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VOLUME:116 No.63, MARCH 25TH, 2019
HO US E & 16 THE PEOPLE’S PAPER: $1
SPORTS: BIG RED MACHINE RULES ATHLETICS MEET PAGES
Trump’s promise on crime alerts President told warnings old and overblown By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net
PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said he told US President Donald Trump that crime advisories should be used to raise awareness and not initiate fear, adding criminal attacks on American tourists in this country were “negligible”. Dr Minnis said he also stressed there was a greater concern that information contained in some US crime advisories were recycled and out of date. As a result, Dr Minnis said not only was President
Trump concerned with how the issue was impacting The Bahamas, but he directed officials to look at how the advisories were handled moving forward. Matters concerning Venezuela were also raised during the meeting at Mr Trump’s resort Mar-a-Lago in Florida. According to Dr Minnis, The Bahamas’ position on Venezuela - where there is ongoing political unrest - has remained firm and in line with the Organisation of American States (OAS): that if the recent election in
PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis says he does not know what the “big deal” is when it comes to controversy over high-ranking Royal Bahamas Police Force officers being asked to take accumulated vacation followed by retirement. Instead Dr Minnis asked: “What is wrong with taking vacation?”
SEE PAGE FIVE
By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net
A FORMER Dolphin Cay marine mammal specialist was wrong for not informing her supervisor that a female guest had breached company policy by touching a dolphin’s genitals seven years ago, the Court of Appeal has ruled. Appellate President Sir Hartman Longley and fellow Justices Stella Crane-Scott and Roy Jones unanimously agreed Shikera Isaacs-Sawyer’s failure to report the guest’s “inappropriate” actions warranted her termination from the Atlantis resort in 2013. SEE PAGE 12
BY RIEL MAJOR
SEE PAGE FOUR
He added he was confident RBPF Commissioner Anthony Ferguson had the matter under control. However, Dr Minnis did not clearly answer a question about the government’s or the organisation’s strategy for filling the vacancies created, only insisting that Commissioner Ferguson would not do anything to endanger the lives and safety of Bahamians.
DOLPHIN ASSAULT LED TO SACKING
TEACHERS’ ULTIMATUM: GIVE US AN ANSWER
POLICE DEPARTURES: WHY THE BIG DEAL? By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net
HOME
CLASSIC AND CUTE
CROWDS flocked to Arawak Cay on Saturday to enjoy the annual Antique Auto Show & Cookout run by the Auto Club of The Bahamas. More pictures - Page 2 Photo: Donavan McIntosh
THE Bahamas Union of Teachers will present the government with a letter today relating to its new industrial agreement and is calling for the government to respond within seven days, according to BUT president Belinda Wilson. On Friday, Mrs Wilson said she has not received a counterproposal to a document sent to education officials last year. She said: “I wondered when the negotiations started ... the Bahamas Union of Teachers presented an agreement to the government of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas through the minister of education June 20, 2018 SEE PAGE 11
BISHOPS DEMAND ‘WAR ON GUNS’ By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net
FIVE local bishops “frustrated” with the recent wave of gun-related violence in New Providence have called on National Security Minister Marvin Dames to declare a “war” on guns. Bishops Simeon Hall, Victor Cooper, Greg Minnis, J Carl Rahming and Ross Davis specifically
BISHOP SIMEON HALL called on the minister to “lead efforts which would significantly increase the
present penalty for the illegal possession of guns”. In particular, the five religious leaders said in a statement that anyone found importing guns “should face the stiffest penalty in the law”. The bishops also called on “concerned and responsible parents” to engage in the “war” by not harbouring children engaged in criminality or knowingly benefitting from their SEE PAGE THREE
Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper
INSIGHT PLAYING SAFE WHEN FRIENDS FALL OUT
SEE PAGE SEVEN
PAGE 2, Monday, March 25, 2019
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A CLASSIC DAY
CROWDS flocked to Arawak Cay on Saturday to enjoy the annual Antique Auto Show & Cookout run by the Auto Club of The Bahamas. Photos: Donavan McIntosh
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LOW 69ºF VOLUME:116 No.58, MARCH 18TH, 2019
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Thursday, March 21, 2019, PAGE 9
Video footage of two fatal shootings go viral TAYLOR STREET KILLING
Gunned down in broad daylight from page one “The only information we are working with at this time is at the victim just came from a local establishment as a customer. As he was walking across the street, he was approached by a lone gunman who opened fire on him and shot him multiple times. “As a result, EMS was called in, they examined the body and pronounced him dead on the scene.” He added: “We are appealing to members of the public who live in this area or who also may have been customers of the establishments, if they have information to contact the police.” CSP Cash could not say whether the suspect or victim are known to police at this time. Regarding other crime matters, CSP Cash also told reporters police currently have suspects in custody relating to recent homicides from the Fox Hill and the Nassau Village area. He said: “We have one suspect in custody currently he is assisting the police investigation. Before day’s end, we should be releasing information relative to a second suspect and a flyer should be provided for the media. “Additionally, the matter
in the Nassau Village area, we have three suspects in custody and currently there is a person of interest, we are probing them further to see if they had any involvement in that matter.” When asked if the country is experiencing a peak in murders, CSP Cash said he wouldn’t call it a peak despite the three killings in the capital since Sunday. He said: “We are committed to what we do, preventing these incidents or minimising these incidents as we possibly can. We are working with persons or perpetrators who are hell bend in carrying out their intents. None of us know the intent of any human being but once we unravel what happened then we will go after all the persons who we suspect to be concerned with all these incidents. “Again, we always appeal to members of the public if they know of anyone who have any differences in their communities give (that) information to the police so we can work with that information and prevent incidents like this. “ Based on The Tribune’s records this is the country’s 16th murder for the year. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 919, 502-9991 or Crime Stoppers at 328-TIPS.
from page one criminal activities. Their joint statement comes after a week of gun-related violence in New Providence, which has seen at least three men killed and several others shot and left in hospital. Last month also saw a number of gun-related incidents which claimed nine lives and injured several others. On the first two days of February, three men were shot and killed following separate shooting incidents - one on Miami Street of Cordeaux Avenue; one on Rosedale and Mackey Streets; and one on Fritz Lane. There were also three non-fatal shooting incidents that weekend. At the time, all three victims were said to be in serious condition in hospital. The next weekend, four men were killed and one man injured in separate incidents, with two of the killings taking place roughly an hour apart and just streets apart. Last Sunday night, 40-year-old Chinese native and shop owner Xiang
A BODY lies at the scene of the fatality on Mackey and Wilton Street yesterday. Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net VIDEO footage depicting Sunday’s two fatal shootings has gone viral on social media, sparking outrage at the level of brazen, violent crime in the country. The first video is a 15-second clip depicting the moments right before two men were shot, one fatally, in broad daylight at the Fox Hill roundabout. Although the shooting itself is not visible on camera, both suspected perpetrators, who were riding a moped, can be seen in the video. The second video is surveillance footage from Sunday night’s suspected armed robbery of a business on Taylor Street, Nassau Village. Three perpetrators, possessing at least two guns, enter the establishment and threaten two men. One was shot on-camera. “They shot my husband,” a woman can be heard saying in the background of the 59-second clip. Chief Superintendent Solomon Cash said on Tuesday the Nassau Village victim is a Chinese national with Bahamian residency. He also confirmed police are in possession of the Fox Hill video, adding officers are finding it “quite helpful” to the investigation. CSP Cash made these remarks while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a homicide that occurred on Wilton and Market Streets on Tuesday. When asked if police are aware of the video showing the suspects in the Fox Hill shooting, CSP Cash replied: “Yes, yes, that is a video that’s in the possession of the police. How it got out in social media, we are unaware of that. But yes, we have that video in our possession. “That video was quite helpful to the investigation in assisting us in proving who these persons were responsible for that latest homicide in Fox Hill,” he added. In the video, the people recording can initially be heard calling toward a man with a guitar, who is walking along the path inside the roundabout toward the street. In the distance, the moped carrying the two suspects can be seen approaching the area. The driver is wearing a white t-shirt and helmet while the second man wears a black hoodie and shades. The moped swiftly passes the man with the guitar and moves out of frame. And then, shots are fired. The jovial conversation of the men recording is instantly replaced by shouts and gasps. At least seven shots ring out before the video ends.
WANTED for murder: Pedreito Johnson-Mejias, aged 19. Police later confirmed that two men were shot. One died at the scene and the other is in hospital. At the time, CSP Cash added that officers from the Mobile Unit were patrolling the area when the incident occurred and actually witnessed the shooting. Officers pursued the moped through Fox Hill to the Blueberry Hill area. There the suspects escaped into bushes opposite a church. Police later recovered the moped and helmet. Relatives identified the deceased as Jovardo Thompson, 26. Regarding the Nassau Village victim, CSP Cash said: “I can confirm that the ID has been completed and he is a Chinese national who has residency in the Bahamas.” The second video begins with this victim mopping tiles behind the store’s counter. The gunman, dressed in a blue hoodie with a black cloth covering his face, barges in and immediately points the gun directly at the victim. In a tense moment, the victim raises the mop, his only weapon of defence, at the gunman. The victim slowly walks toward the gunman, who angrily shoves the mop away. The victim lowers the mop, however the gunman fires anyway, shooting him in the side. The victim staggers and slowly sinks to the ground. The perpetrator grabs the man by the back of his collar, points the gun to the back of his head and then drags him across the floor. As this occurs, another perpetrator, whose face and neck are covered in white t-shirts, enters the camera’s frame. He forces a second man in the establishment into the area by the counter. The first gunman initially points his weapon at this second man, before turning to drag the victim who was shot in the opposite direction, eventually forcing him to his feet and taking him out of the frame. Both gunmen wore gloves. The shooting victim
was taken to the hospital where he later died. • YESTERDAY, the Chinese Embassy in Nassau urged the Bahamian government to take “further measures” to protect both locals and foreigners in the wake of the recent murder of a Chinese national in Nassau Village. Xiang Song, 40, was shot during a suspected armed robbery at a shop on Taylor Street, Nassau Village on Sunday night. He was taken to hospital where he later died. Song was the father of a one-year-old child and had lived in The Bahamas for several years, Haigang Yin, charge d’affaires of the Chinese Embassy, told The Tribune yesterday. Assistant Superintendent of Police Michael Johnson yesterday confirmed that Song was the proprietor of the business involved in the incident. Mr Yin also noted the embassy has been in contact with both the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and police and is “urging” government agencies to investigate the matter and “bring criminals to justice” as soon as possible. “We also noticed that tragic news,” Mr Yin noted in a statement released to The Tribune yesterday. “The embassy had met the family of the victim on March 19 and expressed our deepest condolences. The embassy is now providing all necessary assistance to the family. “The embassy has contacted the foreign ministry as well as the (police), urging the relevant departments to investigate this case and bring the criminals to justice ASAP. “Also, the embassy has urged the government of the Bahamas to take further measures to protect the people, including the locals and the foreigners in this country.” Anyone with information related to these or any other matters is asked to call police at 919, 5029991 or Crime Stoppers at 328-TIPS.
