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Deputy PM insists party will survive if Christie steps down

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

DEPUTY Prime Minister Philip “Brave� Davis yesterday rejected the idea that the Progressive Liberal Party would become unstable like the Free National Movement if Prime Minister Perry Christie chooses to step down as leader.

Mr Davis’ statement comes after Mr Christie, during an appearance on the “Ed Fields Live� show on Kiss FM Monday evening, said the instability affecting the Official Opposition might happen in the PLP if he stepped down.

Mr Christie gave this as one of the reasons he has decided to remain leader with no indication of a pos-

NEW LOOK IS ON POINTE

sible retirement.

When asked if the PLP would become unstable without Mr Christie, Mr Davis said: “It depends on how you define what is meant by instability. The Official Opposition is in shambles. “The PLP always finds a way to right its way at any given time despite whatever happens.�

Asked why Mr Christie would make such a claim, he declined to speculate, saying: “You should ask him. I don’t know why he thinks that. That’s for him to answer.�

Mr Christie, 72, did not take questions from reporters outside Cabinet yesterday.

SEE PAGE SIX

MINISTER of Youth, Sports and Culture Dr Danny Johnson has announced he will not seek re-election for the Carmichael constituency and has endorsed Senator Keith Bell to represent the area instead.

In a speech before the Progressive Liberal Party’s Carmichael Branch last night, Dr Johnson said because of “personal reasons� he will not run in the next general election.

His recommendation that Senator Bell be con-

sidered by the PLP’s Candidates Committee, a move that was seconded by PLP Chairman Bradley Roberts, was endorsed by those in attendance last night. “Carmichael, being your servant leader, sounding board, messenger, confidant and yes social partner was a joy and privilege that few Bahamians get to enjoy,� Dr Johnson said last night. “You reposed your confidence in me to carry your collective aspirations to the halls of Parliament and I did my best to represent your concerns.

SEE PAGE SIX

By SANCHESKA BROWN Tribune Staff Reporter sbrown@tribunemedia.net BAHAMAS Power and Light has stopped its power outage rotations in New Providence “for now� and is in a “safe zone� after returning two engines on line, Corporate Communications Manager Arnette Ingraham said yesterday.

In an interview with The Tribune, Mrs Ingraham said the electricity provider is “doing pretty good at the moment� but warned that load shedding could begin again at anytime because “the old generators are unpredictable.�

She also said the additional rental generators the corporation ordered should be in the country in “a few weeks�.

Earlier this month, BPL announced “outage rotations� throughout New Providence as the corporation continued to grapple with “generation challenges� at its power stations.

SEE PAGE THREE

BUTLER-TURNER: FNM ‘IS AT ITS WEAKEST POINT IN ITS HISTORY’

By KHRISNA VIRGIL Deputy Chief Reporter kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

LONG Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner last night insisted that the Free National Movement (FNM) is at the “weakest� point in its history as she suggested the party’s current state was the result of poor leadership.

Speaking at a town hall meeting geared towards garnering the support of the party’s delegates, Mrs Butler-Turner focused heavily on Dr Hubert Minnis’ leadership shortcomings.

SEE PAGE TWO

JOHNSON CITES PERSONAL REASONS AS HE RULES OUT RUNNING AGAIN

By TANEKA THOMPSON Tribune News Editor tmthompson@tribunemedia.net

TWO ENGINES BACK ONLINE AND POWER CUTS ON HOLD

HIDDEN behind tarpaulins for months during construction, the covers came off yesterday at The Pointe in downtown Nassau. This portion of the building includes the parking and theatre area of the complex. See page 11 for more photographs.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

PM INSISTS RESOLUTION TO THE BAHA MAR SAGA IS ‘IMMINENT’

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net  PRIME Minister Perry Christie has said he believes the Export-Import Bank of China is prepared to present a possible buyer for the beleaguered $3.5 billion Baha Mar resort, as he declared a resolution to the Baha Mar debacle is

“imminent�.

Mr Christie, while a guest on the “Ed Fields Live� show on KISS FM on Monday evening, said the government is “closer than we’ve ever been before� on a resolution to the Baha Mar controversy, and that talks towards the same “have been taking place rapidly�.

Mr Christie did not indi-

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cate who the potential buyer of the West Bay Street development might be; however, he said the EXIM Bank, Baha Mar’s $2.5 billion secured creditor, “would have only chosen someone with an incredible capacity to finance a $2.5 billion deal and finish it.�

SEE PAGE SIX

‘BAD PRECEDENT’ OVER $100,000 DEMAND IN FNM LEADERSHIP RACE

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net FORMER Cabinet minister Tennyson Wells said yesterday that the Free National Movement has set a “bad precedent� by asking leadership contenders to fund the party’s upcoming convention.

Taking issue with the apparent “pay to play� environment, Mr Wells suggested that nominations for the party’s leadership positions should now be closed so that late entrants are not allowed to get a free ride.

SEE PAGE SIX

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PAGE 2, Wednesday, July 20, 2016

BUTLER-TURNER: FNM ‘IS AT ITS WEAKEST POINT IN ITS HISTORY’ from page one

The former party deputy, who is challenging Dr Minnis for the party’s top post at the FNM convention later this month, sought to differentiate herself from the Killarney MP. To make her case, she accused Dr Minnis of pretending he was sick in order to get out of debating the University of the Bahamas Bill last week, failing to intervene on behalf of Bahamians in a timely manner when the Baha Mar resort went into bankruptcy last year and not stepping up during debates to hold the government’s feet to the fire on troubling national issues among other things.

During her stinging attack on the party leader, she urged FNMs with voting power to consider who would make the strongest team to contest the 2017 general election and accused Prime Minister Perry Christie and the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) of seeking to ensure the FNM is not strong.

An energetic and animated Mrs Butler-Turner also warned delegates of the “boogieman” and those who might attempt to bribe them for their votes as they head to convention on July 27 to 29. The party has 410 delegates who can cast votes.

“Why are we as a party not stronger? Why are we as a party not unified? There are some who will tell you we are not stronger because

Loretta caused us to be weak,” she told the group of almost 50 who gathered at S C McPherson Junior High School last night.

“Well, let’s accept that Loretta caused us to be weak. (Well) Loretta is going to cause you to be strong now. There are those who will tell you that we do not defend or stand with the leader, but I have a picture that I want to remind you of. When we were being led out of the House of Assembly, I want to know who stood up and said don’t touch us?

“What happened when Loretta Butler-Turner said ‘let’s have a march on Rawson Square for all the homeowners that did not benefit from the Mortgage Relief Programme’? You know what happened?

You want to talk about divided? The leader said I didn’t call for that so y’all don’t come out. I didn’t call for that so don’t worry about that. We aren’t having no march for y’all because if y’all get thrown out of your house we will deal with that another way and we have yet to deal with it.

“You see, when Baha Mar closed down and filed for bankruptcy, I was the one to stand up and say that Perry Christie is delusional (and) he is lying to the Bahamian people. I said to the Leader you better go talk to Christie. But when you finish talking to Christie I want you to talk to China Construction America and when you finish talking to CCA I want you to talk

LORETTA Butler-Turner getting in the campaign mood during last night’s meet and greet event.

THE TRIBUNE

LORETTA Butler-Turner and Dr Duane Sands held a meet and greet at SC McPherson school to boost their FNM leadership campaign.

Supporters of the party were present.

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff to the developers and then, Mr Leader, I want you to tell the FNM what we will do when we become the government to get Bahamians back to work.

“But he said to me ‘no, I don’t want talk to no Perry Christie’ and then the next week he missed the time. You need an FNM opposition now that is going to hold the feet of this inept government to the fire.”

Mrs Butler-Turner also took a dig at Dr Minnis’ campaign slogan “Roc wit Doc,” saying the country didn’t need to “be rocin” but needed to be

anchored. She said: “The party is not united. We are not here to break up the party, we are here to heal the party.

“Now, talking about Perry Christie, let me tell you, Perry Christie is helping to make sure that the FNM is not strong, all of them.

Since when you see PLPs does go on the stage at an FNM rally to tell FNMs what they must do. The PLP ain’t our friends. This is wartime. I don’t care if the PLP is your friend: I want to roll him out.

“At the end of the day if you have a warrior taking on machinery and you only

have (Montagu MP) Richard Lightbourn that you can count on every time or (North Eleuthera MP) Theo Neilly or (Central Grand Bahama MP) Neko Grant or (St Anne’s MP Hubert Chipman) Chippie but you don’t have your Leader ... I am telling you all, watch Parliament. I am going to tell you who are the ones you see out there taking blows.

“The other day, when we were finishing up the educational bill, (a) very important bill the Leader said he was sick, but he got well soon (and) a friend of mine saw him in the barber shop

SOME of the supporters present at last night’s meet and greet event.

a couple hours later. But he was too sick to debate on behalf of the FNM.” She said her campaign is working on its five-point plan to rescue the country, which is expected to soon be released to the public.

Both Mrs Butler-Turner and Dr Duane Sands, who is contending for the deputy leadership, are expected to attend a round-table discussion at the College of the Bahamas this evening to discuss their position on national issues. Dr Minnis was reportedly also invited to attend but it is unclear whether he will make an appearance.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, July 20, 2016, PAGE 3

MINNIS HITS OUT AT LACK OF PREPARATION FOR SUMMER HEAT

By SANCHESKA BROWN Tribune Staff Reporter sbrown@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement Leader Dr Hubert Minnis said yesterday it is “unconscionable” that Bahamians have to suffer through an intense heat wave because the government was “ill-prepared” for the challenge of generating electricity during the summer months.

In a statement, Dr Minnis said the government has made a habit of being “asleep at the switch” and it’s the people who suffer

because of their “ineptitude”.

His comments came one day after Prime Minister Perry Christie admitted that rental generators, needed to prevent load shedding and blackouts, were ordered late.

As a result, the electricity provider announced “outage rotations” throughout New Providence as the corporation continued to grapple with “generation challenges” at its power stations.

