Read storyBuilding materials for the National Stadium were unloaded at the Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre last Friday but a delay has put off the March 20th start date.
Twenty technical workers from China are waiting on visas from Britain which they need to travel here.
The stadium, which is expected to take three years to complete at a cost of $30 million, was scheduled to be finished by July 2007.
Read storyThe Bank of The Bahamas donated $250,000 to The College of The Bahamas to find out how many Bahamians can read and figure out the best way to teach it.
The money will be used to build the National Literacy Diagnostic Research Centre which will study how reading and writing are being taught.
The system can tell the difference between guns and fireworks and detects how many shots were fired. It creates a map for dispatchers and could help officer response time.
Read storyBail requirements should be uniform to ensure suspects that are granted bail have a fair chance of meeting them.
Ellsworth Johnson, lawyer and tutor at the Eugene Dupuch Law School’s Legal Aid Clinic, told The Nassau Guardian that requiring people to own property is an unfair condition, since there are many Bahamians who do not.
"You shouldn’t give someone bail and by the very things you require make it impossible for a person to avail himself of that bail," Johnson said.
Two lawyers, who did not want to give their names, echoed his statement, saying that bail requirements change from court to court and seem arbitrary. One said the requirements keeps people “running up and down for weeks.”
Read storyIn a letter published in The Tribune, Andrew Allen said The Bahamas should consider ways to farm sea turtles rather than ban their consumption.
Allen said the Cayman Islands have successful turtle farming and have found a way to sustain the turtle population.
He said too often Bahamians try to condemn customs and cultures that they don't agree with or don't enjoy themselves rather than looking for ways to make them sustainable.
Read storyA young man was killed in a traffic accident on East Street Saturday.
The crash injured the 18-year-old male driver and his 22-year-old female passenger but was fatal for 16-year-old Godfrey Murphy.
Police believe the car was overtaking when it collided with a utility pole and a building.
ELEUTHERA: Police are also investigating a traffic accident in Rock Sound, Eleuthera. The crash killed 56-year-old Edmund 'Beef' Symonette, a local handyman.
Sometime before 7pm Saturday, he was driving on Queen's
Highway when his truck ran off the road.
Read storyThe Department of Immigration played no part in the dismissal of Chinese workers from a Bahamian construction company last week.
E R Hanna Construction said last week that it would be forced to send about half of its 26 Chinese workers home because they were not able to renew their work permits.
But Immigration director Jack Thompson said that was not the case as all the worker permits were valid until June.
Last week Tuesday, the workers protested after getting the news of their dismissal. Several said they had not been paid in months and were being treated unfairly.
Read storyA convicted murderer originally sentenced to death was released after the court of appeal decided it was unfair to release one man and not another.
The Court released Jeronimo Bowleg, ruling that the man he was accused of committing the murder with - Brian
Schroeter – had been released.
Bowleg and Schroeter were convicted of the 1994 murder of Dieuseul Almanor and sentenced to death, the mandatory sentence for murder at the time.
After mandatory death sentencing was ruled unconstitutional, the pair appealed. Schroeter was release and Bowleg's sentence was modified to include ten years in addition to the 11 he had served.
Bowleg appealed the decision and won. In its ruling, the court said it felt the sentence was inadequate but wanted to avoid any appearance of unfairness between people involved in the same offense."
Read storyCuba is a threat but not yet Tourism Minister says
Tourism Minister Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace said The Bahamas should be ready to compete with Cuba but that it's not an immediate threat.
Wallace said the American decision to relax restrictions on Cubans returning home for visits was more of a humanitarian effort than something that would generate tourism.
Still, the Minister said The Bahamas needs to develop its tourist product and think of the entire country when planning.
"We have a variety of islands that we have never really developed to the stage that we need to develop them and to differentiate one from the other so that we have a lot more varied products on the shelf to deal with the Cubas when they open," he said.
Read storyA union leader for the country's public workers says the private sector needs to implement a minimum wage system that matches the government's.
John Pinder, president of the Bahamas Public Services Union, said the minimum wage of non-government workers should be the same as the $5.20 provided for public servants, $10,600 per year.
Pinder said he was concerned that contractors on major projects are able to bring in foreign workers to avoid paying minimum wage.
All companies should have to comply with a standard minimum wage, he said.
Read storyOne of the men accused of killing Keith Carey said he was driving but did not know the plan.
