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Volume: 120 No.220, November 16, 2023

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FNM’S GRANT WAS IN PYRAMID SCHEME ‘We owe no one’ says MP candidate as Sands says they were victims

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune News Editor rrolle@tribunemedia.net THE Free National Movement’s West Grand Bahama and Bimini byelection candidate Bishop Ricardo Grant and his wife Shandlene Grant participated in a pyramid scheme in 2020 where some people lost their investments and never received promised payouts.

petty resigns as wsc chair after contract revelation

Man murdered in broad daylight

Some residents insist the Grants –– particularly Mrs Grant –– were the primary local organisers of the scheme in Grand Bahama.

Bishop Grant denied this yesterday, saying via WhatsApp: “We never did and owe no one!!!”

He said he would contact this newspaper to discuss the matter after yesterday’s advanced poll but did not

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS Tribune Staff Reporter lmunnings@tribunemedia.net NORTH Eleuthera MP Sylvanus Petty resigned as executive chairman of the Water and Sewerage Corporation yesterday after the public learned that his daughter was given a contract with the company.

A statement from the Office of the Prime Minister said Prime Minister Philip

SEE PAGE THREE

SEE PAGE THREE

grandmother: child found dead was ‘sweet, sweet Boy’

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS Tribune Staff Reporter lmunnings@tribunemedia.net A DISTRAUGHT grandmother wants to know the circumstances around the death of her two-yearold grandson Daniel Nixon, “a sweet, sweet boy” found dead in bushes near his home on Tuesday.

Daniel, Barbara Nixon said, had recently learned

police wants puBlic to share their home camera feeds

how to walk.

He was at home with his mother before going missing, Ms Nixon said, adding that the house door was open while the boy’s mother was in the bathroom washing the baby’s clothes, creating the opportunity for him to go outside.

“We don’t know if he came in the back, but from SEE PAGE THREE

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net MORTUARY services personnel transport the body of man in his early thirties who was killed in Nassau Village around 2pm yesterday. See PAGE SEVEN for story.

Photo: Dante Carrer

Blue lagoon Boat ‘complied with regulations’

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net ACTING Port Controller Lieutenant Commander Berne Wright said both the catamaran that sank enroute to Blue Lagoon Island on Tuesday and its captain fully complied with regulations governing the sector.

The vessel’s sinking led to the death of a 75-year-old

BLUE Lagoon transport that sunk yesterday American Tuesday.

woman

on

Lt Cdr Wright said the vessel was licensed to carry 200 people, but had 145 on board.

He said the boat had the required number of life preservers.

“The vessel is registered at the Port Department,” he said. “The captain is licensed ed. The registration is current. Insurance is up to date. The registration

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

SEE PAGE FOUR

THE Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBDF) wants people and businesses with security cameras to join a programme letting police monitor their video feeds to fight crime.

RBPF officials yesterday announced the launch SEE PAGE FIVE

SEE INSIDE

British royal legion supplement

PAGE 2, Thursday, November 16, 2023

THE TRIBUNE

Burna Boy concert coming December 16 BURNA BOY

By LETRE SWEETING Tribune Staff Reporter lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394

GLOBAL afro beats sensation Burna Boy will headline a musical extravaganza at Carnival Grounds next month.

DJ Ovadose will host the event on December 16, which Foreign Currency –– the promotions and event management company that organised Tarrus Riley’s recent concert –– is organising.

The event is scheduled to run from 4pm to 4am the next day, officials said at a press conference yesterday.

Bahamian artists such as Natural Empress, Rika C and Mighty Pencil will participate, as will DJs from the 103.5 The Beat radio house: Tank, Melody and Chilly.

Tickets for the event, which are available internationally and went on sale on Friday, can be purchased at the box office of The Kendal GL Isaacs National Gymnasium or online at foreigncurrencypromotions.com.

Tickets for paid parking, which will also be available for the event, can be purchased at the box office of The Kendal GL Isaacs National Gymnasium or online at NSA-Bahamas. com/tickets.

Javon Williams, events manager for The National Sports Authority (NSA), urged Bahamians to grab tickets quickly because access to the area will be restricted.

“If you don’t have a paid ticket, and that’s a ticket in terms of the event or parking, you won’t even be able to get in past the entrance to the Sports Centre itself,” he said, adding this will be a first for the NSA. “The NSA has created a plan that involves 10 parking zones for this concert.

Those parking zones will be paid parking zones.

Those parking lots will be secured by police and by security guards. And the pricing structure for those lots will be based on proximity to the concert grounds.

“The NSA will be providing a map of all of our paid parking lots by Monday. And we will also provide information in regards to shuttles that will be provided for one of two of those parking lots that would be further away from the facility.”

Royal Bahamas Police Force Officer Leonard Barr said police would ensure the event venue and parking lot are properly manned and secured.

Antoyne Hinsey, president and managing director of Sound Crate Group Limited, an audio, video and lighting company, said investments in the stage and setup are unprecedented for the country. He said his company has been working on the stage for the past two months in addition to a laser show and other surprises.

He said the company is partnering with L-Acoustics, “the number one speaker in the world”.

“Coachella, BBC, all use the same speakers,” he said. “We have made a significant investment of $2 million in these speakers, which have just touched our shores.”

Gershon Major, CEO of the Verizon Media Group and Paramount Systems Limited, representing 103.5 The Beat, said the station would give away VIP and general admission tickets through its radio shows over the next few weeks.

Organisers said the Spilligate23 event, named after a Bahamian term, will be an annual event.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, November 16, 2023, PAGE 3

from page one

complained about not recouping his investment, Ms Grant called him to say she would return his $500.

He showed The Tribune a copy of what he said was his bank statement, which indicated that a “Shandlene Grant” sent $300 to his account sometime between January and March 2021.

He claimed Ms Grant promised to send the additional $200 to him but never did so.

“Up to this time now, I’m trying to reach out to them via the same way, social media, and they still wouldn’t call me and reach out to me to give me the balance of my money,” he said yesterday.

Dr Sands said people alleging the Grants owe them money should take their claims to court.

“I give somebody my money for a car, I don’t get the car, then I have the option of suing them,” he said. “I could bring an action against them in order to get relief.”

He added: “I think we got to be very, very cautious when we’re talking about reputations because these allegations get made with quote-unquote evidence that’s pretty weak, but once the allegation is made, the reputational damage is done, and then you don’t even get an I apologise or I’m sorry.”

Legislation criminalising pyramid, Ponzi and other financial schemes passed the House of Assembly in November 2020.

FNM’s Grant was in pyramid scheme reach out before press time nor respond to additional questions.

The Grants, according to Free National Movement chairman Dr Duane Sands, were victims who lost money in the scheme, not leaders.

He said they do not deny receiving money from people as part of the scheme.

“Their position is they would’ve also lost money,” he said. “I don’t think they deny at any point in time being a part of it, but that in no way implies that they were the originator, the proprietor, the primary driver or principal of this process. I think the story that is being propagated is that this was a scheme that was hatched in the mind or the head of Bishop Grant or Mrs Grant that ultimately resulted in people losing their money.”

The Securities Commission of The Bahamas issued a public advisory in September 2020 identifying the scheme the Grants participated in –– known as Ujamaa –– while advising the public that the programme carried characteristics of “fraudulent Ponzi and/or pyramid schemes.”

The commission said a group in the United States called ‘Foundation Family Sou Sou’ launched a programme linked to “traditional African sou sou” that was, in The Bahamas, used under the names ‘Fire Starter’, ‘Magnolias Jr.’, ‘The Winning Team’, ‘Ujamaa Family & Friends

FREE National Movement’s West Grand Bahama and Bimini by-election candidate Bishop Ricardo Grant and his wife Shandlene Grant Share Plan’, ‘242 Financial Partners’ and ‘Everybody Eats”.

The scheme, according to a document The Tribune obtained about the “Ujamaa Harvest Cooperative Friends & Family Share Group,” required people to join with a $500 “gift seed”.

The people were encouraged to bring “like-minded members with integrity and good character to the platform.”

They were discouraged from sharing the membership application or platform links with potential members. Only administrators were allowed to share such

information.

Like other pyramid schemes, continued recruitment of new members as part of an unsustainable exponential growth strategy was required.

The Tribune viewed 31 cheques, most for $500, issued to “Ujamaa Harvest” in August and October 2020. One cheque represented a payout to four people for $3,000. The name of the Grants appears nowhere on the cheques.

However, a participant in the scheme shared an email Ms Grant purportedly sent him on August 29, 2020.

The email said:

“Hello____this is LadyG and welcome to the Ujamaa Harvest Friends & Family Share Group. Your join date is this Sunday, August 30th. Your “Water” is______. You will send your gift of $500 via Bank Transfer as your initial gift.

The phone contact number is (…). Please call so You can find out if there is another the preferred way of Gifting upon reaching out. Please note Send your Gift by 12noon Sunday.

Thank you for seeing the vision. Please reply to confirm your entry date and you’ve completed gifting.

Then Your Membership

info Will follow. NOW LET’S CREATE GENERATIONAL WEALTH TOGETHER! Lady G.” Few people were willing to speak to The Tribune on the record about the scheme and the Grants’ alleged involvement.

Derek Benjamin Demeritte Jr, a participant, said his cousin introduced him to the programme, and his mother and sister participated.

He said they later learned the scheme originated in the United States and was connected to people there.

He claimed when he

Petty resigns as WSC executive chairman after daughter’s contract revelation from page one “Brave” Davis requested Mr Petty’s resignation, with acting Prime Minister Chester Cooper accepting the resignation on the prime minister’s behalf. Mr Davis is in Saudi Arabia.

The WSC’s deputy chairman, Torez Hanna, will be acting executive

chairman.

Mr Petty acknowledged under cross-examination in the Adrian Gibson corruption trial last week that his daughter received a contract. The Tribune understands the contract was given to her company, Mainscape Maintenance and Management, which offers landscaping and general maintenance

services. Officials have not said whether the contract went through a tendering process.

During cross-examination last week, Mr Petty did not show concern about the contract award.

He said he did not frown on nepotism and had no problem with the company entering into contracts with political

allies if they were capable.

“Everyone in The Bahamas was family,” he said.