FOX HILL ROUNDABOUT KILLING
CHILD SNA 16
Biggest And Best! Monday, March 25, 2019, PAGE 3
“We aren’t following any other leads other than trying to appeal to members of the public,” Insp Burrows said. “The challenge with that (the latest case) is it’s a Haitian Bahamian community and a lot of persons in that community are afraid to come forward. “We believe that some of them may not be here legally so that has been a challenge for us. “So we have been trying to check video cameras in the area to see if we can determine a make and model of the vehicle or anything else.” Regarding Thursday’s incident, police initially said two boys, aged eight and ten, were walking on Kool Acres Road in east New Providence when “they were picked up by a female who was the lone occupant” of a dark-coloured vehicle. When it was time to drop the boys off, the woman reportedly allowed two to leave and grabbed the third boy’s hand, keeping him in the vehicle and driving off. “I tell her bring me back home, she say she bringing me back home now, but she did not,” eightyear-old J’Dakito Sejour told Our News on Friday. “She drop off them, then she gone through the corner and she gone, she pass by Baha Mar then she drop me by the dump. She tell me go sit on the tyre. Then she gone. Then I start crying. Two cars saw me, they stop and they bring me to the station and they tell me tell them my mommy number and I tell them it and they called my mom.” His mother Rosine Marcidome told the news station that the incident worried her. Meanwhile, young J’Dakito told Our News he had never seen
Are they all linked?
FEBRUARY 16: SHAVAR BAIN, THREE MARCH 3: EIGHT-YEAR-OLD GIRL MARCH 6: TYVON DEVEAUX, EIGHT MARCH 7: 10 AND EIGHT-YEAR-OLD BOYS
SPORTS: SWIMMING TRIO TARGET MAJOR CHAMPS
PAG
Shot dead right in front of cops
Officers witnessed Fox Hill gunman open fire on duo
By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net
returned to Kool Acres, which is off Fox Hill Road, while the younger boy was dropped off at THREE boys were Tonique Williams Darabducted in two separate ling Highway, near the incidents in less than 24 entrance to the city dump, hours, but were found a which is a considerable short time later, police distance away. When said. A woman police gave is believed to a report have taken the shortly before boys in each 7pm last night, case. Police officers said said they are the eight-yearinvestigating old was with each matter police and had separately no physical but are lookinjuries. ing to see if This latest they are conincident came nected. The less than 24 latest abduc- A SKETCH of the suspect hours after tion took place involved in the abduction an eight-yearbefore 4pm, of eight-year-old Tyvon old boy was when two Deveaux on March 6. abducted from boys, eight a park off Soland 10, were walking on dier Road shortly before Kool Acres Road in east 7pm on Wednesday. This New Providence when means there have been “they were picked up by five incidents of reported a female who was the lone child abductions in less occupant” of a dark col- than three weeks. oured vehicle, police said. On Wednesday evenPolice said “a short time ing, Tyvon Deveaux was later” the 10-year-old was SEE PAGE THREE
HOW The Tribune reported the story last Friday. or spoken to the woman before. “I didn’t know where she was gonna carry me.” J’Dakito and the older of the two boys were shown the police’s composite sketch of the abductor and both agreed it was the same woman who took them. But J’Dakito said, “On there she look dark, in the car she was light.” CSP Cash said on Friday: “What actually happened is that three kids were on their way home from school, a car pulled up alongside them asking them if they wished for a ride. “After they refused the ride, the lady insisted that she would
B give them a ride. The threT they got in the vehicle, when got near the Haitian villa lady allowed two of the bo and she kept one.” The two eight-year-old initially dropped off by a H village in the vicinity of Sea and Joe Farrington Road. The ten-year-old was d off later RUSSELL by the city dum By KHRISNA Deputy Chief Reporter boys were gone for rough krussell@tribunemedia.net hours, CSP Cash said. HIGH-ranking Royal This Police account again d Bahamas Force officers Emrick Seymour from initial police and Stephenthe Dean are perceived to be “casualties” released on Thursday e of Clarence Reckley’s early retirement, The aTribune which said “short time” a was told yesterday. STEPHEN DEAN, abduction, A senior officerthe with ten-year-o Emrick Seymour intimate details toof Kool the returned Acres, situation and on condi- Commissioner
OFFICERS ‘CASUALTIE
HEADLINES FROM THE FOUR TAKEN TO HOSPITAL TRIBUNE WITH GUNSHOT WOUNDS WHICH TELL STORY OF COURT ACTION HALTS GUN SHANTYCRIME TOWN BUILDS By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net
TWO men were shot, and one killed, yesterday afternoon during a brazen drive-by shooting at the Fox Hill roundabout. The second victim was shot in the leg and taken to the Princess Margaret Hospital. According to Chief Superintendent Solomon Cash, the two perpetrators were riding a moped when one shot the victims. CSP Cash added that officers
By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net
tion of anonymity has said some officers feel Deputy
from the Mobile Unit were patrolling the area when the incident occurred and actually witnessed the shooting. Officers pursued the moped through Fox Hill to the Blueberry Hill area. There the suspects escaped into bushes opposite Bahamas Harvest Church. CSP Cash said police are working with some “significant leads” on the matter, adding officers are “very confident” that they will find the perpetrators.
and Senior As missioner Dean
Fr
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Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Lea
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order filed on March 14 and obtained by The Tribune. “Further,” the order read, “pending the determination of this action or until such further order, the 177 applicants and other residents and occupiers of the land in shanty towns in New Providence or elsewhere in The Bahamas shall take no action to construct, erect and or alter any further buildTHE SCENE on near Cowpen Road after the shootings. Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff ings or structures otherwise than in accordance with the the discovery of a small for the suspects behind two ByAct.” KHRISNA RUSSELL Buildings Regulation quantity of drugs and a separate weekend armed Deputy Chief Reporter SEE PAGE FIVE THE SCENE of a double shooting yesterday Fox Hill. Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff large amount of in cash on robberies. krussell@tribunemedia.net Friday. The first incident hapA MAN shot his girlShortly before noon, pened on Friday shortly friend and three other officers from the Drug before 10pm. Police said a people at a home on Enforcement Unit, acting man pulled into the driveCowpen Road yesterday on intelligence, executed way of his Christie Avenue By DENISE MAYCOCK – three Burger Kings, three leaving them in hospital, a search warrant on a home andKFCs, was held up by a Tropiand one Pollo police said. Tribune Freeport Reporter home located at Boil Fish gunman, cal wholocation robbed– him dmaycock@tribunemedia.net have been The incident occurred Road in the Carmichael of his black 2013 inHonda implicated the theft invesshortly after 4am Road – area. During the Accord, tigation. licenceThe Cooper plate family THE Cooper family yesterday. search officers discovered #AM5607,claimed beforethe speeding controversy is “A malethe hadoperators an alter-of several a quantity of marijuana away. fast food franchise due to widely used energy cation withmajor his girlfriend restaurants in Freeport and $16,200 in cash. The Hours saving later,devices shortly installed at on Cowpen- has Road“categorically which manandand woman were before 2am on Saturday, the businesses in question, resulted inemphatically” him shootingdenied any taken into custody for a womannotpulled intotheft. the electricity her and three other perwrongdoing concerning the questioning. driveway Power of hersupply homehas been sons who were present alleged theft inof electricPolice also said two men located on Zion off Boulevard turned since Wednesthe house,”ity police THE SCENE Freeport.and was day by the noted Grand Bahama after the by GBPC filed were arrested after inofficapproached a in a crime report. “All four Power Company. a complaint with police. ers found marijuana at a man armed with a firearm. victims wereThe transported the disconnection power family said yes-located All her of the are home at Claridge of He robbed of a businesses Samto hospitalterday where at their businesses. that they close Road to 500 offsupply Wulff Road. sung S-6 cell phone and her are in serious, but at stable A total seven jobs are stake Shortly due to after SEE PAGE FIVE 6amofon Sat-businesses Silver Nissan Teana, licence condition.” urday, Mobile Division plate #AK5560, and sped Police said they are folofficers, acting on intel- off. lowing significant leads in ligence, executed a search Investigations are this case and the investigawarrant at a house and continuing. tion is continuing, however discovered a quantity of Anyone with informathey did not provide further marijuana wrapped in clear tion on these or any other details. plastic. incidents is asked to call In other crime Both males are expected the Central Detective news, police arrested to appear in court soon to Unit at 502-9991 or the a Bahamian man and be formally charged. Crime Stoppers hotline at Venezuelan woman after Police are also looking 328-TIPS.
Bishops demand ‘war on guns’ THE Supreme Court order blocking the government from clearing out shanty towns in the country now prevents those residents from altering or expanding those communities. The government was granted a variation of the August 2018 injunction blocking evictions and service disconnections in an
‘WE WEREN’T STEALING POWER SUPPLY’
Song was shot during a suspected armed robbery at his business establishment on Taylor Street, Nassau Village. He was taken to hospital where he later died. That shooting came after another man was attacked and shot outside a party on Samson Street in the same constituency. Earlier that day, 26-yearold Jovardo Thompson was killed and another man shot in the leg during a brazen drive-by shooting at the Fox Hill roundabout. On Tuesday March 19, a man was found dead at
the junction of Mackey and Wilton Streets. Officers said the victim was shot while crossing the street after leaving a local establishment. Then on Friday, two men were shot and consequently hospitalized within five hours of each other. One was shot at 6pm while sitting in his vehicle on Rupert Dean Lane, while the other was shot shortly after 11pm while sitting in his vehicle on Plantol Street. “Most of the senseless killings in recent times are being committed by persons illegally in possession
of guns,” the bishops said in a statement. “Notably, guns are not manufactured in the Bahamas and persons found illegally importing guns should face the stiffest penalty in the law. Guns are too easily available to criminals and gang members and
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PAIR TREATED FOR KNIFE WOUNDS TWO people, a man and a woman, were taken to hospital yesterday with knive wounds. The male was reported as “nonresponsive” with suspected
BNU president Amancha Williams, centre. is causing the hospital, specifically Princess Margaret Hospital, to run at a deficit. “We have had issues such as overtime not being or said to be not going to be paid, which causes an imbalance in the healthcare system. “We realise that we want to keep our Bahamian nurses in The Bahamas, not to go to Canada, or to the US, so we have a challenge and so this challenge is to be said because there is no money.” She continued: “The
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question is to our government if you’re going to bring in foreign nurses, if you’re going to recruit workers, where are you going to find the money if you can’t pay overtime? “We are asking the government if the nurses in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas are facilitating your shortage by giving their day off to ensure that the hospital is providing quality care, then at the end of the day pay the nurses. Overtime is to be paid in a timely fashion
“The government still wants to pay $1.75 for a shift change. We can’t agree to that. You have to be competitive. When you come to a bargaining table you can’t stay at $1.75. We must see that you have some interest in the worker and move to at least $3.00. But when you’re staying to $1.75 and a dollar, it don’t make no sense to come to the bargaining table. We’re not going to accept that,” she further explained as a key reason for the deadlock. She was asked if industrial action would be taken at any point this year as was the case last October, which saw nurses take part in lunch break walkouts. The action slowed service at PMH and public health facilities throughout the country. “Like I said we have a strike certificate and we will move forward, when they take an action we will move forward. We have a strike certificate in hand, we received it December 2018 and we will move forward. “And we also want the public to join with us. This is our country. “When we have Accident and Emergency not functioning the way it’s supposed to be functioning, when we have children’s ward, when we have no bed space, we want the public
A
others involved in nefarious the present penalty for theR 5t activities. illegal possession of guns. CE Ph “We, as concerned and “We further encourage frustrated religious and com- concerned and responsible munity leaders, call on the parents to engage in this minister of national secu- war by not harbouring chilrity to lead the war on guns Islands’ Leading engaged in criminality Nassau & Bahamadren Newspaper by leading efforts to amend or knowingly benefitting relevant legislation which from their criminal activiwould significantly increase ties. Indeed, we commend the local father who recently turned his son in to the authorities for the latter’s criminal activities. chop injuries to the upper “Efforts to drastically body while the woman had reduce crime must be led by multiple stab wounds to the the government, but every body. The pair had been Bahamian citizen and resiattending a musical event at dent must participate in the Arawak Cay. war on guns.”
