11192021 NEWS, SPORT AND BUSINESS

WEEKEND FRIDAY

McRib HIGH 81ºF LOW 73ºF

i’m lovin’ it!

CARS! CARS!

The Tribune

Volume: 118 No.248, November 19, 2021

Established 1903

Biggest And Best!

L AT E S T

N E W S

CLASSIFIEDS TRADER

O N

T R I B U N E 2 4 2 . C O M

THE PEOPLE’S PAPER: PRICE–$1

COVID PATIENTS FACE NEW RISK Experts warn mass use of anti-infection drugs poses threat

By TANYA SMITH-CARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net A PAN American Health Organisation official has raised the alarm about the “unprecedented” use of antimicrobials during the COVID-19 pandemic, which can lead to a rise in drug resistant infections.

PAHO Director Dr Carissa Etienne made the remarks at PAHO’s

IT’S IN THE BAG

webinar this week.

“As we continue to push to get the region immunised, today I want to call your attention to a very important consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Dr Etienne said. “Throughout this pandemic, we’ve seen the use of antimicrobials rise at unprecedented levels, with potentially serious consequences for years to come.

A BAHAMAS Power and Light source is alleging the company’s new board of directors cannot perform its duties due to an extension granted to the previous board and executives by the outgoing Minnis administration.

SEE PAGE THREE

CHAMBER LEADER’S ELECTION HEATS UP THE Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation’s (BCCEC) top post is set to be hotly contested tonight amid concerns it is no longer truly serving the private sector’s needs.

SEE PAGE FOUR

According to the BPL source, the extension was granted by the Free National Movement government just prior to the election and it allows that government’s appointed board and executives to remain in place, creating an awkward situation.

Speaking with The Tribune yesterday, the source

- SEE PAGE EIGHT

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

SEE BUSINESS SECTION

PRE-ELECTION BOARD AT BPL STILL IN PLACE

By TANYA SMITH-CARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net

NAUGHTY: PRODUCE THE DOCUMENT, MR PINDER

‘SHOW US THE PROOF ON HIRING’

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

A LOCAL fashion house has taken uniquely Bahamian motifs to create a line of bags that make a statement. See Weekend section.

FORMER Public Service Minister Brensil Rolle yesterday said it was “totally untrue” that people were hired in the civil service on the day of the election.

Mr Rolle challenged SEE PAGE FOUR

DISMISSAL CLAIM DRAGGED ON 12 YEARS

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A FORMER Polymers International supervisor has seen his $45,500 wrongful dismissal award upheld despite being in charge when the Freeport-based plant came perilously close to exploding.

Sir Michael Barnett, the Court of Appeal’s president, in a unanimous verdict said the

JUSTICE Petra Hanna-Adderley

manufacturer “could not reasonably” conclude that Philip Hepburn was guilty of gross negligence while admitting that the verdict “is not free from doubt”.

He added that Polymers

International knew Mr Hepburn was not well when he took charge of a June 2009 night shift that, according to the supervisor, saw a reactor overheat to such an extent that there “would have been an explosion, and everyone at the plant and in the surrounding neighbourhood could have been killed”, had he and other workers not taken measures to cool it down.

SEE BUSINESS SECTION

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

DIANE PHILLIPS: DESI AND DI HANGING UP THEIR APRONS

- SEE PAGE NINE

PAGE 2, Friday, November 19, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

BAHAMASAIR HAS RESUMED FLIGHTS TO HAITI

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net WITH the end of the country’s state of emergency, Bahamasair has resumed flights to Haiti, said Press Secretary Clint Watson.

Mr Watson made the announcement at the Office of the Prime Minister’s press briefing on Wednesday.

He was asked if the travel ban on Haiti fell away once the state of emergency and emergency orders expired. Mr Watson was also asked if Bahamians and permanent residents can return to the country and if the government is playing a role in assisting them in getting back.

“They surely can return,” he answered. “I’m pleased to announce that Bahamasair had its first flight to Haiti (Tuesday).

“There will be two flights per week (on) Bahamasair.

One to Cap-Haitien which was yesterday and the other to Port-au-Prince which will be on Saturday.”

He added there are also resumed flights to Cuba. “. . .Persons who want to return home are urged to call Bahamasair and book their flights and come on home.”

Stephanie St-Fleur, president of Human Rights Bahamas, said the group is happy Bahamian citizens who were stuck in Haiti are able to return to The Bahamas and help feed their families.

“Many of them were breadwinners for their families and this caused them a lot of economic issues,” she said.

“It’s not a human rights issue, it’s a national issue in terms of how our citizens were stuck and not allowed home. Many Bahamians did reach out to us, some lost their jobs, others homes.

“We also reached out to the Bahamian Embassy in Haiti, made a few calls to foreign affairs, (I) can confirm some of the Bahamian nationals who personally reached out to me did make it home with the assistance of foreign affairs.”

OCEAN CAY, The Bahamas -- Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Philip Davis and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investments & Aviation the Chester Cooper, along with MSC Cruises Executive Chairman Pierfrancesco Vago, led the Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Marine Conservation Center on Ocean Cay yesterday. (BIS Photos/Kemuel Stubbs)

PM URGES CRUISE LINES TO ADHERE TO ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribune media.net

PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis urged cruise lines to strictly adhere to regulations relating to pollution and environmental degradation.

His comments on Ocean Cay yesterday came during a groundbreaking ceremony for MSC’s new Conservation Center.

The centre aims to regenerate ocean health and educate visitors about marine life.

The centre will open next spring to researchers and guests.

Through the work of the centre, officials hope to reverse the decline in corals around the world as global temperatures rise, among other things.

“Your multi-pronged focus on coral preservation and growth, combined with your facilitation of academic research and public education, are exactly the kinds of initiatives that we wish to prioritise as part of our New Day Agenda,” Mr Davis said.

“The mere fact of travelling here, and the fact of being here on a land mass the size of Ocean Cay, heightens awareness of the fact that our country is an ocean state.

“Although we have only been in office for eight weeks, my Administration has made clear its commitment to developing the ‘Blue Economy’, a term of art as well as science, that speaks not only to the potential economic benefits which may be derived from our seas, but also support for the many

ecosystems on which our lives and livelihoods so crucially depend.

“At the recent UN Summit on Climate Change in Glasgow, COP 26, I highlighted the fragility and vulnerability of The Bahamas to the impacts of climate change.

“We know full well that carbon emissions are the main driver behind the rise in global temperatures, which in turn produce the increase in hurricanes, the rise in sea levels, and the flooding, fires and devastation that we have seen worldwide.

“But in respect of the coral reefs which are the main focus this Conservation Centre, we know that other factors are also at play.

“As you drive this venture forward to what will hopefully be a very

successful future, I encourage you to also keep those other causes in sight.

“We can prevent damage and degradation in the ways that we navigate shipping lanes.

“We can observe strict adherence to regulations concerning waste and pollution.

“And we can do whatever we possibly can to avoid damaging the seabed and those prized coral reefs every time we lay anchor in our beautiful, aquamarine waters.

“Let us see conservation as acts of prevention, not just as efforts to mitigate and repair once the damage has been done.”

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, November 19, 2021, PAGE 3

FROM PAGE ONE

Concerns over guns after daylight shooting on Bimini

PRE-ELECTION BOARD AT BPL STILL IN PLACE

alleged that prior to the election officials at the Ministry of Works assured BPL’s staff there would be a positive turnaround in the relationship between staff and management.

On two occasions The Tribune was called in and witnessed listening tours by then-Minister of Works and Utilities Desmond Bannister as he sought to understand the myriad problems between BPL’s executives, staff and the union.

Since last year there have been numerous occasions where staff withdrew labour and marched around the BPL building.

The work stoppage was said to be caused by the tumultuous relationship between staff and executive management, the union saying its members were severely disrespected by management and an unsigned, long overdue industrial agreement.

The BPL informant said: “The FNM double crossed the union at BPL and just before election when they realised they were losing they went. . . and asked for an extension for the board and the executives in BPL.

Extension “So even though the PLP is in power, (an official) granted an extension to the board and to the executives. The FNM had promised to shake up all the slackness that was going on at BPL with management, but instead they doubled down.

They deceived the union. I understand that the FNM forced an extension,” the source alleged.

When contacted, Mr Bannister did not directly answer the question posed, but said board appointments are made the same time each year. He said the issue had nothing to do with the recent election.

“All board appointments, except those which the law specifically provides are for more than one year, are made annually at the same time of the year

by Cabinet,” he said. “BPL is no different. It has absolutely nothing to do with elections.”

Pedro Rolle was recently appointed chairman of the BPL board of directors by the Davis administration. The Tribune reached out to him for commentary on the matter.

“I can’t comment on that,” Mr Rolle said. “That’s a matter that is above the status of this board and the previous board.

I would prefer the minister himself or someone else in authority to comment on that.

I am not going to comment on that matter. I am not going to comment on that at all.”

Under normal circumstances, a board of directors would remain in place after an election until a new board is appointed and the members are then invited to vacate. There is a new board selected for BPL. The minister is usually involved in that decision and in this case, under the Electricity Act, he or she is actually responsible for appointing board members at the corporation.

The source continued: “The new government is now in a pickle and very frustrated because they cannot make a move as they might be taken to court because these people have a legal extension. “. . .So we don’t know what is going to happen at BPL because it has two boards now.”

The Tribune also contacted the FNM appointed chairman, Dr Donovan Moxey to see if he could shed light on the matter.

He, too, referred The Tribune to the minister responsible.

“I have no comment,” Dr Moxey said. “The board is going through a transition.

While we are going through a transition, I don’t see the need to have anything public to say, unless, of course, it is a dire emergency. I don’t have a comment on that so I refer you to the minister.”

The Tribune also sought comment from BPL executives and its Director of Communications K Quincy Parker who did not respond directly, but said the government should answer to the status of the boards.

Mr Parker said: “Board appointments are the purview of the government of The Bahamas. Any questions about the board should be directed to the government.”

The Tribune made several attempts to contact the current Minister of Works Alfred Sears, to no avail.

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THE brazen daylight shooting of a man on Bimini has sparked serious concerns over the proliferation of guns now being seen in the Family Islands.

A video of the incident circulated on social media and WhatsApp yesterday.

Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, Minister of Social Services and Urban Development Obie Wilchcombe, along with Health and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville were in Bimini when the incident occurred.

Dr Darville, who is a physician, was able to assist the victim, who sustained serious gunshot injuries and was airlifted to New Providence for further medical treatment.

According to police, the incident occurred around 9am yesterday in Bailey Town.

Assistant Superintendent of Police Stephen Rolle reported that officers at the Alice Town Police Station received information about a shooting. He said initial investigations revealed that two men were involved in a physical argument, which resulted in one of the men being shot about the body.

ASP Rolle said the victim was taken to the Bimini Government Clinic in serious condition and later transported to New Providence for further medical attention.

He said investigations are continuing into the matter.

A video of the shooting shows two men fighting in the street. One man was seen pointing and firing a gun at the other. Several shots rang out and the victim could be seen running away. The gunman

“I am wounded by it and severely disappointed. The reality is that we have to take guns off our streets.

I think that the proliferation of guns in the capital and also in the second city, is now moving to the islands.”

Obie Wilchcombe, the MP for West Grand Bahama and Bimini was also seen chasing and shooting at the victim who was injured and bleeding.

When asked by reporters why the victim was taken on the back of a truck and not in an ambulance to the clinic, Mr Wilchcombe said the ambulance was out of order.

“There is an ambulance here, but what I discovered today is that it was not working… it would not start,” he said.

“We need to have a better plan of renewing and the plan must be where we change vehicles every two years. I thank God… that the Minister of Health was here and he was able to administer help to the young man.

“And it is a most interesting thing because he came here to administer the vaccines. But, in fact, he was on the scene and saw the man and was able to discover that something was wrong and administered help. I thank God for him, and I think God might have sent him here

to save the man’s life.”

Mr Wilchcombe, the MP for West Grand Bahama and Bimini, expressed concern about the guns on the street, and gun violence in the country.

“I am wounded by it and severely disappointed,” he said of the shooting. “The reality is that we have to take guns off our streets.

I think that the proliferation of guns in the capital and also in the second city, is now moving to the islands.

“And the incident this morning, obviously, we feel very badly about the injury to the young man.

But the truth is we have a bigger problem. The bigger problem is that we don’t have to have guns on our streets.”

He stressed that there are too many weapons being smuggled into the country.

“We have to do more to protect our borders.

It is all well and good to talk about protecting our borders against illegal immigration, but I

would prefer us to have an equally strong campaign about keeping weapons off our streets and out of the hands of individuals who are responsible and causing for what happened today.”

He also said: “What we must do now is… ensure that we get guns off our streets.”

When asked how he felt about the video, the MP believes that it speaks to the inability of persons to resolve conflicts without violence.

“Why can’t we resolve issues without having to develop to what we saw this morning? My ministry is certainly looking at gender violence, and looking at a number of issues we believe have been talked about over the years, but very little done.

“We have seen where pieces of legislation should have been completed; we saw where sections of legislation passed, and sections of legislation had carried out, particularly as it relates to child abuse.

“So, I intend to at the

next meeting in Parliament when we discuss the budget to speak about those issues and the initiatives being taken by my ministry. It is imperative that we do something about it. We don’t want to find ourselves another year and going through the same thing. But something we should be starting immediately is public relations and more advertisements, and getting the message across because we believe it is important that we display common decency and respect for our fellowmen.”

Mr Wilchcombe indicated that he knows the individual involved and is very hurt by what had taken place on Bimini.

“I do know everyone in my constituency. I’ve either seen or spoken with them. Because of the campaign, you know the names and you have to reach out to everyone.

“That is why I am so wounded by it, these are my people.

“And whether they voted for me or not, it does not matter, these are all my people and when one hurt, we all hurt. And I am hurt by it, and feel very badly that it happened and what caused it to happen.”

The MP said that a gun is the weapon of people who lack courage.

“If you have courage, you can sit and argue, and sit and debate; you can sit and agree to disagree.

“But that weapon is giving people unnecessary power and it is giving the weak person power and they utilise it the wrong way.

“And so, today, yes, the people of Bimini would be hurt by it, and so am I, and I feel very badly it has happened and pray to God for his life,” he said.

POLICE COMMISSIONER SPEAKS OUT AGAINST SEX CRIMES

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

COMMISSIONER of Police Paul Rolle spoke out against sex crimes yesterday, saying there should be “no more tolerance for the abuse that existed for years unchecked”.

The police chief added his opinion to the public discourse as recent incidents of assaults and domestic abuse have sparked outrage in the community and brought more attention to the issues.

Yesterday he tweeted that rape, marital rape, date rape, unlawful sex and incest “all speaks to the volume of this problem.”

“No more tolerance for the abuse that existed for years unchecked. Truth is, many of us are products of rape. We need change now! Rape is not statute barred,” he tweeted.

At the end of the tweet was a gif with a green parrot and the words “deal with it” in the animated image.

When contacted by The Tribune and asked if there was an increase in certain sexual offences, the Commissioner responded by WhatsApp saying:

COMMISSIONER of Police Paul Rolle.

“I don’t have those figures. I am simply voicing my opinion on the public debate.

“The knee jerk reaction is like this is something new. Whether an increase or decrease is really not the issue. It has to be condemned otherwise it will continue unabated.”

In mid-October, police released statistics that revealed there had been an eight percent increase in rapes, with 40 rapes recorded from January 1 to September 30 compared with 37 during the same period in 2020.

Within the last few days, a

chain of events has increased the spotlight on domestic abuse and sex crimes that have sparked widespread conversation.

There was the recent death of D’Onya Bella Walker, four, who police confirmed died as a result of blunt force trauma to the body which resulted in multiple fractures earlier this month.

Police said they received information from medical practitioners at Princess Margaret Hospital stating that a female child was brought into the facility unresponsive, she later succumbed to her injuries.

The girl’s mother was charged with one count each of exposing a child to grievous harm and cruelty to children. A 33-year-old man was also charged with a count of child cruelty and murder, after police accused him of intentionally and unlawfully causing Bella’s death on the day in question.

Police also recently arrested a man who was stabbed by his girlfriend because she suspected he was sexually abusing her 12-yearold daughter.

This week CCTV footage was released showing a woman, who was holding a young child, being dragged towards a car by a man

she knows before she falls to the ground and is attacked in the street. Bystanders intervened to stop the assault, with one eventually removing the child from the woman’s arms. The man drove off in his car only to return a short time later to run the woman over with his speeding vehicle. She was also dragged a short distance by the car.

The man has been taken into custody. Police said the incident was a domestic dispute.

As for marital rape, Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis was previously asked if this issue will be on his administration’s agenda.

He told The Nassau Guardian: “I have too many other things on my agenda to be thinking about.”

Yet, Mr Davis later stated he believed a national conversation is needed concerning the criminalisation of marital rape.

“Marital rape is wrong,” Mr Davis said in a tweet last week.

“We remain one of the few countries where that is not recognised in the law. An effort to change the law should be part of a larger national conversation and consensus. I very much support having that national conversation.”

PM WILL MAKE DECISION ON NEXT STEPS FOR SPORTS AUDIT

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis will decide whether “damning” findings from an audit of the National Sports Authority should be turned over to the Attorney General’s Office for further investigation.

According to Press Secretary Clint Watson yesterday, Mr Davis was sent the report and will make a decision on the next steps.

Both of those reports we spoke to particularly the NSA and even the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture itself all of them have revealed some damning facts, just serious, very serious about it,” Mr Watson said when asked if the NSA probe’s findings would be turned over to Attorney General Ryan Pinder.

“Of course, what we have done is we’ve looked

PRIME Minister Philip ‘Brave’ Davis. at these reports. They are now going to be submitted to the Prime Minister to review. He is going to have to review them and make a determination so we’ll wait to hear from him.

“He’s not reviewed them as yet; they have been sent to him. So, we wait for his review to determine the course of action on that, but

yes, very serious allegations in those reports.”

Auditor General Terrance Bastian in an audit of the NSA for the period between July 1, 2018 to January 2021 said a contract was awarded without Cabinet approval among other problems.

He also found instances where cheques to contractors were collected by a senior official of the Ministry of Youth, Sports & Culture.

The Office of the Auditor General’s report, tabled in Parliament Monday, found poor maintenance practices at the agency, inadequate inventory controls and boards that were not able to carry out the functions of the authority, among other things.

“We were concerned about the following,” the report said. “(A) The micromanagement of the operational affairs of NSA.

Section 8 of the Sports Authority Act, 2011 indicates that ‘the minister may give to the authority directions of a general or of a specific nature as to the policy to be followed by the authority in the performance of its functions as appear to the minister to be requisite in the public interest.’ However, documents obtained suggest that circumvention of controls may have occurred. “(B) The awarding of a contract without Cabinet approval along with the receipt of items by NSA before payment was effected.”

In its conclusion, the OAG said: “Having examined the accounting system, we conclude that there were many failures of executive management in breach of the Financial Administration and Audit Act 2010, Financial Regulations 1975 and the Sports Authority

Act 2011. We have noted our observations in the report and concluded that besides several control functions in need of overhaul the accounts are being fairly maintained.”

Earlier this year, former Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis ordered a lockdown of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture before receiving an internal audit that led to the resignation of then-Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture MP Lanisha Rolle.

The Tribune reported that when ministry officials and the board of the NSA became concerned that established processes and procedures were not being followed, they took their concerns to Dr Minnis.

The Office of the Auditor General was in the midst of auditing the NSA––which manages and develops sporting facilities––at the time.

PAGE 4, Friday, November 19, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

‘SHOW US THE PROOF ON HIRING’ FROM PAGE ONE

State Public Service Minister Pia Glover Rolle to produce the evidence to support her claims, including the assertion that dozens of people are being paid but sitting at home because there are no jobs for them to do.

Mr Rolle said if she did, he would retract his statement.

On Wednesday, Mrs Glover-Rolle disclosed that the government was trying to find somewhere to place the people who were at home, but receiving salaries.

She placed a conservative figure of 40 on the number of workers in this category, who are a part of the 52-week jobs programme spread across the country. She said it was possible some may have to be disengaged as a hiring freeze continues until well into next year.

Yesterday, the former Garden Hills MP rejected the assertion.

“What I can tell you is that is totally untrue, “Mr Rolle said when he was contacted by this newspaper.

“I’ll begin by saying that unlike the PLP who did that in 2017 and had hundreds—not 20 or 30—hundreds of individuals engaged by word of mouth that we were compelled to hire because they were legitimately hired, we thought, by the government of The Bahamas.

