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VOLUME:115 No.08, NOVEMBER 30TH, 2017
OFFICIA
CL ASSIFIEDS TRADER: CARS, CARS, CARS - AND TECH!
BARBARA HANNA By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net
INSIDE
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I won contract - then Smith wanted $5,000 a month
THE complainant in former Progressive Liberal Party Senator Frank Smith’s bribery and extortion trial told a judge Smith asked her for $5,000 a month, which she said she paid over a one-year span after she received a government cleaning contract. Barbara Hanna, testifying before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt, said within a week of being awarded a oneyear, $43,350.89 contract to clean the Critical Care Block (CCB) at the Princess Margaret Hospital in 2016, she spoke to
Smith who told her she had to give him $5,000. Believing it to be a one-time payment, Ms Hanna said she obliged and gave him the money. Upon doing so, however, she said she was told she had to make monthly payments in that amount. She said she responded by saying making monthly payments in that amount would affect her operation, and questioned why he did not tell her so she could put it in the contract. Smith’s response to her, she said, was that there was nothing he could do as the contract was already drawn up. She said she made the payments as often as she got a cheque for payment, which she said was issued monthly,
although noting that she was never paid on time. The first payment she made to Smith was in April 2016, she said. The last payment was in April 2017. Ms Hanna said she didn’t make any payments to Smith in May 2017. However, she said when they spoke around that time, she told him she needed $17,000 to pay off an outstanding balance with the National Insurance Board. In response, she said Smith told her she would have to come to his office on Village Road and fill out a form. She went to the office and retrieved the form, however, she said when she examined the document, she realised it was a loan form,
$1
FRANK SMITH
and consequently did not bother to fill it out. She later said during cross-examination that subsequent to her being awarded the contract, she got a loan from Smith to assist with various items she lacked but needed to commence her services. That loan was granted in February 2016, she admitted. During her testimony, Ms Hanna also told the court she feels like she is being “used” to testify in the matter. She said while she cannot say exactly who is using her, she feels she is at a “disadvantage” by testifying in the trial. SEE PAGE THREE
UNION FURY AT GAMING DISMISSALS ENTERPRISE BILL ‘WILL BE MADE LAW’ By SANCHESKA DORSETT Tribune Staff Reporter sdorsett@tribunemedia.net
By AVA TURNQUEST and MORGAN ADDERLEY
ATTORNEY General Carl Bethel yesterday made it clear that government intends to pass the Commercial Enterprises Bill into law in its current form. While he acknowledged no legislation was “drawn in stone,” Mr Bethel confirmed there were no plans to review recent suggestions before the bill is passed in the Senate. His comments follow
criticisms levelled by the Official Opposition, former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, and the Chamber of Commerce. At a press briefing on Tuesday, Press Secretary Anthony Newbold told the media the administration will consider “recommendations and suggestions” for the bill and incorporate those it believes have merit. Senate debate is due to start on Monday. SEE PAGE SIX
NEARLY one dozen employees at the Gaming Board were terminated on Monday, according to Bahamas Public Service Union President Kingsley Ferguson, who told The Tribune he believes the firings were both “personal and political”. The terminations come weeks after Press Secretary Anthony Newbold confirmed 18 people were
“let go” from the Gaming Board in early November. Mr Ferguson said the Gaming Board is blatantly disregarding the Bahamas Public Service Union (BPSU) and breaching its industrial agreement. He said when he discovered people were being let go on Monday, he went to the Gaming Board only to be told the terminations will continue “if the board feels like” doing so. “They told me that the board will continue to fire people if they feel like it
and when I asked to speak to the chairman I was told he was unavailable,” Mr Ferguson claimed. “We don’t have an accurate count but we were told between 10 to 12 persons were let go. We are currently seeking a meeting with the chairman however he has been unreachable, even before this incident. I do not want to say too much about this because it may end up in court but we are concerned about how the persons are being selected.” SEE PAGE FIVE
THE RECORDS WE LOVE - AND THOSE THAT SHAME US
SEE PAGE EIGHT
NEW PLAN SENT HOME FOR NATURAL HAIRSTYLE NEEDED FOR ‘PAID’ NHI By MORGAN ADDERLEY
SINCE October, two women have been sent home from their jobs at local establishments for wearing their natural hair. Anthonique Hall, 24, said she was told her hair is “nasty” and Rolanda Davis, 22, said she was asked why she wasn’t wearing a wig. Both women consider these incidents to be examples of discrimination. After initially posting on social media, they described their experiences in further detail with The Tribune. Ms Davis, a senior at the University of the Bahamas,
ANTHONIQUE HALL, 24, who claimed a superior at her workplace said her natural hairstyle was “nasty” and was told to leave work to fix her hair.
wore her natural hair to work for the first time this summer. Although it was “pulled back” and “slicked and gelled,” she said: “A high ranking executive passed the store. When she glimpsed me behind the register, her face distorted in scorn.” Ms Davis added: “After that, a general note went around the store from our higher ups that we need to be more presentable — more makeup, suit jackets, hair ties – basically they addressed me without addressing me.”
SEE PAGE NINE
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
ALL Bahamas residents must “contribute” to the National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme’s financing to ensure its sustainability, its chairman warned yesterday. Dr Robin Roberts said the newly-appointed NHI Authority had effectively been given a “blank canvas”, and was starting all over again in designing a plan. FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS
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