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By RIEL MAJOR Tribune Staff Reporter rmajor@tribunemedia.net
A BRAZEN daylight robbery ended in tragedy yesterday morning after one of three alleged robbers drowned in an eastern New Providence canal. According to Superintendent Shanta Knowles, shortly before 10am police received reports of a home invasion in Bay Lily, Seabreeze Estates. At the scene, Supt Knowles said: “Upon the officers’ arrival they saw three men running from a home. Two of them [police] were able to capture and take into custody. [The] third jumped into the canal just at the rear of the house. Officers noticed he was swimming west in the canal towards Golf Course Boulevard, so we sent a
patrol unit on [the other] side of the community. “Officers noticed as he was swimming, he appeared to be in distress. They rendered assistance to him by jumping into the water. [They] brought him to shore, began to perform CPR until an ambulance came and then he was pronounced deceased. “This matter is of course very active, and we will continue to investigate.” Supt Knowles could not say whether the two men in custody and the deceased are known to police at this time. She noted the deceased appeared to be between the ages of 25 and 30 but could not confirm the ages of the two men in custody. Supt Knowles encouraged parents to enrol their
A ROYAL Bahamas Defence Force marine is expected to be arraigned in Magistrate’s Court today in connection with the murder of Petty Officer Philip Perpall who was shot multiple times in his upper body at Government House earlier this week. Police Commissioner Anthony Ferguson confirmed this yesterday, telling The Tribune he was pleased
SEE PAGE THREE
ROLLE IN AS NEW DEPUTY
PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis has appointed Assistant Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle the new Deputy Commissioner of Police. The Royal Bahamas Police Force announced the appointment in a statement last night, saying Mr Rolle’s appointment came into effect on April 1. SEE PAGE FIVE
TAYLOR INDUSTRIES $1M IN RED
SEE PAGE THREE
with how the investigation progressed. “We are looking to proceed tomorrow,” Commissioner Ferguson said after confirming that the person of interest who was assisting police with their investigation has since been named a suspect. The death of PO Perpall early on Sunday around 2.30am in the guard room of Government House stunned the nation, given it took place at the country’s highest office and involved those in the armed forces.
SEE PAGE EIGHT
By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net
MARINE DUE IN COURT ON OFFICER’S MURDER
By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net
A COMIC’S VIEW TIME TO FOLLOW HAWAII’S LEAD ON MARIJUANA
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
A BODY was taken out of the canal in eastern New Providence yesterday. Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff
TAYLOR Industries is insolvent by $1m after racking up $1.856m in losses during the four-and-a-half years prior to its January closure. Andrew Davies, the Crowe Bahamas accountant, disclosed the failed 74-year-old electrical retailer and contractor’s trade and unsecured creditors will recover none of the debts owed to them due to the massive solvency gap. FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS
TEACHER IN BEATING VIDEO BROKE RULES By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net
THE investigation into a video of an Abaco physical education teacher beating six students has determined the teacher in question “did not act with proper authority”, Education Minister Jeff Lloyd said yesterday. The investigation is finished Mr Lloyd told The Tribune, adding the decision of what disciplinary action the teacher will face
A VIDEO grab of the incident. is in the hands of the director of education. When contacted
yesterday, Education Director Marcellus Taylor told The Tribune he is awaiting advice from the Office of the Attorney General. The incident garnered national attention after the video in question went viral on social media in late March. On April 4, The Tribune reported that a district report detailing the circumstances behind the video was submitted to education officials. SEE PAGE SEVEN
Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper
DIANE PHILLIPS IF ONLY ROAD TRAFFIC DEATHS WERE SEXIER
SEE PAGE TEN
PAGE 2, Friday, May 3, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
Officer offered to cover up Carnival’s prohibited dumping By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net
ONE of Carnival Corporation’s cruise ships.
A BRIDGE officer on Carnival Conquest offered to cover up the ship’s prohibited dumping of 66,000 gallons of ballast water into Bahamian waters in November 2018, according to one of the latest court-mandated reports of Carnival’s ocean activities. The 2018 report obtained by The Tribune this week follows a 2017 report which revealed Carnival ships dumped hundreds of thousands of gallons of treated sewage and more than 8,000 gallons of food waste within the Bahamas’ archipelagic baseline. The latest report does not say whether the dumped ballast water was treated, though Carnival officials have stressed that its discharges are treated. Untreated ballast water could introduce new invasive species into an environment, devastating ecosystems, according to the International Maritime Organisation. The dumping incident happened on November 24, 2018. The court appointed monitor, Steven Solow, wrote: “According to the preliminary findings described in the flash report, the company attributed the incident to the failure of the watch-keeping engineer to attend a meeting with the bridge, ‘to follow the instructions provided by the bridge during the briefing at the start of the watch as well as the chief engineer’s standing orders,’ or ‘to inform the bridge before conducting the discharge operation.’ While the prohibited discharge is significant in and of itself, the flash report goes on to state that a bridge officer ‘offered to cover up the occurrence and change the time and location of the discharge to indicate it had occurred in a permitted area.’ Approximately ten minutes after
making this offer, the bridge officer reportedly called the engineer back to say that he was going to (properly) report the violation to the staff captain. Any purported offer to falsify records to conceal an illegal discharge is highly concerning, both in light of the record-keeping falsifications that were part of the underlying criminal conduct on the Caribbean Princess and because such an offer raises significant concerns about the presence of a blame culture within the company.” A monitor is required to review Carnival’s activities after the corporation pleaded guilty to vessel pollution and efforts to conceal that pollution in 2016. The corporation is on probation. According to the court appointed monitor, Carnival performed two investigations into the ballast water incident: Risk Advisory and Assurance Services (RAAS) was assigned to investigate the prohibited discharge and Carnival Cruise Line’s Compliance Department was assigned to investigate the alleged cover-up. Mr Solow said neither investigation was adequate. “…A comprehensive investigation and root cause analysis would look beyond the actions of the involved ship personnel to consider whether systemic issues played a meaningful role in this incident, including issues related to: training, voyage planning, workload/insufficient manning, and culture,” he wrote. “However, the company’s investigation does not appear to do so. The investigation report addressing the prohibited ballast water discharge focuses on the actions of the involved ship personnel. It concludes that the watch-keeping engineer ‘improperly discharged overboard the ballast of his own free will’ and that ‘the root cause can be classified as human error, decision based.’” The monitor said the
report attributes blame for the incident to the watch keeping engineer and other ship personnel but “does not valuate the role of broader, systemic issues that may have contributed to the incident, such as the company’s possible failures to provide adequate training to engineers and bridge officers; to provide ships with adequate voyage planning tools and support; to hire sufficient numbers of engineers to ensure that the workload of watch-keeping engineers is manageable; or to hire sufficiently experienced and trained engineers such that watch-keeping duties are assigned to individuals able to competently discharge their duties.” Mr Solow added: “Similarly, the investigation report addressing the coverup offer focuses on the actions and motivations of the involved Bridge officer without exploring potential underlying systemic causes. It concludes that the bridge officer “most likely offered to cover up the occurrence, due to fear of having made a mistake and the consequences of possibly losing his job,” and that “with all likelihood, fear factor was the root cause of the alleged cover up. The report does not, however, go deeper to evaluate the reasons why the bridge officer had a ‘fear of having made a mistake’ and was so driven by this ‘fear factor’ that he considered falsifying records—a potentially criminal offence. For instance, the report does not acknowledge or address that the true root cause of the incident might be the presence (or perception) of a blame culture within the company.” The 2018 report from Mr Solow, which describes Carnival’s efforts to prepare ships in advance of court-ordered audits to avoid unfavourable findings, recently prompted a US Judge’s threat to block Carnival ships from docking in US ports.
TRIO ARRESTED AFTER DRUGS SWOOPS
POLICE on New Providence have recovered a large quantity of dangerous drugs in two separate incidents and have taken two men and a woman into custody. In the first incident, according to a police report, shortly after 8pm on Tuesday, Drug Enforcement Unit officers conducted a search of a home on Dorchester Street
off Virginia Street and recovered a quantity of dangerous drugs: one pound of marijuana; 2,425 ecstasy pills; 10 methamphetamine pills; 13 Oxycodone pills; 5,448 Alprazolam pills and 1,090 Xanax pills. Two men who were in the home at the time of the search were taken into custody. In the second incident, according to police, shortly
before 1pm on Wednesday May 1, Anti-Corruption Unit officers conducted a search of a home at Marigold Farm Road and discovered a quantity of suspected marijuana and an assortment of fraudulent credit cards. A woman who was in the home at the time of the search was taken into custody. The drugs had a street value of $3,200.
