Bahamas News
Campbell outlines measures undertaken by Social Services in light of COVID-19
#NASSAU, The Bahamas – Minister of Social Services and Urban Development, the Hon. Frankie A. Campbell, told Parliamentarians Monday that his Ministry and its Departments and Divisions have undertaken a myriad of measures to provide assistance to those Bahamians as the country continues its fight against the COVID-19 Pandemic.
“The Department of Social Services has two National Hotline numbers and they are: 322-2763 or 422-2763. We continue to cherish our partnership with the Crisis Centre and their number is: 328-0922. The public is encouraged to use these contacts as required,” Minister Campbell added. (BIS Photo/Kemuel Stubbs)
Minister Campbell said officials have endeavored to use every avenue to remain accessible not only to their regular clients, but also to persons within the community of persons with disabilities, the elderly, those in the tourism sector who find themselves on reduced workweeks as a result of the closure of the tourism sector, and, “those who are generally in need.”
The Ministry of Social Services and Urban Development, is comprised of the Department of Social Services, the Department of Rehabilitative Welfare Services, the Department of Gender and Family Affairs and Urban Renewal, along with numerous Divisions and Units.
Minister Campbell said while the Department of Social Services is responsible for, and has been tasked with, ensuring that the requisite assistance is provided to persons in need of assistance, a “team effort” is being utilized.
Minister Campbell said the Department’s response to COVID-19 also takes into account the needs of the country’s most vulnerable groups of clients, consisting of its children, senior citizens and persons with disabilities. He said to facilitate delivery of services to the country’s senior citizens and persons with disabilities who are clients, officials have increased the number of vehicles in its fleet “to avoid [their] being exposed to the large number of clients who visit our various centres on a daily and monthly basis.” Approval was granted and vehicles were rented in New Providence, in Grand Bahama and in Abaco.
The Department also made it possible for persons from the community of persons with disabilities who are not clients of the Department to provide their information to Social Workers at the Disability Affairs Division via telephone so that they could receive emergency food assistance where necessary. They will be required to present IDs when they come to collect these coupons or when the coupons are delivered to them.
Contact numbers for the Disability Affairs Division are: 325-2251/2.
Minister Campbell also announced that persons with disabilities under the age of 16 who normally receive their services every two months, had their April assistance advanced to them in the month of March to facilitate whatever preparations they needed to make. Similar arrangements were also made for persons receiving foster care subsistence.
“I would like to take this opportunity, Mr. Speaker, to encourage the community of persons with disabilities to register online with the Ministry’s link on the Government’s website www.bahamas.gov.bs. They may also email the Disabilities Commission at disabilitiescommission@bahamas.gov.bs. The Disability Affairs Commission can be contacted on a 24-hour cell by Whatsapp at: 376-8328. We have endeavored to use every avenue to remain accessible, not only to our regular clients, but also to persons with disabilities and those who are generally in need.”
Minister Campbell told House Members that officials from the Department of Social Services have also been working — in partnership with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Ministry of Health and various non-governmental organizations — to promote food safety and security.
“Many of these organizations are challenged with being able to get hot meals and food parcels to persons that are home bound, and to persons who frequent their establishments daily,” Minister Campbell said.
“I want to reassure our partners that as we reevaluate our positions and as we reconsider the needs of our people, we are also reviewing our assistance to them and we will do all that we can to continue to nurture and strengthen those partnerships that we value so much. I want to assure them that they will hear from us in short order.”
Minister Campbell said the Ministry and the Department has also put measures in place to ensure that the assistance normally given to the seniors home, the children’s homes, the Williemae Pratt Centre for Girls and Simpson Penn Centre for Boys continue uninterrupted at this time.
Additionally, Minister Campbell said, the Department of Social Services continues to provide assistance to persons in need by assessing them for Emergency, Temporary or Permanent Food Assistance. He said the Department also continues to assist with utilities and that financial assistance for medical procedures are ongoing.
“Additional assistance for rent, and I want to pause there, Mr. Speaker, because coming out of this I would have heard some concerns about persons who are homeless. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Social Services has always made itself available to assist persons seeking rental assistance and so I say here for the record that anyone who is out there who is serious about wanting assistance in that regard, can access that very same line item.”
