10122022 NEWS, SPORT AND BUSINESS

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By KHRISNA RUSSELL

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‘ONE IN 12’ WOMEN RAPED BY HUSBANDS

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

A NEW University of The Bahamas study has found that one in 12 or an estimated 4,000 married women have been raped by their husbands.

The study suggested that around 6,000 wives claimed being victims of sexual abuse. This would be any sexual activity that occurs without consent and

refers to a sexual assault or sexual violence, including unwanted sexual touching, forced oral sex, and rape, among other sexual acts.

Overall, married women were more likely to be sex ually abused than a single woman by an intimate part ner, researchers found.

Between mid-September and mid-October of this year, some students at the university collected data from 1,700 women. Of this number, 455 were married

and were asked about their experiences of rape and sexual abuse in their cur rent relationships.

The study sought to quan tify the extent of the issue against the backdrop that there has been increased outcry for the criminalisa tion of rape within marriage since the offence does not exist in Bahamian law.

“The results indicate that around eight percent, or one in 12 married women,

PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis during his national ad dress yesterday.

Photo: BIS

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including chicken, eggs, bread, bananas, apples, oranges, broccoli, onions, and potatoes.

These items, he said, are being added for at least a six-month period, at which point the govern ment will review and evaluate the impact on businesses and consumers. The profit margin on price-con trolled drugs is also being reduced to provide additional relief to Bahami ans, he said.

“During an inflation emergency, it’s important to take the steps we can to improve affordability,” the prime min ister said in his first national address since being elected to office in Sep tember 2021.

“Of course, nothing is more impor tant to helping families make ends meet than higher wages. The last time the minimum wage was raised in our country was 2015. A new increase has long been overdue.

“Tonight, I’m announcing that the country’s new minimum wage will be $260 a week.

For minimum wage earners in the public service, the change will be ret roactive, going back to July of this year.

“For minimum wage earners in the private sector, the increase will begin in a little less than three months, in January of the coming year, allow ing employers time to prepare for the increased expense.

“The higher minimum wage will benefit tens of thousands of Baha mians. Will the increase help? Yes, it will.

“It was long awaited, long overdue, and the extra money every week will make a difference.

“However, we are aware that this will not eliminate the hardship of trying to make ends meet in today’s economy.

“Instead, it represents progress on the way to a liveable wage. The raise was negotiated by the National Tri partite Council, which includes the government and representatives from the private sector and unions.

“Our shared goal was to raise the minimum wage without having a

negative impact on employment or job growth, and we believe that has been achieved.”

The new minimum wage comes against the backdrop that a series of events since 2017 have negatively impacted Bahamians.

Mr Davis highlighted the 60 percent increase in VAT in 2017, a stagnant economy, no significant new invest ment and billions of new borrowing in 2019, coupled with Dorian, a Cat egory 5 hurricane.

Later, in 2020, a pandemic that led to closed borders, a curfew, and wave after wave of lockdowns.

“And then, just as we started to recover, over this last year, a global inflation crisis led to prices rising across the board faster than they have in many decades.

“I want to emphasise just how big a shock this has been to households and businesses – we haven’t seen doubledigit increases in global inflation like this in nearly 40 years.

“The COVID pandemic caused – and continues to cause – major dis ruptions in manufacturing and supply chains.

“Last February, Russia, a major energy producer, invaded Ukraine; the war, and the sanctions that followed, and the geopolitical turbu lence, sent high oil and gas prices even higher.

“The inflation crisis has spared no country, but small island nations like ours, dependent on imports, have been particularly hit hard.

“The cost of living was already far too high in The Bahamas; this global inflation crisis has made life even more unaffordable,” Mr Davis said.

As a result, he said his administra tion believed it is time to provide relief now.

• For more, see Business section.

‘WE DIDN’T GET HERE OVERNIGHT’ ON CRIME

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis has appealed to Bahamians to come for ward with knowledge to prevent or solve crimes, while pointing to gang recruitments in schools and a need to better defend the borders from weapons and drug smuggling.

Mr Davis explained how illegal weapons continue to enter the country and said a formal working arrange ment with the American law enforcement agency, ATF — the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Fire arms and Explosives — has been reached. The agency also has a presence in The Bahamas.

The Prime Minister said: “We need to defend our borders from those who would come here illegally, and we also need to defend our borders from weapons and drug smuggling.

“Here’s what’s happening

– individuals in the United States are able to purchase guns there legally – then smuggle them here, where they are used in shootings on our streets and in our neighbourhoods. We have a formal working arrange ment with the American law enforcement agency, ATF – the Bureau of Alco hol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives – who now have a presence in The Bahamas. And we are working with American intelligence to share information to stop this flow of arms across our borders.

“As a country, we have at times made temporary progress in the fight against crime, but we have never made major inroads. When the last few years of trauma, dislocation, and unemploy ment were added to an already chronic problem, it was like pouring gasoline on a fire.

“The result is trag edy. We didn’t get here overnight, and so major progress will take time

– but we are pushing hard for immediate advances, because we need to make people safer, now.”

Mr Davis told Bahamians that collaborative efforts along with the Royal Baha mas Police Force’s new leadership, new resources and new initiatives target ing gangs and gangs were part of the plans to tackle the issue.

“We have created a col laborative multi-agency approach to interrupt ing the cycles of violence that are tearing up our streets and communities. After years in the previ ous administration during which recruitment exercises were suspended, we are conducting a major effort to add manpower and revital ise law enforcement.

“We are recruiting hun dreds of new police. We’re also focused on interven ing early, identifying those at risk and steering them to a better path, which is why we’re expanding and improving programmes

like Urban Renewal and Second Chance.

“We know that gangs have started reaching into our schools to recruit – so, as I mentioned earlier, the Royal Bahamas Police Force has added a secu rity presence to our school campuses.

“It is clear we also need to stop gangs from recruit ing inside prisons and start taking prisoner reha bilitation more seriously, because right now, all too often, young men are leav ing prison with few options, but with more dangerous connections.

The primary responsibility for making progress on crime lies with the government, of course.”

However, he acknowl edged that there were limits to what the government is able to do.

“We can invest in new police cars, or technol ogy, or programmes that rehabilitate and offer opportunity – but we still need parents to create loving, safe homes. We still

need role models to offer the power of their example. We still need neighbours and communities that care.

“If our young men are turning to gangs for a place to belong, we have all failed them.

“We all know parents who love their children but who are too immersed in their own struggles to raise them.

“Poverty, addiction, trauma, mental health crises – these are real plagues of our time. They are not easily solved, but nor are they unsolvable. If com munities step up, instead of giving up, together we can build a path forward.

“If you are able to mentor a young man who may be on the edge of making bad choices, do it.

“If you believe a mental health crisis is leading to dangerous behaviour, don’t be silent, please, reach out. And if you have knowledge that could prevent or solve a crime, come forward. As always, partnership is the

key,” Mr Davis said.

Pivoting to healthcare, Mr Davis said his admin istration planned to train and recruit more health care providers, upgrade infrastructure — including updates to clinics and new hospital services — and reduce catastrophic care costs.

“We will break ground by the end of this year on a new, $200m hospital in Grand Bahama.

“And tonight, I’m announcing that we have made major progress on securing both the land and the resources for a new hos pital in New Providence. Our capital has long needed an additional hospital to keep up with expanding health care needs.

“These new, state-ofthe-art hospitals in Grand Bahama and New Provi dence will help Bahamian patients receive top qual ity care, and improve working conditions for our doctors, nurses, and hospi tal staff.”

DAVIS CALLS ON UN TO ‘STEP UP’ ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter

AS he spoke of his admin istration’s plans to fortify the country’s borders in a bid to stave off increased migrant crossings, Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis revealed that The Bahamas opted not to sign a declaration that suggested nations host undocumented people last June.

While 20 countries signed the declaration, includ ing: Argentina, Barbados, Chile, Jamaica, and the United States, Mr Davis said The Bahamas did not sign the agreement, sug gesting limited resources was the reasoning behind the decision.

Mr Davis was also ada mant in his national address

last night that the United Nations needed to “step up” and direct its efforts to do more to stop human trafficking at the source.

“Last June, I attended the Summit of the Americas, where regional migration was one of the items on the agenda,” Mr Davis said last night. “During the Summit, countries were asked to sign a declaration on migration, which included language suggesting that countries support and host undocu mented migrants. We did not sign this declaration.

“Twenty countries signed the declaration, including: Argentina, Barbados, Chile, Jamaica, and the United States. Let me repeat: The Bahamas is not a signatory to this agreement. I made it very clear to President Biden and to other leaders

that our country does not have the resources to bear this burden. We need to devote Bahamian resources to solving Bahamian problems.”

Regarding measures to protect the nation’s bor ders, Mr Davis said his administration planned to recruit hundreds of new Royal Bahamas Defence Force and Department of Immigration officers, invest $6m in new RBDF vessels and strengthen partnerships that amplify the country’s ability to patrol Bahamian waters.

He also pointed to the establishment of a new maritime surveillance system and commissioning of a new coastal radar at the RBDF’s Coral Harbour base.

Mr Davis said there

were also plans to com mission additional satellite radar systems in locations throughout The Bahamas, including Ragged Island, Andros, Eleuthera, and Exuma.

While the government seeks to bring added pro tections to police borders, the prime minister said there was no question that worsening instability in our region is a national security problem for The Bahamas.

“That is why we are increasing patrols of known passageways for human trafficking.

And that is why we are increasing the use of technology to detect undocumented vessels, and directing more manpower in our southern islands to intercept them before they

venture deeper into our territory.

“These measures make an important difference –but our sea borders span thousands of miles – we need the United Nations to step up and do more to stop human smuggling at the source.

“A message must also be disseminated on the ground there, warning people not to make the dangerous journey – warning them not to risk their lives to be turned around again.

“To the extent that CARICOM can make headway on the ground where these very serious and tragic humanitarian crises are unfolding, that would only benefit our country. The Bahamas will be part of a multi-country regional effort to address

the emergency there.

“But what we will not do, what we cannot do, is absorb the problems of other countries here.”

Last week Immigra tion Minister Keith Bell defended government’s efforts to address the ille gal 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 at the time, there were 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 defi nite action to address the “immigration crisis”.

‘The cost of living was already far too high in The Bahamas; this global inflation crisis has made life even more unaffordable.’

PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis during last night’s address.

Photo: BIS

‘NATIONAL SECURITY INTERESTS SERVED BY TURKS AND CAICOS OPERATION’

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

NATIONAL Security Minister Wayne Munroe continued his defence yes terday of his ministry’s decision to send officers to Turks and Caicos Islands to assist with their crime fight amid criticisms from the opposition.

According to police offi cials, about 20 Bahamian officers were sent to TCI as a part of a joint national security operation.

In a press statement released on Monday, the Free National Movement called on the government to explain its crime fighting efforts and its decision to deploy officers abroad at a time when crime is already high in The Bahamas.

“The Davis administra tion is struggling to address the bloodshed in our own country,” FNM leader Michael Pintard said.

“They are similarly slow and weak in explaining their overall plan for crime prevention, enforcement, interdiction and rehabili tation. Furthermore, their coordination of other stake holders is lacking.

“Therefore, it is disturb ing that some of the very officers they claim are piv otal to their crime fighting strategy have been shipped to our sister country to fight a similar crime war there.”

Responding, Mr Munroe said it was important for officials to keep informa tion confidential about the operation for security reasons.

“We have for national security reasons not been explicit and I see the leader of the opposition doesn’t seem to understand and if I tell you all what the officers are there to do, we are also telling the criminals what the officers are there to do,” he said.

“So, I don’t grasp how they did national security, but how we do national security is we do not arm our enemy with infor mation so the Bahamian people could be assured that it is the Bahamian national security interests that is being addressed by our officers in the Turks and Caicos.

“All we need to do is look at Haiti. Haiti is a failed state in terms of their police apparatus collapsing and if anyone thinks that

doesn’t impact The Baha mas, then they don’t have a sufficiently broad view of our national security interests.”

He also said it was sur prising that no one from

the opposition would ask “simple questions” regard ing the makeup of the officers that were deployed to TCI.

He added: “So, for instance, are they from your

security and intelligence branch? Are they from your criminal intelligence branch? What is the make up for it? They have not asked, yet they comment and purport to criticise.”

‘ONE IN 12’ WOMEN RAPED BY HUSBANDS

from page one

reportedly have been raped by their husband,” William Fielding said of the study in a letter to The Tribune

Mr Fielding is an adjunct faculty member of Univer sity of The Bahamas. He told this newspaper the study has yet to be pub lished, however, he released some of its findings to Tribune for discussion.

“This means that around 3,600 married women have been raped by their hus bands. The corollary of this is that one in 12 husbands have had sex with their wife against her will.

“Admitting to rape requires courage, so we might validly interpret this figure as ‘at least eight per cent’ and so estimate the figure as being in the region of 4,000 women.

“Further, 13 percent of married women, or about one in eight, indicated that they had been sexually abused by their husband. This would translate to about 6,000 sexually abused wives.”

that occurs without consent. Also referred to as sexual assault or sexual violence, it includes unwanted sexual

sexual acts,” according to Psychology Today.

“Overall, a married woman was 1.6 times more

single woman by her cur rent intimate partner,” he added.

Mr Fielding went on to

note: “What might be over looked in a discussion on rapists is that men who rape their wives are typically vio lent persons.

“In our research, 44 per cent of married women who had been raped had also been physically hurt by their husband, compared to 13 percent percent of mar ried women who had not been raped. Our data indi cate that rape is associated with not only violent behav iour, but also psychological abuse of women.

“Therefore, there is a need to protect married women from behaviours of concern connected with rape. Other University of The Bahamas research, by Dr Elizabeth Williams and others, demonstrates the often-ignored long lasting detrimental effects suffered by women as a result of even a single experience of rape. As with all mental health and psychological issues, these can be down played because they are less visible than physical wounds.”

He said if the country is willing to project the results

of this study onto the wider population, the question that may be considered is “should the country change a law to provide legal pro tection to around 4,000 women who have been raped by their husbands?”

Mr Fielding said the last census indicates that 44,464 women over the age of 15 are married and so by defi nition cannot be raped by their husbands.

“So approximately 45,000 women are not protected by the law should their hus band force them to have sex against their will,” he noted.

The study comes as the government has said it intends to criminalise spousal sexual abuse.

The proposed Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act was last month presented during the Min istry of Social Services and Department of Gender and Family Affairs’ sexual offences legislation one day symposium.

The draft amendment to the Sexual Offences Act seeks to criminalise marital rape and redefine what con sent is.

ACTING EDUCATION DIRECTOR HIGHLIGHTS ABACO ISSUES

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

EDUCATION officials introduced the new Acting Director of Education Dominique McCartneyRussell yesterday.

This comes after it was announced that former Director of Education Dr Marcellus Taylor will demit office to join the University of The Bahamas’ Govern ment and Public Policy Institute as a senior policy fellow where he will con tribute to the formation of public policy for national development.

Education Minister Glenys Hanna Martin thanked him for his contri bution to the ministry.

Mrs McCartney-Rus sell previously served as a

district superintendent and was in Abaco during Hur ricane Dorian. In 2021, she was awarded the Paul Harris Fellow Humanitar ian Award for her work in response to the storm.

In her remarks at a press conference yesterday, she expressed her excitement to serve as the chief technical adviser to the minister and also to be the manager of the public education system in The Bahamas.

“I believe that all chil dren can learn. I think our goal as a nation is to ensure that our children can take care of themselves and contribute positively to our developing nation,” Mrs McCartney-Russell said.

“I am excited to work with my team. I have worked in Abaco, Andros,

NOTICE is hereby given that JULIENNE BEAUCHAMP of Bailey Town, Bimini, 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 12th day of October, 2022 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

Grand Bahama and New Providence and I’m a firm believer that every single child has a right to an edu cation, whether they are in New Providence, or they are in Acklins and I have been a fighter for our children.

