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VOLUME:115 No.49, FEBRUARY 1ST, 2018
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Jean Rony’s ruling impacts thousands
By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net
ATTORNEY Fred Smith believes the landmark Supreme Court ruling on Bahamas-born deportee Jean Rony Jean-Charles has now paved the way for people born in the Bahamas to non-nationals to seek protection from unlawful expulsion. Mr Smith called on the government to immediately begin the process of repatriating to the Bahamas the “thousands” of persons born in the Bahamas who have been unconstitutionally expelled. However, the outspoken QC told The Tribune he
had little faith in the government’s intent to adhere to legal precedent set by Supreme Court judgments given its track record. Mr Smith said the failure of successive governments to apply the principles espoused by the courts across a wide crosssection of national issues has severely hampered the development of good governance. “There is an unfortunate and long history of the government not respecting judgments issued by the Supreme Court,” he said. “Secondly there is a further issue, and that is if they do respect the ruling of the court, they don’t apply it to SEE PAGE SIX
AS HE confirmed plans to speedily facilitate Bahamas-born deportee Jean Rony Jean-Charles’ return to the country, Minister of Immigration Brent Symonette yesterday said his case will bring the longstanding issue of fraudulent documentation to the forefront. Mr Symonette made clear he was not seeking to establish the fraud issue as relevant to Mr JeanCharles’ matter, or speaking directly to his case because he had not yet reviewed the matter fully.
However, he said there was an “overriding provision” that being born in the country did not mandate automatic citizenship, and noted Mr Jean-Charles had never applied for citizenship previously. Mr Symonette pointed to draft regulations for the Carmichael Road Detention Centre and foreshadowed amendments to the Immigration Act during an interview outside the House of Assembly yesterday. “No,” Mr Symonette when asked whether the ruling signalled imminent changes to deportation practices. SEE PAGE SIX
By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net A 42-YEAR-OLD man was arraigned in Abaco’s Magistrate’s Court yesterday on ten counts of arson related to Sunday’s destructive fire in The Mud shantytown. Albury Alfred was not required to enter a plea and his matter was adjourned to March 15, police said in a statement.
PROMOTIONS RATE SOARED UNDER PLP
PUBLIC sector promotions increased by 233 percent from 2014 to 2016 under the Christie administration, according to a Public Service Commission report that says promotions are too often recommended even when vacancies do not exist. SEE PAGE 11
PAYOUTS PUT NIB $13M IN THE RED
TEARS OF BREANNA ACCUSED DERVINIQUE EDWARDS, one of six female suspects charged with the murder of Breanna Mackey, arrives at court in tears yesterday. See page three. Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune staff
MANAGER SUES SCOTIA FOR $2.4M
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
SCOTIABANK (Bahamas) has been hit with a $2.4 million wrongful dismissal claim from an ex-manager of its “flagship” branch, who claims he was forced out after being identified as “a problem”. Darron Bowe, who headed its Rawson Square outlet, is alleging that the bank moved to push him out after he objected to a performance review (PAR) that failed to account for the impact of a 16-month construction project on his branch’s operations. Claiming that this exposed both staff and customers “to potentially hazardous materials, including asbestos”, Mr Bowe said his refusal to participate in a scheme where
WWW.BURGERKING.BS
THE MUD INFERNO: SUSPECT CHARGED
SEE PAGE FIVE
FRAUDULENT PAPERS NOW CENTRAL ISSUE By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net
L SOUR CE
Scotiabank (Bahamas) staff sold customers “products they did not necessarily need” also contributed to his demise. Mr Bowe’s ‘statement of claim’, filed on January 30, 2018, alleges: “The plaintiff was constructively dismissed by the defendant [Scotiabank] in August 2016 on the basis that he had become a ‘problem’ to the defendant by refusing to partake in a scheme whereby unsuspecting customers... were sold financial products they did not need.” He claimed this was tied to a staff compensation arrangement where employees would be paid “based on the marketing of units..... in order to meet unrealistic sales goals”. SEE BUSINESS SECTION
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Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE growing threat to the National Insurance Board’s (NIB) future viability has been underscored by the $13.4 million ‘deficit’ between income and benefits payouts in 2016. NIB’s annual report for that year, tabled in Parliament yesterday, revealed that it suffered the largest decrease in annual social security contributions for nine years despite the mid-year wage ceiling increase.
SEE BUSINESS SECTION
THE BUCKET LIST – IS IT REALLY ALL IT’S HYPED UP TO BE?
SEE PAGE NINE
PAGE 2, Thursday, February 1, 2018
THE TRIBUNE
HANNA MARTIN NAMED AND SUSPENDED FROM THE HOUSE By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net
HOUSE Speaker Halson Moultrie yesterday named Glenys Hanna Martin and ultimately suspended the Englerston MP from the House of Assembly after she abruptly left the lower chamber while being reprimanded for her behaviour during parliamentary sessions. She was backed by Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador MP Philip “Brave” Davis and Exuma and Ragged Island MP Chester Cooper who followed her departure as a sign of solidarity. The shocking scene in Parliament came after a heated exchange between Mrs Hanna Martin and the Speaker over comments she made last week in reference to two Eleuthera airport workers who were fired. These comments were ultimately expunged from the House’s records. She said the record did not reflect comments that Speaker Moultrie had attributed to her. At one point Mrs Hanna Martin accused the Speaker of an “ambush” and further insisted she was being “targeted” after the Speaker made it known that his investigations led him to review not only the Hansard, which is the official
MP backed by ‘Brave’ Davis and Chester Cooper transcript of the House, but ZNS tapes of her during numerous sessions. The Speaker also on several occasions struck from the record comments from Mr Davis who was adamant that Mrs Hanna Martin was being treated unfairly and should have been informed of the depth of the investigations into this matter. Responding, Speaker Moultrie said: “Sometimes in life you have to understand that for every action is an equal opposite reaction.” However, before he could complete his statement, Mrs Hanna Martin gathered her belongings and left the chamber. “The member for Englerston, Glenys Hanna Martin is named by this chair . . .” he continued. It was at this point when both Mr Davis and Mr Cooper also gathered their belongings and exited the lower chamber. The Speaker continued: “A decision on the period of the suspension of the member for Englerston will be determined and this Parliament will be informed. “Sergeant at arms is notified that the member for Englerston is hereby suspended and the member
is not entitled to enter the precincts until otherwise determined by the House and this chair.” This is the second time this MP was named. The first time took place under the last Ingraham administration. Following this, the three opposition members spoke to reporters outside Parliament, where Mr Davis said he was “sorely disappointed” with the conduct of the Speaker. He said the Speaker’s actions were “unfair”.
Character “I was astounded to hear the Speaker admit that he went into an inquiry concerning the member without even allowing the member to know about the inquiry and then to make conclusions that adversely affected her character, reputation and even standing in the member’s community,” Mr Davis told reporters gathered outside the House. “And did not even give her an opportunity to at least know that he was embarking on that inquiry to try to appreciate why
ENGLERSTON MP Glenys Hanna Martin speaks in the House of Assembly as Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador MP Philip ‘Brave’ Davis and Exuma and Ragged Island MP Chester Cooper look on. he was embarking on that inquiry and then at least say to her having looked at this, this is what I am minded to do. But to ambush her in Parliament the way he did, it’s despicable.” Asked whether all opposition members would boycott House sessions for as long as Mrs Hanna Martin is suspended, Mr Davis said they all stood with her, but would not answer outright. She later released a statement saying she viewed the Speaker’s decision as an attempt to silence her voice in Parliament. The statement read: “I will not be silenced, nor will I surrender my sworn responsibilities as a representative for the people of
Englerston and the people of this country. “The decision by the Speaker to exercise his authority, albeit contrary to the rules of Parliament, has only strengthened my commitment to fight for what is right and just. “What I attempted to do this morning was to simply correct the Speaker’s representation and/or interpretation of what I had said relative to the firing of two women who served as airport managers in Eleuthera in a previous sitting of the House. “The Hansard, which is the official record of the House, clearly shows that I did not use the words claimed by the Speaker,
nor did I disrespect or shun the Speaker as he had previously claimed. In fact, the Hansard shows that the Speaker misquoted me and wrongly accused me of saying something I did not say. “I would have thought that in the spirit of cohesion, and in the interest and protection of all members, the Speaker would have accepted that we are all human and his error was simply that and attribute it to his learning curve. He chose instead an extreme response and in the course of that response sought to abuse my privilege as a member of the honourable House of Assembly,” the statement continued.
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, February 1, 2018, PAGE 3
THEA WILLIAMS, Davanya Lawes, Dervinique Edwards and Zaria Burrows at court yesterday to be charged with the murder of Breanna Mackey. Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune staff
A 16 and a 17-year-old were also charged.
SIX CHARGED WITH STABBING DEATH OF TEENAGE MOTHER UNDER heavy police guard, four women, one of whom is pregnant, and two juvenile girls were arraigned in a Magistrate’s Court yesterday in connection with the stabbing death of a teenage mother in the Englerston constituency last week. Thea Williams, Zaria Burrows, Davanya Lawes, Dervinique Edwards, along with a 16 and a 17 year old, faced intense scrutiny from a crowd of anxious spectators while being escorted by police to stand before a judge in connection with the January 25 incident.
YOUNG mother Breanna Mackey was stabbed to death last week.
Prison
Juveniles Once before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt, the charges were read off to the six accused, whose ages ranged from 20 to 16. The parents of the two juveniles, present in the packed courtroom, were made to stand next to their respective children while the charges were read. It is alleged that on the day in question, the six murdered Breanna Mackey, 19, of Palm Beach Street. According to reports from police, shortly before 6pm on the day in question, a young woman was walking on Key West Street when a silver coloured Honda vehicle stopped next to her. Three women got out of the vehicle, and, armed with sharp instruments, stabbed the young woman about the body before getting back into the vehicle and speeding off. The victim was taken to hospital where she was later pronounced dead. Police later identified the victim as Breanna Mackey, a mother of one who had celebrated her 19th birthday the day before she was attacked and killed.
stand behind a fence and view the accused from the parking lot overlooking the court complex. Days earlier, police officers stationed at the court complex had to, on multiple occasions, quell some of the spectators who had become boisterous while lined up on either side of South Street expecting to see the formal arraignment of the six accused.
Police subsequently took five women and two men into custody for questioning in connection with the incident. The men were not charged. The six accused females were not required to enter a plea to the charges and the matter was adjourned to March 14 for service of a voluntary bill of indictment (VBI). Prior to them being remanded, Burrows’ attorney Gina Morley informed the court that her client was pregnant and also suffers from seizures. The chief magistrate made a note of Ms Morley’s concerns, which she said would accompany Burrows’ remand information. Prior to the arraignment, police cleared and subsequently blocked off the western end of South Street straight up to the intersection of Augusta Street and South Street as a security precaution. An officer with a highpowered weapon could be seen patrolling the area.
A crowd, which consisted of some individuals who were present at the Magistrate’s Court complex from Monday in anticipation of the arraignment, was made to
As the six were being escorted out of the court complex to be transported to prison following the arraignment yesterday, and followed by their loved ones, the crowd erupted into a loud roar, with some persons shouting harsh words in the direction of the accused and their family. “Don’t (expletive) cry now!” one woman could be heard shouting to the accused.
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THE TRIBUNE
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Assisting Fred Mitchell’s failing memory ON Monday, The Tribune was sent a statement from the Office of the National Chairman of the PLP – no less a person than Fred Mitchell, who seems to have suffered a serious loss of memory. Mr Mitchell’s comment was a short critique on Prime Minister Dr Minnis’ national address delivered earlier that evening. “The Prime Minister,” said Mr Mitchell, “did not address the critical state of our country’s healthcare system or his government’s plans for universal healthcare for Bahamians. Tonight there are no beds in the hospital to spare.” Well, isn’t that interesting! No beds to spare! Doesn’t Mr Mitchell recall that one of the first acts of his government when it was returned to power in 2012 was to delay for almost two years the opening of the Critical Care Unit so that one of its units, intended for patients, could be converted to administrative offices? Just imagine administrative offices in the middle of a bloc designed for patients. With a shortage of nurses this was a bloc especially included for recovering patients, which would require fewer nurses to be on duty. An intensive care unit is decided by the ratio of nurses to a patient. For the seriously critical there would be two patients to one nurse, in the less critical — “the step down”— there could be three or four patients to one nurse. The intended “stepdown” is now the den for the hospital’s administrative staff. And, yet Mr Mitchell – six years later — with the FNM government only eight months in office having inherited so many financial problems from the Christie government – has the nerve to ask why? The FNM became the government on May 10 last year. A few days later Dr Duane Sands had a report on his desk from the Financial Secretary, Ministry of Finance, outlining his ministry’s financial obligations. The Public Hospital’s Authority (PHA) needed more than $90 million — $90,460,845.84 to be exact — in total capital and recurrent funding to meet its obligations. In a letter the retiring PHA managing director also reminded the Financial Secretary of his earlier “communication dated November 30, 2016 regarding Hurricane Matthew for claims totaling $920,733.70 of which $642,567.70 related to capital works, including roof repairs for the Princess Margaret Hospital and the Rand Memorial Hospital. This matter is of major concern as we have yet to receive the required funding and we are days away from the commencement of the 2017 hurricane season.
Hence, I am again urging that the requested funds be provided, so that we may carry out repairs to our facilities to ensure that they are all in a state of readiness”, he wrote. Hurricane Matthew did much destruction in October 3, 2016 when the PLP was still the government, followed by Hurricane Irma in September, 2017 – by then the FNM had been the government for four months. However, the PLP had probably spent so heavily on consultants to come up with a pie-in-the sky plan for universal health care coverage for all Bahamians, that there were no funds to secure the damaged property. Even a prominent doctor who was a part of the planning for universal health care when asked how it was all going to be paid for, told one of our reporters that it was for him to figure it out. “The approach of Hurricane Irma mandated that the incomplete roof repairs be fast-tracked to ensure the integrity of PMH. Funding challenges identified in May 2017 included needs for major repairs after Hurricane Matthew,” said Dr Sands. “It is unfortunate,” he added, “ that the health care system was placed in such a state of vulnerability by a series of governmental decisions for spending that were intemperate and at times even reckless.” And so we would suggest that Mr Mitchell “sit small” because his party’s administration – certainly in health care – is hardly one of which to be proud. Some time ago The Chicago Tribune did an investigation that revealed that “more than 100,000 deaths in the year 2000 were linked to infections that patients received in US hospitals.” This figure has been disputed, “but not the fact that deaths linked to hospital infections represent the fourth leading cause of mortality among Americans, behind heart disease, cancer and strokes”. The Chicago Tribune reporter spent a year and a half investigating the story,“which is filled with stunning information. One finding: tens of thousands of lives could have been saved if doctors or nurses simply washed their hands.” We shall return to this subject when we introduce our readers to the PMH’s laundry room where only one drier out of three are working and only two washing machines out of six are still operational. The folding machine is inoperable and sheets are folded by hand in a room that would not be noted for its cleanliness. These are the sheets that go on patients’ beds at this country’s major hospital. Yet the PLP administration neglected the essentials of basic health care to try to win votes by making Bahamians believe that if their government were returned to power, Bahamians would never have to plan cook-outs again to raise money for major operations.
