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WOMAN: WHAT TO DO AFTER A SWEETHEART BETRAYAL
Shuffling the pack Minnis: They Davis: A deck all did well of bad cards
By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net
the prime minister insisted it was not a shuffle, but a transfer to give individuals “exposure”. PRIME Minister Dr However, Official Hubert Minnis insisted his Opposition Leader Philip decision to reassign four “Brave” Davis rejected Cabinet portfolios just this decision. He 14 months after further singled taking office does out Mrs Rolle not mean he lost for attack, saying faith in any of his “mercifully, the ministers, adding poor, hungry and they performed dispossessed are “exceptionally relieved of the diswell”. aster visited upon Cabinet Office them in Lanisha announced yesRolle as social terday afternoon services minisRenward Wells ter”. He said she will be minister should have been of transport and dispatched to the local government; back bench. Frankie CampHe said the bell, minister of prime minister’s social services move condemned and urban develhis own govopment; Michael ernment for Pintard, minister incompetence and of agriculture and ineffectiveness. marine resources, “I’ll be transferwhile Lanisha ring individuals Rolle will assume and the Cabinet the portfolio of Office will release minister of youth, a statement this sports and culture. evening,” Dr These minMinnis said yesisters currently terday morning hold portfolios in on the sidelines of the Ministries of the official launch Agriculture and of the Public Marine Resources; Employment Transport and Services Unit at Aviation; Youth, the Department Sports and Culof Labour on ture and Social Madeira Street. Services and “There will be Urban Developquite a number ment respectively. of Cabinet minThe ministers ALL CHANGE: From isters who will be will officially take top, Renward Wells, relocated to other up their new posts Frankie Campbell, ministries and Michael Pintard and quite a number of tomorrow. When he was Lanisha Rolle. permanent secreasked about the taries who will be changes before the release relocated to other ministries of the official Cabinet SEE PAGE SIX Office notice dated July 1,
UNDERCOVER AGENTS TO TARGET VAT CHEATS By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net OFFICIALS have posted “undercover agents” throughout stores to guard against price gouging, Prime Minister Hubert Minnis disclosed yesterday. Speaking with reporters at the Department of Labour on the sidelines of the official launch of the Public Employment Services Unit, Dr Minnis insisted the agents were “moving through all of the various different institutions” in search of unsubstantiated price hikes. He suggested consumers have no need to be concerned, stressing the authorities had the issue under control. Dr Minnis further warned merchants considering the offence, that once discovered, they will be handled SEE PAGE FIVE
TWO ACCUSED OF SEX ATTACK ON TOURISTS By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net
BOAT TRAGEDY DANCER WHO LOST BOTH LEGS STEFANIE Schaffer, who lost both legs when a boat tour burst into flames off Exuma on Saturday. The operator of the tour, Four C’s Adventures, has been ordered to stop operations until an investigation can determine the cause of the blaze that killed one person and injured nine more. See page three for the full story.
TWO Harbour Island natives were arraigned in a Magistrate’s Court yesterday over allegations they raped a 17-year-old female tourist and had unlawful sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old tourist late last month. Julian Stewart, 29, and Kevin Cambridge, 26, both of Colebrooke Street, Harbour Island, stood before Deputy Chief Magistrate Subusola Swain charged in connection with the June 28 incident. It is alleged that sometime between June 27 and 28, they both raped the 17-year-old and also had unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl two years her junior. SEE PAGE NINE
PRIVY COUNCIL ORDERS NEW APPEAL FOR PC’S KILLERS By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net
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THE Privy Council has ordered a new hearing of Stephen “Die” Stubbs and two other convicts’ appeal of their convictions and sentences for the murder of a policeman at a nightclub
almost 20 years ago. This country’s highest court ordered that the appeal by Stubbs, Clinton Evans and Andrew Davis be remitted to the appellate court for a rehearing. A statement from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said the matter was remitted to
the Court of Appeal to be heard before a differently constituted panel of justices. The statement noted that until such time as the new hearing takes place, the three men remain in “lawful custody” at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services. SEE PAGE SEVEN
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FELICITY INGRAHAM: BEATING THE DRUM FOR THE BEAUTY OF ELEUTHERA
SEE PAGE EIGHT
PAGE 2, Tuesday, July 3, 2018
THE TRIBUNE
CARICOM calls for marijuana to be treated the same as alcohol By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net A CARICOM report calling for an end to the prohibition of marijuana for the entire region is up for discussion in Cabinet today, according to Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis. According to Jamaican news agency the Gleaner, the Regional Marijuana Commission (RMC) report argues that a strictly regulated framework for marijuana, akin to that for alcohol and tobacco, should be introduced. It said there was a unanimous view that the current classification for cannabis/ marijuana as a dangerous drug with no value or narcotic should be changed to a classification of legal cannabis as a “controlled” substance. Dr Minnis told The Tribune his Cabinet will consider the findings of the RMC before his travel to the regional body’s 39th conference in Jamaica this week, where talks over regional decriminalisation is slated to be high on the agenda. The RMC was asked by CARICOM in 2014 to fully ventilate the social, economic, health and legal issues surrounding marijuana use in the Caribbean. Its mandate was to
MINNIS LEADS JAMAICA DELEGATION
THE Bahamas will dialogue with other member states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) on crime and security, disaster management and recovery, and emerging geo-political developments that can have an impact on the region’s growth prospects at the 39th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community, July 4-6 in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis determine whether the plant should be reclassified, and under what legal and administrative conditions. According to the Gleaner, there was also unanimity on the need to ensure protections for children and young persons against possible adverse effects of cannabis. The commission reportedly advised that prohibition for children and young persons should be maintained, except for medical reasons, and called for the utilisation of treatment and diversion programmes for youth users instead of prosecution. The report stated, according to the Gleaner, that legislation is needed to ensure unhindered access to cannabis/marijuana for scientific and medical research by approved institutions and researchers.
will lead the Bahamas delegation to that meeting to also join deliberations on measures impacting the implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME). The prime minister will be accompanied to CARICOM by Joshua Sears, senior policy advisor; Darren Henfield, minister of foreign affairs; Jeffrey Lloyd, minister of education; Reuben Rahming, high commissioner of The Bahamas to CARICOM; Pakesia
The commission also recommended marijuana smoking and other uses should be banned in all public spaces. The report was foreshadowed last month by Health Minister Dr Duane Sands, who yesterday said the government’s position will be determined by the Cabinet. Foreign Affairs Minister Darren Henfield also declined to share his personal opinion on the matter, deferring to Cabinet. Bishop Simeon Hall, the country’s representative on the RMC, told The Tribune yesterday he could not speak on the matter until after Thursday’s meeting in Jamaica, where he will be delivering a local report. Bishop Hall told media in January he was a proponent of medicinal marijuana, having gained a greater
Parker-Edgecombe, parliamentary secretary, Office of the Prime Minister; Viana Gardiner, chief operating officer, Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit; Michael Guy, foreign service officer; Kemico Sands, protocol officer, Office of the Prime Minister; Inspector Livingstone Barr, aide to the prime minister; Sgt Kirk Bastian, aide to the prime minister; Yontalay Bowe, personal assistant/photographer; Lindsay Thompson, BIS senior information officer; Kent Minnis,
appreciation for the benefits of its use since his appointment as the country’s representative on the RMC. At the time, Bishop Hall shared his personal conviction stemmed from the medical needs of his daughter, whom he stressed he would “do anything that I can to keep her alive.” He added it was his longstanding belief that young people should not be “criminalised for a little joint.” Yesterday, Minister of Transport Frankie Campbell shared similar sentiments as he recalled a personal story from his tenure in law enforcement. Mr Campbell said while he was not a proponent for medicinal marijuana or legalising its use, he could not ignore the impact criminalisation has had on society.
