Bahamas News
BAHAMAS: Minister Dames Congratulates Department of Correctional Services Graduates of BTVI Programme
#Nassau, December 11, 2018 – Bahamas – Minister of National Security the Hon. Marvin Dames lauded the 100 Bahamas Department of Correctional Services (BDOCS) graduates, on December 6, 2018, and congratulated them on successfully completing their respective Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute (BTVI) training courses.
“Trainees, the fact that you are here today to receive a certificate for the successful completion of 10 weeks of vocational training is no small accomplishment,” Minister Dames said, during a ceremony at BDOC, Fox Hill.
“By participating and committing to this program and engaging with your fellow trainees and instructors, you have demonstrated a resilience that, if maintained, will serve you well outside of this institution. You have all 
taken an important step in improving your lives and your communities.
“Well Done.”
Among those present for the ceremony were Acting Permanent Secretary Eugene Poitier, Acting Commissioner of BDOCS Charles Murphy; Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Chief of Operations Michael Nelson; and a number of government and private-sector stakeholders.
Minister Dames also thanked the parents, family members and friends who were also there to celebrate that “very special moment” for their support and encouragement.
Minister Dames noted that the training course for inmates was an initiative of the Citizen Security and Justice Progamme, a multi-faceted crime prevention program funded by a loan from the Inter-American Development Bank and managed by the Ministry of National Security.
He stated that the Ministry applied part of the proceeds of the loan to contract the Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute to provide training that will lead to the certification of a total of 600 inmates and six corrections officers over the next two years.
“Today’s graduation ceremony represents an important milestone towards achieving the overall objective of the Citizen Security and Justice Programme – to reduce crime and violence, and increase safety and security in our communities,” Minister Dames said.
“The Programme is an important part of the Ministry of National Security’s comprehensive crime fighting strategy and aims to improve behaviors for nonviolent conflict resolution; increase employability and employment among vulnerable youth; strengthen institutional capabilities of justice services; and reduce the recidivism rate in the corrections system,” he added.
Minister Dames said that the Government of The Bahamas fully understands the evidence-based connection between employability, empowerment and repeat offending.
“It is an established fact that strengthening the capacity of inmates to survive outside of prison reduces the chance of inmates returning to prison,” he said. “An effective and comprehensive corrections program ultimately impacts crime reduction through influencing the rate of recidivism.”
Minister Dames stated that The Bahamas Department of Correctional Services had been given the mandate to deliver effective rehabilitation and reintegration services in The Bahamas. The 2014 Correctional Services Act moved the focus of BDOCS to a stronger correctional approach in its management policies, he added.
However, Minister Dames said despite its best efforts, the Department needs support in enhancing its capacity to deliver rehabilitation and reintegration programs.
“Previously there have been pockets of training over the years; but these have been limited in their capacity to impact a significant number of inmates,” he said. “In terms of the work release program, less than three per cent of the population benefit from this activity.”
Minister Dames noted that, under the first installment of the training programme being celebrated that day, 100 inmates had succeeded in qualifying for basic certification in a variety of subject areas, including auto mechanics, barbering, carpentry, information technology, electrical, garment making, plumbing and masonry.
“The training courses used existing curricula, and participants were assessed by BTVI instructors in a manner commensurate with students on its main campus,” Minister Dames said. “The vocational training will be followed by three months of work experience in maintenance and repair on the BDOCS compound.”
Minister Dames pointed out that, to ensure sustainability of the program, six selected correctional officers were undergoing training that will equip them to function as certified vocational instructors at the Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute, working within the prison environment on a full-time basis. Selected prison industries will also be upgraded with modernized equipment to support this training initiative, he added.
“Inmates participating in this training program will leave the prison with recognized training certification and modernized industry experience,” Minister Dames said. “The certificates they will receive this morning bear the 
logo and insignia of BTVI, which will also allow them to enroll in the institution if they seek to advance their level of education after release.”
Minister Dames said that programmes like those play a critical role in both prisons and society. Studies show that rehabilitation provides prisoners an opportunity to develop skills, increase post-release employability and contribute positively to families and society, he added.
“But this program is not a cure-all for all crime and violence in The Bahamas,” he said. “The Ministry of National Security cannot do it alone. The ex-offender must still nurture personal commitment to work hard in resisting forces seeking to push him or her back into crime.”
Minister Dames noted that the community must also continue to examine its attitude toward ex-offenders and provide much-needed support as many former inmates face barriers to successful reintegration into society.
“Today’s ceremony marks a significant step in the journey to full rehabilitation, and is yet another demonstration of the Ministry of National Security’s strategy to execute programs for the benefit of all Bahamians,” Minister Dames said.
“Congratulations, good luck and continue to do well. God bless you.”
By Eric Rose
Release: BIS
Photo Caption: Minister of National Security the Hon. Marvin Dames speaks, on December 6, 2018, at a ceremony recognizing 100 Bahamas Department of Correctional Services (BDOCS) graduates, who successfully completed their respective Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute (BTVI) training courses.
(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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