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VOLUME:116 No.227, NOVEMBER 19TH, 2019

THE PEOPLE’S PAPER: $1

HEALTH: THE DIABETES BATTLE - KNOW YOUR NUMBERS

‘Where did all our money go?’ Silence PHA boss demanded computer firm say how funds were spent

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE head of the Public Hospitals Authority wrote to the US firm awarded a lucrative contract to digitise patient records in The Bahamas demanding to know how millions had been paid to them without the hospital receiving any explanation as to where the money was spent.

The action by PHA managing director Catherine Weech can be revealed by The Tribune in the wake of PLP health spokesman Michael Darville insisting there were no problems with the contract agreed by the Christie administration

NEARLY 20 Dominican poachers admitted yesterday to plundering Bahamian waters of nearly 3,000 pounds worth of fisheries last week.

The 17 Dominican poachers, ranging in age from 23 to 53, all entered guilty pleas to raiding the country’s seas of 2,943 pounds of fish last Thursday.

Of that number, 2,154

SEE PAGE SIX

AT 97, ELAINE HAS A LIFETIME OF STORIES

SEE PAGE EIGHT

TAXI UNION THREATENS STOPPAGE

THE Bahamas Taxi Cab Union is threatening to withdraw services this holiday season if Transport Minister Renward Wells does not meet with them soon to disclose the government’s plans for the sector on the issue of taxi plates.

In a letter to Mr Wells yesterday, BTCU president Wesley Ferguson said: “Because of your blatant disrespect for the union, we demand an emergency meeting with you, before this upcoming Thanksgiving holiday season.

SEE PAGE FIVE

OPEN VERDICT IN CEMENT MIXER DEATH

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

pounds were that of undersized crawfish; 772 pounds were that of undersized Nassau Grouper; six pounds each of egg bearing crawfish and Caribbean reef shark; and five pounds of undersized stone crab claws.

One of the group, 28-yearold Elbison Tabenas, admitted to being in possession of 34 rounds of shotgun ammunition he intended to supply to others.

FACE-TO-FACE

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

with Allscripts Healthcare Solutions and its partner, Infor Lawson..

In her letter, Mrs Weech said: “The PHA has endured what can only be described as a silent indifference to its plight.

Further, not only do we have difficulty in accounting for the PHA’s almost $7m in payments but we feel that the constant demands for outstanding receivables are unjustified.

“We can find no evidence which would support the notion that a single Allscripts operating platform has been installed within our data centre or on any desktop device.”

DOMINICAN POACHERS BEG COURT FOR MERCY

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

BACK TO FITNESS WITH ETHAN QUANT

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

TEENAGE TRIUMPH AMANI STUART, the reigning Miss Bahamas Teenager, has won a place in the top three of an international pageant.

See Woman for the full story.

A JURY could not decide whether a man’s death from having his legs mangled in a cement mixer last year was an accident or otherwise.

The five-member jury returned an open verdict concerning the circumstances that led to Kelly Steven Brown’s death at Block World in February 2018. In returning that verdict, the jury confirmed SEE PAGE THREE

ABUSE CLAIMS ‘WILL BE EXAMINED’

By SYANN THOMPSON Tribune Staff Reporter sthompson@tribunemedia.net

IMMIGRATION Minister Elsworth Johnson said officials will investigate any documented allegations of abuse towards Haitian migrants.

His comments to The Tribune came after a spokesman for the International Organisation for Migration told a local media outlet some Haitian

HAITIAN deportees deportees claimed they had suffered physical and sexual abuse before being

repatriated. Yesterday Mr Johnson said the government has frequently dealt with “false” accusations of abuse against migrants, however if a claim is credible he said a process has to be followed.

In monitoring the immigration crisis in the Bahamas, IOM’s Chief of Mission in Haiti Giuseppe Loprete told The Tribune that on the second and third

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

SEE PAGE SIX

PETER YOUNG

EDGING CLOSER TO DISASTER IN HONG KONG

SEE PAGE NINE

Feeding 5,000 families PAGE 2, Tuesday, November 19, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

DEREK ALLAHAR, AML Group Marketing Manager and Philip Smith, left, Bahamas Feeding Network Executive Director yesterday Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

By LEANDRA ROLLE lrolle@tribunemedia.net IN an effort to fight hunger in the country, AML Foods Limited has launched its fourth annual “Feed 5,000 Families” give back initiative, which will help provide meals to families in need during the holidays.

During a press conference held at Solomon’s in Yamacraw yesterday, AML Group Marketing Manager Derrick Allahar said the company, in partnership with the Bahamas Feeding Network, is aiming to distribute 3,750 Christmas meal packages to families in need within the community.

Each package will consist of a picnic ham, a whole chicken, a box of stuffing, four canned goods and a five-pound bag of rice that can feed a family of four.

“This will equate to helping more than 15,000 persons who otherwise will not be able to enjoy a holiday meal….. (and) to jumpstart the initiative in honour of our 30th year anniversary, AML has pledged a donation of $30,000,” he said.

Last year, $134,000 was raised in support of the cause. However, this year, Mr Allahar said AML Foods hopes to raise $150,000, which will also help to assist those families affected by Hurricane Dorian.

Philip Smith, executive director of Bahamas Feeding Network, said: “Since the hurricane, we (at BFN) have been cooking 1,200 meals a day for the evacuees in the centres. So, on a weekly basis, at the Bahamas Feeding Network, we are doing just under 12,000 meals weekly.

“And what we’re finding is persons who are living with family members of friends here in Nassau – coming from Abaco and Grand Bahama — that those persons are finding it difficult to provide food for themselves or the persons who they’re staying with are having difficulties providing for them.”

Added to the list of persons in need, Mr Smith said, are those individuals who are experiencing food insecurity on a daily basis.

“Department of Statistics say that there are probably 43,000 persons that experience food insecurity in The

Bahamas... these statistics were done more than five years ago...so, now we are probably looking at 60,000 (or) I would think a minimum of 60,000 persons,” he continued.

Therefore, members of the corporate community and the general public are asked to purchase or donate towards the purchase of a Christmas dinner package valued at $40.

Purchases can be made at all of Solomon’s, Solomon’s Fresh Market stores and Cost Right locations in New Providence and Grand Bahama.

This initiative began November 14 and will continue to December 19.

Christmas dinner packages will be distributed on December 20 in New Providence and Grand Bahama.

According to Mr Smith, Christmas meal packages are expected to be distributed in Abaco as well.

“We look forward to ensuring that as many persons as possible, particularly those affected

by Hurricane Dorian, are assured of a hearty Christmas meal as a result of the success of this initiative,” he said.

REMEMBERING THE BRISTO CLUB - IN STYLE JOHN Bain, president of Josephine’s Last Child Productions, recently announced the staging of the inaugural Bristo Reloaded, a reunion party for the Bristo Club and a celebration of the life and achievements of the club’s founder Vernal Sands.

The event will take place on Saturday at the Balmoral Club on Sanford Drive, Cable Beach at 7pm.

Considered by some to be the Bahamas’ version of New York’s Studio 54 disco of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, the Bristo Club was located in the Golden Gates Shopping Centre and owned by Vernal Sands, Lifetime Cacique Award winner and Bahamian goodwill ambassador.

“I am thrilled that Josephine’s last child and my friend Dr John Bain and his family have seen fit to bring back memories of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s in the form of dress and music in the style of the former Bristo Club,” said Mr Sands.

“In 1978, I decided to create a place where Bahamians and visitors alike could dress up and have a marvellous time of dancing and good fun with complimentary hors d’oeuvres.

I had no idea that after 36 years, the creation would still be remembered. I am frequently told that the Bristo Club was ahead of its time. This experience is a humbling one, but it is a great time to reunite with friends and family in a relaxed and safe atmosphere.”

According to event

VERNAL SANDS organisers, patrons will be in for an evening filled with entertainment, dancing and hors d’oeuvres similar to what they would have previously experienced while honouring a great man and raising funds for a good cause. Part proceeds from the event will be donated to the Ranfurly Homes for Children.

The theme of the event is “MacArthur Park” as it was the signature song of the club performed by the late Donna Summer.

Throughout the night, guests will have the opportunity to dance to the entire 18-minute version of theme song, along with other hits from the era.

The club, in operation between 1978 and 1983, was the playground of the rich and famous and boasted stars including Muhammad Ali, Sean Connery, British rock star Keith Emerson, actor Louis Gossett Jr, singer Andy Gibbs and actress Brooke Shields.

