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VOLUME:114 No.240, NOVEMBER 6TH, 2017
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PLP draws battle line over MPs’ pay By SANCHESKA DORSETT Tribune Staff Reporter sdorsett@tribunemedia.net THE Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) does not support the prime minister’s planned pay increases for members of Parliament, PLP Leader Phillip “Brave” Davis said yesterday, stressing the “personal needs of well off politicians” should not come before assisting poor Bahamians. PLP Deputy Leader Chester Cooper also said he “categorically” does not support a raise for MPs and vowed to “vote no” when the matter is brought to the House of Assembly for debate. In a statement, Mr Davis said if Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis believes parliamentarians cannot live
on the salaries they are currently making, “he should place himself in the shoes of the thousands of Bahamians who live from hand to mouth, including those fired by his government.” But last week, following Dr Minnis’ announcement, Mr Davis told The Tribune a salary increase for MPs is “overdue.” He said Dr Minnis should consider recommendations the former administration made rather than establish an entirely new committee to consider the matter. And during the Christie administration’s last term, Mr Davis, then deputy prime minister was on board with a pay increase for politicians, insinuating it would curtail corruption. SEE PAGE SIX
OPPOSITION Leader Philip “Brave” Davis has defended the former Christie administration’s extension and increase of Sir Baltron Bethel’s contract from $140,000 to $200,000 a year ahead of the general election, saying he believed Bahamians got value for money as the former advisor is a man of great knowledge and expertise. Mr Davis further castigated Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis for making
information about the increase public, insisting it was “disgraceful”. Asked why Sir Baltron’s contract was increased despite there being no change in his job description, Mr Davis said: “Maybe those who were engaged recognised that the initial sum was inadequate.” Despite this defence, Mr Davis pointed out that this issue would have not been in his purview under the former government where he was the deputy prime minister and minister of works. SEE PAGE 12
COOPER: WE’RE ON A MISSION FROM GOD
By SANCHESKA DORSETT Tribune Staff Reporter sdorsett@tribunemedia.net
GOD gave the the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) a mission to transform The Bahamas into the “best little country in the world,” according to PLP Deputy Leader Chester Cooper, who said the opposition party will not win the next general election without “a fight and a hell of a lot of hard work”. Mr Cooper said the PLP has “four years to rebuild and plan” and execute an agenda that will see the party ready to govern in 2022. He said the party’s convention last month was “the beginning of the resurgence of the PLP” and he will be ready to govern “from day one”. SEE PAGE 12
BREADBASKET REVIEW FOR HEALTHIER LIFESTYLES
BALTRON’S $800K DEAL ‘VALUE FOR MONEY’ By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribumedia.net
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By SANCHESKA DORSETT Tribune Staff Reporter sdorsett@tribunemedia.net THE Ministry of Health is in the process of reviewing the current breadbasket food items list with the view of removing “unhealthy food” from this category and replacing them “with healthier options,” according to Health Minister Dr Duane Sands who said the initiative could drastically improve the “horrible health profiles” of Bahamians. SEE PAGE FIVE
AMERICAN singer, songwriter, and actress Fergie is pictured during her performance over the weekend for the relaunch of The Cove Atlantis. The performance was part of a Sun Sea Soul event to mark the relaunch, which also featured art from Bahamian artist Antonius Roberts on Saturday, and lunch with renowned Bahamian chef Julie Lightbourn yesterday. See Friday’s Weekend section for more from the event. Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
IMMIGRATION CHANGE FOR MEN TOO By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net
THE Minnis administration will not just grant automatic citizenship to children of Bahamian women born abroad upon application, but to children of unwed Bahamian men as well, Attorney General Carl Bethel said yesterday. It will accomplish the latter by amending the
Bahamas Nationality Act and the Status of Children Act. Mr Bethel’s statement came amid concerns Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis’ initially revealed policy––granting automatic citizenship to children born abroad to Bahamian women––would do nothing to help some children born to unwed Bahamian fathers. Under present law, the
child of an unwed Bahamian man and a foreign woman is not an automatic Bahamian citizen. The child would have to apply for citizenship after reaching the age of 18. The issue was the third question put to Bahamians in last year’s constitutional referendum. It was rejected, with 28,246 people voting yes to changing the
Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper
SEE PAGE THREE
DRIVE TO JOIN WTO BY 2019 By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
THE Minnis Cabinet has approved an “aggressive” push for The Bahamas to become a full World Trade Organisation (WTO) member by 2019. Brent Symonette, minister with responsibility for trade and industry, confirmed to Tribune Business that the WTO process was among the Minnis administration’s priorities as it seeks to re-position the Bahamian economy for growth via liberalisation and deregulation. FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS
PAGE 2, Monday, November 6, 2017
THE TRIBUNE
GOVERNOR General Dame Marguerite Pindling with centenarian Sir Durward Knowles who celebrated his 100th birthday at his home on Thursday, November 2. Photo: Letisha Henderson/BIS
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THE TRIBUNE
Monday, November 6, 2017, PAGE 3
TRIBUTES TO A LEGEND AS SIR DURWARD TURNS 100 YEARS OLD
GOVERNOR General Dame Marguerite Pindling, seated at centre, with centenarian Sir Durward Knowles at his home to celebrate his 100th birthday on Thursday. Also pictured is Sir Durward’s wife, Lady Holly Knowles. Photo: Letisha Henderson/BIS
Mitchell doubts legality of citizenship changes By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net THE Minnis administration’s plan to amend the Bahamas Nationality Act to grant children of Bahamian women born outside the Bahamas automatic citizenship upon application “almost certainly” runs “ultra vires of the Constitution,” Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Chairman Fred Mitchell said Friday. “The Constitution says who is automatically a citizen,” the former foreign affairs and immigration minister said. “But one has to see the details. In any event, under the PLP we had announced that by policy that category of the children of Bahamian women with foreign
spouses would be granted citizenship upon application. So I am not sure given the rejection of an amendment to the Constitution that the government is in a lawful position to reverse that. I don’t think statue law can alter that.” He noted that Section 6(2) of the Bahamas National Act currently gives the minister power to grant citizenship to any child upon application. The law says: “The minister may at his discretion cause the minor child of a citizen of The Bahamas to be registered as a citizen of The Bahamas upon application made in the prescribed manner by the parent or guardian of such child. The minister may at his discretion, in such special circumstances as he may
think fit, cause any minor to be registered as a citizen of The Bahamas.” Mr Mitchell’s comments follow Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis’ immigrationrelated announcements in the House of Assembly on Thursday. The prospect of granting children born abroad to Bahamian women with foreign spouses automatic citizenship was put to the country in last year’s constitutional referendum. The issue was covered in the first of the four questions, it was overwhelmingly rejected, with 32,249 people voting “yes” and 51,022 people voting “no”. Mr Mitchell also said the administration’s plan to establish a commission
independent of Cabinet that has the power to grant citizenship could also be unconstitutional. A major pledge of the Minnis administration’s approach to immigration has been to create an independent commission to approve applications for citizenship. The administration believes this could quicken the approvals process and remove politics, ensuring politicians don’t have the power to grant citizenship unless national security concerns are pertinent. Mr Mitchell said while he will await the specifics of the administration’s plan, it’s not clear the Constitution would allow an administration to do this. “This is the one that would appear to be
impermissible by the Constitution under the principle delegate cannot delegate,” he said. “If I’m correct, while the Constitution gives the power to describe how citizenship might be acquired, I do not think that it contemplates devolving that power from the government. Right now, the Act says the ‘minister’ and so I think that is as far as the devolution can go.” For his part, attorney Fred Smith, QC, said he would encourage the Minnis administration to go beyond what it has proposed and amend the Nationality Act to give biological parents the power to pass on citizenship, whether the children are born in or out of wedlock. In statement from Rights
IMMIGRATION CHANGE FOR MEN TOO from page one Constitution to give an unwed Bahamian father the same right that a Bahamian woman has to pass citizenship to a child born in or out of wedlock and 54,890 people voting no. Tavarrie Smith, an attorney and juvenile rights advocate who says he would challenge any discriminatory change to the Bahamas Nationality Act on behalf of his clients, said yesterday: “I represent a number of young men who lack proper status here in The Bahamas because their mothers are of Haitian descent or from Turks and Caicos, despite the fact that their father is a natural born Bahamian. In one instance, the father is the sole surviving parent because the mother has passed away and he is often met with difficulties regarding his children status.
“Over 60 percent of children born in The Bahamas are born out of wedlock to unmarried mothers and fathers. Unless the proposed amendments remove the discriminatory limitation of children born only to Bahamian women, we will still be left with a very large segment of stateless and undocumented children born in The Bahamas.” Asked for a response, Mr Bethel said the administration’s changes to citizenship provisions will put children of unwed Bahamian men and children of married Bahamian women born abroad on “broadly equal footing”. Mr Bethel said: “Actual paternity [not putative] may be proven by DNA testing pursuant to a court order under the Status of Children Act. But that law presently states that paternity so established cannot be used to acquire
Bahamian citizenship.” The Christie administration made amending the Status of Children Act conditional on the passing of the third constitutional amendment bill in last year’s referendum. Asked for his reaction yesterday to the Minnis administration’s plans, Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Chairman Fred Mitchell said the plans run contrary of legal principles.
“There is a principle in law I thought that you cannot amend the Constitution through stealth or the back door,” he said. “It would seem again that what they propose will run afoul of that. As I indicated right now, Section 6 of the Bahamas Nationality Act gives the minister the power to give citizenship to any child. So there is no need to do anything other than improve the administrative procedures.”
Bahamas, a group associated with Mr Smith, the administration’s citizenship announcements were praised. “The Minnis administration is to be commended for its timely, just and progressive decision to grant children of Bahamian women born outside the country automatic citizenship,” the group said. “To say that this move is long overdue would be an understatement. The Bahamas continues to lag far behind international standards when it comes to the recognition of equal rights for all citizens, regardless of gender, class, ethnicity or sexual orientation. However, this pledge represents a huge step in the right direction.”
PAGE 4, Monday, November 6, 2017
THE TRIBUNE
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Talk about bad timing, Mr Prime Minister PRIME Minister Dr Hubert A Minnis last week acted on what appeared to be a revelation – Members of Parliament, he said, are not earning enough. How can we expect them to govern giving their all, pouring through hundreds of pages of documents to prepare for every session of the House of Assembly, and serve their constituency on a salary of some $34,000? Dr Minnis is both right and wrong. MPs salaries are too low. He is right about that. So are the salaries for teachers with an entry level that is far less than an MP who works only part-time. Other salaries are too low, police, prison guards, defence force. But there are two things that Dr Minnis got wrong and we offer these as suggestions so that MPs salaries can be increased without public outrage. First, the timing could not have been worse. On the day we reported the PM wants to increase MPs salaries; Deputy Prime Minister Peter Turnquest was telling us the government is earning insufficient revenues and the stagnant economy may force the imposition of corporate income tax. Did the leader of the country and the deputy leader lose each other’s phone numbers? Surely, they would have connected before either made such statements of dramatic proportions. The thought of corporate tax is abhorrent if it is an additional tax, piled on top of outrageous business licence fees based on gross rather than net revenues, on top of Customs duties, on top of VAT and amid threats of an increase in National Insurance contributions which already weigh heavily on businesses. If the corporate tax is a replacement for one of the above or if it coincides with reduced business licence fees, it could be palatable, even preferable if it moves business taxation from regressive to progressive. Secondly, the problem with introducing an increase for Members of Parliament is the timing. We are mired in an economy that is going nowhere fast with lower than expected growth rate and so much stagnation that if it were a pond it would have dried up. Every night, government statistics tell us, some 12 percent live below the poverty level of $11.64 a day, meaning thousands go to bed or to school hungry. Hundreds have lost their homes because of an inability to make mortgage payments. Thousands are without electricity or trying to work out plans to pay a little at a time. Half the people in New Providence still use well water though they know the dangers. Unemployment among male youth is pegged at close to 30 percent. So yes, MPs need a raise. Their salaries are too low. But tie raises to growth. Focus on how to get this economy moving again. Be inventive and innovative. Take the handcuffs and ankle cuffs off business. Create economic zones, boost incentives for
all things medical - research, treatment, tourism, wellness. Focus, too, on sports development and tourism. Look at marine resources, not for exploitation but to make The Bahamas the marine resources education and research capital of the region. No other country has the waters and the variety of species and coral reefs that The Bahamas does. Explore climate change preparedness measures to jumpstart the blue and green economies. Former Prime Minister Perry Christie recognised the seriousness of climate change and its potential impact on The Bahamas. Do not disregard the warnings because the other party acted on them. Use national resources like the expertise of internationally respected meteorologist Wayne Neely, author of 12 books on hurricanes and the authority NOAA listens to. Growing the economy is not so difficult if you really want to instead of continuing to spend and borrow. Think energy renewables, plastic substitutes, transportation solutions. We have been told there is enormous potential for an international aircraft registry. Where does that stand five years after the concept was re-introduced? Where is the promised motor sports park? What does it take to modernize shipping regulations, some of which, we are also told, are over half a century old. The Bahamas was once the fastest growing ship registry in the world and the third largest. Today, we are seventh. Look at why we are slipping and fix it. There are myriad avenues for growth if hands are untied and if those same MPs who want a raise listen to the private sector and put politics aside for one year. First raise comes with an additional one percent growth, second raise with another one percent. When the country is richer and the people of The Bahamas are doing better, we will all be happy to hand the Members of Parliament their reward too.
