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Minnis: Davis ‘running scared’ and Chester is eyeing leadership role By TANYA SMITHCARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net WITH the general election just nine days away, the Free National Movement held two rallies over the weekend in Grand Bahama and Andros, with much of the rhetoric lambasting the Progressive Liberal Party. Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis criticised the PLP saying its leader, Philip “Brave” Davis was missing in action while he, Dr Minnis, was laying out plans for the future of the country. “Every night I speak to

you about our policies and plans,” Dr Minnis said while in Eight Mile Rock, Grand Bahama on Friday. “Y’all see Brave lately? Y’all hear from Brave lately? The man gone missin’! This is a campaign for the future of our country and the PLP leader can’t be seen. I hear he is dead scared. “Felicia Knowles makin’ big waves in Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador. So instead of coming and speaking to the whole country like a leader should do, Brave flyin’ PLPs into his constituency trying to save his seat.” SEE PAGE THREE

CULMER SAYS PLP ‘GOONS’ THREATENING ELECTORATE By TANYA SMITHCARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net THE war of the political chairmen continued this weekend with Free National Movement chairman Carl Culmer accusing opposition supporters of intimidating Family Island voters – a charge his counterpart in the Progressive Liberal Party quickly denied. Mr Culmer released a statement over the weekend stating PLP “goons” were on islands represented by PLP leader Philip “Brave” Davis threatening to victimise anyone who did

not vote for the incumbent candidate. In the statement, Mr Culmer said: “It has come to my attention that several senior civil servants and hired PLP goons and troublemakers from New Providence are threatening residents of Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador with impending victimisation if they support the FNM’s candidate, Mrs Felicia Knowles, in the upcoming general election. “Some residents have even been told that they will have to flee these islands because their entire livelihoods will be taken SEE PAGE FIVE

HUBERT: SANDS IS MY MAN

A FAMILIAR face on the campaign trail alongside Dr Duane Sands in Elizabeth as he is joined by former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, who said he hopes that Dr Sands can be prime minister himself one day. See PAGE THREE for the full story.

DESMOND - I’M CLEAN DOCTORS CONDEMN BUT WHAT ABOUT PLP? WEEKEND’S RALLIES DEPUTY Prime Minister and Minister of Works Desmond Bannister, pictured, has accused the Progressive Liberal Party of launching a “misleading and defamatory” attack on him in an attempt to distract the Bahamian people. He said he will not respond to the “scurrilous allegations”, adding he is tempted to

reveal the “tens of millions” in corrupt contracts he alleged were issued by the PLP. His statement on Friday was issued after allegations surfaced on social media last week regarding contracts issued by the Ministry of Works and a controversy involving contracts SEE PAGE FIVE

By TANYA SMITHCARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net

AFTER a weekend filled with political rallies, motorcades and other campaign events, the Medical Association of The Bahamas is expressing “grave concern” that those activities might turn out to be “super spreaders”. With only days left until the country’s general

COVID DEATH TOLL JUMPS BY 27 By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

THE Ministry of Health reported 27 additional COVID-19 related deaths over the weekend, bringing the number of people who have died from the virus in

the country to 439. The ministry’s September 4 dashboard recorded 13 COVID-19 deaths. The dead include seven males and six females, who ranged in age from 49 to 68 years and died between August 7 and 30 after suffering from COVID-19 complications.

The deceased include ten residents of New Providence, two from Grand Bahama and a 40-year-old Andros woman who died on August 21. Health officials also said two deaths that were

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

SEE PAGE FOUR

election, major political parties were at the height of campaigning this past weekend, trying to secure votes and become the next government of The Bahamas. In a statement sent to the press on Sunday, the Medical Association frowned upon the campaigning and drew examples of other countries that held elections during the COVID-19 pandemic. SEE PAGE FOUR

INSIGHT GESTURES NOT ENOUGH FOR DORIAN FAMILIES - SEE PAGE EIGHT

PAGE 2, Monday, September 6, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, September 6, 2021, PAGE 3

Hubert: Sands is my man By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net FORMER Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham has publicly endorsed incumbent Free National Movement candidate for Elizabeth Dr Duane Sands, stating he is hopeful the former health minister can be re-elected and possibly follow in his footsteps to become prime minister one day. Mr Ingraham made the comments when he spoke to reporters at the FNM’s bloc party in the Elizabeth constituency on Saturday. He also said he was “not likely” to agree to speak at any FNM rallies leading up to the September 16 election due to his personal experience battling COVID-19 and the associated risks regarding the virus amid the surge of

FORMER Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham with Dr Duane Sands on the campaign trail in Elizabeth. cases in recent weeks. “I don’t expect to be speaking from any stages,” Mr Ingraham said. “I don’t expect to be asked, I have not been asked to speak (and) if I’m asked to speak, I’m not likely to say yes. I have had COVID. I have comorbidities, so does my wife and I think that my health will keep me away

from such activities. I take a risk today to come to my doctor to endorse him publicly, but generally speaking, no.” When asked how he felt about Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis’ decision to call an election amid the ongoing pandemic, Mr Ingraham said: “Well that speaks for itself. There’s

nothing I can say that can explain that better than that reality; that in the middle of this pandemic we’re having an election.” Mr Ingraham said he was endorsing Dr Sands because he was a “good man that deserved to be elected”. “He’s had a similar experience I’ve had, you know,” he stated. “I used to be a minister before, I got fired, I got elected to the House and I became Prime Minister. Hopefully he can have the same experience.” Mr Ingraham was alluding to his dismissal from the Progress Liberal Party in 1984 before his re-election to the House of Assembly in 1987 as an independent candidate. Two years later, Mr Ingraham would join the FNM and replace Sir Lynden Pindling as Prime Minister after the 1992 general election.

In May 2020, Dr Sands resigned as Health Minister due to the controversy surrounding permanent residents being allowed entry to the country from a plane carrying COVID-19 test swabs. On a local radio show last year, he also acknowledged he had aspirations to one day become leader of the Free National Movement. On Saturday, Dr Sands told the press Mr Ingraham’s endorsement “filled his heart”. “I think that there’s very little doubt that Hubert Ingraham has played a phenomenal role in the development of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. And to have his support, his endorsement, to me, is humbling,” Dr Sands said. “I want the people to know that Hubert Ingraham was responsible for the creation of the community

of Elizabeth. If you remember he was the Minister of Housing, this was his pet project. So, we are looking at the past, we are now looking at the present and hopefully, this is still the future of Elizabeth. It means an awful lot to me and I am extremely grateful that he would take some time out of his schedule just to come and spend (time) with us in this community.” Asked how he felt about his chances of winning his seat come September 16, he stated: “No fisherman calls his fish stink. We are working as if we’re behind, we are going to work hard every day and by the grace of God and with the support of the people of Elizabeth, I hope to retain my seat. Let me be very clear, I’m not a misogynist but we are going to put a beating on (PLP candidate) JoBeth Coleby-Davis.”

MINNIS: DAVIS ‘RUNNING SCARED’ AND CHESTER IS EYEING LEADERSHIP ROLE COMEDIAN DEFENDS DROPPING OUT from page one

“Just like we beat Christie in Centreville in 2017, we will beat Brave in Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador in 2021. I hear the panic is so bad on the PLP side that Chester gone home to try and hold on to his seat.” Dr Minnis turned his attention to PLP deputy leader Chester Cooper, accusing him of hoping his party’s leader loses his bid to once again represent Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador so that he can take over the party as leader. “Chester knows the people don’t want Brave,” he said. “Chester is hoping Brave loses so he could become PLP leader. But we have a little surprise for Chester too. The Exumas and Ragged Island going’ red with Jennifer Isaacs-Dotson. “Last time we beat the PLP leader. This election we will defeat the PLP leader and deputy leader. Last election you told the PLP you wanted them to change. They have not changed. Brave is the worst of them. Let’s let them know that we do not want any more of the old PLP. “There is plenty of foolishness the PLP and their

DR Hubert Minnis in Grand Bahama. Photo: Yontalay Bowe people are putting out, especially on social media. They are trying to distract you from the truth of who Brave is and who they are.” Over the past few weeks, several government documents have been leaked on social media with allegations of government corruption, personal attacks and what some consider gutter politics. Both major parties have denied sanctioning such acts but they continue to flood cyber space. Dr Minnis did not specifically respond to any allegation, but said “foolishness” is being spread online. “There is plenty of foolishness the PLP and their people are putting out, especially on social media,” Dr Minnis said. “They are trying to distract you from the truth of who Brave is and who they are. “Do not mind the noise.

They are very desperate. They are very hungry and need to get back at that cookie jar. They are scared that they are going to lose, so they are going to get even more desperate. But your FNM is going to continue our campaign for your future with our heads held high.” While he touted the accomplishments his administration has made in Grand Bahama over its term, Dr Minnis said a “big, big surprise” for the nation’s youth will be announced shortly before the next election. When the campaign trail touched down on Andros on Saturday, Dr Minnis told drive-thru rally goers the FNM is now the “party of the people” and not the PLP as it claimed to be years ago. “The early PLP had a number of significant accomplishments for The Bahamas,” Dr Minnis said. “But as the country knows, that PLP lost its way. It betrayed its own values and betrayed the trust of the Bahamian people beginning in the mid-to-late 1970s. “By the 1980s and the early 1990s, the PLP had fully betrayed Bahamians. It became the party of mass corruption and victimisation, only interested in keeping the PLP elite in power. They lost their way. “In 1992, the FNM put an

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net LOCAL comedian and activist Wellington Roberts has responded to critics of his decision to resign from the Coalition of Independents and withdraw his candidacy less than two weeks before the next general election. The announcement of Mr Roberts’ decision was made in a press statement released by COI officials on Thursday. Photos then circulated on social media showing Mr Roberts dressed in Progressive Liberal Party paraphernalia. The COI said: “We remind the general public and the voters at large

that the PLP and FNM will do or pay anything to prevent Bahamians from benefitting directly from our natural resources and being put first in this nation. Many persons are weak and will sell out their nation for a bowl of porridge.” Mr Roberts said his decision was largely due to a lack of support and finances. “I resigned because I needed to be true to self. I’m an entertainer. I’m a comedian. I love to see people laugh. I’m going to start my show again and I’m going to live in my truth,” he said in a Facebook video on Thursday. He said his support for the COI was sincere and said he was never a political sell-out. “I’ve been

advocating for Androsians. I’ve advocated for Bahamians. I’ve advocated for the Atlantis workers. I’ve advocated for the 3000plus Atlantis workers, got locked up, went to jail (and) was going to big jail... “This wasn’t no game for me. I wasn’t faking. I ain’t mixed up. I ain’t switched. I ain’t walked away. I resigned. I removed myself from the race. I resigned. Nobody buy me out. I wasn’t never a PLP spy,” he added. Mr Roberts pledged support for the PLP’s candidate for North Andros and the Berry Islands constituency, Leonardo Lightbourne, who he said is the best choice for the nation.

end to one of the worst periods in our modern history. It is the FNM that picked up the baton as the party of the people. In our four terms we invested in critical infrastructure. We restored our economy over and over again. We invested in Family Island development. We invested in young people. We led in crisis after crisis to protect your future.” He added: “The PLP

came back to office in 2002 promising a new PLP. They betrayed that promise. In 2012, they again promised a new PLP. Once again, they brought back the same old bad ways. The era of mass corruption of the PLP continued. For the third time since 2002, the PLP is promising something new, this time under Perry’s deputy, Brave Davis. We are not going to be fooled again by

their false promises. There is nothing new about the PLP. There is nothing new about Brave Davis. “The PLP under Brave Davis only wants power for the sake of power. Today’s PLP is bankrupt. They are bankrupt of values. They are bankrupt of a philosophy of governance. They are bankrupt of ideas. They are bankrupt of a vision for your future.”

‘FORGET THE MANIFESTOS, WHAT ABOUT NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN?’

By TANYA SMITHCARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net

GOWON Bowe, Group CEO for Fidelity Bank & Trust, has said he is not moved by the 2021 Manifesto and Blueprint for Change released by the two major political parties as they gear up for the next election, but instead wishes they would carry out the policies of the National Development Plan initiated in 2016. He said any party promising a quick turnaround of the country’s situation is creating an unrealistic expectation. Mr Bowe spoke with The Tribune days after both the Free National Movement and the Progressive Liberal Party presented their manifesto and blueprint to the public. Mr Bowe said he wishes each administration would stick to a national plan and complete the work started by the previous government. “Let’s start from the very foundation that as a citizen or anyone assessing the manifesto and the blueprint is firstly asking whether these are political cycle documents or long-term documents for the development of the country. The reason why I say that is we have seen what the results of five-year promises have provided for us. “It is really one, a consistent practice of retardation because every time there’s a change in administration there seems to be an abandonment of the policies good or bad of the previous administration. So we not only start from scratch, but we tend to go backward because we end up, if

you will, abandoning useful analysis, research and policy documents that have come about. “Putting that into context, I think all of the documents need to be assessed in the context of the National Development Plan which commenced in 2016 under a different administration, but was an apolitical exercise because it was to incorporate all political parties, not just government of the day.” Mr Bowe went on to describe the danger of promising quick restoration to the country’s situation and outlined how long it would actually take to turn things around. “The truth of the matter is that anybody who is promising that there will be recovery, restitution and prosperity in the foreseeable future, meaning the next two years, is unfortunately, creating unrealistic expectations,” he said continuing. “It has taken us decades to get where we are in terms of our debt situation, in terms of our spending pattern, in terms of our mindset. So reversing that is not going to be over a single administration. “It is important to have an administration who’s not looking at the next five years, but looking at how we start to reverse the course that we are on and set in place policies, initiatives, plans and infrastructure—both in terms of personnel and in terms of assets—on making the country what it used to be. “That, to me, is going to take several years. . .We’ve had multiple changes in administration since 2002 and each time that has led to us going back. None of the political parties seem

to appreciate that governments are continuous.” He said the electorate, at a time like this, should question the reality of carrying out election promises. “While some may call it sinister, to be honest those documents aren’t the elements that move me as an individual,” he noted. “What will move me is who is endorsing the National Development Plan initiatives through to its completion; who is saying that we will have a strategy for the country that is 25 to 30 years long and who is then telling me that they are best placed to actually carry out execution. And, not by just talk. “The electorate needs to step back and say, ‘How much of what is being presented is substantive?’ That’s not to be overly critical to say that any paraphernalia can set it all out, but you want to hear in the discussions like rallies or forums that they are articulating how they are aligning to a long term plan … not just something that will be designed to peak your emotions. “Any political document is only as good as the underpinning analysis and empirical evidence that supports it. All of that can’t be articulated in a document or on a campaign trail. There needs to be the confidence that the initiatives, promises, commitments are underpinned by analysis, empirical evidence, considered thought, but more importantly the advancement of the country over the next 25 to 30 years, not the next five years of an administration.” Mr Bowe said the National Development Plan has four pillars – economic,

social, environment and governance. “When we look at the four pillars, most of what has been thrown out to the general public are those that are designed or intended to be emotive responses,” he continued.