MAIN CHALLENGE TO THE VIABILITY OF SOCIETY EDITOR, The Tribune. EARLIER this month, a letter of mine appeared in your column wherein I suggested that Acting Chief Justice Stephen Isaacs’ plea for more judicial discretion on the issue of bail (specifically for Magistrates) should be regarded as merely the wrongheaded opinion of the spokesman for an interest group. I also suggested that the judiciary (through its actions on bail and sentencing) bore a large responsibility for the state of criminal disorder in our country today. Since then, it has been brought to my attention that the former statement could be interpreted as a personal attack on Justice Isaacs, insofar as it might suggest a misuse of his constitutional role, which is far removed from acting for narrow interests and
involves (among other things) an important exercise of discretion in delineating the rights of the state and those of the individual. This role is deserving of the utmost respect by anyone who values the rule of law and constitutional government. It should never be confused with the role an individual judge assumes when he or she engages in public discussion on issues relating to the judiciary and its role in society. Meanwhile, in the fortnight since my letter appeared, the patent absurdity of the suggestion that the judiciary is not the basic cause of runaway violence in our country has been on painful display. About half a dozen young men have been killed in shootouts with police, many of them apparently on bail and being “electronically monitored” and a man
convicted not just of possessing, but of importing, high powered weapons into our country received a sentence of 4 years in prison (mere possession would get you 15 to 20 years in most comparable countries). Bahamians are being killed and robbed daily by people who are caught repeatedly by the police and are released on bail and who use illegal guns, for the possession of which Judges and Magistrates give absurdly light sentences. This is the main challenge to the viability of our society today. Do not permit members of the judiciary acting in their private roles to obscure that fact by appealing to the respect that their constitutional role rightly attracts. ANDREW ALLEN Nassau, January 29, 2018.
S.O.S. - Save our (city’s) soul EDITOR, The Tribune. IN the late 1900s my late husband, architect and Bahamian advocate Jackson Burnside III, wrote a newspaper article under this same title, bemoaning the burgeoning loss of pride and appreciation for our country’s soul – i.e. our unique, rich Bahamian Art, Culture and Heritage. Although he is no longer physically with us, I will intersperse this letter with several of his quotations, which are still so very relevant today. A city that respects its architectural heritage provides buildings designed to delight the spirit and the eye…..Our new buildings can take cues from the fine stock of old structures and provide a vitality and variety of materials to offer relief and excitement for the eye and ensure against monotony. Sadly, here it is, decades later, and we still do not realise how much we remain dependent ‘subjects’ with a colonial mentality of waiting docilely for the ‘master’ to dole out at their whim whatever they so please! Same story, different master, different day! A glaring case ‘in point’ is the emergence once again of The Pointe development that has morphed into an even greater threat to our historic Downtown Nassau as evidenced by the article and image in the Business Section of The Nassau Guardian’s Wednesday, January 24 edition under the headline “BCA wants meetings with CCA, PM on Margaritaville at The Pointe”. It is bad enough that in their last development phase, The Pointe owners were allowed to completely ignore the restrictions imposed for historic properties under the auspices of the Special Architectural Committee at Town Planning (if it is still in operation), but now they want to impose a totally foreign PR-generated brand of ‘island entertainment’ and “authentic lifestyle experience” at the very entrance of our historic
LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net downtown in the form of a Margaritaville/Jimmy Buffett compendium that, I might add, has already benefitted handsomely from using our country and others throughout the Caribbean to brand ‘his’ brand. You should also ‘be-aware’ that he has a song entitled ‘Banana Republics’. Are we going to sit small and let them continue to use and define US under THEIR terms? The time has come for us to value the human, natural, and physical assets of the city as well as the commercial, and to design and build their expansion wisely and well We do not need any foreign lifestyle to overwhelm us, thank you very much! We, the Bahamian people, need to wake up and ‘own our own’ by making ‘we tings’ an anchor to keep us steady and on course for defining who we are as Bahamians! How much more will we give away to those who are here to pillage our resources to their benefit because we are too stupid to ‘see what we lookin’ at’? To add insult to injury, is our government seriously entertaining this damaging, cancerous branding without the blink of an eye? Did not ‘piratis’ get ‘expulsis’? So when is the ‘commercial’ going to be ‘restituta’ for US, the Bahamian people? Many old buildings which recorded our historical past and presented our architectural heritage have long since been destroyed in favor of the cancerous growth of parking surface. The greater part of those that remain are either in decay or threatened by demolition. I shudder in despair as yet another huge chunk of our heritage is cut away from the belly of our soul, forever denying our children, and our children’s children, access to this essential traditional knowledge. Look at the totally inappropriate skyline, the
total reconfiguration of the shoreline, and the ever creeping growth out into our seas that are shown in the artist’s rendering, and ask yourselves how we can ignore these ramifications and blithely let them obliterate us! Have we no pride and commonsense? Meanwhile, we are being bombarded on the other side from another spectre in the form of ‘Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival’ - that insidious piranha of indecency - that is getting ready to take to the road yet again - but that’s another letter for another day. I have already written several letters to the press on the issue of The Pointe development, seemingly to no avail. Once again, the total lack of public outrage against this burgeoning destruction of our city’s unique character is pathetic, particularly the deafening silence from Bahamian architects who should consider themselves the keepers of our city’s soul. Thank you, BCA President Leonard Sands for at least raising your voice, which was encouraging until I read the article which highlighted his agitation for ‘a fair shake at participating in the development’ – i.e. job opportunity, which I wholeheartedly encourage him to monitor stringently based on experiences from previous construction, as there was some dangerous ‘rabbit hole mathematics’ going on! I urge him and the public, however, to not ignore the crucial importance of examining the principle and purpose of this development which is another blatant proposition of prostitution of our heritage which we must not allow to happen! The final sentence in Jackson’s article stated: The issue is one of survival itself and goes beyond decoration and beautification. It deals with the very essence of city, people, and their collective soul. Wake up people! PAMELA BURNSIDE Nassau, January 30, 2018.
THE TRIBUNE
WOMAN PLEADS THE MUD INFERNO: GUILTY TO CHARGES SUSPECT CHARGED OVER HIT-AND-RUN
Thursday, February 1, 2018, PAGE 5
POLICE RELEASE STATEMENT OVER VIDEO ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Accident claimed life of 52-year-old man By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net
A 24-YEAR-OLD woman pleaded guilty to seven charges yesterday stemming from a hit-andrun accident in which she killed a 52-year-old man in an unlicenced and uninsured vehicle. Maronique Paul, of Malcolm Road, stood before Magistrate Carolyn VogtEvans faced with multiple charges stemming from Monday night’s accident which claimed the life of Malcus Ashe of Sunshine Park. The charges against the Bamboo Town resident included killing in the course of dangerous driving; driving while not insured against third party risk; driving an unlicenced vehicle; driving without a valid driver’s licence; fraudulent use of a licence
plate; fraudulent use of a licence disk; and failing to remain stationary after an accident. According to initial reports from police, shortly after 8pm on the day in question, Mr Ashe was walking on Carmichael Road in the vicinity of Baillou Hill Road when he was struck by a gold coloured Honda, which left the scene. Paramedics were called to the scene but were unable to revive Mr Ashe who was pronounced dead on the scene. Paul pled guilty to all of the charges yesterday. However, after an application by her attorney Dervard Francis, Magistrate Vogt-Evans stood the matter down to this morning. Paul was ordered to be held in custody until then.
PHOTO: Vado Bootle FROM PAGE ONE The Abaco fire displaced 150 people and destroyed nearly 60 homes, officials said. Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis has since pledged that the area the fire affected will be cordoned off and no structures will be allowed to be rebuilt in that space. Penalty for arson can include up to 20 years in prison, according to the Penal Code. ALBURY Alfred was charged with ten counts of arson related to Sunday’s fire.
THE Royal Bahamas Police Force issued a statement last night in response to a video that has been circulating on social media. “The public is hereby notified that a video that has been circulating on social media, involving the conduct of police officers on duty in connection with a male suspect, has been brought to the attention of the Commissioner of Police,” the statement said. “He has directed the Deputy Commissioner, who has responsibility for complaints and discipline, to immediately convene an investigation into the circumstances surrounding this matter. The Administration of the Royal Bahamas Police Force, takes all matters concerning the conduct of officers seriously. “The public is reassured that every effort will be made to continue enhancing the professional image of the Force.
JAMAICAN QC CRITICISES INTERCEPTION OF COMMUNICATIONS BILL By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net A JAMAICAN Queen’s counsel has criticised the Interception of Communications Bill for allowing the attorney general’s involvement in the process of obtaining warrants for intercepting a person’s communications. Michael Hylton, a former solicitor general in Jamaica, spoke Monday night at a forum at the University of the Bahamas alongside State Minister for Legal Affairs Elsworth Johnson, Attorney Wayne Munroe, QC, and Maurice Glinton, QC, among others. Mr Hylton, QC, did not strongly criticise the bill but he said its provision mandating the commissioner of police seek permission from the attorney general before asking a court to grant a warrant for intercepting a person’s communications is out of step with other legislation in the region. Attorneys general are political appointees who sit in Cabinet. As an example of how their involvement could present a problem, Mr Hylton said: (A few years ago in Jamaica) “authorities were investigating an alleged drug dealer alleging to have close connections
function where court warrants are not necessary to intercept a person’s communication. But because the purpose of the proposed Interception of Communications Bill is to rely on court orders, Mr Hylton said the attorney general’s role is redundant and counterproductive.
Warrant MICHAEL HYLTON, a former solicitor general in Jamaica. with the government. I’m not suggesting there was an interception issue there but if there was and if the commissioner was contacted by his US counterparts and asked to make such application on interception, would he then go to the attorney general and say, ‘we need to do this?’ It would put the commissioner in an impossible condition. I think it is undesirable for the legislation to have that requirement.” Involving the attorney general in such a process is a carryover from the regime existent under the Listening Devices Act, Mr Hylton explained, as the Privy Council has found the attorney general plays an important oversight
He also noted that since most police commissioners are not trained lawyers, they seek the expertise of the Office of the Attorney General when pursuing an interception warrant. This country must ensure safeguards are in place so this process does not result in the political directorate becoming aware of interception applications, he said. “Information needs to be kept in a narrow field,” he said. The lawyer was also critical of the broad categories under which a person’s communications could be intercepted under the bill. Noting such legislation often ensures the most minimal intrusion possible, he questioned why the bill allows interception not only in the interest of public safety or security, but on the grounds of
“public order,” “public morality” and “public health” as well. These are “vague and possibly subjective” categories, he said. “We can have many debates as to what constitutes public morality and to what justifies an interception to contest public morality.” Mr Hylton also said unlike some other countries, the Bahamas’ bill does not mandate that annual reports be submitted to the public about the interception system. Reports help legislators refine the system, he said. Trinidad’s law requires annual reports. “In the UK,” he added, “the secretary of state issues warrants but a high court judge oversees the carrying out of the function and that high court judge can require documents, can ask questions, can generally see how the process is working. That judge must prepare a report, send a report to the prime minister and the prime minister must lay it in Parliament.” The Interception of Communications Bill would also let police obtain entry warrants, allowing them to enter homes and businesses and seize communications or install interception devices within them.
Mr Hylton could not speak on this because he said no legislation he has reviewed contains this provision. “That doesn’t say it’s wrong,” he said. “I think that it requires a closer look because it is a great intrusion.” Jamaica enacted their Interception of Communications Act in 2002.
Consultation The Minnis administration has promised an extensive period of consultation before the Bahamas does the same. Mr Hylton emphasised such legislation does not permit interception to take place, rather just regulates it. “This type of legislation does not really allow interception,” he said. “In the absence of legislation, interception takes place. States and private individuals have the technology to intercept communications. They do so without the public’s knowledge, they do so without oversight, they do so without regulation and it is not illegal. What this type of legislation does in my view is regulates it. It says you can do it but with certain controls. It’s necessary for that reason.”
PAGE 6, Thursday, February 1, 2018
FNM CHAIRMAN HITS BACK AT PLP ‘REALITY TV SHOW’ By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net FREE National Movement Chairman Carl Culmer has blasted Progressive Liberal Party Leader Philip “Brave” Davis, Chairman Fred Mitchell and South Andros MP Picewell Forbes for their recent critiques of the Minnis administration. In a statement released this week, Mr Culmer said: “Welcome to another episode of ‘The PLP Reality TV Show.’ Once again, the re-cycled PLP shows how out of touch and ignorant of reality it remains.” Mr Culmer also reduced the most recent Christie administration to “five years of inept, incompetent, and corrupt control of government.” In Parliament last week, Mr Forbes drew criticism for suggesting politicians be protected and extended certain “courtesies” in the way companies such as Bahamas Power & Light (PLP) treat them in the face of nonpayment. Mr Culmer said: “First they have (Mr Forbes) squatting on the House floor last week, dumping another load that belongs in the cesspit by calling for special treatment for elected officials regarding to their BPL bills. “Apparently they are upset that that the FNM has gotten rid of special benefits and secret lists the elites enjoyed when the PLP held power. Today, now that it’s the people’s time, they must pay their bills – on time – like the rest of the Bahamian people. “According to Mr Forbes that places an undue hardship on him and his fellow PLP members who had become accustomed to not having to pay their bills yet getting favourable treatment from the BEC/BPL and other places. And when the papers have the audacity to simply print what they say, they lash out at the media for taking what they said out of context.” Mr Culmer continued: “But last year’s election, ‘The Bahamian Tsunami,’ demonstrated for the world to see that the people heard Mr Forbes and his merry band of elites loud and clear. “They can whine all they want – publicly and privately – but under the FNM government, the PLP are no longer going to be able to lord it over the masses of the people; they
FNM chairman Carl Culmer. will no longer be able to hold themselves to a different standard from the people they should be serving. It’s a lesson they still need to learn.” Mr Culmer also lambasted Mr Davis and Mr Mitchell’s critiques of the more than 2,500 job cuts in the public sector since the FNM took office. Instead, Mr Culmer touted the creation of 3,500 private sector jobs since the May 2017 election. On Sunday Mr Davis released a statement calling the job cuts “shameful”. He also said he believes the figure of jobs lost will double once the complete picture is revealed. In the last week, Mr Mitchell has put out two statements condemning the recent firings of individuals allegedly due to their PLP affiliation. “Let’s be clear: the FNM is working tirelessly to clean up the monumental mess the PLP created during their five years of inept, incompetent and corrupt control of government,” Mr Culmer countered. “What we are seeing today is a true transition, with the FNM shrinking the size of a bloated government that is unsustainable for taxpayers while helping to grow the private sector. “We have shrunk the government payrolls by 2,500 because the PLP inflated public sector jobs in their desperate attempts to buy an election,” he alleged. “Loading and fattening the government payrolls with friends, family and lovers, the chosen few, while leaving the rest of the people to foot the bill. “But any child with third grade math skills could see the numbers didn’t add up.” Mr Culmer said the government is working to get spending under control and encourage private sector growth.
