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VOLUME:116 No.160, AUGUST 15TH, 2019
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Minnis addresses power crisis - but blackouts go on By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis expressed deep unhappiness with the state of power generation in New Providence yesterday, calling it unacceptable. He revealed that Bahamas Power & Light officials briefed Cabinet on Tuesday about its short-term plan to provide relief to residents and businesses. That plan includes returning to service an additional nine megawatts of power from BPL’s Aggreko units, he said. He added: “A six-man team of specialists from Philadelphia Gear is here on New Providence. The team has started working with the intention of returning an additional
.FINANCE Minister K Peter Turnquest yesterday said the government has not given any detailed consideration to increasing the minimum wage. He moved to temper expectations after Labour Minister Dion Foulkes told reporters on Tuesday the National Tripartite Council was actively discussing the matter. Mr Foulkes noted the council has not presented any definitive recommendations. Yesterday, Mr Turnquest
SEE PAGE TWO
JOBLESS NUMBERS UP SINCE FNM WIN
SEE PAGE FIVE
SEE PAGE SIX
EXPERTS REMOVE KILLER BEE HIVE
THE hive of the bees that attacked and killed an elderly man and two dogs in the Caravel Beach area was located and removed from the area by a local pest control company, The Tribune understands. Pest control technicians at Budget Pest Control responded to an emergency call last Wednesday at Dolphin and Drumfish Street, where 82-year-old Keith Finley was attacked after throwing yard debris into bushes across the street from his home. He was taken to hospital, but died two days later.
20 megawatts of power to service at the Baillou Hills power plant. For context, BPL’s peak demand is 250 megawatts and is currently experiencing a 40 megawatt shortfall. BPL will notify the public as additional generation capacity is operational.” His statement continued: “Over the last several months, BPL has had to engage in prolonged periods of load shedding due to a decaying generation fleet that has presented challenges to power generation in New Providence for decades. I am deeply unhappy that our families are suffering. I fully understand that Bahamians and residents want clear and immediate action. I want to assure you that the government is
said: “The government has not given any detailed consideration to that matter at this point. I know there is a feeling in the public that there ought to be some adjustments to the minimum wage. “We of course know that there has been some increase in the cost of living as a result of the increase in the value added tax and the inflation rate shows that, but the trend also shows that is evening out, as we expect, and that over time it will start to normalise.”
L SOUR CE
By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net
MINIMUM WAGE RISE ‘NOT ANYTIME SOON’ By FARRAH JOHNSON
$1
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
BEST SEAT IN THE HOUSE
THESE youngsters are definitely enjoying a lift at the Fox Hill Day at Fox Hill Park. Picture special - Page 12 Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
MORE Bahamians are jobless now than when the Minnis administration took office just over two years ago despite the national unemployment rate’s reduction to 9.5 percent. A closer examination of the May 2019 Labour Force Survey data reveals that some 22,635 Bahamians were looking for work this summer but unable to find it - a figure that was 755 higher than the 21,880 classified as unemployed at the time of the May 2017 survey. FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS
POLICE ARRESTS IN OVERTIME PROBE Weekend By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net
SOME employees of the Ministry of Education have been questioned at the Central Detective Unit this week and told they were “under arrest” as police investigate alleged misappropriation of funds. Police are investigating a Department of Education scheme that defrauded the government of nearly $450,000 by manipulating
TERRANCE BASTIAN a system of stipends and honoraria. The scheme was exposed by Auditor
General Terrance Bastian in a September 12, 2018 report revealed by The Tribune in January. The Tribune reported last month that the Ministry of Public Service issued show cause letters to ten people implicated in the scheme, requiring the high level employees to defend themselves against allegations in order to avoid termination. Police have simultaneously been investigating the
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PAGE 2, Thursday, August 15, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
EXPERTS REMOVE KILLER BEE HIVE from page one
Prior to his death, neighbours in the area had also lost their dogs after unreported bee attacks. This is the first fatal attack of a human in Grand
Bahama. The incident has been reported to the Ministry of Agriculture, which is expected to receive samples of the bees from local exterminators to determine if they were Africanised honey bees, also known as “killer bees”.
Gregory Rahming, director at the Department of Agriculture, told The Tribune his officers in Freeport are trying to obtain some of the bee samples. “The officers at the department in Freeport are speaking to the exterminator to see if
he had taken samples to see if we can get a hold of the samples. “Once we get the sample we will forward it to a lab abroad that can do testing,” he said. Mr Rahming explained there are no-one or any
KEITH Finley and his wife Pamela facility in the country that can conduct testing to determine if the insects are, in fact, Africanised bees. When asked whether the situation of bee attacks on Grand Bahama is a serious issue, the director said: “Well, based on information I received, if you disturb a bee hive, the bees will attack you - any bee; any bee hive will attack you.” When asked if agricultural officers in Grand Bahama have visited the site of the attack, he stated: “We intend to inspect the area; we have staff in GB who are investigating the matter, and we will advise the public in due course once our investigations are finished.” Bahamas National Trust officials in Grand Bahama have issued warnings to the public since June, when the first aggressive bee attack was recorded in East Grand Bahama. A team from BNT was conducting a bird survey in bushes in East Grand Bahama when members were attacked. Team members were stung numerous times, with one person being stung up to 16 times. Ellsworth Weir, park manager of BNT in Grand Bahama, said they are very concerned about the situation regarding the aggression of the bees. “In terms of the way the attack happened and the aggression shown by the bees we are concerned,” he said. Mr Weir said that they have been in communication with the Ministry of
Agriculture and the Grand Bahama Port Authority. Mr Weir said he has visited the Caravel Beach area where latest attack occurred at Drumfish Street. He said that he is also aware that dogs in the area had been attacked and died. “An alarm probably should have been raised at that point when that had happened. But that did not come to our attention or the Beekeepers Association,” he said. Mr Weir has spoken with Nakira Wilchcombe, environmental and safety director at the Grand Bahama Port Authority, regarding an abandoned building behind the bush where a beehive had been previously removed. He said that they were also going to check the building to make sure that there are no bees there. “That building previously had some bees that had to be removed. But based on how Mr Finley was attacked it does not seem the bees would be in that house because that is behind the property where the bush is. He got attacked on the other side,” he said. Anyone who encounters or sees a hive can contact the Grand Bahama Beekeepers Cooperative at 242-814-7922; the Ministry of Agriculture’s Animal Control Unit; Mr Weir at eweir@bnt.bs or 352-5438, or science officer Scott Johnson at sjohnson@bnt. bs or 393-1371.
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, August 15, 2019, PAGE 3
POLICE ARRESTS IN OVERTIME PROBE from page one
matter to determine if criminal charges are warranted. The manner in which that investigation has been handled sparked anxiety among staff at the Ministry of Education this week. A ministry source said Human Resources officials told employees everyone who has received a stipend, overtime pay or honorarium since 2012 could be questioned by police as part of a fact finding mission. Although human resources portrayed the meeting to staff as an innocuous discussion to
help officers understand the payment system, the source said people interviewed claim that they have been told by officers that they are, in fact, under arrest. Investigators, this newspaper was told, then quickly assured staff that they face no real legal jeopardy but must be formally arrested so their testimony can be admissible in a trial. The questioning has centred around basic information concerning the stipends or overtime pay employees have received and the people questioned are not believed to be targets of the investigation.
The Tribune yesterday spoke to a ministry employee who has received overtime pay and has sought legal advice after hearing the experience of others. “Staff felt duped by Human Resources,” the employee, who has not yet been interviewed by police, said. “It’s caused a big hullabaloo and it’s all anybody is talking about. You mean to tell me the only way they could secure testimony is to say we under arrest? Everyone is saying lawyer up and people are distraught.” Yesterday, Deputy Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle, who previously
DEPUTY Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle. headed the police AntiCorruption Unit, declined to discuss details about the questioning of staff. He said: “The police are
investigating the alleged misappropriation of funds within the Ministry of Education. I have not heard from no one who has complained to me about it and I have not seen anything about it. I know none of the persons who were spoken to and I have not had any conversation with them. I have spoken to the investigating officers and we will look into it and find an amicable way in which to proceed with this investigation.” Deputy Commissioner Rolle noted the law allows police to question anyone while conducting an investigation. The scheme officials are
investigating resulted in taxpayers being defrauded of $448,230. There was no accompanying formal approval from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Public Service for the alleged fraudulent payments. In one instance, an assistant accountant received 43 honoraria payments of $125,505 in 44 months while another accountant received $61,113 in 32 instalments in 20 months. In April, the Office of the Attorney General recommended that 10 people face disciplinary action in connection with the fraud.
