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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8, 2016

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• “OVERWHELMING REJECTION” OF REFERENDUM BILLS • CHAOS AS ONLY 5 FULL CONSTITUENCY RESULTS ARE ANNOUNCED • PLP CHAIRMAN QUICK TO CONCEDE DEFEAT • CALLS FOR PRIME MINISTER TO RESIGN

A NO vote campaigner celebrates as the first results indicated a victory for those opposed to the referendum bills - but celebrations were muted with few final results available last night.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net THE four bills touted to bring gender equality to the country’s Constitution were “overwhelming” rejected by voters at the polls yesterday, although only a handful of results were released last night by the Parliamentary Registration Department due to numerous technical setbacks.

It is the first time in recent elections that full polling results have been withheld. Instead Parliamentary Commissioner Sherlyn Hall

gave an estimation based on voting trends from results that he saw.

His department only released unofficial results from six of 38 constituencies last night and only three of those were in New Providence. Results were released for North Andros and Berry Islands; Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador; Mangrove Cay and South Andros; Bamboo Town and Carmichael.

Only partial results were released for Elizabeth.

In the results that were released, the no vote more than doubled the yes votes

across all four questions in most cases.

Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Chairman Bradley Roberts released a press statement at 10pm conceding the vote with only five complete results declared.

Mr Hall pointed to electricity outages and telecommunication issues when pressed for an explanation over the stalled process.

“From the position of my office and from the results coming in to the office from all of the 38 constituencies, it appears as if the four constitutional bills have been rejected by the

endum.

Late into last evening and amid chaotic scenes, the department was blaming electrical failures, technical issues and procedural breaches for its inability to report totals for polling stations throughout the country.

“They are still coming in.

All of the results coming in

seem to be a rejection. I will leave it like that,” said Parliamentary Commissioner Sherlyn Hall during an 11pm impromptu press conference at the department’s Farrington Road headquarters long after news had started to circulate of the referendum’s failure.

SEE PAGE SIX

DEMAND FOR ANSWERS OVER FAILURE TO ISSUE RESULTS

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net

DESPITE acknowledging a resounding no vote, the Parliamentary Registration Department faces questions over its failure to adequately tabulate and issue the results of yesterday’s Constitutional Refer-

REFERENDUM COVERAGE INSIDE ON PAGES 2-7,11

Bahamian electorate and I can only say that much based on the results coming,” he told reporters last night.

“We are still waiting for some constituencies to provide results; they are still coming in but the vast majority appears to be, the vast majority in terms of the no vote, all of the questions have been rejected, overwhelming.”

Of the delays, Mr Hall said: “Well I have received reports that the current, BEC, the team in Montagu they are in darkness so they have difficulty

counting their ballots in darkness so I can speak to that. Others, it’s a typical election, you have four questions to count on the ballot paper and I’m sure if had you participated in this you would understand the gravity of what they were going through but I must commend my staff for a good job.”

He noted the results were still coming in after 11pm, but said what he saw appeared to be a “rejection”.

“I’ll leave it at that,” he said.

SEE PAGE TWO

TENSION on the face of Senate president Sharon Wilson, co-chair of the Yes campaign, as results seemed to suggest a rejection of the amendment bills.

Photo: Tim Clarke/Tribune Staff

CHEERS AND HYMNS FOR ‘NO’ CAMPAIGNERS

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

MEMBERS of the Save Our Bahamas campaign cheered and sang hymns at Grace Community Church last night when the constitutional referendum’s results

trickled in and indicated a large victory for their side.

All evening they expressed little doubt that a ‘no’ vote would succeed, saying they fulfilled their roles of “gatekeeper” by thwarting attempts to disrupt the status quo.

An hour before mid-

night, Lyall Bethel, senior pastor of Grace Community Church, urged the supporters not to “gloat,” expressing regret at how contentious the debate over the referendum had been.

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

SEE PAGE FIVE

‘CHRISTIE MUST GO AFTER SECOND FAILED VOTE’

By SANCHESKA BROWN Tribune Staff Reporter sbrown@tribunemedia.net FORT Charlotte MP Dr Andre Rollins last night said Prime Minister Perry Christie should resign immediately after spending millions “on two failed national referendums in a single term in office”.

Moments after it was announced that several constituencies overwhelmingly rejected all four of the Constitutional Referendum questions, Dr Rollins in a statement said he believes the vote was not about gender equality but rather “it was a referendum on a very unpopular PLP government and confirmation that this PLP government is not trustworthy”.

He said the government cannot escape blame for the outcome of this exercise.

“It is unheard of, and likely unprecedented, in any democratic nation for the head of the executive branch to suffer two national referendum defeats in a single term in office and not voluntarily offer his or her resignation, or be made to resign by a vote of no confidence initiated by his or her peers,” Dr Rollins said.

“The message delivered by the Bahamian people is pellucidly clear: the prime minister has lost his mandate to lead this country.

Mr Christie ought to resign forthwith or be made to SEE PAGE SEVEN

PAGE 2, Wednesday, June 8, 2016

NO Campaign supporters pictured at Grace Community Church during the referendum live broadcast.

THE TRIBUNE

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

‘OVERWHELMING REJECTION’ OF REFERENDUM BILLS

from page one

“Our fax is down because y’all (the media) had to do some sort of gymnastics, the cabling, so whatever mechanism that y’all did they have difficulty communicating by fax to us so most of the results have been telephoned,” he added.

Last night, former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham told The Tribune he was “disappointed by the government’s incompetence” in staging the referendum.

Around the time Mr Roberts released a press statement conceding the vote, results from only three constituencies had been released by the Parliamentary Registration Department.

In his statement, he called the exercise a “giant

step” in the ongoing fight for freedom, social justice and equality. He commended the efforts of the staff of the Constitutional Commission, the YES Bahamas campaign, and Prime Minister Perry Christie.

Mr Roberts said: “The vigorous and sometimes emotive public debate for and against the constitutional changes enlightened our people, deepened our democracy and our country is more mature and better for this exercise.

“The PLP remains committed to the principle of equality for all Bahamians under the law. We do so because it is consistent with our core values and the foundational principles upon which the PLP was built and thrived.”

When asked why Mr Roberts sent what appeared to be a concession speech

before his department had released the majority of the results, Mr Hall said he could not speak for the PLP chairman.

The full results will be published by June 9, according to Mr Hall, who said the department had two days to release the results and that official figures would be sent to the governor general first.

Polls opened across the country from 8am to 6pm yesterday. Anecdotal reports indicated that voter turnout in the capital was slow throughout the day.

Mr Hall thanked his staff, Family Island administrators and poll workers for their service administering the historic vote, which he said went smoothly.

Prime Minister Perry Christie did not release a statement on the results up to press time.

PRIME Minister Perry Christie pictured inside a frame showing his support for the Yes campaign.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, June 8, 2016, PAGE 3

Minnis: Vote shows lack of trust in Christie govt

By SANCHESKA BROWN Tribune Staff Reporter sbrown@tribunemedia.net

FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis said the country’s overwhelming rejection of the proposed changes to the Constitution yesterday is proof that the public no longer “trusts the Christie administration”.

Dr Minnis told The Tribune last night that he “had an idea this would be the outcome” because he does not believe many people understood the questions.

Dr Minnis said the government did a “poor job” educating the public and it has been reflected in the outcome of the referendum.

While the Parliamentary Registration Department only released a handful of results from yesterday’s vote, Parliamentary Commissioner Sherlyn Hall told reporters last night it ap-

peared that all four referendum questions had been “overwhelmingly” rejected.

“The people have spoken and we must respect the will of the people. This vote is a resounding rejection of the government.

The PLP no longer enjoys the trust of the Bahamian people and what we saw was true democracy,” Dr Minnis said.

“I believe persons should have been educated properly. I said to the people read the questions; I want people to understand the issues and absorb as much knowledge as they can. I asked persons to understand what they were being asked and then vote their conscience.

I do not believe many persons understood the questions, but the people have spoken. I had an idea of the outcome because people no longer trust the government.”

When asked if a government led by the FNM would hold another equality referendum if his party wins the next election, Dr Minnis said: “I would listen to the people.”

Meanwhile, Long Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner released a statement on the vote, which said while the results of the referendum reflect the will of the Bahamian people, it is “disappointing” for those who continue to experience constitutional discrimination.

“In a democracy, even though one may disagree with the results of a vote, that vote must stand as the expressed wish of the electorate. It is unfortunate that voter turnout was low,” Mrs Butler-Turner said.