Media “We thought the word of ministers meant something and we hired these persons without any rank or any discussion or going to the media.

We just thought that they were hired by the PLP. It was not their fault that the election was called or that they were hired just before the election and you can check the Ministry of Public Service, you know.

“I could tell you many things, I could tell you what has been said to me and one of the things that was said to me for example was that a minister (in the Christie administration) with the authority to hire left his office at 1am on Election Day, hiring.

“We didn’t do that.

Every single person that we engaged was legitimately hired. It was not done on Election Day and all the persons we hired in the programme (are) consistent with what was done every single year from the inception of the programme by both the PLP and FNM.” He explained how the

52-week programme has worked.

“There is a budget for the 52-week programme.

Persons were engaged in the programme and formally what we did was we sent them out to various government ministries and the private sector. Many members of the private sector hired these individuals during the year and when the budget was passed in June of each year and when we took note of what we got in July of each year in August of every year from 2007 when the Free National Movement founded the programme, we placed individuals.

That is exactly what we did this year.

“Unfortunately the election was called and some were caught up in it.

“So, what I will say is unlike what the PLP did, all of the persons that we engaged in the programme were properly and officially hired.

MINISTER OF HEALTH TOURS ALICE TOWN, BIMINI CLINIC AS PART of an assessment of medical facilities throughout the Bahama Islands, Minister of Health and Wellness Michael Darville, pictured conversing with medical staff, took a close look at the clinic in Alice Town, Bimini yesterday. The minister has also toured clinics in Andros, Eleuthera, Berry Islands, Exuma, Cat Island, Long Island, Acklins, Inagua, Mayaguana.

(BIS Photos/Ulric Woodside)

Programme “They were all given a letter of appointment.

They all went through a process. The same process that was used every single year and more importantly, and the only exception is, we wanted to make sure that persons who engaged in the programme this year depending on where they were placed that they were properly vaccinated.

“Some people they were all selected in July and August and some people did not get vaccinated in time and therefore could not be placed in time, but they were legitimately hired and hired before Election Day.” He also said: “So, my comment is that minister was wrong to seek to expose these individuals who are all properly engaged by the government of The Bahamas before elections who’ve gone through the service and engaged by the minister of public service over the years to replace individuals on the 52-weeks programme and we did the same thing this year. That’s no exception.”

He challenged the state minister to make public the proof to support her claims.

“If the minister can provide names of individuals who are home, who are being paid, who were hired on Election Day or afterwards —if she can provide that I will retract my statement, but I stand by my statement until she provides the names.”

COVID patients face new risk FROM PAGE ONE “Data from hospital settings in the region shows that 90-100 percent of hospitalised patients were given an antimicrobial as part of their COVID treatment, while only seven percent of these patients had a secondary infection that required the use of these drugs.

“Antimicrobials are crucial life-saving drugs, but they must be used responsibly since bacteria can develop resistance and render these drugs ineffective over time.”

Dr Etienne said across the region, several countries are reporting surges in detection of drug-resistant infections that have likely contributed to the rise in mortality during the pandemic in hospitalised patients.

“Let’s not forget that health facilities have been overwhelmed by the COVID-19 pandemic,” she said. “Many ICUs operated at two to three times their capacity.

“A rise in the use of invasive procedures such as intubation or ventilation, the use of antimicrobials and other drugs, overcrowding and underlying conditions such as diabetes or obesity increased the risks for patients

for bacterial and fungal infections.

“Limited availability of gloves and gowns and changes in cleaning and disinfection practices were other factors that led to infections spreading more quickly.”

She said antimicrobials have also been misused outside of hospital settings.

And, drugs such as Ivermectin, Azithromycin and Chloroquine were broadly used as unproven treatments, even after PAHO had strong evidence that they had no benefit to COVID patients.

She also had good news, saying there has been a five percent decrease in COVID-19 cases and a 17 percent reduction in related deaths in the region.

PAHO reports that over the past week, there were nearly 760,000 new COVID cases and 12,800 COVID-related deaths reported in the region.

Dr Etienne acknowledged weeks of a COVID-19 declining trend.

“We have seen a five percent decrease in new cases in the region of the Americas over the previous week, and a 17 percent decrease in new deaths,” Dr Etienne said.

Although there was good

news of a regional drop in cases, Dr Etienne also said some Caribbean countries are still experiencing rises in COVID-19 infections.

“In the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic and Barbados continue to report a steady rise in new infections,” she said.

“The Cayman Islands is experiencing its highest incidence of COVID infections to date and two thirds of these cases are among the unvaccinated.

“Meanwhile Trinidad and Tobago is witnessing a sharp rise in COVID deaths as ICU beds fill with COVID patients.

But countries across Central and South America are seeing a decline in new infections, except for Bolivia, which continues to experience rising cases.”

Dr Etienne said it bears repeating that the COVID

pandemic is still very active in our region and no country should let its guard down due to current low numbers.

“As we near the holiday season, we remind everyone that it’s up to all of us to keep each other safe by getting vaccinated and following the public health measures that have proven effective against this virus, like social distancing and mask wearing,” she said.

“Today, we have reached an important milestone: half of people in Latin America and the Caribbean have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

“And, nearly 3.5 million COVID vaccine doses are due to arrive in our region this week, helping us reach even more people. But many countries remain far behind.”

TWO MORE COVID-19 DEATHS

TWO more people have been added to the nation’s COVID-19 death toll.

The deceased were both women from New Providence.

A 58-year-old woman died on September 11 and an 86-year-old woman died on October 8.

The nation has recorded 671 COVID-19 deaths while 67 other deaths remain under investigation.

Officials also said 11 new cases were recorded on November 17, bringing the confirmed number of cases in the country to 22,640 since the start of the pandemic. Only 209 of those cases are active, however.

Forty-three people are in hospital with the virus.

MAN CHARGED WITH MAKING THREATS, CAUSING DAMAGE

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net A 25-YEAR-OLD man was charged with making threats and causing damage.

Dareio Ferguson, 25, appeared before Assistant Chief Magistrate Subusola Swain yesterday.

Ferguson was charged with threatening to harm

Jarad Miller on November 11 and causing damage to his phone the same day.

During yesterday’s hearing, Ferguson pleaded guilty to damaging Miller’s phone, but denied issuing threats of harm.

After accepting his pleas, Magistrate Swain granted him bail at $2,000 with one surety and the matter was adjourned to January 21.

TO ADVERTISE IN THE TRIBUNE

TEL: 325-3341

CALL 502 2394

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, November 19, 2021, PAGE 5

PINTARD: WE OUGHT TO CHOOSE WISELY WHO WE COMMIT OURSELVES TO

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

Michael Pintard nominated for FNM’s leadership post

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net MARCO City MP Michael Pintard yesterday sold himself as a “fearless” politician who would seek to engage Free National Movement freedom fighters, former parliamentarians from the FNM’s 2017 term in office and conduct a post mortem on the party’s crushing election defeat if he wins the party’s top post.

He spoke to reporters at FNM headquarters on Mackey Street after he was officially nominated for the party’s leadership post, which will be contested during the party’s one-day convention on November 27.

The MP also accused the government of bullying tactics, adding that he had the will to fight where and when needed.

“I think it’s important to be fearless,” Mr Pintard said as he submitted his nomination form. He was supported by former Members of Parliament Don Saunders, Miriam Emmanuel and Travis Robinson.

“What we are already seeing is bullying tactics by some members of this administration and again it’s difficult to believe that the leadership is aware that this is going on and so we intend to engage with the leadership of the Progressive Liberal Party with a view of getting them to set the correct tone for members of their organisation who were elected to be the gatekeepers of the country and to preside over the affairs of all Bahamians.

“In the event that those actions are not taken you need someone in the

MARCO City MP Michael Pintard speaks yesterday. Photo: Racardo Thomas/Tribune staff

chair who is absolutely fearless who is prepared to help our people lawyer up so that we can take legal action when their rights are being infringed upon. To engage if necessary, in vigorous protest to register our concern and disgust for the kind of behaviour we are already seeing in certain ministries.”

He also addressed speculation that whoever wins the leadership of the FNM will only be regarded as a transitional leader.

“I don’t disagree with their view that there is an opportunity for somebody else to lead. What we want is the best person to take us into (an) election.

“My assignment right now until the next convention is to repair those dysfunctions that may exist

in our organisation to unite all Free National Movement supporters no matter who historically they’ve supported as leader, to reignite the excitement in this organisation as the vehicle of change for the tens of thousands of FNM who stayed at home. “…We intend to perform and the reality is if you don’t perform then you don’t deserve to lead,” Mr Pintard said.

Mr Pintard said it was his hope that one leader emerged from private discussions between the other contenders for the leadership.

East Grand Bahama MP Kwasi Thompson and Central Grand Bahama MP Iram Lewis are also vying for the post.

The nomination process for leader closed yesterday.

FNM’S ONE DAY CONVENTION TO COST $100,000

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

THE Free National Movement’s oneday convention on November 27 to select its new leader is an “expensive” undertaking and will cost the party an estimated $100,000.

Treasurer Dwight Sawyer said all of the costs associated with the event were absorbed by the party.

He was asked by The Tribune to reveal the expense as the party announced it officially closed nominations for leader of the party yesterday at 5.01pm.

Michael Pintard, Kwasi Thompson and Iram Lewis are the only candidates on the register contesting the leadership position.

“The cost of a convention has always been very expensive and the party has decided that it will take and undergo the entire cost of the convention,” Mr Smith said.

“For this convention we put a budget together of slightly under about $100,000.

Travel “This will include airfare travel for all of the delegates coming from the Family Islands, room and board, ground transportation and all of the expenses associated with having a one-day convention.”

The party also addressed speculation that whoever wins the post of leader next week would be acting in the interim until the organisation held its main convention in February.

To this, Deputy Leader Peter Turnquest said the post would not be up for grabs next year.

Mr Turnquest said: “No. The council has authorised for the leadership convention at the end of the month and the

convention that will be held in February, will be for all other officers from deputy leader straight on down. “ He said the party’s constitution called for a convention every two years at which time the party would go through choosing a leader and officers again.

The party is also confident that choosing a new leader is what the party needs to unite supporters.

“When you get into an election for

“The cost of a convention has always been very expensive and the party has decided that it will take and undergo the entire cost of the convention. For this convention we put a budget together of slightly under about $100,000.” leader or any other position of the party you are always going to have different views and supporters of different leaders come forward,” Mr Turnquest said.

“That is a part of the democratic process. So this is no different.

“We expect fully that all the persons who are vying for the position of leader will rally behind whoever is successful on the 27th and that person will give all of their attention towards unifying the party bringing all of the various elements together, healing from whatever differences there may be and learning from that period as a unified cohesive body focused on regaining the government and providing the Bahamian people with a viable alternative to the existing regime,” Mr Turnquest said.

WHILE expressing support for the criminalisation of marital rape, Marco City MP Michael Pintard said people must choose wisely who they marry to avoid the possibility of sexual abuse within their union.

Additionally, he said, any law that is drafted must send a clear message that false allegations against a spouse will carry tremendous penalties.

Mr Pintard told reporters yesterday that he was of the view that rape within marriage is not a private matter and that a woman reserves the right to refuse intimacy with her spouse for any number of reasons.

“Violence in general, sexual violence in particular against women and children have unfortunately grown in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas and as policymakers we have to engage in the discussion and lead the country in discussing the way forward and how we must resolve this issue,” he said.

“It is not a private matter.

Violence in general - sexual violence in particular - is a national matter that the state should in fact engage in.

“A woman has a right to refuse to engage in intimacy with her partner in the event, for example, she believes that her life is at risk because of his other activities outside of the home she reserves the right to protect her body. Not just for her, but for her children who she has carriage of along with her partner.

“A second case where marital rape clearly is possible is if two persons carry the title of husband and wife, however, they are not operating as husband and wife they may have been estranged for a year, for two years, for three years.

“The man by virtue of having papers for that relationship does not have the entitlement to enjoy all the benefits if in fact they are

separated.

“So, there are multiple grounds in which a woman reserves the right to say ‘no’ to engage in intimacy with the man who she initially may have been in love with.”

Should the country get to a point where the act is to be regarded as an offence, Mr Pintard said there must be an effort to ensure a woman does not falsely accuse a man without harsh penalties.

“We have to be careful to make sure that any laws crafted to address this heinous situation that we face as a country does not give leeway to a woman who may wish to act in a vindictive way against a man with whom she no longer enjoys a good relationship or they may be in a custody battle and she may desire to have sole custody of the children,” he said.

“So, it is in the realm of possibility that a woman can in fact accuse a man who is not at all guilty and, therefore, the law, any law that is crafted, must make sure that the clear message is sent that there are tremendous penalties for fabricating charges against an otherwise innocent man.

“But here is the real issue for me. We ought to choose wisely who we commit ourselves to long term so that these kinds of matters will reduce the possibility of them occurring in our lives.

“So, do I believe that it’s a possibility for someone to engage in marital rape? Yes, of course.”

Elizabeth MP JoBeth Coleby-Davis has also added her support to those calling for marital rape to be criminalised.

“The culture of violence against women and children in The Bahamas must end,” she tweeted this week. “I stand by the (government’s) introduction of a sex offenders registry. And I join the voices calling for the criminalisation of marital rape. I’m in a position to translate my talk into action. It must end.”

PAGE 6, Friday, November 19, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

The Tribune Limited NULLIUS ADDICTUS JURARE IN VERBA MAGISTRI “Being Bound to Swear to The Dogmas of No Master”

LEON E. H. DUPUCH,

Publisher/Editor 1903-1914

SIR ETIENNE DUPUCH,

Kt., O.B.E., K.M., K.C.S.G., (Hon.) LL.D., D.Litt .

Publisher/Editor 1919-1972 Contributing Editor 1972-1991

EILEEN DUPUCH CARRON,

C.M.G., M.S., B.A., LL.B. Publisher/Editor 1972-

Published daily Monday to Friday

Shirley & Deveaux Streets, Nassau, Bahamas N3207 TELEPHONES

News & General Information Advertising Manager Circulation Department Nassau fax Freeport, Grand Bahama Freeport fax

(242) 322-1986 (242) 502-2394 (242) 502-2386 (242) 328-2398 (242)-352-6608 (242) 352-9348

WEBSITE, TWITTER & FACEBOOK www.tribune242.com

@tribune242

tribune news network

Ethiopia on the brink as crisis threatens ‘peace and stability’ of region Secretary of State Antony Blinken is warning that the worsening situation in Ethiopia puts at risk the “peace and stability” of the Horn of Africa.

The comments were made on Nov. 17, 2021, as Blinken began a five-day trip to Africa during which he will speak with regional leaders about concerns of an all-out civil war in the continent’s second most populous nation. The diplomatic mission follows criticism of the U.S. and the international community over its reaction to a conflict that has seen numerous accusations of war crimes.

The Conversation asked Gloria Emeagwali, professor of African history at Central Connecticut State University, to explain how the crisis in Ethiopia developed, and what hope there is for a path away from catastrophe.

What is the current situation in Ethiopia?

The conflict in the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia has now been going on for more than a year. While major fighting has been between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and Ethiopian government forces, armed groups from neighbouring Eritrea have also been involved.

The fighting has been particularly intense. Both the TPLF and federal government forces have been accused by the United Nations of human rights violations, including systematic ethnically based rape and massacres. Concern has recently turned to the risk of starvation for hundreds of thousands of people cut off from supplies.

And things could get worse. There is a risk of an all-out civil war engulfing Ethiopia’s population of 110 million.

Fighting has spread from the Tigray region, which was the focus of the early part of the conflict. The TPLF and its allies continue to move south from their base in Mekelle in the north, and have seized strategically important towns such as Lalibela and Dessie. The Ethiopian government has expressed fears that the fighting may soon engulf the capital Addis Ababa.

What is the immediate cause of the conflict in Ethiopia?

There is a long history to the fighting, but the spark to the current phase was an attack on federal troops based in Mekelle, by the TPLF, on Nov. 4, 2020.

At least 1,000 troops were kidnapped and an undefined number were killed by TPLF insurgents. This sparked a retaliatory strike by government forces and a declaration of a state of emergency by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

What is the broader context of the crisis?

For almost three decades, the TPLF controlled the government and military.

During this period it gained enormous control over the country’s economy and land as well as over billions of dollars in aid received each year. The TPLF ruled in such a way that it redefined Ethiopia largely by ethnicity, with Tigrayans reaping most of the power.

Opposition to the TPLF-dominated government contributed in April 2018 to Abiy Ahmed’s election. As prime minister, Abiy began limiting the economic dominance of the TPLF and instituting more centralised federal policies.

The Abiy administration promised a new level of transparency, freed thousands of prisoners and brokered peace with neighbouring Eritrea – leading to his winning the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize.

But even before then, political resentment was brewing. An assassination attempt on Abiy in June 2018 was followed by a deepening power struggle between the TPLF and the new administration.

How could all-out civil war affect the region?

A lengthy and bloody conflagration in Ethiopia would likely have ripple effects in neighbouring Eritrea, Sudan and Kenya, with a steady flow of refugees, weapons and displaced population groups.

Any further instability is likely to embolden terrorist organisations such as Al-Shabab, which could spread westward into Ethiopia and even Sudan from its

base in Somalia. This would shatter the effective containment model put in place by the previous and current Ethiopian governments.

More peaceful regions of the Horn – such as Djibouti and Somaliland – could attract terrorists seeking prisoners of war or forced recruits.

A civil war could also worsen instability in Sudan, which itself is currently embroiled in a standoff between prodemocracy activists and the military.

As for Ethiopia itself, all-out civil war could be catastrophic, igniting tensions in a country that consists of more than 80 ethnic groups, and potentially leading to the breakup of the country into unviable political entities and enclaves.

Why has there been criticism of the US response?

While the Biden administration has called for all “belligerents in the Tigray region” to agree to a cease-fire, Ethiopiaand Eritrea have accused the U.S. of supporting the insurgents.

In a letter to the United Nations, Eritrean foreign minister Osman Saleh blamed the Biden administration for “stoking further conflict and destabilisation” in Tigray in a bid to “resuscitate the remnants of the TPLF regime.”

The Ethiopian government similarly accused the U.S. of meddling in the region and of “treating on equal footing” the democratically elected government and the TPLF – which the Ethiopian government declared a terrorist group in May 2021.

After Washington announced sanctions against all sides in the conflict in September, Abiy responded with an online letter to Biden accusing the U.S. administration of failing to “openly and sternly reprimand the terrorist group in the same manner it has been chastising my Government.”

A decision in early November to remove Ethiopia from a U.S. trade programme over what Biden described as “gross violations” has only worsened relations with Abiy’s government.

Ethiopians suspect that U.S. foreign policy is being influenced in part by Washington’s support for Egyptian president Abdul Fattah al-Sisi in a dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, an enormous hydroelectric power project on the Blue Nile that Ethiopia says it needs for a reliable electrical grid and economic development.

Ethiopia began filling the dam reservoir, which will take about five years, in July 2020. Yet Egypt, which sees the dam as a threat to its freshwater supplies, has said the dam reservoir should not be filled without a legal agreement about allocation of the Blue Nile’s water. Former U.S. President Donald Trump cut aid to Ethiopia in September 2020, with officials in his administration saying the country had not abided by its promise to resolve the dispute. It is important to note that the dam was pioneered by the TPLF-led government under Meles Zenawi. Critics argue that any disintegration of Ethiopia would strengthen Egypt’s position in negotiations over the dam.

What can be done to avoid an all-out civil war?

It may be almost too late to avert an all-out civil war in Ethiopia.

But pressure from the African Union and member states that border Ethiopia, along with engagement with civil organisations within the country, may push the warring parties toward peace talks.

Meanwhile, there are some actions that the main protagonists can take to bring down tensions.

Declaring the TPLF a terrorist organisation was likely a misguided policy by Abiy, and this could be rescinded as a gesture of goodwill. In return, the TPLF should recognise Abiy Ahmed as the democratically elected prime minister of Ethiopia – something it has refused to do so far.

As for the role of the U.S., the visit to the region by Secretary of State Blinken is long overdue.

Rising anti-Americanism in Ethiopia resulting from the Biden administration’s stance on the Tigray conflict has helped push Ethiopia toward closer military and trade ties with Russiaand Turkey.

• the conversation.com

The fiscal mess we find ourselves in EDITOR, The Tribune.

