09212022 NEWS, SPORT AND BUSINESS

CONDITIONSOFOVERCHARGEDBREACHBAIL

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

Thedriver.Doris Johnson

CONCERN PPP WILL DRIVE UP PRICES

‘I CAN’T FORGIVE HIT-AND-RUN DRIVER’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Minister Phil lip “Brave” Davis has called on industrialised nations who contrib ute heavily to climate change to pay for the hardships brought on by theMrphenomenon.Davismade the comment as a panel guest at the New York Times’ Climate Week Conference.Thepanel’s theme was “Money in Action: Closing the Climate Finance Gap”. The panel discussed issues that affect the climate crisis, along with how and why governments should be incentivised in climate finance and sus tainable development. Prime Minister Davis explained what he expects from the global community, developed nations, and the private sector in an effort to withstand natural disas ters in the years to come. By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS lmunnings@tribunemedia.net ALICIA WALLACE: RAPE IS RAPE - WHETHER IN MARRIAGE OR NOT - SEE PAGE EIGHT MIGUEL CURRY SEE PAGE SEVEN SEE PAGE TWO SEE PAGE FIVE FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS ONE of 11 Mayaguana residents evacuated yesterday as Hurricane Fiona headed for the is land. See PAGE THREE for more. Photo: BIS WEDNESDAY HIGH 89ºF LOW 79ºF i’m lovin’ it! Volume: 119 No.207, September 21, 2022 THE PEOPLE’S PAPER: PRICE–$1 Established 1903The Tribune CARS! CARS! CLASSIFIEDS TRADERPUZZLER The Tribune Monday, February 8, To Advertise Call 601-0007 or $33.60502-2351 Biggest And Best! LATEST NEWS ON TRIBUNE242.COM McNuggets&TenderGoldenJuicy

THE reconstruction of Marsh Harbour’s Doriandevastated commercial shipping port is “just not happening fast enough” amid fears the government’s preferred public-private partnership model will fur ther fuel price increases.

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POLICE Commissioner Clayton Fernander said police recently charged 38 men who were on bail for serious crimes and were being monitored for breaching their bail conditions.Hesaid many suspects on bail for serious crimes intentionally fail to charge their electronic monitor ing devices so as to commit more crimes. He made the revelation yesterday during a press briefing at police headquarters.“Withinthe week, we charged 38 young men who was who was being monitored and is on bail for serious crime - for murder, robbery possession of unli censed firearm - who had breach their bail applica tion,” he said.

Daphne DegregoryMiaoulis, Abaco’s Chamber of Commerce president, said the island’s private sector will “keep the heat on as much as possible” over the rebuilding of the island’s “supply lifeline” for imported physical goods.

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter

PRIME

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper As evacuees are flown out of path of storm, PM says: costs’climatemust‘Polluterspay

FIFTEEN-year-old Miguel Curry said he would have forgiven the driver that struck him if the motorist had stayed on the scene to help. However, that did not happen and now police are searching for the hit-andrun

Senior High School student and his brother, aged six, were the victims of a hitand-run on Bernard Road were walking on the southern side of Ber nard Road, in the area of the curve, west of Adder ley Street, when they were struck.The siblings were taken to the hospital by EMS where they were treated andPolicedischarged.inNew Providence are searching for the driver of a black vehicle who “refused to remain on the scene and fled the area in a westerly direction.”

onAccordingThursday. to police, preliminary reports reveal that around 3.40pm, the brothers

When asked what more CARICOM could do to assist Haiti, the foreign minister said the bloc can provide moral support and help mobilise the interna tionalAccordingcommunity.to CARI COM, the continued breakdown in law and order, and its affect on the people of Haiti, is “intensifying”.Thegroup believes this current dilemma is exac erbated by the country’s security force’s inability to address the violence issue.

“I have set up legisla tion to engage article six of the Paris Accord to have the private sector engage in the voluntary market, carbon market by offset ting through purchasing carbon credits,” he also said.Mr Davis said it is expected that this legis lation will allow for The Bahamas’ carbon credits to be sold on the market by the first of next year.

PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis at the panel in New York yesterday.

“We need action, and we need to find ways and means to have the indus trialised world countries who have been burning fossil fuel for centuries, that have had this cloud of carbon in the air, it’s time to let them pay the bill now,” he said.

Mr Davis explained the government’s reliance on the private sector to bring about change.

from one

The panel included president of World Bank Group David Malpass, Managing Director of International Monetary Fund Kristalina Geor gieva, and Mr Davis.

“It is a concern and you have seen the despera tion of Haitian people in an attempt to escape the challenges that they are experiencing in Haiti,” Mr Davis had said when asked if the issue could affect immigration in The Bahamas.“Andwe have to be concerned just for human ity. From a humanitarian point of view, you have to be concerned of the plight of our fellow human beings in Haiti and for The Baha mas,” he also said.

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“The unrest is having a negative impact on the already weak economy leading to even more mass demonstrations. Espe cially the worsening social conditions and the limited availability of food require urgent and immediate

He also said since taking office last year, the debt to GDP ratio has been reduced from 105 percent

The embassy’s premises

‘Polluters must pay climate costs’

FOREIGN Affairs Min ister Fred Mitchell said the Davis administration agrees with CARICOM’s recent statement expressing concern about the security situation and social circum stances in Haiti.

PAGE 2, Wednesday, September 21, 2022 THE TRIBUNE

attention from the inter national community,” CARICOM said in a recent statement.CARICOM called for all stakeholders to engage meaningfully with the aim to find a way forward and to “put country first and address the situation urgently”.Yesterday, Mr Mitchell said the government agrees with CARICOM’s position.

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS lmunnings @ tribunemedia.net

“First of all, all pledges or what I call committers who promise that they are going to make available the monies that they said,” he said. “For example, in 2015 it was supposed to be 100 billion each year, but none of this has been realised to date.”He said those countries heavily contributing to cli mate change need to “pay the bill now.”

GOVT AGREES WITH CONCERNS OVER HAITI SECURITY SITUATION

“In addition, we think governments can’t do it alone,” he said at the con ference yesterday.

to 85 “Whenpercent.I took office last year, my debt to GDP ratio was 105 percent. For tunately, I’ve brought it down to about 85 percent and it’s still going down,” he“So,said. they have to visit this debt to sustainability issue in the context of adap tion, mitigation, loss, and damage, particularly when it’s the results of climate change.”MrDavis also urged the various lending agencies to re-evaluate the criteria for accessing funds.

Asked what more CARI COM can do to assist Haiti, Mr Mitchell answered: “They can provide moral support and help mobi lise the international community.”Hebelieves it is diffi cult to predict whether the current situation in Haiti will lead to more migrants heading to The Bahamas.

Following the kidnap ping of a local worker at the Bahamas Embassy in Haiti earlier this month, Mr Mitchell said the voluntary order that allows staff who feel unsafe to withdraw is still in place, however, the international airport is closed.Hesaid: “All staff con tinue to work from home.

are under security watch and safe. All personnel are safe when last advised today.”Hesaid he is unable to comment on the alleged kidnapping.Lastmonth, Prime Min ister Phillip “Brave” Davis said it is important that The Bahamas help find a solu tion to the issues in Haiti that influence a continued exodus of its citizens to this country.MrDavis said The Baha mas is one of the lead heads of a CARICOM commit tee that has been given the responsibility of ensuring that a solution is found.

“The government is closely monitoring the development of Hurricane Fiona, a category three storm which is forecast to impact the southeastern

“A Defence Force vessel stands ready to depart for Mayaguana this afternoon with additional manpower, food and water, generators and other recovery tools and equipment should the need arise.”

He explained in terms of preparation the island did not face any challenges.

He also said the island had three major shelters open.“We made sure to put out the message to the resi dents to prepare themselves to protect their family, their property, their life. And we’ve been preparing and getting the shelters ready,” he said.

MAYAGUANA residents after being evacuated out of the path of Hurricane Fiona.

Bahamas today (Tuesday).

“I feel that we have sufficient time to get the necessary supplies to the island even if they have to be housed in a dry safe place until that point of time has arrived. I have issues with persons trying to get supplies when the storm already formed. We have ample time from June 1 to

The Office of the Prime Minister also issued a statement yesterday on Hurricane Fiona.

Yesterday, The Trib une contacted Mayaguana Island administrator Kef fieann Ferguson who said the major challenge the island faced was a lack of equipment and plywood to build shutters to secure homes and buildings.

Mr Leary said he believes the majority of residents do, but then there are some who have chosen not to. AND PLYWOOD AHEAD OF STORM

who confirmed that all is a go with regards to the residents from Mayaguana. Provisions have been made with food and also with accommodations for them.”

Mr Cooper added that the shelters on the island were open and supplies such as tarps had been issued to the island through Bahamasair along with the mailboat.Whenasked about there being a shortage of lumber on the island, Mr Cooper said lumber would have not been one of the supplies sent yesterday morning by Bahamasair, however, other needed materials were sent out.

He added: “The reality of the situation on the ground is that it’s a very remote island and any supplies like plywood, etc, would have had to go by mailboat. Some time ago, I heard the reports of requests or promises by NEMA to the residents; we’re looking into those reports.”

Mr Leary added that officials from the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, Social Services, Envi ronmental Health, and other agencies have been helpful in the process of preparation.Whenasked if the resi dents were taking the weather warnings seriously,

LACK OF EQUIPMENT

Thesaid.press release also said a team of Defence Force officers arrived on Mayaguana yesterday morning with food, blan kets and other supplies.

AS Hurricane Fiona brought storm conditions their way, there was a con cern in Mayaguana about a lack of material to secure homes and buildings.

The others declined to leave, the official said.

identified as “medically at risk” and one accompanied one of the patients.

He shared similar senti ments of Ms Ferguson as he noted the island did its best to prepare for Hurricane Fiona despite some chal lenges faced.

Fiona is packing maximum sustained winds of 115 mph and is moving NNW at nine mph. The storm is likely to further strengthen into a category 4 hurri cane later today and could strengthen to category 5 by

The Department of Meteorology said the islands of Inagua, Maya guana, Acklins, Crooked Island, Samana Cay, Long Cay, And Ragged Island were to expect gusty winds and large sea swells from HurricaneHurricaneFiona.Fiona, a cat egory three storm, caused widespread devastation in Puerto Rico as its strength grew and made its way into Turks and Caicos yesterday, according to international reports.Acting Prime Minister Chester Cooper spoke to reporters about the storm yesterday, noting that gov ernment officials were working actively as Hurri cane Fiona made its way to the southern Bahamas.

Residents who were said to have comorbidities were taken off the island. While Mr Cooper said yesterday morning that 21 people were expected to be evacu ated, an island official told this newspaper only 11 left. Ten were among those

Mr Laroda said he spoke to the island administrator of Exuma, Cristian Pala cious on Monday.

Ms Ferguson said some of the residents were evac uated to Exuma, either because they were at risk or vulnerable.“Themedical doctor

One resident of Maya guana, Persis Charlton, said that in addition to the

By JADE RUSSELL jrussell@tribunemedia.net

“Fiona is a dangerous category three hurricane, which on its projected path, is expected to impact the islands of Mayaguana and Inagua (Tuesday) with tropical storm conditions.

limited supplies on the island there was also a chal lenge of getting drinking water.“We had a water issue here (with) drinking water, but the mailboat came so that was kind of resolved,” sheMssaid.Charlton explained that had the boat not come residents would have had no access to drinking water.

THE TRIBUNE Wednesday, September 21, 2022, PAGE 3

Wednesday,” the press release

“Yesterday we ordered evacuations of the island of Mayaguana. Bahama sair flew into Mayaguana this morning, we antici pate that 21 persons will be evacuated, transported to the island of Exuma. We have made provisions for their accommodations in Exuma. We’ve spoken with the island adminis trator and all of the local government officials as well as the doctor on the island of Mayaguana, they are going to remain on island and they anticipate that all will be well on the basis of the preparations that have already been made,” Mr Cooper said.

evacuated11Mayaguana:residents

Ms Charlton, who also actively serves in the Red Cross, stressed that prepa rations should not be done at the last minute, espe cially as the country is in hurricane season. She said agencies such as NEMA can be more efficient.

By JADE RUSSELL

He added: “I spoke with Captain Neil Camp bell, the director of local government this morning

November 30 to have the necessary supplies on the ground.”Marlon Leary, the admin istrator for Inagua, said that residents have prepared for Hurricane Fiona with hopes the island would not get the full brunt of the storm.

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

Mr Cooper said all homes on the island have been visited by local government officials, par ticularly residents who were seen as “vulnerable” and advised to evacuate to Exuma.For his part, Myles Laroda, state minister for disaster preparedness, said yesterday the residents who were to be evacuated from the island had comor bidities. He explained that older people or those with health conditions were seen to be at “Thererisk.was a concern that was expressed by the medical offices and the administrators on the island that those people should be evacuated,” Mr Laroda said.

Photo: BIS

here, Dr Crystal Rolle, she presented a few names of persons with comorbidities who she felt would have been vulnerable in the event we were cut off due to flooding,” Ms Ferguson said.Ms Ferguson added that there were 175 residents on the island of Mayaguana. She said there were three major shelters, a shelter in each settlement which should have been able to accommodate all of the residents.Mayaguana Chief Coun cilor Huel Williamson also spoke to The Tribune ear lier yesterday, he said wind gusts were between 35-40 miles an hour coming out of the northwest on the island.

ELEVEN Mayaguana residents were evacuated off the island yesterday, as residents of the southern Bahamas braced for the impact of Hurricane Fiona.

The Department of Meteorology issued a tropical storm warning for the southeast islands that included Inagua, Maya guana, Acklins, Crooked Island, Samana Cay, Long Cay, and Ragged Island.

The testing requirement, along with the remaining mask wearing mandates, are among the few restric tive measures still being enforced in the country.

He also praised the gov ernment’s decision to create a fund geared specifically towards community and

PAGE 4, Wednesday, September 21, 2022 THE TRIBUNE

The owner also said he felt that his crew handled the incident “to the best of theirWhileability”.repeating his con dolences to the victim’s family, Mr Cooper said his ministry did everything it could “to make a very bad situation better” for the American family.

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

DEPUTY Prime Minister Chester Cooper.

AIRPORT WINNING ID ‘IN NE T WEE S’

INISTR ‘ENSURING PROTOCO S IN P ACE’ AFTER SHAR ATTAC

Cooper enterCOVIDscrappingbacksofteststocountry

The American resident and her family were visit ing The Bahamas on their cruise trip and went on a local excursion when the tragedy happened.

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

As for when the bidder will be selected, Mr Cooper said it will be in the next severalPlansweeks.forthe redevelop ment of the airport were announced after the facility suffered extensive damage

“We’re repairing the other one. We’re repair ing the domestic terminal to welcome Sunwing out of Toronto and Montreal and Bahamasair out of Raleigh, North Carolina. So, we’re going to make sure that we give the guests who are arriving a good experience on arrival so we continue to make the pre liminary updates as best we can. We are building modu lar housing for many of the administrative employees who have worked in trailers and used outhouses for two and a half years since Dorian.

AN ACCUSED OVER URDER

engine continues to run. So we’ve primed the pump. We’re doing mis sions around the world. (We went) to Florida two weeks ago. Next week, we plan to go to New York. Next month, we’re going to Canada. The month after that we’re going to the UK, the Middle East. We will continue to push to ensure that the goose that lays the golden eggs continues to lay those eggs for the Bahamian people, creating jobs and busi ness opportunities for our people. That’s what we are seeking to do.

TOURISM, Investments and Aviation Minister Chester Cooper said yes terday that his ministry has engaged tourism stake holders to ensure that proper protocols are in place for water tour opera tors after a fatal shark attack claimed the life of an American tourist earlier thisCarolinemonth. DiPlacido, 58, of Lake Erie, Pennsylva nia, died on September 6 after being attacked by a bull shark while snor kelling with family near Green Cay.

Her death has sparked calls for the govern ment to implement safeguards for tourism water operators to better protect snorkelers, including operators being equipped with tourni quets, blood clotting powders and standard kits for iswaters,uncommonthatWhileemergencies.acknowledgingsharkattacksarenotinBahamianMrCoopersaiditalwaysaconcernwhen

Before Dorian, the air port was privately owned and operated by the Free port Harbour Company, which is part of Hutchison Port Holdings of the Hutch ison Whampoa Group.

While Greene denied any involvement in this incident, he also told the magistrate of concerns over his safety in prison, to which she said she would speak to the relevant authorities.Greeneis expected to receive his VBI on December 2.

caused by Hurricane Dorian in September 2019.

While it is not clear how soon redevelopment works will start after the bidder is selected, Mr Cooper said offi cials are seeking to complete several repairs in the interim to improve conditions at the Grand Bahama airport.

“On the investment front, we have attracted more than $3 billion of new investments to our coun try. A lot of it is coming through the tourism sector, but all of the other sectors are participating actively in this engagement as well. We have attracted a lot of investments to our Family Islands, inclusive in this $3 billion – Abaco, Eleuthera and Exuma being right there with Nassau and Grand Bahama in terms of the level of investments they’re attracting, so I’m very pleased with what we’re seeing.”

However, under the Minnis administration, the government purchased it in April 2021 for $1, with plans to redevelop the airport under a PPP. It also paid-out around $1m as its 50 percent share of the redundancy pay and associated benefits received by GBIA staff.

Recently, the owner of tour boat company Seas the Day – the com pany that was used by DiPlacidos — said it had to temporarily shut down operations in the wake of the tragic incident.

court. He was informed that his case would be fast tracked to the Supreme Court through a voluntary bill of indictment (VBI).Thechief magistrate told the accused that she lacked the jurisdiction to grant him bail, but that he has the right to apply for it in the Supreme Court.

large companies around the world have completely eliminated protocols.

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

We at the Ministry of Tourism, firstly sought to ensure that the family understood that we were there for them and we did all we could to make a very bad situation better and that’s been our primary focus,” the acting prime minister added.

“So, we’re working along with our colleagues in terms of the Ministry of Transport to ensure that we continue the dialogue, the training and educa tion of tour operators who might be able to help in situations like this when things go wrong.”

“Tourism is a competi tive business,” Mr Cooper said before heading to yes terday’s Cabinet meeting. “The world has moved on as it relates to COVID. The protocols around the world have been relaxed. Many of our competitors and

“Well, let me explain what the due diligence pro cess is,” Mr Cooper said. “Now let’s say as much as I can as candidly as I can but please appreciate that this model is under con tract. The resort is under contract and this is what we call a due diligence period. During the due diligence period, the buyer would go and do studies and inves tigations, ask questions and come back and seek to negotiate based on the information they find, the results of their studies, etc.

accused of shooting Noel multiple times about the body on September 10 on an unnamed road near Lazaretto Road.

A MAN was charged in Magistrate’s Court yesterday in connection with the shooting death of 20-year-old Welji Noel in Carmichael earlier this month.

In a recent press release, the Free National Move ment called the decision to extend the closing of Grand Lucayan both “trou bling and disheartening” to Grand Bahama residents.