“Things about minimum wage. Things about what social benefits are going to be provided. The very cloud nine elements on economic growth and expansion. “The reality is that governance requires a mindset

change because it requires us to now look at meritocracy. It requires us to look at how do we assess performance by the policy makers and the public servants in terms of their productivity, advancement and upskilling and professionalism?”

PAGE 4, Monday, September 6, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

Doctor dies from COVID COVID DEATH TOLL JUMPS BY 27

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.met ANOTHER medical practitioner has lost their battle to COVID-19. On Saturday, local paediatrician Dr Ianthe Cartwright-Bastian died from complications caused by the deadly virus, leaving behind a husband and young children. A close relative confirmed Dr CartwrightBastian’s death to The Tribune, although they declined to share any additional information. The Tribune understands she died in the United States after recently being airlifted there. Yesterday, Consultant Physicians Staff Association (CPSA) president Sabriquet Pinder-Butler said the association was mourning the physician’s death with her friends and family after learning of her passing. Over the weekend, condolences poured out for the doctor on social media, with another medical colleague posting on Facebook: “Our hearts are broken over the perverse and tragic loss of our friend and colleague Dr Ianthe Cartwright. Our love, thoughts and prayers are with her family, colleagues, friends and all who had the privilege of

active, with 175 people in hospital sick with the virus. Of that figure, a total of 21 patients have been admitpreviously under investigation have ted to the intensive care unit of now been reclassified as COVID-19 medical facilities in New Providence deaths. These victims are both Grand and Grand Bahama for treatment. The country recorded 72 new cases Bahama residents; one is an 81-yearold man and a 67-year-old Grand of the virus on September 3, with 61 Bahama woman who both died on coming out of the capital, five cases coming out of Grand Bahama, two in August 17. On the September 3 dashboard, Abaco and one each in Eleuthera and 12 COVID-19 related deaths were Cat Island. On September 2, 118 newly conrecorded, including nine males and firmed cases were reported; 100 of three females. The youngest was a 35-year-old which came out of New Providence. man who died on August 28, while Eleuthera and Long Island also the oldest victim was an 83-year-old reported four new cases each while woman who died on August 30. Ten six additional cases were said to come of the patients who lost their battle out of Cat Island and Andros. Officials reported 116 new cases with COVID-19 resided in the capital. Andros and Exuma each reported on September 1. In an interview with The Tribune one COVID-19 related death. The Ministry of Health also reported last week, Dr Nikkiah Forbes, the 87 new COVID-19 cases yesterday, director of the National HIV/AIDS pushing the nation’s overall coronavi- and Infectious Disease Programme at the Ministry of Health, said the death rus tally to 18,853. Seventy-two of the new cases were toll could increase as the virus continrecorded in New Providence, 10 in ues to surge in the country. She said the country was still Grand Bahama, two in Abaco and one case each in Eleuthera, Berry seeing an increase in the number Islands and Exuma. Six of the newly of cases, which put a “tremendous confirmed cases had a history of amount of pressure” on the healthcare system and all of the COVID travel in the past two weeks. Officials said 3,279 cases are still care sites which are “extremely full from page one

DR IANTHE CARTWRIGHTBASTIAN knowing her. Dear Lord, comfort and strengthen us. Rest in eternal peace Ianthe.” Another post written in memory of Dr Cartwright read: “Rest in heavenly peace Dr Cartwright. Thank you for your selfless service, your dedication, your teaching, kind heart and pearls of wisdom. Your presence will be sorely missed but your impact will last.” Dr Cartwright-Bastian, who was in her late 30s, worked at Paediatric Associates Bahamas. Last month, Family Island physician Dr Charles Edward Wildgoose III also died from COVID-19 related complications, leaving behind a wife and two children. He contracted the virus while in Exuma where he moved to about two

years ago to open his own practice — Di-ara Comprehensive Medical Centre — which offered ultrasound

imagery, immunisations and PCR and antigen testing for COVID-19. Prior to moving to

and above capacity”. “At Princess Margaret Hospital we’re above capacity and it’s very challenging and that’s exactly the problem when you have a surge with a virus like COVID because if it’s spreading exponentially, spreading a lot, there is going to be a tremendous increase in the number of cases above the capacity that the healthcare system can manage,” she told this newspaper. “So, that does get challenging because we know that we see an increase in the number of deaths when we are above the capacity of the health system to manage.” In its latest health bulletin, the Ministry of Health urged the public to adhere to the necessary restrictions and guidelines to mitigate the spread of the virus. “If you have symptoms of COVID-19, do not wait, first, contact your health provider. While home remedies may work for a period it is important to get tested and receive the proper care before symptoms become too difficult to manage. If you have been asked by the Surveillance Unit to get tested for COVID-19, please follow the advice and take the gold standard RT-PCR test. Employees are encouraged to work from home.”

Exuma, Dr Wildgoose, who was in his mid-40s, worked as an obstetrician/gynaecologist at the Princess

Margaret Hospital. He continued in his specialty through his business in Exuma.

EXTRA HOURS TO VACCINATE SCHOOLCHILDREN

FNM supporters in Eight Mile Rock on Friday.

Photo: Yontalay Bowe/FNM

DOCTORS CONDEMN WEEKEND’S RALLIES from page one The MAB statement said, “The Medical Association of The Bahamas is gravely concerned about the mass gatherings that were held this weekend by campaigning political parties. The country is experiencing rapid escalation in the number of individuals becoming COVID-19 positive, needing hospitalisation and of persons dying due to this devastating illness. “These gatherings in the past have been observed as super spreader events. We look at data collected

from countries in our region that have held elections during the pandemic and demonstrated a jump in cases post-election due to exposure during election campaigns.” The Free National Movement held two rallies – one in Grand Bahama on Friday night and the other in Andros on Saturday. Although the party has billed its rallies as “drivethru”, photos have shown many supporters getting out of their cars to cheer the speakers on. The Progressive Liberal Party had previously cancelled its drive-thru rallies

due to the rise in COVID19 cases. However, the party had a mass motorcade in the capital on Saturday that went from one end of the island to the next with unmasked people on trucks and countless people in cars. The PLP has, however, held virtual events with a virtual rally on the weekend. The party boasted that it was the first time a political party ever held such events. The MAB statement continued, “Our healthcare facilities are swamped and we are losing medical persons exposed to this deadly virus, including physicians.

If this trend continues, we will need to expand capacity for the probable increase in cases that will result from our inability to consistently enforce COVID-19 protocols during the campaign season. “We call on the relevant authorities to enforce all campaigning protocols. Observing protocols saves lives and protects the Bahamian population at large. This is absolutely no time to let our guard down or ignore the intensity of the pandemic by participating in such careless behaviour that puts our lives at an even greater risk.” Besides the two major political parties, third parties also held events at their constituency headquarters.

SELECT COVID-19 vaccination centres on New Providence will offer extended hours this week to better accommodate school-aged children eligible to receive the Pfizer vaccine. The Kendal Isaacs Gym, St Joseph’s Parish Hall and Loyola Hall will operate until 7pm starting today through Friday. The following centres will also operate this Saturday from 9am – 4pm: • Loyola Hall, Gladstone Road • Kendal G L Isaacs Gym, University Drive • St Joseph’s Parish Hall, Boyd Road • Baha Mar, Melia Nassau Beach The St Anselm’s Parish Hall vaccination centre will operate from 9am – 4pm Monday to Friday. “We are very encouraged by the number of 12–17-year-olds who have come out to receive the Pfizer vaccine so far,” said Dr Merceline DahlRegis, chair of the National COVID-19 Vaccine Consultative Committee in a press release. “We need to get as many of our eligible children vaccinated as quickly as possible so that they can safely return to the classroom.” As of last Friday, 5,154 12–17-year-olds have received a first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, which is

available to everyone 12 years and older. According to the government’s weekly vaccine tracker, 161,613 total doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered as of September 4. The government said 105,753 people have received one dose of a vaccine while 59,002 people are fully vaccinated. The number of fully vaccinated people includes people who have taken shots abroad and registered on the vax.gov.bs platform. The vaccine committee said all centres will be administering the Pfizer vaccine at this time. The St Joseph’s Parish Hall centre is administering Pfizer and the one-shot Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. The administration of second doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine will resume on New Providence starting Tuesday, September 14. First doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine are no longer being administered. Vaccination teams are returning to Long Island, Exuma, Andros and Rum Cay this week to administer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, first doses of the Pfizer vaccine and second doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Vaccination teams were in Eleuthera, Harbour Island and Spanish Wells, and mainland Abaco and the cays over the past two weeks as part of the continued rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in the Family Islands. Additional vaccination centres were also available on Grand Bahama last week. COVID-19 vaccines have been delivered to San Salvador, Bimini, Inagua, Acklins, Crooked Island and Cat Island to be administered by the local health teams. Mayaguana is scheduled to receive vaccines today. People who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine as a first dose, may receive Pfizer as a second dose if they choose. Schedules are posted weekly on opm.gov.bs/ vaccine and are updated regularly. To make an appointment online visit vax.gov.bs. Walk-up appointments are available at all vaccination centres.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, September 6, 2021, PAGE 5

Three hurt in explosion at apartment complex By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net TWO men and a woman were rushed to hospital Friday morning after suffering injuries from an explosion at their apartment complex on Third Street, The Grove. Assistant Superintendent of Police Audley Peters told reporters on the scene that officers from the police fire department were alerted to the incident sometime around 9.30am. He said when officers arrived at the scene, they found a two-storey building with extensive damage. “Further investigations revealed that three individuals as a result of an explosion were ejected from the building on the southern side onto the adjacent property,” ASP Peters said. “Emergency Medical Services were summoned and those three persons, which includes two males and a female,

THE SCENE of the house explosion on Third Street, The Grove. Photo: Racardo Thomas/Tribune Staff were transported to the hospital where their conditions are not known at this time. “We are not able to say what caused the explosion at the moment, that’s why the investigators are conducting their investigations.” Area residents were also unsure what caused the

incident when speaking to reporters at the scene. One tenant, who rents a downstairs apartment in the two-storey building, called the situation perplexing after claiming not to have heard any sound of an explosion at the time of the incident. The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said

she had just got off work moments before the explosion occurred. She said she was lying down when the roof suddenly collapsed, trapping her inside the apartment. “I didn’t really hear an explosion,” the woman told reporters. “The roof just collapsed on me. Like I was laying down because I just

got off and I heard they said some gentleman got blown over the roof next door, but I was trying to figure out how because I didn’t hear anything and then they said the lady who got (hurt) she heard some hissing sound or something like that so I don’t know, but I didn’t hear like no explosion or anything like that.” Describing her reaction to the incident, she said: “I didn’t know how to feel. I was so shocked. It fell on my head and my side so the sheet rock was blocking me from coming out the bed and I couldn’t even get up because the people had to come and help me get down, but I was too shaken up to move because I felt like everything would’ve collapsed and I would’ve lost my life.” The resident said she had only been renting there for about a week. Another area resident, who also asked for her name not to be used, gave her account of what happened in the neighbourhood.

She said: “It sounded like when a dump truck lay down a big garbage tin and someone told me the place on the side of me where I lived just exploded and when I came there were two gentlemen in the yard, one was bleeding from the mouth and they had burns about the body and I tried to get them outside to get the ambulance and someone called the ambulance and then the ambulance came and that’s all I know.” Frank Stuart, the complex’s owner, told reporters the building consisted of ten apartment units, six of which he believed may have been destroyed as a result of the explosion. Despite the damage, Mr Stuart said he was grateful that no lives were lost. “I feel good because no one died and so it’s a good day and no one died so that’s a good thing so I’m not even worrying about the building,” he said. Police said investigations into this incident are continuing.

DESMOND - I’M CLEAN BUT WHAT ABOUT PLP?

from page one

at the Water and Sewerage Corporation. “The PLP has once again shown itself to be a vicious, nasty and desperate organisation,” Mr Bannister said on Friday. “This week in their failing attempts to distract the Bahamian people from their record of incompetence in office, they launched a misleading and defamatory attack on me

and on honest, hardworking Bahamians. “Whilst I am tempted to respond and to disclose the tens of millions in corrupt contracts that were issued by the failed PLP administration and their shady and unscrupulous dealings, I am guided by the high ideals and principled approach that the Bahamian people expect from me. “I will not dignify the PLP’s deceitful attacks

by responding to their scurrilous allegations and permitting them to distract me from the campaign. On September 16, the Bahamian people will see the last of the corrupt PLP.” Yesterday, PLP leader Philip “Brave” Davis pushed back at Mr Bannister’s assertions, saying “serious allegations of corruption continue to engulf this FNM administration in its dying days in

government.” He accused the Minnis administration of remaining silent in the face of these allegations. He again called on the police and the attorney general to launch investigations into the allegations immediately. “With each serious allegation of corruption, members of the government have adopted the same tactic,” Mr Davis said. “First, a deafening

silence. Then, after days of outcry by members of the public and the media, they issue statements condemning the PLP. “They don’t dispute the facts. They don’t deny the wrongdoing. They merely blame the PLP when the media and public are asking simple questions. “This would be pathetic if these allegations weren’t so serious. “Once again, I call on the attorney general and

the commissioner of police both to uphold their statutory duties and instruct the Anti-Corruption Unit at the Royal Bahamas Police Force to launch investigations into these scandals immediately. This unit exists specifically to investigate allegations such as these. “The Bahamian people deserve to know the truth of what this FNM government has been hiding,” Mr Davis said.

