06292023 NEWS AND SPORT

Azario’s family excluded from motion to overturn Coroner’s Court ruling

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A SUPREME Court judge rejected an application from Azario Major’s family to be included as respondents to a constitutional motion seeking to overturn the Coroner’s Court finding that Major’s death was a homicide by manslaughter. The judge argued that the deceased’s family had no right to be heard in the matter.

Four officers involved in Major’s death want the Coroner’s Court ruling

Double the cost

Govt House renovation twice initial $9.9m budgeted price

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS Tribune Staff Reporter lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

THE cost of renovations to Government House ––initially pegged at $9.9m –– will double by the time the project is complete, according to the contractor.

Floyd Wilmott, CEO of Telco Enterprise Limited, said changes were ordered as the project progressed, pushing the cost up.

“So, we started with one figure, and as we continued, for example, the ballroom, there were change orders,” he said yesterday after a

USS Wasp arrives for Bahamas independence celebrations

overturned, arguing pretrial publicity prevented a fair inquest.

The attorney general and the “Coroner of the Coroner’s Court” are the first and second respondents; the family is not a party to the proceedings.

The constitutional motion argues that a widely circulated video discussion of Major’s death unfairly prejudiced the inquest.

Facebook user “ChristianAdamG” posted the video in April, which has been viewed thousands of

HUNDREDS of US sailors in crisp white uniforms lined the landing deck of the USS WASP as it arrived yesterday to help The Bahamas mark its 50th anniversary of independence. See story PAGE EIGHT.

Jury discharGed in Gibson trial for protocol breach

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

THE jury in Adrian Gibson’s corruption trial was discharged yesterday after a Supreme Court judge dismissed two jurors for failing to obey protocols.

A jury of entirely new people must now be empaneled, an exercise scheduled for July 24 in a trial that has already faced several

delays. During cross-examination before Justice Cheryl Grant-Thompson, a woman

juror admitted to discussing the case out of court.

She said she discussed the trial with her husband to determine if he was related to Mr Gibson.

She said her husband confirmed that Mr Gibson is his distant relative.

Justice Grant-Thompson discharged her because she spoke with a relative about the case despite explicit instructions not to. She

blessing and rededication service for the institution.

“We had to do the same for the main residence, same for the Windsor wing and the landscaping.” He could not definitively say how much the project

By LYNAIRE

MUNNINGS Tribune Staff Reporter lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

THE director of public prosecutions has instructed the police to pursue “other lines of inquiry” in the investigation of an MP accused of abusing his ex-girlfriend, police Commissioner Clayton Fernander said yesterday.

Gibson: i performed citizenship oaths too

By LETRE SWEETING Tribune Staff Reporter lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Immigration

Minister Shane Gibson said he always administered citizenship oaths, adding that the ceremony granting the status has sometimes been performed in people’s homes.

‘Other lines Of inquiry’ requested in mp rape claim

LoNg Island MP Adrian Gibson

Cuban migrant dies in Bahamian waters

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Staff Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

ONE of 15 Cuban migrants travelling to Grand Bahama this week

died while at sea, police officials reported.

A 49-year-old man was found unresponsive among the migrants intercepted on Monday in waters near Cay Sal Bank and Anguilla

Cay shortly after 8:30pm on Monday. According to reports, US Coast Guard officials were on routine patrol when they spotted and apprehended the 15 Cuban males in a

vessel in Bahamian waters. The migrants were transported to Freeport Harbour, where they received medical attention and were handed over to the Bahamas Department

CAY sAL

of Immigration for processing.

A medical doctor examined one of the migrants but

found no signs of life. He was pronounced dead. Police are continuing their investigations.

Bahamas Red CRoss names edison sumneR pResident

THE Bahamas Red Cross Society (BRCS) elected Edison Sumner as its new president on June 22.

The Red Cross said that in his acceptance speech, Mr Sumner said the Bahamas Red Cross “must continue to forge ahead and do what needs to be done to assist and support the most vulnerable in our communities”.

“He also pledged to work closely with the organisation’s director general and staff while thanking his predecessor, Mrs Terez Curry, for her ‘stellar leadership over the past five years’,” the organisation said in a statement.

“During her tenure of leadership, Mrs Curry oversaw the BRCS efforts during hurricane Dorian, the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The Bahamas Red Cross’ subscribes to seven principles: ‘Humanity, Impartiality,

Edison Sumner elected president of Bahamas Red Cross

Neutrality, Independence, Voluntary Service, Unity and Universality.’”

Mr Sumner was the director and CEO and the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC). According to his LinkedIn page, he is the current founder and principal of Sumner Strategic Partners.

Jury discharged in Gibson trial for protocol breach

from page one

barred the juror from being a part of a jury in any future trial.

The second juror admitted to knowing Tanya Demerrite, a witness who took a plea deal last year to avoid prosecution.

The juror said she knew Ms Demerrite when she worked as a parking attendant at a business. She said after seeing press reports that Ms Demeritte would be a witness, she saw the woman in court when jurors were asked to disclose potential relations to them.

The juror also admitted she read news on the case after being empaneled. Justice Grant-Thompson dismissed her from the trial for reading outside sources and failing to rely exclusively on the evidence presented in court. The juror will be barred from

participating in a trial for a year.

After lawyers for the defendants argued that the two jurors could not be replaced, the judge discharged all jurors.

Gibson is accused of enriching himself to over $1m through illicit cheques

and wire transfers in con-

nection with contracts the Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC) awarded while he was executive chairman. WSC’s former general manager, Elwood Donaldson, Jr, Rashae Gibson, Gibson’s cousin, Joan

Knowles, Peaches Farquharson and Jerome Missick are also charged.

Together, the group face 98 charges, including conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery, fraud, receiving and money laundering. The case continues on Friday.

Az A rio’s fA mily excluded from motion to overturn coroner’s court ruling

from page one

times.

In an affidavit, an officer called the footage “a highly inaccurate damaging narrative”.

Officers want the Coroner’s Court finding overturned, arguing the coroner “failed and/or refused to refer the constitutional application to the Supreme Court”; “has no jurisdiction or right by law to refuse any constitutional application or point raised on behalf of the applicant”; “that the “charges of homicide by way of murder, homicide by way of manslaughter and justifiable homicide are flawed”; and “that the evidence placed before the court was evidence that, if heard, and was decided upon by an impartial and independent tribunal would have been in the applicant’s favour”.

The four officers, Inspector Saunders, Sergeant Sweeting, Sergeant Johnson and Corporal Rolle, were in court yesterday, as was Fredia Major, Major’s sister.

The matter was heard before Justice Franklyn Williams.

The case was adjourned to July 4.

Four men charged with smuggling $9m worth oF cocaine

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

FOUR MEN were charged with smuggling

$9m worth of cocaine into Long Island in a drug bust last Friday.

The men include three Mexicans and a Bahamian.

Rodrigo Arce, 40, Edgar Ruano, 28, and Jorge Cabrera, 50, all from Mexico, were charged alongside Harry Dolcce, 45.

All four defendants were charged with conspiracy to possess dangerous drugs with intent to supply and conspiracy to import dangerous drugs.

Arce and Ruano faced additional charges of possession of dangerous drugs with intent to supply and importation of dangerous drugs. Cabrera and Dolcce were charged with abetment to the importation of dangerous drugs.

Dolcce was represented by Devard Francis while Alphonso Lewis represented the other three defendants.

According to police reports, at around 1.30am on June 23, a joint operation between OPBAT, the DEU, the DEA, the US Coast Guard and local police seized a single-engine Cessna aircraft on Deadman’s Cay, Long Island. A search of the plane uncovered 15 crocus sacks containing 1,122lbs of cocaine. All four accused pleaded not guilty.

Dolcce was granted $50,000 bail on condition that he is fitted with an electronic monitoring device.

The three remaining defendants were denied bail because they have no status in the country. They were remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services. The trial is set for September

to 8.

THE jury in Adrian Gibson’s corruption trial was discharged yesterday after a Supreme Court judge dismissed two jurors for failing to obey protocols.

A SUPREME Court judge rejected an application from Azario Major’s family to be included as respondents to a constitutional motion seeking to overturn the Coroner’s Court finding that Major’s death was a homicide by manslaughter.

Gibson: I performed citizenship oaths too

His comments came after former Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis called for Keith Bell’s dismissal from Cabinet for granting citizenship to three people at a funeral over the weekend.

Mr Bell swore in three people during a funeral for Franck Racine, a man he said came to The Bahamas from Haiti in the 1990s. In granting citizenship to Mr Racine’s relatives, Mr Bell said he was honouring the man’s dying wish. He said Cabinet approved citizenship for the people.

Critics questioned whether Mr Bell was authorized to administer the citizenship oaths.

The Bahamas Nationality Act regulations say the citizenship declarations “shall be of no effect unless they are signed in the presence of or administered by a justice of the peace or notary public or any person authorized to administer oaths”.

Mr Gibson argued that Mr Bell, a lawyer, is a “notary public” and qualified to administer the oath.

“When I was minister, I always did it,” he said.

“What Kieth Bell did was only perform a ceremony. Cabinet approved the citizenships. There have been instances in the past when the ceremony was performed at persons’ residences.”

Mr Gibson’s successor, Brent Symonette, said he never administered a citizenship oath and that the ceremony was always held behind closed doors under more solemn circumstances.

Dr Minnis, meanwhile, said he would remove Mr Bell from Cabinet if he were prime minister.

“The Bahamian people should be outraged that a minister can take your citizenship so lightly and give it out at a funeral,” he said.

“If the policy has changed, then the people must know that they can meet the minister in a bar and get their citizenship. Let’s meet Keith Bell on the basketball court and get our citizenship, meet him anywhere. They can meet the minister in a nightclub or restaurant and get their citizenship, if that’s the policy, the prime minister must state that.

“There is a requirement, once they have met the requirement, then by all means, they are entitled to it, but he said he was doing that at the request of the individual who had died. What would have one day difference made, to have done it in the proper setting that we know about, where the policies are followed? One day would not have made a difference. So, I think he was totally out of order.”

“When the actions are done, the prime minister has an obligation to dismiss this independent minister while an investigation goes on. It sends a bad message to the world.

“Keith Bell is behaving as an independent agent and the prime minister must move him. He’s sending the wrong message to the world. He must move him and a proper investigation must be done.