“One other item we’ve been able to form is a fund for community and social initiatives under the remit of the Gaming Board,

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolletribunemedia.net

“Theyproperly.arecredible. They are funded and as you know, we put in place a new board in Freeport, the Free port Airport Development Board,” the acting prime minister said before going to a Cabinet meeting.

“They are looking at the possibility of entering the PPP (public private part nership) to design, build, finance and manage the Grand Bahama Interna tional Airport. This is going to be a world class airport. This process takes time to be done properly and we want to ensure that we select the bidder who has the vision, resources and who understands resiliency, and can execute quickly.”

“There is a design phase. It takes a long time to build an airport. In the meantime, we are doing preliminary repairs, we’re cleaning up the airport. We’ve demol ished one of the hangars that’s been an eyesore since Dorian,” he said.

“We’re doing something about it. Those modular houses are almost completed. We anticipate that within the next few weeks, they will be occupied by the employ ees who continue to work under unhealthy conditions at Grand Bahama Interna tionalYesterday,Airport.”Mr Cooper was also asked to respond to growing concerns regard ing the Grand Lucayan sale after the government last week granted a third extension to the buyer’s due diligence time.

Currently,change. only unvac cinated travellers entering the country are required to produce a negative COVID test no older than three days prior to arrival.

social based initiatives.

ACTING Prime Min ister Chester Cooper said yesterday that he supports government’s decision to soon remove all COVID testing protocols for entry into The Bahamas.

where one percent of rev enue will go into this fund for social causes, including education, tourism develop ment, sports, culture so this is a significant achievement,

“We have extended the due diligence period by seven days that ends some time next week. At that point, we will be able to say more. Appreciate that it’s an active negotiation and active discussion and therefore it’s not in the best interest of the Bahamian people to discuss that pub licly at this point.”

“So sometimes, I think we can do more to have even more prominent sig nage, for example. But the reality is that The Bahamas has fared reasonably well.”

such instances occur. He also noted there is a need for more training so operators can ensure the safety of their cli ents and also know how to effectively respond in the aftermath of a shark attack.“Shark attacks (are) not new for The Baha mas (and) it’s not new around the world. It’s not very frequent, but still, it’s an issue that we are consistently concerned about,” Mr Cooper said before going to a Cabinet meeting.“We have engaged stakeholders in the tour industries to ensure that proper protocols are in place. There are certain basic commonsense things that can be done in rela tion to managing this process.“We’ve been doing this for decades. I think there has to be more training or ongoing dialogue with operators to ensure, for example, we’re not feed ing at the time that people are swimming, things like that and I think some of the shark attacks that we’ve seen, for example, there was one in Staniel Cay a few months ago, it was in an area where they feed sharks and there were signs that it was a no swim zone.

Trevano Greene, 28, faced Chief Magis trate Joyann Ferguson Pratt on a charge of murder.Heis

TOURISM, Investments and Aviation Minister Chester Cooper revealed yesterday that government has narrowed down the list of potential investors for the redevelopment of the Grand Bahama International Air port to two and is hoping to select the “winning bidder” in the next several weeks.

Mr Cooper, who was speaking to reporters yester day, said while both investors were credible and “funded”, officials also wanted to do due diligence to ensure that the bidder selected has the vision needed to execute the project

When paramedics arrived, Noel was pro nounced dead at the scene.

“I expect that we’re going to get there. I support the further relaxation of these protocols. There’s been a lot of calls for the elimina tion of masks and suffice to say the tourism industry is ready to see the back of the protocols, they’re ready to move on and certainly that is the sentiment that we are expressing to our col leagues from the Ministry of InHealth.”the meantime, Mr Cooper said his ministry will continue to work in helping the tourism indus try fully rebound from the pandemic.While highlighting several of his ministry’s accomplishments over the last year since assuming office, Mr Cooper pointed to increased tourism arriv als to The Bahamas and the more than $3b in invest ments his ministry has attracted thus far for the country.“We see the tourism numbers rebound, almost to the 2019 levels. It con tinues to grow. By next year, we expect that we will exceed pre-pandemic levels so that’s the first point,” he said.He added: “And we must ensure that the

Mr Cooper spoke to reporters after Health and Wellness Minis ter Dr Michael Darville told a local daily that the Davis administration had recently approved health officials’ recommendations to remove the COVID19 testing requirements for all ports of entry and was working to gazette the policy

Due to the grave nature of the offence, Greene was not required to enter a plea in

Until he is granted bail, he will be remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.

and we hope that we would be able to make signifi cant funding donations for various projects across the country as a result of this new fund.”

HUNT THREEGUNMENFORASSHOT

Duringthrown.a search, officers found a black 9mm Ruger pistol with a magazine that contained four live rounds of 9mm ammunition.

Shortly before 9pm the occupants of a heavily tinted purple Toyota Passo opened fire on a group of people attending a grill-out, which resulted in two men being shot multiple times. The victims were taken to hospital by private vehicle, where their conditions are unknown at this time.

UNIVERSITY SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH UNION

THE signing of a new industrial agreement between the Public Man agers Union and the University of The Bahamas yesterday was approved by both sides with the union calling it a “very good contract”.ThePublic Managers Union (PMU), which repre sents some 54 managers of the University of the Baha mas (UB), met with UB executives yesterday morn ing to sign a new five-year industrial agreement for the 2018-2023 cycle.

The police chief answered: “That’s why some of them who con tinue to do just that we need to keep them behind bars. When they breach, to keep them behind bars…. the monitoring company is working for us.

to that matter. So we’ll be looking at that as well. And expected to bring some charges at a later date.”

• Abaco police arrested a man on Sunday of posses sion of dangerous drugs.

page one

POLICE Commissioner Clayton Fernander.

BY DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

Photos: Moise Amisial

“The team headed by Chief Superintendent Goodman, the ceasefire team as I indicated, was moving about in the various communities, disrupting the gangs and drug peddlers within our communities. They went back into that area and was able to search a yard where they arrested 10 individuals who was in that yard with a high pow ered

She added that future industrial agreements may end up being for threeyear periods depending on future negotiations and discussions between the university and the union.

THE TRIBUNE Wednesday, September 21, 2022, PAGE 5

The union accused the university of taking advan tage of a burdened society due to COVID-19 to create systems that contravened the Public Managers Union’s industrial agree ment without considering the additional sacrifices that employees and executive leadership made to support the university in providing services during that critical time.Just last month, PMU, which also represents man agement at the National Insurance Board, signed another five-year indus trial agreement between the union and NIB, after two years of contention between both parties.

In February 2021, the Public Managers Union said in a press statement, that while it had made numerous concessions with a view to supporting the survival and challenges of UB, the institution had been conducting business in a manner that did not sug gest the institution was in a financial crisis.

OfficersTown.found a bag containing a quantity of suspected marijuana in clear plastic bag. An adult male was arrested.

He said after a police chase, police pulled over the suspects’ vehicle in the Fort Fincastle area.

38 charged over breach of bail conditions

for us. And that’s why you see those individuals who breached their curfew. Some of them have curfew where at 6pm in the even ing, you should be in your home. And then we find some of them after 6pm involved in crime. Some thing’s wrong with that. And that’s why we are paying so much attention to that.

Police also said they are questioning a 29-year-old male of Ridgeland Park West in connection with a stabbing that has left his 30-year-old brother in hospital.Preliminary reports reveal that two broth ers while at Ashely Street got into a physical argu ment that resulted in the 30-year-old being stabbed multiple times. The victim was taken to hospital where he is detained in critical condition.Anyone with information that can help these investi gations is asked to contact the Criminal Investigation Department at 502-9991/2 or Crime Stoppers at 328-8477.

for middle managers now and it included a sabbatical for those persons requiring additional training and edu cation. Then, the grievance process we’ve strengthened that, we’ve added a full process from end to end and we’ve agreed to have an increment administra tion, which means a review of the increments to make a determination as to what those increases would look like,” she said.

Yesterday, the issue of relying on people on bail to charge their ankle bracelets was brought up.

UB president Dr Erik Rolland also expressed his approval of the new indus trial agreement promising that the university will fully uphold all details outlined in the “Today,contract.we commit that the university recognises the importance of joint consultation and agrees to consult with the union on matters that affect the working conditions of managers. We will ensure that managers develop the skills necessary to lead others, and the security and employment of managers covered under this agree ment will be upheld,” he said.Dr Rolland added his gratitude for management at the university and the PMU.“The university will continue to support our managers through learn ing, leadership, and service. As a result, this creates a diverse work force, dedicated staff, and

An adult male of Abaco Drive, Hawksbill, was arrested and taken into police custody.

What more do you need? If you let your battery go dead, and go out there and commit crime? You think that individual should be given a second chance to do it again? No, man.”

He said other hot spots are being targeted with sat uration patrols as well.

Based on intel, Dun more Street is a hot spot for criminal activities, the com missioner said.

After several disputes filed by PMU on behalf of the managers of the university two years ago, concerning the university’s financial practices, PMU President Cassandra Cart wright-Lewis said that this new agreement includes benefits that would address four major areas, includ ing increased finances for development and training.

a harmonious workplace where people can thrive. We value our partnership with the Public Managers Union. And, through this partnership, we continue to build a mutual and ben eficial relationship as we promote the best means of enhancing the dialogue between management and workers,” said Dr Rolland.

A MAN was arrested for firearm and ammunition possession on Monday on GrandAssistantBahama. Superinten dent of Police Stephen Rolle said a team of offic ers from the Anti-gang and Firearms Unit were on routine patrols shortly after 5pm when they observed a group of men at a car wash in the Hunters area.

By LETRE SWEETING

“Either they let their bat tery just run dead and it’s off the grid. And we have strong information that they intentionally run their battery dead to go off the grid and commit crime. We have arrested and charged a number of persons con nected who are on bail, let their battery run dead, they go and commit crime, and then come back on the grid,” he told reporters.

“But based on other evidence, we were able to connect them with a number of serious crimes, and they will be charged. So we have stepped up our game and it’s a reason why the court give them bail and they are being moni tored for the police to do just that - to know where they (are) at all times. They have curfew and if they don’t honour that, then we have to put them back and keep them behind us. They are the individuals who continue to give us problems. We charge them. They’re charged firstly with the offence, they get bail, and still continue to breach theirLastbail.”month while he was a guest on Jerome Sawyer’s “Beyond the Headlines” television show, the com missioner said officers’ work is more burdensome when courts release those arrested on bail and police then often arrest them for the same offence.

Allyson MaynardGibson, chair of the UB Board of Trustees, said Mrs Cartwright-Lewis and her team made it clear to the board that the PMU supports taking UB to the next level, which includes accreditation, as a strategy for purposeful develop ment and transformational progress.“Our shared vision involves continuous invest ment in people and all of us, together, constantly improving and fortifying our quality assurance mech anisms. This agreement provides for the height ening of productivity and performance; professional development; training; and, expanding (the) com petencies of our middle managers.”

MAN DISCOVEREDAFTERHELDGUN

POLICE are searching for the suspects behind two shootings that occurred on Sunday and Monday.

One of the men fled in a northeastern direction on seeing the police vehicle. Officers pursued the sus pect who was reportedly observed throwing a black firearm from his waist. ASP Rolle said the male was apprehended and taken to the area where the object was

In the first incident, a gunman reportedly shot a 28-year-old man while on Labour Street off Flint Street on Sunday. Initial reports reveal that shortly before 3pm, the victim was seated in his Burgundy colored Cube when he was approached and subse quently shot multiple times by an unknown man. The victim was taken to hospital in a private vehicle where he is detained in stable condition.Meanwhile, two men were shot while at Lucky Heart Corner on Monday.

The commissioner also spoke about a shooting on Dunmore Street on Satur day when gunman opened fire on a group. He said at one point, one of the sus pects was accidentally shot by his partner. Police were able to connect those sus pects to a recent murder.

He pointed to other areas that are being targeted with saturation patrols at this moment.Asked about the cur rent murder count and how it compares to last year, Commissioner Fernander admitted he does not like “to give that” figure out but said “we should be around about 94 to 95” killings so far this year.

• Bimini police arrested a man this week after discovering suspected mari juana in a backpack he was carrying. Assistant Superin tendent of Police Stephen Rolle said officers from Alice Town went to a busi ness establishment shortly after 2pm on Sunday where an adult male was suspected of possession of dangerous drugs. Officers approached the man standing at the bar and informed him of their suspicions.ASPRolle said the man was searched but nothing was found on his person. Officers also searched a black backpack and found a glass jar, containing a quan tity of suspected marijuana. The man was arrested.

“Asrifle.you can see, right there before me. An AK was recovered. AR 15 just in the front of me with a pistol and a number of ammunition was found in that same yard. So some thing is going on in that Dunmore Avenue and we will break the back of that criminal activity that is going on in that area.”

GUNS found over the weekend on show at a press conference yesterday.

determination will be made between the university and the Public Managers Union as to moving forward,” Mrs Cartwright-Lewis said.

“We just have to pay attention to it. It’s working

from

He added: “During the search, officers found three loaded pistols in the vehicle. Those weapons were recov ered. The young man who was shot, he was eventually taken to hospital, where he is presently detained in ICU in serious condition at this present time.

“What more to justify the reason why he or she cannot stay behind bars?

Mrs Cartwright-Lewis said that overall she was “pleased” with the indus trial agreement, and called it a “very good contract”.

“The other two culprits, they are presently in cus tody. What is so significant about this matter, officers during their investigation, we found out and we also got physical evidence col lected from that scene, from that vehicle, which is connected to the shooting death of the four-year-old who was shot at Dunmore Street.“And we were look ing for a second individual with respect to that matter and he is presently one of the persons arrested in this incident and is connected

The union’s previous industrial agreement with UB had expired in 2018.

“The new direction for (other) contracts have been for a three-year span. Rec ognising that we would have already passed that period, we decided to con tinue with the five-year, with a view that imme diately we will go into negotiations for the new contract. Moving forward a

Shortly before 10pm, officers from Marsh Harbour Police Station exe cuted a search warrant at a residence in Christie Street, Dundas

lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

“The development and training the finances for that have increased; there’s a mentorship programme

He urged industrial nations to “pay the bill now”.

carried from the womb; even to your old age I am he and to gray hairs, I will carry you. I have made and I will bear; I will carry and willTosave.whom will you liken me and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be alike? Those who lavish gold from the purse and weigh out silver in the scales hire a goldsmith and he makes it into a god; then they fall down and worship! They lift their shoulders, they carry it, they set it in its place and it stands there; it cannot move from its place. If one cried to it, it does not answer or save him from his trouble.Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God and there is no other; I am God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times, things not yet done, saying, my council shall stand and I will accomplish all my

EDITOR, The Tribune.

The Tribune has previously published maps showing the potential effect of global warming on The Bahamas – with vast swathes of islands at risk of flooding that would not just be a case of damage to buildings but would fundamentally reshape the appearance of our islands.

Body language and a republic

purpose. Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my council, I have spoken and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed and I will do

EDITOR, The Tribune.

MURDERS and gang related crime, including violence in the schools are plaguing the country, and getting worse by the minute.Many persons, including men of the cloth (church men), and, men of the mouth (politicians) are sup posedly grappling with this phenomenon.Theanswer has been, and is, right in front of us, those who have the inclination, and heart, to see beyond today.That caption was the mantra that drove some citizens (not politicians) to form Sporting Clubs in order to harness this enor mous energy of the youth of theEverycountry.area of New Provi dence had their clubs that catered to the youth, and

Photo: Jae C Hong /AP

PLEASE allow me a little space to express what was put on my heart con cerning the Bahamas and the word that was given. We talk and worry about things that concern us, other people, what other countries are doing and we want to be like them, to adopt their ways and forget where we have come from and what our forefa thers stood on and fought for. Let us be reminded of who our forefathers trusted and who brought us this far.

Unity across more than one admin istration is a rare thing – across four is unheard of.

Isaiah 46:3-13 says it per fectly, you can read it for yourselves. (I have changed Jacob to Nassau and Israel to Bahamas) but before I quote Isaiah, I will quote Ecclesiastes 1:9, it says, “The thing that hath been it is that which shall be and that which is done is that which shall be done; and there is nothing new under the sun”, which is telling us, what is happening now, has happened before.

Even back in 2009, then Prime Min ister Hubert Ingraham warned the UN Convention on Climate Change that cli mate change “is a serious threat to our economic viability, our social develop ment and our territorial integrity”.

Let’s quickly get it right Queen’s Counsel are now King’s Counsel for the moment Prime Minister Davis has not been ele vated to a Member of the Privy Council so he is just Hon. not Rt Hon Min istry PR persons please note.The playing of the UK National anthem is not appropriate unless the sovereign is actually in presence in The Baha mas please note Talk Show host. When any National anthem is played, please show the required protocol,

most importantly mentors. Personally, I was never a part of any of those legend ary clubs, Saint Georges, Saint Albans, Winnie Ann, to name a few. But I grew up in an area that God knows we needed help. (Five Pound Lot, And The Pond).However, with the slow death of these clubs in the early sixties, another group of concerned citi zens saw this obvious need, and revived softball, and taught junior league base ball. Some members of that sacred group, were Penny Bain, Box Fountain,Vogel Williams, Mario Ford, and Bernie Quest. These guys did a tremendous service to the Bahamas by keeping Bahamian youth occupied by expending mental and physical energies.

Today all of these activities have ceased, Why? Check the Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre, centrally located within walking distance, was always teeming with activity. Now the Little League and Pony League parks are parking lots. The Baseball and Softball Stadi ums, are gone, and Clifford Park, is a no play area.

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net

SeptemberNassau, 20, 2022.

That is what has been said. But what has been done?

IF BODY language speaks, we clearly saw the body language of Prime Minister Davis being received by His Majesty Charles III as Prime Min ister of one of His Realm States very clearly Republic is not on this Prime Minis ter’sPrimeagenda.Minister prudent if solely because your bud dies want UK Honours that will be enough for me as those are the more preferred to The Bahamas Honours.

Devil f nds work for idle hands

To advertise in The 502-2394contactTribune,

C A LOCKHART

But action should not be limited to what we are doing. Mr Davis is right to call larger nations to account. We do not have the economic leverage to pressure such nations into action – but we can call them out when promises are not met. We can shame those nations that say they want to help, but then do not.Mr Davis did well last year to cap ture the world’s attention – if only for a moment in this most tempestuous time of a global pandemic, a war in Ukraine and global politics that seem to be roll ing back freedoms rather than defending them.He is right to keep on pressing. As his predecessor was right to push on the issue. And his predecessor, and his predecessor.

To that end, Mr Davis has set up legislation for carbon credit trading – nations or corporations who are pol luters can offset their emissions by buying carbon credits from low emit ting nations such as our own. We allow them to use our credits, we get paid as a result.Thenext step, of course, should be ensuring that money protects our future. It should pay for storm damage, cer tainly, but more than that, it should pay for prevention where possible, such as flood defences. Then it can also invest in other measures, such as protection of our mangroves that contribute to our environmental credentials, or investing in renewable energy.