“For those who campaigned for a yes vote the results are deeply disappointing. It is also disap-

pointing for those who will continue to experience constitutional discrimination.

Still, the work for equality continues. Throughout history the fight for equality often takes generations.

“We still have work to do to ensure equality for all our citizens, including constitutional equality. I continue to hold the convictions I have held regarding the struggle for equality and justice. We must always maintain the courage of our convictions.”

Mrs Butler-Turner also agreed that the vote “represents a dire lack of trust in the leadership of Prime Minister Perry Christie and the PLP”. She said the government must take responsibility for this failure.

Last night, Mr Hall said the full results of the referendum should be released

by Thursday.

DR HUBERT MINNIS, leader of the FNM, showing his thumb after voting.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

SENATE president Sharon Wilson addresses the media last night as votes came in from the different polling stations.

Photos: Tim Clarke/Tribune Staff

PAIN FOR ‘YES’ CAMPAIGNERS AS SIGNS OF DEFEAT EMERGE

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

MEMBERS and supporters of YES Bahamas last night painfully exclaimed “wow” and “my God” as they witnessed what appeared to be the overwhelming defeat of their campaign in support of the government’s referendum on gender equality.

At a special gathering at Charlotte House in anticipation of a favourable outcome to the referendum last night, a number of sombre YES Bahamas supporters looked on as the unofficial results from the various polling divisions leaned overwhelmingly towards a “no” vote on all four questions, spelling a certain defeat for their campaign.

The Parliamentary Registration Department did not release the final results, but Parliamentary Commissioner Sherlyn Hall said last night it appeared that all four questions had been “overwhelmingly” rejected.

Senate President and YES Bahamas co-chair Lady Sharon Wilson said while the campaign “looked forward to favourable results,” the group realised “that this is a democratic process and we must accept the results when the people speak.”

She added: “At the end of it I think there was just a lot of injection, some of it that was unexpected, of information that sought to contradict what we saw to be the truths of the campaign, and perhaps I would say introduced an element of confusion in the end.

“But at the end of the day I believe the Bahamian

LYNN HOLOWESKO, co-chair of the Yes campaign, voting earlier in the day.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff people would sit back, be sober, and their decision will prevail.

“There’s no doubt at the end of the day you know there are persons who will hold on to what they see as the politics of any situation, and I don’t think that can be discounted in this matter. I think it did have some role (to play).

“We heard the repeated reference to what happened in 2002 and we heard also that there were politicians who just simply refused to reveal or support what they previously revealed,” she said, referring to the failed constitutional referendum 14 years ago.

“And so I think there was political confusion as well, and perhaps it didn’t all go well to the overall campaign.”

Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson shared the same sentiments, adding that she was

“disappointed” that “such important questions were not successful”. She attributed the defeat to the “sowing of seeds of discord and misinformation” about the various tenets of the four bills.

“So what was happening is that people were focusing on what was not on the bills rather than what was in the bills,” Mrs MaynardGibson added. “And the nature of any election is that you actually vote for or against what’s on the ballot, not what’s not on the ballot.

And certainly I think that we have to acknowledge as well, or at least note as well, there was some concern about the difference in terms of the outcome of the (2013) gaming referendum and this one.”

She added: “I think that there was a good deal of misinformation that probably did contribute to what I would call confusion and

ATTORNEY General Allyson Maynard Gibson speaks to the media last night. people focusing on what was not on the bills, and that is disappointing. But even though that is disappointing, I still celebrate the fact that we are able in our country to hold constitutional referenda and for us to focus on issues that are important to our next generation.”

Sir Franklyn Wilson, well-known Bahamian businessman and husband of Lady Wilson, said the results suggested that the public “essentially bought into the slogan ‘no, no, no, and hell no.’”

“It appears as though not as much consideration of individual questions took place,” he added. “At the

end of the day, despite a valiant effort by the YES (Bahamas) campaign, there was just tremendous, tremendous confusion, and I think people’s attitude is ‘I don’t understand, vote no’.”

Wednesday, 8th June 2016

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THE TRIBUNE

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Yesterday’s referendum became a pawn to politics NEW YORK Times’ op-ed columnist Frank Bruni, writing an appreciation of Cassandra Butts, President Barack Obama’s appointee as US Ambassador to the Bahamas, noted that she had been waiting for more than 820 days for confirmation in her post and was still waiting when she unexpectedly died on May 25.

“The delay,” wrote Bruni, “had nothing to do with her qualifications, which were impeccable. It had everything to do with Washington. She was a pawn in its power games and partisanship.”

As we listened to the returns from yesterday’s referendum – a referendum, the object of which was to better protect the family unit, giving Bahamian men and women the same nationality rights in marriage, and securing Bahamian nationality for their children, wherever born – we questioned democracy. The defeat of an attempt to protect the family as one Bahamian unit was crushing. It soon became obvious that the voters’ intention was not to destroy the family, but, like the Butts’ case, the family was lost in the mounting anger and mistrust of the Christie government.

Shortly before entering an empty St Anne’ polling division 2 as 1pm approached yesterday, we were told by a young lady that until she read The Tribune’s supplement – “Time to right the wrongs” — she was in a state of complete confusion as to what all the fuss was about. After reading the supplement and understanding the suffering of Bahamian families, which had no law to protect them, she grasped the problem. She was now determined to vote — even for the much debated question No. 4, which had been wrongly interpreted as opening the door to same sex marriage.

Many going to the polls yesterday, marked their X in a cloud of confusion.

Many, not understanding — and others, just acting out of political anger — voted “no” to vent their frustration with the Christie government.

Everyone has the right to their own opinion, and the right to vote however they think best. However, for those who had little or no comprehension, and just voted to spite an untrustworthy government, we questioned the true worth of democracy.

We were not distracted for any length of time with these thoughts as we recalled Sir Winston Churchill’s wise assessment.

Said Sir Winston: “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.”

As we were writing this our son received a call from an acquaintance. The caller was in a noisy bar room. The men’s voices were raucous as they celebrated an untrustworthy government’s defeat.

Apologising for what he acknowledged was an emphatic “no across the board” vote, and admitting that he should have voted “yes”, the caller quickly added: “I feel a little guilty, but damn, it feels good to spite dem no good politicians today.

“Dey lie to us ‘bout erryting. No jobs!

Unemployment sky high; crime outta control and, sold the country to the Chinese. What a joke! They call it putting Bahamians first! I know I should have voted Yes, but damn, it felt good to tell them to get lost. We don’t trust the government to get it right! Full Stop…” and so he continued as he got louder and his language more raw. His chums in the background supported him as they celebrated the defeat of a government they could no longer

support.

We were surprised at Prime Minister Christie’s statement Tuesday morning that he is “disappointed” that the Official Opposition, who “once stood shoulder to shoulder” with him on the constitutional referendum, had decided to “back away” publicly from supporting the vote.

Why should he be surprised. Has he so quickly forgotten the referendum of 2002 when he withdrew his promised support of then Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham on the same issue?

Wasn’t it Mr Christie who, after he and his colleagues had voted in the House to support the 2002 referendum on the same nationality question, announced that he had changed his mind? After having taken so long to agree not to disagree, having voted “yes” on all the issues in the House, he announced that if the referendum were not cancelled he would be forced to vote “no”.

Again to accommodate him, the sixth referendum question of which he had complained was eliminated.

“If I knew then what I know now, I almost certainly would have taken a different position on the bills,” Mr Christie told those attending his first town meeting. It was predicted that if that referendum were lost, so would the election which followed shortly after. The PLP, headed by Mr Christie, won the 2002 election. The same has been predicted for the 2017 election, which can only happen if the FNM takes advantage of its early convention to get its house in order and elect a more forceful leader.

But it is the gambling referendum that really destroyed the Christie government.

Bahamians, supported by the churches, returned a resounding “No” to the legalisation of gambling. Despite the vote to close the web shops, the Christie government ignored the voice of the people — called it an opinion poll and not a referendum, and legalised gambling. With that betrayal the Christie government lost its supporters.

This was the referendum issue that confused Bahamians. The constitutional referendum, which was defeated yesterday, was one of several “entrenched” articles in the Constitution that once it got a two-thirds majority vote in both Houses of parliament and the vote of the people in a referendum could not be changed by the government. It was quite unlike the gambling “referendum” turned “opinion poll”. This poll was not necessary. It could have been settled in parliament at no cost. It was just that government wanted to duck the ire of the Baptist Church that parliamentarians thought it would be clever to let the people vote “yes” in a “referendum” to take the pastors’ heat off them. However, they were dropped in the scalding cauldron when the people voted “no” to gambling. It is assumed that deals had already been made before the vote, and so caught between the proverbial “rock and a hard place”, a “referendum” quickly became an “opinion poll” and a “No” vote was turned into a “Yes” by the Christie government. This betrayal is what destroyed yesterday’s referendum.

