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Police quiz Gibson on hurricane czar role By SANCHESKA DORSETT Tribune Staff Reporter sdorsett@tribunemedia.net FORMER Minister of Labour and National Insurance Shane Gibson was taken into police custody yesterday afternoon, after voluntarily presenting himself to the Central Detective Unit to assist officers with an ongoing investigation, The Tribune understands. Mr Gibson was expected to be held overnight and a decision should be made by noon today as to whether he will be released or arraigned in court in relation to the in-
vestigation, according to attorney Wayne Munroe, QC. Mr Munroe, who said he is one of Mr Gibson’s lawyers, confirmed the former member of Parliament for Golden Gates was being questioned by members of the Anti-Corruption Unit around 9.30 am in relation to Mr Gibson’s time serving as hurricane czar after the passage of Hurricane Matthew. “Knowing these folk, I figured they were going to keep him overnight (Wednesday),” Mr Munroe told The Tribune. “I am not sure why he is being questioned. I am
told it has to do with his time dealing with the hurricane. What I do know is, if you are going to question someone who was in charge of a ministry, you should at least let them know so they could get the records they need to assist you. “I do not think it has anything to do with the National Insurance Board because it is run by an executive chairman, so I imagine it would be from his time as the hurricane czar because you have people doing all sorts of shenanigans during a hurricane. SEE PAGE SIX
DETAINEE STUCK IN NEW HIRES LAID OFF LIMBO FOR DECADE AT TOURISM MINISTRY By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net A STATELESS man of Cuban descent, who served in the US Navy, has been held at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre for more than a decade, one of several migrants in limbo at the facility, The Tribune was told.
Immigration Director William Pratt confirmed to The Tribune at least five migrants were being held at CRDC indefinitely as the government works to regularise their status. Mr Pratt could not provide an exact figure during an interview with SEE PAGE FIVE
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Minister of Tourism yesterday blasted the former government for forcing him to lay-off new hires, describing the decision as “gut wrenching”. Dionisio D’Aguilar
Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper
slammed what he described as “political expediency” in the Christie administration’s decision to hire 22 persons at the Ministry of Tourism within the two months prior to the May 10 general election, disclosing that this added $750,000 to the annual wage bill. FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS
PAGE 2, Thursday, August 3, 2017
THE TRIBUNE
INNER CITY STUDENTS MEET CHINESE AMBASSADOR
THE children of Globally Competent Summer Explosion at Atlantic College with their teachers Dr Melony Thompson and Marilyn Smith pose with Chinese Ambassador Huang Qinguo.
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A GROUP of inner city youths from the summer school programme called Globally Competent Summer Explosion at Atlantic College paid a courtesy call on Ambassador Huang Qinguo of the People’s Republic of China at the embassy in Nassau. Dr Melony Thompson, coordinator of the summer school programme, took the children to the embassy as part of their overall studies. Since they couldn’t travel to China, Dr Thompson got permission for a courtesy call so that the young people could be exposed to China through the embassy. “It was a wonderful experience for them as they had never been to any embassy and to see some of the inner workings of the Chinese here in The Bahamas was really cool”, said Dr Thompson. “They can’t wait to see what’s next.” Globally Competent Summer Explosion at Atlantic College was started this summer to offer young people, especially in the inner city an exposure to the world. Dr R E Cooper Jr, founder of Atlantic College was supportive of the initiative and the opportunities offered the children in the Grant’s Town area. Dr Thompson, who has
visited China several times and had an opportunity to attend the Confucius Institute in China, thought that this would be an excellent outing to help broaden their global view. Dr Thompson believes children should have a global perspective. “We live in a world that is now open to us no matter where you are in life. With the age of technology we can visit all countries and find out about them
DR Melony Thompson thanks Ambassador Huang Qinguo for allowing the inner city children to visit the Chinese embassy. and their culture,” said Dr Thompson. “That’s why it was important for us to visit the Chinese embassy and allow them to see that what they saw on the computer is actually what’s taking place in these countries.”
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, August 3, 2017, PAGE 3 DONNA VASYLI, 56, making a return appearance before Justice Bernard Turner for a bail hearing yesterday. The bail hearing was deferred. Photo: Terrel W. Carey/ Tribune Staff
Vasyli to hear today over bail
By LAMECH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter ljohnson@tribunemedia.net
DONNA Vasyli will learn today whether she will be released on bail ahead of her retrial on a murder charge. Her retrial is scheduled for January 29, 2018, The Tribune understands. Vasyli, 56, and her lawyers Murrio Ducille and Elliot Lockhart, QC, appeared before Justice Bernard Turner yesterday afternoon seeking a bond for the Australian widow a week after the Court of Appeal overturned a Supreme Court jury’s verdict concerning the March 24, 2015 murder of her millionaire podiatrist husband, Phillip Vasyli. Though the bail hearing was held in chambers, The Tribune understands that Crown prosecutors Algernon Allen II and Destiny McKinney intended to oppose the application. This was confirmed by Mr Ducille to reporters outside of court nearly an hour after the scheduled hearing.
“They’re objecting,” he said. When probed on the basis’ argued by the Crown, the veteran lawyer said: “They objected on the basis that she’s a flight risk and previous happenings have shown that is really not a valid reason. “She has substantial connections, had been on bail, and she adhered to the conditions strictly to the bail, so therefore that argument really cannot hold water because her previous conduct is suggestive of the fact that she has nowhere to go, the Bahamas is her home. “She has made it clear that she’s ready, willing and able to face her accusers, and she has nothing to do but show up for her trial, her retrial, in fact, when it comes,” Mr Ducille added. Vasyli was initially convicted in October 2015 of the stabbing death of her husband at their home in the exclusive gated community of Old Fort Bay. At her trial before Senior Justice Stephen Isaacs,
the jury saw Vasyli’s videotaped interview while she was in police custody. During that interrogation, a police officer suggested to the widow that she stabbed her husband for embarrassing her in front of houseguests while he was drunk. She strongly denied the accusation in the presence of her lawyers at the time, Mr Lockhart, QC, and Judith Whitehead. During that interview, Vasyli told police her husband had been drinking and fell down the stairs – shattering glass from picture frames along the way – hours before his dead body was found. She added he was walking around the house looking “disgusting” with his pants hanging down even though she told him guests were coming. However, she said, she did not argue with her husband. She was subsequently sentenced to 20 years in prison. On Tuesday of last week, the appellate court handed down a 71-page judgement in which they quashed the
conviction and remitted the case back to Supreme Court for retrial. Court of Appeal President Justice Dame Anita Allen was of the view that the jury was possibly left with the impression, as suggested by counsel for the prosecution in its closing address, that the appellant lied about her clothing and the functionality of the cameras to conceal the murder of her husband. This, she said, resulted in a clear danger that the jury might regard the lies of the appellant as probative of her guilt and warranted the judge to give a Lucas direction on the significance of lies. Justice Jon Isaacs expressed concern that manslaughter by provocation was not left to the jury as an option while Justice Stella Crane-Scott dissented on the necessity of a retrial entirely given the inconclusive state of the circumstantial evidence. However, her colleagues believed a retrial was in the interest of justice.
TEENAGE MURDER SUSPECT DENIED BAIL By LAMECH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter ljohnson@tribunemedia.net
A 19-YEAR-OLD awaiting trial on a murder charge had his bail application rejected in Supreme Court yesterday. Shawn McPhee and his lawyer Calvin Seymour appeared before Senior Justice Stephen Isaacs seeking pre-trial release ahead of McPhee’s October 10 trial before Justice Bernard Turner. However, Crown prosecutor Maria Zancolla requested an adjournment to August 2 to prepare an affidavit in response to the application filed by McPhee.