CULMER SAYS PLP ‘GOONS’ THREATENING ELECTORATE from page one away from them if they support the FNM. With threats like these we can clearly see that there is no ‘new day’ in the PLP. “Similarly, in years past, their promise of a ‘fresh wind’ was nothing more than the unbearable stench of corruption and irresponsible governance, and their bogus ‘bridge to the future’ was quickly condemned and deemed impassable once a select group of friends, families, and lovers safely

MAN DEAD AFTER BEE ATTACK

A MALE passenger is dead and another man is in hospital after a traffic accident and bee attack in Grand Bahama on Saturday. Police said they received a call after 5pm about a traffic accident on Queen’s Highway in Deadman’s Reef, West Grand Bahama. Upon the officers’ arrival, initial investigations revealed that a red 2010 Honda Fit was travelling west on Queen’s Highway, driven by a man who was accompanied by a front seat male passenger. The driver of the vehicle lost control, ran off the southern side of the street into bushes and overturned, police said. The passenger was ejected from the vehicle as a result of the impact. Both the driver and passenger were also attacked by a swarm of bees, police said. EMS personnel took the driver to Rand Memorial Hospital to seek further medical attention where he is listed in serious, but stable condition. However, the passenger was examined by a doctor on the scene and pronounced dead.

crossed over.” The Tribune reached out to PLP chairman, Senator Fred Mitchell, for a response and he dismissed the allegations as a mere “smokescreen”. The PLP chairman also mentioned the FNM campaign’s visit to Mt Alvernia in Cat Island in July where many photos and videos emerged on social media with the team posing on what is viewed by many as sacred grounds. Mt Alvernia, now a tourist attraction, was the home of hermit Father John “Jerome” Hawes, a

Catholic priest. Hawes, also an architect, built The Hermitage atop Mt Alvernia himself. The Catholic Church released a statement expressing displeasure about what appeared to be the politicisation and desecration of the sacred spot. “We knew that Carl Culmer was living politically in cloud cuckoo land,” Senator Mitchell said. “He and his partisans should do their work and stop making up excuses for failure. “It is not necessary to say more because this is a smokescreen for a losing FNM

campaign in Cat Island. They have never apologised for the desecration of the Catholic shrine, but now as usual want to blame the PLP for their failures.” Meanwhile, in his statement, Mr Culmer said no matter what the PLP is presenting itself as in recent times, the party remains the same as it has been over the years. “The PLP has continually tried to swing the Bahamian people into believing that they have changed. No amount of new faces, no amount of fanciful slogans and campaign

rhetoric can ever deter from the fact that they are and will remain the same old PLP,” Mr Culmer said. “While Davis fights for his political life after abandoning the residents of these islands, I continue to encourage all persons in the constituency to be fearless, and to vote Davis out of office. Mrs Knowles should be given a chance to deliver for her people.” “To the young people of Cat Island, Rum Cay, and San Salvador, do not be afraid. Be courageous and vote your conscience. Vote

for your future. For your entire lives you have seen just how little Davis has done for your communities. There is hope for you with Felicia Knowles and the FNM. Your dreams of a good education, entrepreneurial opportunities, and land ownership can and will be made a reality.” Mr Culmer said Mr Davis has ignored his constituents for far too long, and now the chickens have come home to roost. Mr Davis has represented Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador since 2002.

PAGE 6, Monday, September 6, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

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We need policies, not childish insults YOU would hope we could do better. An election ought to be about choosing the safest hands to trust with our country. To borrow a line from the FNM posters everywhere, “It’s about your future”. It is about our future, both as a people and as a nation. The PLP may want to bring “a new day” but to get there we need to make a reasoned choice. We need to weigh up the options, understand who will deliver what. It should be a debate about policy, and about how those policies will be implemented. Instead? We are in the middle of a battle of insults and finger pointing that wouldn’t go amiss at the local playground. Whether it’s Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis saying that PLP leader Philip “Brave” Davis is “dead scared” or PLP chairman Fred Mitchell accusing his FNM counterpart Carl Culmer of “living in cloud cuckoo land”, even as Mr Culmer accused PLP “goons” of victimisation, it’s a long, long way from any serious discussion of our future. Where is the debate over how each party would invest in our healthcare, to pick one example? How about examining the differences in immigration policy, or what each party intends to do to stop the murders on our streets? None of that. Just rallies and

motorcades and insults and let’s all race to the bottom. The sad thing is that there are good policy initiatives to talk about. After his name calling, Dr Minnis went on to talk about the FNM investment in infrastructure – why not lead with that instead of descending to a lower level? Just last week, the FNM announced a laudable pledge to provide free school food for all children at government schools – talk more about that than claiming that Davis has “gone missin’”. Food in children’s bellies has to be a better way to reach people than this childish back and forth. If a politician only has insults to throw, that’s just a cover for the fact they have nothing to offer. Don’t let people who want your vote fool you with noise, ask them what the policies are, how they can afford them, and how they will make the country better. Because that has to be our end goal in this – and every – election. We have to make our country better. We sing in our national anthem of pressing onwards, that we “march together to a common loftier goal”. So don’t give us these childish insults, no matter what your shirt colour. Show the country what you can do. If you want our votes, it’s the least we deserve.

The PLP campaign is Suddenly, unravelling we have an easy choice EDITOR, The Tribune.

EDITOR, The Tribune. LAST week was an epiphany to some. But the shocking allegations of conflicts of interest by members of the present government (and their insulting, but predictable refusal to adequately address them by shifting the discussion back to the PLP) should have at least one positive effect. Now that the flimsiness of the FNM’s main, distracting narrative (ie, PLP corrupt, FNM clean) has finally been revealed for all but the most obdurate and ignorant to see, Bahamians have an opportunity to consider what is really important to this country and to them and their families. And the choice is stark. Under successive FNM administrations, while distracting allegations about the PLP rage, a tiny wealthy elite has enjoyed the transfer to them of ever more of the country’s wealth, while prices have risen and the public purse has been tightened against the majority. The result has been the shrinkage of the middle class and the

relative impoverishment of the majority. Under Ingraham, a consortium dominated by five wealthy families was given a monopoly over everything imported into the island of New Providence by sea, while under Minnis the central post office has been moved into a dying shopping mall owned principally by the Symonette family. Plans to sell what remains of our public assets to profiteers are probably now afoot, too. On the healthcare front, select private healthcare providers (not to mention the beneficiaries of our needless “health visa”) have made a fortune from a COVID-19 crisis whose impact would have been hugely countered by the publicly funded, singlepayer healthcare system which the PLP proposed and the FNM (with the backing of the usual suspects) opposed and scrapped. While Peter Goudie and others deplore the PLP’s deal with the unions as meaning additional costs to employers, little or nothing is said about the rising

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costs of food, building materials and medical care that affect mostly the poor. In fact, just over a week ago Super Value readied us for the coming price rise in the country’s main food retailer. While Bahamian workers pay higher prices yet earn lower wages than the adjacent mainland, our merchant elite are the envy of their counterparts abroad. The Nassau Guardian reported last week that AML foods reported its highest net profits ever this (miserable) year, posting a “staggering” 673 percent increase over 2020. In a recession! If you believe in policies that keep money in the hands of the rich and subject the remainder of society to austerity in the hope that it will somehow trickle down (rather than up and out), then vote FNM. Just bear in mind that this economic theory has been utterly discredited everywhere it has ever been applied. If you believe in policies that prioritise publicly funded healthcare, shift taxes onto the idle rich rather than the working poor and reduce the profits of wealthy businesses in favour of more compensation to workers (whose spending drives the whole economy), then vote the FNM out of office. It really is that simple. ANDREW ALLEN Nassau, September 5, 2021.

ALTHOUGH they repeatedly demanded that the Prime Minister “ring the bell”, it is now clear that the Progressive Liberal Party was not even close to ready to contest a general election. Dr Minnis called their bluff and now the PLP’s campaign is quickly falling apart. The PLP’s supposed “big deal” with the unions was clearly intended to be the cornerstone of the campaign, but it fell very flat almost immediately when nine unions, including many of the biggest in the country, said they didn’t know what Brave Davis was talking about. The union deal was all the rage just a week ago, yet the PLP don’t even talk about it anymore. Then they tried to host an Economic Forum, but this also fell flat because of boring, recycled ideas, especially after the thin little document they released was blown out of the water by the FNM’s detailed and professional manifesto. Their next move was to try and paint the governing FNM with the same corruption brush that has been drenching the PLP since the 1960s. In true Donald Trump style, they figured that if the public could be convinced that everyone in politics was as corrupt, dishonest and untrustworthy as the PLP....then, hey, why not give the PLP a try?! But the FNMs they have targeted with this smear campaign have strongly dismissed the claims. In any case, even if they were all true, it would not scratch the surface of the PLP’s 50-year Empire of

LETTERS

letters@tribunemedia.net Corruption. The tiny rent-a-crowd outside the Water & Sewerage Corporation on Friday, intended to intimidate Long Island MP Adrian Gibson, was a resurrection of a classic PLP tactic from the early 1990s, showing just how totally bankrupt of new ideas this current crew is. The public has suffered terribly because of Hurricane Dorian and the COVID-19 pandemic. So the PLP’s next big idea was to blame it all on the FNM, and claim that the strongest and most devastating hurricane to ever hit The Bahamas in recorded history, and the worst global health crisis in anyone’s living memory, were no excuse. Nothing should have changed at home, even though tourism dried up, businesses closed and workers were laid off, all due to circumstances beyond our control in The Bahamas. Economies and healthcare systems around the world have been placed under huge strain and came to the brink of collapse thanks to the pandemic, but our tiny little island nation, with its limited financial resources, was supposed to just handle the situation, without any impact on the public and without borrowing any money. Because, of course, that is the PLP’s other complaint: that borrowing skyrocketed. Well, what do they think happens in an emergency? A good government does what it can to take care of

its people and if the funds are not available at home to do so, they look abroad. Would the PLP have just let the people starve? Their other line of attack is that the FNM couldn’t keep the public safe in the pandemic, even though the PLP leadership failed to tell its followers to take the vaccine until the 11th hour, fielded candidates and generals who raised bogus fears about the vaccine, complained constantly about the lifesaving Emergency Orders restrictions, violated social distancing, and sent out agents on social media to encourage the public to distrust vaccines and safety protocols. The simple fact is that Dr Minnis’ plan to deal with the pandemic was the right one and if more people had listened to him (no thanks to the PLP) far fewer Bahamians would have got sick and died. The PLP is responsible for a large part of that breakdown in cooperation from the public. All of the above is just aimless mudslinging in a last ditch attempt to gain ground on the FNM. From what I can see, it ain’t working. So, what do the PLP have left? The truth is, very little. In the final days of the campaign, we can expect more and more wild and crazy accusations from an opposition party desperate for power, but out of ideas. The Bahamian people will not fall for any of it. We have been here with the PLP too many times before. ANITA SWAIN-JOHNSON Nassau, September 3, 2021.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, September 6, 2021, PAGE 7

FORMER TRIBUNE EDITOR TO FEATURE IN TV LOOK AT CABLE BEACH MURDER A LURID murder in a house on Cable Beach is to be spotlighted in a new series of television documentaries. The story of Sante and Kenny Kimes, both jailed for more than 120 years after a con-and-kill spree across America in the 1990s, will be told on one of the major networks before the end of the year. It is the second series featuring the Kimes family

that includes an interview with The Tribune’s former managing editor, John Marquis. He will be outlining the impact on the law-abiding half of the Kimes family when they discovered that Sante and Kenny – a mother-and-son crime team – were triple killers and serial con artists. The pair, dubbed Mommie and Clyde by police investigators, lived

in Nassau from 1992 to 1996. They fled the island after drowning Indian banker Syed Bilal Ahmed in their bath when he flew into the Bahamas to investigate banking irregularities. Sante had been keeping her late husband Ken Sr “financially alive” after his sudden death in 1994, using his credit cards in stores and restaurants in

The Bahamas and United States. Kenny admitted in court that he and his mother drowned Ahmed after dropping a date rape drug in his drink. Mr Marquis, who was The Tribune’s managing editor between 1999 and 2009, met Mrs Kimes at a New York prison in 2011 when she was trying to secure an appeal. He later wrote a book about her

called Evil and Son. From his home in Cornwall, UK, Mr Marquis said: “The Kimes story seems to be endlessly fascinating. This is my second documentary about them and no doubt there will be more.” Since retiring, Mr Marquis has written several books, including Death in the Night, his second about the Sir Harry Oakes murder in Nassau in 1943. He has also written a

biography of DH Lawrence and Long Hot Summer, his book about life as a journalist in The Bahamas. He is currently writing Cornwall: The Land of Writers, which is about famous authors who have lived in Cornwall. They include John le Carre, Daphne du Maurier, Sir John Betjeman, Colin Wilson and the Cornish Shakespearean scholar AL Rowse.

Trio appeal over schoolteacher killing By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net THREE men accused of killing a schoolteacher in a botched 2015 robbery have launched separate appeals against their convictions and sentences. Johnny Mackey, Armando Sergeant and another man - whose name has been withheld as he was arraigned as a minor - were charged with the murder, attempted murder and attempted armed robbery

of former Queen’s College elementary teacher Joyelle McIntosh. Prosecutors said the teenager, who was 17 at the time of the incident, along with Mackey and Sergeant, attempted to rob Ms McIntosh at gunpoint of her $6,000 car in November 2015. They said that during the failed carjacking, the victim was shot multiple times in her head and body. She later crashed into a wall at the intersection of Parkgate and Village Roads and died

of her injuries at the scene. During the trial, all three men pleaded not guilty to the offences. Nevertheless, a jury returned a guilty verdict of murder for Mackey and the then-17-year-old. Sergeant was found not guilty by a vote of eight to four of murder, but was found guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter. The jury also returned unanimous guilty verdicts for all three accused on the attempted murder, conspiracy to commit armed robbery and attempted

JUAN CABRERA, second left, and Luis Colmenares outside court on Friday. Photo: Donovan McIntosh/Tribune Staff

PAIR ACCUSED OVER COCAINE By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

TWO Hispanic men who denied smuggling cocaine into the country were on Friday remanded to prison pending a bail hearing. Juan Cabrera, 56, and Luis Colmenares, 26, appeared before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt after they were accused of conspiring to

possess cocaine with the intent to supply sometime between August 18 and 30. Prosecutors allege the Dominican and Colombian nationals were found with the drugs in Clarence Town, Long Island and George Town, Exuma between August 29 and 30. They further accused Cabrera and Colmenares of importing the dangerous drugs into the country within that same

ANDROS MAN ACCUSED IN MARIJUANA PROBE A MAN was arrested on Andros on Thursday on suspicion of cultivating marijuana. Police said that shortly before 5pm, officers from Andros, armed with a search warrant, went to a home in Little Creek. On their arrival, they met a male occupant who was informed of their reason for being at the residence. The officers then searched the property and discovered 41 suspected marijuana plants. The male was taken into custody. The suspected drugs have an estimated street value of $5,000. An investigation is ongoing. Police are also investigating three shooting incidents that took place over the weekend. The latest shooting occurred before 3pm on Sunday in the area of Dorsett Street in Fox Hill. Details were sketchy up to press time, but police said they were called to a shooting in the area. The victim’s condition was not

known up to press time. Police also said two shootings took place on Friday. In the first incident, shortly after 9pm, a woman was parked outside a home on Dunmore Street when two male occupants of a motorcycle rode up to the residence. One of the suspects walked up to the vehicle and discharged a firearm in her direction, police said. She was struck about the body multiple times. Emergency Medical Services took the victim to the hospital. She is listed in serious condition. Then shortly before 11pm, a man was on St James Road when he was approached by the occupants of a gray coloured vehicle. One of the assailants produced a handgun and robbed him of cash and other personal items. The gunman then shot the victim before fleeing the scene. The victim was taken to the hospital in a private vehicle. His condition is not known at this time.

