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VOLUME:116 No.103, MAY 22ND, 2019

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ALICIA WALLACE: WE SHOULD ALWAYS WORK TOGETHER These are the times in which we live, laments Dames

Police did what they had to do

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

ROYAL Bahamas Police Force officers “did what they had to do” when they killed three men at a Blair home on Friday, National Security Minister Marvin Dames has said, while insisting that, regardless of what allegations are made, the facts will eventually be made known.

Jamaal Penn, Valentino Pratt and Trevor Cooper were all shot at the home off the Eastern Road during an early morning operation.

There were reportedly six children in the home at the time. This has raised concern from relatives of the

men who were inside the house at the time and from the wider public about how police conduct operations when children are present.

Asked about this by The Tribune yesterday, Mr Dames said: “Let’s wait and hear the matter out before a court of law and then we can have our comments after that.

“It was an operation carried out by the police.

Unfortunately, some persons lost their lives. I believe the police may have recovered some five weapons on that scene in addition to a quantity of drugs. And, according to the police, they were fired on.”

PEOPLE waiting more than five years for an answer to their application for citizenship have a right to sue the government, according to retired Justice Rubie Nottage.

Mrs Nottage, former cochair of the Constitutional Commission, explained how processing delays could contribute to statelessness during a panel discussion at the University of The Bahamas.

SEE PAGE FIVE

THE 12 Africans taken into custody by Department of Immigration officials in Grand Bahama last week are seeking asylum, fearing they would be killed if they are returned to their homeland of Nigeria.

Hubert Ferguson, assistant director of immigration in Freeport, said that the group initially landed in Nassau, but had travelled to Grand Bahama where they were arrested by immigration officers after it was discovered they had overstayed their time.

When contacted yesterday, Mr Ferguson said the African nationals informed immigration officials they feared they would be killed if returned to their homeland.

SEE PAGE SEVEN

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

SEE PAGE THREE

“(People waiting for deferred citizenship) they have married, had children, some of those children have had children, and now we have statelessness because the person who married first had no status yet. He’s applied, he’s entitled to it, but he has no documentation.

“So let’s say that he then marries a young Haitian woman who has come here without documents. So two undocumented persons have a child in The

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

‘WAR OF WORDS BETWEEN CHINA AND US NOT OUR BUSINESS’

‘SUE GOVT IF CITIZENSHIP APPLICATIONS DRAG ON’

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

AFRICANS SEEKING ASYLUM

WE WANT JUSTICE

NATIONAL Insurance Board employees demonstrated yesterday after union chief Marvin Duncombe said the group had reached an “impasse” in negotiations with management.

Full story - Page 2 Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

ARGUMENTS raised in an ongoing war of words between United States and Chinese officials are “not our business”, Foreign Affairs Minister Darren Henfield said yesterday.

Mr Henfield also told reporters The Bahamas would not get involved in the trade war between the two world powers.

However, he said the government would like to see trade issues between them settled as quickly as possible because continuing tensions would invariably impact The Bahamas.

Asked if The Bahamas should be wary of Chinese investment as had been suggested previously by US SEE PAGE FIVE

BANNISTER PRAISES AMBITIOUS ROADWORKS TECHNOLOGY

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE road expansion package unveiled by the Prime Minister will “make a huge difference” to commerce and Bahamians’ “mental well-being”, a Cabinet minister said yesterday.

Desmond Bannister, minister of works, said the projects represented the most “ambitious” road infrastructure work seen on New Providence for some

DESMOND BANNISTER years. And he was optimistic that the Ministry of Works now has sufficient

technical staff to “make it happen” and ease the traffic nightmare many Bahamian motorists face when commuting to work and school.

While declining to reveal the investment required, on the basis that the figures have yet to be approved by the Ministry of Finance, Mr Bannister said the government would need to acquire land from private owners in a number of areas to facilitate the various expansions.

FETCH! NOW LOOK OUT FOR ROBO-DOG

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

SEE PAGE NINE

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

PAGE 2, Wednesday, May 22, 2019

THE TRIBUNE UNION chief Marvin Duncombe, left, leads the NIB demonstration outside the Baillou Hill Road headquarters yesterday.

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

NIB workers demonstrate after reaching an ‘impasse’

By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net DOZENS of National Insurance Board employees demonstrated yesterday outside the entity’s Baillou Hill Road headquarters, after President of the Union of Public Officers Marvin Duncombe said the group had reached an “impasse” in negotiations with management.

Speaking to reporters Mr Duncombe said unfair hiring practices, a broken operational system, and disputes about compensation packages are among the many issues the line-staff union has with NIB. He accused the director and board of directors of operating “without good faith”, and constantly rescinding offers they have put forth under the claim that they “made a mistake”.

“If I made a mistake of

this nature, here’s what I would do: I would tender my resignation, forthwith,” Mr Duncombe said angrily, adding the executives treat the line-staff as though the latter are “illegitimate” children.

Mr Duncombe also threatened to hold another demonstration today. “We are prepared to do anything to make sure that we get what is justice and what is right for our people,” he added.

Yesterday’s demonstration took place just after 10am and lasted 20 minutes. Dozens of members formed a crowd around Mr Duncombe and shouted, “enough is enough” as the union president spoke passionately against NIB. “We’ve come here because we’ve reached an impasse in our negotiations,” Mr Duncombe told reporters. “Our director and the board of directors

and those persons responsible have decided we don’t deserve to have anything in this agreement.

They’ve made an offer to us and they’ve taken it off the table, they’ve operated without good faith and we are here to send a very strong message to the director, and to the board of directors, and to the chairman and all those persons responsible for (NIB) and let them know that we will not be taken for granted.”

One major issue is the broken V3 system, he said.

“We are sick and tired of the way that (NIB) has been operating,” Mr Duncombe said. “Over the last several months we’ve seen a decline in the morale of our people because it seems as if everything that’s been made seem to be a mistake.

“Three years ago, they have introduced the V3 system, that’s the insurance administration system, that

has been broken from it was introduced. The minister came to us last year and has brought people in from the public service and all kinds of professionals to see how he can fix the system and has promised us that he will give us a report on the update of the system.

“Our people cannot get their benefits, they cannot get maternity benefits, taking (up to) eight weeks to get one claim.

It’s because of our broken system. And we continue to work with it.

“And yet as it comes to compensation they refuse to give us anything as it relates to compensation because they see us as a mistake.”

Mr Duncombe said his union has been in negotiations with the director and executive management for the last six weeks. However, he accused the director of refusing to “operate in

in good faith”, adding the director put an offer on the table and then rescinded it, “very disingenuously”.

Another source of contention is what Mr Duncombe called unfair hiring practices. According to the union president, the company hired a woman on a Family Island on a salary of $30,000 who possesses no national examinations or high school diploma.

“And yet that person is hired as a private secretary, when our people at NIB who have been here for a long time who are intimately qualified cannot get the opportunity for a promotion or any advancement,” Mr Duncombe said.

Mr Duncombe said he does not know when the next meeting with executives will be, underscoring that negotiations have reached an impasse.

“You know what upsets

me about this? When the director can come to me, last three weeks, and say ‘well we’re putting a claim course on. We budget for the claim course. But now I’ve got to cut the claim course because we made a mistake. It’s over-budgeted.’

“Three weeks later, we in the negotiation, and she put an offer on the table, and she comes back and say, ‘we’ve made a mistake’.

“In Abaco, you made a mistake- how much mistake NIB need to make? If you can’t operate as a competent person then you don’t need to be here. That’s my message.

“We don’t seem to be able to trust the word of any of the executive management.”

NIB director Nicola Virgill-Rolle declined comment when contacted yesterday, citing ongoing negotiations.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, May 22, 2019, PAGE 3

DAMES: WE FOLLOWED LAW ON VACATION LEAVE

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

NATIONAL Security Minister Marvin Dames said the government has followed the law when applying vacation leave policies in law enforcement agencies, though he did not elaborate.

His comment came more than a week after The Tribune reported that two deputy commissioners of the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services have accused his ministry in a lawsuit of unfairly sidelining them.

The Minnis administration has not responded

directly to concerns that it has selectively applied its vacation leave policies. Doan Cleare and Bernardette Thompson-Murray alleged in affidavits that Mr Dames forced them to take vacation leave to facilitate last month’s appointment of Charles Murphy, their junior, as commissioner of corrections.

They said they were inexplicably forced to take vacation leave even though Mr Murphy had accumulated more weeks of vacation than their combined total. When their leave ended, they said they were left in limbo by national security officials

who ordered them not to return to the BCDS but who failed to assign them new jobs.

Asked about the lawsuit yesterday, Mr Dames said he won’t get drawn into a “tit for tat” over the issue.

“This is becoming commonplace where matters that are before the courts are being played out in one way or the other and I’m not going to get into those kinds of games,” he said. “The facts will eventually come out and we’ll see what happens from there. The minister is not the ministry and we operate consistent with the law and consistent with policy and guidelines and so we’ll have

CHARLES MURPHY, the new commissioner of corrections.

an opportunity to tell our story but we will not play the political games back and forth.

“I don’t think that’s professional and I don’t think that’s the way that we ought to be conducting our business and I think we have to be careful in situations such as this. So it’s not going to be a tit for tat and a back and forth.