“Citizenship is dear to any nation and it cannot be taken lightly.”

sears: nO decisiOn M ade On future l O catiOn Of cOluM bus’ statue

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS Tribune Staff Reporter lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

WORKS Minister

Alfred Sears said no decision had been made concerning a defaced statute of Christopher Columbus or the space in front of Government House that it once occupied.

“Well, Columbus is currently at the Ministry of Works,” he told reporters yesterday following

a Government House rededication ceremony.

“As you know, the statue was damaged, and a determination has not yet been made where the statue will be placed. A decision has not been made in terms of the future location of the statute.”

“As we evolve as a country, there is an ongoing process. This year, we’re looking at various personalities in the history of our country and

the history comprised of the Arawaks, the people who harmonise this country and these islands. We also have the Africans who came in ships, we have the Europeans and we have an ongoing inflow of people.

“In this 50th anniversary, the government will soon be announcing persons who have made significant contributions through the various stages of the development and the construction ultimately of our nation-state.

Therefore, it’s not one personality, we’re talking about reflecting the totality of human accomplishments, contribution, and nourishing and

informing who we are as a people and who we are as a nation.”

In 2021, a man damaged the Christopher Columbus statue with a sledgehammer. The 37-year-old has denied allegations that

he trespassed on Government House’s property and caused $2,000 worth of damage to the statue. Many advocates called for the statue to be permanently removed from Government House.

‘Other lines Of inquiry’ requested in MP ra Pe claiM

from page one

“As I indicated, the file is in the possession of the DPP, and she has instructed some other lines of inquiries that we are following at this time, so that’s what I say,”

Commissioner Fernander told reporters following a ceremony on the rededication of Government House.

“We don’t put a time on the investigation. Other eyes are viewing it and generated a few lines of inquiry, so that’s what we are doing at this time.”

Authorities have been criticised for the length of time it is taking them to make a decision in the case.

Commissioner Fernander was adamant yesterday that

investigators are not dragging their feet.

Asked if the investigation was more difficult because the accused is an MP, he said: “No, absolutely not. The investigations will take their course no different.”

A woman filed a complaint with police about an MP, her ex-boyfriend, on April 7. In police documents seen by The Tribune, she accused the man of raping her and making death threats against her and her family.

Acting Director Public Prosecutions Cordell Frazier recently confirmed that her office finally possessed the file, which it received on June 14.

In 2021, a man damaged the Christopher Columbus statue with a sledgehammer. Works Minister Alfred Sears said no decision had been made concerning a defaced statute of Christopher Columbus or the space in front of Government House that it once occupied.

FORMER Immigration Minister Shane Gibson said he always administered citizenship oaths, adding that the ceremony granting the status has sometimes been performed in people’s homes. His comments came after former Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis called for Keith Bell’s dismissal from Cabinet for granting citizenship to three people at a funeral over the weekend.

AG says cruise lines wanted three-year tax phase-in - but he admits fault for error on date in original bill

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

ATTORNEY General

Ryan Pinder said cruise lines pushed the Davis administration to phase in new passenger tax increases over three years, something Cabinet refused to do.

He was responding to FNM Senator Michela Barnett-Ellis, who accused the government of failing to consult with cruise lines before introducing the increased taxes.

“If they exercised good governance, if they consulted with the cruise lines prior to drafting legislation, they would’ve heard their concerns earlier and adjusted accordingly,” she said as senators debated the budget in the upper chamber yesterday.

In response, Mr Pinder said cruise lines were consulted before the Passenger Tax (Amendment) Bill was tabled.

“I could speak firsthand with this because I was sitting with the Prime Minister and had a conference call with the president of the cruise association prior to the budget legislation being tabled in the House of Assembly, advising them that we were making adjustment to the departure tax,” he said.

“They advised they wanted –– listen to this now –– a three-year phase-in on the departure tax, but we did consult. We told them that that was unacceptable and we’d give them a six-month transition.”

Mr Pinder did not give any further details.

The Davis administration’s original bill amending passenger taxes said the amendment would take effect on July 1, 2023.

However, Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper said the date on the bill was incorrect.

Mr Pinder accepted responsibility for the error yesterday.

“It should’ve had January and not July, and frankly, I take responsibility as the operative minister for drafting legislation,” he said. “The deputy prime minister made this point that it was the wrong date, and again, I take the responsibility for that.”

The Tribune had previously reported that cruise lines lobbied to delay passenger tax increases when they met Mr Cooper in Florida. The government aims to nearly triple revenues earned from departing cruise passengers, projecting $145m in revenue in the 2023-2024 budget, up from $50m in the current fiscal year.

Barnet- ellis says

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

SENATOR Michela Barnet-Ellis claimed the Davis administration’s Protection Against Violence Bill is less comprehensive than a previously drafted GenderBased Violence Bill. She did not say what had been removed from the bill.

“For reasons unexplained, this administration has shelved the GenderBased Violence Bill and tabled a new bill to address the issue of domestic violence,” she said during her contribution to the 2023/24 budget debate yesterday.

“It’s apparent just by the size alone of the new bill versus the former Gender-Based Violence Bill, that the new bill is less comprehensive than its predecessor. It’s 42 sections long as opposed to 55 sections.

“It’s 24 pages long as opposed to the 68-page Gender Based Violence Bill. What have they removed from the former vetted and approved bill and why has it been taken out?”

The Protection Against Violence Bill was tabled last month. It seeks to establish mechanisms to protect victims and help them get justice. Among other things, the bill would establish a Protection Against Violence Commission to support victims and liaise with police officers when victims feel they lack full cooperation

new Protection against Violence Bill is less comPrehensi V e than Prior gBV Bill

from the police.

“By its actions, the government proposes to waste nearly ten years of effort and advocacy to begin a consultation process anew at a time that we are currently facing a crisis of escalating violence against women and children,” Senator Ellis said.

She noted the spike in reported rapes in New Providence this year and said, given calls for the Gender-Based Violence Bill, “the introduction of a new bill at this time does not appear to be a prudent course of action”.

“Madame president, through you,” she said, “I am asking the executive to engage stakeholders and explain why they have walked away from the existing draft legislation and explain the thoughts behind this draft so that stakeholders can have the opportunity to intelligently consider and intelligently respond to the bill.”

“It would seem that the most expeditious course would be the passing of the existing Gender-Based Violence Bill. This would allow the government to check the necessary treaty obligation boxes, and it would deliver what the NGOs and other stakeholders have been clamouring for without further delay, which would result from a new round of consultation.”

“Therefore, madame president, I am asking the executive not to discard almost ten years of work.

Be humble enough to recognise that they do not have the monopoly on intelligence and wanting the best for the Bahamian people,

especially the most vulnerable. I’m asking that they table and pass the existing Gender-Based Violence Bill.”

ATTORNEY General Ryan Pinder said cruise lines pushed the Davis administration to phase in new passenger tax increases over three years, something Cabinet refused to do.

SENATOR Michela Barnet-Ellis claimed the Davis administration’s Protection Against Violence Bill is less comprehensive than a previously drafted Gender-Based Violence Bill.

The Tribune Limited

In tribute to Long Island’s HM

Govt cares little for hitting targets

DEADLINES and budgets don’t seem to mean much in government.

When private businesses – or private individuals – have a project to complete, these are very important points.

When will it be done by? How much will it cost? How much can I afford? All pertinent questions when you’re doing things the right way.

Government seems unencumbered by such a need for planning.

New prison cost? More than double it!

Renovations to Government House?

Make it twice the cost!

Hit a deadline for completing a project? Sure, as long as it’s not the first deadline, or the second, third or fourth.

How about those Village Road roadworks that were supposed to be completed by the start of the school year? The children are done with that year and still workmen are fussing on with sidewalks incomplete and no sign of street lights that might have stopped more than a few fender-benders in the past nine months.

Change orders is the reason the contractor gives for the increased cost at Government House. That contractor can’t say what the final cost will be, just “about double”.

Changes are also one of the reasons behind the delays on Village Road, where the design was changing even after the digging had begun. A whole roundabout was added to the original proposal – which seems like the kind of thing one would plan ahead of time.

The prison plan, too, will reportedly see considerable changes, though the details of niceties such as the bidding

process seem to be murky rather than transparent.

Still, it’s not as if it’s your money or our money that the government is spending – oh wait, yes it is.

That prison is an extra $50m of taxpayer’s money, that renovation is nigh on another $10m perhaps.

To quote a line reportedly said by former US Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen, “A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money.”

We might be talking million with an m rather than billion with a b, but the principle is the same. Either way, when spending doubles and doubles, it’s the taxpayer’s pocket that ends up lighter.

Are any consequences ever felt when budgets are missed by such a margin, or when deadlines repeatedly whoosh by?

There never seem to be. If you send someone to the store to buy you something and they come back hours late and having spent twice the money, you might think more than twice about trusting them with your money and time again.

Are there penalty clauses in contracts?

Or if the contractor is diligently carrying out instructions but those instructions keep changing, does the appropriate minister come out and raise their hands and say the extra cost is down to them?

You can hear the silence on that one.

We are delighted to see that Government House has been renovated – it was certainly overdue.

But we cannot help but think that better planning – and perhaps treating public money with the same care as we would money spent on a personal project – would bring a better return for the taxpayer.

Courts a sign of our nation’s problems

EDITOR, The Tribune.

PLEASE permit me to highlight an issue within this country.

This country of ours is falling apart in every aspect we can imagine. Every little thing adds to the complexity of fixing this little nation to make it into a better nation.

My reason for taking this forum is to highlight the joke that is the magistrate’s court with regards to civil matters. If you bring a suit to court which is capped at $5,000.00, as the plaintiff if you miss a court date it is thrown out automatically.

However, the defendant is allowed at least two

missed court dates without any penalty. If they fail to attend the third a bench warrant is issued.

Let’s assume they attend at least one date to avoid a bench warrant, then if the magistrate issues a judgement for them to pay and they don’t pay, then the court asks the plaintiff, “What do you want to do?”

This is totally ridiculous. If someone has disobeyed the courts, take action.

There are cases where warrants have been issued in civil cases that are pending for quite some time.

It’s as if the court has no intention of seeing these defendants, who have no respect for the judicial system, being shown that

the court is actually serious about the law.