Tickets are $100 and are available at Cash ‘N Go’s Palmdale, Carmichael and Navy Lion Road locations.

For more information, contact John Bain 242.427.3880 or john@johnsbain.com.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, November 19, 2019, PAGE 3

FIRE ONBOARD CAPTURED CRAFT FIREFIGHTERS from the police department were called to the Royal Bahamas Defence Force base late on Sunday night to assist in extinguishing a fire onboard a captured craft.

The isolated fire was discovered by RBDF marines.

They attempted to extinguish the blaze, however, the fire was too big to contain. The fire was eventually brought under control with no injuries.

The captured vessel was brought into the RBDF base last Thursday after fishermen from the Dominican Republic were caught in Bahamian waters for poaching. All of the fishery products were previously removed from the vessel.

This matter is being investigated by fire officials.

Open verdict after man dies in a cement mixer

from page one

that Mr Brown’s death was suspicious, but was unable to reach any other verdicts open to it.

During the inquest before Coroner Jeanine WeechGomez, jurors heard how on February 19, 2018, Mr Brown, who had only started working at Block World the month before, was in the process of cleaning the mixer while the electricity was off, when the power suddenly came back on and amputated his legs.

He was later taken to hospital where he died.

Detective Corporal Cyril Walkes, one of the investigating officers, said when he saw Mr Brown’s body in the hospital, his right leg in particular was “severely mangled”.

“I’ve never seen anything like that in all my years,” the officer said while giving evidence.

“Very, very horrific.”

When he gave testimony, James Wallace, manager of Block World, said Mr Brown’s death may have resulted from his former coworker, Sean Pennerman, inadvertently turning on the machine without knowledge that Mr Brown was inside.

Mr Wallace, who was out of the country when the incident occurred, said his suspicions were based on employee reports that Mr Pennerman was seen near the machine’s control panel when it turned on, and was also the one who turned it off when the “screams” started.

Mr Wallace said based on what he was told, Mr Pennerman pushed the button somehow thinking he was stopping the mixer, but actually started the machine, all while unaware that Mr Brown was inside.

Mr Wallace said though Mr Pennerman never actually admitted to pushing the button when he conducted his internal investigation, there was no other explanation for the machine randomly turning on.

Mr Wallace said he

conducted an internal investigation into the matter. He explained that company policy mandates that two employees are to clean the mixer, from start to finish.

On that day, however, Mr Brown decided to start cleaning the mixer while Felix Wallace was getting his air chisel — a tool that removes the build-up in the mixer’s drum— from the tool shed some 100 feet away.

According to Mr Wallace, Mr Brown did so because he had plans to get off early that day. He said normally, upon clocking out for the day, Mr Brown would get together with some of the employees at Whim Automotive Limited for drinks at a nearby store. Those plans could have been adversely affected by the hour or so it takes to clean the mixer, Mr Wallace suggested.

Thus, Mr Wallace said based on what he was told, Mr Brown was in a “hurry to go see his friends.”

However, in doing so, Mr Wallace said Mr Brown “made a mistake” of not putting safety first. Based on evidence led previously, when an employee is about to clean the mixer, he would have to ensure that the main power lever is pulled down to disconnect the power supply, then secure it in that position with a padlock. The key to that padlock is then placed in that employee’s pocket to ensure no one tampers with the lock and possibly the main disconnect panel.

According to the evidence, it is physically impossible for the machine to get power if the main disconnect is secured in the off position, even if someone pushes the power button.

That was not done in this instance, according to Mr Wallace, as he was told that not only was the padlock lying by the electrical break box, the key was inside the padlock.

Though the evidence thus far is that Mr Brown could not have pushed the button to start the machine given the control panel’s distance from the mixer, Mr Wallace said someone else was

in the immediate area at the time of the incident: Mr Pennerman.

Mr Wallace said in canvassing his employees over the next few days, one senior employee, Perry Winder, said he saw Mr Pennerman by the control panel near the mixer.

In fact, Mr Wallace said he was told that Mr Pennerman was “the first one at the mixer”, though it is unclear if he got to the machine before or after Mr Brown.

Mr Wallace said Mr Winder told him that he heard a “scream”, and when he turned and looked towards the mixer, Mr Pennerman, whom he said was driving the cement block loader that day, was there and turned the machine off.

Mr Wallace said based on what he was told, Mr Pennerman may have pushed the button somehow thinking he was stopping the mixer, but actually started the machine, all the while unaware that Mr Brown was inside. Mr Wallace

said such an admission was never made by Mr Pennerman, but he said there were other things that emerged during the internal investigation that further aroused his suspicion.

Firstly, he said when he got word of the news from his assistant manager, Beth Moree, she said she was at the site holding Mr Brown’s hand. Mr Wallace said he was told that while all of the other employees were in “shock” and “running” around, Mr Pennerman was the only one who stayed by Mr Brown’s side.

Additionally, Mr Wallace said Mr Pennerman, who was just as much a ‘go-getter’ on the job as Mr Brown, was “never the same” after the incident. Mr Wallace said Mr Pennerman ultimately ended up having to take two weeks off from work, prompting him to tell the man to take as much time as he needed to get a handle on his feelings.

However, Mr Wallace said he’d never observed any issues between Messrs

Brown and Pennerman, as both were “very quiet” individuals. Additionally, he said, Mr Pennerman is a “good family man” who wouldn’t “play around” with something like that.

Mr Wallace also said that at that time, none of the employees were squabbling or going at each other to his knowledge.

But despite Mr Wallace’s claims that there was no discord amongst his employees, Detective Corporal Cyril Walkes, one of the investigators, said Mr Brown was disliked by his coworkers because of his work ethic, with some of them feeling he was “showing them up”.

D/Cpl Walkes said one of Mr Brown’s co-workers told him that Mr Brown “was just performing at a higher level than the others”, and that he would consequently hear “resentment” and “chitter-chatter” from some of the staff from time to time.

However, D/Cpl Walkes said “the persons that have

the answers were never spoken to” to the best of his knowledge.

D/Cpl Walkes explained that based on the information he and his partner, Detective Sergeant Darren Stubbs got from their preliminary inquiries into the matter, he had recommended to his superiors that further interviews be conducted in the matter.

He also said he and D/Sgt Stubbs had arranged for further interviews to take place.

The officer also said as he and D/Sgt Stubbs had a good grasp of the incident, and were thus “very confident” that they were the ideal people to see the investigation through to its conclusion.

However, D/Cpl Walkes said those interviews never took place subsequent to making his recommendations. He said he honestly could not say why.

“As far as I’m concerned (the investigation) is still open,” he said during previous testimony.

PAGE 4, Tuesday, November 19, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

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Why do teachers make us read old stories?

THERE are probably as many reasons to read old stories as there are teachers.

Old stories are sometimes strange.

They display beliefs, values and ways of life that the reader may not recognise.

As an English professor, I believe that there is value in reading stories from decades or even centuries ago.

Teachers have their students read old stories to connect with the past and to learn about the present. They also have their students read old stories because they build students’ brains, help them develop empathy and are true, strange, delightful or fun.

In Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” for example, teenagers speak a language that’s almost completely unfamiliar to modern readers. They fight duels. They get married. So that might seem to be really different from today.

And yet, Romeo and Juliet fall in love and make their parents mad, very much like many teens today. Ultimately, they commit suicide, something that far too many teens do today. So Shakespeare’s play may be more relevant than it first seems.

Additionally, many modern stories are based on older stories. To name only one, Charlotte Brontë’s “Jane Eyre” has turned up in so many novels since its original publication in 1848 that there are entire articles and book chapters about its influence and importance.

For example, I found references to “Jane Eyre” lurking in “The Princess Diaries,” the “Twilight” series and a variety of other novels. So reading the old story can enrich the experience of the new.

Reading specialist Maryanne Wolf writes about the “special vocabulary in books that doesn’t appear in spoken language” in “Proust and the Squid.” This vocabulary – often more complex in older books – is a big part of what helps build brains.

The sentence structure of older books can also make them difficult. Consider the opening of almost any fairy tale:

“Once upon a time, in a very far-off country, there lived …”

None of us would actually speak like that, but older stories put the words in a different order, which makes the brain work harder. That kind of exercise builds brain capacity.