Fiscal and financial information and understanding good question — honestly I doubt the majority of the past fourGovernments had too much understanding of the real issues and as a result we are in the fiscal mess that we find ourselves. But no one seems will admit or be honest about the reality.

The responses to the Speech from the Throne in both Houses very clearly confirm this....oh I am presuming at the least the MP’s on the Government had been brought up to speed since September 16th precisely where the national finances are?

Seems a whopping big presumption because speaker after speaker spoke about new this and new that all costing millions as if the Treasury was overflowing..... to them — it isn’t.

Just look how Government works September Quarter found $90 million over projected Budget and darn it what has

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net

Government started to do....spend as quickly as the ink dries on the Deficit and Revenue projection we have to spend it.

Increase pensions to civil servants....who receive two pensions one from Government and the other NIB..... are they really in need so desperate that we had to act with such rush? What about the far harder off NIB pensioners who probably only have one pension and for sure very hard to even meet one-two weeks food supply but.....

Yes, we do love promotions, but with promotion as honours and legitimate promotion means additional costs.

VAT - this is becoming an enigma when the FNM increased from 742% revenue increased, but they exempted all bread basket items — insurances... now this New Day Government wants to reduce

VAT by 2% and suggest revenue will increase by $200m.... so either way up or down you get an increase..... this theory could win a Noble Prize!

Black Friday — Thanksgiving and Christmas rushing towards us and Government does not see it prudent — cautious to retain as much foreign currency liability as possible at the least for this year the Duty Free allowance would be suspended to allow a max benefit to the small — medium and large local business.... where is the Chamber, surely they should be pushing this with a substantive “Buy Local marketing” programme or do they support the buy in Miami approach?

Someone before the lights go out inform members of the Senate and the House precisely what is our financial status and what we cannot afford..... please.

JEROME WATSON Nassau, November 9, 2021.

Capital punishment EDITOR, The Tribune.

On the books, legal BUT….since the last hanging 2000 - David Mitchell, when there was a double hanging under the Ingraham Government, the Crown has not been able to win– if you have to use a descriptive word – a Privy Council approval to carry out hanging – 21 years.

We have “cases that are not the worst of the worst” - but what is that Privy Council? Why can’t they define or explain?

Isn’t it time for the State to simply accept the chances of being able to legally, with Privy Council support hanging, the odds are little to nothing….repeal the Statute then. Going to the Caribbean Court of Appeal, probably is no different as they have not accepted, for example, the Barbados mandatory hanging provision in their law.

Again have a case headlining – public, media, politicians keep comment to the bare minimum, not to contaminate the jury.

You really think it is a deterrent to stopping murder? The majority of murder incidents, over the past years have not been for robbery…Some suggest gang initiation – others suggest drug related, but daily there seems to be an incident, and society has become cold to that, almost one expects to read the headline.

Practising Anglican and Catholics, note their denominations do not support capital punishment.

Politicians don’t try to get browny points out of the current headline… examine your conscience and look at the issue from a moral and ethical aspect… is taking a life an appropriate response?

Oh, yes, we will hear the Bible toting people, say an “eye for an eye”, but a Christian is also taught and required to practice – love.

MARI KNOWLES Nassau, October 18, 2021.

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, November 19, 2021, PAGE 7

Woman ‘was asked by former schoolmate to declare man innocent in trial’

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A WOMAN testified yesterday how she feared for her safety after being approached by a former schoolmate who asked her to declare the man whose trial she was judging as innocent.

The woman, whose name has been withheld to protect her identity, gave testimony against Sharano Davis, also known as Rano Rahming, during his trial before Magistrate Samuel McKinney.

Davis is charged with obstruction of justice after police alleged he threatened and intimidated a woman on May 4 on account of her appearance as a juror in a criminal matter in the Supreme Court.

The 25-year-old has denied the offence.

However, when the witness took the stand yesterday, she maintained that while being a juror, the accused had tried to persuade her to help clear his cousin’s name.

The woman said she was first contacted

by Davis via Facebook messenger on May 3.

The court was told that Davis greeted her online by saying, “Hey, what’s up.” To which she replied, “Nothing much.”

The next day, the woman said Davis contacted her again with the same greeting.

She said after giving her reply, Davis then asked her if she knew his cousin had selected her as a juror to stand on his trial.

She claimed the accused also asked her to “please say that he was not guilty” because he claimed his cousin was not a “troublesome” person.

The witness said it was at this point, she deleted Davis off Facebook because she did not know where the conversation would ultimately lead.

The witness also told the court she opted not to respond to his messages for the same reason.

When asked if she personally knew the man whose trial she was judging, the witness replied “no”.

When asked what happened after the conversation with Davis occurred, she told the court she contacted her bailiff and also spoke to another legal official.

The witness also noted she had visited the Royal Bahamas Police Force Crime Investigation Unit to file a complaint.

After the woman gave testimony, Magistrate McKinney asked Davis if he had any questions for the witness for the purposes of challenging her statements.

He told the court he did and subsequently asked the witness how she felt after receiving his message.

In response, the witness told Davis she felt puzzled and scared because she was curious as to how he knew she was selected as one of the jurors in his cousin’s trial.

Davis then apologised for his actions and told the witness he meant no harm.

Magistrate McKinney told the court that in view of Davis’ remarks, he didn’t want to proceed with the case and informed the accused to contact his attorney for guidance on his next course of action.

The matter was subsequently adjourned to December 17.

MAN DENIES BEING IN POSSESSION OF UNLICENSED FIREARM, AMMUNITION

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A 47-YEAR-OLD man who denied gun-related charges was yesterday granted bail ahead of his trial.

Troy Bethel appeared before Magistrate Samuel McKinney, charged with being in possession of an unlicensed firearm and a quantity of ammunition.

Police alleged that they found a black Taurus 9mm pistol and 12 live rounds

of 9mm ammunition on Bethel on November 16.

During his hearing, he pleaded not guilty to the offences and his case was adjourned to January 25 for trial.

Magistrate McKinney granted the accused bail at $5,000 with one surety and also ordered him to report to the Wulff Road Police Station on Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays.

A minor also appeared in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday, facing similar charges.

The 17-year-old is accused of being in possession of a Black Smith and Wesson 9mm pistol and four live rounds of ammunition on November 15.

The teenager pleaded not guilty to all of the charges during his hearing before Magistrate Cara Turnquest- Deveaux yesterday.

He was granted $8,000 bail with two sureties and the case was adjourned to February 8.

MAN CONVICTED OF UNLAWFUL SEX ABANDONS APPEAL BID

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A 39-YEAR-OLD man convicted of having unlawful sex with a 15-year-old boy has abandoned his bid to appeal his fouryear sentence.

Allan Bain, of Pinehurst Drive, Grand Bahama, was found guilty and sentenced to four years in prison in August after he admitted having unlawful sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old boy.

During his hearing before Deputy Chief Magistrate Debbye Ferguson, Bain admitted to being gay.

Bain also told the court that he had known the minor “for some time”, but said they were not in an “exclusive” relationship.

Bain said he was only intimate with the minor for the period in question and he did not know the teenager’s date of birth.

“I know he was young,” he stated.

Deputy Chief Magistrate Ferguson subsequently convicted Bain, but did not impose the maximum possible sentence of five years imprisonment.

“I am deducting one year because of your forthrightness with the court,” she said at the time.

She also informed Bain that he had the right to appeal her decision.

When the matter was called in the Court of Appeal yesterday, Bain’s attorney Bjorn Ferguson informed the court that his client was abandoning the appeal.

As a result, the panel formally affirmed his conviction and the sentence imposed by Deputy Chief Magistrate Ferguson.

32-YEAR-OLD MAN GRANTED CONDITIONAL DISCHARGE

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A 32-YEAR-OLD man who behaved in a disorderly manner when being questioned by police last week was granted a conditional discharge yesterday.

Peter Brown was arrested for behaving in a disorderly manner and using obscene language to the annoyance of a police constable on November 11.

During his arraignment before Assistant Chief Magistrate Subusola Swain, Brown admitted to the offences.

The court was told that around 10:19pm on the day

in question, officers conducting a mobile patrol in the Ridgeland Park community beckoned Brown to stop his vehicle in order to search his car.

The prosecution said as the officers were conducting their search of the vehicle, the accused started using foul language.

Police said they asked Brown to stop, but he continued and was subsequently arrested.

The court was told that it was at this point that Brown started to act in a disorderly manner “by throwing himself around” in the police car.

He was taken to the Grove Police Station, where

police said the defendant continued to act disorderly.

During his interview with police, Brown admitted to using profanity.

In mitigation, Brown’s attorney asked the court for leniency, noting that his client, a father-of-three, had no previous convictions.

The attorney also told the court that a conviction could result in Brown losing his job.

As a result, Brown was given a conditional discharge, granted that he does not cause any other disturbances for one month.

Failure to do so would result in him spending seven months in prison.

PLANS FOR AUTHENTICALLY BAHAMIAN TRADE SHOW

THE Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation in conjunction with the Nassau Cruise Port announced plans for the staging of this year’s Authentically Bahamian trade show.

The two-day event is scheduled for December 11-12 at the grand ballroom at the Atlantis Convention Centre on Paradise Island. A press conference, announcing the event, was held on Wednesday at BAIC on Old Trail Road.

Minister of Agriculture and Family Island Affairs Clay Sweeting commended both BAIC and the Cruise Port for collaborating to bring the event into fruition. He said this is a perfect opportunity for artists, artisans and persons in the food industry to display their products and services.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for Bahamians, including those on the Family Islands, to participate in a forum that

MINISTER Clay Sweeting addresses the press conference.

will allow them to display their goods and services, whether it is straw works, crafts or culinary offerings,” said Mr Sweeting. “It is also an opportunity for tourists to purchase locally made products and get a taste of authentic Bahamian items.”

Amanda Friedman, a committee member representing Cruise Port, gave an overview on the details of the upcoming trade show and said that they have received an overwhelming response in applications

from vendors who wish to participate. She said that the fair will feature 50 small retail spaces, which will offer food, beverages and retail items. Chef Simeon Hall Jr will also work with the team for the event.

“Nassau Cruise Port is focused on building a destination, where tourists will be exposed to Bahamian food and products,” she said.

“This fair will help us to find those goods and services, which are offered locally.”

PAGE 8, Friday, November 19, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

Produce the document, Mr Pinder

I

AM intrigued by the situation surrounding Mr. John Pinder, Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) MP for Central and South Abaco.

Apparently, right up to the door of the last elections, Pinder was a dual American and Bahamian citizen.

He claims he was never really ‘American’ American, but the jury is still out on that.

For one thing, Pinder is from Abaco. And no offense to Abaconians, but we know how ‘yinne’ go. (That goes for Grand Bahamians too.)

Also, did he ever possess a US passport, specifically after ‘coming of age’?

Has he ever been to a Waffle House, and is NASCAR his favourite sport?

There are so many questions.

In his defense, Mr. Pinder claims to possess a ‘document’ dated July 29, 2021, proving he has renounced his United States citizenship and is now solely a citizen of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas.

Dueling Citizenship Considering the former

administration called for Pinder to renounce his US citizenship to comply with Bahamian law before the last general election, there has still been no physical proof presented to the public. Mr. Pinder, the parliamentary secretary at the Ministry of Tourism, Investments, and Aviation, hasn’t bothered to show us he is indeed only playing for ‘Team Bahamas.’

His lack of ‘transparency’ speaks volumes of both Mr. Pinder and the ‘document.’

PLP chairman and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Public Service, Mr. Fred Mitchell, made the following statement about Pinder’s citizenship when questioned by this newspaper: “The party believes that John Pinder was duly qualified to be elected to office and has been so elected per the laws of The Bahamas, I cannot comment on the US document or its laws.”

That was fascinating wording there from the man in charge of passports. Especially since his position (kind of) requires him to be at least a little familiar with those laws, particularly where dual citizenship is concerned.

Now we all know some strange rumors were circulating during the election campaign attached to certain candidates (both old and new), so some may ask, ‘what is a little case of dual citizenship?’

But I wonder, was there not a vetting process in the PLP? Saying you possess the ‘document’ and producing said document are two entirely different things, Mr. Pinder.

For example, I can ‘say’ you are Alfred E. Neuman’s doppelgänger (the pictures don’t lie), but I don’t have the paper to prove that.

As I waited for Mr. Pinder to produce the ‘document,’ I decided to do as the intrepid

journalist had and check federalregister.gov for the US Quarterly Publication of Individuals Who Have Chosen to Expatriate.

Last posted on November 15, 2021, it contains the name of each (former) American who had renounced their United States citizenship for the quarter ending September 30, 2021.

Guess whose name wasn’t on it? Mr. John Pinder.

Pinder’s flimsy, wishywashy response when initially questioned on his dueling loyalties by the reporter was dripping in political naïveté: “The date was July 29, and it was done right after my ratification as the PLP’s standard-bearer for Central and South Abaco.

I’ve sent the pertinent information to the Minister of Foreign Affairs this morning and the DPM some time ago. July 29 was the day it came back from Washington, DC, with the official stamp on it.”

“Three months from then would be August, September, October. It was no doubt included in the federal list previous to that. Renunciations are very, very rare. I’m surprised there is even a list on it.”

That’s a lot of words to

JOHN PINDER, Progressive Liberal Party MP for Central and South Abaco.

say, ‘yinne don’t get in my private business.’

Except it isn’t Pinder’s private business. It also isn’t just the Progressive Liberal Party’s business.

I’m #askingforacountry Why is Mr. Pinder stalling on releasing the document?

It’s bad enough that it took Pinder up until the eleventh hour to sever his ties with Uncle Sam for a chance to hug Her Majesty and serve in her parliament, but to see him still playing games with his reputation on the line is a travesty.

Produce the document, Mr. Pinder, and show

your citizenship receipts.

Taking the Neuman stance of ‘What me, worry?’ will not make the questions disappear.

By holding up the information, you are setting yourself up to be the first resignation of this ‘New Day’ PLP administration.

That is if our ‘Foreign Affairs’ guy ever figures out what our constitution says about being a ‘Bahamian’ parliamentarian.

And if you don’t want to listen to me, then listen to your doppelgänger Alfred E. Neuman’s words of wisdom: “Silence isn’t always golden; sometimes it’s just plain yellow.”

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

GERMANY APPROVES NEW MEASURES AMID WARNINGS OF VIRUS SPIKE

By FRANK JORDANS Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Germany approved new measures Thursday to rein in record coronavirus infections as Chancellor Angela Merkel called the pandemic situation in the country “very serious” and said it was “high time” to contain the spread of the virus.

“The situation is highly dramatic and it will be very important now that action is taken quickly, that action is taken consistently, that better control is taken,” Merkel told reporters Thursday night in Berlin. She had earlier held a videoconference with Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Germany’s 16 state governors to coordinate the country’s response to a surge in coronavirus cases.

Merkel said participants in the meeting had agreed that tightening of measures against the virus would in the future be linked to the number of hospital admissions of COVID19 patients per 100,000 people over a seven-day period.

The states are also considering mandatory vaccinations for some professional groups such as medical staff and nursing home employees.

Earlier on Thursday, lawmakers in the Bundestag passed legislation to rein in the virus with votes from the centerleft Social Democrats, the environmentalist Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats. The three parties are currently negotiating to form a new government.

The new measures include requirements for employees to prove they are vaccinated, recently recovered from COVID-19 or have tested negative for the virus in order to access communal workplaces; a similar rule will apply to public transport. The measures need to be approved

by Germany’s upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat, which could happen Friday.

Restrictions Outgoing Chancellor Merkel’s centre-right Christian Democrats had wanted to extend existing rules that expire this month and which have served as the basis for numerous national and state-wide restrictions since March 2020.

In the future, Germany’s 16 states will only be able to impose restrictions on cultural and sports events if their regional assemblies approve the measure.

Merkel’s party criticised the new rules, saying they would weaken the instruments at authorities’ disposal at a time when infections are soaring again.

Germany’s disease control agency, the Robert Koch Institute, reported 65,371 new daily infections, shattering the previous 24-hour record and continuing an upward trend that experts have warned about for weeks. Total deaths are nearing 100,000, with 264 reported on Wednesday alone.

“We are currently heading toward a serious emergency,” institute director Lothar Wieler said during an online debate late Wednesday. “We are going to have a really terrible Christmas if we don’t take countermeasures now.”

Wieler said Germany needs to increase its COVID-19 vaccination rate, which now stands at 67.7%, to significantly above 75%.

The eastern state of Saxony, which at 57.6% has the country’s lowest immunization rate, is poised to impose a limited lockdown in response to soaring infection numbers.

Governor Michael Kretschmer said the state government would decide on a “hard and clear wave breaker” Friday lasting two to three weeks.

Official figures show Saxony had more than 761 newly confirmed cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the past week, the highest rate in Germany.

Germany’s independent vaccine advisory panel said Thursday that it recommends booster shots for all people over 18. Merkel said everything would be done to make available booster shots against the virus as quickly as possible. She said that about 27 million people needed to get a booster shot soon.

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, November 19, 2021, PAGE 9

Desi and Di hanging up their aprons U

SUALLY when someone says the kitchen is closed, they mean for the day.

But come November 22, when Desi and Di hang the closed sign on The Kitchen it will be for good.

After more than 22 years and more chicken dishes, quiches and bowls of okra soup than they can count, the little deli on Shirley Street will become just another part of Nassau history.

For many, The Kitchen has been as much a staple in their diet as work on Monday and church on Sunday. Ol’ man Mosko (his real name was George, but everyone called him Ol’ man) had his own table at The Kitchen for years. There were only two rows of tables, three on one side, four on another. Ol’ man Mosko’s was the one farthest back in the corner near the book shelves and you could set your clock by the time he walked through the door every day Monday through Friday. Even after he passed, there was hardly a day that went by that one of his sons did not occupy the spot where they used to meet their dad daily.

The Kitchen was a simple place and that was the best thing about it. In a bespoke world, it spoke of genuine, basic

home-cooking that happened to take place in a little building on Shirley Street where everybody felt like family.

The women who cooked also served. They made sandwiches and the

“The Kitchen was a simple place and that was the best thing about it. In a bespoke world, it spoke of genuine, basic home-cooking that happened to take place in a little building on Shirley Street where everybody felt like family.” chicken salad that went inside the homemade, thick, sweet white bread.

They wrote the specials on the blackboard sandwich board sign outside every day. They only made lunch but at about 50 to 60 lunches a day, it was enough to keep them busy

from morning when they started prepping to the last dishes they washed before closing at 3:30.

“This was our mother’s dream and we did it for her,’’ says Di Roberts, one of the two sisters who took the little building in front of the old Shirley Street Theatre and made it a Nassau landmark.

Old school photos on the wall from the days before cell phones became cameras and folks still printed images on paper to last.

Books and magazines, not that you ever had a chance to read.

Food came to your table a minute after you left the counter where you placed your order.

There was nothing fancy about the little blue restaurant with the old metal awning the sisters had painted with blue and white stripes.

Metal burglar bars were added, the concrete slab never did get quite repaired, you stepped over the leaves in the parking lot, but once you got inside, you felt

at home. Desi and Di knew everyone by name and greeted them as they served up a plate with steaming mac and cheese, peas ‘n’ rice, stuffed pork chops or, on occasion, the minced wahoo they made after a good fishing trip.

No flavoured coffees, fancy souffles or drizzles of anything. Food fresh and décor-free.

It was a recipe that earned them a 4.9 out of 5 stars on review sites and more than 2,446 Facebook likes.

“We made our mother’s dream come true and we made friends, lifelong friends. Along the way,” says Di. “Now if you want to see the Cuevas and Roberts sisters, you have to come to our mother’s other dream, Bahama Arts & Crafts, a little further west on Shirley Street.”

For regulars like Cristobal Gomez who ate at The Kitchen two to three times a week, the loss has got him downright middle of the day depressed.

“The closing of the iconic Kitchen on Shirley Street is the loss of the legacy of another Bahamian business,” he says.

So what’s he going to do now?

“I gonna have to cook,” he says, shaking his head as if even he doesn’t believe the words coming out of his mouth.

Speaking of Bahamian businesses

C

ongrats to Bahama Handprints which moved screening operations on equipment created by the late Helen Astarita and her business partner more than half a century ago to new retail space in the Harbour Bay shopping plaza.

The preservation of Bahamian art deserves a place to

begin anew and the courage of current owners to take the giant leap marrying the tedious manufacturing process with retail is worthy of praise. But posting the huge billboard on Eastern Road is not so worthy.

