9am-4pm to fill outpatient

prescriptions. The PHA said: “Patients are encouraged to utilise the PHA’s Client Feedback Lines to report concerns or request additional assistance. Please call the Prin cess Margaret Hospital Client Feedback Line at 825-3438 or the Rand Memorial Hospital Client Feedback Line at 350-6700 ext. 2079.”

The public is also urged to watch for further advisories and updates.

RADIO HOUSE Trick or Treat

SCENES from the Trick or Treat party held at Radio House for Halloween.

Photos: Austin Fernander

Woman got a call to come outside - then was shot dead

well. And I asked her what happened, but they thought she get hurt.

MINNIS: CRIME CONSULTANTS ARE FAILING

“A government who would not produce a report, an investigative report in terms of its own minister that’s accused of (alleged) assault of a police officer and...a government that has not been following the Public Procurement Act so we have a lawless govern ment so what do you expect society to follow.”

This year’s murder count currently stands at 113, according to The Tribune’s records. This comes after four people, including two women, were shot and killed between Saturday and Monday.

The other two victims were men on bail for seri ous crimes, this newspaper understands.

Yesterday, Dr Minnis said the Bahamian people are tired of the senseless kill ings and called on the prime minister and those engaged by his government to do their jobs so Bahamians can feel safe.

“It is the responsibility of the prime minister to lead the policy response to crime and all the prime minister likes to do is travel to get away from his responsibili ties and I want to further say that we’re having a crime crisis in New Providence and the prime minister is abandoning his post to take a large contingent to Egypt on a conference and that is certainly not leadership.

“The British Prime Min ister has decided that he will stay at home as opposed to going to a conference because he has issues within the UK that he has to deal with and then the Baha mian people must continue to pressure the government to deliver a sensible crime (plan), that we as a people cannot accept this level of killing and violence in New Providence.”

He also had similar words for consultants in the Min istry of National Security. One of them is popular talk show host Rodney Moncur.

Pastor Carlos Reid, another consultant at the ministry, said last month that officials have been doing consistent mediation between rival gangs.

He also revealed plans to start the government’s

“violence interrupters” initiative, saying once the programme is up and run ning it will help reduce crime in the country.

Still, for Dr Minnis, not enough has been done.

“Obviously those consult ants are not producing, they are receiving the people’s money but they are not producing because crime, violence and violent crimes and murders are going up,” the former prime minister said.

“When you look at the FNM’s track record in 2017, the murder count was 122. In 2018, the murder count was 91, violent crime was also down. In 2019, the murder count was (96), vio lent crime was also down. In 2020, the murder count was 73 and though they may say the pandemic did this, but look at the record, it was coming down even before the pandemic.”

“It’s clearly demonstrated that the FNM under the Minnis administration had some degree of control on the crime and violence. It was coming down, but now we’re dealing with a lawless government and the people are being led by a lawless government.”

Free National Move ment deputy leader Shanendon Cartwright also weighed in on the issue yesterday, saying that while he understands that crime is a multifaceted issue, there needs to be some sort of government intervention.

He continued: “We said to the government to come up with a multifaceted solution that involves all stakeholders in society but the government must lead and it seems as though the government is paralysed to deal with this issue as bodies continue to drop throughout the Common wealth of The Bahamas.

“Bahamians are outraged as they should be. You look at the carnage this weekend and it almost seems unfor tunately that every other day and every weekend, phones are lit up and social media about another one, two or three murders in this country so we believe that the government in this regard is failing the Baha mian people on the issue of crime.”

SUSPECT SHOT BY POLICE

POLICE shot an armed robbery suspect while responding to a call in the area of St James Road yesterday.

According to initial information from police, officers were responding

phone call. As she went on the outside of a residence, the family members heard what sounded like three gunshots. When they went outside to investigate, they met a loved one on the out side of a residence.”

Asked if police had evi dence to suggest the victim knew the assailant, he answered: “No, we cannot say that at this time.”

The Tribune met the vic tim’s father, Percy Sawyer, at the scene yesterday.

When this newspaper arrived at the victim’s house, a number of people had already gathered, some wailing in anguish.

Mr Sawyer recalled the ordeal noting that he remembered hearing the gunshots, but had no idea that his daughter had been fatally wounded.

“The only thing I heard was two gunshots and it

seems to be so close,” he told The Tribune

“So then I heard her mother in there — she was hollering. So I come down as I said, don’t tell me they shoot gunshot across from the road and it come in the house.

“But when I reached the door, I meet her, you know, trying to find a way outside because she don’t see too

“Then she said, ‘Noth ing happened to me’. So I decided to go to the next door where my daughter be. And she said she ain’t there.”

He said he went outside and saw his daughter lying dead with an apparent gunshot to the head and another to the upper body.

He also said: “Appar ently, whoever it was she must be see the gun and she must be decide to run.”

Asked if his daughter had complained about having problems with someone in her life, her father said this was not the case. He said if his daughter was having issues with someone, she would have talked to him about it.

This is not the first trag edy for the family. Mr Sawyer said his son was murdered several years ago.

“It’s hard to say, but that’s

the world we live in,” Mr Sawyer said about losing children to violence. “It’s nothing you can say. It seems to me like despite everything else it’s like a door – a revolving door. You today, you tomorrow. There’s nothing we can do.” He said the family has not had closure over his son’s murder.

“We just get a bunch of paperwork, you put it on the shelf and (catch) dust and nothing happens because six years going on seven years nobody never come to me one day and say ‘Mr Sawyer, we have this or Mr Sawyer we got this...”

This killing comes after three people, including two men on bail for serious crimes, were shot dead in separate incidents over the weekend.

Anyone with information on these crimes is asked to contact CID at 5029991/2 or Crime Stoppers at 328-(TIPS)-8477.

MURDERED JUST MINUTES AFTER LEAVING HOUSE PORCH

walk around the corner with her to meet her sister, instead they were con fronted by gunshots as they walked.

Ms Stubbs eventually decided to walk over to her sister’s house who lived a corner down. No more than two minutes after she left, her family heard a series of gunshots.

According to police, it was shortly before 7pm on Sunday when the inci dent occurred at Lightbourne Avenue, Rock Crusher.

A group of people were standing on Lightbourne Avenue talking, when a small Japanese vehicle approached. Two men got out of the vehicle, one allegedly armed with a high-powered weapon, and began discharging multi ple shots in the direction of the crowd, police said.

The incident resulted in four per sons receiving gunshot injuries. Ms Stubbs died at the scene and a man in his early 30s died on the way to the hospital.

The other two victims, a man and a woman, remain in hospital under phy sician’s care. The male deceased was on bail for murder and being electron ically monitored.

A day earlier, a man on bail for murder was shot dead in the area of Sixth Street and Poinciana Avenue.

The relative believed Ms Stubbs was just at the wrong place at the wrong time, noting that her cousin, who accompanied her that night, was also injured.

“She (Lakeithra) wanted to go out and wanted to know if her sister wanted to go. She attempted to call her sister, but she wasn’t picking up,”

“She (Lakeithra) left no less than two minutes. Because as soon as she stepped off the porch I said I was going to use the restroom and like literally as soon as I entered the bathroom that’s when I heard the gunshots.

“Soon as they went on the corner turn through, whoever the individual was just started shooting,” the relative said.

The relative said it was heart-break ing knowing the victim lost her life to gun violence, especially because she was an innocent bystander.

“I just wish that people would learn to resolve their issues, violence isn’t the way. You have to think about the consequences when you take a per son’s life, they’re no longer here. And who has to deal with the after impact.”

Ms Stubbs was described as a “fash ionista” who had a kind and outgoing spirit.

She came from a close-knit family who loved her dearly.

The murder count for the year cur rently stands at 113, according to this newspaper’s records.

Police are actively investigating and appealing to members of the public who might have informa tion that can assist them with their investigation into this matter. They urge anyone with any information to contact them at 911/919, the Crimi nal Investigations Department at 502-9991/2 or Crime Stoppers at 328TIPS (8477).

to an armed robbery when the suspect “engaged” police.

The suspect was shot and taken to hospital, police said, however his condition was unknown up to press time.

the relative said. Ms Stubbs had asked her cousin to

from page one

PATRICE SAWYER

PERCY SAWYER, the father of Patrice Sawyer, who was shot dead yesterday. Photo: Moise Amisial

from

one

LAKEITHRA STUBBS, who was shot and killed on Sunday.

Students to be assessed for identify those falling behind

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

ACTING education director Dominique McCa rtney-Russell yesterday confirmed the Ministry of Education has rescheduled the testing of students for learning loss, saying officials are now hoping to begin the exercises in November.

“We have a company that is going to assess the children, but we have not started it as yet. We actually put together a team. We

have a project manager and her team and they are going to (ensure) that it gets done,” she told The Tribune yesterday.

“The team is actually reviewing all of the docu mentation so I can’t give you a specific date. We are trying to have this done by the end of November. We’re really working assid uously to get this done.”

In July, Education Min ister Glenys Hanna Martin announced plans to have students tested for learning loss in early October.

DUNKIN FOR BOOBIES RETURNS TO HELP FIGHT BREAST CANCER

AFTER being on hold for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Radio House’s Dunkin for Boobies fundraiser returned last weekend.

The event, held on Friday, raised more than $7,000 which will be used in the fight against breast cancer.

“It is great to be able to do it again and we thank our dedicated sponsors, many of whom have been with us from the beginning,” said Ollie Dupuch-Ferguson, chief operating officer of

The Tribune Media Group.

“We are pleased to be able to support this impor tant cause as women and men both suffer from breast cancer and we are happy to be able to sup port the Cancer Society of The Bahamas in their good work.

“With our sponsors we hope that this sends a posi tive message that a recovery is underway and there is reason to be positive about the future.”

She said the move would allow officials to have a better understanding of COVID’s true impact on education in The Bahamas.

“We will then know definitively the true impact of COVID-19 on learning in The Bahamas and the necessary responses will be implemented by way of acceleration programmes for each student where applicable,” Mrs Hanna Martin said in the House of Assembly.

Asked about the delay yesterday, Mrs

McCartney-Russell said: “The delay really is putting the team together in ensur ing that we got the project manager and their team.”

However, she could not say how long it will take for officials to test students.

Nonetheless, she said they were excited to begin to plan the way forward so students can quickly catch up in areas where they are challenged.

“I’m so excited about it because this will be the first time that we’re check ing all of these children to

discover what are some opportunities for remedia tion so we’re excited,” she said.

“There are some losses.

The children, they were in the virtual environment and while some of them did very well and were able to cope in that environment, some were not able to and we want to ensure at the end of the day that we catch them very quickly so that they don’t fall further behind.”

Education officials have previously lamented the pandemic’s effect on

education as quite severe with data showing signifi cant learning loss.

This is largely due to classes being held in a vir tual format for most of the pandemic as opposed to an in person setting, the latter which has fewer distractions.

“We do have the after-school enrichment programme for literacy and numeracy so we do have those after school,” the acting director said of the ministry’s catch-up pro grammes for students.

Symptoms of the illness include fever, cough, and runny nose, which are usually mild and are easily addressed by a primary care physician in an office or clinic setting.

Yesterday at the commissioning cer emony of the newly renovated Rand Lab, Ms Lightbourne-Walker said like hospitals around the world, PMH

is faced with the “burden” of accom modating the additional intake of children patients. She said the hospi tal has set up a temporary emergency space and repurposed four rooms in the intensive care unit for a certain age group of children.

She said: “I would say that from average, you would average about maybe about four to five patients being admitted on an average day, however you can triple that now.

.looking at the number of persons pre senting and requiring service.”

.

She also said: “I do know that we’ve put out some PSAs advising the public that for certain illnesses, you do go to your primary health care physician in the first instance. But the children, they do deteriorate very rapidly and when you see them start to have tem peratures and difficulty breathing, the emergency room is the place for you to come for them to get help.”

Photos: Austin Fernander

Darville: We’re willing to talk on outsourcing

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

HEALTH and Well ness Minister Dr Michael Darville said officials are still open for discussions to find the best solution after Princess Margaret Hospi tal consultant physicians expressed concerns over the government’s proposed plan to “outsource” care to Doctors Hospital.

He noted officials are in communication with all the physicians as well as sur geons at PMHl, but made it clear the hospital is in disre pair and needs renovation.

Consultants from PMH’s Department of Internal Medicine criticised the plan in a document dated Octo ber 20, which details how some PMH patients would be relocated to Doctors Hospital West, saying there is no justification for it.

The minister had previ ously told The Tribune that some “extensive renova tions” at PMH are planned. He said the upgrades cannot take place with patients on the wards and they are looking to partner with Doctors Hospital West to assist the hospital.

Yesterday, he said offi cials renovate the hospital with patients on the ward –calling it a “no-no”. Hence the need to find a loca tion to move patients in the short term in order to complete the renovation exercise.

“We have been reaching out to the private sector to guide us and support us. We saw Doctors Hospital West as a perfect location where we can move individuals who will reside in female medical one, move them in a safe environment, so our contractors can come in and do the necessary renovations that have been outstanding for years,” he said.

“We also have an eleva tor that is responsible for moving patients from the accident emergency to female medical one. The elevator is not operat ing properly, and service elevators are now having difficulties, we need to

move and we need to move quickly.

“With that being said, we want to make sure that our physicians and our staff are happy. But we are still in discussions with Doctors Hospital and discussions are still ongoing with the medi cal staff here at the Princess Margaret Hospital.”

He explained the outsourcing plan as a “tem porary measure” to get renovations done.

“That is all this exercise is about and we are still open for discussions and questions to find the best solution that can be able to have this done in the short term.”

However, Dr Darville said the cost of the pro posed plan is not completed as yet.

Public Hospitals Author ity’s managing director Aubynette Rolle said there are 51 beds that are out of commission simply because they cannot reach them.

Hence the need to repair the elevator, which is expected to take 12 to 14 weeks.

“So in the interim, what we are doing, we are max imising that time,” Ms Rolle said. “So I think the public needs to understand that everything that we are doing is for the best inter ests of the patients and, yes, we are collaborating with our partners. We can’t do anything without the physician.

“We cannot delay any longer. All of the eleva tors, even the service elevators, need now to be repaired and so that is the approach,” she said.

“So as soon as we have come to a conclusion, as soon as we know what costing is, we will be more than happy to share it with our colleagues as we move forward to care for the patients.”

Yesterday, former Health Minister Dr Duane Sands responded to the points raised by the consultants. The Free National Move ment chairman said he thinks they have raised some “very significant concerns” and it is criti cally important that their

concerns are “considered and incorporated” into any decisions moving forward.

“What is clear, is that there are a number of areas at Princess Margaret Hospi tal in particular, that remain shuttered, dishevelled, in significant need of renova tion, and in total it accounts for almost 150 beds. I think the actual numbers are about 120,130,” Dr Sands said.

“When you look at the way forward, it is critically important that the people who labour in the vineyard every day that their voices are heard. And that this becomes, you know, not another example of acting without consultation and then trying to run back and cover your tracks.

Dr Sands made it clear that he has not seen the draft plan and all he knows are the details that have been referenced by the Department of Internal Medicine.

Asked if he agreed with the outsourcing based on the information released, the former minister said: “Given the limited amount of information, I’m not trying to be coy, without a holistic plan, timeline, budgets, etc, I would be very concerned.

“Bear in mind that the accident and emergency renovation that I started, which was supposed to be completed in 18 months, is still going on and this is now almost three years since I demitted office.”

Dr Sands posed questions regarding the wider prob lems facing the hospital.

“I’ve used this cliche several times recently - the devils in the details. I mean, what are you intending to do? You know, is there going to be a rapid fire off renovation? Or are you planning on shuttering the hospital for God knows how long. The plans for replacing the elevators have been on the drawing board now for years,” he said.

“When you then add the significant cost, you got to ask whether or not that is an appropriate expenditure of limited funds. And then if you are going to topple

MORGUE ‘CAN HANDLE’ MAJOR CATASTROPHES AFTER REFURBISHMENT

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS lmunnings @ tribunemedia.net

HEALTH Minister Dr Michael Darville said Prin cess Margaret Hospital’s Rand Lab has the abil ity to handle an influx of bodies following its recent refurbishment.

Yesterday, Dr Darville attended the blessing and commissioning ceremony of the newly renovated Rand Lab/Morgue.

The three-phase project was estimated to cost about $500,000 since its com mencement in October of last year, according to the minister of health.

As the country grappled with the surge of COVID19 related and unrelated deaths, the public hospital’s morgue was said to be oper ating beyond capacity.

However, yesterday Dr Darville assured members of the public that the hospi tal is now fully equipped to handle major catastrophes and bodies from the recent surge in homicides within the country.

“The morgue itself has adequate freezer space, but, of course, in the events of pandemics or natural dis asters we have a plan that we’re about to activate,” he told reporters yesterday at the commissioning cer emony of the Rand Lab.

“But this was the first step to basically get this facility to a point whereby we can provide the services more efficiently.

“Mass casualty is some thing that is on the drawing board for the PHA, the government and we have some strategic plans in order to be able to facili tate, God forbid we have a situation similar to Hurri cane Dorian.”

Dr Darville also added that the government is seeking to establish a national morgue facility in New Providence, which will be responsible for the national morgue and the national lab and diagnostic centre.

“We are definitely look ing to provide the necessary space in New Providence to be able to handle events of mass casualty. As you are aware, we spoke specifically about the construction of a new state of the art facility here in New Providence,” he said yesterday.

With the recent rise in crime and the country’s climbing murder count, Dr Darville was adamant that the national morgue has the “capability of handling such cases”.

He said: “We have the capability to handle such cases and we have the nec essary professional staff in order to guide forensic,

as well as the Royal Baha mas Police Force, in the necessary crime factor, so that if the case goes to court, the coroner as well as those who are involved in law enforcement will be able to be a part of the prosecution.”

When asked by report ers about the number of coroners to date, Dr Dar ville said he was unable to answer.

Mary LightbourneWalker, PMH hospital administrator, said, aside from the regular influx of patients the institution faces on a regular basis, the recent surge in crimes within the nation serves as a “burden” for the hospital and its long-standing issues.

