Bahamas News
PM Davis Highlights Importance of 2nd Annual Sustainable Development Goals Conference
By ERIC ROSE
Bahamas Information Services
NASSAU, The Bahamas – During his Keynote Address at the 2nd Annual Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Conference, on July 2, 2024 Prime Minister and Minister of Finance the Hon. Philip Davis stated that it was an honour to be there with participants and stakeholders, and congratulated the SDG Unit at the Office of the Prime Minister for “bringing us together, once again, to discuss the advancement of our SDG agenda.”
“Friends, as the theme of this conference suggests, the time has come to move from awareness to action,” he said at the event held at the Performing Arts Centre of the University of The Bahamas. “We have talked ad-nauseum about the need to make headway on the SDGS, as well as on the major obstacles to progress.
“At the top of our agenda is the need to achieve climate justice and climate finance reform to promote a just transition for The
Bahamas and all Small Island Developing States,” he added. “This applies not just to the achievement of SDG 13:Climate Action, but to all of our goals.
“Moving forward, in acknowledgement of the all-encompassing impact climate change has had – and will continue to have – on our economies and societies, we must fully integrate climate solutions into all of our sustainable development strategies.”
Prime Minister Davis stated that, as they accelerate the SDG agenda, they need to be mindful that not everyone in Bahamian society is aware of the SDGs and their importance to global development.
“They are not aware of the goals we have achieved or those where we still need significant progress,” he said. “It is critical to promote greater awareness of the SDGs, their importance, and the decisions we are making in relation to them.”
Prime Minister Davis added: “But people don’t need to be fully aware for us to take action. In fact, it is through delivering action-oriented change that more people will become aware and buy into our collective vision. Awareness isn’t always the prerequisite for action. Sometimes it takes those who are aware to take the necessary action to drive widespread support. Nothing increases awareness like the implementation of action-oriented policies that make a real, positive impact in people’s lives. Academics, community organizers, policymakers, legislators, and government leaders have a responsibility to take necessary actions to achieve the SDGs and create a better society for our people.”
Prime Minister Davis noted that, as they endeavoured to leave no one behind in a new economic, social, and climate reality, they must all play their part.
“My Government, for its part, is driven by a deep commitment to sustainable development, as many of our policy strategies demonstrate,” he said. “We are certainly making ‘healthy’ strides toward achieving Goal 3, Good Health and Wellbeing. Improving healthcare is one of our top priorities, and we have been greatly encouraged by the success of our burgeoning NHI programme.”
“We have revamped and will continue to upgrade health facilities across Eleuthera and other Family Islands, and last year we broke ground on a $210 million Health Campus in Grand Bahama,” Prime Minister Davis added. “That’s a big deal for Grand Bahamians, who will now enjoy easy access to cutting-edge facilities and life-saving services.”
He pointed out that, in New Providence, his Government was actively engaging stakeholders as it forged ahead with a “new state-of-the-art” hospital.
“We have also brought medical cannabis legislation as well as longevity and regenerative therapies legislation to parliament, further broadening the horizons of physical and economic wellbeing in The Bahamas,” Prime Minister Davis said. “Our efforts at encouraging Bahamians to lead healthier lives is further evidenced by food security efforts such as farmers markets, and infrastructural developments like the new multi-purpose gymnasium in South Andros.”
“To live well, one must be well – and so we are empowering Bahamians to take control of their well-being,” he added.
Prime Minister Davis said that SDG 4, Quality Education, was another key priority for his administration. The Ministry of Education and Technical and Vocational Training (MOETVT) was committed to increasing the high school graduation rate from 50% to 85% by 2030, he added.
“To achieve this end, this administration has implemented the Bahamas Education Sector Transformation (BEST) Project – a $43 million undertaking in conjunction with the Caribbean Development Bank, Prime Minister Davis noted. “This project involves the construction of the East Grand Bahama Comprehensive School and upgrades to schools across Grand Bahama, but also the development of a modernised IT strategy for the Ministry and professional development opportunities for some two thousand administrators and teachers.”
“By investing in our scholastic infrastructure, our educators, and our promising young pupils, we are well on our way to securing a sustainable future for all Bahamians,” he added.
Prime Minister Davis pointed out that his Government had also made considerable progress on Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth.
He stated: “We have grown the economy and pursued opportunities for business growth and job creation that have lowered the unemployment rate. We are launching initiatives like the National Apprenticeship Programme to address skill gaps and help our young people to boost employability. We have negotiated 30 new trade union agreements in less than three years, bringing better wages and benefits for tens of thousands of Bahamians, because decent pay is a part of decent work.”