THE TRIBUNE
Friday, May 3, 2019, PAGE 3
MARINE DUE IN COURT ON OFFICER’S MURDER from page one
PO Perpall, 52, enlisted in the RBDF more than 30 years ago and was once a United Nations Peacekeeper in Haiti. He was the only casualty of the incident despite the perpetrator also opening fire on other officers in the room, Commissioner Ferguson said Sunday during a press briefing at the Central Detective Unit. At the time he would not confirm that the alleged shooter was a RBDF marine. At the briefing, it was not made clear how the assailant gained access to the compound,
but sources said it was believed that the shooter “jumped the wall” and gained access to the room where four officers, including PO Perpall, had gathered for a break. “This is what we know: we got a report sometime around 3am this morning through Police Control Room that a marine was shot on duty while at Government House. Responding officers upon arrival spoke with the officers of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force who reported that around 2.30am a male accessed the premises of Government House and made his way to the Guard House, where
the guard commander and other officers were,” Commissioner Ferguson said during Sunday’s press conference. “I am told that the guard commander was sitting in the administrative area along with another marine while others were on break in the room area. “This male opened fire from a handgun on the guard commander hitting him several times to the upper body before fleeing the premises. He was pursued by alert marines, however he made good his escape. “Paramedics were summoned to the scene where they examined
PETTY Officer Philip Perpall
the victim and pronounced him dead at that location,” he continued. Sadly, National Security Minister Marvin Dames has said the killing brought to light the need for proper security measures in government buildings and departments. However, he insisted that any measures to be taken in the near future were not reactionary, but shed light on ongoing discussions that officials have been having for some time. He said a special committee would be appointed to look at procedures and practices.
Home raider dies swimming canal THE SCENE at a canal in eastern New Providence yesterday where a suspected home raider drowned while fleeing from police. Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff
from page one children into positive activities this summer to avoid their participation in crimes and encouraged homeowners to safely secure their homes when away. She said: “First of all we want to encourage parents to, especially during the summer months, ensure your children are involved in a positive activity so they don’t become involved in crime or [be] victims of crimes. We know that a lot of children will be on the streets and probably will be unattended and could be
easily influenced by adults to commit crimes such as house break-ins. “We want homeowners to take every precaution to secure their homes when they are not there. We encourage installing surveillance cameras, we encourage proper use of locks and security screens so their valuables can be protected when away from home.” Supt Knowles said police were alerted quickly because of the watchful eyes of the people in the community and encouraged other neighbourhoods to form crime watch groups.
“[We encourage] you to be your brother’s keeper; this area has a very active crime watch and so we applaud the people for their crime watch. For watching their neighbour’s property,” she said. “It is because of community policing or people involvement in community policing; we can have a success like this one here today. Where we can take two men into custody and probably question them on other matters related in this same area or [in other areas].” Supt Knowles added: “It is important to get involved
with your local police if you see information or if you see anything that can assist us give us a call. So, we can look into it and stamp out crime in our communities.”
BODY FOUND ON BUILDING SITE By RIEL MAJOR Tribune Staff Reporter rmajor@tribunemedia.net
POLICE are investigating after a man’s body was found Wednesday night in an unfinished building in Exuma. Police said shortly after 8pm, they were called to a building under construction on Queen’s Highway and Bahama Sound Boulevard where an unresponsive male was found. The man was transported
to the Exuma clinic in Georgetown and pronounced dead. Police said the body will be airlifted to New Providence where an autopsy will be conducted to determine the exact cause of death. Meanwhile, officers from the Drug Enforcement Unit recovered an illegal firearm Wednesday night. According to reports, shortly after 8pm, officers conducted a search of an abandoned vehicle
on Father Calnan Street off Baillou Hill Road and discovered a 9mm pistol and two rounds of ammunition. No arrest was made in connection with this incident. Investigations are continuing in both matters. Anyone with information which can assist in these investigations can contact the Central Detective Unit at 502-9991/2, Crime stoppers at 328-TIPS (8477) or the nearest police station.
T
PAGE 4, Friday, May 3, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
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Has the government backtracked on police leave? IT FEELS like we are not being told the full story when it comes to police officers being put on leave. In March, it was revealed that first three top police officers – Deputy Commissioner of Police Emrick Seymour, Senior Assistant Commissioner Stephen Dean and Assistant Commissioner of Police Clarence Reckley – were being ordered to take their vacation time as pre-retirement leave. Not long after, five more officers were reported to have received notice to take accrued vacation leave immediately – bringing the total number of senior officers on pre-retirement leave to eight, and with the prospect of more to come. Opposition leader Philip ‘Brave’ Davis demanded the government be more transparent about the departures, while Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis effectively shrugged when asked, saying he didn’t know what the big deal was. Then, in today’s Tribune, we have a twist. Five of those eight officers will be coming back to duty when their leave ends. In the meantime, those five will be on holiday – the first of them returning in January next year while others staying on leave late into 2020. Senior figures in government – from National Security Minister Marvin Dames to the prime minister himself – had ample opportunity to note that those five officers would be returning, and yet did not, until yesterday. To say that some of the officers caught up in this directive to use up outstanding leave have been upset is an understatement. Senior ACP Dean spoke out, saying: “It hurt. I wanted it to be done with more respect… we sacrificed a lot for our organisations.” It’s true. As murder rates spiked, the cry was always that there would be more officers on the streets. After one violent weekend in February this
year, Superintendent Shanta Knowles talked of the strategy the police have operated recently, saying: “We have flooded the streets with all available vehicles and manpower and those will continue.” That use of manpower comes at a cost in extra shifts, in officers delaying leave in order to fight crime. That builds up leave time. Now some of those very officers closely involved in that fight find themselves to go away and come back next year. As attorney Wayne Munroe says, that kind of break in your career is unusual to say the least. Whatever your job, imagine being told to leave and not come back for up to two years – how do you think that would affect your career prospects in that job? All in all, it feels as if the government has backtracked on their original plans – or just didn’t feel the need to tell us all when they had the opportunity. Caught in the middle of this are the officers themselves – with more officers yet to be told, if Mr Dames is to be believed when he says others will be going on leave too. Beyond that there is the organisation itself, which will have to continue to function effectively despite a sudden crackdown that would presumably eventually require vast swathes of the force to take leave that has built up. We all hope that will not endanger any progress made in reducing the level of violent crime. Mr Dames continues to cloud the issue, refusing yesterday to talk about other officers due to go on leave because he didn’t want to talk about “personalities”. Which leaves us in the position of agreeing with Brave Davis. The government should indeed be more transparent – not least of all for the sake of the officers protecting us.