A lack of trust. If they can betray us once, they can betray us again, so why waste our time was the grumble.

It is just a shame that more people did not understand the importance of a “yes” vote yesterday and saved their anger for the 2017 election when they would have felt even better with a worthwhile victory.

The Referendum Act and what it is for

EDITOR, The Tribune.\

CURIOUS so I went online and read the Act. There are no provisions for what the PLP have been saying concerning the last Referendum on whether we wished Gaming - National Lottery where such an exercise was a poll.

All Referenda are binding - period.

The cost of a Referenda?

The Law provides that Parliament will provide the money to hold the vote has

anyone applied to Parliament for the $1.75m the Minister of National Security indicated this would cost?

Will that nullify the vote?

May I suggest what all are missing in this current exercise is that the public does not trust the government - essentially Bahamians do not wish anyone except persons born to Bahamians to be citizens - they fear, must say with justification, how many persons will after the exercise is over could be legally now qualified to apply

for citizenship? Is it hundreds or thousands?

There is no doubt the ‘Yes Campaign’ has turned many off. Everyday you heard those squeaky voices simply refusing to have an open debate on the pluses and the minuses.

You created No votes.

Christie better not turn a No to a Yes. 2017 is weeks away.

JESSICA SMITH Nassau, June 6, 2016.

Clarity over Harbour Island EDITOR, The Tribune.

Harbour Island, Bahamas Would greatly appreciate you publishing the following: Dunmore Town, is the capital of Harbour Island; Spanish Wells, is the capital of St George’s Cay; and, Governors Harbour, is the capital of Eleuthera.

Traditionally, the political divide, comprised, Eleuthera: Gregory Town, in the North, to Bannerman Town, in the South. The North, comprised: Harbour Island, St George’s Cay, Current Island, and on Eleuthera mainland: The Current,The Bluff, Lower Bogue and Upper Bogue.

Two Brilanders: Sir George W K Roberts, and the Venerable Trevor Kelly, represented Gregory Town to Bannerman Town. Sir George’s birthplace still stands at Bay and Princes Streets; and, we are informed that Mr Kelly’s birthplace was on the northern jib of land - on which Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, is erected.

The purpose of this article, is to “call-down” any and all who write and announce: ”Harbour Island, Eleuthera.” This is wrong.

Would they write to: Wendell Barry, P O Box...., Dunmore Town, Harbour Island, Eleuthera, Bahamas? No. From 1957 to December, 1969, I have never received any form of mail, addressed other than: My name, Harbour Island, Bahamas; or, Dunmore Town, Harbour Island, Bahamas.

Historical Account: Abstract from the Commonage Grant, issued in 1783,

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net

by Charles Rogers Nesbitt, Lieutenant Governor: “He displays courage best who looks in the face of failure and does the best he can.”

“This describes the condition when Colonel Andrew Deveaux, followed by officers and men of the Loyal South Carolina Militia, and a number of other men, attacked the Spaniards, and drove them from Nassau, in the year 1783.”

Further abstract: “In consideration of the services rendered by the gallant band from Harbour Island, they and their heirs and assigns forever, were granted 6,000 acres of land on the North Eastern end of Eleuthera.” This document was prepared July 1st, 1842. It provides for the families of: The Mallat-Marathon, City Lumber Yard, Kelly’s Lumber Yard, Betty-K Shipping, Nassau Dunbrick, Standard Plumbing, Pioneer Shipping, Sea Floor Aquarium and Turtle-shell Industry, Coca Cola, Pepsi Cola, Village Store and Nassau Glass, and others, to register and occupy said commonage land which, two hundred and eight pounds, six shillings and eight pence, was paid by ’Brilanders, to lay private claim.

Further abstract: The 6,000 acres is bounded: on the East by the Harbour of Dunmore Town, and a line commencing at the footpath leading from Bottom Harbour to Cotton Hole, running South 23 East to the sea and measuring 105 chains; on the South by the

sea: on the West by land reserved for the use of the inhabitants of the Current, Bluff and Spanish Wells: on the North by the Harbour of Dunmore Town and the sea, was made to certain inhabitants of the “Parish of Saint John,” within the Bahama Islands. Noticeably, Lower Bogue, Upper Bogue and Current Island, are not mentioned.

It is evident, then, that North Eleuthera, political define was: “The Parish of Saint John” by an Act of Parliament, 1768. This results from the Mission of St John’s Anglican Church, in Harbour Island, in 1737.

The area was changed to: The Harbour Island District. Then ministerial government in 1964, changed it to: The Harbour Island Constituency, then St John’s Constituency; then, in 1968 - to secure parliamentary tenure for Mr Alvin R Braynen, St John’s Constituency, included: The Bluff, Lower Bogue, Upper Bogue, The Current and Current Island. St George and Dunmore Constituency, included: Spanish Wells, St George’s Cay and Dunmore Town, Harbour Island. During the past three general elections, Gregory Town, Hatchet Bay and James Cistern, were added to the original St John’s Constituency.

The ad appearing in The Nassau Guardian, Business 10, dated Monday, August 23, 2010, is a serious affront to the afore-mentioned, Historical Account. Please! No more Harbour Island, Eleuthera.

WENDELL L BARRY Harbour Island, June 6, 2016.

What about the other Rubis?

EDITOR, The Tribune.

WHILE the public continues to hold its breath waiting for a full and honest explanation of the huge gas leak at a Rubis station on Robinson Road, there has been no discussion whatsoever about the two further leaks that came to light more recently.

One leak was said to have taken place at the Rubis station in Sandyport and the other at Porky’s Service Station on East Street South. As I recall, both the government and the company promised to report back to the public on these incidents but months have passed and yet again, there has been nothing but silence.

This failure to level with the public when serious

health hazards occur is extremely worrying, especially because in all three cases, nothing was said by either Rubis or the authorities until concerned members of the public noticed that something was wrong and decided to speak out.

Could there be other stations around New Providence or other islands leaking toxic chemicals into our water supply that we don’t know about? Are families being poisoned without their knowledge at this very moment?

It seems like both Rubis and the government failed to learn any lessons from the Robinson Road leak.

Do they plan to continue keeping the public in the dark about these dangerous incidents? Why is it so hard for them to just level with us

and tell us what is going on?

Gas leaks have very real and very serious consequences. People become sick and even die. Some of the diseases that can be caused as a result of exposure take years to develop and the people of Marathon continue to live in fear of what may happen to them or their children down the road. I would bet that there are people who live in Sandyport or on East Street who feel the same way.

Surely the time has come for both our government and corporate entities like Rubis to stop playing games and start to act in the best interest of the Bahamian people.

TOM PAINE Nassau, June 7, 2016

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, June 8, 2016, PAGE 5

Smith: This was a missed chance to educate voters

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net FORMER Cabinet minister George Smith said the government missed the opportunity to “adequately and fairly” educate voters on the extent of the four constitutional bills proposed in yesterday’s referendum.

Speaking to The Tribune prior to casting his ballot, Mr Smith said the lack of clarity on the amendments

left scores of voters perplexed and unsure.

He noted that yesterday’s vote was beset with the same issues that plagued the 2002 constitutional referendum, insisting that the educational campaign in this vote failed to “identify the groups set to benefit from all the talk”.

“Just like we did 14 years ago, I am hoping for a successful vote,” he said before the polls closed. “But, if we fail in this bid we have to understand that there

is a better way to do this.

Bahamians are concerned about the large number of what they perceive to be foreigners set to come here.

We should have done a better job quantifying and qualifying what this vote means.

“We never bothered to say how much people would be affected by this. Where are the statistics? Where are the counts of how many spouses are waiting, kids of Bahamian men and women that live here and are un-

able to gain citizenship?”

“That is what we should have compiled and educate from. The better way is to involve the voters from the beginning, say to them that this is why we saw fit to bring this. Here it is, we have ‘x’ amount of children born to Bahamian parents that are caught up. We have ‘x’ amount of spouses caught up. Give them the pros and cons, lay it all out.”

Mr Smith, who served during the Pindling era,

said: “I recall when we were making the push to independence, there was certainly apprehension but we got down in the trenches, walked through constituencies and we - members of the PLP - talked to persons about their concerns and explained what was at stake.”

The former Exuma MP said the “fear of the unknown” has spread like wildfire, insisting that speculation has taken the place of fact.