Negotiations with PHA have stalled, says nurses leader By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net NEGOTIATIONS between the Bahamas Nurses Union and Public Hospitals Authority have reached an impasse, BNU president Amancha Williams said on Friday, while indicating there could be industrial action at any time if there is no consensus on lingering concerns. The BNU president said not only is Princess Margaret Hospital running at a deficit due to a shortage of nurses, but nurses continue to be incensed by PHA’s unwillingness to, in a timely fashion, resolve the overtime pay owed. Both parties have also failed to see eye to eye on the shift change rate. Ms Williams said PHA is still offering an unsatisfactory rate of $1.75, but the union wants at least $3.00. She spoke to reporters on Friday at the National Training Agency on the sidelines of the National Tripartite Council’s second annual general assembly. “At this point we are at an impasse,” Ms Williams said when she was asked for an update on negotiations. “We’re now at a state where we’re trying to retain and recruit our nurses and we have a shortage which
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to look at the whole of the hospital running. “This year we’ve had tuberculosis. We’ve had measles. We’ve had a whole (lot) of diseases here in the Bahamas. Come on Bahamas, if there is no nurse who is going to manage these disease processes? The first person in line is the nurse. Could you imagine your schools breaking out in scabies? Or you have TB? Then you have no tourist coming to The Bahamas.
“So what we are saying is put the nurse first, not second, the nurse is first. Like I said before when the nurse comes first, the patient will come first for the nurse.” She said the union has not set a timeframe when industrial action might be taken. When contacted on the union’s frustrations yesterday, top health officials did not comment up to press time.
PAGE 4, Monday, March 25, 2019 from page one recent election in Venezuela was illegitimate then the government is illegitimate. However, Dr Minnis’ participation in the meeting triggered criticism from Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Dr Ralph Gonsalves on Saturday. Given the narrow grouping of regional leaders invited to discussions with Mr Trump, Mr Gonsalves said those in CARICOM must be aware of mischief from those who seek to divide countries in the region. He said no one on CARICOM’s three-man committee on Venezuela - its chairman, Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis Dr Timothy Harris, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Dr Keith Rowley or Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley - were invited, so any discussion of Venezuela at Mar-aLago cut across the agreed mechanism put in place by CARICOM. Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, also seemed to take a swipe at those who were invited to the meeting, posting a photo to his Facebook page showing Dr Minnis and Bahamian officials alongside Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness with the caption, “Oh no… were they treated to the servant’s entrance?” Dr Minnis was one of five Caribbean leaders invited by President Trump to discuss matters of mutual interest between the region and the United States. Haitian President Jovenel Moise, Dominican Republic President Danilo Medina, Mr Holness and St Lucia’s Prime Minister Allen Chastanet also attended the meeting. “It was a very interesting meeting and some of the things that I would have spoken about which I thought was very important within the Bahamas are security issues, border control especially our southern borders,” Dr Minnis told reporters on
THE TRIBUNE
Trump’s promise on crime alerts
Saturday at Lynden Pindling International airport. “I would have informed the President that our southern borders are essentially somewhat open and therefore we can be exposed to individuals engaged in human trafficking, criminal activities, drugs etc, but most importantly I pointed out that drugs passing through our territorial waters, those traffickers do not want to stop here in the Bahamas, they’re en route to the United States. That’s their final destination. “However, it’s not unusual that some may stop and drugs may enter our shores and that causes criminal activities and disturbances within the society and we know that the US has a base here and The Bahamas also has members of the (Royal Bahamas) Defence Force there and therefore we will need some strengthening of our southern borders if it would be beneficial to both of us. “It’ll be beneficial to us and it’ll be beneficial to them because what happens to us would have great impact on them and as the criminal element or drugs enters the society obviously one’s society changes and that has caused some degree of problems within our society and just recently we were issued a travel advisory. That is significant to us because we are a tourist destination.” Dr Minnis continued: “Eighty percent of our GDP comes from tourism so we are doing very well with tourism at this particular time and the travel advisory - which we interpret as being one to inform one’s citizens to be aware of
PRIME Minister Hubert Minnis, President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump. problems as opposed to initiate fear - we brought that point across. The President was very concerned as to how that’s impacting us and whatever. “I would have also pointed out that when one looks at the amount of criminal attacks or involvement of the American tourists versus our population, it’s very negligible. We’re talking about .004 percent of Americans that may have been affected, which is negligible and of greater concern is that it appears as if the travel advisories are being recycled in that some of the information that was on the travel advisory is not pertinent today. Buildings or restaurants that they may have referred to no longer exist. Those buildings may have been destroyed two, three
years ago and therefore we appreciate if these are looked at to have a greater more up to date analysis. “The President directed the individuals who are responsible for that aspect to have a look at it and deal with it as appropriately as possible. That was an issue of concern to all of the Caribbean leaders. We all spoke to that and we were quite happy that issue was brought up. “Then we pointed out to him that it’s essential that we have a great relationship because not only are we their neighbours but we spend the bulk of our money within the US jurisdiction. In other words, the better we do, the better they do. “If we are negatively impacted, they are negatively impacted. Eighty percent of our tourist are
Americans and for every tourist that enter our shores, 80 cents of every dollar goes back to the United States and therefore as our tourist product grows the Florida market will likewise grow. If we deteriorate the Florida market likewise deteriorates.” Dr Minnis said the handling of hurricane devastation in the Caribbean region was also raised with Mr Trump. “We’re in a hurricane belt area and therefore I would have spoken about how important it is for us to build resistance. But we are a small nation and we might not have the necessary funds. I think a formula needs to be developed where individual Caribbean nations can borrow money, but that money is not placed on their balance sheet.
Regarding Venezuela, Dr Minnis said: “The issue with Venezuela came up. The Bahamas’ position is firm with Venezuela. The Bahamas’ position has not changed and the position is similar to that of the OAS. The OAS had categorically stated that the election in Venezuela was an illegitimate election. Our argument was if the election was illegitimate, then the government is illegitimate. If the government is illegitimate, then the democratic society who believes in democracy—both us and America—which means that you must have new elections and that must be done as quickly as possible.” “That has been our position and America issued a statement that they were recognising that position. We likewise agreed because the election and the government was illegitimate and the assembly has appointed (Juan) Guaidó as the president of Venezuela. That position has not changed,” Dr Minnis said on Saturday. The meeting further raises concerns for the Progressive Liberal Party. In a statement yesterday from PLP chairman Fred Mitchell, he said the PLP was satisfied that the party took the correct and principled stand by opposing the FNM’s decision for the Bahamas to side with those who chose the route of seeking the ouster of the government of Venezuela. “The PLP stands with the CARICOM consensus on this matter that is the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of another country,” Mr Mitchell said.
‘AFTER 50 YEARS OF NEGLECT, YOU CANNOT RESOLVE INNERCITY PROBLEMS IN ONE YEAR’ By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net
DESPITE a poor response to the concessions offered under the government’s Economic Empowerment Zone initiative, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis is confident the plan will work. The Tribune exclusively reported last week that nearly four months after the Over-the-Hill zone went live, just 17 applications for concessions were submitted and of these 14 were approved. And only a few of the more than a dozen people interviewed by this newspaper had even heard about the programme and its tax concessions. Asked about it on Saturday, Dr Minnis admitted more needed to be done to inform inner-city residents of the initiative’s offerings. Dr Minnis also slammed critics, saying it was impossible to undo in one year the damage done over 50 years in the Over-the-Hill community. “Whatever I embark upon I do my best to ensure that it works and I will continue to do my best for the Bahamian populace and not just the inner-city but the Bahamian populace at large and I will focus and concentrate especially on the poor,” Dr Minnis said. Earlier in the interview he said: “I’m glad you asked. The inner-city is dear to me. Poverty is dear to me. I would aggressively attack poverty being a descendent of poverty, but it’s amazing and, before I answer your question, it’s important that you understand and that’s all of you. “It’s amazing that the inner-city was neglected for 50 years and you want resolution in one. That’s impossible. Pregnancy
takes nine months before the baby is delivered. It don’t happen overnight and when the baby comes they crawl before they walk and then they run. They don’t enter the Olympics, the Olympics is 20 years or 30 years away. So it can’t happen overnight. “Seventeen? We will ramp up. We recognise that there are some in spite of all the PR that we did, there are still some that said they did not know. “I visit the inner-city and as I speak to businessmen they themselves say that they don’t know. So we will ensure to increase it but still don’t expect a complete resolution overnight. We cannot correct 50 years of neglect in one year.” There are many businesses in the inner-city community that stand to gain considerably from the concessions offered under the programme. Take for example Trevor Moss’ tyre shop in Bain and Grants Town with no restroom and an unseemly roof. The savings would help Mr Moss and others who want to renovate and equip their homes or businesses, be exempt from real property taxes or bring in cars duty-free for work. However some who this newspaper interviewed said their homes or businesses do not need to be renovated. People like August Stevens, owner of a momand-pop store in Masons Addition, want to renovate their property but won’t because they don’t own the land. Others like Mr Moss said the concessions are too limited to address problems that have locked their families into a cycle of poverty for generations. For their part, government officials noted last week that hardly three months have passed since
the Economic Empowerment Zone went live in late November and officials are preparing to ramp up their education campaign to encourage more people to take advantage of the concessions. “People are calling in, we’re receiving numerous calls,” Samita Ferguson, head of the Over-the-Hill Unit at the Office of the Prime Minister, said last week. “We didn’t have a target of how many (applications) we wanted by a certain point. We are speeding up in our public education. We are working on a commercial. We will make sure it’s spread through social media. The environmental monitors we have hired will be very strategic because when they walk about in the zones they will be able to pass out flyers or get names or numbers of persons that would be interested in tapping into the concessions. “We have also tapped into the Urban Renewal Centres so applications can be found there.” Ms Ferguson said some who called her unit have been directed to the Small Business Development Centre, which, among other things, can provide financing to small businesses and may be a better fit for their needs. Government officials also stress that the Overthe-Hill programme is bigger than tax concessions. The government wants to create a food market for native products in the area; eliminate outside toilet use by 2025; create an auto-mechanic cluster that eliminates roadside mechanics in residential areas; build a multi-purpose community centre that offers care for children, the elderly and opportunities for counselling and construct a sports complex, among other things.
