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PLP ‘should apologise’ for ‘No’ campaign

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net TO help salvage the June 7 referendum, leading PLP figures should apologise for encouraging Bahamians to vote “no� to the 2002’s constitutional referendum’s questions, former Chief Justice Sir Michael Barnett suggested yesterday.

Sir Michael was speaking to members of the Rotary Club of East Nassau where he provided his rationale for urging Bahamians to vote “yes� to the four proposed amendments to the Constitution.

He noted that he supported similar amendments when they were brought by the former Ingraham administration in 2002 and when they were urged by two Constitutional Com-

MAN PARALYSED AFTER BEING SHOT BY POLICE

missions since then. “To some in our society, gender equality may be an anathema,� he said. “To me, it is not. Others may wish to vote ‘no’ simply to express their dissatisfaction with the government. That would be unfortunate.�

Sir Michael acknowledged that some Bahamians may be confused by the government’s push to vote ‘yes’ to the amendments when the same figures pushed for a ‘no’ vote in 2002, arguing at the time that consultation was poor. “As one who supported and actively campaigned for these amendments as far back as 2002, I am not surprised by the human reaction to vote ‘no’ as a payback against the PLP government for the stance it took in 2002,� he said.

By KHRISNA VIRGIL Tribune Staff Reporter kvirgil@tribunemedia.net  AN internal investigation is underway within the Free National Movement over “disturbing� and “alarming� assertions reportedly made during a meeting between Senator Lanisha Rolle and FNM political hopeful Lincoln Bain.

The probe, which is being handled by party Chairman Sidney Collie, is said to be focused on a recent discussion between the two FNM members who spoke at length about their political futures and dissatisfaction with certain members of the party.

The Tribune understands that during the meeting in question, disparaging remarks were made about FNM member of Parliament Loretta Butler-Turner, in addition to criticism about the state of affairs of the party.

SEE PAGE SIX

MINNIS HITS OUT AT $47M LOSSES FROM ROAD TRAFFIC

By KHRISNA VIRGIL Tribune Staff Reporter kvirgil@tribunemedia.net  FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis has questioned the government’s lack of oversight and leadership at the Road Traffic Department in the aftermath of the auditor general’s scathing report over the department’s operations.

The report revealed millions of dollars in losses due to “collusion� and “fraud� among other things.

Dr Minnis criticised the Christie administration yesterday saying in its four years in office, a culture of “lawlessness� and “corruption� has crept into every level of government. This he said leaves the government with an unbelievable amount of “mismanagement, incompetence and ineptitude.�

SEE PAGE SIX

SEE PAGE THREE

MINISTRY AWAITS POLICE REPORT OVER ALLEGED SEX ASSAULT

By SANCHESKA BROWN Tribune Staff Reporter sbrown@tribunemedia.net  EDUCATION Minister Jerome Fitzgerald said the Ministry of Education is investigating the alleged sexual assault of a 19-yearold student by four male juveniles.

Speaking outside of Cabinet, Mr Fitzgerald said he “became aware of the inci-

FNM PROBE OVER CLAIMS

BY BAIN AND SENATOR ROLLE

dent� on Sunday and immediately contacted the police. “They informed me of the persons that they thought were involved, including the victim, and assured me that they were going to move swiftly to get to the bottom of it and if there was a need to bring people to justice they would,� Mr Fitzgerald said.

SEE PAGE FIVE

THORNE CLARKE, who is paralysed from the chest down after being shot by police.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

By SANCHESKA BROWN Tribune Staff Reporter sbrown@tribunemedia.net THORNE Clarke, 22, was left paralysed from the chest down after being shot in the back by police while driving on Wilson Tract three months ago.

The former accounting major at The College of The Bahamas said he still has no idea why officers pulled him

over or why they “felt the need to shoot him� when he “posed them no threat�.

In an interview with The Tribune in his Faith Avenue home, Mr Clarke said his medical bills are “piling up� and he needs to have surgery to remove the bullet that is still lodged in his spine - something he says the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) should fund.

In addition Mr Clarke

said he needs a hospital bed, a back brace, a wheelchair and a full-time caregiver since he is no longer able to take care of himself. He said the family plans on suing the RBPF for medical expenses, pain and suffering.

Mr Clarke was shot shortly after 10pm on Saturday, February 13, in the Wulff Road Area.

SEE PAGE FIVE

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

PINTARD: I WILL NOT BE INTIMIDATED

FORMER Free National Movement Chairman Michael Pintard last evening declared that he would not be intimated and forced into silence, asserting that the only way for the Bahamas to socially mature, would be through a systematic change of the current political model.

Speaking at his “This Change is Unstoppable� event, the veteran politician SEE PAGE SIX

PAGE 2, Wednesday, May 11, 2016

TROOPS salute their fallen colleagues from the HMBS Flamingo.

THE TRIBUNE

GOVERNOR General Dame Marguerite Pindling laying a wreath yesterday at the Royal Bahamas Defence Force Base in a special memorial ceremony for the four Marines killed 36 years ago on the sinking HMBS Flamingo.

Photos: Tim Clarke/Tribune Staff

REMEMBERING THE CREW OF THE

HMBS FLAMINGO

FAMILY members and friends of the four Bahamian Marines killed in action 36 years ago during the sinking of HMBS Flamingo joined officers and marines of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force at a brief ceremony at the Coral Harbour Base for a special Morning Colours ceremony yesterday.

During the ceremony, attended by Minister of National Security Dr Bernard Nottage and the Governor General, Dame Marguerite Pindling, the family of the fallen Marines and the surviving crewmembers were escorted to HMBS Flamingo Memorial Monument, built in 2009, for the laying of

wreaths. The Defence Force ensign was flown at half-mast throughout the day.

On May 10, 1980, after arresting two Cuban fishing vessels near the Ragged Island chain, Able Seaman Fenrick Sturrup, 21, Marine Seaman Austin Rudolph Smith, 21, Marine Seaman David Allison Tucker, 21, and Marine Seaman Edward Arnold Williams, 23, were killed when Cuban jets fired on and sank HMBS Flamingo. Observers recognise the tragic event as not only a defining moment in the history of the embryonic Defence Force, but also for the relatively newly independent Bahamas.

The Foreign Ministers of the CARICOM region in their annual meeting in Kingstown, St Vincent and the Grenadines, marked the anniversary, with Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell recalling the day and thanking the government of Jamaica for the role it played in settling the matter with Cuba. Mr Mitchell said the incident, which saw the tragic loss of life of four young marines in a force only six weeks old, showed the necessity for diplomacy and the work of foreign ministries and recalled Cuba President Raul Castro’s apology for the incident.

RBDF Acting Commander Tellis Bethel escorts Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling.

SURVIVING members of the HMBS Flamingo (from left) Lieutenant Commander Amos Rolle, Sub Lieutenant Anthony Allen, Marine Seaman Whitfield Neely, Leading Mechanic Gregory Curry and Marine Mechanic Eugene Thompson.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, May 11, 2016, PAGE 3

Referendum opponent withdraws call for debate

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net THE group Think, Bahamas! has withdrawn its invitation to the YES Bahamas campaign for a public debate on the four Constitutional Amendment Bills in protest over the government’s “abuse” of public funds to finance a “yes” vote and refusal to equally fund opposing campaigns.

Pastor Cedric Moss, the group’s spokesperson, in an open letter addressed to

YES Bahamas’ Co-chairs Senate President Lady Sharon Wilson and former Senate President Lynn Holowesko, criticised members of YES Bahamas, the government and the mainstream media for their inability to “fairly manage” the interest of the Bahamian people.

“We are disappointed at this lack of courtesy shown to us,” wrote Pastor Moss.

He indicated that Think, Bahamas! viewed the public debate as its “only hope” to be heard nationally.

Pastor Moss stated that

when he penned his original letter to YES Bahamas, he did so under the perception that a publicly broadcast discussion would give a venue to present all the information “conveniently” being omitted by YES Bahamas and the Constitutional Commission’s public education arm to be heard.

“Unlike YES Bahamas, we don’t have the Public Treasury bankrolling us, nor do we have the media supporting us to get a fair hearing,” he wrote.

He said he grew wearier

after hearing YES Bahamas representative Heather Hunt on a talk show, reportedly speaking about how the group’s funds were being used.

He suggested that Mrs Hunt, as a member of the Free National Movement, should be supporting a “fair” referendum, referring to how former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham handled the 2002 constitutional referendum.

Pastor Moss said his group has concluded that participating in a debate

cate our duty as citizens to responsibly participate in these decisions.”

Sir Michael said he is afraid that if Bahamians do not support the amendments next month, “it is not likely that they will be made for a long time”.

“These inequalities will remain as part of the laws of the Bahamas. This, I suggest, would be a travesty.”

While in opposition, PLP parliamentarians supported the bills for the first constitutional referendum on the floor of the House of Assembly, but later urged the electorate to vote against all six questions on the ballot.

Several of the questions on the 2002 ballot sought to end discrimination against women. In July 2012, Prime Minister Perry Christie defended the PLP’s position against the failed vote, which was held in February 2002.

He said the party changed its position on that referendum after several religious leaders said they had not been consulted by the Ingraham administration.

“I think the PLP’s opposition to the referendum was that you should never do something against the will of the people, and the FNM was actually acting against the will of the people,” Mr Christie said in 2012.

“It was not a question of

a judgment as to the substance of it; it was a judgment of the process. We attacked the process and we were successful in attacking the process.

“Now the by-product of it was that you say it wasn’t passed. Yes, it wasn’t passed, but we were never motivated against any issue on the referendum. We were motivated against the fact that it was being imposed on the Bahamian people against their will,” Mr Christie added.

Bill one would give Bahamian women who are married to foreign men the right to pass on their Bahamian citizenship to any child of that union no matter where that child is born.

The Constitution currently says that only Bahamian male citizens by birth have that right.

Bill two would allow a Bahamian woman married to a foreign man the right to secure for her husband the same access to Bahamian citizenship as a Bahamian male has in relation to his foreign wife.

Bill three would grant any unmarried Bahamian man the right to pass on his Bahamian citizenship to any child he fathers with a foreign woman with proof of paternity.

Bill four addresses discrimination based on sex, which has been defined as being male or female.

FORMER Attorney General Sir Michael Barnett addresses Rotary Club East Nassau yesterday at Lucianos of Chicago on the four gender referendum bills.

BARNETT: SAY SORRY FOR 2002

from page one

“I also understand the reluctance of those who voted ‘no’ in 2002 to now vote ‘yes.’ They are now being asked to vote ‘yes’ to proposals they were advised to vote ‘no’ to a few years ago.”

Referring to a quote from PLP Fox Hill MP Fred Mitchell in 2002, Sir Michael said: “The public record will reflect that some in the PLP leadership advised the public in 2002 to vote ‘no’ because: ‘Mr (Hubert) Ingraham does not need to amend the Constitution to…give rights to the children of Bahamian married women who are born overseas.’

