03242023 NEWS, SPORT AND BUSINESS

$1BN PLAN ‘BIGGER THAN BAKER’S BAY’

Former NFL star part of ten-hotel,10,000-acre San Salvador scheme

By YOURI KEMP and NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Reporters

A DEVELOPER yesterday disclosed it is seeking to develop a “bigger and more exclusive” version of Baker’s Bay on 10,000 acres of San Salvador land through a $1bn investment over the next five years.

Simon Tolan, development director for New World Developments, told Tribune Business the project is ready to begin construction in the 2023 third quarter if it obtains

all the necessary government approvals after partnering with Emmanuel Alexiou, the Bahamian founder of Sunco Builders, who owns much of the required land.

“We’re starting in he third quarter of this year and we’re going to be building ten hotels, a golf course, a sports academy and sort of like a Baker’s Bay, but just bigger and more exclusive,” he said. “This project is going to be done in phases, but it’s a $500m to $1bn spend over the next five years.

OUTGOING MONEY TRANSFERS

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE BAHAMAS has “reason to be concerned” about the “growing trend” of outbound money transfers that hit $136m in 2022 as it represents incomes that are lost to this nation, it was argued yesterday.

Jeffrey Beckles, Island Pay’s managing director,

told Tribune Business that the increasing sums involved largely represent “wages that are earned here but not spent here” thus depriving the Bahamian economy of consumption-related expenditure that studies have shown typically drives two-thirds of all activity.

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS Tribune Staff Reporter lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

A NEW multi-million dollar airport in Cat Island will feature modern and

sustainable designs, part of a larger plan to boost investments

OPPOSITION EXPECTED ON POSSIBLE SIN TAX

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune News Editor rrolle@tribunemedia.net

HEALTH Minister Dr Michael Darville said likely opposition from local producers of sugary beverages is a key obstacle preventing the government from racing to introduce a sin tax.

His comment came after Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis said his administration is exploring “different tax structures for fruits and vegetables versus

sugary and processed foods.”

Mr Davis made the comment at an event launching a new wellness unit in

the Ministry of Health & Wellness.

“I am pushing (for a tax),” Dr Darville told The Tribune, “but I have to push from the health perspective. I am only the Ministry of Health. The Ministry of Finance has to ultimately make the decision and it has to be a discussion with the wholesale food distributors as well as the local beverage manufacturers in the country. You take,

‘REASON TO BE CONCERNED’

New airport terminal to ‘revitalise’ Cat Island

Officials did not reveal the contractors for the project.

“We are satisfied that we will be able to get this done, either through borrowings and funding by way of revenue receipts and that’s all I’ll say right now,” Mr Davis said.

“We are well on the way, we should have the contractor signed up within the next week and a half I think, and he will be mobilised shortly thereafter and the work will begin.”

Mr Davis said the facility will be a tier two airport,

meaning “it will serve as a port of entry, with customs and immigration services, and will be equipped with a state-of-the-art station”.

He said the airport will feature solar panels, smart lighting, and rainwater collection.

“Our history and culture will be on full display as well, with regatta-inspired decorations and multiple opportunities for local entrepreneurs to exhibit their products,” he said.

“A new airport, my friends, means much more than increased travel capacity for Cat Island. This infrastructural upgrade promises to attract new

investments, revitalise old industries, and catalyst new ones. I hope new opportunities here will mean more of our young people can stay and build their lives here, and I believe these same new opportunities will act as an incentive for native Cat Islanders to return home.”

Foreshadowing further investment in the island, Mr Davis said a contract to pave 70 miles of the main road will go to Cabinet for signing next week.

“At the peak of these roadworks, some 70 Cat Islanders will be employed,” he said.

PRIME Minister Philip ‘Brave’ Davis speaks at the ground breaking ceremony for a new airport in Cat Island yesterday. The event included a musical presentation by high school students, and was attended by many from the community.

Photos: Moise Amisial

Opposition expected on possible sin tax

for instance, Coca-Cola. They produce all of the sodas, so the minute we talk about adding a tax on sugary beverages, it’s going to be pushback from that industry. So all of our local producers are definitely against it because it will affect their bottom line. But the health and wellness of the country is more important than an industry that is manufacturing something that is now creating a problem in the community and for

our ability to push back or fight back against noncommunicable diseases.”

On Wednesday, Dr Darville tabled a report in the House of Assembly highlighting the country’s deepening problem with non-communicable diseases.

The Bahamas STEPS 2019 Report said the country exceeds the regional prevalence for overweight and obesity, and hypertension. In addition, the report concluded 85.3 per cent of the population does not meet the minimum daily intake/consumption

of fruits and vegetables. It further said the country’s population ranks high among those more likely to die too young from NCDs. The report recommends the government enact legislation to reduce the demand for unhealthy food products.

“Specifically,” the report says, “elimination of trans fats legislation and taxation of sugary beverages; and earmarking these taxes to support wellness. Example, evidence shows that a tax on SSBs (sugarsweetened beverages) that increases retail price

by 20 percent can reduce consumption by approximately 20 percent”. Dr Darville said behavioural changes followed when Barbados added a 20 per cent excise tax to sugary beverages.

“Other countries in the Caribbean have done it,” he said. “Barbados has definitely led the way. I believe they did so some time ago and reaped some of the rewards because behavioural scientists have clearly indicated that tax is a deterrent and it does change behavioural patterns.

“Mexico has done it, England has done it, and also I think Chile has done it and they are getting positive results. You know in Mexico, by putting a tax on sugar-added beverages, they noticed a major reduction in childhood obesity because sugar is just empty calories with no nutritional value. As a matter of fact, the countries that have put the tax on are now contemplating increasing it.”

“The Ministry of Health is obviously raising the alarm and because we are raising the alarm we need

to raise the alarm to the Ministry of Finance to see what position the country can go. We are noticing an exponential increase with patients showing up to our tertiary institutions with chronic, non-communicable diseases.”

Ministry of Health officials have been pushing for a sin tax for years. In 2018, former Health Minister Dr Duane Sands said officials would recommend the tax to Cabinet to help pay for National Health Insurance. However, nothing concrete came from that push.

REPORT CALLS FOR REVISION OF ALCOHOL LAWS, HIGHLIGHTS MAJOR HEALTH ISSUES

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune News Editor rrolle@tribunemedia.net

A MAJOR report on health in The Bahamas recommends revisiting and modernising alcohol-related laws to restrict access to alcoholic beverages.

“Change comes when a sense of urgency is present,” The Bahamas STEPS 2019 report says.

“Revisit and modernise legislation on access to as well as sales and promotion of alcohol with increased penalties and fines for infractions, with fines earmarked for programmes geared at harmful alcohol use reduction.”

The report’s recommendation followed findings that the country is headed in the wrong direction regarding non-communicable diseases.

Experts also recommended the country pass laws to reduce demand for unhealthy food products; for example, laws eliminating trans fats.

Other recommendations include: “Mandate nutrition and caloric information for all meals sold in restaurants as well as fast foods, pop-up, side-of-the-road franchises.”

“Require grocery stores to organise/group products and erect visible shelf markers such as green for healthy, yellow for less healthy and red for not healthy; as a precursor to legislation on front-ofpackage labelling.”

“Prohibit children from purchasing junk food and outlaw junk food in schools and vending machines. Lessons can be learned from Mexico who implemented this in 2020.”

Experts urged the country to revise the breadbasket list, removing unhealthy items while including healthier options.

Health Minister Dr Michael Darville tabled the 2019 STEPS report in the House of Assembly on Wednesday.

Researchers found The Bahamas is among the countries in the region with

the highest probability of dying too young from a non-communicable disease (NCD).

“Additionally, in the study year, the adjusted rate of potentially avoidable premature mortality in The Bahamas was 324.5 deaths per 100,000 population, a decrease of 26.9 percent from a rate of 443.9 in 2000,” the report said.

“This meant that in 2019, the avoidable mortality in the country was 43.1 percent higher than the average rate reported for the region of the Americas as a whole.

“Among potentially avoidable premature mortality, the rate for preventable causes was 171.5 per 100,000 population in 2019, which is 25.1 percent higher than the regional average rate; and the rate for treatable causes was 153 per 100,000 population, above the regional average of 89.6. These data reflect the ultimate toll of NCDs, death. There are, however, other tolls that NCDs exert.”

GO BONFIRE DIGITAL PROCUREMENT PLATFORM HAS SAVED GOVERNMENT $2.6M SINCE LAUNCH

By LETRE SWEETING Tribune Staff Reporter lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

ECONOMIC Affairs

Minister Michael Halkitis said government had saved about $2.6m since launching a new digital procurement platform in November.

He said 1,490 vendors have registered on the new Go Bonfire platform, and 299 opportunities have been posted there.

“These numbers are expected to grow as more agencies move their procurement processes online,” he said during his contribution to a debate before the Senate passed the Public Procurement Bill and the Public Finance Management Bill.

Mr Halkitis reiterated his view that the Public Procurement Act the Minnis administration passed was “strange” and “unworkable”.

“It is a necessity to pass these replacement legislations for the orderly development of this society,” he said. “There is no ulterior motive. The simple fact is that because of sins of omission or commission, we have been burdened with a compendium of legislation on critical functions of the government which is simply unworkable.”

“The 2021 Public Procurement Act is a strange Act in the context of The Bahamas as it ignores the structural imbalance in the economy, an imbalance which the government is obliged to correct.

Mr Halkitis said the new law creates provisions for preferential treatment of small and worker-owned,

700

SESSIONS

ECONOMIC Affairs Minister Michael Halkitis say soon-to-be-law amended Public Procurement Act will correct the structural imbalances ignored by the previous act.

women-owned, Family Island-owned, and youthowned businesses.

The Organization for Responsible Governance has criticised elements of the bill.

It noted that while the timeline for publishing awarded contracts remains 60 days, terminology changes in the latest bill may allow some awarded contracts to remain unpublished.

The government has yet to comply with reporting requirements.

“It is unclear what has prevented the government from adhering to the reporting of awarded contracts thus far, and it is essential to begin immediate adherence to this mandated requirement in the interest of the awareness and trust of the public and private sectors,” ORG said in a statement in October.

The organisation identified numerous

opportunities for strengthening the bill.

“These include changes to the appointment, composition, and financing of the Procurement Board for greater independence and representation,” ORG said.

“In addition, greater accountability and consistency can result through the reduction of the categories of procurement contracts listed in the bill. For example, audit, actuarial, accounting, legal, and financial consultancies that are excluded from the law.

“Another significant opportunity to ensure the law is favorable to small businesses is the restoration of a dedicated Procurement Review Tribunal as a more accessible mechanism to resolve concerns about awarded procurement contracts.

Unlike the previous law, the soon-to-be law does not include a Procurement Review Tribunal.

700 WINES and Spirits, Commonwealth Brewery Limited’s (CBL) retail chain, recently conducted a two-day training session for 16 members of its team.

“It is crucial to facilitate training exercises as they help to ensure that the retail team is equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed

in their roles, ultimately driving the success of the business,” said Nadia Bain, senior human resources business partner at CBL.

“Training sessions also create an environment that fosters collaboration and transparency which helps to develop a cohesive and productive team.”

Arame Straughn, 700 Wines & Spirits Retail Sales Manager said: “This training was vital for our 16 store leads, it covered a wide array of topics ranging from conflict resolution, customer service, reading and understanding reports, performance management cycle, safety and security, cash handling, and more.”

THE 700 Wines & Spirits team during a recent two-day workshop.

WINES AND SPIRITS DRIVES BUSINESS SUCCESS WITH STAFF TRAINING

HEALTH Minister Dr Michael Darville with permanent secretary of the Minstry of Health and Wellness Colin Higg outside a health and wellness symposium yesterday. Photos: BIS

PRIME Minister Philip ‘Brave’ Davis speaks at Your Wellness Matters symposium yesterday.

Planned shanty town demolition in Abaco sparking mixed reactions

By JADE RUSSELL Tribune Staff Reporter jrussell@tribunemedia.net

THE government’s latest push to demolish shanty town structures is sparking mixed reactions from Abaco residents — fear from those set to be displaced and cheers from those ready for the communities to be eliminated.

Kelly Baptiste, 22, hasn’t received an eviction notice, but she can’t help but wonder what will happen if people refuse to vacate their homes.

“We’re worried,” she said. “At the end of the day, this might get out of hand and people might end up dying. All of them (officers) with their big guns and they’re just bursting down people’s doors and going inside their houses and violating their rights?”

“They are carrying on like we’re not humans. Like if they got cut, they wouldn’t bleed red just like us. They think they are above us.”

The government posted 260 eviction notices in unregulated communities off SC Bootle Highway on Tuesday, according to a statement from the Unregulated Communities Action Taskforce. The move came a month after a Supreme Court judge lifted an injunction preventing shanty towns

from being demolished.

Ms Baptiste said many of her friends received eviction notices but have nowhere to go.

“We don’t have anywhere in Haiti to go,” she said. “For us who was born over here, we will have to come up with some way for us to live. Because most of us over here still waiting to get our citizenship.”

Ms Baptiste, whose real name has been withheld because she fears reprisals, hopes officials won’t return to post notices on homes like hers, which she said existed before Hurricane Dorian damaged the island in 2019.

“If the houses that were here before Hurricane Dorian (are going to be demolished), if they say they are going to break them, I guess my sister and I will have to come up with a plan for our parents to find somewhere else to live,” she said.

Residents like Haitian national Ford Franzy, however, have limited sympathy for those whose homes may be demolished, saying they have had years to comply with the law.

“Some of them been living there 20 years and

they knew it was coming (because) they are living illegally,” he said. “And the ones who are legal followed the laws.”

“There’s nothing I can do.”

Cay Mills, meanwhile, said the government should “break the foundation” of unregulated buildings in the shanty towns.

“They’re going at a snail’s pace,” he said.

“We’re not talking about breaking the buildings right now, but to show how serious they are, they’re supposed to be breaking those foundations down. You don’t have to break the building down if you stop the foundation.”

Mr Mills doesn’t believe some shanty town residents take eviction notices seriously, noting illegal structures are still being built.

“The government has to show aggressiveness just how the Haitians are aggressively building,” he said.

“I could go down there and take pictures of 40 structures that were going up while they are putting these notices on the wall.”

