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VOLUME:116 No.226, NOVEMBER 18TH, 2019
HO US E & 16 THE PEOPLE’S PAPER: $1
SPORT: BAHAMAS THROUGH TO GOLD CUP QUALIFIERS
PAGES
MILLIONS LOST IN COMPUTER FIASCO PLP’s failed deal to digitise vital patient records
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A FURIOUS legal battle is brewing over an $18m Public Hospitals Authority (PHA) contract that a Cabinet minister admitted has “crashed” and delivered zero value for taxpayers and patients alike. Dr Duane Sands, minister of health, told Tribune Business that the much-touted integrated healthcare management system (iHMS) deal that the former Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) administration signed in 2016 “to bring the public
health system into the 21st century” had delivered none of the promised benefits and left taxpayers facing a multi-million dollar loss. Describing the situation as “very, very sensitive”, he bluntly branded the contract agreed with Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, a US-based publicly-traded company, and its strategic partner, Infor Lawson, as “a bust” for the Bahamian people. “We’ve had very big problems with that,” Dr Sands said in response to Tribune Business inquiries.
THE cost of Hurricane Dorian’s impact on The Bahamas is $3.4bn, more than a quarter of the country’s GDP, according to the Inter-American Development Bank. The figure accounts for damage such as the effect the disaster has had on assets in every sector; losses such as the goods and services that have not
SEE PAGE SIX
By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net
PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis says he favours decriminalising possession of small amounts of marijuana and making the substance legal for medicinal and/or scientific purposes. Becoming the first sitting prime minister to publicly support some form of marijuana decriminalisation, he told The Tribune yesterday he hopes the decriminalisation process will happen before the end of this term. He said he is eagerly awaiting the release of a report by the Bahamas National Commission on Marijuana to help chart the way forward on the substance, which has been
FISHERMEN ‘HIJACKED HELPING HAITIANS’
SEE PAGE THREE
been produced or provided until full recovery and reconstruction; and additional costs such as outlays required to provide goods and services as a result of the disaster. The IDB estimates that Dorian will cost the country one percentage of its GDP, implying the economy will grow 0.9 percent post-disaster, resulting in a decrease in salaries of $51.3m and capital income of $60.9m.
PM GIVES BACKING FOR LEGAL MARIJUANA
SEE PAGE FIVE
By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net
DORIAN DAMAGES BILL SOARS TO $3.4 BILLION By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net
HOME
GOLDEN GLAMOUR GLAMOUR was the name of the game at the Miss World Bahamas fashion show this weekend. For a full report, see Friday’s Weekend section Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
AN Inagua-based fisherman yesterday described the “traumatising” moment that a group of stranded Haitian who he and his two friends were helping allegedly hijacked their boat at knifepoint and forced them to jump overboard to avoid being killed. Lawrence Handfield, 49, said that he, Quinton Smith and Eddington Burrows Jr were all forced to abandon their fishing vessel to avoid being injured, fatally or otherwise, by ten knife-wielding Haitian men they were transporting to another location on the island. SEE PAGE SEVEN
HARBOUR ISLAND PROJECT BOSS SUES FOR $1M By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
A BITTER $1m legal battle has erupted between the developer of a controversial Harbour Island marina and its former project manager who has a history of convictions and run-ins with law enforcement. Bernard Ross - who was convicted of heroin possession in the US in 1976, serving a prison sentence
BERNARD Ross and his wife - is alleging that Michael Wiener and his company, 4M Harbour Island Ltd,
reneged on making a $500,000 payment that was agreed as part of a deal that would see him exit all involvement with the development. In a lawsuit filed in the California federal court, Mr Ross is alleging he has “suffered at least $1m in damages” on the basis that Mr Wiener is unlikely to make the next $500,000 installment payment, due on January 17, 2019. FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS
Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper
INSIGHT
LIVES NEED TO BE REBUILT, NOT JUST PROPERTY
SEE PAGE NINE
PAGE 2, Monday, November 18, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
Our Dutch ships deal was transparent, says Christie By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net FORMER Prime Minister Perry Christie said he is unaware of any impropriety
or irregularity related to his administration’s acquisition of nine Royal Bahamas Defence Force vessels from a Dutch group. “The result of the contract has been a
transformative and defining improvement in the operational efficiency and effectiveness of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force in its policing of our waters and the protection
of our marine resources,” he said in a statement yesterday. His comments came after The Tribune reported last week how investigators in the Netherlands are examining whether the Damen Shipyard Group, which supplied the vessels, bribed foreign officials in multiple jurisdictions through their foreign agents. The Dutch inquiry involving the Bahamas centres on commissions Damen paid to its intermediary, NSG Management & Technical Services LTD, a company whose website said it performed “procurement, supply and commissioning projects in the region (including with) the government of the Bahamas for the Royal Bahamas Defence Force.” Damen is said to have paid NSG much more than five percent out of its contract with the Bahamian government, raising red flags with its external auditor, EY, and Dutch investigators. The Dutch inquiry grew out of information provided by the World Bank and EY. The World Bank disbarred Damen in 2016 for 18 months after concluding the company engaged in a fraudulent practice by failing to disclose an agent and the amount of commissions due to the agent when it submitted its bid in early 2013 for the supply of a fisheries patrol boat under the West Africa Regional Fisheries Programme in Sierra Leone. The Caribbean aspect of the Dutch inquiry was launched after investigators raided Damen’s offices in Gorinchem and Rotterdam in January 2017, seizing
FORMER PM Perry Christie said he is unaware of any irregularity related to the acquisition of nine vessels from a Dutch group. large amounts of administration and digital data. “My government’s payment was to Damen Shipyard Group and not to anyone else,” Mr Christie said in his statement. “The process was a transparent one involving a tender process and negotiations. Moreover, the Attorney General’s Office and our legal advisors in Washington — Hogan and Lovell — played major roles in the finalisation of the contract.” The Christie administration’s contract with Damen was worth more than what the Ingraham administration planned for the acquisition before leaving office in 2012. The former Centreville MP cited four reasons for this: “The construction of a specially designed landing craft for use in natural disasters…major repair and
restoration of two vessels that were out of use and in a state of deterioration… provision of a simulator for use in training officers in command positions of defence force vessels and transformative dredging works for the better berthing and accommodation (of vessels).” Mr Christie said the Minnis administration, “which is in possession of the files,” should provide full information to the public without delay. “I would suggest that the public officials involved in this matter be called upon to publicly confirm whether they are aware of any influence-peddling or politically-connected lobbying or other improper or irregular conduct involved in the contract awarded to Damen Shipyard Group,” he said.
THE TRIBUNE
Monday, November 18, 2019, PAGE 3
Millions lost in computer fiasco from page one “As a matter of fact, it is likely going to be a matter that comes to legal action. Let’s just say that many years later, and many millions of dollars later, we have no functioning integrated healthcare management system. “There was tremendous anticipation about the benefits that this process, this agreement would bring to the health system. Despite the millions of dollars invested we are still using a pretty much manual health records system, and there is very little tie-in with laboratory or imaging or pharmacy or any of the business billing information with any particular patient’s record, and so it’s been a bust.” Multiple documents obtained by Tribune Business show the PHA has paid Allscripts/Infor Lawson around $6.35m to-date with nothing to show for the expenditure of public monies. They suggest Bahamian taxpayers have received no value for money on a contract that was intended to bring the public health system into the digital age while improving patient care quality and efficiencies. The contract, which was bid over six years ago in mid-2013, was intended to totally transform healthcare delivery in The Bahamas through the use of electronic records that followed Bahamian patients wherever they went to access services. This would have given providers instant access to a person’s health history, enabling them to better and more quickly diagnose any cause of distress. Papers seen by this newspaper suggest that the integrated healthcare management system project’s costs could now have ballooned from the contracted $18.389m to $30.852m over the deal’s 10-year duration, with some estimates even going as high as $48m, although Dr Sands declined to go into specifics. “Suffice it to say that the roll-out of this project more than stalled; it’s crashed,” Dr Sands conceded to Tribune Business, “and the PHA has been attempting to find a way to manage its affairs because this was an essential component of modernisation. “This would have brought the health system into the 21st century and allow us to function in a data-driven manner. It would also go a very long way to structure proper billing, revenue enhancement and clinical care. Having a patient’s records, a lot of the challenges - the current hassles, the delays with care now - could be avoided. “It’s very disappointing, absolutely disappointing, and unravelling the reasons..... I’m sure you can surmise from my reticence that this issue is very, very sensitive. This is a very unfortunate situation, and as we dig deeper into this, who knows what we’re going to find.” Dr Sands declined to comment further on the basis that legal action was imminent, but one source speaking to this newspaper on condition of anonymity was even blunter. They said: “We paid millions of dollars to these people [Allscripts/ Infor Lawson] and basically have zilch. It’s frightening when you consider what it’s cost the taxpayers.” The documents obtained by Tribune Business suggest there were problems from the get-go with the integrated healthcare management system contract,
MINISTER of Health Dr Duane Sands described the contract agreed with Allscripts Healthcare Solutions and its strategic partner, Infor Lawson, as “a bust” for the Bahamian people.
