10052022 NEWS, SPORT AND BUSINESS

BPL BILLS HIKE

PM announces move due to rising fuel costs

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis announced yesterday that Bahamas Power and Light will be increasing its monthly fuel charge in response to rising fuel costs, with the rate increase set to be reflected in consumers’ electricity bills beginning November.

However, he gave an assurence that the bill increases will only be tem porary and are expected to come down over the next 12 to 18 months.

“For a large majority of BPL customers, who con sume less than 800 kWh

(kilowatt hours), the fuel charge is increasing by two cents per kWh, which will result in an increase this quarter of less than $20 per month. If your current monthly bill is $182 or less, you fall in this category,” he said during a press con ference at the Office of the Prime Minister yesterday.

“For those who consume more than 800 kWh, the increase will be 4.3 cents per kWh. I want to note here that we will raise the VAT ceiling from $300 to $400, so going forward, no VAT will be due on any electricity bills under $400, which will take some of the

BUS DRIVER SHOT DEAD, TEENAGER INJURED

By JADE RUSSELL jrussell@tribunemedia.net

A BUS driver was killed and a 16-year-old boy was injured during a brazen daylight shoot ing on a public jitney yesterday.

The bus driver was on bail for murder and attempted murder, The Tribune understands.

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas was yes terday urged to tell the European Union (EU) that “enough is enough” after this nation’s ‘blacklisting’ for allegedly being uncoop erative on international tax matters was ratified.

John Delaney, the former attorney general, told Tribune Business that the 27-nation bloc’s continued use of “name and shame” tactics was more appropriate for dealing with

“a rogue state” than a nation such as The Bahamas which has always been “largely compliant” and responsive to legitimate requests for regu latory improvements.

And Philip Galanis, who was an Opposition MP when blacklisting was first employed against The Baha mas some 22 years ago, blasted the EU for what he described as its “neo-colo nial” approach in seemingly seeking to drive The Baha mas out of the international financial services market.

The double shooting occurred at Florida Court and Robinson Road, while the 15A bus was on its route.

Chief Superintendent Chrislyn Skippings said shortly before 10am, as a male passenger got off the 15A bus, he approached the 32-yearold driver and fired a shot which killed him. A teenager, who was a pas senger on the bus, was also shot and taken to hospital for his gunshot injuries.

CSP Skippings urged members of the public who may have seen a vehicle leaving the area at high speed or a suspect that may have got off the bus to contact the police.

“I also take this time, again, to speak to parents and family members who know that their families are in possession of weap ons. I asked you to reach out to your police depart ment, provide us with the information. Let’s get these weapons off the streets. These weapons, yeah, they are intended for other persons. But again, I reiterate, those

OFF-DUTY POLICE OFFICER SHOT TRYING TO STOP ARMED ROBBERY

AN off-duty police officer was shot while trying to thwart an armed robbery at a food store, police said.

Chief Supt Michael Johnson, officer-in-charge of the Criminal Inves tigations Department, said police got a call after 5pm regarding the shoot ing at the food store in the area of Mount Royal Avenue and Wulff Road. Police found the victim, an off-duty police officer,

THELMA GIBSON TEACHERS PROTEST AT PM’S OFFICE

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A GROUP of angered teachers from the Thelma Gibson Primary School, led by Belinda Wilson, demon strated outside the Office of the Prime Minister yester day in response to ongoing workplace concerns with the school’s principal.

Some teachers have been calling for the removal of Olivia Daxon since last month and have engaged in

sick outs or in some cases, walked off the job in a show of frustration with the school official.

Workers have said they will not stop agitating for Ms Daxon’s redeployment to another school until their

demand is met.

“For weeks, we’ve been having problems at Thelma Gibson Primary School and we have tried every avenue to have the matter resolved and so this morning, we are here to meet with the prime minister so that he can cause this matter to be resolved in a timely matter,” said Mrs Wilson, president of the Bahamas Union of Teachers.

Mrs Wilson said at the root of the union’s concerns

with gunshot wounds to his upper body.

“The information is he was at the mentioned store when we believe that two males attempted to rob the particular establishment,” CSP Johnson said at the scene. “He intervened, one of the males produced a firearm and shot him to the upper body.”

The victim was taken from the scene by ambu lance in stable condition.

POLICE at the scene of the shooting on Robinson Road yesterday. Photo: Moise Amisial

Residents have their say on BPL bill rise

By LETRE SWEETING lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

SOME local residents, merchants and consum ers are calling the new government approved increase in electricity at Bahamas Power and Light “foolishness”.

Yesterday morning Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis announced that the government has approved an increase in BPL’s monthly fuel charge.

The announcement was made at The Office of the Prime Minister along with some BPL officials.

For those with a cur rent monthly bill of $182 or less, this new increase would amount to about $20 per month or two cents per kilowatt hours of electricity used.

Those with higher bills will pay almost double that amount at 4.3 cents per kilowatt hour.

Karen Gaitor, a single mother, said yester day that this increase makes no sense and the

government along with BPL should be trying to make “some sense out of the nonsense”.

“Do something for the people.

“Do something for the people. That’s a bunch of foolishness to me. You got mothers out here, being both mother and father to children and what is that going to do for them?

The light bill going up, that means that’s another headache they have to worry about.”

Karen Gaitor

“That’s a bunch of fool ishness to me. You got mothers out here, being both mother and father to children and what is that going to do for them?

The light bill going up,

that means that’s another headache they have to worry about.”

Ms Gaitor added, “They are putting too much pressure on us. Us Bahamian women, we are out here day by day and some days you don’t even know if you are going to have something to eat.

Come on, have compas sion for us. And if you don’t think about us, think about our kids, our future generation.”

Odette Roberts, a straw market vendor, agreed with Ms Gaitor.

She said between her and her husband’s wages, they cannot afford this new increase in BPL’s monthly fuel charge right now.

“BPL needs to stop. We cannot afford that. If BPL coming with fool ishness, we need another company and the next company has to deal with us much better than this. Me and my husband, we can’t manage this, we can’t afford this.

“They are not increas ing the wages, but we are

working. “These little wages can’t help us. Only God is keep ing us.”

Jackie Glinton, another straw market vendor, said this increase will force cutbacks for a lot of Bahamians.

“In this tough economic day and time right now, I feel as though it’s going to be rough.

“Well, I would have to cut back on my fuel (usage). The cost of the salaries haven’t been increased. “A lot of per sons are still on minimum wage. It’s going to affect a lot of Bahamians right now.”

She also said, “We’ll have to cut back, like use less, if you’re burning air conditioner then leave it off, cut back, carpool. I was comfortable since I heard the cost of gas dropped and the prices getting lower, but now with the BPL increase, the Bahamian public on the whole will have to cut back on the amount of electricity and fuel that they use on a daily basis.”

Taxi driver Felton Rolle said he understands that due to the war in Ukraine and other world factors that there will be increases in various things, however he said he hopes that BPL would “act responsibly”.

“The government is the final arbiter with respect to BPL. And BPL, they’re the ones who are respon sible for it in the final analysis.

“You just hope that the people who are there, act responsibly in their sphere of occupation. Because sometimes, I get pissed off, because I see a lot of BPL men, you have eight of them in one place and only one of them work ing and that’s not cost effective.

“If all of them were working then it may be that we wouldn’t have all of that salary to pay and it’ll be cost effective for me,” Mr Rolle said.

Carson Hepburn, a local resident, said, “Well, we’ll have to stop running the air-conditioning as much as we can.

“If the cost of fuel and the barrel of oil is going up, then they don’t have a choice.

“We have to live with it and we have to under stand what’s going on in the world today, with the war with Russia and Ukraine.

“So, we’ll be expecting things like this to happen,” Mr Hepburn said.

Quincy Rolle said he is conflicted about how to feel about this increase.

“I am in the middle right now, because it isn’t too bad right now.

“But consumers are going to complain, because they saying bills are already high and whatnot.

“There would need to be some adjustments for us consumers, but it depends on how the econ omy is going.”

Mr Rolle added, “I’m not too bothered by it, but I can’t speak for the majority, because you know a lot of people are angry.”

FELTON Rolle

JACKIE Glinton

KAREN Gaitor

Photos: Austin Fernander

CARSON Hepburn

sting out of the 4.3 cent increase for a great many BPL consumers subject to the larger increase.”

Plans to raise customers’ fuel charges were initially announced by BPL in late February, but the com pany later recalled the statement with government officials calling the announcement premature and ultimately denying the company approval for the increase.

However, months later, BPL CEO Shevonn Cambridge pre dicted the increase would still take effect.

Works and Utilities Minister Alfred Sears later said that BPL would have no choice but to pass on increased fuel costs to its customers by higher electricity bills unless the government provides a subsidy to the company which it eventually did given surging fuel costs globally.

Addressing the government’s decision to delay the increase of electricity bills, Mr Davis said it was because of the economic hardship being experienced by Bahamians following COVID-19’s impact and most recently, the inflationary cost of living.

“On top of that, in February, the Russian-Ukrainian war began, dis rupting global trade and raising oil and gas prices sharply,” he also said.

Mr Davis said he wanted to see stronger economic growth and more Bahamians working before giving the power company the greenlight to raise electricity bills.

“When times are tough, coming up with an extra $20 a month is no small thing,” Prime Minister Davis continued.

“Introducing the increase at this time of the year coincides with lower electricity consumption as opposed to the increase coming during the spring and summer months, when people consume more electricity. During this interim period, the government decided to provide support for BPL operations for an interim period,” he said.

“Unfortunately, we can’t post pone the increase any longer. Now

BPL bills hike

that we are past summer, and moving into a period of lower elec tricity usage, the government has approved BPL’s request for this phased-in increase.”

In a statement released yesterday, BPL said the price increases will be gradually phased in from October 1 to November 30, 2022; December 1, 2022 to February 28, 2023; March 1 to May 2023; June 1 to August 31, 2023 and September 1 to November 30, 2023.

“During each phase of the imple mentation, customers can expect an increase of two cents per kWh up to 800kWh and 4.3 cents for all units over 800kWh,” the power provider added.

In an effort to help hurting Baha mians, Mr Davis listed several measures his administration will be implementing to help soften the impact of rising prices.

Among them include the deci sion to phase in the price increases incrementally, allowing for custom ers to better prepare.

“We have worked to minimise the impact in multiple ways: First, those who consume less, and a great many households fall in this cate gory, will see a lower increase – two cents instead of 4.3 cents per kilo watt hour,” he said.

“Second, the increases are phased in over time, allowing consum ers to plan ahead. And third, the VAT ceiling for electricity will now be raised from $300 to $400, so no VAT will be due on bills up to $400.

“And most importantly, these increases are short-term. After implementing price increases in stages, over the next four quarters, BPL calculates that the fuel charge will begin to come down.”

While acknowledging

concerns about the timing of the rate increases considering that many are already struggling with economic hardship, Mr Davis pleaded with Bahamians “to hang in there just a little longer”.

“We have been working to find a way to fund this transition to cleaner energy and renewables, despite our enormous debt burden and fiscal crisis,” he said.

“This is one of the reasons I have worked so hard for our country to be the first in the world to sell blue carbon credits. We are going to pro tect our seagrasses and mangroves, and at the same time, earn revenue

for the role they play in removing carbon from the atmosphere.

“We believe that using the new revenue from carbon credits to invest in renewable infrastructure is going to be an important part of the way forward on clean energy. For too long, high energy costs have hurt households and businesses alike.

“I know the short-term increases announced today are very unwel come news. I wanted to be the one to tell you. And I ask you to hang in there just a little longer – our country is finally on a path to a very different energy future.”

FNM LEADER: ‘SIGNIFICANT BLUNDER’ AT BPL BY GOVT

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Move ment Leader Michael Pintard said the Bahamian people will now have to pay the bill for the “signifi cant blunder” at Bahamas Power and Light by the government with respect to the fuel hedging that was put in place by the previous FNM administration.

His comments came in a press release issued after Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis announced upcoming increases in con sumers’ electricity bills.

“Based on the announce ment by the PLP government and the press statement released by BPL today, consumers in the Bahamas will now see an increase in electricity bills from the hedge price of 10.5 cents per kWh to a high of 27.6 cents per kWh as projected. Based on these figures, this rep resents an increase of 163 percent over the 10.5 cents per kWh that was enjoyed by all business and resi dential consumers over the past two and one-half years,” his statement noted.

The Marco City MP said the fuel hedge programme left in place by the Minnis administration was part of a wider strategy developed for BPL to bring efficiency, reliability, and cost stability to Bahamian consumers.

He said the strategy worked and saved the Bahamian people tens of millions of dollars in elec tricity costs.

“When the fuel hedg ing programme was initially executed in June of 2020, BPL completed a hedge transaction with the assistance of the Min istry of Finance and the

InterAmerican Devel opment Bank (IDB) that covered an initial three-year period where percentages of BPL’s projected annual fuel con sumption were hedged in accordance with its estab lished hedging strategy and policy that were put in place and approved by the FNM Cabinet,” he said.

“Over the course of June 2020 through to July 2021, other hedge transactions were executed to ensure that additional projected BPL fuel consumption was hedged so that the Baha mian consumers could continue to enjoy low stable prices for electricity.

“There was a hedge transaction that we sched uled for the end of Q3 of

2021, but due to the change in administrations (on) September 16th this trans action was left to the new Davis administration to execute.”

In view of yesterday’s announcement, he said he believes that this hedge transaction nor any other additional hedge transac tions were executed by the Davis administration.

“The question is why? PM Davis must come clean to the Bahamian people with regards to if additional hedging transactions were executed.”

He said the fuel com ponent of the BPL bill “is scheduled to increase when everyone knows that the cost of oil on the global markets has been

decreasing from a high of over $127 per barrel in March of this year to around $90 today”.

He said the Utilities Reg ulation and Competition Authority needs to weigh in on the BPL matter.

“It is clear that PM Davis has abandoned the strategy and the many initiatives that were working at BPL prior to September 2021, however he has yet to bring a coherent energy strategy to the Bahamian people. Our economy is still recov ering from the pandemic, consumers are experiencing the pressures of inflation, and yet (Mr) Davis seeks to burden businesses and households with electricity cost increases that are his toric,” Mr Pintard said.

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Power and Light’s Chief Execu tive Officer Shevonn Cambridge said BPL’S disconnectors have a right to access elec tricity metres without interference, after a photo circulated on social media show ing an employee and a consumer in a physical argument.

The argument report edly occurred after the BPL worker went onto a property on Paradise Island to disconnect the electricity.

Yesterday Mr Cam bridge refused to directly comment on the incident, but underscored that BPL disconnectors also have rights. He made the comments after telling reporters that there had been no “abnormal” rate of disconnections, because coming out of the COVID-19 pan demic most of the people that needed assistance applied for it.

Regarding the alterca tion, Mr Cambridge said: “While I won’t speak to the incident what happened yesterday (Monday), I just would like for you guys (report ers) to remind the public that BPL’S disconnectors have a right to access our metres and they also have a right not to be interfered (with).”

The CEO said that if consumers have any questions regarding BPL employees’ right to be on their property, they can contact the customer ser vice line for assistance.

In the aftermath of the incident, Bahamas Elec trical Workers Union president Kyle Wilson said it is important for both the company and the government to imple ment protocols to ensure the safety of employees.

According to Mr Wilson, the alleged attack is one of many instances where employ ees are accosted during their line of work.

“I’m appealing to the company right now to pair persons up as these attacks are escalating. So, I would say to the powers that be to understand my voice and make sure to pair these workers up for their protection,” he told The Tribune yesterday.

“When we talk about safety protection, safety is paramount that they get home. To our leaders of the country, we must protect workers and the public by introducing new legislation.”

Mr Wilson claimed that the BPL worker was dispatched to Paradise Island for disconnec tions, however upon arriving at a residence he was approached by an unknown man.

The man allegedly questioned the BPL worker’s purpose on the property and attempted

“It is clear that PM Davis has abandoned the strategy and the many initiatives that were working at BPL prior to September 2021, however he has yet to bring a coherent energy strategy to the Bahamian people.”

FNM Leader Michael Pintard

PRIME Minister Philip ‘Brave’ Davis. (File photo)

to hinder him from carrying out his task.

However, the situ ation escalated when the resident allegedly attacked the BPL worker who was able to subdue the attacker due to his background as a martial artist and powerlifter.

The Tribune is una ware of whether any of the persons involved suffered any injuries.

The union president urged members of the public to refrain from attacking employees, but to rather seek assistance from the company.

“I just want to say to the public, keep your hands off the BPL work ers,” Mr Wilson said yesterday.

“Any frustration you have, write the company, see the leadership of the company, but don’t put your hands on the workers trying to execute their duties. Just how you want to get home to your family, they want to get home to theirs,” he added.

For his part, Works and Utilities Minister Alfred Sears said: “Well part of good corporate behaviour, it’s incumbent upon all of us as we carry out both our public duty as well as private duty. It’s customer relations which should be done with respect and also in different areas of life we have very challenging duties, jobs, responsibili ties but in all respects I know that the policy of the government is that with our consumers we ought to conduct our (affairs) with respect and respect for the consumer and, of course, any mat ters which get out of hand is referred to the appropriate authorities and that’s why we have the police available, but certainly in the normal course of commercial activities and in the normal course of public activities there should always be respect and proper conduct for the corporation which is being represented or the government or the company.”

(Photo: Leandra Rolle)

Thelma Gibson teachers protest at Office of the PM

was “the leadership, the behaviour and conduct” of Ms Daxon, in whom, she claims, teachers have no confidence.

A dispute with Ms Daxon in 2019 at Carlton Francis Primary School, where she was formerly deployed, triggered a Supreme Court case, Mrs Wilson said.

“That is still sub judice, so we have gone to the Labour Department, we have written to the min ister of education and we have written to the per manent secretary and we have had several meetings and this matter has not been resolved,” the BUT president stressed.

“So, we came here this morning in a silent protest so the prime min ister would note that when Belinda Wilson speaks, she speaks for this member and this morning I am speaking for Thelma Gibson Primary School teachers and we want a resolution to this matter and we are of the view that the resolution is the removal of the principal.”

The BUT has been going head-to-head with the school’s principal in recent weeks, but rela tions between the parties further deteriorated last month after an alleged argument between the principal and a teacher.

Their standoff with the

DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION TO DEMIT OFFICE

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

EFFECTIVE October 10, Director of Education Dr Marcellus Taylor will demit office to join Uni versity of The Bahamas’ Government and Public Policy Institute as a senior policy fellow where he will contribute to the forma tion of public policy for national development.

As Dr Taylor moves into this new role, Dominique McCartney Russell will assume the post of acting director effective on the same date.

The Ministry of Educa tion and Technical and Vocational Training made the announcement yester day in a press release after several days of speculation over Dr Taylor’s possible departure.

Several days ago, The Tribune contacted Dr Taylor to ask if he was still director of education.

He answered at the time: “To my knowledge, I still serve in that role. I’ve heard those rumours as well, but I’m here now so I can only assume I’m the director of education (and I) haven’t heard anything else formally.”

In the press release titled the “Transition in the Department of Educa tion”, the ministry thanked Dr Taylor for “his sig nificant contribution to education”. The ministry said it is assured that “he will demonstrate the same high standard of service” at the university which “has been the hallmark of his career”.

