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VOLUME:115 No.261, DECEMBER 6TH, 2018

OFFICIA

CLASSIFIED TRADER: CARS, CARS, CARS & MORE CARS

INSIDE

36 hours and two more slain

After couple’s STARS murders, now cousins die in hit ON THE

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net TWO men, one of whom was being electronically monitored by police, were found shot to death in Jubilee Gardens early yesterday morning in a car with its motor still running. The men were reportedly cousins.

The homicides came a day after a man and his fiancée had been shot dead during a morning ambush at Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre on Monday. The most recent killings pushed

the country’s murder rate to 86.

According to police, gunshots were reported in the Jubilee Gardens community sometime after 11.45pm on Tuesday.

Responding officers later discovered the bodies of two men with injuries in a car parked in the driveway of a residence in that neighbourhood.

EMS personnel were called to the scene to give assistance, but were unsuccessful in reviving the two men.

SEE PAGE FIVE

HORIZON

THERE have been 86 murders for the year thus far, police press liaison officer Superintendent Shanta Knowles revealed yesterday.

This represents a 27 percent decrease in murders, according to The Tribune’s records, when 118 murders had been recorded by this time last year.

Police officers also revealed the traffic fatality count for the year currently stands at 59 — while the total for 2017 was 54 according to Royal Bahamas Police Force crime statistics released in January.

However, officers also noted there has been a decrease of 14 percent in armed robberies in comparison with this time last year.

SEE PAGE FIVE

L SOUR CE

‘CARRY ON, DOCTORS’ - BUT END IN SIGHT

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net DOCTORS had a productive meeting with finance officials yesterday, pulling them closer to full service after more than a week of industrial action.

However, the Consultant Physicians Staff Association’s partial work stoppage will continue until it signs an agreement with the government.

CPSA secretary Dr Sabriquet Pinder-Butler said doctors are hopeful of fully returning to work this week.

She and Financial Secretary Marlon Johnson declined to give details about yesterday’s meeting.

Doctors are fighting for an increase in their base salary and want health insurance benefits and a pension plan.

SEE PAGE SEVEN

‘WE NEED TO KNOW SOURCE OF THE MONEY’

...YET MURDER TOLL FALLS BY A QUARTER

By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net

$1

ACTION from the Star Sailors League Finals 2018, being held in Nassau yesterday. For yesterday’s action, see Sports and for full live coverage of today’s races, see www.tribune242.com.

Photo: Gilles Morelle

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

FINANCE Minister K Peter Turnquest defended government’s intention to legislate non-profit organisations insisting yesterday the Minnis administration is simply seeking to ensure transparency while safeguarding the country against international risks.

As the Non-Profit Organisations Bill 2018 seeks to regulate these groups, Mr Turnquest was adamant the government did not want to overly interfere or monitor their activities.

The bill was part of a compendium of financial services bills the government seeks to pass to further comply with international tax standards.

SEE PAGE SIX

‘STOP FEEDING HARBOUR SHARKS’

By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net THE Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources yesterday cautioned the public against disposing fish innards and waste into the sea as they could attract sharks to beaches and residential areas.

The ministry particularly asked fish vendors and those cleaning fish to

SHARKS seen feeding near a dock in a video online. stop this practice known as “chumming”.

The warning came after

footage emerged at the weekend on social media showing three large sharks swimming near an unidentified dock - possibly near down town Nassau - as a group of men throw fish carcasses into the sea.

The sharks can be seen swimming to the surface and at one point leaping out of the water, to devour the food.

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

SEE PAGE THREE

DIANE PHILLIPS: WHAT WILL THE BAHAMAS DO FOR CHRISTMAS?

SEE PAGE EIGHT

PAGE 2, Thursday, December 6, 2018

MAN ROBBED OF CASH POLICE are searching for the men responsible for an armed robbery which occurred on Tuesday.

Shortly before 11pm, a man was standing in front of a business on Malcolm Road when he

was approached by two armed men who robbed him of cash before getting into his silver 2004 Honda Accord, licence number AQ1040, and speeding away.

Investigations are ongoing.

THE TRIBUNE

Astronaut helping to preserve the most beautiful place from space

SCOTT KELLY NASA astronaut Scott Kelly has donated $5,000 to the Bahamas National Trust for the protection of the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park.

At the closing night of the 15th annual Bahamas International Film Festival (BIFF), a cheque of $5,000 was presented to the BNT by local film director Charlie Smith whose film “Pigs Of Paradise” premiered on the closing night.

“This generous donation comes after his narration role in the film ‘Pigs of Paradise,’ a film which builds on the former short documentary telling a more

SCOTT Kelly’s post on social media hailing The Bahamas as “the most beautiful place from space”.

in-depth story of the famous swimming pigs of Exuma highlighting the beauty and people of Exuma,” a press release from the BNT noted.

“In 2015, the astronaut had his first video conference with his daughter after one year in space showing her photos of the most beautiful place from space - The Bahamas - namely the Exuma’s.

“After one year of this refreshing sight, Kelly visited the Exumas and found it necessary to donate to the guardians of the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park.”

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, December 6, 2018, PAGE 3

AS seen in a video circulating online, a man throws a fish carcass to sharks at an unidentified dock and, right, the sharks come in close to feed.

‘Stop feeding harbour sharks’ from page one “The Department of Marine Resources is aware of a number of videos circulating on social media involving sharks near the shoreline,” the ministry said in its statement.

“In one video in particular, it is clear that there are persons on the dock feeding the sharks, a practice called ‘chumming’.

“In too many instances, these encounters are happening near areas reserved for beaching as well as some residential areas.

“We wish to caution the public on disposing of their fish carcasses and innards directly into the water as these items will attract marine animals, including sharks.

“We particularly urge fish vendors and persons cleaning fish near open waters to dispose of their fish carcasses in trash containers or in areas in the water at a safe distance from public areas.”

The ministry also reminded residents that sharks are a protected species in Bahamian waters through legislation and The Bahamas remains one of the few countries in the world with such protections.

SHARKS circling close to shore waiting for food to be thrown to them.

PHA: NEW NURSE SHIFT IN PATIENTS’ INTEREST

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

WHILE the Public Hospitals Authority is indefinitely deferring its planned shift change for nurses, it is maintaining that the shift is in the best interest of nurses and patients.

In a press statement last night, the PHA said a new system would “improve the delivery of healthcare to our patients and ensure better patient outcomes through better nursing coverage and reductions

in nurse related accidents and errors; eliminate inequities caused by the ‘four nights on/four nights off’ system which resulted in night duty nurses working 157 days per year on average, compared to 234 days per year on average for nurses assigned to day shifts; establish a standardised five-day, 40-hour work week with 8-hour daily shifts; and provide compensation for nurses scheduled to work between the hours of 6pm to 6am by way of a night duty premium of $1.75 per hour

which would be paid in addition to their standard hourly pay.”

The proposed shift change from four on/four off to five on/two off is the only dispute the Bahamas Nurses Union has with PHA, the governing body said.

Nurses voted on Tuesday to take industrial action in protest of the shift change.

The strike vote featured more robust support than a strike poll conducted this summer.

“The shift change is a ‘no no’ and we will not settle for

pickings on the table,” said BNU President Amancha Williams earlier this week.

“Give us what is due to us.