which was touted by Dr Sands’ predecessor as minister of health, Dr Perry Gomez, as a “red letter day” for healthcare in the Bahamas and a “giant leap forward” some five months after he signed it in August 2016. The deadline for receiving bids was extended from September 5, 2013, to September 19, 2013, but papers seen by this newspaper query whether the Allscripts proposal was submitted on time given that it was stamped by the PHA’s tenders committee as being received on September 30 - 11 days after the formal closing. Tribune Business understands that several members of the PHA Board appointed under the Minnis administration, as well as its management, have questioned whether the US company and its partner should have been awarded the contract in the first place given that the failure to meet the deadline seemingly disqualifies it under existing public procurement rules. Then there were several u-turns over who should be awarded the contract involving the PHA’s tenders selection committee, the Christie administrationappointed Board headed by Frank Smith, and the former Cabinet itself. The 17 bidders were ultimately reduced to just two - Allscripts and Advanced Integrated Solutions (AIS). The PHA’s selection committee, exactly two years after bids were first received, recommended that Allscripts be given the contract in a position paper dated September 29, 2015. However, just eight days later, the PHA Board was advised that “additional technical discussions” had resulted in the committee “reversing the recommendation” and selecting AIS as the preferred bidder. The Board was then “invited to” approve AIS. Subsequently, a draft memorandum crafted by Dr Gomez details another u-turn by the former Christie administration, with a recommendation that the Cabinet approve Allscripts as “vendor of choice” and that it instruct the PHA to negotiate and execute a binding contract with the company. Explaining what occurred following the PHA Board and selection committee’s back-and-forth on the choice, Dr Gomez wrote that because of the contract’s “enormity and extensive impact on the public healthcare system” the Board had accepted management’s suggestion that an “independent evaluation” of the two final bids
be conducted “to ensure that the health sector’s needs were being met”. They turned to Sanigest Internacional, the same consultancy that devised the Christie administration’s National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme, which recommended that Santa Rose Consulting conduct the evaluation. Dr Gomez’s memorandum refers to “the report from Santa Rose Consulting”, but e-mails seen by Tribune Business question how much of this was Santa Rose’s work as opposed to Sanigest. William Leander, Santa Rose’s executive vice-president and chief strategy officer, wrote in a May 25, 2018, e-mail to the PHA that “the scope and focus of our work was directed by Sanigest. Santa Rose did not directly participate in the clinical and ERP (enterprise resource planning) software selection decision or the ensuing contracting process”. Still, Dr Gomez’s Cabinet memorandum argued that Allscripts’ final price represented a 46.57 percent savings on its original proposal of $34.227m. While optimism about the contract appeared to survive the change in administrations, the PHA’s former managing director bluntly warned senior Allscripts and Infor Lawson executives of his “grave concern” that the project was “at high risk” of failing to meet its timelines and budget in a letter written just four days after Dr Sands voiced expectations that the system would launch in summer 2018. Herbert Brown, in a July 25, 2017, letter obtained by Tribune Business detailed multiple problems that included charging despite failing to deliver, over-selling, billing and charging discrepancies, overruns, missed timelines, and costs and services that Allscripts/ Infor Lawson were trying to shift to the PHA regardless of their contractual obligations. “As would have been indicated at contract signing (in August 2016), and as I would have reiterated on more than one occasion to you and/or relevant associates of your companies,
the government of The Bahamas is placing highest priority on the successful completion of these projects,” Dr Brown wrote. “These contracts represent a considerable investment in modernising information management throughout our healthcare sector. The total cost for the Allscripts/Infor package for a 10-year contractual period is $18.389m (excluding VAT). We were, therefore, all charged to ensure that the Bahamian people are afforded value for this major investment. “That said, I must express my grave concern that the two projects are at a high risk of not meeting the expected targets of timelines, scope and budget.....” Allscripts uses Infor Lawson as a third party vendor to provide elements it does not offer, such as general financials and supply chain management, and Mr Brown from mid2017 was demanding better co-ordination between the two. Calling for “an immediate review and reconfiguration”, he blasted the co-ordination between the two PHA vendors for “not meeting expectations at any acceptable level”. A similar verdict was delivered on their failure to produce a plan for integrating their systems almost a year after the contract was signed. Dr Brown then queried Allscripts’ implementation billings of $1.126m, or 50 percent of the contract amount, with less than a year gone. He also asked whether the PHA had received all of the contractual license and hardware promised after paying the $3.1m full amount. “Over $1m in monthly support has been billed as of June 2017 despite there being no system to support,” Dr Brown said, adding that there had been “great alarm” after the PHA found out that Allscripts did not provide certain IT functions it required. Questioning whether the Allscripts solution had been scaled to account for growth in Bahamian patient numbers, the former PHA managing director said: “In response to our RFP,
Allscripts along with its partner, Infor Lawson, presented its overall cost inclusive of software and hardware. Subsequently, the PHA was advised that the contract costs did not include servers for the Infor Lawson solution. “Hence the PHA expended an additional $132,767 to purchase the servers. In agreeing to cover this unexpected and unbudgeted cost, I had indicated to Allscripts and Infor Lawson my complete displeasure in having the PHA placed in such a position due to this gap in the receipt of critical information required from our vendors.” And, while Infor Lawson had informed the PHA that its implementation fees would total $550,000, it then used a third-party vendor, AVAAP, to perform this task. While Infor Lawson failed to manage its contractor, Dr Brown said: “Additionally, as of July 18, 2017, AVAAP has advised the PHA that an additional $935,865 will be needed to complete the implementation. “In essence, the current estimates indicate that consulting hours for Infor’s implementation will be almost three times’ the contracted cost.” Describing AVAAP’s numbers as “excessive”, Mr Brown added that the reasons it gave for delays “are erroneous” and added: “Such cost overruns are alarming, and a detailed explanation/justification is required...... “To date the PHA has been billed over $261,000 for AVAAP consultant hours (AVAAP claims billings should amount to $373,792). Only after repeated requests, the PHA finally received, on July 20, 2017, some explanations/ justifications for hours worked. “The PHA had indicated that they will not pay these invoices until
the aforementioned are provided. And even prior to either Infor or AVAAP providing the requested information, they had indicated that all project work will be halted until payment is made. The PHA is always eager to settle its bills. However, we have a legal and fiduciary responsibility to ensure all payments are duly justified.” Mr Brown concluded his letter by expressing concern that AVAA had again revealed the need to hire more third-party vendors to complete the project “at additional unbudgeted sums”. Other PHA documents indicate how critical the integrated healthcare management system project was to improving the financial viability of the Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH), Rand Memorial Hospital and other facilities by replacing “the archaic” 33-year-old “mission critical systems” it is currently using. “There is an urgent need to focus on the PMH’s inability to currently issue integrated patient bills, obtain electronic reimbursements for individuals with private health insurance or government-run health plans, bill for radiology services or charge the credit cards of the 11,000plus tourists who require” medical services,” a PHA position paper updated on April 27, 2019, states. It adds that the loss of revenues due to PMH patients being treated before they are registered “would be eliminated by a fully-integrated health information system”, thus saving the public healthcare system a multi-million dollar sum that could be reinvested in improving patient care quality and healthcare infrastructure. “Absence of a fully-integrated health information means that currently the only systems that are interfaced are inpatient drugs and laboratories,” the PHA position paper revealed. The documents seen by Tribune Business also reveal that Bahamian taxpayers are further exposed to the “crashed” contract by the CIBC FirstCaribbean loan, with figures ranging from $8m to $13m, that financed it as this was guaranteed by the government. Editorial View - Page 4
PAGE 4, Monday, November 18, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
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Once again, PLP figures don’t add up EXACTLY a week ago The Tribune revealed that Dutch authorities were investigating possible corruption involving the purchase of $150 million worth of ships for the Royal Bahamas Defence Force. That contract was arranged during the tenure of the last PLP government. It raised questions at the time of signing with former FNM deputy leader Loretta Butler Turner pointedly asking why the administration was buying nine ships at a higher cost than the previous FNM government had sought to buy 11 ships from the same supplier for a lower price? Something just didn’t add up. Former Prime Minister Christie, in today’s Tribune, seeks to defend the deal, insisting everything was above board and nothing unsavoury happened. We presume at some point he’ll be saying something similar about our revelation today about another contract created during the Christie administration for which things just don’t add up. Health Minister Duane Sands has confirmed to us The Bahamas wasted millions of dollars paying for maintenance and support on an electronic health medical records system that has never been installed for the Public Hospitals Authority which would, among other things, have allowed the authority to charge patients for services provided. As Dr Sands has repeatedly pointed out since coming to office, Princess Margaret Hospital - and other facilities - have not been issuing patients with any bills for decades and is now running with a debt of more than $750 million. A large proportion of those funds is monies owed by thousands of tourists who have received emergency treatment at PMH - even just travelling in an ambulance from the site of an accident incurs a bill which should have - but never has - been sent. The new digital health records system would have resolved that overnight, bringing the hospitals into the 21st Century. The story sounds so familiar.
For some reason Christie’s cabinet awarded the contract to suppliers who missed the deadline to submit their bid by 19 days. Anyone with commonsense would have thought immediately, “If they can’t get into gear on bidding for work, what are they going to be like when they get here?” Incredibly the deal was done with the PHA signing a contract which required them to pay an annual maintenance fee on equipment which seems never to have been delivered. Exactly like ordering a car and paying for the service of the vehicle without ever seeing it. Former PMH managing director Herbert Brown voiced the hospital’s deep concerns about the stalled project but got nowhere before his retirement soon after the Minnis administration took office. The full scale of the fiasco only truly came to light when the new PHA board instructed its Strategic Planning, Infrastructure and Redevelopment SubCommittee to try and make sense of what had gone on. Truth is, very little made sense other than the fact here was another project they’d inherited which asked more questions than we’ll probably never get answers to. Where are we left today? Millions of dollars have been wasted, the PMH is still a long way off generating the bills it desperately needs to send out so that it can raise the funds to help run patient services. Dr Sands suggests it will all end up in the courts – that’s more money of the Treasury’s resources which will likely end up being tied up for years. So ships last week, a dodgy looking computer deal this week. A week’s a long time in politics, they say. Who knows what’s coming next? Dr Sands, we understand, is currently studying a forensic audit into the entire health service passed on to him by the PLP government. We wonder how many other surprises have come to light?