Kudos to the carnival organisers - and let’s all have some fun EDITOR, The Tribune I FULLY endorse and support the privatisation of carnival…Kudos to the people involved, but, oh yes there is a but…don’t get too far and disrespect the Laws. There are laws that cover dress - obscenity - vulgarity, etc…the Commissioner of Police should have warned the group leaders what is
required to comply with the Law. What is passable on the beach is a good standard but be warned if the Police are about their business and their job description they must arrest all offenders breaking our Law… enjoy yourselves within the Law…excessive drinking of alcohol is a no no. Carnival is what it is… obey the Laws and let
everyone have a lot of fun, but Police it is expected of you to ensure the Laws are complied with. Commissioner if you have not you better read the riot act quick - Carnival is coming and clearly some feel anything goes! ABRAHAM MOSS Nassau May 1, 2019
Why do we only learn from tragedy? EDITOR, The Tribune IN LIGHT of last year’s Labour Day Parade tragedy, it is encouraging to hear that consideration is being given to road safety for the upcoming parade in June. But it surprises me that a big elephant in the room is being ignored. That elephant is carnival and the involvement of vehicles in the pornographic parade. How can there be concern over the few vehicles that are involved in the Labour Day parade while ignoring the massive number of vehicles, especially trailer trucks with people crammed on them, hanging from them, and even standing on them,
some of whom are drinking alcohol? And this is no exaggeration. A plethora of videos are online to see the nonsense that is permitted on our streets during carnival, including people lying in the road virtually having sex with vehicular traffic around. As bad as tragedies are, to my mind a greater tragedy is that we only seem to learn from tragedy. We seem unable to proactively make common sense decisions to avoid tragedies. I don’t know if the Commissioner of Police has the authority to ban vehicles from road parades, but I know that he certainly has the authority (indeed, the responsibility) to enforce
our traffic laws. And I think he should do so, starting with carnival, which is where the worst violations take place, both in quantity and degree. So, if the traffic and other laws are waived for carnival, the nonsense that goes on is allowed to continue, I don’t see how the Commissioner of Police can seek to bring changes to the Labour Day Parade. Commissioner, if you are serious, and I sincerely believe you are, please start with carnival. Enforce our laws. PASTOR CEDRIC MOSS Nassau April 30, 2019
Air is full of promises EDITOR, The Tribune GENERAL Douglas MacArthur said in his final speech, “old soldiers never die, they only fade away”. Well maybe I’m an old soldier, but I’ll not fade away easily. When I croak and they are taking me out toes up, I will probably sit up and ask, “where are we going or what if”. Today the air is full of promises, and the people are happy. They’ve been promised the world with a silver lining! This one will do this over 30 years and that one will do that over the next 25 years. Pie in the sky? Let’s go back. After Freeport had been all but destroyed by the then government (PLP), the PLP promised a complete renovation of Grand Bahama. The Billy Butlin resort had been the economic centre of West End Grand Bahama for years. I visited there many times. West End was the only airport in Grand Bahama. If you wanted to visit Freeport you had to land in West End, book a room at the Butlin hotel and then drive through the bush to Freeport. Years later after Freeport had been crushed I was in the House of Assembly when we were presented glorious artists renderings of a proposed development of West End. It showed a new state of the art terminal, beautiful roads, large buildings, art centres, stadiums. You name it and there was an artist’s rendering of it there. All of the government members were beyond themselves with joy. They shouted at us who were members of the opposition and told us how dumb we were. Years later I visited Freeport and we drove to see this much touted West End “development”. The Butlin hotel had been knocked down, several uncompleted buildings which were built with four inch block stood out, cars were parked there still with the keys in them, the office was open with the doors swinging in the wind, and not a soul was in sight. It was like a ghost
LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net town. You could have shot off a canon and not hit a mosquito!!! I assume there was no performance bond, no starting date, or no development schedule. It appears that once the developers had the government’s signed agreement in their hands, sold shares, collected money in advance, and then vanished. Shortly after the FNM took control in 1992, I was told that there was a big plan for the development of Mayaguana. As I recall some “Prince” had showed up with a plan, which required large tracts of land in Mayaguana. The Government agreed, gave the “Prince” the necessary agreements with no performance bond, no starting schedule and no progress agreement. With the agreement in hand, the “Prince” was set. He went all over the world and collected money for the proposal. Where’s the land in Mayaguana? It’s still there, still bush. Where’s the money? I assume the “Prince” has it. Where’s the “Prince”? That’s anybody’s guess. Then came Disney, Mickey Mouse and all. Mickey Mouse, dressed in all his glory, showed up, swung the government’s head with all sorts of “to help the people” comments and developed a port in Abaco. How much did the people benefit? When Disney was finished they left leaving, I understand, an environmental disaster. They’ve now moved on to “Lighthouse Point” in Eleuthera, a prized Bahamian asset. With Eleuthera desperate for development they blinded the people with promises. They will do this and they will do that. The shout sounds familiar. But they will give us a little extra; they’ll give us a park. What is the real scoop Dr Minnis? Has a performance bond been made? Has a progress agreement been signed? Other than jobs
as servants, what will the Bahamian people get out of it? Most important, what will the servant’s children and grandchildren get out of it? Will they be able to be business owners, masters of their own fate? Let us not forget the OBAN deal where the Guardian photographer using a telescopic lens exposed that the man was signing somebody else’s name. In any civilised world he would have been arrested. Or is that too “just nonsense”, Dr Minnis? What is the deal with Oban? One day a Minister says it’s off and the next day another Minister says it’s on. This, Dr Minnis, is no game; it’s serious business. Now all sorts of promises are being made about ports, hotels...you name it... in Freeport. Is this on, off, or maybe? Or is this too pie in the sky? Are the same people who vetted the Oban deal vetting these other deals? Every time you turn around the government is announcing some multimillion plan. Where’s all this money coming from? Are we as a nation not worried about the possible outcome of all this? What if all this money is borrowed from a foreign government, Bahamian land and assets are put up as collateral, and then the investor goes bankrupt? No foreign government should directly or indirectly hold mortgages on Bahamian land, be they American, British, Canadian, Chinese or Russian. Frankly, this all seems like a dice game between the American government, the Chinese government and the Russian government with the country, The Bahamas, being the prize. Yes folks, this is serious stuff !! Wake up Bahamians before its too late!! PIERRE DUPUCH Nassau, April 26, 2019 Footnote Since this writing, it appears that Carnival, by using our beautiful waters as a dumping ground, has shown its true colours.
THE TRIBUNE from page one Meanwhile, The Tribune has learned that five of eight senior police officers recently directed to take long-term vacation will return to active duty when their leave ends. National Security Minister Marvin Dames confirmed to this newspaper on Wednesday that the men are not on preretirement leave as many believed. Some of the officers will have as many as five years left on the force when their leave ends; all will have at least two years remaining before their scheduled retirement, The Tribune understands. Newly appointed Deputy Commissioner Paul Rolle has served on the force for 36 years. He spent five years as the officerin-charge of the Central Detective Unit. In 2017 he was made head of the anti-corruption branch of the RBPF, leading investigations into high-profile corruption allegations. Mr Rolle, ACP Ismella Davis-Delancy and ACP Samuel Butler are the only senior police officers who were not directed to take vacation leave recently. Multiple sources told The Tribune that not only have the three accumulated more vacation weeks than some who have recently been placed on leave but they are also closer to their scheduled retirement date than some. Mr Dames would neither confirm nor deny this during an interview on Wednesday, saying he does not want to be drawn into a discussion about “personalities”. “Others will be going on leave too,” he said. “We’re not saying everyone will go on leave at the same time because you have an organisation to run, but everyone will have to bring their leave down.” Attorney Wayne Munroe has been consulted in connection with a similar matter involving an officer within another law enforcement agency; he said he expects to file legal action soon. He told The Tribune
MOVING UP: Paul Rolle
Friday, May 3, 2019, PAGE 5
Rolle moves up as five senior officers told to return to duty after vacation THE FIVE WHO WILL RETURN ...
CLAYTON FERNANDER on Tuesday that there is no discernible logic to how the government decided which officers should take leave and when. Suggesting the Minnis administration was clearing the deck, he said sending some senior police officers on a lengthy leave even though they will not enter retirement after their leave will harm their careers. “Think about you having a bunch of vacation leave and your employer says ‘Rashad, I’m putting you on vacation leave for two years,’” he said. “How is that going to affect your career? The older you are or the more vacation you have, the more imminent you should be on leave. The younger person has a longer time to take it so they should take leave later. If the government’s motives here are pure, they should’ve worked out a system that wouldn’t adversely affect anybody’s career. The easiest way of that is to choose the persons whose vacation runs straight into their retirement. The next set of
LEAMOND DELEVAUX
THE Court of Appeal struck down an appeal application yesterday in the contempt of court case for Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard, ultimately instructing his attorneys to return to the Supreme Court to have their motion to delay sentencing and pursue an appeal. The decision was handed down by the court just before 2pm yesterday, following lengthy submissions by attorneys Fred Smith, QC, and Keod Smith, appearing for Save The Bays and Peter Nygard respectively. In their verbal ruling yesterday, Court of Appeal judges insisted that live applications for a stay of sentencing and a leave to appeal at the Supreme Court level prevented them from hearing an application for the latter at the Court of Appeal level. Initially, the judges presented Keod Smith with the options of either withdrawing his application for leave to appeal Supreme Court Justice Rhonda Bain’s contempt conviction of his client, or amend further the various other applications submitted at various court levels by his client’s other attorneys. Keod Smith declined the offers and persisted with his argument that all of the
applications were tendered on the grounds that his client had an issue with the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court levying a sentence in the case. As such, Keod Smith further argued the issue of jurisdiction trumped any other aspect in the case, a claim he said should ultimately give way to his application in the Court of Appeal to be upheld and validated, as it is the substantive court. Refusing to relent on the position, the appellate judges struck down his motion to appeal Justice Bain’s conviction prior to sentencing, arguing the status of the case in the lower house made it necessary for an appeal, if it is considered, to be done so at the Supreme Court level. In their submissions yesterday, the appellate judges ruled that to observe fairness in the matter, they
PETER NYGARD
KENDAL STRACHAN
...AND THE THREE WHO ARE DEFINITELY RETIRING
EMRICK SEYMOUR persons chosen could be persons whose vacation runs almost to their retirement, say a month or two or three because you could bring them back to hand over to whoever is formally replacing them. People who are going to be coming back with years left you should work out a system where every year they must take one month or two months of their accrued vacation. What I’ve said is these officers being affected need to challenge this so they don’t
COURT OF APPEAL REFUSES TO ALLOW NYGARD APPLICATION By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net
THEOPHILUS CUNNINGHAM
would strike down Keod Smith’s current motion, but allow his application to live on. The move effectively grants him the opportunity to go back to the Supreme Court, have his submissions for an application for leave to appeal heard, and if approved, come back to the Court of Appeal for the same application. Mr Nygard’s sentencing was transferred to Justice Cheryl Grant-Thompson earlier this year. The charges stem from a breach of retired Justice Rhonda Bain’s July 13, 2013 injunction prohibiting him from engaging in dredging activities at his Simms Point/Nygard Cay property. Justice Bain, in a written ruling last July, convicted Nygard for engaging in dredging activities on the sea bed near Nygard Cay between March and April 2015, and again in October of 2016, despite her June 2013 injunction prohibiting him from doing so. Justice Bain thus said Nygard’s actions warranted him paying costs on a “full indemnity basis,” and further ordered Nygard to pay costs to include the costs of the mitigation hearing to the applicant in the matter, Save The Bays (STB), on a “solicitor and own client basis”. Justice Charles inherited execution of the sentencing for the case after Justice Bain retired.
