Garfield Ekon

Staff Writer

The Bahamas, December 3, 2024 – The Bahamian Government is instituting measures to ensure the reduction of illegal guns trafficked into the islands from the United States (US), according to Prime Minister, Hon. Philip Brave Davis.

His comments came after a recent report on gun trafficking in the Caribbean found that The Bahamas had the highest percentage of recovered firearms that were sourced in the US and traced to US retail purchasers.

“You know, I’ve been talking about the proliferation of arms in our country [emanating] from the United States for quite a while,” Prime Minister Davis said, in response to the report.

“Their report confirms what we believe and on the world stage I’ve been speaking about the fact that the United States’ right to bear arms cannot translate or mean a right to traffic in arms.”

Lamenting the fact that in spite of collaboration between local law enforcement and US authorities, illegal weapons continue to be smuggled into The Bahamas, he said “unfortunately the trafficking is still continuing but we’ve been able to trace and track, and some of the straw purchasers in the United States have been arrested and been charged in the United States,” he stated.

“We are making some progress. It is alarming. As you know, most of our violent crimes are perpetrated by guns which we don’t manufacture … [and have] been illegally brought into the country and we are attempting to find ways to continue to stem that tide,” the PM pointed out.

Ironically, the report preceded a shocking announcement of an indictment of 13 men, 11 from The Bahamas including Royal Bahamas Police and Defence Force members and two Colombians; charged with conspiracies related to firearms and narcotics trafficking through The Bahamas into the United States.

The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) prepared and published the report. It found that the majority of guns recovered in the Caribbean – 73 percent – between 2018 and 2022 were traced back to the United States and trafficked to the Caribbean by various means.

It said 45 percent of these trafficked guns “could be sourced back to an initial retail purchase in the United States, with most sales originating in Florida, Texas, and Georgia”. The remaining 27 percent of recovered and traced firearms were either traced to 35 other countries (23 percent) or their source was of undetermined origin (four percent), the report said.

The report said that the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) processed 7,399 traces of firearms recovered in crimes in the Caribbean from 2018 through 2022.

From: Bahamas Information Services

NASSAU, The Bahamas – Minister of Social Services, Information and Broadcasting, the Hon. Myles K. LaRoda, Thursday made a “clarion call” for an end to all violence in-country, but in particular, violence against women and girls.

The call came in the aftermath of the discovery of the remains of a 12-year-old missing school girl (Wednesday, November 20) in bushes near Faith Avenue South, and as the Ministry, its Department of Gender and Family Affairs; the National Women’s Advisory Council, along with other female non-governmental organizations and advocacy groups, and stakeholders, prepare to observe National Women’s Week across the Commonwealth of The Bahamas (November 24-30).

Minister LaRoda said his Ministry, the Department of Gender and Family Affairs, along with its government and non-governmental partners and stakeholders must, and will, remain “resolute” in their push as it relates to “rooting out this scourge.”

The start of National Women’s Week serves as the precursor to the global observance of the United Nations’ Sixteen Days of Activism to End Violence against Women and Girls, which will be observed from November 25 (the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women) to December 10 (Human Rights Day).  The campaign calls for global action to increase awareness, advocacy and innovations to help end violence against women and girls.

The sixteen days of activism are included in the observance of National Women’s Week and, in this regard, the Department of Gender and Family Affairs has organized the End the Violence March and Rally for Sunday, December 7, beginning at 4 p.m.  The March will commence at the South Beach Police Station and end at the Pinewood Gardens Park with a rally.  It is expected that representation from a cross-section of the country will come together in solidarity to speak out against violence against women and girls.

Gender-based violence (or GBV) is considered a serious violation of human rights and a life-threatening health, and protection issue.  Although anyone — women, girls, men and boys — can be victims of gender-based violence, women and girls are especially at risk.

GBV can include sexual, physical, mental and economic harm inflicted in public or in private. It also includes threats of violence, coercion and manipulation. This can take many forms such as intimate partner violence and sexual violence, among others.

Officials at the Department of Gender and Family Affairs (DGFA), including those at its Men’s Desk, say the consequences of gender-based violence are devastating and can have life-long repercussions for survivors. It can even lead to death.

In an effort to continue its mandate to bring further awareness to the negative impacts GBV can have, the DGFA has been working year-round with the National Women’s Advisory Council and other strategic partners and stakeholders, including the various advocacy groups, to address GBV and to ensure the implementation and strengthening of the requisite programmes and strategies to help address, prevent and mitigate Gender-based violence in-country.

Minister LaRoda, in his brief statement on the incident as it is still under active police investigation, said: “You would note that just last night (Wednesday night), we learned of the very tragic death of a female child in southern, New Providence and we were alerted to other children who have gone missing.  While details of this tragedy and the missing children case is still under investigation, we make the clarion call for an end to violence, particularly against our women and girls.”

Minister LaRoda, while applauding the work done by the DGFA, the National Women’s Advisory Council, and the many other government and non-governmental partners and stakeholders, in “getting the message out” of the debilitating effects Gender-based violence, and indeed all violence, can have on society, said the push to address GBV will take resilience.

“The violence doesn’t stop on the observance of days. We have to come to grips that ours is a society, where acts of violence including death against women and girls, do not take a vacation. But we as a community have to remain resilient. We have to continue to put the message out there. We are not going to get to Utopia based on naming days, coming up with strategies where we are going to bat 1,000 per cent.

“We, at the Ministry, including those women’s advocacy groups, government and non-governmental organizations, and private citizens who are appalled by this act cannot be deterred. Our collective resolve has to be one where we become even more resolute in our mission as it relates to rooting out this scourge.”

Freeport, Grand Bahama – October, 2024 saw the opening of Paint Fair’s new location on Bellevue Lane in Grand Bahama – marking a return to a permanent home after Hurricane Dorian’s destruction meant relocating to a temporary location for the Grand Bahama paint retailer. And, after 5 long years, Paint Fair was also able to reintroduce its extremely popular PPG Colour & Design Shows which had always attracted design and building professionals as well as enthusiastic DIYers and homeowners. The Paint Fair & PPG Colour & Design 2025 Trends events were held over two days, October 29th and 30th, with one event geared for industry professionals and the other for DIYers and homeowners and officially launched the PPG 2025 Colour of the Year – Purple Basil.

“We are so grateful for the amazing support of our new location and for the return of our colour shows,” said Lesley Davies-Baptista, president of Paint Fair. “Almost 250 people enjoyed glimpses of the latest in colour and design trends and got tips on how to get the most out of their projects. We are so excited we could share the latest design trends with industry professionals to help inspire and support them on their projects and for their clients. And, of course, we loved showing our customers some colour and design inspiration and tips to easily and affordably enhance their spaces as we head into the holiday season.”

Attendees were shown all the ways PPG’s bold Purple Basil & other trends could be used in their own projects, techniques on fantastic front door, cabinet makeovers and colour drenching with great colour, how to do remake items with cans of spray paint and more. It was, of course, all topped off with refreshments and giveaways.

Paint Fair’s beautiful new showroom showcases their fantastic Sikkens wood products, Master Wall masonry brick finish, Acrylabs island style hurricane rated roof, Shaw flooring, Tempaper Wallpaper designs and the PPG Colour of the Year. The Paint Fair family celebrated the move and return to their colour & design series in honour of Paint Fair’s founder and matriarch, Joan Davies, who continues to inspire them today to make sure that when it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right.