“Dr Taylor is a highly

regarded researcher and expert policy analyst who is expected to assist in analysis and formation of public policy. He is a grad uate of Albany University, New York, where he was awarded a PhD in Educa tional Planning and Policy Studies in 2012. He is a 30 year veteran of the Depart ment of Education, having served first as a teacher and moving up the ranks to the post of director,” the state ment said.

“Dr Taylor’s contribu tion to education has been outstanding and in some respects groundbreaking in overseeing and pioneer ing the introduction of the Learning Management System and other digi tal tools and resources, including the EMIS, and the digital repository, all of which allowed for con tinuity in the delivery of education throughout the country in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian and in the height of the COVID19 pandemic.”

Yesterday, Bahamas Union of Teachers presi dent Belinda Wilson said Dr Taylor’s redeployment is the “single most impor tant decision” made in the ministry in recent times.

“Mr Taylor was very impersonal,” Mrs Wilson said in a voice note. “He lacked empathy. His com munication skills left much to be desired, and he did not embrace teach ers. In fact, he was far removed from the daily operations of the various schools throughout The Bahamas, which stagnated the progress of the edu cational system since his

appointment.

“We wish him well in his future endeavours and it is our hope that his replace ment comes to the position with an open mind ready to engage stakeholders such as the Bahamas Union of Teachers, and that she will adopt an inclusive approach and improve the communication between the Department of Edu cation and the Bahamas Union of Teachers.”

The ministry said the incoming acting director has several credentials and awards such as holding a Master’s degree in Organi sational Learning and Leadership.

“As a district superin tendent in Abaco, she has demonstrated strong lead ership capacity throughout her career,” according to the press release.

“During her 27-year career in the Depart ment of Education she has served at various levels at schools throughout the country beginning as a trained teacher where she was selected teacher of the year, examinations team leader, head of depart ment, teacher mentor, vice principal, district trainer, principal and district superintendent.

“She was awarded the Paul Harris Fellow Humanitarian Award for her courageous work in ensuring the continu ity of quality educational opportunities for children displaced by Hurricane Dorian. Mrs McCartney Russell is currently pursu ing a doctoral degree in organisational leadership at Barry University.”

school principal continued following her return to the campus last week follow ing the alleged altercation.

“The Ministry of Educa tion has sought relief for us with the Department of Labour and the director of labour was in a series of meetings not only with me and the teachers and the legal counsel and we feel as though the Depart ment of Labour has done their part,” Mrs Wilson also said.

“However, the Ministry of Education has not done its due diligence because there are some matters that pertain specifically to what education has remit of and those matters have not been addressed and

NATIONAL Security Minister Wayne Munroe.

tomorrow (Wednesday) will make seven days since we had the last meeting.

“And we don’t believe that Ms Daxon returning to Thelma Gibson must just be business as usual.”

Asked yesterday what happens next if the matter isn’t resolved, the BUT head said members will exhaust every avenue, whether “industrial or legal” until they get satis factory results.

On Monday, Stephen McPhee, president of the Bahamas Educators Man agerial Union (BEMU) which represents school principals and other senior education officers, expressed disappointment in what he called a “witch

hunt” launched against Ms Daxon and called for cooler heads to prevail.

He also said much of what was being reported by the union about Ms Daxon was either mislead ing or false information.

“If they claim there is some wrongdoing being done, then I have no chal lenge with as I thought would’ve happened that the BUT president would show up to a meeting with the president of BEMU and the employer, the director or whoever else, let us sit down as adults and if you have some claims, then let us address it in accordance with your industrial agreement,” he said.

MINISTER: CONSIDERATION GIVEN TO REDEPLOYMENT OF COVID AMBASSADORS

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

NATIONAL Security Minister Wayne Munroe said consideration is being given to the redeployment of COVID-19 ambassa dors, despite the recent falling away of much of the country’s mask mandate.

Yesterday, the minister pointed to the remaining requirement as of October 1 for masks to be worn by people accessing health care facilities, visiting senior care homes or in an indoor classroom setting.

Due to this, he said there was still a need for some ambassadors to remain active, and they will likely police the few places where masks are still required.

“There are still a few places where masks must be worn,” Mr Munroe said. “Consideration is being given to their redeploy ment. They were engaged on contracts and not as

public servants.”

He said redeployment will depend on “if other uses can be found for them given their skill sets and qualifications”.

The Royal Bahamas Police Force’s COVID-19 unit was established not long after a state of emer gency was declared in March 2020. The ambas sadors — civilian men and women — were several months later trained to work alongside the police in manning popular loca tions such as Potter’s Cay, Arawak Cay and beaches throughout the island.

Last November, Health and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville said there were plans in the works to increase the number of COVID police officers and COVID ambassadors.

He said the govern ment was also looking into engaging private security companies to help monitor social gatherings.

His comments were

reported in a local daily at a time when there were lingering concerns about social gatherings leading to a surge in coronavirus cases.

“We are always con cerned about the enforcement of the rules, and I want to make it clear that the Ministry of Health does not enforce the rules,” Dr Darville said at the time.

“It is the Ministry of National Security, the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF), the COVID police.

“We understand that the direction we are heading in to get the economy open will require more policing.

“And so, we intend to increase the number of COVID police or COVID ambassadors and activate additional training and hopefully deploy more COVID ambassadors into our Family Islands, so that we can do a better job in policing,” he said last year.

TO ADDRESS ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

IMMIGRATION Min ister Keith Bell yesterday defended government’s efforts to address the illegal immigration issue in the country, saying the number of people deported so far for the year alone is proof that officials are taking the matter seriously.

According to Mr Bell, there have been more than 2,400 foreign nation als repatriated so far for the year, the majority of whom are from Haiti.

Mr Bell was respond ing to calls from the Free National Movement for the government to take definite action to address the “immigration crisis.”

Speaking to reporters, the minister advised the opposition to be care ful of making “reckless” statements and also clari fied recent comments he made to a local daily about the matter.

“Well, let me say that I saw the headlines this (Tuesday) morning and I think it was taken out of context in the sense that I do not deny that we have an immigration problem. At this stage, I don’t think that there is a crisis. We have always had an immi gration problem in this country, but at this stage, I would submit that it isn’t necessarily a crisis,” he said ahead of yesterday’s Cabinet meeting.

“A crisis is when some thing is intense. It cannot be dealt with. There are no resources to deal with it and just to give you an illustration with what I am saying, last year when we took office, last Sep tember we would’ve had an influx of just over 1,000 immigrants into our coun try. That was a crisis and this PLP administration responded to that crisis.

“We deployed our resources. Immigration defends and the police and we were able to deal with that crisis effectively. We ensured due process and we ensured that all of those persons who came here last year in that crisis were repatriated to their home countries.”

Noting the arrival of irregular migrants to The Bahamas as a legacy problem, Mr Bell said “the real question is what are we doing” to address it.

He added: “Since taking office, I would submit to the Bahamian people that this ‘Brave’ Davis administration has been doing a whole lot.

“And if you were to really look at it, the fact of the matter is that over the last two or three months, the Royal Baha mas Defence Force along with our US counterparts have been intercepting every irregular migrant vessel that is coming into our borders, which is very significant.

“And so, I will tell the Bahamian public that the proof is not in the words, but rather in the pudding and let me indicate to that those we’re not only dealing with the immi grants who are irregular migrants who are coming here by boat, we’re also dealing with those who are actually here in our country, and our repa triation numbers speak to this.”

He also presented the media with a breakdown of monthly repatriations to date, with data show ing that most of those deportations took place in March.

According to docu ments seen by this newspaper, January and February saw 335 and 288 repatriations respectively.

In March, there were 641 migrants sent back home, while 420 foreign nationals were deported in April, 332 in May and 120 in June.

July saw another 106 migrants repatriated whereas in August, 201 people were returned to their home country.

“So far, for the year, this year alone, we have repatriated in excess of 1,800 irregular migrants back to Haiti which is very significant,” Mr Bell added.

“We have repatriated, and I’ll give you the pre cise numbers. We’ve repatriated a total of 2,443 irregular migrants to Haiti, Jamaica, Ven ezuela, Dominican Republic, and, of course, to Cuba and other coun tries and so it isn’t that we are not continuing to take a very aggressive approach when it comes to immigration.

“First of all, we’re being humane, we are ensuring due process, and we’re ensuring that those who are coming to our coun try through illegal means, that they are arrested, they receive due process, they are treated with the highest degree of human ity, and that they are repatriated immediately.

“I sign a number of deportation orders every week,” he continued.

Calls by the opposi tion were made following the recent burial of nine unidentified women who died in a human smug gling operation in July.

While expressing sad ness over the incident, FNM Deputy Leader Shanendon Cartwright said it was clear that ille gal Haitian migration continues to escalate due to worsening conditions in Haitian and accused the Davis administration for not having a clear plan.

“Bahamians I speak to every day are rightly concerned about the situ ation,” he said. “We often hear concerns about ille gal Haitian migration dismissed as xenophobia or hatred.

“But I am hearing a growing chorus of fear about Bahamians being left to fend for themselves as far as economic oppor tunities and housing in their own country.”

Mr Cartwright said while he understands there is no easy or immediate solution to the problem, “we must acknowledge it is a problem.”

“What we are saying is that the government must get more serious about enforcing our immigra tion laws,” he added.

“That a government MP can pinpoint an entire community of illegal migrants that the govern ment has left undisturbed is scandalous. That the Department of Immi gration has not yet been compelled to act is baffling.”

Bus driver shot dead, teenager injured

weapons can actually be used on you or your family members,” she added.

It was reported there were other passengers on the bus at the time however there were no other reports of injuries.

As CSP Skippings spoke to reporters, screams from the deceased’s family echoed in the background.

Loved ones of the deceased were inconsolable at the murder scene, as they mourned the lost life of the bus driver.

Some bystanders crowded the area as well trying to figure out how the brazen daylight shooting even happened.

When asked if this inci dent raised a concern to officers to increase their

patrol, especially on bus routes, CSP Skippings said, “We are definitely con cerned about it. But yet again, it speaks to individu als and it speaks to family. You hear me keep saying that. When that individual

left home or when he left a residence, somebody knew he had a weapon. The right thing to do would be to con tact the police to save a life. We are concerned about it. We do have saturated patrols.”

This is the country’s 104th murder for the year according to this newspa per’s records and the third murder in less than a week.

A man was shot and killed by police on Sunday night after he fatally chopped another man with an axe. Earlier on Sunday, a woman was shot and killed at Arawak Cay around 1.45am. She was walk ing with another woman when she was approached and shot multiple times by a man wearing a hooded jacket.

EMS personnel arrived at the scene and confirmed there were no signs of life.

Anyone with informa tion on these incidents is asked to call police at 5029991 or Crime Stoppers at 328-TIPS.

His present condition was unknown up to press time.

Shortly after the incident, police went into Bain Town acting on information and arrested one suspect and recovered a firearm, CSP Johnson said. That suspect is assisting police with their investigation.

CSP Johnson thanked the public for the information which helped lead to the suspect’s arrest.

IMMIGRATION Minister Keith Bell.

POLICE at the scene of the shooting last night. Photo: Austin Fernander

THE SCENE of the shooting on Robinson Road yesterday. Photo: Moise Amisial

CHIEF Superintendent Chrislyn Skippings.

TELEPHONES

General Information (242) 322-1986

Manager (242) 502-2394

Department (242) 502-2386

fax (242) 328-2398

Grand Bahama (242)-352-6608

fax (242) 352-9348

(THE CONVERSATION) The new British government is off to a very rocky start – after stumbling through an economic and financial crisis of its own making.

Just a few weeks into its term on Sept. 23, 2022, Prime Minister Liz Truss’ government released a socalled mini-budget that proposed £161 billion – about US$184 billion at today’s rate – in new spending and the biggest tax cuts in half a century, with the benefits mainly going to Britain’s top earners. The aim was to jump-start growth in an economy on the verge of recession, but the government didn’t indicate how it would pay for it – or provide evidence that the spending and tax cuts would actually work.

Financial markets reacted badly, prompting interest rates to soar and the pound to plunge to the lowest level against the dollar since 1985. The Bank of England was forced to gobble up government bonds to avoid a finan cial crisis.

After days of defending the plan, the government did a U-turn of sorts on Oct. 3 by scrapping the most con troversial component of the budget – elimination of its top 45% tax rate on high earners. This calmed markets, leading to a rally in the pound and government bonds.

As a finance professor who tracks markets closely, I believe at the heart of this mini-crisis over the mini-budget was a lack of confidence – and now a lack of credibility.

A LOOMING RECESSION Truss’ government inherited a trou bled economy.

Growth has been sluggish, with the latest quarterly figure at 0.2%. The Bank of England predicts the U.K. will soon enter a recession that could last until 2024. The latest data on U.K. manufacturing shows the sector is contracting.

Consumer confidence is at its lowest level ever as soaring inflation – cur rently at an annualised pace of 9.9% – drives up the cost of living, espe cially for food and fuel. At the same time, real, inflation-adjusted wages are falling by a record amount, or around 3%.

It’s important to note that many countries in the world, including the U.S. and in mainland Europe, are experiencing the same problems of low growth and high inflation. But rumblings in the background in the U.K. are also other weaknesses.

Since the financial crisis of 2008, the U.K. has suffered from lower pro ductivity compared with other major economies.

Business investment plateaued after Brexit in 2016 – when a slim majority of voters chose to leave the European Union – and remains significantly below pre-COVID-19 levels. And the U.K. also consistently runs a balance of payments deficit, which means the country imports a lot more goods and services than it exports, with a trade deficit of over 5% of gross domestic product.

In other words, investors were already predisposed to view the longterm trajectory of the U.K. economy and the British pound in a negative light.

AN AMBITIOUS AGENDA

Truss, who became prime minister on Sept. 6, 2022, also didn’t have a strong start politically.

The government of Boris Johnson lost the confidence of his party and the electorate after a series of scandals, including accusations he mishandled sexual abuse allegations and rev elations about parties being held in government offices while the country was in lockdown.

Truss was not the preferred can didate of lawmakers in her own Conservative Party, who had the task

of submitting two choices for the wider party membership to vote on. The rest of the party – dues-paying members of the general public – chose Truss. The lack of support from Conserva tive members of Parliament meant she wasn’t in a position of strength coming into the job.

Nonetheless, the new cabinet had an ambitious agenda of cutting taxes and deregulating energy and business.

Some of the decisions, laid out in the mini-budget, were expected, such as subsidies limiting higher energy prices, reversing an increase in social security taxes and a planned increase in the corporate tax rate.

But others, notably a plan to abol ish the 45% tax rate on incomes over £150,000, were not anticipated by markets. Since there were no explicit spending cuts cited, funding for the £161 billion package was expected to come from selling more debt. There was also the threat that this would be paid for, in part, by lower welfare pay ments at a time when poorer Britons are suffering from the soaring cost of living. The fear of welfare cuts is putting more pressure on the Truss government.

A COLLAPSE IN CONFIDENCE

Even as the new U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng was presenting the mini-budget on Sept. 23, the British pound was already get ting hammered. It sank from $1.13 the day before the proposal to as low as $1.03 in intraday trading on Sept. 26.

Yields on 10-year government bonds, known as gilts, jumped from about 3.5% to 4.5% – the highest level since 2008 – in the same period.

The jump in rates prompted mort gage lenders to suspend deals with new customers, eventually offering them again at significantly higher bor rowing costs. There were fears that this would lead to a crash in the hous ing market.

In addition, the drop in gilt prices led to a crisis in pension funds, putting them at risk of insolvency.

Many members of Truss’ party voiced opposition to the high levels of borrowing likely necessary to finance the tax cuts and spending and said they would vote against the package.

The International Monetary Fund, which bailed out the U.K. in 1976, even offered its figurative two cents on the tax cuts, urging the government to “reevaluate” the plan.

The comments further spooked investors.

To prevent a broader crisis in finan cial markets, the Bank of England stepped in and pledged to purchase up to £65 billion in government bonds.

Besides causing investors to lose faith, the crisis also severely dented the public’s confidence in the U.K. government. The latest polls showed the opposition Labour Party enjoying a 24-point lead, on average, over the Conservatives.

So the government likely had little choice but to reverse course and drop the most controversial part of the plan, the abolition of the 45% tax rate.

The pound recovered its losses. The recovery in gilts was more modest, with bonds still trading at elevated levels.

Putting this all together, less than a month into the job, Truss has lost confidence – and credibility – with international investors, voters and her own party. And all this over a “minibudget” – the full budget isn’t due until November 2022. It suggests the U.K.’s troubles are far from over, a view echoed by credit rating agencies.

(This article is by David McMillan of the University of Stirling for thecon versation.com. The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Highlights of the history of the Bahamian Parliament

EDITOR, The Tribune.

The Bahamas observed the 293rd anniversary of the establishment of the Bahamas Parliament on 29th September of this year. I believe that 293 years of continual representative parliament is something that we all could be proud of.

Now for sure the entirety of the life of the parliament has not all been democratic. That is why I was careful to state that 293 years of rep resentative parliament. The representative nature of the parliament along with the consistency and regular ity are features we can all value.

At this time when many countries’ democratic insti tutions are being assaulted, the Bahamian Parliament has been a beacon of sta bility and its commitment to free and open debate is unquestioned.

Some question the nation’s commitment to the Westminster system, but it is this system that expressly affords Bahamians stability.

The following are some highlights of the history of the Bahamian Parliament most of which many of you are already aware of:

· Woodes Rogers, the first royal governor of the Bahamas established the Bahamian parliament, on 29th September, 1729 during his second tour of duty as governor.

· The first House con sisted of 24 men, 16 from New Providence (eight from the town of Nassau, four from the Eastern Dis trict and four from the Western District) four from Harbour Island and four from Eleuthera.

· John Colebrooke was elected as the first Speaker of the House.

· Only white men who were British subjects and who owned specified amounts of property or rents were allowed to vote.

· Only the Governor had the authority to prorogue or dissolve the House.

· There were no time limits on the duration of the life of the House.

· In 1795 the Septennial Act fixed the life of the House at seven years.

· In 1807 the Slave Trade was abolished and this led to the settlement of freed slaves in several communi ties in New Providence.

· In the 1780’s loyal ists settled en masse in the family islands. By 1795 after years of rejection and

opposition by the local poli ticians, the loyalists came to dominate the House.

· The loyalists fixed the life of the House to seven years; bought the Speaker’s wig and gown; purchased the Mace for the House; paid for the property where the parliament now sits and built the parliament buildings.

with the organisation of the PLP in 1953 and the UBP in 1958.

· In January 1956 Etienne Dupuch introduced a Reso lution in the House which expressed the wish of the House that Racial Discrim ination was not in the best interest of the Bahamas.

·

On 1st August 1834 the Emancipation Act came into force and the British Parliament forced its colo nial parliaments to adopt and pass similar legislation. The legislation effectively ended slavery. The Baha mian legislative House reluctantly passed the leg islation, but subsequently passed legislation that forced slaves in the Baha mas to remain subjugated to their slave masters until 1838.

· In 1841 the structure for a Bahamian bicameral Par liament was instituted when Governor Francis Cock burn divided his Council into two, the Executive Council and the Legisla tive Council. The Executive Council morphed into the Cabinet and the Legislative Council became the Senate in 1964.

· The Secret Ballot was first passed in 1939 but it was extended only to the districts in New Providence and only for five years

· Milo Butler was the first person to be elected by Secret Ballot in the Bahamas when he won the by- election in November, 1939 to fill the seat in the Western District vacated by Harry Oakes.