Cleaning up the garbage EDITOR, The Tribune. THANK you for publishing my letter concerning the garbage nightmare at Montagu following the regatta to honour Sir Durward. I also called the Ministry for the Environment and spoke to the permanent secretary’s assistant, who promised to call the director of Environmental Health. It would appear that both avenues yielded results so thanks to both of you. As I said in my previous letter, there is a solution
EDITOR, The Tribune.
Thank you, Sir Durward Congratulations to all those who helped organise all the celebrations for Sir Durward Knowles’ 100th birthday. It was a masterful staging that went on for weeks and while events ranged from sailing, walks and runs to formal dinners and school visits, the world’s oldest living Olympian and The Bahamas’ first Olympic gold medalist had a single message – we are one. One Bahamas. Stop talking about the differences and the problems. Hold hands, One Bahamas, and march on together. Thank you, Sir Durward, you have made us all better just by being you and reminding us what unity is all about. Happy birthday.
I AM sure there have been plenty of letters and news reports while I was away about the Post Office downtown and its workings. However, in my box today were two bills nothing else – one from BEC for August consumption
and post marked 15th September and one from BTC for July/August calls post marked 15th August. I do not understand why these major companies who rely on their revenue are not making a huge fuss about the Government’s inability to sort out the Post Office.
If their customers do not use the internet and I find it impossible to get onto MY BTC how can they pay their bills on time? I did check the box last week by the way. What is the answer? PATRICK THOMSON
letters@tribunemedia.net to the garbage problem created by events and festivals. Make it a requirement for the organisers to place a non-refundable deposit (barring event cancellation) for a contract with a proper garbage collection agency to clean up the area at the crack of dawn the following morning. The contract should be verified independently by
Illegal migrants
Don’t rely on the postal service EDITOR, The Tribune.
LETTERS
the Department of Environmental Health and officers from the Department should visit the site the following morning to confirm that the area has been cleaned properly. Make the organisers acknowledge in writing that they are responsible for any mess left behind. If they don’t live up to the terms of their agreement, prosecute them with the view of a hefty fine. M. JOHNSON Nassau, October 31, 2017.
H
STRANGER things have happened but yesterday in The House of Assembly a strange thing happened - it came the turn for the member for St Anne’s to speak ..... he prefixed his comment, all of maybe three minutes by saying there will be an announcement concerning Immigration and sat back down giving away for PM Hubert Minnis to make his statement, far from the usual summing up that the closing MP, usually the PM will do then the bombshell. Illegal migrants have till December 31st, 2017 to get out - no explanation of process, no detail, what if you have an application for status what happens cold if you have no status so illegal get out or we are coming for you. My thoughts quickly returned to the recent fury from PM Minnis alleging there was a cold unchristian attitude and perception in the country - remember the Dominica flap? Well what will the Christian Council have to say on this proclamation illegal migrants out by December 31st, 20l7 - 80 days time? The migrant issue has been a cancer since the earliest of times but we have to remember there is not a single indigenous person who can trace their life back to the Taino - Arawak - Lucayan Indians so we are all migrants - why isn’t there more sensitivity? Where is the FNM’s ‘christian attitude’ that they, the FNM, pontificated just days
ago after the Dominica hurricane issue? Only Bahamas air flies to Haiti ... the ATR plane with a max of 70+ passengers - if there are say 20,000 illegal Haitians here that means one ATR has to make 277 flights or three-four flights a day till December 31st. Do the Haitians have the money? Honestly if I were in this qualifying group I would wait to be arrested and let the Treasury of The Bahamas pay for me to get back to Haiti - did the gurus of the OPM - Immigration think about what that cost would be? What is serious in this announcement is why did the Minister with the Constitutional Portfolio and responsibility for Immigration, the MP for St Anne’s, did not say a word on the policy but left it to the PM who has no portfolio connected with Immigration? May It be better for the representative for St Anne’s to resign as it seems the PM is doing his job? He is redundant! To the north of us the ‘dreamers’ as they are called, persons who are in the US illegally, know nowhere else than the US fight daily to save their status - the Haiti Government is pleading with the US to extend the deadline for Haitians to January, 2018 and there are some 20,000 involved in that exercise, probably about the same or less than we have. Question also did the Minister for Foreign Affairs advise the Haitian Government prior to this announcement - has there been even a conversation?
Immigration be it under the PLP - FNM has been always a disaster - probably one of the most corrupt agencies of Government and infamous for abuse, gross inefficiency and refusal to comply where there is justification under The Constitution to grant legal status. Blood is on both the PLP and FNM hands . What was surprising when PM Minnis announced this controversial policy one Government MP banged the table - ONE ... could not identify who but it was one who sat across from the front bench of the Ministers....was this a cabinet decision before the announcement? Did the rank and file MP’s know and agree to it? The public needs to know. If you, MP for St Anne’s, are still the Minister constitutionally responsible for Immigration please enunciate the policy and how this will be managed and give us rough numbers as to how many persons, males/females/ children are involved and what will be the cost if the illegals simply refuse to leave and the cost for repatriation falls on the Public Treasury? Last year you spent over $1 million in repatriation of some 2,000 I believe 10 times that is $10m! From the ‘80’s we had an illegal migrant problem, I agree, but let’s be sensible and sensitive. You PM said we are heartless and unchristian - back at you, sir. W THOMPSON Nassau, October 12, 2017.
THE TRIBUNE
Monday, November 6, 2017, PAGE 5
Breadbasket review for healthier lifestyles from page one
In an interview with The Tribune, Dr Sands said a caring government cannot say Bahamians are obese and have health challenges and then “do nothing about it.” He said items like sugar, mayonnaise, condensed milk and corned beef are at risk of being deleted from the breadbasket list and replaced with fruits, vegetables and other healthy
foods. Other items that are considered breadbasket are butter, cooking oil, cheese, grits and bread. In July, Dr Sands revealed The Bahamas has the “highest incidence” of diabetes in the world and 79.2 percent of the population is obese or overweight. He said traditionally, Bahamians eat a diet high in predominantly animal fat, sugar and salt coupled with limited physical activity. As a result of these
poor lifestyle choices, obesity and other chronic non-communicable diseases (CNCDs) are rampant and exhaust a significant portion of the country’s national health budget annually in providing care, medication, and rehabilitation services. In 1971, The Bahamas established a designation for Breadbasket Food Items, which is made up of a number of selected foods under price control. Selling any items on the list above the price controlled
mark-up would constitute a violation of the Price Control Act. However, Dr Sands said foods listed in this category were not selected based on nutritional value but presumably based on the effort to maintain affordability of staple foods. “I cannot preempt the discussions and negotiations but the overarching theme is we need to move to a point where the food that we say that everyone should be able to afford are
not the foods that will kill you and they are healthier and they will reduce the likely diabetes and high blood pressure,” Dr Sands said. “So in about two weeks we will begin discussion with the community. We want to make sure people can afford to eat healthy. The policy we will form will be informed by the evidence. If we say we will put rice, then we have to say what kind of rice and what kind of flour, we need to
make healthy choices. So after the discussions we will make recommendations to change the traditional bread basket. We will push a healthier agenda that will likely reduce high blood pressure and diabetes and improve the horrible health profile of Bahamians. If we make the healthier food cheaper, Bahamians will purchase the items that are better for their health.” Dr Sands said public discussions will begin in about two weeks.
SKELETAL REMAINS FOUND ON BEACH By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net
FORMER Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson.
APOLOGY ISSUED FOR ‘UNTRUE COMMENTS’ ABOUT FORMER ATTORNEY GENERAL By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net
A WOMAN has apologised for making “untrue and unsubstantiated” comments about former Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson. In a letter dated November 3, Stephanie Ferguson
apologised and “retracted” what she called “a certain defamatory post on May 29, 2017 via social media in relation to Mrs Allyson Maynard-Gibson”. The woman erroneously wrote on social media that Mrs Maynard-Gibson formed an employment service for contracted court reporters.
In her apology letter, which bore her signature, Ms Ferguson said: “The post was irresponsibly forwarded and was untrue and unsubstantiated but it was never my intention to cause harm to Mrs Gibson or her family. I sincerely apologise to Mrs Allyson Maynard-Gibson for the
MAN SHOT DURING ARMED ROBBERY DIES IN HOSPITAL A SUSPECTED criminal who was hospitalised on Friday after being shot during an attempted armed robbery has died, police reported last night. The man was pronounced dead in hospital shortly after 4pm yesterday afternoon. The wounded man and another suspect attempted to rob a man as he was about to enter his home in Yellow Elder Gardens at about 11.30pm on Friday. However, the victim fought back, struggling with the suspect with the gun. Police said that during the struggle, the gunman suffered a gunshot wound and fled on foot along with his accomplice into a waiting blue Honda with gold rims. • Four men were arrested after a drug seizure on Saturday, police said. Southeastern Division officers were on patrol in the area of Winders Terrace and Malcolm Road shortly after 11am when
AN AK-47 seized by police. they saw four men standing near a building acting suspiciously, police said. The men and the nearby area were searched, police said. Officers allegedly found six live rounds of ammunition and a quantity of marijuana during the search. The four males were subsequently taken into custody. • A man is in custody after the seizue of an AK-47 assault rifle during a raid on a home yesterday, police said. Shortly after 4pm, officers
executed a search warrant on a home in White’s Addition off Kemp Road, where they found the weapon. A male occupant of the home was later arrested. • A man and a woman were detained last night shortly after 5pm by officers for questioning with reference to an armed robbery last month. The two suspects were found in possession of two cell phones taken during the robbery in October. Investigations are ongoing.
MAN DETAINED AFTER DANGEROUS DRUGS FIND By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net A WEST End man was allegedly found with a quantity of dangerous drugs after police officers stopped and searched a vehicle in
Freeport on Friday. ASP Terecita Pinder reported that a 36-yearold male suspect in a black Nissan Tilda was stopped by officers on patrol shortly before 4pm in the area of the Fishing Hole Road. She said that officers
discovered 4.5lbs of suspected marijuana in a black bag inside the vehicle. The man also had an outstanding court warrant. ASP Pinder said police took the man into custody and are investigating the matter.
false post and any harm the same has caused her and her family, personally and professionally.” It’s not clear what prompted the woman’s apology. However, Ms Maynard-Gibson released a statement on the matter to The Tribune yesterday. She said: “If we
Bahamians intend to attract the fine young people of the next generation, especially women, to public service, we must not tolerate fake news and we must take a stand against what is now becoming a common practice of wantonly publishing in the media lies about people in public life.”
HUMAN skeletal remains were discovered on a beach in Bimini on Friday, police reported. According to police, shortly after midday officers were called to a beach near the East Wells area in North Bimini, where a human skull was discovered and collected. ASP Terecita Pinder said police are continuing investigations into the matter. Police are also investigating a shooting incident which left three men injured in Grand Bahama. ASP Pinder said shortly after 3am officers on mobile patrol were in the Coral Road area when they were alerted that three men in a black Nissan Note had been shot. EMS personnel were dispatched to the area and transported the men to the Rand Memorial Hospital. According to ASP Pinder, two of the men were detained in stable condition. The other was released from the hospital. No arrest has been made and police are investigating the matter.