We are a professional body and we want to be treated as such. PHA hasn’t given a definite answer as to how they are going to move forward (on the shift change) but that’s the one we would move on. If that move in, without the approval of the BNU, ain’t no doubt we moving in.”

The BNU is awaiting a strike certificate from the Department of Labour after Tuesday’s poll.

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PAGE 4, Thursday, December 6, 2018

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,

SIR ETIENNE DUPUCH,

jamaaltheartist@gmail.com

Publisher/Editor 1903-1914 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-

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Tiger burned bright but we missed an opportunity IF YOU turned on the TV any time toward the end of last week or on the weekend, you were likely to see a welcome face in a familiar place, Tiger Woods at Albany. It is not the purpose of this space to comment on the subject of golf or to play the role of announcer, dissecting talent and skill. But we do want to take the opportunity to applaud organisers and note the success with which an event in The Bahamas was handled, the overwhelming surprise crowd it drew on the ground and the international coverage it generated for a country whose economy is heavily dependent upon people from outside its borders.

First, caps off to Albany for the Tiger Woods branding and for the greatest golfer of all times to have chosen Albany in which to invest and to host one of his signature events. Tiger Woods has experienced as many highs and lows as the wildest roller coaster, but there is no denying his ongoing pulling power.

When he played this year’s US Open the viewing audience nearly doubled to some 5.1 million for the final round. His presence is what has come to be known as the ‘Tiger effect” and whether he eagles, birdies or bagels, the audience cannot seem to get enough of the boyish smile and lasting good looks which are icing on the cake for a man who earlier in his career grinned his easy way through 14 major championships.

Aside from Tiger being the biggest draw of any sport, the Tiger Woods Hero World Challenge at Albany proved a world-class event could be pulled off in The Bahamas without a hitch, or at least without a hitch apparent to the viewing public. Kudos to the organisers and - despite a gnawing and relentless feeling of injustice at Albany’s duty-free environment extending benefits intended for the resort industry to those who never intend to rent their multi-million-dollar homes and could afford to pay duty like the rest of us - we have to hand it to developers and Tiger for securing and living up to the branding.

From the erection of a giant tower to capture the arc of a long shot flying high over the 7,903 foot course to the helicopters hovering overhead, from the set-up of a climate-controlled pavilion from which to watch in luxury, the event organisers pulled off a feat deserving of enthusiastic applause.

Given the hours of extensive TV coverage - all of Saturday and Sunday afternoon - we would have liked to have

seen more of The Bahamas exposed in the endless advertising breaks. Where were images of the swirling turquoises of the Exuma Cays waters, the forests of Andros, the yachting world of Abaco, the historic heritage of places like Cat Island and Fox Hill?

We think the country missed that opportunity and that is our only misgiving. Instead those who watched saw a rather run-of-the-mill Ministry of Tourism commercial. Every now and then they saw images of a horse and buggy in Rawson Square or a few other tired video clips. It was an opportune time to show so much more, especially given the high level of sponsorship that was testament to the Tiger draw and the expectation of quality of viewing consumers.

Hero MotoCorp, Rolex, Baha Mar with its brilliant commercials, Citi Private Bank and others aimed messages at those in living rooms and social clubs across America and so the sole criticism is the Ministry of Tourism, which was a major sponsor and no doubt assisted in a thousand ways as it always does to pull off such an event, could have dug deeper, reached further to expose all aspects of The Bahamas that set the island nation apart from others in the region.

The tournament was billed as an “experience unlike any other” and advertised on its website as “perfect for client entertainment or a personal, luxury getaway.” It was ripe for a full Bahamas collage of experiences and beauty.

The two private jetports, Odyssey and Executive, Flight Support Avitat saw a spike in business and at one point, Immigration and Customs officers in both facilities experienced some of their highest volumes ever.

It matters little that Tiger Woods finished near the bottom of the leaderboard, 17th place out of a field of 18, or that Jon Rahm of Spain walked off with the $1 million purse. The Hero World Challenge helped raise millions for the Tiger Woods Foundation that is committed to providing education opportunities especially in the areas of science technology, engineering and mathematics.

If those who could afford what was called “the finest in hospitality and golf” could while away the hours greenside, the score on the board was an outcome of a four days of golf. The real winners were The Bahamas and the students who will earn scholarships.

Why VAT exemption is not such a big deal EDITOR, The Tribune IT was very evident few MPs have seen a current BP&L bill. All they talked was exempting bills up to 300.00 from VAT on bills under $300. What if BP&L would advise us how many MPs are current with their BP&L Bills - where arrears what is that amount?

Editor I have my last bill - dated October 30, 2018 … BPL tells me my usage was down 9.9% same period over last year but my bill increased as fuel is now 60% of that bill. I am thankful for the VAT exemption, $430.00 a year but I still have to find $6,600.00 to pay BPL or I don’t have light. This is the crux of the BPL problem the fixed costs.

BPL basic Tariffs were set on July 1st, 2010 - eight years ago…I ask are the same administrative costs the same then as now remembering BPL preretired so many recently at a cost of $70m? This is where the BPL bills hurt… the massive overtime, remember Leslie Miller

saying that cashiers were taking home $’000’s in overtime and others the same?

Has that changed and if not why not?

The statement that the OPM building - certain schools - the airport will be solarised saves only the government but puts BPL in a deeper hole as none of those buildings we have a BPL bill - so the gross revenue of BPL will proportionately decrease putting BPL in a deeper financial hotel Brilliance at best.

The Aggrekko generator deal - can BPL say if calculations made are wrong that probably BPL are making some $13.5 million profit through this arrangement?

Minister Bannister did not mention how much government as a whole owes BPL - probably $30-40 million but they don’t get cut off!

BPL for Nassau has to climate the purchase of fuel period - BPL has to cut unnecessary overtime - has to persuade BPL unions that the pension and health insurance has to be contributory, I would concede the

BPL workers on the front line of generation and distribution when it comes to health insurance their share of the premium would be lower - their job description puts them as a higher risk that is only fair.

80MW Standby generator RFP - whoever examined the process has not or is not a reader of The Tribune nor seriously is anyone in government.

Numerous writers have spelt out what went down.

If the RFP was awarded to Shell how is it Aggrekko still provide standby generators to BPL? When was there a further RFP for additional 10-12 generators which BPL have at Clifton this happened recently?

A pensioner has a hard time Editor finding $6,600.00 a year…a single mother with three children and all her expenses likewise…This VAT exemption is not such a big deal as MPs emotionally tried to make it.

W THOMPSON Nassau November 29, 2018

One more time on the dance floor EDITOR, The Tribune

IT SEEMS as if the Minnis administration has something in for us, the Bahamian people of this wonderful nation.

These are exciting, but deeply troubling times, in my submission. There is a political phenomenon which also seems to be sweeping the entire world.

The Bahamas has, alas, not been exempted. We lived through the good, the bad and the ugly times with the late great Sir Lynden Oscar Pindling. Yes, like all of you unwashed Bahamians, maybe me too, he had his flaws, at least the ones which he displayed or allowed to come out in the public domain.

In my estimation, at his ‘worst’ moments he stood head and shoulders above the prime ministers, bar none, since his forced exit from the stage, maybe except for my brother the Rt Hon Hubert Alexander Ingraham, sometimes referred to as ‘the Dragon from Abaco’.

Brother Christie, in my view, was out of his league while Prime Minister Brother Minnis is ‘the worst of the worst’, so far, with all charity.

