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VOLUME:117 No.13, DECEMBER 9TH, 2019

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THE MEDICAL BLUNDERS WHICH COST ELIZABETH DUPUCH-CARRON HER SON

I knew what they were doing was wrong.

Aidan died.

Don’t let it happen to you INSIDE: READ HER SHOCKING STORY FOX TRIES TO END US LEGAL ACTION

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

AN Island Luck cofounder is urging the New York federal courts to dismiss the US government’s near decade-old human smuggling charges against him because his “rights” are being violated.

Adrian Fox, who teamed with Sebas Bastian to create The Bahamas’ largest web shop by market share, is arguing that the

ADRIAN FOX charges should be thrown out because the US government’s failure to launch extradition proceedings against him has breached

his “right to a speedy trial”.

The US, though, is resisting Mr Fox’s bid on the basis that this was only launched when his efforts to negotiate a “deferred prosecution agreement” with the New York attorney’s office stalled.

Documents reveal that legal representatives acting for Mr Fox have been talking to the authorities in a bid to settle the case since at least 2014.

WATCH PENDULUM SWING AS PROMISES ARE NOT KEPT

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

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PAGE 2, Monday, December 9, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

ALL BRIGHT ON THE NIGHT

THE NATIONAL Tree lighting ceremony under the theme Expanding our world, exploring yours.

Photos: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

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THE TRIBUNE

Monday, December 9, 2019, PAGE 3

ELIZABETH DUPUCH-CARRON ON WHY SHE IS WRITING ABOUT HER TRAGEDY

I’m sharing Aidan’s story so our son’s suffering will not have been in vain MY name is Elizabeth, but my friends and family call me “Lizzy” and for two years a little man by the name of Aidan Roger Dupuch-Carron, called me “mum”.

Like so many of you, I am a lot of things, daughter, sister, wife, friend, but under no circumstances am I an “anti-vaxer”, indeed our son’s tragic journey and ultimate death was because both my husband and I were and remain to this day firm believers that vaccinations are an essential part of a baby’s well being and to this end we, as “responsible” parents, were committed to following all vaccination schedules.

Our story has nothing to do with whether or not vaccines are a good idea because they are. It is about the “medical protocols” that in our baby’s case, and who knows how many other cases, were not followed when it came to the administration of these life saving vaccines.

This is about questioning medical practitioners and others operating in the field and holding them accountable.

It is about questioning how vigilant the nursing staff is with regards to reading and following instructions before administering vaccines to infants.

Why would our paediatrician, Dr Lochan, tell us casually that although he currently did not have the DTaP vaccine available at his practice for Aidan’s 2 and 4 months vaccination schedules – the one Aidan needed to complete his inoculation series – we could, if we wanted to, go to a Ministry of Health clinic where he would be given the old version of the vaccine called DTP which had been discontinued in the US years before. However, he was also clear to inform us that he would advise against doing so because of the adverse risks associated with this vaccine and in fact he did not, nor would he ever carry it in his practice…. I’m troubled by this and so should you be Today my husband Robert Dupuch- Carron, former Deputy Chairman of the Public Hospitals Authority & Emergency Management Services, says we should be concerned about the vaccine he discovered Aidan was given - GlaxoSmithKline’s Infanrix Hexa 6-in-1 combination vaccine.

This literally means what

THIS picture was taken the fateful day of Aidan’s vaccines that changed our lives for ever. Look at the date on the picture and look at his left thigh ... the Band-Aid covering his injections.

LEFT: Elizabeth with her husband Robert and Aidan. Right: Robert with his son. it says - six different elements in one combined shot injected into your baby to protect against six different life-threatening diseases along with another shot and the administration of a live oral virus at a single visit to any paediatrician’s office.

Robert says it should also be noted Infanrix Hexa had not been licensed nor approved for use in infants or children in The Bahamas or the United States of America and infact FDA approval was only granted only a few weeks ago. This was because of concerns over the increased risk of adverse reactions disclosed

by GlaxoSmithKline when it sought approval for the vaccine from European regulators.

In point of fact the Labelling and Package Leaflet provided by medical staff administering Infanrix Hexa points physicians to be aware of adverse reactions when the vaccine is used alongside other agents and in combination with other vaccinations on a schedule not approved for such.

While he is a strong supporter of vaccinations Robert believes the use of

WITH TODAY’S TRIBUNE: A SPECIAL EIGHT-PAGE SUPPLEMENT ON AIDAN’S LIFE - IN WORDS AND PICTURES

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Infanrix Hexa alongside certain other drugs - and outside recommended protocols - should be stopped.

This is about questioning what seems to be the common practice of playing “catch up” with immunisations when “the established protocol to follow when an entire series of vaccinations cannot be completed is that the series should be started all over again with the required intervals between each shot. Instead of the missing shots being administered all at once.”

This is what my husband was told by an astonished paediatrician at the world renowned Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore when we told him that our nightmare began because we had taken our son to “catch up” on some missing inoculations. We were assured that this was “fine, we are catching up…” – these were the dismissive words spoken by Nurse LaRoda at Dr Lochan’s office as she pushed the plunger into our baby’s leg.

These are the words that will haunt me for the rest of my days. Just 14 days after those words were spoken our lives would never be the same again and a year

Y

My Instincts Screamed out... something is very wrong!

The Tribune Established 1903

My Voice! My World!

and a half later our beloved Aidan would be dead.

This is about holding a medical system that appears to play fast and loose with the most vulnerable in our society – our babies – accountable. On that tragic day, Thursday, June 23, 2016, when Nurse LaRoda administered all of Aidan’s six-month vaccinations in ONE session, (vaccinations that included: DTaP, HepB, Prevnar, IPV and Rotavirus) someone in that office should have known that this was not the correct procedure.

Our anguish was only compounded by the fact that a few weeks after our beloved Aidan took his last breath my husband came across his immunisation record. We could not believe our eyes.

Someone at Dr Lochan’s office correctly signed off on our visit of June 23, 2016 recording Aidan’s height, weight and head circumference as well as the administration of the DTaP. But at the same time – June 23 – and on the same card, and with the same signature it was recorded that we had returned on June 26 — three days later — for the remainder of his vaccinations. This was not true.

There was no need to return because all of his vaccines had been administered on June 23! This card – with both dates, June 23 and 26 – was given back to me on June 23. Without examining it, I put it in Aidan’s diapers bag, and, until my husband found it

after our son’s death never looked at it again.

Our next visit to Dr Lochan’s office was in fact 14 days later after Aidan had developed a fever and was treated with Tylenol and Ibuprofen for a suspected viral infection. We were never in his office on June 26, although the signed card from his clinic said that we were!

At the risk of getting a little ahead of myself I will point out at this stage that both Dr Maggie Fader, Haematology-Oncologist at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, and Dr Patrick A. Brown, Associate Professor of Oncology and Paediatrics at John’s Hopkins, both concluded that without a doubt Aidan’s Secondary HLH was “triggered by one or more of the vaccines he received on June 23, 2016”.

But more on this later.

I am sharing with you our personal story, Aidan’s story, so that our son’s suffering and death will not have been in vain. We want you, as parents in the Bahamas, to know what we have gone through so that you are empowered to hold your medical practitioner to task. You have the right to ask questions, do not let a white coat, a diploma proudly mounted on a wall or a nurse’s uniform intimidate you from asking questions, because in spite of all their accomplishments at the end of the day they are human and they make mistakes! Do not be afraid to ask your doctor about the risks involved in administering the vaccines

–indeed the Doctor should tell you without asking: How the drug that they are injecting into your baby’s body was brought into the Bahamas? Where was it manufactured? What is the expiration date? How is it being stored once it is at the clinic? Most, if not all vaccines should be refrigerated. Ask if there is a generator on site to keep refrigerated medications from going bad.

There are no silly questions when it comes to the wellbeing of your baby, so ask and if you, as a parent are not satisfied, if you have a gut feeling that something is just not right, please, do what I was not able to do when I saw that syringe go into my baby’s thigh and my mother’s instinct told me that there were too many shots being given to him all at once, when every cell in my body was screaming at me that I should grab my baby and go. But I didn’t.

Why? Because I had already expressed my concerns to Nurse LaRoda before she gave my infant son the shots. I told her that I was uncomfortable, that my instincts were screaming against giving all the vaccines at once, he wasn’t used to having the DTaP with his other vaccines, he had his first DTaP vaccine (alone) many weeks after his 2 months vaccination schedule, and again (alone) 2 weeks or so after his 4 months makeup vaccination schedule, hence his vaccines were moved forward a month, to me it was common sense. I was so concerned I asked her to leave the DTaP vaccine out. We can come back in a week or so, I told her. I was dismissed. Nurse LaRoda aggressively expressed herself, her words were – “It’s fine, we are catching up...”

However instead of listening to my instincts and taking my baby and running...I didn’t want to appear rude by questioning the knowledge of a medical professional, because I didn’t want to seem like an overreacting first-time mother. Yes, it was that mind set that glued me to the chair that fateful day, but it was a broken medical system that cost us our Aidan, so it is in his memory that I tell you to empower yourself for your baby’s sake, if something feels off, if a doctor or nurse brushes your questions or concerns aside and fails to answer any or all of your questions….LEAVE!

