Bahamas News
2018 List of Emergency Shelters for All Bahamas
#Bahamas, June 25, 2018 –
2018 LIST OF EMERGENCY SHELTERS
NEW PROVIDENCE
| NO. | DISTRICT AND NAME | LOCATION |
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WESTERN DISTRICT |
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Mount Moriah Baptist Church | Farrington Road |
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New Providence Community Centre | Blake Road |
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Hillview Seventh Day Adventist Church | Tonique Williams Darling Hwy |
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Love Worth Finding Ministries | Golden Isles Road |
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Sir Kendal Isaac’s Gymnasium | University Drive |
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St. Paul’s Anglican Church | Lyford Cay |
| CENTRAL DISTRICT | ||
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Calvary Haitian Baptist Church | West Avenue |
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Church of God of Prophecy | East & Lifebouy Streets |
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Salvation Army | Meadow Street |
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St. John’s Native Baptist Church | Meeting Street |
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Ebenezer Mission Baptist Church | St. Charles Vincent Street |
| EASTERN DISTRICT | ||
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New Dimension Church of God | Joe Farrington Road |
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Fox Hill Community Center | Joe Farrington Road |
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Church of God Auditorium | Joe Farrington Road |
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Epiphany Anglican Church | Prince Charles Drive |
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Epworth Hall/Ebenezer Methodist Church | Shirley Street |
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Holy Cross Anglican Church | Highbury Park off Soldier Road |
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Kemp Road Ministries | Kemp Road |
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Pilgrim Baptist Church | St. James Road |
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Salvation Army | Mackey Street |
| SOUTHERN DISTRICT | ||
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Agape Full Gospel Baptist Church | Kennedy Subdivision |
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Golden Gates Assembly | Carmichael Road |
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New Bethlehem Baptist Church | Independence Drive |
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Southwest Cathedral Church of God | Carmichael Road |
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All Saints Anglican Parish | Joan’s Heights |
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Remnant Tabernacle of Praise | Carmichael Road |
HURRICANE SHELTERS IN THE FAMILY ISLANDS
2018 HURRICANE SEASON
ABACO
North Abaco
Amy Roberts Primary School – Green Turtle Cay
Grand Cay All Age School – Grand Cay
Central Abaco
Central Abaco Primary School – Dundas Town
South Abaco
Sandy Point Community Center – Ernest Dean Highway
ACKLINS
Command Centre – Spring Point Acklins
ANDROS
North Andros
Church of God of Prophecy – Conch Sound
Church of God of Prophecy – Mastic Point Town
Nicholls’s Town Primary School – Nicholls’s Town
Bamsi – Barc
Police Station (Command Centre) – Nicholls’s Town
First Baptist Church – San Andros
B.A. Newton Primary – Red Bays
Central Andros
Church of God – Cargill Creek
Pentecostal Church – Bowen Sound
Miracle Revival International – Calabash Bay
New Highway Pentecostal Church – Blanket Sound
New Highway Pentecostal Church – Love Hill
St. Bartholomew Church – Bearing Point
Police Station (Command Centre) – Administration Complex
South Andros
Long Bay Cay Preschool – Long Bay Cays, South Andros
Deep Creek Primary School – Deep Creek
Friendship Native Baptist Church – The Bluff, South Andros
St. Paul’s Baptist Church – Black Point
MANGROVE CAY
Mangrove Cay High School – Swains
Burnt Rock Primary – Burnt Rock
BERRY ISLAND
Church of God of Prophecy – Great Harbour Cay
