04212023 NEWS, SPORT AND BUSINESS

to end the violence

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

EDUCATION Minister

Glenys Hanna Martin said

she had been assured the Gender Violence Bill is in its final drafting stages, saying the legislation must be brought to the House

of Assembly. Eagerness and interest in the legislation have grown amid escalating reports of violence against women.

In just the past week, three women were killed. Yesterday, the latest woman to become a murder victim was identified as 42-year-old Yinka Maria Strachan after her bullet-riddled body was found in a canal.

“I spoke to the minister (of social services) to find out the status of it and it’s in its final stages and I think there is consultation that’s going on,” Mrs Hanna Martin said yesterday. “I believe that it’s dealing with more issues than a straightforward issue, and that’s why it’s

Pinder: i only left union ‘to get Pension’

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Labour Director John Pinder said he only left union leadership for a government job to collect a pension and now wants to return as the Bahamas Public Services Union president.

Mr Pinder was a longtime leader of BPSU before he entered politics and eventually became Director

of Labour in 2018.

“I’ve never lost an election yet as union president,”

he said yesterday while announcing his campaign for BPSU president. “I’ve won five consecutive elections. I only left the union to go back to the government to get a pension.

“That’s the only reason why I left and when I left people was crying ‘why you leave us’ but I’m able and available now and I’ve learned more and I’m more experienced. I got a much

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

RENEwED demands for greater government transparency were sparked yesterday by research showing over 90 percent of Bahamians believe nepotism, cronyism and corruption is “frequent” among politicians and public officials.

The world Justice Project, a non-profit group whose stated aim is to “advance the rule of law worldwide”, unveiled a report showing The Bahamas is among the Caribbean nations who have the least regard for the integrity of their political leaders and civil servants.

90 percent say govt corruption is ‘frequent’ man murdered in seabreeze lane area in his vehicle

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

POLICE are investigating after a man was shot dead in the Seabreeze Lane area last night.

Police press liaison Chief Superintendent Chrislyn Skippings said that, shortly before 9pm, the department received information of gunshots being heard in the area.

“Officers responded and information received is that the driver of a twodoor silver Honda Civic was traveling east along Seabreeze Lane when

cHecK out our

Former Labour Director John PinDer

PLEASE, WILL YOU...

THIS is the state of our streets in New Providence, in this latest collection of photographs from Valden Fernander as he catalogues some of the worst holes ready to catch drivers unawares. They are, from top to bottom, on Soldier Road in front of Soldier Road Business Centre; on East Street in front of Melissa Sears Fashions; on Shirley Street in front of Montague Medical; at the entrance of Ross Davis Estates on Fire Trail Road; at the corner of Hunts Close on Fire Trail Road; and at the corners of Regent Street and Montgomery Avenue in Flamingo Gardens. Got a pothole you want to report to us? Send a picture with location details to fixmystreet@tribunemedia. net.

Senior minister says, ‘it’s time to end the violence’

probably being shared now for consultation but the legislation has to be brought because the message has to be sent that these forms of violence are not acceptable and that there will be consequences and we hope it will help to serve as a deterrent.”

Last month, Social Services Minister Obie Wilchcombe told The Tribune the Gender Violence Bill would not be rushed to Parliament. He was responding to former Attorney General Allyson Maynard Gibson, who noted the bill was initially drafted 10 years ago.

A spokesperson for the Bahamas Crisis Centre told The Tribune yesterday the government has been consulting the centre on the bill.

The Tribune obtained a 64-page version of the 2016 bill.

The bill mandates the government formulate and approve a national gender-based violence policy to establish strategic aims for eradicating gender-based violence.

It says victims of gender-based violence are owed a professional duty of care from professionals, which should involve helping victims obtain shelter, medical treatment, legal services, counselling or other needed services.

The bill outlines what

officers must do when a written complaint about a gender-based crime is lodged. This includes interviewing the parties and witnesses, recording the complaint in detail and providing the victim with an extract of that complaint, and accompanying and protecting the victim as they seek to retrieve their personal belongings.

Mrs Hanna Martin said she is concerned about violence against women.

“it’s very, very concerning,” she told reporters. “This is a global phenomenon, and to see an increase in our own country. We’ve always had high levels but to see this increase, at least in recent times, is very, very disturbing.”

“I just happened to be reading a research piece by the World Health Organisation, which was done in 2005, which speaks to this issue of gender-based violence and I think it’s something that we have to really ponder upon as a people.”

“We’re seeing it in the schools,” she said. “We’re seeing it on the streets and then you have this peculiar, very insidious thing of violence against women or gender-based violence which has very serious implications because a lot of times it happens in the home and it has just terrible implications. So, I think the nation needs to reflect. I think a lot of it has to do with how

women are viewed, the stereotypes associated with women, the continuing inequities certainly in our constitution and elsewhere, and cultural perpetuations which suggest that women do not have equal placement in

certain environments.” She also responded to Free National Movement critics who said women parliamentarians in the Progressive Liberal Party have not been vocal enough in advocating for women’s issues.

“No one has ever accused me for not being vocal and certainly, no one in the opposition Senate can accuse me of that so that would be my answer to them,” she said. “They would have to speak their conscience and speak

their truth and I will do the same. Certainly, I don’t think that they’re in a position to say that I’m not vocal. I’m very vocal when I deem it necessary and so that’s my answer to them.”

Murdered woM an found in canal indentified as Yinka s trachan

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS Tribune Staff Reporter lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

THE woman whose dead body was found riddled with bullets in the South Beach canal on Wednesday has been identified as 42-year-old Yinka Maria Strachan.

A 34-year-old man has been arrested in connection with her death, according to police.

Ms Yinka was a Fusion Superplex employee with at least three children.

Men swimming in the South Beach canal found her body partially submerged in waters around 3.30pm on Wednesday.

Yesterday, Dr Trevare Sherman, chief people and experience officer at Fusion Superplex, described her death as a “big loss”.

“This is a major tragedy and you know, I really hope that we find justice for her,” she said.

“That’s just really important as her life is already lost and we really just want justice in this matter.”

Yinka joined the Fusion Superplex team as a supervisor two months ago. Her exhusband works at the company.

Dr Sherman called Yinka a warm, energetic

and bubbly person who left a memorable mark during her short tenure at the company.

“She was very engaged, very involved, had great work ethics, and she had a really take-charge attitude,” she said.

“She definitely was an asset to the business and we were looking forward to, you know … we’re definitely shocked that she’s no longer with us.”

“Everyone’s broken up, you know it’s (the news) completely disrupted everything today. People are just trying to understand, they want to know why this has happened to her.”

M an Murdered in seabreeze lane area in his vehicle

from page one

the occupants of a darkcoloured Japanese vehicle pulled alongside the vehicle,” she said.

“It’s reported that two males exited the vehicle, both of whom are armed with firearms, opened fire on the victim and his vehicle, which resulted in the victim being shot multiple times. In an effort to evade the suspects, the victim vehicle crashed into a wall just behind me. He succumbed to his injuries on scene.”

The victim is believed to be in his early 20s and is not known to police at this time.

Asked if a firearm was discovered inside the victim’s vehicle, Skippings confirmed: “Upon examining the vehicle, we did discover a firearm inside the vehicle.”

Earlier in the evening, another man was shot as he sat in his vehicle outside his place of work in the area of Quintine Alley. He was reported to be in critical condition in hospital last night.

The victim, a 34-yearold man who lives in

Zirconia Street, was parked outside his workplace when a man exited a black Juke Jeep, approached the victim, produced a firearm and shot him multiple times before fleeing in an unknown direction.

The victim was taken to Princess Margaret Hospital by private vehicle.

Anyone with information about either incident is urged to call the Criminal Investigations Department at 502-9991/2/3 or Crime Stoppers on 328-TIPS.

EDUCATION Minister Glenys Hanna Martin said she had been assured the Gender Violence Bill is in its final drafting stages, saying the legislation must be brought to the House of Assembly.

YINkA MArIA STrAChAN

WhIlE a man was in his vehicle in the Seabreeze Lane area when a car pulled up, two men got out and opened fire on the victim. Police report that he succumbed to his injuries on the scene.

Photos: Austin Fernander

FNM deputy calls Gonsalves’ commentary on Bahamas’ judiciary ‘unwarranted’

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS Tribune Staff Reporter lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement Deputy Leader Shanendon Cartwright defended the Bahamian judiciary after a Caribbean leader launched a high-profile attack on the institution.

St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves lambasted Caribbean judges for granting bail to people charged with murder during a CARICOM symposium on violence on Tuesday in Trinidad and Tobago.

He said: “I saw in the numbers from The Bahamas. Where (do) those judges live? On Mars?”

Mr Cartwright disapproved of the comments.

He said in a statement yesterday: “The recent comments by St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, criticising Bahamian judges at the CARICOM’s Regional Symposium to address crime and violence as a Public Health Issue are unfortunate and irresponsible.

“The criticism levelled at the Bahamian judiciary was unwarranted, lacked consideration and acknowledgement of the fundamental constitutional protections and presumption of innocence afforded

citizens of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas as is the case in other Caribbean nations.”

While acknowledging the need for judicial reform, the FNM Deputy Leader said Prime Minister Gonsalves’ comments undermined the efforts of Bahamian judges.

“Though there has been a reasonable and widely accepted argument for the need for judicial reform across the region to address the increase in crime his comments unjustifiably undermine the outstanding efforts and commitment of Bahamian judges to carry out their constitutional duty,” he said.

“Notwithstanding the challenges we face in our region we must continue to move with an optimism, diligence and resolve on the crime front. We should remain hopeful that our collective will, anchored by strategic national, regional partnerships and multilateral alliances will lead to a more peaceful and secure Caribbean region for all our people.”

Local attorney Bjorn Ferguson also criticised Mr Gonsalves’ comments, saying people should be more prudent when discussing the judiciary. Mr Ferguson stressed that each situation in which a person is granted bail is unique.

Pinder: i only left union ‘to get Pension’

from page one

better vision and much better way of doing business now as a result of my exposure sitting as director of labour and representing the government around the world.”

Mr Pinder was a Free National Movement candidate for the Fox Hill constituency in the 2021 general election, losing his bid to Fred Mitchell.

Yesterday, he criticised current BPSU President Kimsley Ferguson, claiming he has lost the confidence of 75 per cent of his members. It is unclear when the BPSU election will be held this year.

Mr Pinder said people had asked him to return.

“I didn’t really think that I would go back there even though I was concerned. I keep watching, keep trying to give them advice - they don’t take advice,” he said.

“They don’t take advice and so I would give members advice all the time. They say man, we come to you for advice all the time you might as well come back.”

Asked whether his political ambitions compromise his ability to be a union leader, he said: “The trade union movement has always been a part of the political arena in this country so that only can strengthen my position. However, when you are in the union and running, you

are apolitical.”

“You don’t play politics when you’re in the union because you have members from all sides. You have PLP members, you have FNM members, you have DNA members, you have coalition members. You don’t play politics —you are apolitical. So I will have to step away from anything related to politics as long as I serve as president of the union.”

Asked if he thinks he could beat Mr Ferguson in an election, he said: “Any incumbent has a presence ... It’s just, is your presence strong enough to retain your position? I believe I’ve left a good enough record. I’m tested and proven.”

Free National Movement Deputy Leader Shanendon Cartwright yesterday defended the Bahamian judiciary after St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister criticised granting bail to murder suspects. He said Gonsalves’ comments undermined the efforts of Bahamian judges.

John Pinder, former Labour director and former BPSU president announced he will run for President of the union again, noting that, “I’ve won five consecutive elections. I only left the union to go back to the government to get a pension.”

Grandfather stands trial on two counts of ‘indecent assault’ on his 14-year-old grandaughter

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A POLICE officer and a young girl testified yesterday in the trial of a grandfather accused of sexually assaulting an underaged girl last year.

The 47-year-old defendant, whose name is being withheld to protect the identity of the complainant, was represented by Devard Francis. The accused faces

two counts of indecent assault.

On June 17 and October 19, 2022, in New Providence, he allegedly touched his then 14-year-old granddaughter’s buttocks on two separate occasions when she visited him.

The complainant testified in her school uniform before Senior Magistrate Carolyn Vogt-Evans. Her back was turned against the defendant on the witness stand.

When asked by Prosecutor ASP Lewis if her grandfather had touched her inappropriately, she said “yes“.

Constable Dario Stubbs said he fingerprinted the defendant on November 1, 2022, and conducted his official record of interview (ROI). Constable Stubbs recalled the defendant denied the allegations and told him that “he (the defendant) would never do something like that.”

Following the conclusion of this interview, both the constable and the defendant signed the ROI. Constable Stubbs also told the magistrate that the following day he visited the suspect’s residence and photographed the interior and exterior of the premises for evidential purposes.

When asked by Mr Francis if he had asked the complainant where the incident had allegedly taken place, Constable

Stubbs said “yes”. When asked where the defendant allegedly touched the complainant, the officer indicated that the complainant said that her grandfather had done so on her hips as well as the breast area.

However, after Constable Stubbs could not find any statement in the official record that the complainant alleged she was touched on her breasts, he retracted his statement. Regarding the

claim the girl was touched on her buttocks, the officer said the girl told her mother of the alleged incident.

Responding to Mr Francis, Constable Stubbs said no one else witnessed the incident between the grandfather and granddaughter. He also reiterated that the defendant had maintained his innocence throughout the trial. The trial will continue on June 28.

Vehicle stolen from woman who used it as a temporary home

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS Tribune Staff Reporter lmunnings@ tribunemedia.net

DWY Rolle’s car is vital for her safety and security.

When her home life becomes tumultuous, she often finds refuge in her unit—sleeping there, keeping her medication and personal hygiene products there, and housing her camera and other work supplies in the vehicle.

So when her Toyota Passo was stolen on April 15, the 22-year-old’s life was upended.

“My living situation is complicated where I’ve been put out a lot,” said Ms Rolle, who sometimes lives with her father. “The longest I’ve been kicked out at one time was two months, and it happens where I don’t have a chance to grab anything for the following day so I’ve grown accustomed to

Bahamian

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIAN Georgia

Storr Taylor is back with theatre/dance production ‘A Bahamian Tale’ - running from April 28-30 at the Regency Theatre.

It promises to be full of Bahamian folklore and humour, along with lots of dancing and even a rake ‘n scrape performance.

Ms Taylor, owner and artistic director of Georgia’s School of Dance and Theatre, believes the production will evoke feelings of nostalgia among older audiences, and educate younger audiences of what living in a Bahamian community was like in the past.

It has a cast of more than 80, including adults, and children from ages three years and up, and show times are on Friday, April 28, and Saturday, April 29, at 8pm, and Sunday, April 30, at 5pm.

