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Volume: 118 No.183, August 19, 2021

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Ready to run, Doc? By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

ACTING on the advice of Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, Governor General Sir C A Smith may dissolve Parliament as early as today in preparation for an early election, sources said yesterday. SEE PAGE THREE

• Parliament prorogued reconvenes September 22

• PLP attacks Minnis for ‘playing games’

• Speaker condemns PM’s move on Assembly

SANDS - WE NEED TOUGH ACTION By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net FORMER Health Minister Dr Duane Sands believes the country should return to harsher COVID19 measures as both public and private healthcare systems continue to be gripped by crisis. He also told The Tribune he doesn’t believe the nation has seen the worst of the pandemic, adding that while

DR DUANE SANDS stricter measures are not the only answer to reduce

infections, they do work. He spoke the day after Dr Raquel Davis-Hall described the strain the virus has placed on Princess Margaret Hospital in stark terms, insisting the institution has “passed the breaking point”. She said sections of the facility are “bursting at the seams” and that the hospital is already at the point of collapse. SEE PAGE FOUR

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

FRONT PORCH: THE BALM AND GRACE OF MERCY

- SEE PAGE EIGHT

PAGE 2, Thursday, August 19, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, August 19, 2021, PAGE 3

Ready to run, Doc?

from page one This comes after Police Commissioner Paul Rolle announced at the House of Assembly yesterday that the Governor General has prorogued Parliament until September 22, 2021. The Tribune understands that before Parliament reconvenes on September 22, a general election is planned. An announcement of Parliament’s dissolution could come today, the anniversary of the Free National Movement’s first general election victory in 1992. While only Dr Minnis knows for certain when Parliament will be dissolved and when an election will be held, insiders nonetheless anticipate an election date of around September 16. Speculation about an early election has been rampant this term. Some FNMs expected Dr Minnis to announce the election last month but believe a surge in COVID-19 cases disrupted his plans. Multiple FNM rallies that were planned for dates in July and August were put on hold. One source yesterday said the party is ready to go: its posters, T-shirts, masks and other paraphernalia are in the country. The FNM’s internal polls are a factor driving Dr Minnis’ move to possibly call an early election. Given the COVID-19 situation, traditional rallies are unlikely; it is unclear how rallies will take place, though an option for drivein events is on the table. Many braced for an announcement that Parliament would be dissolved yesterday after police informed the media at 8.37am that Commissioner Rolle, acting in his role as Provost Marshal, would read a proclamation from the Governor General. Standing in front of the House of Assembly around 9.30am, Commissioner Rolle announced that Parliament would simply be prorogued. This signified the end of the parliamentary session. When Parliament is dissolved, meanwhile, a general election must be

COMMISIONER of Police Paul Rolle in his role as Provost Marshal reads a proclamation from the Governor General on the steps of Parliament yesterday. Photo: Donovan McIntosh/Tribune Staff held within 90 days, according to the Constitution. Commissioner Rolle returned to Parliament at 2pm to read another proclamation announcing the date when Parliament is scheduled to reconvene. The two separate announcements confused many observers. Sources in the government and the FNM claimed the commissioner had failed to read all of the Governor General’s proclamations the first time around and had to return to Parliament to complete the exercise. However, Commissioner Rolle told this newspaper yesterday: “One is the prorogation and the second is the date of return. There is no mix up. They are different and it really doesn’t matter when they are read as long (as they are read) before the date.” The prorogation of Parliament came as House Speaker Halson Moultrie held his first “open Parliament” session in Parliament Square. Speaker Moultrie has said his events, which are scheduled for every Wednesday, are a chance for Bahamians to learn about the legislative branch of government and to

deepen democracy in the country. His event yesterday mostly attracted supporters of third parties. There was minimal social distancing and the rowdiness of the crowd created a dynamic scene as Commissioner Rolle read proclamations and police officers swarmed the area. After the commissioner left Parliament the first time, several senior officers visited Speaker Moultrie inside the House of Assembly. Speaker Moultrie later denied rumours that they wanted him gone from the premises and were prepared to forcibly remove him from the House. “There was no indication from the police of an intent to move the Speaker from Parliament,” he told reporters. “There was some indication from the police that they were advised that because the House was prorogued the Speaker no longer has jurisdiction over Parliament Square. I told the police that is nowhere in law, nowhere in the rules and nowhere in the Constitution. The police returned and they were unable to convince me or themselves

that such a position exists. The Speaker is the principal political officer of the legislative branch of government and the Speaker’s power continues until the Parliament dissolves.” In a statement yesterday, PLP Leader Philip “Brave” Davis accused Dr Minnis of “playing games while the country burns” and avoiding tough questions. “So if you want to know why this government suspended this Parliament, the answer is simple: because they don’t have a choice,” Mr Davis said. “As the head of the Public Accounts Committee, I have asked the government to provide to the public the details of that hidden pandemic spending. They have been using Emergency Orders to hide these secrets. The food assistance contract – how much went to food for the people, and how much went to wealthy FNM donors? “This government cannot afford to have an independent Speaker of the House who is willing to require that they comply with the law and answer questions like that one. That is why they do not want Parliament back in session.

CLERK SAYS ‘FANFARE’ WILL NOW BEGIN By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net AFTER Parliament was prorogued yesterday, Chief Clerk David Forbes said the government will now have to roll out all of the “fanfare” that usually precedes a new session of the House of Assembly. Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle, in his capacity as Provost Marshal, read two proclamations outside the House of Assembly yesterday. The first came yesterday morning, proroguing Parliament. The second came at 2pm and announced that the next session of Parliament will be on September 22. According to Mr Forbes, what unfolded yesterday was nothing unusual. “That usually happens,” he said. “You’ll usually have two proclamations because we have several of those on our records where there was a prorogation and then another proclamation setting the date for the next sitting of the House. “So, that’s not unusual. Once you prorogue the Parliament, when you have the first meeting after the prorogation, you need to have the whole fanfare such as the Speech from the Throne and a new legislative agenda.” Former Chief Clerk Maurice Tynes had a different view, saying given an uptick in COVID-19 cases, the provost marshal should not have been made to come to Parliament Square twice to read separate proclamations. Mr Tynes said he was surprised by yesterday’s events. “I am surprised,” Mr Tynes said. “I don’t think you should play games with the Constitution of The Bahamas. You don’t

do that. I don’t understand why they would (present) separate two proclamations, even if they wanted to at least let him read them separately while he was there at the same time as the first time. I would have thought they would have done it that way given these COVID times.” He also said: “It is very unusual for that to be done, but I think if I can remember correctly something like that was done before… where they separated the two proclamations.

“I just think it would be more efficient to just include it in one proclamation and not cause the provost marshal to have to come back a second time. “That’s a very weird way to do it to make the marshal come back a second time, which it could have been included in the first one. It’s very unusual and I don’t understand for the life of me why they did it that way.” Mr Tynes suggested the move was tied to independent House Speaker

Halson Moultrie’s strained relationship with the government. “The Speaker was supposed to do his open Parliament last week Wednesday and they decided to bring the Parliament back the day before. “Then today the Speaker was supposed to have an open Parliament at 10am and they brought the proclamation at 9.30am. So, it looks like they were trying to thwart the Speaker’s open Parliament,” Mr Tynes said.

“But the country cannot afford any more chaos and dysfunction and uncertainty. The government is playing games while the country burns. Stop playing

games, man. Things are falling apart. People are hurting. “Ring the bell – it’s the first step to better days,” Mr Davis said.

PAGE 4, Thursday, August 19, 2021

Sands we need tough action from page one PMH is currently in the worst state it has been in since the start of the pandemic last year, Dr Davis-Hall said. Yesterday, the Nassau Guardian reported that Doctors Hospital is “out of space” and “out of staff” and choosing which patient is placed on a ventilator. “It is not only a crisis but a tragedy and so we’re seeing people in their 20s and 30s dying of COVID,” Dr Sands said while describing what he’s been seeing in hospitals in recent days. “We’re seeing people in their 50s and 60s and 70s dying of COVID. In the last 24 hours we’ve had at least five people die and I don’t believe that we’ve seen the worst of the end. “I have been calling for stricter measures now for more than a month,” Dr Sands said. “It’s not the only answer but people have to understand that public health measures work, social distancing works, wearing masks works, washing your hands works

and while vaccination is a critical and important part of the programme, we don’t have a majority or plurality of our population vaccinated and even if you use those doses of Pfizer the minimum time to get people protected with Pfizer will be six weeks and if you go with AstraZeneca you are talking 10 to 12 weeks.” As the country tries to reach herd immunity, Dr Sands said now is the time for there to be harsher measures put in place. “We are going to have to rely on the tried and true public health measures that work. You cannot have a situation where all of your health capacity is filled up and you don’t even have the option of admitting people with regular medical problems in some instances. “So, you have to try to regain some ground because the next step is the unpalatable conversation that every country has had to face at some time or another is triage to determine who benefits from scarce resources.” Dr Sands said Bahamians

have not taken COVID19 seriously but need to acknowledge the threat is real. “We cannot afford the type of view or the type of consideration that we have put on many of the other challenges that have faced us,” he said. “Bahamians don’t claim their diabetes. They don’t claim their high blood pressure. They don’t claim their obesity or overweight, but they suffer from it and now we have collectively not claimed the severity and the seriousness of COVID and so these public health measures we think they ain’t really for us and this vaccination thing is the ‘mark of the beast’.” The government has thus far resisted implementing strict restrictions on people’s ability to assemble and move throughout New Providence during the third wave of COVID-19, emphasising the arrival of vaccines points to a way out of the pandemic. But even as residents show greater willingness to get the jabs, hospital officials are worried their

THE TRIBUNE

TOTAL CASES

TOTAL DEATHS

NEWLY CONFIRMED CASES

NEWLY CONFIRMED DEATHS

16,848 316 TUESDAY

125 CASES

NEW PROVIDENCE 101 GRAND BAHAMA 11 ELEUTHERA 6 EXUMA 4 ABACO 1 BIMINI & CAT CAY 1 SAN SALVADOR 1

TOTAL TESTS

HOSPITALISED

128,102 145

• AN 84-YEAR-OLD WOMAN FROM NEW PROVIDENCE ON AUGUST 9. • AN 89-YEAR-OLD WOMAN FROM NEW PROVIDENCE ON AUGUST 14. • A 43-YEAR-OLD MAN FROM EXUMA ON AUGUST 15.

CASES IN ICU

RECOVERED

13,465

THREE MORE COVID DEATHS CONFIRMED THREE additional COVID-19 deaths were officially recorded on Tuesday, bringing the coronavirus death toll to 316, according to the Ministry of Health. One hundred and twenty-five additional cases were also recorded on Tuesday. The country

now has 16,848 confirmed cases of the virus. Of this figure, 2,935 are active. The latest deceased victims are an 84-year-old New Providence woman who died on August 9; an 89-year-old New Providence woman who died on August 14 and a 43-year-old Exuma man who died on August 15.

It had been previously reported that the Exuma victim is Dr Charles Wildgoose III, an Exuma based physician who officials say was not vaccinated against the virus. According to the latest data, 145 people are in the hospital with the virus, 19 of whom are in the intensive care unit.

institutions cannot cope with the deluge of patients. “People are dying,” Dr Davis-Hall said Tuesday. “Young people are dying. We have people pull up at the Critical Care Block not breathing and we do all that we can to assist them and we are limited in our reach and in our scope. There are things that we don’t have in this institution to help our fellow man. We want

to have negative pressure rooms in the emergency rooms (but) we don’t have that and so our efforts for these patients are limited.” Dr Davis-Hall said the Accident & Emergency Department needs more nurses. She said tents donated recently by Samaritan’s Purse were a welcome gift, but they are already filled to capacity under the surge of COVID-19 patients.

Meanwhile PMH, Grand Bahama Health Services (GBHS), and Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre (SRC) continued to experience a staff “sick out” for a seventh day. Therefore the Public Hospitals Authority recommended, where possible, the public access services at community clinics for non-urgent care, as affected institutions may experience delays in services.

THOMPSON: PLEASE GET VACCINATED

SENATOR KWASI THOMPSON, Minister of State for Grand Bahama.