If you contact the courts to follow-up, you’re not guaranteed the phone will be answered. It’s like the system is designed to frustrate the plaintiff and allow the defendants to be left alone. Keep in mind this is the civil side, which should be easier to manage. So imagine the criminal side. This country continues to operate like a banana republic and we wonder why the world doesn’t take us seriously.

FRUSTRATED CITIZEN Nassau, June 25, 2023.

EDITOR, The Tribune.

ONCE in a while, there walks onto the stage of this world a man whose vision is as broad as the universe - a man who seems bigger than life; a man whose timing is always punctuated by question marks.

Such a man was Sir Henry Milton Taylor (“HM”), who was born in 1903 on Long Island. That he was born on Long Island makes him a Long Islander first and foremost – but Long Island could not contain him, for he was born of Long Island for The Bahamas.

In the 1940s, “HM”, entered politics for all the right reasons. He envisioned a country free of fear; racism; intimidation; and victimisation.

A country of justice; fair play; honesty and love, where the downtrodden are lifted up and set

on the solid rock of equality for all.

One thing about “HM” is that he knew what he was about, for his 20-20 vision enabled him to see in what direction he wanted to go; and in what direction he wanted The Bahamas to go.

So he took his thoughts and along with Cyril Stevenson and William Cartwright organised them into a manifesto – later strengthened by Sir Lynden Pindling and others that was to rock this country at its foundations, and change forever its course of history forward.

A manifesto that was to eventually cut loose this country from the yoke of colonialism and emancipate the people.

Ironically, just as the inevitability of “Majority Rule” was rising higher and higher on the Bahamian horizon, “HM” found himself in the political wilderness of his own country. And as he wandered in the hot sands of that wilderness, he came across some of his old political enemies, and though they entertained him for a while; he moved on because he could not live a marriage doomed at the altar.

And so it was, that after a journey of several long, lean years he entered the country he and so many dreamed about for a long time; struggled to give birth to for a long time – not perfect – but a country for all Bahamians!

JEROME CARTWRIGHT Nassau, June 25, 2023.

Govt schools are failing our children

EDITOR, The Tribune.

ACCORDING to an article in The Nassau Guardian Monday, 26 June 2023, the Bahamas National Statistical Institute (BNSI) released the latest labour force survey revealing that little more than 55% percent of the labour force completed secondary schools, 4% percent finished primary school and 26% percent finished university.

Minister of Economic Affairs Micheal Halkitis stated the Government had reviewed this matter, this evidence, facts and proof verify and confirm my statements that for over 50 years the government has failed the Bahamian people, parents and their children, in being able to prepare the children with a good education. To be able to get high paying salaried jobs and have a great chance to make it economically in being able to afford the high cost of living in The Bahamas.

In renting apartments, purchasing a home, cars, buying groceries, paying light bills and water bills. This is also the reason why there are so many young adults who are in prisons, who are repeated criminal offenders, because not being properly educated they are more tempted to make money by becoming a gang member, drug dealer and joining criminal enterprise organisations in The Bahamas, there is another problem that is also contributing to the decline in the government educational systems - the poor performances of teachers teaching the children in government

schools. I believe strongly that teachers must also be held accountable for bad grades from their students, so I would put in place a review performance on every government schools teacher, that will evaluate them at the end of every year based on the grades of the students in their classrooms that they are teaching.

To allow the unaccountability of teachers underperforming in classrooms is unacceptable and should not be tolerated at the disadvantage of Bahamian students failing in being properly educated and prepared to graduate from High School and go to College.

The high crime rate problem in The Bahamas is a result of a terrible failing government educational system for over 50 years, there has been no vision, idea and plan to address this vexing problem when the education system for 50 years is failing and continues to fail Bahamian parents and children.

This is why so many high salaried jobs in The Bahamas are advertised and are filled by foreign workers in The Bahamas. If you do not have qualified Bahamian people to fill these high skilled paying salaried jobs then you have no other choice but to hire foreign nationals, this is happening at major companies and hotels in The Bahamas because Bahamians are not qualified for these jobs, it is not something that the government is not aware about, but they have failed to adequately address this major problem facing The Bahamas and the Bahamian

people having them unqualified to get jobs that have to be offered to foreign nationals in The Bahamas, so this is why companies and hotels in The Bahamas have a high demand for foreign nationals to work at their companies. This has been going on for the last 50 years in The Bahamas. Without having an ability to get a high paying job because of the poor government educational system it is the number one reason why the children are turning to gangs, drug dealing and criminal enterprise organisations, if you do not educate the children then you have just created the problem of having career criminals that will be committing crimes, robberies and murders.

This is why The Bahamas’ high crime rates have increased and it is getting worse every year. The other contributing factor is high unemployment around 25% among young adults every year, not having a job gives them a greater temptation to commit crimes, join gangs and criminal enterprise organisations in The Bahamas.

I have a comprehensive educational system to make sure that every child learns how to read, write and have the best academic opportunities to be ready and prepared to graduate from High School and go on to College.

One Nation, One people, One Bahamas and One God - onward forward and upward to a better Bahamas.

PEDRO SMITH Nassau, June 27, 2023.

THE ARRIVAL of the USS Wasp yesterday. Photo: US Embassy

Double the cost

Mr Wilmott said the remaining repairs should be completed by August.

would cost.

“I’m going to say it’s probably about double by the time we’re done,” he said.

Renovations to the institution, initially built in the 1800s, began three years ago and are still incomplete.

Mr Wilmott said the project faced several challenges.

“Bear in mind that we started a part of the project at the height of COVID,” he said. “So, if an employee was to get COVID, the site shut down, and we had to sanitise the entire site, follow the health protocol, and wait seven to 14 days.”

During his remarks yesterday, Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis praised the near completion of the historic landmark, saying it is part of the government’s efforts to rejuvenate downtown.

“At the very least, we can rest assured that with the restoration of Government House, the symbolic seat of our Head of State, we will once again be able to look on with pride at a landmark which holds so much history and so much significance for our young nation and it’s so fitting that we are doing so leading up to our 50th anniversary,” he said.

It was revealed that renovations of Government House will end up double the initial budget for the work done according to the contractor who spoke at the blessing ceremony yesterday. Renovations to the institution, initially built in the 1800s, began three years ago and are still incomplete.

Photos: Austin Fernander

USS Wasp arrives to celebrate

The Bahamas’ 50th indepedence

By JADE RUSSELL Tribune Staff Reporter jrussell@tribunemedia.net

HUNDREDS of US sailors in crisp white uniforms lined the landing deck of the USS WASP as it arrived yesterday to help The Bahamas mark its 50th anniversary of independence.

US officials led the local press to tour the impressive 844ft vessel.

“We are absolutely privileged to be here to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of the independence of The Bahamas,” said Captain Nakia Cooper.

“This visit also provides an opportunity for us to

strengthen an important bilateral partnership with our maritime neighbour, which is highly important to the overall stability of our region. To our Bahamian friends across this beautiful island nation, we are absolutely honoured to be here with you. And I want to sincerely thank you

for hosting the men and women and allowing us to celebrate this incredible milestone with you.”

One sailor, Lieutenant Trey Adderley, revealed his family ties to The Bahamas. “My family lineage comes from Burnt Ground in Long Island, Bahamas,”

he said. “But I have some family members here. It’s really exciting to come over into Nassau on this great warship, one that I serve on.”

During the sailors’ visit, they are expected to visit the Simpson Penn Centre for Boys and the Willie Mae Pratt Centre for Girls.

Lieutenant Kevin Carr and Ensign Raymond Sgambati discussed the ship’s features, including its 13,600-sqft well deck.

They said the ship provides a seamless transition from sea to land for its passengers.

Officials said nearly 900 sailors are on the ship.

The USS Wasp arrived in The Bahamas yesterday to mark The Bahamas’ 50th year of independence.

Photo: US embassy

Bahamas meets fiscal transparency requirements for first time in 5 years

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Staff Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

For the first time in five years, the Bahamas is among some 70 countries that have met fiscal transparency requirements, according to a US Department of State 2023 Fiscal transparency report on

public financial management accountability.

the report, released on tuesday, indicated that of the 140 governments evaluated, 72 met the minimum requirements, including the Bahamas. It is the first time since 2018 that the Bahamas was “deemed fully compliant”.

In conducting the 2023

review, the department assessed the fiscal transparency of governments during the review period of January 1 – December 31, 2022. the US embassy’s Nassau economic and Commercial officer, ricky Wesch, commended the Bahamas on its achievement.

“the office of the Auditor General has made significant strides to comply with domestic reporting commitments as well as international standards. We congratulate the Bahamas on this achievement which required making key budget documents publicly available, ensuring they were

substantially complete and generally reliable; publishing government debt data on a public-facing website; and institutionalising the timely publication of audits,” said Mr Wesch. he further stated: “the US government has been proud to partner with the Bahamas in promoting transparency by

providing almost $450,000 in financial, technical, and advisory support to the office of the Auditor General. this includes support from the US General Accountability office to conduct a needs assessment, provide training, and update auditing processes to comply with international standards.”

Caribbean bottling introduCes Commemorative items for bahamas independenCe Celebration

By LETRE SWEETING

Tribune Staff Reporter

lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

the Caribbean Bottling company has introduced several commemorative initiatives to celebrate the Bahamas’ 50th independence anniversary.

Karla Wells-Lisgaris, brand manager for Coca-Cola products, said the company had hosted pop-up events nationwide to give out

commemorative keepsakes, including t-shirts and pins.

“So, we just did a pop-up in Grand Bahama yesterday and today to give away these items that we got that feature the 50th Independence logo,” she said.

“We visited Abaco last week, and we will be in Cat Island, I think, tomorrow and Friday. And then on Friday, we will be in Pompey Square with another pop-up and on

Saturday, we are partnering with the Independence Secretariat for the float parade.”

Last week, the company produced Coca-Cola cans with four national icons for the first time in almost ten years. “this is the first commemorative can we’ve launched since 2014,” Mrs Wells-Lisgaris said. “the Coca-Cola Company is quite particular about its can designs, and outside of the annual Christmas cans,

we rarely depart from the classic design. In recognition of this milestone, we wanted to launch a design that celebrates Bahamian culture. this also comes on the heels of our Goombay regatta Cup, which celebrates the National Sport of the Bahamas.”

In addition to a surprise icon, she said the four icons that will be featured on the cans include the grouper, cowbells, the accordion to commemorate rake n’ Scrape.

