NASSAU, The Bahamas – Participants of the Ministry of Social Services, Information and Broadcasting’s Camp Inclusion, including the camp’s student advocates, recently toured Nassau Cruise Port in a move designed to produce multiple benefits for the children.

Camp officials said the tour was part of the “moving away” from the old tradition of keeping children with disabilities locked away at home, and towards greater social inclusion for persons with disabilities – especially children.

Facilitated by the Community Affairs Division of the Ministry of Social Services, Information and Broadcasting at the Flamingo Gardens Family Life Centre, the camp is a collaborative effort between the Ministry, its Community Affairs and Disability Affairs Divisions, the Bahamas Coalition of Advocates for Disability Awareness and Service (BaCADAS), and the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPD). The majority of the Camp Instructors are persons with disabilities.

The Camp is in keeping with the Global Family Day 2024 theme of “Embracing Diversity, Strengthening Families,” and is an extension of the Ministry’s continued efforts to take the lead in ensuring access and inclusion for all — particularly the community of persons with disabilities — in every aspect of society.

Children with different levels and types of disabilities, along with student advocates, participated. Its focus was to ensure that participating youth learn about living with mobility and intellectual disabilities, advocacy, inclusion and accessibility.

Mr. Townsley Roberts, Deputy Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities, said the visit is expected to have a number of expected outcomes.

“It was very important to get the kids out and for them to see parts of the island that they rarely get a chance to experience,” Mr. Roberts said. “It was also an opportunity for them to feel a part of the Bahamian society because many times they are kept at home or just in the classroom (and) so this gives them a chance to spread their wings; an opportunity to dream. You never know, something they saw today can spark their imaginations and some may become artists, want to work in the tourism field or even just to try and experience a cruise. The ability to dream, to feel a part of society, to feel included, is important to the growth of all children, including persons with disabilities.”

Mr. Roberts applauded officials at Nassau Cruise Port for agreeing to the tour, which he said also allowed chaperones to inform the student advocates of some of the aspects that makes a facility accessible and inclusive.

“We are so happy that the Cruise Port allowed us the opportunity to come and tour the facility. As the name of the camp goes, what we are promoting is inclusion — total inclusion in all aspects of Bahamian society including the culture, and the open spaces. We want to make sure that all spaces are accessible and one of the things we know, because we had the opportunity to inspect the cruise port, is that the Port is accessible to persons with disabilities. So why not bring the children – including the student advocates — here as a means of helping them to understand and to witness first-hand what accessibility means and how it, or the lack of accessibility, affects the lives of persons with disabilities.”

Mr. Antoine Munroe, a Camp Instructor and employee of the Disability Affairs Division of the Ministry of Social Services, Information and Broadcasting, said access and inclusion ensures that every person is able to achieve the same outcomes whether in social, educational, or employment settings, and are the best methods of ensuring that persons with disabilities are given the same opportunities to participate in society. He applauded the inclusion of the student advocates in the camp.

“It is a passion of my own to see young people included and exposed to the life of persons with disabilities. Being able to tour the facility gave me an understanding of how I can use my cane to move about with a little assistance and I thought that was very, very smooth. I congratulate those persons who were able to cause this to happen, and also the persons in charge of the Nassau Cruise Port.  I think this is a very good step in the right direction,” Mr. Munroe added.

Release: BIS

(BIS Photos/Patrice Johnson)

NASSAU, The Bahamas – Inspectors attached to the Inspectorate Division of the Secretariat of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPD) conducted assessments of the facilities at the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas, and Bahamas Information Services, Tuesday (July 23) as part of their ongoing efforts to ensure that all public facilities, and those private facilities that provide services to members of the public, are accessible for all.

Both entities fall under the remit of the Ministry of Social Services, Information and Broadcasting as does the Secretariat.

The team was headed by Mr. Townsley Roberts, Deputy Executive Secretary, Secretariat of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities, and included Mr. G. Michael Ellis, Senior Inspector; Mr. Wesley Paul, Inspector; and Mr. Thorne Clarke, Inspector.

Deputy Executive Secretary Roberts said the inspections were two-fold.

“Today we are inspecting ZNS and BIS which are both a part of the Ministry of Social Services, Information and Broadcasting to ensure that they are accessible because it is our belief that we cannot ask the public to do the things required by law without first ensuring that our entities are also in compliance,” Mr. Roberts said.