“We found out this week from our embattled prime minister that his govern-

ment was ill-prepared for the oncoming summer heat that is affecting so many homes and families. Many of them continue to suffer through power outages because, as the prime minister was finally forced to admit, the government failed to prepare the power generation shortfall due to summer demand,” Dr Minnis said.

“This PLP government has made a habit of being asleep at the switch and it’s the people that suffer because of their ineptitude.

It was only last week when asked about the power fail-

ures hurting so many families suffering through the hot summer, that the Deputy Prime Minister (Philip Davis) told Bahamians, ‘Be patient. We will have an answer soon.’

“Well, we have the answer, this government simply failed to get ready for the summer demand.

How many mothers with young babies in New Providence have to suffer for the PLP’s latest failures?

How many of our seniors are forced to sit through blistering heat with no power in some Family Islands because the PLP

didn’t act in time?”

While on the “Ed Fields Live” show on Kiss FM on Monday Mr Christie said the temporary generators have been ordered and relief is on the way.

“The difficulty is that I thought we had anticipated, that is the management of BEC and the management going forward, that we were going to have a bad summer and I knew that we had to have at least 40 megawatts in addition to what we have now - they were ordered late,” Mr Christie said.

“The fact is (that the

management is) anticipating relief by a certain date that they can give. And the relief would be where you add to the capacity as it exists now; the 40 megawatts that they say should be able to balance out the challenges that we have.”

The government owned electricity provider has been load shedding intermittently for more than two weeks but there had been numerous power cuts before that as the electricity provider continues to “struggle” with a significant generation shortfall.

‘BPL needs $800m to solve long-term power problems’

By KHRISNA VIRGIL Deputy Chief Reporter kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Electrical Workers Union President Paul Maynard said yesterday that while an end is in sight to Bahamas Power and Light’s generation challenges this summer, the government has to shell out around $800m in upgrades to get rid of the electricity provider’s chronic problems in the long-term.

Mr Maynard responded further to Prime Minister Perry Christie’s admission on Monday that the management of BPL ordered rental generators too late, saying alarm was raised on this issue from as early as January this year.

He said he could not understand why these hot summer months were plagued by load shedding because management had adequate time to prepare and should have acted on the warning they received.

However, he said the issues would be remedied by the first week in August as rental units are expected to arrive in the capital late next week.

Speaking to reporters, Mr Maynard went on to castigate Tall Pines MP

BAHAMAS Electrical Workers Union president Paul Maynard.

Leslie Miller, branding him “a dumb ass.” He was responding to recent comments from the former Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) chairman who criticised the union president, claiming he was too involved in the day-to-day operations of BPL. To this, Mr Maynard said as union president it was his duty to ensure that BPL remains in good condition to ensure that employees have jobs.

“You know you don’t question the prime minister in what he says,” Mr Maynard said while speaking to reporters at the Bahamas Communications Public Officers Union (BCPOU) offices on Farrington Road. “(But) I know in January, Shavaughn Cambridge made note to his colleagues in executive that if they didn’t get rental units they would have to load shed in the summer. He raised the alarm. I don’t see why we

are having this problem because if he anticipated they should have acted on it.”

He continued: “They need new engines. It’s costly. What PowerSecure wants to do and what the government, the Deputy Prime Minister (Brave Davis) and the board wants to do is going to cost in the neighbourhood of $800m automatically. They need to find this money so they are working on that.

“But as I said to you the

only thing that is acceptable and I am a protector of the public, the only thing that is acceptable to me is propane/ natural gas turbines and that will alleviate our problems.”

On Monday, during an appearance on the “Ed Fields Live” show on Kiss FM, Mr Christie spoke about the frequent power cuts over the last few weeks.

“The difficulty is that I thought we had anticipated, that is the management of BEC and the management going forward, that we were going to have a bad summer and I knew that we had to have at least 40 megawatts in addition to what we have now - they were ordered late,” Mr Christie said.

“The fact is (that the management is) anticipating relief by a certain date that they can give. And the relief would be where you add to the capacity as it exists now; the 40 megawatts that they say should be able to balance out the challenges that we have.”

Mr Christie was referring to temporary generators that the company has ordered to assist with power generation for the summer.

Mr Miller has said that the former board of the corporation planned to provide steady electricity gen-

eration this summer by refurbishing the Clifton Pier plant, providing greater maintenance to the plant’s old generators.

Mr Miller has criticised Mr Christie’s Cabinet for not signing-off on the plan.

Mr Christie, however, seemed to suggest his plan wasn’t feasible in light of the transition the government was overseeing involving BPL. Mr Christie said: “It’s all well and good to say you are going to fix the machines you have and the machines are going to work efficiently and so forth but it’s another expense in the transition of PowerSecure to BPL to new management to recruiting new management, all of that in transition this thing (would’ve had to take) place.”

Of the incoming generators, he said: “This is me saying now, that looking at what has happened, we could have ordered and should have ordered these things a few months before we did. The fact of the matter is they weren’t ordered.

They’re now in progress.

And (the management of BPL) are trying to get the extra power here.”

Mr Christie said BPL has paid for the generators with help from the government.

TWO ENGINES BACK ONLINE AND POWER CUTS ON HOLD

from page one

Since then, BPL has been load shedding intermittently but there had been numerous power cuts before that.

Last week, BPL CEO Pam Hill blamed the outages on a lack of proper maintenance on the aging equipment as well as extreme heat.

Yesterday, Mrs Ingraham said customers can expect some relief, but she

admitted that she had “no idea” how long the machines would remain operational.

“We are doing pretty good right now. We got two engines back up in the last 24 hours which is good news,” Mrs Ingraham said.

“Which means all things remaining neutral we do not anticipate load shedding right now. We have no generation challenges right now. Please bear in mind that this situation

can change daily, we do not know if an engine will go bad or when. We also have some planned maintenance that may affect the generation but we do not anticipate any generation challenges right now.”

This comes months after the American company PowerSecure was contracted to take over management at the government-owned utility provider, which was formerly the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC).

The new management deal

was touted by the government as being the answer to sub-par electricity service and high electricity bills.

Frequent power outages this summer have angered Bahamians, some of whom complain not only of having to deal with record heat without reliable electricity, but of having appliances destroyed as well because of the unpredictable power outages.

Some business owners have also complained about the effect of power outages

on their establishments.

On Monday, Prime Minister Perry Christie admitted that the management of BPL failed to adequately prepare for generation challenges this summer.

“The difficulty is that I thought we had anticipated, that is the management of BEC and the management going forward, that we were going to have a bad summer and I knew that we had to have at least 40 megawatts in addition to what we have now - they were ordered

late,” Mr Christie said, referring to rental generators.

“The fact is (that the management is) anticipating relief by a certain date that they can give. And the relief would be where you add to the capacity as it exists now; the 40 megawatts that they say should be able to balance out the challenges that we have.”

However, Mr Christie did not second-guess his government’s decision to hire PowerSecure to manage BPL.

POLICE ISSUE WANTED NOTICES AFTER SPATE OF ARMED ROBBERIES

BENJAMIN ‘Bengie’ Anderson POLICE are investigating several armed robberies that took place in New Providence and Grand Bahama earlier this week.

According to police, shortly after 2.30pm on Monday, a woman was riding her bicycle on Hampshire Drive when the occupants of a silver Honda vehicle, armed with a handgun, approached and robbed her of her cell phone before speeding off.

JOHN Augustine Police later stopped a vehicle on Carmichael Road fitting the description of the getaway car. An man was arrested and taken into custody for questioning.

Around 11pm Monday, a woman had just pulled up to her home located on Cox Way, when two men armed with a handgun approached and robbed her of her grey Nissan vehicle, license plate number 291877, before speeding

RONEL ‘Lurch’ Augustine off. Police later spotted the vehicle in the Pinewood Gardens area where a chase followed. The vehicle eventually crashed into a tractor in the area and the suspects fled on foot, police said.

In the final incident, shortly after 12.30am on Tuesday, two men armed with a handgun robbed a small business on Pioneers Way in Grand Bahama of two cell phones and a pack

CIMELEO Darling of cigarettes before fleeing on foot.

Last night, police also said they want to speak with five men for help in ongoing investigations into armed robberies.

Officers believe Cimeleo “Georgie” Darling, 19, of Matthew Street, Nassau Village; John Augustine, 35, of Polhemus Street; Luc Telfort, 36, of East Street; Benjamin “Bengie” Anderson, 25, of Ida Street;

FRENCHMAN FOUND DEAD AFTER SWIMMING POLICE are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of a Frenchman that occurred on Monday on Paradise Is-

land.

Police were told that around noon, the victim was swimming in waters near a beach on Paradise

Island when he became unconscious.

The victim was taken to shore where, despite extensive CPR efforts, he was

pronounced dead at the scene.

An autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.

LUC Telfort and Ronel “Lurch” Augustine, 31, of Ida Street can help with open investigations.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 911/919, the nearest police station or the Crime Stoppers tip line at 328Wednesday, 20th July 2016 TIPS.

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PAGE 4, Wednesday, July 20, 2016

THE TRIBUNE

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What does the VP rollout tell us about Trump?

WASHINGTON (AP) — In business and politics, Donald Trump likes to go with his gut. His selection of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as a running mate appears to be a lesson in what happens when he doesn’t.

Trump introduced Pence as his No 2 on Saturday, passing over candidates with whom he has a more personal connection in favour of an experienced politician with solid conservative credentials. GOP leaders — many lukewarm at best about the outsider at the top of their ticket — were nearly unanimous in praise.

Yet getting to that moment of party unity was chaotic, with many of the twists and turns playing out in public — and not in a way the spotlight-seeking Trump prefers.

On its own, the muddled lead-up to Saturday’s announcement is unlikely to impact Trump’s standing in his general election fight with Democrat Hillary Clinton. But it provides some of the clearest indications yet of how he might handle high-pressure decisions as president, where few choices are easy and his personal preferences are just one of many factors to consider.

