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VOLUME:116 No.185, SEPTEMBER 19TH, 2019
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United in prayer
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PM says hurricane is near unbearable wound to country By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net NEARLY three weeks after Hurricane Dorian struck the northwestern Bahamas, hundreds gathered at Bahamas Faith Ministries last night to make sense of an unimaginable tragedy in typical Bahamian fashion: through prayer, praise and worship. Pastors prayed for grieving families, for emotional healing and for protection. They prayed for first responders and aid workers, for children and for provisions. They also prayed for the Haitian community, for Abaco, Grand Bahama, for the prime minister and for the congregation. Speakers gave stories of heroism during the storm and Bahamians were
encouraged to triumph, not despair. Singers and worship groups sang about trusting God. Attendees, with their hands raised, danced, cried and sang along with them. The prayer service drew a crowd full of clergymen, government officials and grieving residents. Google marked the country’s National Day of Prayer with a black ribbon on its homepage, a reminder that few countries have so captured the attention of the world in recent weeks. “The horror and tragedy of ‘one of the most powerful and destructive storms ever recorded in’ our region is a near unbearable wound, deep in the heart and the soul of our country,” Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, pictured, said. SEE PAGE FIVE
A CHILD is held during the service last night at Bahamas Faith Ministries as part of the National Day of Prayer to mark the devastation from Hurricane Dorian. Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
BISHOP BOYD CALLS FOR END NEIGHBOURS HEARD CRIES OF TO NEGATIVITY AND BLAME ‘DON’T KILL ME’ THEN SILENCE By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net AS he urged Bahamians to unite in the wake of Hurricane Dorian, Anglican Bishop Laish Boyd said animosity and blame towards Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis for reliefrelated issues is not helpful as anguish and suffering remain great. Bishop Boyd said the
most disheartening aspect of this ongoing humanitarian crisis is the negativity that has permeated almost every storm-related effort. While he conceded that some things have gone wrong as the nation grapples with this tragedy, Bishop Boyd said Dorian was an unprecedented monster storm, which happened in a country unaccustomed SEE PAGE SIX
By RIEL MAJOR Tribune Staff Reporter rmajor@tribunemedia.net THE neighbour of a man and woman found murdered in an apartment early Tuesday morning remembers hearing the two victims plead for their lives. Police were called to the apartment on Gladstone Road shortly after 4am when neighbours heard screams. Officers
Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper
discovered the couple unresponsive with visible blunt force trauma to their bodies. Police have identified the victims as Gloria Estella Rolle, 58, of Nassau Village, and Tenneson Vaught Leslie, 39, of Gladstone Road. Leslie is originally from Jamaica, police said. The Tribune visited the apartment yesterday and SEE PAGE 12
PAGE 2, Thursday, September 19, 2019
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Tropical storm Jerry to skirt Bahamas By RIEL MAJOR Tribune Staff Reporter rmajor@tribunemedia.net TROPICAL Storm Jerry is not expected to be a major threat to The Bahamas but is expected to skirt the southeastern islands on Sunday before heading away from the country, a local meteorologist said yesterday. Basil Dean, deputy director of the Department of Meteorology, said at this point he is not “overly concerned” about the storm, but urged people to monitor its movements in case there are changes to the forecast track. “Looking at the models, they suggest that Jerry will come fairly close to the southeast Bahamas on Sunday morning but a sharp turn to the north and then eventually to the northeast is expected,” he said. “And should that pan out, it means that Jerry would not move through the Bahamas but instead away from the southeast Bahamas come Sunday evening headed into Monday.” However, Mr Dean said the southeast Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands can expect an “increase of rain showers” from the system. He explained: “As you know, the storm systems are fairly broad so more
than likely they will get a little bit of rain out of that system. I see it staying well to the east of the southeast Bahamas through Sunday. “At this time, I would not be overly concerned but as we always say we will continue to monitor it because as you know these storms from time to time misbehave. Mr Dean added: “But, I’m banking on my models and I’m feeling kind of comfortable that it will shift northward then northeast before reaching the Bahamas.” In a Facebook post yesterday, the Bahamas Department of Meteorology said the tropical storm is strengthening over the Atlantic Ocean. The post read: “Jerry is moving toward the westnorthwest near 14 miles per hour. A west-northwest motion at a slightly faster forward speed is expected over the next few days. On the forecast track, the system will be near the northern Leeward Islands Friday and pass north of Puerto Rico on Saturday. “Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 50 miles per hour with higher gusts. Jerry is forecast to become a hurricane by late Thursday, with little (change) in strength anticipated on Friday and Saturday.”
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, September 19, 2019, PAGE 3
‘I just want to bury my mother’
CITHA Cilien outside Kendal Isaacs Gym yesterday. By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net
VLADIMIR SAFFORD, an immigrant from Haiti, with his cat next to the rubble of his home in Abaco. Photo: Ramon Espinosa/AP
warnings about the storm’s strength were overblown. Ms Charles’ last words were “forgiveness, forgiveness,” which she shouted in Creole before the object flew towards her, Mrs Cilien said. Her brother, 25, dropped their two-year-old nephew and began to cry when his mother fell into the water. “I had to grab my nephew, put him over my shoulder and tie my mother to something so the body wouldn’t float,” Mrs Cilien said. She saw her cousin soon die too. The 34-year-old was inside a house and didn’t want to come out. “When he decided to come out, I saw a plywood coming, I say ‘cuz put your head down,’ but he was too excited to come out, so I see the thing just ‘bloop’ and my brother say, ‘cuz head come off,’ and when I look, cuz was next to my mummy,” she said. “When I went back on Wednesday, I see his foot next to my mommy.” Her loss didn’t stop there. Mrs Cilien said her husband was with her for awhile but went back to the Peas to get his father before being killed when the roof of an unfinished church he used to shelter
By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net OFFICIALS have now completed autopsies on 42 Hurricane Dorian victims, allowing some families to begin the process toward closure, Health Minister Dr Duane Sands said yesterday. While there are efforts to complete this aspect of handling Dorian victims, the official death toll remained at 51 yesterday, with Commissioner of Police Anthony Ferguson confirming there had been no additional recovery. According to Dr Sands, 39 autopsies have been done in Abaco and three were completed in New Providence. The latter three died in Nassau after being transferred from Abaco for medical help. The health minister was unable to speak to completed autopsies in Grand Bahama, telling
the Rand Morgue at Princess Margaret Hospital for years. Ultimately, he said the decision about whether bodies will be removed from cold storage and buried would be a collective one. “We have to deal with (this) deliberately, methodically and legally,” Dr Sands said on Tuesday. “…If those remains are not able to be identified then certainly they would have to be retained for a certain amount of time. “As we complete the process of going through the missing persons list, having persons try to identify their loved ones, samples for DNA have been taken from those autopsies (and) already completed. “...At some point in time a determination will be made as to whether or not bodies would be removed from cold storage and probably buried, but that decision would be a collective decision made on
AFTER claiming she lost six relatives and a godfather during Hurricane Dorian’s rampage, Cithia Cilien just wants to return to Abaco to bury her mother, whose body she believes is still trapped under debris in the Pigeon Peas shanty town almost three weeks after the storm ravaged the island.