Ms Taylor, the writer, director, and choreographer, decided on an all-Bahamian production this year as the country’s celebrates its 50th Independence anniversary.

The school - which is also celebrating its 20th anniversary - continues to attract large turnouts. Last year’s 60-member cast performed an adaptation of The Lion King. Taylor also used multi-media projection screen backdrops, sound, and a live choir to enhance

keeping things in my car or at my friends’ houses.”

Six hundred dollars, ADHD medication, clothing, shoes and personal hygiene products, artwork, a camera, and art supplies were among the items taken when her car was stolen.

She said the setback hurt her.

“I think it all hit me at once the following day,” she said. “I went to church and I was meant to minister but I let my leaders know that I wouldn’t be able to. My church has three services so I sat in the second service and got a snack at the beginning of the third,” she told this newspaper yesterday

“When I walked into the sanctuary through the back door and I just couldn’t move, all I could do was cry out to God saying ‘I will not be silent, I will always worship you. As long as I am breathing, I will always worship

you.”

“For me it was just me and God in that moment and those may have been my words but my heart was also telling God how fearful I was not having the car anymore and stressed about once again having to rely on other people and public transport.

“In that same breath, I was telling God and reminding myself that I worship a God who is definitely deserving of all my praise, despite the circumstances.”

Ms Rolle said she was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in 2021.

“I’ve been without a car before and scripture speaks about knowing what it is to have plenty and knowing what it is to have nothing,” she said.

“It’s not like I have nothing, I just have had to return to the bus and ride catching. Can’t go

DWY Rolle’s car has been stolen, and it’s not just a means of transportation, but a living space at times for her. The vehicle is a Toyota Passo, similar to the one pictured above. If you would like to assist, or have an update on the vehicle, Dwy can be contacted at 1(242)428-2571. out as much as I’d want to of course, everything got to get done before sundown.” Ms Rolle has filed a

police report and the security footage of the premises when her car was stolen was handed over to police.

If you would like to assist, or have an update on the vehicle, Dwy can be contacted at 1(242)428-2571.

folklore and humour to Be on display in new production

the audience’s experience.

This year’s show, according to Taylor, is about a Bahamian community where people work, live, and worship together.

“It is based on when I was a child growing up in the late 60’s and early 70s,” she said. Ms Taylor, who enjoyed the radio soap opera The Fergusons of Farm Road, has written one of its characters, Ms Lie, in the production.

There are number of characters people can relate to, including the mother of the community who made sure everyone was straight; and the level-headed elderly gentleman in the community who fixes everything; the neighbour who is always sick, and a straw vendor who thinks items are being moved around in her booth.

There is a story telling on the porch where the children are told of the Bahamian legend Joseph Spence and how he became a talented popular guitar player after assisting an injured chickcharney, a legendary Bahamian creature.

Ms Taylor said the production includes scenes of vendors at the straw market. And the Sunday morning worship and families getting ready for church.

“We will have lots of dancing - tap, liturgical, pop, ballet, and jazz, and a rake and scrape band in the production,” she stated.

Taylor wants her

audience to walk away knowing that how truly blessed we are to be Bahamians.

“We ought to be proud to be Bahamians and remember what it is like as a community, and the production will remind them how we strive and accomplished things by being a community.”

“We were community back then, and I want them to remember how we were a loving, Christian community - we need to get back to that,” she said. Ms Taylor said theatre and performing arts are extremely important and contributes to the holistic development of young people.

Established restaurant require the services of a

The Tribune Limited

‘Devastating’ melt of ice sheets

As Earth Day arrives this weekend, the Associated Press takes a sobering look at climate change affecting ice sheets:

The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are now losing more than three times as much ice a year as they were 30 years ago, according to a new comprehensive international study.

Using 50 different satellite estimates, researchers found that Greenland’s melt has gone into hyperdrive in the last few years. Greenland’s average annual melt from 2017 to 2020 was 20% more a year than at the beginning of the decade and more than seven times higher than its annual shrinkage in the early 1990s.

The new figures “are pretty disastrous really,” said study co-author Ruth Mottram, a climate scientist at the Danish Meteorological Institute. “We’re losing more and more ice from Greenland.”

Study lead author Ines Otosaka, a glaciologist at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom, said speededup ice sheet loss is clearly caused by human-caused climate change.

From 1992 to 1996, the two ice sheets – which hold 99% of the world’s freshwater ice – were shrinking by 116 billion tons (105 billion metric tons) a year, two-thirds of it from Antarctica.

But from 2017 to 2020, the newest data available, the combined melt soared to 410 billion tons (372 billion metric tons) a year, more than two-thirds of it from Greenland, said the study in Thursday’s journal Earth System Science Data.

“This is a devastating trajectory,” said US National Snow and Ice Center Deputy Lead Scientist Twila Moon, who wasn’t part of the study. “These rates of ice loss are unprecedented during modern civilization.”

Since 1992, Earth has lost 8.3 trillion tons (7.6 trillion metric tons) of ice from the two ice sheets, the study found. That’s enough to flood the entire United States with 33.6 inches (almost 0.9 meters) of water or submerge France in 49 feet (nearly 15 meters).

But because the world’s oceans are so huge, the melt just from the ice sheets since 1992 still only adds up to a little less than inch (21 millimeters) of sea level rise, on average. Globally sea level rise is accelerating and melt from ice sheets has gone from contributing 5% of the sea level rise to now accounting for more than one-quarter of it, the study said. The rest of the sea rise comes from warmer water expanding and melt from glaciers.

A team of more than 65 scientists regularly calculates ice sheet loss in research funded by NASA and the European Space Agency with Thursday’s study adding three more years of data. They use 17 different satellite missions and examine ice sheet melt in three distinct techniques, Otosaka said, and all the satellites, radar, on the ground observations and computer simulations basically say the same thing -- ice sheet melting is accelerating.

Greenland from 2017 to 2020 averaged about 283 billion tons (257 billion metric tons) of melting a year, compared to just 235 billion tons (213 billion metric tons) annually from 2012 to 2016.

The latest figures also showed what looks like a slowing of melting in parts of Antarctica, which has much more ice than Greenland. That’s mostly due to smaller and fleeting weather changes and the overall longer-term trend still shows an acceleration of melting in Antarctica, Mottram said.

Antarctica from 2017 to 2020 is still losing about 127 billion tons (115 billion metric tons) of ice a year, down 23% from earlier in the decade, but overall up 64% from the early 1990s.

“While mass loss from Greenland is outpacing that from Antarctica, there are troublesome wild cards in the south, notably behavior of the Thwaites glacier,” which is nicknamed the Doomsday Glacier, said Mark Serreze, director of the U.S. snow and ice center, who wasn’t part of the study.

Study authors used changes in gravity and in ice height and measured how much snow fell, how much snow melted, how much ice was lost in icebergs calving and eaten away from underneath by warmer water etching through the ice.

“This matters because rising sea levels will displace and/or financially impact hundreds of millions of people, if not billions, and will likely cost trillions of dollars,” said University of Colorado ice researcher and former NASA chief scientist Waleed Abdalati, who wasn’t part of the study.

The study “is not so much surprising as it is disturbing,” Abdalati said in an email “A few decades ago, it was assumed that these vast reservoirs of ice changed slowly, but with through the use of satellite observations, field observations and modeling techniques, we have come to learn that ice responds rapidly to our changing climate.”

By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer

Defending the party

EDITOR, The Tribune.

I ALWAYS find it sadly amusing that the overtly and shamelessly blind, and arrogant supporters of the PLP and FNM on social media would always defend the serious wrongdoings of their respective parties

and high-ranking members by pointing out an egregious error of the past by the other party or a dear member thereof. Their arguments are always unwittingly based on: We are essentially two peas in a pod. The silent majority are never

Criminal justice in our nation

LOOKING at the criminal justice system in The Bahamas today, we may see criminals getting some sort of justice, but hardly any justice going around in the direction of victims or society at large.

Even with one eye closed, we can see that a massive and overall holistic reform of our so-called justice system is more than decades overdue. That dictum that “justice is blind”: doesn’t go quite far enough.

In The Bahamas, “justice is blind, deaf and dumb”!

A little bit of uncommon sense, not any advanced degree in criminology, judicial expertise or King’s Counsel status, leads me to see that whatever is being used, has been used in the last half century plus and is likely to continue on ad infinitum, just does not work... as far as halting the growing tsunami of outrageous crimes about to rival the great flood of Noah’s time.

LETTERS

letters@tribunemedia.net

be scratched off the Books. Not facing any serious charges might afford the suspect/accused that privilege of bail.

Violent and more serious crimes should put these unofficial criminals/accused behind bars until their day in Court. Their day in Court should be within the 30-day period after formal charges are brought before them. Let the Court take it from there, without the traditional rituals of delays and suspensions.

a youth than it is to mend an adult... or something like that. Yet, we all know that some trees that were not properly bent early on and just became unable to bend later on have to be cut down after they become a danger to the overall common good.

impressed by this petty, dirty and corrupt brand of politics that we engage in –in the Bahamas.

It is the primary reason why we have not had a twoterm government in our beloved nation for more than a generation – in my opinion. The unimpressive political gangsterism and corruption stinks, and the voters obviously don’t like it!

So, keep on defending blatant nonsense and the lack of accountability in government – senseless PLPs and FNMs. Your respective parties will soon be out of favour in the hearts and souls of the Bahamian people for good!

DENNIS DAMES Nassau, April 19, 2023.

However, to be overly simplistic in any crime fighting approach would be just as bad as not making any effort at all. All the same, a bad something sometimes might be better than a good nothing.

So, here’s something to place into that suggestion box which the Ministry of National Security is bound to position in some public places/forum ... coming near you soon.

Whether or not it’s a good starting point or not, let’s make a distinction between jails and prisons.

How about having a proper jail in New Providence where the bulk of the population and problems proliferate? For those charged and not yet convicted of serious crimes, this facility would service that grouping.

That mockery of bail for everyone, no matter the “alleged” offence, should

As for the prison, it should be located on an island other than New Providence. Getting sent away to do your time will take on a literal meaning. And, while meeting the international standards as well as the criteria of basic human rights, it ought not to rival luxury hotels, resorts and such. The realities of such an accommodation should discourage the bad habits of repeat offenders. Once a prisoner puts in his/her correctional time there, the label of ‘masochist’ might rightly be attached to such individuals who return to criminality. That’s not to say that educational, trades, and good character building skills among other rehabilitative techniques would not be offered to those receptive convicted offenders.

In fact, much of their diet would be grown and sustained by their hands, in the grand scheme of things.

Although not specifically addressed at this time, the concept of prevention and inspiring, especially the very young, to steer away from a life of crime, would be an integral part of any worthwhile scheme.

Building better Bahamians is most essential to building a better Bahamas. Some wise person once said that it’s easier to mold

Are we waiting for some heinous criminal act - beyond the worst of the worst - for Bahamians to move to the point of choosing our well being and peaceful survival over the well being and “rights” of the vicious criminals? Not all stories or people will have happy endings, except in fairy tales... of which The Bahamas is not one. This real! Real talks!

My view is that things will continue to go on with a business-as-usual apathy, unless and until a collective effort is developed to fight against the growing hordes of committed criminals who are hell bent on waging war on the good people of The Bahamas.

As oxymoronic as it seems, this Bahamas appears to be going nowhere faster and faster, despite the protestations of some who would prefer the process to be slower, even though the direction and destination remains the same.

Ok, maybe the massive problems of our criminal justice system cannot be tackled all at one time. Fine. How about adopting that old adage that “the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step”? Tings ain’t ger get no better da way dey gern nah, so jus ‘e well try sometin’ else!

In this somewhat subtle and undeclared war within The Bahamas today, may I offer a borrowed quote/ cliche to be considered?

“No justice, no peace!” Bahamians deserve both justice and peace!

MB Nassau, April 20, 2023

THIS image released by Timber Press shows a Monarch butterfly resting on milkweed from the book “Nature’s Best Hope: How You Can Save the World in Your Own Yard” by Douglas W Tallamy, adapted for a young audience by Sarah L Thomson, from Tallamy’s original release, “Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard.”

photo: Douglas W Tallamy/Timber Press via AP

PM appoints new British High Commissioner

A NEW High Commissioner has been appointed to represent The Bahamas in the United Kingdom.

Paul Andrew Gomez was presented with his instruments of appointment by Prime Minister

Philip “Brave” Davis on Thursday at the Office of the Prime Minister.

Mr Gomez served as the Bahamas Ambassador to China from 2015 to 2017, and is a charted accountant with more than four

decades of experience, having served most notably as managing director of Grant Thornton (now Bakertilly) The Bahamas, which he founded as Gomez & Co. at age 31 in 1990.

Man fined $5,000 for possession of drugs

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN was fined $5,000 yesterday after he admitted possessing $2,300 of marijuana as well as a quantity of cocaine near his home earlier this week.

Omar Williams, 42, represented by Kelsey Munroe, appeared before Magistrate Samuel McKinney. He faced two counts of possession of dangerous drugs with intent to supply and a single count of possession of dangerous drugs.

On April 18 at around

7.30pm, police went to Williams’ residence on Whitaker Avenue off Carmichael Road. After entering the residence on a warrant, K9 units pointed out a derelict vehicle on the premises where a plastic bag containing large quantities of Indian Hemp as well as cocaine were uncovered.

The marijuana seized is said to have a weight of 2lb and 3 oz with an estimated street value of $2,300. The confiscated cocaine is said to have a weight of 8g. Williams pleaded guilty.

Magistrate McKinney then ordered the accused to pay fines of $2,000, $2,500 and $500 for each respective charge. Failing to pay would result in a six-month prison sentence for both drug supply charges and a three-month sentence for the simple possession charge. $2,500 of the total fine is expected to be paid before his release.

Following his sentencing, Williams was informed of his right to appeal.

He is expected to return to court for a report on May 12.

Man charged for firear M and causing har M

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

A Grand Bahama man was charged on Thursday with causing harm and possession of a firearm with intent to put another in fear.

Vandyke Barry appeared in Court Four before Magistrate Simone Brown. He pleaded not guilty to both charges. The matters were adjourned to April 21 for bail consideration.

Ron Marshall appeared

in Court Two before Magistrate Charlton Smith. He was not required to enter a plea. Bail was denied and he was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Corrections until July 24.

WoM an charged W ith stealing $3,000 froM job

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A WOMAN was placed on one year probation after she admitted last week to stealing more than $3,000 from her former employer. Oleander Dorsett, 29, stood before Magistrate Samuel McKinney on a charge of stealing by reason of employment.

On April 13, while

employed at the Rubis Service Station on Faith Avenue North and Fire Trail Road, Dorsett is said to have stolen $3,923.83.

Dorsett pleaded guilty.