To mark the 50th Independence celebrations Caribbean Bottling introduced commemorative keepsakes, including t-shirts and pins.

As we celebrate our Jubilee, more support needed for arts and culture

AS we celebrate half a century of independence, why are we still so egregiously behind in sustaining and expanding certain institutions which safeguard Bahamian heritage, while also creating additional opportunities for creative expression?

Moreover, what can we do to fill the gaping lacuna in our artistic cum cultural landscape and ecology?

Cultural institutions and practices are essential in protecting and transmitting the heritage of a country, helping to preserve memory and culture in order to circulate this lifeblood for current and successive generations.

Though the PLP created important national institutions post-independence, it generally failed to do likewise when it came to national cultural institutions. It never developed a national art gallery or a centre for the performing arts, two vital cultural institutions.

During this period as Bahamians were forming a greater sense of national and cultural identity, important cultural institutions were absent. Such centres of critical consciousness and cultural expression are necessary for nation-building. Their absence during that formative period helped to retard a certain national consciousness.

Edmund Moxey’s Jumbey Village and other community projects were part of his dream for the economic, social and cultural self-empowerment of Bahamians. Tragically, Jumbey Village was brutally destroyed out of political spite and retaliation – and indifference.

It was not until the FNM came to office that core institutions such as the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas (NAGB), the Antiquities, Monuments and Museum Corporation/ National Museum, and the National Centre for the Performing Arts were launched.

There is much work to be done to advance the missions and the reach of these institutions. But they represent impressive strides after prior decades of inertia and neglect.

It took approximately a quarter century before an independent Bahamas created the NAGB. Since its creation the NAGB has done excellent work and has been a locus for artistic expression.

The National Centre for the Performing Arts continues to languish, a telltale sign of indifference on the part of many to the importance of such a centre. We have failed still to find the will and resources to open a national museum despite the best efforts of many, including the location of premises for the museum.

How might we continue to develop these and other cultural institutions? The Bahamas National Trust may offer something of a template.

According to its website, the landmark legislation establishing the Trust in 1958 created “the only known non-governmental organisation in the world to manage a country’s entire national park system”.

The BNT has produced an extraordinary legacy of environmental advocacy, education and conservation. It has also saved the public treasury tens of millions of dollars over the past half century. This year, the BNT turns 65, which coincides with our 50th year of national sovereignty.

Even as we celebrate an enviable record of protecting our natural heritage, including an impressive national park system, it is a fitting independence anniversary to decide how to better preserve more of our historical heritage.

The country’s 50th anniversary independence celebrations may be the occasion for other landmark legislation and decisions that will create a more sustainable system for conserving, managing

and promoting Bahamian heritage.

“The Antiquities, Monuments and Museum Corporation (AMMC) is the national heritage conservation agency in The Bahamas...

“The vision of The National Museum of The Bahamas AMMC is to promote public stewardship and participation in the care and management of the national, historical and cultural resources for education and enjoyment of residents and visitors.”

Our rich built heritage includes the Pompey Museum, forts from Fincastle to Montagu, ruins from Clifton to Cat Island, historic sites from Long Island to Long Cay, a diversity of monuments, museums and antiquities, and underwater treasures, including wrecks.

We also have a vibrant quilt of heritage and public and private cultural institutions such as the NAGB, youth and children’s choirs, museums, centres for the performing arts, including the Dundas, festivals and more.

Further, since 1973 there has been an explosion of cultural expression in the arts, particularly the visual arts. From dance to the dramatic arts and from poetry to photography, the Bahamas is a cornucopia of talent.

Without the long-range vision and planning by the Trust, our environmental legacy would not be as rich. This includes its many wellrun nature and educational centres. What the BNT has done for our natural heritage, a Bahamas Heritage Endowment (BHE), in conjunction with the AMMC, may also do for our cultural heritage.

It may help to secure greater funding for our network of heritage sites, monuments, museums and antiquities, as well funding networks of artists, writers, artisans, entertainers, producers and directors.

A Bahamas Heritage Endowment could assist in the preservation of the Adderley ruins in Long Island and provide support to the upcoming Joseph Spence, Paul Meeres or Kayla Lockhart Edwards.

It may help produce a documentary on the history of the Straw Market in Nassau, assist in the creation of a book and companion disc on freed slave villages, or provide additional resources for oral history projects, including work being done at the University of the Bahamas.

Such investments are often seen as non-essential and at best tertiary concerns when it comes to the national budget. Moreover, an extraordinary amount of financial resources are required to develop and maintain museums and heritage sites, as well as foster artistic excellence.

If we do not want to end up with a string of perpetually struggling cultural white elephants, we have to be more imaginative in securing the resources to stabilize them so that they can become cultural icons.

We are fortunate that many of our cultural institutions and programmes are managed by individuals with special knowledge in the arts, heritage and Bahamian history, including treasures like Kim Outten Stubbs of AMMC.

But it may be naïve and presumptuous to insist that

they also serve as fundraisers-in-chief. This could be the essential role of a Bahamas Heritage Endowment, which could incorporate the functions of similar funds. While the Endowment may draw inspiration from the BNT, it would have a more singular and specialized mission.

To wit, the BHE would not manage any of our cultural institutions or replace the Antiquities, Monuments and Museums Corporation. Rather, it would have two quite specific functions.

Its primary mission would be to secure, manage, invest and distribute the financial resources needed to sustain a broad array of cultural and historical programmes.

The BHE could also assist in helping these programmes to incorporate other systems and

procedures, including new technologies, needed for long-term sustainability.

It should operate as a quasi - or non-governmental organization with a governance structure which guarantees its independence and places a firewall between it and partisan politics.

Such an entity should be run by a blue ribbon board and management team with experience in fundraising and financial management.

The BHE could be capitalized with a dynamic funding mix of Bahamians at home and abroad, as well as international partners here and overseas, including funds negotiated in various heads of agreement with foreign investors.

The endowment would be a means for Bahamian corporate citizens and individuals looking for more

effective ways to contribute to the preservation and advancement of our cultural heritage.

Many Bahamians abroad are desirous of giving back to the country. Ongoing initiatives can be launched to encourage individual Bahamians and various associations abroad to generously donate to the BHE.

The Bahamas is a first and second home to an extraordinary number of wealthy foreign captains of industry, celebrities and professionals who have a history of giving in their countries of origin.

The BNE could tap this vast and highly affluent donor base. The Endowment could also serve as conduit for grants from a variety of international philanthropic groups, countries and multilateral institutions such as UNESCO and the

Commonwealth of Nations.

Over time a Bahamas Heritage Endowment could raise and invest the many millions of dollars needed to better protect our built heritage, dynamize our cultural institutions and help support Bahamian creatives.

As the country celebrates its jubilee as a sovereign nation, we should find more mechanisms for sustaining and expanding our constellation of cultural institutions which are so vital for enhanced and more robust national development alongside the cultivation and preservation of our national stories and collective memories.

(Front Porch is now available in podcast on The Tribune website under the Editorial Section).

It was not until, 25 years after independence, and after the FNM came to office that core institutions such as the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas (NAGB), the Antiquities, Monuments and Museum Corporation/National Museum, and the National Centre for the Performing Arts were launched.

Rebellion reveals potential weakness in Putin’s regime; alternative to his leadership may be worse

STATESIDE

HOW do autocrats fall from power? One way is through death or physical incapacitation. Another is if they begin to believe the misapprehension that if they loosened their iron grip on their countries, their populations would respond with gratitude, relief and more dedicated support for their respective regimes.

The first is beyond the control of even the most powerful tyrant. The second has only seldom produced positive results for the dictator.

A third way to slip from the throne is to project weakness, suggesting to would-be rebels and potential replacements that the time is right for ramping up dissent to the level of overt resistance and active rebellion.

If the Western press is to be believed – and we should do so with caution – this latter is the situation and choice facing Russian president Vladimir Putin this week and beyond.

The catalyst for all this speculation was the very short-lived revolt staged by Yevgeny Prigozhin,

the mercurial leader of a group of mercenaries calling themselves the Wagner Group, the name apparently derived from the inspiring influence on German armies of the famous composer.

What is this shadowy group of mercenaries? It has become a reliable component of Russia’s strategy in Ukraine, with Wagner forces being used to hold cities like Bakhmut.

Prigozhin had sharply criticized Russian military leaders for weeks, calling the top civilian and military commanders incompetent to the point of being traitorous.

The resulting tension between Russia’s defense ministry and Wagner escalated dramatically last week, when Prigozhin said that Russian forces had attacked Wagner camps in eastern Ukraine, killing dozens of his men. Late Friday, Prigozhin issued videotaped remarks that seemed to vaguely call for a rebellion against Russian military leadership.

Such private military groups aren’t uncommon

in today’s world. The United States has used private military companies during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, there are differences between the commonly accepted definition of a PMC and Russia’s version of the companies.

“In NATO countries, in Western countries, the main logic behind using private contractors when it comes to security and defense policy has been the flexibility of resources,” said Dr. András Rácz, a Russian expert at the German Council on Foreign Relations. He spoke to CBS News. “However, on the Russian side, the logic has been different. Russia, from the beginning, perceived these companies as a way of exerting state power in a covert way,” he continued. While the logic underlying the employment by Russia and the West of respective PMCs may be different, the results often look disturbingly similar. Wagner has been active for years in Syria, a noted arena for Russian oversees adventurism, as well as in

several countries in Africa where Putin’s “security assistance” has succeeded in gaining support in international fora such as the United Nations.

One effect of this persistent diplomatic and paramilitary offensive by Moscow is to be found in the large number of Africa nations that have remained “neutral” in the ongoing Ukraine War despite the fact that for many of them, the war’s impact on their food supply has been significant and damaging.

Overall, Wagner has been charged with corruption and wartime atrocities in every nation where its forces have been deployed.

But that was also true of such American-sponsored PMCs as Blackwater, whose nefarious actions in Iraq and Afghanistan became truly infamous and sapped popular support in the US for the lengthy American involvement in those two volatile nations.

As for Prigozhin himself, he is part of a group of supremely opportunistic entrepreneurs who amassed stupendously large fortunes in the chaotic years after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

He reportedly got involved in the retail food business by selling hot dogs in Putin’s home town of St Petersburg. This progressed to active involvement in super markets there and elsewhere in Russia during the illfated but well-intentioned Russian experiment with democracy under Boris Yeltsin and others.