·

On 1st June 1942 Baha mian workers rioted on Bay St. to protest the inequity in salary rates between Bahamian workers and for eign workers employed in the construction of two air bases in New Providence. In two days of rioting five Bahamians were shot and killed and many others were sentenced to lengthy jail terms. A House Select committee was appointed and pointed blame on the existing salary inequities and on the actions of the government.

· The Secret Ballot became a permanent fea ture of elections in the Bahamas in 1949 when the Ballot Act was passed.

· In the 1950’s political parties were introduced in the House of Assembly

· In January, 1958 work ers led by the Taxi Cab Union closed down the economy of the Bahamas for 16 days. The general strike resulted in the Brit ish Colonial Secretary, Alan Lennox-Boyd visiting New Providence and leav ing a number of reforms for the House of Assem bly to consider. These included Universal Adult Male suffrage, the estab lishment of a Department of Labour, the elimination of Plural Voting, and the introduction of four new constituencies in the heav ily populated black areas.

· Real reform was made to the Bahamian elec toral system in the 1950’s and 60’s. The 1964 general election was truly trans formative. It was the first general election where the entire Bahamas voted on the same day; it was the election that began the fiveyear parliamentary term; women voted for the first time in 1962; it was the first election where multiple voting and company voting were illegal and when the property qualifications for men were removed.

· The 1964 Constitu tion introduced the terms Premier, Leader of the Opposition, the Senate, the cabinet, the Office of Governor- General, the Constituencies Commis sion, permanent secretary among others.

· 27th April 1965 Black Tuesday, Lynden Pindling threw the Mace out of the window of the House and Milo B Butler tossed the hour glass out of the window. These were in pro test of the restrictive rules of the House.

· 10th January, 1967 known as Majority Rule Day when the PLP formed the first government of the Bahamas made up of a majority of black men.

· 1982 Janet Bostwick became the first woman elected to the House of Assembly.

· 1997 Rome Italia John son became the first woman elected Speaker of the House.

How the new UK government stumbled into a political and financial crisis of its own making

A PAIR of birds wait to be transported back to the mainland in Pine Island, Florida, Tuesday. Volunteers helped rescue hundreds of birds from a sanctuary that was damaged by Hurricane Ian. (AP Photo/Robert Bumsted)

PROBATION FOR ASSAULTING AND THREATENING WOMAN

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey @ tribunemedia.net

A MAN was placed on probation for a year yes terday after admitting to assaulting and threatening a woman with a wrench.

Dustin Taylor, 39, faced Assistant Chief Magistrate Subusola Swain on charges of assault with a dangerous instrument and threats of harm.

On September 21

at Haven Road, Rock Crusher, Taylor assaulted Stephanie Riley with a wrench and threatened her with harm.

In court the accused pleaded guilty to both charges at the earliest opportunity.

Magistrate Swain placed Taylor on a year’s proba tion. If he breaches his probation, he risks a 30-day sentence at the Bahamas Department of Correc tional Services.

MAN IN COURT ON UNLAWFUL SEX CHARGE

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey @ tribunemedia.net

A 20-YEAR-OLD man was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services after being accused of having sex with a woman against her will when they were both teenagers.

Skyler Saunders faced Assistant Chief Mag istrate Subusola Swain on a charge of unlawful sexual intercourse.

It is alleged that in 2018, when he was 16 years old he had unprotected sex with a 14-year-old girl with out her consent.

Due to the gravity of the offence the accused was not required to enter a plea in court. However, he was informed that his matter would proceed to the Supreme Court by way of a voluntary bill of indictment (VBI).

The accused was also told that as the magistrate lacked the jurisdiction to grant him bail, he would have to apply for it through the higher court.

Until bail is granted, Saunders will be remanded to the Bahamas Depart ment of Correctional Services.

The accused’s VBI is set for service on December 5.

GRIEVOUS HARM CHARGE

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey @ tribunemedia.net

A MAN was granted bail in Magistrate’s Court yes terday after being accused of picking up a woman and slamming her to the ground during an incident involving his girlfriend.

Jason Rolle, 38, stood before Magistrate Shaka Serville on a charge of grievous harm.

On September 28 in New Providence, Rolle is alleged to have caused grievous harm to Laokoye Ferguson. It is said that during this

incident, after Ms Ferguson approached Rolle’s girl friend, the accused pushed the complainant before picking her up and slam ming her to the ground, resulting in injuries.

In court, the accused pleaded not guilty to the charge. As there was no objection to bail from pros ecutor Sergeant Deon Bare, Rolle was granted $6,000 bail with one or two sure ties. The accused was warned not to have any contact with the complain ant in this matter.

The trial was adjourned to January 6, 2023.

MAN ADMITS BREAKING INTO A HIGH SCHOOL

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A 20-YEAR-OLD man was placed on probation for a year after admitting to breaking into a high school.

He was also ordered to attend drug counseling classes after a marijuana joint was found hidden in his sock.

Ramourn Rolle faced Magistrate Shaka Serville on multiple charges in the presence of his mother. These include stealing, two counts of shopbreaking and damage.

Between July 29 and August 4 Rolle broke into SC McPherson Junior High School causing an estimated $3,035 worth of damage to the door and windows.

The accused is fur ther alleged to have stolen a $114 black port able speaker as well as a $979 HP laptop from the school.

While the defendant pleaded guilty to the shop breaking and damage charges, the magistrate entered a not guilty plea for the theft charge.

The court was told that the accused had no earlier charges and is employed as a landscaper. Also Rolle’s mother told the court that her son had a joint under his sock that he had hidden before his arrest which was then con fiscated by the orderly.

Magistrate Serville noted that he saw remorse

in Rolle as the visibly shaking accused awaited his sentencing, fur ther noting that he had a significant substance abuse history relating to marijuana.

In view of the defend ant’s age, early plea of guilt, extenuating circum stances of Rolle’s use of marijuana and his possi ble depression due to his state of mind at the time of the incident, the mag istrate moved to defer sentencing.

As such Rolle was granted $500 bail for the stealing charge with a 9pm curfew at his residence attached. He was further warned not to interfere with witnesses in this matter.

In reference to the remaining charges the accused was ordered to reimburse the high school for the damage, He was also placed on probation.

During this time Rolle is to attend drug counseling classes at CCAC; the court moved to potentially have his probation extended to three years depending on his progress.

The court also reserved the right to call the defendant back to court for appropriate sentenc ing should he fail to be of good behaviour.

Rolle is expected to receive his letter authoris ing drug counseling classes on Friday after which the magistrate will receive reports of his counseling progress.

Bid to revive the culture of steel-panning in The Bahamas

THE Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture is seeking to revive the culture of steel-panning in The Bahamas by hopefully rein troducing the creative art into the educational system.

Under the auspices of the Min istry of Culture, with the tutelage of Nevin Roach, of Barbados, music teachers throughout Grand Bahama were given a basic crash course on steel-panning. The oneday workshop was held on Friday, September 30 in the auditorium of Bishop Michael Eldon High, the school known in Grand Bahama for its steel pan ensembles and experience.

“It is my intent to take them (music teachers) through every aspect of steel-panning, from the history of the instrument, to

learning tunes, to setting up the pan, to creating melodies,” Mr Roach explained just before the start of the workshop.

“We wanted to breathe a little life back into the development of this art form.”

Anya Bowe, administrative associate in the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture

Organised by the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, the workshop was designed to revital ise the instrument of the steel pan

back into the schools on Grand Bahama. Anya Bowe, administra tive associate within the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, noted that traditionally, when one heard of steel-panning, one immediately thought about the Caribbean.

“We wanted to breathe a little life back into the development of this art form,” said Ms Bowe. “Some people may think that it’s an art form that has died down, but we wanted to ensure that we can revive this and take it to the Baha mian children and show them how much fun there is in playing the instrument and what melodies can be created from the steel pan.

“Don’t forget, the steel pan is an instrument that was created in the Caribbean, so we want to cultivate that culture.”

INSTRUCTOR Nevin Roach (centre) poses for a photo with Grand Bahama music teachers who attended the workshop on Friday in the auditorium of Bishop Michael Eldon School. At far left is Monique Leary, Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture cultural affairs officer. (BIS Photo)

A challenge we still have a long way to overcome

OCTOBER was declared Domestic Vio lence Awareness Month in 1989. Thirty-three years later, people know domes tic violence exists. In The Bahamas, the general sen timent is domestic violence - in most cases, is wrong.

People’s positions seem to change based on the cir cumstances surrounding the act(s) of violence. They often look for excuses for domestic violence, suggest ing the abuser was right to inflict violence upon the victim, or that the abuser could not be blamed.

There is still the idea domestic violence is a response to an issue rather than an issue itself, and one that cannot be explained away. Those who know violence is wrong cannot disagree with this. Domestic violence is wrong, it is not a normal response, and it is both incorrect and harm ful to say or suggest one person inflicted violence on another “because” of a particular event or circum stance. There is no because. There is no excuse. There is no reasoning when it comes to violence.

We are aware of domes tic violence. We need to go much further than aware ness. Knowing an issue exists is important, but it does not produce solu tions or transformation.

We know domestic vio lence exists and that it is prevalent here, in the Car ibbean and all over the world. We still, however, do not fully understand the term, what it includes, how it presents itself, and the response required of us — family members, friends, neighbours, faith-based organizations, service clubs, government agencies and legislators. We need to do more with the 31 days in

October (and the 365 days in a year, every year) than raise awareness. We need to fully understand what it is, prevent it, intervene when we witness it, support sur vivors, and ensure there is justice.

The United Nations defines domestic violence as a “pattern of behaviour in any relationship that is used to gain or maintain power and control” and this can include physical, psy chological, financial, sexual and emotional abuse.

Intimate partner violence is defined by the World Health Organization as “behaviour by an intimate partner or ex-partner that causes physical, sexual, or psychological harm, includ ing physical aggression, sexual coercion, psychologi cal abuse and controlling behaviours”.

Intimate partner violence can be domestic violence, and domestic violence can be intimate partner vio lence, but they are not the same. Domestic violence refers to more relationship types and intimate partner violence is not limited to people who live together. Child abuse and elder abuse, for example, can also be domestic violence.

Predictably, crisis makes it worse

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, when threats of lockdowns

and curfews loomed ahead, fellow advocates, gender experts and I became very concerned about what this would mean for people — especially women, LGBTQI+ people, and others in situations of vulnerability — who were already experiencing domestic violence. We rang the alarm, calling on gov ernments to consider the unintended consequences of the measures they were likely to put in place, and to design interventions to pro tect people from increased vulnerability and risk. Most of them did not listen.

The Government of The Bahamas ignored us when we sent the feminist policy guidelines for COVID-19 which covered nine key areas of focus including food security, healthcare, and domestic violence/ intimate partner violence. The statement was shared by the Feminist Alliance for Rights (FAR) received 1600 endorsements, and was translated into several languages. It noted that the rates of domestic vio lence would increase and the restrictions would affect the ability of survivors to escape abusers and receive necessary assistance. Governments, including the Government of The Bahamas, were urged to take several steps. These included the establishment of separate domestic vio lence units and hotlines

within police departments, development of care proto col (inclusive of testing and safe quarantine) for women who may be denied access to shelters due to exposure to the virus, and provisions for survivors to attend court proceedings virtually.

Several times, report ers asked questions about domestic violence at the press conferences during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The buck was passed, over and over again. No one was able to answer the ques tion. No one had thought about people experiencing violence. No one seemed to know it would be an issue. No one had thought about interventions or solu tions. No one could even begin to cobble together an adequate response. What a complete and utter failure, especially when the Gov ernment of The Bahamas was advised that this issue would persist, increase, and require a planned response.

Domestic violence goes to work

Contrary to what the term may lead us to believe, domestic violence does not stay in the home. It extends beyond living quarters. It can happen in other peo ple’s homes. It can happen in public spaces. It is also quite common for domes tic violence to happen at work. Partners and expartners may show up unexpectedly to threaten, intimidate, or cause physi cal harm. They may call or otherwise interact with the survivor’s co-workers and attempt to get information or give a particular impres sion of themselves, the survivors, or their relation ship in order to manipulate other people and create an unsafe environment for the survivor. For many,

the workplace is the only presumably safe place. In addition, showing up at work is the only way to get paid, and the financial bar rier to leaving an abusive relationship and household is usually one of the most difficult to overcome. For these reasons and more, it is critical that employers take responsibility for what happens in the world of work and to engage in pre vention, intervention, and survivor-centred justice.

In 2021, the Global 16 days Campaign—coordi nated by the Centre for Women’s Global Leader ship at Rutger’s University — focused on femicide (the killing of a woman or girl because of her sex or gender) and domestic vio lence in the workplace. This formed a part of the multiyear theme, which started in 2018, to end genderbased violence in the world of work. The Global 16 Days Campaign has advo cated for countries to ratify the International Labour Organization’s Convention 190, also known as C190, on Ending Violence and Harassment in the World of Work. The Convention is supported by Recommen dation 206, also known as R206, which provides a set of actions for governments, employers, and labour organizations to take.

C190 recognizes, among other facts, that “violence and harassment in the world of work can con stitute a human rights violation or abuse, and that violence and harassment is a threat to equal opportu nities, is unacceptable and incompatible with decent work[…]” It states that Members of the Interna tional Labour Organization must have zero tolerance to violence and harassment, to prevent it from occurring, and to address it when it

occurs. C190 also acknowl edges that women and girls are disproportionately affected by gender-based violence and harassment and this necessitates a gen der-responsive approach to assess risks and power relations amd to end vio lence and harassment in the world of work.

Ratification—a commitment to act

To date, 20 countries have ratified Convention 190 on ending violence and harassment in the world of work. They include Fiji and Uruguay which were among the first, and Greece, Mau ritius, and South Africa.

In May 2022, Antigua and Barbuda became the first country in the Caribbean to ratify Convention 190 on ending violence and harass ment in the world of work. Barbados was the second and is now the most recent Caribbean country on the list after ratifying in Sep tember 2022.

At Eliminating violence and harassment in the world of work in the Carib bean, a webinar hosted by ILO in October 2021, the National Tripartite Coun cil of The Bahamas said it made the recommendation for The Bahamas to ratify C190 and R206. One year later, The Bahamas has yet to ratify C190 and R206. This month, let us raise awareness and demand ratification of the Conven tion and Recommendation which will move us forward in preventing and address ing domestic violence in The Bahamas, involving employers and increasing safety in the world of work, where many of us spend most of our waking hours.

AMAZON UNVEILS BEDSIDE DEVICE THAT TRACKS SLEEPING PATTERNS

TECHTALK

FIREFLY AEROSPACE REACHES ORBIT WITH NEW ALPHA ROCKET

VANDENBERG

SPACE FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) — A new aero space company reached orbit with its second rocket launch and deployed multiple small satellites on Saturday.

Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, in early morning darkness and arced over the Pacific.

“100% mission success,” Firefly tweeted later.

A day earlier, an attempt to launch abruptly ended when the countdown reached zero. The firststage engines ignited but the rocket automatically aborted the liftoff.

By HALELUYA HADERO AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) —

Soon enough, a bedside Amazon device might know whether you’re sleeping — or not.

The e-commerce and tech giant said last week it will start selling a device later this year that can track sleeping patterns without a wristband.

The device, called Halo Rise, will use no-contact sen sors and artificial intelligence to measure a user’s move ment and breathing patterns, allowing the device to track sleep stages during the night, the Seattle-based company said. Amazon said the device

By TOM KRISHER and MATT O’BRIEN AP Business Writers

“does not include cameras or microphones,” and will go for $139.99.

The Halo Rise would be

the latest device in Amazon’s Halo line, which includes a fitness tracker that can track physical activity and sleeping

Yeung. “Hire some PhDs and go to some robotics conferences @Tesla.”

DETROIT (AP) — An early prototype of Tesla Inc.’s proposed Optimus humanoid robot slowly and awkwardly walked onto a stage, turned, and waved to a cheering crowd at the company’s artificial intelligence event Friday.

But the basic tasks by the robot with exposed wires and electronics — as well as a later, next genera tion version that had to be carried onstage by three men — was a long way from CEO Elon Musk’s vision of a human-like robot that can change the world.

Musk told the crowd, many of whom might be hired by Tesla, that the robot can do much more than the audience saw Friday. He said it is also delicate and “we just didn’t want it to fall on its face.”

Musk suggested that the problem with flashy robot demonstrations is that the robots are “missing a brain” and don’t have the intelli gence to navigate themselves, but he gave little evidence Friday that Optimus was any more intelligent than robots developed by other companies and researchers.

The demo didn’t impress AI researcher Filip Piekniewski, who tweeted it was “next level cringe worthy” and a “complete and utter scam.” He said it would be “good to test falling, as this thing will be fall ing a lot.”

“None of this is cutting edge,” tweeted robotics expert Cynthia

Yeung also questioned why Tesla opted for its robot to have a humanlike hand with five fingers, noting “there’s a reason why” warehouse robots developed by startup firms use pinchers with two or three fingers or vacuumbased grippers.

Musk said that Friday night was the first time the early robot walked onstage without a tether. Tesla’s goal, he said, is to make an “extremely capable” robot in high volumes — possibly mil lions of them — at a cost that could be less than a car, that he guessed would be less than $20,000.

Tesla showed a video of the robot, which uses artificial intelligence that Tesla is testing in its “Full Self-Driving” vehicles, carrying boxes and placing a metal bar into what appeared to be a factory machine. But there was no live demonstration of the robot completing the tasks.

Employees told the crowd in Palo Alto, California, as well as those watching via livestream, that they have been working on Optimus for six to eight months. People can probably buy an Optimus “within three to five years,” Musk said.

Employees said Optimus robots would have four fingers and a thumb with a tendon-like system so they could have the dexterity of humans.

patterns. Amazon noted the device can connect with its virtual assistant, Alexa, and allow users to wake up to their favourite songs, and a light that “simulates the col ours and gradual brightening of a sunrise.”

The new device highlights the company’s ever-growing move to integrate its tech nology in consumers’ lives, and broaden its reach into wellness. Its healthcare ambitions have grown over the years, seen most recently in its planned $3.9 billion acquisition of the primary care organisation One Medi cal. The deal is currently under review by the Federal Trade Commission. Amazon, which has faced

The robot is backed by giant arti ficial intelligence computers that track millions of video frames from “Full Self-Driving” autos. Similar computers would be used to teach tasks to the robots, they said.

Experts in the robotics field were sceptical that Tesla is any where near close to rolling out legions of human-like home robots that can do the “useful things” Musk wants them to do — say, make dinner, mow the lawn, keep watch on an aging grandmother.

“When you’re trying to develop a robot that is both affordable and useful, a humanoid kind of shape and size is not necessarily the best way,” said Tom Ryden, executive director of the nonprofit startup incubator Mass Robotics.

Tesla isn’t the first car company to experiment with humanoid robots.

Honda more than two decades ago unveiled Asimo, which resem bled a life-size space suit and was shown in a carefully-orchestrated demonstration to be able to pour liquid into a cup. Hyundai also owns a collection of humanoid and animal-like robots through its 2021 acquisition of robotics firm Boston Dynamics. Ford has partnered with Oregon startup Agility Robotics, which makes robots with two legs and two arms that can walk and lift packages.

Ryden said carmakers’ research

scrutiny over its handling of consumer data, quickly offered assurances last Wednesday that the informa tion in the Halo Rise device will be kept safe — saying the “health data is encrypted in transit and at rest in the cloud.”