IF THE much-delayed report of the National Commission on Marijuana needed a signal to get on with it and published their findings, Prime Minister Hubert Minnis gave it to them yesterday. In a few short sentences Dr Minnis stated his desire to see possession of small amounts of marijuana and its medicinal usage decriminalised by the end of this first term of his administration. Congratulations, Dr Minnis, a position we wholeheartedly support and we suspect so does the vast majority of the population. Now let’s see this ambition realised. If the Commission comes back
with the same recommendation then it should be fast-tracked through the assembly and be on the statute books as quickly as possible. Every minute of delay extends the agony of countless patients for whom medical marijuana provides a relief from their suffering. Lives will also no longer be blighted for those who have attracted criminal records for having small amounts of marijuana for recreational purposes. You’ve a huge majority in parliament, prime minister, just use it and put this issue to bed once and for all. There’s far more serious matters we can be getting to grips with.
No more delays over marijuana
It’s time to change EDITOR, The Tribune
WERE it not for the tragic context, it would be difficult not to see the humour in a country so comically backward that its court system can be used to stop the government’s demolition of illegal, substandard shanty towns, only to have them demolished by a Hurricane between hearings, killing hundreds. When an institution’s function becomes clearly and obviously divergent
from the daily realities and vital interests of the community it serves, it is time to consider doing things differently. The absurd overuse of the ‘contempt’ mechanism by our courts to shield the institution from societal scrutiny has led to ever wider divergence on many fronts. You may even be (needlessly) fearful of printing this letter. ANDREW ALLEN Nassau November 12, 2019
Service was just the thing EDITOR, The Tribune KUDOS to Ms Munro and the organisers for a very spectacular Remembrance Day service on Sunday, with live television coverage straight through. It was refreshing after years of sloppy and shabby presentations for our war veterans. Keep it up! Congratulations! LYNDA BETHEL Nassau November 12, 2019
Pastors who show a lack of leadership EDITOR, The Tribune CHRISTIAN Values The importance of the proposed anti-gay protests spoken of by Bahamas Christian Council Delton Fernander should not be understated. This will be the time whereby the whole world will be shown the complete irrelevance, ignorance and hypocrisy of those who call themselves Christians in The Bahamas. Placed in the context of the Ten Commandments, it would seem to those awake and paying attention, that The Bahamas is a country based on hate, corruption, theft, adultery, xenophobia, murder and worst of all, hypocrisy. Almost as anti-Christian as conceivably possible. I am quite sure Mr Fernander, that your male, vindictive, allloving God is smiling down through the clouds at the wondrous and benevolent statements coming from your mouth, straight from His. The more I read the statements coming from Mr Fernander, the more I am convinced that this man couldn’t think himself out of a wet paper bag. And yet, he is president of the religious community here? You don’t need to read the Bible over and over again to understand it’s true message. Unless, of course, you’re not good at reading in the first place. Even a poor reading of the Bible should leave no doubt that this country, for
LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net the most part, has missed the Bible’s entire, and important, message. The Bible, more than anything else, is based on loving your neighbour, being humble, rejecting worldly goods, money and riches. And, being honest. Have we not failed on every account, as a nation? Are we not aware of the stark statistics which prove this point, or would we bury our heads in the sand, ignoring reality? With all the injustices being done in this country, and around the world, this is the thing; worrying about whom someone else loves, which will bring the Christian Community out in unprecedented numbers rallying for our place in heaven? For God’s sake! We have a nation full of kids who don’t even know their father’s name. A nation full of children unattended, loved, of course, but left at home with grandparents, or aunts, or the internet and gangs. A nation full of macho, primitive men who are more than willing to hit a woman or a child. But, Mr Fernander, instead of railing against these travesties and obvious loss of our national and spiritual future, would rather spend his day speaking out against, and condemning, those people who are
loving, rather than hating. But, I don’t expect anything more from the frail intellect Mr Fernander exhibits at every chance. Daily I hear the cries of lack of leadership in this country. Is there a better example of this than the current vein of “pastors” in this country. A celebration of ignorance, adultery, lying, deceit, thieving and hypocrisy. “Leadership?” Please! Were the Christians of The Bahamas to come together, to speak with one voice, to carry out the true mandate of their chosen God, one would see an entirely different nation than exists here today. There would be prosperity for all. There would be true nation and character building. We would see few killings. We would see two parents raising their children. We would see less homelessness, less mentally ill, less suffering on our streets. There would be no numbers houses. More than watch well dressed people go to church each Saturday or Sunday, it would be nice to see poorly dressed Christians truly helping their neighbours. Perhaps when that time comes, I will join these people in a protest. A protest against hate. And a protest for love. Until that time, I will stay as far away from these so-called Christians as possible. PORCUPINE Nassau October 23, 2019
Isn’t it the same as housebreaking? EDITOR, The Tribune RE: AN opportunity to pause, think and remember we’re all human, Haitians too. The Tribune, Insight, October 28, 2019. Puzzling humans!…..…. If immigrants sneak into one’s country illegally, should
they expect to be welcomed any differently from someone who breaks into one’s house (or theirs)? KEN W KNOWLES, MD Nassau October 29, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
Monday, November 18, 2019, PAGE 5
MINNIS GIVES BACKING FOR LEGAL MARIJUANA from page one
illegal since 1929. He said as the country’s leader, he feels responsibility to have the matter properly examined. “Many Bahamians including young men have been convicted for possession of small amounts of marijuana resulting in criminal records and the
loss of a job or inability to find employment,” he said yesterday. “A good number have also been incarcerated for periods of time. Some cannot afford bail. “Studies have shown that CBDs (Cannabidiol) have been proven to aid patients suffering from various diseases including cancer, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis and Crohn’s disease. Other Caribbean countries
have taken steps to or are considering the decriminalising of marijuana for various purposes, including Antigua and Barbuda as well as St Vincent and the Grenadines, Cayman Islands, US Virgin Islands, Bermuda and Puerto Rico.” The Minnis administration has inched toward a more progressive stance on the drug. Earlier this month its top appointee to the
Rehabilitation of Offenders Committee, Paul Farquharson, called on young and first-time offenders convicted of drug possession crimes to get their criminal records expunged. “If you were to take a poll among young people, a whole lot of them have tried marijuana,” Mr Farquharson said. “Unfortunately, some of them get caught...so I am particularly
interested in the young people and giving them another chance.” It’s not clear when the commission, which has had several extensions, will produce its report on marijuana. Commission co-chair Quinn McCartney said last month that officials will visit Canada this month to research. “We are still working on it,” he said yesterday.
“Hoping to get a preliminary report to the minister by the end of this month.” The group was initially expected to hand over its findings in April. Following his trip to Jamaica last month, Mr McCartney said he does not support some elements of that country’s marijuana decriminalisation policies. Editorial View - Page 4
PM outlines immigration challenges
HUBERT Minnis met the European Commissioner responsible for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management
IN A meeting with European Commissioner responsible for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis outlined challenges this country faces from illegal migrants. Dr Minnis highlighted the state of the country’s already stretched social resources faced by the government and its impact on the country. He also referenced The Bahamas government’s strategy to prevent the re-establishment of unsafe shanty towns and the importance of protecting the country’s borders. According to a press release from the Office of the Prime Minister, Dr Minnis noted that immediately following the passage of Hurricane Dorian all residents displaced by the storm, “including undocumented migrants, were evacuated and provided with shelter, food and medical treatment at the expense of the Bahamian government. Education assistance was also provided.” The OPM statement noted that repatriations
were suspended for a period of time for nondocumented residents affected by Hurricane Dorian in the immediate aftermath of the storm. These repatriations have since resumed. Dr Minnis emphasised during his meeting that all undocumented migrants would be treated humanely and reiterated that The Bahamas is a country of laws and governed by the rule of law. Therefore, the government is obliged to follow the law as outlined in the Bahamas Immigration Act. “He reaffirmed that all undocumented migrants will be repatriated and the construction of shanty towns would not be tolerated,” the OPM statement continued. “Prime Minister Minnis noted that first-time applicants of work permits must apply while outside of The Bahamas and employers of work permit holders must ensure that safe and suitable housing is provided for employees.” During the meeting, held last Thursday, Commissioner Stylianides and Dr Minnis also discussed how the EU could provide
increased humanitarian and development assistance. The EU was among the multilateral agencies to provide relief and assistance immediately following the storm. The meeting at the European Union’s headquarters marked the end of a series of meetings between the prime minister, Cabinet ministers and officials from the EU and African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States. Dr Minnis, who led a delegation to Brussels on November 11-15 that included the opening of a new embassy and European Union mission, addressed a meeting of the ACP Commission of Ambassadors on November 14. Minister of Foreign Affairs Darren Henfield and Bahamas Ambassador to Belgium Maria O’Brien met with candidates vying for the post of ACP secretary-general. Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Carl Bethel, and Ambassador O’Brien, met with Director-General Tiina Astola, justice and consumers of the European Commission.
said deportations had been carried out consistent with international standards, specifically human rights norms. Meanwhile, Minister of Immigration Elsworth Johnson and Prime
Minister Dr Hubert Minnis both told The Tribune that undocumented migrants affected by the storm will have no special protection from deportation. Local advocacy group Rights Bahamas,
however, has criticised the government’s “savage and cold-hearted” position on displaced Hurricane Dorian migrant victims, and has pledged to alert international human rights groups to the policy.