BIMINI & CAT CAY
Gateway – Bimini
Big Game Fishing Hotel – Bimini
Clinic – Bimini
CAT ISLAND
St. Andrew’s Anglican – Arthur’s Town
Lovely Zion Baptist Church – The Bluff
Sea View Seventh Day Adventist – Dumfries
Holy Redeemer Catholic Church – New Bight
Mt. Sinai – New Bight
Zion Baptist Church – Old Bight
Zion Baptist Church – McQueen’s
St. Mark’s Baptist Church – Port Howe
Children’s Home – Old Bight
CROOKED ISLAND & LONG CAY
Ezekiel Thompson Hall – Cabbage Hill
Church of God of Prophecy – Cripple Hill
Deleveaux’s Residence – Major’s Cay
Don Leadon’s Residence – Albert Town
All Saints Anglican Church/Priest Residence – Church Grove
Command Centre (Ezekiel Thompson Hall) – Cabbage Hill
ELEUTHERA
North Eleuthera District, Mainland, Spanish Wells & Harbour Island
The Haitian Baptist People Church – The Bluff, North Eleuthera
New Jerusalem Church – Blackwood, North Eleuthera
Little Scholars Pre-School – Lower Bogue, North Eleuthera
Charles Wesley Methodist Church – Lower Bogue, North Eleuthera
Mission Church of God – Upper Bogue, North Eleuthera
St. Johns Parish Hall – Harbour Island
New Alliance Church of God – Harbour Island
Harbour Island Public Library – Harbour Island
Zion Methodist Church – Current Island
The Current Community Centre – The Current, North Eleuthera
Central Eleuthera
Governor’s Harbour Primary – Governor’s Harbour
The Salvation Army – Palmetto Point
Church of the Nazarene – Palmetto Point
George E. Johnson Memorial Centre
(St. Mark’s Methodist Church Hall) – Hatchet Bay
Camp Symonette – James Cistern
South Eleuthera
Church of God of Prophecy – Tarpum Bay
Rock Sound Primary School – Rock Sound
Green Castle Primary School – Green Castle
Wemyss’ Bight Primary School – Wemyss Bight
Deep Creek Primary School – Deep Creek
EXUMA
Exuma & Exuma Cays
St. Mary Anglican Church – Williams Town
The New Mt. Olive Union Baptist Church – Hartswell
St. Andrew’s Community Centre – George Town
Bethel Union Baptist Church – Ramsey
Mt. Hermon Union Baptist Church – Mt. Thompson
Palestine Union Baptist Church – The Forest
Ebenezer Baptist Church – Farmer’s Hill
Mt. Sinai Baptist Church – Stuart Manor
St. Theresa’s Catholic Church – George Town
Exuma Resource Centre – Hooper’s Bay
St. Margaret’s Anglican Church – Harts/Steventon
Ebenezer Baptist Church – Barraterre
Calvary Mission Baptist Church – Rolleville
St. Peter’s Union Baptist Church – Forbes Hill
St. Matthew’s Union Baptist Church – The Ferry
St. Mary Anglican Church – Farmer’s Cay
Mt. Olive Union Baptist Church – Staniel Cay
GRAND BAHAMA
City Of Freeport
Foster B. Pestina Center/Pro-Cathedral of
Christ the King (Special Needs Shelter) – East Atlantic Drive & Pioneers Way
First Baptist Church Hall – Columbus Drive & Nansen Ave.
Central Church of God Hall – Pioneers Way West & Coral Rd.
Jack Haywood High School – Wildcat Ave. & Pioneers Loop East
Cancer Association – West Atlantic Drive & Norma Headley Dr.
Shiloh Seventh-Day Adventist Church – Torcross Road
Mack Town To Pinder’s Point
St. George’s High school Gymnasium – Sunset Highway off East Beach Drive
East Grand Bahama
Maurice Moore Primary School – Sandcombe Drive
Freeport Seventh-Day Adventist Church – Grambier and Beach Way Drive
West Grand Bahama
Church of God of Prophecy – Sea Grape, Eight Mile Rock
INAGUA
St. Philip’s Anglican Church – South Street
Zion Baptist Church – Albert’s Street
LONG ISLAND
Seymour’s Gospel Chapel – Seymour’s (North)
Highway Church of God – Doctor’s Creek
St. John’s Anglican Church – Buckley’s (South)
Francis Darville Centre (Holy Cross Anglican Church) – Hamilton’s (South)
Community Centre – Clarence Town (South)
Holy Family Anglican Church – Mortimer’s (South)
First Assemblies of God – Salt Pond
MAYAGUANA
Betsy Bay Community Centre – Betsy Bay
Berea Mission Church – Pirates Well
St. James Native Baptist Church – Abraham’s Bay
RAGGED ISLAND
Holy Innocence (Evacuation if necessary) – Ragged Island
SAN SALVADOR & RUM CAY
Gerace Research Centre – United Estates
Idell Jones Community Hall – Cockburn Town
Fellowship In Christ Kingdom Ministries – Cockburn Town
Rum Cay All Aged – Port Nelson, Rum Cay
Please note that this list would be updated to include those islands, communities or areas where emergency shelters are not yet designated.
