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VOLUME:117 No.52, FEBRUARY 6TH, 2020
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Norwegian admits dumping in ocean By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net THE government is clamping down on cruise ships operating in Bahamian waters, with Transport Minister Renward Wells declaring yesterday discharges at sea will not be tolerated. His statement came as he revealed officials recently learned of a discharge in Bahamian waters from a Norwegian Cruise Line vessel, however he did not provide specifics. This incident was voluntarily reported to the Bahamas Maritime Authority, he said. A spokesperson from BMA said by next week, the government will be in a better position to report on the specifics of Norwegian’s waste dumping. Last month, The Tribune reported that Carnival
Cruise Line had been caught polluting Bahamian waters yet again in 2019 after being found to have committed the infraction in 2017. Last year, Carnival Corporation reached a settlement with US federal prosecutors that would see it pay $20m in fines for violating terms of its probation in relation to its dumping. “Let me make one thing clear and in doing so emphatically state that we will defend our environmental sovereignty,” Mr Wells told the House of Assembly yesterday. “Those who have breached our environmental laws will be made to account. The pristine lands and waters of The Bahamas (are) the inheritance of our people. It belongs to all Bahamians, to all of you and to future generations of our beautiful nation.” SEE PAGE SEVEN
PEOPLE prescribed cannabis for medical purposes will have unlimited potential to grow plants to meet their needs if the Bahamas National Commission on Marijuana has its way. Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis tabled the commission’s report in the House of Assembly yesterday, bringing the country one step closer to marijuana reform. The commission’s
recommendation on medical marijuana is one of the few ways in which its final report differs from a previously leaked draft of its report, which recommended limiting people to cultivating just five plants for medical purposes. “We did not want to put a specific amount because circumstances may be different for each individual who is prescribed medical cannabis,” Quinn McCartney, the commission’s co-chair, said yesterday. SEE PAGE THREE
L SOUR CE
COURT AUDIT UNCOVERED PAYMENTS CHANGES By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net
AN Auditor General’s report into the Magistrate’s Court has exposed instances of cashiers allegedly altering payment receipts and nearly two dozen missing cheques. The findings prompted recommendations for investigations to be carried out over several inconsistencies. Another incident – a missing endorsed blank cheque for $6,000 that was later cashed — was directly given to the Royal Bahamas Police Force for further investigation. Auditor General Terrance Bastian noted differences between amounts that were paid for maintenance support – either child support or spousal support payments — versus the amount that cashiers posted to client cards for these payments. SEE PAGE FIVE
PLAN TO SELL OFF FLIGHT SERVICES PUT ON HOLD
MARIJUANA REPORT PUTS NO LIMIT ON MEDICAL USE By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net
$1
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
‘WE’LL SHUT YOU DOWN’ BUWASU Union president Dwayne Woods “threatened a total shut down” yesterday as he accused the Water & Sewerage Corporation of rolling back on a number of benefits. Full story - Page 6 Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff
THE government’s decision not to proceed with the Nassau Flight Services (NFS) privatisation is no reflection on the two final bidders’ quality, a top aviation official revealed yesterday. Algernon Cargill, director of aviation, confirmed to Tribune Business that the Minnis administration had decided to cease efforts to sell-off the stateowned ground handling services provider for the time being. FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS
SECOND SEX ASSAULT DURING HOME RAID Weekend By EARYEL BOWLEG ebowleg@tribunemedia.net
A WOMAN in New Providence was sexually assaulted on Tuesday night during a home invasion in Coral Harbour. Police said around 8pm, two men forced their way into a home and held a female resident at bay before robbing her of cash and personal items. One of the men sexually assaulted the female, before both men left the home and escaped
CORAL harbour in her grey 2008 Lexus IS-250 vehicle. This comes after a similar incident in
January on Marshall Road, where two robbers forced their way into a home and robbed the residents of cash and personal items. One of the burglars sexually assaulted a woman in the home before they escaped in one of the victims’ black 2014 Ford F-150 truck. This was just one of a string of home invasions reported in recent weeks. Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF)
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PAGE 2, Thursday, February 6, 2020
THE TRIBUNE
SECOND SEX ASSAULT DURING HOME RAID from page one
Superintendent Shanta Knowles said although police are alarmed, they do not know if these types of crime are becoming a trend. While affirming the force’s commitment to ensuring the safety of communities, she encouraged the public to be alert and vigilant. “We have a job to do and we’re focused on doing just that – making our presence felt in the community. We will support all victims of crime….of course we will support those who were sexual assaulted,” she added. “But we remind people to be cautious also to take precautions and not have valuables especially business places to keep large sums of cash and valuables on premises but instead and when
making deposits to not have employees randomly make deposits but instead use the services of armed vehicles. Make random deposits not structured deposits where people maybe watching.” Coral Harbour joins the list of quiet communities shaken up by recent robberies. The Tribune recently reported several complaints of burglaries in the gated communities of Palm Cay and Treasure Cove, which are in eastern New Providence. Supt Knowles noted that crime can happen anywhere and advised individuals to put in place security measures at home. “Your location doesn’t necessarily make a difference, it’s continuing to be aware and to make your surroundings secure,” she said. “I know a lot of people
(are) not interested in putting up security bars and screens in their homes because sometimes it detracts from the beauty of the home, but it’s a safety measure and we encourage you to use them. We encourage these surveillance systems and to have them in operation and in use. “Get to know your neighbours. Neighbours can share information. Neighbours can watch out for neighbours and that’s what we encourage. We are encouraging neighbours to be nosey and see who is going to the home next door. See who is not familiar with home next door. Make calls.” Anyone with information on this latest incident or any other crime is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 328-TIPS or the Central Detective Unit at 502-9991.
Guilty of killing his godmother
DWAYNE Belizaire outside court yesterday. By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net A SUPREME Court jury yesterday returned a unanimous guilty verdict for Dwayne Belizaire for strangling his 49-yearold godmother and leaving her dead in a bathtub. The 33-year-old Eight Mile Rock resident was convicted yesterday of killing Margaret Smith, a mother of three children on Valentine’s Day three years ago. He will return to court on April 30 for a sentencing. The Tribune understands the prosecution will not seek the death penalty, however, a murder conviction carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Justice Estelle GrayEvans delivered her summation of the case at 11am and turned the matter over to the jury sometime after noon for deliberation. Jurors returned around 3.55pm with the verdict of 12-0 guilty on the murder charge. Smith was found dead at her home in Seagrape, Eight Mile Rock, on February 14, 2017. The prosecution believed that she might have been killed between 10am and shortly after noon. According to an autopsy, she was strangled and immersed in water. The deceased also had injuries on her back from a knife and a bite mark on her arm.
Photo: Vandyke Hepburn The prosecution, led by Erica Kemp, produced DNA evidence linking Belizaire to Smith’s murder. According to the evidence, the defendant’s DNA was found under fingernail clippings of the deceased, and also inside a condom that was found by police in bushes behind the dead woman’s home along with her clothing, and a set of keys to her house. After the verdict was handed down, Justice Evans asked Belizaire’s attorney if she had any reasons why a sentence should not be imposed at this time. His lawyer, Jethlyn Burrows, requested that a probation report be conducted for her client, prior to sentencing. Justice Evans thanked the jury of eight men and four women for their service to the court. Smith’s daughter Jenee Gibson — who attended the trial everyday – was very pleased with the outcome of the trial. “We waited three years for justice for our mother, and we are very happy with the verdict,” she told The Tribune. She said the family never thought that Belizaire, who was a close friend of the family, would harm their mother in such a manner. “We knew him, talked with him; he was my mother’s godson, and we never thought he would have done what he did to her,” Ms Gibson said.
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THE TRIBUNE By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net CONTACT tracing would be a key part of healthcare work if there is a suspected, probable or confirmed case of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus in The Bahamas, according to a draft of the Ministry of Health’s preparedness and response plan for the virus. The plan, released yesterday, “outlines the steps required to prevent, detect, report, investigate and respond to a potential case of the disease in a coordinate and timely manner.” The Surveillance Unit would be responsible for the initial review of reports of suspected cases, with the port surveillance system in the Ministry of Health requiring medical officers to be on call and accessible 24-hours each day. If there is a suspected case of the disease, a rapid
Thursday, February 6, 2020, PAGE 3
Rapid response team set to react to virus threats
response team would investigate and apply measures in conjunction with the office of the chief medical officer. That team would comprise an infectious disease clinician, an epidemiologist, a surveillance nurse and an infection control officer. Among them they would conduct a thorough physical examination to rule out other possible causes of acute respiratory syndrome; ascertain the epidemiological link of the case to other case(s) and notify appropriate agencies; liaise with officials to carry out contact tracing, monitor the patient
and oversee the collection and transportation of necessary samples for laboratory investigations. People with suspected cases of the disease would be issued surgical masks and triaged immediately to designated examination rooms or wards where their clinical, travel and contact history records would be obtained. They would be required to provide nasopharyngeal swabs, serum sample and urine sample to rule out the coronavirus or the flu. If a suspected, probable or confirmed case of the coronavirus emerges,
those that could expect to be contacted are people living in the same house as the person with the case since the onset of the illness; those who visited the patient either at home or in the health facility; a baby who has been breastfed by a case; and all the places and people visited by the patient since the onset of the illness, including churches and relatives. The contacts would be listed, called and informed of the importance of calling the Surveillance Unit at the first sign of any symptom of the virus. Non-essential travel of
THE CORONAVIRUS contacts would be discouraged and they would be expected to remain available to health authorities, notifying them of their location changes.