She said victims of crime usually end up with gunshot or stab wounds.

“Yes, they do place a burden on us here at the Princess Margaret Hospital in the emergency room, not withstanding that persons come normally if they’re having issues with their chronic non-communicable diseases, with hypertension, heart disease,” she said.

She said this “everyday challenge” also poses a security threat, however the hospital is committed to ensuring that the environ ment is conducive for the safety of both clients and hospital personnel.

the applecart in terms of supervision you know you got the tail wagging the dog in terms of who is respon sible for patients - it raises so many serious issues. I would want to know why

you don’t just actually oper ate and prepare the floors.

I’d want to know why we can’t renovate one or two wards at Princess Marga ret Hospital. I’d want to know why we can renovate

the blood bank -these are specific concerns, actual current concerns as opposed to thinking hun dreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars into out sourcing care.”

Funeral Service for REVD. DR. CHARLES BENSON J. R. HEADLEY, 66

of Johnstone Ave., Stapledon Gardens, will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, November 3rd, 2022 at Wesley Methodist Church, Malcolm Road, East. Officiating will be Bishop Theophilus N. Rolle and other Ministers of The Methodist Church of The Caribbean and Americas. Interment will follow in Ebenezer Methodist Cemetery, Shirley Street.

Loving memories will be held by his, Wife: Delison A. Watkins-Headley; Stepdaughter: Earlison Curry; Sister: Helen Grace HeadleyKwan; Brother: John Albert (Lucretia) Casey; Aunt: Deaconess Beverley Bain; Uncle: George Headley; In-laws: Cynthia Wells, Philip & Antoinette Watkins, R. Mervin Watkins, Rev’d. Dr. Wendy & Rev’d. Dr. Vaughan Cash Sr., Raymond & Gloria Watkins, Melony & Claude Hanna, Rev’d. Gary & Janet Watkins, Gloria Knowles, Francina Watson (Aunt), William Butler (Uncle); Nieces, Nephews & their families: Timothy (Sarah) & Andrew Kwan of England, Nia Headley, Cherfelt, Chercovie and Chernette Wells, Chervonne (Anthony I) Griggs, Phililp (Emily) Watkins Jr., Anishka, Nathania & Philippa Watkins, Sherrill Poiter, Heather (Dario) Hunt, Lydia (Khalid) Wright, Abagail (Clint Sr.) Clarke, Atalia & Vaughan Cash Jr., Conroy, Raynessa & Rayanna Watkins, Torez (Corrie) Hanna, Melissa Hanna, Janae & Janell Watkins, Janiece (Rev’d. Dr. Don) Clarke and Adelia Major; Grand Nieces & Nephews including: Amber & Rupert Kwan (England); Other Relatives: Amanda, Jeffrey, Davina, Nicole, Michelle, Wendy, Peter and Dwayne Headley, Inell Williams, Miriam Smith, Marjorie Britton, Inez Ferguson, Rosetta Scavella, Laura Rolle, Pastor Hervis (Anita) Bain III, Minister Hevissa (Daniel) Pratt, Heather Bowles, Darnel Bain, Michael Bain, Novette ThompsonHeadley (former spouse); Family Friends: Andrew & Christine Sweeting, Emma Pickstock, Lorraine Pickstock, Dr. Roger & Sharon Brown, Althea Albury, Carlton & Esther Blair, Barbara Knowles, Cleomie E. Woods, Sylvia Gibson (Miami, FL), Kenris Carey, Cheryl Carey, Miriam Curling, Sharon Ferguson, Karen Munroe, Mr. & Mrs. Anthony Thompson, Cathrine McPhee, Coleen Boyd, Dr. Andrew Hunter, Adrian & Marsha Mitchell, WPC 1197 Roberts, Audrey Tucker, Grand Bahama – Joann Glinton, Elmarie Williams, Donna & Ivan Russell, Sis. Dorcus Sawyer, Mr. & Mrs. Levictus Wright, Mr. & Mrs. Esau Wright, Bruce Callendar, Carl & Lynne Daehler (North Carolina), In the United Kingdom - Hoki Kwan, Rev’d. Dr. Carlton Turner, Norma Sobers & Family, Sister Lucy Boyle, The West Indian Community of Bath, Avon, Coleen Nnyanzi, Cauline Ellis, Jaqui Barrow, Bethsheva Sands, Oswald, Habakkah and Boris Ferguson, Annafaye Knowles, Lady Hazel Butler (USA), Alma Ferguson, Deaconess Rebecca Smith, Deaconess Jackie Cox, Ida Moxey, Bishop Theophilus Rolle, Rev. Dr. Raymond Neilly, Rev. Kenneth Lewis, Rev. Emily Demeritte and the Ministers and Laity of The Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands Conference of the Methodist Church (MCCA) and The Bahamas Conference of the Methodist Church (BCMC), Bishop Laish & Joanna Boyd, Canon Basil & Mrs. Tynes, Canon Curtis & Mrs. Robinson, Rev’d. Carl Campbell, Rev.’d. Father Roderick & Mrs. Bain, Rev’d. Father Kristopher & Mrs. Higgs, St. Barnabas Parish Church family, Fr. Enrique & Brenda McCartney, Ronnie & Sherry Stephenson, and the neighbours of Johnstone Avenue; Special Thanks to The Team of Health Care professionals including: Dr. Gertrude Holder, Rev’d. Dr. Ronald Hamilton, The Princess Margaret Hospital, The Rand Hospital, Freeport, Grand Bahama, Dr. C. D. Tseretopoulos and the staff of Bahamas Heart Institute, Lyford Cay, and The City Hospital Birmingham.

May His Soul Rest in Peace!

Friends may pay their last respects at Bethel Brothers Morticians & Crematorium, #44A Nassau Street on Wednesday, November 2nd, 2022 from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and at the church on Thursday, November 3rd, 2022 from 10:00 a.m. until service time

HEALTH and Wellness Minister Michael Darville.

1903-1914

O.B.E.,

LL.D.,

DUPUCH CARRON, C.M.G., M.S., B.A.,

1972-1991

1972-

(242) 322-1986

(242) 502-2394

(242) 502-2386

(242) 328-2398

(242)-352-6608

(242) 352-9348

Aisha shows we can reach for the stars

AISHA Bowe is making history.

She is to become the first Bahamian to go into space – on board a commercial flight with Blue Origin, the spaceflight company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos.

Aisha’s father was a taxi driver who made money driving fares to pay for an engineering degree. Raising his family in the US, he always encouraged her to imagine something more. And imagine she did.

This is not the first time she has made history as a Bahamian. Aisha was also the first Bahamian woman to work with NASA as an aerospace engineer.

And she is also giving back to others – she formed a tech company and has encouraged students to pursue a career in STEM (science, technology, engineer ing and math).

In the summer, she reached out to 50 Bahamian students to help them attend a coding camp.

And soon she will show those stu dents just how far they can go if they succeed in their careers – all the way to space.

We live in a time where the economy is tight, where we are just emerging from a pandemic that has killed far too many and changed our society in ways we are still coming to terms with.

Daily – even today – there are head lines about murders. There are political frustrations, fears about climate change, all these things and more.

So it is with joy that we take the opportunity to hail a Bahamian woman who has literally reached for the stars –and achieved her goal.

When we look at all the frus trations and difficulties in our society, we would do well to remem ber Aisha Bowe – someone who has shown that with determination and hard work, all manner of things can be possible.

We applaud Aisha – for the achieve ments she has recorded, and the inspiration she has become.

Price controls

Bringing us down to Earth with a bump is the ongoing wrangle between the government on one side and retail ers and pharmacies on the other.

Today, pharmacies are closing their doors because no solution has been found in time for the November 1 deadline.

The move has been described as temporary – but without any end date, bringing the prospect of more than one day of pharmacy closures.

It is obvious, but it is worth reiterating how much of a challenge this may be to people, particularly those needing pre scriptions filled, and so on.

The government has announced a number of clinics that will be available for pharmaceutical drugs, but clearly any prolonged disruption would be a major problem.

The announcement by the Bahamas Pharmaceutical Association cited “a lack of consultation from the govern ment with the pharmacy industry on the Price Control Regulations Amendment 2022”.

An emergency meeting was being held by the government last night in response – and pharmacists may not be the only ones closing their doors. Food stores too have lamented the lack of a response from the government to pro posals put forward as a counter to price control changes, and shutting down gro cers could be an option if price control inspectors start trying to enforce new controls due to take effect today.

Clearly, it’s a mess – and equally clearly there was a complete absence of consultation by the government ahead of introducing the changes.

The government has stirred up this hornet’s nest – now the government has to find a solution, and that won’t be made any easier by insisting on a dead line but not giving businesses a swift response in time to meet that deadline.

This needs to be solved – and fast.

The terrible truth about marital rape

EDITOR, The Tribune.

“A LIE doesn’t become truth, wrong doesn’t become right, and evil doesn’t become good, just because it’s accepted by a majority.” - Booker T Washington.

First of all, rape is not about sex. Sex has little to do with it; sex becomes the weapon, the vehicle to accomplish the desired result, which is to harm, control, embarrass, and humiliate the spouse.

Marital rape is rarely an isolated incident or attack; it often comes with other forms of abusive behav iours. It is one of the most highly under-reported violent crimes, not only damages the body but which also leaves a per manent scar in the mind of the victim, and when it occurs within the four-walls of a matrimonial home, it reduces the woman to the status of an object used merely for sexual gratification.

The uncomfortable truth we face besides a ‘rape cul ture’ emerge from a recent study conducted by the University of The Bahamas, which revealed the startling number of married women who had reported being raped by their spouses in

The Bahamas.

So, what is marital rape?

“Marital Rape (Spousal rape) is defined as any unwanted sexual act by a spouse or ex-spouse, com mitted without consent and/or against a person’s will, obtained by force, the threat of force, intimida tion, or when a person is unable to consent (www. lawteacher.net)

Reportedly, the sexual acts include intercourse, anal or oral sex, forced sexual behaviour with objects or other individuals, and other sexual activi ties that are considered by the victim as degrading, humiliating, painful, and unwanted.

Rape is a crime, be it within a marriage or oth erwise. It is horrible, inhumane, and not an acceptable behaviour in any relationship.

Forced sex on one’s spouse is not an act of love, respect and support; it is an act of power and violence.

Marital rape breaks the marriage vows, and mar riage does not give a spouse the license to rape his wife with impunity.

That being said, the answer to, “Can a hus band rape his wife?” is a resounding YES!

And offenders come from various socio-eco nomic status, race, ethnicity and cultural backgrounds. Many are deemed “ordi nary” “well-respected” and “normal” individuals in society.

Now, I want to be clear: most husbands in this country are moral citizens and law-abiding individuals. Despite that, there are others who assert power and control over their victims behind closed doors.

Rape is real and a vic tim’s voice should not be dismissed, please read this carefully: “While a mur derer destroys the physical frame of the victim, a rapist degrades and defiles the soul of a helpless female.”

- Justice Arijit Pasayat, Tul sidas Kanolkar v. State of Goa (2003).

This is not just a marriage issue. This is everyone’s issue.

And how are we biting the bullet?

EDITOR, The Tribune.

ACCORDING to The Tribune, government offi cial Rochelle Newbold spoke at the Rotary Club, echoing the PM’s procla mations regarding climate change.

She made the statement, “The only thing we can do, come November, COP27, we have to go to the table and we have to remind them and we have to call them out. The same way we have to bite the bullet and do the right thing, they also have to bite the bullet and do the right thing.”

Pray tell Ms New bold, how we here in The Bahamas have bitten the bullet?

Is it by having high edu cational standards, insuring that our population is cog nizant of the science and our own personal impacts on climate change?

Is it by

responsible government spending, investing in our communities?

Is it by our government investing in producing elec tricity by solar, wind and tidal energy, all abundant in The Bahamas?

Is it by the adequate plan ning and investment for the future by our political officials? Is it by telling oil drillers to go take a hike?

Is Ms Newbold suggest ing that The Bahamas has done anything but talk about climate change?

From my perspective, the vast majority of Bahami ans know nothing about the current and emerging science regarding climate change and its increasing effects on The Bahamas.

Bahamian government officials seem even more ignorant of the science, except for how it applies to their own political power.

The idea that The Baha mas has “bitten the bullet”

is laughable and a lie. The one thing we do best here is talk. Talk, talk, talk, talk.

Look at Bahamas Air, Bank of Bahamas, Water and Sewerage, and BPL to name just a few organisa tions that we have failed at improving for decades now. And, you want us to believe that we are capa ble of dealing with climate change? This is why we are going to Egypt? To put our hand out and beg for money? Money that we will squander. Just as we have with every other existential problem that exists here. My advice. Stay home and save us the travel expenses. Fix our own problems here at home first. The many, many problems that we have clearly failed at fixing over and over, and over.

SHERVONNE CASHHOLLIS Advocate,Founder 242 Domestic Violence Support Network Inc. Nassau, October 30, 2022.

ALL dressed up for the Radio House trick or treat yesterday.

Photo: Austin Fenander

Minister Munroe to raise issue of murders of people out on bail

By LETRE SWEETING lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

NATIONAL Security Minister Wayne Munroe said yesterday he plans to meet with the Director of Public Prosecutions sometime this week concerning the issue of per sons on bail being murdered.

Mr Munroe said: “I have asked the Minister of State in the Office of the Attorney General Jomo Campbell, who has responsibility for interactions with the Office of the DPP, to arrange a meeting with himself, myself, the commis sioner of police and some of the higher command with the DPP as soon as possible.

“I am trying to see if it can be arranged this week,” Mr Munroe said.

Asked about the issue of accused offenders getting bail, he said: “Quite often it depends on what you tell the judge, because judges act on the material that’s before them. If in my view, these persons ought not to be readmit ted to bail and the judge does it, then there is a requirement for you as a prosecution to appeal to the Court of Appeal. We need to understand if that is happening.”

This comes after two men on bail for serious crimes were shot dead in separate incidents over

the weekend, continuing a trend that has been occurring in recent months.

Some have argued that offend ers are safer inside prison rather

than being granted bail, due to the high frequency of people on bail being killed.

Mr Munroe also said that he and court officials have agreed

TWO ACCUSED OVER VEHICLE PART THEFTS

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

TWO men were charged in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday in connec tion with a series of vehicle and automotive part thefts in the nation’s capital.

Clydon Stubbs, 24, and Conley Adderley, 24, stood before Magistrate Samuel McKinney on a shared charge of unlawful possession.

The pair also faced sepa rate charges before the court with Stubbs facing additional charges of armed robbery, a second count of unlawful possession and violation of bail.

Meanwhile, Adderley faced charges of stealing, damage, and trespassing.

The two are accused of being found in possession of nine car headlights, four Nissan grills and one grey intercontinental battery suspected of being stolen.

They were found on October 24 on Avo cado Street in Pinewood Gardens.

On May 2, 2021, in New Providence, while report edly armed with a handgun, Stubbs is accused of rob bing Preanteia Young of her Burgundy coloured Nissan Cube valued at $6,300.

Then on October 28 on Saffron Street in Pinewood, Stubbs is alleged to have been found with a stolen brown Honda bumper.

Finally, between Octo ber 23 and 24 at Lauren Street in Sir Lynden Pin dling Estates, Adderley is accused of trespassing on Sandy Wilson’s property. While there he is alleged to have caused damage to Wil son’s silver coloured 2009 Nissan Note after stealing its two headlights and front grill. These items have an estimated value of $1,122.

While Adderley pleaded not guilty to all of the charges, Stubbs was

informed that his armed robbery charge would pro ceed to the Supreme Court by a VBI.

Stubbs pleaded not guilty to the remaining charges. As the judge lacked the jurisdiction to grant Stubbs bail for the armed robbery charge, he was remanded to the Bahamas Depart ment of Correctional Services. He was also told of his right to apply through the higher court for bail.

Meanwhile Adderley was granted bail at $1,500 for his unlawful possession charge and $5,000 for the charges related to trespass ing. Under the conditions of his bail he is expected to sign in at East Street South Police Station every Monday, Wednesday and Friday by 6pm.

Both accused are expected to return for ser vice of their VBI and trial for the lesser charges on December 7.

MAN DENIES TWO ARMED ROBBERIES

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN has denied involvement in two armed robberies in September 2011 as his trial began in the Supreme Court yesterday.

Neville Knowles stood before Justice Guilimina Archer-Minns charged

with two counts of armed robbery.

He is alleged to have committed two armed rob beries in New Providence on September 1, 2011 while being concerned with others.

One of the co-accused in this matter was former Police Constable Angelo Roker who was acquit ted of the charge by then

acting Justice Cheryl Grant-Thompson.

Knowles pleaded not guilty to both charges. A jury of nine people was empaneled to determine his guilt or innocence as the trial proceeds.

The accused is expected to return to court on November 7 for the prosecution’s opening address.

$2,000 FINE FOR BAIL CURFEW BREACH

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN was fined $2,000 in Magistrate’s Court yes terday after admitting to breaking his curfew while on bail on two murder charges.

Derico “Sparky” Bowe, 28, faced Senior Magistrate Carolyn Vogt-Evans on four counts of violation of bail conditions.

This is in connection with charges before the Supreme Court on two counts of murder and one of attempted murder.

Bowe is accused of mur dering Andrew Mackey and attempting to murder Dentry Williams on May 4.

He is also accused of kill ing Arison Pratt on April 30.

Regarding his most recent charge, between September 16-20 Bowe is accused of violating his court imposed residential curfew on four occasions.

going to seek to get the firearms trials completed in 21 days from the day you go to court.

“We’re going to meet with the Office of the DPP with respon sibility for prosecuting the matters in the Supreme Court, which would be the murders, the serious offences. That office is charged with objecting to bail. So we want to understand precisely what is happening there,” Mr Munroe said.

“We’ve sorted the matter to our satisfaction with the firearms trials for them to be done and dusted in three weeks, completed. We now are turning our attention to the issue of trials in the Supreme Court, particularly these murder trials that are outstanding,” he said.