Her mother, Elvitha Charles, 63, died when a piece of plywood struck her head as winds intensified and water surged inland. Though the two were in a church shelter, they left with five others for the Peas. They thought it was safe to travel between their shelter and home to secure their valuables until the weather made such trips impossible and they thought
Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff himself collapsed. Though her father-in-law is safe, two other people who died at that church were her cousin and godfather, she said. An aunt of hers died near the Chances web shop in Marsh Harbour and her uncle’s corpse was in a bush near a Catholic church in the area, she said. Here in New Providence, her accommodations at a South Beach emergency shelter where she is staying are comfortable, she said, with meals served on time and the environment conducive for peaceful sleep. But these things don’t matter to her until she can verify that her mother’s remains in particular have been consecrated. “You have to walk there and lift things to find that she’s there,” she said outside the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium, where she visited her father amid reports that workers have yet to dig into the rubble of the Mudd and Pigeon Peas. “Unless they clean the whole Peas, unless they took out everything and move every house and make it look clear, I won’t believe my mummy’s body is moved.” Hundreds of law enforcement officers are on Abaco
42 AUTOPSIES COMPLETED AS DEATH TOLL STAYS AT 51 The Tribune he had yet to receive those numbers. This is the latest development since Tuesday, when Dr Sands revealed that 25 autopsies were done. “As far as identifications go, I don’t know how many people have been able to identify loved ones, but some of the remains have for sure been identified and some persons would have had remains turned over to an undertaker for burial,” he told The Tribune yesterday. Earlier this week Dr Sands said the government’s intention is to treat each victim with dignity, adding there were no plans to conduct mass burials. He also said that due to the nature of the storm, some of the victims’ bodies may never be recovered. However, he was unable to state how long officials would continue to store unidentified remains, pointing to some instances where bodies have been held in
the basis of the sum of the information available to everybody.” Asked how long unidentified bodies would remain in storage, the Elizabeth MP said: “Again I don’t have a good answer for that. We currently have in the Princess Margaret Hospital morgue a number of bodies that have been there for more than many months and probably for several years. “It really depends on the total number. There are a number of factors that would go into this. Bear in mind that every individual is indeed that, an individual human being with loved ones (and) family members who are seeking to get closure. “So while in totality we have a number of deaths, already 51 officially, I believe each individual is a human being that has to be treated with dignity and the rights of their loved ones and their family would have to be preserved.”
and men in hazmat suits are scouring the island for bodies, but Mrs Cilien, 27, is willing to bypass them all to retrieve her mother’s body herself. “If I could just go in the morning, get her body and bury it and come back to Nassau in the afternoon, that’s it,” she said. “I’ve gone to NEMA, NEMA sent me to CDU, CDU sent me to the morgue and they have me going up and down so I gon’ wait and see until they allow us to go to Abaco so I could bury it myself.” The religious teachings of her mother and elders in the Haitian community are ringing through her mind, driving her desire to retrieve the body. “They always said if the body does not fully rest,
in the future it will be a problem for me,” said Mrs Cilien, who was born in Abaco and left for Haiti for seven years as a young child before returning. “It’s not that I believe it, but I think it will happen.” She last saw the body of her mother two days after the storm. It was right where she left it, buried under rubble. By Wednesday, September 4, it was swollen. By Thursday, people warned her it would burst. “Everybody I ask to help move her, they say no, they don’t want get infected,” she said. “The elderly Haitian people told me If I move her and she burst, it’s not going to be good for me. I don’t care about anybody help anymore, I have to go get my mother.”
PAGE 4, Thursday, September 19, 2019
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We must come together as a nation YESTERDAY was a day for prayer. A national day of prayer was held, culminating in last night’s service at Bahamas Faith Ministries. As we try to come to terms with the tragedy that has affected The Bahamas after the devastation wrought by Hurricane Dorian, this was an important moment of coming together. We hope that we remain together. As Bishop Laish Boyd urged Bahamians to unite, it was too easy to find signs of division elsewhere. The amount of negative commentary directed towards the Haitian community to begin with has been unsettling. Some have even gone so far as to suggest the storm was sent by God to clear away the shantytowns and the Haitians who lived within them. We hope last night’s service reminds those who make such comments of the need to show compassion and love for all those affected by the storm, wherever they were born. A total of 1,300 people remain missing. The official death toll may remain at 51 but as each day goes by, we can only fear the worst for those listed as missing. We hope too that those at yesterday’s service carry that unity on beyond the doors of Bahamas Faith Ministries. We hope for example that they can reach out to Cithia Cilien, who tells on page three today of how her mother died right in front of her when she was struck by a piece of plywood. She tied
the body so it didn’t float away but all she wants to do is go back to Abaco so she can lay her mother to rest. The last she saw of her mother’s body was two days after the storm, right where she left it, buried under the rubble. We hope too that those in attendance or watching on television can be moved by the story of Beverly Dolezal on page nine, a Bahamian who flew from her Florida home to offer her assistance for a week. She witnessed the trauma on people’s faces, heard the horror stories of friends and relatives dying in the storm, but she stayed, and she helped. The tragedy is not over. It is far from over. There are so many bodies still to be found - and so much heartache that families will have to endure until questions are answered about where their missing relatives are. For those who have been displaced by the storm, they will need our support - both emotional support as they deal with the trauma, and physical support as they will continue to need food, shelter, clothing and more as they try to rebuild lives from which jobs and shelter are often the least of their losses. But coming together as a nation to pray reminds us that we are a Christian nation. And as a Christian nation, it is our duty to help those in need. There are so many in need. Let us not forget them as time goes by.
Osadebay was light in legal world EDITOR, The Tribune. I REMEMBER Emmanuel Osadebay well now. He was a stern disciplinarian; he was the kind when he stamped you said “how high”. He was a real disciplinarian. I remember my father the late Anthony Longford Bastian sitting up late at night with his contract law text. My mother who had just a basic 6th grade education read to him late at nights. He would arrive at work early in the morning
to read over his files in the prosecutor’s court. Osadebay a highly qualified judge who served the country well – par excellence. Although Emmanuel was not a Bahamian by birth; he used his legal skills and talents for the good of the entire Bahamas. Particularly in the area of labour laws; he had a genius for legality; a sense of humour which made him down to earth. During his retirement he supplied the Eugene Dupuch Law School with his talent and patience and
many sat at his feet to bask in his legal knowledge and experiences. I, Loxsley Lonford Bastian, wish to extend sincerest condolences to his widow, Dr Emily Maybelline Osadebay, other family members and friends my sincerest sympathy and assure them that our prayers are with them at this time of mourning and bereavement. May his soul rest in perpetual peace. LOXSLEY L BASTIAN Nassau, September 16, 2019.
Are we truly transparent? EDITOR, The Tribune.
of the appointees. Not to embarrass the I SUGGEST we admire personalities, a recent the comment of the appointment where the Prime Minister that his person will be handling administration stands for controlling maybe millions accountability – transpar- of dollars, that person has ency and is totally against a chequered history firstly corruption. in the private sector and One of the guiding lights then in the public sector. of seeing this in action is We have to ask so why this who the administration person was appointed? appoints and there is no Another appointment doubt in certain cases all some months ago after a these meritorious are miss- resignation from a major ing owing to the past record civil society organisation
and his resignation letter confirmed that if he stayed on he would bring embarrassment to that organisation. Well golly me after the person’s own admission this person is appointed to an OPM consultancy. Do we take the accountability-transparency seriously? You judge. ABRAHAM MOSS Nassau, September 16, 2019.
