The Big Story

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) said yesterday that approximately 56 percent of its fuel used for power generation is hedged, with the company in the process of implementing a new agreement that will hedge an additional 15 percent. The company issued a statement yesterday in response to recent criticisms of its fuel hedging strategy, asserting that signing...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Bahamasair’s managing director Tracy Cooper yesterday dismissed assertions by former Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis that Bahamasair money in the millions was “missing in Haiti,” describing the issue as purely an administrative matter. Minnis made the assertion in Parliament on Monday. “This assertion is not true,” said Cooper in a statement. According to Cooper, during the pandemic,...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Nearly 100,000 individuals who seek food assistance will be impacted this year due to the lack of financial support, according to Bahamas Food Network officials. Nicolette Archer, assistant manager at the Bahamas Food Network, said that although The Bahamas remains without a resilience effort program, the NGO is dedicated to ensuring no one goes to bed hungry....

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers' Confederation (BCCEC) has accused the government of making it more difficult to do business in the country through a series of policy shifts. The private sector representative body in a statement yesterday noted that these policy shifts include the requirement of all businesses to supply the Department of Inland Revenue...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The number of permits issued for new construction in the third quarter of 2022 showed a 12 percent increase over the same period the previous year, according to data released by The Bahamas National Statistical Institute. The Bahamas National Statistical Institute recently published its Building Construction Statistics for the 2022 third quarter. It read: “The All Bahamas...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Chickcharney Challenge’s ‘return’ is now officially in the books, with event organizers already setting their sights on a possible relay event which they hope can be held in tandem with the country’s upcoming 50th anniversary of Independence celebrations.  Chickcharney Chirren chief executive officer Chester Robards said: “For our first event out of the gate after the...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — In less than three months, illegal structures erected in one Abaco shanty town increased by nearly 300 percent, according to a senior Ministry of Works official.   The information was revealed in a February 3rd affidavit by Craig Delancy, a professional architect, and Building Control officer in the Ministry of Works in charge of the supervision and...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Acting Deputy Director of Social Services Lorraine Duvalier yesterday called on the public to be compassionate after 40 registered Haitian nationals lost their homes to a fire on Saturday. Duvalier reported there were 40 individuals who were registered to the department when they visited the site; however, she said that no victims had requested assistance from the...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The government is projecting $2.8 billion in revenue for the fiscal year 2022/2023 as a result of its revenue-enhancing programmes, according to Prime Minister Philip Davis KC.  Davis spoke during the debate on the 2022 Fiscal strategy report and the medium-term debt management strategy for the fiscal year 2023/2024 and fiscal year 2025/2026. He said: “As a...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The government intends to collect more than 75 percent of the real property tax that is billed within the next four years, according to Prime Minister Philip Davis KC who noted that government currently collects less than 40 percent of the real property tax it is owed.  Davis made the comments while commencing the debate on the...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — “It hurts my heart when people make her out to be some gangster,” said the assistant manager of a Burger King where 18-year-old Harrinique McPhee worked before she was gunned down over the weekend. According to police, McPhee was in a Nissan March with a 22-year-old man when they were approached by three men armed with high-powered...

MARYLAND, BALTIMORE — Bahamian Brandon Russell, a self-described neo-Nazi, and former St Andrews School student, was charged yesterday alongside a Maryland woman with conspiring to attack Baltimore's power grid.  According to reports, federal authorities arrested Russell and Sarah Beth Clendaniel, 34, over plans to execute a series of “sniper attacks” on five electrical substations in Maryland. At a press conference...

22 structures razed NASSAU, BAHAMAS — A massive blaze razed a small shanty town village in the Carmichael Road area yesterday ripping through 20 structures and displacing some 50 people. Firefighters were called to the fire at Pink Meadow Road off Ballot Road shortly after 10am, when residents claim plumes of smoke began to rise from a wooden structure near...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Office of the Attorney General has filed a summons seeking permission to demolish the expansion of a shanty town in Abaco and two locations in New Providence. Shanty towns on both islands are protected by a Supreme Court injunction blocking demolition or further construction pending a judicial review into whether their removal is unconstitutional. "Despite the...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Opposition is calling on the government to expand the current Value-Added Tax (VAT) exempt status for medical care provided in public healthcare facilities to cover all necessary medical services throughout the country.  Opposition leader Michael Pintard in a statement noted that current medical services provided by a public health care facility are VAT exempt. Additionally, until...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Some 30 food safety stakeholders gathered this week at the National Training Agency to validate the findings of a 12-month project to develop a strategic plan to improve food control systems in The Bahamas. The project funded by FAO titled, "Assessing National Food Control Systems to Enable Food Safety in the Sub-region,” saw a team of FAO...

PM to continue with normal duties NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Two anonymous callers, believed to be men, phoned into the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) and made death threats against Prime Minister Philip Davis shortly after noon today. At a press briefing minutes ago, Commissioner of Police Clayton Fernander said Davis was not "scared" but officials are taking the threats...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Developers of the 4M Harbour Island Marina and condominium project signed a second Heads of Agreement (HOA) yesterday for a further $150 million investment. During a press conference, Prime Minister Philip Davis noted that what began as a boutique resort and marina development has evolved into a retail component comprising 93 estate homes, cottages, and villas. Davis...