“We operated within the confines of the law. We followed established guidelines and policies and we’re not going to veer from that. We’ll continue to hold true to that but I’m not going to compete with someone who’s making allegations and comments in the open.”

‘Police did what they had to do’ from page one

THREE men were shot dead in a house off Eastern Road during an early morning operation.

“In a situation like that, by law, they did what they had to do.”

Mr Dames acknowledged that the situation was out of the ordinary. “I don’t want to get too much into that particular matter, but these are the times that we’re living in today. We are going to have from time to time unfortunately situations like this, but we’ll see what happens.

“The matter is being prepared for the Coroner’s Court and we’ll allow the evidence to come out and a determination made as to what happened and why it happened and get the outcome.”

The minister’s comments yesterday were similar to those of Acting Police Commissioner Paul Rolle on Monday, who urged people to give officers the opportunity to have their say in court before conclusions are drawn. The

MARVIN DAMES deceased men’s relatives, who were also inside the house during the policeinvolved killing, alleged that none of the men fired at officers, contradicting police reports that there was an exchange of gunfire.

It was also alleged that the same officers who shot the three men were investigating the incident.

The acting commissioner denied the latter claim and urged those relatives with information to speak with police.

“They are not,” the acting commissioner said when he was asked about relatives’ claims that the

police shooters were among the officers investigating.

“The officers that were involved in the shooting incident are not a part of the investigation.

“They are not conducting that investigation (and) they have nothing to do with that investigation. All of the evidence, as I am aware, has been submitted to the forensic lab where they need to go.”

Asked if the killing of three people by police in one incident was an extraordinary event, Acting Commissioner Rolle said: “I’m not certain that this is the first time that it has happened, but I do not wish to comment because I was not there and in fairness to the officers concerned, people should give them the opportunity to have their say in court.”

On Friday, authorities said the three men were killed in an exchange of gunfire. Police said they had a search warrant to enter the premises. At the time, several people were arrested.

Brother of slain marine has the right to criticise, says minister

By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net “PEOPLE have a right to criticise,” National Security Minister Marvin Dames said yesterday in response to the scathing rebuke the brother of slain Royal Bahamas Defence Force Petty Officer Percival Philip Perpall delivered against the RBDF at Perpall’s funeral last Thursday.

Speaking to reporters ahead of a Cabinet meeting, Mr Dames was very sympathetic about the matter, noting he is close to the issue “on both sides”.

He added RBDF Commodore Tellis Bethel has taken these remarks “into account” and is “taking steps” towards any necessary improvements.

“This is a very touching and very unfortunate situation and so I am not going to get in between that,” Mr Dames said.

“This is a matter too that is very close to me on both sides and so you know it’s a very unfortunate and emotional time and people are allowed to express themselves and we just have to look and see what we need to do to ensure that we are meeting the needs of our officers and people are allowed to criticise. That’s how we get better.”

Mr Dames also addressed the way forward.

“The commodore would have taken into account what would have been said and is taking steps to address anything that he and his agency see as a

need to improve upon. This is a very sad situation and we can’t fault anyone for making comments we just have too look and see what we need to do to improve and to provide better service to those persons who continue to give their lives in the service of country and that’s what’s important.”

Perpall, a 30-year veteran of the RBDF, was fatally shot while sitting in the guard room of Government House with two of his colleagues around 2.30am on April 28, according to police reports.

Another RBDF officer has since been charged with one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder in connection with the incident.

Shortly after the tragedy, Mr Dames told reporters he has a familial connection to the victim.

“This family is no stranger to me,” he said at the time. “As a matter of fact, the deceased is the brother of my brother-in-law, the deceased’s brother is married to my sister. I know this family and so our hearts go out to them.”

During Perpall’s funeral on May 16, the deceased’s brother Tyrone Perpall delivered a blistering attack against the RBDF, as a he described the circumstances surrounding Perpall’s murder as a “national disaster”.

Mr Perpall also said there must be a “clarion call for a thorough investigation” in the wake of the incident.

His criticism of the RBDF spanned decades, as

THE FUNERAL of Royal Bahamas Defence Force Petty Officer Percival Philip Perpall last week. he accused the organisation of giving Perpall’s family a “hard fight” in the late ‘80s when the the agency reportedly resisted the family’s pleas for the slain marine to be let out of training to “mourn his mother’s death”.

He also said that the RBDF previously punished Perpall for working a side job by assigning him to mop and detention duties while

those who were “not so decorated” were promoted.

Mr Perpall made these comments from the pulpit of Church of God Auditorium as he delivered his tribute for his dear brother — and as he was standing mere feet away from Commodore Bethel, who earlier in the service had made warm-hearted remarks about Perpall’s life and service.

PAGE 4, Wednesday, May 22, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

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Stop leaving people in limbo over immigration THERE is a lot of sabre rattling when it comes to the issue of immigration – so it was very welcome to hear the clear voice of retired Justice Rubie Nottage yesterday putting issues into perspective.

She pointed clearly at one of the major issues affecting The Bahamas – the lengthy delays in processing applications for citizenship.

As she pointed out, you can have someone waiting for a citizenship application who gets married and has children while they wait. After all, life and love do not wait for paperwork. If that spouse also has no documents, then the child finds itself only entitled to citizenship at the age of 18.

If that child marries or has children while waiting for papers again, well… you see how this can go on for generations.

Immigration stokes hot feelings – but bear in mind these can be people who have done everything right. They are applying as they have been told, and they are made to wait by… what? What good reason is there for any such application to take years?

Politicians argue that there is no such thing as statelessness because people can apply for passports and documentation from the country they are descended from, but we have people from the third generation and more left in limbo while bureaucracy strangles their hopes.

Tackling such bureaucracy wouldn’t just help those who sometimes lack sympathy from Bahamians frustrated by immigration issues – it would help Bahamians themselves.

Another speaker at the same event as Mrs Nottage was Maha Maho, a formerly stateless woman who finally gained refugee status in Brazil. She said: “The dignity of human beings with stateless people doesn’t exist. You get born, you don’t have your birth certificate, you live your life, then you die without death certificate. You’re just like a shadow, you come and you go. No one really knows about your existence.”

So we welcome Mrs Nottage’s assertion that people who wait more than five years for their application to

be answered have a right to sue the government.

We are almost tempted to say that anyone forced to wait that long should automatically be approved – and if anyone wants to disagree with it, the answer is simple: speed the system up.

What steps now, Mr Dames?

THE shooting of three people by police officers in a raid on Friday morning continues to raise concerns.

Yesterday, Minister of National Security Marvin Dames did little to quell those worries as he said that officers “did what they had to do”.

In his defence, he also urged people to “hear the matter out before a court of law”, but we know how long it can take for matters to reach the Coroner’s Court. As we noted yesterday, a case of a police-involved shooting took five years to trundle its way to the coroner.

That, alone, cannot be the solution. Just as people should not be waiting years for citizenship applications, nor should people be waiting years for answers after a shooting.

That, however, seems to be Mr Dames’ solution. No mention of steps that can be taken now. No mention of trying to expedite cases to the coroner or increase funding to speed up that step. No mention of a date by which we can expect every police station to have CCTV to monitor for potential abuses.

No mention of when the proposed bodycams would be able to give us footage of what happened in incidents like these.

No mention of when the legally mandated Police Complaints Inspectorate would be functioning and able to investigate independently of police.

As long as these steps are shrugged off, then saying wait and see seems little more than kicking the can down the road and hoping people stop asking questions.

We do not know if police did anything wrong in this incident – there are after all two sides to the story – but there is little sign in the official response that there is any urgency to find out.

Shooting alert system off target EDITOR, The Tribune THIS $1.5 millions electronic system for the police to hear gunshots seems to be totally redundant taking into consideration the quickness of the very active social media.

Last week we had two double murders within minutes in both cases video of the crime scene was on the social media, so surely doesn’t it make the $1.5 million purchase of that “shooting alert”

system redundant - not needed?

On this posting of crime scenes…the public has to be careful they are technically tampering with the crime scene by videoing… if it is not suggested the law should be changed to cover this if not to get these vivid many times nasty bloody scenes off the internet. Why do we gloat on this issue?

Sorry, Minister - cancel that $1.5m purchase, a waste of money…done free

of charge by the public and very efficiently.

Does the RBDF have gun sniffing dogs? High priority – get them.

RBDF you know the bad areas, surround them with the RBDF and go house to house…if you have to declare an emergency in these areas for a day until after the sweep, do that.

Get serious on guns!

ABRAHAM MOSS Nassau May 13, 2019

You’re not including the people EDITOR, The Tribune I WATCHED the Prime Minister last evening…an interesting address badly put together, but we expect that of OPM Communications who seem to constantly have a failing grade.

Solar…the reusable power which the fuel the Sun we have abundance probably 365 days in a year but bless BP&L for the hell of simply selfishly safeguarding their high salaries BP&L are fighting tooth and nail that Government

will not approve a large scale solar platform. Oh PM says BP&L needs to get approval for solar from URCA but does not need URCA’s approval for LNG…boy what a mistruth!

Reality for the next two years everyone of us will pay a fuel surcharge…The Chair’s comment of lower fee the Iranian crisis probably has taken care of that plus from now ‘til September we will rely on diesel as the choice primary fuel.

A very, very short

mention of solar…by contrast a long time speaking on how government will refit their buildings have even gotten a gift from the Italian government but this only helps the government it does not help the voters deep into the urban area. Why not the majority, Prime Minister, you say The People’s government but you are not including The People. Sun is free, sir!