People who have been in contact with those suspected of having the virus would be given advice on respiratory hygiene, avoidance of crowded areas and public transportation and the need to remain home until well. Those with probable cases would be hospitalized under isolation or in conjunction with other cases. There are no confirmed or suspected cases of the new coronavirus in the country, officials have said. At last report, 10 people were under quarantine after travelling to China in the past 20 days.
Marijuana report puts no limit on medical use It is essential that we change our marijuana laws. The unfairness must stop. We must stop stigmatising many of our young people and citizens - PM Hubert Minnis
PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis tabled the commission’s report in the House of Assembly yesterday from page one His commission has also recommended that legislation be enacted to protect employees from discrimination or job loss for using cannabis for medical reasons. The commission’s most headline grabbing recommendation is that possession of up to one ounce of marijuana be decriminalised for people 21 and over. “However, it is recommended that further consideration is needed in establishing the age that a person can be in possession of cannabis without a criminal record,” its report says. The commission recommends that the amount decriminalised be reviewed every two years following comprehensive analysis and impact studies. The commission did not take a view on whether cannabis should be legalised for recreational use, a
matter that divided members. The report says: “Commissioners are aware that decriminalisation is in effect a form of legalisation of the recreational use of cannabis, as it is in effect authorising persons to possess up to an ounce of cannabis. It is recognised that this poses a paradox, as decriminalisation on its own does not provide a legitimate and legal means for persons to obtain their supply of cannabis. “It is appreciated that decriminalisation may further facilitate the already existing illegal ‘black market’ for persons to obtain cannabis, which has its inherent law enforcement challenges. If, alternatively, provisions are made for regulated facilities to supply less than an ounce to persons 21 years and older in an attempt to eradicate or reduce the ‘black market,’ this is in effect the legalisation of the use of cannabis for recreational purposes.
“Some commissioners were not prepared at this time to recommend the legalisation of cannabis for recreational use. While Canada recently legalised cannabis for recreational purposes, as well as several states in the US, these commissioners are of the view that there is insufficient information to access the full societal impact of moving in this direction. “Some commissioners therefore recommended that more research be done, and additional data be obtained to make an informed and responsible decision on the legalization of recreational use of cannabis at this time…Alternatively, other commissioners are of the view that cannabis should be legalised for recreational use for persons 21 years and older.” Speaking in Parliament yesterday, Dr Minnis tied his marijuana reform push
to a desire to uplift people who come from modest backgrounds like he did. “In The Bahamas we have a criminal justice system that needs reform in a number of areas,” he said. “We arrest, prosecute, detain, and punish people for possession of small quantities of the plant, which they use for religious, personal or medical reasons. Coming from an Over-the-Hill community, I have seen first-hand how our laws especially harm young people from humble beginnings. Our laws have unnecessarily burdened some of our citizens with criminal records, making travel and finding work more difficult. It is essential that we change our marijuana laws. The unfairness must stop. We must stop stigmatising many of our young people and citizens.” Bahamas Christian Council President Delton Fernander said yesterday
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Photo: Yontalay Bowe/BIS that in light of the release of the report he will form a committee today and will map out the way forward
later this month when the council meets. Editorial View - Page 4
PAGE 4, Thursday, February 6, 2020
THE TRIBUNE
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Still matters to consider over marijuana AT long last, the report of the commission tasked with considering changes to our laws on marijuana has been tabled in Parliament. We have known for some time of course what it was likely to say – but the final version of the report did have some changes, and its tabling marks the point at which it’s over to the government to take action. Some questions remain for government to consider – for example, one of the changes is to allow unlimited growth of marijuana plants by people who have been prescribed it for medical purposes, and government will want to ensure that measures are in place to ensure that doesn’t become a grey market where people sell it rather than just have it for personal use. The biggest story is the recommended decriminalisation of possession of marijuana of up to an ounce. That would only be for people 21 and over – so what about the 18-year-old caught with a joint? Is it still off to jail for him? That seems to run against the government’s talk of clearing criminal records for young people guilty of minor crimes. Even as he tabled the report, Prime
Minister Dr Hubert Minnis spoke again about that, saying “we must stop stigmatizing many of our young people and citizens”. That’s true – and there seems very little point in having people in jail cells over such minor offences, and less point still in leaving them with a record that can affect travel, make finding a job harder and making life more difficult. At the same time, we hope that while the decriminalisation may get people back on a clearer path that it doesn’t serve as an encouragement for excessive use. Prison is not the only side effect of use – some suffer memory problems for use, some get panic attacks and just as drinking at work would be unwise, so would be taking marijuana at work except for medicinal use. We also hope there will remain vigilance over stronger types of marijuana which can have greater negative effects. There is a lot still to examine – we hope that it won’t simply serve as a money maker for foreign investors, for example, to the detriment of Bahamians who could establish the industry themselves – but it seems that the time for change has come.
Govt passed the laws, now use them ANOTHER cruise ship has discharged waste into Bahamian waters – this time a Norwegian Cruise Line vessel. The details of what was discharged and where were not revealed by Transport Minister Renward Wells – there’s that lack of transparency again – but he quickly added that such discharges will not be tolerated. Well, plainly they will – until such time as the law is used to back up such words. On the positive side, the latest incident was voluntarily reported to the Bahamas Maritime Authority, which at least shows a willingness to be honest about the situation, but nonetheless, now that laws are in place to allow The Bahamas to take action, it’s time to put them to the test. “Those who have breached our environmental laws will be made to account,” thundered Mr Wells in Parliament. He went on to say “Your government is moving forward on behalf of The Bahamas to tighten, monitor and enforce our environmental law and protections across the board”. Really? We thought the government had already done that with the Environmental Planning and
Protection Act last year. You need more laws now? In January, the Attorney General was suggesting the government would pursue Carnival Cruise Lines for compensation over its dumping offences – do we suddenly need more tightening of laws since last month? Instead, Mr Wells seems to have resorted to… drawing a map? He says a line has been drawn around the Bahamian archipelago and the shipping industry has been advised that anything within that line constitutes Bahamian waters. We’re pretty sure ship captains have known for a long time whether they’re within Bahamian waters or not. Then in his next breath he says he wants the cruise industry to fund studies of data and remediation costs for environmental damage. That doesn’t sound quite so thundering. You don’t need to go cap in hand to the possible offenders, Mr Wells, those found guilty will be fined and that money will go into the public purse to cover such costs. Unless, of course, there’s no real intention to take such offenders to court. We shall be watching closely.
Pelosi a hypocrite EDITOR, The Tribune
(the Gross domestic product) has grown, medium SINCE Donald Trump income has risen too. And became President he has he gave a big tax benefit for not received a lot of ben- most people. efits from the Liberal He increased spending Media. It has been a con- for the Armed Forces and stant barrage of negatives even increased benefits in comments by almost every many ways to Veterans, TV News Anchor from in pay, housing and family Norah O’ Donnell, Lester aid. He is quoted that he will Holt and even people like increase money for Social F Chuck Todd and even Security. Eliminated many George Stephanopoulos. people from welfare, and Why is it that he has taken even wages have increased it on the chin day after day for blue collar workers and and night after night by these increased more manufacpeople who are supposed to turing jobs in America. represent both sides of poliHe stopped the excestics on a television station? sive immigration for most Even newspapers like the peoples from crossing our New York Times and other Southern Boarder, and is newspapers have not given now completing building him even the right time of the Wall to restrict people the day. from entering illegally. Last night’s speech PresiListening to his speech, dent Trump tried to inform I felt he tried to bring out those who listened of his what he was trying to do for accomplishments, of which the country, even though there were many from the he has been criticised from economy, the stock market the Media, to newspaper rising and rising, real GDP coverage, and not only the
TV anchors, but those that were a part of the TV team anchors from NBC, CBS, ABC, etc. After his speech, I listened to the TV anchors and I did not hear “ONE” good comment that he did that was to them exceptional after spending over an hour telling what he did for the country. I felt that even if he raised a person from the dead, these people would say that the person was never dead to begin with. Pelosi, said that she prays for him every day, are those just words or does she really pray for President Trump. By ripping up his speech he gave last night gave me the impression that she is a hypocrite. Was this a real appearance of a false expression? I felt she was not the only hypocrite in the chamber. CARLO OLIVERO Illinois, February 5, 2020.
KIRK DOUGLAS, a fixture of cinema for six decades, has died aged 103. The star was wellknown for a range of roles, including the 1960 classic Spartacus, pictured above.
Wrong to say rape is impossible in marriage EDITOR, The Tribune HOUSE Speaker Halson Moultrie stirred up a hornet’s nest while commenting on a report titled: “The Criminalisation of Marital Rape and Intimate Partner Sexual Violence Across the Commonwealth”. Spiritually, Moultrie opined, a husband cannot rape his wife. The House Speaker went to great lengths in delineating a dichotomy between the legal and spiritual aspects of the marital union. By using the term “spiritually,” Moultrie raised a moot point that was borderline reductio ad absurdum and a non sequitur argument to secular Bahamians, most of whom are biblically illiterate. The question of whether or not a husband can rape his wife is tantamount to the question of whether or not water is wet. And while in some cases marital rape is downright hard to prove in a court of law, its reality is a no brainer. For instance, while the Bible endorses spanking for unruly children; it nowhere endorses the physical, verbal and emotional abuse of children. Consequently, a parent who crosses the line in meting out disciplinary action against his children cannot use the Bible to justify his physical abuse anymore than a husband can use the Bible to justify forcing himself on his wife. No matter how one looks at it, however, the issue of marital rape raises a whole host of tricky issues. One being a wife who wants out of a marriage for any number of reasons might be tempted to cry “rape” in order to expedite a divorce. She might even use it to get back at her husband for his philandering.
LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net Indeed, the Moultrie camp poses several serious issues that must be satisfactorily addressed by Equality and Justice Alliance and other feminist organisations that are pushing for the enactment of marital rape laws. What’s more, the term “spiritually” that Moultrie used conjures up images such as angelic beings, who by their very nature are incorporeal. Consequently, they are asexual beings, according to Matthew 22:30. I think it was the Bahamas Christian Council which got itself in a heap of trouble over this same sensitive issue some years ago, when some of its members said that the state must stay out of the bedrooms of married couples, while failing to address the issue of the hundreds of welfare recipients who are products of dysfunctional homes. Marriage is the very first institution God created in the Book of Genesis. Obviously, the disintegration of the family structure would inevitably lead to the disintegration of society. Marriage is the union between one man and one woman, according to Genesis 2:24. According to 1 Corinthians 7:1-5, sexual intimacy is imperative to a marriage relationship; and is not to be coerced by either partner. Indeed, coercion presupposes the absence of love within a marriage. Conversely, love is persuasive, according to the late Dr Norman Geisler in his Unshakable Foundations. Ephesians 5:28 commands husbands to love their wives as
their own bodies. If a man abuses himself, he would be deemed insane by mental health practitioners. If he sexually abuses his wife, he would be sexually abusing himself, according to the Bible. The author of the Ephesians and Corinthian Letters is none other than the apostle Paul, who has been unfairly labeled a “male chauvinist” by feminist organisations abroad. It is worth noting that Paul viewed the woman as co-equal with her husband, something that was revolutionary in the Greco-Roman world. The New Testament elevates the status of women. The matter of submission that the typical feminist squirms at relates to the various roles within the family structure. Indeed, by being the head of the home, the husband is tasked with the “spiritual” and physical maintenance of his family, something the wife was simply not designed to do in an ideal world, as the plethora of single parent homes led by women have amply demonstrated. The woman’s role within the family structure does not imply inferiority, anymore than it implies the inherent inferiority of the children to the father. For what it’s worth, the Bible is anything but misogynistic. The marital covenant should not and cannot be used as a pretext for rape. It is high time that certain elements within the church abandon the tenuous and embarrassing position that rape is impossible in a marriage. KEVIN EVANS Freeport, Grand Bahama February 4, 2020.
THE TRIBUNE By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net A PROSECUTOR yesterday urged jurors to convict two women accused of murdering teenage mother Breanna Mackey two years ago, asserting the pair valued rolling with their “crew” above distancing themselves from the girl’s attackers. Attorney Cassie Bethel told jurors both Zaria Burrows and Dervinique Edwards are just as guilty of murdering the 19-year-old as her attackers, as neither of them did anything to “withdraw” themselves from the January 2018 savagery. Concerning Burrows, Ms Bethel said she “facilitated” Mackey’s death in that she not only drove Mackey’s attackers both to and from the scene, she also ensured they “were able to catch up with” and swarm the deceased. And concerning Edwards, Ms Bethel said even though she told the investigating officer, “I feel for Breanna people, I just want them know,” such a statement does not marry with the fact that she still left the scene with her friends. And, Ms Bethel said if Edwards played no part in the attack and was so caught off guard as she claims she was, she wouldn’t have gone for drinks with Mackey’s attackers not too long afterwards. “Didn’t call for help, didn’t get any assistance, didn’t go to the police. They went for drinks,” Ms Bethel said. The submissions were made during Ms Bethel’s closing address to the jury during the pair’s trial over allegations they murdered Mackey on January 25, 2018. According to the evidence, Mackey was killed because five girls wanted her to pay for a broken $80 Huawei cellphone that belonged to one of them. According to the record of interviews of both women, conducted two days after the incident, Burrows was driving her car in the area of Key West Street with Williams, Edwards, Davanya Lawes, Yolika Domesle, aka “Gabby”, and Matia Sylverain as passengers. Edwards said when Williams spotted Mackey, she
Thursday, February 6, 2020, PAGE 5
The accused didn’t call for help, didn’t go to the police they went for drinks, claims attorney who says they should be found guilty of murder started saying: “See Breanna, see Breanna on the corner,” before asking Edwards to open the car door and let her out. Edwards said her door wouldn’t open, so Williams got out by the door on the opposite side. Domesle, who was seated in the front passenger seat, then got out of the vehicle and threw a bottle at Mackey, which hit her in her face. Burrows said after that, Mackey’s older sister, Nafetera Brown, consequently told her sister to run, which she did. Williams and the others gave chase. Burrows said Mackey ended up running in a yard. While fleeing, Mackey slipped and fell in some mud, according to Burrows. Williams then grabbed her by the head. Edwards, in her interview, said she saw when
Williams “snatched” Mackey, and said she thought she was punching the victim. However, she said when Williams drew back her hand, she realised she was brandishing a knife. When asked how many times she saw Williams stab Mackey, Edwards replied: “All I know is a lot, I couldn’t keep up.” While that was happening, Sylverain was kicking Mackey, while Lawes was running in the road as if she was making a beeline for Mackey. However, Williams had since stabbed Mackey, and so Lawes ran back to Burrows’ car. The other girls eventually made their way to the car, which was when Burrows realised Williams had a knife on her the entire time. After Williams drew all of their attention to the bloody weapon, Burrows consequently ordered her
to throw the knife out of her car. Burrows then dropped the girls off at their respective homes. Edwards, however, said she did not stay home after the incident, and went “riding out Gambier” with Burrows, Williams, Domesle, Lawes, and Sylverain after the incident. Burrows meanwhile, said after the incident, she picked up her girlfriend and went “riding looking for something to eat”. It was only when she dropped her girlfriend off that she discovered that Mackey had died. Burrows’ and Edwards’ attorneys, Dervard Francis and Eleanor Albury respectively, in their closing addresses, both asserted that from an evidential standpoint, none of their clients attacked nor murdered Mackey. And neither were they party to any
“plan” to murder the teenager. Mr Francis asserted that Williams acted “unilaterally and on her own” in killing Mackey because, in her mind, “she had a point to prove”. However, Ms Bethel yesterday accused Burrows in particular of being the facilitator of the attack. Ms Bethel said based on the evidence, Burrows used her silver Honda vehicle to chase after Mackey; effectively cornered the deceased in a yard by parking across the entrance; waited while Mackey was attacked and then sped off once all of the girls had got back in the car. Ms Bethel asked the jury: “What in her actions would lead you to believe that everything that happened caught her off guard?” Concerning Edwards, Ms Bethel said if she maintains she took no part in
the attack — her attorney asserts she was only in the car for a ride to the store nearby — she had multiple opportunities to ease her way out of the situation, but didn’t. The first was while Mackey was being attacked, and then after, Ms Bethel said. However, Ms Bethel said the icing on the cake was how, when a police officer went to Morris Guest House in the Chippingham area, he discovered Edwards “clutched together tightly” in a bathtub with the four other women who attacked Mackey. “If that is not a crew, if that is not a joint enterprise, if all of that is not a common design, then I can’t tell you what is,” Ms Bethel charged. The matter continues on Monday.
COURT AUDIT REPORT UNCOVERED PAYMENTS CHANGES from page one
Only a sample size of client payments were reviewed, but it was enough for Mr Bastian to note that “when a cashier alters a client’s receipt, it could lead to inaccurate maintenance support payments, inaccurate arrears calculations for both civil and domestic court clients and mistrust of the court system.” For this portion of the audit, 12 separate client receipts from 2017 to 2019 were found to have discrepancies. The concerns were outlined in a report looking into the Magistrate’s Court’s accounts department for the period July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2018. In one instance, the initial amount entered for a client was $400 but the amount posted to the client’s card was $100. Another client amount was entered at $350 but nothing was posted to the client card. At several other times there was a $100 difference between the initial amount entered and the actual amount posted to the client’s card. Even a difference of $20 was highlighted after one client paid $220, but only $200 was posted to the card. The report said given the discrepancies in amounts posted to client cards, there had been an outstanding balance of $1,670, adding: “When receipts are altered arbitrarily, the amount for the intended recipient is compromised.” The auditor general also looked at how long it took for payment receipts to be modified. This was made possible by the QuickBooks audit trail report, which provides a log of all transactions within the company file. Through this log, the
report said in one instance the time between one initial sales receipt and when it was modified was 20 days. For another receipt, the modification time was five days. Some modifications seemed to happen immediately while others took place over a matter of hours or minutes. “The modification of receipts without management’s approval should raise a red flag or which should give cause for a closer review of all voided, edited or modified receipts,” the report notes. “Modified receipts where the amount received is reduced would significantly affect the bank balance and the amounts to be paid to the recipient.” Missing cheques were also a cause for concern among the audit team. During the financial probe, officials were informed that an endorsed blank cheque dated May 16,
2018 was missing and subsequently cashed on May 24, 2018 in the amount of $6,000. “This matter was given to the police for further investigation,” the report said. Auditors were further made aware of 20 other missing cheques, spanning April 2019 to May 2019. The cheques totalled $13,675, the highest valued at $2,754. “The cheques were not found at the time of this audit and subsequently management placed stop payments on the cheques. Due to negligence, the deposit fund account incurred cancellation fees of $45 per cheque totaling $900. An investigation was undertaken by management, which resulted in management having to prepare replacement cheques,” the report noted. Other issues highlighted were that for domestic and civil cases, arrears
schedules attached to files were manually prepared and in most cases inaccurate; payments had not been posted on client cards; and clients were still paying support payments even after the child had reached the age of maturity. Neither had reconciliations for the court’s chequing account for three years 2016 to 2018 – the period under audit, been carried out. For its part, management of the Magistrate’s Court said access had been given to cashiers for them to correct client’s names
TERRANCE BASTIAN on receipts at the time of payment. Management said administrators of the system were
given instructions for two supervisors to have void access at some point in 2018. “The modification and edit access has been taken from the cashiers and only the supervisors can void,” management said in its response to the audit’s findings. Contacted for comment yesterday, Attorney General Carl Bethel said he was aware of the basic allegations in the report and indicated that the matter as of two weeks ago was being attended to by the relevant authorities.
