A well known businessman was the victim of a mysterious arson that has left him concerned about the safety of his family.

Andrew "Blue" Johnson, Operations Manager of Elite Security Agency, said a neighbour's telephone call Sunday night wakened him and his 5-year-old son with the news that there was a ball of flames outside his Orange Drive, Winton Meadows, home.

"When I opened up the garage I realized that my Porsche Cayenne SUV, a $60,000 vehicle was on fire," he said.

Today all that remains of the Porsche are its four tyres and the rims. "Even those," said Mr Johnson, "have melted. The Porsche is totally gone."

Also the passenger si ...

The wait continues for the conclusion of the unlawful sexual intercourse trial of Bishop Earl Randolph Fraser. The verdict in the case of the Pilgrim Baptist Temple pastor was expected yesterday, but Deputy Chief Magistrate Carolita Bethell did not show up to work yesterday.

Her staff said the decision would be delivered today at 9:30 a.m. This is the second time that Fraser has been tried on allegations that he had an illicit sexual relationship from July 2005 to February 2006 with a 16-year-old girl he had agreed to counsel.  In 2007, Magistrate Marilyn Meeres discharged the case against Fraser, but the charge was reinstated on appeal.

Although the girl had reached the age of consent, the prosecution contended that he had used his position as a counselor to prey on her. The girl alleged that Fraser gave her gifts and lunch money and sent her raunchy text messages and voice mails. She also claimed that they had intercourse on the floor in his church office and the bedroom of his marital home in Eastwood Estates.

Fraser's semen was found on the carpet in the church's office. The girl's family interrupted a Palm Sunday service in 2006 and made the allegations public. At that time, an allegedly sexually explicit voice message was played in the presence of Fraser, members of his congregation and his wife.

According to the girl's grandmother, the contents of the message were "words that should not come from a pastor's mouth".

The grandmother also claimed that Fraser's wife, Jacqueline, recognized her husband's voice and said, "Baby, you did it again".

But Mrs. Fraser denied making the statement.  She said she was unable to hear the message because of the noise in the room. Explaining how his semen got on the carpet of his church office, Fraser said that he and his wife had sex in the church office on many occasions.

He said they went there with their two daughters when there were power cuts at their home. Fraser explained that the church's administration block had a back-up generator but there was none at their home. Jairam Mangra represents Fraser.  Franklyn Williams, the deputy director of public prosecutions, is the prosecutor.

The government spent over $2 million on the Self Starter Program in the past four years, according to Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Charles Maynard. The program is a government initiative to foster self employment among Bahamians between 18 and 30. The government approves start up capital of up to $5,000.

"The total number of applications submitted for Self Starters Grants during the period under review (July 2007 to October 2011) is 1,064.

"Of this number, 508 persons receive grants," said Maynard as he tabled the evaluation report on the program in the House of Assembly yesterday.

"The total amount of funds disbursed during this period is $2,330,427.44."

According to the report, to date the Self Starters Program has yielded a 64 percent (295 business) success rate; 17 percent or 80 recipients are still under evaluation and 19 percent or 87 businesses have been dissolved.

"The success rate of Self Starters far exceeds that of the formal private sector average which sees seven of 10 businesses fail within their first three years of operation," Maynard pointed out.

The report also reveals that the program has created nearly 300 jobs among the businesses that it has supported. But despite the investment that the government has made in the program so far, one of the identified challenges in the report is the lack of resources.

"Due to an intensified marketing strategy, there are a greater volume of approved applicants, which far exceed the available funds," the report says.

As a result, it is recommended that the government substantially increase funding for the Self Starters Program.

"The growing popularity of the program has put the government in a not so peculiar dilemma of having a greater demand for this initiative than the necessary supply of investment resources to meet the growing number of successful applicants," Maynard said.

"Of course, that simply means the applications have become more competitive and I am pleased to report the business proposals and concepts have also become that much more innovative."

The report recommends the government develop and implement an "effective monitoring and assessment component that provides a timely evaluation to effectively cater to the deficiencies that contribute to the dissolution or lack of the improvement of businesses".

The report also recommends that more focused attention be placed on the program.

"Notwithstanding the establishment of a unit specifically dedicated to the administration of the Self Starters Program, there were deficiencies in the monitoring and evaluation of the businesses and inordinate delays in the processing of the financial matters for approved applicants," the report says.

"These deficiencies would have diminished the ministry's capacity to be more proactive in its administration of the program primarily in ways in which the interface between the recipient and the unit could foster greater business success and sustainability; and, to provide empirical data that would inform the selection committee."