In a video of accused murderer Dwight Knowles, Knowles said Jamal Glinton asked him to follow Carey from his gas station to the bank. Glinton, like Knowles, is accused of killing Carey in February of 2006.
Knowles said Glinton got out of the car, Carey fell on the steps and then he heard two gunshots. Then, he said Glinton got back in the car and told him to drive off.
Read storyA descendent of slaves from the Whylly plantation wants to do more than clean toilets at the Clifton Heritage site.
Vivian Whylly, 47, who was knighted by the Sovereign Order of Saint John of Jerusalem because of his ancestry, his historical knowledge and his dedication to protect the former plantation, said the Clifton Heritage Authority will only hire him to weed the gardens or clean toilets.
“In any other country a descendent of something like this would be looked at as something other than a problem,” Whylly said.
Whylly said William Whylly, the plantation's owner, was a loyalist who fought for slaves rights when he came to The Bahamas. He was the first chief justice and also served as attorney general, Whylly said, who uncovered a lot of information about the site through his research at the National Archives.
Read storyPolice may soon seek international support in their search for a teacher accused of molesting two male students.
Officials are ready to charge the teacher with multiple "unnatural sexual intercourse" offenses but are not sure if he is still in The Bahamas.
Police say they know he left the island at some point but are not sure whether the suspect returned.
Police could not confirm the teacher's nationality but said he has permanent resident status. Authorities say they plan to issue a global all-points bulletin for him.
Read storyNearly 8,000 people asked for government assistance in the last four months of 2008 compared to 960 during the same period in 2007.
During his contribution to a senate debate, Minister of Labour and Social Development, Dion Foulkes, said the government spent $857,000 in aid to citizens, including:
$500,000 to help 900 people with their Bahamas Electricity Corporation bills
$260,000 to help 430 people with rent
$50,000 in medical assistance
$47,000 on assistance with bills from the Water and Sewerage Corporation
These figures don't include assistance given in Grand Bahama or the family islands, which Foulkes said also increased
Read storyThe Immigration Department has released some information from a recent visit to the Carmichael Road Detention Centre.
Recently, psychologist David Allen, Social Services director Melanie Zonical, Archdeacon James Palacious, Royal Bahamas Defence Force senior lieutenant Frederick Brown and director of Immigration Jack Thompson toured the facility, although their reports on the tour were not released.
The Tribune asked to tour the facility but Immigration officials refused the request.
Detainees were interviewed in the presence of their supervisors, although immigration officials say they spoke candidly.
Thompson said they are already working to implement recommendations from Dr Allen and Father Palacious including indoor games, televisions and more books.
Read storyNational Security Minister Tommy Turnquest said former Prime Minister Perry Christie should "hang his head in shame" over what he says is a clear conflict of interest.
Turnquest was speaking about Calsey Johnson, who, as former chairman of the Broadcasting Corporation of the Bahamas, received a commission when he recommended that the corporation invest $750,000 in pension funds in CLICO Bahamas.
It is unclear how much, if any, of the funds will be recovered.
"(Johnson) has acknowledged that he has collected a commission, and he has acknowledged that he was a part of the decision making body. Having acknowledged both of those, there is clearly a conflict," Turnquest said.
Read storyAlthough many sectors of the country are suffering in the recent economic challenges, airlines operating in the country seem to be doing well.
Southern Air Charters, Sky Bahamas and Pineapple Air all told The Guardian that business is good. All three have regular flights from New Providence to various family islands.
Southern Air said they have seen no falloff in customers, Sky Bahamas said sales have gone up and Pineapple Air said they did feel some impact but that business is "fairly good".
Read storyThe PLPs newest senator says the government needs to do more for Grand Bahama.
In his first speech, Dr Michael Darville said more money should be spent on training on the island. He warned that despite large investments from the Grand Bahama Port Authority, their loyalty is to their investors, who are not Bahamians.
Read storyThe son of Chauncey Tynes Jr, who's mysterious disappearance and connections to drugs and politics have been much discussed in the last week , has called to thank the Tribune for highlighting his father's death.
Kino Tynes called the newspaper from the Turks and Caicos where he works. "“I never got to meet my dad,” he said. “I have been asking questions all the 28 years I have been alive.”
Defending its decision to publish a story that suggested former Prime Minister Sir Lynden Pindling may have been connected to the pilot's disappearance, The Tribune said PLP leader Perry Christie contradicted a statement he made when he was fired from Sir Lynden's cabinet in 1984.