“Sometime in 1992 I met a group of school boys behaving disorderly,” he said, “it resulted in my searching them and found a half a joint on one of the boys. “On taking them to the station I realised that they were not necessarily bad boys. I called in a parent and spoke with the parent, and afterward with the concurrence of my supervisors the boy was released without charge.” Mr Campbell continued: “Ten years later I am confronted by a young man who recounts that incident to me, and says to me, thanks to not being charged he did go off to university that year. After four years he returned home, and he was the owner of his business. “It dawned on me that had he been charged his life
could have gone in a different direction, and so while I’m not standing here as a proponent for legalising marijuana, as a proponent for medicinal marijuana I am standing here with a living memory as a former law enforcement officer of how the decision to charge or criminalise for half a joint, that’s worth less than five dollars, could ruin a person’s life forever.” He added: “Because of that, I will not ignore the need for us to have a conversation. You’re arrested for the ‘roach,’ the ‘roach’ makes it difficult for you to get a job. So the difficulty to get a job creates some other social needs, results in some other social ills, and then you get caught in that vicious cycle.” Mr Campbell pointed to legislative changes in the United States focused on retroactively changing marijuana laws to release or pardon minor drug offences or other minor non-violent offences. “If we are at the stage in our development as a country,” Mr Campbell said, “where we are talking about rehabilitation, decreasing recidivism, where we are talking about bringing BTVI into the prison or prison into BTVI - that’s reaching back. We must simultaneously look at what we’re doing now that will affect the future.”
SERIES OF MEN ACCUSED OF NEW PROVIDENCE MURDERS By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net
TWO men, a 23-year-old Haitian and a 25-year-old Bahamian, were charged in a Magistrate’s Court yesterday with shooting two teen aged brothers in a barbershop last month. The men were charged with other offences, including other murders. Under heavy police guard, Geram Sainvil, of Chesapeake Road, and McKenzie Cela, of Hamilton Street, were escorted to stand before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt to be formally charged with the June 9 murders of Malik and Delano Cartwright at Roy’s Super Cuts Barbershop. Malik, 17, and Delano, 18, were shot around 10am when two men wearing hoodies opened fire at them while they were in the Jerome Avenue barbershop. One of the brothers died on the scene, while the other died in hospital a short time later. The brothers were killed a little more than a year after their father, Delanzo “Lance” Cartwright
JAHKEIL ARMBRISTER
MATTHEW KNOWLES
CHRISTIAN MEADOWS
PHILANO WILLIAMS Sr, who was on bail for murder, was murdered in Pinewood. Sainvil and Cela were further charged with murdering Anthony Thompson, a male employee of a clothing store on Faith Avenue south and St Vincent Road, on June 16.
MCKENZIE CELA Sainvil and Cela were also charged with murdering former tennis player Robert Smith during a home invasion at the deceased’s Lobster Avenue home on May 24. They were also charged with robbing Smith at gunpoint of $900 on the same date.
GERAM SAINVIL Sainvil was further charged with being found in possession of a black Austria glock 27 .40 pistol, as well as 12 rounds of .40 ammunition on June 27. Cela was further charged with murdering Anthony “Hot Dog” Brice a few yards from his home in the
Step Street area of Fox Hill on June 11. He was charged with 29-year-old Philano Williams. Williams, meanwhile, was charged with murdering 26-year-old Donathan Hanna outside his Southern Breezes Estates home on June 26. Hanna was being electronically monitored while out on bail for murder at the time of his death. In November 2016, Hanna and another man were charged with murder and five counts of attempted murder in the September 29, 2016 death of 17-year-old William McKenzie. Williams and another man, Christian Meadows, were further charged with being found in possession of a black, 9mm pistol, along with one live round of 9mm ammunition and eight live rounds of .40 ammunition on June 29. Another man, 20-yearold Matthew Knowles of Sunshine Park, was charged with murdering 65-year-old Errol Williams, a security guard at A F Adderley Junior High school, while he was on duty on June 12, 2018. Knowles was also charged with attempting
to murder Travis Roker on June 17. Also, 24-year-old Jahkeil Armbrister of Higher Drive, was charged before Deputy Chief Magistrate Subusola Swain with attempting to murder Tanie McNeil on June 25 in the Flamingo Gardens area. According to reports at the time, shortly before 3am on the date in question, a man and woman were driving on Higher Drive in Flamingo Gardens when the car they were in was fired upon, hitting the woman passenger in her head. She was taken to hospital and was said to be in stable condition. Police confirmed that the man in the car with her was unharmed. None of the accused was required to enter pleas to the charges and the cases were adjourned to later dates for service of voluntary bills of indictment (VBI). Bail was denied and they were all remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services (BDCS) until their court hearing. However, they have a right to apply to the Supreme Court for bail.
THE TRIBUNE
Tuesday, July 3, 2018, PAGE 3
Halt ordered to tours as probe begins into Exuma boat inferno By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net EXUMA’s largest tour operator, Four C’s Adventures, has been issued a cease and desist order to suspend operations pending an investigation into the accident that killed one American woman, caused another to lose both of her legs and injured nine other people on Saturday, according to outgoing Transport and Local Government Minister Frankie Campbell. Four C’s Adventures received the order on Sunday evening despite opening for business that day. The order was issued by the acting controller of the Port Department in conjunction with the Exuma Port Authority Board. “I don’t want anyone to interpret the fact that we asked the company to cease and desist its operations as any indication of a conclusion to the investigation,” Mr Campbell said at a press conference. “It’s normal procedure. There are a number of other vessels the company owns. It’s prudent to ensure everything is in order, that we can assure and guarantee safety as we move forward.” The company’s owner, Clayton Patterson Smith, declined to comment on the suspension yesterday, citing orders from police. “I don’t want to comment at all because right now I’m in the middle of this whole thing and I have legal counsel,” he said. Mr Campbell gave few details about the investigation and would not say if the operator had liability insurance, up-to-date inspection certifications
STACEY, Stefanie and Brooke Schaffer. or if the commander of explosion but I wish not to the vessel, Captain Ron speculate about what may Watson, had the requisite have happened,” he said. captain’s licence. The vessel had just left He could not say how Smith Creek, Stuart Manor long the investigation may when the accident occurred. take, but noted it is headed The half-day tour was to by registered port inspector cover three cays, culminatand surveyor Captain Cyril ing in a visit to Big Major Morley who travelled with Cay, home of the famous a team of police officers swimming pigs. to Exuma to conduct the The vessel, Mr Campprobe. bell confirmed, was Among the matters that home-built and had two will be investigated, Mr Yamaha engines. Campbell said, are the “I’m aware that the procedures undertaken by family is a boating family the Exuma Port Depart- and they have built a ment office following the number of boats right incident. there in Exuma,” he said. Contrary to initial reports “Home-built boats have from the Royal Bahamas been around for some Police Force, no engine time. I worked in Exuma on the vessel exploded, a in the early 90s as a police fact Acting Port Control- officer and from back then ler Commander Raymond the Smith’s family has King confirmed during yes- been involved in building terday’s press conference. boats. To my knowledge “I am unaware of what and recollection this is the the police report stated but first accident of this kind. I’m sure the social media I don’t want to speculate images would’ve revealed that the accident is a result that the engines weren’t of the fact that the boat affected as part of the was home-built. It can be
AN INJURED man as seen in video footage of the boat blaze.
VICTIM CONFIRMED AS MISSING WOMAN By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net
THE worst fears of the family and friends of Kiria Erica Musgrove materialised yesterday as police confirmed the 25-year-old mother’s body was the one found in a field off Cowpen Road on Sunday evening. A worker cleaning the farm had alerted police to the body shortly after 6pm that day. Her death was the 54th murder for the year. She was sitting in a car on Peach Street, Pastel Gardens, with a man when another man, sitting in the car’s back seat, pulled out a firearm and shot her and her companion around 10pm on Saturday. The male victim escaped
the vehicle and ran to a house for assistance. At last reports, he was said to be listed in serious but stable condition. He gave statements to police that are helping them in their investigations. The suspect, who police yesterday said remains at large, drove off in a brown Nissan Cube with the wounded woman. Superintendent of Police Solomon Cash said yesterday no suspects have been arrested in connection with the murder though police have a person of interest in mind. “We are looking to get additional information about that person before we release that information,” he said. Musgrove’s family identified her body at the Rand Morgue yesterday.