Bill number one does exactly what they were told in 2002 was not necessary to do.”

“It may well be that some contrite admission that it was a mistake to advise the electorate to vote ‘no’ 14 years ago would go a long way to persuading a reluctant electorate to vote ‘yes’ in June,” Sir Michael continued.

“Decisions on matters of public policy should not be made out of prejudice, anger, bitterness, revenge or spite.

“They must be made responsibly having regard to the best interest of our country and in particular the generations who succeed us. We cannot abdi-

with YES Bahamas would give the appearance that it endorses the government’s abuse of public funds.

The group earlier this month issued an invitation to the YES Bahamas campaign.

Pastor Moss in an earlier letter to the co-chairs, suggested that it would be beneficial for voters across the Bahamas to hear simultaneously from the YES Bahamas campaign as well as those on the vote “no” side.

Subsequently, Mrs Holowesko said she and other

members of the campaign were “fully interested in, prepared for and capable of” a public debate on the gender equality referendum.

She said the YES Bahamas campaign, as a part of its educational operation, would welcome an open debate.

On Monday, however, Pastor Moss indicated that he had never received a formal response from the YES Bahamas campaign.

Think Bahamas! is opposing three of four Constitutional Amendment Bills.

MITCHELL DISMISSES QUESTIONS OVER PREVIOUS REFERENDUM COMMENTS

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

FOREIGN Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell yesterday brushed off questions about his turnaround in position on the need for a constitutional amendment to remove discrimination based on sex.

In his arguments against the 2002 referendum, Mr Mitchell suggested that a referendum on gender equality was unnecessary because Article 15 of the Constitution already prohibited discrimination based on sex.

Excerpts of a speech Mr Mitchell - then in opposition - gave at the Fox Hill Parade on February 13, 2002 made its rounds on social media yesterday; however, when contacted for comment the Fox Hill MP said he had already spoken extensively on the matter.

“We are being deceived

by the assertion by the government and Mr (Hubert) Ingraham that this referendum will settle issues of gender equality,” Mr Mitchell said in his 2002 Fox Hill speech.

“But the fact is that if you read Article 15 of the Constitution, it is clear that the fundamental rights provisions apply to all, regardless of sex or gender.

“If that is the case, and we know that it is, one must ask: Why is the prime minister dragging us through the expense of this general election?”

Yesterday, Mr Mitchell dismissed questions about his change of mind, saying, “With the greatest of respect, I don’t respond to foolishness.”

“Those who are circulating that old speech need to go get a life and while doing so vote ‘yes’ to the four questions as I shall be doing. I am doing door-to-door every day and telling my constitu-

ents to vote yes to all four questions.

“The asinine trolls on social media can take the hindmost. I put it politely because I am a public official. If I were on the park I would really tell them what they should do. You wouldn’t be able to print it.”

In a statement released later, Mr Mitchell said the old speech was being circulated by Free National Movement and Democratic National Alliance supporters.

The Progressive Liberal Party, then in opposition, campaigned heavily against 2002 referendum that dealt with gender equality among other issues.

In February 2002, after voting for the constitutional amendments in the House of Assembly, PLP Leader Perry Christie later withdrew his support for amendments to the Constitution and said if the referendum wasn’t cancelled

or postponed he would be forced to vote “no.”

At the time, Mr Christie said that since the passage of the constitutional bills, it had become “painfully” apparent from private and public comments that the entire process was even more flawed and divisive than he could have fully appreciated at the time the bills were voted on.

He said he changed his mind on the referendum because the Ingraham administration did not consult with religious leaders before forging ahead.

The referendum ultimately failed. The PLP was voted into office after the May 2002 general election.

In 2012, Prime Minister Perry Christie defended his first administration’s decision to block the 2002 referendum although his government planned to bring the issue forward for a public vote this term.

He said his party disagreed with the process sur-

rounding the 2002 vote, not the substantive issues.

Mr Christie added that his government’s decision to hold the referendum this term was not motivated solely by Bahamian public opinion, but growing international concerns of the country’s policies.

Several vote no campaigns have also pointed to Article 15 in their arguments against the fourth constitutional amendment, which seeks to remove discrimination based on sex.

Former Court of Ap-

peal President Dame Joan Sawyer also pointed to the provision when she told The Nassau Guardian that she thought the upcoming referendum was a “waste of time” and that she would vote against it if she casts a ballot.

The Tribune Limited

PAGE 4, Wednesday, May 11, 2016

THE TRIBUNE

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British exit risk casts shadow over EU’s economic hopes LONDON (AP) — Half a century ago, French President Charles de Gaulle twice vetoed Britain from joining what was then the European Economic Community, warning that the country’s “fundamental hostility” to economic integration could sabotage the bloc.

In half a dozen weeks, the British could be fulfilling that prediction when they vote on whether to leave the European Union, a move that would be the biggest reverse in the bloc’s near 60-year existence and a threat to its economy.

A vote for a British exit from the EU — so-called Brexit — on June 23 would likely trigger turmoil in financial markets and uncertainty for businesses, jolting the region’s economy.

The real damage may take longer to emerge. The fear in continental Europe is that the UK’s departure could prompt other countries to seek changes to their EU membership. In a worst-case scenario, it could usher in a new era of nationalism that diminishes the drive to strengthen economic ties and undermines the EU’s core purposes: the freedom to trade and move between countries.

“It could be another torpedo in the ship of the EU,” said Jan Bryson, global economist at Wells Fargo Bank. “Brexit could set a precedent and it could raise questions about the future of the EU itself.”

As far ago as 1963, de Gaulle warned the other five founding members of the bloc that Britain’s culture was too different to be interested in long-term integration. He had first-hand knowledge of Britain, having spent most of World War II in London organising the French resistance.

“Non,” he said in 1963, and again four years later, to Britain’s attempt to join.

The country eventually joined in 1973, after de Gaulle resigned in 1969.

The immediate aftermath of a British vote to leave the EU — which bookies give a 30 per cent chance, against 70 per cent for the “in” vote to win — would likely see huge volatility in financial markets.

Many forecasters predict the British pound would fall as much as 20 per cent in the following days. Worries over the vote have already seen the pound drop this year to a seven-year low against the dollar. Though a weaker pound may help Britain’s exporters, it would hurt European firms exporting to Britain.

The instability would discourage businesses from investing or hiring. Surveys of companies have already shown some executives, mainly in Britain but also the eurozone, becoming more cautious in the run-up to the vote.

The uncertainty could last a while. It would take at least two years for Britain to leave the EU. Renegotiating its commercial relationship with the bloc will likely take many years more.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates that a Brexit vote will shave around 1 percentage point off the EU economy by 2020.

That’s a lot for an economy that’s barely grown over the last few years and in 2015 expanded by only 1.9 per cent.

The International Monetary Fund considers Brexit to be one of the main risks facing not just Europe, but the global economy, as it would disrupt trade.

Britain exported around £223bn ($325bn) worth of goods and services to the other 27 EU countries last year, and imported around £291bn. British exports to the EU account for about 45 per cent of the total, while imports are a little bit more than 50 per cent.

There are certain economies within the EU that would be hurt more than others.

Neighbouring Ireland, above all, but also Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany have strong commercial ties with Britain.

The longer-term damage, which is hard to quantify, could come from the disruption that a British departure causes to Europe’s integration drive.

For years, EU states have sought to get closer. They created the single market, which effectively abolished borders between member states, and created the euro currency, now used by 19 EU countries. But the global financial crisis of 2008 — which morphed into a debt crisis for the eurozone — and the EU’s trouble handling the migrants’ crisis have emboldened a wave of populist political forces across Europe.

In eastern Europe, countries like Hungary and Poland have become more sceptical of the EU. In France, the hard-right Front National has gained ground while in Germany, the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) is more popular than ever.

There’s concern that a vote for Brexit could generate more support for such parties, many of which want to leave the EU outright. Already, the migrants’ crisis has prompted a watering-down of the Schengen Agreement, which has allowed more than 400 million Europeans to travel hassle-free between 26 European countries — though not Britain — for business or travel.

Any political fallout from a Brexit could really start playing out in 2017, when there are elections in France and Germany, among other countries.

Colin Ellis, a managing director at ratings agency Moody’s, said a Brexit could “fan the flames of political disquiet elsewhere”.

Ellis thinks the EU would lose momentum in other ways as Britain is one of the most dynamic and open economies in Europe and its continued membership would help promote policies that would improve the bloc’s economy, such as reforming labour markets.

In the EU’s favour, Ellis said, some business activity could potentially relocate from Britain to Ireland or other EU countries. Financial services firms in particular could be interested in doing so, as they would need to have operations in an EU country to get the “passport” that allows them to work in any of the bloc’s countries. Ellis warned, however, that any such gains would be “small and gradual.”

Some say, that given the size of the commercial relationship, the EU would likely try to secure a trade deal with Britain swiftly. Others think the EU would look to punish Britain — whatever the economic cost — to discourage other states from going down the same route.

“In short, the only certain outcome of Brexit for the EU-27 would be uncertainty,” said Wells Fargo’s Bryson.

By Pan Pylas of the Associated Press

Stuck in the past EDITOR, The Tribune.

Re: Bishop Hanchell

Walter

GALILEO, who lived between 1564-1642, was a scientist/philosopher/astronomer and all round genius.

In case any of your readers are in any doubt, geniuses are rare and improve immeasurably the lives of the peoples on the whole planet.

As a scientist, one of Galileo’s theories (which was eventually proven) was the Earth revolves around the Sun and not vice versa. One would think nothing too revolutionary or heretical about that.

However, at the time in

Rome, the Catholic Church was omnipotent and corrupt. This theory was considered heretical. The Roman Inquisition of 1615 found Galileo guilty of heresy. He recanted his theory under threat of death.

He spent the last 27 years of his life under house arrest for and I quote ”being vehemently suspect of heresy”.

I would like to bet that the people who led the Inquisition were of exactly the same mindset as Bishop Hanchell.

Conservative and reluctant for any changes regardless of the intention whether good or bad. Hanchell says he is against the upcoming referendum citing huge influx of foreign men marrying Bahamian women,

taking jobs, etc. It’s called politics by fear. Donald Trump is a master of this.

Women of The Bahamas this is an outrageous smokescreen and lie. The referendum is quite simple.

Women in The Bahamas do not have the same rights as men. You are second class citizens.

End of story, no debate.

If you want to change this absurd scenario vote “yes” and join the civilised world if you do not want to be treated the same as men vote “no” and remain entrenched in the dark ages.

THE REALIST Nassau, April 15, 2016.

Why I will vote yes this time EDITOR, The Tribune.

LET me declare early on that I have a horse in this gender equality race.

In 2002, I was one of those people who voted against the referendum.

What a mistake that was. I had no idea that four short years later, I would be married to an American man.

I was shortsighted. I was frustrated and wanted to punish. What a fool I was.

My actions, remain to this day, one of my biggest regrets. I have now been given a second chance to make things right.