Stories also make us feel. Indeed, they teach us empathy. Readers get scared when they realise Harry Potter is in danger, excited when he learns to fly and happy, relieved or delighted when Harry and his friends defeat Voldemort.

Older stories, then, can provide a rich depth of feeling, by exposing readers to a broad range of experiences. Stories featuring characters from a diverse range of backgrounds or set in unfamiliar places can have a similar effect.

Old stories are sometimes just so weird that you can’t help but enjoy them. Or I can’t, anyway.

In Charles Dickens’ “Great Expectations,” there’s a character whose last name is “Pumblechook.” Can you say it without smiling?

In Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” a cat disappears bit by bit, eventually leaving only its smile hanging in the air. Again, new stories are also lots of fun, but the fun in the older stories may turn up in those new stories.

For example, that cat returns in many newer tales that aren’t even related to Alice in Wonderland, so knowing the cat’s history can make reading that new story more pleasurable.

I won’t deny that some old stories contain offensive language or reflect attitudes that we may not want to embrace. But even those stories can teach readers to think critically.

Not every old story is good, but when your teacher asks you to read one, consider the possibility that you might build your brain, grow your feelings or have some fun. It’s worth a try, at least.

By Elisabeth Gruner of the University of Richmond. This article first appeared on The Conversation

Biting the hand that feeds EDITOR, The Tribune FRANKLIN Graham is the son of the legendary Billy Graham -- a man who has preached the gospel to more people in person than anyone in church history.

He is also the president and CEO of the humanitarian organisation, Samaritan’s Purse, which was founded in 1970 by the late Bob Pierce.

Like the elder Graham, Pierce worked as an evangelist for the evangelical Protestant organisation, Youth for Christ. Throughout the decades of its existence, Samaritan’s Purse has done mission work in such dangerous countries like Sudan, China, Myanmar, Pakistan and the Philippines.

In the words of Pierce, the formation of Samaritan’s Purse is “to meet the emergency needs in crisis areas through existing evangelical mission agencies and national churches.”

Both Grand Bahama and Abaco are in crisis mode after the passing of Hurricane Dorian in early September. With extensive damage to the Rand Memorial Hospital in Freeport City amounting to millions of dollars, Samaritan’s Purse has stepped right in to fill the huge void

left by the Rand in meeting the needs of thousands of Bahamians free of charge.

With such a great humanitarian gesture by Mr Graham via the said organisation as well as the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s Rapid Response Team, why would Nassau Guardian columnist, Front Porch, take aim at Graham by labelling him as “infamous” in a recent op-ed titled “Twisted theology and rancid homophobia of Rev Delton Fernander”?

I am all for freedom of the press; but why launch an unprovoked attack on a man whose organisation is currently doing humanitarian work in Grand Bahama and Abaco?

What disturbs me the most is that Samaritan’s Purse aid workers in Freeport have access to The Nassau Guardian, and may have stumbled upon Front Porch’s ill-timed broadside.

These aid workers would probably view Bahamians as being ungrateful, if they were to read the hit piece –which should’ve either been edited or not published at all, in deference to our foreign benefactors.

This was a clear-cut example of biting the hand that feeds you. It was also

another example of the utter lack of empathy for Grand Bahamians and Abaconians by many Nassauvians – most of whom have never had a firsthand experience of a major hurricane. Graham has probably done far more for this country in the two months that his organisation has been here than the feminist writer who has been hiding behind the nom de plume Front Porch for years. I am willing to wager that Front Porch has not lifted one finger in assisting those impacted

by Dorian. But has the gall to criticise a man who has poured his soul into assisting the Bahamian people.

Had it not been for Samaritan’s Purse, both Grand Bahama and Abaco would be in an humanitarian crisis, especially considering the severe limitations of the central government of our third world jurisdiction.

On behalf of the Bahamian people, I would like to offer a sincere apology to Mr Graham. Front Porch does not speak for the overwhelming majority of Bahamians.

KEVIN EVANS Grand Bahama November 10, 2019

My home is now a liability EDITOR, The Tribune

PLEASE allow a tax paying Bahamian citizen a space within your news outlet to voice a few concerns. With a heavy and frustrated heart, I write to you with regards to the home I have purchased through the Ministry of Housing within the last housing exercise. This home that I have counted as an asset has over the few short years become a liability.

My family and I have been experiencing plumbing and sewer blockage for years. The Ministry of Water and Sewerage has made several visits to the property, sometimes once a year to rectify this issue to no avail. Due to this, I was made aware that a plumber’s report was needed for the Ministry of Housing.

This report was submitted about eight years ago.

Since then, my sewage issue has worsened and not addressed. The issue became larger than the ones sent to correct it. An open hole with a pipe that has been cut by Water and Sewerage remains open to this day. February of this year, The Ministry paid a visit to clear the blockage. The representative informed me that they would not return due to the extensiveness of the issue; because of the valve being open, septic waste now flows onto my neighbour’s property.

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net I have contacted the Ministry of Housing and the Chief Housing Officer who has sent an official inspector and a few contractors to assess the situation. Since August and at this present time I have yet to receive any response; no updates, no phone calls, nothing of the sort. An environmental officer was dispatched with the intent of completing a follow up report, who also assured me that this matter would be addressed and I would be informed of the contents of the letter.

To this date, I have not received a follow up from any of the Ministries involved. My neighbour now has an influx of insects on her property and is no longer able to open the door to her home. My concern is not only for my family, but also for the families surrounding us.

Once again, another letter has been issued to the Chief Housing Officer, this time by my neighbour, to express her corresponding response. One month later we are still waiting.

My home has now gotten to a state where it is hazardous and unlivable. Two of my family members have fallen sick with sudden chest pains and headaches. We

are unable to sleep on the eastern side of the home.

Our water supply carries a foul odour in the early mornings and the rooms are now septic. Thus, we are now subject to purchasing water for daily usage. The member of parliament for my constituency was made aware and stopped by to document those things to which I now relay to you.

This representative now is also waiting to speak to the individual(s) that would be able to appropriately assist, including the Minister of Environment and Housing.

Also to present my concerns to parliament.

I am afraid and concerned for the well being of my family living in such a state. This situation has not been treated with the decency and respect that it ought to have been. My family and I cannot continue in these conditions as well as the neighbouring homes around us.

It would be appreciated if this situation be looked into, for we are in constant fear of cholera or other related diseases.

The holidays are upon us, where do I go with my family and what must I do?

Thank you for a chance to voice my concerns in your publication.

AFRAID & FRUSTRATED Nassau November 12, 2019.

Always a flooding issue EDITOR, The Tribune FISH Hole Road/Causeway has for years been an issue from flooding…spend $8-10 million surely problems solved? Not even with the rains and high tide, no tropical storm or hurricane Saturday the Police had to close the new $10m replacement causeway as it was unsafe.

Also why hadn’t any

repair to the new road been made…Dorian was when?

The causeway has not been officially opened.

Ministry of Public Works has a lot to explain.

Back to Dorian did the new design elevated, raised up, with open storm culverts cause the flooding of the west side of Freeport as there is evidence that flooding water had no way to

escape as there is a limestone fill road from the mainland to the Dockyard blocking totally any free flow escape for the flood waters coming down through Hawksbill to the south coast… this further needs explaining.

ABRAHAM MOSS Nassau November 10, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, November 19, 2019, PAGE 5

TAXI UNION THREATENING HOLIDAY STOPPAGE from page one

“This meeting will give you the opportunity to fully disclose the findings of the commission and how and when the government intends to deal with long-standing issues plaguing the taxi industry, so the president of the union can inform taxi drivers.

“I would like to take this time to remind you of your impressive mirage of empty promises you made to taxi drivers on October 1, 2018.

More than a year later, the taxi drivers still await one

resolution to your many promises. However, should the union continue to be ignored, you will once again get a grand opportunity to circumvent the office of the president of the union, on November 29, 2019 to inform taxi drivers in person, your brilliant plans for their future. Should you pass up this opportunity, Santa Clause will not be the only thing coming this Christmas.”

Last week, Mr Wells said that the Minnis administration is gearing up to deal with the long-standing issue of taxi plate leasing, noting

it is illegal to lease government issued plates.

“You are supposed to be the individual who either owns the plate or you have yourself a company and so you’re not supposed to be subleasing,” Mr Wells said last week. “That law should have been enforced, so it is the intention of the government…to enforce it.”