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net STATE Minister for Grand Bahama Senator Kwasi Thompson is pleading with residents to get vaccinated, amid the surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations on Grand Bahama. “I want to encourage members of the public, I am pleading with members of the public, that if you are not yet vaccinated, please take this opportunity and go to the Susan J Wallace Centre and become vaccinated,” he

said yesterday. COVID-19 hospital admissions have increased to over 30 last week in Grand Bahama, where hospital officials have reported bed shortages at the Rand Memorial Hospital. Last week, Dr Frank Bartlett, head of the COVID-19 Taskforce in Grand Bahama, had reported that people are coming to the hospital more sick and with poor outcomes, resulting in more deaths. While attending the reopening of Solomon’s Lucaya, Minister Thompson indicated that the

complete recovery of Grand Bahama is also dependent on how the island manages COVID-19. “We cannot talk about enhancement of the economy or enhancement of GB without mentioning that we must continue to fight against COVID-19,” he said. He noted that there have been interests in vaccinations on the island. The Susan J Wallace Centre is the only official vaccination centre in Grand Bahama, which has the second-highest population in the nation. Minister Thompson

added: “Go on the website. We know there are times when the website is challenging in terms of being able to book an appointment because of the added interest in persons wanting to become vaccinated, but there are walk-ins and they are taking walk-ins at the Susan J Wallace Centre. “So, we are encouraging those who are not yet vaccinated, please go and get vaccinated. That is going to be the solution to us controlling COVID-19 in GB, and throughout the country.”

PAHO DOES NOT RECOMMEND COVID THIRD BOOSTER SHOT By TANYA SMITHCARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net

THE Pan American Health Organization has “no concrete evidence” to recommend a third COVID-19 booster shot at this time for Caribbean countries. PAHO’s director Dr Carissa Etienne said their focus is to get as many people in the region fully vaccinated. Dr Etienne made these comments at PAHO’s weekly webinar. She said once data is analysed, the World Health Organization will make the recommendation for or against the regional community taking a third COVID-19 shot. “Each country makes its own decisions about the vaccination strategy it uses, considering the availability of vaccines, the transmission of COVID and other factors,” Dr Etienne said. “At PAHO our experts group along with WHO group of experts have advised that the most urgent priority is to expand vaccinations to our health workers and vulnerable people in our countries. “Studies, clinical trials and data collection are ongoing to gather more evidence in many countries. I can assure you that once that data is analysed, WHO will put forward a recommendation. That will be done, I hope, in the near future. If you ask me, our most urgent priority

is to ensure that all countries have access to vaccines and that no one is left behind in each country. “In some countries many people have not yet received their second dose of the vaccine which is critical to ensuring protection. So with respect to the third dose, or booster, we have no concrete evidence to make a recommendation for a third dose.” Over the last week, 1.4 million COVID-19 cases and nearly 20,000 deaths were reported in the region. “As I have alluded to, although we have made some advances in vaccinations against COVID-19, they are not enough,” said Dr Etienne. “So to date just over 21 percent of the people in Latin America and the Caribbean have completed their vaccination schedules. This means that we have millions of people who are not yet protected. “COVID infections are accelerating across North America, where routine surveillance has confirmed that the Delta variant has become the dominant strain based on the variant of concern sequences reported over the past month. The US has seen cases increase by more than a third and Canada by more than half. In Mexico, more than two thirds of states have been deemed at high or critical risk as hospitals fill with COVID patients. “COVID infections and

deaths are rapidly rising across the Caribbean. Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and Cuba continue an increasing trend in both cases and deaths, while in Trinidad and Tobago, weekly deaths continue to rise. In Jamaica cases rose by 49 percent and deaths increased by 70 percent.” Turning to Haiti, which recently experienced an earthquake followed by a tropical storm, Dr Etienne said support from PAHO for that country is already in progress. “The situation in Haiti is especially acute following this weekend’s devastating earthquake,” Dr Etienne said. “PAHO and the international community have activated teams in Haiti to support all aspects of the health response and we are fully committed to help Haiti during this very challenging time.” Mental health in the pandemic has always been an area of concern for PAHO. The PAHO director said the results of a report on the mental health of regional communities is “grim”. “Throughout the pandemic, stress and fear have invaded our everyday lives, and an unprecedented number of people have lost their jobs and are struggling to support their families,” she said. “More than 16 months since the virus arrived in our region, we have started to generate data that show the true breadth of COVID’s impact

on mental health in the Americas. “The results are grim as demand for mental health and psychosocial support has never been higher, yet these services have never been more out of reach. Three-fourths of participating countries report partial or complete disruptions in mental health services during the pandemic.

“More than half of school-based mental health programmes and more than three-fourths of out-ofschool programmes have been partially or entirely disrupted at a time when more than 15 percent of young people are experiencing depression. And, nearly 90 percent of participating countries report that mental health counselling

and psychotherapy services have been disrupted, yet today up to 60 percent of people in our region are suffering from anxiety or depression.” She said the mental health challenges were also being experienced by frontline health workers, who have been operating in crisis mode for more than a year.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, August 19, 2021, PAGE 5

Moultrie denounces Minnis’ ‘political game’ By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net HOUSE Speaker Halson Moultrie yesterday called Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis’ decision to prorogue Parliament minutes ahead of his planned “open Parliament” session “an excuse” for him to not attend and a “weak and feeble” political game. Mr Moultrie spoke shortly after Police Commissioner Paul Rolle, in his capacity as Provost Marshall, read a proclamation from Governor General Sir C A Smith proroguing Parliament. The unexpected turn of events raised questions among some Bahamians at Rawson Square about whether the special “open Parliament” meeting could still be held. This was also fueled by claims that police officers had tried to remove Speaker Moultrie from Parliament shortly after the proclamation was read. Speaking on the issue yesterday, Speaker Moultrie insisted the claims were not true. However, he admitted there was some confusion among officers as to what the proclamation to prorogue the House meant for him. “There was no indication from the police of an intent to move the Speaker from

HOUSE speaker Halson Moultrie yesterday. Photo: Donovan McIntosh/Tribune Staff Parliament,” Mr Moultrie told reporters. “There was some indication (by police) that they were advised that because the House was prorogued the Speaker no longer has jurisdiction for Parliament Square and I asked the police, well first of all I advised the police that that was nowhere in the rules, nowhere in the Constitution and the police return and they were unable to convince me and themselves that such a position exists.” Mr Moultrie still held his first “open Parliament” meeting in Rawson Square where over 100 Bahamians gathered. The nearly four-hour session, which was moderated by Centreville MP Reece Chipman, featured speakers from various political and youth organisations,

who all voiced their concerns about the country’s state of affairs, among other things. Topics of concern discussed included those centred on youth unemployment, Bahamian ownership and economic diversification. “We have found that over the many years, there has been a disconnect. The people quite frankly did not have the type of representation and the voice in Parliament that is owed, or they deserve,” Mr Chipman said. “And so today we want to support the Speaker in his condition to allow us to become more educated and more aware about our system so that we have our expectations in order.” For his part, Mr Moultrie said he hopes the open

Parliament would deepen democracy and allow Bahamians to “become restless in demanding their rights”. He stressed that the Bahamian people have had enough and added there is a need for more accountability and transparency by the government as it relates to expenditure and the awarding of contracts. “It’s time for us to say enough is enough,” Mr Moultrie said. “We want to participate. We want accountability. We want transparency. We want freedom of information. We want to be able to summon the politician before the committees of the House of Assembly and to make them produce evidence of their expenditure of the taxpayer’s money. “We are sick and tired of Cabinet ministers printing glossy reports and telling us what they have done with the people’s money. The time has come for politicians to be called before the committees of this Parliament so that they could account and bring evidence of their expenditure. “No longer should the Auditor General have to write and request ministers to indicate to him who are the beneficial owners of a company that was the beneficiary of multiple millions of dollars of government contracts. The people have a right to know and the only way you’ll get that right is if

you demand that right,” the Nassau Village MP added. During his speech, Mr Moultrie also criticised Dr Minnis’ decision to prorogue Parliament which he suggested was an intentional and purely political move. “This initiative today by the Prime Minister is only an excuse for not attending this session today so they can argue that the Parliament was prorogued so there was no need for their attendance. It was a weak and feeble political game,” he said. Similar sentiments were shared by other political leaders who labelled the move “disgraceful”, “appalling” and an attack on democracy. “We are absolutely appalled (by) the actions of the Prime Minister of this country,” said Coalition of Independents Party leader, Lincoln Bain. “This is the first time that Bahamians would’ve had a voice in the House of Assembly with an open Parliament. Open parliaments take place all over the Caribbean region. “This is not anything new to the world, but it would’ve been new to us to finally have a voice. It would’ve meant that the Prime Minister and all of his members of Parliament would’ve had to hear the voice and the complaints of the people… All proroguing the House means is that he does not

have to hear what y’all have to say. “We think that that is a travesty to democracy, and we feel that it is offensive and I call on every Bahamian, just like the Prime Minister rejected you today, I call on you to reject him on that judgement day when he rings that bell.” Meanwhile, Bahamas Democratic Movement leader, Cassius Stuart added: “This is basically a tactic of the Prime Minister to muffle the voice of the people.” For his part, Mr Chipman called the move a “slap in the face”. “It’s really to me a slap in the face of the people because that is where the people are represented. In a pandemic such as this, why are we using such a distraction when we have our very people to take care of, where our health facilities are being debilitated,” the Centreville MP said. “You are calling the Governor General out of his sick condition to make a decision such as this. It is just unheard of. It’s even not Bahamian because we care more about each other than that.” Commissioner Rolle returned to Parliament yesterday afternoon to read a second proclamation from the Governor General – saying the next session of Parliament will now begin on September 22.

‘LIFT TRAVEL BAN SO WE CAN HELP HAITI’ By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net HAITIANS in The Bahamas want the Minnis administration to lift the Haiti travel ban so they can help the country in the wake of a massive earthquake that killed at least 1,900 people and injured thousands more. Activist Louby Georges said while he has not been able to speak to anyone stranded in Haiti, this is the sentiment he has gathered from conversations and comments on social media. Foreign Affairs Minister Darren Henfield has said The Bahamas is ready with CARICOM to do “whatever is necessary” to assist Haiti. But Mr Georges believes there is one quick way to provide assisstance – “if you want to really or truly help – lift the travel ban and open up the country,” he said. “Allow for flights, allow for boats to travel back and forth. That would allow for persons on the ground that would like to donate, contribute, organise and facilitate aid coming from the Bahamas going to Haiti to be done in a feasible way.

Outside of that how can any church, how can any organisation, how can anyone, any association decide to help Haiti? Outside of possibly money – but then who are you sending this money to, who are you going to trust, which organisation are you going to send this money donation to? “With the current situation that we have here, the climate, how much could you truly raise in a pandemic? There are aiding persons that are willing to donate clothing, footwear, cases of water maybe. But if you receive those items, what are you going to do with it? How is it going to get to Haiti from The Bahamas?” Mr Georges acknowledges that keeping the borders closed could prevent the spread of COVID-19. However he believes there are measures or policies that can be put in place temporarily that can allow for the borders to be open but at the same time curb the spread of the disease. He added: “There are some medical facilities in Haiti, hospitals in the capital and other notable regions that have tried, trusted, and transparent medical facilities that can

administer vaccines and also administer COVID-19 PCR tests. I’ve been hearing this from the Haitian people, ‘hey we don’t even mind quarantining.’ “‘Why not allow us to return home,’ and this is home, whether the person is a Bahamian citizen, a permanent resident, a spousal Bahamian or an individual on a work permit they are legal residents of The Bahamas and so therefore this is home. “With this being home, they do not mind quarantining whether it be ten or 14 days if a designated area is available, or if they have to do that at home, or even if they have to put on some monitoring device, put something on their phone. Get the bracelet put on their wrist – they don’t mind. They want to return home.” UNICEF reported that 500,000 doses of vaccines were donated to Haiti by the American government through COVAX. However, Reuters noted that the 7.2 magnitude quake stalled the nation’s vaccination campaign. Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Director Dr Carissa Etienne said: “The earthquake aftermath combined

HAITIAN migrants being deported yesterday.