Our tangled relations with the US EDITOR, The Tribune. IN THE almost 70 years since Sir Stafford Sands revitalised the Development Board (now the Ministry of Tourism), this country has spent well over $2bn dollars educating the world about our touristic charms. Hurricane Dorian has proven that not all of that was money well spent. It is mind boggling just how incredibly uninformed much of the world is about something as simple as the geography of our archipelago. Dorian took aim at Grand Bahama and Abaco. But to hear the global news media tell it, Dorian ravaged the entire country leaving some of us so destitute that our only option was to seek Temporary Protective Status in the United States. If this wasn’t so egregious it would be funny. Saying that Dorian pulverized our entire country is as erroneous as saying Hurricane Andrew destroyed the United States, or even the state of Florida in 1992. It laid waste to parts of Miami-Dade County. It is easy to see how some in the news media make this mistake. By total area, The Bahamas is the largest country in Caricom. From Walkers Cay in the North to Inagua in the South, the country spans over 600 miles. That is longer than the entire state of Florida. The Bahamas is longer than the distance from Canada to Washington, DC. As Dorian pummelled the north, the people in Long Island barely got rain. Yet the media gave the impression that the entire country was torn asunder. This stunning ignorance means we have work to do to sell our true potential. It also creates tourism opportunities for us that people like Gordon “Butch” Stewart, owner of Sandals Resorts has been touting for years. Though tens of millions of visitors have been to our
LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net country in the last 70 years, only a tiny percentage of them have heard of Abaco and could pinpoint it on a map. Dorian revealed the word salad that is the US visa policy for Bahamians. Usually we need only a police record and a passport to enter the US via the two airport pre-clearance facilities here. But leave by boat or on a plane that didn’t get pre-clearance in Nassau or Freeport and you need a visa. We don’t need to involve ourselves in the current dysfunctional immigration policies of the United States and certainly the cruise lines that offered free rides to Florida to Bahamians in Grand Bahama may have had the best of intentions when they did so in the days after Dorian struck. It boggles the mind why any Bahamian (save and except those with family in Florida willing to let them camp out for a while) would want to turn tail and seek refuge in a foreign country as opposed to coming to Nassau where they could petition their own government for assistance. We can only hope that when the political dust finally settles in the US our diplomats will engage with the US Congress for full unconditional visa waiver for Bahamians. Citizens of Canada and Bermuda currently enjoy this access. We delude ourselves if we think our own immigration dysfunction with regard to the illegal Haitians among us, doesn’t give the US pause to grant us full visafree access, even for flights from third countries that transit through the US. Start talking about Temporary Protective Status or get a pool of Dorian refugees overstaying in South Florida and we can forget about visa abolition. We also need to let the
world (and some of our people) know that The Bahamas is not a so-called “black country”. We are a rainbow nation and nowhere is this more on display than on Abaco. White Bahamians were just as affected by the hurricane as everyone else. Their patriotism and loyalty to their country was a source of deep pride for their fellow Bahamians everywhere. We don’t have a horse in the politics of the US, but it was especially galling to hear the Republican Governor of Florida say he wants to help us here, to avoid us going there. How deeply insulting can this man be? Florida will reap the lion’s share of the billions of dollars that we will spend to rebuild our damaged islands and to upgrade our existing building codes. No doubt he will want us to bring our fists-full of dollars to his state. Florida has long served as our personal strip mall, stocked full of hardware depots, appliance outlets and purveyors of everything from nails, to tar paper to trees. Remember when the PLP went shopping in Florida for trees to landscape Nassau? Our government has wisely pivoted to a new tourism message letting the world know that most of the country is open for business. Rest assured the dedicated souls who regularly visited Abaco will return sooner rather than later. The Bahamians on Abaco will rebuild with or without government help. Grand Bahama will come roaring back stronger than it was in August. The airport may have to be relocated to higher ground, but Dorian has put the island on the map. Now let’s work that infamy to our advantage and kick-start a new wave of tourism to Freeport. THE GRADUATE Nassau, September 18, 2019.
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, September 19, 2019, PAGE 5
PM says hurricane is near unbearable wound to country
PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis addresses the National Prayer Service held for Hurricane Dorian victims yesterday at Bahamas Faith Ministries. from page one “But these words cannot describe the suffering, the pain, and the grief of Abaconians, Grand Bahamians and indeed Bahamians throughout our Commonwealth and those abroad. This is likely to be the greatest single loss of life ever in our history. The fresh well of tears will not go dry, nor empty, for a very long time, or even a lifetime for some.” Thirteen hundred people remain missing, at least 51 are dead and hundreds of displaced residents are worried about their future. “We will need as many spiritual resources, as we will need physical resources to rebuild lives and communities,” the prime minister said. “Let us pray for those who work day and night to address the needs of the victims and displaced persons. Let the common prayer throughout our land be for the gifts of the Spirit needed to heal and to restore: the gift of hope, the gift of generosity, the gift of encouragement, the gifts of courage and fortitude, and the gift of humility to work in one accord.” Bishop Delton Fernander, head of the Bahamas Christian Council, said he hoped this would not be the last time so many
congregated to pray for the country. “We must now also appreciate that people are more important than things,” he said. “How we treat each other, how we speak to each other, speaks to who we are as a Bahamian people. Many who would’ve acquired much and accomplished much found themselves having the same challenges and those who didn’t have as much as them. Only what we do for God can last.” He said he hoped the country would use the knowledge gained from the horrific storm to be wiser and better. He also said he envisioned a stronger Bahamas as a result of the tragedy. During his remarks, Progressive Liberal Party leader Philip “Brave” Davis called for less talk. “This is not time for talk, it is time for action,” Mr Davis said. “If we say that we love and do nothing, we fail to love, love is an action word. Let us get to work. Together let us help our families, friends and strangers, that is the Bahamian way.” Towards the end of the service, religious figures surrounded the nation’s leader as Bishop Fernander placed his hand on Dr Minnis’ head and led a prayer for him.
GOVERNOR General Cornelius A Smith.
OPPOSITION Leader Philip ‘Brave’ Davis.
Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
BAHAMAS Christian Council president Bishop Delton Fernander.
PAGE 6, Thursday, September 19, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
Bishop Boyd calls for end to negativity and blame from page one
BISHOP Laish Boyd addressing the prayer service at Bahamas Faith Ministries. Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
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to events of this magnitude. Expressing concern for storm victims, including those who lost loved ones, he said continued negativity will not help to heal people who are broken and uncertain. “The prime minister, the Cabinet, the government and all its departments and agencies have been stretched beyond their limits over the last two weeks,” Bishop Boyd said in a statement released yesterday. “I think that they have done well, all things considered, and are to be commended. I repeat, our best efforts could not have prepared us for this event. Some things did not go smoothly. “There are some things that we need to do better but this is a natural disaster that is much bigger than any to which we are accustomed, so what do you expect? We will learn from this experience - protocols, regimes and procedures will be expanded and others created. We will grow because of this - but all experiences cause people to do that.” Some have complained that the government’s
A MEMBER of the congregation at last night’s National Prayer Service at Bahamas Faith Ministries. response was slow in the atmosphere that is more immediate moments after positive and encouraging. Dorian flattened homes and Interpreting every occurcommunities in both Abaco rence in a negative or conspiratorial light does not and Grand Bahama. Others have said that aid ease burdens. “Tell the stories of surand relief for the sick and vival not as criticisms, but hurt was insufficient. Bishop Boyd called for as what they are: triumph patience and understanding in the face of great odds. from those who want the Tell the stories of those recovery efforts to move who overcame great odds. I believe that The Bahamas faster. “…While some things will overcome this. “There are people of all have gone wrong, natural disasters are messy and ages who have been trauthings cannot be resolved matised severely. We will at the speed and ease of the all need ongoing love, counideal,” Bishop Boyd contin- selling and support. But, a ued. “Many of the delays negative atmosphere will in rescuing and recovering not help anyone to heal. could not be avoided in the We need to use this time to circumstance and given our speak encouragement and standing local resources. healing and well-being, to Human dislocation and calm and to reassure the evacuation are tedious and broken and the uncertain. “I call on the users of harrowing in the best of circumstances. Patience and social media and the memunderstanding are key in bers of the press to help to ease the national angst this scenario. “Abaco, Grand Bahama with more positive stoand the whole Bahamas ries and outlooks and with will not be the same for a more love and cheerfullong time. There are years ness. Acts of kindness and of healing, settling and a kind atmosphere do more resettling, rebuilding and to cause healing than the redevelopment before us. discussion and negativity Entire local economies that is so prevalent in some quarters.” have to be rebuilt. With The Bahamas “However, right now the pain and anguish and suf- now looking to rebuild, fering are great, for all of us. Bishop Boyd said even the Blaming the prime minis- country’s best efforts and ter – any prime minister – is systems could not do it not helpful. Lambasting the alone. “The fact of the matter government – any government – is of no value. We is that as a country we are need to come together, not accustomed to events not be divided. Animosity of this magnitude. We have and competition, fighting no experience with events of among ourselves and being this magnitude. Even countries much larger than us at odds do not heal.” While conceding that find it difficult to cope with “everything is not perfect” a storm such and its afterat the moment, the reli- math. Our best efforts alone gious leader called for more would not be sufficient. That positivity to help the nation is why we are so grateful for the United States, the move forward. He said: “Let us work United Kingdom, Jamaica, harder on being positive. Trinidad and Tobago, HolI admit that everything land, Canada and other is not perfect and that countries. Our best systems, there is always room for infrastructure, efforts and improvements. However, resources could never do it we need to create a national alone,” Bishop Boyd said.