WATCHDOG ‘CONCERNED’ BY REPATRIATION POLICY By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net
AN international watchdog has expressed concern with the government’s repatriation of Haitian migrants to their home country, as the political situation in Haiti remains “fragile”. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM), through its Haiti Chief of Mission Giuseppe Loprete, expressed reservations about the Minnis administration’s continued repatriation of “traumatised vulnerable migrants”. The IOM, in a statement, said it will continue to track those repatriations in “direct coordination” with IOM Bahamas and the Haitian National Office of Migration (ONM) to “ensure the gathering of accurate information on the returnees and the provision of adequate support” to those persons. The IOM’s report came a day after 113 convicted Haitian migrants—97 men, 13 women and three minors — were repatriated to Portau-Price by a Bahamasair flight under a deportation order. Last Wednesday, 87 undocumented Haitian migrants, inclusive of 26 women, 59 men and two minors, were turned over to the Department of Immigration at Mathew Town, Inagua after being apprehended by OPBAT officials patrolling waters near the southeast end of the island. In its statement, the IOM said it has monitored the deportation of some 340 Haitian migrants from the Bahamas. Of that number, 153 were interviewed by ONM upon their arrival
at the Port-au-Prince and Cap-Hatien airports. The IOM said the returnees mostly reported being apprehended on the streets, while at work, or while “in their homes during raids usually carried out in the middle of the night by immigration officials”. The repatriated migrants also said they remained in detention for 10 to 30 days, the IOM said. Additionally, the IOM said most of the returnees said they lived on Abaco and were evacuees from Hurricane Dorian. The IOM quoted one migrant as saying: “We lost everything in the Bahamas because of Dorian. And now they bring us back to Haiti. What will we do?” The IOM said it, as well as the ONM, received some 105 Haitian migrants that were deported from the Bahamas on November 5. IOM said it supported the returnees with “post-arrival assistance” by providing onward transportation fees and hygiene kits, and will soon provide them with medical and psychological support. However, Mr Loprete said: “We are concerned about these repatriations, as the situation in Haiti remains fragile.” The IOM’s statement added: “Repatriations of Haitian migrants are expected to continue as Bahamian authorities have communicated their intention to return all irregular migrants from their territory. IOM Haiti will continue to track these returns in direct coordination with IOM Bahamas and ONM to ensure the gathering of accurate information on the returnees and the provision of adequate
support to traumatised vulnerable migrants.” Of late, various local and international entities have denounced the repatriation of Haitian migrants from the Bahamas, citing the weeks of unrest, violent protests and political turmoil that have plagued Haiti. Last month, Haitian Chargé d’Affaires Dorval Darlier said the Minnis administration should consider suspending the repatriation of migrants “because of the political situation” in Haiti. “That’s the reason I think this is not the best time right now,” Mr Darlier told The Nassau Guardian in early October. “What I’m going to do is I’m going to sit with the government to see the best they can assist Haiti in that way…If you are illegal, I cannot tell the Bahamian immigration department [not to] do their job,” Mr Darlier said, noting that he could not force the government to stop its repatriations. “I’m not going to tell them what to do,” he said. “No, this is not my country. I am not going to force them. I’m not going to tell them what to do. It’s up to the government.” Additionally, last month, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) called on this country to halt deportations of Haitians and other undocumented migrants in the wake of Hurricane Dorian. It insisted there had been no individual assessments and due process guarantees – entitlements under international law. In response, however, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
PAGE 6, Monday, November 18, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
TEACHERS FINALLY GET SOME DOCKED PAY BACK By LEANDRA ROLLE lrolle@tribunemedia.net
WEEKS after the government cut the salaries of 75 teachers at Carlton Francis Primary School and CH Reeves Junior High School, education officials said they have started the process of restoring the salaries of those affected educators. The move came days after Supreme Court Justice Bernard Turner ordered the Ministry of Education to restore the teachers’ docked salaries in full. Speaking to reporters on the matter last Tuesday,
Bahamas Union of Teachers President Belinda Wilson said she was happy with Justice Turner’s ruling. “It shows that no one is above the law, including the Ministry of Education and the government of The Bahamas. So, we look forward to our teachers’ salary being restored, we look forward to them continuing getting their pay,” she said. In a press statement released on Thursday night, education officials noted they are following the rule as issued by the court. But, the ministry also suggested officials are expecting teachers to return to their respective workplaces as
ordered by Justice Turner. The order also restrains teachers from contravening certain sections of the Industrial Relations Act by refusing to return to work. Kahlil Parker, the union’s attorney, said while teachers are to report to work, they must be returning to a healthy working environment. The Bahamas Bar Association president added last Thursday: “The order is that they are allowed to resume their duties, so we don’t expect barricades, we don’t expect police, we expect teachers to be able to report and resume teaching at Carlton Francis in
particular. Now the issues at CH Reeves remain outstanding and the government will have to make sure that when the teachers report to work that they are reporting to a safe environment and that the union is allowed to conduct the inspection to certify that issue. “The Bahamas Union of Teachers has also been restrained from contravening the provisions of the Industrial Relations Act relative to unlawful strikes.” For some eight weeks, teachers at Carlton Francis Primary had been sitting out from classes, claiming
they were reporting to work only to be “locked out” of the gate. This came after teachers at Carlton Francis participated in a series of protests, calling for the removal of the school’s sitting principal. And as it relates to CH Reeves, teachers there have been protesting against the “unsanitary” conditions on that campus, citing the presence of mould as one of the key concerns. The government’s alleged failure to address the working conditions at these two public schools have led union members to take legal action against the Ministry of Education.
“All we wanted was justice and fair play and all teachers want to do is teach the nation’s children in a safe, healthy, peaceful environment,” Mrs Wilson said. However, the Ministry of Education maintains that they want to create a peaceful environment for all, where students are placed as the top priority. “The Ministry of Education wishes to assure the public that it continues to place the highest priority on its primary mission – ensuring that all of our students are provided with the quality education to which they are entitled,” officials continued in a statement.
TOURISTS ARRESTED IN DRUGS SWOOP
SEVEN male tourists — six Canadians and one American — were arrested in two separate incidents after they were found in possession of drugs. In the first incident, an American man was taken into custody at Lynden Pindling International Airport on Friday. Shortly after 3pm, Airport Division officers conducted a search of the man who was in the departure lounge and found six tubes of liquid marijuana in his possession. The drugs have a street value of $60. In the second incident, shortly after 8pm, Western Division officers took six Canadian men into custody after a plastic bag with suspected marijuana was recovered from their hotel room. The drugs weighed three and a quarter ounces with an estimated street value of $250. The men are all expected to be formally charged in court this week.
GUN FOUND AFTER ARMED ROBBERY
NOWHERE was Dorian’s impact greater than in the housing sector.
Dorian damages bill soars to $3.4bn from page one
The government asked the IDB to make its assessment. The IDB requested help from the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) for technical assistance with the job. The IDB estimates Dorian caused $2.5 billion worth of damage, 91 percent of this to the private sector. “Abaco suffered 87 percent of the damage and Grand Bahama 13 percent,” the IDB’s report said. “Losses are estimated at $717.3 million and were sustained primarily in the private sector, which accounted for 84 percent of the total. Seventy percent of the losses took place on Abaco, 15 percent on Grand Bahama, and nine
percent of the other islands. Additional costs add up to $220.9 million, 46.4 percent of those costs were in the environment sector and are associated to the cleaning of the oil spill. A major part of the remainder of the additional costs is related to debris removal and demolition.” The IDB estimates that 29,472 people were affected by the hurricane because of some sort of damage to their homes and assets. Nowhere was Dorian’s impact greater than in the housing sector. The IDB said more than 75 percent of Abaco homes were somehow affected, with 57 percent severely damaged. “Approximately 9,000 homes and in excess of 11 million square feet of structures have sustained some damage on the two islands,” the report said. “Damage
to the housing sector on the islands is estimated at $1.48 billion, 88.9 percent of which took place on Abaco. Losses in the housing sector are attributed to the interruption of accommodation and rental services due to severe damage or destruction of the house, making it temporarily or permanently uninhabitable. The assessment team estimated losses at $56.8 million resulting from 2,894 homes left uninhabitable after the hurricane.” In addition, the IDB said there will be $45.9 million in additional costs associated with demolishing affected dwellings, cleaning debris, labour and equipment rental cost. In the health sector, the IDB estimates damage in infrastructure, medical equipment, furniture, supplies and others worth $37.7 million. Health services
operations disruption will cost $21.4 million. With respect to educational facilities, widespread damage amounted to $72 million, with public sector institutions expected to incur costs of $74 million. The IDB estimates transportation infrastructure damage at $51 million, 53 percent of which took place on Grand Bahama where 93 percent was sustained at the Grand Bahama International Airport. The IDB estimates $37 million loss associated with interruption of transportation services. The bank also said that the total damage to the tourism infrastructure because of Dorian is $530 million. “In this occasion, the forecasted losses are less than the damage and amount to $325 million,” the bank said. “They are related to the disruption
in the flow of tourists as a result of the storm and a changed public perception due to the damaged structures. Most of the losses will be accrued in the high season of 2019 and 2020, tapering off as the recovery is expected to gain momentum. “In the upcoming years, the country will face difficult questions of whether to relocate coastal populations and how to smartly invest in more resilient infrastructure,” the bank said. “It is, therefore, imperative for the Bahamas, as a country, to establish a comprehensive approach to meeting these challenges and to incorporate considerations for disaster risk management into all features of national development.” Lives need to be rebuilt, not just property - Page 9
FOUR men were arrested and a gun was recovered by police in connection to an armed robbery that occurred on Friday, police said. According to reports, shortly after 7pm two armed men entered a home on First Street, Coconut Grove and held a male resident at bay. The victim was robbed of cash before the assailants escaped in a a brown Nissan Cube. Mobile Division officers responded to the incident and intercepted a brown Nissan Cube with four men on Oxford Avenue. Officers conducted a search of the men and the vehicle and found a .380 pistol in the car. The men were taken into custody and are expected to be formally charged in court this week.