Family Island schools to get digital push By RIEL MAJOR Tribune Staff Reporter rmajor@tribunemedia.net FAMILY Island schools will be linked to New Providence classrooms digitally as the government seeks to address teacher shortages. The eLearning platform has cost the taxpayers $20m to date, according to Education Minister Jeffery Lloyd. Speaking at the Rotary Club of South East Nassau’s weekly meeting yesterday, Mr Lloyd said each year approximately 40 to 100 teachers are needed, mostly affecting the southern islands. To address this issue, the government is rolling out a distance learning programme for some Family Island students. He said: “Those students in the MICAL constituency don’t have the same access or…quality that those in Grand Bahama, New Providence and Abaco do. They are now expressing and making demands with their voices justifiably so that they too should not only be subjected to only four or five BJCSE options when those in New Providence
are capable of doing 12 or 14 and it’s not their fault that they are deprived. It’s your fault mister educational system. We are going to fix that with technology but it’s expensive. I thought it was going to cost three to four million dollars to do it; $20m today, and that’s just laying down the groundwork and the foundation.” He added: “That’s not even beginning to consider that when we open this system from a technological standpoint where there is greater accessibility, more share-ability somewhat more venerability but exponential capacity. We are going to do something quite creative this September. Those islands like Crooked island, Acklins and so on where cannot put a math, physics, biology, and chemistry and sometimes Spanish and so on teacher. We are going to connect them up digitally. We’re going to have what they call distance learning.” Mr Lloyd said his ministry wants the system to be completely digitised within 12 to 18 months. “We are 40 percent on the way and we are going to
start with eLearning or distance learning this coming September,” he said. “Forty of the schools are already wired up and so on. Most of the schools in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas when I came as minister did not have the internet. Most did not have the internet to date that’s only two years ago - 2017. “It’s expensive we only can do it there, but you have other places in the Bahamas (like) South Eleuthera, North Andros, Bimini and elsewhere who are also in need, can’t do it. Teachers are not trained to do that because that’s a different type of teaching.” He added: “That means that the youngsters are going to have a tablet in their hand and he’s going to have to manage his way through the lesson plan because the teacher is in Anatol Rodgers or Doris Johnson (in New Providence). It also means that the leaner now is going to have to be different because you’re going to have to do more of what we call selfmanagement learning.” Editorial View - Page 4
EDUCATION Minister Jeffery Lloyd.
DOMINICAN WOMAN DENIES HUMAN TRAFFICKING CHARGES
SOBEYDA GARCIA REYES, centre, outside court yesterday. By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net A 37-YEAR-OLD Dominican woman yesterday denied allegations she smuggled a woman into the country eight months ago, and withheld the woman’s passport as a means of exploitation. Sobeyda Garcia Reyes
stood before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt charged with three human trafficking offences concerning her alleged actions between December 1, 2018 and January 31. It is alleged that between the dates in question, Reyes, also known as Sobeyda Scrivens, conspired with others to engage in trafficking in persons.
Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff It is further alleged that during those same dates, she harboured her victim for the purposes of exploitation. It is also alleged that sometime between December 16, 2018 and January 31 of this year, she withheld the woman’s passport in order to commit or facilitate a human trafficking-related offence. Reyes, with the assistance
of a translator, denied all of the charges. Bail was subsequently denied and she was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services until August 21 when a status hearing will be held. Reyes’ attorney, Ryszard Humes, confirmed to The Tribune that he plans to apply to the Supreme Court for bail for his client.
Photo: Terrel W Carey/Tribune Staff
PAGE 4, Thursday, August 15, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
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How about a living wage, not just a minimum wage? THERE was a very quick retreat yesterday from Finance Minister Peter Turnquest after the subject of a possible rise in the minimum wage was broached. It’s not as if the suggestion had been a strong one – the day before, Labour Minister Dion Foulkes had said that the Tripartite Council had started to discuss the matter, but no recommendations had been put forward yet, and there seemed to be no sign they would be soon. And yet yesterday Mr Turnquest seemed to suggest the matter was very low on the government’s radar, saying it had “not given any detailed consideration to that matter”. The last time the minimum wage increased was in 2015, during the Christie administration, when it was increased from $150 per week to $210 per week. That sounds a sizeable jump – but the last time it had increased before that was 2002, so it had some catching up to do. Of course, since 2015, living costs have gone up – not least of all when Mr Turnquest and his fellow FNMs raised VAT from 7.5 percent to 12 percent in July last year. Mr Turnquest acknowledged that VAT and the inflation rate had led to an increase in living costs, but added “the trend also shows that is evening out, as we expect, and that over time it will start to normalise”. Normal can mean different things depending how you look at it, and those on the lowest wages in the country don’t have much time to wait.
Here’s an exercise for readers. Imagine being paid $210 per week. Now work out how much of that you would have to spend to have a roof over your head. Now knock off some to pay BPL for the times it’s gracious enough to provide power. Scratch some off for the cost of getting to work, and the clothes to wear when you get there. Now your daily food. How much have you got left? How much would you have left if you have children to provide for too? “Over time” doesn’t much help the people on the breadline. And it doesn’t help at all when that rise in costs has come about through the FNM’s own VAT rise. At the same time, however, we would suggest that we also need to set our sights on establishing a national living wage. This is in place in many parts of the world – working out what would be the pay that would allow a worker to meet the basic needs of their families. Then the government can encourage businesses to pay their workers a living wage by writing it into contracts – if you’re an employer dealing with government agencies, the government could even make it a requirement that you pay your staff the living wage or you don’t get the contract. So while we think the government should absolutely be having discussions about whether it is time to raise the minimum wage, perhaps too it is time to consider whether we can raise our standards of treating workers higher still.
THE geography of The Bahamas can lend itself to some difficulties – for example, teacher shortages in some Family Island schools. One solution being proposed is distance learning – students in a Family Island school being able to connect through the internet to a teacher in New Providence, letting children virtually sit in on classes over the internet. It’s a solution used elsewhere – remote schooling is common in Australia, for example, while many adult students take part in distance learning to achieve degrees. The idea also provides an opportunity – particularly to make the most of the best teachers we have. For the top teachers, why not make this a standard, so that students across the country all learn from the best? For that matter, if the best teacher is in a Family Island, why not have New Providence students be the ones doing distance learning?
And why stop there? What other ways can we use technology to improve our connection between our islands? To mention Australia again, that country is famed for its Flying Doctor service bringing healthcare to remote parts of the nation – can we have a remote clinic service so islanders can check in routinely with doctors to describe their conditions, with follow-ups scheduled in person as needed? Recently, the rebuilding of Ragged Island cited various building costs - $2m for a school, $2.5m for a clinic, $2.5m for a post office and courtroom and $1m for a police station – could remote access reduce some of the sizes of these buildings and the costs associated? Perhaps we can turn the difficulties of our geography into an opportunity to think about doing things a better way – and distance learning can be just the start of bringing us together more effectively.
Distance learning can be just the start
We need to get tough on immigration laws EDITOR, The Tribune COUNTRIES all around the world are getting serious about protecting the borders of their country. Why is the Bahamas being so passive? I saw an article in a paper where a former politician was saying that the government should make illegal immigrants legal and I was shocked! ALL Illegal immigrants should be sent home along with their children. If they choose to go to another country that is their choice but they should not be allowed to stay here. I recently saw a documentary on line about how the Dominican Republic,
which is right next to Haiti, changed their constitution and made it retroactive to 1929, so that all illegals, even if they were born there must leave their country. Even those who had citizenship lost it due to this law change. I was shocked. Why doesn’t a particular lawyer and the Haitian activists go to the Dominican Republic and fight them for changing their laws? Their country is bigger than ours and they are Haiti’s neighbours. These people will not go there because the Dominican Republic will not entertain them. They are doing what they feel is best for their country and so should we.