STEPHEN DEAN by default agree to it.” Former Deputy Commissioner of Police Emrick Seymour, Senior Assistant Commissioner Stephen Dean and Assistant Commissioner of Police Clarence Reckley will proceed to retirement when their leave ends. Assistant Commissioner of Police Clayton Fernander, ACP Kendal Strachan, ACP Leamond Delevaux, ACP Ashton Greenslade and ACP Theophilus Cunningham will all
CLARENCE RECKLEY return to duty. Some of the men will return as early as January 2020; others will remain on leave late into next year, a source said. The Progressive Liberal Party has cited politics as the motive for the Minnis administration’s actions. Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis denounced the claim during a rally on Wednesday night. “I found some recent comments by the leader of the opposition on the retirement of senior police
ASHTON GREENSLADE officers very disturbing,” he said. “The FNM does not appoint senior police officers based on their political affiliation. Apparently, this is what the PLP does. Our manpower exercises and policies are determined by the overall needs of the force and the best interests of the Bahamian people, not by what party an individual belongs to. The leader of the opposition’s comments suggest that the PLP appointed officers according to their political affiliation. His comments suggest that he knows the politics of the members of the force, including senior officers. I did not know their politics until the leader of the opposition revealed their politics.” Mr Dames has said the government is directing officers across law enforcement agencies to take vacation leave before they retire because they have often accumulated too much vacation time in violation of public service rules. Editorial View - Page 4
PAGE 6, Friday, May 3, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
Carnival is great fun for everyone, say organisers
MACHEL Montano was one of the acts who entertained the crowds at last year’s carnival. Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net BAHAMAS Christian Council’s stance on Bahamas Carnival came under attack yesterday, with one stakeholder criticising the religious body’s “alarming” and “erroneous” statement that women’s costumes would prompt rape and sexual violence. In a statement issued yesterday, Bahamas Carnival Band Owners Association president
Rafel Dean emphatically defended Carnival’s street festival, Road Fever, from the “unsubstantiated thoughts” and “erroneous statements” recently made by the BCC on the event. “Statistics and research show that sexual assault is a hate crime and has nothing to do with the attire that a woman wears,” Mr Dean said. Mr Dean said the Road Fever event has always been “incident free” and noted the BCC has been making such accusatory statements
since the parade’s inception — adding the religious group has been “proven wrong” each year. The BCC’s statement also drew the ire of women’s activist and Equality Bahamas Director Alicia Wallace, who said it is “dangerous” for the organisation to continue to make “reckless, ill-informed statements about sexual violence in its attempt to control women and their bodies.” On Wednesday, BCC president Delton Fernander released a statement
blasting the Carnival Road Fever event, saying “reported” displays of lecherous conduct represents a moral stain on the country. Carnival band owners directly addressed these concerns yesterday. “There is presently no statistical data to date that supports the claims of the [BCC] that [the] Bahamas Carnival Road Fever parade has caused any ill effects on any segment of Bahamian society from its inception,” the BCBOA statement reads.
“We the [BCBOA] emphatically refute all of those erroneous statements made by the Christian Council as they are merely unsubstantiated thoughts. “They speak to revelers performing sexual acts throughout the streets of New Providence and and of threats of sexual violence. It saddens the the entire membership body of the [BCBOA] to have read those bold untruths from a body that we hold in such high esteem.” The BCBOA also defended the costumes worn by parade participants as “works of art”, praising the artists who design the garments. In its statement, the Christian Council described the parade as a “vulgar, sexually charged event”. It added it stands with others who believe it has “the potential to lead to sexual violence, rape and other violent confrontation most especially between our young men who may not be able to handle seeing their female friend in sexual contact with other men on the streets.” Mr Dean directly criticised this remark. “For members of the cloth to [allude] that a particular type of clothing worn by a female will incite sexual violence is perhaps the most alarming statement they made and should alarm us all,” he said. He also pointed out that for the fifth year, the police will be a partner of the event, to ensure that such crimes do not occur.
DJ Khaled in action last year.
Noting Bahamas Carnival is a street festival like many that occur world over, he added it’s a “bit hypocritical that many street festivals from around the world are embraced by the same bodies that choose to bash one held in their country.” Ms Wallace also critiqued the BCC for its reference to sexual assault. “It is not only unfortunate, but dangerous that the [BCC] continues to make reckless, ill-informed statements about sexual violence in its attempt to control women and their bodies and use violence against women as a justification for its heavy-handed approach to constraining cultural expression,” she told The Tribune yesterday. “Rape is completely unrelated to appearance or behaviour and is only caused by perpetrators and those who perpetuate rape culture, including people who victim blame and try to leverage fear of sexual violence to limit women’s access to public space.” She added this is not the first time the BCC has “contributed to a dangerous environment for women by excusing sexual predators through the incorrect assumption that rape is about sex and men are incapable of controlling themselves.” Instead of making such statements, Ms Wallace called for religious institutions to provided safe houses and resources for victims and to engage with relevant civil society organisations.
THE TRIBUNE
Friday, May 3, 2019, PAGE 7
TEACHER IN BEATING VIDEO BROKE RULES from page one
When asked about the outcome of that report, Mr Lloyd said: “The report was sent, decision was taken that the teacher in question was placed on administrative leave until the decision, rather an investigation was completed. “The investigation was completed and it was found that the teacher did not act with proper authority because if you look at the schools’ regulations, any corporal punishment is administered by a senior administrative officer — vice principal, senior mistress, master or the principal — in the presence of another, very important. And of course, this teacher
was not,” Mr Lloyd continued. “So that was addressed in that respect and a decision by the director is being made as to what disciplinary action is to follow, whether it’s a reprimand or some other form of discipline. “We feel that the teacher understood that there was an infraction in terms of the application of that action and expressed obviously whatever regret [and] submitted herself to whatever disciplinary action should befall her.” Mr Lloyd could not say when the investigation was completed or whether the teacher is still on administrative leave. When asked when the disciplinary action will be finalised, he replied: “Now that the report is in our possession and school
is back in, the director will take whatever action is necessary.” When contacted, Mr Taylor simply said he is awaiting the advice of the Office of the Attorney General. Attorney General Carl Bethel yesterday told The Tribune the matter is under review at the Department of Public Prosecutions. The director of that department did not respond to The Tribune up to press time. The video at the centre of this controversy opens with the teacher handing over the device used to record the ordeal to an unidentified person. After she ensured the device was on and recording, the teacher called over the first student.
As that student walked into frame, he is heard telling the teacher that he was not involved in whatever happened before the video. Despite his pleas, the teacher directed him to
walk over to a nearby wall and place his hands on it. “You were in the room, right?” she told the young man. “Hands on the wall.” In total six students — all boys — were beaten.