POLICE PROBE HOUSE FIRE POLICE on New Providence are investigating a fire which destroyed a home on Saturday. According to reports, shortly after 1am, Fire Service officers responded to a call of a building fire at Tucker Road in the Big Pond Subdivision. Upon their arrival, officers met a home fully engulfed in flames. The fire was extinguished, however the home was completely destroyed. There were no injuries reported during this incident. An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the fire.
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THE TRIBUNE
Monday, November 18, 2019, PAGE 7
FISHERMEN SAY THEY WERE ATTACKED BY 10 KNIFE-WIELDING HAITIANS
‘Way out there, they could have killed us ... we put up a fight ... they took everything’
from page one Mr Handfield said as a result, he and his two friends were forced to swim for at least a mile to get to land, and then when they made it to shore safely, they spent four hours walking for miles before they made contact with locals. “They was trying to kill us, because they was swinging (the machetes),” Mr Handfield told The Tribune of their assailants. “They was trying to kill us. “. . .We put up a fight, but they was just…I don’t understand what they was saying, because they was speaking Creole…But they was just gunning for us and they was swinging, trying to jook us up (sic).” Mr Handfield’s account came after reports that three young Bahamian fishermen were hijacked by a group of Haitian nationals went viral on social media last week. Police in Inagua yesterday confirmed the reports, adding that the three men who were hijacked are “well known” in the Inagua community. However police did not provide further information. Based on when Mr Handfield said they were attacked, the incident occurred less than two days after the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) reported discovering some 80 people believed to be Haitian migrants in bushes along the coastline of the south-eastern end of Inagua last Tuesday night. On closer inspection, a 30-foot, wooden, low-profile Haitian migrant vessel was discovered with 10 persons onboard. RBDF officials said those persons were to be taken to Mathew Town, Inagua, and handed
over to the Department of Immigration officials for further processing. The Tribune made contact with Mr Smith yesterday, but he said he preferred to not talk about the incident. That led this newspaper to contact Mr Handfield, who described in detail what transpired on that day. He explained that on that Thursday morning, he and Messrs Smith and Burrows set out to sea on a fishing trip off the eastern part of the island. While fishing, he said they noticed two Haitian men standing on the shoreline. Mr Handfield said he and his two mates consequently decided to lend them a helping hand, something he said they “normally do”. Mr Handfield said when they made it to the shoreline and spoke with the two men, they told them there were two Haitian women by their boat that had broken down. Mr Handfield said the men asked for assistance, and they obliged. Mr Handfield said when the group made it to where the boat was, they did not see any women. Mr Handfield said he and his friends asked the Haitian men where the two women were, who in turn replied that the females had since walked off. After that, Mr Handfield said he noticed “these heads popping up”. At least eight more Haitians appeared where they were, he said. Nonetheless, he said, he and his friends tried to help the Haitian men get their boat back up and running. He said the Haitians already had the engine off, so they tried getting the engine to start again. When that futile, Mr Handfield
BCB DISAPPOINTED AS STAFF HOLD ‘SICK OUT’ THE Broadcasting Corporation of the Bahamas said disappointed employees engaged in a sick out last week, less than 24 hours after a meeting was held explaining actions to be taken to address the workers’ concerns. The workers’ complaints centre on concerns about mould in the BCB building in Grand Bahama, which was damaged by Hurricane Dorian. Last Wednesday, a number of BCB workers in Freeport called in sick. In a statement released last night, BCB officials said while they are disappointed in this action, which affected operations, the health and welfare of all employees “remain a priority for the management” and the parliamentary secretary with responsibility for the BCB. “Last week, BCB management had a productive meeting with representatives of the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU) to provide a full briefing on the state of the building and a timeline for remedial work to be carried out,” the BCB said. “During a meeting held on Tuesday, November 12, between the management, the union representative and the company engaged to carry out the work, a schedule was agreed upon for testing and application of the remediation. During
this time, employees also had the opportunity to ask questions. “It was agreed that testing would be carried out on the following day, Wednesday, November 13. Remedial application is expected to begin on Tuesday, November 19.” BCB said management also agreed to additional requests from the BCPOU related to reduced hours for the news and TV staff, an additional week off with pay for all employees and added that an extra week’s pay was promised to staff working extended shifts immediately following the passage of Hurricane Dorian. “Given the action taken to address employee concerns, management was surprised by the sick out that took place on Wednesday, November 13, less than 24 hours after the meeting. The BCB board and management and the parliamentary secretary with responsibility for the corporation are fully committed to ensuring that the appropriate action is taken to address all health and safety concerns. “The board and parliamentary secretary are satisfied that all decisions made by management over the last few days to address concerns were carried out in the best interest of the corporation and its employees,” the BCB statement noted.
said he and his friends told them that the best they could do for them was take them “to where the other Haitians was, because the Defence Force and the Coast Guard was coming to get them.” Mr Handfield said the Haitian men agreed, and so they boarded their boat and set out to sea to take them to the area in question. Then, Mr Handfield said things took a turn for the worst. He explained that Mr Smith was at the boat’s bow, while he and Mr Burrows were at the stern, busying themselves with trying to remove the boat’s drain plug. All of a sudden, he said, he heard when Mr Smith screamed out, and when he and Mr Burrows turned around, they saw one of the Haitian men in a struggle with his friend. Mr Handfield said Mr Smith won that brief struggle by managing to throw his assailant overboard. However, he said as soon as Mr Smith did that, another Haitian was upon him. “The other one was behind him with the knife trying to jook (sic) him,” Mr Handfield explained. “So (Mr Smith) end up jumping overboard. That’s when the next set come dash at me and Eddington.” Mr Handfield said he and Mr Burrows put up a “brief struggle” with their assailants, who were brandishing machetes, but said they were quickly overpowered as they were outnumbered, and unarmed. As a result, he said, he and Mr Burrows jumped into the water to avoid being injured. The hijackers, meanwhile, sped off in their boat, which he said contained their gas, about four Grouper fish they had caught, and some crawfish.
“They take everything,” Mr Handfield said. “The only thing we was left with was the clothes we had on.” Mr Handfield said at that point, he and Messrs Smith and Burrows were at least a mile out to sea. So he said the trio ended up swimming to shore. Once safely on land, Mr Handfield said they trekked for several hours before encountering some other locals, who tended to them and took them back into town. The Tribune tried contacting senior police officials on the island for
comment, but were unsuccessful up to press time. Nonetheless, Mr Handfield told The Tribune that the incident left him and his friends shaken up. He said while talking to different people about the ordeal has helped him to cope with the trauma, the memories of the incident continue to haunt him. “I don’t sleep at night,” he said. “I barely sleep. At nights, when I go to sleep, that replays in my mind and I just keep jumping up. So I don’t get good sleep at night no more.” Mr Handfield said adding to the trauma of the entire
ordeal was the fact that his two young children were traumatised as well. “They were shaken up,” he said. “They called me crying.” Mr Handfield said going forward, he won’t go fishing unless he’s armed with a licenced firearm. “I’m not going to go back to sea like that again without a weapon, no,” he said when asked. He added: “Way out there, they could have killed us, and then nobody even know nothing, because everybody just know we just gone out diving and was coming right back.”
PAGE 8, Monday, November 18, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18TH, 2019
THE STORIES BEHIND THE NEWS
EXTENSIVE damage from Hurricane Dorian can be seen in this aerial photo over Abaco, pictured on September 4
By SYANN THOMPSON Tribune Staff Reporter sthompson@tribunemedia.net HURRICANE Dorian has been nothing short of apocalyptic for many survivors who escaped the Category 5 hurricane’s fury over Abaco and Grand Bahama. While it is possible rebuilding the infrastructure of these islands could run into the billions, a greater cost is the rebuilding the lives of the survivors. Renowned Bahamian psychiatrist Dr David Allen says that from his decades of experience, traumatic events such as Dorian shake the fabric of a community by causing increase in murders, domestic violence, other violent crimes and car accidents. Due to the grave impact Dorian had on The Bahamas, Dr Allen, pictured right, said in some cases, people’s animal instincts begin take over and they start to live on automatic pilot. He said: “You would have noticed after Hurricane Dorian our murder rate kept tipping up to sometimes four or five per week and that was very hard. When Dorian hit it was like everything was out of whack and this is a common thing to happen to a community as a whole when there is a traumatic event of this nature.” The murder statistics show that since Dorian struck on September 1, the murder rate increased from September 4 when there was one killing, thereafter on September 6 four people died, September 8 and 15 one person each day, September 16 recorded three and September 17 documented two murders. Nevertheless, Dr Allen remains resolute that there is still much hope and that the Bahamian community must work harder at not only rebuilding infrastructure but be just as aggressive in rebuilding people through dealing with their mental health and wellness. In The Bahamas quality private mental health care is available to a relative few, but Dr Allen and his team of therapists over the years have been working to provide more people access to sources of mental health wellness groups. Dr Allen established ‘The Family’ - a group therapy
Rebuilding homes is easy, putting lives back together is the biggest challenge programme which exists in various locations throughout New Providence including Kemp Road, East Street, Collins Avenue and Grace Avenue. He said: “There will never be enough mental health professionals and that is one of the reasons we started The Family. If you take a cone, the top third of the cone can afford private mental health care and the bottom two thirds and more can’t. Through our programme funded by the Templeton World Charity Foundation, we have been able to bring help to hundreds of people in the last year eight years. We have been able to see a decrease in violence, a decrease in depression, a decrease in suicidality, a decrease in shame and a decrease in loneliness and a decrease in destructive relationships and we’ve seen an increase in forgiveness and a lack of revenge.” One of the participants in The Family group therapy, Ruby Mitchell is a teacher at Agape Christian School in Abaco. Ms Mitchell described her experience of Dorian in Abaco as horrifying. In the middle of the storm she had to escape her home with her three children in order to survive. With the three children crying, one on her back and facing her worst fears, she was determined to get out of her home and get to a neighbour’s house. She said: “Just to sit down and think about everything I lost it’s depressing.