MILLER ENCOURAGED STUDENTS TO BE GOOD STEWARDS OF THE ENVIRONMENT AT TREE PLANTING CEREMONY

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

A TREE planting ceremony took place in Freeport yesterday - with Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Vaughn Miller stressing the importance of forests.

Mr Miller travelled to Freeport with members of the Forestry Unit yesterday and, as part of International Day of Forests, observed on Tuesday, the minister participated in the planting of a Yellow Elder and Lignum Vitae trees at the Jack Hayward Junior High School.

Mr Miller said pine forests in Grand Bahama, Abaco and North Andros are extremely important as a major source of fresh water, as well as a habitat for migratory birds. Mr Miller said this is why those islands have the largest fresh water resources in the country.

He said: “Our forests … are extremely important for new developments in the field of medicine – we call it bush medicine.”

He said trees such as catnip, five fingers,

love vine, madeira bark, and kamalame are used to make bush teas to cure many illnesses and ailments.

“I grew up drinking that,” the minster recalled of his childhood days in Eleuthera.

Mr Miller said mangroves also provide medicinal benefits to treat cuts and bruises, treat skin problems, and gastrointestinal issues.

The minister urged students to consider pursuing careers in forestry, adding: “We must be environment stewards when it comes to protecting and conserving our forests. From treating physical ailments to providing mental illness relief, our forests act as direct lines to health.”

He said through new environmental management policies and laws created by the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources will ensure The Bahamas has forests for generations to come.

“I want to plant this in your hearts, minds and spirits, you are growing up in a beautiful country. One day … we will be gone; we

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that CHARLES CHERRY of Sir Lynden Pindling Estates, New Providence, The Bahamas, is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/ naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 17th day of March, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

are preparing you today to pass the country onto you, and we want you to become stewards and good caretakers of the environment, ocean, forests; and the land,” Mr Miller said.

Senior Forestry Officer Danielle Hanek, said: “We came to GB to highlight the restoration efforts after Hurricane Dorian and to highlight the importance of trees.”

She reported that the damaged pine forests on Grand Bahama are showing signs of regeneration.

She said: “So even though it could be discouraging four years post Dorian, especially in East End where you see all the damage and standing dead trees and it looks like all the forests are gone, actually, it is not, it is just changed. And so, we have regeneration of the young pine trees.

“It means that the environment is catching itself, and that the salinity is going down. It means that it is restoring itself naturally, which is great.”

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that CLARE GARDINER-HANNA of 77 Wellington, Nelson Road Freeport, Grand Bahama is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/ naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twentyeight days from the 17th day of March, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

NOTICE

is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/ naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 17th day of March, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

NOTICE is hereby given that KELLY-ANN GAYLE MCKENZIE of Lower Bogue, Eleuthera, The Bahamas, is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/ naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 17th day of March, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that KRISTIN ALEXANDRIA HOWARD of #47 Ambermist Way Forked River, NJ 08731 is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/ naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twentyeight days from the 17th day of March, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

MINISTER of Environment and Natural Resources Vaughn Miller along with senior forestry officer Danielle Hanek took part in a tree planting ceremony at Jack Hayward Junior High School yesterday. They planted a yellow Elder and a Lignum Vitae.

AERIAL photo of residences at what was known as the Mud and Peas in Marsh Harbour Abaco was destroyed in Hurricane Dorian in 2019, and subsequently bulldozed in the aftermath; however, new homes have sprung up at other locations. Officials have placed notices on shanty structures in Abaco with the intent to move forward with demolitions as the court injuntion has been lifted.

Job hopefuls attend job fair hosted by Titan Hospitality

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

A MOTHER facing eviction from her apartment and a woman allegedly cheated out of National Insurance Board contributions were examples of the jobseekers crowding a fair Titan Hospitality hosted yesterday.

The residents hoped to secure one of the 75-100 positions available at the company, which is expanding through new business locations.

Hundreds of job hopefuls gathered under tents at the poolside of Latitudes, a restaurant on East Bay Street, for the fair.

Karlene Xavier, 33, said she has been unemployed since November 9 after a falling incident at her previous job. She has two children, boys aged 18 and seven.

“It’s been very hard

being a single mother,” she told The Tribune. “So I guess (I’m just) praying to God something works out because I am tired of sitting home and stuff.”

Ms Xaiver said she is facing eviction from her home after the landlord, the father of her oldest son, told her two weeks ago to leave.

“He actually put me out because he wanted a relationship with me,” she said.

“When I got pregnant, I found out he lied (to me). He had a whole wife and everything. It (was) a whole disaster. So because he cannot be with me, he just told me to move out.”

Lashanta Turner, meanwhile, left her last job about a year ago after fourand-a-half years with the company.

“I had a baby and (I found out) they weren’t paying NIB,” she said. Distraught, she relied on assistance from her baby’s

father and godparents.

Titan Hospitality officials said they were impressed with the turnout at the fair.

Dericka Munnings, the catering events manager, said the company might hire more than 100 people.

“We are expanding. We are looking to open up a new location hopefully at the end of April or the beginning of May at Compass Point,” she said. “So with that we need to fill more roles. We also need them for the previous locations that we have seeing that we just opened up.”

The Bahamas has not had a labour force survey since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.

Yesterday, Immigration and Labor Minister Keith Bell told The Tribune the unemployment rate is likely high but declining. He said he expects a comprehensive update on employment rates when the next census is released.

HUNDRED of jobseekers attended a job fair hosted by Titan hospitality yesterday hoping to find employment. Titan Hospitality officials were impressed with the turnout.

Photos: Earyel Bowleg

The Tribune Limited

Hinduism encroaching Bahamian life

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Is taxation the solution to our sins?

IT appears the government plans to make us pay for our sins – literally.

Health Minister Dr Michael Darville says the government is considering a sin tax – so people are charged more for items such as sugary beverages to encourage a healthier lifestyle.

The reason is quite simple – and urgent. Our country is leading the way, but in the wrong direction. About 85 percent of the population do not meet the minimum daily intake of fruits and vegetables, while we exceed the regional numbers for being overweight or for obesity.

That leads to increased cases of hypertension, diabetes and other problems, meaning we suffer significantly from non-communicable diseases.

Rather than repent of our sins, the government is considering putting a tax on them.

This is not the first time such an idea has been suggested.

Under the last administration, then Health Minister Dr Duane Sands suggested a sin tax on items such as alcohol, tobacco, lard and substances containing high-fructose corn syrup.

At the time, he said: “High-fructose corn syrup, grease, call it fat, lard, whatever, shouldn’t be cheap and other items, alcohol, cigarettes, which have contributed in a mighty way to the illnesses and injuries of Bahamians, they should not get a free pass.”

For Dr Sands, the equation was simply – charge the tax to pay for National Health Insurance, so if people persisted with their behaviours, then the money would go towards the services that treat the outcome.

We are not naïve enough to believe that such behaviours will change

overnight – or ever, for many people, but that is the theory behind imposing extra taxation.

Extra taxes, of course, are never popular – and Dr Darville acknowledges that expected opposition from local producers is giving the government pause before pressing on with the plan. Changing our lifestyle is of course the better outcome – and while the threat of taxation may be the stick, we also need a carrot to encourage such health improvements.

It really can make a difference to our lifespan – and if spending more time with our loved ones is not incentive enough, then peer pressure and health schemes to encourage diet change would be beneficial. If we don’t, then our sins will catch us up – and perhaps the government too to put money in its pocket.

New at The Tribune

This weekend, The Tribune launches a new venture. Our columnist, Eric Wiberg, whose article you can read in today’s edition, will become our first regular podcast host. You will be able to choose to read his article in the newspaper, or listen to it online at www. tribune242.com.

He will not be the last – our popular Front Porch column is soon to follow, read for the podcast by our managing editor, Stephen Hunt, and there will be more beyond that, including brand new content created exclusively to listen to on our website.

We do hope you will take a moment to listen in – and let us know what you think. We hope this new addition will be welcome. Keep an eye on The Tribune –we have more in store.

Despite promises problems persist at Magrove Cay

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Greetings, I’m writing regarding a recent visit back home to Mangrove Cay, Andros. Due to illness and the COVID virus it has been three years since we have been home.

I must say between the water and internet services nothing has changed. What a nightmare! Our home is on a hill. Can you imagine the drip of water we had the whole time. I would start a load of wash early in the morning about two hours later it may be finished. No way a shower is possible. It was a chore trying to catch enough water to bathe. The internet is up and down like a yoyo. We stuck it out, but I cannot imagine just how patience can run out for everyone. What a state of affairs. Our neighbours said, oh we are supposed to be getting new pipes. I seem to remember at least three other water and sewage

meetings held on Mangrove Cay. Persons from North, and Central Andros and Nassau coming to promise new pipes. These promises are at least six years old.

Just when will it come to reality?

The next issue. We spoke to four young people from and raised on Mangrove Cay that had come home to live and work. Instead of being welcomed home with open arms people started picking them apart.

For example - Who does she/he think they are?

Why did they get that job?

Grumble, Grumble, criticise our young people go off to school and train to bring back knowledge to help build up home. We have had professional persons from MC in key positions with every entity government and private company.

I always wondered why they don’t come home.

After talking with the persons we met it becomes so sad and uncomfortable. They are run out of town,

so to speak. Mangrove Cay needs its people to be welcomed home to build up the island. Are we scared, are we jealous, are we selfish? What is it?

Please stop sending your own people away, welcome them home. Embrace the knowledge and experience they bring to contribute to MC. Look at some other islands that are and have been growing, they have welcomed their young people back. My husband and I are older now, but we look around and feel sad to see after 36 years where have we come? Please think about what we have observed - try to change your mindset, be kind, be glad to see your family come home.

God bless the Bahamas and God bless Mangrove Cay.

ELLIOTT AND PAT GREENE Mangrove Cay, March 23, 2023.

The Bahamas is considered a Caribbean country, although it is really located in the Atlantic Ocean. The Caribbean is a religious and cultural melting pot, according to sociologists from the United States.

The Bahamas is no different. Often classified as a Christian nation, many Bahamian churchgoers would probably be surprised at Hinduism’s subtle encroachment into our country, at least from the standpoint of one of the world’s oldest religion’s idiosyncrasies being unwittingly adopted by many Bahamians. A swami from Calcutta told a Westerner that Hinduism is “at once a theology, a philosophy, a social system, and a way of life.”

Of the world’s 1.2 billion Hindus, 1,093,780,000 live in India. In fact, 95 percent of the world’s Hindu population resides in India. In addition to India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, US, Malaysia, United Kingdom and Myanmar round off the top ten nations with the highest number of Hindus in 2020, according to the Pew Research. With a pantheon of 330 million gods -- with Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva being the most prominent -- Hinduism is unabashedly polytheistic. The four largest denominations within Hinduism are Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism and Smartism.

Bahamians aspiring to become successful Fortune 500 executives probably heard the names Depaak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, Oprah Winfrey, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and Walt Whitman mentioned by motivational speakers. They were all influenced by Indian religious thought.

During the COVID lockdowns, a PE teacher was instructing my daughter and her classmates via zoom on the proper method of yoga. I was shocked. I had no idea that this was allowed by the Ministry of Education.

Yoga was first introduced to the US at the beginning

of the twentieth century by Vivekananda, a disciple of Ramakrishna. Vivekananda founded the Vedanta Society of New York City, which was the first official Hindu centre in the US.

Today, many Bahamians consider yoga to be a harmless exercise, devoid of any religious attachments. I have even seen yoga openly discussed in one of the major dailies by Bahamian female fitness coaches.

Bahamians are copycats. They are simply following in the footsteps of Americans. It was Maharishi Mahesh Yogi who popularised Hinduism and its attendant transcendental meditation in the US.

Maharishi became an iconic celebrity to the American hippie generation in the 1960s, thanks to his most famous students, The Beatles. At his ashram in Rishikesh, India, The Beatles would spend weeks there in 1968 studying transcendental meditation.

Dabbling in Hinduism, The Beatles would promote the use of Norwegian Wood, a British pseudonym for marijuana. One informed American evangelical credited The Beatles, along with Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix, for exporting Hinduism to the West.

Granted, most secular Bahamians would listen to American rap and R&B music before the rock and roll of The Beatles. Yet many Bahamians are unaware of The Beatles’ massive influence on the late Michael Jackson, who was undoubtedly the most popular US pop star in The Bahamas, especially during the turbulent eighties.

The Hindu god Shiva is also known as the lord of the dance (aka Nataraja) and rhythm -- elements which appealed to many young American hippies who devoured rock music.

The lewd gesticulations often seen in the dances performed at Junkanoo carnival events in New Providence are not unlike those performed by Shiva devotees. Interestingly,

Shiva is also considered to be “passionate, violent and even licentious.” These are common characteristics witnessed at carnival events in Trinidad and Tobago.

Today, thousands of Bahamians, particularly those within Rastafari, smoke ganja, ignorant of its religious ties to Hinduism. There continues to be a push for the decriminalisation of medicinal marijuana. If green lighted by the Bahamian government, recreational marijuana legislation will inevitably follow.

Another Hindu idiosyncrasy among an increasing number of Bahamians is cremation. Admittedly, the high cost of traditional Christian burials is the main motivating factor in many Bahamians opting to utilise the Hindu method of disposing of the dead. Still, whatever one’s views are pertaining to cremation, it is not a practice rooted in the Christian worldview that our forebears adopted. Growing up many Bahamians were members of burial societies, which assisted in defraying the costs of funerals. I cannot recall ever hearing of cremations back then, which is an indictment on today’s generation of Bahamians.

And finally, one other Hindu concept that Bahamians have unwittingly adopted is the use of the word “karma” while gloating over the demise of a rival. The word is usually accompanied by the B-word that unforgiving Bahamians would often use while salivating in the news of an enemy encountering significant trouble.

Even the Hindu doctrine of reincarnation, as incredible as it may sound, has a few Bahamian adherents. I recently spoke to a young Bahamian lady who thought that both Jesus and John the Baptist were reincarnated. In all things considered, the encroachment of Hinduism into Bahamian culture is more proof of the glaring biblical illiteracy of the average Bahamian.

KEVIN EVANS Freeport, Grand Bahama. March 23, 2023.

EDITOR, The Tribune.

If I might make a couple of observations on this ongoing saga. My understanding of agreements is limited but I do not think that the easiest way out is for Mr Smith to reapply.

Agreements don’t die when the Government changes from one party to the next and the signatories are simply those of the Minister in place from time to time.