Magistrate McKinney granted her a conditional discharge with a year’s probation. Should she default she would be convicted and ordered to pay a fine of $2,500 or risk three months in prison. Dorsett was

further ordered to fully reimburse her former employer for the stolen cash or risk a month in prison.

Before her release, she is expected to pay $500 of her debt to Rubis with $250 payments every following month until the debt is settled. Dorsett is expected to return to court for report on September 29.

Mortician charged for falsifying records

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

A former mortician was charged in Freeport Magistrate’s Court this week with falsification of a public record.

Glen Campbell, 44, is accused of intentionally and unlawfully falsifying a death registration certificate, with intent to defraud the Registrar General’s

Office. He was not required to enter a plea. He was denied bail and remanded to the Bahamas Department of Corrections until June 5.

In other court news, Princess Dorsette, 22, of Lewis Yard, was charged in court this week with procreation and abetment to unlawful sexual intercourse. She was not required to enter a plea. She was

denied bail and remanded to the Bahamas Department of Corrections until June 20.

Christopher Curry, 35, of Lewis Yard, was also charged with procreation and unlawful sexual intercourse. He was not required to enter a plea. He was denied bail and remanded to the Bahamas Department of Corrections until June 20.

His appointment comes as the coronation of King Charles III is due to be held on Saturday, May 6, at Westminster. In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “The Foreign

Ministry welcome HE

Paul Andrew Gomez, High Commissioner of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, to the Court of St James’s to The Bahamas Diplomatic Corp. The ministry takes

the opportunity to thank the Deputy High Commissioner, Mr Marche Mackey, for his stellar work and dedication to The Bahamas during his tenure as acting High Commissioner.”

Paul Andrew Gomez is presented with the instruments of appointment by Prime Minister Philip ‘Brave’ Davis to serve as the High Commissioner of The Bahamas in the UK.

New Providence: 60 land accidents

By Eric Wiberg

WHETHER planes touched wingtips, men walked into propellers, bombers collided, planes were lost in microbursts, or had training gunnery mishaps, Nassau, Windsor and Oakes air fields and adjacent waters claimed many lives. More than half of all accidents in the colony – 80 of 150 – took place at or near the air fields and New Providence. This article deals with the 55 accidents that happened or ended up on land. In the three years from January 1943 131 aviators and a Bahamian family of three were killed by military aircraft in New Providence and its waters, with 83 rescued, and those fatalities recovered buried on Farrington Road. Pre-existing Oakes Field, used for training, saw nine crashes and most of the 25 unallocated, and Windsor Field, still in use, had 21.

Some accidents resulted from blown tyres, heavy bounces, uncontrolled loop-arounds, mid-air collisions, and machine guns accidentally self-shooting aircraft. Sixteen of the planes burnt out, one hit the control tower, and 40 were at least partially salvaged and removed at the time. While I have walked the perimeters and runways of both Windsor and Oakes fields without finding plane pieces, ideally the location of where airfields dumped unused and destroyed metals can be located. Photos show masses of gnarled metal from collisions and crashes in the pine barrens just off the fields.

Exactly five weeks after she was married to Charles Bullard, a labourer aged 24, Louise Marguerite Newbold, a 19-year-old seamstress, tucked their newborn infant Philip in and went to bed in their modest home in Delaport Village. Hours later, at 3.36am on Friday the 26 of February, 1943, a 68’ wide, 53’ long, and 16’ tall B-25 bomber which had recently been abandoned by its crew

of 3 aviators in parachutes, hurtled into their dwelling at over 200 miles per hour. The coroner’s report described how the child’s skull was fractured, and his mother Louise died of asphyxia, and the child’s father Philip died of “fractured ribs and internal hemorrhage result of RAF airplane crash at Delaport”. Amazingly, Louise’s uncle managed to escape the inferno alive.

The aircraft damaged or lost included 20 of the A-20 or A-30 Havoc, Bolo, Baltimore small bombers, seven B-24 Liberators, two dozen B-25 Mitchells, five B-26 Marauders, of which two have been found), five Curtis C-47 or Venturas (think DC-3 transports), six smaller De-Haviland Mosquito fighters, and almost all of them – 70 –were flying for the Royal Air Force, even if built by the US. The others were US Army Air Force or US Navy aircraft in transit for the most part south. Some aircraft were seen by the tower and residents to crash into Yamacraw Hill, Soldier Road and Fox Hill Road, and in Lake Killarney. The causes included take-off and landing mishaps, and equipment failure. The remnants of many of these sad crashes still litter the bush as well as populated areas on the capital island today.

In terms of frequency, the 60 or so accidents were spread over roughly 40 months; more than halfthirty-seven – happened in 1943 alone, perhaps when recruits and planes were the newest. Only six accidents marred 1944 and 15 in 1945, the last being an unknown lorry driver who struck an aircraft meant to carry VIPs to Canada. The primary causes were damage to undercarriages due to faulty landings or take-offs, with aircraft salvaged, or catastrophic pilot error or equipment failure resulting in nose-dive crash into the bush from which no one survived.

Among the fatalities, Ian Simpson Glen was thrown through his cockpit cover, and Daiken, and Zdan were trapped in a burning B-25. Houlding, Downey and Anderson survived over-shooting the runway in an A-30, yet their colleagues Harris, Anderson, and Thompson hit earth when the plane veered uncontrollably after takeoff. Likewise, Parson, Gedye and Hunt had dangerous undercarriage

failures yet jettisoned tanks and survived a belly landing. Amazingly BL Dawson was under an aircraft when the crew dropped the Dakota airplane on top of him, yet he survived. In one case a plane lost its entire tail and wheel assembly whilst testing fuel consumption. And tragically John Francis Hole and Edred Day were both killed while repairing an aircraft at night – the eruption of an engine fire drove them instinctively backwards but into an active propeller.

August 7, 1943, witnessed one of the greatest losses of life in a single day, when a B-25 piloted by free Czech airmen crashed and burned 2 m E of Windsor, at Soldier Rd area, reached 1,000’. Two minutes into the flight nose rose sharply and it then nose-dived, burst into flames, and crashed to earth within sight of the airfield hangars, also said to be 2 miles from Windsor Field. Lost were Briza, Hadravek,

Mares, Salz, Turna, and Satola, whose remains lie at the War Cemetery to this day. Another pilot, J. H. West landed without wheels and Learmont, Cunliffe and Aitken whose A-30 overran the runway without a port engine.

Sadly, three men survived the initial crash of a B-25 on 13 September 1943, only that airfield crash, taking off from Oakes Field when it swung wildly, crashed into trees, and burst on fire. The aircraft was destroyed, Rafuse was taken alive to RAF hospital, died at 4.30 pm. Days later Co-pilot raised undercarriage at takeoff, Marauder burnt out. Mistook signal from Captain, raised undercarriage, plane burnt out. And Ross, Merckercher and Fisher must have remained in Nassau a few days after following B-24 down runway, lost brakes, veered off runway, lost nose wheel, pump not activated, damaged beyond

repair.

Pilots Grant and Pynn suffered ignominy when they landed at Windsor, were taxying, co-pilot accidentally raised landing gear, buckled lower frames, port propellers. They were more fortunate than Bartlett. Carberry, Foreman, Lewis, Woodeson, and Bentick. Those men perished when their B-25 lost height after bombing run and flew into trees at Yamacraw Hill, with smoke seen by civilians. Other planes reported “an aircraft was on fire in swampy bush, disintegrated, difficult to identify aircraft type. Ambulance and fire tender sent. Found it was B-25, which had commenced bombing practice but banked steeply, crashed, and only after hitting the earth caught fire”. Then aviators Hayes, Holland, Birch, Birkett, Cribbes, Tomlinson, Jackson, Hutchings, Warren, and Richards were also killed when their B-25 collided with another training aircraft, wrecking their plane with all aboard it. Just before VE Day, on April 10, 1945, a pilot named Creed nose-wheel would not extend/jammed on landing, damage to front of plane. As an incubator for pilots who left the Bahamas directly to the front lines against German and Japanese aces, it was part of the tragic math that aircraft and pilots and sometimes both at the same time might fail. Nassau has borne witness to this, with some 60 aircraft on terra firm on the island –literally among us.

NOTICE is hereby given that DANIEL PETIT-FRERE of Malcolm Road, 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 14th day of April, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

NOTICE is hereby given that BERNAT LIBERUS of P. O. Box N-10811, Maple Street, Pinewood Gardens, New Providence, 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 14th day of April, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

NOTICE is hereby given that JESSON CELA of P. O. Box CR-54650, Kemp Road, New Providence, 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 14th day of April, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

A PHOTO of a crashed plane in The Bahamas. B-25, OTU111 expert Bob Livingston (Aus), said in May 2022: “It appears to be a wooded area just back from the water which suggests to me a take-off accident from Runway 32. Most accident’s locations are found in the splay areas from the upwind threshold – left or right depending on circumstances. If the B-25 lost an engine immediately after take-off it would tend to skid off towards that engine. If you have that information, you can narrow the search area, but from what I can see on Google Earth, all that area (in both splays) is now houses which means the location is now gone.”

HAND-over of a Baltimore from USAAF to RAF in Nassau, c.30 March, 1945, and, below, an FK176.

AN FK176 killed the Bullard family when it struck their Delaport hut.

THIS may be “Soldier Road” from the barracks to the town, or the RAF Cemetery on Farrington Road. Note the black arm bands on the left arms of the officers.

In development, is there right or wrong, or just two sides to a story?

SOMETIMES there isn’t a right or wrong – just two sides to a story. This is one of those cases.

It starts with a small historic community, a few homes built probably in the 60s. I am guessing the early 60s because it was the heyday of the Beatles, Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones, The Who, and The Eagles. It was the age of rock before hard rock came along and the biggest music stars in the world flocked to The Bahamas to record at Compass Point Studios and to party. They needed places to stay and for privacy and seclusion, a couple of cottages were built close to the studio across the way on Love Beach.

The Beatles filled the houses. Jagger stayed there.

The name Love Beach fits. If you love the beach, you gotta truly love Love Beach, likely the finest stretch of sand and shoreline in New Providence.

Which is what is attracting new development to the area. And that’s the rub.

What was this busy island’s best kept secret for decades is now becoming the last bustling hub of construction activity on the north coast. High rises like Columbus Cove tower over two-storey Palms of Love Beach. To the west, there’s another condo. Short and long-term rentals are selling as fast as banana pancakes on a Sunday at IHOP.

There’s a for sale sign on the Nirvana Beach property where for years corporate parties that felt more like family reunions were held and where live music was part of a lively scene speckled with windsurfers in the day and later

And on the positive side, hAil to the sAil

C ONGRAT u LA -

TIONS to all who contributed to the national discussion that ended with the decision to make sailing the national sport. This column has called for it more than once, but those who first proposed it did so along with a proposal to create a national sailing centre that would have been built on the grassy knoll just east of the Nassau Yacht Club or the northwesternmost corner of Montagu Foreshore. A group of sailors came together from disparate ranges of the sport to request that sailing centre and the official title of the national sport.

The proposal was presented to government some 30 years ago when Zhivargo Laing was Minister of Youth, Sports and Education. Many of those sailors are no longer with us – Captain Rolly Gray, Roy Bowe, Sir Durward Knowles – but others are, Jimmy Lowe, Robert Dunkley, Larry Phillips. I called the former minister, now a popular talk radio show host, to ask if he remembered the exact year. He did not, but guessed it was about 1993. Credit goes to all, but a special thanks to Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario Bowleg who recognised that sloop sailing is important and unique – there is nothing like it anywhere in the world – but that the sport

By Diane Phillips

with kiteboarders. The world of development has discovered the secret coves, long stretches of soft white sand, the varying elevation that adds interest and safety in case of storm, the natural vegetation that had years to itself to mature. Across the street to the south are single family homes built on generous lots, most remaining in the same hands for generations.

Along comes a wellknown and respected Bahamian developer who has submitted plans to build a nine-storey condominium (including a two-storey parking garage), taller than anything that has been built before. His reputation for project development is untarnished. He’s an example of a Bahamian success story and what he builds is high end, each project more luxurious than the one before. Construction provides jobs, the completed project means residents spend thus boosting the local economy. But where the developer has built before has not overshadowed single family homes. Nor has it set a group of neighbours on the warpath as they try to protect the quiet piece of paradise that has been theirs all these years.

Several nearby homeowners are outraged, fearful that Love Beach will lose its charm. How,

they ask, can Town Planning allow this when it has been all but impossible to get permission even to build a second cottage on their own near-acre lot, easily large enough for four homes? They point to one family which had been seeking permission to build an additional structure so they could downsize and allow their daughter, her husband and children to move into the original home. After a long battle, they finally got approval to add the cottage, with restrictions for one storey. How, they wonder, if it was so difficult for them to change the zoning or covenants, was it possible for the developer to get the right to build a skyscraper when they could only build a single storey?

Is the developer wrong for wanting to build in an area that has seen property values skyrocket and where other condos already exist, though none so high? Love Beach is suddenly sizzling - a halfacre lot that just came landed on the MLS is listed at $3.75m. A half acre – big enough for one large home or two villas. Is it time for those who have owned in the tiny community called Garden of Eden to capitulate and recognize their days of seaside solitude are ending? Will they have the power to come together in a voice

loud enough to resist and stop a development in its tracks because it will overwhelm, overshadow and forever diminish the tiny enclave of casual perfection they treasure? Whose rights prevail? Residents will have another chance to air their views at a hearing scheduled for May 24. So

will the developer.

This is not like the case in Lyford Cay where a long-standing master plan clearly identified an area set aside for condominiums. The controversy over that case does not even seem to make sense. Documents are available for viewing for anyone who

gender, race or socio-economic status.

The very history of The Bahamas begins with the discovery of the islands by three sailboats and for generations to come sailing was the single means of transport linking islands and people, bringing goods and supplies and serving the most basic needs of a burgeoning nation. Sailing is woven into the fabric of our history and thanks to the actions of this government will be an honoured part of our

wants to take the time to investigate.

But Love Beach poses a serious question about values, emotional ties and bottom lines, a question that comes down to past and present vs future and is there a right or wrong? Or just two sides to a story. You decide.

future.

There is still time to build that national sailing centre. Exuma has one and thanks to Dallas Knowles and those who contribute, including Friends of Exuma and homeowners like Bob Coughlin, young boys and girls are sailing in D and E classes, preparing to step into their parents’ shoes, slide out on the pry keeping the tradition of fiercely competitive native sloop sailing alive for years to come.

NOTICE

of sailing is broader and should be inclusive.

