Carib Scope

标签： Bahamas

巴哈马

  • Bain seeks to seal court records in $90,000 dispute

    Bain seeks to seal court records in $90,000 dispute

    As the Bahamas prepares for its upcoming general election, a high-stakes civil financial dispute involving one of the country’s opposition political leaders has moved back into the public spotlight. Lincoln Bain, head of the Coalition of Independents and a candidate in the approaching vote, is pushing to seal court records related to a 16-year-long $90,000 unresolved debt dispute — though his first attempt to secure the sealing order fell short earlier this month over a procedural misstep.

    The initial request for a sealing order was raised orally on April 1, 2026, during a Notice to Attend Examination hearing, with attorney Tanya Wright making the ask on Bain’s behalf. Travette Pyfrom, the attorney representing claimant Zinnia Rolle, immediately objected to the informal move, noting that no formal written application had been submitted to the court and that the proceeding was scheduled to be held in open, public court.

    While justices indicated they held no principled opposition to sealing the records in this matter, they confirmed they could not issue a ruling without a properly filed formal application before the court during the hearing. Court administration officials later confirmed that Bain’s legal team only submitted the formal written application one day after the hearing, on April 2, 2026. As a result, the request was not taken up for consideration during the April 1 proceedings, no sealing order has been granted to date, and all case documents remain accessible as part of the public court record.

    Details included in the submitted application outline Bain’s core arguments for sealing the dispute. As a prominent public figure running for public office, Bain’s legal team argues that confidential information shared during a closed-door chambers hearing held on March 13, 2026, was improperly leaked to the public and shared widely on the social media platform Facebook, despite explicit court warnings against disclosing confidential proceedings. The filing asserts the leak could only have originated from a person in attendance at the closed March hearing, and adds that Rolle has failed to appear at multiple court hearings over the past several years, leaving her potentially unaware of court-imposed confidentiality rules. Beyond the sealing request, the application also asks the court to require Rolle to attend all future hearings in person, unless explicitly exempted by the court or a mutual agreement between both legal teams. Bain has submitted a sworn affidavit in support of his request, court records confirm.

    The underlying dispute stretches back to a failed investment deal first struck in 2010. Rolle secured a Supreme Court judgment against Bain and his company in December 2021, ordering the defendants to repay $64,000 in outstanding funds. The ruling was upheld on appeal by the Bahamas Court of Appeal, and when the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council — the region’s highest court of appeal — declined to hear Bain’s final appeal in October 2025, the court awarded Rolle an additional $26,000 in legal costs, bringing the total unpaid judgment to $90,000.

    To date, the full $90,000 remains unpaid, and court-ordered enforcement actions to collect the outstanding sum have ramped up in recent months. As part of these enforcement proceedings, Bain was previously ordered to appear before Supreme Court Registrar Renaldo Toote to answer questions about his assets and financial status.

    The case has added new scrutiny to Bain’s public financial disclosures, which he submitted as a candidate in the upcoming May general election. In those mandatory declarations, Bain reported a personal net worth exceeding $1.5 million, and listed his total outstanding liabilities at just $85,000 — a figure that nearly matches the $90,000 unpaid judgment at the center of the ongoing dispute.

  • Tourist recounts trauma after husband’s sudden Exuma death

    Tourist recounts trauma after husband’s sudden Exuma death

    For a couple married more than 30 years, a three-day birthday getaway to the idyllic Staniel Cay in the Bahamas was meant to be a quiet celebration of Gerry Martell’s 70th year. What unfolded on that trip in January would leave Ann Martell, Gerry’s wife from Ontario, Canada, grappling with unprocessed trauma that has required ongoing therapy and daily medication, as she continues fighting for answers months after her husband’s sudden death.

    The tragedy struck on the second day of the vacation, as the couple joined a boat tour and swam near a local cave. Ann Martell watched in horror as her husband fell into distress, clinging to a nearby orange buoy thrown by other people on the water. His final words to her were, “help me, I’m dying,” before he lost consciousness.

    The captain of a nearby yacht quickly launched a small dinghy to pull Gerry from the water and rushed him back to shore as fast as possible. During the desperate voyage back, Martell says her husband suffered violent seizures, an episode she now suspects was triggered by a brain bleed related to the underlying heart condition that would later be named as his cause of death. Once on shore, a doctor who happened to be staying at the marina performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but the efforts were too late—Gerry could not be revived, and Ann was told her husband had passed away minutes later.

    If the sudden loss was not devastating enough, Ann says the mishandling and callous treatment that followed the death compounded her trauma beyond measure. After Gerry’s body was moved to a medical trailer on the island, Ann was immediately ordered to gather her belongings, withdraw cash, and prepare to leave Staniel Cay before sunset, because the small island had no dedicated cold storage facility to hold a deceased person.