In March 2018, following a similar incident, Mr Lloyd told The Tribune that under his leadership, education officials would revise school policies on corporal punishment, insisting modern research shows it to be an ineffective way of disciplining children. In that interview, he insisted that children should only be beaten in schools if all other options have been exhausted and in the most egregious of circumstances. A 2017 Inter-American Development Bank report ranked the Bahamas high among countries in the Caribbean that have tolerance or understanding for hitting women or correcting children with physical punishment.
Reckley back in court as prosecutors argue magistrate got it wrong By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net PROSECUTORS appearing in the Court of Appeal in the case of former Urban Renewal Deputy Director Michelle Reckley and four of her coaccused yesterday argued that a magistrate “erred in law” in his decision to vacate all of the money laundering charges levied against the group. In submissions presented by Director of Public Prosecution Garvin Gaskins, he insisted the respondents were properly charged under the summary provision of Section 45 of the Proceeds of Crime Act. He further argued that the suggestion that the statute of limitations on the charges had expired was misguided, claiming that Section 213 of the Criminal Procedure Code makes the case that such offence can be pursued at the magistrate level. In March, Magistrate Ambrose Armbrister tossed out all of the money laundering charges brought against Reckley and her co-accused Christopher Symonette, 57, Stefanie Collie, 28, Kylon Vincent, 26, and James Wildgoose. In his ruling Magistrate Armbrister cited that his court did not have the jurisdiction to hear a case related to the charges because they were not brought within six months of having occurred. He said the court’s pursuit of those charges would represent an abuse of process. However, in his submissions yesterday, Mr Gaskins argued that Magistrate Armbrister failed to find that the Interpretation and General Clauses Act allows charges to be brought under the repealed Proceeds of Crime Act, by virtue of the various occurrences stipulated in Subsections C and E of the former. Conversely, he said Magistrate Armbrister
FORMER Urban Renewal Deputy Director Michelle Reckley at an earlier court hearing. determined that, among other things, the provision under the Interpretation and General Clauses Act was not inclusive of police investigations, but that the term investigation used during a hearing in his court, strictly referred to an investigation by the court during a legal proceeding prior to the enactment of the new legislation, and not an investigation by the police. To that end, he asserted that Magistrate Armbrister’s determination was misconceived. With regard to the statute of limitation period, Mr Gaskins further submitted that the present offences in respect of money laundering do not fall within the six months statutory limitation period, as determined by Magistrate Armbrister.
As such, he said having regard to the legislation governing this issue, his team was of the view that the law clearly stipulates that an “indictable offence” is not subject to a statutory time limitation. He further submitted that the offence of money laundering is, in fact, an indictable offence which may also be duly tried in the Magistrate’s Court, on the election of the Crown, as permitted by section 58(8) of the Criminal Procedure Code as amended in 2017. Following Mr Gaskins submissions the matter was adjourned to May 7 to grant the various attorneys for the respondents in the case to have an opportunity to review the written decision submitted by Magistrate
JAMAICAN GUILTY OF THREATENING BEHAVIOUR A JAMAICAN teenager has been found guilty of using obscene language, making threats of harm and resisting arrest. Rickey Rickado Morgan, 19, appeared in a Freeport Magistrate’s Court on Friday, April 26, before Magistrate Rengin Johnson. Morgan was arrested on Tuesday April 23 by immigration officers and charged in court the following day for allegedly working without a work permit. According to immigration officer Napthali Cooper, Morgan pled guilty
to this charge and was ordered to pay $3,000 or in default serve nine months at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services on New Providence. He was also ordered to be deported. Charges of using obscene language, making threats of harm and resisting arrest were also brought against Morgan by the Department of Immigration to which he pled not guilty. Bail was denied and the matter was adjourned to April 26. When he reappeared
in court last week, Morgan again maintained his not guilty pleas to the three charges. The prosecution called three immigration officers as witnesses during the trial who were also crossexamined by Morgan who was not represented by counsel, according to Mr Cooper. At the conclusion of the trial, Magistrate Johnson found Morgan to be guilty on all three counts. He was fined a total of $450 or in default serve four months at the BDCS.
Ambrose, as all were not privy to it in the lead up to yesterday’s proceedings. Reckley, 50, now faces only 19 charges related to fraud, corruption and conspiracy. She is accused of extorting $71,062.18 and allegedly engaging in corrupt deals valued at $230,000. It is alleged that Reckley and Hall between Monday, December 5, 2016 and Monday, April 24, 2017 conspired to defraud the government. It is further alleged that the pair, between Friday, December 9, 2016 and Tuesday, April 25, 2017 defrauded the government of $1,255,637.83 by way of nine cheques. The cheques were payments made out to Hall’s Distinctive Builders enterprise for contracts given
under the government’s Small Homes Repair programme in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew by means of false pretences, it is alleged. Reckley is further accused of converting the sums of $30,000 on or about Wednesday, November 30, 2016; $11,062.18 on or about Friday, December 30, 2016; and $200,000 on or about Monday, March 20, 2017, to conceal that they were the proceeds of her criminal conduct. She is also facing three extortion charges related to her receipt of $11,062.18 on or about Friday, December 30, 2016 from Symonette; $30,000 on or about Wednesday, November 30, 2016 and another $30,000 on or about March 20, 2017 from Hall.
As it relates to her two charges of corrupt transactions with agents, Reckley stands accused of accepting $200,000 on or about Monday, March 20, and $30,000 on or about Friday, November 30, 2016, as a reward for assisting Hall in obtaining a home repair contract and a contract for the repair of the Bartlette Hill Primary School respectively. Conversely, the remaining charges against James Hall, 49, and Joseph Lightbourne, 40, will be pursued. Hall now faces 11 charges in total, inclusive of two counts of corrupt transactions with agents, for his alleged payments to Reckley. As for Lightbourn, his five counts of abetment to fraud will stand.