“Now, everywhere all we hear is same-sex this and gay rights that. We should have started this process by getting all stakeholders together - pastors, lawyers, everyone - get them together and allow them to point the Constitutional Commission in the right direction as it relates to the wording of these bills. If we did, all these opposing claims would have been null and void.”

Mr Smith voted ‘yes’ to all four amendments.

SMILES on the faces of ‘No’ campaign supporters at Grace Community Church during the referendum live broadcast last night.

CHEERS AND HYMNS FOR ‘NO’ CAMPAIGNERS

from page one

“We have to lead the process toward healing,” he said, adding that Bahamians were dismayed by accusations that some people engaged in “unchristianlike” behaviour for their stance against the bills.

However, despite the conciliatory note, it was clear that among many of the ‘no’ supporters in the room, lingering feelings of animosity existed over the government’s failure to give them access to public funds for their campaign and over the “insults” thrown their way.

“We have God on our side,” said one woman.

She identified herself only as Linda because “the government does be vindictive.”

Echoing a sentiment expressed by others, she added: “I’m offended that (Prime Minister Perry Christie) took my money and used it against me.”

She said Mr Christie and some other proponents of the bills owe people like her an apology for “insulting” them. “As a Christian voting in this country, we have just as much rights as every-

one else,” she said. “Perry Christie and the vote ‘yes’ group needs to apologise to us for all the names they called us. I think every Christian in this country should be offended by the things they said. They said they were presenting an honest voting process and referendum, but the fact is they only presented one half of the argument. No government that does not present both sides is in favour of giving the people the correct information.”

Darlene Saunders said she knew the referendum would fail after she conducted an informal survey of her Atlantis coworkers, which indicated that only 15 per cent of them supported the bills – the rest said they would vote ‘no.’

“One of the main things that offended me was fact that the government supported the ‘yes’ campaign and gave nothing to the vote ‘no’ campaign,” she said.

“It’s dictatorship. We’re talking about equal rights aren’t we? So you would want the government to fund both sides.”

Asked if she felt any sympathy for those who will be disfranchised by the results

due to inequality in the Constitution, she rationalised her decision to vote ‘no’ by saying if passed, the bills would not have been retroactive.

“The citizenship bills would’ve had to be retroactive to make a difference,” she said.

She described the government as a particularly “poor messenger” for change, pointing to its decision to go against the gambling referendum of 2013 as evidence that it cannot be trusted.

Although the referendum has been touted as one that would enhance the rights of women, most of the people at the Save Our Bahamas campaign watch party were women and they were the ones who led the crowd of about 50 people in a rendition of “What a Mighty God we Serve” after PLP Chairman Bradley Roberts released a statement conceding the referendum’s failure.

“It doesn’t really matter whether I’m a woman or not,” said Theresa Knowles.

“My stand is I stand for God and firstly I stand for truth and Jesus, so no matter what I may be my beliefs must line up to God’s

DNA leader Branville McCartney and his wife, Lisa McCartney, pictured showing their thumb after voting. Ahead of the vote, Mr McCartney had signalled he would vote no to all four bills.

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

words. Truth first over anything else.”

As Bahamians assess in the coming days why the ‘yes’ campaign appeared to have lost by such a large margin, Bishop Walter Hanchell, a vocal opponent of the bills, gave his diagnosis, saying: “Bahamians never asked for this referendum.”

“This is an agenda the government gave the people, nobody asked for it.

We believe God has given us this victory for the Bible still says righteous exalts

the nation.”

Despite the fierce debate in the lead-up to the referendum, a sense of inevitability surrounding the results filled the room.

By the end, Mr Bethel said the referendum was “unnecessary.”

As for those that will continue to be disfranchised by the Constitution, he said parliamentarians should make legislative changes rather than bring another referendum to address the issues.

Bishop Hanchell said

the vote ‘no’ campaign will have a press conference today to discuss the results of the referendum.

Among other things, Mr Bethel is expected to call on the government to give an account of how public funds were spent to aid the YES Bahamas campaign.

PAGE 6, Wednesday, June 8, 2016

THE TRIBUNE

Voters say no - but few final results FULL results were only available last night for five constituencies - and a partial result listing for one more. Those results are as follows: Bill

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Total

Bill

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Total

Bamboo Town 1 2 3 4 Yes-No Yes-No Yes-No Yes-No 49-176 37-185 44-179 20-204 61-142 34-169 54-151 23-181 65-158 34-188 54-169 21-200 69-129 40-148 51-131 33-155 39-109 28-121 39-110 15-134 59-114 41-132 55-121 23-150 44-110 28-126 34-119 19-134 50-102 32-120 47-106 26-124 38-133 29-143 39-132 19-153 57-151 39-170 43-166 17-192 57-76 44-92 54-82 32-103 117-253 77-293 108-241 56-313 30-100 29-102 32-98 21-107 65-98 47-117 51-112 36-127 800-1851 539-2106 705-1917 361-2277 Carmichael 1 2 3 Yes-No Yes-No Yes-No 78-174 51-201 57-181 43-123 26-139 37-128 116-250 85-284 103-265 41-93 30-104 35-100 82-149 61-172 74-157 80-164 61-183 69-174 72-159 47-185 61-171 63-165 42-188 54-175 88-137 56-171 71-155 66-142 45-162 54-152 65-148 41-170 68-155 33-114 23-124 28-143 67-129 51-145 58-139 54-92 31-114 41-103 948-2039 650-2342 810-2198

4 Yes-No 23-218 20-145 53-314 21-111 45-186 42-205 33-199 33-196 38-186 35-171 20-192 17-130 33-163 20-125 433-2541

Elizabeth Bill 1 2 3 4

Yes-No Yes-No Yes-No Yes-No 1 55-135 37-152 38-152 25-164 2 59-105 46-118 56-108 31-133 3 80-96 60-113 70-104 45-128 6 78-144 78-166 72-161 40-184 7 51-108 40-124 50-114 28-135 8 82-143 57-171 66-161 45-179 9 90-128 70-151 81-138 56-166 11 96-134 73-159 79-151 40-191 Polling divisions 4, 5, 12, 13 not confirmed

Bill

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Total

Bill

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Total

Mangrove Cay & South Abaco 1 2 3 Yes-No Yes-No Yes-No 6-5 5-6 5-6 19-13 17-15 17-15 21-38 17-41 20-38 25-43 23-45 23-45 23-37 16-48 18-39 18-16 8-21 10-19 30-40 22-51 27-46 33-52 31-55 32-54 21-61 18-65 22-62 17-28 13-29 14-26 38-43 29-52 35-45 22-58 15-63 15-64 273-434 214-491 238-459

4 Yes-No 5-6 13-19 12-44 15-52 12-46 8-21 17-57 21-65 17-66 7-33 18-63 9-69 154-541

North Andros & Berry Island 1 2 3 4 Yes-No Yes-No Yes-No Yes-No 17-26 15-20 15-30 9-34 31-57 26-60 20-59 25-63 22-34 23-34 21-36 19-37 38-72 32-75 37-72 26-83 14-26 13-28 15-25 9-32 7-23 6-24 4-25 4-25 7-7 7-7 7-7 8-7 64-100 46-116 50-113 45-119 122-22 19-33 19-32 19-31 22-31 19-33 19-32 19-33 7-10 6-11 8-9 4-13 9-28 7-31 7-30 4-32 9-20 9-20 9-20 5-25 369-456 228-492 231-490 196-534

Cat island, Rum Cay & San Sal Bill 1 2 3 4

Yes-No Yes-No Yes-No Yes-No 1

34-24 28-30 34-25 22-36 2 27-16 25-18 26-17 21-23 3 11-33 11-33 12-33 6-36 4 16-8 13-11 15-9 12-12 5 24-30 17-31 26-34 13-40 6 9-37 11-36 9-37 7-39 7 19-22 18-23 18-22 12-28 8 4-11 3-12 2-13 2-13 9 23-13 19-16 23-12 6-16 10 39-83 77-94 81-90 57-111 11 33-18 30-21 31-18 25-25 Total 239-295 252-325 277-310 183-379 Confirmed results were not available for any other constituencies - with our reporters told that no further information would be coming from officials last night.

Demand for answers over failure to issue results

from page one

Last night, results from only six constituencies were released, one of which was incomplete.

Meanwhile, PLP Chairman Bradley Roberts released a statement at 10pm appearing to concede defeat to the Vote no campaign in the Constitutional Referendum, despite no more than five constituencies’ results being officially tallied.