    “I was given almost no time to call my family, to sit with my husband, to say a final goodbye,” Martell shared in an exclusive interview with Tribune. “All I remember is people yelling at me nonstop. First they screamed I had to come up with $60,000 or Medevac wouldn’t come get the body, then the next minute they changed it to $6,000, saying we had to get him out of there immediately because we had nowhere to put him. They told me to grab my husband’s credit card and go get the cash right now.”

    The unprofessional, insensitive treatment extended to the responding law enforcement officer on scene, Martell says. The officer hounded her for an official statement immediately after Gerry’s death, following her around the medical trailer and repeating the demand even as she begged for space to process what had just happened. “I was getting so frustrated,” she recalled. “I just kept asking him to leave me alone, but he wouldn’t listen to anything I said.”

    Breaking the news of her father’s death to the couple’s adult children was equally devastating. Their daughter, who resides in Egypt, collapsed when she received the devastating call.

    The most distressing part of the entire ordeal, Ann says, came when it was time to transport Gerry’s body off the island to Nassau’s New Providence. She watched as staff loaded his body into the plane wrapped in nothing but heavy green garbage bags sealed with red tape, and then she was forced to sit through the entire flight with the wrapped body positioned directly at her feet. No staff member warned her ahead of time how the body would be transported, she says, nor did anyone offer to move her to another seat to avoid the dehumanizing experience.

    “How is it possible that no one had even a little bit of compassion to tell me what was going to happen, to treat my husband like a human being rather than trash?” she asked. Later, a nurse explained to Ann that the garbage bags were only an outer covering, placed over a clear standard body bag because Gerry’s body was wet when it was retrieved from the water. Ann rejects that explanation, pointing out that her husband did not drown, and was only in the water for a matter of minutes before he was pulled out.

    When they arrived in New Providence, Ann waited more than an hour for a mortician to arrive, only to learn he had been delayed by a prior funeral commitment. She and her family then waited for multiple additional hours before they were allowed to formally identify Gerry’s body.

    Though both the Bahamian Coroner and an attending pathologist expressed concern over the handling of Gerry’s body and the circumstances of the aftermath, and pledged to launch a formal investigation into the incident, Ann and her family have yet to receive any updates or official answers more than six months later. Ann has formally requested a full copy of the police report into her husband’s death, to clarify the official timeline of events and identify the doctor who performed CPR—she says she still does not even know his name. She has shared her correspondence with Commissioner of Police Shanta Knowles with the Tribune, and the commissioner had not responded to requests for comment as of press time.

    Gerry Martell’s cause of death was later confirmed by doctors to be a heart blockage. His body was cremated in the Bahamas, and his ashes were returned to Ann and their family in Canada. In the months since, Ann has relied on close friends to get through each day, saying the entire experience has left her disgusted, heartbroken, and deeply angry at how the situation was handled on Staniel Cay. “The way they treated my husband and me that day was completely reprehensible,” she said. “He was a human being, and he was treated with no dignity, no respect at all. I just want answers, and I want people to know what happened to us.”

  • From Nova Scotia to Nassau: Lucky’s extraordinary journey

    From Nova Scotia to Nassau: Lucky’s extraordinary journey

    Against all odds, a tiny, critically endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle named Lucky has completed an extraordinary 2,700-mile cross-border journey from an icy Canadian shore to the warm tropical waters of The Bahamas, a groundbreaking conservation success story that arrives just as the world marks Earth Day.

    Lucky’s story began in late autumn last year, when volunteers with the Canadian Sea Turtle Network, who conduct routine cold-weather coastal patrols, stumbled upon the weak, unresponsive juvenile along the rocky outer shores of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The young turtle had wandered far north of his species’ native warm Gulf of Mexico habitat, and plummeting ocean temperatures left him suffering from “cold stunning” — a life-threatening condition that leaves sea turtles immobilized and unable to forage or escape dangerous conditions. Prior to this rescue, no cold-stunned Kemp’s ridley sea turtle had ever been found alive and successfully rehabilitated in Canadian history; survival of such an event in Halifax’s frigid waters was widely considered almost impossible.

    After the turtle was pulled from the shore, he received weeks of specialized veterinary care in Canada, slowly regaining enough strength to move to the next phase of his rehabilitation. Conservation teams began searching for a suitable facility with a natural warm marine environment and experienced veterinary staff to continue preparing Lucky for his eventual release back into the wild. That search ultimately led to Atlantis Paradise Island, a resort in The Bahamas with a dedicated Fish and Turtle Hospital and a long-running marine conservation program.

