By DANIELLE ROLLON
Bahamas Information Services

GRAND BAHAMA, The Bahamas — All roads will lead to West End, Grand Bahama, on New Year’s Day for the highly anticipated People’s Rush Parade.  After years without Junkanoo in the community, excitement is building for the return of this cultural tradition to the place where it originally thrived.

“We are very pleased after so many years of being without Junkanoo in West End,” said Kingsley Smith, Parliamentary Secretary and Member of Parliament for West End and Bimini, during a press conference on December 3, 2024, at the Ministry for Grand Bahama’s conference room.

In November, West End hosted its inaugural Bootleggers and Seafood Festival, highlighting West End’s history, particularly during the US’s rum prohibition era, and its mainstays of fishing and tourism.  Now, bringing the parade back to its original home continues to support the revival of West End’s unique history and identity as Grand Bahama’s capital.

Mr. Smith also announced that the Ministry of Youth, Sports & Culture, the Grand Bahama Junkanoo Corporation, and the National Junkanoo Corporation jointly decided to move the Freeport Parade to January 9, 2025.  This shift, he said, presents a unique opportunity to bring Junkanoo back to West End on January 1 at 3:00 a.m.

This year, five major Junkanoo groups will participate: Classic Dancers, New Generation, Superstar Rockers, Swingers, and the newly formed Westside Conquerors, a group made up of participants from both West Grand Bahama and Bimini.

During the press conference, there was clear excitement from all participating groups.  “It’s about competition, it’s about winning and showcasing, so we don’t expect anything less in West End,” said Smith.

Norris Bain, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Youth, Sports & Culture in Grand Bahama, expressed his excitement: “We are looking forward to a very good time and giving the visitors and residents of Grand Bahama a show that they will not soon forget.”

The decision to bring Junkanoo back to West End reflects a commitment to preserving and celebrating its history, while also creating new opportunities for cultural growth and community engagement.

For both residents and visitors, the People’s Rush Parade on January 1, 2025, will mark the beginning of a new chapter for Junkanoo in West End, ensuring that the tradition continues to thrive in the place where it all began.

(BIS Photos/Andrew Miller)

By Dr. Ruth Ariza

All Island Candidate

People’s Democratic Movement

Turks and Caicos – Not many years ago, our beautiful by Nature, Turks and Caicos Islands were considered quiet, slow-living and relaxing. For a time when we slept with our windows wide open, doors unlocked and hearts not clouded up by the fear of crime. Turks and Caicos was once the country we grew up in, the country that we proudly call home, and still do. But today, it is so very different. Crime has infiltrated our neighborhoods and ruptured the peace that we learnt to love.

We need to be asking ourselves, where is the real peaceful Nation we once knew, where is the community where we helped each other, the togetherness that held us together? Crime is not a number — it is a scar on the soul of our islands.

The question we must ask ourselves, can we get back to the Peaceful Turks and Caicos we once were? I say yes we can with the help of God. We can restore Turks and Caicos Islands to the country we remember, where children could play freely in the streets, and neighborhoods, and parents can maintain a peace-of-mind at home knowing that their children are safe.

Restoration must start with us recognizing and pointing out what brought us to this point, how did we really end up here. Recognizing our challenges (in some cases poverty, unemployment, also the movement of guns and drugs) is step one.

The challenges we are facing did not developed overnight, and will not go away overnight. However, as a Nation, as a people, we can be the change we want to see.

The second point is about how we need to fortify our community bases, because, crime exist where opportunities are limited. As we will notice, crime exist mainly amongst our youth, our young men, we must find more ways to invest in our young people; with education, job training and mentoring, just to name a few.

We must create spaces in our community to make our youth feel valued and supported, where they see a future built on hope not despair.

My third point is unity. Our community uniting is key. We used to be a country where you were family with your neighbors, we looked out for each other like family. We need to revive that spirit. We must create more neighborhood watches where we must report anything or activity that seeks to take away our peace, we must report anything or persons that look suspicious and lend support to one another — we must restore our faith in citizens and law enforcement where we seek to achieve one common goal and that is to protect our communities, protect our families, and together, protect our Nation.

