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4 VOL. 3 ISSUE

CHRISTMAS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT

Bran calls for Minnis to quit M AR N ED FRO LESS O N S LE

H U R R IC A

Disaster Relief of the Nationalto West End, Grand MEMBERS during a visiit d view of the extent Committee get a first-hanHurricane Matthew.

Bahama, to caused by of the damage

FNM risks being downgraded to third party status

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net WEIGHING in on the current standoff in the Free National Movement, Democratic National Alliance Leader Branville McCartney called for Dr Hubert Minnis to resign and cautioned the embattled party that steps taken to expel “rebel” MPs could see a downgrade in the party’s ranking in Parliament from official Opposition to third party.

Mr McCartney said that many persons who identify as FNMs, secretly do not support Dr Minnis as party leader during his appear-

ance on radio talk show The Revolution with host Juan McCartney.

Mr McCartney said: “Dr Minnis needs to resign, what happened on Wednesday when more than half, 75 per cent of his parliamentary team said they don’t have confidence in him, he should have resigned that same day.

“He is doing what Perry Christie did after these referendums, staying on.

The proper thing to do for Dr Minnis is to resign. He has taken that party and it’s a shadow of what it was.

I used to be in the FNM, I used to be there, I know what the FNM used to be.”

NE

M AT T H E W

INSIDE TODAY

CONTAINER PORT LAYS OFF 20 WORKERS IN DOWNSIZE

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

TWENTY workers at the Freeport Container Port were laid off and voluntary separation packages were offered as a part of a downsizing exercise at the company.

The news comes at a bad time, just a week and a half before Christmas and after more than 100 workers SEE PAGE SEVEN

STUDENTS RUSHED TO HOSPITAL AFTER SCHOOL BUS OVERTURNS

SEE PAGE FIVE

BUTLER-TURNER NOT AFRAID OF CANDIDACY REJECTION

By KHRISNA VIRGIL Deputy Chief Reporter kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

LONG Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner insisted yesterday that she was not “frightened” by a recently submitted petition rejecting her 2017 general election candidacy for her constituency while maintaining that she remains committed to the area.

She further expressed doubt that the petition reflected even half of the voter base in Long Island.

Mrs Butler-Turner, who was already ratified to run for the constituency, told

The Tribune she was not afraid of competition when it came to contesting the seat, but would not yet reveal whether she intended to run as an independent candidate.

This, she said, would depend on what conclusion the Free National Movement comes to at the end of the disciplinary proceedings now underway against her and the six other FNM MPs who wrote to Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling expressing no confidence in FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis.

SEE PAGE SIX

THE WRECKAGE of a bus carrying 24 students from St John’s College and a teacher. The bus overturned yesterday, hitting a tree on West Bay Street near Baha Mar. Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net A GROUP of high school students from St John’s College was taken to hospital yesterday when the teacher taking two dozen of them on a field trip lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a coconut tree.

Police believe crashing into the tree played a role in saving the passengers’ lives, as it stopped the bus from careening into oncoming traffic.

The bus veered into the median strip at Baha Mar Boulevard yesterday morning, hitting the coconut tree and sustaining significant damage, and was turned on its side.

No casualties occurred.

The driver of the bus was the school’s geography teacher.

Superintendent Craig Stubbs, head of the police traffic division, said he does not believe speed played a role in the crash.

SEE PAGE THREE

A STUDENT being treated at the scene yesterday.

BOWE URGES PATIENCE OVER BAHA MAR DEAL

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation Chairman Gowon Bowe yesterday called for critics anxious for details over the Baha Mar sale to be patient, as a final agreement has not been

brokered.

Mr Bowe explained that, notwithstanding the recent announcement by Prime Minister Perry Christie, buyer Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Ltd was still working to finalise the sale with China EXIM Bank.

Further to that point, Mr Bowe added that the Supreme Court would also

have to approve the sale before the documents were unsealed.

He said the Chamber, and wider private sector, was optimistic about the progress but will withhold celebrations or judgment until everything is finalised.

“When we say that it has been fast tracked, persons are jumping ahead because

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they said effectively an agreement has been made.

“Last I understand it was still going through the process. The statements made by political leaders give the impression that all is done but there is still an agreement that still has to be made between CTFE and EXIM. SEE PAGE SIX

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, December 14, 2016, PAGE 3

THE SCENE outside Baha Mar yesterday as a school bus carrying St John’s students and driven by a teacher overturned.

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

Students rushed to hospital after school bus overturns from page one

“Initial reports say to us that the bus driver said he was experiencing some medical condition and as a result he made an attempt to head back towards the school, but they did not make it that far,” he said.

“Speed is not a factor from what we see but based on the damage to the bus, prior to the collision there might have been some acceleration before the bus collided with the tree.”

Summing up the events, he said: “Shortly after nine this morning we received a report of the school bus with school kids turned on the side with a tree resting on it.

Police from the western division responded to the scene where we met a group of St John’s students. They were on the sidewalk laying off.

“We want to say thank you to those motorists who stopped, those who were trained in the medical field who stopped to render assistance to those students.

It speaks volumes. This is the festive season and we

are appreciative of what was done to assist those students this morning.”

Passengers on the bus escaped through a hatch at the back of the bus. Students were assisted by motorists in opening the hatch.

As news of the accident spread, many parents showed up to the cordoned off area to look for their children.

Lindsay Thompson explained the horror of getting the call that her 17-year-old son was hurt in the crash.

“One of a parent’s worst nightmares is a phone call about an accident or some situation involving your child or children during school hours,” she posted to Facebook.

“I experienced that today. My son William and his classmates of St John’s College were involved in a very traumatic accident today near Baha Mar. You get the call and although parent worry kicks in… nothing prepares you for an accident scene, especially the one today. To see the bus on its side, nestled in a tree is horrifying to say the least. I

asked for my son and then I see him and other students on their backs on the grassy area being attended by EMS personnel.

“He was outfitted with a head brace and placed on the stretcher and along with several other students, was placed in ambulances at the scene.”

Ms Thompson thanked the staff at Doctors Hospital for their care of the students.

Supt Stubbs said the scene never became chaotic, but he warned against the rush to upload video clips and pictures of such incidents to social media before authorities can reach out to those that may be concerned. The fast-paced social media impact, he said, risks inducing undue stress.

Ultimately, he said the coconut tree in the middle of the median strip may have played the critical role in saving people’s lives.

“From the physical evidence and the look of things, the tree played a significant role in preventing the bus from travelling into the westbound, oncoming

AN AMBULANCE waits to carry injured students to hospital after the crash.

traffic lane,” he said. “The driver, as we are aware, was not aware of the path the bus was travelling so the coconut tree would’ve prevented the bus from travelling any further once contact was made.”

In a statement, Doctors Hospital said it was honoured to treat the students.

“It is fortunate that our resources were able to meet the demands of this incident as well as allow us to continue care to our other customers with minimal disruption,” said Chief Executive Officer Charles Sealy.

The statement from the hospital said two ambulances were dispatched to the crash scene.

The first of 23 patients began arriving at the emergency room shortly after 11am and by 3pm, all but four who had to be admitted had been treated and discharged, the hospital said.

The injuries sustained were neither life nor limb threatening. The four admissions were mainly for observations, the hospital added.

• See video footage on www.tribune242.com

THE SCENE immediately after the crash in a video circulated on social media.

THE OVERTURNED school bus outside Baha Mar yesterday,

EDISON KEY ‘DOING FINE’ AFTER BEING TAKEN INTO HOSPITAL

By KHRISNA VIRGIL Deputy Chief Reporter kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

CENTRAL and South Abaco MP Edison Key yesterday insisted that he was “doing fine” while confirming to The Tribune that he was under observation in the hospital.

Mr Key, 78, said his doctor admitted him after he complained on Sunday night of “experiencing chills”.

“I had the chills night be-

EDISON Key pictured this week.

fore last and the doctor told me he wanted to put me in here to get some antibiotics in me. So I am feeling much, much better,” Mr Key said, when this newspaper contacted him.

“I don’t know if I had some kind of infection that brought this on me, but I’m okay.”

He could not say when he would be released.

The last several days in politics have been eventful for the former Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial

CORRECTION - BISHOP WALTER HANCHELL AND THE DEATH PENALTY IN AN editorial (The gallows or a second chance - Bahamians must decide, November 24) we stated that Bishop Walter Hanchell, chairman of Citizens For Justice, had quoted no scripture to support his belief that capital punishment should

be enforced.

In fact, Bishop Hanchell quoted five scriptures, saying the Word of God is clear concerning punishment for murder.

Genesis 9:6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed.”

Exodus 21:12 “He that

smites a man so that he dies, shall be surely put to death.”

Ecclesiastes 8:11 “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.”

Matthew 26:52 “All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.”

Revelation 13:10 “He that kills with the sword must be killed with the sword.”

We apologise for the error and are happy to make Bishop Hanchell’s views clear.

Corporation (BAIC) chairman.

Last week, he accused Free National Movement Leader Dr Hubert Minnis of “betraying” him over a reported snub for the nomination in Central and South Abaco for the next general election.

Following this stinging critique of Dr Minnis, it was then revealed that Mr Key, along with six other MPs signed and submitted a letter of no confidence in Dr Minnis to House Speaker

Dr Kendal Major and Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling.

This led to Dr Minnis being removed as leader of the Official Opposition, and replaced with Long Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner.

