News
Smoggy start to Commonwealth Day for thousands in Providenciales; Dump fire behind the “horrible” conditions
Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicos, March 11, 2024 – Monday, March 12 dawned bleak and smoggy in areas of Providenciales because of the effects of a massive fire at the dump over the weekend. It’s been described as an “environmental disaster,” by residents enduring the blanketing smoke and is also labelled, ‘one of the worst’ instances of fire and resulting smoke in the area.
It was a hotspot, discovered by a team from the Environmental Health Department that caused the blaze.
”The fire originated from a fire extinguishing exercise and was triggered by a hotspot flare up. During the early morning on Saturday, March 9, 2024, TCI Green Ecological Corporation Limited, the new management company of the solid waste management facility, identified a hotspot flare up in the northwestern area of the landfill site. Swift action was taken by alerting the Domestic Fire Service and other supporting agencies to contain the situation,” said Kyle Knowles Minister for Public Safety and Utilities and Member of Parliament for Wheeland and West Caicos around 12:30 p.m. Monday.
By that time the smoke was thankfully clearing, but the morning and the night before had been horrific for residents.
“The struggle is real,” one resident said, “driving through the smoke this morning— people who live in Phase Two, I feel for you all this morning. I live all the way in the back (of the housing subdivision) and I can smell it. With the dew and smoke this morning that means you all can taste it. For anybody with respiratory problems, God be with y’all. ”
The resident inferred the possibility that the cool wet early morning air was trapping the smoke. It’s not hard to imagine that the Monday morning phenomenon was smog, a fog made heavier and thicker by smoke or chemicals.
Photos were shared of the black low hanging smoke literally blanketing roadways and smothering shrubs and bushes.
Other residents were shocked at the reach of the smog and concerned about vulnerable residents’ health .
“This is the worst it has ever been. Blankets of thick, dense, awful smelling smoke have covered both phases. The toxic smoke will definitely affect the quality of life for the people in this community,” said a resident.
Medical complaints quickly arose as well.
“This needs to be a major headline mainly because of the health implications on young children and the elderly—Coughing, burning eyes, serious respiratory problems,” our team was told.
The affected area was widespread, reports from residents implicated, Chicken Shack; Phase Two; Millenium Highway; Blue Hills; Downtown; Five Cays and Phase One.
“The EHD wishes to advise the residents of Providenciales, especially those living in the Wheeland Phase 2 area, that the Department and TCI Green Ecological are urgently addressing the current fire at the disposal site with the assistance of all stakeholders. As of this Press Release, the fire has been approximately 85% contained. Residents are reminded to keep doors and windows closed to avoid any potential exposure to smoke while the fire is being brought under control,” said the Department of Environmental Health just before 1 p.m. on Monday.
TCI Green Ecological Corporation, the new managers of the Dump who took over just under a week ago, on Tuesday March 5th, had issued a statement on Sunday. 
“Yesterday morning, at approximately 7:00 am, our team detected a hotspot flare-up in the northwestern section of the landfill. We acted promptly, alerting emergency services, and initiating our containment procedures. The situation was brought under control with the assistance of Environmental Health and supportive local agencies. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of all involved, the landfill resumed operations the next day.”
Despite the assurances, residents were furious with the situation.
Minister Knowles pleaded with residents for understanding, reminding them that extinguishing services were not a one off and the exercises would continue until June as scheduled.
“Ongoing extinguishing and remediation activities should be anticipated. However, every effort will be made to minimize and promptly address any potential effects such as hotspot flare ups, which could escalate into larger fires.”
The government has not given any indication on how it will handle any medical claims arising from the fire which is only the latest in years of similar experiences.
February is National Self- Check Month and family medicine physician at Cleveland Clinic, OH, John Hanicak, MD, highlights why at home self-checks are extremely important when it comes to not just early cancer detection but identifying other illnesses too and offers tips on what to look out for.
“Sometimes I look at them as sort of like your check engine light on the car, just like there would be a red flashing light that tells you that
there’s something wrong with a car and prompts you to bring that in and get serviced. Your body does the same thing. It gives you warning signs to look into that symptom a little bit further,” said Hanicak.
Dr. Hanicak said self-checks are going to be a little different for everyone.
However, in general, he recommends looking for anything that may seem abnormal, such as unexplained weight loss, blood in your urine, bumps and bruises that won’t heal, and changes in bowel habits.
For example, if you suddenly start going to the bathroom a lot more than you used to, that could be a sign of something more serious.
He also suggests doing regular skin checks and documenting any moles or spots that start to look different.
“Realize that you are your own person. There’s nobody else in the world exactly like you. You’ve got your own set of ideas, your own family history and your own genetics. Know what is normal for you, and when that changes, that’s the kind of thing that we would be interested in talking about,” said Dr. Hanicak.
Dr. Hanicak notes that self-checks are not meant to replace cancer screenings, as those are just as important to keep up with.
Press Release: Cleveland Clinic
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.