“Because I want at the end of the day that they are able to take care of themselves. And as we have seen, you know, our children have been out of school, some of them for three years out of the brick and mortar. And so it is incumbent upon all of us to work together as a team if we are going to see the Bahamas we want to see.”

Minister of State for Edu cation Zane Lightbourne commended Mrs McCa rtney-Russell on her new

appointment and said he had worked with the new director when she was a vice principal.

He added: “She knows what it takes to build a team and she is a hard worker, which (are) some of the necessary ingredients for our success and educa tion. So I thank her for her continued years of service to our country and I thank this entire team for their diligence in making sure that our children receive the best quality education that’s to offer.”

Asked what the first thing on her agenda is, Mrs McCartney-Russell said she is a “good listener” and wants to listen to her team.

“I want to ascertain what are some of the issues in regards to our team

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 3rd day of October, 2022 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

members. I want to focus a lot on decreasing within schools, variability among our teachers. I would like to address some of the issues that I have been hearing.”

She also spoke about the issues in Abaco.

“We’ve had a number of issues in Abaco related to staff shortage and I’ve felt so supported by this administration.

“We were able to put 30 teachers in Abaco. We do still have a shortage, but what we have done is we have put those, the short ages, we have them in the virtual school. But we are agitating for teachers, those remaining teachers who are awaiting their geographical (allowance) we are wait ing for them to be posted to Abaco. But, like I said,

we would have gotten some support in that area.”

She said another con cern is the learning loss in schools due to the COVID19 pandemic.

“Other concerns for us are the learning losses. Our children, some of them have been out of school for three years, as was said, and we want to ensure that their recovery is accelerated.

“And we’re also concerned, like the minister spoke, about school violence. We’re looking at restora tive practices, you know, programmes such as clubs and youth organisations, those things that allow our children to collaborate, that allow our children to con nect with one another, and perhaps be able to resolve conflicts a little bit better.”

NOTICE is hereby given that CHERICA CHARLES of Lincoln Boulevard, 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 12th day of October, 2022 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

NATIONAL Security Minister Wayne Munroe yesterday. Photo: Moise Amisial

THE STUDY was conducted by the University of The Bahamas.

Cooper: Crime is bad for tourism

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Staff Reporter

TOURISM, Investments and Aviation Minister Chester Cooper said the country must do all it can to get control of the crime situa tion because it’s not only bad for The Bahamas but also its tourism product.

“Any crime in The Bahamas is bad for The Bahamas. It’s bad for tourism and we must do all we can as Bahamians to manage this issue,” the deputy prime minister said before attending yesterday’s Cabinet meeting.

“If we see something, we say something and, of course, we find a way to settle our grievances and differences in a harmonious manner.”

He was responding to calls from tourism leaders for more to be done to crack down on the coun try’s escalating crime rate.

On Friday, Robert Sands, the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association’s president, warned that rising crime, if “left una bated,” threatened to negatively affect our nation’s leading indus try and society.

Noting that tourism is the lead ing source of income for The Bahamas, Mr Cooper acknowl edged visitor safety as a critical concern.

He also said it was mind bog gling that anyone would seek to kill or hurt “the goose that lays the golden eggs” and further called such acts a “stupid thing to do.”

“A crime against Bahamians is horrific. A crime against the tour ists is simply a stupid thing to do,” he said. “The effect (of) what we would be doing is biting the hands that feed us. I said during the budget debate that 60 cents out every dollar that we get comes from tourism.

“We are reliant on tourism for our very way of life. We have maintained a high quality in standard of living and, therefore, it boggles the mind that anyone would seek to kill the goose or hurt the goose that lays the golden eggs.

“So, I’m calling on Bahami ans everywhere to assist the police and assist the Ministry

of National Security in terms of managing and curtailing and the reporting of criminal elements in our community.”

Last Wednesday, the US State Department updated its travel advisory for The Baha mas to include new health information.

The advisory maintains its level number two security alert for Americans in The Bahamas, which advises residents to exer cise increased caution due to crime fueled by gang warfare and retaliatory killings.

The US advisory also reiterates concerns about the unregulated water sports industry in The Bahamas.

Despite these continued travel warnings, Prime Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis said on Monday he doesn’t believe the country’s crime rate will affect the nation’s tourism product.

For his part, Mr Cooper said he was pleased that the overall US travel advisory for The Bahamas remained the same as it has for the past several months.

“I am satisfied though that in relation to the travel advisory itself, that it does not escalate the alarm so to speak for travellers to The Bahamas,” he said.

“I would say one more thing. The tourism product in The Bahamas promotes 16 island des tinations within one destination in The Bahamas so notwithstand ing that this level two has been in place for quite some time and it hasn’t been escalated they make reference only to New Providence and (Grand Bahama).”

“We have 14 other destinations and had they been rated differ ently, I would imagine that all of the others would be level one or not even rated at all so the fact of the matter is that there are crimi nal elements in pockets in our community, but we have 16 island destinations and this is what we send to the world as the message for what we have to offer.”

The Bahamas has recorded 107 murders so far for the year, according to this newspaper’s records.

However, if current crime trends continue, the country will surpass last year’s homicide count which stood at 119.

MINISTER CALLS THEATRE ROW ‘MISUNDERSTANDING’

By JADE RUSSELL jrussell@tribunemedia.net

TOURISM Minister Chester Cooper yesterday said the government is committed to supporting creatives and the country’s orange economy, follow ing backlash he received from cultural activists over a recent meeting with Broadway producers.

Former Culture Director Dr Nicolette Bethel recently criticised the minister for the meeting that focused on possibly bringing a theatre festival to The Bahamas.

Tourism officials met with the foreign producers to discuss ways the country’s orange economy can be expanded.

In response Dr Bethel highlighted Shakespeare in Paradise, The Bahamas’ own theatre festival that she co-founded.

“Either the Minister of Tourism does not know about Shakespeare in Paradise, or the Minister of Tourism thinks that what Shakespeare in Paradise has been doing for the last 14 years is not good enough for his purposes.

We Bahamians should all take deep offence,” Dr Bethel wrote on her website earlier this month.

However, Mr Cooper told reporters yesterday, in response to Dr Bethel’s comments, that the whole ordeal was just a “misunderstanding”.

He had a meeting with Dr Bethel and Shake speare in Paradise stakeholders following their

AIRBNB FEARS OVER CRIME

By LETRE SWEETING lsweeting @ tribunemedia.net

LOCAL AirBnB owners have voiced concerns about the possible impact escalat ing crime will have on their businesses a day after Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis said he does not think the country’s crime rate will affect tourism.

Renee Johnson is the owner of Bahamian Touch Private Rentals, an AirBnB in the Cable Beach area that caters to local and international clientele. She said although her business has not been affected per sonally, she feels the crime rate in The Bahamas will have a trickle effect on all tourism related businesses.

“I don’t think it’s a good look, because I may not be affected now, but definitely in the long run, I’m sure it will have a trickle down effect on AirBnBs as well as any tourist related busi ness. As far as the crime rate, I only could speak generally, it will definitely have a trickle down effect on everybody,” Ms Johnson said.

“For instance, my AirBnB is in the Cable Beach area and if people go online and do research and if there are any activi ties (crime) in that area like that, then, of course, people would want to go over PI (Paradise Island) or some thing like that where they feel like no crime exists,” she said.

Ms Johnson said due to safety concerns on the island in general she has to

alert guests to certain things based on what they plan to do.

“Now as far as when people come, I would have to definitely alert them to certain things, you know to caution them not to go certain places,” she said. “For me, I believe it would be in my best interest to find out from people in advance what type of activi ties they do. I do that now, to kind of guide them to what I believe are the safer practices.”

Selena Sweeting, owner of an AirBnB in the Winton area, echoed Ms Johnson’s statements. She said she has not experi enced any major impact, but she has noticed tourists have been taking more pre cautions when booking and travelling.

“At this present time, crime has not had a direct effect on my business so far. However, I have had a few cancellations by persons who wanted to vacation in a part of the country that they felt was tourist ori ented,” she said.

“As today’s tourists are smarter and more travelled, they often do their research beforehand and now they follow with a million and one questions concerning safety issues. I have not been directly impacted by the spate of crime directly, but I do find myself taking greater precautions,” she said.

Owners of an AirBnB on West Bay Street near Arawak Cay said they have put certain prevention methods in place.

“Overall, crime would definitely affect the com munity and we strive to put certain things in place to ensure that they’re (our clients) safe, to prevent things like that from hap pening. We have a lot of cameras on our property,” they said.

“We look out for the cli ents, we make contact with them on a regular basis, once they’re here to ensure they’re ok. We check on them, answer any questions they may have to make sure it is smooth and they enjoy their stay.

“Tourists are now more comfortable going to the hotels. We have not had any incidents in our neigh bourhood that has really caused us to be concerned, but in the AirBnB com munity, you get blacklisted very quickly if situations arise that a client complains about,” they said.

These concerns were voiced after Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis said on Monday that he doesn’t believe the country’s crime rate would affect the nation’s tourism product, despite continued warn ings for American citizens to “exercise increased cau tion” in The Bahamas due to crime.

Mr Davis made these statements after Robert Sands, Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Associa tion’s (BHTA) president called for a more aggres sive and unified approach by all members of society to combat crime, noting its impact on the country’s tourism industry.

criticism of him.

“I met with Dr Bethel, and the producers of Shakespeare in Paradise. Our government is com mitted to the orange economy, we are committed to supporting the creatives in our Blueprint for Change. We have demonstrated our commitment, we are working along with the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, to help to advance these ini tiatives even further. There’s really never been a conflict. There is the possibility of tourism, attract ing significant numbers to The Bahamas, and there’s a possibility of growing Shakespeare in Par adise. We are collaborating actively with them,” Mr Cooper said.

The minister said officials are making connec tions to expand Shakespeare in Paradise with the producers they previously met in New York.

Although he did not want to give further details on the “misunderstanding” with Dr Bethel, he emphasised that things are moving forward.

He continued: “We’re working along with the foreign producers who have some ideas as to what can be done in The Bahamas in terms of an international theatre festival. This is going to be a collaboration along with Shakespeare in Paradise along with the local producers. They are going to talk with each other.

“So, I’m simply the rainmaker in this process, I will ensure that the connections are made.”

DEPUTY Prime Minister Chester Cooper yesterday.

Photo: Moise Amisial

LEON

LL.D., D.Litt

1972-1991

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Davis tells us the state of the nation

IT has been some time since we had a national address by the nation’s Prime Minister.

Under the former administration, as the country battled the first waves of COVID, such speeches were regular events – sometimes met with trepidation by listeners as they awaited new meas ures to limit the spread of the virus.

But under the new administration, Philip “Brave” Davis has been less vis ible. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, sometimes we can do with less talking, more doing.

So what prompted his national address yesterday? Well, in many ways, the speech came across as a state of the nation address.

It ranged over a host of different topics – from economy to COVID, cli mate change to unemployment.

Early on, he highlighted what he said his administration inherited – “an eco nomic crisis, a fiscal crisis, an education crisis, and a health crisis”.

While he left it off the list at that point, he also came to talk about crime later on, saying: “Crime and violence haunt our neighbourhoods. Too many of our young men are in crisis.”

That’s the picture painted, now what about the solutions?

On the finance side, Mr Davis detailed a few – confirmation of the $260 minimum wage The Tribune reported in August, extra items being added to price control. And he signalled this would be a stepping stone on the way towards a liveable wage. The minimum wage boost will affect many – but the govern ment must be cursing the price surges that will mean that extra money will be gobbled up by bills.

Improved growth forecast is positive – though long-term more stimulus is needed.

And Mr Davis returned to climate change as a topic too, calling it “the great fight of our time”, and pointing out the prospect of carbon credits bring ing revenue to The Bahamas to balance against the costs incurred from hurri canes and climate impacts.

There were areas glossed over too – the sale of the Grand Lucayan was simply noted as “progressing” without any significant update. The long-delayed marijuana legislation was not mentioned at all.

Also unmentioned was the issue of marital rape – on a day when The Trib une reports that a new University of The Bahamas study has revealed that one in 12 Bahamian women have been raped by their husbands.

There is little surprise that the discussion over a republic was not mentioned, after the administration pawed at the topic like it was a hot coal and then dropped the discussion promptly.

Issues of transparency also went unmentioned, with Freedom of Infor mation still a distant carrot and numerous government contracts remaining unreported.

That said, there was a refreshing can dour about the difficulties that many Bahamians are facing, the number of people struggling with unemployment, and to put food on their tables.

As he moved towards his conclusion, there were three things he said that per haps showed where his emphasis lay in his speech.

He said: “I see you sitting in your home, your bills in front of you, wonder ing which one you can’t postpone paying any longer.

“I see you worrying about how the years out of school have affected your children.

“I see you wondering whether you’ll ever feel safe again on the streets at night.”

Money. Education. Crime.

Get the money flowing, get the chil dren back in the classrooms, take people off the street and ease the desperation.

Large parts of the PM’s approach seem to come back to revenue, be it by restarting the economy or through such avenues as carbon credits. As politi cal advisor James Carville advised Bill Clinton in his campaign for President in the US back in 1992, “It’s the economy, stupid.”

Prime Minister Davis has been in office for a little over a year. It would be foolish to think he could have solved every ill in that time. We must wait to see how he fares in the future.

But his speech yesterday at least set out where we are, and where we must go. It is good for the nation to hear from its leader, to understand the path we are on. And for that, last night’s speech was very welcome.

The return of Shane Gibson

EDITOR, The Tribune.

AS A firm believer in the redemptive powers of The Lord Jesus Christ, through The Holy Spirit, I am elated that my longtime friend and political colleague, the Hon Shane Gibson, former illustrious Member of Par liament for Golden Gates, and cabinet member, is considering offering him self for parliamentary office again in 2026. The MICAL constituency would be the perfect fit for his return.

The Lord does not sleep or slumber. Just a few short years ago, Gibson’s politi cal career was a golden one. Alas, the PLP, along with Gibson, lost their mandate in 2017. Almost immedi ately thereafter, criminal charges of corruption and malfeasance were brought against him. Despite a severe leg injury, Shane was paraded while fully shackled at the ankles and wrists, like a petty crimi nal “known to the police” on his way to be arraigned. He was in obvious physi cal anguish, but that did

not seem to matter to the powers of the day.

After a long drawn out “trial” in the judicial pro cess, Gibson, as I always expected and predicted, was acquitted and discharged by a Supreme Court jury.

Truly, God worked a mira cle therein. Subsequently, Shane and his team of law yers were able to “settle” a lawsuit for damages for wrongful imprisonment and prosecution.

The rest is history.

It has now been reported that he is preparing to return to front line politics and may offer MICAL if given the nomination and supported by the leadership of the PLP. Yes, currently, that party has a sitting MP but no constituency “belongs” to any single one MP for life. No doubt, the current MP is a “good” man and I wish him well.

The Davis administra tion, once returned to office in the 2026 general elec tions, the Lord willing, will need all capable and proven hands on deck and in the cabinet. Shane has served

this wonderful nation with distinction over many years as a trade unionist and later as a Member of Parliament and a distinguished cabinet minister. He is a quantifi able quality. I would urge the Candidates Committee of the great and iconic PLP, along with the ultimate leadership of that party to favorably consider Shane’s application for the MICAL constituency at the appro priate time.

I here and now, publicly declare and proclaim my total support, if The Lord continues to tarry. What this son of the soil was forced to undergo proves his resiliency and fortitude.

His survival was nothing short of a divine interven tion. Whom God blesses No Man is able to curse and no weapon formed can ever prosper. His political resurrection is at hand. The Dream of the King lives on.

Nassau,

Criticism of police is unfair

EDITOR, The Tribune.

THE criticism levied at The Bahamas Government and the Royal Bahamas Police Force is unfair in the following paragraphs I will attempt to justify the need for this type of regional cooperation.

• We are members of INTERPOL and this type of regional cooperation is expected from member nations.