STEFANIE SCHAFFER, who was badly injured in the fire. the family said Ms Schaf- the relative told the newsfer requires surgery on her paper. “She’s going to wake spine for an L1 lumbar disc up from this coma and realfracture while Mrs Bender ise ‘I don’t have any legs.’ requires surgery for her It’s breaking my heart.” fractured legs. According to Meanwhile, the status of a report by the Daily Mail, the four people airlifted to Ms Schaffer was a dancer a hospital in St Petersburg, who “danced her whole Florida remains unknown. childhood.” The newspaper Prime Minister Dr said it spoke to a relative of Hubert Minnis yesterday Ms Schaffer who described expressed condolences to her as a “very outgoing” the families affected by Satdancer who recently gradu- urday’s accident. “I don’t ated from college. want to say anything on that “The scary thing is Ste- matter at this time because fanie doesn’t know that it’s an active investigation she’s lost her legs, and that’s but we regret the tragedy,” what really upsets me,” he said.
so many more causes. The investigation will reveal the cause.” Mr Campbell said notwithstanding the weekend accident, the Port Department has been working with the Bahamas Maritime Authority to create and enhanced inspection regime for mailboats, cargo vessels, ferry boats and tour boats in the country. The woman killed Saturday has been identified as Mrs. Maleka Jackson. According to a report by ABC news, she was celebrating her 15th wedding anniversary with her husband, Tiran Jackson when the accident happened. Before dying she told a rescuer that she had a 10-year-old son. Mr Jackson was, up to Monday, in the Intensive Care Unit of Princess Margaret Hospital with both his legs fractured. In a statement yesterday, the Public Hospitals Authority said a man in the ICU was airlifted to Broward General Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Arrangements are being made to airlift the remaining two women patients at PMH to the US, it added. One woman from Vermont, Stefanie Schaffer, 22, experienced double amputation of her legs. Her family has launched a GoFundMe account that has already exceeded its initial goal of raising $50,000. Up to press time last night, loved ones had raised $65,743 to cover medical and travel expenses for the family. Ms Schaffer was on the boat with her mother, Stacy Bender, who sustained multiple broken bones and internal injuries, as well as her stepfather, Paul Bender, who suffered bruises and cuts. Her sister Brooke Bender, 13, also had bruises and cuts. On the page,
PAGE 4, Tuesday, July 3, 2018
THE TRIBUNE
The Tribune Limited NULLIUS ADDICTUS JURARE IN VERBA MAGISTRI “Being Bound to Swear to The Dogmas of No Master”
LEON E. H. DUPUCH,
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Need for more civil judges reaches desperate levels FOR the majority of citizens whose lives rarely if ever touch the court system, the subject of how many judges are sitting on the Supreme Court seems distant and irrelevant. A shortage of judges is not likely to be a hot topic around the Keurig cup coffeemaker on a Monday morning and unless lawyers are gathered, there is little chance the subject will arise at all. Yet a hidden danger of a shortage of judges is having a serious dual impact that does touch all of us. It leaves lives of those with cases pending in limbo and it erodes confidence in the belief of an impartial and effective judicial system. When trust in the system begins to falter, those who would have relied on it search for other means by which to solve problems. They look outside traditional routes for resolution and as that happens, the system breaks down even more. How bad is the civil matter judiciary position in The Bahamas today? From the information we have been able to gather, there are approximately 1,500 new civil cases filed every year. With civil court judges diverted to criminal matters, there are only two Supreme Court judges assigned to civil cases, Justice Indira Charles and Justice Gregory Hilton. Two judges for thousands of cases is untenable and unsustainable. It is a national embarrassment that threatens to make a mockery of the judicial system. The number of judges is down by nearly 75 percent from only five years ago as a result of attrition and re-assignment to criminal courts. Getting a court date is the first challenge and unless there is cause for urgency, whether it is health-related or the defendant is a likely candidate to disappear prior to hearings or trial, the initial hearing date could be one to three years hence. Hearings, motions and trial are just the beginning. Once the trial has concluded, a judge must issue his or her ruling, a process that can take up to six weeks just to prepare and as long as three years following the trial given the backlog of cases to be heard and rulings to be written. A ruling issued in six months is considered timely. For those who believe that justice delayed is justice denied, justice is being denied too often to too many, citizens who believe that the legal system works for those who turn to it when injustice has hit them or they have been victim or prey to a scheme, scam or other affront that has caused them harm but falls short of criminal activity. Civil cases range from matters involving divorce, family and children to issues involving real estate, unsecured obligations, housing matters including eviction, foreclosure and substandard living conditions. They include cases of
misfeasance or malfeasance involving abuses of public office or position that may or may not also qualify for criminal charges. Human rights cases, environmental matters go before a civil court judge. Civil courts are overwhelmed with lawsuits stemming from accidents in which the plaintiff is charging that the injury, whether vehicular, a fall from scaffolding or other, was caused by negligence. There is no shortage of roster material, but there is a serious shortage of judges that in addition to leaving the individuals seeking justice out in the cold, places an undue burden on those two judges. One attorney who has been waiting for over a year for a ruling is both anxious and sympathetic. In The Bahamas, the title Supreme Court is either a misnomer or simply misleading. It is actually the entry point for any case involving a claim exceeding $10,000. Claims below that amount are filed in Small Claims Court. Labour matters are handled by an Industrial Tribunal and a new Environmental Court is to be re-introduced to take some of the load off the Supreme Court and the Magistrate’s Court. Because cases can go from Supreme Court to Court of Appeal, judges take extraordinary care in preparing their rulings, wanting to cover every aspect so as not to be overturned by the higher court. Given that once the Supreme Court justice has issued his or her ruling, the plaintiff or defendant can file an appeal with the Court of Appeal and, in rare cases, dissatisfaction with a decision from that court can land the case in the Judicial Review Committee of the Privy Council, the process can drag out for years. Those years take a toll on a citizen who was injured physically, financially or emotionally and seeks redress. In addition to the very practical need to appoint a Chief Justice so applicants feel secure their case will be handled with knowledge and consistency, more judges must be appointed to the Supreme Court, If the quality of justice required is not attracted from within the law firms of The Bahamas, we must continue to search regionally. Those who have come from abroad have served admirably and because they come from states or island nations where the legal profession may not be so lucrative as it is in The Bahamas, they are willing to dedicate themselves to what has been deemed even by local lawyers as an “obscene trial caseload”. The situation of two Supreme Court justices with a backlog and 1,500 new cases filed a year must be addressed. The judicial system is one part of a tripartite form of governance, with the legislative and executive constituting the other two. When one leg of a three-legged platform fails, risk of collapse of the other two becomes too great.
Is BPL abiding by the rules? EDITOR, The Tribune. BP&L’s RFP to replace the current standby generator supplier - AGGREGO was it complaint to the Electricity act of 2015? The RFP requested bids for 80MW - choice of fuel- nothing long term as it seems miraculously it became and to all observers incredibly strange but then in a non-transparent process we sort of expect this now from the Minnis Government. The Electricity Act, Article: 26, page:29-30 requires BP&L to argue their case for what they are looking for their submission - further argue why solar solution is not being
considered? Did BP&L change the playing field along the road of the replacement for 80 MW standby generators without URCA permission so the RFP awarded to Shell America is void of any legality? The public - The People want to know? Some comments have been made about the use of LNG by the environmentalists and journalists but they seem to be more interested in current News issues than digging into what could possibly be illegal and worse, for us, not the best choice. What happened to the virtuous policy of none other than the Prime
Minister – create a renewable energy economy by supporting and promoting a National Solarisation programme. The FNM pre the election…it seems all that has gone right out the window and is forgotten. LNG is not solarisation…it is a gas which can explode - a gas which emits CO2 and a fuel subject to market pricing which solar isn’t, the good Lord provides that…if BP&L didn’t know Free! The People in the People’s Government need an explanation. T J SAWYER Nassau, June 28, 2018.