The Tribune Limited NULLIUS ADDICTUS JURARE IN VERBA MAGISTRI “Being Bound to Swear to The Dogmas of No Master” LEON E. H. DUPUCH, Publisher/Editor 1903-1914 SIR ETIENNE DUPUCH, Kt., O.B.E., K.M., K.C.S.G., (Hon.) LL.D., D.Litt . Publisher/Editor 1919-1972 Contributing Editor 1972-1991 EILEEN DUPUCH CARRON, C.M.G., M.S., B.A., LL.B. Publisher/Editor 1972Published daily Monday to Friday Shirley & Deveaux Streets, Nassau, Bahamas N3207 TELEPHONES News & General Information (242) 322-1986 Advertising Manager (242) 502-2394 Circulation Department (242) 502-2386 Nassau fax (242) 328-2398 Freeport, Grand Bahama (242)-352-6608 Freeport fax (242) 352-9348 WEBSITE, TWITTER & FACEBOOK www.tribune242.com @tribune242 tribune news network PAGE 6, Wednesday, September 21, 2022 THE TRIBUNE

Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis has called on industrialised nations to pay up for the hardships caused by cli mateWithchange.Hurricane Fiona knocking at our doorstep and Bahamians being evacu ated from Mayaguana, the call has been given a sense of greater immediacy – but nonetheless, the warning cry over the dangers of climate change has rung out from The Bahamas before.

Dr Hubert Minnis asked the United Nations General Assembly in 2019: “When one storm can obliterate an island-state or a number of states in one hurricane season: how will we survive, how can we develop, how will we con tinue to Beforeexist?”that, in 2015, Perry Christie warned the 21st Conference of the Par ties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change in Paris of an “exis tential threat to the survival of a number of small island developing states”.

Climate warning echoes down the years

The word there is should – we wait to see if that will come to pass.

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Perhaps all we have in this debate is a loud voice. But you use what you have. Mr Davis, keep on speaking.

J HALL SeptemberNassau, 18, 2022.

Who in their right mind would cause all of this calamity?Onlya devil who wishes to have many idle hands. For what it’s worth.

WE HAVE been here before.

Listenit. to me, you stub born of heart, you who are far from righteousness; I bring near my righteous ness, it is not far off, and my salvation will not delay; I will put salvation in Nassau, for the Bahamas myTheglory”.Word of God is here to teach and guide us and tell us of things that are to come. God in his mercy is reaching out to us for us to turn back to Him. There are forces at work in our nation. The number of deaths to our young men and children, not only here, are happening all over the world. We must stand and turn back to God, he made us a peculiar people, set apart for his purpose, let us not go after the world and what it is doing, for the world is at enmity with God.Aconcerned believer,

As Mr Davis pointed out, promised financial help has not yet materialised. He said: “In 2015, it was supposed to be 100 billion each year, but none of this has been realised to date.”

were full of activities by our young and not so young. Leagues were in full court press, even Bowling, and card playing (Whist).

To recap, in October last year, Mr Davis gained international attention as he called climate change “the greatest existential threat that The Bahamas has everHefaced”.wasechoing the voices of previous Prime Ministers.

WILLIAMS SeptemberNassau, 19,

AMURO TSUZUKI, of Japan, competes during the ISA World Surfing Games in Huntington Beach, California, yesterday.

stand and remove your hat. Flags flying at half-mast. Small things, but think the position of Governor General is safe - the pre sent holder come June 28th 2023 his term will expire and a new Governor General will be appointed. Could the public have a say in this? Nominations like for National Awards sent into OPM think that would be a good idea as it eliminates the political nomination aspect.

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Isaiah 46:3-13, “Listen to me, O Nassau, all the remnant of the Bahamas who have been borne by me from before your birth

Te Word and BahamasTe

There was a time when our parks and playgrounds

JEFFREY A 2022.

US MAN TRIED TO CHOKE GIRLFRIEND

“I thought the car was going to stop so that’s why I continued walking, but the car didn’t stop and it end up hit ting me because I removed my baby brother out the way so it wouldn’t hurt him,” Miguel said.

authorities with nine grams of Indian hemp. The drugs have an estimated value of $180.Incourt, Odestin pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The 41-year-old father said the driver needs to come forward.

Prosecutor Sergeant Deon Barr raised objections to the accused being granted bail on the basis that he has prior offences and pending charges before the Supreme Court, deeming him likely to reoffend.

“He had two bumps on his head – he has one now. He is on one medi cation - muscle relaxers. He’s using a crutch,” she added.

He has some bruises on his side where he was struck by the car.

Asked how he felt about the driver leaving, Miguel said: “I felt kinda hurt because even though you did hit someone doesn’t mean you have to speed off and not try to help them because you don’t know if you could get an apology or something.”

AN American man was fined in Magistrate’s Court yesterday after admit ting to attacking his now former girlfriend at the Sandals resort over the weekend.ElishaReese, 39, of New Jersey, faced Chief Mag istrate Joyann Ferguson Pratt on a charge of causing harm to his girlfriend of six months.Ataround 11am on Sep tember 16 at the luxury resort, Reese choked and hit his girlfriend about the body, going so far as to slap her to the ground. After reporting the incident to police, the complainant was seen to have suffered from bruising of the larynx and her knees, also saying that she experiences pain when sheInswallows.court, the accused pleaded guilty.

His aunt, Ramona Munroe, gave more details about his injuries: “He has swollen tissues. He cannot walk on his foot - one of his feet, he has no broken bones, but swollen tissues that’s affecting him from walking.”

The incident happened when the brothers were getting off a bus after school.“So, me and my baby brother was crossing the road and both of us make sure there was no car and there was no car coming. Then as we was cross ing, I look to my left and there was a car speeding towards us,” the 11th grader told The Tribune yesterday.

He did not get a glimpse of what the driver looked like, but only remem bered that the car was black. After the car left, strangers came to help.

As for the boy’s younger brother, the teen’s father noted: “It’s more of him going for observation because he basically had no injuries.”

The magistrate granted Odestin $8,000 bail with one or two sureties. Under the conditions of this bail he is expected to be fitted with an electronic monitor ing device and is expected to continue to adhere to his Supreme Court imposed pre-existing signin Odestin’sconditions. trial in this matter is to begin on Janu ary 18.

MIGUEL CURRY

multiple persons and busi nesses. While armed with a handgun, the accused is said to have robbed the employees and patrons of both Restaurant Supply Store #2 and Fortune Star Super Market of an esti mated $47,777.80 of cash and assorted property.

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

SUSPECT ACCUSED OF ARMED ROBBERIES

The court then informed him that upon payment of his fine Reese will be taken to the airport to return to his home in the US.

Medwelth Curry Sr, Miguel’s father, said his son received injuries trying to protect his younger brother.

A MAN was granted $8,000 bail yesterday in connection with possession of a firearm and drugs. Dorestin Odestin, 20, represented by attorney Ian Cargill stood before Magistrate Shaka Serville on three charges. These include possession of

The accused was not required to enter a plea in court. He was informed that his case would proceed to the Supreme Court through a Voluntary Bill of Indict mentHaving(VBI). been denied bail in Magistrate’s Court, Smith was also told he has the right to apply for it in the Supreme Court. Smith’s VBI is due for service on December 6.

In response, the chief magistrate told the accused that relationships are for adults and that he must learn to manage his anger. As such, Reese was summarily warned and fined $175 for the offence.

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

from page one

BAIL GRANTED IN FIREARM AND DRUGS CASE

THE TRIBUNE Wednesday, September 21, 2022, PAGE 7

Many people have been angered by the driver not checking on the chil dren and have demanded the person turn themselves in.

On September 16 in New Providence, Odes tin is said to have been found with a G2C Taurus 9mm pistol with the serial number erased as well as seven unfired rounds of 9mm ammunition. On the same day the accused is said to have been caught by

dangerous drugs with intent to supply, possession of an unlicensed firearm and pos session of ammunition.

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

He had this message for the driver: “I would say if you did like help then I would have forgiven you, but you didn’t help me, so I can’t forgive you forMrthat.”Curry said he was about to leave work when he got the news from the boys’

His brother, a student at Sandilands Primary School, was a “little scared.”

“He would’ve pulled his brother out of the way and the vehicle ended up colliding with him and he ended up hitting the ground and with injuries that he sustained. I think it’s his right knee and his forehead area.”

A MAN was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services in connection with a series of armed robberies in the nation’sDuringcapital.this alleged crime spree, the accused, with others, is said to have amassed almost $50,000 in stolen goods and cash.

Wayne Smith, 24, faced Assistant Chief Magistrate Subusola Swain on charges of receiving and six counts of armed Betweenrobbery.August 31 and September 12 in New Providence, while being concerned with others, Smith is accused of robbing

“Thatmother.wasthe last I heard from her, but I called the police control room and I asked them if any kids that got knocked down in the Fox Hill area and they said yes. The ambulance was on the way to them. I didn’t go to the scene - I went to the hospital.”

“The message is come forward,” the father said “Come forward and say what happened. If you made a mistake or you didn’t see themnobody could kill you for that. And you know and, thank God, they’re still alive, but you need to come for ward and say ‘I was passing there and I did see something and I did felt like I hit somebody’.”

Reese said the couple had been fighting since the day before the incident and that they were both intoxicated at the time. He also said that things escalated after he caught her on the phone texting another man, result ing in the attack. Reese clarified that he and the complainant are no longer in a relationship and that he will respect her wishes for space. He further acknowledged that he had over reacted and said that he was upset with himself over his actions.

‘I can’t hit-and-runforgivedriver’

The symposium, contrary to the way it was initially presented, was not a con sultation. It began with two opposing presentations — one affirming that rape is violence regardless of rela tionship, and one filled with dangerous ideology about marriage, conflating sex and rape. This immediately gave the impression that the issue is debatable. It is not.Only after the two oppos ing presentations was the amendment bill presented by the Attorney General. He read through it, pro viding comparisons to the existing legislation which wasUnfortunately,helpful. it was clear that many people in the room were seeing the bill for the first time — some because they had already decided to oppose it, regardless of what it con tained, and some because they simply did not receive it from the gov ernment. This did not make for the takenquestionseralAttorneythatdiscussionmuchtherecussion;productivemostdisstill,wasnotroomforonday.AftertheGenspoke,werebecause

There ought to have been true consultation — not an exercise to placate religious fundamentalists who have been allowed to believe that their interpretations of religious text are more important than the lives of real human beings who have human rights and the duty of the government to protect those people and fulfill those rights.

PAGE 8, Wednesday, September 21, 2022 THE TRIBUNE

withoutcriminaliseandwithpassingweconsultationmeansasamendmentnon-participatory.siumcomeprocess.feedbackopportunitydesignfulthereoforganisersrecommendations.Wemadeislation,dosuchInternationalstudyingBahamasfortotonecessary.couldinbeeninshouldthethebeenandamendmentrhetoric.information,withunderminepositionspeopleanddialogue.ConsultationBahamas.involvesItisnotsittinglisteningtohandpickedpresenttheiratlengthandtheexercisefearmongering,misandreligiousThewalkthroughofthebillwasgood,moretimeshouldhavespentonit.Infact,theside-by-sideofexistinglegislationandproposedamendmentshavebeenprovidedprint,anditshouldhaveprovideddigitallywelladvancesothatpeoplepreparequestions.AfeedbackmechanismisItisnotenoughinviteagroupofpeoplelisten.Wedidnotsignuplessons.TheteamatEqualityhascertainlybeenhumanrights,mechanismsasCEDAWandBelémPará,theexistinglegandamendmentsinothercountries.preparedquestionsandItisunclearwhetherthedidaterriblejobmanagingtimetoensurewastimeformeaningengagementoritwasbytoensurewehadnotoprovideourandengageintheEitherway,theyneedtoagain.ThesympowasunproductiveandWeneedtomovethebillforwardquicklyaspossible.Thisweneedaproperexercise,andneedatimelinefortheofthebill.Weshouldhavedealtthisalongtimeago,thenextbesttimetomaritalrape,exception,isnow.

he was not staying for the entire day. This was the only opportu nity for people in the room who were not presenters to speak. Those contribu tions, of course, were to be limited to questions and comments about the way the language and intent of the bill, though some people took the opportu nity to state that they do not believe women should have control of their bodies, married or not.

All of these rights, set out within the first seven Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, make it clear that women, married or not, have the right to the protection of the law and to be treated as individuals whose rights exist regard less of relationships, whether legal or religious.

A symposium is not a consultation. It is a series of presentations. We did not need the presentations that we were given. It is ridiculous that the agenda had more than one dozen speakers who spoke for no less than 15 minutes each. It was helpful to hear directly from a survivor. It was useful to have sexual offences legislation put in the Commonwealth and Caribbean contexts. It was important to have a walk through of the proposed bill.It was irresponsible to schedule time for people to say whatever they wanted, steering us away from the real issue — that mar ried women have no legal recourse if they are raped by their husbands and the government is obligated to make the necessary amendments to provide married women with legal

People can decide if and when they would like to assert their human rights, but their disinterest in accessing certain rights does not mean they can cur tail the access of others.

is no consent, it is not sex.

The government of The Bahamas needs to know that it is not off the hook. It has not fulfilled its obliga tion to civil society or the women of The

The hours spent at the symposium would have been better spent in true consultation.Itwouldhave been useful to hear from survivors about their lived realities, the shortcomings of the existing legislation, (if and) how they would have been able to use the proposed amendments in their situ ations, and how it can be improved for their protec tion and access to justice.

Rape is - whether in a marriage or not

By WallaceAlicia

One religious leader said rape is rape, but it is dif ferent in marriage. He said when a man touches his wife “she becomes natu rally aroused,” as though marriage causes women to automatically want to have sex with their

For the rest of the day, we all sat through presen tation after presentation, and most of them were ter rible. Most of them were by religious leaders who, as evidenced in the content of the presentations, have no regard for women. In fact, what was made abundantly clear was that the vast

Treaty bodies have made clear recommendations to the government of The Bahamas to criminalise marital rape without excep tion. The government of The Bahamas must now act.

rape

protection and access to justice, equal to that avail able to unmarried women.

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The consultation should have focused on human rights, existing legislation, the gap between the two, and the proposal for filling thatTheregap. is no need for debate about rights, who should have them, and when. That is already made clear in the Universal Dec laration of Human Rights.

They should not have been given a platform to push their agenda which is in complete opposi tion to the priorities of the government of The Baha mas which include the recognition, protection, and expansion of human rights.

There is no need to debate the personhood of women or the obligation the government has to ful fill women’s rights. That is also made clear in several international mechanisms — which The Bahamas voluntarily adopted and ratified — including the Convention on the Elimi nation of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) which was ratified in 1993.

All of this is important to note. I raise this in the context of the symposium because we need to under stand that what took place last week was an embarrass ment, a waste of time, and the deliberate facilitation of religious fundamental ists who are not the least bit interested in protecting women from violence.

It would have been useful to hear from feminist advocates with technical expertise on the current law, the law we need to have, and what must accom pany changes in law which includes public education.

Both parts of the issue must be considered together. First, there is a gap in the law. Second, the government is obligated to fill the gap. There is nothing to debate there.

Human rights are an established fact; it is the realisation and fulfillment of human rights that we are still working toward.

LAST week, I attended the Symposium on Sexual Offences Legislation which focused primarily on amendments to criminalise marital rape.

Their interest is in pro tecting marriage which they erroneously believe to be inherently religious and maliciously want to use as a shield to protect men from the consequences of their violent actions toward their wives.

ATTORNEY General Ryan Pinder.

‘Let’s be clear here: If there is no consent, it is not sex. humangiveandbedointheownershiponedoesiswithoutintercourseSexualconsentrape.Marriagenotgivepersonoverother.Peopleamarriagenotceasetoindividualstheydonotuptheirrights.’

Consultation is impor tant. It is not for sharing opinions, and it needs to be made clear that there are no opinions when it comes to human rights.

Sexual intercourse without consent is rape. Marriage does not give one person ownership over the other. People in a marriage do not cease to be individu als and they do not give up their human rights. No one should be raped or other wise sexually violated by anyone at any time. This is notAnotherdebatable.religious leader said: “We cannot protect women and unprotect men.”Itwas clear then, if not before, that the people opposing the criminalisa tion of marital rape are doing so because they do not want to be prevented from or held accountable for the act of rape, to which many of them are admit tedly accustomed.

here:allthoseengagesaidassaultonthereadsex.sentingifaskifantomanoutlandish.isknowinterested.husbandswheneverhusbandstheirareWethatthisnottrue.ItisThesamewentonask,asifitisabsurdidea,amanshouldhiswifesheisconbeforeThemansomeoflanguageindecentandhusbandsinactivitiesthetime.Let’sbeclearIfthere

They misuse religious text and bring up unlikely scenarios to make people believe protection against rape in marriage is a threat to men. They speak as though it is impossible for men to control themselves, to act with love, and to treat other people, includ ing their wives, like human beings with the right to life and dignity and freedom from slavery. They make marriage sound like a hard ship that we, especially women, should avoid at all cost.It is not unusual for people to share their opin ions. It is not unusual for disagreements to occur. What is unacceptable, how ever, is to disregard facts or fail to seek informa tion, making the deliberate choice to listen to and spew anti-rights nonsense.

What we are discussing, with regard to marital rape, are not opinions. We are talking about human rights which include the right to life, liberty and secu rity of person, protection from cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, and the right to recognition eve rywhere as a person before the law. We are entitled to equal protection of the law.

There was no room to talk about the definition of consent — critical to the amendment bill — and how it will be used in courts. No time was allotted for discus sion. No information was shared about the timeline for bringing the bill, how stakeholders can engage going forward, and the public education that must come along with — and not be used as an excuse to stall — the amendment bill.

majority of religious leaders (who choose to speak on this issue) are more inter ested in protecting (their ideas about) marriage than protecting women from rape. They regard marriage as a way to control a spouse and they see the current marital rape exemption as perk — one they will not readily give up.

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By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer

The exhibit begins Nov. 1 at the Seamen’s Bank Building at 30 Wall Street and runs until Jan. 8. Tickets are on sale now, and Schessl hopes it will tour the U.S. in 2023.

lead author Raphael Garcia said in a statement from the Higher Institute of Aeronautics and Space in Toulouse. “We need to know the impact rate today to estimate the age of dif ferentLaunchedsurfaces.”in 2018,

THE TRIBUNE Wednesday, September 21, 2022, PAGE 9 TECHTALK

NASA MARS LANDER CAPTURES STRIKES BY FOUR INCOMING SPACE ROCKS

The concept for “Monet’s Garden” was developed by the Swiss creative lab Immersive Art AG in cooperation with Alegria Konzert GmbH. It has been shown in European cities such as Berlin, Zurich and Vienna and will have upcoming engagements in Ham burg and London.

up

electric vehicles from General Motors over the next five years.The

NEW YORK (AP) — Acres of water lilies will bloom on Wall Street this fall, at least digitally.

HERTZ TO ORDER UP TO

“To be able to address more than just two senses I think will immerse people a bit more,” said

Dr. Nepomuk Schessl, producer of the exhibition. “We certainly hope it’s going to be the next big thing.”

interfering noise from the Martian wind or seasonal changes in the atmosphere. Now scientists know what to look for, according to NASA, likely resulting in a surge of “Impactsdetections.arethe clocks of the solar system,” French

Visitors will be greeted by aromas of lavender and water lilies waft ing in the air and learn much about Monet, who during his long life evolved from a gifted but slightly conventional landscape painter churning out realistic images to a painter whose feathery brush strokes captured shifting light, atmosphere and movement.

