By DANA SMITH [email protected]BAHA Mar crewman were left stunned after they inadvertently unearth human remains during their routine Cable Beach construction. Expecting nothing more than sand and rocks, the workers were in for a shock when they instead discov- ered human bones. The finding happened yes- terday afternoon near the Superclubs Breezes resort, and coincidentally close to the former residence of the serial killing mother-son team, the Kimes. Supt Stephen Dean told The Tribune he had no infor- mation surrounding the find- ing, at present time, but stat- ed: “I think it was just bones. We believe it had been there for some time.” Yet, the discovery has sparked speculation that the remains could belong to a victim of murderers Sante Kimes and her son, Kenneth. The duo are presently serving a life without parole sentence in a California prison on several counts of murder. In 1998, the duo murdered business David Kazin in Las Vegas after he exposed Sante Kimes’ loan fraud. That same year, they also murdered New York socialite Irene Silverman while attempting to steal her Manhattan mansion. NASSAU AND BAHAMA ISLANDS’ LEADING NEWSPAPER MPs stay silent over quit threat Volume: 108 No.16 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2011 PRICE – 75¢ (Abaco and Grand Bahama $1.25) WEATHER WINDS, SHOWER HIGH 81F LOW 74F By CELESTE NIXON Tribune Staff Reporter [email protected]PRIME Minister Hubert Ingraham said he has not been contacted by Kendal Wright after claims that the Clifton MP intends to resign – nor does he expect to be. Following the suspension of the House of Assembly yesterday, Mr Ingraham con- firmed he has spoken with Eight Mile Rock representa- tive Verna Grant, the other MP who reportedly had planned to resign from the party. According to Mr Ingra- ham, she will remain with the FNM. The prime minister said the FNM has not received notice of any resignation from any party members. He said: “People don’t have to give me notice, I can read the newspaper. If they tell me that they have gone – then fine, thanks very much for Prime Minister ‘has not been contacted’ TRY OUR DOVE RASPBERRY McFLURRY The Tribune THE PEOPLE’S PAPER BIGGEST AND BEST LATEST NEWS ON WWW.TRIBUNE242.COM WHY BUY ANYWHERE ELSE ?!?! Most extensive line in the Bahamas of Windows and Entrance, External & NOW Internal Doors Call STORM FRAME WINDOWS for your free estimate today 325-6633 INSIDE TODAY Y YO O U U R R S S O O U U R R C C E E F FO O R R O O B B I I T T U UA A R R I I E E S S NOBODY BEATS THE TRIBUNE NEWSSPORTFASHIONMOVIESTVMUSI ON SALE EVERY SATURDAY F F R R E E E E G G R RO O C C E E R RY Y C C O OU UP PO ON NS S By CELESTE NIXON Tribune Staff Reporter [email protected]NOT all current FNM Members of Parliament will receive nominations from the party for the upcoming elec- tion said the prime minister. With the Boundary Order, which came into effect on Tuesday, tabled in the House of Assembly yesterday, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham said the FNM will proceed to select and nominate candi- dates for the 38 parliamen- tary seats in the upcoming weeks. He said: “The FNM does not expect every single per- son who is now member in the House of Assembly for the Free National Movement to be nominated again – the FNM expects to be able to bring into the House, into its parliamentary fold, a number of new persons.” While expressing gratitude to currently serving members, Mr Ingraham said the party must move forward. “No job is permanent, whether it is mine or anyone else’s,” said Mr Ingraham, “we all have a season and a time – and the party will do what it considers to be best.” HIGH Rock MP Kenneth Russell intends to run in East Grand Bahama on the FNM ticket despite the wishes of the party leadership, The Tri- bune has learned. According to sources close to Mr Russell, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham has made it clear to the Minister of Housing that he will not be the standard bearer for the newly named East Grand Bahama seat. The decision is reportedly indicative of the deteriorat- ing relationship between the pair over the past three years, the party insider said. Following the early sus- By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter [email protected]FREEPORT - Drug Enforcement Unit officers seized over $1 million of sus- pected cocaine and arrested two persons during a drug bust at a residence in the Lucaya area. Asst Supt Loretta Mackey, press liaison officer, reported that officers discovered 129 pounds of cocaine at about 9.45pm on Tuesday at a house on Midshipman Road. She said a 27-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman are in police custody assisting police with their investigation. Officers were executing a search warrant for dangerous drugs when they found two crocus sacks of suspected cocaine, weighing approxi- mately 129.5 pounds. NOT ALL CURRENT MPS WILL BE NOMINATED BONES FOUND BURIED AT BAHA MAR THE SCENE near the Superclubs Breezes resort where Baha Mar crewmen uncovered human remains during construction work. Photo: Felipé Major/Tribune Staff COCAINE WORTH $1M SEIZED IN DRUG RAID RUSSELL TO RUN AGAINST FNM WISHES See page 13 See page 12 See page 13 See page 12 See page 13 i’m lovin’ it
BAHA Mar crewmanwere left stunned after theyinadvertently unearth humanremains during their routineCable Beach construction.
Expecting nothing morethan sand and rocks, theworkers were in for a shockwhen they instead discov-ered human bones.
The finding happened yes-terday afternoon near theSuperclubs Breezes resort,
and coincidentally close tothe former residence of theserial killing mother-sonteam, the Kimes.
Supt Stephen Dean toldThe Tribune he had no infor-mation surrounding the find-ing, at present time, but stat-ed: “I think it was just bones.We believe it had been therefor some time.”
Yet, the discovery hassparked speculation that theremains could belong to avictim of murderers SanteKimes and her son, Kenneth.
The duo are presentlyserving a life without parolesentence in a Californiaprison on several counts ofmurder.
In 1998, the duo murderedbusiness David Kazin in LasVegas after he exposedSante Kimes’ loan fraud.
That same year, they alsomurdered New Yorksocialite Irene Silvermanwhile attempting to steal herManhattan mansion.
NASSAU AND BAHAMA ISLANDS’ LEADING NEWSPAPER
MPs stay silentover quit threat
Volume: 108 No.16 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2011 PRICE – 75¢ (Abaco and Grand Bahama $1.25)
PRIME Minister HubertIngraham said he has notbeen contacted by KendalWright after claims that theClifton MP intends to resign –nor does he expect to be.
Following the suspensionof the House of Assemblyyesterday, Mr Ingraham con-firmed he has spoken withEight Mile Rock representa-tive Verna Grant, the other
MP who reportedly hadplanned to resign from theparty. According to Mr Ingra-ham, she will remain with theFNM.
The prime minister said theFNM has not received noticeof any resignation from anyparty members.
He said: “People don’t haveto give me notice, I can readthe newspaper. If they tell methat they have gone – thenfine, thanks very much for
Prime Minister ‘has not beencontacted’
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YYOOUURR SSOOUURRCCEE FFOORROOBBIITTUUAARRIIEESSNOBODY BEATS THE TRIBUNE NEWSSPORTFASHIONMOVIESTVMUSIC
NOT all current FNMMembers of Parliament willreceive nominations from theparty for the upcoming elec-tion said the prime minister.
With the Boundary Order,which came into effect onTuesday, tabled in the Houseof Assembly yesterday, PrimeMinister Hubert Ingrahamsaid the FNM will proceed toselect and nominate candi-dates for the 38 parliamen-tary seats in the upcomingweeks.
He said: “The FNM doesnot expect every single per-son who is now member inthe House of Assembly forthe Free National Movementto be nominated again – theFNM expects to be able tobring into the House, into itsparliamentary fold, a numberof new persons.”
While expressing gratitudeto currently serving members,Mr Ingraham said the partymust move forward.
“No job is permanent,whether it is mine or anyoneelse’s,” said Mr Ingraham,“we all have a season and atime – and the party will dowhat it considers to be best.”
HIGH Rock MP KennethRussell intends to run in EastGrand Bahama on the FNMticket despite the wishes ofthe party leadership, The Tri-bune has learned.
According to sources closeto Mr Russell, Prime MinisterHubert Ingraham has madeit clear to the Minister ofHousing that he will not be
the standard bearer for thenewly named East GrandBahama seat.
The decision is reportedlyindicative of the deteriorat-ing relationship between thepair over the past three years,the party insider said.
FREEPORT - DrugEnforcement Unit officersseized over $1 million of sus-pected cocaine and arrestedtwo persons during a drugbust at a residence in theLucaya area.
Asst Supt Loretta Mackey,press liaison officer, reportedthat officers discovered 129pounds of cocaine at about9.45pm on Tuesday at a houseon Midshipman Road.
She said a 27-year-old manand a 24-year-old woman arein police custody assistingpolice with their investigation.
Officers were executing asearch warrant for dangerousdrugs when they found twocrocus sacks of suspectedcocaine, weighing approxi-mately 129.5 pounds.
NOT ALLCURRENT
MPS WILL BE NOMINATED
BONES FOUND BURIED AT BAHA MAR
THE SCENE near the Superclubs Breezes resort where Baha Mar crewmen uncovered human remainsduring construction work. Photo: Felipé Major/Tribune Staff
THE fourth suspect wantedin connection with the armed
robbery of a popular fast-foodspot nearly two weeks agowas arraigned in Magistrate’sCourt yesterday morning, fol-lowing his release from the
Princess Margaret Hospital. Tony Newbold, 27, of
West Avenue was broughtbefore Chief MagistrateRoger Gomez in Court One,
Bank Lane, to face a chargeof armed robbery and con-spiracy to commit the rob-bery.
Prosecution alleges that theaccused, on Saturday Novem-ber 26, concerned with oth-ers, did conspire to commitand did rob Burger King,Cable Beach of $1,719.03 cashwhile armed with a gun. Theincident took place around6pm.
Newbold, was supposed tohave been arraigned lastThursday with alleged accom-plices Kadeem Bain, 20,Steven Taylor, 20, andDwaynette Taylor, 18.
However, he was in hospi-tal under police guard torecover from a gun shotwound suffered during a highspeed chase and shoot-out onTonique Williams DarlingHighway with police on thedate in question.
The accused, after noddingto the chief magistrate that heunderstood the offences, wasnot allowed to enter a plea,like his alleged accomplices,was denied bail and remand-ed to Her Majesty’s Prison,Fox Hill.
Before the conclusion ofthe arraignment, defenceattorney for the accused,Ramona Farquharson put onrecord and informed ChiefMagistrate Gomez that policeallegedly starved her clientand refused to give him hismedication.
“Mr Newbold was not fedsince Monday while in policecustody nor given his painkillers” she told the court. Sheadded that “this was done inorder to pressure him to givea statement to the police.”
Mrs Farquharson alsorequested assistance from thechief magistrate to make anorder for her client to beallowed to return to PrincessMargaret Hospital on Decem-ber 15 to have “staplesremoved from his stomach.”