If, when the Agreement was initially offered by Dr Minnis, he died before it was returned would the Agreement also die? I think

not. So, there should be no earthly reason that PM Davis cannot sign it now.

Dr Minnis nor Mr Davis has withdrawn the Agreement nor has the Court. As Mr Bumble noted in Dickens Oliver Twist, if the law assumes that the Agreement is invalid then the law is an ass.

The second observation is that neither Dr Minnis nor Mr Davis nor the Cabinet of either Prime Minister, thought enough about the Bahamian Project that Mr Smith was planning, to tell RCI that there was a project. Is going to be a first-class

Bahamian Beach Club that your passengers and those of ALL other cruise ships will be more than welcome to attend. Only one solitary voice has come forward and voiced what should have been a unanimous vote for the Bahamian project! That lone solitary voice is that of a Bahamian patriot, Glenys Hanna Martin. Shame on the Bahamians! We will never be a truly independent country until we no longer feel obligated to the foreigner with a fat wallet.

MONKEEDOO

Nassau, March 23, 2023.

A MAN stuck in a tree is rescued by swift water teams from Copper Canyon Fire and Medical District, and the Verde Valley Fire District on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, in Camp Verde, Arizona.

Photo: Vyto Starinskas/AP

MAN HELD WITHOUT BAIL ACCUSED OF RAPING GIRL

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A 26-year-old man was remanded in custody after being accused of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old girl last month.

Shaquell Moss, represented by Levon Johnson, faced Senior Magistrate Carolyn Vogt-Evans yesterday on a charge of rape.

On February 16 in New Providence, it is alleged that Moss forced the victim to have sex with him against her will.

Department of Immigration staff earn certificates in leadership and management

Due to the severity of the offence, the accused was not required to enter a plea. His matter was transferred to the Supreme Court by way of a Voluntary Bill of Indictment, which is expected to be served on June 26.

The magistrate informed Moss that although she lacked the jurisdiction to grant him bail he could apply for it through the higher court. Until then, he will be remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.

MEN IN COURT OVER SERIES OF ROBBERIES

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN has been sent to prison after being accused of a series of armed muggings over the last two months.

Michael Pratt, 20, represented by Alphonso Lewis, faced Magistrate Algernon Allen, Jr, yesterday on a charge of armed robbery.

Pratt, Cleophus Smith, 30, and Roberto Moxey, 21, faced charges of possession of ammunition, two counts of possession of an unlicensed firearm, two counts of recovering and two further counts of armed robbery.

It is alleged that, on February 3, Pratt was armed with a handgun and, with others, robbed Brenda Ginns of $12,000 in cash.

Then, on March 17, the trio were accused of robbing Scott Jupp at gunpoint of his white 2022 Suzuki XL7 jeep which is valued at $30,000. During this carjacking, it is said Jupp’s $150 gold quartz watch was also stolen.

On the same day, the trio are accused of the armed mugging of Sharlene King, when $1,800 in cash was stolen.

Finally, the three were apprehended by officers in Jubilee Gardens after they were stopped by police in the same vehicle they had

allegedly stolen earlier that day. It is said that after a shootout, where one of the males was shot in his upper body, authorities uncovered an empty deposit bag alongside a large sum of cash in the vehicle.

Police further seized a brown Smith & Wesson pistol as well as a black Taurus G2C pistol with the serial number erased.

It is also alleged 16 unfired rounds of 9mm ammunition were confiscated from the accused.

Smith claimed to the magistrate that he had an alibi for not being at the March 17 robberies due to having an ankle monitor at the time. None of the defendants were required to enter a plea in court.

As the charges are indictable offences, they were informed that this matter would be transferred to the Supreme Court by way of Voluntary Bill of Indictment, to be served on May 30.

The magistrate lacked jurisdiction to grant bail, but the defendants were informed they could apply through the higher court. Until then, the defendants have been remanded to prison.

Prior to being taking into remand, the defendants were allowed a brief moment with relatives present in court.

POLICE DOGS SNIFF OUT MARIJUANA IN STORAGE

SUSPECTED drugs worth more than a quarter of a million dollars have been seized at a freight building at Windsor Field.

Shortly after 2pm on Wednesday, police officers conducted a search of the Bahamas Customs Cargo Freight building, with the assistance of police dogs.

The search uncovered a large quantity of suspected marijuana. The drugs have a weight of 140lb and an estimated street value of $286,600.

No arrests were made, and investigations are continuing.

• Police on Wednesday confirmed that the victim of a shooting attack in the Montel Heights area on Saturday was a 16-year-old boy.

Officers identified the victim as Junior Rosland, of Carmichael Road.

The killing was one of three over the weekend that officers have suggested may be linked . • A 30-year-old man was arrested for possession of dangerous drugs with intent to supply in Eleuthera yesterday in the area of Queen’s Highway, Tarpum Bay. The suspected marijuana weighed 1lb 7oz and had an approximate street value of $1,105.

• A Long Island man has been arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm. The 53-year-old was arrested after officers were called to the government dock shortly after 12.25pm where the captain of a boating vessel said he was attacked with a box cutter by an intoxicated passenger. The victim received nonlife threatening injuries to his neck and chin.

FROM left (first row): ILM Centre Bahamas coordinator Pamela Gomez, Deputy Director of Immigration Dwight Beneby, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Immigration Cecilia Strachan, executive chairman of the National Training Agency Agatha Marcelle, Minister of Labour

14 MEMBERS of staff from the Department of Immigration have earned certificates in leadership and management.

The National Training Agency has partnered with

The Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) to provide eadership and management qualifications. The level three certificates in leadership and management from the

Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM) in New Providence at a special certificate presentation ceremony. Ten learners in New Providence and four in the Family Islands went

through six weeks of training. For more information on how your organisation can be part of this programme, contact ILM on 461-6008 or 461-6021.

and Immigration Keith Bell, executive director of the National Training Agency Terry Murray, guest speaker Dr Donald McCartney, Director of Immigration Keturah Ferguson and ILM Centre Bahamas internal verifier Christabel Saunders; (back) Chief Immigration Officer Montello Gibson, senior immigration officers Jacqueline Adderley, Daina Burrows, Dellarese Pratt-Bastian, Ursula Oliver, Lubin Lutus, Darren Deveaux, ILM Centre Bahamas assessor Jaydian Miller, senior immigration officers Andrew Gittens, Shanori Francis, Elmore Pratt, Kara Ferguson, Immigration HR representative Esther McKinney and ILM Centre Bahamas training administrator Qutelle Sasso. Missing from the photo are senior immigration officers Napthali Cooper, Bryan Davis, Bianca-Rolle Thomas and Tamika Russell.

Wives and bases

By Eric Wiberg

THE build-up of New Providence into the hub of all South Atlantic air deliveries to the Allies in Africa, the Mediterranean, Middle and Far East was sudden, yet the nation’s air hub was built as Windsor Field for the RAF Ferry Command, and to support the RAF Transport Command, the No 113 Transport Wing instructors who trained over 7,000 students for the front, and to deliver over 9,000 aircraft to Africa.

The airways above The Bahamas were filled with a steady stream, mostly eastwards, of planes owned by Eastern and Pan American for the military as well as US Army Air Force transport flights to Puerto Rico, Trinidad and beyond, and thousands of US Navy training sorties over the northern Bahamas and to and from Exuma and Cuba. Some were destined for the USSR. There would be over 150 military accidents in the Bahamas from 1942-1946.

and it is presumed that it stalled and spun inwards.”

Somewhere between Oakes Field and Windsor Field, their plane lost an engine and slammed at high speed into the bush and burst into flames. The airfield ambulances and fire trucks were not able to save them. The site of their deaths has probably neither been found nor disturbed in 80 years. It was so remote, yet accessible enough that their remains were recovered. Often anything with intelligence value was salvaged from wrecks by special teams, in this case probably not much remained of the plane.

Credits: Both photos provided by their families

Windsor Field, which served as an ancillary to the Operational Training Unit at the older Oakes Field, was not even completed when on May 30, 1942, a Baltimore bomber took off from Oakes Field, with three men aboard for a training mission. The pilot was Henri Chouteau, his co-pilot named Cyril was well regarded in church and community, had been in the Merchant Marines and travelled widely. At 2.31pm that day. their airplane “crashed on fire 2.5 miles south-east of Satellite Aerodrome, Nassau… the aircraft took off in a tail-down position,

Cyril’s wife, Patricia Jana, would have learned almost instantly; she would have heard the siren and sensed the muted terror which such a crash can spread. These first personnel to perish in a war wreck in The Bahamas were buried in the National War Cemetery, which was consecrated for the No 113 Transport Wing on October 3, 1943.

The gruesome reality of what happened is inescapable in the coroner’s cause of death in the register of deaths for Western District that day; all the men died of “multiple severe injuries and severe burns a result of aircraft accident”.

At 7pm in the evening on the day after the crash, the base log recorded that “a full-service funeral was given. Dean [Sheffield] of Nassau conducted the service for CJ Somerville and the Rev Father Hagarty, RC Father for H Chouteau and JP Lynes. The commanding officer represented the ACC. Mrs Somerville, wife

THE FUNERAL for eight men concurrently, and which might easily have meant double that, had the other aircraft been unable to bellyland, involved many trucks, gravediggers, officers and men, religious, RAF, and administrative leadership as well as the presence of two wives. It was the largest since over six months before, when six Czech aviators and a Brit crashed in the B-25 FV953 and all perished. Most mass casualties happened over the horizon with planes missing at sea.

LEFT: Newlyweds Deryk and Sylvia Cribbes in Buenos Aires, where they grew up. Centre: Deryk and Syliva on the beaches of Argentina. Right: Sylvia served in the RAF in the UK as well.

Credit: For Derek & Sylvia Cribbes, his niece Vivian Cribbes Guerra, in San Diego, CA, sites.google.com/view/georgederykcribbes/home.

AL HAYES, above, gained attention for having been an aviator chosen to escort a ship in which Sir Winston Churchill was making towards high-level diplomatic talks. His wife Jean Isobel Germann Hayes (later Robinson) was born in Waterloo, Ontario, and along with her siter Louise was always an avid musician; “She grew up in a household full of music; Jean and sister Louise inherited their father’s wonderful musicality. She married her high school sweetheart, Allan Hayes in 1944 and moved to Nassau where he was based [as] an R.C.A.F. Flying Officer….” Credit: Right: 2015 obituary, generations.regionofwaterloo.ca, and legacy.com/obituaries/theprovince/obituary.

Credit: For Allan Hayes, his nephew Geoffrey Hayes in Canada, and he and Vivian Cribbes Guerra, at sites.google.com view/ georgederykcribbes/allan-al-hayes

of CJ Somerville, was at the funeral”.

The epitaph which Patricia and his family chose for Cyril was “There is a link which death cannot sever, love and remembrance last forever”.

Henri left behind two brothers, Rene and Pierre, and a sister. Mrs Somerville arrived from Nassau less than a week after losing her husband and less than two months from marrying him. She confirmed that the funeral was held “with full military honours”, with the Dean officiating. The three men were buried with white wooden crosses at first and now have marble engraved headstones.

Sylvia Mary Moverley was from Sydenham, London when she married Deryk Cribbes. However, like her husband, she was born in an outlier of Buenos Aires. The couple were married on May 1, 1943, at Clapham Village Church, near Bedford, in England. Sylvia and Deryk moved together from Argentina to the UK and Canada for his training and her RAF work, and their ultimate home was on New Providence.

George Deryk Cribbes had enrolled in the RAF Volunteer Reserve as an Argentinean; in fact, his niece still has his uniforms. He and his younger brother, Harold, seemed to have an enjoyable childhood, alternating on teams of cricket and tennis and dressing smartly and carrying themselves with an unselfconscious ease and aplomb. He appears to have been a thoughtful person most happy when in the presence of Sylvia; he had the larger home, with the name of Isca, growing up; yet she has the largest, most irrepressible smile! On the same island, at the same time, and seeing her man off to a training flight that day near the close of the war in Europe was a former music sensation from Kitchener, Ontario. Jean Isobel (nee Germann) Hayes was “a well-known soprano of this city whom [Al Hayes] married while home on leave last August. [She] has been in The Bahamas with him”. Al dabbled in music composition and performance as well.

On Friday, February 23, 1945, Al Hayes was the flight instructor on a B-24

Liberator. LA Birkett and AE Tomlinson were navigators. Sergeant Birch was aboard with Sergeant Holland as flight engineer, and sergeants Jackson and Richards were air gunners. Ten minutes later, the aircraft collided with another as they both entered the downwind leg of a circuit around the field. Hayes’ aircraft plummeted out of control and hit the earth south of Windsor Field aerodrome where it caught fire on the ground. There were no survivors. The LA aircraft managed to land on its belly with one injury.

Aviation historian Chris Charland sums up the events thus: “The crew was in the circuit when for some unknown reason overtook and then collided with Liberator FL994, which landed safely.”

Since Allan was a young [22] pilot instructor and the overtaking maneuver appears to have been considered by some experts as a proximate or contributory cause of the accident, for Jean and other family, the many deaths must have compounded the misery of losing a loved one.

Al Hayes had enrolled in

THE TOP photo shows three young women, one appearing to comfort the other in the middle, during the carrying of caskets into the cemetery. More than likely two of these women were Sylvia Ann Moverly and Jean Isobel Hayes, having been widowed the day before.

Credit: Vivian Cribbes Guerra and Geoffrey Hayes, sites. google.com/view/ georgederykcribbes/allan-al-hayes

the RCAF. The entire nine aircrew are described by the coroner in the month death register for Western District as all having suffered “multiple injuries result of aircraft accident”. The men’s remains would no doubt have been sequestered from their wives. Hayes epitaph reads “They shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary” at the Nassau War Cemetery Location West D7, close to his flight-mates. • Visit www.tribune242. com to hear this article as a podcast.

Death Notice For Vera Maria Demeritte, 75

of Rose Street, Fox Hill Rod died in the Princess Margaret Hospital on Wednesday, March 15th, 2023.

She is survived by her sons: Warren Davis and Tory Sands; daughters: Christa MillerJulmiste, Chrisma and Candice Sands; brothers: Stafford, Ernest and Rodney Demeritte; and other relatives too numerous to mention.

Arrangements for the funeral service are being finalized and details will be announced at a future date.

CYRIL Somerville (top) and Henri Chouteau (bottom).

Curing PMH’s ills one blanket at a time

How do you fix a problem that costs 20 times more to run than the revenue it generates?