Please reconsider marketing strategy as those who care about the built environment can become some of your strongest supporters.

Did someone say solar?

F

lying over the Berry Islands the other evening, the man seated next to me on the small aircraft pointed to a sight below. The sun was setting, making it hard to see at first and then at second glance it was hard to believe. There on Chub Cay was a huge solar installation, big as a solar farm.

Suddenly, solar, a renewable energy that we have been talking about, preaching the use of, urging the country to adopt, was real.

Congratulations to the team I now know to include Bahamians who recognized the power of sunshine and the importance of renewable energy in a country where the sun shines nearly 365 days of the year.

May other Family Islands follow the lead and may we all soon be able to do the same, absorbing the sun’s rays for power, adding to the grid, reducing the cost and the strain on BPL, improving the quality and consistency of distribution, and eventually driving the cost of installation and battery banks down until lithium supplies run short and demand outweighs supply.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

SOME ROADS PARTIALLY REOPENED IN FLOODED BRITISH COLUMBIA

By JIM MORRIS ASSOCIATED PRESS

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — An advance team of Canadian soldiers went to work Thursday and more were due as some major highways reopened to limited traffic in British Columbia, but officials said the situation remained critical after floods and mudslides that forced evacuations, blocked transportation routes, caused the death of at least one person and killed thousands of farm animals.

Federal Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said the good news is that the significant rainfall has ended and no further major precipitation is expected for the rest of the week.

“The situation remains critical, but there is an improvement,” he said in Ottawa.

British Columbia’s premier, John Horgan, has declared a state of emergency after record rainfall drenched much of the province’s south for more than 48 hours.

One person is confirmed dead in a landslide that swept vehicles off a road near Pemberton, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said the number of people believed to be missing at the site had been raised to four.

The province’s public safety minister, Mike Farnworth, said at an afternoon news conference that the cost of repairing damage to roads, bridges and other infrastructure is “going to

Columbia late Thursday to join a nine-member team from the Edmonton-based 3 Canadian Division Immediate Response Unit that arrived a day earlier to assess the situation for planning and coordinating relief efforts.

An additional 160 military personnel were preparing to leave Edmonton with a convoy of military vehicles and equipment, she said.

Farnworth said the soldiers will assist with evacuation efforts, help with logistics and operate equipment.

About 17,000 people remain out of their homes, with 6,900 properties under evacuation order, he said. An additional 2,700 properties are on alert for possible evacuation.

The weekend storm left all major routes between the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, where Canada’s third largest city of Vancouver is, and the interior IN this aerial photo, damage caused by heavy rains and mudslides earlier in the of the province cut by washouts, week is pictured along the Coquihalla Highway near Hope, British Columbia, flooding or landslides.

Thursday. (Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press via AP) With dairy farms underwater around the city of Abbotsford and be substantial.”

Other highways could take transportation routes closed, the “It is far too early at this point months to repair, Fleming said. province could face a shortage of to understand what the total Federal Transport Minister milk products. damage is going to be,” he said. Omar Alghabra said talks were “There will be a short-term “The province has the fiscal underway with Canadian and interruption, but everybody that’s capacity to be able to rebuild.”

U.S. border officials to reach involved in the industry is trying Transportation Minister Rob an interim agreement to allow to get everything back to normal Fleming said Highway 7, which cargo trucks to detour through as quickly as possible to get this connects Vancouver to the inte- border crossings to reach their whole supply chain thing back to rior of the province, was reopened destinations. some semblance of normality,” to alternating, single-lane traffic.

Canadian Defense Min- Holger Schwichtenberg, chair Another major route is expected ister Anita Anand said 120 of the British Colombia Dairy to be opened by the weekend. soldiers would arrive in British

Association.

On his farm near Agassiz, Schwichtenberg is tending to 50 head of cattle brought from flooded areas around Abbotsford.

Schwichtenberg said 59 dairy farms scrambled to save their cows. Some were able to load their animals on trucks. A YouTube video shows one person on a jet ski leading a cow through water up to the animal’s back.

Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun said he had heard that about 2,000 cows had died in the flooded area.

Schwichtenberg said closed roads are preventing trucks from collecting milk from farms.

“If you’re milking but the tracks can’t get to your farm, then you have to dispose of the milk because it’s a perishable product,” he said.

Lana Popham, the province’s agriculture minister, said residents shouldn’t worry about food shortages.

“Our food is secure. We’re just re-gigging routes to get it to folks,” she said. “We’re definitely not going to run out of food.”

Flooding is also delaying deliveries of Pfizer Canada products, including the company’s coronavirus vaccine.

“Weather conditions have resulted in an unfortunate delivery delay of our medicines to BC,” Pfizer said on Twitter. “We are working to ensure the supply chain has sufficient inventory of critical products for patients.”

PAGE 10, Friday, November 19, 2021

IRAQI MIGRANTS CAUGHT IN BORDER CRISIS IN BELARUS FLY HOME

By ZEINA KARAM, DARIA LITVINOVA AND YURAS KARMANAU ASSOCIATED PRESS BAGHDAD (AP) — Hundreds of Iraqis returned home Thursday from Belarus after abandoning their hopes of reaching the European Union — a repatriation that came after tensions at Poland’s eastern border, where thousands of migrants became stuck in a cold and soggy forest.

Many others still in Belarus have moved into a heated warehouse not far from the border, emptying out a makeshift camp, Belarusian state-run media reported. But the Polish Defense Ministry posted video showing a few hundred people and their tents still near an official crossing point.

It was not clear if the two countries were talking about two different sites on their border, but it was typical of the dueling narratives that have marked the crisis, in which both Belarus and Poland have sought to portray themselves in a positive light while depicting the other as unfeeling and irresponsible toward the migrants.

“We were hostages — victims stuck between Belarus and the European Union,” said a young Iraqi returnee in a black hoodie after his flight arrived in Baghdad.

“Belarus police are the same like Daesh,” he said, referring to the brutal militants from the Islamic State group that rampaged through Iraq several years ago. He then walked away.

Ali Kadhim, who is returning to his home in Basra, said he wanted to go to Europe because in Iraq there are “no jobs and the situation is very bad recently.”

He said he had reached a deal with a smuggler to get him to the BelarusPoland border zone, where a Belarusian border guard took his passport and cellphone and prevented him from leaving the forest. For three days, he had no food, water or internet service, he said.

“I was living on what I found on ground. I mean I had to live on three dates in a whole day,” Kadhim said.

Of the 430 people who flew from Minsk, 390 got off at Irbil International Airport in Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region before the flight continued to Baghdad, said Jihad al-Diwan, head of media relations for Iraq’s civil aviation authority. About 30 others who were registered for the flight had problems with their documents and did not board, according to Iraqi officials, who organized the return.

One woman arriving in Irbil carried a bassinet with a baby. Most still wore the heavy winter clothes from their time in Belarus despite the warm weather in Iraq. Another woman collapsed, apparently fainting.

Tensions had flared at the Poland-Belarus border in recent days, with about 2,000 people trapped between the forces from the two countries.

On Tuesday, some of the migrants had thrown stones at the Polish troops, who responded with tear gas and water cannons.

The U.N. refugee agency says about half the migrants at the border area were women and children.

At least 12 people have died in the area in recent weeks from the harsh conditions in the border zone, including a 1-year-old whose death was reported Thursday by a Polish humanitarian organisation.

Muslims in Poland buried an unidentified migrant at a cemetery in Bohoniki, where a population of Tatars has lived for centuries. It was the second such funeral there for a migrant in a week.

Most of the migrants are fleeing conflict or hopelessness in the Middle East and aim to reach Germany or other western European countries. But Poland has taken a hard line about letting them n, and Belarus didn’t want them returning to the capital of Minsk or otherwise settling in the country.

THE TRIBUNE

Biden praises Canada, Mexico as leaders discuss strains

By AAMER MADHANI, ROB GILLIES, and MARIA VERZA Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Reviving three-way North American summitry after a five-year break, President Joe Biden on Thursday joined with the leaders of Canada and Mexico to declare their nations can work together and prove “democracies can deliver” even as they sort out differences on key issues.

But as Biden, along with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, spoke of their mutual respect, the three leaders also found themselves dealing with fresh strains on trade, immigration, climate change and other matters.

“We can meet all the challenges if we just take the time to speak to one another, by working together,” said Biden, who hosted the North American neighbours for what had been a near-annual tradition in the decade before President Donald Trump came to office.

It was a day of full-on diplomacy that required careful choreography as Trudeau and Lopez Obrador each met separately with Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris before gathering for a three-way conversation in the East Room that featured a language mix of English, French and Spanish.

As they played up the closeness of the alliance, points of tension were also clear.

They include differences between Washington and Ottawa over proposed tax incentives that would benefit U.S. electric car auto manufacturers, frustration from López Obrador that the U.S. isn’t moving to issue more temporary work visas even as American businesses complain they suffer from a worker shortage, and disappointment by the U.S. and Canada that Mexico is not moving faster to address climate change.

Biden met first with Trudeau, calling the U.S.Canada relationship one of the easiest in the early going of his presidency.

But as they sat down for talks, the president also confirmed their differences over proposed electric vehicle tax incentives in his massive social services and climate bill.

PRESIDENT Joe Biden walks with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a meeting in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) “We’re going to talk about that,” Biden said. “It hasn’t even passed yet in the House.”

The provision in Biden’s proposed spending plan would offer American consumers a $7,500 tax credit if they buy electric vehicles through 2026. The following year, only purchases of electric vehicles made in the U.S. would qualify for the credit. The base credit would go up by $4,500 if the vehicle was made at a U.S. plant that operates under a union-negotiated collective bargaining agreement.

Products Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland on Wednesday called the incentive a clear violation of an updated trade agreement among the three countries that aimed to protect U.S. jobs and products made in North America.

The union provision has also sparked pushback from some non-union shops and U.S. lawmakers. Still, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that Biden “is pretty committed to the bill providing good-paying union jobs.”

Trump had an icy

relationship with López Obrador’s predecessor, pressing Enrique Peña Nieto to never publicly say that Mexico wouldn’t pay for a southern U.S. border wall.

But López Obrador appeared to reach a oneissue understanding with Trump: Mexico slowed the flow of Central American migrants trying to reach the U.S. border, and Trump often appeared to turn a blind eye to just about every other facet in the complicated relationship.

López Obrador offered warm words for Biden when they appeared before the cameras Thursday. The two leaders discussed Mexico’s relations with the U.S. under Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt before the portraits of both that Biden has displayed prominently in the Oval Office.

The Mexican president praised Biden for treating his government with respect, something he noted has not always been a given in the two countries’ long history and for including funding in his spending bill to overhaul the immigration system. But he also alluded to his desire to see the U.S. move quickly on temporary visas.

López Obrador has mentioned on multiple occasions

his interest in the U.S. government expanding its work visa program so more Mexicans and Central Americans can fill the demand for labor in the U.S. The temporary workers in turn could have access to the higher pay they seek in the U.S. without becoming part of the illegal immigration flow.

“Why not study the workforce demand and open the migratory flow in an orderly manner?” López Obrador said.

Tradition Thursday’s meetings at the White House marked the first trilateral get-together for North American leaders since a June 2016 gathering of Trudeau, Barack Obama and Enrique Peña Nieto in Ottawa. The tradition of three-way meetings started when George W. Bush played host to Mexico’s Vicente Fox and Canada’s Paul Martin in 2005 at his ranch in Texas.

Mexico’s priorities heading into the summit were to obtain concrete advances on immigration and more equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.

The U.S. and Canada have expressed frustration

that López Obrador has failed to get on board with global efforts to curb climate emissions.

The Mexican president skipped this month’s U.N. climate summit in Glasgow and has accused elite nations of demonstrating “hypocrisy” when it comes to environmentalism.

Trudeau and Biden were also expected to discuss the future of an oil pipeline that crosses part of the Great Lakes and is the subject of rising tension over whether it should be shut down.

Biden is caught in a battle over Enbridge’s Line 5, a key segment of a pipeline network that carries Canadian oil across the U.S. Midwest.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat and Biden ally, has demanded closure of the 68-year-old line because of the potential for a catastrophic rupture along a 4-mile section (6.4 kilometers) in the Straits of Mackinac, which connects Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. The Biden administration has not taken a position but is under increasing pressure to do so.

Canada last month invoked a 1977 treaty that guarantees the unimpeded transit of oil between the two nations.

‘FUNDAMENTAL JUSTICE:’ JUDGE CLEARS TWO IN MALCOLM X SLAYING

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — More than half a century after the assassination of Malcolm X, two of his convicted killers were exonerated Thursday after decades of doubt about who was responsible for the civil rights icon’s death.

Manhattan judge Ellen Biben dismissed the convictions of Muhammad Aziz and the late Khalil Islam, after prosecutors and the men’s lawyers said a renewed investigation found new evidence that undermined the case against the men and determined that authorities withheld some of what they knew.

“The event that has brought us to court today should never have occurred,” Aziz told the court. “I am an 83-year-old man who was victimized by the criminal justice system.”

Ecstatic It pained Islam’s sons, Ameen Johnson and Shahid Johnson, that their parents died before seeing the conviction reversed. Still, Ameen Johnson said his father would have been ecstatic to clear his name.

“His reputation meant a lot to him,” the son said, and now “we don’t have to watch over our backs, worrying about any repercussions from anybody who thought that he might have been the one that killed Malcolm X.” Aziz and Islam, who maintained their innocence from the start in the 1965 killing at Upper Manhattan’s Audubon Ballroom, were paroled in the 1980s. Islam died in 2009.

“There can be no question that this is a case that cries out for fundamental justice,” Biben said.

Malcolm X gained national prominence as the voice of the Nation of Islam, exhorting Black people to claim their civil rights “by any means necessary.”

His autobiography, written with Alex Haley, remains a classic work of modern American literature.

Near the end of Malcolm X’s life, he split with the Black Muslim organisation and, after a trip to Mecca, started speaking about the potential

MUHAMMAD AZIZ, centre, stands outside the courthouse with members of his family after his conviction in the killing of Malcolm X was vacated, Thursday, in New York.

A Manhattan judge dismissed the convictions of Muhammad Aziz and the late Khalil Islam, after prosecutors and the men’s lawyers said a renewed investigation found new evidence that the men were not involved with the killing and determined that authorities withheld some of what they knew. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) for racial unity. It earned him the ire of some in the Nation of Islam, who saw him as a traitor.

He was shot to death while beginning a speech Feb. 21, 1965. He was 39.

Aziz and Islam, then known as Norman 3X Butler and Thomas 15X Johnson, and a third man were convicted of murder in March 1966. They were sentenced to life in prison.

The third man, Mujahid Abdul Halim — also known as Talmadge Hayer and Thomas Hagan — admitted to shooting Malcolm X but said neither Aziz nor Islam was involved.

The two offered alibis, and no physical evidence linked them to the crime.

The case hinged on eyewitnesses, although there were inconsistencies in their testimony.

Halim was paroled in 2010.

Through a relative, he declined to comment Thursday.

He identified some other men as accomplices, but no one else has ever been held accountable for the crime.

The re-investigation found that the FBI and police failed to turn over evidence that cast significant doubt on Islam and Aziz as suspects, according to a court filing.

The evidence included witnesses who couldn’t identify Islam, implicated other suspects and groups, and described a shotgun-wielding assassin who didn’t match Islam, the man prosecutors said bore that weapon.

Investigators also found an FBI file on a man Halim identified after the trial as one of his accomplices and who fit some other leads.

And the records showed that the late FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover ordered agents to tell witnesses not to reveal that they were informants when talking with police and prosecutors, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said Thursday.

Trial New York Police Department records showed there were undercover officers in the ballroom at the time of the killing, a fact prosecutors apparently knew before trial but don’t appear to have told defence lawyers, the court filing said. One undercover officer later testified at an unrelated trial that he’d been acting as part of Malcolm X’s security team and had walloped Halim with a chair

— a blow that didn’t jibe with testimony from other witnesses at the alleged assassins’ trial.

Meanwhile, a witness who came forward in recent years told investigators that he had spoken with Aziz shortly after the killing on Aziz’s home phone. Aziz has said from the start that he was home that day with a leg injury.

“There is one ultimate conclusion: Mr. Aziz and Mr. Islam were wrongfully convicted of this crime,” and there is no prospect of retrying a 56-year-old case in which every eyewitness who testified has died and the physical evidence is gone, Vance said.

He apologised for law enforcement’s “serious, unacceptable violations of law and the public trust.”

The FBI and NYPD had evidence of Aziz’s and Islam’s innocence within hours but ignored and suppressed it, said one of their attorneys, Deborah Francois, who worked on the case with civil rights lawyer David Shanies and the Innocence Project.

“The bigger questions of how or why this happened still remain unanswered,” Innocence Project cofounder Barry Scheck said.

The court filing recounts numerous tips and leads but doesn’t draw any conclusions about who might have been involved, besides Halim.

The NYPD and the FBI said Wednesday that they had cooperated fully with the re-investigation. They declined to comment further.

NYPD Chief of Patrol Juanita Holmes said Thursday she felt for Malcolm X’s family and for Aziz and Islam “if we are responsible for withholding information.”

Attorneys, scholars, journalists and others have long raised questions about the convictions, and alternate theories and accusations have swirled around the case.

After Netflix aired the documentary series “Who Killed Malcom X?” early last year, Vance’s office said it was taking a fresh look.

“It would be great if this murder was solved, but it’s not solved,” said Tamara Payne, who co-authored the Pulitzer Prize-winning “The Dead are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X” with her late father, Les Payne.

“The damage is done, but my hope ... is that we learn from this,” Payne said.

SPORTS PAGE 11

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2021

17-member Jr Pan Am team named

THE Bahamas Olympic Committee named its 17-member team set to compete at the inaugural Junior Pan American Games.

The country will be represented in six disciplines at the event, featuring thousands of the best young athletes across the region, November 25 to December 4 in Cali, Colombia.

The gold medallists in each event will also earn direct qualification to the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games. Leading the way for the seven-member athletic contingent will be several athletes that ended last season on the World Athletics’ Top List, including Olympian Lacarthea Cooper, Carlos Brown Jr and Tarajh Hudson.

Cooper, the only woman in the athletics contingent, will compete

in the 100m and 400m. Brown was listed at No.4 in the world in the under-18 boys 200m. His personal best time of 20.99 seconds made him the country’s third youth athlete to surpass the 21-second mark.

Hudson will compete in his signature event - the discus. He was last ranked No.13 in the world with a personal record of 54.57 metres.

Other team members include Antoine Andrews (200m), Tre Buchanan (400mH), Gabriel Curtis (5,000m/10,000m) and Kyle Alcine (High Jump).

The coaching staff includes David Charlton, Kennord Mackey and Dione Britton. The swim team will be led by a pair of NCAA AllAmericans - Davante Carey and Lamar Taylor. Carey, the McKendree University junior, will compete

in the 100 Fly, 100 Back, 200 Back, 100 Free, Mixed 400 Free Relay.

Taylor swims in the 200 Free, 100 Free, 50 Free, 100 Back and Mixed 400 Free Relay.

Other team members include Nigel Forbes ( 200 Fly, 200 IM, 100 Fly), William Russell (100 Breast, 200 Breast) and Shawn Neely (Mixed 400 Free Relay).

Two women will complete the swim team - Rhanishka Gibbs (100 Breast, 50 Free, 200 IM, Mixed 400 Free Relay) and Rachel Lundy (200 Free, 100 Free, 50 Free, Mixed 400 Free Relay). Trevano McPhee serves as the head coach.

Breanna Gayle competes in rowing (Oar W1x), coached by Karianne Kulig; Ralph Wood III will compete in the triathlon,

coached by Cameron Roach; while Chigozie Ijeoma will compete in wrestling in the freestyle 97kg division, coached by Clinton Burke.

The chef de mission is Clarence Rolle, team manager and deputy chef de mission is Rudolph Ferguson and is at the helm for the medical unit. More than 3,500 athletes from 41 countries will arrive in Valle del Cauca along with about 10,000 people in general, including family members of the athletes, journalists, international volunteers, leaders and coaches of the multiple delegations.

“We want to receive all of them with the warmth and friendship with which all Colombians are known for,” said José Luis Echeverry, executive director of Cali 2021.

Ayton on Suns record: ‘I got to get 100 more’

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

D

eandre Ayton set another franchise record by becoming the fastest Phoenix Suns player to achieve 100 double doubles.