InSight has already detected more than 1,300 marsquakes. The largest measured a magnitude 5 earlier this year. By com parison, the marsquakes generated by the meteoroid impacts registered no more than a magnitude 2.

into the painting,” he said. “Maybe it’s a little bit presumptuous, but I think that if he had our opportu nity, he might have done it.”

THIS combination of photos shows images from “Monet’s Garden: The Immersive Experience” in Berlin in January. The immersive exhibition celebrating French artist Claude Monet will make its US debut in downtown New York beginning November 1. (Lukas Schulze/DKC/O&M via AP)

HERTZ plans to order to 175,000 byitshegrowthforpurchaseencethatdelivering,drivingchoice,customers.createpartnershipMaryoftoforpreparedStephencorporates,”rideshareandtomers,EVdramaticallythispartnerquarterEUVroletdeliveriesandBuick,mobilespickupsanddeliveriesincludesannouncedagreementTuesdayelectricvehiclethrough2027willincludeSUVs,andluxuryautofromChevrolet,GMC,CadillacBrightDrop.ThecompaniesexpectoftheChevBoltEVandBoltwillstartinthefirstofnextyear.“WearethrilledtowithGMoninitiative,whichwillexpandourofferingtoHertzcusincludingleisurebusinesstravelers,driversandHertzCEOScherrsaidinastatement.Hertz’scurrentgoalisone-quarterofitsfleetbeelectricbytheend2024.GMChairandCEOBarrabelievesthewillhelpnewelectricvehicle“Withthevehicletechnologyandrangewe’reI’mconfidenteachrentalexperiwillfurtherincreaseconsiderationourproductsanddriveforourcompany,”said.GMsaidlastyearthatplanstogofullyelectric2035.

Japanese bridge and water lily-filled pond at his home in Giverny.

The first confirmed meteoroid exploded into at least three pieces, each leaving its own crater. An 11-second audio snippet of this strike includes three “bloops,” as NASA calls them, one of sounding like metal flapping loudly in the wind here on Earth.

given Mars’ proximity to the asteroid belt and the planet’s thin atmos phere, which tends to keep entering space rocks from burning up. But the lander’s French-built seismometer may have missed impacts because of

A massive, immersive exhibition celebrating French artist Claude Monet will make its U.S. debut in downtown New York starting in November, promising a multisen sory experience that puts visitors as close to inside his iconic flower paintings as possible.

IMMERSIVE CLAUDE MONET

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A NASA lander on Mars has cap tured the vibrations and sounds of four meteor oids striking the planet’s surface.Scientists reported Monday that Mars InSight detected seismic and acous tic waves from a series of impacts in 2020 and 2021. A satellite orbiting the red planet confirmed the impact locations, as far as 180 miles (290 kilometres) from the Scientistslander.are delighted by the detections — a first for another planet.

“After three years of InSight waiting to detect an impact, those craters looked beautiful,” Brown University’s Ingrid Daubar, a co-author of the research paper in the journal Nature Geoscience, said in a statement.The InSight team expected to pick up numer ous meteoroid strikes,

CRATERS that were formed by a September 5, 2021, meteoroid impact on Mars, the first to be detected by NASA’s InSight. Taken by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, this enhanced-colour image highlights the dust and soil disturbed by the impact in blue in order to make details more visible to the human eye. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona via AP)

“Monet’s Garden: The Immersive Experience” will splash the Impres sionist pioneer’s paintings across walls and floors of a spacious, onetime bank building and boost the effect by adding scents, music and narration in multiple languages.

“He was living right at the moment when photography was invented. So the whole world of art changed,” said Schessl of Monet, who lived from 1840-1926. “Paint ing was not needed for documentary reasons anymore.”

The exhibit will offer many of Monet’s works, which vary from the rocky coastline of Normandy to haystacks and poplars, to the

In some ways, Schessl thinks a massive, 360-degree presentation of Monet’s works fits with the art ist’s own intentions. After all, some of his paintings were intentionally massive.“Hewanted the spectator to com pletely immerse himself or herself

“Monet’s Garden” comes a year after dueling travelling immer sive exhibits of Van Gogh arrived in New York and also married his work with technology. Gustav Klimt’s paintings have also been madeSchesslimmersive.saidtechnology — espe cially stronger processing power and high tech LCD laser projectors — make these immersive exhibits possible. He admits to checking out rival shows to ensure his team stays cutting edge, but he adheres to one rule.“The content needs to be the star. The technology is our means to achieve something, but it never should only be the technology,” he said. EXHIBIT SET FOR YORK

NEW

FIVEVEHICLESGM175,000ELECTRICOVERYEARS

PAGE 10, Wednesday, September 21, 2022 THE TRIBUNE

The driver and witnesses told police that Ramsey threatened to kill the other man. Occupants of both vehicles got out and sepa rated the two Washingtonmen. County court records show Ramsey was released Sunday on a $11,085 bond. A court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 19. Court officials were unable to provide the name of an attorney for Ramsey yesterday.Ramsey, 53, spent more than 30 years at Spring dale, Arkansas-based Tyson Foods before join ing Beyond Meat as chief operating officer late last year.

Late yesterday afternoon, the storm was centered about 50 miles north of North Caicos Island, with hurricane-force winds extending up to 30 miles from the centre.

Elizabeth II. “You must therefore take every precaution to ensure yourFionasafety.”had maximum sustained winds of 115mph and was moving north-northwest at 8mph, according to the Hurricane Center, which said the storm was likely to strengthen into a Category 4 hurricane as it approaches Bermuda on Friday.

Rain was still lashing parts of Puerto Rico yesterday, where the sounds of people scraping, sweep ing and spraying their homes and streets echoed across rural areas as historic floodwaters began to recede.Inthe central mountain town of Cayey, where the Plato River burst its banks and the brown torrent of water consumed cars and homes, overturned dressers, beds and large refrigerators lay strewn in people’s yards“Puertoyesterday.Rico is not prepared for this, or for anything,” said Mari angy Hernández, a 48-year-old housewife, who said she doubted the government would help her community of some 300 in the long term, despite ongoing efforts to

clear the streets and restore power. “This is only for a couple of days and later they forget about us.”

The head of the Federal Emer gency Management Agency traveled to Puerto Rico yesterday as the agency announced it was sending hundreds of additional personnel to boost local response efforts.The broad storm kept dropping copious rain over the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, where a 58-year-old man died after police said he was swept away by a river in the central mountain town of Comerio.Another death was linked to a power blackout — a 70-year-old man was burned to death after he tried to fill his generator with gaso line while it was running, officials said.

Puerto Rico faces big clean-up

The police report alleges that Ramsey got out of his vehicle and punched through the back windshield of the other driver’s car. The driver told police he got out of his car and Ramsey pulled him close and began punching him. Ramsey also bit the tip of the other driver’s nose, rip ping the flesh, according to the police report.

A TOP executive at plant-based food company Beyond Meat has been charged with felony battery after a fight outside a col lege football game in which he was accused of biting a man’sDougnose.Ramsey was also charged with making a ter roristic threat after the attack on Saturday in a parking garage outside a University of Arkan sas football game in Fayetteville.BeyondMeat said yes terday it has suspended RamseyAccordingindefinitely.toa police report, Ramsey was angered when another driver inched in front of him in a traffic lane and made contact with the front passenger wheel on Ram sey’s Ford Bronco SUV.

The clean-up efforts occurred on the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Maria, which hit as a Category 4 storm in 2017 and knocked out power for a year in parts of Cayey.

Photo: Alejandro Granadillo/AP

“It’spost.the first time this happens,” she said of the landslides. “We didn’t think the magnitude of the rain was going to be so great.”

BEYOND EXECUTIVEMEAT

Other drivers asked the National Guard if they could swing by their homes to help cut trees or clear clumps of mud and debris.

CAYEY, Puerto Rico Associated Press

HURRICANE Fiona blasted the Turks and Caicos Islands yesterday as a Category 3 storm after dev astating Puerto Rico, where most people remained without electricity or running water and rescuers used heavy equipment to lift survivors to safety.The storm’s eye passed close to Grand Turk, the small British ter ritory’s capital island, on yesterday morning after the government imposed a curfew and urged people to flee flood-prone areas. Storm surge could raise water levels there by as much as five to eight feet above normal, according to the US National Hurricane Center.

PLAYA Salinas is flooded after the passing of Hurricane Fiona in Salinas, Puerto Rico, on Monday.

Premier Washington Misick urged people to evacuate. “Storms are unpredictable,” he said in a statement from London, where he had attended the funeral of Queen

Gov Pedro Pierluisi requested a major disaster declaration

She and her husband were stuck in line waiting for the National Guard to clear a landslide in their hilly“Isneighborhood.itopen?Is it open?” one driver asked, worried that the road might have been completely closed.

yesterday and said it would be at least a week before authorities have an estimate of the damage that Fiona caused.

“The impact caused by the hurri cane has been devastating for many people,” he said.

‘ IT AN’S NOSE IN FIGHT’

He said the damage caused by the rain was “catastrophic”, espe cially in the island’s central, south and southeast regions.

Jeannette Soto, a 34-year-old manicurist, worried it would take a long time for crews to restore power because a landslide swept away the neighbourhood’s main light

“All you gotta do is look at his game film,” receiver Tyreek Hill said. “It’s Tua, and who he is and how VICTORY

SYDNEY (AP) —

That club won five Euro League titles in the past eight seasons and has been dominant for nearly two decades with former greats DeLisha Milton Jones and Diana Taurasi playing there.Nearly a dozen WNBA players competed in Russia last winter and none of them are heading back this year.

(AP Photo/ Charles Rex Arbogast)

THE 13 European national teams going to this year’s World Cup will play their last competitive soccer games in the Nations League this week, two months before the tourna ment starts in Qatar.

All three played for Ekaterinburg, the same Russian team as Griner.

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

By DOUG FEINBERG AP Basketball Writer

WORLD CUP, EURO GAMESLEAGUENATIONSWEIGHALREADY2024ON

Team Great Britain advances to its first World Baseball Classic

By GRAHAM DUNBAR and STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writers

Second sacker Rashi Lyons, first sacker Shanaz Demeritte, catcher Jada Wallace, third sacker G’Shan Brown, winning pitcher Mickaela Bain, left fielder Jasmine Smith, centre fielder Adonya Taylor and centre fielder Presconique Cooper all made their contributions. GIRLS CLOBBER SAINTS

Like Stewart, Vander sloot also isn’t headed back to Russia, choosing to play in Hungary where she obtained citizenship in 2016. “I am Hungarian. I

thought it would be special since I haven’t played there since I got the citizenship,” Vandersloot said.

STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net SEE PAGE 12 SEE PAGE 14

D’SHAWN Knowles

and just continue to appre ciate other countries,” Stewart said.

Playing in Turkey also allows Stewart to be closer to her wife’s family in Spain.“You want to have a better lifestyle, a better off-the-court experience,

A comebackstunning

Inteam.the return of the Bahamas Association of Independent Sec ondary Schools competition after a two-year hiatus because of COVID-19, the Comets teammates clobbered the visiting Kingsway Academy Saints in a 26-0 whitewashing yesterday at Queen’s College.

It was day one of the BAISS softball competition and the Comets didn’t have any mercy, stopping the Saints in an abbre viated, three-inning affair, much to the delight of their fans, led by their“Ourcheerleaders.teamperformance was great.“We still have a lot of improve ment because there are other teams in the league who will not be as easy as this one ,” said Bowe, who utilised her time away from the BAISS competition to play with the Spice Girls in the Junior Baseball League of Nassau.

Now, Stewart and other WNBA All-Stars, includ ing Jonquel Jones and Courtney Vandersloot

MIAMI GARDENS, Florida (AP) — After play ing perhaps the best game of his career in an amazing rally to win at Baltimore, Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa deflected attention to his teammates.“I’malways confident in what I can do, confident in myself,” Tagovailoa said. “But I think that just shows the resiliency of our team. It brings all our confi dence up, confidence in one another, confidence that if the offence has a turnover that the defence is going to get us the ball back.”

Tahnaj Thomas got the win in relief on the mound and D’Shawn Knowles and Anfernee Seymour pro vided a 1-2 offensive attack for Great Britain as they sealed a come-from-behind 10-9 win over Spain yester day to book their ticket to the 2023 World Baseball Classic.Great Britain, with Albert Cartwright as the first base coach and five players on the team rep resenting the Bahamas, remained undefeated in the three games played so far in the Regensburg Qualifier in Germany at the

BAISS SOFTBALL: COMETS SENIOR

wonderful, but especially with BG still wrongfully detained there, nobody’s going to go there until she’s home,” said Breanna Stewart, a Griner team mate on the Russian team that paid the duo millions.

in Turkey, much less than their Russian salaries.

Brittney Griner’s highly publicised legal woes in Russia and the country’s invasion of Ukraine has the top WNBA players opting to take their talents elsewhere this offseason.

“So we can’t take any team for granted. But we expected this vic tory because we didn’t go out there to play to lose, at least not in our first game since 2019.”

WNBA players skip Russia in offseason

SEE PAGE 13

By BRENT

With Griner in jail,

CONNECTICUT Sun’s Jonquel Jones (35) and Natisha Hiedeman (2) pressure Chicago Sky’s Courtney Vandersloot during the first half of Game 5 in their WNBA basketball playoffs semifinal on September 8 in Chicago.

But after he threw for a career-high 469 passing yards and six touchdowns in Sunday’s improbable win, Tagovailoa’s teammates did the bragging for him.

“I think that, you know, now, people want to go overseas and if the money is not much different, they want to be in a better place.”Griner was arrested in February, then detained and later convicted on drug possession charges amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Griner was sen tenced last month to nine years in prison.

For the past few dec ades, Russia has been the preferred offseason desti nation for WNBA players to compete because of the high salaries that can exceed $1 million – nearly quadruple the base salary of top WNBA players -- and the resources and amenities teams offered them.That all has come to an abrupt end. “Honestly my time in Russia has been

For the rest of continent’s teams — with the excep tion of Russia, which has been suspended because of the war in Ukraine — next week’s final Nations League standings will decide the playoff path some will need to qualify for the 2024 European WorldElsewhereChampionship.inEurope,Cup-boundteams

By ALANIS THAMES AP Sports Writer

forgameRhinerruncrackedinning,theTrailingArmin-Wolf-Arena.9-8goingintobottomoftheninthJadenRuddagame-tyinghometorightfieldoffSpain’sCruztosendthetoextrainnings.ThomascameinreliefDonovanBenoitinthe

The 33-year-old guard said a lot would have to change before she’d ever

SEE PAGE 12

The Comets, coached by Sandre Hobbs and Patrick Bowe, also pro duced 10 runs in the first inning.

and hopefully win it. While Bowe also came through with a clutch hit in the first, just about every player in the lineup, including those who came in to pinch hit, got at least one hit and scored a run to help in their offensive attack.

top of the 10th inning and held Spain at bay to earn the win on the mound after

Photo: Great Britain Baseball

TAHNAJ Thomas

SHORTSTOP Ciara Bowe liked what she saw from her Queen’s College Comets senior girls soft ball

After the World Cup tournament, Stewart is going to Turkey to play for Fenerbahçe. Top players can make a few hundred thousand dollars playing

SPORTS PAGE 11 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2022

— who also have made millions of dollars playing in Russia — are going else where this winter.

‘WE’LL NEVER GIVE UP’: WITHSENDDOLPHINSMESSAGEHUGE

SEE PAGE 14 PageMLB,12

With their performances, Bowe said the Comets are looking to go all the way to the championship

CENTRE fielder Anfernee Seymour, shown here training prior to playing for Great Britain, collected two hits and stole two bases in the victory.

Bowe, a 16-year-old 12th grader playing in shortstop, led by exam ple, producing one of the biggest hits of the game in a grand slam in-the-park home run in a 16-run bottom of the second inning.

BAISS

UP NEXT New York RHP Luis Severino (5-3, 3.45) starts

PAGE 12, Wednesday, September 21, 2022 THE TRIBUNE

KEY NUMBER

Roger Maris Jr. and Kevin Maris, sons of the former player, were both on hand.Specially marked balls were used each time Judge walked to the plate.

LEAGUESTERLINGATTHEATHLETESEQUESTRIANTAKESPOTLIGHTMARSHALL&INSURANCEFINALS

NEW York Yankees’ Harrison Bader celebrates Aaron Judge after scoring against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the fifth inning of a baseball game yesterday in New York.

Hannah D’Aguilar, Isabella Coello and Ella Saidi may ride at different barns at home in Nassau, but they were a united and formi dable presence this past weekend at the 2022 Mar shall & Sterling Insurance League Finals.

Wednesday after recover ing from a lat strain that has sidelined him since July 13. RHP Roansy Contreras (5-4, 3.24) pitches for the Pirates.

Rodolfo Castro — the player suspended for a game by Major League Baseball last month after a cell phone flew out of his pocket during a head first slide — followed with a three-run homer against ClayHolmes,Holmes.an All-Star who has slumped in the second half, was pitching against his former team for the first time.Harrison Bader had a pair of go-ahead singles and drove in three runs in his debut for the Yankees. First baseman Anthony Rizzo made a key error that led to

21 — The Dolphins over came a 21-point halftime deficit, which is tied for the second-largest comeback win in franchise history. It was the first time in 12 years an NFL team has rallied from a 21-point deficit in the fourth quarter to win.

The high score not only put her in 3rd place but was good enough to fend off dozens of the riders who followed, all vying to be one of the top 12 finishers who would qualify for the final

Fans in the outfield seats stood and many in the crowd of 40,157 groaned with each foul ball.

The weekend began pro pitiously when 16-year old Hannah D’Aguilar, a 12thgrader at Queen’s College here in Nassau, rode Valley Crest Stables’ Last Call to 8th place out of a field of 70 in the Hudson Children’s Equitation Classic.

Yankees: RHP Frankie Montas received a second cortisone injection in his ailing right shoulder and went on the 15-day IL, ret roactive to Saturday. ... LHP Zack Britton (Tommy John surgery) pitched a one-hit inning for Triple-A Scran ton/Wilkes-Barre in his eighth rehab outing. RHP Miguel Castro (strained shoulder) pitched a hitless inning for the RailRiders.

FUNKY Nestor Cortes stopped his leg twice in a double hesitation windup to Reyn olds in the third but gave up a single to center.

More than 500 North American riders gathered at the world-class facility in Saugerties, New York, to compete at all levels and showcase the rising talent in the hunter, jumper and equitation rings.

Nexttesting.togo was Ella Saidi, riding Megan Gore’s Nor mandy. Saidi distinguished herself earlier this year at the Interscholastic Eques trian Association Hunt Seat Finals in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

SHOWN, from left to right, 5th place finalist Hannah D’Aguilar and Last Call, Kimberly Johnson, trainer (CEC), rider Ella Saidi, Erika Adderley, trainer (Mariposa Stables), 12th place finalist Isabella Coello and Schokolade Sea.