“People need to understand that accessibility to persons with disabilities is just as important as it is to persons without a disability. We want to be able to go about your day-to-day business without any obstacles in our way.

“What makes us disabled is the built environment, the barriers in front of us. If you remove those barriers, then we can do many of the same things persons without disabilities can do, and sometimes better. So this is what we are about. We are trying to make The Bahamas a place for all persons (and) where it will be comfortable for persons with disabilities to be able to manoeuvre through buildings and other spaces with the same ease and comfort expected by everyone else.”

The inspection team conducted assessments of wheelchair ramps, bathrooms, office spaces, and parking and reception areas, and measured doorway and hallway widths, in addition to other spaces to ensure that the requirements as set out in the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities) Act, 2014, are met.

Mr. Ellis, who spent 34 years as a member of the Royal Bahamas Police Force before retiring as a Senior Police Officer and who brings that same knowledge of the law to his new role, said the inspections help to ensure that the community of persons with disabilities enjoy the same rights to accessibility as any other citizen.

“Persons with disabilities, including those in wheelchairs, persons with walkers, crutches and those who use other assistive devices such as canes, should be able to move around just like everyone else,” Mr. Ellis said.

“We were looking to make sure that there were accessible bathrooms for both males and females, to ensure that there are proper ramps and that the ramps are the proper sizes, to ensure that all of the offices are accessible and all of the other areas are accessible for persons with disabilities.

“The Act says whatever we, as able bodied persons can do, a person with a disability should be permitted or allowed to do the same without any hindrance. Our job is to ensure that these facilities are in compliance with the Act.”

Once inspections are completed, Adjustment Orders are sent to those facilities/businesses found not to be in compliance with the Act, advising them of any faults, and providing a time-frame for compliance.

(BIS Photos/Anthon Thompson)

Release: Bahamas Information Services

PHOTO CAPTIONS

Header:  – ZNS/BCB

Left to right:

1:  G. Michael Ellis – Sr. Inspector (NCPD)
2:  Thorne Clarke – Inspector (NCPD)
3:  Townsley Roberts – Deputy Executive Secretary (NCPD)
4:  Wesley Paul – Inspector (NCPD)
5:  Carlton Smith – Chief Security Officer (BCB)

Insert:  – BIS
Left to right:

1:  Elcott Coleby – Director General (BIS)
2:  Wesley Paul – Inspector (NCPD)
3:  Townsley Roberts – Deputy Executive Secretary (NCPD)
4:  Carlton Smith – Chief Security Officer (BCB)
5:  Thorne Clarke – Inspector (NCPD)
6:  G. Michael Ellis – Sr. Inspector (NCPD)

NASSAU, The Bahamas – Prime Minister and Minister of Finance the Hon. Philip Davis said on July 15, 2024, that he spoke in support of the compendium of Bills to legalise the use of cannabis for medical and religious purposes, to decriminalise the possession of small amounts of cannabis, and to “regulate the cultivation, sale and use of cannabis and related products within our borders and to promote the health and safety of our people.”

“This has been a long time coming,” Prime Minister Davis said, during his Contribution to the Cannabis Reform Compendium 2024 Debate in the House of Assembly.

“For years, Bahamians have called for an administration to have the courage to step up and take this issue on in a decisive and responsible manner,” he added.  “While many other countries, including nations within our region like Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Antigua & Barbuda and Barbados, have taken steps toward decriminalisation and legalisation for medical use, Bahamians were left wondering when it would be our turn to modernise our local approach to cannabis.”

Prime Minister Davis noted that the national dialogue had been ongoing for the better part of a decade.

“Many people thought change was imminent when the Marijuana Commission began its work in October 2018, under the previous administration,” he said.  “These efforts culminated in a preliminary report delivered in January 2020 and a final report delivered in August 2021.”

He added:  “The Commission cited a wide range of in-person discussions and public opinion research, noting that there appeared to be widespread public support for the legalisation of cannabis for medical purposes.  There was also healthy support for decriminalisation and an appetite for a strong regulatory and enforcement framework to ensure high standards for this new industry.”

