Bahamas News
BAHAMAS: Minister Ferreira Announces Initiative to Ban Single-Use Plastics By 2020
#Bahamas, April 25, 2018 – Nassau – In an effort to simultaneously address marine pollution and waste management, Minister of the Environment and Housing the Hon. Romauld S. Ferreira officially announced, on April 23, 2018, his Ministry’s initiative to ban single-use plastics – such as shopping bags, food utensils, straws and styrofoam food containers – by 2020.
“My Ministry will work to develop a phase-out plan for single-use plastics such as plastic bags collected at point-of-sale, straws, styrofoam food 
containers and plastic utensils,” Minister Ferreira said, at a press conference held at the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC) Head Office.
Among those present were representatives of a number of environmental groups and stakeholders, pledging their support. Among them were Ardastra Gardens, Atlantis Resort, the Bahamas National Trust, the Bahamas Reef Environment Education Foundation (BREEF), Cans for Kids, Cat Island United, Creative Nassau, Friends of the Environment (Abaco), the University of The Bahamas
“We will also move to make the release of balloons into the air illegal, as they end up in our oceans, releasing toxins and injuring marine life,” he added. “Additionally, we will become a signatory to the Clean Seas Campaign, which was launched in January 2017 by the United Nations Environment. It aims to increase global awareness of the need to reduce marine litter by engaging governments, the private sector, and the general public.”
Minister Ferreira noted that, with the assistance of a diverse group of environmental professionals, the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and the business community at large, relevant governmental agencies and educational institutions, his Ministry will embark on a nation-wide public consultation and educational outreach campaign.
“We will visit communities and schools, hold town hall meetings and meet with businesses to gather valuable data that will assist us in developing a fair and reasonable phase-out plan by 2020 and associated legislation,” he said.
“In the coming weeks we will be reaching out to businesses that have already incorporated sustainable food products within their daily operations,” he added. “As the Minister of the Environment and Housing, I must commend your efforts to take responsibility for how your business impacts our environment. Thank you.”
According to the Ministry, the Plastic Task Force includes members such as the Ministries of the Environment and Housing, Tourism, Finance, and Health; the Customs Department; the Attorney General’s Office; the Bahamas Plastic Movement; The Nature Conservancy; Atlantis and Baha Mar Resorts; and the University of The Bahamas.
Minister Ferreira pointed out that, with the assistance of the BCCEC, his Ministry would also start meeting with restaurants, suppliers, importers and various food vendors. The Ministry and the BCCEC also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the initiative, during the press conference that day.
“To engage students, I’m pleased to announce our logo competition for students ages 13 to 18,” Minister Ferreira said. “Logos that represent our plastic and styrofoam ban initiative are to be submitted via email by June 4th, at 4 pm. The competition flyer will be shared through the media and on our Facebook page.”
Minister Ferreira noted that The Bahamas is a “delicate”country with an extensive marine environment that is fundamental to its health and economy.
“For decades, human activities have negatively impacted the marine environment resulting in the death of coral reefs, collapse of fish populations and marine pollution,” Minister Ferreira said. “Coupled with this, we have the prevailing challenge of finding waste management solutions that must be tailored to our small size, but meets our needs within a modern economy.”
Minister Ferreira said that, like many other countries, The Bahamas has an “exacerbating” plastic problem that held significant economic and environmental costs.
He cited a study conducted by the Ellen MacArthur foundation found that at least eight million tons of plastic waste ends up in the world’s oceans 
each year and will remain there for at least a century. He added that, according to the study, by 2025, it is projected that there will be one ton of plastic for every three tons of fish, with plastic trash eventually outweighing fish in the oceans.
“Like other small island developing states, our marine environment is an integral part of our island lifestyle,” Minister Ferreira said. “Due to our location, it is also expected that we will inherit unwanted marine debris as a result of ocean currents and wave patterns, adding a compounding impact to our tourism and fishing industries.
“If you didn’t know, plastic and styrofoam do not decompose,” he added. “They break down into much smaller micro-pieces which are often mistaken for food by birds, turtles, and fish. Injuring or even causing death, various marine species have been impacted by marine debris through entanglement, ingestion, chemical bio-accumulation, smothering and the altering of habitats.”
Causing adverse effects on their health, Minister Ferreira said, plastic contamination is passed up through the food chain, accumulating from prey to predator and ultimately culminating in humans.
“Now, we have come full cycle and find ourselves eating our own plastic waste,” he pointed out.