From the starter Opti pram that youngsters learn to sail on to the sophisticated Star Class

NOTICE is hereby given that JASON LOUISIUS of Alexandria Road, Carmichael Road, New Providence, 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 14th day of April, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

that Sir Durward skippered to bring home The Bahamas’ first Olympic gold medal, from Sunfish and Lasers to 5.5 Metres like those Gavin

McKinney and Craig Symonette race representing The Bahamas in far-off lands, sailing is a sport that does not discriminate based on

NOTICE

twenty-eight days from the 21st day of April 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE is hereby given that EARLINE RENIKA DORVILUS, of Sea Breeze Lane, New Providence, Bahamas 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 14th day of April 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that JIMMY PHILIP LOZAIQUE of P. O. Box SS-5562, Excellence Estates, Carmichael Road, New Providence, 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 14th day of April, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

BIDEN 2024 ANNOUNCEMENT COMING AS SOON AS NEXT WEEK

WASHINGTON

Associated Press

PRESIDENT Joe Biden will formally announce his 2024 reelection campaign as soon as next week, three people briefed on the discussions said yesterday.

The people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said they were not aware that a final decision on timing had been made, but that Biden had been

eyeing Tuesday, April 25, four years to the day since the Democrat entered the 2020 race. The upcoming announcement is expected to be in the form of a video released to supporters.

Biden, 80, has repeatedly said he intends to run for a second term but advisers say he has felt little need to jump into campaigning because he faces no significant opposition to his party’s nomination.

It’ll be a markedly different experience from four years ago, as when Biden was written off by much of the political establishment until he consolidated support as the candidate Democrats believed was best positioned to defeat then-President Donald Trump while the coronavirus pandemic raged. This time around, he will have to juggle the challenge of running for reelection

while also running the country. Biden in recent months has been focused on implementing the massive infrastructure, technology investment and climate laws passed during his first two years in office and drawing a sharp contrast with Republicans as Washington gears up for a fight over raising the nation’s borrowing limit. Aides believe those priorities will burnish

his image ahead of his reelection campaign. The president, already the oldest person ever elected the job, will also need to contend with voter concerns about his fitness for the job. He has brushed aside those concerns, telling voters to “watch me,” and aides say he plans to mount a robust campaign ahead of what they expect to be a close general election

owing to the country’s polarisation, no matter who emerges as the GOP standard-bearer.

Biden has summoned top Democratic donors to Washington next week for what was expected to be a dinner with him and a strategy session with his chief political advisers.

The Washington Post first reported on the expected timing of the announcement.

North Korea: Our nukes are stark reality

SEOUL, South Korea

Associated Press

NORTH Korea’s foreign minister on Friday called the Group of Seven wealthy democracies a “tool for ensuring the US hegemony” as she lambasted the group’s recent call for the North’s denuclearisation.

The top diplomats from G-7 nations, who met recently in Japan, had jointly condemned the North’s recent ballistic missile tests and reiterated their commitment to the goal of North Korea’s complete abandonment of its nuclear weapons. Their communique was prepared as a template for leaders at the G-7 summit next month in Hiroshima, where North Korea’s nuclear program will likely be discussed again.

North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said her country will take unspecified “strong counteraction” if G-7 countries — the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Italy and the European Union — show “any behavioral attempt” to infringe upon the fundamental interests of North Korea.

“G7, a closed group of a handful of egoistic countries, does not represent the just international community but serves as a political tool for ensuring the US hegemony,” Choe said in a statement carried by North Korean state media.

Choe said the G-7 communique “malignantly” raised the North’s legitimate exercise of its sovereignty.

North Korea has steadfastly argued it was forced to develop nuclear weapons because of US nuclear threats against it. It has said the United States’ regular military drills with South Korea are a rehearsal for invasion, though US and South Korean officials have said their drills are defensive and they have no intentions of attacking the North. North Korea has testfired about 100 missiles

since the start of last year in the name of responding to US military training with South Korea. But many

experts say North Korean leader Kim Jong Un likely uses his rivals’ military drills as a pretext to advance his

weapons programs, cement his domestic leadership and be recognised as a legitimate nuclear state to get

international sanctions on the North lifted.

North Korea has been hit with 11 rounds of UN sanctions because of its past nuclear and ballistic missile tests banned by UN Security Council resolutions.

Kim has previously said those sanctions “stifles” North Korea’s economy.

The G-7 foreign ministers in their communique Tuesday said North Korea will never have the status of a nuclear-weapons state under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

The treaty sought to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons beyond the five original armed powers — the US, Russia, China, Britain and France.

It requires non-nuclear signatory nations to not pursue atomic weapons in exchange for a commitment by the five powers to move toward nuclear disarmament and to guarantee non-nuclear states’ access to peaceful nuclear technology for producing energy.

Choe also said the North’s position as a nuclear weapons state “will remain as an undeniable and stark reality”. She said North Korea is free from any of the treaty’s obligations because it withdrew from the treaty 20 years ago.

North Korea joined the NPT in 1985 but announced its withdrawal from the treaty in 2003, citing what it called US aggression. Since 2006, North Korea has conducted six nuclear tests and a slew of other weapons tests to develop nucleartipped missiles designed to attack the US and South Korea.

South Korea’s Unification Ministry said later Friday that North Korea must halt its threats against neighbors and pay heed to international concerns about its “reckless” nuclear and missile programs. Deputy spokesperson Lee Hyojung told reporters that North Korea cannot earn what it wants from its nuclear program so it must not insist on “a wrong path”.

FROM left, European Union Deputy Secretary General and Political Director of the European External Action Service Enrique Mora, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, France’s Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna and Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani pose for a photo during the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting at The Prince Karuizawa hotel in Karuizawa, Japan, on Monday.

Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP

CHOE SON HUI, then deputy director general of the Department of US Affairs of North Korea Foreign Ministry, briefs journalists outside the North Korean embassy in Beijing, China, in 2016.

Photo: Andy Wong/AP

BGF NATIONAL SCHOOLS GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS

Poitier sisters dominate

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Sisters Zaire, Zion and Zeden Poitier teamed up as the Poitier Golf Home School to dominate the Lower Primary Girls division of the Bahamas Golf Federation’s Junior Division’s National Schools Golf Championships.

The trio, led by Zaire and Zion’s top two positions individually, came to the BGF’s Driving Range where the four-day championship came to a close yesterday.

Reef Harvey, also competing as a Home School competitor, captured the title in the Lower Primary Boys category.

The focus of the day, however, was on the Poitier family.

Zaire, who loves the colour blue and enjoys eating pizza, said although she’s only been playing one year, she didn’t expect to be the winner.

“I feel great,” said the eight-year-old Zaire. “I think we played very good as a team.”

Mother Denise Poitier said once she and her husband started to come out with their father, they waited until their children were grown enough to get them playing.

“We all started playing about a year ago and ever since they have been playing good,” she stated.

“They are very confident girls and they put in the work, practicing at least four times a week. They pay attention.”

On their way to the Driving Range, Denise Poitier said daughter Zaire told her that she “got this today.”

While Zaire finished with a score of 39, Zion trailed with 45.

“We are the best,” said Zion, who claimed however that she’s the “best” of the trio. She admitted that she didn’t play as well as she expected yesterday.

Sarah Scheidender of Nassau Christian Academy

got third with 47, the same score as Skyrah Chambers of Home School. Zeden Poitier, the other sister, rounded out the top five with 48.

Harvey, an eight year-old third grader who has only been playing golf for a year and-a-half, had to go to a playoff to secure the win over Aden Jones of Lyford

Cay International after they both finished with identical scores of 39.

“It was fun and exciting and even though I didn’t play that well,” said Harvey,

GSSSA PLAYOFFS: KNIGHTS AND STINGRAYS SENIOR GIRLS ADVANCE TO CHAMPIONSHIPS

By TENAJH SWEETING tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE C R Walker Knights and C V Bethel Stingrays will face off in the Government Secondary Schools Sports Association (GSSSA) senior girls volleyball championships.

Both senior girls teams brought home playoff wins for their respective schools yesterday at the Anatol Rodgers Gymnasium.

The first-seeded Knights faced off against the fourth-seeded CI Gibson Lady Rattlers in a matchup that only featured two sets.

In the first set, the Knights showed why they were the top seed for the senior girls. They opened with an early 7-3 lead on the Lady Rattlers.

Although the opposing team fought hard, they were no match for the Knights who claimed set one 19-5. Set two went underway with both teams switching sides of the court but it did not make a difference for the Knights. The senior girls team opened

the second set with an early 10-2 lead and never took their feet off the gas. The Knights brought home the victory after winning the second set in convincing fashion 19-3.

Aikia Rose, volleyball coach for Knights’ senior girls, talked about how it felt to dominate and advance to the championships. “We worked hard this season so I am happy

that they made it there, I am hoping that when they go to the championships they play the same and it leads to a victory,” she said. Rose added that her message to her team throughout the two sets was to stay focused, always be ready to hit the ball and do not just wait for the ball to come, just be ready. The head coach expects

the team to be ready for the CV Bethel Stingrays as long as they continue what they have learned in practice. In the day’s second matchup, the third-seeded Stingrays upset the Anatol Rodgers senior girls team in a competitive bout that featured three sets. The first set saw both teams

SEE PAGE 14

another Home School student.

“I just went out there and played my own game. I just came out here to have some fun and play golf.”

Maximilien Demole, winner of the Upper Primary Boys division with a 27, said it was a build up to a successful week that he will cherish.

“I progressed every day, so it was really good,” said the eight-year-old third grader at King’s College. “I knew I had it. I was one thousand percent sure that I could win this tournament.”

He had a double dose of victory as his team also secured the divisional title.

“My team didn’t play that well, but we played well enough to win,” he stated.

“It was an intimidating week. We hope to be back next year to win it again.”

Tatyana Clarke of Queen’s College beat out Kayleigh Rolle of The Meridian School in a playoff after they finished on top of the Upper Primary Girls division with 41. Aiyanna Hernandez of Eva Hilton Primary School took third with 42.

However, Eva Hilton emerged as the team champions with a score of 140 over Windsor with 149. Queen’s College was third with 154.

Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario Bowleg was on hand to encourage the youngsters during the final day of competition. He indicated that he would like to see more interaction between the public and private schools in the various sporting disciplines.

“This is a very great event to have the private and public schools come together and play golf,” Bowleg said. “We hope that we can see more of the disciplines do the same thing.

“Golf calls for so much focus, so it’s interesting to see how they provide this avenue for the young children to participate in a forum like this.”

Bowleg said golf provided the opportunity for schools like Lyford Cay, Windsor Academy and the Home Schools to participate. He said he hopes that the other sporting

SEE PAGE 14

Sixth UBFIT race weekend

April 21-23

By TENAJH SWEETING tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE University of The Bahamas will host its sixth edition of the UBFIT Fun, Run, Walk and Skate race this morning at 6am.

The race weekend, scheduled for April 21-23, features a virtual and inperson element.

The fitness event will include a 5k, 10k and 15k route for persons that want to challenge themselves.

The annual event operates as a fundraiser for the university and to date they have raised up to $300,000 for students.

With more than 500 persons registered to go, UBFIT co-chair Kandice Weech Eldon talked about the steady increase in race participants from 2021 to now.

“We have seen a steady growth, our first year we had 600 participants and then came COVID and

we ended up having to go virtual in 2021 and our numbers have been climbing ever since but our goal this year is 600 again,” Eldon said.

The event is open to students, alumnus, faculty members and the general public. The route starts from the entrance of UB, then race participants will head north on Nassau Street, they will then make a left onto West Bay St, and the cutoff point will be at the Bahamas Girl Guides office.

For persons that wish to complete the 10k route they will walk, run, bike or skate further down to the ‘go slow’ bend.

Additionally, for the 15k participants, they will continue until the Rosewood and then make their way back for the after race celebration. Potential registrants will have the

SEE PAGE 14

THE CR Walker Knights have advanced to the GSSSA senior girls volleyball championship.

SISTERS ZAIRE, Zion and Zeden Poitier dominated the Lower Primary Girls division of the Bahamas Golf Federation’s Junior Division’s National Schools Golf Championships - the four-day event came to a close yesterday.

Photo: Moises Amisial/Tribune Staff

Hield and Williams going to World Boxing Championships

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WHILE Carl Hield will be going for his seventh appearance at the IBA World Boxing Championships, Rashield Williams will be attending his second straight as the amateur and professional boxers represent the Bahamas at the Humo Arena in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

From April 30 to May 14, the pair, the only two to represent the Bahamas, will be a part of the contingent of amateur and pro boxers who get to compete in the championships that will offer huge cash prizes in all of the divisions.

For Hield, this one will be dedicated to his deceased mother, Norma Hield, who passed away on January 16. He got as far as the round of 16 in 2015 in Doha, Qatar and would like to improve on that in the light middleweight or 156-pound division as he pays tribute to his mother.

“I want to give God thanks. I had a rough start to the year after my mom passed away. I took a while to get over it, but I’m back in training camp because I know this is what she would want me to continue to do,” Hield said.

“That was a lot I was going through.

“So, all the hard work I put in, I have to dedicate this fight to her. I have to make sure that I put her dream of seeing me succeed in the sport. That’s where I’m at right now. She was my biggest supporter. She was my backbone. She supported me with everything that I was going through. That is a big loss. So, I have to do it now or never.”

Hield, 39, is back in Cuba where he’s training in preparation for the championships.

“My plan is to go over there and make it to the top four because while this is not a qualifier for the Olympic Games, it is a preparation for me for the CAC Games that will be held at the end of June,”

BOXER CONOR BENN CHARGED WITH USE OF PROHIBITED SUBSTANCE

LONDON (AP) — British boxer Conor Benn has been charged with the alleged use of a prohibited substance, British antidoping authorities said yesterday.

UK Anti-Doping said the 26-year-old Benn was charged on April 3 for using clomifene, a female fertility drug that is on WADA’s list of banned substances and is known to elevate testosterone levels in men.

UKAD said it notified and provisionally suspended Benn on March 15. The anti-doping authority does not typically disclose that an athlete has been charged or suspended, but said this was “exceptional circumstances.”

Benn’s all-British catchweight bout with Chris Eubank Jr was cancelled in October after Benn returned traces of clomifene in a random test by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association.

Hield said. “I just want to go out there and put on a good performance and try and get to the medal round.”

The IBF is offering $200,00 for the gold medal, $100,000 for silver and $50,00 for the pair of bronze medallists.

Hield, whose wife and family still reside in Cuba, said he wanted to get back to his basic training.

“Everything is going well. I’m getting the sparring and the medical checkups every day by the doctors,” he revealed. “So, everything is going as planned. I am going to be ready for the war because of all the money involved in these championships.

“It’s going to be a lot of people coming to get their hands on the purse, so I just have to be prepared to get my share. I was sparring with professionals who

were world champions, so I just have to stay focused and be prepared.” Williams, returning after making his debut last year in Belgrade, Serbia, said he’s looking for his encore as he competes in the welterweight or 147lb division.