We need to change our laws and the constitution as well if necessary to protect our land from illegal immigrants of all nationalities. The longer we do nothing, the worse things will become. Our schools and health care systems are overcrowded. Why are we giving so many licences for businesses to foreigners? There is a Chinese store on almost every corner! The government needs to do whatever is necessary to deal with the immigration problem now! WAITING ACTION Nassau July 18, 2019
FOR
BPL: Time for PM to step in and take action EDITOR, The Tribune GIVEN where things are and have been for months now with BPL and the recent disappointing performance by its CEO, Whitney Heastie and Board Chairman, Dr. Donovan Moxey and others, it begs the question, whether the current leadership is up to the task. Especially, considering that the Minister responsible for BPL, Hon. Desmond Bannister seems to be at his wits end, frustrated and overwhelmed and to some extent understandably so because of the many challenges at BPL. When the Hon. Minister Bannister, who ultimately has full responsibility for BPL, told the Nassau
LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net Guardian that he would no longer grant them interviews regarding BPL, that was a sure sign that it is time for the Prime MInister to act. A Cabinet Minister in the government, ought not conclude in his or her mind, much less state publicly that he or she will not speak to the mainstream media in particular, as to their portfolio as they are accountable to the people and that happens mostly through the media. That is one of the main reasons media exist, to question the government of the
day about its activities, actions, inaction, policies, pronouncements or lack thereof. That is a hallmark of ours and any democracy. It seems that Prime MInister The Most Hon. Dr. Hubert A Minnis, now needs to step in and take action regarding the leadership, at the very top and direction of BPL, because the public no long trusts BPL and has no confidence in the leadership, nor its ability to resolve the “current” challenges that everyone (residents, small businesses and large businesses} are facing. DEEPLY FRUSTRATED BAHAMIAN Nassau August 12, 2019
The buck does indeed stop with the prime minister EDITOR, The Tribune HAVE zero patience anymore, the buck, Mr. Most Honourable Prime Minister, stops right at your desk. A national Address, with a Press Question and Answer, live Press conference broadcast has to happen, as the residents of New Providence cannot take BP&L any longer. When the Minister responsible for BP&L, Mr. Bannister, says oh BP&L is not in crisis, and every day there are long outages of electricity, something is not being understood. Minister, from a long time ago, there has been a crisis at BP&L. It started around September, 2017, and the infamous RFP for the 80MW of standby generators. PM where is the report? Is there a report? So many issues arose from then and have just worsened up to now. BP&L Union man, Mr. Maynard blanching to obviously avoid issues with his
members, says that 25MW or 25 of Aggreko’s generators are not working. Is that a fact, Prime MInister? The loss of 25MW would cause a serious loss of energy, that is basically needed to keep the lights on. Then Mr. Maynard talks about the details of other generators being down. We have never heard a word from anyone, from the Prime Minister down to Mr. Heastie of those issues. Thursday, August 8th… BP&L PR guy, ex-PR guy from UB and journalist and Talk Show host advises News media…GM will hold a press conference on Sunday, August 11th, at 2:00 p.m. refusing to answer any questions, when large areas of the island are without electricity? Where is URCA? Surely they should be leveling fines, for obvious breaches of their BP&L exclusive franchise? BP&L seems to have plenty of cash! They found $97 million to buy those Wartsila generators,
or what is the detail of that deal? Is there a private secret financing/purchasing deal that involves a certain What is the story of the lady Ms. Aliston, that upped and resigned from BP&L - a very highly qualified person. Come clean, Mr. Prime Minister…I hope you will understand we the public, no longer believe a word from Minister Bannister or Mr. Heastie or Chairman Donovan Moxey, forget BP&L PR guy…not a single word. PM promises to investigate the Osbourne issues… promised to investigate matters around the 80MW RFP (September 2017). These were months ago, is a report being made or was that all verbal flam? Ragged Island solar... who is the local - Bahamian entity in this you have just awarded? The people want to know! W. THOMPSON Nassau August 9, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, August 15, 2019, PAGE 5
Minnis addresses power crisis - but blackouts go on from page one committed to doing whatever is necessary to alleviate this problem, including further additional measures. The frustration and inconvenience experienced by Bahamians and residents, in homes and businesses throughout New Providence is simply unacceptable. We are doing all we can to fix the
problem long-term, and to ensure that Bahamians and residents receive the consistent power supply they deserve.” For his part, Deputy Prime Minister Peter Turnquest acknowledged to reporters that the electricity woes have been a “very significant inconvenience at the least and is a significant problem that is affecting people’s lives both in terms of the business,
the economy and personal comfort.” He said of BPL’s shortterm plan: “I’m not an engineer so I can’t say where they are technically in terms of it, but based on my layman’s ear I’m satisfied that they certainly are addressing the issue and they have a plan for a speedy resolution.” Last week Opposition Leader Philip “Brave”
Davis knocked Dr Minnis for not publicly addressing the problems at BPL, calling his reaction “stone silence.” At the same time, BPL’s CEO Whitney Heastie could not say over the weekend when BPL will stop its load shedding exercises, describing the company as “on a cliff” with no wiggle room. Currently, the Finnish technology group Wartsilla
is working to install a 132-megawatt engine power plant at Clifton for $95 million. That plant is expected to be operational in December. BPL began daily load shedding on June 19, but frequent power cuts were an issue even before that time. Load shedding persisted yesterday in many communities in New Providence in three-hour rotations.
PM Hubert Minnis.
THE BPL power plant. Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff
We left plan for sustainable power, insists former PM By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net FORMER Prime Minister Perry Christie is adamant the Progressive Liberal Party left in place a plan that provided both short and long-term strategies for sustainable power generation, as he urged officials to fix the ongoing crisis quickly. While conceding his administration ran out of time to enforce this plan, Mr Christie said it was complete and ready to be picked up by the Minnis government. In the wake of continuous load shedding, the former PLP leader said he could now only assume the Free National Movement government either disagreed with these provisions or didn’t look at them. “We left in place a full plan but it was too close to elections to try and make it,” Mr Christie told The Tribune yesterday. “We brought in Gowon Bowe, Michael Maura together with Kevin Basden who ran BEC and they joined Sir Baltron Bethel and they all agreed on particular plans going forward having looked at three proposals and they chose one and they left that in place. “I would say that we - to predicate all that we were doing - brought in people from the outside two of
them connected to the Chamber of Commerce, one very well respected and one ran BEC, so look we shall see, but whatever we left in place covered every possible development short-term (and) long-term and I could only assume they disagreed or didn’t look at it,” Mr Christie said, when asked if he believed his government had the answers to prevent what the country is now experiencing. He added: “Everybody is affected now. It’s a very difficult situation for the country, very difficult for the government (and) it’s very difficult for BPL. “Enormous damage is being deferred on a lot of people and so it’s a difficult situation that has to be addressed as quickly as possible.” Mr Christie noted he was able to account for everything he’s done in public life, but referred The Tribune to the PLP’s current leader, Philip “Brave” Davis, for further insight as the power provider was under his purview during the former government. BPL CEO Whitney Heastie admitted on Sunday the company sits “on the edge every day”. He could not guarantee there would be no further electricity cuts or when the load shedding nightmare will end. According to the BPL
chief, while BPL’s peak demand is 250 megawatts, there is only a total of 210mw available, creating a 40mw shortfall and no wiggle room. Crippled by a decaying generation fleet, parts that can no longer be procured and manufacturers that have not responded to BPL’s requests for help, the situation is grim. Mr
FORMER PM Perry Christie
Heastie said this level of system failure now being experienced is one that could not have been anticipated. Consumers have called for clear answers as to when the load shedding situation will improve and have questioned what the company will do to soften the blow of lives often disrupted by electricity cuts.
However, Mr Heastie said BPL cannot afford any form of compensation, while apologising for the utility provider’s failure to give uninterrupted service. BPL’S new $95m power plant will be complete by December 15, according to Edmund Phillips, Wärtsilä business development manager.
PAGE 6, Thursday, August 15, 2019 from page one Mr Turnquest underscored the need to measure the impact such an increase would have on current growth projections. “And what it will mean to the increase in the cost of living as a result of a potential increase in the wage, and what dampening effect that may have on employment and the economy,” he said. The last minimum wage increase was in 2015, during the Christie administration, from $150 per week to $210 per week. This was the first time the national minimum wage was raised since 2002. Among workers canvassed on the Bay Street strip yesterday, many pointed to last year’s VAT increase from 7.5 percent to 12 percent as the chief argument for an overdue increase. Rayshunna Moss, a retail sales associate, said: “If your rent is $120 a week and you only getting pay $210 (a week) and you have three small children, what you suppose to do? Especially if you ain’t get no car to go to work - and even if you had a car you need gas. So, I say God bless those who surviving off of $210 because I really don’t know how they is do it. “That ain’t no money and a lot of places want $120-$150 a week (for rent) so what it leave from that? That’s only $70 you left with for the rest of the week. How you suppose to eat? How you suppose to take care of your kids? How you suppose to even save? You can’t do nothing with $210; they need to raise that to about $300 to be rational and fair. That’s a fair amount give and take according to how your household is too because if you have four children that still ain’t much.” A bar manager, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, added: “Well I feel like the minimum wage is really too low for the Bahamian people in this economy. Especially the hour rate because it’s only $5.25 per hour, I think it’s really too low. On top
THE TRIBUNE
Turnquest plays down idea minimum wage may be increased
FINANCE Minister Peter Turnquest said the government has not given any detailed consideration to increasing the minimum wage. of that, with the VAT, the 12 percent is ridiculous. People can’t really survive. Minimum wage for 40 hours a week, that’s only
$210. There’s nothing much they can do with that. Like groceries, you go in the grocery shop you coming out with three bags for $150.