• We have received assistance from law enforcement in the USA for decades, eg; The FBI provided laboratory exami nations before we got our own Lab, They continue to provide laboratory ser vice to us gratis. They assist with investigations in locating wanted persons, who may have gone to the USA. They have provi ded us with undercover agents to assist with local investigations. They keep us informed about the movement and identities of persons involved in Organ ised Crime visiting our shores. Most importantly, many of our officers have received training at the FBI Academy in the USA.

• The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) partners with us in the fight against drug trafficking. They provide. Resources, such as aircraft and boats Their radar and intelli gence sys terns result in the arrests for aircraft, boats and the smuggles who enter our waters. The DEA has also provided training for our personnel and through the US Embassy valuable equipment.

• The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has pro vided training for our police officers, I recall Messrs Greenslade (former Commissioner of Police) and Marvin Dames (former Deputy Commissioner of Police).

• Prior to having our own laboratory, we sent drugs and blood samples/evidence for scientific examination. We also frequently used their handwriting and bal listics expertise in our investigations - gratis. Their scientists/experts testified in our courts.

• The Turks & Caicos Police has assisted us in locating persons wanted in The Bahamas for serious crimes. I recall such per sons being deported back to us.

• The search for a famous Bahamian Bank Robber had me residing in Haiti for about a month. I received full cooperation from the Haitian Police.

• The captain of a char tered American yacht was murdered by two Ameri can Pirates in Bahamian waters and the rick pas sengers were left on a deserted Island in The Bahamas. Lawrence Major of the Police Marine Divi sion went to the scene and the multi millionaires were rescued. I was involved in the investigation of the Murder. Neighboring countries in the Caribbean were in formed and give a

description of the yacht and the pirates.

The Cuban Police inter cepted the yacht and arrested the two Ameri cans, namely; Messrs Table and Sees. I accom panied a team led by Sir Albert Miller to Cuba and returned with the duo.

They were tried for murder, convicted and executed.

United States Law enforcement Agencies; Federal Bureau of Inves tigation, in particular has praised our Police Force the efficient and effective assistance give, in particu lar in the area of the arrest among “Ten Most wanted” and information of the movement of Organised Crime personnel in and out of The Bahamas and the identity of any local contacts. Law enforcement in this region received full cooperation from us and they provided similar cour tesies to us. For a number of years officers from the Turks & Caicos Islands were trained at our Police College.

Finally, the Constitution of INTERPOL provides this type of law enforce ment cooperation among its members. I have faith, that Assistant Commissioner Ken Strachan will vigor ously pursue those involved in the serious crimes, with success. I applaud The Bahamas Government and the Royal Bahamas Police Force for providing the required assistance.

Family rivals

EDITOR, The Tribune.

KINDLY consider the publication of this open letter to my beloved second cousin, Shane Gibson.

My dear second cousin Shane:

I heard that you plan to be your party, the PLP’s candidate for the great constituency of the Maya guana, Inagua, Crooked Island, Acklins and Long Cay - MICAL constitu ency.

The media said that you have deep roots in the area. That goes for me too,

coz.

We are both great grand sons of the late George Ferguson of Snug Corner, Acklins Island, and great great grandsons of the late Robert Ferguson - formally of Binnacle Hill, Acklins Island.

If you really get the PLP nod for the MICAL constituency - then I will unofficially apply to my party, the Free National Movement (FNM) nowto be its standard bearer in MICAL.

I have deeper roots in

Acklins than you cuz. My paternal great great grand father was the late Henry ‘Tucker’ Tynes of Pompey Bay, Acklins Island.

So, your decision to run for the MICAL con stituency is a lost cause in my view, as your cousinDennis Arthur Dames has more family than you in the MICAL district.

Dennis Arthur Dames for MICAL!

DENNIS DAMES

PAUL THOMPSON Sr Nassau, October 11, 2022.

HINDU women carry water from River Ganges on their heads and walk in a procession as they perform a ritual in Prayagraj, northern Uttar Pradesh state, India, on Monday.

Photo: Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP

$610,000 a month being paid out by NIB to unemployed

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE National Insurance Board is paying out roughly $610,000 a month in unemployment benefits to jobless Bahamians, according to State Minis ter Myles Laroda with responsibility for NIB.

Mr Laroda said if payments con tinue on this trend, NIB payouts could total between $7m and $8m by year’s end, a reduction of what was paid out in past years.

“I spoke with the managing director a few minutes ago. National Insur ance is paying out about $610,000 per month,” he told reporters before going to a Cabinet meeting.

“If we do the figures, over the past few years, it’s around $12m. So, at this pace, we’re looking at between seven and eight million would be the figure so that’s considerably less than in the past.”

He also expressed optimism that pay outs will continue to trend down ward, but also noted that officials are remaining cautious as things could change.

“Well, hopefully, if we continue on this trend, we should see a reduction,”

Mr Laroda said. “I don’t want to be presumptuous, because, you know, things could turn on a hurricane or some catastrophic financial situation that could create a downturn. So, we just hope that this trend continues.”

Asked whether he was concerned about job layoffs resulting in more unemployment claims once electric ity bills increase next month, the state minister replied: “Well, hopefully that is not the case. We are moving into the Fall and into winter. Usually the trend is electricity costs would go down, people (are) using less air condition ing and stuff and we just hope that until relief comes that there is no need to lay off.”

After COVID hit in 2020, NIB paid out over $100m in unemploy ment benefits to support thousands of Bahamians who were laid off during the health crisis.

Once NIB’s 13 weeks of payments stopped, the government introduced its own COVID unemployment pro gramme to provide further income support to jobless Bahamians.

More than $200m was spent on the unemployment benefit scheme by the government at end-September 2021.

The number of benefits paid out

over the years has left NIB reserves in a state of decline.

This is because payments have exceeded the incoming contributions since 2016, NIB had previously said.

Yesterday, Mr Laroda said discus sions are continuing at a Cabinet level as to what action needs to be taken to ensure the fund’s financial sustainability.

“Discussions continue,” he added. “You know, it’s a fluid situation and that time will come when a decision on that matter will be revealed.”

This comes after The Tribune exclu sively reported in April that the 11th actuarial review of the National Insur ance Board predicted that the fund could be depleted by 2028.

That report had reduced the fund’s potential depletion timeline by one year, as the 10th review had made a prediction of 2029.

It also recommended NIB to increase the contribution rate by two percent and continue increases every two years until 2036.

Prime Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis has already said that while an increase would be considered, there would be none until the government is able to arrest the headships facing Bahamians.

HURRICANE DORIAN REPAIRS ‘IN MOTION’

By JADE RUSSELL jrussell@tribunemedia.net

DISASTER Reconstruction Authority executive chairman Alex Storr said yesterday hurricane repairs in Abaco are in motion, as assess ments are currently being done for homeowners who have applied for repairs.

Three years after Hurricane Dori an’s destruction, the island of Abaco is still in a stage of rebuilding. Many residents are still grappling to repair their homes since the aftermath of the storm.

In an interview with The Tribune yesterday, Mr Storr gave an update on the hurricane repairs in Abaco.

“We currently have assessment teams on the ground doing assess ments of homeowners who have applied for repairs. We have secured some building material that will be shipped to the island within, if not

next week, by week after next. And we are also in the process of inter viewing workmen and hiring workers that will complete those works.”

Mr Storr explained their pro gramme is aimed to totally repair homes, in some cases even rebuild them.

He continued: “We also have the five houses that were started by dona tions, we hope to have those to restart the construction process on those and have those finished before the end of the year. As well as the Abaco centre which is very near to restart on the building of that project. I’m excited about that because once that’s com pleted, that could be revolutionising the shelter programme within the country where we will have purposebuilt shelters. We start in Abaco, but we hope we would be able to replicate that programme throughout the entire country.”

Additionally, when asked about the

Homeowners Assistance and Relief Programme (HARP), he said in Grand Bahama interviews for employ ment contracts started yesterday.

Mr Storr also explained that those contracts should be signed as soon as today.

Mr Storr’s comments came after Myles Laroda, State Minister for Disaster Preparedness, said yester day to reporters he had spoken to the acting managing director of the DRA in Grand Bahama about signing off on the first set of contracts for home repairs.

HARP was used to replace the former administration’s small home repair initiative and focuses on roof, window siding, plumbing and electri cal repairs.

The programme was launched in late August. Some $2m had been allocated at the time for the new pro gramme, which is being launched in phases.

WORKER GUILTY OF NEAR-$9K THEFT FROM EMPLOYER

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN from the Berry Islands was fined in court and ordered to reimburse his former employer after admitting to stealing $8,997

MAN ACCUSED OF SHOOTING OFFICER

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN was denied bail yesterday in connection with the shooting of an off-duty policeman during a botched armed robbery attempt at John Chea, Wulff Road, last week.

Latoriano Mackey, 18, faced Magistrate Samuel McKinney on five charges in connection with the incident. These include attempted murder, attempted armed rob bery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, posses sion of an unlicensed firearm and possession of ammunition.

According to police reports, on October 4 at John Chea and Son #2 on Wulff Road and Mt Royal Avenue, Mackey with another man allegedly held up the store armed with a black and red 9mm pistol. The gun’s serial number had been erased.

When P/C 3907 Horace Albury approached the two masked men, one of whom wore a ski mask, for acting suspiciously, they reportedly fired at him. This

resulted in the officer being shot twice in his left arm, and then in his abdomen.

The wounded P/C Albury managed to crawl to the back of the store where EMS rescued him. By this time the suspects had fled the scene.

When Mackey was later arrested in connection with this incident he was accused of having the same firearm used in the shooting in his possession as well as five unfired rounds of .9mm ammunition.

Due to the gravity of the offence, Mackey was not required to enter a plea in court. He was informed that his matter would proceed to the Supreme Court by way of a voluntary bill of indict ment (VBI).

Magistrate McKinney further told the accused that while he lacked the jurisdic tion to grant him bail, the accused had the right to apply for it in the higher court.

Until bail is granted, Mackey will be remanded to the Bahamas Depart ment of Correctional Services (BDCS).

Mackey’s VBI is slated for service on December 16.

SUSPECT FACES COURT IN FIREARM CONSPIRACY CASE

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN had his bail hear ing deferred to later this week in Magistrate’s Court yesterday after denying involvement in a conspiracy to import four firearms and 314 rounds of ammunition into the country.

Eugene Campbell, 33, faced Magistrate Shaka Serville on multiple fire arm charges. These include importation of ammuni tion, conspiracy to import ammunition and four counts of importation of firearms and conspiracy to import firearms.

Between April 21 and August 12, the accused, being concerned with others, is alleged to have conspired to and then imported several firearms into the country as well as 314 unfired rounds of 9mm ammunition. The weap ons involved are said to be a silver-coloured Smith &

Wesson 9mm pistol, two SCCY-CPX-2 9mm pistols and a black Austria Glock 43 9mm pistol.

In court, the accused pleaded not guilty to all ten charges.

However, prosecutor Ser geant Deon Barr objected to bail on the basis that Campbell may reoffend. He said that due to the nature of the charges against him the defendant’s release could result in future loss of life to gun violence.

Campbell’s defence argued in favour of his bail citing that the accused had otherwise cooperated with investigations into the matter up to this point.

Magistrate Serville deferred Campbell’s bail hearing until October 13 to allow him time to consider his position on the matter.

The accused will be remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correc tional Services until his next court appearance.

TEENAGERS ACCUSED OVER STORE ROBBERY

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

TWO teenagers were sent to prison yesterday in connection with a failed armed robbery of a store late last month.

Joshua Duncanson, 18, aka “Joshua Taylor” along with Samuel Higgs, 19, aka “Samuel Major”, both faced Magistrate Samuel McKinney on multiple charges.

These include possession of an unlicenced firearm, possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, attempted armed robbery and conspiracy to commit armed robbery.

Budget meat store on the same same day.

During this bungled stickup, the accused are said to have endangered the lives of Jason Mitchell and cashier Stevania Mitchell with the firearms.

Due to the nature of the offence, neither accused was required to enter a plea. They were informed that their matter would be fast tracked to the Supreme Court by way of a voluntary bill of indictment (VBI).

The two were further told by the magistrate that while he lacks the jurisdic tion to grant them bail, they have the right to apply for bail through the higher court.

from Great Harbour Man agement Ltd over the summer.

Kingsley Charles, 40, appeared before Magistrate Kendra Kelly on a charge of stealing by reason of employment.

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.

Between August 17 and 21, the accused stole $8,997 from the Berry Islands company by means of his employment.

In court, Charles pleaded guilty.

The magistrate ordered

the accused to fully reim burse the company for the theft.

Charles was further ordered to pay a $3,000 fine for the charge as well as a mandatory 200 hours of community service.

NOTICE

NOTICE 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.

On September 30, the two were reportedly found by authorities with a Taurus pistol and a maverick shot gun, both with their serial numbers erased.

The pair are further accused of the attempted armed robbery of a

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

The accused’s VBIs are expected to be served on December 16.

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.

STATE Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Myles LaRoda.

The steps we can take to deal with breast cancer

OCTOBER is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so pink ribbons and pink t-shirts abound, especially on Fridays when many busi nesses have a casual day and encourage employees to support the cause.

The Bahamas has the highest rate of BRCA gene mutations which indicate a higher risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer. In The Bahamas, women are diag nosed 20 years younger

By Alicia Wallace

than the world average, and often with later stages of the disease. For this reason, we need to adjust our screen ing recommendations.

Bahamian women need to start annual breast screen ings by the age of 40. Those with a family history of breast or ovarian cancer

need to start even earlier.

While some doctors rec ommend early screening for those at higher risk, there can be pushback from those in diagnostic centres and radiology departments. Earlier this year, I went for my first mammogram. While I tested negative for the known BRCA gene mutations in The Baha mas, my known family history prompted me to begin screening beyond my self-tests. When I booked the appointment, I was asked for my age. When I presented for check-in, I was questioned about my need for a mammogram at my age. I gave a brief over view of my family history and a second staff member seemed to tell the person I was speaking with to go ahead and check me in.

I had heard different sto ries about mammograms, but I was not worried about pain or discomfort. Fortunately, I did not experience either. The technician was pleas ant and communicative and the mammogram was done quite quickly. It is important to know that mammograms do not always show every thing. In fact, they can be difficult to read. In my case, it was very difficult to read and I was advised to have an ultrasound. I wondered if the issue was really dense tissue making it difficult to read the mammogram, or if they saw something and needed to confirm it or have a closer look. I was able to return later on the same day for the ultrasound.

requested that the result be sent directly to the office.

After a few phone calls, we got the results to my doctor. I was called in for an appointment and, again, I was not sure what this meant. Would they have given me normal or good results by phone?

I told my parents, who were aware that I was having these tests done, and they were both sup portive. I was fortunate to have them both waiting for me when I left the appoint ment with my doctor. He had shown me the images and findings and advised me of next steps. I was glad to be able to imme diately share this with my parents who at least pre tended to be calm.

first one on the spot, and was advised to have another ultrasound in two years. It was good news, and I was happy to have it done.

When I worked on the BRCA gene testing in The Bahamas, it was challeng ing to get women to take the genetic test. Even when we told people the same test we were offering com pletely free of charge would cost over $3000 anywhere else, there was reluctance.

‘In The Bahamas, women are diagnosed 20 years younger than the world average, and often with later stages of the disease.

For this reason, we need to adjust our screening recommendations.

People were not sure that they were ready to hear their results. Their minds were already at a much later stage, focused on what they would do — or what they would have the resources to do — if the results were positive.

The genetic counsel

of Lyford Cay, New Providence, The Bahamas who died at his residence on Saturday, 17th September, 2022 will be held at The Church of St. Christopher, The Martyr, Lyford Cay on Saturday, 22nd October, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. Officiating will be The Right Reverend Laish Boyd, Bishop of The Bahamas and The Turks and Caicos Islands, The Venerable Keith N. Cartwright, Archdeacon of The Southern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands, Rector of St. Agnes Anglican Church and The Reverend Father Enrique McCartney, Assistant Curate of The Church of St. Christopher, The Martyr.

Mr. Paton was predeceased by his brothers, Kenneth and Alasdair and his sister, Jean.