When asked of Mr Roberts’ statement and whether he was privy to inside information ahead of the department, Mr Hall would only state: “I cannot speak for Mr Roberts, sir.”

In a statement posted to Facebook last night, Fort Charlotte MP Dr Andre Rollins accused the government of “suppressing” the referendum’s results, saying this was “repugnant to any democrat”. He accused Mr Roberts of colluding with the Parliamentary Registration Department “in

preventing the full release of (Tuesday’s) election returns”.

“It is evident that the PLP chairman is trying to minimise coverage and commentary of the referendum results in (Wednesday’s) newspapers, thereby leaving it until Thursday’s papers, where the focus will shift to coverage of the Budget debate that begins tomorrow,” Dr Rollins said.

Last night Mr Hall tried to explain why the department could not release the full results.

“Basically, our fax (machines) are down because the (media) had to do some gymnastics with cabling, so whatever mechanism that I think you all did, (polling stations) had a difficulty communicating by fax to us.

So most of the results were telephoned, by cell, etc,” he added.

According to Mr Hall, a power outage limited reports from the Montagu constituency.

Additionally, issues with the department’s fax machines limited

VOTERS line up in West Grand Bahama.

the reporting of results in “a number of other” constituencies.

Throughout the evening the department was plagued with internet issues, a lack of phone lines and at times, officials looked overwhelmed by members of the press.

Media outlets were stationed at all corners of the Parliamentary Registration Department’s offices.

Members of the press were informed that “runners” were in place and would transport results as they came in to all outlets.

However, moments after results came in from the first polling station, chaos followed as some media outlets were granted access to results prior to Mr Hall having an opportunity to verify the numbers.

This led to the office rejecting media reports and implementing a moratorium on results being given to the press.

Mr Hall said the full results would be released by Thursday.

Photo: Vandyke Hepburn/BIS

A WEST Grand Bahama voter casts her ballot.

A VOTER casts his ballot in Killarney.

Photo: Vandyke Hepburn/BIS

Photo: demand for answers over failure to issue results/

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, June 8, 2016, PAGE 7

Vote goes smoothly in Grand Bahama

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

VOTERS young and old turned out in Grand Bahama to vote in the controversial referendum on gender equality after weeks of strong campaigning by the government and various opposing groups in the lead up to the poll.

Acting Assistant Parliamentary Commissioner Reno Smith reported that there were 28,718 eligible voters on the register in Grand Bahama.

“Everything went well and we had very minimal challenges with persons going to the wrong polling stations,” he told The Tribune. “But, basically it went well and we had very large turnouts of enthusiastic voters in the early morning in Freeport.”

There were no major issues reported in either East or West Grand Bahama, Mr Smith said.

Harvey Tynes, QC, was spotted around 11am at the Freeport Primary School, which served as one of five polling stations for the East Grand Bahama constituency.

Mr Tynes believes that all four bills are flawed, but is mainly opposed to bill two, which would give foreign husbands of a Bahamian woman the same right to apply for citizenship that the foreign spouse of Bahamian man currently enjoys.

However, this would not be

ASSISTANCE for one voter in Grand Bahama yesterday. automatic and be subject to review by immigration officials.

The lines were not long and voters were in and out quickly.

While at Freeport Primary School, The Tribune spoke to Rev Lucian Hall who shared his feelings on the referendum.

“I voted ‘yes’ across the board. I think the referendum is a good thing,” said Rev Hall. “I think it is about time that we make it right for all Bahamians to be on equal footing concerning

citizenship. I have personal experience with my family going through hardship and difficulty because of the unfair practices we have in the country regarding equality.”

Rev Hall does not think that it is right that children of foreign fathers married to Bahamian women are not able to automatically take the citizenship of their Bahamian mothers if they are born abroad. He noted that too many children are suffering now under the current law. “It is time to try

Photo: Vandyke Hepburn/BIS and make it right.”

Resident Kevin Bain did not agree with Rev Hall and said he voted ‘no’ across the board.

“He is talking about regularising Bahamians, but what happens with those born before the referendum you still have thousands who are disenfranchised because it is not retroactive, and that is the problem,” he said.

Jarvin Roberts said he also voted ‘no’ to all four bills. He said that the government is supposed to be impartial.

“The mere fact that … they were backing the ‘yes’ group, I felt they took away my right; they are not supposed to (tell) Bahamians how to vote,” he said.

Mr Bain agreed that the government’s job is to educate Bahamians and not pick sides. “They are not to tell us what to vote. Anytime you have a senior civil servant such as the director of immigration campaigning, that is a problem - it is not supposed to happen.”

A male voter who did not give his name said that he voted ‘no’ to bill four, which some religious ministers believe would open the door to same-sex marriage in the Bahamas.

“I do not agree with the last bill, that ain’t right in God’s eyes,” he said. “In the Bible that is an abomination. I voted ‘yes’ for the other three, but the fourth I ain’t for that one.”

At the Jack Hayward High School, voters were pouring in steadily around noon to vote.

Yesterday Rev Keith Meadows said it is the duty of citizens of the Bahamas to participate in important national events like a referendum.

“I read all of the bills for myself and whenever you have to make a decision such as this we need to look into it, dissect for yourself because everyone’s views are different. You cannot look at the other’s views because everyone has their

‘CHRISTIE MUST GO AFTER SECOND FAILED VOTE’

from page one

face a vote of no confidence initiated in the House of Assembly by both PLP and FNM members of Parliament.”

Dr Rollins also called for an accounting of all of the money that was spent by the government to fund the YES Bahamas campaign.

“The public is entitled to receive, during the course of the impending budget debate, a complete accounting for the expenditures related to the ‘vote yes’ campaign and an admission by the nation’s chief that the PLP with its history of hypocritically opposing these same questions in the 2002 referendum and its recent failure to respect the results of the gaming referendum - was the wrong party to put these questions to the Bahamian people,” Dr Rollins said.

“Furthermore, it is unacceptable for the government to reportedly spend $6m on these last two failed referendum exercises, without holding the prime minister

and his cabinet directly responsible and accountable for their overwhelming failures.”

It is unclear where Dr Rollins got his figures on referendum spending from; however the government has said it spent $1.2m on the 2013 gambling referendum and had budgeted $1.57m for yesterday’s vote, for a total of $2.8m according to The Tribune’s calculations.

The government has not said how much it spent to fund the YES Bahamas campaign however.

In February, Dr Rollins predicted that the referendum would fail. At the time, he told The Tribune he believed the vote would become “a victim of the extreme unpopularity” of the Christie administration.

Stating that he has always held the view that women’s rights are human rights and that women ought to be treated as equal to men under the law, Dr Rollins said earlier this year that the push for gender equality was being used as a political

FORT Charlotte MP Dr Andre Rollins yesterday.

tool by the Progressive Liberal Party because of the looming general election.

He suggested at the time that the government delay the vote until after the 2017 election, with a promise from all political parties that the referendum would be held within 90 days of the next election.

FORMER Governor General Orville Turnquest and Prime Minister Perry Christie yesterday.

Photos: Tim Clarke/Tribune Staff

interpretation, even when it comes to the Word of God,” Rev Meadows said.

The clergyman did not want to share how he voted, but said he voted based on his interpretation and based on the guidance from the spirit.

“After hearing the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ side, I determined my decision based on the direction of God,” he said.

Lawyer Constance McDonald, who led the vote ‘yes’ campaign in Grand Bahama, said she felt confident about the outcome.

PAGE 8, Wednesday, June 8, 2016

THE TRIBUNE

Former BUT president denies misuse of funds

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net SUSPENDED Bahamas Union of Teachers President Belinda Wilson said yesterday that none of the union’s funds was misappropriated or wrongfully spent as she called on teachers to elect representatives of her team to office in Thursday’s election.

Mrs Wilson was suspended last year pending the results of a police investigation into alleged violations of union procedures.

She had previously been suspended amid allegations that more than $1.1m from the union’s pension and savings account was wrongfully spent.

A source told The Tribune yesterday that the police have completed its investigation into the matter and that the file concerning the matter is now before the Office of the Attorney General.

Another condition that must be met before Mrs Wilson’s suspension can be lifted is that a forensic audit must be completed.

That report, a source said, is also “basically” completed. It is likely to be presented at the union’s 69th annual general meeting.

Acting BUT President Zane Lightbourne said Monday that the media shouldn’t give credence to what Mrs Wilson says with regard to her team seeking a position on BUT’s execu-

tive body because she is a suspended officer.

Nonetheless, in a statement released on Tuesday, Mrs Wilson defended herself and vouched for her team, although the position of president will not be on the ballot.