PAGE 4, Wednesday, December 14, 2016

THE TRIBUNE

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

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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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Time for Opposition to get its act together ON a radio programme over the weekend, FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis described himself as the “people’s candidate”. He dismissed FNM House Leader Loretta-Butler Turner as the “Queen’s candidate”.

However, Dr Minnis failed to say who was the country’s candidate, which would include all of its people of whatever hue or financial background and long time residents who call this country home.

Whenever Dr Minnis describes himself as the “people’s candidate” there is always an exclusionary tone in his voice, reminiscent of the Pindling era of divide the people and rule.

Dr Minnis, who has vowed to expel his dissident MPs if they don’t back off and restore him as FNM Leader in the House, refuses to accept the leadership of Mrs Butler Turner, although the governor general Dame Marguerite Pindling, on behalf of the Queen, has invested her with the instruments of appointment for the position. Dr Minnis wants to be the next prime minister, and is convinced that he has the political skills to defeat the Christie government at the polls in 2017. Few Bahamians have the same confidence in him after more than four years of failing to unite his party under his leadership.

Branville McCartney, DNA leader, has agreed to work with the FNM under Mrs Butler-Turner — he as DNA leader in the Senate; she as official FNM Opposition Leader in the House. Dr Minnis had earlier entered into talks with Mr McCartney for his cooperation rather than opposition in going into the next election.

In the 2012 election, although the FNM won the popular vote, the PLP won the election with the majority of seats. The DNA cost the FNM its victory, because, although it got no seats in the Assembly, DNA votes turned the tied, making it possible for the PLP to pick up the DNA’s lost seats.

The FNM wanted some accord with the third party to prevent history repeating itself in 2017. Dr Minnis entered into negotiations with Mr McCartney. However, Dr Minnis was unwilling to make any concessions for DNA cooperation.

Mr McCartney refused to disappear from the three-party race. Mrs Butler Turner, on becoming Opposition leader in the House, then made overtures, offered concessions of sharing, and won. The two parties plan to enter the 2017 election as a separate, but equal team.

Dr Minnis despite this, has vowed to go ahead with his plan to expel his dissident seven. Mr McCartney then gave the good doctor’s memory a gentle nudge.

He reminded him that if he did that, the expelled dissidents would still be the majority Opposition in the House, while the FNM would be reduced to a mere third party with the fewest members in the House.

Meanwhile, not to be outdone Prime Minister Perry Christie quickly let it be known that he too was in the election race dangling a golden carrot.

On Monday, the Prime Minister officially announced the sale of Baha Mar to CTF BM Holdings, a subsidiary of the Hong Kong conglomerate, Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Ltd. He estimated its

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EDITOR, The Tribune

opening to be at the beginning of April 2017 – a month before the election – and its completion by the Fall of the same year.

“In the forthcoming months, imminent economic opportunities will be realised in more and more homes throughout The Bahamas,” he promised. “Baha Mar will create an estimated 5,500 to 7,000 jobs for Bahamians,” he announced.

Baha Mar so far has been his political undoing. However, he is now counting on its job creation as his winning card for the election.

But, oh not so fast, said Gowon Bowe, Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation chairman.

According to Mr Bowe despite Mr Christie’s announcement Chow Tai Fook Enterprises was still working to finalise the sale with China’s EXIM Bank. Also, he said, the Supreme Court would have to approve the sale before any of the documents can be unsealed.

These documents were sealed at the request of the Export-Import Bank of China.

The truth behind why Baha Mar failed — an accusing finger pointing to the China State Construction company — has always been a carefully guarded secret.

First when EXIM Bank and China State Construction were taken to Delaware’s Bankruptcy court. The EXIM bank fought hard to convince the Delaware judge that the Bahamas should be the trial venue. The Baha Mar case was thrown out when it was made clear that the Delaware judgment would not be recognised in our courts. The deal was sealed when our government announced that it would be a breach of our “sovereignty” for a Delaware judgment to be accepted by our courts. So judicial lips were sealed in the name of “sovereignty”. If only “sovereignty” could have defended its own chastity it might have had an interesting rebuttal.

The case was then transferred to the jurisdiction of the Bahamas. And again all documents were sealed. Again at the request of the EXIM Bank.

Mr Christie said that when negotiations have been completed the agreement will be tabled in the House. It is hoped that by that time Her Majesty’s official Opposition will be ready and able to discover the truth.

In January last year, Mr Christie announced plans to request funding from China to support the national budget, refinance and restructure the country’s debts.

When the Baha Mar agreement is laid on the table of the House, we hope that the Opposition will be in a position to discover just how deeply this country is in the pockets of Beijing and whether it is now Beijing who calls the shots or whether our sovereignty is still in Bahamian hands.

It is now time for the Opposition to get its ridiculous act together and prepare themselves to do the business of the country — no one section of the country, but all of the country.

The time for the messianic dream is over - the future of too many Bahamians is at stake.

A coup, but with grace EDITOR, The Tribune.

Re: Mitchell denies any hacking of acI N keepi ng w it h t he Fra nc oph i le s tivist emails. a mong u s , may I subm it t hat rat her The Tribune, December 8, 2018. tha n the C oup t hat ever yone i s now refer r i ng to a s a c oup d’ét at , t hat MR Mitchell reportedly said “no min- what took plac e wa s i n fac t a c oup de ister of this government hacked into any g râc e. email”.

As Merriam Webster adds to its dictionIt’s impressive to see that someone this ary definition “less than fifty years later, principled is willing to publicly vouch for “coup de grâce” had come to mean “an act the honesty of our government ministers - or event that puts a definite end to someespecially when it comes down to the sanc- thing”. tity of private emails.

This was Minnis’ coup de grâce.

KEN W KNOWLES, MD Nassau, December 11, 2016.

BRUCE G. RAINE Nassau, December 10, 2016.

Minnis has self destructed EDITOR, The Tribune.

TODAY in the House of Assembly, the Speaker read into the record of the House the communique from the Governor General, confirming that the MP for Long Island, Loretta Butler-Turner is the first Leader of the Opposition in the history of the Bahamas.

This follows a category 5 stormy week for the FNM with the shocking news on Wednesday of the lack of confidence in Minnis by the now infamous dissident seven.

Butler-Turner responded about her enthusiasm about ascending to the high office and welcomed the responsibility, but nothing could prepare the Bahamas for the reaction by former leader Minnis. He referred to the dissidents distastefully as cancer and a tumour.

Butler-Turner responded that a cancer can either be malignant or benign, but that the new group of MPs that supported her is a cancer that is malignant be-

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net cause it is going to grow.

The analogy by Minnis, describing Butler-Turner and her colleagues in that way was a great example just how insensitive Minnis really is. Imagine a doctor referring to his erstwhile friends like that. He also “spit in the face” of the many Bahamians who are now experiencing cancer in many forms. He also poked fun at the many families who have lost loved ones to cancer.

Insensitivity cannot be a trait for the leader or anyone who can imagine to be leader of a country. How far we have come to be able to publicly make fun of people’s misfortunes.

Perry Christie would never be this insensitive, he is more humane in how he deals with people. His heart is warm and therefore sometimes he is too forgiving. He cares for and about

people. He is a proponent of second chance. That’s commendable.

I, therefore, call on Minnis to publicly apologise to the cancer patients, survivors, family and care givers about his cold, callous and insensitive remarks.

Now since the die has been cast, why don’t we find a way to rid ourselves of all who serve in public life who may be suffering from a superiority complex.

I had a tumour, the size of a grapefruit removed from my brain. I know first hand the mental, physical and psychological trauma I experienced. That was nothing to joke about or play with. It is simply not funny.

Cancer can happen to anyone, any profession, race, gender, MP, spouse, family and friends. It does not ask who you are before it strikes. Catch yourself.

Today for me, tomorrow for you.

IVOINE W. INGRAHAM Nassau, December 12, 2016

The Duke in The Bahamas EDITOR, The Tribune.

RECENTLY, I finished reading Sir Orville Turnquest’s What Manner of Man Is This? The Duke of Windsor’s Years In The Bahamas (1). An inspiring book and superb view of Bahamian history as only a man of Sir Orville Turnquest’s distinguished, esteemed pilgrimage through The Bahamas enrichment could pen.

I would be remiss in my past and future responsibilities if I did not suggest it be required reading for every Ambassador or High Commissioner privileged to serve their country in your gorgeous, idyllic setting.

As Sir Orville notes, not all US laws have had a positive impact on enterprises in The Bahamas.

But most importantly, the friendship between our countries, our citizens, and our mutual desire for democracy and equality for all has existed since our countries have existed.

It should continue, all citizens of each country must do their utmost to insure this relationship continues in a manner beneficial to all.

President-Elect Trump will most assuredly treat The Bahamas with respect and no one need fear he will in any way perniciously construct policies which will bring detriment to the wonderful people of The Bahamas.

I will do everything within my jurisdiction to see this treasure given to us by Sir Orville is provided to employees of the United States

Department of State and any Bahamian who is unable to obtain a copy of this wonderful book has one made available. It is an investment which will provide benefits to The Bahamas and the United States for centuries.

To my wonderful friend of almost twenty years, Sir Orville A Turnquest, may God’s wonderful blessings continue to be bestowed upon you. Mrs Turnquest would be very proud.

Thank you so much for taking time from your wonderful life to share with all us a tiny bit of your genius.