THE TRIBUNE
FRAUDULENT PAPERS NOW CENTRAL ISSUE
FROM PAGE ONE
“Persons born here, as I’ve said, should not normally be deported, that is a fair comment. I’m not commenting on what happened in the court case because I have not followed it. One thing that is very certain is there are a number of, and I’m not saying this relating to this particular case, there are numerous cases of fraudulent documentation. “So the (Jean) Rony Charles case will bring the issue to the forefront. As you’ve heard the attorney general say, there are certain regulations, new amendments to the rules being drawn up which will put in proper perspective the detention centre etc,” he added. “But there is still an overriding provision that persons have got to realise, is the mere fact that you are born in the Bahamas does not automatically make you Bahamian. There has to be an application for those
BRENT Symonette. Minister of Financial Services, Trade and Industry and Immigration. PHOTO: Terrel W. Carey/ Tribune Staff persons who were born in the Bahamas to nonnationals to apply to the government for status, and
that’s an overarching issue that cannot be avoided. “So upon his return if he has not already done so, Mr Jean-Charles will have to apply to be registered as a citizen of the Bahamas, which according to our files he has not done.” Attorney General Carl Bethel yesterday confirmed the government plans to “fully appeal” Supreme Court Justice Gregory Hilton’s Tuesday ruling, which ordered the government immediately issue a travel document for Mr JeanCharles and reimburse him for his travel back to the country, declaring that his rights under the Constitution have been breached. Justice Hilton furthered that Mr Jean-Charles, upon making an application, be issued legal status no later than 60 days after his return. The ruling stemmed from a habeas corpus application made on behalf of Mr Jean-Charles, who had been detained at the CRDC for
some three months before his expulsion from the country. Justice Hilton is expected to deliver his ruling on six more habeas corpus applications on February 8, part of more than 15 separate cases challenging the lawfulness of detentions at the CRDC and the immigration safe house for women and children. Yesterday, former Minister of Immigration Fred Mitchell called for the government to appeal the judgement up to the highest level, the Privy Council. He suggested the Privy Council should be asked to determine whether the courts can substitute their decision for the Immigration Department, as opposed to remitting the matter to the executive branch of government for reconsideration according to law. In a statement yesterday, Mr Mitchell advised the current decision should be stayed pending appeal.
FRED Smith with Jean Rony Jean-Charles in Haiti.
JEAN RONY’S RULING IMPACTS THOUSANDS
FROM PAGE ONE
other similar cases as precedent setting and so what it means is that even though judgements in the Supreme Court may affect hundreds if not thousands of people or categories, the refusal of the government to apply the principles enunciated by the court generally has really hampered the development of good governance in the Bahamas. “This has repeatedly occurred in the environmental and regulatory fields, it’s happened in the police brutality cases that I’ve done, and it has regularly occurred
over decades with the successful judgments upholding the rights of licensees under the Hawksbill Creek Agreement. I hope, however, that this government will be different. “I say that because Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis at his inauguration said that his government would be different and would respect and uphold the rule of law.” Attorney General Carl Bethel yesterday confirmed the government plans to “fully appeal” Supreme Court Justice Gregory Hilton’s ruling on Tuesday, which ordered the government to immediately issue
a travel document for Mr Jean-Charles and reimburse him for his travel back to the country, declaring that his rights under the Constitution have been breached. Justice Hilton said that Mr Jean-Charles, upon making an application, must be issued legal status no later than 60 days after his return. Yesterday, former Minister of Immigration Fred Mitchell called for the government to appeal the judgment up to the highest level, the Privy Council. In a statement yesterday, Mr Mitchell advised the current decision should be stayed pending appeal. “This is unprecedented,” Mr Smith continued. “The Supreme Court has paved the way for so many people who were born in the Bahamas to now move the Supreme Court under the Constitution to protect their constitutional right not to have been unlawfully expelled. This is a first in Bahamian jurisprudence and because it applies to a huge category of persons, it is very important for this government to demonstrate that it is respecting the rule of law, and to itself embark upon an exercise of repatriating to the Bahamas the thousands of citizens-in-waiting born in the Bahamas that have over the decades been expelled unconstitutionally.” Mr Smith added: “A responsible and law-abiding government should not have to wait for people to sue them to do the right thing. And the right thing here is to bring back people born in the Bahamas so that they can claim their rightful birthright.”
‘Overdue’ Weighing in on the Supreme Court judgment yesterday, former Minister of National Security, with responsibility for Immigration, Loftus Roker noted that “time been up long time” for the government to systematically address immigration challenges. “If you look at the shanty town thing,” he said, “all of that is part of it. We only look at things when it confront us right in our face, as soon as it quiets down you forget it and this applies to all of us (successive
administrations). They all do the same thing, they only look at it when they come face to face with it. We’ve been independent now for what over 40 years. Our Constitution was in existence for over that and we haven’t found a way to systematically deal with immigration. “What we have now is a statement was made by the government that by the 31st of December (2017), all these illegal immigrants should leave the Bahamas, this is now the last day in January. And nobody told us what happen. Are they leaving? This is the end of January, that’s our problem, we forget that now and we moving on to something else. “We move on to this fella (Mr Jean-Charles), I don’t know whether he is a Bahamian or not or anything like that.” Mr Roker pointed to the high potential for fraud in the current process to obtain an affidavit as it related to establishing a person was born in the Bahamas. Mr Jean-Charles was born at the Princess Margaret Hospital, according to an affidavit supporting his habeas corpus application, which also contained a copy of his birth certificate. Minister of Immigration Brent Symonette also brought up the issue of fraudulent documentation yesterday, noting Mr JeanCharles’ case will bring the longstanding issue of fraudulent documentation to the forefront. However, Mr Symonette made it clear that he was not seeking to establish the fraud issue as relevant to Mr Jean-Charles’ matter, or speaking directly to his case because he had not yet reviewed the matter fully. “Anybody can go and swear an affidavit,” Mr Roker said, “don’t blame the JP. We knew this 20 years ago, that’s the problem. “Part of my problem is the fact that I never had a detention centre when I was there, I went to court with you and I carry you up to Fox Hill and then I deport you. Once you start ignoring the law you gonna get yourself in trouble.” He added: “The time been up long time, and you’re gonna find more people. If this fella get away with that.”
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, February 1, 2018, PAGE 7
CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY TO CLAMP DOWN ON ILLEGAL CHARTERS By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net
FOLLOWING the fatal plane crash off Andros last month, the Bahamas Civil Aviation Authority is pledging an unprecedented effort to clamp down on illegal charter operations by embracing technology, involving law enforcement and increasing surveillance to identify and prosecute law-breakers in the aviation industry. The pledge of BCAA Director General Captain Charles Beneby came during a press conference yesterday where he and the chief investigator of aircraft accidents, Delvin Major, also revealed that weather could have played a role in the Piper Aztec crash that killed six people two weeks ago. Mr Beneby said the BCAA has engaged police, customs, immigration and airport authority officials, among others, to “draw a tighter net and a tighter noose around the practice of hacking.”
not certified to navigate in nonclear visual conditions. Although the law already allows “hackers” to be fined as much as $10,000 or be imprisoned up to two years for their illegal behaviour, Mr Beneby confirmed no one has ever been convicted for such actions. “Unfortunately, the practice of hacking has been around for a lot longer than I would care to say,” he said. “It is now our charge at the BCAA to clamp down and to eliminate any possibility of such an occurrence. “We will crack down on illegal operators, whether they be private, whether they be commercial, anyone that is found not to be in conformance with the regulations will suffer the consequences. It is extremely, extremely difficult
Licence He stressed it is illegal for a pilot to fly for hire on a private licence. The pilot of the ill-fated plane did not have a commercial licence. “Any attempt by a member of the public to engage such services makes that person complicit in an illegal act,” he said. “This is a warning to all persons that are engaged in such activities, now is the time to stop,” he added. “We’ve talked about this before my time. We won’t talk about it anymore.” For his part, Mr Major described the weather at the time of the plane crash two weeks ago as “marginal” or adverse. He said someone like the pilot, Darren Clarke, could have been challenged flying in such weather because he lacked multi-engine instrument ratings, meaning he was
WRECKAGE from the fatal plane crash off Andros last month, in which six people lost their lives. agencies to find, to seize aircraft and even to imprison persons engaged in such practices. We are also reviewing current regulations to strengthen our ability to effectively manage this very vexing problem. I recognise also that the systems that were in place previously that might not have been conducive to persons who should want to come forward and be regularised, we are revising those regulations now to make the process easier for those persons that are minded to come within the requirements of the law. Anyone that is not so minded would again suffer the consequences.”
Video to imagine what those persons on that aircraft would have felt on that faithful day. “I believe that I have a moral obligation to reduce such occurrences and to eventually eliminate and stop the practice. The Safety Oversight Department (SOD) is now charged with increasing its surveillance of the general aviation area. “We will introduce new video capture capabilities; my team members will be on the ramp every day, from early morning until night. If an operator is engaged in that practice and we have strong information that they are, they will be caught. “The law allows me the authority to join with other government
Mr Beneby explained the proposed video capture capabilities includes CCTVs that will be erected in general aviation areas to “enhance security capabilities.” He said officials will also log the registration numbers of aircraft and coordinate with Air Traffic Control to determine their movements. The patterns of movement could lead authorities to suspect a private pilot is flying for commercial purposes. Sky Bahamas CEO Randy Butler has told The Tribune as many as 28 hackers exist. He has criticised successive administrations and civil aviation officials for not previously doing more to address the problem. Regarding last month’s fatal plane crash, Mr Major said
“We will crack down on illegal operators, whether they be private, whether they be commercial, anyone that is found not to be in conformance with the regulations will suffer the consequences. It is extremely, extremely difficult to imagine what those persons on that aircraft would have felt on that faithful day. I believe that I have a moral obligation to reduce such occurrences and to eventually eliminate and stop the practice.” BCAA Director General Captain Charles Beneby investigators are currently examining the aircraft’s maintenance records. Though incomplete, their review so far reveals the aircraft was being properly maintained. He said: “From the (weather) reports that we received as well as
interviews not just with persons on the ground in Andros at the time but with pilots who were in the air, they mentioned the weather was not ideal for someone who is not an instrument rated pilot; the weather was marginal due to a cold front that had passed through.” Mr Major said a log book recovered from the downed plane showed that up to 2014, Mr Clarke had logged 250 hours in the air. The crash investigation now focuses on the role of the weather and the pilot’s qualifications and experience.
Speculation In addition, amid speculation of air traffic services’ role in locating the plane before and after it crashed, Mr Beneby said: “The pilot made contact with air traffic services, assigned a special code for identification. Shortly after contacting air traffic services, the aircraft was observed to be reversing its course with intention to return to Andros for some reason. Contact was lost shortly thereafter. “All attempts to reestablish that contact proved fruitless. “Immediately an exercise was commenced to locate the whereabouts of the aircraft and to determine whether the aircraft had made a safe return to North Andros. The search eventually revealed the aircraft had in fact gone down in waters just east of south Andros airport.”
PAGE 8, Thursday, February 1, 2018
THE TRIBUNE
GOVT: RENEW BAHAMAS ‘ABRUPTLY’ TERMINATED LANDFILL CONTRACT
By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net
THE government maintained yesterday that former New Providence Landfill manager Renew Bahamas “abruptly” terminated its contract to remediate the dumpsite, while insisting ongoing challenges at the site do not place it in breach of Baha Mar’s heads of agreement. Questions have been raised about the implications of the government’s failure to honour a commitment made by the previous administration to resolve the landfill’s issues by December 31, 2017. This commitment was part of the April 25, 2017 heads of agreement with Baha Mar’s new owner, Chow Tai Fook Enterprises (CTFE).
‘No breach or cause for alarm’ over Baha Mar commitment It was reported that any failure by the government to resolve the landfill’s problems by that date would be treated as a “force majeure” event, meaning CTFE and its Baha Mar-owning affiliate could be released from performing their heads of agreement obligations for as long as it takes to remediate the landfill’s problems. However, in a statement to The Tribune, Press Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister Anthony Newbold said there is no breach and there is no cause for alarm. It came the day after Renew in a statement refuted accusations by Environment Minister
SMOKE drifts towards the Baha Mar resort earlier this week. The government has insisted ongoing challenges at the dump do not place it in breach of Baha Mar’s heads of agreement.
Romauld Ferreira, who had said the company’s management of the dumpsite was a “disaster”. He said the Department of Environmental Health Services had done a better job with the landfill when compared with Renew.
Contract “The previous manager of the site Renew Bahamas abruptly terminated their contract unilaterally,” Mr Newbold’s statement noted. “The government was compelled to utilise the Department of Environmental Health to resume management on a temporary basis.
SMOKE at the dump on Monday. Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
“The Minister of the Environment Romauld Ferreira has already publicly outlined the steps being taken by the government to secure a lasting comprehensive resolution to the problem by having requested expressions of interest pursuant to technical advice and having now created a short list of qualified interested parties who will be invited to tender.
Resolution “In the meanwhile, the government is working diligently to remediate the fire issue at the dumpsite, pending the comprehensive resolution towards which the government is already working. “There is thus no breach of the very words extracted from the HOA; and no cause for any alarm on the part of the press or public.” The heads of agreement contained a commitment from the government to make several infrastructure improvements to maximise Baha Mar’s success, including remediation and improved operation of the landfill. “In the event that the government is unable to address the forgoing concerns by December 31, 2017, the project company shall consult the government as to the alternative measures that may have
to be made by the project company to ensure proper operation of the project and the foregoing shall be deemed a force majeure event, provided that if the government’s inability to address the concerns by December 31, 2017 is itself as a result of force majeure, the government’s
“The government is working diligently to remediate the fire issue at the dumpsite, pending the comprehensive resolution towards which the government is already working.” Government statement commitment to address the foregoing concerns shall be extended for a reasonable period of time not less than the duration of such force majeure,” the heads of agreement notes. A ‘force majeure’ is any unforeseeable event that causes elements of a contract to go unfulfilled. The heads of agreement states that in the event of this, the company “shall be excused” from performing and the incentives in the agreement “shall be extended for a reasonable period of time.”