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PAGE 6, Monday, November 6, 2017
THE TRIBUNE
PLP draws battle line over MPs’ pay from page one In May 2014, when the former administration considered the matter, Mr Davis said: “(It would) remove the temptation for politicians to do things that are not right. Because if they (MPs) are earning a living by doing this, then there would be no need for them to do anything else, I think that’s what the Bahamian public has to understand.” The issue was shelved after significant public outcry but was resurrected last week after Dr Minnis said his administration will increase MPs’ salaries in the next fiscal year – three years after he chided the PLP for speaking about doing the same thing. Dr Minnis’ position is a turnabout from 2014, when he said: “As long as I am leader of this country the FNM would not support any pay increase with all the pain and suffering that is going on in this country.” Since 2014, economic growth remains slow and the Minnis administration has frequently lamented the state of the country’s finances. “This FNM government continues to produce the wrong remedies for the wrong time, and now it proposes to look after its own while many Bahamian families are hurting,” Mr Davis noted in a statement. “This is, after all, a government whose minister of tourism fired tourism personnel in Grand Bahama, an island with the highest unemployment rate. If Hubert Minnis believes members of Parliament cannot live on the salaries they are currently making, he should place himself in the shoes of the thousands of Bahamians who live from hand to mouth, including those fired by his government. “The government should focus its efforts
on improving the economic livelihoods of the Bahamian people before enhancing their own, announce a strategic plan for sustainable economic growth, and reduce the pain of Bahamian families caused by their short-term fiscal consolidation policies,” Mr Davis continued. “The prime minister calls himself a man with a heart - where was that heart when children across this country struggled because their parents were made redundant?” Meanwhile, while speaking to Progressive Young Liberals on Sunday night, Mr Cooper admitted a review of pay raises for MPs is “warranted,” however he said given the pressing issues the nation faces “this is not a priority and now is not the time.” The Exuma and Ragged Island MP said: “After spending the last six months telling everyone how broke the country is, how damaged our finances were, supposedly because of how badly the PLP managed the economy, after freezing hiring in government, after stalling for months on paying contracts, after mandating that every ministry take a 10 percent budget cut, now the prime minister’s big idea is to give MPs a salary hike? “I categorically don’t support a raise for MPs at this time, and I’m unlikely to support it during the next budget exercise if it is included, and let me explain why,” Mr Cooper continued. “MPs have not had a raise in over 25 years and a review is warranted. However, given the pressing issues our nation faces this is not a priority! Now is not the time. Not to mention nearly ninety percent of the MPs now in Parliament are new to Parliament, they knew what the salary was for the job when they accepted it less than
OPPOSITION Leader Philip ‘Brave’ Davis’ in the House of Assembly. six months ago.... “Until the prime minister can explain how he plans to fulfil his campaign promises – including your free tuition at the University of the Bahamas – until he can tell us how he plans to lift the tide for the Bahamian people as a whole, including the reconstruction of Ragged Island, he does not have the support on the Progressive Liberal Party on this matter. “This is not a pressing issue, it can and must wait. I will vote no.” Mr Cooper said if it is decided that MPs’ salaries will be raised, he will “put the extra money into programmes for Exuma and Ragged Island, as I’m doing now.” He also chastised Bains and Grants Town MP Travis Robinson for his comments on the issue and demanded Mr Robinson apologise to the Bahamian people. Last Thursday, Mr Robinson, the youngest parliamentarian, told
The Tribune a salary increase would help deter corruption. “I think that $28,000 a year is highly ridiculous. Members of Parliament are being given janitorial salaries. It is no easy task out there and if we are serious about stemming this tide of corruption then we must have a balanced approach to it and I think this increase would give that balanced approach,” Mr Robinson said. Asked to recommend a salary, he said: “I would say about $60,000 to $70,000 a year.” In response, Mr Cooper said: “The people of Bain and Grants Town should be insulted. “I suggest the prime minister counsel his young MP, have him apologise to the people he represents among whom there are many hardworking janitors, worthy of respect, who only wish they made what MPs do now. And maybe the prime minister can have
Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
a talk with Mr Robinson about how even the richest of people can still be corrupt. Corruption is an issue of character, not of compensation.” Last week, PLP Englerston MP Glenys Hanna Martin also weighed in on the issue and called Dr Minnis’ plans a “crass contradiction.” In a post on Facebook on Thursday, Mrs Hanna Martin referenced recent job cuts and the government’s statements concerning the state of the country’s economy. In 2014, the Christie administration’s establishment of a parliamentary select committee to consider a salary increase for parliamentarians was widely criticised. The report from the former parliamentary select committee, which was headed by Dr Bernard Nottage, now deceased, was never disclosed to the public. In opposition at the time, Dr Minnis said the
FNM would not agree to an increase due to economic hardship faced by Bahamians, adding that a politician’s position was one of service. In the Lower House on Thursday, Dr Minnis painted the intended increase as a sensible development, especially in light of the substantial salaries the former Christie administration paid some contract workers in the past five years. “I want to put the country on notice that at the next budget I will come forward with a pay increase for the members of Parliament,” Dr Minnis said. “I will establish an independent committee who will look at the members’ salaries, who will look at salaries for these half-amillion, these $800,000 and these contracts signed a few hours before election, all of that will be reviewed. (The committee will) review all salary structures for government entitles.”
‘PAY RAISE COULD HELP TO PREVENT CORRUPTION’ By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net
NAYSAYERS will never approve raising the salaries of parliamentarians, attorney Fred Smith, QC, said yesterday as he welcomed Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis’ intention to increase the pay of MPs. Mr Smith, who has recently fought against some of the Minnis administration’s immigration and legislative priorities, said a pay raise for parliamentarians and civil servants is one way to prevent corruption. “If we look at other jurisdictions like Singapore, you have to have a reduction in red tape to promote investment, which the government is doing, you have to have good anti-corruption laws, you have to have a Freedom of Information Act and you have to have good salaries for public
servants,” he said. Dr Minnis’ announcement of a pay raise for parliamentarians in the next fiscal year has sparked intense debate, with many Bahamians voicing a complaint the prime minister made three years ago when the Christie administration considered the same thing – that too many Bahamians are suffering and the economy is weak. The Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), in particular, has criticised the administration for seeking a pay raise while firing people from the public service. Mr Smith countered yesterday: “Of course thousands will probably have to be laid off because thousands were improperly hired on the eve of the election by the PLP. “I would urge Parliament to pass legislation to prevent any outgoing administration from extending a contract
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or hiring people long-term on the eve of an election because it is a plainly dishonest manipulation of public funds by an incumbent administration for an election victory. “I support the prime minister’s intention 100 per cent to increase the salaries of members of Parliament and to conduct a review of all salaries in the public service. It is an absolute must so that political will and commitment for fighting corruption gains ground. “The citizenry gave the FNM a hyper majority because they were sick and tired of the ‘all for me,’ corrupt PLP crowd. Jurisdictions have shown that where you are serious about fighting corruption, your legislators and your public servants have to be decently paid. “There is nothing that undermines a democracy more than the power wielded by special interest groups over politicians and we don’t have to look any further than Peter Nygard’s control of the PLP for decades. That was a sad chapter in Bahamian history and one which was dismissed on May 10. “There is nothing more undignified than members of Parliament after they have been elected then begging for money to provide services for their constituents and to make ends meet for their own families. “Once they are given a decent and reasonable salary to help keep the best and the brightest in Parliament, they will be
able to work more effectively and the temptation of corruption will be dramatically decreased,” Mr Smith said. Dr Minnis has been criticised for promising that which he opposed three years ago. Among his critics is former Free National Movement Chairman Darron Cash. On Facebook last week, Mr Cash said the message the prime minister is sending is “me first, you last”. However warranted a salary increase might be, “it is still feathering your own nest,” he said, adding: “If I did not know better I would have sworn I was being punked. The news is unbelievable. Old people say that when you make your bed up hard, you have to sleep in it hard. When a new government is striving to distinguish itself from its predecessors in office, a good starting point is not to do all the dumb things they did, especially if you were opposed to those things.” He continued: “There is something unseemly about a government laying off people who are desperate for a job and then coming behind and raising its own salaries... the FNM did not run on the message of ‘downsize the staff and upsize our own salaries.’ Tough decisions cause goodwill and political capital to be eroded. That is to be expected. A new government should spend its political capital on the tough decisions that matter most to the broader population.”
THE TRIBUNE
Monday, November 6, 2017, PAGE 7
BAHAMIANS SPEAK OUT ON PAY FOR MPS By MORGAN ADDERLEY BAHAMIANS had mixed reactions to Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis’ shock announcement he plans to increase the salaries of politicians
DION NEWTON Photos: Shawn Hanna/ Tribune Staff
in the next fiscal year, with many outraged about the news, telling The Tribune the minimum wage should be increased and more jobs created before Members of Parliament receive a raise.
MARVIN SEYMOUR
Marvin Seymour, 42, of Sir Lynden Pindling Estates: “I’m just curious as to why? Why the increase? If we’re focusing on lowering the deficit, why are we going to increase the salaries of the MPs? If we are thinking about taking down the deficit, maybe we should take down their salaries a bit. I think that’ll be a good move, to show the Bahamian people that they are really serious about curbing the spending and making sure what is prioritised is the priority.” Joy Brown, 46, of Tall Pines: “At this time I think it was too soon, being that they’ve only been in power for six months. They should do some work to really be awarded that pay raise. They haven’t done any work yet. They should be on the ground working. The hurricanes just went, those islands are devastated, give them the pay raise. Give it to those local governments down there so they could do more for those islands and bring about change. “There are people being laid off. Right now, my daughter works in Bimini and she is in the layoffs of 142. What are they [the government] going to do for them? They talk about [those who were laid off] can go to National Insurance, they can still collect unemployment benefit, but what is unemployment benefit when it’s only for a short period of time? She just recently had a young baby. What is the government going to do? “The MPs are all well-cushioned, all of them. All of them come from a well-off background with financial stability. I don’t understand why all of a sudden now they need a pay raise.”
TREMIS SANDS
A Newton, 30, Killarney: “I honestly believe that it is necessary. First of all, if you have members of Parliament that represent large constituencies, and are supposed to be in charge of management of large sums of money from ministries or the actual constituencies themselves. It’s hard to resist temptation— to say, okay, I’m only taking in $28,000, I can no longer continue my profession . . . So how are you going to tell someone to give up a $50,000, $80,000, maybe even $100,000 per annum salary? You give them a $28,000 salary and then tell them to broker a million-dollar deal? You’re setting people up for failure. But where does the money come from? You have an overblown public sector. If you want to rectify the problem, you have to do two things: You have to cut the overspending, and then you have to increase the salary. This answers the shortage of funds and how to prevent the corruption of MPs.” Justin Knowles, 25, Fort Charlotte: “I understand that they are underpaid based on the work they do, but the messaging is just wrong. At this current state where they are cutting certain salaries, I think over $200,000, and 150 people just getting laid off in Bimini, it’s just not the right time to do it. It’s eventually going to happen, but it’s not the right time to do it in my opinion.” When asked what he thought about Dr Minnis reversal of his position on the matter in 2014, Mr Knowles said: “I didn’t expect anything different, because that’s just how politics works. But it does speak to a lack of integrity, because [Minnis] . . . he knew what the salary was, and he had a personal opinion on what the salary should be. It’s how politics works, but that doesn’t excuse it from being disingenuous.”
Dion Newton, 45, of Tall Pines: “Twenty-eight thousand dollars for an MP for a year is a little bit of money. Those guys work hard. You’ve got to stop taking politics and trying to destroy people with it, because at the end of the day, they deserve to get some more money. They’re raising the police, raising this one, that one politicians deserve the raise. Now I would say this: I think it was too soon. It should have been announced, that way we could have heard about it and talked about it, but it seems like Minnis is enforcing this. Minnis hasn’t really done anything for the Over-the-Hill poor people yet, and a lot of our people in this town are suffering. But it looks like [the Minnis administration] is going about their own business, doing what the people didn’t put them there to do. Now, I’m not against the FNM and I’m not against the PLP, I’m speaking from a neutral point— I’m not inclined to any political party.”
MARION SANDS
Marion Sands, 48, of Pinewood: “I think [the salary increase] is good, I think we need it. Once MPs could help the Bahamian people with it, yes it’s good.”
Tremis Sands, 25, of Marathon: “While I feel like everyone could use increases in their wages, I don’t believe that the ministers should prioritise themselves first, with the people’s minimum wage being as low as it is currently. The current minimum wage is rather low and barely supports most people’s rent, utilities and basic necessities for food. Before [MPs] think about themselves, they should think about helping the people.”
BASIL, 27, of Carmichael.
Basil, 27, of Carmichael: “I find it laughable, to be honest. It’s laughable because we saw it coming, and people talked about this before, that they were going to give themselves a raise before Christmas. As soon as [government] switch, they find a way to take care of [themselves]. Every time they come, they find a way to get more money. And they take money from us.”