I must say that even though I voted against the referendum in 2002, I was always respectful of the other side and felt deep down that I could have still been persuaded to vote ‘yes.’ I was reasonable.

I have found, however, that there really is no reasoning with the unreasonable. Over the past few months, I have listened to the irresponsible, arrogant, misguided, bigoted and just plain dumb responses from my Bahamian people. I am completely embarrassed.

You certainly have a right to vote ‘no.’ You have a right to abstain from voting, if you so wish. I respect that right. You also have a right to your opinion. But, your opinion must be based on facts and, if you want to be taken seriously, it must be rational.

Listen to the reasons many people say they are voting ‘no.’ They just don’t make any sense. I would bet the bank that many of them haven’t even read the bills.

Last week, I let a colleague of mine read the bills – particularly bill number 4 – and he couldn’t believe how straightforward it was. He thought the bill included some line about gay marriage, which it clearly did not.

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net I have also heard many people threatening to vote ‘no’ because they are angry over Prime Minister Perry Christie’s handling of the gambling referendum.

Well, if you are dissatisfied with Mr Christie’s handling of that event, then there is appropriate recourse – feel free to avail yourself to the options in 2017 when you head to the polls. That is the appropriate response.

But, to enter a ‘no’ vote that would allow the disenfranchisement of hundreds of thousands of Bahamians to continue, is selfish and just plain wrong.

I am a big proponent of personal responsibility. I preach it every day. Each of us has a responsibility to seek to educate ourselves as much as possible on any topic, particularly when we’re talking about amending a sacred document.

There really is no excuse for anyone to say they have not seen the four constitutional bills that will be put to vote in June.

The newspapers have done an excellent job of printing them in nearly all of their stories every day.

The internet is at our disposal. There have been symposiums, commercials and ads every single day.

The problem isn’t that the information isn’t there. The problem is that our people are too lazy to access it.

That is their own fault. No one else’s.

The problem also goes a little deeper. For so many people, the constitution is a document shrouded in mystery. Very few people have ever even seen it and they don’t understand its contents. A decade ago, I got my own copy after a former media boss chided me for

not having one. He questioned how any journalist could be taken seriously if he/she hadn’t even seen the constitution. He was right.

So, I got my own and read it. The problem we’re encountering now, is that we are trying to educate an uneducated citizenry about certain provisions and it is proving quite difficult. We all should have been learning about the constitution in high school or even earlier.

What disappoints me most is that I have encountered insecure men who think they have every right to say who a Bahamian woman should marry – and it’s not a foreigner.

Some insecure women have also told me personally that they don’t, and I quote, “want these foreign women taking my man”.

What planet are they from? Do these folks actually think that their decision to vote “no” is going to prevent Bahamian men and women from loving, dating or being with a foreigner?

It won’t. By the way, not a single one of us is a “real” Bahamian. The purported indigenous people of The Bahamas, the Arawak Indians, died out hundreds of years ago. We’re all mixed up foreigners. So, unless you can show proof of your direct-line ancestry to the Arawakan people, please discontinue that argument.

None of us knows what the future holds. I certainly didn’t in 2002. I know that I won’t change the cemented minds of those who are determined to see this referendum fail.

But, for those of you, who like me in 2002, could have been swayed, I urge you to do the right thing and vote “yes” to all four bills.

ROGAN SMITH Nassau, May 10, 2016.

A new day awaits after referendum EDITOR, The Tribune.

JUNE 8th, maybe a new day for the following organisations around our Bahamas.

(1) Bahamas Girl Guides (2) Bahamas Boys Scouts (3) Sorties where women are the sole members, example Links.

(4) Anglican Women’s

Auxiliary (5) Anglican men (6) Knights of Columbus (7) Catholic Women (8) Sorties which are exclusively for male members (9) Any Civic Club which is gender segregated.

(10) PLP Women’s Association (11) FNM Women’s Association

(12) Any male or woman’s exclusive choir.

Just wonder if the Catholic Bishop realises now his church cannot refuse a female candidate for the priesthood?

One topsy-turvy Bahamas!

Just laugh’n at wee self!

K MINNS Nassau, May 7, 2016.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, May 11, 2016, PAGE 5

Man paralysed after being shot by police

from page one

According to a police report released the next day, officers said they saw a suspicious looking man get into a Nissan vehicle and attempt to drive off.

“Officers surrounded the vehicle and ordered the driver out. The driver refused and attempted to ‘knock down’ one of the officers. The officer in fear of his life, shot the suspect.

The suspect was then taken to the hospital under heavy police guard,” the RBPF press release said.

However, Mr Clarke said he never got out of his vehicle and never tried to hit anyone with his car. He said he was driving through a corner when officers stopped him.

“They were dressed in the blue uniform,” he recalled.

“They told me to stop and I did and they asked me to come out of the vehicle. I asked them why and told them to give me a reason.

They just kept shouting at me telling me to get out. I asked them again, why I needed to get out when I did nothing wrong and they refused to answer me.”

“They didn’t answer so I began to pull off. I didn’t even get ten feet when they shot at the car. They hit me in the back and my legs immediately went stiff. I couldn’t take my foot off the gas pedal so I crashed into Windsor Park wall. “Officers then came and dragged me out of the car, threw me on floor and handcuffed me.

They were kicking and one of the officers had his foot on my face. I was screaming because I was in pain,” He claimed that the officer told him that he “might as well make peace with the Lord and die.”

“I had on a tam and they took it off and looked at me,” he said. He claimed that the officer then remarked. “This isn’t even the n***a we was looking for.” After that they got on the phone and called their bosses, they didn’t even call the ambulance until 15 minutes later when their superior got there,” he claimed.

Mr Clarke said officers stayed with him in the hospital for four days “until they caught the guy they thought I was or was associated with, then they left.”

Karen Clarke, Mr Clarke’s mother, said her son was in the hospital for four weeks and no one from the RBPF came to speak to her or her son until two days before he was released.

Even then, Ms Clarke said they still did not explain to her what happened.

She also criticised the staff at the hospital, who she claimed neglected her son because “they thought he was a criminal” causing him to develop “huge, deep bed sores.”

“We wanted to fly him out when he got shot, but we were told we couldn’t do that because he was under police guard, we couldn’t even move him to Doctors Hospital because the head nurses said he was under arrest,” Ms Clarke said.

“The nurses there were not paying him any attention. When he was finally released his bedsores were terrible. They were like old people bedsores, he was there for a month and one of the bedsores was so bad my fist could fit in it.

“After the police left, the nurses started to treat him different. When they released (him), he was not a criminal but at that point he was already bad. When I brought him home and I changed him and then I saw the bedsores, it broke me

down. I didn’t break down when they told me he got shot and was paralysed but that bedsore did it for me.

I couldn’t stop crying. To see how they neglected him that hurt me. They just had him lying there in filth with no attention.”

Ms Clarke also said doctors in the United States said if her son had received the proper medical attention right away, he might have been able to walk. She also said they don’t understand why the bullet was never removed.

‘

They told me to stop and I did and they asked me to come out of the vehicle. I asked them why and told them to give me a reason. They just kept shouting at me telling me to get out. I asked them again, why I needed to get out when I did nothing wrong and they refused to answer me.

They didn’t answer so I began to pull off. I didn’t even get ten feet when they shot at the car.’

Mr Clarke is scheduled to travel to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Florida in June to remove the bullet and begin physical therapy but the family is unable to pay the medical expenses.

They are hoping to have a

MINISTRY AWAITS POLICE REPORT OVER ALLEGED SEX ASSAULT

from page one

“They have been keeping me informed throughout. We expect we will hear something from it.

“It’s very troubling indeed. It’s very troubling for anyone to be exposed to that. Those kinds of things are happening and it appears that young people in our country think they can post everything on social media and it’s unfortunate.

Technology is good if it is used for good, but unfortunately in times like this

people use it to depict the most harrowing of circumstances. We will get to the bottom of it. The police are investigating and persons are assisting them and I’m sure we will hear the outcome of that shortly.”

When asked if the students will be expelled or suspended, Mr Fitzgerald said the Ministry of Education “will work with the police to see the nature of the charges and get a better understanding of the facts.”

Assistant Commissioner of Police Stephen Dean confirmed on Monday that

four boys and a girl are in police custody in connection with the alleged sexual assault.

ACP Dean said a “full scale” investigation was launched after a video of the alleged assault was posted on social media on Sunday.

He said a formal complaint was made on Monday.

The video, which shows two young men and the alleged victim, engaged in a sexual act was shared more than 300 times on Facebook.

Anyone with information

MOTHER LEFT HOMELESS IN FLORIDA SPEAKS OUT OVER CRITICISM

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIAN mother Ebony Edgecombe, who with her three children, were temporarily homeless in Florida, yesterday defended her integrity against criticism of her role in the family’s predicament.

“I’m a good mother,” she said. “I’m a great mother. I didn’t do anything wrong.

All my life I’ve helped people, and that is why I’ve been blessed.”

The story of Ms Edgecombe and her three boys, the youngest aged 17 months, went viral over the weekend after Florida news outlets reported that a police officer found them sleeping on a public bus bench in North Miami and helped them secure lodging.

The family had travelled from Nassau to Florida because Ms Edgecombe’s baby Joshua is scheduled to have surgery at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital on May 16. Although the group arrived in Florida back in December, their situation became dire after the mother

lost more than $3,000 in savings meant to support them until the procedure.

In two days, a GoFundMe account set up by Sergeant Eduardo Perez on May 6 had raised $11,079 from 228 donations. Up to press time, the page had raised $12,244 of its $15,000 target. Sergeant Perez is the supervisor of Ryan Michel, the North Miami police officer who used his personal finances to assist the displaced family after he found them shortly after midnight on May 3.

Ms Edgecombe, 37, told The Tribune yesterday that she was sickened by the negative backlash directed at the family on the social media site Facebook, where someone posted photos of her that were taken from her account.

She felt the misappropriated photos were a violation, and questioned how her fellow citizens could be so heartless.

“I wasn’t begging,” she said, “I didn’t come over here (Florida) begging.

They are making it seem like it’s so outrageous. I was waiting for money to be sent to me to keep renting

the room, the money didn’t come through in time. So we waited by the bench that was near to the motel, and that’s when the officer came.

“It happened for a reason.

All of the negative people, I don’t care what they say.”

Ms Edgecombe’s youngest son suffers from hypospadias, a genital birth defect that affects the position of the opening of the urethra.

Dr Sy Pierre, president of the Medical Association of the Bahamas, questioned whether Ms Edgecombe had explored local treatment options.

Dr Pierre noted that the country boasted two urologists that were more than capable to perform the surgery needed to repair the defect.

He added that the surgery is performed free of charge at the Princess Margaret Hospital for persons who cannot afford it.

Ms Edgecombe said she briefly considered PMH as an option, but ultimately decided to seek treatment in the United States because Joshua was an American citizen.

MURDER VICTIM FOUND IN SUITCASE IDENTIFIED

THE man whose body was found stuffed inside a suitcase in an abandoned building has been identified as Michael Lester Roker.