On Saturday, a portion of the landfill caught fire and officials at the DEHS now suspect combustion or some other kind of chemical reaction is to blame for the blaze, telling The Tribune Tuesday it was unlikely the work of an arsonist. Renew was contracted under the former Christie administration in 2014. However, in October 2016, Renew discontinued this work. It has remained adamant that it did not walk away from contractual obligations, saying the agreement is still active.
Disputes “Renew Bahamas ceased operations due to a number of unresolved disputes created by the government of the Bahamas, which failed to adhere to significant terms of the landfill management agreement and has refused to meet to facilitate a resolution,” the company said this week. “After more than 18 months of unsuccessfully trying to amicably resolve the disputes, and government’s deafening silence, Renew has applied to the Supreme Court for relief, including the protection of its fixed and moveable assets, which government has improperly and unlawfully restrained.”
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, February 1, 2018, PAGE 9
The Bucket List
Is it really all it’s hyped up to be or should we kick the bucket down the road?
B
UCKET Lists interest me. I also feel threatened by them or maybe intimidated is a better word because I don’t really have a full bucket list and that makes me think I must be a pretty boring person. Is it only exciting people who want to climb Mt. Everest, go hot air ballooning sipping champagne and making the kind of titillating conversation that sounds like it leapt straight out of a black and white movie? Is it only exciting people who want to dive in the Galapagos or sky dive solo over the River Seine? Do lots of people really want to do those things? Is there something wrong or lacking in me that if I had a bucket list it would contain things like sleeping late on a Sunday or eating gluten-free banana pancakes without guilt or having a chocolatecovered strawberry whenever I wanted? The truth is if I had a bucket, the only somewhat risky thing I consistently want to put in it is to give a TED Talk. TED Talks, for those who are not as into them as I am, are live performances of someone talking. When those live performances are recorded and available online they can be heard by anyone who wants to know someone’s else’s thoughts. TED Talks become publicly aired gems of wisdom, often told with self-deprecating humour and always with total, soul-bearing honesty. They could be about something as seemingly personal as how you raise a child or as global as how to survive climate change. What they have in common, aside from the ordinary people who share their thoughts and expose themselves to strangers they will never meet, is that the message, or the moral, they deliver never feels like medicine. You leave listening to a
By Diane Phillips
TED Talk feeling enriched and carrying a thought which is like that refrain you can’t stop singing or repeating in your head. But I digress. This is about bucket lists. I just wanted to explain that having a TED Talk top my otherwise nearly empty bucket is why I started thinking about bucket lists in the first place and wondering whether not having one made me boring. And, if I feel that way, how many other people share that feeling?
Mountain Do bucket lists make us feel less valuable if we don’t want to climb a mountain or dive in the South Pacific? And what is the difference between a bucket list and a series of goals? The subject should not have weighed so heavily on my mind, but it did and it does so I did what I always do when something just won’t go away. I worried it ‘til I resolved it.
There is some evidence of bucket lists existing on rare occasions in literature a long time ago, but the concept only gained popularity when the movie by the same name came out in 2007. Remember that date. It will be important later. The Bucket List, starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, traced the shenanigans of two men both hospitalized with terminal cancer and sharing a semiprivate room in a hospital. Nicholson played the part of a rich white man who had never found happiness despite a series of fast cars and wives and more money than he would be able to spend in the time left. Morgan Freeman played a blue collar car mechanic, an upstanding man who had worked hard all his life, was happily married and had devoted every spare moment and dollar to being the perfect husband and father.
All they had in common was impending death. As they started talking in the room they shared in the hospital Nicholson owned, they began comparing the fantasies of what each one wanted to do before they kicked the bucket. Billionaire Nicholson summons his private plane and the two men, by now comrades in imagination and burgeoning best friends, set off on their end-of-life series of adventures. Freeman finally gets to drive a Ferrari. They ride motorcycles on a winding and dangerous road. Rotten Tomatoes (my most trusted movie review site) calls the movie schmaltzy. Okay, it took some poetic licence, like why would Nicholson be in a semi-private room if he owned the hospital? Rotten Tomatoes and I parted ways on this one, I thought the movie was really funny and Ioved the concept of a bucket list – until I realized years later it was haunting me that I could not create one. I’ve given birth to two daughters, have two beautiful granddaughters, but for the life of me, I could not give life to a bucket list. What was wrong with me? So I took that guilt, explored and massaged it.
IS skydiving (above) or climbing Mt Everest (below) on your bucket list? First, I figured, if the world got along without bucket lists for thousands of years until Nicholson and Freeman ended up facing death, maybe bucket lists were just a passing phenomenon.
Prosperous And maybe bucket lists skyrocketed to prominence and became part of everyone’s vernacular because 2007 was a very prosperous year. People had money, money meant dreams and fantasies could come true. Bucket lists filled with extreme adventure and exotic exploration are, after all, for those who believe they can afford it now or will be able to afford it later. Our ancestors did not have bucket lists. They had realistic goals. They were just trying to hunt and forage and feed. They were not part of a privileged class who took dreams like beaching in Bora Bora or riding rescue elephants in Thailand for granted. Survival goals trump bucket lists any day. The other thing I wondered about was the year. Suppose the movie had come out after September 2008 following the collapse of Lehman Bros. and the
burst of the housing bubble that evolved into a full-out global recession. Suppose it had come out when people were losing their homes to foreclosure because banks had granted mortgages to those who under normal circumstances could never afford the payments like the pizza delivery man who got the half million dollar mortgage and not long after lost his home and every penny he had saved his whole life? Maybe the movie would not have had the same effect, sweeping the world up into its arms persuading all of us that we should have a list of things we wanted to experience before we kicked the bucket. Here is what I concluded. Goals will always matter. Whether you want to load them into a bucket or not is a personal decision. If you have a bucket list, that is great and I hope you get to climb every mountain on your list. Just please don’t make those of us who can’t get our list together feel guilty. We may be folks to whom thinking and relationships and a full moon are just as important as driving a motorcycle around a dangerous and winding bend. Maybe, just maybe, we live a little part of our list every day.
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PAGE 10, Thursday, February 1, 2018
THE TRIBUNE
Freeport set for Freeporton setthe for ‘Labour ‘Labourjob on fair the Blocks’ Blocks’ fair Event job follows successful launch in Nassau
A10MAIN
PAGE 10, Thursday, February 1, 2018
By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net By DENISE MAYCOCK AFTER a successful Tribune Freeport launch in Nassau, the MinReporter istry of Labour will kick dmaycock@tribunemedia.net
off the “Labour on the AFTER a successful Blocks” initiative in Freelaunch in Nassau, Minport to bring job the seekers istry employers of Labour together will kick and offGrand the “Labour on Bahama. on the Blocks” initiative in FreeThe event is scheduled port to bring job seekers for Saturday, February and employers together 17, at the Susan J Walon Grand lace Park Bahama. at Columbus Theand event is scheduled Drive Nansen Avenue for Saturday, February between 11am to 4pm. 17, at theDion SusanFoulkes, J WalSenator lace Park at Columbus minister of labour, and Drive executives and Nansenfrom Avenue senior the between 11amofto 4pm. Department Labour will be there, and persons seeking employment are asked to attend and register with the department’s Senator Dion Foulkes, database. minister of labour, and They should bring their senior executives from the NIB cards and a valid govDepartment of Labour ernment-issued ID such as be there, andcard. perawill passport or voter’s sons seeking employment are asked to attend and
Database
THE TRIBUNE
and opportunity for those looking for work.for those and opportunity The Ministry looking for work. of Labour PHOTOS from a previous job fair hosted by the Department of Labour. A similar event is scheduled plans to holdof monthly The Ministry Labour this Saturday in Grand Bahama. “Labour the monthly Blocks” plans to on hold events in on the the otherBlocks” Family “Labour Island communities. events in the other Family PHOTOS from a previous job fair hosted by the Department of Labour. A similar event is scheduled this Saturday in Grand Bahama. Island communities.
register with the department’s database. To date, there have been should“Labour bring their twoThey successful on NIB cards and a validheld govthe Blocks” events ernment-issued ID such as in New Providence, and a passport or voter’s card. the Ministry of Labour therewith have been wasTo date, pleased the two successful “Labour on turnout. the events held TheBlocks” department is also expecting large numbers in New Providence, and of to attend the thepersons Ministry of Labour event Grand Bahama. was inpleased with the turnout. The department is also expecting large numbers of persons to attend the Mr Foulkes was pleased event in Grand Bahama. with level was of particiMrthe Foulkes pleased pation from with the leveltheof private particisector saidthe businesses pationand from private and are welsectorindustries and said businesses come come outare andwelbe and to industries acome part of the event. to come out and be He said many particia part of the event. pating employers had He said many particihired job seekers on the pating employers had spot in New Providence. hired job seekers on The new initiative, the he spot in Providence. said, is New providing hope The new initiative, he said, is providing hope
Priorities
“Economic growth and job creation remain one growth and of “Economic the leading priorities of job creation remain one the government, and the of the leading priorities of ‘Labour on the Blocks’ the government, and the is successfully answering ‘Labour onjobthe Blocks’ the needs of seekers as is successfully well as employersanswering in effecthe needs of job seekers as tively connecting eligible well as employers in effeccandidates with the right tively according connecting jobs,” to aeligible statecandidates with the right ment from the ministry. jobs,” to a stateThe according Department of ment from the ministry. Labour is encouragof ingThe all jobDepartment seekers in the Labour oris abroad, encouragBahamas and ing all job seekers in the employers with vacanBahamas or abroad, cies to register within and its employers database: with vacanrecruitment jobcies to register within its seekers.bahamas.gov.bs recruitment database: jobseekers.bahamas.gov.bs
Participation
AUSTIN AND HOUSTON, TEXAS OFFICIAL TRAVEL - 21st-24th JANUARY, 2018
PER DIEM
TOTAL AIRFARE RECEPTION AND HOTEL
INCIDENTALS
TOTAL HOTEL
TOTAL
DAYS
DAILY
TOTAL
DAILY
TOTAL
Prime Minister - Hubert Minnis
4
$ 150.00
$ 600.00
$ 30.00
$ 120.00
$
$ 3,891.03
$ 470.25
$
Kirk Bastian - Aide
4
100.00
400.00
20.00
80.00
2,489.13
177.75
3,146.88
Minister of Foreign Affairs - Darren Henfield
4
150.00
600.00
30.00
120.00
3,891.03
177.75
4,788.78
Minister of State for Grand Bahama - James Kwasi Thompson
4
150.00
600.00
30.00
120.00
3,819.03
177.75
4,716.78
Mr Joshua Sears
4
100.00
400.00
20.00
80.00
3,888.03
177.75
4,545.78
Cornelius Smith
4
100.00
400.00
20.00
80.00
3,891.03
177.75
4,548.78
Yontalay Bowe
4
100.00
400.00
20.00
80.00
5,000.00
2,489.13
177.75
1,706.60
500.00 10,353.48
TOTALS
4
$3,400.00
$680.00
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PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis’ recent trip to Texas to drum up investment and promote the country overseas cost taxpayers nearly $40,000, according to a document tabled in the House of Assembly yesterday. In keeping with a promise to be transparent about the costs associated with high-level government travel, Dr Minnis tabled the expense document in Parliament. According to the document, the four-day trip cost $37,181.76. A breakdown of the expenses shows Dr Minnis’ total costs were $5,081.28, with $3,891.01 spent on airfare and hotel for Austin and $470.25 for his hotel in Houston. Dr Minnis also had a $150 daily
per diem for the trip and $120 in total for incidentals. Minister of Foreign Affairs Darren Henfield had the second highest travel expenses for a government minister. His total expenses were $4,788.78, with $3,891.01 spent on airfare and hotel for Austin and $177.75 spent on his hotel in Houston. Another notable expense was $5,000 spent for a reception listed on the travel expenditure of Yontalay Bowe, a photographer attached to the Office of the Prime Minister. AIRFARE TotalTOTAL airfare and hotel for the delegation was $24,358.41 in Austin while $1,536.75 was spent for hotel expenses in Houston.
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“We pledged transparency and accountability in overseas travels by ministers of the government,” Dr Minnis said yesterday. “This communication is in keeping with this pledge. We will also advise the public on the cost of such travel.” Yesterday, Dr Minnis touted the trip as beneficial, due to Texas being a “potential source of investment” for this country. He said Texas was home to 54 companies on the Fortune 500 list, is a leader in education an one of the major US hubs for the development of computer component systems and information infrastructure. The trip came about after Dr Minnis received an invitation last year from Governor Greg Abott to visit Texas and it was agreed the trip would take place in January. On January 21, Dr Minnis led a delegation to Texas inclusive of Mr Henfield, Minister of State for Grand Bahama Kwasi Thompson, non-resident Ambassador to Central America Cornelius Smith and Senior Policy Advisor Joshua Sears. Ms Bowe and the prime minister’s aide Kirk Bastian were also a part of the delegation. Bahamas Ambassador to the US Sidney Collie and Consul General in Miami Linda Mackey, in whose jurisdiction the state of Texas falls, and Lynden Rose, honorary consul in Houston, also joined the delegation. “It is my intention to continue these structured and strategic overseas visits, the costs of which will be made public,” Dr Minnis said yesterday. “I have already foreshadowed investment promotion missions overseas to various countries and regions. “We will especially welcome the private sector as partners in these missions. “These travels are designed to attract high quality investments to our country, as well to engage our diaspora in the development of our country.” Dr Minnis promised last week to release the expenses associated with the trip when questioned by reporters during a press conference after his return to the Bahamas.
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, February 1, 2018, PAGE 11
PILOT RISE PROGRAMME ‘SELF DESTRUCTED’
By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net
THE pilot RISE programme reportedly suffered “irreparable defects” and self-destructed, according to a press statement issued by the Ministry of Social Services. The ministry’s RISE public relations campaign and the Conditional Cash Transfer project were launched in June 2015 by the Christie administration, and facilitated by a five-year loan contract with the Inter-American Development Bank. In Tuesday’s statement, the ministry noted the bank’s recommendation to end the programme at its “fixed date of expiration, August 2017.” “Unfortunately, the project failed to reach its objectives during its pilot stage,” the ministry noted. “To the misfortune of many, the programme appears to have self-destructed and suffered FROM PAGE ONE The figure was based on The Tribune’s calculation following revelation in a report that 270 promotions were processed in 2014, 529 in 2015 and 899 in 2016. The PSC report for the years 2014 to 2016 was tabled by Public Service Minister Brensil Rolle in the House of Assembly yesterday. It noted that by the end of 2016, there were 20,310 employees throughout the public sector. Data from the Department of Statistics released on Friday revealed more than 2,500 jobs were lost from the public sector since the Minnis administration took office. “The commission noted that over the years, public officers are too often recommended for promotion as a means of reward for good governance at a lower grade without full account being taken of the ability of the employee to successfully perform at levels of greater responsibility,” the report said. “It is not clear, particularly in some clerical scales, but also in some technical, skilled and non-skilled scales, whether officers are required, or expected to take on additional duties or to assume greater levels of responsibility following their promotion.
irreparable defects as a result of poor management, low performance outputs and failure to meet deliverables in the timeline set by the IDB which in its professional wisdom recommended the closure of the project at its fixed date of expiration, August 2017, having concluded by letter dated the 27th July 2017, that ‘the programme experienced execution challenges, and achieved limited results.’”