Mr Munroe made these com ments yesterday at Baha Mar where the life and legacy of those victims and survivors of the tragic sinking of the HMBS Flamingo on May 10, 1980, were remembered.

to get firearm trials completed within 21 days of court dates.

He said: “We met with the chief justice and the chief magistrate and it has been agreed that we’re

COMMONWEALTH OF THE BAHAMAS IN THE SUPREME COURT Equity Side

Of the 19 crew members, four Bahamian Royal Baha mas Defence Force officers lost their lives after being mistakenly attacked by Cuban military fighter jets. The ship sank in waters off the Ragged Island chain and the bodies of the four who died were never recovered.

2022 No.00524

IN THE MATTER OF All. THAT piece parcel or lot of land (hereinafter referred to as the said parcel of land) containing by admeasurement Seven Thousand (7,000) Sq. Ft er thereabout being designated La: No. Fifty-four(54) in the subdivision known as "Yamacraw Beach Estates" recorded in the Department of Lands and Surveys as File No.P8/20 and situate on the eastern side of Cat Island Avenue and approximately 70 ft. south of Berry Avenue in the Eastern District of the Island of New Providence in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. The said parcel of land is more accu rately described as follows: Commencing at a point (hereinafter referred to as the point of origin) coordinated N 2.7@, 404.874 (m) E 268, 838.659 (m) running in a direction of N 99 33' 10" for a distance of One Hundred (100 .00) Feet to a point, thence in a direction of N 189° 33' 10" for a distance of Seventy(70.00) Feet to a point, thence in a direction of N 279 33' 10" for a distance of One Hundred (100.00) Feet to a point, thence in a direction of N 09° 33' 10" for a distance of Seventy{70.00) Feet to the point of origin.

The said lot of land is bounded on the North by Lot No. Fifty-three (53) of the said subdivision, which is said to be the property of Stephanie Ferguson on the EAST by Lot No. Four (4) of Yamacraw Shore Subdivision ownership which is unknown on the SOUTH by Lot No. 55 of the said subdivision. which is said to be the property of Stephen and Ladonna Hudson and on the WEST by a public road reservation known as Cat Island Avenue.

The said lot of land has such position, shape, dimensions and boundary marks as shown on plan.

AND

IN THE MATIER of the Quieting Titles Act 1959

AND

IN THE MATIER of the Petition of CANDICE DIONNE DAVIS AND PATRICIA ANN JOHNSON

NOTICE

THE PETITION OF CANDICE DIONNE DAVIS AND PATRICIA ANN JOHNSON in respect of: IN THE MATTER OF ALL THAT piece parcel or lot of land (hereinafter referred to as the said parcel of land) containing by admeasurement Seven Thousand (7,000) Sq. Ft. or thereabout being designated Lot No. Fifty-four (54) in the subdivision known as "Yamacraw Beach Estates" recorded in the Department of Lands and Surveys as File No.P8/20 and situate on the eastern side of Cat Island Avenue and approximately 70 ft. south of Berry Avenue in the Eastern District of the Island of New Providence in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. The said parcel of land is more accurately described as follows: Commencing at a point (hereinafter referred to as the point of origin) coordinated N 2.769, 404.874 (m) E 268, 838.659 (m) running in a direction of N 99 ° 33' 10" for a distance of One Hundred (100.00) Feet to a point, thence in a direction of N 189 ° 33' 10" for a distance of Seventy (70.00) Feet to a point, thence in a direction of N 279 ° 33' 10" for a distance of One Hundred (100.00) Feet to a point, thence in a direction of N 09° 33' 1O" for a distance of Seventy (70.00) Feet to the point of origin.

The said lot of land is bounded on the North by Lot No. Fifty-three (53) of the said subdivision, which is said to be the property of Stephanie Ferguson on the EAST by Lot No. Four (4) of Yamacraw Shore Subdivision ownership which is unknown on the SOUTH by Lot No. 55 of the said subdivision, which is said to be the property of Stephen and Ladonna Hudson and on the WEST by a public road reservation known as Cat Island Avenue.

The said lot of land has such position, shape, dimensions and boundary marks as shown on plan.

CANDICE DIONNE DAVIS AND PATRICIA ANN JOHNSON claim to be the owners of the unencumbered fee simpie in possession of the said land and has made application to the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas under Section 3 of the Quieting Titles Act, 1959 to have their title to the said land investigated and the nature and extent thereof determined and declared in a Certificate of Title to be granted by the Court in accordance with the provisions of the said Act.

Copies of the Petition and Plan of the said Land may be inspected during normal office hours in the following places:

I. The Registry of the Supreme Court, Judicial Complex, Ansbacher Building, East Street North and Bank Lane in the City of Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas; and

2. The Chambers of Clement T. Maynard & Company, Counsel & Attorneys, G.K. Symonette Building, Shirley Street, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

Notice is hereby given that any person having (dower) an interest or right to dower or an Advere Claim or a claim not recognized in the petition shall on or before the expiration of Thirty (30) days after the final publication of these presents, ftle in the Supreme Court and serve on the Petitioners of th e undersigned a Statement of his claim in the prescribed for m verified by an Affidavit to be filed therewith.

Failure of any person to file and serve a Statement of his claim on or before the expiration of thirty (30) days after the final publication of these presents shall operate as a bar to such claim.

Dated the 1st day of November, A.O.

K.

In court, he pleaded guilty to all four counts. He was convicted and fined $500 for each count against him.

If he defaults on payment, he faces a year’s sentence at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.

GOVERNOR General CA Smith flanked by Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis and Minister of National Security Wayne Munroeat yesterday’s ceremony to honour the life and legacy of the crew of the HMBS Flamingo. Photo: Moise Amisial

EDUCATION is a vital key to success - one that can liter ally change lives. That is why, when Rev Dr Willis Johnson and his wife, Rev Dr Yvette Johnson decided to launch an institution of higher learning 38 years ago, they made a personal commitment not only to teach, but to transform the lives of every student.

This is a mission they haven’t taken lightly. During their jour ney in excellence, spanning nearly four decades, they took the time to search for youngsters who would have otherwise fallen through the cracks. They saw the so-called “misfits” as simply “mis understood”, and they poured their positive energy into them. Today, many of the youngsters who could have ended up on the road to destruction, are nation builders, making a difference in their community - thanks to the Johnsons.

Their dream gave birth in 1984. At that time, Willis Johnson was assiduously working to attain his Certified Public Accountant (CPA) credentials. But he didn’t just want to educate himself. He wanted to open an accounting school and share the knowledge and passion he found with others.

The dream, however, was not matched with money at the time. As with any good vision, opportu nities arise that help us to realise them, even through the most dif ficult circumstances. Willis and Yvette found a quaint little room in the Dewgard Plaza - only about 150 sq ft. This tiny room allowed them to take out a lease they could afford, of $275 per month. There, the Bahamas Business College was born.

The Johnsons were on to some thing. Before they ever opened their doors to the first student, they looked to God for guidance. They were divinely led to do more than just educate the mind-but also to feed the soul.

“We are a faith-based institu tion; we take family seriously, and we are concerned with their total well being,” Yvette told me.

“We take an intentional look at what God has ordained for these individuals’ lives. God creates each of us in a special way. We look at the strength God has given to each person. When we focus on their strengths, their weaknesses fade. We peel back layers and find the truth about what God wants for the individual. We do it through a process called tem perament analysis. It is designed especially for students experienc ing difficulty in school. When we do the analysis, we often find that the student really has a gift that was untapped. We polish that gift and encourage them to pursue

NOTICE

Faith through the fire

Face to Face

By FELICITY DARVILLE

that in their lives, to the Glory of God.”

This Bahamas Business School was a hit. It was officially reg istered with the Ministry of Education. Bahamians from all walks of life came through their doors at Dewgard Plaza in order to improve their education and thus, their standard of living. Eventually, Willis and Yvette had to find larger accommodations for their growing student popula tion. Graduates went on to excel in the workplace, open their own businesses, and generally improve their lives. This resulted in a growing demand for their courses for personal and professional development.

The business moved to the Sea Grape Shopping Plaza, Prince Charles Drive, and became the College of Professional Account ancy (COPA). The college provided a clear cut track to suc cess for high schoolers who were certain they wanted to become a CPA.

“It was as easy as “A, B, CPA,” Yvette said as she explained the process.

Upon high school gradua tion, students could matriculate to COPA. They could earn an Associate’s Degree, then a Bach elor’s in Accounting, then sit their CPA examination. This fast track worked for many, and one of their daughters was among them. She became the Bahamas’ youngest individual to ever become a CPA in 2016.

Drs Willis and Yvette moved on from strength to strength, making their dreams a reality by edu cating minds, lifting spirits, and redeeming souls for Christ. By 1995, they changed the name of the institution to Galilee College. They were responsible for edu cating not only private citizens, but also many civil servants in the Public Treasury system and the Ministry of Finance. This nation ally recognised institution was a go-to for those wanting to pass the difficult CPA examinations. As a result, there are certified CPAs throughout the Bahamas and the world who have passed through Galilee College.

Today, Galilee College consists

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS COMPANIES ACT, 2000

ACTARUS LTD.

Registration number 201538 B

Notice is hereby given in accordance with Section 138 (4) of the International Business Companies Act, 2000, the Dissolution of ACTARUS LTD. commenced on October 28, 2022. The Liquidator is Altino Pavan, whose address is R. Casemiro de Abreu 1655 203, Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Altino Pavan LIQUIDATOR

of classes starting from kindergar ten all the way to tertiary learning. There is a staff of 14 full time indi viduals. In 1998, Galilee College moved to its current location - sit ting on its own property on Joe Farrington Road. The Johnsons are continuing to fine tune their services and create programmes to meet the needs of the com munity. They have grown with the love and support of family, including their five children, son-in-law, three daughtersin-law, and five grandchildren.

“In our journey towards success, we are helping others achieve success,” Yvette shared.

“We are molding more people - it’s more than the voca tion - its purpose. You have to give the gift. It is for you to give it to others.”

In addition to being educators, the Johnsons are also Ministers of the Gospel. Dr Willis Johnson is the pastor of the Blessed Hope Native Baptist Church on Joe Farrington Road. They also oversee 10 Native Baptist churches in South Andros. Dr John son also serves as the special assistant to the overseer of the Baptist Faith in The Bahamas, Rev Dr Carrington Pinder.

Thankfully, no lives were lost, but their home was burned to the ground. What happened next was nothing short of miraculous.

Within four hours of their home being destroyed, contractor Larry Burrows, owner of ManPower construction company, moved in and posted guards on the prop erty to avoid looting. His team worked throughout the pan demic to demolish the remnants of the home and dump the spoil. Then, his team began rebuild ing the home. While rebuilding their home, Mr Burrows provided accommodations for the Johnson family.

Mr Burrows rebuilt a four-bed room home for the Johnsons, and fully furnished the home. He took on the entire expense for this pro ject, from start to finish, without ever asking the Johnsons for $1. In addition to this mammoth ges ture, he also paid all of their utility bills for a period of 27 months.

‘During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when families and businesses all over the world were trying to adjust to the new normal, tragedy struck the Johnsons. On March 12, 2020, Willis and Yvette left their home in Winton Meadows to head to Galilee College. Fortyfive minutes later, they got a dreaded call. Their home was up in flames. Thankfully, no lives were lost, but their home was burned to the ground. What happened next was nothing short of miraculous.’

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when families and businesses all over the world were trying to adjust to the new normal, tragedy struck the Johnsons. On March 12, 2020, Willis and Yvette left their home in Winton Meadows to head to Galilee College. Forty-five min utes later, they got a dreaded call. Their home was up in flames.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS COMPANIES ACT, 2000

GE 3418 INVESTMENTS LTD.

Registration number 207132 B

“We just want to express our sin cere gratitude to Mr Larry Bur rows, owner of ManPower and to Annette, the office manager,” Yvette told me.

“We are the ben eficiaries of the philanthropy of a great businessman in our country. Mr Burrows and his team are unsung heroes. We are for ever grateful.”

Yvette explained to me that back in 2016 when they were accountants for Mr Burrows, they sowed a seed into his business in a show of faith and confidence that his business would be blessed.

“We did not remember that deed until he reminded us,” she explained.

“The gift we gave him is a mere frac tion of the funds that Mr Burrows invested in housing us and rebuilding the house. We would also like to express gratitude to the Native Baptist Family, the Manage ment of We Buy You Sell, Wayne Bethell, William Johnson and Shaun Miller who all have played a part in providing gratis support for the restoration of the house.”

This kind of selfless act moved the Johnsons to publicly thank Mr

Burrows for his love and kindness.

They have even more impetus to continue doing the will of God.

At Blessed Hope Native Baptist Church, they carry out Ministry work by assisting with basic needs such as food, water, clothing, shel ter and visitation to the sick and incarcerated.

“The tragedy of the fire has served to prove that in all we have done for others, God is deter mined to do even more for us,” Yvette said.

As Galilee College gears up to celebrate its 38th anniversary on November 7. The Johnsons have so much to be thankful for. During this time, they have aided hundreds of students in obtaining tuition grants and scholarships to study at home and abroad. They also provided special care and assistance to children who were orphaned or marginalized, ensur ing a bright future for them.

Willis has made it a point to do this, because he grew up in the Fox Hill community and at the time, opportunities for young boys in his area were few. He was only two years old when his father died. His stepfather, a messenger, and his mother, a housekeeper, saved from their small salaries to afford him the opportunity to go to Tampa College. From there, he excelled, because he never took their investment lightly. He went on to Tiffin University in Ohio on a scholarship, and graduated with three Bachelors Degrees at one time. Today, with his PhD, he continues to serve his fellow man through the Ministry of the Gospel, and through his profes sional passion - accounting.

He married Yvette when she was 20 years old, and fulfilled his promise to her parents to provide her with tertiary education. When he asked for her hand in marriage, her parents - Reginald “King” Bethell, a well known contractor and her mother, an educator, were preparing to send her to college. Together, the Johnsons commit ted themselves to education and spiritual fulfillment. Today, Yvette holds a BA, MBA, MA DMin. She enjoys preaching and minis try; something she says she likely would not have had the opportu nity to do in the Church of Christ. They will hold a special Found ers Day Worship Service at Blessed Hope Native Baptist, Joe Farrington Road on Sunday, November 13 at 9:45am. A lunch eon will follow at Superclubs Breezes. Galilee Institution will celebrate Founders Week from November 7 to 13, including an Hour of Prayer, Fam Jam, Fel lowship Service and Fellowship Luncheon. For more information, call 324-9466.

Notice is hereby given in accordance with Section 138 (4) of the International Business Companies Act, 2000, the Dissolution of GE 3418 INVESTMENTS LTD. commenced on October 28, 2022. The Liquidator is Eduardo Ewald, whose address is Rua Lauro Mueller, 354 apartamento 801 Bairro Ribeirao Fresco, CEP 89010-380, Blumenau - Brazil.

Eduardo Ewald LIQUIDATOR

Calm returns to Britain with new face at helm

ALL too often it can be a challenge to determine what to include in this weekly column that may be of interest to readers at any given time. The aim is to offer comment on as wide a range as possible of developments both in Brit ain and around the world.

But this week the choice is not difficult. It is clear that, after the recent turmoil and drama that created such a frenzied atmosphere in Britain, there is interest in hearing about how the nation’s new Prime Minis ter, Rishi Sunak, is likely to perform as he faces what he himself has described publicly as a ‘profound economic crisis’ and tough times to come.

While concentrating on Britain this week, I should also like to write about UK aid to the Caribbean and mention a successful drugs bust carried out by the Royal Navy in waters off the Dominican Republic.

As well as The Tribune, there has been so much coverage in the UK press and international media of the so-called meltdown in the UK that the facts do not bear repetition today. Some say the press contributed to the mayhem by overem phasising the seriousness of the situation. In particular, having praised Liz Truss during the Tory leadership contest in the summer and welcomed her as the new PM, some now seem to have delighted in criticis ing her to the hilt. There is general agreement that she showed poor judgement in pursuing ideas for eco nomic reform - whatever their merits - far too quickly and without proper consul tation, debate or adequate preparation. But it does not necessarily follow that she was out of her depth overall as some have claimed. She has had a good record of achievement in senior posi tions in government – and she has showed leadership qualities which persuaded many to support her for the premiership.

Furthermore, the por trayal of Boris Johnson as nothing more than a comical buffoon is wide of the mark. Whether one likes him or not, he has been a highly successful, charismatic politician and proven winner of elec tions. Although under the Westminster system it is the political party which is elected - and not mainly its leader, as happens under a presidential system - the overwhelming 2019 elec tion win by the Tories was mainly about Brexit with Johnson at the helm. How ever, it is clearly the case that he was responsible, in part, for his own politi cal downfall through the

The Peter Young column

lack of order, cronyism and culture of sleaze at No 10 Downing Street.

Suffice it to say, that having three different pre miers within the space of seven weeks is a serious development in a country like Britain which is known for its political stability and good order and which has been an example to other countries of how to pro mote and put into practice democratic values in an open and free society. A frequent change of political leadership can lead to dam aging instability. In a nation which continues to play an important role in the rest of the world as its sixth largest economy (having recently been overtaken by India), a permanent member of the UN Security Council and leading member of the Commonwealth, this can cause concern to other countries whose interests may be affected.

The 42-year-old Rishi Sunak has become the first British Prime Minister of Asian descent in history. He was born in England of Indian parents who moved to the UK in the 1960s. His father became a doctor and general practitioner and his mother was a pharma cist. He was educated at Winchester College, a lead ing public (independent) school, and Oxford Univer sity and is also a graduate of Stanford University busi ness school in California.

His transition to the top job, after initially losing the race to become leader of the Conservative Party and then replacing Liz Truss after her resigna tion last month, ended up being surprisingly smooth. The ease and swiftness of his victory under new streamlined rules will have contributed to this after the Tories conducted a sensi ble and efficient leadership contest, and the bitterness and chaos of the dying days of the Truss administra tion appear largely to have evaporated.