AMBASSADOR J RICHARD BLANKENSHIP Nassau, December 12, 2016.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, December 14, 2016, PAGE 5

Dupuch: Rebels have handed election to PLP

By KHRISNA VIRGIL Deputy Chief Reporter kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Free National Movement MP Pierre Dupuch was adamant yesterday that the actions of the “rebel seven” MPs has done nothing more than hand the next general election to the Progressive Liberal Party on a “silver platter”.

Mr Dupuch raised questions of the end result of their revolt against FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis, saying now was not the time to cause a disruption within the party as an election approaches.

He further suggested that the MPs ousting of Dr Min-

nis as leader of the Official Opposition could have been based on the vested interests of factions in the country who do not want to see the FNM ascend to office.

Pointing to Dr Minnis’ repeated pledge to do away with corruption, Mr Dupuch said this was reason enough for the FNM under the leadership of the Killarney MP to be less favourable in the eyes of some people.

“I think what they did was something very, very bad,” Mr Dupuch told The Tribune yesterday when he was contacted.

“I don’t know what the end result will be. They had a right to do what they did,

but what did they accomplish?

“If nothing was accomplished then why did they do it? With an election right around the corner this is not the time to cause a disruption in the party.

“With all that has led up to this point, I believe Loretta Butler-Turner will never regress until she is the leader of the party. I don’t understand why the six withdrew confidence in Dr Minnis because most of them had already said they weren’t running again.

“There is a possibility that they want to guarantee that the PLP wins.

This is because Dr Minnis has said he will investigate

(Mrs Butler-Turner), we are on one accord with regards to where the country ought to go. It was very easy discussion for the most part.”

Mr McCartney noted that while many Bahamians have acknowledged the need for change, that desire has not led to a serious effort to disrupt the status quo.

“If you want change,” he said, “you’ve got to really mean that you want change and vote for change. But if you really want the status quo, you want Perry Christie, you want government that is going to keep lying to you, you want Chinese to continue to come, you want Mandarin to be your first language, well, PLP.” He added that Prime Minister Perry Christie was not trustworthy and that people could not believe what the nation’s leader says.

“I just don’t understand how we as Bahamian people just continue to accept that.”

Mr McCartney, then the Bamboo Town MP, quit the FNM in 2011. Yesterday he said that his former party had gone from “bad to worse.”

In line with attitudes expressed by a wide-section of Bahamians following the shakeup, Mr McCartney fielded questions that focused largely on the nature of the deal struck between himself and Mrs Butler-Turner; and the prospect of a coalition, specifically his considerations on the resulting political hierarchy of such a move.

The reluctance of both sides to term the move a coalition, or reveal details concerning the same, proved frustrating for some, with one radio show caller asking whether such a merger hinged on Mrs Butler-Turner’s status within the FNM. Noting that expulsion of the “rebel” MPs by the FNM was imminent, another caller asked Mr McCartney to disclose what position will be offered to Mrs Butler-Turner by his party once Parliament is dissolved.

“How committed would you say the DNA is to forming this coalition?” asked one caller.

“What I’ve heard you said previously on this show is that you will not speak to the three people who now represent the FNM, but now (on Monday) I heard that you said you are for a coalition.

The caller continued: “So how seriously should I take this coalition, I really like the idea of a coalition I feel like it’s a good thing to get rid of the PLP but how serious are you the DNA is this all contingent on Loretta or is it something more than that?”

Another caller questioned whether Mr McCartney asked the Opposition leader to appoint any other DNA members to the Senate.

For his part, Mr McCartney reiterated that there was no coalition and urged listeners not to speculate over the outcome of the FNM’s disciplinary proceedings. He said that in discussions with Mrs Butler-Turner, he concentrated on his own Senate appointment, but made the distinction that he “didn’t ask (Mrs Butler-Turner) for anything.”

Mr McCartney said: “There is no coalition between the DNA and the FNM, or the DNA and the seven (MPs). There is an understanding that the seven will be the opposition force in the Lower House and the DNA will be the opposition force in the Upper House, that is where we are now.”

“Let’s not speculate,” he said, “the seven are still under the FNM banner and there are really two options that can happen. They either remain with the FNM or they are removed from the FNM. “We don’t know what’s going to happen, and no decision, no discussions, no agreements, have been made in terms of any type of them coming to the DNA, or there being any type of new party.

He added: “I can tell you

and prosecute and that will make many people nervous.

The PLP has always been friendlier with these kinds of things.”

He added: “So some people might have some vested interests and want to ensure that a more friendly government stays in power.

“Also a foreign government is taking over the economy in this country and making us a colony,” he said, referring to concerns by some of growing Chinese investment in the country.

“I don’t think that Dr Minnis would allow that to continue on. From the looks of things the FNM was well on its way to winning or I should I say the PLP was

well on its way to losing, but given what those set did, the PLP was handed the election on a silver platter.”

Turning his focus to Mrs Butler-Turner’s selection of Democratic National Alliance Leader Branville McCartney as leader of Opposition business in the Senate, Mr Dupuch said he found this “fishy”.

“Branville joining the Senate on her appointment what does he accomplish?

She can’t promise him anything because she has nothing to promise. She is not the leader of the FNM. Dr Minnis is the party leader.

He has control.

“While I believe in a coalition, she can’t give him

one thing, that if the second option occurs where they are removed from the FNM, and FNMs you listening carefully, the FNM will become the third party in the House of Assembly.

BRANVILLE MCCARTNEY, leader of the Democratic National Alliance, arriving with his team at the House of Assembly as he was appointed to the Senate.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/ Tribune Staff

anything. It all seems fishy to me.”

Mrs Butler-Turner, Central Grand Bahama MP Neko Grant, St Anne’s MP Hubert Chipman, Montagu MP Richard Lightbourn, North Eleuthera MP Theo Neilly, Central and South Abaco MP Edison Key and Ft Charlotte MP Dr Andre Rollins each signed a letter of no confidence last Wednesday in Dr Minnis as the leader of the Official Opposition. The letter was submitted to House Speaker Dr Kendal Major and Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling. The group also voted to be led

by Mrs Butler-Turner in the House of Assembly.

BRAN CALLS FOR MINNIS TO QUIT from page one

Mr McCartney added: “You have a government today like the PLP, this is one of the worst governments I’ve ever seen in my life.

I have never seen a worse government and the opposition under the leadership of Dr Minnis couldn’t hold these people’s feet to the fire.”

Mr McCartney pointed to the FNM’s control of the Public Accounts Committee as an example of how the party wasted opportunities to demand transparency and accountability from the government. The PAC is headed by St Anne’s MP Hubert Chipman, one of the “rebel” seven FNM MPs. “The FNM should have been in a position to tell us where the money gone, or force the government’s hand, but we have a dismal government at best and a dismal opposition.

“Perry Christie and Hubert Minnis, I don’t know who would be worse as leader of this country, and I say that and let me be quite honest with you, I know many people in the FNM who still claim to be FNMs under the Minnis situation but they don’t want Dr Minnis.”

‘Alliance’ Official Opposition Leader Loretta ButlerTurner named Mr McCartney as leader of Opposition Business in the Senate on Monday, deepening speculation over the “end goal” of the seven MPs who wrote to Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling expressing no confidence in FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis last week.

Mr McCartney praised the Long Island MP as a history maker, insisting that her achievements could not be denied regardless of whether persons accepted the politics of her actions.

While Mr McCartney stressed that the move represented an alliance with the opposition forces, and welcomed all persons seeking change to collaborate regardless of political affiliation, he maintained that he would not work with Dr Minnis or the two FNM MPs who have rallied behind him.

He underscored that past talks between himself and the FNM leader “came to naught” because the established party was insistent that the DNA be dissolved and refused to credit the organisation as a viable political force. Mr McCartney noted that the discussion was remarkably easier with Mrs Butler-Turner, who focused instead on national goals and was “very much on the same page” as he on national issues.

“Discussions (with Dr Minnis) going on from that seemed to have come to a standstill, a road block, knowing full well that we want what is good for this country but having those discussions were, seemed to have been, difficult to say the least.

“The discussions with

Clashes Since his departure, Mr McCartney has had notable clashes with his former colleagues over personal and national issues.

In 2011, he called for the resignation of Central and South Abaco MP Edison Key, who had claimed in Parliament that Mr McCartney accepted money from the government for legal services but never did the work.

Mr McCartney vehemently denied the charge, and challenged Mr Key to make the statements outside the House so that legal action could be taken.

When questioned about the spat yesterday, Mr McCartney said: “The situation with Edison Key ain’t change. He was untruthful at that time, so bottom line I maintain that, and I don’t run away from that. He was very untruthful.”

For Mrs Butler-Turner, she and Mr McCartney found themselves on opposing sides during the gender equality referendum, and on legislation to outlaw marital rape. Mr McCartney initially opposed bill four of the referendum, which sought to make it unconstitutional to discriminate on the grounds of sex, but later sided with arguments laid out by former Court of Appeal President Dame Joan Sawyer, who called the referendum a “waste of time”.

On the matter of marital rape, Mr McCartney has said that while he did not personally support such legislation, if elected, he would “put it to the people”.

Yesterday, Mr McCartney noted that any differences in position on legislation debated in Parliament would have to be discussed with a view to compromise with respect.