THE SCENE on Dorsett Street in Fox Hill after a shooting there. Photo: Racardo Thomas/Tribune Staff

timeframe. During their arraignment, the pair denied the allegations. However, the prosecution requested an adjournment to consider their position on bail. As a result, Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt adjourned their case to September 9 for a bail hearing. The accused were remanded to the Department of Correctional Services in the interim.

armed robbery charges they each faced. However, Senior Justice Bernard Turner dismissed the jury’s unanimous guilty verdict against Sergeant concerning the attempted murder charge, after his attorney challenged it due to it being inconsistent with another conviction stemming from the same matter. After the trial, Mackey was sentenced to life imprisonment while the then 17-year-old was sentenced to be detained at the Queen’s pleasure, a phrase used to describe detention in prison for an indefinite length of time. Sergeant on the other hand, was remanded to 18 years in prison for manslaughter. On Friday, Sergeant’s attorney, Christina Galanos, said he was appealing his conviction on the grounds the trial judge erred when he admitted Sergeant’s “purported confession statement” into evidence. She noted the basis of the prosecution’s case against Sergeant was that around 8pm on the night in question, Ms McIntosh was driving along Parkgate Road with her son when they noticed an individual lying in the road. Ms Galanos said the teacher then swerved to avoid hitting the individual. She said Ms McIntosh’s son, who was the only eyewitness to the event, also testified that he heard glass shattering and thought that his mother had been shot to her neck. Ms Galanos said according to the Crown, the young man saw his mother holding her neck before she lost consciousness and hit a wall. Ms Galanos said Sergeant was arrested “roughly” six days after the incident and questioned under caution. She said during an interview with police, which Sergeant claimed was forced, he admitted being on Parkgate Road with his two-accused and acknowledged that a

female was shot while driving her vehicle that night. “The case for the intended appellant is that he knows nothing about the matter; the defence was one of alibi,” she stated. “He indicates that he was abused and oppressed to give the statement and that he was questioned on other matters. He was told that if he cooperated with the matter involving the teacher, the other two matters would be dropped.” Ms Galanos added that Sergeant received an abrasion above his elbow while in police custody. She noted the Crown led no evidence to establish how her client sustained the injury and further argued that the trial judge should have concluded that the bruise was “consistent with the application of force by police”. She claimed Sergeant “challenged the admissibility” of his record of interview and statement because he was beaten and injured while “hassling” with an officer who dragged him across a rug. “There is nothing in the confessions that can support (his) convictions in the unique circumstances of this case because nowhere in the confession statements is it established that Sergeant knew or foresaw the likelihood of the use of a gun before the offences were committed,” she said. Ms Galanos also represents Mackey in his appeal. She noted the prosecution’s case against him was based on the “purported confession” that he laid down in the road because he had caught a cramp and the fact that he was also picked out during an identification parade by Ms McIntosh’s son. She said two days after the shooting, Mackey was arrested, but was released after he denied the offences when he was questioned by police. “On November 19, he

was again questioned and allegedly admitted that he was with (his co-accused) and that he laid down in the street because he had caught a cramp,” she said. “He also allegedly admitted to seeing and approaching the vehicle.” Ms Galanos said Mackey also alleges brutality since he was “at home sleeping when the police kicked his door down and officers came inside of his room, grabbed him and stomped him on his head”. She insisted his verdict was unreasonable “having regard to the evidence” and contended the trial judge erred when he failed to give the jury a lucas direction or an adequate alibi direction in his case. Romona Seymour-Farquharson represents the alleged shooter. During her submissions, she said she believed “inconsistencies transpired” during her client’s interview with police that rendered his verdict unsafe. “According to the Crown’s witnesses, Officer Evans spoke with the (then teen)... he said he was given the (teen’s) mother’s number, name and contact. He then said he tried to make contact; however, he just got a voicemail. There is no evidence that he left a message,” she stated. “He said he went back to the room (where) he informed (the teen). It was at this point, he says in the interview suite, that (my client) confesses and states to him that he... shot a female around 8.30pm on Parkgate Road.” Mrs Seymour-Farquharson said her client was appealing his sentence on the grounds the trial judge erred in allowing the evidence of his confession to go before the jury. She further asserted there was insufficient evidence for the jury to convict her client which proved the verdict was “unreasonable and could not be supported having regard to the evidence.”

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2021

THE STORIES BEHIND THE NEWS

A few gestures and prayers won’t cut it for Dorian’s forgotten families By Malcolm Strachan

LAST week marked the anniversary of the landfall of Hurricane Dorian –- the strongest storm to ever hit The Bahamas. In the days leading up to that anniversary date of September 1, I waited to see if the government would take a break from campaign activity to memorialise those who were snatched away, leaving behind broken hearts and unspeakable trauma. Certainly, the road to putting their lives back together has been a lonely one – accompanied only by those who also survived the horror, but each facing their own uphill climb. Met with the task of continuing life without friends and relatives lost during the 2019 storm, it must be sad to see how so many Bahamians farther south have moved on. Perhaps nothing has been more disappointing than in the capital city where in recent weeks political battle lines have been drawn. It is embarrassing to hear various candidates on the attack, particularly those who are incumbents, as the issue of Hurricane Dorian has been underwhelmingly managed. As survivors of the Category 5 hurricane remain in limbo, the law that prevents missing loved ones from being declared deceased until after seven years has passed has been a huge barrier for those trying to gain closure. Despite considerations supposedly being given months after the storm to review the law to shorten the time to obtain death certificates, nothing concrete ever materialised. Thus, the wait continues with some still committed despite the challenges, while others have become disheartened. Moreover, as various media platforms interviewed survivors still stuck in a nightmare, unable to move on with their lives, it would not seem the government has kept this as a high a priority as they should have. Indeed, they have forgotten. Surely, one can argue the pandemic has stolen the spotlight, but governments are expected to walk and chew gum at the same time. Jarringly, rally season still has the same enthusiasm, as if thousands of Bahamians are not currently infected

FNMS and PLPs laying wreaths to honour those lost in Hurricane Dorian. with COVID-19 and more than 400 have died. They do not seem to remember the horror of the videos and WhatsApp voice notes shared from Abaco and Grand Bahama as so many fearfully clung to hope and still ended up losing their lives.

On the anniversary of the catastrophic storm, both major political parties paid tribute by the laying of wreaths at monuments, tossing white roses into the water, holding hands in prayer and other ceremonial displays that will not amount to anything the

families truly need. Albeit nice gestures, two years after many of their lives were torn apart, gesturing ought not be the focal point. Empathy and understanding of the plight that still exists for our brothers and sisters falls grossly short of the mark.

Speaking from a ceremony by the Abaco Christian Council where Foreign Affairs Minister and Member of Parliament for North Abaco Darren Henfield and the Minister of State for Disaster Preparedness Pakesia Parker-Edgecombe represented the government, commitments of the long-term reconstruction efforts of Abaco and Grand Bahama were reiterated. Ministers Henfield and Parker-Edgecombe, speaking on behalf of the government, both stated there will be increased effort to help rebuild the lives of survivors. However, this begins with a provision in the law that allows victims and survivors of Dorian to be accommodated under these circumstances. Yet, we’ve heard nothing from the Attorney General, and the Prime Minister was busy dismembering the leadership character of Opposition Leader Philip Brave Davis from a rally stage – something the governing Free National Movement has received sharp criticism over. Many questions still hover over Hurricane Dorian, as closure and reconstruction efforts move at a snail’s pace. Speaking to progress on the rebuild, Disaster Reconstruction Authority chairman John-Michael Clarke spoke with the media regarding progress on the devastated islands of Abaco, and to a lesser degree, Grand Bahama. He said: “There are two ways to look at this, if you are driving in a car and the car can only go five miles per hour, you’re driving at a slow rate, but because you are in the car, you are making progress. If you’re waiting on that person who’s driving the car to bring something that you need urgently, they will be driving too slowly for you. “So on one hand it is quite possible for you to be making progress, but at the same time that progress, unfortunately, may not be at the rate that is required to let the end users feel satisfied about it. It is not unique to this disaster “That is the framework for every disaster. Let me put this into context. The

business of the DRA is reconstruction of disaster zones. And, reconstruction happens after a recovery phase. We are just coming out of the recovery phase. “Reconstruction has not been done in earnest as yet. It isn’t a case where you say, ‘Well it’s been two years and reconstruction is at this point.’ Reconstruction can take us as long as we as a country are able to commit the time and resources in building back a more resilient Grand Bahama and Abaco,” said Clarke. It has been two years since Hurricane Dorian – and if we compare the progress so far with that on Ragged Island which was devastated by Hurricane Irma two years prior and tapped to be the country’s first green city, there is little to instill confidence. Rather, it’s quite ominous. Moreover, the inability to put campaigning aside to adequately commemorate the date our country experienced the worst natural disaster ever recorded was downright irreverent. As no other administration has ever had to face a two-headed monster of Hurricane Dorian and COVID-19, it is impossible to compare them contextually against anything else. Nonetheless, we as human beings understand the difference between success and failure. And while it may not be black or white, we certainly can say the handling of the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian has not been a success. Ms Parker-Edgecombe has on multiple occasions accepted there are inefficiencies with the recovery, but also continues to state the aggressive nature to which they are working to assist families. We hope she is being truthful and this is not mere lip service. Likewise, it would have been helpful to the Free National Movement’s cause prior to asking for a new mandate to address the challenges that were easier to fix pertaining to Hurricane Dorian. Nevertheless, on September 16, the Bahamian people will have the opportunity to voice their opinions on who should govern this country. Hurricane Dorian and disaster management, along with COVID-19, transparency, corruption and crime will all surely play a significant role in our choices.

EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

INSIGHT

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2021 PAGE 9

No way out By Dr KENNETH D KEMP

time he became quieter and more withdrawn but I’VE LIVED in three dif- they chalked it up to typical ferent countries and four teenage angst. A particularly raw and different states and one demeaning post online of the many lessons I’ve learned throughout my pushed him into a deep travels is that the person depression. It was more who is quick to smile is the than he could bear and he tried to kill himself by same person overdosing on who is quick to a full bottle of cry. As diamet- ‘‘This kind over-the-counof bullying rically opposed ter pain meds. as the two may has become He was found be, they remain and two halves of increasingly easy seizing foaming at the to accomplish the same coin. mouth. When The world behind the transported to is divided, in the hospital, part, between comfort and his stomach the emotion- security of a was pumped ally open laptop far away and his life was - those who feel every pain from its intended saved. The patient’s and celebrate target. Each key mother was every victory stroke launches advised that to the fullest he should be - and the emo- bullets that tear admitted for tionally closed apart not only observation who preserve the intended but she insisted their heart in on taking solitude by mark but also him home. erecting a wall ricochets and Both of his so high nothing victimizes their parents hugged can penetrate. him and But quiet closest family decided that it doesn’t neces- members and sarily mean loved ones, often was a long day so they’d let peace and him sleep and pain that is not to perpetuity.’ talk to him in transformed the morning. gets transmitted. I believe the emotionally That night when everyone closed to be the ones who was asleep, he hung himsuffer the most and many self. Four years later the times they tragically do so family is still in counselling and desperate to heal the in silence. This was certainly the hole missing in their heart. case for a 14-year-old male His mother blames herself in the fall of 2017. He was and the guilt is crippling. Talking to her this week bullied relentlessly online unbeknownst to his parents she specifically wanted eveand younger sister. Over ryone to know her son was

a great kid. From the day he was born she thought he could do anything he ever wanted and it was hard to reconcile the person she shared her body with for nine months ended up being so detached from her that she couldn’t see what was happening right before her eyes. She works as a teacher and says she’s coping as best she can with the love and support of family and friends. Her message to everyone is to always listen and talk to your kids and connect with them on an emotional level. Look for simple clues, she stated, like them not wanting to do things that previously made then happy. It’s a lesson she’s had to learn in the most horrific way possible. A lesser discussed component of this tragedy is that this kind of bullying has become increasingly easy to accomplish behind the comfort and security of a laptop far away from its intended target. Each key stroke launches bullets that tear apart not only the intended mark but also ricochets and victimizes their closest family members and loved ones, often to perpetuity.

According to the World Health Organization, more than 700,000 people die annually from suicide and it is the fourth leading cause of death in 15–19-year-olds. The number of suicides in The Bahamas went from eight (56 attempted) in 2019 to 11 (45 attempted) in 2020. Speculation pervades that domestic abuse accounted for the increase but the vast majority of victims were men. A person who has taken their own life is a person who was drowning long before that but no one came to the rescue. Psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health specialists are best adept at illuminating who these individuals are and offering suitable treatment but unfortunately many don’t seek help from the appropriate entities. Every single person has their own story and the whole purpose of The KDK Report is to showcase the

stories that I hear in my office on a daily basis so others can make better, informed choices in their own lives. But stories involving kids are especially difficult for me. I can’t imagine there being anything worse to experience but what I can extrapolate from this is to just be kind and teach your kids to be kind. Also don’t ignore your natural intuition and those inner voice whispers because it’s the universe telling you something is wrong. If you have kids or siblings, hug them extra-long the next time you see them, tell them you love them, spend time together and enjoy every moment. The Department of Social Services provides a child abuse hotline and recently amalgamated service to include counselling to persons who may be depressed, overwhelmed or experiencing difficulties

coping because of their current life challenges. Concerned persons may contact the national Hotline for Crisis Intervention at any time. The service is provided 24 hours daily and can be reached at (242) 3222763 or 422-2763. Those who may be having suicidal thoughts and think they might need help are also asked to contact the Community Counselling and Assessment Centre at (242) 323-3293/5. • Nick-named ‘The Prince of Podiatry’, Dr. Kenneth D. Kemp is the founder and medical director of Bahamas Foot and Ankle located in Caves Village, Western New Providence. He served as the Deputy chairman for the Health Council for five years and he currently sits on the board of directors for the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation in his role as co-Vice-chairman.