Chief Magistrate Gomezacknowledged the request
and made the order in thatregard. The accused, alongwith the three other defen-dants who have retainedattorney Ian Cargill, willreturn to the new Court Onelocated Nassau Street on Feb-ruary 15, 2012.
The four will be served witha Voluntary Bill of Indictmentthat will forward their casedirectly to the Supreme Courtfor trial, bypassing a lengthypreliminary inquiry in Mag-istrate’s Court.
There are 16 witnesses list-ed on court dockets.
LOCAL NEWS
PAGE 2, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2011 THE TRIBUNE
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Man in court over fast food raid
TONY NEWBOLD 27, right, leaving court after he was charged in con-nection with the armed robbery of Burger King nearly two weeks ago.
TWO MEN are fighting fortheir lives in hospital todayafter being shot in two sepa-rate incidents.
Police say the first man wasat Bamboo Boulevard shortlybefore 7pm on Tuesday whenhe was approached by twomen armed with handguns.They demanded cash.
The victim reportedly ranfrom the would be thieves andwas subsequently shot in hislower back. Police are lookingfor two men in connectionwith this shooting.
The second incident report-edly occurred about threehours later around 10:45pm.
Police say the victim wasriding his bicycle on Robin-son Road when he wasapproached by a man and shotmultiple times in his body.
Both victims were taken tohospital by ambulance wherethey are both detained in crit-
ical condition. Police areinvestigating and are appeal-ing to members of the publicwho may have any informa-tion about these incidents tocontact police at 911, 919,CDU @ 502-9991, 502-9910or crime stoppers @ 328-TIPS.
Two men are also in policecustody after being foundwith a firearm and a quantityof ammunition.
Police say around 2:45amWednesday officers conduct-ed a search of a black HondaAccord at Sunrise Way offCarmichael Road and discov-ered an unlicensed shotgunwith a quantity of shotgunshells.
Two men, ages 44 and 29,were taken into custody as aresult of the search.
• In other crime news, aman was able to evade cap-ture after police attempted tostop him through Cumber-batch Alley.
Police say officers of themobile division were con-ducting routine patrols
around 6:45pm Tuesday whenthey saw a male acting suspi-ciously. When officersattempted to stop him, he ran.However, a search of the areauncovered a handgun andammunition.
THE DNA announced itsnew constituency candidates,yesterday morning, after therecent boundary changeforced them to alter their can-didates.
Branville McCartney,leader of the DNA, criticisedthe FNM, accusing them ofpurposely attempting to sab-otage the campaigning effortsof the opposing parties.
“We in the DNA are notswayed by this government’sattempt to displace our can-didates, deny us supporters,or destroy this democracy,”Mr McCartney said. “We willuse this inadequate attemptat intimidation to propel thismovement.”
The current FNM govern-ment has reduced the num-ber of House seats to 38,down from the previous num-ber of 41.
As a result, some con-stituencies had to be elimi-nated or redrawn.
This move has forced allpolitical parties to move orrelease constituency candi-dates.
Although they disagreewith the move, the DNA is“prepared to do what we haveto do, so we may achieve whatwe must achieve”, MrMcCartney said.
“We have to respond tothese boundary cuts with themost aggressive, uncompro-mised show of political orga-nization that this country hasever seen.”
He explained the DNA is“prepared to play by the rulesbecause we have no otherchoice with these boundarycuts”. Adding, they are pre-pared to play “only longenough to change them”.
Mr McCartney said shouldthe DNA take office this nextelection, they will “changethis foolishness regardingboundary cuts”.
He alleged the boundaries
should only change based on“international standards andcriteria”, specifically, the stan-dards of the United NationsCommittee on HumanRights’ boundary change poli-cies.
Mr McCartney will also callfor permanent electoral dis-tricts, a set election day, and aprime minister cumulativeterm limit of two terms.
Speaking on the limit, MrMcCartney stated: “God for-bid, if Mr Ingraham or MrChristie were to win the elec-tion again. When the year2017 comes around, thatwould of meant from 1967to 2017, we really would ofonly had three prime minis-ters.
“That’s a 50-year span, halfa century. I want the Bahami-
an people to realize that, halfa century – three prime min-isters.”
Twenty-eight candidateswere announced at the pressconference, with five con-stituencies having new candi-dates.
The other 10 constituencycandidates will be announcednext week.
The new changes, includethe former Seabreeze con-stituency candidate ChrisMortimer being moved toNassau Village.
Taking his place is AlfredPoitier, former candidate forthe Kennedy constituency,which no longer exists.
Ben Albury, the Montaguconstituency candidate, lostsome of his constituency to StAnne’s, and gained from the
now eliminated, St ThomasMore constituency.
Farrel Goff is the candidatefor Golden Isles, previouslycampaigning in the eliminatedClifton constituency.
The current DNA con-stituency candidates are asfollows:
• Branville McCartney,Bamboo Town
• Rodney Moncur, Bain’sTown and Grant’s Town
• Dario Terrelli, Tall Pines• Theo Cochinamogulos,
Carmichael• Shawn Francis, Cat
Island, Rum Cay, etc.• Farrel Goff, Golden Isles• Charlene Paul, Elizabeth• Floyd Armbrister, Exu-
ma and Ragged Island• Celi Moss, Centreville
• Kendal Smith, Fox Hill• Kelphene Cunningham,
Garden Hills• Allswroth Pickstock,
Golden Gates• Alfred Poitier, Seabreeze• Karen Davis, Marathon• Adrian Laroda, MICAL• Ben Albury, Montagu• Wayne Monroe, Mt Mori-
ah• Sonith Lockhart, North
Abaco• Randy Butler, North
Andros and Berry Islands• Osman Johnson, Piner-
idge• Wellington Woods,
Pinewood• Christopher Mortimer,
Nassau Village• Prince Smith, St Anne’s• Nicholas Jacques, St
Cecilia• Maurice Smith,
Yamacraw• Roscoe Thompson, South
Abaco• Danny Hunt, South and
Central Eleuthera• Roger Rolle, West Grand
Bahama, Bimini.
LOCAL NEWS
THE TRIBUNE THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2011, PAGE 3
A MAN was arraigned inMagistrate’s Court yesterdaymorning where he wascharged in connection with anattack on a woman with theintent of raping her.
Mario Stuart, 31, of BallsAlley appeared before Mag-istrate Carolyn Vogt-Evans inCourt 6, Parliament Street,where he faced a charge ofassault with intent to commitrape.
The prosecution allegesthat the accused on Sunday,December 4, attacked awoman with intent to havesexual intercourse with heragainst her will.
After reading the charge tothe accused, Magistrate Vogt-Evans informed him that hewas not allowed to enter aplea due to the nature of theoffence.
He was remanded to HerMajesty’s Prison and willreturn to court on Monday,December 12, for a bail hear-ing.
MAN FACESCOURT OVERATTACK ON
WOMAN
TWO MEN HOSPITALISED IN SEPARATE SHOOTINGS
FROM LEFT, Alfred Poitier, Maurice Smith, Branville McCartney, Christopher Mortimer, Farrel Goff, and Ben Albury.
DNA unveils roster of candidates
EDITOR, The Tribune.
RACIAL discriminationwas prevalent throughout TheBahamas in the 1950s and1960s. This vexing problemwas especially acute in NewProvidence. Black Bahamianswere treated as subhuman inthis country. It appears as ifthe Bay Street clique did verylittle to alleviate the sufferingof the black masses, who weremostly living in abject poverty.
In the 1940s and 1950s, veryfew black Bahamians had ahigh school education. The lit-eracy rate was dismal. As Iperused through the historybooks of Michael Craton andDr Gail Saunders, I was simplyastonished at how poor blackBahamians were, especiallythose who lived in the OutIslands. It appears as if thosewho say that our agricultureindustry was flourishing in the1940s and 1950s are guilty ofover exaggerating the facts.The fact of the matter is thatmany Out Islanders werealways in danger of starvingto death. The so-calledbustling agricultural industrywas virtually non-existent inmany of the Out Islands.
It appears as if the plightof black Bahamians was not amajor concern of the BayStreet Boys and most well-to-do white Bahamians.
Yet not every Bahamiantoed the party line, however.One such Bahamian whochallenged racial discrimina-tion in the Bahamas was Eti-enne Dupuch, the former edi-tor of The Tribune. Sir Eti-enne felt bad about whatblack people were goingthrough in this country. Theformer Tribune editor wasone of the first parliamentar-ians to move a resolution inthe House of Assembly toend racial discrimination inpublic places in this country.There were white Bahamianswho supported him, notablythe late Donald McKinney,on the floor of the House.
This move by Sir Etiennecatapulted him to superstar-dom among black Bahamians.The original members of theProgressive Liberal Party(PLP), however, chided SirEtienne for not going farenough. According to severalhistorians, the early membersof the PLP also gained popu-larity and political mileageamong the black masses byjumping onto Sir Etienne’s
bandwagon. They had used SirEtienne’s initiative to scorepolitical brownie points withblack Bahamians. In fact, onthe very night (it was January23,1956) that he gave noticeof a resolution to “revolution-ize the entire social and eco-nomic structure of TheBahamas,” a group of PLPleaders were seen like Sir Eti-enne, the early leaders of thePLP had also called for theending of racial discrimination.
It is important to emphasize,however, that it was Sir Eti-enne who began the arduousprocess of tearing down thewalls of racial discriminationin the Bahamas in the Houseof Assembly, not Sir Lynden,Sir Milo B Butler or any otherPLP MP. Sir Lynden and thePLP simply built upon thefoundation that was laid by SirEtienne. Bahamians need toknow this. Somehow we oftenhave this mindset that all whiteBahamians were a part of theracist system which degradedour black forebears. This issimply untrue. Moreover, wemust also bear in mind thatmany white Bahamians livedin squalor. These people alsocatch eternal hell under theBay Street regime.
When the PLP was formedin 1953, it was viewedfavourably by Sir Etienne.However, this was not to last.One of the founders of thePLP, Cyril Stevenson, beganattacking the editor of The Tri-bune through his own news-paper, The Herald. The FirstWorld War veteran and mem-ber of the Order of The BritishEmpire faced a two-prongedattack from the PLP and theOld Guard. Sir Etienne con-sidered the PLP to be tooextreme for the country.
Regrettably, many in thiscountry are ignorant of thetremendous sacrifices that SirEtienne had made on behalfof black Bahamians. We haveconveniently forgotten thathis Tribune newspaper wassystematically targeted by thewhite establishment. Therewas a time when The NassauGuardian was owned andmanaged by members of theBay Street Boys. These peo-ple did everything possible todestroy Sir Etienne and hisnewspaper. He had served as
editor of The Tribune for 53years, from 1919 to 1972.