Scapegoats in Munnings Road fatality EDITOR, The Tribune. THE Minnis administration must stand its ground and not cave in to the unreasonable demands of the family of the late Garvinisha Carey -- the young lady who succumbed to injuries caused by a horrific traffic accident in the Munnings Road area after colliding into a concrete blockade which were erected by the Ministry of Works. I can appreciate the solemn fact that the Carey family is grieving the loss of their beautiful daughter. I cannot possibly fathom the thought of having to bury any of my daughters. We have a saying in The Bahamas that parents shouldn’t have to bury their children. Ideally, it should be vice versa. Hundreds of Bahamian parents are able to commiserate with the Careys. In their anguish, the family seems to have placed the blame for this tragic incident on the doorstep of Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis and Works Minister Desmond Bannister. Reading their comments in The Tribune, I was left with the impression that the Careys sound like politicians. I am left to wonder if their statement to the press was scripted by a particular wannabe parliamentarian who is purportedly representing them. I would hope that this tragedy isn’t being used as a political stick to beat Minnis with. Understandably, the Carey family is currently in the midst of their grieving process. By the same token however, I believe they are wrong in attempting to scapegoat Minnis and Bannister for this tragedy. By demanding that Bannister resign as minister of Works, the Careys are implying that he is in some way, shape or form responsible for the death of their
LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net daughter. I implore Bannister to ignore such calls. Bannister did nothing wrong. I also implore the Free National Movement administration to ignore calls to issue a financial settlement to the family, as such a move could set a bad precedent for other motorists who fail to exercise due care and attention while driving on public roads. Neither Minnis nor Bannister was behind the wheel of that 2013 Hyundai Elantra on that fateful morning. The issue of collective responsibility or guilt simply does not arise in this matter. You cannot blame them for this accident, anymore than you can blame successive governments for the hundreds of traffic fatalities throughout the country. I understand that not only was the vehicle extensively damaged, but that the barrier, which probably weighs several tons, was moved, due to impact. According to an officer at the scene of the accident, speed was definitely a factor. The speed limit on Munnings Road is 25mph. What is the likelihood of an accident of that nature occurring at a speed of 25mph? In my layman’s opinion, the victim must have been driving above the speed limit, based on the degree of the damage to the vehicle. Any forensic scientist that is worth his salt can prove this. I understand that the residents in the area lobbied their MP to have that road closed. Hundreds were using it as a throughway. This posed a danger to the residents in the nearby communities. In fact, some 283 police traffic tickets were issued to motorists who accessed
Munnings Road in 2017, according to the Minister of Works. Bannister was well within his sovereign rights in making the decision to convert that road into a culde-sac. This decision was not made unilaterally. The residents lobbied for the conversion. We can argue about the lack of road signage and lighting before this tragedy. If it was dark, were the car lamps working adequately? If the accident occurred around 6am, there should have been sufficient light, as the sun rises shortly after the said hour. We can argue whether or not sufficient notice via ZNS and the print media was given to the general public. But all that becomes moot when other factors which led to this horrific accident are dispassionately considered. There have also been rumours that the victim may have been somnolent, as it was early in the morning. This rumour is being fuelled by social media. I am sure that the relevant authority has seen this crucial bit of information also, which was immediately taken down from off an individual’s Facebook or WhatsApp page days after the accident. If this goes to litigation, this piece of evidence will be pivotal for the Minnis administration’s case. Only God knows what happened on that fateful morning when the life of young Garvinisha Carey ended tragically on Munnings Road. One thing objective Bahamians do know, however, is that neither Minnis nor Bannister should be blamed for this tragedy. I feel bad for the Careys. But unfairly blaming the Minnis administration for their loss is not the avenue they should take. KEVIN EVANS Freeport, Grand Bahama, July 1, 2018.
THE TRIBUNE
Tuesday, July 3, 2018, PAGE 5
UNDERCOVER AGENTS TO TARGET VAT CHEATS
SHELVES stacked high ahead of the VAT increase - and the government is to have undercover teams checking prices following the increase in the tax. from page one “appropriately”. “I can assure you that the minister of labour has that under control and as we speak, there are undercover agents moving through all of the various different institutions,” he said. “So I will only send the warning out to the merchants that if they do anything, in terms of price gouging, individuals are
moving through as undercover agents and once discovered, they will be dealt with appropriately,” Dr Minnis added. The government’s new 12 percent value added tax rate took effect Sunday. Several reports of potential price gouging and VAT rate miscalculations have surfaced over the past week. On Sunday, AML Foods chief executive Gavin Watchorn had to issue an
apology to consumers in Grand Bahama after a provider error resulted in store receipts showing a 12 percent VAT rate two days before the new rate took effect. Mr Watchorn told Tribune Business while the incident didn’t outright affect customers, as they were charged VAT at the 7.5 percent rate rather than the 12 percent shown on their receipts, the mix-up did cause some
issues. “It was corrected on Friday evening. The wording was 12 percent, the calculation was 7.5 percent,” he said. “I apologise for any distress it may have caused, but once we saw it was very quickly corrected.” Claims that AML Foods’ Freeport stores were charging 12 percent VAT before the July 1 implementation date were circulated widely on social
Photo: Terrel W Carey/Tribune Staff
media, with some shoppers even displaying their receipts as evidence. One, who had shopped at Solomon’s Lucaya at 6.14pm on Friday, wrote: “Solomon’s Lucaya already charging 12 percent VAT and today is June 29, 2018. I got do right in.” The Prices Commission, with oversight from the Consumer Affair Division in the Department of Labour, now has responsibility for the strict
supervision, review and monitoring of the prices being charged for goods. Additionally, the commission has the authority to report any suspected violations to the Office of the Attorney General which is expected to, in consultation with the director of public prosecutions and the Royal Bahamas Police Force, aggressively investigate and prosecute should such evidence be found.
SMALL GROUP OF VAT PROTESTORS NOT GIVING UP FIGHT By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net
ALTHOUGH the increase of value added tax from 7.5 percent to 12 percent took effect on Sunday, an advocacy group is calling for the government to abolish this form of taxation and instead explore alternative avenues to collect revenue. Yesterday, a small
delegation of Citizens Against Bank Exploitation (CABE) demonstrated in Rawson Square. CABE lead organiser Dr Denotrah Archer-Cartwright said the group is calling for the government to reverse the tax increase. She added that if it is planned “strategically over time” and the government diversifies its tax system, VAT in its entirety can be eliminated from the
country. “We think that they should reverse it. And if they don’t know how, then they sit with groups like us, they sit with the community and they figure out other alternatives,” Dr ArcherCartwright said. “We cannot just go and take the lazy way out. Our prime minister said it himself: taxing the people is the lazy way out.” Dr Archer-Cartwright
suggested alternatives included the government “(leading) by example” and decreasing its own budget allowances for gas and travel expenses. “We don’t see the austerity measures from the government. And we don’t mean…just cutting government workers.” She said the budget can be decreased by another $30m or $40m if unnecessary consultants and
projects are eliminated. She also called for salt exports to be taxed and the revenue earned used to provide aid for Ragged Island. “We also have to have the guts to tax the foreigners in this country,” Dr ArcherCartwright said. “We have a lot of foreign direct investment, but that money isn’t trickling down to Bahamians. “It’s very disproportionate
and we can see that the Bahamian people are carrying the burden of this country without the benefits. And we want to see something different from our government.” Dr Archer-Cartwright also emphasised the organisation is not against the government, but simply calling for it to create avenues for Bahamians to thrive.
MINNIS STILL QUIET ON PERMANENT CHIEF JUSTICE ROLE By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis is still not ready to reveal who will be appointed substantive chief justice, telling reporters yesterday Bahamians will know “with time” who will fill the post. Despite failing to name an appointee for the last several months, Dr Minnis conceded “we cannot function without one” when he was asked whether someone will be named in light of his decision to shuffle some Cabinet posts. The last substantive chief justice was Sir Hartman Longley, appointed in 2015. Stephen Isaacs was sworn in as acting chief justice last December. “You would know with time. When that is done, Cabinet Office will release a statement,” Dr Minnis said yesterday. “We cannot function without one. We will have
a chief justice and one will be appointed, but you will know when Cabinet issues the appropriate statement.” Dr Minnis has been heavily criticised over his failure to fill the post. However, in April he said he would not be forced to appoint a Chief Justice and neither was he concerned about losing political capital over it. As the appointment continues to be delayed, it has been speculated that Attorney General Carl Bethel was being considered for the post of chief justice. However, officials in the Minnis administration have dismissed the idea that he could be appointed. Bahamas Bar Association President Kahlil Parker has publicly castigated Dr Minnis over the issue. In April, Mr Parker told The Nassau Guardian that Dr Minnis has a “tremendous misapprehension” of the constitutional provisions relating to the appointment of a chief
justice, adding the prime minister did not appear to grasp firmly the Constitution as a whole. This came after Dr Minnis suggested the Constitution provided a certain time frame for him to fill the post and claimed he was within that timeframe; however, The Tribune was unable to find such a clause. Earlier this year, Dr Minnis became defensive on the issue after repeated questioning by the media at a press briefing on his return from England, asking reporters whether they would prefer he prioritised the matter over other national issues such as a recent blackout threat by Bahamas Power and Light unions. Dr Minnis said on April 22: “At this point in time I’m trying my best to improve the Bahamian economy, improve the quality of life for everybody, you just told me about BPL possibly turning off lights – that is more important to me, so those are matters I
will tackle first.” When asked if his statement implied he did not consider making a substantive appointment a priority, Dr Minnis replied: “Let me ask you a question, which is priority to you, your light going off or you getting a CJ, which one is more important to you?