PAGE 4, Monday, December 9, 2019

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We hope a life will be saved thanks to the lessons learned from Aidan THERE is no greater tragedy than the loss of a child. In today’s Tribune, we tell Aidan’s story. Aidan Roger DupuchCarron was born on November 24, 2015, and it was in the following July that his long battle began.

On July 6, 2016, his mother, Elizabeth, was informed by a registered nurse that Aidan was not himself. He was sleepy, quiet, didn’t drink much milk or eat any solid foods, and wasn’t his happy, energetic, engaging self.

His condition worsened, running a high temperature, breaking out in a rash and vomiting. That began a long, heartrending series of tests, meetings with doctors and more in an effort to find out what was wrong with Aidan.

Ultimately, it was in Miami that he was diagnosed with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, HLH for short, which can be triggered by vaccinations among other causes.

Vaccinations are a vital part of our modern life. They keep away diseases that have killed so many around the world or caused such hardship. So many Bahamians are involved in campaigning with Rotary to bring an end to polio – a virus that has harmed so many children in so many countries, and they are in touching distance of doing so.

The consequences of anti-vaccination beliefs have been seen already in outbreaks of diseases we thought long conquered, bringing with them misery that need not exist any longer.

But vaccinations have to be done

right. We have to make sure that all our medical practitioners are educated on the right way to administer vaccinations.

Beyond that, medics also need to be kept up to date with the latest information regarding vaccinations – and what to watch out for when things go wrong.

In the worst of moments, we can learn. And losing Aidan – who died on Christmas Eve, 2017, from treatmentrelated leukemia caused by the drug needed to eradicate HLH – was the worst of moments.

We hope his life can help others. We hope his life can raise the awareness of such situations among the medical community. We hope that somewhere, out there, another life will be saved thanks to the lessons that have been learned from Aidan.

Every doctor – here and farther afield - can learn from this case, and would be wise to double check their procedures to make sure they are carrying out vaccinations in the medically approved manner.

They would do well to refresh their knowledge, indeed we would hope it would be a matter that could be driven by the Ministry of Health with the support of medical associations.

After all, the goal is a common one, something we all hope for: To keep all our children safe.

As we remember Aidan, and his happy smile, let us do all we can to keep smiles on all our children’s faces, and to keep them well.

How to tackle next big storm EDITOR, The Tribune AS A Bahamian owner of a local construction company I have gained knowledge of practical information that I feel can better prepare the country for future Cat 5 storms.

Very importantly is the need for elevation. The current elevation or rough grade required for commercial developments is about 8.6ft above high tide.

Before any new construction begins in the low lying areas of Abaco and Freeport proper long term elevations must be achieved.

To achieve this we need an abundance of affordable structural fill.

The best way of creating this is with a drag line.

A drag line is a large crane with a bucket on it.

Drag lines can create fill to a depth of 215ft where as most conventional excavators can only go about 20 ft deep. This allows for the greater production of fill with a minimum loss of land.

Most of South Florida was elevated with the use of AFTER Deputy Prime Minister Peter Turnquest voiced his “total disgust” over France’s decision to blacklist The Bahamas, readers posted their responses on tribune242.com.

RB242F said: “The legacy that the Bahamas was a tax haven is so anchored in the mind of people in Europe that no matter what the Bahamas does, it will never be

drag lines. If you fly into Ft Lauderdale or Miami you can still see them digging on the border of civilisation and the everglades.

To create maximum cost efficiency the drag line would produce the fill as close to the area it is needed as possible to limit loading and trucking time.

If you look at most of the residential communities in south Florida you will notice a water feature, small lake or pond.

While this might look like only an attractive feature it was actually put there to create the fill for elevations and later landscaped with water features, etc, to blend into the community.

I propose the same idea for Abaco and Freeport.

The lowest areas should be excavated without access to the ocean to create the fill to raise the communities.

The pond that will be created can be done with islands within it and on completion professionally landscaped with local trees to blend in.

This beautifies the community while eliminating low lying areas creating

enough. EU citizens would take their politics as a fool if they start to brag about the Bahamas no longer being a tax haven after all these years of bullying them. I’m French and

elevations for safer communities at a minimum cost.

We should aim to achieve elevations of a minimum of 9 ft with ideal being 12 to 14ft above high tide for roads and construction.

With a rough grade of 14ft, everyone’s house slab or floor would be about 17ft above high tide, this would be a very good thing.

All utilities need to be underground.

Protective dunes would be built with the same compacted fill in exposed low lying coastal areas, then planted with salt tolerant indigenous dune plants, shrubs and trees.

Dunes have proven to be within the top three choices of reliable and inexpensive ways of protecting communities from storm surges.

The cheap but well managed production of fill will soon become an issue of national importance as we are a low lying country facing unpredictable global conditions.

JW Nassau, December 4, 2019.

I’m a permanent resident of The Bahamas since 10 years. Every time I say I live in The Bahamas when I’m in Europe the eye of the people starts to shine and they start to fantasise about a suitcase of money passing the border like in an old James Bond movie. I try hard to do my part and explain that the Bahamas is no longer a tax haven, and bore them with the reality”

Minnis, akin to a man who is lost in space EDITOR, The Tribune 2018 and 2019 were brutal years, financially and socially for the unwashed masses of Bahamians, especially here in New Providence and Grand Bahama. What is remarkable is that the five seats in Grand Bahama are all held by the ruling regime. There are four FNM cabinet ministers from that desolated and politically forgotten island. Here in New Providence the FNMs command all constituency seats with the stark exception of Englerston. If one were not a careful political observer, you’d never believe this, despite the reality of the situation.

A majority of Bahamians , inclusive of myself, bought the FNM’s electoral promises hook, line and sinker.

The bait looked good and we swallowed it all. Now, Minnis and crew have been unmasked for what they truly are. These people have got to be anti-Bahamian and appear to have it in for the poor and middle class black Bahamians.

With the massive increase in VAT and the proposed rate reduction increases in Bahamas Power & Light bills, these classes of Bahamians are at risk of being wiped out and relegated to the poor house.

The unexpected damages wrought by Dorian and the long shuttered economy of Grand Bahama have further reduced our national economy to shambles, despite the bogus and strident tones of the knuckled headed Minister of Finance; the Financial Secretary; the dumbest Attorney General in the legal history, in my humble opinion, and, of course, the deer in the headlight Most Honourable Prime Minister. We have been blacklisted, again, by components of the European Union and the FNM is running around like a headless Androsian Vulture.

In less than three years the FNM has demonstrated that it is inept when it comes to running a national economy. Some members

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net of that regime are said to be good business persons when they were in the private sector but, clearly, high finance and national economic interaction continue to befuddle them, all and sundry.

Now the Most Hon Prime Minister has indicated that all civil servants will be receiving a minimum of B$1,400.00 in this month’s pay package across the board. In addition, sometime soon, I guess, the government proposes to increase the government’s minimum wage scale. The workers in the private sector can expect nothing from this regime except taxes and more taxes, ad nausea.

This increase and lump sum payment is nothing more than a gross attempt

by Minnis and crew to bamboozle the unwashed Bahamians and to curry political advantage (which, at this stage is next to impossible) where will the money come from? More borrowings, on top of the monies needed for reconstruction (some 1/2 billion dollars) and the recurrent expenses (another 1/2 billion dollars) coupled with a drastic revenue short fall.

There is no free lunch and I submit that the proposed largess of this mentally bankrupt administration will be funded by additional taxes and user fees.

It is my opinion that Minnis fooled the Bahamian electorate, big time, in 2017 along with his diabolical band of merry men and women and whatever else is in between. Since coming to office, the FNM, initially, was welcomed with rose petals and Calypso music.

Today, many Bahamians, especially the unwashed ones, are anxious to see the backs of that party and its leadership (such as it is) cadre. Except the Lord Jesus Christ intervenes, this regime will be roast come the next general elections.

The proposed increase in minimum wages for public servants is an artificial means by which Minnis or the proponents of the same to prop up wages. This is dead wrong. In a capitalist society, an employer will usually pay employees what they are worth to their businesses, no more, no less. It is based on merit and qualifications. With minimum wages, imposed by the state, the falseness in all of this is that minimum wages tend to negatively impact the very business or trade that they were designed to improve.

No employer can be forced into hiring anyone.

This is a trite fact. If you are only worth B$250.00 per week, how are you going to force me to hire him/her at that rate or any other? A prudent employer will simply cut back on the number of employees thus reducing employment opportunities while placing countless others on the unemployment line or on the dole. If a government were to stimulate robust economic growth and were to eliminate or reduce burdensome red tape and regulations you’d see increased employment and a drastic reduction in social service benefits.