PAGE 6, Thursday, February 6, 2020
THE TRIBUNE
UTEB BOSS COMPLAINS OF UNION BUSTING TACTICS By FARRAH JOHNSON fjohnson@tribunemedia.net
DANIEL Thompson, president of the Union of Tertiary Educators of the Bahamas, claimed the union busting tactics carried out by employers in the country proves there is a general disregard by management for their workers. Mr Thompson made the comment at the Water and Sewerage Corporation’s headquarters yesterday, where he stood in solidarity with members of the Bahamas Utilities Services and Allied Workers Union (BUWASU) at their demonstration. “As we listen to the (number) of complaints and issues that my brother, Mr Woods, presented, it is indicative of what’s happening throughout the country when it relates to
trade unionism,” he said. “Indeed, the employers and the government at large seem to be engaged in a continual avoidance of coming to the table, delay tactics, disrespect for workers and other such issues and we hope through our affiliates to send that message loud and clear that we stand with our fellow trade unionists and we stand together in this fight.” Mr Thompson also spoke about some of the issues his union is experiencing at the University of the Bahamas. “At the university we have issues where our human resource department has admitted to creating posts and positions so as to avoid the unions,” he claimed. “For example, they would advertise a position and attempt to sign a contract with the new hire without referencing the union or the
industrial agreement. “And then they’ll attempt to argue that this person was not hired according to the IA therefore they cannot be a member.” According to Mr Thompson, the university has created new titles for jobs traditionally a part of the union’s industrial agreement. As an example, he said, there was even an instance where the university attempted to define a nursing position in a different way so that school officials could argue that the new hire could not be a part of the union. “That’s union busting,” he insisted. “Because a nurse is a nurse by any other means. You can call her a nurse technician, you can call her a nursing officer (but) whatever you call her she’s a nurse and once she provides the service of
DANIEL THOMPSON, president of UTEB nursing, she falls under our industrial agreement. “We have an examination officer,” he said. “What the university did was create a post called the director of exams doing the same basic thing that the examination officer does and they say ‘Oh they are no longer a UTEB member, they now fall under another industrial
agreement.’ “These are union busting tactics (because) the employer cannot engage in discussion and changes to persons terms of employment without referencing the industrial agreement.” Mr Thompson said if the university fails to respond to complaints in an appropriate manner, the union
We’ll shut you down, threatens Woods By FARRAH JOHNSON fjohnson@tribunemedia.net BAHAMAS Utilities Service and Allied Workers Union (BUWASU) president Dwayne Woods “threatened a total shut down” yesterday as he accused Water & Sewerage Corporation (WSC) executives of attempting to decrease the union’s influence by rolling back a number of benefits. He said this breaches the Industrial Relations Act, the Employment Act and the industrial agreement made between WSC and the union. According to Mr Woods, WSC has failed to pay union members overtime for restoration work in Abaco where they were forced to carry out their duties in “unsavoury and unsanitary conditions.” The BUWASU president also said WSC has not paid “regular overtime” for workers in New Providence and the Family Islands for
over four months. Speaking to reporters during a demonstration at WSC headquarters yesterday, Mr Woods said the union was “upset and appalled” at the behaviour of the corporation’s executives, namely the executive chairman and general manager. “They are ignoring, disregarding and blatantly disrespecting the union’s membership by rolling back benefits that are contained within the industrial agreement ranging from: failure to meet and complete grievances at the general manager’s level –stage four of the grievance procedure; (to the) discontinuation of responsibility allowance payment which is now 13 months overdue.” Mr Woods also accused WSC of conducting “unfamiliar methods of promotion,” of which the union is unaware. “This is 10 months overdue and if you recall we
have a strike certificate in hand that we will use in short order,” he stated. “We have a membership of about 310 and if you look around you’ll see the management union is also supporting us so this might be a total shutdown from Bimini to Inagua. Listing other grievances of the union, he added: “Clerk II (employees) are being disenfranchised by the hiring of Clerk I (positions) without internal advertisement with total disregard to the industrial agreement which (says) if a vacancy exists it must be advertised before you can go externally. This is six months overdue. “Heartless and merciless deductions of our employees’ salary for travel allowance claim without authorisation, notice or a meeting to discuss the matter on a case-by-case basis, despite some claims being submitted and were lost due
is prepared to file an industrial dispute over the matter. Still, he said, the UTEB is willing to sit at the table and negotiate with the university. “In December, we signed an agreement that was long overdue from 2017-2020,” he said. “And the reason why we capped the agreement at that point was because as a result of the coming in of the UB Act 2016, there are certain provisions that that act mandates and so in order for us to get into the intricacies of that act to ensure that our industrial agreement is congruent and consistent with the act, there needs to be far more detailed negotiation. “So what we did, we chose to conclude this current one under the old provisions so that we could engage our discussion.”
BAHAMAS Utilities Service and Allied Workers Union president Dwayne Woods yesterday, Photos:Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff to management’s carelessness and callousness. Although managers confirmed that the members travelled and performed their duties, the funds were still deducted at the end of January after a long pay period.” Mr Woods said WSC executives have also failed to submit their industrial agreement counter proposal despite numerous extension requests granted by the union. “The union submitted its industrial agreement to the corporation since May 21, 2019 and the corporation had promised to submit their counter proposal in September 2019. “They then requested an extension to the period November 3-10, 2019 due to Hurricane Dorian. Subsequently, two additional extensions were requested November 14 and 22, 2019. To date, we have neither received the counter proposal from the Water and
Sewerage Corporation nor had the opportunity for a meeting as requested by the union.” Mr Woods said he believes one of “root” problems of the issue is the “structural collapse” of the corporation’s Human Resources Department in the absence of two key managers. He also said it appears as if the executive chairman is “micro-managing” the corporation and blocking executives from “effectively” performing in their capacities. Mr Woods said the union is appealing to WSC stakeholders in an effort to “re-establish monthly meetings to address and resolve their grievances.” As for his shut down threat, Mr Woods apologised to the general public for any inconveniences that may occur while the union attempts to resolve these issues. Asked how soon the union plans to use its strike certificate he added:
“We are here today and we expect results today. If we don’t get no results, then we will up the ante. “Everyday go by, you will find that there is some action (done) by this union until our matters are resolved. We are on reduced enthusiasm which encompasses work-to-rule. “Our last meeting with management was so long I don’t remember. They failed to meet as we said. What they keep doing is every time we have set meetings they move the goal post. “We can’t win the game with them moving the goal post because we can’t score. So it results in reduced enthusiasm at the moment and we pray and hope that it don’t get to withdrawal of enthusiasm, but it is clear that we have to do what we have to do.” Attempts to reach Works Minister Desmond Bannister were unsuccessful.
WSC REJECTS ALL COMPLAINTS FROM UNION LAST night, The Water and Sewerage Corporation fired back at what it saw as a “sudden, illadvised and unreasonable press conference held by Dwayne Woods”. It said: “WSC rejects, in its entirety, these groundless assertions. At no time has the Corporation’s Executives sought to ignore, disregard or disrespect our employees. Mr Woods’ assertion that the Corporation has sought to roll back benefits in OUR Industrial Agreement - which binds and governs both parties - is completely and patently false.”
The WSC went on to address particular issues including: • Responsibility allowance is not an automatic entitlement to staff. • As with any business, promotions are strictly within the purview of theentity in question. The Corporation - based on the suitability of a candidate for promotion - reserves the right to promote deserving and meritorious employees. This is not within the union’s purview. • In recent months, the accounts department raised a red flag about the abuse of overtime in Abaco.
Frankly, the matter was so egregious that it was referred to our Internal Control and Compliance investigatory division and elevated to the Board of Directors. It was discovered that a handful of persons assigned to the Abaco restoration exercise had accrued astounding amounts of overtime, with claims of 200 and 300 hours of overtime in October • No employee has been disenfranchised by the Corporation. Such a claim is fabricated and deceitful. * Travel allowances are issued to employees who travel on behalf of WSC for various
workrelated projects. Beyond their per diem, staff members are required for account for each portion of this allowance with a detailed expense report and/or refunding the Corporation. • We are quite disappointed that Mr Woods refers to the illnesses of two of our human resources managers as being representative of a collapse of the Human Resources Department. Such a charge is false and unbecoming. • WSC is unaware of the 28 items that Mr. Woods claims is in breach of the Industrial
Agreement. His commentary is simply false. * This evening, we received reports that Mr Woods is encouraging staff throughout the islands to engage in an illegal sick-out on Thursday and Friday of this week. If this illegal action is undertaken by staff members, it is expected that these staff members provide the Corporation with a sick note; subject themselves to inspection by the Corporation’s Industrial Nurse; and, failing the above, WSC would be left with no choice but to deduct the time from staff pay.