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, September 19, 2019, PAGE 7
THE START of registration on Thursday, September 13. Photo: Terre W Carey Sr/ Tribune Staff
Parents frustrated over student registration By LEANDRA ROLLE lrolle@tribunemedia.net PARENTS and guardians of the thousands of children left displaced after Hurricane Dorian unleashed its fury on Abaco and Grand Bahama more than two weeks ago say they are frustrated with the process set up to enroll the students in new schools. The Ministry of Education set up a public school registration process to place the children in new schools throughout New Providence as soon as possible. But, for many parents and guardians, the task has been anything but an easy one. When The Tribune visited the registration site at the Thomas A Robinson
Stadium yesterday, many complained that storm victims staying in emergency shelters were given priority treatment. Others said the exercise was disorganised. Crystal Tinker, a mother of a six-year-old, said: “I was given an appointment to come down here for eleven o’clock and when I get down here, I was given a number and I was told that the persons that were here from six o’clock get first priority. These are people I assume from the shelters . . .they’re getting first priority and I don’t have a problem with them, but it’s like Bahamians first.” Ms Tinker also mentioned that the process should be more efficient. “I have a problem with the fact that they don’t have much computers in here,
so everything is being done manually here so we are like are we back in the 80s?” she asked. “When I came from Abaco, I didn’t have my son’s immunisation card, so he had to take shots all over again…. That should’ve been logged in the system. He had to go through horrific experience all over again when that database from Abaco should’ve been linked to Nassau because this is the capital.” For the past two days, Felica Strachan has been going to the stadium to register her niece, who will be entering her last year of high school. Ms Strachan told The Tribune that the process to register her niece did not go as smoothly as she had hoped. “There are not enough chairs. The ladies are saying
NIB SIMPLIFIES PROCESS FOR REPLACEMENT SMART CARDS THE National Insurance Board has taken steps to simplify the application process for replacement smart cards for residents of Abaco and Grand Bahama, who lost their cards during Hurricane Dorian. The official police report required for all lost or stolen cards is not required to replace cards lost during the storm, and the card replacement fee will be waived for residents in the affected islands. “As a proactive measure, application forms for replacement NI cards were
made available at shelters throughout New Providence for displaced persons to complete,” NIB said in a press release. “The forms are collected daily, processed and the replacement cards are delivered within 48 hours for Bahamian registrants who were already in receipt of a smart card.” This service includes nonBahamians who previously had smart cards, and where relevant current valid documents exist in NIB’s system (a valid immigration card, naturalisation or permanent residency certification).
Registrants, including children, who were never issued a smart card would be required to visit an NIB office and provide the necessary documents. Last week, NIB assisted with replacing 438 smart cards. The agency said it will continue to work with beneficiaries hardest hit by the storm, using every available measure under the National Insurance Act to help them during this difficult time. For more information on the registration process to obtain a smart card, visit nib-bahamas.com
move from the door. Everyone is trying to get sorted out. It’s very frustrating and then we have other things to do. They just don’t have it together. You need proper organisation. There is none here,” she said. One mother, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “It’s not organised –. they’re (shelter residents) sleeping over there (at the Kendal Isaacs Gym) from what I understand and so by the time we get here, they done full up the place and so we can’t get processed in a timely fashion and we have to come back and come back.”
Meanwhile, another storm victim from Abaco expressed similar sentiments to The Tribune. She said: “I understand you have thousands of children,
but you have your civil servants who need to get to work. You have teachers, you have nurses and police officers. They should’ve dealt with us first.”
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PAGE 8, Thursday, September 19, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
THE C-17 aircraft and, below left, the air traffic control unit it delivered.
US DELIVERS AIR TRAFFIC UNIT TO ASSIST AFTER STORM THE US has deployed an air traffic control unit to assist in the wake of Hurricane Dorian. In a statement yesterday, the US Embassy said: “On September 17, at the request of the Bahamian government, US Northern Command transported a mobile Air Traffic Control (ATC) unit to Marsh Harbour via a US Air Force C-17. “This state-of-the art mobile ATC unit, provided
by the Federal Aviation Administration, will help the Bahamas Civil Aviation Authority continue restoring air traffic to Marsh Harbour as the people of Abaco recover and rebuild. “The C-17 is one of the largest planes at the US military’s disposal, and the delivery is another example of the collaborative effort to address the acute humanitarian needs of those affected by Hurricane Dorian.”
Forbes-Smith: All donations checked before distribution By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net
DONATIONS being made at Fox Hill Community Centre.
Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
AS relief supplies continue to pour in from organisations and individuals overseas, Senator Kay Forbes-Smith stressed that the National Emergency Management Agency is inspecting all donated hurricane relief supplies and aid before distribution in Grand Bahama. The senator, who is the government appointed coordinator for relief efforts in Grand Bahama, said NEMA has set up a warehouse in Freeport to receive shipments of donated food, water and
other supplies intended for the island. “Our goal is to establish at least two more warehouses in the coming days. It is imperative that we do our absolute best to process the supplies and aid in a very efficient manner,” she said. “Supplies, such as food and water, in a warehouse do us no good unless we can quickly get them inspected, sorted and packaged for delivery or pick up.” Senator Forbes-Smith said local officials have asked the US Coast Guard and the United Nations’ Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, to help
by providing experts in logistics, warehouse management and distribution. “We believe this will greatly improve the NEMA-GB operation and the process of receiving and distributing aid on our island even more efficiently,” she said. The NEMA Grand Bahama team is working hand-in-hand with dozens of volunteer organisations and NGOs such as St Maarten-based K1 Direct, faith-based organisations such as Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, and the local Grand Bahama Christian Council headed by Pastor Robert Lockhart, and many others who distribute food, water, medical care and other necessities directly to the communities most affected. Ms Forbes-Smith said that the outpouring of generosity and caring has been, and continues to be, truly remarkable.
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THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, September 19, 2019, PAGE 9
Bahamian spirit shines through despite horror B y BE V ERLE Y BE T H ELL DOLEZAL Palm Beac h Gardens, Flo rida “YES, something positive came out of Hurricane Dorian.” As a Bahamian living in Florida, I learned from the news that Abaco and Grand Bahama survivors were being evacuated to Nassau so I flew down for a week to assist my fellow Bahamians in any way possible. My aunt, Mary Alice (Sissa) Wassitsch of Lake Cunningham informed me that many volunteers were already set up in the evacuation and relocation process going on in large outdoor tents at Odyssey Aviation, but that more and more helpers would be needed as the number of evacuees was rapidly increasing once residents of Abaco and Grand Bahama realised their homes were no longer habitable. I mentioned to my aunt that my ability to speak French (from living in Francophone European and African countries for 11 years) might be helpful to facilitate communication with the hundreds of Haitians who spoke little to no English and asked her if they needed any more help. Knowing that people were arriving by the hundreds each day, her response was “Get down here as soon as you can!” While those of us in Florida were breathing a huge sigh of relief and counting our lucky stars that Dorian had just skirted our shoreline, we were also completely heartbroken at seeing the horrific images of what had happened to our once beautiful Out Islands. I was eager to do something more proactive than donating post Hurricane supplies, so I told my husband I had to go and help my Bahamian people. I drove down to Ft Lauderdale and hopped on a Jet Blue flight to Nassau. It was Tuesday, September 10. The jovial mood that usually welcomes visitors to Nassau was understandably absent, as both passengers and ground personnel were in a complete state of shock that so much death and destruction had occurred to innocent people in two of our more populated and beautiful islands. My 88 years young uncle, Pedro Wassitsch, who by this time had become an integral part of the driving pool for relocating evacuees, dropped me at one of two large tents set up at Odyssey Aviation. From the first moment I stepped into the tent, I was
impressed by the organisation. There were tables of volunteers from all walks of life busy at computers and assisting shellshocked evacuees with finding housing, locating family members or relatives, arranging rides to the airport, hotels and homes while also reassuring people that somehow everyone would have a roof over their head and a bed to sleep in. Scores of other volunteers, both local and from a number of countries, were comforting people, holding babies, handing out bags of toiletries, assisting with finding clothes, shoes and others were serving hot meals and snacks. There were large coolers of cold drinks, a place for people to rest on chairs or in the back of the tent with pillows and blankets. For the children, an area was set up with toys, games and colouring books so they could play while they were waiting to be picked up and driven to a dry and safe location. Everything in the tent had been donated by generous residents who wanted to help their people, give them hope and set them on the path to recovery. I saw my cousin, Linda Holowesko, with cell phone in hand, gave her a quick hug, and asked “Where can I help?” She pointed to all of the tables piled high with donated goods and said, “anywhere you can” but had to quickly rush off to deal with another relocation situation. It was truly like a scene out of the Mash TV series when you would hear the helicopters overhead and know that there were about to be hundreds of incoming people from the disaster scene, but this time there were planeloads of homeless people who had miraculously survived Dorian’s wrath. The weary and blank stares confirmed that many were still traumatised beyond belief and in shock over having made it out alive. There were horror stories of friends and relatives who had died so abruptly but we wanted people to know they were now safe and had not only the support of the rest of The Bahamas, but the entire world was counting on them to carry on. If they wanted to cry or be hugged, or let someone else hold their babies, it was all OK and we were all there for them. The volunteers inside the tent all shared one common trait - compassion for suffering souls. In the days
A HUG for a child from a volunteer.