Minnis is akin to a man lost in space. The Minister of Finance (or is it Black Listing?) is, again in my opinion an abject failure in this vital post. The Financial Secretary was jettisoned into that position after his predecessor was obliged to either resign or be transferred (no one is sure, publicly, as to why he was obliged to go or what is his current status). It is unfortunate, at this juncture, that we are limited to the FNM bumblers or to the New Deal PLP led by a focused and visionary Leader, the Hon. Philip ‘Brave’ Davis, QC, MP (PLP-Cat Island, Rum Cay & San Salvador.

To God then, in all things be the glory.

ORTLAND H. BODIE, Jr. Nassau, December 8, 2019.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, December 9, 2019, PAGE 5

MINNIS: PROTECT THE POOR AND MARGINALISED

By RIEL MAJOR Tribune Staff Reporter rmajor@tribunemedia.net

AMID the cost of living increasing in the country, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said his policy is in place to “protect the poor and marginalised”.

His comments on Friday came after he was asked about an assessment released by the Department of Statistics that revealed the Customer Price Index (CPI) had increased in September.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the

Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association annual general meeting, Dr Minnis said his government is doing everything it can to protect the poor.

He said: “We feel that the wealthy, the rich individuals, regardless of the outcome, they would be able to survive and protect themselves. And we would still need them to help generate jobs, employment…

“But we would do all we can to protect that grouping that needs protection, and that is the poor and marginalised. So, regardless

of what happened, policies will be there to ensure their protection.”

The Department of Statistics released data that suggested the CPI has increased to 108.81 in September of this year.

The highest affected areas were transportation, furniture and household equipment, healthcare, restaurants and hotels, tobacco and narcotics, and alcoholic beverages.

Despite the tax breaks implemented by the government in the 2019/2020 budget, the CPI increased.

Recently, Minister of

THE prime minister’s recent announcement of a minimum wage increase for government employees is a “pathetic and desperate measure” to “buy support” from the electorate, Progressive Liberal Party chairman Fred Mitchell has said.

Mr Mitchell, in a statement yesterday, said Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis’ announcement on Friday was not an “act of generosity”, but rather a “cold, cynical, calculated move” to garner support from the public service.

Mr Mitchell said the announcement was even more suspect because it came “at a time when the government has the lowest ratings of any government

since the United Bahamian Party (UBP) was expelled from office”.

The PLP chairman also questioned the government’s “about face” on the issue, as he said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Peter Turnquest recently said no minimum wage increase was being contemplated.

Mr Mitchell’s statement was in response to remarks Dr Minnis made on the sidelines of an event on Friday, during which he told reporters that wages for government workers would be “elevated”.

Dr Minnis’ comments came in response to questions about minimum wage in the face of an increased cost of living.

“What I can also say is the minimum wage that government pays its staff,

that will be elevated, but the minister responsible for public service will give more details on that,” Dr Minnis said.

The Tribune contacted Public Service and National Insurance Minister Brensil Rolle yesterday, but he referred this newspaper to his permanent secretary Donella Bodie for details on the proposed wage increase. She could not be reached, so The Tribune contacted Mr Turnquest on the issue, who then told this newspaper to contact either Mr Rolle, or Dr Minnis’ office.

Nonetheless, Dr Minnis also said on Friday that government workers would also receive a $1,400 lump sum payment by the end of the month. Those benefitting from the lump sum payment include immigration officers, customs

officers, police officers, defence force officers, teachers, as well as doctors and nurses from the Public Hospitals Authority, Dr Minnis said.

When asked if there are any plans to increase the minimum wage in the private sector, Dr Minnis said the private sector’s minimum wage could not be increased without more consideration.

He said: “(We) will have to take the long-term impact into consideration but the government sector would be elevated. I know that all those individuals I mentioned, the defence force and all them.

“I know they’re aggressively and anxiously waiting their $1,400 lump sum for Christmas. I would hope that they would spend their money here in our economy because we need it

CABLE BAHAMAS ORDERED TO PAY COMPENSATION AND FINED

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

CABLE Bahamas Limited has been ordered to compensate all of its subscribers who were affected by its decision to replace eight television channels without giving advance notice of the changes earlier this year.

The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA), in a statement, said CBL has just two months to give the affected consumers monetary bill credits for breaching certain conditions of its licence by its June 14 decision.

According to URCA, REVTV Prime subscribers, REVTV Prime Extra subscribers and REVTV Prime Sports subscribers are ordered to receive bill credits amounting to $4, $6, and $2 respectively. Each credit is cumulative. The compensation must be paid within 60 days of December 6.

Concerning REVTV PRIME Extra subscribers,

their respective credits will be in addition to credits applied for PRIME and/ or PRIME Sports, while the bill credit for REVTV Prime Sports subscribers will be in addition to credits applied for Prime and/or Prime Extra, URCA said.

URCA has also ordered CBL to pay a fine equal to 1.25 per cent of its total revenues from its Prime, Prime Extra, and Prime Sports packages for the month of June no later than December 21.

URCA’s ruling relates to a move by CBL on June 14, when it replaced eight television channels – USA; Freedom; TV Land; Sprout; Nicktoons; Hallmark; Independent Film Channel and the Tennis Channel – from its REV TV line-up without giving customers the required advance notice of the changes.

At the time, Cable Bahamas, responding to a complaint on its Facebook page, said: “Please note that no provider can legally carry the Hallmark Channel in The Bahamas and

issuance of the rate reduction bonds will lead to a temporary increase in the average household billing of an average of $20 to $30 monthly for about 10 months in 2020,” he told Parliament. “The good news is that this will be a shortterm increase that will be wiped out in 2021 when the cost of generation will decrease drastically due to the completed installation of the second station consisting of even more new fuel efficient engines, better operation performance, and lower

fuel costs brought on by the utilisation of Shell’s internationally respected hedging expertise.”

The Carmichael MP explained that the Rate Reduction Bond Act passed under the former Christie administration mandated officials to increase electricity bills at that time in order to properly finance BPL. Instead of doing that, Mr Bannister accused the Progressive Liberal Party of bypassing the increase and hiring 166 people at BPL which caused overstaffing.

Increase in minimum wage ‘a cold, cynical act’ to garner support - Mitchell

PROGRESSIVE Liberal Party chairman Fred Mitchell

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

Works Desmond Bannister said Bahamas Power and Light customers will see a $20 to $30 increase in their monthly electricity bills for 10 months starting in 2020.

While debating the Electricity Rate Reduction Bond Bill in the House of Assembly at the time, Mr Bannister said that the issuance of the bonds will be used to refinance BPL’s $321m debt to pay for phase two of the new Wartsila power plant and manage other liabilities.

“We expect that the

REV has to abide by the licensing agreements.”

URCA launched an investigation into the decision, and concluded that CBL had breached the Consumer Protection Regulations and its Individual Operating Licence (IOL). URCA also said CBL breached “retail pricing rules” and “other measures”.

URCA said in particular, CBL failed or refused to provide its consumers with a minimum notice of one month before implementing the changes; provided consumers with

information that was not accurate or true; failed or refused to publish all nonprice terms and conditions for a service on its website; failed or refused to display on its website accurate, true and up-to-date information on all material aspects for subscribing to a service.

The “full scope” of URCA’s directives to CBL is set out in Section 4 of its Final Determination, the regulator said.

“URCA will keep the public updated on CBL’s compliance with the Final Determination,” it added.

after Hurricane Dorian as opposed to running to the US or wherever.”

However, Mr Mitchell dismissed Dr Minnis’ pronouncements as disingenuous.

“This is a pathetic and desperate measure to buy support from the electorate at a time when the government has the lowest ratings of any government since the UBP was expelled from office,” he said yesterday.

“Just about three months ago, the finance minister told the country we couldn’t afford the lump sum payment to public servants because of (Hurricane Dorian). What has happened since then to cause the situation to change?

“Similarly, the finance minister said no minimum wage rise was contemplated. What factors are

there in the economy which caused the prime minister’s about face?”

Mr Mitchell added: “You can be sure that the prime minister gives with one hand and takes with the next. This is not an act of generosity, but a cold, cynical, calculated move to (garner) public service support. “…We will not oppose any measure that gives more spending power in the hands of the ordinary consumer. But it is important that we do not have a government shamelessly pandering (to the electorate) without any thought of the larger impacts. “…We also say that the PLP is committed to a livable wage for all citizens of this Commonwealth.”

The public sector minimum wage is presently $210 per week.

PAGE 6, Monday, December 9, 2019

By RIEL MAJOR Tribune Staff Reporter rmajor@tribunemedia.net AFTER the Department of Social Services reported an increase of unemployment on Grand Bahama after Hurricane Dorian, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said he is waiting on the official job data from the Department of Statistics.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Dr Minnis said some 600 people have been hired on Abaco and he expects more new hires as more businesses on that island reopen. However he acknowledged that the monster storm had an obvious impact on Abaco’s and Grand Bahama’s job numbers.

Dr Minnis said: “Yes, we would have experienced a decrease in employment and an increase in unemployment but … individuals’ jobs, facilities and everything were destroyed – but we’ve had

THE TRIBUNE

Minnis expects jobs market to improve Baker’s Bay, for example, that recently to my understanding just hired an additional 600 individuals.