PRINCESS Margaret Hospital is in poor financial health. And that is being kind.

You can argue all you want that a public hospital doesn’t need to be healthy. It just has to serve those who are also suffering from poor health or need medical attention and cannot afford private hospital services.

You could argue that, of course, and you would not be entirely wrong. But what you would not be accounting for is what happens when a hospital is broke, shored up only by the already strained and breaking public purse and a foundation faced with a Sisyphean task, rolling a boulder uphill daily only to watch it roll back down just to start all over the next day?

What happens then? Just look at Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) in Nassau and you’ll see. It will break your heart. A patient on a gurney, in pain, hurting, shivering, waiting for a bed to open up and a blanket to keep warm, but there is a shortage of beds and there is no blanket. He continues to shiver. And hope. If prayer is his medicine, he will keep praying.

A company with compassion donates 100 blankets and they disappear in days. A patient dies and the blanket goes with him to the morgue or it is too badly soiled to be washed and re-used or someone is discharged and walks out with it. It happens all the time.

Shortage of blankets is the small stuff.

By Diane Phillips

What happens when the mammogram machine breaks down? Or X-ray equipment must be repaired or replaced, dialysis equipment goes bad, more incubators have to be purchased or mold fills rooms and mice take up residence along with homeless patients that a former minister of health said cost the system $18,000 a day, or $6.4m a year? Those homeless who call PMH home, brought in years before by family to be treated, just stayed. Family could no longer deal with whatever sent them to the hospital or they have no place to go and they simply stay where there is food and a roof. They do small errands for staff.

Again, more small stuff. Here’s the big picture.

It costs $216m a year to operate PMH, yet the hospital only takes in $10m in revenue. It’s owed more than $800m by patients who turn to it for services but don’t pay, even if they can. Every year, there are 60,000 patient visits, 30 percent from injury, only a fraction of them ever paid, with 86 percent totally unpaid, ignored, by those who think medical care like sunshine should be free for all in a country that celebrates its freedom and is about to spend a whopping

LAWYERS ARE SINGING THE PRAISES OF TWO JUSTICES

SIR Brian Moree, Justice of the Court of Appeal, and Ian Winder, Chief Justice, for their swift and long overdue

work streamlining the process of handling civil cases. New regulations are expected to take effect next month.

amount on marking its 50th year of independence.

Despite the frighteningly unhealthy state of the nation’s most used medical facility, there are those who harbour a pie-in-thesky vision of a new hospital. Why not chuck the old and just let’s build new and modern and show off what we can do in The Bahamas, they say? Here’s why not. Hospital construction costs are huge. It would take a minimum of $650m – and that is a very low and conservative estimate – to build a new hospital with the capacity of PMH. Add to that the annual operating cost – remember $216m with a revenue of $10m – and what you come out with is a need to find $1.7bn in the next five years for a facility that generates $10m a year.

Glum as it sounds, there is some good news. The PMH Foundation, which has always tried to meet the needs by raising money for those blankets and incubators, wheelchairs and that dialysis equipment, is re-energized with new leadership and a few new board members. Many others, including Nancy B Kelly (who co-founded the still active PMH volunteers, the Yellowbirds), Inga Bowleg and chairman emeritus Richard Demeritte, gave so much

The KDK Report), vice chairman and others who say the medicine is bitter, but they will find a way to swallow it. They will seek grants and the kindness of strangers. They will beg

if they need to, not for themselves, but to raise funds for those blankets so the next patient lying in a hallway, suffering, cold, waiting for a bed, can stop shivering.

FROM the British Racing Drivers’ Club, these words on the passing of a woman of spirit, tenacity and vitality, a wife who loved her husband unconditionally and during Sir Stirling Moss’s post-driving days kept his legacy alive.

Now, it is she who we in The Bahamas mourn, a woman we remember with such fondness, her smile like sunshine, her warmth enough to warm you on the coldest day.

“In his autobiography, Stirling Moss My Racing Life, written in conjunction with Simon Taylor and published by EVRO in 2015, Stirling went on record about Susie’s role in his life as follows: ‘I simply could not operate without Susie. She looks after me, organises me, travels with me on all my working trips around the world, knows where I have to be at any time, and never loses her sense of humour, even if I lose mine. She makes sure that my life works. Susie and I have been together for 38 years, married for 35, and she has never stopped being the best thing that bever happened to me’.”

Even in his 80s, such was Stirling’s enduring fame that he was still receiving

on average 20 letters a day.

Susie answered all of them. As a couple, Stirling and Susie were motor racing royalty, welcomed wherever they went and, by their charm, captivating generations of motor racing fans who were too young to have seen Stirling in his prime as one of the greatest Grand Prix drivers of all time. In 2008, 60 years after Stirling became a member of the BRDC, Susie was invited to become an honorary member of the club which was a source of particular pleasure not only to Lady Susie herself but also to her husband who invariably wore a BRDC badge at all the many events and functions which they attended.

Sir Stirling and Lady Moss graced The Bahamas Speed Week Revivals and Stirling, who built a house on Eastern Road, surprised the young Karter’s with his knowledge of their machinery while Susie watched his every move and ensured he was behaving himself!

Sir Stirling’s fame as a racing driver will endure for all time and alongside him in the memory will be Lady Moss, his most gracious, kindest and nicest wife about whom never a harsh word was heard.

of their time. Now the board is in the hands of Dr Magnus Ekedede, chairman, with Dr Kenneth Kemp (Bahamas Foot and Ankle and author of The Tribune column

PRINCESS Margaret Hospital’s emergency entrance.

WHILE RACING CAR BUFFS ARE MOURNING LADY SUSIE MOSS

BRITISH race car driver Sir Stirling Moss and his wife Lady Susie Moss

Antique Auto Club of The Bahamas

The Antique Auto Club held an art show at last weekend’s car show - and the winners have been chosen in four categories, each with a 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

The winners have been invited, together with their families and friends, principals, to come out for the price giving, tomorrow from noon to 1.30pm.

Antique cars will be present for the kids to sit in and have their pictures taken.

Rotaract Club of East Nassau

In the spirit of World Rotaract Week which was observed on March 13-19, celebrating 55 years of service, fellowship and community building, the Rotaract Club of East Nassau chose an innovated route by partnering with the Bahamas National Trust to conduct the “Remove & Restore: The Wetlands Restoration Project”.

The project focused on educating the public on some of the damage that is being done to the wetlands through the group’s social media pages and hands on work to restore and maintain these natural resources.

Bahamian wetlands are one of the most invaluable resources that our small islands have.

Wetlands have many benefits to humans such as erosion control, flood abatement, improved water quality and they serve as a habitat for game animals.

However, the wetlands in particular our National Parks and Ponds are being threatened by invasive plant species which destroy food sources for native animals, reduce the diversity in the area, create coastal erosion and compete with native plants species for resources.

Plants such as Jumbay, Australian Pine, and Brazilian Pepper are three highly aggressive invasive plants which threaten our ponds.

On March 18, 2023, members of the Rotaract

Clubs & Societies page returns

OUR Clubs and Societies page is back - with a chance for you to share your group’s activities with our readers.

We hope it can serve as a community noticeboard to let people know about your organisation and what you have been doing, or about events that are coming up.

To feature on our Clubs and Societies page, submit your report to clubs@tribunemedia.net, with “Clubs Page” written in the subject line.

For more information about the page, contact Stephen Hunt on 826-2242.

Club of East Nassau and the Bahamas National Trust conducted a clean-up and removal event at the Harold and Wilson Pond National Park.

The group was joined by members of the Pride Estates Community Association. Collectively, the group was able to remove nearly 100 yards of invasive species along with debri and trash.

The Rotaract Club of East Nassau encourages members of the community to become familiar with these plants and to remove them from their immediate surroundings.

Rotary Club of SouthEast Nassau

The Rotary Club of South-East Nassau will hold its Fun Run Walk event on Saturday, Martch 25, starting at 5am.

The route runs from Rotary Park at Western Esplanade to Goodman’s Bay and back.

Corporate registration is available for $1,500 (gold), $1,000 (silver), $500 (bronze), and $300 (supporting).

Individual registration costs $20 or free for children under 12. For more information, visit the group’s Facebook and Instagram pages.

Young Women’s Christian Association

THE YWCA has rolled out its effervescent chess

programme with the “Game of Kings”, “King of All Games” or “Game of Life” being tutored every Saturday from 3-4.30pm for males and females, ages eight to 100, at the YWCA Activity Hall, Dolphin Drive. Tutor: Antoinette Seymour, multi-time (first and only female) National Chess Champion, Chess Olympiad title holder, first University of The Bahamas Archivist, and youngest COB graduate ever. Tutoring also occurs every Monday from 6-7.30pm at the Fort Charlotte Community Centre. Do call Ms Seymour at 816-3709 for participation details.

CHESS royalty visited the YWCA last Saturday. Seated at left is current Bahamas National Champion Valentine Cox and seated next to him is the “Father of Chess in The Bahamas” Warren Seymour. Standing is Antoinette Seymour.

YWCA executive director Rosalie Fawkes, daughter of Sir Randol Fawkes, joining the fun. ROTARACT members helping to restore wetland areas.

SPORTS PAGE 11

FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2023

Trinidad ready to face The Bahamas

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Trinidad & Tobago, coming off their training camp in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, are looking forward to their rematch against the Bahamas at 4pm today in the Concacaf Nations League match at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium.

On their arrival to The Bahamas yesterday, head coach Angus Eve spoke to the media about his expectations of his young team as they got in their last practice and to get acclimatised to the conditions here.

“We are happy to be here in your beautiful country,” said Eve, who is making his maiden voyage here. “I’m happy that I leave with some enjoyment after the game.”

Trinidad & Tobago nipped the Bahamas 1-0 in their first meeting on Monday, June 6, 2022 at the Hasely Crawford National Stadium.

The Bahamas is coming off a 4-0 loss to Nicaragua on Monday, June 13, 2022, the same day that Trinidad & Tobago last played when they knocked off St Vincent and the Grenadines 4-1 in Trinidad.

Eve said the weather conditions here are similar to what they have in Trinidad & Tobago and even in Florida where they got in their final workout sessions before coming to the Bahamas, but he said they are looking forward to an exciting game.

“It’s going to be a little different from the last time we played,” said Eve.

“You will see a much younger team. We are now gelling, although we are in a rebuilding stage. We lost some of the players who were on the team last year, but this is a young team, but we’re looking forward to doing very well.”

The team will feature a 28-year-old player who has never played for Trinidad & Tobago at any international competition, but with the majority of the players averaging around 24 years old, Eve said he’s confident that they can make their presence felt.

Against the Bahamas, Eve said he knows they will have to counteract their deep style of play. “They have two really good forwards, so we expect for them to come out and express themselves playing in front of their home crowd,” Eve said. “So we are basically prepared to make the adjustment

because we know that we are playing at home.”

After losing their first game in the Nations League, Trinidad & Tobago stormed back to win their next three and are now sitting in second place in the standings behind St Kitts & Nevis in Group F.

The Bahamas is in fifth place, having lost three of the four matches played so far, drawing one.

Eve said this is a mustwin game for them because their goal is to qualify outright from the North America, Central American and Caribbean region for the Concacaf Gold Cup Commebol Copa America, the top men’s football tournament contested among national teams from South America. To the natives of Trinidad & Tobago, who are

CARIFTA TICKET SALES GOING WELL

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

TICKETS and merchandise sales for the Oaktree Medical Center’s 50th CARIFTA Games are going quite well, according to director of sales Patrice Ferguson.

On Wednesday at the Cultural Village, Ferguson and Lynden Maycock, the chief executive officer of the Local Organising Committee, welcomed a special guest as former veteran women’s national softball team player Daisy Walker-Hanson showed up to purchase her tickets and merchandise for the games, scheduled for April 8-10 at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium.

residing in the Bahamas, Eve urged them to “come out and support your team from Trinidad. It’s your team. So come out, watch us play.”

Following this match, the Bahamas will head to St Vincent and the Grenadines to play their next match at 3pn on Monday, March 27, while Trinidad & Tobago will go home to host Nicaragua at 8pm.

“I love to patronise our country. When I was in sports, I know a lot of people came out and supported us when we were playing,” Walker-Hanson said. “So I want to contribute to the young people who are now carrying the mantle for our country.

“I want to cheer for them and I want them to see my visible appearance. I hope that they are enthused about competing and winning for the country. So from Sunday, I will be out

SEE PAGE 12

MINUS MAKES A PITCH FOR WOMEN’S PRO CARD

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WITH the return of professional boxing with the first all-female show taking place next weekend, promoter Michelle Minus made a special pitch for support from the Southeast Nassau Rotary Club.

Minus, along with her publicist Serena Williams, was a special guest at the club’s weekly meeting on Wednesday at the Nassau Yacht Club.

During her address to the audience, Minus took the time to bring some awareness of ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease, which struck her former husband Ray Minus Jr, whom she partnered with in the formation of First Class Promotions, the boxing

club that is hosting the show on Friday, March 31 at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium.

“Persons, who suffer this disease, have a life expectancy of two to five years, but there are persons who have lived beyond that,” she said. “There’s

CARIFTA LOC CEO: ‘We are going above and beyond’

By TENAJH SWEETING tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE preparation for this year’s 50th CARIFTA Games has entered into its final phases with the sporting event less than two weeks away.

The Oaktree Medical sponsored event is quickly approaching and event organisers are determined to make it one to remember.

As anticipation rises ahead of The Bahamas’ 9th hosting of the track and field event, organisers will look to use the 2023 High School Nationals/CARIFTA Trials as the final test run before the major event.

Lynden Maycock, chief executive officer of the local organising committee, talked about what areas the LOC will look to test at this weekend’s event ahead of

April’s CARIFTA Games.

“We anticipate there will be an excess of 1,200 athletes that will be performing this weekend, we will be testing areas such as competition, technology, venue readiness, medical team, security, [and] accommodations so a lot of the various areas of the CARIFTA team will be tested,” Maycock said.

The LOC has used a number of sporting events as trial runs ahead of the main event with the first one being the Star Trackers Classic meet in February.

As athletes look to put on a show on the track and field, LOC officials will look to make any necessary adjustments with Maycock, noting that emphasis will be placed on even the cleanliness of bathrooms and definitely security.

Fans are assured that their

vehicles will be protected as security teams will be stationed as far as the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex as organisers anticipate a large crowd turnout and the stadium to be filled beyond capacity.

