Bahamas News
Bahamas Environment Minister Ferreira Addressed 5th UN Global Geospatial Information Management Forum
#Mexico, November 30, 2017 – Mexico City – Bahamas Minister of the Environment & Housing, the Hon. Romauld Ferreira under the theme, “Implementing The Sustainable Development Goals: The Role of Geospatial Technology And Innovation,” addressed the 5th High Level Forum on United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) at the Sheraton Maria Isabel Hotel in Mexico City, November 28, 2017.
Minister Ferreira extended appreciation to the Ministerial segment of the UN-GGIM, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), and various UN Committees of experts for their leadership to foster greater dialogue concerning matters of mutual interest at Global and Regional levels. He also thanked Dr. Julio A. Santaella and Mr. Stefan Schweinfest for inviting The Bahamas to speak on its experience regarding policy perspectives and the progress we are making nationally to strengthen our Geospatial Information Management Capacity and Spatial Data Infrastructure to support informed decision making.
“Mr. President, within the wider context of implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals, The Bahamas continues to maintain relations with the United Nations through its participation in several UN Fora on a number of fronts including Gender Equality, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Energy, Disaster Management, Resource Management (Land & Marine), as well as other programs stipulated in the Millennium Development Goals,” said Minister Ferreira.
“In 2014, The Bahamas enacted ‘The Bahamas Spatial Data Infrastructure Act’. This is intended to strengthen the capacity of our technical arm, The Bahamas National Geographic Information Systems (BNGIS) Centre, to meet its national mandate to effect the practical and efficient use of geospatial technologies.”
Minister Ferreira added that it is the Bahamas Government’s intent to continue to build on our Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) Program to support sound decision making in multiple sectors. He emphasized the fact that BNGIS will require more resources to keep up with changing technologies and the Bahamian Government’s continued commitment to matters related to the UN-GGIM Secretariat and the UN-GGIM Americas Caribbean Project.
“Mr. President, The Bahamas’ application of this technology has been utilized in areas of national importance such as, but not limited to, Utility Management, Planning, and National Security. Additionally, The Bahamas is using Geospatial Technology in our ongoing matters related to the United Nations Convention on the Law of The Sea (UNCLOS),” said Minister Ferreira.
“The integration of this technology has resulted in The Bahamas’ successful declaration of our Archipelagic Maritime Borders and our lodging, with the UN, a successful median line agreement with our Neighboring State, The Republic of Cuba. Geospatial technologies will continue to play a vital role in our ongoing negotiations with the United States and eventually the Turks and Caicos, and Haiti.”
Minister Ferreira explained the benefits of applying Geospatial Technologies as tools for supporting decision making in The Bahamas, even though there’s still more work to be done to make the Spatial Data Infrastructure Program whole. The Bahamas Government acknowledges the importance of using this information for its national strategy toward the sustainability of the country’s natural resources.
“We have applied the technology in various sectors within the Government, albeit in an ad-hoc manner, resulting in isolated pockets of GIS, Duplication of Effort, Outdated Information with ‘No Standards’, and a lack of Procedures and Protocols for the sharing of information. With the passage of The Bahamas Spatial Data Infrastructure (BSDI) Act 2014, and the establishment of the Bahamas Geospatial Advisory Council, we will coordinate such activities and develop the necessary standards, procedures, and protocols,” said Minister Ferreira.
“In general, the BDSI system and program articulated in the legislation, outlines Spatial Technologies, Policies, and institutional arrangements that facilitate the management, availability of, and access to ‘Spatial Data’. We do, however, face significant challenges in deploying Geospatial Technologies to support informed decision making.”
Minister Ferreira explained to the UN panel that The Bahamas is a system of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), with some 17 inhabited islands, and 2,500 rocks and cays, stretching over some 100,000 square miles of ocean. He said it presents numerous challenges in addressing environmental concerns, which include land, sea, air, and submarine issues, as well as the added hazard of climate change and disaster risk reduction and preparedness.
“Facilitating this work in a Spatial Environment is a ‘National Imperative’, in tandem with using a Geospatial Infrastructure to collect and disseminate data. In the wake of extreme hurricane events that impacted The Bahamas — Hurricanes Joaquin, Matthew, and Irma — we must place more emphasis in working to mitigate risk factors that may threaten our stability, including better Land Use Planning, to enable Government to use ‘Spatial Data’ to better understand and assess risks. However, this is costly due to the geographical configuration of The Bahamas,” said Minister Ferreira.
“The Bahamas ‘Spatial Data’ Infrastructure is crucial, and we recognize that out-of-date, incomplete and inaccurate information must be improved, in order to allow for informed decision making, based on accurate and reliable data. This will minimize risk in the management of our Environment, and improve our ability to meet citizen expectations, for a better way of life.”
Minister Ferreira categorized how effective SDI works, when considering Global and National requirements, combined to include Governance Reform, Institutional Strengthening of the BNGIS Centre, and Legislative Regulations to govern its operations.
“Introducing a comprehensive ‘National Plan of Action for Geospatial Information Implementation’ is required in order to enable a more strategic approach to disaster preparedness; integrated Land Use and Coastal Zone (Land and Marine) Planning and Management; and the Modernization of Public Administration Agencies.
“As stipulated in other fora, the most challenging question has been how we set a Global Agenda that enables collective international action, while delivering effective support to national efforts? Having now initiated more focus participation in UN-GGIM initiatives, that question remains,” said Minister Ferreira.
To conclude his address to the body of Global GeoSpatial experts, Minister Ferreira informed them that The Bahamas’ membership in the UN-GGIM initiative is a true indicator of the Government’s commitment to the UN’s processes, and meeting the expectations of Bahamian citizens, when applying Geospatial Technologies to improve the Bahamian way of life, while meeting the country’s sustainable goals.
“We look forward to our continued participation, as the BNGIS Centre, as the Government’s Focal Point, and as the Technical Administrator of the the Bahamas Spatial Data Infrastructure system and programme, as expected,” said Minister Ferreira.
By: Gena Gibbs (BIS)
Photo caption: Bahamas Minister of the Environment & Housing, the Hon. Romauld Ferreira delivers his address to the 5th High Level Forum on United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) at the Sheraton Maria Isabel Hotel in Mexico City, November 28, 2017.
(BIS Photos/Gena Gibbs)
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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