PAGE 8, Friday, May 3, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
Funeral Service For CORALINE FREDERICA LIGHTBOURN, 82
of #16 Cowpen Road, will be held on Saturday, May 4th, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. at Holy Cross Anglican Church, Highbury Park. Officiating will be Canon Peter Scott, J.P. assisted by Rev. Father B. Travis Fernander. Interment will follow in Lakeview Memorial Gardens, John F. Kennedy Drive & Gladstone Road. Left to mourn and cherish the memories are her children: Matthew, Alexis, Allison Gilbert, and Leslie Lightbourn Sr.; Ten (10) grandchildren: Crystal Gilbert, Catherine Smith, Christina Smith, Tanavia Gilbert, Azaria Gilbert, Ashley Dean, Faith Lightbourn, Norah Gilbert, Leslie Lightbourn Jr., K’Vonte Lightbourn; Two (2) great grandchildren: Cathie (Gracie) Riley and Kaylee Dawkins; Daughter-in-law: Tania Gilbert; Brother-in-Law: Edwin Moxey; Three Nieces: Cornelia Moxey-Demeritte, Renee Knowles, and Kendra Moxey; Nephews: Marcian Moxey, Andre Moxey, and Jason Moxey; Niece in law: Jacklyn Moxey; Nephew-in law: Alonzo Knowles; Eight (8) Grand Nieces: Marcia Moxey, Camisha Fredric, D’Andra Moxey, Jessica Moxey, Chardonnay, Ashawnté Russell, Rochelle Moxey, Winsome Moxey; Four (4) Grand Nephews: Kenrick Russel Jr, Darius Knowles, Samuel Fowler, and Gabriel Moxey; Great-Great Grand Niece: ChaNiya Russell; Great-Great Grand Nephew: Dereckcyn McPhee; Adopted Children: Mr. & Mrs. Neville Wisdom, Mr. & Mrs. Peter Pinder, Mr. & Mrs. Sammy Taylor, Mr. & Mrs. Chester Sawyer, Mr. & Mrs. Dwight Gilbert, Mr. & Mrs. David Garret, Mr. & Mrs. Wellington Gilbert 3rd, Mr. & Mrs. Littrell West, Mr. & Mrs. Ryan Gilbert, Mr. & Mrs. Tavis Gilbert, Darren, Larry (Bobby), Demond, Rodwell, Jermain, Tamico Gilbert, Annissa Gilbert-Shepherd, Raquel, Gilbert Smith-Marguerite (Maggie), Denise, Bernadette, & Nadia- Gilbert, Patrice Hanna and J.R. Michael Fernander, Alkeno Kemp; Other Relatives & Friends: Paula & Eugene Toote, Roslyn North, Mr. & Mrs. Derek Osborne, Mr. & Mrs. Domonique Johnson, Sharon Toote, Dr. Tiffany North, Andrew, Robert, Dudley, Norma McCartney, Sandra Lloyd, Mr . & Mrs. Robertt Bartlette, Marcelle Mallory, Mr. & Mrs Ednol Smith, Mr. & Mrs. Gerald Sawyer, Kassim Williams, Melissa Smith, Olando Riley, Aljurnea Knowles, Iris Tynes, Mr. & Mrs. Higgins and Family, Alma- Ferguson and Family, Dr. Ada Thompson, Marian Sturrup, Paulette Haven, Dolores Cooper, Miriam Hanna, Barbara Curtis, Carolyn Deleveaux, Karen Lockhart, Diane Lockhart, Lurline Baub, Velda Campbell, Hilda Small, Helen Rutherford, Kayla Smith, Merle Johnson, Sherolyn Sears, Delores Rahming, Sharon Stubbs, Joyce Ifill, Sunshine Carter, Tonya Darling, The Mighty Prayer Worriers Tuesday Group, Jane Miller, Valadrine Cartwright, Enith Clarke, Mr. & Mrs. Douglas Murray, Mr. & Mrs. Duane Murray, Everette Thurston, Mr. and Mrs. Tony Neeley, Mr. & Mrs. Winston Bonaby, Apostel Phalmon & Elder Sophia Ferguson and the members United Faith Ministries Int’l, Maxella Storr, Kimberley Stubbs, Danelle Scott, Deborah-Rolle, Deborah Rodgers, Irene Clarke, Katherina Cooper, Dale Ferguson-Joseph, Yvonne Rahming, Sonia Bowe- Adderley, Brock Brown, Canon Peter Scott and Father Travis Fernander & Members of Holy Cross Anglican church, Pastors Ed and Lee Watson and the member of Trinity City of Praise, Mr. & Mrs. Allen Smith, Mr. & Mrs. Wayne Forbes, Mother Vernice Bodie, Mr. & Mrs. Isaac Rolle, Mr. Shorne & Dr. Teka Thompson, Monique Pinder and Family, Neil Lindo, Ephraim and Chris Brice and Family, The Wongs Printing Company Family, Mr. Wendal Jones and staff of JCN, Vandolyn Dixon. Brockholt Brown, Shane Darrel, Mr. & Mrs. William Cash and the Family of Lowes Wholesale, Mr. & Mrs. Glen Ritchie and Family and many others too numerous to mention. Viewing will be held in the “Celestial Suite” at Restview Memorial Mortuary and Crematorium Limited, Robinson and Soldier Roads on Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and at the church on Saturday from 8:30 a.m. until service time.
Time we took our lead on marijuana from Hawaii I’VE long said that Bahamian youth should no longer face travel bans, lingering police records, unemployment, etc, for being caught with minor amounts of marijuana. Decriminalisation on small recreational amounts of marijuana is long overdue here in the Bahamas. It’s obvious the present administration is dragging its feet in regards to this matter. At this point, one has to wonder, is it deliberate? Or is it more lack of pertinent information, preparation and execution by the present administration? Eventually, as a nation, we will have to take the bull by the horns, and effectively deal with the matter in a manner that’s beneficial to all Bahamians. Decriminalisation of small amounts of marijuana is the start of the process, this is the conversation we need to have as a nation, in order to have other conversations regarding legalisation, medicinal marijuana, recreational usage, etc. Since The Bahamas is at the embryonic stage, regarding legalisation and decriminalisation of marijuana, examining other global models that are working may be the best
course of action to formulate laws that will be effective and beneficial to all involved across the board, whether you are pro or con on the issue. An excellent model for this present administration to look at is Hawaii. Hawaii is on the verge of implementing a far-reaching decriminalisation bill. If Bill 1383 is signed into law it would replace criminal charges for marijuana possession with a simple fine. In its simplest form, Bill 1383 aims to decriminalise the possession of cannabis (marijuana) throughout the state. Making it no longer a criminal offence to possess three grams or less of marijuana. Instead, people arrested with ‘weed’ would only be fined $130. Bill 1383, also takes into consideration citizens carrying pre-existing marijuana-related charges on their records. Specifically, for those affected, and who remain in this predicament, Bill 1383 provides the opportunities for individual records to be expunged, if the charge was not related to any other crimes. Bill 1383 cleared the US Senate easily, but has encountered strong opposition in the House.
Several lawmakers expressed concern that the decriminalisation bill, Bill 1383 did not have any provisions that would require minors caught with weed to attend rehabilitation or educational programmes. Opponents of House Bill 1383 also claimed that the bill should make distinctions according to strain and potency. In the end, the bill ended up clearing the House, 34-16. Now, after being approved by both the Senate and the House, the bill is being handed off to Hawaii Governor David Ige for final review and approval. If he signs Bill 1383 it will officially become Hawaii state law. Bill 1383 is hailed in Hawaii, as a step forward toward more progressive cannabis laws. In particular, many see decriminalization as an effective way to significantly reduce some of the harm caused by cannabis prohibition laws. This model has many viable components on multiple levels, that could be effective in creating our version of Bill 1383 here in The Bahamas, and opening the door for medical marijuana and its dispensaries.
THE TRIBUNE
Friday, May 3, 2019, PAGE 9
WE DON’T NEED SO MANY WORDS - JUST ACTIONS READERS have been posting their reactions to the stories making the news on tribune242.com. After Transport and Local Government Minister Renward Wells said the Attorney General’s Office is assessing the extent of criminality attached to sewage and food waste discharged from Carnival’s vessels in Bahamian waters, Screwedbahamian asked: “Seriously?? We need to stop reporting news from the HOA when these politicians (blabber mouths) start to tell us WHAT THEY ARE GOING TO DO, INSTEAD OF WHAT ACTION HAS BEEN DONE to protect
the citizens of and the Commonwealth of the Bahamas that they have been entrusted to do.” Joeblow voiced a similar sentiment: “I wish these guys would talk less and do more!” Former finance minister James Smith has urged the government to examine whether the VAT shortfall had resulted from the introduction of exemptions
opening up fraud and tax evasion loopholes. DDK posted this comment: “Mr Smith is right, of course, about all of the convoluted exemptions, and the opening of the door to tax dodging. Government was warned repeatedly against this policy by the business community and financial experts at large. Did the Ministers listen? Of course not. Now they will concoct new schemes as means of covering the shortfall. Have they tightened their belts? Of course not. Are the numbers houses continuing to wipe out the economy? Of course they are. Has the government wasted
countless thousands of tax payers’ dollars on useless audits of no consequence? Of course they have.” B_I_D___ had this to say “100% . . . I’ve said this from the get go. With the flat VAT of 7.5%, you could catch the anomalies as everything should fit within very confined parameters – start making VAT variable along with exemptions and all those checks and balances are blurred and the door is open for fudging figures.” And Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants president Gowon Bowe has warned that the government could miss its full-year revenue target by
“as much as 20 percent” based on current data. That prompted this reaction from DonAnthony: “This revenue shortfall is very disturbing and VAT revenues underperforming has a lot to do it. It shows there is a limit to how high VAT can be increased before suffering diminishing returns. “I recently imported an item with only 5% customs duty but after freight charges and the VAT on top of that it cost me 60% of the item’s cost. This is much too high and a discouragement to consumption. “We simply need to expand our tax base
particularly focusing on taxes targeting the wealthy among us. If we had proper enforcement of property taxes this would seem one promising avenue to go. VAT is too regressive of a tax with the burden falling disproportionately on the less wealthy who are the very people most sensitive to an increase and therefore most likely to reduce consumption in the face of a VAT increase. “Govt needs to seriously address this as a 20% shortfall in revenues is unacceptable.”
Don’t miss your chance to join the debate on tribune242.com.