Seymour argued his client is a fit candidate for bail as he stressed that his client maintains his innocence. Ms Zancolla, in response, objected to bail on the seriousness of the offence and that there was no unreasonable delay in the matter which is two months away. The judge did not grant McPhee’s request and rejected the application. However, he can appeal the rejection to the Court of Appeal. McPhee, and a 16-yearold, both of Nassau Village, face a charge of murder concerning the February 13, 2016 death of Cyril Cartwright. It is alleged that the pair intentionally and unlawful-
ly caused his death. According to initial police reports, Cartwright was stabbed while in the area of Sumner Street following an argument with another man. When officers arrived, they found the lifeless body
of a man with multiple stab wounds in his body. He was pronounced dead at the scene. While McPhee’s juvenile co-accused was released on bail last year, he remains in custody at the Department of Correctional Services.
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PAGE 4, Thursday, August 3, 2017
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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Suddenly US Foreign Relations remembers The Bahamas NOW that the Republicans are back in power they have suddenly awakened to the fact that their sphere of influence is quietly being infiltrated by Beijing and their control of their own Caribbean Basin is slowly slipping away. The US Embassy has been well represented by its Chargé d’Affaires, but the Bahamas has not had a resident US Ambassador since 2011. In June 2014 President Obama appointed Cassandra Butts, 50, to the post, but the short-sighted Republicans held up the appointment. In the meantime Ms Butts died – and that was the end of the matter. Now suddenly Florida Senator Marco Rubio, chairman of the US Foreign Relations Committee, realises that the Chinese made a $2.1bn proposal for Andros’ fishing waters, and that our then PLP Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries gave our then Bahamas ambassador to China permission to have discussions about the proposal with his Chinese counterpart. On learning of this before any deal could be sealed, Bahamians were so upset and vocal on the matter that the proposal was aborted. This proposal came up again this week at the Foreign Relations committee’s hearing for the appointment at long last of a US Ambassador to The Bahamas. Now Mr Rubio has suddenly realised that without a doubt that the matter is “concerning” because of Florida’s proximity to The Bahamas. The senator is rather slow in coming to this conclusion. For some time now, this newspaper has been attempting to draw attention to what is happening in our mutual waters — especially in view of the US’s AUTEC base on Andros. We now invite the Senators to spin the globe and find the Panama Canal in the Pacific Ocean leading into the Caribbean Sea. Here the Chinese are well established by the same companies that are in Freeport, and Baha Mar in Nassau. The Andros fishing proposal with the Chinese was only one of many proposals mentioned over the past few years. But the Republicans had become so inward-looking that they seemed to forget their borders and while they were arguing with their Democratic counterparts, the clever Chinese have been stealthily making inroads. Now Mr Rubio has pointed out that if the Bahamas ever leased its waters to the Chinese it would negatively impact US-Bahamas relations. He wanted to know how the proposed ambassador to The Bahamas would approach this matter should it arise under his watch. We do not think that he would even have to consider it. Bahami-
ans have already settled the matter and we are satisfied that the present government is sufficiently concerned that it would not even entertain the thought. We wonder it the US realises that in 2015 former prime minister Perry Christie announced that he had plans to request funding from China to support the national budget, and refinance and restructure the country’s debt. His proposal was to acquire funds from a US$3bn dollar investment fund, which had been newly established by China to finance cash-strapped Central and Eastern European countries. Mr Christie made his announcement at the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States forum meeting in Beijing about two years ago. At that meeting apparently, he gave assurances that The Bahamas government would promote opportunities for investment in the energy sector, gas exploration, mining, forestry, tourism, airline services, financial services, agriculture and fisheries. However, after the experience with Baha Mar and the confusion created by the Export-Import Bank of China and its partner, the Chinese Construction Company, we hope this romance is now over. Certainly it is over now that the PLP government has been removed from office. Mr Doug Manchester, who has been proposed as the new ambassador, is the former publisher of The San Diego Union-Tribune. He has been described as a “leading industrialist with accomplishments on a national and international scale— in several industries.” An article announcing his appointment describes the diplomatic relationship between the Bahamas as “warm but not well watched.” It is understood that Mr Manchester has a home in the Lyford Cay area and will be in a position to do the watching. “I really do believe that the presence of Homeland Security and our Coast Guard off the shore and all of what we’re doing to protect the Bahamas really needs to be continually emphasised to the Bahamian government, even though China has in fact made a significant economic contribution to the Commonwealth of The Bahamas in the form of hotels (and) resorts,” Mr Manchester told the Foreign Relations Committee. We do not think that Bahamians need this reminder. However, Americans should be reminded that we are friends off their shores and our interests should also be protected.
Questions for the govt EDITOR, The Tribune. THERE are issues of far greater concern. What plans does the government have to reduce unemployment in The Bahamas? Has the government realised yet that it might be able to increase employment among Bahamians if immigrants working in this country illegally were repatriated? Does the government still plan to borrow $722m? How does it intend to pay it back and reduce the National debt? Can the present government advise the population
of how much it has collected in VAT so far and how those proceeds will be spent? Does government intend to increase VAT rates or impose another form of taxation to raise revenue? Most of this country’s tourism product is under Chinese influence, how does the government intend to act in the best interest of Bahamians? Does the government really intend to expand the services of NHI even though they do not know how they will pay for it? When can we expect the
Prime Minister to begin to enforce the death penalty? These are only a few of the important issues that need to be addressed. I won’t even touch the ‘numbers’ issue. Already, the new administration seems to flounder, the goodwill capital they inherited almost spent. On the campaign trail the FNM said they had a plan. It’s time to put up or shut up. Get down to doing the people’s business. JB Nassau, July 13, 2017.
Sports and politics EDITOR, The Tribune. IT’S easy to see why politicians love sports champions and celebrities. But all too often we are left wondering if the affection is reciprocated. One of the rituals of being Governor General or Prime Minister is the protocol of the courtesy call. The GG or the PM receives the invited guests for what the press calls a “photo opportunity”. Previous generations of Bahamians are familiar with the term “church clothes”. To dress up in your finest threads is a mark of respect for the place you are going to and for the people you will meet when you get there. Outside of the actual church there are few occasions more deserving of church clothes than an invitation to attend Her Excellency at Government House or a visit to the Office of the Prime Minister. Today there seems to be no difference between church clothes and street clothes and presumably anything goes when you are a star. The same people who would automatically wear a jacket or a cocktail gown to go and pay for a meal at Graycliff restaurant, seemingly think nothing of moseying down to the Prime Minister’s Office in T-shirt and blue jeans to call on the Prime Minister. Where are the manners? Where’s the self-respect? Better still, where is the chief of protocol for the Prime Minister when these
LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net people show up? An invitation from the Prime Minister’s Office must contain guidance on what the expected dress code is. There must be some discretion in enforcing that code as sometimes suit and tie or even smart casual wear could place hardship or expense on an invitee. Recently basketball superstar Buddy Hield, a man who has done us all proud, went calling on the Prime Minister making a fashion statement that might best be described as hipster chic. Jeans, T-shirt and what looked like a shirt tied around his waist. The Prime Minister was most gracious to receive him, of course, and the two hammed it up for the cameras. Mr. Hield runs local basketball camps for kids and for that he is to be highly commended. But he should have been turned away at OPM in those clothes. He certainly wouldn’t show up at the White House like that so why disrespect his own Executive Office? Again, the receptors in the lobby of OPM should stop being star-struck for a moment and stick to a sensible protocol for people who can afford to dress appropriately. What is appropriate depends on the occasion and the person. School children in uniform is not only appropriate but highly pho-
togenic. Senior citizens however they are dressed have earned the Prime Minister’s respect and should be allowed access as they come. But few of them would show up looking like gaulin. I don’t advocate that the PM’s protocol officers become fashion police. You didn’t have to always agree with the fashion choices of the late Frank Hanna, but you had to agree that the man had class and style in whatever he turned up in. But blue jeans, T-shirts, tennis shoes and flip-flops should be on the no-go list. The ultimate people’s house sits atop Mount Fitzwilliam and they seem to have gotten their act together on a dress code to enter the property for direct or indirect encounters with the Governor General. Once TV and newspaper audiences get used to seeing people in yard clothes accepted at Government House or OPM they will think that is the norm. Let’s not reduce our standards to meet today’s laissez-faire attitudes and dress code. Let’s maintain high standards in the highest offices in the land. And just for a laugh try to imagine the stern lecture that would have befallen the unfortunate soul in blue jeans who might have crossed the path of the late Canon William Thompson in an official receiving line at Government House or OPM. Lord help him. THE GRADUATE Nassau, August 2, 2017.