Roker, 23, of Churchill Drive, was found by police off Soldier Road early

Monday morning.

Officer-in-Charge of the Central Detective Unit Chief Superintendent Clayton Fernander said officers received an anonymous tip shortly after 10am Monday that led them to the scene.

Police said the victim’s body had injuries, but did not say if the victim was stabbed or shot. This latest homicide brought the country’s murder count to 47 for the year, according to The Tribune’s records.

is asked to contact police at 911 or 919, the Central Detective Unit at 502-9991

or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 328-TIPS. Investigations continue.

cook out to raise funds on Labour Day. When contacted by The Tribune, Assistant Commissioner of Police Stephen Dean said police are “sticking to their original statement” on the matter.

PAGE 6, Wednesday, May 11, 2016

THE TRIBUNE

Pintard: I will not be intimidated

from page one

criticised both the PLP, and to a lesser degree, the FNM for what he described as the “disgraceful” concept of governance perpetuated by successive régimes.

The former Senator contended that the masses are suffering while the political elite are left to flourish at their expense.

Mr Pintard further implied that the “concepts” being fabricated by those that wish he would step away from front-line politics, have only been used to “cover up” the supposed sinister wrongdoings by members of the Christie administration.

“At Tuskegee Institute in Alabama as student government President I agitated for better conditions for students and occupied the Administration building to underscore our demands.

While in Canada at McGill where I should have been studying, I organized protests that shut down downtown as we stood in solidarity with the Mohawks and with other groups disenfranchised by the municipal and provincial government.

I was not scared then, even when in a foreign country and I sure as hell ain’t scared in my own country,”

he claimed.

In March, Mr Pintard resigned as chairman of the FNM and as a senator over his involvement in the court action against Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard.

Mr Pintard has maintained that his resignation was important to allow the public to focus on the issues and not an FNM official, and served to rob the PLP of having the ability to use him as a distraction.

“No amount of stories, lies and false accusations about sedition, treason, money laundering and encouraging false testimonies can scare me and other activists. Nor can these outlandish falsehood stand the test of any serious evaluation,” he said.

“Those who assert it or suggest it do so to remove attention from this government being embarrassed by the appearance that they are largely influenced by powerful financial contributors. No falsified affidavits or cut up voice recording can change who I am as a person who has operated honourably in my public life.”

“No action I took in investigating hate rallies or other inappropriate acts

by Bahamians and foreigners was illegal or unethi-

THE AUDIENCE at former FNM chairman Michael Pintard’s rally at Workers House last night.

cal. And every information hurled at me to make the PLP’s case they had for over a year and knew then as they knew now that I did nothing wrong,” he added.

He accused the PLP of playing the “nationalist” card by asserting that Bahamians were in concert with foreigners and attempting to topple the party.

“They use ‘topple’ because it paints a picture of force when the truth is Bahamians are working everyday with each other to end their time in office,” he said.

“Against the backdrop of the revelations about the millions of dollars funnelled into the PLP by at least one expat contributor they should be the last to falsely accuse others about foreigners in collusion with Bahamians to influence elections.

“Permit me to define what may qualify as a conspiracy. A gasoline leak that is eventually brought to the attention of the government and the government, despite the recommendation of the report they commissioned to inform residents, then makes the decision not to tell the residents or the public about the potential dangers; for a full year Ministers maintained a code of silence; a wall of silence.

“Imagine a member of Parliament visiting your home and sitting with you and your family and talking about your future travelling possibly with his bottle of water and watches you as you drink your water, from your contaminated well; and never bothers to tell you that you may be at risk.”

Revelling in the applause of the dozens who attended Worker’s House Hall, Mr Pintard noted further that while his words might be scathing to many, he was

FORMER FNM Chairman Michael Pintard speaking at his rally on national issues last night.

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff not endeavouring to launch fines of other parties. He ently have is intimidating urged the leadership of the Bahamians with ideas, esany political bids.

“There are some things FNM to reach out to these pecially ideas that may difI wish to say that reflects political groups in an effort fer from those of governmy heart and my thoughts. to collaborate on ways to fix ment. Fortunately, those After all I came to politics, the Bahamas. that misuse power and “There are so many is- squander opportunities are to public life comfortable in my own skin and with a vi- sues that are bigger than any not guaranteed longevity in sion for what I thought The political organisation. Re- the positions they hold,” he Bahamas could become duction of Crime, provision continued. and what role I might play of quality and affordable Mr Pintard offered a in helping to shape The Ba- health-care, poverty allevia- scripture, Exodus chapter tion, introducing a new eco- 14, verses 13 and 14. hamas.”

“There has been no po- nomic model and reducing “And Moses said unto sition that I have been ap- the high unemployment rate the people fear ye not stand pointed to or elected to that are examples of macro is- still, and see the salvation defined me. More impor- sues that no political organi- of the Lord; which he will tantly no loss of elected or sation alone has the blue- shew to you today: for the appointed position reduces print to solve and requires Egyptians whom ye have working across the political seen today, ye shall see who I am at my core.”

The “proud FNM” urged boundaries to solve. them again no more.”

“It cannot be business as his fellow members to rally “The Lord shall fight for together within the party, usual. Our nation is crying you, and ye shall hold your with members of all other out for change and there are peace,” claiming in an efopposition factions and in- some who are committed to fort to foreshadow the politdependent political group- maintaining the status quo ical demise of many of the ings to ensure that the PLP and who will seek to dam- country’s senior leaders. “have no chance of return- age or destroy anyone who “This Change is Unstopdesires or works towards pable” marked the start of ing to office”.

According to Mr Pintard, changing business as usual a series of town-hall forums there exists many great in The Bahamas. offered by Mr Pintard in the “Unfortunately, the po- build up to the 2017 general platforms that can improve The Bahamas in the con- litical climate that we pres- election.

MINNIS HITS OUT AT $47M LOSSES FROM ROAD TRAFFIC

from page one

Meanwhile, former acting FNM Chairman Brensil Rolle castigated Transport and Aviation Minister Glenys Hanna Martin for attempting to place blame for the department’s chronic problems on a previous Ingraham administration.

Mr Rolle, who also formerly served as Road Traffic Department controller, said the minister should take responsibility for the problems facing the department.

On Monday, Auditor General Terrance Bastian’s report was tabled in the House of Assembly.

It said that if a forecast was performed based on the total number of licence plates produced and issued, approximately 374,000

plates, to the public as of June 30, 2015, one would estimate that the motor vehicle licence revenue should be at a minimum of $73m (374,000 x $195) instead of the reported average of $26m per annum.

If the approximate number of 374,000 plates was reduced by 50 per cent, the report said there would still be an estimated loss of $10m as compared to the actual recorded revenue noted herein.

The audit of the department covered the period July 1, 2012, to June 30, 2015.

“As the Progressive Liberal Party continues to celebrate its four years in office,” Dr Minnis said in a press statement, “we learn that in four short years under the PLP government more than $10m of the peo-

ple’s money is gone. Wasted through stunning endemic mismanagement that this government either chooses to ignore or fails to address.

“The auditor general’s report found systemic problems that went on for years at the Road Traffic Department – inconsistencies in payroll, fraudulent licenses being issued, missing and illegible inspection certifications, missing and fraudulent insurance certificates and customers receipts not being generated.

“All of these problems at one government agency? All of these problems without anyone noticing?

Where is the oversight and leadership from this government?”

He continued: “The PLP celebrates as our Bahamas crumbles to the ground around us. In their four years in power they have fostered

and grown a culture of lawlessness and corruption that has crept into every level and corner of government, leaving us with an unbelievable amount of mismanagement, incompetence and ineptitude. When will it end?”

“Unfortunately, this has become commonplace to the Bahamian people.

Their money continues to be misspent or misused as they struggle to get by on the empty rhetoric and broken promises from this government. The PLP leadership at the top has set a dubious example for all levels of their government – incompetence is tolerable to this government as long as its supporters can enrich themselves.”

Dr Minnis said real leadership means taking concrete steps to fix such problems. He said this would

start with holding the management at Road Traffic accountable.

“Have the Attorney General’s Office prosecute the ones involved in the wanton mismanagement of taxpayer dollars and discipline those who had responsibility for the oversight of the Bahamian people’s money.

“Next, we must change the procedures at the department to ensure proper oversight and internal accountability in its procedures – no more absurdly overpaying employees by hundreds of thousands of dollars, or under paying others; receipts should be required for all transactions at all departmental offices; and having the new department leadership ultimately instilling a culture of law and order – following the rules and being accountable

to the taxpayers,” Dr Minnis said.

Meanwhile, Mr Rolle said at no time under the previous FNM government was there any indication that the department was losing large sums of money.

“The minister shifts blame on the FNM and the Ingraham administration. What she did not say though was that it was the Ingraham government that started to engage the process of the electronic accountability when we introduced the (new) driver’s licence (system).

“The entire driver’s licence system is done electronically. Certainly during my time at Road Traffic. It was done electronically and every transaction was recorded by the Treasury Department and the Ministry of Finance,” Mr Rolle said.

FNM PROBE OVER CLAIMS BY BAIN AND SENATOR ROLLE

from page one

The issue, according to party insiders, has stirred up another round of controversy and contention within the organisation.

While Senator Rolle could not be reached up to press time, Mr Bain confirmed to this newspaper that he was called into a meeting with Mr Collie yesterday to discuss the matter.

Mr Bain said he also observed Senator Rolle meeting with other party execu-

tives yesterday. However, he was tightlipped over what sparked the meetings.

“This is an internal party matter so I won’t go into too much details about the basis of the investigation,” Mr Bain said when he was contacted by The Tribune.

“However, I can say that comments were made to me by another FNM political hopeful that raised alarm and that I found to be disturbing,” Mr Bain claimed.

“So, yes, there was a meeting between myself and the party chairman.”

Senator Rolle was embroiled in controversy earlier this year after she called a radio show in January and criticised Mrs Butler-Turner and other FNM members of Parliament.

She accused sitting FNM MPs of being “jealous” of the party leader and said Mrs Butler-Turner, Dr Minnis’ former rival for leadership, would not have the support of voters over Prime Minister Perry Christie.

After she was criticised by members of her party,

Mrs Rolle finally gave a public apology for her remarks in early March.

Both she and Mr Bain are angling for a nomination to run in the next general election on the FNM’s ticket.

Last week former FNM Chairman Darron Cash called for a “clean up” of the party over concerns that in its current state it could not successfully contest the next general election.

An early convention, Mr Cash said, was the only credible solution to the “current morass” the party

now faces. He said anyone who disagreed with this is “deluding” themselves.

Mr Cash was responding to the leak – which he called a “bad idea” – of a chain of emails sent among FNM members of Parliament after Fort Charlotte MP Dr Andre Rollins wrote to Dr Minnis asking for his consideration in appointing Dr Duane Sands to the Senate.