    The journey south was almost derailed before it even began. Teams were set to depart Halifax on February 24, when a massive winter storm slammed into the region, dumping nearly 12 inches of snow and bringing wind gusts reaching 60 miles per hour. But as his name suggests, fortune favored the young turtle. After rerouting through Toronto, the rescue team and their precious passenger completed the multi-leg trip and touched down in The Bahamas, where Atlantis staff were waiting at the airport to receive him.

    Lucky was immediately transported via the organization’s SeaKeepers rescue vehicle to the Atlantis facility, where he entered a quarantine period to acclimate to his new surroundings. A full health intake was conducted the following day, with Atlantis’s veterinary and aquarist teams completing detailed measurements, a full physical examination, and diagnostic blood work to confirm his stability.

    After six weeks of continuous observation, targeted care, and rehabilitation that allowed Lucky to redevelop natural foraging behaviors and rebuild his strength, he passed a final health assessment led by Atlantis veterinarian Deandra Delancey-Milfort on April 8. Later that day, the Atlantis SeaKeeper team carried Lucky offshore and released him into the clear waters just off Paradise Island, marking the successful end of a months-long collaborative effort that crossed international borders, connected multiple conservation organizations, and united volunteers and experts across two vastly different climates.

    Kemp’s ridley sea turtles, first formally identified in 1906 by Florida fisherman Richard M. Kemp after whom the species is named, are the smallest and most critically endangered of all sea turtle species. Juveniles typically hatch along Gulf of Mexico nesting beaches, then seek shelter in floating sargassum patches to feed and grow before moving to coastal habitats. However, young, inexperienced turtles often get pushed far off course by strong winds and shifting tides, stranding them in far northern waters as autumn transitions to winter, when dropping temperatures lead to life-threatening cold stunning.

    Ahead of this year’s Earth Day, Lucky’s survival and release offers a powerful reminder of the fragility of marine ecosystems and the impact of cross-border collaborative conservation. What began as a near-fatal wrong turn for a tiny juvenile turtle has become a powerful example of what collective action for the natural world can achieve. Even for the smallest, most vulnerable creatures, conservationists note, cross-border cooperation can deliver second chances that make every mile of effort worth it.

  • Environmental advocates target waste from campaign signs

    Environmental advocates target waste from campaign signs

    As the Bahamas approaches its upcoming general election, the proliferation of plastic political campaign signs across public and private landscapes has spurred environmental advocates to call for urgent reform of long-standing campaign traditions, highlighting the lasting ecological damage caused by disposable election materials.

    Most modern campaign signage is constructed from durable synthetic materials, most commonly polypropylene, a petroleum-based plastic that never fully biodegrades when introduced to natural ecosystems. While the exact composition of signs used by local political parties in this election cycle has not been publicly disclosed, environmental researchers warn that the standard production and disposal practices for these materials carry steep, underdiscussed environmental costs that persist long after voting concludes.

    Dr. Ancilleno Davis, a prominent Bahamian environmental scientist, explained that importing large volumes of single-use materials for a temporary political campaign contributes to unnecessary fossil fuel consumption and generates persistent waste that contaminates local ecosystems. Abandoned signs and their metal support stakes are often left littering landscapes for months after election day, with many turning up in remote natural areas half a year after campaigns end. Even when signs are collected after voting, they are typically deposited in municipal landfills, where their non-biodegradable components leach toxic chemicals into groundwater reserves that supply local communities.

    “It’s a high price to pay for this type of campaigning,” Davis emphasized. Beyond the ecological harm, Davis also criticized the massive sums of campaign money diverted to printed signage, arguing that these funds could deliver far greater long-term benefit to Bahamian communities if redirected to public projects like community green spaces and urban gardens, rather than temporary materials destined for waste.

    To address the issue, Davis proposed a multi-pronged reform framework for political groups: cutting reliance on physical signage in favor of lower-waste outreach channels, including social media campaigns, radio advertising, and targeted community engagement. For campaigns that still choose to use physical signs, he urged strict limits on total signage volume, mandates for biodegradable or fully recyclable materials, and mandatory pre-election planning for post-campaign material disposal that accounts for long-term environmental impacts.

    Nikita Shiel-Rolle, founder and CEO of the Cat Island Conservation Institute, echoed Davis’s concerns, framing the problem of campaign signage waste as a entry point for a broader national conversation about sustainable political campaigning and intentional community engagement. Shiel-Rolle noted that the sheer volume of signs deployed during a typical campaign is often unnecessary, and suggested that formal new regulations could help curb overproduction—for example, rules mandating minimum spacing between individual signs to reduce overall quantity.

    She pointed out that current sign deployment practices lack intentional structure beyond basic name recognition: campaign workers are typically hired simply to put up as many signs as possible, with no planning for post-election removal or processing. For Shiel-Rolle, the most critical gap in current practice is the lack of a clear post-election plan for campaign materials.

    “I think as long as there is a plan as to what they’re going to do with the signs, I think that’s the most important thing,” she said. “I think that kind of goes back to even the bigger environmental conversations that we have.”