Also in the roaring 1990s, Prigozhin became involved in the gambling business. He served as CEO of a group that founded the first casinos in Saint Petersburg. This group started many other businesses together throughout the 1990s in various sectors including construction, marketing research, and foreign trade.

This may have been when Prigozhin met Putin for the first time, since Putin was at the same time the chairman of the local supervisory board for casinos and gambling.

Progozhin is also a master media manipulator. A Russia analyst in Washington, DC, told reporters that “while Putin and his propagandists have been dominating the Russian television and traditional outlets, Prigozhin

is innovative because he had weaponised a network of military correspondents and bloggers”.

Incidentally, Prigozhin is also wanted by the FBI for “Conspiracy to Defraud the United States.” The FBI agency has offered a $250,000 reward for information leading to Prigozhin’s arrest for allegedly overseeing the political and electoral interference of the Florida-based Internet Research Agency from 2014 to 2018. The FBI has charged that this agency worked to interfere with the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

This morning, Putin remains at the helm of Russia, and he also still has extralegal means at his disposal — assassinations, manufactured criminal charges that result in lengthy prison sentences, and rigged elections that suppress dissent.

Putin certainly appears to control the popular media, the financial sector, and a military that, while unmasked as wobbly and severely depleted by the war in Ukraine, seems to remain loyal to the Kremlin.

Still, the once-mutinous Wagner forces took over the key southern Russian headquarters city of Rostov-on-Don without a shot being fired. They were able to march unopposed to within around 120 miles of Moscow.

Initially, Putin had vowed to punish those behind the armed uprising led by his onetime ally Prigozhin. In a televised speech to the nation, he called the rebellion a “betrayal” and “treason”.

Russia’s security service reportedly opened a criminal case against Prigozhin for armed mutiny and had said that his statements were “calls for the start of an armed civil conflict on Russian territory and his actions a ‘stab in the back’ to Russian servicemen fighting pro-fascist Ukrainian forces”.

The Kremlin propaganda machine moved into high gear, saying “we urge the Wagner fighters not to make irreparable mistakes, to stop any forcible actions against the Russian people, not to carry out the criminal and traitorous orders of Prigozhin, to take measures to detain him”.

“Excessive ambitions and vested interests have led to

treason,” Putin said in a televised address.

“It is a blow to Russia, to our people. And our actions to defend the Fatherland against such a threat will be harsh.”

“All those who deliberately stepped on the path of betrayal, who prepared an armed insurrection, who took the path of blackmail and terrorist methods, will suffer inevitable punishment, will answer both to the law and to our people.”

Then, suddenly, over the weekend Prigozhin called off the mutiny and took refuge in Belarus, whose longtime dictator Aleksandr Lukashenko had reportedly brokered a cease-fire deal.

In allowing Prigozhin and his forces to go free, a Russian spokesman said, Putin’s “highest goal” was “to avoid bloodshed and internal confrontation with unpredictable results”.

Charges against Prigozhin of mounting an armed rebellion would be dropped.

The Russian government also said it would not prosecute Wagner fighters who took part, while those who did not join in were to be offered contracts by the Defense Ministry. Prigozhin ordered his troops back to their field camps in Ukraine, where they have been fighting alongside Russian regular soldiers.

What now? Writing Tuesday in the New York Times, the illustrious prize-winning columnist Thomas Friedman offered some sage advice: “In the near-term, if Putin were to be ousted, we could well end up with someone worse. For example, how would we feel if Prigozhin were in the Kremlin this morning, commanding Russia’s nuclear arsenal?”

Friedman continued with his gloomy speculation. “You could also get disorder or civil war and the crackup of Russia into warlord/oligarch fiefdoms. As much as I detest Putin, I detest disorder even more, because when a big state cracks apart it is very hard to put it back together. The nuclear weapons and criminality that could spill out of a disintegrated Russia would change the world.”

For Washington. London and Brussels policymakers, the options are unappealing, uncertain and downright scary.

with Charlie Harper

Russian President Vladimir Putin, foreground, and Presidential Envoy to the North Caucasian Federal District Yury Yakovlevich Chaika, behind, visit the Naryn-Kala fortress in Derbent during Putin’s working visit to Dagestan Republic, Russia, Wednesday, June 28, 2023.

Photo: Gavriil Grigorov/ Sputnik, Kremlin Pool/AP

Debris from implosion of Titanic-bound submersible is returned to land

MAINE Associated Press

Debris from the Titan submersible has been returned to land after a fatal implosion during its voyage to the wreck of the Titanic captured the world’s attention last week.

The return of the debris to port in st. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, is a key piece of the investigation into why the submersible imploded, killing all five people on board. Twisted chunks of the 22-foot submersible were unloaded at a Canadian Coast Guard pier on Wednesday.

The Canadian ship Horizon Arctic carried a remotely operated vehicle, or rOV, to search the ocean floor near the Titanic wreck for pieces of the submersible. Pelagic research services, a company with offices in Massachusetts and New York that owns the rOV, said on Wednesday that it has completed offshore operations.

Pelagic research services’ team is “still on mission” and cannot comment on the ongoing Titan investigation, which involves several government agencies in the Us and Canada, said Jeff Mahoney, a spokesperson for the company.

“They have been working

around the clock now for ten days, through the physical and mental challenges of this operation, and are anxious to finish the mission and return to their loved ones,” Mahoney said. Debris from the Titan was located about 12,500 feet (3,810 meters) underwater and roughly 1,600 feet (488 meters) from the Titanic on the ocean floor, the Coast Guard said last week. The Coast Guard is leading the investigation into why the submersible imploded during its June 18 descent. Officials announced on June 22 that the submersible had imploded and all five people on board were dead.

The Coast Guard has convened a Marine board of investigation into the implosion. That is the highest level of investigation conducted by the Coast Guard.

One of the experts the Coast Guard consulted with during the search said analysing the physical material of recovered debris could reveal important clues about what happened to the Titan. And there could be electronic data, said Carl Hartsfield of the Woods Hole Oceanographic institution.

“Certainly all the instruments on any deep sea vehicle, they record data. They pass up data. so the question is, is there any data

available? And i really don’t know the answer to that question,” he said Monday. representatives for Horizon Arctic did not respond to requests for comment.

Coast Guard representatives declined to comment on the investigation or the return of debris to shore on Wednesday. No bodies have been recovered, though Coast Guard officials said days earlier that they were taking precautions in case they encountered human remains during the investigation.

Ocean Gate CeO and pilot stockton rush was killed in the implosion along with two members of a prominent Pakistani family, shahzada Dawood and his son suleman Dawood; british adventurer Hamish Harding; and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet. representatives for the National Transportation safety board and Transportation safety board of Canada, which are both involved in the investigation, also declined to comment. The National Transportation safety board has said the Coast Guard has declared the loss of the Titan submersible to be a “major marine casualty” and the Coast Guard will lead the investigation.

“We are not able to provide any additional information at this time

as the investigation is ongoing,” said Liam MacDonald, a spokesperson for the Transportation safety board of Canada.

A spokesperson for the international Maritime Organization, the UN’s maritime agency, has said any investigative reports from the disaster would be submitted for review. Member states of the iMO can also propose changes such as stronger regulations of submersibles.

Currently, the iMO has voluntary safety guidelines

for tourist submersibles which include requirements they be inspected, have emergency response plans, and have a certified pilot on board among other requirements. Any safety proposals would not likely be considered by the iMO until its next Maritime safety Committee which begins in May 2024.

OceanGate expeditions, the company that owned and operated the Titan, is based in the Us but the submersible was registered in the bahamas. The

OceanGate company in everett, Washington closed when the Titan was found. Meanwhile, the Titan’s mother ship, the Polar Prince, was from Canada. The operator charged passengers $250,000 each to participate in the voyage. The implosion of the Titan has raised questions about the safety of private undersea exploration operations. The Coast Guard also wants to use the investigation to improve safety of submersibles.

Debris from the Titan submersible, recovered from the ocean floor near the wreck of the Titanic, is unloaded from the ship Horizon Arctic at the Canadian Coast Guard pier in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Wednesday, June 28, 2023.

Photo: Paul Daly/The Canadian Press/AP

Durant and Booker visit the Elite Skills Basketball camp

By TENAJH SWEETING Tribune Sports Reporter tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

Phoenix Suns

All-Stars Kevin Durant and Devin Booker paid a visit to the 10th edition of the Elite Skills Summer Basketball camp yesterday at the Kendal G L Isaacs gymnasium. Durant and Suns’ shooting guard Devin Booker have been in The Bahamas since the beginning of the week and have been enjoying the sporting facilities at the gym.

The Elite Skills Camp started on June 26 and will continue until July 18 for both girls and boys.

The camp is geared towards participants ages 4-18 to teach them the basic fundamentals of the basketball game.

Denycko Bowles, director of International Basketball Academy (IBA), talked about the NBA players’ special visit.

“The visit has been good especially for the campers in terms of them not only being able to see but to feel and experience NBA players, not only Kevin Durant but also Devin Booker,”

Bowles said. He added that for the campers their momentum has definitely picked up and they have been even more enthusiastic and feel like they can be the next great Bahamian NBA or WNBA players.

Overall, both players were a great motivation for the kids at large, encouraging them to stay focused and continuing to work hard, according to Bowles.

At this year’s camp, the participants will learn how to improve their basketball IQ, basketball footwork skills, advanced ball handling, offence and defence critiquing and training, as

Bahamians hold their own in singles, doubles at ITF tournament

By TENAJH SWEETING Tribune Sports Reporter tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIAN tennis players got their feet wet at the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Junkanoo Bowl tournament which started this past Monday.

A total of 19 juniors have competed so far at the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association’s (BLTA) National Tennis Centre (NTC).

Athletes are competing from 11 different countries, including The Bahamas, Hong Kong, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, US Virgin Islands, Canada and the United States of America.

Yesterday at the NTC, Bahamians competed in both singles and doubles competition leading up to the quarterfinals.

The singles competition wrapped up, meanwhile, some of the doubles matches got delayed due to some rainy weather conditions on the tennis courts.

SINGLES

In the second round of the boys singles competition, The Bahamas’ Jackson Mactaggart took down the USA’s Ayden Fraire in two sets 6-2, 7-5. However, he followed up his second round singles win with a loss to the USA’s Alexander Farias in two sets 6-1,6-0.

