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TCI Police Commissioner Botting thanks Bahamas contingent during special parade

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By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

 

#TurksandCaicos, December 20, 2022 – Police Commissioner Trevor Botting publicly extended his thanks to the Bahamian contingent on Saturday during the TCI’s Police Parade, recognizing the officers who were instrumental in subduing crime late this year.

The officers arrived in the Turks and Caicos in early October at the height of the murder spree that began on September 3rd and were sworn into the TCI force leaving their families and friends behind in The Bahamas.

Botting showed appreciation in his speech.

“To you, the officers from the Bahamas, I say this; thank you for your commitment, courage and support during your deployment to the Turks and Caicos Islands.  I knew the people of the Bahamas were very close cousins to us, but all 24 of you are truly brothers and sisters to us within the RTCIPF.  The communities of the TCI, my Officers and I are so very grateful for all that you have done and will do in the future in support of policing here on the TCI.  You have done your country, your Force, your commissioner and yourselves proud in the way you have undertaken your challenging deployment, I salute and thank all of you.  I have been proud to call myself your ‘temporary’ commissioner during your time with us,” he said.

The arrival of the Bahamian officers showed a marked turn in the trajectory of crime in the TCI, what the police describe as ‘significant arrests’ were made and shootings slowed. While incidents did occur after more arrests were made and the island’s most wanted man was taken down in a joint operation.

Botting went on to extend thanks specifically to Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis; Wayne Munroe, the Minister of National Security for The Bahamas and the Commissioner of the Royal Bahamas Police Force, Clayton Fernander “for their support in deploying 24 of their best officers to the TCI to work with the men and women of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands.”

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FBI and Bahamas looking into woman’s death  

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Dana Malcolm  

Staff Writer  

 

 

#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.   

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Bahamas News

Why Sargassum Matters

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Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer 

 

 

#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. 

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Lease agreement approved for diaspora office     

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Dana Malcolm  

Staff Writer 

 

 

#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. 

Cabinet did not state when the office will open. 

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