Earlier this week, Mr Davis said he expected his actions upon finding out that his brother was given two contracts from Bahamas Power & Light in 2012 to influence how officials handled the contract to Mr Petty’s daughter. He

later ordered that the contract with the woman be cancelled.

When Mr Davis, as minister of works responsible for BPL under the last Christie administration, learned his brother got contracts from the utility company, he reportedly summoned former BPL chairman Leslie Miller and

former Permanent Secretary Colin Higgs and demanded the contracts be cancelled.

“I made it clear that while it may be okay for a contract to be given from the government, it shouldn’t be given from an entity under my portfolio,” he said in 2017 when the matter surfaced as a political issue.

Grandmother: Child found dead was ‘sweet, sweet boy’

SYLVANUS PETTY

POLICE at the scene where two-year-old Daniel Nixon was found dead in a neighbourhood in the Fox Hill area. from page one four o’clock, we were looking for him,” she said tearfully. “They were calling and asking the neighbours.”

“Grammy love you, Danny.”

Concerned residents Tuesday evening alerted the police after discovering the unresponsive male toddler in the bushes near their residence.

“I had him from he came from the hospital,” Ms Nixon said. “I used to take care of him so much.”

“I have so many photos of me and him in my bed and in my hand. He is such a sweet little boy. I never dreamed in my wildest dreams that something like this would happen to him.”

“I don’t know who would do this to a baby. I couldn’t sleep. I ain’t sleeping and I ain’t eating.”

The grandmother said the child was found partially clothed, lying among banana leaves. He wore no pants or underwear, only a shirt.

The family has lived in the community for over 30 years, with many neighbours describing the area as a “peaceful corner”.

The Animal Control Unit was at the death scene taking blood samples of stray dogs, although police did not explain why. Some residents speculated the boy was a victim of a dog attack.

Daniel is the youngest of four children. The others are aged 10, five, and four.

Ms Nixon said the boy’s father, Douglas Nixon, 40, is having difficulty accepting the death.

Neighbours described Mr Nixon as a dedicated father who worked two jobs to provide for his family.

“This morning, my son broke down. I tried to be strong for him, but I couldn’t,” Ms Nixon, a grandmother of 14, said.

“He cried like a baby this morning in my arms.”

The boy’s mother, who she said is on medication to support mental health challenges, is in police custody.

She expressed concern that the mother’s health will decline following Daniel’s death.

Meanwhile, child advocate Patrice Hanna-Carey

demanded answers yesterday, asking whether the parents will be held accountable.

She said in a voice note: “We would like to know from these guardians, whomever they are, what was the situation in the scenario? How could the child be left in such a vulnerable state that it ended up now deceased?

“We want answers. It means nothing that it was a woman crying.

“Emotional tactics and schemes will not play out in our society anymore and so we are calling for our justice system and our Royal Bahamas Police, this is not the time for mercy.

“This is the time for accountability, and it is to be had.”

‘Companies awarded contracts were not approved contractors’ PAGE 4, Thursday, November 16, 2023

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net A SENIOR manager of the Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC), who claimed to be related to Adrian Gibson, testified that the companies awarded contracts to paint water tanks when Mr Gibson was executive chairman were not on the corporation’s approved contractor list nor known to engineers.

Deidre Taylor, head of the WSC’s engineering and planning department, claimed that when she asked how Elite Maintenance and Adams Landscaping were going to do the work given the nature of their business, former WSC general manager Elwood Donaldson told her they could be general contractors that subcontract other companies.

She said as a result of this information, she went to the corporation’s accounts department to get the companies’ contact information.

“The contact person they had on Elite was Alexandria Mackey,” she said.

“They gave me Adams Landscaping and the contact person was Peaches Farquharson.”

Ms Taylor claimed that her department neither assessed nor gave recommendations for the tanks to be refurbished.

“The only thing we did by the request of the general

manager is take pictures,” she said.

Earlier yesterday, Ms Taylor recalled that Mr Donaldson called her in April 2020 to inquire about the costs of painting water tanks, which she estimated was between $164k to $213k after doing research.

When asked whether her department received a bid for the works, she told the court “no.”

She also recalled visiting the sites before the renovation works were done, saying the visit was slightly different from previous ones because the companies given the contracts were not known to her department.

She also recalled writing two draft letters of agreement –– a written document that specifies the terms of the contract –– for Elite Maintenance and Adams Landscaping in June 2020.

The senior WSC employee said days later that Mr Donaldson instructed her to make amendments, including a name change.

She claimed she was told to put Tanya Demeritte’s name on Elite Maintenance’s letter instead of Alexandria Mackey’s.

“Did you receive any documents from Mr Donaldson,” asked Crown Prosecutor Cordell Frazier, the acting Director of Public Prosecutions.

Ms Taylor later noted that she received letters of agreement signed by the contractors for six water

THE TRIBUNE

ADRIAN Gibson arriving at court.

tanks.

However, she later revealed that only five tanks had work done because the project’s scope changed.

She was asked about contracts related to painting WSC buildings on University Drive, the E George Moss Building and Somerset House.

She said she became aware of the painting works after returning to work from vacation.

She said she later learned that Baha Maintenance was

awarded the contract.

Asked if a procurement process was carried out for that project, she said Mr Donaldson told her the board executed a process.

The project cost $254,000.

Ms Taylor testified that when she looked at the job’s cost, she contacted Mr Donaldson and asked him for documentation supporting the cost because it was higher than she estimated.

“He indicated that

there’s a quantity surveyor report that will highlight all of the costs for the job,” she added.

Asked about the surveyor’s cost estimates, Ms Taylor replied that the George Moss building was estimated at $114,440 while Somerset House was estimated at $49,479.

Ms Taylor will return for continued cross-examination at the next hearing.

Mr Gibson is charged with Mr Donaldson, Jr, Rashae Gibson, Joan

Knowles, Peaches Farquharson and Jerome Missick.

Together, the group face 98 charges, including conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery, fraud, receiving and money laundering.

Damian Gomez, KC, Murrio Ducille, KC, Bryan Bastian, Raphael Moxey, Christina Galanos, Ian Cargill and Donald Saunders represent the defendants.

Ms Frazier, Cashena Thompson and Karine MacVean are the Crown prosecutors.

Blue Lagoon boat ‘complied with regulations’

from page one process includes an inspection, so the vessel would have been inspected and is due for another one next month.”

Lt Cdr Wright said officials will now investigate what happened, why and what measures are needed to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

He spoke to The Tribune after the Ministry of Energy and Transport said the Port Department is leading a multi-agency investigation into the accident.

The ministry announced “the suspension of all commercial ferries in fleet of the Islander III’s operator pending a safety review by the Port

Department and The Bahamas Maritime Casualty Investigators”.

Passengers on the double-deck vessel complained that staff panicked and didn’t help them as the ship sank.

Lt Cdr Wright said while this may become apparent as investigations continue, staff conduct is a matter for the company and its internal operating procedures. He suggested existing laws and regulations do not cover this.

He promised a thorough and transparent investigation.

The Tribune contacted Blue Lagoon Island representatives, but got no response up to press time.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, November 16, 2023, PAGE 5

Complaints of slow process at advance poll for West GB and Bimini by-election

PEOPLE wait in line in the rain to vote in the West Grand Bahama and Bimini by-election.

Photo: Vandyke Hepburn

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Staff Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net VOTERS arrived early and queued despite inclement weather yesterday as the advance poll took place for the West Grand Bahama and Bimini by-election.

A total of 460 people applied and were approved to vote in the advance poll on Wednesday.

Of that number, 342 were from Grand Bahama, and 118 from Bimini, according to the returning officer administrator Leonard Dames, Jr. The advance poll opened

at 8am at the Mount Zion Baptist Church for uniformed officers, the elderly, and disabled residents.

Voters arrived as early as 7am and queued outside waiting for the doors to open.

Several police and defence force officers were on standby to maintain order and ensure all political parties adhered to the required 300ft distance from the polling station.

There were complaints that the process was slow.

Some people had waited in line for close to three hours, such as Rejoinia Martin, who still had not voted by 10am.

“I came around 7:30am,”

she said. “The process is too slow and it doesn’t seem as if they are moving at all. I get tired of standing up so I am going to sit down,” she complained.

Ms Martin said she is supporting the PLP’s candidate, Kingsley Smith. “I think they should give him a chance and see what he would do,” she said.

Muriel Leathen complained her feet hurt from standing up so long to vote.

“It was too long and my feet are burning; I was out here from after 7am,” she said.

Derek Williams arrived at 9am and left the polling

POLICE WANTS PUBLIC TO SHARE THEIR HOME CAMERA FEEDS

ACP Zhivago Dames speaks during a press briefing at the Real Time Crime Centre, Police Headquarters in relation to CCTV partnerships with the police yesterday.

Photo: Dante Carrer from page one screen so the officers in the participate through the Real Time Crime Centre RBPF’s website.

“You put in your name, of FUSUS, a technology will be able to see exactly your email used in some American the cameras in that area address, cities that is being eyed in addition to the precise address, the amount of in other locations world- location where those shots cameras that you have on,” ACP Dames said. “If you wide, though critics are emanated from.”

“And so that gives the want us to view cameras concerned about creating officers in the Real Time inside, we can do that also.” surveillance states.

He said although police The technology would Crime Centre, once it’s capreportedly integrate vari- tured on those cameras, an are in the early stages of ous policing tools such as actual view of possible sus- the programme, it has CCTV, ShotSpotter, body- pects in that area so that already yielded positive worn cameras, electronic you can be able to speak to results, referring to an incimonitoring, and drones those officers or pass that dent in The Grove area information on to those where police retrieved into a real-time platform.

Assistant Commissioner officers who are patrolling footage from a business of Police Zhivago Dames to that particular incident.” and their own CCTV. “With this integration, He said when a similar said officers have spoken to several businesses the Royal Bahamas Police platform was introduced in can effectively Atlanta, officials there regthat have agreed to grant Force analyze and utilize data, istered over 13,000 extra access to their cameras.

He said 24 people have enabling us to anticipate cameras.

He said the programme already registered their and prevent crime activities before they occur, rather provided “enhanced crime CCTVs. improved “FUSUS integrates than just responding to prevention, police response times (and) CCTV and ShotSpotter to them after the fact.”