NEVER-ENDING FIGHT AGAINST DRUGS

AS ANOTHER piece about Britain in today’s column, it is good to report a story about a successful action in the seas of the Caribbean by the Royal Navy that hit the headlines at the weekend.

Because of space limita tions there is only room for the bare facts. Briefly, the Caribbean-based RN patrol ship HMS Medway and a US Coast Guard board ing team, with help from a patrol aircraft, recently seized from a boat in waters near the Dominican Repub lic more than 400kg of cocaine worth around 24m pounds sterling on Britain’s streets. Following a tense and challenging chase, the vessel was boarded and the drugs discovered. Three crew members were detained. The boat was then sunk by Medway’s gunnery team.

Reportedly, Medway, which is deployed as the RN’s permanent presence in the region and visited The Bahamas earlier this year, recently helped the people

of the Cayman Islands and of the Turks and Caicos in their recovery efforts following Hurricanes Ian and Fiona – and, after this successful drugs bust, the Commanding Officer was quoted as saying that ‘it’s a perfect example of Med way’s versatility and my team’s ability to shift from Disaster Relief Operations to Counter Illicit Traffick ing Operations…’.

Another time, it might be interesting to exam ine the RN’s success since the beginning of this year in seizing what has been described as a “whopping” 70.8m pounds sterling worth of drugs during a string of high-profile busts across the world. With evidence that cash from the sale of narcotics funds terror groups like Islamic State, the interdiction of illicit drugs has become increasingly important – and these operations against drugs smuggling demonstrate the signifi cant role the UK is playing globally.

Although it is, of course, too soon to tell how some Tory MPs might react in the longer term, the sense of calm that suddenly appears to have descended on the Tory party sug gests that Sunak, who has already shown himself to be a better communicator than his predecessor, has emerged as the true unity candidate who has a good chance of bringing together its warring factions. It is being said that, because of the insidious ‘politics of envy’ in Britain in relation to wealth redistribution, his and his wife’s huge personal wealth may work against him. But, by all accounts, he seems to be the right man at the helm in face of the worsening economic

storm, not least because, as a graduate of Stanford, he is capable of mastering the technicalities of finance.

Reportedly, at the same time, he possesses the selfdiscipline and intelligence to grasp broader politi cal issues, having already served as Chancellor of the Exchequer during which he enjoyed a reputation for being smart and energetic, not least in his response to the COVID epidemic. It is said that he naturally veers away from antagonism but has the strength of char acter to stand his ground when necessary.

All in all, therefore, less than two weeks into his job the signs are encourag ing for the new PM. He is exuding determination and

seriousness and is already closing the gap in the polls with the opposition Labour Party. A round of tax rises and spending cuts are due to be unveiled on Novem ber 17 when his Chancellor sets out plans in his Budget to restore economic sta bility and confidence. At this critical moment for the nation, the question is whether the new-found unity of the ruling Con servatives is real or is only a veneer that could crack in face of further economic turmoil, though Sunak says he is committed to taking the tough decisions based on the Conservatives’ 2019 manifesto.

It will be a demand ing task to get the country back on track in face of

the current economic mess, including soaring inflation and falling living standards, as well as an energy crisis and the problems of war in Ukraine, to name just a few of his problems. So, despite a promising start, commen tators are warning, even at this early stage, that unless the new PM can gradually build on his initial success in time for the next Gen eral Election scheduled for no later than 2024, there is always the danger that his own MPs could turn against him – and that could even mean going back to none other than Boris Johnson as a proven electoral asset. For many, such a return would be unwelcome, but they accept that it cannot be ruled out.

UNTOLD STORY OF UK ASSISTANCE TO CARIBBEAN

IN BRITAIN, the issue of overseas aid has often been controversial. Tra ditionally, many people have seen it as a moral obligation – not least because of the nation’s colonial past – to help poorer countries in the world, but others believe that charity begins at home. Despite such mixed attitudes, in 2015 Britain enshrined in law that 0.7 per cent of the country’s gross national income must be spent on for eign aid. This figure was in accordance with an agreed United Nations target for donor countries.

According to the website of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Devel opment Office in London, which is responsible for administering over seas aid, the purpose of it is to help create a safer, wealthier and more secure world. In October last year, the UK government reduced this figure to 0.5 per cent in order to free up more cash for domestic spending during the COVID pandemic. The shortfall was seen by many as a seri ous blow to poorer countries as they themselves struggled to recover from the pandemic that had knocked back economies and deepened poverty. But the government said at the time that it hoped to reinstate the higher level of such spending by 2024-5.

While studying this recently, it struck me that there is little publicity locally about UK aid to the Carib bean as a whole and, specifically, to The Bahamas. It is the case that his torically bilateral direct aid to this country has been restricted because of the perception that this is a rich

NOTICE

country as shown by its high per capita income. However, multilateral assis tance through international bodies is another matter.

A little research shows that the UK funds regional projects via, amongst others, CARICOM and the InterAmerican Development Bank; and British International Investment (for merly known as the CDC Group), which is the UK’s development finance institution, marked its return to investing in the Caribbean during a recent visit to Jamaica. I also found an official announcement in January, 2021 that the UK had committed to maintain its share of funding - as one of the largest donors - to the Carib bean Development Bank’s Special Development Fund, pledging up to some $25m over the next four years to continue supporting life-changing pro jects in the Caribbean.

This is not the time to offer detailed comment. But I spotted a short report in The Tribune about an address given on October 18 by the new British High Commissioner, Thomas Hart ley, at a meeting here in Nassau of the Caribbean Water and Wastewa ter Association. In his wide ranging speech, he talked about natural dis aster risk reduction and financing and announced that the UK will support the new Caribbean Water-Utilities Insurance Company (CWUIC) – an entity to be created next year as an offshoot of the Caribbean Catastro phe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) -- with a contribution of BS$ 3.4 mil lion, ‘as a down payment of more

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS COMPANIES ACT, 2000

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Registration number 203646 B

Notice is hereby given in accordance with Section 138 (4) of the International Business Companies Act, 2000, the Dissolution of ROTA CASAS LTD. commenced on October 28, 2022. The Liquidator is Arthur de Mattos Casas, whose address is Rua Dr. Manoel Maria Tourinho 46, CEP 01236-000, Sao Paulo - Brazil.

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support in the future’.

He stressed the importance of reducing disaster risk in Small Island Developing States like ours which are particularly vulnerable to climate change because of hurricanes and rising sea levels. He said that the UK was active regionally in helping to strengthen resilience at the national, community and business level, while also working through its Centre for Disaster Protection (funded by the UK) to change how the world pre pares and pays for disasters.

He went on to remind his audience that the Caribbean has led the world on “Disaster Risk Financing”, includ ing setting up the CCRIF with the UK government and other donors in 2007, adding that insurance is a vital last line of defence – and concluding that “As home to the biggest insurance industry in the world, the UK knows this more than anyone else”.

It has been interesting to research this subject, albeit not in great depth. Assistance in connection with disaster protection is, of course, particularly important for The Bahamas because of the effects of climate change and increasingly stronger hurricanes.

Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis brought the whole issue to the atten tion of other world leaders through his excellent address at COP26, the UN climate change conference in Glasgow in November last year. All will surely now hope there will be further progress for the benefit of the Caribbean at COP27 in Egypt later this month.

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INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS COMPANIES ACT, 2000

MSX LTD.

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Notice is hereby given in accordance with Section 138 (4) of the International Business Companies Act, 2000, the Dissolution of MSX LTD. commenced on October 28, 2022. The Liquidator is Bruno Toni Sarah, whose address is Rua Elza Brandao Rodarte N330, apto 1000, Belvedere, CEP30320-630, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

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BRITAIN’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks during Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons in London last week.

Photo: Jessica Taylor/UK Parliament via AP

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti Associated Press

HAITI’S National Police said it has received orders to launch an investi gation into the death of a journalist who witnesses say was struck in the head by a tear gas canister as offic ers also opened fire on a group of reporters.

BOLSONARO SILENT AFTER ELECTION LOSS

BRASILIA, Brazil Associated Press

IN BRAZIL’S capital on Monday, the silence was deafening.

Nearly a full day after President Jair Bolsonaro lost his bid for reelection, the usually brash right-wing leader had neither con ceded defeat nor challenged the results of the country’s closest political contest in more than three decades.

Bolsonaro hadn’t spoken a word to reporters camped outside the official residence or the support ers who regularly gather nearby. Nor did he post on his otherwise prolific social media platforms. The only sign of protest came from Bolsonaro-supporting truckers who blockaded some roads across the country.

Bolsonaro’s rival, former president and left-leaning ex-union leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won the runoff Sunday night with 50.9% of the votes, to Bol sonaro’s 49.1%. It was the closest election since Bra zil’s return to democracy in 1985.

TRUMP WANTS TO BLOCK TAX RETURN USE

WASHINGTON Associated Press

FORMER President Donald Trump is going to the Supreme Court, again, this time to try to stop his tax returns from being handed to a congressional committee.

In an emergency appeal filed yesterday, Trump wants the court to order at least a temporary hold on the Treasury Department turning over his returns to the Democratic-controlled House Ways and Means Committee. Trump said the handover could happen as soon as Thursday, without the court’s intervention.

Lower courts ruled the committee has broad authority to obtain tax returns and rejected Trump’s claims it was overstepping.

Trump had most recently sought the justices’ inter vention in a legal dispute stemming from the search of his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in August. The court rejected that appeal.

If Trump can persuade the nation’s highest court to intervene, he could poten tially delay a final decision until the start of the next Congress in January.

In a statement late on Sunday, Police Chief Frantz Elbé offered his condo lences to the family and colleagues of Romelson Vilsaint, adding that officers were forced to fire tear gas to control a “hostile crowd” attacking a police sta tion in the capital of Port-au-Prince on Sunday.

Witnesses told The Associated Press that journalists including Vilsaint, who

worked for radio station Génération 80, had gathered at a police station in Delmas to demand the release of their colleague, Robest Dimanche, who had been detained while covering a protest on Sunday. Dimanche works at local Radio Tele Zenith.

The Association of Haitian Journal ists also accused police of beating up several journalists and confiscating their

equipment and other belongings, con demning what it called “anti-democratic acts of repression”.

“The safety of media and free move ment of journalists are essential for the full and complete enjoyment of free dom of the press, freedom of thought, freedom of expression and the right to information that make up democracy,” it said.

Police: Suspect wanted to break Speaker’s knees

WASHINGTON Associated Press

THE man accused of attacking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s hus band with a hammer told police he wanted to hold the Demo cratic leader hostage and “break her kneecaps” to show other members of Congress there were consequences for their actions, authorities said yesterday.

In a chilling federal complaint, officials say that David DePape, 42, carrying zip ties and tape in a backpack, broke into the cou ple’s San Francisco home early on Friday morning, went upstairs where 82-year-old Paul Pelosi was sleeping and demanded to talk to “Nancy.”

When Paul Pelosi told the intruder she was not there, DePape said he would wait — even after being told she would not be home for some days.

Both the San Francisco district attorney and police chief strongly rejected mocking jokes and con spiracy theories about the attack sent out by far-right figures and even some leading Republicans just a week before hard-fought congres sional elections.

DePape told police of his plans to hold Speaker Pelosi hostage to “talk to her” and viewed her “as the “leader of the pack” of lies told by the Democratic Party, the eightpage complaint says.

“If she were to tell DePape the ‘truth,’ he would let her go and if she ‘lied,’ he was going to break “her kneecaps,” the complaint alleges.

“By breaking Nancy’s kneecaps, she would then have to be wheeled

into Congress, which would show other members of Congress there were consequences to actions,” it says.

DePape is charged federally with influencing, impeding, or retali ating against a federal official by threatening or injuring a family member. He also faces one count of attempted kidnapping of a United States official on account of the performance of official duties.

The announcement of the federal charges came as San Francisco’s dis trict attorney was set to announce state criminal charges as well.

It was not immediately clear whether DePape had an attorney who could speak on his behalf. Family described DePape as estranged, and he was known by some in San Francisco as a pronudity activist who appeared to embrace a range of conspiracy theories.

The federal complaint said he has lived for the past two years in a garage at a residence in Richmond, California,

Police were dispatched to the home in the upscale Pacific Heights neighbourhood around 2.20am on Friday after Paul Pelosi placed a 911 call. DePape broke into the rear door and made his way upstairs to confront Paul Pelosi, police said. They arrived to see the two men struggling over a hammer, and then DePape struck Pelosi at least once before being tackled by officers.

DePape was arrested on Friday on suspicion of attempted murder, elder abuse and burglary in a grue some attack that has amplified the toxic political climate ahead of the November 8 midterm elections. He is expected to be arraigned today in

RUSSIA RECRUITING

By BERNARD CONDON Associated Press

AFGHAN special forces soldiers who fought along side American troops and then fled to Iran after the chaotic US withdrawal last year are now being recruited by the Russian military to fight in Ukraine, three former Afghan gen erals told The Associated Press.

They said the Russians want to attract thousands of the former elite Afghan commandos into a “for eign legion” with offers of steady, $1,500-a-month pay ments and promises of safe havens for themselves and their families so they can avoid deportation home to what many assume would be death at the hands of the Taliban.

“They don’t want to go fight — but they have no choice,” said one of the generals, Abdul Raof

Arghandiwal, adding that the dozen or so comman dos in Iran with whom he has texted fear deportation most. “They ask me, ‘Give me a solution? What should we do? If we go back to Afghanistan, the Taliban will kill us.’”

Arghandiwal said the recruiting is led by the Russian mercenary force Wagner Group. Another general, Hibatullah Alizai, the last Afghan army chief before the Taliban took over, said the effort is also being helped by a former Afghan special forces com mander who lived in Russia and speaks the language.

The Russian recruitment follows months of warn ings from US soldiers who fought with Afghan special forces that the Taliban was intent on killing them and that they might join with US enemies to stay alive or out of anger with their former ally.

San Francisco.

Paul Pelosi remains hospitalised in San Francisco after undergoing surgery for a fractured skull and other injuries. Speaker Pelosi, who was in Washington, DC, at the time of the attack, returned swiftly to California. Unlike presidents, con gressional leaders have security protection for themselves, but not their families.

In the ambulance to the hospital, Paul Pelosi told police he had never seen DePape before, the complaint said.

The attack was an unsettling echo of the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol, when rioters trying to overturn Joe Biden’s election defeat of Donald Trump stormed the halls eerily calling “Where’s Nancy?” The zip ties were another similarity to January 6 when rioters were seen with the ties in the Capitol.

San Francisco’s district attorney, Brooke Jenkins, strongly rejected conspiracy theories about the attack, confirming the assailant was targeting the Democratic leader when he broke into the couple’s home.

“At the time that the suspect had entered the Pelosi home that he was in fact, looking for Ms Pelosi,” Jen kins told reporters late on Sunday in San Francisco.

“We have nothing to suggest that these two men knew each other prior to this incident,” she said.

The district attorney’s remarks came as the attack on the husband of the House speaker was being mocked and dismissed in conserva tive, far-right social media, even among some Republican leaders.

San Francisco’s police chief has also said the attack was targeted at

Nancy Pelosi. Elon Musk over the weekend tweeted, then deleted, a fringe web site’s far-flung conspiracy theories to his millions of followers, as his purchase of Twitter has raised con cerns that the social media platform would no longer seek to limit misin formation and hate speech. In the toxic political climate, a week before the midterm elections, tensions are high with record secu rity threats against lawmakers and other officials.

The incident sparked fresh secu rity concerns for lawmakers and other elected officials before the midterms.

With nearly 10,000 threats against members of Congress in the last year, US Capitol Police have advised lawmakers to take precau tions. Chief Tom Manger, who leads the US Capitol Police, has said the threat from lone-wolf attackers has been growing and the most signifi cant threat the force is facing is the historically high number of threats against lawmakers, thousands more than just a few years before.

The beating of the speaker’s husband follows other attacks and threats. This summer, a man car rying a gun, a knife and zip ties was arrested near Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s house in Maryland after threatening to kill the justice. In 2017, Republican Rep Steve Scalise was seriously injured when a Bernie Sanders supporter opened fire on Republicans at a congres sional baseball game practice.

Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr, was among those making light of the attack on Paul Pelosi, tweeting out a joke about a Halloween cos tume of the incident.

AFGHAN COMMANDOS, VETERANS SAY

A GOP congressional report in August specifi cally warned of the danger that the Afghan comman dos — trained by US Navy SEALs and Army Green Berets — could end up giving up information about US tactics to the Islamic State group, Iran or Russia — or fight for them.

“We didn’t get these individuals out as we prom ised, and now it’s coming home to roost,” said Michael Mulroy, a retired CIA officer who served in Afghanistan, adding that the Afghan commandos are highly skilled, fierce fighters. “I don’t want to see them in any battlefield, frankly, but certainly not fighting the Ukrainians.”

Mulroy was skeptical, however, that Russians would be able to persuade many Afghan commandos to join because most he knew were driven by the desire to make democracy

work in their country rather than being guns for hire. AP was investigating the Afghan recruiting when details of the effort were first reported by Foreign Policy magazine last week based on unnamed Afghan

military and security sources. The recruitment comes as Russian forces reel from Ukrainian mili tary advances and Russian President Vladimir Putin pursues a sputtering mobili sation effort.

AFGHAN Army special forces members attend their graduation ceremony after a three-month training programme at the Kabul Military Training Centre in Kabul, Afghanistan, last year. Photo: Rahmat Gul/AP

A MAN walks past a burning barricade during a protest over the death of journalist Romelson Vilsaint, in Portau-Prince, Haiti, on Sunday.

Photo: Odelyn Joseph/AP

Don’t Blink Home Run Derby set

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

The Don’t Blink Home Run Derby

In Paradise con tinues to introduce new initiatives and will return to a familiar venue in 2022.

Event organisers Todd Isaacs Jr and Lucius Fox officially launched the campaign to galvanise sup port for the fifth edition of the event, scheduled for December 13-18.

