Bahamas News
Elnet Maritime Breaks Ground for New Center in Grand Bahama
#Freeport, GB, August 29, 2018 – Bahamas – Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister, Senator Kwasi Thompson, said both foreign and local investors continue to display confidence in the Grand Bahamian economy by starting new businesses or expanding existing ones.
Minister Thompson, who was the keynote speaker at the groundbreaking ceremony for Elnet Maritime Center on Monday, August 27, 2018, noted that CEO of Elnet Maritime Ltd., Elbert Hepburn is a real example of what the spirit of Grand Bahama represents.
“The government has seen restored investor interest among foreign investors, as well as among Bahamians, right here in Grand Bahama,” added Minister Thompson. “In fact, over the past year or so, there have been a number of new businesses started in Grand Bahama, as well as expansion of existing businesses.
“If there is anyone who says that Grand Bahama is dead, I tell them to open their eyes and they will see,” added Minister Thompson. “I am in no way suggesting that business is booming. I am in no way saying that we are doing all that we can and should do, but what I am saying is that there are Bahamians and other investors who are pushing their way through in Grand Bahama and they ought to be commended for contributing to the kind of economy that we would like to see.”
He noted that by virtue of Grand Bahama’s deep waters, its climate and proximity to the United States and its open geographical path to the rest of the world, Grand Bahama has proven perfect for the maritime industry. “While we also seek to expand other industries such as tourism, technology and others, we want to continue to capitalize on maritime and ensure that Grand Bahama maintains its status as a major maritime and industrial hub in the region,” he said.
During the construction phase of Elnet’s new Maritime Center, Elnet intends to engage some 125 people through self-contractors. Post construction, there will be opportunities for 80 to 100 new jobs in Grand Bahama.
Minister Thompson said he was excited to see Bahamian-owned businesses investing further into the local economy. Minister Thompson said Elnet Maritime, which has been around for over 10 years, is a testament to what Bahamians can achieve through hard work, faith, innovation and dedication, and that innovation and entrepreneurship are key to Grand Bahama’s economy.
Since taking office, Minister Thompson pointed out that the government has committed to creating an environment that is conducive to the creation and growth of small businesses by way of providing funding, training programs and mentorship from other professions.
“The government has allocated 25 million dollars over the next few years – five million dollars this year. I’m sure that a great portion of that five million dollars, when it comes to small businesses development, will be spent right here in Grand Bahama.”
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Hon. K. Peter Turnquest also congratulated the CEO of Elnet, and the principals on the success of the business over the past 10 years.
“We know, based upon the history of this company and based upon your vision for Elnet, that this new endeavor will be very successful, and will continue to contribute to this island in a significant way,” said Minister Turnquest. “This expansion, I believe, demonstrates to Grand Bahama and to The Bahamas that there is life here in Grand Bahama. As a government we have intense discussions at least once a week about the future of Grand Bahama and what should be our response as a government and what initiative we should take to help develop this island.”
The Deputy Prime Minister noted that the step by the government to purchase the Grand Lucayan Resort was one of those initiatives or steps the government has taken to help develop the island’s economy, and that it was a demonstration of the government’s commitment to the economy of Grand Bahama and ensuring opportunities for the people of Grand Bahama and throughout The Bahamas.
“The story of Grand Bahama is in the success of entrepreneurship,” said Minister Turnquest. “Bahamians, like Mr. Hepburn and others who have made the decision to invest in their own country. Every day we fight to ensure that Grand Bahama gets the resources and attention that it needs. But, in order for the government to be successful, we need the private sector to step up and take its rightful place.
“Through the small business development center that we are developing here, through the Bahamas Development Bank, through BAIC and all of the other entrepreneurial initiatives that we have, as well as the commitment of the government to put its money where its mouth is, there is opportunity, capital and even training for genuine, well-thought out businesses.”
By Andrew Coakley
Release: BIS
PHOTO CAPTIONS
BIS Photos/Andrew Miller
DPM BRINGS REMARKS – Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon. K. Peter Turnquest was among those bringing remarks during groundbreaking ceremony for Elnet Maritime Center on Monday, August 27, 2018.
SHOWING CONFIDENCE – Minister of State for Grand Bahama, Senator Kwasi Thompson, said expansion of Elnet Maritime is evidence of the confidence Bahamian investors have in the Grand Bahamian economy.
BREAKING GROUND – Deputy Prime Minister, K. Peter Turnquest and Minister of State for Grand Bahama, Senator Kwasi Thompson (second and third from right), were among those preparing to till the soil as a part of groundbreaking ceremonies for the new Elnet Maritime Center, located on Queen’s Highway, Freeport, Grand Bahama. CEO of Elnet, Elbert Hepburn is center (fifth from left).
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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