Sir Lynden was a real deal patriot and he knew how to build a nation. My position has always been to give credit where and when it is due. He will be forever remembered, by many, fondly and with gratitude. Of course, there will always be others who curse his memory on a daily basis.

That, fellow Bahamians, is the way it is.

Hubert Alexander Ingraham, started out nicely until the office of prime minister went to his head in a terrible way. Yes, he and his then administrations were the ones to usher in the complete liberalisation of the media; radio and television. Bahamians have more access to news; information and entertainment than ever before.

Everybody, and I suspect, some household pets, have cell telephones. This was another example of the then innovation of Brother Ingraham.

Shortly after some of his

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net ‘disciples’, me included, started to sing hosannas, all hell, politically and economically broke lose. He started to ‘rule’ by fiat and with the often ignored ‘advice’ of a close circle of psychological sycophants.

He adopted that same old lazy laisse faire attitude of Brother Christie. I digress, however, to remind that Ingraham and Christie were once law and business partners and ‘close’ friends. Yes, of course, the Hon. Philip ‘Brave’ Davis, MP, QC was there also, but neither of them really ‘liked’ much less ‘trusted’ Brave.

Brave, by no stretch of the imagination, is a perfect man. Nor is he, I submit, at this juncture, able to walk on water. He is, however, a straight shooter, politically and totally above corruption. In his political and public life has he ever been sensibly accused, much less convicted of anything? He cannot, in my opinion, be bought and he is not and has never been a ‘for sale’ politician. He has a plan of agenda for the next cycle of development and progress for The Bahamas.

The masses are fed up with Minnis and crew. In 2022 the FNM will be like the Egyptians we see no more.

Until that inevitable day comes, however, in the name of God and if only for His sake, Minnis dem have got to do a better job at governance. It is now clear that they came to office for no real agenda except to tax and spend on the altar of parasitic and fiscally void worship. If they were wasting their own monies, I could not have cared less.

They are wasting taxpayers’ dollars like a water faucet gone AWOL and calling it prudent management. My spiritual leader, Apostle Valentino Williams of Life Changers recently authored a ‘must read’ book: ‘Go Big or Go Home’. This is what the mantra of the administration should be.

Successive governments and a dray load of run of

the mill politicians do not think big so they really need to go home!

They ‘bought’ that white elephant over in Freeport ‘to save jobs’. No one is really sure how much Bahamians will eventually spend to prop up ‘jobs’ which continue to vanish into thin air.

Oban is now almost a non issue. The same Cabinet Secretary, Camille Johnson, god bless her soul, critiqued the civil service and senior officials, publicly the other day. Is this the same Cabinet Secretary who ‘witnessed’ the execution of the celebrated OBAN Heads of Agreement allegedly in dubious circumstances?

Doing business under Christie was a mess. It is now even worse under the Minnis regime. I spoke to several FNM cabinet ministers the other day. At least two of them are jerked off, big time, with the layers of obstruction in getting a simple business up and running. The ease of doing business in our country, on a world wide basis, is so far down the totem pole that Chief ‘Forked Tongue’ Minnis and the ‘pigeon peas’ squaws from the FNM reservation are exposing themselves to be like Bald Eagles. Let them fly high enough and all you will experience is political shaving cream flying down.

Apart from a handful of ministers this administration is on cruise control.

For God’s sake, PM, get it right or abdicate. Come back to the people and give us one more time on the dance floor. The political shuffle sold to the electorate in 2017 will not work next time around. We want a ‘new’ dance and, I suppose, yet another minstrel. It is a wonder to behold with politicians and other dream makers. They say and do one thing in opposition but in office they shed the sheep covering for the demon possessed political swine of old. They were aptly called ‘legion’. To God then, in all things, be he glory.

Jr

ORTLAND H BODIE Nassau December 3, 2018.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, December 6, 2018, PAGE 5

36 hours and two more slain from page one They were pronounced dead at the scene a short time later.

RBPF press liaison officer, Superintendent Shanta Knowles said while police were still looking for leads into this matter, they had no evidence to connect it to Monday’s brazen double murder.

She added that police were actively working both cases and “hoping that as quickly as possible, we can resolve them.”

She told reporters that police were still working to determine why the men found dead yesterday were in the Jubilee Gardens area.

“We are getting information that one of them may have been visiting someone at that residence, but have not yet confirmed if they lived there,” Supt Knowles said.

While police have not identified either of the victims, The Tribune understands one of the men is Hastings “Tweety” McQueen, 28, and the other

SHEDDY BAIN, thought to be one of the victims. is his cousin, “Sheddy” Bain.

McQueen was reportedly out on bail for a serious offence and was being electronically monitored.

In 2012, McQueen was charged with the murder of Owen Hanna. The outcome of that case is unclear.

Hanna was shot dead

near his home in the Redland Acres Subdivision in August of that year.

Police are asking anyone with information that can assist with this investigation to contact the Central Detective Unit at 502-9991/2, Crime stoppers at 328-TIPS (8477) or the nearest police station.

...YET MURDER TOLL FALLS BY A QUARTER from page one Police provided these reports during a press conference held yesterday where officers provided holiday safety tips for motorists, pedestrians, business owners, and the general public. Officers also noted increased patrols have been implemented for this season.

When asked about the murder count, Supt Knowles told reporters: “We hate to put a number on someone’s life, but for the purpose of you knowing the count I think we are at number 86 for the year, and we’re hoping that we don’t go any further with that.

“So that is why it is important for us to teach our young people, especially our young men, to resolve conflicts without violence. (That is why we) ask people to be aware of where they’re going, who they’re with, and what is going on around them.”

Regarding traffic fatalities, Superintendent Mareno Hinds, acting officer-in-charge of the Traffic Division on New Providence, said the current count stands at 59.

“We’ve seen an uptick this year when compared with last year,” Supt Hinds admitted. “However, fatalities are nothing that you can necessarily measure because as far as 10 years ago, the numbers were even greater than the numbers we have now.

“So we do see some progress, the Bahamian public they’re adhering to the information that we’re providing them. We recognise that persons are not driving as recklessly as they have in the past, and so we see

a fluctuation from year to year as it were.”

According to the RBPF crime statistics released in January, a total of 54 people died as a result of traffic fatalities in 2017.

Last year’s traffic fatality statistics represent an increase in the number of traffic related deaths when compared to 2016, which recorded 44 traffic related deaths. In 2015, there 55 traffic-related deaths — the most in a year since 2009, when 56 people were killed.

Supt Knowles also noted there has been a decrease of “about 14 per cent” in armed robberies.

“Despite the fact that we are still seeing them, we are still at a decrease as compared to the very same time last year,” Supt Knowles added.

With the holiday season underway, the RBPF has also increased patrols.

“We have definitely increased our patrols,” Supt Knowles said.

“We have taken officers out of our administration areas - I think you understand the importance of our administration to run the organisation…but we have scaled down on the amount of officers in those administration areas and put them on the streets.”

The officers will make use of newly blessed plain and uniformed vehicles.

“This morning we prayed for some of the (new) vehicles that have been issued and are already on the street, are in use,” Supt Knowles continued. “And those vehicles will be in use by many of the officers. So yes, our patrols have increased both plain clothed and uniformed vehicles.”

While these added

measures will be in place, officers are still cautioning the public to be safe during this holiday season.