Perhaps one of Sir Etien-ne’s greatest disappointmentswas the fact that his BahamasDemocratic League (BDL)received so little support inthe 1956 general electionsfrom the very people he hadfought so hard for. The OldGuard hated Sir Etiennebecause he called a spade aspade. He was the moral con-science of this nation and thechampion of the black masses.He always fought for thosewho were taken advantage ofby the Old Guard. As I readthrough his autobiography,“The Tribune Story,” I amsimply amazed at how coura-geous and brutally honest hewas. His memoir should berequired reading in every highschool in this country. It givessignificant information onwhat went on in this countryduring the 1940s and 1950s byone of the most important fig-ures in Bahamian history.
It continues to amaze methat no major thoroughfare orschool in New Providence, orThe Bahamas, for that matter,has been named after him. Itastounds me that we have air-ports, housing subdivisions,government buildings andschools named after personswhose contributions pale incomparison to Sir Etienne’s,yet absolutely nothing has beennamed after the late editor ofThe Tribune. This is wrong.Whatever our views of Sir Eti-enne are, this much is clear, heis one of the greatest Bahami-ans to have ever lived. It wouldbe criminal for this nation toforget or ignore his many con-tributions to this nation.
KEVIN EVANSFreeport,Grand BahamaDecember 6, 2011.(It is interesting to note
that when Sir Etienne stoodon the floor of the House topropose his Resolution to enddiscrimination in all publicplaces in the Bahamas — andwas threatened with arrest ifhe did not sit down and desistfrom moving that resolution— the PLP had only onemember in the House. Thatmember was HM Taylor, theparty founder, who laterbecame governor of theBahamas. Sir Lynden and SirMilo Butler were not mem-bers of the House at thattime.— Ed).
EDITOR, The Tribune.
ANOTHER fire on BayStreet – this one, if it is as bad
as I am told, is a tremendousloss to the nation. I wasmoved to tears when Ilearned of the fire, and I
remain deeply saddened bythe news of it.
Vendue House – morerecently known as PompeyMuseum, was a NationalTreasure.
The small building to theWest of the Museum wasoriginally a Seaman's Chapel,as you would know, whereBahamian seamen went topray before leaving the dockson their journeys north.
Both buildings were to fea-ture prominently in therestoration and revitalizationof Downtown Nassau – awork that is helvto start assoon as the Straw workersmove into their new home.
These buildings are irre-placeable – the slave artifacts,priceless. This is a nationaltragedy of tremendous pro-portions.
We have lost so much ofour built heritage, throughneglect, indifference and care-lessness. Classic examples ofsuch neglect and indiffer-ence remain on GeorgeStreet, CumberlandStreet, West Hill Street, andEast Street, among others.
When will Bahamians, whoown these properties, wakeup and acknowledge theirresponsibility to preserve ourpast.
We will never be a “firstworld country” until werecognise the value of ourBahamian heritage, what itshould mean to all of us, anddo what needs to be done topreserve it before more isdestroyed.
SENATOR LYNNHOLOWESKO
Nassau,December 2, 2011.
EDITORIAL/LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
PAGE 4, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2011 THE TRIBUNE
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THE young turks can sheath theirswords because, with the Constitution onhis side, only the Bahamian people canend Prime Minister Ingraham’s term ofoffice. Election day will determine hisfate.
Behind the scenes this week, many con-spiracies were being hatched to provoke aconstitutional crisis. It was speculated thattwo FNM MPs, whose constituencies wereeliminated by the Boundaries Commis-sion, had plans to resign on the floor of theHouse yesterday. This did not happen,nor is it expected to happen. But if it does,no matter how the numbers are crunchedit will not shake the Ingraham govern-ment before election day — just fivemonths away.
The Tribune was reliably informed overthe weekend that in an attempt to createproblems for Mr Ingraham, Mrs VernaGrant, Eight Mile Rock MP, and MrKendal Wright, Clifton MP, planned toresign their soon-to-be non-existent Houseseats and cross the floor. It was unclearwhether they would go as Independents,or join one of the two Opposition parties.
As soon as she saw her name in print onMonday morning, we understand that MrsGrant made it clear to her party leaderthat she had no intention of resigning. MrWright on the other hand has said nothing.However, as he moves in and out of theHouse, his body language betrays discon-tent.
In speaking to the Press yesterday, MrIngraham said he has not been contactedby Mr Wright, nor does he expect to be.
In this column on Monday, we specu-lated what could happen if the two mem-bers resigned, from both the party andthe government. Many numbers werecrunched leaving a 20-20 tie on the floor ofthe House, which would be unworkableand could hasten an election.
However, with an election so near, gov-ernment could run its full term under sec-tion 67(1) of the Constitution. Wheneverthe House is dissolved, government willhave 90 days’ grace before an election hasto be called.
However, under the Constitution andwith an election so near, no matter whichway the politicians manoeuvre in theHouse, the Ingraham government can eas-ily ride out its full term.
As someone commented yesterday,Britain has given us a good constitution.No Bahamian will ever wake up one
morning to find that he has no govern-ment. Within an extended time period,the government continues until an electionis called and a new government returned.
It’s based on the same principle as theannouncement made on the death of amonarch: “The King is dead; long live theKing.”
There was also talk this week of holdinga vote of “no confidence” in the PrimeMinister at yesterday’s House sitting. Thatdid not happen. As was pointed out, ifthe whole House voted against him, MrIngraham did not have to resign until anelection was called.
The Prime Minister can dissolve theHouse at any time, but he does not have tocall an election for another 90 days afterdissolution. Should a member resign, aby-election has to be called within 60 days,unless the House is dissolved sooner,which puts it back into the 90-day bracket.
So whichever way it goes, and no matterthe machinations, the election will proba-bly be called on the date that Mr Ingra-ham has already planned.
PLP MPs have criticised the Ingrahamgovernment for not allowing enough timefor election candidates to get to knowtheir constituencies. Either these politi-cians have no memory or they have noshame. Five years is a short time to have atotal memory loss.
At this time five years ago – the 2007election— then prime minister Christiehad not yet closed the Register of Voters,as a consequence the Boundaries Com-mission could make no decision about theboundaries. The voters register did notclose until March 12, 2007 – two monthsbefore the elections were held.
In preparation for the 2012 election notonly was the Voters Register closed ontime this year, but the Boundaries Com-mission has already reported. Candidateswill soon be able to introduce themselvesto their constituents, not as five years agowhen by the time candidates received thenames of persons in their areas, it was soclose to the election wire that they hardlyhad time to go over the voters list beforegetting into the districts. That was one ofthe most ill-planned, ill-executed electionsthat has probably ever been held.
And today politicians complain. Reallythey make themselves look silly becausethey have nothing to complain about, cer-tainly if they can crank up their memoriesand recall 2007.
PLP DEPUTY LEADERBrave Davis yesterday urgedthe government to publicisethe details of the sale of theAtlantis Resort to BrookfieldAsset Management.
Stating that Bahamians donot trust the current adminis-tration to fight for them at thenegotiating table, Mr Davisasked for further clarificationregarding the sale and its pos-sible impact on the more than7,000 Bahamian workers.
“What does the deal sayabout these jobs and are thereguarantees in place to pre-serve these jobs? What doesthe arrangement say withrespect to wages and bene-fits? The FNM needs toimmediately share the detailsof the agreement with thepeople of the Bahamas,” hesaid.
“The countdown beginstoday, Prime Minister. We donot intend to drop this matter
until you do the right thing.A lot of families are countingon those jobs – the govern-ment owes them clarity andtransparency.”
More than 1,200 workers atthe Atlantis Resort have beenterminated over the past threeyears, reportedly due to therecession, Mr Davis said.
The Cat Island MP said theIngraham administration hasrepeatedly failed to putBahamians first.
Sol Kerzner, head of theKerzner group, confirmedplans to transfer ownershipof the Atlantis Resort toCanadian asset managementcompany Brookfield lastmonth.
The deal will see Kerzner
stay on to manage all ParadiseIsland properties, includingthe One&Only Ocean Club.
Employing nearly 8,000Bahamians, Prime MinisterHubert Ingraham acknowl-edged Kerzner Internationalas the single largest privatesector employer in the coun-try.
Addressing the House ofAssembly following theannouncement of the owner-ship transfer, Mr Ingrahamreassured the Bahamiansemployed at Atlantis thattheir jobs are secure, withemployment and expenditurelevels to remain the sameunder the new owners.
The deal is a debt-for-equi-ty swap worth $175 million.
LOCAL NEWS
THE TRIBUNE THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2011, PAGE 5
‘Release details ofAtlantis deal’
BRAVE DAVIS has called on the government to release details of theBrookfield deal for Atlantis.
THE Bahamas Air TrafficControllers Union says itsmembers are taking mattersinto their own hands as mid-dle management has inflicted“suffering” on them for fartoo long.
The union staged a demon-stration yesterday outside theoffices of Civil Aviation onCrawford Street.
The group of frustrated air-port workers who took partsaid they have exhaustedevery peaceful avenue in aneffort to get a number of out-standing issues resolved.
President of the unionRoscoe Perpall said it is timefor a strong message to besent to government.
According to Mr Perpall,middle management hasmade several attempts toundermine the provisions ofhis members’ industrial agree-ment.
He said: “It must end, andsymbolically we use this occa-sion to burn the vacation noti-
fication for 2012, and shiftschedule.
“We will advise our mem-bers to reject any vacationallocated for 2012, until suchtime as the outstanding con-cerns are resolved.”
Among the issues arehealth and safety concernsfollowing Hurricane Irene, MrPerpall said.
He said: “We, in our com-mitment to country, hadinstructed our members to
return to work in a buildingwhose roof had been torn offduring the hurricane and thestructure has subsequentlybeen condemned by govern-ment appointed engineers.”
Mr Perpall said the employ-ees launched a self-help pro-gramme to clean and restorethe building as much as theycould, but their “goodwill”got them nowhere with thegovernment.
The controllers also wantmanagers to help them avoidon-the-job fatigue by creatinga new roster.
“Right now, worldwide,there is a concern with fatiguewithin the air traffic serviceand this was highlighted bythose incidents in the USwhere persons were foundasleep on the job,” Mr Per-pall said.
“If they don't address it, wewould in short order have ourmembership discontinueworking the nights.”
The controllers also wanttheir outstanding shift payand training allowance, hesaid.
