The Big Story

Taxi driver laments stringent inspection process at RTD NASSAU, BAHAMAS – While members of the Bahamas Taxi Cab Union alleged earlier this week that they were being victimized in their efforts to get taxi’s licensed at the Road Traffic Department (RTD), Bradley Sands, the acting director at RTD, said it is simply his aim to improve the standard of taxi...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS - Tempers reached a boiling point for kitchen staff at Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) on Thursday as dozens of its employees walked off the job shortly after 12noon, following a heated verbal back and forth between kitchen management and staff. PMH kitchen staff told Eyewitness News that hazardous working conditions and unfair treatment by kitchen management forced them...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – A private school administrator could possibly face charges over the alleged beating of a male student. Eyewitness News Online understands that the male administrator was taken into police custody on Thursday and an investigation has been launched. The family of the boy involved posted to social media earlier this week, expressing their concern after the alleged incident...

Ruth Bowe-Darville was sworn in as Justice of the Supreme Court by Her Excellency the Most Hon. Dame Marguerite Pindling during a Swearing in Ceremony at Government House on Thursday, May 30, 2019.  (BIS Photos/Letisha Henderson)  

NASSAU, BAHAMAS - Lucas Lorenzo Lewis, 37, of #103 Frobisher Drive in Freeport, Grand Bahama, appeared in the magistrate’s court yesterday before Deputy Chief Magistrate Subusola Swain. Lewis was charged with one count of possession of dangerous drugs, one count of conspiracy to possess dangerous drugs, one count of importation of dangerous drugs and one count of conspiracy to possess...

BPL seeking to move additional generation to the island NASSAU, BAHAMAS - Three days after a fire destroyed two engines at the Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) facility on the island of Bimini, power outages continued to persist throughout the island on Thursday, as the company was forced to conduct intermittent load shedding between Alice Town and Bailey Town. “While...

VAT exemption measure on light and water bills made permanent NASSAU, BAHAMAS - Less than 36 percent of the Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) customers the government projected to experience relief from its value-added tax (VAT) exemptions on certain electricity bills last year benefitted, according to figures provided by Minister of Finance Peter Turnquest yesterday. The government increased VAT from...

Tax relief measures amount to $28 million NASSAU, BAHAMAS - While the fiscal plan for 2019/2020 was void of any notable increases in taxes, the budget centers around maintaining debt repayment and across the board cuts to the allocations of several government ministries and agencies, which Minister of Finance K. Peter Turnquest explained as corrective budgeting. During the budget communication...

Protester banned for remainder of HOA session NASSAU, BAHAMAS - Parliamentary proceedings were abruptly suspended ahead of the highly-anticipated budget communication yesterday morning, when Centreville MP Reece Chipman’s sister, Fontella, who was sitting in the gallery of the House of Assembly, made a loud outburst, screaming at parliamentarians, and hurling several elastic bands on the floor in protest. One of...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS - Just moments after Finance Minister K. Peter Turnquest delivered the government’s 2019/2020 Budget Communication in the House of Assembly on Wednesday, Chester Cooper, the deputy leader of the Opposition Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), said Turnquest did not give  budget to uplift the Bahamian people or shift the economy. In fact, Cooper questioned how was it that the...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS - The country’s latest murder happened on Tuesday night, after a teen succumbed to his injuries following a shooting on Raymond Road. The teen was not officially identified by police, but Eyewitness News understands that he is 17-year-old James Alfred. According to police reports, shortly before 11 p.m. on Tuesday night, three men were walking on Raymond Road,...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Less than 24 hours after announcing that electricity had been fully restored on the island of Bimini after fire erupted at the Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) facility on Monday night, the power provider reported on Wednesday that the plant was experiencing new challenges, which led to a loss of generation in several areas on the island....

NASSAU, BAHAMAS - As the Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union (BHCAWU) has scheduled a strike poll for today, the Opposition Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) expressed on Wednesday that the government is not taking the issues of the union seriously, nor is it moving aggressively to have both parties settle their concerns. “It should not have come to this...

Turnquest says project will reduce the cost of street lighting by 20 percent NASSAU, BAHAMAS – In an effort to implement  more “green” technology throughout the Bahamas, the government is expected to move a resolution in parliament to seek a $14.6 million loan from the Caribbean Development Bank to fund a Street Light Retrofitting Project. “This project will facilitate the...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Police Constable 4070 Patrick Anthony Taylor Jr., 27,  of Godet Avenue, appeared before Magistrate Samuel McKinney on Tuesday, charged with having unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. Prosecutors alleged that Taylor, between February 1 and March 22, 2019, engaged in sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old female. The defendant was not required to enter a plea and was...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS - No increase in Value Added Tax (VAT) is expected as government presents its 2019/2020 budget in Parliament today, Minister of Finance Peter Turnquest confirmed yesterday. The Minnis administration increased VAT from 7.5 percent to 12 percent last year, reasoning that the increase was necessary to lowering the country’s climbing debt. “The government issued a three-year consolidation plan...

Calls for calmer heads to prevail during negotiation process NASSAU, BAHAMAS - As the Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union has plans take a strike poll tomorrow, Minister of Tourism, Dionisio D’Aguilar, told reporters on Tuesday that a strike at this present time would be ‘devastating’ for the tourism industry. “Fifty-five percent of our economy is based on tourism....

BPL: Cause of the fire not yet ascertained, but an internal investigation will be launched NASSAU, BAHAMAS - As power has been fully restored to the island of Bimini after a fire erupted at The Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) facility on Monday night, Minister of Works, Desmond Bannister, who has responsibility for operations at BPL, said a thorough and...