“I feel good, but the amateurs are completely different from the pros, so in this competition I have to be throwing more punches than I normally do,” said Williams.

“It’s a lot I have to adjust to really quick.

“So, when I’m sparring, I have to be pushing really hard for three rounds. It’s so different from the professionals.”

Williams, who is coming off a 1-1 win-loss record in his first two pro fights to push his record to 7-2, is in a training camp in Fort Lauderdale, Florida where he is working out

strictly with a group of professionals.

“Everything is good. Training is good. I am training with a lot of highclass professionals, no amateurs” he stated.

“I really should be training with amateurs so I can get used to the speed and the number of punches they will be throwing.”

Does that put the 33-year-old Williams at a disadvantage?

“I don’t think so. I just have to go out there and do what I have to do,” he stated. “I don’t think it’s a disadvantage for me.” With the hefty course on the line, Williams said he’s even more motivated to compete.

“Everybody needs that money, so that’s motivation to push even harder,” he insisted.

And to make the trip with Hield, Williams said

he’s even more inspired because they connect very well, and they work together. The duo was a part of the team that represented the Bahamas at the Commonwealth Games last year in Birmingham, England.

“He’s an awesome fighter. Hope he gets to pull it off himself,” Williams said. I know I am going there to do my best and get in the mix to get some of the money.”

Williams, who is preparing for his next pro fight on June 10 when he returns from Uzbekistan, is coming off a fourth-round technical victory over Walter Raul Sarsvi at the Alessi Gym Fitness Center in Tampa, Florida on March 18 after he suffered a split decision to Elijah Flores at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida, on October 15.

The World Boxing Council cleared the welterweight fighter of intentional doping in February after a “highly elevated consumption of eggs” was considered a “reasonable explanation” for the failed test. That left Benn free to resume his boxing career outside Britain after he relinquished his British Boxing Board of Control licence.

Benn took to Twitter yesterday to say the UKAD announcement was an attempt to “create a headline with my name.”

“Being ‘charged’ is a start of a process by which an athlete has to defend themselves,” he wrote.

“I have not been sanctioned by anyone & I’m not banned from boxing. I remain free to fight in events that are not sanctioned by the BBBoC. I don’t even have a BBBoC licence.”

The British boxing authority noted the charge and said it “awaits the outcome of the UKAD process in due course.”

67TH NATIONAL FAMILY ISLAND REGATTA @ GEORGE TOWN, EXUMA

Lonesome Dove wins first Class B series race

ABACO’s Lonesome Dove won the first Class B series race yesterday during the 67th National Family Island Regatta in George Town, Exuma.

Photos by Patrick Hanna/BIS

CARL Hield and his trainer Luisbey Fernando Sanchez.

EXUMA’s Lady Sonia came in 2nd in the first Class B series race.

EXUMA’s Tari Anne finished in 3rd place.

RASHIELD Williams celebrates beside one of the ring girls.

GRIZZLIES’ DILLON BROOKS TRYING TO GET UNDER LEBRON’S SKIN

By TERESA M WALKER AP Sports Writer

MEMPHIS, Tenn.

Eagles Basketball Classic senior boys’ crown goes to IBA Bahamas Panthers

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

IT was payback time for the IBA Bahamas team as they avenged their first loss to beat the CC Sweeting Cobras to clinch the Eagles Basketball Classic’s senior boys’ championship title.

At the tournament played from April 13-15 at the Gateway Christian Academy Gymnasium, IBA junior boys, however, went undefeated up to the semifinals game where they suffered their first loss of the tournament to the St John’s Giants.

Coach Denycko Bowles said he was still pleased with the way his teams performed.

“I think the performances were good from both of my teams, “ Bowles said.

“I was really pleased with the way they played.”

In their senior boys game, Bowles said after losing to the Cobras in their opening game, they were determined not to allow a repeat feat in the championship, pulling off a 64-41 victory over CC Sweeting behind the most valuable performance from Lavardo ‘Lil Soggy’ Saunders.

“The guys played hard. They executed for the full length of the game for four quarters,” he said.

“We were really locked in and focused. I think it was because of what happened in the first game.

“Our guys came back with a vengeance. It wasn’t really our style of play. They dug down deep and came back with vengeance. They executed very well on both sides of the court.”

In the junior boys’ division, the DW Davis Royals emerged as the champions with a 40-32 decision over St John’s.

Over the Labour Day weekend, IBA will have their Jam Fest at the Anatol Rodgers Gymnasium where they will have competition in the 18-andunder, 16-and-unser, 14-and and 12-and-under divisions.

“We have to tighten up on a few things and we will

be ready to go from there straight into the summer,” said Bowles.

He is asking any teams interested in participating to contact him.

Additionally, the IBA will resume its second annual Grassroots Youth Basketball League this weekend with games scheduled for the Anatol Rodgers Gymnasium today, starting at 5pm and will continue on Sunday from 3pm.

(AP) — Calling the NBA’s all-time leading scorer — regular season and playoffs — old and just another player might not seem very smart to most folks.

For Dillon Brooks, that’s just the Grizzlies’ defender trying to get under LeBron James’ skin.

Brooks is one of the NBA’s best defenders. He started off the mind games before their first-round Western Conference series was locked in, saying he wanted to face James and the Lakers.

And Brooks didn’t hold back after his Grizzlies tied this series at 1-1 without Ja Morant. Brooks called James a legend yes, but “old” at 38. He added James isn’t the player who won titles in Miami and Cleveland. Brooks, 27, is in the final year of his contract.

“I’m creating a name for myself,” Brooks said Wednesday night after a 103-93 win over the Lakers.

This is nothing new for Brooks, often called Dillon the Villain in Memphis. He embraces the heel role in a town where wrestling and trash talk is a way to make a good living. It might seem a bit different for someone born in Mississauga, Ontario.

But the 6-foot-6 Brooks played high school ball in Nevada and was the 45th pick overall out of Oregon in 2017. He was acquired by Memphis from Houston in a draft-night trade. He’s followed in the Memphis tradition of former elite NBA defender Tony Allen during the Grizzlies’ franchise-record streak of seven straight playoff berths. He has started 318 of 345 games played in his career. And Brooks has taken on the NBA’s best from Kevin Durant to Donovan Mitchell to Stephen Curry — backing down from no one.

That’s why James, who spoke to reporters Wednesday night before Brooks called him a “legend” and “old,” said before the series started the Lakers couldn’t overlook someone who can get hot as a shooter, too. Brooks has a career-high 37 points and had 32 on December 17 against Oklahoma City.

Primary school track and field returns

BY TENAJH SWEETING tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE 43rd edition of the public primary school track and field championships is set to return to the old Thomas A Robinson stadium after a two-year hiatus.

The event is scheduled to get underway from 10am to 3pm April 26-28. This year’s return of the sporting event will feature 25 public primary schools and the event will host over 700 athletes.

Officials are excited and ready for this year’s track and field showdown as the children make their return to the stadium. This year’s theme will be “Returning Better Than Ever”.

Clara Storr, education officer for physical education, talked about the excitement of faculty members and primary school students leading up to next week.

“This is a commemorative event seeing that coming out of CARIFTA now celebrating our 50th year of independence our children are excited,

principals are elated, persons have their banners, rags and flags ready to celebrate those schools willing and able to show their talents on the field and track,” Storr said.

At this year’s meet, the public can expect to see the primary school students compete in the 100m, 200m and 400m sprint races.

Additionally, they will go head to head in the 800m and 1,200m middle distance races. For the field events, the 25 school representatives will battle it out in the high jump, long jump, triple jump and shot put.

Latoya Sturrup, president of the New Providence Public Primary School Sports Association, talked about the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the preparation of the primary school athletes.

The president said it had a major impact on them because they were on lockdowns and could only reach the students virtually.

She added that they were able to adapt by using whatever they had at home just to give students an idea on

how to do the various sporting activities. After a successful 50th CARIFTA Games, officials noted the importance of primary school students

competing at these types of track and field meets.

Evon Wisdom, senior education officer for the sports unit, said the primary school track and field

championships are foundational and it is where we develop student athletes, find out who our stars are, and most importantly, cultivate talent.

For persons that are interested in watching next week’s primary school track and field championships, ticket prices are $5 for adults and $1 for children.

This year’s return of the primary school track and field championships will also feature the defending champions Cleveland Eneas who will look to take home another victory.

The 43rd edition of the primary school track and field championships will be sponsored by Virgo Car Rental.

Officials are encouraging more local businesses to get on board and support the primary school students as they are the future of the nation.

CHAMPIONSHIP MVP Lavardo ‘Lil Soggy’ Saunders.

MINISTRY of Education officials announce the 43rd edition of the primary schools track and field championships at yesterday’s press conference.

IBA Bahamas Panthers junior boys team.

IBA Bahamas Panthers senior boys’ chmpionship team.

EMBIID GETS LATE BLOCK AS MAXEY, 76ERS TAKE 3-0 LEAD

NEW YORK (AP) —

Labouring throughout the game and perhaps lucky to not have been ejected for kicking a Nets player in the groin area, Joel Embiid told himself he had to stay on the floor.

Even if the Nets kept hitting him or trying to make him lose his cool, he needed to be there for his Philadelphia 76ers.

“You could see what the game plan was. Got to hit him, try to make me frustrated so I could get ejected,” Embiid said. “So, I’m too mature to put myself in a position where I’m going to be ejected, so I just went about my business and we got the win.”

Thanks in part to his huge block at the end.

Embiid blocked a potential tying basket with 8.8 seconds left and the 76ers beat Brooklyn 102-97 on Thursday night to take a 3-0 lead in the first-round series.

Tyrese Maxey made the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 44 seconds left for the

JR GOLF FROM PAGE 11

disciplines will be able to accommodate schools like that when they host their events.

• Here’s a look at the results from yesterday’s final day of competition:

Lower Primary Boys

Teams

1st Place - Lyford Cay

International School -Team

Score of 130 - Aden Jones, Diego Gago and Alexander Murray.

2nd Place Wind-

sor Lower School - Team Score of 136 - Luca Greaves, Jack Fox and Adam Turnquest,

3rd Place - Eva Hilton

Primary School - Team

Score of 169 - Antoine Roberts, Daniel Ramsay, Treilon Stuart, Kameron Rolle and Andrew Roberts.

Top 10 Individuals

*1st Place - Reef Harvey, Home Schooling – 39; 2nd Place - Aden Jones, Lyford Cay International School – 39; 3rd Place - Luca Greaves, Windsor Lower School- 42; 4th Place; Diego Gago, Lyford Cay International School – 42; 5th Place - Thomas West, Windsor Lower School –44; 6th Place - Alexander Murray, Lyford Cay International School – 49; 7th Place - Jack Fox, Windsor Lower School – 50; 8th Place - Antoine Roberts, Eva Hilton Primary School – 53; 9th Place - Daniel Ramsay, Eva Hilton Primary School – 57 and 10th

Place - Adam Turnquest - Windsor Lower School – 57.

*Playoff Winner (7 Holes)

Lower Primary Girls

1st Place - Poitier Golf Homeschool - Team Score of 132 - Zion Poitier; Zeden Poitier and Zaire Poitier.

2nd Place - Eva Hilton

Primary School - Team

Score of 179 - Jamiah Miller; Kazmyn Rolle and Denira Moxey.

Top 10 Individuals

1st Place - Zaire Pitier, Poitier Golf Homeschool –39; 2nd Place - Zion Poitier, Poitier Golf Homeschool – 45; 3rd Place - Sarah

Scheidender, Nassau Christian Academy – 47; 4th

Place - Skyrah Chambers, Homeschooling – 47; 5th

Place - Zeden Poitier, Poitier Golf Homeschool – 48; 6th Place - Kazmyn Rolle, Eva Hilton Primary School – 55; 7th Place - Jamiah

Miller, Eva Hilton Primary School -59; 8th Place - Safari Hanna, The Meridian School – 60; 9th Place - Marlee Poitier, Palmdale

Primary – 63 and 10th

Place - Denira Moxey, Eva Hilton Primary – 65.

Upper Primary Boys

1st Place - King’s College School, The Bahamas

- Team Score of 96 - Maximilien Demole; Francisco

Ortiz Von Bismarck and Luis Ortiz Von B Bismarck

Jr.

76ers, who can sweep their way into the second round with a victory Saturday in Brooklyn.

With James Harden having been ejected in the third quarter for another groin shot and Embiid not looking like his usual dominant self, Maxey took over the offense and scored eight straight points, turning a five-point deficit into a 99-96 lead on his 3-pointer.

“Tonight, when our ballhandler, our leader went out, take that role in the fourth quarter and help us get into our stuff, help us win the game,” Maxey said.

Spencer Dinwiddie made one free throw, then appeared to have a path to the basket for a tying layup before Embiid rose up and swatted it. P.J. Tucker made a free throw to make it 100-97, and the Nets turned it over on their next possession.

Maxey scored 25 points and Harden had 21 for the 76ers. Embiid shot just 5 for 13 but had 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Mikal Bridges scored 26 points and Dinwiddie had 20 for the Nets, who have

lost nine straight playoff games and are on the verge of being swept for the second straight year. Cam Johnson scored 17 points.

“I told the group they didn’t give up, they grew up tonight,” Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said. Embiid went to the locker room for treatment after checking out in the first quarter, then was limping multiple times later.

The 76ers might’ve been lucky he was still in the game at that point.

Nets fans loudly booed the decision not to eject him for kicking his leg up toward Nic Claxton’s groin in the first quarter, after the Nets centre stepped over him after he dunked and Embiid fouled him and fell to the court. Those not in the arena took to social media to ask why he wasn’t tossed, as Golden State’s Draymond Green was for stepping on Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis in Game 2 of their series. Green was then

suspended by the NBA for Game 3.

Claxton ended up called for a technical foul — and was ejected in the fourth quarter when he picked up a second one.

But the ruling went against the 76ers in the third quarter when Harden, while closely guarded by Royce O’Neale, swung out his arm and struck the swingman, who fell to the court in pain.

Crew chief Tony Brothers said Harden’s direct contact to the groin made his penalty a flagrant 2, while Embiid’s wasn’t because of his area of contact.

The Nets raced to a 19-11, riding an emotional boost after Embiid’s flagrant foul. But Philadelphia would recover to lead 32-28 after one, extended the lead to 51-40 on Maxey’s 3-pointer with 3:52 left in the half and the lead remained 11 at the break.

But Bridges got the Nets off to a quick start in the third and Johnson scored 13 points, helping the Nets outscore the 76ers 35-18 in the third to bring an 82-76 edge to the fourth.