Businesses are advised to help minimise the risk of armed robberies by making use of video surveillance equipment and ensuring it is working, installing an emergency or panic alarm, keeping the business well lit, and making bank deposits at least once a day.

Businesses are also advised to make use of security measures such as armoured cars. Supt Knowles also noted police officers can assist the public in this area.

“We would encourage those business owners who cannot afford the services of armoured vehicles and need to make their deposits to make use of the police assistance,” she told reporters yesterday. “Call the police control room or the nearest police station what assistance…can be rendered to you.”

In the event of a robbery, employees are instructed to stay calm, keep their hands in sight, and get a look at the robber without staring.

After a robbery, workers are advised to lock the doors, call the police and not touch anything the robber may have touched.

Police also gave tips to ward off home fires. Chief among these were inspecting Christmas lights for excessive wear before using them, keeping paper wrappings and curtains away from Christmas lights, and turning off Christmas lights before going to bed.

Christmas trees that are fresh cut should also be watered regularly and it should be ensured that artificial trees are fire retardant.

To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394

KATRAZ COAKLEY, left, aged 19, and Ahmad Clarke, aged 20, outside court yesterday.

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

TWO ACCUSED OF KILLING

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net

AN adult male and a teenager were yesterday arraigned on murder and attempted murder charges.

Ahmad Clarke, 21, of Acklins Street and Kortaz Coakley, 19, of Yellow Elder, stood before

Magistrate Kara TurnquestDeveaux charged with one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder concerning an April 28 incident.

It is alleged that on the date in question, the pair murdered Christian Moree, and attempted to murder Romeo Moss and Tarsman Clarke.

The accused men were not required to enter pleas to the charges and the case was adjourned to February 13, 2019 for service of a voluntary bill of indictment.

They were both remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services in the interim, but can apply to the Supreme Court for bail.

PAGE 6, Thursday, December 6, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

Dodge taxes and you’ll end up in court

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net TAX dodgers will be subject to criminal charges before the court under the government’s proposed amendment to the Penal Code.

As the amendment brings tax evasion into the category of criminal acts, Finance Minister K Peter Turnquest said it debunks the notion that The Bahamas is a tax haven as is the view of international bodies, including the G20, EU and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The Penal Code Amendment Bill 2018 described by the minister as a “landmark bill” was included in the compendium of bills debated in the House of

Assembly yesterday. The government wants to pass the bills to ensure it can maintain favourability in the eyes of international regulators ensuring there is no future blacklisting.

The East Grand Bahama MP said: “It is now a crime to intentionally defraud the government of its revenue.

This bill brings tax evasion within the lexicon of criminal acts in The Bahamas and is a landmark bill whose time has come.

“In making tax evasion an offence within The Bahamas, and we are debunking the notion that The Bahamas encourages tax evasion or protects tax dodgers, and we are counteracting the stigma associated with being regarded as a tax haven.

“Again, this is a new paradigm, one that The Bahamas has not been

used to. Normally when there is a breach of one of the revenue acts there is an administrative fine or we turn a blind eye. Mr Speaker, in the eyes of the international community this is tax evasion. It’s permitting the opportunity for persons to engage in activity to avoid their taxes without any liability.

“So in as much as we of our own accord have no interest in enforcing a penalty regime in order to ensure that we can enforce tax judgment in other jurisdictions and enforce our own legislation, but it gives The Bahamas the resilience to enforce the law relating to tax evasion and tax avoidance and administer that through the courts.”

He further addressed critics who question why the government continuously

PETER TURNQUEST, MP for East Grand Bahama, pictured yesterday.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff non-co-operative tax jurismaking its own laws and acquiesces to the instructions of international dictions and The Bahamas regulations. Financial serbodies. He stressed non- was placed on it. As I vices is our second industry, compliance could result in understand, the EU will be which provides high-level financial institutions leav- putting pen to paper this jobs and this is reflected in ing the country and a loss month to compile another the significant 15 percent of jobs and a withdrawal list of non-co-operative tax contribution to the gross of correspondent banking jurisdictions, which will be domestic product (GDP). relations from banks among published in January 2019. The Bahamas is a premier The Bahamas, like most international financial other things.

“I will take you back to other countries are doing centre conducting trade and March of this year when their endeavour best to business with EU member the European Union avoid being placed on the states, its citizens and other reputable jurisdictions and Code of Conduct Group so-called ‘blacklist’.

“The Bahamas is a sov- financial markets,” Mr Business Taxation (the COCG) issued a list of ereign nation, capable of Turnquest said.

after Bahamas Christian Council President Bishop Delton Fernander told Guardian Business it was a shame the government wanted to pass the NPO Bill without considering the concerns of the church.

However, Progressive Liberal Party Deputy Leader Chester Cooper questioned how the government could legislate NPOs while turning a blind eye to political

organisations and their campaign finances. In this regard Mr Cooper said he did not understand why this level of disclosure was required from these groups.

“Now, Mr Speaker, there are those who (have) raised concern about having to register, having to file financial statements to show that they are operating within the guidelines and the mandate of their organising documents,” Mr Turnquest told the House of Assembly.

“Now let me state for the record that it is not the intent of the government to interfere or to monitor other than for defined purposes the activities of any organisation be it religious, civic (or) social. That is not the intent of this bill.

“The overriding objective of this bill is to provide for regulations to ensure that non-profit organisations are operating in a transparent manner and are not engaged in activities, which constitute an identified risk as defined in the Proceeds of Crime Act – Ch 93, namely activities involving corruption, cyber-crimes, human trafficking, money

laundering, or financing of terrorism or proliferation or financing of weapons of mass destruction.”

He continued: “Now some may say for the sake of that argument, ‘I’m just a little charity organisation that provides a feeding centre for indigent people in the community I don’t know anything about financing, I’m not involved with anyone that is questionable as far as I am aware. We receive donations and we used those donations for the purpose as established.’ I suspect that 100 percent of our organisations would be so subscribed. This bill though is intended to help ensure that no act be it domestic or international comes to The Bahamas, establishes a non-profit organisation, or knowingly or unknowingly utilises an existing non-profit organisation to run them or to conceal the proceeds of crime.

“It can happen, Mr Speaker, because many organisations receive donations. Some receive donations from around the world and a lot of times

‘WE NEED TO KNOW SOURCE OF THE MONEY’

from page one

The deputy prime minister said without this legislative protection for NPOs, The Bahamas could be made more vulnerable to money laundering, corruption, cyber-crimes, human trafficking, financing or terrorism or the proliferation or financing of weapons of mass destruction.

His defence came the day

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we don’t necessarily know the background of those persons who are sending you donations. This is not concerning your $100, your $1,000 or your $10,000 donations. This is concerned with your large donations and so this is not about trying to identify or expose the affairs of any organisation. It is intended to ensure transparency in the plight against illicit activities.”

State Legal Affairs Minister Elsworth Johnson agreed the government did not want to monitor organisations’ balance sheets or carry out a witch hunt for anyone.

He said as the country invites thousands of companies and millions within its borders, there was an obligation to ensure standards were fit and proper to protect The Bahamas’ reputation and sovereignty.

For his part, Mr Cooper said the new law will be very unpopular.

He said: “About this bill, I don’t quite understand some of the logic.

“Mind you, I do understand the international pressure to regulate unincorporated organisations, and I don’t really get the scepticism with our religious organisations, but I’m really strained to understand why non-profit

companies are seemingly being required to re-register under this law.