Christian Council land EDITOR, The Tribune. WHY on earth does The Bahamas Christian Council think that they need a building for themselves, and why more serious does this new Government think the BCC should be granted Crown property? Firstly, the BCC does not allow any Church group, who are subject to external Administration or governance, which therefore excludes the Anglicans, Roman Catholics, certainly a few of the Bap-
tist Faiths and others. Prime Minister probably more than 50% of practising Christians. When last did you ever hear of an Anglican or a Roman Catholic cleric was Head of the BCC? Never and it will never happen, although together they are the largest denominations. Each small Baptist Church has a vote equal to the one of the Anglicans and one of the Roman Catholics. Prime Minister no to granting the BCC some Crown property. They bet-
ter concentrate on feeding and converting, rather than building palaces! Lastly, does the BCC have the approval of the full membership? Their Constitution requires of them to advise when and if any denomination, a member of BCC, disagrees with any policy decision of the BCC. Who agrees with this worthless project? No land for the BCC! W THOMPSON Nassau, August 2, 2017.
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, August 3, 2017, PAGE 5
Detainee stuck in limbo for decade from page one The Tribune yesterday, but estimated the number of migrants currently experiencing long-term detention was between five and seven persons. The estimated cost of housing migrants at the CRDC is $30 per migrant per day, according to Mr Pratt, who told The Tribune that the sum was calculated several years ago and likely outdated. Under Bahamian law, there is no provision for the long-term detention of persons without formal charge by the courts. Under the Penal Code, police are able to hold a person for questioning for up to 48 hours and then petition the courts for an extension up to four days. The Tribune was unable to obtain confirmation on individual cases from the government; however, legal counsel for several migrants at the facility confirmed lengthy detention times exceeding five years. In the case of the retired US marine, he was first detained in 2004, and later released in 2008. The man applied for status, but was unable to obtain a Cuban passport, and was subsequently denied a Bahamian work permit. According to his lawyer, who requested anonymity, the stateless man was picked up a year after his initial release and is still
detained at the Carmichael Road compound. “He was born in Cuba and was taken to the US when he was a baby, like months old,” the lawyer from the firm of Callenders and Co said. “He’s a retired marine lieutenant in the US Navy. He always had a green card, but never applied for citizenship because he needed background information.” The lawyer said the detainee in question lost his green card when he was initially picked up and it is likely expired by now. “They tried to get it from Cuba but couldn’t so they have no record of his birth. He wants to stay in The Bahamas, because he’s found love here but all of his family is in Florida. He has health issues, and needs urgent surgery on his back.” The lawyer added: “People get lost in the system all the time, because of the large numbers. It’s a very ugly system.” Another case involves a Kenyan man who applied for a work permit after his marriage broke down after two years. The work permit was denied, and he has been held at the detention centre since 2011, according to the lawyer. In another case, a Gambian man who is an amputee is said to have been detained at the Carmichael Road compound since 2014. Yesterday, Mr Pratt stressed that the department was working to re-
PEOPLE resting on the floor at the detention centre.
solve the status of all migrants, and said lengthy stays were not indicative of systemic flaws but complex individual cases. “When we pick up people we try our best to get them regularised, so when we release them they are legal,” he said. “It’s useless to pick up someone and release them with no documents. How could you just put people out like that, with no documents, nowhere to live or go? We’re trying to get that sorted out, hopefully all those long-term persons.” Speaking generally, Mr Pratt said: “We have some Cubans there who were previously residents of the United States. They were caught smuggling other Cubans, now the US don’t want them, Cuba don’t want them, so they stuck with us. We were trying to get IOM (International Organisation for Migration) and UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) to assist, we’re working to get them all out. Those who want to go to another country and they get their document, they’re free to go to another country. “If any Bahamian wishes to offer sponsorship then they are free to come forward. It has to be someone saying I’m willing to take this person in and be accountable for them.” He continued: “We had Cubans who were granted refugee status here and they vanish from The Bahamas. If they were granted refugee status, and we give them temporary status here and if they smuggle their way to the States they can’t blame The Bahamas government.” Mr Pratt’s statements follow criticisms levelled by former detainees who were, in separate cases, held for more than two years at the facility despite their refugee status with UNHCR. The refugees, who were released last month, recounted a demoralising experience of subsisting with inadequate food, hygiene and housing while struggling to understand their status with no clear explanation of their fate. The allegations raised serious questions about the regulatory framework, or lack thereof, guiding operations at the CRDC,
SOME of those held at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre. specifically as it relates to the medical treatment and mental health of detainees. Yesterday, Mr Pratt declined comment on operations at the facility and instead deferred comment to its Superintendent Peter Joseph. Speaking about the recent release, Mr Pratt said: “They never presented no passport to us, one of those persons, we didn’t know who he was, based on the names he was giving us. We went through (Ministry of) Foreign Affairs, who went through the embassy in Washington, and we could not get no passport for this man. “It’s not the department’s fault the applicants didn’t have any travel documents,” he added. “We follow the UN protocol; our officers are trained to interview persons who want to claim asylum. We make recommendations and send it on to UN to double check it.” “If there is a claim to be granted refugee status, and it is granted, we normally would release them in accordance with UNHCR, and usually what happens is we would turn them over to the Red Cross to house them.” “We do it on a case by case basis,” Mr Pratt said. Taking issue with the characterisation of processing by immigration officials, Mr Pratt yesterday also pushed back against criticisms that his department did not follow the law to obtain a deportation order from the court before repatriating migrants. Mr Pratt said: “If we take them all to the court, it would overwhelm the courts, the court will fine them and they can’t pay the fine, so they’ll stay in
Fox Hill for months and months. “It’s easier and cost effective so they won’t be a further burden on the taxpayers. “We profile them, we question them, they give us this information, we have to check our databank to ensure they don’t have any records with us. “Of course we check, we check our records,” he said. “The name you give us, the place and date of birth, for everyone of foreign descent in the country (Department of) Immigration should have some file or record for them. Once we don’t have no record we consider you an illegal migrant.”