  • TikTok mom launches non-profit to help women without support

    TikTok mom launches non-profit to help women without support

    For many first-time mothers, navigating the overwhelming physical, emotional, and financial burdens of new parenthood can feel like an isolating journey — but one 26-year-old Bahamian content creator is turning her own experience and online community engagement into tangible support for women in need. Danille Hanna, who amassed roughly 15,000 followers on TikTok by sharing open, unfiltered updates of her first pregnancy, has officially launched Her Village Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to creating a reliable, hands-on support network for mothers without access to robust personal support systems.

    Hanna’s path to launching the non-profit began shortly after she welcomed her first child last month. What started as a personal project to document her own transition into motherhood evolved quickly after she began receiving hundreds of messages from women across the region sharing their own struggles. Before her pregnancy, Hanna had already built a small audience through a popular Christmas-themed series on TikTok, but her pregnancy vlogs — which covered everything from prenatal exercise and medical appointments to travel and delivery preparation — resonated far more deeply with followers. Women began opening up about a wide range of unmet needs, from postpartum recovery complications and strained co-parenting relationships to the overwhelming loneliness that comes with raising a newborn without close support.

    The turning point that pushed Hanna to turn her online community into a formal non-profit came when she offered her unused postpartum supplies to local mothers via Facebook. After giving away her initial items, dozens more women reached out requesting everything from baby clothes to essential feeding and care supplies. The overwhelming response laid bare the gap in existing support services for new mothers, Hanna said. “Sometimes our family members, our partners, they’re busy. Everybody else is still carrying on with their normal life, while we still have to heal and still take care of a baby,” she explained. “That kind of helps me come up with the idea of creating a non-profit, just having a safe community for mothers.”

    Officially launched on April 2, Her Village Foundation operates mostly on self-funding from Hanna, with additional contributions coming from public donations. In just the first weeks of operation, the foundation has already supported 35 local mothers. One of Hanna’s first initiatives, a community food drive, distributed fresh fish boxes to 30 mothers and full grocery and baby supply bundles to five additional families — multiple recipients were so moved by the support that they teared up when receiving their donations, Hanna said.

    A TikTok post announcing the foundation has already earned more than 18,000 views as of press time, with dozens of women reaching out to offer donations and share their own stories of struggle as new mothers. Addressing common misconceptions about maternal support, Hanna emphasized that help extends far beyond financial contributions. “Even women with help, it’s hard. When everybody goes to work and you’re up all night making bottles, and then you’re doing it all day and all night,” she said. “I think they think that help is just financial, and it’s not. I feel like it’s more so hands on. Yes, finance plays a big part in it, don’t get me wrong, but I feel like it’s very time consuming.”

    Looking ahead, Hanna has set her sights on expanding the foundation’s reach across the entire Bahamas, including the remote Family Islands. Women from the Bahamian islands of Andros and Eleuthera have already reached out to request support, confirming the widespread need for the initiative Hanna built from her own personal journey.

  • ‘Rules collapse if no enforcement’

    ‘Rules collapse if no enforcement’

    A growing political firestorm has erupted in the Bahamas after a top-ranking permanent secretary was photographed wearing partisan political gear on Nomination Day, prompting a former cabinet minister to demand formal disciplinary action and warning of systemic damage to the country’s civil service rules if the government fails to act.

    Brensil Rolle, the former Minister of Public Service, is leading the calls for accountability against Melvin Seymour, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The controversy centers on photos published last week showing Seymour in clothing and accessories affiliated with the ruling Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), a move that critics say directly violates the long-standing General Order 949, the regulatory framework that mandates political neutrality for all public servants.

    Rolle emphasized that the dispute is far more than a superficial public relations problem: it strikes at the core of equal enforcement of civil service rules. If the government chooses to ignore Seymour’s violation, he argued, the entire regulatory system designed to govern public officer conduct will become unenforceable. Not only would this set a dangerous precedent for future violations, Rolle said, but it would also expose the administration to legal action from public servants who have already been disciplined for identical infractions under the same rules.

    “While I believe permanent secretaries have a right to their own political persuasion, as long as they’re holding that post as permanent secretary, they cannot violate any aspect of general order,” Rolle told reporters. “Any clear violation of general orders by a permanent secretary, like any other public officer, that person must be disciplined.”

    The timeline of the controversy adds an extra layer of gravity: as recently as February 2, Gina Thompson, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Public Services, issued a formal circular to all senior civil servants explicitly reminding them of the requirements of General Order 949. The circular, titled *POLITICAL ACTIVITIES OF PUBLIC OFFICERS*, laid out the core principle of civil service neutrality clearly: “The character of any public service depends entirely on its loyalty, integrity, ability and impartiality. It follows therefore that public officers should maintain a code of reserve in all political matters and that the public airing of an officer’s own political views may destroy that impartiality which any Government may expect of its own public service. To ensure, therefore, that standards are upheld, it may be necessary in a case of serious indiscretion, to consider action against the public officer concerned.”

