The Big Story

The government intends to drastically decrease the amount of agricultural imports to the country by “growing, processing, marketing and exporting our own food”, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Peter Turnquest revealed Friday at the opening of the 2018 Agri-Business Expo. The three-day event is being hosted at the Gladstone Road Agricultural Complex. Government statistics indicate that The Bahamas...

Team Bahamas ended it’s time at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia on a high note on Saturday. The men’s 4x400 metre (m) relay team finished second in the event final in a season’s best 3.01.92, mustering up a silver medal and the country’s fourth medal overall. The team that won the relay medal was made up by Alonzo...

Deputy Prime Minster and Minster of Finance Peter Turnquest indicated that the government is currently drafting legislation to ensure the financial services sector continues to meet international expectations for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT). In keeping with this mandate, Turnquest announced the launch of an AML/CFT conference during a press conference at the Ministry of Finance...

President of the Bahamas Electrical Workers Union (BEWU) Paul Maynard is backing the decision by Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) to construct a liquefied natural gas (LNG) power plant at Clifton Pier. He stated that the move is long overdue and The Bahamas is finally catching up with the rest of the world. Maynard told Eyewitness News that past governments...

A Royal Bahamas Defense Force (RBDF) marine is now on probation after he was charged with stealing $2,000 from an Ecuadorian man who was being detained at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre (CRDC), awaiting his deportation. Prosecutors said Barrecio Ferguson, 21, conducted a search of the immigrant and took his wallet and stole the money. Ferguson was charged with one...

Police in Eleuthera and New Providence successfully seized a quantity of suspected marijuana and marijuana plants Thursday afternoon, according to the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF). Report said after 1:00 p.m. Thursday, Eleuthera Division officers conducted a search of a home in Eleuthera Island Shores. Eleuthera police said upon searching the residence, they uncovered a quantity of suspected marijuana and...

President of Baha Mar Graeme Davis donated $22,500 to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Thursday at the Grand Hyatt. The donated funds were raised during the 2017 Necker Cup – a tennis tournament hosted annually by the Founder of Virgin, Sir Richard Branson. The tournament, which is normally held in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), on Sir Richard...

High school basketball players around the country will have yet another opportunity to showcase their skills with the hopes of garnering recruitment opportunities this month, at the Darrell Sears Showcase. The 16th edition of the annual event will take place April 27-29 at the St. George’s Gymnasium in Freeport, Grand Bahama. Sponsors of this year’s event include the Freeport Council, Nesbitt Rentals Car...

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Peter Turnquest Thursday dismissed a recent poll conducted by Public Domain, which pointed to a drastic decline in voter satisfaction since the Minnis-led administration first took office in May 2017. “I’m not so concerned about some parted ratings,” Turnquest said. “Those are not going to drive the things that we do and why...

“The results of the Public Domain poll do not surprise us,” lamented Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Chairman Fred Mitchell, after a recent poll showed that the Minnis administration’s approval rating now sits at 44 per cent. The statistics released by Bahamian data analytic company Public Domain suggested that public satisfaction with the Free National Movement (FNM) government is on the...

“Government has nothing to hide,” said Minister of Finance Peter Turnquest who on Thursday responded to the Public Accounts Committee’s (PAC) summons of Ministry of Finance (MOF) and Education officials. The committee, headed by Opposition Leader Phillip Davis, met Wednesday and reported that they awaited word from the MOF on the question of the deficit figures and from the Central Bank. “The Central Bank responded...

The Bahamas Government was once again advised to make a "clean break" from the $5.5 billion dollar Oban Energies deal in a recent letter penned by Save the Bays Chairman Joseph Darville. In the open letter to Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis, Darville urged the government to "end the tired and broken neo-plantation development model, empower your people and help...

Deputy Prime Minister Peter Turnquest, late yesterday said, while the government did not have an update from last night’s European Union (EU) meeting, he remained hopeful that The Bahamas would be removed from the EU’s blacklist in short order. The minister of finance said he was awaiting word from EU officials on the 28-nation’s Code of Conduct Group. Government said it...

Finance Minister Peter Turnquest refuted claims yesterday that the ongoing audits of state-ran enterprises are being funded by the public purse. Damning audits, which were recently conducted at Bahamas Power and Light Company (BPL) and the Water and Sewerage Corporation (W&SC), however. The cost of those audits has yet to be revealed.   Opposition members, specifically Opposition Leader Phillip Davis...

Public Works Minister Desmond Bannister said on Thursday that political operatives were to blame for Wednesday’s straw vendor-protest in Rawson Square. Bannister, who is responsible for the Straw Market Authority (SMA), told Eyewitness News yesterday, that a significant number of vendors participated in the protest while the majority of vendors remained in their stalls. Irate vendors called on Bannister to...

In the wake of the country’s most recent alleged suicide Wednesday night, health professionals are admonishing persons experiencing difficult times to seek professional help. The island of New Providence was gripped by the news of a shocking apparent suicide at the Venetian West gated community, which police said, occurred around 11:00 p.m. Wednesday. Police said they were called to Venetian...

Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) Company has awarded Shell Energy, otherwise known as Shell NA, to build a new generation and liquified natural gas (LNG) plant at Clifton Pier by 2021. The move is said to be in response to the increasing demand for better use of renewable energy, hence lowering hefty electricity bills and minimizing power outages across the...

Social Services Minister Lanisha Rolle said Thursday she is “very concerned” about the growing number of persons abandoning their children at the hospital and at the “doorstep” of Social Services. At a press conference to announce activities for Child Protection Month, Rolle said, her ministry hopes to partner with the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) to press charges against parents...