“You get children in school, you get rent to pay, I think minimum wage should be no less than at least $9 per hour for all Bahamian
citizens. Tourists now these days holding back on their money, they’re not even tipping like that because of the 15 percent gratuity
and the 12 percent VAT, so that’s 27 percent on top of their bill. So once they see that, automatically they don’t tip anymore. Now before this 12 percent VAT, minimum wage was okay because people never use to look at the VAT, but right now people carrying home like maybe $15 or $10 in a day. So I really think minimum wage is really too low. It needs to be at least $8.50 to $9 an hour and I think everybody could provide on that hour rate.” A tour guide, who also requested anonymity, said: “This is how I feel about minimum wage: everything is so expensive here in Nassau, so minimum wage should go up. One person cannot survive on their own living in a household if they want to move out from their parents. What we need to do is we need minimum wage to go up so that if a person decides to move out, they can sustain themselves. We don’t have to have a partner or a roommate just to survive. Food is expensive, clothes is expensive, babies are expensive. We need this to go up. I mean, this is ridiculous. I can’t even survive on my own, my child milk is $22.50, I can’t survive off of that. I have to be begging people for money and yes I work in the tourism business, but that doesn’t mean I making money. But everybody feel as if though we making money, we’re not. So minimum wage needs to go up at least $350 a week. That’s what I feel.” Editorial View - Page 4
WELCOME FOR BILL TO BAN SINGLE-USE PLASTICS
By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net
BREEF executive director Casuarina McKinney-Lambert yesterday applauded the draft bill to ban single-use plastics as a critical first step in the country’s fight against pollution. Mrs McKinney-Lambert said the Environmental Protection (Control of Plastic Pollution) Bill, 2019
reflected the wide level consultation done by the government. “I think that the focus for bags was really on shopping bags at this point,” she said in response to questions about the list of plastic bags that will be exempt from the ban. “Following the lead of a lot of other countries that have already taken steps toward eliminating plastic bags, I think the public education and outreach of
this is absolutely essential. Hopefully this will lead the way for growing awareness and general reduction in use of single-use plastics, and get people to rethink their uses for other plastics as well. “We’re getting in line with this growing international movement by the year 2050; we are in line to have more plastic pollution in the see than fish. People are realising that this is a problem and take personal
responsibility and we’re taking responsibility at the national level to reduce the problem.” If passed, the bill will prohibit single-use plastic foodware and non-biodegradable, oxo-biodegradable and biodegradable single-use plastic bags; prohibit the release of balloons; and regulate the use of compostable singleuse plastic bags. Single-use plastic foodware outlined in the bill include: Styrofoam cups, plates and other similar Styrofoam foodware used to contain food; plastic knives, forks, spoons and straws. Compostable single-use plastic bags will be exempt from the ban along with a number of others based on their intended use like party bags, dry cleaning, food and
CASUARINA MCKINNEY-LAMBERT hardware storage, newspaper deliveries and trash. Businesses will be allowed to sell contraband plastic bags up to June 2020 during a transitional period, at a price range of 25 cents to $1, according to the bill. Mrs McKinney-Lambert said: “I think this is a phased in approach reflective of really broad consultation that has been
taking place and that is a good thing. It gives businesses an opportunity to use their existing stock and develop alternatives and think about mechanisms to encourage people to use their own bags. I think that makes sense and is reflective of the consultation that went into it. People are a lot more aware of why this is coming into effect, there has been very broad consultation.” She continued: “I think ultimately what we need to do as a society is shift away from a disposable culture in general and put the emphasis on reusing items. We see the results of plastics in the marine environment, negatively impacting coral mangroves and in the stomachs of a lot of fish that people are eating.”
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, August 15, 2019, PAGE 7
By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net RIGHTS Bahamas chairperson Mona Agenor, her teenage daughter, and two other persons with Haitian roots were charged yesterday with being antagonistic towards immigration and police officers during a joint raid last month. Agenor, 37, was charged before Senior Magistrate Derence Rolle-Davis with four criminal charges stemming from allegations she acted unruly, cursed at officers and resisted lawful arrest when they stormed her house on July 31. Her 18-year-old daughter, Eldeanna Monica Agenor, was charged with making threats of harm to Senior Immigration Officer Vonetta Darling-Flowers during the early morning incident. Meanwhile, the elder Agenor’s sister, 39-year-old Jacintha Murat-Vesilor, was charged with harbouring an undocumented migrant, namely Milande Joseph, on the date in question. Vesilor’s 22-year-old son Aubert Vesilor Jr, who has applied for Bahamian citizenship, was charged with obstructing Chief Immigration Officer (CIO) Harold Thurston and two other immigration officers, Sebastian Joyce and Corey Bonaby, from executing their duties. Another teenager, 19-year-old Jamaine Grandoit, was charged yesterday with threatening to kill CIO Thurston, and obstructing Messrs Joyce and Thurston from conducting their duties on the date in question. According to reports, at 4am on the date in question, the Department of Immigration as well as the Royal Bahamas Police Force’s Southwestern Division and K-9 units launched joint operation “Rising Sun” in eight areas in southwestern New Providence. The operation covered Flamingo Close, Jubilee Gardens, Venice Bay, Area 51 Haitian
MONA Agenor talking to The Tribune recently. Photo: Shawn Hanna/ Tribune Staff
Activists in court after joint raid Village, Carmichael Road, Sir Milo Butler Highway, McKinney Drive and Bedrock Haitian Village off Bacardi Road, according to a press release from the Immigration Department. Some 28 Haitian nationals were apprehended during the exercise. After further processing, 16 people were committed to the Carmichael Road Detention Centre (CRDC) for various immigration offences, including illegal landing and overstaying. The elder Agenor was
arrested by police and immigration officers around 5am that day. She and others were released from the Carmichael Road Police Station sometime after 10 that night. The adult’s charges included threats of harm, resisting arrest and obscene language, harbouring and obstruction. They each paid $1,000 police bail before they were released. The DOI’s press statement at the time of the incident did not refer to a specific incident; however,
it warned the general public that it would not tolerate “blatant and deliberate assault on our officers while executing their duties”. All five accused denied the charges as they were read to them by Senior Magistrate Derence Rolle-Davis. The police prosecutor did not object to bail. As a result, the elder Agenor was granted $2,000 bail with one suretor; her daughter was granted $800 bail with one suretor; Vesilor was granted $2,500 bail with
MINNIS HEADS BIG NAMES TO SPEAK AT YOUTH CONFERENCE By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net
PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis will be one of the keynote speakers at the Torchbearers Youth Association’s two-day convention, which begins this evening at the Melia hotel. The youth branch of the Free National Movement, TYA’s convention will be held August 15-16, 7pm nightly, under the theme “A Future Secured: #AccessGranted”. It will focus on education, entrepreneurship and employment. During a press conference held yesterday, TYA President Carlyle Bethel outlined the convention’s goals. “The vision and the purpose and the goals of the convention really is to give young people a platform, to give young people the microphone to take the stage and to express openly and freely how they feel the government is doing,” Mr Bethel said. “It’s also an opportunity for the party to speak to the facts in regards to what the government is doing specifically for young people.” Mr Bethel also told reporters the day sessions
will be focused around “political training” and education on party mechanics and structure for delegates. He added TYA is expecting two delegates from each Family Island constituency and approximately 75-100 total delegates. Mr Bethel also underscored TYA’s commitment to gender equality, noting the executive board has an equal number of men and women and the convention’s speakers will reflect this. Tonight’s keynote address will be delivered by Education Minister Jeff Lloyd. Other speakers will include Tourism Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar and FNM chairman Carl Culmer. Dr Minnis will deliver tomorrow night’s keynote address. Minister of State for Grand Bahama Kwasi Thompson and Minister of Youth, Sports, and Culture Lanisha Rolle are among the other speakers for Friday night. In May, Mr Culmer confirmed the FNM would forgo a national convention to instead prioritise the TYA’s convention. The party last held a convention in July 2016. The FNM’s constitution mandates a convention be held every two years.
TOURISM Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar will speak tonight
LOST DOG REWARD White Shih Tzu Please call 3592957 Last seen on the Eastern Road Saturday August 10th
one suretor while her son Aubert was granted $3,000 with one suretor. Their trials are set for October 1 and 2. Due to the nature of the threats of death charge, Grandoit, meanwhile, was denied bail and remanded into custody until October 2. One of his attorneys, Crispin Hall, told The Tribune he plans to apply to the Supreme Court for his bail. Additionally, a 15-yearold boy was charged two weeks ago with four counts
of threats of death and one count each of resisting arrest and assault stemming from the same incident. He pleaded not guilty and has since been granted $6,000 bail by Justice Gregory Hilton. The Tribune understands that Mr Hall and his senior counterpart, Fred Smith, QC, plan to launch their own legal action against the government because of the incident, which they feel has resulted in the “malicious prosecution” of their clients.