“I know what is more important to me,” he added, “the light is more important to me. What is more important to you?” He shrugged off one reporter’s attempts to raise concerns made by the legal fraternity, saying: “No, take that out of the question, you would prefer your light
being off or me taking all resources and dealing with it, which is more important to you?” When asked who was advising him on the Chief Justice matter, Dr Minnis had previously said: “I have the whole Attorney General’s Office, I have my Cabinet.”
PAGE 6, Tuesday, July 3, 2018
THE TRIBUNE
TRAVIS ROBINSON, left, and Vaughn Miller.
Robinson and Miller roles won’t be replaced By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net THE parliamentary secretary posts left vacant when Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis fired MPs Travis Robinson and Vaughn Miller for voting against the value added tax increase will not be filled. According to Dr Minnis yesterday, the decision represents a cost saving measure. “There will be no replacement,” Dr Minnis told The Tribune. “We are now trying to balance a budget. That’s a savings of $90,000. Every great oak tree was once a nut, so we start small and build big.” Mr Robinson and Mr
Miller – former parliamentary secretaries in the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation and in the Ministry of Social Services and Urban Development respectively - were fired for their vote against the rise in VAT in the House of Assembly more than two weeks ago. Pineridge MP Frederick McAlpine was also fired as chairman of the Hotel Corporation for his vote against the VAT hike. Dr Minnis did not hint who was being considered for this board appointment. Reece Chipman, Centreville MP, also voted ‘no’ but he was unaffected, having been fired from his appointment as chairman of the Antiquities, Monuments and Museums Corporation
months ahead of the budget vote. Days after he revoked the three MPs’ posts, Dr Minnis said the decision was not personal but based on his responsibility and obligation to follow parliamentary procedure. “I cannot allow my personal views to get into democracy; we have a parliamentary procedure, and I must adhere, respect, and ensure the procedure lives on, and is honoured, and respected thoroughly,” the prime minister said on the sidelines of a conference in Grand Bahama at the time. Despite losing his appointment in the Ministry of Tourism, Mr Robinson said last week he remains a supporter of the governing
Free National Movement. Nonetheless he told MPs during a speech his vote and presence in the House of Assembly are “mortgaged” to his constituents. Mr Robinson said he held no hatred or anger, but explained his integrity and allegiance to the people of his constituency led to his vote against the VAT increase to 12 percent. The MP questioned the relevance of the Westminster system and called for a select committee to evaluate this system of governance. This system, he said, left Dr Minnis no choice but to fire him from the post after his vote, adding no elected member of Parliament
should be forced to choose between their party and the people they serve. In their termination letters, Mr Robinson and Mr Miller were cited for breaching the Manual of Cabinet and Ministry Procedure, which states parliamentary secretaries, like Cabinet ministers, are bound as a condition of their continuance in office to support government’s decisions in public. For his part, Mr Miller said he voted against the VAT increase because he believed the people should have been consulted. Despite his vote, Mr Miller said he saw no reason why the party would not offer him a nomination in the next general election.
He said the meeting in which he was fired by Dr Minnis was amicable. At the time, he said he thanked the prime minister and told him he not only loved but respected him. And while he affirmed his respect for Dr Minnis despite the revocation of his appointment, Mr McAlpine suggested the nation’s leader would be voted out of office in the next election. He also said the firings would not help the FNM’s falling poll numbers. “You can fire me but I’ve been living long enough to know that I have seen people fire people and the people who fire the people, I’ve watched the people fire them,” Mr McAlpine warned in a previous interview.
Shuffling the pack from page one
and we will establish a new
office in the Office of the Prime Minister, which is a modernisation unit so that we can modernise and
transform the public service and the entire government. That will be their mandate. “Ministers would be
moved as I think is necessary to give them the necessary exposure,” Dr Minnis also said, adding he
did not plan to make such changes every year. Asked by The Tribune why he decided to make Cabinet changes, Dr Minnis said: “It gives individuals exposure and experience in all the different ministries. That’s why I don’t have any ministry. I have no ministry so I can look at all and learn about all.” In rating the work of the ministers, Dr Minnis said: “I think they have done very well and I am certain that they would carry that skill to whichever ministry they move to. My Cabinet ministers have performed exceptionally well and I am sure they will continue to perform exceptionally well.” He would not comment on whether any of the ministers willingly embraced the changes, saying: “I won’t go into all of that detail.” The Cabinet Office’s statement said the prime minister advised Governor General Lady Marguerite Pindling to reallocate the portfolios. It also noted, “The prime minister acknowledges and thanks the ministers for their contributions in their former ministries and looks forward to the work they will do in their new ministries.” The Cabinet Office also announced several transfers of permanent secretaries and acting Permanent Secretaries. These will come into effect on July 30. These included the reassignment of Jack Thompson from the Office of the Prime Minister to the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture; Donella Bodie to the Ministry of the Public Service
and National Insurance from the Ministry of Education; and Elise Delancy to the newly formed Public Service Modernisation Unit from the Ministry of the Public Service and National Insurance. Lorraine SymonetteArmbrister will now serve in the Ministry of Education from the Ministry of Transport and Local Government; Nicole Campbell to the Office of the Prime Minister from the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture and Sherrylee Smith to the Ministry of Social Services and Urban Development from the Mnistry’s Urban Renewal Commission. Acting Permanent Secretary Cora Bain-Colebrooke will be transferred to the Ministry of Transport and Local Government from the Ministry of Social Services. In response to the Cabinet changes, Mr Davis said: “The changes in portfolio allocations announced by the prime minister amount to nothing more than political musical chairs. It accomplishes nothing of substance and is merely shuffling the deck of bad cards. “One year into the government, the prime minister’s moves condemn his own government for incompetence and ineffectiveness... The PLP is not impressed by any of it. One day into imposing a whopping 60 per cent increase in tax on the Bahamian people, our prime minister seeks to distract us from real problems imposed by his government with this nonsensical Cabinet shuffle.”
THE TRIBUNE
Tuesday, July 3, 2018, PAGE 7
Privy council orders new appeal for PC’s killers from page one On March 29, 1999, Constable Jimmy Ambrose, an officer in plain clothes, was shot and killed outside the now-closed Club Rock Disco after a fight between two rival groups of men broke out. According to the brief facts of the case provided by the Privy Council’s website, Evans is said to have pointed his weapon at two other police officers as they chased him from the scene. The three men were first convicted in May 2002, but their convictions were overturned on appeal. The second trial before then-Supreme Court Justice Jon Isaacs, who now sits as an appellate judge, was aborted on the first day of the summation of the case. In a second retrial in July 2013, the three men were convicted of murder and attempted murder, while Evans was further convicted of two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to put another in fear. A week before sentencing, Crown prosecutors gave notice of the Crown’s intent to seek the death penalty. However, then-Supreme Court Justice Roy Jones, who also now sits as an appellate judge, ruled that the case did not meet the “worst of the worst” requirements for the death penalty, and even if it had, the Crown had failed to follow sentencing guidelines by giving notice of their intention in the specified time. The men were ultimately sentenced to life imprisonment, on the basis that Sections 290 and 291 of the
CLOCKWISE from above left, Stephen “Die” Stubbs, Andrew Davis and Clinton Evans, pictured outside court previously. Penal Code (Amendment) Act requires that either a death sentence of life imprisonment be imposed where a police officer has been murdered in the
execution of his duties. Following the verdicts in the second retrial, the appellants appealed successfully against their convictions and, with the
exception of Stubbs, their sentences. Prior to the substantive hearing of the matter before Justice Isaacs and since departed appellate
Justices Abdulai Conteh and Neville Adderley, Stubbs’ attorney Murrio Ducille requested that Justice Isaacs recuse himself on the basis that the judge had
presided over the second aborted trial. However, the Court of Appeal refused Mr Ducille’s application for recusal.
