FRIDAY i’m lovin’ it!
HIGH 85ºF LOW 73ºF
SUNNY, SHOWER
The Tribune Weekend L ATEST NE WS ON TRIBUNE242.COM
Volume: 112 No.219
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016
PRICE - $1 (Abaco / Grand Bahama $1.50) The Tribune
The finest of dining
art film fash ion music food society Friday, October puzzles gar 21, 2016 dening anim als
Weekend
Inside Weekend
PM urges FNMs to resist Minnis Lightbourn and HARD AT Chipman urged to WORK ON fight for careers By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net
PRIME Minister Perry Christie yesterday sent a strong message to sidelined Free National Movement MPs Richard Lightbourn and Hubert Chipman to “resist with all your might” any attempt by the party’s leadership to end their careers. Mr Christie told the MPs, both of whom have not been offered a renomination, that no one person should be able to dictate whether their political careers were finished, adding that the decision should come from the electorate. He also accused Opposition Leader Dr Hubert Minnis of keeping the pair in the dark on nonpartisan hurricane relief efforts or-
ganised for their constituencies, a move he attributed to Dr Minnis’ political agenda during his closing remarks in the House of Assembly yesterday. Mr Chipman represents St Anne’s and Mr Lightbourn represents Montagu. Mr Christie said: “The intention was to put you in the position where your constituents would have seen you delivering supplies, information, doing all the things you should do. The intention was to strengthen the delivery of services in this country. “I directed NEMA, based on personal experience, that every member of the Parliament should have a new team assembled, a multifaceted, multidisciplinary team assembled, and
SCHOOL REPAIRS
WORKMEN inside CI Gibson school set about reconstruction after the facility suffered heavy damage during Hurricane Matthew. See page two for more photographs. Photo: Tim Clarke/Tribune Staff
RENEW Bahamas’ decision to suspend its services as manager of the New Providence landfill has relegated the site’s woes “back to square one,” according to DNA Leader Branville McCartney, who charged that the Renew Bahamas experiment has proven to be a “complete
11
(INCL. VAT)
TEL: 603-3333 www.pizzahutnassau.com
Fest’
Food, page s8&
9
BPL: 8,000 CUSTOMERS STILL WITHOUT POWER SUPPLY
By SANCHESKA DORSETT Tribune Staff Reporter sdorsett@tribunemedia.net MORE than 90 per cent of Bahamas Power and Light’s residential customers in New Providence have been restored to supply, however there are still approximately 8,000 customers without power, BPL said yesterday. In a press release, the company said it is continuing its “aggressive approach to restoring power to these customers within the shortest possible time.” BPL said it expects by the weekend the company will be “well above” 90 per cent restoration. Restoration in the Family Islands is complete, the release said, with the SEE PAGE SIX
and utter waste of time”. Mr McCartney, who has long lobbied for clarity on the terms and conditions of Renew Bahamas’ contract with the government, told The Tribune that Renew Bahamas’ decision effectively renders the last two years of its tenure as landfill manager meaningless, and that the decision represents “another failed agreement by this Christie administration.”
DOPPLER RADAR REPAIRED - AND TALKS COMPLETE FOR FOUR MORE
However, Mr McCartney was not convinced that Renew Bahamas’ decision was due to shootings, tyre slashing and widespread theft in Hurricane Matthew’s aftermath as the company’s CEO had told this newspaper, but was rather something that was “teetering on the edge way before the hurricane came”.
THE Department of Meteorology’s Doppler radar has been fixed, Transport and Aviation Minister Glenys Hanna Martin said yesterday. Mrs Hanna Martin also revealed that negotiations over the phased acquisition of four new radars have been completed. She made the announcements during her contribution to the $150m bond resolution for hurricane relief in the House of Assembly. She said the government expects to enter into a contract with Finnish company Vaisala in a matter of days.
SEE PAGE SIX
SEE PAGE SIX
DNA: ‘BACK TO SQUARE ONE’ AFTER LANDFILL MANAGER SUSPENDS SERVICES By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net
VALUE LOVER’S 99 ONE-TOPPING $ LARGE PIZZA DEAL
Snap it up !
Sapodilla’s fine dining ‘Lobster
By SANCHESKA DORSETT Tribune Staff Reporter sdorsett@tribunemedia.net BAHAMAS Power and Light has temporarily suspended disconnections on overdue accounts in an effort to provide relief to customers after the passage of Hurricane Matthew, according to Corporate Communications Manager Arnette Ingraham. However, the company is encouraging customers to “pay their bills by the due date” to avoid an interruption in supply when disconnection activities resume. Mrs Ingraham told The Tribune that BPL has extended the payment deadline for this billing cycle to give customers “more time to pay”. SEE PAGE SIX
SEE PAGE FIVE
there have been questions over how the government intends to manage the loan, these queries have ignored basic facts about his administration’s fiscal map. In the House of Assembly on Wednesday, Free National Movement Leader Dr Hubert Minnis called for the formation of a special committee to monitor how the government spends the $150m. SEE PAGE THREE
Pages 14 &15
BPL SUSPENDS DISCONNECTIONS TO GIVE RELIEF AFTER STORM
‘CHECKS IN PLACE’ TO ENSURE $150M LOAN USED PROPERLY By KHRISNA VIRGIL Deputy Chief Reporter kvirgil@tribunemedia.net PRIME Minister Perry Christie yesterday insisted that the government had checks and balances in place to handle the $150m hurricane relief money it intends to borrow, as he responded to critics who have expressed doubt that the Christie administration is capable of fiscal responsibility of the funds. Mr Christie said while
CANCER SURVIVOR WEDDING
NEW ARRIVALS COMFORTERS
QUILTS
$37.52 $40.15
MATTRESS PADS
$21.50
*APPLIES TO ALL BED SIZES & COLOURS - PRICES ARE VAT INCLUSIVE*
LIKE US ON FACEBOOK!