Minister Campbell said many of the Department of Social Services clients who receive food assistance (at present the programme is servicing just under 10,000 persons) are armed with Bank of The Bahamas Pre-paid cards upon which funds are uploaded monthly. Minister Campbell said the most recent upload took place on March 27 (2020).
“I am aware that there are a number of persons whose cards have expired in the interim. Those concerns have been expressed and are being addressed. I want to thank the staff at the Bank of The Bahamas who are working with us to renew those cards as soon as possible.”
Minister Campbell said the Department has also been charged with providing special food assistance to those persons who – as a result of the closure of the tourism sector — found themselves on reduced workweeks.
“This for us is uncharted territory. We initially established an email address asking persons to email us so that they can get the subsistence. In light of the fact that we were — while wanting to assist found it necessary to promote physical distancing — within a week, up to Saturday past, we had more than 3,000 persons throughout The Bahamas apply to that email address. I want those persons to know that they will begin getting responses starting today and I am advised, and I know that my team is listening and will not make a liar out of me, that as early as this Wednesday, coupons will be ready and persons will be contacted and advised (a) how they can collect those coupons or (b) how the coupons may be delivered to them.”
Minister Campbell said he would have also been advised that there is some concern that some of the measures put in place to protect citizens from the COVID-19 Pandemic “may have put some persons in some environments that ought to be safe but are not necessarily safe because it is in those home environments where some persons are abused and possibly worse.”
“Mr. Speaker, I want to say to the abusers that no time is a good time to commit acts of abuse. This is a time when they should reflect on the errors of their past and try to make amends and so I trust where some mistakes would have been made in the past, those perpetrators would repent of their ways and seek to build those bridges that they would have broken down.
BIS News by Matt Maura
Bahamas News
Dredging Is Not Just About Size — It Is About What Is Being Destroyed, Warns Save Exuma Alliance Regarding Yntegra’s Proposed Rosewood Resort
Save Exuma Alliance (SEA) — a coalition of Central Exuma business owners, tour operators and residents — has warned that the issue of dredging in the North Bay of Sampson Cay, Exuma, is not just about the number of acres being dredged – but what exists within the proposed dredge area. SEA describes the site as an ecological treasure trove filled with seagrass, coral, turtles and abundant marine life.
This comes after foreign developer Yntegra agreed to reduce the scope of its dredging following government warnings that it would impact
The Bahamas carbon credit status, which shows the importance of the marine habitat.
“It is easy to point to other developments and say they are dredging more, but that is not comparing like with like,” SEA said in response to comparisons made by Yntegra. “If one area is largely sand with little marine life, that is very different from what we have in North Bay. Anyone who has spent time there can tell you it is filled with turtles, fish, and — critically — the seagrass and coral that provide essential habitat.”
Miami-based investment group Yntegra is seeking to construct a large-scale Rosewood-branded resort on Sampson Cay. Since its announcement, the project has generated environmental, social and economic concerns among residents and business operators in Central Exuma.
The proposed development includes dredging in North Bay, construction of a substantial seawall that would alter natural water flow, more than 100 structures, two mega yacht marinas, and an industrial dock serviced by fuel and supply ships in an area currently used by swimmers. Opponents argue that the scale and design of Yntegra’s Rosewood Exuma project are incompatible with the fragile ecosystem and cultural character of the Central Exumas.
SEA noted that the government’s Climate Change Unit has also raised concerns about the environmental cost of dredging associated with Yntegra’s Rosewood Exuma project.
“The government has acknowledged that this is an area of significant importance,” SEA said. “While the financial implications are serious, for us here in Exuma this is about more than money. It underscores how valuable this marine ecosystem is — the seagrass, coral and marine life that make Exuma exceptional. This is what attracts visitors from around the world. We should not minimize the concern by comparing this bay to areas that do not have the same remarkable underwater ecosystem. It is simply not the same.”
Experienced boat captain Tito Baldwin also questioned the feasibility of the marine infrastructure proposed as part of this plan. He warned
that the dredging currently outlined would not be sufficient to accommodate the vessels required to service the project.
“It’s going to have to be at least four times larger than what has been proposed,” Baldwin said. “As designed, it is beyond possibility.”
He explained that vessels supplying fuel, construction materials and provisions for a projected 300-person workforce would require significantly greater depth and maneuvering space.