However, the taxi union is angry that Mr Wells mentioned the illegality of subleasing licence plates when talking to reporters. The union fears the owners of the plates will take them from drivers over

fear of being punished by government officials, causing unemployment in the sector.

“Once again, the Bahamas Taxi Cab Union has been forced to react to the reckless and premature announcement made on media television this past Tuesday by you pertaining to the lifting of the moratorium on the issuing of taxi plates without consulting with the union,” Mr Ferguson’s letter said. “In spite of numerous attempts by the union to meet with you over the past two months to discuss the way ahead

to ensure a smooth and transparent process, and to alert you of a very real possibility that, should you act recklessly and prematurely announcing the government’s intentions, it may result again in panic among leasing plate owners, who will most likely retrieve their plates.

“This will suddenly put a significant amount of taxi drivers out of business, and to put in place a safety net to protect the taxi drivers from this type of mayhem, especially during this long awaited holiday season.

Once again you decided to ignore us. We at the union find your actions unwarranted, unnecessary and certainly unacceptable.”

Since the Minnis administration came to office, the government has conducted an audit of taxi plates to show who owns the items.

Mr Wells told reporters last week it is unlikely that audit will be released to the public. Taxi drivers claim many prominent people own taxi plates. They believe the status quo is maintained because of the prominence of the people who own the plates.

‘PLP’s bond plan would not have meant higher prices’

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net OPPOSITION Leader Philip Davis said the Progressive Liberal Party’s rate reduction bond plan would not have resulted in increased electricity costs for most customers.

Customers are bracing for an extra charge as Bahamas Power and Light moves to refinance its $650m-plus legacy debt.

The Bahamas Rate Reduction Bond Ltd will be established as a special purpose vehicle that will issue the bonds and pay investors due interest. This structure will exchange BPL’s legacy Bahamas Electricity Corporation debt and other liabilities for new debt, which will be kept off BPL’s balance sheet via the SPV’s role as issuing agent, thereby relieving the government of its existing $230m guarantee. The old liabilities include around

$321m in bond and bank debt; a $100m employee pension fund deficit; and other assorted liabilities, including the cost of environmental clean-ups at various sites around The Bahamas.

While the Christie administration passed the bill to establish a rate reduction bond, the former administration did not move forward with anything that involved the plans.

Mr Davis said at a press conference yesterday: “There was going to be a base rate increase of the electricity bill. That base rate increase as we had envisioned and agreed would not have cost the Bahamian consumer any more than they were already paying because by the time we were there, the trend of the electricity bill was already going down.

“The rate that was going to be added was only going to be for a period of 18 to 19 months, then it was

going to be reversed and it was only going to impact the major users so the rate was tiered. So, for example, almost 60 percent of customers were not going to be impacted by the rate increase and that’s the majority of the Bahamian people. We also had the good fortune to negotiate in this fashion because we took advantage of the oil challenge, the decrease in oil costs, so the savings we enjoyed from the drop in that, we were going to pass a a lot of that savings on to the Bahamian public.”

Mr Davis said under the PLP’s plan, people who consumed less than 250 kWH of electricity would not have had to pay extra costs.

Earlier this month, electricity consumers were told to brace for an “adjustment” to their bills by way of an extra charge as BPL confirmed plans for its mammoth $650m-plus refinancing.

PLP leader Philip Davis talking yesterday.

At the time, Dr Donovan Moxey, the state-owned utility’s chairman, promised that the proposed rate reduction bond issue will ultimately result in “better outcomes” for all Bahamian households and businesses even though the “structure” of electricity bills will change. Using carefully-worded, guarded language, a BPL statement quoted Dr Moxey as saying the new billing structure would “function as a short-term deposit” that will ultimately enable consumers to enjoy longer term savings from reduced fuel costs and more efficient generation plant.

Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

However, legislation to facilitate the RRB issue, which was tabled in Parliament about two weeks ago, makes clear that BPL’s customer base will be relied upon to service what is essentially a doubling of the debt burden associated with the utility to secure its financial future.

Last week, Minister of Finance Peter Turnquest said if BPL does not raise electricity prices, the government would have to raise taxes to deal with its debt.

“Unfortunately, the cost of that fix is significant and in order to meet that, BPL, as a stand-alone

corporation, has to raise the money,” Mr Turnquest told The Nassau Guardian.

“Otherwise, the taxpayers, the shareholders of the corporation, will have to inject the capital as equity. If we inject the capital as equity, it means that our tax bill will go up because we have to recoup that money.

“If BPL does it on its own, it then has to cover the cost of operations and the reserves that I mentioned and the cost of maintenance as well as pay back to… the lenders that will lend the corporation the money to do what it needs to do to rectify the problem,” he said.

PAGE 6, Tuesday, November 19, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

DOMINICAN POACHERS BEG COURT FOR MERCY from page one

He and his 16 compatriots further admitted to being caught with two spear guns, which are illegal fishing apparatus’ in The Bahamas.

The arraignment of the 17 poachers came after a

76-ft Dominican vessel was spotted in the Cochinos Banks, Ragged Island by a US aircraft last Thursday.

According to reports, after the Royal Bahamas Defence Force and the US Coast Guard were alerted, RBDF officials said HMBS Cascarilla under the command of Senior Lieutenant

Samantha Hart was dispatched to the area.

The Dominican vessel, which contained a large quantity of fishery products, and its occupants were detained by RBDF marines and were subsequently taken to New Providence.

After pleading guilty

to the offence, one of the Dominicans indicated that they are all fathers trying to provide for their children. Another asked Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt to “have mercy” upon them “in the name of God”. Another promised the chief magistrate that if allowed to leave the

country, they would never return.

However, Chief Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt said while the group can be assured they will be dealt with fairly in her court, she would not address their individual and/or collective pleas for mercy without being fully apprised of the

facts of the matter from the prosecution. She subsequently adjourned the matter to today. The 17 poachers were remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services until that time.

They are represented by lawyer Howard Thompson Jr.

“We lost everything in the Bahamas because of Dorian. And now they bring us back to Haiti! What will we do?” said one of the returned migrants.

Photo: Bernard Lami/IOM

Any abuse claims will be examined, says Johnson from page one rounds of deportation postHurricane Dorian, his team interviewed 150 persons, some of whom complained about being abused. He said the UN office of Human Rights was informed and the IOM office in the capital is expected to raise the issue and advocate for the respect of immigrants’ rights.

Mr Loprete earlier told Eyewitness News that allegations of sexual assault have been reported to Haitian authorities and the Bahamas mission. He also alleged that migrants who were processed last week displayed signs of physical abuse.

“In this last charter, we can confirm there are some migrants with evident signs of physical abuse, and again they have a lot of stories,”

Mr Loprete told EWN Online. “Some black eyes, some bruising. We have informed our IOM colleagues in the Bahamas and we are talking with Haitian officials to see if they can send a message.”

However, Mr Johnson said the Department of Immigration has faced countless accusations of abuse against Haitian migrants that have been false.

“We are finding frivolous, vexatious and downright false accusations. Complaints have been made where there was alleged burning of people in the Bahamas. There was a particular booklet that showed pictures that were not taken in the Bahamas with a man holding a revolver and having an attack dog attack a person. These complaints have been unfounded,” he said.

As it relates to the alleged physical and sexual abuse of deportees, Mr Johnson said the Bahamas adheres to its international obligations, in particular the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and has emphasised the protection of fundamental rights. “What we would suggest is that those complaints come to us, that is documented, send it in.

Too often we have these undocumented complaints being sent in and you have no complainant. We have to be fair in everything we do, and we will continue to comply with the law,” the immigration minister said.

The government’s

decision to resume deportation of undocumented migrants weeks after Hurricane Dorian pummelled Grand Bahama and Abaco, leaving thousands homeless, was “painstaking” but came after careful analysis that was deemed appropriately humane and necessary, officials have said.

The Minnis administration has staunchly defended its handling of the immigration situation in the wake of the Category Five storm and said that any person found in violation of the Bahamas’ Immigration Act will be dealt with according to statute laws.

NEW DISASTER RELIEF FUND AIMS TO RAISE $100,000 A NEW disaster relief fund announced yesterday will focus on areas hit hardest by Hurricane Dorian, in order to drive relief and recovery efforts on the ground in Sweetings Cay, Grand Bahama.