SAN FRANCISCO

(AP) — Stephen Curry scored 36 points, Kevon Looney matched his career high with 20 rebounds to go with nine assists, and the Golden State Warriors got right back in their first-round playoff series by thumping the Sacramento Kings 114-97 in Game 3 last night to pull within 2-1. As suspended star Draymond Green watched from home, the defending champions dominated without him as they have done so many times before. The fiery forward was suspended without pay for stepping on the chest of Domantas Sabonis in the fourth quarter of Monday’s Game 2 at Golden 1 Center. Curry shot 12 for 25 with six 3s while Andrew Wiggins added 20 points and seven rebounds for the Warriors who never trailed.

GSSSA FROM PAGE 11

evenly matched as the playoff game went underway. The teams opened 3-3. However, after 15 minutes of volleyball action, the Timberwolves were able to edge out the Stingrays to take set one 19-16.

Despite the back and forth battle in the first set, the Stingrays regained their composure in the second. The team opened set two with an 11-3 lead and never looked back. The Stingrays claimed the second set 19-4.

Glenda Gilcud, volleyball coach for the Stingrays, talked about her message to the team after the first set.

“They came out a little flat because there is no way we were supposed to go into three sets but thank God it was a wakeup call. I told them to stay focused and to do just what they do in practice and everybody came around today,” she said.

The coach was right as the Stingrays rode the momentum of set two all the way to a win. After 12 minutes of play they closed out the Timberwolves at their gymnasium 15-7 to punch their ticket to the GSSSA senior girls volleyball championship.

Gilcud said she expects that the championships will be tough but she believes the girls are a bit more comfortable and settled which can lead to a win.

The GSSSA volleyball championships will kick off once again at the Anatol Rodgers gymnasium this evening at 4pm.

UBFIT FROM PAGE 11

2nd Place - St. Andrews

International School-

Team Score of 117; William Mahelis; Caleb Davis;

Carlos Osazuwa and Mirko Gervasini. 3rd Place - Lyford Cay

International School - Team Score of 126Sebastian Halewyck; Juan Pedro Vianna and Philippe

Ciampini.

4th Place - Windsor

Lower School - Team

Score of 129 - Hugo Johnston; Hawthorne Wood and Thomas Fox.

5th Place - Eva Hilton

Primary School - Team

Score of 138 - Antonio Hernandez; Yelisey Smith; Antonio Bain; Fritzner Sylvester and Kymani Rolle.

6th Place - Eva Hilton

Primary School - Team

Score of 147 - Hiram Tinubu; Lathan Bowleg; Bayne Bostwick; Amir Hamilton and Taye Charlton.

7th Place - Palmdale

Primary - Team Score of 168 - Alton Miller; Caleb Adderley and Joshua Joseph.

8th Place - Kingsway Academy - Team Score of 179 - Amari Jones; Joshua Louis; Liam Gray; Dereck Rolle and Ethan Miller.

Top 10 Individuals

Upper Primary Boys

1st Place - Maximilien Demole, King’s College School, The Bahamas – 27;

2nd Place - Hugo Johnston, Windsor Lower School –

29; 3rd Place - Sebastian Halewyck, Lyford Cay

International School –

32; 4th Place - Francisco

Ortiz Von Bismarck Jr., King’s College School, The Bahamas – 33; 5th Place - Deandreay Poitier, T.G.

Glover Primary School – 34; 6th Place - William Mahelis, St. Andrew’s International School – 36;

6th Place - Luis Ortiz Von Bismarck – 36; 8th PlaceCaleb Davis, St. Andrew’s International School – 39;

9th Place - Carlos Osazuwa, St. Andrew’s International

School – 42; 10th PlaceAntonio Hernandez, Eva Hilton Primary School –43 and 10th Place - Mirko Gervasini, St. Andrew’s International School – 43.

Upper Primary Girls 1st Place - Eva Hilton Primary School - Team Score of 140 - Aiyanna Hernandez; Janai Miller; Ri’Annah Hanna; Brenaya Knowles and Cyamarie Ferguson.

2nd Place - Windsor Lower School - Team Score of 149; Zara Greaves; Amelia Ingaggiato; Alexandrea Lefeber and Taylor Davis.

3rd Place - Queen’s College - Team Score of 154 - Tatyana Clarke; Kaleah Brown; Isobel Grimes and Haylee Rolle.

4th Place - Garvin Tynes Primary School - Team Score of 174 - Janae Phillips; Rachel Miller; Zamira Swann and Nikia Saunders.

Top 10 Individuals

Upper Primary Girls

*1st Place - Tatyana

Clarke, Queen’s College

– 41; 2nd Place - Kayleigh Rolle, The Meridian School – 41; 3rd PlaceAiyanna Hernandez, Eva Hilton Primary School

– 42; 4th Place - Zara

Greaves, Windsor Lower School – 43; 5th PlaceTracy Johnson, Kingsway

Academy - 45

6th Place - Janai Miller, Eva Hilton Primary School

– 49; 6th Place - Ri’Annah

Hanna, Eva Hilton Primary School – 49; 8th Place - Amelia Ingaggiato, Windsor Lower School

– 51; 9th Place - Janae Phillips, Garvin Tynes Primary School – 52; 9th PlaceBrenaya Knowles, Eva Hilton Primary School –52 and 9th Place - Kaleah Brown, Queen’s College

- 52

*Playoff Winner (2 holes)

opportunity to register by visiting ubfit.ub.edu. bs or can register at the Chapter One bookstore. For adults the registration cost is $35, UB students and persons 17 and under $20, and groups of 10 or more $30 per person. The registration package for the event will include a race bag, UBFIT Dry Fit T-shirt, and a finishers medal.

Eldon talked about the importance of supporting UB FIT 2023.

“All proceeds support the annual fund which is so staff, faculty and students can apply for funding whether it be for travel for a research conference, for equipment and then also technology needs for our students,” she said.

This year’s sponsor for a third consecutive race is Oaktree Medical Centre. A total of 14 corporate sponsors are supporting this year’s event and have helped to raise $48,000 so far.

After completion of their race, participants can expect to be entertained by a special guest performance by the Bahamas’ very own Wendi.

UB North is scheduled to have their third edition of the fitness event on May 6.

76ERS’ Tyrese Maxey (0) drives past Nets’ Spencer Dinwiddie (26) during Game 3 of the NBA basketball playoffs last night. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

THE Poitier sisters teamed up as the Poitier Golf Home School to dominate the Lower Primary Girls division of the Bahamas Golf Federation’s Junior Division’s National Schools Golf Championships.

Photos: Moises Amisial/Tribune Staff

EVA Hilton Primary emerged as the team champions with a score of 140 over Windsor with 149. Queen’s College was third with 154.

‘Banner-breaking’ 38% visitor rise in Eleuthera

The Bahamas is expected to outpace industry-wide recovery with airlift performance at a minimum of 95 percent-plus below prepandemic. We are right now in a good place when it comes to overall airlift recovery.”

Noting that the spending and economic impact produced by air arrivals is typically 28 times’ greater than their cruise passenger counterparts, who represent this nation’s volume business, the senior tourism official added: “We have to strike a balance between volume and value. We do know stopover visitors, we refer to them as ‘heads in beds’.”

Eleuthera attracted some 66,000 higher-yielding stopover visitors in 2019, the last full year prior to the COVID pandemic, and D Romer said the destination had withstood the

fall-out better than most. “That number held very strong, even in 2021, when the rest of the country was struggling. Eleuthera was holding its ground,” he added. “In 2022, Eleuthera saw some 81,000 air stopover international arrivals, a 21 percent increase over 2020 and 2019.

“Eleuthera is among the global leaders when it comes to recovery as a destination. If you look at December 2022and look at the bottom line, almost all of the island were outperforming 2022. But if you look at Eleuthera, there were 9,561 visitors in December 2022 compared to 6,327 in 2019. This was a banner-breaking month for tourism.”

Dr Romer said Eleuthera has also increased its market share, in terms of the total visitors to The Bahamas that it attracts, from 2-3 percent to 5 percent. “I really believe

Eleuthera could see some 6-8 percent of the entire visitors to The Bahamas,” he added. “Eleuthera has the potential to cause it to happen. “We need to look at seat capacity. We were just some 5 percent below total seat capacity [for the entire Bahamas in 2023 compared to pre-COVID]. When we look at North Eleuthera, it is some 10 percent over. We’ve got 10 percent more seats than we got in 2019. Governor’s Harbour has 46 percent less seats compared to 2019, and we know Rock Sound is not attracting legacy commercial carriers. We’re looking to change that.”

The acting aviation director said that while Eleuthera and its tourism industry are “crying” out for extra airlift, the island must focus on upgrading its product offering and room inventory to entice the airlines to add frequency

and routes. “I’ll tell you about what the airlines are saying,” Dr Romer added. “They’re asking about your available inventory, they’re asking what heads in beds are going in.

“You’re crying for extra airlift. They’re looking at product deficiencies.... Is your product at a standard to attract new development? They want to know about the state of your infrastructure, and not just your airport infrastructure. They want to know about your Airbnbs and how they are being managed, otherwise they are going to bring people to a bad show and those visitors will not be converted to repeat visitors.”

Dr Romer said Ministry of Tourism officials were having discussions with American Airlines about providing airlift into Governor’s Harbour in response to industry requests. However, he reiterated that

Eleuthera’s product diversification and quality must be of sufficient standard to attract the airlines.

“You cannot bring persons to a bad show,” he said. “When we look at infrastructure development and airports, we must take ownership of the tourism outcomes.” With 70 percent of jobs and economic activity generated by tourism, Dr Romer added: “Airlines respond to demand... We cannot get demand with a shoddy product.”

Despite these challenges, Dr Romer told Eleuthera attendees: “You are in a good place right now to be the fastest growing island, and the island with the most potential among all of the other islands of The Bahamas. When we look at 2023, we saw a strong start to the year.

“We would have seen January and February were above 2019. We had some 1.2m visitors in the

ELEUTHERA AIRPORT’S $65M PRICE TAG IS ‘SCALED BACK’

FROM PAGE A20

start” the redevelopment by going out to bid on this aspect via a separate tender. With the design set to be completed in October, and then go to Cabinet for approval shortly afterwards, Dr Romer said construction work is forecast to take 24 months with the new facility opening in 2025.

“The design is not a part of the investment model,” he confirmed, “because we have already gone out to bid and already jump started North Eleuthera. We have an active bidding process. We’re not putting out someone to design North Eleuthera.” The airport, one of the fastestgrowing in The Bahamas in terms of traffic and demand, will remain open during the construction work.

Explaining the decision to reduce the $65m investment cost, Dr Romer said: “We’re going to scale that figure down. It has to make

sense. Investors are going to ask what will be the right price point to get a return on investment in Eleuthera. We’re going to scale it back a bit. It’s not going to be $65m for the total development cost. “You’re going to find out you will get the bells and whistle but, at the same time, get a resilient and sustainable airport. Right now, as we speak, we’re having the design completed by October this year. It will then go to Cabinet and afterwards construction is set for 24 months... We can’t build for what’s happening right now. We have to build for what we see happening in the future. North Eleuthera is one of our biggest demand airports alongside Exuma.”

Elsewhere, Dr Romer said the likely investment required at Exuma’s Staniel Cay airport will double from $2m to $5m due to the amount of traffic it is catering to. He described the

Exuma Cays as “the new Maldives for The Bahamas”, with work due to be performed on the Staniel Cay runway and landing strip next week.

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.

The Government is seeking private partners for the redevelopment, upgrade, financing and management of the 14 selected airports via public-private partnership (PPP) agreements with the winning bidders. They will be granted 30-year PPP leasehold concessions similar to that for LPIA.

Shortlisted parties will be invited to participate in the Request for Proposal (RFP) stage, which is tentatively scheduled to be released in May 2023.

Enhancing the Family Island airports will provide for better airlift and transport connectivity, enable these facilities to accommodate increased flights and visitor numbers, and offer an improved first and last impression of The Bahamas for tourists.

Chester Cooper, deputy prime minister, and minister of tourism, investment and aviation, earlier this week

admitted that The Bahamas has “gotten caught behind the eight ball” over the need to upgrade its airport infrastructure with discussions now also focusing on expanding the country’s main gateway. He added that there was renewed focus on how Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) will be able to accommodate the surge in tourist arrivals that The Bahamas is seeing.

Speaking after the Government extended the deadline for initial responses to its $260m, 14-airport, bid process by two weeks to end-April, he said: “We want to ensure the best possible outcomes. And we also want to ensure that we were expediting this process. And, therefore, there is a balance between providing more time and,

first two months of 2019, and we have now seen almost 1.7m for the first two months of 2023. That is record-breaking. We’re on a schedule not just to meet 2022’s figure; we’re going to beat it and the deputy prime minister has given us a mandate to beat it by at least 20 percent. Do we have the capacity? If we grow arrivals by 20 percent, what is going to happen to the product?”

Dr Romer told the Outlook conference that Bahamas-wide air arrivals for the first two months of 2023 “are less than half a percent off the first two months in 2019”. However, for the same period, Eleuthera’s air arrival figures are some 38 percent up on pre-COVID numbers. “Eleuthera is going to be the market leader instead of Nassau when it comes to the volume of air arrivals,” he added.

at the same time, ensuring that we move this along.

“The people of North Eleuthera, for example, have outgrown the airport many, many years ago, perhaps decades ago. So we have, frankly, gotten caught behind the eight ball with airport developments in The Bahamas over the course of the last 20 years. And we have a lot of catching up to do.

“LPIA, for example, even though this has been developed just over the last few years, on Saturday alone, we’re seeing 8,000 to 10,000 visitors come to the airport. And there’s now discussion at the moment as to how we’re going to accommodate the increased level of growth. And therefore we have to be expeditious while we try to create the kind of balance that’s needed.”

Stock market today: Tesla, AT&T help drag Wall Street lower

By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer

STOCKS on Wall Street

dipped Thursday following mixed earnings reports from big companies and more signals the U.S. economy may be slowing.

The S&P 500 fell 24.73, or 0.6%, to 4,129.79 after drifting listlessly earlier this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 110.39, or 0.3%, to 33,786.62, while the Nasdaq composite dropped 97.67, or 0.8%, to 12,059.56.

Tesla weighed heavily on the market for a second straight day on worries about how much profit it's making on each of its electric vehicles. It dropped 9.7% after reporting revenue for the first three months of the year that fell short of analysts' expectations as it repeatedly cut prices on its models.

Tesla's cutting prices "is good for inflation," said Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. "But for the market, the question has to be: You're cutting prices again, it seems like we're not seeing enough demand on the auto side."

"It's still working its way through the system, higher rates for everyone. It's more costly to buy a car, more costly to buy a house from a financing perspective."