PAGE 8, Tuesday, July 3, 2018
THE TRIBUNE
Beating the drum for the beauty of Eleuthera I
Face to Face
FIRST met Beat Schlagenhauf when I was covering an event for the Rhythm and Youth Band. This Rake ’n Scrape group comprised young boys and girls and was birthed at the Gerald Cash Primary School under By FELICITY INGRAHAM the direction of then music teacher, Nathaniel Adams. was thanked for playing a I have heard sweet Rake big role in assisting to fund ’n Scrape music play over it. He also assisted in fundand over, but Rhythm and ing the successful launch Youth was different. You of popular Bahamian footsee, the band was huge - 20 wear brand Bahems. He or more members all beat- gets excited about his work ing drums, raking saws and with Children’s Haven dancing at the same time. It of The Bahamas hosting represented a dramatic dis- Cinema in the Park. He sits play of Bahamian culture in the small chairs with the presented in an uncon- kids and eats popcorn with ventional way. It was like them while watching posiamplified Rake ’n Scrape, tive movies for kids. and the obvious joy and He also works with Nikita pride on the faces of the Shiel-Rolle and the Young band members gave hope in Marine Explorers group, the future of an important which gives Bahamian and sometimes neglected children a totally new peraspect of Bahamian music spective and appreciation and culture. for the waters that surround Rhythm and Youth was this country. The arts are performing at the Sapo- also high on his agenda. He dilla Restaurant, Cable has supported the ChariBeach for a well-attended table Arts Foundation and event held just for them. the Chan Pratt FoundaThe purpose was to raise tion for Bahamian artists. funds so that these dynamic Working with the National kids could attend a number Art Gallery, Beat particiof events and even have a pated in their Over-the Hill television appearance in project, rolled his sleeves New York. The event was up, and helped to pull and hosted by Sapodilla; then dump trash from areas like Minister of Youth, Sports Lewis Street. Well-known & Culture Dr Hay Street Daniel Johncommu‘I was honest, son; current nity activist Minister of hard working Scrooge still Tourism Dion- and trustworthy. has an active isio D’Aguilar; after-school Where I come and Beat, who programme invited a host from, people said due to sponof his friends what they meant sorship from to come out people like and they could be and support. Beat. It featured a trusted for their Most series of the word. But as I recently, Beat band’s lively decided to performances began to face the launch his followed by real world when I own project an art auction. started working, and has high One more aspirations I learned that not event brought that it will the total to everyone is honest.’ become a $52,000 raised reality. While and the band was able to visiting in Cat Island, Beat make it to the Big Apple. met then BAIC (Bahamas That was four years ago. Agricultural and Industrial Since then, I have seen Corporation) official Judith Beat at events all over New Thompson. They were at Providence, even Over-the- the same restaurant having Hill, and I have become breakfast when Beat was one of his many Bahamian giving suggestions on how friends. A Swiss by birth, the owners could improve Beat considers education the service. Judy then sugas being vitally important gested: “If you feel you can for the success of the youth. do it better, then why not Since making the Baha- give it a try!” mas his new home, he has “She planted a seed in gained a deep appreciation my head and I couldn’t get for Bahamian culture and is it out, and so I began to investing in the youth. He pursue it,” he said. has assisted in numerous That resulted in his vision programmes and initiatives for the Philautia boutique and has no qualms with hotel with the motto: “True literally getting his hands Wellbeing”. Beat envidirty and participating just sions a five-star wellness like everyone else to bring retreat that would be nesprojects to fruition. tled in Governor’s Harbour, He was at the premier Eleuthera. He fell in love of the Bahamian movie with Eleuthera from his “Cargo” created by the tal- very first visit – a pristine ented Bahamian filmmaker environment; pink, sandy Kareem Mortimer and Best beaches; the beautiful blues Film Ever Ltd. where he of the sea; Preacher’s Cave;
the Leon Levy Native Plant Preserve; the Glass Window Bridge; friendly residents, and so much more. Of all the islands he visited, he set his sights on Eleuthera as the potential home of his biggest intended investment in the country. An initial meeting with Eleuthera residents to propose his project idea to them first, it seems there were more questions than answers. However, a second one was held this past weekend, and Beat came fully equipped with all the answers to the questions residents asked. This, is an important step as he has taken this proposal to government. There will be countless steps and protocol he must meet before his project is considered for approval. If he is successful, the construction of Philautia will be entrusted to local skilled construction companies who will execute an architectural plan designed by TDG Architects under the direction of Carlos Hepburn and Marcus Laing. Conray Rolle of Transformation Landscaping Development will design a landscape for the resort that would best reflect the natural environment and landscape. Lambert Knowles of ETS (Engineering and Technical Services) will guide the team towards ensuring that environmental rules as respected, especially as the proposed site is a former naval base of the US Government. Gaydene McClain of IBP (International Business Professionals) spearheaded a town meeting where the vision of Philautia was presented. Member of Parliament for Eleuthera Hank Johnson was on hand to observe the proceedings, as were officials from the Office of the Prime Minister, including Director of Investments Candia A. P. Ferguson, Investments officer Carol Young, and Media and Communications Specialist Rocky Nesbitt. Mr. Pinder, Local Government official spearheaded the town hall meeting,and I was also on hand to witness the event. IBP presented a plan for
BEAT Schlagenhauf of Schlagenhauf and Partners Portfolio Management, and, left, in Eleuthera.
Philautia – a five-star, 20 room boutique hotel with 15 stand-alone villas. There are plans for a 1,720 square foot wellness facility, a 2,000 square foot medical facility, a 1,700 square foot restaurant and a spa, all perched on the waterfront. The hotel would provide some 120 initial staff for construction, followed by the hiring of about 155 permanent employees– all Bahamians. There would be a training facility to nurture skills to a five-star status, and an after school care programme, not only for the children of the employees, but for the children in neighbouring areas. An organic farm would be initiated for the resort, but IBP advised Eleutherans that every entrepreneur with a great product would have opportunities for them to be utilised by the resort and sold on the property. In addition, the following are earmarked for investment: the re-development of Cupid’s Cay, a police funding program, environmental clean-ups, and the implementation of additional street lighting, with government approval. This time around, the residents responded favourably, and Beat also took the time to meet as many of them as he could on a personal level. Whether or not he is granted approval, he intends to invest in assisting to clean up the base, which is filled with dilapidated buildings and disintegrating water catchment.
BEAT SCHLAGENHAUF, standing with the Rhythm and Youth band. Also present are Gandhi Pinder of Sapodilla Restaurant,former Minister of Youth, Sports & Culture Dr Daniel Johnson, and former Ministry Permanent Secretary Phaedra Rahming, and Permanent Secretary Calvin Balfour.
But I wanted to know more about the man himself – where he came from and why he chose The Bahamas. Beat comes from a municipal area in the north of Switzerland near the border for Germany called Schaffhausen. It’s a picturesque medieval city on the river Rhine. “My childhood days were spent walking up the banks and swimming in the river, and hiking in the woods,” Beat recalled. “My father used to take us hiking in the adjacent hills. We enjoyed hiking and picking berries but at the time, my father would point out so many plants and their medicinal uses, and we didn’t like that part as much. But now, I realise how important it was – the knowledge he was passing to us, and I appreciate it even more as I am learning about Bahamian bush medicine and their uses. “My grandfather was a farmer, so we always had an appreciation for fruit and vegetables and they made up a big part of our diet. Like every good Swiss in the area, I also had a German grandmother. In Schaffhausen, we have a beautiful fortress called Munot, which is a big tourist attraction, as well as the amazing museum Allerheigen. “Growing up, we were allowed to go home for lunch. School would come out at 1pm and resume at 2pm. My father would also come home from work for lunch. This way, the family had a chance to be home together and communicate more. My mother would cook delicious dishes like Rosti and we would sit around the table and laugh and talk. I think they should do something like that here because nowadays, families hardly ever get to communicate with one another.” After graduating high school, Beat did an apprenticeship in banking. In his home land, apprenticeships are well-respected, just as much as university degrees. During this time, he also worked and saved money to finance his own education, as his parents, Albert and Hedi Schlagenhauf, were a modest, middle-class couple with four children and could not afford to send him. Initially, Beat took off for Paris to learn French for a year, and then he went to Oxford in England for a year to learn to speak English. In Switzerland, one was required to attend military school until age 30. So, he participated in the ground course (three months) and returned
several times for additional training until he reached the rank of captain and was responsible for 200 soldiers. Zurich, Switzerland was next in high sights and he attended university while working. He worked as a waiter and was so good at it that he received high recommendations for his excellent level of service. He also worked as an employee at the post office to continue to pay for his education. While his fellow classmates could lodge at the school, Beat had to take a one-hour train back home to Schaffhausen every evening and sleep at home, because the funds were simply not there. After graduating, Beat was offered a position at one of the most illustrious banks in the country – Rothschild Bank. He moved up the ranks but says he remained humble. “It was a very tough experience, but I learned a lot,” he shared. “I was honest, hard working and trustworthy. Where I come from, people said what they meant and they could be trusted for their word. But as I began to face the real world when I started working, I learned that not everyone is honest. They were hard life lessons but I maintained that I would keep my word and never consider myself better than anyone.” He told me that from a very young age, he learned to respect all races, because his father would often bring home friends and business colleagues from other races and cultures. They would eat dinner with his family and it was engrained in him that all human beings should be respected. After nine years at Rothschild, Beat felt compelled to open his own company – Schlagenhauf and Partners Portfolio Management – a company which is still in existence today. But the slew of laws that changed the financial landscape around the world about a decade ago affected his business as well. He downsized and faced a decision – should he go to Dubai or The Bahamas? He chose to come here. “I was very fortunate to travel to the best places in the world in my life,” he said. “I have seen so many beautiful spots; but none of them I felt like I wanted to stay in more than four or five days. I decided that I want to create a place where persons like me – well travelled – would visit and not want to leave. They would want to stay two or three weeks. I want them to become fascinated, as I am, by the beauty of the island of Eleuthera and the people.”