The fund is being formed through a partnership between GlobalGiving, a global crowdfunding platform for grassroots charitable projects, and the Bahamas Sportfishing and Conservation Association — a nonprofit fostering the development of sportfishing and conservation in the Bahamas.

The fund is being created with the goal of raising $100,000 to support recovery and relief efforts in Sweetings Cay. Initially, the fund will help with pressing and immediate needs such as food, fuel, clean water, hygiene products and shelter, according to a press release from organisers. The fund will eventually transition to support longer-term recovery and rebuilding efforts.

This partnership was coordinated by Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), organisers said.

“Donations will be used to stimulate regional fishing communities,” said Prescott Smith, BSCA president.

“Special attention is being

paid to supporting areas of greatest need as we work to rebuild infrastructure, including fisheries and other key sources of food and income, in a sustainable manner. By engaging with our communities in this way, we are building resilient economies that can bounce back faster after catastrophic events.”

BSCA has a commitment to conserving habitats and marine ecosystems through sustainable fishing practices, a press release noted. As part of its work on the ground, BSCA is closely working with EDF to empower local fishing communities to become champions for conservation for the sake of their livelihoods and the natural resources they depend upon.

“Climate-fueled storms are posing ever-greater threats to livelihoods and natural resources in our coastal communities, and it is up to all of us to take action. The Bahamas is is predicted to lose more fish and experience more devastation in the face of climate change,” said Sepp Haukebo, manager of private angler management reform at EDF. To donate to the disaster relief fund, please visit BSCA’s GlobalGiving fund page.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, November 19, 2019, PAGE 7

POLICE ARREST THREE AFTER SHOTS FIRED

POLICE arrested three men who shot at them and led them them on a car chase in Yellow Elder Gardens on Sunday night.

A man is also in hospital after he was found in the area with a gunshot wound, police said.

Police said swift action by officers led to the arrests and the recovery of two illegal firearms involved in the shooting, including an AK-47 and a pistol.

Shortly after 8pm, Mobile Division and South Central Division officers were patrolling in the area of Yellow Elder Gardens when they heard gunshots being fired. As officers were heading to the area where the gunshots were heard, they encountered a black Honda Stream with three men inside. The men, upon seeing the officers, fired in their direction and sped off. Officers chased them, and a short distance away, the driver of the Honda Stream crashed into a utility pole and into another police vehicle.

Officers conducted a search of the vehicle and recovered an AK 47 rifle and a .45 pistol, police said.

A short time later, police discovered that a man had been shot in Yellow Elder Gardens. The injured man was taken to hospital where he is listed in serious condition.

ARMED ROBBERY AT GAS STATION POLICE are searching for the armed man who robbed a gas station in east New Providence on Sunday night.

Shortly after 10pm Sunday, an armed man entered the gas station on Fox Hill Road and Prince Charles Drive, held a cashier up and robbed the established of an undetermined amount of cash before getting into a grey Honda Fit and escaping.

THE FAMILY of Byron Ferguson held a press conference at Nirvana Beach soon after the pilot went missing.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

Missing pilot’s brother calls for higher aviation standards

By SYANN THOMPSON Tribune Staff Reporter sthompson@tribunemedia.net THE brother of missing pilot Byron Ferguson wants stronger aviation standards to be implemented as a result of the family’s legal battle.

On November 8, 2018, Mr Ferguson’s aircraft plunged into waters off Nirvana Beach. A portion of the aircraft was reportedly spotted above water on that fateful Thursday night, however, Royal Bahamas Defence Force officers called off the search after a few hours until the following morning. When divers returned the next day, the

aircraft was no longer in that location.

This move and the decision to not secure the plane are among other objections filed in a judicial review application made earlier this year by the pilot’s family. Mr Ferguson’s brother and attorney, Bjorn Ferguson told The Tribune that no other family should be subjected to this.

“There is a standard in every single incident and crash, there is a standard and an international standard, and every victim or every incident deserves that standard. My brother’s incident in my view was below the standard.

And we can’t speak on one

hand and talk about wanting to become an aviation mecca or a place for aviation registry and we don’t have the basics together.

Wider than us, this is to inform the industries and the agencies in aviation at large what should happen when an incident like this occurs. Any good that can come from this, should be capitalised,” said Mr Ferguson.

Christina Galanos is the lead attorney in the matter and the respondents in the application are Royal Bahamas Defence Force Commodore Tellis Bethel, Commissioner of Police Anthony Ferguson, Bahamas Civil Aviation

Authority Director Charles Beneby and the Office of the Attorney General.

Last November, Mr Ferguson departed West Palm Beach Country Park Airport en route to Lynden Pindling International Airport, however his plane crashed in waters off Nirvana Beach. Prior to the incident, Mr Ferguson told Air Traffic Control that he had engine problems.

His brother said that the family will exhaust all options including a lawsuit, in having some answers over the decisions that were made concerning his brother’s crash. “All legal remedies and options are on the table and we will

take them one at a time,” he said.

The family recently held a memorial service at Bethel Baptist Church on the one-year anniversary of the incident. His brother said the pilot is deeply missed by his family and they are attempting to find closure.

The attorney said: “What is so much more damaging and painful is when you have government officials coming in or attempting to defend foolishness. I speak for myself, it’s all a part of healing and I am still hurt by this and need to find some sort of closure. My family as well. This has been a nightmare for us.”

PAGE 8, Tuesday, November 19, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

ELAINE surrounded by her children (l-r) Sandra Williams, Patricia Bethel, Florida Pintard, Mildred Pickstock, Cynthia Hall and kneeling, Lewis Roland

I

RECENTLY came face to face with a remarkable woman. Not because she‘s super rich.

Not because she’s super talented. Not because she’s a genius. The usual reasons that people make indelible marks on others didn’t apply here. The reason Elaine Aliceanna Virginia Moxey-Major made such an impact on me is because at the age of 97, she has all her wits about her. She is in control of all her faculties and she is even funny. I sat with her for three hours one afternoon, and as I conversed with her daughter, Cynthia Hall and my friend Antonia Adderley, she never missed a beat.

She chimed in right on time and dropped snippets of wisdom that shut us all up when she was ready.

Notice that I put her entire name in my introduction – because that is exactly how she said it to me! A proud Ragged Island woman, Elaine introduced herself with a sense of pride and conversed actively with me through those hours.

Anyone who meets her would marvel at her and would wish to be blessed the way she is. She played with my baby, she offered us drinks and she could pick up a conversation right where we left off whenever the exchange was interrupted by bursts of laughter.

Elaine Moxey-Major is believed to currently be the oldest living Ragged Island native. Although she cannot remember all of the events of her life, she remembers a whole lot. There were times when she even schooled us when referencing people and places. Through nearly a century of life experience, one of the greatest lessons I think she learned is what she displayed that day – living life in the moment, laughing at the little things and appreciating people for who they are.

Clarence and Mildred Moxey welcomed their first born Elaine on May 18, 1922 in Duncan Town, Ragged Island. As a young child, she had the opportunity to travel from Ragged Island a few times to visit Nassau on a sailboat. Back then, a journey from the southern isle, Ragged Island to New Providence, could take up to two weeks, possibly including stops at other islands along the way.

When Elaine was seven years old, The Great Hurricane of 1929 happened.

It struck The Bahamas as a Category 4 packing winds of 140 miles per hour. It devastated the northwest Bahamas and stayed over Nassau and Andros for three consecutive days, moving at 2 miles per hour.

It claimed 142 lives, most of them sponge fishermen caught at sea. It changed the face of the Bahamian economy. It was during this same year that little Elaine moved to Nassau with her mother.

Rich with the stories of life remembered and Elaine’s only 97 Elaine’s siblings were Levonne, Gloria, Joyce, Oraline and Locksley.

Mildred was pregnant in that year and she moved to Nassau with two of the children, while Elaine remained in Ragged Island with her grandparents, Granville and Mazorian Lockhart. Later that year, Elaine came to join her mother and siblings and live with them in a house on West Street, Nassau. Back then, people knew how to live in much smaller quarters and make do with much less than they do today. For Elaine’s family, they rented a room in Mr Colebrooke’s house. His home was separated into rooms. Three families lived there. The families got along well and Elaine can remember the Lockharts living there. She remembers Louise, whose husband operated a horse and carriage, and their son, Walter.

“We were good friends and they were good families,” she said. “Things were very rough in those days.

But everyone had good neighbours. You know what I needed and if you have it you would give it.”