Ayton reached the historic mark in Wednesday night’s 105-98 win over the Dallas Mavericks with 19 points and 13 rebounds.

“I like it, that’s tough,” he said. “I got to get 100 more. Seeing [Chris Paul] break accolades every game. You realise, you keep working to get accolades under your belt as a team, but some of this stuff counts individually as well.

Ayton is also the fastest Suns player in franchise history to collect 1,000 rebounds for his career.

The fourth-year centre did so in just 94 games.

Wednesday night marked Ayton’s second game back from a leg contusion which sidelined him for five games, and his first game back at Footprint Center. “Home game, the fans really brought the energy. I think we started off a little slow in the first half and we were trading a lot of buckets. On our end we were playing some solid defence but we weren’t really making our shots, we were getting great looks

and we just weren’t knocking them down. It was one of those good games you just had to get,” Ayton said. “Knew the legs would get right, I just appreciate all the trainers that stuck with me and all the headaches I was giving them working out going through this thing and Monty just put me in the right position so I could perform the right way to help my team.”

The Suns rallied to win their 10th consecutive game to improve to 11-3.

Through five games, Ayton is averaging 15.6 points and 11.6 rebounds per game.

“I think we figured it out early in the season.

We were kind of shaky in a way closing out games.,” Ayton said.

“I would say last year we were losing a lot of close games, easy ones, I think we learned from that as well. Just making sure we execute and learn.

[Paul] and [Devin Booker] are big on that.”

Suns head coach Monty Williams said Ayton has shown promising signs in his effort post recovery.

“Second game back, most guys struggle. He was pretty good the first game I thought he was solid [Wednesday],” Williams said. “He’s just a huge part of our programme on both ends of the floor and his

Muguruza, Pg 12

PATRIOTS STIFLE FALCONS 25-0 FOR 5TH STRAIGHT WIN ATLANTA (AP) — Mac Jones threw a 19-yard scoring pass to Nelson Agholor for the game’s only offensive touchdown and Kyle Van Noy and the New England defence took care of the rest, blanking the Atlanta Falcons 25-0 last night for the Patriots’ fifth straight victory.

New England (7-4) wasn’t nearly as dominating as four days earlier, when the Patriots blew out the Browns 45-7, but it was more than good enough against a feeble Falcons offence that hasn’t scored a touchdown in nearly nine quarters.

Atlanta (4-6) was shut out for the first time since a 38-0 loss to Carolina on December 13, 2015.

Matt Ryan was sacked four times and was intercepted twice, enduing another miserable performance — this one in prime time — after posting the lowest passer rating of his career in a 43-3 rout by the Dallas Cowboys last weekend.

Nick Folk booted field goals of 32, 44, 53 and 33 yards. The Patriots drove 76 in seven plays for a

SEE PAGE 13

TEAM BAHAMAS HEADS TO U-12 ITF/COTECC TEAM FINALS IN SANTO DOMINGO

SUNS centre Deandre Ayton in action against the Dallas Mavericks Wednesday night in Phoenix.

(AP Photo/Matt York) ability to score around the basket is absolutely something we need.”

Williams said Ayton’s double double production is indicative of the impact the franchise expects him to continue to have.

“That’s what he’s capable of. We saw it last year in splashes and then in the playoffs he was dominant,” he said.

“I think he’s got a level of conditioning that’s allowing him to play in these longer stretches so in the fourth quarter he’s not as tired as he was the

first few games and I think that’s helping him a ton.”

Suns forward Jae Crowder said the addition of veteran centre JaVale McGee has also had an impact on Ayton’s development.

“He’s a specimen, he has a good body, and moves well for a guy his size, he just has all the tools that you need to dominate the game. What he brings to the table physically helps him dominate. He’s a guy we can depend on who’s going to control the paint for the majority of the

game and he’s learning a lot from JaVale,” Crowder said.

“JaVale is a professional, a champion, an Olympian.

He’s learning a lot from him on a daily basis and I think that relationship has really upped DA’s game mentally. Physically he has all the tools but mentally he has to read the game and JaVale has done a great job taking him under his wing and bringing that out of him. It’s been beneficial for his game moving forward and it’s paying off for him right now.”

COMING off a second-place finish at the sub-regional level, Team Bahamas will now face off against the top finishers from the other regions and the host country in the Under-12 category.

With a 4-1 record in the subregion 3, Team Bahamas returns to the Dominican Republic to compete amongst the best of the best.

Team members fielded once again by The Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association (BLTA) are Tatyana Madu, Kaylah Fox, Briana Houlgrave and Coach Marion.

BLTA president Perry Newton was on hand to wish the team well as they depart today.

He stated: “The members of the team have put in a lot of work to get to this point.

SEE PAGE 13

NCAA DIVISION I BASEBALL: CATCHER BELL SIGNS WITH TIGERS

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net LAHIEM Bell is headed to NCAA Division I baseball.

The 6’1”, 225-pound catcher was announced as a member of the 2022 early signing class for Jackson State Tigers baseball programme in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

Bell and the other signees will join the Tigers in the Spring 2023 season.

The group includes three pitchers, one outfielder, one catcher and one infielder, including a two-way player.

“I’m super excited about our early signing class,” Tigers head coach Omar Johnson said.

“We look forward to seeing our fans out at The ‘Bob’ this spring.”

Bell, a product of International Elite Baseball Academy, spent last season with the Vero Beach High School Indians in Vero

Beach, Florida. In 23 games of his junior season, Bell hit .419 with a 1.100 OPS, 26 hits, 18 RBI, a team-leading two runs and scored 16 runs.

The Indians were eliminated in the Regional Quarterfinal with a 3-0 loss to Palm Beach Central. Bell finished 2-3 in the season finale.

The Indians won the Florida High School Athletic Association Class 7A District 9 title to earn their spot in the regionals.

Bell was 0-2 in the semifinal win over Centennial but finished 1-2 with one run and one RBI in the District title game win over Treasure Coast.

Bell had an immediate impact on the programme and began April with homeruns in back-to-back games as a part of the Indians’ 18-game winning streak.

He finished 2-4 with one home run, two RBI, and a run scored against Centennial (April 2) and had identical numbers the

LAHIEM Bell following game against South Fork (April 6).

Bell was recently named to the All-Tournament

team of the World Wood Bat Association World Championships last month in Jupiter, Florida.

He also participated in the WWBA 2022 Grads/17U National Championship the Prep Baseball Report Senior State Games in September.

Bell continues the tradition of Bahamians on the Jackson State Tigers roster.

Johnson has previously recruited Desmond Russell, Stephen Curtis, Aneko Knowles, Sebron Mackey, and Jashanno Sweeting to his programme.

Johnson said his desire to sign more international players to his programme came from watching a talented Bahamian national team play at the World Baseball Challenge.

“I was in the World Baseball Challenge in British Columbia and I saw the Bahamian national team, and all their kids were teenagers playing at the highest level of international baseball,” Johnson told the

Clarion Ledger back in 2016. “I ended up going to their national games, see a couple of kids and end up getting three of them to come. (Diversity) is normal for me.

“It’s good for the Mississippi guys because they don’t see that much diversity and it’s a good situation for these guys to get to know something about different cultures.”

PAGE 12, Friday, November 19, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

Muguruza wins WTA Finals for first time

By CARLOS RODRIGUEZ AP Sports Writer GUADALAJARA, Mexico (AP) — Garbiñe Muguruza’s trip to Mexico started last week with a taste of tequila. After winning the WTA Finals on Wednesday, it ended the same way.

Muguruza defeated Anett Kontaveit 6-3, 7-5 in the final for her first title at the WTA’s elite, seasonending championships.

She became the oldest champion at 28 since Serena Williams in 2014, and finishes the season at No. 3 in the rankings, her best performance since 2017, when she was No. 1.

Before the tournament, Muguruza took a 37-mile (60-kilometre) ride to Tequila, a small town outside of Guadalajara where the popular spirit is produced.

“I went to the town, did a tasting. I need to do this before because when I win ...” Muguruza said. “We’re (now) going to have some tequila, have fun, lose all the tension we’ve been having and holding. I think the whole team deserves it.”

Muguruza became the first Spaniard to win the WTA Finals.

GARBIÑE MUGURUZA, of Spain, holds the trophy during the award ceremony after defeating Anett Kontaveit, of Estonia, at the final match of the WTA Finals tennis tournament in Guadalajara, Mexico, on Wednesday.

(AP Photo/Refugio Ruiz) The first person she cel- ‘It’s in Mexico, we have like, ‘You know what, for ebrated with was coach to make it, c’mon.’ It was the first time Garbiñe, Conchita Martinez. my biggest motivation,” you’re really using the The new champion won Muguruza said. crowd, really getting that back-to-back titles in MonAll week, she was energy and using it on the terrey in northern Mexico backed by the locals at court. You should do that in 2018 and 2019, and her Estadio Akron, and recip- more often,” Muguruza past successes drove her to rocated by wearing a said. qualify for the WTA Finals. Mexico soccer jersey for “A big lesson to me is I “The whole year with my her last two matches. “My should get the energy from team I was saying to them, manager, Oliver, he was the environment. I’m very

supported here in Mexico.

I don’t know if it will be everywhere, but I used it this week for sure.”

Kontaveit will finish the year at No. 7. The Estonian qualified last for the WTA Finals by winning 29 of 32 matches, including four titles in 10 weeks.

She was broken only four times going into the final, but lost her serve five times to Muguruza.

The Spaniard made three breaks in the first set.

Kontaveit played better in the second and got a break in the ninth game, but Muguruza broke her next two serves to win. Earlier, Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova defeated Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens 6-3, 6-4 to win the doubles title undefeated.

Krejcikova and Siniakova won at Roland Garros, Madrid, and the Tokyo Olympics. “We needed to stay aggressive, and we did it,” said Siniakova, who finished the season No. 1 in the doubles rankings.

Billie Jean King presented Muguruza the trophy bearing her name.

The WTA Finals were played in Guadalajara this year because of the pandemic, with the event scheduled to return in 2022 to Shenzhen, China.

McIlroy keeps up resurgence to lead World Tour Championship DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Rory McIlroy is back playing his best golf again, even if it has come too late to win another Race to Dubai title.

Fresh off his 20th career victory on the PGA Tour, the former No. 1 opened birdie-eagle and shot 7-under 65 yesterday for a two-stroke lead after the first round at DP World Tour Championship, the season-ending event on the European Tour.

McIlroy wasn’t one of the six players who arrived at Jumeirah Golf Estates still with a chance of finishing the season as European No. 1. Collin Morikawa, the leader of the Race to Dubai, is looking good for that title after opening with

a 68. McIlroy has an eye on bigger prizes, like a first major since 2014.

“Getting into contention in one major this year isn’t good enough for me — I’ve done way better than that before and I know I can again, especially with how I am playing,” the four-time major winner said. “I’m feeling like I’ve got my golf game back, basically.”

Since the Ryder Cup in September, the eighthranked McIlroy has been looking to rediscover the creativity in his game that made him stand out earlier in his career. He showed signs of it in winning the CJ Cup in Las Vegas last month in his last tournament.

There was more evidence on the Earth Course

yesterday, like his hard draw with a fairway wood from 267 yards at the par-5 No. 2 that set up an eagle putt he holed from 13 feet.

And at the last, where he flopped a pitch from the front of the green to within 4 feet, and rolled in the putt for a sixth birdie of his round.

“I’ve always been a very visual player, always seen shots,” said McIlroy, who won the Race to Dubai title in 2012, ‘14 and ‘15.

“People probably see me playing shots again, maybe not quite as much as Bubba Watson, but that’s how I’ve always played golf and seen the game. I just needed to get back to seeing it like that again.”

Morikawa is looking to become the first player

from the United States to be the European No. 1 and started the tournament with a narrow lead over another American, Billy Horschel, in the Race to Dubai standings.

They played together in the final group Thursday. While Horschel only made his first birdie at the 17th hole — he celebrated it rather sarcastically, to laughs from the gallery — in a 2-over 74, Morikawa gained four shots in his first seven holes on the back of his renowned iron play.

Morikawa, the British Open champion, played the final 11 holes in even par, though, after bogeys at Nos. 9 and 17, and was in a 10-way tie for fifth place.

The only players above him were McIlroy and

three who shared second place after rounds of 67 — Tapio Pulkkanen, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Joachim B. Hansen, the winner of last week’s Dubai Championship.

With top-ranked Jon Rahm — third in the Race to Dubai standings — having withdrawn from the season-ending tournament citing the demands of a long season, Tyrrell Hatton, Min Woo Lee, Matt Fitzpatrick and Paul Casey are the only other players in with a chance to beat Morikawa and Horschel to the title.

Hatton, Casey and Fitzpatrick shot 70, while Lee shot 72.

They all need to win and for Morikawa to drop off the leaderboard.

ALEXANDER Zverev

ZVEREV JOINS DJOKOVIC, MEDVEDEV IN SEMIFINALS AT ATP FINALS TURIN, Italy (AP) — The top three players have advanced to the semifinals at the ATP Finals.

Third-ranked Alexander Zverev joined No. 1 Novak Djokovic and No. 2 Daniil Medvedev in the last four at the season-ending event for the top eight players by beating Hubert Hurkacz 6-2, 6-4 yesterday.

Having qualified second in his group behind Medvedev, Zverev’s semifinal opponent will be Djokovic, who won the other group.

Medvedev’s semifinal opponent will be determined today when Andrey Rublev meets Casper Ruud on the final day of round-robin play.

Zverev lost to Djokovic at the Australian Open and US Open this year but beat the Serb at the Tokyo Olympics en route to the gold medal.

“We played basically every single big event this year on hard court against each other,” Zverev said.

“So it’s only right that we play each other here as well. ... It’s always close when we play each other, so I’m looking forward to hopefully another tough one.”

Zverev, the 2018 champion at the finals, didn’t face a single break point against Hurkacz, a firsttime qualifier.

Both players served 11 aces amid quick conditions inside the Pala Alpitour.

“There is going to be a lot more long rallies (against Djokovic),” Zverev said. “I think we are going to run a lot more. I think we are going to suffer, in a way, a lot more, as well.

“Every single match that we played we both needed to be at our best. One or two points decided the matches. I expect no different here.”

CRICKET WHISTLEBLOWER RAFIQ SORRY ABOUT ANTISEMITIC REMARKS LONDON (AP) — Azeem Rafiq, the former cricketer whose revelations about the racism he suffered at Yorkshire has sparked a crisis in the English game, apologised yesterday after admitting to sending antisemitic messages 10 years ago.

British newspaper The Times of London reported it has seen an exchange of messages that appear to have been sent between Rafiq and another former cricketer, Ateeq Javid, and which contain disparaging comments about an unnamed Jewish person.

Rafiq confirmed in a post on Twitter that he did send the messages and has “absolutely no excuses.”

“I am ashamed of this exchange and have now deleted it so as not to cause further offence,” Rafiq wrote.

“I was 19 at the time and I hope and believe I am a different person today.

I am incredibly angry at myself and I apologise to the Jewish community and everyone who is rightly offended by this.”

Rafiq, a former England under-19 captain, testified through tears at a

AZEEM Rafiq parliamentary hearing on Tuesday about his experiences of racism and bullying while playing for Yorkshire.

The England and Wales Cricket Board has suspended Yorkshire from hosting international matches over its “wholly unacceptable” response to the racism faced by Rafiq, while some of the club’s sponsors are ending deals.

Yesterday, British sports minister Nigel Huddleston called for cricket to “get its house in order” and raised the possibility of independent regulation if it did not.

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, November 19, 2021, PAGE 13

Bahamian players make their presence felt in NCAA Division II Basketball

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net BAHAMIAN players have been active in early season play at the NCAA Division II level.

Senior men’s national team member Jonathan McFall has had a seamless transition to a new programme and has helped lead Slippery Rock University to a 2-1 record.

The junior wing finished with 12 points and nine rebounds in just 18 minutes of Wednesday’s 101-52 win over Penn State Fayette.

Through three games he is averaging 15.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.

He opened with 13 points and eight rebounds in a 99-95 overtime loss to Notre Dame College and followed with 22 points and five rebounds in an 81-71 loss to Alderson Broaddus.

Following an accoladefilled 2021 campaign, McFall entered the NCAA transfer portal after his lone season with the Chowan University Hawks.

He was named the Conference Carolinas (CC)

PATRIOTS FROM PAGE 11

touchdown early in the second quarter. Damien Harris did most of the dirty work, running four times for 34 yards and hauling in a 9-yard pass, before Agholor got open over the middle against busted coverage, hauled in the pass from Jones and scooted into the end zone.

Van Noy had two sacks and capped a brilliant defensive performance with a 35-yard interception return for a touchdown off Falcons backup QB Josh Rosen.

New England has its longest winning streak since an 8-0 start to the 2019 season, which turned out to be Tom Brady’s final year in New England. Of course, any meeting between these two teams is sure to bring back memories of the greatest comeback — and collapse — in Super Bowl history. In 2017, the Falcons squandered a 28-3 lead late in the third quarter and lost to the Brady-led Patriots 34-28 in overtime.

FALCON FOLLIES A terrible sequence in the second quarter epitomised Atlanta’s offensive woes. On third and less than a yard at the New England 14, Ryan was thrown down by Van Noy for a 13-yard sack. The Falcons still appeared to salvage some points when Younghoe Koo kicked a 45-yard field goal, only to have it wiped off the board by an illegal formation penalty on lineman Jason Springs.

Forced to kick again, Koo’s 50-yard veered wide left of the upright.

UP NEXT Patriots: Host the AFCleading Tennessee Titans (8-2) November 26.

Falcons: Travel to Jacksonville on Nov. 26 to face the woeful Jaguars (2-7).

JONATHAN McFall

MALACHI McCoy

LATHANIEL Bastian

MALIK Joseph

Defensive Player of the Year, a Conference Carolinas Second Team selection, and a Conference Carolinas All-Tournament selection. He averaged 17.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.5 steals, and 1.3 blocks per game. He also shot 53 percent from the field and 87 percent from the free throw line.

Malachi McCoy is nearly averaging a double double in his third season with the Benedict College Tigers.

The junior forward is averaging 6.3 points, two blocked shots and a teamleading 10 rebounds per

game. He opened the season with nine points, a career high 11 rebounds and three blocked shots in a 75-68 loss to Rollins College.

He followed with four points and 10 rebounds in a 72-66 loss to Florida Tech and most recently had six points and nine rebounds in a 64-56 win over Shaw.

As a freshman he averaged 7.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game and last year in the COVID19 shortened season he averaged just 5.9 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. Through two games,

Lathaniel Bastian is averaging 14.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game for the Angelo State Rams.

After a 13-point, sevenrebound, three-block performance in his Rams debut, he followed with 16 points, six rebounds and four steals in game two both wins for Angelo State.

Malik Joseph is averaging 3.7 points and two rebounds per game in his true freshman season for the Newberry Wolf Den. Joseph posted major numbers in his senior season with the Southside Christian Sabres in South

Carolina in the state’s 3A private school class.

The Eleuthera native averaged 22.7 points, 10.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.5 steals per game thus far this season.

Jevaughn Ferguson is averaging 4.7 points and four rebounds per game for the William Jewell Cardinals in his third season with the programme.

As a freshman he averaged 2.1 points and 1.9 rebounds per game in 26 appearances and averaged 4.4 points and 2.6 rebounds last season in 14 games with seven starts.

Curry ignites for 40 points, Warriors beat Cavs 104-89 CLEVELAND (AP) — Stephen Curry scored 20 of his 40 points in the fourth quarter, hitting three straight 3-pointers, and NBA-leading Golden State Warriors overcame a 13-point deficit to beat Cleveland Cavaliers 104-89 last night.

Curry made 8 of 12 shots, including 4 of 7 3-pointers, in the final period to help Golden State outscore the Cavaliers 36-8. The Warriors ran off the first 17 points of the quarter to seize an 85-81 advantage, holding Cleveland to 12 consecutive empty possessions.

Curry finished 15 of 27 from the field, 9 of 16 beyond the arc and 1 of 1 from the foul line. He increased his NBA-best scoring average to 29.5.

Nemanja Bjelica added 14 points, Andrew Wiggins had 12 points and Draymond Green had four points and 14 rebounds for Golden State.

The Warriors improved to 13-2.

They have won nine straight over the Cavaliers and are 17-1 against them since January 2017.

Darius Garland scored a seasonhigh 25 points as the injury-plagued Cavaliers dropped to 9-8. They took an 81-68 lead into the fourth after Dean Wade batted in a layup as time expired in the third.