“Amazon Halo health data is not used for marketing, product recommendations, or advertising, and never sold,” the company said.

Separately, Amazon said it will release a new Kindle Scribe, the first Kindle con sumers can write on.

It will also add more features to its Ring door bell cameras, home robot Astro, and release new Echo devices.

into humanoid robotics can poten tially lead to machines that can walk, climb and get over obstacles, but impressive demos of the past haven’t led to an “actual use sce nario” that lives up to the hype.

“There’s a lot of learning that they’re getting from understand ing the way humanoids function,” he said. “But in terms of directly having a humanoid as a product, I’m not sure that that’s going to be coming out anytime soon.”

Critics also said years ago that Musk and Tesla wouldn’t be able to build a profitable new car company that used batteries for power rather than gasoline.

Tesla is testing “Full Self-Driv ing” vehicles on public roads, but they have to be monitored by selected owners who must be ready to intervene at all times. The company says it has about 160,000 vehicles equipped with the test software on the road today.

Critics have said the Teslas, which rely on cameras and pow erful computers to drive by themselves, don’t have enough sensors to drive safely. Tesla’s less capable Autopilot driver-assist system, with the same camera sen sors, is under investigation by U.S. safety regulators for braking for no reason and repeatedly running into emergency vehicles with flashing lights parked along freeways.

In 2019, Musk promised a fleet of autonomous robotaxis would be in use by the end of 2020. They are still being tested.

The rocket’s payload included multiple small satellites designed for a variety of technology experiments and dem onstrations, as well as educational purposes.

The mission, dubbed “To The Black,” was the company’s second demon stration flight of its entry into the market for small satellite launchers.

The first Alpha was launched from Vanden berg on Sept. 2, 2021, but did not reach orbit.

One of the four firststage engines shut down prematurely but the rocket continued upward on three engines into the supersonic realm where it tumbled out of control.

The rocket was then intentionally destroyed by an explosive flight termi nation system.

Firefly Aerospace said the premature shutdown was traced to an electrical issue, but that the rocket had otherwise performed well and useful data was obtained during the nearly 2 1/2 minutes of flight.

Alpha is designed to carry payloads weighing as much as 2,579 pounds (1,170 kilogrammes) to low Earth orbit.

Other competitors in the burgeoning small-launch market include Rocket Lab and Virgin Orbit, both headquartered in Long Beach, California.

THE HALO Rise bedside smart alarm. The e-commerce and tech giant said last week that it will start selling the device later this year. Halo Rise will be able to track sleeping patterns without a wristband by using no-contact sensors and artificial intelligence to measure a user’s movement and breathing patterns, according to Amazon. (Amazon via AP)

UKRAINE

By AAMER MADHANI Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. announced plans on Tuesday to provide an additional $625 mil lion in military aid to Ukraine, a package that includes addi tional advanced rocket systems credited with helping the country’s military gain momen tum in its war with Russia.

President Joe Biden provided details on the latest package—which includes four High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, known as HIMARS, 200 mine resistant vehicles, hun dreds of thousands of rounds of artillery and mortar ammunition—in a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Vice Presi dent Kamala Harris joined the leaders on Tuesday’s call.

Annexation

The U.S. and Ukraine leaders spoke as Russia’s upper house of parliament on Tues day formally approved the annexation of swaths of Ukrainian territory following ref erendums that Ukraine and its Western allies dismissed as fraudulent.

“President Biden also affirmed the continued readiness of the United States to impose severe costs on any individual, entity, or country that provides support to Russia’s purported annexation,” the White House said in a statement.

This round of mili tary aid marks the first time the U.S. has sent additional HIMARS to Ukraine since late July.

The systems—which will bring the total number of HIMARS sent to Ukraine to 20— have become a key tool in Ukraine’s ability to strike bridges that Russia has used to supply its troops, enabling Ukrainian forces to make inroads in Russia-controlled regions.

The U.S. in recent weeks also provided funding through a separate programme — the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative — so another 18 HIMARS can be purchased through longer-term contracts. USAI funds are being used as part of the effort by the U.S. and Western allies to ensure Ukraine’s forces are trained and equipped to defend their country in the years to come. But those contracts will take several years to fulfill.

This is the first tranche of U.S. aid delivered in the new fiscal year, which began Oct. 1.

Ukraine has pressed its counteroffensive in the Kherson region since the summer, relentlessly pummeling Russian supply lines and making inroads into Russian-held areas west of the Dnieper River.

Ukrainian troops have been using the HIMARS to repeat edly hit the main bridge across the Dnieper and a dam that served as a second crossing. It also has struck pontoon bridges that Russia has used to supply its troops.

Ukraine’s battlefield successes in Kherson are notable since that is one of the four areas that Russia is in the process of annexing.

FLORIDIANS ENDURE SLOW WAIT FOR POWER KNOCKED OUT BY IAN

By REBECCA SANTANA Associated Press

BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. (AP) — Hurricane Ian may be long gone from Florida, but workers on the ground were pushing ahead Tuesday to restore power and search for anyone still trapped inside flooded or damaged homes.

The number of stormrelated deaths has risen to at least 80 in recent days, both because of the dangers posed by cleaning up and as search and rescue crews comb through the hardest-hit areas. Officials said that as of Monday, more than 2,350 people had been rescued throughout the state.

At least 71 people were killed in Florida, five in North Carolina, three in Cuba and one in Virginia since Ian made landfall on the Carib bean island on Sept. 27, a day before it reached Florida’s Gulf Coast. After churn ing northeastward into the Atlantic, the hurricane made another landfall in South Carolina before pushing into the mid-Atlantic states.

There have been deaths in vehicle wrecks, drown ings and accidents. A man drowned after becoming trapped under a vehicle.

Another got trapped trying to climb through a window. And a woman died when a gust of wind knocked her off her porch while she was

smoking a cigarette as the storm approached, authori ties said.

In hardest-hit Lee County, Florida, all 45 people killed by the hurricane were over age 50.

As floodwaters begin to recede, power restoration has become job one.

In Naples, Kelly Sedgwick was just seeing news footage Monday of the devastation. Her electricity was restored four days after the hurricane slammed into her community of roughly 22,000 people. She praised the crews for their hard work: “They’ve done a remarkable job.”

Temperatures

A few miles north along the coast in Bonita Springs, Catalina Mejilla’s family wasn’t as lucky. She was still using a borrowed generator to try to keep her kids and their grandfather cool as temperatures in the typi cally humid area reached the upper 80s (about 30 degrees Celsius).

“The heat is unbearable,” Mejilla said. “When there’s no power ... we can’t make food, we don’t have gas.” Her mother has trouble breathing and needed to go to a friend’s house with electricity.

Ian knocked out power to 2.6 million customers across Florida after it roared ashore with 150 mph (241 kph)

winds and a powerful storm surge. State officials said they expect power to be restored by Sunday to customers whose power lines and other electric infrastructure is still intact.

About 400,000 homes and businesses in Florida were still without power Tuesday.

Eric Silagy, Chairman and CEO of Florida Power & Light — the largest power provider in the state — said he understands the frustra tion and that 21,000 utility workers from 30 states are working as hard as they can to restore power as quickly as possible. The utility expects to have power restored to 95% of its service areas by the end of the day Friday, he said.

The remaining 5% are mostly special situations where it’s difficult to restore electricity, such as the home being so damaged it can’t receive power or the area still being flooded. Those out ages don’t include customers whose homes or businesses were destroyed.

Another major electric ity provider in the hard-hit coastal region, Lee County Electric Cooperative, said Monday that it expects to hit the 95% mark by the end of Saturday. That figure doesn’t include barrier islands such as Sanibel that are in its ser vice area.

Power restoration is always a key challenge after major

hurricanes, when high winds and flying debris can topple power lines or major parts of the electricity infrastructure.

Silagy said the utility has invested $4 billion over the last 10 years to harden its infrastructure, doing things like burying more power lines, noting that 40% of its distribution system is now underground.

Technology

The utility is also using more technology such as drones that can stay aloft for hours to get a better picture of damage, and sensors at substations that alert the util ity to flooding so it can shut off parts of the system before the water arrives.

Silagy said he saw during Ian where those investments paid off. Concrete utility poles remained standing at Fort Myers Beach, where many homes and businesses were wiped away. The com pany also didn’t lose a single transmission structure in the 8,000 miles (12,875 kilome tres) it covers in Florida.

Elsewhere, the hurricane’s remnants, now a nor’easter, were not done with the United States. Heavy rain fell Tuesday from Philadelphia to Boston, although not enough to cause flooding. The storm’s onshore winds are causing some minor ocean flooding at high tide from the North

Carolina Outer Banks to Long Island, New York.

“If people had not heeded warnings, I think it could have been a lot worse,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said Tuesday as he reviewed how his state dealt with the storm.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden plan to visit Florida on Wednesday. The president was in Puerto Rico on Monday, promising to “rebuild it all” after Hur ricane Fiona knocked out all power to the island two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, in Florida neighbourhoods still without power, many residents have been sharing generators to keep things like refrigerators cool, and using outdoor grills to cook. In Bonita Springs, Paula Arbuckle was sitting outside her one-story home while the sound of the gen erator under her carport roared. She bought a genera tor after Hurricane Irma left her neighbourhood without power in 2017. She hadn’t used it since, but after Ian took out the lights, she’s been sharing it with her next-door neighbor. Arbuckle said it’s difficult being without power.

“But I’m not the only one,” she said. Gesturing to her neighbour’s house she said: “I have a generator. They have a little baby over there. So we’re sharing the generator between the two homes.”

NORTH KOREA SENDS MISSILE SOARING OVER JAPAN IN ESCALATION

By HYUNG-JIN KIM, KIM TONG-HYUNG and MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea conducted its long est-ever weapons test Tuesday, a nuclear-capable ballistic missile that flew over Japan and could reach the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam and beyond, forcing the Japanese govern ment to issue evacuation alerts and halt trains.

The South Korean and U.S. mili taries responded by launching fighter jets that fired weapons at a target off South Korea’s west coast in a show of strength against North Korea.

The North Korean missile launch was its most provocative weapons demonstration this year, as it pushes to develop a fully fledged nuclear arsenal capable of threatening the U.S. mainland and its allies with the goal of wresting concessions from those countries, some experts say.

The United States, Britain, France, Albania, Norway and Ireland called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council. Diplomats said it is likely to be held Wednesday, but it’s not certain whether it will be open or closed.

North Korea has test-fired about 40 missiles over about 20 different launch events this year as its leader, Kim Jong Un, refuses to return to nuclear diplomacy with the United States.

The United States strongly con demned North Korea’s “dangerous and reckless decision” to launch what it described as a “long-range ballistic missile” over Japan.

“The United States will continue its efforts to limit (North Korea’s) ability to advance its prohibited ballistic mis sile and weapons of mass destruction programmes, including with allies and U.N. partners,” National Secu rity Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.

South Korea and Japan earlier said the missile had an intermediate or longer range. If the launch involved a long-range missile, it could be a test of a weapon capable of targeting the U.S. homeland, some experts say.

The launch is the fifth round of weapons tests by North Korea in the past 10 days. The testing spree is an apparent response to two sets of mili tary drills -- one between Washington

and Seoul and the other involving Washington, Seoul and Tokyo -- off the Korean Peninsula’s east coast last week.

North Korea regards such drills involving the United States as an invasion rehearsal. It was expected to react strongly this time because both exercises involved a U.S. aircraft carrier, which North Korea views as more provocative.

Japanese authorities alerted resi dents in its northeastern regions to evacuate to shelters, in the first “J-alert” since 2017 when North Korea fired an intermediate-range Hwasong-12 missile twice over Japan in a span of weeks during a previous run of weapons tests.

Trains were suspended in the Hok kaido and Aomori regions until the government issued a notice that the North Korean missile appeared to have landed in the Pacific. In Sap poro city, the prefectural capital of Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido, subways were also tem porarily halted, with stations packed with morning commuters.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters the launch “is a reckless act and I strongly condemn it.”

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said North Korea’s “reckless nuclear provocations” would meet a stern response from the South and

the broader international commu nity. His military separately warned that North Korea’s repeated missile launches would deepen its interna tional isolation and prompt Seoul and Washington to bolster their deter rence capacities.

Later Tuesday, four U.S. F-16 fighter jets and four South Korean F-15s conducted a joint strike drill in which one of the South Korean planes fired two precision-guided Joint Direct Attack Munition bombs into an island target. The exercise was aimed at demonstrating the allies’ ability to accurately strike North Korean targets with “overwhelming force,” the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

According to South Korean and Japanese estimates, the North Korean missile fired from its northern province bordering China traveled 4,500-4,600 kilometres (2,800-2,860 miles) at a maximum altitude of 9701,000 kilometres (600-620 miles). Japanese Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada said that it landed in the Pacific about 3,200 kilometres (1,990 miles) off the northern Japanese coast and that there were no reports of damage to Japanese aircraft or ships.

South Korea’s Defence Minis try said the missile flew farther than any other weapon fired by North Korea. Before Tuesday’s launch, the

3,700-kilometre (2,300-mile) flight of a Hwasong-12 in 2017 was North Korea’s longest. It has previously tested intercontinental ballistic mis siles at steep angles so they flew shorter distances to avoid neighbour ing countries.

The missile’s flight distance shows it has enough range to hit Guam, home to U.S. military bases that have sent advanced warplanes to the Korean Peninsula in shows of force during past periods of tension with North Korea. In 2017, North Korea threatened to make “an enveloping fire” near Guam with Hwasong-12 missiles amid rising animosities with the then-Trump administration. North Korea last test-fired a Hwa song-12 missile in January. At the time, it said the launch was meant to verify the overall accuracy of the weapon.

Lee Choon Geun, an honourary research fellow at South Korea’s Science and Technology Policy Institute, said Tuesday’s launch of a suspected Hwasong-12 missile would demonstrate a capacity that “truly places Guam within strik ing distance.” He said North Korea likely wanted to confirm the missile’s operational capabilities as it is being mass-produced.

Kim Dong-yub, a professor at Seoul’s University of North Korean Studies, said North Korea could have tested the Hwasong-12 again, or even an intercontinental ballistic missile, closer to what would be a normal bal listic trajectory but shorter than its full range. If it was an ICBM, the pur pose of the launch would be to test whether the warhead could survive the harsh conditions of atmospheric reentry, Kim said.

The missiles fired during the past four rounds of launches were short range and fell in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. Those missiles are capable of hitting targets in South Korea.

Heo Tae-keun, South Korea’s deputy minister of national defence policy, told lawmakers Tuesday that North Korea is preparing to test a new liquid-fueled ICBM and a sub marine-launched ballistic missile, as well. He said North Korea also main tains a readiness to conduct a nuclear test in what would be its first such bomb detonation in five years and its seventh in total.

NORTH Korean leader Kim Jong Un. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)

VEHICLES and debris are seen on Sanibel Island, Florida. (Chuck Larsen/SantivaChronicle.com via AP)

All women’s pro boxing show set

By BRENT STUBBS

Sports Reporter

HERO WORLD CHALLENGE HAS LOADED FIELD OF GOLFERS

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemdedia.net

Promoter

Michelle Minus and her First Class Pro motions is back with another exciting pro fessional boxing show, this time with an all-female cast of competitors.

In their first show in more than a decade, Minus announced that in conjunc tion with Quinton Brennen of QB Events Consulting and Marketing, First Class Promotions will host a World Boxing Association super lightweight title fight between Canadian Jes sica “The Cobra” Camara and Dominican Repub lic’s Dahiana Santana 8pm on Friday, October 28 at the Kendal GL Isaacs Gymnasium.

Camara comes into the fight with a 7-1 win-loss record against Santana, the more experienced of the two with a 40-13 record. She is a former IBA world champion. Both fighters are aged 34.

Under the theme “Fight ing For the Cure,” the main event of the card, which will be a colour pink affair in recognition of Breast Cancer Month, will cover some 10 rounds, while there will be four other bouts featuring all females on the undercard.

During the show, Minus said Ray Minus Jr, the

founder of Champion Boxing Club which gave birth to First Class Pro motions, will be honoured for his contribution to the sport of boxing, both at the amateur and professional ranks.

“Ray has been one of the most outstanding boxers, who has contributed signif icantly to the sport,” said Minus, who worked fever ishly with her husband during the heydays when he coached and produced three boxers with seven championship titles.

They included Jermaine ‘Choo Choo’ Mackey with four belts and both Meacher ‘Major Pain’ Major and Elkino Saunders with one. All three boxers held the WBA Fedecar ibe titles, while Mackey held the Bahamas, World Boxing Council (WBC) Caribbean Boxing Federa tion (CABOFE) and the British Commonwealth super middleweight titles.

Minus noted that during the night, Minus said they will also recognise a number of the fighters who came up through the ranks of Champion Boxing Club and First Class Promo tions under the tutelage of Minus, who is currently recuperating from a series of injuries. The show is being partnered by the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture and will be sanctioned by the Bahamas Boxing Commission.

According to Minus, this is just the beginning of the return of First Class Promotions.

“I’m hooked up with the top weight division for boxing, the IBF, who match made the show,” Minus said. “When I made the call, they were able to put everything together because they want to bring more fights of this sort to the Caribbean and the Bahamas in general. “This is the first all-female

boxing show ever staged in the Caribbean.

“We are also planning on putting on the first unisex show here in the Baha mas in the future. We just want to make sure that we get this one under our belt first.”

Minus said the whole idea is to support the fight against breast cancer and the Sister Sister Group.

Tickets for the event are $35 for general admission and $125 for VIP. All major cards will be accepted for payment.

Quinton Brennen, who now operates his QB Events consulting and marketing company after his departure from the National Sports Authority as the gen eral manager, said he’s delighted to venture with First Class Promotions and Minus in taking the event from paper to fruition.

“I’m responsible for the logistics, the organising,

the full operation and the breakdown of the event,” he said. “Right now, we’re trying to secure all of the necessary funding to make the event a success.

“But I’m happy to be associated with Michelle and First Class Promo tions in this being a first time event in the country.

Nothing much has been happening with boxing in the country, so it’s good to see the sport come back and come back in such a unique way with an allfemale show.”

Brennen said they hope to put on a first-class event that will attract all Bahami ans to attend.

The event comes just before the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture hosts its Sports Month in November where the focus will be on recognising some of the former greats who have made their contribu tion to sports in the country over the years.

WOODS YET TO ANNOUNCE IF HE JOINS STRONG BAHAMAS FIELD

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer

TIGER Woods has another loaded field for his Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.

Woods yesterday announced 17 players for the 20-man field, and all but four are from the top 21 in the world ranking. Still to be announced is whether the player at No. 1,195 in the world — Woods — will tee it up at Albany.

Woods saved three spots for tournament exemp tions, and it is widely expected he will play for the first time since 2019. He played three majors this

year, most recently at the British Open in July.

For the tournament to qualify for world rank ing points, the exemptions must be among the top 50 in the world ranking. The exception is for the tour nament host if he is not already eligible.

Woods did not play the Hero World Challenge last year while recovering from his February 2021 car crash that badly injured his right leg, though he caused a big stir when he was seen hit ting full shots on the back of the range. He returned two weeks later at the PNC Championship with his son, Charlie.