Lastly, we cannot sit back and be silent, we need to hold our leaders accountable, the Governor, and the Government, I believe they are not doing enough nor investing enough in putting a stop to crime and helping to save the lives of the Youth of this Nation. At this point in our Nation, we do not need another Press Release by our Leaders, speeches, speeches and more speeches, we need action and we need it now, now is the time to put a stop to crime, we do not want to see another lifeless body laying on the streets in a puddle of blood, how long will the blood of our young men cry out from the ground.

We must also realize that we must all do our part—and we know that this is not solely a police job. We must do our part by mentoring a young one at risk, lobbying for better laws or just checking up on someone struggling; we all have an input when it comes to taking back our peace.

That calm, and civil country we were blessed with, and the place we call home, is not gone. It waits for us to step into restoring that version of home. It is only by coming together as one people, united by our shared commitment to making our Islands safer that we will restore the peace and calm that has been absent for too long.

By creating a better future for tomorrow’s generations, we will give the memory of the Turks and Caicos Islands they deserve.  May God continue to bless these beautiful by Nature Turks and Caicos Islands.

“Your Future, Our Priority”

PRESS RELEASE

FROM THE DEPARTMENT of Maritime and Shipping

Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands December 11,  2024 – The Turks and Caicos Islands Department of Maritime and Shipping proudly announces the commencement of the proxy audit process for the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Instrument Implementation Code (IIC). This initiative underscores the department’s steadfast commitment to enhancing maritime safety, environmental protection, and sustainable ocean governance in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

As a member of the Red Ensign Group of shipping registries, the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), through the United Kingdom(UK) as the flag State, are responsible for implementing many international maritime conventions that have been extended, namely, the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) and its protocol, the Load Line and its protocol and the Collision Regulations (COLREG). The audit, in turn, will provide TCI with a comprehensive and objective assessment of how effectively it administers and implements these instruments.

The opening meeting was held on December 2, 2024 in Providenciales. Government departments and statutory bodies with maritime responsibilities were present. Ms. Thecla Joseph, Director of Maritime and Shipping, stated, “It is reasonably expected that the audit scheme will bring about many benefits, such as identifying where capacity-building activities would have the greatest effect, targeting of appropriate action to improve performance and TCI would receive valuable feedback, intended to assist the island in improving its capacity to put the applicable instruments into practice.”

Ms. Joseph further emphasises that other government agencies will be obligated to take part in the audit as the responsibility for Coastal State obligations in the TCI is not within the control of one body but is shared between several government departments and statutory bodies.

The Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Immigration and Border Services, Mr. Pascal Bacchus, provided the feature remarks, stating, “I want to emphasise that this is not just about meeting regulatory requirements; it is about fostering a culture of continuous improvement within our maritime sector. The findings from this audit will guide us in developing policies that comply with international standards and reflect our unique context as islanders who depend on healthy marine ecosystems.” He also emphasised the importance of collaboration between local authorities and the United Kingdom, exemplifying how shared knowledge can lead to enhanced outcomes for all involved.

The IMO Instrument Implementation Code is a vital framework designed to enhance the capacity of member states to implement international maritime conventions effectively. This code is a benchmark for assessing how well countries adhere to their obligations under various maritime treaties. To TCI, it is not merely an administrative exercise; it represents our dedication to ensuring that our waters are safe, secure, and environmentally sound.

The Department of Maritime and Shipping extends gratitude to the United Kingdom and the Red Ensign Group for their vital support in facilitating the audit. This collaboration reflects a shared commitment to fostering maritime excellence across the region.

Government officials and stakeholders are encouraged to actively engage in the audit process, contributing their insights and expertise. Together, we can establish a robust maritime framework that protects the interests of the Turks and Caicos Islands while setting an example for regional leadership in sustainable maritime practices.

The audit is was held from December 2 – 6, 2024.