“The cays, the Abaco cays, are coming back to normal very quickly and therefore there will be a lot of hiring there. The new phase of Baha Mar would have just last week hired, I think an additional 200 individuals …so we are aggressively moving forward.”

He added: “As the business sectors come on stream, we’ll have more hiring. But you would have

expected after businesses were destroyed it meant that unemployment would have gone up. As businesses return, it means that unemployment will subsequently drop.”

An assessment released in November by the Department of Social Services revealed, post-Hurricane Dorian, 47 percent of the people in Freeport were unemployed. In East End, 48 percent were unemployed while West End had the highest unemployed rate of 60 percent.

The assessment read:

“West End reports the highest proportion of unemployment, with a very even distribution across all settlements. Similarly, the East End employment is quite even across the east settlements. However, in the Freeport area, some subdivisions report very high unemployment or very high employment. This suggests that a more in-depth assessment is required inside of Freeport to better understand this indicator.”

When he was asked to respond, Deputy Prime Minister Peter Turnquest

said assisting entrepreneurs and small to medium-sized enterprises to reopen is the government’s goal.

Mr Turnquest said recently: “Businesses were not able to get back up either due to damage to their infrastructure or because of the lack of electricity or just because of the way things are in Grand Bahama at the moment.

“We do know that every day that there are people who are making steps to reopen their businesses and start to re-employ those persons who maybe have

been temporarily laid off or have been terminated or made redundant as a result of the fact that their businesses had been destroyed.

“It is certainly the goal of (Ministry of) Finance and the government to assist many entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises to get back into business as quickly as possible. Hence we have put aside $10m to assist with hurricane relief efforts through either grants or capital low interest loans supported by our financial industry partners.”

year agreement for the Town Centre Mall to house the General Post Office.

The resolution was brought because the mall is partly owned by St Anne’s MP Brent Symonette, who was the minister of immigration and financial services at the time.

The prime minister brushed off the threat last week, telling The Tribune: “I’m more concerned with running the country, getting Abaco and Grand Bahama and adjoining cays back together and getting the economy back online and the quality of life back to where it was. However, if Davis and the opposition want to debate we will not object and we will give them a time for the debate to commence. We welcome it.”

Mr Davis originally

announced his no confidence motion plans on July 26 but postponed them because of Hurricane Dorian.

His no confidence resolution notes the constitution mandates that a sitting member of Parliament who becomes interested in a government contract must vacate his or her seat or must obtain an exemption from the House of Assembly “where it appeared to be just to do so” once that interest is disclosed.

The key clause under scrutiny from the Minnis administration’s resolution that was passed last year said: “And whereas one of the beneficial owners of the said Town Centre Mall is a serving Cabinet minister, who did not take part in the discussions leading to the decision to accept the offer to lease portions of the building, which will be made suitable for the operations of the General Post Office at the expense of the landlord; which minister has nonetheless declared his interest.”

After he resigned as minister, Mr Symonette sat for an interview on a ZNS radio show, The Conversation with Shenique Miller, where he revealed he had discussed the terms of the mall lease with Dr Minnis before the matter came to Parliament. He said he was in Mexico when Dr Minnis called him early one morning to indicate the administration was going ahead with the lease. The two then discussed terms, with Mr Symonette indicating the need to reduce the size of the building and explaining that the lease could involve a price of $12 per square foot.

FNM dismisses PLP no-confidence vote THE Free National Movement has called the Progressive Liberal Party’s planned no confidence vote in Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis nothing more than an “ill-timed” piece of political theatre meant to score points with the electorate.

“The woeful PLP’s objection to FNM policies is nothing new,” the FNM said in a statement.

“However, their opposition to improving the state of The Bahamas, for political reasons, is a new low in Bahamian politics. Brave’s attempt to score political points off the suffering of Bahamians after Hurricane Dorian is a disgusting and ill-timed instance of political theatre.

“But that is exactly where the woeful and corrupt PLP want to take us – back into an era in which accountability was absent from government and corruption was the norm. The progress we’ve made as a nation, thanks to the leadership of Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, is an assault on the PLP’s preferred system of government that protects

LEFT: Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis and, right, Leader of the Opposition Philip Davis corruption and its perpetrators. . .”

The FNM said the Minnis administration is taking the necessary steps

to heal the economy “that the PLP wouldn’t,” citing a focus on job growth; action taken to try to improve Bahamas Power and Light and disaster recovery after Hurricane Dorian.

“The PLP is capable of two things: blaming others for the problems they create and waiting for others to fix the problems they create,” the FNM added. “That said, the neglectful PLP is completely incapable of bringing solutions to the table or making any sacrifices for the betterment of the people they are supposed to serve.

“Despite the PLP’s neglect of service in pursuit of political expediency, Prime Minister Minnis won’t stop working to improve the lives of all Bahamians, regardless of

their economic status or political associations. In fact, our prime minister is willing to do what it takes to improve our quality of life no matter how popular or unpopular a policy may be because he puts people over politics. Our FNM government will not stop doing what is right in order to score popularity points because all Bahamians deserve a government that puts them before itself.”

Last week, PLP leader Philip “Brave” Davis gave notice in the House of Assembly of a resolution of no confidence that he intends to move against Dr Minnis at the next sitting of the House.

It concerns whether Dr Minnis misled Parliament during debate last year on a resolution to enter a five

MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2019

THE STORIES BEHIND THE NEWS

Watch the pendulum swing as promises aren’t kept

BY MALCOLM STRACHAN

H

ARKENING back to the election campaign which decimated the former Progressive Liberal Party government, a major talking point on the campaign trail was corruption.

The Bahamian people, no stranger to this, can go back to the 80s where some of our national heroes were implicated as a result of corruption in government.

However, though we’ve historically had challenges with corruption and slackness throughout our society, how many convictions have we seen?

The current administration had the electorate chomping at the bit to see transgressors who swindled the Bahamian people and abused their power do the “bank lane shuffle”.

Indeed, headlines were made and opposers of the former government - a whopping majority of the citizenry - were gratified to seeing high-ranking PLPs handcuffed and escorted to the courts to be charged with crimes of corruption and bribery.

Yet, after two failed attempts at convicting former Labour Minister Shane Gibson and ex-chairman of the Public Hospitals Authority Frank Smith, the Bahamian people have become disenchanted. And why not? After two spectacles spanning more than two years and cases that couldn’t stick with a bottle of super glue, the general public’s main concern now is how much lighter is the public purse. Still in the dark as to how much was spent to retain and house hotshot QCs, the frustration felt by the Bahamian people is palpable.

With little belief left in the land of milk and honey the FNM government promised to deliver, many feel as though the time is ticking on voting out the current government. Certainly, they’ve not given us much reason not to. While initiatives like the tax-free zones in the Over-the-Hill communities, tax relief on breadbasket items and the push for small businesses, to name a few, have garnered some support, the knocks – increased VAT, incredible ineptitude and increasing power bills at BPL and a seemingly overall lack of organisation and cohesion with their approach to governance – may be insurmountable.

Now, those non-believers who doubted there would ever be a member of the political fraternity that would be convicted of alleged crimes look somewhat prophetic. And the government – as for them – one Kirkland “KB” Bodie song comes to mind. Still, as recent as last week, the prime minister was going on about corruption as a point of reference for the government’s implementation of BPL’s controversial rate reduction bond.

Remember the Speech from the Throne? Former Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling read: “My government will ensure that its ministers are held to the highest standards of constitutional and personal conduct. Consequently, my government will enact and enforce anticorruption legislation for all parliamentarians and public officers.”

Yet, where is the legislation that was passed?

Additionally, last year, do you recall the prime minister’s assertion that the country loses $500m due to corruption? Citizens

certainly had a good time mocking the shocking claim. Others simply wondered where he pulled such high numbers from and why weren’t those guilty of such corruption not locked away for the crimes. Not long after, in another international forum, he adjusted his estimation to a more conservative, but still astronomical, figure of $200m corruption losses. Though he didn’t provide any proof and quietly walked back from those questionable remarks, we know that our country is rife with corruption and so does the prime minister.

With that in mind, why hasn’t there been anyone else besides the Bahamian people paying for it? Also, where is the promised legislation and the enforcement that should accompany it?

How can one think this government is serious about what they claim?

While there have been massive concerns with fiscal wastage and mismanagement across government-run agencies and ministries, why are the Bahamian people still carrying the burden?

The government’s introduction of its plan to finance BPL’s legacy debt and equipment modernisation through what is arguably an additional tax on the citizenry, has been more salt in our wounds. Surely, the government can be most efficient in this regard.

But when it comes to chasing down those who’ve not paid their bills, identifying the beneficiaries of human trafficking and making what they sold to us as an airtight case against allegations of bribery and corruption executed by public officials, they either seem disorganised or unmotivated.

With the interest all but gone in seeing individuals from the previous administration pay for their alleged

FORMER PLP Senator Frank Smith, above, and former PLP Labour Minister Shane Gibson, top left, have both been acquitted of bribery charges. crimes, the government has before it a tall task. As we approach a pivotal year, the question citizens will spend much time mulling over is “What has my government done for me lately?” And with the increased taxes and rising cost of living and unemployment, the poor performance of BPL and dormant anti-corruption legislation, and while not responsible entirely, the government’s management pre-and-post Hurricane

Dorian – will all, among other indicators, play a huge role in the electorate’s decision in 2022.