PAGE 6, Wednesday, December 14, 2016

THE TRIBUNE

Watson says morale still high within FNM ranks

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net FORMER Deputy Prime Minister Frank Watson said yesterday that the morale of the Free National Movement has not suffered amid internal drama, despite the rupture created in the party following the decision of seven parliamentarians to oust Dr Hubert Minnis as leader of the official Opposition.

“Everyone seems to be taking it in stride,” he said.

Mr Watson supported Long Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner for leader at the FNM’s convention in July.

She dropped out of the race hours before votes were cast, and Dr Minnis went into the leadership contest unopposed.

Mr Watson said yesterday that the party’s decision to pursue disciplinary pro-

ceedings against her and six of her colleagues is not an approach he would have taken.

“I would’ve taken a different posture,” he said, echoing the view of Brent Symonette, another former deputy prime minister who served in an Ingraham administration.

“What I have gathered is the party is taking a hardline position on this.

Of course, I would’ve preferred Loretta for leader.

But when she lost, the thing to do was to support the leader.”

Mr Watson also seemed to disagree with the FNM’s decision to seek a replacement for Mrs Butler-Turner in Long Island, a process Dr Minnis says has already begun. “I would’ve thought that they would at least wait until the hearing is completed,” he said.

The hearing would take place if Mrs Butler-Turner and her colleagues refuse to

resign from the party.

In such a case, a tribunal of three people will be established to investigate the matter.

If they are not exculpated, they could face punishment ranging from a fine not exceeding $100 to expulsion from the party.

The FNM has never had disciplinary proceedings before and no member has ever been expelled from the party, leaving some observers and members concerned

that the party’s first experience with this process involves such a high-profile case.

“I’m going to watch this one from the sidelines,” Mr Watson said, adding he doesn’t want to get involved. “Oftentimes one person leaves the party, goes to another and comes back. My view is we want to get all the people who went against us back in the fold and to have them stay there.”

BUTLER-TURNER NOT AFRAID OF CANDIDACY REJECTION from page one

This led to his removal as leader of the Official Opposition. Mrs Butler-Turner was officially sworn in as his replacement on Sunday, but this has placed her candidacy with the party hanging in the balance.

“I am committed to Long Island,” Mrs Butler-Turner said. “Long Island has to determine whether I have been good for them or not.

The proof is always in the election.

“Quite frankly elections are about getting the majority of the votes. You want to know if I am going to run in Long Island? I am not afraid of competition.”

Asked if she was going to run as an independent, she responded: “I am an FNM. Have they expelled me yet?

I will deal with whatever is dealt to me. I am committed to Long Island.

“If the FNM decided to withdraw or rescind (the) ratification of me then I will have to know what I will do. If that is what the party wants to do I am not about to get into a rowing match with them. It is up to the people of Long Island to decide what they want to do.

“A petition… that doesn’t frighten me. I’ll guarantee you that it doesn’t have 40 per cent of the voter base.”

On Monday, Dr Minnis confirmed that the party started its search for a new candidate in Long Island.

FNM Chairman Sidney Collie added that the party received a petition from voters in Long Island who say they do not want Mrs

Butler-Turner to represent them in 2017.

However, when he was contacted yesterday, he would not say how many signatories were on the petition. He has told The Tribune that the petition, along with the opinions of constituents, would play into whatever decision the Executive Committee makes.

On Monday, former FNM Cabinet minister Tennyson Wells weighed in on the situation predicting that Mrs Butler-Turner’s efforts were “going nowhere.”

At the time he said: “She wouldn’t even get her deposit back. Mark my words.

Whoever controls the torch symbol, the name and the council will be the winner in this. At the end of the day, all of this will lead them nowhere.”

Meanwhile, Dillis Smith, former FNM Long Island Constituency Association chairperson, said the petition submitted to the party on Sunday night was formal notice that “Long Island don’t want lazy Loretta.”

According to Ms Smith, contention between certain constituents and the MP has been building since 2012. However, she said the “stunt” the MP pulled last week was all they could take.

Mrs Butler-Turner, Central Grand Bahama MP Neko Grant, St Anne’s MP Hubert Chipman, Montagu MP Richard Lightbourn, North Eleuthera MP Theo Neilly, Central and South Abaco MP Edison Key and Ft Charlotte MP Dr Andre Rollins each signed a letter of no confidence last Wednesday in Dr Minnis.

LORETTA BUTLER-TURNER, leader of Opposition in the House of Assembly.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

BOWE URGES PATIENCE OVER BAHA MAR DEAL from page one

“Yes, it sounds good from a political promise perspective to say everything is going to be moving ahead,” Mr Bowe said. “But that’s more of a case of this is what we have agreed in principal and we have to now get it all sorted into details.”

Mr Christie announced the official sale of Baha Mar to CTF BM Holdings, a subsidiary of the Hong Kong conglomerate, Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Ltd, in Parliament on Monday.

Mr Christie said Baha Mar is set for a phased opening beginning in April 2017 and a full completion

by the fall of next year.

He did not disclose the sale price of Baha Mar, adding that details of the deal are still sealed by the Supreme Court at the request of the Export-Import Bank of China.

The heads of agreement between the government and CTF Holdings, however, will be tabled in Parliament once negotiations are complete, he said.

Mr Bowe noted that xenophobic, anti-Chinese sentiments persisted, and questioned whether the mood would be different if the buyer was a North American conglomerate instead.

He maintained that CTFE was a major, well-

known brand with global resort and leisure developments, and as such, its history and track record could be easily scrutinised.

“In reality this is over 18 months in the works,” Mr Bowe said, “what is another month going to count?

When we see massive persons going back to job site, when we see a ramp up in advertisements, as people get re-engaged with full term employment, that will be the parameters which we will measure success thus far.”

Baha Mar Claims Committee Chairman James Smith told The Tribune yesterday that the committee was about 90 per cent completed with its payout mandate, as it approaches the December 31 deadline.

Raising concerns over the pace of the sale, Free National Movement Deputy Leader Peter Turnquest yesterday questioned the extent of due diligence performed by the government.

He maintained that Bahamians were still in need of answers.

“We still have questions,” Mr Turnquest said, “we

need to know how many Chinese are coming to work, particularly in labour.

We need to know what type of concessions were given to make it happen, and the background of the buyer.

How thorough was that background check, because Mr (Obie) Wilchcombe and Mrs (Allyson) MaynardGibson just went to Hong Kong last week. What kind of background check did they do?

“It leads you to the conclusion that this was a done deal. It must have been approved even prior to them going, and the question you have to ask is, who’s pushing the deal?”

Meanwhile, former PLP MP and Senator Philip Galanis yesterday said he was happy to learn that the government has made substantial progress on the project.

In previous statements, Mr Galanis echoed the Official Opposition’s criticism of the “drip drip” pace of details concerning the remobilisation and future sale of Baha Mar, and added to growing concerns over the apparent rise in Chinese in-

fluence.

However, yesterday, Mr Galanis made the distinction that much of public commentary surrounding the beleaguered resort was not factual and politically motivated. He pointed to the connection between the project’s original developer Sarkis Izmirlian, and FNM candidate for Montagu Dionisio D’Aguilar, who was a former Baha Mar director.

Mr D’Aguilar has claimed that the owners of CTFE were unsuited to invest in the country, and highlighted allegations of its “welldocumented connection to organised crime in Asia”.

CFTE has since denied those claims.

Yesterday, Mr Galanis said: “The longer the property sits there unoccupied, the more expensive it will be to restore it and the longer it’s going to be before it is really productive and makes a contribution to the tourism brand and the GDP. I’m not too concerned at this juncture, whilst the due diligence is being worked out, there are a number of things that had to be kept very close to the

chest. The PM agreed to table it and I believe him.

“What you’re hearing is sour grapes because he as a former director, has a vested interest in singing for his supper and trying to appease his former chairman.

He’s not working there anymore but he’s being put out.

The fact that Baha Mar is not under Mr Izmirlian anymore, he doesn’t have any position so I don’t play any credence on his comments.”

“I believe the government is going to do the right thing, do their due diligence, follow the procedures to international standards and best practices. I don’t think it’s in anyone’s interest to have an undesirable company.

We need to wait and allow the process.”

He continued: “If there is a problem, given government’s tremendous resources and access to Interpol, international financial agencies, all sorts of regulators. It will be able to sift through what is and what is not. It serves no useful purpose whatsoever for people to be making unsubstantiated claims, and they should cease and desist.”

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, December 14, 2016, PAGE 7

Potter’s Cay behind schedule - but remains on $3m budget

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net TRANSPORT and Aviation Minister Glenys Hanna Martin yesterday said her ministry’s $3m Potter’s Cay redevelopment project remains on budget, but is slightly behind schedule as officials work to ensure “international port procedures” are in place throughout all new facilities in development at the site.

Away from the efforts of the Port Department, the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources will oversee a proposed $9m project involving the fish and food vendors and the stalls connected with their commercial enterprise.

If approved, the 65-stall scheme will push total cost of Potter’s Cay redevelopment project to around $12m.

Addressing the press during a tour of the docking facility, Mrs Hanna Martin revealed that policy documents were presently being drafted that would allow for precise security mechanisms implemented at the site.

This comes after a report referred to the site as a “smuggler’s paradise”, calling into question the “checks and balances” there.

Despite this, however, Mrs Hanna Martin yesterday said her ministry aims to enhance both the facilities and security mechanisms at Potter’s Cay to “safe, secure and highly enjoyable” levels.