Among the newcomers to the holiday event are Will Zalatoris, Cameron

Analysis: NFL isn’t passing the eye test on head injuries

By ARNIE STAPLETON AP Pro Football Writer

WHAT happened in Tampa was the last thing the NFL, its players and its fanbase needed three days after Tua Tagovailoa’s hor rifying head injury called into question the league’s commitment to curbing concussions.

Buccaneers tight end Cameron Brate sat out the second half of Sunday night’s 41-31 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs with a concussion after colliding with a teammate and being allowed to re-enter the game.

Brate was shaken up just before halftime after catch ing a pass for a 9-yard gain and colliding with Bucs receiver Chris Godwin while being tackled. Brate stayed down for a few

seconds before heading for the sideline, but he didn’t get off the field fast enough for Tampa Bay to avoid a penalty for having too many men on the field on the next play.

Brate re-entered the game and was Tom Brady’s intended receiver on mul tiple incompletions just before halftime.

Coach Todd Bowles said after the game that Brate

was in the concussion pro tocol but was unable to explain why he was allowed to re-enter the game with a head injury.

A day later, Bowles said it was because Brate expe rienced delayed symptoms of a concussion at halftime after initially complaining only of shoulder discom fort and being allowed to go back in the game.

“Broken system,” tweeted Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy, who was in attendance in his role as analyst for NBC’s “Football Night in America.”

“I was on the sideline very close to Brate-obvi ous he had his bell rung,” Dungy continued. “There’s a league appointed spot ter in the press box who should stop play and alert

the top 21 who chose not to play were Rory McIl roy, Patrick Cantlay and Shane Lowry. British Open champion Cameron Smith is not eligible because he signed with Saudi-backed LIV Golf and this is a PGA Tour-sanctioned event.

The fields currently features 10 of the 12 Americans from the Presi dents Cup team. Cantlay is not going and the other is Kevin Kisner, who most likely will get one of the tournament exemptions to be announced later.

Three of the five qualified players from

IN an effort to continue to promote the Bahamas as a “Paradise” destination to play golf, renowned Ameri can golfer Tiger Woods has released the names of 17 of the top 21 players in the world who will be coming to participate in his 2022 Hero World Challenge.

This year’s Challenge is set for November 28 to December 4 at the Albany Bahamas resort and will include defending cham pion Viktor Hovland of Norway, who is currently ranked at number 11 in the world.

The field of competitors coming in will comprise of seven major winners who have won a total of 11 major championship titles and 16 Professional Golf Association (PGA) Tour champions with a total of 87 titles to their ledgers.

ENGLISH CLUBS FAIL TO DOMINATE EARLY IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

By STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer

THE Premier League has provided six of the last 10 Champions League final ists and its clubs were by far the biggest spenders in the summer transfer window, strengthening their alreadydeep squads and weakening some of their European rivals in the process.

No wonder many were anticipating English domi nation of the Champions League this season.

It’s not happened.

After two rounds of the group stage, it has been an underwhelming start by the English teams, with three of the four having already lost a game and far from sure of advancing to the round of 16.

PAGE 13

International prospects flock to London for NFL tryout

By KEN MAGUIRE AP Sports Writer

LONDON (AP) — Jason Godrick plans to “dominate” as an NFL offensive lineman. The first hurdle seems like a big one, though.

“I’ve never played an organised game of foot ball before,” the 6-foot-5, 293-pound Nigerian said. “I’ve been blessed to be a quick learner, a very good student.”

The 21-year-old Lagos native, who goes by “Chu,” was one of the more than 40 prospects

— representing 13 coun tries — who competed in the NFL’s international combine yesterday at Tot tenham Hotspur Stadium.

They’re hoping to join the league’s Interna tional Player Pathway programme.

Godrick switched from basketball to football in January — coaches were impressed by his hoops “mixtape” — and a few months later he saw coun tryman Roy Mbaeteka sign with the New York Giants despite having not

Young, Sungjae Im, Max Homa and 20-year-old Tom Kim. The only players from

DOLPHINS head coach Mike McDaniel walks away as Tua Tago vailoa is taken off the field on a stretcher on September 29. (AP Photo/Joshua A Bickel)

TIGER Woods follows his ball at the 4th tee during the Hero World Challenge at Albany Golf Club on December 7, 2019. (AP Photo/Dante Carrer)

DAHIANA Santana

JESSICA ‘The Cobra’ Camara

Yankees star Judge hits 62nd homer to break Maris’ AL record

By STEPHEN HAWKINS AP Baseball Writer

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Aaron Judge hit his 62nd home run of the season last night, breaking Roger Maris’ American League record and setting what some fans consider baseball’s “clean” standard.

The 30-year-old Yan kees slugger drove a 1-1 slider from Texas righthander Jesús Tinoco into the first row of seats in left field when leading off the second game of New York’s day-night doubleheader.

After No. 99 took a smooth, mighty swing, he had a wide smile on his face as he rounded the bases and his Yankees teammates streamed out of the dugout to celebrate with him. They stayed

away from home plate, let ting Judge step on it before sharing hugs and high-fives.

Judge’s mother and father were in the stands to see Judge end a fivegame homerless streak, including Game 1 of the doubleheader when he was 1 for 5 with a single.

The ball was caught by a fan in Section 31, who was then taken with security to have the ball authenticated.

Another fan was escorted away after leaping out of the seats into a gap between the seats and the left-field wall.

Maris’ 61 for the Yan kees in 1961 had been exceeded six times previ ously, but all were tainted by the stench of steroids.

Mark McGwire hit 70 for the St Louis Cardinals in 1998 and 65 the following

RICARDO MCPHEE AND CHRISTOPHER RAHMING JR REUNITE ON PRO SOCCER TEAM IN ITALY

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

FROM playing together at age five with the United Football Club to team-mates on the men’s national team before they split up and played against each other’s academies in England, Ricardo ‘Ricky’ McPhee and Christopher Rahming Jr are now reunited as team-mates on their first professional soccer team in Italy.

The pair of 23-yearold players signed their first pro contracts two weeks ago to play for the Casteilaneta Calcio 1962.

While McPhee, a centre/ forward would have played in their first game on Sunday that ended in a scoreless draw, midfielder Rahming Jr is expected to play in their next game after he just got all of his official paper work completed.

While he was playing for an academy in Eng land, Rahming Jr said his coach introduced him to a few pro teams and when the offer was made to try out for Casteilaneta Calcio 1962, he invited McPhee. Together, they impressed the coaching staff and were signed to a one-year deal.

“I just feel that it’s all God who brought us back together to make some thing happen big for the Bahamas,” said Rahming Jr. “It’s kind of like fate that we met playing so young with each other, then against each other in

rival academies and now we have signed our first pro contract together. It’s only God to have brought us together again.”

For McPhee, whose team lost out to Rahming Jr’s when they played in their separate academies in Eng land, it was a blessing to play with someone who has known just about all of his life.

“We both share the same dreams since being young kids and now to see us achieve that dream, not just at the same time, but in the same place, is truly a blessing. I want to thank God for this.”

In his debut with the team, McPhee said it was more than he anticipated.

“It was as tough match, very physical, fast and tech nical, but there’s nothing that my ability could not get through,” McPhee said.

Based on what he saw, Rahming Jr said he hopes to provide some strength to their midfield.

“I’m just looking forward to getting into the game and to display my ability to help the team as much as I can,” he said.

As the only non Euro pean Union based players on the team, Rahming Jr and McPhee said it does not matter where you come from.

“If you say you want something, just go and get it,” McPhee stressed.

To the players they left behind, Rahming Jr said just as they got the expo sure, it could happen to any other Bahamian.

year. Barry Bonds hit an MLB-record 73 for the San Francisco Giants in 2001, and the Chicago Cubs’ Sammy Sosa had 66, 65 and 63 during a four-season span starting in 1998.

McGwire admitted using banned steroids, while Bonds and Sosa denied knowingly using perform ing-enhancing drugs. Major League Baseball started testing with penalties for PEDs in 2004, and some fans — perhaps many — until now have considered Maris as holder of the legit imate record.

A Ruthian figure with a smile as outsized as his body, the 6-foot-7 Judge has rocked the major leagues with a series of deep drives that hearken to the sepia tone movie reels of his legendary pinstriped

predecessors. “He should be revered for being the actual single-season home run champ,” Roger Maris Jr said Wednesday night after his father’s mark was matched by Judge. “I think baseball needs to look at the records and I think baseball should do something.”

Judge had homered only once in the past 13 games, and that was when he hit No. 61 last Wednesday in Toronto. The double header nightcap in Texas was his 55th game in row played since Aug. 5.

Judge was 3 for 17 with five walks and a hit by pitch since moving past the 60 home runs Babe Ruth hit in 1927, which had stood as the major league record for 34 years. Maris hit his 61st off Boston’s Tracy Stallard

at old Yankee Stadium on October 1, 1961.

Judge has a chance to become the first AL Triple Crown winner since Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera in 2012.

He leads the AL with 131 RBIs and began the day trailing Minnesota’s Luis Arraez, who was hit ting .315.

Judge’s accomplishment will cause endless debate.

“To me, the holder of the record for home runs in a season is Roger Maris,” author George Will said earlier this month.

“There’s no hint of sus picion that we’re seeing better baseball than better chemistry in the case of Judge. He’s clean. He’s not doing something that forces other players to jeopardise their health.”

FOR ANOTHER PLAYOFF TEAM

By JAY COHEN AP Baseball Writer

THE Philadelphia Phil lies grabbed baseball’s last playoff ticket on Monday, and Bryce Harper and company partied into the night. “ We’re in! We did it! We did it! “ slugger Rhys Hoskins yelled as the cel ebration kicked into high gear.

It’s the first playoff appearance for Philly since 2011, and no one seemed to care that it arrived via one of three NL wild cards.

It’s the first year for the majors’ new playoff format — part of the negotiations that resulted in the March labour deal that ended a 99-day lockout. Each league has three wild cards, taking the postseason field from 10 to 12 teams.

Philadelphia clinched its spot after Seattle secured an AL wild card on Friday night for its first play off berth in 21 years. The other wild-card teams are Toronto and Tampa Bay in the AL, and San Diego and the NL East runner-up in the NL.

“For us it was to end the drought so it gave us an extra opportunity,” Mari ners infielder Ty France said. “But I think it’s a cool, cool structure they have and setup they have.”

The new-look October has erased some of the usual tension from the final few days of the regular season. But there is still val uable positioning at stake for the playoff teams.

“They just have to put in the hard work and wait for their opportunity to come,” he stated.

Over the next eight months, the duo are hoping to produce the kind of per formances on the field that will enable Casteilaneta Calcio 1962 to contend for one of the two playoff spots in the league this year.

The team finished in the middle of the table last year and is eager to move up the ladder.

If there’s any hurdle that they both have to deal with, it’s the language barrier.

They noticed that not many Italians speak Eng lish and so they find themselves learning some Latin words on the fly.

“It’s been a little hard to learn the Latin language,” McPhee said.

If there’s any consola tion, McPhee said they are located in a very small city where “everyone knows everyone” so it gives us much more time to get adjusted to our environ ment and at the same time

focusing on football. “We have fans driving to our matches, which are nor mally 45-one hour away from our city,” McPhee said.

The stadiums they play in on the road house between 2-3,000 seating capacity, as compared to just under 1,000 at home.

For the younger players back home in the Baha mas, McPhee advised them that it’s not “how you start, but rather how you finish. If you dream it and you believe it, you can achieve it. “I come from playing home, growing up on Car michael Road to moving to England for football, then to Cyprus and Sweden to the division II level to come here for my first professional contract. Any thing is possible.”

The son of Chantell Varence and grandson of Clarice Varence, McPhee has two sisters Shernesha and Sherniah Pratt.

McPhee graduated from Garvin Tynes Primary School, attended Aquinas

College for grade seven and then entered the Lead ership Academy Home School before leaving to complete the 11th and 12th grades in the United States of America.

Rahming Jr is the son of Christopher Rahming Sr and Yvette Rahming and the brother to Gabrielle Rahming.

He attended St Anne’s School from primary to eighth grade before enroll ing in St Andrew’s School for the ninth grade and then departing for the USA as well to complete his high school tenure.

“To anyone playing foot ball in the Bahamas, if God gives you a dream to play pro, it’s a reason he gave you that dream,” he said.

“So put your head down and work up and trust God. That is the only way you will make it.”

Together, the duo want to “put the Bahamas on the map,’ McPhee said. “We want the world to know that we also play football in the Bahamas,” he added.

The top two division winners in each league get first-round byes, and the remaining four qualifiers play best-of-three series in the wild-card round on three consecutive days. The third division winner is the highest seed in that group, with other clubs sorted by their records. The top seeds in each matchup host the entire series.

Gone are the days of the win-or-go-home wild-card games in each league.

“It has felt as a wild-card team, just to play one game and have an entire season come down to one game, never felt right,” said Chris Antonetti, the president of baseball operations for the Cleveland Guardians. “So having some additional games in the wild-card round makes sense.”

The playoffs expanded to 16 teams for the pandemicdelayed 2020 season as part of an agreement between Major League Baseball and the players’ union. But the field went back down to 10 when the majors played a full season last year.

Looking for more TV revenue, Major League Baseball proposed 14 play off teams during the recent labour talks. But it set tled on 12 after the players resisted.

LEICESTER EARNS FIRST EPL WIN, DROPS FOREST INTO LAST PLACE

LEICESTER, England (AP) — Getting 22 new signings to gel is proving to be a mightily difficult task for Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper.

A 4-0 loss at previously winless Leicester dropped Forest into last place in the English Premier League on Monday, leaving Cooper at risk of becoming the latest top-flight manager to lose his job.

In front of the club’s Thai owner, Aiyawatt Srivad dhanaprabha, who flew in for the match, Leicester earned some respite with a dominant display that ended a six-match losing run.

James Maddison scored two — one being a curling free kick in off the far post — while Harvey Barnes and substitute Patson Daka, with a deft flick from Maddison’s cross, added the others at a rocking King Power Stadium.

The pressure, for now, is off Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers, who

looked and sounded like someone who could no longer get the best out of his squad following a 6-2 loss at Tottenham before the international break.

“It was a season-changing game,” Rodgers said, “and to get the performance we did, hopefully we can push on.

“I felt we had a horren dous summer — that is the reality — and it continued into the season. We just didn’t play to the levels ... but we’ve been able to reset that.”

Now, Forest is the league’s crisis club and Cooper is the manager bat tling to survive.

“I completely understand the situation and the ques tion and respect it, 100%,” Cooper said, when asked if his future was in doubt.

“But my concern is we have lost another game for this club, not my own situ ation, because I care more about the club more than my personal circumstances. “I refuse to criticise the

players as a group as it is a fresh challenge.”

After securing a return to the league after a 23-year absence, Forest has been one of Europe’s highest spenders — bringing in a record 22 players at a cost of more than $150 million.

Unsurprisingly, it is taking Cooper some time to discover his best lineup or formation.

It remains to be seen how much longer he gets, with Forest replacing Leicester at the bottom and having conceded 16 goals in its last four games. Cooper’s team has lost five in a row.

“Some of the guys have only met each other these last couple of weeks,” Cooper said. “That’s the realism of the situation and something we have to deal with. At the moment we are getting punished because of periods in games where we are not a team.”

Leicester scored three goals in a 10-minute span from the 25th to damage Forest’s fragile confidence.

Maddison set the hosts

on their way with a shot that deflected in off Scott McKenna.

Two minutes later, Barnes curled a shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the area after Mad dison set Jamie Vardy free with a long-range pass.

Maddison completed the flurry of goals with a free kick from 25 meters that kissed the post as it went in, bringing up his 50th strike for Leicester.

Cooper made three half time changes — including the last of his summer signings, right back Serge Aurier — but things didn’t get any better.

Daka, on for Vardy, rounded off the scoring with a deft flick from Mad dison’s driven cross from the right. It was a stel lar all-round display from Maddison, who was disap pointed to be overlooked in the latest England squad despite having strong form for much of 2022. “It’s been a bit of a weird position — we have been bottom of the

league but I have almost been as confident as I have ever been in myself. I don’t remember playing better than I have over the past 12 months. “I’ve got to be of the mindset,” he added, “that I’ve got to force my

way in (to the England squad).”

The closest Forest came to scoring was a first-half effort from Taiwo Awoniyi that hit the post, as Leices ter kept a first clean sheet of the season.

RICARDO McPhee and Christopher Rahming Jr with team officials.

LEICESTER’s Harvey Barnes shoots to score his side’s second goal during an English Premier League soccer match against Not tingham Forest at the King Power Stadium on Monday. (AP Photo/Leila Coker)

Women to get more rest between hoop games at next World Cup

By DOUG FENIBERG AP Basketball Writer

SYDNEY (AP) — Play ers at this year’s World Cup had a few concerns about the competition, including the compact schedule and the timing of the tourna ment, and the women took their complaints right to the top.

FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis talked with many of the players during the course of the recently competed tourna ment. He offered a quick solution for the rest con cerns, but changing the date will take more work.

The next World Cup in 2026 will once again feature 16 teams instead of the 12 at this year’s tournament — and players will have more time to recuperate between the final rounds.

“We will not play three days in a row, that will not happen again,” Zagklis said. “This is not something we want to see repeated. It’s too heavy on the players.”

At this year’s tourna ment, the quarterfinals, semifinals and medal games were played over three straight days. Over all, teams that reached the gold-medal game would have played eight games in 10 days. The 2018 World

Cup had a break between the quarters and the medal round.

While the scheduling change is a welcomed posi tive step for the players, there’s still the issue of timing. The WNBA tried to work with FIBA by short ening its season. Still, the league’s playoffs continued until the start of the World Cup, forcing about a dozen players to basically travel a few thousand miles, get off a plane and start playing for their national teams.

Many European leagues tip off soon after the World Cup ends, so it’s difficult to move it to a later start date.

Zagklis said FIBA will be working with the stake holders to provide the best possible solution for the players — though indicat ing the change will likely have to come from the WNBA or the other pro leagues.

“The World Cup is turn ing next year 70 years old, the women’s world has been there much before virtually every women’s league in the world and it is the top female competition,” Zag klis. “So the calendar starts again with the World Cup.” USA Basketball chair man Martin Dempsey said there is a sense of urgency for FIBA to address the

JONES

scheduling problem, espe cially with the WNBA set to expand over the next few years.

“The time to have that conversation is before it happens, not after,” Demp sey said. “So we really do need to figure out with the ‘W,’ the NBA and FIBA how to keep all of these enterprises viable because we don’t want to run the risk of creating a very diluted World Cup.

“We’ve got to have a really serious ongoing con versation about how to keep things in sync so that they don’t clash.”

Five of the U.S. players competed in the WNBA Finals that ended three days before the World Cup started. Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum and

tournament MVP A’ja Wilson missed the first two games for the U.S.

Before the scheduling change was announced, players made their posi tions clear.

“I don’t know if FIBA gave a damn about anyone,” Plum said.

“Rest would be a good thing,” Wilson said. “Having some time between would definitely help.”

The site for the 2026 World Cup hasn’t been announced yet and getting to Australia might have been the most difficult place for everyone because of its location.

Serbia coach Marina Maljković noticed how tired many players were. She coaches in Turkey in

the winter and said players across the leagues need a break.

“You see a lot of players that lacked freshness. You can see it, any single team going from club season to WNBA, WNBA to national team,” Maljković said.