“Non-profit companies like the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce, of which I’m a past president, and Bahamas Faith Ministries International and many others, are already subject to additional scrutiny and the direct approval of the attorney general as required by our existing Companies Act. Is government asking non-profit companies to duplicate their regulatory requirements by registering under both acts?

“Asking non-profit companies and all non-profit organisations to identify their assets on a balance sheet and a profit and loss statement does away with any semblance of confidentiality.

“This is a completely new paradigm for The Bahamas, which will, honestly, be very unpopular and be met with much push back from nonprofits and, in particular, the churches who will view this as a severe and sudden intrusion.

Some might likely see it as a suppression of small churches which are the bedrock of some small communities. I do need to understand why this level of disclosure is needed by non-profits,” the Exuma and Ragged Island MP said yesterday.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, December 6, 2018, PAGE 7

‘CARRY ON, DOCTORS’ - BUT END IN SIGHT from page one

“During the meeting, compromises of principles were made, understanding the position of the government,” Dr Pinder-Butler said, adding the “protest persists”.

She added: “We’re not going to return until we’re able to sign something satisfactory.” Mr Johnson echoed her view that the meeting went well.

Doctors were satisfied with their meeting with Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis on Monday, which paved the way for yesterday’s meeting with Mr Johnson and a Public Hospitals Authority representative.

According to CPSA President Dr Locksley Munroe, the CPSA secured Dr Minnis’ commitment to increasing their base salary from $48,000 to $60,000 and giving them health insurance.

The $12,000 base salary increase constitutes the Public Hospitals Authority’s last offer to the CPSA. Doctors previously rejected it. Dr Munroe said accepting it now represents a major compromise for them because they wanted an increase to $75,000.

Had PHA not refused to negotiate with them last week, senior doctors would have accepted the increase then and returned to full service last week, he claimed.

Consultants are required to work 20 hours per week and have five weeks’ vacation. The CPSA is among a number of unions with unresolved labour disputes.

Among medical professionals, the Bahamas Doctors Union, which represents junior doctors, and the Bahamas Nurses Union, have pressing concerns as well.

PM GREETS STUDENTS & TEACHERS PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis along with other Cabinet members greeted 6th grade students from Bahamas Academy along with their teachers yesterday.

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

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1/25/17 11:54 AM

PAGE 8, Thursday, December 6, 2018

THE TRIBUNE THIS year’s national tree lighting ceremony in Rawson Square. Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

T

HE Washington-based National Retail Federation, the world’s largest retail trade association, estimates Americans will spend $465 billion on Christmas gifts this year. That’s an average of $700 per person. If you compare that spend with the average American wage, it does not seem as over the top as you might first imagine. The average American, according to statistics released by the Department of Labour, earns $857 per week. If you were an average American you would spend less than one week’s salary to watch your children tear open packages and jump for joy and maybe even hug you for a minute one morning of the year. And you might think the smiles on their faces and especially the hugs are worth it. After all, they’re good kids and you are good parents and what good are great parents if they don’t spoil their good kids once a year. It’s only one day.

So you tell yourself as you trek through stores and plod through online sites in the days leading up to the holiday, scrambling to find the hottest toy or electronic device on the market that is already sold out nearly everywhere, or while you assemble the cycle with training wheels or wrap yet another set of yoga or boot camp workout gear. It’s okay, I can overdose them on gifts, ply them with stuff, material things wrapped in pretty paper.

It’s only one day you repeat, silently.

But in the recesses of your conscience, something is nagging at you. It is the conflict that hits hardest at the holidays, how do I spoil my children and not let them turn out to be spoiled children?

How do I teach them it is better to give than to receive when I am showing them it’s pretty darn good to get? How do I tell them to appreciate the stupid plaid socks that Grammy gave them when even I can see they are stupid plaid socks?

Let’s just look at the consequences of losing touch with financial reality for a moment, bringing the dilemma home to The Bahamas where the wages are far lower on average than they are in America and the cost of living is far higher. According to Numbeo.com which conducts online surveys by asking anyone who goes on their site to answer a few questions which to me, not being very scientific, does not feel very scientific but, anyway Numbeo estimates the cost of living is 33.6 percent higher in The Bahamas than in the US I want to know when was the last time they compared the price of tomatoes? Or electricity?

Americans will spend $465 billion on their Christmas gifts, what will Bahamians do?

Whether the cost of living is a third again as high or a lot more, as I suspect having lived here for going on four decades, we know salaries are far lower. The highest paid teachers, nurses and other professionals in the public sector generally earn less than their counterparts who are just starting out in the US. Yet Bahamians will spend at Christmas. And at Valentine’s. And on Mother’s Day. We spend and we spend and we worry about where it is coming from later. Some of us even borrow to spend.

The choices we make between paying the BPL bill and buying a Razor Hovertrax 2.0 may haunt us tomorrow but oh, to see the

look on his face when little Joey opens that package. It’s only one day that we are spoiling them so, we keep telling ourselves and yet…and yet…that nagging feeling something is not quite right just won’t go away.

Here’s why. That nagging feeling is sending you a message. There is a kinder, gentler way to celebrate the holidays and show the children around you how much you love them and how important they are. Sure, they can get a gift under the tree or next to the candelabra at Chanukah. But you can make memories for a lifetime by finding someone needier than you or a group of people who will benefit from whatever you can provide.

ZNS reporter Scieska Adderley, pictured, and her mother, Sonia BoweAdderley, started doing it a few years ago. Instead of shelling out money for gifts for the family, they join together and give to others, documenting it in the TV production called The Gift. This year, they are giving 10 women who are cancer caregivers a full day of pampering at a local spa along with gift baskets filled with pampering toiletries to take home.

“They care for others all year. We wanted to show them that people care for them,” says Scieska.

At the Bahamas Feeding Network, volunteers are working the phones and calling all contacts, asking for donations to the Feed 5000 Families campaign over the holidays, a programme AML Foods launched

in 2016 and is continuing this year, providing a week’s worth of food – a ham, chicken, five pounds of rice, stuffing and more. Donating the full $40 or any portion when you are at any Solomon’s, Cost-Rite or Fresh Market will help the Bahamas Feeding Network and its affiliated churches and soup kitchens feed the hungry throughout the holidays in Nassau and in Freeport, AML Foods is partnering with the Feeding Network, The Salvation Army and Bahamas Red Cross.

The spirit of giving is spreading. On Saturday, Oasis Furniture in Sandyport will host the Sip, Shop & Support event along with several vendors with 10 percent of all sales inside the store or through partners like Liquid Courage and Café Channing Noelle going to Ranfurly Homes for Children.

There is no shortage of causes nor of people in need. The shut-in who is lonely, the elderly whose only son was taken from him this year because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, the senior citizen whose pension money runs out way before the end of the month but is too proud to ask for help, the injured, the forgotten, the worker who cannot make ends meet no matter how hard he tries – they are the ones who need us at the holidays.

If someone must be spoiled this holiday season, let us all find in our hearts to spoil those who need a little love and just a little reminder that someone cares.

THE TRIBUNE

Man is guilty of trial juror contact

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net A 26-YEAR-OLD Freeport man was convicted of obstruction of justice and sentenced to more than a year in prison by a Freeport magistrate.

Donovan A Hanna, of Hearne Lane, appeared on Monday before Magistrate Charlton Smith in the Freeport Magistrate’s Court, where he pleaded guilty to the charge of obstruction of justice in connection with a murder trial.