Unfortunate The statement continued: “The management and staff of Social Services and Urban Development works tirelessly to serve the people of the Bahamas, it is unfortunate that some would attempt to diminish the good name of the ministry.” Dialogue for the creation of the project started in 2004 after an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) study revealed that social assistance programmes in
the country operated with little social safety nets to prevent abuse and misappropriation. An agreement was reached between the government and the IDB in August 2012 resulting in the implementation of a $7.5m social safety-net reform project or the Renewing, Inspiring, Sustaining, Empowering (RISE) initiative. As a part of the RISE initiative, families with children attending primary school must make certain that the child attends at least 90 per cent of prescribed school days and keeps up a 2.0 grade point average (GPA). Families with children in secondary high school must meet these same conditions and ensure their child graduates. If these conditions are not met, the child has to take part in one of a number of remedial courses in order for the grant to be maintained. At its 2015 launch, officials from the Department of Social
Services indicated that more than 1,000 beneficiaries had registered at the department’s Wulff Road centre. The RISE programme followed the introduction of the pre-paid debit card in conjunction with Bank of The Bahamas (BOB) in November 2014.
Assistance
In August, Press Secretary Anthony Newbold (above) told The Tribune the RISE programme reportedly suffered “substantial challenges” and
PROMOTIONS RATE SOARED UNDER PLP
The removal of vacated established posts from the annual budget of ministries and departments commencing in the mid-1990s has not had the intended effect of reducing pressures for promotion in the ranks of the public service.” Although the PSC is not responsible for promoting police officers, concern about
NATIONAL Security Minister Marvin Dames. promotions were raised by National Security Minister Marvin Dames last year. He said the force is too topheavy and he bemoaned the unprecedented promotion exercise that took place in
the final weeks of the Christie administration’s tenure. “The commission is of the view that the number of vacancies in a post ought to be all-important when deciding on recommendations for promotions or acting appointments. Hence, the commission recommends that establishment posts be clearly defined for all ministries and departments and that the establishment be strictly adhered to allow recruitment and promotion exercises so as to both restrict the rapid expansion of the permanent and pensionable establishment with attendant costs, and reduce some of the pressure for the rapid promotion through the ranks.” The report said in some instances, recommendations for promotion were made for officers who “clearly did not meet one or more of the requirements” for the post. Exercising his constitutional right, former Prime Minister Perry Christie appointed Rev Dr James Moultrie as chairman of the PSC in November 2013 for a three-year term. Ruth Miller and Idris Reid were also
was under review to determine whether the pilot project will be adopted. Mr Newbold, in a statement at the time, noted successful elements such as the production of a data management system to document and monitor client benefits, and the integration of a pre-paid automated card system.
appointed as members at the time. The PSC also remarked on the Ministry of Public Service’s “apparent diffidence” when dealing with
FORMER Prime Minister Perry Christie. disciplinary matters, suggesting such matters are not dealt with “expeditiously” or with due care and attention. In 2014, 2015 and 2016, the PSC recommended 38, 52 and 29 officers be disciplined respectively. Typically, the form of discipline involved extending a person’s probationary appointment. In 29 cases, the PSC recommended that someone be fired. However, the PSC said: “Despite the
On Tuesday, the ministry advised of the continuation of all “substantive programmes approved under the ministry.” Those were said to include: uniform assistance, after-school care, and the monthly food assistance provided through the Bank of Bahamas (BOB) VISA cards. The statement foreshadowed the introduction of suggestion kiosks, which will allow the public to provide feedback; and the segmented launch of “select automated services.”
commission’s best efforts to advise the governor general on the discipline of public officers, it has seen its decisions overturned on several occasions. This was due mainly because proper procedures were not followed.” Not unlike other institutions which must perform functions independent of political influence, such as the Office of the Auditor General, the PSC routinely makes a plea for “separate budgetary and staffing provisions” so it could more effectively do its job. “The commission is confident that if it held control of its budget and staffing, the difficulties encountered could easily be overcome and the perception of the commission’s independence as envisaged in the constitution
will be more fully observed,” the report said. Critics have for years criticised the nominal role the PSC plays in recruitment exercises within the public service. Unlike some other commissions around the world, including the United Kingdom’s Civil Service Commission from which it is modeled, the PSC does not create policies that ensure appointments throughout the public sector are merit-based and advertised to all potential applicants. The commission’s role in Westminster countries has generally been to protect the public service from being used for political patronage. Nonetheless, the Minnis administration revealed that last year, a rash of hirings took place throughout the sector ahead of the May 2017 general election.
PAGE 12, Thursday, February 1, 2018
FBI CLASHES WITH TRUMP, HAS ‘GRAVE CONCERNS’ ON RUSSIA MEMO WASHINGTON (AP) — In a remarkably public clash of wills with the White House, the FBI declared Wednesday it has “grave concerns” about the accuracy of a classified memo on the Russia election investigation that President Donald Trump wants released. The FBI’s short and sharp statement, its first on the issue, laid bare a Trump administration conflict that had previously played out mostly behind closed doors in meetings between top Justice Department and White House officials. “As expressed during our initial review, we have grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo’s accuracy,” the FBI said. The agency’s stance on the memo, conveyed in a two-paragraph statement, escalates the dispute and means that Trump would be openly defying his hand-picked FBI director by continuing to push for the memo’s disclosure. It also suggests a clear willingness by FBI Director Christopher Wray, who in the early stretch of his tenure has been notably low-key, to challenge a president who just months ago fired his predecessor, James Comey. The FBI statement came the day after Trump was overheard telling a congressman that he “100 percent” supported release of the four-page memo, which was drafted by Republicans on the House intelligence committee. The Republicans have said the memo reveals surveillance abuses by the FBI and the Justice Department in the early stages of the investigation into potential ties between Russia and the 2016 Trump presidential campaign.
THE TRIBUNE
TRAIN CARRYING GOP LAWMAKERS STRIKES TRASH TRUCK; 1 KILLED
EMERGENCY personnel work at the scene of a train crash involving a garbage truck in Crozet, Va., on Wednesday. An Amtrak passenger train carrying dozens of GOP lawmakers to a Republican retreat in West Virginia struck a garbage truck south of Charlottesville, Va. (Zack Wajsgrasu/The Daily Progress via AP) By ALAN FRAM AND HEIDI BROWN, Associated Press CROZET, Va. (AP) — A train carrying dozens of Republican members of Congress to a strategy retreat in the countryside slammed into a garbage truck in rural Virginia on Wednesday, killing one person in the vehicle and sending several lawmakerdoctors rushing to help the injured. No serious injuries were reported aboard the chartered Amtrak train, which set out from the nation’s capital with lawmakers, family members and staff for the luxury Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. At least two other people in
EMERGENCY personnel inspect the lead engine of the Amtrak train. (Zack Wajsgras/The Daily Progress via AP)
the truck were reported seriously hurt. The collision happened about 11:20 a.m. in Crozet, about 125 miles southwest
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of Washington, tearing the truck in two, crumpling the nose of the locomotive and scattering trash alongside the tracks. Rep. Robert Pittenger of North Carolina said he was standing at the train’s refreshment stand, waiting to be served a soft drink, when he felt “an enormous slam. ... It was a huge jolt. We all hung on to whatever we had.” He said he looked out the window and saw a big pile of garbage, and it appeared the train had pushed the truck for a few hundred yards. Authorities gave no details on the cause of the wreck, which took place at a crossing protected by gates, flashing lights, bells and warning signs. The National Transportation Safety Board sent a team to investigate. Benny Layne, on whose property the truck landed, said the crossing arms had been known to malfunction, sometimes coming down even though no train was approaching. Sometimes, he said, they stayed down for hours. He said motorists would get out of their cars to help guide other motorists around the malfunctioning arms so they could cross the tracks.
“A guy was up here just yesterday or the day before taking a look at them,” he said. Carrie Brown, human resources manager at Buckingham Branch Railroad, which leases the stretch of track and is responsible for maintenance, said she was unaware of any problems with equipment at the crossing. Florida Rep. Neal Dunn, a former Army surgeon, said he and other lawmakers who are doctors joined other passengers who are nurses or paramedics and jumped out with the basic medical gear they had. They broke into three teams to help the injured people in the truck, he said.
Devastating “The first gentleman was somebody who had really, really, really devastating injuries. We did try to resuscitate, but ultimately you had to realize it wasn’t possible,” Dunn said. He said another man in the truck was critically injured and a third was seriously hurt. Rep. Phil Roe, a doctor from Tennessee, said the truck driver was killed instantly. Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and his wife, both doctors, were among those who came to the rescue. He said he helped a man from the truck who was badly injured. “My role was quite simple: I picked up his feet so the blood in his feet would go to his heart and his brain,” Cassidy said. Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona said seeing the lawmakers who are doctors tending to the injured reminded him of the shooting of Rep. Steve Scalise at a GOP baseball practice last June. “I thought then I never want to experience a day like this again,” Flake said. “Unfortunately, it came too soon.”
Officials gave varying figures on the number hurt. But Amtrak said two crew members and three passengers were taken to a hospital with minor injuries. Minnesota Rep. Jason Lewis’ staff tweeted that the first-term congressman was among those taken to the hospital and was later discharged after suffering a concussion. Others aboard the train reported bumps, bruises and sore joints. The GOP policy retreat, an annual event, was scheduled to last three days and feature speeches from President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. By early afternoon, lawmakers were boarding buses to resume their trip. Later Wednesday, Pence told Republicans at the party retreat that he knows “it’s been a harrowing day for all of you.” Pence, a former House member, said he has fond memories of the retreat and the train rides back and forth. “Just know our hearts are with you,” Pence said. Pence was the featured speaker Wednesday night at the GOP retreat. Trump was to address lawmakers Thursday. Rep. James Comer of Kentucky said about 100 Republican lawmakers were on the train when the crash made him jump out of his seat. “I looked out the side of the window and then I could see a truck, just in pieces out the side of the window,” Comer said. He said Capitol police officers quickly jumped off the train but came back and asked for any doctors to help. Other doctor-lawmakers who assisted included Reps. Michael Burgess of Texas, Phil Roe of Tennessee, Larry Bucshon of Indiana and Roger Marshall of Kansas, according to those aboard. House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin was on the train and was unhurt, aides said.
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THE TRIBUNE
TEMPORARY CLOSURE OF CABBAGE BEACH ACCESS FOR STAIRWAY REPAIRS By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net
OFFICIALS at Atlantis yesterday confirmed the “temporary closure” of the main public access path to Cabbage Beach, as the resort looks to repair a collapsed stairway. Senior vice president of public affairs Ed Fields said the resort thought it best to close the path completely as it carries out all necessary repairs to the stairwell. Mr Fields denied the resort was attempting to bar the general public from
gaining access to the beach. Mr Fields told The Tribune: “We are only looking out for the best interest of the persons that use the access. As you know, the stairs collapsed sometime back and we are working to repair that.” He added: “We have to rebuild it, ensure that it is up to code and all is good. Until that time, the access will remain closed to avoid injuries or accidents. We want everyone to occupy this space as safely as they can. This is a step in that direction.” Mr Fields estimated
repairs to the stairwell could take up to four weeks. In early January, The Tribune reported that a 50-year-old French tourist was badly hurt as he tried to get on to the beach when the steps collapsed beneath him, hurling him on to rocks seven feet below. His wife and children looked on helplessly as the man - unable to move started being dragged into the ocean by the crashing waves. He was later rescued and pulled to safety by employees from several surrounding properties.
LEFT: The tourist covered in sand after the stairs collapsed in early January. RIGHT: The stairs to the beach.
FEMA SAYS IT IS NOT CUTTING OFF AID TO PUERTO RICO
By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN, Associated Press
HAVANA (AP) — The Federal Emergency Management Agency says it is not cutting off food and water supplies to Puerto Rico despite reports that it intended to do so. FEMA spokesman William Booher told The Associated Press that the agency has been evaluating whether enough stores and supermarkets reopened by
Thursday, February 1, 2018, PAGE 13
Jan. 31 to justify ending distribution of food and water to municipal governments on the island. He said no decision has been made and officials mistakenly made the date public this week. Booher said FEMA is in the process of winding down food and water distribution as stores and markets come back online, but he stressed it will continue to distribute aid to needy towns for the foreseeable future.
ATLANTIS senior vice president of public affairs Ed Fields said the path will be closed so the stairway can be repaired.