“This year it’s very, very complicated. ... Talking to players, they really suffered this season because of the tight schedule everywhere. I guess there will be smart people who will sit around the table and see what we can do about that.”

Aside from the logisti cal issues, the World Cup was a huge success in Aus tralia. The total attendance of 145,519 was the highest in the history of the com petition. There were nearly 16,000 fans at the goldmedal game between the U.S. and China, which was the largest since the 1953 championship game played in Chile in a stadium that had 35,000 fans.

“By all metrics, we have seen a tremendous effort by the hosts,” Zagklis said.

“Record sales in merchan dise, record attendances, fantastic atmosphere in the games, so it’s hard to chal lenge the conclusion that we’ve been able to experi ence the best World Cup ever.”

SIMMONS, LEONARD, MURRAY BACK AMONG NBA HAPPY RETURNS

By BRIAN MAHONEY AP Basketball Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Ben Simmons streaked behind the defence and caught a pass in transition that he dunked. About a minute later, he fired a cross-court pass to a Brook lyn Nets teammate for a 3-pointer.

Those were the types of plays the Philadelphia 76ers had seen many times before.

On Monday, Simmons finally made them for another team.

Simmons played against his former club in his first NBA game since June 2021, making him among a number of big names who got back to basketball action.

“I’m grateful just to be able to step on that floor, step on an NBA floor again,” Simmons said. “So I had a lot of fun out there.”

Kawhi Leonard also returned for the Los Ange les Clippers, as did Jamal Murray for the Denver Nuggets, after they both sat out last season recover ing from surgeries for ACL tears.

“539 days later… BOUT THAT TIME!!” Murray wrote on Twitter.

“Just being able to put all that hard work that I did

throughout the, whatever, 14, 16 months, just being able to put that into test playing against NBA talent was good,” Leonard said after the Clippers 102-97 win over Portland. “Just being out there with the guys, talking, I missed it. It was a great experience for me.”

That’s no doubt how their teams felt after expecting to be title contenders last season but instead having those hopes wrecked by injuries. Paul George also missed significant time for the Clippers, and Michael Porter Jr was out for all but nine games for the Nuggets.

They all played Monday, along with Damian Lillard returning for Portland after missing the final 47 games last season, when the Clip pers and Trail Blazers met in a preseason game.

“As a fan of the game, Kawhi being back is great for basketball, Jamal Murray being back is great for basketball,” the Nets’ Kevin Durant said. “All the guys that have been out injured and able to play again, it’s a great feeling just seeing them out there.”

Simmons hoped he was close to playing last Febru ary after getting traded to the Nets in a deal headlined by James Harden. Simmons had cited mental health

reasons in seeking a trade from the 76ers following a disappointing postseason when he took a bulk of the criticism after the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Confer ence was ousted by Atlanta in the second round.

But a herniated disk kept him from making a late-sea son debut and forced him to get offseason surgery.

Fully cleared now, Sim mons was in the starting lineup and finished with six points, five assists and four rebounds in 19 min utes. He went weakly out of Philadelphia, with the last memory of the 2016 No. 1 pick’s time there passing

DOMINANT MADRID

Chelsea is in the most trouble.

After a loss at Dinamo Zagreb in Group E and only a draw at home to Salzburg, Chelsea — cham pion twice in the past decade and the club which had a Europe-high outlay of nearly $300 million in the summer — heads into a tough double-header against Italian champion AC Milan in a sticky spot and with a new coach still trying to work out his best lineup and formation.

Graham Potter only took charge last month after the firing of Thomas Tuchel, hardly an ideal situation for a team nearing midway through a Champions League group-stage cam paign. On the plus side for Chelsea ahead of Wednes day’s home game, it rallied to beat Crystal Palace 2-1 in the Premier League at the weekend.

Liverpool, meanwhile, opened with a chastening 4-1 loss at Napoli in Group A and might have been in a similarly tough posi tion as Chelsea if it wasn’t for a last-minute goal by

Joel Matip to beat Ajax 2-1. Now, there’s a sense of optimism around the Reds’ European hopes, especially given two straight games against last-place Rangers, starting Tuesday — after which Liverpool could be yet in sight of qualification.

Then there’s Tottenham, which only beat 10-man Marseille in Group D thanks to two late goals from Richarlison and was then way below par in a surprise loss at Portuguese team Sporting.

Spurs now have two matches against Eintracht Frankfurt, starting in Ger many on Tuesday. It goes into the game after a 3-1 defeat in the north London derby at Arsenal.

Manchester City, which routed rival Manchester United 6-3 on Sunday, is the only English team in a strong position after wins over Sevilla and Borussia Dortmund already. Next comes back-to-back games against FC Copenhagen, with City having a good chance of advancing from Group G with two matches to spare. Their first game is on Wednesday.

• Here’s what else to look out for in the third round:

Defending champion

Real Madrid can take full control of its group with a home win against Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday. A victory would give Madrid a five-point lead after only three matches in Group F, considered one of the easiest. Madrid got off to a perfect start to the season in all competitions but was held 1-1 at home against Osasuna in the Spanish league on Sunday. Madrid has six points — two more than secondplace Shakhtar. Madrid’s big rival, Barcelona, isn’t in such good shape after losing to Bayern Munich last time out. Barca visits Inter Milan on Tuesday in a match that could help decide the second-place qualifier in Group C, with both teams on three points, three behind Bayern.

NAPOLI’S (MANY) OPTIONS

With every match, it seems, Napoli discovers a new weapon. It started with Georgia dribbling wizard Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and South Korea center back Kim Min-jae. Then Poland midfielder Piotr Zieli ski stood out in the 4-1 win

up a layup down the stretch of the Game 7 loss to the Hawks. But he looked con fident pushing the ball in transition or playmaking from the post — though did miss his only two free throws.

Simmons said he thought he would feel nervous but didn’t. Durant recalled feeling anxious when he returned after missing the 2019-20 season after Achil les tendon surgery.

“You wonder how your lungs are going to feel play ing in an organised game because playing pickup, working out is different than playing in a game,” Durant said.

“So you just want to see where your legs are on the jump shot. So being away for a year, you get a lot of anxiety coming back. I know I did.”

In Seattle, a bevy of big names made their pre season debuts before a sold-out crowd in just the second preseason game between NBA teams in the Emerald City since the departure of the SuperSon ics for Oklahoma City.

While there were Clip pers and Blazers fans, the prominent colour was over whelmingly green and gold amid constant hope that some day the Sonics will return.

over Liverpool last month, followed by Giovanni Simeone and Giacomo Raspadori each asserting themselves at center for ward during the absence of Victor Osimhen. On Sat urday, it was André-Frank Zambo Anguissa’s turn as the Cameroon midfielder scored twice in a win over Torino for his first goals in the Italian league. And now Osimhen could return from injury at Ajax on Tuesday in Group A as the Parten opei look to extend their perfect start to the Champi ons League and keep intact an unbeaten record across all competitions.

BAYERN BACK IN BUSINESS

Ominously for visiting Plzen yesterday, Bayern Munich has ended talk of a crisis and got back to its traditional dominance in the Bundesliga with a 4-0 rout of Bayer Leverkusen. The Bavarian powerhouse traditionally endures a mini-slump early in the season before returning to old strengths for the rest, and it appears to be Plze ’s misfortune that Julian Nagelsmann’s team seems to have shaken off its inse curities for the return of

The fans that showed up were treated to Leonard’s first action since injuring his knee during the 2021 Western Conference semifi nals, just a few days before Simmons.

Leonard looked just fine, knocking down his first shot 15 seconds into the game and scored 11 points in 16 minutes in the first half. John Wall also made his debut with the Clippers after the five-time All-Star did not play last season.

Wall scored five points in 11 minutes and George added 12 points in 16 minutes. All three played just the first half.

Lillard played into the second half and had 16 points in 23 minutes.

The royalty of Seat tle basketball turned out, including Lenny Wilkens, Shawn Kemp, Gary Payton, Jamal Crawford, George Karl, Detlef Schrempf, Sam Perkins and many others connected to the city’s hoops history. Clip pers owner Steve Ballmer grabbed the microphone before tipoff and thanked his hometown for turning out.

“I watched thousands of basketball games in Seattle — CYO, little kids, AAU, pro, college, you name it. So if this is a basketball city, damnit, let’s hear it,”

Europe’s premier club competition.

Bayern’s players usually up their performances in the Cham pions League, too. The only worry for Nagelsmann will be the likely absence of influential players Thomas Müller and Joshua Kim mich. Both tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday.

PSG VISITS

BENFICA Benfica and PSG will fight for the outright Group H lead on Wednesday as they both have six points while Juventus and Mac cabi Haifa have none. PSG edged Nice 2-1 on Satur day with goals from Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe to retain its two-point lead over Marseille in the French league. Center back Presnel Kimpembe and midfielder Marco Verratti were both suspended against Nice and were still injured anyway. Messi was arguably the best player against Nice while Neymar’s form has recently dipped. Nice prevented PSG from creating chances for most of the first half by pressing high up the field.

Benfica will look to bully PSG in the middle as the two central midfielders can sometimes be isolated.

BOOK ‘THE WAY CHAMPS PLAY’

NEW YORK (AP) — Naomi Osaka has some life lessons she’d like to share.

The tennis superstar has a deal with Harper Collins Publishers for a children’s picture book, “The Way Champs Play,” scheduled to come out December 6.

Illustrated by Kamala Nair, the book was arranged through Osa ka’s new media company, Hana Kuma.

The story is based on Osaka’s organisation Play Academy, which provides grants and train ing for community sports organisations. “The Way Champs Play” is Osaka’s first book.

“The leadership, con fidence, teamwork, and resilience I’ve learned on the court have been so valuable to me and that’s why I am so excited about my new book, ‘The Way Champs Play,’” Osaka, 24, said in a state ment released yesterday.

“I’ve learned my great est lessons on the court, and that’s why I started Play Academy, to ensure girls can stay in organised sports,” the four-time Grand Slam singles champion added. “It’s proven to give them the skills they need to suc ceed not just in sports but in the classroom, in the boardroom, and within their communities.”

Ballmer screamed right before tipoff, eliciting huge cheers from the crowd.

Murray’s absence in Denver was even longer, having torn his ACL in April 2021 and leaving him unable to try to duplicate the brilliant postseason he had while leading the Nug gets to the 2020 West finals at Walt Disney World.

Murray scored 10 points in 15 minutes for the Nuggets in their loss to Oklahoma City.

“Those long-term injuries are tough, dark,” Okla homa City coach Mark Daigneault said. “These guys do not have long win dows to play basketball, they cannot play until they are 50. It’s tough and takes a lot of commitment and work. The progress, espe cially early on, is almost invisible. You are nonweight bearing for a large amount of time with those types of injuries. Certainly happy for him and wish him well, in terms of staying healthy. He’s a really good player and their team will benefit from having him back.”

MARSEILLE’S NIGHTMARE

Marseille desperately needs a win against Sport ing Lisbon after losing the first two games to Tot tenham and Eintracht Frankfurt in Group D.

The French club hopes to avoid a repeat of the 2013-14 campaign when it finished the group stage with zero points. Marseille thrashed Angers 3-0 on Friday to remain second in the French league. Striker Alexis Sanchez was rested as he stayed on the bench after playing two full matches for Chile during the international break.

Marseille is still unbeaten in the French league but its defensive frailties have been exposed in the more competitive Champions League.

BEN SIMMONS (AP)

CALEA

By BRENT STUBBS Senior

ALTHOUGH she won’t sign her official letter of intent until November, rising young discus thrower Calea Jackson from Blue Chips Athletics has con firmed that she will be attending the University of Miami in August on an athletic scholarship for the Hurricanes women’s track and field programme.

Jackson, 17, is cur rently attending Rabun Gap-Nacooche School, a boarding school in north Georgia, She had qualified for CARIFTA during her seventh grade at Queen’s College, but because she was only 12 years old, she was ineligible to compete.

In April, she partici pated in her first Caribbean regional competition at CARIFTA in Kingston, Jamaica where she placed fourth in the discus.

In preparation for the upcoming season, Jackson said she’s in constant dia logue with her Blue Chips Athletics Club Corrington Maycock online to get her workouts done because there’s really no throw ing programme for her at school.

“I am looking forward to CARIFTA, seeing that

HERO FROM PAGE 15

Now in its seventh year, the tournament rounds will be played from Thurs day, December 1 – Sunday, December 4.

Live television coverage will be provided by GOLF Channel during all four rounds and by NBC during the third and final rounds.

According to the organ isers on their official website, good-any-one-day grounds tickets and a lim ited number of premium hospitality packages for the Hero World Challenge are

WOODS

FROM PAGE 15

the International team who will be in the Bahamas are Im, Kim and Hideki Matsuyama.

KORN FERRY SCHEDULE

The path for 30 play ers to reach the PGA Tour starts in the Bahamas next year as part of a Korn Ferry Tour schedule that has the same number of tourna ments, nearly $8 million more in prize money and a revamped end of the year.

The Korn Ferry Tour released its 2023 schedule on Tuesday with changes that already had been in the works, starting with a minimum $1 million purse for the regular season, with $180,000 to the winner.

it’s going to be in the Baha mas,” said Jackson, who will be competing in the under20 girls’ division. “I want to do really well because it’s at home. I feel I have a lot to prove, so I’m looking for ward to competing.”

On her choice of col lege to attend, Jackson said Miami was an easy location to settle on.

“I had a lot of good schools to look at and to choose from,” she pointed out. “But I chose Miami because not only do I think I would excel from the athletic perspective, but also from an academic perspective.

“They have an awesome medical programme and that is the field that I want to go into in the future. They also have a great track programme. That was the balance that enabled me to select that school.”

Although she’s versa tile in the throwing events, Jackson said she and May cock, as well as the coaching staff at Miami, agreed that she would abandon the shot put and concentrate a little more on her specialty in the discus with her empha sis now being placed on the hammer.

“I wasn’t as good in the shot put as I am in the discus and I always wanted to do the hammer, but

available for purchase at HeroWorldChallenge.com.

Proceeds from this year’s Hero World Challenge ben efit the TOR Foundation, Tavistock Foundation and the Bahamas Youth (Golf) Foundation.

It’s anticipated that this year’s tournament will draw one of its strongest fields of competitors participating.

While Hovland was just one of two players who won the title in their debut here, following in the footsteps of Jon Rahm, the 2015 cham pion, there are five players making their debut, who are looking to make an impact this year, They are

The change comes at the end of the year.

Instead of 25 players earning PGA Tour cards at the end of the regular season, the Korn Ferry goes to a playoff system similar to the FedEx Cup with increased points and reduced fields after each of the four weeks.

The top 156 players qualify for Albertson Boise Open, with 144 players at the Simmons Bank Open in Tennessee, 120 players advancing to the Nation wide Children’s Hospital Championship in Ohio and the top 75 going to the Korn Ferry Tour Champion ship in Indiana. All playoff events have $1.5 million purses ($270,000 for the winner). “I am thrilled with the momentum we’re car rying into this next chapter

trips/falls, slow/laboured movement).”

it’s not offered for high school,” said Jackson, who has a lifetime best of 45.19 metres or 148-feet, 3-inches in the discus and 11.45m (37-6 ¾) in the shot put.

On her transition from high school to college, Jack son said she feels it will be an easy one.

“It should not be a dif ficult transition for me because I’m already in a boarding school and I don’t think much will really change, except for the fact that I have a coach there training me,” she said. “So I’m looking forward to having a coach training me

Will Zalatoris, Cameron Young, Sungjae Im, Max Homa and Tom Kim.

The list of entries for the tournament, which was first moved to the Bahamas in 2015, is headed by Ameri can Scottie Scheffler, the top ranked player on the official World Golf Rank ing as of August 28.

The next highest ranked player is fellow American Xander Schauffele, who is pegged at No.5.

The players ranked from No.6 to 18 and from 20-21, are all listed to participate in the event. Missing from the list is the 2-4 ranked players and No.17.

of our tour’s history,” said Alex Baldwin, who enters her fifth season as Korn Ferry Tour president.

The Korn Ferry Tour pre viously awarded 25 PGA Tour cards from the regular season and 25 cards from the postseason of fields that were a mix of Korn Ferry and PGA Tour players. Now there will be 30 cards, with at least five cards from a traditional Q-school and 10 cards available to the leading players from the European tour.

As for the Korn Ferry Tour schedule, two Louisi ana tournaments and one in Maine are no longer on the schedule. They have been replaced by new tournaments in Chile, Oklahoma and New Jersey.

The season opens in Janu ary with two tournaments

OF

the referee. Brate shouldn’t have been allowed to return until after an evaluation. Why didn’t that happen???” Dungy added, “Coaches, team doctors and game officials are all watching play and can all step in. But the league appointed spotter has the ability to buzz the referee, stop the game and mandate that player leave the game to be evaluated—no penalty or timeout charged to the team.”

Bowles said Monday that Brate was checked out three times before being allowed to re-enter the game with the Bucs driving for a touchdown that trimmed Tampa Bay’s deficit to 28-17 at halftime. Brate said “nothing about his head” while complain ing of shoulder discomfort, Bowles said.

The NFL’s concussion and diagnosis protocol states that potential signs of a concussion include: “Slow to get up from the ground or return to play following a hit to the head” which “may include secondary contact with the playing surface,” and “motor coordination/ balance problems of neu rologic etiology (stumbles,

Bowles said Brate was re-examined at halftime after symptoms arose and “we kept him out the rest of the game.”

That did little to placate critics who also insist Tago vailoa never should have been allowed to suit up against the Bengals Thurs day night just four days after Miami’s quarterback came up stumbling when his head hit the ground against the Buffalo Bills on September 25.

Tagovailoa initially seemed to exhibit concus sion symptoms against Buffalo, but he was cleared by a team physi cian and UNC to return to the game. He and the team later explained his legs were wobbly because of a back injury.

Still, the league and its players’ union began a joint review into Tago vailoa’s quick return to the Bills game that is ongoing.

When Tagovailoa sus tained a concussion four days later at Cincinnati, the unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant who cleared him from entering con cussion protocol against Buffalo was fired by the union, and the league and the union said changes were needed to the con cussion protocol. The league and the NFLPA

issued a statement last week that said they had made no conclusions about “medical errors or protocol violations” while the investigation is still underway. But the two added that “modifications are needed ... to enhance player safety.”

Tagovailoa’s concussion was topic No. 1 across the NFL heading into Sun day’s slate of games, and coaches across the league spoke about safety being the game’s top priority.

Then came Sunday night when Brate kept playing despite a head injury.

“IT HAPPENED AGAIN @NFL!” tweeted Chris Nowinski, a founder of the Concussion Legacy Foundation who played football at Harvard and is adamant Tagovailoa sus tained a concussion against Buffalo and shouldn’t have played at Cincinnati.

“Cam Brate went back in 4 plays after showing #concussion signs from this huge hit to the head. He stayed down too long & couldn’t run off the field fast enough to avoid a pen alty,” Nowinski fumed, adding that Dungy “says it was obvious he had a concussion. How did he go back in?” Bowles acknowl edged “it was noticeable hit, but again it was on the shoulder. Nobody said anything about the head.”

so that I can continue to excel in the sport.”

Maycock, a former CAR IFTA thrower who has turned into one of the coun try’s top throwers’ coaches, said Jackson has shown tremendous progress since she first qualified for CAR IFTA as a seventh grader at Queen’s College.

“She came a long way,” said Maycock, who cel ebrated his birthday on Tuesday. “She’s in boarding school in Georgia, so I con tinue to coach her online.