People can connect increased public safety provide a comprehensive approach to crime pre- doorbell cameras to the community engagement”.

“This platform offers vention,” he said. “So if a system. Registration is shot goes off in a particu- free, with ACP Dames avenues for community lar area, the CCTVs would saying the RBPF would members to contribute also receive that signal and only access cameras with to public safety, fostering a collaborative effort in will emanate on the screen people’s permission.

People can register to policing.” or be produced on the

station around noon. “The process was extremely slow and I think it could have been better,” he said.

Mr Williams is satisfied with the direction the country is going. “I feel good about it and I have no concerns at this time,” he said.

Princess Allen arrived at 8am and waited in the rain for two hours to vote in the advanced poll. “It was very rough; it is the first time I ever been through anything like that with the rain and waiting so long, but I thank God I am out.”

Patience Missick, a 93-year-old resident of West Grand Bahama, had no issues with the voting process.

She said she voted for Bishop Grant because she believed he would be a better representative for the area.

“If we get Grant I think we would go forward. It is time for a change,” Ms Missick said, “I do not think it is best to vote for somebody in Nassau, I think it is best if you have somebody who is right here rather than call to Nassau and they never call you back. I am well content with Bishop Grant.”

Voter Stacey Sands said she was not happy about the direction of the country.

“I am very much concerned as a young mother with all social ills and stuff like that,” she said. “I really think there is a drastic need for a change.”

The young woman said there are a lot of issues in West Grand Bahama that need to be addressed such as roads, streetlights, and unemployment.

Rosalie Williams, who is disabled, also believes it is time for a change.

“I don’t think the direction of the country is going good because we need a lot of stuff, and there are so many people that need jobs. I think it is time for a change.”

Sharell Lockhart, a resident of Seagrape, complained it was unacceptable having to wait outside in the rain with her disabled mother for more than an hour before a tent was provided.

She felt it was important to come out and vote.

“I think the government has not done a good job in the last two years because there are so many things that must be addressed in West Grand Bahama,” Ms Lockhart said.

She mentioned home repairs, roads, and social and NIB assistance for unemployed persons. Ms Lockhart

expressed concern about the lack of vocational institutions in the constituency.

She thinks Bishop Grant can bring change to the area.

When asked about the long wait time, Mr Dames said that the number of elderly and disabled people who came in wheelchairs were accommodated first.

He noted the weather was also an issue as a tent and some chairs had to be brought in to provide shelter for voters which also further slowed the process.

Administrator Dames said they did their best to accommodate voters.

“We think it is a good test for what is about to happen next week, and whatever kinks we have, we will try our best to iron it out, and we will watch the weather and set up tents and chairs so there will be an easy flow for the electoral process.”

Mr Dames said the decision to have one polling station at Mount Zion Baptist Church was based on the number of persons who registered in the advance poll when it closed.

Mr Dames said a total of 6,015 people are registered in the West Grand Bahama and Bimini constituency.

PAGE 6, Thursday, November 16, 2023

THE TRIBUNE

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A pyramid of problems for Grant BISHOP Ricardo Grant’s campaign to become the new MP for West Grand Bahama and Bimini is in trouble.

After an inauspicious start in which he gave his opponents the chance to question whether he did or did not have a plan for the constituency, the revelations in today’s Tribune further call into question his suitability to rise to the level of Parliament.

Back in 2020, the Securities Commision of The Bahamas issued a warning over a series of Ponzi or pyramid schemes.

For those who are not aware, a pyramid scheme is one which depends on endlessly adding new recruits in order for earlier recruits to make money. For example, every new member pays those who recruit them – but it can only work as long as there are always new recruits, and when they run out, so do the promises of money.

One such scheme, Loom, promised to turn $100 into $800 and drew plenty of hopeful Bahamian investors, who became victims who lost money when it all collapsed.

The scheme in question in this case is called Ujamaa, and it was one of those the SCB warned about.

Some have accused Bishop Grant and his wife Shandlene of being the primary organisers of Ujamaa in Grand Bahama – something Bishop Grant denied in a Whatsapp message yesterday – while FNM chairman Dr Duane Sands said the couple were actually victims like many others.

The truth is, given how pyramid schemes operate, with recruitment being a primary goal, many victims become recruiters of many other victims.

When it comes to the election campaign, however, either one is a problem for Bishop Grant. At best, it is guillible to take part in such schemes – and it is worth asking whether someone who falls for such a scam is the right choice to sit in Parliament.

Bishop Grant promised he would contact The Tribune to discuss the matter after yesterday’s advanced polling – but he did not by the time the newspaper went to press.

We hope he does indeed take the time to explain.

Such schemes are a scourge in society, often hurting most the ones who have the least to lose.

Petty probe Sylvanus Petty has resigned – and so he should have done. The Prime Minister requested his resignation, so it is fair to say he has been fired rather than left of his own volition.

The matter should not end there. The departing Water and Sewerage Corporation executive chairman presided over a time with at least one questionable contract – but were there others? Was the contract received by his daughter the only inappropriate one?

A full investigation is warranted, and should not be swept over simply because the man at the helm has now departed.

Dr Sands is right to call for such a move – and Prime Minister Philip Davis ought to make sure it happens.

Investigate all the contracts, and make sure the Bahamian public is getting value for money, and a fair chance to make their own pitch.

Transparency from Town Planning Committee?

EDITOR, The Tribune.

THE Town Planning Committee appears to be bending over backwards in its consideration of a commercial operation on the corner of Tropical Gardens and West Bay Street, despite the fact that has been resoundingly rejected by the community. What exactly is going on?

This commercial operation would be placed on property currently zoned as residential. Unless there is a hugely compelling reason to do so, the committee has absolutely no right rezoning this area – especially when those who reside in the community continue to raise strong and cogent objections. The plan should be rejected outright. Full stop.

It has been several weeks since a public meeting in which the vast majority of residents in attendance voiced their overwhelming opposition, citing traffic, noise, crime, and constant risk of serious accidents, among other serious objections. The track record of negative impact on the community from this developer’s other business was

also strongly noted.

Literally no one but the developer spoke in favour of the proposal. And, yet, it has yet to be turned down.

This should have been done and dusted by now - again, what is going on?

Now, residents are being told by Town Planning employees that the committee has asked the developer to submit “a better solution for parking” – as if that would even begin to answer the community’s long list of concerns.

For some mysterious reason, the committee seems intent on working with the foreign developer to get this project approved, in the face of overwhelming objection from Bahamians who have lived in this community for decades. I wonder why? How on earth could such a situation arise?

The residents of Tropical Gardens need and deserve to know what is going on behind the scenes with this proposal. Why this unexplained delay in making the decision? Why this bizarre effort to help the developer improve his proposal?

That is absolutely not in the remit of the committee.

All indications would

suggest that someone or some persons on the Committee are looking for excuses to approve an overwhelmingly unpopular project. Thank goodness there is an appeals board, which we fully intend to apply to if what appears to be happening is indeed happening.

After that, there is the Supreme Court, The Court of Appeal and if necessary the Privy Council. Along the way, we will, of course, make discovery applications to the court, to finally unearth what is going on behind the scenes. The first thing we will apply to reveal are the minutes of each and every Committee meeting pertaining to this proposal.

I believe it is high time that the Town Planning Committee – an entity funded by the public – be subjected to at least the minimum standard of transparency and accountability.

They are public servants, answerable to the people, not little emperors who get to decide the fate of entire communities at a whim.

PACO NUNEZ Proud Tropical Gardens Resident November 15, 2023

JELLY Roll performs “Need a Favour” at the 57th Annual CMA Awards on Wednesday last week at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.

Photo: George Walker IV/AP

PLP must act over living cost EDITOR, The Tribune.

AS THE member of Parliament for Killarney, I have heard repeatedly from constituents as to how hard it is to make ends meet due to the high cost of living. The price of food is high. Gas prices are high. The cost of electricity is sky-high.

The governing Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) has been unable to come up with policy solutions that work in these times.

The New Day administration just keeps travelling at the expense of taxpayers.

They keep giving contracts to PLPs. They keep promising to do something, but no solutions ever result.

Many have exhausted their savings trying to keep up with ridiculous Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) bills while also paying rent or mortgages, school fees, high gas prices, and grocery bills.

The prolonged period of high prices and no effective intervention by the governing PLP has left many Bahamian households in a financially stressed position. Our people need relief now, because the cost of living is not going down, and will get worse.

I am particularly concerned with the effect on seniors and retirees, who are on fixed incomes, and who are watching their life savings being eaten up by electricity, food, gas, insurance, healthcare and other bills.

Many people are a single healthcare crisis away from bankruptcy.

I continue to call on Prime Minister Philip Davis to properly address the cost of living struggles of our people.

The PLP’s decision not to carry on the hedge at BPL that my administration left in place has had terrible consequences for Bahamians.

We have seen in recent months some of the highest electricity bills in our history. People I have spoken with describe their BPL bills as “another mortgage”. Some light bills are as high as rent bills.

Electricity bills are so high that many people are on payment plans.

The percentage increase in bills the past few months

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net has been unfair. With similar usage or less usage, consumers have seen their bills skyrocket by hundreds of dollars per month in many cases.

The Bahamian people are being made to pay because of the PLP’s failure to properly administer the affairs of BPL. The Bahamian people are being made to pay because PLP arrogance caused the protection left in place by the Free National Movement (FNM) to fall away.

JoBeth Coleby-Davis, the new minister of Energy and the Environment, said in the House of Assembly last month that the administration is seeking to implement a new “social tariff” to help low energy users.

All Bahamian residential and commercial consumers, whether they are low, medium or high users, need relief from the unfair BPL bills. What the minister is proposing is woefully insufficient.

It was also shocking to hear that BPL considered adding a late fee to consumer bills at a time when so many are faced with already outrageous charges from the energy provider.

It seems as if there is little mercy for the people under the Davis administration.

The wars in Ukraine and Gaza and lingering effects of the pandemic contribute to the global inflation problems that persists.

In a story in The Tribune last month, citing a Central Bank report, it was noted the bank warned Bahamian consumers that inflation would remain elevated in the near-term and come down slower than in other countries, with food and drink prices rising 11 percent over the year to end-June 2023.

