Bahamas News
Flamingo Gardens Centre’s backyard farm is ‘the gift that keeps on giving’
NASSAU, The Bahamas – Officials at the Flamingo Gardens Family Life Centre are putting their money where their mouths are when it comes to the Centre’s backyard farming initiative.
Almost one year after its launch in September, 2024 as part of the Empowerment Hour Programme, the Centre has planted and harvested a
range of vegetables from lettuce, to chili peppers, lemon cucumbers, Asian melons, and more recently pumpkins, including a 28.2 pounder, to showcase how families can not only feed themselves, but also supplement their incomes through the sale of their produce, while ultimately helping to protect the environment. A similar programme was launched at the Nassau Village Community Centre.
(The Empowerment Hour Programme, and all other programmes hosted at the Flamingo Gardens Family Life Centre, are facilitated by the Community Affairs Division of the Department of Social Services, Ministry of Social Services, Information and Broadcasting.)
Lisa Bowleg, the Officer-in-Charge of the Community Affairs Division, said the Centre’s collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, and specifically Mr. Danrey Sweeting, on the implementation of the backyard farming initiative, has been “fruitful.”
“I would say that we have been very successful as a group in turning the backyard space at the centre into a positive showcase of the potential of backyard farming,” Bowleg said. “The Department of Agriculture came in at the initial stages and shared tips and tools of how we could have a successful programme, and then they came in and showed us how to make that happen.
“From that period to now, we have had several harvests, and the consideration was that as we continue to grow and harvest, and teach and
make persons within the community more and more aware of the possibilities of backyard farming even within a limited space, that we also continue to give back.” Bowleg said the Centre has been privileged to share its harvests with various individuals, families and institutions in the community free of charge. Beneficiaries have included residents of the two Senior Citizens Homes.
“The ability to share something out of our garden with our senior citizens that they can enjoy — whether it is a pumpkin soup, or a piece of roasted pumpkin, or boiled pumpkin is a blessing,” Bowleg continued. “What we are doing at the Flamingo Gardens Family Life Centre with the Empowerment Hour Programme, and more specifically with the Backyard Farming Initiative, is showing people that this is indeed possible and that it does not matter how young or old you are; whether you are able-bodied or whether you are differently-abled, that there is indeed a way to feed ourselves, to sustain ourselves and our family and also be able to share with other persons in the community.”
An avid backyard farmer who practices what she preaches, Bowleg said she views backyard farming as “the gift that keeps on giving.”
“One of the persons we distributed the pumpkins to operates a Soup Kitchen free of charge on a monthly basis and so being able to assist her means that she can continue to share with others. The Soup Kitchen at the Good News Seventh-Day Adventist Church, a community partner of the Family Life Centre, has also been a recipient (and) so we are not just talking about passing on something where it stops, it’s the gift that keeps on giving because as we give to them, they are giving to others.”
Initially launched as a means of getting adult residents of the community to appreciate the many benefits associated with backyard farming, the Programme was recently extended to participants of the Centre’s annual Camp Climate Action where they were provided with instruction on how to re-use and recycle old tires, pots and pans, and cups and bottles within which to grow their fruits, vegetables and various herbs. Seventy children participated in the Camp that also focused on climate change and its impacts on communities and children; hurricane preparedness (packing a proper disaster supply kit); food security (food insecurity is a fall-out from climate change); backyard farming, and preserving the environment (plant life, marine life, animal life).
Bowleg said Camp Climate Action provided facilitators and presenters with the opportunity to teach a young generation of Bahamians about
the things they can do to help preserve and sustain our environment at an early age. Campers were also taught how to make compost from organic materials like yard waste (dry leaves, etcetera) and food scraps (peels from fruits and vegetables including bananas, oranges, potatoes, apples, etcetera). The compost is then added to the soil to improve its properties. She said the garden at the Flamingo Gardens Family Life Centre, is “proof positive” about the attributes of backyard farming. “More people need to understand that there are many opportunities to grow their own fruits, vegetables and herbs – organically — no matter how small their yard space may be. Additionally, herbs such as basil, rosemary, thyme, cilantro, etcetera, can all be grown and harvested in various sized containers in kitchens which eliminates the need for yard space. Backyard farming is a wonderful initiative that not only helps with food security, but also the economic, social and physical and mental health benefits of persons who participate in it.”
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.