“For the better part of this year, the extent to which commitment to service with integrity has been eroded in the Bahamas has proven the cause for concern at every level of our society.
“Indeed, it has gone beyond our national boundaries and brought our nation’s integrity into question."
Chauncey Sr, who's supcisions that his son was killed for "knowing too much" formed the basis of the controversial story, said he has no regrets about what he said.
Dr Ian Strachan, head of the English Department at the College of The Bahamas, said the issue is one that should be debated objectively and nationally.
“I think the conversation coming from the opposite end is so shrill, so angry, and condemnatory, and also so grand-standing, and even opportunistic, I don’t think it’s actually helping us have a public conversation about it," Dr Strachan said.
Read storyProtected park has five times the average fish population
Fifty years after The Bahamas created its first national park, scientists returned to the spot that led to its creation.
Returning to Exuma allowed officials from the Bahamas National Trust, coral reef experts, botanists and scientists from the Nature Conservancy to see what has changed in half a century.
Experts found that the island is nearly exactly as it was discovered. With the exception of an out-of-control hutia population, there were many positive findings, including a healthy fish population five times the national average.
Read storyA bike mechanic who got rid of his car ten years ago said he has saved $5,000 a year and lowered his blood pressure.
Douglas Fawkes, 53, said he cycles about 2,500 miles a year and is encouraging more Bahamians to join him.
Fawkes would like to see bike lessons in schools and recommends that anyone who lives less than five miles from their job to try riding instead of driving.
Read storyPLP leader Perry Christie said the article suggesting Sir Lynden Pindling may have been connected to the disappearance of a pilot was the "vilest, most vicious and sickest piece of garbage" he has ever read.
Speaking from PLP headquarters Wednesday, Christie said the article did not give evidence for its allegations.
The former prime minister accused Tribune editor John Marquis of exploiting the pilot's father and former PLP backbencher, Chauncey Tynes Sr, in order to defame Sir Lynden.
Read storyThe 22nd annual Antique Car Show will be held this Saturday at Arawak Cay – free to the public.
Steak and chicken dinners will be on sale with all proceeds going to the Bilney Lane Home for Children and the Every Child Counts Learning Centre in Abaco.
Children will be invited to participate in an art contest that includes drawing one of the cars on display. Prizes will be awarded one week after the show.
Read storyCaribbean leaders began a two-day conference in Belize yesterday, as they met for the 20th Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government meeting.
High on the agenda are the world economy, the G20's position on offshore banking and the collapse of CLICO.
Read storyBahamian artists have turned a construction site into art, transforming Woodes Rogers walk with their creations.
Students from the College of the Bahamas, the National Art and Craft Enrichment Programme, D W Davis and recent high school graduates have painted murals on plywood sheets erected around the site of the former Straw Market.
Timothy Nottage, director of the art project, said, "It adds an aesthetic appeal to the waterfront where the tourists have to pass, rather than having an eyesore,”
Imagine if we can do this for all those dilapidated buildings and all those eyesores that are downtown. "
Read storyFormer chairman of the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas admitted he earned a commission when the corporation invested $800,000 of pension funds in CLICO (Bahamas).
Chairman Calsey Johnson was an executive at CLICO before moving to BCB's board and was still serving as an independent agent at the time of the investment.
Johnson said he did not consider his recommendation a conflict of interest.
BCB's current chairman Michael Moss said in earlier reports he had no idea when or how the pension funds ended up at CLICO.
Moss and union officers want answers about why the money was invested and how much they can expect to get back.
The walkathon, which went from the Old Trail Campus to the foot of the Paradise Island Bridge and back, raised $8,000 in donations, sponsorship and registration fees.
Read storyAccording to reports from the Carmichael Road Detention Centre, detainees who gave reports of abuse and poor conditions at the facility are being denied visitors and access to newspapers.
There were also reports of some improvements at the centre, including better food.
Information from a visit to the centre by Immigration Director Jack Thompson, Defence Force Commodore Clifford Scavella, representatives from the department of social services and psychologist Dr David Allen have still not been released.
The Tribune said it had received copies of letters from citizens of Germany, Canada and Spain appealing for an independent investigation into the centre.
Speaking at a celebration ceremony at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Minister Brent Symonette pointed out some of the ways The Bahamas has played a key role in Commonwealth Affairs, including hosting a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 1985.