Super Value’s owner, Rupert Roberts, told that same newspaper in September that a review of 15 regularly purchased items indicated The Bahamas sustained food inflation of about 30 percent over the past two years.

These concerns with the price of food are

compounded by the cost of gas.

Gas prices are above $6 per gallon in New Providence. They are higher across the Family Islands.

Many Bahamians can’t afford to fill up their cars.

It’s harder and harder to move around to do business or see friends and family.

What has concerned us in the opposition is the Davis administration’s lack of will and ideas to do all it can to lower prices in The Bahamas.

The government collects significant gas taxes. It should lower the gas taxes until the time comes when prices on the international markets come down.

The cuts in certain food duties in the budget for this fiscal year are not enough. We in the opposition have also called numerous times for the government to remove its 10 percent VAT on breadbasket items and medicines that it imposed unnecessarily.

Anglican Bishop Laish Boyd recently joined in calling for the removal of VAT on breadbasket items.

These measures would help Bahamians.

To offset any revenue the government would lose, cuts could be made to the New Day travel budget and to PLP consultants.

Many millions are wasted on unnecessary travel by the Prime Minister and his colleagues. PLP consultants have already gotten enough bloated contracts.

Philip Davis has been a disappointment as Prime Minister. He is a leader who looks after “PLPs first”. He is unfocused. He is too mesmerised by the attention of rich foreigners at conferences and events. He allows his ministers to do as they please with little oversight.

We need the Prime Minister to come up with bold policy solutions to reduce the cost of living. Christmas is coming and the high food, BPL and gas prices will make it harder for Bahamians to enjoy the holiday season.

The PLP was elected to solve problems. The PLP is not helping solve one of the worst problems facing our people!

DR HUBERT MINNIS Former Prime Minister November 15, 2023

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, November 16, 2023, PAGE 7

Man on bail for multiple crimes murdered in broad daylight

A MAN believed to be in his 30s was shot dead yesterday afternoon according to Chief Superintendent Chrislyn Skippings (inset).

Photos: Dante Carrer

By LETRE SWEETING Tribune Staff Reporter lsweeting@tribunemedia.net A MAN in his early 30s was shot dead in the Nassau Village community yesterday.

Police said he was being electronically monitored.

Authorities said around 1.15pm, they were notified

of a shooting on Catherine and Matthew Streets by Shot Spotter technology.

Chief Superintendent Chrislyn Skippings said the victim was standing in front of a residence on Catherine Street when a small gold coloired Japanese vehicle pulled near him. A man got out of the vehicle and fired at the

victim multiple times. He died at the scene.

“He is on bail for murder and armed robbery and also possession of an unlicenced firearm,” CSP Skippings said.

She appealed to family members aware of conflicts involving relatives to reach out to the police, the church or counselling

DETECTIVE AND DNA ANALYST TESTIFY in cat island woman’s murder case

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net A POLICE officer testified that he photographed the burned safe and vehicle that Rodrigo Rolle allegedly stole from the home of an elderly American woman he is accused of killing in Cat Island in 2017.

Rolle, 33, is accused of killing 74-year-old Janice Kissinger during a home invasion in Orange Creek, Cat Island, on September 29, 2017. Kissinger had been living on the island for 17 years. Rolle is accused of stealing a 2006 Ford Explorer and a $500 safe containing a $5,000 Rolex belonging to Frank and Gabbi Wolf during the incident.

Detective Inspector Mario Durrell testified that on September 30, 2017, he and other officers went to the North Side Road in Cat Island and saw an SUV with extensive fire damage near the curb. This vehicle was found in the vicinity of a hose, a burned license plate and a Guinness beer bottle. The officer photographed and collected the evidence there.

The vehicle was reportedly burnt beyond recognition. Possible identification papers inside were destroyed in the blaze.

On October 1, Detective Durrell visited and photographed the scene of the

murder, finding a cigarette butt.

On the same day, the officer went to a dirt road in the Bluff area, where he found a burnt-out cream coloured safe in the bushes.

Near the safe was a burnt Rolex watch, notary documents and keys, which were photographed and collected by the police.

The following day, Detective Durrell reportedly went to a dirt road near Queen’s Highway, where he saw a blue Ford F150 truck with scratches to the truck’s bed. Near the truck, a green wallet containing Kissinger’s North Carolina driver’s license, a white face towel and a crowbar were also recovered, photographed and collected.

After saying he was present for an interview involving police and Rolle, Detective Durrell said he took the evidence he gathered to the forensic lab in New Providence for DNA testing.

A photo album of the scenes canvassed by Detective Durrell was presented to the jury.

When asked by Geoffrey Farquharson, the defendant’s attorney, if he photographed a pickax on October 2, the officer said no. He said although he saw a crowbar, he could not say if it was used to open the safe.

Marcelo Hepburn had earlier testified that he lent

Rolle his pickax to break into the safe.

Detective Durrell said he did not notice paint matching the safe on the crowbar.

Mr Farquharson suggested it would’ve taken more than a Guinness bottle full of gasoline to burn the vehicle. Detective Durrell disagreed, saying the car could have been set ablaze if the flammable contents of the Guinness bottle were poured inside the car and ignited.

The officer could not say if evidence could have been gathered from the burnt papers.

When it was suggested that the burned remains of a Rolex watch showed theft was not a motive for the crime, but that the safe was instead taken to burn its contents, Officer Durrell said he could not speak to the suspect’s mindset.

Mary-Beth Sciarretta, a DNA analyst and quality assurance manager at DNA Labs International in America, testified that a buccal test on October 25, 2021, confirmed that AmyBeth Kissinger was the deceased’s daughter.

The same test listed both Rolle and Marcelo Hepburn as suspects in Janice Kissinger’s murder.

Eucal Bonamy and Janet Munnings served as prosecutors. Justice Gregory Hilton is the presiding judge.

centres so people can resolve conflicts peacefully.

“Most of these incidents are friends, used to be friends, people not being able to resolve their conflicts and resorting to violence as a means of trying to deal with whatever issue it is,” she said.

“When you use a firearm and you take someone’s

life, it never resolves the conflict. It’s actually escalating the conflicts.”

The murder is the 84th for the year, according to The Tribune’s records. It is the latest to involve someone being electronically monitored.

Last Tuesday, a 33-yearold man on bail for drug-related matters was

shot dead near Deveaux Street.

On October 31, a 29-year-old man, Tennison Chisholm, was shot to death after leaving the gym at the Harbour Bay Plaza.

On October 21, a 21-year-old man on bail was murdered on First Street, Coconut Grove.

PAGE 8, Thursday, November 16, 2023

THE TRIBUNE

Bahamian man named a launch director at NASA

MAN CHARGED WITH THE MURDER OF A MAN ON DEVEAUX STREET LAST WEEK DR DENTON GIBSON A BAHAMIAN has been named a launch director at NASA. Denton Gibson is the new launch director for the launch services programme at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, joining senior launch director Tim Dunn for NASA’s science and robotic missions.

Missions he will be involved in next year include launches for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as well as for the Europa Clipper, destined to examine Jupiter’s icy moon to see if it has conditions suitable for life.

Dr Gibson was born in Nassau but grew up in Miami, Florida.

He said: “As a launch director, the responsibility for the entire mission falls to you when you give the final ‘go’ for launch.

However, our meticulous preparations that begin years before the rocket is on the pad, and the amazing team we have, instill that confidence to say NASA is ready to launch.”

Dr Gibson earned a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from the Univerity of Florida, then a master’s in industrial engineering at the University

of Miami, before getting his doctorate in systems engineering at the University of Central Florida.

“The launch services programme is looking forward to having Denton in his new role as launch director,” said Amanda Mitskevich, programme manager of the launch services programme said. “He has contributed his talents in several technical and programmatic areas for NASA and now his experience will culminate in leading the team that will be launching some of NASA’s most important and valuable missions. He’s going to be great at it!”

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net A MAN was remanded after being accused of killing a 33-year-old man on Deveaux Street last week.

Acting Chief Magistrate Roberto Reckley charged Ralph Joseph, 23, with murder.

Joseph and an accomplice

were allegedly armed with handguns when they approached Diamond Cox as he stood outside a building on Deveaux Street on November 7. While Cox attempted to flee, the assailants shot him. He later died of his injuries in hospital.

The suspects reportedly fled the scene in a white Japanese vehicle.

At the time of his death,

Cox was on bail for numerous pending drug charges.

The accused was told that his case would be moved to the Supreme Court by a voluntary bill of indictment (VBI). Joseph will be sent to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services until a higher court grants him bail.

His VBI is due for service on February 22, 2024.

MAN REMANDED AFTER BEING CHARGED WITH UNLAWFUL SEX WITH AN UNDERAGE GIRL

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net A 21-YEAR-OLD has been remanded after he allegedly sexually assaulted an underage girl earlier this year.

Magistrate Raquel

Whyms charged Alton Percentie with unlawful sexual intercourse.

Percentie allegedly had unlawful sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old girl in New Providence on January 19.

Percentie was informed that his matter would be

moved to the Supreme Court by a voluntary bill of indictment (VBI). He will be sent to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services until the higher court grants him bail.

The VBI is set for service on February 6, 2024.

TEEN ORDERED TO COMPENSATE WOMAN AFTER DAMAGING AND STEALING PARTS FROM HER CAR

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net AN 18-YEAR-OLD youth was ordered to pay $2,760 to compensate a woman after admitting damaging and stealing parts from her car.

Magistrate Raquel Whyms charged Raynor

Russell with stealing and receiving.

Russell allegedly stole $2,620.20 worth of car parts from a 2006 beige coloured Nissan March belonging to Kamille Paul on Emerald Ridge Road on November 2. During the same incident, Russell and his accomplices also caused $1,260 damage to the vehicle.

After pleading guilty, Russell was ordered to compensate the complainant $1,500 on the stealing charge. He risks three months in prison if he fails to pay. He was further ordered to compensate Ms Paul $1,260 for the damage to her car or face another three months in jail.

PAGE 10, Thursday, November 16, 2023

THE TRIBUNE

The empathy and duty of care of Dr Perry Gomez THIS past Tuesday the country said farewell to Dr Michael Perry Gomez, who demonstrated extraordinary compassion and service as a medical doctor and public servant throughout his professional life.