There is still at 94 both an irrepressible humor and twinkle in the eyes of Sir Durward Knowles.  They are permanent features of his exuberant spirit and dedication to squeezing out of life every measure of joy.

The title of Sir Durward's biography is 'Driven by the Stars'.  He has been driven by a constellation of lodestars and virtues, among them extraordinary generosity, sportsmanship and a passion for national unity.  In turn, he has become a guiding star for others.

Quite a bit has been written about Sir Durward's contribution to sports and his exemplary philanthropy particularly in the areas of physical and mental disability.  Athletic prowess and disability may seem incongruent, but not to Sir Durward.

In both areas the champion athlete and champion of the disabled has sought to empower others, no matter their physical or mental capacity or disability, to be driven by their own stars, overcoming limits to achieve more than one ever dared imagine.

Sir Durward has brought this same spirit to a mission dear to his heart; one that has not been as remarked upon as his contributions to athletic and charitable organizations and pursuits: He is a genuine patriot, not the chest-thumping kind whose patriotism is limited by prejudice of heart and mind.
 
History

Decades after making history with both Olympic bronze and gold, Sir Durward, in his capacity as a director of the One Bahamas Foundation and in his own right, apologized for the oppression of blacks in The Bahamas. At a flag-raising ceremony attended by hundreds of students and sponsored by One Bahamas, Sir Durward embarked on a mission of truth and reconciliation.

"Boys and girls, you are living in a great country.  I was brought up when white people were in charge of these lands and they treated the black people very badly.  I'm here to apologize on our behalf.  Today, we're living in a great society.  We've [beaten] all the trials and temptations and now we're here as one Bahamas."

It is easy for both some blacks and whites to dismiss his apology on any number of grounds.  But such dismissals would be too easy.  And, they would deny an opportunity for dialogue on the truth about racism and attendant opportunities for the hard and often faltering work of reconciliation.

At 94 Sir Durward knows the tortured racial past of the country, including entrenched discrimination and the struggle for majority rule.  Yet, just as in the areas of athletics and empowering those with disabilities, he knows that we can overcome even the most outsized limits to achieve personal or national success.

A black friend told the story of going to a dance on board a catamaran, which was to sail around Nassau Harbour for a night of enjoying things Bahamian.  When she walked on board she was one of few blacks and an overwhelming number of white Bahamians.

Yet when the skullin' and dancing started, her apprehensions about the occasion evaporated, as did the distinctions of black and white.  Here was an example of one Bahamas, Bahamians from various backgrounds savoring the same music and reveling in each other's company.

Some black Bahamians see white Bahamians as sort of foreigners in the land.  The former are not convinced of the patriotism of the latter.  That white Bahamians on every island celebrate with a passion and seek to protect the natural and built heritage of the country, is a testament to the same love of The Bahamas Sir Durward felt when winning the first Olympic gold medal for the then colony.

The love of Bahamian heritage and history is a natural space where black and white Bahamians can remember and celebrate a shared history in a unique island expanse, the very diversity of which is an invitation to mutual discovery of the treasury of the Bahamian experience.
 
Amnesia

But before celebration, there is remembrance on many levels.  The descendants of the Loyalists came with much of their history intact.  The descendants of slaves had their historic chains broken even as they were imprisoned in the chains of slavery and a long history of brutal racism.  They were also forced into a historical amnesia about their past.

If we are to truly celebrate one Bahamas, this history cannot be whitewashed with throwaways like, "Well that's the past".  What if a white Bahamian was told to forget about their roots with such an insipid throwaway?  Any history that seeks to anoint the pleasant and disregards the painful is mere nostalgia.

It is curious that those white Bahamians who dismissed Sir Durward's apology are not prepared to alleviate themselves of the historic privileges of wealth, status and connections that came with such white privilege.

We will only be one Bahamas if we recognize our shared history and the roles played in that history by our ancestors in creating the nation we have today.  These ancestral contributions include triumphs and tragedy, which we must all acknowledge.

Sir Durward has given us such a legacy.   How we respond to that legacy is up to us.  If we do so united in spirit there is a big payoff which the sage Durward Knowles has already seen in the stars.

His dream and our great opportunity is a nation succeeding beyond its wildest imaginings with success around the world in fields of endeavour from athletics to academics to the arts.

Sir Durward knows that we can only achieve this greater success as one people beyond the boundaries of color, creed, ethnicity, national origin or disability. He has taught us how to reach for the stars that are in our grasp if we recognize the truths about our past and seek the reconciliation that may make for a better future.
 
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