LOCAL NEWS
PAGE 6, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2011 THE TRIBUNE
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL UNION TAKES ON
MANAGEMENT
PRESIDENT of the Air Traffic Controllers Union Rosco Perpall address members of the media outside theCivil Aviation head office yesterday. Photo: Tim Clarke/Tribune Staff
‘It must end, and sym-bolically we use thisoccasion to burn thevacation notificationfor 2012, and shiftschedule. We willadvise our members toreject any vacationallocated for 2012,until such time as theoutstanding concernsare resolved.’
THE Sandals RoyalBahamian Resort could soonface industrial action, a unionrepresentative warned.
Trade Union Congress(TUC) president Obie Fer-guson said Sandals employ-ees have been neglected fortoo long, both by the compa-ny and by Labour MinisterDion Foulkes, which mayforce them to rely on their lastresort – a walk-out.
Mr Ferguson said therehave been no negotiations ona new industrial agreementsince July 5.
He said: “We have tried tocommence negotiations. Theypromised us a collectiveagreement or proposal forSeptember 1, 2011. It has yetto be presented.”
In view of this, Mr Fergu-son said, whatever action isneeded to gain the minister'sattention will take place.
Mr Ferguson also notedthat the Bahamas Hotel,Maintenance and AlliedWorkers Union (BHMAWU)met with the Labour Boardabout the reinstatement of 12employees who were alleged-ly dismissed for their unionties.
To the union’s disappoint-ment, he claimed, the hotel“came in obviously preparednot to negotiate”.
“They took the positionthat the trade dispute wasnever filed on them, but wemade it very clear to them,”he said.
According to Labour Min-ister Foulkes and Registrar ofTrade Unions HarcourtBrown, the BHMAWU is notregistered as a bargaining unitfor the employees, and there-fore cannot file a dispute.
But, according to Mr Fer-guson, the union is in goodstanding as an authoritativeentity to bargain on behalf ofthe employees.
“The Privy Council ruled onFebruary 23, 2011 that the
maintenance union is the unionthat the minister, the registrarand the company ought to dealwith,” he said, calling on MrFoulkes to “do his job.”
“We wrote him,” he said,“he’s refused to answer us.When 500 workers walk offthat job he will find plentytime to sit down and ask us
to go back to work and tonegotiate, but we're not goingto do that.
“Before those 500 workerswalk off that job, he ought toconvene a meeting with theparties. That’s the job of theminister. His job is to keepindustrial peace as much aspossible.”
LOCAL NEWS
THE TRIBUNE THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2011, PAGE 7
Examine Yourself1 Corinthians 11:27-34
Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world. Therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgment. And the rest I will set in order when I come.
Staff may walk out inSandals strike action
LAWYER Obie Ferguson, who represents 500 Sandals workers,speaks to the media yesterday. Photo: Tim Clarke/Tribune Staff
FREEPORT – Communityactivist Troy Garvey hasannounced he will run as anindependent candidate inGrand Bahama in the 2012general elections.
Mr Garvey, 45, wants tobecome the next MP for Mar-co City – one of the most his-toric and coveted seats on theisland.
The announcement followsreports that he has taken anindefinite hiatus from Opera-tion Justice, the organisationhe led in numerous protestsagainst the practices of theGrand Bahama Power Com-pany.
Mr Garvey believes he canprovide “true representation”to the people of GrandBahama.
“There is much lack of rep-resentation from the MPs inGrand Bahama, and my per-sonal leadership experienceon the social level compelsme at this time to run and fillthe void to provide brave newleadership which the presentpolitical groupings have failedat providing,” he said.
Mr Garvey claims the gov-
ernment has been “quiet andunresponsive” to the needs ofGrand Bahama.
He said the island now hasthe highest unemploymentrate in the country.
Mr Garvey also said theGrand Bahama Port Author-ity, the principal regulator forthe City of Freeport, hasfailed to invigorate the work-force and bring a change inthe high electricity rates.
He said health care on theisland is far below acceptablestandards, and both thetourism industry and the edu-cation system are in shambles.
Known as a people’s advo-cate, Mr Garvey has been atthe forefront of many contro-versial issues affecting peopleon the island.
His assistance has beensought in several labour mat-ters and social problems.
Mr Garvey says he isencouraged by the support heis getting from the businesssector and the community atlarge.
“Residents have been verypositive and I have been get-ting lot of requests to run as acandidate in Marco City.
“Marco City is the centreof Grand Bahama and it con-sists of a diaspora of peoplefrom different areas of GrandBahama.
“My fight has always beenfor the people and I have cen-tred myself in Grand Bahamaand that’s why I have choseMarco City as the constituen-cy I would like to run for,”he said.
The seat was held by for-mer FNM leader the late SirCecil Wallace-Whitfield in thelate 1980s.
Following his death, a bye-election was held and FNMretained the seat in the party’s
first ever election win in 1992.In 2002, the FNM lost Mar-
co City to the PLP’s PleasantBridgewater, who was defeat-ed in 2007 by the FNM’sZhivargo Laing.
The PLP has ratified attor-ney Gregory Moss as its can-didate for Marco City. TheDNA has yet to name a can-didate.
Mr Garvey said: “AlthoughI have taken hiatus fromOperation Justice, I will notstop the fight against the Pow-er Company, but I am justtrying to elevate myself toanother level where I canhave more of a true and bet-ter representation for the peo-ple.”
When asked about claimsof past affiliation with theNational Democratic Partyand the Bahamas Democrat-ic Movement, Mr Garveydenied having ties with eitherparty.
“I have never joined any ofthose parties. The only party Imade application to was thePLP two years ago to run as acandidate in EMR (EightMile Rock), but I had rescind-ed my letter after careful con-sideration and started to fightfor the people of GrandBahama,” he said.
LOCAL NEWS
PAGE 8, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2011 THE TRIBUNE
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Activist to run in elections
TROY GARVEY, who will run as an independent candidate for Marco City in next year’s elections.
‘My fight has always beenfor the people and I havecentred myself in GrandBahama and that’s why Ihave chose Marco City asthe constituency I wouldlike to run for.’
TTrrooyy GGaarrvveeyy
LOCAL NEWS
THE TRIBUNE THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2011, PAGE 9
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FREEPORT – A GrandBahama girl was selected outof a group of students from 19countries to be a finalist in theFlorida Caribbean CruiseAssociation’s essay competi-tion.
Saida Karamo, a 10th gradestudent at Sunland BaptistAcademy, was handed a $200cheque for becoming a final-ist in the senior division.
Every year, the FCCA holdsa Children’s Essay Competi-tion for junior and senior stu-dents in the Caribbean region.
The junior division is for chil-dren ages nine to 12 years old,and the senior division is forchildren ages 13 to 16 years old.
“The aim of the competitionis to assist students in further-ing their education while let-ting them think about theirown destination, its involve-ment in the cruise industry,and providing an opportunityto problem solve for the realworld,’’ a spokesperson said.
This year, entrants wereasked the question: “Whatdoes sustainable tourism meanto your destination?”
SAIDA KARAMO (atcentre) is seen receiv-ing her $200 chequefrom Karen Seymourof the Ministry ofTourism.
A WINNING WAY WITH WORDSA WINNING WAY WITH WORDS
YOUR SAY By MINISTER OF HEALTHDR HUBERT MINNIS
WHEN talking about rede-velopment and revitalisationof an area, we are usuallytalking about physical changeand possibly stakeholderchanges.
Merriam-Webster defines“revitalise” as to give new life,and “redevelop” as to developagain.
The scope of redevelop-ment and revitalisation canvary from one building, onestreet, to an entire town orcommunity.
While such changes mightbe desirable, it is importantto mention that change alwaysis accompanied with uncer-tainty and resistance.
This is usually overcomewhen the benefits are under-stood by those impactedstakeholders (businesses,employees, residents, etcetera).
In some instances, redevel-opment programmes inBritain and the United Statesmet with mixed emotions andcontroversy as they displacedpersons in low income areasfor the development of newshopping centres and highincome housing.
Our approach, however,will not bring about a dis-placement of low incomehousing but an improvementin several variables in thequality of life; including thesocial, environmental, andeconomic aspects of life.
Generally, it is said thatpeople aspire to improve theirlot in life; our aspiration is toactually improve our commu-nities and quality of life.
The hierarchy of needsaccording to Maslow, trans-lates into humans first fulfill-ing fundamental physiologi-cal needs like food, clothing,shelter; then aspiring beyondthe need for safety andbelonging, to eventually seek-ing to fulfill the needs ofesteem and self-actualisation.
I envision revitalisation as aprogramme to aid in the actu-alisation of human needs.
It is envisioned that TheCity of Nassau RevitalisationAct, 2008 would eventuallyhave a domino effect on theentire island of New Provi-dence. The governmentshould be commended for theintroduction of this Act.
The Act provides a formi-dable initial step in the rede-velopment and revitalisationprogramme by way of exemp-tions (real property tax, cus-tom duties, and excise taxes)to those willing to participate.
Ideally, such exemptionswould encourage capitalinvestments or investmentwith recognizable economicimpact in the form of jobs,business revitalisation andexpansion.
Economic stimulation isvital to the success of rede-velopment programmes as itlays the foundation uponwhich the community devel-ops new vigour.
To encourage economictrickle down, businesseswould be encouraged to hirenew persons for minimumspecified periods (eg three tofour years) and thus receive apercentage reduction in busi-ness licence fees. This per-centage can vary dependingupon the number of individu-als hired.
Thus, The City of NassauRevitalisation Act has thepotential to resonate beyondthe businesses and residenceslocated in the City of Nassauproper to the immediate out-lying areas and thereby bene-fit many smaller ‘Over-the-Hill’ businesses and commu-nities.
Practically, this wouldmean:
• homes in the City of Nas-sau and the surrounding areasthat are in a state of disrepairbeing given the care andattention they disparatelyneed
• creation of jobs within thecommunity allowing youngpeople the opportunity tostart maintenance and con-struction-related businessesthat focuses directly on theircommunities
• opportunities for volun-teerism to assist elderly andnon-profit organisations (eg
LOCAL NEWS
PAGE 10, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2011 THE TRIBUNE
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DR HUBER MINNIS advocates revitalisation work to lift entire areas of New Providence.
LOCAL NEWS
THE TRIBUNE THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2011, PAGE 11
painting, construction workand landscaping)
• the opportunity to reno-vate and upgrade to becomemore energy efficient (egintroduction of solar panelsand other energy efficientappliances)
• improvement of physicalsurroundings by removal ofderelict vehicles, adherenceto business zoning regulations(eg no roadside garages), andproper waste disposal, allengendering a sense of com-munity pride. Health bene-fits would be derived fromthe removal of outdoor toi-lette facilities and improve-ment of running water, all ofwhich would decrease thechances of diseases such ascholera, TB, dengue, gas-troenteritis, and other relatedillnesses.