    What has amplified public outrage is the revelation that Seymour himself previously disciplined a subordinate foreign affairs officer for the exact same violation. In May 2024, Ivan Thompson, a foreign service officer, received a formal warning letter signed by Seymour for violating General Order 949 over his own public political engagement. After images of Seymour in PLP gear emerged, Thompson publicly shared the warning letter alongside the photos of his superior, calling out the blatant double standard.

    “Imagine being called in by your PS, getting a serious tongue lashing, not giving you any opportunity to respond, then issuing you this said letter. Then today, this picture comes across your phone by the very person demonizing you of the very thing!” Thompson wrote in a public Facebook post. Speaking to reporters, Thompson added: “When you consider that the Permanent Secretary runs the ministry — the minister is not responsible for the ministry — the highest official in any government ministry is the permanent secretary, and when you see the highest official in the ministry doing that, you know we have some serious problems.”

    Hilbert Collie, the attorney representing Ivan Thompson, noted that the incident raises fundamental questions about whether employment rules and disciplinary procedures are applied equally across all levels of the civil service. Rolle echoed that concern, noting that going forward, the government will have no legal or moral standing to discipline any other public servant for political activity violations unless it acts against Seymour first. Worse, he argued, any public servant who has already been disciplined for similar offenses while Seymour avoids consequences has a legitimate legal right to sue the government for unequal treatment.

    “Justice cannot be for some and injustice for everybody else,” Rolle said.

    General Order 949 does not ban public servants from holding private membership in a political party, but it does require all officers to maintain a public “code of reserve” to uphold the impartiality of the civil service. For senior civil servants like permanent secretaries, who earn total compensation packages valued at well over $136,000 annually — including a base salary of around $104,000, a $20,000 responsibility allowance, a $12,000 housing allowance, a car allowance, and full pension benefits for Seymour, who is already retired — the requirement for neutrality is considered especially strict.

    When contacted for comment on Monday, both Seymour and Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell declined to address the controversy. Observers note that the photos surprised many Bahamian political watchers, given the widespread understanding that the rules around this conduct are clear and non-negotiable. Under standard disciplinary protocol for General Order violations, Rolle said, the process would begin with a formal show-cause letter requiring Seymour to explain why disciplinary action should not be pursued against him.

  • FNM promises Abaco upgrades and a larger share of revenue

    FNM promises Abaco upgrades and a larger share of revenue

    On Friday, the Free National Movement (FNM), one of The Bahamas’ major opposition political parties, launched its first campaign rally on the island of Abaco, where it revealed an extensive series of policy pledges tailored to local priorities and launched sharp criticism of the incumbent Davis administration led by the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP).

    Speaking to a gathering of more than 200 FNM supporters in Cooper’s Town, FNM leader Michael Pintard opened his address by arguing that the current national government has systematically neglected Abaco’s needs for years. He pointed to a long list of unaddressed local grievances: crumbling road infrastructure with unfilled potholes and unpaved stretches that have remained unrepaired more than four years after contracts were awarded for projects on other Bahamian islands, strained and underresourced local health systems, and outdated, inadequate recreational sports facilities. Pintard leveraged these gaps to attack the PLP’s spending priorities, contrasting large government outlays for official travel and high-profile party events with the lack of investment in basic Abaco services. “Millions for a trip, but pennies for the port here in Abaco. Millions for a rally, but only promises for your roads. Millions flowing through their slush funds while Abaco waits on a working X-ray machine,” Pintard told the crowd.

    Beyond infrastructure and public resourcing, Pintard also accused the ruling administration of failing to enforce strong protections for Abaco’s critical marine sector, which forms the backbone of much of the island’s tourism and fishing economy. He pledged that if the FNM wins the upcoming election, the party will revise the national Fisheries Act to preserve the country’s fish stocks for future generations of Bahamians.

    One key lingering issue that Pintard addressed head-on during the rally was the FNM’s past response to Hurricane Dorian, a devastating storm that hit Abaco hard and remains a source of widespread community frustration. Acknowledging past missteps, Pintard offered a public apology for the party’s flawed response, noting that the FNM is now under new leadership that has learned from past mistakes.