BEVERLEY Bethell Dolezal with a pile of youth TShirts, colouring books and crayons for the orphanage and, below, volunteers in action hellping to sort donations and assist the displaced storm victims. laughter from babies, the until they were ready to satisfaction of knowing that drop. My faith in the goodfamilies now would have a ness of human beings has roof over their heads, and been fully restored and the especially by receiving so display of resilience in the many heartfelt thanks from Bahamian people is no less people who had almost than phenomenal. reached their breaking As Suze Orman propoint. I found out that this foundly wrote: “True fantastic group of people generosity is an offering at Odyssey Aviation had and given out of pure love. managed to process no less No strings attached. No than 2700 evacuees. Pretty expectations. Time and love impressive, I’d say! are the most valuable posWho knew that my expe- sessions you can share.” that I helped, I never heard Peter, Jeff, Carlos... and rience of playing a very Today, September 17, I an angry voice but instead scores of others. You were small part in helping Hur- head back to Florida. Am a thousand “thank you’s” all amazing and it was an ricane Dorian victims was I happy I made the trip? A from extremely grateful honor to work side by side going to be life altering resounding YES, for I saw people. with you! We all felt amply and something truly quite true generosity with my Many had lost everything rewarded from the many extraordinary. I was so hum- very own eyes! except the clothes they were sighs of relief, tears of both bled and proud to have been Stay strong and kind wearing, yet it was obvious sadness and joy, hugs from working alongside these kind Bahamas - will send they were extremely thankadults and kids, smiles and souls who selflessly worked tourists! ful that God had spared them. Every one of the survivors had their own story and while some wanted to share tragic stories of death and destruction, many couldn’t even talk about their horrific experience. Our focus as volunteers was to help them in any small way we could and to provide comfort and hope. As a grandmother of seven, I was especially concerned about the children but quickly found that it was the youngest, most oblivious and adorable babies who were giving everyone else the hope of a brighter future and a reason to carry on. I met so many wonderful people among the volunteers... Linda, Lisa, Ashley, Andrea, Carla, Mary, Kim, Jay, Julie, Erin, Lily, Jazzy, Daisy, Helene, Scott, Jill, Michelle, Nina, Kim, Alannah, Page, Valentino, Jeanette,Sara, Anna, Nicole, Rebecca, Chet,
PAGE 10, Thursday, September 19, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
BTC BACKS WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN
AS thousands of Bahamians continue to be in need of food, water and shelter, BTC has announced a partnership with World Central Kitchen. WCK has been providing fresh meals throughout The Bahamas since just after Hurricane Dorian made landfall on the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama as a category five hurricane on September 1. BTC presented WCK with a cheque for $25,000 through the Cable & Wireless Charitable Foundation to help the organisation with the cost of providing meals to displaced families. “This grant from the Cable & Wireless Charitable Foundation will go a long way to help us get food to those who need it the most. Many communities have been completely
devastated and are in dire need,” said Erin Gore of WCK. “To date, we have served 280,000 meals to people across both islands, as well as to those currently living in shelters in Nassau. “This grant to WCK is part of our broader humanitarian initiative in The Bahamas,” said Denise Williams, a director of the Foundation and senior vice president of communications at C&W Communications. “Our team visited the islands of Grand Bahama and Abaco immediately after the passage of Hurricane Dorian and have seen the devastation firsthand. Based on those reports we immediately initiated our response protocols. We will be supporting organisations such as WCK that are
working to help bring relief to those affected by the hurricane.” Last week, the foundation committed $500,000 towards immediate relief and rebuilding initiatives. “ Gary Sinclair, CEO of BTC, said: “In addition to aid from the C&W regional Foundation, BTC has also airlifted and shipped over 60,000 pounds of food, water and critical care supplies along with 225 generators to the islands. Our first priority was securing the safety of our employees and their families. We have evacuated 160 employees and family members and are providing them with temporary housing and essential supplies, while at the same time, we are providing critical supplies to members of affected communities.”
BTC employees helping to pack relief supplies and, top, a World Central Kitchen chef in action.
POWER GENERATION ISSUE CAUSES MOBILE OUTAGE SOME Bahamas Telecommunications Company mobile customers complained of an inability to place calls or use data services yesterday. Other customers also experienced issues making calls from landline phones. In a brief statement yesterday morning, BTC explained the issue. “BTC advises that some mobile customers may be
experiencing call completion issues due to a power generation issue,” the company said in a Facebook post shortly before noon. At the time, BTC assured customers that the problem would be resolved in two hours. However, the issue persisted well beyond that timeline and into the evening, with cellphone and landline users reporting that they continued to experience
technical problems. After 7pm, BTC posted another update to its Facebook page, saying the company was still having issues with its network: “We are continuing to work through our power generation issues. Data is fully operational. However, customers may still be experiencing call completion issues. We will continue to provide updates.”
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, September 19, 2019, PAGE 11
Why Joe Biden dominates the primary race with Charlie Harper
A
YEAR can be an awfully long time in politics, as American voters are about to find out. With the 2020 general election in the U.S. just over 13 months away, what shapes up as a referendum on current president Donald Trump will dominate the news unlike anything else. Although Trump has already attracted a couple of primary challengers for the Republican nomination next year, the president is likely correct in dismissing their candidacies as profoundly insignificant. Trump continues to enjoy the support of well over 80 percent of likely GOP voters, according to polls for several months now. The big question about 2020 is who will the Democrats nominate to oppose Trump, and can that person actually defeat him? The answer to that question, both before he entered the race for the Democratic nomination and especially since that time about six months ago, has been former Delaware senator and vicepresident Joe Biden. A garrulous, back-slapping old-style politician, Biden has been in the public eye for over 40 years. He has run unsuccessfully for president twice before, but his campaigns fizzled out fairly early in the Democratic primary season both times. Now in his upper 70s, Biden has consistently led the polls among the more than a dozen candidates still competing for the Democratic nomination. Several of his party’s most
prominent contenders have domestic and foreign policy positions that are more progressive and innovative than the potential platform ideas enunciated by Biden. His opponents, with the exception of Bernie Sanders, are all younger and often seem more energetic than does Biden. So why does Biden continue to dominate this primary race? Part of the answer lies in simple name recognition. Precisely because he has been so long in public life, and so prominently, Biden’s name is familiar to the potential voters contacted by the numerous American public opinion polling services. But there’s much more to Biden’s persistent popularity, and some of the reasons might be surprising. In many minds, the most important of these reasons is race. Another is gender. Biden is not married to a black woman, like New York mayor Bill De Blasio. He is not black himself, like California senator Kamala Harris or New Jersey senator Cory Booker. He is not Latino, like former housing secretary Julian Castro. He is not Latino-lite, like former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke. He is not Asian, like entrepreneur Andrew Yang. Biden is also not a woman, like Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren, Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar or New York senator Kirsten Gillibrand. He is not openly gay and married to a man, like South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg. The other older white man
in the contest, Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, has had persistent trouble dealing with the race issue, both in campaign appearances and within his own staff. And he seems cranky, somehow. His act, however powerful its ideological appeal, seems to be getting stale. We’ve been there and done that with Bernie. That leaves Uncle Joe Biden, hearty and friendly, ferociously loyal to his former boss and buddy, Barack Obama, prone to verbal mis-steps, still with the hair transplant from 40 years
“Precisely because he has been so long in public life, and so prominently, Biden’s name is familiar to the potential voters contacted by the numerous American public opinion polling services.” or so ago, but.. old and white. Is this the next president? Is this even the next Democratic nominee? If so, how can this be in 21st Century America, most of which is now, the polls tell us, unprecedently open to diversity and stoutly opposed to the nativist xenophobia now predominant in the White House? MIT election lab associate Alexander Agadjanian, writing recently in the Washington Post, has some answers.