“In fact, we are the first country in the entire region to launch a second-generation Decent Work Country Programme as we pursue more opportunities for gainful employment and decent work for every member of our workforce,” Prime Minister added: “This is a testament to our dedication to creating a better world of work for Bahamians.”
He said that, of course, he could not discuss sustainable development without mentioning the ‘new energy era’.
“An ageing 20th-century grid can’t support a growing 21st-century economy,” Prime Minister Davis said. “So we are tackling the root cause of high electricity prices and unreliable power – burdens that have held us back for far too long.”
“We are forging a just and environmentally alert energy future for our archipelago, one in harmony with SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy,” he added. “Powered by solar and natural gas – two energy sources that are far cleaner than crude oil and diesel – our new energy era will see the modernisation of power grids across the country, bringing efficiency gains, lower energy bills, and new opportunities for Bahamians.”
Prime Minister Davis noted that his Government was tailoring energy solutions to each island, while implementing an equity rate adjustment that will lower the bills of residential consumers.
“In executing a just energy transition, we are not simply reducing our nation’s carbon emissions, we are lowering the cost of living and the cost of doing business,” he said. “There is an interconnectedness and synergy inherent to the Sustainable Development Goals, which means that progress on one front translates to progress in other areas.”
Prime Minister Davis added: “Take farming, for example. There are obvious implications for SDGs 1, 2, and 3, as well as SDG 8. While Our National School Breakfast Programme applies to SDGs 2, 3, and 4. This highlights the need for strategic approaches to national development that identify those opportunities where our investments will create the biggest ROI in terms of advancement toward the SDGs for the benefit of our people.
“My friends, we are practising what we preach, and making change where it matters most.”
Prime Minister Davis pointed out that those were just a few examples of the progress his Government had made; but, he added, it still had “so much work left to do”.
“As we move from awareness to action, be reminded that the journey towards sustainable development is a collective one,” he said. “It requires the concerted efforts of the government, the private sector, civil society, and individuals.”
“We will do our part in the public sector, but corporate support and citizen participation will be just as crucial,” Prime Minister Davis added. “Together, we can accelerate the SDG agenda and build a sustainable, flourishing future for The Bahamas.
“Thank you, and may God bless us in our efforts.”
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.
A hardline strategy that reduced murders, gunfire, and collateral deaths
The Bahamas, February 8, 2026 – What happens when police stop routinely granting bail to high-risk suspects and aggressively execute outstanding warrants? In The Bahamas, the answer in 2025 was fewer murders, fewer gunshots, and safer communities.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force arrested 4,337 individuals on outstanding warrants last year, ensuring suspects were brought directly before the courts instead of being released back onto the streets. At the same time, police significantly curtailed the use of police bail for high-risk and repeat offenders, particularly those already entangled in violent disputes.
Police Commissioner Shanta Knowles said the shift was informed by hard lessons from previous years. Intelligence reviews showed that
many homicide victims were not random targets, but men already wanted by law enforcement and — critically — by other criminals. When released on bail, those individuals often became targets themselves, triggering retaliatory shootings that spilled into neighbourhoods, roadways and public spaces.
By keeping high-risk suspects in custody pending court appearances, police say they disrupted that cycle — removing both potential offenders and potential victims from the streets.
The impact was stark. Murders declined by 31 percent in 2025, falling from 120 in 2024 to 83, the largest percentage decrease in homicides since national tracking began in 1963 and the lowest murder count in nearly two decades.
Police leaders say the strategy also reduced the collateral damage that had increasingly alarmed communities. Innocent residents had been caught in “sprays of gunfire” as targeted attacks unfolded in residential areas, at traffic stops, and in public settings.
Gun-violence indicators reflected the change. Gunshot reports fell by 35 percent, while incidents detected by ShotSpotter technology declined by 29 percent, confirming that fewer shots were being fired across the country.
“Gunshots ringing out and cutting through our peaceful paradise were down remarkably,” Commissioner Knowles said, attributing the improvement to decisive enforcement, tighter bail practices, and sustained pressure on offenders.
Police also intensified enforcement against breach of bail conditions, charging and detaining more suspects than in any previous reporting period. Officers say the approach removed the opportunity for repeat offending while matters were before the courts.
Police leadership said the results go beyond statistics. By limiting bail for high-risk suspects and executing warrants at scale, the strategy saved lives, protected bystanders, and restored confidence in public safety.
In 2025, fewer people were hunted, fewer bullets were fired, and fewer families were left grieving — a shift police say was no accident, but the result of deliberate, hardline choices.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