“We will bring peculiar port security procedures, mirroring international port procedures and that process is underway now,”

GLENYS HANNA-MARTIN, Minister of Transport and Aviation, tours Potter’s Cay dock yesterday. Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff this will go significantly to- are rationalized because security, which will govern wards transforming Nassau right now, you have a lot activities on the docking faand providing wonderful that is going on at one time. cilities and goods that come recreation activity for the “You will find that freight in and out.

Bahamian people,” Mrs will no longer access the “We have a boardwalk.

Hanna-Martin said. docking area and as a result We have parking. We are “We are going to have of that, the mail boat opera- also looking at the sunken enhanced lighting, CCTV; tors will have to manage the vessels some of which you the police station is there, receipt of freight and the will see here. Cabinet has we will be seeking to have transmission of vessels. We recently agreed to go out them extend their hours - 24 are putting in place security to tender, to remove all of hours - I think they have al- measures which controls these sunken vessels and ready started. access to that dock and as a through our regulations “What we are doing now result we are now reviewing we will seek to put teeth in is ensuring that everything the regulations that govern how we address people who that is done is more ration- this facility. bring their vessels out here, alised in a way that makes “We are being advised just leave them, and create it a much more enjoyable from our International Ship navigational hazards and experience for all of the and Port Facility Security eyesores for the rest of us,” varying activities. On the (ISPS) coordinator who as- she said. docking aspect of it, lots of sists with all of our national “We have to have a zeroredevelopment is happening ports and we are looking to tolerance on that issue, it out of there, but one of the mirror, or to have a domes- has plagued us for many, reasons we are doing that is tic sort of version of interna- many years.” to ensure that the activities tional ship and port facility Assistant Port Controller

she said.

“Papers are prepared and done, and we are now considering that and to see what needs to be done. This is going to be a safe, secure and highly enjoyable facility.

“This is a place where Bahamians come and (the government) is now redeveloping it, but I don’t want to regret the past, but to say that it is about time that resources are invested in a location where people come to enjoy themselves – Bahamians.

“I think this is going to become a really spectacular, dynamic (and) enjoyable location for the Bahamian people and it is well deserve.

“All in all, by the time this is completed, I think

Craig Curtis clarified that the redevelopment project stood between 80 per cent and 90 per cent complete and it is around $700,000 under budget.

He said the project, originally slated for an April 2017 completion, is now projected to be concluded by mid-2017 at the earliest.

The entire project is being carried out in three over-lapping phases.

Phase one involves the removal and relocation of trees on the southern foreshore to create a parking area, which is being extended to William Street, while the second phase includes the renovation and extension of the fish farm store that will be extended by 150 feet to accommodate mail boat operators and agents.

According earlier statements by the Port Department, the extension will accommodate freight holdings, bulkhead kerbing and passenger waiting area.

Bathrooms will be installed.

Additionally, the Bahamas Power and Light transformer in place at the northern end of the dock will be relocated to enable the establishment of security checkpoints to monitor and control access to the mail boat area. Permanent kerbs will be erected at the end of the dock as a safety measure.

In the final phase of the redevelopment, due to begin in the coming weeks, the causeway will be repaired and rehabilitated, the dock entry will be widened and sidewalks, signage, drainage wells and additional landscaping will be installed. It will also result in the complete redirecting of traffic to the general parking area.

CONTAINER PORT LAYS OFF 20 WORKERS IN DOWNSIZE from page one

were laid off from other businesses on the island.

Among those laid off were Jennifer Lubin and Monique Sears, who were employed as crane checkers.

The women were employed as temporary workers – since 2004 and 2007.

They feel that they were let go because of their support for unionisation at the container port.

“Most of us that were let go were affiliated with the ILA, which was a union formed outside of the company. We were trying to get some change there and I feel that’s the main reason we were laid off,” Mrs Lubin told The Tribune.

The ILA is the International Longshoreman Association.

“You can’t say you making my job redundant and hire people in the same position. If my job is being

made redundant it means you don’t require that position anymore,” she said.

Mrs Lubin indicated that there are so many loopholes in the labour laws that allow employers and companies to simply change the title of the position, even though the duties performed by the redundant worker remain the same in the new post.

“Their tactic is to get rid of all permanent employees so they can bring in contract workers who are not entitled to benefits such as insurance, vacation pay, sick leave, and other benefits,” she said.

The port employs hundreds of Bahamians – permanent, temporary, and casual workers. The facility, which sustained significant hurricane damage, commenced its downsizing exercise last Friday.

Mrs Lubin had been initially employed at the port in 2007. She resigned and

returned in 2012.

“It is just deplorable that a company that you have been working for so many years has no sort of obligations to you. I have been back at there for four years as a temporary worker, and there are people who have been there 11 years who are still temporary workers,” she said.

She also complained that working conditions are unacceptable for crane checkers who are sometimes exposed to hazardous chemicals in containers.

“I have suffered chemical exposure twice… and I have no medical insurance to assist me or my family,” she said. “And they never told us the contents in those containers.”

Even though the port is reducing staff, Mrs Lubin noted that hundreds of contract/casual workers, with no insurance coverage, are being employed there.

“These workers have no

type of insurance but they are in the machines, and they get more working time than I would as a temporary employee,” she claimed.

Ms Sears was employed as temporary port worker since 2004.

“I feel hurt, but I expected it because … I was among those trying to form a union there and that is something they don’t want at the container port.

“They have an in-house union there, but when I was let go nobody from the in-house union was there representing me inside the meeting.”

Union activist Lionel Morley – who had been trying to represent workers at the container port for the past year - criticised inhouse union representatives for their lack of communication and consultation with the affected workers.

“Those workers had not heard from their in-house union representatives, who

have never had any formal meetings with them about the industrial agreement, or about any pending layoffs; there has been no communication and consultation with the affected employees,” he said.

Mr Morley - who has received support from the ILA, one of the largest unions of maritime workers in North America – lost his bid to represent workers because the minister of labour had already recognised the in-house union that was formed at the container port.

He claims that the inhouse union is under the manipulation and control of management and does not act in the best interests of workers.

“We were trying to form a legitimate union at the container port for some time, but our registration was upheld so that the container port could form this in-house union,” he said.

“The law states that once a union has been recognised another union has to wait two years.”

Mr Morley claimed that the container port does not want an outside union in place and has now moved to terminate many of the workers who had supported ILA. “We believe management took the position to downsize and use the hurricane as an excuse to fire about 95 per cent of the workers associated with ILA so they can root out all those who are desirous of an outside union,” he claimed.

Mr Morley said the container port has been through hurricanes before and has survived without layoffs.

“The container port’s history is well documented of their opposition to real, legitimate unions being formed at the container port to represent workers,” he said.

HURRICANE DAMAGE AND LOST BUSINESS LED TO JOB LOSSES

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

SIGNIFICANT hurricane damage and the substantial loss of container business has forced the Freeport Container Port to downsize its labour force.

Approximately 20 workers were laid off, in addition to voluntary separation packages which were given out, said an independent public relations and media consultant for the Freeport Container Port.

“After reviewing its operations structure post Hurricane Matthew, 60 per cent of the equipment was damaged and over 70 per cent of container capacity lost, management has had to make a hard decision to downsize,” the consultant, who did not want to be named, said.

“The Freeport Container Port has maintained a staff complement of at least 500 employees, and is doing its best to spread out the responsibilities in securing

employment with shorter work weeks, but some employees opted to settle and take the company’s volunteer package,” the consultant said.

The spokesperson stated that the process has not been taken lightly, but is necessary in order to allow for the business to continue.

He noted that workers received severance packages that were compliant with and in some cases exceed labour law requirements and rules applicable with the collective bargaining agreement.

The Ministry for Grand Bahama, Ministry for Labour and the Grand Bahama Dock & Allied Workers Union have been advised of the separations.

The consultant said that work continues at the FCP terminal on repairs to the office buildings, the remaining equipment that can be repaired and the infrastructure in the fastest possible time frame.

He said the container

port, airport and harbour are grateful to the hardworking staff who have and continue to work diligently to restart all three business units since the passing of Hurricane Matthew.

The company has been very supportive of its employees by presenting early Christmas bonuses to all staff, included in the severance package. The laid off workers will continue to have access to insurance up to three months after separation.

The consultant said that building and material supplies continue, generator assistance has been made available to all employees, free meals for weeks post hurricane Matthew, and staff loans have been extended, and the company avoided immediate dismissal/terminations.

He noted that the company has contributed to community/staff assistance in excess of $300,000 given the company’s situation.

Regarding comments by union activist Lionel Mor-

ley, the consultant said that “officials at the Freeport Container Port will not respond to Morley’s baseless charges with regards to the recent downsizing.”

“Morley has no relevant status and his facts are twisted. Further, Hutchison need not discuss its present and former personnel’s internal affairs in the media. The relevant authorities have been contacted by management of the Freeport Container Port.”

“Clearly, FCP experienced severe damage as a result of Hurricane Matthew and that has impacted the day-to-day operations.

Based on my talks with former and present employees, FCP went all out during the aftermath of the storm to address the well-being of staff members and sectors of the Grand Bahama community,” the consultant said.

Mr Morley has accused the port of firing workers who wanted to join with a union not recognised by the business.

PAGE 8, Wednesday, December 14, 2016

THE TRIBUNE

Revolutionary Bahamas Nassau Life

By RICHARD COULSON

‘R

EVOLUTION’ is a word that scares Bahamians. Progress, development, new look, fresh start - all are words we are happy to use, while the stronger term frightens us with images of Haitian anarchy or the bloody 19th century Jamaican slave revolt.