During that meeting, the Commonwealth Accord on South Africa was adopted. The accord played a pivotal role in dismantling South Africa's apartheid regime.
A list of Members of the Commonwealth of Nations here
Read storyHealth Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said the public was justified in complaints about the long wait for prescriptions but has pledged to fix the problem.
Hundreds of people were waiting for hours at the Princess Margaret Hospital on Tuesday. Dr Minnis waited for two hours himself when he went to the pharmacy to try it for himself.
Minnis said Tuesday's problem came after three pharmacists called in sick to an already short-staffed section. The minister said five pharmacists will soon be hired but added that that would still not be enough.
In addition he is preparing to meet with pharmacists to allow some people, especially the elderly, to get their medication outside of PMH.
Read storyRegulators from 18 countries met in Trinidad & Tobago yesterday to discuss the collapse of CLICO and what can be learned.
"It will be a review of the entire regulatory process to understand lessons learnt," Lennox McCartney, Bahamas Registrar of Insurance, said on Wednesday.
Read storyChinese workers caused a scene after news that they would be sent back to China, saying they have not been paid for months of work and have been treated unfairly.
ER Hanna Construction told half of its 26 workers that they were no longer needed Tuesday. Workers upset by the announcement became aggressive and administrators called Immigration and police officers to escort them from the scene.
The workers say they have not been paid since December and have not been given enough food and water at the site.
Tameka Hanna of ER Hanna said the company pays an agency in China which is responsible for paying the workers. Hanna said the company made water available and hired a chef to cook three meals a day.
Although they have paid for 12 work permit renewals, Hanna said she is not sure if the others will stay after yesterday's incident.
Read storyA woman believes her husband was killed along with a young pilot because he knew "too much" about the country's drug trade.
Ann Moree, now 55, said a few days before her husband Donald disappeared, two men came to their house and threatened them.
Moree said a few days later he boarded a flight with Chauncey Tynes Jr and was never seen again. That was 26 years ago.
Tynes worked for Columbian drug dealer Joe Lehder. In a controversial story by The Tribune, Tynes Sr said his son told him that he frequently carried cash from Lehder to former Prime Minister Sir Lynden Pindling.
A police source told The Tribune that a few days before his disappearance police caught Tynes on a plane filled with cocaine and expected him to testify soon.
Read storyPolice suspect that 73-year-old American Richard Merril drowned during a dive near Bimini.
Merill, who was visiting from New York, was pronounced dead at about 3pm Monday.
He had been on a dive with about 20 other divers near Cat Cay, about 8 miles south of Bimini. An autopsy will be done to determine the exact cause of death.
Anyone who believes they can assist with investigations should call 322-4444.
Read storyThe government may seek help from the private sector to improve the airport in time for the Miss Universe Pageant.
Tourism minister Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace said the ministry has often asked for financial support from the private sector and especially the Nassau/Paradise Island Promotion Board.
Read storyAn article connecting former Prime Minister Sir Lynden Pindling and Columbian Drug dealer Joe Lehder has attracted praise and condemnation.
The Tribune article (available here, Part II here) suggested that pilot Chauncey Tynes was killed because he knew of the close connection between the country's first Prime Minister, Lehder and a senior police officer.
Former PLP backbencher Edmund Moxey supported the article, saying "young Bahamians need to know their history".
Political activist Paul Moss said the article was "repulsive" and a "desecration".
Read storyResidents of eastern New Providence have had little to no water for the last two weeks because of a problem with the barge that brings water daily.
The Water and Sewerage Corporation said the barge is being repaired in Florida and should be operational again by the end of the week.
Water has been off for the last two weekends for some and low otherwise.
Residents with low or no water for extended periods are asked to call 302-5599.
Read story
Officers from the US Coast Guard gave lessons in boarding vessels and the differences between cooperative and uncooperative suspects.
US Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Matthew Rouse demonstrated how to attack pressure points, handcuffing procedures as well as how and when to use more force.
Officers from defense services from The Bahamas, St Vincent and Grenadines, St Kitts- Nevis, Haiti, Trinidad & Tobago, Belize, Barbados and the Dominican Republic were all at the Coral Harbour base Monday for Exercise Tradewinds 2009.
Read storyThe president of Baha Mar Resorts recently announced an agreement signed with Chinese investors to go ahead with the multi-billion dollar resort.