64 HAITIAN MIGRANTS DEPORTED SIXTY-FOUR Haitian migrants were repatriated to their home country yesterday. According to the Department of Immigration, the group consisted of 46 males, 13 females and five minors. They left from Lynden Pindling International Airport to Port-au-Prince,

Haiti onboard a Bahamasair flight. The group was escorted by a joint team of Royal Bahamas Defence Force and Department of Immigration officers, along with officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. All Ministry of Health coronavirus safety protocols

were strictly enforced, the department said. Haiti is reeling from a 7.2 magnitude earthquake that damaged homes and buildings last week. The earthquake killed more than 1,900 people and injured thousands more, according to international reports.

with the COVID-19 pandemic presents a very challenging situation. “We hope that the

international community can come together to provide the urgentlyneeded air and ground

logistics support to evacuate patients and transport essential humanitarian supplies – this is needed now.”

PAGE 6, Thursday, August 19, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

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Is the election bell about to ring? IN a flurry of ceremony, Police Commissioner Paul Rolle not once, but twice made the trip to Parliament to announce first that Parliament has been prorogued, then some hours later announcing when Parliament is to reconvene. Social media was buzzing with what it all meant – but the answer is simple. The election is coming. There have been expectations that Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis has been going to call an early election before, of course. But all the signs are that the election bell really is about to be rung, and whispers are that the date of the vote will be around September 16. That September 22 return date for Parliament? A number of MPs won’t be there when the doors of the House of Assembly reopen for business. Today offered what seemed to be a slightly bumbling start to the process. Sources tell The Tribune that Commissioner Rolle failed to read all of the Governor General’s proclamations the first time round – hence why he had to return to complete the exercise. Commissioner Rolle, however, said there was no mix up. Meanwhile, House Speaker Halson Moultrie had planned to hold his first “open Parliament” session yesterday – and ended up holding his session across the road in Rawson Square instead. Senior police officers later visited the Speaker inside the House, with rumours swirling that they wanted him gone from the premises, though Mr Moultrie denied that – while also indicating there was some discussion over the Constitution. A bit of a muddle? Perhaps. It does, however, clear the way for the next step – which could come as soon as today, sources have told The Tribune. Is this the right time to ring the bell? It is hard to see how this could be the

right time for the FNM to start the race. COVID infections are surging, the hospital is on its knees, this week it was reported that more than 16,000 Bahamians are still receiving weekly government assistance, and the economy is still recovering – with a significant number of people still out of work. Over in Abaco and Grand Bahama, people are still recovering from Hurricane Dorian, and significant parts of the FNM manifesto from the campaign trail last time remain unresolved – including campaign finance reform. That’s the backdrop as Dr Minnis prepares to take his case to the people. The PLP response to yesterday’s events was predictably sniping without really hitting the mark or offering much to show they have a better plan going forward. PLP leader Philip ‘Brave’ Davis talked again about the Public Accounts Committee, despite the problems the same committee had holding meetings under the PLP administration where he was Deputy Prime Minister. He’s right that the PAC should do its work – and if he winds up winning an election, we hope he recalls his current enthusiasm for its importance. We face the prospect of an election campaign that will be unprecedented. Amid curfews and health protocols, will we see parties change their approach to deal with a new era of masks and social distancing to prevent the spread of the virus? Or will we see the large-scale rallies of years gone by that turn into spreader events for COVID-19? People need to hear each party’s message – but we hope parties aim to spread the message, but not the virus. If indeed the early election call comes from Dr Minnis, it is a bold move. Whether it will be a successful one for him? That lies in the hands of the voters.

Social media and COVID EDITOR, The Tribune. SPEAKING as a senior when we were younger we got all our information/ news from TV and radio. Within the community respected figures such as doctors were listened to and importantly believed. The news outlets were not as polarized as they are now. They told the news and gave facts. With the advent of the worldwide web, social media is now how people, particularly younger people, get their news and therefore their opinions. There is zero monitoring of the veracity of anything posted on social media. Anyone can post anything they like. Social media is flooding the internet with contradictory news on COVID. Consequently, people are being fed some truth and lots of lies and deceits. What should you believe what’s true what’s a lie?

We know COVID exists and it’s out there a real thing. People here are now seeing friends and family dying from this horrific disease. However they are bombarded by false information flooding their smart phones. The vaccine will kill you it will plant a microchip in you so Bill Gates can control the world! This is all madness, but people believe it. Some people have a mentality that feeds on conspiracy theory regardless of how irrational and crazy the theory is. I would recommend people follow the advice of the experts, doctors, epidemiologists. These people are trained scientists who actually understand the disease. Believe respected news outlets that are impartial if you can find one. Social media is killing people make no mistake. People here and all over the

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world who are not taking the vaccine are gambling with their very lives. It’s like playing Russian roulette with a loaded gun. 99.5 percent of the people dying of COVID in USA hospitals are not vaccinated. This is not an opinion, it’s purely factual. I had 18 vaccines or thereabouts given to me when I was a child, I had no say in the matter our parents took us they believed the experts. Because of this faith, smallpox has been wiped out, polio is all but eradicated. This is directly due to the widespread worldwide use of vaccines for those two diseases. I now have 19 vaccines in my body having received the two COVID jabs. This has given me peace of mind as I know even if I get COVID I won’t die. It’s no different to buying insurance you need it just in case. The facts are simple get the vaccine, get the insurance. I don’t know what can be done with social media but it’s killing thousands of people by spreading false information and surely society has the right to protect its citizens somehow or other? THE REALIST Nassau, August 17, 2021.

A holiday for Arthur D Hanna Editor, The Tribune. Am begging public support for a holiday to mourn the passing of unclaimed National Hero, the late Arthur D Hanna. The day of his funeral will be the ideal, if the same is on a weekday or a designated day if funeral is on a weekend. This will be breaking no new grounds; it will be in keeping with well-established traditions that came into play with the funeral of now acclaimed National Heroes the late Milo B Butler and Lynden Oscar Pindling. We have nationally advocated that Hanna is in their league in parliament’s approval of having the image of Hanna mounted on the $100 note. Absolutely no true thinking Bahamian will think in contrary times to my thoughts, here, conveyed on behalf of the National Heroes Committee. We have gotten over that hurdle of feet-dragging when it comes to National elevation, Bahamian style, of our Heroes and Legends. I beg the government to keep that same blood running in our national veins. This will certainly drive home, mightly, to our children, that a great Bahamian, an architect of

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net modern-day Bahamas has fallen in the cold hands of death. Hanna was not only one with Pindling in the forging of our new Bahamas, but indeed, also, with the late Governor General, Milo B Butler. Both of whom suffered the same fate on the same day, physical expulsion, being literally dragged over the green carpeted “floor of democracy” and deposited on the outside, even though elected to be inside to do their constituents business. Hanna is entitled to a funeral mass within the confines of Christ Church Cathedral. Yet another opportunity to portray this hero for whom he really was, one who broke barriers for us to advance as Bahamians, freed from the enslaving yoke of colonialism. It is the ideal opportunity to make this great man live, come alive one more time in the hearts of a people who loved him now unlike never before. Independence would not have happened in 1973 had it not been for his driving force. The Republic of the Bahamas would be a

present-day reality had his vision been carried through as radical as it was at the time, he was daring enough to help his country steer courageously in the chilly teeth of the prevailing winds of change. It is this spirit we will capture if we do in death that which we should have done in life for him, take a bold step forward into the unknown. Bahamians are far too conservative in national advancement. A holiday for Hanna and a Mass, even now, at the cathedral will help Bahamians peep over the horizon and advance the dreams of a dreamer. One who refused enslaving colonial honours and titles even as Governor General; one who said lets make our country truly sovereign with the attainment of Independence, a Republic. A man who only wanted to swear allegiance to the Bahamian people rather than to some unattached monarch in a foreign land. For the father of Bahamianzation, let’s pull all stops. CANON S. SEBASTIAN CAMPBELL, ON BEHALF OF THE NATIONAL HEROES COMMITTEE Nassau August 18, 2021

Misleading on vaccines EDITOR, The Tribune.

THERE is no mandatory policy for the vaccination of children. I believe a news clip going around creates the wrong impression as the sound bite was cut too soon.

Education Minister Geoff LLoyd was referring to the usual childhood vaccines children need to enter the public school system when he said vaccinations are needed to enter school. The COVID vaccine is still optional for children

and adults. Hope this helps.

DR MJ SMITH MHSAS CCTS PHD Principal, Achievers Christian Academy, Nassau, Bahamas. August 18, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, August 19, 2021, PAGE 7

Ngumi wins increased damages but only $750K for illegal detention By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net THE Court of Appeal yesterday increased the damages awarded to Kenyan native Douglas Ngumi to $750,950 after he challenged the figure originally awarded to him for his unlawful six-and-a-halfyear imprisonment at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre. While the sum is an improvement from the $641,950 a Supreme Court judge initially granted him, it is still less than 10 percent of the $11m he was seeking for his unlawful arrest, detention and inhumane treatment at the

Carmichael Road Detention Centre (CRDC). Mr Douglas was arrested and imprisoned from January 2011 to August 2017 at which time he was detained at CRDC. Upon his release, he brought an action against Attorney General Carl Bethel, then Immigration Minister Brent Symonette, then Immigration Director William Pratt and Peter Joseph, in his capacity as the officer in charge of the detention centre. During the proceedings, Justice Indra Charles found the respondents were liable for false imprisonment, assault and battery and breaches of Mr Ngumi’s fundamental rights.

As a result, she awarded him $386,000 for compensatory damages; $100,000 for exemplary damages; $50,000 for aggravated damages; $105,000 for breach of his constitutional rights and $950 as special damages. The total award was $641,950 and Mr Ngumi was also awarded interest from the date of the judgment until payment and costs on a party and party basis. His attorney, Fred Smith, QC, appealed the sum on the grounds it was “unreasonably low”. He further sought an increase in general damages to $11m while also seeking interest from the date the cause of action

arose as well as costs on an indemnity basis. Yesterday, Justices Sir Michael Barnett, Jon Isaacs and Milton Evans allowed Mr Ngumi’s appeal and increased the cost of general damages from $641,000 to $750,000. In their judgment, delivered by Sir Michael, the panel ruled that a “global award” in that sum as it related to general damages was “appropriate”. “The appellant was detained for a period of six years (and) seven months,” Sir Michael stated. “However, three months was a reasonable period of time to allow the state to organise the appellant’s deportation as

recommended by the magistrate following his guilty plea to an offence against the Immigration Act. The three-month period was deducted from the otherwise unlawful detention. Therefore, the period of unlawful detention is six years, four months, six days. “The failure of the judge to specify what amount of the $386,000 was awarded for assault and battery as against the amount awarded for false imprisonment is not sufficient to render the total award unreasonable. However, the award of $386,000 as compensatory damages is unreasonably low.” Sir Michael said further

that it was “improper” for the judge to make an award for both exemplary damages and vindictatory damages for breach of Ngumi’s constitutional rights. “Having regard to all the circumstances, a global award of $750,000 in general damages is appropriate,” he stated. “In summary, we would allow the appeal by increasing the amount of general damages from $641,000 to $750,000 and by varying the order so that interests run from the date of the writ. Having regard to the claim for special damages, the total award is $750,950. We will hear the parties on the issue of the costs of this appeal.”

ELECTRIC WORKERS TO WALK OUT By TANYA SMITHCARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net

MEMBERS of the Bahamas Electrical Workers Union plan to stage another “walk out” at BPL this morning, citing disrespect of the union and poorly handled negotiations of an industrial agreement. Some weeks ago the BEWU members walked off the job and gathered at the company’s headquarters. They marched around the building in protest of what they said was poor treatment shown to them by executive management. Union chief Kyle Wilson claims executives at BPL are trying to avoid giving his members what they deserve under their industrial agreement. Minister responsible for BPL Desmond Bannister has reportedly played the role of mediator between the union and executive managers, but Mr Wilson claims BPL executives “play nice” only while the minister is present.