The LOC CEO expects that there will be a need for additional bleachers as well to accommodate

Bahamians and guests from the different Caribbean regions.

Persons in attendance will not have to worry about missing races while towing long lines for refreshments, according to Maycock.

At this year’s games, persons can use the app on their phones to scan through the various food vendors stationed at the stadium and order something to eat right from the comfort of their seats.

Additionally, the food will be brought directly to them, making it a remarkable experience. CARIFTA attendees can also look forward to the cultural village which will provide them with cuisines from places such as Jamaica, Haiti, Barbados,

no awareness here in the Bahamas for ALS and so we are doing whatever we can to assist him.”

She noted that since he contracted the disease in 2020, they have been assisting him with his daily operation and they have

received some support from his friends from the international community, who are expected to come down for the show.

Minus Jr, 59, also founded the Champion Amateur Boxing Club and was the country’s most decorated pro boxer during a career that started in 1982 and ended in 2001 with an impressive 37-9-1 winloss-draw record with 27 knockouts.

He held the British Commonwealth title six times, was named the Commonwealth Boxer of the Year in 1989, was a two-time WBC Continental of America’s champion, four-time Bahamas bantamweight champion, three-time featherweight champion, four-time lightweight

SEE PAGE 12

Nowell breaks NCAA assist record, KSU beats MSU 98-93 in OT

By TOM CANAVAN AP Sports Writer

NEW YORK (AP) —

Markquis Nowell broke the NCAA Tournament record for assists in a game with 19, his last two on spectacular passes in the final minute of overtime, and Kansas State beat Michigan State 98-93 last night in a Sweet 16 thriller at Madison Square Garden. Playing in his hometown and fighting through a second-half ankle injury, Nowell found Keyontae Johnson for a reverse alley-oop with 58 seconds left in OT to give the Wildcats (26-9) the lead for good in this backand-forth East Region semifinal. He then threw

an inbound pass to Ismael Massoud, who knocked down a jumper with 15 seconds left for a 96-93 lead.

With Michigan State needing a 3 to tie, Nowell stole the ball from the Spartans’ Tyson Walker and drove for a clinching layup at the buzzer. The 5-foot-8, Harlem-raised Nowell finished with 20 points and five steals in a signature performance at basketball’s most famous arena that drew tweets of praise from Patrick Mahomes and Kevin Durant. “That was a legendary display of controlling a basketball game Markquis,” Durant tweeted.

SHOWN, from left to right, are Shaun Fuentes, director of media/communications for Trindad & Tobago and head coach Angus Eve.

SPECIAL guest speaker Michelle Minus receives a plaque from past president Lionel Haven and current president Johann Bain of the South East Nassau Rotary Club..jpg

RONALDO

SETS RECORD FOR MOST APPEARANCES, PORTUGAL

WINS

LISBON, Portugal (AP)

— It didn’t take long for Cristiano Ronaldo to put the World Cup disappointment behind him.

Starting blocks session helps athletes trying to make CARIFTA track team

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

HE didn’t have sufficient time, but former sprinter turned coach Andrew Tynes said he was glad to once again offer a starting blocks session for athletes trying out for this year’s CARIFTA track team.

With the final trials being held from Saturday to Monday during the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’ joint three-day meet with the Ministries of Education and Youth, Sports and Culture, Tynes staged the workout session on Wednesday at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium.

“As usual, every year we have this starting block session just before CARIFTA,” said Tynes, who now coaches the Swift Athletics Track Club. “The kids were excited because it gave them a chance to get the jitters out because they got a chance to work out with some of their competitors during the Nationals and the final trials.”

More than 70 competitors participated in the session that was designed

CARIFTA FROM PAGE 11

here supporting our people.”

The former banker, who left her mark on the sport of softball as a member of the women’s team that was once ranked at number three in the world, said it’s always good when the country can host such international events, so she just wanted to make sure that she’s a part of Team Bahamas’ quest to be the best.

“I am now trying to encourage people to get to know Jesus Christ,” Walker-Hanson said.

“I am trying to encourage them not to make the kind of mistakes that we made and to point them in the direction of Jesus Christ.”

Maycock said he was thrilled to have been on hand to greet and meet Walker-Hanson, whom

for the New Providencebased athletes.

Bahamas Association of Certified Officials starter Sonia Black fired the starting gun during the session for the athletes.

Tynes and the other countries involved in the session, including former national team sprinter Fabian Whymns, were expected to stage another session for the athletes coming in from the Family Islands. “I think the sprinters at this year’s camp

he didn’t get to see play because he was too young.

“I felt really good to know that a celebrity like Daisy Walker came back and patronised us and purchased her tickets for the games,” Maycock said. “I would have heard about her in my time, but to actually meet her was very humbling. “I was very appreciative that she was really down to earth and so I was speechless being in her presence. It just shows the magnitude of people who are coming out to support these games.”

Adderley said the sales for both the tickets and the merchandise have been going very well and she anticipates that it will increase this weekend as the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations and both the Ministry of Education and Youth, Sports and Culture will host the National High School

looked much better than they did in the past, so I’m expecting that they will do very well, not just at the Nationals and the trials, but in representing us at CARIFTA,” Tynes said. “We just have to wait and see what happens.”

With more than 25 countries expected in town to participate in the region’s biggest junior track and field competition over the Easter holiday weekend, April 8-10, Tynes said he won’t reveal the findings he

Championships and final CARIFTA Trials.

“We want to encourage Bahamians to come down and get your tickets. They are going down. The gold seats are all gone, but we will still have silver and bronze seats,” She said.

“The bronze seats are just as good because they are on the 100m straight and the silver are just above the gold, so you still can purchase some very good tickets and at responsible prices.”

Ferguson revealed that the three-day prices for the gold tickets are priced at $75, silver is $55 and bronze is $40. For those who only wish to secure the daily prices, they are pegged at $25 for gold, $20 for silver and $15 for bronze.

As for the merchandise, Ferguson noted that the prices are only $20 for long sleeves and $15 for short sleeves. Designated colours

saw from the participants in the camp but will share with the athletes and their coaches.

“When I gave the invitation, I told the coaches and the athletes, if it fit their schedule, we would like for them to participate,” Tynes said.

“I think we had a good response, although there were some athletes who didn’t because their coaches had them working on certain aspects of their training.

“I was pleased with the response we got. I think the athletes who participated got a chance to work on their start, so that was important going into the trials. “We wished we had more time, but we utilised the same window that we had to work with them.”

Tynes, whose club is loaded with some of the top sprinters in the country, said he feels like the sprinters will definitely make their presence felt at the games this year.

Back as a starter with Portugal’s national team, Ronaldo became the mostcapped player in men’s international soccer yesterday, scoring twice in a 4-0 rout of Liechtenstein in 2024 European Championship qualifying. The game marked the debut of coach Roberto Martínez with Portugal.

Ronaldo converted a penalty kick and scored off a free kick while making his 197th appearance with the national team. He had tied Kuwait’s Bader Al-Mutawa with 196 caps after coming off the bench in Portugal’s loss to Morocco in the quarterfinals of the World Cup last year.

Ronaldo was benched in the knockout rounds in Qatar and left the field in tears after the defeat to Morocco. He had said his return to the national team was in doubt after the World Cup, but eventually decided it was not time “to throw in the towel.”

“To be in the national team, you have to be committed,” Martínez said of Ronaldo. “It’s a new cycle. It is very important that a player shows commitment and that he can use his experience. Cristiano has that: A lot of experience and a lot of commitment to the national team.”

The 38-year-old Ronaldo is also the all-time scoring leader in men’s soccer and took his tally to 120 goals after scoring with his penalty kick in the 51st and a powerful free kick from just outside the area in the 63rd. Portugal dominated from the start at the José Alvalade Stadium, and João Cancelo opened the scoring in the eighth minute. He also set up Bernardo Silva’s close-range goal in the 47th and the penalty that Ronaldo converted for the third goal.

for the three days of competition are black on Friday, white on Saturday, aquamarine on Sunday and gold on

Monday. “Come Gold With Us” caps are also on sale in black and white for $15 each.

MINUS

FROM PAGE 11

champion and the first Bahamian to fight for three world titles in the WBC, WBA and WBO.

In her address, Minus said they will roll out the red carpet as they honour Minus.

The show will be highlighted by the WBA’s world title fight between Jamie ‘The Miracle’ Mitchell of Las Vegas and Lindsay Garbatt of Toronto, Canada.

“This is just the beginning of our return to promoting professional boxing,” Minus said. “We are excited to be putting on this all-female card, which is the first time that it is being done in the Bahamas and in the Caribbean.

“When we do our second show in October, we hope to highlight a British Commonwealth title fight. So

“Come down get your tickets and your merchandise and come gold with us,” Adderley said.

we want to encourage the public to come out and support these females on the card and to also make a contribution to Ray Minus Jr.”

She noted that the majority of the amateur and professional boxers, whom Minus Jr had a chance to train, will be on hand to support him. Among the list are Jermaine ‘Choo Choo’ Mackey, Meacher ‘Major Pain” Major and Quincy ‘Thrill-A-Minute’ Pratt, Minus Jr’s arch-rival in three epic pro fights in the country.

VIP tickets are priced at $125 and general mission is $35 and available at www. bahamasetickets,com. For further information, persons can call 242-465-2313 or email firstclasspromotions@gmail. com or Serena Williams at 242-557-or serena@serenawilliams-pr.com

ATHLETES take advantage of a starting blocks session staged by former sprinter turned coach Andrew Tynes.

Photos: Moises Amisial/Tribune Staff

BAHAMAS Association of Certified Officials starter Sonia Black fires the starting gun during the starting block session for the athletes.

Photo: Moises Amisial/Tribune Staff

Youth league to host first high school flag football tournament

By TENAJH SWEETING tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Youth Flag Football League (BYFFL) will host the country’s first high school flag football tournament at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium April 1.

The flag football showdown will kick off at 9:30am until 4pm, featuring teams from St. John’s College, Kingsway Academy, long-time rivals St. Augustine’s College, and Queen’s College.

The inaugural youth flag football event will be held to raise awareness for the sport and to get more students engaged in it in their respective high schools.

With the BYFFL’s exciting high school matchups on pace to take place in less than two weeks, programme director Jayson Clarke talked about the structure of the event.

“We are hosting our first tournament among those four high schools in two divisions, we are using the under 14 division and the 14 and over division which are the two divisions that are actually going to be competing,” Clarke said.

He added that fans can look forward to stiff competition as there will be a total of more than 10 games for the 14 and over division with teams competing from SJC, SAC, QC and KA.

The teams have been practicing since September of last year in preparation for April’s flag football tournament. The high school teams will look to show off their six months of hard work on the field in front of their school student bodies. Although the

MAYCOCK

FROM PAGE 11

event is geared towards encouraging friendly competition between schools, organisers intend to use funds raised at the event to purchase adequate flag football equipment so that school’s can integrate the sport into their curriculum.

After six months of training, the programme director gave some insight on what preparation of the high school athletes has been like ahead of April’s event.

Clarke said training has been pretty good as they divided the coaches into the groups of their adoptive schools as most tried to go with their alma mater.

He added that they train with athletes two to three times a week and have been working with them to try and get them trained in their groups by teaching them the game and getting them ready to play.

Fans that wish to see the high school athletes in action can purchase tickets on the day of the event at a cost of $3 at the TAR national stadium.

After being on the scene for six years now, BYFFL will look to continue to make innovative strides after this sporting event by trying to get other private schools involved and to add public schools that are interested to next year’s tournament in efforts to expand and make it more exciting. Fans can expect to see the always exciting rivalry between the Big Red Machine and QC Comets to continue brewing at the tournament.

However, Clarke admits that there might be some underdog action on game day. Students and peers

and Cuba. Persons can also check out the “CARIFTA hype” happy hour at the cultural village every Friday leading up to the main event.

Organisers have also integrated a college talk segment at the CARIFTA Games.

Maycock said parents of student athletes can come to the college talk/fair to find out more information for them such as potential scholarships, tertiary schools and to discuss the rules student athletes have to abide by in order to maximise their athletic journeys.

Parents can take advantage of this opportunity between 12 noon to

TOM BRADY BECOMES MINORITY OWNER OF WNBA’S LAS VEGAS ACES

By MARK ANDERSON AP Sports Writer

LAS VEGAS (AP) —

Seven-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Tom Brady has acquired an ownership stake in the WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces. He attended an Aces game on May 31 and later sent Las Vegas star Kelsey Plum a jersey and other gifts.

“I am very excited to be part of the Las Vegas Aces organisation,” Brady said in a statement yesterday. “My love for women’s sports began at a young age when I would tag along to all my older sisters’ games — they were by far the best athletes in our house! We celebrated their accomplishments together as a family, and they remain a great inspiration to me.

“I have always been a huge fan of women’s sports, and I admire the work that the Aces’ players, staff, and the WNBA continue to do to grow the sport and empower future generations of athletes. To be able to contribute in any way to that mission as a member of the Aces organisation is an incredible honour.”

are encouraged to come out and support their peers and children on a day that is expected to be

2pm everyday after the morning sessions at the cultural village.

For persons unable to attend the 50th CARIFTA Games, they can tune in via live stream as the event will be broadcast worldwide.

The games will be broadcast for the first time on Panam sports, SportsMax, Rogers and World Athletics live stream. The LOC CEO said organisers will look to take it to the next level for this year’s games as it is also the country’s 50th year of Independence.

The corporate sponsors have ensured that the country is well equipped to host the game as the LOC has surpassed $1.5 million in sponsors ahead of April’s event.

The CARIFTA Games are scheduled for April 7-10.

filled with excitement and highly competitive high school flag football matchups. BYFFL’s high school

NCAA

FROM PAGE 11

Johnson scored 22 points for the No. 3 seed Wildcats, who will face either fourth-seeded Tennessee or ninth-seeded Florida Atlantic on Saturday as they seek the programme’s first Final Four berth since 1964.

A.J. Hoggard scored a career-high 25 points for seventh-seeded Michigan State (21-13).

Joey Hauser added 18 points and Walker had 16, including a layup with 5 seconds left in regulation

football tournament will be sponsored by Pedialyte, Bahamas Waste and Fidelity Bank.

that forced the first overtime of this year’s NCAA Tournament.

