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Volume: 120 No.253, November 25, 2022
THE PEOPLE’S PAPER: PRICE–$1
GOVT PAY RISES ‘IN TIME FOR HOLIDAYS’ Minister says aim is for salary increases as union hints at action By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS lmunnings@tribunemedia.net STATE Public Service Minister Pia Glover-Rolle said yesterday that the government is aiming to roll out proposed salary increases for public servants before the holidays. Her comments came after a local daily reported that Bahamas Public Service Union president Kimsley Ferguson hinted at industrial action during an appearance on a local radio show. Mr Ferguson also said that the union sent a letter to the Office of the Prime Minister at the beginning of the month, however, there
has been no response to date. Yesterday, the Golden Gates MP told this newspaper that the government has submitted a proposal to the BPSU and is awaiting a response from the union. Earlier this month, the government was said to have finalised and presented its proposal on salary increases to BPSU, which among other raises, would see over 2,000 public officers receive higher wages — up to five increments in the first year as a result of the minimum wage increase. SEE PAGE THREE
A 73-YEAR-OLD Grand Bahama man convicted of having unlawful sexual intercourse with an eight-year-old girl was labeled a repeated child sex offender who should serve a prison term of 12 years, a Crown prosecutor submitted to the Supreme Court. Norman Ferguson appeared before Justice
Andrew Forbes yesterday for sentencing after he was found guilty on September 28 at his trial. He was also convicted in 2001 of attempting to commit a similar crime and had served five years in prison. In her submission, prosecutor Erica Kemp said the convict’s history shows he has the propensity for sexually abusing children. SEE PAGE SEVEN
By JADE RUSSELL jrussell@tribunemedia.net NATIONAL Security Minister Wayne Munroe said there was a policeinvolved shooting in Turks and Caicos which has left one Bahamian man dead, noting the incident involved members of the Royal Bahamas Police Force who were assisting the island. According to the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force, the incident occurred on Wednesday around 11am. TCI Commissioner of Police Trevor Botting gave an update on the policeinvolved shooting. “At around 11am today (November 23) a police operation was carried out in the Dock Yard area on Providenciales. During this operation, a group of men, who were believed to be carrying firearms, were challenged by police officers.” SEE PAGE FOUR
PLP WILL PAY GOVT BACK ‘IN NEXT WEEKS’
MAN ‘SHOULD SERVE 12 YEARS’ FOR REPEATED SEX OFFENCES By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net
BAHAMIAN IS SHOT DEAD BY TURKS AND CAICOS POLICE
By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net
SONGS OF THANKS THE SINGING BISHOP, Lawrence Rolle, performing at a Thanksgiving lunch for senior citizens at the Pat Senior Home yesterday. See PAGE FOUR for more pictures. Photo: Austin Fernander
PAPERS SHOW MISSED TARGETS AT BAHA MAR By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net SARKIS Izmirlian received more than three months’ warning from Baha Mar’s major resort partner that it would only begin accepting bookings from June 1, 2015, as its target opening was “not a viable option”. Hyatt’s alarm-sounding letter is among a batch of previously undisclosed documents revealed by China
SARKIS IZMIRLIAN Construction America (CCA) in its bid to prove that Baha Mar’s original developer had known the
revised March 27, 2015, opening deadline would be impossible to achieve. However, some of the evidence the Chinese state-owned contractor is relying upon appears to torpedo its own case - as it reveals CCA was not “achieving the revised targets” agreed by the parties in November 2014 as they sought to get the Cable Beach mega resort back on track. FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS
Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper
PRESS secretary Clint Watson says he suspects that the Public Treasury will be reimbursed for Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis’ controversial trip to Bermuda by the Progressive Liberal Party in the next week or two. Speaking to reporters yesterday, he said the PLP is ready to make additional payments and is only waiting to receive paperwork from the relevant authorities to begin the financial transactions. He did not reveal the amount owed. SEE PAGE THREE
DIANE PHILLIPS:
ANYONE FOR ISLAND HOPPING?
SEE PAGE NINE