#NASSAU, The Bahamas – May 11, 2020 – Employees from the ten Urban Renewal Centres in New Providence implemented curbside delivery over the May 1-3 weekend to distribute care packages to senior citizens in those communities in which Urban Centres are located.
The care packages consisted of food items the seniors would
need to ensure they had a well-balanced, nutritious meal during the mandatory “lockdown
period.”
The curbside delivery of care packages to the seniors was
part of the Ministry of Social Services and Urban Development’s overall plan to
provide the greatest amount of social assistance to persons in the face of the
COVID-19 Pandemic, by maximizing the reach of its human and
other resources.
Similar deliveries will be replicated in Grand Bahama, Abaco and the Family Islands in order to be consistent with
Minister of Social Services and Urban Development, the Hon. Frankie A. Campbell’s
mandate “of not being just New Providence-centric.”
Team members of Urban Renewal preparing care packages ahead of instituting curbside deliveries to senior citizens residing in the ten communities in which Urban Centres are located as part of the Ministry of Social Service and Urban Development’s overall plan of maximizing its reach into the communities which they serve. (Urban Renewal Photo)
As Essential Service workers, the teams
were allowed to perform that essential service to the senior citizens.
The teams collected, packaged and distributed food to senior citizens in the Fort Charlotte, Bain Town, Flamingo Gardens, Fox
Hill, Free Town, Englerston, Pinewood, Centreville, Nassau Village and St.
Barnabas urban communities, all the while strictly following all of the
safeguards and protocols set out by the Ministry of Health in the fight to
contain the spread of the COVID-19 Pandemic, and in order to ensure the safety
of team members and the general public they serve.
“We were mandated by Minister
of Social Service and Urban Development, the Hon. Frankie A. Campbell, to
ensure that food is not an issue for persons in need of food assistance,
particularly those in the inner-city communities, during the mandatory lockdown
period,” Mr. Kellen Russell, Director, Urban Renewal said.
“During this distribution we
targeted the senior citizens of the inner city to ensure that the precious
pearls were lacking nothing.”
Director Russell said the
implementation of curbside delivery service and other services, is part of
Urban Renewal’s mandate to transform lives using “innovative measures.”
“Urban Renewal is all about
being that beacon of light to those in need in the inner-city. While we are
unable to host our seniors and our children at our ten centres throughout New
Providence because of the pandemic, we are working to make our presence felt
among them through innovative ways — virtually and now through feeding.
“No matter what happens,
Urban will stay on the ground working to carry out our mandate which is to
transform lives one community at a time,” Director Russell added.
Residents can contact the Commission Office at 502-4450 for any concerns or issues within the communities.
Magnetic Media is a Telly Award winning multi-media company specializing in creating compelling and socially uplifting TV and Radio broadcast programming as a means for advertising and public relations exposure for its clients.
#TheBahamas, March 27, 2023 – Trinidad and Tobago’s Soca Warriors dominated the Bahamas at home, at the Thomas Robinson Stadium in Nassau, for the 2022/2023 Concacaf Nations League on Friday, with a 3-0 victory.
The Soca Warriors struck their first blow within the first 5 minutes of the game, with Kareem Moses making the first shot in the top left corner of the net giving T&T one to the Bahamas’ zero (1-0).
Soon after, in about 26 minutes, they made another shot giving them 2-0 away from home; the scorer Joevin Jones. By the 34th minute mark, the winning goal was made by Ryan Telfer, T&T now at three.
Neither team scored any additional goals as the match progressed despite attempts made by various players.
Trinidad’s win gives them 12 points through five matches. Next match for the Soca Warriors is against Nicaragua; that clash is set for Monday March 27 (at home in Tobago at the Dwight Yorke Stadium), in a tussle of winner-take-all on the final match day. The victor takes home a promotion to League A and a spot in the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup.
Angus Eve, T&T’s head coach expressed that the job is only half done, keeping aware that more challenges are coming their way, one of which is the nearing match against Nicaragua who is one point ahead of the Warriors.
Meanwhile, The Bahamas will journey to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines with hopes of emerging victorious there.
March 24, 2023 – Without immediate and widespread efforts at curbing salt intake, 7 million lives will be lost by 2030 according to the World Health Organization. The warning follows the first-ever Global Report on Sodium Intake Reduction, which revealed that the world would not meet its sodium intake reduction target of 30 percent by 2025 on its current path.
With only 5% of WHO Member States protected by mandatory and comprehensive sodium reduction policies, the rest of the world must immediately implement ‘highly cost-effective sodium reduction policies to protect against some of the most common non-communicable diseases.
No Caribbean country was mentioned in the group of nine countries with comprehensive salt laws, but Barbados is currently set to make effective stringent regulations to govern food consumption and food quality.
Tedros Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director-General said:
“Most countries are yet to adopt any mandatory sodium reduction policies, leaving their people at risk of heart attack, stroke, and other health problems. The WHO calls on all countries to implement the ‘Best Buys’ for sodium reduction, and on manufacturers to implement the WHO benchmarks for sodium content in food.”
North America and the Caribbean have the highest child diabetes statistics in the world, with the second highest prevalence in adults as well. In Turks and Caicos in particular, over 300 hundred residents have failing kidneys, a number described as ‘alarming’ by experts. Kidney disease is fueled in most cases by diabetes and hypertension.
The WHO is then advising Governments to do four things:
Reformulating foods to contain less salt, and setting targets for the amount of sodium in foods and meals.
Establishing public food procurement policies to limit salt or sodium-rich foods in public institutions such as hospitals, schools, workplaces, and nursing homes.
Front-of-package labelling that helps consumers select products lower in sodium.
Behaviour change communication and mass media campaigns to reduce salt/sodium consumption.
With these measures in place, the salt reduction target can still be achieved, according to the WHO.
#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.