W THOMPSON Nassau May 21, 2019

THE WORLD War II troop carrier That’s All, Brother that took part in the D-Day invasion in 1944 is returning to Europe for the 75th anniversary of the battle in June.

Why national interest and sovereignty must prevail EDITOR, The Tribune THE singular obligation that the government and People of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas owe to illegal immigrants is to treat them humanely.

Illegal immigrants who fragrantly break the laws of The Bahamas, particularly those who do so with impunity, are an affront to the sovereignty of The Bahamas. We must deal with this perennial issue directly and forcefully, but humanely.

Perhaps I run the risk of seeming insensitive, but we as a country have been wrestling with this serious problem of illegal immigrants for far too long.

Both major political parties have toyed with the issue of addressing illegal immigration head on.

Certain Bahamian businesses have benefited from

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net illegal immigration. Regular Bahamians have simply turned a blind eye. It is claimed that persons in the Ministry of Immigration have allegedly sold the sovereignty of The Bahamas for personal gain.

These and other muddying issues have caused the problem to mushroom and unfortunately, draconian measures must now be deployed to correct the proliferation of this vexing social dilemma.

Charity must begin at home. Any help that the government of The Bahamas offers to illegal immigrants must not exceed or detract from the primary responsibility to

secure the welfare of Bahamians. Lawyers, special interest groups and international watchdogs who call on The Bahamas to throw open its gates and allow illegal immigrants into the country indiscriminately might wish to focus their attention on the atrocities committed to persons illegally entering Asian, Arab and African countries, and even the great United States of America.

Even though this is a frustrating issue for us, The Bahamas, as a whole, certainly treats illegal immigrants better than these countries do.

The national interest and sovereignty of our Bahamas must prevail.

BISHOP SIMEON B HALL Nassau May 21, 2019

A 20th birthday worth celebrating EDITOR, The Tribune THERE are many nonprofit organisations that have fought bravely to preserve the rights of Bahamian citizens, one such organisation is the Coalition To Save Clifton (CSC). This awesome body of proud Bahamians, have throughout the course of 20 years, worked tirelessly to ensure that what rightfully should be enjoyed by Bahamians, is indeed given to them and not others.

In doing so, the CSC has set a standard that makes it unique in that it has shown its dedication, reliability, responsibility and its relentless drive to seek ways to

improve the livelihood of all Bahamians.

The patriotic stance of the CSC is far reaching, as it has been the driving force behind the preservation of beaches at the historic site, thus the establishment of the Clifton Heritage National Park. However, their fight continues as the organisation now has its sight set on the establishment of a national Sea Park at Clifton.

The CSC must be congratulated for its wonderful efforts and a call is being made to concerned citizens and the public at large to give support to the organisation for a job well done.

As part of its 20th anniversary celebrations, the

CSC recently held a special luncheon where several of the other organisations and individuals in the fight were recognised and honoured.

It is the work of organisations like the CSC that must be recognised for the extraordinary work done. So often they are overlooked and the public is not aware of the great things they have produced that has, and continues to benefit all Bahamians. So kudos is extended to the CSC, happy 20th anniversary, continue to keep up the good fight!

LORNA BROWN Nassau, May 14, 2019.

THE TRIBUNE from page one officials, Mr Henfield said: “The Bahamas has been a long time historical and traditional partner with the United States of America.

“Bahamians feel an absolute right to be able to go to America on a daily basis to be able to interact with Americans.

Americans form a large part of our economic development in the Bahamas through tourism and since 1992 the Bahamas recognised China’s ‘One China’ policy.

“We are friends with both nations. We are friends with both China and the United States of America.

“A large platform of our economy comes from foreign direct investment and we consider foreign direct investment from anywhere it comes in the world if it’s good for The Bahamas we will look at it seriously and consider whether or not we will accept it.”

The minister was further pointed to critical comments from both Chinese and US officials here in The Bahamas, which have been widely publicised.

To this he said: “That’s not our business. What’s going on between China and the United States the largest and second largest economies in the world is between China and the United States. The Bahamas doesn’t see itself involved in any way.”

Chinese Chargé d’Affaires Haigang Yin on Monday called on the United States government to contribute more to the development of the region instead of politicising economic and trade issues.

Mr Yin insisted China’s economic co-operation in the Caribbean and Latin America was on equal-footing, and suggested other countries were seeking to capitalise on geopolitics.

He was responding to a scathing critique of China’s investment in the Caribbean from US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Kimberly Breier at the 8th Caribbean-US

Wednesday, May 22, 2019, PAGE 5

War of words between China and US is not our business, insists Henfield MEMEBR of Parliament for North Abaco Darren Henfield.

Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

Security Cooperation Dialogue last week.

Ms Breier accused China of not following international best practises, and furthered its “opaque methods have enabled corruption, eroded good governance and stolen countries’ sovereignty and national resources”.

Recently a One America News Network report

went viral claiming that the United States’ failure to appoint an ambassador had facilitated free reign for Chinese dealings in the Bahamas.

“We hope that the United States of America’s Congress when they go before the committee, we have had an appointee before who has been before the committee.

He should have been appointed.

It didn’t work out. We hope that an ambassador can be appointed as soon as possible for The Bahamas,” when he was asked by The Tribune if the absence of an ambassador has affected the country.

Mr Henfield also commented on the Venezuelan crisis, saying The Bahamas

would not support military intervention there.

“The Bahamas is concerned about what is going on in Venezuela. It has become a political and economic - a humanitarian really crisis. Some three to nearly four million Venezuelans have migrated from that country. It’s now preparing to be a failed state.

“For whatever reason,

we want that situation in Venezuela to come to a speedy conclusion.

We would like to see the holding of free and fair elections in Venezuela as soon as possible.

“The Bahamas is a peaceful country. We don’t want to see military intervention happening any time anywhere in the world and we won’t support it.”

Ex-justice urges people waiting more than five years to hear on citizenship to sue government from page one Bahamas ... because both parents are non-Bahamian that child is only entitled to citizenship at the age of 18.”

She continued: “But it has no papers, and if that child then marries or has children, which we’re into that second level of generation already, then you have statelessness confirmed in that third generation because there is no documentation.”

The panel discussion on the Right to Nationality and Statelessness was staged by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) at UB. It comes on the heels of concerns raised by another international human rights body - the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights - over the lack of data on the number of stateless people living in the country due to the lack of documentation and the country’s citizenship laws.

For its part, the government has maintained the number of stateless people is minimal and long sought to differentiate from the categorisation of children born to Haitian migrants in the country - who have to wait until 18 to apply for Bahamian citizenship but have access to Haitian citizenship at birth if registered.

At the IACHR hearing, Minister of State for Legal Affairs Elsworth Johnson argued that the largest number of persons affected by gendered provisions of the constitution are Bahamian men and women and their descendants, not migrants.

At Thursday’s UB panel,

RETIRED Justice Rubie Nottage United Nations expert Marion Bethel called on the government to fulfill its obligations to carry out mapping and provide documented evidence.

Among panelists was Maha Mamo, a 30-year-old formerly stateless woman who has become prominent global spokesperson for stateless people and the face of the UN Refugee Agency’s campaign to end statelessness by 2024, called #IBelong.

Ms Mamo was born in 1988 to Syrian parents, who had an interfaith marriage that was not recognised in Syria so they fled to Lebanon where they had their children.

The children of a Christian father and a Muslim mother, Ms Mamo and her two siblings were stateless because their parents could not register their births in Syria and they could not access Lebanese citizenship. They would remain that way until they received refugee status from Brazil in 2016. Ms Mamo became a Brazilian citizen in 2018

ending a life lived, according to her, as a shadow.

“At three years old,” she said, “I was a kid that didn’t realise anything from this life. I had the same uniform, the same education, the teacher like everyone else.

She continued: “But it’s from the smallest things that you do in your daily life, from buying a SIM card you need to present a document, to having a credit card, health insurance, a library card or any type of document that should have your name.

“Even to go to a party and enjoy your night with your friends we always had to worry if I would be accepted or not to enter to the club, because everywhere where they ask you for documents I cannot access.”

Ms Mamo’s brother Eddy died just one month after receiving refugee status in a violent armed robbery in Brazil.

“Life is cruel,” she said, “life is unfair with all of us. Eddie died as a stateless person. He was lucky enough he got his refugee status because we managed to give him the death certificate.”

Ms Mamo continued: “The dignity of human beings with stateless people doesn’t exist. You get born, you don’t have your birth certificate, you live your life, then you die without death certificate. You’re just like a shadow, you come and you go. No one really knows about your existence.”

During her panel remarks, Mrs Nottage said she hoped the UNHCR would broadcast Ms Mamo’s story locally as her struggle was shared by

many people living in the country.

As former co-chair of the Constitutional Commission, Mrs Nottage said it was very difficult to convince affected people to become spokespersons due to fear of being stigmatised; however, she felt it may have positively impacted the gender equality referendum campaign.

During Thursday’s panel discussion, UNHCR Assistant Protection Officer Deneisha MossBalboni made clear a lack of documentation did not confirm statelessness but it was one of the indicators.

However, Mrs Nottage said the number of stateless people living in the country is not a “hidden figure”, and highlighted two at risk groups that officials could focus on to capture a “real number”.