“It does cause one to question how and what kind of process he would use if he were actually president and had to make some of the decisions,” said Lanhee Chen, the policy director to Republican Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign. Still, he said it was instructive that Trump “can be influenced against what his instincts tell him.”

By midday last Wednesday, Trump and his aides were signalling that he had decided to go with Pence. The campaign was making plans for a splashy Friday announcement aimed at dominating the weekend news cycle heading into the Republican convention.

Then came a hectic Thursday.

Trump was in California for fundraisers, thousands of miles from his closest advisers, including his oldest children.

A voracious consumer of news, Trump fumed as he watched television reports declaring he had settled on Pence before he’d made a call to the governor. Two Republicans with knowledge of the process said he felt boxed in by advisers and other Republicans who preferred Pence over the two other finalists, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

A call from Trump Thursday afternoon prompted Pence to get on a plane to New York for an announcement the next day. But shortly after the governor touched down on the East Coast, Trump declared in a television interview that he had not made a “final, final” decision.

He further clouded the process when he abruptly postponed his announcement event, citing the truck attack in Nice, France, that left more than 80 people dead.

Around midnight, Trump and his top advisers convened a conference call to discuss the frenzied day. That fuelled speculation that Trump might be changing his mind.

Only Trump knows exactly his level of certainty as he zeroed in on one of the most important decisions of his campaign. Top advisers vigorously deny he considered making a late change, with campaign chairman Paul Manafort saying he “never waffled once he made his decision”. Notably, Manafort did not say when that decision was made.

It was enough of a muddle for Hillary Clinton’s campaign to leap into action and draw attention to what they cast as Trump’s apparent wavering. Her campaign released a web video Saturday contrasting clips of the Republican touting his decisiveness with the timeline of the past few days. As the video ends, the words on the screen read, “Donald Trump. Always Divisive. Not so Decisive.”

Indeed, Trump’s own actions — saying he’d not made a final decision even after Pence was summoned to New York, then delaying the announcement — left the distinct impression of doubt.

So, too, did the actual announcement event on Saturday, at which Trump meandered for nearly a half hour on a variety of topics — including an update on the construction of his new hotel in Washington — before finally calling Pence to the stage, only to then immediately walk away. There were no “Trump-Pence” signs in the room, which appeared dark and somewhat subdued on television.

“With picking a VP, it just looks bad in the press,” Pete Wehner, a former adviser to President George W. Bush and a sharp critic of Trump, said of the whole process.

“That’s a lot different when you have the powers of the presidency.”

Indeed, Trump needs to look no further than the man he’s hoping to succeed for a warning about how even a single instance of indecision can linger.

In 2013, President Barack Obama was on the brink of launching airstrikes against Syria for using chemical weapons against civilians, something he’d said crossed a “red line.” Then, Obama pulled back, saying he first wanted to get approval from Congress. A vote was never held and the strikes were never launched.

Obama has spent the past three years defending that decision. It put Middle East allies on edge over his commitment to the region’s security, and even some of his advisers have said it was a mistake to stand down.

A long and bruising campaign with Clinton stands between Trump and the possibility of that kind of high-stakes situation. Time for voters to weigh both his instincts and actions.

JULIE PACE, AP White House Correspondent

Could Pokemon Go be a boost for tourism?

EDITOR, The Tribune IT HAS been less than a month since ‘Pokemon Go’ was released and has been taking the world by storm.

Pokemon Go is a classical remake of the 1990s handheld game on the Nintendo Gameboy, as it was a great success about nearly 26 years ago.

Now, this month, Pokemon Go was released onto smartphones on Google Play and is dominating the market.

When you get the freeto-download game, it uses a GPS tracking system in your location, you have the inventory and when you see random monsters (which are Pokemon, known as pocket monsters), you go to that creature and use the Poke-Ball (Which is a ball made to capture Pokemon). There’s Pokestops which refill your supplies

as well. Gyms are where you battle other players’ Pokemon’s.

Combining the classic monster hunting elements from the 90’s and successful virtual reality tech mixed into finding rare creatures has dominated all of the US, UK and starting to spread throughout the world.

What makes it bigger that restaurants and hotels in Los Angeles are using the game’s Poke-Stops as means of making money, which is giveaways, guides and deals. The tourism board has already started several programmes related in the game, despite Pokemon Go’s related accidents.

It is the US’s biggest selling app.

Even government officials, which usually sends out advice not to drive while catching Pokemon, is even playing the game. A UK union member was walking

around with the reporter introducing him to the game, then there’s Hillary Clinton using the Pokestop system in her convention along with Trump as well.

Along with the police issuing warnings, they seemed to joke around with the game. The San Diego police officers had used their sirens for Pokemon’s theme song from the cartoon, then there’s the US Marines who used it for their jokes at shooting ranges and in Iraq alone.

People of all types are now taking advantage of this very fun game alone, and it’s a good idea to use this for our tourism market, and due to the various numbers of visitors from European nations and American tourists.

AMMAKA RUSSELL Nassau, July 18, 2016.

Tennyson’s proposition EDITOR, The Tribune.

HOW is it that former FNM turned PLP facilitator turned Hubert Minnis propagandist Tennyson Wells keeps interjecting himself into the affairs of the FNM that clearly are none of his business?

Minnis has allowed the insufferable Mr. Wells to style himself as an apparatchik in the party. Or is Tennyson now Minnis’ puppet master? Tennyson holds no elected office in the FNM. He serves nobody’s interest but his own and has locked himself into a lovers embrace with the hapless Dr. Minnis.

Not once has he atoned for his past political treachery. He is an incendiary who connived and plotted with the PLP to bring down the FNM. O, how some people forget the sins of the past!

Tennyson is never shy to stand in front of any open microphone to beat up his gum about FNM party matters that should never be aired in public or are of no concern to poseurs and provocateurs like him.

Like the huge narcissist Donald Trump, Tennyson never misses a chance to make every FNM issue about him. He is the ultimate “I” specialist. I did this for the party. I did that.

And let us not forget that Wells believes that his wealth gives him 24/7 access to the gullible Minnis as well as the unfettered right to criticize poor people, especially those whose silence or acquiescence he can’t buy or intimidate.

He set his diamond-studded cap at Leonard Sands, the FNM candidate who took a principled stand to step back from his pursuit of the Bain and Grant’s Town MP presumably until the dust settles on the big FNM leadership dust-up.

Tennyson bellowed to

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net the press that “You have to spend probably $3,000 per month if you want to run, and if you don’t have that, leave that alone.” Incredible! But quite revealing.

Left up to Tennyson, all aspiring FNM candidates should bring their bankbook, land papers, asue draw and numbers winnings to be vetted by Tennyson’s committee of one.

As a super oligarch does Tennyson know what a loaf of bread or a can of corned beef costs in the supermarket these days?

Tennyson’s exception would be young, more impressionable, whippersnappers. The kind of people he can brainwash. In a deeply condescending tone he threw them a few crumbs of concession: “You might find young people who just started, you going to bring them up through the ranks, you can fund them.”

But God help you if you let mundane things like a job, marriage, kids or car loans set you back before you could pivot into politics.

If you have 10 to 15 years of practical work experience under your belt but prefer to pay to keep a roof over your family’s head and have nothing left over to keep a roof over your campaign headquarters, then, in Tennyson’s view, you broke and poor and should stay far away from politics.

According to Tennyson, politics is a rich boy’s club and the price of admission is purposely set high. This is such a farce, not only because Tennyson is now the chief political henchman for Minnis, but Minnis brags that he will look out for the small man.

Rest assured the “small man” will hit “rock bottom with Doc”.

How many of our greatest

leaders of yesterday were people of means who didn’t have to beg, borrow and scrape together the funds to pay their deposit on nomination day? Very few.

Trailblazers like Sammie Isaacs, a member of the first group of six heroes elected to the House of Assembly in 1956 and the many others like him who by their example proved that modest means was not an impediment to politics.

Like his mother Dame Bertha Isaacs before him, Sammie preached the gospel of transparency and accountability long before these were buzzwords.

Words were his weapons and tenacity his currency.

Dame Bertha was a shopkeeper and he was a proud civil servant, a plumber with the Public Works Department, and both were generous to a fault.

It is vulgar to brag about being well off, Tennyson.

It is downright obnoxious to imply that wealth begets status in a political organisation like the FNM whose grass roots run deep, a party founded on the concept “All Together”.

The gap between rich and poor is ever widening in this country and we don’t need Tennyson or Hubert Minnis lording over us about how wealthy they have become.

And telling those who are not as fortunate to get out of way.

They can’t buy and sell us.

Instead they should channel their funds towards supporting bright young aspiring leaders. Where would the money come from to do this? Cutting their budget for wining, dining and bamboozling FNM delegates would be a good place to start.

Put your money where your mouth is Tennyson, but first remove your foot.

THE GRADUATE Nassau, July 19, 2016.

Poor work at The Pointe EDITOR, The Tribune.

THE Pointe Garage/ Multi-floor parking area is finally being uncovered so we can see the ‘quality of construction’.

Yesterday, I was able to have a good look at the plaster work and was rather surprised as to the quality

- I know many Bahamian masons who can do a far better job.

Between the pillars where there are concrete blocks the plaster is bumpy, unlevelled and looks very shabby.

Maybe China State Construction, America’s boss man should make a

site inspection and insist the plastering be redone as the work looks bad?

Boy if only Bahamians had a chance for this basic construction work?

P SIMMS Nassau, July 18, 2016.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, July 20, 2016, PAGE 5

Constituencies Commission members to be appointed soon

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunmedia.net DEPUTY Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis said members of the Constituencies Commission will be appointed by the time the House of Assembly meets again on August 3.

The Constitution mandates that the Constituencies Commission review the number and boundaries of constituencies in The Bahamas at least every five years and report on whether changes should be made, such as creating additional

constituencies or expanding or restricting existing ones.

Mr Davis could not say when the government will require the commission to turn in a report on the matter.