THE TRIBUNE
Tuesday, July 3, 2018, PAGE 9
JULIAN STEWART, left, 29, and Kevin Cambridge, 26, both of Colebrooke Street, Harbour Island, outside court yesterday.
Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
TWO ACCUSED OF SEX ATTACK ON TOURISTS from page one
According to initial reports from police, sometime around midnight and 2am on the date in question, the girls were on a beach
when they were allegedly indecently assaulted by the two Bahamian men. The men, residents of the island, were later taken into custody. Neither man was required to enter a plea to
the charges and the matter was adjourned to September 12 for service of a voluntary bill of indictment (VBI). Bail was denied and they were remanded to the Bahamas Department
Sentence in child molester case prompts legal rethink By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net THE Office of the Attorney General is considering reviewing the law as it relates to cases that are inappropriately charged, to allow officials to use their discretion to give tougher penalties where warranted. This comes as activists are calling for stiffer penalties for child molesters after a Magistrate’s Court sentenced a man to two and a half years in prison for molesting an 11-year-old girl. The man was convicted of indecent assault on June 25, The Nassau Guardian reported, saying the maximum sentence he could have received was three years. RISE Bahamas director Terneille Burrows described the verdict as “troubling”. “This is a very troubling verdict and I’m not sure what the justification is for such low sentences for crimes against children,” she said. Ms Burrows also said that a convicted sex offender registry might have helped prevent the assault from
occurring in the first place. When contacted, Attorney General Carl Bethel said the issue lies with the case being “inappropriately charged” in a Magistrate’s Court in the first place. Mr Bethel discussed the matter with The Tribune yesterday, while emphasising that he was not attorney general at the time the charges were brought and is making a judgment in “hindsight”. Calling the offence “a serious matter,” Mr Bethel said in his view, it ought to have been brought “at an indictable level,” as opposed to a Magistrate’s Court which sees more “minor offences”. “The provisions under which he’s charged are summary, which are inherently by nature of the difference between a summary and an indictable provision in the law intended to apply to less minor offences,” Mr Bethel said. “Whereas this seems to have been a very serious offence, which was charged, in my view it seems to me, under an inappropriate section of the law. “And, therefore, provisions in the law that were clearly intended to apply to minor offences of that
nature, not one as serious as this. This serious charge was brought under that provision. I do not know why, I was obviously not attorney general (at the time).” Mr Bethel also said that his office will look into creating provisions in the law that will allow for more serious offences to be charged under a “higher penalty”. “Be that as it may, while Magistrate’s Court offences are generally speaking supposed to be the more minor offences…we may have to look at whether or not we put a discretion in there to cover situations like this going forward,” Mr Bethel said. Mr Bethel added that the possibility of such a change would have to be reviewed by the Office of the Attorney General to determine whether or not “we could put in some kind of provision that even though a matter may have been charged at that level that in the circumstances that the facts show it to be more serious than it was thought, then a higher penalty could be invoked. “So that’s something that my people will look at,” he said. “But I can’t change what happened in the past.”
TWO IN HOSPITAL AFTER BEING SHOT IN CAR TWO men are in hospital after they were shot during an incident on Wellington Street, police said. The victims were sitting in a car in front of a home
near St Vincent Road when two men approached, who opened fire. The incident occurred shortly before 10pm. The men were able to
drive to a police station and were taken to hospital via ambulance, where they are listed in stable condition. Investigations are ongoing.
of Correctional Services (BDCS) in the interim. However, they have the right to apply to the Supreme Court for bail. Meanwhile, 20-year-old Ahkeil Tynes, of Pineyard Road, was arraigned before
the deputy chief magistrate charged with having unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl sometime during February 2016. Tynes was not required to enter a plea to the charges
and the case was adjourned to September 12 for service of a VBI. Bail was denied and he too was remanded in the interim. He has the right to apply to the Supreme Court for bail.
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PAGE 10, Tuesday, July 3, 2018
THE TRIBUNE
Christian Council ‘won’t fight’ Sands over free condoms plan By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net BAHAMAS Christian Council President Delton Fernander said the organisation will not challenge Health Minister Dr Duane Sands over any plans to provide free contraceptives for students. In an interview with The Tribune yesterday, Mr Fernander insisted that both the church and government had roles to play in the push to eradicate the spread of HIV. He noted that while the church’s collective message continues to be abstinence, his organisation does not intend to take on an adversarial position to Dr Sands’ stance. “The church, through the council, has been committed with UNESCO to do its part in the fights against the spread of HIV,” Bishop Fernander said. “I don’t know if he was aware of that, but we have been doing a lot of work here and home and throughout the region to aid in this message. “Our position is abstinence and we will not move away from that, but in a fight this big, we all have roles to play. “Obviously, from a counselling standpoint, there is an age at which you can’t start to present sexual
MINISTER of Health Dr Duane Sands at the HIV testing day on Friday at Victoria Gardens. Photo: Terrel W Carey/Tribune Staff education and the availabil- “bubble”, where Bahami- said. “revisited” and assessed ans “pretend like they don’t Dr Sands added that “critically” to be brought in ity of condoms. “But we are not going to have sex”, and if they do, he believes a revamped line with reality. lecture the government on they act as if “it’s always approach to HIV preven“Sex education in tion and treatment inclusive schools? Absolutely. Availthis. We are committed to responsible or protected”. “We see a significant of sex education and free ability for condoms in doing our part, and it seems that the government is com- number of teen pregnan- contraceptives for students schools for free? Absomitted to what they have to cies, and we’re not only is “the way to go”. lutely,” Dr Sands said last seeing HIV, but syphilis, The minister also said week. do.” chlamydia, the “social approaches” At an HIV testing event gonorrhea, “When we start to get over the into what exactly we do in on Friday, Dr Sands said herpes and other sexually employed the country is living in a transmitted infections,” he last decade need to be the schools and how we
liberalise access to birth control and other types of family planning tools, it is really going to get hot because you’re going to buck heads with a number of individuals who feel that maybe we’re pushing an agenda which is going to encourage promiscuity,” he explained. Earlier this year, it was reported The Bahamas was ranked as having the highest prevalence of HIV in the world outside of SubSaharan Africa. According to the “Global AIDS Monitoring Report: 2017”, released by the Ministry of Health, at the end of 2015, 8,667 people were listed as living with HIV in The Bahamas. “This means that roughly one in 50 persons in The Bahamas in 2015 was HIV positive,” the report says. However, that same year 226 people were diagnosed with HIV – a 43 percent drop from 2006, when 396 people were diagnosed. Despite the drop, The Bahamas still ranks 17th in the world for HIV/AIDS adult prevalence rate, according to statistics by Index Mundi. This puts the country below states such as South Africa (four), Kenya (12) and Tanzania (13) but above Rwanda (20) and Nigeria (21). The Bahamas also has the highest rate in the region.
PAIR JAILED WHO KILLED BAHAMIAN BOAT CAPTAIN AND THREW HIM TO THE SHARKS By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net
TWO men from the Republic of Georgia who stole a charter boat from Grand Bahama, stabbed
a Bahamian captain and threw him overboard in shark-infested waters two years ago to smuggle two
Brazilian men to South Florida have been sentenced to prison by a US federal judge.