Those two at-risk groups are people who acquire citizenship under Articles 6 and 7 of the constitution, she said.

Under Article 6, children born out of wedlock in The Bahamas to a Bahamian father and non-Bahamian mother who cannot confer nationality; and under Article 7, children born in The Bahamas to non-nationals who themselves, are either stateless or unable to confer nationality on children born abroad.

“So you can see the numbers start to multiply at a huge rate and statelessness is then not just a hidden number,” Mrs Nottage said, “but a real number, the person sitting right next to you.”

Mrs Nottage reserved her opinion on the government’s interpretation that the constitution only provides the right to apply,

not to be granted citizenship, for people born in The Bahamas.

She acknowledged the proposed Nationality Asylum and Immigration Bill 2019 as

“hopeful” in filling the gaps due to gender inequality, and provisions for deferred citizenship in the constitution but was still “purely discretionary”.

Editorial View - Page 4

PAGE 6, Wednesday, May 22, 2019

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net RAGGED Island MP Chester Cooper yesterday accused Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis of pandering to his constituents in a bid to score political points, and called for an apology over longstanding neglect.

In response to renewed promises of a rebuild of Ragged Island, Mr Cooper said people from the small community will not thank the government for providing basic amenities until promised facilities are complete and operational.

Dr Minnis outlined plans for an $8 million investment to rebuild key public infrastructure on the island during a televised national address Monday night. It came nearly two years after his initial promise to rebuild the hurricane-ravaged island which was devastated

by Hurricane Irma.

Mr Cooper, who also represents Exuma, questioned whether the money for Ragged Island will be included in the upcoming 2019/2020 budget, and further probed why residents had to wait for new infrastructure to restore school and nursing services.

Mr Cooper estimated there were 50 people living on the island now. In March, a Bahamas Information Services report put the figure at 32.

THE TRIBUNE

Cooper: PM pandering to constituents “To be extremely clear,” Mr Cooper’s statement read, “my experience with this administration has led me to the place where I believe nothing that is said about Ragged Island. I will believe what they do.

“This government has abandoned the people of Ragged Island in their hour of greatest need for nearly two years. That the prime minister seeks to use a televised national address to score political points on Ragged Island’s name is regrettable.

“He owes Ragged Island an apology. He should

have gone to the people of Ragged Island and explained why he neglected them after the fanciful talk of rebuilding a ‘green city,’” Mr Cooper’s statement continued.

“He should have had the courage to look them in the eyes, before the minister of works said they simply have no money for Ragged Island. Parents have had to send their children away from them for schooling, something no family should have to endure. There is no basic medical care on the island. There is no postal service. Water has only

recently become a reality for them.”

In September 2017, Dr Minnis promised to transform Ragged Island into the first “fully green” island in the region.

Two months later, Works Minister Desmond Bannister told reporters the FNM-administration’s plan would cost tens of millions of dollars, and included private sector and international partners.

On Monday, Dr Minnis announced plans for a school and teacher’s duplex at a cost of $2 million, a new clinic at $2.5 million,

an administrator’s office, post office and court room at $2.5 million, and a police station and accommodations for officers for $1 million.

In his statement yesterday, Mr Cooper questioned why there was no timeline provided by Dr Minnis.

“Why must we wait for the completion of these buildings to restore school and nursing services when there are temporary facilities that can cover these? He talked about a solar generation facility by the end of the year. It will be

interesting to see who is awarded the contract to build it after the so-called RFP process,” Mr Cooper’s statement read.

“What is to be the size of this facility? How much electricity will it generate? What is it expected to power? What is the status of the school that is yet to be built?

I will start to believe it when I see shovels in the ground.

“Until then,” Mr Cooper added, “Ragged Island residents and descendants will be waiting for that apology.”

120 overseas workers coming in to install tri-fuel engines at BPL

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE government has given Finnish technology company Wartsila Oyj Abp permission to bring 120 workers to the country to install tri-fuel, high efficiency engines at Bahamas Power & Light’s Clifton Pier plant.

The Ministry of Labour consulted the Bahamas Electrical Workers Union on the matter and steps were exhausted to boost Bahamian participation in the project, government officials said.

BEWU president Paul Maynard confirmed to The Tribune that his union was consulted and approved the government’s plans. He said there are not enough locals with specialised skills to help install the engines, which weigh several hundred tons.

Works Minister Desmond Bannister said only three Bahamians responded to job advertisements for the installation project. While approval was granted for Wartsila to bring in 120 people, he said the company originally sought approval for 200 workers.

“If you are a foreign

BEWU president Paul Maynard confirmed that his union was consulted and approved the government’s plans. investor and you’re coming to do something in The Bahamas, your application comes to the National Economic Council,” he said.

“You make the application and your application to NEC says what the nature of your investment is, what the cost of your investment is, how many work permits you are going to need for their investment. For Wartsila

to put up the plant, the normal time for them is approximately a year or 18 months. They are being asked to do this work for us in about five months.

To be able to do that, they have to have certain skilled workers who have skills we don’t necessarily have available on a ready basis in the Bahamas and if we have the skills those persons are already employed.

“In Grand Bahama, for example, they would have full employment in those skills. Wartsila applied for 34 supervisors and 200 workers. Based on the government’s position, they went out and engaged a Bahamian civil contracting company and that company was able to have some of its workers do some of its work so the numbers of work permits they needed over a period of time decreased.

They’ve also spoken with BPL’s union and there are some former BPL workers with certain skills who are going to be engaged in this operation.

“But for the most part, the skills they need are not skills we have in The Bahamas and with the time period involved we can’t just open up a school and teach people these skills.

There are rolling employees involved. For example, in the first month they may need X number of welders. When those workers leave The Bahamas, then the next month, a certain number of workers with X skills come in. So over the period of that five months you got a number of workers coming in with different skills based on different stages of the construction.

To do this in five months like we told them, they have indicated the number of workers they need. The government of The Bahamas has reviewed that, looked at those special skills and we didn’t see a difficulty with that. As a result, NEC has approved their application.”

Negotiations concerning the complement of Bahamians and foreigners that will install the equipment was incomplete by the time Wartsila’s engines arrived in The Bahamas on May 7, The Tribune understands.

Mr Bannister was asked if Cabinet was aware and satisfied with the terms of the agreement BPL reached with Wartsila in March. He said: “These are corporations and the corporations have boards that are competent and make those determinations on behalf of the corporation. For example, WSC is making some multimillion dollar decisions now. They don’t come to Cabinet every stage of the way and ask us if they can engage Hot Mix. Boards make decisions within parametres that Cabinet has given them. They go ahead with what they have to do.

Otherwise it doesn’t make

sense having the board.

The government supported an agreement that BPL came to with Shell and as a part of that agreement BPL has been given leeway to do what they have to do to bring (equipment) in. The government of The Bahamas, as we do with every single applicant that comes in the country, we told (Wartsila) prove to us that you need (34 supervisors and 200 workers).”

For his part, Mr Maynard said Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis agreed to ensure Bahamians run the plant when it is completed.

“Wartsila’s proposal is that they will train our staff,” Mr Maynard said. “They will do assessments and the best of the staff will take over the plant. That’s fine. We have no problem with that.

The point and our concern is we wanted to know that Bahamians will be running the plant. With the installation process, that requires some highly specialised skills so it’s different.”

It will cost $95 million to install the 132-megawatt engines at Clifton Pier. Officials say when the plant is completed later this year, it will provide more reliable electricity supply and lower fuel charges for customers.

WOODS PRESENTS NEW AGREEMENT TO WSC

By RIEL MAJOR Tribune Staff Reporter rmajor@tribunemedia.net

WORKERS at the Water and Sewerage Corporation presented their new industrial agreement to executive management yesterday.

This follows months of standoff, strike threats and a war of words with executive chairman Adrian Gibson.

At a press conference at WSC headquarters, Dwayne Woods told reporters the union has made a few changes to the existing industrial agreement to ensure the “negotiation process runs swiftly and smoothly”.

He said: “We have proposed a reduction in the term limit to three years instead of five years. A ‘stay well’ bonus so as to increase attendance, updates of minor breaches category of discipline, additional definitions to bring clarity to cases, and an increase in

meal allowance. (Additionally) an increase in Christmas bonus, increase in salary emoluments and reductions in salary groupings.”

The BUSAWU president said the union’s main goal is to maintain workers’ current industrial benefits. Mr Woods said: “We look forward to negotiating in peace and harmony and we hope that industrial goodwill will prevail from here between both unions as we both have an expired industrial agreement and looking forward to a current one.

“This is the first step, presenting a new proposal then we look forward to them countering this proposal and then we get to the table and do business. Like I said we are looking for this to be swift and be done in record time.”

When asked about management’s issues surrounding his leave from WSC to perform union duties, Mr Woods said: “The union leave matter is a matter

now referred from the Supreme Court back to the Department of Labour for conciliation purposes.

“That meeting will be on the 3rd of June I’m told,” he said.

When asked if he were confident about the process moving swiftly, he said: “To make it simple I’ve already written the corporation and informed them I will return to work on the 3rd of June so as not to have any bone of (contention) before we start this agreement.”

Water and Sewerage Management Union president Ednel Rolle said there has been no negotiations by the corporation.

Mr Rolle said: “The corporation has continued not to negotiate at all.”