PAGE 14, Thursday, February 1, 2018
THE TRIBUNE
COU
Abandoned by the Country of his Birth........... LS TO CHINA The lady of Shanghai
Akia takes carols from Nas sau
WN A2MAIN
THE TRIBUNE
I told them - check. They said: ‘You going to Haiti’
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By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net
Alone in a hellhole, praying to go home by the country of his birth
THE TRIBUNE He was referring to a family of seven, the father of whom told The Tribune last year he awoke to his home engulfed in flames. On that early morning in September, Mr Jean-Charles said it wasn’t his speech that prompted officers to arrest him, but his Creole-sounding name. “So when I gave them my name,” he continued, “they say ‘oh you is a Haitian let’s go,’ and he hold me down from by my neck page oneand shirt collar THE TRIBUNE and attorney Fred Smith flew to Haiti to find Jean A3MAIN and he search me, and Rony Jean-Charles. TRIBUNE Wednesday, January 24, 2018, PAGE 3 tru’in I didn’t have nothing bune Staff THE “I left with Wesley,gave he my brother’s apprehension. trying to fight to get his on me. I already carry me by he people them phone to my friend to hold. However, she was unable to stuff out the way. It’s just place. I stayed there for a go to him for some days due Thendays theyuntil carried me to the getting more and more couple I see the Centre. I told to her work schedule and complicated now that she’s hillDetention was too slippery and too other issues. Instead, she (mother) not here. I was in them check high and itthey hurt can my feet to my thename the system, point in I couldn’t walk. they said she sent copies of his my early 20s (when I got a Hecan had see to almost me incarry the me system, documents – including his passport), I applied when I down every time birth certificate and school was 18, and now everything they never check we it.” went out, big likethe me.officers had records – to the CRDC change and it’s like more Heman said “Ireassured saw one n****, Wesley him that once he through her friend. complication – when it was say he’s a Bahamian and “I was between work and my time it was much easier. to the facility, he would theygot deport him too, and released if his dealing with other issues,” Now they coming with difhe be mussy lose promptly his head she said, “but I always ask story checked out. ferent stuff you have to get, and gone crazy. I say boy I I wait month, for update, she told me pro- and a lot of these things hope I“So don’t turnanother like that. I always I tellpray, a next person check it vide this document and so I cost money.” I hope I don’t turnfor likeme, that. heI never checked. gave her everything I had. The family matriarch, could see it happeni ng, I you feel going They said like I Haiti, She took it in, we’re wait- Laitilde Jean-Charles, took going socrazy.” I just stopped worrying ing, waiting, and then they sick and died in 2012 at 55. Back init because Nassau, I and said oh they will release about told them Ms Jean-Charles says unbeknownst to him, Mr if I go Haiti how am I going him, but the next time they her National Insurance Jean-Ch arles’ sister Closurvive in Haiti? I don’t said they couldn’t find any- records indicated she was tilde,toand other loved ones, thing we gave.” nothing Haiti, only short by three of four had know organise d a about social She continued: “So I had contributions. Despite not I never been media campaig n there hopingbefore, to network but theywith wasn’t listening to to go do everything all over, having applied for citizenfamilies of people me. That’s ended up get another birth certificate, ship, she said her brothers who how had Ibeen deported with him and another school letter. They had obtained several travel here (Haiti).” could provide any details attor- got the birth certificate, my documents over the years Mr Jean-Charles’ about his whereabouts. ney, Fred Smith, filed an late mom passport and old despite never travelling. Weeks passed before attorwork permit, hoping and The issuance of those cerapplication contesting the ney Mr Smith was put in lawfulness of his detention thinking they would look tificates of identity were SCENES from the Haitian community where Jean contact with Wesley who told Rony Jean-Charles is now living. into it, but nothing came discontinued by the previ29, 2017. them on MrNovember Jean-Charles had Photos: Terrel W. Carey/Tribune Staff it in would ous administration, and arles said: left and However, was now living Mr Jean-Ch the later out of it.” “I Mr Jean-Ch wilderne Ms Jean-Charles and replaced with the be ss confirmed by former Belongthought in a very rough no one was check- had long run arles said he I ain’t eat a good meal yet, out of money just dry rice and area. Director of Immigration her four brothers, one of er’s permit and an ingupdated for me. I say, man they and he thing. was now 35, having Immedia “People cooking on the send tely Pratt whom is now deceased, me William that Mr Jeanrecognis in policy in November 2014. hell. spent his birthday, ing anCharles side of the road, all you can opportunity “When make sent to were raised by their Haitian hadtobeen Ms Jean-Charles toldI was in the ber 5, in the bush.DecemIn the some money, Mr Smith said do is watch Detentio with your belly n Centre,” he con- north Haitian Port au Prince, Haiti, on mother, who worked legally The Tribune yesterday she slums of Port hurting. You gotta Wesley offered to go out tinued, “I been there from de pay for November 24 after not as a maid on a work permit, was elated to see photos Paix, conditions were that, you and bring September and no one even him back, and ain’t getting nothworse, albeit safer. being able to prove he was The Tribune was told. of her brother, come givingseeher provide ing free not here. lodging – for a fee. me, no one know “From I been Ms Jean-Charles is the in the country legally. something more tangible here,” he The next step, Mr Smith “I don’t like depend on where I was. I thought I said, “you have to go way people and I can’t do revelation only sibling who holds a than just his voice said, wasBefore to verify that wasover lostthe his idenfor true because down there noth(bottom of ing for them,” he tity. Inwas December, his Bahamian passport. phone. the made I was done making up my the end a in friend continued. of hill) to get water. They Mr Jean-Ch “I’m dependent on them “At the time, all of us was sister Clotilde Jean-Charles mind “Right now, I’m excited, arles’ cousin, about running away, drinking that water, cook- (Fresnel and namedtold Fresnel, wait until young,” she explained. his The who Tribune had family) and I’m happy because even everyone go sleep ing with that lived she THE HAITIAN community where Jean Rony Jean-Charles has been living. Photo: Terrel W. Carey/Tribune Staff water, and I don’t like that. I in Portbeen de Paix, run away, get lost. Just bathing made the I had went to attempting to see though he’s water in and a different how to“Since walk on I’m thesethe hills.oldest, I village no running hills. my legs her with sojourn withSometimes go, photo can’tI make it. It did times I don’t that. Some- work once, with one fella, and was come the one that can endedorup brother nearly threesay how place best toor beyou alive. the baby power, no it’s plumbing give outhis on for me, so he didn’t drink it, I just he carry Wednes brought day, him January make me back to me work. to feel live They better and I can’t even walk Underfoot, litter I spoke ask me back. for take a sip, I guess that’s why my stuff sorted toilets. out. was weeks – prompting her towalkgetting thrilled when with him. work hard, these blocks you true when Fresnel showed my hills.time Houses could betofaintly seen peek“The day it rained on these throat is be hurting, I see all At that theyall(brothhire another attorney. him for the first time and if the picture and a house fell down, I about, houses way on top of ing out from the mud as me ain’t drink good water yet, them around they’re lifting Ms Jean-Charles said ers) must be didn’t see the I was more thrilled of myself.” by hand and on these and even worn from don’t want to be around the hill, if you slide you’re compacted necessity of it. My younger she was called by a close when I went to work this gonna drop in a hole. constant traffic and transwhen houses falling down, brother 30 now is into gottawho growis your formed the landscape. friend who witnessed (Monday) morning and I because I think three her “You
A 34-YEAR-OLD man born in The Bahamas is petitioning the courts over Tribune tracks the lawfulness of his deten- down ‘missing’ tion of some three months Jea Tribun The nBiggest Ro ny eto And Best! at the Carmichael Road Haitia n village Detention Centre. Jean-Rony Jean-Charles ‘Police beat me to was arrested in early confess to killing’ September by immigration officers, according to his sister Clotilde JeanCharles’ affidavit, which alleges her brother has never left the country. ‘WHERE’S MY BROTHER?’ SEE PAGE FIVE
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own food, and buy the meat or fish. Small fish, baby fish.” Mr Jean Charles continued: “You see one person caught a marlin fish, it was already dead he was sharing it out, that was a big meal for them for couple days. Food is hard, you see food around the streets you hungry but if you don’t have no money no one giving you nothing. “It’s rough. They just have animals, they don’t have no pets.” Fresnel’s home was made of bare cement with corrugated tin roofs, his porch featured stone rivets and tiles that were hand carved - an inkling of the criticallyacclaimed craftsmanship for which the country is recognised. However, most were made of a range of materials, part cement, wood, plastic sheeting and tin. The
“Where you sitting, that’s where I sit all day,” he said, sitting on the porch of Fresnel’s one-bedroom home. “Just looking at over there (another hillside filled with seemingly precariously placed homes), thinking what’s next. “When I see I looking too much my head start to hurt and I go lay down, wake up when dark fall, when dark fall ain’ no light like that. Only a few places have light like that.” In Cap Haitian, The Tribune was told that electricity was cut off at sundown. At night, bars and restaurants run generators. But in Port de Paix, Mr Jean-Charles said there was only darkness aided by an occasional thin candle. “I don’t hardly talk to them, they always ask why don’t you talk, but it ain’t nothing to say, I can’t say nothing. I don’t know, I have to wait to ask (someone who speaks English) because when they answer me I don’t know what they’re saying. (Fresnel) He don’t speak English good like that, the only person that spoke English good was Wesley.” Mr Jean-Charles said he wants to venture out to get some form of identification documents, but said up until this point, he has not been able to communicate this request successfully and had no money to facilitate any sort of extended travel to the city. Despite the pervading dust, trash and muck, and oppressive heat, the village bustled with energy and high spirits and most persons encountered often broke out into warm smiles. There was an indescribable sense of pride, an
By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net
was Bahamas THE yesterday warned not to “rest on our laurels” after it escaped the European Union’s “blacklist” largely thanks to Hurricane Irma. While the financial services industry and wider economy “dodged a potential bullet”, this resulted from the EU Council taking pity on the nation as a result of damage inflicted during the recent hurricane season. The House of Assembly today will debate amendments to finance laws as the government seeks to satisfy requirements for ratifying the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, something Finance Minister K Peter Turnquest is expected to sign when he visits San Marino next week. SEE PAGE SIX
occurred four to five times between November 20 and 21, 2015, while at the Cen-
tral Detective Unit (CDU). TEENAGER He said he was taken “back THE murdering and forth” between the of accused Queen’s College elementary interview room and the teacher Joyelle McIntosh homicide room by officers yesterday claimed he was as they forcibly tried to get beaten and forced to give him to confess to the crime. While in the homicide a false confession of his room, the teenager said he involvement in the crime. The teenager, taking the was made to lie on his stomwitness stand before Justice ach while handcuffed and Bernard Turner, said a plas- a plastic bag was placed on tic bag was placed over his his head, then subsequently head and he was “forced” asked if he was ready to by officers to give a false confess. He said while confession. He also said he doing so, one officer held was coached on what to say his feet and another held when the official interview his hands. began. SEE PAGE THREE claimed, he This,
By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net
A 29-YEAR-OLD man was sentenced to nearly 25 years in prison yesterday for having unlawful intercourse with a teenager girl who he had lured to his home through a fake Facebook profile. Justice Bernard Turner sentenced Jamal Daniels to 24 years in prison concerning an incident that occurred with a
14-year-old girl in September 22, 2014. The sentence is to commence from June 22, 2017, the date of his conviction. In doing so, Justice his expressed Turner intent to protect society from Daniels’ “predatory” behaviour, and stated that despite Daniels being said to be “industrious” and “hard-working,” he is still a “present danger” to young women in society. SEE PAGE FIVE
By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net
Hospitals PUBLIC Authority officials have decided to delay for 60 days several across the board fee increases at the Princess Margaret Hospital, including those proposed for PMH’s Morgue Department, Health Minister Dr Duane Sands said yesterday. This change comes a day after the minister said he would be willing to meet with angry funeral directors who protested outside PMH last week about the new fees. However, on who is said to Sunday, Dr Sands also ATTORNEY Fred Smith with Clotilde Jean-Charles, sister of Jeanrony Jean-Charles, Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff told The Tribune the govbe missing from the Detention Centre. ernment could no longer permit “free passes” in health services due to huge revenue deficits. SEE PAGE SIX
By SANCHESKA DORSETT Tribune Staff Reporter sdorsett@tribunemedia.net
THE family of a 35-yearold man who was picked up by immigration officials in September say they do not know if he is “alive or dead” or has been “illegally deported” after allegedly not being allowed to speak to him or visit him in nearly three weeks. In an emotional interview, Clotilda Jean-Charles, 36, told The Tribune yesterday that she only wants to know what happened to her brother Jean Rony Jean-Charles but no one at
Didn’t SEE PAGE EIGHT
SANDS - NHI HAS TO BE PAID SOMEHOW
70 HAITIANS HELD AFTER VESSEL STOPPED NEAR LONG ISLAND
By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net
THE Minnis administration has not made a decision on whether an additional tax must be introduced to fund National Health Insurance (NHI), Minister of Health Sands DetDr aineDuane d told The Tribune yesterday. Describing this aspect of planning the universal healthcare scheme as “a hallenge golf tournament at Albany Golf major hurdle”, Dr Sands RepoRting: Ava & nico Scavella a new tax might owing on his comeback. See turnquest Sports for suggested Photo: Danteterrell Carrer/AP photogRAphy: Carey SEE PAGE SIX
LegAL eFFoRtS: Rights Bahamas
The Tribune
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ENTERPRISE BILL - WE WERE TS COULD PLACE ONUS ON THOSE AID NOT CONSULTED ING ILLE GAL IMMIGRANTS
specified types of businesses st on in the Bahamas with an Juan investment of no less than said $250,000. Such businesses n the would be entitled to a guar- specified number of work ans. permits for executives, allow managers and people with mians “specialised knowledge”. conSEE PAGE SIX MMIGRATION Minister Brent Symonette. ablish
imply knee-jerking and aying ‘oh increases in penlties, that’s it’ we feel good nd pat ourselves on the ack.” As a follow up yesteray, Mr Symonette said he government could look reinforce its laws with ronger policies that address ersons harbouring illegal mmigrants. He said: “So the law
These are things that we will continue to discuss as we modernise the procedure.” Mr Symonette, like Mr Bethel earlier this week, said this strategy is the only way the government could legally guard its efforts moving forward. Reflecting on the recent
By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net
fire at The Mud shanty town in Abaco, Mr Symonette asserted people who could be residing in the Bahamas illegally from that community could now make the claim that their documents were lost or damaged as a result of the fire and slow any legal proceedings. He said: “For instance, people lost their documents. So the whole question about how do you prove you were born in the Bahamas – your immunisation, your marriage certificate – a lot of those issues you could get from the Registry (Department), but there are documents that affect that.” There have been several notable cases in recent months in which government action has been overturned on the grounds that it violated rights afforded under the Constitution. Last year, Jamaican Matthew Sewell, who spent nine years in and out of prison and the Carmichael Road Detention Centre without trial, was awarded a $125,000 settlement in the Supreme Court.
TRADE union leaders yesterday claimed they were intentionally “left out” of discussions surrounding the controversial Commercial Enterprises Bill. SEE PAGE SIX
the Detention Centre or the He gave us his number and Department of Immigra- we have been calling and calling and we don’t know tion will give her answers. Ms Jean-Charles said her anything,” Ms Jean-Charles brother, who was born and said during an interview Detention the raised in The Bahamas to outside Haitian parents, was taken Centre. “The last time anyone into custody by immigration officers during a raid spoke with him was about three weeks ago. We don’t on September 15. “I have been to the know if he is alive or anyDetention Centre three thing. No one is saying times and they would not anything. They are not let me see him. They told giving us access and they me I had to go to Hawkins are not giving us any Hill. I went there and the information. “Our concern is this, line was so long but I stayed and I even went back and they deported him to Haiti, spoke with a man on the number one he has no one third floor who assured us SEE PAGE FIVE that he would look into it.