BASEBALL’S BEST STORIES – OUTSIDE THE BIG FOUR THE 2019 American major league baseball season is hurtling toward the end of its annual six-month marathon. The Big Four teams – the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros and Atlanta Braves – look strong and mostly settled as they prepare for post-season showdowns with each other. But some of baseball’s best stories came down last weekend and Tuesday, and none involved the Big Four. Over the weekend, the Braves and Minnesota Twins both faced their most persistent divisional opponents. The Braves hosted the Washington Nationals and won their series to essentially clinch the NL East title. And the Twins went on the road and took two of three to consign the second-place and preseason favourite Cleveland Indians to a wild-card fight with the Oakland A’s and Tampa Bay Rays. In baseball, statistics and records are revered as in no other sport. On Tuesday, three exciting things happened. The Twins became the first team in major league history to field five different players with 30 or more home runs. Miguel Sano, Nelson Cruz, Max Kepler, Eddie Rosario and Mitch Garver have all done this. Can you name the positions played by even three of these sluggers?
MINNESOTA Twins’ Miguel Sano. (AP Photo) Then there were some charming bloodline achievements. Cavan Biggio, the Toronto Blue Jays teammate of much more renowned star son Vlad Guerrero, Jr, hit for the cycle 17 years after his Hall of Fame father Craig Biggio accomplished the same feat. And San Francisco Giants 29-year-old rookie Mike Yastrzemski hit a home run in Boston’s Fenway Park 36 years after his Hall of Fame grandfather, Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski, hit his own last homer there. Yaz was in the park to celebrate the achievement. Stuff like this is one of many things that makes baseball as great as it still is, even in the modern era where American football is the king of sports.
DEMOCRATIC presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks this week in Philadelphia. (Tom Gralish/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP) Agadjanian’s conclusions need to be digested with a healthy grain of salt, both because polling’s credibility still hasn’t recovered from a bad predictive episode in 2016, and because an MIT researcher in a different academic division just departed because of unsavory ties to disgraced millionaire sex villain Jeffrey Epstein. But still. Here’s what Agadjanian found on Biden’s strong appeal with Democratic voters. This is paradoxical, but apparently true: Biden simultaneously attracts the most support from Democrats with the highest anti-black prejudice and, by far, the greatest support from African-Americans themselves. “Racial resentment and sexism more strongly predict support for the former vice president than many other demographics and policy views,” Agadjanian says. “Race and gender views also play a larger role than policy preferences for the other candidates.” The MIT researcher found that moving from the least to most sexist Democratic voter increased Biden’s support
by 19 points. (Sanders benefited much less in this area.) And similarly, among Democratic primary voters, Biden’s support rises by 27 points moving from the least to the most racially resentful. Again, Sanders benefits little from this phenomenon. The home for most American sexist and racist voters in today’s United States is of course not the Democratic party. That turf has been comprehensively staked out by the incumbent president. But Agadjanian’s research shows what we intuitively suspect. There are plenty of Democrats who share Trump’s bigotry, at least to some extent. Some estimates put this share of the Democratic demographic at 20 percent. Some speculate that “conservative” Democrats lean most to Biden because, during the Bill Clinton administration, the Delaware senator chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee and enthusiastically embraced Clinton’s anticrime toughness. Plus, he looks like many of them.
Nonetheless, Biden’s support this summer is running 18 percent higher among black Democrats than among white voters in his own party. This likely comes from Biden’s most recent star turn on the national stage as vice president, confidante and obvious friend of America’s first black president. While Obama has not yet endorsed anyone in the Democratic primary race, almost everyone expects that he will jump in at some appropriate point and support his loyal pal. That will likely be good enough for most of the Democratic party’s most steadfast constituency – African American voters. The American election is still over a year away. But for now, it actually seems that Joe Biden can have it both ways. He’s the beneficiary of strong support from some of the most conservative elements in his Democratic party, while at the same time attracting the passionate support of some of its most loyal, progressive elements. That’s how he could get nominated, and elected, next year.
PAGE 12, Thursday, September 19, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
Neighbours heard cries of ‘don’t kill me’ then silence
from page one spoke to a neighbour, who said she heard “shuffling and screaming” through the walls when she woke up to use the bathroom. The neighbour, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “I was trying to make out whether it was either sex or fighting. After I heard the man say ‘don’t kill me with that, don’t kill me’ then I heard the woman’s voice saying, ‘don’t kill me.’ “I think they kill the man first and then they kill her. It happened so fast by time
as I cut off the fan to try hear - it was just silent. I lay down and waited to see if anyone else heard.” Fearful, she said she and others who lived in the building went outside. She added: “Five minutes later another neighbour came, and we went outside and (the other neighbour gave an account of what she heard.) My neighbour said ‘well I’m not going inside’ and everyone else said they weren’t going inside.” The neighbour said when she walked back inside the apartment building, it was hot and she smelt the scent of blood.
“It didn’t smell right so everyone was like call the police. After the first call, it was no show for about 45 minutes. I call back and said ‘officer I called earlier, and I don’t know if these persons are dead or alive. I called about an incident and no one reach yet,’” she explained. “Probably like 20 minutes later the police reach. The officer seemed to be scared to go inside but when he came out, he said, ‘yeah it’s two bodies.’” Paramedics were called to the scene and attempted to revive the couple but were unsuccessful. They
were pronounced dead at the scene. The neighbour said she felt uneasy and paranoid after the incident, adding she plans to move. “This happened unexpectedly and fast. I can’t think good, every time I wake up, I see images and I didn’t even go in the room, but I still could picture out how it happened. No one wants to sleep here, and no one is sleeping here. Yesterday you could have smell it, every time I come in this yard, I could feel it,” she told The Tribune. “At work I cried, this year I lost like seven people
and I feel this one more than any other one. I saw the pool of blood and that wasn’t no easy scene to see. I am leaving, I didn’t sleep here last night, and I didn’t have nowhere to go but I am moving.” Although she didn’t know him well, the neighbour told The Tribune the male victim was friendly and caring. “He had a heart that’s one thing I could say about him. If you ask for something and he have it, he’ll give you it. He wouldn’t say no, he isn’t that type of person to say no. He has a heart, he would come sit
down and talk to you,” the neighbour said. There have been 12 recorded murders so far this month, more than double the total number of murders police recorded in September 2018, which were five. The killings pushed the murder count to 75 for the year, according to this newspaper’s records, an increase of about nine percent compared to this same period last year. These figures have not been confirmed by police. The Tribune’s records show that around this time last year, the country’s murder count stood at 69.
ATTORNEY: ACCUSED RESERVIST ‘DOESN’T KNOW WHAT TO ANSWER’ By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavel la@tribunemedia.net
THE Crown has closed its case against reserve Sergeant Dwayne Decosta over allegations he had sex with a teenage girl at a police station last year. Decosta, 56, now has four options: remain silent, take the witness stand and give evidence, formally open his case to the jury, or call witnesses to testify on his behalf. Based on recent developments in the case however, his attorney Murrio Ducille said his client is in a “quandary” because he doesn’t know what to answer. Decosta is accused of having unlawful sexual intercourse with the minor on July 14, 2018 in the precincts of the South Beach Police Station. It is alleged that after being taken to the police station by her father’s neighbour on the date in question, and while
DWAYNE Decosta outside court previously. sitting in the foyer, an officer dressed in navy blue
Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff
and alleged to be Decosta called the girl, who was 13
at the time, from the foyer and directed her to a room
upstairs at the rear of the building. Based on a video that was shown to Decosta during his record of interview (ROI), the reserve officer beckoned for the girl to come outside at 11.53am. While there, it is alleged Decosta forced the girl to commit sex acts. He is also alleged to have told the girl he would pay her to have sex with him, a proposal she denied. Afterwards, Decosta is alleged to have instructed the girl to return to where she was sitting in the foyer area. According to the evidence, the girl returned to the foyer at 12.21pm. Decosta, in his ROI, said he was off duty by that time, having clocked out at noon. Based on the evidence led thus far, the allegations against Decosta were made in a statement the girl gave a police investigator in her mother’s presence on the same date of the incident. However, the girl has
since said in open court that she could not remember if her mother was present during the interview. Additionally, the girl denied telling police about any sexual acts allegedly committed by Decosta, and in fact said the contents of her statement are “incorrect”. The teenager said although she signed her statement, she did not read it over before she signed, and neither was it read back to her by the interviewing officer. She also said she didn’t sign the document truthfully. And that admission came moments after she doubled down on her previous testimony that “nothing” happened between her and Decosta at the South Beach Police Station. Meanwhile, Decosta denied having unlawful sexual intercourse with the girl in his initial record of interview. He has also denied the charge of unlawful sex. The matter continues today.