PAGE 10 MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2021

INSIGHT

EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

Kenya’s President wants ‘steadfast leadership’ by Commonwealth Secretariat World View

IT is good to see the President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, has nominated his Cabinet Secretary for Defence, Monica Juma, for the post of Commonwealth Secretary-General. The Kenyan nomination suggests African By SIR RONALD SANDERS nations still believe the Commonwealth remains London University, Philip potentially relevant to its Murphy, to write in his 54 member states and to 2018 book, “The Empire’s the international commu- New Clothes: The Myth nity, despite the fact it has of the Commonwealth”, lost the radical voice for that the Commonwealth which it became known and “doesn’t do very much, respected in the 1970s, 80s but then it doesn’t cost and 90s. very much”. This was In those decades, with an extraordinary stateSir Shridath ‘Sonny’ Ram- ment from the Director phal as Secretary-General of ICwS, which was born of the Commonwealth in the same year as the Secretariat, the Com- modern Commonwealth in monwealth was a leader 1949. While it caused great in combatting racism, alarm – and even anger – including the ugly apart- among Commonwealth heid regime in South devotees, it emboldened Africa; initiating global those who regarded the engagement Commonon Climate ‘In nominating wealth, in Change and its radical its harm- Monica Juma, years, as a ful impacts; for the post of nuisance and documenting Commonwealth an obstacle international to maintainSecretary-General, economic ing the old inequities President Uhuru, order that and setting reflected his own suited them. out a prolast dissatisfaction with twoThedecades gramme for reform; the Commonwealth of paralysis and putting Secretariat’s recent by the official the multidiinter-govperformance.’ mensional ernmental security Commonconcerns of small states wealth, captured in on the global agenda. Sir Murphy’s throw away Shridath’s successor, his phrase that it “doesn’t do former Deputy, Emeka very much”, also encourAnyaoku, continued that aged those who could see leadership role. no particular benefit in In the following years the Commonwealth and, up to now, the Common- therefore, no value in an wealth and its main engine, Institute dedicated to Comthe Commonwealth Sec- monwealth studies, such as retariat, departed from the ICwS. the role as thought-leader Consequently, in and innovator of creative October 2020, London solutions for issues within University announced it the Commonwealth and was closing ICwS. Much in the wider world. This to the amazement of prompted the Director of those who thought the the Institute of Common- Commonwealth was sufwealth Studies (ICwS) at ficiently on life support

that no one would object to ICwS’ burial, more than 90 Commonwealth non-governmental organisations (NGOs) registered vociferous objection. This persuaded the University’s Vice Chancellor to establish a committee to inquire into Commonwealth Studies, under the Chairmanship of former British Foreign and Defence Secretary, Sir Malcolm Rifkind. I was invited to serve on the Committee and drafted the report that was finalised by its other distinguished members from government and academia. In our report, delivered on July 21, 2021, the committee concluded that not only should ICwS continue to operate but it should be strengthened to serve a contemporary purpose as set out in the first declaration of the 2013 “Commonwealth Charter” which states: “Recognising that in an era of changing economic circumstances and uncertainty, new trade and economic patterns, unprecedented threats to peace and security, and a surge in popular demands for democracy, human rights and broadened economic opportunities, the potential of and need for the Commonwealth – as a compelling force for good and as an effective network for co-operation and for promoting development – has never been greater.” The committee’s report has been accepted by the university and, hopefully, the strength and passion, displayed by

the Commonwealth’s NGOs, together with the cogent arguments in the report, will lead to implementation of its recommendations. But the issue of whether or not the Commonwealth matters and should be pulled back from a drift to irrelevance, demands more than the passion of NGOs. More especially, it urgently requires belief by governments that it has a role to play in addressing their concerns in their own countries and globally. At the heart of generating such belief among governments is the Secretariat and the Secretary-General. In nominating Monica Juma, for the post of Commonwealth Secretary-General, President Uhuru, reflected his own dissatisfaction with the Commonwealth Secretariat’s recent performance by saying: “The success of our organisation lies in its ability to effectively address the needs of the member states, shape the collective agenda and implement its decisions for the realization of our common aspirations. All

KENYA’s Cabinet Secretary for Defence, Monica Juma

these require steadfast leadership at the Secretariat to deliver a dynamic and influential Commonwealth”. In 2011, I was a member and rapporteur of the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) which submitted a report to Commonwealth Heads of Government, at their request, proposing urgent reform of the Commonwealth. In that report, which recommended, among other things, the creation of the “Commonwealth Charter”, the EPG remarked: “Reinvigoration and refocus do not happen through complacency or inertia. It is complacency and inertia in vital aspects of the Commonwealth’s values that currently pose the most serious threats to the continued relevance and vitality of the Commonwealth itself.” Unfortunately, in the almost 10 years since the EPG submitted its report, several of its main findings and priority recommendations remain unattended.

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Neither the Secretariat nor the intergovernmental leadership of the Commonwealth has clothed itself with the purpose of Ramphal and Anyouku, or with the vision of Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana and Eric Williams of Trinidad and Tobago who, in 1964, proposed and argued fiercely for a Commonwealth Secretariat that had meaning; that would generate ideas and propose new directions. That battle was not easily won. Britain and Australia particularly wanted a Secretariat with no authority and with no capacity that would “cut across” the authority of governments. Were the latter position followed by Arnold Smith, the first Secretary-General, and by Ramphal and Anyouku, the battles for de-clutching Southern Rhodesia from white minority rule to create Zimbabwe, and for ending apartheid in South Africa and freeing Nelson Mandela, might have been deferred for many more oppressive years. There is no doubt of the Commonwealth’s past worth and its future potential. Therefore, it is good that President Uhuru has proclaimed Kenya’s interest in “steadfast leadership at the Secretariat to deliver a dynamic and influential Commonwealth” which he clearly recognises is sorely needed. • Responses and previous commentaries: www. sirronaldsanders.com The writer is Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the United States and the Organization of American States. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London and Massey College in the University of Toronto. The views expressed are entirely his own.

‘Get out now’ EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

INSIGHT

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2021 PAGE 11

INSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE ON 9/11

By ANITA MCBRIDE Fellow in Residence, Centre for Congressional and Presidential Studies, Department of Government, American University ON TUESDAY, September 11, 2001, I anticipated a busy but relatively calm day at the White House. I was the Special Assistant to the President for Management and Administration, and President George W Bush was in Sarasota, Florida, promoting the No Child Left Behind legislation. The senior official in the White House was Vice President Dick Cheney. First Lady Laura Bush was scheduled to travel to Capitol Hill to brief senators on early childhood education. On the South Lawn, tables were being set up for that evening’s congressional barbecue. With the President away, I arrived later than usual that morning and headed to a breakfast in the small senior staff dining room known as the White House Mess, on the ground floor of the West Wing. I was sitting at a table eating my toast and drinking coffee when a colleague came over and told us about news reports of a plane crashing into the World Trade Centre in New York. We thought it had to be a terrible accident. We left the Mess shortly thereafter, unaware of the impact of the second plane.

‘GET OUT NOW’

This story began as an assignment from the White House Historical Association to write about that day for its 9/11 20th-anniversary edition of the White House History Quarterly. I interviewed a range of White House staffers, from Cabinet officials and aides assisting the Vice President and the National Security Council to the interns from around the country who had begun their service at the White House that momentous day. In the minutes after we heard about the plane crashing, there was a rush of activity in the groundfloor hallway. I was directed by the Secret Service to get West Wing staff out of their offices and into the windowless Mess, which was thought to be the safest place at the time. But then, the agents, weapons drawn, ordered everyone to “get out now,” sending staffers racing through the iron gates that had been opened at both ends of West Executive Avenue outside the West Wing. Women were advised to kick off their heels and run for their lives. Tourists at the White House ran from the building, leaving strollers on the lawn. Across the White House complex, the Secret Service ordered staff to evacuate as quickly as possible. In the five-storey Old Executive Office Building next door,

FIRE and smoke billows from the north tower of New York’s World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Photo: David Karp/AP

however, many staffers learned about these orders only by watching TV and seeing the chyron: “White House being evacuated.” The frantic evacuation was a response to the urgent call the Secret Service had received from air traffic control at Ronald Reagan National Airport – in which Secret Service staffers were told: “There is an aircraft coming at you” and “What I am telling you, buddy, is that if you’ve got people, you better get them out of there. And I mean right goddamned now.” Moments later, hijackers crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon. The Vice President had been evacuated from his West Wing office to the President’s emergency operations centre, also called “The Bunker.” An agent later said: “We had 56 seconds to move him.”

THE ‘DEAD LIST’

In the White House Situation Room, which served as the vital link for secure communications and information for the President, staff were told by their senior duty officer that “we have been ordered to evacuate … If you want to go, go now.” But no one moved. The communications technician transmitted the list of personnel who remained to the CIA Operations Centre. The duty officers there called it the “Dead List.” Thankfully, their description was ultimately wrong. I left the White House and joined staffers across the street in Lafayette Park. I instinctively sought to

find a safer place to congregate and thought of the DaimlerChrysler office on H Street, a short walk away. My husband, Tim McBride, a former aide to President George H.W. Bush, was serving as director of government affairs for DaimlerChrysler in its Washington office. I called Tim and asked if I could bring White House staff members there. Tim had already begun to send his staff home, and thought quickly to ask them to leave their computers on with their passwords written down, so that White House staffers would be able to work in the office. Ultimately, more than 70 White House personnel from offices including speechwriting, scheduling, communications, Oval Office operations and legislative affairs worked from DaimlerChrysler on 9/11. I asked one of the first staff members to arrive to sit at the front desk and record everyone’s name and contact number and fax that list to the White House Situation Room, notifying them who was at this location.

‘BOND DEEPENED’

Speechwriters began researching for presidential remarks, communications staff were monitoring reports from around the country and keeping contact with the media, and senior staff took charge, giving directions to create a schedule of events for the President’s next few days, including going to New York and the Pentagon. In horror and grief, we watched the news of the

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hijacked plane that went down in a field in Pennsylvania, but the mood in the DaimlerChrysler office was focused and determined. As one colleague said: “The culture of the White House stuck with people in the face of an emergency.” Word reached us around 5pm that West Wing staff should head back to the White House. The

President was returning. Going room by room at the DaimlerChrysler office, I collected any documents that were left behind. These materials were now presidential records to be preserved at the National Archives. Making my way back to the White House to get my car, I walked through Lafayette Park. The country was

now at war, and everyone knew it was the start of a new chapter in our nation’s history. As one former colleague told me: “Working at the White House is a binding experience in itself, but the strengthening of that bond deepened after an experience like this.” • Originally published on theconversation.com

PAGE 12, Monday, September 6, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

GB attorneys fear voter disenfranchisement By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net THREE Grand Bahama based attorneys have expressed concerns about voter disenfranchisement on the island, particularly concerning those displaced residents of East End and West End. Constance McDonald, K Brian Hanna and Cassietta McIntosh-Pelecanos believe there are many people who may be denied the right to vote in the general election on September 16. “We have a situation here in Grand Bahama and Abaco where, as a result of Dorian followed by the pandemic and the lockdowns, we have many Bahamian citizens who have been displaced, and who potentially may have their rights to vote in this election denied,” Ms McDonald said on Friday at the PLP’s campaign office in the Regent Centre. Ms McDonald said many people from east Grand Bahama, and to some extent the western end of the island, who

were affected by Hurricane Dorian in September 2019 have yet to rebuild their homes which were demolished. “The government has stated that you vote in the area where you are registered. These persons are registered in East Grand Bahama. As a result of the snap election, there is a percentage of Bahamian voters who are being discriminated against,” she said. “The right to vote is a principle of universal and equal suffrage. (The) UN Human Rights Convention has specified that if residency requirements apply to registration, they must be reasonable and should not be imposed in such a way to exclude homeless persons from the right to vote. And residency requirements, even though applicable, it is well established that these cannot exclude the internally displaced being able to exercise their rights political participation.” Additionally, Ms McDonald also alleged people in East Grand Bahama are being threatened. “We have a situation in Grand Bahama, I am

informed, where persons are being threatened that if they turn out to vote in East Grand Bahama, they will be locked up. This is discriminatory and a violation of the fundamental rights of these persons who are on the register for East Grand Bahama to exercise their rights to participate in the electoral process,” she alleged. Secondly, she saod residents in Sweeting’s Cay do not have physical access to polling stations on that island. “My information is that residents of Sweeting’s Cay are being asked to catch the ferry over to Grand Bahama, drive an hour to Freeport to vote, while they are passing through High Rock (in East End) where there is a polling station. “I am also aware because I have visited Sweeting’s Cay on several occasions as a Rotarian, and I am aware there are facilities on Sweeting’s Cay where these persons can vote. So, I find this very disheartening because again, this is a violation of these persons’ constitutional rights.” Ms McDonald said a

polling station should be set up in Sweeting’s Cay at the Anglican Church to facilitate the residents there. Another issue she addressed is the lack of provisions to allow persons in quarantine to vote. Although it is a novel situation for this century, the attorney said a mobile voting station can be set up to accommodate such persons. “In my research, in the Cayman Islands what they did was set up mobile voting stations for those persons so every citizen who wanted to, was able to vote. That is democracy,” Ms McDonald said. “I believe if they follow the practice of having mobile voting polling stations or one polling station where persons wear PPE clothing and gear that should solve the problem. “And there should be no nonsense about you haven’t lived in this constituency for two years because they can’t live there if their homes are destroyed. But that is the area where they were habitually resident and as a result, they ought to be allowed to vote in

East Grand Bahama without fear of intimidation or pressure,” she stressed. She is encouraging displaced residents to come out and vote where they are registered to vote. “Do not allow people to intimidate you and put fear in you,” Ms McDonald said. “You ought (not) to be discriminated against because you did not voluntarily move. Hurricane Dorian moved you.” Ms McDonald said they will be out to assist people who may be disenfranchised on election day. “If you are at the election and you don’t have your ID papers, we will assist you in doing an affidavit to say it is East Grand Bahama where you were habitually resident, and you are on the register for that constituency.” Ms McIntosh-Pelecanos said that people who may be challenged on election day are still able to vote. “If you are challenged, it does not mean that you are not able to vote. It simply means that you go through the process, take the oath and you are still allowed to vote on a white ballot.

New Zealand attacker radicalized by neighbours, mother says By KRISHAN FRANCIS Associated Press

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The mother of an Islamic State-inspired extremist who stabbed shoppers in a New Zealand supermarket said her son was radicalized by neighbours from Syria and Iraq who helped him recover from an injury. The attacker, Ahamed Samsudeen, was a 32-year-old Tamil Muslim from Sri Lanka. He arrived in New Zealand 10 years ago on a student visa, and applied for refugee status on the basis of being persecuted back home in the island nation off the southern coast of India. Samsudeen was shot and killed by police, who said five people were stabbed and two others injured in the chaos of last week’s attack in Auckland. His mother, Mohamedismail Fareetha, said his descent into extremism began after he fell several stories in 2016 while attending university. “Because he did not have anyone there, it was people from Syria and Iraq who helped him. It looks like they brainwashed him. Then he started posting on Facebook,” Fareetha said in a phone interview Saturday with a local TV station from her home in eastern Sri Lanka. “He changed only after going abroad,” she added. Police first noticed Samsudeen’s online support for terrorism in 2016, and the following year he was arrested at Auckland Airport. He was headed for Syria, authorities say, presumably to join the Islamic State insurgency. He was later released on bail.

US SUPPORTS 2 CANADIANS MARKING 1,000TH DAY IN CHINESE CELLS OTTAWA, ONTARIO Associated Press

ARMED police stand outside a supermarket in Auckland, New Zealand, Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021. New Zealand authorities say they shot and killed a violent extremist, Friday Sept. 3, after he entered a supermarket and stabbed and injured six shoppers. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described Friday’s incident as a terror attack. Photo:Brett Phibbs/AP “After being arrested in 2017, he talked less with us, it was about once every three months,” Fareetha said, adding that two of her other sons “were angry with him and scolded him.” In a statement Saturday, Fareetha’s son Aroos said his brother “would hang up the phone on us when we told him to forget about all the issues he was obsessed with. Then he would call us back again himself when he realized he was wrong. Aathil was wrong again yesterday. Of course we feel very sad he could not be saved.” In 2018, Samsudeen was jailed for three years after he

was found with Islamic State videos and knives, and the following year, his refugee status was canceled after authorities found evidence of fraud. Immigration authorities tried to argue he should remain behind bars, but in July, Samsudeen was set free. Police trailed him around the clock, fearing he would launch an attack, but unable to do more. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said her government will change the laws this month to enhance penalties for terrorist plots. Samsudeen’s family is from Kattankudy, a coastal city 220 kilometers (135 miles) northeast of the capital, Colombo,

which police view as a hotbed for extremism. Since Sri Lanka’s decadeslong conflict between the majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils ended in 2009, a religious divide has taken hold. The alleged mastermind of Sri Lanka’s 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, Mohammed Zahran, preached an increasingly extremist version of Islam in Kattankudy glorifying the killing of nonbelievers. Two local Muslim groups that had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group were blamed for the six near-simultaneous suicide bomb attacks on three churches and three hotels.