Dr Rollins asked for Dr Sands to replace Senator Kwasi Thompson as he said he was informed that the senator would not be seek-

ing re-election in the next general election. He further argued that the appointment of Dr Sands to the Senate would signal that the FNM was readying itself to “bring the fight” to the Progressive Liberal Party.

Several FNM MPs, including Mrs Butler-Turner, St Anne’s MP Hubert Chipman, Central and South Abaco MP Edison Key and Montagu MP Richard Lightbourn, responded in the email chain expressing support for the decision.

Some of the replies in the

READERS RESPOND TO $47M LOSSES FROM ROAD TRAFFIC DEPARTMENT

AFTER the auditor general revealed an estimated $47m in losses from vehicle license revenue at the Road Traffic Department, resulting from employees and motorists “circumventing rules and regulations”, angry readers responded on tribune242.com.

Well_mudda_take_sic pointed the finger at the Minister of Transport and Aviation: “All of this fraud is happening right under the nose of Hanna-Martin . . . this grossly incompetent MP should have been barred from holding any Cabinet post many many

years ago. The voters in her constituency need to wake up and understand that reelecting her time and time again has done absolutely nothing for their well-being.”

John said: “While hardworking Bahamians are being taxed to the bone and struggling Bahamian businesses are being taxed out

of existence, this is what is happening to our tax dollars. Corruption everywhere, no accountability anywhere and while they live high on the ‘hogg’ the average Bahamian barely has food on his table. Imagine that: one government agency accounting for one third of the revenue it is supposed to be collecting.

Is it now time to sell your house and flee to the countryside?”

BoopaDoop offered this: “Amazing. We pay taxes and get nothing to show for it. $47 million disappeared into thin air.”

Clamshell said: “That is a stunning, staggering display of outright theft. Anybody want to guess how many people will go to jail? Anybody? Would anybody bet even five cents on any answer other than, ‘Nobody’ …?”

Honestman also criticised the minister: “Hanna Martin has proven to be completely ineffective in her role. Time she was moved on but you know it won’t happen.”

Reality_Check praised the Auditor General: “Mr Terrance Bastian is the most effective Auditor

General our country has had in decades and he is accomplishing much on a shoestring budget with very little resources being made available to him. The Bahamian people would be wise to insist our government quadruple Mr Bastian’s resources so that he can continue ferreting out the gaping, bleeding holes in our country’s revenue generating ability caused by widespread systemic waste, fraud and corruption.”

Jus2cents said: “In any other country and this happened under your portfolio, you’d be forced to resign

whilst investigation is taking place.”

Sheeprunner12 wanted someone held to account: “The RTD Controllers and Chief Financial Officers for the years under review should be hauled before the Public Service Commission to answer for this . . . someone must account for some of this lost revenue . . . some heads should roll for this serious bumbling and malfeasance of our public funds . . . the PAC should insist on this one.”

• Don’t miss your chance to join the debate on tribune242.com.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, May 11, 2016, PAGE 7

GOVERNMENT APPOINTS PAROLE/RE-ENTRY STEERING COMMITTEE

THE government has appointed a Parole and Reentry Steering Committee whose task will be to propose a policy framework for a parole system and interventions for the seamless reintegration of past offenders into Bahamian society.

The committee is chaired by Paul Farquharson, former Bahamian commissioner of police and Bahamas high commissioner to London.

Retired Anglican Archbishop Drexel Gomez and Reverend Patrick Paul, a past president of the Bahamas Christian Council, have also been named to the Steering Committee.

The committee is part of the government’s overarching strategy to address the challenges of crime in the Bahamas through the introduction of the Citizens Security and Justice Programme, which was launched Monday at the British Colonial Hilton.

The committee has been given a six-month mandate to report to National Secu-

rity Minister Dr Bernard Nottage.

“The importance of this parole policy framework cannot be understated because more and more, we are recognising that prisons are exacerbating criminal behaviour, not curbing it,” Dr Nottage said.

“We know that 95 per cent of the current inmates at the Department of Corrections will rejoin our communities across the Bahamas over the next ten years (and) so it is not a matter of whether these inmates will return to Bahamian society. The real question is how will they return to Bahamian society.”

Dr Nottage said a more modern and progressive correctional system – one that is not simply concerned with holding prisoners or managing them, but focused on the full development of their potential as citizens – is the answer to the aforementioned question.

“Rehabilitation starts at the moment of arrest and does not end upon release,” Dr Nottage continued. “So

MINISTER of National Security Dr Bernard Nottage said the importance of parole policy cannot be understated. we must also find innova- community organisations The task at hand weighs on $20m from the Inter-Amertive and effective ways to that are already in the all of us and the Bahamian ican development Bank has continue to engage offend- trenches, bridging the gap people want results,” Dr been approved, represents the single-largest investers after they have left the between release and rein- Nottage added. tegration. This is just one He added: “The Citizen ment in a co-ordinated and prison walls.

“This will mean partner- of the challenges we are Security and Justice Pro- comprehensive policy to ading with, and supporting endeavouring to address. gramme for which a loan of dress crime.”

Killer told he could have been on death row as appeal rejected

By LAMECH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter ljohnson@tribunemedia.net A MAN who was to financially benefit from his lover’s death was told by Court of Appeal judges yesterday that he could have been on death row for his conviction for the crime as they dismissed his appeal against his sentence.

Benjamin McPhee, 47, and his lawyer Anthony Newbold, appeared before Justices Dame Anita Allen, Jon Isaacs and Stella Crane-Scott contesting a 40-year sentence McPhee received for the March 2011 murder of Elex Tina McKenzie.

McPhee and 27-yearold Shanice Rolle were convicted by a jury and then sentenced by Justice Bernard Turner to prison sentences of 38 years and seven months and 29 years and four months respectively.

The sentences reflected their respective months – 17 and eight – on remand awaiting trial.

McPhee abandoned his appeal against conviction but maintained his appeal against sentence.

“Where did the court go wrong?” Dame Anita asked.

“We’re saying the sentence is unduly severe,” Mr Newbold answered, citing the Privy Council’s decision of Maxo Tido as a reference.

“The Crown did not apply for the death penalty.

So the range of sentences that could have been imposed was zero to life. The learned judge imposed a determinant sentence of

40 years,” Justice Isaacs said.

“Prior to the decision of Larry Raymond Jones, the range for murder, in the absence of death was 20-30 years,” Mr Newbold said.

The court disagreed.

“Before all of this (Maxo Tido or Larry Raymond Jones) it was mandatory death penalty. I don’t know where you’re getting all of this from” the appellate president said.

“Why should we interfere with the judge’s discretion? Did he go beyond the usual sentence imposed in such a case?”

Dame Anita asked.

Mr Newbold said McPhee had a favourable probation report and his client’s age should have also been a mitigating factor.

The appellate president disagreed on the latter before asking the attorney how the victim was killed.

“Didn’t the pathologist’s report note that two types of injuries were there?” Justice Isaacs said.

“As I recall, this was a particularly gruesome murder,” the appellate president said.

Franklyn Williams, Crown respondent, said the trial transcripts noted there was indication of asphyxia, blunt force and a sharp force injury to the head, among other things.

“There were two individuals convicted though,” Mr Newbold stressed.

At trial, the jury heard that McPhee, who was estranged from his wife, lived with McKenzie and was also the beneficiary of McKenzie’s $150,000 life insurance policy.

ARSON CASE DISCONTINUED

By LAMECH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

A MAN was discharged of arson in the Supreme Court yesterday after the prosecution in his case, on the orders of the attorney general, discontinued proceedings against him.

Devaughn Alexander Miller, 33, appeared before Justice Vera Watkins for a status hearing concerning a fire at an apartment building on East Street that occurred in 2010 that also housed a bar called the Fountain of Youth.

A person convicted of arson could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.

However, prosecutors Cassie Bethel and Cordell Frazier handed the judge a nolle prosequi requesting that proceedings against him be discontinued.

The nolle was signed and dated May 9.

Miller had not been formally arraigned in the Su-

preme Court until March 2, 2012 when he pleaded not guilty to the charge.

However, Miller failed to appear before Justice Watkins’ court on March 26, March 30 and April 4 of that year to receive a date for trial. A warrant of arrest was subsequently issued.

It was not until March 31 of this year that he was found.

Miller was on a truck headed to work that was caught up in a roadblock organised by police who then ran his name through their system and discovered an outstanding warrant for his arrest.

Miller was informed yesterday of the Crown’s right to initiate prosecution against him again if it desired. However, it is unlikely.

As his bail was revoked last month and he was remanded to the Department of Correctional Services, the judge said she would prepare and forward a release order to the authorities at the prison.

Rolle, who was also married, was also seeing McPhee.

It was alleged that both Rolle and McPhee played a role in McKenzie’s brutal death on March 21, 2011.

Her mouth and nostrils were duct taped before her body was dumped off Prince Charles Drive.

The former lovers blamed each other for McKenzie’s death when trial opened in 2014.

According to Rolle, McPhee, whom she had dated for two months, came to her house around 3am the day in question.

She said he took her to his home on Wulff Road after they smoked a marijuana joint.

Rolle claimed that she entered the home after a prolonged wait for McPhee in his truck.

She said she found

McPhee in the room with a body in a pool of blood. According to Rolle, the person was still moving when McPhee duct taped her face.

Rolle said she tried to leave, but McPhee held her hand and closed the door.

Rolle said McPhee forced her to drive as they looked for a place to dispose of the body.

McPhee, however, described Rolle as an obsessed woman who attacked McKenzie in his presence with a hatchet.

“They were jointly charged and jointly convicted,” Dame Anita said yesterday, further reminding Mr Newbold that this was now his client’s appeal they were addressing.

Justice Crane-Scott recalled the trial judge’s words of “callous and chilling” in describing the

murder.

Mr Newbold said McPhee’s co-accused received a lesser sentence and his client should receive the same.

Mr Williams, in response, said the appellant received the sentence he did based on the evidence adduced at trial.

“The appellant, in an apparent attempt to absolve himself, attempted to cover it up. He had gone to the daughter of the deceased and went to the police, something about reporting the deceased missing. No doubt the learned judge was well placed to draw the inference,” Mr Williams said.

Mr Williams said the jury also heard that McPhee and the accused went to the Paint Place to purchase paint he thought would match the crime scene to cover up the bloodstains.

The manager of the establishment confirmed that McPhee told the cashier to place the items purchased under the co-accused’s name.

Mr Williams also urged the court not to forget that a daughter of the deceased confirmed that McPhee “was the beneficiary of the deceased’s life insurance policy.”

“Mr Newbold, your client was fortunate not to have received the death penalty given the financial motive in this. He ought to be calm that he only received 40 years...and that’s speaking for myself,” Justice Isaacs said.

The judges unanimously agreed that there was no merit in McPhee’s appeal against sentence and saw no reason to interfere.

McPhee’s appeal was dismissed.

PAGE 8, Wednesday, May 11, 2016

R

ECENTLY, senior Progressive Liberal Party cabinet ministers whipped up a political storm over something called parliamentary privilege, which most people have probably never heard of.