PAGE 8, Thursday, August 15, 2019
THE TRIBUNE FAR left: a makeshift memorial near the scene of a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas; left: Jeffrey Epstein, who died by suicide while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges; below: a makeshift memorial in Dayton, Ohio where a gunman killed nine people.
Amid conspiracies and crises, a reality check on the world today I
T’S so hard to keep everything straight in Washington, DC these days. The Jeffrey Epstein apparent suicide has spawned a shocking, but probably predictable, defence by President Trump of his well-chronicled relationship with the accused sex trafficker. Bill Clinton clearly knew Epstein as well, so characteristically, the president is pushing hard to circulate that part of this sordid narrative. Epstein’s death will likely join the assassination of President John F Kennedy in 1963 and the apparent suicide in 1993 of White House adviser and rumoured Hillary Clinton lover Vince Foster on a parkway outside Washington on a lengthening list of scandals and conspiracy theories that seem to have no expiration date. Elsewhere, shooting massacres in Ohio, Texas and California have again brought gun control to the front pages, and questions abound anew about whether the American Congress can muster the fortitude to resist the increasingly beleaguered National Rifle Association and pass significant gun control legislation. Many politicians of both parties probably hope that the furore subsides during the August heat and that they can focus more clearly
STATESIDE
with Charlie Harper
on their own re-election campaigns without this politically inconvenient distraction. A potentially catastrophic nuclear accident in northwest Russia has spawned growing fears of a calamitous threat to human life in that remote part of the world. Few observers can have any real confidence in the ability of Vladimir Putin’s government to manage such a tragedy safely or honestly, so this story may grow as time passes. With so many serious and mind-blowing events on our front pages and televisions and in our computers every day, it’s hard to imagine trying to focus on big political, economic and societal trends in our chaotic and interconnected world, but Robin Wright is trying to do just that. No, not that Robin Wright. Not the comely blonde actress who starred in TV’s House of Cards series about Washington DC and its corrupt practices. Not the serene star who remained married to notorious bad boy actor Sean Penn for 14 years. Not that Robin Wright.
This Robin Wright, pictured right, is a widely acclaimed journalist, author and deep thinker who has graduated from sophisticated foreign political commentary to book authorship to residency at the prestigious Woodrow Wilson Centre in Washington, DC. For many years, she reported from overseas for the Washington Post, concentrating on the Middle East. She has long maintained a solid reputation for objective and insightful reporting and thinking. Wright came to town the other day and spoke about the future of the world. Strap yourselves in. There’s some heavy stuff coming your way. Listening to her was a hopeful reminder that some people can still try to see the big picture, though there was more challenge than reassurance in her remarks. Here are some of the facets of her version of the big picture: 1. We are all living today in a global environment of perpetual disruption. This is not about politics. It’s more a function of not having time to process the effects of
political, economic and military trauma. For example, Wright discussed the years just after the global scourge of World War II. Generally, until the explosion of the Korean War several years after World War II, the world had the luxury of relative peace. And the United Nations, the UN Declaration of Human Rights, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization were among the world’s achievements during that hiatus. Now, Wright said, the world lacks the time for thoughtful leadership. And the pace of events and communications creates an environment where thoughtful leadership is neither fostered nor observed. Forget about thoughtless Trump and Boris Johnson for the moment. Consider how harried, distracted and harassed the thoughtful Angela Merkel was forced to become in Germany. 2. Wright said we are presently witnessing the biggest world re-ordering since the transition of medieval city states to nation states many centuries ago.
In the 20th Century, the great empires of England, France, many other European nations – and Russia – fell or were severely reduced. There was a proliferation of new countries. During roughly the last half of the last century, the number of independent nations rose from 51 to 193. Despite Trump’s insistence on America First, Wright said the reality is the world is now defined by blocs and other regional groupings. Despite the contradictory example of Brexit, commerce and security are leading us all away from individual, autonomous national behaviour toward the 21st Century reality of being part of something larger than a single nation-state. Look for example at NATO: from its 12 original members, the alliance now embraces 29 nations. 3. The barometers of power in the world are shifting. This affects all nations, including America, to distinct but varying degrees. The endurance of nations will be defined more by connectedness than other factors. Speedy and secure access to information will be a paramount factor in national power. Adaptability to rapid change may replace more traditional indices of strength in international relations. Wright has done much of her most celebrated reporting on and from Iran. She has thus gained considerable unfavourable notoriety there. She wryly noted the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (the military support for the Ayatollah’s continuing rule) had hacked her Facebook, Twitter and Department of Motor Vehicles accounts! She cited the example of Tunisia in making her case about the importance of nimbleness and agility for nations. In 2011, Tunisia was the setting for the birth of the Arab Spring. Despite that small nation’s passage of a new constitution assuring women’s rights and other regionally unprecedented freedoms, by 2016 Tunisia was supplying the most recruits to anarchic ISIS. The Tunisian political structure could simply not keep up with the pace of progress in the country, and disillusionment resulted. 4. The nature of warfare is changing. Conflicts in the 21st Century are far more likely to be contested between nation states and non-state actors like militias or ISIS and the Taliban. And in that context, what does winning a war look like? Wright pointed out
that while the ISIS caliphate which once spanned parts of Iraq and Syria is no more, ISIS as an underground movement lives on and is gaining strength. Did the US and its allies win against this non-state actor? The jury is still out on this one. Israel, Wright said, has not fought a conventional war since 1973. The US, often at war somewhere in the world, has fought only one quasi-traditional war (Vietnam) in the 66 years since the end of the conflict in Korea. There is more anxiety in Israel and the West over suicide bombs than about conventional military conflict. 5. Our traditional beliefs about liberal democracy and our way of life have been seriously challenged and weakened – despite the proliferation of democratic governments in the world. Wright said coups and insurgencies had toppled dozens of democracies between 1946 and 1999. In fact, she said 64 democracies around the world had collapsed during that period of American hegemony. Democracies are dying everywhere, often with the active support of leaders, courts and legislatures that were democratically chosen. She pointed to what she described as the death of democracy by election in such varied nations as Turkey, Poland and Nicaragua. Wright recalled that Hugo Chavez was chosen democratically in Venezuela. This all adds up to a view that populism is a formidable foe of democracy in our world today. People want rights, not responsibility, Wright said. This lazy choice leads eventually to the withdrawal by central authority of those precious coveted individual rights. The result is autocracy. Wright pointed out that two-thirds of the highest per-capita income nations are now autocracies. Authoritarian capitalism is corrupting us, and technology gives its purveyors the means to do so more rapidly than ever before. Whether you agree with her or not, Wright paints a bleak, stark picture of contemporary worldwide trends. It seems wise to heed her words. Her American audiences would do well to pay particular attention in the coming 15 months before the U.S. general election next year.
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, August 15, 2019, PAGE 9
DOCTOR WHO DIED IN CAR CRASH WILL BE MUCH MISSED, SAYS PHA
DR KATRICE MAYCOCK, who died in an Abaco traffic accident earlier this month
Retrial order for suspect accused of robbing pizza delivery man By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net THE Court of Appeal has ordered a man be retried over allegations he robbed a pizza delivery man three years ago. The appellate court unanimously said Kadero Munroe should be retried over the Crown’s claims he robbed Marco’s Pizza delivery man Francis Burrows. Michael Clarke, who was also tried and convicted of the crime, was not so fortunate, as the appellate judges unanimously dismissed his appeal. According to the appellate judges, the reason for ordering a retrial for Munroe was because the trial judge admitted his record of interview into evidence without satisfying herself as to whether his claims that he was threatened by police were legitimate. And that error was particularly “troubling” because it came after the trial judge “refused” to come to a conclusion as to whether the police did in fact threaten him, but instead passed that job off to the jury. According to the ruling, on January 25, 2016, Mr Burrows was robbed while returning to work at Marco’s Pizza’s Cable Beach location. He was robbed of his wallet that contained various ABM cards, a cellphone and $130 from Marco’s Pizza’s delivery pouch. The Crown’s case against Munroe was that he drove a vehicle, registered in his name, to the area of Marco’s Pizza, sat in the vehicle and waited while his friends who were also in the car robbed Burrows. The Crown’s case against Clarke was that he was catching a ride to someone named “RJ” in a vehicle driven by another person and that he remained in the vehicle when the other occupants robbed Burrows. The case against Munroe was based primarily on statements contained in his record of interview taken by Officer Roxbury, although the Crown argued that there was other circumstantial evidence from other witnesses that was sufficient to convict him. At trial, Munroe denied the statements attributed
to him were given voluntarily and insisted that he was physically threatened by police officers into giving that statement. Clarke, meanwhile, asserted that his ROI was procured by police brutality. He also claimed he had an alibi. Though the trial judge initially expressed indifference to conducting a voir dire into Clarke’s and Munroe’s claims, one was eventually held. At the end of that process, she verbally ruled that she was satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the ROI’s were not obtained via unscrupulous means. As the appellate judges noted, for the trial judge to have been so satisfied, she had to have accepted the evidence of the police witnesses and rejected Clarke’s and Munroe’s evidence concerning the circumstances surrounding the production of the ROI. However, the appellate judges said it was the trial judge’s written ruling that caused all of the problems. In that ruling, the trial judge gave the impression that she did not consider Munroe’s and Clarke’s evidence, but instead only considered the Crown’s evidence inclusive of their answers to the questions put to the Crown’s witnesses during cross-examination. The appellate judges further noted that the trial judge’s ruling only referred to Munroe’s and Clarke’s case as put to the Crown’s witnesses in cross-examination, and not the evidence of the two men themselves and the witnesses called on their behalf. Conversely, the appellate judges said the trial judge’s decision on the voir dire and the admissibility of a confession statement must be “based upon the entirety of the evidence” led at the voir dire. Concerning Clarke’s claims of police brutality, an issue the appellate judges said was “very troubling” was that the trial judge seemingly did not make any evaluation of the credibility of the various witnesses and “resolve in her own mind” the differences between Clarke’s and the police officers’ evidence as to the circumstances under which the ROI was made. Instead, the trial judge said that job was for the jury.