Thursday, February 6, 2020, PAGE 7
Govt orders clampdown as cruise liner admits dumping
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from page one He also said: “Your government is moving forward on behalf of The Bahamas to tighten, monitor and enforce our environmental law and protections across the board: including but not limited to prohibition, identification and testing, shipboard procedure; reporting, regulation and enforcement. “We will ensure strict compliance at all times. Your government will leave as a legacy to our people the elements of a modern, effective comprehensive mechanism for safeguarding our uniquely beautiful environment.” Repeated incidents of sea pollution, Mr Wells assured the public, had set off a proactive policing and prevention strategy to safeguard against future incidents. As a result, several comprehensive measures will be taken to deal with cruise ships plying Bahamian waters. Mr Wells said ministry officials circulated the strict definition of Bahamian territorial waters as far as any discharges at sea are concerned. “We drew, as a nation, in the Archipelagic and Territories Act, a line around our entire archipelago and we advised the cruise ship industry and all international shipping, that anything in this line constitutes the territorial waters of the Bahamas. “We absolutely prohibited any discharges at sea within this boundary – even discharges that are
FOR SALE
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TRANSPORT Minister Renward Wells considered safe by other cruise industry to fund these countries. We will not ongoing studies, as necespermit and we will not tol- sary; as well as funding the erate any discharges at sea cost of remediation of any damage within the waters of our environmental found,” the minister said at Commonwealth.” Additionally, the Parliament yesterday. Further, clear lines of Bamboo Town MP said officials here were closely reporting of any incidents working with the help of or possible risks were estabthe BMA to ensure there lished to the Bahamas was close communication Maritime Authority and to a with all major cruise lines. national reporting hotline for He said the cruise lines had all vessels under the Bahaprovided the government mas flag and other vessels with access to ship records within Bahamians waters. Pointing to the recently and personnel, those on Environmental ships, those ashore and with passed their cooperation, officials Planning and Protection plan to develop a broad Act 2019 and new Merdatabase of potential and chant Shipping Bill, which past discharge locations is still being prepared, Mr Wells insisted the country’s along major routes. At the same time, efforts ability to hold wrongdoare being made to rapidly ers to account and apply access all key locations in the appropriate penalties when archipelago. The exercise is required will be enhanced. In the wake of the most designed sample and analyse data to determine any reme- recent reports on Carnidial action needed, and to val’s dumping in Bahamian assure absolute safety. Prem- waters, Attorney General ised on this information, Mr Carl Bethel said last month Well said government will that the government will produce baseline data and to seek compensation under allow the ministry to follow recently passed environany evolution of quality over ment laws. time. “We will look to the Editorial View - Page 4
PAGE 8, Thursday, February 6, 2020
THE TRIBUNE
SPEAKING DIFFERENT LANGUAGES WHEN IT COMES TO IMPEACHMENT TRIAL WITH Trump’s impeachment acquittal by the Senate, unusual clarity and candour was also offered by another senator, Democrat Chris Murphy of Connecticut. Murphy told reporters the impeachment trial “in so many ways crystallised the completely diametrically opposed viewpoints of Democrats and Republicans. We Democrats perceive Donald Trump and his corruption to be an existential threat to the US. The Republicans perceive the deep
state and the liberal media to be an existential threat to the country. “That dichotomy, that contrast, has been growing over the last three years, but this trial really crystallised that difference,” Murphy said. “We were just speaking different languages, fundamentally different languages when it came to what this trial was about.” One of America’s most astute political observers is the veteran New York Times columnist and
consummate Washington insider Maureen Dowd. Winner of the Glamour magazine Woman of the Year award in 1996 and the Pulitzer Prize for political commentary in 1999, she is also the author of the 2005 bestseller “Are Men Necessary?” In building a successful career over many decades in the traditionally maledominated world of Washington politics, Dowd has been a true trailblazer. Writing about the impeachment
process, she said on Sunday: “I feel like I have spent my career watching the same depressing dynamic that unspooled Friday night: Democrats trying, sometimes ineptly, to play fair, and Republicans ruthlessly trying to win. “I watched the same thing with the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas hearings (for his Supreme Court nomination in 1992). I watched it in the 2000 (presidential election) recount with Bush versus Gore. I watched it with the push by W.
(President George W. Bush), Vice President Dick Cheney and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to go to war in Iraq. I watched it with the pantomime of Merrick Garland (nominated in 2016 by Barack Obama for the Supreme Court). “Democrats are warning Republicans that they will be judged harshly by history. But in the meantime, the triumphant Republicans get to make history.” Here we go again?
STATESIDE
with Charlie Harper
Better than Broadway - and, for once, the lead actor didn’t fluff his lines
HOUSE Speaker Nancy Pelosi tears her copy of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address. Inset: Rush Limbaugh after first Lady Melania Trump presented him with the the Presidential Medal of Freedo
TUESDAY’S State of the Union speech by US President Donald Trump was worth watching. But not really for anything that was said. It became compelling political theatre for what wasn’t said. First, Trump stayed clear of his impeachment trial in
he did extol the benefits of his administration’s deregulation and removal of economic impediments. The implication was clear enough. Nor did he gloat about the Iowa Democratic caucus blunders. But Trump did throw down the gauntlet at his
which the judge and jurors were his Tuesday audience. He sidled up to issues like gun control and right to life, but did not wade specifically into subjects such as proposals to ban automatic weapons or outlaw abortion. He also largely avoided climate change, though
chief tormentor as he ascended the dais to faithfully read his well-prepared remarks. In handing a copy of his speech to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi per tradition, Trump refused her offer of a handshake. The worst kept secret in the capital of leaks that is Washington DC is the irremediable animosity so clearly felt between Trump and Pelosi. The House Speaker fidgeted, fussed and delivered some classic eye rolls as Trump rumbled on through a 78-minute dissertation on his historic achievements as President. Like many of her Democratic colleagues seated below the presidential platform, Pelosi appeared to be sometimes conflicted about whether or not to join her Republican colleagues in standing and applauding at some of the President’s remarks.
Lip readers caught her pantomiming “not true” on a few occasions. While the formal count is not yet in, it is very likely that fact checkers will identify numerous lies, errors and conscious omissions in the President’s speech. Then, after it was all over, Pelosi stood and ripped in half her copy of Trump’s address. It’s hard to see these two collaborating on whether to fly the American flag on the Fourth of July. Anyone hoping for signs of bipartisan political revival in the US would be profoundly frustrated by what they witnessed on television Tuesday night. Even on the subject of repairing America’s sagging bridges and highways - which would seem to be a slam dunk win for both sides - hope faded. It is possible to draw the
conclusion that Trump won re-election on a night when he debased the nation’s highest civilian honour by having his wife drape the most divisive figure in American media with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Rush Limbaugh, now stricken with virulent cancer, may deserve many accolades. It is hard to argue he deserves this one. Even the honouree, known for an ego to match Trump’s own, seemed to be genuinely stunned at the award. But Trump’s speech was well written, and the White House staff found enough touching stories to illustrate with personal appearances in the House gallery by a diverse assortment of American heroes. Overall, Trump did pretty well, and he did better than many observers thought he would.
TRUMP SKATES ON AFTER MOVING THE SUPER BOWL WINNERS OUT OF MISSOURI ELSEWHERE, what might have been a transformative week in American politics instead turned into something that feels much less than some had expected. Trump, whose predecessors would likely have been excoriated for praising the “great state of Kansas” when in fact Sunday’s Super Bowl champions play in Missouri, skated once again without consequence or criticism. “That’s just Trump being Trump,” seemed to be the general reaction, and the latest illustration of his inattentiveness and laxity was quickly forgotten. Then, the president seemed to be the primary beneficiary of a colossal foul-up in the Democratic Party’s woeful mismanagement of the Iowa caucuses on Monday. While some conspiracy theorists continue to insist that malevolent hacking must have been behind the vote count mishaps that plagued the Hawkeye State’s quadriennial political popularity contest, the weight of the available evidence points to technical malfunctions with an app hastily developed by a Democratic Party consultant.
Former US Vice President Joe Biden didn’t do particularly well in Iowa. That should give Trump great satisfaction. His continual attacks on Biden over his son Hunter’s clearly unwarranted and lucrative contract with a Ukrainian company may have influenced voters. If this is true - and Biden is in the end denied the Democratic nomination - Trump will have cleverly succeeded in derailing the man who still looks like his most formidable competition in the November elections. Many observers see in these political attacks a clear pattern developing. Trump is taking a page from his own campaign playbook. Even as he and his political allies sabotaged Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign by relentlessly harping on her handling of
TRUMP was the main beneficiary of the Iowa foul-up
the 2012 fatal attack on an American ambassador in Benghazi, Libya while she was US Secretary of State, now the Burisma drumbeat continues unabated. Even the Republicans have finally acknowledged – quietly – that their endless investigations of Clinton’s conduct revealed no wrongdoing or malfeasance. It would be a good bet that whatever investigations into Hunter Biden and Burisma that the GOP-controlled Senate or Trump-controlled Department of Justice launch now the impeachment issue has been settled will also yield no results. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsay Graham of South Carolina even admitted as much. He told reporters Friday: “I don’t think Biden is corrupt. He just needs to be investigated because the president was investigated (by Special Counsel Robert Mueller).” It was a rare moment of candour from Graham. So we can expect no results from upcoming probes into Hunter Biden. No results, that is, except severe damage to the presidential hopes of his father.