She said: “After an almost two-year-old suspension, allegations, innuendos, slander, libel, and misinformation to the members and the public; after three forensic audits covering the period 2008 -2015 from two separate auditors, namely HLB Galanis & Co and Baker Tilly Gomez, there is no money missing from the union, no money was spent by the president or any of the other two officers for personal use, all the money spent was for or on behalf of the union and all financial transactions to access money was done in accordance with the union’s procedure.”

Among the allegations being levied is that “overpayments” were made in connection with the construction of the BUT’s $1.3m building in Grand Bahama.

To this, Mrs Wilson said: “Ironically, some of the same officers who have made these allegations are signatories on requisitions which were used to access the money which was used for the Grand Bahama multi-purpose complex.

This building is the first edifice built by the Bahamas Union of Teachers in 44 years.”

OBAMA PAYS TRIBUTE TO AMBASSADORIAL NOMINEE DESCRIBING her as his moral compass as well as a Swiss-Army knife who could do a little bit of everything, President Barack Obama yesterday commemorated his nomination for ambassador to the Bahamas, Cassandra Butts, who died on May 25 from leukemia.

A former Harvard Law School classmate and adviser, Ms Butts served in the Obama administration in its earliest days, providing legal advice to his transition team and then working as deputy White House counsel focused on judicial nominations. The North Carolinian also served as senior adviser at the Millennium Challenge Corporation, an agency that fights global poverty.

Mr Obama nominated her to be the ambassador to The Bahamas but the Senate did not act on it.

The president celebrated Ms Butts’ life at a memorial service, along with Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and hundreds of others at Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church in Washington, DC. He described her as a warrior for social justice, a warm and generous servant devoted to bettering the lives of others.

“She was as true a person as I ever met and I loved her dearly and I will miss her badly,” said Mr Obama, who attended the memorial with first lady Michelle Obama.

Associated Press

‘

There is no money missing from the union, no money was spent by the president or any of the other two officers for personal use, all the money spent was for or on behalf of the union and all financial transactions to access money was done in accordance with the union’s procedure.’

Belinda Wilson

Colin is expected to produce additional rainfall of up to two inches across far eastern North Carolina, and as much as five inches across central Florida during last night.

The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Colin, which formed on Sunday, was the earliest a third named storm had developed during the Atlantic hurricane season, which officially began on June 1.

In Dare County, North Carolina, which includes pencil-thin territories from Kitty Hawk down to Hatteras Island, Emergency Management Director Drew Pearson said rain had been falling nearly continuously since Tropical Storm Bonnie, which formed on

PUBLIC schools will be dismissed at 1pm on Thursday to allow teachers to participate in the Bahamas Union of Teachers’ national election. All schools will resume on Friday, June 10, at their normal hours.

The Ministry of Education said parents are asked to stay abreast with the notices from their child’s school to ensure that they are well informed of important dates as we approach the end of the school year.

PM HAILS SIGNIFICANCE OF TODAY’S BUDGET DEBATE IN PARLIAMENT

By SANCHESKA BROWN Tribune Staff Reporter sbrown@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Perry Christie said today’s budget debate will be the most “significant and interesting” debate in his term as leader.

Speaking with the press moments after voting in the constitutional referendum at H O Nash on Tuesday, Mr Christie said to ensure that all the promises in this budget are kept, he has put Permanent Secretary Jack Thompson in charge of overseeing the “execution.”

Mr Christie said the budget debate will move forward in the House of Assembly regardless of the

outcome of Tuesday’s referendum.

“We start the budget debate tomorrow (Wednesday), so the country has no time to reflect whether in happiness or regret. We have to move on to this very significant debate,” Mr Christie said.

“This is the final budget in my term moving forward and I think it is going to be a very interesting one because we are at the stage where we have made a significant a new paradigm really in some of the commitments we are making.

I appointed a permanent secretary, Jack Thompson, to be actually in charge of the execution of what I had promised in this year’s

TROPICAL STORM HEADS OUT TO SEA

TROPICAL Storm Colin headed out to sea yesterday after dumping as much as nine inches of rain on parts of Florida, forcing at least one city to pump partially treated sewage into the Gulf of Mexico because the system was overloaded with rainwater.

Colin flooded roads and caused thousands of power outages in Florida and a team investigated a possible tornado related to the storm that damaged homes and toppled trees in Jacksonville.

The city of St Petersburg said it was pumping sewage into Tampa Bay because its sewer system has been overloaded with rainwater infiltrating leaky sewer pipes.

Although the storm was out to sea, forecasters said

EARLY CLOSURE FOR SCHOOLS

May 28. So far, there had been no major flooding.

“We’re really just seeing large amounts of water,” Mr Pearson said, noting that many roads in the Outer Banks are at sea level, meaning that they can be quickly impacted by heavy rains. Traffic may be slow but had not been stopped anywhere, he said.

Tropical storm warnings were discontinued yesterday as the remnants of Colin sped away from the mid-Atlantic coast and out to sea.

Although maximum sustained winds are at 68mph with higher gusts, the system’s strongest winds and heaviest rains were over water and southeast of the centre. The NHC said some slight strengthening

was possible last night, but gradual weakening was expected to begin today.

Schools in Wilmington, North Carolina, opened two hours later than usual yesterday because of the weather.

Governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency as Colin moved across Florida, dumping nine inches of rain in parts of Pinellas County along Florida’s Gulf Coast. Flood warnings were issued in many parts of the Tampa Bay area and yesterday’s commute was a difficult one with some roads underwater.

The high winds and rain knocked out power to about 10,000 people from Tampa Bay to Jacksonville.

Associated Press

budget so we are going to be seen to be engaged in active delivery in what I have promised as we progress through the year . . . at the end of the day the challenges remain that we must get more people working, we must lessen the impact of crime and the fear of crime and we must move our country forward in a very progressive way.”

Last month, during his nearly four-hour budget communication, Mr Christie praised his government’s ability to secure a “framework agreement” to resume construction efforts at the Baha Mar resort and cut the government’s fiscal borrowing over the course of the next budget cycle.

He also announced a revamped mortgage relief initiative, an apprenticeship programme aimed to reduce youth unemployment, adjustments to customs rates and even minor programmes aimed at spurring economic growth.

Mr Christie also tabled a resolution for the government to borrow just over $99m for expenditure.

This, he said is significantly down from the $543m needed when the Christie administration first took office in 2012.

Mr Christie said that the government is looking to reform recurrent and capital expenditure, enhance recurrent revenue and greatly reduce its borrowing.

NEW BID TO REACH BLACK BOX OF FREIGHTER SUNK DURING HURRICANE JACKSONVILLE (AP) - Investigators are launching a new effort next month to retrieve the “black box” of a freighter that sank last October in The Bahamas with 33 crew members on board.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Monday said it, US Coast Guard and Navy personnel will depart in early July for the site near Crooked Island where the El Faro sank during Hurricane Joaquin. They will be accompanied by engineers from a private company

that specialises in underwater projects.

The ship’s voyage data recorder could not be retrieved when it was located in April because of obstructions that require specialised equipment.

The 790-foot freighter sank in 15,000 feet of water after losing propulsion between Jacksonville, Florida, and Puerto Rico, during the category four storm. All 33 crew died.

The recorder may hold audio from the ship’s bridge that can shed light on its final moments.

CANADIAN GOVERNMENT ISSUES TRAVEL WARNING FOR THE BAHAMAS

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

THE Canadian government has again warned its citizens to exercise a “high degree of caution” when travelling to The Bahamas to avoid falling prey to this country’s “high rates of crime.”

The advisory, posted on the Canadian government’s website www.cana-

da.ca, said that while there is no nationwide advisory in effect for the Bahamas, its citizens should “exercise a high degree of caution” due to “high rates of crime, particularly in Nassau”.

The warning comes just months after the US Embassy in Nassau issued a Christmas crime warning for American residents living in the Bahamas or planning to travel to this

country.

In August of last year, both the British and Canadian governments warned their citizens that crime in the Bahamas was increasing and urged travellers to New Providence to be vigilant.

And in 2014, Canada issued a similar warning, at the time urging travellers to be vigilant while raising the alert status from normal.

As it stands, there have been 52 murders this year, according to The Tribune’s records. The country recorded 149 murders in 2015, the highest ever in the history of The Bahamas. Of the murders committed last year, 126 - or 86 per cent - were recorded in New Providence; 17 or 12 per cent - in Grand Bahama and three - or two per cent - in the Family Islands.

In February, Police Commissioner Ellison Greenslade said the policing priorities for 2016 will be the prevention and detection of crime, reducing the fear of crime and removing dangerous weapons, mainly firearms, off the streets.