SEE PAGE EIGHT
Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper
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THREE men are dead and another is in hospital following four shooting incidents in separate locations in New Providence that took place over the weekend. Two of the four individuals shot between Friday and Saturday died on the scene, according to police reports. One of the victims, who was previously listed in critical condition in hospital as the result of a shooting early Saturday morning, subsequently died. The murder toll now stands at seven for the year, according to The Tribune’s records. SEE PAGE SEVEN
PM ORDERS PROBE OVER BRIDGE EXEC’S CONTRACT
By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net
Article 19(1), (2) and (3) and Article 25 (1) of the Constitution have been breached, Justice Hilton ordered the government to pay Mr Jean-Charles for the breach “in such amount as to be determined” after hearing submissions by counsel. Justice Hilton, in his 39-page ruling, found that Mr Jean-Charles was “unlawfully expelled” from the Bahamas, after having been unlawfully detained from September 17, unassuming dignity that they serious. Just like that dry stay busy until 1am, they 2017 to November 24, 2017, Mr Jean-Charles said has rice, that’s what they having go to sleep 3am they done in breach of his right guaranhumbled him in spite of the for breakfast, small, small back up making noise children, just rice. sharp cultural differences. again, the first time I came teed under Article 25 (1) of “Sometimes they go out I couldn’t even breathe the “They piss anywhere,” he said, “in Nassau you can’t to work, they mommy leave air it stays smoky. Fires the Constitution. WWW.BURGERKING.BS do that. I just want to get them home to clean and here stay burning. from around here, it’s like twice I said I’m not doing “To me I feel like this a Justice Hilton further my head ready to explode. I nothing lemme clean the dream, like I still dreamfound Mr Jean-Charles has see why people risk their life dishes or something. The ing, every morning I wake guy caught me doing that up I’m still dreaming. I just to come (to The Bahamas). been deprived of his personal “I see this the other day the and he said never again, so is meditate and pray and woman over there cook some I just leave it. don’t watch nothing.” liberty, unlawfully arrested “You hear all this noise,” dry rice for the children. You Mr Jean-Charles added: and detained/falsely imprissee how the children them he continued, “you can’t “I wish I had wings, I’d just hear what they saying. It dirty and thing, I said man, fly back to Nassau.” oned in breach of his rights guaranteed him under the Constitution. The Tribune understands SUPPORTERS of Jean Rony vessel, Jean-Cha statement from the RBDF the sailing ‘Island in the second incident. One month later, a custody and transported rles, Unit, By KHRISNA RUSSELL including attorney Fred boat QC, outside the Crown of court intends yesterday to appeal to the Carmichael said. Girl.’ The migrants were The vessel and its crew Smith, “loaded” with Hai. Road Deputy Chief Reporter on routine patrol, detained by HMBS Rolly were subsequently taken tian migrants landed near Detention Centre as a krussell@tribunemedia.net Justice Hilton’s decision. the“While defence force’s aircraft Grey and will be taken to into custody. The foreign- Clifton Pier, about three result of that sloop landing. IN its first apprehen- P-68 piloted by Chief Petty the capital.” In October, Prime Miners, consisting of nine miles“Any from Coral Harbour. time longer is Dr an Hubert surrende r, deportation of sion of the year, the Royal Officer Gregory Storr spotMinnis Late last year, the Ecuadorians, one Colom- Immigration officers and ister Bahamas Defence Force ted the sailing vessel early Department of Immigra- bian, one Dominican, one other unautho illegal immigrants authorities the gave risedspent detentio n and expulsiona of a person from arrested 70 Haitians who Sunday morning. Shortly tion deported 114 Haitians Jamaican and one Ameri- following days combing the December 31, 2017, deadis unlawful ,” Justice were on board a 40ft sail- after 5pm Monday, a US and charged 14 people who can were later handed over area Hilton to leavethe the country for the migrants. The line Bahama s to another ing vessel east of Wemyss in Coast Guard helicopter were caught in The Baha- to police and immigration RBDF said 57 people – 43 voluntarily or face being added. south Long Island, officials from the Operation Baha- mas over the Christmas officials for further inves- men, 11 women and three “aggressively country,” pursued andhe said. said. Wednesday, 24th January 2018 Regardin deported”. mas, Turks and Caicos holiday weekend. tigation. The were found children – were into gtaken Mr Accordin g to totheofficial Jeanruling, Justice Hilton further According (OPBAT) spotted the 40ft Most of the migrants near Montagu Beach in Charles’ whichreports, shortly 5pm sailing vessel approximately were Haitians and found New Providence. consequent stated that the uncertai referred to after an affidavit Monday a US Coast eight nautical miles east of aboard a sloop near Inagua Head of the Departdeportation and/or expul- surrounding whether nty swornon by Mr Jean-Ch arles’ Guard helicopter from Wemyss settlement in south in late December. The ment of Immigration’s "More giveaways for Mr Bahamas, Turks Long Island and alerted vessel, which originated Enforcement Unit, Kirklyn sion from the sisterOperation country, Clotilde 'Castrol' DRIVE WITH GTX Justice Jean-Charles had “legal or Jean and Caicos (OPBAT),Charles, spot- Defence Force patrol craft, from Île de la Tortue, Haiti, Neely said at the time that in 2018. *FREE 'Armorthat All', he Hilton stated Mr Jean-Ch ted the vessel, Girl”, HMBS Rolly Grey, which had a total of 87 migrants – nearly 7,000 persons were arles“Island could was non-lega born at l status” “QUOTE OF THE DAY” or anyone *FREE 'Gunk' when you buy and alerted the RBDF. was also searching for the 72 males, 12 females and deported in 2017. not be arrested the Princess detained facing Margare t Hos“A group of Haitian a gallon or 5 qt. bottle and of vessel under the command three children – on board. The Department of similar position Distributed By on the way to of Lieutenant Commander There were also 14 for- Immigration intensified under 'GTX' or 'GTX Ultraclean' section pital migrants 25 of the Immiin NewareProviden “cannot be a basis for his ce onGranville Adderley. the capital after they were eign nationals from five its apprehension efforts 5W20, 5W30 or 10W30 gration grades!" STREETdetentio GARAGEn and deportation” Act, which, BAY Decemb apprehended in Bahamian “Further investigations countries apprehended in November after a large er 5, 1982. along on Monday even- resulted in the apprehen- for illegal entry into The empty sloop was discovered Street section with*(Certain section Hewaters restrictions41, apply).outlines Dowdeswell was the under arrested ing by the Royal Bahamas by sion of 70 undocumented Bahamas by members of on the shoreline of Ade40 (1) (a) of Defence Force,” a press Haitian migrants aboard the RBDF’s Harbour Patrol laide Beach. “only powers of detentio 322-2434 322-2082 immigra tion officers last Sepn” •the Immigration Act. contained in the Immigration tember and detained at the “I find that the Applicant 2 Act. Carmichael Road Detention has been deprived of Section 25 deals with the personal liberty, unlawfulhis Centre from that date up ly process in which people who arrested and detained/falsely to the swearing of Ms Jean are refused leave to land can imprisoned in breach Charles’ affidavit. of his be removed from the Baha- rights guaranteed under Mr Jean-Charles was never Artimas, while section 41 deals cle 19 (1), (2) and charged with any offence (3) of with the process in which a Constitution,” he said. the under the Immigration Act JEAN Rony Jean-Charles pictured in Haiti. person subject to a deportaor any other law, according to presence “I also find that the appliin the Bahamas, he corpus to be issued against tion order the ruling, and neither was he was taken may be removed cant has been unlawfully to the detention the government for it to from the ever taken before any court. centre for Bahamas, which expelled from the Bahamas further processing produce Mr Jean-Charles, may include He was never served with a relative to the detention of in breach of his right guaransuspected contra- specify whether the cause that potentia deportation or a detention vention l deportee. teed under Article 25 (1) of of the Immigration of his detention was lawful, order, and had never been Act. the Constitution.” and if not to order his outside of the Bahamas. After the ruling, a jubilant After an unsuccessful release. He is represented by Fred check at the Mr Smith said: “I am very In addressing Mr JeanSmith, QC, who filed a writ for the name Birth Registry happy that the judge has “Jean Charles” Charles’ arrest and detention, of habeas corpus on his and the However, Justice Hilton ruled in Jean Rony’s favour. associated date of Justice Hilton noted that behalf last year. said as Mr Jean-Charles was I am pleased that the judge birth, that individual was while Article 19 of the ConThe never refused leave to land has reviewed the constitugovernment’s returned to his home coun- stitution recognises the response to Mr Smith’s writ, try on a Bahamasair charter power of the state to detain in the Bahamas due to him tional provisions and that executed by the then-Acting flight on November 24, 2017. and expel non-nationals, it being born in the country, by this judgment he is giving Director of Immigration He later confirmed his iden- must be done “within the and as no deportation order muscle to the skeleton and Keturah Ferguson, accepted tity as “Jean was made against him, he structural foundation of the Charles,” date four corners of the law”. the facts outlined in Ms Jean of birth could not be arrested and Constitution. December 1, 1985 He further stated any Charles’ affidavit save for the during a detained under section 25 “Article 28 of the Conroll call of passen- detention not authorised name and date of birth of the gers prior and similarly, could not be stitution is a very powerful to boarding. by law would be a “breach person in question. detained remedy, and deported and I am very happy under Once the flight landed in of the individual’s constiAccording to the response, Haiti, the that the Supreme Court man was handed tutional rights; and entitles section 41. on September 18, 2017 an over to Justice Hilton also ques- judges are starting to use Haitian authorities, that person to compensation adult Haitian national who and thus tioned the validity of the Article 28 to promote and any custody or con- under Articles 19 (4).” gave his name as “Jean trol of only document connected to protect people’s funda“Jean He also said that based Charles” and stated his date the Bahama Charles” by Mr Jean-Charles’ removal mental rights under the s government on section 18 of the Crimiof birth as December 1, 1985, came to an from the Bahamas, namely constitution.” end was arrested and detained by 24, 2017, on November nal Procedure Code, if an the return executed by Ms Jean Rony’s sister Ms the Crown individual is apprehended immigration officers during a maintained. Ferguson. Jean Charles, when interby immigration officers routine status check on Fire “It is viewed, unclear said she felt “great, on what Days later on Novem- for allegedly committing Trail Road. ber 29, Mr Smith filed an an offence, that individual basis this document was wonderful, thrilled” and Due to “Jean Charles” originating prepared “marvelo and executed as us” after hearing motion, an ex cannot be detained for more being unable to provide offi- parte summon Established there1903 is no law of which I am Justice Hilton’s ruling. cials with any documents or davit seeking s and affi- than 48 hours before being aware which lawfully allows “I feel good because he’s leave charged of the and taken before a the director proof concerning his lawful court for of immigration coming back home,” she a writ of habeas magistrate. to authorise the removal, added.
EVER-CHANGING DIRECTION OF DR MINNIS
By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net
contesting the lawfulness of his detentio IRMAnSAVES was filed on NovemberBAHAMAS 29. FROM EU In an affidavi JEAN Rony Jean- Clotilde BLACKLIST t, his sister Jean-Ch Charles, the Bahamas-born arles’ man who, according to rela- claimed she took docutives, went “missing” after ments proving his birth to the Department of Immithree months at the CarTeen left ‘bruised gration at the michael after swollen’Road and request of offiDetention interrogations cials, only to Centre, has By KHRISNA RUSSELL be repeatbeen found in Deputy Chief Reporter edly told that a North Haikrussell @tribunemedia.net HOSPITALS’ the tian slum. matter FEE CHANGES was under The 35-yearPUT ON HOLD DAYS before the investigation. old C V Bethel May 10 general elecHis applicaSenior High tion, the former Christie INTERNET RAPIST tion is one of School alumadministration added an JAILED FOR 24 YEARS scores of writs nus was addendum to the confiled last year tracked down tractual agreement against detainof to a small vila high-ranking Bridge ees at the lage on the Author ity executive outCarmichael outskirts of lining no fixed termination Road DetenPort-de-Paix, date and specifying there tion Centre. Haiti, by The was to be no less than HOW In DecemTribune and the The Tribune reported three years’ notice in the family’s search for Jean ber, his former attorney event of termination, The TIME WE TALKED Directo r after a social Rony Jean-Charles. of TO A WIDER Tribune can reveal. AUDIENCE Immigr amedia camThe contract is worth tion William paign was launched by nearly $100,000. Pratt told The Tribune relatives who feared he that would be forever lost in the Mr Jean-Charles, whose SEE PAGE SIX relatives said he was born poverty-stricken nation. He told The Tribune he and raised in The Bahawas sent to “hell” by the mas to Haitian parents, to Haiti. 31,Bahama 2018,sPAGE 3ent, and wasMrflown governm A1MAIN Pratt said Mr Jeaneach day since has been a struggle for survival, both Charles was sent to Port au Prince, Haiti, on November physically and mentally. Mr Jean-Charles was 24 after not being able to Established By 1903 RASHAD ROLLE arrested in early September prove he was in the country Tribune Staff Reporter 2017 by immigration offic- legally. rrolle@tribunemedia.net SEE PAGE THREE JEAN ers, and an application of Rony Jean-Charles pictured in a village in Haiti, where he spoke to The Tribune conditions. about his living PROGRESSIVE LibPhoto: Terrel W. Carey/Tribune Staff eral Party Leader Philip i’m lovin’ it! “Brave” Davis characterised the Minnis administration’s 24/7 BREAKING NEWS ON TRIBUNE242.COM changes to the board of the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority as unlawful yesterday, arguing By RASHAD ROLLE hope of finding the parts engines they infringe on the indeTribune Staff Reporter ,” Mr Major told penden that could help investiga- The ce of the regulatory Tribune yesterday, two VOLUME:115 No.48, JANUARY 31ST,rrolle@t 2018 ribunemedia.net THE PEOPLE’S PAPER: $1 tors determine what caused days body. after officials said all the Effective last Novemcrash. WHILE six people on board the search and SAUSAGE, EGG & ber, Delvin Neville Major, Wilchcombe chief inves- plane had died and rescue efforts have ceased search tigator replaced CHEESE BISCUIT of air accidents, said and rescue for those who died in last efforts had been chairma Randol Dorsett as n of URCA’s board, week’s Andros plane crash, the most critical compo- called off. search and recovery for nent of the plane that could “The wing and stuff while another former board parts of the downed Piper assist investigators is its wouldn’t give much clues member, Cherise Cox-Notengine tage, who – such was appointed small planes into Aztec plane are continuwhat happened ing as authorities expand do not have a flight data because they would be so in 2015, was also removed from the board. their search area in the recorder or “black box”. “We want to find those SEE PAGE FIVE THE TRIBUNE Friday, January 26,EIGHT 2018, PAGE 7 SEE PAGE MUTINY OVER BEST OF THE BEST RACE YACHT CAPTAINSChief SPORTS: Tribune Report
Government told: Fly Jean Rony back and grant status people died in that. The pavement just sink down and the house fell with it.” The Tribune spent two hours in Port de Paix with Mr Jean-Charles with temperatures climbing to 90 F under a blistering sun. It had rained the day before and there were puddles of murky water and thick muck. To get to Fresnel’s home from the wide strip of dirt that served both as a highway and runway took about 20 minutes by car, and another ten minutes on foot along a winding, steep, and at times slippery path - the width of which was dictated by the positioning of homes and gardens. “I’m always sliding, I almost drop (off a ridge), some of them drop. You should see the little babies they so small and they know