Although the agreements are described by hotel executives as preliminary, they include deals with the China State Construction Engineering Corporation to build the resort and a memorandum of understanding regarding project financing was signed with Export-Import Bank of China.
Baha Mar President Dan Robinson announced the agreements in China but, speaking to The Guardian at a seminar in the Bahamas, CEO Sarkiz Izmirlian said:
"The China State Construction Company will be the general contractor and [will] build the project. They will also be an investor in the project and then the China Exim Bank will finance the project."
"We're going to be operating the casino and the casino hotel and we're the developer. We put all this thing together."
Read storyThe government has approved price increases for several basic food items, including evaporated milk, butter, sugar, cheese, flour, and margarine.
A few items also went down in price. See the full story for more prices and differences in the family islands.
Read storyABACO: Assistant Commissioner of Police Hulan Hanna said police will again be making reports available to the press in Abaco.
The publishers of The Abaconian, David and Kathy Ralph were concerned last week after Supt Sean Neville-Smith allegedly told the local newspaper that it would no longer receive crime reports “because they reflect badly on the police.”
Read storyA doctor made several errors in treating one of his patients and it might have led to heart failure, a court heard Monday.
Dr Andrew Selwyn, a cardiologist from Boston, said Dr Ian Kelly should have done several things differently in the case of Christopher Rogers.
Rogers, whose heart failed after weeks under Kelly's care, has taken legal action against the doctor.
Selwyn said Kelly should have been concerned about Rogers high score on a type of blood test, should have done a differential diagnoses and should have noticed the patient's fever and weight loss, which he said was a clear sign of infection.
Failure to figure out what was wrong with Rogers worsened his condition and caused more damage.
Read storyAmnesty International has renewed it's calls for inspections at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre.
In a letter issued to media as well as several ministers, the group said it is concerned about reports that inmates, including women and children, are marched outside three times a day for head counts and are pushed around with officers guns.
Other reports include overcrowding problems, inmates sleeping on the floor and a lack of appropriate attention to asylum requests.
Amnesty International wants an independent investigation and has asked the public to request an immediate and thorough investigation into claims of abuse at the centre.
I think psychologist Dan Gilbert offers some startling perspectives on happiness in this talk. He can be a little convoluted at times but it's worth watching more than once.
Most interesting was the value of synthetic happiness, which is human's ability to feel good about a situation even when it seems impossible.
Gilbert also shows how choice can be the enemy of happiness.
He has another talk that I plan to share soon so if you don't like this one you probably want to mark it boring.
Read storyGRAND BAHAMA: A new $60 million drydock opened in Grand Bahama last Saturday, expanding a service that already serves 70 percent of the cruise ships in the region.
The drydock is one of the largest in the world at 310 meters by 54 meters wide.
At the opening, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham welcomed the investment but also expressed a note of caution: "We here in the Bahamas are fully cognizant of another reality and that is this shipyard is mobile. It can be picked up and taken away any day."
Lecturer Frenand Leger has been given a $3,500 research grant to develop a textbook focused on modern teaching methods.
Leger envisions a text with photos of Haitian people and culture accompanied by audio lessons, a workbook and a website.
The move is part of the College's aim to encourage research and increase its international presence. Last year CoB awarded thousands of research dollars to faculty to pursue various projects.
Read storyBahamians have $23 million tied into long term investments in CLICO Bahamas, including $800,000 in ZNS pension funds and $3 million in annuity payments from Bahamasair.
There are nearly 400 similar accounts in CLICO's records; some deposits range from $100, others are several million.
At least four people have accounts of more than $1 million.
Prime Minister Ingraham said last week it was too early to tell if policy holders would lose money as a result of the company's liquidation.
He also said that annuity holders "are not likely to be as favorably rewarded at the end of the day as some other policyholders."
Read storyAn attack on his Sunburst Paint store was simply a way to get business owner Leslie Miller out of his house in order to rob him according to reports.
Miller, a former MP, said he rushed to his store at about 11pm Friday after he found out that several of his store windows were broken by a man with a hammer.
On the way to the store he remembered finding the door of his home tampered with earlier that day and so he phoned police.
Miller returned home to learn that someone had indeed broken into his home and taken cash from his nightstand.
He thinks the attackers were scared by the police, Miller said, thanking them for responding quickly.
Read storyGRAND BAHAMA: Explosives brought down some of Freeport's best-known landmarks Saturday when three concrete stacks built by the BORCO plant were demolished.