He is survived by his sister, Fiona; sisters-in-law, Dorothy and Joy; brother-in-law, Geoff White; sons, Michael and Matthew; stepdaughter, Jessica; grandchildren, Mark, Christian and Julian; daughters-in-law, Patrice and Chenene; numerous nephews and nieces and many friends.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Bahamas Red Cross Society, P.O.Box N.8331, Nassau, The Bahamas or by direct deposit to Bahamas Red Cross Society Account No. 2894228, JFK Branch #05165, in Memory of Mr. Lennox McLean Paton.

Arrangements by Kemp’s Funeral Home Limited.

The ultrasound, of course, took a longer time. I was bracing myself for the cold gel, but it was closer to room temperature than I had expected. The techni cian was very quiet, except to tell me when I needed to move or she needed to make an adjustment. There was no small talk, and there was no explanation of what she was doing. I was aware that she was moving the device around, typing on a keyboard, and capturing images. Because it takes a longer time, images are being captured, and the technician is focused (as they must be), it can be quite easy for thoughts to spiral. I was particularly aware that I needed to con trol my thoughts because this was my second exam for the day, and I was not com pletely sure why I had to do the second one, at a much higher cost. I chose to focus on my breathing, ignore the images on the screen that I could not interpret anyway, and wait to get the results from my doctor.

After not hearing from my doctor, I called the doc tor’s office to inquire about my results. They had not received them, though I had

I decided to take the next step in another coun try. There, doctors were perplexed by my decision to have a mammogram at my age. One even suggested that mammograms are a scam. Though I was quite surprised by his statement, I firmly told him that I take my health seriously and, given my family history and the prevalence of breast cancer in The Bahamas, I chose to have a baseline mammogram.

Bahamian women need to start annual breast screenings by the age of 40.’

lor helped with this and explained that they would be guided through the process and provided with options. Still, it was not an easy decision. The same is true for mammograms and ultrasounds. Fear can drive us to take action, and it can stop us from taking action.

For me, it is easier to go through life with the infor mation that will help me to make the best decisions with what is available to me.

When seeking healthcare in another country, which we do for many reasons, we have to consider not only cultural differences, but also the health norms and statistics that differ. What is unusual in one country is the way it’s done in another. I immediately realised that the doctor I was speaking with had no idea that The Bahamas has the highest prevalence of BRCA gene mutations, and I decided that he would not make me question my decision to ensure that I have all the information I need to make the best health decisions for myself. All I needed from him was a referral.

It was a bit of a run around, but with the sup port of my partner, I eventually went for another ultrasound, as recom mended by my doctor within a certain timeline.

The technician was curi ous about my decision to have a mammogram and ultrasound at my age. I, again, explained that family history and national preva lence led me to get started early. I received the results and the comparison to the

This month, it is a bit easier to get a mammo gram. The Breast Cancer Awareness Month specials have started, making this the best time of the year to get your mammogram. If you are advised to get an ultrasound, try not to panic. It does not necessar ily mean anything is wrong.

Mammograms are not the best diagnostic tool for all breasts. Ultrasounds, how ever, are not cheap. Even if you have to put it off for a few weeks or months, at least you have your base line mammogram.

If you are concerned about managing anxiety until you are able to pay for an ultrasound, remember that you can ask questions. Ask if the ultrasound is urgent. Ask if any portion of it can be covered by your insurance. Ask if there is a payment plan. Ask any ques tions that can help you to take care of yourself. If you haven’t already done it, call and make your appointment.

We’re already almost halfway through the month, and there are only so many appointments available. Make sure one of them is yours.

May 6 chosen as date for coronation of King Charles

LONDON Associated Press

KING Charles III will be crowned at Westminster Abbey on May 6 in a cere mony that will embrace the past but look to the modern world after the 70-year reign of the late Queen Elizabeth II.

Tuesday’s announcement from Buckingham Palace comes amid speculation that the coronation will be shorter and less extrava gant than the three-hour ceremony that installed Elizabeth in 1953, in keep ing with Charles’ plans for a slimmed down monarchy. While the palace provided few details, British media reported that the guest list would be pared to 2,000 from 8,000.

Charles will be crowned in a solemn religious

ceremony conducted by Justin Welby, the arch bishop of Canterbury, the palace said in a statement.

Camilla, the queen consort, will be crowned alongside her husband.

“The coronation will reflect the monarch’s role today and look towards the future, while being rooted in longstanding traditions and pageantry,’’ the palace said.

Charles will be anointed with holy oil before receiv ing the orb, scepter and coronation ring. Camilla will also be anointed with holy oil and crowned, as was Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.

The palace is planning the coronation, known as Operation Golden Orb, as Charles and his heir, Prince William, seek to demon strate that the monarchy

is still relevant in modern, multi-cultural Britain. While there was widespread respect for Elizabeth, as demonstrated by the tens of thousands of people who waited hours to file past her coffin, there is no guarantee that reverence will transfer to Charles.

Organisers should be shooting for a ceremony that’s about an hour long, in line with last month’s “immensely moving” funeral for the queen, said royal historian Robert Lacey, author of “Majesty: Elizabeth II and the House of Windsor”.

“One has to remember, too, while all the reverence and gravity of the Queen’s funeral was very much focused on tribute to her, a coronation is a tribute to an institution rather than a person, with whom quite

RUSSIAN ATTACK ON UKRAINE DUBBED ‘POSSIBLE WAR CRIME’

KYIV, Ukraine Associated Press

RUSSIAN forces show ered Ukraine with more missiles and munition-car rying drones on Tuesday after widespread strikes killed at least 19 people in an attack the UN human rights office described as “particularly shocking” and amounting to potential war crimes.

Air raid warnings sounded throughout Ukraine for a second straight morning as officials advised residents to con serve energy and stock up on water. The strikes have knocked out power across the country and pierced the relative calm that had returned to Kyiv and many other cities far from the war’s front lines.

“It brings anger, not fear,” Kyiv resident Volo dymyr Vasylenko, 67, said as crews worked to restore traffic lights and clear debris from the capital’s streets. “We already got used to this. And we will keep fighting.”

The leaders of the Group of Seven industrial powers condemned the bombard ment and said they would “stand firmly with Ukraine for as long as it takes.” Their pledge defied Rus sian warnings that Western assistance would prolong the war and the pain of Ukraine’s people.

Russia launched the wide spread attacks in retaliation for a weekend explosion that damaged the Kerch Bridge between Russia and the Crimean Peninsula,

which Moscow annexed in 2014. Russian President Vladimir Putin alleged that Ukrainian special services masterminded the blast.

The Ukrainian government has applauded it but not claimed responsibility.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the G-7 leaders during a virtual meeting that during the past two days Russia fired more than 100 mis siles and dozens of drones at Ukraine, and that while Ukraine shot down many of them, it needs “more modern and effective” air defense systems.

The Pentagon earlier announced plans to deliver the first two advanced NASAMs anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine in the coming weeks. The systems, which Kyiv has long wanted, will provide medium- to long-range defense against missile attacks.

In a phone call with Zelenskyy on Tues day, President Joe Biden “pledged to continue pro viding Ukraine with the support needed to defend itself, including advanced air defense systems,” the White House said.

Zelenskyy also urged the G-7 leaders to respond “symmetrically” to the attacks on the Ukrain ian energy sector by doing more to stop Russia from profiting off its exports of oil and gas.

“Such steps can bring peace closer,” he said. “They will encourage the terrorist state to think about peace, about the

unprofitability of war.”

Ukrainian officials said the diffuse strikes on power plants and civilian areas made no “practical military sense”. However, Putin’s supporters had urged the Kremlin for weeks to take tougher action in Ukraine and criticised the Rus sian military for a series of embarrassing battlefield setbacks.

Pro-Kremlin pundits lauded the attacks as an appropriate and longawaited response to Kyiv’s successful coun teroffensives. Many of them argued that Moscow should keep up the inten sity to win a war now in its eighth month.

The head of Britain’s cyber-intelligence agency, Jeremy Fleming, said on Tuesday in a rare public speech that Russia is run ning out of military supplies and struggling to fill its ranks.

“Russia’s forces are exhausted,” Fleming said.

“The use of prisoners as reinforcements, and now the mobilisation of tens of thousands of inexperienced conscripts, speaks of a des perate situation.”

Like Monday’s strikes, the bombardment on Tues day struck both energy infrastructure and civil ian areas. One person was killed when 12 missiles slammed into the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, setting off a large fire, the State Emergency Service said. A local official said the mis siles hit a school, residential buildings and medical facilities.

UK SPY CHIEF SAYS CHINA’S RISE TOP SECURITY ISSUE

LONDON Associated Press

THE head of Britain’s cyber-intelligence agency on Tuesday accused China of trying to “rewrite the rules of international secu rity”, saying Beijing is using its economic and techno logical clout to clamp down at home and exert control abroad.

Jeremy Fleming, director of GCHQ, said that despite war raging in Europe since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Beijing’s growing power is the “national secu rity issue that will define our future”.

In a rare public speech to the Royal United Ser vices Institute think tank, Fleming alleged that Beijing’s Communist authorities want to “gain strategic advantage by shaping the world’s technol ogy ecosystems”.

“When

technology, the politically motivated actions of the Chinese state is an increas ingly urgent problem we must acknowledge and address,” Fleming said.

“That’s because it’s chang ing the definition of national security into a much broader concept. Technol ogy has become not just an area for opportunity, for competition and for col laboration, it’s become a battleground for control, for values and for influence.”

He argued that the oneparty system in Beijing seeks to control China’s population and sees other countries “as either poten tial adversaries or potential client states, to be threat ened, bribed or coerced”.

Relations between Brit ain and China have grown increasingly frosty in recent years, with UK offi cials accusing Beijing of economic subterfuge and human rights abuses.

British spies have given increasingly negative assessments of Beijing’s influence and intentions.

Last year, the head of the MI6 overseas intelligence agency, Richard Moore, called China one of the big gest threats to Britain and its allies.

In 2020, then-British Prime Minister Boris John son followed the United States in banning Chinese tech firm Huawei as a secu rity risk, ordering it to be stripped out of the UK’s 5G telecoms network by 2027.

Fleming warned China is seeking to fragment the infrastructure of the inter net to exert greater control.

He also said China is seek ing to use digital currencies used by central banks to snoop on users’ transactions and as a way of avoiding future international sanc tions of the sort imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

a lot of thoughtful people in this country disagree,’’ Lacey told the BBC.

While most of corona tion ceremony, which has changed little in the past 1,000 years, is expected to remain intact, some of the more fussy trappings of pomp and circumstance may be trimmed as Britain struggles with soaring infla tion and the fallout from the war in Ukraine. The optics are important.

“The idea of this very

opulent coronation coming on the back of a winter of austerity, cost-of-living crisis, but also, I think, a sense that having thou sands of foreign dignitaries flying in on airplanes that guzzle oil and petrol or whatever they guzzle to the coronation of the envi ronment-loving monarch — all of those things could chime very awkwardly,” said Anna Whitelock, a professor of history of modern monarchy at City

University London, told the BBC.

The ceremony tradi tionally takes place some months after the monarch’s accession to the throne, providing time to mourn his predecessor and organ ise the event. Charles is expected to sign a procla mation formally declaring the date of the ceremony at a meeting of his senior advisers, known as the Privy Council, later this year.

SHE

LANSBURY DIES, AGED 96

NEW YORK Associated Press

ANGELA Lansbury, the scene-stealing Brit ish actor who kicked up her heels in the Broad way musicals Mame and Gypsy and solved end less murders as crime novelist Jessica Fletcher in the long-running TV series Murder, She Wrote, has died. She was 96.

Lansbury died on Tuesday at her home in Los Angeles, according to a statement from her three children. She died five days shy of her 97th birthday.

Lansbury won five Tony Awards for her Broadway performances and a lifetime achieve ment award. She earned Academy Award nomi nations as supporting actress for two of her first three films, Gaslight (1945) and The Picture of Dorian Gray (1946), and was nominated again in 1962 for The Manchurian Candidate and her deadly portrayal of a Communist agent and the title character’s mother.

Her mature demean our prompted producers to cast her much older

than her actual age. In 1948, when she was 23, her hair was streaked with gray so she could play a fortyish newspa per publisher with a yen for Spencer Tracy in State of the Union.

Her stardom came in middle age when she became the hit of the New York theatre, winning Tony Awards for Mame (1966), Dear World (1969), Gypsy (1975) and Sweeney Todd (1979).

She was back on Broadway and got another Tony nomina tion in 2007 in Terrence McNally’s Deuce, play ing a scrappy, brash former tennis star, reflecting with another ex-star as she watches a modern-day match from the stands. In 2009 she collected her fifth Tony, for best featured actress in a revival of Noel Cow ard’s Blithe Spirit and in 2015 won an Olivier Award in the role.

Broadway royalty paid their respects. Audra McDonald tweeted: “She was an icon, a legend, a gem, and about the nicest lady you’d ever want to meet.” Leslie Uggams on Twitter wrote: “Dame Angela was so sweet to me when

I made my Broadway debut. She was a key person in welcoming me to the community. She truly lived, lived, lived!”

But Lansbury’s widest fame began in 1984 when she launched Murder, She Wrote on CBS.

Based loosely on Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple stories, the series cen tered on Jessica Fletcher, a middle-aged widow and former substitute school teacher living in the seaside village of Cabot Cove, Maine. She had achieved notice as a mystery novelist and amateur sleuth.

Murder, She Wrote and other television work brought her 18 Emmy nominations but she never won one. She holds the record for the most Golden Globe nominations and wins for best actress in a tel evision drama series and the most Emmy nomina tions for lead actress in a drama series.

In addition to her three children, Anthony, Deirdre and David, she is survived by three grandchildren, Peter, Katherine and Ian, plus five great grandchildren and her brother, pro ducer Edgar Lansbury.

KING Charles III feeds carrots to horses as he attends a reception to thank the community of Ab erdeenshire for their organisation and support following the death of Queen Elizabeth II at Station Square, the Victoria & Albert Halls, Ballater, United Kingdom, yesterday.

Photo: Andrew Milligan/AP

ACTRESS Angela Lansbury reacts to the standing ovation by her peers after she was hon ored with a lifetime achievement award during the 3rd annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles on February 22, 1997.

Photo: Kevork Djansezian/AP

BEST-OF-FIVE CHAMPIONSHIPS SET TO BEGIN

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

AFTER taking a break for the National Heroes Day holiday weekend, the New Providence Softball Association is all set to begin its 2022 best-of-five championship series in both the men and women’s divisions.

The championships will begin on Thursday night at the Banker’s Field at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex with the defending champions Sunshine Auto Wild cats taking on the RAB Operators in the ladies’ series, while the defend ing champions C&S Hitmen will entertain the Cyber Tech Blue Marlins in the men’s encounter.

League president Dwayne Stevens said just as exciting as the regular season was, they are anticipating a lot of fireworks for the finals, which should come down to a slugfest in the ladies’ series and a pitcher’s duel in the men.

“I expect some very good series, especially in the men where we have two great pitchers on both teams,” Stevens said. “Thomas Davis and Eugene Pratt, the up and coming young stars (for the Blue Marlins) will be taking on the veteran crew of Edney ‘the Heat’ Bethel and Alcott Forbes (for the Hitmen).

“I think it will be a pitching showdown, which should be very competitive in that men’s series.”

As for the women, while Thela Stevens has been the workhorse for the Wildcats and Brendia Ferguson has carried the load for the Operators, Stevens said both teams have a lot of lumber, so it’s anticipated that Sunshine Auto and RAB will engage in some high scoring matches.

“They could still come down to pitching in the ladies series as well because the Operators have some pitching to contend with,” Stevens said. “But both teams hit the ball very well, so I believe they will be scor ing a lot of runs in that series.”

While game one is set for Thursday, game two will be played on Satur day. The ladies will play the opener at 7pm, fol lowed by the men in the nightcap at 8.30pm. They will return for game three next Thursday and if necessary, game four will be played on Saturday.