There is no reason why the
landscaping we admire atproperties like BahaMar andAtlantis cannot be done allacross this island and main-tained by the persons withinthe various communities. Wehave a small island, one that Ithink can be landscaped andmaintained as an ongoing pro-gramme that needs little gov-ernment intervention if we alldo our part.
While the approach of theredevelopment programmewould be segmental, workingzone-by-zone emanating fromthe City of Nassau outward,the overall objective is anisland-wide coverage overtime.
In addition to the incentivesalready provided by the exist-ing Act, we should considerhaving all infrastructuralupgrades completed duringthe redevelopment by the util-ity companies.
Thus, the importance of theinfrastructural road crusadepresently occurring through-out New Providence.
For those individuals whomany not be able to affordthe necessary repairs to theirhomes, low rate loans or gov-ernment backed loans can beprovided.
However a small portion ofwhatever finances the indi-vidual may derive – be itrental, NIB benefit, OAPbenefit or unemploymentbenefit – would be applied tothe ongoing loan.
Improving our communi-ties helps to move us collec-tively closer to the quality oflife we desire.
Moving “forward, upward,onward, together” we canredevelop and revitalise NewProvidence to our “commonloftier goal” to keep theBahamas “clean, green andpristine”.
new look
THE BAHA MAR development has been eyecatching for the work on creating an attractive landscape.
pension of the House ofAssembly yesterday, MrIngraham announced that theparty does not expect to rati-fy all incumbents for the nextgeneral elections, but insteadplans to introduce a “numberof new persons”.
Last night, Mr Russell con-firmed that he does intend topursue a nomination to theEast Grand Bahama seat.However, he refused to com-ment on reports that his deci-sion was not supported by hisparty leader.
In a press statement yester-day, Fox Hill MP FredMitchell questioned whetheror not Mr Russell was stillsupported by the party leadergiven his public dissent on therenaming of his seat duringthe debate on the Con-
stituencies Commission’sreport last week.
Mr Mitchell said: “I amwondering therefore giventhe conventions of the con-stitution how it is possiblefor a minister to publicly dis-sent from a decision of thecabinet and the Prime Min-ister chastise him and thenthe Cabinet continues to situndisturbed with that Min-ister still in the Cabinet, withneither the minister resigningnor the Prime Minister forc-
ing the issue.”Ideally, candidates are
selected by the leader of theparty and then vetted by theCandidates Committee. Thecandidate-hopefuls are thenput before the Central Coun-cil, who will make the finaldecision.
Without a nod from MrIngraham, Mr Russell’s onlyother option would be a pleato the party’s Central Council,as he did in 1997.
If successful, a councilmember will make a motion,and another will second it, forthe body to ratify him as theFNM candidate for EastGrand Bahama.
Council meetings havebeen disbanded for the year,and will resume in January,The Tribune understands.
It has been suggested thatwith the renaming of the con-stituency there would not beany incumbent in that seat.Reportedly, Senator Freder-ick McAlpine has alreadyexpressed his interest to theparty.
LOCAL NEWS
PAGE 12, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2011 THE TRIBUNE
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ASP Mackey reported thatthe drugs has an estimatedstreet value of $1,144,000.
She stated that police alsodiscovered and seized twohandguns, including a BlackGlock 17 .9mm pistol, whichcontained a magazine clipwith five live rounds of .9mmammunition; and a BlackGlock 19 .9mm pistol with amagazine clip containing 17live rounds of .9mm ammu-nition, along with an extendedclip which contained 31rounds of .9mm ammunition.
According to Mackey, atotal of 53 rounds of ammu-nition were seized.
Investigations are continu-ing into the matter.
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‘I am wondering ...how it is possible for aminister to publiclydissent from a decisionof the cabinet and thePrime Minister chastisehim and then the Cabi-net continues to situndisturbed with thatMinister still in theCabinet.’
FFrreedd MMiittcchheellll MMPP
KENNETH RUSSELL MP
The party later issued aclarification explaining thatMr Ingraham’s commentsabout MPs not returningincludes members who arethemselves not seeking re-election.
Mr Ingraham said the FNMparty will make recommen-dations to an executive com-mittee and if approved thoserecommendations will be putforward to the council of theparty, who will make the finaldecision.
The FNM party has decid-
ed to hold a convention in thefirst six months of next year,whether it will happen beforethe elections has yet to bedetermined, Mr Ingrahamsaid.
Encouraging Bahamiansto continue to register tovote, Mr Ingraham said
voter’s cards are expectedto be issued as early as Jan-uary.
Parliament was suspend-ed yesterday and wil lresume Monday morningwhen the Polling StationsOrder is expected to betabled.
LOCAL NEWS
THE TRIBUNE THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2011, PAGE 13
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your service.”According to Mr Ingra-
ham, Mrs Grant called himTuesday morning and saidmedia reports that claimedshe intended to resign fromthe FNM or her seat in Par-liament were “totally andcompletely inaccurate.”
Rumours circulated ear-lier this week that the MPsintended to announce theirresignation from the FNMyesterday in Parliament overtheir disapproval of bound-ary cuts and the eliminationof their respective con-stituencies.
When it came time for theDeputy Speaker of theHouse, Kwasi Thompson, toask if there were any resig-nations of seats, the oppo-sition could be heard goad-ing Mrs Grant to speak,however, she gestured tothem to be silent. Mr Wrightwas present in the House ofAssembly only briefly, whenhe entered and left shortlyafter.
Intending to clarifyreports, Mr Ingraham saidsuggestions made in themedia that the resignation
of an MP would force thegovernment to call an earlyelection is “totally untrue”and “not possible”.
He said under the consti-tution the powers of theprime minister are clearlydefined and a single MPcould not force an earlyelection.
“The only people who areable to cause the prime min-ister to call an electionbefore he is ready are thepeople of the Bahamas –they can force the primeminister’s hand, individualmembers of the House ofAssembly cannot requirethe prime minister toresign,” said Mr Ingraham.
In a press release issuedyesterday, Fox Hill MP FredMitchell accused the gov-ernment of suspending par-liament early to deal withthe matter.
He said: “It is outrageousthat the government closedthe House of Assembly ear-ly today because they didnot have their politicalducks in a row.”
• For video of PrimeMinister Hubert Ingrahamspeaking on the matter, seetribune242.com.
In 1996, they murderedbanker Syed Bilal Ahmed intheir Cable Beach home.
According to testimony fromKenneth Kimes, the bankerhad flown to Nassau from theCaymans to investigate irreg-ularities in a bank accountbelonging to the late Kenneth
Kimes Sr – Sante’s partner, andKenneth Jr’s father.
The pair drugged thebanker and then downed himin their bathtub.
Kenneth alleged the bodywas dumped at sea, but theirCable Beach neighbours havelong suspected they buriedthe body somewhere on theirproperty.
ffrroomm ppaaggee oonnee
ffrroomm ppaaggee oonnee
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NOT ALL CURRENT MPS WILL BE NOMINATED
PM: ‘No onehas resigned’
PRIME MINISTERHubert Ingrahamsaid he has notreceived any resignations.
BONES ARE FOUNDBURIED AT BAHA MAR
FAMILY Health andSafety Day took on a com-petitive edge this year asemployees of Freeport Har-bour Company, FreeportContainer Port, GrandBahama Airport Companyand the Grand Lucayanengaged in a month-longcontest aimed at encourag-ing healthy lifestyles.
Teams bearing Bahamianbush-medicine names likeCerasee, Bay Geranium,Maderia and Fever Grass bat-tled it out to the delight ofhundreds of relatives andfriends on the beautifulbeaches of the GrandLucayan Resort, the host forthe event.
Container Port CEO GaryGilbert welcomed theemployees and their fami-lies.
He said: “My great plea-sure is to thank all four unitsfor all the hard work you doevery single day of the year, Iappreciate what you do.”
Mr Gilbert also thanked theContainer Port employeecouncils along with TrevorSmith, Eldridge Parker, andKingsley Bain for all theircommunity work.
During the month, employ-ees took advantage of healthscreenings provided by ColinaInsurance and visited boothsto learn of products that canassist in leading a healthylifestyle.
Dr Alejandro Badia ofORNOA’s Network ImagingCentres in Florida, gave a pre-sentation on diagnostic imag-ing.
The employees’ team com-
LOCAL NEWS
PAGE 14, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2011 THE TRIBUNE
Family fun withNURSES were busy screening for high cholesterol, glucose or blood pressure.
ALARIE TURNER, FHC cargo manager, is about to win the man-ager’s sprint as FCP director Godfrey Smith dives at the tape too ear-ly.
CONTAINER PORT CEO GaryGilbert addresses the partici-pants.
Shareyournews
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LOCAL NEWS
THE TRIBUNE THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2011, PAGE 15
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health tipspetition included the follow-ing events:
• A tug-of-war, won byTeam Cerasee
• A strong man competi-tion, won by Elvardo McIn-tosh (FCP berth operator II)of Team Madeira
• Team relays, won byTeam Madeira
• A first responders chal-lenge, won by Team Cerasee
• The manager’s 50 metredash, won by Alarie Turner– FHC cargo manager. The
other participants were:Godfrey Smith, ContainerPort director; Phil Carey, air-port director; MalveseCapron, human resourcesdirector.
The final scores placedTeam Madeira in first place,Cerasee in second, Geraniumin third and Fever Grass inforth.
The raffle winner wasDoyle Adderley, GrandBahama Airport Companycrash rescue fire fighter.
MADERIA celebrates with the trophy as the overall winner in the Family Health and Safety Day competi-tion. Making the presentation is Human Resources Director Malvese Capron, right. TWO six-man tug-of-war teams dig into the sand.
COLINA STAFF members explain the types of insurance coverage thecompany offers.
A LEADING bottledwater manufacturer said yes-terday it had been able toclear imported parts vital toprevent it from having toshut down its operations, butwill now have to operate ona cash basis with Customsover its future shipments.
“We were able to get theparts cleared. We were ableto deal with that today. Myson is on his way back fromthe airport as we speak withthe parts. We have an engi-neer here waiting,” Geof-frey Knowles, Aquapure’soperations head, told Tri-bune Business last evening.
“But we now have tooperate on a cash basis forevery shipment. It’s timeconsuming; we have to takecash to the airport everytime we have a shipment.
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THE Bahamas’ nationaldebt will increase by at least$1.3 billion during the fouryears up to end-June 2016, aformer finance minister yes-terday describing forecaststhat the total will exceed $5.5billion as “certainly cause forcause”.
Analysing the implicationsof the International MonetaryFund’s (IMF) Article IVreport for the Bahamianeconomy, James Smith, both
a former minister of state forfinance and Central Bankgovernor, told Tribune Busi-ness that the weakened fiscalposition would be “a veryserious problem” for the nextgovernment.