UNLV’s Mark Wade had the previous NCAA tourney assists record with 18 during the Runnin’ Rebels 1987 Final Four win over Indiana.

Nowell turned his ankle early in the second half, was helped off the court and had it taped. Michigan State took the lead with him sidelined, and when he returned, he pushed off the ankle to bank in a 3-pointer that beat the shot clock and tied the game at 55-all.

Turns out he was just getting started.

Brady announced his retirement February 1 at age 45. He won six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots and one with the Tampa Buccaneers and owns multiple passing records over a 23-year career.

“Tom Brady is a win not only for the Aces, and the WNBA, but for women’s professional sports as a whole,” Aces owner Mark Davis said in a statement.

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert issued a statement that read:

“We are pleased to see the incredible momentum around the WNBA continue as evidenced by our recent league and team equity deals. We look forward to welcoming Tom Brady as an owner once the league process and approvals are complete.

“We have seen Tom Brady courtside at our games and are thrilled he recognises the value of supporting women’s basketball and the WNBA.”

PLAY TENNIS BAHAMAS

THE Play Tennis Bahamas programme is presently in its sixth year. With a focus on teaching beginners ages 4-17 years old how to play tennis, the programme has reached hundreds of children all over the country.

Girls and boys have both benefitted from this programme which has been offered by The Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association (BLTA). The programme partners were RBC and Fidelity along with anonymous corporate sponsors over the past years.

The investment in the youth of the nation is commendable and we continue

to see an explosion of new persons to the tennis landscape.

The volunteer coaches are the main fuel for a programme that only takes in a minimal admin fee of $1 from its participants. We commend the hardworking coaches in the programme who giv back of their time and talent.

Growth is borne from service to others. The kids are taught forehands, backhands, serves, volleys and overheads. They enjoy the various drills and games. This is the future generation and the development of young beginners

is critical to increasing the pool of players in the sport.

President Perry Newton noted that the programme resumed for 2023 at the beginning of February and will run for about eight weeks. The programme is conducted at the National Tennis Centre.

Developmental programmes are a primary focus and one of the main pillars and building blocks for tennis sustainability.

To register for the next instalment of the programme, email pr@blta.net. If you wish to volunteer as a coach in the programme, we invite you to email also.

THE Bahamas Youth Flag Football League will host the country’s first high school flag football tournament at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium on April 1.

YOUNG, aspiring tennis players participate in the Play Tennis Bahamas programme, presently in its sixth year.

DEVELOPER’S $1BN AMBITION FOR 10K SAN SALVADOR ACRES

including Rosewood, Six Senses, Waldorf Astoria (Hilton), Ritz Carlton (Marriott), Kempinski Regent, Banyan Tree, Am Resorts and Dream Hotel Group. However, Letters of Intent are not final binding agreements.

Other named partners include Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, the US real estate brokerage, and Wheels Up, a private jet charter company once 26 percent owned by Delta Airlines but is now a public company in its own right.

New World Developments says a key objective is “to create a world-class sports academy and wellness facility on San Salvador”.

Besides Mr Brees, the ex-New Orleans Saints quarterback, the developer said another “sponsor” of its goal to attract sports teams and athletes from around the world to San Salvador is Michigan Wolverines coach, Jim Harbaugh.

Many Bahamians, though, will likely be sceptical of New World Developments’ intentions and prospects of success given the mixed history, at best, of large resort projects in the Family Islands. The sheer scale of investment required to build out the necessary infrastructure to support multiple hotels will make it challenging to generate a return on investment, while the local labour pool is often insufficient to meet construction and full-time operational needs.

Importing labour, both from elsewhere in The Bahamas and abroad, brings with it housing and social issues. And, by their very nature, large-scale resort projects often end up changing the character of the Family Island locations that host them, changing the very environment that attracted them in the first place.

However, Mr Alexiou yesterday confirmed that the New World Developments project - in which he himself is a 10 percent shareholder of the company - is for real. “They are in the process of getting the final approval from government to start soon,” he said. “It will probably be announced a little later on, but it’s been a long way in the making and it is almost coming to fruition right now.”

Mr Alexiou’s local knowledge, and experience of construction in the Family Islands, will likely be leaned on heavily by the project. “One of our equity partners owns the Abaco Beach Resort & Marina in Abaco, built the Club Med Resort on San Salvador as well as other luxury resorts throughout The Bahamas,” New World Developments website said in an obvious reference to him.

The developer also has an added advantage in that Mr Alexiou already owns most, if not all, the 12 land parcels earmarked for inclusion in New World Developments’ design. Dr Hubert Minnis, the former prime minister, and real estate contacts all confirmed that the Sunco founder possesses substantial land holdings on San Salvador.

Dr Minnis yesterday confirmed that New World Developments had initially approached his administration with its San Salvador plans in late January 2021, indicating the concept has been around for several years. While his administration reacted favourably to the proposal, the Killarney MP said the group never came back after being asked to complete and produce a master plan of its project.

“They would have met with us on Wednesday, January 27, 2021,” Dr Minnis told this newspaper. “They wanted to do a fivestar luxury resort and two very high-end, low density resorts. They said they had brought planners and environmental consultants to the island already, and had looked and done some preliminary sketches. They had their financial consultant and financial commitments for all stages.

“They wanted to come in to talk and see whether there would be any obstacles, and what they would have to do so that once they started they would continue to roll. They wanted to know the environmental impact assessment (EIA) they would have to do to. We directed them in what they

had to do, and they were supposed to get back to us with a master plan. That was the last we heard.”

Suggesting that the then-ongoing COVID-19 pandemic may have delayed New World Developments’ plans, Dr Minnis reiterated: “We told them we like the project, but they had to complete a master plan so we could have the environmental, Ministry of Works, and all the different entities” assess it.

Speaking to Mr Alexiou, the former prime minister said: “I know he has a lot of land [on San Salvador]. I’d asked the question as to what he was doing with this land, and he was talking about development. He came with a group from Europe. We discussed it and thought they would take it forward from there. That was the last time and they never came back.”

A 26-page ‘Business plan and Investments Board application’ summary, dating from September 2021, values the 12 land parcels - most of which are located in north and central San Salvadorat a combined $141.474m. They range in size from 4,161 acres to 128 acres, but only one was said at that time to have obtained the necessary planning permission “in principle”.

“New World Developments has an option on 10,000 acres of land on the beautiful island of San Salvador, Bahamas, divided across 12 large land parcels/ sites,” the business plan said. “Currently we have over $140m in land holdings. This is before the substantial uplift is further recognised in values that come from full entitlements.

“At this point in the process, we have planning permission in principle. We have met with the Prime Minister’s office on January 27, 2021, and they are very excited about the plans. So much, that they have urged us to get our application in as soon as possible.”

Providing further details on the project’s proposed structure, the business plan adds: “The opportunity for New World Developments to develop on San Salvador is the result of the long-term relationship and friendship of Robert Fitzpatrick, a very successful businessman, and Emmanuel Alexiou (Manny), one of the largest private landowners in The Bahamas....

“An agreement has been structured between Robert Fitzpatrick and Emmanuel “Manny” Alexiou whereby New World Developments will have first option to purchase and develop all remaining plots of land owned by Mr Alexiou on San Salvador. The agreement terms include a 75 percent discount on the preapproval land values and a 5 percent carried interest to Mr Alexiou on each new Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) created for each of these sites.

“Furthermore, Mr Alexiou’s position on the Board of Directors will strengthen the management team moving forward. If New World Developments decides to not pursue any options on any further sites and the parcels of land are sold, then New World Developments will be awarded 25 percent of the price paid.”

Mr Fitzpatrick and Mr Alexiou are the project’s co-chairs, with the former also acting as president. However, the New World Developments website provides no biographical details for Mr Fitzpatrick or other principals and management despite providing links to such information.

The business plan, meanwhile, pledges that the project will create 1,500 permanent jobs for Bahamians while also unlocking $4bn worth of real estate value. “The initial plan is to develop two parcels, which total just less than 2,500 acres,” the document said.

“The first two sites will have ten hotels, a minimum 500 branded residences. On top of the branded residential, we will be selling up to one acre lots which will be selling for $1m and upwards. Clients will secure their $1m deposit on the land and then pay in stages over the duration of their house build. We envision that, on an $8m purchase (conservative figure), we will look to receive approximately $5m profit.”

PUBLIC NOTICE

REAL ESTATE BOARD

LICENSED BROKERS/SALESMEN/APPRAISERS/DEVELOPERS

The Public is notified for general information that the following persons have renewed their licenses as of January 1st, 2023. These licenses are valid until December 31, 2023. The public is advised that the list of names below include registered, licensed members of The Bahamas Real Estate Association. The public is further advised that only licensed real estate salesmen and brokers are legally permitted to conduct the business of real estate in The Bahamas.

INCREASING $136M OUTBOUND TRANSFERS CAUSE FOR ‘CONCERN’

2022 in involving some 441,900 transactions. Of these, by the far the majority - some 65 percent or 285,159 of the volume, and 66 percent or $136.074m of the value - related to outward bound transfers to other countries.

By comparison, The Bahamas received some 156,714 incoming money transfers worth a collective $68.575m - representing a net deficit of $67.5m when compared to outgoing transactions. The higher outbound transactions are likely explained by the large immigrant workforce, mainly Haitians, Jamaicans and Filipinos, sending their earnings back home to support family and friends, plus Bahamians sending funds to relatives who are abroad.

However, one source, speaking on condition of anonymity, suggested that included in outbound transfers are also monies that Bahamians are moving abroad in increasing sums due to a loss of confidence in the country’s fiscal and economic situation and prospects for a turnaround.

“You’d be shocked to see how many Bahamians of note are moving money from The Bahamas,” they added. “There are noted families who have consistently been moving consistent amounts of money they have in savings and investments offshore. They are continuing to lose confidence in the Bahamian economy and are moving money in large numbers. That contributes to the weakness of domestic spending and impacts the foreign exchange reserves.”

Mr Beckles made no mention of this, but told Tribune Business of the Central Bank data: “I think it’s indicative of a couple of things. Residents of The Bahamas are beginning to actualise there’s opportunity to send money out of the country and they are engaging digital platforms to do this legally.

“The downside is the continual repatriation of monies earned in The Bahamas. That number continues to grow and we should all be concerned about that. That is the trend that monies being generated in The Bahamas, earned in The Bahamasnot by corporations, but by individuals - are not being spent in The Bahamas.

“On the one hand people are engaging these platforms to more easily transfer funds, do more cross-border transactions with funds, but the bigger picture is we are starting to see this trend continue. Money going out of the country is no food to us,” the Island Pay chief continued.

“That is not to say people don’t have the right to to do what they want to do with their money, but in this case it’s not about people spending as consumers and buying items. These are actual wages leaving the country. The major issue is wages being earned here, but not used here, doesn’t help the economy. That’s a growing trend and we should be paying attention to it. Some people may say it’s a small amount, but the year before it was not that large. There’s reason to be concerned.”

Mr Beckles, meanwhile, told Tribune Business that

The Bahamas “grossly under estimates” the number of citizens and residents who are either unbanked or under-banked, meaning they either have no or very little access to the financial services that most persons take for granted.

“I think we grossly under estimate the number of Bahamians and residents who are unbanked and under-banked in this country,” he argued. “They handle a lot of cash. As cash becomes challenged by digital payments disruption, the unbanked and under-banked are going to look for ways to participate in the economy. It’s a growing sector that needs to be assisted.

“That’s why we in the digital payment space are there. That’s part of the reason we exist. It’s huge; not just in The Bahamas but around the world.” Pointing out that digital payment providers offer unbanked and under-banked Bahamians access to the global market, not just that of The Bahamas, Mr Beckles added: “We have brought the world to The Bahamas and, in many respects, have brought the unbanked and under-banked individuals to the global table.

“One of the purposes we have at Island Pay is to provide financial inclusion. There are a lot of Bahamians and residents left out of traditional financial services that need to be serviced and maintained. We see the banks constantly saying we’re not going to offer this service, not going to offer that service any more, closing branches. We cannot disadvantage those consumers. They still need access to financial services, and that’s why were in this space.”

The Central Bank of The Bahamas, in a recent industry briefing, detailed a number of regulatory reforms on its agenda including some that will impact digital payments providers and money transmission businesses. In particular, it plans to shift the supervisory and regulatory framework for the sector from the Banks and Trust Companies Regulation Act to the Payment Instruments (Oversight) Regulations 2017.

“The proposed legislative revisions seek to move the supervisory and regulatory framework for money transmission service providers from the Banks and Trust Companies Regulation Act and place the framework under the Payment Instruments (Oversight) Regulations 2017,” the Central Bank said in its presentation.

Mr Beckles said the sector was unsure of the rational for the change, or what it will mean for operators, but said it would be welcome “if the intent is to make it more seamless to regulate it, to manage it”. He added: “If the change means better management, it enhances it, that’s a good thing but we’re not sure exactly what that means.”

According to the Central Bank, the five licensed money transmission businesses possessed a collective $24m in assets as at December 2022, while the three electronic money services providers had another $8m between them.

NOTICE BRIENNE LIMITED

Incorporated under the International Business Companies Act, 2000 of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.

Registration Number 205189 B

(In Voluntary Liquidation)

Notice is hereby given that the above-named Company is in dissolution, commencing on the 22nd day of March, A.D. 2023

Articles of Dissolution have been duly registered by the Registrar. The Liquidator is Jose Fernando Azevedo Bretanha, whose address is Av. Oiapoque 65, Ap 1403, TN Alphaville, Barueri, Sao Paulo, Brazil 06454-065. Persons having a Claim against the above-named Company are required on or before the day 21st day of April, A.D. 2023 to send their names, addresses and particulars of their debts or claims to the Liquidator of the Company, or in default thereof they may be excluded from the benefit of any distribution made before such claim is proved.

Dated this 22nd day of March, A.D. 2023.

Jose Fernando Azevedo Bretanha Liquidator

Wynn: 12-storey project will be ‘elegant addition’

FROM PAGE A24

include a hotel component.

“When we did Goldwynn there was some apprehension on the island and even some opposition,” Mr Hart recalled.

“I think we had demonstrated with this building that it could be done very tastefully, and something that complements the shoreline and something that adds to the tourism product on the island in a respectful and tasteful way. And that’s what we’ve achieved and now it’s done.

“This will be a very elegant addition to the shoreline and, also in terms of density, it would be lower than some of the other buildings on Cable Beach with only 35 units. The building has already gone through the Town Planning Committee and other governmental agencies, and has received the approval of the authorities.”