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, September 19, 2019, PAGE 13
Man wants to apologise to family of victim he shot dead in the street By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net
A 25-YEAR-OLD man wants to apologise to the family of a man he shot to death three years ago. Christopher McQueen maintains he shot the man because the deceased threatened him and accused him of seeing his girlfriend. McQueen told Justice Cheryl Grant-Thompson yesterday that he has written an apology letter to Martin Nixon’s family for taking their loved one’s life in August 2016. McQueen’s comment came after a senior probation officer revealed that McQueen told her he was very remorseful over what happened and that he wished he could apologise because he “did not intend” to kill Nixon. According to the probation officer, McQueen walked away from an initial verbal altercation with Nixon, but allowed his “ego and anger” to cause him to return and confront the man, ultimately leading to his death. The officer’s statements came during what was supposed to be McQueen’s sentencing hearing. The Crown is seeking 18 to 35 years for the crime - manslaughter by provocation - while his attorney, Bjorn Ferguson, is seeking a sentence on the lower end of the spectrum. According to the facts, McQueen was hanging out at S & Y Sporting Lounge on Blue Hill Road south on the date in question. He left the lounge and walked towards a nearby store to purchase a cigar. While walking towards the store, he saw Nixon and his girlfriend in the road arguing. As McQueen approached the pair, Nixon accused his girlfriend of “seeing other
people” and turned to look in McQueen’s direction. When McQueen asked Nixon who he was referring to, Nixon said he meant him and stated, “You know we get all the guns.” McQueen said he felt threatened, and consequently returned to the lounge. While there, he told his friend, Kyle Newbold, his former coaccused, about what had happened. McQueen said Newbold suggested that they go back to where Nixon and his girlfriend were, and said he agreed with the plan. McQueen said as they were walking towards the area where Nixon was, the deceased walked towards them with his hand under his shirt. Newbold subsequently pulled out a gun from his trousers. McQueen then took the gun from Newbold and shot Nixon once in the leg; however, three bullets came out of the gun. McQueen and Newbold subsequently left the scene and returned to the lounge, where McQueen said he called for an ambulance. He did not remain in the area however, and was arrested several days later. Nixon, meanwhile, was rushed to hospital but died of his injuries early the next morning. Yesterday, the probation officer said McQueen was reared in a nuclear family until the age of six, when his parents separated. As a result, his relationship with his father, after whom he is named, was fractured until his teenage years. McQueen matriculated through both the public and private school systems until the 10th grade, when he became a teen father and dropped out
TEACHERS PROTEST IN STANDOFF OVER SCHOOL PRINCIPAL IRATE teachers protested outside Carlton E Francis Primary School again yesterday morning amid a continued standoff with the school’s principal. Teachers are calling for the removal of the school official and have engaged in sit outs and protests since school reopened last week, forcing substitute teachers to be called in. Barricades were erected outside the institution yesterday and police were at the school. “We’re not fighting with the parents, we’re not fighting with the students, we love our classrooms, we love our students, we just want our minister to do what he is paid to do,” one teacher told Our News yesterday. Some parents expressed anger that the disagreement between faculty and the school official was affecting the student body. Parents said the situation is traumatising students, who have been left shaken by the emotional scenes outside the school. Teachers have promised
to continue their protest until the school’s principal, Olivia Daxon, is removed from the school. In a statement released last night, the Ministry of Education said it is “disheartened” by the fact that a number of teachers at the school have withdrawn from their duties over the last few days. “This defiant behaviour places our students at a grave disadvantage, depriving them of the quality time and education which they rightfully deserve,” the ministry said. “As such, the ministry’s paramount objective is to ensure that the education and safety of our students are not compromised. Accordingly, the public can be assured that ministry officials are working in earnest to resolve the matter.” Last week, Minister of Education Jeff Lloyd said he was disappointed by the situation at Carlton E Francis, considering the fact that the nation was still reeling from the devastation brought by Hurricane Dorian.
MOTORCYCLIST KILLED IN ACCIDENT By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net
A MOTORCYCLIST is dead on Grand Bahama following a traffic accident in the Lucaya area this week. Grand Bahama police said an accident occurred shortly 4pm on Tuesday at Midshipman
and Balao Roads, involving a 2006 omnibus and a 2012 Ducati motorcycle. Assistant Superintendent of Police Terecita Pinder reported that the motorcyclist was transported to Rand Memorial Hospital, where he later died of his injuries. An investigation is ongoing.
of school. However, he pursued higher education a few years later at the Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute (BTVI), and earned a certificate in auto mechanics. McQueen then sought employment and worked at various places until approximately a few months before his incarceration for the offence. According to the probation officer, the people she interviewed spoke favourably of McQueen’s character. He was described as a quiet, mannerly, supportive and attentive father. Dwight Bain, a former employer, described the young man as a great employee and someone who stayed to himself, the probation officer said. She also said the people she interviewed expressed shock at McQueen’s criminal actions. According to the probation officer, McQueen’s mother even stated that “his actions is not the person that she knows.” Yesterday, in responses to questions by Mr Ferguson, the probation officer said while she wouldn’t agree that McQueen pursuing higher education after dropping out of high school is uncommon, she could agree that he is an industrious young man. She also agreed that McQueen is productive and can be rehabilitated. She further agreed to suggestions that it is not common for a man his age to have a clean record based on her experiences. According to Justice Grant-Thompson, McQueen didn’t plead guilty at the first opportunity, but did so at the point when the jury was empaneled. She subsequently adjourned McQueen’s sentencing to October 1.
PAGE 14, Thursday, September 19, 2019
US SAYS ATTACK ON SAUDI OIL SITE WAS AN IRANIAN ‘ACT OF WAR’ By JON GAMBRELL, AYA BATRAWY AND FAY ABUELGASIM ASSOCIATED PRESS RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday called the attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil installations an “act of war” against the kingdom by Iran, as the Saudis displayed missile and drone wreckage and cited other evidence they said shows the raid was “unquestionably sponsored by Iran.” Iran, which has denied involvement in the attack, warned the U.S. it will retaliate immediately if it is targeted. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, said he is moving to increase financial sanctions on Tehran over the attack. He was noncommittal on whether he would order U.S. military retaliation. At a news conference, Saudi military spokesman Col. Turki al-Malki said the attack Saturday that did heavy damage to the heart of the Saudi oil industry was “launched from the north and was unquestionably sponsored by Iran.” Yemen is south of Saudi Arabia, while Iran and Iraq lie to the north. Al-Malki stopped short of accusing Iran of actually firing the weapons itself or launching them from Iranian territory. Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was in response to the Saudi-led war in Yemen that has killed tens of thousands of people. At the news conference, the Saudis displayed broken and burned drones and pieces of a cruise missile that Al-Malki identified as Iranian weapons collected after the attack. He also played surveillance video that he said showed a drone coming in from the north.