For more information contact: Lindsay Thompson, Public Information Officer, NEMA at (242) 322-6081. 322-6085. 361-5569. Email: nemabahamas242@gmail.com. Website: www.bahamas.gov.bs. Facebook: NEMA-Bahamas
Bahamas News
What 45 Shell Casings and New Murder Charges May Mean for Three Officers in the Azario Major Case
By Deandrea Hamilton | Editor
NASSAU, Bahamas (July 16, 2026) — The allegation is as shocking as it is consequential. Prosecutors now contend Azario Major was struck by additional gunfire after he was already dead. That conclusion has prompted the Director of Public Prosecutions to upgrade the case against three police officers from manslaughter to murder ahead of a judge-only trial.
According to court filings and the DPP’s review of the forensic evidence, prosecutors allege that additional rounds entered Major’s body after death, a finding they say fundamentally changed their assessment of the case and justified the more serious charge of murder.
Investigators recovered 45 spent shell casings at the scene of the Boxing Day 2021 fatal shooting of Azario Major, a striking piece of
forensic evidence that has remained central to the case from its earliest days.
Major, 31, was fatally shot by police outside Woody’s Bar on Fire Trail Road on December 26, 2021. While police initially maintained the shooting was justified, the circumstances surrounding the incident were heavily scrutinized during a Coroner’s Court inquest, where jurors ultimately returned a verdict of homicide by manslaughter.
The officers later challenged that finding, but the Supreme Court upheld the Coroner’s Court ruling, paving the way for criminal proceedings. They were subsequently arraigned on manslaughter charges and pleaded not guilty.
The DPP’s decision to elevate the charges to murder significantly raises the legal stakes. Unlike manslaughter, which does not necessarily require proof of an intent to kill, a murder conviction requires prosecutors to establish the legal elements of the more serious offence beyond a reasonable doubt. The prosecution’s case is now expected to focus heavily on forensic evidence, ballistic analysis and the sequence of gunfire during the fatal encounter.
The case is also notable because it will proceed without a jury. Barring further delays, the trial is expected to open on September 14 before Justice Guillimina Archer-Minns in a judge-alone trial, where a single judge—not a jury—will decide the fate of the three accused officers.
The proceedings will determine not only whether the three officers are guilty or innocent of murder, but whether prosecutors’ extraordinary allegation—that Azario Major was struck by additional gunfire after he was already dead—can be proven in court.
By Deandrea Hamilton
Cheaper shipping. Lower energy costs. Better access to healthcare. Stronger consumer protections.
Those are among the measures CARICOM Heads of Government believe could finally begin reducing the stubbornly high cost of living for millions of people across the Caribbean.
Meeting in Saint Lucia, regional leaders agreed that making life more affordable must become one of the Community’s highest priorities.
Their emerging strategy includes reducing freight costs through a regional ferry service, accelerating renewable energy projects to lessen dependence on imported fuel, expanding regional healthcare partnerships, strengthening consumer protection, and encouraging governments to adopt successful cost-of-living measures already being implemented across the Caribbean.
“Our discussions over the past four days were guided by one central objective – ensuring that CARICOM delivers results that people can see and feel in their everyday lives,” CARICOM Chairman and Saint Lucia Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre said.
Few places may welcome that relief more than The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Although inflation has moderated in both countries from the sharp increases experienced following the pandemic, the cost of living remains stubbornly high. Families continue to complain about grocery bills that stretch household budgets, rising housing costs, expensive electricity, healthcare expenses and fuel prices that remain among the highest in the region.
Governments have responded.
In The Bahamas, successive reductions in Value Added Tax on selected goods and other targeted tax measures have sought to ease pressure on consumers. In the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Government this weekend opens applications for its $500 Cost of Living Relief Programme, acknowledging that many households continue to struggle despite the country’s economic success.
Yet affordability remains elusive.
The contradiction is difficult to ignore.