Keshano Butler, 26, Kemp Road: “It’s not fair. [MPs] already have the position where they control everything, so to increase their salary I don’t think that’s fair.” Anonymous, 27, female, from the eastern area: “Is minimum wage going to be raised as well? If that’s the case - because if you could find money to raise people who are making almost triple the amount of the everyday Joe on the street - is minimum wage going to be raised to accommodate your raise? I mean, let there be some form of equality somewhere.” “Rasta” from “Over-the-Hill”: “Them MPs haven’t done nothing to get salary increase, and they haven’t been in Parliament for a year yet. So how are you going to increase their salaries? They work for it? They say ‘it’s the people’s time,’ but it’s not “the people’s time” it’s their time. When [the PLP was in power and suggested the same thing], Minnis said no! He said he didn’t want that! But now he in power, we want to implement that! No! No! What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. It wasn’t good when the PLP was in [power], and it’s not good for the FNM. They ain’t been in power a year yet, they been in power six months— and how they gonna get pay increase already?”
JOSHUA ROLLE
Joshua Rolle, 30, of Englerston: “They’re deserving of a pay raise. I say this because people in that type of position are representing the country. You have foreigners, like the lady from BPL, who was getting $6,000 in living expenses but not even living here; getting almost $80,000…she collected almost half a million dollars off The Bahamas for nothing, just to sit in the [CEO’s] spot. So I feel like the people who are representing the country [feel like] for my education and my impact, if I can’t get a good give out, I might as well just stay to the law books or stay with stuff what I could make my money off. If I have to run a country and can’t get paid for it, it doesn’t make any sense.”
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2017
THE STORIES BEHIND THE NEWS
Time the polluters are made to face up to the destruction they are causing World View
By SIR RONALD SANDERS
C
ARIBBEAN small states should be readying themselves for a major joint push to make the 23rd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 23) to the UN Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) a landmark occasion for compensation for the damage caused to them by the world’s worst polluting nations. COP 23 will take place in Bonn, Germany, in early November and it will be Presided over by the Government of Fiji – a Pacific small state with intimate knowledge and experience of the damaging effects of climate change. The case for compensation for damage to small states as a result of climate change has never been stronger than it is now. 2017 has witnessed record-breaking climate disasters across the globe – in the United States (US), Mexico, the Caribbean, Asia and Africa. Back-toback Category 5 hurricanes cut a swathe through the Caribbean in September from which the affected islands will not fully recover
for many years to come. Importantly, these hurricanes have also caused thousands of people, whose homes, schools, hospitals and businesses have been decimated, to seek refuge in other islands. These people are, in effect, “climate refugees”, ripped away from their history, their culture and their identity. Their plight has been created by ferocious storms not caused by their own actions but by profligate carbon emissions (CO2) by rich nations. A World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) report published on October 30, says concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere surged at a record-breaking speed in 2016 to the highest level in 800,000 years. According to the report: “The abrupt changes in the atmosphere witnessed in the past 70 years are without precedent.” The WMO chief, Petteri Taalas, said: “Without rapid cuts in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions, we will be heading for dangerous temperature increases by the end of
this century, well above the target set by the Paris climate change agreement.”
PROTESTORS demand the implementation of the climate change convention in Bonn, Germany, on Saturday. The Climate summit starts today in Bonn. Photo: Roland Weihrauch/dpa via AP
In plain-speaking, that means the world is on course for warming beyond the two degrees Celsius coupled with the fact clitarget and probably higher mate change is now forcing than the three degrees people from their land and Celsius that governments their homes, make conloosely mooted last year. At certed action by small states those temperatures, many imperative at COP 23 in islands will drown and Bonn. coastal areas of mainland The message clearly has countries, including in the to be small island states US, will be lost. and countries with low The possibility of For the independent coastal areas are being the climate irreparably Caribbean refugees damaged, returning to countries, the and their their homes rebuilding process people are in the short being made is daunting; they to medium refugees term is simply don’t have by the rich, remote. But the money. Worse polluting it is not only nations of for them is that the refugees the world that face because they are who must hardship, measured by the face-up to the receiving their obligapalpably false islands are tions to pay also incum- criteria of high per compensabered with capita income, they tion for the additional damage they costs of don’t have access have so far unexpectedly to aid, grants and caused and providing services for concessional loans. agree to now tackle clithem. The mate change island of Antigua, for instance, is now a haven meaningfully. Even if, year after year, for the 1,600 inhabitants of Barbuda and another 3,000 Caribbean and Pacific expend huge from Dominica at costs it islands sums of money on recan ill afford. infrastructure, For the independ- building ent Caribbean countries, homes, businesses, hospithe rebuilding process is tals, schools, airports and daunting; they simply don’t ports to higher standards have the money. Worse for of resilience, they remain them is that because they vulnerable to continuous are measured by the pal- climate destruction, and pably false criteria of high increasing numbers of cliper capita income, they mate refugees, until such don’t have access to aid, time as the world’s pollutgrants and concessional ers curb CO2 emissions loans. Their only prospect and halt climate change. That message must be for rapid rebuilding is to borrow money on ardu- delivered in Bonn in a ous commercial terms that united, strong and loud would increase their debt voice by small states. And to unsustainable levels. In strong alliances have to any event, it would be be forged with organisaimpossible for them to tions such as OXFAM borrow the huge sums that and Greenpeace. It is time rebuilding requires. The the polluters are made to damage on Barbuda, for face-up to the destruction instance, is approximately and dislocation they are 14.2 percent of the Gross causing, and resolve in Domestic Product (GDP) a legally binding way to of Antigua and Barbuda; stop. In the meantime, these on Dominica it is more very polluting countries than 100 percent. Without international that control the world’s assistance, the levels of eco- financial system, including nomic development and the international finansocial improvement they cial institutions, should had achieved, prior to hur- put in place immediate ricanes Irma and Maria, measures to compensate will take many years to damaged countries. They should also provide access re-establish. This disastrous situation, to the funding small states
urgently need to make themselves better prepared for the destructive climate demons that have already been unleashed upon them. The immediate measures should include: forgiveness of debt owed by small states to other governments and international financial institutions or rescheduling of such debt over longer repayment periods at nominal interest; assumption by developed nations of commercial debts to institutions in their countries, including Paris Club debt; payment of premiums for disaster insurance by governments; access to grants and highly concessional loans from the international financial institutions that must set new criteria for eligibility, casting away per capita income as a basis of judgement and replacing it with more meaningful measurements of need. Small countries, damaged by the excessive pollution of large and rich nations, should not be compelled to cope by themselves with the unemployment, poverty, inequality, disease, dislocation of people and the refugee communities created as consequences of climate change. Small states should go to Bonn determined to raise their voices in complaint, to point fingers at where blame lies and to insist on compensation that is their due. The planet Earth is shared by all mankind, not by a few; its bounty is the common property of all nations, not only the rich; the burden of its care must fall to all, not primarily to the small and vulnerable. • Responses and previous commentaries: www.sirronaldsanders.com The writer is the Ambassador of Antigua and Barbuda to the United States and the Organisation of American States. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London and Massey College in the University of Toronto. The views expressed are his own.
EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net
INSIGHT
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2017 PAGE 9
IT’S A QUESTION MANY ARE ASKING - WERE WE DUPED? By MALCOLM STRACHAN
prime minister. After going on a crusade in the weeks and months after the election to paint N May 10, the picture that the ‘cup2017, the boards were bare’ and the Bahamian elec- economy was on ‘life suptorate voted port’, an announcement for a much desired change. that you intend to increase The political culture of MPs’ salaries by the next our leaders looking after Budget Debate portrays their friends, family and a government that must lovers disgusted the major- be disconnected from the ity of Bahamians who reality it created with the voted for Prime Minister numerous headlines of Dr. Hubert Minnis and the fiscal malfeasance on the Free National Movement part of its predecessor. to form the current governWhile the government ment. However, after six has recognised the dire months it would seem as state of the economy, and though most Bahamians are has instituted austerity succumbing to a pervasive measures, which have led feeling of voter dissonance. to lay-offs, a hiring freeze in Some of us are now won- the public sector, delays in dering if we got it wrong. tax cuts, and the like – how Certainly, the PLP had to is it they expect the Bahago, and surely FNM syco- mian people to respond phants would entreat us to to their reported plans to be patient with the prime increase MPs’ salaries? minister’s Bahamian vision. But it Though it is still people have would seem been sufferwhat many only six months ing a long feared early into a relatively time, and on - Minnis new term in the last thing being unable we need is a to fulfil the governance, there is government bold procla- a collective grimace that is not mations made from the bad taste committed to from the camfulfilling its paign trail left in all of our promises. appeared mouths when we While we to be premo- heard the prime submit that nitions for no time is the the current minister’s plan to right time to situation. increase salaries of increase salaThe prime parliamentarians. ries of MPs, minister led the majority the onslaught of Bahamiagainst the former govern- ans would agree that right ment and declared he would now may be the most inoplead a government that was portune time to focus on for the people. He said his such a parliamentariangovernment would create centric initiative. Each jobs. He touted his govern- one of the 39 MPs knew ment’s ability to be able to what they were committing stem the crime epidemic. themselves to. Likewise, As what may have been one all of them made promof his bolder promises, he ises to their constituents said his government would when they asked for their introduce policies that votes. With the only thing would implement tax-free being given to the populace zones and remove VAT off having been the repeated bread basket items, among regurgitation of how terriother unrealized initiatives. ble the former government However, none of these was, we are no longer policies have yet to come to amused. fruition. Fair-minded advisors of Though it is still only six the prime minister must months into a relatively caution him to walk back new term in governance, on those statements and there is a collective grimace impress on the Bahamian from the bad taste left in people his government is all of our mouths when we committed to doing the heard the prime minister’s things they said they would. plan to increase salaries of They must put an end to the parliamentarians. mud-slinging, which is only His initial announce- increasing the temperature ment was met with outrage of the people and proving from the Bahamian people. them to be a grouping not The new and raw emotion mature enough to lead the is slowly turning to disap- country. pointment and mounting There is still a dwindling frustration, as we are all hope this government can beginning to feel like we pull together and lead the were again duped by a lot country forward, but even of disingenuous politicians. that is diminishing by the In 2014, while the prime second. minister was still struggling More and more Bahato hold on to the leader- mians are peering into the ship of his party, he said soul of this government and he would not agree to par- asking: “What have you liamentarians receiving a done for me lately?” raise if he were the nation’s With no real plans and leader. The change in direc- emotive, knee-jerk protion has left many of us nouncements becoming feeling unsettled, as we more commonplace from have shown we have zero this government, they contolerance for politicians tinue to dig themselves into speaking from both sides of a gaping hole at a very early their mouths. stage in this term. They The prime minister must ought to be mindful there is have underestimated the one thing about Bahamian challenge that laid before people that remains true: him upon embarking high once you have spurned us, office. Not only does he we may forgive, but we seem to misunderstand never forget. Moreover, we the challenge, but also the certainly will ensure you responsibility – the same won’t forget as well. responsibility he referenced The prime minister needs in his national address in to make it clear to his minJuly of this year, where he isters they must discontinue referred to politicians as the PLP bashing, as it is servant leaders. Certainly, becoming more politically he must understand that as suicidal. a servant leader it would It would be far more be incumbent upon his beneficial to listen to the government to ensure that Bahamian people. Their policies introduced should cries are distinct. be at the behest of the We need the economy people that made him the to flourish and for jobs to
O
PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis.
be made available. Island Luck’s job fair made it apparent there are still many Bahamians who are unemployed. The government should be actively looking for opportunities wherever they may be within the country to create jobs for Bahamians. The monies the prime minister was able to pull out of his ‘magic hat’ ought to be used to improve the lives of Bahamians – not those he characterised as servant leaders. In that vein, consider it an act of service; the same service each of them swore on the bible to carry out the day after the election. The government should also avidly be working to get some of these young men off of the streets and doing something constructive to discourage them from mischief. The correlations between crime and unemployment are widely known. Perhaps this can net a positive benefit for the government in its fight against crime, and also endear them to the people who desperately want to feel safer in this country. Prime Minister Dr Minnis, who is known and respected as an intelligent man must know these things. He must know, that while we are still disenchanted with the PLP, that by no means extends a free pass to himself, nor his government. We knew what Perry Christie was – as Philip Galanis perfectly characterised him, ‘a man with form and no substance.’ And despite his struggles with the textbook skills needed to be a prime minister, the consensus feeling after the election was one of a renewed sense of hope for Dr Minnis to lead the country from its darkest period. After five years where despair was the prevailing feeling throughout our country, the Bahamian people were able to find hope again. Having endured the past five years, we cannot be blamed for our eagerness
for things to take a turn in this country. Dr Minnis, given his repeated promises and separations of himself from traditional politicians, should fully understand our expectation for him to be able to
deliver. Don’t disappoint us, Mr Prime Minister. When referencing career politicians, you said it yourself - that you are not like them. We, the people of this great country, beseech you
not to become a politician now. Say what you mean. Mean what you say. Else, you too, will be as a passing breeze in the political history books. Now is the time to be a true servant leader.