Several banks also dropped after reporting weaker profits and

revenue than expected, including KeyCorp and Zions Bancorp. The spotlight has been particularly harsh on smaller and midsized banks amid worries their customers may pull out deposits following the second- and third-largest U.S. bank failures in history last month.

Zions fell 4.9%, and KeyCorp dropped 2.7%. Truist Financial fell 3.8% after reporting weaker profit than expected. AT&T sank 10.4% after it reported slightly weaker revenue than analysts forecast, though profit squeaked past expectations. Analysts also pointed to weaker cash flow than some expected. It was the worst day for its stock in two decades and its second-worst since late 1983.

In the bond market, yields fell following a couple reports on the U.S. economy. Slightly more workers filed for unemployment benefits last week than the week before, a potential signal that a still-strong job market is starting to soften under the weight of much higher interest rates. The number of continuing claims for jobless benefits also rose to the highest level since November 2021, according to Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics.

A separate report said that manufacturing trends in the mid-Atlantic region weakened by much more than economists expected.

The Public is hereby advised that I, DEBBIE EDWARDS of P. O. Box N-3140, Quail Roost Ridge, New Providence, Bahamas intend to change my name to SHEREY KEMP. If there are any objections to this change of name by Deed Poll, you may write such objections to the Chief Passport Officer, P.O.Box N-742, Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas no later than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice.

Over 90% say public corruption ‘frequent’

personally encountered graft. Just 2 percent said police officers and Customs officers, for example, had sought to extort or obtain financial compensation from them.

Matt Aubry, the Organisation for Responsible Governance’s director, told Tribune Business the survey’s findings further exposed the urgent need for greater openness and transparency in government as a means to restore public trust in the country’s institutions, democratic system and officials.

While ORG did not participate in the World Justice Project’s research, he added that its findings reinforced how vulnerable The Bahamas is to potentiallydamaging graft perceptions when the on-ground reality may be far different.

While questioning whether a

500-person sample is statistically significant, Mr Aubry said such beliefs often “perpetuate” themselves unless a nation takes robust action to counter them.

“It speaks to the real issue and challenge with the perception of corruption,” the ORG chief told this newspaper. “One of the more important values of being transparent regardless of your political beliefs about it is that it gives you a chance to flesh out what the actual circumstances are.”

Pointing to the wide gulf, where 90-plus percent of Bahamians perceive politicians and public officials to be engaged in corrupt practices, but just 2-3 percent report being actual victims, Mr Aubry said: “The dichotomy is really part of the challenge. It perpetuates itself. We already know there’s a global deficit in trust in public officials.”

Suggesting that this erosion of trust has been worsened due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and how governments have handled it, as well as increasingly partisan politics in many democracies, he added that the emergence of such trends has “led to inferences or perceptions of corruption that are greater than may be the case”.

The best antidote to evaporating public trust in government, Mr Aubry said, was compliance with the highest levels of transparency. He added that The Bahamas has already enacted legal reforms that it has seemingly got no to little credit for, including the Public Procurement Act as well as the digitisation of multiple government services as a means to eliminate reliance on cash.

“The fact is the perception does not match up to

reality,” the ORG chief said. “All of a sudden we’re seeing differences between what is actually happening and perception. Transparency is a major tool to dispel that.” However, that can only work if the Government complies with the likes of the Public Procurement Act, and its requirements to disclose public contract bid winners and the amount they have been awarded. Delayed financial reporting and disclosures also “perpetuate the perception of corruption”, Mr Aubry warned, adding that “the sense of negativity is stuck very hard” even though “there are many things The Bahamas is doing very positively”. These efforts, he added, would be boosted by reform of the Public Disclosures Act, full enactment of the Freedom of Information Act, and the revival of legislation to create an

‘LOSING HOME COURT’: AIR TAXES EXCEED TICKET COST

FROM PAGE A20

and Fort Lauderdale. You could jump on a Carnival cruise from Miami, Fort Lauderdale for $400. That’s almost equal to the cost of an airline ticket. Florida is our home court. We’ve given up that advantage. What are we doing? What is on the drawing board to reduce the high cost of ticket taxes to The Bahamas.”

Carlton Russell, the former senior Atlantis executive who is now The Cove’s managing director, said it was “very short-sighted” for The Bahamas to be at the mercy of high ticket taxes that raise costs to access the destination and potentially price some visitors out of the market.

“Sixty percent of that airline ticket is taxes,” he said. “What would be the

outcome if we reduced that tax by 50 percent? What would that do for our destination?” Contrasting the impact from one dollar spent by a visitor to that taken in taxes, Mr Russell said: “The dollar that comes in circulates 11 times’ in the community before it goes back out.

“So does it make sense to get that dollar in taxes at the front end, which is one dollar, or that same dollar after it has circulated through the community 11 times? We need to look at tourism in a different state” of mind.

Dr Kenneth Romer, the Ministry of Tourism, Investments and Aviation’s deputy director-general, and acting director of aviation, told a panel discussion at the same conference that officials

are “constantly advocating” for commercial airlines to reduce ticket prices and travel costs to The Bahamas.

However, he also pointed out that ticket prices are set by market forces of supply and demand, and The Bahamas remains a high-end destination that wealthy travellers are prepared to pay a premium to visit.

“Airlines are businesses, and businesses are always driven by profit. Businesses are driven by demand,” Dr Romer replied.

“The Bahamas is, first of all, an expensive destination. You cannot compare The Bahamas to Mexico and others. Those persons who come to The Bahamas generally have the means to pay for the tickets. Airlines view us as a high-end, luxury destination.

“We are constantly advocating for our airlines to reduce the cost of travel. You’re going to have a certain amount of seats that are going to be affordable, but the majority of our seats are going to attract higher rates because we are almost a luxury, high-end destination. Whether or not you buy a ticket somebody’s going to buy it because demand exists for the destination. They’re going to drive demand to drive their profits.”

Mr Romer said that, notwithstanding high ticket prices, airlines were still arriving in Nassau “full” and added: “If they’re coming here (Eleuthera) or Nassau they have to book two weeks in advance.” However, he also disclosed the “rebate” or fuel subsidy that the Ministry of Tourism is

CSX RAILROAD’S 1Q PROFIT JUMPS 15% ON HIGHER RATES

By JOSH FUNK AP Business Writer

CSX hauled in 15% more profit in the first quarter as the railroad’s higher rates and fuel surcharges offset its higher costs.

The Jacksonville, Floridabased railroad said Thursday that it earned $987 million, or 48 cents per share. That’s up from $859 million, or 39 cents per share, a year ago.

That topped Wall Street expectations of 43 cents per share, according to FactSet.

CEO Joe Hinrichs said the railroad’s service improved in the quarter as CSX cut down on the number of delays many shippers had complained about over the past year. But volume was down about 1%.

“Our network is running well,” he said. “We intend to do even better and show

that CSX can sustain reliable service over time.”

Safety has been a key focus for railroads ever since a fiery Norfolk Southern derailment in Ohio in February. Hinrichs emphasized that railroads are very safe compared to other forms of transportation, but he vowed CSX wouldn’t be complacent about safety.

“I think the data supports that railroads are by far the safest way to transport materials and goods over long distances,” Hinrichs said. CSX officials highlighted some of the steps the railroad is taking to improve safety, including installing 53 more trackside detectors to help find equipment problems before they cause a derailment. After that, CSX will have hot-bearing detectors 14.9 miles (24 kilometers) apart on average

across its network. CSX’s revenue grew 9% to $3.71 billion in the quarter, ahead of analysts’ expectations of $3.58 billion.

The railroad’s expenses were up about 5% to $2.24 billion as the cost of fuel and wages continued to grow, with CSX hiring more employees and starting paying its employees the raises it promised during last fall’s contract fight.

The railroad has nearly 1,700 more employees for a total of 22,634 now after hiring aggressively over the past year as part of its efforts to improve service.

Hinrichs said he’s proud of what CSX has done to address workers’ qualityof-life concerns this year by agreeing to provide paid sick time to more than 10,000 employees.

Integrity Commission and ombudsman. Tribune Business reached out to the World Justice Project for comment and, while contact was made, no reply was received before press time last night. However, its survey revealed that 49 percent of Bahamians believe “all” or “most” government officials are involved in corrupt practices.

Similarly low perceptions were held of Royal Bahamas Defence Force officers, with 46 percent of those interviewed believing they engage in graft, while 48 percent harboured similar suspicions about the media. A further 40 percent also perceived “all” or “most” defence attorneys as being involved with corrupt practices, while 42 percent held the same belief about Customs officers.

And, when it came to elections, some 13 percent of

providing to Delta Airlines to incentivise it to fly into North Eleuthera from its Atlanta hub.

This rebate is the equivalent of the difference between North Eleuthera’s fuel prices and those in Nassau, with the carrier receiving payment every quarter. “You might not know this, but we pay the difference for the fuel between the price of what is being offered in this island with the price of fuel being offered in Nassau. We incentivise for Delta to come to North Eleuthera,” Dr Romer revealed.

“This thing is too expensive to come. We offset the price of fuel in Nassau with what is being offered coming into Eleuthera. Tourism provides support to give them a rebate, give them back a rebate every quarter. We have to give a rebate to Delta alone just to continue bringing passengers into Eleuthera.”

Bahamian respondents said they were asked to vote a certain way in exchange “for a favour or some money/ goods”. A further 15 percent alleged household members had received similar incentives from political operatives. Both marks were slightly above the Caribbean average.

The acceptability of graft as a cultural norm in The Bahamas was also slightly higher than the regional average. For example, 16 percent of Bahamians interviewed said it was “always” or “usually” acceptable for public officials to be recruited based on family ties and friendships, while another 14 percent felt it was fine for civil servants to request bribes “to speed up administrative procedures”. And some 19 percent felt it was acceptable for Bahamians to offer such bribes.

Mr Fountain, giving a further insight into how The Bahamas subsidises airlift into the Family Islands, explained how the Bahamas Out Island Promotion Board had used levies from member hotels to finance a minimum revenue guarantee deal that enticed Delta to provide service to Exuma. Revealing that this had cost $6m-$7m over eight years, he added that the Promotion Board was currently unable to offer such inducements for airlift to Eleuthera because there insufficient members on the island to finance it. “If I don’t have any members I cannot pay for any minimum revenue guarantee. That’s the number one benefit: Getting more people here, and getting them here more efficiently and affordably.... “We cannot just solely rely on government. Everybody has got to have skin in the game, and skin in the game comes with ka-ching.”

Hinrichs has been working to repair relationships with CSX’s unions since he took over the railroad last fall, and he says he’s been encouraged by the conversations he’s had.

“Our union leaders want the same thing we want, which is a safe, well-run railroad that provides very competitive compensation and great long-term benefits to our employees. We do that by serving our customers better,” he said.

CSX locomotives sit at CSX North Framingham Yard, on Jan. 24, 2023, in Framingham, Mass. CSX reports earnings on Thursday, April 20, 2023.

Photo:Steven Senne/AP

Disney unveils hiring plans for Eleuthera

DISNEY Cruise Line is set to hire 170 full-time Bahamian staff from September 20223 onwards after “more than tripling” the projected number of initial employees.

Joseph Gaskins, the cruise line’s regional public affairs director for The Bahamas and Caribbean,

speaking on its Lighthouse Point project at the Eleuthera Business Outlook conference, said: “Our Heads of Agreement said that we would have 120 employees on the site at a ratio of 80 percent Bahamians to 20 percent foreign workers.

“Foreign workers are important because a lot of what we’re doing on the site, we could not find

the necessary skill sets in The Bahamas, typically on the marine side work. But here’s what we’ve been able to do. We’ve more than tripled the number of initially projected employees. We’re floating between 70 percent and 80 percent as it relates to the ratio of Bahamian workers. We continue to go out there and search for Bahamian workers to meet our needs.”

He added: “But we also talked about BTVI and the fact that we don’t have people who can do certain things on the site. We’re engaging in thousands of hours of training on that site, free training all our crew on that site. So, when they leave our site, and billions of dollars of investment comes to Eleuthera, they are leaving with the qualifications to take advantage of those projects.”

Leslie Lopez, Disney Cruise Line’s human resources manager for Bahamas recruitment, revealed the company is set to hire an additional 170 Bahamians between September 2023 and January 2024.

He said: “So, even though Lighthouse Point is a year away from opening, we’re set to hire at least 170 Bahamians in roles such as recreation, safety and security, island services, office operations and payroll, maintenance and human resources.

“So we plan to do this over the months between September and January. We want to have information sessions for the public to attend. Once January starts, we hope to bring on a small group of employees who

can start training and development for opening in June [2024].”

Mr Gaskins stated about 50 percent of the pier, where Disney’s cruise passengers will disembark, is complete. The cruise line is constructing an open trestle pier to avoid dredging.

“We have buildings in the ground. So, about 50 percent of the pier has been completed, but upland works on over 100 buildings and self-sustaining utility grids are on track to finish on schedule. So, we are moving forward,” he said.

“Oftentimes, when you hear cruise ports are coming, the first thing people say is dredging. They’re going to dredge. We are not dredging anything. We’ve decided on an open trestle pier for this site in order to prevent dredging. This also allows the fish in the water and the sand to move through the trestles, and the location of the pier has been based on scientific assessment of the ocean. Our Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) took more than two years to complete.” Mr Gaskins also stressed that Disney Cruise Line is ensuring they protect the biodiversity at Lighthouse Point and the

marine ecosystem. He said:

“We have not completely scraped Lighthouse Point either. We’ve not cleared that entire environment, and we have surgically kind of cleared these areas instead of going directly over the top in order to maintain the biodiversity of this site.

“We continue to monitor the marine terrestrial ecosystem. We’ve actually been facilitating additions to coral by planting new coral out there, moving that forward and ensuring that they’re remaining healthy. We have taken all the viable individual corals and expertly relocated them.”

“We’re engaging with the construction staff. We have regular meetings with them, ensuring that they’re following protocol. And we’re planning a really interesting interaction for both community and our guests on that site focused on conservation,” Mr Gaskins added.

“We report regularly to the Government of the Bahamas on our progress on this site. We’re very transparent with the Government. And so you can be assured that they’re keeping an eye on us to make sure that we’re doing the right thing, and so are Bahamian conservationists.”

LIGHTHOUSE POINT RENDERING

Carnival ‘spruce up’ for 50% passenger growth

FROM PAGE A20

their largest class of XL ships, thereby ending the hated “tendering” where passengers have to be barged or ferried to shore from vessels that anchor offshore.

He revealed that Carnival by next year plans to expand the number of passengers calling at its two existing private island Bahamian destinations - Half Moon Cay and Princess Cay - by 50 percent compared to pre-COVID figures, taking this number from one million in 2019 to 1.5m in 2024.