Michael Major Jr, dropped his singles second round match in a competitive three sets to the USA’s Ezequiel de la Plaza.

The USA’s competitor won 6-3, 7-6(6) and 6-3.

After punching her ticket to the girls’ singles quarterfinals, Sarai Clarke took a loss to Natalie Oliver of the USA 6-0,6-1.

Sierra Rodgers got the best of her USA opponent Sophie Alarcon in the second round of the girls singles. She defeated Alarcon in a three-set battle, 6-2, 5-7, 6-0.

However, after booking her ticket to the quarterfinals, she fell to Dain Lee of Korea in two sets 6-3, 6-2.

Rodgers talked about her experience at the competition.

“This morning I felt like it was very well, it was pretty good honestly. I was pretty consistent and had a positive attitude which helped me a lot,” she said.

Despite the loss in the quarterfinals, Rodgers is enjoying the ITF tournament so far.

“So far it has been really good. I got to make a lot of new friends and I love the competition and it is really good to see other people

SEE PAGE 18

well as strength and resistance training.

With the camp already off to an exciting start for over 100 boys and girls combined, Bowles talked about how things are going from a coaching standpoint.

“It’s been really good, the kids have been extremely enthusiastic and have come every morning with high anticipation of camp and in camp routines throughout the day and we have grown in numbers which speaks to the hard work we have put in the camp for the boys and girls,” Bowles said. After 10 years of dedication and hardwork, camp

organisers are focused on teaching the budding athletes how to become better citizens from a student, spiritual and athletic standpoint so that they can be productive members in society.

Bowles said the best celebration for him after a decade of existence is seeing the youth develop and progress into model citizens.

“There is no greater feeling that would last like seeing these kids in their element and to watch them be successful at what they do, to see the excitement on their faces has been the

greatest reward this year and for years to come,” he said.

Among the other special appearances for the campers will be Dr Tyneil Cargill, who is a medical physician in The Bahamas, to offer the participants perspectives from different walks of life outside of sports. The summer months are usually a busy time for the various camps across the different sporting disciplines in the country. The Elite Skills Summer Basketball camp gets underway from 9am to 2pm.

WESTERN WARRIORS SOCCER CLUB ACHIEVES QUADRUPLE BFA CHAMPIONSHIP TITLES

THE Western Warriors Football (Soccer) Club celebrated an epic season of success in the 2022-2023 Bahamas Football Association leagues, receiving four 1st place trophies in last Saturday’s BFA awards ceremonies. They won titles in the boys under-15 division, under-18, men’s league and the prestigious Men’s Hummel Cup.

This extraordinary achievement by one soccer club has not been seen in the Bahamas for decades, and is even more remarkable given the impact that COVID-19 had on soccer in the Bahamas, with the BFA leagues cancelled for two whole years.

But the Warriors developed special fitness programmes and drills that were sent to players every week by Whatsapp, so that players could develop their skills and stamina at home.

Once some group exercise was permitted by the MOH, the club started small group fitness sessions which observed all required COVID-19 protocols.

In the boys under-15, the Western Warriors team won all six of its matches, scoring 43 goals for the season, and only three goals scored against the team.

Many of the goals were scored by forwards and midfielders Rolph Gervais, BFA under-15 MVP, Chevchenko Mesidor, Wilson Jasmin, Dylan Archer, Djouwentzky Desronvil, Nathan Walker and Denali McCarthy.

Exceptional goalkeeping by Dhechen Gibson and Malique Kelly ensured that Warriors dominated the age division.

Other noteworthy team players include John Brize, Hakeem Forbes, Jude Russell, Robens Lhomme and Joshua Burrows.

This age division is coached by Paul James and Ezzard Charles.

In the boys under-18 division, the Warriors played 12 total matches, won 10 matches, drew one, and lost one, with a final goal tally of 62 goals for and 10 goals scored against.

Principal goalkeeper Deron Ferguson, who has been named to several men’s national teams, kept goal counts low.

Key players in this age group include Kenaz Swain, BFA under-18 MVP, McKenzie Chery, Benjamin Cole, Dillon Ferguson, Jermaine Joseph, Leonardo Fertil, Sylvester Brize, Canton Jules, Jaxon Bethel, Matthew Holst, Reuben Edgecombe, Wisdom Ngaobidi, Djino Bazaan and Matyus Duncanson. This age division is coached by Paul James,

CELEBRITY APPEARANCE: NBA superstar Kevin Durant, of the Phoenix Suns, at the Elite Skills Basketball Camp at Kendal G L Isaacs Gymnasium yesterday.

JACKSON Mactaggart

RITA sets sail with resounding success and the support from Mount Gay Rum, Sands Beer

ABACO, The Bahamas – The art of sailing took centre stage as the highly anticipated Regattas in The Abacos (RITA 2023) officially set sail on Sunday, June 25.

The return of the annual summer regatta has attracted various racing sailing boats to compete in five races being staged throughout the Abacos, after a nearly three-year hiatus following the passage of Hurricane Dorian.

“Unlike the traditional Bahamian sloop regattas which take place in one settlement,” explained RITA committee organiser Dwayne Wallas, “each race in this regatta starts on one cay and ends on another cay.”

The first in a series of specially planned events kicked off with a vibrant launch party at Pete’s Pub in Little Harbour, Abaco.

Boaters arriving at this picturesque location were treated to the sounds of calypso accompanied by the refreshing taste of Sands Beer and signature Mount Gay Rum cocktails.

Mount Gay Rum has a global reputation for supporting sailing regattas.

“The brand is providing exclusive merchandise to participating sailors as well as refreshments at all events. Sands Beer will also support all pre and after-event celebrations, according to a press release.

“Sands Beer has also sponsored ‘The Lonesome Dove,’ a B-Class sloop from Hope Town, Abaco, that has garnered several multi-podium finishes at different regattas, including the recent National Family Island Regatta.

“Sands Beer and Mount Gay Rum are proud sponsors of Regatta in the Abacos,” said Diane de Cardenas, Jimmy’s Wines and Spirits assistant general manager for Nassau and The Family Islands.

“Sands Beer has always embraced sailing culture even in our branding, which features the iconic man in the boat,” she noted.

“Our continued sponsorship of regattas and other sailing events reinforces the company’s commitment to its truly Bahamian roots.”

On Saturday, organisers had both a welcome party and a skippers’ meeting held at the Jib Room Marina, which has been completely reconstructed after the devastation of Hurricane Dorian.

Sunday saw the start of the five races, with

19 vessels taking to the water to participate, competing to win the three fleet categories - Spinnaker, Non-spinnaker and Multihull.

Winners for race one on Sunday from Marsh Harbour to Hope Town; were Spinnaker, ‘Rockstar’, Non-Spinnaker, ‘Contrails’ and Multihull, ‘Catabatic’.

Race two took place on Monday from Hope Town to Guana Cay and saw all new leaders in each category except in the Multihull category; winners for the second RITA races were Spinnaker, ‘NautOnCall’, Non-Spinnaker, ‘Lonesome Dove’ and Multihull, ‘Catabatic’.

Already dubbed a roaring success, RITA 2023 is expected to continue delighting participants with three more exhilarating boat races.

As the event unfolds, participants and spectators alike are anticipating the upcoming races and to see who will be crowned champions after the last race on Saturday, July 1. Results can be found on the RITAwebsite:

regattasintheabacos.com.

“Mount Gay Rum and Sands beer are proud to be Gold Sponsors of this annual favourite regatta,” said Gerry Summers, Abaco marketing executive for Jimmy’s Wines & Spirits.

“The regatta has had a significant positive impact on local businesses already. Car rentals, villa rentals, marinas, restaurants

andbars are experiencing a notable surge in patronage, benefitting from the influx of visitors and the vibrant atmosphere surrounding the regatta.”

According to John Pinder, the Member of Parliament for Central and South Abaco, RITA 2023 is not only a catalyst for Abaco’s revival, but further opens the door to create greater

FROM PAGE 15

Ezzard Charles and Romel Cime Augustin.

In the men’s senior league, the Warriors played 18 matches, won 15 games and drew three games.

In the Hummel Cup, the Western Warriors men’s team played tirelessly, beating out Dynamos FC 5-0 in the semi-finals and United FC 2-0 in an exciting final.

The men’s team includes many loyal players who have been with the club since they were youngsters, including Troy Pinder, Jamar Townsend, Jamaal Nicolas, Sheltin Edmond, Lekenson Chery, Cameron Hanna, Edson Dorleant, Jacksony Agenor, Javan Missick and Peterson Kevin Joseph.

Other notable players include Paxon Jean, Dason Estimable, Terry Delancey (Hummel Cup MVP), Kelly Bolivar, Romel Cime Augustin, Erold Thelusma, Ronald Brave, Similien Roose, Jean Francois, Amos Myrtil, and indomitable goal keeper Thaj Jay Asquith, winner of the BFA Golden Glove award.

The men’s team is coached by head coach Benjamin Blanc, assisted by Paul James and Ezzard Charles.

The Western Warriors Football Club also has a grass roots programme for boys and girls aged seven to 11, which it has also rolled out to Uriah McPhee Primary School.

The club has competitive girls’ teams in the under-15 and under-18 divisions, and a women’s team, coached by former national team player and coach Cherlindria Thompson.

The Western Warrior boys under-13 team, which was winning the division when the remainder of the season had to be cancelled due to BFA scheduling conflicts, looks forward to the next season.

The Western Warriors Football Club was founded in 2008 by Saskia D’Aguilar and Michael Hooper.

The club is committed to creating a wholesome environment where players of all nationalities, from all schools and neighbourhoods, are welcome.

The club has a rigorous training programme, with mandatory training for every age group three to four times per week.

Superwash Ltd. sponsors the club and also provides support for players who need assistance with registration fees. For more information, visit the club’s website: www.westernwarriorsbahamas.com

MOURINHO HIT WITH 10DAY SERIE A SUSPENSION FOR COMMENTS ABOUT ITALIAN REFEREE

ROME (AP) — Roma coach José Mourinho was handed a 10-day suspension for the start of the Serie A season for comments he made about an Italian referee.

Yesterday’s ban by the Italian soccer federation means Mourinho will miss Roma’s opening match next season and will likely also miss the team’s second game, depending on when the matches are scheduled.

opportunities for cultural tourism.