Everything I had is gone I have nothing left. I recently bought a car earlier this year and that is destroyed and I didn’t even have it a year yet. But I really try not to think about it.” Ms Mitchell’s youngest daughter continues to talk about Dorian every day. In recent rainy weather she was afraid and asked if Dorian was coming back. ms Mitchell who lost her husband to a car accident almost a year ago - said that it has been difficult facing the storm and its aftermath without him. Attending The Family group therapy has allowed her to express herself freely. She said: “I have been praying a lot and asking God to keep me and my children and to cover our minds. It’s (The Family) been helping me and I get to talk about everything. So, it helps, it helps me to cope with everything. And I really have to be strong for my children, they look up to me, they depend on me for everything, especially after their dad passed away, so I have to be strong for them. Dorian was Troy Seymour’s fourth hurricane deployment, and was by far the most life altering experience he has had in working a hurricane. He is a Marine Seaman with The Royal Bahamas Defence Force. He also participates
in The Family therapy group. Mr Seymour said: “It was a mixture of dealing with a lot of people who were just broken-hearted. From single mothers, single fathers and married couples not knowing what tomorrow may be like for them, not knowing where they were going to rest their head for the night. I’ve seen fathers break down and cry because they did not know what would be the next step in preserving their family.” Seymour said while he was happy to do his part while working, Dorian was a traumatic experience for him, but also one that taught him countless life lessons and to appreciate the small things that are daily taken for granted. One of the duties Seymour carried out was delivering food. He explained that something as simple as Bahamians throwing out leftovers because they do not want to eat the same thing for dinner from the day before, is someone else’s prized possession. He said: “I was touched by a seven-year old girl who made a song for me about ham sandwiches. She did that because for several days in a row that’s what we had to feed people, but she and her family was so appreciative that they had
something to eat. In that environment where everything has been taken away from you and you have stripped to the bare bones and some of those bones have even been taken away, something as simple as a ham sandwich becomes gold to you. “ In the midst of working, Seymour had not heard from his mother is 72 hours but could not search for her while he was on duty. Eventually he was able to find her. He said: “At that point I had to ask God to give me peace to accept if my mother was dead or alive. Because I did not know what was going on with her, it’s easy to worry. When I did find her, she held me so tight and just cried.” For people who were survivors, Seymour as a defence force officer felt that in addition to his other duties, it was also his job to help people to encourage people to move on, let them know that with each step it will get better. He said: “It was a very humbling, trying time and I was filled with emotions that I didn’t know I could express. When I came back to Nassau after 40 days in Abaco I went to the stove to make something to eat and I just stood there for five minutes staring, I couldn’t move I didn’t know what to do. I did not realise that in working in Abaco I took away certain feelings and emotions. Eventually I was able to cook. My coping has been
going to therapy twice per week and talking about my experience.” As a man, Seymour realises that men are not normally open to therapy or sharing tough emotional experiences for fear of society’s judgement. He explained: “I believe that men need to find a healthy way to express their emotions instead of suppressing them. Especially from a man’s perspective because society says to us, ‘Be a man, stand up and be strong, don’t cry, you can handle it, be tough’. That is a very dangerous approach, men too need to speak to somebody, men too need to release these emotions.” In continuing to meet the mental wellness needs of those hurting, Dr Allen and his team of professionals have had to train lay persons to help with trauma to meet the increase in demand. These are people who he says, because of their own personal trauma have been able to be effective in helping others. To date, Dr Allen and his team of psychiatrists and trained therapists have been making their rounds in Abaco and Grand Bahama. Some years ago, ‘The Family’ group therapy started in places like places like Green Turtle Cay and Man-O-War Cay, but Dr Allen is anticipating there will be great need for group therapy in Marsh Harbour and various areas in Abaco and Grand Bahama even after communities are rebuilt.
PAGE 10 MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2019
INSIGHT
Rubbing salt in the wounds - BPL is playing a risky game By MALCOLM STRACHAN
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HERE has to be somebody else in the country pinching themselves to see if they’re living in the real world after BPL announced its plans to introduce a rate reduction
bond and deemed the Bahamian people as its financiers. Yes, you heard it correctly. The same BPL that pulled the plug on the entire country for the better part of this year’s scorching hot summer is slapping its whopping $300 millionplus debt burden on the Bahamian people. And those of us that pay our bills on time can expect to
carry the brunt of the load. With the private sector currently owing $125 million in unpaid electricity bills, there should be little assurance that BPL will somehow magically do a complete turnaround on its debt collection, as on far too many occasions the embattled utility provider has shown itself less than capable of doing so.
EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net
FOREVER the optimist, Dr Moxey predicts costs will be significantly lower once BPL fully transitions out of the power generation business and its gas to power facilities are fully on stream
Outlining BPL’s debt collection woes this week, chairman Dr Donovan Moxey revealed that $66 million of the monies owed to BPL is more than 90 days past due, along with $7 million being more than 60 days overdue. Making matters worse, most of these companies employ Bahamians and would likely opt to lay off workers if their power costs were to rise any further. Forever the optimist, Dr Moxey predicts costs will be significantly lower once BPL fully transitions out of the power generation business and its gas to power facilities are fully on stream. With that not taking place until sometime next year, the Bahamian people find little comfort in Moxey’s predictions. Again, bless his heart, he also previously predicted we would have a blackoutfree summer, and we all know how that panned out. It turned out to be a disaster of epic proportions with New Providence left in darkness for the majority of the summer and heading into the fall. It has been an absolute nightmare. Now, with the Bahamian people forced to accept an additional charge on their BPL bill – one can only imagine the collective rage felt by the general public. Speaking to the general frustration last week, Opposition deputy leader Chester Cooper sounded off on the additional BPL charge at a PLP branch meeting. “Guess how they want to pay for that? With a new fee on your bill. With a new BPL tax. Guess who will pay that? You. You, and your wife, and your children and the poor and the struggling business owner and the big business owner who will start to lay off and pass on the new BPL tax to the consumer. “So, your light bill at
home will be higher thanks to the new BPL tax. So, your light bill at work, and at your business will be higher thanks to the new BPL tax and the FNM (Free National Movement). And the cost of goods and services will be higher, thanks to the new BPL tax.” While Cooper’s rant was most likely designed to rile his party’s base, there is without a doubt a national disdain for BPL that allows his message to resonate with the wider population. Also addressing the matter, Deputy Prime Minister Peter Turnquest, did little to quell the frustrations of the Bahamian people, only offering an ultimatum – either be taxed by the government or pay higher BPL bills. Surely the Bahamian people found little comfort in the acting prime minister’s words. While the nation’s chief was away opening an embassy as this bombshell dropped, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, in August, after referring to BPL’s failures and the aggravation being experienced by the citizenry as a state of crisis, committed the government to resolving BPL’s issues. What followed was rental generation in the shortterm, but the Bahamian people expected something else – not to pay more funds for a defective service. Nonetheless, as we set emotions aside, BPL’s legacy issues under successive administrations have unfortunately brought us to this crossroads. And worse, there’s no scenario being presented that doesn’t hit taxpayers’ pocketbooks. Still, however, Prime Minister Minnis must be very cognizant of the road he and his colleagues are about to embark upon. Must we remind everyone that apart from crime and corruption, BPL and its towering effect on the cost
of living and doing business has historically been a pain for citizens and businesspeople – largely leading to the former administration falling out of favour with the Bahamian people. Two and a half years into this term, and two deals with Shell and Wartsila later, further removing us from a path towards renewable energy, the government’s proposed national energy policy leading up to the 2017 election seems like a farce. Even considering the launch of a solar car park and Grand Bahama Power’s implementation of a solar grid this past year, we’re still taking two steps forward and 20 steps back with electricity largely being generated from oil and gas. The government is not fully invested in a shift towards renewable energy and public relations stunts on the periphery aren’t going to move the needle. That said, what’s needed is that the Bahamian people must learn from the government what additional steps are going to be taken to ramp up efforts toward the goal of 30 percent solarisation by 2030 – a step-by-step process indicating what checks and balances are going to be put in place to ensure the goal posts aren’t shifted. Because as we see it, BPL is continuing to be shoved down the throats of its consumers. Moreover, New Providence, the most populous island needs a solution that, up until this point, BPL has fallen short of too many times to secure the faith of its customers. The Minnis administration must be very careful with regards to BPL and the promises they are betting on. Because rest assured, if the goal posts continue to move on when some relief is going to come, the voting public’s minds will be firmly made up.
THE MINNIS administration must be careful with regards to BPL and the promises they are betting on.