“There are several factors that inform the decision making process, like the rate of how people are registering and not registering and deciding whether you’re going to redistribute constituencies, taking into account how many persons are on the register, the censors for the communities and how that has grown and not grown,” he told The Tribune. “So we hope that

they would report as quickly as possible.”

The work of the Constituencies Commission has been the subject of criticism in the past because politicians play a central role in determining the makeup of constituencies.

Even those close to the Christie administration have recommended changes to this.

The Constitutional Commission headed by Sean McWeeney, QC, one of Prime Minister Perry Christie’s advisors, said in its 2013 report that the Constitution should be amended to include the

Electoral and Boundaries Commission, which would replace the Constituencies Commission.

Mr McWeeney’s commission recommended that under such an institution the parliamentary commissioner would be “restyled as the chief electoral officer and be an ex officio member of the commission”.

The Constitutional Commission also recommended that such a change should be made in tandem with including constitutional provisions that would require Parliament “to make laws for the regulation of political parties in the ar-

eas of campaign financing, broadcastings, etc to ensure transparency and accountability and to discourage the corrupting involvement of special interest groups and persons and their money in the electoral process.”

Asked about the recommendation of the Constitutional Commission that the Constituencies Commission be independent, Mr Davis suggested this is not something that will happen soon.

“There’s lots of talks going on about that, that it should be less political and persons should be independent in their thinking,”

he said. “It’s an idea that I embrace but right now we have what we have. We have to work with what we have.”

Mr Christie spoke about the commission on Monday, while a guest on the KISS FM radio show “Ed Fields Live”.

“We haven’t yet named a constituency or Boundaries Commission as required by law, the (old voters’) register has now expired. We are on to a new register so you are going to find that we are going to begin a conversation on this matter shortly,” the prime minister said.

PM SAYS NO DEAL SIGNED FOR PRIVATE CRUISE PORT ON EGG ISLAND

SIGNS protesting against possible plans for Egg Island, as posted to a Facebook page calling for a petition against Disney’s mooted development.

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net PRIME Minister Perry Christie has responded to public outcry over a proposed development on Egg Island, Eleuthera, contending that his administration has not signed any deal to construct a private cruise port there.

Mr Christie on Monday, speaking as a guest on the “Ed Fields Live” talk show on KISS FM, stressed that his administration has only held “preliminary” talks with both Disney Cruise Line and local administrators in Eleuthera, with all sides agreeing that impact assessment studies must come first.

He said while he understands the initial shock and panic over the proposal which has been made public, residents in Eleuthera can rest assured that his Cabinet would not sign off on any plan without the

relevant assessments being done.

“The government never makes a decision, a final decision without making it totally subject to environmental (studies),” he stated.

“Therefore the government is committed to having these environmental impact assessments done. And the case of Egg Island, there is no difference to that.”

A petition recently surfaced online calling for the rejection of the development.

The “Stop Disney from purchasing Egg Island” petition, spearheaded by Spanish Wells resident Holly Peel now boasts some

1,337 signatures.

The petition highlights the island’s importance to the livelihood of residents and the ecosystem of the surrounding islands.

Mrs Peel told The Tribune that to date, there has been no communication from government officials with the local community on the matter.

Despite this, she said equipment belonging to Disney has already been shipped into The Bahamas and transported to Egg Island allegedly to start dredging operations on the southeastern side of the island.

However, Mr Christie said that communication and consultation is underway. He indicated that there are several groups throughout Eleuthera raising different issues, who are all urging the government to support their positions.

As a result, Mr Christie said his administration would widen its consultation base to better cata-

FORMER RENEW BAHAMAS STAFF CONTACT LABOUR DEPARTMENT

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net

AS the extent of Renew Bahamas’ financial woes become clearer, the Department of Labour yesterday confirmed that at least three former employees have lodged applications to have their dispute with the company resolved by the department’s Industrial Relations Unit.

Refusing to reveal specifics of each individual case, Labour Director Robert Farquharson told The Tribune that three former employees of the waste management company have filed complaints with the department in the last week.

According to Mr Farquharson, the claims range from wrongful dismissal to unpaid wages.

The day after Renew Bahamas CEO Michael Cox dismissed claims that the management company backed out of agreements to issue outstanding pay to

several of its former employees.

Mr Cox told The Tribune that the company had established agreements with a number of employees, guaranteeing them that they would be paid “in full” by the end of July.

“We have communicated with all employees, those still with us and those that are no longer with us. We have been open and upfront on the process that is going on. Up to two times a week, we have discussions with the employees to make them aware of where we are,” Mr Cox said on Monday.

Despite that statement, however, several former workers have indicated that the company hasn’t reached out to them to sort through outstanding payments.

Those employees have gone as far as labelling the company as cash-strapped.

When asked on Tuesday of the specifics of these dispute applications, Mr Farquharson confirmed that all three were filed last week.

He indicated that all three

matters will be handled by the department’s Industrial Relations Unit, with the first hearing expected to convene on Wednesday.

Renew Bahamas is urging the Christie administration to renegotiate the current management deal in place.

The company claims that the deal, which is set to expire in 2019, is unfavourable to its profit margins.

In a recent interview with Tribune Business, former Renew Bahamas CEO Gerhard Beukes described Renew’s deal as “a classic frontier investment,” suggesting that there had been numerous “unknowns” that Renew Bahamas was now aware of.

It is unclear if the Christie administration will adjust the agreement.

logue the opinions of residents on the matter.

“Governments have to consult and we have seen enough of these developments that go to court to know that (it has become) a very important part of the process of approving a development,” he said.

The proposed Egg Island development has also incited a broader debate over the division of powers between central and local governmental agencies.

Mr Christie indicated that it was his goal to include more local officials in dialogue focused on developing their individual islands as long as those officials “see the bigger picture”.

Mr Christie said the “preponderance” of decisions made at the local government level are made through decisions “peculiar to that island.”

He continued: “We have people who are elected from that island who would have the responsibility of

feeding into decision making for islands, but at the same time decision making for the entire Bahamas. “… But we need somebody else who would say that we should put this in Inagua, or we should put this in Abaco and we should put this in Ragged Island and the central government does that.

“Let’s put it this way, I think that is the way of the future but you have to be careful because the central government has the responsibility for the whole country and the central government has the responsibility of determining what works for the entire country. And this is where the national plan comes into play. If you talk about local government in Spanish Wells, local government of even Eleuthera, you have a situation where that is all they are thinking about.”

“Whereas, (at the central government level) we have to be able to put into per-

spective all of the development plans for the county and so, there is a role for local government but I am saying that you cannot, the central government cannot surrender its role with respect to the power of the Office of the Prime Minister. We have so many layers in government.

“The prime minister only gets involved when developers start to say, (issues are progressing at a slow pace) and the ultimate appeal is to the Office of the Prime Minister, for him to sit there for a few minutes to hear what the challenges are and to be able to call everyone around the table and to be able to say ‘why hasn’t this happened.’”

A signed petition is expected to be presented to the Office of the Prime Minister in the coming days.

Egg Island currently serves as a leisure cay for residents of North and Central Eleuthera.

NOTICE Office Closure The Water and Sewerage Corporation advises its customers and the general public that due to the Renaming Ceremony of its head office building to the E. George Moss Building on Friday, July 22nd, the Corporation’s payment counter will be closed from 8:30am to 2pm.

Customers are advised to make payment at any Cash N’Go location, Omni Flash location, local banks or via the Corporation’s website at www.wsc.com.bs. Customers who must visit the main office for other business may still do so. The payment counter will reopen at 2pm.

The Corporation thanks you and appreciates your cooperation.

Tel: (242) 302-5600 or Toll Free (242)300-0150 Find out more on

or our website www.wsc.com.bs

PAGE 6, Wednesday, July 20, 2016

THE TRIBUNE

Davis: PLP will not fall apart from page one The prime minister also drew attention on Monday when he said he seeks to continue leading the PLP because enough young members of his government have urged him to do so.

He did not name those members, but one PLP parliamentarian who spoke to The Tribune on Tuesday expressed incredulity at his statement.

“I would have to ask around to find out who they are,” the parliamentarian, who did not want to be named, said. “I’m sure (people) got a good laugh at that.”

On Monday, Mr Christie took a swipe at the FNM

JOHNSON CITES PERSONAL REASONS AS HE RULES OUT RUNNING AGAIN from page one

“We have accomplished much together. The constituency based sports academy and programmes allowed for lasting friendships and I have grown as a person and a leader as a result of our relationship. “ . . . It is with mixed feelings while defending his reasons for staying on as leader of the governing party.

“You see what instability means when you look at the opposition and I daresay that this could happen when I demit office as well.”

however that I advise you the great people of Carmichael, after meeting with the Candidate’s Committee and its chair, the party’s leader and prime minister, that because of personal reasons, I will not seek the PLP’s nomination for the Carmichael constituency for the 2017 general election.

“As a matter of fact, I will not be seeking a nomination for any con-

His comments reverberated throughout the political community yesterday, raising longstanding questions about his future as well as about succession planning in politics.

Given that FNM Lead-

stituency for that matter. It was a long and thoughtful process that brought me to this decision. I will return to private practice but I will continue to be an activist for youth empowerment and sports development in this country. I intend to fully participate in the process of informing public policy through social advocacy,” Dr Johnson said.

He added: “My Cabinet col-

er Dr Hubert Minnis has faced a rocky leadership tenure because a significant faction in his party view him as incompetent, Mr Christie’s statement also raises questions about whether he has confidence in the leader-

league and friend Senator Keith Bell who is a good friend of Carmichael has expressed an interest in working with you and representing your interest at the highest level.

I am sure others may emerge but I trust and support Senator Bell’s candidacy and I am confident that if afforded the same privilege as you have afforded me, Senator Bell will not let you down.”

ship abilities of members in his party.

In addition to Mr Davis, Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe, Education Minister Jerome Fitzgerald and Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell are names often mentioned

as potential leaders of the party.

Former Attorney General Alfred Sears has also said recently that he is considering challenging Mr Christie for the party’s leadership at the PLP’s November convention.