THE TRIBUNE from page one The prime minister’s most firm deceleration, though, was that the government would not be paying anyone for accumulated vacation and that this position applied across the board in all government agencies and organisations, even to himself. He was asked about the controversial exodus of top cops from the force on Saturday following a summary to the press of his meeting with US President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Friday and took the matter on as Commissioner Ferguson looked on, standing just to his right. “What is wrong with taking vacation? They are entitled to take vacation. What’s wrong with that?” Dr Minnis responded in the face of questions over the issue. “We have a very astute, organised commissioner of police,” he continued when he was asked to reveal the plan to fill the vacancies. “The commissioner will not do anything to endanger the lives and the safety of The Bahamas. “Just as I have confidence in the commissioner to send individuals off on vacation you should have confidence. He and his team have already cut crime down dramatically. (In) the inner-city alone murder has decreased by 40 percent when we look at the rates. Armed robbery has decreased in the inner-city by 24 percent so I trust him and the Bahamian people trust him. I would hope that the press do. You are also Bahamians. Are you not Bahamian?” It is not clear how the prime minister’s stats were derived, but in January, Commissioner Ferguson said murders dropped 25 percent in 2018 when compared to 2017. Overall crime dropped by eight percent while crimes against the person dropped by 16 percent, according to police statistics. There were also 474 armed robberies, 108 robberies, and 13 attempted robberies in the country last year, according to police. Assistant Commissioners By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis says he will continue trips to the Family Islands despite Official Opposition criticisms that the visits are being used for political campaigning. He said the Progressive Liberal Party’s opposition was because they were not accustomed to Family Island inclusion. “I know (Philip) ‘Brave’ Davis is listening and let me answer straight,” Dr Minnis said on Saturday during a press briefing at the VIP Lounge of the Lynden Pindling International Airport. “When we came in, I made a solid commitment to the Bahamian populace that when there are national events, after budget or any matters that are of concern especially to The Bahamas we are not Nassau-centric. It’s important that the Family Islanders know too and I will go to the various islands explaining those particular national issues - how we came to decision, how we spend their money etc.” He continued: “What is important is we live in a bubble, in isolation and many believe that Nassau is The Bahamas, very Nassau-centric and we believe that when I speak here that Andros is listening, Cat Island is listening etc. We’re wrong. When you go through you would be surprised they don’t have the proper communication. You’d be surprised that Cable Bahamas is not shown in that particular area or settlement or that island. You’d be surprised they don’t have ZNS. So, going through they are more than happy to welcome their prime minister who comes through and is showing an interest and explaining what is happening throughout The Bahamas. They are now understanding that The Bahamas is not Nassau. It’s not Nassau and that’s a commitment we made and I will continue. “The opposition is not accustomed to it. Now when they talk about election whenever we call election then you will see what campaigning is all about.”
Monday, March 25, 2019, PAGE 5
Police departures: Why the big deal?
PM Hubert Minnis speaking to the media on his return from Florida. of Police Clayton Fernander, Ashton Greenslade, Ken Strachan, Theophilus Cunningham and Leamond Deleveaux received notice to take accrued vacation leave effective immediately last week – bringing the total number of senior officers placed on preretirement leave in recent weeks to eight. A police insider told The Tribune last week that Commissioner Ferguson and Royal Bahamas Defence Force Commodore Tellis Bethel are also among those persons slated for pre-retirement leave in the near future. The Tribune asked Dr Minnis to respond to criticism about the manner in which the officers were sent on pre-retirement leave.
He responded: “But everybody is entitled to vacation. What’s wrong with asking individuals to go on vacation? “When we came in we initiated a policy, government initiated a policy. We asked individuals who have long vacation leave to go on vacation because this government will not pay you for it. That was a problem of the past. We are watching the Bahamian money. “I’m not saying this happened with the police. Now don’t get me wrong. I worked in the public service. I came up through the public service and it was not unusual that individuals employed in the public sector would have taken their leave but not record it
THE BAHAMAS IS NOT NASSAU, SAYS PM AS HE PROMISES TO KEEP VISITING THE FAMILY ISLANDS Last week, PLP deputy leader Chester Cooper accused Dr Minnis of “campaigning using the people’s money.” However, Free National Movement chairman Carl Culmer defended Dr Minnis against these claims, saying Dr Minnis’ trips are more than a campaign tool. At a town hall meeting in Exuma more than a week ago, Dr Minnis announced major capital works projects for the island. He also used the address to taunt Mr Cooper, saying every time he mentions Mr Cooper’s name, the Exuma MP announces that “he is going to a lawyer to consult to sue.” Mr Cooper then fired back at these comments, criticising Dr Minnis for introducing politics to this event. “I had hoped, beyond all reasonable expectation, that when the prime minister visited Exuma over the weekend he would speak to the community about beneficial developments for Exuma and leave politics out of it,” Mr Cooper said in a statement last week. “I was mistaken. “Not only is it comical that the prime minister seeks credit for capital works that have been developed over successive administrations, it is offensive that he is campaigning using the people’s money. “If he would only resist the temptation to be petty and realise he should be the prime minister of all the people of The Bahamas, not just FNMs, we would all be better off for it.”
Mr Cooper also accused Dr Minnis of “trying to turn public sentiment against the PLP” because the opposition party did not support the government’s decision to secure a $100m credit facility from the InterAmerican Development Bank.
and then at the end coming near their retirement they would have three four years vacation.” He did not give an answer on when there would be an announcement of a new deputy police
commissioner and seemed to be on the defensive about being questioned over the situation. At one point he was asked if there was an acting deputy commissioner, but seemed to misunderstand the question, responding: “I was acting commissioner of police? Me?” Earlier this month it was revealed that Deputy Commissioner Emrick Seymour, Senior Assistant Commissioner Stephen Dean and Assistant Commissioner Clarence Reckley were all asked to take accrued vacation ahead of their respective retirements from the force. “The police force is running very well. The commissioner will decide what he puts forth (and) how he wants to rearrange his police force,” the prime minister also said on Saturday. “Remember we did a manpower assessment audit so we would review that. Rome was not built in a day, OK.” When a reporter stated that the commissioner, as the number one officer on the force would need a deputy
who is his number two, Dr Minnis said: “Yeah number one needs number two, number two needs number three and three need the four, so what’s the big deal?” Again asked when the announcement of a new deputy commissioner would be made, Dr Minnis said: “When they give you number two then you want three, four, five, six.” Meanwhile, National Security Minister Marvin Dames did not confirm last week future departures as he fielded questions from the media; however, he stressed there was nothing “sinister” about the ongoing “transformation” of law enforcement agencies. He stressed successive governments have allowed accrued vacation - which should be capped at 15 weeks - to “run amok”. Separate meetings with executive teams from the police and defence force were held on Wednesday, according to Mr Dames, who said discussions focused on the significant financial strain excessive accrued vacation poses for the government.
PAGE 6, Monday, March 25, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
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The health of a nation is the wealth of a nation IT WOULD appear that Prime Minister Minnis is unwilling, embarrassed or unable to muster the courage to address the “pink elephant in the room”. While some may be relieved to learn it is not an Immigration, US crime warning, OECD black listing or global pandemic spread by some highly infectious disease, in reality it is a far more deadly, insidious and immediate threat to our country. Every day we learn more and more about what Dr Duane Sands informed Parliament during his 2017-2018 Budget contribution. He described it as a painful toxic combination of “politics, entitlement, systemic corruption, lack of accountability; the unethical award of public procurement contracts [some based on reports that don’t even exist] and misuse of public office for private and/or party gain”, which has adversely affected the lives of thousands of Bahamian families. If the award of cleaning contracts to the Abaco Health Clinic and Exuma mini-hospital - neither of which were open - to the tune of $500,000 and $424,638.84 per month was not enough to get one’s attention, allegations of “bid-rigging”, supply conflicts and the myriad of other revelations contained in UHY Bain’s forensic audit would be cause for sleepless nights. According to a scathing report by Costa Rican health consultancy firm Sanigest International, patients at Princess Margaret Hospital were 353% more likely to die than those in Jackson Memorial Hospital or other comparable US based institutions. Sadly, as a result of any effort to repair the damage by Hurricane Matthew [2016], that figure has risen to an astounding 821% in some areas of care. While the-then Minister of Health, Dr Perry Gomez, confirmed the findings in Sanigest International’s report, he readily admitted that the Princess Margaret Hospital’s standardised mortality rate in its public wards were “well over” 100% higher than private wards. However, Dr Gomez urged Bahamians “not to rush to any judgment as making a comparison of public versus private care at PMH was like comparing apples to oranges”. It should come as no surprise to hear that Bahamian children suffer the same fate. Dr Upton Allen, Division Head and Consultant in Infectious Diseases, Paediatric Cancer/Blood Disorders at Toronto’s Sick Children’s hospital states that “... survival rates for Bahamian children are 50+% less than those children diagnosed with similar cancers and blood auto-immune diseases in Canada.” Frankly when infants, toddlers and children wait for days in the
Accident and Emergency Department for a bed – only to end up being stuffed like sardines in the Princess Margaret Hospital’s sole operational ward – many find such healthcare as “morally repugnant”. Even PLP Englerston MP Gleny Hanna Martin during the 2011 Budget debate invited Bahamians to look at the state of health in this country. “I took the opportunity,” she said, “to research our standing globally. We may be the third highest something in the western hemisphere but in 2000 the health system of The Bahamas was ranked by the World Health Organization as number 94 out of 190 countries. In the Caribbean we ranked behind Dominica, Barbados, the Dominica Republic, Jamaica, Trinidad, St Lucia, St Vincent, Grenada and Antigua and Barbuda. This is food for thought. I believe the data also shows that The Bahamas pays a high cost for health care but with a lower quality of care delivered than in many other countries: the Pan American Health Organization report states that we rank 22nd in expenditure per capita but 94th in quality of health care.” Just when we thought we’d heard it all, along comes the news that the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation is actually not a foundation. Unbeknownst to many benefactors it is a company that is not owned, operated or under the control or purview of the Board of Directors of the Public Hospitals Authority. In fact, although a search has been done, our lawyers can find no evidence of registration of this organisation as a Foundation — as a company, yes, but not a foundation. Where is a certificate of good standing; authorisation to use the name Princess Margaret Hospital or yearly financials as documentary proof of how these donations may have been used? Nothing fruitful will ever emerge from such an association or engagement with those who have placed our public health care system in the deplorable state it is now in. It’s now time for the Cabinet to consider the merits of a Public/ Private Partnership for healthcare similar to the agreement we have for the operation of the airport, Port of Nassau, BTC and BPL. Thankfully we understand a team from Johns Hopkins Medicine arrives later this week to discuss the merits of a Health Services Agreement with the Government of The Bahamas. Such discussions could transform the delivery of healthcare in our nation and lead to these islands becoming the “Centre of Excellence” of health care for the Caribbean.