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, February 6, 2020, PAGE 9
PHILANTHROPISTS DONATE TABLETS TO PRIMARY SCHOOL By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net TEXAN philanthropists Carl and Gigi Allen, the owners of Walker’s Cay, recently presented tablets to students at the Freeport Primary School. The donation is part of a memorandum of understanding forged last year with the Ministry of Education. The Allens presented tablets at the Maurice Moore Primary School last year, and this year have decided to continue the programme at Freeport Primary. All students in the 4th, 5th, and 6th grades will receive an Amazon Fire tablet equipped with learning activities. Mr Allen believes that such technology in the classroom will greatly benefit students. “It always brings Gigi and me great joy to see and interact with kids getting to experience By LEANDRA ROLLE lrolle@tribunemedia.net FOR Abaco residents who are trying to regroup after Hurricane Dorian, many are questioning when their lives will return to normal. Nearly six months after the Category Five storm hit the island, debris still extends for kilometres in some parts of the island while electricity and other basic necessities remain limited or entirely absent in other areas. For many on the island, day-to-day living is a struggle. “It’s a daily grind man. Every day, it’s the same thing. I mean even with the house, you have to make sure you have to have fuel every night and you got to go the gas station (to keep your generator running). It’s just a daily grind,” said Roscoe Thompson, head of the Marsh Harbour/Spring City township in Abaco. “I mean you cope, and you deal with what you can and you have your moments don’t get me wrong, but you got to continue going or things won’t get done (and) you have to motivate yourself to get out of the house to do something…” The monster storm, which was the strongest hurricane to ever hit the Northern Bahamas, made landfall in Abaco and Grand Bahama in early September, destroying thousands of homes, businesses and major infrastructure on the islands. Leaving a trail of destruction in its wake, Dorian has uprooted communities and displaced thousands, forcing many to start life anew elsewhere. However, for many lifelong Abaco residents, the will to remain on the storm ravaged island still holds strong. One of them is Mr Thompson. As one of the few persons on the island with their home still intact, Mr Thompson said he tries to live one day at a time. “My brother-in-law and father-in-law are living with me. My wife is in Texas and my son is in school. I have not had no issues in my area,” he told The Tribune. Mr Thompson said since the passage of Dorian, he has seen some progress made on the island. “Most of the Mud and the Pigeon Peas (shanty towns) are cleaned up and so it’s the central area, Dundas and Central Pines. An NGO core has moved into Marsh Harbour to start cleaning the neighbourhoods, so it’s slowly starting to come around in regards to that,” he said. “...I know that they’ve electrified some
new learning activities that will help prepare them for the future. It is our strongly held belief that these tablets will help bring many great things in the world directly to their fingertips,” he said. The Allens and the Ministry of Education entered into a MoU aimed at providing every 4th, 5th and 6th grader in Grand Bahama and the Abacos with a tablet. In May 2018, the couple purchased Walker’s Cay, and announced plans to redevelop the country’s northernmost island to its former glory and reopen it as a sportfishing destination. The clean-up and renovation began in January 2019 on the cay, which included plans to restore the church, and other amenities including a marina. Prior to their purchase, the cay had been hit by two previous hurricanes forcing the former owners to close it.
L-R: JANETTE HALL, Education officer; Sheila Scavella, District Education Officer, Early Childhood;vSandrea Bullard, Vice Principal, Freeport Primary; Gigi Allen, philanthropist; Ivan Butler, District Superintendent, Grand Bahama, Bimini & the Cays; Gia Walker, Principal, Freeport Primary School. Mr Allen, a successful every resource and ounce remains a focus of ours businessman and a frequent of manpower we had into because we know it will visitor to Walker’s Cay, the recovery efforts in the prepare these kids for a decided to purchase the cay. Northern Bahamas after better future.” They are now trying to the horrendous event,” Mr Over the course of the recover from Dorian. Allen said. hurricane recovery, the “We’ve spent a lot of time “We know there is still Allens raised over $1 milover the last few months a long road to recovery lion and provided over doing all we could to help ahead, but even as efforts 200,000 pounds of supplies recover from the wrath of continue to help with to Grand Bahama, the Hurricane Dorian. We put the recovery, this project Abacos, and Grand Cay.
School Principal Gia Walker thanked the Allens for their contribution. “They continue to go above and beyond for our students because they truly care about them. From students and faculty of Freeport Primary, we wish them our very heartfelt thanks.” Mr Allen is a renowned Texas businessman and philanthropist, known for building his family-run business from 130 jobs up to nearly 1,000. He, his wife Gigi and their family strongly believe that creating good jobs and helping communities go hand in hand, so they invest in educational institutions and environmental causes that make the world around them a better place. Along with his wife, Mr Allen has been an active participant in helping further education opportunities in both the US and The Bahamas.
Every day, life is still a struggle for the people of Abaco areas of Marsh Harbour that have their own transformers like Sunrise Bay.” Still, the Abaco resident said he feels more can be done to help speed the rebuilding and restoration process on the island. “(The process) is going slow to a certain extent. There are some things government could speed up, don’t get me wrong. I’m not going to argue with that. There’s some things that they could do a lot better. “One thing I do think is this red tape with all this, you know having to go to internal review and Inland Revenue and to (Department of) Customs and all that. Now, what happens in the next six months is anybody’s guess.” Cay Mills, of Dundas Town, Abaco, also shared similar sentiments. He said a number of factors have hindered the island’s rebuilding efforts. Top of the list, Mr Mills said, is lack of support from the government. “We’re here right now and can’t get lumber. The only thing that’s progressing and has been progressing is the removal of the Haitian community,” he told The Tribune. “That is the only thing that the government is doing and the other thing that is progressing on is … those domes. “But in essence, nothing has been done to calm the persons in Abaco and to show them that we have some sense of movement in the direction that we want….the FNM campaigning while the people is suffering.” Added to this, according to Mr Mills, is the red tape established by the government to access hurricane relief supplies. “There’s so much red tape, you take months to get your stuff from Florida because all the back up and when you get here, all the paperwork, it takes you three weeks to get it off the dock and that can’t be right.”
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However, not all residents had harsh words for the government. One Abaco resident, who wanted to remain anonymous, said: “I can’t speak bad on the government. I’ve seen what foreigners are doing for Abaco when it comes to the clean-up process and it comes to helping people. It’s been mostly Americans and they are the ones who’ve been helping the most. “As is relates to the government… I know social services have been giving away maybe $150 to help with food. I think the government can do more when it comes to feeding people and giving out generators.” For his part, when asked whether he thinks Abaco will ever return to its former glory, Mr Thompson said: “Do I see Abaco being what it was eight months ago? No, I don’t. I think it’s going to be a totally different island.”
THE DEVASTATION Dorian caused in Abaco
PAGE 10, Thursday, February 6, 2020
THE TRIBUNE
Uncovering the magic behind this year’s Oscar blockbusters by Chris Williams Senior Principal Academic, National Centre for Computer Animation, Bournemouth University AS THE presentation of the 2020 Academy Awards approaches, there has been a lot of buzz around the visual effects category. Two films – Sam Mendes’s 1917 and Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman have, in particular,
attracted a lot of attention for the tricks they use to immerse the viewer in the characters and storyline. The first film to win an award for visual effects, in the first ever Oscars ceremony in 1929, also won best picture. American special effects artist and film director Roy Pomeroy won for Wings, a First World War movie featuring breathtaking realistic dogfight sequences. His work still looks amazing, given the
tools he had to work with. In the 90 years since he won his award, though, visual effects have become ever more sophisticated. If we take a look at the films that are nominated for Best Visual Effects in this year’s Academy Awards, we see five very different types of film. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is the continuing sci-fi saga of the battle between the Jedi and the Sith. A set of triedand-tested visual effects
techniques were used in the film. This included the return of a fully digital replacement for Princess Leia using pieces of old footage of the late Carrie Fisher and computer-generated elements to create a complete character that blended seamlessly into the new narrative. Most of the environments were created in the computer and then composited with actors’ performances against a green screen that allows backgrounds to be replaced with digital sets. Avengers: Endgame, is the final episode of a comic book-based world of superheroes and their enemies in one final, epic battle. Green screens played a huge part in this film as well, allowing intricate digital environments to play their part in the storytelling. As you’d expect there are plenty of pyrotechnics, explosions and battle scenes that were made with animated digital characters. The Lion King, a computer-generated remake of the Disney classic, originally animated, on the whole, by hand in 2D. Many of the techniques used in this movie were originally developed for the making of the 2016 remake of Jungle Book which, like The Lion King, was reworked as a fully digital film – apart from Mowgli who was played by a real boy. In The Lion King, director John Favreau developed a technique that he felt would inform the animation of the animals in a far more realistic way than how animation is traditionally created. Rather than simply recording voice actors in a sound booth, he put them in a studio and filmed them acting together so that animators had nuanced reference to work with to ensure the tiniest of reactions were captured in the creatures’ performances. Virtual reality also played a big part in the making of the film. Camera operators were able to use digital sets
A SCENE from The Irishman
to see the environments and move digital cameras in a realistic way. The Irishman jumps between present-day action and as far back as the 1950s, made more complicated by the fact that the characters are played by the same actors. The point of difference is that prosthetics and make-up weren’t used, but stars including Robert De Niro and Al Pacino were “de-aged” using computers, using images of the actors from photographs and previous films to build “digital masks” in the computer that replaced the actor’s real faces. This meant that De Niro who plays the lead role was, at 74 when filming began, playing the role of a man in his 30s and by the end of the film the same man in his 80s. How successfully is something that has been hotly debated – but nobody can doubt the expertise with which the artists carried out their task. The final film nominated is the first world war epic 1917, co-written, produced and directed by Sam Mendes. Loosely based on a story Mendes was told by his grandfather, the film relies on a single shot depiction of the entire narrative, following the main character on his journey to get a message to the front line. This technique, also used in 2015’s best picture winner, Birdman, required meticulous planning to ensure that the cuts that occurred were invisible to the viewer. Camera moves were choreographed to allow two scenes that were filmed in the same location at different times to be taken into the computer and “stitched” together as if they were one complete shot. Doing this over and over enabled the illusion of one continuous sequence. Like many films though, 1917 used a host of other visual effects techniques that were unseen. This is often regarded as the