According to the particulars, the accused on Tuesday, November 27, attempted to obstruct justice by improperly communicating with a female juror in a murder trial in the Supreme Court.

The juror, who was sitting on the trial of Renaldo Hudson, went to Central Police Station and informed the police that while on break she had received a call from Hanna who she had known for many years.

The juror said Hanna

asked to meet up with her and questioned her concerning matters pertaining to the trial. The juror told police that when she told the accused she could not discuss the case with him, he responded, “Miss, you think they care about you?

You think they care about you all?”

The juror was in fear for her life and showed the text message she had received from Hanna to the jury foreman who reported it to the judge.

The matter before the Supreme Court resulted in a mistrial. Hudson, 21, was on trial for armed robbery, and the murders of Jacqueline Armbrister, 55, and Noel Hamilton, 57, and the attempted murder of Agatha Gaitor on March 21, 2016, at a wooden structure on Bruce Avenue and Hearne Lane.

After he pleaded guilty to the charge of obstruction of justice, Magistrate Smith convicted Hanna and sentenced him to 18 months imprisonment at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.

MAN STABBED AFTER ARGUMENT IN STREET GRAND Bahama police are investigating a stabbing that has left a 22-year-old man in hospital in serious condition.

Police were told that shortly after 7pm on Tuesday, a man was at a business in the area of Ranfurly Circus when he was involved in an altercation

with two men who stabbed him about the body. Paramedics assisted the victim to the Rand Memorial Hospital.

A short time later, police arrested a 19-year-old male of Sea Grape, Eight Mile Rock. He is assisting police with the investigation into this matter.

Thursday, December 6, 2018, PAGE 9

DONOVAN A Hanna pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in Grand Bahama on Monday.

Photo: Vandyke Hepburn

PAGE 10, Thursday, December 6, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

46,000 ENROL FOR NHI PROGRAMME, SAYS ROBERTS

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

ABOUT 46,000 Bahamians are enrolled in the government’s National Health Insurance programme as of Monday, National Health Insurance Authority Chairman Dr Robin Roberts said yesterday.

He was speaking to members of the Rotary Club of Southeast Nassau.

“We were quiet the first year,”

he said, “and people actually thought that NHI was scrapped.

It was not. We continued the enrolment of the primary care programme.”

Dr Roberts, pictured right, has been travelling the country selling the NHIA’s plan for universal coverage to Bahamians.

He noted that the road to universal coverage is often long and winding.

“America started in 1917 and they haven’t reached it yet,” he said. “Germany, one of the

world’s leaders in healthcare, when they introduced National Health Insurance in 1884, they didn’t reach universal coverage until 1947.

Canada took another 20, 30 years before it achieved its goal.”

Under the NHIA’s plan, those enrolled will have expanded benefits. The programme will mandate that employers ensure all employees have health insurance through contributory

TUCKING IN FOR BREAKFAST HOTEL MANAGERS PENSION FUND NOTICE Pensioners of THE BAHAMAS HOTEL INDUSTRY MANAGEMENT PENSION FUND are asked to visit the Fund’s Office at Hotel’s Centre, Second Floor, Fort Nassau which is directly adjacent to the British Colonial Hilton Hotel, Number One Bay Street from 10:00am to 4:00pm on the following dates for verification: Surnames

Dates

A-C

Monday and Tuesday December 10th and 11th

D-F

Wednesday December 12th

G-I

Thursday December 13th

J-L

Friday December 14th

M-N

Monday December 17th and Tuesday 18th December

O-Q

Wednesday December 19th

R-S

Thursday December 20th

T-Z

Friday December 21st

For more information on the Bahamas Hotel Industry Management Pension Fund you may visit our website at: www.bhimpf.com. Please call us at (242) 322-8381/4 if you have any questions.

Please present a Government issued identification for verification.

The Chairman and Trustees for the Fund wish all hotel pensioners a safe and joyous holiday season.

mechanisms. According to the NHIA, a recent survey showed most NHI beneficiaries have had satisfactory experiences with the programme.

The survey featured 5,122 respondents and took place between July and November.

Dr Roberts said of the survey: “As we take steps to improve NHI Bahamas, it is encouraging to see that so many Bahamians have already had positive experiences

with the programme so far. The positive feedback collected from the patient satisfaction survey is testament to the good work NHI providers are doing to provide quality, affordable care to their patients.

“With the expansion of primary care services and the implementation of the high cost care treatments for certain prevalent diseases, we expect even more Bahamians will be able to experience the benefits of the NHI programme.”

STUDENTS of Gambier Primary School were served breakfast by members of the RBDF’s Supply Department during a recent community outreach event.

Photos: Chief Petty Officer Jonathan Rolle

RBDF ENJOYS PARTNERSHIP WITH GAMBIER PRIMARY THE Supply Department of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force put smiles on the faces of residents in the western end of the capital recently by providing hot breakfast for them.

Leading the initiative was Senior Lieutenant Elvis Bullard, the assistant base supply officer, on behalf of Lieutenant Commander Whitfield Neely, the commanding officer of the department.

He, along with his staff, took to the Gambier community, serving a hot breakfast and giving away an assortment of clothing items to the residents.

Vice-president of Gambier Primary School, Naomi Pinder was elated that the officers and marines were able to provide students and staff with their meals as they arrived at school. The men and and

women also delivered breakfast to the physically disabled within the community.

“From the faces of all who participated, they really enjoyed the breakfast and the clothing that were given out,” said Mrs Pinder. “I myself had breakfast.

This was a first and we are truly appreciative of the kind gesture by the Royal Bahamas Defence Force.”

Chief Petty Officer Paulette Higgs, who coordinated the efforts, said that with the cooperation of the entire Supply Department, they were able to make somebody’s day brighter.

The RBDF has partnered with Gambier Primary School for several initiatives in the past years, and it hopes to continue the bond of friendship with both the school and the community.

THE TRIBUNE

Student arrested in Florida for death threat to professor

By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net A FLORIDA Atlantic University student raised in the Bahamas was arrested last week for allegedly threatening to kill his professor for scheduling a 7am exam.

Rafael Decomas was arrested by campus police on November 28 after an officer was “made aware” of a “concerning Twitter post” by the account @ Ashelaniqua, according to a criminal probably cause affidavit.

The post read: “Bey I gern f—ing kill dis professor bey this is my confession to a

premeditated murder (sic).”

Mr Decomas is a former student of St John’s College, according to his Facebook account.

A FAU campus officer discovered Mr Decomas’ identity after realising the Twitter account was associated with the school’s Caribbean Student Association and cross-referencing the information.

According to the officer’s statement, Mr Decomas admitted to authoring the post, saying his anger was due to the fact that he would have to leave home at 5am to sit the exam.

“When I asked Decomas why he created such a post, he advised that he was

STORE EVENT TO AID RANFURLY HOMES A SANDYPORT store is helping to support the Ranfurly Homes for Children this Christmas.

For every bauble or candle, dining room table or tablecloth runner a customer buys at Sandyport’s Oasis Furniture on Saturday, the store will donate a percentage to the home to make the residence a warmer, cozier place for Christmas.

The idea for the Sip, Shop & Support Holiday Happiness event came from owner Brooke Phillips.

A long-time supporter of the children’s home, she enlisted the help of several vendors who agreed to set up in front of the store, located under Club One in the Sandyport Plaza, or in the shop and donate a portion of their sales.