“Five years of hosting anything in life is a bless ing so we’re truly grateful, truly humbled and truly honoured, humbled and blessed that God gave us this opportunity to bring this vision to fruition, but not just for us baseball play ers but for The Bahamas in its entirety,” Isaacs said.

“Today under the cur rent administration ‘Sports In Paradise’ is one of their main mandates and it aligns

so perfectly with our mis sion - to inspire the youth, give them opportunities to let sports lead them to the four corners of the world. Through the sports we have an opportunity to highlight The Bahamas for what it is, the beautiful beaches, the warm weather, and the wel coming people.”

The only home-run derby in the world where play ers hit into the ocean, the unique concept showcases the natural aesthetic of the Bahamas and the country’s young baseball talent.

The first three editions were hosted at the Montagu foreshore, before last year’s event shifted to the grounds of the Atlantis resort.

This year’s event will relocate to its original location.

“This is our favourite time of the year. We are here again and we are grate ful that we get to put this show on for our Bahamian people,” Fox said. “We’re

CHUBB RUNS FOR 2 TDS, BROWNS BLAST BURROW, BENGALS 32-13

By TOM WITHERS AP Sports Writer

CLEVELAND (AP) — Nick Chubb rushed for two touchdowns and Myles Garrett and Cleveland’s defence frustrated Joe Burrow as the Browns thrashed Cincinnati 32-13 last night, keeping the Bengals star quar terback winless against them.

Garrett, who came to FirstEnergy Stadium wearing a Halloween cos tume, led a scary defence that sacked Burrow five times and held the Ben gals (4-4) to 229 total yards — 100 in the first half.

Burrow has already been to the Super Bowl in just three NFL seasons. However, the Ohio native has yet to beat Cleveland, dropping to 0-4 in four career starts against Cincinnati’s AFC North rival.

The Browns (3-5) ended a fourgame losing streak, and in the process saved their season from slipping away as they try to stay competitive while awaiting quarterback Deshaun Watson’s return from an 11-game suspension.

Jacoby Brissett ran for a TD and passed for another, leading Cleveland to its fifth straight win over Cincin nati. He completed 17 of 22 for 278 yards and a 133.7 rating while outplay ing Burrow. Chubb scored on runs of 3 and 11 yards, and Brissett added a 3-yard TD run and connected with

also excited that we will be moving back to Montagu. This is where we started, it’s easily accessible to the people and we look forward to them coming out, pack ing the beach and bringing out that love. Hopefully

one day this will be the best event in the world.”

In addition to the derby, the event has expanded to include a week-long sched ule of activities. Players and guests will arrive December 13 and the following day

will be the second edition of the Celebrity Softball game featuring derby participants and local influencers on December 14.

On December 15, the participating players will host the annual kid’s clinic.

Hornets exercise option on Jones

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

Eagles head into short week standing as lone unbeaten at 7-0

By DAN GELSTON AP Sports Writer

PHILADELPHIA (AP)

— A.J. Brown had already caught three touchdown passes and was running toward his fourth when — boom! — he got caught from behind and had to settle for a mere 43-yard gain.

“My teammates gave me a hard time for that,” Brown said, laughing.

“I definitely felt like I was going to score. (The defender) did a good job of swiping my legs and getting me down.

“I was upset. I think that was the first time I got caught in the NFL.”

Brown and the Eagles could afford the chuckle after a 35-13 laugher Sunday against the Pitts burgh Steelers that moved

the only undefeated team in the league to 7-0.

The Eagles had more fun on the sideline: Jason Kelce playfully wore a Batman mask in a nod to the super hero nicknames assigned to their wide receivers. Brown is “ Swole Batman. “

Only an epic collapse could keep Philadelphia from an NFC East title.

Only serious injuries could derail what should be a seri ous run toward the Super Bowl.

Why should the Phillies and Union have all the fun?

Jalen Hurts threw three touchdown passes to Brown in the first half and finished with 285 yards and four TDs overall.

Brown had six receptions for 156 yards.

The Eagles are 7-0 for the second time in fran chise history, joining the

2004 team that reached the Super Bowl. “I think we just want to be great,” Brown said.

Eagles tackle Lane John son had a clear view of what impressed him most about Brown.

“Just catching those balls, and doing whatever the hell he wants to over the top,” Johnson said.

“He just had a hell of a game. Just one of those games where I’m sitting back there blocking and I see the ball up there and I see him make catch after catch. Special player.”

Brown sparked laughter during the game when he taunted two fallen Steelers and pointed at each of them after his third TD catch of the first half.

“I just said, ‘One, two, it’s not enough,’” Brown said with a laugh.

Brown has been a huge hit in first season with the Eagles after he was acquired in a draft-day deal with the Titans. Tennessee wasn’t interested in making

Saturday, December 17 will be the main event at the Montagu foreshore.

A new initiative to the week of festivities will be the Prayer to Praise event, featuring a concert by former minor league pros pect turned gospel singer, Todd Delaney.

Fox added that the organ isation continues to expand its reach by partnering with several organisations, including the Major League Baseball Players Asso ciation and the Players Alliance.

“We joined forces with MLBPA, executive Tony Clark and the members of his team. The MLBPA acts as the voice for all players in the game of baseball. We also have the Players Alliance,” he said. “This group is so special because they work hand in hand in minority communi ties to provide assistance,

BAHA MAR HOOPS ON HORIZON NOV. 18-27

IN only its second year, “Baha Mar Hoops” will play host to the largest event in the sport of col lege basketball when 20 men’s and women’s teams play this Thanksgiving at Baha Mar - the leading resort destination in The Bahamas.

The 10-day slate of games includes Oklahoma State, DePaul, UCF and Santa Clara playing in the men’s Baha Mar Hoops “Baha mas Championship” and five 2021 NCAA tour nament women’s teams - Dayton, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Utah and Virginia Tech - highlighting the eight-team field in the Baha Mar Hoops “Pink Flamingo Championship.”

The action concludes with the eight-team Baha Mar Hoops “Nassau Champion ship” featuring 2021 NCAA tournament participant Vermont, 2021 NIT par ticipants Long Beach State, Missouri State and North Texas, and 2021 CBI cham pion UNC-Wilmington.

In total, 24 games will be played across three events November 18-27 at the Baha Mar Convention, Arts & Entertainment Center.

T20 WORLD CUP: AUSSIES BACK IN CONTENTION WITH WIN OVER IRISH

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Aaron Finch made another scratchy start before breaking the shackles in a half-century that set Australia on course for a 42-run win over Ireland yesterday in a crucial Group 1 match for the defending cham pions at the Twenty20 World Cup.

Finch has been criti cal of his own form and took a while to get going before posting 63 from 44 balls as Australia acceler ated late to reach 179-5 after being sent in to bat by Ireland.

The Irish got away to a flyer in reply with skipper

Andy Balbirnie and vet eran opener Paul Stirling each hitting a six in the first two overs before the

Australian bowlers struck back ruthlessly with five wickets in 13 deliveries to dismantle the top order and leave them reeling at 25-5.

Lorcan Tucker’s lone hand of 71 delayed the inevitable, helping Ire land reach 137 in 18.1 overs.

The win improved Aus tralia’s net run rate and put the 2021 champion back in contention for a spot in the semifinals on five points despite its heavy loss to New Zea land in the opening match of the Super 12s.

New Zealand leads the six-team group with five points from two wins and a washout ahead of

CHARLOTTE Hornets forward Kai Jones (23) sets up for a play during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Orlando Magic on Friday, October 28 in Orlando, Florida.

(AP Photo/Phelan M Ebenhack)

THE Hornets have exercised the team option on Kai Jones’ rookie contract and he is now

eligible to become a restricted free agent after the 2024-25 season.

Hornets President of Basket ball Operations and General Manager Mitch Kupchak announced that Jones was one

of three players the organi sation decided to exercise team options on, along with LaMelo Ball and James Bouk night. Jones in his sophomore

EAGLES centre Jason Kelce wears a mask as he celebrates after their victory over the Steelers on Sunday. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)

TODD Isaacs Sr - Don’t Blink Committee, Gina Gonzales-Rolle - Don’t Blink Committee, Todd Isaacs Jr, Lucius Fox, Harrison Thompson - Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, Ted Adderley - Atlantis , Shazell Rolle - Rev, Lynden Maycock - LOC

Push for World Relays return

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WHILE the World Ath letics Council has decided to postpone the World Athletics Relays Guang zhou 23 until May 13-14, a decision will be made by November 30 on the venue for the 2024 edition.

The Bahamas made a strong bid to World Ath letics to have the World Relays returned to its original home and the organising committee say they are optimistic that they will be successful.

“We went through an expensive process. We submitted our documents on October 1. We did our video presentation that was submitted on October 28th, and we just completed our oral submission today (Monday),” said Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’ president Drumeco Archer.

“We are not sure what the results will be until December 1, but we have produced a first-class pres entation. So, we will see what those results will look like later. But we are con servative, and we are very optimistic with our presen tation for the World Relays to return home in 2024.”

A committee included Archer, World Ath letics’ councilwoman Pauline Davis, National Sports Authority’s acting manager Grafton Ifill Jr, Dr Daniel Johnson, Herbert Cash, Lateria Duncombe and Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper.

The Bahamas served as host of the first three edi tions of the World Relays

in 2014, 2015 and 2017. The Bahamas lost out in hosting the fourth edition in 2019 to Yokohama, Japan and the fifth edition that took place in Chorzow, Poland.

However, due to the ongoing pandemic condi tions, a decision was taken with the agreement of both the Guangzhou organising committee (LOC) and the Chinese Athletics Asso ciation (CAA), to delay the World Athletics Relays, scheduled for May 13-14 in China.

The delay will have an impact on the qualification system for the relay events at the World Athletics Championships in Buda pest, Hungary in 2023.

Therefore, the World Athletics Competi tion Commission, upon approval of the Council, has revised the qualifica tion system to include the top eight teams from the World Athletics Champi onships Oregon22 and the top eight teams from the performance lists.

The philosophy is to rep licate a similar qualification system by still qualifying part of the field through direct competition and part through performance in the qualification period.

“It is regrettable when we have to postpone an event,” said World Ath letics President Sebastian Coe. “However, World Athletics and the local organising committee are both committed to the responsible planning and delivery of the World Athletics Relays, which includes ensuring that ath letes from all international federations are able to participate in and enjoy an

experience in a safe and healthy environment.

“I want to thank our colleagues at the Chinese Athletics Association and the LOC for their efforts and cooperation in resolv ing this situation and look forward to 2025 when our hosts are able to stage a spectacular World Athlet ics Relays.”

WHAT NEEDS HELP

The host of the 2024 World Athletics Relays is set to be awarded by the World Athletics Council at their meeting in Rome, Italy, on November 30.

With the 2023 edition of the World Relays being postponed, the 2024 World Relays will serve as the only event for relay teams to officially qualify for the

2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France.

“We would expect that this would be the biggest World Relays yet and so we want it to come back home,” Archer said. “I’m very pleased with our pres entation and we’re very optimistic that we will see the return of the World Relays to the Bahamas.”

WORLD SERIES RAINOUT, ASTROSPHILS GAME 3 TODAY

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Game 3 of the World Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros was post poned by rain last night with the matchup tied 1-1. The rainout moved Game 3 to tonight at Citi zens Bank Park, when the weather was supposed to be all clear.

The teams worked out on the field before the tarp was put down around 5pm, about three hours before the scheduled first pitch.

Game 4 will now be played Wednesday and Game 5 is set for the sched uled travel day on Thursday night.

Game 5 will compete with the NFL game that has, of all teams, the Phila delphia Eagles in Houston against the Texans.

After two games in Hou ston, the World Series had moved to Philly for Monday night and the Astros were set to send right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. against Phillies righty Noah Syndergaard.

Astros manager Dusty Baker said McCullers would remain the starter for Game 3 if there was a rainout. There was no immediate indication if Syndergaard would pitch for the Phillies.

The Astros had not named a Game 4 starter and the Phillies were going with lefty Ranger Suárez.

The Phillies clinched the NL Championship Series with a win against San Diego on a rainy, gusty Sunday.

The Phillies famously won the 2008 World Series with a Game 5 victory that took three days to complete because of heavy rain.

Brown one of the high est-paid receivers in the league. The Eagles bit, and now Brown has his money and an undefeated team.

WHAT’S WORKING

The offence. The offence. The offence. That’s one point of emphasis for each of Brown’s touchdown catches in the first half.

Hurts has developed into a genuine deep-ball threat and there’s no doubt his close relationship with Brown has played a part in the QB’s willingness to air it out.

Hurts became the first Eagles QB to throw four 25-plus yard TD passes in a game since Norm Snead on September 28, 1969 vs. Pittsburgh. Overall,

he became the first NFL QB to accomplish the feat since Patrick Mahomes on November 1, 2020 vs. the Jets. Hurts has been thrilled that the Eagles are loaded with talented receivers that he can hit just about any time for a game-busting play.

“When I’m playing with them in the game I’m like, I got my popcorn ready after I throw them the ball,” he said. “I want to make sure I do my job to get them the ball and then I can be a fan and watch them go to work. I think that’s just a testament to them. I think for us, it looks differently by the day but we always prepare together and we always go onto the field and go into a game and try and be on the same page and I think that’s allowed us to be productive.”

the third wicket with Glenn Maxwell (13) and 70 for the fourth with Marcus Stoinis, who scored 35 from 25 balls.

There are few knocks on the Eagles — did you hear they are undefeated? — but special teams continues to be a sore point. The Steel ers picked up a first down on a fake punt and Philly’s return game has been a nonfactor.

STOCK UP

Much like Hurts does, let’s try and spread the ball around. Tight end Dallas Goedert caught six passes for 64 yards and is on pace for more than 1,000 yards receiving.

He has yet to have a breakout game like the Eagles’ wide receivers but it’s hard not to feel like his time is coming.

On the other side of the ball, defensive tackle Javon Hargrave had two sacks and forced a fumble that led to a touchdown.

STOCK DOWN

It’s hard to find a player or two doing much of any thing wrong.

INJURED

First-round pick Jordan Davis left the game late in the first half with an ankle injury.

The run-stopping defen sive tackle was driven to the locker room on a cart.

KEY NUMBER

10 — Hurts has won 10 straight regular-season starts, the longest such streak in franchise his tory and the longest active streak in the NFL.

NEXT STEPS

All that’s missing in Hou ston is the Rocky statue to make all the fans that flocked to the city feel like they’re home.

The Eagles play Thurs day at Houston.

today’s game against England. The English, after an upset loss to Ireland, are tied with the Irish on three points.

The top two teams in both groups advance to the semifinals after the round-robin.

Finch’s first half century of the tournament was tem pered by a hamstring strain that meant he could only field for seven overs before handing the captaincy duties over to wicketkeeper Matthew Wade and going off for treatment.

The Australian skip per had kept the innings together, sharing a 52-run second-wicket stand with Mitch Marsh (28), 24 for

Finch said he’d felt like it was only a matter of time before he batted himself into form.

“You get out in the middle and you let your instinct take over,” he said.

“T20 is a high-risk game at times. Sometimes you get them out of the middle early, sometimes you don’t.”

Finch said 180 was a decent total on a pitch that was dry and relatively slow by usual standards at the Gabba.

“We knew we had to lay the foundation early. We couldn’t pull the trigger and risk being four or five (wickets) down at the 12

or 13-over mark, then you might leave yourself a little short,” he said. “I thought we did really well to get there.”

second-wicket partner ship by removing Marsh with the first ball of his second over, the ninth of the innings. He returned to have Finch caught on the long-on boundary in the 17th.

Pace bowler Josh Little returned 2-21 and the spin ners were economical but seamer Mark Adair con ceded 59 runs, including 26 off one over — his third — which included five wides.

Australia’s bowlers domi nated the power play, with spinner Maxwell (2-14) taking two wickets in the third over and left-arm paceman Mitchell Starc (2-43) bowling Curtis Camphers (0) and George Dockrell (0) with full inswinging balls in the fourth.

(2-19) also took two wickets apiece but the Australian attack couldn’t fully contain the innings as Tucker com bined with the lower order to add 112 for Ireland and prolong the game.

“It was hard fought. Cer tainly in the first innings it could have got away from us but we bowled pretty well — a couple of overs just didn’t go our way,” Bal birnie said. “Certainly we didn’t get the start with the bat that we wanted but to show that bit of fight at the end shows we’re making progress and we can keep up with these big teams when we get the chance.”

Australia finishes the Super 12 stage against Afghanistan on Friday. Ire land is set to finish against 2021 runner-up New Zealand.

Barry McCarthy led the Irish attack with 3-29, dismissing opener David Warner with his first deliv ery and breaking up the

Pat Cummins (2-28) and legspinner Adam Zampa

AUSTRALIA’s Aaron Finch hits a boundary during the T20 World Cup cricket match between Australia and Ireland, in Brisbane Australia, yesterday.

(AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)

EAGLES quarterback Jalen Hurts celebrates after their victory over the Steelers. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)

MEMBERS of the local organising committee in their pitch to World Athletics for the return of the World Relays.

NATIONAL SPORTS AWARDS CEREMONY POSTPONED, ANNUAL YOUTH MONTH CELEBRATIONS BEGIN THIS MONTH

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture’s annual Youth Month cel ebrations in November will feature more activities throughout the country, while the National Sports awards ceremony will be postponed until January.

In a press conference on Monday, Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario Bowleg and members of his staff launched the month of activities. Sports represent atives from Grand Bahama and the Family Islands also participated via Zoom.

Coming off a two-year hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kelsie Johnson, the acting director of sports, said the Ministry of Sports wants to include as much of the Family Islands in their month of celebrations as they prepare for the sixth Bahamas Games, sched uled for next year.

Using the theme: “The Awakening Power of Sports,” the Ministry will worship at Mt Tabor Full Gospel on Sunday, November 6 and they are asking the general public to come out and share in the experience.

Bowleg said during the month, they will host a number of sporting activi ties on New Providence, Grand Bahama, Bimini, Andros and Eleuthera.