Simply looking at the voting trends, the Bahamian people tend to let the pendulum swing every five years. And as long as we feel our voices are unable to penetrate the political vacuum, when given the opportunity, we will be heard.

Within this year, the government needs to get away from the comfort of

their political sounding boards and into their communities. Extrapolate what positive learnings they can from the criticisms they’re receiving and get to work.

Mixed in with the politically charged opposition is thousands of people who want this nation to be great. It is imperative the government realises this.

Else, the cloud that they’re sitting on will be brought down to earth with neck-breaking force.

INSIGHT

PAGE 8 MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2019

EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

When it comes to foreign and local investment, why no level playing field?

T

HERE has always been tension between encouraging foreign investment and promoting local entrepreneurship.

In many countries, local businesses are expected to pay a range of domestic taxes while governments exempt foreign investors from obligation for the same taxes

Death Notice For Sharvonne Claritta Olivia Rahming-Woodside, 43 of Kenilworth Street, East of Mt. Royal Avenue died at Doctors Hospital on Thursday, December 5th, 2019.

She is survived by her father: Clarence Rahming; two daughters: Phillease Cooper and Nel-Eisha Woodside; two sons: Phillip Cooper Jr. and Nelson Woodside Jr; seven sisters: Deborah Allen-Knowles, Georgette Wallace, Pandora Lockhart, Bernadette Bowleg, Glendina Rahming, Dionne Brown and Eleanor Bowleg; four brothers: Jonathon Sr., Andre, Alexander and Sam Rahming; numerous aunts, uncles and a host of other relatives and friends.

Funeral arrangements will be announced at a later date.

in order to attract their money, knowledge and, in some cases their technological skills.

Where foreign investors do bring their own money, have greater knowledge and possess technological skills, granting them tax holidays for prescribed periods of time is utterly fair. But granting such tax holidays on a perennial basis, as many investors have come to expect in small countries, is unfair and the practice should be re-examined.

The purpose of granting a tax holiday is three-fold: to provide an investor with a fair return on investment, to allow a business to establish and to transfer technological skills to the local population. However, unless the business model is flawed and its success is predicated on a subsidy from the government (which is what continuous tax waivers would be), the investment should be reviewed.

An example of how tax holidays could be justified is coming into sharp focus in relation to the ‘Blue Economy’ – a shorthand term for developing the resources of the sea which form part of the territory or the exclusive

economic zone of a country. In Guyana, for instance, where large reserves of oil and gas have been discovered within the country’s territorial waters, those resources would have remained in the sea-bed for centuries longer than they already have, if investors with the money, knowledge and technological skills had not sought to develop them.

And, Guyana would not today be looking forward to the immediate financial gains and long-term economic benefits that are expected to result from the investment.

The benefits of this investment in Guyana is worth the government entering fair, co-operative and predictable arrangements with the investors. All sides would be rewarded, particularly if Guyanese companies participate in the industry through the provision of goods and services, and Guyanese are trained to assume positions in all aspects of the business.

However, in other instances where investors, local and foreign, enter a market in competition with existing businesses, they should not expect, or be granted, any tax or other concessions that are not enjoyed by the current operators.

Investors, entering an industry where other companies are already established, bring no new knowledge or skills. If they choose to compete with new money, they should do so on terms no better than those applicable to established businesses. Should they be granted additional concessions, existing business would rightly demand a level playing field. They will demand the same concessions, resulting in government giving away much needed revenues.

In the end, government’s revenues suffer and so too does human and economic development on which government must spend.

The tourism industry, in all its aspects, has become an area where governments grant tax concessions that should be significantly reduced. After more than 50 years of existence, tourism is a mature industry in the region. Governments should not still be granting decades of tax concessions to hotels – established or new – nor should they be accepting the minimalist passenger head tax that cruise ship companies pay to many of them.

Cost-benefit analyses that have been conducted of the cruise industry, have revealed that far greater benefits are reaped by the cruise ship companies than accrue to the government and the country. This reality is especially glaring when consideration is given to the cost to governments of

building, maintaining and expanding port facilities, and complying with environmental requirements.

Each of the governments in the Caribbean is trapped by the other in relation to tax and other concessions in the tourism industry. Governments have been unable to fashion a common approach to the fees that they should charge cruise ships. They have also not been able to agree a regime for tax concessions to the hotel and yachting businesses. They hurt themselves still further by competing with each other to lure business by lowering their fees for cruise tourism, and by granting bigger tax concessions to hoteliers and yachting companies.

It should be noted some hotels and yacht businesses pay their taxes. They should be used as the example for others.

It is fair enough that the cruise ship companies, the hotel owners and the yacht companies should earn profits. After all, they are putting their money into a business which employs people, buys goods and services, and trains employees.

Additionally, their investors are entitled to a return on their money. However, the return should be fair and equitable on all sides.

To get there, governments in the region should first agree on minimum standards beyond which none of them will fall. Further, they should establish machinery for enforcing the minimum standards with penalties if they themselves break it. A gentleman’s agreement will not do; such agreements are respected more in breach than in compliance.

Perhaps a law, justiciable under the Caribbean Court of Justice, is required under the terms of the CARICOM Treaty. One thing is for sure, if the business continues as is now usual, the Caribbean will be consigned to the role of hewers of wood and carriers of water; a seat at the feasting table will evade the region.

Wrapped up in all this is the refrain that to question the terms of foreign investment is somehow to be “hostile to foreign investment”. That refrain is short-sighted. It is an excuse for those who would do nothing to remedy inequities or to balance relationships more fairly.

Every investor, local or foreign, deserves fairness, cooperation and the right to benefit from their investment. So, too, does a country and its people.

That is why governments and investors should seek to maximise fairness and proportionality in the arrangements they make.

The writer is Ambassador of Antigua and Barbuda to the United States and the Organization of American States. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London and at Massey College in the University of Toronto.

The views expressed are entirely his own. Responses and previous commentaries: www.sirronaldsanders.com

To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394

EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

A

BUSE occurs when one person in a relationship attempts to dominate and control the other person. Usually, the control begins with psychological or emotional abuse, then escalates to physical abuse.

Exposure to abuse as a child, leads people to become abusive later on in life.

When children are abused or witness the abuse of a parent it externalizes and internalizes long term behaviours.

There are undoubtedly long-term, serious effects of experiencing or witnessing abuse as a child.

Studies show children who are exposed to violence can be more likely to repeat the cycle they learned and grow up to become either victims or abusers themselves.

This is true even for kids who are not themselves the targets of abuse. Children who witness acts of violence against a parent or someone else in the home can be affected in the same way as children who are physically and sexually abused.

Children living in a violent environment may come to believe this behaviour is acceptable.

It is crucial we are able to intervene with kids at a young age, offering them the opportunity to learn about healthy relationships, conflict resolution, selfesteem and boundaries.

But at the same time, it is important to note the relationship between childhood exposure to violence and abuse later in life is not a given. While many adult abusers and survivors of violence did grow up with violence in the home, not all children with violence in the home experience violence again later in life, not all abusers were abused or exposed to violence as children.

While learning these behaviours from a parent

INSIGHT

MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2019 PAGE 9

Spotting the signs can spare someone from a lifetime of abuse or other adults can be a powerful way that violence, power, and control become normalized, it is not the only way that abusers learn these behaviours.

A desire for power and control can stem from other circumstances.

What are the feelings of kids who are exposed to abuse?

Children who are exposed to abuse become fearful and anxious. They are always on guard waiting on the next event to occur. They never know what will trigger the abuse, and therefore, they never feel safe. Children from abusive homes can look fine to the outside world, but inside they are in terrible pain. They may even blame themselves for the abuse.

They may feel rage, embarrassment and humiliation.

Signs of Abuse Out of fear or shame, many victims of abuse will try to hide it or deny it, and in the process of trying to cover it up, they exhibit signs that abuse is taking place.

However, if someone is being abused, they are likely to display some of these signs: Physical Signs of Abuse If someone is being physically abused they will likely have frequent bruises or physical injuries for which they have a weak or inconsistent explanation. Some common injuries include black eyes, busted lips, red or purple marks on the neck and sprained wrists.

They may exhibit injuries consistent with being punched, choked or knocked down. Bruises on the arms might indicate defensive wounds from the victim trying to protect themselves. The victim may offer excuses for the injuries like falling or being accident-prone, but often the seriousness of the injury will seem more severe than the cause the explanation provides.

If victims have such injuries, they will often try to cover them up with makeup or clothing. You may notice they are wearing clothing that is not appropriate for the weather, such as wearing long sleeves or scarves in the summer.

Wearing heavier than normal make-up or wearing sunglasses inside are also common signs of abuse.

Complaining of a lack of sleep or, likewise, complaining of sleeping too much can be a sign of physical abuse.