The ministers involved were the usual spin doctors - Fred “you are a traitor” Mitchell and Jerome “environmental disaster” Fitzgerald.

They fanned the storm into a force-five gale, hurling charges of sedition against their perceived political foes. And then they threatened to haul a Supreme Court judge, among others, before a parliamentary inquisition.

But it’s really only a tempest in a teacup. The storm was deliberately manufactured to deflect attention from a public relations problem over the government’s Canadian benefactor, Peter Nygard.

Nevertheless, it threatens to open a constitutional Pandora’s Box, so it’s worth taking a look at what parliamentary privilege actually is, in order to get a better grasp of the situation.

This legal concept evolved out of a centuriesold struggle between Parliament and the monarchy in England. Privilege was meant to prevent the King from interfering with the proper functioning of Parliament. Historically, this struggle involved the legislature’s right to approve tax measures wanted by the King. But mostly it related to religion.

The Protestant Reformation in 1517 generated a series of bloody religious wars in Europe as well as

‘

THE TRIBUNE

What is really being threatened here?

a multitude of dissenting churches. And in the early 1600s, England’s King Charles I was considered pro-Catholic, which led to concerns about the future of Protestantism.

After the King tried to arrest parliamentary leaders for treason, the country descended into civil war, which the parliamentarians won in 1646. Charles was executed and a short-lived republic formed, until it was overthrown in a military coup by Oliver Cromwell.

After Cromwell’s death in 1658, the monarchy was restored and Charles II took the throne.

But this did not end the religious conflicts. The most explosive issue was the new King’s support for Catholics, which set the stage for another revolution.

In 1689, Parliament deposed the King and gave the throne to his elder daughter, Mary, and her husband, William, Prince of Orange-Nassau in the Netherlands. This is when the name of our capital city was changed from Charlestown to Nassau.

At the same time, Parliament enacted a Bill of Rights, which limited the powers of the monarch and confirmed the right to regular elections, and freedom of speech in Parliament.

Experts agree that parliamentary privilege is a complex topic with many grey areas, some of which may never be resolved. So our intrepid PLP cabinet ministers have stepped in to exploit these grey areas in an attempt to divert attention from a legitimate issue of influence peddling on a massive scale.’

This Bill of Rights is still in effect in all Commonwealth countries – including the Bahamas – although royal succession rules were amended in 2011.

A

s you can surmise, little of this ancient historical context is of relevance to modern-day politics. But parliamentary privilege remains an integral part of the Westminster system of government, as practised in most former British colonies.

In Britain, the House of Commons Library, Parliament and Constitution Centre says parliamentary privilege has two essential components: “Freedom of speech, as guaranteed by the 1689 Bill of Rights, and the exercise by parliament of control over its own affairs.”

But, experts say, the privilege of freedom of speech places a duty on MPs to use that freedom responsibly.

In fact, privilege is a controversial issue today precisely because of its potential for abuse.

For example, in 2009 a major political scandal erupted in Britain over expense claims made by MPs. These abuses resulted in resignations and firings together with public apologies and the repayment of expenses.

Several MPs were prosecuted and imprisoned, but some claimed to be immune from criminal proceedings because of parliamentary privilege. This defence was rejected by the court. In other words, Parliament cannot use privilege as a method to

JEROME FITZGERALD, who along with Fred Mitchell threatened to haul a Supreme Court judge before a parliamentary inquisition in the face of questions over Canadian billionaire Peter Nygard. avoid abiding by the ordi- attention from a legitimate threatened to summon the nary laws of the land. issue of influence peddling judge to appear before a And according to a re- on a massive scale.

House committee on privicent report by the LondonThey attacked members lege. Their motion was supbased Constitution Society, of the Save The Bays envi- ported by the Deputy Prime “the courts are the ultimate ronmental group, alleging Minister, and public funds arbiters of the scope of they were seeking to over- have been allocated to the parliamentary privilege as throw the government. And committee. Meanwhile, the ordained in law, although they tabled and discussed judge is scheduled to rule parliament may always leg- the personal emails of the on a government applicaislate on it”. targeted individuals. This tion to set aside her injuncMost experts who have led Save The Bays to apply tion later this week. written on this subject to the Supreme Court for an Does this add up to deagree that parliamentary injunction preventing the stablisation of the governprivilege is a complex topic release of personal infor- ment - or the judicial prowith many grey areas, some mation in Parliament. This cess? of which may never be re- was subsequently granted, solved. So our intrepid cab- setting the stage for an unWhat do you think? Send inet ministers have stepped seemly clash between Parcomments to lsmith@tribin to exploit these grey ar- liament and the courts. unemedia.net or visit www. eas in an attempt to divert Our cabinet ministers bahamapundit.com

The King who swapped his crown for love and the years he spent in The Bahamas

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net MUCH has been written about Edward VIII, the King of England who abdicated his throne after 11 months to marry the twicedivorced Wallis Simpson in 1937.

Not as much, however, has been written by so close an observer to the King as Jean Hardcastle-Taylor, an American from New York whose life changed when she became the personal secretary to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor when they were Governor and First Lady of the Bahamas from 1940 to 1945.

In 1965, 20 years after she left The Bahamas, never to return, Mrs Hardcastle-Taylor began writing a memoir about her experiences as aide to the royal couple.

Her eldest son, Michael Hardcastle-Taylor, assembled her writings and published them this year in a book, “The Windsors I knew”.

The work provides an alternative perspective to the narrative, popularised by historians and fiction writers over the years, that the pair were socialites whose love quickly muted despite the King’s legendary sacrifice.

“She wanted to set the record straight and that’s the best way to explain why she wrote the book,” Mr Hardcastle-Taylor said of his mother’s motivation.

On a recent visit to the Bahamas he met children from Andros while touring Government House and promoting his mother’s book, which teems with details that could only have

come from one with close access to the Governor and his wife.

He also came with his wife, Gloria, to experience the culture of the country where he was conceived (his mother left The Bahamas a month before he was born).

Mr Hardcastle-Taylor told The Tribune he would have liked to have published his mother’s book earlier, noting that he was hindered by the Vietnam War in the 1960s which prompted him to join the navy, in which he served for 21 years.

His visit to The Bahamas and the publication of his mother’s memoir is a moment where life for him comes full circle, and during his interview with this newspaper he conveyed a palpable sense of delight at having such a connection to a part of 20th century history that continues to intrigue many around the world.

In her book, Mrs Hardcastle-Taylor beamed with admiration for the Duke and the Duchess. She found the Duke smart, brave and courageous and she found the Duchess “remarkable”, devoted to her husband and fond of executing humanitarian and charitable services.

Many over the years have pondered whether the Duke abdicated his throne because of his love for the Duchess or because he wanted to surrender the responsibilities and burdens of being King. Mrs Hardcastle-Taylor holds the former view, with the Duke’s love for his wife being one of the few things the secretive royal did not keep a secret, she wrote.

MICHAEL HARDCASTLE-TAYLOR, who has published his mother’s writings on the Windsors. Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff “Never in my close association with the Duke or Duchess were either of them unmindful of their duty or dignity,” she wrote.

“Nor were they secondrate performers. Knowing them as I did, I have always felt they were destined to meet and when they met, they knew their hearts were linked. That is my unshakable conviction.”

The Duke, she wrote, was a “popular, competent, forceful and well meaning” Governor. Serving as Governor of The Bahamas was not, however, the best use of his talent, she said.

She concluded that despite his “wise and consci-

entious” administration of this country’s affairs, he was hindered by the Bay Street Boys of Nassau, a group of white businessmen who did little to make the country more progressive.

Mrs Hardcastle-Taylor wrote the book, which is dedicated in part to he people of The Bahamas, before her marriage on December 31, 1943, in Christ Church Cathedral. Her reception was hosted by the Duke and Duchess at Government House.

Mr Hardcastle-Taylor does not believe this view tells the whole story, noting that other accounts, includ-

ing a favourite of his by Sir Etienne Dupuch, the late publisher of The Tribune, suggest the Duke was often in sync with the Bay Street Boys and inclined not to fight too hard to reduce the paternalism characterised the relationship between wealthy whites and the poorer blacks during that era.

The infamous Burma Road riots of 1942, when black Bahamians protested a social and political order that was stacked against them, was, nonetheless, a consequence of resistance to the kind of change that Mrs Hardcastle-Taylor believed the Duke wanted but

that the few powerful white merchants on the island did not.

Mr Hardcastle-Taylor said the Duke would be pleased with how the Bahamas has evolved into a country with a stable democracy and economy.

The book suggests, however, that he would also urge the country to diversify its economy so it could rely less on tourism, a view he often expressed as Governor.

The Windsors I Knew, by Jean D Hardcastle-Taylor, is published by Saint Michael’s Press, Winchester, Va.

THE THETRIBUNE TRIBUNE

BRITISH biotech company Oxitec and the Cayman Islands government have announced plans to release millions of genetically modified mosquitoes in the fight against a species that spreads Zika and other diseases.

Deployment of the mosquitoes against the Aedes aegypti species in the Cayman Islands is a major advance for Oxitec, which has promoted the method heavily as an environmentally safe way to combat the vectors of mosquito-borne illnesses while confronting public concerns about the technology.

The company has deployed its mosquitoes to fight Zika in Brazil following initial trials there and previously conducted tests in the Cayman Islands and Panama. Oxitec and officials in the Florida Keys have proposed testing there as well and are awaiting US regulatory approval.

The Cayman government approved the full deployment after what they called a successful, peerreviewed trial in 2010, Bill Petrie, the director of the British territory’s Mosquito Research and Control Unit, said in a statement last week.

“We have wanted to remove this

Wednesday, May 2016, PAGE Wednesday, May 11,11, 2016, PAGE A99

TECHTALK

CAYMAN FIGHTS ZIKA WITH

GENETICALLY MODIFIED MOSQUITOES

invasive pest for a long time but this has proven very difficult using currently available tools on an island the size of Grand Cayman, so we have been looking for new approaches,” Mr Petrie said.

Male mosquitoes don’t bite. The company says its modified males will mate with females and produce offspring that will not survive to adulthood, which should dramatically reduce the population of the non-native, disease-spreading Aedes aegypti species in the territory.

Oxitec will begin releasing hundreds of thousands of modified

mosquitoes per week on the island of Grand Cayman, home to about 50,000 people, starting in June and continue for at least nine months, said Glen Slade, the company’s head of business development.

The company predicts a massive drop in the number of the targeted species on Grand Cayman and Mr Slade said it was “not unreasonable to think we might achieve elimination”.

In Key West, Florida, public meetings about Oxitec’s proposed trial there became so contentious that mosquito control officials re-

STUDENTS SHOW OFF SCIENCE SKILLS

SELF-DRIVING CARS COULD BE ON ROADS IN FIVE YEARS

FIAT Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) chief executive Sergio Marchionne says working with Google convinced him that self-driving technology is closer than he thought and could be on the road in five years.