By NICHOLAS BEURET Lecturer University of Essex THOSE least responsible for global warming will suffer the most. Poorer countries – those that have contributed far less to climate change – tend to be situated in warmer regions, where additional warming causes the most devastation. Extreme weather events such as Syria’s prolonged drought, South Asia’s catastrophic monsoon floods, and Cyclone Idai in SouthEast Africa, the third deadliest cyclone on record, are becoming more likely and more severe. These events are disproportionately bringing death, displacement, and crop failure. As a result of this, projections estimate that the economies of poorer, warmer countries will be gravely harmed by climate change over coming decades, while the cooler, richer countries responsible for the vast majority of the extra CO2 in the air may even benefit in the short term. But as new research reveals, this is not just a future concern – the economic injustice of climate change has already been operating for 60 years. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, compared different countries’ GDP per capita – a measure of the average person’s economic standard of living – between 1961 and 2010. It then used climate models to estimate what each country’s GDP would have been without the effects of climate change. The findings are stark. Many poorer countries’ economies have rapidly grown in the last 50 years, albeit often at great social and environmental cost and to the benefit of the globalised economy. But even that growth has been held back substantially by climate change – the gap in GDP per capita between richer and poorer countries is 25% higher than it would have been in a climate-stable world. And with most richer countries sitting below and poorer countries above the 13℃ average annual temperature at which economic productivity peaks, global temperature rise is an immediate driver of this inequality. Of the 36 countries with the lowest historical carbon emissions, which are also some of the poorest and hottest countries in the world, 34 have suffered an economic hit compared to a world without warming, losing on average 24% of GDP per capita. The poorest 40% of countries, much of which are located in subSaharan Africa, Asia, and Central and South America, have lost between 17 and 31% of GDP in the last half century. India, one of the lowest emitters per capita, has been regarded as an economic growth champion in recent decades – but
INDIAN fishermen attempt to bring their boat ashore amid strong winds after hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated along India’s eastern coast yesterday as authorities braced for a cyclone moving through the Bay of Bengal that was forecast to bring extremely severe wind and rain.
Global inequality is 25% higher than it would have been in climate-stable world climate change has slowed its progress by 30%. While the country’s services sector has boomed, the agricultural sector – which employs half of India’s total workforce – has suffered greatly. A three-fold rise in extreme rainfall events and increased severe droughts have reduced crop yields and cause between $9 and 10 billion in damage per year to the agricultural industry alone. The same events also regularly bring India’s urban economic hubs to a standstill. With 12m inhabitants, Mumbai has the world’s largest population exposed to coastal flooding. Deluges in 2005 and 2014 forced the city’s international airport and roads to close, and cost millions in property damage. Increasingly intense Indian summers that now regularly hit above 45℃ reduce productivity, kill thousands, and cause thousands more to commit suicide. Add to this the multi-billion pound costs of rescue and rebuilding
PEOPLE cross a section of Pemba city that remains flooded on the northeastern coast of Mozambique yesterday. from cyclones such as 1999’s Odisha storm, which left two million homeless, and it’s easy to see how climate change can stunt the economic growth of India and similarly affected countries.
For the world’s wealthiest countries however, climate change has added to the coffers – 14 of the 19 highest-emitting countries now find themselves in a better economic position
than they would have been if the planet’s temperature had stayed constant, with an average boost of 13%. The US economy has suffered, but by a miniscule 0.2%, while the UK finds
itself 10% better off. The 2018 heatwave there posed its own risks to health and crops, but it also provided huge boosts to ice cream sales and tourism. As is becoming increasingly clear, there are no quick fixes or easy solutions to climate change or inequality. Reducing emissions is, sadly, not enough, and providing yet more high-interest loans to “help” poorer nations adapt to a warmer world will only deepen global inequality. Alongside radically changing the economies of the world’s wealthiest nations, we must demand that reparations for past injustices be paid, that the debts of the Global South be cancelled, that privatisation of local industries and lands be reversed, and that the brutal border regimes surrounding the world’s wealthy nations be torn down. Only then can global inequality truly be tackled. theconversation.com
PAGE 10, Friday, May 3, 2019
If only road traffic deaths were a little sexier
THE TRIBUNE
AMAZINGLY, the driver of this vehicle escaped with his life.
CAR accidents aren’t sexy news. They don’t compete for headline space with juicy scandal or murder for hire. They don’t hold a candle to an assault and battery charge driven by jealous rage. Oh, now and then when there is a really gory scene or a multiple car and truck pile-up we stare at the photos and wonder how anyone emerged alive. But let’s be honest. Most of us don’t think much about accidents – until we are
CANDIDATES COMMITTEE REPORT April 5TH, 2019 LIST OF ENDORSED NAMES: EXECUTIVE MEMBERS: 1. Rosemary E. Burrows 2. Maralyn Genette Burrows 3. William Ingraham 4. Cyril Morris Jr. 5. Wayne Thompson 6. Kameisha Delique Wells 7. Judd T. Williams TRUSTEES: 1. Jacqueline Lorene Mckenzie 2. Bolinder Newbold – Munroe 3. Vernincha Louise Delcine Simmons 4. Lana Monique Williams-Smith 5. Haldane Alfred Stubbs AREA VICE PRESIDENTS: NORTHERN BAHAMAS: 1. Ann Marie Bullard 2. Eldecia Shaquincha Ethlyn Thompson
in one or lose a loved one because of one. In an era of heart-stopping news of drugs, sex and rock ‘n’ roll, what happens on the roadways barely ticks our tock. Maybe death by vehicle needs better marketing to get our attention. Pictures of bodies strewn across a road, images of a child’s shoe like those that circulated recently on social media (fake news), twisted torsos being pulled from wrecks, scenes of mourners at their gravesite. Maybe we need to be shocked into understanding how serious road safety is because the facts that should startle us, don’t. Here in The Bahamas, at the end of Easter weekend, police reported a total of 20 murders for 2019. By contrast, 22 people died as a result of traffic accidents during the same time period. It was a similar ratio last year. If traffic fatalities outnumber murders, why are we not demanding more action? When the murder rate rises, we are quick to demand greater police protection as if murder were a police problem rather than a social ill. When traffic fatalities outnumber murders, we sit numbly by demanding nothing new of others or ourselves. As we mark United
Nations global road safety week May 6-12 with this year’s theme ‘Leadership for Road Safety’, this is the ideal time to begin to enforce the legislation that recently passed in the House of Assembly banning cellphone use unless handsfree, the consumption of alcoholic beverages while responsible for a vehicle and other amendments to make our streets safer. It is time for us to demand solutions where solutions exist. And that is where the great divide between murder and death by vehicle occurs. Until we mend the social fabric of our nation and supplant the desire to join a gang for a sense of belonging or do drugs for a chemically-induced moment of happiness, we will never solve the issue of being a country with a murder rate that is too high. But we can do something about the death by driver rate. Three successive governments have worked on, sat on and improved upon road safety legislation, likely the biggest spurt of activity coming during the time Frankie Campbell was Minister of Transport. A former police officer, he was driven by the experiences of pulling too many mangled bodies out of vehicles and haunted by what
happens to those who don’t die but whose lives will never be whole again. Contributing to all the discussions and debate was one man, a non-Bahamian who has a lifelong history of race car driving and race event management and more recently, a formal role in the FIA, the governing body of motor sport. He believes the legislation as introduced will reduce accident numbers and save lives. He reminds us that a single second spent glancing down at a phone to check a text or ping even without replying can cost a life. In that one second a car doing 30 mph will travel 44 feet, the length of a jitney bus. If a child emerges from near the front of the bus at just the second the driver behind has glanced away, it could be the last day of that child’s life. So what are we waiting for? Road safety won’t get any sexier, but improving it will save lives. And by the way, while you were reading this, approximately four children died as a result of traffic accidents, according to the FIA which reports that a child somewhere in the world becomes a traffic fatality every 30 seconds, most often while going to school. Consider this: there are those who set out to murder and then there are those who innocently set out on their day’s journey and through looking down at a cell phone commit the same act, ruining their own life as well as taking another. Imagine having to live with that vision for the rest of your days as you look up from your cell phone and see a child at point blank range and there’s nothing you can do?
GRAND BAHAMA: 1. Quintin Howard Laroda 2. George Austin Trevor Mills. NEW PROVIDENCE: 1. Vernon Jemell Rodgers SOUTHERN BAHAMAS: 1. Ann Louise Strachan ASSISTANT TREASURER: 1. Catherine Knowles-Stubbs 2. Katress Wells SECRETARY – GENERAL: 1. Helena Cartwright 2. Dion Damien Johnson 3. Tiffany M. Delancy-Laing ASSISTANT SECRETARY – GENERAL: 1. Juanita T. Gaitor 2. Cedricka Rolle PRESIDENT: 1. Joan Knowles-Turnquest VICE PRESIDENT: 1. Tiffany Burrell-Roberts 2. Jason Haley From the desk of John Musgrove Secretary-General The Bahamas Union of Teachers.