He served as a member of parliament, as Minister of Health, and as a former president of the Medical Association of The Bahamas. But he is best known for his groundbreaking work as director of the National HIV/AIDS Programme. He also created the AIDS Clinical Services Programme at Princess Margaret Hospital.

Dr. Gomez has been described as: “A true Caribbean patriot”, “the patron saint of the national HIV response in the Bahamas”, and as a “pioneer”. In a 2005 tribute, the Bahama Journal observed: “The good doctor has been the epitome of what world class is all about.”

Perry Gomez was a graduate of the University of the West Indies, where he earned his medical degree.

He was fondly remembered as a gentlemen by many of the Bahamian and Caribbean students who attended UWI with him in Jamaica.

He went on to specialise in internal medicine and infectious diseases at Wayne State University in Michigan. His work went well beyond The Bahamas.

The Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP) was established by a Declaration of the Caricom Heads of Government in February 2001, “in response to the threat of HIV to sustainable human development.”

In its tribute to Dr Gomez after he passed away, PANCAP noted: “Fiercely committed to the cause of the Caribbean, Dr. Perry Gomez never plied his trade elsewhere. For more than three decades, he placed his renowned skills as an internist and infectious disease specialist at the complete disposal of the people of the Bahamas and, indeed, the wider Caribbean.”

He served as the standing chair of the executive council of the Caribbean HIV and AIDS Regional Training Initiative and as a co-chair of the regional initiative for the Elimination of Vertical Transmission of HIV and

Syphilis.

He also served on the executive board of PANCAP and on a number of technical advisory bodies of the World Health Organization, the Pan-American Health Organization, UNAIDS, and the Clinton Foundation.

As reported in The Trib une: “Under his leadership, HIV transmission rates in The Bahamas declined by more than 30 per cent, and HIV transmission from mother to child decreased dramatically.”

PANCAP noted that because of Dr Gomez’s work: “HIV transmission from mother-to-child had all but disappeared, 72 percent of all persons with advanced HIV received requisite treatment, while 100 percent of all persons with HIV and TB co-infection received full treatment for both conditions.”

At the beginning of the epidemic when there was considerable fear and ignorance about the disease, Dr Gomez demonstrated his duty of care and understanding for those suffering from the syndrome.

While some doctors shied away from treating those with HIV/AIDS, and even as gay men were demonised, he became the leading Bahamian expert on the disease, gaining a stellar regional and international reputation for combating the disease.

He went to the forefront of the fight at the onset of the epidemic in the early 1980s, helping to save lives by advocating for prevention, testing and treatment.

The late Roman Catholic

DR PERRY GOMEZ Archbishop Lawrence Burke, SJ, also placed the Church on the frontline through Samaritan Ministries, a collaboration, which was led by Sister Clare Rolle, OSB, for many years.

Also on the frontline was Lady Camille Barnett, longtime president of the AIDS Foundation, an indefatigable leader. Along with others, she has offered decades of service and deep empathy.

Amidst the ignorance, fear and demonisation during much of the epidemic, there were a number of people who lent their moral energies and varied resources to care for those living with or dying from the disease.

The first Caribbean HIV Conference, which was held in The Bahamas, was an occasion for both the country and the good doctor to be recognised for the various successes in combating HIV/ AIDS. These successes were many in terms of intensive

prevention awareness and education efforts; aggressive medical treatment, including in mother-to-child transmission for pregnant women; and measures to address stigma and discrimination in various areas related to the disease.

Through his foundation former US President Bill Clinton honoured Dr. Gomez and recognised The Bahamas as an international leader in the fight against AIDS. Dr Gomez burnished his medical and moral credibility in fighting the disease through dogged advocacy and by journeying as a doctor and as a friend to many who succumbed to the disease and others living with HIV. In his address to the HIV/ AIDS Conference back then, former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham touted the bipartisan support for fighting the disease: “The Bahamas has been a leader in developing legislation to

protect the rights of minorities and others living with HIV. In 1991, The Bahamas was the first country in the region to decriminalise homosexuality.

“The Bahamas was the only Caribbean country to sign the Paris Declaration in 1994 which set global standards for HIV and human rights. We also strengthened protection from discrimination for HIV positive individuals in the workplace by amendment to the existing labour laws in 2001.”

Experts understood the vital role that the reduction in stigma played in preventing the disease, treating those affected, and reducing the incidence of the disease. Decades after the onslaught of the epidemic there is still much to be done, especially on the prevention side.

But the medicine available today to treat the disease and various preventive medicines have helped to turn the tide on the incidence of mortality of the disease. Those of a younger generation do not remember the extraordinary fear of HIV in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s.

In an Eyewitness News story last September, Health and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville noted that The Bahamas has “come a long way” in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The news site reported: “Darville said that the National HIV and AIDS programme continues to show encouraging results.

“He said The Bahamas’ efforts are aligned with the UNAIDS global fast-track strategy to end AIDS by 2030 with targets of having 95 percent of people living with HIV knowing their HIV status; 95 percent of people who know their status on treatment; and 95 percent of people on treatment with suppressed viral loads.”

Darville stated: “The Bahamas has reached the moment where we can say that tremendous progress

has been made and [the] end of the AIDS epidemic is in sight.”

While we have come a long way in fighting the epidemic and the associated prejudice, we still need to be vigilant on both fronts. In a story in this journal last year, Lady Barnett stressed: “There is still no cure out there. HIV/ AIDS is still out there. Everyone needs to know their status so that they can stay negative or take the next steps if they are positive. It is still important to know the status of your partner, to have one partner and to stay faithful to that one partner, unless you choose to be abstinent. Both messages are still important, so we need to get out there.”

In 2010, PANCAP honoured Dr Gomez with its Award for Excellence “because of his remarkable accomplishments, together with a lifetime of distinguished service to public health”. He also received a number of national awards and honours.

But for the unassuming Perry Gomez, his greater satisfaction and reward, were the lives he saved, the patients to whom he administered with a duty of care, and the service he offered to the country he loved and to which he devoted his entire professional life.

The world’s moral heroes come in many forms. Often, they are people like Dr Perry Gomez and the others who have sought to uphold the moral dignity and human rights of those living with HIV/AIDS. At the end of his life, he was fortunate to have the dutiful care and companionship of his wife of 54 years, Carmen, his dedicated caregiver, along with his children, Michael and Camille, and siblings, relatives, friends, and colleagues who are grateful for his life, along with many other Bahamians.

We bid him farewell with gratitude and deep appreciation!

America’s 2024 political campaign began this week THE TRIBUNE

THE last general election is over. The results were consistent with 2022, 2021, 2020 and 2018, inasmuch as they represented a gradual but discernible movement away from the MAGA echoes of the Republican-aligned Tea Party movement of the 1990s.

These election results also seem to indicate that voters are tiring of the chaos that always seems to surround Donald Trump, even if they very fondly remember the nation’s prosperity while he was president.

But there’s something that looks even more significant. That is the sweeping public repudiation of this conservative Supreme Court’s decision to overturn its 1973 decision on Roe v Wade in order to permit states to regulate abortion. Women don’t like this lessening of their reproductive rights, as many have described the right to terminate a pregnancy. Millions of men don’t agree with the nation’s high court either.

For 50 years, politicians and preachers have stoked the fires of resistance to Roe v. Wade. Now conservatives may wonder if they shouldn’t have been a bit more cautious in what they wished for.

That’s the context for an election contest next year that hardly anyone seems to want. Democrats have become increasingly sceptical about the prospects of success for their incumbent president Joe Biden. Flinching as they scan Biden’s sagging public approval ratings, the Dems worry publicly about the demise of democracy should Trump again prevail in 2024 – even as their private concerns centre on their possible loss of power in Washington.

But Biden has, overall, done a good job as president. On the international scene, it is undeniably true that the US withdrawal of its armed forces from Afghanistan was as embarrassingly impulsive and disorganised as it appeared to be. Biden must own that.

And if he were honest, he’d admit that his administration has not performed well along the southern US border.

Biden’s administration was simply unprepared to confront the pent-up demand for jobs and a better life in America that has driven immigrants for more than a century. It is beginning to look like GOP governor in Texas may be better able to stem the tide of border crossings than is the man constitutionally charged with doing so. That is the president himself.

Those are two blots on Biden’s record, and the border crisis continues to provide ammunition for Republican polemicists nearly every day.

But in most other areas, Biden has been competent if not excellent.

Voters could reasonably have expected this from

Thursday, November 16, 2023, PAGE 11

STATESIDE with Charlie Harper

PRESIDENT Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump head the class of competitors for the next Amercian elections. As the GOP struggles to find an alternative to Trump, biden faces questions of health and age. an avowed internationalist and long-time member and chair of the Senate foreign relations committee. (Biden

isolationist threat in the Republican party, many pundits are recalling the failed Western policy of

America’s traditional support for Israel, he and his top foreign policy lieutenants have visited the region

served as the committee chair three different times prior to becoming vicepresident under Barack Obama).

Indeed, it is easily arguable that veteran cold warrior Biden is exactly what the US and the entire western world needs at the helm in Washington as NATO faces the menace of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The additional threat persistently posed by China to the independence of democratic and economically successful Taiwan underlines emphatically the need to resist Putin’s aggression, lest it tempt Beijing to try to add Taiwan to its already sprawling empire.

As some House Republicans, governors and even presidential candidates publicly frown at further shipments of wartime assistance to Ukraine, the American foreign policy establishment in both parties has lined up squarely behind Biden. And as if to counter the growing

appeasing Adolph Hitler 90 years ago as he began to subjugate neighbouring countries.

Biden will never appease Putin. In contrast, of all Trump’s misdeeds and mistakes, few are so widely mocked and vilified as his fawning fealty to the villainous Putin.

In the Ukraine war, it seems as though Kyiv is trying to regroup after a summer offensive regained much less territory than hoped, while Putin may simply be reloading for renewed assaults either next spring or even after he sees whether or not Trump returns to the White House. In any case, this brutal war appears to have entered a hiatus. The human suffering continues.

In another troublesome area of the world, while the final story of the current Israel-Hamas war has yet to be written, it’s hard to argue that Biden has bungled the American response. While steadfastly maintaining

many times in the past five weeks, and there is some evidence that their efforts to rein in some of Israel’s more vengeful instincts are having an impact.