“We’re not just bringing back Regatta In the Abacos” he noted.

“But we’re looking to expand on the many sailing programmes that currently exist here and give Abaconians even more opportunity to showcase their skills as sons and daughters of the sea,” Pinder stated.

Mourinho was punished for claiming Daniele Chiffi was “the worst referee I have ever seen in my career” after Roma’s 1-1 draw at Monza on May 3.

The Portuguese coach was also fined 50,000 euros ($55,000), as was Roma.

The 60-year-old Mourinho was banned for four matches by UEFA last week for abusing English referee Anthony Taylor at the Europa League final on May 31.

FIRST PHRG non-spinnaker fleet.

WINNERS show off their awards at the Regattas in The Abacos 2023, which officially set sail on Sunday.

LONESOME Dove - 1st Place

RITAS JP with first race winner were Spinnaker, ‘Rockstar’, Non-Spinnaker, ‘Contrails’ and Multihull, ‘Catabatic’.

Jazz Chisholm Jr hits solo home run as Marlins get win over Red Sox, 6-2

By MAUREEN MULLEN Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) — Jean Segura hit a two-run single in a three-run sixth inning and the Miami Marlins beat the Boston Red Sox 6-2 last night after a rain delay.

“Really good baserunning. Our defence was really good. I just really liked the way they came out and played,” Miami manager Skip Schumaker said.

“Ran the bases the right way and put the ball in play. You put the ball in play and good things happen and that’s what happened to us.”

Braxton Garrett (4-2) pitched five innings for the victory, allowing a run on three hits and a walk. The Marlins have won eight of his last nine starts, the last six in a row. A.J. Puk closed for his 12th save.

“It was pretty good,” Garrett said. “It wasn’t the sharpest I’ve been but we worked with what we had. I felt like I was a little bit sinker-heavy. It got me out of some trouble. Not super sharp, but happy with it.”

Garrett Cooper opened the second inning with a home run for Boston against Kaleb Ort. Rafael Devers tied it in the fourth with his 19th homer, a twoout shot.

After back-to-back, one-out walks from Boston’s Nick Pivetta (4-5) to Jorge Soler and Bryan De La Cruz and a 1-2 count on Jazz Chisholm Jr in the sixth, the game was delayed for 1 hour, 13 minutes because of rain.

When play resumed, Josh Winckowski replaced Pivetta. Winckowski struck out Chisholm before

walking Garrett Cooper and unleashing a wild pitch with Segura at the plate, allowing Soler to score.

Segura’s infield single scored De La Cruz and Cooper, giving the Marlins a 4-1 lead.

Chisholm hit a solo homer in the eighth.

“We’re not hitting the ball hard,” Boston manager Alex Cora said.

“It’s been going on for a while. Putting good at-bats, but not finishing them. We’re struggling offensively right now. We are.”

TRAINER’S

ROOM

Marlins: RHP Johnny Cueto, on the injured list since April 4 with right biceps tightness, made a rehab start Wednesday for Triple-A Jacksonville.

He was expected to go six innings, but went 4 2/3. He gave up seven runs on eight hits, including three home runs, with three walks and six strikeouts.

Red Sox: INF Yu Chang, on the injured list since April 25 with a left hamate fracture, is expected to play in a rehab game Saturday with Double-A Portland, serving as the DH.

DRESSEL FAILS TO QUALIFY FOR WORLDS IN

50M FLY

INDIANAPOLIS (AP)

— Caeleb Dressel made it to the 50-meter butterfly final but again failed to qualify for the world championships, finishing third at the U.S. nationals on Wednesday night.

Dressel touched the wall in 23.35 seconds in the non-Olympic event, which he won at the last two worlds in 2019 and 2022. He finished behind winner Michael Andrew (23.11) and runner-up Dare Rose (23.20).

Still, it was an encouraging performance by Dressel, who is swimming in his first major meet since taking a lengthy break.

He has two more shots at making the U.S. team for next month’s world championships at Fukuoka, Japan, having also entered the 100 fly and the 50 freestyle.

Other top swimmers are pulling for Dressel to qualify for the team.

“It would be awesome,” said Ryan Murphy, who won the 200 backstroke on Wednesday. “He’s a pretty magnetic personality. He really does help everyone around him.”

Dressel finished 29th in the preliminaries of his first event at nationals, the 100 free. It was a stunning performance from a guy who won five golds medals at the Tokyo Olympics.

LHP Joely Rodriguez, on the IL since June 1 because of left shoulder inflammation, is expected to make a rehab appearance Thursday with Portland.

UP NEXT Miami LHP Jesus Luzardo (6-5, 3.77 ERA) was scheduled to start series finale Thursday against RHP Brayan Bello (5-4, 3.27).

YANKEES PITCHER DOMINGO GERMÁN THROWS PERFECT GAME AGAINST OAKLAND, THE 24TH IN MLB HISTORY

By MICHAEL WAGAMAN Associated Press

OAKLAND, Calif.

(AP) — Domingo Germán of the New York Yankees pitched the 24th perfect game in major league history last night, retiring every Oakland batter in

VUCEVIC AGREES TO THREE-YEAR, $60 MILLION EXTENSION WITH BULLS

By ANDREW SELIGMAN AP Sports Writer

an 11-0 victory over the Athletics.

It was the first perfect game since Seattle Mariners ace Félix Hernández threw one against the Tampa Bay Rays on August 15, 2012.

There were three that season — but none since

until Germán finished the first no-hitter in the big leagues this year. Coming off a pair of terrible starts, Germán (5-5) struck out nine of 27 batters against the A’s, who have the worst record in the majors. The 30-year-old righthander had never before

thrown a complete game in the big leagues. He was winless in six previous outings against Oakland. He joined Don Larsen (1956), David Wells (1998) and David Cone (1999) as Yankees pitchers to throw perfect games.

Larsen’s gem came in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers. Germán threw 72 of 99 pitches for strikes, mixing 51 curveballs and 30 fastballs that averaged 92.5 mph with 17 changeups and one sinker.

76ERS FACE AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE WITH HARDEN AND HARRIS DEALS UP IN THE AIR

By DAN GELSTON AP Sports Writer

PHILADELPHIA (AP)

— James Harden might have side-eyed questions this week -- much like he did in a playful reaction in his Houston days -- about his future with the Philadelphia 76ers.

But the issue is real in Philly: Will Harden return to the 76ers for a third season?

All signs point to Harden declining his $35.6 million option on Thursday and entering this summer as an unrestricted free agent.

That leaves the 2018 NBA MVP and 10-time All-Star free to sign with any team.

A return to the Rockets?

Perhaps, if he prioritizes cash over a championship chase. The 76ers? Depends. Does Harden really enjoy playing as the second option to NBA MVP Joel Embiid?

Plan C? Harden might not have planned much beyond a potential Houston reunion or Sixers return. Philadelphia has the home-contract

edge: The 76ers have the right to offer Harden a $210 million, four-year deal, $8 million more overall than any other team.

Houston, though, where Harden blossomed into a surefire Hall of Famer is a city that still tugs at his heart.

Nick Nurse, hired earlier this month to replace Doc Rivers as coach of the 76ers, wants a shot at coaching Harden.

“James has a decision to make, and I’d be very happy if he came back,” Nurse said when he was hired.

Tobias Harris, himself in a bit of a contract quandary this summer, also stumped for a Harden return as he grabbed rebounds and posed for selfies with children Tuesday at a Fanatics promotion.

“There’s not many guys that can go out and drop 40 in a playoff game. I think that goes under the radar a little bit too much,” Harris said. “I think James is a phenomenal player, somebody who works his tail off, and somebody’s who’s

an overall great leader. Of course I want him back.”

Harden, who turns 34 in August, played the last few months with nagging left Achilles soreness and flashed only glimpses of his Houston prime. He scored 45 points in Game 1 and 42 in Game 4 victories of the Eastern Conference semifinal loss against Boston, and was 0 for 6 on 3s in Game 2 and Game 6 losses. He scored only nine points in Game 7, and that included going scoreless in the second half.

Stuck in the muck of salary cap restrictions, the 76ers have few real options to replace Harden should he sign elsewhere. Not only that, the Sixers are fielding trade offers for Harris, who enters the final season of a $180-million, five-year contract.

Harris averaged 14.7 points last season, well behind NBA scoring champ Embiid, Harden and Tyrese Maxey. Torrel Harris, Tobias Harris’ father and agent, blasted the way the 76ers have used Harris since 2018 and

said on the “Business of Sports” podcast his son was an “assassin scorer.”

“I mean, they can’t stop him,” Torrel Harris said on the podcast.

“Nobody in the league can stop him. So he’s proven that over his career, even when he was with the Clippers.”

Harris has the all-important expiring contract that the 76ers can dangle as trade bait. While his dad believed Harris is still a prime scorer, the 76ers forward wants to put a freeze on public negotiations.

“When I’m a father, I’m going to tell my kid he’s better than LeBron James,” Harris said.

“But I’ve also told him as a dad and agent, not to speak for me when it comes to the media. Obviously, he has his viewpoint on that. But that’s not the way I feel. I knew going into last year what my role was and I was going to be the fourth option offensively. I knew that going in.” Harris said he was “OK” with that role and knew if the 76ers were going to win

a championship, he would be the player to “sacrifice from that group.”

Sometimes, the dip in production meant a dip in popularity.

“Trade speculation, casual Sixers fans, they would trade me for a Crumbl Cookie,” he said.

The cookie certainly crumbled for the Sixers for the playoffs, where they were eliminated in the second round for the third straight season.

The early exit for a team that won 54 games marked 22 seasons since the franchise reached the Eastern Conference finals. It cost Rivers his job.

It’s up to Nurse, who won a championship with Toronto in 2019, to find a formula that can win the 76ers a championship.With or without Harden and Harris.

“I believe we have the right talent to be a championship team,” Harris said. “We have the right pieces and the right culture. With a new coach, I’m excited with what we can bring to the table.”

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Bulls and center Nikola Vucevic agreed Wednesday to a $60 million, three-year extension, keeping the two-time All-Star off the free agent market. The move was hardly a surprise considering executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and Vucevic had expressed a desire to get a deal done. The consistently productive 6-foot-10 center averaged 17.6 points and 11 rebounds — both identical to his averages a season earlier — while playing in all 82 games for the first time in his career.