We need financial independence EDITOR, The Tribune WHEN I was pursuing my math education training with the University of the West Indies in the 1990s, I was taught that developed economics dealt more in manufacturing than the developing economies. For example we would sell them pineapples. They would can it and sell us back for a higher price. It
is call adding value to the product. The fact the United States’ manufacturing base has been decimated and their trade deficits and external debt has grown commensurately, suggests that industrialisation is key to financial independence. Political independence is de jure self government while financial independence is de
Were police watching TV? EDITOR, The Tribune RE: We need police on our streets. (The Tribune, Letters, March 20). The writer questions the crime-solving value of CCTV & also a perceived lack of police on our streets. However, there may be a logical explanation ----- if so, perhaps the police were back at the station watching TV. KEN W KNOWLES, MD Nassau March 20, 2019
facto independence. If The Bahamas wants to be free and prosperous The Bahamas must obtain financial independence; If not The Bahamas will be easily pressured to be a servant of developed countries. For example look at the Derisking fiasco and the blacklisting debacle which illustrates the vulnerability of The Bahamas to the caprice of a developed country like the United States(US) and the European Union. The rivalry between the US and China will intensify. Countries like the Bahamas will become pawns in their struggle for global hegemony. Financial independence will give resilience to weather the global struggle for dominance. BRIAN E PLUMMER Nassau, March 19, 2019
Uncle Sam should look nearer to home EDITOR, The Tribune ONE popular saying springs to mind when attempting to digest the recent pious pronouncements from our good friends in the US State Department: Practice what you preach or change your speech. The diplomats at the State Department in Foggy Bottom in Washington, DC seem hopelessly immune from the comedic goingson in their own country. So concerned are they with the disorder in our house that they fail to take notice of the mess they seem to have made in their own. It must have been a slow news day when this missive from Washington landed on the desk of a certain news editor, more accustomed to the screaming headline style of Fleet Street tabloids in London than to the local literati who don’t take too kindly to overly salacious headlines and turgid storylines. Besides, what the State Department was peddling was not news. Fox Hill Prison is a deplorable rat hole that is not fit for human habitation. There is overcrowding and poor sanitation. We know this. We know that intervention from the public purse is required but with the cupboard bare, there are more pressing demands at this moment – like healthcare, schools, funding the police and for social intervention programmes in an effort to slow the rate of incarceration at Her Majesty’s Prison. But because it is a clear case of the pot calling the kettle black, the State Department should be the last institution to lecture other countries about prison overcrowding and the like. The US locks up more of its citizens than any other nation in the world. And if they were to consider just the Federal prison system (never mind the state and the county jails), the US spends one-third of its Justice Department budget on prisons. Their federal inmate population has increased by about 800 percent over the years and their prisons are operating at nearly 40 per cent over capacity. Judges are constantly having to intervene to release inmates in order to ease chronic over-crowding
LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net problems. And the state prisons are worse. In Alabama, for example, one prison was at 193% of its capacity. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) regularly sues the government telling courts that overcrowding leads to increased violence, the inability to provide necessary medical care, degrading practices like requiring prisoners to sleep on the floor as well as exposure to extreme heat or cold, contaminated food and a lack of basic sanitation. And people of colour are disproportionately represented across their prisons. Talk dat. In another bald faced poke in the face, the US, currently the most dysfunctional political system on the planet, has dared to rebuke our system. They think it is we, not they, who need campaign finance reform the most. While investigations continue about foreign influence and possible dark money making its way into their election system, they say our system is ripe for corruption. While we rightfully grumble about our politicians being in the pockets of the white knights or the sunshine boys or lately the numbers boys, everyone agrees that we need to turn off the tap for these donations, but at the same time nobody has a clear suggestion on an alternative means to fund our elections and campaigns. The obvious solution – with public funds – will get no traction from voters suffering from tax and spend fatigue. Meanwhile, when the Republicans ran the Congress campaign finance reform wasn’t high on their agenda. To their credit, the Democrats who took over in January seem to be more serious about fixing the problem and have proposed a legislative fix that while it might pass the House will struggle to get through the Republican controlled Senate. But even their Supreme Court seems to think that big money has a political voice. In 2010 they ruled
that certain groups could spend as much as they want during election cycles and were under no obligation to disclose their donors. But we are the ones with a shady system that is susceptible to hanky-panky. Give us a break! In their biggest faux pas, the US dared fix their mouth to comment on our broken immigration system when theirs has been shattered to bits by their President who is stomping on legal and constitutional norms to deliver on a campaign promise to build a wall to keep brown people out of the US. Their charge of statelessness here is on very shaky ground. Like many other nations we don’t practice birth-right citizenship. Our laws compel people born here to illegal immigrant parents to take on the citizenship of either or both of their parents. Rarely do we see true stateless people. The Bahamas has been largely humane to the huge influx of Haitian immigrants who are a big financial burden on our system but they remain a people who we at least try to treat justly. The Americans lock up the migrants who show up on their border and even throw the kids in cages. And once separated from their parents the authorities have hell to re-unite the two. So, they ought not lecture us about the horrors of immigration while their own system stinks to the high heavens. In short, the State Department, in these trying times for their own country should run their pronouncements and foreign country reports through a hypocrisy filter before opening their month and planting their foot firmly in it. This is not to say that we don’t have work to do on all of the areas highlighted. There is a religious admonition which states: First remove the beam out of your own eye and then you can see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother’s eye. But, hey Uncle Sam, thanks for the concern. And we worry about you too. THE GRADUATE Nassau March 17, 2019
MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2019
THE STORIES BEHIND THE NEWS
Playing it safe when friends fall out by Malcolm Strachan
S
PECTATORS of the mounting tension between economic superpowers – the United States and China – have had much to talk about this week with both countries trading barbs in the leadup to President Donald Trump meeting Caribbean leaders in Palm Beach on Friday. A statement from the US Press Secretary last week indicated Mr Trump wanted to meet leaders of five Caribbean nations (The Bahamas, Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic and Saint Lucia) to discuss, among other things, strengthening security cooperation and countering China’s ‘predatory’ economic practices. For those of us who were paying attention to the US pPresidential election, what’s taking place now should come as no surprise. Since 2014, when Mr Trump stated publicly China was not America’s friend in trade relations, anyone could see the tension between these economic superpowers would inevitably come to a head after his victory. Since becoming President, Trump has hit China hard with tariffs – $250bn in tariffs on Chinese goods and threats of an additional $267bn in local products if they sought retaliation. Although both nations have delayed implementing tariffs as they try work through their trade dispute more civilly since Presidents Trump and Xi Jinping met at the G-20 Summit, the recent statement from Capitol Hill indicates Trump is still on the offensive. Certainly, China’s rapid response showed the country’s leaders did not take kindly to the US President’s statement or any tampering with diplomatic relations in the Caribbean. Haigang Yin, Charge d’Affaires of the Chinese embassy in The Bahamas, hit back at the accusations of “predatory economic practices” made by the US, calling them “fabricated lies and irresponsible accusations”. “The accusations of predatory economic practices are completely baseless, unreasonable and contradictory to the facts,” he said. “Facing the fabricated lies and irresponsible accusations, we have faith
in the people of The Bahamas with whom rests the final judgment. We are confident that the Bahamian people and government will not be misled by others.” Yin’s counterpart at the American embassy did not hesitate to fire back – unwavering in the US position on China’s footprint in the region. Stephanie Bowers, Charge d’Affaires at the US Embassy, said: “We encourage all leaders to choose high-quality, transparent, and inclusive foreign investment, and we want to ensure development financing does not result in unsustainable debt. “When evaluating types of partnerships and investment relationships, leaders must ensure they are getting the best deal for their country and their people over the long term.” She added: “Economic engagement should meet international best practices in terms of transparency, debt sustainability, and the needs and concerns of local communities.” Now, here we are – caught in the middle of a fight reminiscent of a custody battle where it is in our best interest not to be seen as picking a side. Tourism accounts for 80 percent of the country’s GDP and American tourists account for the majority of the six million visitor arrivals annually. That is a lot of butter for our bread. Also, Bahamian consumers spend large portions of their income in the US buying goods and services there. It is simply in our best interest to have a great relationship with the US. On the other hand, since 2008, when the Great Recession took place, the US understandably placed its focus inward, which was around the same time China’s “Go Out” policy began to heat up in the region – allowing it to take advantage of building relationships in countries that benefited from having a cash-rich ally in China. The Bahamas, inparticular, Sarkis Izmirlian – former Baha Mar CEO – was able to benefit amid economic uncertainty in the US. However, good faith relations between Izmirlian and the Chinese were shortlived after a fallout that eventually led to Baha Mar being bought out by the Chengs – a wealthy Chinese family with strong political ties. Since that time, China has cemented its foothold
in The Bahamas and the rest of the Caribbean in the hospitality and construction industries, as well as development projects focused on building roads and government buildings throughout the Caribbean. Additionally, they offer financing with stipulations of importing thousands of Chinese labourers as a condition of their lending terms. Undoubtedly, this becomes an issue as it prevents able-bodied locals from taking advantage of opportunities that should be available to them. Nonetheless, for governments of cash-strapped countries, they find such offers impossible to say no to. China’s “debt diplomacy”, as it’s referred to by commentators critical of it how it conducts its geopolitical exploits, is its way of connecting with smaller, more vulnerable developing countries to advance its own agenda to one day outdo the US to become the world’s premier superpower – doing all of this with a smile and an open cheque book. Realistically, with the US focused on getting its own house in order during the Great Recession, The Bahamas had to follow the money. Unfortunately, what we have witnessed, particularly with the last administration, was a weakening of our bargaining position. Under the Christie administration, China was essentially given the keys to the kingdom. With so much power in its grasp, if China wanted to, a decision to shut down operations in The Bahamas could be a debilitating blow to our booming tourism industry. Chinese ownership of three major hotels - Baha Mar chief among them accounts for a great deal of the room inventory on New Providence. With the country just coming off a historic year in tourism, we can ill-afford any rocky relations with China, as they are holding The Bahamas by the proverbial family jewels. For now, we seem to have some cover. Though Chinese companies have not been strangers to leaving what have been referred to as “ghost towns” around the world, to go through so much trouble to open the $4.2bn Baha Mar only to see it once again shuttered would be beyond nonsensical. Additionally, based on what the prime minister said was discussed at the meeting with President
Trump pertinent to China, it sounds as though he handled it well by making it clear China is a friend to The Bahamas, and for the foreseeable future, that perhaps should not change. They currently have too much skin in the game. This is quite a precarious situation we find ourselves in.
The reality is we don’t have the luxury to ruffle the feathers of either country. We simply don’t have that kind of bargaining position and there are billions in foreign direct investment spent by both countries - China having shown the most interest in recent years.
It is likely this lover’s quarrel will eventually be resolved. However, for us, as a country trying to climb out of the ashes, the government has to focus on policies that will make us less dependent and more insulated when economic superpowers go to fisticuffs.
PAGE 8 MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2019
PJ PATTERSON, the former Prime Minister of Jamaica, recently observed to an attentive audience in Washington, DC that: “We of the Caribbean should never allow our strategy to be dictated or determined by anyone else”, adding that “we live in no one’s backyard”. Those words resound with a compelling freshness and significance today as the Caribbean is beset by forces that seek to divide and marginalise the region; to deprive it of a voice in global affairs that materially affect all its countries; and to treat the small, individual territories as nothing more than annoying complications. Of course, leaders of Caribbean countries, particularly those that are members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), contribute to their own marginalisation and to the disregard shown to them by more powerful states or groups of states. In the conduct of their external relations, several governments, now and in the past, have pursued narrow, short-term interests, compromising their own sovereignty and weakening themselves and the entire Caribbean Community in international bargaining. PJ Patterson knows this well. He saw it first hand in several roles, including as Minister of Foreign Sffairs and Foreign Trade of Jamaica; as an opposition politician in Jamaica; and as Prime Minister. The tendency to eschew the strength of Caribbeanwide unity in favour of satisfying the self-interest of political parties has plagued the region to its detriment. Several Caribbean governments have preferred to treat other Caribbean governments as their competitors and adversaries in order to obtain short-term gains. This behaviour has been obvious in tourism, particularly in the cruise ship business, in which Caribbean governments have failed to form an alliance to withstand dictation from large cruise companies. The result has been Caribbean countries earn a disproportionately smaller share of the earnings of the business. But, the predilection to reject the strength of unity, or to bend to the
INSIGHT
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Caribbean In no one’s backyard
will of external interests, in favour of opportunistic alliances with power-blocs – countries or companies – is not limited to sectors, such as tourism. They seem to be replicated across the board of nondomestic activity, resulting in insufficient trust in the CARICOM partnership. PJ Patterson spoke in Washington at the launch of his book, My Political Journey, which chronicles his political life as a Jamaican politician, a Caribbean regionalist, and the role he played in fighting for respect for the Caribbean in the global community. It is a book that should be compulsory reading for all current political leaders in the Caribbean and every person who represents the interests of Caribbean nations in international bargaining. In his book, PJ states: “The assertion of our united voice as sovereign nations singing from the same hymn sheet is the only way for us to be heard in the global din.” And, he knows with authenticity, born of lived experience, of the truth of which he speaks. He was an integral participant in the most significant demonstration of unity by developing states at a significant crossroads of their fortunes. Ironically, that event occurred when Britain decided to join the European Economic Community (now the European Union). Preferential trade access to the British market was disappearing for Britain’s former Commonwealth
colonies in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP), as responsibility for trade with Britain passed from London to the EU headquarters in Brussels. The unification of the ACP countries was fashioned in the Caribbean as a single unit to negotiate a trade and aid pact with Europe. The arrangement involved three regions, but one voice on each aspect of the negotiating pillars. The Caribbean’s main spokespersons on behalf of the ACP group were Sir Shridath Ramphal and P.J. Patterson. Many lessons arose for the Caribbean from those negotiations, not least that the unity of developing countries is a formidable force in bargaining with other countries and regions, much bigger and powerful than themselves. It is no exaggeration to say the Lomé Convention, that emerged from those ACP-EEC negotiations, continues to stand today as the most beneficial trade and development document ever signed by developing states. Its benefits, over more than four decades, should permanently flash warning lights to the Caribbean not to fracture their unity, and, instead, to maintain their solidarity. Caribbean countries have a sparse box of tools from which to draw in advancing their national interests in international affairs. Fighting relentlessly for their sovereign
PJ PATTERSON, the former Prime Minister of Jamaica.