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INSIGHT
PAGE 8 MONDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2017
EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net
A9MAIN THE TRIBUNE
Tuesday, October 10, 2017, PAGE 9
THE STORIES BEHIND THE NEWS
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2017
insight@tribunemedia.net
Cable Bahamas - asolution text book Bahamas’ power is case on for how it should be done a must radical change U
by Richard Coulson p the hill and right
flooding to network plant Fourth, and most signifiseen in during the daily press, every restoration the next to produce sunshine simplyfor ignored, buried,inand back down again— hours. week ALIV announces accumulated. its fiscal year. restore services cant, was the initiation of Aand NEW to BPL sign that’s the story of Holdom and andThe best long-term soluof charitable during and after the passage cellular telephone service Mr.support In our view, at the prereplaced the old Bahamian electric power otherathletic events. local experts tion for Nassau the rest one at the com-a rare Category with the award of the counof Matthew, sent priceand Cable Bahamas during five wasted, and THE the comprehensive promptly this of theshares country will be be regarded to pany’s headquar-For the first try’s second licence on July Theserefuted accom4 hurricane. should expensive, years ofof Cable PLP analysis, claiming that emphasise Annual Report ters in February. plishments have time, personnel and equip- 1, 2016. The licence was as aa hybrid growthpower opportuGovernment. Minnis’ any required substantial financgrid-tied MW-scale system. Bahamas, theDr.country’s ment had to be brought in granted to a 48.25 percent nity. Traditional price/ new administration is now planting. would reserve can leverage our have largest non-bank company, subsidiary controlled by In have addition to theWe earnings from abroad. The direct valuations back atbe square storage batteries and growing expertise witha comshould readone, notwith onlya Cable, which soon started $135m equity contribcosts and loss of revenue, little relevance for for creatingbuta peak-load shaving to renewable energy—primarbyclean its slate shareholders plus about $2m of customer business under the name uted by Cable Bahamas pany in the early growth brand-new energy policy, assure 24-hour operation. as ily but always keeping bya crucial anyone interested “ALIV”, a logo and tradeand by Government its solar rebates, had a heavy impact phase of two solid business task he must soon A much cheaper major alert for viable wind and inaddress how a 51.75 percent shareholder, on earnings, in addition to mark that has become the one — in the if hemulti-division is to retain solar farm would be feasi- other lines, sources as Bahamas, an enterprise can thrive in ALIV has received incurring hundreds of hours best known throughout the the other in Florida - earncredibility. ble for New Providence on a over endeavour for the private our restrictive economic $100m in long-term debt of management time for country, seen everywhere USleaving dollars. After the usual 2012 Crown Land site long-term sector,ing while Gov-In the environment. With itspromcurfrom full-page ads to teefinancing givingand a solid election campaign several months. sophisticated leased by Government, ernment free to shift US our marrent year and extended capital ises fiscal for cheaper more Third, the gradual evolu- shirts and tote-bags. kets, on growth companies smaller onesstructure. for several of dependence oil towards electricity, it took byreliable six months to June 30, Initial staffing and Of course, asFamily with any tion of Summit Broadband, net income and the high-demand LNG with with zero the best availuntil the August 2013 foraPrime new while venture, 2017, report tells story the consortium of compa- plant construction allowed dividends often Islands, tiny the islandheavy able financing options. enjoy high Minister Christie make to begin initial start-up stretching over 18 to months, communities with only a costsIf new sources of long- prime nies spanning Orlando and operations market value. The a most grandiloquent official for ofplant, equipment, the crucial period scattering users would be term example borrowing cannot eight southwest Florida in November, and by is Tesla, still proannouncement outlinend of this June’s fiscal payroll and other since Cable’s founding served be stand-alone retail operbe found toonly recapitalize counties, bringing interducing a few hundred ing hisyears Government’s new of Bahamian businesses units.ating expenses have far the oil-fired indusover 20 ago. net and video services to year ALIV had earned thousandpower units and still approach. Bahamas Elec- $45,000 per month in salary with theinitial most optitry onlosing a soundmoney, basis for compared the exceeded revenues The most visible(BEC) sign – cable TV, retail and com- selected corporate cus- $13m of revenues and had Even tricity Corporation and allowances for residmistic growth ofALIV solar power, future,with perhaps, as has out-puts been extended mobile coverso that has been mercial internet service, ofwould growth is the top-line tomers and residential the vast of be split into two com- ing in this “hardship post” thereoperating at will remain a acontinusuggested, firm will loss, unable and morethrough recently,Friday— land-line communities, with total age to New Providence, figure, revenue, which Forda foreign and GM. Yet Tesla panies,total one for transmission, Monday ing demand for fossil-fueled have to be found as majorto record any net income telephones. This leapt to $282mand fromsales $165m revenues of $84m. That Grand Bahama, and the carries a market valuation distribution, to with time shavedwas offaccomboth electricity, which at present ity equity partner, buying major Family Islands with or return on investment to plished by wider channel inremain the previous 12 months. ends part of Florida is a growth comparable with the two wholly state-owned, to cover travel time to/ costsdate. the average consumer the net assets for $1.00 and choices, higher broadband area, and subscriber num- a network of service cenAs rising fro the discussed other forlater, generation, giant auto companies, New York. $0.27-0.30 KWH, future com- transferring debt transmission A per positive is thanks existing “Trio” bers have risen ever since tres and for which revenue hasprivate not yetpartners trans- speeds and to the market’s Whatever bundled her failings, pared with $0.08-0.10 in are to a special vehicle. towers covering 92 percent projected: revenues wouldinto be sought to takebut an Ms. subscription lated profitability, Hill was packages surely cor-as Summit was organised belief in the Bahama future of elecFlorida, an obvious anticipated to competincrease andThetric Grand equity stake. He as wasthe advised well inascomplaining more widespread that the without revenue driv- rect less than five years ago. of the population, with vehicles, where itive drag on our economy. Power Company handles the Tesla by accountants and Christie “significantly contribute took the lead. Government never “fibre-to-the-home” capa- Summit is still in the tran- Andros, Bimini and Exuma ing engine, noKPMG company But the oil supply used combined functions of genan American electric engi- provided to the over-all profitability the financing PS bility. Also, after years would ever show a profit. sitional build-out stage and well on the way to includo not predict by the present and contem- eration, We transmission and that neering firm, doubtless needed sion. 77,000 subscribers, of generator your Company [Cable to do its job propof negotiation, URCA With some justifiable coris not yet recording net ALIV and Summit will plated systems at distributions throughout receiving attractive consult- erly. Lengthy talks about a 22 percent Bahamas]”. The granted a substantial rate income, HEADQUARTERS the original BEC sign. of the market, porate but its with five-year convert Bahamas Clifton Bay and Old Pond letter the island, and Cable is majority ing fees.breast-beating, the $600 million “Rate Reduc- THE from the chairman Report calls 2017 “Aproved Year increase for selected grades plan projects it will soon had been signed up, and by can be converted to cheaperpointownedinto by the Canadian util- but a another Tesla, This re-structuring tion Bond” scheduled for not aware of any reliable the Annual Meetedly states thatLNG “mobile The USA General subsidized and more efficient of TV offerings. ity Emera Ltd. toto Remember: The Cable be contributing to group noticeable growth rate is be pie-in-the sky. By early this year came to noth- cost/benefit analysis; and ing (AGM) on November will be and the growth engine ofUnfortunately, home imported of a 5-KW re-gasified it hasWhile been nothSecond. the tremen- profits. Cable is the onlystandard Bahamas Group Comes in the cards. January 2014, Deputy PM ing. This would have paid schemes based on thermal power 16 management will be able source costing here.our business in The Bahano more successful than dous efforts throughout of Age.” There were four Bahamian company with ing in the future is certain, Brave Davis admitted that off outstanding debt, funded sea-water differences, or $10,800 to announce increase Ofmas forthisthe foreseeable is still notanattaincourse, will not be BPL-BEC in bringing con- bonds the ofislands, particularly main strandsfirms to thehad story: the imagination and manno private come part and Government a new 140 MW gen- wave or tidal action, are still ableto here, moreand than 85,000, well is restricted cost-future”. free. Government must sumermay billings down forward to bid for the gen- erating Grand plant Bahama, to repair First, the steady growth agement expertise to have be best fornear the ultraat Clifton Bay, too speculative for commeron the way to the year-end finally The bite thecurrent bullet andlosses by lack of banks or specialthe US level, but at recommend least andgroup that and the damage from wind and cial setconsideration, up a foreign venture. oferating Cable’scompany traditional cautious, we contributed working although izedtarget of 30-35 percent of ALIV and finance to a lesser decide how it will the Bahamian finance houses able of the split operation was being capital. Cable forpublic the owns more optinew technology could to the costs,Summit prob- ain minority stake and market. extent from provide term loans at the conversion “reconsidered”. mistic investor. change the picture runninghave had a into the low receives a dividend yield of This exceptional negative After some 16 months of reasonable rates for growth an ably Florida Fortunately, we already hundreds of millions. about 1.4Cable shareholders may percent on a liquid rate for a start-up company impact on the shareholdprocrastination, he revealed “Even with the amortized saving over the be concerned about comhave plenty of experience in Further, cannot Bahamas, con- investment . in mid-2015 that a speciality most optimistic couldconsumer not have happened ers ofwe Cable tariff. In “distributed” solar energy public petition from BTC, our tinue the slap-dash policies Short of full equity owncompany from North Carowithout thedistributed vision of where the attributable net to the facilities, that is, rooftop addition only otherfirm telecoms comof many years ignoring ership, a foreign could lina called PowerSecure growth of solar ALIV’s three initial interloss of $23m, or ($0.41) per generation on individual res- units, we still need com- maintenance expenses and finance, pany. They can make build, and operate (PS) had been retained, and power, there national wind executives farms, to in share, increased from $14m their own judgment about idences, warehouses, hotels mercial-scale scheduled replacements, an LNG import and gasificain January 2016 a definitive will remain Bahamians, giverecruiting savings from wholesale and in the previous 12 months. the services provided, and office buildings. which eventually contributed result tion system and enter into agreement was signed for PS providing them technical This doubtless Half a dozen local firms operation. but there no way they in break-downs, cuts, and a typical Power isPurchase to manage our new Baha- a continuing and managerial education. to the decline in the BISX are licensed installers of One unfortunate legacy brown outs. mas Power & Light (BPL), demand for fossilAgreement with BPL can compare the to financial these state-of-art systems. of Cable’s share price, together with the PS employment regime was of itsover Although nothing but a subsidiary of consumers see cover capital costsofand condition theallow two comGovernment could per- analysis fueled electricity, 300 people is 90 percent share sales to meet hurridebunking the con- a cost pf electricity on their a profitpanies. the old BEC. Our Governmargin. Cable is wholly form a major service by ceptBahamian and includes cane Matthew repairs, asWithout having of a 40-MW utility-scale ment then discovered to its which at present monthly bills, this figure every Bahamian-owned with full cutting the regulatory red- wind department leaders and the suspension of settled down pat, Dr. farm as impractical surprise that the minnow costs the average bearswell no asrelationship to detail disclosure. Government tape that ties these firms, andgroup executives. As can be dividends - nowcost announced economically unsustainPS had been swallowed by the true economic of Minnismay should a broad stillhave claim it owns a delaying approval time for giant US utility The South- consumer $0.27able, needing to cover 155 power, as BPL and parent hybrid-energy ready inter“majoritypolicy economic simple permits from days to of Oxford Avenue, formerly of West End, Grand Bahama, ern Company. (Strangely, 0.30 per KWH, acres at a capital cost of BEC have been continu- to announce the end of clearly months. est” inbyBTC, but be held on Thursday, November 9, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. $140 million, and only able ally run at loss with costs the year. customers’ bills are still onwillcompared with A recent progressive step management control is the letterhead of BEC, notat St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, West