Goldwynn’s phase two has generated a “strong response” to its initial offerings. “We feel it validates the luxury market here in The Bahamas and Nassau, in particular, and is a sign of a robust real estate market

and confidence in the economy here,” Mr Hart added.

“We are building on the brand and the quality of the product we did in phase one.

“We don’t want to be dismissive of the environmental issues, but the main issues with this building is the parking, the density, which is why we reduced the density significantly. We’re not altering the shoreline in any way or interfering with the beach area in any way. So really, in terms of the environmental, it’s just a repetition of what we did in phase one.”

Realtors are already marketing the penthouse complex. One said: “Wynn Development officially introduced the ‘Penthouses at GoldWynn’ (phase two), Nassau’s newest and most exciting 12-storey contemporary beachfront edifice comprising 35 superblydesigned luxury beachfront residences.

“With escrow reservations already being submitted we want to make sure that you are one of the fortunate few to participate in this pre-construction offering prior to release to the general public.”

GB Power secures ‘best solar rate in Caribbean’

FROM PAGE A24

“optimise” its solar energy drive, and stabilise the grid by ensuring there is adequate power supply at night. Mr McGregor told this newspaper that the utility was likely to need to double its present 10 Mega Watt (MW) battery storage capacity within the next two years as more agreements with IPPs are struck.

“On an annual basis, with the weather we have on Grand Bahama, that probably could be 6 percent of our needs,” Mr McGregor said of how much generation capacity Lucayas Solar Power will account for.

“This is 6 percent of our generation locked in at nine cents per kilowatt hour (KWh) for 25 years.

“We’ll buy solar power as long as it is generated to our standard, and at a price that customers can afford, and certainly nine cents per KWh is probably the best you’ll see in the region right now. The price we’ve negotiated is a very good price for the Caribbean. We’re very pleased with what we’ve managed to do here. We’re pleased and excited; excited for Grand Bahama’s future. We’re often accused of being a monopoly utility, but not on the generation side any more.

“We’re building the economy and investor confidence. That’s key. The way we’ve been able to do that, and what underpins that, is the regulatory framework between the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) and ourselves. That had the IPP concept built into it in 2012. The foundation was laid then for this, and I’m glad we’ve finally been able to leverage this for the benefit of Grand Bahama. The regulatory framework the GBPA implemented 10 years ago is underpinning this.”

Mr McGregor added that the same regulatory framework had also provided Lucayas Solar Power with confidence that its interests are protected, and that it will be able to recover its investment in a stable supervisory environment where its interests are protected. Negotiations with GB Power had taken about two years to complete, with the IPP’s solar installation likely to be completed and generating power around year-end 2023.

The agreement is for the construction of a $15m utility-scale solar project at two sites that will supply a combined 9.5 Mega Watts (MW) to the island’s electricity grid. The deal will see Lucayas Solar Power

begin construction on the Devon and Fairfield plants this month. The build-out of the two sites, which will provide 4.5 MW and 5 MW, respectively, is set to create some 80 construction jobs and be completed by the 2024 first quarter.

Lucayas Solar Power will operate as an independent power producer (IPP) that sells the electricity it produces to GB Power, which will then distribute it to its customer base via Grand Bahama’s electricity grid.

GB Power will purchase the solar energy produced by the plants at a locked-in price of $0.09 cents per kilowatt hour (KWh) over the duration of a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Lucayas Solar Power.

Mr McGregor described GB Power’s first solar deal as “another type of hedging; it’s physical hedging” as renewable energy will now substitute for and replace the fossil fuel variety. He added that the nine cents price was “comparable”, and slightly lower than the utility’s existing fuel charge, which is above 11 cents per KWh.

GB Power clients will, he added, see an additional line item in their bill once the Lucayas Solar Power project comes online. This will show how much they are paying for solar energy alongside the fuel charge, and Mr McGregor said the former will start to increase - and the latter decrease - as more renewable generation comes online via new IPP agreements.

“We’ve got three more in total,” he revealed of possible solar IPP partners. “We’ve got one more, and a couple in the pipeline that are not quite as advanced. I think that gets us to about 18 percent [of total power generation needs] if all those come on stream in the next two years. Then we need to figure out how to get to 30 percent, but at that point we will understand what our investment in battery storage will be.

“Really, to get beyond 25 percent, we already have some battery storage installed. We’ve had 10 MW installed, and we’re probably going to need another 10 MW of battery installed in the next couple of years. GB Power will take that on. We see that as our responsibility. Our responsibility is to keep the grid stable. We’re undertaking currently a study of when and how much battery storage we need to put in to optimise solar.”

Beware cutting-off ‘rocking and rolling’ private aviation

well as Mexico,” Mr Gardner continued.

“I’d hate to see that affect all the effort, time and effort spent to promote go to waste. Some people may prefer the commercial airlines, and if you want the mass tourism market, so be it. But if you want general aviation, even a Cessna 182 costs a lot to maintain. You’re dealing with a segment that is very lucrative from a tourism standpoint.

“What I’ve seen, unfortunately, is that when countries like Mexico and Costa Rica promote airport fee structures and penalties are put in place that favour the commercial airlines, private aviation withers away to nothing. Don’t kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. That’s my only concern. If you privatise it, make sure there’s a stipulation in the contract that guarantees fair treatment for general aviation.”

The Ministry of Tourism, Aviation and Investments is estimating that a collective $263m investment will be required to turn the 14 selected airports into hubs of a size and standard appropriate for their location. Exuma and North Eleuthera are projected to require the greatest capital spend, at around $65m each, with Governor’s Harbour, Rock Sound, New Bight and Deadman’s Cay (Long Island) all pegged at around $18m apiece.

San Salvador was projected to carry a $15m price tag, with the quartet of Marsh Harbour, Sandy Point, Treasure Cay and Congo Town in Andros all projected to need a $10m investment. The smaller aviation gateways in the Exuma cays - Staniel Cay, Fowl Cay and Black Point, were each pegged at $2m.

Airport operators tend to see private planes, and their owners/pilots, as having relatively deep pockets that can be tapped for increased fees to help repay debt financing incurred to transform these facilities. Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) backed away from planned fee hikes several years ago after the private aviation industry successfully argued that it was “already paying our fair share”.

Mr Gardner yesterday pointed out that private aviation was a “funny” market where clients were prepared to spend “a lot of money” with hotels, restaurants, taxis, boat and car rentals, and on excursions such as snorkelling and bone fishing, yet were resistant to even

a $50 airport-related fee increase.

“They’re really quirky that way,” he explained. “They baulk about a $50 fee but spend thousands of dollars with the destination. The Government makes far more from hotel tax, VAT and departure tax than collecting $50 extra at the airport. It’s tough to understand.

“The Bahamas government has made it simply to fly there, it’s very welcoming, just keep doing what you’re doing. Make it easy and inexpensive for them to come, and they’ll spend a lot of money. The Bahamas does so many things, and does it very well. They have a great model and have been perfecting it over the years. Just keep on feeding the goose that lays the golden eggs.

“We had a number of near misses over the last few years with fees and Customs’ Click2Clear, and to the Government’s credit it corrected them and did what needed to be done. We’re rocking and rolling. The Bahamas is a leader in general aviation tourism and stands head and shoulders above the rest. I want it to stay that way, and it’s just getting the word out to keep it simple, don’t make it complex or expensive,” Mr Gardner continued.

“Think about Click2Clear and how they reacted to that. They were ready to go somewhere else. There’s a lot of sensitivity to complexity and cost. Keep it simple; don’t try to gouge them. Charge them a fair price, and when they come they will spend a ton of money. Start raising the bar, and fewer people are prepared to jump over it. What you’re going to lose is not an extra $50; you’re going to lose thousands of dollars that will be pumped into someone else’s economy.”

The Ministry of Tourism, Investments and Aviation, in a Wednesday statement, said private aviation arrivals to The Bahamas increased by 178 percent compared to pre-COVID levels in 2022, and Mr Gardner yesterday voiced optimism that this nation will match or beat last year’s gross number - even if the percentage rise is lowerin 2023.

“I definitely think it’s very realistic that The Bahamas can match or beat last year’s numbers,” he told Tribune Business. “I think it could; most definitely. I feel confident about that. I say that from looking at my numbers. Our numbers are far beyond the market growth rate, so I think we’re gaining market share.”

Realtor: Bank failures reinforce value of land, property investing

A BAHAMIAN realtor says the recent sudden failures of two US banks have reinforced the value of investing in land and property.

“The failure of Silicon Valley Bank in California and Signature Bank in New York have upset markets around the globe, unnerved consumer confidence and undermined a belief in too big to fail,” said Mario Carey, founder and chairman of Better Homes and Gardens MCR Bahamas.

He added that while these were one-off incidents, they have left depositors and investors shaken worldwide.

They have also unnerved the global financial services and stock markets to such an extent that UBS effectively mounted what was a rescue takeover of fellow Swiss bank, Credit Suisse, whose share price had crashed.

“A bank run that barrels along like tumbleweed gaining momentum can destroy what has taken decades to build,” said Mr Carey. He added, though, that land will always be there. And in The Bahamas, where demand for real estate outpaces supply, it has constantly appreciated in value in both New Providence and, increasingly in recent years, in the Family Islands.

“I will never forget the first four words I heard in my first appraisal course when I was studying real estate in college,” said Mr Carey. “Under all is land. So here we have two banks that were shaken to their

MARIO CAREY, founder and chairman, Better Homes and Gardens MCR Bahamas, says bank failures and uncertainty drive up the desire to invest in less volatile assets such as land and real estate.

roots, Signature Bank in New York, which was the third largest bank failure in history, and Silicon Valley Bank, which many believed was the heart of the Silicon Valley tech industry with $200bn in assets.

“And in no time, as shareholders or executives started selling off shares, they were crumbling like a sand sculpture too close to the water’s edge at incoming tide.......

I have no doubt that our local banks are well shored up and safe, but we learned a lot from the FTX bubble and from what is happening in other parts of the world in banking, particularly with currencies that are volatile or vulnerable to political instability.

With the exception of threats from climate change, land will always be theresolid, permanent, real. The strongest ‘currency’ of all is the earth you stand on.”

PUBLIC NOTICE - REAL ESTATE BOARD

LICENSED BROKERS/SALESMAN/APPRAISERS/DEVELOPERS

CAT ISLAND FIRMS:

AIRPORT REVIVAL IS ‘LONG OVERDUE’

By FAY SIMMONS jsimmons@ tribunemedia.net

CAT Island business owners yesterday hailed the “long overdue” $17m upgrade of New Bight’s airport as a potential catalyst for increased tourism and economic activity.

Jason Russell, proprietor of Favor’s Service Centre and Solomon’s Orchid, told Tribune Business that the airport’s planned transformation will end the “embarrassment” that residents have to endure.

“It was a century overdue, and we thank God for what is happening for our island. Not only the ground breaking, but we pray for resources and completion. It has great impact on our business because one time ago we had international flights coming in from Fort Lauderdale to Cat Island,” he explained.

“But the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) said it was not up to standard in that state to have those flights come back. So, with the loss of those flights, it put a slump in our economy. With this airport being constructed, it will help boost tourism products and will also help boost the businesses.

“For business, individuals it was long overdue. Plus it was embarrassing when you fly into Cat Island. Especially after seeing other island airports, it’s very embarrassing to come in and see the condition of our international airport, so thank God that when it’s completed the embarrassment will be lifted.”

Alberto Gilbert, Gilbert’s Inn’s manager, said he is hopeful the new airport will provide the supporting infrastructure necessary to drive increased tourism through more airlift and flights.

He added: “I feel it’s going to be good. We don’t have an international flight at the moment, so it will open up opportunities for businesses. People with Airbnbs and boutique hotels should see an increase in business. We have car rentals and rooms, and we expect to see an increase in that.

“The issue is that we don’t have an international flight, although most Family Islands have that. So it’s been hard, you know, seeing other islands progress and develop and we aren’t.”

Karen Johnson, Starlite Restaurant’s proprietor, voiced similar optimism. She said: “I’m looking forward to it. It will have a great impact on my

business. It will help draw persons to Cat Island and stimulate our local economy.”

Prime Minister Philip Davis KC, also Cat Island’s MP, described the airport’s revitalisation as a “very important investment in the people and future of this special island”. When completed it will possess full Customs and Immigration services, a fire station and will be constructed with climate change resilience and sustainability in mind.

“The new airport is a very big and very important investment in the people and future of this special island. As a tier two airport, it will serve as a port of entry with Customs and Immigration services, and will be equipped with a state-of-the-art fire station,” he added.

“The design is modern and sustainable, featuring solar panels, smart lighting and rainwater collection. Our history and culture will be on full display as well with regard to inspired decorations, and multiple opportunities for local entrepreneurs to exhibit their products. A new airport, my friends, means much more than increased travel capacity for Cat Island. The infrastructure upgrade promises to attract new investments, revitalise old industries and inspire new ones.

The Prime Minister also announced that 70 miles of Cat Island roads will be paved, and that construction work on its clinics will restart soon. He said:

“This airport is part of a larger plan for revitalisation. Improvements to this island’s roadways are right around the corner.

“The contract to pave 70 miles of the main road will go to Cabinet for signing next week, after which work will commence immediately. We’re also moving to complete our clinics. The clinics were well on their way and they had no action for the last four or five years. Action is about to start very soon on the clinics.”

Mr Davis also reassured Cat Islanders that the workers for the airport reconstruction will be sourced locally on the island. He added: “At the peak of the work many Cat Islanders will be employed to help in the construction of the works here. The contractor has been directed and mandated to ensure that all resources available in Cat Island should be first utilised before you bring any more in. He has that direct instruction.”

‘Point taken’ over Auditor General’s independence

By FAY SIMMONS jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

A CABINET minister yesterday said “the point is taken” after Opposition senators yesterday questioned whether legal reforms interfere with the Auditor General’s constitutional independence to safeguard taxpayer monies.

Senator Darren Henfield, the Opposition’s leader in the Senate, described the Public Finance Management Bill’s section ten as “abhorrent, regressive and authoritarian” because it seemingly diminishes the Auditor General’s powers and, in so doing, conflicts with section 136 in the Bahamian constitution.