McDaniel’s ability to take advantage of Hill and Wad dle’s speed on the outside has put immense strain on opposing defences. Both of Hill’s touchdowns Sunday were a result of miscommu nication in the Baltimore secondary, but Hill also seemed to be running twice as fast as any defender.

INJURIES WR Cedrick Wilson injured his ribs in the fourth quarter. McDaniel said imaging showed no breaks, but “it’s hurting pretty bad and will be a day-to-day situation.”

Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said he’d hoped his team would experi ence some adversity after its win over the Patriots in the season opener, and the Dolphins faced a threetouchdown deficit entering the fourth Tagovailoaquarter.threw a touchdown pass to River Cracraft at the beginning of the quarter, then fol lowed with 48- and 60-yard TD passes to Hill. Jaylen

half after giving up several big plays to the Ravens. But the pass rush wasn’t much of a Miamifactor.is tied for 27th with two sacks this season, both of which came in the opener. The Dolphins barely got any pressure on Lamar Jackson. Last year, Miami sacked the Ravens quarterback four times. “There were some plays that we could have made,” linebacker Duke Riley said, “things that we could have done better.”

And based on what she saw, Douglas-Sands admitted that they have to learn every aspect of the

the four-run eighth inning for the already-eliminated Pirates.Reynolds also had a three-base error on a dropped fly in centre, one of two errors by a team that leads the major leagues with 108.-

EQUESTRIAN athletes

TRAINER’S ROOM

Hannah D’Aguilar, who rides at Camperdown Equestrian Centre, and Isa bella Coello and Ella Saidi, who ride at Mariposa Sta bles, travelled with their trainers Kimberly Johnson and Erika Adderley respec tively, to compete in the event.

“We’ll never give up,” Hill said. “No matter the score, no matter who we’re playing, no matter the chal lenge. I know this team here is going to give everything that we’ve got, and we’re going to do everything

FOR THE BAISS PHOTO SPREAD IN SPORTSTHURSDAY

Judge’s 60th homer sparks 5-run 9th, Yankees stun Pirates 9-8

Bryan Reynolds tied the score 4-4 with a seventhinning home run off Lou Trivino and had a go-ahead single off Jonathan Loáisiga (1-4) in the eighth for his fourth hit.

WHAT’S WORKING

McDaniel said he wanted to get Waddle involved more than in Week 1, and the result was 11 receptions on 19 targets, 171 yards and two touchdowns.

NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge hit his 60th home run and Giancarlo Stanton followed minutes later with a game-ending grand slam, completing the New York Yankees’ stun ning five-run, ninth-inning rally to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-8 last night.

FAMILY MATTERS

Former Yankees 3B Charlie Hayes, who caught the final out of the 1996 World Series, threw a

nearly perfect trip which was reflected in a score of 82.5 (out of 100).

NEXT STEPS

STOCK UP Tagovailoa silenced his critics at least for one game. The third-year quarterback made poor decisions on his two interceptions, but

ceremonial first pitch to his son, Pirates 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes.

However, the class was merely preparation for the main event of the weekend: the Marshall & Sterling Children’s Medal Final, in which riders compete by invitationD’Aguilar,only. Coello and Saidi were among the 74 riders who had worked for the past year just to qualify to ride in the event, and now gathered at the Grand Prix Stadium to test their equitationD’Aguilarskills.(again on Last Call) was the first of the Bahamian riders to enter the ring. She laid down a

The Dolphins’ defence stepped up in the second

FROM PAGE 11

that was erased by a fourth quarter in which he threw for 199 yards and four TDs. It definitely helps when his targets are running wide open through the opponent’s secondary, but Tagovailoa made the throws when he needed to.

Final placings shifted as the test score was added to the score from the original round.The eventual winner of the class was Grace Mono bianca riding Carboni 3. Ultimately, D’Aguilar and Last Call placed 5th while Coello and Schokolade Sea finishedTrainer12th.Kimberly John son summed up their performance with a single sentence and a big smile: “They were awesome.”

The result was a tri umph for the Bahamian contingent, with two riders finishing in the ribbons for the first time ever. Eques trian Bahamas president Cathy Ramsingh-Pierre praised the riders and trainers for their notable accomplishment. “We have had riders qualify for, and place in, the Marshall & Sterling Finals before,” she noted, “but we have never had two Finalists finish in the ribbons in the same year. It is a phenomenal testament to the abilities of our coaches and riders.”

consistent he is.” “I’ve been seeing it in Tua,” cor nerback Xavien Howard said. “I feel like he is only getting better each game.”

technically sound, and eve rything deliberate.”

Judge moved within one of Roger Maris’ Ameri can League record when he turned on a sinker from right-hander Wil Crowe (5-10) and drove it 430 feet into the left-field bleachers, pulling New York within 8-5.Judge matched the 60 home runs Babe Ruth hit for the 1927 Yankees to set a big league record that stood for 37 years. It came off a pitcher whose great, great uncle, Hall of Famer Red Ruffing, was Ruth’s teammate on the Yankees in the Stanton,1930s.mired in a 9-for72 slump, lined a slam off Crowe to make a winner of Aroldis Chapman (3-3) and set of a raucous celebration at Yankee Stadium.

‘WE’LL NEVER GIVE UP’: OLP INS SEN MESSAGE WIT UGE WIN FROM PAGE 11

to perform a technically demanding test over jumps set by the judges.

MOVING UP Pittsburgh promoted six players to Triple-A Indi anapolis following the end of the season at DoubleA Altoona: RHPs Quinn Priester and Colin Selby, 2B-C-OF Endy Rodriguez, INF Aaron Shackelford, 3B Malcom Nunez, OF Matt Gorski.“Now we have another 10 days of at-bats we can get them,” manager Derek Shelton said. “Losing 2020 was so vital for organisa tions like ours. The more

But this time it was not to be. Her score in the low 70s essentially placed her out of theFinallyrunning.came 15-year old Isabella Coello, an 11th-grader at Windsor School, riding Schokolade Sea, owned by Greystone Stables.Coello rode a smooth and competent round, scor ing over 80 which was good enough to make the final 12.Having finished in the top 12, D’Aguilar and Coello were invited back into the ring with 10 other riders

Waddle caught the goahead touchdown with 19 secondsThroughleft.two games, the Dolphins have shown that they’re capable of both pro tecting a lead and rallying late.Sunday’s performance against a strong opponent on the road was an early statement win for McDan iel and a sign the Dolphins can contend for their first playoff berth since 2016.

WHAT NEEDS HELP

“They are all just start ing out. We only had them for about three weeks,” she stated. “These are not girls who were playing in JBLN or the Freedom Farm League.“These are girls who are just coming out for the first time, but they want to learn. So the best way for them to know is to get in some competi tion. It wasn’t what we expected, but it was a learning experience.”

“I’mgame.not disappointed at all because I knew what I was working with and I know they will go out there and do their best,” she summed up.

By RONALD BLUM AP Baseball Writer

reps we can get them, the better it is.”

STOCK DOWN Howard was beaten on Rashod Bateman’s 75-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter. The Dolphins have struggled defending the pass as a whole, but Howard, one of the best cornerbacks in the league, was beaten on several plays in the first half. Howard also dropped a potential pick-6 in the fourth quarter.

The Dolphins have another big test Sunday at home against the Buffalo Bills.

For Kingsway Acad emy, coach Juliette Douglas-Sands admitted that it was back to the basics for her team.

(AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh)

While Bain was on her game, she gave up a two-out hit to shortstop Tashan Russell in the third, but she was left stranded as the Comets got the Saints out. It was the same as the first when Russell led off with a single and third sacker Ene Moss added another single, but they were both left stranded as Queen’s College got out of the jam.

STOCK UP WR Ashton Dulin. On a day the Colts were miss ing their top two receivers, Dulin was a rare bright spot. He caught caught five passes for 79 yards, both career highs.

LHEVINNE LEADS TEAM TO 13TH PLACE AT EMBRY-RIDDLE CROSSCOUNTRY CLASSIC

“I think everybody’s ready to move on,” receiver Ashton Dulin said Monday. “We all have the mindset of bouncing back. Yester day wasn’t us. Yeah, it was embarrassing but we’re a different team (than that).”

Four straight listless starts including the final two games last season has created consternation for a team many thought could contend for the AFC South title. With the Chiefs, Ten nessee and Denver up next, the Colts must find a quick and consistent solution.

While Reich knows the game tape doesn’t lie, nei ther does the tale of the tape. There were seven winless teams left after Sunday and Tennessee

The Mingoes finished 13th with 449 points out of 19 teams. Kenold Jean took second spot for The Mingoes in 34:24.39 and averaged 6:55.4 each mile.

safety Julian Blackmon fin ished after leaving with a sore shoulder. So again, the questions this week will be all about the availability of WRs Michael Pittman Jr. (calf) and Alec Pierce (con cussion protocol) and LB Shaquille Leonard (back surgery).

COLTS CONTEMPLATE FIXES AFTER ANOTHER DISMAL LOSS TO JAGS

NATIONS LEAGUE

STRENGTHSQUADTESTING

The 12 teams competing in the Euro 2024 playoffs for three places at the tour nament will be selected according to Nations League standings.

World Cup, Euro 2024 already weigh on Nations League games

Ryan brushed off con cern over hurting his right hand late in the game and

Uruguay’s players will head to Austria and Slo vakia to play Iran and Canada, respectively.

Dennis Williamson was the third fastest Mingoe 36:10.24 for an average mile of 7:16.7. In the fourth posi tion for the team was Ralph Wood in 37:19.94 for an average mile of 7:30.7.

World Cup-bound teams like Senegal, Qatar, Morocco and Ecuador are also playing friendlies in Europe, where many squad

“I thought we were ready to play, but they punched us in the mouth and we ain’t punching back. We got

The group stage of the Nations League will be completed with 54 teams playing 53 games over seven days.

Joseph said the course was a rough one with lots of tricky hills to manoeuvre. “There are a lot of hills on the back of the course,” he said. “The goal for the race was stay with the lead ers for most of the way but most of those guys are extremely fast. They even felt like Olympic level runners.”Headded that the threelap course was extremely challenging. “I tried my best to execute,” he said.

Typically, teams have two or three friendly games in an extended build-up to a tournament. Not this time, with most World Cup teams having only one week together before group play starts.This international break is key for coaches to put ideas in place and maybe test squad strength.

The Euro 2024 qualify ing draw is expected to have 53 teams, leaving out host Germany and sus pended Russia. The draw is expected to have seven five-team groups and three six-team groups, with the top two in each advancing.

— Indianapolis Colts coach Frank Reich briefly shed his usually measured words fol lowing Sunday’s latest loss. He called the team’s per formance pathetic. He even said it twice.

The most loyal Colts fans couldn’t quibble with Reich’s assessment follow ing yet another inexplicably abysmal showing in Jack sonville, where the Colts have now lost eight straight.

WHAT’S WORKING Jonathan Taylor. L ast year’s rushing champ only logged nine carries for 54 yards, an average of 6.0. As Indy’s most consistent offensive playmaker this season, he needs the ball in his hands more often.

Ryan. The 15-year vet eran was supposed to add leadership and stability to the locker room. But after two games, the 37-year-old Ryan already has four inter ceptions and five fumbles against two teams expected to finish near the bottom of the league.

overall but we know we need to work on distance running and get more run ners on the team to really compete.”Incross-country team competition the top five runners are used for scor ing. Points are assigned

Norway — led by Erling Haaland’s five goals in four games — and Ukraine.

members play their club soccer.

The United States plays Japan in Germany on Friday and Saudi Arabia in Spain on Tuesday.

based on placing with first place getting one point, second place two points, and that convention used throughout. However only the top five from each team will score points. Similar to golf, lower scores are more desirable.

Donrick Rolle rounded out the team with a run of 41.08.14 and averaged 8.16.6 each mile.

Europe is playing host to a slew of top international teams who are playing what for most will be their final warmups ahead of the WorldBrazilCup.is playing Tuni sia and Ghana in France, the country where its star winger, Neymar, plays his club soccer with Paris

The World Cup is taking place in the heart of the tra ditional European season for the first time, leaving national team coaches little preparation time.

UKRAINEHAALAND,RISING

UB

Teams leading secondtier groups and challenging for promotion include

EURO 2024

Norway, which did not qualify for the World Cup, can earn promotion on Tuesday against Serbia. Ukraine has been unable to host games in inter national competitions because of the Russian invasion and now has to play three Nations League games in seven days to earn promotion.Ukraine, which lost in the World Cup playoffs and failed to qualify for the tournament in Qatar, starts on Wednesday in Scot land. The team then travels to Armenia on Saturday and finishes against Scot land again next Tuesday. Ukraine will host that game in Kraków, Poland. Russia was removed from its second-tier group by UEFA and automatically demoted to the third tier for the 2024 edition, leaving Israel, Iceland and Albania to play in a three-team pool for promotion.

The Final Four tourna ment, scheduled for June 14-18, will be hosted by the winner of the group that includes the Nether lands and Belgium. Those two countries will meet in the decisive match in Group A4 on Sunday in the Netherlands.Otherstandout games include: Portugal vs. Spain on Tuesday; Denmark vs. France on Sunday; and Italy vs. England on Friday.

WHAT NEEDS HELP Offensive line. With two Pro Bowlers and a third Pro Bowl candidate, this group was expected to be

one of the league’s top units. Instead, there were snapping issues in Week 1, struggles in the ground game in Week 2 and quar terback Matt Ryan has been under constant duress.

“We’ll take our medicine for the pathetic perfor mance (Sunday), coaches and players,” Reich said following the game. “We’ll see how things stack up.”

going 1-5 — exactly what Reich hoped to avoid when he altered Indy’s training campHeck,schedule.three weeks into the season, it could even stir debate over the fran chise’s future direction.

Brazil is testing out Pedro — the Flamengo striker who is the top scorer in this season’s Copa Libertado res — as a new attacking option. France coach Didier Deschamps will have to dig deep into his resources after injury withdraw als including Hugo Lloris, Lucas Digne and Bou bacar Kamara, added to the absences of star players Paul Pogba, Karim Ben zema and N’Golo Kanté.

“My priority was to stay comfortable the first two laps and really push it the lastHeadlap.”coach Ednal Rolle said it was not the finish he wanted as he was aiming for top 10

including Brazil, the United States, Ghana, Japan and Qatar will play warmup games.

Another loss in their home opener would almost certainly rekindle memo ries about Indy climbing out of the 1-4 hole to make the playoffs in 2018 and falling just short last season after

KEY NUMBER 17 1/2 — Though Reich has repeatedly said he wants the Colts to be a runheavy team, Indy had only 13 rushes in 48 plays as the Jags had a 17 1/2-minute advantage in possession time.

The qualifying group draw for the Euro 2024 tournament in Germany will be made Oct0ber 9 in Frankfurt and will be affected by the Nations League.Thefour top-tier group winners next week will go into a Euro 2024 qualifying group of only five teams to clear their schedules for the Nations League Final Four.

FROM PAGE 11

With Jordan Pickford injured, England coach Gareth Southgate must test another goalkeeper against Italy and Indeed,Germany.forsome players, decisive Nations League qualifiers essentially double up as trials to get into World Cup squads.

INJURIES

STOCK DOWN

In the 16-team League A, the top team in each of the four groups will advance to the Final Four tournament. The current leaders are Denmark, Spain, Hungary and the Netherlands.

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida — The University of The Bahamas men’s cross country runner Lhevinne Joseph lead the team to a 13th place finish in a strong field of 19 Saturday at the Embry-Riddle Cross-Coun tryJosephClassic.finished 107th out of a field of 148 runners on the 8km (about 5 miles) in the packed field with a time of 32 minutes 7.13 seconds and averaged 6:27.8 each mile of the course.

punched the whole game,” running back Nyheim Hines said. “We let our coach down, we let the state of Indiana Typicallydown.”after these blowouts, coaches are eager to make corrections, throw away the tape and not look back. But the pass protec tion problems, the lack of depth at receiver and the struggle to take care of the ball while generating takea ways are hard to overlook.

Saint-Germain. The Tunisia game is at PSG’s stadium.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP)

Those last two games have relegation implica tions. World Cup champion France and England are currently in last place in their groups and could be relegated to the second tier for the next Nations League in 2024.

And now, at 0-1-1, the long road back begins with a difficult three-game stretch that starts against Patrick Mahomes and a Kansas City Chiefs squad that has been to four straight AFC title games.

FRIENDLIES

“These guys today were running under six minutes a mile. That’s extremely fast. Nonetheless we did very well. I’ll take the 13th

(0-1) played Monday night. Indy and Cincinnati share the league’s worst turno ver margin (minus-4), an abrupt turnabout from last season’s league-best plus14. The Colts also have allowed seven sacks, rank ing 28th, and are averaging a league-low 10.0 points per game.But the worst part about the 24-0 debacle was the Colts unable to fight back despite enduring January’s bitter, playoff-eliminating loss also in Jacksonville. They never had a chance in that game and they were overwhelmed again in the rematch.Nowthe Colts are search ing for answers and looking for the kind of counter punch they need to turn this season around.

MINGOES’

All group winners next Tuesday are assured of a playoff place.

PSG’s players Neymar, left, and Kylian Mbappe, celebrate after Mbappe scores the second goal dur ing the group H Champions League soccer match between Maccabi Haifa and Paris Saint-Germain in Haifa, Israel, on September 14. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

NEXT STEPS

THE TRIBUNE Wednesday, September 21, 2022, PAGE 13

By MICHAEL MAROT AP Sports Writer

UB Mingoes men’s cross-country runner Lhevinne Joseph com petes at the Embry-Riddle Cross Country Classic on Saturday on Embry-Riddle’s course in Daytona Beach,Photos:Florida.UB ATHLETICS

“Thisoverall.meetwas extremely competitive compared to the last time we were here in 2019,” he said.

Tatyana Madu – Winner. Claudia Dr’gon - Runner-up

HEROHOMETOWN

Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said at the WNBA Finals that top players could make up to $700,000 this year between base salary, marketing agreements and award bonuses.While only a select few players could reach that amount, roughly a dozen have decided to take league marketing agreements this offseason. tournament winners crowned

SYDNEY (AP) — The United States women’s basketball roster has under gone major changes since the Americans won gold at the Tokyo Olympics last year with Sue Bird retired and Brittney Griner in a Russian jail.

By DOUG FEINBERG AP Basketball Writer

Knowles, playing left field, was 3-for-5 with three runs batted in (RBI) and two runs scored, including a two-run home run in the seventh inning that scored Alex Crosby to cut Great Britain’s deficit to one, 9-10.Seymour, playing next to Knowles in centre field, was 2-for-3 with a base on balls (walk) and a hit by pitch. He also stole a pair of bases and came home

Photo:

TIP-INS Tokyo Olympics runnerup Japan changed coaches with Tom Hovasse taking over the men’s national team. His former assistant Toru Onzuka takes over the women’s programme.