BUSINESSMAN CONTINUES TO STAGE ONE-MAN PROTEST

SHUFFEL Hepburn staging a one-man protest last Friday outside the Grand Lucayan Resort.

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net GRAND Bahama businessman Shuffel Hepburn said the island’s economy today is in the worst shape it has ever been and blamed the Grand Bahama Port Authority for it.

Mr Hepburn staged a one-man protest last Friday outside the Grand Lucayan Resort, where Sarah St George, the GBPA’s vice chairman, had been invited to speak at a Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce luncheon. He held a sign that read: “Port Authority way of operating holding

Grand Bahama back need to change.”

He stressed that Grand Bahamians have had more than 10 years of severely tough times, during which the hotel industry has been struggling, many businesses have closed and major foreign investments have failed. He noted that the downturn of Freeport began in 2004 following hurricanes Frances and Jeanne.

“In one swoop real estate in Grand Bahama was crippled as almost a third of the island was flooded by salt water, and the hotel industry was struck a blow that decimated 50 per

cent of the industry when the Royal Oasis (formerly Bahamas Princess) closed down. Not to mention the total crippling of the International Bazaar and the failure of the Ginn project that followed,” Mr Hepburn said.

He claimed that Queen’s Highway, which was once the main commercial hub of Freeport, is now a “virtual graveyard of closed businesses.”

With the deaths of Edward St George, Sir Jack Hayward and Sir Albert Miller, Mr Hepburn said Freeport has lost three of its most powerful figures in the GBPA and expressed con-

Photo: Vandyke Hepburn cern about the infighting among the two families that owned the authority – the St Georges and Haywards.

Mr Hepburn has indicated that while the industrial sector appears to be sound and profitable for investors, it is taking a heavy toll of the environment, the workers and the residents. He said there have been industrial accidents that have left many workers crippled and without limbs and unable to work again with no benefits other than National Insurance.

Mr Hepburn also said that residents of Pinder’s Point, Hunters, Seaco Town and Lewis Yard are bom-

barded by fumes from the industrial plants, which are affecting their health.

“No one cares. Shouldn’t the GBPA be doing something for these residents?”

Mr Hepburn asked. “They brought these industry owners to the table; has there been sufficient consideration given to the needs and care of the workers?”

Additionally, he claimed that the residents of Chesapeake are also being exposed to foul odours from sewage and harmful gases from the Grand Bahama Utility Company’s sewage plant.

“Again, no one has reached out to the residents.

No one from the GBPA and only one from the government,” he said.

Mr Hepburn also raised concerns about alleged pollution to Hawksbill Creek.

“There is no one to fend for the residents of Grand Bahama against the big industrial companies so their cries get swallowed up in silence, flushed down the drain,” he said.

“We are thankful for the GBPA’s efforts to bring big business to Grand Bahama, but what about taking care of the workers, and the environment that we hope to leave for our descendants?

Do we want industry at any price?”

PM INSISTS RESOLUTION TO THE BAHA MAR SAGA IS ‘IMMINENT’ from page one

As such, Mr Christie said the government is “agitating aggressively” for a resolution to the situation, particularly with regards to the payment of Bahamian contractors involved with the resort.

Last month, Mr Christie revealed that two firms, one with ties to Bahamian investors, had been shortlisted as the court-appointed receivers of the project moved closer to deciding which entity will acquire the West Bay Street development.

He said the final decision is solely at the discre-

tion of receiver managers who were in Beijing, China at the time negotiating a contract to remobilise and complete the project as soon as possible.

Mr Christie said China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) along with the resort’s general contractor China Construction America (CCA), CSCEC’s subsidiary, were also participating in the talks.

He did not name the two shortlisted groups, but said neither involved Baha Mar developer Sarkis Izmirlian.

When questioned for an update on the stalled resort on Monday, Mr Christie

said: “I think we are closer to a resolution than we’ve ever been before. Events have been taking place rapidly. I think the next few weeks in the scheme of things (of) our country will be important when it comes to the final decision making with respect to Baha Mar. “And I think the bank is ready to present a possible buyer to us…we would need to know who that is so that we are able to begin investigations.

“The bank would have only chosen someone with an incredible capacity to finance a $2.5 billion deal and finish it. And so these things I think are in progress, I think we are closer

than we’ve ever been before.”

Mr Christie also said the government is likewise engaged in discussions on a “daily basis” with the relevant parties to put an end to the Baha Mar controversy and resume construction at the resort.

Officials have said that Baha Mar is 97 per cent complete.

“The receiver managers and the (EXIM) bank have been in negotiations with the construction company to settle an agreement to resume construction, and the government has to be a bystander in that because we also have a vested interest because

the government has indicated to all concerned that certain things must pertain,” Mr Christie said on Monday.

“For example, notwithstanding a liquidation where people don’t have the right to claim payment, we have asked for the Bahamian contractors to be paid as near to 100 per cent of what they’re owed as possible.

So in any negotiations going forward we expect that to be a major point, where up to over $100 million in debt is owed to Bahamian contractors and we want Bahamian contractors to be paid.”

He added: “We are a part of that process. We

are agitating aggressively, in meetings every day, meetings in the evenings, meetings yesterday, meetings this afternoon, meetings tomorrow, we are involved on a daily basis, and that is why I’m saying, it’s imminent. It’s as close as we’ve been.”

Baha Mar was initially expected to open in December 2014. The property is currently in receivership.

In May, Mr Christie announced that the government and Chinese officials had entered into a “framework agreement” to complete the stalled Baha Mar resort as “expeditiously as possible.”

‘BAD PRECEDENT’ OVER $100,000 DEMAND IN FNM LEADERSHIP RACE

from page one

“It appears to me that if you want to run for leader you have to pay,” he said, “so based on that, apart from Loretta and Minnis running for leader and Sands and Turnquest for deputy, that nobody should be allowed to run because they didn’t pay and the council should ensure that is the case.”

“If that is what has to happen, then if Mr Joe Blow wanted to go and run for leader and just come

to convention, he should pay at least one-third of that $200,000,” the former FNM MP said.

“It sets a bad precedent,” he said. “It excludes the average person who may want to run for leader.”

Mr Wells called for an amendment to the party’s constitution that would establish a nomination deadline, to ensure that nominees are made public well ahead of a convention.

“How is it that the top five offices of the party, nominees can’t be vetted or the public can’t know who

they are until election convenes? Everywhere else in the world, the general public knows who is vying for president or prime minister beforehand and they give a date when a nomination closes before election.”

Mr Wells added: “I think when you look at and analyse, that is how they control it. They (nominees) should be vetted . . . how it is now, they go there, nominate the day, nobody knows until the night, then the next morning they vote.

“It’s the most ridiculous system and cannot be justi-

fied in the modern society.”

Leadership challenger Long Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner and incumbent Leader Dr Hubert Minnis were each asked to raise $100,000 to fund the FNM’s national convention on July 27 to 29. The convention is estimated to cost the party $350,000, with the party’s finance committee tasked with raising the remaining $150,000.

Mrs Butler-Turner has described the request as unprecedented and troubling, adding that it invoked doubts of whether the party

will be able to launch a successful election campaign.

Yesterday, Mr Wells maintained that funding for the convention was the responsibility of the party’s finance committee, adding that while it was not unusual for members to donate, it should not be mandated.

He recalled how former FNM Leader Sir Cecil Wallace-Whitfield mortgaged his house to keep the party afloat in 1976, and even in that instance, funds were channelled through the finance committee.

He dismissed concerns

that the convention funding debacle indicated a future struggle for the party’s general election campaign.

“When this convention is over,” he added, “don’t mind all the talk, all of these people saying they won’t fund or help, they will flock to assist because they know the government needs to be changed.”

Mr Wells resigned from the FNM in 1999 and later became an independent representative for Bamboo Town. Recently he has been a vocal supporter of Dr Minnis.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, July 20, 2016, PAGE 7

UNDECLARED $17,000 SEIZED FROM US MAN

By LAMECH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

A COURT seized more than $17,000 from an American man yesterday who lied to authorities about the amount of money in his possession before

his scheduled return to the United States.

Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes asked 40-year-old Evans Raphael of Lloyd Harbour, New York if he understood the seriousness of the two charges to which he pleaded guilty concerning the crimes committed

on July 17.

Mr Raphael apologised for his actions.

The American was told that the penalties for making a false declaration to an officer of the United States and failing to declare carried a fine and/or a term of imprisonment.

He was returning to the United States on the day in question when US Customs and Border Patrol officials detained him at the Pre-clearance Departure Lounge at the Lynden Pindling International Airport for failing to declare $17,450 and lying to

a US official that he was not carrying more than US $10,000 in cash into the US. It is not illegal to travel with large sums of money.

However, travellers carrying more than $10,000 must declare it on a special form.

Chief Magistrate Forbes

accepted the American’s guilty plea, but did not fine or give him a custodial sentence.

Instead, the chief magistrate ordered the $17,450 to be forfeited to the Crown.

Superintendent Ercell Dorsett was the prosecutor in the case.

Doctor in rape case says abortions against beliefs

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net DR GERALD Forbes insisted that he does not perform abortions at his Grand Bahama clinic because it is against his religious beliefs as a Catholic and has denied writing a prescription for abortion tablets, the Supreme Court heard yesterday.

The 46-year-old doctor is accused of raping a 20-yearold woman while performing an abortion procedure at his Carico Medical Clinic in Freeport on March 2, 2015. He is also accused of indecently assaulting the woman a month earlier on February 3.

During cross examination, Dr Forbes was shown a copy of a prescription label from LMR Drugs Co Ltd for the medication Methrotrexate with the name Dr Gerald Forbes on it and the complainant’s name as the patient.

He claimed that although the label dated March 6 has his name on it, the complainant was employed at his clinic and had access to his prescription pads.

“Did you agree to terminate the complainant’s

pregnancy for $200?” prosecutor Erica Kemp asked.

Dr Forbes said no. He said he tried to prevent it by giving the complainant progesterone when she started spotting blood. He claimed that the complainant tried to terminate her own pregnancy by inserting abortion pills into her vagina.