Should they go to a fifth and deciding game, Stevens said they will announce then the time and date for the match or matches to be played.

The Wildcats, managed by Anthony Bullard, clinched their berth in the ladies’ final over the Johnson’s Lady Truck ers and the Operators, managed by Kelly Smith, earned their ticket as they eliminated the Uni versity of the Bahamas Lady Mingoes.

In the men’s playoffs, the Hitmen, managed by Darren Stevens, ousted the Chances Mighty Mitts and the Blue Marlins, managed by Charlie Rolle, got by the Atlantis Titans. The NPSA last played in 2019 before sports in the country was halted because of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

Without a national championship to be played for the winning teams, Stevens said the NPSA is gearing up to

Nassau Rowing Club team heads for Massachusetts

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

FOUR competitors, all of whom have gained some international experience, will be representing the Nassau Rowing Club at the Head of Charles Race that will be held in Cambridge, Massachusetts from Octo ber 21-23.

NRC’s president Kyle Chea will serve as coach of the team that will have Dehron Smith competing in the Men’s Championship Sculls Division; Dr Kath ryn de Souza in the Grand Master Veterans Single Sculls Division and sisters Jessica and Poppy Proffitt will team up to contest the Youth Women’s Under 17 Doubles Sculls Division.

Chea said the expecta tions are very high for the team that will represent the Bahamas – they leave on October 19th for the competition.

Four competitors to take part in Head of Charles Race

“I feel great about this team,” Chea said. “Kathryn de Souza is a seasoned mar athon runner, so this long distance race is very suited to her skill set. It’s a five-kil ometre race, so I think she will be very well.

“Jessica Proffitt com peted in this race last year, so she comes with a famili arity of the course and so she wants to improve on her performance. They both raced in a regatta held in Canada over the summer, so they bring a high level competition “

As for Smith, who is cur rently enrolled st Ithaca College in New York, Chea said he competed in Italy in the Under-23 World Championships and they are looking forward to him

honing his skills.

“It will be a tough com petition because it is a global level of competi tion with everyone from club level to national team rowers racing,” Chea said. “But the crews and the entries we have will be able to represent us well.”

Dr. De Souza, a 58-yearold Physician specialising in Sports Medicine/Physical Medicine and Rehabilita tion, has been rowing for 4 1/2 years. She is coming off her international debut in the Head of the Schuylkill regatta in Philadelphia last year where she placed 5th in the Women’s Mas ters Lightweight 55-59 age group.

“I have been a long time marathon runner and

started rowing as a way to cross train for running. It was fun to pick up a new sport in my 50s,” Dr de Souza said. “I am hoping to finish mid fleet in the Head if the Charles Regatta.

There are 55 women in my age category.”

Although they have a small team, Dr de Souza said they are fortunate to be able to train year round on one of the most beauti ful rowing venues in the world at Lake Cunningham.

“The Proffitt sisters are lightening fast and Dehron Smith is a collegiate rower, who represented the Bahamas at the Under 23 World Championships this summer, so we have an excellent chance of doing well at the Head of the

Charles next week,” Dr de Souza said.

“Hopefully we will have more members of the Nassau Rowing Club com peting in the Head of the Charles next year. Several of the Masters rowers and I are planning to compete in the 2023 World Rowing Masters Regatta in South Africa and I plan to row in a few more Head races (5k/ 3.1 miles) in the US next year.”

Smith, a 22-year-old senior at Ithaca College where he is majoring in Athletic Training, is hoping that the experience he gained at the 2022 Under-23 World Rowing Champion ships will help him as he competes in his second race in a single.

“It’s an awesome venue to gain race experience and once again set an example of what’s possible in the sport for my teammates at Ithaca college and for

Wellington Miller is honoured on National Heroes Day

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter

FORMER Bahamas Amateur Boxing Federation president and Bahamas Olympic Committee president Wellington Miller was invested with the Companion Order of Merit in an official cere mony on National Heroes Day on Monday at the Baha Mar Resort.

The honour from the Bahamas Government comes just a month before Miler will be returning to the same venue on Wednesday, November 16th to be indicted into the National Hall of Fame by the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture.

In the national honours on Monday presented by Gover nor General Cornelius A. Smith, Miller said he was delighted to be among the more than 200 persons, including 20-plus persons from the sporting world, who were rec ognised for their contribution to nation building.

“First of all, I want to thank God for allowing me to see this day and to be in the best shape of my life to receive this honour,” Miller said. “I want to also thank the persons who recommended me and the committee for

accepting the recommendation.

“I know there were many rec ommendations they received, so I’m just happy that my own was one that they accepted. It makes you feel good because you have been working all along and you never know that there were per sons out there who were watching what you’ve been doing.”

It’s a recognition that Miller said he never envisioned nor aspired to receive from the time he started making his con tribution. He insisted that his satisfaction came from assisting the many young men in boxing.

“When you look at it, to come from Andros and a small settle ment like Conch Sound and an even smaller town like Miller Hill, to come to Nassau and to climb that height to now receive the third highest honour the country can give out is very amazing,” Miller stressed.

The retired Immigration Officer, who now serves as a newly ordained Deacon in New Covenant Baptist Church and the current president of the Men’s Department of the Bethel Baptist Association, said it just shows that if you work hard, be consistent

FROM LEFT: Dehron Smith, sisters Jessica and Poppy Proffitt and Dr Kathryn de Souza.

FORMER

SOFTBALL’S BEST-OF-FIVE CHAMPIONSHIPS SET TO BEGIN

participate in the pro posed Bahamas Softball Federation’s National All-Star Classic during the second weekend in November at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex.

“As you know, New Providence is the only island association which had a full season. Grand Bahama and Exuma just started some fast pitch and slowpitch games,” Stevens said. “So what they are proposing is that each island send an AllStar team to represent the island.

“After that, the NPSA will put on a tournament and we’re inviting teams from the islands to come in and participate against teams from the NPSA. So we are looking at having softball played through the rest of the year.”

The NPSA, however, is expected to make a deci sion on whether or not they will take advantage of fielding two teams in both the men and women’s divisions for the BSF’s AllStar Classic, which would include the NPSA cham pions, or just select an All-Star team to represent the NPSA.

WELLINGTON MILLER

HONOURED ON NATIONAL HEROES

and be honest, you can achieve anything.

“To be honoured for something that I have been doing for such a long time, it couldn’t come at a better time,” Miller said. “So I encourage all young people who are volunteer ing their service, don’t just try to get in to get paid, but to make a difference in the lives of the persons you come in contact with.

“I also want to thank the Bahamas Government for accepting the nomina tions of so many sporting persons. I think we had over 40 persons who were involved and some are still active in their various sporting disciplines. Some times people don’t know the work we put into sports and the amount of young people we help to change their lives.”

As a former amateur boxer, Miller called on the Bahamas Government to include sports in their anti-crime prevention plan because if boxing can take young men from the Simp son Penn School and make them respective citizens of our country, so many other sporting bodies can do the same.

“I’m sure that many other sporting bodies can attest to how they have taken many young boys and girls off the street and put them into some whole some sporting activities to make them better citi zens,” Miller disclosed.

For 25 years, Miller has served as an executive in amateur boxing. He was first elected as president in 1984 until 2000. He had decided to take some time off to raise his two young sons, but Miller was asked to serve as vice president under Alvin Sargent that same year. At the next election in 2004, he was reelected as president until he demitted office for good in 2017.

However, Miller was then elected to serve as a vice president in the BOC under the leader ship of the late Arlington Butler in 2000. After serv ing two consecutive terms, he was elected in 2008 as the president, serving in that capacity until 2018 when Rommel Knowles was first elected as the new president.

“I don’t have any regrets. I would do it all over again without any reservations,” said Miller about his tenure in office. “I enjoyed my time. I met a lot of people and I got to help turn the lives around for so many young people.”

As he celebrated the national honour with his family and friends, espe cially those who were also honoured, newly minted Miller will be heading off on Friday to represent the BOC at the meeting in Seoul, Korea.

Nassau Rowing Club team heads for Massachusetts

younger rowers at home,” Smith said. “This is a dif ferent style than the spring races so I hope to set a solid standard to use as a bench mark as I work to improve over the coming months.”

After graduating from Nassau Christian Acad emy in 2017, Smith went to Ithaca College where he was a walk on to their rowing team in his fresh man year and he admitted that he immediately found a home.

“I was welcomed and it really helped my transition into college to be among people who encourage me to be the best version of myself,” he said. “ It helps that I love competing at anything and everyday is an opportunity to challenge myself with the team.”

Smith said his initial international competition this summer really put elite rowing into perspective for him and that’s why he feels Ithaca College has been the best place for him to improve and to realise his full potential.

“I hope to set some ambi tious personal best for the spring season when we do the majority of our racing and contribute to a victory in our school’s first appear ance at the IRAs in early June,” Smith summed up.

The Proffitt sisters are just as eager about compet ing in the event as Dr de Souza and Smith.

Jessica profit, a 16-yearold 11th grader at the Lyford Cay International School, has been rowing since she was 11 and she has rowed competitively and gone to regattas for two years, including the

Head of the Indian Creek Regatta (Miami, October 2019), Head of the Charles Regatta (Boston, October 2021), Miami International Regatta (Miami, April 2022), CanAmMex Inter national Regatta for Team Bahamas (Ontario, Canada, July 2022)

She noted that last year, she participated in Head of the Charles in the same race in a double with her older sister Sascha and while it

was an amazing experience, she was able to learn a lot about the race and how to train for this next upcoming regatta.

“I believe that going into the competition this time around with this new knowledge has made me feel more prepared and confident for our race,” she said. “Our training for this regatta has also been a lot more more intense than last year, especially since

last year we were only just coming out of COVID.

“We have been con tinuously conditioning ourselves for the past month through a very dif ficult training plan, and while it was extremely chal lenging, our training will definitely boost our success for this race. Along with our training and past expe rience in the regatta, my team and coaches have also been extremely supportive and motivating throughout our training, and this has helped me to develop my skills for our race.”

As for the team selected for this race, Jessica Proffitt said the NRC provides an extremely supportive and encouraging environment for rowers.

“Training for regattas can be challenging, but my teammates always push me to do my best,” she said.

“The team going to Head of the Charles is very diverse in terms of age and experi ence, and so I believe that we have a lot to offer at this upcoming regatta.”

Poppy Proffitt, a 14-yearold ninth grader at Lyford Cay International School, has been rowing for three years with participation in the Miami Regatta and CanAmMex.

“For this regatta, although it is going to be a little scary as this is my third international regatta that I have participated in, I hope to take this experience as a way to improve, have fun, and to meet other rowers,” Poppy Proffitt said.

“I have been training every day of the week for the past month. I hope that with our intense training plan and all the strength that we managed to build,

we will be successful in the race and place high. I want to show everyone what I have accomplished and learned from training hard this month.”

As a member of the NRC, Poppy Proffitt said everyone is so supportive and kind.

“Going to this regatta, Jessie and I will also be with some of the Windsor rowing members from The Bahamas, which is very exciting,” she said. “At CamAmMex, both of our crews trained together and they are very friendly.”

Poppy Proffitt said she plans on continuing rowing until university.

“I would like to continue rowing competitively and take part in more upcoming international regattas,” she stated.

“When I get older, I would love to help teach new rowers at the NRC summer camps, includ ing possibly becoming the rowing captain.”

After she graduates in two years, Jessica Proffitt said she hopes to move into rowing at a collegiate level.

“Regattas like Head of the Charles provide a great opportunity to get in touch with some of the best col leges in the world, and so its my plan to harness this opportunity and start look ing at some of my options in Boston whilst I am there,” she said.

For Dr de Souza, she’s just hoping that the NRC will be able to host an inter national regatta in The Bahamas in the near future and she can display her skills with her team-mates at home on Lake Cun ningham in front of the Bahamian crowd.

SUNS BACK FOR TITLE PUSH AFTER LAST SEASON’S ABRUPT ENDING

By DAVID BRANDT AP Sports Writer

PHOENIX (AP) — There were many things Phoenix Suns coach Monty Williams enjoyed about his lengthy offseason, particularly the opportunity to relax for a long period for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic condensed the league’s schedule in 2020.

But the reasons for that extended rest led to a nagging question.

“Why am I cutting down trees in Texas, when I should be practic ing?” Williams said.

It’s safe to say the Phoenix Suns haven’t completely gotten over last year’s Game 7 debacle against the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference semifinals. The 123-90 loss was one of the most embarrass ing playoff defeats — particularly at home — in NBA history. It was a shocking and sudden end after a 64-win regular season, which led the NBA and was the best mark in franchise history.

Now the Suns are back to try for a happier ending.

“We have some unfinished busi ness around here,” All-Star guard Devin Booker said. “That’s what we’re working towards.”

The Suns have been one of the

NBA’s best teams over the past few years, making the Finals in 2021 before losing to the Bucks in six games. The franchise was very good again last season, but flirted with big changes over the summer before ultimately deciding to bring back the majority of the nucleus.

That means Booker, fellow AllStar guard Chris Paul and Mikal Bridges are back. So is starting centre Deandre Ayton, who signed a $133 million, four-year deal during the offseason after the Suns matched an offer sheet from the Pacers.

Booker signed a $224 million, four-year supermax deal during the offseason, cementing the guard’s place as the face of the franchise.

The 25-year-old has grown into one of the NBA’s top scorers averaging more than 25 points over the past five seasons.

This is Booker’s eighth NBA season — all in Phoenix — and he’s helped lift the Suns from one of the league’s worst to one of the best.

“Everything that I’ve always dreamed of, the chance to play meaningful basketball, playoff bas ketball, chances to compete for an NBA title, that’s my goal,” Booker said. “I’m not going to stop until I get it.”

SARVER SITUATION

Suns owner Robert Sarver has said he has started the process of selling the Suns and Phoenix Mercury.

The move came barely a week after he was suspended by the NBA for a year over workplace miscon duct that included racist speech and hostile behavior toward employees.

The Suns have faced many ques tions about Sarver’s misconduct. Paul — now in his 18th NBA season — said he’s tried to make sure his teammates know that he has their back.

“You’re in a locker room where it ranges from 19 to 37 and everyone wants to put a microphone in their face and ask them how they feel about things they can’t control,” Paul said. “So my first instinct is to be protective, because I was wor ried about my guys and how people take a sound bite.”

AGELESS PAUL

It’s fair to wonder how much the 37-year-old Paul has left in the tank.

He played like he was a decade younger for much of last season, averaging 14.7 points and an NBAhigh 10.8 assists per game. But he faded some in the playoffs — par ticularly in the Mavericks series

NO CROWDER

The one major contributor from last season that probably won’t be on this year’s roster is Jae Crowder.

The 32-year-old Crowder has averaged about 10 points per game for the Suns the past two seasons, but was most valuable for the defence, rebounding and toughness he provided. Even so, Crowder was likely going to lose his starting spot this season to Cam Johnson, who was one of the finalists for NBA Sixth Man of the Year last season. The Suns and Crowder agreed that he would not come to training camp while the team explored the possibility of a trade.

NEW GUYS

The Suns will look very similar in their starting five, but the bench had a significant makeover during the offseason.

General manager James Jones added guards Duane Washington Jr., Damion Lee, Frank Jackson and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, along with forwards Jock Landale and Josh Okogie. All of them could have some sort of role.

DEHRON Smith displaying his Bahamas uniform.

— and there’s little doubt Williams will want to manage Paul’s work load during the regular season.

LOS Angeles Lakers guard Kendrick Nunn (12) shoots around Phoenix Suns centre Deandre Ayton (22) during the second half of a preseason NBA basketball game Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

By DANIELLA MATAR AP Sports Writer

MILAN (AP) — Barce lona could be on the verge of another humiliating group-stage exit from the Champions League.

With Barcelona and Inter Milan seemingly competing for second spot in Group C, behind a per fect Bayern Munich, it’s advantage to the Italian side after it controversially won 1-0 at San Siro last week.