Yesterday, The Tribune obtained a copy of a message sent from the union chief to his members urging them to stand up for themselves and also instructing them on today’s industrial action. “Tomorrow (Thursday) at 9am all members are asked to assemble at the Peter I Bethel building (BPL headquarters) Blue Hill and Tucker Roads for a press conference where issues concerning health and safety and our industrial agreement will be discussed,” the message read in part. “I spoke to the DPM Bannister today and expressed my disappointment and anger towards the treatment of workers in BPL and the poorly handled negotiations of our industrial agreement. “We will not allow the can to be kicked down the road any more. This is a clarion call. All Family Island members: you can report to work, but there will be no work done. Assemble at your head office tomorrow or at your station until

further notice.” A source at BPL told The Tribune a coalition of unions is expected to join in with BEWU for its demonstration today. The union chief’s message continued: “I’m calling on all members from Abaco to Inagua to be ready to stand in solidarity like you never stood before. This is our last chance to get anything for the next five years. “Tomorrow is the last day. I’ve drawn the line in the sand and from indication based on certain conversations they won’t give us a dime. This is no time for fear or second guessing. Be ready for the call. “The cartel from Freeport backed by their political buddies are mean and greedy and don’t want you to have an extra dollar to make things meet. They are deceiving the union with promises, shifting dates, lies, deception and excuses,” it claimed. The message continued by telling members that their safety as regards contracting COVID-19 was in jeopardy. The union leader,

THE WALKOUT staged by BPL workers in June. in his message, called for BPL’s CEO Whitney Heastie to “go”. The message continued: “They said no to your health and no to your wealth. No proper safety protocols for your protection and no industrial agreement for you while they live like kings. Our

MAN ACCUSED OF MANSLAUGHTER By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net A 36-YEAR-OLD man was charged with manslaughter yesterday. Farren Roberts appeared before Magistrate Samuel McKinney charged with the death of Matthew Wright on August 11. Due to the nature of the offence, he was not required to enter a plea and

the matter was adjourned to November 12 for service of a voluntary bill of indictment (VBI). In the meantime, Roberts was denied bail and remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services. He has a right to apply to the Supreme Court for bail. Meanwhile, a teenager was remanded to custody after he was accused of using a handgun to rob

a man of over $400 worth of his personal belongings. Police said Christopher Butler,19, robbed Reginald Minns of $150 cash and a $280 Samsung cellphone on August 3. Like Roberts, he was not required to enter a plea to the charge. He returns to court on December 8 to be served with his VBI. He was denied bail and remanded into custody until that time.

CAR BATTERY EXPLANATION LANDS MAN IN COURT By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net A 64-YEAR-OLD man who could not give a satisfactory account of how he came to possess a car battery was yesterday placed on probation for six months. Police arrested John Johnson on August 12, after they found him with a car battery that they suspected he had stolen or had appropriated through dishonest means. The prosecution said the officers found the car part after they stopped and questioned the senior citizen for loitering in the Parkgate area. He pleaded guilty to unlawful possession and vagrancy when he

appeared before Senior Magistrate Derence Rolle Davis. The court was told that officers on mobile patrol approached Johnson when they noticed him acting suspiciously. After they informed him that he would be searched, officers noticed a brand-new car battery in his hands. When they questioned him about it, he claimed he got the battery from his brother who lived nearby. At the time, Johnson also told police he was living in an abandoned building in the vicinity. The prosecution said when the police made inquiries around the area, they could not find the man to whom Johnson claimed he was related in order to verify his story. He was subsequently arrested and charged. Yesterday, Johnson told the

magistrate he got the battery out of St Margaret Church’s garage. He said the church hosted a lot of food drives and claimed different people would come and drop off all kinds of things as donations. Still, Magistrate Rolle Davis told Johnson it was not likely for the church to be distributing car parts during their food giveaway. As a result, he accepted the accused’s guilty plea and placed him on six months probation. He warned him that if he was convicted of another offence during that timeframe, he would be sentenced to one month in jail. Magistrate Rolle Davis also said if no one came to the police to claim the car battery in the next six months, it would be turned over for auction.

Photo: Donovan McIntosh/Tribune Staff

rights and freedoms and privileges as Bahamian workers are on the line. We must stand. “Heastie must go. We must stand... he says he will not allow anyone to work from home... “They are literally trying to make us beggars in our own country. They spent

$25m on batteries but nothing on you, the main assets of BPL which is us, the workers.” The union president told the BEWU members to send a “clear and strong message” that they will not accept the disrespect he claims is being shown to the union.

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PAGE 8, Thursday, August 19, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

The balm and grace of mercy MINISTER of Health Renward Wells receiving his second vaccination shot. As more people are won over to the idea of vaccination, and we must act with mercy and love for those who may have spurned such a course earlier in the pandemic.

WITH many more deaths, illness, fear and unrelenting heartbreak during this period of the COVID-19 pandemic we are bewildered, griefstricken, angry, frustrated and embroiled in a range of emotions coursing through individual souls and the soul of the nation. Easter is the season in the Christian community of The Passion of Christ from Maundy Thursday to Easter dawn, which is the summit revelation of Divine Mercy in Christianity. We are now in the midst of Good Friday with terrible suffering and emotional and spiritual darkness engulfing many. There is some salvific grace: The death of loved ones and others we know from the SARS-COV-2 virus is leading to the conversion of many who were resistant, often aggressively so, to being vaccinated. Pride is the master of disguises. Egotism and pride cum hubris mixed with magical thinking has sadly led to the illness and deaths of many during the pandemic. Such pride also featured prominently in a number of previous pandemics. Pride is often the deadliest of the classic seven, because we are bewilderingly unaware of its chameleon wiles. The moment we are in and in the weeks and

months ahead, the balm of mercy is going to be needed to heal fraught relationships fractured because of the pandemic. This includes mercy and love for those who have behaved foolishly and with overweening pride during the pandemic. The quality of mercy is many times borne from the trembling desire to transform our pain and tragic disappointments into empathy, solidarity, forgiveness – and resurrection.

MERCY

Like forgiveness, mercy is an amphibious love: It inhabits the despair that is as chilling and as impenetrable as polar glaciers, and as frightening and as lonely as the unfathomed oceanic depths into which we are so often plunged, gasping

Press Release 19th August 2021 Benchmark Half Year and Second Quarter Results 2021 For the half year 2021, Benchmark (Bahamas) Ltd. recorded a Consolidated Net Profit of B$2,415,377 against a loss of B$(545,502) for the same period 2020. Consolidated results for the second quarter were also positive against the same period 2020 registering B$1,237,491 versus B$695,597. Continued strong revenue growth from Benchmark Advisors Equities Trading Desk, new business growth in Alliance and the steady earnings performance of our real estate investment company Benchmark Properties contributed to the strong half year and quarterly Net Earnings. During the quarter, Net Consolidated Investment Income was B$3,027,218, while Net Unrealized Gain/Loss on Investments was B$(611,841). The Benchmark Group of Companies contribution to second quarter Net Consolidated Earnings. • Alliance Investment Management Ltd. Net profit B$762,766 • Benchmark Advisors (Bahamas) Ltd. Net Profit B$1,394,033 • Benchmark Properties (Bahamas) Ltd. Net Profit B$43,010 • Benchmark Ventures (Bahamas)Ltd. Net Loss B$(46,610)

for the terra firma of hope, where mercy’s balm beckons as insistently as a faithful lighthouse keeper on watch for prodigal sons and daughters longing for home. What else did Jesus and his fellow convict speak of that Good Friday? We may imagine the latter’s plea for mercy poured forth amid shame and brokenness, and the epiphany that the love of his companion on the cross redeemed him. An octogenarian Jesuit, resembling Socrates, and a faithful companion of Jesus, confided that at the evening song of his life that he found greater consolation in classical literature. In The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare famously offers: “The quality of mercy is

not strain’d, It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest: It blesseth him that gives and him that takes ... “ “It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.” Yet, how frequently we refuse to take or receive the cup of mercy. It oft takes many dry seasons and mustard seeds before we are receptive to the gentle rains of mercy from heaven and from loved ones here on earth. The joy of mercy dawns, often surprises, along the fault lines and the seeming eternity of fits and starts, and the sloughs and peaks that is the rugged pathway of conversion. The popularized presentations of Carlo Collodi’s The Adventures

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;ϳϯ͕ϴϬϭͿ

ϭϲ͕ϮϵϮ

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;ϰϴϮ͕ϲϯϭͿ ;ϭϰϱ͕ϱϬϮͿ

;ϵϳϴ͕ϯϰϮͿ ϳϲϯ

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EĞƚ ƉƌŽĨŝƚ ĨŽƌ ƚŚĞ ƉĞƌŝŽĚ

Ϯ͕ϰϭϱ͕ϯϳϳ

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ĂƌŶŝŶŐƐ ƉĞƌ ƐŚĂƌĞ

Ϭ͘ϰϵ

;Ϭ͘ϮϱͿ

'ĞŶĞƌĂů ĂĚŵŝŶŝƐƚƌĂƚŝǀĞ ĞǆƉĞŶƐĞƐ ŽŵŵŝƐƐŝŽŶ ĞǆƉĞŶƐĞ ^ĂůĂƌŝĞƐ ĂŶĚ ďĞŶĞĨŝƚƐ dƌĂǀĞů ĂŶĚ ĞŶƚĞƌƚĂŝŶŵĞŶƚ WƌŽĨĞƐƐŝŽŶĂů ĨĞĞƐ /ŶǀĞƐƚŵĞŶƚ ĂĚǀŝƐŽƌ ĨĞĞ ĂŶŬ ĐŚĂƌŐĞƐ ĂŶĚ ŝŶƚĞƌĞƐƚ >ŝĂďŝůŝƚǇ ŝŶƐƵƌĂŶĐĞ ůĞĂŶŝŶŐ͕ ƌĞƉĂŝƌƐ ĂŶĚ ŵĂŝŶƚĞŶĂŶĐĞ ĞƉƌĞĐŝĂƚŝŽŶ ĂŶĚ ĂŵŽƌƚŝǌĂƚŝŽŶ ŽƌƉŽƌĂƚĞ ŵĂŶĂŐĞŵĞŶƚ ĨĞĞƐ ŝƌĞĐƚŽƌƐΖ ĂŶĚ ŽĨĨŝĐĞƌƐΖ ĨĞĞƐ WƵďůŝĐ ƌĞůĂƚŝŽŶƐ hƚŝůŝƚŝĞƐ ƵƐŝŶĞƐƐ ůŝĐĞŶĐĞ ĨĞĞƐ ZĞĂů ƉƌŽƉĞƌƚǇ ƚĂǆ ^ĞĐƵƌŝƚŝĞƐ ŽŵŵŝƐƐŝŽŶ ůŝĐĞŶĐĞ ĨĞĞƐ ƵĞƐ Θ ^ƵďƐĐƌŝƉƚŝŽŶƐ WƌŝŶƚŝŶŐ ĂŶĚ ƐƚĂƚŝŽŶĞƌǇ /^y ůŝƐƚŝŶŐ ĨĞĞƐ ZĞŐŝƐƚƌĂƌ Θ dƌĂŶƐĨĞƌ ŐĞŶƚ ĨĞĞƐ DŝƐĐĞůůĂŶĞŽƵƐ

EĞƚ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŵĞŶƚ ŝŶĐŽŵĞ ZĞĂůŝǌĞĚ ĂŶĚ ƵŶƌĞĂůŝǌĞĚ ŐĂŝŶ ĂŶĚ ůŽƐƐ ŽŶ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŵĞŶƚƐ EĞƚ ƌĞĂůŝǌĞĚ ŐĂŝŶ ŽŶ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŵĞŶƚ EĞƚ ŵŽǀĞŵĞŶƚ ŝŶ ƵŶƌĞĂůŝǌĞĚ ŐĂŝŶ ŽŶ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŵĞŶƚƐ EĞƚ ƌĞĂůŝǌĞĚ ĨŽƌĞŝŐŶ ĞǆĐŚĂŶŐĞ ŐĂŝŶ EĞƚ ƌĞĂůŝǌĞĚ ĂŶĚ ƵŶƌĞĂůŝǌĞĚ ŐĂŝŶ ŽŶ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŵĞŶƚƐ

ϭϮ͕Ϯϯϵ͕ϰϳϳ ϳϬ͕ϲϳϭ ϯϬϳ͕ϯϱϯ ϯϳϬ͕Ϯϰϯ ϰϯϵ͕ϱϵϭ

of Pinocchio and Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables usually condense just how long and just how difficult are the journeys of conversion of the lead character in each work.