THE PLAYERS

She is working very hard, so I’m expecting some great things from her when she heads to Miami.”

As he looks ahead to next year, Maycock said Jackson has an exceptional collegiate career as she competes in only the discus and the hammer, the latter of which he feels will turn out to be her best event.

“This is her last year in high school, so we expect for her to compete at the Penn Relays today,” May cock said.

THE players makling up this year’s field, based on their World rankings, are the following:

Scottie Scheffler (1), USA

Tony Finau (14), USA

Xander Schauffele (5), USA

Billy Horschel (15), USA

Jon Rahm (6), Spain

Hideki Matsuyama (16), Japan

Justin Thomas (7), USA

“I think she will be one of our better throwers because she has the potential. She’s a very hard worker.”

Jackson, who left Queen’s College in 2020 for Georgia where she currently attends school with Mila Sands and Khory Moss, expressed her gratitude to God, her mother Carla Jackson and coach Maycock.

She also thanked her team-mates for their sup port as she prepares to venture into the collegiate ranks next year.

Cameron Young (17), USA

Collin Morikawa (8), USA

Sungjae Im (18), South Korea

Will Zalatoris (9), USA

Max Homa (20), USA

Matt Fitzpatrick (10), England

Tom Kim (21), South Korea

Viktor Hovland (11), Norway Tournament exemption TBA

Sam Burns (12), USA Tournament exemption TBA

Jordan Spieth (13), USA Tournament exemption TBA

in the Bahamas, two in Latin America (Panama and Colombia), and then it is off five weeks before resuming in late March.

STAT OF THE WEEK

Three of the top 10 play ers in the world are playing

played in high school or college. “Roy is a big inspi ration for us back home,” Godrick said of the 6-9, 320-pound offensive tackle. “It was very big in Nigeria when he got signed.”

Mbaeteka, who was released from the Giants practice squad last week, had participated in last year’s combine in London and earned an invitation to the Pathway programme, whose most notable alum is Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman Jordan Mailata of Australia.

Godrick, like several other Nigerian prospects on Tuesday, came through a programme run by former Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora.

The two-time Super Bowl winner was on hand at Tot tenham’s stadium, where his former team plays the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.

“They have the athletic ability, they have the size, a lot of them have the speed. All they need is just the technique refinement,” said the British-born Ume nyiora, who spent part of his childhood in Nigeria.

A handful of the pros pects at the combine have some US college exposure, but many have played only

this week on three conti nents. Cameron Smith (No. 3) is in Thailand for LIV Golf, Patrick Cantlay (No. 4) is in Las Vegas on the PGA Tour and Jon Rahm (No. 6) is playing in Spain on the European tour.

in European leagues or universities — or not at all. Some are in their mid-20s. Many work regular jobs.

Emmanuel Falola, an inside linebacker with the Bristol Aztecs, is an accountant.

The East London native took the day off for the combine. “I haven’t been taking time off to prepare though — I’ve been work ing and preparing,” said the 24-year-old Falola, who also tried out last year.

Those selected for the Pathway programme will begin training in the US in January and could join rookies in minicamps in May.

“We don’t have that much time, especially the guys that come from other sports,” said Will Bryce, head of football development for NFL International.

“Their bodies have to change. They’re used to playing rugby or soccer — you’re running a lot more, whereas in football it’s repeated sprints, different positions.”

Like last year, there were no quarterbacks, punters or kickers at the combine. The NFL listed eight Nigerian participants — the larg est contingent among the countries, which included Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Panama, Mexico and several in Europe.

NFL coaches, scouts and general managers flock to Indianapolis each winter for the league’s annual scouting combine. There, pro prospects test their skills in various elements such as the bench press, 40-yard dash and vertical jump.

In London, it’s the NFL conducting the evalua tions as prospects are put through tests such as the broad jump, various sprints and the shuttle drill, which records lateral quickness.

“Let’s go Chu!” fellow prospects yelled as Godrick ran around small cones placed near the 20-yard line.

Godrick has been apply ing some tips he picked up from Cameroon-born Roman Oben, a former offensive tackle who is now NFL vice president of foot ball development.

“I’ve been watching film and with his guidance, I can say my growth has been good,” said Godrick, who plans to continue train ing back home in Nigeria, where he recently earned a college degree in human anatomy.

“Ultimate goal? Get to the NFL, dominate, show the world that it doesn’t matter how late you start, it doesn’t matter where you are coming from, as long as you believe, you work hard, anything is possible.”

RISING young discus thrower Calea Jackson of Blue Chips Athletics - in action at right.

FINAL WORD “If I just go after pins, keep myself on my toes, make a few birdies, I find it interesting and exciting, and that’s when I usually play my best golf.”

— Charley Hull

TOM KIM, of South Korea, celebrates after winning the 18th hole during their fourball match at the Presidents Cup golf tournament. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Hotels fear BPL hikes set to ‘derail’ rebound

Atlantis yesterday disclos ing to Tribune Business that its annual electricity bill is $30m or, on average, $2.5m per month. The BHTA president suggested that the increases, which cus tomers will first see in next month’s electricity bills, are substantial enough to force cost-cutting in other areas including staffing.

“Any increase that is extraordinary will cause hotel properties to reengineer their financial position, and the recovery in the revenues,” Mr Sands said. “Any extraordinary expenses will cause opera tors to consider alternative ways to engineer their cost of operations for savings to compensate for this extraordinary occurrence.

“I think the announce ment was not unexpected. I think the level of increase was very much surprising, especially the gradual level of incremental increase over the next four to five quarters. It’s not the type of news the industry would wish to have during period of sustained growth, and also coming against the backdrop of a very difficult protracted period” due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

BPL’s fuel charge hikes, which are to be phased

in, are thus threatening to strip the Bahamian pri vate sector of confidence while also robbing the post-pandemic recovery of much-needed momentum. Some companies may not be able to survive such a hike in their energy bills, with the fuel tariff compris ing 50-60 percent of the total, and go out of busi ness while others could be forced to lay-off staff and thus increase the national unemployment rate.

BPL unveiled a series of “phased increases” that will result in most, if not all, Bahamian busi nesses experiencing up to a 163 percent increase in the fuel charge component of their electricity bills. Cus tomers who use more than 800 kilowatt hours (kWh) per month will endure a series of rolling 4.3 cents per kWh increases, with the first - from the present 10.5 cents to 14.8 cents - taking effect in time for November billings.

The increases will peak at 27.6 cents per kWh in the three-month period between June 1 to August 31, 2023, which represents a 163 percent jump before the fuel charge starts to drop, It is forecast to hit 25 cents between September 1, 2023, and November 30, 2023,

before falling further to 18 cents between December 1, 2023, to February 28, 2024.

The BHTA, though, noted that these forecasts were susceptible to change due to oil market volatility.

Hotels and food stores are among The Bahamas’ largest consumers, and therefore among the busi nesses most likely to be impacted by the increases.

Rupert Roberts, Super Value’s president, who is converting his chain’s 13 stores to solar power, yes terday voiced optimism that much of the conversion would be complete by the time fuel charges peaked next summer.

Nevertheless, estimating that BPL’s strategy could increase Super Value’s monthly light bill by an average $500,000, he told Tribune Business: “That’s a big deal with the spik ing cost of groceries right now....

We need to find less expensive fuel to run those engines right now.

“It’s going to really add to the spiking cost of living.

We can’t take that on the bottom line; no company can. We have to figure that into things like payroll and rent and everything else.

The poor hotels... Leslie Miller said that if Super Value and Atlantis don’t

pay their bills, BPL couldn’t pay for their bill. That will hit Atlantis and Baha Mar pretty hard.”

Suggesting that the Davis administration will likely find some way to avoid the increases sought by BPL, Mr Roberts added: “I can’t see the Government going out and disappointing it’s people like this without having something up its sleeve.

Today, they lost 90 percent of their voters. If we had an election tonight, it would be serious. The people who are slipping through the cracks can’t afford this, and the people just managing can’t go through it.”

Mr Sands, in a statement, added: “We have fielded feedback from stakehold ers ranging from significant apprehension to outright anxiety as some have stated they are at a loss as to how they will be able to accom modate the increase in cost of operations.

“This is very alarming, particularly for commercial consumers, which encom passes all facets of business owners and operators as they have finally begun to see sustained recovery of their respective busi nesses. It is important to remember, at a stage where the potential for

growth-beyond-recovery seems imminent, the surety of a successful return to financial viability will be susceptible to disruption or even derailment because of these increases.”

Acknowledging that global oil prices, and the factors impacting them, are beyond the Govern ment’s control, the BHTA statement called for it to extend VAT relief on energy bills beyond the $400 ceiling unveiled yes terday. It also called on BPL to revive its previous fuel hedging strategy, and accelerate approvals for hotel properties to deploy renewable energy at their facilities.

“The Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association, with heightened urgency, reiterates its support and encouragement of efforts undertaken by BPL previ ously to deploy a hedging strategy that would provide the stability and predict ability of pricing that we have enjoyed in the recent past,” the BHTA added.

“The cost of electricity ranks as one of the high est expense items in our budgets due to the fact that operators, particularly in the tourism industry, must maintain a certain level of energy consumption,

regardless of occupancy, in order to protect assets, securitise facilities etc. Therefore, it is impera tive that we find ways to help alleviate the financial burden this represents.

“Finally, and most importantly, we encour age the acceleration of efforts to ensure industry stakeholders are able to access alternate sources of energy. This is paramount to our ability to diminish our reliance on environ mentally unfriendly fossil fuels that contribute to cli mate change,” the BHTA continued.

“Public and private sector collaboration regarding awareness, understanding, access to capital and the implementation of poli cies that encourage off-grid energy alternatives are key to ensuring we do not con tinue to face such financial uncertainties in the future as it pertains to energy costs. Alternative energy initiatives and projects must be front and centre; we must roll out the red carpet and roll up the red tape for such projects.”

tiDes For nassau

Today

Ht.(ft.) Low Ht.(ft.)

4:21 a.m. 2.8 10:31 a.m. 0.7 4:55 p.m. 3.4 11:26 p.m. 0.7 5:25 a.m. 3.0 11:37 a.m. 0.6 5:54 p.m. 3.4 6:22 a.m. 3.2 12:19 a.m. 0.5 6:46 p.m. 3.5 12:35 p.m. 0.4 7:13 a.m. 3.4 1:07 a.m. 0.3 7:34 p.m. 3.4 1:29 p.m. 0.3

8:00 a.m. 3.5 1:51 a.m. 0.1 8:19 p.m. 3.3 2:18 p.m. 0.2

a.m. 3.6 2:33 a.m. 0.1 9:03 p.m. 3.2 3:05 p.m. 0.2 9:27 a.m. 3.5 3:13 a.m. 0.1 9:45 p.m. 3.0 3:50 p.m. 0.3

sun anD moon

PM: I wanted to hold off longer over BPL

this and are moving into a period of lower electricity usage, the Government has approved BPL’s request for this phased increase,” he added.

Noting the importance of reducing fossil fuel depend ency and moving towards alternative, cleaner ener gies Mr Davis said: “One of our key priorities has been to transition The Bahamas to cleaner, more affordable energy. That shift is under way. The solar microgrids in the Family Islands, which are already operating, will be expanded to benefit 70,000 Family Islanders.”

Bahamian busi nesses yesterday said will just pass the BPL fuel

charge increase on to cus tomers and not absorb it themselves.

Dwayne Higgs, WHIM Automotive’s gen eral manager, told Tribune Business: “It’s interesting that gas prices are going down now, and we’re below $6, but now the fuel has to go up on your electricity.

“Businesses are never going to absorb any increases, especially like us, because we are under price control. So any increases we get in costs like that, it is a cost of doing business, and if you can pass it along then you are going to pass it along.

“If we absorb whatever increases come along, we’re not going to be able to afford to pay our staff

properly, which means either you pay people less or you let them go. So any business that wants to sur vive is going to pass those costs along.”

Atwell Ferguson, Golden Gates Supermarket’s gen eral manager, said that while consumers have to be patient with the Govern ment it will “hit you” with increases such the BPL fuel tariff rise. “Anything extra with the people right now will be hard because every body is beyond what they can handle and anything is just hurting the people more,” he added Philip Darville, owner/ operator of SolveIt Baha mas, said BPL rate increases are a “recurring theme”.

He added: “This has noth ing to do with politics. This is just the economy. This just highlights the need to go towards more alternative energy. With a company like BPL that is so immersed in tradi tional fuels like oil and gas, increases was unavoidable.

“We just have to be pru dent in the way we consume energy. A lot of us don’t do that, but we need to shift towards smarter devices and smarter equipment. We have shifted towards lower voltage equipment.”

Gregory Sherman, owner/operator of G.S. Landscaping Company & Property Management, said it is “very sad that Bahami ans have to go through this”

INTENT TO CHANGE NAME BY DEED POLL PUBLIC NOTICE

“Had this present gov ernment decided to go with what was already on the table... We initially were supposed to get the BPL generators. We got them.

Phase two was supposed to be changing the transmis sion lines. We have more than sufficient power to take care of all of New

Providence,” Mr Sherman said.

“I heard BPL also went to rent generators and they have bypassed servicing the generator. They said they are going to keep them in existence for another year before they will decide to take them down to service them.”

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PUBLIC NOTICE

INTENT TO CHANGE NAME BY DEED POLL

Public is hereby advised that

Ketia Saint Charles of P. O. Box N-10326, Watlins Street off Andros Avenue, New Providence, The Bahamas, intend to change my daughter’s name from KELISHA VELNISE PIERRE to KELISHA VELNISE SAINT

The Public is hereby advised that I, Lynique Britney Woods of Malcolm Road, New Providence, The Bahamas, intend to change my daughter’s name from JAZELLE NYELLE THOMPSON to JAZELLE

TIANNA WOODS. If there are any objections to this change of name by Deed Poll, you may write such objections to the Chief Passport Officer, P.O.Box N-742, Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas no later than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice.

The Public is hereby advised that I, PHYLICIAGABRIEL COLLIE of #19 Remora Lane, New Providence, Bahamas, intend to change my name to PHYLICIA GABRIEL JOHNSON. If there are any objections to this change of name by Deed Poll, you may write such objections to the Chief Passport Officer, P.O.Box N-742, Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas no later than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice.

hereby given to Kelsey Pierre to:

statement by

8.78 8.780.00 0.3690.26023.82.96% 4.152.82Cable

3.95 3.950.00 -0.4380.000-9.0 0.00% 10.656.75Commonwealth

10.35 10.350.00 0.1400.00073.90.00% 3.652.27Commonwealth

3.58 3.580.00 0.1840.12019.53.35% 8.255.29Colina

8.23 8.230.00 0.4490.22018.32.67% 17.5010.25CIBC

16.00 16.000.00 0.7220.72022.24.50% 3.251.99Consolidated

3.14 3.180.04 0.1020.43431.213.65% 11.288.51Doctor's

10.50 10.500.00 0.4670.06022.50.57% 11.6711.25Emera

NOTICE is hereby given that IMMACULEZE LOUIS AVELUS of P. O. Box N-7060, Fifth Street, Coconut Grove, New Providence, Bahamas 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 28th day of September, 2022 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

is hereby given that ZEKI ANTONESE KERSAINT of Treasure Cay, Abaco, Bahamas 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 5th day of October, 2022 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that FERNANDO LEBRON of Westwinds, New Providence, Bahamas 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 28th day of September, 2022 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that ELIE CEZALIEN of Nassau Street, New Providence, Bahamas 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 5th day of October, 2022 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

Tava Newton vs Dodricka Bain vs Kelsey Pierre

BPL eyed 58% lower costs than fuel hike

would have sustained the savings generated by its predecessor’s fuel hedging initiative.

It also backs renewed assertions yesterday by Michael Pintard, the Oppo sition’s leader, that “the bottom has fallen out and the Bahamian people will be paying the price” for the Government’s fail ure to follow through and maintain the fuel hedging initiative left in place by its predecessor.

The Prime Minister, in announcing BPL’s fuel tariff increases yesterday, urged Bahamian consumers to be patient “and hang on there a little longer” while assert ing that “these increases are short-term”. He added that the Government and utility were also seeking to soften the blow for the most vulnerable consumers by implementing rolling quar terly increases of two cents per kWh for those families

consuming less than 800 kWh per month.

Besides a rate of fuel tariff increase that is 53.5 percent less than that for commercial customers and larger households, Philip Davis KC added that the Government is expand ing the VAT exemption on BPL bills to more custom ers. The ceiling under which 10 percent VAT will not be levied will rise from $300 to $400 as the administration moves to expand the social safety net ahead of the first rolling fuel charge increase that consumers will see in their November bills.

‘“For a large majority of BPL consumers, who con sume less than 800 kWh, the fuel charge is being increased by two cents per kWh, which will result in an increase this quarter of less than $20 per month. If your current monthly bill is $182 or less, you fall into this category,” Mr Davis said, adding that the expanded VAT exemption will “take

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that EMMANUEL PIERRE of Bacardi Road, Nassau, Bahamas 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 5th day of October, 2022 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

some of the sting out of the 4.3 cent increases for a great many BPL consumers subject to the increase”.

“The bottom line is that monthly bills will go up over the next several quarters before they begin to come down in 12 to 18 months’,” the Prime Minister said. BPL’s fuel tariff typically accounts for between 50-60 percent of customer bills, with the base rate compris ing the remainder.

The utility’s own projec tions show the fuel tariff falling from its 27.6 cent per kWh peak over the threemonths between June 1 and August 31, 2023, to 25 cents between September and November that year for consumers using more than 800 kWh. This is then forecast to fall further to 18 cents between December 1, 2023, and February 28, 2024, but BPL admits that these movements and fig ures are not guaranteed due to global oil price volatility.

Multiple sources, some speaking on condition of anonymity, told Trib une Business that the sudden - and huge - esca lation in BPL’s fuel charge was entirely avoidable if the Davis administration had executed the series

of hedging trades left in place by its predecessor to secure additional fuel at prices below market rates that peaked at $127 per oil barrel in March this year.

Shevonn Cambridge, BPL’s chief executive, yesterday affirmed that the fuel hedging strategy inherited from the previ ous government remains in place. “When it was put in place back in 2020, it was based on 80 percent of the volumes [that were hedged] at that time,” he told the media yesterday. “The hedging strategy was based on declining volumes.... It’s 40 percent of the volumes that are still hedged.”

The December 2020 hedge executed by the IDB covered a total 3.565m bar rels of oil for BPL that were priced at $40 each. The ‘settled’ price shown in the e-mail reproduced here shows a series of “set tled” premiums received by the IDB for executing the hedge, which was split into three tranches, with these payments less than the orig inal projections.

This newspaper under stands that the previous BPL Board had hedged all of the utility’s fuel needs for 2022, 50 percent

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that THOMAS O. MARRAZZA of P. O. Box EL-25178, La Bougainvillea, Eleuthera, Bahamas 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 5th day of October, 2022 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

of its requirements for 2023, and 25 percent of 2024’s needs via the IDB’s upfront hedge. BPL’s fuel needs for 2023 and 2024 were not hedged 100 per cent because the utility needed to monitor global oil price movements and respond accordingly, rather than commit to a cost that might exceed future market prices.

