WATCHING WORK – Minister of State for Disaster Preparedness, Management and Reconstruction, Iram Lewis (left) explains to Deputy Prime Minister, K. Peter Turnquest, and Minister of State for Grand Bahama, Senator Kwasi Thompson some of the work being carried out by employees of ABC Construction Company during repair of the Fishing Hole Bridge on Wednesday, May 6, 2020. (BIS Photo/Lisa Davis)
#Freeport, Grand Bahama, The Bahamas – May 7, 2020 — Final repairs to the Fishing Hole Road Bridge are expected to be completed before or at least by the beginning of the hurricane season, which begins in June, according to Minister of State for Disaster Preparedness, Management and Reconstruction, the Hon. Iram Lewis.
Minister Lewis, along with Deputy Prime
Minister and Minister of Finance the Hon. K. Peter Turnquest, Minister of State
for Grand Bahama Senator the Hon. Kwasi Thompson, and Member of Parliament for
West Grand Bahama and Bimini, Mrs. Pakesia Parker-Edgecombe toured the Fishing
Hole Road Bridge on Wednesday morning (May 6, 2020) as workers were busy
carrying out repairs.
DPM SPEAKS – Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Peter Turnquest addressing the media on Wednesday, May 6, 2020, on site at the Fishing Hole Bridge. Also in attendance on the tour of bridge repair and at the press conference were Minister of State for Grand Bahama, Kwasi Thompson; Minister of State for Disaster Preparedness, Management and Reconstruction, Iram Lewis; and Parliamentary Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, Pakesia Parker-Edgecombe. (BIS Photo/Lisa Davis)
Minister Lewis noted that the repairs
will make the bridge much stronger than it was when it was originally
constructed: “We promised to build back better and stronger and so we are
witnessing progress to repairs of the bridge. The concrete replaces the asphalt that was
there pre-Dorian. What we have now is stronger and more resilient.”
Deputy Prime Minister, Peter Turnquest
noted that the bridge will be necessary to protecting lives and providing
access for emergency services in and out of West Grand Bahama. He said the
causeway helps to spur on local commerce on the island of Grand Bahama: “Particularly
now that we are in a situation where we are going to have to depend more on our
domestic economy than we do on our visitors — to have this access between West
Grand Bahama and Freeport has become critical.”
He noted that the repaired bridge will
serve as the primary means of access for residents, but added that the lower
road will operate as a service road for heavy equipment. He said that although the repairs have made
the bridge stronger and capable of heavy loads, the idea of the service road
will be to take the stress of heavy loads moving back and forth.
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“While progress has been slower than
what we would want, it only goes to show that these things are technical issues
and we want to make sure that we do it right and spend the money to get the
best value for the Bahamian people,” said Minister Turnquest. “So, we appreciate the patience and we will
continue to improve on our infrastructure and deliver the services that the
Grand Bahamian people deserve and need.”
Minister Turnquest thanked the
Contractors from ABC Construction for their commitment to first completing the
project, and then making the necessary repairs.
West Grand Bahama and Bimini Member of
Parliament, and Parliamentary Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, Pakesia
Parker-Edgecombe said that West Grand Bahama is happy to see repair to the
bridge is nearing completion.
She noted that the flooding at the
Fishing Hole Road has become legendary among Grand Bahamians and a bone of
contention for many years, wreaking havoc on travel for residents living in
West Grand Bahama, who have to traverse the Fishing Hole Road to get to work.
The new bridge has been purposed to
bring an end to that age-old problem: “The fact that this bridge is being built
better and stronger attests to our resiliency in moving forward with regards to
being prepared in hurricanes,” said Mrs. Edgecombe.
She added, “To know that the only connecting point out of West Grand Bahama into the eastern part of Grand Bahama is going to be completed is absolutely good news for us, and we can’t wait for it to be finished.”
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#TheBahamas, March 17, 2023 – The FBI is investigating a woman’s ‘suspicious’ death on a Carnival Cruise ship in February. The unnamed woman and her husband boarded the Carnival Sunshine on February 27th, for a trip to the Bahamas, but she was dead before they arrived in the port in The Bahamas.
The FBI said Carnival’s team had administered life saving measures when the woman was reported unresponsive, but they were unsuccessful. The body and the woman’s husband were released to the Bahamian authorities when the cruise arrived in the country.
In a statement shared with US media houses, Carnival Cruises claimed the death has been a natural one. The Nassau Guardian said a source told them the police findings had concurred with that assessment saying it was a “normal sudden death of a tourist who wasn’t feeling well.”
The FBI was waiting for the cruise and when it got back to South Carolina on March 4th, they immediately boarded and began to investigate the room based on ‘evidence of a crime.’ The FBI also searched the couple’s car.
No updates have been shared to contradict the currently established cause of death.
#TheBahamas, March 17, 2023 – “If you don’t like it, go to another beach!” Is what Aaron John, an Education Officer from The Bahamas National Trust jokingly tells our news team about sargassum blooms; his quip, motivated by the necessity of nature when pit against the notion that there is a real threat when the stinky seaweed makes its annual appearance.
John can admit, he says, that Sargassum isn’t very pretty but life isn’t all about aesthetics and in this instance that ugly patch serves a purpose.
“We love our sandy beaches, but in order to keep them we need Sargassum. When storms come, they wash away all the sand off the beach but sargassum acts as a mulch to protect the sand from water erosion. It doesn’t look good, it doesn’t feel good but we need it.”
He said it also provides a habitat for small crustaceans, crabs, and insects that are all necessary to our ecosystem and islanders have found use for the weed.
“Historically, (in The Bahamas) we have been using sargassum as fertilizer, especially in the family Islands as far back as I know,” he said. “Birds don’t go on the beach unless there is Sargassum and what do they do? they feed – it’s beautiful.”
He encouraged residents to just leave it be if they came across it.
Sargassum isn’t harmful to humans, except for people with respiratory issues who may find the rotten egg smell triggers asthma. Despite this, it’s not advisable to walk through the weeds which may hide sharp rocks and bottles or vulnerable animals.
Experts say Sargassum blooms began to increase in size around 2011 and have continued to get bigger and bigger since. This year‘s bloom is around 5000 miles long and 300 miles wide and visible from space.
“I know it’s not a general outlook, but I would like to change the perspective on sargassum,” John said, pointing out The Bahamas National Trust is actively working to decrease alarm over the less worrisome events like sargassum as it raises the profile on the environmentally devastating.
#TurksandCaicos, March 17, 2023 – The Turks and Caicos’ Bahamas Diaspora Office is moving closer and closer to opening day, following the Cabinet’s approval for the signing of a lease agreement.
The lease will be signed with FINCEN ltd in the Bahamas. Several weeks ago, Arlington Musgrove, Minister of Immigration confirmed to our news team that the location had been found and was being finalized; now a lease is approved at the Cabinet level.
The interest in the TCI from TC Bahamians was evident in the diaspora meetings held in early February. The two meetings held in Nassau and Grand Bahama were completely full and over-subscribed by hundreds.
It’s interest which the Government hopes will translate to real life population growth, bolstering the local population before the native population ‘goes extinct’.
The Opposition PDM is on the record with what it feels is a far more viable solution to a dwindling native population; seek out the country’s own citizens and bring them back home.