“I don’t find it that unsettling,” Mr Marchionne said. “I see this as having tremendous use in real life.”

FCA and Google announced a partnership last week, working together to add self-driving technology to 100 Chrysler Pacifica minivans for testing purposes.

It is the first time Google has worked directly with an auto company to install selfdriving sensors and computers.

Some automakers have been reluctant to team up with tech companies because they want to own the technology in their cars. But Mr Marchionne says it’s too early to say who will lead the transition to a self-driving fu-

A TECHNICIAN from the British biotec company Oxitec, inspects the pupae of genetically modified Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, a vector for transmitting the Zika virus, in Campinas, Brazil. (AP) quested law enforcement protection at an April meeting to discuss the issue.

In February, the World Health Organisation said it was encouraging countries to conduct further trials of genetically modified mosquitoes to help tackle emerging illnesses such as Zika, which has been linked to the birth defect microcephaly and to a temporary paralysis condition known as Guillain-Barre.

ture, so it’s smart for FCA to work with others and learn what it can.

Mr Marchionne said FCA and Google will have to work out specifics, like who owns the data in the cars. “We need to get to the stage where the car is viable before we can discuss the spoils,” he said.

The FCA CEO said it was initially unsettling to get into Google’s self-driving test cars in California, but as he rode in them he felt “absolutely safe”. “You could almost feel the reasoning process that the car was going through,” he said. “It’s like watching a robot execute, and it executes well.”

The experience left him feeling that selfdriving cars have great potential, he said, as long as regulators establish rules for their use.

“By providing players with a license to do virtually anything they wanted to do on foot or behind the wheel, ‘Grand Theft Auto III’ renewed debates about the role of games and violence in society while it signalled video games aren’t just for kids,” Mr Saucier said. The title sold 14.5 million copies by 2008.

The Strong opened the World Video Game Hall of Fame last year to recognise electronic games of all types - arcade, console, computer, hand-held and mobile.

To get in, games must have had sustained popularity and influenced the video game industry or society.

STUDENTS of Tambearly School, Sandyport, showed off their scientific skills to parents and the public during the school’s science fair last week.

Students from grade two and up presented findings from projects and experiments they had researched and tested in preparation for the fair.

There was a lot to be learned as students tackled topics like effects of tornadoes, rust prevention, the damage of oil spills and even a bit of magic.

OCULUS LOSES ITS VR HEADSET EDGE

AFTER delaying orders because of component shortages and angering wannabe early adopters, virtual reality (VR) company Oculus is confronting another headache as it seeks to technologically and culturally establish the immersive medium.

It is now possible to play titles that were intended to only be used with the new Oculus Rift system on an entirely different VR headset.

Less than four weeks after the launch of the $600 system, cunning amateur coders figured out how to unlock the cartoony plat-

forming game “Lucky’s Tale” and VR vignette collection “Oculus Dreamdeck” for the HTC Vive, an $800 competing VR system released last month by smartphone maker HTC and gaming company Valve, which operates online marketplace Steam.

And in recent weeks, additional “only on Oculus” content has been cracked.

HTC and Valve, whose online hub is headset agnostic, means content purchased from Steam can be used for the Vive or Rift.

However, titles from the Oculus Home online store are meant to

• AOL is looking to connect more with the public so it is building a ground level, public-facing studio in downtown Manhattan for its live programming.

It promises to use top technology to engage more with its audience, including shooting in 360-degrees for virtual reality. The studio is set to be unveiled this fall.

Jimmy Maymann, a company executive, said AOL Build showed the firm’s commitment to “immersive live experiences and creating a studio that will serve as a cultural destination, digitally, as well as within New York City.”

• IN A further sign that the download era is waning, Warner Music Group says it made more money from streaming platforms than any other single source of recorded music revenue in the first quarter of 2016.

Warner said its streaming revenue grew 59 per cent in the quarter through to March, helping boost overall revenue by 10 per cent to $745 million.

Warner claims it is the first of the three majors - Spotify and Apple Music are the others - to hit the milestone. Last month, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) said streaming revenue globally grew 45 per cent last year while the number of subscribers who paid for services leapt 66 per cent to 68 million. Meanwhile, the IFPI said download revenue dropped 10.5 per cent.

SHOOTERS AND DRIVERS MAKE VIDEO GAMES HALL OF FAME A VIDEO game that allowed players to zap marching aliens with dot lasers and another that gave them flamethrowers and put them in the driver’s seat in a violent 3-D world are among six games inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame.

“Space Invaders” and “Grand Theft Auto III”, along with “The Oregon Trail”, “Sonic the Hedgehog”, “The Legend of Zelda” and “The Sims”, were honoured last week for their influence on gaming and pop culture at The Strong museum in Rochester, New York.

“Space Invaders” was not the first shooter game when it was introduced in Japan in 1978, but it spurred many imitators and a craze for arcade games, said Jeremy Saucier, assistant director of The Strong’s International Center for the History of Electronic Games.

A virtual universe away, “Grand Theft Auto III” armed players with flamethrowers and assault rifles.

• AMAZON has launched a self-publishing platform for video creators, a move that could make money for the company and budding filmmakers in the same way YouTube has created a community of online celebrities.

Amazon Video Direct, which launched yesterday, shares money with video creators through the method they choose: advertisements, subscriptions, rentals, or simply by the number of hours streamed to tens of millions of subscribers of Amazon Prime.

Amazon keeps about half the revenue, or if the video is restricted to Prime, it pays a set fee of 15 cents per hour viewed in the US. Several production companies made videos available yesterday including Baby Einstein, Pro Guitar Lessons and Conde Nast.

The service allows creators to publish videos in the US, Britain, Germany, Japan and Austria.

only work with the Rift system, although neither Oculus nor HTC restrict developers from selling content elsewhere.

It’s another blow to Oculus, the Facebook-backed VR pioneer that has struggled to fulfil the promise of high-fidelity VR in consumers’ homes and faced questions over its privacy policies. While most VR developers are designing for as many systems as possible, several are initially releasing titles for either the Rift or Vive, which currently have different control schemes.

Sony will enter the marketplace

in October with the comparable PlayStation VR system, costing $400 and which will only work in tandem with a PlayStation 4 console. It will also arrive with many more exclusive titles, including the robot battle game “RIGS: Mechanized Combat League” and a VR rendition of “Star Wars: Battlefront”.

• EXXON Mobil and FuelCell Energy have announced they will work jointly on technology to reduce the cost of capturing carbon emissions from power plants.

The companies will try to develop technology that uses carbonate fuel cells to generate power while capturing carbon dioxide, which scientists say is the most prevalent greenhouse gas responsible for climate change.

If the fuel-cell approach proves feasible, it could be used in coal or natural gas-fired plants, the companies said.

• HULU is expanding its Internet TV programming with a subscription service offering a mix of live cable and broadcast options that will include news and sports.

The streaming service created

by TV networks to counter the threat posed by Google’s YouTube will challenge similar cable-like bundles already being offered over the Internet by Dish’s Sling TV and Sony’s PlayStation Vue. Hulu, which has connections in Hollywood because it is co-owned by three of the major players in cable and broadcast programming 21st Century Fox, Walt Disney Co. and Comcast’s NBC Universal did not provide details of subscription costs or how many channels will be available.

PAGE 10, Wednesday, May 11, 2016

THE TRIBUNE

DNA: Prosecute festival organisers

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

DEMOCRATIC National Alliance Leader Branville McCartney yesterday called on the government to take whatever steps necessary to ensure the $650,000 seed money invested in the stalled Caribbean Muzik Festival was recouped, and its organisers prosecuted.

“The fact of the matter is that we, the Bahamian people, as we always do, will have to pay this money back,” he said.

“The good minister (of tourism) is encouraged to take whatever steps neces-

sary to recoup the Bahamian people’s money and bring those who took it to justice.”

Mr McCartney questioned whether the Ministry of Tourism sponsored the festival while political colleagues were part owners.

The festival is produced and promoted by a company called Caribbean Republic Inc. The government will not provide additional funding to the organisers of the stalled festival, Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe confirmed yesterday.

Mr Wilchcombe said although he was optimistic that the group will fulfil its

obligations, organisers will have to raise additional funding alone. The Ministry of Tourism is the event’s biggest sponsor, having invested $650,000 in the fourday festival that was cut short by two nights last year.

“I’m still optimistic that the group who has spearheaded this event will step forward and fulfil the obligation to the agreement made,” Mr Wilchcombe said.

“We expect this group of distinguished professionals to raise whatever additional funding is required to fulfil the obligation. The government will not. I must say the idea is a great one and does have enormous potential to

the Bahamian culture while becoming the gateway to Caribbean music. The objective is to cause for global proliferation of the sounds of The Bahamas.”

The event was intended to become a part of the government’s efforts to fill the Bahamian calendar with musical and sporting events that would promote culture, encourage commerce and put a spotlight on the country’s tourism products all year round.

In a statement endorsing the festival ahead of its start on October 28, 2015 Prime Minister Perry Christie said the event would “serve to deepen our cultural iden-

tity, improve our tourism product and secure our region’s position as a premier destination or cultural and heritage tourism.”

The four-day festival was scheduled to take place from October 28 to October 31, 2015 but was postponed after two nights of activity.

Organisers have taken legal action against two Florida-based suppliers for allegedly defaulting on undertakings to supply stage and sound equipment, ultimately forcing the postponement of the final two nights of the event.

Confirmed performers for the event included nearly 30 artists, including the Soweto

Gospel Choir, Lady Saw, Kes the Band, Alison Hinds and such Bahamian artists as KB, Ira Storr and Funky D. Last week, festival organiser Desmond Edwards told The Nassau Guardian that the Ministry of Tourism’s seed money had been exhausted to pay for music artists and their travel expenses. Mr Edwards maintained that all of the expenses were documented, and that the group was waiting for Mr Wilchcombe to speak before going forward with a new festival date.

Yesterday, Mr Wilchcombe said organisers have not identified a new date for the event.

Chamber welcomes MOU with port authority

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THE Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce has commended the government for successfully negotiating a memorandum of understanding with the Grand Bahama Port Authority that is expected to bring about much-needed economic revitalisation for Grand Bahama.

In a statement to The Tribune, Adrian Carey, first vice-president of the GBCC, said the group congratulates the government on the move.

He said the chamber supports the “quid pro quo” approach whereby in return for the tax incentives granted, there must be concomitant investment by existing as well as new investors.

On Monday, Prime Minister Perry Christie revealed in the House of As-

sembly that his government had entered into a MOU with GBPA and key entities controlled by it.

Additionally, he stated that the government had also executed a waiver of exclusivity agreement with Freeport Harbour Company Ltd with respect to the operation of cruise ports on Grand Bahama.

This will pave the way for the construction of a new cruise port by Carnival Cruise Lines in east Grand Bahama, which is expected to stimulate economic activity in that part of the island.