The latter sets out the Auditor General’s ability “to have access to all books, records, returns and reports” relating to the expenditure and use of the Bahamian people’s money, and Mr Henfield said: “It appears to me that, as might be noted in section ten of this Bill, which addresses the role of the Auditor General that there is an attempt to roll back the powers of the Auditor General.

“Any law which seeks to derogate from, or limit or fetter the scope of the powers of the Auditor General, reposed in that office by Article 136 of the constitution, is abhorrent, regressive and authoritarian and cannot - must not - be supported. The Auditor General of The Bahamas must be ‘free from direction or interference from the legislature or the executive’.

“There must not even be the appearance of such interference....... It is our view on this side that we ought to be seeking to strengthen and increase the powers of the Auditor General, not diminish them. The framers of our constitution clearly attempt to give the Auditor General autonomy and independence from the legislature and the executive by according the same terms of service as members of the judiciary, and making the holder of that office ‘irremovable except in accordance with judicial procedure’.”

Mr Henfield said the Public Finance Management Bill’s section ten “appears to suggest that the Auditor

General might be excluded by simply writing him out of an agreement made by a minister to do so. This particular section seems to give a minister the power to exclude the Auditor General from looking into government expenditure before this Act comes into force and after it comes into force.

“Can you imagine that? A minister has to get a Government Business Enterprise to agree to permit the Auditor General to examine the use of public funds,” he added. “It is my considered view that any step taken to limit, impede or reduce the independence of the office of the Auditor General is not acceptable.... The Auditor General can look into any enterprise that has access to government finances.”

In response, Michael Halkitis, minister of economic affairs, agreed that the Auditor General’s powers should not be diminished but said the Bill’s wording reflects the constitution’s language.

He added: “Of course, we do agree that there should be no diminution of the powers of the Auditor General. I believe that the legislation requiring there to be an agreement to audit all of these [enterprises] is just because the constitution is so specific in terms of listing the entities that the Auditor General can audit, and does not specifically include these.

“You need a mechanism whereby the Auditor General can capture all of those other things which are not explicitly stated here. I think that is perhaps the intention of the framers, and perhaps we need to look at it to make it lucidly clear that I agree that the Auditor General should not be, you know, those things when you’re talking about public funds being extended, or chipped within the purview of the Auditor General.

“The Auditor General should have a role to audit, and to be able to ensure that public funds wherever they are, whatever form, are accounted for. So, I think that is the intention. But the point is taken.”

Mr Halkitis also responded to assertions by Senator Michaela Barnett Ellis that the Government knowingly, and deliberately, broke the law by not publishing beneficial ownership information on contract awardees as required by the existing Public Procurement Act.

He said: “I want to address the issue of the Government knowingly and deliberately breaking the law, specifically as it relates to Section 61 of the 2021 legislation that we’re repealing, which calls for the publication of the

beneficial ownership of contract awardees, people who are awarded contracts.

“And Senator Ellis went on to say that similar provisions for publication of the beneficial ownership are in the 2023 legislation. And I think the question [is] how can the Government be trusted to abide by section 57 of the current legislation that calls for publication of benefits and ownership if we deliberately and knowingly” ignored it

“So the bottom line is that it has been brought up extensively that the current administration broke the law by not publishing the beneficial ownership as is required by section 61 of the existing Act,” Mr Halkitis added. “And I want to say this to make a distinction between…firstly, we should not look at Section 61 of the Act in isolation.

“When you say the Government, this administration, is not abiding by the legislation, section 61 of the current Act calls for publication. But I would like to say that part of the difficulty is that in enacting the entire Act, there were extensive preparation and provisions that needed to be made.”

Mr Halkitis said public officials had to be trained to implement the procurement laws, adding: “As to the Public Procurement Act, understanding that there is certain infrastructure that has to be put in place for it to be effective, and that it’s not a deliberate and knowing repudiation of the law. And so, training and application of the Public Procurement Act is an ongoing assignment.”

Mr Halkitis also responded to Senator Ellis questioning why the Fiscal Strategy Report will be released at the same time as the annual Budget if it is a strategy intended to inform the latter.

He said: “The view, proffered by the technical staff, is that if you have a Fiscal Strategy Report that’s due in November, it means you have to start working on it in October and September using information that is available in August. And so you’re using information to prepare, report and form something that starts again in July 1. So the information might be a year old. That’s their view.

“And there’s another view in terms of parliamentary time, of course, finances and accounting for public finance is the most important... I think there is a view that we need to be able to use parliamentary time to not be totally impugned with financial issues but to be able to help them streamline it as well.”

JOB OPPORTUNITY

ACCURAD IMAGING CONSULTANTS SEEKING RADIOLOGIST

AccuRad Imaging Consultants is a diagnostic imaging reporting/teleradiology company operating in the Bahamas. AccuRad provides diagnostic imaging reporting services to facilities and doctor’s offices throughout the Bahamas. The imaging modalities reported include, but are not limited to, x-ray, mammography, CT, ultrasound and MRI. AccuRad is seeking a fellowship trained radiologist to join the practice. Fellowship training in oncology imaging and neuroradiology is preferred. On-site work is not required. The candidate is expected to be able to provide coverage on weekends and/or stat holidays. Occasionally, there may be overnight coverage requirements. Competency in reporting all above mentioned modalities is a must. Only candidates who have completed a full radiology residency program and attained board certification by examination will be considered. Fellowship/subspecialty training must have been acquired at an accredited institution in the US, Canada or UK. All applicants must be eligible for specialist licensure in the Bahamas.

How to engage millennial staff

Millennials make up a sizeable percentage of today’s workforce. They come with a plethora of skills, strengths and, yes, special needs. This week’s column focuses attention on ways to keep these valuable team members consistently engaged.

Improve internal communications

Millennials want to continuously be engaged in many aspects of the business. They want to stay informed. That is why employers need to work on boosting internal communications to improve their productivity.

They want ongoing conversations. The way millennials communicate (texting, tweeting, facetiming, etc) is now real time and continuous. This dramatically affects the workplace because millennials are accustomed to constant communication and feedback.

As millennials are used to personalised news feeds on their mobile phones, they expect the same communication experience in the workplace. In other words, the future of work is mobile.

Offer competitive salaries

Most research studies, basic observation and conversations with millennials who are professionals in the workplace reveals that money is the number one motivator. A clear path for advancement and salary increases over time, and a solid performance-based merit system where they are financially rewarded for their hard work, goes a long way in keeping them motivated.

Even though money may be sufficient to attract them, it is certainly not enough to retain them.

Build trust Trust and good relationships are very important for retaining millennials in the workplace. Research supports the notion that millennials who believe their company has a trustworthy culture are far more likely to want to work there for a long time. Create opportunities outside of the workplace for good fellowship and camaraderie, and you have a winning workforce of millennials.

Some of this trust can also be fostered by engaging workers in teams. Many colleges and educational institutions support teamwork through group projects. This switch has changed how millennials behave in the workplace. They are more used to working together, sharing knowledge and collaborating.

Offer flexibility and remote work

When asked how they would prefer to schedule their work time, millennials said they would spend the least amount of time in the office. The COVID-19 pandemic has implanted in the minds of millennials

that remote work, or hybrid options, are quite doable and effective in maintaining high levels of productivity in the workplace.

Digitise Millennials are the generation that has adopted technology more than any before. Therefore, employers have to adjust to that trend. If there are tools and software that employees can use instead of boring Excel spreadsheets, you should implement them at your companies. Modern employee apps fortunately provide a new digital staff experience, which significantly impacts employee engagement and productivity.

Support learning and development

Employers who encourage employee development have lower staff turnover rates. Millennials want to advance and learn new things in order to progress in their careers. In addition to teaching them new hard skills, employers have to invest in teaching millennials personal and inter-personal skills such as communication, patience,

THE WEATHER REPORT

coping with pressure and being a team player.

A huge component of learning and development for millennials is staff empowerment. Employee empowerment is all about giving employees autonomy and responsibility to make decisions on their own.

NB: Ian R Ferguson is a talent management and organisational development consultant, having completed graduate studies with regional and international universities. He has served organsations, both locally and globally, providing relevant solutions to their business growth and development issues. He may be contacted at tcconsultants@coralwave.com.

Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

$5.70 $5.76 $5.72 $5.59

Beware cutting-off ‘rocking and rolling’ private aviation

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A BAHAMAS Flying

Ambassador yesterday warned this nation not to follow Mexico and Costa Rica by “killing the goose that lays the golden eggs” when outsourcing management of multiple airports to private operators. Rick Gardner, director of CST Flight Services, which provides flight co-ordination and trip support services to the private aviation industry throughout the Caribbean and Latin America, told Tribune Business that The Bahamas was “rocking and rolling” as he predicted that this nation will “match or beat” last year’s business volumes and arrivals numbers for the sector.

However, he urged the Government to “tread very cautiously” in its plans to outsource 14 Family Island airports to private sector control given what he had

experienced first-hand in Mexico and Costa Rica. Both nations, once popular private pilot destinations, had lost significant market share when the operators of newly-privatised airports introduced fee hikes and policies that were unfriendly to the industry.

Noting that private aviation is a “fickle” industry, with pilots able to switch instantly to other jurisdictions because they own/control their planes, Mr Gardner said suggested that The Bahamas include terms in the airport

management contracts stipulating “fair treatment” for the sector so as to avoid making its competitors’ mistakes.

“I’ll give you two examples of countries that don’t get it,” he told this newspaper. “They privatised the operation of their airports. One is Mexico, and the other is Costa Rica. They have historically been two popular destinations for general aviation. They contracted out operation of their airports to private third parties, and that’s when the trouble began because the

Developer’s $1bn ambition for 10k San Salvador acres

• New World aims for Q3 construction start

interests of the third party are very selfish in nature.

“They’re not concerned about tourism and the revenues of the country. They are only interested in their revenues. It costs you as much to part a Cessna 182 in Costa Rica as it does a Boeing 747. You can predict what has been happening. In Cancun, the notices of air mission, they are restricting general aviation arrivals on many days or a significant part of the day for the benefit of commercial airlines.

“All that is to the benefit of The Bahamas. You’ll be a far more welcoming, for less expensive and simpler destination. My only thing is: Tread very cautiously The minute you hand over your nation’s assets to a third party, that third party’s interests may not be in line with that of the national interest. I’ve seen that. It killed general aviation in Costa Rica for sure, as

SEE PAGE A20

Increasing $136m outbound transfers cause for ‘concern’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE BAHAMAS has “reason to be concerned” about the “growing trend” of outbound money transfers that hit $136m in 2022 as it represents incomes that are lost to this nation, it was argued yesterday.

Jeffrey Beckles, Island Pay’s managing director, told

Tribune Business that the increasing sums involved largely represent “wages that are earned here but not spent here” thus depriving the Bahamian economy of consumption-related expenditure that studies have shown typically drives two-thirds of all activity.

While acknowledging that persons have total freedom to do as they wish with their earnings, he added that “money

going out of the country is no good to us” with The Bahamas needing every cent of spending power it can get amid the ongoing struggle to fully rebound from COVID’s devastation.

Mr Beckles spoke after Central Bank data revealed that Bahamas-based money transmission businesses handled $204.6m worth of transfers in

Wynn: 12-storey project will be ‘elegant addition’

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A GOODMAN’S

Bay developer yesterday pledged that its second phase 12-storey penthouse complex will be an “elegant addition” to the West Bay Street skyline.

Randy Hart, the Wynn Group’s vice-president, told Tribune Business that construction on Goldwynn’s next stage will start by summer 2023 and suggested the project’s height is unlikely to run into significant opposition.

“From my window on Cable Beach from the Goldwynn I see multiple

buildings, including Aqualina and other ones that are the exact same heights,” he said. “This strip of beachfront here was re-zoned for commercial development and, to my knowledge, we’re not the only ones who are moving forward with development plans to put 12-storey buildings on the shoreline here.

“This particular project we think will be similar in terms of the design of the Goldwynn in the sense that it will be a very high-end and elegant design that fits with the shoreline.”

The Penthouses at GoldWynn will feature 35 residential units but and not

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GB Power secures ‘best solar rate in Caribbean’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

GRAND Bahama Power Company believes it has obtained “the best rate in the Caribbean” with its first solar energy deal with an independent provider, its top executive has revealed.

Dave McGregor, Caribbean chief operating officer for Emera, GB Power’s 100 percent owner, told Tribune Business in a recent interview that the agreement with Lucayas Solar Power is the first of four potential deals that will see independent power producers

(IPPs) supply it with renewable energy from solar plants.

Besides reducing the utility’s reliance on fossil fuel, which will both benefit the environment and reduce foreign exchange outflows, he added that outsourcing potentially up to 18 percent of its generation needs to renewable providers will enable GB Power to invest in battery storage facilities and strengthen its transmission and distribution infrastructure so that it becomes more resilient.

GB Power is currently researching how much battery storage it requires to

• Plans for ten hotels but yet to meet PM

• Bahamian partner controls $141m land

By YOURI KEMP and NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Reporters

A DEVELOPER yesterday disclosed it is seeking to develop a “bigger and more exclusive” version of Baker’s Bay on 10,000 acres of San Salvador land through a $1bn investment over the next five years.

Simon Tolan, development director for New World Developments, told Tribune Business the project is ready to begin construction in the 2023 third quarter if it obtains all the necessary government approvals after partnering with Emmanuel Alexiou, the Bahamian founder of Sunco Builders, who owns much of the required land.

“We’re starting in he third quarter of this year and we’re going to be building ten hotels, a golf course, a sports academy and sort of like a Baker’s Bay, but just bigger and more exclusive,” he said. “This project is going to be done in phases, but it’s a $500m to $1bn spend over the next five years.

“The first phase is going to be about $100m at least, and we will start immediately. We were on the island earlier in the week with Drew Brees (former NFL quarterback), and he’s basically one of the shareholders in New World Developments. We visited there and we flew in on his private jet, and we actually met with the local commissioners on the island. We’re aiming to meet with the Prime Minister formally.”

The proposed development would be located in Philip Davis KC’s constituency. New World Developments’ website says it has teamed with a seemingly impressive list of resort brand names and other partners, although - as everobtaining the necessary financing will be critical to making its ambitions a reality.

Specific details on financing sources were not provided, although the project’s principals and management team were billed as having been involve in “billions of dollars worth of developments as well as over 200 years of experience in hospitality, development, real estate, finance, management and planning and design”.

The website said multiple high-end resort brands have signed Letters of Intent (LOIs) and term sheets with New World Developments,