“I’m excited to continue my journey as a Chicago Bull,” Vucevic said in a statement. “Since I have arrived in Chicago, everyone in the organization has been incredibly welcoming to my family and me. I am motivated more than ever to achieve our mutual goals as a team.”

Vucevic, who turns 33 in October, has averaged 17 points and 10.5 rebounds over 12 seasons with Philadelphia, Orlando and Chicago.

The Bulls signalled they were serious about becoming contenders and attracting top free agents when they acquired him from the Magic in March 2021 for Wendell Carter Jr. and two first-round picks — their first major move under Karnisovas.

Chicago added DeMar DeRozan, Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso prior to the 2021-22 season and reached the playoffs at 46-36 after four straight losing seasons. But last season they regressed to 40-42 and lost in the play-in tournament.

MIAMI Marlins Jazz Chisholm Jr. celebrates while crossing the plate on his solo home run, as Boston

Red Sox catcher Caleb Hamilton (77) looks on, in the eighth inning during a baseball game at Fenway Park, Wednesday, June 28, 2023, in Boston.

(AP

Photo/Charles Krupa)

Noah sweeps Chess Classic, Jayla emerges as top female

ALBURY WINS SECOND CONSECUTIVE WARREN SEYMOUR CHESS CLASSIC

THE results of the Warren Seymour Chess Classic demonstrate that the future of chess in The Bahamas is bright.

The Warren Seymour Classic is an open tournament at which junior and senior players square off against each other.

Open category in chess refers to a competition in which anyone can participate regardless of age or experience.

The Warren Seymour Chess Classic is the first of four qualifiers in The Bahamas Chess Federation’s 2023 Open Chess Series.

The Tournament took place over the weekend of June 24. Round 1 kicked off Saturday morning, followed by an intense three rounds of competition that afternoon. Rounds 4 and 5 continued on Sunday.

The event was sponsored by The Sports Centre and Colina Insurance.

Noah Albury seized the title of winner of the Warren Seymour Chess Classic, winning all his games. His win qualified him for the

2024 Bahamas National Chess Championship.

Shawn Barker won second place, also qualifying for the 2024 Nationals. Curtis Pride Jr placed third.

The Warren Seymour Classic is a five-round Swiss format, a game in 60 minutes plus five seconds per move.

The Warren Seymour Classic is FIDE rated.

The 2024 Bahamas National Chess Championship is scheduled to be held in January 2024.

The 2023 Warren Seymour Chess Classic Tournament is also a qualifier for the Pan American Youth Chess Festival and the CAC Youth Chess Championship.

The Pan American Youth Chess Festival is scheduled to take place in Chicago August 11–18.

The CAC Youth Chess Championship will take place in Trinidad & Tobago and will feature leading junior players from Central American countries and the Caribbean.

The 1st place finishers in the Junior Sections (Under

SUNDAY BRUNCH TREAT AT FUSION FOR ABACO YOUTH BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL

LEAGUE

AFTER completing four days of competition at the G-Ball Andre Rodgers National Baseball National Championships, the 50-member crew of Abaco Youth Baseball & Softball League was treated to Sunday brunch at Fusion Superplex by Buttons Formal Wear whose team once won four senior Bahamas baseball championships in the 1990s. “Tommy Stubbs, thank you for your support and hospitality at Fusion Sunday night. Our boys had a good time after participating in the Bahamas Baseball Association’s Nationals. We, in the Abaco Youth Baseball and Softball league, salute Buttons Formal Wear and we appreciate your support.”

DELLE DONNE, ATKINS HELP MYSTICS CRUISE PAST DREAM, 109-86

WASHINGTON (AP) — Elena Delle Donne scored 25 points, Ariel Atkins added 19 points and the Washington Mystics beat the Atlanta Dream 109-86 on Wednesday night.

Washington outscored Atlanta 35-13 in the second quarter and topped 100 points for the first time this season.

8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 categories) qualify to attend these prestigious international global tournaments.

The Warren Seymour Classic is named in honour of Bahamian hero Warren Seymourm who committed over 30 years of his life to growing the sport of chess in the Bahamas and contributing to the development of hundreds of young Bahamians. During his prime, Mr Seymour selflessly visited over thirty schools a month, training young men and women in critical thinking and helping them to develop good, decisionmaking skills. Without any financial gain, he also taught chess at correctional facilities and assisted in the rehabilitation of prisoners.

“Congratulations to all our players!” said Curtis

Pride, first vice president of The Bahamas Chess Federation and director of tournaments. He said: “It is encouraging to see so many of you come out to compete. There is a lot of work to do at the federation level but we are committed to hosting more local tournaments and also providing support for our players to travel to compete in international competitions. Travelling to international competitions is particularly important for local players as we have such a small pool of chess players locally. Our players have to travel in order to increase their ratings, compete for titles and move The Bahamas forward in the sport of chess. With the help of parents and corporate Bahamas, we will achieve our goals.”

International arbiter

Andre White served as chief arbiter for the 2023 Warren Seymour Chess Classic. National arbiter Angel Pride served as assistant arbiter.

2023 Warren Seymour Chess Classic Results

OPEN SECTION

1st Place: Noah Albury 5 points

2nd Place: Shawn Barker

4 points

3

3rd Place: Curtis Pride Jr.

½ points

Best Female: Jayla Cargill 3 ½ points

JUNIOR SECTION

Top Junior: Noah Albury

U8: Caerwyn Turnquest

U10: Danica Rolle

U12: Adrian Dean

U14: Chika Pride

U16: Avian Pride

U18: Noah Albury

Best Female: Jayla Cargill

Myisha Hines-Allen scored 16 points, Tianna Hawkins had 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Brittney Sykes had 12 points and 10 assists for the Mystics (9-5).

Cheyenne Parker had 23 points and eight rebounds and Allisha Gray added 17 points for Atlanta (5-8).

SKY 80, SPARKS 63 CHICAGO (AP)

— Courtney Williams scored a season-high 21 points, Kahleah Copper added 14 points and Chicago beat Los Angeles to snap a six-game skid.

Marina Mabrey added 13 points and Dana Evans had 11 for Chicago (6-9).

Nneka Ogwumike had 16 points and 11 rebounds for Los Angeles (7-8), which was 22 of 63 (35%) from the field with 16 turnovers.

Bahamian players hold their own at the International Tennis Federation tourney

FROM PAGE 15

from different countries play with us instead of playing against each other to give us more variety,” she added.

DOUBLES Rodgers also competed alongside Saphirre Ferguson in the first round of

the girls doubles. Although the duo lost to the USA’s Natalie Oliver and Alexandra Wolf 6-0, 6-0 in both sets, Ferguson said they could have been more focused in the match.

But, in the end, they just decided to have fun and enjoy the experience despite it not being the result they wanted.

The Freeport doubles team of Jalisa Clarke and Rachel Thompson represented the Bahamas well.

The girls beat the USA’s Alarcon and Bahamas’ Kaylee Kanuka 7-6(3) and 6-0. Both girls were excited to talk about the win.

“It was funny, hectic, and very nerve-racking but I have a good partner so that

helped me,” Thomspon said.

She added that the competition had her very nervous but she made it through the experience nonetheless.

Clarke, her teammate, said her strategy was to set up her serves and take over in moments when her teammate needed her most.

Overall, she said her first time at the tournament was good and it felt great to experience new players and meet persons that played similar styles to her.

In more doubles action, The Bahamas’ team of Cohen Knowles and Dentry Mortimer came up short against the USA’s Christopher Condoianis and Ayden

Fraire in two sets. The USA doubles team won 6-1, 6-3. With the semifinals for the singles and quarterfinals for the doubles beginning today at the NTC, The Bahamas’ best chance of advancing to the finals lies with the doubles competitors. Matchups start this morning at 9am.

CHESS players clash during the Warren Seymour Chess Classic - an open tournament at which junior and senior players square off against each other.

SAND WARS FLAG FOOTBALL TOURNEY BEGINS IN A MONTH

By TENAJH SWEETING Tribune Sports Reporter tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

SAND Wars Bahamas returns for their sixth edition of the beach flag football tournament in exactly one month.

Following the end of the Bahamas Flag Football League (BFFL) season last weekend, teams will now take their talents from the Winton Rugby Field to the Nassau Beach Soccer stadium.

The flag football tourney will commence July 29-30 with up to 14 teams, men and women combined, vying for a chance to win a $1,500 cash prize for their squad.

The unorthodox flag football challenge will test the endurance and athleticism of the clubs, making for an exciting competition next month.

Tito Bethel, co-founder and operations manager of Sand Wars Bahamas, talked about how they came up with the interesting element of playing flag football on the sand.

“The tournament basically started around 2018 and is a combination of flag football and the one thing that The Bahamas offerssun, sand, and sea - so we decided to put something together to allow both industries to come together to have something exciting,” Bethel said.

Of the 14 flag football teams expected to compete will be clubs from Abaco, Grand Bahama, the Cayman Islands and New Providence.

The flag football teams will feature the Abaco Sharks, Grand Bahama’s Zero Tolerance and Cayman Islands Anklebullies.

The New Providence teams are last year’s defending champions Team Red Dot, the Hornets, Predators, Guardians of the Galaxy, the Dragons, Avengers, Lady Jaguars and others. Since their start in 2018, flag football competition has gotten better every following year, according to Bethel. Therefore, expectations are high for the showdowns between the teams in this year’s tourney.

“Expectations for this tournament has always been great, now that we are on our sixth time around, this competition has always been stiff and exciting, now that we are comfortable and fully geared up, it is going to be even more exciting as the title is up for grabs,” Bethel said.

Despite a difficult start to the tournament by some of the teams due to the beach soccer element, he believes that they have now adjusted and are becoming more comfortable with the concept of playing the sport on the sand instead of the field.

“The difference would be more of the resistance and mobility on the sand in terms of trying to make the same plays that you would make on the grass so you would have to be more conditioned and extra focused to make plays on the sand, you have to be more of an athlete to play on the sand,” he added.

The matchups will all get underway at the National Beach Soccer stadium. Interested individuals can get in at a cost of $10 for VIP and $8 for regular seating.

For teams that have not yet signed up for the tournament, the cost is $350. For more information, contact 462-6973.

SAND WARS: Flag football teams battle on the sand during last year’s Sand Wars Bahamas flag football tournament.