Bahamians Warren Miller, who was captaining the vessel and had to swim hours back to shore with a stab injury, and Philip Kemp, the owner of the vessel, went to Florida to attend the federal court proceedings on June 21. Avoiding a trial, Giorgi Abrakharia, 37, and Giorgi Kokuashvili, 41, accepted a plea agreement and were sentenced to six years while a third man, Mikheil Gogiashvili, was sentenced to three years, on one count each of smuggling a person into the US for financial gain. Had they chosen to go to trial, they were facing 40 years in prison if found guilty. The Royal Bahamas Police Force in Grand Bahama was also investigating the matter and had released missing person posters of both Abrakharia and Kokuashvili and the two Brazilians. According to federal court documents, the two men had ridden rented boats from Boynton Beach, Florida to Freeport, Bahamas on September 25, 2016. US Attorney Emily Rose wrote in a February 21 plea agreement that the vessels were not returned. Abrakharia, Kokuashvili and the two Brazilian men, who were not identified in court documents, boarded a rented 26-ft, 1996 Regulator boat with two 250-hp Evinrude engines. Shortly after leaving Freeport, they pushed the captain off the boat. When Mr Miller attempted to get back onboard, the Georgians pushed him away and stabbed him in the arm. The boat’s Freeport owner told The Tribune
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that Mr Miller was abandoned in shark-infested waters and had to swim for hours back to shore. He said Mr Miller, who is a native of Grand Cay, is a strong swimmer. “He told me he heard his mother saying to him, ‘Warren, you can make it,’” he recalled. Mr Kemp said Mr Miller reported the incident to Grand Bahama police. According to court documents, the four men were captured on security camera footage from the Sailfish Marina in Palm Beach County as they got off the boat and walked toward the marina’s parking lot at 4.18pm the same day they left Freeport on September 27, 2016. According to the narrative in the plea agreement, the four men had taken a cab to a CVS drugstore in Boca Raton, where Gogiashvili picked them up in a black BMW sedan. The four men drove to a hotel in Broward County, where they stayed until one of the Brazilian men’s brothers sent an associate with $12,000 in cash to pay the smugglers. Court records indicated that Gogiashvili’s Bank of America records also recorded two cash payments totalling $11,000 on September 28. The prosecutor said that the money was payment from the other Brazilian’s family. The case was investigated by agents with US Homeland Security after the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office received a report about an abandoned vessel at the Sailfish Marina. Mr Kemp eventually got his vessel back but lost some $5,000 in equipment. He also spent an additional $5,000 travelling back and forth to Palm Beach to get things sorted out with the vessel, and had to pay to keep it in storage until he could sail it back to Freeport. It is not known whether the men would be extradited to the Bahamas to face charges in connection with the stealing and stabbing of Mr Miller. The Tribune attempted to contact Mr Miller for comment, but he could not be reached up to press time.
THE TRIBUNE
INSPIRATIONAL MOMENT AS BAHAMIAN LEADS ROTARY
Tuesday, July 3, 2018, PAGE 11
Barry Rassin became the 108th president of Rotary International on July 1, the first person from The Bahamas and the Caribbean region to hold this office. Close to 100 Rotarians from the Bahamas joined over 25,000 people from more than 175 countries at the Rotary International conference in Toronto at which Mr Rassin was introduced as the new president. His 2018-19 presidential theme is “Be the Inspiration”. During his speech at the Air Canada Centre he stressed the importance of building sustainability in every project and initiative Rotary clubs and districts conduct. “We need to look in all our areas of focus and every one of our projects through the lens of sustainability,” he said. He also stressed the importance of inspiring younger generations through focusing on strengthening Rotaract clubs, the arm of Rotary that promotes leadership and service among young adults aged 18-30. Speakers at the four-day convention included Princess Anne, former Prime Minister of New Zealand Helen Clark and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Rotary connects 1.2 million members from more than 200 countries and geographical areas. Their work impacts lives at both the local and international levels, from helping families in need in their own communities to working toward a polio-free world.
BARRY RASSIN, top, at the closing ceremony of the Rotary International Convention on June 27 in Toronto, Canada and, above right, he is pictured with his wife, Esther, at the event.
PAGE 12, Tuesday, July 3, 2018
THE TRIBUNE
A RESCUER makes his way down at the entrance to a cave complex where 12 boys and their soccer coach went missing, in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai province, in northern Thailand, yesterday. Photo: Sakchai Lalit/AP
Football team boys found alive in cave MAE SAI, Thailand Associated Press RESCUERS found all 12 boys and their soccer coach alive deep inside a partially flooded cave in northern Thailand late on Monday, more than a week after they disappeared and touched off a desperate search that drew international help and captivated the nation. Video released early Tuesday by the Thai navy showed the boys in their soccer uniforms sitting on a dry area inside the cave above the water as a spotlight, apparently from a rescuer, illuminated their faces. Chiang Rai provincial Governor Narongsak Osatanakorn said the 13 were in the process of being rescued, but he cautioned that they were not out of danger yet. “We found them safe. But the operation isn’t over,” he said in comments broadcast nationwide, referring to the complicated process of extricating them. Family members of the missing hugged each other as they cheered the news. Aisha Wiboonrungrueng, the mother of 11-year-old Chanin Wiboonrungrueng, smiled and hugged her family as news of their discovery spread. She said she would cook her son a Thai fried omelet, his favorite food, when he returns home. Rescue divers had spent much of Monday making preparations for a final push to locate the lost soccer players, aged 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old coach. They disappeared when flooding trapped them after entering the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Chiang Rai on June 23. Narongsak said the divers located the missing about 300-400 meters (yards) past a section of the cave that was on higher ground and was thought to be where the team members and their coach may have taken shelter. “When the medics have evaluated the kids to see if their health is in good condition, we will care for them until they have enough strength to move by themselves, and then we will evaluate the situation on bringing them out again
later,” Narongsak said. In the five-minute navy video, the boys are quiet as they sit on their haunches, legs bent in front of them. They are clad in the uniforms they apparently were wearing on the morning they disappeared in the cave. “You are very strong,” one of the rescuers says to them in English. One of them asks what day it is, and the rescuer responds, “Monday. Monday. You have been here — ten days. One of the boys, noticing the camera and hearing words they don’t immediately understand, says in Thai, “Oh, they want to take a picture; tell him we’re hungry. I haven’t had anything to eat.” Then the boy breaks into simple English, saying, “Eat, eat, eat,” to which another voice responds in Thai that he already told that to the rescuer. Anmar Mirza, a leading American cave rescue expert, said many challenges remain for the rescuers. He said the primary decision is whether to try to evacuate the boys and their coach or to supply them in place. “Supplying them on site may face challenges depending on how difficult the dives are,” Mirza, coordinator of the US National Cave Rescue Commission, said in an email. “Trying to take non-divers through a cave is one of the most dangerous situations possible, even if the dives are relatively easy. That also begets the question: If the dives are difficult then supply will be difficult, but the risk of trying to dive them out is also exponentially greater.” Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha thanked the international experts and rescuers who helped locate the missing for their “tremendous efforts.” “The Royal Thai Government and the Thai people are grateful for this support and cooperation, and we all wish the team a safe and speedy recovery,” Prayuth’s office said in a statement. Thai navy SEAL divers and rescue workers from other countries had made initial progress through a narrow passageway early Monday after passing through a key chamber on
Sunday whose high, murky waters had previously blocked their progress. Gov Narongsak had said earlier the passageway goes upward in some places and downward in others and is very narrow, making it difficult for divers and their gear to fit through. Divers have been stymied repeatedly by rising water that forced them to withdraw for safety reasons. When water levels fell Sunday, the divers went forward with a more methodical approach, deploying a rope line and extra oxygen supplies along the way. The SEALs’ Facebook page said that since Sunday night, the divers had reached a bend where the kilometerlong (half-mile) passage splits in two directions. The divers were aiming for a sandy chamber on higher ground in the cave. Narongsak explained early Monday that fixing rope lines and deploying oxygen tanks along their route will allow the divers to operate. In addition to the divers, teams have been working to pump out water as well as divert groundwater. Other efforts have focused on finding shafts on the mountainside that might serve as a back door to the blockedoff areas. Teams have been combing the mountainside looking for fissure that might lead to such shafts. Several have been found and explorers have been able to descend into some. Experts in cave rescues from around the world had gathered at the site. An official Australian group has followed a US military team, British cave experts, Chinese lifesaving responders and several other volunteer groups from various countries. “These are challenging conditions and there’s a lot of consideration for safety as well as, the environment outside is contributing to the environment inside,” said US Air Force Capt. Jessica Tait, part of a 30-member US military team assisting in the search, referring to the rain that has been flooding the cave. “So I’d say, yeah, it’s an accurate statement that it’s challenging.”
IN this grab taken from video provided by the Thai Navy Seals, a view of the boys and their soccer coach as they are rescued in a cave, in Chiang Rai in Thailand, yesterday. Rescuers found all 12 boys and their soccer coach alive deep inside a partially flooded cave.