Warning that the Bahamas’
persistently high fiscal deficitsand expanding debt-to-GDP(gross domestic product) ratiowould be “very difficult toturn around”, Mr Smith saidthe IMF’s projections effec-
By NEIL HARTNELLTribune Business Editor
THE Government willemploy “a multi-prongedeffort” to create a sustainablesolution for the Bahamas’expanding $4.25 billionnational debt, a senior minis-ter acknowledging the currentfiscal position was “not theideal one, that’s for sure”.
Zhivargo Laing, minister of
state for finance, said thatwhile the Ingraham adminis-tration was employing a com-bination revenue and spend-ing measures, plus better debtmanagement, to address thepersistent fiscal deficits,
returning to consistent eco-nomic growth was “a funda-mental necessity” for enablingthe Bahamas to reduce bothits gross debt and accompa-nying ratios.
Responding to the Interna-
tional Monetary Fund’s(IMF) Article IV report onthe Bahamian economy,which warned that the Gov-ernment’s medium-term plansto address its weakened fis-cal position were “not suffi-cient”, Mr Laing said address-ing this had to be “balanced”with meeting the Bahamas’wider needs during a time of
By NEIL HARTNELLTribune Business Editor
ALMOST 5,500 Water &Sewerage Corporation cus-tomers were unable to receivewater last year after theiraccounts were disconnectedfor non-payment, with thestate-owned distributor suf-fering from an “unacceptablylow” 79 per cent operatingcost recovery rate.
The Water & SewerageCorporation’s 2010 annualreport, tabled in the House of Assembly yesterday by envi-ronment minister Earl Deveaux, provided another insight intothe financial struggles of both itself and its customers, includ-ing other government agencies.
The report revealed how virtually all the Water & SewerageCorporation’s 55.4 per cent net accounts receivables increase in2010 stemmed from balances owed by other governmentdepartments.
By NEIL HARTNELLTribune Business Editor
ROYALFIDELITY Cap-ital Markets will not launchits sixth international invest-ment fund before 2011 year-end, telling Tribune Business“it doesn’t make sense to bat-tle uphill” against tepidinvestor appetite.
Joseph Euteneuer, Royal-Fidelity’s mutual fund man-ager, in a recent interview confirmed it would not proceedwith its proposed TIGRS 6 fund during the 2011 fourth quar-ter given that many Bahamas-based investors remained con-cerned about global stock market volatility.
Disclosing that RoyalFidelity would revisit the fund in the2012 first quarter to determine whether investor appetite hasrecovered, Mr Euteneuer told Tribune Business: “We’ve decid-ed not to go with it now.
“As I mentioned before, it’s an international product, but aspeople are afraid of market volatility it does not make any
$1.3BN INCREASEFOR NATIONAL DEBT
GOV’T MINISTER: $4.25BN DEBT‘NOT IDEAL’ SPOT
* Ex-finance minister says IMF projections show Bahamas’ total debt to exceed $5.5bn by mid-2016
* Warns difficult to turn around, as country ‘a battleship, not a dinghy’
* Outspoken businessman warns borrowing will ‘come back to haunt us’ through tax rises
* Return to economic growth ‘fundamental necessity’ for tackling fiscal woe, says Laing
* New committee to ‘manage’ Gov’t’s debt holdings as part of ‘multi-pronged’ plan
SEE page 10B
SEE page 9B
SEE page 5B
SEE page 4
SEE page 9B
James Smith
5,500 WATER CORPCLIENTS DISCONNECTED
* Water supplier’s 79% operating cost recovery branded‘unacceptably low’
* Bills Gov’t for cost of roadwork-relatedrepairs that accounted for 68% of maintenance rise
* Revenue per worker fell 2.5%
* ‘Doesn’t make sense’ to battle negativeinvestor sentiment onTIGRS 6
* Set to re-evaluate prospects in 2012 Q1
CUSTOMS PUTS AQUAPUREON ‘CASH UPFRONT’
ROYALFIDELITY HOLDSOFF ON FUND LAUNCH
* Bottled water manufacturer clears parts vital to keepoperating, but nowhits new snag
BUSINESS
PAGE 2B, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2011 THE TRIBUNE
By DEIDRE M. BASTIAN
HAVE you ever scratchedyour head and wondered:“What class of designer amI?” Or: What type of style doI boast?” Consider this. Allgraphic designers are notalike. They are not all thesame. In fact, 20 designers canlearn the same methods, betaught by the same personand still advance differently.Every graphic designer con-ducts business differently withclients, meaning that some sella strategy to their clients whileothers sell merely a look. So,is it safe to say that what issignificant tends to varyamong designers.
What is more, since all fivefingers of the human hand arenot the same, all graphicdesigners are different andpossess unique talents withdistinctive personalities. Somehardly know which personal-ity is needed daily. Theythrive to acquire survival per-sonalities that prepare themfor battle each day. In thisvein, let’s look at how eachpersonality differs from eachother.
THE SHOW-OFF ‘JOHN-NY BRAVO’: I am sure mostwomen remember the car-toon in which a handsomehunk tried relentlessly toimpress chicks, but ended upbeing beaten by them? Yougot it right…I’m talking aboutJohnny Bravo. The one qual-ity that gets Johnny into trou-ble is his habit of showing-offin their presence. Somedesigners fall under this per-sonality type, as they enjoyboasting about their skills,which can be amusing.
THE LAZY ‘GARFIELD’:Sarcastic, cynical, lazy, meanand funny. Yes, that describesthe narcissistic Garfield. Eventhough most cats becomelethargic when all grown up,there is nothing to match thelaziness of Garfield, who lovesto eat and sleep. Graphicdesigners in this groupingtend to become apathetic,which delays their projectsand results in procrastinationand not meeting project dead-lines.
THE ENDURING ‘IRON-
MAN’: The biggest trait ofthe ironman is his exception-al ability for endurance. Theironman character was origi-nally created to act as anarmour and endurance suit.Graphic designers who fallunder this personality typeare extremely forbearing andtolerant. They can easilyendure countless hours ofdesign work and complete itwithout experiencing anyfatigue. Additionally, they cantolerate heaps of pressure tocomplete a design task withinthe deadline.
THE PERFECTIONIST‘MONK’: You might remem-ber the character ‘AdrianMonk’, played by Tony Shal-houb from the TV series ‘TheMonk’? Well, the personalityof Adrian Monk is that of aperfectionist. The way he triesto keep everything clean andperfect is hilarious. Somegraphic designers are similarto ‘The Monk’, as they pre-fer every project to bedesigned with perfection andprecision. However, extremeobsession can force them tobehave compulsively. Don’tget me wrong, being a perfec-tionist is good, but it can alsobe stressful if designers areseeking absolute perfection.
THE INGENIOUS ‘SHER-LOCK’: Almost everyoneloves Sherlock Holmes; the
most astute detective in thefictional world. The creativeand ingenious ways in whichhe solves the toughest mys-teries are amazing. Somedesigners are akin to this per-sonality, being clever,resourceful and ingenious intheir work. Designers withthis type of personality haveunique problem-solving skillsand, when faced with thetoughest of design projects,they execute the Sherlockstyle with astuteness andinventiveness.
THE BRAINY ‘DEX-TER’: Would you agree thatthere are nerds in every workprofession? Well, the graphicdesign stadium has its ownshare of the Dexters andDorksters. You may recall thefamous cartoon character‘Dexter’, the boy genius? Thispersonality type is peculiarbut usually top-notch in aca-demics, and as a result has avast in-depth knowledge ofgraphic designing. They areremarkably knowledgeableabout concepts that manyqualified designers might notbe familiar with.
THE FRIENDLY‘CASPER’: Ghosts are usu-ally scary, with the exceptionof one, who is popularlyknown as the ‘friendly ghost’.Yes, I’m talking about the oneand the only “Casper”. He isa sociable ghost that lovesmaking friends. Equally,designers with this personali-ty type are gregarious and usesocial media excessively, notjust for professional purposesbut for personal use as well.They love to make newfriends and, moreover, can-not live without a social circle.
THE EXPERIENCED‘PAPA SMURF’: Rememberthe cartoon ‘Smurfs’ who hada character named ‘PapaSmurf’? He was one of theoldest and most knowledge-able of the Smurfs, and servesas the leader who theyacknowledge whenever coun-sel and guidance is required.Designers of this personalitytype are the experienced cam-paigners, who are distin-guished in their field as vet-
THE Bahamas may have “alittle bit of an advantage” overother Caribbean countrieswhen it comes to beingimpacted by the UK’s deci-sion to raise air passenger duty(APD) rates by 8 per cent, theminister of tourism and avia-tion said yesterday.
Vincent Vanderpool-Wal-lace told Tribune Business thiswas because many of theBahamas’ UK visitors trav-elled through the US on theway to this nation, therebycapitalising on that country’slower banded rates.
The British government onTuesday announced its deci-sion not to change its Air Pas-senger Duty (APD) bandingstructure, with the 8 per centincrease set to be imposedfrom April 2012, thus increas-ing airlift (access) costs to theBahamas and other Caribbeancountries for European andBritish visitors.
Mr Vanderpool-Wallacetold Tribune Business: “In the case of the Bahamaswe are at a little bit of anadvantage compared to therest of the Caribbean, becauseso many of our visitors fromEurope and the UK come via
the US.“So, in effect, what they are
getting is the US banded ratesfor their flight to, say Florida,and connecting over to theBahamas. We are at a littlebit of an advantage but it’s nota substantial advantage com-pared to the rest of theCaribbean. St least ours is notplugged into that situation.”
Me Mr Vanderpool-Wal-lace added: “I think certainlyeverybody in the Caribbeanis disappointed that some ofthe changes that were expect-ed didn’t come into effect. Ithink at the very least theCaribbean region thoughtthey should have been madeequal, in terms of the cost ofthe tax, with the UnitedStates. At the very least theCaribbean was hoping thatthere would be some revisionto the banding, but it appearsthat they were unsuccessful inlobbying for that change.”
The APD rise has sparkedoutrage among Caribbeanhoteliers and tourism execu-tives, with Caribbean TourismOrganisation (CTO) chair-man, Ricky Skerritt, callingthe announcement on theAPD rise “a slap in the face”
for the region. Bahamas Hotel Association
(BHA) president, StuartBowe, told Tribune Businessyesterday that the APD risewas “disappointing”, and theassociation was behind the
regional tourism developmen-tagency, the CTO.
“Five per cent of our busi-ness comes from the UK. Weare definitely concerned aboutthe APD. We are very disap-pointed in it, and are very sup-portive of the CTO and whatthey are trying to do in tryingto address this issue,” MrBowe told Tribune Business.