Alex Crosby lifted a walk-off sac rifice fly to left field in the bottom of the frame to send Great Britain to the World Baseball Classic.

The tournament was to be played in 2020, but was called off due to COVID-19. With the return of the tournament this year, it marked the first time that Great Britain has qual ified for the World Baseball Classic.

“The thing about it is, we were treated so well by our club and made such strong relationships with those people, I would never close the door on that,” she said.

experience. She said was careful when deciding where she wanted to play.

look for in the tournament:

SIDELINED Marine Johannes of France, who had a stellar season playing for the New York Liberty, will miss the World Cup because of a thigh injury. The French team is already missing

Boys U14 - William McCartney – Winner. Jack Boals - Runner-up.

Belgium’s Emma Mees seman averaged 26.8 points in the Tokyo Olympics and had a strong WNBA season with the Chicago Sky this past year. She’s hoping to get Belgium back to the medal round for the second consecutive World Cup. The team lost to host Spain in the bronze medal game in Jonquel2016. Jones is making her debut with Bosnia and Herzegovina. The 2021 WNBA MVP helped Con necticut reach the WNBA Finals before they lost to Las Vegas.

The WNBA has also been trying to make stay ing home in the offseason a better option for players.

The two, along with Jasrado “Jazz” Chisholm, Kyle Simmons, Ali Knowles, Todd Isaacs, Champ Stuart, Chavez Young and Reshard Munroe, played again in 2016.

have conversations and players like Chelsea Gray recognised it. Chelsea’s really ready for that. I’d say the same thing for Stewie. She’s very aware. ... That’s one of the first conversa tions we had. Not just with your play, but we also need your voice.”

GRINER FROM PAGE 11 GBTA

Bahamas Baseball Association secretary general Teddy Sweeting said they will begin making progress to fielding a team from the Bahamas by hosting its first major interna tional tournament in December to christen the new baseball stadium, which is expected to be completed by the end of November.

Even without Bird and Griner — and no Diana Taurasi — the US is the favourite to win a fourth consecutive FIBA World Cup championship that begins Thursday.

Lauren Jackson came out of retirement to help Aus tralia attempt to win its first gold medal since the 2006 tournament. The 41-yearold isn’t the same player who averaged 18.9 points during her WNBA career for Seattle, but the 6-foot-5 forward has shown she has

Great Britain routed France 14-4 in their first game of the tournament on Friday. They came back and got their second win on Saturday with a 9-1 decision over Germany. This is the third time that the Bahamian players have teamed up to play with Great Britain.

The duo will counted on to fill a leadership void left by the retirement of Bird and the absence of Taurasi, who is sidelined with a quad injury. There are seven firsttime World Cup players on the US team.

GreatBaseballBritain FROM PAGE 11 TEAM GREAT BRITAIN QUALIFIES FOR ITS FIRST WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC

Thetwice.other players from the Baha mas on the team are pitcher Chavez Fernander and catcher Ural Forbes.

... Only four countries have won the gold at the World Cup: US, Soviet Union (6 times), Brazil and Australia once.

The Americans last lost a major international game in the semifinals of the 2006 World Championship, fall ing to Russia.

GRINER,

Breanna Stewart should also make her presence felt, giving the US a 1-2 punch in the forward position that no country can match.

Spain plays the Czech Republic today, with the winner of that game earning the final spot in World Base ball Classic 2023 from Pool A.

USA Basketball. We will continue to have the ball inside.”TheAmericans still have Wilson, who earned her second WNBA MVP award earlier this month and led the Las Vegas Aces to their first WNBA championship.

PAGE 14, Wednesday, September 21, 2022 THE TRIBUNE NO

“We want to put it inside as that’s the strength of

“You can’t force” lead ership, Reeve said. “You

FORLOOKINGAWIN

Griner was sentenced last month to nine years in prison. She averaged 16.5 points a game in Tokyo, tying her with A’ja Wilson for the team-high.

The South Koreans are 0-9 since that victory and will be missing WNBA player JiSu Park for the tournament. They aren’t alone in looking to get at least one win in the tour nament. Puerto Rico was winless in its three games in 2018 and also didn’t have a victory in the Olympics last year. Mali — a late replace ment for Nigeria — is playing in its second World Cup, going 1-4 in 2010.

Sky forward Emma Mees seman, who stars for the Belgium national team, had played in Russia with Stewart, Jones and Vander sloot. She also is headed to Turkey this offseason.

The newly expanded 20-team, top-tier global tournament serves as the World Baseball Softball Confed eration’s official pro-level National Team World Championship.

The Pool B Qualifier is sched uled for September 30 to October 5 in Panama City and includes no. 13 Panama, no. 15 Nicaragua, no. 25 Brazil, no. 27 Argentina, no. 31 Paki stan, and no. 46 New Zealand.

South Korea has now played in 16 consecutive World Cups, tied for the US for most ever. But South Korea hasn’t won a game since 2010 when it beat Japan by one point.

The Bahamas was unable to field a team for the classic because it has not participated in any World Base ball/Softball Confederation in quite a while and therefore the ranking is not up to par to play on its own.

The tournament was sanctioned by the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association (BLTA).The tournament was well-attended with par ticipants from Abaco, Eleuthera, Nassau and the host

D’SHAWN Knowles was 3-for-5 with three runs batted in (RBI) and two runs scored, including a two-run home run in the seventh inning that scored Alex Crosby to cut Great Britain’s deficit to one.

Theisland.tournament was sponsored by Flawless Construction and the tournament referees were Danny Rigby and Rodney Carey.Despite the inclement weather conditions, organ isers made a great effort and were able to complete the

TOPLAYERSWATCH

injured veteran centre San drine Gruda. France lost in the quarterfinals of the 2018 World Cup to Belgium.

the ability to still compete with the world’s best.

“Everyone’s going to be a bit cautious seeing as this situation is happening,” she said.It’s not just the American players who are no longer going to Russia. Chicago

The US hasn’t lost an Olympic game or World Cup contest since. The Americans have won 10 of the 19 World Cups but will definitely miss Griner, who was arrested, then wrong fully detained and later convicted of drug posses sion charges amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Despite losing to Great Britain, Spain will still have a chance.

“The whole situation with BG makes it really hard to think that it’s safe for anyone to go back there rightJonesnow.”will be joining Stewart in Turkey, playing for Mersin. The 6-foot-6 Jones said she would con sider going back to Russia if things change politically and Griner was back in the US.The Griner situation also is weighing heavily on the minds of young WNBA players.Rhyne Howard, the 2022 WNBA Rookie of the Year, is playing in Italy this winter — her first overseas

were:tournament.GirlsU14-

Spain beat the Czech Repub lic 21-7 in their first meeting of the tournament.Germanyand Panama serve as the two respective sites of the qualifiers thisEachfall. location will host a six-team pool, with the top two teams from each qualifier advancing to the main event in March 2023.

THE Grand Bahama Tennis Association (GBTA) hosted a juniors (under 14 and 16) tourna ment in Freeport, Grand Bahama this weekend.

Girls U16 - Jalisa Clarke – Winner. Saphirre Fergu sonBoysRunner-up.U16 - Wil liam McCartney – Winner. Cohen Knowles - Runner-up.Congratulations to the double crown winner in the Boys U14 and U16 William McCartney. We extend congratulations to the GBTA on another suc cessful event and to all the winners, runners-up and players who participated in the tournament. BIRD, TAURASI: US STILL FAVOURITE TO WIN WORLD CUP

consider going back to Russia to play even though she has many fond memo ries of the Russian people.

Cartwright and Antoan Richard son were the first to do so in 2013.

Jackson retired in 2016 after knee injuries derailed her career. She had hoped to compete in the Olym pics that year, but an ACL injury ended that dream. She stopped playing in the WNBA in 2012, walking away as one of the best players in league history.

“It will look different without the dominant force of Brittney,” US coach Cheryl Reeve said of the American’s style of play.

DPM seeks to reassure on Grand Lucayan sale FROM PAGE A20 GRAND LUCAYAN RESORT

PAGE 16, Wednesday, September 21, 2022 THE TRIBUNE

purchaser - Electra or otherwise - would close a deal without an “ironclad, bullet-proof assurance” that the Government will redevelop Grand Bahama International Airport in accordance with the stand ard and timeline required to facilitate a return on hundreds of millions of dol lars in

indicates Electra’s Grand Lucayan has reached the crunch stage, or decision time, where both sides have to determine if they can reach an agreement and the sale will proceed or if they will walk away. The Lucayan Renewal Holdings media statement indicates that the issues lie on the buyer’s side.

The Grand Lucayan sale, and reconstruction of Grand Bahama Inter national Airport (GBIA),

However,trouble. he reiter ated his belief that no potential Grand Lucayan

TuesdayMondaySunday 8:05 a.m. 3.2 2:03 a.m. 0.6 8:22 p.m. 3.3 2:17 p.m. 0.6 8:43 a.m. 3.3 2:37 a.m. 0.5 9:00 p.m. 3.3 2:59 p.m. 0.5 9:22 a.m. 3.4 3:12 a.m. 0.4 9:38 p.m. 3.2 3:41 p.m. 0.4

MARINE FORECAST WINDS WAVES VISIBILITY WATER TEMPS. ABACO Today: NE at 10 20 Knots 4 8 Feet 10 Miles 86° F Thursday: N at 7 14 Knots 5 9 Feet 10 Miles 86° F ANDROS Today: N at 7 14 Knots 1 2 Feet 10 Miles 86° F Thursday: NW at 6 12 Knots 0 1 Feet 10 Miles 86° F CAT ISLAND Today: N at 12 25 Knots 8 12 Feet 6 Miles 86° F Thursday: WNW at 8 16 Knots 6 10 Feet 10 Miles 86° F CROOKED ISLAND Today: WNW at 12 25 Knots 6 10 Feet 10 Miles 85° F Thursday: WSW at 8 16 Knots 4 7 Feet 10 Miles 85° F ELEUTHERA Today: N at 12 25 Knots 8 12 Feet 10 Miles 86° F Thursday: NW at 7 14 Knots 5 9 Feet 10 Miles 85° F FREEPORT Today: NNE at 7 14 Knots 1 2 Feet 10 Miles 86° F Thursday: N at 6 12 Knots 1 3 Feet 7 Miles 86° F GREAT EXUMA Today: N at 10 20 Knots 2 4 Feet 10 Miles 85° F Thursday: WNW at 6 12 Knots 0 2 Feet 10 Miles 85° F GREAT INAGUA Today: W at 10 20 Knots 4 8 Feet 10 Miles 85° F Thursday: WSW at 6 12 Knots 2 4 Feet 10 Miles 85° F LONG ISLAND Today: NW at 10 20 Knots 5 9 Feet 6 Miles 86° F Thursday: W at 7 14 Knots 3 5 Feet 10 Miles 86° F MAYAGUANA Today: W at 20 30 Knots 9 15 Feet 10 Miles 85° F Thursday: WSW at 10 20 Knots 5 9 Feet 10 Miles 84° F NASSAU Today: N at 10 20 Knots 1 3 Feet 10 Miles 84° F Thursday: NW at 6 12 Knots 1 2 Feet 6 Miles 84° F RAGGED ISLAND Today: NW at 8 16 Knots 2 4 Feet 10 Miles 86° F Thursday: WSW at 6 12 Knots 1 3 Feet 6 Miles 86° F SAN SALVADOR Today: N at 12 25 Knots 10 15 Feet 10 Miles 86° F Thursday: WNW at 7 14 Knots 6 10 Feet 10 Miles 85° F UV INDEX TODAY The higher the AccuWeather UV Index number, the greater the need for eye and skin protection. Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2022 H L TRACKING MAP Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows. NSW S E 7 14 knots NSW S E 10 20 knots NSW S E 10 20 knots NS EW 12 25 knots NS EW 10 20 knots NSW E 10 20 knots NS EW S 8 16 knots NS EW 7 14 knots | Go to AccuWeather.com

your322-1986award.areaimprovementscampaigningaraisingPerhapsneighbourhoods.youarefundsforgoodcause,forintheorhavewonanIfso,callusonandsharestory. Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows. Low:ORLANDO75°F/24° C High: 89° F/32° C Low:TAMPA76°F/24° C High: 90° F/32° C WEST PALM BEACH Low: 75° F/24° C High: 88° F/31° C FT.High:Low:LAUDERDALE76°F/24°C89°F/32°C KEY WEST Low: 80° F/27° C High: 88° F/31° C Low: 79° F/26° C High: 89° F/32° C Low:ABACO80°F/27° C High: 89° F/32° C High:Low:ELEUTHERA80°F/27°C89°F/32°C RAGGED ISLAND Low: 80° F/27° C High: 89° F/32° C GREAT EXUMA Low: 80° F/27° C High: 89° F/32° C CAT ISLAND Low: 80° F/27° C High: 88° F/31° C SANHigh:Low:SALVADOR80°F/27°C87°F/31°C CROOKED ISLAND / ACKLINS Low: 80° F/27° C High: 88° F/31° C LONG ISLAND Low: 80° F/27° C High: 89° F/32° C MAYAGUANALow:81°F/27°CHigh:88°F/31°C GREAT INAGUA Low: 80° F/27° C High: 89° F/32° C Low:ANDROS79°F/26° C High: 91° F/33° C Low: 76° F/24° C High: 88° F/31° C FREEPORT NASSAULow: 76° F/24° C High: 89° F/32° C MIAMI THE WEATHER REPORT 5-DAY FORECAST Isolated t-storm; Fiona passes east High: 89° AccuWeather RealFeel 99° F The exclusive AccuWeather RealFeel Temperature is an index that combines the effects of temperature, wind, humidity, sunshine intensity, cloudiness, precipitation, pressure and elevation on the human body—everything that affects how warm or cold a person feels. Temperatures reflect the high and the low for the day. Partly cloudy; a pass ing shower Low: 79° AccuWeather RealFeel 86° F Some sun with a shower High: 87° AccuWeather RealFeel Low: 77° 98°-89° F Partly sunny with a shower in spots High: 89° AccuWeather RealFeel Low: 78° 100°-86° F Partly sunny High: 88° AccuWeather RealFeel Low: 77° 98°-83° F Partly sunny with a passing shower High: 87° AccuWeather97°-85°RealFeelF Low: 78° TODAY TONIGHT THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY ALMANAC High 88° F/31° C Low 77° F/25° C Normal high 87° F/31° C Normal low 75° F/24° C Last year’s high 91° F/33° C Last year’s low 77° F/25° C As of 2 p.m. yesterday 0.00” Year to date 43.09” Normal year to date 27.65” Statistics are for Nassau through 2 p.m. yesterday PrecipitationTemperature SUN AND MOON TIDES FOR NASSAU Sep.New25 Oct.First2 Oct.Full9 Oct.Last17 Sunrise 6:58 a.m. Sunset 7:07 p.m. Moonrise 2:57 a.m. Moonset 4:54 p.m. SaturdayFridayThursdayToday High Ht.(ft.) Low Ht.(ft.)

this newspaper on Tuesday urged the Davis administra tion to “come clean” with the Bahamian people over its efforts to sell the resort after granting a third exten sion to Electra America’s due diligence time.

Several sources said the short seven-day nature of the latest extension

yourSharenews

due diligence period was due to expire in mid-July. That was extended to early August, and then another 45-day extension was announced until Sep tember 15. Last week’s was the third granted to Elec tra, as both sides seek to turn their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) into a binding sales agreement with a $5m deposit paid.

give the guests who are arriving a good experience on arrival. So we continue to make the preliminary updates as best we can.

go hand in hand as there is little value in the resort if the island cannot provide sufficient airlift access. Mr Cooper yesterday said the Government had narrowed the candidates to redevelop the airport via a public-pri vate partnership (PPP) deal from three to two.

“We’re repairing the domestic terminal to wel come Sunwing out of Toronto and Montreal, and Bahamasair out of Raleigh, North Carolina. So we’ve got to make sure that we

Giveninvestment.thatthe purchase was unveiled during May’s second week, the origi nally-announced 60-day

“We’ve done the RFP (Request for Proposals) process for the Grand Bahama International Air port as a priority. We’ve done the RFP process… for the Grand Lucayan resort. We have been very busy and very engaged in terms of advancing our country, particularly in the area of tourism investments.”

The Tribune wants to hear from people who are making news in their 5:15 a.m. 2.5 11:20 a.m. 1.1 5:43 p.m. 3.0 ----- ----6:03 a.m. 2.6 12:11 a.m. 1.2 6:27 p.m. 3.1 12:09 p.m. 1.0 6:46 a.m. 2.8 12:51 a.m. 1.0 7:07 p.m. 3.2 12:54 p.m. 0.8 7:26 a.m. 3.0 1:28 a.m. 0.8 7:45 p.m. 3.3 1:36 p.m. 0.7

“We have two prospec tive participants. At the moment, we have narrowed down the list of potential developers to two. They’re credible, they’re funded and as you know, we put in place a new Board in Free port - the Freeport Airport Development Board (FADB),” the deputy prime minister added. “They are looking at the possibility of entering a PPP to design, build, finance and manage the“ThereGBIA.is a design phase. It takes a long time to build an airport. In the meantime, we are doing preliminary repairs. We’re cleaning up the airport. We’ve have demolished one of the hangars that’s been an eye sore since Dorian, we’re repairing the other one.

He told Tribune Business “the boot is on the other foot” after he, the Board that he chaired and the former Minnis administra tion had to face “scathing criticism” from members of the now-current govern ment over both the Grand Lucayan’s September 2018 purchase and subse quent failed efforts to sell the property to the ITM Group/Royal Caribbean consortium.Speaking after the pre sent Grand Lucayan Board late on Thursday night confirmed that Electra America Hospitality Group had been granted another seven-day due diligence period extension, taking both sides to a new Thurs day deadline fort the buyer to pay the required $5m deposit, Mr Scott would not be drawn on whether he thought the proposed sale was in

He added that the pro posed relaxation would “absolutely level the play ing field” between The Bahamas and rival tourism jurisdictions when it came to COVID restrictions, and also “augurs well for more sustained growth and the rebound in the tourism sector.Confirming that the Bahamian hotel and

A senior attorney and partner at a major Baha mian law firm, who has handled numerous major real estate transactions, told this newspaper that it was common for investors to be confronted with challenges to land ownership that were meritless.Speaking on condition of anonymity, they said the ink was barely dry on the con veyance before competing

impact from ending pre-travel testing for unvac cinated persons will be negligible since “in excess of 95-96 percent of the persons travelling to The Bahamas, particularly from North America, are vaccinated.“Itwill certainly elimi nate or do away with any reason prospective visitors to the islands of The Baha mas have not to come,” Mr Sands added of ending the mask mandate and unvac cinated testing. “I would say they’re not having a material impact on the

The Providence Law partner said that, in 20 years of practice, this was the first such land owner ship dispute she had been involved with that went to full trial. Normally, she added, such matters were resolved with the rival side’s attorney out-of-court.

as much as possible once we have a Land Registry.” There will be much scep ticism as to whether a land registration system will ever get off the ground. The last Ingraham admin istration led similar efforts more than one decade ago to develop a three-strong package of Bills that would have overhauled the exist ingThesesystem.Bills - the Land Adjudication Bill, the Registered Land Bill and the Law of Property Billwould have created a Land Registry in the Bahamas, and given commercial and residential real estate buyers greater certainty that they had good title to their properties. How ever, they were ultimately shelved and no subsequent administration has seen fit to revive them, although the current government’s position is Meanwhile,unclear.Mrs Wright said Ocean Point Estates was now revisiting its plans for Polly Cay following the 13-year delay. “The intent was to create a resort type environment, but it’s been placed on hold for so long they’re now back at square one, getting it reappraised and deciding where do they go from here,” she added.