STRUGGLE

Jean Valjean, the main protagonist of Les Miserables, is well-known from the stage and film versions of Hugo’s 1862 French historical novel. The epic work details Valjean’s, “struggle to lead a normal life after serving a prison sentence for stealing bread to feed his sister’s children during a time of economic depression and an attempted prison escape.” Recently released from prison and a long way from becoming a good citizen and a successful businessman, Valjean finds himself as a vagabond, and as the guest of a bishop who gives him food and shelter – and friendship. The bishop and the vagabond share the fellowship of food and conversation. Valjean sleeps later in a real bed with fresh sheets for the first time in years. Yet, despite unbounded hospitality, he betrays the bishop by stealing his silver cutlery. When Valjean is captured and brought before the bishop to identify the thief and the stolen silver, something remarkable happens: the joy of mercy. “He [the bishop] feigns surprise at the capture and says [to the police]: ‘Yes, certainly Valjean was here as my guest last night and indeed I gave him the silver. ‘But’, he says, turning to the convict, ‘Had you forgotten that I gave you the candlesticks as well? They’re silver like the rest and worth a good two hundred francs. Did you forget to take them?’” When the police leave, the bishop exuberantly forgives Valjean and offers to the very one who has betrayed his hospitality and trust: “Jean Valjean, my brother, you no longer belong to what is evil but to what is good. I have bought your soul to save it from black thoughts and the spirit of perdition, and I give it to God.” The joy of mercy. The moral life usually requires second, third and fourth attempts – and more. And, more than three strikes. The bishop’s mercy helps to transform Valjean. Though mercy sometimes seems naive, it is often wiser than blunt justice. Pope John Paul I, Albino Luciani, was a devoted reader of his fellow Italian Collodi’s 1883 novel Pinocchio. A copy of this tale of fall and redemption reportedly accompanied the late pontiff throughout his adult life. Just as the world of Hugo’s Les Miserables is mostly grimy and severe, the world of Collodi’s Pinocchio is more desperate than Disney’s version.

The original story has “dark undercurrents”. Pinocchio and his woodcarver creator-father Geppetto, “live in abject poverty and are frequently placed in lifethreatening situations.” Pinocchio, lying feverishly to cover his tracks, skips school, runs off to Pleasure Island where he is turned into a donkey because of his sloth. The jackass indulges a carnival of deadly sins and bad habits. Still, his is a story of conversion, of a conscience shaken and challenged through personal struggle and the mercy of others, a soul in moral flux, tending between a desire for goodness and the seductions of self-indulgence and selfishness. The wooden puppet is slowly, painstakingly transformed into flesh and blood, born again and again. Early in the tale, the Blue Fairy turns Pinocchio from an inanimate puppet into a living, yet still wooden puppet. She indicates that for him to become a “real, live boy” will require conversion. Pinocchio takes the form of wood, animal and finally human flesh and blood, representing his deepening conversion to new habits, more fundamental desires, richer relationships and personal integrity.

PURPOSE

We are all Pinocchio, struggling, each of us, to live lives of deeper purpose. If we are fortunate, like him, we have companions on the journey whose mercy and love make us more fully human and whose mercy helps to make possible our ongoing conversion from deadly sins into life-giving habits. Pinocchio is blessed with Geppetto, who sacrifices to protect his son; blessed with the compassion of the Blue Fairy; and blessed with the companionship of the Talking Cricket named Jiminy Cricket in Disney’s Pinocchio. Mercy flows from love. It is the gift of kin like Geppetto and kith like Jiminy Cricket, reminding us that nothing can separate us from their love and the possibility of reconciliation. Fr James Keenan, SJ, insists mercy is the willingness to enter into the chaos of another’s life. The acceptance of such a gift allows another to enter into the shame, shadows, insecurities, blunders, wonders, aspirations and joys of our blessed chaos. Mercy is “twice blest: It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.” Mercy is a virtue of mutuality, and a wellspring of communion and liberation. In imitation of the Easter wonder, moving from Good Friday to Easter dawn, to whom shall we propose the gift of mercy and how might the gift of another’s mercy move us that farther along our path of conversion?

THE TRIBUNE AT 12:30AM on Sunday morning, lightning struck the Washington Monument, perhaps the most distinctive memorial in America’s capital city that is full of them. The pointed peak of the famous alabaster obelisk is crowned with devices designed to blunt the effects of such celestial fire, but the direct lightning strike nonetheless fried some of the interior electronics and the monument has been closed to visitors since the weekend. At roughly the same time during a sultry Washington weekend, the American President declared an end to what is often described as his country’s longest war in Afghanistan. Some wonder if this was coincidental. In the wake of the horrific terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington on 9/11/2001, the US lashed out at the Middle East, Muslim terrorists in general and attack mastermind Osama bin Laden in particular, with bin Laden reportedly in hiding somewhere in Afghanistan under the protection of the Taliban forces that had controlled that mountain stronghold since the Soviet Army gave up its military occupation in 1991. In a misbegotten occupation that began with a coup in 1978 and whose failure is cited as one of many factors contributing to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Russians and their allies spent a lot of money, military might and imperial prestige for only scant gains. When the Soviet troops finally exited Afghanistan, the US and its Western allies were giddy with delight. They had, after all, armed and advised the rebels who drove the Soviet Army away. Moscow’s humiliating departure was another feather in the caps of Western military planners and budgetary spenders. But after ten years of consolidated Taliban rule and the 9/11 attacks, America and its friends were singing a different tune. Afghanistan, a collection of tribal fiefdoms of often spectacular beauty perched near the middle of the highest mountain range on

Thursday, August 19, 2021, PAGE 9

BIDEN’S BLUNDERED IN THE EXECUTION BUT THE DECISION TO LEAVE WAS THE RIGHT ONE

STATESIDE

PEOPLE run alongside a US Air Force C-17 transport plane at the international airport, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Monday. with Charlie Harper earth, has richly earned its nickname as “a place where empires go to die”. Undeterred by the stillrecent Soviet failure – and that of many other empires that have attempted to subjugate this inhospitable territory for many centuries – the US launched a punitive, retaliatory invasion of Afghanistan in a search for bin Laden and to punish the nation for its collaboration with him. While the unjustifiable, contemporaneous Iraq war proved to be a significant distraction, American operations in Afghanistan continued for 20 years, even after the capture and killing of bin Laden in May 2011. Was Sunday’s lightning strike on the Washington Monument a divine sign that the post-World War II era of American military hegemony is over? Was it a dramatic exclamation point affirming the wisdom of President Joe Biden’s declaration of “no mas” for America in Afghanistan? Or was it merely a meteorological exhortation to the arrogant American military and political leadership to stop acting as if the US can and should try to nation-build in remote areas far from home with no democratic traditions, fragile economies and questionable national allegiance from the population? These and other questions are vying for attention in the American media with reports of successive devastating natural events in Haiti, continuing drought and wildfire deforestation in the American West,

tropical storm dangers in the Southeast, and the continuing search for some kind of political accommodation in the US in the increasingly urgent hope of advancing the national interest. Pundits and commentators from both the left and the right are piling on the defiant Biden for the clumsy and poorly planned and executed extraction from Afghanistan of American citizens and affiliated Afghans whose cooperation with the Americans likely marked them for retributive execution under the new Taliban government. Images of chaos at the Kabul airport will remain in the minds of many Americans and others around the world for quite some time, and rightly so. Many will lament the blighted hope for Afghan women and girls who now seem certain to be forced back into what one commentator called “endless medieval midnight”. Should the Americans be criticized for encouraging and trying to support the modernist secularization of a society riven with religious zealotry and tribal rivalries? Was the US right to add nation-building to an initially retaliatory military invasion? Historians will debate this and it’s not clear now what their ultimate verdict might be. But Joe Biden’s decision to stop throwing more money, resources and military and contractor lives at a problem that is demonstrably insoluble must be regarded as the correct one. He shouldn’t be blaming

his inept predecessor or anyone else for the logistical failures. Those failures are obvious, and they rest with his administration. But the US had to get out of Afghanistan.

AND WE’VE SEEN IT ALL BEFORE

Many in and out of the US media are wringing their hands over comparisons to the ignominious departure of the Americans from Vietnam in April 1975. There are certainly similarities. Of the many enduring images from the roughly 16-year American involvement in Vietnam, probably the most searing is of a naked child screaming and running away from the effects of a US napalm strike dropped on a remote rural village suspected of offering refuge to Vietcong fighters. Another dramatic image depicted the shooting by a South Vietnamese policeman of an unarmed, handcuffed man in the middle of a street in broad daylight. But the picture most often recalled in these chaotic Kabul days is of desperate Vietnamese clinging to the skids of an American helicopter as it evacuated staff from the roof of the US Embassy in Saigon in April 1975. The comparison of that image with the dozens of compelling pictures of similarly frightened Afghans swarming huge American transport planes as the US evacuation proceeds is compelling – and perhaps

not misleading. American military, political and economic efforts to nurture and construct democratic structures and representative governments in two nations far from home do lend themselves to easy comparison. While the US intervention in Afghanistan was initially retaliatory and its involvement in Vietnam was not in response to such a dramatic provocation as the 9/11 attacks, the American efforts in both nations did assume many of the same aspects over the course of time. The “model” of grassroots development of a new national structure followed broadly similar lines in both places. The idea was that a militarily won and enforced peace would provide an incubator for democratic government. Languagequalified American and allied civilian advisers would be deployed far from the safety of embassy bastions to offer hands-on advice and assistance. Free and fair elections would follow, and durable societies would arise to align with Western values and economic systems. This would be a natural development. In Washington and many other Western European and Commonwealth capitals, we do believe that representative democracy and free-market capitalism represent mankind’s best hope. The events unfolding before our eyes in Kabul and the almost inconceivably rapid collapse of the

prior Afghan government do seem to belie the presumed universal appeal of these assumptions. These are questions to be addressed in the avalanche of post-game analysis with which we will soon be presented. Meanwhile, profound differences between the American experience in Vietnam and Afghanistan defy some of the comparisons now being offered. Vietnam more closely resembled World War II and Korea in its reliance on “conventional” military strategy with large land forces supported by air and sea power. At one point, the US had over half a million troops deployed on the ground in Vietnam. The largest American ground presence in Afghanistan never exceeded one-fifth of that total. America’s Vietnam War was also waged by an army comprised of both volunteers and conscripts. The military draft meant that most young American men faced enrolment in the “selective service system” at the age of 18, and for millions of them, conscription into the army and possible deployment to the jungles of Vietnam. Young men faced involuntary and often unwelcome military service in a widely unpopular war. Their resistance resulted in the chaos and tumult that dominated the US for a decade until the draft was basically decommissioned in 1973. Because the American military now favours a more remote-controlled approach to distant foreign engagements, only slightly more than 2,300 American volunteer soldiers have died in Afghanistan. In Vietnam, 58,000 perished. What lessons will America and its allies learn from this week’s events?

MESSAGE TO MEMBERS OF THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY ON COVID-19 VACCINATION The Bahamas is presently facing a national health crisis brought on by COVID-19. To date, more than 16,000 persons in The Bahamas have tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19 and the number of associated deaths has surpassed 300. Our economy has been negatively impacted and hundreds of persons remain unemployed. Although the economy has started to move in a more positive direction in the past few months, we are still far from the growth experienced two years ago. One of the ways to combat COVID-19 is to avail yourselves of one of the vaccines which are currently available in the country. While the vaccines are not 100% effective against COVID-19 transmission, it has been determined that they can prevent severe illness and death. At the present time, more than 117,000 vaccine doses have been administered in The Bahamas and more than 51,000 persons have been fully vaccinated. This equates to less than 20% of persons who are eligible for vaccination. A 70% vaccination rate within the country is necessary to reach herd immunity and to begin to bring the virus under control. While vaccination against the virus that causes COVID-19 is not mandatory, the Bahamas Insurance Association, in line with government recommendations, endorses vaccination as part of the country’s collective effort to combat this virus. We need all hands on deck. We need YOU to play your part in fighting this virus. We need YOU to protect your families. We need YOU to help restore normalcy to our country. We invite you to consider vaccination. If you have already been vaccinated, you may also wish to encourage family members and friends to do so as well.

BAHAMAS INSURANCE ASSOCIATION AUGUST 19, 2021

We may be contacted at info@bahamasinsurance.org for more information.