Thus began Elaine’s new life far from the simplicities

of Ragged Island life, but with the good moral values that defined that old Bahamian lifestyle. She had come to the city and would pursue her education there. She attended Cassie Kinnear’s school, which was housed in the Good Samaritan Lodge Hall in Nassau Court, opposite the British Colonial Hotel. She also recalls attending a public school on Hospital Lane, and Elaine said the structure was so high you could actually stand underneath it.

Elaine’s mother would ‘take sick’ from time to time; therefore, Elaine was not always able to attend school. There were times when she would have to forfeit school altogether to take care of her siblings and send them to school, while she would remain home to care of her mother.

I asked about her father’s level of support. Although he worked hard, she recalls: “Daddy would get up in the morning and write on a board what we were having for breakfast, lunch and so on. He would cook the food. He would knead and bake bread for us… and he was a very good cook. He was known as ‘the turtle

man’ because he would sell turtle meat. But he would also sell fish, conch and other seafood at the place where the straw market is now.” Clarence was actually the supplier of seafood for the Bahamas General Hospital.

She also shared that her father used to work on a boat: “The name of the boat was ‘Sir Charles’ Oar’.”

“My mother’s brother, Calvin Lockhart (bought the boat in the US) and he took it down (through the States) as far as Miami.

Then he and my daddy brought it here. My daddy worked with him on the boat. It would stop to different Family Islands bringing freight and passengers.”

Eventually, her father completed the building of their home on Hay Street East. The yard was known for the ‘big mammie tree’.

The family moved from West Street to the homestead in 1931 - the same year her baby brother Locksley was born.

The Hay Street homestead would be one filled with fond memories for the Moxeys, not only for their immediate family, but for future generations.

Elaine shared a story that had us laughing to tears as she recalled it in her own delightful way. It gave me a good insight into the level of order and respect of the day.

She was 21, and her husband to be, Lewis R Major was 22. He had already written a letter of proposal.

He would attend church with her and her siblings, and would walk her home.

On one occasion, instead of heading home straight from church, they made a stop at Long Wharf.

Diving off the wharf to collect coins that tourists would drop was very common back in the day.

One day, they decided they would sit for a while and watch the brilliant diving antics put on for the tourists. That turned out to be a big mistake. When they approached home, her father was standing at the door. Lewis was too scared to even step foot inside the gate, because he knew they were late coming from church. If you hear Elaine tell this story, you could just picture the events that unfolded. I asked her to repeat it just to burst out laughing again as she described the stern look on her father’s face and the look of fright and terror on her beloved’s.

They weren’t married yet, and her father made sure that she would be given away the right way.

The touching marriage proposal letter was made by Lewis – not to Elaine – but to her parents. I remember when I first read my grandfather Allan “Super” or “Mr FNM” Ingraham’s letter of proposal to my grandmother, Sylvia Thurston-Ingraham. When I saw Lewis’ it reminded me of the letter and helped me to understand just how special this way of communicating was during that time.

ABOVE: Elaine married Lewis Major in May, 1943 at Salem Baptist Church, Parliament Street; left: the Hay Street homestead; far left and right: Elaine through the years

The touching letter was to Elaine’s parents. It spelt out his love and intentions and he said that even though he is “a poor boy just starting out in life”, he would do his endeavour best to “make her as happy as she would ever like to be”.

Eventually, Elaine and Lewis got married at Salem Baptist Church. They went on to have seven children Florinda, Judith, Cynthia, Ronald, Mildred, Sandra and Patricia. Judith predeceased both of them.

Her father ended up being a great support of her marriage to Lewis.

They rented the second house that was in the yard on Hay Street. Her father had purchased it from the neighbour. She recalls that all of the money her husband had paid to her father in rent for that house over the years, her dad put aside to take them from being tenants of the house, to owners. Lewis had a career at the famous Hobby Horse race track as a jockey. He also worked as a cook for Nancy Oakes, the wife of Sir Harry Oakes at the race track’s country club. Elaine was a home maker, but she also did a bit of sewing for others. She learned the skill from Mrs Anna Bethell, whose husband Cecil was a head teacher at The Government High School.

At the age of 38, Elaine became a widow when Lewis suddenly died of a stroke. She was left with six children to care for. Her youngest child was only ten months old at the time. She had to become the bread winner for her family. She succeeded and was able to take care of not only her children, but her grandchildren. After selling lunch at A.F. Adderley School, she would be home in time to welcome her grandchildren from school with a meal and all the necessary instruction they needed to make life easier on their parents before they were collected. She often had enough cooked so that her children didn’t have to cook after a long day at work.

When I asked her about the highlight of her 97 years, she replied: “The highlight of my life was taking care of my children.

They were not disobedient. I didn’t have any major problems from them. They all made me proud.”

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, November 19, 2019, PAGE 9

WHAT’S IN A NAME AND WILL IT GIVE BORIS AN EDGE? IN HIS celebrated book entitled How to Win Friends and Influence People, first published as long ago as 1953, American author Dale Carnegie stressed the importance of names. He maintained someone’s name is, to him or her, the “sweetest and most important sound in the English language”. If that is the case - and presumably he considered the same applied to those speaking other languages as well - how much more sweet and nurturing of self-esteem must it be if someone is immediately recognised and widely known by just one of his or her names or even by initials alone.

Think, for example, of American presidents Roosevelt, Eisenhower and Kennedy, known, respectively, as FDR, Ike and JFK. Or what about Winston Churchill? On his

reappointment as First Lord of the Admiralty at the outbreak of war in 1939, before becoming Britain’s famous wartime leader, a signal was sent to all Royal Navy ships which simply read ‘Winnie’s back’, and everybody understood immediately. Then there is Elvis, who needs no explanation, and, if you uttered the word Fidel, it was clear to all that you were referring to the late Cuban leader; not to mention Hitler, to the extent that nowadays in Germany Adolf is still used as a traditional man’s name, though a Google search reveals that some register offices are said to “discourage” it – and, in sport, simple reference to “The Don” tells all who know and love cricket that you are talking about Donald Bradman as the most prolific Australian batsman of all time.

The

Peter Young column AS SO often, the US media has been obsessed recently with domestic affairs to such an extent that, until this last weekend, foreign issues like the continuing serious civil unrest in Hong Kong have been receiving little coverage.

Most recently, the Trump impeachment proceedings have been given wall-towall coverage - almost, it seems, to the exclusion of other matters. So it may be helpful now to draw attention to the deepening crisis in Hong Kong which appears to be sinking into what amounts to anarchy.

This former British colony has been rocked by demonstrations and riots for the last five months, but these have now significantly worsened. Part of its territory had been ceded to Britain in the wake of the opium wars but was unviable on its own, so the whole of Hong Kong, the majority of which was leased in 1898 for a period of 99 years, was handed back to China in 1997 and, in doing so, Britain negotiated a new status for the territory.

In writing in this column about the early stages of the unrest, which has developed into the most serious political violence since the handover, I explained that its new standing as a Special Administrative Region – ‘one country, two systems’ – provided for a special semi-autonomy which guaranteed for 50 years Hong Kong’s democratic freedoms and way of life, including freedom of assembly, free speech and elections and an independent judiciary, all of which underpinned the territory’s position as an international financial hub.

Two years ago, at celebrations to mark the 20th anniversary of the handover, President Xi Jinping confirmed support for a continuation of the policy of ‘one country, two systems’, but, at the same time, he warned against so-called separatist forces threatening China’s sovereignty since Hong Kong was part of mainland China. Many in the territory regarded this as reassuring but they were also concerned about its future and the erosion of its democratic freedoms including, under the pro-Beijing Chief Executive Carrie Lam, gradual restriction of its responsibility for its own affairs and growing Chinese meddling in internal matters.

The issue which originally sparked the unrest and demonstrations was the ill-fated Extradition Bill

which would have enabled the Hong Kong authorities to send criminals or suspects to stand trial in China. Under the strong pressure that followed, this proposed legislation was subsequently withdrawn.

But the demonstrations have intensified nonetheless and have become more violent, with protesters still angry about meddling by Beijing - in contravention, as they see it, of the guaranteed freedoms going back to 1997 - and who are now demanding full democracy and an independent investigation into alleged police brutality in confronting the protesters.