The US, and virtually the whole world, continues to support the “two-state solution” of Israel and a viable Palestinian state coexisting peacefully. Such an outcome seems almost unimaginable so long as perpetually pugnacious Benjamin Netanyahu remains the most powerful person in Israeli politics, and while nihilistically militant Muslim extremists control the politics of Gaza and southern Lebanon.

Is Biden the man to foster a breakthrough in the Middle East? If he doesn’t succeed, it won’t be for lack of effort.

Domestically, as is always the case, voters’ perceptions of how the nation’s economy affects them personally will heavily influence or even determine the outcome of next November’s

election. While most serious commentators will acknowledge that the American president has much less direct influence on prices and inflation than is generally assumed, Biden is taking the blame for broad, palpable price increases over the past several years.

Wall Street advanced this week on reports that the American central bank is planning to stop raising interest rates. While this may not signal the imminent end of economic troubles for Americans, it is a good sign.

And Biden should have a significant advantage as the incumbent.

Management of what in Washington is called the political economy can enable a sitting president to manipulate certain aspects of the economy to encourage optimism in voters as they approach the next election. We should see in the spring and summer ahead how well Biden & Company perform in this area.

Then there is the nagging, unavoidable issue of Biden’s age (80) and “old man” demeanor. Despite

the hectoring and challenges to his candidacy from within his own party and the widespread perception that he may be too old for his duties, if Biden gets a bit of luck and stays upright, he’ll prove to be a formidable candidate.

Trump, meanwhile, remains Trump. He has undeniably built a brand; he talks about it all the time. And while there are credible challenges to his self-constructed image as a highly successful billionaire, the former president stays loyal to, and enjoys reciprocal loyalty from, his base of support among the millions of Americans with grievances against their government and their economic and social situation.

As the string of Republican debates continues without the front-running Trump, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott joined former vice-president Mike Pence in exiting the primary race this week. After an auspicious start in fundraising, Scott never really took off as a presidential candidate. His uplifting rags-to-riches story, eternal optimism and solid conservative credentials didn’t lead voters to sufficiently support him.

Meantime, almost every day brings another report of Republican and conservative moguls searching for a viable alternative to Trump’s inexorably successful candidacy.

Practically speaking, we now have three challengers.

All three are former or current governors.

Florida’s Ron DeSantis should not be dismissed as easily as many are now doing. Even as his policies and chilly demeanor alienate many observers, this man has delivered on promises and maintained consistency in most of his beliefs and positions.

Voters know where DeSantis stands. If Trump does falter under the weight of his own outrageous behaviour or legal setbacks, Florida’s chief executive may still be the beneficiary.

Former blue state New Jersey attorney general and governor Chris Christie once successfully prosecuted Trump’s son-inlaw Jared Kushner’s father, and offers the only clearly critical voice challenging Trump. In a different political context, this would have more impact. In today’s Republican Party, Christie’s voice remains largely unheeded.

Finally, there’s former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley. She has shone in the debates, demonstrated Reagan-like wit and toughness, and brings solid international and domestic credentials to this race. But for her to prosper, the GOP would have to move on from Trump.

Few see that as likely.

PAGE 12, Thursday, November 16, 2023

THE TRIBUNE

‘Police rescued women and children’ after gangs surrounded Haiti hospital PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti Associated Press A HEAVILY armed gang surrounded a hospital in Haiti on Wednesday, trapping women, children and newborns inside until police rescued them, according to the director of the medical center who pleaded for help via social media.

Jose Ulysse, founder and director of the Fontaine Hospital Centre in the sprawling Cite Soleil slum in the capital of Port-auPrince, told the Associated Press that gangs were torching homes surrounding the hospital and preventing everyone inside from leaving. He had earlier said that it appeared gangs had entered the hospital.

Ulysse said Haiti’s National Police responded to his call for help and and arrived with three armoured trucks to evacuate 40 children and 70

THE ENTRANCE at the Fontaine Hospital Centre in Cité Soleil area of the Port-au-Prince, Haiti, pictured in January.

Photo: Odelyn Joseph/AP patients to a private home oxygen, he said.

National Police did not “Gangs are in total con- immediately return a mesin a safer part of the city.

Among those delicately trol of the area,” he said. sage for comment.

A spokesman for Haiti’s evacuated were children on The hospital is considered

an oasis and a lifeline in a community overrun by gangs that have unleashed increasingly violent attacks against each other, with civilians who live in Cite Soleil routinely raped, beaten or killed.

Ulysse identified those responsible as members of the Brooklyn gang, led by Gabriel Jean-Pierre, best known as “Ti Gabriel.”

Jean-Pierre also is the leader of a powerful gang alliance known as G-Pep, one of two rival coalitions in Haiti.

The Brooklyn gang has some 200 members and controls certain communities within Cite Soleil including Brooklyn. They are involved in extortion, hijacking of goods and general violence against civilians, according to a recent UN report.

“The G-Pep coalition and its allies strongly reinforced cooperation and diversified

their revenues, in particular by committing kidnapping for ransom, which has enabled them to strengthen their fighting capacity,” the report stated.

When the Associated Press visited the Fontaine Hospital Centre earlier this year, Ulysse said in an interview that gangs had targeted him personally twice before.

Gangs across Haiti have continued to grow more powerful since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, and the number of kidnappings and killings keep rising.

Earlier this year, at least 20 armed gang members burst into a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders and snatched a patient from an operating room.

The criminals gained access after faking a lifethreatening emergency, the organisation said.

$2M REWARD OFFERED FOR KRAZE BAYRE LEADER VITEL’HOMME THE FBI added a Haitian gang leader to its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list on Wednesday for the kidnapping and slaying of American missionaries in that country, but conceded capturing him will be a difficult task in the often lawless nation.

In conjunction with the announcement, the US State Department said it will pay up to $2m for information leading to the arrest of Vitel’Homme Innocent, who is known by his first name only. He has already been indicted in the United States for the armed kidnapping of 16 Christian missionaries in 2021 and the slaying of missionary Marie Franklin and kidnapping of her husband, Jean, in 2022.

Most of the first group from Christian Aid Ministries, which included five children, escaped after 61 days in captivity and the others were released. Jean Franklin was released after three weeks when his family paid a ransom.

The FBI says Vitel’Homme leads the Kraze Bayre gang and worked in concert with the 400 Mawozo gang in the

VITEL’HOMME INNOCENT abductions. The agency believes he is still in Haiti and would face a possible death sentence in the US if he were ever captured and convicted of Franklin’s murder.

“He is a menace to the island and he is clearly a menace to American citizens,” Jeffrey B Veltri, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Miami office, said during a news conference.

Veltri conceded that even if authorities had information about Vitel’Homme’s whereabouts, capturing him would be difficult given the chaos in Haiti. Veltri said if Vitel’Homme is located, “we will work with our international partners, but it is an ongoing process. ... Haiti presents unique challenges.”

ISRAEL SEARCHES FOR TRACES OF HAMAS IN RAID OF GAZA HOSPITAL KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip Associated Press ISRAELI troops on Wednesday stormed into Gaza’s largest hospital, searching for traces of Hamas inside and beneath the facility, where newborns and hundreds of other patients have suffered for days without electricity and other basic necessities as fighting raged outside.

Details from the day-long raid remained sketchy, but officials from Israel and Gaza presented different accounts of what was happening at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City: The Israeli army released video showing soldiers carrying boxes labeled as “baby food” and “medical supplies”, while health officials talked of terrified staff and patients as troops moved through the buildings.

After encircling Shifa for days, Israel faced pressure to prove its claim that Hamas had turned the hospital into a command center and used patients, staff and civilians sheltering there to provide cover for its militants. The allegation is part of Israel’s broader accusation that Hamas uses Palestinians as human shields. Israel released video late on Wednesday of weapons it said it found in one building, but so far its search showed no signs of tunnels or a sophisticated command centre.

Hamas and Gaza health officials deny militants operate in Shifa — a hospital that employs some 1,500 people and has more than 500 beds, according to the Palestinian news agency. Palestinians and rights groups say Israel has recklessly endangered civilians as it seeks to eradicate Hamas.

As Israel tightens its hold on northern Gaza, leaders have talked of expanding the ground operation into the south to root out Hamas. Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have already crowded into the territory’s south, where a worsening fuel shortage threatens to paralyse the delivery of humanitarian services and shut down mobile phone and internet service.

The war between Israel and Hamas erupted after the militant group killed some 1,200 people and seized around 240 captives in an October 7 attack.

Israeli airstrikes have since killed more than 11,200 people, two-thirds of them women and minors, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah, which coordinates with the ministry branch in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

Another 2,700 have been reported missing, with most believed to be buried under the rubble. The ministry’s count does not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths.

SPORTS PAGE 15

NFL PICKS, Page 17

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023

Champions emerge

By TENAJH SWEETING Tribune Sports Reporter tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

B

ahamians Tatyana Madu and Patrick Mactaggart secured the singles titles at the U-14 Junkanoo Bowl Finals at the National Tennis Centre (NTC) yesterday.

The Central American and Caribbean Tennis Confederation (COTECC) event capped off with doubles and singles action.

The doubles champion honours went to the duo of Dimitri Kirton and Curaçao’s Brandon Bridgewater for the boys’ match.

Meanwhile, Madu teamed up with her fellow opponent Makeda Bain to collectively win the doubles trophy.

On Wednesday morning, Mactaggart, the second ranked singles competitor, upset the number one ranked Kirton in consecutive sets in the boys’ singles finals. Despite being ranked one place behind Kirton, Mactaggart represented The Bahamas well with an

Tatyana Madu, Patrick Mactaggart collect singles titles at Under-14 Junkanoo Bowl

WINNING WAYS: From left to right, the duo of Tatyana Madu and Makeda Bain (left) defeated Curaçao’s Keziah Fluonia and Briana Houlgrave (right) in the girls’ doubles finals at the National Tennis Centre (NTC) yesterday.

Photo: Tenajh Sweeting/Tribune Staff

identical 6-3 win in the first and second set.

The weather definitely played a factor in the matches at the NTC on Wednesday which Mactaggart noted as he talked about his finals victory.

“The conditions were super tough because it was windy and the ball was going all over the place but overall I think I played well and I am looking forward to playing in the tournament next year,” the singles champion said.