The Turks and Caicos Islands continues to post one of the region’s strongest tourism-driven economies, with robust investment, record
visitor spending and sustained construction activity. The Bahamas has also strengthened its economic position, earning improved sovereign credit ratings as tourism, government revenues and fiscal performance continue to recover.
Yet those encouraging economic indicators have not translated into noticeably lower household expenses.
The reason is largely structural.
Both The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands produce relatively little of what they consume. Food, fuel, medicines, vehicles, building materials and countless household essentials are imported. Both countries also record significant trade deficits, illustrating their dependence on overseas suppliers. Every increase in global shipping costs, fuel prices or supply chain disruptions is eventually reflected in supermarket prices, utility bills and the cost of everyday living.
That is why CARICOM’s agenda matters.
If regional leaders succeed in lowering freight costs through an inter-island ferry network, expanding renewable energy, improving regional cargo movement, strengthening consumer protections and making healthcare more accessible through cooperation, the benefits could extend far beyond government balance sheets.
For Bahamians and Turks and Caicos Islanders, success will not be measured by another tourism record or another credit rating upgrade. It will be measured at the supermarket checkout, on the monthly electricity bill, at the gas pump and in the simple ability to afford a better quality of life.
By Deandrea Hamilton | Editor
NASSAU, Bahamas (July 14, 2026) — The Bahamas Government says it needs the 300 teachers being sourced from Ghana to help close a critical staffing gap, even as criticism mounts over unresolved employment matters reportedly affecting approximately 2,000 Bahamas Union of Teachers members and as Ghana itself struggles with a massive shortage in the profession.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Science and Technology Chester Cooper said the shortage has been worsened by
retirements, expiring contracts and the expansion of specialized subjects, including special education, technology, financial literacy, digital literacy and entrepreneurship.
Cooper said the Government has established a multi-agency task force and is attempting to attract recently retired teachers, new graduates and educators who previously left the profession.
“In keeping with government policy, Bahamians will be given first priority to fill all vacancies,” Cooper said.
However, the optics surrounding the decision are sketchy at best, with the BUT pressing the Government to settle long-standing matters affecting its members while Ghana grapples with a teacher shortage estimated at no fewer than 50,000 educators.
Ghana’s Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, recently disclosed that the country needs between 50,000 and 90,000 additional teachers to adequately staff its schools.
UNICEF’s 2026 Teachers for All: Ghana report confirms that Ghana is not only experiencing an overall teacher shortage but also serious inequalities in how available teachers are distributed. It found that rural and underserved schools are particularly affected, while Ghana’s primary teacher workforce fell by more than 25 percent—from 131,094 in 2019–2020 to 93,818 in 2022–2023—as student enrolment increased.
The report stated:
“Not only is there a teacher shortage in Ghana, but inefficiencies also exist in the current distribution of available teachers.”
That finding raises questions about why a country with such a significant domestic deficit is prepared to facilitate the overseas recruitment
of hundreds of educators.
Meanwhile, BUT President Belinda Wilson has argued that the Bahamian Government has substantial unfinished business with the teachers already serving in the public system.
According to Wilson, approximately 2,000 educators are awaiting the conclusion of salary negotiations, while hundreds reportedly have unresolved matters involving confirmations, salary reassessments, promotions, rental allowances, examination marking fees, disturbance allowances, hardship payments and coaching allowances.
The union has also complained that it was not properly consulted before the proposed recruitment became public and has demanded details about the qualifications, subjects, deployment locations and employment conditions being considered for the Ghanaian teachers.
The debate is also unfolding as the University of The Bahamas has produced approximately 219 education graduates over the past three years—76 in 2024, more than 60 in 2025 and 73 in 2026.
Cooper maintains that overseas recruitment is intended only to fill positions that cannot immediately be occupied by qualified Bahamians.
“For decades, we have benefitted from strategic international recruitment of educators from partner nations,” he said. “We emphasize that such recruitment is intended only to address vacancies that cannot be immediately filled by qualified Bahamians.”
Still, the questions remain: why are outstanding matters affecting thousands of Bahamian teachers unresolved, and why is The Bahamas sourcing educators from a country that acknowledges it is tens of thousands of teachers short itself?
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