The demonstrations have now spread so much that office workers are marching on the streets during the working week, with protesters stockpiling weapons and using arrows and petrol bombs in potentially deadly attacks. Roads and tunnels have been blocked with barricades and the Polytechnic University was occupied by protesters at the weekend, leading to heavy clashes with the police who reacted with increasingly aggressive use of teargas and water cannon.

There seems to be no sign of any of this abating and there are new fears that use of troops of the Peoples Liberation Army, which has now bolstered the size of its garrison in Hong Kong, to help clean up the streets and remove barricades may enrage the protesters even more. Such involvement of the PLA in local affairs is a new development and it comes as President Xi has denounced the violent unrest, which Beijing blames on ‘foreign influences’, and has warned that it must end. Thus, the situation seems now to have reached breaking point.

This prolonged chaos has pushed Hong Kong’s hitherto vibrant economy into recession and some banks are threatening to review their investment plans. The major concern now is whether Beijing may intervene and those with memories of the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989 fear any repetition of something similar. It is not in the interests of Beijing for Hong Kong’s service-orientated economy, which is an important part of China’s own economy, to fail. Moreover, the international repercussions of any repressive intervention affecting a territory of seven million people would be wide ranging.

Yesterday, the Chinese ambassador in London spoke out about the

You can tell where this is leading, folks, when I ask how significant it is that Britain’s new Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, pictured right, probably enjoys the best name recognition of anyone across the country. Only in office since late July, he is instantly identifiable by his Christian name. I would hazard a guess that, if you mention the word “Boris” in any pub or at any gathering up and down the land, people will know at once to whom you are referring.

Indeed, during his campaigning in the run-up to the UK general election on December 12 this will be to his advantage. Given his affable and genial manner

within the established political process. One can, therefore, oppose him safe in the knowledge it was democracy at work.

By contrast, the British electorate’s preference for leaving, in the author’s words, a power-hungry erstwhile trading bloc has been thwarted by a parliament which has refused to obey the voters - and this was an example of democracy not working. If one favours democracy, one should support Brexit.

Thus, he argues, even though both may be seen

needs of the man in the street.

But he manages to overcome any such perception by having a good touch with people, and he has the knack of encouraging them to be patriotic about their country and to feel good about themselves - as someone said, he tells it as it is.

So, his background seems not to have become an issue.

With less than a month to polling day, I hope to look soon at the state of the parties, especially the main opposition Labour and the Liberal Democrats, in what is seen as the most important election for Britain since the Second World War. At present, the sitting Prime Minister is surging in the polls. Though this could change, his great attribute is being instantly recognised simply as Boris.

Edging closer by the day to disaster in Hong Kong

POLICE fire tear gas at protesters in the Kowloon area of Hong Kong yesterday escalating violence and resulting chaos and warned of an ‘unimaginable and dreadful’ future if this continued. His words are already being interpreted as an ominous threat of Chinese intervention. Any use of force would present the US with a major policy headache, not least because it is in the middle of a trade war with China.

Similarly, Britain, which is committed under the Joint Declaration to protect Hong Kong’s freedoms, would be faced with a difficult dilemma.

Renowned former US Secretary of State and architect of President Nixon’s ground breaking visit to China in 1972, Dr Henry Kissinger, has recently warned that fundamental differences between the US and China, including the trade war, could result in catastrophe if not managed properly. As China grows into an economic powerhouse and seeks to play a global role, it has already

US TEACHING THE BRITISH A LESSON IN DEMOCRACY I AM indebted to a friend for sending me an article published recently in the US edition of The Spectator’s UK magazine in which the author, Lionel Shriver, maintains the election of a so-called incompetent and unqualified US president and Brexit have little in common despite the widespread perception that that they are identical twin expressions of modern-day populism.

Against most predictions, the American electorate voted for Mr Trump in 2016. This was

and forthcoming, down-to-earth approach, the average person seems to warm to him compared with the more detached and so-called robotic approach of his predecessor who somehow failed to connect with voters. The press is already reporting that on the campaign trail most are emboldened to address him as Boris.

England still has a highly class-conscious culture that can breed envy and resentment. Since Boris Johnson comes from what is perceived as a privileged background as a product of Eton and Oxford, some people are determined to regard him as elitist and out of touch with the concerns and

as the result of populism, it shows Britain’s political system is broken whereas America’s is not. He goes on to say the whole purpose of democracy is to manage situations in which everyone believes they are right and everyone disagrees.

In the US, the will of the people prevailed in 2016.

But, so far, in Britain it has not because the outcome of the Brexit referendum that year has still not been implemented. Perhaps the coming election will finally fix that - one way or the other.

become a long-term strategic competitor of the US, but that should not be allowed to turn into a permanent conflict since it is in the interests

of both nations to learn to live together without one dominating the other.

Many people will surely now hope that the ugly

situation in Hong Kong can be resolved and order restored so that any serious intervention by China involving force can be avoided.

Funeral Service for Errol Alan Haines, 70 will be held on Thursday November 21, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. at New Providence Community Church, Blake Road. Officiating will be Pastor Derek Benjamin. Interment will follow in The Woodlawn Gardens Cemetery, Soldier Road.

Precious memories will forever linger in the hearts of his loved ones including; His Wife: Daphne Haines; Son: Dmitri (Chelsea) Haines; Sisters: Jean (Bradley) Lightbourn and Charmaine (Barry) Hills; In-Laws: Perry, Andy (Pam) and Effie Burrows; Aunts: Venice Gorsun and June Glennon; Nieces: Michelle (Spencer) White, Sandra and Dr. Jacqueline Lightbourn, Chantal (Max) Cornfield and Percephone (Arian) Ingraham; Nephew: Christopher Letts; and a host of other Relatives and Friends Including: William Wong, Daryl Marchant, Jerry Simons, Richard Hardy, Dejasson Orvil, Jenny Julian, Jennifer Sands (caregiver), The Lightbourn, Burrows, Antonas, Wong, Thompson and Carey Families, Michelle Eccles-Major and Family, The New Providence Community Church and the St. Thomas More Catholic Church Families, Errol’s Families in Ireland and Sweden, members of the Rotary Club of West Nassau and his Special Friends of ‘Ma Boys’; Matt Monaco, Lori Brickman, Gordon and Linda McLeod of Calgary Alberta, Canada and Fred Hofman and Family of Vancouver, Canada.

Relatives and Friends may pay their last respects at Butlers’ Funeral Homes & Crematorium, Ernest and York Street on Wednesday, November 20, 2019 from 10:30a.m. until 5:00 p.m.

There will be NO VIEWING at the Church.

PAGE 10, Tuesday, November 19, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

AT LEAST 4 WOUNDED BY GUNSHOTS DURING PROTEST IN HAITI PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti Associated Press

AT LEAST four people were shot and wounded during a small protest in Haiti’s capital yesterday after a speech by embattled President Jovenel Moise.

Several hundred people were marching from the Delmas to Petionville neighborhoods when shots were fired from nearby.

Associated Press journalists didn’t see the source of the shooting, but saw a local journalist, a police officer and two protesters rushed away with apparent bullet wounds. No information was

immediately available about the condition of the wounded people or their identities.

Yesterday was the anniversary of a key battle of the Haitian Revolution, and earlier in the day Moise rejected calls to resign.

The president said he would continue to try to negotiate with his opposition.

Opponents say Moise should leave office over economic mismanagement and failure to investigate corruption.

Leaders of the opposition including members of Haiti’s Senate organized months of protests that have paralysed

the country but demonstrations have been slackening in recent days, with some sections of the capital returning to near-normal activity.

Opposition members had called for mass marches yesterday but they did not materialize.

“The country is more than divided, the country is torn apart,” Moise said after reviewing members of Haiti’s newly reconstituted army. “We ask for unity, between the rich and the poor, between those of the top and the bottom, between the people with black skin and light skin, between rural and urban.”

A POLICE officer points his gun during yesterday’s protests

‘Give us $500,000 and you can be our ambassador in The Bahamas’ WASHINGTON Associated Press

EMAILS show that the Republican National Committee asked President Trump’s choice for the ambassador to The Bahamas job for a $500,000 donation as his Senate confirmation was being held up.

CBS News discovered a possible pay-for-play scheme involving San Diego billionaire Doug Manchester and the RNC. Manchester was first nominated for the role in 2017, but his nomination stayed in the Senate for nearly two and a half years. But then Hurricane Dorian ravaged The Bahamas in September.