Earlier this month, Labour Minister Dion Foulkes confirmed he had signed the strike certificate for the Water and Sewerage Management Union — and therefore both Water and Sewerage

DWAYNE WOODS Corporation unions were in possession of strike certificates.

This paves the way for strike action at the water provider.

WSMU President Ednel Rolle and Bahamas Utilities Services and Allied Workers Union (BUSAWU) President Dwayne Woods held a joint press conference at the time to express thanks

to their members and the Ministry of Labour for the achievement.

The union presidents also confirmed that they both had meetings with the corporation set for May 7 to negotiate key outstanding issues.

For WSMU, this is primarily the signing of an industrial agreement. For BUSAWU, the three major issues include the “failure” of the corporation to “adhere to the promotional procedure,” WSC’s “failure” to post an organisational chart displaying which positions are filled, and the breach of an agreement that concerns union member’s leave from WSC. Mr Woods, who represents the line staff, told reporters yesterday that he is “going to the table in good faith” and with optimism.

He also said he hopes the present relationship between the union and WSC can be enhanced to the point “where the strike certificate will not have to be used”.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, May 22, 2019, PAGE 7

WOMAN FACING FIREARM CHARGE GIVEN BAIL

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net

A WOMAN charged in connection with the discovery of unlicensed firearms, ammunition and dangerous drugs at a home where three men were shot and killed by police last Friday, was granted bail in the Supreme Court yesterday. from page one “They feared for their lives and said that they would be killed because they had supported the opposition party in Nigeria,” he said.

Mr Ferguson stated the department initially started processing the asylum request for them in Freeport, but said they would have to undergo a secondary processing in New Providence by Bahamian authorities, and a report will be forwarded to the United Nations and human rights representatives.

The Africans have since been transferred to New Providence, where they are being detained at the Detention Centre.

Mr Ferguson explained they will compile a report and a determination would be made as to whether their case is legitimate.

An asylum–seeker is a person who is yet to receive a decision on his/her claim for refugee status. This term could refer to someone who has not yet applied for refugee status or someone who is awaiting feedback. Many applicants for refugee status will not be successful in attaining it, this newspaper was told.

Attempts were made to contact Supt Steve LaRoda, of the Department of Immigration’s refugee section,

Kim Smith, 57, was granted $15,000 bail with two sureties by Justice Willamae McKay. The hearing was closed to the public.

However, The Tribune understands that Smith is expected to be temporarily outfitted with an electronic monitoring device as a part of her bail agreement.

According to her attorney, Christina Galanos, the

device is to remain affixed until her client is able to surrender her passport to the court. Smith’s passport has purportedly been unaccounted for since last Friday, when police carried out their raid on the property. Once the passport is surrendered, the device will be removed and the remaining provisions will stand, The Tribune understands.

As for her three coaccused, Shaquille Molley, 19, Christina Wilson, 19, and Jane Hilton, 56, their applications for bail were not heard yesterday.

The Tribune understands the attorneys for the remaining three accused Wilver Deleveaux, the lawyer representing Wilson, and Ian Jupp, the lawyer representing Hilton and

Molley - were not able to have their clients’ bail applications fast-tracked for yesterday’s hearing.

The two were yesterday turned away from the hearing with instructions to secure a date and return to court.

Mrs Hilton was initially presented with Smith, but was ushered away by police after her attorney was

asked to leave the hearing. The group is accused of possessing two silver coloured .9mm pistols without a licence, a .45m pistol without a licence, 7.45mm ammunition and 23.2 pounds of Indian hemp with a street value of $23,200.

They have pleaded not guilty to all four charges.

Their trial is set for October 22.

We will be killed if we are sent back to Nigeria, claim 12 asylum seekers but they proved fruitless up to press time. However, according to information obtained from the Bahamas government website, the Department of Immigration assesses requests for refugee status using a process called “refugee status determination” (RSD).

This is conducted by having migrants complete the necessary forms and undergo an interview.

Research is also conducted on the individuals’

country of origin and an investigation of the migrant him/herself. At the completion of RSD phase, an assessment of the case is decided.

Mr Ferguson said that the Africans claimed they were crew members traveling to The Bahamas to join a ship that was expected to arrive in Grand Bahama.

According to initial reports, ten men and two women from Africa were taken into custody last

Thursday for overstaying their visitor status. It was reported that the nationals departed Lagos on May 2, flying to Istanbul, then on to Cuba, and finally arriving in Nassau on May 4 where they were landed for three days.

According to immigration officer Napthali Cooper, the group purported to have traveled to The Bahamas as “crew members” with the expressed intention of joining the vessel Deepwater Asgard in Freeport, Grand Bahama.

Elnet Maritime Agency Ltd was selected to have been the local agent facilitating the transaction.

However, the 12 crew members never showed up in Freeport on May 3, as scheduled and failed to contact the local shipping agency.

Immigration officials also discovered that the ship did not arrive as was anticipated

by Elnet Maritime.

Acting on information received, immigration officers proceeded to No

17 Riviera Towers in the Lucaya area where five African nationals were taken into custody after their passports revealed they had overstayed their time. Acting on further information received, they went to Holmes Rock where seven more African nationals found at an apartment and taken into custody for overstaying. It was initially believed the group was involved in a scheme to be smuggled into the US.

PATHOLOGIST CONFIRMS MAN DIED FROM SINGLE GUNSHOT

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net

A FORENSIC pathologist confirmed yesterday that a 40-year-old man shot and killed by police near Sisal Street west five years ago died from a gunshot to the head.

Dr Caryn Sands, taking the witness stand before Coroner Jeanine Weech Gomez, said Andrew Stubbs died as the result of injuries associated with a single gunshot wound to the front, left side of his head sustained during his encounter with officers in 2014.

According to the evidence led during the inquest, the bullet

travelled from the left side of Stubbs’ scalp, across his frontal temporal lobe to the right side of his head where it exited the man’s body.

She said the trajectory of the bullet resulted in a fractured skull, fractures along the base of the skull and bleeding along that path.

Dr Sands further noted, based on the evidence gathered from her examinations of the deceased and his clothing, there was no evidence of gunpowder residue near the entrance wound or the grey hooded sweatshirt Stubbs was wearing when he was shot - suggesting he was not shot at close range.

However, she said the finding doesn’t completely

rule out the presence of residue on the sweatshirt, but rather that if it was present, it was too small to be picked up by her review.

Further to this, she maintained that the wound showed no source of gunshot residue.

Dr Sands said gunshots fired within three feet of its target normally leaves behind residue, while wounds inflicted by gunshots fired beyond three feet are, often, residue free.

Stubbs was fatally shot

by Officer Kevin Deveaux after he reportedly was led out of the Backyard Restaurant by police for smoking a joint inside the establishment.

Rovan Damian Carey, a

SEVEN FOREIGN NATIONALS FINED FOR OVERSTAYING

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net

SEVEN foreign nationals - four Brazilians, two Jamaicans and one Haitian - were convicted and fined for overstaying in three separate cases yesterday.

In the first matter, Mourice Bearkley Haire, 42, and Patrick Williams, 42, both of Jamaica, pleaded guilty to the offence and were fined $2,000 and $1,500 respectively or six months each in prison.

The men, represented by attorney Bjorn Ferguson, were discovered in a Carmichael Road apartment during a joint operation by police and immigration officers.

Haire, found asleep in a bedroom in the apartment, overstayed his permitted allowance by eight months, while Williams, who was discovered hiding in a bathtub in that same apartment, overstayed his specified period of stay by around four months.

The men, in their addresses to the court through their attorney, apologised for their actions and begged the court for

leniency. After hearing the pleas of both men, Senior Magistrate Carolyn VogtEvans handed down her ruling and ordered the men turned over to immigration officials for deportation after either their fines are paid or sentencing is served.

In the second matter, Lucus Alves de Oliveira, 28, Lucus Magalhaes, 22, Almeira de Silva, 47 and Fillemom Carilliho de Lima, 37, all of Brazil, pleaded guilty to the offence of overstaying.

The men were reportedly found in breech of their authorised periods of stay during a joint operation in South Bimini earlier this month.

At their arraignment yesterday, the men all indicated that they were unaware of Bahamian laws and did not intend to break them.

After hearing their pleas through an interpreter, Senior Magistrate Vogt-Evans fined Alves de Oliveira, Magalhaes and de Silva $1,500 each or six months in prison. As for de Lima, he was fined $500 or two months for his offence.

In the last matter

before Senior Magistrate Vogt-Evans yesterday, Edzet Honora, 35, of Haiti, pleaded guilty to overstaying.

Honora, according to court dockets, was found in South Bimini during that same joint operation that netted the four Brazilians.

Honora told the court that he was en route from Haiti to Brazil, via the Bahamas, to meet up with his wife and kids.

At the time of his arrest, he claimed he was waiting to receive some money promised to him to assist with buying the second portion of his airline ticket – from the Bahamas to Brazil. Honora told the court he never intended to remain in the Bahamas long-term, but ended up stuck due to financial issues.

He was fined $500 or two months in prison.

The men were ordered to be turned over to the Department of Immigration after either paying their respective fines or serving out their sentences.

Immigration officers Avia Beckford and Shandeshia Marshall prosecuted the matters.

police officer who testified in the case last week, said he escorted the deceased from the bar when he became disorderly.

