Bahamas News
Wife of Bahamas’ Majority Rule Prime Minister demands apology from the PLP
By Sherrica Thompson
Staff Writer
#TheBahamas, January 15, 2023 – Dame Marguerite Pindling, the wife of the first Prime Minister of The Bahamas, the late Sir Lynden Oscar Pindling, on Tuesday, January 10, demanded an apology from the Minister of Public Service and National Chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), Fred Mitchell, for forgetting to acknowledge her in the protocols of a wreath-laying ceremony held in honour of her late husband.
During her remarks, Dame Pindling ruffled feathers but demonstrated stern finesse when she criticised the PLP government for making the Majority Rule Day celebrations too political. She accused the party of using the holiday as a ‘stepping stone’ rather than a celebration of her late husband’s remarkable achievement and legacy.
“I come here today in respect of the work that my husband has done along with his other fellow workers in this country… and I do not want anyone to use this to pay him cheap because I will not stand for it,” she said as a matter-
of-factly.
She also noted that Majority Rule Day was only possible with Sir Lynden Pindling, who negotiated masterfully when the black-led PLP and white-led party UBP were tied for seats after the general election.
“There was a man called Lyden Pindling who walked, talked, didn’t know a thing about South Andros until I had to go and tell the people that he coming to run against Cyril Stevenson, cause if we hadn’t put Pindling there, Stevenson would have won,” Dame Pindling explained.
Though the former governor-general’s demand went viral, captivating the interest of the nation as it was a surprise to many, she never got an apology from Mr. Mitchell.
Majority Rule Day is one of the most critical events in the history of the country as it commemorates the day The Bahamas saw its black majority represented more equitably in the House of Assembly. The dramatic shift happened in 1967 and was the demise of the United Bahamian Party, a white led group of aristocrat Bahamians who until this event, had ruled parliament and the country with an uneven hand.
The day ushered in, what many said was a level playing field and greater fair play for Bahamians of all races, particularly those of African descent.
The comments of Dame Maguerite, also a former Governor General of The Bahamas has led to robust dialogue on how the day ought to be commemorated.
The wreath-laying at her husband’s gravesite, where she expressed her disappointment and demanded an apology was a PLP function.
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.
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.
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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