We Bahamians have become too content, too easygoing, too civilised to think of revolution. Or so we believe.

Doris Johnson qualified her excellent 1972 history by calling it ‘Peaceful Revolution in the Bahamas’, although she described the young political leader Lynden Pindling throwing the ceremonial mace out of the House of Assembly window pretty close to a revolutionary act in 1965.

I am just old enough to remember the so-called Burma Road march in June, 1942, fascinated as a young boy by the Cameron Highlanders tramping past our gate under steel helmets with fixed bayonets.

What started as a peaceful petition for equal pay for Bahamian labourers at the wartime “Project” building at Windsor Field became a day of burnt cars, smashed windows and looted shops the length of Bay Street, with terrified white merchants grabbling their shotguns, pulling down the shutters and running for home.

The night followed with an unruly mob drinking, rioting and torching “Over the Hill”, only partially controlled by the police and the British troops. Three men died in the shooting before it was over.

In those simpler days we soon survived that brief descent into insurrection, but what would happen if this mini-revolution occurred in our hyper-tense present era, with our modern hi-tech communications flashing to the news-hungry media?

How many minutes before headlines would appear in New York and London and online blaring “Nassau In Chaos” and the American Embassy issuing a total stop order? How many months before cancelled flights and cruise ships would return, fleeing tourists re-book hotel rooms and thousands regain their lost jobs?

Facing current conditions

of unemployment, political dissatisfaction and an independent young populace empowered by smartphone technology, there is no room for complacency that a revolution is impossible.

History shows that not every revolution becomes violent, and we can hope that ours will evolve peacefully.

But the word has come to mean sudden, unexpected change, with new political and social power structures abruptly emerging, destroying established leaders while creating new ones.

This year, we have already seen these convulsions. In August, Alfred Sears shocked the Progres- LORETTA BUTLER-TURNER, leader of Opposition in the House of Assembly, alongside DNA leader Branville McCartney, who she has Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff sive Liberal Party (PLP) appointed as leader of Opposition business in the Senate. hierarchy by daring to an- paralysed Cairo and other majority may revert to the XVI. But when the clergy for leadership at convention nounce his challenge to Mr Muslim cities.

PLP, which no matter how and the nobles resisted, voting later in the month.

Christie as party leader.

Finally, just last week we unpopular still draws from popular mobs destroyed It’s possible that Mr HenNaturally the in-group saw the self-destruction of deep among the Bahamian the Bastille and killed its field will be energised by his joined forces to pooh-pooh the Free National Move- grass roots. guards, and went on to cre- recent success and be chohis effrontery - “a nice guy, ment (FNM), which had These uncertainties are ate the Reign of Terror and sen by independent citizens without a chance” - while been seething for months the marks of a revolution- guillotine the royal family. to lead a brand-new party. editorials and public com- but only now exploded. Dr ary period, when the un- Diminutive Mexican lawyer A well-trained lawyer and ment uniformly have come Hubert Minnis has already expected becomes the Ignacio Madero just wanted far from a rabble-rouser, to praise his efforts, and lost the immediate battle, as norm. The low turnout of to establish the principles he has sworn to have no it’s becoming hard to find Dame Marguerite Pindling, registered voters, 67,000 “Effective Suffrage, No political ambitions - but a man or woman on the the Governor General, has compared to the previous Re-Election”, but when he years ago I heard the same street who supports the anointed Loretta Butler- term’s 134,000, suggest that entered the election of 1910 assurance from Mr FitzgerPrime Minister with any Turner as constitutional a growing mass of potential against the long-time Presi- ald when he was immersed enthusiasm. Whether the “leader of the Official Op- voters are rejecting politics- dent Porfirio Diaz, who in business before catching 2,400 party councillors, the position”. Dr Minnis still as-usual and seeking other favoured only his rich cro- the public-service bug. entrenched calls himself alternatives, still vague and nies and foreign capitalists, Our courts may be “stalwarts” ‘These uncertainties “leader of undefined. This disillusion- Madero started ten years clogged with litigation over who will call are the marks of the party”, ment with present choices is of civil war that left him who has authority to name the shots at but what the classic breeding ground assassinated by a usurping the “FNM” candidate in next year’s a revolutionary general, the country’s econ- each constituency. weight does for radical change.

PLP conven- period, when the It brought the up-start omy shattered and a million he carry Not even the initial leadtion, will having lost Adolf Hitler to power in dead. ers of a revolution can foreunexpected becomes be swayed We can now agree that see its future path; as the seven out of 1933, when neither the Gerremains an the norm. This ten MPs? man old guard, the waffling each of these cataclysms movement develops a life open ques- disillusionment with He commit- Weimar politicians nor the had the long-term result of its own, they are often tion, but Mr ted the one ambitious Communist Par- of creating better govern- spat out and left in the dust Sears already present political ty could satisfy the public’s ments in America, France of history, just as Napoleon inexcusable talks to many choices is the classic blunder for desperation to escape from and Mexico, free of foreign replaced the previous unof them. breeding ground for a leader - he inflation, unemployment domination and following certain experiments with The more ignored rum- and the crushing burden of democratic principles rath- French democracy and was recent con- radical change.’ blings inside World War I debts to the er than royalist autocracy or in turn ejected as a victim of vulsion came his own par- foreign victors. Hitler had a despotic caudillos. All true, his own hubris. on November 25, when so- ty and was “blindsided”. plan, and no one could fore- but the changeover process All we can say of 2017 cial activist Ranard HenMrs Butler-Turner, too, cast the misery and destruc- was agonising for the peo- is the near certainty that it field, virtually unknown faces difficult questions. tion that, for 12 years, he ple who had to live through will start as a year of peaceoutside his Carmichael Will her negotiations with inflicted on Germany, the it. Famine, arbitrary kill- ful revolution. I will go out community, stitched to- the Democratic National Jews and all of Europe. ings and forced exile were on a limb and predict that gether a disparate group of Alliance (DNA) leave her That’s the risk of revo- often the order of the day. by the middle of the year, civic groups and concerned or Branville McCartney as lutions. Even if they start Today, our country does our political power strucindividuals into an enthu- the dominant face on a new peacefully, they are totally not suffer from the oppres- ture will not be what we see siastic, peaceful thousand- political stage? Bran is pop- unpredictable. The Ameri- sive conditions that led to today. Beyond that, I do not plus march to Parliament ular, but she brings seven can colonies only request- those excesses. Looking have the temerity to speak, Square and presented a elected parliamentarians to ed the right to levy their ahead in the short term, we but cannot overlook that long list of specific demands the table while he has none. own taxes but, when the may face only peaceful sur- history has given many exto Government. This un- Will the public be asked to pig-headed British Crown prises. It’s conceivable that amples of peaceful change precedented demonstra- vote for a coalition called refused to compromise in Mr Christie will recognise descending to violence. tion, with no official back- FNM-DNA or DNA-FNM, 1775, their muskets were (but not admit) his weak• Richard Coulson is a ing from political parties, or a brand-new name? Or mowing down red-coats on ness and end his long career retired lawyer and investlabour unions or stodgy cit- will Dr Minnis claim that Bunker Hill to start eight with an eloquent announce- ment banker born in Nasizens’ groups like We The only he can carry the ban- years of brutal warfare. In ment on Majority Rule Day sau and from a long line of People, shows what can be ner labelled “FNM”? We 1789, the French “common- (January 9) that he is hand- Bahamians. He is a finandone by virtually spontane- now face all the ambiguities ers” simply wanted fair rep- ing over the sceptre to his cial consultant and author ous efforts raised by wire- of typical European multi- resentation for the Third favoured acolyte Jerome of A Corkscrew Life - adless networking, akin to the faction political divisions. Estate in the congress hast- Fitzgerald, leaving him to ventures of a travelling fiArab Spring uprisings that In our general election, the ily called by King Louis duke it out with Mr Sears nancier.

READERS SAY FNM RUCTIONS WON’T HELP PLP

IN Tribune’s latest online poll, we asked readers if they thought the events in the FNM over the past week would benefit the PLP in the general election.

At the time of going to press, the majority of those voting – 55 per cent – thought it would NOT benefit the PLP. Commenting on the poll, DillyTree said: “If the FNM and DNA vote can be consolidated against the PLP, the PLP have every reason to be afraid. Very afraid.”

Alex_Charles believed a coalition would need to agree on a leader: “The only way this will work against the PLP is if a coalition can be had and a leader of said coalition can be agreed upon. Also, that requires that coalition to be strong and willing to work together with no power struggles during their administration.

If that can hold and all opposition forces can remain steadfast to their constituents then I believe then can mount a powerful enough alternative to encourage people to register and to vote.”

There was this from

Proudloudandfnm: “LBT has secured a coalition. Lol ... Minnis will never be able to get a coalition. You see MOST of the country sees him as the worst opposition leader of all time. Why would any political party align themselves with a weak, failed leader as Minnis is? So, unless the FNM sees reality and demands Minnis’s resignation, allowing LBT and Bran to unite and beat the PLP, then the events of the last week will most certainly benefit the PLP . . . replacing a failed PM with a failed opposition leader makes no sense.”

And the news that FNM was seeking a new candidate to replace Long Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner prompted Economist to say: “LBT has done more to solidify the opposition in five days than Minnis did in four years. A smart person would sit back and wait a month or so to see what can be achieved. This childish

knee jerk reaction will only hurt the country.”