The stacks, which were several hundred feet high, were demolished to make way for the construction of tanks that will store 22 million barrels of oil.
The tanks are part of a $250 - $300 million dollar project by Vopak Terminal Bahamas.
T J Huizer, managing director of Vopak, said the company already has a large impact on global oil flow, pointing out that three quarters of the oil used in Puerto Rico is stored at their terminal in Freeport.
Read storyBahamian students took part in the Knights of Columbus Annual Spelling Bee Competition in Kissimmee, Florida (photos) over the weekend.
Sponsored by local chapters of the KoC, Yelena Persaud from St Francis de Sales School in Abaco placed first in her division.
Persaud had finished behind Maya Francis from Xaviers Lower School in the 42nd Annual Catholic Archdiocese Spelling Bee Competition in Nassau. Francis also took part in the weekend bee but failed to place in her division.
District grand knight Gregory Christie said: "Our knights throughout the Bahamas are pleased to have assisted these students in their opportunity to compete in this one-day event among their peers from around the state of Florida.
“We’ve had previous winners and runners-up at this event and we’re extremely proud that our first ever entrant from Abaco was able to return this year as champion speller in her division.
Read storyAfter reading about crew members of an American sailboat trespassing, chasing endangered birds and eventually killing and roasting their pet duck, a local family feels that police are not taking them seriously.
Peter Graham and his family read about the Americans' visit to the island on their blog, which included photos of the family's pet duck plucked and about to be cooked.
Graham's daughter, Amanda said the police have shown a lack of interest, even hanging up on the family when they call for updates.
"We filed a complaint and they haven’t done anything," Amanda said.
"The general perception is that we should just get over it but they are not seeing the bigger picture here, and perhaps that is the mentality of the police themselves."
Read storyIn the last six months, 762 students have moved from private schools to government schools.
Education Minister Carl Bethel said the transfers happened between September of last year and February 18.
Bethel said public schools will not refuse any students because of overcrowding: "We all must make room. This is critical and a matter of firm policy".
Read storyA number of agricultural projects could change the way Bahamians eat and support the economy.
Executive chairman of the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation Edison Key told the House of Assembly about a number of ways the government is working to improve agriculture:
The North Andros Agricultural Expansion Project – 561 acres in Andros for growing export-quality vegetables, citrus, tropical fruits and livestock
Two refrigerated trailers offered at a "nominal" fee to help farmers get their goods to market in the best condition possible.
Meetings between farmers and buyers will continue with an aim to get produce to markets throughout the country
Read storyCompanies in Nassau and Grand Bahama owe more than $2million in to the immigration department.
In his contribution to the budget debate, Immigration Minister Branville McCartney said $834,718 is owed from 70 companies in Nassau and $1.5 million from 330 companies in Grand Bahama.
The Minister said "As for those companies who owe the department money, the department will not be minded to issue further renewals without either a settlement of outstanding fees or a payment plan arrangement".
McCartney also stated spending figures:
$11.76 million on salaries including $3 million for overtime
Read storyAbout half the people unemployed in Grand Bahama lost their job in the last six months. In Nassau that number is about a third for the same time period.
As speculation about job loss grows, the Department of Statistics prepared a report ahead of its usual schedule. It showed that unemployment rose from 8.7% in May to 12.1% last month.
In Nassau that means 16,315 people of the 134,400-person workforce are without a job and 4,195 out of 28,820 in Grand Bahama.
The unemployment levels are the highest they have been since 1994.
Read storyFinance Minister Zhivargo Laing has accused former Public Works Minister Bradley Roberts of giving instructions to hire PLP supporters at the Bahamas Telecommunications Corporation.
Speaking at the House of Assembly, Laing submitted a list of about 100 names suggested for employment. Roberts name is listed near many of the applicants approved for employment.
The names of other MPs are written next to other employees hired and so are notes such as “strong party supporter”.
Roberts said the Laing has used the document to mislead. When asked where the document came from, the former minister told reporters to “ask Zhivargo Laing that".
After Laing tabled the document, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham stood to shake his hand and tell him he was "very proud".
Read storyShane Mackey, 28, pled guilty to stealing $14,700 from seven people on Friday.
Mackey collected deposits from people interested in buying cars. Customers found him through ads he placed in the classified section of local newspapers.
He is expected to return to court for sentencing today (Monday).