This figure will increase to three million once the cruise line’s Grand Port investment in Grand Bahama becomes operational, with Mr Fernandez describing the $200m project as taking Carnival’s involvement in The Bahamas “to another level”. He added that it will still bring two million passengers per annum to Nassau, Freeport and Bimini. Pointing out that 95 percent of Carnival’s existing 250 private island staff are Bahamian, Mr Fernandez said it will need another 100 workers for Half Moon Cay but admitted that the “talent pipeline” is tight. He also noted that there is a shortage of affordable Family Island housing for the cruise line’s staff.

Meanwhile, Daniel Zuleta, project director for Cotton Bay Holdings, said the developer plans to start construction on two roads - to be named Cotton Bay Road and Cocoplum Drivewithin the next three months after obtaining all the necessary approvals. Construction is forecast to take six months, but works on the main $200m development will “peak” in the 2024 second quarter with a finishing date for the Ritz-Carlton Reserve-branded project estimated at year-end 2025. Mr Zuleta said some $2m worth of work has already been awarded to local Bahamian contractors including Meadows Construction, Nu View Construction, Quick Fix Construction and SDC Construction.

The construction phase at Cotton Bay Holdings is projected to employ 300 workers with an annual wage bill of $8m, while

full-time staff will number 200 with a $10m annual wage bill. Cotton Bay Holdings is headed by Colombian billionaire, Dr Luis Carlos Sarmiento.

Mr Zuleta said previously that the Cotton Bay RitzCarlton Reserve will be one of only five such resorts globally. He added: “The Cotton Bay Ritz-Carlton Reserve will span approximately 220 acres of the 400-acre property currently owned by the developer. The remainder of the property is reserved for a future developmental phase, yet to be planned.

“Cotton Bay Ritz-Carlton Reserve is planned as an open-air luxury resort to feature 90 guest rooms and 60 Ritz-Carlton Reserve branded residences, designed to include a mixture of two to five-bedroom villas. In addition to firstclass luxury amenities and services, a signature 18-hole championship golf course, a luxurious spa, swimming pools and signature restaurants are planned for the island retreat.”

Meanwhile, Tribune Business previously revealed that the $80m expansion of Half Moon Cay will create 200 construction jobs, and an extra 80 full-time posts, through growing annual visitor arrivals by 48 percent compared to pre-COVID volumes.

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) conducted for Carnival Cruise Lines and its HAL (Holland America) Properties subsidiary, released ahead of public consultation on the project, revealed plans to bring close to 1m passengers per annum to Half Moon Cay by 2025.

The increase from 640,000 passengers in 2019, the last pre-COVID year, is billed as expanding full-time employment at Half Moon Cay by 55 percent to 225 posts. While some will have reservations about expanding a cruise line’s private island, amid suspicions that the industry - rather than The Bahamas and Bahamians - will maximise the economic benefits, the deal was agreed by the former Minnis administration.

The EIA, which refers to a September 28, 2019, Heads of Agreement with

the Government that has never before been publicly disclosed, says Carnival/ Holland plan to construct a pier capable of handling their largest 6,500 passenger ships, the XL or Excellence Class.

“Half Moon Cay is a destination formerly known as Little San Salvador,” the EIA, performed by Bahamian firm, Islands By Design, and Applied Technology and Management (ATM), said. “A Heads of Agreement was entered with the Government of The Bahamas to undertake an $80m development of the private island.

“The additional development will add a main open pile supported pier; an excursion dock which will be used by local vendors to sell their waterborne shore excursions; and new amenities to enhance the guest experience. The intent is to create more beach offerings, food and beverage options and additional recreational activities. The island currently offers luxury beachside cabanas, a nature trail, bird watching, and an opportunity to swim and pet tame stingrays.

Noting that Half Moon Cay is located midway between Bannerman Town, south Eleuthera, and Arthur’s Town, north Cat Island, the EIA said Eleuthera residents will likely be the main beneficiaries of the extra jobs created. “Half Moon Cay currently employees 145 line staff, mostly residents of the neighbouring island of Eleuthera,” it added.

“The expansion project expects to require approximately 200 hires during the construction phase, and increase in daily labour by approximately 80 employees post-construction to sustain the increased operations of the destination. Most of this labour will be supplied by Eleuthera. With the national unemployment rate at 9.5 percent, this level of increased permanent jobs is not expected to have an impact on the population density of the neighbouring islands, only reduce unemployment.”

‘FAR FROM THE TRUTH’: RBC NOT EXITING THE BAHAMAS

A SENIOR Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) executive yesterday denied that its reduced branch network is “a pathway to exit The Bahamas”, saying: “This is far from the truth.”

Liacarla Adderley, RBC (Bahamas) area vice-president for business banking, told the Eleuthera Business Outlook conference that the Canadian-owned institution has no plans to terminate its 115-year relationship with this nation but warned that the country has “a bit of catching up to do” in transitioning to digital banking.

She said: “It’s no secret that we’ve reduced our footprint in the local market over the last several years. And, understandably, many people interpret this as a pathway perhaps for us to exit The Bahamas. This is far from the truth. I want to assure you that The Bahamas has been, is and will continue to be, a market in which RBC invests heavily in as we’re committed to The Bahamas.

“This year, we celebrate a remarkable 115 years of service to The Bahamas and its people. We’re certainly

proud of the many contributions to the growth and success of this great nation. Our roots here go deep, and will remain firmly planted as we continue to provide comprehensive and innovative banking solutions to people and businesses nationwide.”

Ms Adderley said she plans to initiate internal discussions about RBC’s lack of physical presence on mainland Eleuthera upon returning to Nassau. The potential rethink has been sparked by the island’s investment pipeline, with projects such as Disney Cruise Line’s Lighthouse Point destination; the Cotton Bay Club’s $200m revival; and Jack’s Bay’s expansion set to move forward, and the anticipated impact on employment and economic activity.

RBC has previously consolidated its Eleuthera branch network, closing its Governor’s Harbour and Spanish Wells locations to leave it with just one site in Harbour Island. Acknowledging the difficulties this creates for RBC’s Eleuthera clients when it comes to depositing money, Ms Adderley said: “Over time, like any business, we had to reassess our operations, and

we had to make the difficult decision to consolidate both Spanish Wells as well as Governor’s Harbour to our Harbour Island branch.

“We remain committed and continue to explore various options on how we can improve our services to the residents of this unique set of islands. In terms of the map and the number of projects that are happening on mainland Eleuthera, it didn’t escape me that we’re not on mainland Eleuthera, and so that’s certainly one of the things that you have my commitment of going back and having a discussion about that, because I recognise that that’s important.

Ms Adderley, though, argued that The Bahamas’ banking future rests on embracing digital and electronic services via mobiles, the Internet and automated banking machines (ABMs).

“The banking industry is constantly evolving, not just globally, but also here in The Bahamas and, by extension, in Eleuthera,” she said.

“Our clients are increasingly turning to digital channels for the every day transactions, and leveraging our branch network for more complex financial

advice such as buying a home, purchasing a car, investing for retirement, investing in your businesses or even just saving for your children’s education. This is our vision of the future of banking in The Bahamas. The majority of the world is already there, and we actually do have a bit of catching up to do.”

Acknowledging that Bahamian commercial banks cannot ignore the Family Islands, Ms Adderley continued: “Given that our Family Islands for the most part are relatively small and less populated than New Providence, there are certainly unique challenges that come with providing banking services in the Family Islands.

“We’ve seen in the last few years that many of the commercial banks have withdrawn branches out of the Family Islands, and RBC is no exception. The reality here is that it is extremely expensive to operate a full-service brick and mortar branch in The Bahamas, and even more so on the Family Islands.” She added: “We have to look at other solutions of providing banking services. There are several reasons why digital banking may

be a better option than physically visiting a branch. Firstly, accessing your accounts through digital banking channels, such as mobile banking, and online banking, it can be a lot more convenient, especially if you live far or work far from the nearest branch.

“In the case of Eleuthera, the mainland is more than 100 miles long, and with some settlements only accessible by boat. We want our clients to spend less time waiting in lines at branches and more time doing the things that they love and, of course, the things that make them money.”

She added “Physical branches, although expensive, will always be an important part of our network. They complement our digital offerings and will be essential to our longterm success in the years to come. It’s equally important to maintain a physical presence on the islands as this will ensure that those without access to the latest technology, will still have access to some level of banking services.”

Ms Adderley said that, while cash will not be eliminated as a means of payment, it was in

everyone’s interests to reduce its usage. “Driving adoption will be key to creating sufficient critical mass for widespread use of a digital currency. The reality is that physical currency of cash is costly and carries significant costs, not only to financial institutions but also to businesses,” she added.

“While cash still plays a role, especially in the Family Islands, and cash will likely not be eliminated in the near future, we all still have a role to play in reducing our reliance on cash.”

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Over 90% say public corruption ‘frequent’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

RENEWED demands for greater government transparency were sparked yesterday by research showing over 90 percent of Bahamians believe nepotism, cronyism and corruption is “frequent” among politicians and public officials.

The World Justice Project, a non-profit group whose stated aim is to “advance the rule of law worldwide”, unveiled a report showing The Bahamas is among the Caribbean nations who have the least regard for the integrity of their political leaders and civil servants.

The Corruption in the Caribbean report, which focused on 14 nations including The Bahamas, found that 90 percent of Bahamians believe public officials “very frequently” or “frequently” influence the hiring of friends and family members in the

• Bahamians feel cronyism, nepotism rife

• But wide gulf between perception, reality

• ‘Transparency is the tool’ to restore trust

civil service. And 89 percent feel the same officials often influence the award of government contracts to friends and family members. Both marks represented Caribbean highs.

The findings, based on faceto-face interviews with 500 Bahamians by DMR Insights Ltd, revealed equally low perceptions of local politicians. Some 92 percent asserted that the country’s political leaders “very frequently”

or “frequently” ensure their family, friends and cronies advance “on the basis of patronage instead of merit”another regional high. And 91 percent believe politicians are often influencing the award of contracts to persons “close to themselves”.

Some 79 percent of Bahamians polled also feel politicians frequently accept “bribes or gifts” to influence public contracts and decisions, while 72 percent

‘Losing home court’: Air taxes exceed ticket cost

believe they often also use taxpayer funds “for personal or family needs”. The World Justice Project report was said to have been backed by the US Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs’ Office of Western Hemisphere. However, the results also showed there was a wide gulf between perceived and actual corruption in The Bahamas. For while more than nine out of every ten Bahamian respondents had high corruption perceptions, the number reporting that they had actually been solicited to pay a bribe to public officials within the past year was lower than the Caribbean regional average. And, while many voiced fears and concerns about corrupt practices, just 2-3 percent of the 500 Bahamians interviewed said they had

‘Banner-breaking’ 38% visitor rise in Eleuthera

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

ELEUTHERA has followed a “banner-breaking”

December for stopover visitors with a 38 percent year-over-year increase in such arrivals for 2023’s first two months, it was revealed yesterday.

Dr Kenneth Romer, the Ministry of Tourism,

Investments and Aviation’s deputy director-general, and also acting aviation director, told the Eleuthera Business Outlook conference that the island is poised to displace Nassau as “the market leader” when it comes to growth in air arrivals.

Hailing Eleuthera as having “the most potential” out of all Bahamian islands, he disclosed that the island’s stopover visitors for the two

months to end-February 2023 had risen by 38.3 percent or more than 4,200 compared to the same period in pre-pandemic 2019, growing to 16,652 from 11,318.

The early 2023 performance followed December 2022’s 51.1 percent jump over preCOVID numbers, with 9,561 stopover visitors compared to just 6,327 during the same month in 2019. The latter could have been impacted by

• Bahamas ‘failing to convert proximity to affordability’

• The Cove chief says situation ‘very short-sighted’

• Tourism giving Eleuthera fuel rebates to Delta

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A SENIOR tourism official yesterday said the Bahamas has failed to convert its US proximity into affordability with airline ticket taxes now exceeding the actual cost of a flight.

Kerry Fountain, the Bahamas Out Island Promotion Board’s executive director, questioned “what’s on the drawing board” to reduce the high access/ airlift costs into this nation as he revealed that ticket taxes for his recent flight to Nassau from Fort Lauderdale were 13.4 percent higher than the actual ticket cost.

Hurricane Dorian fall-out, given perceptions among some travellers that all The Bahamas had been impacted by the Category Five storm. With The Bahamas’ total 2022 visitor arrivals just 3 percent behind the record 7.3m set in 2019, Dr Romer told the Outlook conference: “The Bahamas is recovering faster than the world generally....

Eleuthera airport’s $65m price tag is ‘scaled back’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE Government’s aviation chief yesterday revealed that the $65m price tag for North Eleuthera’s new airport is being “scaled back” to ensure investors can achieve the desired return on their capital outlay.

Dr Kenneth Romer, also the Ministry of Tourism, Investments and Aviation’s deputy director-general, told the Eleuthera Business Outlook conference that the cost and extent of development “has to make sense” for potential bidders who will seek to win the public-private partnership (PPP) contract to build,

DR KENNETH ROMER

operate and maintain the facility under a long-term lease agreement with the Government.

He explained that the North Eleuthera airport’s new design is not a part of the process as the Government has sought to “jump

SEE PAGE A16

Carnival ‘spruce up’ for 50% passenger growth

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A SENIOR Carnival executive yesterday said the cruise giant plans to “spruce up” Princess Cay, adding that the Eleutherabased private island needs “quite a bit of love”.

Juan Fernandez, Carnival’s vice-president of operations strategy, told the Eleuthera Business Outlook conference that the destination had “been the way it is” for a a long time and needs to be enhanced with new experiences and attractions for its cruise passengers.

“I think Princess Cay needs quite a bit of love,” he added. “It’s been the way it is for quite some time. We’re working on a plan to spruce it up, making it more exciting for guests to come back to.” And the cruise giant is also investing heavily at Half Moon Cay, its other existing Bahamian private island, including the construction of a pier to eliminate what has been the greatest complaint from its guests.

Mr Fernandez said the pier will be “a game changer” that will allow Carnival and its various cruise line brands to dock

Taxes worth a combined $163.35 accounted for 53 percent of the total ticket price, and Mr Fountain told the Eleuthera Business Outlook conference: “I need to address this. I’ve heard it mentioned again yesterday on a sales call by some of the hotel partners, and that is the cost of getting to this island of Eleuthera. Some are paying $1,200 or whatever it is.

“The other day I was flying from Fort Lauderdale to Nassau. My ticket cost $144, but the taxes were $163.35. That’s more than the cost of the ticket. We always talk about, when we are writing a business plan for The Bahamas, about our proximity but what we have failed to do is translate or convert that proximity into affordability....

“The point of the matter is that because of the high cost of getting here the number one market for The Bahamas is Florida; Miami

KERRY FOUNTAIN