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ALLED by any other name, there was a coup d’état in Bolivia on November 10. To be clear, an elected president and the government were forcibly removed from office. The term in office of Evo Morales, as President of Bolivia, does not expire until January 21, 2020. When the Head of the Military, Williams Kaliman, told Morales to resign last Sunday Morales had good reason to understand that if he did not do so his life was seriously at risk. In the weeks since October 20, when elections were held to decide on the candidates contesting for the Presidency, of whom Morales was one, violence plagued Bolivia. Armed groups attacked civilians, particularly members of the indigenous people as well as officials and members of Morales’ family. His sister’s house was set on fire; the President of Bolivia’s Congress resigned after his brother was kidnapped; the director of a radio station was taken hostage, brutalised and tied to a tree. In the worst atrocity of all, the Mayor of the town of Vinto, Patricia Arce, was detained by armed thugs who shaved her hair, doused her with paint, forced her to walk barefoot through the town, made her kneel down and instructed her to beg for forgiveness for supporting Morales. She didn’t. But, in a show of their power, the group that carried out this outrage, video recorded the entire ugly incident and distributed it on social media. Morales, therefore, knew quite well that when he was told to resign by the Head of the Military, it was resign or else. In vile efforts to justify support for the overthrow of a validly elected President whose term was still in force, some neighbouring governments have stated that Morales resigned, seeking asylum in Mexico, because he recognised he had lost the October 20 election, and that the people wanted him out. This convenient but manufactured version of history is now being promoted in hemispheric and international organisations. Foreign Ministries in some big countries that spend a great deal of time
INSIGHT
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2019 PAGE 11
Don’t believe the story we’ve been fed - there was a coup d’état in Bolivia and effort briefing the media in their own countries, have succeeded in getting those media to repeat their preferred narrative. Regrettably, media in the Caribbean and other developing countries, dependent on the global media networks, have repeated the manufactured version of events without question. And, because governments in developing countries, including in the Caribbean, treat their involvement in international matters as if it is a ‘foreign affair’ unrelated to the lives of their people, Ministries of Foreign Affairs do not brief their own media, nor do they open themselves to questioning on why they take positions on international issues. The result is the version of events by big countries and their global media prevails. There are other facts, however, and they should be known, because when constitutionality and the rule of law are violated and a government is overthrown by fiat of the military, every democratic country is at risk, especially when those actions are justified by external forces. Following the October 20 Presidential elections in Bolivia over which there
was controversy, including allegations of fraud, the Government of Bolivia, on October 22, requested the Secretary-General of the Organization of American States (OAS) to conduct an audit of the elections. On the same day, the Secretary-General agreed the requested audit would be undertaken, insisting the conclusions of the audit would be binding upon the parties taking part in the process. Subsequently, on October 24, the Permanent Council of the OAS was advised at a meeting attended by the Bolivian Foreign Minister, that the audit would be undertaken, and its terms would be enforced and satisfied. Four days later, on October 31, the OAS deployed the audit team to Bolivia. Ten days later, on Sunday, November 10, the OAS Secretary-General authorised the posting on the Organisation’s website of the result of the audit which, among other things, stated that: “Given all the irregularities observed, it is impossible to guarantee the integrity of the data and certify the accuracy of the results.” Within minutes of the report’s publication on the OAS website, President
COCA leaf producers, supporters of former President Evo Morales, march in Bolivia on Saturday Morales – still the constitutionally elected head of government – announced that, in keeping with the terms of the audit new elections would be held, and the existing members of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal would be replaced. The AttorneyGeneral even ordered an investigation into the conduct of the members of the tribunal. All of this was fully in keeping with the agreement between the Bolivian government and the OAS. Fresh elections, properly supervised, would be conducted. Nonetheless, the Head of the Military told Morales to resign while violence reigned unchecked against targeted members of the government and others. Government ministers and others sought sanctuary in the Mexican Embassy and the Mexican
government, which called the removal of Morales “a coup d’état”, gave him asylum in Mexico. On November 12, the military installed the Vice President of the Senate, an opposition official, Jeanine Añez, as President of the country. Social media videos are replete with images of her being sashed by the military. Remarkably, there was no quorum at the sham session of the parliament at which she was ostensibly elected. She, is therefore, illegally installed – something that a few neighbouring governments are trying to get the OAS – and the world - to ignore by proposing a resolution that would “confirm on an urgent basis”, the “designation” of Añez as the provisional President. There is obvious need for an end to violence in Bolivia and for elections
to be held swiftly under the supervision of a credible commission and in a transparent manner. But, there is no guarantee of this under the illegally installed provisional President, especially in light of her own published and posted racist statements about indigenous Bolivians. Bolivia is set to remain in turmoil, unless external forces turn to constructive engagement and away from self-interested meddling. The writer is Ambassador of Antigua and Barbuda to the United States and the Organization of American States. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London and at Massey College in the University of Toronto. The views expressed are entirely his own. Responses and previous commentaries: www. sirronaldsanders.com
PAGE 12 MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2019
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Protesters recall a Haitian hero - but was he a freedom fighter or despot? By JULIA GAFFIELD Associate Professor of History, Georgia State University
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RADICAL, unlikely figure has emerged as the icon of Haiti’s months-long protests against President Jovenel Moïse, who stands accused of embezzling millions in public funds.
That figure is JeanJacques Dessalines, the black Haitian revolutionary who defeated the French to free Haiti from colonial rule in 1804. By summoning Dessalines, Haitian protesters implicitly contrast the achievements of that revolution – freedom, universal citizenship and racial equality – with the disappointments of the Moïse government. Dessalines wrote a radical constitution that eliminated racial hierarchy,
established equality before the law and instituted freedom of religion in Haiti. One of Haiti’s opposition political parties is called “Pitit Dessalines” – Children of Dessalines. When demonstrations began last year, simple stencilled images of Dessalines wearing a military hat and holding a protest sign appeared on walls across the capital. This year, at several marches, men in revolutionary-era garb have ridden the streets of
Port-au-Prince on horseback. They were waving Dessalines’ red-and-black version of the Haitian flag inscribed with the words “Viv Lib ou Mouri” – “Live Free or Die.” A commitment to equality I am writing a biography of Dessalines, who has long been overshadowed outside of Haiti by the formerly enslaved revolutionary leader Toussaint
JEAN-JACQUES DESSALINES, the black Haitian revolutionary who defeated the French to free Haiti from colonial rule in 1804 Louverture, who is often heralded as Haiti’s founding father despite dying before independence. My research on the diplomacy and statebuilding practices of Dessalines, conducted using archives from the Caribbean, North America and Europe, shows the Americas’ first black head of state to be a groundbreaking enlightenment thinker and revolutionary leader. At the time of his birth, around 1758, Haiti – then a French Caribbean slavery-based colony called Saint-Domingue – was the most lucrative colony in the world. By the time of Dessalines’ 1806 assassination, it was the Americas’ first sovereign abolitionist state. Though European and American powers refused to recognise the young nation, Dessalines steadfastly rebuffed any concession to world powers that might undermine Haiti’s hard-won independence. In early 1804, Dessalines even declined to sign a treaty with the British governor of Jamaica that would have given Haiti diplomatic recognition. The reason: It would have limited Haitian sea travel and allowed the British to occupy a strategic fort. A few months before, when Dessalines discovered that white Frenchmen were plotting to overthrow his government, he ordered the execution of all remaining French people in Haiti. Some women and children were targeted in these public executions. White world leaders took note of Dessalines’ gruesome retaliation against the French, which may have contributed to Haiti’s diplomatic isolation in the early 19th century. Haiti’s independence would go unrecognised until 1825, when France finally conceded it had lost the war. To maintain Haitian autonomy, Dessalines’ constitution also declared that only Haitian citizens and the Haitian government could own land and property in Haiti. But he also established a policy of offering refuge in Haiti for the downtrodden and oppressed of the Americas. In the decades to come, Haiti would welcome 13,000 African Americans who fled racial discrimination in the southern U.S. and many others fleeing slavery in the Caribbean islands. Dessalines is the only Haitian revolutionary to have been incorporated into the Haitian religion as a spirit, named Ogou Desalin. Among Haitian spirits, the Ogou are known as warriors. Ogou Desalin is the warrior who defends liberty. Wanted: government accountability This legacy underpins Haitians’ desire for a new kind of independence – an existence free of predatory leaders and reliance on international aid that comes with strings attached. After the 2010 earthquake, many Haitians hoped the devastation
would inspire positive change. Instead, the influx of foreign aid and global investment in Haiti opened the door for the corruption that has tainted Haiti’s last two leaders. Moïse’s predecessor, Michel Martelly, departed office amid scandal in February 2016 without a successor in place, leaving the country with a provisional government. Moïse, a businessman who was Martelly’s chosen successor, became president in February 2017 with 56 percent of the vote. To deter the fraud that had marred recent presidential elections in Haiti, monitors from the Organization of American States supervised the vote. But many Haitians still doubted that Moise’s victory was legitimate. By late 2017, Haitians had learned that Moïse was implicated in an embezzlement scheme involving $2 billion meant to finance infrastructure development in the country. The pillaged funds came from an international organisation called PetroCaribe, which sells Venezuelan gas and oil to Caribbean countries at reduced cost to free up money for development. Under Martelly and Moïse, Haiti’s extra money seems to have disappeared. To make matters worse, Venezuela’s own political and economic crisis has rendered the PetroCaribe programme unable to meet Haiti’s oil and gas needs, creating an acute gas shortage. In mid-2018, Haiti’s government raised the cost of gas by 38 percent. Saying they are suffering the direct consequences of government corruption, angry Haitians have demanded Moïse’s resignation. The president, who has largely retreated from the public eye, refuses. Legacies of imperialism Dessalines’ track record as a leader was not perfect, either. Shortly after he overthrew French rule, Dessalines declared himself emperor of Haiti and revived the plantation system that revolutionaries had just burned to the ground. Field workers were called “cultivateurs,” and they received some pay or a share of their crop. However, they were bound to a specific plantation. This form of coerced labour resembled the U.S. sharecropping system and others that arose across the Americas after slavery ended. Two centuries after his assassination in 1806, some still consider Dessalines a barbarous despot. To others, he is an uncompromising freedom fighter. Both of these conflicting portrayals reduce Dessalines to a one-dimensional character. The protesters inspired by his legacy aren’t necessarily ignoring Dessalines’ shortcomings. Instead, they are championing his unwavering determination to rid the country of foreign rule so that Haitians could live “by ourselves and for ourselves”. theconversation.com
PAGE 14, Monday, November 18, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
DEMOCRATS INVITE TRUMP TO TESTIFY IN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY WASHINGTON Associated Press
DEMOCRATIC House Speaker Nancy Pelosi invited President Donald Trump to testify in front of investigators in the House impeachment inquiry ahead of a week that will see several key witnesses appear publicly. Pushing back against accusations from the president that the process has been stacked against him, Pelosi said Trump is welcome to appear or answer questions in writing, if he chooses. “If he has information that is exculpatory, that means ex, taking away, culpable, blame, then we
look forward to seeing it,” she said. Trump “could come right before the committee and talk, speak all the truth that he wants if he wants,” she said. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer echoed that suggestion. “If Donald Trump doesn’t agree with what he’s hearing, doesn’t like what he’s hearing, he shouldn’t tweet. He should come to the committee and testify under oath. And he should allow all those around him to come to the committee and testify under oath,” Schumer told reporters. The comments come as the House Intelligence Committee
prepares for a second week of public hearings as part of its inquiry, including with the man who is arguably the most important witness. Gordon Sondland, Trump’s ambassador to the European Union, is among the only people interviewed to date who had direct conversations with the president about the situation because the White House has blocked others from cooperating with what they dismiss as a sham investigation. And testimony suggests he was intimately involved in discussions that are at the heart of the investigation into whether Trump held up U.S. military aid to Ukraine to try to
HOUSE Speaker Nancy Pelosi
pressure the county’s president to announce an investigation into Democrats, including former Vice President Joe Biden, a leading 2020 candidate, and his son, Hunter. Multiple witnesses overheard a phone call in which Trump and Sondland reportedly discussed efforts to push for the investigations. In private testimony to impeachment investigators made public on Saturday, Tim Morrison, a former National Security Council aide and longtime Republican defense hawk, said Sondland told him he was discussing Ukraine matters directly with Trump.