Read storyA court has suspended its case against a man accused of sexual assault of a 10-year-old girl because of the length of time it has taken for his trial to proceed.
The man was arraigned on March 30, 2005. He did not receive bail as he has no legal status in the country.
Supreme Court Justice Jon Isaacs said: “I am satisfied that the applicant’s right to have a fair trial within a reasonable time has been infringed when regard is had to the penalty that may be imposed."
If convicted, the man would have face seven years in jail, the maximum sentence; four if he did not break prison rules.
Read storyGRAND BAHAMA: A woman suffered multiple face fractures when she tried to stop a group of students from fighting.
Students from the Eight Mile Rock High School (EMRHS) were fighting at a nearby KFC restaurant when a female KFC worker tried to stop them and was hit in the face with a rock.
Police say they are trying to determine who was involved in the fight and who was just watching.
Read storyGRAND BAHAMA: The Isle of Capri casino announced Tuesday that it will not renew its lease in May leaving 234 employees jobless if a new operator does not take over.
Casino officials said the company is shutting down operations in the United Kingdom as well and plans to concentrate on its 18 American properties.
Greg Moss, president of the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce, said:
"It's a fair comment to make that any termination of employment in Grand Bahama has a like effect as if it was a multiple of five times when compared to Nassau," Moss said. "So if you look at 100 people being terminated in Grand Bahama, it's like 500 people being terminated in New Providence when you look at the respective population sizes. So clearly, it will have a massive impact."
Read storyA woman who said she and her daughter were unnecessarily terrified by officers from the Immigration Department said she may be planning to sue.
Violet Hanna, 41, and her daughter Amber, 7, were sleeping when she claims the officers broke apart the gate securing the backyard of her Nassau Village home and broke a hinge on her back door during a 4am inspection on February 24.
Hanna said the officers left the maul they used to break her gate and door but have still not arranged to repair the damage.
Immigration Minister Branville McCartney said he would personally investigate the matter and Ms Hanna spoke with him last Friday but has not heard from him since.
Her daughter was in hospital for pneumonia which she said they both got after the incident.
Hanna said she has hired a lawyer and is looking into security bars in an effort to feel safe in her home again.
Read storyA judge refused the bail request of a man charged with murder, saying 17 months was not an unreasonable amount of time to wait for his trial to begin.
Senior Supreme Court Justice Anita Allen denied bail for Mario Flowers, who is charged with the December 2007 murder of police officer Ramos Williams.
Reports are that Williams and two other officers had followed a car onto Deveaux Street from Collins Avenue. The occupants of the vehicle allegedly fired on the policemen, hitting Williams in the chest and arm.
Read storyA change in work hours led some nurses to protest in Rawson Square Wednesday, saying the new schedules are unfair.
Nurses who formerly worked four 10-hour shifts followed by four days off are now working regular 8-hour shifts with two days off.
In addition some nurses are complaining that they have been scheduled to work at 7am after leaving work at 11pm the night before. They said this violates a union agreement guaranteeing a 12-hour break between shifts.
Health Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said the new shift system will save the government hundreds of thousands of dollars and will mean more nurses can be hired.
The change affects auxiliary nurses at Princess Margaret Hospital, Sandilands and the Rand Lab.
Read storyThe Cancer Centre has appointed one of the world's leading authorities in the education and treatment practice of cancer as director of medical oncology.
Dr Karol Sikora is Dean of the Buckingham School of Medicine advisor on cancer to the World Health Organisation and author of The Treatment of Cancer, the standard British post-graduate
textbook on cancer.
The $12 million Cancer Centre is the only facility in the western hemisphere and the second in the world outside the US to be accredited by the American College of Radiation Oncology.
Read storyUS Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner renewed President Barack Obama's commitment to crackdown on offshore banks that allow Americans to evade taxes.
Geithner said the President supported the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act, which lists The Bahamas as one of 34 'secrecy jurisdictions'.
Brian Moree and Ryan Pinder, both prominent figures in The Bahamas financial services industry, said the country must be proactive in proving our banks do not encourage or permit illegal activities if we expect to avoid pressure from US authorities.
Read storyThe sister of murder-victim Eric McGreggor told the court the details of her brother's shooting, Tuesday.
Shecoya McGreggor said on May 18, 2006, Edward Taylor pulled up to a laundromat on Carmichael Road, walked up to her brother and said "You have a message for me? You have a message for me?" before he pulled out a gun and fired.