INDIA PROBES KASHMIR LEADER’S FAMILY UNDER ANTI-TERROR LAW By AIJAZ HUSSAIN Associated Press SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Police in Indian-controlled Kashmir opened a case against family members of late resistance leader Syed Ali Geelani under a harsh anti-terror law for allegedly raising anti-India slogans and wrapping his body in the Pakistani flag, officials said Sunday. Geelani, who died Wednesday at age 91, was the emblem of Kashmir’s defiance against New Delhi and had been under house arrest for years. His son, Naseem, said Indian authorities buried Geelani’s body in a local cemetery without any family members present after police snatched his body from the home. Police denied that and called

There is no obligation for you to answer any questions or anything of that nature. What we are saying in this election, we want a fair process. We are not going to allow voter suppression or voter intimidation. We want persons to exercise their democratic right, freely,” she said. Mr Hanna said there is ample time for the government to put something in writing and make provisions for people who are displaced to have the opportunity to vote. “There have been emergency powers enacted all through COVID-19 and there is ample time to address this issue and have something confirmed in writing to eliminate any (potential for) chaos at the polls,” he said. “That would be fair to persons who suffered through Dorian, and that is what we are really asking, for provisions be made immediately for those displaced so that persons working a polling division would have fair knowledge that they are allowed to vote. We don’t need chaos,” he said.

INDIAN paramilitary soldiers guard a deserted street in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Sunday, Sept. 5, 2021. Authorities Sunday eased some restrictions that had been imposed after the death of top resistance leader Syed Ali Geelani. However, most shops and businesses stayed closed as government forces patrolled roads and streets in the city. Photo:Mukhtar Khan/AP

it “baseless rumors” by “some vested interests.” A video widely shared on social media purportedly showed Geelani’s relatives, mostly women, frantically trying to prevent armed police

from forcing their way into the room where his body, wrapped in a Pakistani flag, was being kept. It showed women wailing and screaming as police took the body and locked his family and relatives inside the room.

Police said they registered a case against unspecified family members and some others Saturday and began probing the case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

US SECRETARY of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that “people are not bargaining chips,” adding the US stands with Canada in calling for the release of two Canadians detained in China for 1,000 days. Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were detained in China in what many countries label “hostage politics” after Canada arrested an executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei in 2018 on a US extradition request. Kovrig, a Canadian diplomat on leave to an international organization, and Spavor, an entrepreneur, were arrested in apparent retaliation. Both have since been convicted of spying in closed Chinese courts — a process that Canada and dozens of allies say amounts to arbitrary detention. “Today marks the 1,000th day of the arbitrary detention of Canadian citizens Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig by the People’s Republic of China (PRC),” Blinken said. “We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Canada and the international community in calling for the PRC to release, immediately and unconditionally, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig.” He added: “The practice of arbitrarily detaining individuals to exercise leverage over foreign governments is completely unacceptable. People should never be used as bargaining chips.” The arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of Huawei’s founder, infuriated Beijing, which sees her case as a political move designed to prevent China’s rise. The U.S. accuses Huawei of using a Hong Kong shell company called Skycom to sell equipment to Iran in violation of US sanctions. Spavor’s and Kovrig’s relatives and supporters are pushing for some sort of political resolution that could bring them home. They staged a march in Ottawa on Sunday seeking to replicate the 7,000 steps that Kovrig has tried to walk every day in his cramped jail cell to maintain his physical and mental well-being. “It’s an extremely difficult milestone, but one that we want to mark in this way, in part, to honor the strength and resilience that Michael and Michael Spavor have shown,” Kovrig’s former wife, Vina Nadjibulla, said. Spavor was sentenced to 11 years in prison on national security charges. China’s government has released few details other than to accuse Spavor of passing along sensitive information to Kovrig. Both have been held in isolation and have had little contact with Canadian diplomats. “We worry about him, but we find strength from all the support we get,” said Paul Spavor, his brother. Three Canadians convicted in separate drug cases were sentenced to death in 2019. In one, Robert Schellenberg had received a 15-year sentence initially that was abruptly increased to death in January 2019 following Meng’s arrest. Canada and other countries face trade boycotts and other Chinese pressure in disputes with Beijing over human rights, the coronavirus and control of the South China Sea. The US has warned American travelers face a “heightened risk of arbitrary detention” in China for reasons other than to enforce laws.

IT’S A DOUBLE FOR TRILOGY

PAGE 14, Monday, September 6, 2021

THE TRIBUNE AMIR Johnson in action during the Big3.

from page 13

Reggie Evans led 3 Headed Monsters with a double double, 20 points, a game high 15 rebounds and three assists. Rashard lewis finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots while Co-Rookie of the Year Kevin Murphy added 12 points. Trilogy completed a second half comeback after an early deficit when 3 Headed Monsters got out to a 13 point lead at the break. Murphy made a pair of late threes to give his team a 26-13 lead at the half. Jack and Trilogy turned things around in the second half when Jack scored 10 unanswered points to get his team back into the game. Trilogy head coach Stephen Jackson also made history as the first person to participate in a BIG3 title as both a player and a coach. “I’m the first coach to play and coach in the BIG3 championship, and I’m glad I was able to win one,” Stephen Jackson said. “Shout out to my team. I got a great group of guys, great group of professionals. Shout out to Gary Payton and 3 Headed Monsters, they got a great team. But I knew when I did the draft I wanted some professionals. I wanted some guys that wanted to play the game and loved the game, and that showed tonight.” Saturday’s title game

ISIAH Briscoe in action during the game.

CHEERLEADERS stoke up the crowd during the game. was a rematch of the 2017 title game when Trilogy came away with a 51-46 win at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. 3HM is coached by Hall of Famer Gary Payton, with a roster that includes the aforementioned Evans, Lewis, Murphy and co-captain Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf. The only team to remain fully intact since the league’s inception, 3HM have advanced to the playoffs in every season of BIG3 basketball but have yet to win that elusive title. Tri-State claimed the third place game with a 50-31 win over Triplets and BIG3 MVP Joe Johnson. Justin Dentmons led Tri-State with 24 points and six rebounds while Jason Richardson scored 22 points. Alan Anderson led the Triplets with 14 points. BIG3 co-founders Ice Cube and Jeff Kwatinetz, outlined the league’s path to a successful return following the cancellation of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Keeping the league alive was something that we were dedicated to doing,” Cube said in an interview with Forbes magazine, “We knew we could sustain it for a year without play. If this would’ve lasted two or three years, who knows? Fortunately, we were able to get it right, keep it going and not fall on our face.” While the league lost Adidas as a sponsor, several new corporate entities came onboard including Microsoft as the official technology partner and jersey patch sponsor of the league, Verizon, Monster Energy, Zip Recruiter and Taco Bell. “It’s been an amazing ride,” said Ice Cube. “The journey has been one of a kind on a lot of levels. One of the hardest things that I’ve done in the entertainment space. I see why leagues fail now. We’re just blessed to be in a position where we’re trending in the right direction and it looks like we’re going to be here for a long time.”

HEAD coach Stephen Jackson during the game.

THE TRIBUNE

OLYMPICS ARE DONE, TIME TO FOCUS ON PANAM from page 13

beginning of the coronavirus pandemic more than a year and a half ago, have been open to receive fans in the stands. Panam Sports President Neven Linc confirmed in a statement on the games website that they decided together with the authorities of Columbia to have a capacity of 50 percent in the sports venue. “However, those who enter must comply with a series of biosecurity measures such as vaccination certificates, mandatory use of masks, distancing, handwashing, among other things,” she said. The Panam Organizing Committee also confirmed that they expect to have several Tokyo 2020 Olympic medalists, in addition to under-23 world champions, in several of the disciplines, competing in the games. Knowles said the BOC is eagerly looking forward

to participating in the games. “The first games, obviously, we are encouraging the young athletes to compete for the social exchange and the competition,” he said. “But these games are really in preparation for the senior games. “So this is just to prepare the athletes to get a taste of the competition before they venture into the Senior Pan Am Games. It’s expected to be a very exciting game because it’s the first. Everybody looks forward to the inaugural one, so we are encouraging our federations and athletes to get ready to compete.” The XIX Pan American Games are scheduled for Santiago, Chile from October 20 to November 5, 2023. The BOC is also preparing for the selection of Team Bahamas to compete in the XXII Commonwealth Games, scheduled for Birmingham, England from July 28 to August 8, 2022.

Monday, September 6, 2021, PAGE 15

Rondre gets season off to a winning start from page 13 Virginia-Lynchburg Saturday at Carl Smith stadium in Wise, Virginia. Cavs lineback Michael Rowser forced a fumble following an eight yard run from Lynchburg running back David Freeman. KnowlesTener recovered the fumble at his team’s 41 yard line. Cavs quarterback Lendon Redwine set a UVA Wise NCAA Division II era school record with six touchdown passes while the Cavalier defense established a new school and South Atlantic Conference record with 13 sacks. Next week, the Cavs visit NCAA FCS member East Tennessee State University in a 7:30 pm kickoff. UVA-Wise returns to a full regular season for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Knowles-Tener, a fifthyear defensive tackle and Grand Bahama native was named to the SAC Preseason Players to Watch List and the Cavs were picked eighth in the poll. Coming out of high school at Liberty Christian Academy in

Lynchburg, Virginia, KnowlesTener originally committed to the East Carolina Pirates but eventually chose to join the programme at James Madison. After struggling to earn playing time in his first two seasons with the James Madison Dukes, Knowles-Tener decided to leave the programme and transfer to the Cavs. In his first season with UVA, he finished with 21 tackles with three sacks, two fumble recoveries, two quarterback hurries and one blocked kick. As a junior, he became a force on the defensive line and led the team with seven sacks. In addition to his career high sack numbers as a junior, he also reached several other career high marks this season with 38 total tackles, 10 tackles for a loss (54 yards), and a team leading four quarterback hurries. He opened the season with one sack and four tackles, including one for a loss, against Chowan University. In game two he had a season high two sacks and four tackles against Tennessee Tech. He also recorded sacks against Carson-Newman, Tusculum, and Newberry (0.5).

RONDRE KNOWLES-TENER

DEFENCE THE KEY AS JACKSON ST BEAT A&M MIAMI GARDENS, Florida Associated Press

JACKSON State head football coach Deion Sanders holds the Orange Blossom Classic trophy. Photo: Jim Rassol/AP

SHEDEUR Sanders scored the only touchdown of the game and the Jackson State defense got two fourth-down stops in the closing minutes to help the Tigers beat Florida A&M on Sunday in the Orange Blossom Classic at Hard Rock Stadium. Sanders, the son of football hall of famer and Jackson State coach Deion Sanders, was 18-of-24 passing for 221 yards and scored on a 1-yard run that capped a 10-play, 69-yard drive and made it 7-3 early in the second quarter. JSU’s Trey Lockhart tackled Chad Hunter just shy of the first-down marker to force a turnover on downs

near midfield with 2:59 to play. After the Tigers (1-0, 1-0 Southwestern Athletic Conference) went three-and-out on the ensuing drive, Bishop Bonnet ripped off a 20-yard run to move FAMU to the Jackson State 38 with 30 seconds left. Junior Muratovic threw three consecutive incomplete passes before being sacked by James Houston and Cam’Ron Silmon on fourth-and-10 to seal it. Muratovic, a true freshman, replaced starting quarterback Rasean McKay early in the fourth quarter for Florida A&M (0-1, 0-1). McKay was 18-of-29 passing for 78 yards and Muratovic completed 5 of 12 for 47 yards. Jackson State had a chance to extend its lead with about five minutes left

but had an 11-play, 77-yard drive stall when Peytton Pickett was stopped for no gain on a fourth-and-1 run from the FAMU 19. Florida A&M’s Jose Romo-Martinez made a 21-yard field goal to open the scoring midway through the first quarter and a 39-yarder that made it 7-6 with 6:02 left in the first half. The Rattlers, who played their first game in over 600 days due to complications surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, made their SWAC debut. FAMU had spent all but one season (2004, when the Rattlers played as an Independent) over the past three-plus decades as a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

‘I DIDN’T ANTICIPATE THAT’ AS HEFLEY THROWS TEN TDS NOT even new Presbyterian football coach Kevin Kelley expected the recordsetting offensive fireworks from his team and quarterback Ren Hefley on Saturday. Hefley threw an FCSrecord ten touchdown passes as Presbyterian beat St Andrew’s 84-43. Hefley, a former walk-on at Michigan, completed 38 of 50 passes for 538 yards. “Definitely didn’t anticipate that,” Kelley said yesterday. “I think I’m not good at many things in the world, but I’m good on the offensive side of the ball and worked really hard in that area.” “I’d knew we’d be creative on that side of the ball,” Kelley continued. That’s what Kelley was known for at Pulaski Academy, an independent high school in Arkansas he led to nine state titles in 18 years. Kelley became known as the coach who never punted, something he continued with the Blue Hose this week. Presbyterian, located in South Carolina, threw 12 touchdowns passes as it put up 621 yards through the air against St Andrews, an NAIA school from Laurinburg, North Carolina. The Blue Hose tried nine

onside kicks — recovering the opening one after winning the toss and deferring — and converted four of five fourth-down tries. They outgained St Andrews 814 yards to 315 in the victory. Kelley’s philosophy makes sense — give his offense more opportunities to score. What’s complex is the discipline he needs from his players to make the system run as effectively as possible. “It’s just playing the numbers,” Kelley said. Hefley made sure the numbers were on Presbyterian’s side. The 6-foot, 197-pound sophomore spent the 2019 and 2020 seasons aiding the Wolverines’ scout team. Before that, he was coached by Kelley in fifth through ninth grades in Bryant, Arkansas, as the coach taught his system to the youth programs so they’d be ready should they play at Pulaski. Hefley moved to another high school because Pulaski had an established starter. But when Hefley was looking for playing time and saw his one-time coach was at Presbyterian, he signed on. Hefley understood the system, Kelley said, and gave the coaching staff an

extra teacher for the rest of the team. The results showed this week. Hefley had four scoring throws of 25 yards or longer, including a 62-yard TD and a 79-yard TD. “It was really a natural fit for him,” Kelley said. Hefley was named the Pioneer Football League’s offensive player of the week Sunday. Kelley’s had a busy weekend, receiving texts and calls from friends and supporters, including UCF coach Gus Malzahn. The two knew each other as high school coaches in Arkansas and have stayed close through the years. The biggest thing for Kelley was for his players who had questions all offseason about whether what he told them could work when it came to games. The majority of the roster hadn’t had a winning season in college and didn’t play last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Those kids, when you say things are going to be different, well, they’ve heard that before,” Kelley said. After Saturday’s result, Kelley said he’s already had some of his players text him and say, “OK, coach, I get it now. You were right the whole time.’”