He said once on the outside, Stubbs became even more unruly, ultimately leaving the properly altogether and returning roughly 20 minutes later with a firearm.

Further testimony by Officer Carey suggested that after Stubbs left, he and several other officers stood around outside talking for about 20 minutes when someone in the group shouted “watch out”.

Officer Carey said he then saw a man with an object that appeared to be a gun.

He said Officer Deveaux then shouted “police” and demanded the suspect drop the object.

He testified he heard about five or six gunshots.

Stubbs died a short distance away from the establishment, eventually collapsing on the driveway of a home a few properties away.

First response officers yesterday testified that they met Officer Deveaux standing over the deceased once they arrived at the scene.

Assistant Superintendent Alexander Pierre and Police Corporal Dion McPhee said shortly after arriving at the scene, they met with Officer Deveaux who had briefed them on the incident.

Specifically, ASP Pierre

said he radioed in emergency medical services to render assistance to the deceased and additional officers to help secure the scene.

He said after it was determined that Stubbs was dead, he, along with other officers, led the transport of Stubbs’ remains to the morgue for further identification.

ASP Pierre said it was at the location that he identified a gunshot wound to the left side of the victim’s head.

Officer Deveaux is represented by K Melvin Munroe, while no lawyer represents the deceased or his family.

Anishka Missick is marshalling the case.

PAGE 8, Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Y

ESTERDAY was World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development which is promoted by UNESCO. It was focused on recognising and celebrating heterogenous societies, comprised of different ethnicities and cultures. This has not been our strong suit. We have not proven ourselves to be particularly welcoming or respectful of differences. There is a tendency to magnify differences and use them to create issues. We often think of culture as synonymous with nationality, but cultures exists within any form of human society. Is there a Freeport culture and a Nassau culture? A Family Island culture?

Sometimes the same social behaviour is given different names depending on where they occur and how they are formalised. What is the difference between “community watch” and “nosiness?” As Muslim people in The Bahamas observe Ramadan, support one another through strict fasting and receive support from non-Muslims, do we see the markers of a culture?

There are some cultural attributes we are happy to own, others we blame on particular groups of people.

It is interesting to delve into where particular practices originate, how they evolve and who continues to participate in any form. It is also fascinating to engage in conversations about what culture is, trying to identify the markers of Bahamian culture. Some argue there is no Bahamian culture, many reduce it to peas ‘n’

“

THE TRIBUNE

We are who we are but should always work together The

Alicia Wallace

column

rice, fried fish, Junkanoo and drinking rum. Others insist there is much more to Bahamian culture, but we do not recognise it, want to admit it, or bother to understand it.

Is the fear that we do not have a culture, are losing this culture, or will see it evolve as it is influenced by other cultures driving our opposition to, for example, Carnival? Does it feed the particular brand of xenophobia reserved for use against Haitians? World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development came just days after Haitian Flag Day, so I could not help but make the connection. It was clear some Bahamians felt threatened by this one day for Haitians

to be in community with one another in celebration of a rich, shared history.

Some dared to say Haitians have nothing to celebrate, and should save their money to make the country a better place and return to it. There are few activities more pathetic than trying to steal other people’s joy, especially when such joy seems to be in short supply. It is no secret we have our issues in The Bahamas, and many Bahamians continue to travel, shop, buy coffee and block traffic to buy Independence gear when that time of year rolls around. There is still something to be proud of, something to celebrate, and something to work toward, together.

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THE BAHAMAS Carnival earlier this year.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff WE SPEND far too much time in traffic. Everyone knows it, complains about it and searches for ways around it, mostly in vain.

We want improvements.

Not only do we want the roads to be properly paved, but an end to the cycle of public utility companies digging, leaving craters for weeks, and being forced to navigate around them until they are filled well enough to solve the problem until it rains. We want traffic lights to have appropriate timing to allow for better flow of traffic. We want them to be solar powered so major intersections, like the one at the East-West Highway and Robinson Road, do not require the supernatural or police officers to allow traffic to flow. It would be great to spend less money on tyres, shocks and tie rod ends. Given this, it is not shocking the response to the prime minister’s plan for road improvement, shared in his national address, received mixed reviews.

Road works interrupt the regular flow of traffic and business. Though we know improvement is on the way, the inconvenience we experience during the interim is vexing. The Ingraham-led FNM administration was determined to solve traffic problems with its road improvement project that drew criticism for the entire period, but was appreciated at the end. Toward the end of its last term, the PLP got to work on sidewalks, leaving many to wonder why it suddenly became a priority issue. Was it to increase the number of jobs created, or a response to the needs of pedestrians? It may seem strange to complain about these infrastructural developments, but we have good reason to be sceptical. Projects are not always well-managed or well-intentioned, and they are almost always directly related to where we are in the political term and how the administration is faring in

Here we go again and it drives us crazy popularity and satisfaction.

To say the Bahamian people are dissatisfied would be an understatement.

The roads are in terrible shape. We should not have to memorize the condition of frequently-travelled roads to avoid dropping in holes. Yes, we need better roads, but many of us are not going to celebrate this announcement for various reasons. This is not a favour. One of the government’s most basic functions is to produce and make improvements upon systems and infrastructure that facilitate social and economic function. We have other pressing needs, like an overhaul to the education system which needs to be more responsive both to student needs and the environment they are being trained to enter. We need to be able to access medical services, medication, and prescribed treatment and therapy, regardless of income level. We need to be able to get from one place

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ROADWORKS on East Bay Street late last year.

to the next - and that brings us back to roads and traffic.

In addition to improving our roads, we need to think about what happens to them after they are cut, paved, and repaved. What happens when a utility company needs to, quite literally, dig in? What is the plan to avoid the regular destruction of the roads we have to overhaul decade after decade? What do they need to do different? Is there a better way to fill those holes if they must (and this is hard to be believe) be made? There is little point to these road improvement projects if we have to keep spending millions of dollars on another one in a few short years, plus the cost to the public and to individuals during the time between those projects.

There is more to discuss, strategize and action concerning the condition of the roads and traffic. We have been talking about the number of cars in Nassau for years. Many car-owners would rather not drive, but there is no other option.

Public transportation leaves much to be desired, from hours of operation and schedules to safety and regular deviations from the routes. Traffic police are needed in some places, even where traffic controls are in place, to help traffic to flow better while they make it much worse in others.

When will there be a comprehensive assessment with reasonable, effective recommendations? We will not benefit from expensive, one-sided fixes that are, at best, short-term. There is more to be done than paving roads

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, May 22, 2019, PAGE 9

Stanford students developed a doglike robot that can navigate tough terrain

P

UTTING their own twist on robots that amble through complicated landscapes, the Stanford Student Robotics club’s Extreme Mobility team has developed a fourlegged robot that is not only capable of performing acrobatic tricks and traversing challenging terrain but is also designed with reproducibility in mind. Anyone who wants their own version of the robot, dubbed Stanford Doggo, can consult comprehensive plans, code and a supply list that the students have made freely available online.

“We had seen these other quadruped robots used in research, but they weren’t something that you could bring into your own lab and use for your own projects,” said Nathan Kau, 20, a mechanical engineering major and lead for Extreme Mobility. “We wanted Stanford Doggo to be this open source robot that you could build yourself on a relatively small budget.”

Whereas other similar robots can cost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars and require customised parts, the Extreme Mobility students estimate the cost of Stanford Doggo at less than $3,000 – including manufacturing and shipping costs – and nearly all the components can be bought as-is online. They hope the accessibility of these resources inspires a community of Stanford Doggo makers and researchers who develop innovative and meaningful spinoffs from their work.

Already Stanford Doggo can walk, trot, dance, hop, jump and perform the occasional backflip. The students are working on a larger version of their creation – which is currently about the size of a beagle – but will take a short break to present Stanford Doggo at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation in Montreal, Canada.

In order to make Stanford Doggo replicable, the students built it from scratch.

This meant spending a lot

of time researching easily attainable supplies and testing each part as they made it, without relying on simulations.

“It’s been about two years since we first had the idea to make a quadruped. We’ve definitely made several prototypes before we actually started working on this iteration of the dog,” said Natalie Ferrante, 19, a mechanical engineering coterminal student and Extreme Mobility Team member. “It was very exciting the first time we got him to walk.”

Stanford Doggo’s first steps were admittedly toddling, but now the robot can maintain a consistent gait and desired trajectory, even as it encounters different terrains. It does this with the help of motors that sense external forces on the robot and determine how much force and torque each leg should apply in response.

These motors recompute at 8,000 times a second and are essential to the robot’s signature dance: a bouncy boogie that hides the fact that it

has no springs. Instead, the motors act like a system of virtual springs, smoothly but perkily rebounding the robot into proper form whenever they sense it’s out of position.

Among the skills and tricks the team added to the robot’s repertoire, the students were exceptionally surprised at its jumping prowess. Running Stanford Doggo through its paces one (very) early morning in the lab, the team realised it was effortlessly popping up two feet in the air. By pushing the limits of the robot’s software, Stanford Doggo was able to jump three, then 3½ feet off the ground.

“This was when we realised that the robot was, in some respects, higher performing than other quadruped robots used in research, even though it was really low cost,” recalled Kau. Since then, the students have taught Stanford Doggo to do a backflip – but always on padding to allow for rapid trial and error experimentation.

If these students have it

their way, the future of Stanford Doggo in the hands of the masses.