“If definitely slows down and causes investors to shy away. That’s a fact. It slows down development, and would cause any developer to shy away and think twice but, again, hopefully with the publishing of rulings such as this one it acts as a deterrent so it kind of helps the cycle of investment not to be slowed down as a result of frivolous and vexa tious litigation.”

“You had better have deep pockets. Who the hell is going to go through that? We had one in Andros where we sold a hotel, and this family came out of nowhere and claimed the land that the hotel had been on for 50 years. They still got their claim going, and the judge gave them all the time in the world. It cost

has declared the pandemic “over”, Mr Sands told Tribune Business: “I think the time has passed, and the sooner we do it the better off we will be so it will not become a question in the mind of any poten tial traveller that these impediments exist in The Bahamas’Suggestingmarketplace.”that the remaining COVID meas ures may have a more psychological, than actual impact, the BHTA presi dent indicated that the

attractiveness of The Baha mas, but the conversation in terms of the negative with these protocols may deter some individuals, so to eliminate them altogether would not only eliminate the impediments but also remove any discussion about what impediments may be in place in the des tination of The Bahamas.”

MATURITY 31-Jul-202231-Jul-202220-Nov-202919-Oct-20224.50%6.95% 31-Aug-202231-Mar-2022 6.25%4.50% 15-Oct-204915-Jan-202421-Apr-205029-Jul-202215-Oct-202226-Jun-204526-Jun-202230-Jul-204515-Dec-204430-Jul-202215-Dec-202131-Aug-202231-Aug-202231-Jan-202231-Jan-202231-Jan-202231-Jan-202231-Aug-202231-Jan-202231-Jan-202231-Mar-2021 6.25% 31-Mar-202230-Sep-2025FUND CFAL Bond Fund CFAL Balanced Fund CFAL Money Market Fund CFAL Global Bond Fund 4.25%6.25%4.50%6.25% NAV Date 5.55%4.31%5.29%5.14%4.25%5.69%5.65% 15-Apr-204917-Apr-203315-Oct-203915-Jul-20394.31%4.53%

“I would say, as many lawyers would say, that we need a Land Registry,” Mrs Wright told Tribune Busi ness, “but we’re so far off from that. I think the dis cussion about it has been kicked down the road by so many administrations, and I don’t know which adminis tration would be so brave as to getting it going and get ting it

tourism industry is enjoying a stronger September and October period than what it became accustomed to pre-COVID, with these two months representing the slowest period in the tour ism season, Mr Sands said: “It’s almost a contradiction in terms, but I would say we are enjoying a stronger trough period.

Exuma cay’s deterrent to ‘frivolous’ land claims

31-Mar-202131-Mar-2021 25-Sep-203222-Oct-2023

Disclosing that she will now be pursuing Ms Dean for the legal costs awarded to her client by the Chief Justice, she told Tribune Business: “I think rulings such as this one act as a deterrent. For inves tors who are coming into The Bahamas, it could be a bit disheartening when you complete your transac tion and someone comes to challenge the title to the property you purchased.

claims emerged from seemingly nowhere with Bahamians claiming docu mentary title dating back to a long-dead ancestor or asserting that their family had been in possession (squatting) on the relevant parcel for decades. They asserted that such prac tices were tantamount to a ‘shake down’ in the hope that deep-pocketed inves tors will pay them off to go away.There is nothing to sug gest this was the case with Polly Cay. However, the attorney said the problem was especially prevalent outside New Providence, recalling one rival claim to real estate for a major resort development that went all the way to the Privy Council that is still going on today.

“It happens a lot,” they added. “All that stuff costs you a fortune to defend, and if you don’t have deep pockets it’s very, very hard to fight. They’re looking for a pay-off. When a Baha mian comes forward with a possessory claim, which is usually hot air, the court turns over backwards. They get a lot of leeway and cost you a bloody fortune.

PAGE A20 TUESDAY, 20 SEPTEMBER 2022 CLOSECHANGE%CHANGEYTDYTD% BISX ALL SHARE INDEX: 2627.032.560.10398.7917.90 BISX LISTED & TRADED SECURITIES 52WK HI52WK LOWSECURITY SYMBOLLAST CLOSECLOSECHANGE VOLUMEEPS$DIV$P/E YIELD 7.005.30 AML Foods Limited AML 6.95 6.950.00 0.2390.17029.12.45% 53.0039.95 APD Limited APD 39.95 39.950.00 1150.9321.26042.93.15% 2.761.60Benchmark BBL 2.76 2.760.00 0.0000.020N/M0.72% 2.462.20Bahamas First Holdings Limited BFH 2.46 2.460.00 0.1400.08017.63.25% 2.851.30Bank of Bahamas BOB 2.85 2.850.00 0.0700.000N/M0.00% 6.205.75Bahamas Property Fund BPF 6.20 6.200.00 1.7600.000N/M0.00% 10.058.78Bahamas Waste BWL 9.75 9.750.00 0.3690.26026.42.67% 4.152.82Cable Bahamas CAB 3.95 3.950.00 -0.4380.000-9.0 0.00% 10.655.99Commonwealth Brewery CBB 10.30 10.300.00 0.1400.00073.60.00% 3.652.27Commonwealth Bank CBL 3.56 3.580.0225,0000.1840.12019.53.35% 8.255.29Colina Holdings CHL 8.23 8.230.00 0.4490.22018.32.67% 17.5010.25CIBC FirstCaribbean Bank CIB 16.00 16.000.00 0.7220.72022.24.50% 3.251.99Consolidated Water BDRs CWCB 3.48 3.550.07 0.1020.43434.812.23% 11.288.50Doctor's Hospital DHS 10.26 10.260.00 0.4670.06022.00.58% 11.6711.25Emera Incorporated EMAB 11.25 11.08 (0.17) 0.6460.32817.22.96% 11.5010.00Famguard FAM 10.85 10.850.00 0.7280.24014.92.21% 18.3014.05Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) Limited FBB 18.10 18.100.00 0.8160.54022.22.98% 4.003.50Focol FCL 3.85 3.850.00 0.2030.12019.03.12% 11.008.20Finco FIN 11.00 11.000.00 0.9390.20011.71.82% 16.5015.50J. S. Johnson JSJ 15.50 15.500.00 0.6310.61024.63.94% PREFERENCE SHARES 1.001.00Bahamas First Holdings PreferenceBFHP 1.00 1.000.00 0.0000.0000.0000.00% 1000.001000.00 Cable Bahamas Series 6 CAB6 1000.001000.000.00 0.0000.0000.0000.00% 1000.001000.00 Cable Bahamas Series 9 CAB9 1000.001000.000.00 0.0000.0000.0000.00% 1.001.00Colina Holdings Class A CHLA 1.00 1.000.00 0.0000.0000.0006.25% 10.0010.00Fidelity Bank Bahamas Class A FBBA 10.0010.000.00 0.0000.0000.0007.00% 1.001.00Focol Class B FCLB 1.00 1.000.00 0.0000.0000.0006.50% CORPORATE DEBT - (percentage pricing) 52WK HI52WK LOWSECURITY SYMBOLLAST SALECLOSECHANGEVOLUME 100.00100.00Fidelity Bank (Note 22 Series B+)FBB22 100.00100.000.00 100.00100.00Bahamas First Holdings LimitedBFHB 100.00100.000.00 BAHAMAS GOVERNMENT STOCK - (percentage pricing) 115.92104.79Bahamas Note 6.95 (2029) BAH29 107.31107.310.00 100.00100.00BGS: 2014-12-7Y BG0107 100.00100.000.00 100.00100.00BGS: 2015-1-7Y BG0207 100.00100.000.00 100.00100.00BGS: 2014-12-30Y BG0130 100.00100.000.00 100.00100.00BGS: 2015-1-30Y BG0230 100.00100.000.00 100.00100.00BGS: 2015-6-7Y BG0307 100.00100.000.00 100.00100.00BGS: 2015-6-30Y BG0330 100.00100.000.00 100.00100.00BGS: 2015-10-7Y BG0407 100.00100.000.00 101.82101.46BGRS FX BGR104024 BSBGR1040249101.46101.460.00 92.5591.76BGRS FX BGR131239 BSBGR131239092.5592.550.00 94.0993.36BGRS FX BGR132139 BSBGR132139193.3693.360.00 100.6699.98BGRS FL BGRS71023 BSBGRS710237100.57100.570.00 100.57100.11BGRS FL BGRS95032 BSBGRS950320100.45100.450.00 100.5299.96BGRS FL BGRS97033 BSBGRS970336100.19100.190.00 100.0089.62BGRS FX BGR129249 BSBGR129249389.6289.620.00 100.0089.00BGRS FX BGR131249 BSBGR1312499100.00100.000.00 100.9890.24BGRS FX BGR132249 BSBGR1322498100.00100.000.00 100.0090.73BGRS FX BGR136150 BSBGR1361504100.00100.000.00 MUTUAL FUNDS 52WK HI52WK LOW NAV YTD%12 MTH% 2.552.11 2.552.24%4.01% 4.833.30 4.833.42%7.26% 2.241.68 2.241.70%2.82% 207.86164.74 197.44-2.97%-2.35% 212.41116.70 202.39-4.72%6.04% 1.751.70 1.751.96%2.84% 1.911.76 1.914.83%7.23% 1.871.77 1.873.48%4.44% 1.050.96 0.96-6.57%-8.29% 9.376.41 9.37-0.02%10.36% 11.837.62 11.79-0.33%18.23% 7.545.66 7.540.22%3.05% 16.648.65 15.94-3.89%14.76% 12.8410.54 12.47-1.04%-2.57% 10.779.57 10.740.81%4.20% 10.009.88 N/AN/AN/A 10.438.45 10.433.00%25.60% 14.8911.20 14.897.90%48.70% MARKET TERMS BISX ALL SHARE INDEX - 19 Dec 02 = 1,000.00 YIELD - last 12 month dividends divided by closing price - Highest closing price in last 52 weeks Bid $ - Buying price of Colina and Fidelity 52wk-Low - Lowest closing price in last 52 weeks Ask $ - Selling price of Colina and fidelity Previous Close - Previous day's weighted price for daily volume Last Price - Last traded over-the-counter price Today's Close - Current day's weighted price for daily volume Weekly Vol. - Trading volume of the prior week Change - Change in closing price from day to day EPS $ - A company's reported earnings per share for the last 12 mths Daily Vol. - Number of total shares traded today NAV - Net Asset Value DIV $ - Dividends per share paid in the last 12 months N/M - Not Meaningful P/E - Closing price divided by the last 12 month earnings TO TRADE CALL: CFAL 242-502-7010 | ROYALFIDELITY 242-356-7764 | CORALISLE 242-502-7525 | LENO 242-396-3225 | BENCHMARK 242-326-7333 5.60% 15-Jul-2049 Colonial Bahamas Fund Class D Colonial Bahamas Fund Class E Colonial Bahamas Fund Class F CFAL Global Equity Fund Leno Financial Conservative Fund Leno Financial Aggressive Fund Leno Financial Balanced Fund Leno Financial Global Bond Fund RF Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Secured Balanced Fund RF Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Targeted Equity Fund RF Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Prime Income Fund RF Bahamas International Investment Fund Limited - Equities Sub Fund RF Bahamas International Investment Fund Limited - High Yield Income Fund RF Bahamas International Investment Fund Limited - Alternative Strategies Fund INTEREST Prime + 1.75% MARKET REPORT

Mrs Wright, who said she is now moving to con vert the Chief Justice’s verdict into an Order that will be lodged in the Reg istry of Records to affirm her client’s Polly Cay own ership, voiced hope that the Supreme Court’s updated civil procedure rules will make it easier and quicker for meritless claims to be struck

The Chief Justice ulti mately agreed that the Registration of Records Act gives “priority” Ocean Point Estates’ conveyance because it was recorded first on November 16, 2009. Ms Dean’s was recorded on February 4, 2011, almost 23 years after it was first drawn up, and Chief Jus tice Winder agreed that the law “dictates that the title recorded first in time should prima facie be the accepted title” even though Ms Dean’s conveyance was dated“Withearlier.the allegations of fraud no longer alive it cannot be doubted that Ocean has the better title, as the validity of their docu mentary title has essentially gone unchallenged,” Chief Justice Winder said, also dismissing Ms Dean’s claim to a possessory title to Polly Cay on the basis that she lived in New Providence and had not visited the island since 2004.

THE TRIBUNE Wednesday, September 21, 2022, PAGE 17

the road” on implementing theseMrsreforms.Wright said the Polly Cay ruling is “important for a few reasons”. Ocean Point and Mr Sade, and the lat ter’s business partner Eyal Ben Zvi Sasson (also known as Eyal Waters), acquired the 7.33-acre island for $500,000 in late 2009, with their confirma tory conveyance lodged in the Registry of Records on November 16 that year.

Central to Ms Dean’s case was the allegation that the September 9, 1928, con veyance was fraudulent because the ‘X’ used by her illiterate ancestor in place of a signature “does not match that on other docu ments” he signed. However, at the trial before Chief Jus tice Ian Winder, Ms Dean dropped the fraud claim and instead focused on her possession of Polly Cay.

Ms Dean initiated Supreme Court proceed ings in 2014, demanding both damages and that she recover possession of Polly Cay based on her alleged documentary chain of title from the Stra chan family. Ocean Point Estates and its principals, meanwhile, alleged that on September 9, 1928, one of Ms Dean’s late ances tors, Alfred Strachan, had sold and conveyed the cay to Jerome Washington Knowles. Their title chain traced back to the Knowles family.

“Theydone.prevalence of such frivolous and vexatious claims would definitely be solved with a Land Regis try. We really need to be progressive and to show we are trying our best to stay current with changes that will help our country to grow. We need to consider that type of legislation so we alleviate this situation

“What we were able to bring out is an important legal principal, which is the strongest documentary title always wins in court and, when persons put forward a case for possessory title it has to be clear, uninter rupted possession for a minimum 12-year period.”

Their ownership, and claim to good title, was then challenged by Iva Dean (nee Strachan) who asserted that the island had been conveyed to her on July 8, 1988, by her uncle, Allan Strachan. And she also claimed possessory title to the cay, which is located 600 yards from mainland Exuma in the protective lagoon formed by Blue Island, by virtue of the Stra chan family occupying it for more than 200 years and using it for purposes that included livestock farming.

FROM

Damian Gomez KC, lead attorney for Ms Dean, did not reply to Tribune Business phone calls and messages seeking comment before press time last night. However, Mrs Wright said:

“Theout.process I believe takes too long to get to that phase of disposition of such claims, whereas in the UK and US the court makes you come with everything at the outset of a claim,” she added. However, the best safeguard against further Polly Cay-type situ ations is the creation of a Land Registry.

‘Sooner

my client hundreds of thou sands of dollars.”

(242)323 2330 (242) 323 2320 www.bisxbahamas.com

FROM PAGE A20

“While it is still the offseason, it is not as bad as it has been in prior years. We’re seeing an improve ment in [room] rate, we’re seeing an improve ment in length of stay, and we’re seeing some increase in business, so that’s a positive.” While the Thanksgiving and Christ mas/New Year holiday period are “still a fair way out, advanced and forward bookings are very strong”. the better’ for end to mask mandate

continued.“Itisestimated the prop erty will directly employ up to ten persons, and indi rectly up to 100 through rented vendor stalls. All rev enues generated by use and tenants would be used to maintain the property, with any excess being donated

turn, will reduce demand on BPL’s network, which is supplied primarily by fossil fuel generation, and lower the overall cost of street lighting.

The existing street lights and waste packag ing will be collected and disposed of appropriately. The project also features

“They’vedo. [margins] been squeezed by a couple of points. It’s expected. As a company we feel secure and well positioned to manage through this period, and we believe we’re setting the lead in providing value to our customers.” Mr Watchorn said AML Foods’ new cus tomer loyalty initiative, My Solomon’s Smart Rewards, had already provided “close to $150,000” in collective savings for shoppers sepa rate and apart from the group’s regular specials and discounts.Asfor Solomon’s new downtown Freeport store, which will employ 65 full-time staff and take group-wide employment to around 850, he declined to give an opening date due to

Four local contractors, who BPL did not name, were selected via tender submissions to remove existing lights and replace them with the new fixtures. Works are scheduled to commence on October 10, 2022.

$3.5m investment in the new store, Mr Watchorn said it had strived to ensure as much of the construction work as possible went to Grand Bahama contractors.

“With regards to the cost of shipping, if the Gov ernment goes into a PPP partnership with anybody it raises the cost of shipping because a private partner wants to get their money out or a return back,” Mr Thompson argued. “They will tack that on to the ship ping“Acompanies.container that now costs $6,000 might cost $8,000 to come in. That means groceries go up, building materials, every thing goes up in price.” As an alternative, he pointed to his local government body’s proposed partnership with non-profit groups to develop a $4m Hurricane Dorian memorial at the site of the former 23-acre Mudd com munity - a development that would also encompass a new port administration building and Customs warehouse.

container throughput and storage helping to repay the earlier reconstruction financing while also gener ating an investment return for the manager and its shareholders.TheGovernment could also opt to take an equity ownership interest in the port operator itself, as it has done with APD. However, Roscoe Thompson, head of the Marsh Harbour/Spring City township, argued that a PPP model for Abaco’s main commercial shipping port may not be in the island’s best

to local Abaco causes as directed by the park board of directors. The board com position and members will be decided by the initial forming committee.”

“Given the delays that have happened on construction and equipment so far, I won’t give the date. We’re not expecting any further delays, and will announce shortly when that store will open.”

FROM PAGE A20

Mr Watchorn, meanwhile, said AML Foods’ margins had been “squeezed by a couple of percentage points” during the first quarter of its 2023 financial year to end-July after the food and franchise group elected not to pass on the full extent of supplier price increases to customers.“Weappreciate these are challenging times,” he added. “Inflation is impacting us all, whether at home or in busi ness, and you’re making

BAHAMAS Power and Light (BPL) yesterday said it is preparing to replace 30,000 street lights on New Providence in a move that will slash their energy use by 30 percent and improve climate change resilience.

AML targets further $2m store upgrades

Mrs Coleby-Davis, addressing last week’s Abaco Business Outlook conference, agreed that “very little action” has been taken to rebuild Marsh Har bour’s commercial shipping port - the main freight gate way into the island - in the three years since the facility was destroyed by Hurricane Dorian. However, she said “more information will be shared with Abaconians in short order” on plans to develop a replacement via a public-private partnership (PPP).“Iwish to advise efforts to rebuild an efficient and secure port system are underway,” she promised. “A PPP was sought to create the performance dynamics of a modern port and develop quality infrastructure for every dollar invested.”