Manchester, who has the nickname “Papa Doug,” packed up a private plane with supplies and flew to The Bahamas to help.

This got the president’s attention again. “I would also like to thank “Papa” Doug Manchester, hopefully the next Ambassador to The Bahamas, for the incredible amount of time, money and passion he has spent on helping to bring safety to The Bahamas,” Trump tweeted on September 7.

Three days later, CBS News found that RNC Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel asked Manchester for half a million dollars. “Would you consider putting together $500,000 worth of contributions from your famiily to ensure we hit our ambitious fundraising goal?” she asked.

Having her attention, Manchester brought up the Senate confirmation process.

“As you konw I am not supported to do any, but my wife if sending a contribution for $100,000,” Manchester wrote to the RNC chair. “Assuming we get voted out of the [Foreign Relations Committee” on Wednesday to the floor we need you to have the majority leader bring it to a majority vote ... Once confirmed, I our [sic] family will respond!”

When responding, Manchester copied staff of Republican Sens.

Rand Paul and Jim Risch, who were then aware that Manchester had said he’d give more cash to the party after being confirmed.

This was so problematic that

ABOVE: DOUG MANCHESTER, left, who had been nominated to serve as the US ambassador to The Bahamas by President Trump in 2017.

Left: Romney McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee.

Risch told the White House, which then asked Manchester to withdraw, according to CBS’ reporting.

Both Manchester and the RNC have defended their actions.

Manchester said he didn’t feel squeezed by the Republican Party when asked for the donation. “No, I didn’t. That’s part of politics. It’s unbelievable. You give and you give and you give and you give some more and more and more,” Manchester said.

He also batted down the assertion that he’d be ambassador to

The Bahamas if he had simply given the $500,000.

“No, because first of all, you have to get out of committee and you have to be voted on the floor,” Manchester told CBS News. “It’s a big process.”

When CBS pointed to Manchester’s wife’s donation and his offer to donate more money, which looked like he was trying to buy an ambassadorship, he replied, “Well, it looks like it to you. But it’s not the facts.”

“My wife gave out of separate funds and she in fact loves Donald Trump,” he added.

McDaniel wouldn’t sit down for an interview with the news outlet, but the RNC did release a statement.

“The chairwoman did not suggest in any way that it would more quickly advance his confirmation if members of his family made a political contribution,” it said.

Former Sen. Bob Corker, who represented Tennessee until he

retired this January, recalled holding up Manchester’s nomination.

He chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which Manchester’s nomination would have to get through.

“We had concerns about judgment, about demeanor, about just the whole reason for taking the job,” Corker told CBS. Corker was also concerned about McDaniel’s ask.

“The timing of that request obviously was not appropriate,” Corker said.

But the email Manchester wrote back was also a bad look, the exsenator said. “I can only tell you that if I received an email like that, there would have been a five-bell alarm that went off,” Corker said.

On October 31, Manchester’s company, the Manchester Financial Group, announced he was withdrawing his nomination ‘due to the threats on his and his family’s lives including three infant children under four years old.”

WEST BANK SETTLEMENTS NO LONGER ILLEGAL - US WASHINGTON Associated Press THE Trump administration yesterday said it no longer considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be a violation of international law, reversing four decades of American policy and further undermining the Palestinians’ effort to gain statehood.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the US is repudiating the 1978 State Department legal opinion that held that civilian settlements in the occupied territories are “inconsistent with international law.” Israeli leaders welcomed the decision while Palestinians and other nations warned that it undercut any chance of a broader peace deal.

Pompeo told reporters at the State Department that the Trump administration believes any legal questions about settlements should be resolved by Israeli courts and that declaring them a violation of international law distracts from larger efforts to negotiate a peace deal.

“Calling the establishment of civilian settlements inconsistent with international law has not advanced the cause of peace,” Pompeo said. “The hard truth is that there will never be a judicial resolution to the conflict, and arguments about who is right and who is wrong as a matter of international law will not bring peace.”

The change reflects the administration’s embrace of a hard-line Israeli view at the expense of the Palestinian quest for statehood. Similar actions have included President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the movement of the US Embassy to that city and the closure of the Palestinian diplomatic office in Washington.

“The U.S. administration has lost its credibility to play any future role in the peace process,” said Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The European Union warned of the potential repercussions in a statement following the announcement that did not mention the U.S. “All settlement activity is illegal under international law,” it said.

CRIMINAL CHARGES EXPECTED THIS PRINCE ANDREW’S BID TO PUT WEEK AGAINST EPSTEIN GUARDS SCANDAL BEHIND HIM BACKFIRES WASHINGTON Associated Press

TWO correctional officers responsible for guarding Jeffrey Epstein when he took his own life are expected to face criminal charges this week for falsifying prison records.

The federal charges could come as soon as today and are the first in connection with Epstein’s death. The wealthy financier died at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York while awaiting trial on charges of sexually abusing teenage girls.

The officers on Epstein’s unit at the federal jail in New York City are suspected of failing to check

JEFFREY EPSTEIN on him every half-hour, as required, and of fabricating log entries to claim they had. Federal prosecutors offered the guards a plea bargain, but the AP reported Friday that the officers declined the deal.

The expected charges will be filed by federal

prosecutors in Manhattan, who have been investigating Epstein’s Aug. 10 death.

Both guards were working overtime because of staffing shortages when Epstein was found. The officers have been placed on administrative leave while the FBI and the Justice Department’s inspector general investigate the circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death.

The city’s medical examiner ruled Epstein’s death a suicide, but that hasn’t stopped conspiracy theories. A forensic pathologist hired by Epstein’s family to observe the autopsy has said authorities could help clear things up by being more transparent.

LONDON Associated Press

PRINCE Andrew’s effort to put the Jeffrey Epstein scandal behind him may have instead done him irreparable harm.

While aides are trying to put the best face on his widely criticised interview with the BBC, royal watchers are asking whether he can survive the public relations disaster and remain a working member of the royal family.

The question facing Queen Elizabeth II and her advisers is how to protect the historic institution of the monarchy from the taint of a 21st-century sexand-trafficking scandal

PRINCE ANDREW and the repeated missteps of a prince who has been a magnet for bad publicity as he struggles to find a national role for himself.

“Prince Andrew, I think, really has to stay out of the limelight for the moment because there really, I think, is no coming back

from the damage that was done ... at least, not in the near future,” Kate Williams, a royal historian and professor at Reading University, told ITV News.

Andrew, the second son of Queen Elizabeth II, tried to end years of speculation about his role in the Epstein scandal by granting a no-holds barred interview to Emily Maitlis, the respected presenter of the BBC’s Newsnight program. But the strategy backfired when the prince failed to show empathy for the young women who were exploited by Epstein even as he defended his friendship with the American financier who was a convicted sex offender.

THE TRIBUNE

‘NO-ONE SHOULD BE LOCKED UP FOR SMOKING A JOINT’

AFTER Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said he favoured decriminalising possession of small amounts of marijuana and making the substance legal for medicinal and/or scientific purposes, readers reacted on tribune242.com.

Proudloudandfnm said: “Really don’t need to be wasting money and time on a political commission.

Let your friends go get a real job. Just legalise the stuff already . . .”

Sheeprunner12 had this to say: “Personal use of marijuana should be decriminalised . . . no person should be locked up for smoking a joint.”

There was this comment from BONEFISH: “The Bahamas will bring up the rear in its reform of marijuana laws. Any progressive ideas come to this country years later after they have been done in other countries.”

Tribune Business reported that BPL will invest $30m in rollingout Advanced Metering Infrastructure that it sees as critical to slashing delinquent private sector debts, prompting this comment from John: “So rather than reduce the cost of electricity, BPL is saying to the Bahamian people, ‘it is what it is, now police yourself, put $10 to run you for the weekend and stay in the dark until the next paycheck’. And they can also disconnect you remotely now. No need to come in ya yard and put lock on the meter for you to call one of your friends to unlock.”

Tom1912 had this to say: “Well the thing one must know about smart meters is that your utility company not only doesn’t need meter readers but can also selectively cut you off remotely, so you can imagine the fun that will be had when load shedding is carried out, even more favouritism.”

TheMadHatter said: “These people have no hesitation in wasting $30M of our money. Bring in some efficient generators and stop this foolishness before it starts, please.”

Don’t miss your chance to join the debate on tribune242.com.

Tuesday, November 19, 2019, PAGE 11