PAGE 6, Thursday, August 3, 2017
THE TRIBUNE
‘Bahamas needs US, not China’
By KHRISNA VIRGIL Deputy Chief Reporter kvirgil@tribunemedia.net THE $2.1bn Chinese fishing proposal for Andros, which placed the former Progressive Liberal Party government in the line of fierce criticism, took centre stage during the United States ambassador to the Bahamas’ confirmation hearing with nominee for the post Doug Manchester saying more US investment is needed in this country. During the United States Committee on Foreign Relations hearing, Chairman Marco Rubio, Republican Florida senator, pointed to the issue as “without doubt concerning” because of Florida’s proximity to The Bahamas. Mr Rubio said if The Bahamas ever leased its waters to the Chinese it would negatively impact US-Bahamas relations. He asked whether Mr Manchester had given any thought to how he would approach this situation should it arise if he is successful in securing the diplomatic post. Mr Manchester said: “I really do believe that the presence of Homeland Security and our Coast Guard off the shore and all of what we’re doing to protect The Bahamas really needs to be
continually emphasised to the Bahamian government, even though China has in fact made a significant economic contribution to the Commonwealth of The Bahamas in the form of hotels (and) resorts. “We just need to encourage more business from America to be there.” He also said: “I already had talks with people in regards to the University of The Bahama(s) and I think there is no reason why we can’t have a medical school there. “I believe with a medical school down there we could in fact encourage some medical instrumentation to be manufactured there and to do everything we possibly can to allow for America’s interests to be appreciated and as a result of being appreciated, certainly protecting our rights with regards to fishing and other security issues.” Last November, the PLP was heavily criticised after reports the former Christie administration gave the green light to its embassy in Beijing to pursue talks of a fishing and agriculture partnership with China. In response, then Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries V Alfred Gray at the time said there was no way, under any circumstance, that the government would
DOUG MANCHESTER, ambassadorial nominee for The Bahamas. give foreigners, no mat- Bahamas and the People’s ter who they are, a licence Republic of China. According to earlier reto fish in The Bahamas. However he also admitted ports, the proposed partto giving The Bahamas am- nership further entailed the bassador to China permis- incorporation of 100 comsion to have the discussions. panies, with the agricultural The controversial pro- products and seafood to be posal reportedly projected used for local consumption, a $2.1bn injection into the and exported to China and local economy over ten the United States for sale. years through an equal The proposal also reportpartnership between The edly included the option to lease 10,000 acres of Crown land in Andros. During the height of the controversy, Mr Gray said he “never spoke with any Chinese” and simply gave the Bahamian Ambassador to China Paul “Andy” Gomez permission to discuss “investments”. Despite the denials from the government, the report prompted Free National
Movement Leader Dr Hubert Minnis, who was then in opposition, to criticise then Prime Minister Perry Christie for his “deafening” silence on the matter. It was not the first time he raised concern on this issue. Last July, while speaking at a rally at Christie Park, Dr Minnis said the government was negotiating with the Chinese for 10,500 acres of land in Andros. Dr Minnis also alleged the proposal was part of the “secret deal” Mr Christie negotiated with the Chinese to remobilise the Baha Mar resort. In November 2016, Mr Christie criticised Dr Minnis for “emotionally exploiting” Bahamians’ anxiety over Chinese investment. In Parliament, Mr Chris-
tie revealed that the previous FNM administration held talks with the People’s Republic of China and private Chinese companies through the Bahamas State Investment Administration Bureau for projects and cooperatives, which included Crown land acquisition. However, he stopped short of tabling the documents to support this, and instead invited Dr Minnis to review the files so that he could be informed without “having to make it into some ridicule of a nation”. As for the $2.1bn Chinese proposal, Mr Christie also said last November that if such a proposal had ever come before his Cabinet, it would have been “rejected outright”.
port for the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender community. Senator Bob Menendez had pointed to Mr Manchester’s previous position regarding this issue, prompting him to state for the record that he was “certainly” in “support (of) gay and lesbian marriage”. In 2008, Mr Manchester donated $125,000 to support a ballot initiative, known as Proposition 8, blocking same-sex marriage in California, according to The New York Times. The newspaper reported the hotelier “donated the money to support the collection of signatures to qualify the initiative, which would amend the state’s constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage” for a vote later in 2008. Earlier this year, ahead of the May 10 general election, several local pastors petitioned US President Donald Trump to revoke any US executive orders and policies that enable the promotion of same-sex marriages in the Caribbean region as part of its foreign policy. The clergymen, including Grace Community Church Pastor Lyall Bethell and Pastor Allen R Lee, president of Teleios Theological Training Institute, in a letter to President Trump claimed that in recent years the policies of the US State Department and other government agencies involved in foreign policy have attempted to “coerce” countries in the Caribbean region into accepting a “mistaken version of marriage.” Pointing to former US President Barack Oba-
ma’s threat last year to pull federal funding from American states over entry to bathroom and locker room access based on gender identity, the pastors claimed this same kind of “coercion” was being used against Caribbean countries to fall in line with the same-sex marriage agenda. Pastors Bethel, Lee and other Bahamian clergymen were signatories to a petition dated January 31, 2017, which also bore the names of 289 clergymen from around the region, including those from Trinidad and Tobago. In response, local, lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) activist Alexus D’Marco said it was with “horror” and “disgust” that the LGBTI community learned of the actions of these Christian ministers. The basis of pastors’ arguments for the criminalisation of homosexuality and opposition to gay marriage has been dispelled and put to rest by the courts in the United States, she said. Same-sex marriage is now legal in the United States. The post of US ambassador to The Bahamas has been vacant since 2011, with the previous nominee Cassandra Q Butts having died as she waited more than two years to be confirmed to the post under the former Obama administration. Ms Butts, 50, died in May last year, but was nominated for the ambassador post in 2014 by former US President Barack Obama. The confirmation was held up by Republicans in the US Senate.
AMBASSADOR PICK SAYS FUTURE IS BRIGHT FOR THE BAHAMAS By KHRISNA VIRGIL Deputy Chief Reporter kvirgil@tribunemedia.net
THE Trump administration’s pick for United States ambassador to The Bahamas, Doug Manchester, seemed to speak favourably of the newly elected Minnis administration yesterday, telling the panel at his Senate hearing “it really looks bright” in The Bahamas. He said officials stationed at the US Embassy in Nassau, including Chargé d’Affaires Lisa Johnson, have said this much in his discussions with them. This was part of his response to a question from Republican Florida Senator Marco Rubio who asked Mr Manchester for his position should The Bahamas’ support “waiver” regarding its vote at the Organisation of American States (OAS) for democracy in Venezuela. He said The Bahamas has consistently voted with the US for this cause. “It’s a new government down there with a new beginning,” Mr Manchester said. “I salute their democracy. They have recently had a great election. New people are coming into power according to all of the people that I have talked to, including our chargé (d’affaires) and our existing embassy staff down there, that it really looks bright and as I said, the greater America becomes the greater benefit it’ll be for The Bahamas.” During the hearing before the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Mr Manchester also insisted he was not antigay, as he expressed sup-
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, August 3, 2017, PAGE 7 CABBAGE Beach is a popular destination for visitors - but an international travel site has warned that The Bahamas is a dangerous place for unaccompanied women to visit.
‘IT’S MORE DANGEROUS IN THE BAHAMAS’ By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter scavella@tribunemedia.net AN international travel site has listed The Bahamas as the sixth out of ten most dangerous places for unaccompanied women travellers to visit. Trip.com, in a recent survey, listed The Bahamas just behind Peru and ahead of Colombia on its “Least Safe Countries for Solo Female Travellers”. The survey noted while women travellers reported “no issues” and encountered “very friendly people” in The Bahamas, it is “better” for them to “stay in populated areas”. The survey was conducted by Trip.com’s Solo Female Travel Team. The story was picked up by popular international business magazine Forbes and published on its website Forbes.com. The Forbes report, however, also used information from a recent US State Department warning over New Providence’s crime rate. In that report, the US State Department lists the criminal threat level for New Providence as “critical,” while also acknowledging an increase in criminal activity in Grand Bahama “this past year”. The report on travel.state. gov also notes the presence of criminal activity on the
Family Islands, albeit stating that they occur “to a much lesser degree than on New Providence or Grand Bahama”. Armed robbery and sexual assault are “major criminal threats” facing US citizens in New Providence, the report said. It also said the US Embassy has received “multiple” reports of tourists being robbed at gunpoint or knifepoint in tourist locations in downtown Nassau. Several of those incidents occurred “during daylight hours,” according to the report. Attempts to reach both Tourism Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar and National Security Minister Marvin Dames for comment on the issue were unsuccessful up to press time. Nonetheless, in March, the Bureau of Diplomatic Security’s Bahamas 2017 Crime and Safety Report classified New Providence as being a “critical” threat location for crime either directed at or affecting official US government interests. Among other things, the US State Department said areas of Nassau referred to as “Over-the-Hill” should be avoided. According to that report, despite 2016 experiencing a 26 per cent drop in serious crimes and 24 per cent fewer murders than 2015’s
record high, New Providence has witnessed violent crimes in locations more commonly frequented by US tourists. In some instances, these incidents resulted in fatalities, the report said. There were 111 murders in 2016 and 146 murders in 2015. The report also noted that criminality and violent crime has increased in Grand Bahama, notably crimes involving the use of machetes. Generally, the report said the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) is receptive to reports of crime and takes threats of crimes against tourists seriously. However, the report said timely police response can be reduced by a “lack of resources” or by the “physical constraints imposed by geography, infrastructure, and traffic.” “Police have limited emergency vehicles, and streets and houses are generally unmarked, inhibiting responders from locating affected residences,” the report said. “To ensure quick response to a residence, victims may have to go to the local police station and provide transportation to the site.” Last month, responding to a controversial video circulating on social media encouraging prospective
visitors to avoid New Providence to preserve their own safety, Mr D’Aguilar said his ministry will “redouble” its marketing efforts to counter the “false information” contained in the video. Still, Mr D’Aguilar admitted that New Providence “is not something that we should be proud of,” adding he is “unimpressed” with the experience cruise visitors have when they arrive at the Port of Nassau. Mr D’Aguilar, in regretting the current state of affairs in New Providence, stressed that “our tourist product needs some work”.