Sheeprunner12 said: “We all know the PLP plan (rob the country bone-dry) . . . We know the DNA plan (Bran or nuttin’) . . . What is the Sterling Seven’s plan???? We need to know, as most of them seem to have reached their maximum political shelf life (no re-nominations). This is the enigma that surrounds why Bahamians are baffled by this FNM coup . . . are they going to re-invent their political images and mount a comeback under a new name??? We may know this when the Parliament reopens in January 2017 (after We March 2.0)” Banker had this to say: “Jokes, the lot of it. Minnis will be the next PM and the Bahamas will be the better for it.”

• The poll is still open so don’t miss your chance to vote and have your say on tribune242.com.

THE THETRIBUNE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, December 14, 2016,PAGE PAGEA9 9 Wednesday, December 14th, 2016,

WAYMO

TECHTALK

GOOGLE GETS INTO GEAR WITH SELF-DRIVING CAR THE self-driving car project that Google started seven years ago has grown into a company called Waymo, signaling its confidence that it will be able to bring robotcontrolled vehicles to the masses within the next few years.

“We are getting close and we are getting ready,” Waymo CEO John Krafcik said Tuesday after unveiling the company’s identity.

To underscore his point, Krafcik revealed the project had hit a key milestone in the journey to having fully autonomous cars cruising around public roads. In a trip taken in October 2015, a pod-like car with no steering wheel and brake pads drove a legally blind passenger around neighbourhoods in Austin, Texas without another human in the vehicle. It marked the first time one of the project’s cars had given a passenger a ride without a human on hand to take control of a self-driving car if something went wrong.

Krafcik called that trip taken by Steve Mahan, former director of the Santa Clara Valley Blind Center, an “inflection point” in the development of selfdriving cars. It came a year before a Budweiser beer truck equipped with selfdriving technology owned by ride-hailing service Uber completed a 120-mile trip through Colorado while being steered by a robot while

THE Waymo driverless car on display this week in San Francisco. The self-driving car project that Google started seven years ago has grown into a company called Waymo. (AP)

a human sat in the back of trailer.

In doing so, Krafcik and other supporters of self-driving cars believe the technology will drastically reduce the number of deaths on the roads each year because they contend robots don’t get dis-

“We are close to bringing this to a lot of people.”

Waymo CEO John Krafcik tracted or drunk, nor ignore the rules of the road, like humans do.

While Google’s selfdriving cars were still in the research-and-development stage, its leaders indicated the vehicles would be commonplace by 2020. Krafcik declined to update the timetable Tuesday, saying only that “we are close to bringing

this to a lot of people.”

Waymo’s transition from what once was viewed as a longshot experiment to a full-fledged company marks another step in an effort to revolutionise the way people get around.

Instead of driving themselves and having to find a place to park, people will be chauffeured in robot-controlled vehicles if Waymo, automakers and Uber realise their vision within the next few years. Waymo’s name is meant to be shorthand for “a new way forward in mobility.”

The newly minted company will operate within Google’s parent company, Alphabet, which was created last year to oversee far-flung projects that have nothing to do with Google’s main business of online search and advertising. Those projects, which Alphabet CEO Larry Page likens to “moonshots,” have lost $8 billion since

2014, with the research into self-driving cars accounting for a significant chunk of that amount.

Google began working on its self-driving technology in 2009 in a secretive lab called “X’’ run by company cofounder Sergey Brin. Since then, its fleet of cars has covered more than 2.3 million miles in the San Francisco Bay Area, Austin, Arizona and Washington state. In their travels, the self-driving vehicles have been involved in 35 traffic accidents. Google has said its self-driving vehicles were at fault in only one collision with a bus earlier this year.

The self-driving project had been expected to be spun out of the X lab since Krafcik, a former Hyundai USA executive, was hired as its CEO 15 months ago.

As its own company, Waymo will now face more pressure to generate a profit under Alphabet’s management instead of simply focusing on research.

Rather than make its own

cars, Waymo intends to license its technology to traditional automakers and trucking companies.

“We are not in the business of making better cars,” Krafcik said. “We are in the business of making better drivers.”

Earlier this year, Waymo’s precursor licensed its selfdriving technology to Fiat Chrysler for 100 Pacifica minivans currently in production. Financial terms of that deal haven’t been disclosed.

The pressure to make money risks alienating some of the engineers who worked on the self-driving cars as a project that didn’t have a mandate to turn a profit. As it headed down the road to becoming Waymo, several key players quit the project.

The defectors included its former director, Chris Urmson, and a co-founder Anthony Levandowski, who is now working on self-driving technology for Uber.

Associated Press

US GOVERNMENT PROPOSAL ENVISIONS PHONE CALLS ON AIRLINE FLIGHTS AIRLINES could let passengers make in-flight phone calls using Wi-Fi under a proposal from US federal regulators.

Flight attendants and others have complained that the calls could be disruptive. But the Department of Transportation said Thursday that it envisioned allowing the calls if airlines tell all customers about the policy when they buy their tickets.

That way, customers could make other travel arrangements if they feared sitting next to passengers chatting on their phones.

There is a 60-day comment period, and the proposal leaves the door open to the possibility that federal officials could still impose an outright ban.

The Federal Communications Commission prohibits passengers from making cellphone calls during flights, but not WiFi calls.

“Today’s proposal will ensure that air travellers are not unwillingly exposed to voice calls, as many of them are troubled over the idea of passengers talking on cell phones in flight,” Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a statement.

In 2014, the department issued a re-

quest for public comments on the possibility of permitting the calls and the response was overwhelmingly negative.

Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, said anything short of a ban on calls is “reckless.”

Flight attendants have said previously that they fear the calls could lead to fights between passengers who want to make calls and passengers who don’t want to listen to the conversations.

“It threatens aviation security and increases the likelihood of conflict in the skies. It threatens safety for crews and passengers,” Nelson said.

However, the U.S. airlines’ trade group opposes a government ban on in-flight calls.

“We have long held that this was not a matter for DOT to regulate, and we believe airlines should be able to determine what services can be safely offered in flight and make those decisions based on what is in the best interests of their passengers and crewmembers,” a spokeswoman for Airlines for America, Kathy Grannis Allen, said by email.

Associated Press

COZMO, a toy truck with artificial intelligence software.

ROBOT TOYS ON THE MARCH FOR CHRISTMAS

ROBOTS haven’t taken over the world ... yet.

But they have taken over Christmas.

Meet Cozmo, a Pixar-like toy truck with artificial intelligence software so advanced it can recognise the family pet. It’s one of the hottest toys this season. Cozmo will challenge you to games and yelp and flail in terror if it’s about to drive off a table — but won’t go over the edge.

“We’re right at this edge where people are figuring out how to make physical robots that are doing something fun,” said Hanns Tappeiner, co-founder & president of Anki, the company behind Cozmo and OVERDRIVE, a live-action racing game in which you race against a computer car equipped

with technology similar to a selfdriving car.

“They’re not toys. We’re not sure what to call it,” said Tappeiner, a Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute graduate who founded Anki with classmates Boris Sofman and Mark Palatucci.

“This is a different class of entertainment. It does, especially on the Cozmo side, feel like an artificial version of a pet.”

Robotic toy sales have grown 85 percent since 2013, according to data from The NPD Group, which studies the toy industry. Consumers spent $336 million on robotic toys and the like between November 2015 and October 2016 with about 70 percent of that coming around Christmas.

Associated Press

• GOOGLE and the Cuban government have signed a deal allowing the internet giant to provide faster access to its data by installing servers on the island that will store much of the company’s most popular content.

Storing Google data in Cuba eliminates the long distances that signals must travel from the island through Venezuela to the nearest Google server. More than a half century after cutting virtually all economic ties with Cuba, the U.S. has no direct data link to the island.

The deal removes one of the many obstacles to a normal internet in Cuba, which suffers from some of the world’s most limited and expensive access. Home connections remain illegal for most Cubans and the government charges the equivalent of a month’s average salary for 10 hours of access to public WiFi spots with speeds frequently too slow to download files or watch streaming video.

• ENGINEERS are troubleshooting a snag on NASA’s Curiosity that’s preventing the rover from moving its robotic arm and driving to another spot on Mars, the space agency said Tuesday.

The problem involves a motor in the rover’s drill that is used to bore into rocks. Curiosity has been taking pictures and tracking the weather, but doing little else for the past two weeks.

“We’re keeping busy with using the other instruments on the rover while they do these tests,” said Ashwin Vasavada, project scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the mission.

The team gave a health update on Curiosity while discussing research findings at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco.

Since landing in Mar’s Gale Crater in 2012, Curiosity has uncovered geologic evidence of an ancient environment that could have supported primitive life early in the red planet’s history.

• SEVERAL civil-rights groups are urging the city of Boston to withdraw a proposal to spend $1.4 million on high-tech software that would comb social media for criminal activity.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts and 20 other groups sent a letter to Mayor Marty Walsh and Police Commissioner William Evans on Tuesday saying they’re concerned the software would be used to target people of colour. The groups say the money would be better spent on other safety programmes.

The mayor’s office deferred questions to the police department. Boston police Lt. Mike McCarthy said the department is still in the review process and no decisions have been made.

Evans has previously said that people of coloor would not be targeted and that the software could help prevent neighbourhood violence and terrorism.