Concerning Munroe, the appellate judges said the trial judge “refused” to determine whether the police officers did in fact physically threaten the former, but instead passed that job off to the jury. And that stance to Munroe’s claims, the appellate judges said, was incorrect, as she was “obliged to satisfy herself” on whether the threats were made. Ultimately however, the appellate judges found that the evidence against Clarke was “overwhelming” and his conviction “inevitable”. They said notwithstanding that the trial judge did not properly conduct a voir dire before admitting the ROI, it did not affect the safety of his conviction. Concerning Munroe however, the appellate judges said although the car was licenced in his name, that fact did not make his conviction inevitable in the absence of his ROI. “I would allow the appeal of Munroe,” Sir Michael said with the endorsement of Appellate President Sir Hartman Longley and fellow Justice Roy Jones. “As the error involved is that of the trial judge and not a failure by the prosecution, I would order that he be retried.”
THE Public Hospitals Authority released a statement yesterday mourning the death of Dr Katrice Maycock, who died tragically in an Abaco traffic accident earlier this month. Dr Maycock was a senior house officer with Grand Bahama Health Services. She joined the obstetrics and gynaecology department at Rand Memorial Hospital on July 4, 2018, a year after graduating from medical school at the University of the West Indies. “Dr Maycock was a committed professional and her contribution to health services will indeed be
missed,” PHA’s statement noted. Shortly after 1am on August 4, police were called to Don Mackey Boulevard where two vehicles – a Toyota Passo and a silver Jaguar – were involved in a head-on collision. Both vehicles were extensively damaged. Three people were injured, including the drivers of both vehicles and a female passenger in the Toyota Passo, identified as Dr Maycock. They were all taken to the Marsh Harbour Health Centre. Dr Maycock died, while the male driver was treated for non-life threatening
injuries, and later airlifted to New Providence for further medical attention. The driver of the Jaguar was also treated for minor injuries and later discharged. Dr Maycock attended high school at St Augustine’s College in Nassau. The school’s Class of 2005 released a statement on her death, calling her a “beacon of light to our class.” “Intelligent, ambitious, humble, funny and a steadfast Christian. Katrice exemplified the best in all of us,” the statement said. Investigations are continuing into the accident.
PAGE 10, Thursday, August 15, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
SUMMER YOUTH CAMP GOES WITH A SWING BTC partnered with the Royal Bahamas Police Force as it hosted its 25th annual Summer Youth Camp. The company’s iVolunteer team participated in a number of activities in New Providence and the Family Islands. Senior Manager for Public Relations, Indira Collie said, “Our teams enjoy helping to build better communities in whichever way we can. We are grateful for the support of our iVolunteer team and happy for the opportunity to partner with the Police Force’s annual Summer Youth Camp. We were able to
provide assistance to the camps in Exuma, Inagua, Andros, Abaco and New Providence.” In Exuma, BTC funded a coastal cleanup day for the camp. Students were able to learn more about the importance of taking care of the environment and ensuring that we maintain a sustainable environment for future generations. One hundred campers in New Providence were treated to a private showing of the Lion King at Fusion Superplex. In Abaco campers learned all about telephone etiquette, and in Lowe Sound Andros, our team
had a motivational talk with the students. At the Inagua closing ceremony, campers were treated to special lunch event. Superintendent Shanta Knowles, thanked BTC and said, “The Royal Bahamas Police Force is pleased to have had BTC as a sponsor for our Summer Youth Camp. I am sure that the fun activities that you had with our kids in New Providence and in the Family Islands will create lasting memories for them. We look forward to your partnership in the future as we create safer communities for our children.”
THE TRIBUNE
What’s that you are drinking?
By MONICA H SWAHN Professor, Epidemiology and Public Health, Georgia State University THE news about the tragic deaths of several American tourists in the Dominican Republic last May created an outcry and a media frenzy. As of June 30, there were at least nine deaths with similar circumstances in the past few months. The FBI and Dominican authorities are investigating, and one theory is that alcohol was the cause of these deaths. The FBI has reportedly taken samples of alcohol for testing, and the hotels where some tourists died have removed alcohol from the minibars in the hotel rooms. But the concerns are growing, and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on June 30, 2019 recommended that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention should aid the ongoing investigation. Many may find it puzzling that alcohol, particularly adulterated or counterfeit alcohol, could possibly have caused these deaths. But, some experts seem to agree that the symptoms and circumstances fit the indicators of deaths caused by adulterated alcohol. As a professor of public health, I need to note that research now shows that no amount of alcohol is considered safe in terms of your health, and that alcohol is linked to many cancers and heart disease and is also a key contributor to traffic crashes, violence and suicide. Even so, counterfeit or illegally made alcohol brings a new level
Are you sure?
of risk, as it is not monitored for safety and may include added ingredients, such as methanol, known to be extremely harmful to health. Thanks to rigorous regulation of alcohol, Americans may not see or hear much about counterfeit alcohol in the U.S., but in many other parts of the world counterfeit or “illegal” alcohol is more common and a growing public health concern. Counterfeit or illegal alcohol is part of a larger category described as “unrecorded” alcohol because it is not recorded in official statistics and not monitored for quality or for taxation. The World Health Organization estimates that 25 percent of the alcohol consumed worldwide is unrecorded. Counterfeit alcohol is typically meant to resemble legitimate alcohol, such as finer wines and expensive spirits, in terms of its look, taste and packaging. But there are also other types of alcohol that are typically considered illegal, such as “moonshine” or “bootleg” alcohol, or simply alcohol that is made under less rigorous processes and that have added ingredients to make the alcohol faster or cheaper. One of the key aspects of counterfeit or illegal alcohol is that producers distill the alcohol more cheaply and quickly using dangerous shortcuts in the process, such as adding water and methanol, also known as methyl alcohol, which is highly toxic. Methanol is not intended for human consumption and can cause liver damage, blindness and death if consumed. Earlier this year, toxic alcohol
killed at least 154 people in India because it was tainted with methanol. Alcohol that has special ingredients added is usually described as adulterated alcohol. Sometimes, those who make counterfeit alcohol will add ingredients not only to make it cheaper but also to improve the taste or strengthen the high. The added ingredients may vary. For example, in Kenya, one of the popular illegally brewed types of alcohol is called Chang-aa or “Kill me quick.” That is because it usually has a very high alcohol concentration and is often also adulterated with harmful ingredients such as pilfered jet fuel or spiked with embalming fluid from mortuaries. This type of alcohol is usually consumed in the urban slums among those vulnerable and poor who want the cheapest type of alcohol with the biggest “high.” INTERPOL, the International Criminal Police Organization, claims that counterfeit alcohol is a top concern globally. In 2018, during one operation, it reported that “16,000 tonnes and 33 million litres of potentially dangerous fake food and drink was seized worth an estimated $117 million.” In Europe, wine and spirits are in the top five sectors for lost sales. Counterfeit wine is becoming more common and now represents a billion-dollar market. In China, for example, counterfeit wine is so common it has been referred to as an epidemic, especially in terms of finer wines. According to Forbes, Asian buyers comprise the majority of buyers of fine wines (60 percent) sold at
LEGISLATION DESIGNED TO ENSURE NO LOSS OF PROFIT
THE news that the upcoming ban on singleuse plastics will also outlaw the release of balloons – according to draft legislation – prompted a lively reaction from readers on tribune242.com. Chucky said: “Wow. Oh the stupidity. Clearly this fraudulent legislation is designed to ensure no loss of corporate profits. By sheer volume/mass, these items being considered for bans are a minuscule part of the problem. What a dog and pony show! What about plastic food containers, pop and juice bottles, oil bottles, shampoo bottles, soaps lotions, etc? We can go on forever about the real single use plastic problem. How about five gallon pails? If there are any real genuine environmental problems or concerns in the world we could not possibly know it based on the actions of any government. There is not one government in this world taking any kind of meaningful action.