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Govt told: Fly Jean Rony back and grant status
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Jean-Charles to “allow and permit” him to travel from Haiti into the Bahamas, and that it pay the A SUPREME “reasonable cost” Court judge of Mr Jean-Charles’ has ordered the journey “forthwith government to upon his return.” “immediately” Justice Hilton issue a travel further ordered that document for the minister and Bahamas-born director of immideportee Jean gration should, no Rony Jean-Charles later than 60 days to allow him to JEAN Rony Jean- after Mr Jeanreturn from Haiti to Charles in Haiti Charles’ return and the Bahamas at the upon his application, issue government’s expense and “such status” that would to grant him legal status no “permit him to remain in later than 60 days after his the Bahamas and to legally return. seek gainful employment.” Justice Gregory Hilton, And, ordering that Mr in a written ruling, ordered Jean-Charles’ rights under the government to issue SEE PAGE THREE a travel document to Mr
DARLINE PRATT, Jean Rony Jean-Charles’ cousin, and his sister, Clotilde, outside court yesterday. JEAN Rony Jean-Charles in the shack he shares with six others in a Haitian village. Photo: Terrel W. Carey/Tribune Staff
DUMP MANAGERS: WE DID OUR JOB DAMES ALL OPTIONSto OPEN Court consider applications DEFENDS ON MARITAL RAPE By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net
Renew said it is disap- Mr Ferreira said Renew’s pointing to have been work at the site was to treated poorly as an inves- blame for the three fires tor that brought capital, that have happened at the RENEW Bahamas, technology and knowledge dumpsite in less than a year. By RASHAD ROLLE Mr Bethel avoided former managers of the to train Bahamians in On Saturday, a portion of Tribune Staff Reporter being nailed to a particular New Providence Landfill, landfill remediation. This, the landfill caught fire and rrolle@tribunemedia.net position on how the govyesterday took issue with it said, was a warning to officials at the Department ernment will address the assertions from Environ- potential investors that a of Environmental Health ABy TOWN hall hosted by sensitive issue ofto sexual A3MAIN AVA TURNQUEST According former ment individual bearing Romauld a name other information he proin The Bahamas, Minister lack of maturity exists when born Services (DEHS) now sus- He insisted his date of the Tribune Bahamas Press Club violence within marriage, Chief Reporter Immigration Director Ferreira similar tothat theits detainee to the authorities as entered The Bahamas birth is December 5, 1982. work atwas the vided it comes to the government pect combustion or some January 23, 2018, PAGE 3 lastaturnquest@tribunemedia.net nightTRIBUNE highlighted how emphasising THE Tuesday, now Mr is the Justice Hilton isROLLE also William Pratt, Jean- dumpsite “returned”was to aHaiti days correct, in particular, the legally, obtained leave to “disaster,” By RASHAD and its handling of deals other kind of chemicalexpected in flux the government’s period for consultation, to give a ruling Charles was flown to insisting prior to Mr Smith’s filing of name he gave and his date enter The Bahamas pursuit had spent $10m Tribune Staff Reporter that are He agreed upon. is to blameAct, for theon whether position on marital released rape notPort MIGRANTS for the two others who au government Prince, Haititoon to thechange writ of solid habeas corpus. “duly signed” antreaction to the Immigration waste man- of birth. The company released blaze, telling The Tribune remains. from the Carmichael declare its hand. detained but later November 24 after not agement According tocountry. a return to his name as Jean Charles, nor had any status whatso- were rrolle@tribunemedia.net in the this statement the day after SEE PAGE TWO Road Detention Centre He Attorney General Carl were lawfully being able to he was the writ of habeas corpus the return said. ever which entitled him to released NATIONAL faced theprove toughest Security last announced month are heexpected Bethel will questions arrested, namelyMarvin Jamaican in the country legally. filed by Acting Director of That man, the document remain in The Bahamas. from those who Minister Dames to return to court today believe release two pieces of draft Ricardo declined Johnson to However, representa- Immigration Keturah Fer- said, gave his name as Jean However, Mr Smith national the administration yesterday for judgement on the their is tives legislation addressing from theminded Haitian guson, on behalf of former Charles, aged 31, date of countered by saying while who isaddress married the to a latest Baha- fatal insufficiently habeas applica- to embassy laterdignity told of The Immigration Director birth December 1, 1985. the return to writ pur- mian citizen, and Reggionel issue as partcorpus of consultaprotect the shooting by police, including the case Tribune they William Pratt and Peter A subsequent check of ports to be referencing his Raymonvil, who was born tiontions, exercises while also of women and to had livenouprecord to former detainee Jean Rony of Mr Jean-Charles being By MORGAN ADDERLEY birth records at the Baha- client, one person aboard,” thein The insisting Joseph, officer-in-charge Mr Jean-Charles Bahamas. such matters admitting the government international conventions, “thoroughly Jean-Charles. repatriated. of the detention centre, mas Registrar General’s and theGuard “Jeansaid. Charles” Mr are Johnson, who is ininvesTribune Staff Reporter Coast could decide not to bring tigated” put before Supreme at Court In courtSEElast a Haitian man was inter- Department based on the taken into standers custody diverted have possession of and a resident PAGEmonth, SIX madderley@tribunemedia.net “Watch any legislation all. Justice coroner. due to Gregory Hilton granted the Crown, represented viewed by immigration information provided by different birth Guard dates: Mr the Coast cutterspousalthepermit wasof 2018, respondbail to 11 detainees – eight by Gary Francis, submit- officers during a “routine Charles wasThey bornarrived on expire inHe October A BAHAMIAN sailor Jean Charles yielded “nega- Jean Cochito crew. ing to on reporters ahead adults and three children - ted that Mr Smith’s writ who patrol” the Firemissing Trail tive results”. December 1982. December wasinreported on scene5, at approximatelywas detained of yesterday’s Cabinet on December 19, and gave of habeas corpus ought to two Road area. ago was rescued The document further The Tribune inter- the1 and released on Decemweeks 3.30pm and medivaced the government an addi- be dismissed on the basis byAccording meeting, following the Coast doc- said there was “no record viewed Mrsmall Jean-Charles the UnitedtoStates man via boat to theber 8. Mr Raymonvil was the tional 21 days to produce that no one bearing the Guard shooting death at ument, on Jean Charles Haiti last Saturday, Monday after- or any other evidence pre- in Revere Beach fire and rescuedetained on November 29 the Mr Jean-Charles and also name Jean Rony Jean- noon weekendonof Decema man resisubsequently an sented or subsequently hedue confirmed he had been from a signed boat taking to him suffering from aand released provide justification for his Charles is in the custody immigration profile form uncovered” to show that deported say was by the Bahamas ber 7, dents according to blind. court on water off the coast of possible chemical reaction. deportation. Progressive Liberal of the state, and that an Florida. confirming his identity and Jean Charles was either government. “Coast Guard 7th Districtdocuments. Party (PLP) Chairman Baha Mar lifeguard watch standers confirmed Fred Mitchell said in a Samuel Leroy Moss Jr, 23, that the man, a Bahamian statement yesterday the disappeared off the coast of national, is the subject of a public should know his Bimini on January 14. previous overdue case.” party is watching the According to the US Mr Moss’ sister, Sammatters closely and is Coast Guard Mr Moss was minka Moss, 21, briefly prepared to intervene in “rescued from a vessel SAMUEL Leroy Moss Jr in hospital. spoke with The Tribune yespursuit of justice when taking on water Monday terday. She was elated at his necessary. approximately 10 miles east of West Palm rescue but said she had little information at from page one recent plastic pollution on beaches Beach, tourismFlorida. losses annually for Movement’s 2017 maniphase out the use of plastic respond The to Themost Tribune’s the time about his time at sea. increases, it could cause the country. festo, the party vowed that bags by 2020.” requests for com- killpolice-involved “Watch standers at Coast Guard Sector “All I know isMr thatFerreira he was found close tonumerous up to US $8.5 million in Miami In the Freea notification National “an FNM government will did not ment up pressplace time.on Plantol ingtotook received from a good “Minister Ferreira proSEE PAGE 10 SEE PAGE FIVE Samaritan of a vessel taking on water with posed to ban plastic bags
by Jean Rony and other migrants CORONER PROCESS
ALIVE – AFTER TWO WEEKS ADRIFT
END OF PLASTIC BAG POLLUTION? completely in The Bahamas, followed by various types of single-use plastics such as polystyrene (Styrofoam),” the PPC website states. Mr Ferreira also “explained that the Ministry of Environment has been working on formulating and pushing regulations with Parliament that address plastic use in the country and agreed that through laws and swift action, the problem of plastic pollution will be reversed in The Bahamas.” The website continues: “Bahamas Plastic Movement founder, Kristal Ambrose, said plastic bags are used in abundance in The Bahamas, along with other single-use and disposable plastic items such as plastic bottles, straws, cups, and polystyrene (also ATTORNEY Fred Smith with Jean Rony Jean-Charles in Haiti. known as Styrofoam) food pick up the paper and I saw the aircraft’s descent. containers.” “Our is to a When his lawyer made that he goal was on the see front reduction in plastic bag contact, Mr Jean-Charles page.” useMs and Jean-Charles plastic bag litter in made no indication of said: the country, however our who he was and seemed “I’m praying that they find ultimate goal is to have a unmoved by the group’s a way forban him onto plastic return complete back and because this isfor allthe he enthusiasm to have finally bags Styrofoam knows.Bahamas This is by truly entire thehome year located him. He later told The Triband I said don’tMsknow how it 2020,” Ambrose. Representatives will be for us, we herefrom and une he had long resigned Bahamas Plastic Movehim to be over there. It himself as forgotten by his ment theawkward. rate of family. would said reallyiffeel
Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper
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He ain’t even that fluent in the Creole. Out of all of us, I’m the only one that has a passport everyone had an issue.” According to his attorney, Mr Jean-Charles went to Albury Sayles Primary, T G Glover Primary, S C McPherson Junior High, and C V Bethel Senior School. He was hospitalised several years ago for blood poisoning, he said, which left him with recurring episodes of numbness in his legs. To find Mr Jean-Charles, The Tribune and attorney Fred Smith travelled to the northern city of Cap-Haitian, and then chartered a plane into Portde-Paix. The four-seater charter touched down on a dirt strip populated by cars, dirt bikes, donkeys and pedestrians – all unfazed by
He said his experience at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre was unremarkable from the scores of stories already told by former detainees, with living conditions fluctuating based on the volume of migrants and the whims of guards. “At the detention centre, I was s****** in a toilet,” he said, slowly curling his lips into a wry smile. It was the first of only a handful of instances that Mr Jean-Charles showed any emotion during the visit. Although he is no longer detained, he told The Tribune he remains imprisoned mentally, unable to reconcile with the shock of his sudden transplant into abject poverty. Mr Jean-Charles said he has not used indoor plumbing since he left New Providence on a plane to
Port au Prince, just one of many “luxuries” he has gained a heavy appreciation for due to severe lack. As his plane taxied out of The Bahamas, he asked an officer to use the bathroom and was refused. Unable to hold his urine for the duration of the trip, he urinated on himself. It would be the first in a seemingly never-ending stream of physical and emotional degradation – part culture shock and part trauma. “I don’t know why they deport me, two to one they probably don’t know the reason why they deport me. When I was in the Detention Centre, I told them, I say check my date of birth, December 5, 1982, I know I ain’ supposed to be here (in the Detention Centre).. “But they don’t check and it’s wrong. You supposed to check the person background. I’m not gonna lie, I been to jail before, and when I did my time, I was out, they released me to the gate. One stupid detention centre can’t check? It doesn’t make any sense.” Mr Jean-Charles was arrested for possession of a marijuana joint when he was 16. He was fined and
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Photos: Terrel W. Carey/Tribune Staff
REPRESENTATIVES from The Tribune with attorney Fred Smith in Haiti. sentenced to one month in prison. “One Monday morning, Monday morning,” he said, again recalling the day of his arrest by Immigration. During the visit, he often returned to this memory as if still struggling to reconcile with his circumstances. “I was chilling, I just chilling, my phone on the side
of me, just finish talking to my brethren about work. I like work, I like doing for myself and having my own things. We just stopped for dollar worth of cigarettes, I see the immigration gone to my brethren getting off on him. “Then they come to me and I give them my name and my date of birth. They didn’t even check,
they say when we reach the Detention Centre they gonna sort everything. “So I wait, and I wait, they cost me to lose my job, and now I’m in Haiti suffering. Like the prime minister say carry all the Haitians, all the Haitians gotta go back to Haiti, but I’m not Haitian. I don’t even know where I’m at.”
POWER OF PEOPLE’S PAPER
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, February 1, 2018, PAGE 15
GOVT PLANS OIL CONTAINMENT TANK AT BPL HEADQUARTERS
Fresh Prepared, In-store, Daily.
By GENA GIBBS Bahamas Information Services
BUILDING an oil containment tank at the Bahamas Power & Light headquarters is the government’s latest priority. On Thursday, Minister of the Environment & Housing Romauld Ferreira visited Clifton Pier to inspect the construction, view the plans, and speak one-on-one with those working in the field. The joint project of the Ministry of the Environment & Housing and the Ministry of Works, will cost the government almost $12 million to build, which includes a contingency budget, in order to permanently prevent chronic oil spill accidents from occurring near the barge docking at Clifton Pier. Minister Ferreira explained: “We are building first the containment wall. We are building a new bulkhead, which will prevent the seepage of oil from the site in the ocean; and designed into that bulkhead are sumps where the oil will actually collect and then we’ll extract it. So, our first goal is to prevent oil from going into the ocean and that’s what you saw going on there today. “Now the bulkheads being installed are specifically
DEAL PICTURED at the site in group consultation, from left: Sanjeev Gupta, contractor with Bahamas Marine Construction; Romauld Ferreira, environment & housing minister; Anthony Ryan, public analyst, Environment Ministry; Lisa Taylor, laboratory technician; and Robert Mouzas, senior structural/civil engineer. PHOTO: Gena Gibbs/BIS designed with safety features to prevent the oil from seeping out. Sheet pilings are going inside every joint and each joint is sealed with ‘bentonite’ to prevent seepage, and then behind that is a barrier membrane that’s being designed by AGO Syntex. “All of that is to prevent the oil from migrating from the site into the ocean, as what’s happening now.” Mr Ferreira said the Ministry of Works has about 630 feet installed and the target deadline is June 2018. He added that for at least 20 years or more, the oil seepage at Clifton Pier has been causing environmental concerns that were never addressed, until now.
Such seepage will no longer pose a threat. The Ministry of Works engineers and contractors started the endeavour in November 2017 and are working diligently around the clock to meet the June deadline for completion. “Now another source of oil into the ocean is through the cooling water discharges at BEC,” said Mr Ferreira. “The proposal is to build a purposeful device called an oil-and-water-separation system, in which as the discharge waters leave the site – any oil in that system is removed and then only clean water goes out. “The purpose of this is to stop the pollution at Clifton Pier.”
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