Another victory for Inter at Barcelona on Wednesday would mathematically qualify the Nerazzurri for the round of 16 and consign Barcelona to an early exit from the competition for the second straight year — unless Bayern loses to Viktoria Plzeň in what would be a major upset.

Barcelona will be looking to Robert Lewandowski for inspira tion. The former Bayern Munich forward netted a hat trick against Plzeň but was kept quiet against his old team and was largely anonymous in the first match against Inter.

“It’s an important match in which we will have everything on the line,” Barcelona defender Marcos Alonso said after the Catalan club beat Celta Vigo 1-0 at home Sunday for its seventh straight Spanish league victory.

Inter will be hoping the victory against Barcelona signaled a turning point in its season after a medio cre start to the domestic campaign which saw it lose four of its opening eight Serie A matches before that important Champions League win.

Simone Inzaghi’s side made it two wins in a row with a 2-1 victory at Sassu olo on Saturday.

“We showed in the last game against Barcelona that we had turned a page,” Inter midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan said after the Sassuolo win. “We are Inter and we showed we never give up.” Inter will still be without injured forwards Romelu Lukaku and Joaquín Correa.

ENGLAND’S RESOURCES

AT RIGHT BACK TESTED AHEAD OF WORLD CUP

By STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer

ENGLAND’S

resources at right back are being tested ahead of the World Cup.

Reece James was forced off with a right knee injury in the second half of Chelsea’s 2-0 win over AC Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday.

He appeared to hyper extend his knee as he made a challenge.

“Fingers crossed it’s not a bad one,” James wrote on Twitter after the match.

“Love for all the mes sages, I appreciate you all.”

Chelsea manager Graham Potter said James will be assessed over the next couple of days.

Hours earlier, Trent Alexander-Arnold was ruled out for two weeks by Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp because of an ankle injury sustained in a Premier League game at Arsenal on Sunday.

Meanwhile, another option at right back, Manchester City’s Kyle Walker, underwent groin surgery last week, leaving his World Cup ambitions in the balance.

England opens its World Cup campaign on Nov. 21 against Iran.

James started at right wing back in England’s most recent games — the Nations League quali fiers against Italy and Germany last month. Alexander-Arnold would be a like-for-like replacement in that position.

Walker has been playing on the right of a three-man defence and is probably first-choice right back if England plays a back four.

Juventus on verge of Champions League elimination after loss

HAIFA, Israel (AP) — Juventus descended further into crisis and was left on the verge of elimination from the Champions League fol lowing a 2-0 loss at Maccabi Haifa on Tues day that also included an injury to key wingerÁngel Di María.

Omer Atzili scored two first-half goals as Haifa earned its first Champi ons League win in two decades.

Juventus was left third in Group H with two games to play.

Paris Saint-Germain, which was held to a 1-1 draw by Benfica, leads the group with eight points, followed by Benfica (also with 8), Juventus (3) and Haifa (3).

It’s the first time Juventus — a two-time European champion — has lost three of its first four group matches.

“Unfortunately, these things happen in soccer,” Juventus winger Juan Cuadrado said. “We’ve got to try to turn the page as soon as possible … We can only emerge from this situation if we’re united.”

Juventus is also strug gling in Serie A and lost 2-0 to AC Milan on Saturday, leaving the Bianconeri eighth with just three wins in nine matches.

Still, Juventus CEO Maurizio Arrivabene said before the game in Haifa that the club had “absolute faith” in coach Massimiliano Allegri.

“The coach is doing eve rything to get us back on track,” Cuadrado said at the final whistle. “We are

all a team and it’s more the fault of those of us on the field. We must give more, starting from the more experienced players.

We need to have faith in ourselves as a team and a family. We have emerged from many difficult situ ations before and this is an opportunity to do it again.”

Allegri insisted he would stay in place and try to turn things around, adding that the team would go into a punitive

CHELSEA BEAT 10-MAN MILAN 2-0 TO TAKE CONTROL OF CL GROUP

retreat until a derby with Torino on Saturday.

“It is difficult to explain,” the coach said. “We just have to keep quiet, work and get out of this situation. ... It’s a duty toward the club, the fans and above all ourselves.”

An early exit from the Champions League would be particularly painful for Juventus’ finances after the club recently posted a record loss.

Juventus was elimi nated by Villarreal in the

first knockout round of last season’s Champions League.

It was Haifa’s first Champions League win since beating Manchester United 3-0 in 2002.

Atzili put Haifa ahead seven minutes in by using his back to deflect a cross from the center of the area amid a crowd of defenders. His second was a precise shot into the near corner after faking a shot to the other side of the net.

Tjaronn Chery also hit the crossbar in the firsthalf onslaught from Haifa.

Things then went from bad to worse for Juve when Di María pulled up clutching the back of his right leg — prompting the Argentina international to exit immediately.

Di María provided all three assists when Juven tus beat Haifa 3-1 last week.

Juventus was beaten 2-1 both by PSG and Benfica in its opening two games.

By DANIELLA MATAR AP Sports Writer

MILAN (AP) — What a differ ence a week makes.

Chelsea was at the bottom of Group E but two straight victories over Serie A champion AC Milan has seen it move into pole posi tion to progress to the Champions League round of 16.

Chelsea moved to the top of the group on Tuesday with a 2-0 win at Milan, which played most of the match with 10 men after former Blues defender Fikayo Tomori was sent off in the 18th minute after also giving away a penalty.

Jorginho converted the spotkick and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang doubled the visitors’ advantage in the 34th minute to help Chelsea to its first win on Italian soil since 2003.

Chelsea moved a point above

Salzburg, which drew 1-1 at Di namo Zagreb in the other Group E match. Milan and Dinamo are three points below Chelsea.

“It’s obviously important for us to be there at the end of the group,” Chelsea manager Gra ham Potter said. “We know we haven’t got enough points now so we have to keep going, focus on the next match, which is Salzburg away — another tough one.”

Potter was appointed last month after Thomas Tuchel was fired fol lowing a surprise 1-0 loss to Di namo in their Champions League opener. And the former Brighton manager has swiftly turned things around.

“The important thing is the quicker you get to know the play ers, the quicker you can build some trust up, the quicker that you can understand them the bet ter,” Potter said. “I think it’s down to the guys, the players, how

they’ve responded. They’ve been very honest, very responsible and they want to do well.

“So our job is to try to help them and try to help them enjoy their football. If they’re enjoying their football then there’s quality in the team.”

Milan, which was going through an injury crisis, lost 3-0 at Chelsea last week. Tomori had one of Mi lan’s worst performances and was hoping to redeem himself at San Siro.

But it all went wrong for him and Milan early on as Tomori was shown a straight red card for a tug on Mason Mount and the referee pointed to the spot.

“I just asked the referee at the end of the game whether VAR was working properly,” Milan coach Stefano Pioli said.

“I don’t believe it was the ref eree’s best evening, that’s without a doubt.”

Jorginho had missed his past three penalties for Italy but his trademark hop, skip and jump technique worked this time and he sent Milan goalkeeper Ciprian Tătărușanu the wrong way.

Milan didn’t let their heads go down and almost leveled shortly after as Olivier Giroud was al lowed too much space but the former Chelsea forward headed Brahim Díaz’s cross wide of the right post.

Mount was again involved in Chelsea’s second as the England midfielder touched on a through ball to Aubameyang, who buried it into the bottom right corner.

Sergiño Dest had a great oppor tunity to get Milan back into the match on the hour mark, follow ing great play by Rafael Leão, but the American blazed his effort over the bar.

JUVENTUS’ LEONARDO BONUCCI, centre, reacts after the Champions League soccer match between Maccabi Haifa and Juventus at Sammy Ofer stadium, in Haifa, Israel, Tuesday. Maccabi Haifa won 2-0. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

CHELSEA’S Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang celebrates after scoring his side’s second goal during the Champions League group E soccer match between AC Milan and Chelsea at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Tuesday. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

By FRED GOODALL AP Sports Writer

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.

(AP) — Four straight play offs berths, a World Series appearance and ample rea sons to believe the future could be even brighter.

Despite back-to-back early postseason exits, the Tampa Bay Rays remain confident they’re built for long-term success, and that their persistence and commitment to develop ing young talent will be rewarded with a champion ship. Eventually.

“There’s plenty of rea sons to see optimism when we look ahead,” president of baseball operations Erik Neander said Tuesday, adding, “The biggest one to point to with a respect to that is our pitching. Our pitching is in a really good place. Our pitching and our defence are reasons why we’ve continued to be competitive.”

Despite allowing just three runs in 24 innings over two games, the Rays were swept by Cleveland in their AL wild-card series. Tampa Bay’s chief postsea son issue is coming up short on offense.

The lone Rays run came from Jose Siri’s solo homer in Game 1. They were lim ited to nine hits, struck out 29 times and went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring posi tion in the two games.

Meanwhile, they wasted strong outings by Shane McClanahan, Tyler Glas now and others on a pitching staff that has the potential to be among the best in baseball if its starters can remain healthy.

“We got a small pre view of what it could look like with having a McCla nahan and Glasnow front of the rotation. Those guys deserve a lot of attention,” Neander said. “Those are two guys that have been in Cy Young consideration the last couple of years.”

Glasnow recovered quicker than expected from Tommy John surgery per formed in August 2021, returning to make two lateseason starts before working five scoreless innings of the 15-inning 1-0 loss to the Guardians in Game 2.

The Rays have never been in a financial posi tion to sign big-money free agents or offer long-term contracts to veteran play ers. But in August, they reiterated a commitment to the future by giving Glas now a two-year, $30.35 million contract extension that includes a franchiserecord-tying $25 million salary for 2024.

Alvarez hits 3-run HR vs Ray in 9th, Astros jolt M’s in ALDS

By KRISTIE RIEKEN AP Sports Writer

HOUSTON (AP) — Yordan Alvarez wrecked all of Seattle’s carefully crafted strategy with one colossal swing.

The Mariners came to the postseason with a plan. Down to their last out, the Octo ber-tested Houston Astros weren’t so easily outmatched.

Alvarez smashed a gameending, three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning off Robbie Ray, foiling the Mariners’ move to use a Cy Young Award winner in a rare relief role and vault ing the Astros to an 8-7 win Tuesday in their playoff opener.

“It was something going into the series where we were at, looking at our rota tion, where we were going to head, and talking with Robbie about using him out of the bullpen as a bullet, so to speak, for that type of scenario,” Mariners man ager Scott Servais said. “You know, bringing in a lefty against Alvarez, although Alvarez is one of the better hitters in the league.”

“But we talked about it coming into the series. We talked about it pregame today. I looked at it in the seventh inning and said, hey, this could happen. So that was the plan going in,” he said.

Houston skipper Dusty Baker, who managed Ser vais while with the Giants, refused to second-guess his former player.

“If he gets him out, then it looks great ... next time Robbie Ray could win, but today we won,” Baker said.

Trailing all game after a poor start by Justin Verlander, the AL West champion Astros overtook rookie star Julio Rodríguez and the wild-card Mariners at the end to begin their bestof-five Division Series.

The Astros had been 0-48 in their postseason history when trailing by more than a run after eight innings until Alvarez homered deep into the seats to overcome a 7-5 deficit.

With his Cuban parents in the stands, too.

“I think it’s one of the most special moments that I’ve had in my career, having them there, and even for just the city of Houston,” Alva rez said through a translator. “They know that we’re a team that never gives up.”

The no-doubt drive was the first walk-off homer in postseason history with a team trailing by multiple runs. And it was just the second walk-off homer with team down to its final out — the other was Kirk Gibson’s startling shot that lifted the

Dodgers over the A’s in the 1988 World Series opener.

A stoic Ray said he was “just frustrated” after giving up the mammoth home run.

Houston rookie pinch-hit ter David Hensley reached with one out in the ninth as Seattle closer Paul Sewald grazed his jersey with a pitch. Sewald struck out Jose Altuve before Jeremy Peña laced a single to centre field to chase Sewald.

Servais then made the bold move to bring in Ray, who started Saturday at Toronto in the AL wild-card series, for a lefty vs. lefty matchup with Alvarez. Ray won the Cy Young last year with Toronto, had made only six relief appearances in his career and had never earned a pro save.

A percentage move — or was it?

Alvarez had a .998 OPS against left-handed pitch ers this season, by far the highest among qualified lefthanded hitters, and 10 home runs. And his batting average against lefties was .321, com pared to .299 vs righties.

Alvarez, who hit 37 homers in the regular season, turned around Servais’ move by launching Ray’s second pitch into the seats in right field to set off a wild celebration with

his mom and dad in the seats.

It was the first time they got to see him play in the postseason after arriving from the island in August to watch him play profession ally for the first time.

The Mariners, back in the playoffs this year for the first time since 2001, were on the wrong end of a big comeback this time after rallying from a seven-run deficit in Game 2 to sweep their wild-card series with Toronto.

The Mariners jumped on Verlander for six runs in just four innings to build a 6-2 lead early. Yuli Gurriel hit a solo homer in the Hou ston fourth before Eugenio Suarez’s solo shot in the sev enth extended Seattle’s lead to 7-3.

A two-run homer by Alex Bregman off Andrés Muñoz cut the lead to 7-5 in the eighth inning to set up the dramatic finish.

Alvarez had a two-run double in the third to get Houston’s offence going a bit before it really took off in the final two innings.

The Astros, who are trying to reach the ALCS for a sixth straight season, led the AL with 106 wins but looked a bit out of sorts early after a six-day layoff since their last regular-season game.

“Those days off, I think hurt our whole team,” Baker said. “You see, we didn’t wake up until the fifth, sixth inning... you can practice all you want to. There’s nothing, no substitute for game action. So that’s not an excuse, but I can sort of feel it and see it.”

They got going late to con tinue their dominance of the Mariners in Houston after going 30-7 against them in the regular season at Minute Maid Park since 2019.

Verlander followed up his remarkable comeback season after missing almost two full seasons after Tommy John surgery with a flop in the worst postseason perfor mance of his storied career.

He led the majors with a 1.75 ERA and topped the AL with 18 wins this season. He dominated the Mariners in the regular season, going 5-1 with a 2.34 ERA in six starts.

Instead, the Mariners hit almost everything he threw in what was his 32nd playoff game. By the time he trudged off the mound mumbling something to himself after just four innings he’d given up a playoff career-high 10 hits with six earned runs, which tied his most in a post season game.

“I have to do better next time out, but here we are

with a Game 1 win and I couldn’t be more happy,” he said.

The last four batters Ver lander faced hit, in order, a home run, triple, double and single.

Rodríguez tripled, doubled and scored three times and Ty France had three hits.

MATON OUT Astros reliever Phil Maton revealed Tuesday that he broke his right pinkie when he punched a locker in frustration after Houston’s regular-season finale and will miss the postseason.

Maton had surgery Monday to repair the frac tured finger on his pitching hand.

The 29-year-old Maton gave up two hits, including a single to younger brother Nick Maton, and two runs while recording one out in the eighth inning of Houston’s 3-2 win over Phila delphia last Wednesday.

UP NEXT Seattle’s deadline acquisi tion Luis Castillo, who got the win in the team’s playoff opener at Toronto, opposes Framber Valdez in Game 2 Thursday in Houston.

CASTELLANOS’ BAT, GLOVE HELP PHILLIES TOP BRAVES 7-6 IN NLDS

By PAUL NEWBERRY AP Sports Writer

ATLANTA (AP) — Nick Castel lanos had already carried quite a load with his bat.

When the Philadelphia Phillies needed his glove in the ninth inning, he didn’t let them down.

Castellanos drove in three runs and made a potentially game-saving catch, lifting the Philadelphia Phil lies over the reigning World Series champion Atlanta Braves 7-6 in the opener of their NL Division Series on Tuesday.

The Phillies have won three straight games to begin these play offs, hardly looking like a team making its first postseason appear ance since 2011. They followed up their wild-card sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals with a victory over the team that finished 14 games ahead of them in the NL East.

It wasn’t easy. Matt Olson hit a three-run homer in the ninth off Zach Eflin to bring the Braves within a run.