rights is one vital tool they should never relinquish. PJ Patterson states with no equivocation that: “While small and powerless states do not in fact receive equal treatment in the application of international law, we in the Caribbean who lack military power are nevertheless compelled to continue the search for that ideal in which the international system will uphold right over might and law over force.” That is wisdom from an authentic voice speaking from Caribbean trenches in international battlegrounds that have not
diminished. They have simply appeared in other forms such as: in the EU blacklisting Caribbean countries in language that pretends cooperation but actions that manifest coercion; in the World Trade Organisation where big countries deny justice to small ones; in the Organisation of American States where after more than 50 years of membership, the Caribbean’s development and security aspirations still play second fiddle to the political agenda of other countries; and in the lip service paid to the adverse effects of climate change that point like a dagger at the heart of the Caribbean’s existence. In all of this, PJ Patterson has long and often advocated, “there needs to be a cohesive and effective strategic alliance among small developing countries”. Such an alliance must be cemented, solidified and fortified first
YOUR
among the countries of the Caribbean. Then, and only then, will Caribbean countries establish the means for true independence and sovereignty both politically and economically. Caribbean leaders of all political stripes have every right to engage governments of other countries in their economic interest. But, in doing so, they should be mindful they have a responsibility to themselves and the people of the Caribbean to support each other first.
The writer is Ambassador of Antigua and Barbuda to the United States and the Organisation of American States. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London and at Massey College in the University of Toronto. The views expressed are entirely his own. Responses and previous commentaries: www. sirronaldsanders.com
CHOICE FOR THE FAMILY WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/JOYFM1019
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EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net Nancy Kang Assistant Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies, University of Manitoba
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N Mules and Men (1935), anthropologist, creative writer and Harlem Renaissance upstart Zora Neale Hurston relays the evocative folktale “Why the Sister in Black Works Hardest.” Fatigued after the work of Creation, God casts a massive bundle onto the earth. Intrigued by the mysterious object, a white Southern woman during the antebellum era asks her husband to retrieve it. Reluctant to tote the load himself, the master instructs a slave to fetch it. Soon wearied of the task, the slave then commands his wife to shoulder the burden. She does so, excited at the prospect of exploring the contents. When she opens the package, however, what leaps out at her and Black women for all posterity is none other than hard work. African American women writers have tackled the hard work of representing a diverse spectrum of lived and imagined experiences, including and especially their own. This labour occurs against the backdrop of centuries-long struggles with racist oppression and gender-based violence, including — but not limited to — slavery’s culture of endemic rape, forced or interrupted motherhood, infanticide, concubinage, fractured families and egregious physical and mental abuse. Renowned abolitionist Frederick Douglass recalls in his 1845 slave narrative how witnessing the serial whippings of his Aunt Hester impacted him “with awful force”. He explains: “It was the blood-stained gate, the entrance to the hell of slavery, through which I was about to pass. It was a most terrible spectacle.” These ordeals also emerge in slave narratives by women. Harriet Jacobs’ Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861) emphasises such travails. A target of relentless sexual harassment by her much-older master, Jacobs laments: “When they told me my new-born babe was a girl, my heart was heavier than it had ever been before. Slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women.” Once emancipated, African American women still faced staggering impediments when pursuing educational, entrepreneurial and employment opportunities. Political participation meant restrictions on voting rights both as women and as people of colour. Racist caricatures impugned everything from a woman’s intelligence and moral capacity to her skin colour, texture of hair and body shape. Stereotypes like the docile Mammy, the Tragic Mulatta, the clownish Topsy, the oversexed Jezebel, the greedy Welfare Queen, the amoral Hoodrat and the Mad Black Woman (still prevalent today) remain testaments to a history of disrespect and erasure. Alongside, is a short list of pivotal texts by African American women from the past century. These writers are but a small sample of the artists and intellectuals whose output resisted the force of what contemporary feminist critic Moya Bailey has termed misogynoir, or the corrosive fusion of anti-Blackness and misogyny prevalent in popular culture today. These women have completed the groundwork — and hard work — of envisioning a more just, inclusive society going forward. theconversation.com
INSIGHT
MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2019 PAGE 9
A must-read list: The enduring contributions of African American women writers
Quicksand (1928) and Passing (1929) by Nella Larsen These novellas follow mixed-race women whose uneasy status on the colour line (including the lure of passing as white) complicates their lives in dangerous, even fatal ways. Passing is revolutionary for its depiction of homoerotic tension between two uppermiddle-class Black women. Quicksand offers insight into the exoticization of African American women abroad and the contest between art and domesticity as viable avenues for a fulfilling life.
Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) by Zora Neale Hurston This story is the lyrical account of thrice-married Janie Crawford who finds a mature vision of love and fulfillment amid incessant gossip and a difficult family history. The all-Black township of Eatonville, Fla., and the rich “muck” of the Everglades contribute to a portrait of community health, daily striving and resolute self-awareness.
The Street (1946) by Ann Petry This social realist novel follows single mother Lutie Johnson as she attempts to make a life for her young son in a predatory urban space. Weathering sexism, racism, classism, poverty and intense personal frustration, Lutie attempts to resist the brutality of the environment that gives the novel its loaded name.
The Bluest Eye (1970) by Toni Morrison
Kindred (1979) by Octavia Butler
The Color Purple (1982) by Alice Walker
This book is a searing portrait of a young girl’s coming-of-age and eventual undoing in the years following the Great Depression. Tumultuous family dynamics, psychological trauma and incest, the quest for compassion and self-love, and the toxic myth of Black ugliness coalesce in this first novel by the Nobel Laureate and author of neo-slave narrative Beloved (1987).
Oscillating between the 1970s and the early 19th century, this science fiction odyssey (re)connects a contemporary Black woman writer and her white husband with her ancestors on a Maryland plantation. The novel is buoyed up by the dramatic tension of time travel and the juxtaposition of the pre-Civil War antebellum-era with Civil Rights-era racial attitudes, including those about interracial love and allyship. The Women of Brewster Place (1982) by Gloria Naylor
A tale of two sisters, Celie and Nettie, this novel constellates their love and longing via letters and imagined conversations across the Atlantic. Unsparing in its critique of domestic violence and toxic masculinity, yet tender in its treatment of various human weaknesses, the novel underscores Black women’s need for self-regard and mutual care. Not only are these acts revolutionary, but they also offer a glimpse of the divine.
PAGE 10, Monday, March 25, 2019 By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net THE man who was convicted of shooting and killing Blair Estates resident Andre Cartwright during a home invasion five years ago is maintaining that he did not commit the crime. Tiano D’Haiti is seeking to appeal a Supreme Court jury’s unanimous finding in 2017 that he was the culprit behind the October 2014 home invasion and murder. D’Haiti, who is serving a near 50-year sentence for the crime, did not have a lawyer when he appeared before the appellate court, thus one was ordered to be appointed at the public’s expense. The Crown is also seeking to appeal the acquittal of his former co-accused, Kevin Andrews, of his alleged role in the crime. Although Andrews is a free man, another man, also named Kevin Andrews, was brought up from the Bahamas Department
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Convicted killer seeking leave to appeal a Supreme Court verdict of Correctional Services (BDCS) in reference to that matter. Notwithstanding the mixup, the Crown could not say if Andrews was served with its notice of appeal, meaning it could not proceed on Friday in any event. As a result the matter was adjourned to May 7. The court ordered that Andrews be served with the Crown’s appeal notice by that time. D’Haiti, meanwhile, returns to court on April 11 for a mention hearing. On September 25, 2017, a Supreme Court jury unanimously found D’Haiti guilty of the murder, attempted armed robbery and burglary, charges of which he was accused. Months later, in April of 2018, Justice Renae McKay sentenced
D’Haiti to 49 years in prison for the home invasion and murder. He was further sentenced to 25 years for attempted armed robbery, and another 20 for burglary, all to run concurrently. However, after factoring in the amount of time D’Haiti spent on remand – two years, 10 months and 17 days – Justice McKay said D’Haiti will effectively serve 46 years, one month and 13 days in prison. The sentences were ordered to run from the date of his conviction. D’Haiti had previously stood trial with Andrews as the two accused in connection with Cartwright’s death, both having been initially arraigned on November 11, 2014. However, Andrews was
acquitted by the jury on the instructions of Justice McKay after hearing submissions from lawyers for the accused and the Crown. According to initial police reports, Cartwright, 44, was at his Blair Estates home around 1.40am with his mother, Emma Cartwright, and father, Glenn Cartwright, when men kicked in the front door of the house. When he heard the noise, Cartwright got his licenced shotgun and went to investigate, police reported. He encountered the three suspects, one of whom was armed with a handgun. There was an exchange of gunfire, which resulted in Cartwright being shot multiple times. He died at the scene. One of the suspects was also shot, however, he and the other men escaped. During trial, Mrs Cartwright testified how the home invaders feigned being members of the Royal Bahamas Police Force in their attempts to burglarise their eastern New Providence home the night her son was killed. She said she heard shouts of “police, police” from the other side of her home’s interior door, which was being bashed in, just seconds after her son, Andre, in a loud voice, commanded: “Stop! I have a gun.” Mr Cartwright described how shortly after 1am he was awakened by loud “banging” and “crashing” noises coming from the direction of his home’s front door. He said he made it out of his bedroom when he noticed the inner door was being pushed in. According to Mr Cartwright, the inner door separates the bedrooms from the rest of the house. He said he always locks that door before retiring for the night. When it became obvious the inner door would
VICTIM Andre Cartwright be compromised, Mr Cartwright said he pushed his wife into the bedroom for safety. Mr Cartwright said his son then pushed him into the bedroom, and consequently got in between his parents and the compromised inner door. Mr Cartwright said he heard a brief exchange of gunfire, and eventually came out of the bedroom to see his son Andre stumbling backwards into one of the doorways on their side of the inner door. Mr Cartwright said he tried to resuscitate his son, but he had already died. Mr Cartwright said he sat on the bathroom floor with his dead son in his lap for an unknown amount of time, before going out the front door, falling on the grass and sobbing until his son’s body was taken away. A police officer also testified during trial how D’Haiti presented himself to the A&E at Princess Margaret Hospital suffering from an injury shortly after the incident in question occurred. Officer Dawkins said D’Haiti, upon pulling up at the hospital, D’Haiti jumped out, bareback and told him he had been stabbed. The officer said he did not actually see the wound because D’Haiti had his hand covering the injury, which he claimed was on the left lower side of D’Haiti’s torso. Nonetheless, he said D’Haiti was rushed inside
by nurses and taken to the emergency room. Dr Dervin Kemp, a senior house officer at PMH, later told the court that upon examining D’Haiti in October 2014, the convict was found to have sustained a gunshot wound to his left lateral chest. Nonetheless, Officer Dawkins said he later saw D’Haiti in the emergency room, and cautioned and arrested him. The female driver was also later cautioned and arrested, he said. The female driver turned out to be Shecoya Davis, who, during trial, said she never would have taken D’Haiti to the hospital had she known the gravity of the matter of which he would later be convicted. Meanwhile, Police Detective Sergeant Sherwin Braynen testified D’Haiti told him while he was one of five men who visited Cartwright’s home on October 28, 2014, he stayed in the car while the other four, inclusive of Andrews, forced their way into the Cartwright residence. According to Det Sgt Braynen, who was attached to the homicide division of the Central Detective Unit at the time of the incident, D’Haiti made his statements on October 31, 2014 while in PMH suffering from a gunshot wound. However, Crown prosecutor Kendra Kelly, assisted by Destiny McKinney, referred to D’Haiti’s confession to Sgt Braynen as his attempt to “minimise” his involvement in the matter. Ms Kelly further pointed out the significance of the circumstances behind D’Haiti’s attempted armed robbery charge, suggesting that Cartwright by shooting his gun in defence and wounding D’Haiti, likely foiled what could have been an armed robbery.