Drones Eighteen drones and seven cruise missiles were launched in the assault, Al-Malki said, with three missiles failing to make their targets. He said the cruise missiles had a range of 700 kilometres (435 miles), meaning they could not have been fired from inside Yemen. “This is the kind of weapon the Iranian regime and the Iranian IRGC are using against the civilian object and facilities infrastructure,” Al-Malki said, referring to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. He added: “This attack did not originate from Yemen, despite Iran’s best effort to make it appear so.” Pompeo, who landed in Saudi Arabia shortly after the news conference, took a harder line, telling reporters: “The Saudis were the nation that was attacked. It was on their soil. It was an act of war against them directly.” He said en route to Saudi Arabia that “it doesn’t matter” whether the Houthis claim they were behind the attack. “This was an Iranian attack,” he said. “It doesn’t change the fingerprints of the ayatollah as having put at risk the global energy supply,” Pompeo said, referring to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khomenei. The attack came after a summer of heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S. over Trump’s withdrawal from the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal. Iran sent a note to the U.S. via Swiss diplomats Monday, reiterating that Tehran denies involvement in the aerial attack, the country’s state-run IRNA news agency reported. The Swiss have looked after American interests in Iran for decades. “If any action takes place against Iran, the action will be faced by Iran’s answer immediately,” IRNA quoted the note as saying. It added that Iran’s response wouldn’t be limited to the source of the threat. The U.S. State Department had no comment on the warning. Trump, meanwhile, tweeted: “I have just instructed the Secretary of the Treasury to substantially increase Sanctions on the country of Iran!”
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MAN ACCUSED OF SABOTAGE OF NASSAU-BOUND PLANE MAY HAVE TERRORIST SYMPATHIES MIAMI Associated Press
A FEDERAL judge cited new evidence of potential terrorism sympathies yesterday in denying bail for a longtime mechanic charged with sabotaging an American Airlines jetliner that prosecutors say could have caused it to crash with 150 people aboard. US Magistrate Judge Chris McAliley imposed pretrial detention for Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani at the hearing in Miami federal court. The new evidence presented by prosecutors includes that Alani has a brother in Iraq who may be involved with the Islamic State extremist group as well as statements Alani made about wishing Allah would use “divine powers” to harm non-Muslims. Alani, 60, also recently sent a $700 wire transfer to someone in Iraq — where he has extended family — and had videos on his cellphone depicting Islamic State mass murders he shared with others, prosecutors said. In addition, the new evidence shows Alani traveled to Iraq in March but did not disclose that to authorities after his arrest. “You may be very sympathetic to terrorists,” Judge McAliley told Alani at the hearing. “That’s very disconcerting.” Alani is a naturalised US citizen from Iraq who has worked as an airline mechanic for 30 years, with no prior criminal record. He’s not charged with a terror-related crime, but Assistant US Attorney Maria Medetis said the potential links to the Islamic State give rise to the possibility his actions had a darker purpose. Alani told agents after his arrest earlier this month that, “Out of my evil side, I wanted to do something,” Medetis said, adding that
AMERICAN Airlines aircraft are shown parked at their gates at Miami International Airport in Miami. A mechanic has been charged with sabotaging an American Airlines jetliner as part of a labour dispute. PHOTO: Wilfredo Lee/AP the statement was recorded by the FBI. Alani is charged with sabotaging a Boeing 737 with 150 passengers and crew aboard at Miami International Airport in July because, he told authorities, ongoing labour negotiations were jeopardising his chances at earning overtime. The aircraft did not take off and no one was injured. And Alani did work overtime to help fix the plane. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the charge of “willfully damaging, destroying or disabling” an aircraft used in commercial aviation, or trying to do so. The sabotage involved gluing a piece of Styrofoam inside the nose of the aircraft that effectively disabled a component pilots depend on to gauge such things as airspeed, the pitch of the plane, and so forth. Authorities say the problem was detected just before takeoff, when
an error message appeared on a screen in the cockpit and the jet returned to a gate. It was bound for Nassau, Bahamas. Airport surveillance video showed Alani working on the aircraft’s nose compartment for seven minutes. He was later identified by co-workers from that video. Alani attorney Christian Dunham, a federal public defender, said as an experienced mechanic Alani knew the sabotage would keep the aircraft from flying and, even if it did take off, there are redundancies built in that would have kept it safe. “We don’t think they are going to be able to prove he intentionally put people in danger,” Dunham said. “The plane would have been fine to fly.” Dunham asked for Alani’s release on $200,000 bail, secured by family members — many of whom live in
the San Francisco area — as well as former co-workers at American Airlines in Miami. Alani has been fired from his job at the airline and the Federal Aviation Administration recently revoked his certificate as an aircraft mechanic, Dunham said. But McAliley said she could not grant Alani release on bail because of his ability to travel abroad frequently and because he might still pose a danger to the community. She also noted that Alani admitted his actions to investigators and that the evidence overwhelmingly points to his guilt. “What you did with this aircraft was highly reckless and unconscionable,” the judge said. “Certainly there was a risk of a catastrophic disaster. I think it is likely you will be convicted.” Alani is expected to enter a plea at another hearing Friday.
BERMUDA LASHED BY HEAVY WINDS FROM CAT 3 HURRICANE HUMBERTO MIAMI (AP) — Powerful winds from Hurricane Humberto began hitting Bermuda on Wednesday as the government urged people to stay off the streets during the British territory’s close brush with the powerful Category 3 storm. And another growing storm threatened tourist resorts along Mexico’s Pacific. Bermuda Gov. John Rankin called up 120 members of the Royal Bermuda Regiment to prepare for possible storm recovery efforts and National Security Minister Wayne Caines cautioned everyone to stay inside. Authorities ordered early closings of schools, clinics and government offices. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said hurricane-force winds began to hit the island of some 70,000 people by late afternoon and would probably last into early Thursday. James Dodgson, director of the Bermuda Weather Service, said the storm was projected to pass about 80 miles (130 kilometres) to the north of Bermuda during the night and could produce tornadoes and dangerous storm surge. “Humberto’s a big hurricane and we’re looking at the conditions already deteriorating. “There’s some very strong winds kicking in, particularly this evening,” he said. Caines said non-emergency medical services would be closed until Thursday. Evening flights from the U.S. and Great Britain were canceled. “We’d like to ask all of Bermuda to prepare for the storm, to know that the government and everyone is rooting for us, and we can get through this,” Caines said. “We’ve been through this before.”
PEOPLE board up an Urban Cottage store in preparation for Hurricane Humberto in Hamilton, Bermuda, Wednesday. Bermuda’s government called up troops and urged people on the British Atlantic island to make final preparations for an expected close brush Wednesday with Hurricane Humberto, a powerful Category 3 storm. Authorities ordered early closings of schools, transportation and government offices. (AP Photo/Akil J. Simmons) Humberto’s maximum sustained winds had strengthened to 120 mph (195 kph) and the storm was centreed about 100 miles (160 kilometres) west-northwest of Bermuda in late afternoon. It was moving east-northeast at 20 mph (31 kph). Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Lorena posed an increasing threat to tourist resorts on Mexico’s Pacific Coast and the Baja California Peninsula. Forecasters said Lorena was expected to “pass very close” to the coast somewhere between the port of Manzanillo and Puerto Vallarta on Wednesday night and Thursday, while growing toward hurricane force.
The still-uncertain longterm forecast track showed it approaching the Los Cabos resorts by Saturday. Maximum sustained winds were 70 mph (110 kph) as of late afternoon, with higher gusts. It was centered about 75 miles (125 kilometres) south of Manzanillo and was moving northwest at 13 mph (20 kph). Hurricane warnings were in effect from Punta San Telmo to Cabo Corrientes. Heavy rains were spreading onshore along the coast, the Hurricane Center said. Mexican officials voiced concern that some parts of southern Mexico, which have seen a lack of rainfall,
could now get torrential rains and floods from the combined effects of Lorena and two other weather systems. In parts of Colima, Jalisco and Michoacan states, “due to the combination of these three atmospheric phenomena, it is forecast that the total accumulations of rain could ... represent 40% of the rain for an entire year in that part of the country,” said Blanca Jiménez Cisneros, director-general of Mexico’s National Water Commission. Officials warned of possible dangerous flash floods and landslides. Classes were suspended in Colima as a precaution. In Texas, the remnants of
Tropical Storm Imelda had already drenched parts of Southeast Texas with more than 12 inches (30.5 centimetres) of rain, but officials in the Houston region said that so far there had been no severe problems. It was the first named storm to hit that area since Hurricane Harvey’s much heavier rains flooded more than 150,000 homes around the city and caused an estimated $125 billion in damage in Texas. Tropical Storm Jerry also formed Wednesday morning far out in the Atlantic and was forecast to become a hurricane as it nears the outermost Caribbean islands Thursday night or Friday.
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Thursday, September 19, 2019, PAGE 15
‘The Bahamas’ own street philosopher’
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