MONEYGRAM Interna-tional yesterday confirmed ithad launched an investigationinto reports of ‘test transac-tion fraud’ that had hit someof its agents in the Bahamasand the Caribbean, a seniorexecutive said yesterday,telling Tribune Business itwas “all hands on deck” toget to the bottom of the mat-ter.
Patty Sullivan, Money-Gram’s senior spokeswoman,told Tribune Business yester-day that while she was unableto confirm whether a Money-Gram agent in the Bahamashad been impacted by thefraud, the US headquarteredmoney transfer company hadreceived reports of test trans-action fraud occurring withsome of its Caribbean agents.
Ms Sullivan said she wasunable to disclose certaindetails, due to the ongoinginvestigation, but told TribuneBusiness: “The fraudsters arecalling agent locations withthe intent of inducing ouragents to initiate transactions.It is our policy, our practice,that MoneyGram would nev-er call agents and ask themto perform test transactions.We don’t do that.”
Moneygram’s Bahamianagents include Bank of theBahamas International, OmniMoney Transfers, and theBAF Global subsidiary, Cashn’ Go. Both Paul McWeeney,Bank of the Bahamas Inter-national’s managing director,and Omni head, Harvey Mor-ris, yesterday told TribuneBusiness their respective com-panies had not been impactedby the alleged scam attempt.
Wentworth Musgrove,Cash n’ Go’s head, was said tobe out of office for the day,while Chester Cooper, BAFGlobal’s president and chiefexecutive, did not return Tri-bune Business’s call seekingcomment.
MONEY TRANSFERFRAUD: ‘IT’S ALLHANDS ON DECK’
SEE page 9B
* BHA chief says increase in UK air tax to impact 5% of visitors that come from Britain
Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace
sense to bring it out. Every-body’s looking for security,and with the way the markethas moved, and in the mannerit has, it’s going to be a toughsell in the local market.
“We’re going to focus onother areas, evaluate the busi-ness and we will reevaluate it
in the next quarter and see ifthings have changed. It does-n’t make sense for us to battleuphill. This quarter, it’s notgoing to happen.”
Emphasising that “we stillbelieve” in the concept andquality of RoyalFidelity’sinternational investment fundproducts, Mr Euteneuer saidthe investment bank would
likely have sought to “raise the minimum” for theTIGRS 6 had it gone ahead,rather than aim for the moreambitious $10 million fullamount.
“We think the TIGRS hasgood potential for localinvestors to get internationalexposure at the same time ashaving their principal pro-tected,” he added. “For us it’sone option among many oth-ers, but it’s a good option.”
Despite the fact thatBahamian investor principalwould have been 100 per centprotected, and the TIGRS 6would have matured in fiveyears, Mr Euteneuer saidRoyalFidelity had beendefeated by the “volatilityaversion feeling” in the localcapital markets, and the grimeconomic news that contin-ued to pour in from the USand Europe.
Indicating that investor
education and awareness sur-rounding the TIGRS prod-ucts needed to be improved,the RoyalFidelity mutual fundmanager said: “I think thatwe at least attempted to makeit extremely clear as to whatthe structure is, how it worksand where the upside lies.
“One of the base assump-tions is principal is 100 percent protected over a five-year term. Even though that’syour safety net, and is includ-ed in all TIGRS products, thatmeans your potential upsidehas to come from equity linkswith the market. While I thinkthat’s clear, the market has alot more to do along the edu-cation lines.”
Mr Euteneuer said he“took my hat off” to the Secu-rities Commission of theBahamas over its recentinvestor education week. Hewas among several industryprofessionals invited in to givepresentations to the regula-tor’s staff, and talked aboutinvestment fund issues thatincluded the TIGRS productand how it was structured.
The more education thatwas done, Mr Euteneuer said,could only work to the long-term benefit of investors andthe Bahamian capital mar-kets.
RoyalFidelity had beenstructuring the proposedTIGRS 6 like a fixed incomeproduct, based on a basket oftop 'blue chip' internationalstocks, and designed to givehigher returns than thoseavailable in the domesticBahamian capital markets.
In a previous interview, MrEuteneuer declined to nameany of the 10 stocks that Roy-alFidelity was looking at toform the basket upon whichinvestor returns were based.However, sources told Tri-bune Business that those thenbeing eyed were 'blue chip',large caps from the majormarkets, such as JP MorganChase, McDonald's,Microsoft, Boeing andChevron.
This newspaper under-stands that the fund, whichwould have been a five-yearinvestment, was to be called
the Principal Protected Pre-mium Rate TIGRS.
"The structure we've puttogether recognises this islargely a fixed income mar-ket," Mr Euteneuer told Tri-bune Business then. "It is anequity product based on abasket of large cap stocks.The structure is set up so thatthe performance of the shareprices in that basket is mea-sured on an annual basis -from beginning to an annualend.
"The maximum coupon aninvestor could receive, if all10 stocks in that basket werepositive, is 10.55 per cent."
If the average return ofthose 10 stocks in any givenyear was negative, MrEuteneuer said Bahamianinvestors could take comfortfrom the fact that their prin-cipal was 100 per cent pro-tected - a common feature ofall TIGRS products. Theywere also guaranteed a mini-mum 1 per cent per annumreturn, translating into a min-imum 5 per cent return overthe fund's lifetime.
The Tribune wants to hear from people whoare making news in their neighbourhoods.Perhaps you are raising funds for a goodcause, campaigning for improvements in thearea or have won an award. If so, call us on322-1986 and share your story.
While total net accountsreceivables rose by $2.68 mil-lion, going from $4.83 mil-lion in 2009 to $7.51 millionat December 31, 2010, bal-ances owed by the Govern-ment’s ministries, agenciesand departments “increasedmore than two-fold”, grow-ing from $3.3 million to $6.96million - an increase of some$3.66 million.
The report also providedfurther evidence of poorplanning in the New Provi-dence Road ImprovementProject. Numerous networkvalves vital to the Water &Sewerage Corporation’sinfrastructure were buriedunder the new roads, requir-ing them to be excavated,an exercise accounting for a68 per cent year-over-yearincrease in the Corpora-tion’s repairs and mainte-nance costs.
“Extensive governmentroad paving works in NewProvidence resulted in net-work valves being buried,which created operationalchallenges,” the Water &Sewerage Corporation saidin its annual report.
“The Corporation con-tracted the services of sev-eral small companies toexcavate and raise morethan 460 valves, at a cost ofnearly $196,000. The Cor-poration has also outsourcedstandpipe upgrades in excessof $350,000.
“The Corporation hasbilled the Government forthese works, which account-ed for 68 per cent of theincrease in repairs andmaintenance costs. Addi-
t ional ly , the increasedrepairs and maintenanceexpenses points to the ongo-ing deterioration of assetp e r f o r m a n c e / c o n d i t i o ncaused by limitations in cap-ital investment due to cashflow restrictions.”
The failure to adjust theWater & Sewerage Corpo-ration’s tariffs since March1999 was again highlightedas inducing financial weak-ness, with top-line water andsewerage services salesnowhere near covering totaloperating expenses.
Inflation, together withincreased water purchasecosts produced by heavierreliance on reverse osmosis,had increased total operat-ing costs to $54.833 millionin 2010, well above the$41.453 million gained inoperating revenues.
“Overall operating costrecovery levels , whichpeaked at around 94 percent in 2004, declined toaround 76 per cent (79 percent in 2009), which is unac-ceptably low,” the Water &Sewerage Corporationannual report disclosed.
And the problems evidentin being locked into annualsalary and wage incrementincreases, via industrialagreements with tradeunions, were again laid bare.The Water & Sewerage Cor-poration’s staff costs againincreased, with totalemployee headcount risingby 19 during the year to 457,some 363 of whom are per-manent.
Yet, while staffing costsincreased, the Water & Sew-erage Corporation’s revenueyield per employee declined.
“Revenue per employeedecreased for the secondconsecutive year, by $2,923or 2.5 per cent, to $114,915(2009: $117,118) based onpermanent headcount,” theannual report said.
Behind water purchases,which accounted for $20.28million or 37.2 per cent oftotal costs, staffing costswere the next biggestexpense for the Water &Sewerage Corporation, com-ing in at $15.256 million or27.8 per cent of the total.Electricity was the third-highest expense, standing at6.9 per cent or $3.775 mil-lion, of the total.
The Water & SewerageCorporation’s 2010 annualreport also further exposedthe strain imposed by therecession on Bahamianhouseholds and consumers.It disclosed that “15,527accounts were disconnectedfor non-payment [in 2010],whilst 64 per cent werereconnected fol lowingreceipt of payment”.
That indicates that morethan one-third of those dis-connected, some 5,590 cus-tomers, were still withoutwater supply at year-end2010.
In addition, the Water &Sewerage Corporationwrite-off $1.8 million, orsome 1,408 accounts, during2010. It said that some 2,118accounts, valued at $3.6 mil-lion, were passed over to itscollection agency, and a fur-ther $2.8 million and 1,375accounts given to its attor-neys.
The agency and attorneys,respectively, recovered $0.4million and $0.3 million for
a grand total of $0.7 million.Prior to receiving a
$24.335 million taxpayersubsidy from the Govern-ment, the Water & Sewer-age Corporation incurred a
net loss of $27.402 millionfor the 12 months to end-December 2010. The sub-sidy reduced that net loss to$3.067 million.
The Water & SewerageCorporation’s operating lossrose year-over-year by 28per cent to $13.38 million,compared to $10.441 millionthe year before. With some
$12.65 mil l ion worth ofdepreciation added to that,the 2010 operating loss roseto $26.03 million.
Total comprehensiveincome struck $47.244 mil-lion, but that was due to a$50.311 million one-timegain resulting from an assetvaluation exercise.
erans. Nonetheless, emerginggraphic designers view themas an icon of inspiration andmotivation.
THE SPEEDY ‘FLASH’:The fastest cartoon characterin the animated world isFlash. He is capable of run-ning at a lightning pace, and
can perform certain taskswithin the twinkling of an eye.Designers of this personalityare very fast and prompt, andare capable of meeting dead-lines with ease - sometimesbefore the due date.
I admit that I haven’t listedany female personalities, solet’s level the field and includethe Madonna personality. TheMadonna designer isn’t afraidto take risks, but only does soif it is calculated andresearched well. She strivesfor perfection but relies onher team of expert editors andproofers to make certainthings are accurate, and ifthey aren’t, she then whipsout her iron clad contract forprotection.
And let’s not forget little‘Lucille’, who is quirky andtalented but also a goofball.She wasn’t always the swanwhen it came to graceful exe-cution, but she certainly madeyou laugh and, at all times, italways worked out in the end.Designers of this sort mightnot be too impressive, but
miraculously everyone endsup happy.
