Bahamas News
Bahamas Achievements Admirable Says Minister Pintard at 44th Independence Celebrations in Grand Bahama
Bahamas, July 7, 2017 – Grand Bahama – As the country celebrates its 44th Independence on July 10 some of the best and brightest Bahamians have made contributions in many spheres internationally, said Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, the Hon. Michael Pintard during the Flag Raising Ceremony on Friday.
The ceremony is part of the 44th Anniversary of Independence celebrations. “Our small national has become the envy, not just of the region but countries around the world who have understudied what we have done in tourism and in financial services. Even in crisis, we continue to prove we are resilient and powerful. In the aftermath of the blacklisting, we produce a cadre of compliance officers who designed one of the sophisticated compliance regimes that assisted this region in getting back on track.
“Therefore, this morning as we raise our flag, we salute all those nation builders on whose shoulders we stand, some with title and many with no name or face recognition but, nevertheless, they played a pivotal role in transforming life as we know it in The Bahamas. So, we salute them. We also acknowledge that there are many unrealized dreams that we have set, and there are some stubborn issues that threaten the gains that we have made thus far. This Minnis led government believes that the collective will and genius of the Bahamian people will enable us to grow our economy once again; reduce the high incidences of crime and the high occurrences of non-communicable and other diseases. We are determined to forge deeper relationships with all Bahamians, regardless of their political persuasion, religious differences, differences in race. All of us have to be on the same page if we are to transform this country for the better.”
Minister Pintard saluted all those who had the insight and courage 44 years ago who felt it was time for the country to govern its own affairs and sit at international tables as equals.
“The pursuit and achievement of Independence on the 10th of July, 1973, was an acknowledgement that we ought to be the main agents, the main architects designing our own future and managing the growth and development of our own country. We accepted the challenge undergirded by our faith in God and the confidence in our collective ability as a people.
“Over the last four decades plus, despite all of our challenges, we’ve accomplished I believe you would agree with me this morning, a great deal as a people. In the international sphere, our voice factored loudly. When we engaged as a global community in the discussion of disarmament, there was a Bahamian chairing many of those sessions, Dr. Davidson Hepburn. In international diplomacy our own Missouri Sherman-Peters impacted the significant work done by the United Nations, and our first Prime Minister, Sir Lynden Oscar Pindling’s voice resonated internationally as we dismantled as a global community Apartheid’s wall and rebuilt in its place, a multiracial South Africa that even today is working to forge a lasting peace.”
The country has made contributions all over the world, he said. “In academics, we continue to produce multiple Rhode’s scholars, scientists that are impacting the world both in technology, just ask NASA and in medicine as we travel throughout particularly Africa assisting on many levels. We have set a standard. Many of our scholars have sat international standardized exams and performed as well, and often better, than their colleagues who hail from around the globe.
“We are good as anyone else, anywhere else in the world.
“Sons and daughters of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas have caused tens of millions around the world to pause and salute The Bahamas as our flag has been raised in numerous stadiums around the world where track and field took place, in aquatic centres where swimming took place, on the shores even in Regattas. Our amateur and elite athletes have made a difference, have made us proud and have made the world take note.”
He added, “This morning, we salute all of you who continue to engage in this nation building exercise. Bahamians, those that have chosen to cast their lot with us and have moved to The Bahamas. Diplomats who have worked with us on an ongoing basis, we look forward to working with you to frame a democracy that will be envied.
“This year’s theme, “One God, One People, One Bahamas” is a most appropriate reminder of the core values that have held us together since Independence.”
Also present for the flag raising ceremony, held at the Harold Degregory Complex were: Senator the Hon. Dion Foulkes, Minister of Labour; Senator the Hon. J. Kwasi Thompson, Minister of State for Grand Bahama in the Office of the Prime Minister along with other Members of Parliament, senior government officials and religious leaders.
While the ceremony was taking place in Freeport, Senate president, the Hon. Kay Forbes-Smith was present with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Hon. K. Peter Turnquest in East Grand Bahama. Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Public Works, the Hon. Iram Lewis and Parliamentary Secretary of Information and Communications in the Office of the Prime Minister, the Hon. Pakesha Parker-Edgecombe were in West Grand Bahama. All three areas held Flag Raising Ceremonies simultaneously.
THE HON. MICHAEL PINTARD, Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture (BIS Photo/Andrew Coakley)
SALUTE TO THE FLAG – Senior government officials and officers of the Royal Bahamas Police Force and Defence Force, are seen during the Flag Raising Ceremony of the 44th Anniversary of Independence ceremony on Friday at the Harold Degregory Complex. Shown in the front row from left are: Assistant Commissioner of Police, Clarence Reckley; Andrew Bowe, Senior Lt./Executive Officer of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force and OC of Grand Bahama; and Deputy Commission of Police and OC of Grand Bahama, Emrick Seymour; Senator the Hon. Dion Foulkes, Minister of Labour; the Hon. Michael Pintard, Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture; Senator the Hon. J. Kwasi Thompson, Minister of State
for Grand Bahama in the Office of the Prime Minister and Rev. Peter Pinder, president, Grand Bahama Christian Council.
Story by: Robyn Adderley
Press Release: BIS
(BIS Photo/Andrew Coakley)
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.
A hardline strategy that reduced murders, gunfire, and collateral deaths
The Bahamas, February 8, 2026 – What happens when police stop routinely granting bail to high-risk suspects and aggressively execute outstanding warrants? In The Bahamas, the answer in 2025 was fewer murders, fewer gunshots, and safer communities.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force arrested 4,337 individuals on outstanding warrants last year, ensuring suspects were brought directly before the courts instead of being released back onto the streets. At the same time, police significantly curtailed the use of police bail for high-risk and repeat offenders, particularly those already entangled in violent disputes.
Police Commissioner Shanta Knowles said the shift was informed by hard lessons from previous years. Intelligence reviews showed that
many homicide victims were not random targets, but men already wanted by law enforcement and — critically — by other criminals. When released on bail, those individuals often became targets themselves, triggering retaliatory shootings that spilled into neighbourhoods, roadways and public spaces.
By keeping high-risk suspects in custody pending court appearances, police say they disrupted that cycle — removing both potential offenders and potential victims from the streets.
The impact was stark. Murders declined by 31 percent in 2025, falling from 120 in 2024 to 83, the largest percentage decrease in homicides since national tracking began in 1963 and the lowest murder count in nearly two decades.
Police leaders say the strategy also reduced the collateral damage that had increasingly alarmed communities. Innocent residents had been caught in “sprays of gunfire” as targeted attacks unfolded in residential areas, at traffic stops, and in public settings.
Gun-violence indicators reflected the change. Gunshot reports fell by 35 percent, while incidents detected by ShotSpotter technology declined by 29 percent, confirming that fewer shots were being fired across the country.
“Gunshots ringing out and cutting through our peaceful paradise were down remarkably,” Commissioner Knowles said, attributing the improvement to decisive enforcement, tighter bail practices, and sustained pressure on offenders.
Police also intensified enforcement against breach of bail conditions, charging and detaining more suspects than in any previous reporting period. Officers say the approach removed the opportunity for repeat offending while matters were before the courts.
Police leadership said the results go beyond statistics. By limiting bail for high-risk suspects and executing warrants at scale, the strategy saved lives, protected bystanders, and restored confidence in public safety.
In 2025, fewer people were hunted, fewer bullets were fired, and fewer families were left grieving — a shift police say was no accident, but the result of deliberate, hardline choices.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
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