    The rally featured remarks from multiple FNM candidates vying for seats representing Abaco and surrounding districts. Jeremy Sweeting, the party’s candidate for Central and South Abaco, laid out the most detailed set of local pledges. Among Sweeting’s promises are the creation of a unified digital maritime platform that would cut red tape and speed up processing for boating and commercial fishing permits and licensing, a policy designed to restore The Bahamas’ status as a top global yachting destination. He also pledged to address chronic power outages by upgrading local electricity infrastructure, resurface the entire highway connecting northern and southern Abaco, construct a new public high school in South Abaco, fully reconstruct the damaged Marsh Harbour port, and reactivate Sandy Point as an official port of entry for international vessels. Additional commitments from Sweeting include expanding affordable housing subdivisions across the island, cutting wait times for Crown Land processing, increasing funding and equipment for local fire departments, and upgrading community sporting facilities.

    Terrece Bootle, the FNM’s candidate for North Abaco, emphasized her deep community roots in her address, highlighting the FNM’s past record of delivering progress to Abaco during the previous Ingraham administration. In an impassioned address to attendees, she pushed back against the ruling party’s claims of progress, telling the crowd, “Don’t talk to Abaconions about progress. We know what progress looks like.” Other FNM candidates for regional seats, including Rick Fox running for Garden Hills and Brian Brown vying for Golden Isles, also delivered pledges and fiery campaign messaging to the gathered supporters.

    Closing out the event, Pintard reiterated the party’s core economic pledges for Abaco, promising that an FNM government would roll back the controversial boating fees implemented by the Davis administration and streamline bureaucratic processes to make it easier to start and run a local business. A key policy priority he highlighted is redirecting more locally generated revenue back to Abaco, rather than sending the majority of funds to the national treasury in Nassau. “We’ll make sure that the funds that are earned in Abaco, a larger percentage of those funds remain in Abaco rather than go to the Treasury in Nassau,” Pintard said. He also confirmed that the party would double funding for small and medium-sized enterprise grants and loans from the current $50 million to $100 million to support local business growth.

    Pintard closed his remarks by appealing to undecided voters, framing the FNM as a clear alternative to the long-standing political establishment that has dominated national governance. “You should know all of these fellas are just alike, but we ain’t like them. We are asking you to support a change,” he said.

  • ‘Slow down and love one another’urges nation’s newest centenarian

    ‘Slow down and love one another’urges nation’s newest centenarian

    As Dorothea Louise Strachan marked her 100th birthday this week, the newly-minted centenarian offered a simple but profound piece of advice for the Bahamas’ younger generations: slow down, and choose love over haste. Surrounded by loved ones at the couple’s modest two-story home on Soldier Road, the milestone celebration drew official recognition from the country’s highest ceremonial office, as well as a personal message from the British royal family.

    Hosting the day at her family home alongside Errol “Duke” Strachan, her 93-year-old husband and one of the Bahamas’ most legendary musicians, Strachan welcomed Governor General Dame Cynthia A. Pratt for an official visit marking her achievement. Along with Dame Cynthia’s congratulations, a note of warm wishes was delivered from His Majesty King Charles III and Queen Camilla, adding a touch of global recognition to the intimate local celebration. This year also brings another remarkable milestone for the couple: they will mark 71 years of marriage on June 21, a testament to their decades-long partnership rooted in community and shared purpose.

    Strachan, who never imagined she would live to see her 100th year, credits her long and fulfilling life to unwavering faith and a consistent practice of gratitude. In a heartfelt address to younger Bahamians, she urged them to reject the culture of rush that defines modern life, and to center human connection in all they do.

    “Don’t be too fast,” she emphasized. “Don’t be too in a hurry for everything you see, everything you want. Good things take time. Don’t rush into anything because you might fall down, but if you take your time, you get what you’re looking for when the moment is right.”

    Strachan’s 50-plus year career in the Bahamas’ vital tourism and hospitality industry shaped her commitment to service, a value she carried from her first job at 16 as a waitress on Bay Street through to her retirement. After working her way up into management roles, she eventually launched and operated her own restaurant, and also spent years serving guests at the iconic Holiday Inn on Paradise Island, where she became beloved for her warm, personalized approach to hospitality. Her decades of contributions to the nation’s tourism sector were formally honored in 2006, when she was awarded the prestigious Cacique Minister’s Award in recognition of her outstanding service.

    Even after retiring from full-time work in 1991, Strachan never stepped back from her commitment to community. For years, she spent several days a week preparing and delivering homemade lunches to local offices, keeping her tradition of service alive and staying connected to the neighborhood she called home.

    Walls throughout the Strachan home are lined with decades of personal and cultural history, a visual timeline of the couple’s deep ties to Bahamian public life. Framed photographs mingle snapshots of family gatherings and community events with portraits of prominent figures who have visited the home over the years: legendary Bahamian-American actor Sidney Poitier, American soul musician Isaac Hayes, and NBA greats Patrick Ewing and Julius Erving are all counted among the guests who have passed through their doors. A back room holds the couple’s collection of awards and commemorative plaques, alongside Errol Strachan’s musical instruments. For years, the home hosted regular community concerts and social gatherings, cementing the couple’s reputation as core pillars of local cultural life.