The prime minister said: “The agreements and similar ones to be made with other licensees aim to fundamentally shift the investment climate and economic prospects in Grand Bahama in a dynamic and positive way for all concerned.”

The Tribune attempted to speak with several licensees

of Freeport, but all declined to comment saying that they had not yet finished reading or had not read Mr Christie’s communication.

Mr Christie said the negotiations of the MOU were complex, involving multiple counterparties, but the result is a comprehensive approach to development that includes shortterm stimuli in the form of specific investments, as well as longer-term investments in the governance and infrastructure of Freeport.

“We are competing in an increasingly global economy, and this MOU charts a path for us to create a new vision for Freeport as a special investment zone, as well as mechanisms for the government to deliver our part in creating an investorfriendly environment,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Carey noted that the GBCC sup-

ports the recommendations made by the Hawksbill Creek Agreement Review Committee and will continue to work assiduously with key stakeholders.

Mr Carey emphasised that stakeholders must also do their part to ensure the economic success of Grand Bahama.

“The resurgence of Grand Bahama as an economic powerhouse in the Bahamas and indeed the region will require a collective and coordinated effort from all key stakeholders.

“No longer can licensees sit back and wait for the GBPA and or the central government to make things happen,” he said.

Mr Carey said that GBCC President Kevin Seymour is currently leading a trade mission to Houston, Texas, accompanied by representatives from the GBPA and certain licensees.

CONFERENCE TO SEEK TO IMPROVE AIR TRANSPORT

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

GOVERNMENT officials yesterday announced the launch of the sixth North American, Central American and Caribbean Directors of Civil Aviation meeting, a conference aimed at improving regional air transport in accordance with international standards.

The meeting, which will take place each day until Thursday, is in conjunction with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a United Nations specialised agency established in 1944 to manage the administration and governance of the Convention on International Civil Aviation.

IACO works with the convention’s 191 member states and industry groups to reach a consensus on

international civil aviation standards and recommended practices (SARPs) in support of a “safe, efficient, secure, economically sustainable and environmentally responsible civil aviation sector,” according to the organisation’s website.

At an opening ceremony at the Melià Nassau Beach Resort yesterday morning, Prime Minister Perry Christie highlighted the significance of such a meeting, which he said is underscored by the “challenges” posed by the country’s archipelagic nature.

“We obviously must rely on the connections by flight and by ports,” he said.

“We’re an ocean nation. We have all of these islands. We have an island the size of Trinidad that has only 10,000 people on it. We have islands with much fewer people, but yet you need roads, schools,

communications, and the infrastructural demands are extraordinary in terms of the fullness of them.

“This archipelagic nation of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is gifted

by God as one of the most beautiful countries in the world...But we have a major challenge that requires on a continuing basis the dedication of resources and the full understanding of our neighbours who have always been willing to assist us in material ways.”

Melvin Cintron, ICAO regional director for North America, Central America and the Caribbean (NACC), called on the various civil aviation representatives to do their part in ensuring the region’s civil aviation’s standards are upheld in accordance with ICAO standards and recommended practices.

“Overall, it is incumbent upon each of us to not rest in our laurels, but we should strive to steer clear of traditional methods and business practices and provide new ways to provide aviation services to the larger community,” Mr Cintron said.

“It should be a top priority to engage our countries in the highest levels of government to assist us and provide us the need and support for human capital and fiscal resources for an environment where safe secure and environmentally sound transport systems can flourish.”

The NACC was formed shortly after the establishment of the IAOC. The NACC regional office was established in Mexico City in 1957 and is responsible for working closely with 21 contracting states, the Bahamas included, as well as 19 territories.

FUNDRAISER TO HELP FORM CAT ISLAND MARCHING BAND

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

RUDOLPH Stubbs, president of the Cat Island Development Association of Grand Bahama, has announced plans for a fundraiser this weekend in Cat Island to assist students with forming a marching band there.

The CIDA has partnered with The Hallelujah Boys, featuring Will Stubbs and David Wallace, in hosting ‘Laffin’ in Cat Island’ on Sunday, May 15.

According to Mr Stubbs,

there will be two showings and proceeds from the shows will be donated to the Arthur’s Town High School and the Old Bight High School to purchase musical instruments for the Cat Island Marching Band.

The first showing will take place at 3pm in the auditorium at the Arthur’s Town High School; and the second will take place at 8pm at the Old Bight High School auditorium.

Mr Stubbs said Mr Wallance and Mr Stubbs will perform for free and provide some good humour

and entertainment for residents.

“The students on Cat Island have a desire of forming their own marching band, and so we have committed to assisting them with it,” said Mr Stubbs.

He noted that retired police officer Howard Pinder has volunteered to assist with the establishment of the youth band.

Mr Stubbs is urging Cat Islanders in New Providence, Grand Bahama and elsewhere to support both events in Cat Island.

“We want to encourage everyone to attend the show

because it is for a good cause, to purchase musical instruments for the youth of Cat Island. It is important that we invest in the young people in a positive way because they are the future of the country,” he said.

Mr Stubbs also announced that the CIDA of Grand Bahama will be having a ‘Cat Island Day’ on June 11 in Grand Bahama.

He said that activities include a walkathon and souse out starting at 7am, and a family fun day from noon until – at Taino Beach with native dishes cooked Cat Island style.

THE NEW tower being erected at Eastern Parade.

BTC CHIEF REJECTS CANCER FEAR

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Telecommunications Company CEO Leon Williams yesterday denied assertions that the activation of a new cell tower on East Bay Street could have adverse health effects on people frequenting the area.

In a statement sent to The Tribune yesterday, Mr Williams said there is “no empirical evidence that links cancer to the energy levels of radio frequency waves from cell phone towers”.

Mr Williams’ statements come after concerns were raised over the erection and subsequent activation of a new tower in the Eastern Parade park, and that it could have negative affects on the health of people who frequent the area.

The Tribune understands that the park is frequently utilised for practise sessions by teams in the Commonwealth American Football League (CAFL) and for fairs and events.

Concerns have been raised internationally about the potential risks of cell towers as well as cellular phones, both of which emit a form of energy known as radiofrequency (RF) waves.

The concerns have gained

additional traction due to the ever-increasing popularity of cell phones both locally and internationally.

“Consistent with the findings of the American Cancer Society, there is no empirical evidence that links cancer to the energy levels of radio frequency (RF) waves from cell phone towers,” Mr Williams said in his statement yesterday.

Mr Williams went on to say that the erection of the new cell tower is consistent with BTC’s “mandate to improve the level of service for its mobile customers,” thus “improving access to service”.

As well up upgrading its cellular facility, BTC is also rolling out its FLOW internet protocol tv broadcast services across The Bahamas, with Nassau scheduled to be switched on this year.

Mr Williams added: “Recent customer surveys have also reported that customers have experienced a significant reduction in dropped calls. Reports cite call failure statistics under 0.46 per cent, which is significantly below industry standards, suggesting that BTC has made tremendous strides to improve the quality of service for its customers with its extensive mobile upgrade programme.”

MEN UNITE TO MARCH AGAINST CRIME IN GRAND BAHAMA

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

REACH Out Youth Organisation will hold its annual Men United March Against Crime on the Whit Monday holiday.

All victims of crime and the families of murder victims are invited to come out and join youth groups and marching bands in a procession to Taino Beach.

Founder Dudley Seide announced that this year’s march is named in honour of Cecil Thompson, a veter-

an youth leader and retired educator in Grand Bahama.

The organisation is also honouring Rev Lindy Russell for his work in youth development and Senior Assistant Police Commissioner Emrick Seymour.

“We thought it was fitting to honour the three outstanding individuals this year to Mr Thompson and Rev Russell for their contribution to youth development; and to Mr Seymour for doing a terrific job when it comes to crime in Grand Bahama,” he said.

So far this year, eight

persons were murdered in Grand Bahama. Earlier this year, Mr Seymour expressed concern about the murders taking place on the island.

At a press conference held at police headquarters on Tuesday, Mr Seide said: “We want families to come out, victims of crime, and we asking them to bring placards. We want families of victims who have been murdered, or anyone who has lost a loved one to wear their pins, and shirts as we march against crime on Grand Bahama.”

The march will start at noon at the Grand Bahama Cricket Club on Baleo Road and will end at Taino Beach, where a number of activities will be held.

Before the march, a motorcade will start from West Grand Bahama, starting at Mt Zion Baptist Church at 9.30am to the Cricket Club in Freeport. The motorcade in Freeport will begin at Christ the King Church.

Mr Seide is appealing to all marching bands, schools and civic organisations and groups to support the march.

Mr Thompson was pleased to be honoured, along with Rev Russell and ACP Seymour by the Reach Out Youth Organisation (ROYO).

“I accept this honour with a sense of humility and gratitude,” he said. “I could not be more honoured of this parade being named after me because I have been a part of assisting Mr Seide with it since it started.”

The former educator’s involvement in youth marching bands first dates back to 1983 in Andros, where he was an educator.

When he was transferred to Grand Bahama, Mr Thompson was instrumental in forming the Hawksbill High School Marching Band in 1989. He organised many parades in Grand Bahama over the years and continues to do so for many official functions.

Rev Lindy Russell, a former parliamentarian, has been involved in youth work for 40 years in Grand Bahama.

After recovering from a major stroke last year, Rev Russell continues his work in youth development.

THE TRIBUNE

ATTENDEES at last night’s Freedom of Information Act public meeting.

MASTER of ceremonies JJ McKenzie, of Radio House, Lisa Benjamin, of the Government comission, and Lemarque Campbell, of Citizens for a Better Bahamas.

SOME of those attending last night’s meeting to discuss the Freedom of Information Act.

Wednesday, May 11, 2016, PAGE 11

Photos: Tim Clarke/Tribune Staff

WAYNE Munroe QC speaks at a public forum on the Freedom of Infornation Act last night.

CALL FOR PROPER PROCESS FOR FOIA

THE NEED for a public education campaign for a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in the Bahamas was highlighted last night as a group of civil society organisations came together to implore the government to follow a proper consultative and informational process.

The Organisation for Responsible Governance, Citizens for a Better Bahamas, The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce, The Nassau Institute, The Bahamas Bar Association, We the People, HeadKnowles and Save The Bays laid on a Public Education Forum at

the Dundas Centre for the Performing Arts, Mackey Street, at which the public could learn about the importance of freedom of information, the government’s proposed legislation as well as express their opinion.

The group called for the Ministry of Education and the Attorney General’s Office to ensure that the necessary revised draft FOIA legislation is provided to the public in advance of a suitable number of scheduled public education and consultation town hall meetings, to be held around the country. Last month,

the government announced the public consultation phase would end on Thursday but town hall meetings so far have been poorly advertised and attended.

A FOIA was passed in Parliament in early 2012, during the Ingraham administration; however there was no enforcement date for that legislation. The PLP government created a revised bill in 2015, which is still in draft form. Last month, Jerome Fitzgerald, the minister responsible for the FOIA, said the bill would “probably” be tabled in the House of Assembly

by November.