“We’re hoping to provide a baseline system that anyone could build,” said Patrick Slade, graduate student in aeronautics and astronautics and mentor for Extreme Mobility. “Say, for example, you wanted to work on search and rescue; you could outfit it with sensors and write code on top of ours that would let it climb rock piles or excavate through caves. Or maybe it’s picking up stuff with an arm or carrying a package.”

That’s not to say they aren’t continuing their own work. Extreme Mobility is collaborating with the Robotic Exploration Lab of Zachary Manchester, assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics, to test new control systems on a second Stanford Doggo. The team has also finished constructing a robot twice the size of Stanford Doggo that can carry about six kilograms of equipment. Its name is Stanford Woofer.

Everything stays the same: Standard measurement units redefined SCALES aren’t changing and the weather won’t be noticeably different, but the definitions that underlie what your scale and thermometer report – along with standard definitions used in chemistry and electronics – are undergoing a major overhaul. That’s the date that a more-than-centuries-long process of standardising measurements reaches its conclusion.

At that time, the way we define an amount of light or electrical current – along with the more familiar measurements of volume and mass – will all be based on descriptions that could be replicated by anyone not just on Earth but in galaxies far, far away.

“Nothing changes and everything changes,” said Marc Salit, who helped define these measurements – known as the International System of Units, or SI units – at the National Institute of Standards and Technology for 28 years.

He now directs an effort to apply similar rigor to definitions of biological measurements. That effort, called the Joint Initiative

NIST’s platinum-iridium kilogram K92 (front) with stainless-steel ground. for Metrology in Biology, yes, Ukraine voting yes and or JIMB (pronounced Jim- China voting yes. All voting Bee), was founded by NIST yes to adopt the resolution and Stanford in 2014 and is that redefines the SI,” Salit now part of SLAC National said.

Accelerator Laboratory.

He equates metrology Salit said Monday’s with kids trying to equally changes will be invisible to share a chocolate bar. “We most people but represent each have an innate sense a major change in the field of justice and fairness,” he of metrology. He was at said. “This redefined SI is the meeting in November how we share. It’s the basis where the assembled inter- for trade. It’s the basis for national representatives equity. It’s the basis for voted to adopt the proposed knowledge that is quantitachanges. tive and interoperable and “It was cool to see the US communicable.” voting yes, Russia voting The international effort

kilogram masses in the backPhoto: JL Lee/NIST to standardize measurements began with a treaty in 1875, when countries recognised the need for a consistent way of measuring products for trade.

One early outcome was a standardised kilogram created in 1889 and housed in an underground bunker outside Paris, known as Le Grand Kilo or Le Grand K. Copies exist around the world, but Le Grand K, protected with three sets of keys, set the standard.

Now, a kilogram, like each of the seven base units

of measure, will hinge on unchanging properties of nature – the speed of light, the wavelength of known atoms – and all other measurements build on those.

“This represents centuries of work bringing us together to share in a quantitative and repeatable, reproducible, precise manner,” Salit said. “That redefinition makes it so that those units are coupled through a harmonious system that could be beamed into space.”

To promote their effort, NIST has created superhero personas for each base unit of measure, all united around a common villain – Major Uncertainty (its symbol: the question mark).

Salit’s work at JIMB focuses on trying to bring the same absolute specificity to biology. “How do you sequence something in Canada and I sequence it here and how do we compare? How do we make sure we got it right?” he asked.

Salit helped devise standardised controls for measuring the activity of genes and is looking at standardising descriptions of how scientists measure protein levels.

• POSTAL Service tests mail shipments on self-driving trucks PHOENIX (AP) — A self-driving truck company has partnered with the US Postal Service to test autonomous technology on the long-haul route between Phoenix and Dallas.

San Diego-based TuSimple is planning for two autonomous trucks to carry mail and parcels on five round trips between the Postal Service distribution centers in the two cities starting yesterday.

TuSimple says a safety engineer and driver will be on board to monitor the trucks during the two-week pilot programme.

The trucks use a camera system allowing the vehicles to view about 3,280 feet ahead.

The company says the Postal Service has contracted TuSimple to examine if the technology could reduce fuel costs, increase safety and improve fleet operation.

• TECH is vital element in search for missing Hawaii woman WAILUKU, Hawaii (AP) — Technology is becoming a vital element in the search for a woman who went missing in a rural Hawaii forest.

Volunteers searching for 35-year-old Amanda Heller are employing GPS devices and computers with live feeds and real-time data from the parking lot of the Makawao Forest Reserve on Maui, The Maui News reported on Monday.

There is no evidence of foul play, but police said they continue to investigate.

Eller, who was last seen May 8, is believed to be lost in the reserve near her home in Haiku, where her vehicle was found. Friends have said she liked to run and hike.

Chris Berquist and others have coordinated the search by deploying volunteers with GPS apps for iPhones and Android devices.

“They come back to base, upload that data, and five minutes later it’s on our live screen,” Berquist said.

As the search for the physical therapist entered Day 11 on Sunday, the focus was on filling the live map with GPS search information.

The map showed areas saturated by searchers and others needing coverage in to fill the search perimeter around the spot where Eller’s vehicle was recovered, Berquist said.

Search leaders are equipped with iPads, laptops and smartphones, while whiteboards and paper charts are used to track volunteers and contact information for drivers and commercial drone operators.

Family and friends have also relied on Facebook to gather and distribute information. Sarah Haynes emphasised the need for video from the area beginning May 8.

“There’s never enough footage,” she said.

PAGE 10, Wednesday, May 22, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

ACROSS US, ACTIVISTS PROTEST NEW WAVE OF ABORTION BANS Associated Press

At the US Supreme Court, statehouses and other sites across the nation, abortion rights supporters held rallies yesterday in opposition to the wave of sweeping abortion bans being enacted this year in Midwestern and Southern states. Organisers — including Planned Parenthood, NARAL Pro-Choice America and the American Civil Liberties Union — predicted tens of thousands of people would attend hundreds of events scheduled in all 50 states.

The “National Day of Action to

Stop the Bans” came in response a near-total ban on abortion recently signed into law in Alabama, as well as bills enacted or nearing passage in Mississippi, Kentucky, Ohio, Georgia and Louisiana aimed at banning abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected. That can happen in the sixth week of pregnancy, before many women know they’re pregnant. Missouri lawmakers have passed an eight-week ban.

None of the laws has taken effect, and all will likely be blocked while legal challenges play out. Ban supporters hope one or more of the measures might

ACTIVISTS gather in the Utah

reach the Supreme Court and possibly trigger reversal of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide.

In Washington, a demonstration outside the Supreme Court drew hundreds of protesters and several Democratic presidential candidates. Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, in addition to Reps. Eric Swalwell of California and Tim Ryan of Ohio, were among the attendees as multiple members of Congress spoke to a crowd that hoisted signs defending abortion rights.

TARANTINO BACK WITH A FAIRYTALE CANNES Associated Press

SOME 25 years after premiering Pulp Fiction in Cannes, Quentin Tarantino returned to the French film festival with neither great vengeance nor furious anger but a gentler fairytale about 1960s Los Angeles.

Once Upon a Time In...Hollywood made its debut yesterday in Cannes where the film’s two stars, Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio, brought some old-school Hollywood glamour to the red carpet in Cannes.

Though set against the backdrop of the Manson Family murders, much of Tarantino’s film is invested in recapturing the radiance of a bygone Hollywood.

BRAD PITT, far left, Leonardo DiCaprio, director Quentin Tarantino and actress Margot Robbie pictured ahead of the premiere of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in Cannes yesterday.

Tornadoes batter US but St Louis spared ST LOUIS Associated Press A DANGEROUS storm system in the Midwest produced dozens of tornadoes for the second consecutive day yesterday, demolishing a racetrack grandstand and damaging buildings in a wild animal park in Missouri but sparing St Louis, the biggest city in its path.

Two deaths, both in Missouri, were blamed on the severe weather that started in the Southern Plains on Monday night and moved to the northeast. Missouri and parts of Illinois and Arkansas were in the crosshairs yesterday. Today, the storm will move into Great Lakes region, where it will weaken. But another storm system was gathering steam for later this week, potentially covering an area from Texas to Chicago, according to the National Weather Service.

The skies grew dark over St Louis before nightfall and a tornado warning was issued for the city and surrounding suburbs, but the storm

A STORM-damagerd house in Oklahoma passed overhead without producing the rotation that often spawns tornadoes and the city was mostly spared except for heavy rain.

“The danger has passed for the St. Louis area,” said National Weather Service St. Louis meteorologist Jason Gasselin said.

The NWS Storm Prediction Center website listed 37 reports of tornadoes yesterday in Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.

A tornado near Tulsa International Airport injured one person

and damaged about a dozen homes.

The airport was unscathed, but passengers were moved into shelters for about 30 minutes and several flights were delayed.

Tulsa Area Emergency Management spokeswoman Kim MacLeod said crews rescued a man who was pinned under a tree. In Arkansas, crews were working to free a woman trapped under a tree topped by strong winds. Arkansas Department of Emergency Management spokeswoman Melody Daniel said the woman was alert and talking.

Storms on Monday evening flipped campers at Lucas Oil Speedway in Hickory County, Missouri, injuring seven people, four of whom were taken to hospitals.

The speedway’s grandstand also was destroyed, forcing cancellation of racing this weekend that was expected to draw about 3,000 campers.