THE TRIBUNE

AG’s office wins damages court fight By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net THE Office of the Attorney General was successful in challenging a Supreme Court judge’s decision to award three men and a local non-profit group at the centre of an international fraud allegation damages for constitutional breaches. In an oral ruling in June 2019, Justice Cheryl Grant-Thompson discharged a mutual legal assistance treaty restraint order, previously granted to the Attorney General, which prevented Jonathan Reid, David Valdez Lopez, Rudolph King and Celebrating Women International from accessing funds. In her ruling, she also found breaches of constitutional provisions but ordered no damages for them. However, according to court documents, in October 2019 Justice Grant-Thompson provided a written ruling with an “addendum” to her previous decision. This written decision revised a portion of her oral ruling that had initially made no order for damages, to now order damages in favour of the respondents for constitutional relief. The Office of the Attorney General recently appealed the judge’s decision after arguing that she erred in granting constitutional relief. The office further asserted the constitutional

breaches that were found should not to have been attributed to the MLAT application, but “more properly determined to have arisen from the domestic criminal proceedings, if at all”. After reserving their decision in July, Justices Jon Isaacs, Roy Jones and Milton Evans yesterday granted the Attorney General’s appeal and quashed Justice Grant-Thompson’s awards for damages. A copy of the judgment posted on the Crown’s website said the appeal came out of a request by the US Attorney for the Western District of Washington and the US Secret Service made pursuant to the Mutual Legal Assistance Act. The request was “precipitated” by the transfer of more than $2m from SunTrust Bank in Atlanta, Georgia to the Royal Bank of Canada Caribbean accounts of all four respondents. “It was alleged that the funds were fraudulently acquired from a company called Boeing via sham corporations, identity theft, a fraudulent passport and a forged email,” the court documents said. “Having followed the paper trail, the authorities determined that the funds were being held in two accounts at RBC. “The competent authority, that is, the Attorney General as envisaged under the MLAA, applied for and obtained a restraint order from the Supreme Court dated June 21, 2017, thereby preventing the

respondents from accessing the funds.” Justice Isaacs noted a court was entitled to amend judgments or orders by relying on the “slip rule”. Still, he said, it would not be right for a court to seek to “re-craft” a judgment once it had already been pronounced in open court and “the import of that portion of the judgment is not so vague as to require clarification.” “The judge’s words were pellucidly clear: ‘I ordered no damages as redress may have been available under other laws’,” Justice Isaacs stated. “Having pronounced that she would order no damages, it was not open to the judge to entertain further arguments on the constitutional issues and to grant redress she had previously declined to give. This was a situation where the judge deliberately expressed her intention; and there was no question of there being an error. “In as much as I have found that the judge erred when she re-entered into a consideration of the award of damages for the alleged constitutional breaches, I quash the judge’s awards for damage suffered by the respondents. As a result of my decision in relation to the relief granted by the judge it is unnecessary for me to consider whether the judge was correct to find that the constitutional breaches stemmed from the MLAT application and not to have arisen from the domestic criminal proceedings.”

Thursday, August 19, 2021, PAGE 11

WOMAN TO LEAD TRIPARTITE COUNCIL By TANYA SMITHCARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net FOR the first time, the National Tripartite Council has elected a female as its new chairman who will take the helm in labour and industrial relations over the next three years. No stranger to trade unionism and industrial relations, Sharon Martin was elected on August 5. Ms Martin, president of the Women’s Association of the National Congress of Trade Unions of The Bahamas and former secretary of the council, was elected by the council members to lead the body for the 2021-2024 statutory period. She will hold the seat for labour as mandated by the National Tripartite Council Act 2015 for the next three years. The three-year statutory period for the council began on July 1. Obie Ferguson, president of the Trade Unions of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, congratulated Ms Martin. “Ms Martin is an example

for younger women to now see a woman of stature that is just not there because she is a woman, but because she is competent,” Mr Ferguson said. “I am happy that she is in that seat, she has my full support.” “When I received the support call from Khrystle Rutherford-Ferguson, chairman of the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation, I told her that I have big shoes to fill,” Ms Martin said. “Nevertheless, I am extremely excited, honored and privileged to be elected by this vanguard, these are some of the brightest minds in this country. “These are challenging times in our nation; however, my executive team and I have the full support of our leaders and we will be successful in executing our duty for our country. Labour is the country’s richest asset, it’s time that we stop putting the workers as one-liners in our conversations.” Touted as an outstanding female leader by her peers, Ms Martin is also the first female to lead the Union

of Public Officers at the National Insurance Board in its 40-year history. She also represented workers in June when The Bahamas was invited for the first time to sit as a tripartite observer delegate on the International Labour Organization’s governing body - the executive body of the ILO. Bernard Evans, president of the National Congress of Trade Unions of The Bahamas, said; “There have been some rocky paths crossed by many labour leaders in recent times, however, the NCTUB is committed to our role to advance social justice and promote decent work. We are keenly aware that Ms Martin shares that same vision.” Officers elected to serve along with Ms Martin are Robert Farquharson; Ricardo Deveaux; and Rionda Godet. Government representatives are: Patrenda Russell-Brice and Quinton LaRoda. Employers’ representatives are Peter Goudie; Malvese Capron and Joan Dilworth. Labour representatives are Sherry Benjamin; Tyrone ‘Rock’ Morris; and Frederick Munnings.

SPORTS PAGE 19

THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, 2021

NBA, page 22

Strachan advances to final By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

ay one of competition for Team Bahamas at the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya featured Keyshawn Strachan in the men’s javelin and a quartet of sprinters in the 100 metres. Strachan advanced to the final of the men’s javelin with his throw of 68.85 metres in the qualifying round. The 17-year-old junior national record holder (71.62m) finished fifth in Group A and is seeded at No.8 overall headed into the final. Strachan will contest the final at 2:20pm local time on August 20 in the first event scheduled in the afternoon session. Three of the top five finalists set new personal bests in the qualifying round, led by Nigeria’s Chinecherem Nnamdi who also set a new National U20 record of 78.02m. The top eight among the 16 finalists also includes Artur Felfner of Ukraine (77.15m), Janne Laspa of Finland (77.10m PB), Filip Dominkovic of Slovenia (73.82 PB), Eryk

Kolodziejczak of Poland (71.73m), Kunwer Ajai Raj Singh Rana of India (71.05m) and Jay Kumar of India (70.34m). In addition to his national record achieved at June’s Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’ National Track and Field Championships, Strachan has also thrown a personal best of 72.13m at the North American Central and Caribbean Athletics Association (NACAC) U18 and U23 Championships in Costa Rica in July. The Bahamas was unable to produce a finalist in the 100m, however, three of the four competitors advanced to the semifinal before elimination. In the men’s event, both Wendell Miller and Carlos Brown Jr turned in personal bests but fell just short in their qualification bid. Miller finished at No.11 in the field while Brown was No.12. Miller, 18, ran successive personal bests, beginning with a 10.51 seconds to finish second in heat two. In the second of three

semifinals, he ran to a sixth place finish in 10.45. Brown, 15, also ran successive personal bests and opened with a 10.53 in heat six of the opening round to advance. He went on to finish fourth in heat three of the semifinals in 10.47. In the women’s event, Camille Rutherford advanced to the semifinal and finished No.12 overall in the field while Lacarthea Cooper finished No.33. The 18-year-old Rutherford ran to a first place finish in heat one in 11.59 to advance. She went on to finish third in semifinal three in 11.72. Cooper, 17, finished seventh in heat four in 12.30 seconds. Rhema Otabor will be the lone member of Team Bahamas in competition today when she contests the final of the women’s javelin at 2:40 pm local time. Otabor, the 18-yearold junior national record holder in the event enters the final with the seventh best throw of the field this season at 55.06m.

KEYSHAWN STRACHAN, throws the javelin in this file photo. Yesterday (day one) at the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya, the 17-year-old junior national record holder advanced to the final of the men’s javelin. Rutherford, Cooper and Brown will also compete in the 200m, while Miller will challenge both the 200m and 400m. The remaining members of the team include Alexis Tilford-Rutherford

in the women’s long jump, Lamont Moss in the 200m and Antoine Andrews in the 110m hurdles. The team is co-managed by Laketah Charlton and Sharon Gardiner and coached by Bernard Rolle,

assisted by Darron Lightbourne and Corrington Maycock. Medical personnel includes Dr Alvery Hanna, physiotherapist Michael Armbrister, and COVID-19 liaison officer, Laura Charlton.

WELL, COMING BACK HOME: Shown (l-r) are Richard Gianinni, Bahamas Bowl executive director, Quinton Brennen, of the National Sports Authority, Eldeece Clarke, of Ministry of Tourism, Clint Overby, VP of ESPN Events, Dionisio D’Aguilar, Minister of Tourism and Aviation, Jon Steinbrecher, MAC commissioner, Tommy Thompson, deputy director general of tourism and aviation, Lea MillerTooley, Bahamas Bowl director of sales and marketing, and Brian Mackin, C-USA deputy commissioner.

Bahamas Bowl set to return in December By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net A LANDMARK event on The Bahamas’ sports tourism calendar, the Bahamas Bowl is set to return in 2021. The Bahamas Bowl hosted its annual summer summit in preparation for its return this December as it looks to continue the trend of kicking off the NCAA bowl season. Various stakeholders of the event, including the Bowl Committee, ESPN Events, The Ministry of Tourism, the National Sports and Authority, discussed their expectations for the upcoming edition yesterday at the Thomas A Robinson stadium. The longest-running international bowl game in college football history, the Bahamas Bowl, will be played at noon on Friday, December 17. After a year away due to the pandemic, the Bahamas Bowl will play its seventh edition in the 15,000-seat Thomas A Robinson National Stadium, broadcast live United States on ESPN.

Clint Overby, vice president of events at ESPN, said his organisation has sought to create a symbiotic relationship between local and international stakeholders. “On behalf of ESPN and the Walt Disney Company, we’re excited to be back and we’re excited to be in the business of college football,” he said. “Sports has obviously taken a big hit during the pandemic but we want to play a role in that recovery with college football, college basketball and the entirety of the sports enterprise. We believe that staging a game here in The Bahamas is a part of that recovery.” Dionisio D’Aguilar, Minister of Tourism and Aviation, said the game is transitioning into a staple of the Bahamian Christmas season. “After all we’ve endured these past 16 months, a wilderness of sorts across every segment of our tourism product, we are with great excitement looking forward to this year’s bowl game,” he said. “Needless to say, we have all been deeply impacted by this terrible pandemic

and we are still reeling from its effects, but in life, there is always hope. And the return of the Bahamas Bowl represents just that. Hope for our partners, hope for the players, their families and friends, hope for our visitors, and hope for Bahamians.” He noted the event serves multiple purposes, including creating business opportunities and exposure for the Bahamas. “As the longest running international bowl game in college football history, there is no doubt in my mind that the Bahamas Bowl is among the events that have contributed to this island destination becoming the international sports event mecca of the Caribbean,” D’Aguilar said. As with the first six editions, the 2021 Bahamas Bowl will feature teams from Conference USA and the Mid-American Conference. Said Jon Steinbrecher, MAC commissioner: “Thank you for opening the islands for us and we are so thrilled to be here. We had our football media day several weeks ago in Detroit

and all the student athletes we had there had their picture next to the Bahamas Bowl poster, they’re all ready to come here.” Brian Mackin, C-USA deputy commissioner, added: “We have a very large conference in over 10 states with 14 teams and they fight to come to The Bahamas to play. They want to be in this bowl game, they really do. Conference USA is committed to coming down here and making this the best bowl possible. We are excited, we will come in droves and we will put economic development back on the table.” Each year, American football fans travel to Nassau to see their universities play in the only bowl game played currently outside the United States. The inaugural bowl game in 2014 saw WKU beat Central Michigan 49-48 in a memorable offensive shootout. In 2015, Western Michigan beat Middle Tennessee 45-31, Old Dominion held off Eastern Michigan 24-20 in the 2016 game, Ohio beat UAB 41-6 in 2017, FIU rallied to beat Toledo 35-32 in

2018 and Buffalo defeated Charlotte 31-9 in 2019. “We are thrilled to return to the bowl lineup and to be the opening game of Bowl Season this year,” said Bahamas Bowl executive director Richard Giannini. “The bowl has been a fixture on the Bahamas sporting calendar since 2014, and the game has provided tremendous competition for our partner conferences at Conference USA and the Mid-American Conference.