When asked by prosecutor Kemp what Methotrexate is used for, Dr Forbes said it is used to treat cancer by destroying cancer cells and preventing them from replicating.

“Can Methotrexate be used in medical abortion?” she questioned. He said yes and explained that just as the drug prevents cancer cells from replicating, it has the same effect on replicating cells of a newborn baby.

The prosecutor suggested that Dr Forbes had given the Methotrexate to the complainant during an exam on February 3.

She asked Dr Forbes when the complainant started her employment at the clinic. He said that the she was employed on January 31 and that, as a new employee, she was required to bring a medical certificate but never presented one.

The prosecutor suggested that Dr Forbes had told the complainant that he could perform the physical examination for her and she agreed because she did not want to lose her job. He denied the suggestion.

“You agreed to perform the physical exam in February and, while the complainant was naked on your exam table with her legs in the stirrups, you intentionally touched her vagina.

You unzipped your pants and took your penis in your hands and masturbated.”

“No Ma’m,” the doctor replied.

Prosecutor Kemp told Dr Forbes that the complainant got up and went to the bathroom. “You knocked on the door and when she opened it you told her to touch you because you just want to bust; that you are an old man and it does not take much for you to bust,” she suggested.

Dr Forbes denied the assertion and said the accused concocted the story of being indecently assaulted and raped, putting a negative light on his medical clinic which he had worked to establish over the past 20 years.

The trial continues today.

DR Gerald Forbes at court.

Photo: Vandyke Hepburn

MAN ACCUSED OF ATTEMPTED KILLING DURING HOME INVASION DENIED BAIL

By LAMECH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

A MAN was remanded to prison without bail yesterday after he was arraigned in connection with a recent home invasion and the attempted killing of a man in an inner-city community.

Hykame Knowles, 29, of Yellow Elder Gardens appeared before Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes facing

a charge of burglary and attempted murder.

It is alleged that around 2am on July 15 he broke into the house of Christina Musgrove at McCullough Corner and intentionally attempted to kill Timothy Ferguson.

Knowles is not allowed to enter a plea to the allegations until his formal arraignment before a Supreme Court judge.

The accused was told that his case would be fast-

tracked to the higher court at a hearing on August 2 where a voluntary bill of indictment is expected to be presented to him.

The chief magistrate told Knowles that the court did not have the discretion to consider or grant bail on the charges and he was remanded to the Department of Correctional Services.

However, he was informed of his right to apply for bail in the Supreme Court.

US DONATES COURT REPORTING EQUIPMENT THE US Embassy’s International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) Section presented the Office of the Attorney General’s Court Reporting Unit with 28 computers on July 15 in support of the Bahamas’ efforts to strengthen the justice sector.

The donation is the latest in a series designed to

increase the unit’s ability to deliver accurate and timely trial transcripts, manage case loads and conduct office operations.

INL has provided approximately $180,000 in court transcript equipment, training and software upgrades so far in 2016.

INL seeks to support the rule of law reform efforts

in the Bahamas through training, equipment and technical assistance as part of the Caribbean Basic Security Initiative (CBSI). The United States has invested over $437m through CBSI to assist the countries of the region in combatting transnational crimes that threaten regional security.

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SPEAKER

DR TEDDY TURNQUEST HEMATOLOGIST

Immunotherapy is a type of cancer treatment designed to boost the body’s natural defenses to ght the cancer. It helps to improve or restore the patient’s immune system function, and can help stop or slow the growth of cancer cells, stop cancer from spreading to other parts of the body, and help your body destroy cancer cells.

Immunotherapy is being hailed as the most promising new cancer treatment since chemotherapy was introduced in the late 1940s. Although it is believed that Immunotherapy can help in the ght against most types of cancer, it recently made headlines globally for its effectiveness in ghting lung cancer. The FDA decided to end a trial early when it was determined the treatment worked so well on a group of lung cancer patients that it would be wrong not to offer it to all patients in the trial.

Join us July 21 as Dr Teddy Turnquest discusses Immunotherapy.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR! Don’t miss next month’s lecture when Dr Corrine Sin Quee-Brown, Dr Teddy Turnquest and Dr G. Ashaini Knowles will offer a comprehensive look at ‘Sickle Cell Disease’. Thursday, August 18, 2016

BONUS!

www.doctorshosp.com I (242) 302-4600

Isn’t Your Health Worth It?

PAGE 8, Wednesday, July 20, 2016

The ‘dangerous spot’ that The Bahamas is in

ACCORDING to Sir been made more likely by Franklyn Wilson - one of the revelation that the Bathe chief architects and hamian economy has acfinanciers of the current tually contracted over the Progressive Liberal Party past two years (contrary to administration - The Baha- government claims) and is mas is in “a very dangerous not expected to grow much spot”. in the near term. Added to He was referring to the this, public debt reached potential downgrading of a whopping $6.8 billion in our investMarch, while ment rating “A new and less government to junk sta- familiar economic expenses tus by in- threat is looming were up over ternational 17 per cent agencies like that could affect our despite talk Moody’s. interactions with the of restraint Junk staand the coloutside world - detus would lection of mean we risking. It means we substantial are at risk of could be shut off new tax revdefaulting enues. on the na- from global financing Those intional debt. due to concerns dicators are This would about money probably deter investwell known ment, hike laundering and to most readterrorist financing.” borrowing ers, but a costs and new and less spur inflation. Eventually it familiar economic threat is could lead to devaluation of looming on the horizon that the Bahamian dollar, which could affect all of our inwould dramatically affect teractions with the outside the cost of living and ability world. of average citizens to travel.

That threat is called deA credit downgrade has risking. It means we could

be shut off from global financing due to concerns about money laundering and terrorist financing.

A recent Reuters report put it this way: “As banks scrub their books of potentially risky businesses amid a tightening regulatory noose, major US financial institutions have ended relationships with regional banks across the Caribbean.”

This has already happened to five offshore banks here. And commercial

banks have also threatened to sever relations with local money transfer companies, as well as lawyers and realtors who operate third party accounts. Among Caricom countries, at least 16 banks have lost all or some of their correspondent banking relationships, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“The devastation this can cause to the economies in the islands is horrific,” said John Beale, Barbados’ ambassador to the United

States. “How does a hotel carry out their business in terms of credit cards? How do they get compensated?”

The IMF has acknowledged that de-risking has impacted money transfer and remittances business “along with credit card payments, cash management, investment services, and clearing and settlement”.

Central Bank Governor John Rolle recently warned about “increased scrutiny” of Bahamian

Bert Perry’s fight is over

BERT Perry, or more properly Bertram Perigord Jr, was a retired policeman and boxing champion, who died last week at 72. He was one of the founders of organised boxing in The Bahamas.

Perry spent the last few years of his life trying to reprint and peddle his 1995 autobiography, ‘The Fight Goes On,’ to earn a little money.

At times, he was almost a fixture in my office - pushy until the end.

Bert’s mother was Florence Pratt, of Nassau, and his father was Bertram Perigord Sr, of Inagua.

As a child, his father butlered for wealthy foreign families out west.

Bert attended Southern Junior and Eastern Senior Schools.

He landed his first job in 1960 at the Telecommunications Department (which later became Batelco).

During this time he befriended Bernard Bonamy, who left Telecoms to join the police force in 1963. Bert soon followed him.

‘Bonny’, who Bert described as “a brain box”, went on to become Commissioner of Police in 1987, while Bert pursued a boxing ca-

reer in the force before taking an honourable discharge in 1975. He became an evangelist in the 1980s.

In his 1995 book he wrote: “I am proud to say today that I am as close to the police as I am to any brother or sister, although I only achieved the rank of constable.”

Bert began boxing at 23, competing in the 1966 New York Golden Gloves amateur competition. Soon afterwards, he formed the Amateur Boxing Association of the Bahamas, with help from sports editor Fred Sturrup, promoter Charlie

Major and others.

His boxing career peaked in the 1970s. High points included his two-time defeat of rival heavyweight Boston Blackie, and his participation (as national coach) in the World Boxing Championships in Cuba in 1974.

Bert is survived by four daughters, two sons, one sister and 17 grandchildren.

‘The Fight Goes On: An Autobiography and Commentary by Bert Perry’ is published by Media Enterprises

THE TRIBUNE

banking relationships with the rest of the world, but he offered no plan to address the issue.

According to one local financial observer, “if we lose our corresponding bank relationships it will affect all trade and transactions, and some people will go out of business. We have to think this through very carefully and the Central Bank needs to communicate more effectively on this issue. We are in a very compromised position.”

Meanwhile, the government is under fire for misrepresenting spending, borrowing and economic growth estimates. And there is little prospect of any meaningful economic reform over the near term.

While some observers expect the de-risking issue to be gradually resolved in time, others warn that a perceived erosion of our financial integrity could help precipitate a credit rating slide.

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

CONCERN OVER OIL SLICKS AT CLIFTON INTERNATIONAL experts, including a former presidential advisor, toured Clifton and the Southwest Bays recently, their boat slicing through the water between oil slicks and coasting over reefs as they witnessed the sharp distinction between some of the world’s most beautiful waters and the oil pollution threatening its health and the fish, conch and crawfish that call it home.

“What we saw breaks your heart,” said Joseph Darville, Chairman of Save The Bays and President of Waterkeepers Bahamas, an organisation licensed to monitor Bahamian waters. “This is an area where many Bahamians who lived in Nassau used to come to fish. There were live coral reefs with thousands and thousands of mutton snappers, grey snappers and other species. This is no longer the case. Due to the so-called development in this area, it has been saturated with oil

and the reefs in the vicinity have died.”

The two-hour boat excursion also included fellow Save The Bays members Rashema Ingraham, Diane Phillips and Paco Nuñez and representatives from Clifton Waterkeeper, Bimini Waterkeeper and Grand Bahama Waterkeeper. The outing was part of a day-long trip arranged in co-operation with Marc Yaggi, Executive Director for Waterkeeper Alliance, one of the world’s fastestgrowing environmental movements comprised of 293 Waterkeeper organisations in 34 countries on six continents, who together patrol and protect nearly 2.5 million square miles of watershed.