PAGE 8, Thursday, August 3, 2017
THE TRIBUNE
No need for me to say sorry, insists Davis
By SANCHESKA DORSETT Tribune Staff Reporter sdorsett@tribunemedia.net PROGRESSIVE Liberal Party interim Leader Phillip “Brave” Davis said yesterday he “doesn’t understand” calls from Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis for him to tell the nation he is “sorry” about errors made during the Christie administration because neither he nor the PLP did anything “deliberate” to harm the Bahamian people. In an interview with The Tribune, Mr Davis said Dr Minnis should stop asking for an apology because he never promised Dr Minnis one and “so I do not have to give him one”. On Tuesday, Dr Minnis said while he appreciates Mr Davis admitting the opposition party made mistakes during its last term in office, he is still waiting to hear “a real apology”. In an interview with reporters, Dr Minnis said he listened “attentively” to Mr Davis’ address to the nation and said he noticed the words “I am sorry” were missing.
However, he said he understands that Mr Davis is “fighting for his own survival” and may have simply forgotten. On Monday night during a televised national address, Mr Davis admitted the former government was not perfect, made “serious” mistakes and lost the “trust’ of Bahamians, but offered no outright apology for the missteps of the previous Christie administration. Instead he sought to justify the former governing party’s actions saying that during its last term in office the Christie administration was always thinking of the people affected by its policies. “I never promised him an apology, I never promised the prime minister an apology so I don’t have to give him one,” Mr Davis told The Tribune on Wednesday. “What is this issue about being sorry and what is the sorry about? We are all human and we are subject to errors and mistakes. So why do I have to say sorry? Because we did nothing deliberate to harm anyone, we
did not do anything that we thought was not in the best interest of the Bahamian people.” Mr Davis said the PLP made its case to the public for re-election and were “voted out” of office. He said the opposition will spend the next few years ensuring the same mistakes are not repeated when the PLP regains power. “The people convicted us and they sentenced to a maximum of five years,” Mr Davis said. “We are serving our sentence and during this period we will rehabilitate ourselves and trust that we will not make the same mistakes and be better for the Bahamian people.” Despite conceding his party’s mistakes on Monday, Mr Davis also castigated Dr Minnis, saying his national address last week left the Official Opposition “perplexed” and offered no vision, concrete policies or credible plans for taking the country forward. The former governing party was wiped out of office on May 10, only winning four out of 39 seats in the House of Assembly.
OPPOSITION leader Philip ‘Brave’ Davis.
POLICE QUIZ GIBSON ON HURRICANE CZAR ROLE from page one
“I mean if you don’t tell me the scope of (what) the investigations is about, you are not serious about the investigation. These people will do what they will do and all we can do is prepare. I do not know why these men
keep going to the police voluntarily, they would have to come and pick me up,” Mr Munroe added. Lawyer Anthony McKinney, who accompanied Mr Gibson to CDU yesterday morning, said police questioned Mr Gibson for several hours before making the deci-
sion to keep him for a longer period. “He (Mr Gibson) was invited to go to CDU and we did go down as requested,” Mr McKinney told the media. “He has been interviewed, the interview is completed, he is being kept and whatever happens next
is up to the police department.” Mr Gibson is the fourth member of the former Christie administration to be questioned by police since the May 10 general election. Two others, former PLP Senator Frank Smith and former Minister of the En-
vironment Ken Dorsett, have been arraigned in Magistrate’s Court for separate matters. Former Deputy Speaker of the House Dion Smith was also questioned by police and held overnight in late May in connection with an alleged theft probe
at the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation, however he was released without charge. Police later said they had no evidence of wrongdoing in that matter. Mr Smith was executive chairman of BAIC at the time.
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, August 3, 2017, PAGE 9
Miller: Albany offer was no good for the country By SANCHESKA DORSETT Tribune Staff Reporter sdorsett@tribunemedia.net THE $700m offered by the principal developers of Albany to fix the issues surrounding the former Bahamas Electricity Corporation “would not have benefited the Bahamian people,” according to former BEC Executive Chairman Leslie Miller. Mr Miller said it was his understanding the plan was for Albany “to build its own plant” and sell electricity back to the government. He said developers of the luxury resort community would have made a profit but the electricity bills would have still been high and BEC would have been owned by foreigners, something he said “is never good for this country.” On Tuesday, Albany’s Managing Partner Christopher Anand revealed that Joe Lewis and his Tavistock Group, the principal developers of the $1.4 billion project, offered the former Progressive Liberal Party government $700m to correct the problems at BEC and the city landfill. However, Mr Anand said for “some reason” the offer
FORMER Tall Pines MP Leslie Miller.
was never accepted. During a tour of the luxury property, with Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis and members of his Cabinet, Mr Anand in an impassioned speech railed against what he described as “two and a half years of banging our heads against the wall”. He urged the Minnis administration to “work with them” to solve the problems plaguing the electricity company as well as the consistent burning at the New Providence Landfill. In response, Dr Minnis told reporters: “We look for the best deal possible that is in the best interest of the Bahamian people.” When contacted by The Tribune yesterday, Mr Miller said: “Come on man, they don’t care about us or giving us electricity, they care about their bottom line and making a profit. “I mean, I don’t know everything but from what I understand they wanted to produce their own power. They wanted to put up their own plant and run BEC or sell BEC the electricity. “These foreigners don’t care about us, they care about making money. They had a plan but it would not
have benefitted the Bahamian people. Why would they be concerned about lowering the cost of our electricity? They don’t give a damn about us, it is our problem and we have to solve our own problem and stop depending on these foreigners to save us, that is why we are in the problems we are in now. I don’t understand why we can’t sit down with our people who have expertise in the area, why do we keep doing this. It is their money and their investment and their motive is simple, it’s profit.” American company PowerSecure was contracted to take over management at the government-owned utility provider in early 2016, which was renamed Bahamas Power and Light. The new management deal was promoted by the Christie administration as being the answer to sub-par electricity service and high electricity bills. However, the country has still been plagued with repeated power outages, especially in the summer months. Recurrent fires have been a longstanding problem at the city dump.
BLUE HILLS PLANT NEEDED TO KEEP POWER ON - BUT THAT MEANS HIGHER BILLS UNTIL OCTOBER By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net CONSUMERS will have to wait until October to see a reduction in their increased electricity bills, according to Bahamas Electrical Workers Union President Paul Maynard. In an interview with The Tribune on Wednesday, Mr Maynard said high summer temperatures have rendered the ageing Clifton Pier plant, which runs on Bunker C fuel, incapable of producing the 260 megawatts needed per day to service New Providence. As a result, he said officials have been forced to shift primary production to the company’s Blue Hills
plant, which runs on the more expensive automatic diesel oil. Mr Maynard insisted BPL nor the government could “absorb” the financial blow of the fuel change. He stated: “BPL is not supposed to absorb the cost. We can’t, we are broke.” Mr Maynard added: “So what is happening, the engines at Clifton are not working properly and so, instead of using the Bunker C oil, which is cheaper, we are using the automatic diesel oil at Blue Hills, which is more expensive. “Blue Hills is now our base plant.” According to Mr Maynard, the Clifton Pier Power Station has never had an output of more than 80
megawatts per day. He said at peak output, the plant has never created in excess of 130 megawatts. He indicated the island of New Providence’s daily demand ranges around 260 megawatts. “In the summer now, we are using 260 plus megawatts per day and Clifton is only giving us 80, so it cannot be our base. Blue Hills is carrying the island and so now, we are using more fuel and more expensive fuel,” he said. “So as the summer months go on, the bills will continue to rise unless we switch to propane. We can do that but it needs to be approved and it will also take a few months to set up so that won’t be right now, but the process can start.