But Castellanos, capping off a brilliant all-around day, made a slid ing catch in right field for the second out to help snuff out the comeback — a clutch play from a player fre quently maligned for his defence.

“Do anything I could to not let it hit the ground,” Castellanos said of his mindset.

He sprawled out on the grass — arms raised above his head, the ball securely in his glove — before roll ing over and flipping it back to the infield.

Castellanos appears to be find ing his groove after missing most of September with an oblique injury.

“I hope that’s the start of some thing, because he’s been out for a long time,” manager Rob Thomson said. “Maybe he’s really getting his timing back now.”

Alec Bohm added two RBIs for the Phillies, who built a 7-1 lead by the top of the fifth and made it

stand up against a Braves lineup that squandered numerous chances to get back in the game earlier. Travis d’Arnaud homered and drove in the other three Atlanta runs, but the team that won 101 games during the regular season and edged the New York Mets in a thrilling NL East race sud denly finds itself in a best-of-five predicament.

Game 2 is Wednesday afternoon in Atlanta before the series shifts to Philly.

Castellanos had a run-scoring single in the first — the Phillies jumping ahead 2-0 before many fans had settled in their seats for the lunchtime start — and added a tworun single in the fourth.

Castellanos came in hitting .148 (4 for 27) in seven postseason games. He had nearly as many hits in this one, going 3 for 5.

And that catch on William Con treras’ opposite-field liner truly made it a day to remember.

“Baseball is really, really fun right now,” Castellanos said.

Max Fried, whose last postseason start was a World Series-clinching victory over the Astros, failed to get through the fourth against the Phillies.

The Braves ace was roughed up for eight hits and six runs — two of them unearned, but that was because of a throwing error by Fried.

The Phillies, on the other hand, have been playing like playoff-hard ened veterans even though their 11-year postseason drought was the National League’s longest.

They started the season dismally, which led to the firing of manager Joe Girardi in early June.

Thomson guided a remarkable turnaround as interim manager, the Phillies bouncing back to claim the NL’s final wild card.

Thomson had the interim removed from his title on Monday, agreeing to a two-year deal to

remain at the helm through 2024.

The Phillies gave him quite a thankyou in his first game as plain ol’ manager.

D’Arnaud led off the second with a homer deep into the left-field seats off Ranger Suárez to make it 2-1. But the 22-year-old left-hander was not flustered.

Suárez went just 3 1/3 innings but made a couple of big pitches to keep the Braves down.

After walking two to load the bases in the first, Suarez escaped on Contreras’ inning-ending double play.

Atlanta loaded the bases again in the third, but d’Arnaud struck out on a high fastball out of the zone.

Suárez pumped his fist emphatically on the way to the dugout.

“We had him on the ropes,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. “We just couldn’t get a big hit.”

The Braves put two more runners aboard in the fourth.

This time, the threat ended with

Dansby Swanson whiffing at a 3-2 pitch from Andrew Bellatti, who was credited with the win.

Swanson slammed his helmet to the dirt in frustration — which was pretty much indicative of how this day went for the defending champs.

The Phillies knocked out Fried in the fourth, the left-hander leav ing with runners at second and third. Jesse Chavez had a chance to escape the jam after he struck out Realmuto, but Castellanos came through with a two-our single to left that made it 6-1.

FRIED FLOPS

This was quite a postseason comedown for Fried.

In Game 6 of last year’s World Series, he pitched six scoreless innings in a 7-0 victory that clinched Atlanta’s first title in 26 years.

Fried was stricken with a stomach bug in the final week of the regu lar season but insisted he was fully recovered.

“I’m not going to make any excuses,” he said. “I took the ball today and put us in a big hole right off the bat.”

ROSTER MOVES

Phillies reliever David Robertson was left off the NLDS roster after injuring his right calf jumping to cel ebrate Bryce Harper’s home run in the clinching wild-card victory at St. Louis.

Spencer Strider, the Braves’ hardthrowing rookie, made the roster after he was sidelined since Sept. 18 with a sore left oblique. He was not available for Game 1, but could pitch later in the series.

UP NEXT RH Kyle Wright, who led the majors with 21 wins, faces a mustwin situation when goes for the Braves in Game 2. He’ll be opposed by Phillies RH Zack Wheeler (12-7, 2.87),

HOUSTON Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez (44) celebrates with teammates after his three-run, walkoff home run against the Seattle Mariners during the ninth inning in Game 1 of an American League Division Series baseball game in Houston,Tuesday.

(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

PHILADELPHIA Phillies right fielder Nick Castellanos (8) makes a diving catch against Atlanta Braves catcher William Contreras during the ninth inning in Game 1 of a National League Division Series baseball game, Tuesday, in Atlanta. The Philadelphia Phillies won 7-6. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

of more timely and accurate data on how strongly tour ism continues to rebound.

Reiterating that The Bahamas continues to suffer from ‘“a deficiency in timely and quality statisti cal collation”, with data on hotel occupancies, cruise ship arrivals and tourist spending - and their over all GDP impact - now more readily accessible for the IMF and others.

Of greater concern, Mr Bowe argued is the IMF’s continuing prediction that The Bahamas will return to historical low GDP growth in the short to mediumterm once it has recovered what was lost in COVID.

Economic expansion is pro jected to be just 1.5 percent in 2027, and the Fidelity chief told this newspaper: “That’s what we have to be very careful on.

“When you ask questions about whether we have done anything significant to move the needle, the answer is ‘no’. We have to have structural changes, a more established mindset change.” He added that last week’s Moody’s downgrade, which pushed The Baha mas further into so-called ‘junk’ status, suggested international as well as

local observers want to see “meaningful evidence of structural change” as well as an altered attitude.

“I don’t think there’s a lack of intellectual thrust in what’s being said, but it’s what we say in the Baha mian vernacular: ‘Mouth can say anything’,” Mr Bowe said. “We have to demonstrate that what we are saying has tangible actions behind it that sup port it.

“In reality, when we don’t have an economic plan, we don’t have a debt man agement plan, we don’t have a Budget that has credible forecasts in the medium-term... The real ity is because you present numbers it doesn’t mean they will be automatically accepted. There’s not been a history of long-term fore casts and accountability measuring which elements we have achieved and which we have not.”

There was too little analysis and explanation for why certain fiscal tar gets were missed, and why projections extending out three years were frequently subject to change at each Budget cycle, he added.

Hubert Edwards, the Organisation for Respon sible Governance’s (ORG)

economic development committee head, told Trib une Business that The Bahamas must aim for annual GDP growth rates “north of 2 percent” with a consistent 3 percent to 3.5 percent the ultimate goal if this nation is to make serious inroads into its eco nomic woes.

“I don’t know if concern ing is the right word,” he said of the IMF’s 1.5 per cent growth forecast for 2027. “That is the area of biggest focus and the big gest policy challenge. In order for The Bahamas to fundamentally correct some of the issues it’s faced with,

it’s going to need to experi ence above average growth.

“We have a circumstance where we’re going to revert to pre-COVID, pre-crisis levels, which is not good, and suggests we have not made any significant shift, not implemented or exe cuted any type of reform, developed and expanded new industries, diversified and expanded into new rev enue streams.

“The challenge in The Bahamas is to get us north of 2 percent, and get us up to growth of 3-3.5 per cent. Historically, we have been averaging just over 1 percent. In times when we have had our greatest level of growth, we have been just about or north of 2 percent. Two percent is the benchmark we need to get beyond. Two percent to 2.5 percent, three percent to 3.5 percent is the area that we need.”

Without such growth, Mr Edwards voiced fears that the Government will be forced to introduce new and/or increased taxation and cut public spending to achieve its fiscal targets via austerity measures. He pointed to Moody’s recent assessment, which expressed concerns that the Davis administration’s

plans to restrain public spending may impose downward pressures on economic growth.

Pointing out that these scenarios are to be avoided, the ORG chief added: “We need to get to a place where we see real, robust growth, not 2-2.5 percent nominal growth.” He also described the IMF’s 8 percent growth forecast for The Bahamas for 2022 as “a marginal move” given that it was not a major increase upon the 7 percent predicted last week by Moody’s in its latest credit assessment.

John Rolle, the Central Bank’s governor, had in early August trimmed his GDP growth forecast for The Bahamas in 2022 to 5 percent, so the IMF’s revi sion at least represents a reasonable upgrade on that. The revised 8 percent GDP expansion follows 13.7 percent growth in 2021, which came after COVID and associated lockdowns/ restrictions caused the Bahamian economy to shrink by 23.8 percent in 2020 - the biggest con traction in the Western Hemisphere bar Venezuela and St Lucia.

Elsewhere, the IMF forecast that inflation will peak at 7.2 percent in The

Bahamas this year before declining to a more man ageable 3.4 percent in 2023. While the 2022 projection indicates “there is a bit more pain” to be endured in terms of price increases, Mr Edwards said the “dras tic drop-off” in the inflation rate year-over-year could prove a “mixed bag” if too much demand is squeezed out of the Bahamian economy and its tourism industry.

A supply side improve ment, with product shortages reduced if not eliminated, together with a reduction in food and energy costs will benefit the Bahamian economy, he added. But if the US plunges into recession as a result of interest rate hikes designed to dampen down inflation, that may have “implications for local eco nomic activity”.

Mr Bowe agreed, adding that the US and other major economies are taking a “big gamble” that through inter est rate hikes they can bring inflation under control quickly while also creating a soft landing for their econo mies with a minimal, short lived recession. Should this fail, The Bahamas will feel the negative consequences.

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timeline for the review, or publication of the findings, was provided and URCA now has less than three weeks in which to complete its work before the BPL increases are set to start kicking-in.

The two-paragraph URCA statement was released one day after Tribune Business started making inquiries about the regulator’s position on the series of BPL fuel charge increases that are set to send electricity bills for both businesses and house holds soaring over at least the next 13 months.

Mr Pintard, who previ ously questioned URCA’s “objectivity” given that its head of electricity regula tion when the fuel charge concerns first emerged, Shevonn Cambridge, is now BPL’s chief executive, said of yesterday’s brief announcement: “While late, we’re pleased that URCA is going to com mence a review and we, like other members of the public, are looking forward to seeing the results.”

The controversy was exposed in late February 2022 when the 3.2 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) increase recommended by BPL’s management and Board, which would have resulted in a 30.4 percent hike taking the fuel charge from 10.5 cents per kWh to 13.7 cents, was rejected by the Davis administra tion’s Cabinet on the basis it would be too damaging for the fragile post-COVID economy.

This sparked questions over whether the Govern ment, and BPL, were in violation of the law - in particular the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (Amendment) Regulations 2020 - which were enacted to facilitate the state-owned energy monopoly’s fuel hedging initiative.

These required BPL to pass 100 percent of its fuel costs on to consumers, but the rate increase rejection raised the likelihood this was being breached through the Government providing taxpayer subsidies. Another issue concerned the “over and under account”, which was designed to keep BPL’s fuel hedge in balance. This account was allowed to fluctuate within a 5 per cent margin either side, and the suspicion then was that these limits had been breached.

Both issues were subject to URCA’s oversight, but

no answers were provided until the Government and BPL last week confirmed the fuel charge had indeed been subsidised through a combination of taxpayer funds and non-payment of Shell’s fuel bill. The end result of delaying Febru ary’s planned increase is a series of more massive fuel charge hikes from which no household or business can escape.

“We thought it really important to raise concerns over their silence,” Mr Pin tard told Tribune Business of URCA. “We are hoping they will respond and intend to weigh in. We hope this is done in a timely fash ion given that the pressure on the public is going to be felt in the short-term.

“The timeline is critical, so they are clearly aware that the public is watching. URCA’s review and find ings are critical because the last thing we want is for an important regula tory body that is designed to protect consumers for their credibility ti be adversely impacted by them not engaging in what is a very critical issue for the consumer.

“URCA plays a pivotal role in this society, and as policymakers we should be careful not to put them in a compromising position. URCA was quiet prior to the transition in leadership when we were asking ques tions about whether the Government was compli ant with the regulations and the law when they proposed the increase in Febru ary. We were wondering why URCA did not weigh in,” the Free National Movement (FNM) leader continued.

“The manner of this rate increase, which is of such a huge magnitude of up to 163 percent, that screams review and explanation. Them reviewing expedi tiously is critical given the sequence of events and the role of URCA in the oversight of consumer protection and energy regulation.”

One energy industry source, speaking on condi tion of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly, said URCA has the authority to investi gate just how BPL arrived at this position of needing to extract tens of millions in extra dollars from its household and business consumers that - ultimately - represents a wealth trans fer to global oil giants such as Shell with its unpaid $80m-$90m fuel bill.

“Finally URCA is doing its job. It’s unfortunate it’s been quiet for such a long time,” the source said. “We’ll see what they come back with and how compre hensive their findings will be. Let’s see how thorough their investigation is going to be.”

The Government and BPL have repeatedly said the initial fuel hedging structure, put in place by the Inter-American Develop ment Bank (IDB), remains in place. That is correct, as the December 2020 hedge executed by the IDB cov ered a total 3.565m barrels of oil for BPL that were priced at $40 each, and split into three tranches.

This transaction hedged 80 percent of BPL’s fuel needs for 2022, 50 percent of its requirements for 2023, and 25 percent of 2024’s needs via the IDB’s upfront hedge. These were were not hedged 100 percent because BPL needed to monitor global oil price movements so that it did not end up hedging at a price above market costs and thus end up losing money.

The Government, though, is not giving the full story. BPL was supposed to “backfill” the original IDB hedge by purchasing the extra fuel volumes to fully address its needs. This was to be done via a series of trades, known as call options, that would have enabled BPL to obtain fuel costing below then-prevail ing oil market rates had they been executed.

It was these trades, sched uled to have been executed in tight windows between September and Decem ber 2021 just after the Davis administration took office, that were not carried out. As a result, BPL has increasingly been buying fuel at higher market rates with the fuel charge artifi cially held at 10.5 cents per kWh via the combination of government subsidies and Shell non-payment. This can no longer be sustained, and consumers must pay up as a result.

The Prime Minister, in his national address last night, admitted that “the

buck stops with me” over the BPL fuel charge hike but did not give a full explanation for what had happened. Asserting that an increase was “inevita ble”, Philip Davis KC said: “I wanted to delay it for as long as I could. High energy costs are already a source of pain for households and businesses.....

“I wanted to hold off and give more people time to find work in a growing economy. And, indeed, many Bahamians have found work over the last months. We also wanted to spare consumers the increase during the spring and summer months, when people consume more electricity.”

Tribune Business under stands that Mr Cambridge has been replaced at URCA by Mark Hudson, another former BPL executive, as acting head of energy regu lation. Meanwhile, Matt Aubry, the Organisation for

fuel hike

Responsible Governance’s (ORG) executive director, said URCA’s review and disclosure of the findings is “critical in establishing public trust” that the fuel charge increases are fair and justified.

“From a governance standpoint, that represents good practice,” he said of URCA’s pledge. “It’s important that a regula tor have confidence in any rate being proposed by an energy provider. Now, given the circumstances of our economy and the jump back from where COVID has left us, it’s really critical people understand this is appropriate, justified and a fair rate increase.

“Our economy is just get ting its feet underneath it, and the impact of increased energy costs goes very far. We don’t want to diminish economic activity or con sumption but it may have that result. We saw the pro posed increase earlier this

year, which the Govern ment chose not to do, but the long-term impact could be more severe.”

With many Bahamians believing such matters are “dictated”, and their only method of relief is social media, Mr Aubry said it was vital that regulators such as URCA show there are “checks and balances” in the system by providing “objective and critical anal ysis” of proposals such as BPL’s fuel charge hike.

He added that it was vital for URCA to complete its work, and disclose the results, before the increases take effect in November so that any adjustments are made as per the regulator’s decision. The ORG chief voiced particular concern for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) who, he said, lack the “margins” and resources to cope with such a significant jump in their energy bill.

Minimum wage rise ‘won’t end hardship’

thousands of Bahamians.