As a result, BPL needed to “backfill” the original IDB hedge by purchasing additional volumes to fully meet its fuel needs. This was to be done via a series of trades to obtain lower price fuel, which were ultimately left by the Minnis administration for its successor to execute in September and December 2021. For reasons as yet unclear, multiple contacts said these trades were never executed and the whole fuel hedging strategy unravelled as a result.

“This was predictable. This is no surprise at all,” one source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said of BPL’s announcement yesterday. “They should have done those rolling hedges to backfill those vol umes on a quarterly basis, which they [the Govern ment] stopped doing. That’s what they didn’t do.”

Confirming the authen ticity of the Heastie e-mail obtained by Tribune Busi ness, they added: “The former Board knew that if they continued with the hedges as needed, the big gest bump [in the fuel tariff] would be from 10.5 cents per kWh to 11.5 cents per kWH. The problem is this government didn’t do it. They didn’t do it in Septem ber [2021], they didn’t do it in December. They let the fuel hedging programme die.

“The old Board held it for a year at 10.5 cents per kWh. They knew 10.5 cents was secure for another year because of the savings from that first year; they knew they could get 10.5 cents if they did the rolling hedges. Then, because the price of oil was ticking up in that third year, they were look ing at 11.5 cents with that pressure had they contin ued the hedging.”

BPL’s hedging strat egy was design to provide price stability for all Baha mian energy consumers by eliminating the impact of oil price volatility during COVID’s peak. This made electricity a consumptiondriven business, enabling households and businesses to both know and control their bills through how much they use.

Asserting that such certainty has now been eliminated, the source added: “That’s why we’re now subject to the volatility of the [global oil] market.

Because they didn’t con tinue doing those rolling hedges, they’ve put the con sumer at the mercy of the market again. The former Board wanted to put power in the consumer’s hands; now it’s no longer there. They’re at the whim of the market. If you’re a busi ness, how do you plan?”

Mr Cambridge, during yesterday’s BPL announce ment and press conference at the Prime Minister’s Office, said the BPL hedg ing initiative did not yield the savings anticipated for the utility’s $300m annual fuel bill because the optimal fuel mix was never used.

Explaining that “certain scenarios” did not materi alise when the hedging plan was implemented, Mr Cam bridge said BPL ended up using more expensive fuels - such as automated diesel oil (ADO) - than originally projected. As a result, the initiative’s “offset was not what was anticipated” in terms of cost reductions and savings.

Tribune Business under stands there were problems in getting BPL’s operational managers to align fuel use with what had been hedged. Instead of operating the more efficient, less costly turbines at Clifton Pier that run on heavy fuel oil (HFO), the ADO-consum ing engines at Blue Hills were run more frequently than desired. However, Mr Cambridge’s assertion that cost savings failed to mate rialise was disputed.

Analysis of the rolling fuel charge increases shows that, for Bahamian families consuming 800 kWh or less, they will suffer a 76 percent increase compared to cur rent costs when the 18.5 cent peak is hit between June and August 2023. That is a time which coincides with maximum demand and the greatest usage in terms of consumption.

As for businesses and households that use over 800 kWh, fuel charges are set to increase by 138 per cent, 163 percent and 138 percent - more than dou bling compared to the present 10.5 kWh rateduring the periods of March 1to May 31, 2023; June 1 to August 31, 2023, and Sep tember 1 to November 30, 2023.

Consumers and busi nesses are being asked to absorb such huge increases in BPL’s fuel costs, and their overall electricity bill, at a time when they are still struggling to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic and its continued economic fall-out. The magnitude of the hikes is thus threat ening to put a damper on the Bahamian economy’s recovery prospects and momentum, at least in the short-term.

“When the fuel charge was hedged at 10.5 cents, people started paying their bills because they could afford to pay them,” one source said. “You’re now going to have a situation where people are unable to pay their bills, so the delin quency rate will increase significantly, collection efforts will decrease signifi cantly in efficiency, BPL’s cash flow will go down and Bahamian citizens and businesses will be put at the mercy of the global oil markets.

“This is what happens when new governments don’t look at the good other administrations have done. You can’t assume that eve rything somebody else did was bad.”

Mr Pintard, meanwhile, added: “The Bahamian people will now have to pay the bill for the signifi cant blunder at BPL by the Davis administration with respect to the fuel hedg ing that was put in place by the previous FNM administration.

“Based on the announce ment by the Government and the press statement released by BPL today, consumers in The Bahamas will now see an increase in electricity bills from the hedge price of 10.5 cents per kWh to a high of 27.6 cents per kWh as projected. Based on these figures, this represents an increase of 163 percent over the 10.5 cents per kWh that was enjoyed by all business and residential consumes over the past two-and-a-half years.”

‘Why up to 163% BPL fuel price hike as oil costs fall?’

hand-outs without explic itly saying so. However, one source, speaking on con dition of anonymity, said: “What they’re trying to do is recover the money that has already been spent.”

They estimated that the Government may have spent between $40m$50m in subsidising BPL’s fuel costs. No figures were provided yesterday, with Shevonn Cambridge, BPL’s chief executive, saying: “I can’t give you an exact figure. I don’t have that figure with me, but it’s significant, let’s put it that way.”

Simon Wilson, the Min istry of Finance’s financial secretary, added: “We’ve spent a substantial amount, a significant amount, in the tens of millions of dol lars. That’s the best way to describe it. Obviously a lot of the money that was spent will be recovered over a period of time........

“BPL does owe an amount to the Govern ment for the support given. Given the Public Financial

Management rules, the Government cannot pro vide a subvention in the normal course to BPL. It has to be done on a com mercial basis under the Public Financial Manage ment rules that currently exist.”

This suggests that the Government’s support for BPL is effectively a loan, or some form of credit, that now has to be repaid from the fuel charge increases being imposed on Baha mian businesses and households. Mr Wilson, meanwhile, also confirmed that BPL’s planned Rate Reduction Bond (RRB) refinancing has been deferred by the Govern ment because the high interest rates prevailing in the global capital markets “do not allow for that type of solution”.

He added that BPL will work with the Ministry of Works and Public Utilities to “develop a new solu tion to accomplish the same thing, taking care of the legacy debt which was assumed by the Gov ernment in the February

‘ENOUGH IS ENOUGH’: EU BLACKLISTS

AGAIN

have to, quite frankly, tell them to go to hell. We have to find a way to politely tell them to go to hell. At some point we have to find a way to say: Enough is enough.”

The EU council’s general secretariat, in seeking to justify The Bahamas’ inclu sion on its ‘blacklist’ alleged that this nation had failed to satisfy deficiencies relating to “compliance actions and exchanges of information” over its economic substance regime.

These weaknesses were purportedly identified at a meeting of the Organisation for Economic Co-Oper ation and Development’s

(OECD) “forum on harm ful tax practices”, whose work overlaps with that of the EU. “At the Forum on Harmful Tax Practices meeting, The Bahamas was given two recommen dations with regard to the effective implementation of substance requirements,” the EU report asserted. “Based on the infor mation provided by the jurisdiction on whether/ how they have addressed the deficiencies identified in the monitoring areas con cerned (compliance actions and exchanges of informa tion), the group considers that The Bahamas has not fulfilled its commitment and recommends to include this

transaction”. No details were provided.

Mr Cambridge, mean while, suggested that the fuel charge increases will enable BPL to redeploy operational cash flow back to its day-to-day business as opposed to financing fuel purchases. He added that “now’s the time to right size” a fuel charge that had been held constant since 2020, aided by the former Minnis administration’s fuel hedging initiative, adding: “Once you delay, you accumulate. There was an accumulation of arrears which we are now seeking to recover through the glide path structure.”

Robert Myers, the Organisation for Respon sible Governance’s (ORG) principal, was yesterday among those who chal lenged the justification for such steep fuel charge increases given that oil prices have fallen from their March peak and may continue to slowly decline.

Pointing to the forecast maximum 76 percent and 163 percent peak increases, compared to today’s fuel

jurisdiction in the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdic tions for tax purposes...

“The Bahamas facili tates offshore structures and arrangements aimed at attracting profits without real economic substance by failing to take all neces sary actions to ensure the effective implementation of substance requirements.”

Zbyněk Stanjura, the Czech minister of finance, said in an accompanying statement: “Fair taxation of businesses benefits all of us. This is why the EU and international partners share a common interest in fight ing tax base erosion and profit shifting.

“I believe all 12 coun tries on the list will deliver on their commitments and carry out the necessary reforms in the field of taxa tion as soon as possible, so that they can be deleted from this list when we will

charge, that persons con suming less than 800 kWh and more than 800 kWh face respectively, Mr Myers said these appeared exces sive when matched against average per barrel oil prices on the Brent crude index.

Prices there had risen by 57 percent year-over-year, jumping from an aver age $65 per barrel in 2021 to $102 in 2022. “They’re now starting to fall. Argu ably by the end of the year they could be lower,” Mr Myers said of oil prices. “I’d expect the fuel charge to be in line with that. I’m not sure how they justify 76 percent and 163 percent increases proportionally... There’s no justification to raise it 163 percent.”

Pointing to the likely impact for Bahamian busi nesses, Mr Myers said hotels, food stores, shop ping malls, wholesalers, distributors and other companies that consume large quantities of electric ity will be among the most affected. “For all of us it’s straight off our bottom line, which hurts business,” he told this newspaper.

next revise it in six months’ time.”

However, it was not only The Bahamas that was dis tinctly unimpressed by the EU’s action and listing. Oxfam, the international anti-poverty group, blasted the fact that the EU’s member states such as Lux embourg got a free pass even though they offer simi lar products, services and tax regimes.

“How can anyone give this list any credibility? Ber muda is one of the world’s worst tax havens with its zero corporate tax rate. Yet the EU took it off the list after it made a few woolly promises to reform,” Chiara Putaturo, Oxfam EU’s tax expert, said. “To add insult to injury, major European tax havens like Luxembourg are not on the list because all EU countries receive an automatic free pass.”

“When you’re already fighting inflation, the higher prices go the more people don’t show up to your store.

There’s a price elasticity.

You can only pay so much for hamburger meat and stop eating it. You can only pay so much for produce and stop eating it. This increase hurts everybody, including the Government. It slows the economy. Every time there’s an increase it takes money out. It reduces disposable income and slows the economy. It hits everybody’s bottom line.”

Mr Myers said the inevi table consequence of BPL’s fuel charge increase will be a further rise in consumer prices across the board as companies pass the energy cost rise on. Mr Pintard, meanwhile, said the plan to create two separate fuel charges - one for small consumers and another for businesses and larger users - was illegal under the Elec tricity Act.

“BPL has now placed the fuel pass though to consumers in different consumption categories at different costs, which is

Mr Delaney, meanwhile, told this newspaper it was “truly unfortunate” that, after 22 years, the EU and other agencies continue to employ so-called ‘black listing’ tactics against The Bahamas when “a more constructive and diplomatic approach” would be better at securing any legitimate financial services-related objectives they have.

“The fact is that The Bahamas has been most responsive on all that time in engaging with all the agen cies, the OECD, Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Financial Stability Forum in its initial incarnation, and then the EU came along,” he added. “The Bahamas has been fully engaged and responsive, and continued to be responsive as these standards evolved.

“It’s not as if they’re dealing with a rogue state. They’re dealing with a

counter to provisions of the Electricity Act, where the fuel pass through must be passed along to consumers at the same rate” the Oppo sition leader added.

“The question is what does URCA have to say about this? URCA has been unusually quiet regard ing BPL over the past 12 months and the question is why? They are supposed to protect the consumer, and now that the Davis admin istration has proposed a 163 percent increase in fuel costs to consumers over the next 12 months, URCA needs to weigh in on this matter as well.

“Our economy is still recovering from the pan demic, consumers are experiencing the pres sures of inflation, and yet [Mr] Davis seeks to burden businesses and house holds with electricity cost increases that are historic. The new day that the PLP promised is turning out to be a morning after night mare, and PM Davis must do better and come clean to the Bahamian people.”

largely compliant and fully engaged member of the international community of nations. That the EU should continue these tactics of blacklisting is truly most unfortunate. To be con cise, it is name and shame. It is as blatant as that unfortunately.”

Nevertheless, both Mr Delaney and Mr Galanis agreed that The Bahamas must do what is requiredbut within both the law and reason - to escape the EU blacklist within the short est possible time given the reputational risk it poses to the financial services indus try and wider Bahamian economy. It also threatens to subject transactions with EU individuals, entities and institutions to greater scru tiny, and thus increase the time and cost involved with such dealings.

BPL eyed 58% lower costs than fuel hike

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Power & Light (BPL) was on target to lock-in fuel costs “through March 2024” that were up to 58 percent less than the sky rocketing increases unveiled by the Government yesterday, documents have revealed.

Whitney Heastie, the state-owned energy monopoly’s former chief exec utive, told then-fellow BPL Board members in a December 9, 2020, e-mail that the hedging strategy initi ated that year via the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) would provide the foundation for more than three years of relative fuel and overall electricity price stability.

“The hedges approved by the Board were finally executed as per the final orders below,” Mr Heastie wrote in the e-mail that this newspa per is reproducing today (see Page 20B). “Our ‘settled’ price was below the maximum premium price granted

• Ex-CEO: Prices locked ‘at/or below’ 11.5 cents to March 24

• Far cry from up to 163% hikes

PM pledges are ‘short-term’

• Pintard: ‘Bahamians paying the price’ on fuel hedging row

to the IDB. These new hedges allow BPL to have a fuel charge at/or below 11.5 cents per kilowatt hour through March 2024.”

Such fuel tariff stability, and expectations that it could last until the 2024 first quarter, are a far cry from the hikes unveiled yesterday by the Davis administration. The present 10.5 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) fuel charge is set to undergo a series of rolling 4.3 cent quarterly increases over the next 11 months which, for businesses and households

consuming over 800 kWh per month, will peak at 27.6 cents - a 163 per cent increase - during peak summer demand.

The Heastie e-mail, and other documents seen by Tribune Business, raise serious questions over whether the Davis administration has unnec essarily cost Bahamian households, businesses and the wider economy “tens of millions” of dollars by fail ing to execute a series of trades that

Hotels fear BPL hikes set to ‘derail’ rebound

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIAN hotels yesterday warned that Bahamas Power & Light’s (BPL) planned fuel charge hikes of up to 163 percent have caused “outright anxiety” in the sector and could “derail” the postCOVID return to financial viability.

Robert Sands, the Baha mas Hotel and Tourism Association’s (BHTA) president, told Tribune Business that the “extraor dinary” magnitude of the proposed hikes - to be phased in quarterly over the next 11 months - will force resort opera tors to “re-engineer” their

• ‘Outright anxiety’ in industry over fuel charge rise

• Many operators likely to cost-cut, even downsize

• Super Value chief: ‘No company can absorb that’

expense structures and business models to cope with the increase in their second-largest cost item.

Hinting that the sector, which is The Baha mas’ largest private sector employer, may in some cases be forced to reduce staffing levels to

compensate, he revealed that the extent of BPL’s cost increases had taken the resort industry by surprise.

“I don’t know if it’s so much a threat to the recov ery, but it’s certainly an impediment to the ability of many hotel operators to

continue to enjoy, for the first time, a level of finan cial stability,” Mr Sands told this newspaper of the consequences.

“This is a drastic increase and, even though it is gradual, certainly as it peaks within the next 15 months the rate of increase - barring the cost of oil - is going to be significant in a number of operations. It will be a meaningful impact.”

Labour and energy are the two greatest expense items for the Baha mian hotel industry, with

‘Why up to 163% BPL fuel price hike as oil costs fall?’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor

QUESTIONS were raised yesterday as to why Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) is proposing to increase its fuel charge by up to 163 percent at a time when global oil prices are starting to decline from their March 2022 peak.

Michael Pintard, the Opposition’s leader, was among those challenging the magnitude of the hikes on Bahamian businesses and consumers in what appears to be an attempt to reimburse the Government

for the taxpayer subsidies that underwrote the exist ing 10.5 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) fuel charge for so long.

“What is most interest ing from today’s BPL press release is that the cost of the fuel component of the BPL bill is scheduled to increase when every one knows that the cost of oil on the global mar kets has been decreasing from a high of over $127 per barrel in March or this year to around $90 today,” Mr Pintard said.

Oil was last night trading at $85.95 per barrel on the West Texas Intermediate

index, and $91.26 on its Brent Crude counter part. Yet BPL, in fuel charge increases unveiled yesterday, revealed that Bahamian families consuming 800 kWh or less will suffer up to a 76 per cent increase compared to current costs when the 18.5 cent per kWh peak is hit between June and August 2023.

That is a time which coincides with maximum demand and the greatest usage in terms of consump tion. As for businesses and households that use over 800 kWh, fuel charges are set to increase by

138 percent, 163 percent and 138 percent - more than doubling compared to the present 10.5 kWh rate - during the periods of March 1 to May 31, 2023; June 1 to August 31, 2023, and September 1 to November 30, 2023.

BPL and government officials, in a press con ference yesterday that effectively admitted that the cash-strapped Gov ernment can no longer afford to subsidise BPL’s fuel costs, effectively con firmed that the utility must now repay those taxpayer

PM: I wanted to hold off longer over BPL

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net

THE PRIME Minister yesterday admitted he had wanted to hold-off on up to 163 percent increases in Bahamas Power & Light’s (BPL) fuel charge for longer to give strug gling Bahamian families more time to rebound from COVID-19.

Philip Davis KC, in unveiling BPL’s phased fuel tariff rises, said: “I wanted to see more Bahamians working before I asked families to pay a higher light bill. When times are tough, coming up with an extra $20 per month is no small thing.”

Confirming that there had been discussions within the

Cabinet about raising BPL’s fuel charge in February, Mr Davis con firmed the decision was made to “postpone the increase and keep the charge low as long as possible”. He added: “Given the hardships Bahamian households are facing after so many difficult years, and given other inflationary pressures, our economy is growing and adding new jobs every month.

While the Government did sub sidise BPL’s fuel costs with “tens of millions” of dollars during that period, Mr Davis said its cashstrapped fiscal position means the increase cannot be delayed any longer. “Now that we have passed

‘Enough is enough’: EU blacklists Bahamas again

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE BAHAMAS was yesterday urged to tell the European Union (EU) that “enough is enough” after this nation’s ‘blacklisting’ for allegedly being uncoop erative on international tax matters was ratified.

John Delaney, the former attorney general, told Tribune Business that the 27-nation bloc’s continued use of “name and shame” tactics was more appropri ate for dealing with “a rogue state” than a nation such as The Bahamas which has always been “largely com pliant” and responsive to legitimate requests for regu latory improvements.

And Philip Galanis, who was an Opposition MP when blacklisting was first employed against The Bahamas some 22 years ago, blasted the EU for what he described as its “neo-colo nial” approach in seemingly seeking to drive The Baha mas out of the international financial services market.

Arguing that the bloc seemed to be deliberately picking on small Caribbean territories who find it dif ficult to defend themselves, he argued: “It’s wholly

unfair for the EU to have blacklisted us in the manner they have,” the HLB Baha mas accounting firm chief told this newspaper. “We have sought to meet virtu ally every request made of us.

“We have amended our laws, changed those regula tions, tightened the process of compliance for Know Your Customer (KYC) and client compliance proce dures, and stiffened money laundering and terror financing regimes, and yet the EU discriminates against the smaller countries of the Caribbean.

“I find that to be extremely duplicitous. That’s why this is so unfair. At some point this is why we

ROBERT SANDS

JOHN DELANEY