Street North. Officiwas taken when will the follow Bahaating will be Father Interment held by the giant American $0.08-0.10 inGlen C. Nixon. BPL.) mas Technical & Vocational in Lakeview Memorial Gardens, John F. Kennedy Drive. company, Liberty Global, PS retained a recruit- Florida, an obvious Institute (BTVI) arranged which has swallowed up ing firm to find competitive drag a joint venture with one of BTC into its Lilac Group American Pamela Hill asCalvin was predeceased by his wife: Linda Joyce Johnson, the leading firms, AlternaPhillip Wilkinson; on our economy.” BPL chief executive, whobrother: so that nothing about BTC tive Power Supply, giving arrived here in April 2016 is visible. Liberty recently its 2000 students the expercherish memories are his two children: Candace Carin Johnson and toLefta to polite but his sceptical revealed that BTC may tise to expand into this Calvin James Shad Deal, maniStephen Johnson, Andrew Johnreception as sheJohnson was notII; siblings: Mr. Christie’s have lost about 19,000 cellbusiness under the tutelage son, Samuel Johnson, Edward Neely, Linda Deal, Janis Taylor, Anishka Strachan an electric engineer but a festo of August 2013 put a phone subscribers to ALIV. of Philip Holdom, a 27-year and Charlene Knowles; Raymond E. Smith, Steven Harvey, Jowhite-collar finance special-brothers-in-law: target of 30 percent of our veteran installer of residenQuestions remain about seph Heaston, Blaise Taylor Sr. and Kermit Strachan Sr.; sisters-in-law: Rose Deal, ist. Neither PS nor Southern total demand being met the peculiar status of the tial and commercial solar Arnette Johnson, Jennifer N. Johnson, Joaquina Neely, Stephanie Smith, Judy was required to make any by “renewable energy” systems here and the US. 51.75 percent of ALIV’s Gardner-Harvey, M. Gardner and Nancy E. Heaston; nieces and nephews: equity investment Ava in our by 2030, but we are still large systemsPhylare shares held by Government Francis Deal, Romano Stephon Deal, Jaime Deal,While Simona Thomas, dilapidated power plant;Deal, far from that level. Gov- still primarily an option through its special vehilis, Nelson, Carrington Vanessa Stewart, Rodney Deshazior, Tereka instead, the cash flow wasWilkinson, ernment’s only positive for mid-market and upcle, Holding Co. For over Johnson, Shandea D’Andra Johnson, Kereka Brennan, Tavara Simon, all the other way —McKenzie, man- measure was a 2015 amend- scale budgets, the latest a year, plans have been Richard M. Thompson, Ruthjena Johnson, Andrew Johnson Jr., agement feesJohnson, paid Delano by ment to the Electricity Act, back-up technology Cara Taylor,toTara Blaise Taylor Jr., Janice Taylor, Samuel Johnson II, laid to sell off Holding Co. Government PS, Cartwright, plus a authorizing private power makes reliable power availAntonio Johnson, Samara Johnson, Tiffany Johnson, Malik Johncornucopia of salaries,Sherelle living Brown, into the investment comgenerators and allowing able for virtually every son, Elana Johnson, Kermitthem Strachan Jr., Rambo Brown, Nathaniel Rolle, Anisand traveling expenses, munity, but nothing has yet to tie into the public Bahamian household. ka O. Strachan, Wakaria Nilah Neely, Yanese Neely, Dion Knowles, Rayeven reimbursement of the Neely, been accomplished. The grid and apply any excess The cost of new and better mond Smith, Erica Smith, Cameron and Kevin Burden, Noah recruiter’s fees! Rachael McCree, Ministry of Finance is incageneration to increase the solar panels (duty-free King, Niabrief and tenure April Heaston; Asanette Morgan, Dolly Bullard, Cleora In her of totalcousins: pable of handling such a supply. In our context in Bahamas), often from Mullings, Smith, barely more Halcey than a year, Ms. Winifred Sawyer, Inamae Smith, Wandajane Smith, Nan deal; they should promptly “renewable” means primar- China, is steadily declining, Burke, GinettetoGrant, Emma Deal, Nona Smith, Elaine Pinder, Melia Smith, Paula Hill struggled explain ily “solar”. Theoretically, but represents on average retain our investment Grant, Terrance continuing powerGrant, cuts,Perry Grant, Prince Smith, James Smith, Chuckie Russell, also have substantial only about 20 percent of banks experienced at offerQ Deal, Josephwe Davis IV, Joseph Davis V, Juanita Slappy, Michelle and any Van rate Burke, reductions wind farms total costs, including cost ing corporate securities were so Ronald paltry asand to escape Mays, Darrian capacity Smith andfornumerous other relatives and in The Bahain the shallow waters off of storage battery packs YOUR FOR THE FAMILY via a private placement notice by aboard. most consumers mas and or an IPO. The Treasury or were stop-gap election New Providence’s southern and installation expenses coast, as is normal offshore affected by local inflation would receive a sorely measures. By pay the their time last of respects Friends may at Butlers’ Funeral Homes & Crematorium, Erand taxes in Europe, November but to date 8, I am needed cash injection this general election, nestMay’s and York Streets, on Wednesday 2017 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/JOYFM1019 the agreement of about $70m from the andmanagement at the church on Thursday November 9, 2017 from 9:00 a.m. until service time. still had not been presented proceeds. to the House, and despite Brave Davis’ continual
Richard Coulson
State Recognized Funeral Service For Former Parliamentarian
Calvin James Johnson J.P., 64
CHOICE
EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net
INSIGHT
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2017 PAGE 9
THE MUD and Pigeon Pea areas in Abaco are under the spotlight after Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis gave a deadline for immigrants to leave the country.
Photo: Terrel W. Carey/Tribune Staff
A bad idea which just gets worse by FREDERICK SMITH QC
DEAR Prime Minister, I continue to watch and listen with dismay to your proclamations on driving out illegal immigrants in what is now just 55 days time. Whilst I continue to emphasize that I am not supporting illegal immigration, the issue is far too complicated to simply issue dramatic political broadsides which terrorise a great segment of the population all of whom have rights. On the removal of illegal immigrants how is this supposed to happen? How are they going to leave? This is just impractical and unworkable. They don’t have papers. They can’t just walk to the airport and catch a flight to the United States. So what, Prime Minister, do they do? Run into the
arms of the human traffickers and try to sneak illegally into the US? What are they do do? You won’t give an amnesty but you tell them to get out. How? How? How? And who are the illegals you say have to leave? Children born here who don’t have their papers yet? The problem with your proclamation is that this is going to give license to the immigration department to continue to do these illegal raids and round-ups and to arrest thousands of people born in The Bahamas who have rights to be here. What you are doing is promoting opportunities for the immigration offices to profit by recycling people - who have rights to be here - though the Carmichael concentration camp. They will simply arrest them, detain them, receive $2500 and release them again. Disrupting people’s lives like that is so unconscionable.
Please do not let the immigration department continue to do this. I ask, how can children who had nothing to say about where they were born, become illegal? If they were born here they have a right to be treated as a citizen, helped to process not hindered and robbed and ‘just get it done’. When is it okay to punish children and for whose sins? What’s going to happen on December 31? Thousands and thousands of children born here in the Bahamas, entitled to be registered as citizens, are going to be rounded up and shipped out of the country by immigration? This is the big stupidity about your proclamation, Prime Minister. Again, who are the illegals? Is the Immigration Department going to continue to be judge, jury and executioner? Are they going to take people before the courts?
This is a complete systematic breakdown in the rule of law and you, Prime Minister. I was there at your swearing in and you promised to uphold the rule of law. Please, before you do any further damage to our democracy take advice from people other than the lawyers in your cabinet who obviously don’t have any idea about what the rule of law means. Take advice from independent lawyers, please. The people advising you Prime Minister must be clueless about the law otherwise they wouldn’t continue to allow you or encourage you to make these unlawful statements which are so aggressive and terrorize a huge section of the population, none of whom have ever been taken before court, tried or convicted. To make matters worse Prime Minister you are now suggesting a Constitutional
Commission. If you don’t amend the Immigration Act, you are just doing a Perry Christie who committee’d everything to death and never got anything done in both his terms. It is a idea and illegal unless you amend the Immigration Act. That is the answer and unless you do that, it’s just passing the buck - again. The meantime, until the Immigration Act is amended, all that is needed is to employ dozens of secretaries to process the thousands of applications before the Immigration Board. By law the Immigration Board consists of the entire cabinet which could have a sub-committee which would simply just deal with immigration citizenship. This is just like the belonger’s permit. The ‘commission’ is another delay, another obstacle to obtaining citizenship. In
fact, delegating authority for citizenship review and decisions is unlawful and unconstitutional. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act it is a function of the Immigration Board. Creating more committees and more commissions is a guarantee of kicking the ball down the line and keeping the people in limbo. As I said, a Perry Christie PLP tactic - committee and commission it to death. We as a country - everyone who was ever responsible for protecting our borders, every male who sired children and didn’t provide for the, everyone who abused and took advantage of our brothers and sisters - should be making amends, not turning our backs. The harm we are doing now is two generations old, and growing. It is laughable when you consider no-one was Bahamian until 1973.
anger and settle disputes peacefully because violence is becoming worrisome and threatening in our country because of the lack of knowledge on how to
resolve conflicts. By resolving conflicts there will be fewer crimes, better relationships in the home, school, workplace and the community.
WE ALL HAVE A ROLE IN KEEPING THE PEACE CONFLICT resolution is when two or more parties find a peaceful solution to a disagreement between them. The need for resolution to conflicts has risen in our schools, homes, work place and community. It is inevitable that conflicts are going to happen whenever you have people with different expectations, views and concerns. However, in order to resolve a conflict we must accept our share of the responsibility and eliminate the concept of blame. In the school Children find themselves in situations which often lead to escalated conflicts with their peers. During adolescence into the developing stages of puberty, many children act out their emotions in the form of teasing, gossiping, and physical aggression. If left unchecked, these same behavioural patterns will transfer over to the teenage years. The school should include in its curriculum conflict management, to teach students how to resolve and prevent conflicts. The school can also organize a workshop on this subject and get parents involved. In the home Every family has disagreements, which keeps the communication channel open. However, the handling of those conflicts will result in either a win/
Police advice
and be fair. 8. If you still can’t agree, ask someone else (an outsider) to help resolve the conflict. It is important to control
By SERGEANT NATHALIE RANGER
win outcome or a destructive situation. Most family conflicts are because of poor communication skills, lack of family values, lack of respect, poor interpersonal skills, lack of effective role models/poor parenting skills, sibling rivalry, financial problems, lack of trust, lack of accountability and lack of Godliness. If God is out of the home, then the enemy will take charge and destroy the peaceful environment of the home. In the workplace When people work together, conflict is often unavoidable because of differences in work goals and personal style. Almost everyone encounters a difficult person now and then in their personal and professional life. Handling and resolving conflicts that arise in the work place is one of the biggest challenges managers and employees face. We often feel uncomfortable or dissatisfied with the result because no resolution has been achieved. Conflicts in the workplace are caused by poor communication, different values, different interest, personal clashes and poor performance.
In the community How we handle conflicts within a community is important to the long-term success of a community. Conflicts in the community are caused by different beliefs, resources, preferences, needs and risk. Too many of our citizens are caught up in conflicts that they do not know how to manage. Our community should come together and form a conflict resolution forum so that the community can move forward in a positive direction. When faced with a conflict, agree to resolve it. 1. Use your brain and not your hands or a weapon. 2. Talk about what is bothering you in a calm and respectful way. 3. No name calling. 4. Take turns talking without interrupting. 5. Be willing to listen to the other person and be sure to understand how he or she feels and sees the problem. 6. The less angry you are the easier it will be to resolve the problem. 7. Think of positive options, how can you meet each other’s needs
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NASSAU
PAGE 12, Monday, November 6, 2017
THE TRIBUNE
Cooper: we’re on a mission from God
DEPUTY leader of the PLP Chester Cooper speaking to the Progessive Young Liberals at PLP headquarters yesterday.
Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
from page one
Funeral Service For
Merline Cleare, 88
affectionatley called
“BUDDY”
of Lucaya Circle, Palmetto Village and formerly of Normans Castle, Abaco will be held on Wednesday, 8th Novemebr, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. at St. Mark’s Native Baptist Church, Romer Street, Fox Hill. Officiating will be Bishop Carrington Pinder assisted by other ministers of the gospel. Interment will follow in the Church’s Cemetery. Precious and lasting memories will always be cherished by her children and their spouses: Mr. Patrick and Constance Bethel, Mrs. Sherald and Leroy Wilson, Mrs. Veronica and Joe Hunt, and Mrs. Dianne and George Miller; grandchildren: Sophia Mackey (Jarm), Inger Seymour (Kevin) of Freeport, Grand Bahama, Shanrec Cleare, Tabitha Burrows, Neikole Robinson (Randall), Elton Gibson, Anton Pratt (Kristen), Patrick Hunt of San Diego, Monica Douglass (Ivan) of Washington D.C., Sylvester Hunt of Miami, Dion Pratt (Shaquay), Jamie Bethel (Fannie) of West Palm Beach, Chase Bethel (Jessica) of Toronto, Keon Justin of Miami, Kimbra Bethel, Joe Hunt III of Miami, Matthew Hunt of Miami, Brian Johnson, Azalee Hunt of Miami, Gabriele Bethell; great-grandchildren: McCardia Fawkes (Colyn), Matthew Capron (Jenelle), Chauntez Turnquest (Christoper), Dwanique Smith (Samuel), Keja Seymour, Omar Bethel Jr., Dwight Wheatley, Zimmia Bethel, Dranae Bethel, Destiny Bethel, Ashley Bethel, Keontae Bethel, Ricarra Newbold, Anton Pratt Jr., China Robinson, Alalyan Bethel, Dion Pratt Jr.,Tristan Bethel, Cole Bethel, Lavardo Pratt, Laquay Pratt, A’Kailah Pratt, Diontae Pratt, Kai-Anthony Pratt, Phillip Hunt, Ethan Hunt, Brian Johnson Jr., Chyna Pratt, Caleb Douglas, Grace Douglas, Bristol Johnson, Asia Pratt and Catrina Hunt; great, great grandchildren: McCiah Capron, Malachi Capron, Colyn Fawkes Jr., Manaya Capron, RiKaden, Jazarra Turnquest, Shiloh Smith; nieces and nephews: Barbara Mullings (Anthony), Larry Russell (Joyce), Dr. L. Barry Russell (Missy), Lynden Russell (Jessica), Pastor Dennis Bain (Ruth), Maria Pratt, Kirklyn Pratt, Cora Pratt, Linda Pratt (Deceased), Ezekiel Pratt (Jan), Laverne Ferguson, Mario Pratt, Baron Pratt (Garnell), Brenda McDonald; Numerous grand and great grandnieces; Godchild: Brittany Brown; Other relatives and friends including: Thelma Darling and family, Enez Johnson (deceased) & Family, Peggy Authur and family, The Mills family of Abaco, The Blackwood Abaco Community, Dr. Cecil Bethel, Alphonso Mounts and family of Key West Higgs family of Florida, Devoe family of Miami, Washington family of Atlanta, Aranha family of Tampa, Abagail Babbs and family, Antoinette Russell & family of Freeport, Dr. Indira Grimes and the staff of the Annes Town Clinic, Palmetto Village family, Demeritte family, Coleby family, Lloyd family, Bishop Carrington & Pastor Sabrina Pinder, St. Mark’s Baptist Church family, Seymour family of Grand Bahama, Dorinda Mackey & family, Dwana Davis-Imoff & family, Christina Davis & family, Alfred Lloyd and family, Grania Dawkins & family, Sarah Sturrup & family, Rochelle Bain, Joyce Williams & family, Linda Rolle, Ingrid Bethel, Sheila Strachan, Sheila Capron & family, Carol Bethel, Carolyn Brown & family, Mr. Randolph, Ruth McIntosh & family, Clarissa Smith & family, Michelle Rolle & family, Hilda’s Chapter #1, Nemesis Court 231,Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre, Atlantis Laundry Plant Family. Friends may pay their last respects at Bethel Brothers Morticians #44 Nassau Street on Tuesday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and at the church on Wednesday from 10:00 a.m. until service time.
He made his comments while speaking to the Progressive Young Liberals, the youth arm of the PLP, at the party’s headquarters last night. “We have a duty to this country to let them know that we have the solutions on how to get our economy growing again and make sure those gains are felt throughout our communities and not just the profit margins of the select few,” Mr Cooper said. “But, of course, in order to do that we must win the government and to win the government we must present the people with a PLP that is ready to lead the next wave of transformation in this country. A PLP that will do what it takes to regain the admiration and trust of the majority of Bahamians... “The modern Bahamas would not exist without the PLP, and don’t you for a second let anyone forget it or make you feel as though the heritage of this great party is to be taken lightly or forgotten. We mean business, and we’ve produced results and we plan to do so again. We have an unfinished agenda. The PLP has not yet completed its work and we won’t let anyone, no matter who they call corrupt, no matter how they try to shift the blame of their incompetence on to us, no way, not today. “We won’t let anyone
AUDIENCE members at the Progessive Young Liberals meeting. set about stopping us from doing our work because God gave the PLP a mission, to transform this Bahamas into the best country in the world. We’ve put in lots of work, but our mission is far from complete.” Mr Cooper said the PLP will recruit “many more millennials” who will help the party fulfil its agenda of economic development. “Now is the best time to be PLP because we have the advantage,” he said. “We could reform, recruit and rebrand and rebuild and present better ideas, better policy than the FNM, while they spin their wheels out of their depth. “The talent in this party is unmatched. The reach of our organisation is unmatched. The institutional knowledge of the PLP is unmatched. The grasp of technology and messaging among those of us who proudly carry the banner of the PLP is unmatched.
“We don’t need to commiserate any longer. We don’t need to lick our wounds. We’re done with that. We are going to move into the future and we’re starting today. We have four years to rebuild and plan and fundraise and execute plans that will see us ready to govern right after the 2022 election rolls around, not meander for six months trying to figure out where we are. We will be ready to govern from day one.” The Christie administration was soundly defeated in the 2017 general election, winning only four out of 39 seats in the House of Assembly. The party also lost areas which were traditionally PLP strongholds such as Bain and Grants Town and Centreville, the latter an area former Prime Minister Perry Christie represented for 40 years. Mr Christie became the first prime minister to lose his seat in a general election.
BALTRON’S $800K DEAL ‘VALUE FOR MONEY’ from page one “It’s disgraceful to be exposing what technocrats and experts are making,” Mr Davis told The Tribune on Friday when he was contacted. “It’s not apples and apples, but apples and oranges, and it’s rather
unbecoming and disgraceful to continue along this line. “They are doing the same thing [they accuse the former government of doing], entering into similar contracts, but they are not exposing those.” On Thursday in the House of Assembly, Dr Minnis revealed that days before the 2017 general election, the former government renewed Sir Baltron’s contract as a senior policy advisor in the Office of the Prime Minister and consultant to the Ministry of Tourism. His contract was also renewed nearly a year before it was set to expire and increased with an agreement to pay him $800,000 over a four-year period. This, according to documents tabled in Parliament by Dr Minnis. When this contract is compared with an earlier three-year contract dated May 19, 2015 and effective May 14, 2015, no justification for a salary increase was apparent. The 2015 agreement showed the former advisor was initially to be paid $140,000 for the same duties outlined in the new 2017 contract. Dr Minnis also tabled the contractual agreements of Theresa Burrows and Cecile Williams-Bethel, two National Insurance Board executives, each with salaries of $125,000 per annum and a yearly duty allowance of $9,000. Mrs Burrows, a consultant/senior deputy director of business support services,
signed her contract on May 4 of this year, to take effect from May 21, 2018. Mrs Williams-Bethel was engaged as consultant/ senior deputy director of operations with effect from June 5, 2012 to June 4, 2017 and extended from June 5, 2017 to August 20, 2021. In each of these three instances, Dr Minnis said none of the contracts would be honoured, adding they could “take me to court” over the agreements. According to Dr Minnis, on April 24, 2017, Sir Baltron signed a contract from Permanent Secretary Charles Albury “agreeing to extend” the current contract which was to expire May 14, 2018. Mr Albury wrote this contract would go on for a further period of two years. The agreement read: “Additionally, having regard to the expanded services you are providing, it has further been agreed to increase your fixed salary to $200,000 per annum with effect from January 1, 2016. In addition, you will receive paid medical insurance for you and your spouse and have provision of an automobile. A gratuity of 15 per cent of your salary is payable on successful completion of your contract.” In addition, all expenses relating to approved travel, inclusive of air fare, hotel accommodation and per diem necessary to the successful execution of Sir Baltron’s duties were to be governed by the extant policy of the Ministry of Tourism.
THE TRIBUNE
Monday, November 6, 2017, PAGE 13
CHURCH HOSTS ANNUAL FAIR SACRED Heart Catholic Church held its annual steak-out and fair on the church grounds this past Saturday. Organisers said the event, which ran from 11am to 5.30pm, was a great success. Father Anselm Russell and church deacon Rev Keith Anthony Roberts thanked all those who came out to support the church and those who volunteered their time. The church also thanked those who made donations towards the event.
ABOVE and below, scenes from the Sacred Heart Catholic Church annual steak-out and fair on church grounds at East Shirley Street. Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
KEVIN DARVILLE, Tribune Media Group’s Special Projects Manager. at the Sacred Heart steak-out.
Disclosures failures ‘undermining public trust’ By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net ANOTHER local advocacy group has spoken out against the government’s failure to fully enforce the Public Disclosure Act, saying not doing so could undermine public trust in two recently tabled pieces of anti-corruption legislation. In a statement on Friday, the Organisation for Responsible Governance (ORG) said if the Minnis administration expects “trust” in the “future” of the recently tabled Ombudsman and Integrity Commission Bills, it “must prioritise compliance and
enforcement of existing anti-corruption laws such as public disclosure”. Failure to do so “undermines” the government’s previously “stated commitments”, ORG said. ORG was the second group last week to call for the full enforcement of the Public Disclosure Act (PDA). On Thursday, Citizens for a Better Bahamas (CBB) slammed the government for failing to meet its campaign promises on enforcing the act. In a statement, CBB called on citizens to reject “implausible” and “unreasonable” excuses and demand the full enforcement of the critical anti-corruption law.
LLOYD PUTS FOCUS ON EARLY YEARS OF EDUCATION AND VOCATIONAL PROGRAMMES By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net EDUCATION Minister Jeffrey Lloyd flagged the government’s expanded focus on early childhood education and technical and vocational training, as he reaffirmed the nation’s commitment to the achievement of the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. Mr Lloyd spoke at the 39th annual UNESCO conference in Paris, France on Thursday. “The Bahamas firmly believes that education is an indispensable element for achieving sustainable development,” he said. “Thus, our newly elected government is working steadily to ensure the right of all of its citizens and residents to an equitable and inclusive education.” He continued: “New education policies are being be grounded in progressive educational research and planning, improving the learning environment; updating the curriculum and education materials; establishing global standards and conditions; and supporting the advancement and development of educational professionals. “We are also shifting our policies from focusing exclusively on universal primary and secondary education to one that promotes lifelong learning, especially with a particular emphasis on early childhood and preschool education.” Mr Lloyd said: “We firmly believe that in addition to those basics that were once the cornerstone of a primary school education, those being literacy, numeracy, orally and cognitive skills development, we must also ensure the vital inclusion of social and
emotional values and training of our youngest minds. “Another crucial area of focus for our country, is that of technical and vocational training. “The Bahamas has increased financial assistance for students interested in these technical and vocational fields, concurrent with the expanded role of the Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute. By such actions we have seen the numbers of entrants at the institution steadily increase; thus, ensuring that we have a technically skilled workforce to meet the country’s future demands.” Mr Lloyd also said: “New local and regional partnerships are being forged while old ones are being strengthened, as the Bahamas recognises that the support of the international community is necessary if we are to achieve our desired goals. Such partnerships, we believe, enable sustainable development, and play a meaningful role in facilitating the implementation of these various initiatives in small island developing states like the Bahamas.” Mr Lloyd said the country was committed to full and constructive participation in follow-up and review processes of UNESCO’s 2030 agenda, adding the government will continue to invest the “lion’s share” of its national budget in education, science and technology. “We accept that this is fraught with expected and unexpected challenges,” he said, “considering our fragile resources as an emerging economy, with the added challenge of being an archipelago. Nonetheless, I once again affirm my country’s commitment to the achievement of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.”
Last month, The Tribune reported how the Public Disclosure Commission had yet to conduct any work because the commission’s building on East Bay Street is mould infested. At the time, PDC chairman Myles Laroda confirmed that outside of initial introductions to staff, the commission’s work was stalled. And, Mr Laroda said, many of the files have been “locked down” because they are contaminated and officials want to keep staff members out of harm’s way. That came more than three months after the government’s self-imposed deadline to prosecute delinquent public officials
under the PDA. In a report published by the Nassau Guardian two weeks later, Mr Laroda confirmed its status remained unchanged. Last month, in keeping with its campaign promises to tackle corruption and introduce a new standard of accountability in governance, the government tabled its highly anticipated Integrity Commission Bill 2017. That bill, once passed, will establish a new code of conduct for public officials, establish an Integrity Commission with wide-ranging powers to investigate alleged corruption, and increase the financial disclosure responsibilities of
public officials. The Ombudsman Bill, which was also recently tabled, will establish an Office of the Ombudsman, an advocate for the people in the event of government maladministration. However, ORG said in its statement: “This administration has notably declared that anti-corruption is its priority not only in word but also in the roll-out of a compendium of bills aimed at tackling this social ill. “If they expect trust in the future of the recently tabled Ombudsman and Integrity Commission Bills they must prioritise compliance and enforcement of existing anti-corruption laws such as public disclosure. Failure
to do so undermines their stated commitments.” Addressing the Integrity Commission Bill specifically, ORG noted the bill and the commission it seeks to create will only be effective at enforcing public disclosure so long as it remains an independent entity. “The success of enforcing public disclosure, and rooting out corruption in general, will directly rely on this body having autonomy, authority, and freedom from political influence,” ORG said. “We, the people, have an opportunity to ensure that this is the case and that we do not repeat mistakes of the past.”