Minister Ferreira noted that, likewise, styrofoam usage is similarly disastrous. Manufactured with greenhouse gases that affects the ozone layer and petroleum, styrofoam is non-sustainable and a highly polluting product, he added.
“When used in microwaves styrofoam releases fluorocarbons into the air and several other poisonous gases are absorbed into whatever food item it contains,” Minister Ferreira stated.
“Many places have already banned the use of styrofoam, particularly in warming foods in schools and restaurants,” he added. “Additionally, ordinary heat from the food or drink releases these toxins into the contents of the styrofoam containers.
Chemical leaching from styrofoam, Minister Ferreira said, had been linked to acute health effects such as the irritation of the skin, eyes and upper respiratory tract and gastrointestinal system.
“Research has also connected the long-term exposure to styrofoam to minor effects on kidney function and menstrual cycles of women,” he noted.
Minister Ferreira also addressed the impact of plastic pollution on the Bahamian tourism sector.
“A survey done by the Ministry of Tourism found that 70% of visitors come to The Bahamas for its beaches,” Minister Ferreira noted. “However, the Bahamas Plastic Movement estimates that if the rate of plastic pollution on beaches increases, it could cause up to BSD $8.5 million in tourism losses annually for the country. Thus, the country urgently needs laws and swift action to protect its people, environment, and economy.”
Noting the negative impacts plastic and styrofoam have on health, the marine environment, and the tourism sector, the initiative mentioned earlier is part of a much bigger picture, Minister Ferreira said.
“As my Ministry works diligently to develop effective solutions for landfills and scattered dumpsites throughout The Bahamas, we must also address the type of waste we dispose of – on a daily basis,” he said. “By reducing or even eliminating harmful waste streams, we will move this country one step closer to have an efficient and sustainable waste management plan.”
Minster Ferreira stated that, along with reducing health and environmental impacts, the ban was a “great opportunity” for the creation of jobs.
“To all the artists, straw vendors and creatives amongst us, we need you to get creative,” he said. “Let’s redesign the traditional crocus-sack bags and add some Androsia and a dash of our native straw.”
Minister Ferreira appealed to the general public by stating that the country cannot achieve its goal by 2020 without their support and cooperation.
“We value your input and look forward to engaging you throughout this process,” he said.
“In an effort to lead by example, my ministry has officially banned the purchase and supply of styrofoam cups in our offices,” he added. “Instead, we encourage all employees to bring their own mug and reusable water bottles to work. we are working to expand our office sustainability plan so that it may be echoed throughout the public sector.”
Minister Ferreira said, to every Bahamian, he encouraged them to start making lifestyle changes and “live differently”.
“Perhaps, Jane Goodall – arguably the most famous anthropologist – said it best when she opined, ‘You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make’,” he said.
“Therefore, reduce your plastic and styrofoam usage by refusing straws, invest in smart plastic and styrofoam alternatives, and carry reusable bags to the grocery store and start bringing a reusable bottle and mug to work,” he added. “Studies have shown that these small lifestyle changes has resulted in a reduction of more than 60% of plastic and styrofoam entering our environment.
“This is one of those great fights of our generation and, as Ernest Hemingway aptly said, ‘The Earth is a fine place and worth fighting for’.”
By: Eric Rose (BIS)
Photo Captions:
Header: Minister of the Environment and Housing the Hon. Romauld S. Ferreira (left) speaks at the Single-Use Plastics and Styrofoam Ban Press Conference, held at the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC) Head Office, on April 23, 2018. Also pictured are BCCEC Chief Executive Officer Edison Sumner and Chairman of BCCEC’s Energy and Environment Committee Debbie Deal.
First insert: Minister of the Environment and Housing the Hon. Romauld S. Ferreira (standing centre) pictured with signatories and stakeholders of the Memorandum of Understanding between his Ministry and the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC), during the Single-Use Plastics and Styrofoam Ban Press Conference, held at the BCCEC Head Office, on April 23, 2018. Pictured, seated (from left) are the document’s signees Acting Permanent Secretary Janice Miller and BCCEC Vice-Chairman Khrystal Ferguson. Pictured standing with Minister Ferreira are BCCEC Chief Executive Officer Edison Sumner and Chairman of BCCEC’s Energy and Environment Committee Debbie Deal.
Second insert: A number of bags and containers made of sustainable materials, as they were displayed at the Single-Use Plastics and Styrofoam Ban Press Conference, held at the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC) Head Office, on April 23, 2018.
(BIS Photos/Eric Rose)
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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