Withdrawn or Unusually Quiet If you notice that someone who was once outgoing and cheerful has gradually become quiet and withdrawn it could be a sign of abuse. A person who was once chatty and gregarious who is suddenly quiet,

reserved and distant, could be an abuse victim. You may notice the victim drop out of activities they would usually enjoy, they cancel appointments or meetings with you at the last minute, and they may often be late to work or other appointments.

Victims of abuse might exhibit excessive privacy concerning their personal life or the person with whom they are in a relationship.

They may begin cutting off contacts with friends and even family members and begin isolating themselves from those whose company they once enjoyed.

Signs of Fear People who are being abused may seem anxious or nervous when they are away from the abuser or they may seem overly anxious to please their partner.

If they have children, the children may seem timid, frightened, or extremely well-behaved when the partner is around.

Although victims may not talk about the actual abuse, they might refer to the abuser as “moody” or having a bad temper. They may reveal the partner is particularly bad-tempered when drinking alcohol.

Sometimes, the fear a victim of abuse experiences is so intense they feel paralyzed to make decisions or to even protect themselves

or their children. When the fear gets to that point, they will even turn down help offered to them by friends, family, or even professional protective services.

Emotional Signs of Abuse Abuse can take an emotional toll on victims to the extent they will exhibit a sense of helplessness, hopelessness or despair. They come to believe they will never escape the control of the abuser. They may also exhibit a constant state of alertness to the point they never can completely relax.

This may also affect their sleep.

Other emotional signs of abuse can include:

Low self-esteem Extremely apologetic or meek Agitation, anxiety, or constant apprehension Developing a drug or alcohol problem Symptoms of depression Loss of interest in daily activities Talking about or attempting suicide These symptoms, of course, could be due to many other conditions or factors, but they are typical traits of victims who feel they are trapped in the abusive relationship.

If you are being abused or suspect someone you know is experiencing abuse, Call 911 or 911 or Call the Crisis Centre at 328-0922.

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PAGE 10 MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2019

INSIGHT

EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

What makes Christmas movies so popular?

By Brent Rodriguez-Plate Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Cinema and Media Studies, Hamilton College IF YOU are one of those people who will settle in with a hot cup of apple cider to watch a holiday movie, you are not alone. Holiday movies have become firmly embedded in Americans’ winter celebrations.

The New York Times reports a massive increase in new holiday movies this year. Disney, Netflix, Lifetime and Hallmark are now in direct competition for viewers’ attention, with both new releases and reruns of the classics.

Holiday movies are so popular not simply because they are “escapes,” as my research on the relation between religion and cinema argues. Rather, these films offer viewers a glimpse into the world as it is could be.

This is particularly true with Christmas movies.

In his 2016 book “Christmas as Religion,” the religious studies scholar Christopher Deacy states Christmas movies act as a “barometer of how we might want to live and how we might see and measure ourselves.”

These movies offer a variety of portraits of everyday life while affirming ethical values and social mores along the way.

The 1946 classic “It’s a Wonderful Life” – about a man who longs to travel but remains stuck in his

childhood town – represents visions of a community in which every citizen is a vital component.

Another movie commonly replayed this time of year is 2005’s “The Family Stone” which portrays the clashes of a mostly average family but shows viewers that quarrels can be worked through and harmony is possible.

The 2003 British holiday film “Love Actually,” which follows the lives of eight couples in London, brings to viewers the perennial theme of romance and the trials of relationships.

Movie watching as ritual practice As holiday movies bring viewers into a fictional world, people are able to work through their own fears and desires about self-worth and relationships. Such movies can provide solace, reaffirmation and sometimes even courage to continue working through difficult situations. The movies offer hope in believing it all might turn out all right in the end.

When people see some part of their own lives unfold on screen, the act of viewing operates in a fashion that’s strikingly similar to how a religious ritual works.

As anthropologist Bobby Alexander explains, rituals are actions that transform people’s everyday lives.

Rituals can open up “ordinary life to ultimate reality or some transcendent being or force,” he writes in the

collection “Anthropology of Religion.”

For example, for Jews and Christians, ritually observing the Sabbath day by sharing meals with family and not working connects them with the creation of the world. Prayer rituals in the Muslim, Christian and Jewish traditions connect those praying with their God, as well as with their fellow believers.

Holiday movies do something similar, except that the “transcendent force” they make viewers feel is not about God or another supreme being. Instead, this force is more secular: It’s the power of family, true love, the meaning of home or the reconciliation of relationships.

Movies create an idealised world Take the case of the 1942 musical “Holiday Inn.” It was one of the first movies – after the silent era’s various versions of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” – where the plot used Christmas as a backdrop, telling the story of a group of entertainers who have gathered at a country inn.

In reality, it was a deeply secular film about romantic interests, couched in a desire to sing and dance.

When it was released, the United States had been fully involved in the World War II for a year and national spirits were not high.

The movie hasn’t endured as a classic.

But Bing Crosby’s song “White Christmas,” which

JAMES Stewart and Donna Reed from the holiday classic It’s a Wonderful Life

appeared in it, quickly became etched in the holiday consciousness of many Americans, and a 1954 film called “White Christmas” became better known.

As historian Penne Restad puts it in her 1995 book “Christmas in America,” Crosby’s crooning offers the “quintessential expression” of the holidays, a world which “has no dark side” – one in which “war is forgotten”.

In subsequent Christmas movies, the main plots have not been set in the context of war, yet there is nonetheless often a battle: that of overcoming a materialistic, gift-buying and gift-giving kind of holiday.

Movies like “Jingle all the Way,” “Deck the Halls” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” centre around the idea that the

true meaning of Christmas is not in rampant consumerism but in goodwill and family love.

Dr. Seuss’s famously grouchy Grinch thinks he can ruin Christmas by taking all the gifts away.

But as the people gather together, giftless, they join hands and sing while the narrator tells viewers: “Christmas came anyway”.

“All’s right with the world” Though Christmas is a Christian holiday, most holiday films are not religious in the traditional sense.

There is hardly ever a mention of Jesus or the biblical setting of his birth.

As media studies scholar John Mundy writes in a 2008 essay, “Christmas and the Movies,” “Hollywood

movies continue to construct Christmas as an alternative reality.”

These movies create onscreen worlds that kindle positive emotions while offering a few laughs.

“A Christmas Story,” from 1983, waxes nostalgic for childhood holidays when life seemed simpler and the desire for a Red Ryder air rifle was the most important thing in the world. The plot of 2003’s “Elf” centres on the quest to reunite with a lost father.

In the end, as the narrator says late in “A Christmas Story” – after the family has overcome a serious of risible mishaps, the presents have been unwrapped and they’ve gathered for Christmas goose – these are times when “all’s right with the world”.

theconversation.com

THE TRIBUNE

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net DEPUTY Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle yesterday said the Royal Bahamas Police Force is investigating the actions of two police officers who fired a dozen “warning shots” in the air to quell a public disturbance that was captured on video.

Deputy Commissioner Rolle told The Tribune that the video in question has been brought to his attention, and that while he cannot say for certain what was taking place in the footage, the RBPF has launched an investigation into the incident.

The video in question captured a raucous public disturbance at an unknown location that two men, believed to be police officers, were trying to quell.

A police car could be seen parked directly in front of the commotion, that involved at least a dozen people.

About three to four seconds in, one of the officers, wearing a darkcoloured shirt, holds up a firearm and fires three shots in rapid succession.

Some, especially women, in the crowd immediately react to the shots, although the mayhem continues.

That first officer could be seen walking behind another car and speaking to an individual, before slapping him in the head with

Monday, December 9, 2019, PAGE 11

Police shoot into air to calm rowdy crowd his left hand and motioning for him to leave the area.

While that was happening, another group of persons could be seen interlocked in a struggle, with one man throwing a punch at someone else.

Seconds later, another suspected officer wearing a white shirt then holds up his firearm and fires eight shots into the air in rapid succession. After that, a woman could be heard saying: “They warning shots!”

Despite the second round of gunshots, however, the man in the white shirt could be seen throwing someone to the ground, before getting lost from the camera’s view due to all of the commotion.

When questioned on the video yesterday, the deputy commissioner said: “It was brought to my attention.

Not sure what was going on, but we will investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident.”

The video was posted to a Facebook group and later shared widely.

There were mixed

IN this video-grab, an officer can be seen raising a gun before he shoots

reactions to the officers’ actions in the video, ranging from some questioning the rationale behind firing shots in the air — as they could have injured someone — to the fact that none of those engaged in the melee seemed unfazed by the shots.

“So where those bullets landing? They forget that got to come back down aye? I guess they don’t care if each of those shots killed 10 to 12 innocent people when they came back down (sic),” one person said.

Another Facebook user was more brutal in his criticism of the officers, saying: “These dumb (expletive) police, do they know bullets come back down and can kill someone?”

However some people came to the defence of the officers.

One user wrote: “The police are always wrong until something happens and they need to call the police. Stop condoning dumb (expletive) and teach your children to act like people in public and not animals.”