PAGE 14, Monday, November 6, 2017
THE TRIBUNE
IRAN WARNED OVER YEMEN MISSILE LAUNCH
SANAA, Yemen (AP) — The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen closed off the land, sea and air ports to the Arab world’s poorest country early Monday after a rebel-fired ballistic missile targeted Riyadh, blaming the launch on Iran and warning it could be “considered as an act of war”. The coalition’s statement ramps up tensions between the ultraconservative Sunni kingdom and its Shiite rival Iran, both of which have interests in Yemen’s yearslong conflict. The bloodshed continued Sunday as an Islamic Stateclaimed militant attack in Aden killed at least 17 people. In a statement, the coalition accused Iran of supplying Yemen’s Houthi rebels and their allies with the missile launched Saturday toward the Saudi capital’s international airport.
RAND PAUL ATTACKED BY NEIGHBOUR FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — US Sen Rand Paul was recovering Sunday from five broken ribs after he was assaulted by a neighbor who tackled him from behind at the senator’s Kentucky home, officials said. Senior Adviser Doug Stafford said it is unclear when the Republican will return to work since he is in considerable pain and has difficulty getting around, including flying. Stafford said this type of injury is marked by severe pain that can last for weeks to months. “This type of injury is caused by high velocity severe force,” Stafford said in an email to The Associated Press. The Bowling Green Daily News reported that an arrest warrant said Paul told police his neighbor came on his property and tackled him from behind Friday, forcing him to the ground. He had trouble breathing because of a rib injury, the warrant said.
AFFLECK ‘WANTS TO BE PART OF THE SOLUTION’ LONDON (AP) — Ben Affleck says the storm of sexual harassment allegations engulfing Hollywood has led him to examine his own behavior. In an interview Sunday with The Associated Press for the superhero film “Justice League,” Affleck said he’s “looking at my own behavior ad addressing that and making sure I’m part of the solution.” After condemning Harvey Weinstein’s actions last month, Affleck was forced to defend his own conduct. He apologized for groping the actress Hilarie Burton on camera in 2003 when she was a host on MTV’s “Total Request Live.” Another video from 2004 showed Affleck pulling Montreal TV host Anne-Marie Losique onto his lap.
SAUDI ARRESTS CONSOLIDATES POWER GRAB RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s heir to the throne is overseeing an unprecedented wave of arrests of dozens of the country’s most powerful princes, military officers, influential businessmen and government ministers — some potential rivals or critics of the crown prince now consolidating his power. Among those taken into custody overnight Saturday in the purported anti-corruption sweep were billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, one of the world’s richest men with extensive holdings in Western companies, as well as two of the late King Abdullah’s sons.
CARRIE Matula embraces a woman after a fatal shooting at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, yesterday. Matula said she heard the shooting from the gas station where she works a block away. Photo: Nick Wagner/Austin American-Statesman via AP
26 churchgoers gunned down in Texas massacre SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, TEXAS Associated Press A MAN dressed in black tactical-style gear and armed with an assault rifle opened fire inside a church in a small South Texas community on Sunday, killing 26 people and wounding about 20 in what the governor called the deadliest mass shooting in the state’s history. The dead ranged in age from 5 to 72 years old. Authorities didn’t identify the attacker during a news conference Sunday night, but two other officials — one a US official and one in law enforcement — identified him as Devin Kelley. They spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorised to discuss the investigation. The US official said Kelley lived in a San Antonio suburb and didn’t appear to be linked to organised terrorist groups. Investigators were looking at social media posts Kelley made in the days before Sunday’s attack, including one that appeared to show an AR-15 semiautomatic weapon. An Air Force spokeswoman said Sunday night that Devin P Kelley received a bad-conduct discharge from the Air Force for allegedly assaulting his spouse and child, and was sentenced to 12 months’ confinement after a 2012 court-martial. Kelley served in Logistics Readiness at Holloman Air Force Base
in New Mexico from 2010 until his discharge, spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said. At the news conference, the attacker was described only as a white man in his 20s who was wearing black tactical gear and a ballistic vest when he pulled into a gas station across from the First Baptist Church around 11:20am. The gunman crossed the street and started firing a Ruger AR rifle at the church, said Freeman Martin, a regional director of the Texas Department of Safety, then continued firing after entering the white wood-frame building, where an 11am service was scheduled. As he left, the shooter was confronted by an armed resident who “grabbed his rifle and engaged that suspect”, Martin said. A short time later, the suspect was found dead in his vehicle at the county line. Several weapons were found inside the vehicle and Martin said it was unclear if the attacker died of a selfinflicted wound or if he was shot by the resident who confronted him. He said investigators weren’t ready to discuss a possible motive. Martin said 23 of the dead were found in the church, two were found outside and one died after being taken to a hospital. Addressing the news conference, Gov Greg Abbott called the attack the worst mass shooting in Texas history. “There are no words to describe the pure evil that
we witnessed in Sutherland Springs today,” Abbott said. “Our hearts are heavy at the anguish in this small town, but in time of tragedy, we see the very best of Texas. May God comfort those who’ve lost a loved one, and may God heal the hurt in our communities.” Among those killed was the church pastor’s 14-yearold daughter, Annabelle Pomeroy. Pastor Frank Pomeroy, and his wife, Sherri, were both out of town in two different states when the attack occurred, Sherri Pomeroy wrote in a text message to the AP. “We lost our 14-year-old daughter today and many friends,” she wrote. “Neither of us has made it back into town yet to personally see the devastation. I am at the Charlotte airport trying to get home as soon as I can.” Federal law enforcement swarmed the small rural community of a few hundred residents 30 miles southeast of San Antonio after the attack, including ATF investigators and members of the FBI’s evidence collection team. At least 16 wounded were taken to hospitals, hospital officials said, including eight taken by medical helicopter to the Brooke Army Medical Center. Another eight victims were taken to Connally Memorial Medical Center, located in Floresville about 10 miles from the church, including four who were later transferred to University Hospital in San Antonio for higher-level care, said spokeswoman
Megan Posey. Hunter Green, 16, normally attends the church with his girlfriend but they skipped Sunday after a late date night. Attending a candlelight vigil hours later, he described the building as having only small exits on the side and in the back that would have made it very difficult to flee a shooter entering the front door. “They wouldn’t have had anywhere to go,” Green said. Alena Berlanga, a Floresville resident who was monitoring the chaos on a police scanner and in Facebook community groups, said everyone knows everyone else in the sparsely populated county. “This is horrific for our tiny little tight-knit town,” Berlanga said. “Everybody’s going to be affected and everybody knows someone who’s affected.” Regina Rodriguez, who arrived at the church a couple of hours after the shooting, walked up to the police barricade and hugged a person she was with. She said her father, 51-year-old Richard Rodriguez, attends the church every Sunday, and she hadn’t been able to reach him. She said she feared the worst. Church member Nick Uhlig, 34, wasn’t at Sunday’s service, but he said his cousins were at the church and that his family was told at least one of them, a woman with three children and pregnant with another, was among the dead. “We just gathered to bury
their grandfather on Thursday,” he said, shaking his head. “This is the only church here. We have Bible study, men’s Bible study, vacation Bible school. Somebody went in and started shooting.” President Donald Trump, who was in Japan, called the shooting an “act of evil” and said he was monitoring the situation. “We’re shocked. Shocked and dismayed,” said state Sen Judith Zaffirini, a Laredo Democrat whose district includes Sutherland Springs, a rural community known for its peanut festival, which was held last month. “It’s especially shocking when it’s such a small, serene area. These rural areas, they are so beautiful and so loving.” Later Sunday, two sheriff’s vans were parked outside the gate of a cattle fence surrounding the address listed for Kelley on the rural, western outskirts of New Braunfels, north of San Antonio, preventing a group of waiting journalists from entering. Officials from the Comal County Sherriff’s Office and the Texas Rangers declined to comment or say if they had raided his home. Ryan Albers, 16, who lives across the road said he heard intensifying gunfire coming from that direction in recent days. “It had to be coming from somewhere pretty close,” Albers said. “It was definitely not just a shotgun or someone hunting. It was someone using automatic weapon fire.”
LEAK REVEALS COMMERCE SECRETARY LINK TO PUTIN SON-IN-LAW NEW YORK Associated Press NEWLY-LEAKED documents show that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, the Trump administration’s point man on trade and manufacturing policy, has a stake in a company that does business with a gas producer partly owned by the son-in-law of Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to records obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Ross is an investor in Navigator Holdings, a shipping giant that counts Russian gas and petrochemical producer Sibur among its major customers. Putin’s son-inlaw Kirill Shamalov once owned more than 20 percent of the company, but now holds a much smaller stake. Commerce Department spokesman James Rockas said Ross “never met” Shamalov and has generally supported the Trump administration’s sanctions
COMMERCE Secretary Wilbur Ross. against Russia, according to the ICIJ report. Rockas added that Ross has withdrawn from matters related to transoceanic shipping vessels and has met the “highest ethical standards”. The details are likely to add to the questions about ties between Russia and the Trump administration, connections that for months have shadowed the White House and are a focus of an investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller. Yet it wasn’t immediately clear how many partners
Ross might have or what the profit-sharing agreement might be. ICIJ disclosed the Ross holding as part of reporting on 13.4 million records of offshore entities in tax havens leaked to German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. The newspaper then shared the records with ICIJ and a network of more than 380 journalists in 67 countries. The New York Times is its US partner in this inquiry. The Times reported on the Ross holding on
Sunday. It wasn’t immediately clear exactly how much of Navigator, which is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange, Ross personally owns. ICIJ reported that Ross and other investors own four Cayman Island entities that in turn own 31.5 percent of Navigator, a stake worth $176m at Friday’s closing stock price. Ross’ stake in Navigator is likely a small fraction of that. In financial disclosure forms he filed with the government this year, Ross valued his holdings in the Cayman Island entities, which include other companies besides Navigator, at no more than $10.1m. Sibur contributed 8 percent to Navigator’s revenue last year, according to reports filed with securities regulators. Russia’s energy sector is largely controlled by individuals with ties to state actors, including Putin. Much of the new trove of files includes bank statements, emails and loan
agreements from Appleby, a law firm that helps set up offshore dummy companies and trusts. Appleby told the ICIJ that there is “no evidence” that it has done anything wrong. Other records came from Asiaciti Trust, a family-run offshore specialist based In Singapore, and from 19 corporate registries maintained by governments in jurisdictions that draw the wealthy seeking privacy. Big investments in two US tech companies from a Russian government bank and Russian energy giant have also come to light. The ICIJ reported that Silicon Valley investor and Russian citizen Yuri Milner got $191m from VTB Bank, and invested that money in Twitter. The leaked records also show that a financial subsidiary of Russian energy company Gazprom funded a shell company that invested in a Milneraffiliated company that held roughly $1bn in Facebook shares shortly before its 2012 initial public offering.
PAGE 16, Monday, November 6, 2017
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FROM SLAVERY TO INDEPENDENCE - THE STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM By SYDNEI ISAACS Bahamas Information Services HISTORIANS, politicians, artists and others gathered at Pompey Museum of Slavery and Emancipation on Bay Street on November 2 for a special preview of the exhibit, ‘Struggle For Freedom in The Bahamas: From Slavery to Independence.’ The exhibit comprises wall-to-wall sailboatshaped displays with lots of information and graphics, along with multimedia kiosks full of content and depictions of artifacts dating back to days of slavery in The Bahamas. The Antiquities, Monuments and Museums Corporation (AMMC) held
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the preview. An open house for the exhibit will take place on Sunday, November 12. A sponsor of the exhibition is Templeton World Charity Foundation, Inc. After experiencing two fires - one in 2001 and the other in 2011 - the museum’s present state of renovation is the result of both local and international participation. Charred walls can still be seen inside the museum so as to keep as much history as possible because the museum is the actual place where slaves were auctioned in The Bahamas. The museum is not limited to the past. It showcases exhibits as early as 1648, but also contemporary issues such as human trafficking and smuggling.
EXECUTIVE chairman of the Antiquities, Monuments and Museums Corporation Reece Chipman addresses the Pompey Museum exhibit audience on November 2.