Although Mactaggart got the edge in the singles event, Barbados’ Kirton along with Bridgwater got the last laugh in the doubles finals.

The tandem dropped Mactaggart and Alec Hooper in two straight sets.

They cruised to a victory in the opening set 6-3.

Set two was too close to call at some moments between the two teams.

Despite being pushed to the limits by their opponents, Kirton and Bridgewater snubbed

SEE PAGE 18

Eva Hilton, Sybil Strachan run away with U-12 soccer titles

By TENAJH SWEETING Tribune Sports Reporter tsweeting@tribunemedia.net THE under-12 (U12) girls of Eva Hilton Primary School and boys of Sybil Strachan Primary School can now celebrate after winning the division trophies at the newly-named Dawn N Knowles Primary Schools Soccer Tournament hosted at the Roscow AL Davies Soccer Field yesterday.

Eva Hilton’s U12 girls closed out EP Roberts Primary School 2-1 in a penalty shootout to be crowned champions in their division.

For the boys, Sybil Strachan made good on a 3-2 comeback win against Gerald Cash in their championship round. Garvin Tynes Primary School ended with third place for

the girls and Carlton E Francis Primary School’s boys came third as well.

Boys’ Division In the boys’ championship game, Gerald Cash Primary School was the first to move the needle out of the two teams. They went into the halftime break with a 2-1 advantage on Sybil Strachan and looked determined to lift the division titles. However, despite Gerald Cash remaining undefeated until the U12 finals, Sybil Strachan got their heads in the game and scored an equaliser to make the score 2-2. The team rallied together and put another goal to the back of the net in the second half to complete the come from behind victory, 3-2.

Greer Thompson, head coach of Sybil Strachan, said it was a great win for

U-12 CHAMPIONS: Sybil Strachan Primary School boys are the Dawn N Knowles Primary Schools Soccer Tournament champions.

Photo: Tenajh Sweeting/Tribune Staff

the team but an emotional one for her as she dedicated yesterday’s effort to her late mother. “It feels good, we stuck with our game plan, executed and went for the goals. We knew what we practiced and that is what we came out here and did once we got settled after halftime,” Thompson said.

She also came away with the winning coach honours.

As for the other awards in the boys U12 division, Ramon Rahming, of Carlton E Francis, was presented the Golden Glove trophy. Rashad Francis, of Gerald Cash, scored 29 goals in the tournament to earn the Golden Boots honours.

Additionally, Hernandez Toussaint, of the victors, was named the Golden Ball (MVP).

SEE PAGE 18

SPORTS CALENDAR SOFTBALL NPSA POSTSEASON ON the heels of the Bahamas Softball Federation’s All-Star Classic this weekend, the New Providence Softball Association will resume its 2023 abbreviated season with the playoffs this weekend at the Banker’s Field.

On Friday at 7:30pm, UB is slated to play I-Bap at 7pm. If UB wins, the bestof-three championship series will start on Saturday at 7pm.

If I-Bap wins, they will play the third and deciding game against UB on Saturday. The ladies’ finals will then start on Tuesday. The men’s championship between the Cyber Tech Blue Marlins and Chances Mighty Mitts is scheduled to begin on Saturday at 8:30pm.

Game two of the series is all set for Tuesday following the ladies’ game.

Nov 2023

BASEBALL JAZZ CHISHOLM FOUNDATION LITTLE LEAGUE THE Jazz Chisholm Winter Little League is scheduled to continue at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex this weekend.

On Friday at the Banker’s Field, the Jazz Blue vs Jazz Yellow slated to play at 5:30pm. On Saturday, a series of games are expected to be played on the multiple fields at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex, starting at 10am.

SOFTBALL SOUSE OUT FAMILY and friends of veteran softball/baseball player Nelson Farrington will hold a souse-out to assist him with his medical expenses. The ‘In Da Back

SEE PAGE 18

PAGE 16, Thursday, November 16, 2023

THE TRIBUNE

GSSSA CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Raptors, Knights win titles

ON THE REPLAY: The CH Reeves Raptors and CR Walker Knights won the junior and senior division titles respectively at the Government Secondary Schools Sports Association (GSSSA) Cross Country Championships. The one-day long distance meet was hosted in front of the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium on Saturday and saw competition between hundreds of athletes across the GSSSA senior and junior age groups.

Photos by Dante Carrer

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, November 16, 2023, PAGE 17

Pro Picks: Bengals will upset Ravens, tighten up the jumbled AFC North

By ROB MAADDI AP Pro Football Writer THE rugged AFC North is the only division with four winning teams and they’re playing each other in Week 11.

It starts with BengalsRavens tonight.

Both teams are frustrated following tough losses. The Ravens (7-3) need a win to stay in first place. The Bengals (5-4) can’t afford another loss to remain in contention for the division crown with the Steelers and Browns both at 6-3. They had the same record through nine games in each of the past two seasons and ended up winning the North.

Lamar Jackson had an excellent game against the Bengals in Week 2 when he led the Ravens to a 27-24 road win. But Joe Burrow was still dealing with a calf injury back then.

He’s healthy now and led the Bengals to four straight wins, including impressive victories against Seattle, San Francisco and Buffalo, before losing to Houston.

The Ravens are 3 1/2point favourites, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

Pro Picks senses an upset.

BENGALS, 27-26 DALLAS AT CAROLINA Line: Cowboys minus 10 1/2 The Cowboys (6-3) have dominated bad teams except for a loss to the Cardinals. It’ll be difficult for the lowly Panthers (1-8) to stay in this game.

BEST BET: COWBOYS, 30-13 PHILADELPHIA AT KANSAS CITY Line: Chiefs minus 2 1/2 A Super Bowl rematch featuring the top two seeds in the NFL. Both the Eagles (8-1) and Chiefs (7-2) were off in Week 10.

Chiefs coach Andy Reid is 29-4 after a bye, including playoffs and his 14 seasons in Philadelphia. Jalen Hurts and the Eagles aim to avenge a 38-35 loss to two-time NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl. They’ve been the league’s most consistent team despite not playing to their standard. The Chiefs are winning mostly because of a dominant defence while waiting for Mahomes and the offence to get on track.

UPSET SPECIAL: EAGLES, 29-27 LOS ANGELES CHARGERS at GREEN BAY Line: Chargers minus 3 The Chargers (4-5) can score points behind Justin Herbert but they have the league’s second-worst defence. That shouldn’t be a problem against Jordan Love and the Packers (3-6).

CHARGERS, 26-20

BALTIMORE Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson breaks away for Cleveland Browns safety Grant Delpit during the first half on Sunday in Baltimore.

(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

TENNESSEE at JACKSONVILLE Line: Jaguars minus 7 The AFC South-leading Jaguars (6-3) need to rebound after a humbling loss. The Titans (3-6) haven’t won on the road since November 17, 2022.

JAGUARS, 23-19 LAS VEGAS at MIAMI Line: Dolphins minus 12 1/2 The Raiders are 2-0 under interim coach Antonio Pierce, but they beat two New York City-based teams with dismal offences.

Now they have to face Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill and the NFL’s No. 1 offence. The Dolphins (6-3) haven’t defeated a team with a winning record but the Raiders (5-5) aren’t there yet.

DOLPHINS, 34-17

ARIZONA at HOUSTON Line: Texans minus 4 1/2 C.J. Stroud and first-year coach DeMeco Ryans have turned the Texans (5-4) into a playoff contender.

Kyler Murray sparked the Cardinals (2-8) in his return and having him on the field could spoil Arizona’s chances of getting the No. 1 overall pick and landing his replacement.

TEXANS, 26-23 PITTSBURGH at CLEVELAND Line: Steelers minus 1 1/2 Rookie quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson will make his second career start for the Browns (6-3) after Deshaun Watson sustained a season-ending injury.

The Steelers (6-3) beat

Cleveland in Week 2 and have an easier path to victory now with Watson out.

STEELERS, 16-13 NEW YORK GIANTS at WASHINGTON Line: Commanders minus 9 1/2 After two straight embarrassing losses, the Giants (2-8) face a team they actually beat in Week 7. But New York is down to third-string QB Tommy DeVito. Sam Howell and the Commanders (4-6) have played eight games within one score.

COMMANDERS, 24-16 CHICAGO at DETROIT Line: Lions minus 8 1/2 Detroit (7-2) can move the ball at will on the ground or in the air. If the defence steps up, the Lions are a Super Bowl

contender. The Bears (3-7) will have a tough time keeping pace.

LIONS, 30-20 TAMPA BAY at SAN FRANCISCO Line: 49ers minus 11 1/2 The 49ers (6-3) are back on track after ending a three-game losing skid with a convincing win at Jacksonville. The Buccaneers (4-5) are only in the mix because they play in the weak NFC South.

49ERS, 31-20 NEW YORK JETS at BUFFALO Line: Bills minus 7 The struggling Bills (5-5) hope a new offensive coordinator gets Josh Allen and the offence going. The Jets (4-5) can’t score with Zach Wilson under centre.

BILLS, 22-13 SEATTLE at LOS ANGELES RAMS Line: Seahawks minus 1 Matthew Stafford is expected to start for the Rams (3-6) after missing a game with a thumb injury.

The Seahawks (6-3) lost at home to LA in Week 1 and can’t afford a slip-up if they want to stay in contention for the NFC West.

SEAHAWKS, 22-17 MINNESOTA at DENVER Line: Broncos minus 2 1/2 Joshua Dobbs has kept the Vikings (6-4) rolling despite the loss of Kirk Cousins. Minnesota might even get star WR Justin Jefferson back.

The Broncos (4-5) can get to .500 after winning three in a row, including upsets over the Chiefs and Bills.

But they’ve got a short week after playing Monday night in Buffalo.

BRONCOS, 23-21

CELTICS TOP 76ERS 117-107 IN MATCHUP OF EASTERN CONTENDERS PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Derrick White scored 14 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter to lead the short-handed Boston Celtics to a 117-107 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night in a matchup of the early pacesetters in the Eastern Conference.

Jayson Tatum scored a game-high 29 points and Jrue Holiday added 18 points, 10 rebounds and three assists for the Celtics, who were missing Jaylen Brown with an illness and Kristaps Porzingis with a right knee contusion.