She said Taylor fired again as Eric ran inside. Shecoya testified that she then put the killer's license plate number in her cell phone.
Shecoya said about a month before that Taylor had circled her family's home on Bacardi road threatening to kill people if they did not stop "sending the police around my [expletive] place".
Taylor's lawyer argued that she got the license number when the vehicle was impounded and that she was mistaken about the shooter being Taylor.
Read storyA senior officer from the Carmichael Road Detention Centre said social service worker and local clergy toured the facility Monday.
Senior Deputy Director at the centre, Roderick Bowe said the purpose of the tour was to inspect conditions at the facility.
Bowe was not a part of the tour, which included Immigration Director Jack Thompson and Defence Force Commodore Clifford Scavella. He did not give the names of the social workers or clergy or give details of their findings.
Reports received by The Tribune are that three detainees at the centre are still on a hunger strike that started last week Wednesday.
Read storyFormer Housing Minister Shane Gibson accused the government and the auditor general of politicizing a recent report to make him look bad.
He said the report - which said hundreds of thousands of dollars were unaccounted for – included figures that had been recorded in a previous report.
Gibson also said that whenever these kinds of reports are prepared there are documents that are missing.
“My point is, if they are losing documents, why should I be held responsible? No permanent secretary would release any cheques unless there is proper documentation. The PS is the official accounts officer. It’s all political.”
He said that it would be easy for someone to hide a document if they wanted to "make a minister look bad".
On Tuesday, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fred Mitchell, held a press conference to protest a Tribune headline based on the same report.
The headline read "$1 million missing from embassy funds".
Mitchell said the headline suggested that the funds were missing because of misconduct but the story (and the report) refer to procedure irregularities and missing documents.
Read storyAbaco residents are concerned that crime is rising and police have allegedly stopped crime reports to the local newspaper.
David and Kathy Ralph, publishers of the island's newspaper, The Abaconian, say residents are angry after they reported that they would no longer be getting crime reports. See story here.
But residents say crime in Abaco is getting worse and needs to be addressed. Several recent incidents have raised concern:
Lily Sands, a woman in her seventies, was forced into her home and gunpoint and locked in her closet while men robbed her home.
A man who was was locked in his trunk by a would-be kidnapper was told by a policeman that he could not help because he was there to patrol the Junkanoo parade. Meanwhile the kidnapper ran into the crowd.
Several boats have gone missing, in more than one case on the day after they dock in Abaco.
Pierre was speaking during a meeting with Philip Weech, director of the Bahamas Environment Science and Technology (BEST) commission and Arthur Rolle, director of the department of meteorology.
The meeting was to discuss the Review of the Economics of Climate Change in the Caribbean which will be presented at a United Nations Climate Conference in December.
Weech said The Bahamas needs to take long term steps, including introduce energy efficient technology, develop sustainable tourism, encourage cruise ships to use desalination plants and enforce land use and building codes.
If not, The Bahamas could change forever: “Climate change is a death sentence for small island states," he said.
Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham said the event would expose the country to "a larger global audience that at any time in the history of The Bahamas”.
Atlantis will be the primary venue for the show but the Prime Minister said the entire nation would receive exposure as contestants will tour the family islands before the final show.
Read storyDespite the liquidation of the CLICO (Bahamas) insurance company, policy holders should keep paying their premiums, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham told the House of Assembly yesterday.
He said if the company is bought, the buyer will only take policies that are up to date. Those that are not up to date will be dealt with "somewhere down the line in the liquidation process".
Four Bahamian insurance companies have expressed interest in buying CLICO - Atlantic Medical, British American, Colina Imperial and Family Guardian.
In his speech, Ingraham outlined some of the mistakes that led to the government's decision to liquidate CLICO, including CLICO's decision to lend $73.6 million to a Florida real estate company that ultimately compromised its financial integrity.
Read storyABACO: The editor at an Abaco newspaper was told he will no longer receive crime reports because it makes the police look bad.
Dave Ralph, editor and publisher of the bi-weekly Abaconian, said Superintendent Sean Smith, the officer in charge of the Abacos, told him the paper would not be getting any more crime reports because they don't "reflect well on police efforts".
Ralph said he did not include the crime report from January in the most recent edition of the Abaconian after Smith asked him not to.
Ralph said he expects a lot of angry letters from his readers concerning the police decision.