“In the winter we can rely on Clifton, but for now the fuel surcharge will continue to rise until the middle of October when people turn off their air conditioners and it becomes less hot,” he concluded. On Wednesday, the Nassau Guardian reported the Central Bank of The Bahamas’ (CBOB) monthly economic report for June revealed household energy costs have soared, with a more than 60 per cent increase in BPL fuel charge year-on-year. “Bahamas Power and Light’s fuel charge - which exerts a large influence on the housing component of the Retail Price Index firmed by 13.7 per cent to $15.58 per kilowatt hour
(kWh) in June, month-onmonth and advanced by 66.4 per cent over the previous year,” CBOB noted. Last month, Works Minister Desmond Bannister said while it is unfortunate that consumers have seen a significant increase in their BPL bills because of “faulty machinery,” the government cannot continue to absorb the cash strapped utility provider’s expenses. Mr Bannister told The Tribune that BPL has a “huge legacy debt” and unfortunately the cost will have to be passed on to the public “directly or indirectly”. In a statement, BPL explained that an increase in bills for the month of May was also caused by its reliance on engines at the Blue
Hills Plant. Last Friday, newly appointed Bahamas Power and Light Chairwoman Darnell Osborne urged “patience” among consumers while tying the new BPL board to a loose timeline of a “few months” to enforce changes to spark improvements with the electricity provider. She also said the board is also seeking to revolutionise and improve the sector to keep the cost of electricity at reduced levels. Asked about the board’s position on the increased cost of electricity in these summer months, Mrs Osborne said there will be work done toward the government’s mandate of lowering the costs of electricity.
PAGE 10, Thursday, August 3, 2017
THE TRIBUNE
SHUFFEL Hepburn puts questions to PAHO Advisor Dr Marcelo Korc at a town meeting last year.
Call for new govt to probe money spent on scientific studies in GB By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net THE Grand Bahama Environmental Association is calling on the Minnis administration to investigate
the money spent by the former Christie administration for three scientific studies conducted in communities near the Industrial Park area. The combined costs of the three studies is said
to be high and the GBEA thinks this is not justified. The association is challenging PLP Senator Dr Michael Darville, former minister for Grand Bahama in the Christie administration, to justify the costs of
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the studies. “We have been doing research, and we cannot fathom how these studies could have cost what Senator Darville says they cost. This is highway robbery,” said GBEA executive member Shuffel Hepburn. Mr Hepburn claimed the studies were “faulty.” The studies in question are the 2015 health risk assessment, a safety assessment and the E-Nose study which is ongoing. The health risk assessment was conducted by the Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO) and the World Health Organisation(WHO) in November 2014 was done over an 11-month period, and it was concluded that there was no health risk to residents living near the industrial plants. The nearby residents and the association have rejected the findings. Mr Hepburn noted that none of the residents was medically examined, yet it was concluded that there was no health risk to them. “I am calling on Minister of State for Grand Bahama Kwasi Thompson and Deputy Prime Minister Peter Turnquest to get to the bottom of the costs of these studies. We want to know who paid for these studies and how much was paid,” he said. He indicated that the safety assessment conducted by the Antea Group of the Netherlands took only
two months to complete and involved no work on the ground in Grand Bahama. The environmental activist said the scientists made only two visits to the area, and claims that no actual measurements were taken on site to determine the distances of residents’ homes from the oil tanks. He further alleges that no checks were done to determine what kind of fuel was in any of the tanks at Buckeye’s plant. The e-Nose study, according to the GBEA executive, involved the installation of 22 simple odour detectors that were put up on existing light poles in the affected communities. He also added that there is no workforce on the ground for extended periods. “The instruments provide all the data electronically. Further, the detectors are not measuring the actual air breathed by the residents,” said Mr Hepburn. For the past 30 years, residents of Pinder’s Point, Lewis Yard, and Hawksbill have complained of foul odours and emissions emanating from the industrial plants. Many of the residents are members of the association, which is calling for the relocation of persons from those affected communities. The organisation and its members have been very critical of the former Chris-
tie administration, which indicated that the government had no intention of relocating residents because there had been no recommendations for relocation by PAHO and WHO, which conducted the 2015 health risk assessment study in the affected communities. GBEA claims that it has written three letters to the new Minnis administration since taking office and has got no response. “If this is the people’s time then we call on the government to do something about this faulty data gathering they found in place and stop enabling the industrial companies in killing residents,” Mr Hepburn said. “I know that government is busy, but we are mad as hell that we have not heard from the minister of environment or anyone else,” he said. Mr Hepburn said residents continue to be troubled by “dangerous” odours and claims that every day another resident is diagnosed with cancer. Former ambassador and FNM Cabinet member Maurice Moore, who lives just steps away from the Buckeye plant, recently disclosed earlier this year that he has cancer. The association and residents believe the high incidents of cancer among residents there is linked to the alleged ongoing industrial pollution.
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, August 3, 2017, PAGE 11
Domestic violence in The Bahamas “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will make me go in a corner and cry by myself for hours.”
D
OMESTIC violence. I am not sure if this is an oxymoron, domestic has a homely, pleasant even tame ring to it, certainly not a word that should sit with violence. It is however inevitable that the emphasis is always on the violence, ranging from nasty words to physical encounters that can even end up in death. Over the past few decades, there has been an immense amount of work mainly by women’s groups that has pushed the issue into the mainstream of concern and crime statistics. The violence, however, continues unabated and there is still a lack of concern from many societies and police forces who view it as a matter to be left to the combatants to sort out.
There are many reasons for this, is it an arrestable offence, will the complainant show up in court, lots of paper work and of course it is just domestic. There are no real statistics as to the level of domestic violence in The Bahamas; we are fed nonsense facts that crime is going down and murder is just bad men killing bad men. The statistics are controlled by the police and even if accurate, a large number of people have given up reporting crime for a variety of reasons. We do know that three women are killed every day in the USA by a current or former partner. The problem is just as bad in the UK where the police recorded
just over one million domestic abuse related cases in one year and the police are reporting that the children exposed to violence in the home are much more likely to be attracted to gang membership. It gets worse, recent reports have shown the relationship between domestic terrorists and exposure to violence in the home. It makes sense children exposed to violence in the home grow up habituated to violence but terrified to show weakness. These boys with fragile identities are likely to join gangs or terrorist groups who then glorify abuse of women by rape and other violence and the girls become to accept it as the norm.