Thursday, August 15, 2019, PAGE 11
“If climate change is caused by man, where are the bans on private jets, yachts, jet skis, boats, gas guzzling vehicles, burning yard waste, burning debris from land clearing, making charcoal, made for the dump manufactured goods, etc, etc? Clearly no government is really concerned about any environmental issues. How and why should we believe in climate change, or environmental problems when all actions are jokey?” The_Oracle had this to say: “No problem with a balloon release ban, late by decades, as usual. The rest? George Orwell would be proud! Watch out for the plastics police! $3,000, $2,000 and $700 daily fines ought to apply to littering in general. The
exemption list proves the worth of plastics in daily life, so the issue is with people!” ColumbusPillow posted this comment: “In Sweden (smart people) they use WASTE TO ENERGY incinerator plants because landfilling is very bad for the environment. Use scrubbers and filters to remove all pollutants to totally meet environmental standards! There are over 400 of these plants in Europe, in Sweden over 50% of solid waste is consumed. Sweden IMPORTS 700,000 tons of garbage yearly to produce power and heating.” UserOne was happy with the move: “I am proud of this government who are taking steps to protect the environment. With regard to retailers charging for bags, this is clearly to provide a deterrent so shoppers will bring their own reusable bags. Other countries have been doing this for decades.”
Sotheby auctions across the world. And, it turns out that a very expensive bottle of wine sold at Christie’s in London for $157,000, which set a record at that time in 1985, was a fake. But even more recently, in May 2019, an operation in Ukraine seized a large operation of counterfeit alcohol beverages. Even though lost revenue is a big concern for law enforcement and businesses, travel advisories for Americans traveling abroad are sometimes issued because of the risk posed by tainted alcohol. One was issued in 2017 to a resort in Mexico. Similarly, in June 2019, there was a notification that 23 people died and 10 patients were undergoing treatment for alcohol
tainted with methanol in Nigeria. The reality is that counterfeit or toxic alcohol is common in many places of the world, even in places you may not expect. So the next time you travel abroad and reach for an alcoholic beverage, particularly a finer wine or spirit, take a second look at that bottle. The travel experts at the U.S. Overseas Security Advisory Council made a list of tips for alcohol consumption while abroad. In particular, they recommend to tourists traveling abroad: Don’t drink homemade or counterfeit “booze.” Don’t overdo it. Don’t compete with locals and their brew. Don’t let your drink out of sight.
Also, there are some tips for spotting fake alcohol by the Trading Standards Institute in the U.K. It is key to remember to pay attention to the place, price, packaging and product, the group says. Most importantly, if the alcohol tastes or smells bad, don’t drink it. The medical and public health community is growing more concerned about the dangerous effects of alcohol, as new research show that there is no safe amount of alcohol. That said, if you choose to drink, especially while abroad, make sure the alcohol you drink is the real thing, and keep it shaken or stirred, but not poisoned. theconversation.com
PAGE 12, Thursday, August 15, 2019
THE TRIBUNE FOX Hill Day at Fox Hill Park. Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
ALL THE FUN AT FOX HILL
PAGE 14, Thursday, August 15, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
PURE AS SNOW? SCIENTISTS SAY AIR CARRYING PLASTICS TO ARCTIC BERLIN Associated Press SCIENTISTS say they’ve found an abundance of tiny plastic particles in Arctic snow, indicating that so-called microplastics are being sucked into the atmosphere and carried long distances to some of the remotest corners of the planet. The researchers examined snow collected from sites in the Arctic, northern Germany, the Bavarian and Swiss Alps and the North Sea island of Heligoland with a process specially designed to analyze their samples in a lab. “While we did expect to find
microplastics, the enormous concentrations surprised us,” Melanie Bergmann, a researcher at the Alfred-Wegener-Institute in Bremerhaven, Germany, said. Their findings were published yesterday in the journal Science Advances. Previous studies have found microplastics — which are created when man-made materials break apart and defined as pieces smaller than 5 millimeters — in the air of Paris, Tehran and Dongguan, China. The research demonstrated the fragments may become airborne in a way similar to dust, pollen and fine particulate matter
from vehicle exhausts. While there’s growing concern about the environmental impact of microplastics, scientists have yet to determine what effect, if any, the minute particles have on humans or wildlife. Bergmann, who co-authored the study, said the highest concentrations of microplastics were found in the Bavarian Alps, with one sample having more than 150,000 particles per 1 litre. Although the Arctic samples were less contaminated, the third-highest concentration in the samples the researchers analyzed — 14,000 particles per liter
— came from an ice floe in the Fram Strait off eastern Greenland, she said. On average, the researchers found 1,800 particles per liter in the samples taken from that region. Martin Wagner, a biologist at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology who wasn’t involved with the study, said the extremely high concentrations could be partly attributed to the methods the researchers used, which allowed them to identify microplastics as small as 11 micrometers, or 0.011 millimeters — less than the width of a human
hair. “This is significant because most studies so far looked at much larger microplastics,” he said. “Based on that, I would conclude that we very much underestimate the actual microplastics levels in the environment.” “Importantly, the study demonstrates that atmospheric transport is a relevant process moving microplastics around, potentially over long ranges and on a global scale,” Wagner added. “Also, snow may be an important reservoir storing microplastics and releasing it during snow melt, something that has not been looked at before.”
EPSTEIN GUARDS SUSPECTED OF KEEPING FALSE LOG ENTRIES
GUNMAN IN CUSTODY AFTER SIEGE PHILADELPHIA Associated Press
NEW YORK Associated Press
A GUNMAN who opened fire on police yesterday as they were serving a drug warrant in Philadelphia, wounding six officers and triggering a standoff that extended into the night, was taken into custody earlier this morning. The six officers who were struck by gunfire have been released from hospitals. Two other officers were trapped inside the house for about five hours after the shooting broke out but were freed by a SWAT team well after darkness fell on the residential neighbourhood. “It’s nothing short of a miracle that we don’t have multiple officers killed today,” said one senior policeman.
JAIL guards on duty the night Jeffrey Epstein apparently killed himself are suspected of falsifying log entries to show they were checking on inmates every half-hour as required, according to a person familiar with the investigation into the financier’s death. Surveillance video shows guards never made some of the checks noted in the log, said the person, while federal investigators are looking into whether guards were sleeping on the job. In the days since the financier’s death, a picture has emerged of the Metropolitan Correctional Institution in New York as a chronically understaffed jail, with guards working overtime and other employees pressed into service as correctional officers. Meanwhile, the fight over Epstein’s estate began taking shape, with a woman filing a lawsuit Wednesday claiming he raped her when she was a teenager in 2002. Jennifer Araoz sued Epstein’s former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell and three unnamed members of his staff — the first of many lawsuits expected to be filed by Epstein’s accusers as a new state law went into effect yesterday that opens up a one-year window for victims of long-ago sex crimes against children to take legal action. “Today is my first step toward reclaiming my power Jeffrey Epstein and his enablers stole from me,” Araoz said. The lawsuit accuses Maxwell of helping Epstein recruit teenage girls and providing “organizational support to Epstein’s sex trafficking ring.” Maxwell, the socialite daughter of the late British publishing baron Robert Maxwell, previously denied wrongdoing, saying any allegations she was involved in arranging sex for Epstein were “abhorrent and entirely untrue.”
A MASSIVE police presence is set up outside the house with the gunman inside
New Hong Kong protest is dispersed by tear gas HONG KONG Associated Press FLIGHTS resumed yesterday at Hong Kong’s airport after two days of disruptions that descended into clashes with police, highlighting the hardening positions of pro-democracy protesters and the authorities in the semi-autonomous Chinese city. After nightfall, a new protest outside a police station in the city was dispersed as officers fired tear gas. There was soul-searching in the protest movement, including the three dozen demonstrators who remained camped at the airport arrivals area. They asked travelers and the general public for forgiveness after their blockade turned into chaotic and frenzied violence. While the movement’s supporters still have street protests planned, it’s unclear what their next move is or whether they will be able to find new rallying sites to keep the pressure on authorities.
