Bahamas News
BAHAMAS: Five died in Hurricane Dorian, PM calls on Nation to Unite to Help those in Need
#Nassau, September 3, 2019 – Bahamas – The Royal Bahamas Police Force has confirmed that five people died during the passage of the category 5 Hurricane Dorian through North Abaco.
This was revealed by the Most Hon Dr Hubert A Minnis in a statement during a live NEMA press conference on Tuesday, September 2, 2019.
See Speech below:
We are in the midst of a historic tragedy in parts of the northern Bahamas. Our mission and focus now is search, rescue and recovery. I ask for your prayers for those in affected areas and for first responders.
As the Met Department has just reported, Hurricane Dorian is still battering Grand Bahama Island and will be there for many more hours.
We know that there are a number of people in Grand Bahama who are in serious distress. We will provide relief and assistance as soon as possible after the Met Department has given the all clear.
I strongly urge the residents of Grand Bahama to remain indoors and to be as safe as possible until the all clear is given by the appropriate authorities. Bahamians across our country and throughout the world are praying for you.
There are questions about fatalities. Thus far, the Royal Bahamas Police Force has confirmed that there are five deaths on Abaco. Teams will go to Abaco as soon as possible for full and proper assessment and identification.
We are going to be very careful in reporting such information, which should only come from official channels and be verified by the Royal Bahamas Police Force. We need to be sensitive in reporting such information and will do so as soon as we have reliable information.
The initial report from Abaco is that the devastation is unprecedented and extensive. They are deeply worrying. The images and videos we are seeing are heartbreaking. Many homes, businesses and other buildings have been destroyed. There is an extraordinary amount of flooding and damage to infrastructure.
I wish to report that the U.S. Coast Guard is already on the ground in Abaco and has rescued a number of injured individuals. Critically injured individuals are being taken to the Princess Margaret Hospital on New Providence.
Through various channels we are continuing to monitor events in Abaco and Grand Bahama, as well as Bimini and the Berry Islands, which are continuing to receive tropical storm winds.
While New Providence, Andros and Eleuthera have been given the all clear, I strongly urge residents of these islands, to be careful and diligent as they move about. I note that there is flooding in a number of areas on these islands.
Various shelters are open in New Providence for those whose homes may have been flooded. Further, there appear to be a number of fake and incorrect reports circulating.
Please do not resend or transmit reports or images, which appear to be untrue. Many people in affected areas as well as their loved ones in the Bahamas and overseas are understandably worried. Please do not add to their anxiety and worries. This is not the time to be creating mischief and playing on the emotions of others, especially those who are vulnerable at this time.
Rapid Assessment Teams are on standby to conduct initial assessments and reconnaissance of affected areas as quickly as possible. There are teams from the Ministries of Health, National Security, Social Services and Works.
There are teams from NEMA and the Bahamas Red Cross. There are also international and regional governmental and NGO teams ready to help to assess the human needs and damage.
We have in place, and are putting in place other critical measures to respond as rapidly as possible to reduce any suffering and pain. We are putting together a Hurricane Relief and Recovery Committee. We will announce the coordinator as soon as possible.
Exigency Orders have been prepared to allow donated and purchased relief supplies from registered charitable organizations to enter the affected areas free of customs duty and VAT in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane.
Landing fees will also be waived in the affected areas, as well as departure taxes and customs processing fees for non-commercial flights. The Orders cover Abaco, the Abaco Cays, Grand Bahama, Sweeting’s Cay, Deep Water Cay and Water Cay.
In addition to goods traditionally exempted after past hurricanes, we are including in these orders: medicine and medical supplies, electrical generators, tents, cots, bedding material and mosquito nettings.
Individuals affected by Hurricane Dorian are included in the Exigency Orders subject to verification by NEMA.
Fellow Bahamians and Residents:
As Bahamians we must unite with the singular focus of helping our brothers and sisters in need. We will provide information as to where and how individuals, families and corporate citizens can donate resources and funds to assist those in need.
Due to the extent of the devastation, when weather permits and transportation resumes, I ask Bahamians and residents on islands not devastated by the storm to open their homes to friends and family who are in need.
Your compassion at this most difficult hour will bring healing and hope to those who are traumatized by this destructive storm.
Bahamians have a charitable spirit. There are many who are ready to give generously. Please ensure that you donate funds and items to reputable charitable organizations with records of service to the community.
We want to be careful to avoid past mistakes where non-reputable organizations and individuals attempting to take advantage of the suffering and distress of others.
I have heard from a number of world leaders, including a number of heads of government from the Caribbean Community, CARICOM. We are also in touch with a number of other foreign governments and international agencies.
Fellow Bahamians and Residents:
I pledge to you that your government will bring to bear every resource possible and all of our collective energy to assist those in the devastated areas.
There are many difficult days, weeks and months ahead of us as a people and as a country. We must stay united as a people to bring immediate assistance, to bring hope, to bring recovery and to rebuild lives.
We read in Psalm 130:
“Out of the depths I cry to you O Lord, Lord hear my voice.
“O let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleading.”
In the midst of the devastation and the loss of life; in the midst of this terrible tragedy; we must rely on the Lord of Life, who is our great hope and our comfort in times of need.
I end with the words of Joshua 1:9:
“Be strong and of good courage; be not frightened, neither be dismayed; for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
Let this be our shared prayer and let us be people of empathy, of compassion, of gratitude, and people of love.
Thank you and good afternoon.
Released: NEMA
For more information contact: Lindsay Thompson, Public Information Officer
Email: lindsaythompson@bahamas.gov.bs or NEMA@bahamas.gov.bs or nemabahamas242@gmail.com
Contacts: 242-322-6081/5 or 242-361-5569 or 242-376-2042
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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