“We’re honoured to be able to support the team at Ranfurly Homes for Children over the holidays.

“They work so hard every day to ensure that young Bahamians who faced disappointment or heartbreak in their earlier years know

they are loved and cared for so they can develop into strong, productive young adults who believe in themselves,” said Phillips, who remembers going to Ranfurly and reading to little ones many a Saturday when she was younger.

“I’d see a little girl hugging a teddy bear that used to be mine or I had bought with my allowance for them and I was so touched every time. I knew when I was old enough, I would find a way to help Ranfurly and this is just a small start, but hopefully in the right direction.”

The event will run from 10am to 5pm on Saturday. Participating vendors include Café Channing Noelle, #320 Nice Cream, and Liquid Courage.

Wood artist Morgan McKinney’s work, books by Bahamian authors including Sir Orville Turnquest and Sofia Whitehead, music

by Kirkland ‘KB Bodie’, and work by other craftsmen will be available with a portion of all sales going to Ranfurly.

FROM left, BTVI’s student affairs clerk Sheryl Leary; BTVI’s dean of student affairs Raquel Bethel; president of the Sister Sister Breast Cancer Support Group Andrea Sweeting and BTVI’s president, Dr Robert W Robertson.

Photo: Shantique Longley

BTVI DONATES $1,100 TO CANCER SUPPORT GROUP THE Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institution (BTVI) has taken the pink pledge, joined the fight against breast cancer and donated $1,100 to the Sister Sister Breast Cancer Support Group.

This donation will assist with the purchase of a port for a newly diagnosed patient. A port is a medical device that allows chemotherapy medicine to be given through a special needle that fits into the port and sits just under the skin.

Since 2011, BTVI has been a supporter of promoting breast cancer awareness.

With community engagement being one of BTVI’s strategic plan goals, the institution held its annual Pink Awareness Bake Sale, with 100% of the proceeds going to The Sister Sister Breast Cancer Support Group. During the event, staff and faculty joined students in purchasing treats to show their support.

only reacting to the news that his final exam for Data Structure…was scheduled to (7am),” the statement reads. “Decomas advised that he was upset at the news since he lives in Riviera Beach and would need to wake up at (5am).

“Decomas stated he did not intend to harm anyone, and tweeted the post out of frustration. Decomas advised that he deleted the post soon after publishing it.”

Mr Decomas was charged with written threats to kill or do bodily injury. He was released on $5,000 bond.

According to court documents, Mr Decomas will be arraigned in January in West Palm Beach.

Thursday, December 6, 2018, PAGE 11

RAFAEL DECOMAS

PAGE 12, Thursday, December 6, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

Helga visits Grand Bahama to help with sustainable tourism

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net HELGA Piaget, CEO and founder of Passion Sea which is an international project to spread the awareness of the importance of clean water among the world’s youth, was in Grand Bahama on Tuesday.

Mrs Piaget, wife of Yves Piaget, the CEO and president of the luxury Swiss eponymous jewellery and watch company, toured some eco-tourism sites, including the Lucayan National Park, with its underground caves in East Grand Bahama and the Garden of the Groves.

She also visited with students at one of the ecoschools in Freeport and also met with Ministry of Education officials to discuss her Passion Sea programme.

Jeffrey Pinder, a senior executive of sustainable tourism at the Ministry of Tourism, along with colleague Gina Turner, who is responsible for school education, accompanied Mrs Piaget during her visit to Grand Bahama.

“We are delighted to have Helga Piaget here on short notice, and the purpose is to collaborate with our sustainable tourism

FROM LEFT JEFFREY PINDER, senior executive of sustainable tourism at Ministry of Tourism; District Supt of schools in East Grand Bahama and the Cays Yvonne Ward; Helga Piaget, CEO and founder of Passion Sea; Ivan Butler, district supt of schools in West Grand Bahama; and Ministry of Tourism official Gina Turner. Standing are Ministry of Education officials. Photo: Denise Maycock partners and helping her accomplish one of her international projects related to the education system focusing on water,” he said.

Mr Pinder said that the Bahamas is surrounded by water and it is one of the main reasons why tourists come to this country.

“We are pleased to assist her in connecting with the key persons who will

help achieve her objective, which is an art flag programme,” he said.

He noted that her presence here in Freeport also provides them with the opportunity to connect with Mrs Piaget and her affiliates who can assist them in Grand Bahama with some of their sustainable objectives.

“One of our objectives

is to convert some of our children from high school into the industry, and we plan to do that through the education department, and I am supported by colleague Gina Turner, who is responsible for school education, and who will be assisting us with the programme over the next 12 months,” Mr Pinder explained.

Mrs Piaget said that Passion Sea is an international project that focuses especially on the younger generation.

“We want to make them aware of water, the environment, pollution, and everything that goes with water. We especially want to make them aware that we are water and we need it for our daily life and that it is vital for us and our planet to have clean water,” she stated.

“We are in the century

where it is getting difficult because of pollution on land and in the sea already.

And we have to stop trash and change the habits of our global population, and that starts with the children for they are the next generation.

“I believe in this work.

That is why I am here . . . and I am very happy to have met these wonderful people here and have been able to see Grand Bahama today and will come back.”

Mrs Piaget said that she enjoyed visiting with the Bahamian students and was able to learn a lot during her spent time in Grand Bahama.

“I was very impressed about the education that the children get here, and I think many countries could look at that and do the same,” she said.

“The way the children responded to the teacher

was incredible; they are so well educated and explained to me many things about the school and the way they are trained,” she added.

Mrs Piaget said the students were able to show her a garden they planted comprising various medicinal plants.

“It is wonderful that they get in touch with all these things because nature is so important and at the end of the day, it’s our home and our planet. And it is good that they know about natural medicine – it was really interesting,” she said.

Ivan Butler, district superintendent of schools in West Grand Bahama, and Yvonne Ward, district superintendent of schools in East Grand Bahama and the Cays, were pleased with the Passion Sea initiative for schools.

“The Ministry of Education is always pleased to partner with any initiative that helps us to educate our students when it comes to conservation and preservation of the natural environment,” said Mr Butler.

“We are very pleased with the Passion Sea initiative, and we are glad to have Mrs Piaget onboard, and us able to extend this into our schools and have more of our schools become eco-friendly.”

Mr Butler noted that an environmental initiative is expected to take place in Bimini where students will be creating a nature trail this weekend.

“We are very happy about what is going on in our schools, and we hope to spread the message throughout the length and breadth of the country because we live in such a wonderful country, and we want to preserve and protect it for future generations,” Mr Butler said.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, December 6, 2018, PAGE 13 HOSPITAL administrator Sharon Williams with Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling at The Rand where health minister Dr Duane Sands made an address.

DAME MARGUERITE ENJOYS ANNUAL TRIP TO THE RAND

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net GOVERNOR General Dame Marguerite Pindling made her annual Christmas visit to the Rand Memorial Hospital yesterday, where she met with patients and staff at the public healthcare institution in Grand Bahama.

This marks the 20th annual visit of a governor general to the Grand Bahama Health Services in Freeport, where a welcome ceremony was held on the hospital’s grounds.

This year only a few doctors and nurses attended the event, which is usually well attended by medical personnel staff.

Some 17 retirees were also recognised for their many years of service at the institution, and tributes were paid to those who recently died with a moment of silence and the release of yellow balloons.

