Bahamas News
Soft Opening of Carnival’s Ocean Medallion Project in Grand Bahama
#Bahamas, October 14, 2017 – Grand Bahama – Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister, Senator the Hon. Kwasi Thompson expressed excitement for the opportunities available for the island and its residents as a result of Carnival Corporation’s Ocean Medallion Project, during their soft opening on Friday, October 13.
Describing technology as the future of Grand Bahama which is happening now, Minister Thompson added that he is very excited about Ocean Medallion. Ocean Medallion is a wearable device designed to enhance the overall cruising and service experience of the passenger. It enables a personal digital concierge for passengers, eliminating long check in lines, cabin keys and credit cards.
A detailed description of Ocean Medallion and what the Freeport facility will do was given by John Padgett, Chief Experience and Innovation Officer of Carnival Corporation and Marcelo Freire, Director, Global IT PMO Guest Experience and Innovation of Carnival Corporation, to Minister Thompson along with other senior officials from government, the Grand Bahama Port Authority and the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce.
While making a statement to the media immediately after, Minister Thompson said, “This Ocean Medallion project is the first-of-its-kind wearable device that enables a personal digital concierge by bridging the physical and digital worlds (technology) to deliver a new level of personalized service not previously considered possible. With this type of interactive technology, not only does it change the cruise industry but for Grand Bahama, it diversifies our economy, allowing aspiring entrepreneurs and small Bahamian companies to take advantage of these opportunities.
“Through our Business to Business Initiative industrial corporations and others like The Grand Bahama Shipyard and Buckeye agreed to open their inventory and purchasing needs to the small business community. This opportunity was used to empower businesses to be able to supply those needs at a better rate or faster delivery service.
“Further to this, Bahamian companies such as the GB Shipyard and Freeport Ship Services have taken advantage of this opportunity to do business with Carnival Corporation. Grand Bahama is positioned as the perfect fit for industry and innovation where industry connects with technology.”
With the government’s focus on Grand Bahama becoming an offshore technical hub, the advanced technology of Ocean Medallion is welcomed as it is playing an integral role. It is anticipated that eight to 10 Grand Bahamian IT/Electronic Technicians will be hired and trained to assist with programming and installing the Ocean Medallion systems onboard Carnival’s fleet.
According to Minister Thompson, in rebranding the island for industry and technology, the GB Tech Summit will be launched next week. The tech summit is expected to attract some of the best and brightest, including Bahamians who are making strides worldwide.
“The message our government wishes to articulate to the innovation team at Carnival and all of the technology companies who are a part of this project, Hughes Systique Corp you are truly welcome and we believe this is only the beginning of any exciting and prosperous partnership.”
The government believes Grand Bahama has the potential to be the Silicon Valley of the Caribbean, said Minister Thompson, and hopes to empower the island through foreign direct investments, particularly those investors needing IT engineers, technicians, specialists and project managers on the ground to monitor and manage their projects.
“I assure you, the government is focused and committed to simulating the local business environment because a healthy and strong Grand Bahamian economy is vital to the growth and development of the entire Bahamas.”
By: Robyn Adderley (BIS)
Photo captions:
SOFT OPENING – Carnival Corporation held a soft opening for their new technology facility in Grand Bahama on Friday, October 13, 2017; Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister, Senator the Hon. Kwasi Thompson, along with other senior officials from government, the Grand Bahama Port Authority and the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce were present. Shown from left are: Ajay Gupta, Sr. Vice President and Head of Business Development and Sales, Hughes Systique; Ian Rolle, President, Grand Bahama Port Authority; John Padgett, Chief Experience and Innovation Officer, Carnival Corporation; Minister Thompson; Iram Lewis, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Works; Rev. Frederick McAlpine, Chairman, Hotel Corporation of The Bahamas; Harcourt Brown, Acting Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, Grand Bahama; and Mick Holding, Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce. (BIS Photo/Lisa Davis)
TOURING THE FACILITY – Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister, Grand Bahama, Senator the Hon. Kwasi Thompson, was on Friday taken on a tour of the newly established tech facility of Carnival Corporation where they are assembling their state-of-the-art Ocean Medallion. This device is expected to enhance the cruise experience by providing a more personalized experience for passengers. Minister Thompson is seen discussing some of the networking equipment with: Rev. Frederick McAlpine, Chairman, Hotel Corporation of The Bahamas; Iram Lewis, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Works; John Padgett, Chief Experience and Innovation Officer, Carnival Corporation; and Ian Rolle, President, Grand Bahama Port Authority. (BIS Photo/Andrew Miller)
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.
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