PAGE 10, Wednesday, December 14, 2016

THE TRIBUNE

ALAN Strachan greets guests at his retirement banquet.

Photos: Felicity Ingraham

VETERAN CIVIL SERVANT CELEBRATED BY GUESTS AT RETIREMENT GALA A LONG-SERVING civil servant, minister of the gospel, husband and father retired from the public service on Friday with a retirement gala where Prime Minister Perry Christie called on the younger generation to look at lives like that of A Alan Strachan when seeking outstanding people to emulate on the path to success.

Mr Strachan retired from the public service after 47 years of uninterrupted service to the government. He began his career in October 1969 as an immigration trainee officer and is leaving the public service with a stellar record and in the final position of permanent secretary of the Ministry of Social Services and Community Development.

Mr Christie pointed out that Mr Strachan began his career at the entry level, but “his focus, integrity, stam-

ina and humour” helped propel him to senior supervisory and administrative positions.

“Mr Strachan has served a myriad of directors, permanent secretaries and ministers over these many long years,” said Mr Christie, “proof that those who would be good leaders must first prove their capabilities as good servants.”

Minister of Social Services and Community Development Melanie Griffin complimented Mr Strachan’s “steady leadership while maintaining a sense of humour even in the midst of turbulent times.”

As a founding member of Golden Gates Assembly, Mr Strachan served in various capacities for decades.

Director of Social Services Melanie Zonicle described Mr Strachan’s “approachable” and “pro-

fessional” manner as his qualities as a leader in the public service.

“Under his management, all were respected and his spiritual counsel was always a source of comfort; he was the kind of manager that brought out the best in others,” she remarked.

Phedra Rahming, under secretary, pointed out another key to his resilience: “His gentle, yet stern demeanour would often encourage a smile even in the most tense moments.”

Throughout his career, Mr Strachan also served as assistant and deputy director of immigration, and was transferred from the Department of Immigration to the Ministry of Immigration’s Training Headquarters.

He is also a justice of the peace.

A LIVELY master of ceremonies, Jack Thompson, shows off the fabulous decor for Mr Strachan’s retirement, created by Icing on the Cake

JUDGE TOLD HIS ORDER FOR TREATMENT FOR INMATE WAS IGNORED

By LAMECH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

A JUDGE was told yesterday that his order for an inmate to be taken to hospital for treatment was ignored.

Brothers Dwayne and Samuel Heastie appeared before Senior Justice Stephen Isaacs for a status hearing in their murder case concerning the September 18, 2015 shooting death of Jean Richmond at the Palm Cay gated community.

On September 21, 2015, the Heasties were charged with murder, possession of an unlicensed shotgun and possession of ammunition.

It is alleged that the pair, concerned together, intentionally caused the death of Richmond.

It is further alleged that they were in possession of an unlicensed 12-gauge shotgun and six shotgun shells for the weapon, neither of which were they legally authorised to possess.

Prosecutors contend that the elder sibling encouraged his brother to shoot Richmond after he came

to inquire about unpaid wages.

Both men are charged with Richmond’s murder, but only Dwayne Heastie’s bail application has been approved after applying five times.

He had unsuccessfully appealed a bail refusal by Acting Justice Gregory Hilton to the Court of Appeal in January of this year.

In a hearing in September before Justice Cheryl Grant-Thompson in September, his then-lawyer Krysta Mason-Smith asked the court to consider Heastie’s health as he had been admitted to Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre for treatment of depression.

The elder sibling was granted a $75,000 bail.

His brother remains in the state’s custody, however.

In a case management hearing yesterday, their lawyer Nathan Smith told Senior Justice Isaacs that the court’s order for Samuel Heastie to be taken to the Princess Margaret Hospital for treatment had not been complied with.

When the judge asked for more details, Mr Smith

clarified that the prison authorities delayed their compliance of taking the younger sibling to PMH and had only done so on December 9.

Upon his arrival, he was told that the “hand clinic” at the hospital only dealt with hand injuries on Mondays before he was taken back to the Department of Correctional Services.

The judge asked if there were any other issues outstanding before the start of the brothers’ trial in November 2017.

Mr Smith said that the defence had not yet received crime scene photos taken by police or surveillance footage concerning the day in question.

Senior Justice Isaacs said he could not speak about the crime scene photos but understood that the surveillance footage was in the hands of officials at the gated community.

Another status hearing was set for March 7, 2017.

Senior Justice Isaacs told Mr Smith to inform his court if the accused is continually denied the treatment that was ordered.

SAMUEL and Dwayne Heastie, pictured at a previous court appearance.

MAN TO FACE SUPREME COURT OVER CLAIM OF UNLAWFUL SEX WITH A MINOR

By LAMECH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

A MAN accused of having unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor will stand trial in the Supreme Court in July 2017.

Theo Pinder, 27, appeared before Senior Justice Stephen Isaacs for a status hearing into his case

concerning the alleged sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl three years ago.

It is first alleged that he, between August 1 and August 31, 2013, had sexual intercourse with the minor who could not give consent.

It is further alleged that he had sexual relations with the teen on December 12, 2013.

Pinder pleaded not guilty

to both counts when formally arraigned in the Supreme Court on May 2, 2014.

According to the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act under which he is charged, sexual intercourse includes “(a) sexual connection occasioned by any degree of penetration of the vagina of any person or anus of any person, or by the stimulation of the vulva

of any person or anus of any person, by or with (i) any part of the body of another person; or (ii) any object used by another person, except where the penetration or stimulation is carried out for proper medical purposes; and (b) sexual connection occasioned by the introduction of any part of the penis of any person into the mouth of another person.”

Pinder, who maintains his innocence, could face between seven years to life imprisonment if convicted at trial.

His lawyer, Calvin Seymour, yesterday said the defence had not heard any update on DNA evidence since the appearance of the initial prosecutor Kendra Kelly at a previous mention hearing.

Koschina Marshall, who appeared for the Crown in yesterday’s matter, said she would liaise with Mr Seymour to provide a copy of the DNA reports that were on the file for the case.

Both parties confirmed that there were no other outstanding issues preventing the trial from proceeding on July 11, 2017.

Pinder remains on bail.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, December 14, 2016, PAGE 11

THE NASSAU Renaissance Singers

RENAISSANCE SINGERS TO HOLD ANNUAL CONCERT TOMORROW THE Nassau Renaissance Singers hold their annual concert on Thursday night at the Trinity Methodist Church, Frederick Street, with proceeds benefitting the ongoing University of The Bahamas music scholarship fund that the Singers have been supporting for decades.

“A Nostalgic Christmas” will feature a number of guest artists along with the many voices of the choir.

The musical selections will include some classical, traditional, regional and contemporary pieces. The concert starts at 7.30pm.

Courtney Newbold is the latest recipient of the music scholarship. A soprano, she will graduate in the spring with her Associate’s Degree in Music, after which she intends to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Primary Education.

“One of my passions is singing, which I have been doing since I was about five years old,” Ms New-

bold said. “It was not until recently that I took up classical singing, which I now greatly enjoy. I am thankful for the scholarship that I received from the Nassau Renaissance Singers - such a blessing. I hope that many more young musicians will excel in music at the University of The Bahamas and, maybe, they too will receive the kind gift that I have received.”

Other featured artists at this year’s concert include renowned singer JoAnn Callender, with accompanist Lee Callender, soprano Nikita Thompson and the Voices of Paradise. Aaron Neily will be the pianist.

Conducting the choir will be Audrey Dean-Wright, a noted musician in many respects as a teacher, a singer, composer and director.

There is no entrance fee, although it is hoped that those that are able may contribute to the University of Bahamas music scholarship fund.

PAGE 12, Wednesday, December 14, 2016

THE TRIBUNE

JAZZ musician Giveton Gelin, who has been named among the most promising artists in the US.

BAHAMIAN MUSICIAN NAMED IN LIST OF PROMISING ARTISTS BAHAMIAN Jazz trumpeter Giveton Gelin has been recognised in the prestigious National YoungArts Foundation awards, placing him among the most promising young artists in the United States in the literary, visual, design and performing arts.

Giveton, 17, from Nassau, was awarded as a finalist, the organisation’s highest honour, and will have the opportunity to participate in the 36th annual National YoungArts Week in Miami, Florida, next month. He will become part of a professional network of over 20,000 alumni artists.

Selected through a blind adjudication process conducted by an independent panel of accomplished art-

ists, the 2017 winners represent the top 8.67 per cent of applications and include only 166 finalists. Drawn from the largest pool of applicants to date, and representing artists from 40 states, YoungArts winners receive awards, including cash prizes of up to $10,000, opportunities to participate in YoungArts programs nationwide and engage with renowned mentors, and guidance in taking important steps toward achieving their artistic goals.

National YoungArts Week, the organisation’s signature programme which runs from January 8 to 15, aims to foster crossdisciplinary collaboration and community while offering finalists the guidance

needed to prepare for the next stage of their artistic development. During the intensive, week-long and all-inclusive programme, artists across ten disciplines participate in master classes and workshops with internationally recognised leaders in their field.

Each evening, audiences can experience the work of the next generation of artists through performances in voice, jazz, theatre, dance and classical music, as well as film screenings at New World Center, writers’ readings in the YoungArts Jewel Box, and a visual arts, photography and design exhibition curated by Pérez Art Museum Miami Director Franklin Sirmans in the YoungArts Gallery.