76ERS 103, NUGGETS 89 DENVER (AP) — Tyrese Maxey scored 22 points, Seth Curry added 20 and short-handed Philadelphia beat Denver to snap a five-game losing streak. Playing without Joel Embiid and three other regulars, the 76ers held Nikola Jokic to three points in the second half on a night when enraged Nuggets coach Michael Malone was ejected and had to be restrained by Jokic after charging onto the court as the Philadelphia took control in the third quarter.

Jokic had 30 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists before leaving the court for the locker room late in the fourth quarter. Will Barton returned from a back injury to finish with

COTECC FROM PAGE 11

“Each team member resides on a different island or in a different country, so that is a challenge.

However the team was able to gain synergy.

“They will face greater competition than ever before but we believe they will have strong performances. On behalf of my board

and on behalf of the country, we wish them well.”

Other countries competing include Guatemala, Costa Rica, Mexico, The Domincan Republic and El Salvador. Mexico and the Dominican Republic will have two teams participating.

The Bahamas team will have a practice day on Friday with competition set to start on Saturday morning. The tournament ends on Wednesday, November 24, at which point the top team will be

BOKS SET FOR FRONT-ROW DOMINANCE IN RWC REMATCH WITH ENGLAND

By STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer WATCHING back the 2019 Rugby World Cup final hasn’t been part of Tom Curry’s preparations for England’s test match against the South Africa on Saturday.

The flanker feels he knows what’s coming.

“In terms of looking back at previous games and how they are going to play, you can get a pretty good idea,” Curry said.

Brutalising England with their traditional power at the set-piece set up a 32-12 win for the Boks in Yokohama and their third world title.

Their tactics are unlikely to change two years on for the countries’ first meeting since that final.

Especially given the England pack they’ll be facing at Twickenham.

England coach Eddie Jones is down to his thirdchoice hooker in Jamie Blamire, who has made only three starts for his club, Newcastle, and whose backup is an uncapped player, Nic Dolly. Then there’s Bevan Rodd, a prop who’ll be winning just his second cap and was drafted into the squad only as cover following coronavirusrelated withdrawals.

Among them is Joe Marler, who exited selfisolation only on Friday having contracted COVID19 yet has still been named on the bench.

It’s a front row that hardly appears ready for the toughest examination of scrummaging in test rugby.

Jones, though, is confident his players are ready.

HAMILTON: F1 ‘DUTY BOUND’ TO RAISE AWARENESS OF HUMAN RIGHTS

By JEROME PUGMIRE AP Auto Racing Writer

GOLDEN State’s Stephen Curry drives against Cavaliers’ Dean Wade last night.

(AP Photo/Tony Dejak) 19 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for Denver. Embiid missed his sixth straight game after entering the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols.

HEAT 112, WIZARDS 97 MIAMI (AP) — Jimmy Butler scored 32 points and Miami beat Washington for its fourth straight victory. Butler shot 11 of 19 from the field and made all 10 of his free throws in his second consecutive outing over 30 points. Bam Adebayo added 20 points, Gabe Vincent had 18 points and P.J. Tucker 15.

The Heat improved to 11-5. Bradley Beal scored 30 points for Washington, and Kyle Kuzma added 19 points. The Wizards have lost two straight to drop to 10-5.

JAZZ 119, RAPTORS 103 SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Rudy Gay hit five 3-pointers and scored 20 points in his season debut to help Utah beat Toronto, Gay also had five rebounds while playing just 18 minutes. He missed Utah’s first 14 games while recovering from offseason surgery on his right heel. Donovan Mitchell also scored 20 points, and Royce crowned the best in the U-12 in the Caribbean and Central America.

“To qualify for this prestigious event is a testament to the talent of these young girls, the work of the coaches inclusive of the travelling coach and the growth of tennis in The Bahamas. The Bahamas has qualified at this level before but it is always a pleasure to once again be a part of the top level in tennis at this young age division.

“The BLTA has fielded a very talented team. All the girls are

O’Neale added a season-high 16.

Rudy Gobert had 14 points and 11 rebounds. Gary Trent Jr scored a season-high 31 points for Toronto, and Fred Van Vleet added 24.

Toronto lost for the sixth time in seven games.

GRIZZLIES 120, CLIPPERS 108 MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Ja Morant scored 17 of his 28-points in a third-quarter rally in Memphis’ victory over Los Angeles.

Dillon Brooks and Jaren Jackson Jr added 18 points each, and Desmond Bane had 16. Brandon Clarke finished with 14 points, 10 of them in the fourth quarter. Paul George led the Clippers with 23 points and six assists. Reggie Jackson had 18 points.

T-WOLVES 115, SPURS 90 MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — KarlAnthony Towns had 25 points and 12 rebounds to help Minnesota beat San Antonio. D’Angelo Russell added 22 points, and Malik Beasley hit five of Minnesota’s season-high 21 3-pointers for all 15 of his points.

Devin Vassell scored 18 for San Antonio. The Spurs have lost four in a row. top-ranked players in the country.

They have performed well on the local tennis circuit in The Bahamas and have availed themselves of international tournaments in the US. It takes alot of dedication to maintain a high physical and competitive standard during COVID, there were restrictions in the past year. The BLTA has organised very well to ensure the well-being of the players and the team so that they have every opportunity to compete well.”

FORMULA One is “duty bound” to raise awareness of human rights issues as the series closes its season in the Middle East, seventime world champion Lewis Hamilton said yesterday.

F1 concludes its season with its inaugural races in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, followed by the season finale in Abu Dhabi, where the series has raced since 2009. F1 has raced in Bahrain since 2004 and now has four stops in the Middle East on its calendar.

Hamilton has spoken out on human rights issues before and played a role in the release of a political prisoner earlier this year.

“There are issues in these places that we’re going to, as there are around the world, but of course (the Middle East) seems to be deemed as the worst in this part of the world,” Hamilton said ahead of Sunday’s race, the first in a 10-year deal between F1 and Qatar.

“I do think as these sports go to these places, they’re duty bound to raise awareness for these issues and (that) these places need scrutiny, need the media to speak.”

Qatar and Saudi Arabia have been accused of “sportswashing” their human rights records by using high-profile sporting events to project a favourable image of the countries.

Qatar hosts the World Cup next year. “Equal rights is a serious issue,” Hamilton said. “They are trying to make steps. It can’t change overnight. I heard there are things like a new reform with the “kafala” system that was (still) in place a couple of years ago.

PAGE 14, Friday, November 19, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

A SPORT for all ages: Local veterinarian Dr Amanda Pinder rode Eve McLeod’s Double Take to a 3-way tie for Novice Jumpers Reserve Champion.

SPEED, style and precision ruled the day at the Camperdown Equestrian Centre Semi-Annual Horse Show held this past weekend.

Riders of all ages competed in classes of multiple types and were delighted to receive beautiful rosettes and trophies sponsored by Aliv. Saturday’s programme consisted of equitation classes which are judged on style and control.

The highlight of the day was Isabella Coello’s nearperfect ride on her chestnut mare Laureanna CF to win the Marshall and Sterling 2’6” medal.

Sunday’s competition featured the exciting jumper classes, which depend on successfully clearing the challenging obstacles on course in the fastest time.

The show ended on an exciting note with multiple jump-offs in the final Novice Jumpers class.

The fierce competition resulted in a 3-way tie for reserve champion, with Hannah D’Aguilar and Peyton Wong’s Shadowfax eventually emerging as champions once the dust had settled.

The show was judged by well-known judge and trainer Scott Hofstetter of Ocala, Florida. A member of the USHJA Judges’ Committee, Hofstetter has judged top shows including the Washington

ISABELLO Coello rode a stylish round on Laureanna CF to win the Marshall and Sterling 2’6” medal.

Jumpers rule at horse show in Camperdown THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY WAS ISABELLA COELLO’S NEAR-PERFECT RIDE ON HER CHESTNUT MARE LAUREANNA CF TO WIN THE MARSHALL AND STERLING 2’6” MEDAL. International and the Canadian Royal Horse Fair.

He was impressed by the quality of competition, in particular praising the riders and their coaches for the excellent conditioning of the horses.

Riders look forward to the next horse show scheduled for December 4-5 at Mariposa Stables, as they hope to continue amassing points towards End of Year awards and Interscholastic Regional Finals.

HANNAH D’Aguilar and Peyton Wong’s Shadowfax were champions in the competitive Novice Jumpers Division.

‘A RUN FOR THANKSGIVING’ CROSS COUNTRY HIGHLIGHTS THE Bahamas Scholastic Athletic Association held its 10th annual Cross-Country event under the theme, “A Run For Thanksgiving” at Goodman’s Bay on Saturday.

There was a total 292 participants from schools like Genesis Academy, Noble Preparatory Academy, Pace Christian Academy, Teleos Christian School and clubs like X-Treme Athletics, Unique Athletics, Quick Step, Hurry Murray Track Club, Sea Wave Triathlon Club, Scorpions Club, 3PA’s Stallions Track & Field Club, SunBlazers Track Club, T-Bird Flyers Track & Field Club, Velocity Track Club and Kids Athletics Academy.

THE RESULTS

Under 7 Girls Isabella Toney - Sun Blazers Track Club - 1st Place Skyler Joseph - Hurray Murray Track Club - 2nd Place Gianni Fernander Xtreme Track Club - 3rd Place

Under 7 Boys Daniel Ramsey - Hurray Murray Track Club - 1st Place Caiden Bain - Hurray Murray Track Club - 2nd Place Geovanny LaFleur - Kids Athletics Track Club - 3rd Under 9 Girls Azariah Duncombe - Sun Blazers Track Club - 1st Place Chrislyn Gibson - Kids Athletics Track Club - 2nd Place Mikhalia Strachan Hurray Murray Track Club - 3rd Place Under 9 Boys Stafford Sweeting Hurray Murray Track Club - 1st Place Ethan Miller - Sun Blazers Track Club - 2nd Place Jabez Winder - Hurray Murray Track Club - 3rd Place Under 11 Girls Cierra Delancy - 3PA’s Stallions Track Club - 1st Place Omega Taylor - Sun Blazers Track Club - 2nd Place Chasey Nelson - Xtreme Track Club - 3rd Place

PARTICIPANTS enjoy the cross country at Goodman’s Bay. Under 11 Boys Ramonick McLennon Hurry Murray Track Club - 1st Place Makio Murray - Kids Athletics Track Club - 2nd Place Adrian Woodside-Cox T-Bird Flyers Track Club - 3rd Place Under 13 Girls Breyteisha Kemp - Hurry Murray Track Club - 1st Place Breynice Kemp - Hurry Murray Track Club - 2nd Place Ramonique McLennon Hurry Marray Track Club - 3rd Place Under 13 Boys Anthony Saunders Velocity Track Club - 1st Place Cordell Munroe - Velocity Track Club - 2nd Place Kaleb Chandler - Velocity Track Club - 3rd Place Under 15 Girls Yulianis Akompi - Quick Step Track Club - 1st Place Diajah Mesidor - 3PA’s Stallions Track Club - 2nd Place Taylor Adderley - Quick Step Track Club - 3rd Place

Under 15 Boys Aden Taylor - T-Bird Flyers Track Club - 1st Place Gee Sane - Hurry Murray Track Club - 2nd Place George Nottage - T-Bird Flyers Track Club - 3rd Place Under 17 Girls Jasmine Mackey - 3PA’s Stallions Track Club - 1st Place Eden Johnson - Velocity Track Club - 2nd Place Melrinique Gibson T-Bird Flyers Track Club - 3rd Place Under 17 Boys - Raywind Winder - Hurry Murray Track Club - 1st Place

Conor Burrows - Noble Preparatory Academy - 2nd Place Garvin McKenzie T-Bird Flyers Track Club - 3rd Place Under 20 Girls Sheronika Simeon Xtreme Track Club - 1st Place Pamela Michel - Noble Preparatory Academy - 2nd Place Gashanique Finley Teleos Christian School - 3rd Place Under 20 Boys Denzel Sawyer - T-Bird Flyers Track Club - 1st Place

Nathan Duncan Flyers Track Club Place Jean Dorelien Flyers Track Club Place

T-Bird - 2nd T-Bird - 3rd

Open Girls Charis McPhee Quick Step Track Club 1st Place Open Boys Joel Forbes - Quick Step Track Club - 1st Place Brendan McCartney Brendan - Sun Blazers Track Club - 2nd Place Daniel Gibson - Hurry Murray Track Club - 3rd Place

PAGE 16, Friday, November 19, 2021

REPORT: TEXAS STILL AT RISK OF WINTER POWER BLACKOUTS

By PAUL J. WEBER Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas is still at risk of power blackouts this winter in the event of extreme weather like the catastrophic February storm that buckled the state's electrical grid and left millions of people without heat for days, the nation's grid monitor said Thursday.

"The concern is certainly sufficient," said John Moura, director of reliability assessment at the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, known as NERC. The warnings in the annual winter forecast by NERC, which oversees the reliability of the nation's electrical sector, comes as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the new leadership of the state's embattled grid

signal their confidence that the lights will stay on this time. Energy experts are skeptical that sufficient changes have been imposed on power plants and gas producers in Texas, where the energy industry has a lot of clout.

The February storm led to one of the biggest power outages in U.S. history, knocking out electricity to more than 4 million customers and leading to hundreds

of deaths. Some homes were left without heat and water for days.

The projections by NERC show that Texas could have a nearly 40% shortfall in available power to meet demand in the event of another severe winter storm. Moura said that although such an extreme scenario is "not a highly likely event," it cannot be ruled out.

THE TRIBUNE

IN this Feb. 23, 2021, file photo, Ricki Mills looks out from her home as she waits for a fire hydrant to be turned to get water, in Dallas on Feb. 23, 2021. Texas is again at high risk of power blackouts this winter because of extreme weather like the catastrophic February storm that buckled the state’s electric grid and left millions of people without heat for days, regulators said Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021.

Photo:LM Otero/AP

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, November 19, 2021, PAGE 17

US STOCK INDEXES END MIXED AS TRADERS WEIGH RETAIL EARNINGS

By DAMIAN J. TROISE AND ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers

A WOBBLY day on Wall Street ended with a mixed finish for stock indexes Thursday, nudging the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to new highs.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3% and the Nasdaq gained 0.5%, enough for the indexes to set new highs after a modest pullback a day earlier. After an upand-down run this week, the indexes are on pace for a weekly gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.2%, its third drop so far this week.

Roughly 67% of the companies in the S&P 500 fell, though gains by large technology companies and big retailers helped offset losses in other sectors as investors sized up the latest batch of corporate earnings reports.

Bond yields edged lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.59% from 1.60% late Wednesday.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 15.87 points to 4,704.54, while the Nasdaq gained 72.14 points to 15,993.71.

The Dow dropped 60.10 points to 35,870.95.

Small company stocks also declined. The Russell 2000 index fell 13.42 points, or 0.6%, to 2,363.59.

U.S. stocks have been powering mostly higher since early October as companies reported much stronger profits for the summer than analysts expected. Nearly every company in the S&P 500 has turned in their latest financial results, with overall earnings growth of 39%.

That far outpaces analysts’ expectations in June for 23% earnings growth for the quarter.

Investors have now shifted much of their focus to the threat from rising inflation. Companies are facing higher raw materials costs and supply chain problems that could crimp profits. Consumers have so far absorbed higher prices, but analysts fear they could eventually rein in their

spending if higher prices persist too long.

Solid earnings results helped lift a handful of companies Thursday.

Nvidia jumped 8.3% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after the maker of graphics chips for gaming and artificial intelligence reported strong third-quarter financial results. Other chipmakers also gained ground. Advanced Micro Devices rose 2.4% and Micron Technology rose 2.1%.

Companies that rely on consumer spending on goods and services also fared well following solid earnings reports from retailers. Macy’s surged 21.2% after the department store chain handily beat Wall Street’s third-quarter profit forecasts. Kohl’s also reported encouraging earnings and jumped 10.6%.

Financial companies had some of the broadest losses.

American Express fell 1.9% and insurer Aflac fell 1.8%.

Consumer staples makers and industrial companies also fell. Kraft Heinz slid

THE NEW York Stock Exchange operates during normal business hours in the Financial District, Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021, in New York. Stocks wobbled in midday trading on Wall Street Thursday, Nov. 18, as investors reviewed the latest earnings reports from retailers and an update on the employment market.

Photo:John Minchillo/AP 3.3% and General Electric fell 1.3%.

Investors received a positive update on the closely watched employment

market, which is viewed as a key factor in the economy’s continued recovery.

The Labor Department said that the number of

Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell for the seventh straight week to a pandemic low of 268,000.

CVS HEALTH TO CLOSE HUNDREDS OF DRUGSTORES OVER NEXT 3 YEARS

By TOM MURPHY AP Health Writer CVS Health will close hundreds of drugstores over the next three years, as the health care giant adjusts to changing customer needs and converts to new store formats.

The company said Thursday that it will close about 300 stores a year for the next three years, nearly a tenth of its roughly 10,000 retail locations as it reduces store count density in some places.

CVS Health said it has been evaluating population changes, customer buying patterns and future health needs to “ensure it has the right kinds of stores in the right locations.”

The company also has been expanding the health care services it provides at many locations.

The closings make sense as CVS Health seeks to remake many stores into more of a “one-stop shop” for care, Edward Jones analyst Ashtyn Evans said, adding that the company’s Aetna health insurance business should steer customers to those stores.

The company released no details Thursday on where the closings will occur. It did say they would start next spring.

Major drugstore chains routinely close underperforming stores or shutter locations for other business needs. CVS rival Walgreens, for instance,

PUBLIC NOTICE

INTENT TO CHANGE NAME BY DEED POLL The Public is hereby advised that I, BLAIR PATRICK JAYSON MAJOR ROLLE of Eastern District Nassau, The Bahamas, intend to change my name to BLAIR PATRICK JAYSON MAJOR. If there are any objections to this change of name by Deed Poll, you may write such objections to the Chief Passport Officer, P.O.Box N-742, Nassau, Bahamas no later than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice.

NOTICE FASTGAP LTD. NOTICE is hereby given as follows: (a)

Fastgap Ltd. is in Voluntary Dissolution under the provisions of Section 138(4) of the International Business Companies Act 2000.

(b)

The Dissolution of the said Company commenced when the Articles of Dissolution were submitted to and registered by the Registrar General of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.

(c)

The Liquidator of the said Company is Beatus Limited, P.O. Box N7776-348, N.P., Bahamas.

Dated 18 November 2021 Beatus Limited Liquidator

has closed several stores in San Francisco since 2019 due partly to problems with organized retail theft.

The growth of online shopping has blunted the need for CVS and Walgreens to operate a vast network of drugstores that are just a few minutes’ drive from most American homes.

CVS Health also has neglected its retail business and pushed some of its locations “into the downward spiral of irrelevance,” GlobalData Managing Director Neil Saunders said in an email.

“Too many stores are stuck in the past with bad lighting, depressing interiors, messy merchandising, and a weak assortment of products,” Saunders said in an email. “They are not destinations or places

where people go out of anything other than necessity.”

CVS Health said Thursday its stores will be grouped into three models.

Some will be traditional pharmacies that offer retail products as well as some health care services. Others will be dedicated to customer primary care, and the company will break out an enhanced version of its “HealthHUB” locations.

The company started introducing those stores a few years ago. The stores are geared toward helping customers monitor chronic conditions like diabetes and stay on top of their health.

Those locations can include health care workers like dietitians as well as community rooms for things like yoga classes.

Drugstores have been redesigning their locations

VEHICLES are parked in front of a CVS Pharmacy in Mount Lebanon, Pa., on Monday May 3, 2021. CVS Health will close hundreds of drugstores over the next three years, as the retail giant adjusts to changing customer needs and converts to new store formats. The company said Thursday, Nov. 18, that it will close about 300 stores a year for the next three years as it looks to reduce store count density in some locations.

Photo:Gene J. Puskar/AP as they try to become known as more than just places to pick up prescriptions and cough syrup. They have become a key source of COVID-19 vaccines as well as annual flu shots.

The companies have dealt with staffing issues as they widen their focus.

They’ve raised starting pay and hired thousands of additional workers for their stores.

PAGE 18, Friday, November 19, 2021

SUPERVISOR’S $45K AWARD UPHELD ON POLYMERS CLOSE ‘CATASTROPHE’

FROM PAGE 22 verdict, which was only delivered on December 8, 2020 - more than 11 years after the event that led to Mr Hepburn’s termination.