On the lighter, fatter side... EVERY time I look in the mirror and rue that second helping of mashed potatoes I had for dinner, I think of all those species that never have to worry about weight. Like the lucky manatee which just floats around worried only about careless boat propellers and finding sources of “sweet” water. Manatees fascinate me and obviously a lot of others. There is actually a Bahamas Manatee Club and a woman named Felice Leanne Knowles has written a good, if short as she describes it, history of manatees in The Bahamas. At last count, according to Abaco-based rollingharbour.com, there were about 15 manatees sighted in The Bahamas. Years ago, when I was closely connected with Great Harbour Cay in the Berry Islands, I remember the great celebration with which
the birth of a manatee was greeted. It made international news. The thing about manatees is that everything about them seems out of place. They can weigh up to 3,500 pounds and lug up to 130 pounds of intestines. They live in water yet have to breathe air every 15 minutes or so. They are cousin to an elephant and trace their roots back 60 million years. Their teeth, which they constantly replace, are their most valuable tool, allowing them to dig in seagrasses and shallows for their next bit or nutrition. And despite the decided lack of glamour in their face, there is something endearing about the lumbering creatures that just makes you want to protect them from harm. Congrats to all who help preserve.
THE TRIBUNE
Friday, May 3, 2019, PAGE 11
Brass band hits the high notes THE BAHAMA Brass Band recently gave a performance in honour of Dame Marguerite Pindling, Governor General, at Government House. During the programme, Director of Bahama Brass Band, David Beneby Sr presented Dame Marguerite with CDs of band musical performances. The Bahama Brass Band is an historical institution - known as ‘the Big Jumper Church Band’ of the Church of God of Prophecy, it came about as the result of a need for musical ministry in the oldest Pentecostal denomination in The Bahamas, in 1925. Since its inception, over 300 members have served and continued the musical tradition, ministering throughout The Bahamas and internationally. Photo: Patrick Hanna/BIS
PAGE 12, Friday, May 3, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
WOULD-BE NYC BOMBER GETS 10 YEARS IN FOILED AL-QAIDA PLOT NEW YORK Associated Press A MAN who plotted to bomb New York City’s subways, then switched sides after his arrest and spent nearly a decade helping the US identify and prosecute terrorists, was rewarded for his help yesterday with a sentence of 10 years in prison, effectively time he has already served. Najibullah Zazi, a 33-yearold naturalised US citizen who became radicalised and received explosives training from al-Qaida after traveling to Pakistan in 2008, had faced the possibility of life in
prison. But federal prosecutors said that after his arrest in 2009, Zazi provided “extraordinary” assistance to US counterterrorism authorities. “I have no doubt you saved a life,” U.S. District Judge Raymond J. Dearie told Zazi during the sentencing hearing. Zazi apologized and asked for forgiveness. “I’m sorry for all the harm I have caused,” he said. He referred to the crime as a “horrific mistake.” The 10-year term means Zazi could be released from prison soon. He has been in custody for a decade.
The terrorist organisation recruited Zazi, who spent his teenage years and young adulthood living in Queens, to carry out a “martyrdom operation” on US soil. The mission called for rush-hour suicide bombings on subway lines, timed to occur during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the eighth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks. The plot, foiled by federal authorities, represented “one of the most serious terrorist threats to our nation” since 9/11, thenAttorney General Eric Holder said. Federal sentencing guidelines
NAJIBULLAH Zazi pictured in 2009
called for Zazi to spend the rest of his life behind bars after his 2010 guilty plea. But prosecutors credited Zazi for cooperation that included implicating his two best friends in the subway plot and providing “critical intelligence and unique insight regarding al-Qaida and its members.” Zazi’s cooperation included meeting with the government “more than 100 times, viewing hundreds of photographs and providing information that assisted law enforcement officials in a number of different investigations.”
MADURO CALLS FOR MILITARY TO COMBAT TRAITORS
CYCLONE RIPS MOZAMBIQUE ISLAND APART MOZAMBIQUE Associated Press CYCLONE Kenneth in northern Mozambique ripped the island of Ibo apart. Nearly a week after the storm roared in, the aerial approach to the island showed communities flattened. The overwhelming majority of homes had their roofs peeled away. Contaminated wells have made safe drinking water an immediate health concern. Kenneth hit on April 25 with the force of a Category 4 hurricane, killing at least 41 people. It took days for significant aid to reach Ibo as rain lashed the region. Fragile signs of recovery have emerged, but the challenges of finding shelter, food and medicine and rebuilding are immense.
CARACAS, Venezuela Associated Press
AN AERIAL shot shows the destruction caused by Cyclone Kenneth when it struck Ibo island in Mozambique.
Barr ducks hearing and Pelosi claims he’s a liar WASHINGTON Associated Press
ATTORNEY General William Barr skipped a House hearing yesterday on special counsel Robert Mueller’s Trump-Russia report, escalating an already acrimonious battle between Democrats and President Donald Trump’s Justice Department. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Barr had already lied to Congress in other testimony and called that a “crime”. Democrats raised the prospect of holding Barr in contempt after the department also missed the House Judiciary Committee deadline to provide it with an unredacted version of Mueller’s report and its underlying evidence. Committee chairman Jerrold Nadler said that if the attorney general doesn’t provide the committee “with the information it demands, Mr Barr’s moment of accountability will come soon enough”. Barr’s decision to avoid the
A PLASTIC chicken was put on the witness desk after Attorney General William Barr failed to appear yesterday. hearing, made after a disagreement with the committee over questioning, and the Democratic pushback brought both sides closer to a court battle — one that could pit Trump against House Democrats well into the 2020 campaign season. The standoff further heightened tensions sparked by Trump’s refusal to comply with House investigations,
with some senior Democrats hinting that a continued blockade could nudge them closer to impeachment. Nadler said he wouldn’t immediately issue a subpoena for Barr’s testimony but would first focus on getting the full Mueller report, likely including a vote holding Barr in contempt of Congress. With Barr absent, Democrats convened a short hearing that included an empty chair with a place card set for Barr. Shortly afterward, Pelosi increased the tensions further. In a reference to the attorney general’s testimony last month, Pelosi said Barr “was not telling the truth to the Congress of the United States — that’s a crime.” At a hearing on April 9, Florida Rep. Charlie Crist asked Barr about reports that members of Mueller’s team believed he had failed to adequately portray their findings in a four-page memo that was released before the full report. Crist asked at the hearing, “Do you know what they are referencing
with that?” Barr responded, “No, I don’t,” and went on to say Mueller’s team probably wanted “more put out” about what they had found. Democrats have raised questions about that testimony since it was revealed this week that Mueller had written to Barr two weeks earlier complaining that the attorney general’s memo “did not fully capture the context, nature and substance” of his work. Barr said his answer was not misleading because he had been in touch with Mueller and that the concerns were mostly about process and not substance. Within minutes of Pelosi’s comments, Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec called her words “reckless, irresponsible and false”. Pelosi also said the administration’s refusal to respect subpoenas by a House committee is “very, very serious” and noted that ignoring congressional subpoenas was one of the articles of impeachment against former President Richard Nixon.
FLANKED by uniformed commanders, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro yesterday urged the armed forces to combat “traitors” as he sought to project strength after opposition leader Juan Guaidó called for a military uprising two days earlier. Speaking at Fort Tiuna, a military base in Caracas, Maduro also said the opposition had sought to provoke bloodshed in Caracas with Guaidó’s call, which failed to push Venezuela’s military into rebellion but was followed by deadly clashes between protesters and police in cities across the country. At least four people died after being shot during protests on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict, a human rights group. The dead included two people who were shot in the city of La Victoria and two others killed in Caracas. Activists say at least 230 people were injured and 205 were detained during the clashes between protesters and police. The streets of the capital were calm yesterday.
ASSANGE TO FIGHT EXTRADITION TO US LONDON Associated Press JULIAN Assange told a London court yesterday he will fight extradition to the United States to face charges of conspiring to hack into a Pentagon computer, arguing that his work as WikiLeaks founder has benefited the public. “I do not wish to surrender myself for extradition for doing journalism that has won many awards and protected many people,” he said. Hisdecision marks the start of what is expected to be a long legal battle over whether he will be brought to trial in the United States.