Another twister hit a hit a drivethru wild animal park in southern Missouri. Webster County Emergency Management Director Tom

Simmons said buildings were damaged at the Wild Animal Safari near Strafford, but there were no reports that people or animals were injured. All of the animals were accounted for.

Simmons said about a half-dozen homes were damaged in the county.

A tractor-trailer was blown off a highway.

Heavy rain was called a contributing factor in the deaths of two people in a traffic accident near Springfield, Missouri. The Missouri State Highway Patrol said an SUV skidded across the center of U.S. 160 and struck a tractortrailer, killing both people in the SUV, Brandon Beasley, 23, and his 24-year-old wife, Christin, of Willard, Missouri.

Missouri authorities also reported several water rescues from flash flooding. Among them was an 18-year-old woman who was swept off a flooded road near Joplin and stranded overnight until nearby residents heard her yelling. She had only minor injuries.

MEXICO CONSIDERS BUILDING EX-PRESIDENT IN COURT - BUT NEW IMMIGRATION FACILITIES STILL PLANNING ELECTION BID MEXICO CITY Associated Press

MEXICO is studying a change in the way it handles migrants who have been overwhelming its facilities near the border with Guatemala, and may try to keep more of them in newly constructed voluntary shelters rather than in detention facilities.

Tonatiuh Guillén, director of the National Immigration Institute, said that migrants requesting asylum or certain other visas would be free to come and go from the shelters. He said the first such shelter would be built in Chiapas near the southern border.

Guillén said officials are looking at a 37-acre property in Tapachula.

“If everything goes well, in the second half of the year we would begin design and hopefully construction of the new facility that is more like a shelter and not confinement, coexistence and not control,” he said.

Mexico has been overwhelmed in recent months by the flow of USbound migrants, especially Central American families with children,

many of whom have travelled in caravans.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has insisted that his main strategy to deal with migration is to improve conditions in migrants’ countries of origin so they don’t feel compelled to leave. However, detentions and deportations in Mexico are up 150 percent so far this year.

Mexico’s efforts did not appear to immediately appease President Donald Trump, who unleashed a broadside on Twitter yesterday.

Trump wrote that he was “very disappointed that Mexico is doing virtually nothing to stop illegal immigrants from coming to our Southern Border” and added that “Mexico is wrong and I will soon be giving a response!”

It was not clear what precisely triggered Trump’s tweet. White House officials said no announcement was scheduled.

Guillén did not provide many details for the plan but said the idea is to reduce the number of immigrant detention centers — there are now more than 50 — and reserve them for migrants who are awaiting deportation.

BUENOS AIRES Associated Press

ARGENTINA’S former President Cristina Fernández appeared in court yesterday for the first in a series of corruption trials ahead of a planned run for the vice presidency.

The trial comes just days after Fernández surprised Argentines by announcing that she would seek the vice presidency, with her former Cabinet chief Alberto Fernández at the top of the ticket.

She had been expected to run directly against conservative President Mauricio Macri during the October election.

Security agents cordoned off the federal courtroom in Buenos Aires as Fernández arrived to face charges of heading “an illegal association” for embezzlement involving public works projects during her 2007-2015 presidency.

She denies any wrongdoing and she remains a highly popular if divisive figure among Argentines.

“A new trial where I should have never been summoned is beginning,” Fernández said on Twitter. “This is a new act of

ARGENTINA’s former President Cristina Fernández persecution with only one goal: to place a former president who opposes the current government in the defendant’s bench during a presidential campaign.”

At the courtroom, she listened to the charges against her while she sat next to her attorney, but she did not comment. Politicians, union leaders and human rights leaders supporting her sat nearby separated by a glass panel. Outside, dozens of sympathisers chanted her name and waved national flags in sky-blue and white.

NORTH KOREA WARNS US OVER SHIP SEIZURE Associated Press NORTH Korea’s UN ambassador said yesterday the Trump administration should consider the possible consequences that the recent US seizure of a North Korean cargo ship could have on relations between the two countries and immediately return the vessel. Kim Song said at a news conference the “outrageous act” of seizing the ship was aimed at bringing maximum pressure on North Korea to make it “kneel down”.

The vessel Wise Honest, North Korea’s second largest cargo ship, was first detained in April 2018 by Indonesia while transporting a large amount of coal.

The US.announced on May 9 that it had seized the ship because it was carrying coal in violation of UN sanctions, a first-of-its kind enforcement action that came amid a tense moment in relations with North Korea.

The ambassador said the seizure was an “outright denial of the underlying spirit” of the June 12, 2018, joint statement by President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un after their first summit in Singapore “which committed to establishing new bilateral relations.” At the summit, Trump promised “security guarantees” to Pyongyang and Kim recommitted to the “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

A second high-stakes summit between the two leaders in February collapsed over mismatched demands in sanctions relief and disarmament. The United States has urged allies to maintain economic pressure on North Korea until it takes material steps toward relinquishing its nuclear weapons.

The North Korean leader has since aired his displeasure with short-range missile tests apparently aimed at pressuring Washington and Seoul, and declared that the Trump administration has until the end of the year to come up with mutually acceptable terms for a deal to salvage the negotiations.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, May 22, 2019, PAGE 11

How Ardastra is putting a kestrel back in the sky IT takes roughly five minutes and some prompting for the American kestrel – a small, colourful falcon –to realise it’s free. Discovered around two weeks ago flapping on the ground, a do-gooder brought the young bird to Ardastra Gardens, Zoo & Conservation Centre believing it to be lacking the flight and survival skills that it would have been taught by its parents had it not fallen from its nest.

“Ideally you want these birds to stay in their natural ecosystem. Not all of them are going to survive but that’s part of nature.

We want to let nature do the picking and choosing as much as possible,” said Bonnie Young, Ardastra’s animal curator.

Of the 14 kestrels the centre took in this month, three have become permanent residents, four have been released and the rest are receiving care. If history repeats itself, up next will be an influx of mockingbirds and flycatchers, followed by white-crowned pigeons, a species classified as “near threatened” by The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Spring brings new life and with it a busy season for animal rescue and rehabilitation at Ardastra, reinforcing the conservation mandate that is a part of its name. Its highly trained staff is largely called upon to rescue snakes and birds.

Just that morning Ms Young undertook a catch and release of a five-foot Bahamian boa constrictor which had somehow entered a home on Prospect

FORMER TRIBUNE MAN HELPS TELL SINISTER MURDER STORY ONE of Nassau’s most sinister murder plots is to feature in a Sky TV documentary later this year.

Depraved killer Sante Kimes allegedly drowned Indian banker Syed Bilal Ahmed in her Cable Beach home in 1996. She and her son Kenny - known to US police as “Mommie and Clyde” - then fled to embark on a con-and-kill spree across the United States, culminating in the murder of New York socialite Irene Silverman.

The two were each sentenced to more than 120 years in prison without parole, with Sante Kimes described by a judge as “the most degenerate person I’ve ever met.”

Their story is to feature in a British TV series about the world’s most evil killers.

Among those discussing the case will be former Tribune Managing Editor John Marquis, who met Sante Kimes in a top security women’s prison in New York state eight years ago.

She had invited him to visit her while she was petitioning for a retrial.

The veteran newsman later wrote about their three-hour encounter in his book, Evil and Son, which also discussed the odd relationship between the mother and son.

Kenny Kimes attended St Andrew’s School in Nassau during their four-year stay in the Bahamas between 1992-1996. The family lived in a single-storey home next to Sulgrave Manor.

During their crime spree, Kenny served as Sante’s hitman and shot dead family friend David Kazdin in a dispute over a mortgage fraud.

The drowning of Mr Ahmed

STORYTELLER: John Marquis occurred after he arrived in Nassau to investigate irregularities linked to the bank account of Sante’s late ‘husband’, Ken Kimes, Sr. It was never established if they were officially married.

Sante kept Ken Sr “financially alive” after he died mysteriously in 1994. She used his credit cards to finance her lifestyle as she and Kenny embarked on their criminal ventures.

Mr Marquis said: “Sante never confessed to anything apart from stealing lipstick when she was young, but the evidence against her was pretty compelling.”

She died in her cell in 2014, aged 79. Kenny is in a Californian prison.

Last year, Mr Marquis appeared in a Yesterday Channel documentary about the murder of Sir Harry Oakes in Nassau in 1943.

He wrote a book about the case, Blood and Fire, which became an Amazon Canada bestseller and was listed by the Wall Street Journal among the top five books in its genre.

He is now writing a sequel, with new evidence from sources in The Bahamas.

Ridge and tangled itself underneath a bathroom sink.

She keeps a pillowcase in her car for that very purpose.

Tie the end and it’s a nifty container for transporting unwanted, reptilian intruders away from civilisation to uninhabited and undisclosed locations.

Ardastra lacks the resources and funds to take on every animal in need.

The expense associated with caring for each temporary boarder varies. In general, it costs a minimum $5 per day to

feed and care for them. The price goes up if the animal requires medication and ongoing veterinary care.

A single vet visit ranges from $15-$80 per animal, x-rays cost $25, if necessary. Some animals could require specialised food or round the clock care.

Although it’s a costly undertaking, Ardastra pays out of pocket for all animals in its care including food and veterinary services for temporary boarders recovering from injuries, waiting to be released back into the wild.