    During her official visit, Dame Cynthia praised Strachan for her sharp intellect and enduring independence, noting that the centenarian remains fully clear-minded and engaged with the world around her. “To reach the age of 100, if that’s not a blessing, tell me what is,” the Governor General said. “Because you came from good stock, and you have good stock following you right now.” She extended the “heartiest congratulations” on behalf of the Bahamian people, and expressed “the profound gratitude of a proud nation” for Strachan’s decades of contributions to national development.

    The celebration comes one month after a controversial incident that made headlines nationwide involving Errol Strachan. During a funeral procession passing the couple’s Soldier Road home, a correctional officer fatally shot one of the couple’s pet dogs. Video of the incident circulated widely on social media, sparking widespread public outrage and condemnation from animal welfare advocates across the country.

    Following an internal review, authorities announced that no breach of departmental policy was found, and the officer would not face any disciplinary action. The Department of Correctional Services issued a formal apology to Strachan, and agreed to provide a replacement dog as a gesture of goodwill. Strachan stated at the time that he accepted the department’s apology and offer, but still grieved the loss of his dog, calling the shooting “totally unnecessary.” As of the 100th birthday celebration, it remains unclear whether the replacement dog has been delivered to the couple.

  • Family island leaders decry lack of power and delayed pay

    Family island leaders decry lack of power and delayed pay

    When The Bahamas’ Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) took office under the Davis administration, it laid out an ambitious “Blueprint for Change” centered on revamping local governance and unlocking long-delayed development across the country’s smaller Family Islands. Three years into the current term, senior local government leaders say the initiative has delivered uneven results at best, with many core pledges still unmet despite legislative progress and scattered infrastructure wins.

    A cornerstone of the administration’s reform agenda was the 2024 Local Government Bill, designed to devolve greater power over community projects, planning, and revenue generation from the national capital in Nassau to locally elected island councils. Government officials argue the legislation successfully expanded councils’ financial autonomy and created new avenues for public participation, marking a meaningful step toward the PLP’s campaign goals. But top local councillors across multiple islands told The Tribune that central control remains entrenched, leaving elected local leaders with too little authority to address pressing community needs.

    Marvin Campbell, chief councillor for Acklins, pointed to outdated approval rules that require all municipal contracts worth $5,000 or more to be signed off by national officials in Nassau. “We know the contractors on this island. We know what projects our community needs,” Campbell argued. “If the people elected us to serve, we should be competent enough to manage a $5,000 contract. If we can’t do that, there’s no reason for us to hold these positions.”

    Clay Sweeting, the national Minister of Local Government, defended the central approval requirement, noting that both national and local bodies are bound by the Public Procurement Act to uphold mandatory standards of accountability and transparency for public spending.

    Concerns over limited local autonomy are not isolated to Acklins. In Central Abaco, councillor Roscoe Thompson said local leaders are often expected to respond to urgent community emergencies—including wildfires—yet lack the independent authority to take immediate action. “When there’s a fire, we have to call the Disaster Risk Management authority or our members of parliament just to get help clearing fire breaks,” Thompson explained. “As for the empowerment this new act was supposed to bring local government? To us, it’s just hogwash.”

    Beyond decision-making authority, the PLP also failed to deliver on a key fiscal promise: a planned 10% annual increase in local government budgets phased in over five years. To date, only one incremental increase has been implemented since the administration took office—a fact that has left many local councils struggling to cover basic operational costs.

    In Mayaguana, Deputy Chief Councillor Cleveland Brown says local elected officials and community workers are still waiting for back pay owed since January, with payments consistently delayed. “They haven’t been here since December, and when they do come to pay, they only cover one month. They owe a lot of people a lot of money,” Brown said, describing the ongoing fiscal situation as “terrible.” Minister Sweeting attributed the delays to a recent break-in at a Mayaguana government facility that required security upgrades, including the installation of a new safe. He also noted that the single budget increase already implemented marks the first raise for local government budgets in more than 20 years.

    Broader structural reforms also remain unfinished. The administration’s plan to establish a formal local government system for New Providence, the country’s most populous island, has yet to be realized. Infrastructure investment across the Family Islands has also progressed unevenly: while key clinic upgrades in Abaco and drainage improvement projects in Acklins broke ground, many projects have stalled mid-construction, and critical needs from road repair to healthcare access remain unaddressed across multiple districts.

    Campbell confirmed that work on two critical clinics in Acklins’ Salina Point and Spring Point started but has been idle for months. “I can’t say for sure why it stopped—whether it’s a funding shortfall, a dispute with the contractor, or something else entirely,” he said. “All I know for sure is that money was spent, and work was underway before it stopped.”

