Bahamas News
BAHAMAS: PM participates in renaming of Pinewood Park to Isaiah Taylor Festival Park
#Nassau, November 19, 2018 – Bahamas – ‘A lover of music, dance and culture’ were words to describe 
world-renowned musician Isaiah Taylor, during the renaming ceremony of Pinewood Park to Isaiah Taylor Festival Park on Saturday, November 17, 2018.
It was during the Annual Dennis Dean Pinewood Festival that Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Hubert Minnis declared that the park be renamed after the member of the Grammy Award Winning group, Baha Men. “We not only honor and pay tribute to Isaiah because of his musical talents and for his many contributions to Bahamian arts and to Junkanoo; we also pay tribute to him as a Bahamian patriot, as a servant of his community, and as a mentor to young people,” the Prime Minister said.
This ceremony comes on the heels of renaming of the Big Pond Park in honor of the late Edmund Moxey, who was hailed a visionary founder of Jumbey Village who was also in the vanguard of Majority Rule and Independence.
“This has been a wonderful week during which we are celebrating Bahamian musicians and artists,” the Prime Minister said. “It is an honor to be here this afternoon for the renaming of Pinewood Park to the Isaiah Taylor Park.”
The Prime Minister observed that for a country the size of The Bahamas, it has produced a vast treasury of talent in the musical and visual arts namely: the late Tony McKay, Exuma, the Obeah Man — to the late Brent Malone, and young upcoming artists like Lavar Munroe, who has an exhibit at the National Art Gallery.
“We have to remember and celebrate the enormous talent of that flows in abundance from our Bahamian Imagination,” the Prime Minister urged.
He named Bert Williams, who was born in 1874 in Nassau, who left for the United States at a young age and became a Bahamian-American entertainer, one of the pre-eminent entertainers of the Vaudeville era and one of the most popular comedians for all audiences of his time. He was also said to be by far the best-selling black recording artist before 1920.
Bert Williams was once described as: “one of the great comedians of the world”, the Prime Minister also noted.
Regarding Isaiah Taylor, the Prime Minister also described him as another son of the soil and artist who showcased his talents and Bahamian spirit on the world stage.
“Isaiah Taylor is not only a proud son of The Bahamas. He is also a proud son of Pinewood, who originally hailed from Simms, Long Island,” the Prime Minister said.
Isaiah Taylor grew up between Kemp Road and Bernard Road. And about four decades ago he became one of the 
first residents of Pinewood, a community he has been known to love with all his heart and soul.
“He has also been a patriarch of Pinewood. It is so wonderful that the community he loves, loves him back by honouring his contributions to Pinewood. Generations to come will look at this Park, and ask, “Who was Isaiah Taylor?” the Prime Minister said.
Isaiah Taylor is revered as a Bahamian musical icon. He is best known as the lead bass player and driving force behind the Grammy Award-winning group, Baha Men.
In acknowledging that he’s known Isaiah for many years, the Prime Minister said he has the spirit of Junkanoo in his soul.
Isaiah Taylor had self-taught the guitar at age 21, and subsequently joined the group High Voltage, the band known for bringing the sound of Junkanoo festival music to the popular music stage from the late 70s into the 90s. He also collaborated with Tyrone “Dr. Off” Fitzgerald, of Funky Nassau fame; Dr. Off was one of the pioneers who helped to shape the sounds of Junkanoo outside the traditional festival environment.
In 1992, High Voltage changed its name to Baha Men. And although membership has changed over the years, Isaiah Taylor’s mentorship and leadership kept the band together, leading to success and numerous awards.
Among their many accomplishments are several awards, including a Grammy Award in 2000, two Billboard Music Awards that same year and two Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards in 2000 and 2002. Several of Baha Men’s songs have been used in several major motion pictures.
The Prime Minister thanked Isaiah Taylor for his contributions to national development.
By Lindsay Thompson
Photo Captions:
Header: Pinewood Park was renamed the Isaiah Taylor Festival Park during the Annual Dennis Dean Pinewood Festival on Saturday, November 17, 2018. Isaiah Taylor is pictured centre right. Next to Mr. Taylor are Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Hubert Minnis, and Minister of Financial Services, Trade & Industry and Immigration the Hon. Brent Symonette. On the left, from left are Reuben Rahming, MP for Pinewood; Mrs. Natasha Rahming; and Travis Robinson, MP for Bain and Grant’s Town.
First insert: The Urban Renewal Marching Band performs for ceremonies at the Pinewood Park Renaming to Isaiah Taylor Festival Park, during the Annual Dennis Dean Pinewood Festival on Saturday, November 17, 2018.
Second insert: Pinewood Park was renamed Isaiah Taylor Festival Park during the Annual Dennis Dean Pinewood Festival on Saturday, November 17, 2018. Taylor also received a plaque in his honour. Pictured presenting the plaque is Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Hubert Minnis (centre left). Also pictured during presentation are the Hon. Brent Symonette, Minister of Financial Services, Trade & Industry and Immigration and MP for St Anne’s; Reuben Rahming, MP for Pinewood; and Travis Robinson, MP for Bain and Grant’s Town.
Third insert: Pinewood Park became Isaiah Taylor Festival Park during the Annual Dennis Dean Pinewood Festival on Saturday, November 17, 2018. Pictured are, from left: Isaiah Taylor, Prime Minister Minnis, and Reuben Rahming, MP, Pinewood.
(BIS Photos/Eric Rose)
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.