Raynard Rigby, lead attorney for Polymers International, used these delays as one of the key grounds in the company’s appeal. He raised the issue of whether Justice HannaAdderley’s evaluation of the evidence” in finding for Mr Hepburn was “safe” given that almost five years had elapsed between when she heard the evidence and delivered the verdict.

Noting that the Supreme Court judge had herself apologised for the delay before she rendered the verdict, Sir Michael wrote: “As pointed out earlier, the trial of this matter took place on seven days over a five-month period, including the Christmas break.

“The judge took almost five years to deliver her judgment after the evidence. Counsel for the respondent [Harvey Tynes QC] described the delay as ‘unreasonable’ and ‘unbearable’..... There is no apparent excuse or explanation for this delay.

“That a judge should take almost five years to deliver a judgment is wholly unacceptable. It is a clear breach of a litigant’s right to a fair trial

within a reasonable time. It is culpable and borders on judicial misconduct.”

Still, in reviewing the evidence and Polymers’ appeal, Sir Michael said the manufacturer’s argument amounted to “trawling through a judgment” to try and identify the slightest weakness and loophole that can be exploited.

“Notwithstanding the delay, it is clear that the judge reviewed in detail the evidence which was contained in written witness statements, oral testimony which was taken verbatim by a stenographer, and summarised by counsel in their submissions. We have also had the benefit of reviewing that material,” he found.

Freeport’s near-brush with its own version of a ‘mini-Chernobyl’ type incident was detailed by Mr Hepburn’s evidence, which disclosed that problems erupted at around 4.3am-5am on June 15, 2009. This occurred when the temperature in Polymers’ reactor 3610, which was being used to produce the latest batch of polystyrene beads, was found to be “out of control”.

Expressing surprise that no alarm had sounded, Mr Hepburn testified that the reactor’s temperature was between 208 and 210 degrees. He added that he

“quickly pressed the emergency cool down button on the console” and phoned his immediate supervisor, Craig Simms.

He advised trying to pour water into the reactor manually to cool it after the automated processes failed.

“Antoine Forbes, one of the operators, put on a respirator and went outside to try to open the valve,” Mr Hepburn alleged.

“I opened the door of the control room and could smell styrene, one of the chemicals we used. I could also see styrene residue vaporising and coming out of the reactor manway and into the plant. It looked like the batch was about to blow out of the reactor.

“At that point I knew we were in danger and it was dangerous for anyone to try to manually work on the reactor. Even then there was no alarm. The control room had walls that were explosion proof. I told everyone to get inside and close the doors,” he continued.

“We did everything we could from the console to cool down the batch and try to get the reactor going. Had we not done this there would have been an explosion and everyone at the plant and in the surrounding neighbourhood could have been killed. It would have led to a chain

reaction with other things exploding, too.”

Mr Hepburn blamed the near-explosion on the failure of Polymers’ automated audio alarm system to function that night, which meant he and his co-workers were not alerted to the problem until it was almost too late.

“In my 13-and-a-half years at Polymers the alarm system had always worked and I had grown to depend on it,” he alleged. Polymers, though, did not see it that way. It determined he was guilty of gross negligence in failing to both properly supervise his staff and follow the company’s operating procedures, resulting in Mr Hepburn’s summary termination.

Sir Michael described the episode as “a catastrophic event” where the staff failed to properly “charge” elements in reactor 3610, resulting in $270,678 worth of damage to “very expensive equipment” and around $70,000 in lost profits.

Turning to Polymers’ appeal, he found that Justice Hanna-Adderley had applied the correct legal test in finding that the manufacturer “did not have an honest belief, after a reasonable investigation, that the respondent was guilty of gross misconduct or gross negligence”.

Sir Michael noted, in particular, the evidence of Greg Ebelhar, Polymers’ chief operating officer, who confirmed that “in the event something is wrong, the computer indicates a warning by generating an alarm” either by sound or visual means. Mr Hepburn had blamed the incident on these alarms failing to work.

“The fact is that the material evidence as to what happened that night is not really disputed. The respondent was the production assistant and supervisor of that shift. He was not feeling well that night. He told his supervisor that he was not 100 percent but was told to go to work and work out of the control room,” Sir Michael recorded.

“At the beginning of the shift he was resting and/or sleeping. He had a back injury and that fact was known to the appellant [Polymers] and is not disputed. There is no suggestion that he was impaired for other reasons - for example intoxication or illegal substance. There is no suggestion that he was distracted from doing his job for any other reason.

“There is no suggestion of ‘deliberate and intentional acts of sleeping at work so as to neglect or evade responsibilities or duties’, which is a major

BAHAMASAIR’S CUBA, HAITI RETURN COVERS LOCAL ‘SHORTFALL’

FROM PAGE 22

Haiti but, although this frequency has been cut for now, Mr Cooper voiced optimism that the return of these revenue streams will enable the airline to slash the record $78.2m taxpayer subsidy it received to keep it afloat in the 2020-2021 fiscal year.

“What Haiti does for us is that it’s our highest-yielding route,” he explained.

“And Cuba, with the US travel restrictions in place, there’s a high demand for going there. We expect

those flights going to Cuba to be full all the time, relatively full. Anything for Bahamasair right now given that we’re recovering from COVID-19 is a big boost.....

“They will contribute some significant returns for us at this time. Going to Haiti we were usually seeing 65 percent load factors.” Mr Cooper said the return of much of Bahamasair’s international routes beyond the US would help to compensate for slack in its domestic market.

“Over the year, and especially summer time, we

were around 65 percent,” he added of the average load factor. “The issue with us is the domestic market is still not as strong as preCOVID. It is still showing some hesitancy on Bahamians moving around The Bahamas, so we are depending on the international routes to pick up some of the shortfall.”

Aided by cruise line home porting in The Bahamas, Mr Cooper said load factors on US routes into Florida averaged around 85 percent over summer 2021.

While Bahamasair, thanks

to US travel restrictions, had resumed flying to Cuba this week with relatively full planes, he added that Haiti would take longer to rebuild as word about the end to the emergency orders is just getting out.

“We’re operating all routes at this time; it’s just a matter of frequency,” the Bahamasair managing director said. “That will take time to rebuild, especially with domestic. It will take some time for us to get back the demand that we had before.

“Now The Bahamas is open, and we have a better grading from the CDC [the US ‘do not travel’ advisory has been removed], we anticipate the numbers going up.” Mr Cooper said he expected inter-island travel to be positively impacted by the return of Virgin Atlantic flights from the UK, as well as the continued presence of British Airways.

“The bookings are as expected,” he added of the upcoming holiday season.

“We anticipate Christmas, and Thanksgiving going

CUSTOMS OFFICER WINS APPEAL ON $30K JOHN BULL WATCH THEFT

FROM PAGE 22

to as the high value cage (the HVC), where sensitive goods are kept. He carried with him a backpack. He later exited the HVC with the backpack,” Appeal justice Isaacs wrote.

“Some days later, it was discovered by an employee of John Bull that 15 Cartier watches valued at approximately $29,844 were missing. The appellant was arrested and charged with Bastian with two counts of stealing by reason of employment, contrary to section 340(4) of the Penal Code.

“He also faced a charge alleging that on 6 November, 2019, he stole an assortment of jewellery valued at $20,667, the

property of John Bull. On the date the items were reported missing, the arresting officer, Woman Sergeant 2461 Yvette Deveaux, made a search of the appellant’s residence for the missing items but none were found.”

David Cash, the attorney acting for Mr Ferguson, argued that the magistrate relied heavily on surveillance footage of the warehouse and HVC area in his decision to convict. Magistrate Rolle-Davis found that Mr Ferguson entered with an empty backpack, and left with a full one, at a time when he was not scheduled to work.

Appeal justice Isaacs said the magistrate should have asked the witnesses

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that DAPHNE ELFRA of, Palmetto Point, Eleuthera, The Bahamas, is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 12th day of November, 2021 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that SHARANO WELSON of Murphy Town, Abaco, The Bahamas, is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 19th day of November, 2021 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

whether their observations of the backpack matched his own. “I note that in the evidence of Customs officer Corey Gibson that he saw the appellant with a backpack when he viewed the video footage. However, he also said that the appellant normally brings a backpack to work,” the verdict stated.

“It is instructive, for example, that Ricardo Hart, safety manager at Odyssey Bahamas, viewed the footage during the trial and while he was able to identify the appellant as being shown therein, was unable to say if the appellant was opening any boxes nor could he say what was in the backpacks in the video.

“I, myself, viewed the footage and was unable

to see the condition of the alleged backpack before the appellant entered the HVC. The video footage is grainy and dim due to a lack of light save from what seems to emanate from devices carried by the two persons in the HVC, and brief flashes of light when they apparently entered another room.”

Mr Cash also argued that the prosecution had failed to produce any evidence that there were watches in the crate to be stolen, as it had relied on shipping invoices to determine that was the case rather than physical evidence.

“Rudolf Steinlechner, the buyer for John Bull, concluded that 15 Cartier watches were missing based, it seems, on the

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that CHRISTAL LISA SWABY of, Bimini, The Bahamas, is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 12th day of November, 2021 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that JALEENA SHANISKA MONTES of Carmichael Road, Mildred Avenue, Nassau, The Bahamas, is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 12th day of November, 2021 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

order that he placed. However, it appears that he too was relying on the shipping details,” Appeal justice Isaacs acknowledged.

“Welewski Gordon, a FedEx ramp agent, testified that on 6 November, 2019, he was in a warehouse with Customs officer Corey Gibson to open up the bond. He scanned a box from John Bull that appeared tampered with.

He said that: ‘On examination the watches were missing. Cartier invoices told me that’.

“Sanchia Clarke, assistant watch buyer of John Bull, testified that she opened the Movado and Omega shipment and found several items missing.

She said: ‘The two boxes’ container didn’t match

THE TRIBUNE or serious infraction under the appellant’s disciplinary procedures.

“The audio alarm was not working and failed to warn persons that a breach of procedure had occurred.

The respondent failed to detect the visual alarm on his monitor, which he was under an obligation to constantly monitor. Indeed, neither did Baldwin Smith another employee on the shift who also had a monitor in front of him.”

Sir Michael found it was also “a bit unfair” for Polymers to blame Mr Hepburn for allowing an employee to leave the plant for 45 minutes when the reactor was being ‘charged’, as other staff were capable of performing this function.

“The respondent had been employed for more than 13 years, he had no known history of misconduct or negligence, and he was not well that evening - a fact known to the appellant,” Sir Michael found in dismissing Polymers’ appeal.

“The appellant could not reasonably believe that the respondent’s conduct amounted to gross negligence which justified terminating him without notice or compensation in lieu of notice. The conduct could not reasonably lead to the conclusion that the respondent intended, or was reckless, in not complying with the appellant’s rules and indifferent to the appellant’s interests.”

into Black Friday, and everything after that to be positive. The bookings right now are definitely starting to show an upward trend, so we expect to have a reasonably good Christmas.

“In domestic bookings to go to the US, bookings are well over 60 percent and climbing. As we start getting closer to the date and things like that, I would not be surprised if we are looking at 75 percent to 80 percent. We were probably a little higher than that preCOVID for Christmas.” the slip to the bottom of both boxes. Three missing pieces’. Again, she could only surmise from the shipment information that items were missing. Furthermore, she examined the boxes on 9 November, 2019, some four days after they had been at John Bull.”

In the absence of physical evidence that the watches had been present, and subsequently stolen, and the prosecution’s failure to call Bastian to testify against Mr Ferguson, the Court of Appeal ruled: “Not having resorted to any of those alternatives, the evidence against the appellant could only rise to the level of high suspicion, but even high suspicion is not sufficient to meet the criminal standard of proof.”

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that JESSICA JUDY JOSEPH of Windsor Lane, East Street, Nassau, The Bahamas, is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 19th day of November, 2021 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that ANTANEL PIERRE of,Munnings Drive, St. Vincent Road Nassau, The Bahamas, is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 12th day of November, 2021 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, November 19, 2021, PAGE 19

CHAMBER LEADERSHIP ELECTION HEATING UP

FROM PAGE 22

private sector players yesterday, argued the Chamber has lost its way in recent years with many in the business community starting to “question its relevance”.

“The business community needs a vibrant and relevant Chamber as the country struggles to get back on its economic feet,” the paper said, describing the organisation as “weakened and beleaguered”.

“To their credit, the Chamber has had some recent past chairs who have been game changers, but of late it seems like the Chamber has fallen off the rails. The current Board is made up of gifted, experienced and notable members. But some have indicated that, despite the incredible talent on the Board, the management style of the current leadership has been described as indifferent and stubborn.”

Alleging that some Chamber Board directors, who it did not name, “have checked out”, it added: “The Chamber is dysfunctional and needs a complete overhaul if it is ever going to win the confidence of the private sector again. Many in the private sector have lost such confidence and have withdrawn support.....

“At the end of the day, the private sector is being robbed of a functional Chamber at a time when it needs clear, focused, credible and experienced leadership at the helm so that they are the strong, vibrant advocate they ought to be.....

“The private sector deserves more, and should demand more, from its Chamber as its function is far too critical to our economic recovery to have it is such a state.”

Mrs Rutherford-Ferguson did not respond to Tribune Business phone calls or text messages seeking comment before press time last night,

while other Chamber directors said they had not seen the document and were unaware it was being widely circulated via e-mail and social media.

The document, which has been seen by Tribune Business, did not identify the author but Sir Franklyn Wilson, the Sunshine Holdings and Arawak Homes chairman, said the sentiments it expressed were in line with his own views.

While he was only made aware of the document’s existence by this newspaper, he confirmed he had been part of “quite a conversation” in social media chat groups regarding the Chamber’s status and the way forward.

“The Chamber is, in my humble opinion, not the effective organisation that best serves the interests of business and the private sector. It’s not,” Sir Franklyn said, adding that the Organisation for Responsible Governance (ORG) is stepping into the advocacy vacuum it has left. “The Chamber is not working.

“The fact of the matter is that to allow the Chamber to die, or be seriously ill or replace it, there’s got to be a better solution than that.

The Chamber is too important an organisation to die or be in intensive care for so long.”

Adding that ORG “appears to have more effective leadership at the moment, and appears to have more resources”, Sir Franklyn said of the fivepage document: “Whoever wrote that, it is true. It’s accurate. I think anyone who denies that does not have the best interests of the private sector at heart.

“That’s a true statement.

I believe the time has come that something serious has to happen. My overall comment is that what you have read to me sounds like a credible and objective analysis.”

Sir Franklyn was not the only one to make that argument. Several sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, also confirmed to Tribune Business that the five-page document appeared to have been written by someone with inside knowledge of the current atmosphere and developments at the Chamber.

“The Chamber is the vital link between the private sector and policymakers, particularly now when we’re trying our best to figure out how to get out of this economic conundrum. We can’t have this. It just cannot happen,” one contact said.

The document’s contents also align with under-currents this newspaper has been aware of for some months, with a significant faction both inside and outside the Chamber having become disillusioned and disenchanted with the organisation’s current direction and leadership.

Such feelings emerged in November 2020 when a furious internal row erupted over a major retailer’s complaint that the Chamber was doing too little to address private sector concerns over COVID-19 restrictions.

The response to an e-mail from Kelly-Anne Huber, Rubins Department Store’s marketing manager, prompted the Chamber’s vice-chairman to then rebuke a fellow director and Board member for creating “unneeded animosity” with the very business community whose interests it is supposed to represent and advocate for.

Tim Ingraham, who is also Summit Insurance Company’s principal, told Khalil Parker, also the Bahamas Bar Association’s head, in an October 29, 2020, e-mail that the Chamber would now have to “repair the damage” caused by a response he branded “inappropriate” and “dismissive”.

The entire e-mail exchange, which was leaked to Tribune Business and other media, was triggered by an October 29, 2020, e-mail from Ms Huber that was headlined Where is The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce. She argued that the private sector’s main advocacy body had been “silent since March” and provided little to no support for retailers currently suffering under the curb-side limitations.

“As many of you know we have been in business a very long time and hope to continue serving The Bahamas for many more years,” Ms Huber said of Rubins, in an e-mail that was sent to all Chamber directors.

“We understand these times are uncertain and difficult for all of us. However, we are curious as to what your plan of action is? You have been SILENT since March, with little to no support to the retail sector.

“Besides Ms [Tara] Morley, who has stuck her neck out for retail businesses, we are extremely disappointed in the leadership of your organisation.

Sadly, because of Ms Morley’s outspokenness, I’m sure she is scrutinised and targeted by the ‘powers a be’, and most certainly making it impossible for her to run a business.”

Yesterday’s circulation of the five-page document is likely to be interpreted as an attempt to influence the election’s outcome tonight, particularly given its timing.

Mr Edwards yesterday declined to comment on the document or its contents besides saying he had no knowledge of it, and it had not come from himself.

“I have no comment,” he added. ‘It’s unfortunate. It’s sad. It’s really sad. Whoever crafted this has the intent of crafting problems for other persons and that’s not good.”

Peter Goudie, an existing Chamber director who

‘CUT SUIT TO FIT THE CLOTH’: MOVIE DEMAND OFF 85% FROM PAGE 22 has plummeted in line with global trends.

“I would says demand through COVID dropped as much as 85 percent,” he told this newspaper. “It was around the world. We’re trying to be mindful not to automatically cause our expenses to go up and not have it justified by being in line with consumer demand.

“We have a ways to go.

We still have the pandemic.

All my management people and consultants are saying: ‘Take it as it comes and see how it goes over the next several weeks and adjust accordingly.”

Reiterating that US movie demand “has not even rebounded close to pre-COVID levels”, the Galleria chief said the whole industry - including in The Bahamas - has to be aware that “consumer behaviour” has changed in way that

has been accelerated by the pandemic’s impact.

“A lot of people get their product delivered to them digitally,” he added. “We have to be mindful that we are not going to the place where we were before.” Mr Mortimer said the cinema business had known of the growing competitive threat posed by streaming services five years ago, and COVID-19 has narrowed that timeframe significantly.

Suggesting this was one reason why movie demand is struggling to recover to pre-pandemic levels, he added: “We have to be mindful of that moving forward. These are global trends. We’ve known that for years in the industry and COVID has accelerated it by almost four years. What was supposed to impact in four to five years’ time has happened in 2020.

“It’s condensed the timeframe and we have to be

mindful moving forward, and adjust ourselves. To use the phrase, we have to cut the suit to fit the cloth.” As a result, Galleria’s last nighttime movie showings will continue to be in the 8pm time slot until consumers dictate otherwise.

“A lot of things will be driven by demand moving forward,” Mr Mortimer said. “We do what we have to do in making sure people remain safe. The emergency orders may be over but the pandemic is still here, and we have to be cognisant of what’s happening around the world where COVID numbers are going up.

“We don’t want Galleria to be one of those businesses that cause that sort of issue in our community. We are going to be mindful that we continue to abide by the new COVID rules that the Government has passed and will take that into consideration.

“The post-COVID demand has not risen to preCOVID levels. We have to make adjustments going forward until we see the turn.

We monitor it on a daily, weekly basis. There are a lot of factors that have to come into play in terms of the amount of outstanding debt in the economy because of two years of people not working, not paying banks back loans, disposable income having been impacted,” he continued.

“There are a number of factors involved. It’s not three months from now or six months from now. It’s a situation has to be managed, and we’ll manage our way out of it. We were one of the last industries to open.

“It’s going to take prudent decision making moving forward in light of a multiplicity of factors in play that we do what is right for the business moving forward in our new environment.”

is standing for re-election tonight, implied that it was an act of cowardice for the document’s author not to put their name to it. He also dismissed its concerns that the proper nomination process had not been followed, saying: “Everything’s been done by the rules”.

“Business people will make up their own minds,” he said, “and not be influenced by a document circulating on social media.

If there’s a document out there that’s not signed by anybody, and they don’t have the nerve to stand on their name, business people will not stand for it.”

Another source, speaking on condition of anonymity,

said of the document: “The Chamber does not need that cloud hanging over it. I hope this is not meant to harm the Chamber, and undermine the influence of the Chamber in the country because we need a strong Chamber.”

Mr Ingraham is standing unopposed for vice-chair, while Nadine Frazier and Nikia Forbes are contesting the secretary’s post.

Don Williams is the candidate for treasurer, while offering as directors are Mr Goudie; Deborah Deal; Vernice Walkine; Sean Moree; Royann Dean; Antoinette Russell; Cristobal Gomez; Keith Roye; Michele Moodie; Odetta Morton; and Marisa Ahwai.

