Bahamas News
Jamaica to mobilise resources through Tourism Resilience Centre to assist Bahamas
#Kingston, September 4, 2019 – Jamaica – The Ministry of Tourism, through the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC), is moving to mobilise resources locally and internationally to assist The Bahamas in the wake of the devastation caused by Hurricane Dorian.
Along with the resources that are expected to be provided by local tourism stakeholders to assist the hurricane-wrecked island, the Tourism Ministry will be lobbying for further support from the international community at the upcoming United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Conference in St. Petersburgh, Russia, from September 9 to 13.
Dorian, one of the most powerful Atlantic storms on record, hit the Caribbean island late Sunday (September 1) evening as a category-five system before it was downgraded to category 3, leaving behind at least five people dead and destroying infrastructure and hundreds of homes on two islands.
Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, speaking at a press briefing on Tuesday (September 3) at his New Kingston office, said that the GTRCMC was established to respond to unfortunate occurrences like Dorian, which significantly impact the tourism industry within the Caribbean region.
The centre, he noted, was established to build resilience and capacity to withstand these disruptions, but more so, to enable quick recovery and ensure that the sector thrives in the aftermath.
“And so it is against that background that, today, we have begun the process from the centre, to reach out to the global tourism community to mobilise resources to support … our neighbor,” the Minister said.
“And so as the first step, I’ve been in touch with our colleague Minister (Dionisio) D’Aguilar in The Bahamas, about the situation overall and the second response was to get to our local partner, which is the Jamaican homegrown tourism enterprise that has footprints all over the Caribbean, including The Bahamas,” he added.
In this regard, Minister Bartlett said the Sandals Foundation, which had already started to mobilise its own response, has agreed to partner with the Ministry.
Additionally, he said he is in discussions with another Caribbean enterprise, which will be coming on board.
Deputy Chairman of Sandals Resorts International and Chairman of the Tourism Linkages Council, Adam Stewart, said that the Foundation, which is Jamaican-based, has sought assistance from its partners, including bankers, airlines and tour operators, and the support “has been rolling in”.
Already, he said, Mayberry Investments Limited has donated $1 million and another partner has provided US$100,000 worth of cleaning supplies.
Also Mr. Stewart said, the Sandals Foundation “through the efforts of those who have supported us thus far, sent through our partner, the HeadKnowles Foundation in The Bahamas, US$10,000 worth of water as a first gesture to those in Abaco”. He noted that the Sandals Foundation is also working with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) and other entities in The Bahamas.
Meanwhile, Minister Bartlett said he will be presenting the case for further collaboration with the GTRCMC in order to strengthen its capacity to deal with vulnerabilities within the Caribbean at next week’s UNWTO Conference.
“In the process, I will be supporting The Bahamas in their own recovery effort and … ensure that full appreciation of the extent of the damage and the extent of support that is required is realised by all of the partners, who will be coming from about 120 countries from across the world to the meeting in St. Petersburg,” he said.
Minister Bartlett underscored that the centre will not affect the work of other recovery agencies and activities within the region, as the facility’s efforts are focused on tourism recovery.
“Our focus is going to be on how we enable the tourism sector within these areas that are impacted to recover quickly and to thrive thereafter. And I wanted to make that point, because we are going to be working very closely with the CDEMA in our regional arrangement,” he said.
Contact: Tanesha Mundle
Release: JIS
Photo Captions:
Photo Credit: Mark Bell
Header: Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett (right); and Tourism Director Donovan White, listen to Deputy Chairman of Sandals Resorts International and Chairman of the Tourism Linkages Council, Adam Stewart, at a press briefing at the Ministry of Tourism offices in New Kingston on Tuesday (September 3).
Insert: Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett (right), makes a point during discussion with (from left) Project Manager for the Sandals Foundation, Karen Zacca; Tourism Director, Donovan White; and Deputy Chairman of Sandals Resorts International and Chairman of the Tourism Linkages Council, Adam Stewart, following a press briefing at the office of Ministry of Tourism in New Kingston on Tuesday (September 3).
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.
