Uncategorized

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) will lead a series of reforms to the National Health Insurance model to be dubbed 'NHI 1.1', which could save the government some $62 million over the next five years, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said on Tuesday.. During his wrap up to the 2020/2021 budget debate, Minnis, who serves as...

Man shot by police awarded $22,500 in damages NASSAU, BAHAMAS – A man shot twice by police nearly 13 years ago has been awarded $22,500 in damages by a Supreme Court Judge. Jermaine Rahming, 44,  alleged that he was unlawfully shot by Constable Remona Burrows-Forde on April 29, 2007, when he attempted to flee from a police station after he...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — While almost two-thirds of registered businesses make at least one payment to the National Insurance Board during the course of the year, only approximately only 40 percent of them make contribution payments on time according to Minister of the Public Service and National Insurance Brensil Rolle who told Parliament that many Bahamians endured long delays in receiving...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Education officials remain very concerned over the likely impact COVID-19 social distancing requirements and protocols will have on the education system going forward. Education Director Marcellus Taylor lamented that regardless of what approach is taken “there will be a deficit” as a panelist on the Financial Voice television program. Taylor acknowledged that COVID-19 social distancing requirements and...

Online petition has more than 9,000 signatures NASSAU, BAHAMAS — As calls for the removal of statues memorializing colonial or slavery-era figures have intensified worldwide, National Heroes Committee Chairman Reverend Canon Sebastian Campbell yesterday said Bahamians are too passive to take action. Campbell's comments come as an online petition to remove the statue of Christopher Columbus from Government House grew...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance K Peter Turnquest has accused the Opposition of spreading misinformation in a bid to score “partisan political points". He was referring to parliamentary debate over the borrowing of the previous administration and the current Minnis administration. PLP Deputy leader and shadow finance minister Chester Cooper cast doubt on the government’s...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Businesses throughout the country are preparing their establishments for an expected spike in crime as the country prepares to reopen after three months of lockdown. Mike Wells, owner of Rubis West Bay Street, told Eyewitness News that while he and the Petroleum Dealers Association had already braced for an uptick in crime, he did not expect it...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Education Loan Authority has collected nearly $1.8 million in outstanding loan payments since last June, according to ELA Chairman Miriam Emmanuel yesterday. Emmanuel made the revelation as she was contributing to the 2020/2021 budget debate. She noted that as of June 2019, the authority’s outstanding balance stood at $131, 731,964. However, as of March 2020, that...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The government's Small Home Repair Program has approved funding for 60 percent of its applicants impacted by Hurricane Dorian on Abaco, according to North Abaco MP Darren Henfield. While presenting his contribution to the 2020/2021 budget debate, Henfield advised that some 1,073 people from Abaco have applied for the program as they seek to rebuild their homes...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Equality Bahamas Director Alicia Wallace renewed calls for urgent policies to make reporting sexual assault and rape easier following a recent wave of rape and sexual allegations on social media. Last week, dozens of Bahamian women began recounting stories of inappropriate behavior and unwanted advances. Among those stories were allegations against a local youth activist, who was...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Education Minister Jeffrey Lloyd yesterday defended the government's decision to move forward with National Exams, insisting that the exams are voluntary and no student is being compelled to take the tests. Amid rising public tension over the issue, Lloyd said: "It had always been the intention of the ministry to conduct External Exams if conditions permitted. "This...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Some eight months after Hurricane Dorian debilitated the island, Central & South Abaco MP James Albury yesterday said the situation is "still dire". "I have not come to this honorable house today to sugarcoat anything," Albury said, during his contribution to the 2020/2021 budget debate at the evening sitting of Parliament yesterday.  The reality is, the situation...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Tensions continued to boil over the weekend amongst education stakeholders following the announcement that national examinations will be held on July 13. Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis announced the new date last week for BJCs and BGCSEs after weeks of school closures, virtual learning procedures, and uncertainty over whether national testing would be canceled. An online petition...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Police have in their custody a 22-year-old man assisting with investigations into a triple shooting on Belville Circle, Bel Air Estates, last week. Two victims from the shooting - including a 10-year-old girl - have succumbed to their injuries, while the third remains in stable condition. According to reports, a group of people were hanging out in...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – The government is continuing diplomatic discussions with the Republic of Haiti over the repatriation of Haitian migrants, Minister of Immigration Elsworth Johnson said yesterday. Johnson's comments follow a disturbance at the Carmichael Road Detention after several Haitian detainees staged a hunger strike and refused to eat any food provided until they were given a date for their departure flight...

Attorney General says govt. will appeal NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Supreme Court Justice Ian Winder has ruled that children born out of wedlock to foreign women and Bahamian men are entitled to citizenship at birth. Winder's ruling deals with separate applications for declarations over the true interpretation of Article 6 of the constitution which deems that “Every person born in The...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Bahamasair advised yesterday that it will conduct another COVID-19 relief flight from Fort Lauderdale to New Providence on Friday at 2 p.m. "This flight will only facilitate the return home of Bahamian citizens, residents, and those with valid work permits," the airline advised in a statement. "Persons wishing to travel must follow established protocols." The upcoming flight...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) is looking into reports of a family of three currently isolating on an uninhabited island in The Bahamas, Eyewitness News understands. The BBC World Service featured Captain Brian Trautman and his wife Karin in a video report that quickly made its way around Bahamian social media today. The pair host a...