NOTICE

IN THE ESTATE OF HUDON AUDLEY ROLLE a.k.a HUDON ROLLE, late of #52 Mount Royal Avenue in the Southern District of the Island of New Providence, one of the Islands of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, deceased.

NOTICE is hereby given that all persons having any claims or demands against the above-named Estate are requested to send the same duly certified to the undersigned on or before Monday the 6th day of December, A.D., 2021 after which the Personal Representative will proceed to distribute the assets of the deceased among the persons entitled thereto having regard only to the claims of which the Personal Representative shall then have had notice.

AND NOTICE is hereby also given that all persons indebted to the said Estate are requested to make full settlement on or before the date hereinbefore mentioned.

COOPER & CO. Chambers COOPLAW HOUSE 210 East Street P.O.BoxN-772 Nassau, The Bahamas Attorneys for the Personal Representative

PAGE 20, Friday, November 19, 2021

Ministry defends delay on fiscal reports release THE Ministry of Finance yesterday said it will miss the legally-mandated deadlines to release two key fiscal documents because the supplementary Budget must first be passed by Parliament.

It explained that the November 17, 2021, deadline for tabling the annual Fiscal Strategy Report, together with a Medium-Term Debt Management Strategy, will not be achieved given that debate on the supplementary Budget presented by the newly-elected Davis administration is not scheduled to begin until 12 days later.

The Fiscal Responsibility Act requires that the Fiscal Strategy Report be presented to Parliament by the third Wednesday in November every year.

However, the Ministry of Finance effectively said it was pointless to try and meet this deadline before the supplementary Budget is passed as the latter contains the approved revenue and spending targets that form the Strategy Report’s foundation.

While pledging to present both the Fiscal Strategy Report and Medium-Term Debt Management Strategy “immediately” after the supplementary Budget 2021-2022 is passed, the Ministry of Finance gave no specific date for when this would occur.

However, it indicated that the Government will move Parliament to enact legal changes so that key fiscal data does not have to be presented in the House of Assembly first before it is released to the public.

“The debate on the fiscal year 2021-2022 supplementary Budget has not yet been completed, and

is scheduled to commence the week of November 29, 2021. As a result, the revised estimates of revenue and expenditure for the fiscal year 2021-2022, which establishes the baseline for the Fiscal Strategy Report, have not been legitimised by the Parliament,” the Ministry of Finance said in explaining the delayed publication.

“The Government remains committed to the tenants of fiscal transparency and accountability in the management of public finances. There should be no requirement that critical fiscal data be presented first to Parliament before it can be released to the public.

The Government would seek to change this requirement as soon as possible to promote transparency in public finances.

“While The Bahamas continues to battle the very fluid nature of the COVID19 pandemic, we also seek to ensure that our fiscal forecasts and estimates are prepared in a responsible manner. Both the Fiscal Strategy Report and the Medium-term Debt Management Strategy will be tabled and debated in the Parliament immediately after the passage of the fiscal year 2021-2022 supplementary Budget.”

The Fiscal Strategy Report has to provide estimates for the past two fiscal years, the current Budget year, and three future years.

These projections are to include revenues by type; total spending by economic, administrative and functional classifications; the fiscal balance for the overall budget; a summary of the sources of budget financing; and the level of debt by external source, domestic source and total.

THE TRIBUNE

PORT FORGES CROWDFUNDING PARTNERSHIP WITH ARAWAKX

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net THE Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) says it has forged a partnership with the ArawakX crowdfunding platform that will help give the island’s entrepreneurs better access to capital.

Derek Newbold, the GBPA’s senior manager of business development, met with ArawakX’s in midOctober to seal the tie-up, which is designed to help start-ups seeking to launch or established companies aiming to expand by matching them to investors who can provide the necessary capital.

“We are excited about our partnership with ArawakX,” Mr Newbold said. “The services they provide are critical to launching a successful operation, essentially helping to package businesses as viable investment options for local and international funding through crowdfunding.

“We believe this collaboration can unlock opportunities for our licensees and provide wealth creation for Bahamians. Many businesses are regrouping in a COVID-19 era and rebounding from nationwide emergency orders and lockdowns.

“Not only will this collaboration connect promising projects with much-needed

DEREK NEWBOLD, the Grand Bahama Port Authority’s (GBPA) senior manager of business development and Invest Grand Bahama, recently met with ArawakX’s principals to solidify a partnership between the two organisations, opening opportunities for entrepreneurs in high-growth business sectors. Pictured are Mr Newbold (left) and D’Arcy Rahming Jr, chief technology officer of ArawakX. capital, but also it will effectively prepare entrepreneurs to pitch and sell the business opportunity to potential investors.”

ArawakX is an equity crowdfunding platform that has supported the initial public offerings (IPOs) of several Bahamian companies, bringing them to the local and regional marketplace.

“In the first three months, we launched three quality companies in New Providence, and we’re excited to be able to work with the GBPA to launch quality companies in Grand Bahama,” said D’Arcy

Rahming Jr., ArawakX’s chief technology officer.

“This agreement is a meaningful first step to that goal.”

Ian Rolle, the GBPA’s president, said access to traditional forms of capital has been the largest impediment for entrepreneurs starting or scaling a business of all sizes. “The GBPA has been a vocal proponent of alternative funding methods for years,” he added.

“Through our events and business support initiatives, we have worked to bring awareness of crowdfunding as an alternative form

of securing capital. There is still a way to go in making access to capital less challenging, but this is a great start.

“We see our partnership with ArawakX as a tremendous opportunity for existing and future GBPA licensees,” Mr Rolle added.

“Through various support networks, they manage and prepare businesses as investor-ready projects for both the local and international market, depending on the type of business and our national investment policy.

We’re pleased to support an initiative such as this.”

BAHAMAS SECURES TWO KEY TOURISM AWARD WINS THE Bahamas secured two wins from its 20 nominations in this year’s Caribbean Journal Travelers’ Choice Awards.

The Bahamas won Best Caribbean Golf Destination and Best Caribbean Meetings Destination after 53,000 total votes were cast, with the Atlantis resort receiving the Caribbean Journal Travelers’ Choice

Award for Best Family Resort in the Caribbean.

“This is an extremely proud moment for The Bahamas and our tourism sector, as we continue to provide travellers with the best in class in hospitality, facilities and relaxing environments,” said Chester Cooper, deputy prime minister and minister of tourism, investments and aviation.

“The award of these two prestigious destination accolades and resort

distinction is a true testament to the hard work and stellar service delivery by our tourism professionals.”

Golf tournament bookings have been a strong marketing tool for The Bahamas. The return of the White Sands NCAA Golf Invitational brought 19 collegiate teams from across the US to Nassau, while The Bahamas is also host destination for the return of the Tiger Woods’ Hero World Challenge, which will field 15 of the world’s

top 20 golf players, and will be held at Albany on December 2-5.

The Ministry of Tourism said The Bahamas’ success in winning the Caribbean Journal Travelers’ Choice Award for Best Meetings Destination in the region was based on the quality of its hotels, the number and quality of meeting spaces, restaurant offerings, local activities and more.

THE TRIBUNE

ALIV NEAR-TRIPLES OPERATING INCOME CABLE Bahamas yesterday said its Aliv mobile subsidiary near-tripled operating income for the three months to end-September while growing cash from operations to $4.8m.

The BISX-listed communications provider, in a statement on its financial results for the 2022 first quarter, said earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) had increased by 180 percent year-over-year from $1.8m to $5m.

While Aliv continues to grow market share and revenues despite the lingering effects of COVID-19 on

Bahamian consumers, Cable Bahamas conceded that it continues to incur net losses due to high depreciation and amortisation costs (non-cash transactions) associated with the huge investment in its nationwide network roll-out.

This heavy upfront capital spend also means Aliv has to service significant interest payments on the debt financing taken on to pay for this infrastructure.

Aliv has debt instruments with interest coupons ranging from 8 percent to 10 percent.

Franklyn Butler, Cable Bahamas chief

executive, said: “As we have noted in the past, key factors including the massive investment in topof-the line infrastructure and world-class technology inherently make our journey toward profitability for Aliv a long-term goal.

“When compared to investments of a similar nature, it is clear that we are well on our way to long-term profitability.

We are pleased with the positive trends we have seen regarding Aliv’s yearover-year growth.

We are confident that Aliv’s financial outlook will continue to move in the right direction.”

Victor Marcial, Cable Bahamas’ group chief financial officer, said he is confident the 2022 financial year will prove profitable for Cable Bahamas. “Over the past several months we have been able to increase our revenues and reduce high interest debts. We believe these and other strategic financial decisions will lead to a fruitful financial year 2022 as evidenced by our first quarter performance,” he added.

Cable Bahamas’ first quarter revenue closed at $53.4m, an increase of more than $5m or 11 percent compared to the previous year. Fixed revenue grew 5

Friday, November 19, 2021, PAGE 21

percent, while mobile revenues grew by 6 percent.

Despite an increase in operating expenses to $2.6m or 8 percent for the same period, the ratio of operational expenditure to revenue decreased by 1 percent year-overyear, showing a slight improvement in operational expenditure efficiency.

This ultimately translated into an increase in earnings before interest, tax and depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $2.5m, or 16 percent, over the same period last year. Cable Bahamas’ consolidated group EBITDA percentage increased by

E-COMMERCE USAGE TO SURGE WITH ‘FAMILIARITY’

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net A BAHAMAS-BASED information technology provider yesterday said e-commerce system usage will increase once companies and consumers become more “familiar” with it.

Scott MacKenzie, Cloud Carib’s chief executive, told Tribune Business that it took participants in developed markets some time to trust e-commerce when it first started to

emerge as a viable system for transacting in goods and services some 30 years ago.

“I think as more people consume services online, whether it’s Amazon or buying a movie or paying a bill online, the more it will become commonplace and everybody will just use it,” he added.

Mr Mackenzie was responding to concerns raised by the findings from a recent Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC) survey, which discovered that while a significant number

of firms use social media to engage customers, more than half did not have an e-commerce platform or way to receive payments online.

“Online payment gateways for small businesses is a tremendous value for SMEs because it saves them so much time and effort, and their bookkeeping,” Mr MacKenzie added.

He pointed to the Chinese example, and how methods of electronic payments have exploded in that country despite there being large rural sectors alongside

metropolitan cities. “China is very advanced now,” Mr Mackenzie said.

“Now, when you go to China, you will see everybody - and it doesn’t matter where you are in China - everybody is using digital currency. Nobody pays with paper, fiat cash any more. Everybody uses their phones.

“So it doesn’t take long once people start to use it and feel confident with it.

It can very quickly transform a society. I think that’s where The Bahamas is; right at that transition point, or that inflection

point, where in the next few years the younger generation will be the first adopters. They’ll all start using it for digital everything.”

The Central Bank is presently rolling out the Bahamian digital currency, the Sand Dollar, with moves being made to integrate this with the commercial banking system so that it can be aligned with deposits and withdrawals from bank accounts. Officials have said the Clearing House integration will be in place by the start of 2022.

one percentage point from 32 percent to 33 percent.

During its past financial year, Cable Bahamas used funds generated from the sale of its former subsidiary, Summit Broadband, to repay debt. This resulted in a decrease of interest expenses and preference share dividends by $1.2m in the 2022 first quarter when compared with the same period a year before.

Earnings per share returned to positive territory at $0.06 per share in the 2022 first quarter.

The full financial year will close at end-June next year.

Mr MacKenzie said: “There is no reason for small businesses to be afraid or put off by payment gateways.

Most payment systems are secure, and the reason for that is, in order to connect to payment gateways, they have to be what’s called PCI or payment card industry, DSS certified.

“So most of them have to go through very stringent security testing to be connected to payment systems, like Swift or banking system. They are very particular about who connects to those. So in order for you to be able to process payments you have to go and get all of these sorts of certificates.”

BATTLE 4 ATLANTIS TO GIVE TOURISM BOOST

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net THE two Battle 4 Atlantis basketball tournament will bring a combined 7,000 visitors to The Bahamas over the Thanksgiving period, creating “exponential” tourism benefits for the country.

Lea Miller-Tooley, chief executive of Complete Sports Management, the agency responsible for co-ordinating the men’s and women’s events, told Tribune Business that The Bahamas can expect to receive thousands of college baskteball fans with visitors already starting to trickle in for the inaugural Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis Women’s Tournament that starts this Saturday.

“The fans for the women are starting to land. Probably tomorrow we’ll get a couple of thousand fans for the women, and I would say

we would get up to 5,000 for the men,” she said.

The tourism-related benefits stemming from Battle 4 Atlantis are “beyond exponential” as the tournament resumes its growth following a one-year COVID-related hiatus.

Besides attracting more visitors, the marketing push the event gives The Bahamas through ESPN screening games exposes this nation to millions of viewers throughout the world.

Ms Miller-Tooley added: “The television exposure, and the level of competition that we get to play at a place as beautiful as Atlantis, I would say is one of, if not the most, impactful sports tourism event in the Bahamas.

“Atlantis has done such an unbelievable job. Visitors have to get tested to come into the country, and then tested to get out of the country, but Atlantis has made it logistically very seamless. The Women’s

PUBLIC NOTICE In accordance with the Order of the Honorable Justice Cheryl Grant-Thompson made October 21, 2021, Shares numbered 2,001 to 4,000 describe in share certificate #2 in Blue Illusions Ltd. are to be sold by public auction on Friday November 26, 2021, in front of Supreme Court main Building, Bank Lane, Nassau, The Bahamas between the hours of 12:00 pm and 3:00 pm

tournament starts on Saturday. This is our inaugural event and we have the top teams in women’s college basketball. The locals should really get behind this. We want to expose the next Jonquel Jones to this country.”

The University of Oregon women’s team landed on Wednesday, while the other seven arrived yesterday. “We’ve got the number one and the number two teams in the country here in South Carolina being one, and then the University of Connecticut with Geno Auriemma being two, along with Dawn Staley at South Carolina coming off an Olympic gold medal,” Ms Miller-Tooley said.

SCENE FROM BATTLE 4 ATLANTIS 2017.

business@tribunemedia.net

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2021

$5.10

$5.17

$5.11

‘Cut suit to fit the cloth’: Movie demand off 85%

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

• Galleria to wait on late-night showings • ‘Not going back to pre-COVID place’ • Pandemic accelerates streaming rise

GALLERIA Cinemas must “cut the suit to fit the cloth”, its principal asserted yesterday, with consumer demand for cinema showings down “as much as 85 percent” compared to pre-COVID. Chris Mortimer told Tribune Business that the Mall at Marathon-based movie theatre will not resume its late-night showings, despite being able to so with the curfew’s removal, until it is sure there is sufficient appetite among moviegoers to justify the extra cost involved.

And he warned that the cinema business “is not going back to the place where we were before” COVID-19 struck, as the pandemic had merely accelerated the development of Netflix and other streaming services by fourfive years to the point where increasing numbers are accessing the movies they want

digitally in the safety of their homes.

“We’re still reviewing that aspect of it,” Mr Mortimer replied, when asked by this newspaper whether the end to the curfew and COVID emergency orders will enable Galleria to resume its latenight movie slot some 20 months after it was prohibited.

“I doubt at this particular point in time we’ll immediately be going back to normal scheduled showings in the evening. We’ll review that and

see, and as the need arises we’ll address that particular situation,” he added.

“We have to kind of still be understanding that even though the curfew may have gone away, there’s still a big drag on the economy as a result of furloughs and I don’t think anyone understands how long that is going to linger. We’ll take a pragmatic view and see how consumer demand comes back.

“In the US, consumer demand has not picked up

CHRIS MORTIMER post-pandemic. We’ll be mindful of that, and as it picks up we’ll make adjustments to the schedule accordingly. That’s the extent of it.”

While Galleria and its rival, Fusion SuperPlex, have both been constrained by the maximum 33 percent movie theatre capacity limit imposed after they were allowed to re-open, Mr Mortimer said demand

SEE PAGE 19

Chamber leadership election heating up

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE BAHAMAS Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation’s (BCCEC) top post is set to be hotly contested tonight amid concerns it is no longer truly serving the private sector’s needs.

Hubert Edwards, principal of Next Level

Solutions, a Bahamas-based corporate governance and risk management consultancy, is challenging incumbent, Khrystle Rutherford-Ferguson, for the Chamber chairmanship in a vote that will be held at 6.30pm at Baha Mar’s Grand Hyatt property.

The Chamber’s annual general meeting (AGM), and election of its officers and directors, is being held

in a climate where there are increasing concerns from some that The Bahamas’ primary business advocacy group has become “dysfunctional” at a time when it is needed the most given ongoing efforts to rescue the economy from COVID-19’s clutches.

A five-page document, which was being circulated among

SEE PAGE 19

KHRYSTLE RUTHERFORD-FERGUSON

Bahamasair’s Cuba, Haiti return covers local ‘shortfall’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net BAHAMASAIR’S managing director last night said holiday bookings for travel to the US are producing 60 percent load factors “and climbing”, adding: “Anything is a big boost.”

Tracy Cooper told Tribune Business he was optimistic that passenger occupancies on routes to the US will hit the 75 percent to 80 percent mark as the calendar moves closer to the Thanksgiving and Christmas/New Year holidays.

While these load factors remain below pre-pandemic levels, the Bahamasair chief said the national flag carrier

had this week seen “a very significant” impact from the resumption of its highest-yielding and greatest occupancy routes respectively - Haiti and Cuba.

Bahamasair had resumed flying to Cape Haitien this Tuesday past, and will restart service to Port-auPrince on Sunday - taking its service to Haiti to two flights per week. As for Cuba, it has this week begun flying to Havana and Holguin twice weekly each, making a total of four flights per week.

The national flag carrier had been flying six times per week to Cuba prior to the pandemic, and three times per week to

SEE PAGE 18

Customs officer wins appeal on $30k John Bull watch theft

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A CUSTOMS officer has seen his four-year sentence for participating in a conspiracy to steal $30,000 of John Bull’s watches quashed as “unsafe and unsatisfactory” by the Court of Appeal.

Appeal justice Jon Isaacs, in a unanimous verdict, found that the evidence presented against Rondino Ferguson “could only rise to the level of high suspicion” that was insufficient to meet the standard of proof required to convict in criminal cases.

Mr Ferguson was sentenced to time in Fox Hill

prison by magistrate Derence Rolle-Davis after being found guilty of two counts of stealing by reason of employment. His fellow accused, Bastian, negotiated a plea agreement and pled guilty to the charges the prosecution levied against him. But, while Bastian was hit with just a fine and restitution, Mr Ferguson was convicted and sentenced to prison after pleading not guilty.

“Between 29 and 30 October, 2019, the appellant and Bastian are alleged to have entered an area of the Bahamas Customs’ warehouse, the FedEx bonded area, also referred

SEE PAGE 18

$5.18

Supervisor’s $45k award upheld on Polymers close ‘catastrophe’ • Plant nearly ‘exploded’ in 2009 incident • Justice took over decade to be served • Delay ‘borders on judicial misconduct’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A FORMER Polymers International supervisor has seen his $45,500 wrongful dismissal award upheld despite being in charge when the Freeport-based plant came perilously close to exploding.

Sir Michael Barnett, the Court of Appeal’s president, in a unanimous November 18, 2021, verdict said the manufacturer “could not reasonably” conclude that Philip Hepburn was guilty of gross negligence while admitting that the verdict “is not free from doubt”.

He added that Polymers International knew Mr Hepburn was not well when he took charge of a June 2009 night shift that, according to the supervisor, saw a reactor overheat to such an extent that there “would have been an explosion, and everyone at the plant and in the surrounding neighbourhood could have been killed”, had he and other workers not taken measures to cool it down.

While the chemical manufacturer, which produces resin, synthetic rubber and artificial and synthetic fibres, blamed Mr Hepburn’s failure to properly supervise that shift and follow “standard operating procedures” for costing it more than $340,000 in loss and damages, the Court of Appeal found he had a clean 13-year employment record prior to that incident.

The dispute, which took more than 12 years after the near-explosion to make it through the Court of Appeal, also shows how slowly justice moves in The Bahamas. Sir Michael’s judgment revealed that it took more than six years to reach the Supreme Court, with evidence first taken on October 22, 2015, and a trial involving nine witnesses only ending on February 12, 2016.

Justice Petra Hanna-Adderley then took a further five years to produce her written

SEE PAGE 18