BROWNS

FROM PAGE 15

Amari Cooper on a 4-yard pass in the second half as the Browns built a 25-0 lead while playing their best all-around game in 2022.

Led by Garrett, Cleve land’s defence, which has struggled for most of the season, put relentless pressure on Burrow, who was without top receiver Ja’Marr Chase because of a hip injury.

However, even a healthy Chase may not have been enough to help Burrow. He finished 25 of 35 for 232 yards with two TDs and one interception.

Burrow connected on scoring passes in the fourth quarter to Tyler Boyd and Tee Higgins, but those only helped him pad his stats and took some sting out of the scoreboard.

Garrett set the tone for a scary performance for the Browns by dressing up as Vecna, the sinister alienlike character from the TV series “Stranger Things.” This was indeed a strange night as the Browns finally looked like a competent team and recorded a lop sided win after so many close losses.

BENGALS BROKEN Cincinnati did not allow a second-half touchdown in its first seven games before the Browns scored three TDs after halftime.

TRADE TALK

With the trade deadline Tuesday, Browns running back Kareem Hunt has been involved in rumors for weeks. The chatter about his future began when he demanded to be dealt in August after the team failed to offer him a con tract extension.

“Sports is far reaching and as we celebrate sports and those who have con tributed so much to its growth and development, we hope that Bahamians across the country join us in this month and expe rience the true power of sports,” Bowleg said..

Each Monday over lunch, Johnson said the Ministry will include the media to sit down over lunch to discuss a number of topics regarding fitness, nutrition, injury, treatment and health. The sessions will also be carried live on Zoom.

Additionally, at least 5-10 coaches will be hon oured by the Ministry. Those coaches, according to Johnson, would not have been inducted into the National Hall of Fame, but would have made signifi cant contributions to the development of sports in the country.

This year’s National Hall of Fame induction cere mony will take place at 6pm on Wednesday, November 16 at the Baha Mar resort. The list of inductees will be released shortly.

However, Johnson revealed that the National Sports Awards ceremony will be postponed until January because “we didn’t want to overshadow the praises that we will be bestowing on our Hall of Fame inductees.”

The Ministry also intro duced some of its new

sports officers, Byron Fer guson and Sadie Bowe, along with Adam Miller and Pauline Davis.

Norris Bain, the deputy director of sports in the Northern Bahamas, said there is an exciting month of activities being planned in Grand Bahama where they will be going into the schools, hosting a 3.5 mile walk/run race and a wres tling clinic.

Bain, one of the country’s top high school basketball coaches, said they will also be recognising a number of coaches on the island as well as they will honour some of the players who have enjoyed a successful collegiate volleyball and basketball season so far.

Brian Cleare, the sports officer for Andros,

revealed that there are a number of activities planned, including a Sun fish sailing in Morgans Bluff on November 19, a basketball tournament in Mastic Point on November 26 and a softball tourna ment on November 27 in Nicholls Town.

“The president of the Mastic Point Sailing Club, Patrick Romer, will be assisting us with that,” Cleare said.

‘This past summer, we used the Sunfish Sail ing as one of the youth programmes.

“We also had the Sunfish Sailing as a part of our Fun Day out on the Regatta site in North Andros and we had a number of youth who participated in that event. At the moment, we have

three ladies who are now sailing solo, so we want to try and sail as often as possible to get our young people more interested in Sunfish Sailing.”

During the month, Cleare said they will also honour at least five local coaches and some of the former athletes who rep resented North in the Bahamas Games in the past.

He noted that their activities will be used as a tune-up for the Bahamas Games.

“At the moment, we are preparing some of the facil ities here in North Andros to get us ready for the games,” Cleare said.

Jermaine Adderley, the sports officer in Long Island, said they will host a series of softball and baseball games on Friday, November 4 and on Sat urday, November 5, they will join the Cancer Soci ety of the Bahamas in a walk-a-thon.

On November 19, they will host a basketball tour nament in preparation for the Bahamas Games.

During the Bahamas Softball Federation’s National All-Star Tour nament on November 12, Johnson said the Ministry will play in an exhibition game with two teams formed among the staff and on Novem ber 19, they will take part in a beach volleyball tournament.

‘BUDDY’ HIELD SCORES 22 IN PACERS’ 116-109 LOSS TO NETS

NEW YORK (AP) — Kevin Durant scored 34 points to lift the Brooklyn Nets to a much-needed 116-109 win over the Indi ana Pacers last night.

Durant authored some personal and franchise his tory in Brooklyn’s second win of the season (2-5).

JONES

FROM PAGE 15

season has appeared in 23 regular season games thus far. Based on the extension he is expected to earn $3 million on his rookie deal through the 2023-24 campaign.

The 6’11 forward/ centre spent the bulk of his rookie season in the G-League with the Greensboro Swarm. He averaged 16.5 points, 9.7 rebounds, 1.3 steals and two blocks in 30.3 minutes per game in 32 games (31 starts) with the Swarm last season. He shot 62 percent from the field, 33 percent from three, and 60 percent from the free throw line.

At the NBA level he has struggled to carve out space on the Hor nets’ depth chart thus far averaging 1.1 points and 0.5 rebounds in 3.0 min utes per game. Jones called his rookie season “a beautiful expe rience” at Hornets media day but looks forward to making a bigger impact this season.

With two free throws in the first quarter, Durant passed Vince Carter for 19th on the NBA’s career scoringt list. He now has 25,752 points. And, he has scored at least 25 points in each of the first seven games of the season, the most in franchise history.

“With my athleticism, I can have a two-way impact,” he said, “Lob threat, blocking shots, just being versatile.”

New Hornets head coach Steve Clifford called Jones “an excep tional athlete” and “phenomenal worker” when asked about his possible role in the frontcourt.

The Hornets start Mason Plumlee at centre, third year player Nick Richards has gotten the bulk of the minutes off the bench while for wards Jaden McDaniels and JT Thor have all received minutes off the bench ahead of Jones. The Hornets also drafted centre Mark Williams with the 15th pick in the 2022 draft.

Jones was the no.19 pick in the 2021 draft by the New York Knicks and he was acquired by the Hornets via trade in exchange for a 2022 first round pick. He and the other members of the Hornets rookie class played sparingly as the Hornets chased a spot in the NBA playoffs.

Kyrie Irving added 28 points and Nic Clax ton had 19 points and nine rebounds. Despite a 30-point performance from Chris Duarte, Indi ana dropped to 3-5. Buddy Hield chipped in with 22. Bennedict Mathurin con tributed 16, and Tyrese Haliburton had 11.

KINGS 115, HORNETS 108

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kevin Huerter scored 26 points, Davion Mitchell added 23 points, including two clutch jump ers late in the game, and Sacramento rallied from a 15-point halftime deficit to beat Charlotte for its second straight win.

Huerter and Mitchell combined to go 10 of 16 from 3-point range and Harrison Barnes added 14 points as the Kings out scored Charlotte to 37-18 in the third quarter.

P.J. Washington led the Hornets in scoring with 28 points. Kelly Oubre Jr. added 16 for Charlotte.

RAPTORS 139, HAWKS 109

TORONTO (AP) — Pascal Siakam had 31 points and 12 rebounds and Scottie Barnes scored a season-high 21 points as Toronto routed Atlanta. Gary Trent Jr scored 21 points and O.G. Anunoby had 14 as the Raptors set a season high in points and improved to 3-1 at home.

Siakam had six assists, his franchise-best 30th game with 20 or more points, 10 or more rebounds and five or more assists.

Trae Young had 14 points and 10 assists, and John Collins had 12 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out as the Hawks lost their second straight.

Dejounte Murray scored 20 points for the Hawks, Clint Capela had 13 and De’Andre Hunter 11.

76ERS 118, WIZARDS 111 WASHINGTON (AP) — James Harden scored 23 points and had 17 assists as Philadelphia clawed back to .500 with a victory over Washington despite miss ing Joel Embiid.

SAKKARI EDGES PEGULA IN 2 TIEBREAKERS TO START WTA FINALS

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Maria Sakkari emerged to take a pair of tiebreakers and edge Jes sica Pegula across more than two hours of big-hit ting baseline action in front of a sparse crowd yesterday as round-robin singles play began at the season-ending WTA Finals.

Playing with her grand mother in the stands, the No. 5-ranked Sakkari’s 7-6 (6), 7-6 (4) victory on a tem porary indoor hard court at Dickies Arena came in a rematch of the Guadalajara Open final on October 23. Pegula won that one 6-2, 6-3 to claim the first WTA 1000 title of her career and move up to No. 3.

“It’s never easy against Jess,” said Sakkari, who was a two-time Grand Slam semifinalist last season.

The other matches sched uled for later on Day 1 were Ons Jabeur vs. Aryna Sabalenka in singles, and Pegula and Coco Gauff against Xu Yifan and Yang Zhaoxuan in doubles.

Sakkari vs. Pegula was filled with plenty of momentum swings.

Sakkari won the first two games. Pegula took the next three. Sakkari broke to lead 6-5 and serve for the first set. Pegula broke right back when Sakkari flubbed a drop shot, then chucked a ball and walked over to a towel holder and gave it a kick.

In the tiebreaker, Sakkari finally closed it out on her third set point with a fore hand passing shot, 1 hour and 11 minutes after the contest started.

The second set followed a similar pattern: Less than 15 minutes in, Sakkari led 3-0, but soon enough it was 3-all.

Sakkari had an oppor tunity to close out her first win against a top-five oppo nent this year when she held two match points at 6-5 in second. But she dropped a backhand into the net on the first, and Pegula deliv ered a backhand winner on the second.

Then, in the closing tie breaker, Sakkari converted her third match point on a forehand into the net by Pegula, who had won 11 of her preceding 13 matches — with both losses to No. 1-ranked Iga Swiatek.

Tyrese Maxey added 28 points for Philadelphia. Georges Niang sank all four of his 3-pointers in the second half — including three in the fourth quar ter — and finished with 12 points as the 76ers won their third straight to move to 4-4.

Embiid, the back-to-back NBA MVP finalist, missed out due to non-COVID-19 related illness.

Kristaps Porzingis scored 32 points and Bradley Beal added 19 for Washington, which lost its third in a row and second at home.

MINISTER of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario Bowleg and members of his staff launch the annual Youth Month celebrations.

PACERS guard Buddy Hield (24) dunks against Nets forward Royce O’Neale (00) during the first half in New York last night. (AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh)

MINISTER of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario Bowleg speaks during the press conference yesterday.

Photos: Moise Amisial/Tribune Staff

4 SPOTS IN CL UP FOR GRABS, BAYERN, NAPOLI CHASE PERFECTION

LONDON (AP) — The Champions League has reached the final round of group-stage matches, with four spots in the lineup for the last 16 still up for grabs.

• Here’s what to look out for this week:

QUALIFICATION

SPOTS

Eight teams are still in contention for the knock out stage with four of them all coming from the same group.

It’s everything to play for in Group D, with just two points separating top-place Tottenham and Marseille at the bottom. Those two teams face each other in

France today, while Sport ing Lisbon hosts Eintracht Frankfurt.

A draw will be enough to see Tottenham qualify but all of the teams in the group know a win will ensure qualification.

AC Milan and Salzburg meet at the San Siro on Wednesday to decide which team joins Chelsea in quali fying from Group E. A draw would be enough for Milan.

Leipzig needs to avoid a loss against Shakhtar on Wednesday in Group F to secure progress to the round of 16. Shakhtar would advance with a win.

SHAKHTAR’S

QUEST Ukrainian club Shakhtar had a tough task just to play in the Champions League again following the Rus sian invasion. Now it could fly the Ukrainian flag in the last 16.

Shakhtar has to play its home Champions League games in Poland because of the war and is fielding a young squad after FIFA allowed foreign players to suspend their contracts with Ukrainian teams and play elsewhere. Coach Roberto De Zerbi left and the Ukrainian league shut down for six months

from February to August. Shakhtar’s league game Saturday was interrupted for more than an hour by an air-raid alarm.

Despite that, Shakhtar has stayed competitive and knows it will qualify from its group if it beats Leip zig. Shakhtar is assured of placing at least third and continuing its unusual European season in the Europa League.

Shakhtar won its first meeting with Leipzig 4-1 in September, prompt ing Leipzig to fire coach Domenico Tedesco. The German team has bounced back under Marco Rose,

upsetting Real Madrid 3-2 last week after twice beat ing Celtic.

GROUP WINNERS Bayern Munich, Chel sea and Manchester City are the only teams to have already won their groups heading into the final matchday.

Real Madrid will win Group F — regardless of rival Leipzig’s result — by beating Celtic at home on Wednesday.

Napoli will be the Group A winner if it avoids defeat at Liverpool today by four goals or more in a match between two teams already sure of progressing.

Paris Saint-Germain and Benfica are the teams advancing from Group H. They each have 11 points before closing matches at Juventus and Maccabi Haifa, respectively, on Wednesday.

In Group B, Club Brugge leads Porto by a point and both teams have already qualified.

They finish against teams who are fighting to finish third to reach the Europa League knockout round playoffs.

Brugge visits last-place Bayer Leverkusen today and Porto hosts third-place Atletico Madrid.

FRITZ WINS IN PARIS TO REMAIN IN HUNT FOR ATP FINALS SPOT

PARIS (AP) — Taylor Fritz of the United States stayed in contention for one of the two remaining ATP Finals spots by beating Ale jandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain 7-5, 6-2 in the first round of the Paris Masters yesterday.

The ninth-seeded Fritz rallied from a 4-2 deficit in the opening set and took the second by winning the last four games. Davidovich Fokina made 24 unforced errors to just nine for Fritz.

Carlos Alcaraz, Rafael Nadal, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Casper Ruud, Daniil Med vedev and Novak Djokovic have already qualified for the ATP Finals.

Fritz, Felix Auger-Alias sime, Andrey Rublev and Hubert Hurkacz are in the running to round out the eight-player field.

FOCOL sponsors tennis tourney for junior players

THE tournament spon sored by FOCOL featured U10, U12, U14, U16 and U18 participants and was held at the YMCA.

The event was sanc tioned by the BLTA and the results in the various categories are as follows:

U10 Girls - Winner: Danielle Saunders. Runner Up: Marina Bostwick.

U12 Girls - Winner: Kaylah Fox. Runner Up: Briana Houlgrave.

U12 Boys - Winner: Pat rick Mactaggart. Runner Up: Kingston Rees.

U14 Girls - Winner: Briana Houlgrave. Runner Up: BreAnn Ferguson.

U14 Boys - Winner: Jerald Carroll. Runner-Up Jackson Mactaggart.

U16 Girls - Winner: Jalisa Clarke. Runner Up: BreAnn Ferguson.

U16 Boys - Winner: Michael Major Jr.. Runner Up: Jerald Carroll.

U18 Girls - Winner: Jalisa Clarke. Runner Up: Sierra Rodgers.

U18 Boys14 - Winner: Michael Major Jr.. Runner Up: Dentry Mortimer.

GBTA president Nat ishka Barrett congratulated the winners, runners-up and all the players who par ticipated in the tournament (some of the winners and runners-up are pictured above).

“We acknowledge those double crown winners: Michael Major Jr winner of Boys U16 and U18 and Jalisa Clarke winner of Girls U16 and U18,” Bar rett said.

“We also congratulate the GBTA on another successful tournament. Briana Houlgrave and Jerald Carroll both cap tured the U14 crowns in the girls’ and boys’ cat egories respectively and they were also able to

in 2019. Miami Marlins

get runners-up awards in another division.”

In attendance at the tournament were BLTA President Perry Newton and Abaco Tennis Associa tion (ATA) President and BLTA Secretary Cameel

equipment and leader ship to the youth. They make baseball accessible to all races and they give everyone a fair playing chance to learn the game, get introduced and hope fully make the most out of it. They have been instru mental in the United States so we look forward to what they can do here in The Bahamas.

“The group was founded by Edwin Jackson, their President is Curtis Granderson and their Vice President is CC Sabathia. Accompanying them will be a list of legends and Hall of Famers that paved the way for us to play the game of baseball and we don’t take that for granted.”

Bo Bichette of the Toronto Blue Jays won the inaugural event in 2018 and repeated as champion

outfielder Lewis Brinson captured the title in 2020 and Kansas City Royals catcher MJ Melendez was the most recent winner in 2021.

“Our goal of the event is to always use this as a platform to highlight our Bahamian baseball players, our Bahamian athletes, and just show what the Baha mas consists of - our natural beauty and these beaches. We have the best beaches in the world,” Isaacs said.

“Being a baseball player, you wanted to really bring the two elements together. The most exciting part of the game, the home run, and then the most beautiful part of us being from The Bahamas, the beaches. So we decided to do something extremely crazy. Set up a stage and hit balls into the water.”

Event sponsors include the Government of The Bahamas, the Ministry

of Tourism, the Atlantis Resort, Rev TV, Chandler Bats, Bahamasair, Bahamas Waste, Heritage Seafood, Cancer Tratment Cent ers of America, A Sure Win, M and E Limited, Balso, Global Sun Inter gration Management, Family Medicine Center, Triple A Marine, Harmony COnstruction, BBG Base ball Generations, Prime Shipping, Happy Heal ing Homecare, and C3 Propane.

“It’s amazing for us to get this far. Everything is moving so fast, just having these sponsors believe in us and trust these young men to put on this event.

“Just hearing us out was a plus for us. Just having our sponsors buy in to make this event bigger and better every year,” Fox said.

“Sports has changed my life. It took me places I never knew existed. With more baseball being played, it creates more

McDonald. The presidents are also pictured with tour nament director Danny Rigby.

“In the 2022 junior tennis circuit, we saw some great competition and increased participation from all over

opportunities and more kids that can change their lives so we just want to inspire as many people as we can.

“You can accomplish anything you put your mind to and there are different avenues to do that. What ever we can do to impact this country we plan to do our best to do that.”

The event has grown in stature to be showcased prominently by several international media out lets, including the MLB Network, and features both minor and major league prospects from around the league.

Even organisers announced that the 2021 event garnered a reach of over eight million view ers through live streaming and various social media networks.