HONG KONG POLICE STORM UNIVERSITY HONG KONG Associated Press
PRINCE Andrew is interviewed by the BBC’s Emily Maitlis on Newsnight.
It never happened. Prince Andrew denies sex claims LONDON Associated Press PRINCE Andrew has offered a detailed rebuttal to claims he had sex with a woman who says she was trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein, providing an alibi for one of the alleged encounters and questioning the authenticity of a wellknown photograph that shows him posing with the woman. In a rare interview with BBC’s Newsnight, the prince categorically denied having sex with the woman, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, saying, “It didn’t happen.” He said he has “no
recollection” of ever meeting her and told an interviewer there are “a number of things that are wrong” about Giuffre’s account. Giuffre has said Epstein forced her to have sex with Andrew in 2001 when she was 17. She says Epstein flew her around the world on his private planes to have sex with powerful men, and that she had sexual encounters with Andrew in London and New York and in the U.S. Virgin Islands. “I can absolutely categorically tell you it never happened,” Andrew said. PrinceAndrew’s decision
to grant the interview was seen in Britain as a highstakes gamble in a country where the royals don’t normally talk with reporters on subjects beyond their charitable works. The nation’s newspapers speculated that the prince thought he had no other choice after months of tawdry headlines that threatened his ability to continue working as a royal. In the wide-ranging interview, the prince suggested a photograph Giuffre produced of her posing with Andrew could have been doctored, saying he “can’t be certain” that it actually shows his hand on the woman’s side. He said he was “at a loss to explain” the image, adding he is not given to public displays of affection. He said it also shows him wearing “travelling clothes,” noting he typically wears a suit and tie when he goes out in London, where
the photograph purportedly was taken. “I’m afraid to say that I don’t believe that photograph was taken in the way that has been suggested,” he said. “If the original was ever produced, then perhaps we might be able to solve it but I can’t.” Confronted with details of Giuffre’s claims, Andrew insisted he was home with his children on one of the nights Giuffre claims they had sex, saying it “couldn’t have happened.” He said he specifically recalled taking his daughter to a party at a Pizza Express that afternoon. The prince sought to cast doubt on other parts of Giuffre’s account, including her recollection of him sweating on her as they danced in a London night club. He told the BBC he has a “peculiar medical condition, which is that I don’t sweat or I didn’t sweat at the time” after suffering an
“overdose of adrenaline” after being shot at in the Falklands War, the 1982 conflict between Argentina and the United Kingdom. “It was almost impossible for me to sweat,” he said. Andrew also said he regrets not cutting ties with Epstein after the financier pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting a minor for prostitution in Florida under a deal that required him to serve 13 months in jail and register as a sex offender. He saw Epstein following his release from custody in Florida and stayed at his New York mansion for several days. He said he ended his friendship with Epstein during that visit and did not have further contact with him. “It was the wrong decision to go and see him in 2010,” Andrew said. “I kick myself for (it) on a daily basis because it was not something that was becoming of a member of the royal family.”
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A COCA leaf producer kneels holding a Bible at the weekend asking police to open the way so a march by backers of former President Evo Morales may continue.
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POLICE stormed into a Hong Kong university campus held by protesters early today after an all-night siege that included firing repeated barrages of tear gas and water cannons. Anti-government protesters barricaded themselves inside Hong Kong Polytechnic University for days, fighting back with gasoline bombs and bows and arrows. Police surrounded the area last night and began moving in after issuing an ultimatum for people to leave the area. The crowd wore raincoats and carried umbrellas to shield themselves. Riot officers broke in before dawn as fires raged inside and outside the school. Earlier in the day, protesters used bows and arrows, and one arrow struck a media liaison officer in the calf. Photos on the department’s Facebook page show the arrow sticking out of the back of the officer’s leg through his pants. As riot police moved in from all sides, some protesters retreated inside the university. Others set fires on bridges leading to it. A huge blaze burned along much of a long footbridge that connects a train station to the campus over the approach to the CrossHarbour Tunnel, a major road under Hong Kong’s harbor that has been blocked by the protesters for days. The use of bows and arrows and catapultlaunched gasoline bombs threatened to escalate the violence in the more than five-month anti-government movement. Protesters are trying to keep the pressure on Hong Kong leaders, who have rejected most of their demands. The protests were sparked by proposed legislation that would have allowed the extradition of criminal suspects to the mainland. Activists saw it as an erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy under the “one country, two systems” formula implemented in 1997, when Britain returned the territory to China.
BOLIVIA CRISIS EXPOSES OLD DIVIDES LA PAZ , Bolivia Associated Press
BOLIVIA’S increasingly violent political crisis is exposing historical racial, ethnic and geographic divides that many thought had been overcome after 14 years of rule by the Andean nation’s first indigenous president and a new “plurinational” constitution, analysts say. While regionally Sunday’s
resignation of Evo Morales marked the exit of the last member of the wave of leftist leaders who took power in South America in recent decades, inside Bolivia the departure of the president who had stabilised the chronically unstable nation was a political earthquake that has re-opened old cracks. Analysts say the movement to oust Morales was an urban middle-class
revolt against what opponents said was fraud in his re-election and his repeated bids to retool the constitution to extend his rule through four terms. With Morales living in exile in Mexico, largely rural indigenous protesters, some coca leaf growers, are now filling the streets to demand the return of the Aymara former president. Sir Ronald Sanders - Page 11
RAPPER Kanye West told parishioners at Joel Osteen’s Houston megachurch yesterday that his recent spiritual awakening has made him realise he’s no longer in the service to fame and money but “in service to God.” West spoke at Lakewood Church during an interview with Osteen. West told parishioners about his recent conversion to Christianity and how God has been guiding him. “I know that God has been calling me for a long time and the devil has been distracting me for a long time,” West said. He added that at his lowest point, when he was hospitalised in 2016 after a “mental breakdown,” God “was there with me, sending me visions and inspiring me.”
THE TRIBUNE
Monday, November 18, 2019, PAGE 15
Absent Nygard told he faces 90 days in prison By SYANN THOMPSON Tribune Staff Reporter sthompson@tribunemedia.net CANADIAN fashion mogul Peter Nygard was sentenced to 90 days in prison and fined in the Supreme Court on Friday after being found in contempt of court. Nygard was not present for the hearing. Justice Ruth BoweDarville handed down her judgment and sentenced Nygard to 90 days imprisonment and fined him $150,000, which was ordered to be paid within seven days. If he does not turn himself over to police or pay the fine, the judge ordered that he would spend an additional 30 days in prison and fined $5,000 for each day the fine is unpaid. Nygard has been the subject of numerous contempt orders and was sentenced on Friday for a contempt of court in a case centreing on the theft of emails from Save The Bays, an advocacy group. The emails surfaced in an affidavit exhibited by lawyer Keod Smith, one of Nygard’s Bahamian lawyers who represented the Canadian in an earlier contempt hearing. Later, the lawyers for STB secured an injunction preventing Nygard and Keod Smith from perusing, publishing or disseminating any information contained within the emails. Justice Bowe-Darville also ordered that in seven days, Nygard must make a full apology to the court giving full and verifiable reasons for his non-appearance and also assure the court in writing that he
FASHION mogul Peter Nygard was not present at court. would discontinue using the emails which were the subject of a February 2019 injunction in New York court proceedings. Nygard will have to pay an additional fine of $5,000 in both instances if he does not apologise and discontinue using the said emails. Counsel for Nygard, Rouchard Martin, requested a stay of the order for several reasons including that it would be unjust for his client to spend time in prison considering the case has a real prospect of success in the Court of Appeal. The attorney said that Nygard was not properly served in accordance with the rules of the Supreme Court; therefore, these grounds should
give the court reason to stay the order. Justice Bowe-Darville rejected the request stating that the order includes adhering to the original injunction which remains in place. She said that there was zero injustice in the case and moreover, the defendant is not in the jurisdiction. Justice BoweDarville stated that any further application for a stay of the order should be made to the Court of Appeal. Julian Malins - an attorney for Fred Smith, QC, who is legal director of Save the Bays, and the Coalition to Protect Clifton Bay - in reacting to the judgment told reporters “justice has been done”.