Prime Minister Davis pointed out that the recommendations of the Commission called for legalisation for medical use, decriminalisation for small amounts, legalisation for use as a religious sacrament for members of the Rastafarian community, as well as strict regulations to ensure the quality and safety of the local cannabis product.

“In the PLP’s Blueprint for Change, we committed to developing a comprehensive regulatory framework for growing, harvesting, and exporting cannabis to create opportunities for Bahamians,” he said.

“The approach we developed to legislating and regulating Cannabis was informed by widespread research and consultation,” Prime Minister Davis added.  “It was partially based on the CARICOM Regional Commission on Marijuana’s research and findings, as well as the approaches of other jurisdictions like Jamaica, Barbados, and Canada, where Cannabis has been legalised and regulated.”

He said that his Government’s goal was to ensure that it developed the most fair, balanced, and effective legislative and regulatory mechanisms, which would allow The Bahamas to reap economic and health benefits while promoting law and order and keeping its people safe through the introduction of stringent standards.

Prime Minister Davis added:  “Once we felt that we had an adequate draft, we released the draft bills publicly, and we held a number of stakeholder consultation sessions, led by the Attorney General’s Office, in which we sat down with major stakeholder groups like healthcare providers, leaders of our church community, advocates for legalisation, leaders of the Rastafarian community – some of whom I see here today, as well as those who had concerns about the impact of legalisation and decriminalisation on the proliferation of usage. These varied opinions were taken into account and adjustments were made to achieve the most practical and effective approach that would work best for the Bahamian people.”

He pointed out that his Government also paid close attention to ongoing research on the issue – the most recent of which, he noted, was a survey conducted nationally by Public Domain in 2023, which indicated that 61% of the population supported the legalisation of cannabis for medical usage.

“It was clear that the times had changed, and it was time for our laws to change as well,” Prime Minister Davis stated.

He continued:  “We’ve been hard at work since 2021. We knew this was not a process we could rush. There was a recognised need for carefulness and due diligence, but there was also a need to ensure that this new legislative and regulatory regime could be introduced and implemented within this term.  We could not simply kick the can down the road for our next term the way other administrations did.  No, we could not delay these changes – not when so many people had waited for years for real action to be taken.

“Today, the wait is over.”

Prime Minister Davis noted that his Government was taking action on behalf of all of the people who simply wanted the ability to legally consume medical cannabis to help them with their medical conditions.

“There are people with children suffering from epilepsy who have been praying for this moment,” he said.  “There are people with glaucoma who want the opportunity to potentially alleviate their condition with a cost-effective and natural treatment.”

Prime Minister Davis added that there were people living with auto-immune conditions, chronic pain, anxiety, depression, and other ailments who were “waiting not-so-patiently for this day.”

“We are taking action for the many men and women living with criminal records for carrying small amounts of cannabis, and the many others who will be spared criminal records as a result of decriminalization,” he said.

Prime Minister Davis stated that, as a society, his Government realised that the old approach taken against Cannabis in the War on Drugs in the 1980s and 90s did not necessarily reflect the current reality.

“Too many livelihoods have been lost because of a joint,” he said.  “Too many lives have been handicapped and potentials lost.”

He added that when he was saying that, it was not his intent to excuse those who choose to break the law.

“After all, the law is the law; it must be respected and upheld,” Prime Minister Davis stated.  “But we also recognise that the law is not static, it is dynamic. And the interpretation of the law and how it serves the greater good of society can change over time.  I am confident that many lives will be changed for the better as a result of the criminal records that will be expunged.”

“Through these reforms, we are upholding the rule of law, making it clear that if you are seeking to supply others with cannabis illegally or engage in other unlicenced and illegal activities, you will be held accountable,” he added.  “Everyone is welcome to participate within the legal and regulatory framework and only within that framework.

“Of course, as a part of this reform process, we are also taking action to recognise the rights and freedoms of Rastafarians to use Cannabis as a sacrament because it should not be against the law for our brothers and sisters of the Rastafarian faith to practice their religion.”

PHOTO CAPTION

Prime Minister and Minister of Finance the Hon. Philip Davis speaks, on July 15, 2024, during his Contribution to the Cannabis Reform Compendium 2024 Debate in the House of Assembly.    (BIS Photos/Ulric Woodside)

Release: BIS