pinnacle of success in visual effects – an effect that can’t be seen versus one that is smacking you in the face with a large, wet fish. Some of the nominated movies need visual effects to create worlds and creatures that don’t exist, while some employ tricks to enhance the cinematic experience and the ability of the filmmaker to tell their story. All of them use the technical expertise of visual effects artists to bring the director’s vision to the screen. And there’s a great deal of scientific knowhow that goes into creating cinematic illusion. The movie that won the visual effects award in 2014, Interstellar, involved recreating the appearance of a black hole. To do this, visual effects artists worked with scientists to accurately model the phenomenon. The results were so advanced that scientists have since cited its importance to their ongoing work. This scientific knowledge underpins flawless visual effects production. Not only does a visual effects artist need to know how their tools work, they need to be able to understand the science that informs the visuals we see on the screen. Human and animal anatomy, lighting, pyrotechnics, fluid simulation, mechanical engineering and robotics are just a few of the scientific disciplines that add strings to a visual effects artist’s bow. So, when we talk about visual effects and the people who create them, remember the science that supports almost everything they do. Every frame is looked at in minute detail, so much so that the casual viewer might never understand the hours that go into making one of these films look the way they do and allow us to sit back and enjoy the story. theconversation.com
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, February 6, 2020, PAGE 11
‘INSURANCE COMPANIES SHOULD BE NON-PROFIT’ or believe that Bahamians are just plain stupid. When I tell thinking people outside this country what our national conversations are of late, they merely laugh. It truly seems we are a nation of selfish children. This seems to be the best way to describe our AFTER Bahamas First’s national dialog and status.” chief executive, Patrick There was this from Ward, said laws making it Tarzan: “This suggestion mandatory for all business may be the dumbest in a and residential property long line of dumb ideas owners to have full cataresulting from the Dorian strophic insurance cover disaster. This catastrophic “must be on the table for event or ‘hurricane’ coverdiscussion”, readers posted age is all passed on to their reactions on tribreinsurance risk and priced une242.com. by the reinsurance market, Ohdrap4 said: “Insurand the ‘pool’ is not limited ance companies should be to one country or one mandatorily non profit. island in one country. More That way premiums would Bahamians buying this be low.” coverage will not move Porcupine posted this the premium cost needle comment: “Bahamians in one whit. The cost of this The Bahamas are finished. coverage is ludicrous, and This is now a country the deductible provisions owned and run by those are such that, short of total who produce little but devastation, which is a once expect a lot in return. As in 200 years event on some the cost of living continues islands, not even that on to rise astronomically, as all, the insured suffering the cost of property and all substantial damage, recovrelated expenses continues ers zero. Cost is prohibitive to go through the roof, and making it mandatory there is no way the majorwould bankrupt the popuity of Bahamians will be lace. This is nothing but a able to ‘make it’. The policrass effort to put lots of ticians are NOT working cash in a few local insurfor ‘The People’. They are ance brokers’ pockets.” working for a few people, Bahamianson said: “This mostly those in the FIRE is a shock. Okay, I am just sector. Finance, Insurance, speechless at the moment. and Real Estate. When Just a simple question, A1MAIN the claim that because where is the money going WEDNESDAY people are required to have to come from?” McCombo insurance on their liability Joeblow had this to of the Daytherefore should be cars, say: “If I qualify, I have a 24/7 BREAKING NEWS ON TRIBUNE242.COM required to have insurance right as a private citizen HIGH 81ºF 70ºF homes, is allowed Biggest AndinBest! onLOWtheir a democracy NOT to to stand without realispurchase home owners ing the stupidity of this insurance or any other statement, they obviously kind of insurance for that are lacking in any reason, matter. I can choose to take
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i’m lovin’ it!
VOLUME:117 No.51, FEBRUARY 5TH, 2020
THE PEOPLE’S PAPER: $1
SPORT: RATTLERS MAKE IT A BASKETBALL DOUBLE
‘ALL HOMES MUST HAVE INSURANCE’ Leading insurer warns
mandatory cover hasin to The Tribune yesterday THE HEADLINE be on agenda after Dorian
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net BAHAMAS First’s chief executive Patrick Ward yesterday said laws making it mandatory for all business and residential property owners to have full catastrophic insurance cover “must be on the table for discussion”. He was speaking after the International Monetary Fund called for The Bahamas to develop “new approaches” to increasing insurance penetration and prevent the “dire straits” suffered by homeowners post-Hurricane Dorian.
After its visit to The Bahamas last week, the IMF said: “The financial sector appears to have weathered the hurricane well. Adequate reinsurance of domestic insurance companies abroad cushioned the impact of the hurricane on the domestic insurance sector. “However, insurance penetration, in particular in the residential segment, remains low, leaving many homeowners in dire straits. New approaches to extend insurance coverage as part of a broader disaster risk management strategy would increase resilience.”
SEE PAGE TWO
FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS
THE number of Bahamians in quarantine for signs related to the deadly coronavirus has increased to 10, according to local health officials. However, there are still no suspected or confirmed cases of the illness locally. “Well, there are no reported, suspected or actual cases of coronavirus in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. We continue to have a number of persons
quarantined in Grand Bahama and New Providence,” Health Minister Dr Duane Sands told reporters outside Cabinet yesterday. “But, at this point, we are completing the national preparedness plan for coronavirus which we ought to release sometime today.” The World Health Organisation declared the new strain of the coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern last week following its outbreak in Wuhan, China. SEE PAGE SEVEN
By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net
RESIDENTS in eastern gated communities have had their sense of safety disrupted by a string of home burglaries. Chief Superintendent of Police Perry Clarke, officerin-charge of the Elizabeth Estates Police Station, said police are investigating after several complaints were reported by residents in Palm Cay and Treasure Cove. “The amazing part is these are gated communities with 24-hour security services engaged and yet these things still go on. That’s the puzzling thing about it to tell you the truth,” he said yesterday.
MARITAL RAPE NOT PRIORITY FOR PLP
VIRUS QUARANTINE NUMBER NOW AT 10
By LEANDRA ROLLE lrolle@tribunemedia.net
BURGLARS TARGET ESTATES OUT EAST
By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net
ALICIA WALLACE ON THAT SHOW THE HALF-time performances by Shakira and Jennifer Lopez at the Super Bowl set social media alight. Turn to Page 8 to find out how our columnist saw it. Photo: Patrick Semansky/AP
TWO BREANNA ACCUSED STAY SILENT By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net TWO women opted to remain silent yesterday to allegations that two years ago they murdered teenage mother Breanna Mackey in an argument over an $80 smartphone. Zaria Burrows and Dervinique Edwards opted not to give any evidence or call any witnesses on their behalf to counter claims
TEENAGE mum Breanna Mackey they murdered the 19-yearold in January 2018. Their decisions came moments
before their respective attorneys made closing addresses to the jury, urging them to acquit their clients of Mackey’s murder. Additionally, the attorneys urged the jury to reject the prosecution’s assertion that Burrows and Edwards acted in concert with Mackey’s actual killer, Thea Williams. Burrows’ attorney Devard Francis, asserted
Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper
SEE PAGE THREE
PROGRESSIVE Liberal Party leader Philip “Brave” Davis yesterday said he could not commit his party to prioritising the issue of marital rape if it takes office in 2022. Mr Davis said while any administration led by him would “address” the issue, there would be “a number of policy initiatives” that would need to be prioritised should the PLP win the next general election. SEE PAGE SIX
TECHNOLOGY
MARKING THE OPENING OF ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING SITES
SEE PAGE NINE
that risk but, I should also not expect the government to come to my aid if the home is destroyed by accident or natural disaster!!” And OMG posted this: “With a well constructed
house the roof is the most likely part to fail. Given the extortionate premiums that are charged, one person I know has the philosophy that if you are able to save what you would pay for
annual premiums and put it in a savings account then with bit of luck you could do repairs out of that nest egg. However do these highly paid executives have any idea how impossible it
would be for the majority of the population to pay any premium?” Don’t miss your chance to join the debate on tribune242.com.
PAGE 12, Thursday, February 6, 2020
THE TRIBUNE
Last chance to appeal jail sentence By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net A MAN currently serving half a century in prison for seducing a Burger King manager in an unsuccessful bid to rob the restaurant before stabbing the man to death will have one last chance at overturning his sentence next month. Simeon Bain is seeking to have the London-based tribunal overturn his conviction and 55-year sentence for stabbing 21-year-old Rashad “Shanty” Morris to death outside Burger King’s Tonique Williams-Darling location in September 2009. The matter will be heard on March 17 before the panel of Lords Brian Kerr, David Lloyd-Jones, Philip Sales, Nicholas Hamblen, and Lady Jill Black. According to the evidence, in September 2009, Bain was in a romantic relationship with a former Burger King employee whose name was withheld during trial for her protection. Bain’s girlfriend was close friends with Morris, who, in 2009, was employed as a trainee manager with Burger King. During the course of normal conversation, Bain’s girlfriend told him that Morris was a homosexual who was about “to come out of the closet”. That information was given
when Morris called her in April 2009 to tell her about his recent promotion. Bain was lying next to her in bed, she said. While the conversation was taking place, Bain asked if the person on the other end of the call, whom he was able to hear, was a boy. In response, his girlfriend said he was and that he was a friend. “He said ‘he’s gay?’ I answered ‘most naturally,’” Bain’s girlfriend claimed. A week later, Bain asked her if Morris had the combinations to the safe because he and some friends were planning a few robberies over Christmas, but preferred to take a chance with Burger King as opposed to Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) because Morris worked there. “Simeon said he was liking this boy at Burger King and was planning to rob him,” the witness said. During trial, evidence was led that showed how Bain started texting Morris under the false name “Dwayne”. Using that pretense, Bain arranged to collect Morris from Burger King’s Charlotte Street location for a date. However, the Crown’s case was that Bain instead took Morris to his home and locked him in a room. Afterwards, Bain took Morris to South Beach where he was beaten in a bid to obtain the codes to Burger King’s safe. However, Morris refused to give Bain the codes. At 1am on September 19, 2009, Bain drove Morris to Burger King’s Tonique Williams-Darling location, where he was the manager,
and forced him to disarm the security alarms and attempted to open the safe in the manager’s office. Those events were recorded on Burger King’s surveillance tapes. While they did not show Bain’s and Morris’ faces, both men were identified by a witness by their respective builds and clothing. The tapes showed that when Morris could not open the safe, he was punched in the face and then thrown with force against the wall in the manager’s office. Morris attempted to fight back but his efforts were futile. The footage then showed Morris being escorted out of Burger King. Shortly afterwards, his body was found lying about three to four feet in front of the restaurant’s front door with 10 stab wounds. Morris’ throat was also cut, according to the evidence. On May 2, 2013, Bain was unanimously convicted of kidnapping, robbery, housebreaking and Morris’ murder. He was consequently sentenced to eight, 10, 12 and life imprisonment respectively. Bain appealed his conviction and sentence, and though his appeal against his convictions were dismissed, the appellate court granted his appeal against his sentence. The Court of Appeal consequently substituted a 55-year sentence to be served concurrently with the other sentences. On March 6, 2017, the appellate court granted Bain conditional leave to appeal his convictions and sentence to the Privy Council.