WILLIAMS OUT WITH THUMB INJURY CLEMSON, South Carolina Associated Press

CLEMSON coach Dabo Swinney said starting wideout EJ Williams sustained a thumb injury in the loss to Georgia and will miss four or five weeks.

Williams will need surgery, Swinney said yesterday. Williams is a 6ft 3in, 197lb receiver from Phenix City, Alabama. He had one catch in the 10-3 loss to the Bulldogs on Saturday night. Williams had 24 catches

for 306 yards and two touchdowns as a freshman in 2020. He played in 12 games last year, getting four starts for the Tigers. Swinney said if surgery and the recovery go well, Williams could return when the Tigers go to Syracuse on October 15.

PRESBYTERIAN quarterback Ren Hefley skirts the tackle of St Andrews’ Rashon Gholson on Saturday. Photo: Sam Wolfe/The State via AP

PAGE 16, Monday, September 6, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

Cantlay makes a $15m shot to secure FedEx cup victory ATLANTA Associated Press PATRICK Cantlay delivered the goods again, this time with a six-iron instead of a putter. “Patty Ice” was just as clutch with a $15m shot that allowed him to hold off Jon Rahm and win the FedEx Cup yesterday. In a tense duel with the world’s No 1 player, Cantlay had a one-shot lead going to the par-5 18th hole at the Tour Championship when he hit 6-iron from 218 yards to just inside 12 feet that secured the biggest victory of his career. “Felt like a huge win, and it was,” Cantlay said. Rahm’s shot was equally special, landing next to the hole on its second bounce but rolling to the light rough beyond the green. With Cantlay in close, the Spaniard had to hole the chip to have any chance of a playoff. He narrowly missed, and Cantlay safely two-putted for birdie and 1-under 69. The victory was worth $15m for Cantlay, a 29-yearold Californian whose rise in golf was slowed by a back injury that kept him out for three years and nearly ended his career. Now he has stamped himself among the elite in golf, boosted by the FedEx Cup postseason. “It’s fantastic,” Cantlay said. “It’s such a great honor because it’s all year. I played really consistent all year and caught fire at the end. There’s a lot of satisfaction considering all the work I’m put in my whole life.” Cantlay showed remarkable grit and clutch in surviving a six-hole playoff to beat Bryson DeChambeau in the BMW Championship last week. That’s where he picked up the moniker “Patty Ice,” along with the No. 1 seed to start the Tour Championship with a two-shot lead. He never flinched over four days at East Lake.

PATRICK Cantlay holds up the trophy after winning the Tour Championship golf tournament and the FedEx Cup at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta yesterday. Photo: Brynn Anderson/AP “Patrick played great Cantlay started the fourth time this season, “It was tough,” he said. he had to make a 6-footer “It’s definitely the longest to save bogey and stay golf, and he was four shots postseason by saying he and no one else more than ahead. ahead of me. And even did not like the format of twice. One of those viclead I’ve ever held.” With Rahm well down though I might have been the Tour Championship tories was the Memorial, Rahm, who started the tournament four shots the 18th fairway, Cantlay the better man over the with the staggered start where Rahm had a six-shot behind and went into the hit his best drive of the day, week, he earned it,” Rahm depending on a players’ lead after 54 holes and had final day two back, never rolling out 361 yards that said. “That up-and-down FedEx Cup position, and to withdraw because of a caught Cantlay. He never set up a 6-iron he felt he after missing from 17, the no official victory for the positive COVID-19 test second shot from 18 to lowest score at the Tour result. let him breathe easy, either. needed to hit close. Rahm was bogey-free almost make it is even more Championship. That figures to make him Cantlay took a two-shot “With that said, I am a front-runner for PGA lead with an approach to 6 over the last 28 holes, but impressive. “I think you can say he going to do the best pos- Tour player of the year, feet for birdie on the 17th he only cashed in on two sible job I can at winning with Rahm (US Open title, hole, and then nearly lost it birdies. He closed with a won this.” Rahm earned the $5m in this format, because No. 1 ranking) and Collin all. He drove to the right on 68 and tied with Kevin Na the 17th, clipping a tree and for the 72-hole score of the consolation prize for fin- that’s all I can do,” he said Morikawa (British Open, World Golf Championship dropping down into deep tournament at 14-under ishing second in the FedEx Wednesday. And that’s what he did, title), also likely to be on rough, and then hit a flyer 266. They will split points Cup, while Na (67) picked up $4m. Justin Thomas delivering a big moment the ballot. over the green and the gal- toward the world ranking. Cantlay started at (70) birdied the last hole that might bring yet another Rahm won the Vardon lery. His pitch back to the Trophy for the lowest green came up short and 10-under par and finished at to finish fourth, which was title. into more deep rough, and 21 under. worth $4m. Cantlay won for the adjusted scoring average.

ADVANTAGE EUROPE IN SOLHEIM CUP TOLEDO, Ohio Associated Press

LEONA Maguire and Mel Reid arrived at Inverness last week as strangers. They’ll leave as good friends. Maybe with the Solheim Cup. The European duo helped the visitors take a 9-7 lead over the Unites

States into Monday’s singles, combining to topple top-ranked Nelly Korda and Ally Ewing in alternate-shot play Sunday morning, then scrambling to tie Jennifer Kupcho and Lizette Salas in four-ball in the afternoon. Reid and Maguire crushed the struggling Korda and Ewing 5 and

4 — the biggest blowout of any of the opening 16 matches — then halved with Kupcho and Salas when Reid knocked it to 3 feet on the par-4 18th to pull even. Reid’s heroics came minutes after Kupcho chipped in from the fringe on the 17th to put the Americans in front. Reid, dealing with

shooting pain in her right shoulder that required medical attention earlier in the round, responded by dropping a rainbow from the 18th fairway that bounced on the collar of a front greenside bunker before rolling to practically tap-in range. Reid and Maguire, who barely knew each other before European captain Catriona Matthew paired them following a series of energetic practice rounds, went 2-0-1 on the weekend. Maguire, a 26-year-old former college star at Duke who is the first Irishwoman to make a Solheim Cup team, is 3-0-1 so far. Europe is trying to win on US soil for just the second time in the 31-year history of the event. This is the ninth time Europe has led going into the singles matches. The Europeans have won just four of the previous eight times they were in front after two days, the last in 2013 when they scored their lone road victory at Colorado Golf Club. Europe began Sunday with a three-point lead and appeared on the verge of blowing out the US after briefly jumping ahead in all four of the morning’s alternate-shot matches. The Americans rallied to win three of four to get back into contention and had the lead on the back nine in three of the four four-ball matches. Only rookies Mina Harigae and Yealimi Noh held on to win outright. Harigae and Noh never trailed while beating Celine Boutier and Sophia Popov 3 and 1, going in front for good on Harigae’s birdie on the par-4 14th and taking command on the 20-yearold Noh’s birdie on the short par-4 16th. Megan Khang and Jessica Korda saw a slim 1-up lead after 11 holes against Carlota Ciganda and Nanna

EUROPE’S Leona Maguire celebrates after a putt on the 14th hole during the foursome matches at the Solheim Cup golf tournament yesterday. Photo: David Dermer/AP Koerstz Madsen turn into a 1-up loss after Ciganda’s long birdie at the par-4 15th put the Europeans in front and the tying birdie attempts by the Americans at the 18th came up well short. Emily Pedersen’s eagle at the par-5 eighth squared her and Charley Hull’s match with the US team of Austin Ernst and Danielle Kang. By the 12th, the Europeans were on their way to a 3-and-2 win. The Americans played the afternoon without Olympic champion Nelly Korda, who looked as if she needed a break after a series of uncharacteristic mistakes against the fiery Reid and the steely Maguire. Korda, who triumphed in Tokyo a month ago, bladed a pitch from a fairway bunker on the par-4 fourth out of bounds, chunked an approach shot on the par-4

seventh and had an uphill chip from the fringe on the par-4 ninth only make it halfway to the hole before hitting reverse. With Korda struggling, her teammates picked up the slack. Ernst and Kang turned a one-hole deficit against Georgia Hall and Madelene Sagstrom into a one-hole lead after wins on the 13th and 14th and held on the rest of the way. It was the only match of the morning that reached the 18th green a day after seven of the eight matches made it to the final hole. Two of the afternoon matches made it to 18, with Reid’s birdie giving Europe a little bit of wiggle room heading into singles. As defending champion, the Europeans need just five points on Monday to retain the Cup while the Americans need 7 1/2 to win for the 11th time in 17 meetings.

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Monday, September 6, 2021, PAGE 17

VOGELBACH MAKES A SPLASH

MILWAUKEE Brewers’ Daniel Vogelbach is congratulated by teammates after hitting a walk-off grand slam during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the St Louis Cardinals yesterday. Photo: Morry Gash/AP MILWAUKEE Associated Press DANIEL Vogelbach relishes having the opportunity to change the complexion of a game with one swing of the bat. He made the most of that chance yesterday and delivered one of the most memorable moments in the Milwaukee Brewers’ charmed season. Vogelbach delivered a pinch-hit grand slam off Alex Reyes to cap a fiverun rally in the ninth inning that gave the NL Centralleading Brewers a 6-5 victory over the St Louis Cardinals. “I enjoy being in those situations, whether I fail or whether I succeed,” Vogelbach said after hitting his first career walk-off homer and the first by any Brewers player this season.

“As a competitor, you always want to be in those situations and be the guy that steps up to the plate in that situation. I’m just happy that I was able to come through for the guys who grinded all game,” he said. Reyes (5-8) entered the game after the Brewers had loaded the bases off Giovanny Gallegos. Vogelbach hit a 1-0 pitch high above the outstretched arm of right fielder Dylan Carlson, who made a leaping attempt in front of the wall. Vogelbach was mobbed at home plate and got doused with the contents of a Gatorade bucket. He just rejoined the team Wednesday after spending over two months on the injured list while healing his hamstring. During his time away, the Brewers acquired first baseman Rowdy Tellez, a move

that changed Vogelbach’s role with the team. “Vogey has come back and he’s got kind of a different job,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “In one sense, it’s a shame because he got hurt. We made an acquisition to cover for it and he’s done a nice job. So, for now, this is his job, being a bat off the bench. To deliver in that way and you don’t get a big sample of opportunities is a real credit to him.” Milwaukee’s comeback extended its NL Central lead to 11 games over Cincinnati and dealt a major blow to the Cardinals, who are chasing a wildcard berth. The Cardinals capped a 5-5 road trip and now begin a seven-game home stand against the Los Angeles Dodgers and Cincinnati. “We’ve just got to figure

out a way to get back on the horse and get back after it,” Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said. “It’s a discouraging one. We played outstanding baseball this whole road trip. We’d like to have a little bit more to show for it. The strong survive. We’ve got to continue to be strong and go out and get the best we’ve got with what we have.” The Brewers trailed 5-1 before starting their comeback against Gallegos, who began the ninth after getting the final two outs in the eighth. Jackie Bradley Jr hit a leadoff double and scored on Luke Maile’s single to make it 5-2. Jace Peterson’s double and Eduardo Escobar’s walk loaded the bases with one out. Then Vogelbach hit his first homer since June 14. Miguel Sánchez (2-0)

pitched a scoreless ninth to earn the victory. Milwaukee’s Pablo Reyes celebrated his 28th birthday by hitting his first homer of the season. Tyler O’Neill had three hits, including a home run, for the Cardinals. Harrison Bader added a two-run double on a slow roller that got past Brewers third baseman Eduardo Escobar. Starter Jon Lester allowed one run in just 5 1/3 innings to help the Cardinals take the lead over All-Star righthander Corbin Burnes. “The first eight innings were about as good of baseball as you’d want to play,” Shildt said. But the Cardinals left 14 men on base and couldn’t put the game out of reach. The Brewers eventually made them pay. Milwaukee loaded the bases in the eighth, but first

baseman Paul Goldschmidt ended the threat by snaring a liner to rob Christian Yelich of an extra-base hit that could have brought home three runs. “After that line drive gets caught with Yeli, it feels like that was your shot,” Counsell said. “It’s deflating when that ball gets caught. It feels like it should be 5-4 and the ninth inning is going to be a tough inning. But the guys did a great job, starting with Jackie, putting together a tough ninth inning. Just having tough at-bats against a good pitcher. That set it up for Vogey’s heroics.” TRAINER’S ROOM Brewers SS Willy Adames went on the 10-day injured list with a left quadriceps strain. The Brewers recalled utilityman Tim Lopes from Triple-A Nashville.

CRONENWORTH SENDS PADRES TO A WIN OVER THE ASTROS SAN DIEGO Associated Press

JAKE Cronenworth hit a solo home run with one out in the ninth inning and the San Diego Padres beat the Houston Astros 4-3 yesterday to take two of three from the AL West leaders. Cronenworth, a firsttime All-Star this season who has struggled at the plate recently, sent a drive to right-center off reliever Ryne Stanek for his 20th homer of the season. It was the first walk-off home run in his two-year career and his second game-winning hit. One batter earlier, Stanek (1-4) caught Manny Machado’s popup behind the mound and then tumbled over backward, popping up with the ball in his glove. That play brought smiles from Stanek and his teammates. He didn’t look that way moments later when Cronenworth connected,

SAN Diego Padres’ Jake Cronenworth reacts after hitting a walk-off home run during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros yesterday. Photo: Gregory Bull/AP immediately punching his Garcia, one of the top rook- Paddack’s next delivery over ies in the AL. glove with his right hand. the fence in center, his 22nd. The Astros tied it in the The Padres celebrated at Padres closer Mark Melthe plate with a win that put seventh when Yuli Gurriel ancon (4-2) came into a them back into the lead for and Carlos Correa homered 3-3 game in the ninth and the second NL wild-card spot. on consecutive pitches off issued consecutive walks San Diego hadn’t scored Chris Paddack. Gurriel to Kyle Tucker and Gursince the first, when it took homered to left on a 2-0 riel before getting Correa a 3-1 lead against Luis pitch, his 14th and Correa hit to hit into a double play.

