MONDAY iâm lovinâ it!
HIGH 86ÂşF LOW 76ÂşF
The Tribune Established 1903
24/7 BREAKING NEWS ON TRIBUNE242.COM
Biggest And Best!
VOLUME:115 No.104, APRIL 23RD, 2018
HO US E & 24 THE PEOPLEâS PAPER: $1
HOME
SPORTS: NATIONAL SOCCER CHAMPIONS CROWNED PAGES US REPORT HIGHLIGHTS ABUSE OF DETAINEES
We wonât be bullied by unions
By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net
THE most significant human rights issues affecting the country last year involved the treatment of people in detention, according to the US government. The US State Departmentâs 2017 Human Rights Report stated foreign male prisoners frequently reported threats and targeting by prison guards, and flagged the claim of a Bahamian-US dual citizen who reported in June that officials at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services placed a bag over his head and beat him with a golf club. SEE PAGE THREE
WTO TO COST $200M IN LOST DUTIES
Ministers insist blackout threats wonât be tolerated By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net WORKS Minister Desmond Bannister yesterday said that neither the government, nor the wider public, would tolerate blackout threats from unions at Bahamas Power and Light as the company plans to offer voluntary separation packages to workers in a ârightsizingâ exercise. âBahamians are not going to put up with any long, hot summer, and weâre not going to,â Mr Bannister, pictured, said. âI donât know where it came from, but the Bahamian people will stand up for their right to have some basic amenities in their life, one of those which is electricity.â
Unions representing workers at BPL had threatened it would be âa long, hot summerâ as they fumed over planned job cuts. On Friday, Bahamas Electrical Workers Union President Paul Maynard said lack of government intervention over the problem could see Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis return from a trip to England to a country in darkness. At a press briefing marking his return from Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings in London yesterday, Dr Minnis said the Ministry of Labour would broker talks between the unions and BPLâs board to reach an amicable resolution to ensure there is no loss of power. SEE PAGE FIVE
By NATARIO MCKENZIE Tribune Business Reporter nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net
THE Bahamas will have to replace almost $200m or 10.5 per cent of government revenues in a ârealistic scenarioâ for WTO accession, a consultant has revealed. Dr Derk Bienen illustrated the scale of tax reform facing The Bahamas when it starts to eliminate/ reduce import tariffs that are seen as barriers to trade. PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis yesterday.
Photo: Terrel W Carey/Tribune Staff
âJUDGE ME ON FIVE YEARS, NOT ONEâ By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net
PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said he is not disappointed by a recent poll showing Bahamians are increasingly dissatisfied with his government. Reacting yesterday on his return from trips to Peru and the United Kingdom,
Dr Minnis said: âIf you look at every poll throughout the worldâŚgovernment usually loses (political) capital throughout the first year. Thatâs accepted; thatâs standard. Letâs look at why. Governments make promises and commitments. Government and the people expectations are high and I accept that, but you put me in office for five
years, I canât do it in year one and thatâs the expectation and because itâs not done in one year you would expect there would be some degree of disgruntledness, thatâs normal. âHowever, what we stated we will do, we will deliver and you will see that number going up and the SEE PAGE SIX
OBAN PROMISES HOMES FOR WORKERS By TANEKA THOMPSON Tribune News Editor tmthompson@tribunemedia.net IN the face of continued criticism and public push back over its proposed development, Oban Energies yesterday touted the benefits the project would bring to Grand Bahama, revealing 200 homes will be constructed âas an incentiveâ for Bahamian staff members. A statement issued
yesterday said Oban is in it âfor the long haulâ and has already invested over $10m to date in research, technical, legal, local accommodations and marketing, inclusive of Bahamian firms as it looks forward âto impacting the Grand Bahama economy in a more extensive way soonestâ. Although environmental activists and watchdogs have expressed concern about degradation and
pollution to pristine areas of the island due to the proposal, Oban tried to assuage these fears, saying it âremains committed to realising a sustainable and environmentally friendly development in East Grand Bahamaâ. Obanâs release said: âThe construction phase of the storage and refinery facility will create 600 direct and 1,000 indirect jobs.â SEE PAGE FIVE
Nassau & Bahama Islandsâ Leading Newspaper
FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS
BRITISH TO REOPEN DIPLOMATIC MISSION By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net THE United Kingdom will reopen a diplomatic post in The Bahamas, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has announced. A diplomatic post also will be established in Lesotho, Swaziland, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu. SEE PAGE 12
Insight
THE DEADLY WEAPONS TESTING OFF ANDROS