PAGE 14, Thursday, February 6, 2020
THE TRIBUNE
WORKERS leaving The Pointe earlier this year
Cooper attacks employment policy at Pointe By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net THE Pointe is one of the most egregious examples of this country failing to protect Bahamian employment in the construction sector, Progressive Liberal Party leader Chester Cooper said yesterday. The Heads of Agreement for the project was negotiated and finalised by the former Christie administration, with enforcement the responsibility of the current administration. Speaking to members of the National Progressive Institute last night, Mr Cooper said future projects like this one must do a better job of transferring skills to Bahamians. “One of the most egregious examples of failing to (protect Bahamian employment and transfer skills) was The Pointe,” he said. “While we welcome the investment, it cannot be that more Chinese benefitted from employment at a project in The Bahamas
than Bahamians. I am not anti-Chinese, but It cannot be that on the next project that the skills have not been transferred as they clearly were not transferred sufficiently in Crystal Palace or Baha Mar. We need to actively identify areas of our economy where these skills are lacking and make a focused effort to close these gaps.” The government and the Pointe have been at odds over the project’s labour force ratio, with Labour Minister Dion Foulkes expressing disappointment recently because far fewer Bahamians are working there than mandated by the agreement. Mr Cooper also called for greater embrace of the National Development Plan, a Christie administration initiative that secured bipartisan support from political parties but that critics say has been insufficiently used by the Minnis administration. He criticised the government’s Hurricane Dorian restoration efforts, saying
the Inter-American Development Bank’s $100m contingency loan has not been fully drawn down on “as is evidenced by the lack of restoration”. “A PLP government will enshrine in the National Development Plan and in the relevant code, reforms for coastal resilience, for rebuilding and development in flood prone zones and making our country more climate resilient. We will review the current insurance scheme and creative captive insurance schemes with the help of re-insurance, to buffer the shocks of hurricanes,” he said. Additionally, he said an ease of doing business czar should be appointed to bring focus attention to the issue because it is still too difficult for business to start and conduct its affairs. He called on the Minnis administration to move forward with projects left in place by its predecessor, including the Children’s Bay Cay in Exuma and several Family Island airports.
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, February 6, 2020, PAGE 15
SPARTACUS ACTOR KIRK DOUGLAS DIES AT 103 Associated Press
KIRK Douglas, the intense, muscular actor with the dimpled chin who starred in “Spartacus,” “Lust for Life” and dozens of other films, helped fatally weaken the blacklist against suspected Communists and reigned for decades as a Hollywood maverick and patriarch, died yesterday. He was 103. “To the world, he was a legend, an actor from the golden age of movies who lived well into his golden years, a humanitarian whose commitment to justice and the causes he believed in set a standard for all of us to aspire to,” his son Michael said in a statement on his Instagram account. His granite-like strength and underlying vulnerability made the son of illiterate Russian immigrants one of the top stars of the 20th century. He appeared in more than 80 films, in roles ranging from Doc Holliday in “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” to Vincent van Gogh in “Lust for Life.” He worked with some of Hollywood’s greatest directors, from Vincente Minnelli and Billy Wilder to Stanley Kubrick and Elia Kazan. His career began at the peak of the studios’ power, more than 70 years ago, and ended in a more diverse, decentralized era that he helped bring about. Always competitive,
HOLLYWOOD star Kirk Douglas accepts the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 68th Annual Academy Awards in 1996. including with his own family, Douglas never received an Academy Award for an individual film, despite being nominated three times — for “Champion,” “The Bad and the Beautiful” and “Lust for Life.” But in 1996, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded him an honorary Oscar. His other
awards included a Presidential Medal of Freedom and a lifetime achievement award from the American Film Institute. He was a category unto himself, a force for change and symbol of endurance. In his latter years, he was a final link to a so-called “Golden Age,” a man nearly as old as the industry itself.
EX-PM BODYGUARD LEAVES GUN ON PLANE
LONDON Associated Press
LONDON’S Metropolitan Police are investigating after former Prime Minister David Cameron’s bodyguard reportedly left his gun in an airplane bathroom in New York. The weapon, found on Monday on a British Airways plane at New York’s
Kennedy Airport, was handed to flight attendants. The Metropolitan Police said the officer involved has since been removed from operational duties. “We are taking this matter extremely seriously and an internal investigation is taking place,” the police said in a statement. The London-bound flight took off after a delay.
PAGE 16, Thursday, February 6, 2020
THE TRIBUNE
THREE DEAD, 179 INJURED AS AIRLINER SKIDS OFF RUNWAY ISTANBUL Associated Press
A TURKISH airliner skidded off a runway, crashed into a ditch and broke apart while landing in bad weather in Istanbul yesterday, killing three people and injuring dozens more. Passengers had to scramble through the split fuselage to escape. The aircraft, operated by lowcost carrier Pegasus Airlines, was arriving at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport from the western Turkish city of Izmir with 183 passengers and crew on board when it had what the Transportation Ministry described as a “rough landing.”
Istanbul Gov. Ali Yerlikaya said the plane failed to “hold onto the runway” and skidded some 50-60 metres before it dropped into the ditch from a height of about 30 metres. “We are deeply saddened ... (But) we are very happy that we escaped a greater accident,” Yerlikaya said, adding that the plane could have burst into flames. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca reported y that three people had died and 179 required care at multiple hospitals. Rescuers were seen working on one spot on the wreckage and it was not clear if they were searching for one person who remains unaccounted for. The airport was shut down after
THE WRECKAGE of a plane after it skidded off the runway in Istanbul
the incident, which occurred at around 6.30pm local time, and flights were diverted to Istanbul’s main airport. Survivor Dogus Bilgic, 24, told Turkish television channel NTV that he fled the smashed plane by way of a gap near his seat and was one of the first passengers to get out. “We traveled (on the runway) for some 20 or 30 seconds, then all of a sudden we flew off the runway,” he said while seated in a wheelchair because of a leg injury. “It happened in seconds.” “I was seated in 25C. I believe the plane broke apart at row 26,” Bilgic recalled, adding that he threw himself out of the plane when he saw the opening.
Senate acquits Trump CHIEF Justice of the United States John Roberts WASHINGTON Associated Press PRESIDENT Donald Trump won impeachment acquittal yesterday in the US Senate, bringing to a close only the third presidential trial in American history with votes that split the country, tested civic norms and fed the tumultuous 2020 race for the White House. With Chief Justice John Roberts presiding, senators sworn to do “impartial justice” stood at their desks to state their votes for the roll call — “guilty” or “not guilty” — in a swift tally almost exclusively along party lines. Visitors, including the president’s allies, watched from the crowded gallery. Roberts read the declaration that Trump “be, and is hereby, acquitted of the charges.” The outcome followed months of remarkable impeachment proceedings, from Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s House to Mitch McConnell’s Senate, reflecting the nation’s unrelenting partisan divide three years into the Trump presidency. What started as Trump’s request for Ukraine to “do us a favor” spun into
a far-reaching, 28,000-page report compiled by House investigators accusing an American president of engaging in shadow diplomacy that threatened U.S. foreign relations for personal, political gain as he pressured the ally to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden ahead of the next election. No president has ever been removed by the Senate. A politically emboldened Trump has eagerly predicted vindication, deploying the verdict as a political anthem in his reelection bid. The president claims he did nothing wrong, decrying the “witch hunt” and “hoax” as extensions of special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian 2016 campaign interference by those out to get him from the start of his presidency. Trump’s political campaign tweeted videos, statements and a cartoon dance celebrating that he was “vindicated.” Trump himself tweeted that he would speak from the White House on Thursday about “our Country’s VICTORY on the Impeachment Hoax.”
...BUT ROMNEY VOTES GUILTY WASHINGTON Associated Press REPUBLICAN Mitt Romney of Utah, the party’s defeated 2012 presidential nominee, broke with his party to vote Trump guilty. He was the only Republican to do so in a move that stunned Capitol Hill. “The grave question the Constitution tasks senators to answer is whether
the president committed an act so extreme and egregious that it rises to the level of a ‘high crime and misdemeanor’,” Romney said ahead of the vote. “Yes, he did.” He voted to acquit on the obstruction of Congress charge a decision that will deny Trump a talking point he desperately coveted that all Republicans stood by him in his hour of need.