Students of Grand Bahama Christian Academy performed and sang several songs. The Legendary Cooling Waters also performed.

Hospital administrator Sharon Williams welcomed Dame Marguerite to the hospital, which she says has experienced many achievements and challenges this year.

She noted that the staff is committed to the improvement of the health status of the community, and have each year consistently demonstrated advancement in service development that speaks to a continuous focus on planning and delivering quality care.

Ms Williams noted that while they have encountered some roadblocks, they are indeed grateful to have overcome the difficulties as the yuletide season approaches.

The hospital administrator thanked many civic, corporate and executive partners that have assisted the facility over the years.

She then recognised the contribution of the 17 retirees who have given long service to the hospital.

“Our 17 retirees… together have rendered collectively over 450 years of service to our community.

We say thank you,” Ms Williams said.

Minister of Health Dr Duane Sands reported that planning is in progress

to expand an out patient specialty clinic by 2019 to include oncology, men’s health, and adolescent health services. He also noted that infrastructural development continues at the RMH. As a result of physical redevelopment at the hospital, Dr Sands said that the Out Patients Department Services and General Practice Clinic were successfully relocated to the Freeport Community Clinic, housed in the IAT Building just opposite the hospital.

He noted that various health services are provided daily until 11pm at the Freeport clinic. He stated that the vacant areas resulting from the relocated out patients services would be redesigned to establish a private ward service within RMH. Dr Sands also mentioned the implementation at RMH of the Picture Archive & Communication System (PACS) - a medical imaging technology that provides storage and access to images. The minister said the images can be uploaded in real time and have also been networked at the Eight Mile Rock Clinic and the Mammogram Unit in Davies House.

He noted that the images may also be viewed from RMH by the Princess Margaret Hospital in Nassau and other networked Public Hospitals Authority facilities.

The health minister also noted that a new CT scan machine is expected to be installed in January 2019.

“These new modern technological advancements will bode well for the overall management of our patients. This is indeed an exciting time for health care in the PHA and certainly in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas,” he said.

Dame Marguerite extended condolences to the hospital and to the families of those staff members who died this year. She also said she is pleased that the GBHS continues to be supported by a robust volunteer programme.

“Volunteerism is a concept which uplifts those who serve and those who receive, and this important programme must be encouraged and made good use of,” she said. “I thanked the volunteers for kindly giving of themselves to help others.”

PAGE 14, Thursday, December 6, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

Nation bids goodbye to Bush WASHINGTON Associated Press

THE nation bid goodbye to George HW Bush with high praise, cannon salutes and gentle humor yesterday, celebrating the life of the Texan who embraced a lifetime of service in Washington and was the last president to fight for the US in wartime. Three former presidents looked on at Washington National Cathedral as a fourth — George W Bush — eulogised his dad as “the brightest of a thousand points of light”.

After three days of remembrance in the capital city, the Air Force plane with Bush’s casket left for a final service in Houston and burial today at his family plot on the presidential library grounds at Texas A&M University in College Station. His final resting place is alongside Barbara Bush, his wife of 73 years, and Robin Bush, the daughter who died of leukemia at age 3.

His plane, which often serves as Air Force One, arrived at Ellington Field outside Houston in late afternoon.

The national funeral service at the cathedral was a tribute to a president, a patriarch and a faded political era that prized military service and public responsibility.

It was laced with indirect comparisons to President Donald Trump but was not consumed by them, as

THE FLAG-draped casket of former President George HW Bush is carried by a military honor guard past former President George W Bush, inset right, and wife Laura Bush, President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, former President Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former President Jimmy Carter, and Rosalynn Carter during a State Funeral yesterday. speakers focused on Bush’s public George W Bush broke down Bush stepped up to try to extend life and character — with plenty briefly at the end of his eulogy that run but fell short when of cracks about his goofy side, too. while invoking the daughter Trump won the 2016 Republican Trump sat with his wife, a trio his parents lost in 1953 and his primaries. of ex-presidents and their wives, mother, who died in April. He The elder Bush was “the last several of the group sharp critics said he took comfort in knowing great-soldier statesman,” hisof his presidency and one of them, “Dad is hugging Robin and hold- torian Jon Meacham said in his Hillary Clinton, his 2016 Demo- ing Mom’s hand again”. eulogy, “our shield” in dangerous cratic foe. Apart from courteous The family occupied the White times. nods and some handshakes, there House for a dozen years — the But he took a lighter tone, too, was little interaction between 41st president defeated after one noting that Bush, campaigning in a Trump and the others. term, the 43rd serving two. Jeb crowd in a department store, once

shook hands with a mannequin.

Rather than flushing in embarrassment, he simply quipped, “Never know. Gotta ask.”

Meacham recounted how comedian Dana Carvey once said the key to doing an impersonation of Bush was “Mr Rogers trying to be John Wayne.”

None of that would be a surprise to Bush. Meacham had read his eulogy to him, said Bush spokesman Jim McGrath, and Bush responded to it with the crack: “That’s a lot about me, Jon.” The congregation at the cathedral, filled with foreign leaders and diplomats, Americans of high office and others touched by Bush’s life, rose for the arrival of the casket, accompanied by clergy of faiths from around the world. In their row together, Trump and former Presidents Barack Obama, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton stood with their spouses and all placed their hands over their hearts.

INTERNAL DOCUMENTS SHOW FACEBOOK USED USER DATA AS COMPETITIVE WEAPON Associated Press

INTERNAL Facebook documents released by a UK parliamentary committee offer the clearest evidence yet that the social network has used its enormous trove of user data as a competitive weapon, often in ways designed to keep its users in the dark.

Parliament’s media committee yesterday accused Facebook of cutting special deals with some app developers to give them more access to data, while icing out others that it viewed as potential rivals.

In other documents, company executives discussed how they were keeping the company’s collection and exploitation of user data from its users. That included quietly collecting the call records and text messages of users of phones that run on Google’s Android operating system without asking their permission.

The UK committee released more than 200 pages of documents on the tech giant’s internal discussions about the value of users’ personal information.

While they mostly cover the period between 2012 and 2015 — the first three years after Facebook went public — they offer a rare glimpse into the company’s inner workings and the extent to which it used people’s data to make money while publicly vowing to protect their privacy.

The company’s critics said the new revelations reinforced their concerns over what users actually know

CEO Mark Zuckerberg about how Facebook treats their data. “These kinds of schemes are exactly why companies must be required to disclose exactly how they are collecting and sharing our data, with stiff penalties for companies that lie about it,” Sen Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, said in a statement.

Facebook called the documents misleading and said the information they contain is “only part of the story.”

“Like any business, we had many internal conversations about the various ways we could build a sustainable business model for our platform,” the company said in a statement. “But the facts are clear: We’ve never sold people’s data.”

In a Facebook post, company CEO Mark Zuckerberg sought to put the documents in context.

“Of course, we don’t let everyone develop on our platform,” he wrote. “We blocked a lot of sketchy apps. We also didn’t allow developers to use our platform to replicate our functionality or grow their services virally in a way that creates little value for people on Facebook.”

3 DEAD, 44 INJURED IN PLASTICS EXPLOSION

A BIG explosion tore through a plastics company in the Dominican Republic’s capital yesterday, and authorities said at least three people died and 44 were injured.

Among the injured were 13 children at a school in front of the Polyplas company where the explosion occurred.