Video shows officer slapping man in face

By RIEL MAJOR Tribune Staff Reporter rmajor@tribunemedia.net THE Department of Immigration’s internal investigation teams are probing the circumstances surrounding a video in which an immigration officer is seen hitting a man in the face, according to Immigration Director Clarence Russell.

When contacted about the incident, Mr Russell urged the public not to draw assumptions from just a few seconds of cell phone video.

Mr Russell told The Tribune: “All citizens of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas and visitors alike are presumed innocent until proven guilty or until such time as said suspect enters a plea of guilt. That constitutional right extends to all and sundry, sworn officers included.

“In the absence of all of the facts of evidence, one should refrain from presuming innocence or guilt, given any circumstance.

Especially those social media based. The matter to which you make reference is now the subject of a thorough police investigation and that of my

Immigration Department’s internal investigation teams.”

He continued: “I remind members of the public that in all circumstances, the statute laws of this nation shall be carried out, without malice, favour, prejudice,

ill-will or fear. Uniformed on-duty officers have a lawful duty to perform, in protecting the sovereignty of this nation. We will not be deterred.”

In the eight second video, three immigration officers are seen struggling to detain

a man who one of the officers suggests has hit him. It is not clear when or where the video was shot.

One of the immigration officers is heard using foul language and asking the man, “Who you slapping bey (sic)?”

That same officer raises his hand and strikes the man across his face while saying, “Don’t play with me. Catch yourself, catch yourself.” A bystander, who can only be heard in the video, exclaiming, “Oh no!” as the three officers struggle with the man.

Rights Bahamas released a statement on the issue, saying it is “appalled but not surprised by the disgusting behaviour of the shameful bully tactics and reprehensible physical abuse doled out by immigration officers.”

The statement read: “Countless testimonials indicate that this sort of disgusting behaviour is not the exception, but rather the rule for this out of control, rogue department. In the first instance, they have no right to board public transportation and demand that people show them papers.

This is not Nazi Germany, and there is no law that gives them this power. They cannot claim the victim was resisting arrest, as they had no right to arrest him in the first place.

“The officers shown launching a totally unjustified physical attack on a civilian must be prosecuted for assault immediately.

The politicians and senior civil servants who repeatedly deny that such abuse occurs and blindly defend the indefensible behaviour of these aggressive, violent officers must apologise for their rank hypocrisy.”

The statement continued: “Rights Bahamas encourages all right-thinking members of the public to continue to record evidence of the wrongdoing of Immigration officers and any other branch of the government that abuses its power.

We remind law enforcement once again that there is no law against filming or recording officers in uniform, and any attempt to hinder such recording or confiscate cell phones is illegal.”

Rights Bahamas encouraged the victim of this incident and others involved in cases of official brutality to contact them for help, support and legal representation.

The chaotic clip was widely shared on Facebook and has reignited debate over protocol of immigration officers, with users coming to defence of both the officers and the man being detained.

One Facebook user wrote that the officer should face some punishment, adding: “Do your job with integrity and honour.”

Another user posted: “He actually did his job well. The man was resisting, the police can use force.

Good job!”

PAGE 12, Monday, December 9, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Best of the regatta

Nassau Tyre & Battery Fox Hill Road and Step Street

Holiday SALE

UP TO

50%

OFF

WHILE SUPPLIES LAST

www.ub.edu.bs

NOTICE Holiday Operation Schedule The public is advised that the University of The Bahamas Oakes Field Campus and Grosvenor Close Centre in New Providence and UB-North in Grand Bahama will close for the Christmas holidays at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, 13th December 2019.

This includes the Harry C. Moore Library and Information Centre.

Chapter One Bookstore will operate as normal on Friday, 13th December and will observe the following schedule during the Christmas season:-

OPEN

14th December 2019 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

16th – 21st and 23rd December 2019 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

24th December 2019 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

CLOSED

25th – 28th December 2019

OPEN

30th December 2019 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

31st December 2019 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

CLOSED

1st January 2020

OPEN

2nd January 2020 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

All UB campuses and centres will resume normal operations on Thursday, 2nd January 2020.

BEST of the Best Regatta at Montagu Bay yesterday.

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, December 9, 2019, PAGE 13

ATTEMPTED MURDER CASE IS DISCONTINUED AFTER 8 MONTHS

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, sitting in the front row, led an electoral observation mission of the Organisation of American States to Dominica for its general election last week.

Ex-PM Ingraham leads observation mission FORMER Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham led an electoral observation mission of the Organisation of American States to Dominica for its general election last week.

According to a press release from the OAS, the election was peaceful and enthusiastic.

The mission led by Mr Ingraham was made up of 20 experts and observers from

14 countries, who deployed throughout the 21 constituencies of Dominica to observe the poll. The mission conducted a substantive analysis of key aspects of the electoral process, including electoral organisation and technology, the voters’ list, electoral justice, campaign financing and the political participation of women.

The mission arrived in the

country on November 30.

To learn about preparations for the process, and to hear different perspectives on the elections, the mission engaged with a range of stakeholders, including electoral and government authorities, political parties and candidates, civil society actors and other observer missions. The mission’s experts also scrutinised

available legislation, regulations, processes and procedures in these areas, to ensure a full understanding of the current context.

“The mission congratulates the government on its new term in office and notes that this reflects the will of the people,” the OAS press release noted.

Mr Ingraham is expected to return to Nassau today.

THE Crown has discontinued proceedings against a 24-year-old man alleged to have tried to kill a woman eight months ago, his attorney has said.

David Cash told The Tribune that the Crown issued a nolle prosequi to announce the abandonment of its case against Shannon Wilson over claims he tried to kill Adena Young on April 1.

Mr Cash said the nolle prosequi was presented to Justice Deborah Fraser last week.

The Crown had previously alleged that shortly after 7am on the date in question, Young was standing at the rear of a vehicle in front of her home on Boatswain Hill, when she was approached by two men armed with a firearm. The men, one alleged to be Wilson, opened fire in her direction, wounding her, before fleeing the scene in a silver coloured Honda vehicle. Young was subsequently taken to hospital in critical, but stable condition.

During Wilson’s initial arraignment five months ago, however, Mr Cash told Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt that at the time of the alleged incident, Wilson was wearing an ankle bracelet as part of his bail conditions for his former trial over the alleged attempted murder of Detective Constable 3569 Kendrick Brown on June 10, 2016.

In that matter, Wilson was acquitted by Justice Gregory following a submission of no case to answer by Mr Cash in May. Additionally, Mr Cash told the chief magistrate that no representative of Migrafill Security Company, which owned the ankle bracelet Wilson was wearing, was listed as a witness, despite the company likely being able to provide a report outlining Wilson’s whereabouts on the date in question.

Mr Cash further submitted that despite the attempted murder allegation, police did not have Young listed as one of the witnesses—much less the complainant— on the charge sheet. Mr Cash submitted that the woman’s name should have been the first name printed on the document.

However, the prosecutor, Woman Corporal Samantha Miah, told the court that officers at the Central Detective Unit (CDU) admitted the omission of Young’s name as the complainant was a “grave” oversight.

PAGE 14, Monday, December 9, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

AGEING SURVIVORS RETURN TO PEARL HARBOR TO RECALL 1941 ATTACK PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii Associated Press

A DOZEN frail survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor returned lver the weekend to honour those who perished when Japanese planes pierced a quiet sunny morning 78 years ago and rained bombs on battleships lined up below.

About 30 World War II veterans and some 2,000 members of the public joined the survivors, the youngest of whom are now in their late 90s, to commemorate the anniversary of the Dec. 7, 1941, attack that launched the U.S. into World War II.

Herb Elfring, 97, of Jackson, Michigan, said being back at Pearl Harbor reminds him of all those who have lost their lives. “It makes you think of all the servicemen who have passed ahead of me. As a Pearl Harbor survivor, I’m one of the last chosen few I guess.” He’s the only member of his old regiment still living.

Elfring was in the Army, assigned to the 251st Coast Artillery, part of the California National Guard. The unit’s job was to protect airfields but they weren’t expecting an attack that morning.

Elfring was standing at the edge of his barracks at Camp Malakole

a few miles down the coast from Pearl Harbor, reading a bulletin board when Japanese Zero planes flew over. “I could hear it coming but didn’t pay attention to it until the strafing bullets were hitting the pavement about 15 feet away from me,” he said.

A moment of silence was held at 7.55 a.m., the same time the assault began. U.S. Air Force F-22 fighter jets flying overhead in missing man formation broke the quiet.

Retired Navy Adm. Harry Harris, currently the US ambassador to South Korea, and Interior Secretary David Bernhardt delivered remarks.

SURVIVOR: Herb Elfring, 97

Harris said it’s difficult to imagine the events of 78 years ago when people “not unlike us” were waking up to enjoy another day in paradise. “It was a day of gallantry and unquestionable heroism even as it was a day of sacrifice and immeasurable loss,” Harris said.

He said the World War II generation played a pivotal role in underwriting the freedoms the US enjoys today. “Every December 7 we remember the past actions of our veterans on Oahu because they inspire us today and because they shape our tomorrows,” he said.