Philadelphia, playing its second game in a back-toback and third game in four nights, got 20 points apiece from Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.

Sam Hauser and Al Horford took the places of Brown and Porzingis in the starting lineup, with Horford scoring 14 points as the Celtics won their fourth in a row.

MAVERICKS 130, WIZARDS 117 WASHINGTON (AP) — Luka Doncic scored 26 points and had 10 assists as Dallas eased to a victory over Washington.

Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 31 points and sank seven 3-pointers for the Mavericks on a night point guard Kyrie Irving sat out with a sprained left foot.

Derrick Jones Jr. had 20 points and Dereck Lively II had 17 on 7 of 8 shooting.

Kyle Kuzma scored 22 points to lead the Wizards, who lost their fourth straight.

Jordan Poole added 16 points and Deni Avdija had 15.

KNICKS 116, HAWKS 114 ATLANTA (AP) — Jalen Brunson scored 24 points, including a pull-up jumper from the top of the lane with 18.8 seconds remaining, and New York held on for the victory over Atlanta.

Julius Randle led the Knicks with 29 points.

Bogdan Bogdanovic led the Hawks with 28 points and Jalen Johnson added 18. Trae Young had 15 points and Dejounte Murray was held to 13.

Young had a chance to tie it for the Hawks, but he missed the second of two free throws to leave the Knicks with a 112-111 leads.

BUCKS 128, RAPTORS 112 TOTONTO (AP) — Damian Lillard had 37 points and a season-high 13 assists, Malik Beasley scored a season-high 30 and Milwaukee overcame Giannis Antetokounmpo’s absence to beat Toronto.

Antetokounmpo missed his first game of the season after playing the first 10, sitting out because of a strained right calf.

Bobby Portis scored 18 points for Milwaukee and Cameron Payne had 13.

Rublev loses to Alcaraz at ATP Finals, Medvedev advances TURIN, Italy (AP) — Andrey Rublev grew so frustrated during a 7-5, 6-2 loss to Carlos Alcaraz at the ATP Finals yesterday that he repeatedly hit himself with his racket — so hard that he bloodied his left knee.

Rublev had already slammed his racket to the ground during the opening game of the second set. Then when the Russian missed a shot to hand Alcaraz a break, he started beating himself as he walked to his chair and then used a towel to wipe the blood off.

Blood continued to trickle down Rublev’s leg as he played on and he eventually called a trainer for treatment. “It’s OK,” Rublev said of his knee.

“I get disappointed and couldn’t manage.”

The second-ranked Alcaraz, a 20-year-old

Spaniard who is already a two-time Grand Slam champion, ended an uncharacteristic threematch losing streak following defeats to Grigor Dimitrov in Shanghai, Roman Safiullin in Paris and Alexander Zverev in his debut match in Turin.

“I played such a great level,” Alcaraz said.

While Rublev was virtually eliminated after losing both of his opening matches, Alcaraz boosted his chances of advancing from the round robin stage at the season-ending event for the year’s top eight players.

Alcaraz will next face Daniil Medvedev, who secured his spot in the semifinals with a 7-6 (7), 6-4 win over Zverev.

“The key against Medvedev is to play a perfect match — tactically,” Alcaraz said.

SPAIN’s Carlos Alcaraz celebrates after defeating Russia’s Andrej Rublev yesterday.

(AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) Jannik Sinner leads fuming when the opening the green group with two point of the next game had wins following his victory to be replayed after his shot over Novak Djokovic on was called wide. The call was overturned on review Tuesday.

The top two finishers after it was shown that the in each four-man group shot had landed on the line.

Rublev called it an advance to the semifinals.

In a first career meeting, “unlucky call.”

“But it’s part of the it was a tight first set until Alcaraz broke for a 6-5 sport,” he said. “It haplead. Then Rublev was left pens every match. ... Just

happen that it was important (point).”

In the next game, Rublev bloodied himself.

As the second set wore on, Alcaraz began producing one highlight after another. Like when he hit a forehand cross-court passing shot as he was in the process of falling down.

Or when he pulled off a backhand winner down the line from far off court on the run a couple of games later.

Alcaraz missed last year’s ATP Finals because of an abdominal injury.

MEDVEDEV SOLID Medvedev saved two set points in the opening set as Zverev was shaky on the big points at the end of both sets.

“Very tough match mentally. I’m happy that I was able to regroup,” Medvedev said. “The ending of both sets was very tight.”

Medvedev, the 2020 champion, improved to 11-7 in his career against Zverev and has now won five of their six meetings this year.

Medvedev also beat Rublev in straight sets in his opening match.

Zverev has had off-court issues recently after a German court issued a penalty order against him after allegations he caused bodily harm to a woman. Zverev has disputed the allegations and is contesting the penalty order.

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PAGE 18, Thursday, November 16, 2023

THE TRIBUNE

Eva Hilton and Sybil Strachan Primary Schools win the U12 soccer championships FROM PAGE 15 Girls’ Division Eva Hilton and EP Roberts both fought hard in the actual match but were unable to score on their opponents.

In the penalty shootout, EP Roberts delivered a strong kick to advance 1-0.

Eva Hilton evened the score 1-1 after a successful kick.

EP Roberts came up short on their final attempt but Eva Hilton did not and collected a 2-1 win.

Zindora Munnings, head coach of Eva Hilton, acknowledged that the match was tough but she is grateful for another championship win.

“The win feels great. At the end of the day, the girls really played hard to keep off EP Roberts and had very strong defence. As you can tell with the draw result, both teams were good but our girls came out on top because of determination,” Munnings said.

She joined Thompson to receive the top coach

honours and credited EP Roberts for playing a good game.

Yellow Elder’s Aviana Heastie secured the Golden Ball award.

Eva Hilton’s Raynique Tinker took home the Golden Boots hardware and her teammate Dwanae Rahming got the Golden Glove trophy.

Dawn N Knowles, who assisted with the awards presentation, said that the future is bright in soccer after this tournament. “I thought it was an excellent

TEAM EFFORT: The under-12 girls of EP Roberts (TOP) and Garvin Tynes finished second and third at the Dawn N Knowles Primary Schools Soccer Tournament.

U14 Junkanoo Bowl: Tatyana Madu and Patrick Mactaggart collect singles titles

U-12 CHAMPIONS: Eva Hilton Primary School girls are the Dawn N Knowles Primary Schools Soccer Tournament champions.

Photo: Tenajh Sweeting/Tribune Staff tournament. It allowed more playing time and that was the purpose.

“I think we are on the right track when it comes to development in primary school soccer,” Knowles said.

FROM PAGE 15 Yard” event is scheduled to take place on Saturday on Martin Street, off Baillou Hill Road.

Chicken and pig feet souse will cost $12 each, while sheep tongue and stew conch will be $20 each. Orders can be placed by calling 455-4110 or 468-8179.

SWIMMING BOOK SIGNING THE official launch and book signing of “Let’s Swim Bahamas” is slated to

Eva Hilton placed third in the girls division along with Garvin Tynes in the boys. The NPPPSSA sports calendar rolls on to the baseball/softball disciplines starting November 27 and ending December 1.

THE UNDER 12 boys of Gerald Cash Primary School and Carlton E Francis Primary school placed second and third at the Dawn N Knowles Primary Schools Soccer Tournament.

LEFT TO RIGHT: The duo of Curaçao’s Brandon Bridgewater and Barbados’ Dimitri Kirton (left) took down Patrick Mactaggart and Alec Hooper in the boys’ doubles finals yesterday at the National Tennis Centre (NTC).

Photo:Tenajh Sweeting/Tribune Staff

FROM PAGE 15

SPORTS CALENDAR

On Tuesday, the under10 boys of Eva Hilton won the championship after defeating Sybil Strachan 2-1. Meanwhile, Cleveland Eneas matched up with Sadie Curtis and bested them 1-0 for U10 girls title.

Nov 2023

be held on Saturday from 2pm to 4pm in front of the Sports Center in the Harbour Bay Shopping Plaza.

The book, which details the history of swimming in the Bahamas, was written by former swimmer and coach Andy Knowles.

The cost of the book is $22 and is also available on Amazon. All proceeds will go towards the Let’s Swim Bahamas” programme, organised by Andy and his wife Nancy Knowles.

Mactaggart and Hooper 7-6(6) in the final set for the doubles title. Both had friendly rivalries with Mactaggart as he handed them both losses in the singles matchups.

“It was good and felt great to get revenge and win the doubles. The experience was fun and I loved the energy of the competitors,” Kirton said.

His teammate was equally as grateful to earn a win against Mactaggart.

“I lost to Mactaggart in the singles semifinals so it felt good to take revenge and get the comeback win.

“It was a really nice experience, very nice courts, and the people were really nice even at the hotels,” Bridgewater said.

The number one ranked Madu knocked off Trinidad and Tobago’s Bain in straight sets to earn one of

her two titles on the final day. She made it look easy in the first set and won 6-0.

The Grand Bahama native then followed that performance with a 6-3 win in set two to wrap up the girls finals.

The 14-year-old had to make some adjustments to her game due to strong winds but still remained focused on the prize.

“I had to change my plan, stay consistent and keep in mind that the wind is blowing from the north side so I had to hit differently. I thought I played really well, succeeded and won,” she said.

She now has to make room for two new trophies after the U14 Junkanoo Bowl which she is excited about.

“It feels great. I have not done this in a long time but I am just glad I ended off my under-14 year with a double win,” she said.

The girls’ doubles finals was must watch action when

fellow competitors Bain and Madu came together to face Curaçao’s Keziah Fluonia and the host country’s Briana Houlgrave.

The tightly-contested two sets saw Houlgrave and Fluonia take set one 7-6(5).

Bain and Madu then rebounded and persevered in set two for a 7-6(6) win.

In the 10-point tiebreaker the tandem emerged on top 10-4.

The doubles winners were elated to collect a hard-fought victory.

“We played against each other so we had to switch our mindsets when we teamed up. We had to work together with our strengths and weaknesses to beat the other team,” Madu said.

“I enjoyed it because I reached the finals and overall it was a good experience,” Bain said.

The U14 Junkanoo Bowl Tournament is the last event for the juniors this year and was sponsored by Custom Computers.