“We play a sport that allows us to go places, see places, but, you know, at the end of the day, you have

The Bahamas,” Barrett said.

“We encourage the jun iors to continue to display their talents and we look forward to an even better 2023 by God’s grace,” said a press release.

to really come home and use that platform to make it a better place. There were people before us, athletes before us, famous celeb rities before us and their respective platforms that didn’t use their platform to build a bridge. We get to raise money, we get to do cool things. But the most important thing for us was to always find ways to get back in the community,” Isaacs said.

Isaacs recently completed his second season in the Frontier League and is set to join a new cub - the Lake Eerie Crushers - in the 2023 season.

In 50 games with the New Jersey Jackals, he totalled .327 batting aver age with 70 hits, including nine home runs, 34 RBI, scored 45 runs, with 22 stolen bases, slugging .505 with a .300 OBP.

One of the seminal moments of the MLB season came on April 10

“It’s been the best season ever,” Fritz said. “No pres sure. I’m just trying to have the best result I possibly can. I played well here last year, so I don’t see why I can’t do it again this year.”

Fritz has won titles in Tokyo, Eastbourne and Indian Wells this season. He lost to eventual cham pion Djokovic in the Paris Masters quarterfinals last year.

Americans John Isner, Maxime Cressy and Frances Tiafoe also progressed.

Isner made a winning comeback on his return from a wrist injury by downing qualifier Oscar Otte 6-4, 7-6 (3).

Cressy dispatched Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 6-3 to next face Djokovic, while No. 16 seed Tiafoe beat Italian qualifier Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 6-4.

Also moving on were Cameron Norrie, Karen Khachanov, wild card Rich ard Gasquet, Yoshihito Nishioka, Gilles Simon, Mikael Ymer and Nikoloz Basilashvili.

Nishioka will next take on top-ranked Alcaraz. Simon, retiring at the end of the season, outlasted two-time Olympic cham pion Andy Murray 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.

when Fox made his debut with the Washington Nationals to become the ninth Bahamian to reach the Major Leagues.

In the final week of Spring Training, Fox was recalled from the Nationals’ Triple-A affiliate (Roch ester Red Wings) to the big league club and had an immediate opportunity at the opening week roster after several injuries to vet erans in the Washington middle infield.

When the Nationals hosted the Miami Marlins on April 27, Fox and Jazz Chisholm Jr became the first pair of Bahamas-born players to appear in the same MLB game in over 50 years.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the only other pair of Bahamians to play in the same game were Andre Rodgers and Tony Curry, who faced each other six times during the 1960 and 1961 seasons.

WINNERS of the Grand Bahama Tennis Association’s junior tournament in Freeport, Grand Bahama, this weekend.

TOURNAMENT organisers share a special moment.

TOURISM SURGE TO ‘OVERPOWER’ RISKS TO BAHAMAS DURING ‘23

have, we are experiencing and benefiting from the pent-up demand for travel that was not met at the height of the pandemic.

“That result, for us, is going to overpower some of the negative trends out there in the global environ ment,” Mr Rolle continued.

“What we should also take from the outlook and pro jections for The Bahamas is that had the global envi ronment presented itself in an even more favourable context, the growth seen from The Bahamas would be even stronger.

“We should take from that that our performance would be even stronger to the extent it would have drawn on other positive elements of the global econ omy.” The world is facing increasing economic threats at present due to persistent high inflation, which has forced developed country

central banks in the US, UK and Europe to raise inter ests in a bid to cool rising prices, thereby sparking fears of a global downturn that could involve a reces sion in the US or elsewhere.

High energy prices and their associated volatility, together with geopolitical uncertain ties caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, are acting as further drags on global economic growth.

The Bahamas, as a ser vices exporter and open economy, is especially vul nerable to external shocks of any type but Mr Rolle yesterday voiced optimism that tourism’s rebound will more than counter these outside forces in the nearterm at least.

Asked by Tribune Business how long The Bahamas’ pent-up tour ism demand will outweigh negative external pressures, Mr Rolle replied: “From everything that is being

forecast and assessed, we see that trend continuing through the course of 2023 at a minimum.”

With airlines rebuild ing airlift capacity to also benefit The Bahamas, the Central Bank gover nor added that this nation has yet to restore much of its resort capacity postCOVID with Nassau’s British Colonial and Melia Nassau Beach resorts still to re-open.

As a result, there exists significant oppor tunity to further increase higher-spending stopover visitor arrivals once the room inventory repre sented by these properties comes back online. “We’re looking at least through to the end of 2023,” Mr Rolle reiterated of pent-up tour ism demand’s ability to counter inflation and global recession.

Maintaining his upbeat tourism outlook, the Cen tral Bank governor said:

“The Central Bank expects that the sector will com plete its recovery over the course of 2023. In the case of the cruise market, the monthly seasonal perfor mance has already eclipsed pre-pandemic levels. In the stopover segment, how ever, the monthly gap is still closing. The monthly comparisons show that air arrivals in August had regained approximately 90 percent of the pre-pan demic baseline.

“While in the monthover-month comparisons, the 2019 outcomes could be matched by the end of the third quarter of 2022, the Central Bank’s base line measure for complete recovery is still a compari son of the closing months of the year against the final four months of 2018. This was a record performance period that pre-dated both the pandemic and Hurri cane Dorian.”

And, while the Baha mian economy is recovering “at a healthy pace” from COVID-19, Mr Rolle nev ertheless acknowledged: “The economy is facing increased inflation, through higher costs on imported goods and services. While the growth outlook is positive, the risks to the economy are expected to stay elevated over the near-term, largely as a result of the uncertain ties in the international environment.”

During his last quar terly economic briefing in August, he trimmed The Bahamas’ full-year gross domestic product (GDP) growth for 2022 to between 5-6 percent due to these risks. However, subse quently the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its October 2022 world economic outlook again revised this nation’s forecast 2022 growth back up to the

yet

continue to be some pressures throughout The Bahamas.

“From that point of view, we should expect at a mini mum that the inflation rate is going to hover at levels we’ve been seeing and, potentially, get a little but higher until the rate cools off in the US and other countries where The Baha mas has strong connections and ties.”

Mr Rolle gave no indica tion of when an inflation easing may arrive. Much depends on whether the US central bank, the Fed eral Reserve, can cool price rises in The Bahamas’ major trading partner with out sparking an economic contraction or recession that impacts this country’s tourism industry. The US monetary policy architect thus faces a fine balancing act that could be a gamble which backfires.

More immediately, Baha mian middle class and low income consumers will continue to see living stand ards, their quality of life, purchasing power and dis posable income eroded by inflation and rising prices.

This has prompted the Government to take action through a major expansion of the price control regime, bringing it into conflict with the food and pharma ceutical sectors, with the problem set to be wors ened by Bahamas Power & Light’s (BPL) fuel charge hike.

Meanwhile, asked whether record high real estate demand and inflows will bottom out, Mr Rolle agreed that they will “normalise” although he declined to predict a date for when this will happen.

He added that rising global interest rates will likely make it more difficult for some foreign investors to obtain financing for Baha mian real estate purchases,

while post-COVID demand for more remote locations may wane.

“I cannot speculate as to the timing of when it bot toms out, but we should be mindful that the cost of finance will have an impact on some of the investors’ ability to participate in this market,” Mr Rolle said. “But recall some of this preference is being expressed because of the COVID-19 conditions and persons wanting to live in localities and countries where they can have more access to the outdoors and not be so exposed to COVID related risks.

“From that point of view, we should be mind ful that some of what we’re experiencing now is a shift adjustment and once we get beyond the adjustment, and I don’t want to specu late as to the duration of that, we then need to think of addressing ways to define the real estate or residen tial product. We should

expect the growth level to normalise.”

But, while rising global interest rates will act as “some drag” on demand for Bahamian real estate, Mr Rolle added that there was also a question of “whether we’ve even caught up with demand already experi enced”. Real estate activity translates into construction work, and this “impulse” had seen investment in “core tourism-related infra structure - especially at the Nassau Cruise Port and the cruise industry’s private islands.

Turning to credit quality in the commercial bank ing industry, the Central Bank governor added: “An improving trend has been established. The delin quency rate on private sector credit has declined gradually over the course of 2022.

“In this context, the Central Bank also continues to deliber ately target significant

(242) 323-2320

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0.9390.20012.11.76%

0.6310.61024.63.94%

8 percent it had originally projected back in March.

Asked by Tribune Busi ness whether the Central Bank was likely to also revise its GDP projections upwards in line with the IMF’s, Mr Rolle replied: “It’s a good question, a good question. Our esti mates do not always agree to the point, but but I would say that both the IMF and the Central Bank’s expec tations are within the same range, which is the growth is higher and above trend because there’s still the pent-up demand for tour ism that’s driving growth.

“The IMF estimates, what we would have seen, are also responding to the trends seen in the domestic sector in terms of the strong uptick in the tourism recov ery. Even though there may be variations between what we forecast and what they forecast, we’re all within the same margin of error.”

peak

medium-term reduction in delinquencies. Tackling the delinquency rate, and increasing the pool of quali fied borrowers, which are both favourably influenced by overall economic con ditions, are important to stimulating more lending....

“There remains a strong recovery element in growth for both 2022 and 2023, associated with pent-up demand for travel. This is net of the projected slowdown in the global economy, as leading central

banks increase interest rates to neutralise inflation, and as energy prices stay elevated, largely due to the war in Ukraine,” he continued.

“The downside eco nomic risks continue to warrant a prudent, meas ured approach to foreign exchange market policies. However, accommodating increased private sector lending and increased domestic financing of the fiscal deficit are also com patible with this approach.”

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14.897.90%48.70%

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BPL GIVES RESORTS NOD TO EXPLORE RENEWABLES

of the large properties, medium or small proper ties to consider alternative forms of electricity.”

While details, such as how much of a large hotel’s energy will be generated from renewable sources, remain to be worked out, Mr Sands added: “Cer tainly the position of us not being able to do it at all did not come up. To what level has to be discussed, because there are questions of redundancy and other issues.

“This is an ongoing dis cussion to be had. The principal position is they [BPL] have no difficulty with hotels exploring the option. That creates an opportunity for us to pursue what is in the best interests of the properties to reduce energy costs but also con tribute to the environment in terms of cleaner energy and being a responsible cor porate citizen.”

BPL’s position came after Tribune Business last week revealed how the util ity’s former chief executive,

Whitney Heastie, warned that it cannot afford for Atlantis and Baha Mar to convert entirely to renewable energy because it would lose 15 percent of its revenues.

He wrote in an Octo ber 2021 letter to Alfred Sears, minister of works and utilities: “To sustain monthly expenditures, BPL requires large commercials to remain on the grid, as their financial support is critical to supporting the revenue flow that the other rate classes on their own could not support. Today, the largest two commercials (Atlantis and Baha Mar) provide some 15 percent of BPL’s total revenue.

“The removal of these large commercials’ gener ating load to renewables would have to be backfilled with financial support from elsewhere as, while gener ating loads would reduce, BPL’s base cost would remain unchanged. Hence it is important for BPL to be strategic in meeting the renewables goals of the country while ensuring its own financial viability.”

BAHAMAS POWER & LIGHT (BPL)

Yesterday’s meeting between BPL and the hotel industry came as the latter seeks ways to mitigate the impact from next year’s fuel charge hike that will peak with a 163 percent increase between June 1 and August 31 at the height of peak summer air conditioning consumption.

“Both sides presented their case and their issues,” added Mr Sands. “There were a number of industry ‘asks’ of BPL, and we want to give them an opportunity to review and consider our position. They’ve agreed to get back to us. We want to keep them [the tourism

industry’s requests] under wraps for a short period of time while they review and assess, and get back to us.”

The BHTA, in a state ment, said it “sought to provide recommendations to BPL for ways to poten tially mitigate the effect of the increases as businesses, many still in post-COVID recovery mode, will encounter significant finan cial challenges if they must face an increase to the second-highest expense item alongside other loom ing increases to the cost of doing business in The Bahamas in the immediate future”.

In response, BPL execu tives gave a presentation outlining the utility’s short, medium and long-term plans to address the rising cost of power, plus strat egies to address power disruptions and improve network reliability in both New Providence and The Family Islands.

“The BHTA sought to understand BPL’s plans to accelerate, in a mean ingful manner, a move to alternative energy sources, as well as how the indus try partners could work collaboratively to elimi nate barriers to entry for consumers who want to migrate to self-generating renewable energy options such as solar power,” the Association added.

“The BHTA put forth a number of ‘industry asks’ for consideration to help mitigate the financial fallout of the heightened fuel surcharge...... We look for ward to working together to realise the potential for alternative forms of effective, cost efficient, environmentally-friendly power production in the

foreseeable future, [and] to achieve the much-antici pated, long-awaited holistic transformation of energy production and supply in The Bahamas.”

BPL, in its statement, praised the resort industry for being “typically dutiful in keeping accounts current and properties, particularly in the Family Islands, lend to profitability of our opera tions”. It added: “The BPL executives communicated the current position of the company, while providing an overview of the opera tional goals and objectives for the short, medium and long-term.

“The present options for customer self-generation using renewable sources, conservation of energy and opportunities to reduce consumption and cost were laid out by BPL to the members of the BHTA present. BPL also spoke to the BHTA representa tives about current and impending challenges and opportunities in the energy sector.”

‘Stable footing’: Ban on new payment providers removed

really started to pick up at the end of 2019.”

Speaking to the issue earlier in the briefing, Mr Rolle added: “In relation to domestic money services, the Central Bank is lifting the moratorium on new applications for licences to offer money transmission and payments services to the retail sector. With pan demic conditions abated, in the Central Bank’s view, this sub-sector is in a better position to establish a stable footing and provide expanded services to the Bahamian public.

“While money services activities could benefit from some consolidation over the medium-term, however, this sector can also begin to profit from innovative, viable and sound new busi ness models, though in keeping with strong finan cial inclusion outcomes.” Expansion in the sector will also aid the Central Bank’s drive to roll-out and encourage greater adop tion of the Bahamian digital dollar, the Sand Dollar.

Elsewhere, Mr Rolle said foreign currency inflows for 2022 were on target to exceed pre-COVID records of $6bn and are 40 percent up on 2021. “Although tourism is still completing its recovery, private sector foreign currency inflows through the commercial banks are on course to surpass the pre-pandemic records,” he added.

“This reflects the added impulse from significant and rising foreign invest ment flows in areas such as residential real estate and tourism infrastructure, which have both stimulated construction activities. Over the first nine months of 2022, measured forex (for eign exchange) inflows have increased by 40 percent in comparison to 2021. This leaves forecasted outcomes for 2022 on course to out pace the pre-pandemic high of $6bn that was recorded in 2018.”

Turning to the impact on The Bahamas’ foreign currency reserves, which support the one:one peg between the Bahamian and US dollars, Mr Rolle said: “Within the more sustaina ble mix of foreign exchange inflows and usage, the pri vate sector contributed to nearly half of the estimated $746m growth in external reserves over the first nine months of 2022.

“In 2021, by contrast, the sector was still making a net drawdown on the reserves. As of today’s date, the reserves are approximately $3bn. Over the remain der of 2022, balances are expected to decrease in line with the normal sea sonal pattern of elevated third and fourth quarter net imports. However, bal ances are still expected to close out the year higher than they were at the end of 2021.”

Mr Rolle said domestic credit to the private sector had contracted slightly during the first nine months of 2022, and is “expected to become only mildly positive

over the near-term. In the context of strengthening deposit growth, the liquid ity in the system is therefore likely to remain elevated, keeping average deposit rates from rising”.

The Central Bank’s gov ernor said “the capacity is more than adequate”, in terms of the $2.3bn in com mercial banking system liquidity, to meet the Government’s strategy of financing most of its pro jected $564m fiscal deficit for 2023-2024 in Bahamian dollars from the local capital markets. And the possibility that some of this borrowing may leak out in foreign currency to pay for imports will not undermine the foreign reserves.

“There’s no concern that government’s financing in

the domestic market will lead to any worrisome trends in terms of the use of foreign exchange on imports or the foreign reserves,” Mr Rolle said, adding that institutional investors - such as pension funds and insurance com panies - were displaying increased appetite for gov ernment securities as their cash flows rebounded after COVID-19.

“Retail depositors, par ticularly, are encouraged to invest more in the avail able medium and long-term domestic bonds of the Government. The Cen tral Bank will target this market segment, as it works with the Government to introduce a savings bond scheme. Existing liquidity is already supporting stable

to increased investments in Government instruments by financial institutions and institutional investors,” he added.

Mr Rolle said the relaxed debt service ratios and down payment requirements that prospective borrowers must meet, while giving lend ers greater flexibility, are “only expected to have a small impact on total credit trends”. And the Central Bank is “closely monitoring market demand”, and “will continually assess if and when a cut-off should be imposed” to the elimination of the 5 percent investment currency market premium to allow locals to invest in the Government’s foreign currency bonds.

NOTICE

BETRANO HOLDING LTD. In Voluntary Liquidation

Notice is hereby given that in accordance with Section 138(4) of the International Business Companies Act. 2000, BETRANO HOLDING LTD. is in dissolution as of October 27, 2022

International Liquidator Services Ltd. situated at 3rd Floor Whitfield Tower, 4792 Coney Drive, Belize City, Belize is the Liquidator.

Q U I D A T O R

NOTICE

IN THE ESTATE of NICHOLAS RAYMOND WARD late of the Western District of the Island of New Providence, one of the Islands of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas, deceased.

Notice is hereby given that all persons having any claim or demands against the above named Estate are required to send their names, addresses and particulars of the same duly certified in writing to the undersigned on or before the 21st day of November A.D., 2022, and if required, prove such debts or claims, or in default be excluded from any distribution; after the above date the assets will be distributed having regard only to the proved debts or claims of which the Executrix shall then have had Notice.

And Notice is hereby given that all persons indebted to the said Estate are requested to make full settlement on or before the aforementioned date.