BRAZIL CAN’T PROTECT AMAZON WITHOUT HELP

HUGE RALLY AS HONG KONG UNITES HONG KONG Associated Press THOUSANDS of demonstrators crammed into Hong Kong’s streets yesterday, their chants echoing off high-rises, in a mass show of support for the protest movement entering its seventh month. Chanting “Fight for freedom” and “Stand with Hong Kong,” the sea of protesters formed a huge human snake winding for blocks on Hong Kong Island, from the Causeway Bay shopping district to the Central business zone, a distance of more than two kilometers. It was one of the biggest rallies in months, and remarkably peaceful. Organisers said 800,000 people participated, while police had no immediate estimate.

MADRID Associated Press

PRO-democracy protesters flash their smartphones lights as they gather on a street in Hong Kong yesterday

Tourists missing as NZ volcano erupts WELLINGTON, New Zealand Associated Press UP TO 20 people have been injured - some critically - after a volcano erupted off the coast of New Zealand.

Dramatic footage has emerged of the eruption, which happened at Whakaari/White Island, just off New Zealand’s coastline, at about 2.15pm local time today.

Tourists on a boat travelling toward the island were rushed inside as plumes of thick, grey smoke billowed out of the caverns and in their direction.

A man with an American accent could be heard saying ‘we’ve got to get out of here’ in the clip.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern initially said there were about 100 people on or around the island at the time

of the eruption and not all were accounted for.

“Some of those, at this stage, are unaccounted for,” she said. ‘“A number of people are reportedly injured and are being transported to shore.”

She said the incident appeared to be “very significant.”

“All our thoughts are with those affected,” she said. She added that there were no confirmed fatalities.

St John medical responders said in a statement they believed there were 20 people on the island who were injured and in need of medical treatment. It said it had dispatched seven helicopters to the island with paramedics aboard.

The GeoNet agency said a moderate volcanic eruption had occurred and raised its alert level to four, on a scale where five represents a major eruption.

SMOKE rises from the volcano White Island sits about 50 kilometers offshore from mainland New Zealand. There will be questions asked as to why tourists were still

able to visit the island after scientists recently noted an uptick in volcanic activity. White Island is northeast of the town of Tauranga on North Island, one of New Zealand’s two main islands. Police were asking people to avoid areas on the North Island that were close to the eruption, including the Whakatane Heads and Muriwai Drive areas.

GeoNet says it is New Zealand’s most active cone volcano and about 70 percent of the volcano is under the sea.

Twelve people were killed on the island in 1914 when it was being mined for sulphur. Part of a crater wall collapsed and a landslide destroyed the miners’ village and the mine itself.

The remains of buildings from another mining enterprise in the 1920s are now a tourist attraction, according to GeoNet.

BRAZIL can’t stop deforestation in the Amazon without the help of rich countries, the country’s environment minister said at the United Nations’ two-week climate change conference.

Ricardo Salles, who declined to set a target for limiting deforestation in the coming year, said that his country is committed to reducing illegal activity, but needs the support of developed nations.

“We are willing to do whatever is necessary to do so, but we need that back up,” Salles said. “That back up was promised many years ago and we’re still expecting the rich countries to participate in a proper way. Proportional funds are really are what are going to be needed for that task.”

While participating in the climate conference known as COP25, Salles is working to assure others of the environmental policies of Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro has squabbled with some European leaders this year over his commitment to protecting the Amazon. He has worried environmental activists and others by criticizing Brazil’s environment regulator and by calling for more development in the Amazon region.

He also accused activists groups, without evidence, of having set fires in that region to undermine his administration.

Deforestation in the 12 months through July reached the highest annual rate in 11 years. Brazil’s annual deforestation report released in November showed a nearly 30% jump from the prior year in the Amazon, which lost 3,769 square miles of forest.

Salles said developed nations should help Brazil on the basis of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement signed in 2015 on tackling the effects of climate change by creating monetary compensation mechanisms.

BANANA & DUCT TAPE ADD UP TO RAPPER JUICE WRLD DIES AFTER $150,000 AT ART BASEL MIAMI EMERGENCY AT CHICAGO AIRPORT MIAMI Associated Press

CHICAGO Associated Press

3D-PRINTED cocktails, a traffic jam sculpture made of hundreds of tons of sand and more celebrity sightings than a Kardashian Christmas party were all part of over-the-top festivities during the week of Art Basel Miami, but it was a banana that stole the show.

The most talked-about artwork of the week was titled “Comedian” — a spotty banana duct-taped to a wall by artist Maurizio Cattelan. According to artnet News, two pieces quickly sold for $120,000.

The Paris-based Perrotin gallery raised the price to $150,000 for the third piece, which will be sold to a museum. The bananas were bought at a local grocery store. No instructions were given on what to do as the banana ages.

The gallery did not respond to several emails from The Associated Press seeking comment.

On Saturday, David

RAPPER Juice WRLD, who launched his career on SoundCloud before becoming a streaming juggernaut and rose to the top of the charts with the Sting-sampled hit “Lucid Dreams,” died early yesterday after a “medical emergency” at Chicago’s Midway International Airport.

The rapper, whose legal name was Jarad A. Higgins, was 21. Authorities have not released details about his cause of death.

He was pronounced dead at a hospital around 3.15 a.m. and taken to the Cook County medical examiner’s office several hours later, according to office spokeswoman Natalia Derevyanny, who said an autopsy would take place Monday.

Chicago police launched a death investigation after a 21-year-old male experiencing a “medical emergency” was transported from Midway to an area hospital.

GALLERY owner Emmanuel Perrotin poses next to that banana Datuna removed the watched a performance banana from the wall, by Wyclef Jean, who did a unpeeled it and took a throwback to the Fugees bite as a large crowd docu- with “Ready or Not,” and mented it with their phones. later brought dozens of girls “I respect Maurizio but onstage to dance with him it’s art performance. Hungry before passing the mic to artist,” he said. “You have “Country Grammar” singer more? $150,000,” he joked.

Nelly. Rapper 2 Chainz On Friday night, art col- closed out the night. lector Wayne Boich hosted The city of Miami Beach a lavish dinner at his home commissioned a milthat included Dan Marino, lion-dollar traffic jam by Dwyane Wade and Chris Leandro Erlich. It took 330 Bosh.

The after-party tons of sand to construct 66 crowd, including Floyd sculptures of cars and trucks Mayweather, Hannah stuck in an imaginary traffic Bronfman, and Alesso, jam on the oceanfront.

RAPPER JUICE WRLD Police said there were no signs of foul play and those aboard the aircraft were cooperating with authorities. Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said the man experienced cardiac

arrest and was taken to a hospital from a hangar operated by Atlantic Aviation at Midway, away from the main terminal, where private planes land. The rapper, who was named top new artist at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards in May, lived in the Chicago suburb of Homewood where he stood out as a musician early on.

Like a good number of young hip-hop performers, Juice WRLD blended rapping and singing on his songs, sometimes mumbling words and focusing more on melody. His hit “Lucid Dreams,” which heavily samples Sting’s 1993 song “Shape of My Heart,” was a six-times platinum success and reached No. 2 on the all-genre Hot 100 chart.

It reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts.

“I was very impressed by what he put on top of (my version),” Sting told The Associated Press this year.

“It’s a really good song.”

THE TRIBUNE

VICTIM: father-of-two D’Angelo Bethel

DRIVER DIES IN 3AM CRASH

By RIEL MAJOR Tribune Staff Reporter rmajor@tribunemedia.net

traffic accidents. At the time, Chief Superintendent Craig Stubbs said distracted drivers were the main contributing POLICE in New Provi- factor to these accidents. dence are investigating a “We also saw where the traffic accident that left major contributing factor a man dead yesterday. of these accidents were According to police, shortly distracted drivers,” CSP after 3am on Sunday, a man Stubbs, of the RBPF Trafwas driving east on Tonique fic Department, said earlier Williams Darling Highway this year. “Persons engaged in a grey Honda Accord, with the use of handheld when a man driving a white devices while operating Honda Inspire collided into their vehicles. Globally the the rear of the vehicle. As a use of handheld mobile result, both drivers lost con- telephones has emerged as trol of their vehicles. a road safety problem as The driver of the Honda drivers or road users are Inspire was examined distracted while operating by paramedics and pro- a vehicle where they fail to nounced dead on the scene. remain in their lanes, stop The driver of the Honda at traffic signals and obey Accord was transported the traffic signs. to hospital and is listed in “... The use of handheld stable condition. devices has caused more The Tribune understands traffic fatalities or other the deceased is father- traffic related incidents of-two D’Angelo Bethel, where motorist talking on 29, however his identity was cell phones drive as badly not released by police. as if they were drunk.

According to police sta“As we know the tistics, 69 people died in amount of accidents has 63 traffic accidents in 2018. impacted family members, This represented a 28 per- impacted our health care, cent increase in traffic impacted our many agendeaths; 54 people died in 49 cies as relates to families traffic accidents in 2017. losing loved ones and some In May, police said they people still have disabilities were working to hopefully as a result of road traffic reduce the number of fatal accidents.”

Monday, December 9, 2019, PAGE 15