This is not meant to excuse boys who grow up to be abusers, psychologists regard it as a choice which can be changed. The men’s group run by Dr Harry Ferere and the Catholic church has shown remarkable success in helping men who batter women to change their behaviour. It does however demonstrate a systematic failure of our current efforts to deal with this scourge which is destroying so many lives; perhaps it is time to step back and look at the problem afresh. The Bahamas is blessed with beautiful turquoise waters and amazing coral reefs. The reef is an ecosystem kept in balance by corals, sponges, seaweed and fish. They all live together in some sort of balance. It is believed that the reefs provide shelter and food for one quarter of all marine life; but they are under threat from global warming and overfishing. There are so many parts
of our lives that are all about balance, diet, exercise our very health needs to be kept in reasonable boundaries for our survival. It may be helpful to see domestic issues in the same way. How can we develop a human ecosystem that lets us co-exist in some sort of harmony? All relationships have power issues that give a sense of control, it is natural to want to use our power to get what we need; not the same as what we want! This healthy instinct must always recognise the needs of others in the relationship, finding ways to teach about power and control in relationships from an early age should lead to mutual dependence in relationships. The present societal acceptance of inappropriate male behaviour which glorifies violence, aggression and dominance; accompanied by the reality that they will get clean away with their disgusting behaviour is extremely worrisome for the future. There is also in-
creasing power imbalances in relationships where women are getting a better education and doing better in the job market despite the country voting twice against equality between the sexes. The problems of childhood abuse have also left many adults with shame, low self-esteem, fear of rejection and a lack of assertiveness. This then leaves them open to abusive relationships. There needs to be a cultural shift towards shared power, a move away from aggression and learnt passivity to relationships that respect assertiveness which always respects the needs of others in our quest to control our own lives. • Dr Mike Neville is a forensic psychiatrist who has practised for more than 40 years in The Bahamas, working at Sandilands, the prison and in private practice. Comments and responses to mneville@tribunemedia.net
PAGE 12, Thursday, August 3, 2017
THE TRIBUNE
Trump blasts Russia sanctions bill - but still signs it WASHINGTON Associated Press DEALT a striking congressional rebuke, Donald Trump grudgingly signed what he called a “seriously flawed” package of sanctions against Russia on Wednesday, bowing for the moment to resistance from both parties to his push for warmer ties with Moscow. Trump signed the most significant piece of legislation of his presidency with no public event. And he coupled it with a written statement, resentful in tone, that accused Congress of overstepping its constitutional bounds, impeding his ability to negotiate with foreign countries and lacking any ability to strike deals. “Congress could not even negotiate a health care bill after seven years of talking,” he said scornfully of lawmakers’ recent failure to repeal “Obamacare” as he and other Republicans have promised for years. “As president, I can make far better deals with foreign countries than Congress.” Still, he said, “despite its problems, I am signing this bill for the sake of national unity.” It was powerful evidence of the roadblock Congress has erected to Trump’s ef-
forts to reset relations with Russia at a time when federal investigators are probing Moscow’s interference in the US presidential election and possible collusion by the Trump campaign. The legislation is aimed at penalising Moscow for that interference and for its military aggression in Ukraine and Syria, where the Kremlin has backed President Bashar Assad. The law also imposes new financial sanctions against Iran and North Korea. Trump said the law will “punish and deter bad behavior” by the governments of Iran and North Korea as well as enhance existing sanctions on Moscow. But he made no secret of his distaste for what the bill does to his ability to govern. “The bill remains seriously flawed — particularly because it encroaches on the executive branch’s authority to negotiate,” he said. Last week, the House overwhelmingly backed the bill, 419-3, and the Senate rapidly followed, 98-2. Those margins guaranteed that Congress would be able to beat back any veto attempt. Trump has repeatedly cast doubt on the conclusions of US intelligence
agencies that Russia meddled in the 2016 campaign with the intention of tipping the election in his favor. He’s blasted the federal investigation as a “witch hunt”. Sen John McCain, RAriz, called the president’s concerns over the bill misplaced. “Vladimir Putin and his regime must pay a real price for attacking our democracy, violating human rights, occupying Crimea and destabilizing Ukraine,” McCain said. “Going forward, I hope the president will be as vocal about Russia’s aggressive behavior as he was about his concerns with this legislation.” Trump’s talk of extending a hand of cooperation to Putin has been met by skeptical lawmakers looking to limit his leeway. The new measure targets Russia’s energy sector as part of legislation that prevents Trump from easing sanctions on Moscow without congressional approval. Russia wasn’t pleased. Putin responded on Sunday by announcing the US would have to cut 755 of its embassy and consular staff in Russia. And Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in an emotional Facebook post Wednesday that
“Trump’s administration has demonstrated total impotence by surrendering its executive authority to Congress in the most humiliating way.” The congressional review section of the bill that Trump objects to was a key feature for many members of Congress. Trump will be required to send a report explaining why he wants to suspend or terminate a particular set of the sanctions on Russia. Lawmakers would then have 30 days to decide whether to allow that. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson echoed the president’s sentiments that the measure poses more diplomatic hindrances than solutions. “Neither the president nor I are very happy about that,” Tillerson said Tuesday. “We were clear that we didn’t think that was going to be helpful to our efforts, but that’s the decision they made.” Sean Kane, a former official with the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, said the Obama administration had sought similar wiggle room when negotiating Iran sanctions with lawmakers. “These issues have come
up before where an administration wants flexibility in place in a deal that would potentially lift sanctions, and Congress wants to tie the administration’s hands in some ways,” said Kane, now at the law firm Hughes Hubbard & Reed. Trump said that Congress had “included a number of clearly unconstitutional provisions”. Last winter, just before Trump was sworn in, a bipartisan group of senators unveiled a bill designed to go beyond the punishments already levied against Russia by the Obama administration and to demonstrate to Trump that forcefully responding to Moscow’s election interference wasn’t a partisan issue. Action on Russia sanctions didn’t really pick up until late May, when Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., chairman of the Foreign Rela-
tions Committee, threw his support behind the effort. The bill underwent revisions to avoid inadvertently undercutting US firms or interfering with how European allies acquire energy. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle celebrated the passage and signing. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis, said the bill sends a “powerful message to our adversaries that they will be held accountable for their actions”. But the House’s top Democrat said Trump’s statement calling the bill “seriously flawed” raises questions about whether his administration will follow the law. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said the Republican-led Congress must not allow the White House to “wriggle out of its duty to impose these sanctions for Russia’s brazen assault on our democracy.”
US AND KOREA DIPLOMATS TO CROSS PATHS - BUT NOT LIKELY TO MEET
AN UNARMED Minuteman 3 missile launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, on Wednesday. The US Air Force has successfully launched the unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile, the fourth such test this year. WASHINGTON Associated Press THE top American and North Korean diplomats may cross paths during a regional summit next week in the Philippines, but have no plans to meet, the United States said Wednesday as it sought to further isolate the North over its nuclear weapons program. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho are both attending a Southeast Asia summit that is expected to focus heavily on regional concerns about the North. Susan Thornton, the top Asia hand in the State Department, said Tillerson had no plans to sit down with Ri. “I don’t expect to see that happen,” Thornton told reporters ahead of Tillerson’s trip. “What we would expect to see this year at the meeting would be a general chorus of condemnation of North Korea’s provocative behavior, and a pretty serious diplomatic isolation directed at the North Korean foreign minister.” Tillerson’s reluctance to sit down
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with his North Korean counterpart comes despite his growing push for Pyongyang to return to the negotiating table with the US. Tillerson said this week that such talks would have to be predicated on the North giving up its nuclear weapons aspirations and that the conditions for such talks haven’t yet been met by North Korea’s government. In the meantime, the US sought to up the economic pressure on North Korea by urging countries that do business with it to stop, or at least to seriously curtail trade. And the US and allied militaries have been conducting a series of exercises and tests to demonstrate their ability to counter Pyongyang’s weapons capabilities. Across the Pacific Ocean from North Korea, in California, the US Air Force said a test Wednesday of an unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile was successful. It was the fourth test this year and involved a Minuteman 3 missile, regularly launched across the Pacific by the US in a display of its effectiveness, readiness, and accuracy.
In another sign of US concern about the North, the Trump administration issued an updated traveling warning Wednesday urging Americans currently there to leave before a new travel ban takes effect on Sept 1. The Trump administration announced that ban last month over concerns about detention of Americans who travel to the North. The ban, which includes potential exceptions for journalists and humanitarian workers, expires one year later unless extended by Tillerson. The State Department said exceptions will only be granted under “very limited circumstances” and that it doesn’t yet know when it will release information about how to apply. Tillerson likely will meet while in Asia with China’s foreign minister, Thornton said, just as the US presses Beijing to isolate North Korea by reducing its economic and other ties. After traveling to Manila for the summit, Tillerson will head to Thailand and to Malaysia for brief stops in which North Korea concerns are likely to be a prime focus as well.
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12,000 BTU 115V:
$556.32
18,000 BTU 220V:
$725.63
24,000 BTU 220V:
$1015.88
Sales & Full Service Department Rosetta & Montgomery Streets T: 322-2188/9 | E: geoffjones@comcast.net | www.geoffreyjonesandco.com
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, August 3, 2017, PAGE 13
‘The Bahamas’ own street philosopher’
TWO PROMOTED IN ZNS FREEPORT MANAGEMENT By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net
TWO promotions were made at ZNS in Freeport recently by the executive management team of the Broadcasting Corporation of the Bahamas. Darren Meadows, former director of television, is now the acting deputy general manager at the station in Grand Bahama, and deputy director of news Ricardo Lightbourne, is the director of ZNS Northern Service.