“We have a fun gameday atmosphere for our fans who attend the bowl, and it is a yearly showcase of the beauty of the Bahamas on ESPN. “We know that the 2021 bowl will remind everyone why ‘Bowl Games are Better in The Bahamas’.” For more information on the 2021 Bahamas Bowl, visit BahamasBowl.com. The game is one of 17 college bowl games owned and operated by ESPN Events, a division of ESPN.

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ROOKIE QBS HAD IMPRESSIVE DEBUTS, FUELLING MORE HYPE By ROB MAADDI AP Pro Football Writer JUSTIN Fields outshined his fellow first-round quarterbacks in their preseason openers. Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, Trey Lance and Mac Jones also made a positive impression in their debuts. So did Jordan Love, who isn’t a rookie but didn’t take a snap last year. A few series against backups, third-stringers and future practice squad guys won’t determine much about any young player but a strong start is better than a poor one. “We all want him to play really well,” Bears coach Matt Nagy said of Fields.

“That’s a good thing for him to go out and play well.” While fans and analysts will overhype preseason performances, most coaches put more stock into practices than games, especially the joint sessions against other clubs. Fields, the fourth QB selected in the NFL draft at No. 11 overall, was 14 of 20 for 142 yards in just over two quarters of action for Chicago against Miami’s reserves. He made impressive throws outside the pocket and overcame a fumble during a scramble following a spin move. The former Ohio State star had no problem adjusting to the game speed.

“It was actually kind of slow to me, to be honest,” Fields said. It’ll get much faster, especially when the games count. Nagy plans to start veteran Andy Dalton in Week 1 regardless of how well Fields performs in the preseason. Dalton is expected to take more snaps against Buffalo on Saturday. “Justin understands the plan, he understands the process,” Nagy said. But Nagy also wants to see Fields play against a starting defense at some point. “It can be good to see what he does against a firstteam defense,” Nagy said. “It’s part of the evaluation

JACKSONVILLE Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence prepares to throw a pass against the Cleveland Browns during the first half of a preseason game last Saturday in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M Ebenhack) process. There’s zero scheming going on in these preseason games.” Lawrence, the No. 1 overall pick, got sacked and fumbled on his first play from scrimmage with Jacksonville. He bounced back and completed 6 of 9 passes for 71 yards in two series. Lawrence started over Gardner Minshew but Jaguars rookie coach Urban Meyer hasn’t officially given him the job. Despite the appearance of an open competition, Lawrence is expected to be behind center Week 1. Wilson, the No. 2 overall pick, was 6 of 9 for 63 yards and led the New York Jets to a field goal in two series. Jets coach Robert Saleh plans to give him more reps against the Packers

on Saturday and play him in the final preseason game next week. “To me, he’s so far ahead with regards to how he sees the game,” Saleh said Tuesday about Wilson’s progression. “It’s not just, ‘What’s a formation, what’s my play call?’ He’s looking at the other side of the ball and he’s doing a really nice job and the results are changing but that can flip another time. “His process has been consistent, and it’s been consistently good. Hopefully, we can continue to build on it.” Lance, selected No. 3 by San Francisco, made the biggest play of all the rookie QBs last week. He rolled to his left, stopped, set his feet and launched an 80-yard touchdown pass. Aside from a couple of dazzling plays, Lance was spotty. He finished 5 for 14,

including three dropped passes, for 128 yards and was sacked four times. The plan for the 49ers is to start Jimmy Garoppolo while the inexperienced Lance — he played just one full season at FCS-level North Dakota State and only one game last season — adapts and learns. Jones is also slated to start the season as a backup with New England where Cam Newton is coming off a disappointing season. Jones completed 13 of 19 passes for 87 yards in five series in his first game, and he could push Newton to the bench sooner than later. There isn’t one formula for grooming a young QB. Peyton Manning started right away and became one of the greatest to ever play. Patrick Mahomes started only one game as a rookie playing behind Alex Smith and was the NFL MVP in his second season.

2-time champ Venus Williams receives wild card into US Open NEW YORK (AP) — Two-time champion Venus Williams will be back at the U.S. Open after being given a wild card Wednesday into the Grand Slam tournament. The 41-year-old Williams has won seven major titles, including victories at Flushing Meadows in 2000 and 2001. But with her current WTA ranking of No. 112, she has fallen outside the top 104 who received direct entry into the women’s main draw. Williams hasn’t missed the U.S. Open since 2006, when she was sidelined by a left wrist injury. She reached her last major semifinal there in 2017. CoCo Vandeweghe, who

also reached those semifinals, also was awarded a wild card by the U.S. Tennis Association. The former No. 9-ranked American has battled injuries and is currently No. 160. American teenagers Caty McNally, Hailey Baptiste and Katie Volynets also received women’s wild cards, along with 20-year-old Emma Navarro, the NCAA champion at Virginia, and Ashlyn Krueger. Krueger, 17, won the USTA Girls’ 18s national championship to earn a wild-card spot. On the men’s side, 20-year-old Americans Jenson Brooksby and Brandon Nakashima were

rewarded for their strong summers with wild cards. Both are now ranked inside the top 100, which would have been good enough for direct entry when the July 19 ATP rankings were used. Jack Sock, who was once ranked eighth but has since struggled with injuries, received a wild card along with fellow Americans Emilio Nava and Ernesto Escobedo. NCAA singles champion Sam Riffice of Florida and USTA Boys’ 18s champion Zachary Svajda also got spots into the tournament that starts Aug. 30, along with Australians Max Purcell and Storm Sanders.

NAOMI OSAKA TESTED BY GAUFF, WINS 3-SETTER IN TOUR RETURN MASON, Ohio (AP) — Two days after a thoughtful exchange with a local sports columnist, Naomi Osaka delivered a more relevant statement on the court. She’s back. Down a set and a break to 17-year-old Coco Gauff, the second-ranked Osaka fought back to pull out a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win at the Western & Southern Open on yesterday, her first WTA Tour event since the French Open in late May. Osaka appreciated being tested so quickly. “It’s definitely been a while since I played a tough opponent in a three-set match,” she said. “It was definitely really tough, but I feel really good right now. I’m super excited to play another match.” Citing discomfort with post-match news conferences, the four-time Grand Slam champion withdrew from Roland Garros and skipped Wimbledon. She was eliminated in the round of 16 at the Tokyo Olympics after lighting the

Olympic cauldron in her native Japan. The 23-year-old Osaka is outspoken on many social issues and announced during Monday’s prematch media session that she would be donating her tournament prize money to earthquake-ravaged Haiti, her father’s homeland. Cincinnati Enquirer columnist Paul Daugherty asked how she balanced her discomfort with news conferences and her need to speak out. Osaka paused in thought and, declining the moderator’s suggestion to move on from the topic, asked Daugherty to repeat the question. She responded with what the writer later described as the best answer he’s ever heard in 34 years of covering sports. “Um, I mean, for me, I feel like this is something that I can’t — I can’t really speak for everybody,” she said. “I can only speak for myself, but ever since I was younger, I have had a lot of media interest on me, and I think it’s because of my

NAOMI Osaka enters Center Court during the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament at the Lindner Family Tennis Center yesterday in Mason, Ohio. (Cara Owsley/The Cincinnati Enquirer via AP) background as well as, you know, how I play, because in the first place, I’m a tennis player. “That’s why a lot of people are interested in me, so I would say in that regard, I’m quite different to a lot of people, and

I can’t really help that there are some things that I tweet or some things that I say that kind of create a lot of news articles or things like that, and I know it’s because I have won a couple of Grand Slams, and I have gotten to do a lot of

press conferences that these things happen, but I would also say, like, I’m not really sure how to balance the two. Like I’m figuring it out at the same time as you are, I would say.” While Osaka appeared comfortable during the

exchange, her agent, Stuart Duguid, described Daugherty on Twitter as a “bully.” In other matches, topranked Ash Barty needed a second-set tiebreaker to beat Heather Watson, 6-4, 7-6 (3) in a match postponed from Tuesday by rain. Three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber upset fourth-seeded Elina Svitolina. Simona Halep, the 12th seed, withdrew with a right thigh injury. Men’s top seed Daniil Medvedev cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 win in 59 minutes over wild card Mackenzie McDonald, and three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray was eliminated by ninth-seeded Hubert Hurkacz. Both Olympic singles gold medallists, Alexander Zverev and Belinda Bencic, and men’s No. 2 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas all advanced in straight sets. Two-time Slam champion Garbine Muguruza and fifth-seeded Karolina Pliskova also won in straight sets.

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JONES, MUNNINGS SHINE BRIGHT IN NBA SUMMER LEAGUE By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net BOTH Bahamian participants concluded their respective runs in the NBA’s Las Vegas Summer League and while Kai Jones prepares for the preseason, Travis Munnings hopes to have made an impact on an organisation for the next step in his pro career. In the Charlotte Hornets’ Summer League finale, Jones finished just shy of his second double double in the five-game run with a team high 16 points and nine rebounds in a 99-74 loss to the Chicago Bulls. The Hornets finished Summer League 0-5, but Jones averaged 9.8 points and 9.4 rebounds in 28.1 minutes per game. In his debut, Jones finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, a blocked shot in his team’s 93-86 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. He also added nine points and a team high

16 rebounds in the Hornets’ 80-79 loss to the Toronto Raptors. The Hornets will be back in action on Monday, October 4 for its preseason opener on the road in Oklahoma City against the Thunder. Munnings closed out his Summer League run with the Golden State Warriors with 2 points in his team’s 84-76 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. In his best performance in Las Vegas, Munnings scored eight points on 2-3 shooting from beyond the arc in an 80-79 overtime loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. “All glory to God. It’s only by his grace and mercy, never take anything for granted. The only one that can stop you is you. If you give up on your dreams, if you live bitter with no passion, thinking you’ve reached your limits, then you’ll get stuck where you are,” Munnings posted to social media.

WHILE Kai Jones, left, prepares for the preseason, Travis Munnings, right, hopes to have made an impact on an organisation for the next step in his pro career. “You won’t see the beauty for ashes, you won’t see God pay you back for the unfair things. Don’t

give up on your dream keep believing, keep putting God first and everything will work out.”

Munnings was recently featured by FIBA for his contribution to Bahamian basketball and his

progression to the NBA Summer League. He recently led The Bahamas to a FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Americas Pre-Qualifiers performance and finished second after missing out on a spot in the AmeriCup qualifiers in February. He led The Bahamas in scoring in both tournaments as well as led the team in rebounds during the World Cup Americas Pre-Qualifiers. “I can play with the best in the world,” he told FIBA. “It’s a great opportunity and I love it and I’m just taking advantage of each and every moment.” Munnings had previous affiliations with NBA franchises coming out of Louisiana-Monroe but opted to pursue opportunities in Europe instead. Prior to the 2019 NBA Draft, he was invited to pre-draft workouts with the Hornets, Brooklyn Nets and Minnesota Timberwolves before eventually going undrafted.

