PUZZLER
WEDNESDAY Delicious Breakfast Sandwiches
HIGH 91ºF LOW 79ºF
i’m lovin’ it!
Monday,
February
CARS! CARS!
8, 2021
The Tribune Established
Being Bound To
Swear To The Dogmas
1903
Of No Master
The Tribune
Volume: 118 No.182, August 18, 2021
L A T E S T
N E W S
tise Call
To Adver
-2351
601-0007 or 502
Starting at
$33.60
CLASSIFIEDS TRADER
ed
VAT includ
Established 1903
O N
T R I B U N E 2 4 2 . C O M
Biggest And Best!
THE PEOPLE’S PAPER: PRICE–$1
PMH HAS ‘PASSED BREAKING POINT’ By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net A TOP doctor at Princess Margaret Hospital described the strain COVID-19 has on the hospital in stark terms yesterday, insisting the institution has “passed the breaking point”. She said that sections of the facility are “bursting at the seams” and that the hospital is already at the point of collapse. Dr Raquel Davis-Hall, a consultant in the Accident & Emergency section of the hospital, said PMH is currently in the worst state it has been in since the start of the pandemic last year. “Right now I’ve been having doctors call us over the last two, three days, they call us from Abaco,
they calling from Andros, they calling from Eleuthera, they have patients, either symptomatic for COVID or testing positive or they need to be investigated for COVID. I have nowhere to put them so I have to delay their transfer,” she told reporters during a media tour of PMH yesterday. “(A) physician I spoke to from Abaco yesterday, he had three patients and he been calling for two days. I felt so horrible, I said I have to make space for at least one of your patients so you won’t feel that burden, so that we can share in this responsibility and I took the patient but after that I could take no more. So the islands are calling and I have nowhere to put these patients.” SEE PAGE THREE
EDUCATION Minister Jeff Lloyd said he is not concerned “whatsoever” by recent comments made by Bahamas Union of Teachers President Belinda Wilson, who warned that the union could take industrial action if schools are not ready before the new school year or if increments
are not paid. Mr Lloyd spoke after the BUT president sent a voice note to teachers on Monday night, raising concerns about the readiness of institutions due to COVID-19, among other things. According to Mrs Wilson, the union has yet to receive a plan from the Ministry of Education on the reopening of schools. SEE PAGE FOUR
By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net UP to 300 healthcare workers participated in a sick-out for a sixth straight day yesterday despite an effort by Public Hospitals Authority leaders to resolve their concerns. Bahamas Public Services Union president Kimsley Ferguson confirmed union leaders met the PHA’s managing director, human resources director and chairman on Monday afternoon to discuss their concerns. SEE PAGE THREE
RBDF ON STANDBY FOR HAITI SAILINGS
MINISTER SHRUGS OFF UNION STRIKE THREAT By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net
NO END IN SIGHT TO PAYMENT SICK-OUT
GUNNED DOWN THE BODY of a man shot dead on Collie Bluff yesterday. Residents heard what sounded like a dozen shots and a man was spotted running into the bush after the shooting. See PAGE TWO for the full story.
THE Royal Bahamas Defence Force remains on heightened alert should there be an influx of migrants to The Bahamas in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake in Haiti. According to RBDF Commodore Raymond King yesterday, the agency’s strategy is “layered” and involves other agencies. Tens of thousands of people have been left homeless and at least 1,419 people are known to have died following the 7.2 magnitude earthquake on Saturday. More than 6,900 people were injured and an unknown number remain missing. SEE PAGE FIVE
RAPE CLAIM GOES ON AFTER ‘VICTIM’ DIES By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunenedia.net THE attorney representing the late Claudia Bethel, the woman at the centre of a rape allegation against an immigration officer, yesterday criticised the government for questioning his client’s credibility in her civil suit, despite the Crown prosecuting the officer on her behalf during his criminal trial.
CLAUDIA BETHEL, speaking to The Tribune before her death. Fred Smith, QC, told Justice Indra Charles that he would file an
amendment seeking “additional aggravated damages” against the Crown for attempting to question Mrs Bethel’s reliability as a witness. He did this after putting his client’s death on the record and informing the court that her estate intended to continue their legal action against Norman Bastian and the government despite her recent death. SEE PAGE SEVEN
Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper
ALICIA WALLACE: LEARN, LISTEN AND THEN TEACH
- SEE PAGE EIGHT