    The administration also pledged to improve air and ferry connectivity to the Family Islands to boost tourism and local business. While increased airline capacity has been rolled out for popular destinations including Eleuthera, Exuma, and Abaco, smaller less tourist-heavy islands have seen no improvement. Inagua still only receives twice-weekly service from national carrier Bahamasair, a limitation Campbell says has devastated local businesses. “A lot of businesses are losing money. Lodges are losing money. Ordinary people are losing money all because of this terrible airlift service,” he added.

    Brown went further in his criticism of the administration, accusing it of outright neglecting Mayaguana and calling for the island to be designated an official port of entry to unlock new tourism opportunities and job growth for local residents.

    For its part, the Davis administration maintains that its Family Island development program represents the largest investment in local island infrastructure in decades, with hundreds of millions of dollars already allocated and spent. The government’s own public “Blueprint for Change” progress tracker lists most local government commitments as fulfilled, with only the full series of budget increases and the New Providence local government system still marked as outstanding. Healthcare, transport, and public service upgrades across the Family Islands are noted as ongoing works in progress.

  • Davis: Lottery would benefit private operators rather than public

    Davis: Lottery would benefit private operators rather than public

    Thousands of energized Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) supporters packed the Bahamas Beach Soccer Stadium on Wednesday evening for a raucous pre-general election rally, where Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis launched a scathing attack on the opposition Free National Movement (FNM), questioning its policy agenda and leadership credibility amid mounting domestic and global uncertainty.

    Opening his address to the crowd, which filled the venue’s bleachers with supporters clad in the party’s signature blue and yellow “Choose Progress” apparel, Davis framed the upcoming election as a critical juncture for the island nation. He emphasized that The Bahamas is navigating a complex web of interconnected challenges, from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and accelerating climate change risks to volatile shifts in the global economy, all of which demand steady, experienced governance that only the incumbent PLP can deliver.

    Davis reserved his sharpest criticism for the FNM’s flagship proposal to introduce a national lottery, arguing the plan is structured to prioritize private profit over public good. “They want the government to underwrite their numbers game, but all the profits go to their connected private operators,” Davis told the cheering crowd. He went on to accuse the opposition of plotting to roll back landmark social programs introduced by his administration, including the widely popular National School Breakfast Programme and the National Youth Guard, while suppressing wage growth for working Bahamians.

    Turning his attention to Opposition Leader Michael Pintard, Davis mocked Pintard’s grip on his own party, claiming the FNM leader is pushed in whichever direction political winds blow. “Poor Pintard. I actually feel a little sorry for him,” Davis said. “He doesn’t lead his party. His party leads him, and that wind is kicking up some very big waves.” Multiple other PLP candidates and sitting Members of Parliament echoed this criticism throughout the event, questioning Pintard’s ability to unify his fractured party and lead the country, dismissing him as inexperienced, petty, and prone to what speakers called deceptive “politricks.”

    The rally drew a massive show of support from across the country’s constituencies: colorful motorcades stretched for blocks along the roads leading to the stadium, with supporters riding on open trucks, waving PLP flags, and chanting for their local candidates. Motorcyclists weaved through nearby traffic, party emblems flying behind them. Along with speeches from a slate of PLP candidates including Mount Moriah hopeful McKell Bonaby, Freetown candidate Wayne Munroe, and Fort Charlotte newcomer Sebastian Bastian, the event featured lively musical performances to rile up the crowd. Bishop Lawrence Rolle delivered a moving rendition of “It Is Well,” while Geno D performed an upbeat rake n’ scrape track encouraging voter turnout. Former Prime Minister Perry Christie, a towering figure in PLP history, received a roaring welcome when his iconic campaign anthem “Sound of a Victory” played over the stadium speakers.

    Davis also took a moment to target FNM’s St James candidate Rick Fox, a former PLP ambassador who switched party affiliation to run for the opposition. Jabbing at Fox’s conduct on nomination day, Davis joked: “People were asking me what kind of Junkanoo dancing that was, if he had some kind of issue. I didn’t know what to say. But don’t be too hard on him. He’s still got a lot to learn. He’s just a First Time Voter.” Davis added that Fox and other FNM candidates frequently launch aggressive personal attacks against him and the PLP, but cry foul when their own weaknesses are pointed out, falsely claiming bullying.

    Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper closed the formal policy remarks by urging voters to return the PLP to office to allow the current administration to continue delivering on its development agenda. In his closing remarks, Davis framed the upcoming election as a clear binary choice for Bahamian voters: either continue on a path of consistent progress under the PLP, or reverse course and return to the old pattern of halting critical infrastructure and social projects every time a new administration takes office. “This election isn’t just about changing personalities. It’s about choosing whether we move forward together, or fall backward into the same old cycles that have held our country back,” Davis said.