The public is invited to attend a public discussion on the
BAHAMAS POWER & LIGHT (BPL) CONSUMER PROTECTION PLAN Tuesday, 8 August at 6:30pm St. Joseph’s Parish Hall, Boyd Road The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) is the independent regulator for the Electricity Sector in The Bahamas. This Public Consultation is mandated by the Electricity Act (EA) 2015. Under the EA, URCA is responsible for approving a set of standards proposed by Public Electricity Suppliers, for the protection of electricity consumers. UTILITIES REGULATION & COMPETITION AUTHORITY
Frederick House, Frederick Street P.O. Box N-4860, Nassau, Bahamas Phone: 242 393 0234 • Hotline: 242 396 5238 • Toll Free: 242 300 URCA (8722) • Fax: 242 393 0237 Email: info@urcabahamas.bs www.urcabahamas.bs
“Improving Lives Through Effective Utilities Regulation”
The announcement was made to staff at ZNS this week. In attendance was BCB Acting General Manager Kaylesa DeveauxIsaacs, along with Parliamentary Secretary for Information and Communications Pakesia ParkerEdgecombe, who spoke briefly to staff about the importance of mutual respect among management and employees. “We should be the pacesetters in the industry; we should be the ones introducing all that is needed
in communications and media. We want you to be a part of this, we don’t want to isolate anyone, but at the end of the day, there are requirements for your job that you will have to fulfil. There has to be mutual respect both from management and employees that will be the order of the day. “We need to move forward in unison and ensure that at the end of the day the best product is given to the public,” Mrs ParkerEdgecombe said.
PAGE 14, Thursday, August 3, 2017
THE TRIBUNE
LOCAL boy Luke Maillis and buddies triple team a big boy Cubera down south near Long Island - while lobsters were also being reeled in by other fishing expeditions around The Bahamas.
REF#4 SECURITY GUARDS These individuals will be responsible for securing the property, animals, guests and staff of Blue Lagoon Island. Duties to include report of suspicious activity, monitoring surveillance equipment, inspection of all areas and control of access to prohibited areas. Requirements: Minimum of a High School Diploma with Two (2) years’ experience as a Security Guard, physically fit, able to work nights and knowledge of surveillance equipment. Are you an energetic, enthusiastic person thrives in an innovative changing environment? Do you love the outdoors and interacting with people in a beautiful tropical setting? If your answer is yes, we invite you to apply to be a part of our exciting team. Openings exist for the following positions: REF#1 HOUSEKEEPING SUPERVISOR This individual is expected to supervise all cleaning personnel inclusive of scheduling and evaluations. Duties include but are not limited to inspection of areas for conformance to prescribed standards of cleanliness. Requirements: A minimum of Five (5) years working at a supervisory level in this capacity. Knowledge of sanitation procedures is a must. REF#2 LANDSCAPING SUPERVISOR This individual will supervise landscaping personnel including scheduling, training and evaluation. The supervisor will be responsible for an ongoing maintenance plan for Blue Lagoon Island to improve the aesthetic appearance of the island. Requirements: Five (5) years landscape maintenance and supervisory experience. REF#3 ELECTRICIAN This individual will be expected to install and maintain wiring and control all electrical systems. The electrician will inspect electrical components and identify electrical problems. Requirements: must be a Certified Master Electrician qualified in Three Phase and High Voltage electricity.
REF#8 LIFEGUARDS These individuals will be responsible for the safety of all Blue Lagoon guests both in and around the water. The lifeguard will respond quickly, intelligently, decisively and in accordance with established emergency and accident management procedures in the event of an emergency. Requirements: CPR and First Aid trained. Lifeguard Certification
REF#5 SOUND TECHNICIAN
REF#9 VIP BEACH SERVICES AGENTS
This individual will be responsible for managing and maintaining all audio equipment for Blue Lagoon Island. Responsibilities to include compiling playlists for International and Bahamian clients as well as recording special announcements.
These individuals will be expected to provide top notch personalized service to upscale/VIP guests ensuring all their needs are met. These agents will be expected to carry out special requests, answer queries, welcome and escort guests upon arrival and look after all their needs during their visit to Blue Lagoon Island.
Requirements: A minimum experience of Three (3) to Five (5) years, in sound, audiovisual and DJ experience.
Requirements: Experience in VIP or Concierge services in a hospitality environment. Must be articulate, people-oriented and energetic, Minimum of a High School Diploma and BahamaHost Certified, Ability to speak a foreign language a plus.
REF#6 LEGAL DEPARTMENT COORDINATOR This individual will be responsible for managing the flow of legal documents, information, and data within the organization including the processing of immigration document and waivers. Duties will include implementation of legal procedures and policies. The Coordinator will review and draft legal documents and forms. Requirements: Lawyer or advanced student of Law. A minimum of Three (3) years’ experience with knowledge of Corporate Law in addition advanced computer software skills REF#7 HUMAN RESOURCES COORDINATOR This individual will provide administrative assistance to the HR Manager inclusive of payroll, benefits, recruitment and selection, interviewing, creating and updating job descriptions, performance evaluations and employee incentive programs. Requirement: Minimums of Three years HR experience, knowledge of Labour Laws and a Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources
REF#10 RESERVATIONS SUPERVISOR The individual will be expected to provide support to the Reservations Manager. This individual will assist with scheduling, training and performance evaluations of staff. duties will also include but not be limited to booking reservations and communicating daily counts with all Blue Lagoon Island departments. Requirements: A minimum of Five (5) years’ experience in a similar position at a supervisory level. Must be computer literate and detailoriented with exceptional customer service skills. REF#11 BEACH ACTIVITIES COORDINATOR This individual is expected to conduct beach activities including games, face painting and other forms of entertainment for Blue Lagoon Beach guests. It is expected that this individual enjoys interaction with people especially children and is very creative. Requirements: Physically fit, energetic, outgoing and creative with great customer service skills.
PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR RESUME TO: job@dolphinencounters.com | Specify reference number in the subject line
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, August 3, 2017, PAGE 15
Isaacs takes crown as Miss Centreville WHITNEY Isaacs will be crowned Miss Centreville this Friday during an event at the Quakoo Street Community Centre. The reception is scheduled for 3pm and will be held as Ms Isaacs continues her platform throughout the Centreville constituency, which is “Building confidence by having beauty
with a purpose.” Ms Isaacs, 17, is a graduate of St Anne’s High School. She plans to further her education by attending The University of The Bahamas, studying bio-chemistry. She aspires to be a sports physician. Ms Isaacs also plans on launching her own organisation one day called Total
Confidence. “Her mission is transforming, developing and grooming one queen at a time,” a press release noted. “The overall goal of this organisation is to teach young ladies to be their best selves and accept themselves for who they are and not what others want them to become.”
WHITNEY ISAACS, the new Miss Centreville
JULY 24 - SEPT 3 KFC is giving 50 lucky customers FREE KFC BIG DEAL MEALS for 50 WEEKS. Show us your BIG DEAL LOVE by making a qualifying purchase at any KFC Nassau location, fill out the entry form printed on your receipt and enter to WIN BIG! One BIG DEAL Winner will be chosen from each of our 8 locations every week for 6 weeks. You’re a BIG DEAL so come BIG IT UP WITH KFC!
•
HAPPY HOUR DAILY 4PM-6PM • (drink and appetizer specials)
DINNER SPECIALS STARTING AT $30 • Certain restrictions apply. Subject to contest terms & conditions. See store or go to www.KFCnassau.com or facebook for details.
BREAKFAST 8:00AM – 11:30AM LUNCH/DINNER 11:30AM – 10:30PM T: 363-3152 or 363-1682 www.anthonysparadiseisland.com