After walking Jake Meyers, Melancon struck out pinchhitter Aledmys Diaz. Paddack allowed three runs and six hits in six-plus innings, and had no strikeouts or walks. Paddack dodged some potential big trouble in the first. Jose Altuve hit a leadoff double and Michael Brantley reached on a throwing error by Cronenworth at shortstop. Right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. tried to make a siding catch on Alex Bregman’s flyball but it fell in for a single that brought in Altuve. Tucker, who homered in each of the first two games of the series, flied out and Paddack got Gurriel to hit into a double play. The Padres then jumped on Garcia for three runs in the first inning. Three of the first four batters reached to load the bases before Wil Myers hit a sacrifice fly and Eric Hosmer followed with a two-run

double to left. Garcia allowed three runs and six hits in six-plus innings, struck out five and walked one.

Junk from Double-A last Friday, and he became their 16th starting pitcher this season. Los Angeles acquired the 25-year-old Junk from the Yankees this summer in the trade of Andrew Heaney.

season, a new franchise record. Los Angeles has used 35 pitchers, not counting position players who filled in on the mound.

VERSATILE MACHADO Machado, a third baseman, had a putout in deep right field and an assist from his normal position in the fourth inning. Machado, who often plays in shallow right when the Padres shift against left-handed batters, tracked down Tucker’s fly ball in deep right for the first out of the inning and then, back at the hot corner, gloved Carlos Correa’s grounder and threw to first for the third out. TRAINER’S ROOM A day after fouling a ball off his left knee, Yordan Alvarez wasn’t in the Astros lineup but he did pinch-hit, striking out in the seventh. He was in so much pain Saturday night that he had to be helped off the field.

PETERS HITS TWO HOMERS TO STEER RANGERS TO VICTORY ANAHEIM, California Associated Press

DJ PETERS homered twice, had a career-high four hits and drove in four runs, and Taylor Hearn pitched seven innings of seven-hit ball in the Texas Rangers’ 7-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels yesterday. Peters, the former Dodgers outfielder who grew up 30 minutes north of Angel Stadium in Glendora, had the first multi-homer game of his rookie season. He hit a solo shot in the second and a three-run blast in the third before adding a

single and a late double, delighting his vocal family and friends in the Anaheim stands while Texas snapped a three-game skid. Hearn (5-4) won his third consecutive start, allowing three runs and striking out four in the longest start of his career while ending the last-place Rangers’ fivegame losing streak against the Angels. Hearn even struck out Shohei Ohtani twice, giving him three strikeouts of the major league homers leader in their four career matchups. Ohtani went 0 for 4. The two-way star got a walk and his 23rd stolen base in the

eighth inning, but struck out with two Angels on base to end it. Jo Adell hit two homers for the Angels, who lost for only the third time on a nine-game homestand concluding today. Janson Junk (0-1) lost his major league debut after pitching six-hit ball into the fourth inning for the Angels. His teammates let him down with two defensive misplays that could have prevented all of his five runs allowed — including four unearned runs. Peters connected for his ninth homer leading off the second inning, but only

when Angels center fielder Brandon Marsh missed a good opportunity to catch it at the fence. Peters then blasted a twoout homer in the third on the first pitch after Angels shortstop Luis Rengifo extended the inning by blowing an easy throw to first. Adell got the Angels’ first run with a solo homer leading off the fourth, ending his 15-game homer drought. He added a two-run shot to right in the sixth for the second multi-homer game of his career. ONE MAN’S JUNK The Angels promoted

TYLER (VS) TEXAS Right-hander Kyle Tyler also made his major league debut for the Angels, finishing the game with three innings of stellar one-hit relief. Tyler his first eight batters before a diving Marsh barely missed Peters’ tailing double to center. Tyler is the 61st player to suit up for the Halos this

TRAINER’S ROOM Rangers: RHP Spencer Howard is back with the team after going on the COVID injured list late last month. He should be activated soon. Angels: LF Justin Upton went on the injured list with a right lumbar strain. The 34-year-old slugger already missed 21 games with a back injury this summer, and the Halos won’t reevaluate him for 10 days.

PAGE 18, Monday, September 6, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

ENGLAND’S BUKAYO SAKA, left, reacts after scoring his side’s fourth goal against Andorra yesterday.

Photo: Ian Walton/AP

Saka feels the England love with scoring return to Wembley LONDON Associated Press THE cheers of the Wembley crowd made clear the affection for Bukayo Saka the moment the England lineup was announced. There were even louder roars to come when the birthday boy headed in the final goal in a 4-0 World Cup qualifying win over Andorra yesterday. “It really made a difference for me,” the 20-year-old Saka said. “I could hear so many fans cheering my name.” How different from 56

days earlier when England last played at Wembley. When Saka missed England’s last penalty in the European Championship final shootout loss to Italy. When the youngster was targeted with a torrent of racist abuse on social media, leading to police investigations and arrests. Saka was showered with love when he arrived back from his summer break to Arsenal to find a wall covered in messages of support at the training ground. It was returning to Wembley that allowed Saka to see the warmth from true

England fans after that abhorrent abuse that social media companies were slow to remove. “I’m really happy with the reception everyone gave me,” Saka said. “It really showed how proud they are of me. I think that meant a lot for me and it made me really want to give my all.” That was clear to England manager Gareth Southgate. “I hope closure, if it was needed,” he said. “You can see how popular he is with the rest of the team.” Saka’s impact was apparent early on with a cross

setting up Jesse Lingard to score England’s only goal of the first half against the footballing minnows from the Pyrenees. Lingard doubled his tally for the evening by scoring the third for the hosts, finishing from the edge of the box with Andorra goalkeeper Josep Gomes only able to get a hand to his low shot. England’s second in the 72nd minute saw captain Harry Kane net his 40th international goal from a penalty after Mason Mount was bundled over. After Lingard scored his

second, it was Saka who had the final say. He left Southgate beaming as he nodded in from Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross in the 85th minute. It set off the most thunderous celebrations of the evening from fans. “It makes me believe they support me through thick and thin,” Saka said. England has a fivepoint lead in Group I over Wednesday’s next opponent, Poland, which routed San Marino 7-1. Robert Lewandowski scored twice in the opening 21 minutes. There

was also a hat trick from Adam Buksa, with two of his goals coming at the end in stoppage time. San Marino did score its first goal in the group after five matches but it was already losing 4-0 at the time and the team remains in last place with zero points. Albania had a 1-0 win over Hungary to go third, a point behind Poland. Only the top team automatically qualifies for the tournament in Qatar in November 2022 with the group runners-up having to go through playoffs.

BRAZIL V ARGENTINA CALLED OFF IN COVID ROW

ARGENTINA’S World Cup qualifier at Brazil was interrupted after just seven minutes yesterday in a wild dispute over coronavirus concerns, with the game later suspended by the referee. Just after the start of a match-up of South American powers featuring Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Brazil’s Neymar, Brazilian health officials came onto the pitch over three Argentina players whom they felt should not be playing because they allegedly did not reveal on arriving in Sao Paulo on Friday that they had recently been in England. Argentina responded by walking off the field at NeoQuimica Arena in Sao Paulo. Argentina tweeted that the game, which was at 0-0, would not resume. South American soccer body CONMEBOL confirmed the match had been suspended and FIFA will now decide what to do with it. Antonio Barra Torres, the president of Brazil’s health agency, Anvisa, said four Argentina players will be fined and deported for allegedly not following Brazil’s COVID-19 protocols. Four of Argentina’s players from the English Premier League had been ordered to quarantine by Brazil’s health agency ahead of the match. Despite that order, three of the four started for Argentina. Aston Villa players Emiliano Martinez and Emiliano Buendia, and Tottenham duo Giovanni Lo Celso and Cristian Romero, came to play for Argentina despite the Premier League not wanting players to be

BRAZIL and Argentina’s players talk as the soccer game is interrupted by health authorities during a qualifying soccer match for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 at Neo Quimica Arena stadium in Sao Paulo, Brazil, yesterday. Photo: Andre Penner/AP Brazil called nine Pre- not allow,” Scaloni told released for international duty due to the need to mier League players for channel TyC Sports. “We quarantine for 10 days in a the three rounds of World wanted to play the match, hotel on their return. Now Cup qualifiers in Septem- so did the Brazilians.” Brazil’s soccer confedthey have been caught up ber, including five starters, in Brazilian quarantine but none of them came - as eration interim president advised by their clubs. Ednaldo Rodrigues said restrictions. Argentina coach Lionel he found the decision of Brazil’s health agency said all four allegedly told Scaloni said he and his play- the health agency to be immigration officers they ers were sad by the turn of “strange”. “At no moment was the hadn’t in the last 14 days events, and that both teams been to the United King- would have liked to play Brazilian soccer confederation in favor of this,” he dom or anywhere else that the game. “A match between some told TV Globo. Brazil puts on its own red Brazil players stayed list for COVID-19 risks. of the best in the world ends Those who have face a like this. I would like people on the field after Argen14-day quarantine in Brazil. in Argentina to understand tina left, and started doing Martinez, Romero and that as a coach I have to training exercises. FedLo Celso started the match. take care of my players. If eral police were outside Buendia was not included people come and say they the stadium to escort the have to deport them, I will Argentina squad. in the squad.

...WHILE GUINEA WORLD CUP QUALIFIER OFF AFTER A COUP CONAKRY, Guinea Associated Press

GUINEA’S World Cup qualifier against Morocco has been postponed after a Guinean army colonel seized control of state television and said the government had been dissolved yesterday, The West African nation was due to host Morocco in the capital of Conakry on Monday. No new date has been set for the fixture. The Confederation of African Football said the

postponement was “to ensure the safety and security of all players and to protect all match officials.” There were hours of heavy gunfire near the presidential palace in Conakry on Sunday in developments that bore all the hallmarks of a coup d’etat. “The current political and security situation in Guinea is quite volatile and is being closely monitored by FIFA and CAF,” the governing bodies said in a statement.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, September 6, 2021, PAGE 19

Paralympic closing ends Toyko’s Olympic saga TOKYO Associated Press THE final act of the delayed Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics came yesterday, almost eight years to the day after the Japanese capital was awarded the Games. The Paralympics ended a 13-day run in a colorful, circus-like ceremony at the National Stadium overseen by Crown Prince Akishino, the brother of Emperor Naruhito. The Olympics closed almost a month ago. These were unprecedented Olympics and Paralympics, postponed for a year and marked by footnotes and asterisks. No fans were allowed during the Olympics, except for a few thousand at outlying venues away from Tokyo. A few thousand school children were allowed into some Paralympic venues. “There were many times when we thought these games could not happen,” Andrew Parsons, president of the International Paralympic Committee, said on Sunday. “There were many sleepless nights.” The closing ceremony was entitled “Harmonious Cacophony” and involved both able-bodied actors and others with disabilities. The theme was described by organisers as a “world inspired by the Paralympics, one where differences shine.” Like the Olympics, the Paralympics went ahead as Tokyo was under a state of emergency due to the pandemic. Like the Olympics, testing athletes frequently and isolating them in a bubble kept the virus largely at bay, though cases surged among a Japanese population that is now almost 50% fully vaccinated. “I believe that we have reached the end of games without any major problems,” said Seiko Hashimoto, the president of the Tokyo organizing committee. But there was fallout, however. Lots of it. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced Friday — two days before the closing — that he would not continue in office. Suga hoped to get a reelection bump from the Olympics. He got the opposite as his approval rating plummeted after a slow vaccine rollout in Japan, and a contentious decision to stage the Games during the pandemic. Suga succeeded Shinzo Abe, who resigned a year ago for health reasons. It was Abe who celebrated in the front row of a Buenos Aires hotel ballroom on Sept. 7, 2013, when thenIOC President Jacques Rogge announced Tokyo as the 2020 host — ahead of Istanbul and Madrid. In a sad coincidence, Rogge died a week ago at 79 after being in poor health. “Now that Prime Minister Suga is forced out, taking the blame for his failure to combat the coronavirus, it would be impossible to claim that the Olympics and Paralympics were successful, a unifying moments for Japan,” Koichi Nakano, a political scientist at Sophia University, wrote in an email to The Associated Press. The Paralympics may leave a more tangible legacy in Japan than the Olympics, raising public awareness about people with disabilities and the provision of accessible public space. The Paralympics involved a record number of athletes — 4,405 — and a record number of countries won medals. They also saw two athletes from Afghanistan compete, both of whom arrived several days late after fleeing Kabul. “The Tokyo Games were a model of efficiency and friendliness,” Olympic

historian David Wallechinsky said in an email to The Associated Press. “If it hadn’t been for the COVID-related difficulties, these would be right at or near the top of the best-organized of the 19 Olympics — Summer and Winter — I have attended.” The costs also set records. A study by the University of Oxford found these to be the most expensive Games on record. Japan officially spent $15.4 billion to organise the Olympics and Paralympics, double the original estimate. Several government audits suggested the real costs are twice that. All but $6.7 billion is public money. The pandemic probably cost organisers almost $800 million in lost ticket sales, a budget shortfall that will have to be made up by more government funds. In addition, local sponsors contributed more than $3 billion to the operating budget, but got little return with few fans. Toyota, a major Olympics sponsor, pulled its Games-related television advertising in Japan because of public opposition to the Games. Toshiro Muto, the CEO of the organising committee and a former deputy governor of the Bank of Japan, framed the costs as an investment. He acknowledged that it’s difficult to sort out what are — and what are not — Olympic costs. “It has to be scrutinized further to segregate which part is investment and which part is expenditure,” Muto said in an interview last week. “It’s difficult to define the difference.” Tokyo was also haunted by a vote-buying scandal during the bid process that forced the resignation 2 1/2 years ago of Japanese Olympic Committee president Tsunekazu Takeda. He was also an International Olympic Committee member. Next up are the Beijing Winter Olympics, opening in five months. They have been billed as the “Genocide Games” by rights groups that want the Games pulled from China because of the reported internment of at least 1 million Uyghurs and other largely Muslim ethnic groups in Xinjiang in northwestern China. The US Department of State and several other governments have called the human rights violations in Xinjiang a genocide, and one major IOC sponsor — Intel — has said it agrees with the characterization. “The COVID-related restrictions that were imposed in Tokyo are like a dream come true for the Chinese dictatorship,” Wallechinsky said. “No foreign spectators, fewer foreign media; just what the Communist Party leadership would want. Will athletes protest, and if they do, what will the Chinese do? Deport them? Arrest them? We don’t know.” The IOC, which pushed for Tokyo to go ahead and generated about $3 billion-$4 billion in television income, has already lined up the next three Summer Olympics; Paris in 2024, Los Angeles in 2028, and Brisbane, Australia, in 2032. The Winter Olympics after Beijing are in MilanCortina in Italy in 2026. “I believe the IOC has to be greatly relieved that the next Games will be in France, Italy and the United States,” Wallechinsky said. “Both Paris and Los Angeles are cities with venues and infrastructure that are already well in place.” Hashimoto, the head of the organising committee, indicated Sunday that Sapporo would bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics. It was the host city in 1972. “For 2030, Sapporo will definitely become a candidate,” Hashimoto said. “I would hope this would become a reality.”

THE FLAG of the United States enters the stadium during the closing ceremony for the 2020 Paralympics at the National Stadium in Tokyo, yesterday. Photo: Eugene Hoshiko/AP

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