THE TRIBUNE
Monday, March 25, 2019, PAGE 11
Teachers give seven-day deadline over new talks from page one
to date I do not have a counter proposal. I do not have any information from education as to who are the members of their team and we do not have a counterproposal. However, I promise you they will get a letter by Monday and they’ll be given seven days for us to get to the table because our agreement would have expired from June 30, 2018.” In response to the government refusing to meet, Mrs Wilson said union officials will file a trade dispute. “I’m saying it is sickening that we cannot follow the policies or the laws that are presently in place and what is even worse is when you are not communicating…when education or the government does not communicate with you,” said Mrs Wilson. “If you present them with a document nine months ago and if they are having a challenge getting us a counterproposal then write to us formally and say we wrote to you formally. We presented an agreement, a draft proposal to you formally so write to us and say because February 7 was the deadline for them to present their counter proposal to us, but it’s almost April 7.” Mrs Wilson said she has no issues with working and communicating with Education Minister Jeffrey Lloyd.
BAHAMAS Union of Teachers president Belinda Wilson
WE NEED PROTOCOL FOR COMMUNICABLE DISEASES - WILSON By RIEL MAJOR
BAHAMAS Union of Teachers president Belinda Wilson is calling on health and education officials to establish a protocol relating to tuberculosis, scabies or any other communicable disease in public schools. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the National Tripartite Council General Assembly on Friday, Mrs Wilson said she has been communicating frequently with Dr Duane Sands, pictured below, directly about the cases of tuberculosis or suspected tuberculosis in A F Adderley Junior High School and Government High School. Mrs Wilson said: “From the Ministry of Education’s perspective there has to be a protocol put in place as to how it is that they would operate when matters of this nature happens. Because it’s always the union having to call and to say to the shop steward to say to the principal, can you have a briefing with the staff, can you call the health team, could we make sure that the suspected children are identified and given the Mantoux test? “When you talk about the tuberculosis (TB) or scabies or any communicable disease, then everyone is not running around trying to figure out what to do. But (we should) have the protocol in place on how it is we will resolve it. Thus far I’ve been in communication with the shop steward and the assistant shop steward at those schools.” Mrs Wilson said teachers have been alerted and moving forward chest x-rays will be done on suspected cases of TB. “Based on the results of the X-rays, it will then be 14 days for the clearance as to whether they are positive. And if they need to do
the six months treatment, if there is a need for the six months treatment. I’ve asked Dr Sands to identify a clinic and a specific time for our teachers to be able to go to get the treatment. And not (throw) them into the general population, so that is something we will discuss. “We have expressed to our teachers to try as best as they can to be safe. Education and health must work along with the union so we can have protocols in place so we can deal with these matters going forth and almost seamlessly.” Her comments came after Dr Sands confirmed on Thursday that of almost 200 people screened for tuberculosis in two government schools, skin tests for 20 of them have come back from the lab positive. However, he said this is nothing to be alarmed about. Dr Sands explained the positive skin tests simply mean that these 20 people spread out between GHS and A F Adderley Junior High School have at some point in their lifetime been exposed to TB. As it stands, there remain two active cases of the highly contagious disease between the two schools. In The Bahamas, the rate of tuberculosis was 15 per 100,000 making it a low “incidence” country. While this is considered a low rate it still indicates that tuberculosis has not yet been eliminated in our nation, Dr Sands has said. Over the past five years, a total of 139 persons were lab confirmed for TB and 157 persons presented with clinical symptoms. All 296 were treated for tuberculosis. Of that number, the data revealed that the majority of the patients were living in New Providence while a few were living in Eleuthera, Grand Bahama and Exuma.
Mrs Wilson said: “Sometimes we communicate sometimes four to five times a day depending on what the matters may be. If a recommendation is given, he seems to be open to it, however, the problem has been not only this government or this minister. “The Ministry of Education, a lot of times we put the focus on the minster, but you have a permanent secretary, you have a director, you have a deputy permanent secretary, you have an undersecretary, you have deputy directors, you have assistant directors of education who getting our taxpayers money and not doing their work in an effective manner so a lot of times the technocrats get off the hook because we focus so much on if the president or the minister speaking. “They don’t need to speak to me, what I need is that when there is a problem concerning and affecting our members it is dealt with in a timely and efficient manner. What I need is if there is money owed to our members…outstanding money, make sure it’s placed in the budget and they are paid. “. . .My problem is consecutive governments, the problem still exists that the technocrats are not leading their areas and not effective and they just continue to stay in the areas, continue to stay in the positions and some instances be promoted.”
PAGE 12, Monday, March 25, 2019
Help Wanted - Boat Captain 1 Yacht Captain with Master’s A license to captain a 70 foot motor pleasure vessel. Should have 10 years of experience in command of a. Similar vessel. Must have navigational skills with excellent knowledge of Bahamian waters. Experience with state-of-the-art navigational equipment. Knowledge of the operation of Diesel engines is a must. Must be able to maintain engine and systems logs. Excellent salary, commensurate with experience. Please provide CV with resume.
1 First mate with experience working on a large private vessel Must have knowledge of Diesel engines and be able to assist the Captain and handle deck chores which would include keeping the entire vessel clean. The successful applicant must also be proficient in docking assist, anchoring, and tying up the vessel. Must also be able to launch and operate a 15th tender with 40hp o/b engine. Please deliver application to any Chances Games Head Quarters, Nassau, Grand Bahama, Abaco, Eleuthera.
KINGSWAY ACADEMY
Teacher Applications for September 2019 - 2020 Kingsway Academy invites applications from highly qualified and experienced candidates who are committed to the spiritual, intellectual and social development of students, and who are willing to enrich our school community beyond the classroom. Elementary School • Kindergarten Teacher • Upper Elementary Teacher’s Aide High School • Business Teacher • Chemistry/ Sciences • French • Mathematics • Physical Education • Social Studies / History • Secretary / Copy Technician Successful candidates will meet the following criteria: • An academic degree in the area of specialization • A teaching certificate • Strong oral and written communication skills • Interest in and skills to participate in extra-curricular activities or committees • Be a born-again Christian with high standards of morality A complete application package includes the following: A completed Kingsway Academy application form, a detailed resume with cover letter, a recent photo, a legible e-mail address, working telephone contacts, and three reference forms - one being from your church’s minister, a police record and a health record. The application and reference forms are accessible at the school’s website at www.kingswayacademy.com click on About Us or at the school’s Business Office located on Bernard Road. Packages should be forwarded to: Kingsway Academy Employment Kingsway Academy P O Box N-4378 Nassau, The Bahamas E-mail: employment@kingswayacademy.com To ensure consideration, application packages must be received by Friday, April 5, 2019 at the Herbert L. Treco Administration Building at the school.
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Dolphin assault led to sacking from page one In doing so, the judges overturned Isaacs-Sawyer’s previous triumph over her former employer before the Industrial Tribunal, which had ruled she was wrongfully terminated and entitled to $28,500 in damages. The appellate judges found Isaac-Sawyer’s claim that she felt she had a “discretion” on whether or not to report the infraction was a red herring, as it contradicted a company policy she admitted she was bound to uphold. Conversely, they said her claim was a bid to “escape or immunise herself against criticism” for her actions, and that her not reporting the incident could have “jeopardised” her employer’s licensure and accreditation. “The duty to report violations was clear,” Sir Hartman said. “It did not provide for the exercise of a discretion.” According to the facts, Isaacs-Sawyer was employed with Dolphin Cay for almost seven years as a marine mammal specialist. On April 11, 2013, Isaacs-Sawyer and another Atlantis employee, Mr Armbrister, were to oversee a party of three guests for an interaction with dolphins in a pool. Pursuant to company policy, Isaacs-Sawyer conducted an orientation with the guests so as to ensure they understood the rules governing what was permissible during the encounter. The guests were instructed on where they could or could not touch the dolphin; that they could not take a phone or camera into the pool; that no photography was permitted; that pictures would be provided by Atlantis; and that they could not go into the pools if they were drunk or otherwise impaired. If those policies were violated, the person overseeing the encounter was under a duty to have the guest removed from the pool and report the incident to a supervisor. During the subsequent encounter, which was partially memorialised on still photographs taken
by Atlantis employee Tamika Petit-Holme, one of the guests, Zoey, had a camera in the pool and took a photograph as her flash went off. IsaacsSawyer said she removed Zoey from the pool when she tried to take the photographs but she later returned. Also, it was clear from the official photographs that Zoey inappropriately touched the dolphin’s genitalia. Isaacs-Sawyer said she felt she had a discretion whether to report the incident, and she chose not to. Ultimately, she felt Zoey’s behaviour did not amount to mistreatment or abuse of the dolphin, nor was it serious, hence why she did not remove her from the pool or report the incident. According to the ruling, Isaacs-Sawyer also employed that reasoning when the guest tried to take the photo with her phone. However, Isaacs-Sawyer admitted the requirement to report the incident was mandatory and her failure to do so could lead to termination. She also admitted to having knowledge of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) that clearly prohibited certain interactions with dolphins and sea lions. She further admitted that Zoey’s hand may have touched the dolphin’s nether regions; but said it could have happened by chance due to the close contact between the animals and the guests. Mrs Petit-Holme, whose official photos of the incident were used in evidence, was the one who actually reported the incident because one of the guests had shoved her. At the time, Mrs Petit-Holme thought the guest was drunk. She said she saw Zoey touch the dolphin’s genitals and also saw the flash go off, but did not see Zoey actually take the picture. Nonetheless, IsaacsSawyer was found to have violated the company policy by failing to report Zoey’s conduct to her supervisor. The policy she violated provided that “if at any time a member of the team witnesses (first hand or otherwise) improper conduct or a failure to comply with company and department policies, they must notify their supervisor immediately.” Meanwhile, the MMPA stipulates that “participants should not touch the eye, blow hole or genital regions of a dolphin or sea lion” and that a person should not be permitted in the programme “if a person is under the influence of drugs or alcohol or otherwise similarly impaired.” Isaacs-Sawyer was consequently suspended for her misconduct and thereafter summarily dismissed. Prior to her dismissal, she was given an opportunity to plead her case before human resources personnel. However, she unsuccessfully requested a review board hearing where three of her peers or persons on her level could speak on her behalf. She subsequently took the matter up before the Industrial Tribunal, whose vice-president ruled that her former employer did not conduct a reasonable investigation by not affording her the review she requested. As a result, the Industrial Tribunal found that Isaacs-Sawyer was wrongfully terminated and due to received $28,500 in damages. However, the appellate judges said the Industrial Tribunal’s ruling begged the question: “What is a
reasonable investigation and was the holding of a review board essential to a reasonable investigation?” Sir Hartman said the answer to that question lies within the employer’s ability to ascertain the true facts upon which it can make an “informed decision to ground or support an honest belief on reasonable grounds that the employee committed the act of misconduct.” That, he said, would “normally involve where it is considered necessary an account of the incident from as many eye witnesses or persons in the know as possible yet at the same time giving the employee an opportunity to be heard and respond to the gathered information and complaint.” In the present case, Sir Hartman noted that no one who “could be expected to cooperate with an investigation and give reasonable information” about the event was left out of the investigation, save for Mr Armbrister, who he said was “probably under the threat of disciplinary proceedings and may not have been of much assistance or a willing witness” in any event. Thus, Sir Hartman said the critical witnesses were Mrs Petit-Holme and Isaacs-Sawyer. Sir Hartman said Mrs PetitHolme’s “graphic photos” told a “tale of inappropriate behaviour” by Zoey in violation of the company’s policies. However, he said Mrs Petit-Holmes’ photographic evidence and her oral testimony was not seriously countered by Isaacs-Sawyer, whose evidence he said seemed “littered with contradictions” but confirmed Zoey’s inappropriate actions. However, Sir Hartman said Isaacs-Sawyer still tried to “escape or immunise herself against criticism that her handling was in violation of the reporting policy and behavioural policy of interaction by claiming a discretion which does not appear in her contract of employment when weighed against the clear directives.” “The need for reporting is obvious,” Sir Hartman said. “The employer must know whether it needs to revise or reform its policies to ensure proper handling of the animals. The statute spelt out what was against the law of the land. It was not simply a question of policy. Potential violation of the law is involved. These directives, especially for reporting, are essential to keeping the company complicit with local and international standards and not to jeopardise or risk losing its licence or accreditation over inappropriate behaviour—thus the requirement—mandatory duty on the part of the employee to make reports of such behaviours and not try to minimise the effect by claiming a discretion which she did not have.” And concerning the Industrial Tribunal’s ruling, Sir Hartman said it has to be set aside “on the basis it is erroneous as a matter of law.” He said had it considered the “true principle”, it would have concluded that notwithstanding Atlantis’ failure to grant a review board, the investigation that was conducted “was in all the circumstances reasonable and provided a reasonable basis for the belief formed by the employer that the respondent had committed the misconduct in question.”