BPL set to replace 30,000 street lights

Price increase fear on Abaco port PPP

The state-owned utility said the initiative is part of

“We do have a date pen cilled in internally. We’re very confident that store will open before the end of the year,” Mr Watchorn said.

Asserting that Solomon’s return to the area had drawn an “amazing” response from Freeport residents and persons in western Grand Bahama, he added: “It’s no secret that downtown Freeport has fallen on some tough times and needs some revitalisation, and AML Foods is one of the first companies going in there spending money to revital ise downtown, ourselves and the“Wedeveloper.hopethat serves as a catalyst for other businesses to come in, invest in down town Freeport and make it the destination it was some years ago.” Of AML Foods’

and the wider Bahamas are already grappling with surg ing inflation, much of which is imported, he added that increased shipping costs would merely be passed on to consumers through higher prices.Warning that this could also impact ongoing Dorian reconstruction efforts, Mr Thompson told this news paper: “The port needs to be addressed, but I don’t think a PPP partnership is the way to go. It’s going to cause freight to increase, and groceries.”Withcommercial shipping ports in The Bahamas tend ing to be natural monopolies, he questioned what restric tions or safeguards the Government would seek to impose on any private port operator/manager in terms of an allowed rate of return and the fees charged, much as it had with APD.

“A portion of the area has been set aside for likely use by the Marsh Harbour port department as the most likely location for a new port administration building and Customs warehouse. This area comprises approxi mately six acres directly facing the Marsh Harbour port,” the plan stated.

the frequent construction and supply chain-related delays experienced to-date although he pledged it would occur before year-end.

Heinterests.asserted to Trib une Business that the fees, charges and other levies imposed by a private port operator to repay their financiers and generate a return on investment would result in increased ship ping costs. Pointing out that this will occur when Abaco

PAGE 18, Wednesday, September 21, 2022 THE TRIBUNE

Dion Bethell, president and chief financial officer of BISX-listed Arawak Port Development Company (APD), yesterday confirmed to Tribune Business that the Nassau Container Port operator had responded to the EOI indicating its desire to become involved and bid on the Marsh Harbour port if the opportunity arose. However, no reply had been received to-date from the Government.Undera PPP model, private capital would be responsible for financing the Marsh Harbour port’s transformation and upgrade. The facility would likely remain in the Government’s ownership, but be leased to a private sector opera tor for a long-term period, with the fees and charges levied on areas such as

be squeezed. We have to take a look at what custom ers can bear, and what we can absorb. Not every price increase gets passed on to the customer. We go off and see what we can bear.... We’re just seeing what we can

NOTICE is hereby given that JESSICA BURNICE GLINTON of Freeport, Grand Bahama is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 21st day of September, 2022 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

“At AML, we’re pivoting and the buyers are work ing very had to find savings to pass on to the customer. Everyone’s margins should

AML Foods has secured a $20m low-interest rate facility from Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) of Prime (4.25 percent) minus 0.65 percent, pegging it at 3.6 percent, to help finance its renovation and expansion initiative. It also possessed more than $9m in cash and bank balances at end-July 2022, which it could also elect to deploy - at least partially - to finance its upgrades.

Promising that all staff at both impacted stores will be retained, and that AML Foods will “find a home” elsewhere in the group for any not required at EastWest Highway, he added that the property purchase will also enable it to improve “standards” at both outlets.

“We will have a lot of folks in Freeport, over 200 by the time we open the store,” he added. “A lot of those staff are already in training in our current stores. We’re using technology to drive efficiencies.”InNassau, Cost Right’s relocation from the Town Centre Mall to its new home before year-end 2023 will slash costs and “create a lot of efficiencies” by eliminat ing the rents it is paying for two key New Providence stores.By acquiring the 80,000 square foot portion of the East-West Highway build ing that presently houses the Solomon’s SuperCentre format, AML Foods will become a real estate owner and thus be able to reallo cate current lease expenses. The SuperCentre format will be dropped, with Solomon’s converted to the neighbour hood food stores that AML Foods is rolling-out nation wide, helping to make way for Cost ExplainingRight. that the “streamlining” better aligns the Solomon’s store with the direction AML Foods is taking the brand in, Mr Watchorn previously told this newspaper that the general merchandise and clothing presently sold by the SuperCentre will be switched to Cost Right.

a climate risk and vulner ability assessment (CRVA) intended to identify and evaluate the potential effects of climate change on BPL’s assets in New Providence, and recom mend resilience measures to address the identified risks and vulnerabilities and minimize impacts.

the Street Light Retrofit ting project funded jointly by the Caribbean Develop ment Bank (CDB) and the Government. The initia tive’s main objectives are to reduce the cost and the environmental impact of street lighting by upgrad ing existing high-pressure sodium (HPS) and mercury vapor (MV) lights with LED (light emitting diode) luminaires.LEDlighting is pro jected to consume more than 30 percent less power than conventional HPS or MV lighting for the same level of lighting. This, in

NOTICE

FROM PAGE A20

decisions around inflation. We’ve definitely seen some changes in customer behav iour. What they’re seeing in the US, we’re seeing similar behaviour here, customers changing brands, changing pack sizes, doing what they need to maintain their budget and what they’re spending on.

“It is envisioned that the property of the project will be either granted to the Bahamian non-profit to keep in perpetuity as a com munity space, or be leased to the Bahamian non-profit for a 100-year term at $1 per year in order to maintain the space for the benefit of the Marsh Harbour com munity,” the proposal

effortlessly and efficiently as possible,” said Chris Dorsett, acting Citi country officer for The Bahamas.

Mr Bhatti holds a bache lor’s degree in management

science and statistics from the University of Maryland, and a master of business administration (MBA) from Duke University. He studied at St Anne’s High School and Queen’s Col lege High School before going on to graduate from the College of the Bahamas.

“I have my home bat tened down but there is nothing going on here really. I was in Hurricane Ike and I had my roof blown off, so I take precau tions. Ike was a Category Five and we had a tornado in it, and that tornado blew

SAMEER BHATTI

off a piece of my roof, so I take precautions now. But Mayaguana is getting a lick ing. I just saw a video of it with them and they have roofs blowing off and boats on the land, and a lot of stuff happening there.”

demonstrated success in driving segment growth and developing market channels. He is a visionary and analytical leader who possesses an unwavering commitment to building teams with integrity and excellence. We are happy to welcome him to BTC and we wish him much success,” said Inge Smidts, BTC’s Board chair and chief exec utive at Cable & Wireless Communications (C&W), its immediate parent. Valentine Grimes, BTC’s deputy chairman, who heads the directors repre senting the Government’s 49 percent equity own ership, added: “I am so

THE TRIBUNE Wednesday, September 21, 2022, PAGE 19

Citi receives digital honour in Bahamas

same award in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salva dor, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay and Mexico .

“Our team is dedicated to being the best for our clients, and making sure we are able to deliver the right solutions to our clients from a digital perspective to enable them to manage their cash and treasury functions CitiBesideseffectively.”TheBahamas,addedthatitwonthe

blessed when it comes to that.” Stephen Cartwright, owner/operator of Nagua Springs on Inagua, said: “We had no reason to close down. We’re not worried about Fiona; we heard it is just going to be a tropical storm.“Morton Salt is closed down, and they closed down the general store that is attached to it and sent everybody home, and the bank has closed also, but the other small stores they have remained open.”

“Citi is proud to have been recognised as a leader in digital banking in The Bahamas. We invest in our platforms every year to ensure that our clients are able to transact as

The safety and security of Morton Salt’s workers and its plant are likely to have been the company’s top pri ority. Mr Cartwright said: “I watch the weather chan nel and things like that, and I see what’s going on and I take precautions and stuff, but I’m an old boatman so I know how the weather is going to react and what’s going to happen.

“Sameer is an experienced telecommu nications executive with

machine learning; artificial intelligence; instant pay ments, including wallets, QR codes and open bank ing,” said Driss Temsamani, head of digital for Citi Latin America“We are also deploy ing our new and advanced CitiDirect platform for selfservice, including account opening, statements and billings. Citi’s offering aims to assist clients in their decision-making, cash forecasting, liquidity man agement, working capital, risk management, fraud and cyber security.”

The carrier announced that Sameer Bhatti will replace Andre Foster, assuming responsibility for all its country-wide commercial operations, after spending the past ten years working for Comcast in commercial and channel development roles. Prior to that, he held senior posi tions at Juniper Networks and Verizon in the US

strategic planning, channel development, performance analytics, go-to-market strategy and customer

Three hurricane which yes terday made a direct hit on Turks & Caicos after bring ing devastating rains and flooding to both Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.“Asfar as the community is going, nobody is doing really anything. They said it was only going to be a trop ical storm, so everybody expects rain. But everybody is home. Despite a little bit of rain coming down, every thing is fine here,” she said. Mayaguana was the Baha mian island most impacted

engagement.“Thisissuch an exciting time for our industry and for The Bahamas, and I am thrilled to be given the opportunity to lead BTC,” said Mr Bhatti. “The tech nological advances that we are pursuing as a com pany will provide multiple avenues for growth and development across the country. I look forward to rising to the challenge and working with such a dedi cated team.”

The multinational financial institution said it received a total of ten awards in the regional subcategories that recognised digital products and services offered to clients, including its trade finance services,

by Fiona’s passage, feel ing its tropical storm force winds for most of yesterday.

THE BAHAMAS Tel ecommunications Company (BTC) yesterday unveiled a Bahamian national and former Comcast employee as its new chief executive.

web/mobile site design and functionality.“Treasuryefficiency con tinues to be at the center of Citi’s digital agenda for clients. As data becomes more critical for treasurers and chief financial officers, Citi’s treasury and trade solutions is committed to helping clients drive their digital adoption across Latin America and connect directly to the bank via Citi Connect APIs that leverage

pleased that after conduct ing an international search, C&W was able to identify a Bahamian of Sameer’s talent and experience for the position of chief executive.“Iam confident that Sameer is the right person at this time to lead BTC, and I’m happy that he has agreed to return home to assist in the future development of our coun try’s telecommunications sector.” Mr Bhatti has spent three decades in the telecommunications indus try, and has experience across sales, marketing, product management, pri vate equity and consulting,

The storm dumped more than 30 inches of rain over Puerto Rico during the weekend before head ing towards the Turks and Caicos Islands. Some of Mayaguana’s more vulnera ble citizens were evacuated to Exuma, but Ms Brown said Inagua was not threat ened by Fiona.

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investment management services, information secu rity, mobile banking app andWinningwebsite. banks were selected based on their strength of strategy for attracting and servicing digital customers; success in getting clients to use digital offerings; growth of digi tal customers; breadth of product offerings; evidence of tangible benefits gained from digital initiatives;and

He is the current treas urer of the One Eleuthera Foundation, which has a mission to empower Family Island communities, thereby transforming them into thriving self-sufficient ecosystems through sustain able social and economic development.

INAGUA-BASED busi nesses yesterday said they were feeling little to no impact from Hurricane Fiona even though the island’s major employer and economic engine had been closed from Monday as a precaution.Jennifer Brown, head of the Bahamas Indus trial, Manufacturers & Allied Workers Union (BIMAWU), told Trib une Business that Morton Salt has been closed since Monday due to the risk presented by the Category

CITI yesterday said it has been recognised as the best corporate/institutional digi tal bank in The Bahamas by Global Finance magazine in its 23rd annual World’s Best Digital Banks in Latin America awards.

BTC UNVEILS BAHAMIAN AS NEW CHIEF EXECUTIVE

She said: “The only thing that damaged us was Hur ricane Ike, but I think with our location we are always

THE reconstruction of Marsh Harbour’s Doriandevastated commercial shipping port is “just not hap pening fast enough” amid fears the Government’s preferred public-private partnership (PPP) model will further fuel price increases.Daphne Degreg ory-Miaoulis, Abaco’s Chamber of Commerce president, pledged to Trib une Business that the island’s private sector will “keep the heat on as much as possible” over the rebuilding of what was described as the island’s “supply lifeline” for the vast majority of imported physi calHavinggoods. told last week’s Abaco Business Outlook that a new port “can’t come fast enough” with Dori an’s third-year anniversary having just recently passed, she called on the Gov ernment to provide more information and details on its plans and implementation timelines.“It’sjust not fast enough,” she told this newspaper. “Nothing has been done for three years. Nothing. There isn’t even a port a potty that’s there. You mean they couldn’t knock up some sort of bathroom facility for the Customs agents?... The fact that’s our main commercial hub, it’s absolutely impera tive that they get moving on

AML targets further $2m store upgrades SEE PAGE A17 Exuma cay’s deterrent to ‘frivolous’ land

Mrs Coleby-Davis and her ministry, shortly after the Davis administration was elected to office on September 16, 2021, issued an expression of interest (EOI) seeking to gain an understanding of the appe tite financiers, developers and port managers have for taking over and reconstruct ing/operating the Marsh Harbour port.

AML Foods plans to invest $2m in 2023 upgrades to its existing Solomon’s Fresh Market stores and Cost Right Freeport as it strives to be a “catalyst” for the revival of that city’s downtown area.

DPM seeks to reassure on Grand Lucayan sale

The deputy prime min ister appeared to be responding to former Grand Lucayan chairman, Michael Scott KC, who in

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

investigations, ask ques tions, and come back and seek to negotiate based on the information they find in the results of their studies, etc,” he added. That due diligence period ends on Thursday, and Mr Cooper said he will be able to give more details at that point.

“I think as a country there is a perceived difference between what happens within hotels and what hap pens in the local community [with mask wearing]. I think it will be good to eliminate that perceived position when it comes to this issue of the mask mandate, but the most important thing is our major source markets and competitors are already at that spot with the removal of the mask mandate and unvaccinated testing

The minister said health officials are also due to debate whether to end the mask mandate when they meet today, and the BHTA chief added: “I think it’s important to remove all remaining impediments to travel, and the two that remain are the testing and mask mandate.

“This is what we call the due diligence period.

SEE PAGE A16 SEE

“Cost Right Freeport and the two Fresh Market stores will see some reno vation, mainly around the replacement of equipment; refrigeration equipment for the chilled and perish able departments,” Mr Watchorn told this news paper. “It’s going to be approximately another $2m in those upgrades.” claims

Mall.With the former Exuma Markets and Solomon’s Lucaya already remodelled, he added that the two Fresh Market sites - at Harbour Bay and the Old Fort Bay Town Centre - as well as Cost Right Freeport are

Chester Cooper, also minister for tourism, invest ments and aviation, said

During the due diligence period, the buyer would go and do studies and

next in line for transforma tion next year.

SEE

Price increase fear on Abaco port PPP

ahead of the weekly Cabi net meeting that he was unable to say much about the sale because the resort is still “under contract” with Electra America Hos pitality Group. However, he added that the latest sevenday extension granted to the buyer to complete its “due diligence” was no cause for alarm.

THE Chief Justice’s ruling on an Exuma cay was yes terday hailed as “a deterrent to frivolous and vexatious” land ownership claims that undermine economic growth, investment and development in TheNadiaBahamas.Wright, partner at Providence Law, told Trib une Business she hoped the September 15 verdict - which upheld her foreign investor clients’ ownership of Polly

By YOURI KEMP Tribune ReporterBusiness ykemp@tribunemedia.net

Gavin Watchorn, the BISX-listed food retail and franchise group’s presi dent and chief executive, told Tribune Business in a

Cay - “sends a clear message” to those challenging docu mentary title to Bahamian real estate that they must pre sent “a strong case” to have any chance of success before the Supreme Court.

a chilling effect on job-creating investments.Investors, both Bahamian and foreign, will “shy away and think twice” over expos ing themselves to potential financial loss on real estate transactions where others immediately asserting rights to the same parcel no sooner has the deal closed, Mrs Wright added.While new Supreme Court rules and civil procedures should make it easier, and quicker, to dismiss legal actions that are groundless, Mrs Wright told this newspaper

‘Sooner the better’ for end to mask mandate

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net PAGE A17

PAGE A18

of travelling to The Bahamas, Mr Sands told this newspaper: “I think the fact that the Government is con sidering this is a very positive move.”

“Notwithstandingrequirement. that Bahami ans will have personal responsibility for exercising safety protocols for themselves going forward, it is the right thing to do and will be a wel come move by the Government of The Bahamas. It will be a positive impact in terms of securing the con tinued momentum of tourism in the country.”Hinting that The Bahamas was late in removing the last two main COVID protocols, especially given that Joe Biden, the US president,

the reconstruction of that port.”Port Department offi cials and Board members met with Abaco stakehold ers in late August to discuss reconstruction of Marsh Harbour’s port, and Jobeth Coleby-Davis, minister of transport and housing, told the same Outlook confer ence that more information will be forthcoming soon although no specifics were provided.“Iunderstand the min ister saying they want to do it right and do all their planning,” Mrs DegregoryMiaoulis said. “It needs to be completely rebuilt. But put a plan up. Put a billboard up. Give us some indication something is happening. How long is this going to take?“It’s critical. It’s critical that that port gets rebuilt. It is definitely our supply life line. Trust me, we’re going to be keeping the heat on as much as possible, and I was happy to see that local gov ernment chimed in.”

Describing this as a “progres sive” solution that would bring transparency to land ownership by enabling non-attorneys to detect competing claims, liens and charges over a specific land parcel, she acknowledged that multiple administrations have “kicked the can down

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

business@tribunemedia.net WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2022

A TOP hotelier yesterday asserted that the Government will “secure tourism’s continued upward momen tum” if it eliminates the remaining COVID travel restrictions, adding: “The sooner we do it the better off we will Robertbe.”Sands, the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association’s (BHTA) president, told Tribune Business that “the time has passed” to end the mask mandate and COVID testing for unvaccinated travellers given that this nation’s rivals have already done so.Emphasising the importance of The Bahamas being able to compete on a tourism “level playing field”, he added that the removal of those two protocols would eradicate “any question in the minds of potential travellers” that this nation retains more restrictions than others as the world begins to move beyond the pandemic.Speaking after Dr Michael Dar ville, minister of health and wellness, said officials have recommended an end to the requirement that unvac cinated travellers produce a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours

THE deputy prime min ister yesterday sought to reassure Bahamians that the Grand Lucayan sale remains on track by con firming the prospective buyer is still conducting “investigations” into all aspects of the purchase.

recent interview it has an extensive programme of store enhancements besides its $17m purchase of the Solomon’s SuperCentre building that will facilitate Cost Right’s relocation from Nassau’s Town Centre

Revealing that her cli ents, Efraim Sade and his Ocean Point Estates vehicle, had been sent “back to square one” by the decade-long chal lenge to their ownership of the island, she added that compet ing title claims which have little merit are ultimately counterproductive for Bahamians and the economy because they have

that The Bahamas must create a Land Registry - and move to a system of registered land - if it is to eliminate the problems that produced Polly Cay and countless similar land owner ship challenges and disputes.

GAVINCHESTERWATCHORNCOOPERROBERTSANDSSEE PAGE A18 $6.25 $6.29 $6.31 $6.30