“For supply vessels delivering hundreds of thousands of gallons of diesel, you’re looking at ships with a 10-foot draft,” Baldwin said. “To operate safely, you would need at least 13 feet of depth. That means dredging far deeper than what has been proposed. With currents running east and west in that area, you would also need a much wider turning basin to maneuver safely. As it stands, it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible.”
SEA is urging individuals concerned about the environmental impact of dredging connected to Yntegra’s Rosewood Exuma project to visit www.saveexumaalliance.org for more information. A petition calling for a halt to approvals is also available on the site, with more than 7,100 signatures collected to date.
PM: Project delivers on promise and invests in youth, sports and national development
GRAND BAHAMA, The Bahamas — Calling it the fulfillment of a major commitment to the island, Prime Minister Philip Davis led the official groundbreaking for the Grand Bahama Aquatic Centre, a facility the government says will transform sports development and create new opportunities for young athletes.
Speaking at the Grand Bahama Sports Complex on February 12, the Prime Minister said the project represents more than bricks and mortar
— it is an investment in people, national pride and long-term economic activity. The planned complex will feature a modern 50-metre competition pool, designed to meet international standards for training and regional and global swim meets. Davis said the facility will give Bahamian swimmers a home capable of producing world-class performance while also providing a space for community recreation, learn-to-swim programmes and water safety training.
He noted that Grand Bahama has long produced outstanding athletes despite limited infrastructure and said the new centre is intended to correct that imbalance, positioning the island as a hub for aquatic sports and sports tourism.
The Prime Minister also linked the development to the broader national recovery and revitalisation of Grand Bahama, describing the project as part of a strategy to expand opportunities for young people, create jobs during construction and stimulate activity for small businesses once operational.
The Aquatic Centre, he said, stands as proof that promises made to Grand Bahama are being delivered.
The project is expected to support athlete development, attract competitions, and provide a safe, modern environment for residents to access swimming and water-based programmes for generations to come.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
The Bahamas, February 15, 2026 – For the better part of three years, Bahamians have been told that major Afreximbank financing would help transform access to capital, rebuild infrastructure and unlock economic growth across the islands. The headline figures are large. The signing ceremonies are high profile. The language is ambitious. What remains far harder to see is the measurable impact in the daily lives of the people those announcements are meant to serve.
The Government’s push to secure up to $100 million from Afreximbank for roughly 200 miles of Family Island roads dates back to 2025. In
its February 11 disclosure, the bank outlined a receivables-discounting facility — a structure that allows a contractor to be paid early once work is completed, certified and invoiced, with the Government settling the bill later. It is not cash placed into the economy upfront. It does not, by itself, build a single mile of road. Every dollar depends on work first being delivered and approved.
The wider framework has been described as support for “climate-resilient and trade-enhancing infrastructure,” a phrase that, in practical terms, should mean projects that lower the cost of doing business, move people and goods faster, and keep the economy functioning. But for communities, that promise becomes real only when the projects are named, the standards are defined and a clear timeline is given for when work will begin — and when it will be finished.
Bahamians have seen this moment before.
In 2023, a $30 million Afreximbank facility for the Bahamas Development Bank was hailed as a breakthrough that would expand access to financing for local enterprise. It worked in one immediate and measurable way: it encouraged businesses to apply. Established, revenue-generating Bahamian companies responded to the call, prepared plans, and entered a process they believed had been capitalised to support growth. The unanswered question is how much of that capital has reached the private sector in a form that allowed those businesses to expand, hire and generate new economic activity.
Because development is not measured in the size of announcements.
It is measured in loans disbursed, projects completed and businesses expanded.
The pattern is becoming difficult to ignore. In June 2024, when Afreximbank held its inaugural Caribbean Annual Meetings in Nassau,
Grand Bahama was presented as the future home of an Afro-Caribbean marketplace said to carry tens of millions of dollars in investment. What was confirmed at that stage was a $1.86 million project-preparation facility — funding for studies and planning to make the development bankable, not construction financing. The larger build-out remains dependent on additional approvals, land acquisition and further capital.
This distinction — between financing announced and financing that produces visible, measurable outcomes — is now at the centre of the national conversation.
Because while the numbers grow larger on paper, entrepreneurs still describe access to capital as out of reach, and communities across the Family Islands are still waiting to see where the work will start.
And in an economy where stalled growth translates into lost opportunity, rising frustration and real social consequences, the gap between promise and delivery is no longer a communications issue.
It is an inability to convert announcements into outcomes.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
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