A PROTESTER is overcome by tear gas Protesters spread pamphlets and posters on the floor in one section of the terminal but were not impeding travelers. Online, they also circulated letters and promotional materials apologizing for the inconveniences during the past five days of the airport occupation. “It is not our intention to cause delays to your travels and we do not want to cause inconvenience
to you,” said an emailed statement from a group of protesters. “We ask for your understanding and forgiveness as young people in Hong Kong continue to fight for freedom and democracy.” The airport’s management said it had obtained “an interim injunction to restrain persons from unlawfully and willfully obstructing or interfering” with airport operations. It said an area of the airport had been set aside for demonstrations, but no protests would be allowed outside the designated area. Additional identification checks were in place, but check-in counters were open and flights appeared to be operating normally. The demonstration resulted in more than 100 flight cancellations on Tuesday and about 200 on Monday. Hong Kong police said they arrested five people during clashes at the airport on Tuesday night. Assistant Commissioner of Police Operations Mak Chin-ho said the men, aged between 17 and 28, were
arrested for illegal assembly. Two were also charged with assaulting a police officer and possessing weapons as riot police sought to clear the terminal. In Hong Kong’s blue-collar Sham Shui Po neighborhood, police fired tear gas last night at a group of protesters rallying outside a police station. The protesters had gathered to burn phony currency and incense as a way to show their opposition to the police during the month-long Hungry Ghost Festival, when offerings are made to ward off the spirits of ancestors. Police armed with riot shields and batons marched through the neighborhood. Officers carried warning flags and fired tear gas as they advanced, but protesters had already scrambled away. More than 700 protesters have been arrested in total since early June, mostly men in their 20s and 30s, but also including women, teenagers and septuagenarians.
Stateside - Page 8
MYSTERIOUS EXPLOSION IN RUSSIA RAISES QUESTIONS
CANADA PM TRUDEAU BROKE CONFLICT OF INTEREST RULES
LAST week’s mysterious accident on the White Sea, along with changing or contradictory information from Russian authorities, has led to speculation about what happened and what type of weapon was involved, and has even raised comparisons to the 1986 disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. First word of the explosion came from the Russian Defense Ministry, which initially said the Aug. 8 blast of a liquid-propellant rocket engine killed two people and injured six others. It said in a statement that no radiation had been released, although the city administration in Severodvinsk reported a brief rise in radiation levels — a contradiction that recalled Soviet-era cover-ups of disasters like Chernobyl. Two days later, Russia’s state-controlled nuclear agency Rosatom acknowledged that the explosion
CANADA’S ethics commissioner yesterday said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau improperly pressured a former attorney general to halt the criminal prosecution of a company, a development that could imperil his re-election chances. The report comes just before the official start of campaigning for the Oct. 21 general election and it threatens to re-inflame a scandal that rocked the government earlier this year, causing a drop in poll ratings that had since abated. Ethics commissioner Mario Dion said Trudeau’s attempts to influence the then attorney general and justice minister, Jody Wilson-Raybould, were contrary to the constitutional principle of prosecutorial independence. “The prime minister, directly and through his senior officials, used various means to exert
MOSCOW Associated Press
A BILLBOARD that reads “The State Central Navy Testing Range” near houses in Nyonoksa, northwestern Russia. occurred on an offshore platform during tests of a “nuclear isotope power source,” and that it killed five nuclear engineers and injured three others. It’s still not clear whether those casualties were in addition to the earlier dead and injured. Russian authorities then closed part of Dvina Bay to shipping for a month, an apparent attempt to keep outsiders from seeing an operation to recover the missile debris. The city administration in Severodvinsk, which has a huge shipyard that builds nuclear submarines, said
the radiation levels there rose to 2 microsieverts per hour — approximately 20 times the area’s average reading — for about 30 minutes on Aug. 8. It then returned to the area’s average natural level of 0.1 microsieverts per hour. A later report said the peak radiation reading in Severodvinsk was 1.78 microsieverts per hour in just one neighborhood — about 16 times the average. Peak readings in other parts of Severodvinsk varied between 0.45 and 1.33 microsieverts per hour. It said that radiation levels fell back to normal after 2½ hours.
TORONTO Associated Press
CANADA’S PM Justin Trudeau influence over Ms. WilsonRaybould,” Dion wrote. “The authority of the prime minister and his office was used to circumvent, undermine and ultimately attempt to discredit the decision of the director of public prosecutions as well as the authority of Ms. Wilson-Raybould.” Trudeau said at a news conference that he takes responsibility “for everything,” but said he “can’t apologize for standing up for Canadian jobs.” Wilson-Raybould believes she was demoted from her role as attorney general and justice minister
to veterans’ affairs minister in January because she didn’t give in to pressure to enter into a remediation agreement with a Canadian company accused of bribing officials in Libya. That potential solution would avoid a potential criminal conviction that would bar Quebec engineering giant SNC-Lavalin from receiving any federal government business for a decade. The company is a major employer with 9,000 employees in Canada and about 50,000 worldwide. The report said Trudeau “directed his staff to find a solution that would safeguard SNC-Lavalin’s business interest in Canada.” “What happened over the past year shouldn’t have happened,” Trudeau said. “I take responsibility for the mistakes that I made. At the same time, we learned many lessons.” But Trudeau said he didn’t agree that any contact with the attorney general on the issue was inappropriate.
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, August 15, 2019, PAGE 15
MAHLIA NEELY, left, and Dehron Smith, accept their awards from Governor General CA Smith.
GG PRESENTS SCHOLARS WITH TOP AWARDS By KATHRYN CAMPBELL
FOR the first time in 25 years, two outstanding Bahamians have been recognized as All Bahamas Merit scholars. The 2019 winners, Mahlia Neely, a graduate of Queen’s College High School and Dehron Smith, a graduate of Nassau Christian Academy, have received full scholarships valued at $140,000 to attend colleges abroad. Governor General, Cornelius A Smith, headed the list of dignitaries at a special ceremony to honour the 17 All Bahamas Merit and National Merit scholars in the Ballroom of Government House. Ministry of Education officials including Jeffrey Lloyd, Minister of Education; Lorraine Armbrister, Permanent Secretary; representatives of the Scholarship and Educational Loan Division and the National Scholarship Committee, family, friends and well-wishers were also in attendance. This year’s recipients represent six high schools, namely Queen’s College, St. Augustine’s College, Nassau Christian Academy, St. Andrew’s International School, St. John’s College and Lakeview Classical Academy. For the first time a home schooled student, Madisson Symonette, a graduate of Lakeview Classical Academy, received a National Merit award. Luke Carey, a graduate of St. Andrew’s International School, is the 2019 All Bahamas Merit Runner Up. Minister Lloyd said the All Bahamas Merit Scholar is the most coveted scholarship award in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas for a very significant reason, not only because of its signature profile, identifying the
“smartest,” most “successful” student in the academic world in the country. “It is because of the money; $35,000 a year, $140,000 across the four years; that is nothing to sneeze about. We are proud to be able to award these magnificent young people this privileged award here in The Bahamas,” he said. The ceremony also included remarks by representatives of Queen’s College and Nassau Christian Academy, the top performing schools; reflections by Aaron Edgecombe, the 2018 All Bahamas Merit Scholar, a student at the University of Miami, remarks by the two 2019 All Bahamas Merit Scholars and an overview of the All Bahamas Merit and National Merit programme by Cheryl Carey, a member of the All Bahamas Merit Scholarship Committee. She congratulated the scholars, thanked their parents for their support and commended the six schools represented for preparing their students to achieve high honours. To the honourees she said, “Much has been given, therefore much is required from you. This investment by the Government of The Bahamas will yield unimaginable dividends as you build your bridge from this point to the next.” The All Bahamas Merit Award is valued at $35,000 per annum for up to five years, it is tenable at accredited universities and colleges locally and abroad The National Merit Scholarship is the second highest level of scholarship awarded by The Bahamas Government. It has a maximum value of $25,000 per year for up to four years and is also tenable at accredited universities, colleges or institutions locally and abroad.
Photos: Patrick Hanna/ BIS
PAGE 16, Thursday, August 15, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
MAN ARRESTED WITH ILLEGAL FIREARM New Signature Lattes
ABACO police have arrested a man who was allegedly discovered with an illegal firearm in his possession earlier this week. Assistant Superintendent of Police Terecita Pinder reported that a 31-year-old man was taken into police custody late Monday after he was found with a .40 pistol and seven rounds of ammunition.
BLUEBERRY CRISP ICED LATTE
She reported that shortly after 11pm, officers acting on information went to a service station on Don McKay Boulevard where the male resident of Murphy Town was searched and found with a gun. Investigations are continuing into the matter.
COCOA MOCHA HOT LATTE
CARAMEL CRAZY ICED LATTE
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