As part of its crime detection efforts, the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) will further develop and properly staff

an Anti-Gang Unit; aggressively target active criminals and monitor prolific offenders; and plans to acquire a helicopter for “rapid response” to serious crimes and patrol of hotspots, the commissioner’s 2016 policing plan says.

The RBPF also plans to continue saturation patrols in areas of high crime and extend the use of CCTV to help prevent crime.

THE THETRIBUNE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, June 8, 2016, PAGE Wednesday, June 8, 2016, PAGE A99

TECHTALK

WORDS OF WISDOM FROM THE ICT SECTOR MORE THAN 100 students, teachers and industry representatives participated in the second celebration of Girls in ICT Day in the Bahamas.

Girls in ICT Day, part of a global initiative led by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), was held on April 28 at the British Colonial Hilton and hosted students from 24 schools throughout Nassau and the Family Islands. Its purpose is to promote the use of and access to Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) by women and girls; to expose young women to the myriad of opportunities in the sector and to empower girls and young women with the knowledge that careers in ICTs can be very beneficial.

The event was hosted by the Utilities Regulation & Competition Authority (URCA) in partnership with the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC), Cable Bahamas, The Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas (ZNS) and other service providers in the electronic communications sector.

The event was a one-day symposium for senior high school girls in grades nine to 12, and was designed to give students the opportunity to meet and speak with outstanding women whose jobs require significant ICT skills.

The students were treated to words of wisdom from many women working in ICT positions throughout the country.

Presentations included an informative and personal keynote address from Julianna Mahelis, a pilot at Bahamasair, who said when she told persons that she worked for the airline, she would often be asked “oh what is it like being a stewardess”.

Another highlight was the panel discussion featuring Shantelle Lopez, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Manager at the Water & Sewerage Corporation; Lynda Burrows, Senior Manager IT Operations and IT Helpdesk at Commonwealth Bank; Kendia Barr, Information Technology (IT) Teacher at Old Bight High School, Cat Island; Caron Klein, Enterprise Resource Planning Manager at BTC; and Shayvonne Moxey-Bonamy, Senior Meteorological Officer at the Bahamas Dept of Meteorology.

The girls also participated in activities led by fellow student Gabrielle Hollaende, of Lyford Cay International School and a prospective computer game creator, and IT educator Ramona Wells. They were given the opportunity to visit a host of exhibitors representing various areas of ICTs, including The Amoury Company, BTC, BTVI, Cable Bahamas, Fourth Terrace Diagnostic Centre, Synergy Bahamas and URCA. “Thanks to URCA for mak-

NFL TWITTER ACCOUNT SACKED BY HACKERS

IT LOOKS like the NFL needs to change its Twitter password after another high profile hacking yesterday.

The league’s official Twitter account was hacked with with a fake tweet saying Commissioner Roger Goodell had died. “We regret to inform our fans that our commissioner, Roger Goodell, has passed away. He was 57. #RIP.” The NFL responded quicker than a strong side safety blitz, announcing the league’s Twitter account was hacked. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy, who tweeted to confirm the hacking, added that Goodell “is alive and well”.

The hack is the latest involving big-name Twitter accounts, including pop stars Katy Perry, Drake and reality star Kylie Jenner. On Sunday, Ourmine, a hacker group with 41,000 followers on Twitter, claimed to have compromised Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn accounts. In a tweet, the group bragged about the alleged hacks and invited Zuckerberg to contact the group.

The hacks come after LinkedIn said last month more than 100 million members’ email and password combina-

tions had been posted online. The data was taken during a 2012 data breach. A separate set of 6.5 million encrypted passwords stolen during that attack had previously been posted.

Although the NFL deleted yesterday’s bogus tweet, the hacker did not stop. In a second tweet, the hacker wrote, “Oi, I said Roger Goodell has died. Don’t delete that tweet.”

In a third tweet the hacker gave up, saying, “OK, OK, you amateur detectives win. Good job.”

The hacker’s tweets have been retweeted thousands of times.

TERRY COLLINS Cnet.com

• A TEAM accompanied by renowned Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass is testing a new scanner on the Great Pyramid of Giza tomorrow, hoping that modern technology could help unlock ancient secrets buried deep beneath the stone.

The scanner, which uses subatomic particles known as muons to examine the 4,500 year-old burial structure, was first set up at the site last year and will complete its data collection this month.

“It’s running right now, and if it manages to detect one of the three chambers we already know exist inside, then we will continue the scans,” Mr Hawass said. He has been appointed by the Antiquities Ministry to head the team that will review the scan results.

Late last year, thermal scanning identified a major anomaly in the pyramid three adjacent stones at its base which registered higher temperatures than others.

ing this experience possible.

“Being around the ICTs field for a day, I had an awesome time. I hope to be back next year by God’s grace,” remarked a 10th grade student from Samuel Guy Pinder All Age School in Spanish Wells.

“My career is cooking, but that might change into ICTs,” she said.

“Almost 70 per cent of attendees indicated their interest in pursuing studies and/or careers in ICTs as a result of the event, which speaks to its success,” added Mavis Johnson-Collie, Corporate and Consumer Relations Manager at URCA. “We look forward to this event growing and evolving each year as we look for unique and engaging ways to expose our young women to the opportunities that abound in field of ICTs in the country.”

• TWO NEW Samsung phones with folding screens could be unveiled next year.

The South Korean tech giant is mulling the release of two phones with bendable screens as soon as 2017, according to the Bloomberg news agency yesterday, which cites anonymous sources “familiar with the matter”.

One of the phones, which could reportedly see the light of day early next year, is said to fold in half like a makeup compact. The other could serve as a 5-inch smartphone but fold out into a larger tablet-style gadget.

“We can’t comment on market speculation,” Samsung said.

SAMSUNG CHALLENGES FITBIT WITH GEAR FIT2 SAMSUNG is unveiling a new fitness tracker that aims to undercut gadgets from market leader Fitbit.

Beyond offering all-day step counting and automatic sleep tracking, the $180 Gear Fit2 comes with GPS sensors for more accurate measuring of distance and pacing for runners and cyclists.

GPS is typically limited to higher-end devices, such as the Fitbit Surge and the Microsoft Band 2, both of which go for $250. The Fit2 is also cheaper than the new $200 Fitbit Blaze, which does not have GPS. The main drawback: The Fit2 won’t sync with iPhones, as Fitbits do. An Android phone - not necessarily Samsung’s - is required for syncing music and workout data.

While Samsung is the world’s fifthlargest maker of wearable devices, according to technology market research firm IDC, most of those are Gear smartwatches, where fitness is an afterthought.

By contrast, fitness is front and centre with the Fit2. Yet it will also have some smartwatch capabilities, including the

ability to reply to messages from the device. Rival trackers at most tend to show you messages; replies are typically limited to smartwatches such as Apple Watch and Samsung’s Gear S2.

Advance orders on the Fit2 will begin Friday in the US, with shipments a week later. Later this year, Samsung will release its $200 Gear IconX earbuds that, in addition to playing music, will track exercise and heart rate. They are designed as a standalone tracker, rather than a companion to the Fit2.

Under Armour’s upcoming heartrate-tracking headphones are expected to cost $250. Samsung’s IconX goes further with built-in sensors to measure distance and pacing, though with less accuracy than GPS devices. There’s no screen, so you get audio readouts every mile or whatever interval you set.

With its announcements, Samsung is trying to tap growing interest in health and fitness as sales of smartphones slow down.

ANICK JESDANUN Associated Press

• PROSECUTORS in Chicago say a 17-year-old accused in his 16-year-old friend’s fatal shooting admitted to the killing in a Snapchat video.

The Chicago Tribune reports that Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Anna Sedelmaier said in court on Sunday that the teen posted the video on the social media app from the back of a police car. He is charged with firstdegree murder in the death of Christian Bandemer, who was shot in the chest on Friday on the city’s South Side.

Sedelmaier says the suspect said on Snapchat: “I killed Chris and now I’m going to kill myself.” Snapchat videos can be viewed once then disappear. A spokeswoman for the prosecutors’ office said on Monday she didn’t know how authorities accessed his video.

• THE latest leg of a solarpowered airplane’s aroundthe-world journey has been postponed due to weather conditions.

The Swiss-made Solar Impulse 2 was scheduled to take off from Lehigh Valley International Airport in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and head to New York City around midnight on Monday, but project officials announced early yesterday that the flight had been postponed because of showers and thunderstorms in the area.

