Wednesday, July 10, 2024
By JADE RUSSELL
Tribune Staff Reporter
jrussell@tribunemedia.net
BAHA MAR senior vice president of government affairs Robert Sands said the resort is working to unify the Valley Boys, which has broken into two factions.
The mega-resort, a primary sponsor of the Junkanoo group, will sponsor only one faction for the Boxing Day and New Year’s Day parade competitions.
Mr Sands said he met with one of the factions last week and will meet with the next faction today.
He said unity is important for the Valley Boys and the wider Junkanoo community.
He said Baha Mar wants to bring the group together, get through this upcoming Junkanoo season, and address concerns early next year to get the group in “good order”.
Trevor Davis, interim chairman of the faction trying to overthrow the current leadership team, said the division reflects deep concerns about how the Valley Boys has been run over the years, including a lack of elections. Brian Adderley, chairman of the Valley Boys, accused the opposing faction of trying to sabotage it through public attacks and urged it to stop using the Valley Boys’ name.
Mr Sands declined to say how much Baha Mar has previously sponsored the Valley Boys, but said the donation has been sizeable.
Asked if Baha Mar would stop sponsoring the group if it fails to resolve its conflict, he said: “I am not a pessimist, I don’t believe in what ifs. I work towards bringing things together for unity, and we’ll cross that bridge if we have to come to it.”
Mr Davis said last week that his faction would sue the Junkanoo Corporation of New Providence after JCNP chairman Dion Miller said his faction could not compete in the parades because Mr Adderley’s team registered as the Valley Boys first.
He insisted his team had the support of most people who traditionally rushed with the Valley Boys and that his faction owned the legal right to the Valley Boys’ name because he registered it as a non-profit organisation.
Comments
birdiestrachan says...
My all time favorite group, all I need to hear is ,.The Valley , the Valley . And my heart soars and my heart thumps with joy, come to an understanding there is strength in unity and only weakness in division the valley, the valley
Posted 10 July 2024, 12:59 p.m. Suggest removal
ExposedU2C says...
LMAO. That's because you @birdie like very corrupt Vomit Christie and equally corrupt Stumpy Davis just love kissing the butt of the ChiComs who have full control over Baha Mar, Sandy Sands and the Valley Boys.
Posted 10 July 2024, 2:33 p.m. Suggest removal
ThisIsOurs says...
"*I am not a pessimist, I don’t believe in what ifs.*"
Mr Sands is smarter than me but the "*what ifs*" spoken of has nothing to do with pessimism and everything to do with Risk Management.
What happens in the Bahamas is we've been sold nonsense that everything is great! The worst of which is "*crime is down but murder is up*" it's the most nonsensical mantra ever heard yet they repeat it over and over again as if its a positive. Spinning crime, who knew? Marketers could get a master class from us.
To be a little pessimistic, the crime they want us to know about is down. Or is that also realism?
A few years ago we were told that we were "growing" because 1% is growth and people talking about "real" growth didnt know what they were talking about! But on the ground people were saying, this dont feel like growth and why they running after taxes like hounds and finding all these schemes to tax air? Because, we werent really growing, we were for all intents and purposes, stagnant, and saying so wasnt pessimism, it was realism.
I drove around for a bit yesterday and was totally dismayed by the view of hundreds of Bahamians crammed onto maybe 2miles of beach space but where the view allowed, you could see stretches of hundreds of miles of clean unoccupied white sand, "*high water mark*" another Jim Crow relic they want us to swallow, and saying so isnt pessimism, its realism. This is while Adrian White revealed that someone is being allowed to mow down trees in the marine protected area around Athol Island!
The cruise port just revealed that they're opening a water park. And they say they "*want tourists to explore Nassau*"? Nassau already has two water parks. Tell your guests about them so they can "*explore*". We must open our eyes, our country is being sold off wholesale to the cruise industry. they want to take every penny out of the tourist pocket before they hit the back of the straw market. I wonder why none have proposed purchasing Bay St as yet and placing it behind a gate... well, parliament is scheduled to move... is it the canary?
Pessimism or realism?
Posted 11 July 2024, 2:30 a.m. Suggest removal
ThisIsOurs says...
**Btw, than you Jade Russell for using the word "*faction*", I'm tired of hearing people speak of political, union and junkanoo "*fractions*". PLP divided by FNM?**
Posted 11 July 2024, 2:40 a.m. Suggest removal
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