“I snorkelled at the same reef I had snorkeled about eight years ago,” said Mr Yaggi, who travels the world inspecting changes in the marine environment as part of Waterkeepers’ long-range goal of cleaning up the world’s waters, creat-

WATERKEEPERS Bahamas President and Save the Bays Chairman Joseph Darville looks out at the oil pollution in Clifton Bay. ing more areas where water is drinkable, fishable and swimmable.

“It was very obvious that the reef had undergone significant stress. There were fewer fish and the coral had clearly seen better days,” he said.

“The Waterkeeper team showed me more of the dark underbelly of this tropical paradise. We saw massive oil plumes fouling some of the clearest waters on earth. The stench of oil was dizzying.”

Save The Bays, an environmental advocacy group initially established for the purpose of preserving and protecting Clifton Bay and other common marine environments surround-

ing New Providence, has garnered over 7,000 signatures on a petition calling upon the government to take positive action to protect against devastating threats to the country’s marine environment - oil pollution in Clifton Bay as well as the toxic runoff resulting from unregulated development.

“It’s very important that we protect our natural resources and find a balance between development and environmental protection for the benefit of future generations of Bahamians,” said Mr Nuñez, press liaison for Save The Bays.

“If we are not careful about how we develop them, we stand the chance

of severely compromising the natural advantages of our country.”

As one of its main tenets, Save The Bays has repeatedly spoken out against unregulated development like Simm’s Point/Nygard Cay, a development which international conservationists, including Waterkeeper Alliance members, have called a tragedy due to the fact that construction of groynes and jetties associated with the project have blocked the flow of sand into Clifton Bay ultimately leading to the erosion of Jaws Beach.

Mr Nuñez pointed to a lack of transparency and accountability in Bahamian government as the greatest

obstacles to achieving justice for the environment in the Bahamas, a point which Mr Yaggi discussed with the Waterkeeper community during his visit.

“Information is power and that forces a level of transparency which will allow members of the community to follow along as important decisions are being made,” Mr Yaggi said.

“The lack of a Freedom of Information law is typically the result of having people in leadership who don’t want the public to know what’s going on. They want to keep their actions hidden, and there’s a reason behind that, so shining a light on that is incredibly important.”

THETRIBUNE TRIBUNE THE

Wednesday, July 20,20, 2016, PAGE A99 Wednesday, July 2016, PAGE

360° VIDEOS

TECHTALK

TIPS ON SHOOTING THE FULL PICTURE AS CAMERAS that shoot 360-degree photos and videos become affordable, curious users will face a new challenge: figuring out how to take meaningful and compelling shots in what’s effectively a new medium.

With 360, it’s tough to stay out of the shot, as there’s no hiding behind the lens. And old video habits - like following subjects as they move - will die hard. Whoever holds the camera no longer controls the field of vision.

With 360, viewers do that in virtual-reality headsets, phones or computers.

Some phone apps can create 360-degree photos by stitching together images, similar to a panoramic shot, but a 360-degree camera is required for video. Ricoh’s 360-degree Theta S camera sells for $350 and LG’s 360 Cam costs $200. Samsung is also coming out with one this year.

Diving into 360 video means ditching traditional techniques that work well with smartphones and other cameras; doing otherwise means lots of dull 360 photos and videos. This is a new way of capturing the physical world, and it’s as distinct from normal photography as television was from radio. It takes trial and error to create immersive clips that will make viewers feel as though they are there.

VIDEOS BECOMES SELFIES 360-degree cameras work

RICOH’S 360-degree Theta S camera. (AP) by stitching together images from two or more lenses. It’s hard to stay out of the shot, even with the camera turned sideways, because the ultrawide lenses are designed to capture everything, from top to bottom.

It’s possible to minimise unintended selfies by holding the camera well overhead, although any viewer who looks down during playback will see a hand. A tripod helps.

When the shooter wants to be part of the shot, a 360-degree camera works well. It can capture the shooter’s reaction as a child dodges water balloons. Rollercoaster videos are also popular for seeing - not just hearing riders screaming.

FORGET FRAMING, AVOID PANNING With ordinary video, people are conditioned to move the camera to follow the subject. Do this in 360, and it will make viewers dizzy.

A SCREENSHOT taken from a 360-degree video of the New York Philharmonic concert in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park in New York. In the middle of the image is the photographer’s hand.

360-degree cameras work by stitching together images from two or more lenses.

Folks watching the video will be moving their heads when using a virtual-reality headset or moving the phone with an app like YouTube.

While shooting, it’s OK to walk forward or backward slowly if necessary. Just avoid panning to the left or right.

BE JUDICIOUS Sometimes, a traditional camera works better. In Rome for example, St Peter’s Basilica is the highlight, not the buildings to the side or the cars in the back. With 360, that boring stuff stays in the shot.

Instead, reserve 360 for situations that call for that full perspective. It could give prospective home buyers a better sense of each room, for instance. Or with a shot of Rome’s Pantheon, viewers can look up to see the dome that inspired Mi-

chelangelo and other artists.

LIMITED EDITING OPTIONS An app built for Theta cameras offers Instagramlike filters and allows trims to the beginning and end of videos. But there is no cropping to enlarge the subject or straighten the horizon, as some apps offer with traditional video or photos. The shooter needs to get it right on location, something that’s tough to do because these cameras lack viewfinders.

A smartphone app can act as a virtual viewfinder, but that’s cumbersome, too; no one wants to see the shooter fiddling with a phone in the shot.

Although some apps offer zooming while watching, the camera itself doesn’t offer this capability. Videos work best when what’s being captured is close, such as

the feeling of being part of a crowd. Otherwise, stick with a regular camera with a good zoom lens.

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES Sit near the stage at an outdoor philharmonic concert in New York, and a 360-degree camera would show off how close it was to the stage, with the rest of the audience in the back. Pull out a regular camera instead, and it’s just a missed opportunity to brag. It takes practice to figure out not just how to take good images, but when.

Location also matters. For a play, a shot from the audience isn’t as satisfying as one from the stage with the performers - though getting permission to shoot that way could take some arranging.

ANICK JESDANUN Associated Press

JOIN THE ‘POKEMON GO’ CRAZE

THE “Pokemon Go” smartphone game has become a phenomenon since its debut nearly two weeks ago. Easy to play, here is what you need to know to get started.

SIGN UP AND SIGN IN Download the free “Pokemon Go” app from the Apple or Android app store. You can then sign in with a Pokemon Trainer Club account, if you already have one from playing the old-school “Pokemon” trading card game online.

A Google account will do. After you customise your avatar by picking out clothes, colour and gender, you’re ready to play.

HOW TO PLAY Your avatar appears on a digital map, mirroring your movements as tracked by your phone.

It’s like a bare-bones version of Google Maps, with no names attached to the streets, rivers and parks. A compass points north.

You can see in all directions by spinning your character around.

Look around, and you’ll see floating light-blue blocks that signify “PokeStops”. These could be anything from the entrance to a park to fancy stonework on a building- all in the real world.

Tagging these spots by spinning the PokeStop’s photo disk on the phone earns you “Poke Balls”, which you can use to throw at and collect Pokemon, along with other items.

CHASING MONSTERS Pokemon appear on your grid from time to time. There are 128 listed in your profile to start, including Pikachu, the cute yellow rabbit-like creature that has long served as Pokemon’s poster child.

Tapping on them gives you a close-up view and allows you to fling your Poke Balls at them. The

GREAT FIRE OF LONDON TO LIGHT UP MINECRAFT idea is to bop them on the head and capture them inside the ball.

Many people like the app’s use of ‘augmented reality’, a blending of the real and virtual worlds.

The Pokemon seem to be right in front of you, thanks to your phone camera capturing what’s in front of you and displaying the Pokemon on top of it. If you’ve run out of Poke Balls, just look for more PokeStops. You can also buy Poke Balls and other useful items with coins you earn along the way. Or spend real money.

ADVANCED LEVELS Once you reach Level 5, you can join one of three teams: Instinct (yellow), Mystic (blue) or Valor (red). Then, head over to your nearest gym, which are virtual representations of real-world locations, just like PokeStops. You might run into other players here, too. Gyms held by your team can be used for training. You can allocate some of your Pokemon to defend them and use others to fight with Pokemon from other teams and wrest control of rival gyms.

As you move up levels, you’ll get more powerful versions of Poke Balls. And you can collect candies and stardust to make your Pokemon stronger and more apt to succeed in battle.

BREE FOWLER Associated Press

LONDON’S burning!

Or at least it will be, in Minecraft form as the Museum of London is crafting the Great Fire of London in Microsoft’s block-based game, bolting together an explorable model of the famous conflagration that is designed to educate players.

Three Minecraft maps will be published, with the first due for download from the museum’s website on July 29. That map, playable on PC and Mac, promises explorable landmarks including London Bridge and the old St Paul’s Cathedral, plus a treasure hunt for audio extracts that will reveal how the famous fire spread.

The second map is coming in September, around the 350th anniversary of the blaze itself, which started at a bakery on London’s Pudding Lane before rapidly spreading throughout the capital and - over four days - consuming the homes of an estimated 70,000 residents. That second map will feature fire-fighting minigames. A third map is scheduled for February, 2017.

Several Minecraft heavyweights have collaborated on the project, including YouTubers Adam “Wizard Keen” Clarke and Johan Kruger, aka Dragnoz. The perennially popular Minecraft has been repeatedly deployed for educational purposes.

LUKE WESTAWAY Cnet.com

• FEMALE professionals will soon be better represented in emoji form.

Google says that the Unicode Consortium, which controls emoji standards, has agreed to add 11 new emojis in response to its proposal in May to create a set of emojis “with a goal of highlighting the diversity of women’s careers and empowering girls everywhere”.

Among the new emoji characters is a doctor, a scientist, a farmer and a welder. The characters are available in male forms as well and can be customised for skin tone.