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Monday, March 25, 2019, PAGE 13
TERROR AT SEA: HELICOPTER RESCUES SCARED CRUISE PASSENGERS STAVANGER, Norway Associated Press
VIKING Sky cruise ship passenger Rodney Horgen can pinpoint the moment when he thought he was facing the end: when a huge wave crashed through the ship’s glass doors and swept his wife 30 feet across the floor. Horgen, of Minnesota, was visiting Norway on a dream pilgrimage to his ancestral homeland when the luxury cruise trip
quickly turned into a nightmare. The Viking Sky was carrying 1,373 passengers and crew, going from Norway’s Arctic north to the southern city of Stavanger when it had engine trouble along Norway’s rough western coast. Struggling in heavy seas to avoid being dashed on the rocky coast, the ship issued mayday call on Saturday afternoon. Horgan said he knew something was badly amiss when the guests on the heaving ship were all summoned to the ship’s muster points.
“When the windows and door flew open and the 2 meters of water swept people and tables 20 to 30 feet, that was the breaker. I said to myself, ‘This is it,’” Horgen said. “I grabbed my wife but I couldn’t hold on. And she was thrown across the room. And then she got thrown back again by the wave coming back.” Photos posted on social media showed the ship listing from side to side and furniture smashing violently into the ship’s walls. The hands and faces of fellow
THE CRUISE ship Viking Sky
passengers were cut and bleeding from the shattered glass, he said. An experienced fisherman, Horgen said he had never experienced such rough boating conditions. Viking Ocean Cruises, the company that owns and operates the ship, said 20 people were injured “as a result of this incident, and they are all receiving care at the relevant medical centers in Norway, with some already having been discharged.”
Mueller report clears Trump of conspiracy WASHINGTON Associated Press THE Justice Department declared yesterday that special counsel Robert Mueller’s long investigation did not find evidence that President Donald Trump’s campaign “conspired or coordinated” with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election, setting off celebrations of vindication by Trump and his supporters. Mueller also investigated whether Trump obstructed justice but did not come to a definitive answer. In a four-page letter to Congress, Attorney General William Barr quoted Mueller’s report as stating it “does not exonerate” the president on obstruction. Instead, Barr said, it “sets out evidence on both sides of the question.” Trump, in Florida, said the report proved “there was no collusion” as he has contended for many months. He also claimed it showed there was no obstruction and said it was a shame that he and the nation had to suffer through “an illegal takedown that failed.” Barr released his summary of Mueller’s report yesterday. Mueller wrapped up his investigation on Friday with no new indictments, bringing to a close a probe that has shadowed Trump for nearly two years. Trump celebrated the findings, claiming it “was a complete and total exoneration,” even though the report did not reach
a definitive answer on whether he obstructed justice. Trump spoke to reporters before boarding Air Force One in Palm Beach, saying “it was just announced there was no collusion with Russia. ... There was no obstruction, and none whatsoever.” Trump’s victory lap came after he kept a low profile over the weekend, heeding the advice of his lawyers, who warned him against tweeting about the probe before details were released. But on Sunday night he signaled that he was eager to go on the offensive against the probe that has shadowed his presidency. “It’s a shame that our country had to go through this. To be honest it’s a shame that your president has had to go through this,” Trump said. “This was an illegal takedown that failed.” White House advisers and allies were equally elated, with campaign manager Brad Parscale declaring in a statement that Trump “has been completely and fully vindicated by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.” For their part, Democrats called for Mueller’s full report to be released and vowed to press on with their own investigation, setting up future clashes with the White House. Before the summary was released, Trump, who spent the weekend golfing and relaxing with his family,
SPECIAL counsel Robert Mueller
CYCLONE TOLL NOW RISES ABOVE 750 BEIRA, Mozambique Associated Press CYCLONE Idai’s death toll has risen above 750 in the three southern African countries hit 10 days ago by the storm, as workers restore electricity, water and try to prevent outbreak of cholera. In Mozambique the number of dead has risen to 446 while there are 259 dead in Zimbabwe and at least 56 dead in Malawi for a threenation total of 761. As flood waters recede and more bodies are discovered, the final death toll in Mozambique alone could be above the early estimate of 1,000 made by the country’s president a few days after the cyclone hit, said aid workers. Nearly 110,000 people are in camps more than a week after Cyclone Idai hit. As efforts to rescue people wind down, aid workers are bracing for the spread of disease.
was said to be relieved and happy that Robert Mueller’s probe ended without any new indictments , according to people close to the White House. The president notably dialed back his high-octane Twitter account over the weekend. Early Sunday morning, he tweeted: “Good Morning, Have A Great Day!” and “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” The president has railed against Mueller for months, calling the investigation a politically motivated “witch hunt.” The inquiry focused on whether Trump’s campaign coordinated with Russia during the 2016 campaign, as well as whether he tried to obstruct the probe.
KENYAN WHO GAVE EARNINGS TO POOR WINS $1M TEACHER PRIZE DUBAI Associated Press
A KENYAN teacher from a remote village who gave away most of his earnings to the poor won a $1 million prize yestertday for his work teaching in a government-run school that has just one computer and shoddy Internet access. The annual Global Teacher Prize was awarded to Peter Tabichi in the opulent Atlantis Hotel in Dubai in a ceremony hosted by actor Hugh Jackman. Tabichi said the farthest he’d traveled before this was to Uganda. Coming to Dubai marked his first time on an airplane. “I feel great.
TEACHER Peter Tabichi I can’t believe it. I feel so happy to be among the best teachers in the world, being the best in the world,” he said after his win. Tabichi teaches science to high schoolers in the semiarid village of Pwani where almost a third of children
are orphans or have only one parent. Drought and famine are common. He said the school has no library and no laboratory. He plans to use the million dollars from his win to improve the school and feed the poor. Despite the obstacles Tabichi’s students face, he’s credited with helping many stay in school, qualify for international competitions in science and engineering and go on to college. “At times, whenever I reflect on the challenges they face, I shed tears,” he said of his students, adding that his win will help give them confidence.
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THE TRIBUNE
Monday, March 25, 2019, PAGE 15
POLICE SEIZE $12,000 WORTH OF MARIJUANA By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net
POLICEÂ discovered and seized $12,000 worth of suspected marijuana and a firearm in Eight Mile Rock on the weekend. According to reports, shortly after 2pm on Friday officers of the Flying Squad,
acting on information, went to Grays Avenue in Seagrape, Eight Mile Rock where they found five plastic bags containing 12 pounds of marijuana. Officers also found a silver and black pistol containing four hollowed tip .380 ammunition in the bushes. No arrest was made in the matter and an investigation is continuing.
PAGE 16, Monday, March 25, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
DECOMPOSING BODY FOUND IN BUILDING By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net
FOUL play is not suspected in the discovery of a male’s decomposing body in a building at East Street and Odle Corner over the weekend, a senior police officer said yesterday. Assistant Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle said officers are still investigating the circumstances surrounding Saturday’s
discovery, which was made by the building’s landlord. According to reports, the deceased’s neighbour became concerned after not seeing the deceased for several days. After smelling a foul odour, the neighbour notified the landlord who then gained entry into the unit where the man’s decomposing body was found in a bed. ACP Rolle said no trauma was detected on the body and an autopsy will be
performed to determined the exact cause of death. He said officers should be in a position to provide identification of the victim today. Meanwhile, police are investigating the circumstances surrounding two separate shooting incidents on Friday that left two men in hospital. According to reports, shortly before 6pm, a man was sitting in his vehicle on Rupert Dean Lane near a business when a man
approached him and shot him before escaping. The victim was transported to hospital where he was said to be in serious but stable condition. Five hours later, shortly after 11pm, a man was sitting in his vehicle on Plantol Street when he was approached by a male who shot him. The victim was able to drive to a nearby residence, where he was assisted in getting to the hospital.
He was said to be in stable condition. These incidents came after police discovered a body at a Lake Grove Road house late Thursday. According to Chief Superintendent Solomon Cash, police are investigating that matter as a homicide however an autopsy is needed to determine cause of death. Officers were called to the Carmichael Road area home shortly after 10pm on Thursday, where the unresponsive body of a man was discovered with visible injuries.
YOUR
Paramedics were subsequently called to the scene, but were unable to resuscitate him. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. The Tribune understands the deceased is 54-year-old Jerome Thurston. His death, if confirmed as a homicide, will mark the 17th murder for the year, according to The Tribune’s records. Anyone with information on these or any other incident is asked to call police at 919, 502-9991 or Crime Stoppers at 328-TIPS.
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