Will the increase help? Yes, it will. It was long awaited, long overdue, and the extra money every week will make a difference.” The $50 per week rise translates into a $200 increase in take home pay for a minimum wage worker every four weeks.

Raising incomes for the lowest-paid work ers in Bahamian society has assumed increasing importance due to soaring inflation that has sparked a cost of living crisis for many both locally and worldwide. Any rise in take home pay will help these persons and their families to at least offset some of the price hikes witnessed across multiple essentials and consumer goods since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Government will likely see the increase as essential to offsetting at least some of the phased increases in Bahamas Power & Light’s (BPL) fuel charge that were announced last week. However, many impacted businesses may see it as just

another expenses hit and additional cost burden that they must bear in the postCOVID world.

Mr Davis himself con ceded that the minimum wage increase by itself is far from a panacea for the cost of living crisis impact ing hundreds of Bahamian households, both middle class and low income. “We are aware that this will not eliminate the hardship of trying to make ends meet in today’s economy,” he said.

“Instead, it represents pro gress on the way to a livable wage.

“The raise was negotiated by the National Tripartite Council, which includes the Government and rep resentatives from the private sector and unions. Our shared goal was to raise the minimum wage without having a negative impact on employment or job growth, and we believe that has been achieved.” No timelines or figures were provided for the livable wage, which is unlikely to figure in discussions at pre sent given the fall-out in the private sector from any fur ther rise.

Obie Ferguson, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) president, told Trib une Business in late August that an increase to $260 per week - amounting to $50 per week or roughly $200 per month - was something the organised labour move ment can live with given the economy’s continuing strug gles to fully recover from COVID-19 even though it falls short of their $300 target.

The $260 minimum wage is 13.3 percent, or $40, short of the unions’ ideal. The Davis administration had been considering three separate proposed mini mum wage increases along the lines suggested by Mr Ferguson.

These included a recom mendation of around $230 per week from the pri vate sector; $300 per week from the trade unions and organised labour; and the likely $260 per week which was described as the Gov ernment’s “compromise” solution. The $260 is also some $10 per week higher than the $250 minimum wage that the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) com mitted to in its election

manifesto, potentially allowing it to claim a vic tory over the increase.

Robert Farquharson, the director of labour, previ ously estimated to Tribune Business that around 25 percent of the Bahamian workforce - some 60,000 workers - will benefit from a minimum wage increase.

“There are approximately 235,000 in the workforce, and based on information from the Department of Statistics we estimate 25 percent to be on minimum wage or will be impacted by a rise in the minimum wage,” he said.

Mr Farquharson did not break down the 25 percent, or near-60,000, who would benefit from a minimum wage hike although it is possible that figure includes a significant number of per sons who make the majority of their income in commis sions or tips. Such workers are often paid a low basic salary, and those numbers will also include the likes of food store and gas station workers.

While a minimum wage increase will raise labour costs for employers, and could provide a disincentive

to hiring for some, it will also boost living standards for impacted workers and potentially boost the econ omy by raising consumer spending.

Mr Davis, meanwhile, sought to deliver a mes sage that it is “not business as usual” when it comes to the economy and govern ment policy. He pointed to the Government’s goal of slashing The Bahamas’ $1bn food import bill by 25 percent, amounting to a roughly $250m cut, by 2025 although few hard details were provided on how this will be achieved.

“I want to emphasise how profoundly I believe agri culture should play a central role in the next stage of our national development,” he added. “We talked earlier about our country’s vulner ability to rising prices. Why shouldn’t we grow more of our food here at home?

“We can lower food prices for families, keep more of our money inside our country, and create a new wave of successful Bahamian entrepreneurs. We are not simply talking about small-scale farms. Food production is big

PM in major price control expansion

broccoli, onions and pota toes. These items are being added for at least a sixmonth period, at which point we will review and evaluate the impact on busi nesses and consumers.

“We are also reduc ing the profit margin on price-controlled drugs, providing additional relief to Bahamians. During an inflation emergency it’s important to take the steps we can to improve afford ability.” The price control regime’s expansion, which also involves an increase in the number of inspec tors, is designed to work in tandem with the minimum wage increase (see other article on 20B) to help fur ther offset inflation’s impact on vulnerable, low income Bahamians.

However, price controls have always been a contro versial instrument among the private sector - espe cially those companies and businesses impacted by them. They were imposed by the Government dec ades ago to prevent what it viewed as an unscrupu lous merchant class from exploiting lower income Bahamians by unreasonably

hiking the price of food sta ples and other essential products, thus placing them out of reach while under mining living standards.

However, opponents argue they are an anach ronism that have no place in a modern 21st century economy. The private sector views price controls as an inefficient, distor tionary mechanism that creates more unintended consequences than the sup posed problems they solve. They can result in product shortages, while retailers and wholesalers have to increase prices and margins on non-price controlled items to compensate for selling these goods as effec tive “loss leaders”.

With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine further impact ing already-high food, energy and commodity prices, Mr Davis last night said: “Just as we started to recover, over this last year a global inflation crisis led to prices rising across the board, faster than they have in many decades.

“I want to emphasise just how big a shock this has been to households and businesses; we haven’t seen double-digit increases in global inflation like this

in nearly 40 years. The COVID pandemic caused – and continues to cause – major disruptions in manufacturing and supply chains.....

“The inflation crisis has spared no country, but small island nations like ours, dependent on imports, have been particularly hit hard. The cost of living was already far too high in The Bahamas; this global infla tion crisis has made life even more unaffordable.”

The Prime Minister sought to balance giving Bahamians a hard dose of reality, warning that tough economic and financial times lie ahead, with also providing hope for the future that such challenges can be overcome if all work together. He also sought to show he understands, and empathises, with the strug gles of many individuals and households to rebound from COVID-19.

“We’re going to have some bumpy moments, too. You won’t always agree with all our decisions. That’s how things go during times of great challenge and dis ruption,” Mr Davis said. “I don’t just want to attack the symptoms of our hardest

problems, I want to attack the sources of them.

“And I want you to know that even though our coun try is finally moving in the right direction, I under stand how hard it is for you still. I see you sitting in your home, your bills in front of you, wondering which one you can’t postpone paying any longer. I see you worry ing about how the years out of school have affected your children. I see you wonder ing whether you’ll ever feel safe again on the streets at night. I know the obstacles we are facing are really big, but so is our people’s capac ity to overcome them.”

Elsewhere, Mr Davis said that upon coming to office his administration had paid “significant arrears owed to Bahamian busi nesses. Doing so injected over $100m into our local economy and rescued many businesses from bankruptcy”.

Turning to investmentrelated projects, he added: “We will announce before

year’s-end our selection of a partner to build a world class airport in Grand Bahama, a crucial com ponent for the island’s rebuilding. In the mean time, we are making the improvements necessary to welcome the tens of thou sands of visitors we expect this winter season after increasing airlift directly to that island from Florida, North Carolina, Toronto and Montreal.

“Work on the Exuma International Airport resumes this month. Major new developments total ling hundreds of millions will create good jobs in Eleuthera and Long Island. In fact, just one year into our term, we have more than $1bn of new investments in the pipe line, projects which will create thousands of new jobs across our islands.”

The $1bn figure, though, was not broken down by projects and few if any were identified by name.

business. Consider poultry farming. There are millions to be made in this industry. It is past time for Bahamian farmers to own this market. Every chicken in every bag should come from a Baha mian farmer.”

On healthcare, Mr Davis promised that the ground breaking for a new $200m hospital for Grand Bahama will take place before yearend 2022. “And tonight I’m announcing that we have made major progress on securing both the land and the resources for a new hos pital in New Providence,” he added.

“ Our capital has long needed an additional hospital to keep up with expanding health care needs. These new, state-ofthe-art hospitals in Grand Bahama and New Provi dence will help Bahamian patients receive top quality care, and improve working conditions for our doctors, nurses and hospital staff.” No details on the new New Providence hospital were provided.

“The goal can’t simply be to return to the way things used to be because, let’s be honest, there’s never been a time when our economy cre ated enough opportunities for Bahamian advancement and ownership,” Mr Davis added. “Returning to the past economy isn’t the goal. Creating a new, more inclusive economy is the goal. Many Bahamians have achieved remarkable suc cess, but thousands more can and should join them.”

Little was mentioned about the Government’s fiscal position, other than the Revenue Enhance ment Unit (REU) seeking to collect some $1bn in tax arrears by giving after highend property owners delinquent in their obliga tions. He also sought to link last week’s Moody’s down grade to climate change and hurricane-related fiscal shocks, even though it was largely driven by fears that The Bahamas’ ability to borrow on the international markets has been squeezed.

Realtor launches with $60m listings

A BAHAMIAN realtor has partnered with a Los Angeles-based boutique to launch his own firm with $60m-plus in listings.

Danny Lowe has teamed with The Agency to open its Bahamas franchise, which is launching with the listing of two villas located on the pink sand beach of Harbour Island. The villas, La Palm eraie One and La Palmeraie Two, which were developed by Miami-based real estate developer, Eric Harari, each feature nine bedrooms and enough amenities to lure a luxury short-term rental market.

“These are arguably some of Harbour Island’s finest beachfront villas with features inclusive of a Sonos sound system, pri vate movie theatre, saunas and massage rooms, a gym and other incredible work manship throughout,” said Mr Lowe. “The owner of the villas recognises the strength of the brand and wants a company such as The Agency to represent his listings. We have the tools necessary to promote prop erties to a global audience.

“We are very excited to bring The Agency to The Bahamas, drawing on its resources, marketing and branding that will open the eyes of so many to the beauty and lifestyle of The Bahamas.” Founded and based in Beverly Hills, California, The Agency has more than 60 offices worldwide. The brokerage’s third Carribean location is its Bahamas office follow ing openings in the Turks & Caicos and the Cayman Islands.

“We’re delighted to continue The Agency’s expansion throughout the Caribbean and partner with Danny Lowe on our new outpost in The Bahamas,” said Mauricio Umansky, chief executive and founder of The Agency. “Danny is an accomplished leader with an amazing track record and reputation. I know he will be an incredible stew ard for The Agency brand as he ushers in our boutique approach to business and a new era of luxury real estate to the region.”

Mr Lowe, describing The Agency as “tech-driven”, said: “Having built an unmatched global fol lowing, The Agency is revolutionising real estate and connecting global markets with its modern, collaborative approach to the business. The Agency Bahamas will elevate the service offered to clients and provide cutting-edge solutions to buyers and sell ers across the islands from New Providence and Para dise Island to Eleuthera, the Exumas and beyond.

“The Agency has offices based in the US, Canada, Europe and the Carib bean that are all genuinely interconnected. So it’s a global sales and marketing

company. Instead of looking at it as having one person marketing your property, you have a global entity marketing your property.”

One of the youngest real estate brokers in The Baha mas, Mr Lowe entered the industry in 2016 and quickly moved up the ranks. He was recognised as the top producer at his previous firm, Better Homes and Gardens MCR Bahamas, in 2021, and also ranked among the top 3 percent of real estate agents globally with his previous franchise.

Mr Lowe led the sale of a local estate priced at more than $10m and has appeared on HGTV’s

Bahamas Life His market focus ranges from highend condos to luxury estate homes in Nassau and the Family Islands, inclusive of new development sites and private islands.

The Agency and its fran chises are said to have closed more than $41bn in real estate transactions since 2011. Over the past 12 months, The Agency has opened indepen dently-owned offices in Amsterdam; Toronto; Mon treal; Ottawa; Muskoka; Brantford; Naples, Florida; Birmingham; Michigan; Seattle; Washing ton; Miami; North Atlanta; Georgia; Austin; Grand Cayman; Frederick, Mary land; and now The Bahamas.

“Our new franchise in The Bahamas is a true tes tament to the supreme interest and demand we’re experiencing throughout the Caribbean for a brand like The Agency,” said Jim Ramsay, its executive vicepresident of franchise sales. “We’re excited to partner with Danny Lowe on this new endeavour as we con tinue to showcase the power of The Agency brand across the region.”

The Agency Bahamas is located at Sanford Drive, The Balmoral Corporate Centre, Second Floor, Build ing D, Nassau.

DANNY Lowe has partnered with California-based broker age, The Agency, to open a new office in The Bahamas.

DANNY Lowe shakes hands with Mauricio Umansky, chief executive and founder of The Agency.

URCA promises ‘active review’ of BPL fuel hike

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE ENERGY regu lator’s pledge that it has begun “an active review” of the up to 163 percent hike in Bahamas Power & Light’s (BPL) fuel charge was yesterday branded “critical” to its continued credibility.

Michael Pintard, the Opposition’s leader, who has attacked the Utilities Competition and Regula tion Authority’s (URCA) silence on the issue since BPL’s fuel charge contro versy first erupted eight months ago, told Tribune Business it was vital that the review’s findings be disclosed prior to the first increases being felt in con sumer bills from early November.

He spoke out after URCA, in a short two-para graph statement, confirmed that its assessment has begun and that the results will be made public. “As the electricity sector’s

MICHAEL PINTARD

regulator, the Utilities Regulation and Competi tion Authority (URCA) has commenced an active review of Bahamas Power and Light’s (BPL) proposed fuel charge increase to be reflected on customers’ November 2022 electricity bills.

“URCA advises the public that, in accordance with is regulatory mandate, it will present its findings to the public at the conclu sion of this review.” No

Minimum wage rise ‘won’t end hardship’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE Prime Minister last night confirmed the private sector minimum wage will increase by 34 percent to $260 per week come Janu ary 2023 while admitting it “not eliminate the hardship of trying to make ends”.

Philip Davis KC, in his national address, con firmed previous Tribune Business revelations on the amount of the increase while explaining that the three-month delay in its implementation is designed to enable impacted busi nesses to adjust their cost structures.

“The last time the mini mum wage was raised in our country was 2015,” the Prime Minister told Baha mians. “A new increase has long been overdue. Tonight, I’m announcing that the country’s new minimum wage will be $260 a week.

“For minimum wage earners in the public ser vice, the change will be retroactive going back to July of this year. For mini mum wage earners in the private sector, the increase will begin in a little less than three months in January of the coming year, allowing employers time to prepare for the increased expense.

“The higher minimum wage will benefit tens of

‘Move the needle’: IMF puts Bahamas growth back

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE BAHAMAS is being urged to “signifi cantly move the needle” on medium-term economic expansion even though the International Monetary Fund (IMF) yesterday raised this nation’s 2022 growth forecast back to 8 percent.

The Fund, in its latest World Economic Out look, completely reversed March’s two percentage point cut by increasing The Bahamas’ projected GDP growth for this year from 6 percent to 8 percent. That places it among the highest expanders in the Caribbean behind oil-rich Guyana (57.8 percent),

Barbados (10.5 percent) and St Kitts and Nevis and St Lucia at 9.8 percent and 9.1 percent, respectively.

The IMF also maintained its 4.1 percent growth fore cast for The Bahamas in 2023, as this nation’s tour ism-driven recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic’s depths continues despite

mounting fears of a US and global recession coupled with internal headwinds from rising energy costs.

No explanation was provided for the upward revision to The Bahamas’ 2022 economic growth, which provides modest respite from last week’s grim developments that

included another credit rating downgrade by Moody’s. However, Gowon Bowe, Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) chief execu tive, told Tribune Business that the change was likely sparked by the availability

PM in major price control expansion

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE Prime Minis ter last night unveiled a major expansion of the price control regime to 38 extra foods, medicines and other essentials in a bid to

combat soaring inflation that has “made life even more unaffordable” for many Bahamians.

Philip Davis KC, in his national address, pledged that the Govern ment is doing more to tackle the country’s cost of living “crisis” as he

acknowledged that prices have risen “across the board faster than they have for many decades”.

Emphasising that the price control regime’s expansion is for a sixmonth trial period, he told Bahamians: “Tonight, I want to announce that we

have added 38 new items to be subject to price con trols in our country.

“We are limiting the wholesale and retail markup of everyday items like diapers, and food like chicken, eggs, bread, bananas, apples, oranges,