MICHAEL A. DEAN & CO., Attorneys for the Executrix

Alvernia Court, 49A Dowdeswell Street P.O. Box N-3114 Nassau, The Bahamas

PHARMACIES TO ‘TEMPORARILY’ CLOSE IN PRICE CONTROL REVOLT

Ms McBride, writing under the heading “tem porary store closure”, promised to inform Baha mians of a reopening date for the Association’s mem bers “as soon as possible”. She advised patients need ing emergency care to use the public clinic pharmacies or Princess Margaret Hospi tal (PMH).

The letter, which was sent to Tribune Business last night by Association members, signalled that the action was sparked by the Government’s ongo ing silence and failure to respond to the price control alternatives it had submit ted. “The Association has complied with minister Michael Halkitis’ request to offer recommendations to achieve economic relief for the nation on October 21, 2022,” Ms McBride wrote.

“This document was sent as a response to a lack of consultation from the Government with the pharmacy industry on the Price Control Regulations Amendment 2022. Our document sent on October 27, 2022, has not received a response to its contents [and] nor has our request for further discussion been acknowledged.”

Ms McBride continued: “Therefore the Bahamas Pharmaceutical Associa tion has made the decision to advise its membership that it is [in] their best inter est for pharmacies within the Commonwealth of The Bahamas to close our doors temporarily, commencing November 1, 2022.

“We value your customers and will advise of a reopen ing date as soon as possible to provide your customers with the excellent service they deserve. We note the need to ensure patient care, and request that in case of an emergency patients contact their nearest public clinic or Princess Margaret Hospital. We hope that you unite with us in this move ment and God Bless The Bahamas.”

The Davis administra tion was last night holding an emergency meeting to determine how it will respond to the Bahamas Pharmaceutical Asso ciation’s move as Tribune Business went to press. It is understood that both retail and wholesale phar maceutical operators are “on board” with the indus try’s strategy, and a group may be present at today’s full Cabinet meeting in a bid to speak with the Prime Minister.

The temporary clo sure move also highlights the depths of the indus try’s frustration and anger towards the Government over its failure to consult before announcing the price control revisions and

expansions, and the threat this is perceived to pose to livelihoods and businesses.

This newspaper was also informed that the phar macists had reached out to their food retail and wholesale counterparts to determine if that sector, also facing a major price control expansion, will join forces and follow suit in “temporarily” closing their operations with effect from today.

Tribune Business, though, understands that food retailers were advised not to follow the pharmacy indus try’s lead and are unlikely to stay shut this morning. As this newspaper went to print, it was thought food stores will open as normal this morning with the sector adopting a ‘wait and see approach’ to determine how the Government will react to the non-implementation of its proposed price con trols by today’s November 1 deadline.

Given the uncertainty as to whether the new price control mark-ups will be enforced, the pharmacies and their wholesale suppli ers have taken the position that they cannot be fined for violations if they are closed. While food stores will likely open they, too, will not be implementing the expanded price control regime - and its 38 product categories - as proposed by the Government.

The food industry’s position is that, since negoti ations and consultation with the Government are ongo ing in good faith, the status quo regarding price controls should remain and there are to be no changes until both sides reach an agreement in both parties’ interests and that of the consumer amid the cost of living crisis. As a result, the sector believes the November 1 implemen tation and enforcement deadline set by the Gov ernment cannot be met or apply.

And, should price con trol inspectors this morning descend on food stores and dish out fines for infrac tions, Tribune Business was told that the industry may then follow the pharma cies and close its doors too.

“There are contingency plans in place if they [Price Control] do that, and yes, it will ignite a firestorm because they will have no choice but to defend them selves because they are not changing the prices,” one source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“For the Government to come back out and say there was a deadline, here are your prices, let’s see what they do with that. They’re out of time. It’s now impossible for businesses to do that. These businesses close at 7pm, 8pm at night and they are opening again at 7am in the morning.”

Philip Beneby, presi dent of the Retail Grocers Association (RGA), which represents 130 food stores throughout The Bahamas, yesterday told Tribune Business that talks with the Government are “at a standstill” while effectively confirming that his mem bers will not implement the original price control pro posal by today’s deadline as set last week by Michael Halkitis, minister of eco nomic affairs.

Speaking before the Pharmaceutical Association made its move, Mr Beneby said: “We haven’t heard anything from them up to this point even though that was their promise to us. Once we had submitted our proposal, they prom ised they would get back to us. We have done that and, as far as we’re concerned, we’re still negotiating.

“When negotiations are going on in good faith, noth ing changes. The status quo remains. Everything remains the same until negotiations are complete.

Up to this point we haven’t heard anything. We are at a standstill and I can’t say anything more. We sat at the table, everybody said what they came to say, we looked each other in the eye and made an agreement that we would get back to them.

“The Association worked on its proposal, submitted it and it’s for them to let us know what they plan to do. But nobody is saying any thing. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow [today] to see what they come up with.” The food and phar maceutical industries are vehemently opposed to the Government’s proposed price control expansion, and revised mark-ups, because it will leave them selling a greater proportion of their inventory at a loss.

This, in turn, will make their ability to survive increasingly precarious without significantly adjust ing their business operating models and slashing coststhe latter of which will likely result in staff terminations.

As a result, the Bahamian

private sector is adamant that the Government’s proposal will place compa nies, jobs and incomes in peril unless all parties can achieve an acceptable com promise for easing the cost of living crisis impacting Bahamian consumers.

Price controls have always been a controver sial instrument among the private sector, especially those companies and busi nesses impacted by them. They were imposed by the Government decades ago to prevent what it viewed as an unscrupulous mer chant class from exploiting lower income Bahamians by unreasonably hiking the price of food staples and other essential products, thus placing them out of reach while undermining living standards.

However, opponents argue they are an anach ronism that have no place in a modern 21st century economy. The private sector views price controls as an inefficient, distortionary mechanism that creates more unintended conse quences than the supposed problems they solve.

They can result in product shortages through retailers and wholesalers refusing to stock loss-making items, while these firms also have to increase prices and mar gins on non-price controlled items to compensate for selling these goods as effec tive “loss leaders”.

One pharmacy owner/ operator, speaking on con dition of anonymity, said of the sector’s planned “tem porary closure”: “This is what the Government asked for and this is what they’ll get. No one is implementing the new price controls. The general consensus is there’ll be no changes in price until we have an opportunity to the Government a sensible proposal.

“The Association pre sented a letter saying what they proposed is not accept able. There needs to be dialogue between the Phar maceutical Association, the retailers and wholesalers to determine the situation and how we move forward. No

NOTICE

one is making any changes at this point until we get dialogue and consultation.

“That’s the fundamen tal position we’ve taken. There’s always people who break, but hopefully we will all stand together. Eve rybody seems to be on the same page with what the plan is moving forwards. There’ll be no changes until we come u with a formula that actually works,” the source added.

“Businesses are the ones that pay the taxes, provide the jobs, pay the electricity bills and such like. Yet they are the ones that the Gov ernment is coming after and trying to penalise. There’s something wrong with that. It doesn’t seem to add up, that’s the general consen sus for how business owners feel. We got people through COVID, didn’t lay-off and now you get slapped in the face.”

Branville McCartney, the former Democratic National Alliance (DNA) leader, whose family owns Wilmac’s Pharmacy, responded: “No. Period. It won’t happen” when asked if his business would implement the price con trol changes with effect from today. The company is likely to close along with many of its competitors, as Mr McCartney spoke to this newspaper before the Asso ciation’s closure move.

“I really would implore the Government to please look at the situation again, sit down with the retailers, sit down with the Pharma ceutical Association, and come up with a plan to the benefit of all,” Mr McCart ney said. “It cannot work. It cannot work. This is why the Government ought to take advice and guidance from the businesses prior to making decisions that affect them.

“Many of these people in government have never owned a tuck shop. Their position in politics, that’s the highest they have ever been in life. You cannot expect them to be any type of expert in this particu lar field. Take advice, take advice. It’s unfortunate.

These politicians get into politics, yet they come to believe they are the experts on everything when, in fact, they are not.”

Under the Government’s initial proposal, food whole sale margins, or mark-ups, are capped at 15 percent for all 38 product line items listed, while those for retail ers are set at 25 percent across-the-board. Those goods impacted, some of which are already price controlled, are baby cereal, food and formula; broths, canned fish; condensed milk; powdered detergent; mustard; soap; soup; fresh milk; sugar; canned spa ghetti; canned pigeon peas (cooked); peanut butter; ketchup; cream of wheat; oatmeal and corn flakes.

The remainder are macaroni and cheese mix; pampers; feminine napkins; eggs; bread; chicken; turkey; pork; sandwich meat; oranges; apples; bananas; limes; tomatoes; iceberg lettuce; broccoli; carrots; potatoes; yellow onions; and green bell peppers.

Price-controlled markups range from 15 percent to 18 percent for pharma ceutical wholesalers. For retailers, the range is from 35 percent to 40 percent. The medicines covered include vaccines, anti-dia betic drugs, decongestants, laxatives, contraceptives, antacids, anti-hypertension medicines, cough prepara tions, cardiovascular agents and serums.

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NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that JEAN JESUNORD BIENAIME of Malcolm Road, Winter Terrace, Nassau, 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 1st day of November, 2022 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

NOTICE is hereby given that THERESA KYANNA BLANC of west Crab Apple Street, Baillou Road, 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 25th day of October, 2022 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

NASSAU/PI TAKES TOP TIMES SQUARE SPOT FOR 14 MONTHS

NASSAU and Paradise Island will be promoted to US travellers in New York’s entertainment hub, Times Square, for 14 consecutive months via a series of video advertisements.

The Nassau/Paradise Island Promotion Board (NPIPB), the destina tion marketing group, in a statement said the digital billboard campaign will air 15 video advertisements across three screens every

hour for 24 hours per day, seven days a week in a bid to inspire travel to The Bahamas.

“We are thrilled to launch this initiative in one of Nassau/Paradise Island’s key markets, and in Times Square specifically, New York’s busiest commer cial intersection,” said Joy Jibrilu, the Nassau/Paradise Island Promotion Board’s chief executive. “The cam paign perfectly illustrates

the mission of our board to support our partners by strategically marketing the destination to our target visitors.”

The digital billboards are in a prime corner loca tion, wrapping around the building to optimise view ing and the impact of the destination’s commercials.

The campaign will run through December 2023 with the ability for creative elements and messaging to

be updated throughout the year in a bid to capture the attention of New York resi dents. The advertisements feature emotionally-stim ulating video with iconic images, bold graphics and the Board’s hotel partners - Atlantis; Baha Mar; Bay view Suites Paradise Island; Comfort Suites; Graycliff Hotel; Margaritaville Beach Resort; The Ocean Club; Paradise Island Beach Club; Sandals Royal Bahamian;

Freeport firm opens maritime academy

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A PRIVATE sectordriven academy, designed to inspire Bahamian stu dents towards a maritime career and equip them with the necessary skills, was launched in Freeport this past Saturday.

Ginger Moxey, minis ter for Grand Bahama, told the first cohort of stu dents at the Elnet Maritime Academy and its 101 Cadet Programme: “By capital ising on every aspect of the maritime industry and

making a vast number of these opportunities avail able to young Bahamians through education and training initiatives, we are strategically unlocking our island’s potential to provide future economic growth.

“The Ministry for Grand Bahama is pleased to part ner with Elnet Maritime Agency on Maritime 101 by supporting the vision of Elbert Hepburn to educate 12th grade high school stu dents about the shipping agency aspect of the mari time industry.”

The objective of the Elnet Maritime 101 Programme,

the brainchild of Elnet Maritime’s president, Mr Hepburn, is to equip 12th grade students with basic knowledge and training in the maritime industry that will assist them with making choices about their future careers.

Mrs Moxey told the 20 students that it was her hope that, by the end of the pro gramme, all of them will be motivated to pursue careers in the maritime industry. “I encourage you to open your minds to absorb every morsel of knowledge, and to master the skills you are taught in the weeks ahead.

Grand Bahama needs you. The future of our island is bright and it is diverse, and there is plenty of room at the table for all of you,” she said.

“You are the future lead ers, innovators, creators and entrepreneurs who will contribute significantly to the economic growth of Grand Bahama and The Bahamas.” Mrs Moxey challenged the high school seniors to aim high by being the best the programme has ever seen.

The students also heard from Mr. Hepburn, via a video presentation, in

and the destination’s latest property, Goldw ynn Resorts & Residences, which is set to open in Feb ruary 2023.

Airline partners are also included, with copy show casing the non-stop flights from LaGuardia Airport, John F. Kennedy Interna tional Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport.

Mrs Jibrilu added: “There is no better time to launch

this campaign than now ahead of the popular Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and Times Square’s New Year’s Eve celebration, which draws worldwide attention. Spectators will be hard-pressed to miss our message, and we hope it influences them to book a trip to Nassau/Paradise Island. After all, it is only a short, direct flight from New York.”

which he shared that it took him and his team nine months to develop a pro gramme that would best suit them. He revealed that the goal is to continue to create opportunities in the indus try and make The Bahamas

the maritime centre of the world with Freeport, Grand Bahama, leading the way.

Following the opening ceremony, the students spent the rest of the day learning the basics of oper ations and logistics.

tiDes For nassau

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GINGER MOXEY, minister for Grand Bahama, welcomes the first group of students into the Elnet Maritime 101 Cadet Programme during its launch in Grand Bahama on Saturday, Oc tober 29, 2022. Photo:Lisa Davis/ BIS

Pharmacies to ‘temporarily’ close in price control revolt

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE GOVERNMENT was last night facing an open revolt after private phar macies were urged to “temporarily” close today due to the failure to resolve the price control expansion dispute by the November 1 deadline.

Shantia McBride, the Bahamas Pharmaceutical Association’s (BPA) president, yesterday advised its members (see letter on Page 24) that the ongoing stand-off - combined with the Govern ment’s continued failure to respond to

their proposals - meant it was in “the best interest” of pharmacies to close their doors from today.

There was no indication how long “temporarily” means, although the Association’s letter hinted it could last longer than just one day if the pharma ceutical sector cannot reach a sustainable compromise with the Government. The move raises the prospect that Bahamians and residents will suffer significantly cur tailed access to vital medicines for a day, and possibly longer, if the situation is not resolved.

Tourism surge to ‘overpower’ risks to Bahamas during ‘23

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

PENT-UP tourism demand for The Bahamas will continue to “over power” global inflation and the threat of a US reces sion “through to the end of 2023 at a minimum”, the Central Bank’s governor asserted yesterday.

John Rolle, signalling a positive near-term out look for the Bahamian economy at the regulator’s latest quarterly economic briefing, said travel desire in the country’s major visitor source markets will continue to drive a postCOVID recovery that

could have been “even stronger” if not for nega tive global headwinds.

Pointing to a cruise tour ism performance that “has already eclipsed pre-pan demic levels”, and August stopover air arrivals that had returned to 90 per cent of pre-COVID levels, he said: “Understand

BPL gives resorts nod to explore renewables

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Power & Light (BPL) has given the go-ahead for the resort indus try to “explore” cost-cutting renewable energy options although the details remain to be agreed, a top hotelier said yesterday.

Robert Sands, the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association’s (BHTA) president, speaking after he and industry executives met with BPL’s top management said the state-owned utility’s approach rep resented “a welcome change” given that energy costs continue to act as a drag on the sector’s profits.

“I can tell you that we discussed the whole issue of renewables for all of the customers, and the large customers, and it was agreed that BPL will welcome the large customers to offset a portion of their position with energy from some renewable form,” he told Tribune Business. “That will be a welcome opportunity for some

that the tourism depend ent economies got started at a different time point in terms of the strength and trajectory of their recoveries.

“That is something that is still happening for coun tries like The Bahamas and others because the travel sector is still growing back

in capacity to service the demand, and satisfy the needs, of consumer. Even with the changes happen ing in global economic activity, and the impact higher interest rates will

‘Stable footing’: Ban on new payment providers removed

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE Central Bank’s gov ernor yesterday disclosed it is lifting the near threeyear bar on new entrants to the money transmis sion and digital payments business with the market now on “a stable footing” post-COVID. John Rolle, in his quarterly economic brief ing, explained that the moratorium on new com petition in December 2019 was imposed to allow the industry “to settle a bit” and prevent it from becom ing over-saturated due to an influx of operators.

He added that this was now being removed because the sector, which features players such as Kanoo, Island Pay, MoneyMaxx, Cash N’ Go and Sun Cash, has evolved to the stage where the regulator can once again consider innova tive business proposals for

Consumers warned: Inflation yet to peak

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE CENTRAL Bank’s governor yesterday warned hardpressed Bahamian consumers that soaring inflation may not yet have peaked - although recordsetting real estate demand is one area set to “normalise”.

John Rolle, in his latest quarterly economic briefing, suggested that there will be no immediate relief from the cost of living crisis by predicting that record-setting inflation will “at a minimum hover” at present levels and potentially increase further.

Speaking after the Bahamas National Statistical Institute

(BNSI) last week revealed that the annual inflation rate to August 2022 eased slightly to 6.3 percent, compared to 7.2 percent for the 12 months to July, Mr Rolle signalled that this nation possesses few policy tools to counter price increases since it imports virtually all it consumes. With inflation largely an imported phenomenon due to global energy prices and other factors, he said: “The rate has not shifted drastically from August. I think we should be mindful that, until we see stability and the levelling off of inflation in The Bahamas’ major trading partners, we can anticipate that there will

licensing despite suggesting that “consolidation” needs to occur - a process that will reduce the number of operators.

“When the Central Bank suspended the review of applications, there was a lot of new activity and entrants in the market,” Mr Rolle said in response to a Tribune Business ques tion. “The [Central] Bank wanted the sector to settle a bit before it continued with entertaining applications.

“Having seen the sector evolve, we believe it is time to again look at busi ness models and proposals that are coming rather than continue to deny any consideration of potential interest in the market. On the basis of the business models which come for ward, we’d be in a more open position to deter mine what happens in the market. It’s really about moving from a very rigid posture taken when things

JOHN ROLLE

CENTRAL BANK OF THE BAHAMAS

ROBERT SANDS