Finally, I’d add a bit ofSuperwoman, as designersroutinely perform in thecapacity of a super hero tomeet some unrealistic dead-lines and revisions. So askyourself: Do I fit the PapaSmurf, Johnny Bravo or theingenious Sherlock Holmescharacter? Which one areyou? Until we meet again,have fun, enjoy life and stayon top of your game.
About the Columnist: MsBastian is an extensivelytrained graphic designer, whohas qualifications of M.Sc.,B.Sc., A.Sc. She has trainedat institutions such as: MiamiLakes Technical Centre, Suc-cess Training College, Col-lege of the Bahamas, NovaSoutheastern University,Learning Tree International,Langevine International andSynergy Bahamas.
BUSINESS
PAGE 8B, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2011 THE TRIBUNE
FROM page 2B
ORIGINALITY COMESWITH PERSONALITY
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It’s very inconvenient butwe will do what we have to.”
Earlier in the day, MrKnowles said the companywas still ‘limping along’ as itdesperately tried to clearreplacement parts for its
reverse osmosis machinethrough Customs.
Customs was refusing toclear the spare parts on thegrounds that Aquapure hadfailed to pay it due importduties on an estimated 25shipments dating from 2010 –sums Mr Knowles said he
thought had already beenpaid by the company’s formerCustoms broker, who is nowdeceased.
The bottled water manu-facturer, Mr Knowles said,was in the position of havingto pay the same Customsduties and brokerage fees,amounting to “thousands ofdollars”, twice, or face a largeportion of its business effec-tively being shut downthrough an inability to pro-duce product.
Mr Knowles told TribuneBusiness of the part: “This is afan that cools the motor. The
fan was patched up yesterday[Tuesday] by our engineer. Ifthat goes down then we shutdown because we can’t patchit any more.
“Sitting out there is a fanfor the motor. The value ofthe motor is $25,000 and itwill take about eight weeksto get. It’s something like a250 horse power motor Ithink, a very big electricmotor. We right now are onpins and needles. The valueof the parts are about $200 to$300. We have sitting there a$25,000 motor that’s limpingalong.”
tively meant that, over thenext five years, the growthrates for the two key fiscalindicators would still mirrorthose at the recession’s peak.
Noting that the Washing-ton-based fund was project-ing the fiscal deficit wouldaverage a sum equivalent to4.25 per cent of GDP betweenthe 2011-2012 and 2015-2016fiscal years, Mr Smith saidthat based on the Departmentof Statistics’ assertion that theBahamas had an $8 billioneconomy, this meant thedeficits would average $340million per year.
Multiplying this by the fouryears in the period gives atotal $1.36 billion in extradebt the Bahamas wouldincur. And, when placed ontop of the current $4.25 bil-lion debt mountain, the totalnational burden will increaseto $5.61 billion by end-June2016, assuming the IMF’sforecasts hold true.
Noting that such an out-come would place the
Bahamas’ debt-to-GDP ratioat 70 per cent, Mr Smith saidof the IMF’s Article IVreport: “It seems to be subtlyturning up the heat, in thesense that that they’ve saidthe same thing for the pasttwo years, but they’re nowputting stronger emphasis onthe trends.
“What they’re saying essen-tially is: ‘Hey, Bahamas,there’s two major items thatare heading the wrong wayand rapidly.” The formerfinance minister identifiedthese as being the primarydeficit (recurrent revenuesminus recurrent spending) inthe absence of major revenueenhancements, plus the debt-to-GDP ratio.
“If they [the indicators] donot change dramatically,they’re telling us we’re reallyheading for trouble,” MrSmith told Tribune Businessof the IMF.
“It seems to me to be a veryserious problem for succes-sive governments. We haveused up our headroom, andit will be very difficult to turn
that around. It’s not longer adinghy that’s adrift; it’s a bat-tleship.”
Based on the IMF’s projec-tions that the Bahamas wouldhit a 69-70 per cent debt-to-GDP ratio at the end of its2015-2016 fiscal year, MrSmith said this nation wouldhave almost doubled this ratio- from the pre-recession 36-39 per cent range - “in a shortperiod of time”.
Fearing this would easilypush the Government’s annu-al debt servicing (interest)costs above $300 million, hetold this newspaper: “That’sunsustainable. The debt ser-vicing is going to be gobblingup and taking away from oth-er critical areas, health, edu-cation and crime-fighting.Even the brand new roadstructure will find itself withpotholes that need to be fixedif we’re not careful.”
Echoing the IMF’s warn-ings on the need for theBahamas to rebuild its fiscalbuffer, so that it had surplusfunds to meet unplanned con-tingencies, such as hurricanesand Bay Street fires, MrSmith added: “We alwaysneed some headroom to takecare of these things, and it’snot there.
“We seem to have a man-made disaster in the making,and whoever the next gov-
ernment is will have to worryabout this. It’s cause for con-cern; it certainly is.”
The IMF’s own projectionsare very much in line with MrSmith’s calculations, as it pro-jects the Bahamas will runrecurrent deficits of between$171 million and $134 millionover the next five years.
Throw in the annual $250million capital spendingdeficit that the Governmentincurs, and the total fiscaldeficit is forecast by the Fundto vary from a $389 millionlow to a $440 million highbetween 2012-2013 and 2015-2016. That will add a total$1.64 billion to the nationaldebt.
As a result, the nationaldebt is projected to increasefrom $4.151 billion at the2011-2012 fiscal year-end to$5.631 billion at June 30, 2016.
And Mr Smith is not theonly one expressing concern.Dionisio D’Aguilar, Super-wash’s head and a formerBahamas Chamber of Com-merce president, told TribuneBusiness that the only way thecountry could afford the Gov-ernment’s infrastructure bor-rowing was either to drasti-cally reduce such outlays inthe future, or through new orincreased taxes.
“This will come back tohaunt us at some stage.
There’s a precipitous rise inthe national debt, and they’reselling us all that they canafford it,” Mr D’Aguilar toldTribune Business.
The Government is pro-jected to borrow around $155million from the Inter-Amer-ican Development Bank(IDB) to finance the NewProvidence Road Improve-ment Project, plus another$81 million to overhaul theWater & Sewerage Corpora-tion. A $50 million project toreform the air transportationsector is also on the drawingboard with the IDB.
In addition, the Govern-ment is spending $75 millionon upgrading the PrincessMargaret Hospital’s CriticalCare facilities, and has spentmore than $40 million ondredging Nassau Harbour.Other infrastructure projectshave also been undertaken.
Mr D’Aguilar told TribuneBusiness that the Government
was giving the Bahamian peo-ple the incorrect impressionthey did not have to pay forthis new infrastructure.
“The next government,whoever wins the next elec-tion, it’s almost inevitable theywill have to raise taxes,” headded. “We’ve spent all thismoney, improved infrastruc-ture, but you can’t tell peopleyou’ve spent this and they donot have to pay more in tax-es.”
Describing the increase inthe national debt as “unsus-tainable”, Mr D’Aguilar toldTribune Business: “People arecrying for this, crying for that,and we just have to look atthe European countries wherethere’s been no fiscal disci-pline. They’re catchingalmighty hell, but there’s noone to bail us out.
“Politicians are scared totell people the truth, but ifthey do not tell the truth wewill have a financial disaster.”
BUSINESS
THE TRIBUNE THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2011, PAGE 9B
NOTICE IN THE ESTATE OF WALTER JAMES DEAN lateof No. 232 Golden Gates Estates Section II Subdivision in the Southern District of the Island of New Providence one of the Islands of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, deceased.
NOTICE is hereby given that all persons having any claim or demand against the above Estate are required to
on or before the 18th day of January, A.D. 2012, after which date the Administratrix will proceed to distribute the assets having regard only to the claims to which she shall then have had notice.
AND NOTICE is hereby given that all persons indebted to the said Estate are requested to make full settlement on or before the date hereinbefore mentioned.
MERIDIAN LAW CHAMBERS Attorneys for the Administratrix
Chambers, P.O. Box N-168,
East Bay Shopping Center, East Bay Street, Nassau, Bahamas.
NOTICEPursuant to the provisions of Section 137 (4) (a), (b)
and (c) of the International Business Companies Act,2000, notice is hereby given that:-
(a) SAKAPFET LTD. is in dissolution;
(b) The date of commencement of the dissolutionis the 21st day of October A.D., 2011 and
(c) the Liquidator is C.B. Strategy Ltd., of 308East Bay St.
C.B. Strategy Ltd.LIQUIDATOR
KINGSWAY ACADEMY
ELEMENTARY ENTRANCE EXAMINATIONS
Entrance Examinations for all Elementary grade levels:-
K3 – January 14, 2012 @ 10:00 a.m.(must be 3 years old by October 31, 2012)
K4 – February 3 & 17, 2012times are scheduled throughout the day
(must be 4 years old by December 31, 2012)
K5 – March 3, 2012times are scheduled throughout the day
(must be 5 years old by December 31, 2012)
Grades 1 to Grade 6 Saturday, March 3, 2012.9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
Parents are asked to collect application forms between 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. daily from the Elementary Desk in the Herbert L. Treco Administration Building on the school’s Bernard Road campus, before the testing date.
Application forms may also be accessed from the school’s website
www.kingswayacademy.com.
APPLY NOWFor further information, kindly contact the
school at telephone numbers:- 324 – 5049 or 324 - 2158
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$1.3BN INCREASEFOR NATIONAL DEBT
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CUSTOMS PUTS AQUAPURE ON ‘CASH UPFRONT’
MONEY TRANSFER FRAUD: ‘IT’S ALL HANDS ON DECK’
Sources with knowledge of the matter previously informedTribune Business that one Bahamas-based MoneyGram agentmay have lost “tens of thousands” of dollars as a result of theattempted fraud, but that cannot be confirmed.
They also claimed that Moneygram International enforced a$500 maximum send amount per transaction on all its Bahamasagents from Friday through last weekend. Ms Sullivan saidshe was unaware of such action and could offer no comment.She said added MoneyGram was working to get to the bottomof the matter.
“We have notified the authorities, and have multiple teamsworking on this to get to the heart of the matter and determinewhat’s going on, how to stop it, what to prevent it with,” shesaid.
“We work with our agents and communicate with them reg-ularly to make them aware of this particular scam, so they arenot taken in by it as well, and they have to educate theiremployees. We take it very seriously and it is all hands ondeck to put a stop to this.”
Tribune Business had been told that suspected fraudstershave been Fraudsters have been calling Moneygram agents inthe Bahamas and wider Caribbean, claiming to be officers ofMoneygram International and directing them to bogus websitesthat look identical to the Moneygram website. The agentsare then directed to download software, which compromisestheir system.