Ohtani stars as Angels beat Tigers 3-1 DETROIT (AP) — Shohei Ohtani hit his 40th homer and pitched eight sharp innings, helping the Los Angeles Angels beat Miguel Cabrera and the Detroit Tigers 3-1 last night. The crowd of 27,282 was hoping to see Cabrera hit his 500th career homer, but the slugger went 1 for 4 with a first-inning single. Instead, Ohtani (8-1) put on a show. The Japanese righthander allowed six hits, struck out eight and walked none. He also became the first major leaguer to hit 40 homers in a season in which he pitched at least 15 games. The previous record was 29 by Babe Ruth in 1919. Rasiel Iglesias pitched a perfect ninth for his 27th save, retiring Cabrera on a fly ball to the warning track in right. Willi Castro homered for Detroit, and Tarik Skubal (8-11) allowed two runs in 6 2/3 innings. BRAVES 11, MARLINS 9 MIAMI (AP) — Freddie Freeman hit for the cycle for the second time, powering Atlanta to its sixth consecutive win. The reigning NL MVP doubled in the first and tripled in the fourth. He singled in the fifth and hit a two-run drive in the sixth for his 27th homer. Freeman became the first Braves player to hit for the cycle twice after also accomplishing the

feat against Cincinnati on June 15, 2016, according to Atlanta. Charlie Morton (12-4) pitched six innings of two-run ball for the NL East-leading Braves. Miami walked 12 batters, tying a franchise record for a nine-inning game. Five of the walks were with the bases loaded. Miami starter Jesús Luzardo (4-6) was charged with four runs in three-plus innings. He struck out four and walked five. YANKEES 5, RED SOX 2 NEW YORK (AP) — Andrew Heaney pitched seven smooth innings, Anthony Rizzo hit a tworun single in his return from COVID-19, and the Yankees matched a season best with their sixth straight victory. Substitute shortstop Andrew Velazquez, born nearby in the Bronx, delivered a pair of RBI singles from the No. 9 spot in the batting order and combined with Rizzo on a terrific defensive play for the dramatic final out. Heaney (8-8) permitted two hits — including Xander Bogaerts’ oppositefield solo homer on an 0-2 pitch in the first. Lucas Luetge got one out for his third major league save. Hunter Renfroe also homered for Boston, which has dropped 14 of 20. Nick Pivetta (9-6) was chased in a four-run second inning.

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LOS Angeles Angels’ Shohei Ohtani rounds third base after hitting a solo home run against the Detroit Tigers in the eighth inning in Detroit last night. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya) METS 6, GIANTS 2 (12 INNINGS) SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Kevin Pillar hit a three-run homer in the 12th inning, lifting the Mets over the Giants hours after owner Steve Cohen called out New York’s hitters for a lack of production. Six Giants pitchers combined to blank the Mets until the ninth inning, when J.D. Davis provided a tying sacrifice fly. The teams traded runs in the 11th before the Mets scored four runs against Tyler Chatwood (1-3) in the 12th. The Giants used eight relievers, who combined for 10 2/3 innings after Anthony DeSclafani exited with right ankle discomfort in the top of the second. Jeurys Familia (7-3) surrendered an unearned run in the 11th but still got the win. RAYS 8, ORIOLES 4 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Ryan Yarbrough came off the COVID-19 injured list and worked five scoreless innings as the AL East-leading Rays handed the Orioles their 14th consecutive loss. Baltimore, which also had a 14-game skid from May 18-31, joined the Boston Braves as the only teams to have a pair of 14-game or longer losing streaks in the same season since 1901. The Braves did it twice, in 1911 and 1935. Yarbrough (7-4) followed opener Louis Head to start the second inning and gave up one hit in his first appearance since Aug. 6. Cedric Mullins and rookie Ryan Mountcastle homered for Baltimore. Spenser Watkins (2-5) allowed four runs and eight hits in four innings. WHITE SOX 3, ATHLETICS 2 CHICAGO (AP) — Luis Robert had three hits and two RBIs, sending the White Sox to the victory.

Garrett Crochet (3-5), the first of four Chicago relievers, pitched 1 2/3 innings for the win. Liam Hendriks got five outs against his former team for his 28th save. White Sox starter Lance Lynn was ejected by umpire Nic Lentz in the middle of the fourth when he complained and appeared to throw his belt during a foreign substance check at the dugout. Seth Brown homered for Oakland, which lost its fourth straight. Paul Blackburn (0-1) allowed three runs in 5 1/3 innings. The A’s learned before the game that pitcher Chris Bassitt has a broken bone in his cheek and needs surgery. The right-hander sustained no eye damage after being struck on the side of the head by a line drive Tuesday. ROCKIES 7, PADRES 5 DENVER (AP) — Jake Arrieta got clobbered by Colorado and left with an injury in his San Diego debut. C.J. Cron had two hits and three RBIs and Trevor Story homered for the Rockies, who scored five runs in 3 1/3 innings against Arrieta before he departed with an injured left hamstring. Arrieta (5-12) was signed Monday after being placed on waivers by the Chicago Cubs. He allowed seven hits and let his ERA rise to 7.13 on Dom Núnez’s solo homer before grabbing his hamstring and exiting the game. Wil Myers homered twice for the slumping Padres. Ben Bowden (2-2) got the win, and Daniel Bard pitched the ninth for his 20th save. TWINS 8, INDIANS 7 (11 INNINGS) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jorge Polanco drove in the game-ending run for Minnesota for the third time in four games, lining

a bases-loaded single in the 11th inning. The Twins survived after blowing a two-run lead in the ninth and nearly won it in the 10th. Cleveland third baseman Ernie Clement leaped to rob Luis Arraez of a hit, and center fielder Myles Straw made a twoout diving catch on a liner from Ryan Jeffers. Danny Coulombe (3-1), Minnesota’s eighth pitcher, tossed one inning and was aided by Nick Gordon robbing Bradley Zimmer with a two-out sliding catch in left center. Justin Garza (2-1), Cleveland’s seventh pitcher, took the loss. MARINERS 3, RANGERS 1 ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Kyle Seager hit a two-run homer for Seattle, and Marco Gonzales pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings. Gonzales (5-5) allowed six hits. Drew Steckenrider, Seattle’s fifth reliever, pitched a perfect ninth inning for his fifth save in eight opportunities. Seager’s 421-foot drive in the first was his clubleading 27th of the season. It was the 34th homer allowed this season by Mike Foltynewicz (2-12), most in the major leagues. The Mariners (65-56) have won six of seven to move a season-best nine games over .500. The Rangers (42-78) are a major-league worst 7-23 following the All-Star break. ROYALS 3, ASTROS 2 KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Hunter Dozier hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning, and Kansas City earned its third straight win over Houston. Dozier homered off Blake Taylor (2-4) to help the Royals post their 31st come-from-behind victory of the season, fourth-most in the American League. The game ended when Andrew Benintendi threw

out Chas McCormick trying to score from second on a single by Jose Altuve. The loss dropped the Astros to 33-25 this year against teams with a losing record. Houston is 37-25 against teams with a .500 record or better. Domingo Tapia (1-0) earned the victory, and Scott Barlow picked up his seventh save. CUBS 7, REDS 1 CINCINNATI (AP) — Michael Hermosillo homered for the first time since 2018, Ian Happ and Sergio Alcántara also went deep, and depleted Chicago beat Cincinnati. Adrian Sampson, called up from Triple-A Iowa earlier in the day to pitch in the majors for the first time since 2019, held the Reds to one run and five hits in four innings. Manuel Rodríguez (1-2), Rowan Wick, Adam Morgan and Trevor Megill blanked Cincinnati over the final five innings, allowing one hit. Reds starter Tyler Mahle (10-4) gave up five runs and eight hits in five innings. NATIONALS 8, BLUE JAYS 5 WASHINGTON (AP) — Josh Bell hit a three-run homer off former teammate Brad Hand, sending the Nationals to the victory. Juan Soto and Carter Kieboom also connected for Washington, which won back-to-back games for the first time since July 27-29. Marcus Semien homered twice and Teoscar Hernández went deep for the fourth consecutive game for Toronto. Hand (5-7) entered with one on in the seventh and Toronto clinging to a 5-4 lead. After Soto walked, Bell hit a drive to right for his 20th homer. Mason Thompson (1-1) recorded the last two outs of the seventh for his first major league victory. Kyle Finnegan pitched 1 1/3 innings for his fourth save.

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JONQUEL Jones shoots during practice for the WNBA All-Star basketball team on July 13 in Las Vegas. (AP)

Another career milestone for our WNBA star By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net JONQUEL Jones reached another career milestone this season and added another résumé builder to an MVP calibre 2021 season. Jones scored her 2,000th WNBA point and posted the 51st double double of her career to lead her Connecticut Sun to a 72-60 win over the Minnesota Lynx Tuesday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The All-Star forward finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds to help the Connecticut Sun improve to an Eastern Conference best 16-6 record, 9-1 at home. They also snapped the Lynx’s league-best, eightgame winning streak. The Grand Bahama native’s 2,000th point came on a jumper with just under five minutes left to play in the third quarter en route to her 12th double double of the season. Jones is currently the WNBA leader on the boards at 11.1 rebounds per game and is second in scoring at 20.9 points per game. She is shooting 40 percent from three-point range and her 31 three-point makes through just 17 games are on pace to set a new single season career high. Her previous career high is 50 three-point field goals made in 34 games of the 2018 season. The Sun have 10 regularseason games remaining on their schedule, just 0.5 game behind the Las Vegas Aces (17-6) for the top overall record in the league. Jones has continued her positive

JONQUEL JONES SCORES 2,000TH POINT, POSTS HER 51ST DOUBLE DOUBLE momentum since the league returned from its break for the Tokyo Olympics. She finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds in the Sun’s 79-57 loss to the Seattle Storm in the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup game. She followed with 19 points and 14 rebounds in an August 15 win over the Dallas Wings. On WNBA All-Star night Jones delivered an MVP calibre performance in an historic win for Team WNBA and a second place finish in the MTN DEW 3-Point Contest. She finished with 18 points, 14 rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocked shots in Team WNBA’s 93-85 win over the United States’ Olympic team at the Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Jones was also named the Kia WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Month in June.

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PARTNERS: SHOWN, from left, are Brooks Downing, president of bd Global, Minister of Tourism and Aviation Dionisio D’Aguilar, Graeme Davis, president of Baha Mar, and Jeff Rodgers, of Ministry of Tourism, during the Baha Mar Hoops press conference at the convention centre.

Inaugural Baha Mar Hoops set for November 22-27 By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net THE Baha Mar Resort and bd Global Sports have partnered on a new initiative to add another collegiate basketball event to a busy Thanksgiving holiday weekend this fall. The inaugural Baha Mar Hoops event will feature a total of 19 teams playing in 23 games across three events, November 22-27 at the Baha Mar Convention Centre. Play opens with the eight-team “Nassau Championship,” which includes eight men’s midmajor NCAA Division I programmes. Formally known as the Islands of The Bahamas Showcase, the field is headlined by the lone Bahamian player in the field - Ahmard Harvey and his Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. The remainder of the field also includes Abilene Christian, (which won the Southland Conference title last season and upset No.3seed Texas in the NCAA Tournament’s First Round), Charlotte, Toledo, Drexel, Tulane, Jacksonville State and Valparaiso. All 12 games of the Nassau Championship will be broadcast on FloHoops. The “Bahamas Championship” will feature four elite programmes played November 25-27 and led by the Maryland Terrapins, Richmond Spiders, Mississippi State and the Louisville Cardinals. Television broadcast information for the four games of the Bahamas Championship will be announced at a later date. The “Pink Flamingo Championship” will also be played November 25-27 and will feature several elite women’s programmes led by the defending NCAA National Champions - Stanford Cardinal. Six of the seven participating teams have played in last season’s NCAA Tournament. Other teams include Maryland, North Carolina State, Indiana, Washington State, Miami and South Florida. All seven games of the Pink Flamingo Championship will be broadcast on FloHoops.

Brooks Downing, bd Global President, outlined his organisation’s history of events in The Bahamas and the growth of its relationship with Baha Mar. “We have had a lot of success in the past with the LPGA, with the two KornFerry Tour events in Abaco and Exuma that are back on schedule for next January to college basketball. “It was in 2017 that we had a chance to start a college basketball event at Kendal Isaacs. We housed our eight mid-major teams at the newly opened Baha Mar just several months after the initial months. “We came back and duplicated that in ‘18 and in ‘19 was when Hurricane Dorian hit, Kendal Isaacs was converted to a storm shelter and graciously, Graeme Davis and his team opened up the door for us here at Baha Mar and we staged the eight games here. The response from the teams was overwhelming.” The Grand Ballroom is expected to house 1,500 patrons. Graeme Davis, president at Baha Mar, said this new initiative, running concurrently with the well established Bad Boy Mowers’ Battle 4 Atlantis will improve the sports tourism product across the entire country. “These are teams that cannot repeat at the same place each year. It’s not competition, it’s just simply bringing more tourism to The Bahamas and this is an exceptional way for all of us to grow together and bring more tourists and more success to The Bahamas and to Bahamians,” he said. “It’s an exciting time, we look forward to welcoming the Baha Mar Hoops premiere year. This is the first of what we hope and expect of many, many more years to come of having incredible basketball and a Baha Mar experience for many sports enthusiasts for years to come.”