The plane was scheduled to fly over the Statue of Liberty before landing at John F Kennedy International Airport, its last stop in the United States before crossing the Atlantic Ocean.

It wasn’t immediately clear when the flight would take place.

PAGE 10, Wednesday, June 8, 2016

THE TRIBUNE

The trail of tears that sums up our waste policy

I

N A powerful com- health and the environmunication prepared ment, and the government recently, Bahamian kicked in another $10m. waste expert Ginny A large chunk was spent McKinney has outlined at the 100-acre green field a “trail of tears” over the site on Harrold Road that country’s shocking failure had replaced the Big Pond to resolve its solid waste dump. The money paid management problems - de- for a fully equipped maspite spending tens of mil- chine shop, administration lions over decades. building, hazardous waste Writing to the Bahamas storage and laboratory, a Chamber of Commerce, building for fire-fighting McKinney began her review equipment, weighbridges in the early 1990s, when Ca- and a gatehouse, a diesel nadian engineering group, pumping station, and a Stantec, was commissioned compacting machine. by the Inter-American DeThe landfill site was development Bank (IDB) to signed to accommodate six study our waste disposal is- excavated cells – lined to sues. prevent pollution of the waUp to then, we just ter table – but only the first dumped all our garbage – was completed to the propincluding hazardous waste er specifications. A leachate – in wetland areas like Big control system was includPond off Blue Hill Road. ed, along with a pumping “Upon completion of station and pond for excess the study (Stantec) were leachate. “When Stantec charged with designing a left, Nassau had a fully premodern, fully engineered pared and equipped sanilandfill for New Providence tary landfill, with a compreand 10 Family Islands,” hensive blueprint on how McKinney wrote. Detailed to use it. Plans for other guidance was given on how islands were in place, but it to manage these landfills, was quite a few years before while green waste, tyres, any projects were put out to cardboard and metals were bid,” McKinney said. to be diverted for recycling.

McKinney is the longtime Waste-to-energy facilities proprietor of Waste-Not were suggested, but did not Ltd, a solid waste disposal form part of the bank’s re- firm that has also pioneered mit at the time. the country’s tentative recyThe IDB contributed cling efforts. Her descripLCF-Career Opportunity 2016-FINALWEB2.pdf 1 5/31/16 1:20 PM some $23m for this 20-year tion of the current state of project to protect public the Harrold Road landfill

A DUMP fire close to the Renew Bahamas building earlier this year. (which she visits daily) is deeply distressing.

“Garbage in the only lined cell is well over its suggested top-out height. The leachate system is crushed and useless, and effluent gathers around the bottom of the cell, mixed with overflow from the adjacent sewerage ponds when it rains.

Due to recurring fires, emergency management meant that garbage was deposited in unlined cells never to be removed. All the administration, hazardous waste and maintenance buildings still exist, but were never fully utilised, and many components have disappeared. The compactor has remained idle most of the time.”

Recycling programmes were never put in place by the government (although there are some private initiatives). Tyres and shipping pallets were once segregated on a ten-acre site, but in 2009 they were consumed by fire, and this has been repeated several times since, McKinney said.

But despite the dismal failure to implement and sustain the IDB’s fully funded plans, successive Bahamian governments have largely ignored the integrated waste management proposals from Bahamian companies over the past 20odd years. Apart from McKinney’s Waste-Not Ltd, other Bahamian disposal companies include Bahamas Waste, United Sanitation, and Impac Management.

An official request for waste-to-energy proposals was issued in 2008 “and we responded with wellthought-out, professionally advised and fully engineered plans,” McKinney said, “but we never received an invitation to even discuss them. Personally, I have been proposing green waste collection and processing for 25 years”.

About 200,000 car tyres are discarded every year on New Providence and disposal fees have already been paid to the government at the port of entry.

McKinney said a group of Bahamian companies made a bid to shred the tyres into a crumb for use in road paving. “We were offered 25 cents per tyre several years ago, which proved uneconomical.”

M

eanwhile, every year the Harrold Road landfill erupts in enormous toxic conflagrations that pose serious threats to public health and are a disaster for tourism that is based largely on our natural environment. During these times, poisonous fumes blanket the Cable Beach resort district and infiltrate the homes of Bahamians, while the government scrambles for the resources to extinguish the fires and manage the public relations fallout.

Right after the 2012 election, the Deputy Prime Minister’s former law firm - Davis & Co - formed a company called Renew Bahamas, whose principal had been one of Philip “Brave” Davis’ clients – a Swiss financier named Gerhard Beukes. Within a year the government was finalising a contract for Beukes to take over the dump and set up a recycling operation.

The terms of this contract over a public asset have never been made public, despite numerous requests.

Renew has built a plant to sort and pack cardboard, plastics and metals for export. Revenues from this are supposed to be split with the government. But Renew insists that it is not responsible for fixing the landfill.

‘

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

We know that Renew’s business plan hinges on their ability to sell reclaimed material at a certain price. We now know that the government gives them $20 per ton, which at 90 tons per day, seven days per week is quite a hefty subsidy. This is in addition to the government subsidising fire fighting activities (including purchase of fill), the security of the site, and possibly the rental of compacting equipment. The volatility of the world recycle market is the main reason we doubted the ability of this plan to work.”

Ginny McKinney, Bahamian waste expert

Contrast this with the stringent criteria that Bahamian companies had to meet at the time Renew’s secret contract was being negotiated in 2013. The government required the proposers to “bear all costs” for the following activities: “Landfill remediation, mining and de-construction (state the time frame in which you will complete same), installation of two new weighbridges with vehicle recognition software, construction of a recycling facility, acquisition of all heavy equipment necessary to maintain the site, provision of security for the landfill, transfer of all DEHS employees for your account, acquisition and installation of fire-fighting equipment, complete capital expenditure information, a detailed business proposal, proof of funding and a performance bond.”

Incredibly, six weeks ago, Gerhard Beukes said Renew was asking for more public money to cover its losses – now that it had “a better understanding” of landfill management.

Clearly, Renew did not, and does not, operate under the same conditions as Bahamian firms.

According to McKinney, “We know that Renew’s business plan hinges on their ability to sell reclaimed material at a certain price. We now know that the government gives them $20 per ton, which at 90 tons per day, seven days per week is quite a hefty subsidy. This is in addition to the government subsidising fire fighting activities (including purchase of fill), the security of the site, and possibly the rental of compacting equipment. The volatility of the world recycle market is the main reason we doubted the ability of this plan to work.”

McKinney says her group has made further bids to recycle vehicle tyres stored at the dump, asking for a split of $3 from the $5 per tyre collected at the port of entry as a disposal fee. But there has been no official acknowledgement of these proposals.

As a partner (with Bahamas Waste) in the Green Systems mulching plant at the airport industrial park, McKinney is also asking for an increase in the tariff on imported mulch and compost, and a requirement

that hotels, restaurants and supermarkets have their food waste processed rather than simply discarded.

She is also calling for an ongoing public education campaign to help consumers understand what can be recycled and how. Service clubs should organise hazardous material collection and export drives, she says, and everyone should be lobbying for a waste-to-energy plant at the landfill.

Despite some recycling, there is still a large fraction of the waste stream that cannot be diverted from the landfill. In McKinney’s view, this material should be used to generate revenue from energy while freeing up space. “By reducing significantly what goes into our landfill we will prolong its useful life and delay having to find a new site for future waste disposal,” she said. “And the funds generated from energy production will help to finance the overall plan.”

Renew’s recycling plant is just a piece of the puzzle that makes up integrated waste management, McKinney said. “The Chamber of Commerce should be worried that each aspect of our waste stream is being given away incrementally to a foreign company that has not had any (transparent) due diligence. The Chamber should assess the waste management history of Renew Bahamas and its principals, as well as the viability of their business plan, with the help of international experts.

“By their own admission,” she continued, “Renew is a wholly owned and financed foreign entity, and the Chamber should question this award at a time when Bahamian waste companies have been offering viable, internationally engineered and investor-approved solutions that completely fulfil the requirements of the government.”

Bottom line is that no government over the past quarter century has taken our solid waste and pollution problems seriously.

And as a result they have multiplied in line with the resources that have been wasted.

What a sorry record.

What do you think? Send comments to lsmith@tribunemedia.net or visit www. bahamapundit.com

THE TRIBUNE

VOTERS SHOW THEY HAVE DONE THEIR DUTY

Wednesday, June 8, 2016, PAGE 11

VOTERS out during Constitutional Referendum day yesterday.

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

RON Pinder shows his thumb after voting.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

MEMBERS of the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc, showing they had voted.