Google’s original proposal said females - and those under 30 in particular - are the most frequent users of emojis.

The new emojis could be available on smartphones before the end of the year.

• FLYING through the haze over the pyramids of Giza, an experimental solar-powered airplane has arrived in Egypt as part of its globe-circling voyage.

The Solar Impulse 2 landed at Cairo International Airport after a 50-hour flight from Seville, Spain, last week.

The around-the-world voyage began in March, 2015, in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates and is due to finish there in the coming weeks.

• A BRAZILIAN judge has ordered the nationwide suspension of the instant messaging application WhatsApp because it will not help in a police investigation.

Rio de Janeiro Judge Daniela Barbosa ruled yesterday that access to the application should be blocked immediately. That is expected to happen once phone companies are notified.

Barbosa’s decision says that WhatsApp owner Facebook has been repeatedly asked to intercept messages sent through the service to help in a criminal probe in the city of Caxias, outside Rio. Facebook did not immediately comment on the judge’s decision.

• VEVO, the music video brand of labels Sony and Universal, has relaunched its mobile app, adding several hosts who will curate playlists and create original snippets of video.

It also introduces a video player that, like Snapchat, will play full-screen videos while a phone is upright instead of sideways, and provides a personalised feed of recommended videos that automatically shows moving image previews.

CEO Erik Huggers said the revamp is the “first step on the journey” toward moving audiences from the “one size fits all” YouTube platform to an app dedicated solely to music.

• MICROSOFT is backing off its ambitious goal of getting Windows 10 on a billion devices by 2018.

The company is blaming its own decision to scale back its smartphone business over the last year. Microsoft said that is slowing efforts to deploy the newest version of its flagship software on PCs, game consoles and mobile devices like tablets and phones.

Microsoft says Windows 10 is now running on more than 350 million PCs and other devices. Analysts say that is an impressive rate of adoption for software released last year. But Microsoft has sold relatively few smartphones and has cut back its phone operation.

PAGE 10, Wednesday, July 20, 2016

THE TRIBUNE

BGTAA president Rev C B Moss, Save The Bays chairman Joseph Darville, BGTAA member Celi Moss and BGTAA environmental health director Winston Sweeting.

Project aims to revitalise inner city community IMPROVING the physical appearance of an inner city community can be a powerful tool for social change, according to Rev C B Moss.

For the veteran activist and president of the Bain and Grants Town Advancement Association (BGTAA), recapturing the former beauty of historic neighbourhoods not

only encourages a greater appreciation for the environment, it also promotes pride, self-respect and a feeling of togetherness among those who live there.

This, he said, is the idea behind the association’s ambitious new pilot programme, Project Clean Sweep, which will aim not only to remove trash, der-

elict vehicles and other environmental pollutants but also beautify the area for the enjoyment of all its residents.

“There was once a time when this area was considered the pride of New Providence,” Rev Moss said. “Through years of neglect it has deteriorated considerably. The aim is to arrest this trend and

return Bain and Grants Town to its former charm, in the process giving its residents, who have suffered many hardships and disappointments, a reason to be both proud and hopeful.”

The first phase, which will target the southern half of Bain Town, was launched following a donation from Save The Bays

(STB), a leading environmental advocacy organisation in the Bahamas which supports the efforts of a number of community partners as part of its mandate to promote environmental protection, freedom of information and the rule of law.

Rev Moss said a number of other entities have expressed interest in sup-

porting Project Clean Sweep, and he expects further donations in the near future.

“We do not plan to stop here. Phase two will tackle northern Bain Town and we are fully confident that responsible citizens will support that effort and help us expand the project into Grants Town as well,” he said.

IT’S CHRISTMAS IN JULY, WITH HELP FROM BANK THE SALVATION Army’s “Christmas in July” campaign, a new fundraising initiative launched two weeks ago to help disadvantaged men, women and children in the community, has received a boost from the Bank of the Bahamas.

The organisation is emphasising that “need knows no season” and that charitable giving tends to drop during the summer months. So it is posting its bell ringers and red kettles, normally reserved for Christmas, at strategic business locations this month to appeal for funds.

Bank of The Bahamas Ltd has responded to the call by providing its support, sponsoring a kettle that will be stationed at its Village Road branch every Friday in July, allowing customers and other passersby to donate to the various Salvation Army programmes.

Among the Salvation Army initiative to be funded by “Christmas in July” are the feeding programme, held each weekday at its Mackey Street headquarters, and summer and after-school programmes at its Community Centre and

women’s shelters.

Melanese Coakley, Community Relations Associate for the Salvation Army, explained that during the summer months, donations to the Salvation Army tend to decline because of a shift in focus to travel and other concerns.

“Christmas in July is just a reminder that even in this season of summer there is still a need in the community to help those who sometimes feel hopeless,” she said. “We are our brothers’ keepers and we could not be here after 85 years without corporate Bahamas

and especially Bank of The Bahamas, so we’re very appreciative of them joining us in Christmas in July.”

Pedro Burrows, Manager of BOB’s Village Road branch, said the bank was pleased to partner with the Salvation Army in such a worthy cause. “We welcome the opportunity to support ‘Christmas in July’ because of the many Bahamians who will benefit as a result and we also invite our customers and patrons of the Village Road Shopping Centre to support this important initiative,” Mr Burrows said.

PEDRO BURROWS, manager of Bank of the Bahamas’ Village Road branch, presents a sponsorship cheque in support of the “Christmas in July” campaign to the Salvation Army’s Melanese Coakley, community relations associate, and Delicia Armbrister, administrative assistant.

HELPING THE ELDERLY BY MAKING A FITNESS CONNECTION

By PEANDRA PRATT

FITNESS Connection, a group formed eight months ago to help the elderly and disabled, has hosted its first community service event.

A non-profit organisation, Fitness Connection chose Unity House on East Street for its inaugural event on Saturday as it was a home that many of its members had visited in the past, according to Dr Sean Knowles, the group’s Public Relations Officer.

Fitness Connection aims

to help its members live a healthy lifestyle while empowering them on their journey of self-realisation, good health, happiness and community service. The organisation takes a broad view of the community and aims to use its strength as a group to make a difference in the nation Unity House, which was established in 1986, is the third oldest home in New Providence and caters to the less fortunate who were abandoned by family members or whose family mem-

bers could not keep up with their expenses.

“Thank you to Fitness Connection for all the work that they’ve done here and will do in the community,” Rev Janet Smith-Butler, the founder and administrator of Unity House, said. “I appreciate the time they took to make the residents of our home feel special. We need more groups like this who help all year round and not just during Christmas and major holidays.”

Unity House relies solely on private donations to fund

the home and has found it difficult to keep up with the basic necessities. Currently there is a need for food items such as butter, spaghetti, tomatoes, onions and potatoes, as well as for basic cleaning supplies like bleach and washing detergent.

“It’s gotten tougher over the years because our need has gotten greater,” Rev Butler-Smith said. “The health of the residents is deteriorating. They need medicine and vitamins and a whole load of other things. As long as there’s a

bed available here, then we will do whatever we can to help those in need.”

Fitness Connection’s members spent several hours interacting with the 30 residents currently at the home on Saturday and afterwards provided them with gift bags filled with toiletries and basic clothing items.

Rev Butler-Smith encourages people in the community to not only donate goods to the residents but to also volunteer their time and service. She says that “sometimes all they want is

someone to talk to and that can brighten up their whole week”.

The President of Fitness Connection, Jarm “JJ” Mackey, told residents, “I am so happy to be part of a group that is dedicated to giving back to the community, and today’s visit will not be Fitness Connection’s last visit.” The group started in December, 2015, with 25 members.

Contact Rev Smith-Butler at 323-6128 or 601-5455 to volunteer or offer donations.

READERS SKEPTICAL AT PRIME MINISTER’S SUPPORT FROM YOUNG MEMBERS OF GOVT READERS on tribune242.com hit out at Prime Minister Perry Christie yesterday, after he said he aims to continue leading the PLP because young members of his government have urged him to do so.

Alex_Charles had this to say: “Mr Prime Minister you will get a sound beating next election, you are a failure of a leader and you have done more to destroy Bahamian trust in government than anything else.

Pathetic excuse for a government, and I say this as a

young person not affiliated with any party. 40+ years of criminals running this government on all sides. Disgusting.”

HeatherJoy said: “This right here is the joke of the century! When I saw the headlines in the paper this

morning my first reaction was ‘He must be joking!’

And he says that ‘young members of Government want me to lead’. Seriously?! This man needs a psychiatric evaluation cause his mind is warped!”

Honestman was critical of both Mr Christie and the government: “So there it is . . . proof positive that he is hearing voices! Neither Perry Christie nor the PLP at large have anything to offer this country. They have abused the privilege of high office. It is time for

them both to be consigned to history’s dustbin. PGC suffers from delusions of adequacy! Time to go now before the people get even angrier.”

Hogfish said: “This is the best news I could have heard. Now I WILL be voting Red no matter what.

Butler or Minnis.”

But Well_mudda_take_ sic responded with: “Don’t waste your vote . . . red with Minnis or LBT would be many times worse than purple/yellow with Christie.

Vote for the independent

candidate running in your constituency or don’t bother voting at all!”

And there was this from Hallmarka: “I wonder how ‘OLD’ these young people in his party are.”

The Prime Minister also made the news this week after he said the management of Bahamas Power & Light failed to adequately anticipate the challenge of generating electricity during the summer months.

Alfalfa said: “Surely BPL would have done due diligence and reviewed the

historical usage of power in the summer. BEC has had to rent generators in the past to meet the summer demand. What type of company is this that we have turned over the most important utility in the country to? They obviously did not do their homework before taking over, so how can we rely on anything they say they plan going forward.

What a joke!”

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

THE TRIBUNE

A PEEP AT THE POINTE

THE POINTE, seen yesterday as the covers came off on construction at the downtown location.

Wednesday, July 20, 2016, PAGE 11

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff