The Tribune
‘JCNP THREAT E N ED GROUPS’ - MINISTER
Bowleg:
Some groups told to ‘fall in line’ or ‘suffer consequences’
By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Chief Reporter
lrolle@tribunemedia.net
YOUTH, Sports and Culture Minister Mario Bowleg said he has been informed that the Junkanoo Corporation of New Providence (JCNP) threatened groups with the loss of sponsorship and possible expulsion if they registered directly with his ministry for government seed funding.
Mr Bowleg said the calls this week from several groups disturbed him, especially since they came just a day after he met with JCNP officials and believed discussions had gone well. He said some groups claimed they were told to either “fall in line” with the corporation’s agenda or “suffer certain consequences”.
“As the Minister of
FUSION AWAITS RULING ON NEW DEMON S LAYER MOVIE
By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS
Tribune
Staff Reporter
lmunnings@tribunemedia.net
In February 2024, the board gave Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – To The Hashira Training a D rating, citing its “heavy demonic content”, violence and
FUSION Superplex is awaiting a ruling from the Film Control Board on the latest Demon Slayer movie, a year after a previous instalment in the hit franchise was banned from local cinemas in a move that sparked fierce backlash from the theatre and fans.
Exuma man who lost his home in fire believes it was deliberately set
By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net
AN Exuma man says he has lost everything after a fire he suspects was deliberately set destroyed his
family home in Harts early Wednesday morning. Marvin Bain, 53, believes a former tenant may have been responsible, alleging a man had previously argued with his girlfriend on the property and issued
threats the night before the blaze. Police said officers arrived shortly after 3am to find the structure engulfed in flames. Firefighters later
US official: Bahamas decides who to admit for Haitian visa applications
By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS Tribune Staff Reporter lmunnings@tribunemedia.net
THE US Embassy said its designation of Nassau to process Haitian visa applications does not alter who The Bahamas allows to enter, stressing admission decisions rest entirely with Bahamian authorities.
By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net
“We completely defer to the government of The Bahamas on making the decision about who to allow into the country,” consular section chief Carina Canaan said on Guardian Radio’s Morning Blend yesterday. “We understand that it is a national security calculus,
Photo: Chappell Whyms Jr
Genesis getting ready for Bay Street
MEMBERS of Genesis Junkano Group work late into the evening yesterday making costume pieces as they prepare for the holiday Junaknoo parades later this year.
Photos: Chappell Whyms Jr
JCNP: No one should defy majority decisions
one
Youth, Sports and Culture, I don’t condone this type of nonsense because the groups are not being allowed to exercise their right to participate in a national parade,” he said. “These parades are national and they are run by the government of The Bahamas.”
The allegations mark the latest flashpoint in the government’s battle with the JCNP over the proposed Junkanoo Authority Bill. The corporation had suspended practices, accused the government of sidelining it during the drafting process, and warned that the legislation would strip away its independence. Although the suspension has since been lifted, officials confirmed the JCNP had even considered organising separate parades in protest.
Yesterday, JCNP public relations members pushed back, saying differences of opinion exist but the corporation must act collectively. They compared the JCNP to Cabinet, insisting no group should defy majority decisions. “If we are all marching on one foot, then we are marching on one foot,” one said. “They are trying to pick us off one by one, because the love of money is going to cause the detriment of the culture. We should have the right to parade and the rights to choose.”
Mr Bowleg countered that the JCNP has no authority to block groups from registering with his ministry, stressing that every organisation must submit documents directly to qualify for seed funding. “You can’t take the
people funds to give it a delinquent individual so therefore they have to have a current business licence,” he said.
However, JCNP public relations officer John Williams said the ministry’s demand breaks with 21 years of practice, noting that groups have always registered through the JCNP, which then forwards names for funding. “As long as you are JCNP member group, and you’re
submitted by the JCNP, you’re expected to get seed funding unless the government decides that they’re not issuing the seed funding,” he said.
The dispute comes as Friday’s registration deadline looms. Mr Bowleg said groups are still signing up, including at least four “A” groups and six or seven “B” groups. Meanwhile, dissent is surfacing within the Junkanoo community. Some
members privately admitted they support the bill but felt pressured to align with the JCNP after receiving a declaration form pledging loyalty to the corporation. Gary Russell, executive chairman of Music Makers, said it was the first time he had seen such a form. He acknowledged being urged by phone to take a specific position but refused, saying he wanted more clarity. “With any
organisation, there are some things you’ll agree too and not agree too but you cannot just blankly agree with everything and blankly disagree with everything,” he said. A former JCNP executive said he stopped attending meetings because of “the nonsense that’s going on” and accused the corporation of acting against the Constitution. Others said they feared victimisation unless the
government assumed control of the parade or offered protection.
Mr Bowleg said the government will not support any group being penalised for speaking out. He insisted the Junkanoo parades will continue as scheduled, with or without JCNP’s participation.
Mr Williams maintained the corporation is not fighting the government but “fighting for its role and rights”.
Over 100 Resorts World Bimini employees told to vacate housing
By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter
dmaycock@tribunemedia.net
MORE than 100 Bahamian workers at Resorts World Bimini were given notice this week to vacate the company’s housing by the end of the month, a move some believe could cause “mass displacement” on the island.
Omar Isaacs, the FNM’s candidate for Bimini, criticised the resort’s decision to serve more than 150 employees with eviction notices, giving them just 20 days to leave the housing facilities.
“The move by Resorts World Bimini risks
plunging families into crisis, destabilising the island’s workforce, and endangering the local economy,” he warned. He expressed outrage that hard-working Bahamians are being told to pack up and leave with no plan, no alternatives, and no support.
On Tuesday, Resorts World Bimini issued a company memo informing staff that, due to circumstances beyond their control, the resort needed to vacate several housing facilities, including Dorm Buildings 4 and 5, all management cottages, as well as the triplex. Senior vice president of operations Victor Karavias
informed employees that the resort would need to immediately begin plans to relocate from those buildings, but did not specify why or whether alternative accommodations would be provided.
Employees living in the affected units were told they would be contacted by Human Resources regarding next steps and were advised to begin preparing their personal belongings for relocation.
Mr Karavias explained that the move is not a reflection on employees or resort operations, but a necessary measure at a busy time for the resort as it expands cruise schedules
and port operations.
Armadeen Rolle, chief councillor in Bimini, said she only became aware of the housing situation after receiving a call on Wednesday from a concerned employee. She noted that there is not adequate housing in the local community at this time.
Mr Isaacs pointed out that in less than three weeks, the men and women who keep the resort running are expected to search for housing on an island where rental options are scarce and rent prices are high.
“Resorts World Bimini is one of the island’s largest employers. To displace
such a significant portion of its workforce overnight threatens not only the lives of the workers but the stability of the resort itself,” he claimed.
“Guests will feel the impact. Service will suffer. And Bimini’s reputation as a tourism destination will be tarnished.”
“This reckless decision jeopardises both livelihoods and the island’s economic future,” the FNM candidate said.
“I am demanding immediate intervention from the Ministry of Housing and the Department of Public Service to stop the evictions until proper housing arrangements are
secured, and full transparency from Resorts World and the government about how this decision was made and why no safety net has been put in place.”
Mr Isaacs is also calling for Parliament to investigate whether there are political motives behind the mass displacement.
“The people of Bimini deserve stability, dignity, and respect,” he said.
Resorts World Bimini officials could not be reached yesterday for further comment.
Grand Bahama and Bimini MP
did not respond to calls and messages.
JCNP from page
MINISTER OF YOUTH, SPORTS AND CULTURE MARIO BOWLEG
Kingsley Smith
RESORTS WORLD BIMINI
Wilson urges govt to invest in housing for teachers
By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Chief Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net
AS several Family Islands grapple with ongoing teacher shortages, Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT) president Belinda Wilson is urging the government to invest in housing for teachers, saying the current rental allowance is “insufficient”.
She told The Tribune that many teachers, as well as other union members and employees, are required to cover first and last month’s rent plus a security deposit — costs that can easily run into thousands of dollars.
She said the initial rental allowance is only $700, and although employees can apply for an increase, the process — which she serves on as a committee member — moves far too slowly.
“Where is a new graduate who has been in college/university suppose to find thousands of dollars to pay first and last month rent and security deposit?” Mrs Wilson told The Tribune.
“Some members have waited for months to receive the rental allowance increase. This entire matter of housing in the Ministry of Education and Department of Education
and for that matter the entire government system needs to be improved.”
Her comments came amid renewed concerns about school readiness, particularly on the Family Islands, where parents have reported staff shortages and inadequate facilities at the start of the new school year.
Education Director Dominique McCartney-Russell has said the ministry is addressing the shortfall through interviews, with only 20 vacancies left nationwide.
Meanwhile, some Family Island parents have linked ongoing staff shortages directly to insufficient rental assistance.
Joshua Higgs, vice president of the Samuel Guy Pinder All-Age PTA, recently recalled how a highly qualified teacher left the island due to low rental allowances, adding rental support for teachers is limited while housing costs on the island remain high.
Mrs Wilson noted that housing for teachers in the Family Islands has long been problematic. Despite the decade-long issue, she said the government has failed to adequately address it, citing this year’s budget allocation as an example
“In this year’s national budget under Head 35 Department of Education has an allocation of $6,017,264 for 2025/2026. This allocation is insufficient,” she said. She also criticised the government for failing to
maintain teachers’ cottages on various islands, calling it a waste of taxpayers funds.
She said that although the union’s industrial agreement has long stipulated that teachers should be given first preference to
purchase the dilapidated cottages, nothing has been done to implement this. She said shifting rental markets have made it harder to secure housing, noting that many apartments once available to teachers are now being
converted into Airbnb units as landlords seek higher profits. She added that the situation highlights how the Ministry of Education has failed to adapt to the realities of today’s rental and accommodation market.
Man staying with friend after fire destroyed home
recalled. “When I see the water hose wasn’t doing nothing, I just knew it was over.”
to leave by his aunt for failing to pay rent and constant arguments with his partner.
girl. He was telling her he know what he capable of.”
community’s older homes and said its residents were well-liked.
extinguished the blaze, but the home was reduced to rubble.
Mr Bain said he woke around 2.30am to find his roommate trying to put out flames that began in a back shed. “Me and my roommate, we was trying to put it with the hose but the hose wasn’t working,” he
He said the house, owned by his late mother and aunt, had been in his family for nearly 30 years. He had lived there for the past six.
While officials have since brought in water bowers and two fire trucks, Mr Bain said it still took almost two hours before help arrived. “That house gone before the time they come there,” he said. Asked if he was disappointed by the wait, he replied: “What could you say? Like you say this the island. Well, I could say it’s The Bahamas.” ARSON from page one
According to Mr Bain, the suspected arsonist once lived in the back of the property but was ordered
The day before the fire, he said, the man returned to quarrel with his girlfriend inside the house.
“On the night before it happened, the dude that was been there, he tells my roommate ‘Watch and see what happen’,” Mr Bain said. “The day I catch him, I went into the door with the
Mr Bain is now staying with a friend and seeking assistance from social services. “I just went to social service to get some food right now, I’m not able to work or nothing,” he said.
Mainland Exuma Chief Councillor Glenn Davis, who lives in the same neighbourhood, described the property as one of the
The incident has revived concerns about the island’s fire readiness. Last October, a blaze destroyed three stalls at the Exuma Fish Fry, exposing the lack of available fire trucks. Heavy equipment had to be used to demolish structures and dump sand to contain the flames.
EL ECTRICAL ISSUE APPE ARS TO BE CAUSE OF FIRE THAT KILL ED A BACO T EEN, SAY POLICE
By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net
POLICE say the fire that killed 12-year-old Montana Ferguson in Crown Haven, Abaco, earlier this month appears to have been electrical in origin, with no signs of foul play.
Assistant Superintendent Stephen Rolle said investigators will forward the file to the Director of Public Prosecutions for review and possible negligence
charges once their probe is complete. The matter will also go before the Coroner’s Court.
Montana had been staying overnight at the home of 41-year-old Oceanna Scott when the blaze erupted. Ms Scott said it was his first sleepover at her house.
Her son, a close friend of Montana’s, was inside at the time, along with her 23-year-old daughter. Ms Scott was not at home when the fire started. She
said she does not understand why Montana, who was sleeping beside her son, did not escape.
“Every time I mention it, they start crying, so I just don’t want to make it worse,” Ms Scott said, adding that both her children remained too traumatised to talk about the ordeal.
ASP Rolle said officers remain in contact with the family, both to update them on the investigation and to provide welfare support.
BAHAMAS UNION OF TEACHERS PRESIDENT BELINDA WILSON
Mother battles cancer after losing her ownurges women ‘test early’
By JADE RUSSELL Tribune Staff Reporter jrussell@tribunemedia.net
A 29-YEAR-OLD Grand Bahama mother diagnosed with stage two breast cancer just months after burying her mother from the same disease is pleading with women to get mammograms at any age. Desire Sands, who learned of her diagnosis in April, said she is determined to survive for her three-year-old son even as she continues to grieve her mother, who died in September 2024.
“I went to the clinic, and I got the news, and honestly, in that moment nobody wants to hear that,” she told The Tribune. “I was numb, because I’ve already walked this road with my mother.” Cancer has long haunted her family. Her mother taught her to do self-exams at home, and a benign lump was removed in 2013. But the disease returned in devastating fashion, striking her months after her mother’s funeral.
Living with sickle cell disease, Ms Sands regularly receives morphine to manage her pain. When she first noticed swelling near
“I was numb, because I’ve already walked this road with my mother.”
her chest, she dismissed it as a side effect of the medication. Only after the lump grew did she undergo X-rays, surgery and, by February this year, receive confirmation of stage two breast cancer, a month before turning 29 in May.
The diagnosis, she said, unleashed fear and anguish. She worried about how her grieving relatives would cope, how her son would manage without her, and how much she missed her mother’s guidance.
“I felt painless, because the only person that could relate to me was no longer here,” she said.
Ms Sands said her son keeps her focused on treatment. “I feel like he was the reason that I moved so quickly about everything, as well as being at the forefront of my mother’s journey,” she said. “Because, like I said, she was diagnosed in 2016, but she was scared and confused.”
Most of her days still look ordinary — going to work, playing with her son, spending time with family. But every three weeks she flies to New Providence for chemotherapy at Princess Margaret Hospital’s Oncology Clinic. She has completed four rounds with good results, but four more remain.
The toll is physical and financial. After chemotherapy, she often feels weak and struggles to eat. Medical bills weigh heavily, though she said her family has rallied to support her. Her son, too young to understand, notices her weight loss and fatigue.
Now she is determined to raise awareness. “When we hear breast cancer, it’s always normally associated with an older woman,” she said. “But during my time, my journey going through chemo. I’ve met a lot of young women, and it’s happening a lot.”
AG non-committal on decriminalising suicide amid calls to remove it from law
By KEILE CAMPBELL Tribune Staff Reporter
kcampbell@tribunemedia.net
ATT OR N EY General
Ryan Pinder stopped short yesterday of pledging to remove attempted suicide from the Penal Code, saying only that the government would review recommendations, as campaigners renewed calls for reform on World Suicide Prevention D ay. Mr Pinder, responding to The Tribune after Senator D arren Pickstock repeated his call for decriminalisation at the O range Alert D ay Symposium at Zion South Beach Baptist Church, said the senator was speaking in his “individual capacity”. “ L ike all who make legislative recommendations, the government will take a look at what
ATTORNEY GENERAL RYAN PINDER
he recommends,” Mr Pinder added, declining to outline any obstacles to changing the law. Although it is rare for someone to be charged after trying to commit suicide, Mr Pickstock said criminalisation discourages vulnerable people from seeking help. “Suicide is a mental health issue and not a crime,” he said. “What criminalisation does is prevent people from coming forward and seeking help, so you are actually doing a disservice by having that on the books.”
Police data presented at the symposium showed eight suicides have already been recorded this year, matching the total for all of 2024. O fficials also warned that most suicide attempts in recent years have involved
people under 45, with a 2025 national survey finding that one in five high school students reported attempting suicide.
D espite attempted suicide remaining punishable by up to two years in prison, there is little evidence prosecutions are pursued. R ecent cases, such as a 28-year-old man in Grand Bahama and a 45-year-old man in Guana Cay, were described as being “closely monitored” or “investigated” by police, but no charges followed.
The symposium, organised by the Public Hospitals Authority and Sandilands R ehabilitation Centre, brought together scores of students, health professionals and community leaders to confront stigma and promote mental health awareness.
said the statistics underscored the urgency of removing outdated laws and expanding support services. “ E very life matters,” he said.
Mr Pickstock
DESIRE Sands pictured with her son.
The Tribune Limited
NULLIUS ADDICTUS JURARE IN VERBA MAGISTRI
“Being Bound to Swear to The Dogmas of No Master”
LEON E. H. DUPUCH
Publisher/Editor 1903-1914
SIR ETIENNE DUPUCH, Kt., O.B.E., K.M., K.C.S.G., (Hon.) LL.D., D.Litt .
Publisher/Editor 1919-1972
Contributing Editor 1972-1991
RT HON EILEEN DUPUCH CARRON, C.M.G., M.S., B.A., LL.B.
Publisher/Editor 1972-
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Family Islanders being treated as second class citizens must end
YESTERDAY morning, we featured a heartbreaking photo of Brenda Wells, a mother and resident from Long island, being lifted from the Deadman’s Cay Clinic onto the back of an open pick-up truck in the pouring rain so she could be taken to the airport for her life-flight to Nassau - sparking considerable public outrage as to why the ambulance on the island remained parked and unused.
This latest case mirrors an incident earlier this year in Exuma, when residents were forced to place an American tourist with devastating injuries from a boat accident into the back of a truck after waiting nearly an hour for help that never arrived.
While residents blasted the lack of emergency services as danger to residents and tourists, the Deputy Prime Minister and Member of Parliament for Exuma and Ragged Island, Chester Cooper, was of the contrary point of view.
“Logistically”, he said, “sometimes it makes sense to take a person to a health facility in a private vehicle.”
Spare us from the political theatre! As Gen Charles de Gaulle exclaimed during a Newsweek interview in an 1962: “Since a politician never believes what he says; he is surprised when others do.”
Regardless of one’s political persuasion, we echo the sentiments left by a visitor to tribune242.com who commented: “You cannot have one ounce of Bahamian Blood and Pride and not get emotional over this kind of [in] human[e] treatment.”
Yet, sadly, this is hardly a new development. As the current Member of Parliament for Long Island, Adrian Gibson, laments: “My late uncle, Aaron Gibson, was fatally injured in an accident and had to be carried to the clinic in the back of a truck. That memory has
never left me.
It pains me today as it did then. I have spoken about it for over a decade and pleaded in my former newspaper column, during budget debates, private meetings and in public forums - across various administrations,- for this most basic service.”
In 2017, we published a letter from the former managing director of the Public Hospitals Authority, wherein Herbert Brown warned that “massive underfunding had led to a crisis in the PHA resulting in a detrimental effect on patient outcomes”.
We wonder if the Opposition leader, Michael Pintard, appreciates the topsyturvy nature of the predicament the FNM and PLP find themselves in.
The structural challenges which undermine the voters’ confidence in our British Westminster system of Government is not as a result of “oversized cabinets which limit the members of truly independent voices in the legislature,” as Mr Pintard recently claimed. Rather, in our opinion, it stems from the abject failure of our politicians to address our nation’s immigration crisis, solve the endless spiral of lawlessness and crime; let alone, tackle the staggering true state of our dilapidated crumbling public healthcare system.
Either way, unless we wish to have our brothers and sisters residing in our family islands reclassified as “Second Class Citizens” with disfavoured rights and dissimilar level of medical care as compared to other persons holding the same exact citizenship from birth, this misguided notion of what can only be called “geographical apartheid” has got to stop!
While of little consolation to the family, friends and loved ones of Ms Wells; we are assured that help is on the way.
Miller’s comment is vile and requires more than an apology
EDITOR, The Tribune.
I REFER to the article in your newspaper where former parliamentarian, Leslie Miller, referred to the Free National Movement candidate for the Killarney Constituency as “a little girl” running against former prime minister, Dr Hubert Minnis. Is this member of Parliament the same person who once bragged in the House of Assembly of physically assaulting women by beating them to the shameful ‘approved’ roaring laughter of the members of the house - is this the same former MP who once said that all gay people should be put on an island and burn up? Is this the same MP who has a daughter who can be regarded as “a little girl” but who is a PLP representative for the constituency she represents, and whom many say is a fantastic and awesome representative of the voters in that constituency - is this the same former MP who is often vocal about encouraging young people (I believe young women “girls” included?) to be apart of the governing process of the country as well as other leaderships roles in different sectors of the
economy. While I am not a supporter of the movement party, such reference is regarded by some voters as pathetically lowering of the bar of being exemplary by a “double triple” senior citizen who has done some good for the country as a former politician. Not only is it vile disrespect to a grown woman who a current sitting Senator but also a practicing lawyer and officer of the courts of law. Whilst it is said that the former MP is a close friend of the former PM who has been his financial benefactor for many years (whose loyalty and devotion I do applaud) gives the MP authority to publicly demean Ms Michela Barnett Ellis as a young girl implying that she is not a credible nomination by the FNM for a constituency previously run by a former prime minister.
But let’s be real - the former PM’s legacy will show very little, if anything, in terms of accomplishments he had achieved for the country during his four years as prime minister except as some say he earned the title as a mythomania
perhaps trying to mimic Donald Trump who was president at the time of the PM’s four years in power.
I must say that when occasionally watched the former parliamentarian on a television talk show, I usually support his views on most issues but to humiliate a young citizen in such an archaic blatant sexist and cruel manner by making such ad hominid comments of a “little girl” by such an old man should warrant more than public apology to her as well female lawyers and senators and all little girls, who upon becoming adults, want to contribute to the political development of our nation. Perhaps, the MP should consider making a monetary contribution to the candidate’s campaign.
Incidentally, why is this former PLP MP mixed up in FNM’s business of nomination of its candidates? Even if Dr Minnis were to win Killarney in the next election - it would not be a win for the FNM as he was not nominated by the party to contest that seat.
ELEANOR ALBURY Nassau, September 6, 2025.
Reading must be modelled
EDITOR, The Tribune.
COMING off the heels of International Literacy Day on September 8, I felt compelled to share a classroom moment that highlights both the challenges and opportunities we face in promoting reading among our young people.
As an English Language teacher at a junior and senior high school in Nassau, I have the privilege of working with some of our nation’s brightest students. Each Wednesday, during our school-wide Stop, Drop, and Read initiative, I encourage my Grade 12 homeroom class to dedicate time to reading. This year, I wanted to move them away from “pretend reading”— flipping through books just to pass time—and instead challenge them to read something meaningful. I introduced newspapers.
To my surprise, the reaction was mixed. One student summed it up with the now infamous phrase: “It’s giving very old.” For her, the idea of picking up a hard copy newspaper felt outdated, something reserved for parents and grandparents. This sparked an animated discussion about where they get their news. Unsurprisingly, most admitted that social media is their main source, and much of what they consume leans more toward gossip than credible reporting.
Curious, I decided to poll my small class of nine students, ages 16-18, to learn more about their household reading habits. Of the nine, only four reported having an adult at home who still reads the newspaper. Three of those were grandparents
or an aunt; only one had a father who regularly reads the paper. The rest admitted that no one in their household touches a newspaper at all. For context, their living arrangements are diverse: some live with single mothers, some with both parents, and others with grandparents or extended family.
This stands in contrast to my own upbringing. I am 46 years old, and I grew up in a nuclear family where reading the newspaper was part of the daily rhythm of life. My father, and my grandparents on both sides, read the paper faithfully. In fact, I recall that newspapers were delivered directly to their places of employment, and whenever I visited my father’s or mother’s workplace, it was common to see a paper spread across the desk. That simple image carried weight. It was symbolic of the importance of being informed, of the habit of reading as something expected and valuable. Naturally, I developed my own interest in the news by watching them flip through the pages.
Even today, I do not often purchase a newspaper unless I receive one complimentary at a fast-food restaurant or at a gas station, but when I do, I read it. More regularly, my go-to source is cable news, and when I miss the live broadcast, I always catch the replays on YouTube. I gravitate toward international
news, where I can gain a global perspective, and I make it a priority to listen to news on the radio during my morning commute; something I have done consistently since my late teenage years. What struck me with my students was not just the generational gap but the cultural shift in how information is consumed. In the initial moments of the exercise, some asked halfjokingly if they could flip to the obituary pages or a gossip section. Yet, once they got past the resistance and opened to real articles, something changed. By the end of the session, all nine had read something attentively. When I asked which sections interested them most, six said international news captured their attention, while three preferred local news. If there is a lesson in this small classroom exercise, it is that our children cannot develop strong reading habits in isolation. Parents, guardians, and families must model the practice of reading—whether through the hard copy paper at the breakfast table or the digital edition on a phone or tablet, but they must take it a step further by involving their children in the process. When young people see adults not only consuming the news but also discussing it with them, they begin to adopt the same positive attitudes toward reading, literacy, and engagement with topical issues.
NADYA MUNNINGS-PRATT Nassau, September 10, 2025.
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WAVES crash near the Paradise Island (Hog Island) light house.
Photo Leslie Fraser
Sweeting: MOW is intensifying flood mitigation efforts in Abaco
By JADE RUSSELL Tribune Staff Reporter jrusell@tribunemedia.net
THE Ministry of Works and Family Island Affairs says it has intensified flood mitigation efforts in Abaco as The Bahamas enters the peak of the 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season.
Minister of Works Clay Sweeting said contractors, in partnership with local government, have begun clearing drains in vulnerable communities, including Marsh Harbour, as part of a broader national programme.
Mr Sweeting said in a statement that flooding remains a national challenge, particularly in low-lying areas and wetlands, but the government is committed to providing immediate and sustained interventions.
He noted that seasonal factors such as spring tides, high sea levels and heavy rainfall worsen flooding, often leaving water with no natural outlet, even when drains are cleared.
Drainage clearing and maintenance have been ongoing in Abaco since July and will continue through the rainy season. Mr Sweeting said similar work is being carried out across the country.
“In New Providence alone, there are over 3,000 drains which are systematically and periodically
maintained. Approximately 20 contractors are engaged to support the Ministry’s teams in Nassau and throughout the Family Islands. This collaborative approach ensures that our drainage systems remain operational during the most critical periods of the storm season,” he said.
The minister added that contracts were recently awarded in Abaco and Grand Bahama following assessments in July, with teams already deployed.
“The Ministry of Works, in conjunction with Local Government, will continue to monitor, assess and implement the necessary measures to protect communities and safeguard the wellbeing of residents,” Mr Sweeting said.
For years residents in Abaco have complained about the lack of drainage systems. They often face inches of rainfall water, making it hard for cars to move or even stalling in the middle of the road.
In July, a mile-long stretch of flooding had hit parts of Marsh Harbour, Abaco, following several hours of heavy rain. Roscoe Thompson, head of the Marsh Harbour/ Spring City Township, said floodwaters began in the downtown area but subsided. He pointed to long-standing issues with the area’s drainage system as the root cause of the flooding.
Evidence
and 20-year-old D’Angelo Christie.
The brothers died shortly after 2am on September 2, 2024, when a metallic grey Honda Passport crashed into a tree
while travelling north on Sir Milo Butler Highway.
Police said the 24-year-old driver and his 23-year-old passenger were trapped inside the vehicle. Fire Services used the jaws of life to free them, but EMS confirmed their deaths at the scene. The 20-year-old
rear-seat passenger, taken to the hospital with serious injuries, later died.
Mr Whitfield said the evidence submitted by the Royal Bahamas Police Force’s traffic division was incomplete. He noted that investigators suspected a second vehicle was
involved in the accident, and that its two occupants, along with 30 other witnesses, were interviewed, but none of those statements were filed.
He also said the brothers’ vehicle was never taken to a police compound for forensic testing.
Instead, it was impounded at a private lot, and the victims’ mother, Lovan Christie, never recovered the car. Mrs Christie told The Tribune in June she still struggled to cope with the loss of her sons, breaking down in tears whenever she looked at their belongings. The inquest ended after only three days of testimony in late August. The case file was returned to the Commissioner of Police for further review, with instructions to resubmit it once stronger evidence is provided.
BROTHERS Philip McCarron Christie, 24, Philip D’Caprio Christie, 23, and D’Angelo Christie, 20, were killed in a collision shortly after 2am on September 2, 2024.
Social intervention suggestions to Hanna Martin and Munroe
A RECENT news story highlighted the concern and frustration of National Security Minister Wayne Munroe and Education Minister Glenys Hanna Martin, over the need for housing for at-risk and other youth who require alternative living arrangements other than their difficult family circumstances and home environments.
This column provides some background to the social and cultural difficulties in which many of our children live and survive. There are also ideas for social intervention, including diversionary or alternative programs and facilities.
The depth of social decay and criminality in The Bahamas has myriad causes which have been discussed for decades. Most of the factors are cultural and sociological. They require treating symptoms as well as underlying diseases and dysfunction.
Sadly, political leaders have mostly treated symptoms because they have to be seen to be acting decisively in a given moment.
Buying more police vehicles is essential and is an easy optic to sell to voters. Still, more cars will not address the roots of such problems as gang violence or youth alienation.
We are in a social morass as deep as the Tongue of the Ocean. To rescue and to restore the lives of those in need of relief and opportunity will require more than small
efforts or dinghies.
We need early and social intervention efforts approximately the size of an aircraft carrier group, with myriad resources and a comprehensive approach. This is a matter of practicality and social justice. By example, the government’s expansion of the breakfast program in government-operated schools, proposed by the last FNM administration, is an essential program. Over time it should include a universal lunch component. Together, these and other measures, including greater efforts by the entire country to limit the number of sugary drinks consumed by children and youth, may improve nutrition and help reduce the staggering degree of obesity in the country. Intervention is
exceedingly expensive.
This column has long argued that the funds for intervention should come in great measure from higher taxation on gaming establishments and the establishment of a national lottery for public purpose.
The national investments in education, healthcare, housing, and economic development by successive government are elements of social development. We have made progress in many areas.
We are in a social morass as deep as the Tongue of the Ocean. To rescue and to restore the lives of those in need of relief and opportunity will require more than small eforts or dinghies.
But there are forms of social intervention which we have not tried nor invested in comprehensively and consistently. Programmes such as Outward Bound, is an example. It has been described in this column over many years. Such programmes specifically target youth, including vulnerable youth.
Outward Bound is an “experiential learning, expedition school and outdoor learning programme ... that serves people of all ages and backgrounds through challenging learning expeditions that inspire self-discovery, both in and out of the classroom.”
The highly successful global initiative also offers a program known as the Intercept Programme for At-Risk Youth and Troubled Teens. It is designed for young people from ages 12 to 22 and addresses “the needs of struggling teens and atrisk youth beginning to demonstrate destructive behaviours, as well as the needs of their families”.
The Intercept Programme serves “youth, young adults, families, schools and communities ... at risk of academic failure, dropping out of school, delinquency or becoming chronic offenders”.
The YEAST development program that was run by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese under the direction of Jeffrey Lloyd, had some success. The programme never reached full capacity.
YEAST was ended under the Free National Movement. This was a tragic mistake. It was ostensibly closed because it was said to be too expensive. This was a shortsighted explanation and reason. By now, more young men could have gone through the programme.
What is expensive is the waste of young lives, the costs of policing, courts, and incarceration. Even as the FNM of that day was touting the need for comprehensive social intervention, it myopically defunded YEAST
The Lyford Cay Foundation better understood what comprehensive intervention might look like.
“Forward, Onward to College, Upward to Success...FOCUS, is an out-of-school-time, tuition-free enrichment programme aimed at preparing public school students of demonstrated potential and need for college readiness and access.
“Students begin the programme the summer after Grade 4, and are supported throughout their school career.
[The] expectation is that they will eventually become the first generation in their family to achieve post-secondary education...
“... Programmes are designed to yield palpable, long-term results. Each programme is aimed at providing learning opportunities for Bahamian children, young adults, families, and communities who will benefit the most.”
The program has 300 students in grades five to 12. It employs more than 30 part-time staff. This includes team leaders, counsellors, coaches and interns.
A comprehensive program of intervention might include a universal afterschool program in government-operated schools. At a church service in 2024, then Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, touted such an initiative.
“One proposal to give more of our young people a greater sense of values and their own sense of human dignity is the creation of a Universal Afterschool Programme.
“ T he idea for the government in partnership with the private sector, the religious community, and the non-profit sector to provide resources to approved afterschool initiatives around the country to ensure more children could enrol free of cost.
“For example, if an approved art, track or sailing program had 50 private students, and they could handle 50 more, the government could fund an additional 50 students free of cost. Imagine such a programme on a national scale, adding thousands of children to quality afterschool programmes.”
Government has preexisting facilities such as building and sports facilities, including the new school pools that Mrs Hanna Martin has been instrumental in building. Let’s Swim Bahamas is critical to this effort.
Since moving to its new facilities on Gladstone R oad some years ago, Aquinas C ollege has experienced significant improvements in educational outcomes in myriad areas including academic achievement, character development, and spiritual growth. Of significance is that male students are doing as well as female students. What is Aquinas getting right?
T here are many ingredients in the school’s recipe for success. T his includes the stellar leadership of principal Shona Moss Knowles, a veteran and innovative educator. Another ingredient is the facilities on the campus and the mood fostered by the natural and built environment of the school.
A teacher told this columnist years ago of a male student who switched schools in a sister C aribbean country. T he campus he moved to was more peaceful and had more trees. T he young man said of his new school, “I feel I can breathe!” His mood improved, his grades improved, and his life outcomes improved significantly.
Minister Hanna Martin and Munroe should find a housing environment where students who need an alternative space may breathe and imagine a new life. N ext week, some suggestions on such an initiative and how it might be imagined and managed.
NATIONAL SECURITY MINISTER WAYNE MUNROE MINISTER OF EDUCATION GLENYS HANNA MARTIN
RFK Jr appointment revenge, not policy
ROBERT F Kennedy Jr
is obviously a Kennedy. He has that same Irish, ruddy complexion as his father Robert and uncle Ted.
He speaks with the family’s characteristic Boston brogue. His pale eyes flash when he wants to especially underscore a point he is making. As with many in his family, there’s also a vague whiff of aristocratic superiority about him: He seems to feel he’s a bit smarter than the rest of us.
Better looking and wealthier, too. But RFK Jr is charismatic, like his famous father and uncle. He is capable of sustained energetic bursts, and his passion for what he believes is impressive. He is also clearly the outlier of his generation in what may be America’s most sustainable
“first family”. But like the president he serves, he is also a skilled demagogue.
At various points as RFK Jr’s career and public profile has expanded, fuelled by an obsessive opposition to governmental health care mandates in general and vaccine requirements in particular, his family has clearly and crisply disowned him.
Cousin Caroline Kennedy, the only surviving child of former US president John F Kennedy (another JFK Jr uncle), led the charge of family outrage and embarrassment after US president Donald Trump announced his intention to appoint RFK Jr as secretary of health and human services not long after Trump was returned to office by voters last November.
RFK Jr had briefly maintained a presidential candidacy last spring into summer, and there was quite a bit of press speculation that both the Democrats and Republicans were plotting to offer him some appointment in a new administration that would cause him to either get out of the race altogether or at least indicate his preference for their candidate.
Trump and RFK Jr huddled in Florida, and not long thereafter Trump seemingly won the tussle for RFK Jr’s support. Then came the post-election appointment announcement.
Kennedy’s appointment was the subject for two Washington residents recently. Betsy and Jill are two friends who meet regularly to gossip on one another’s back porch and review the politics of the day. While both profess their non-aligned political independence, Betsy admits that she hasn’t
STATESIDE
voted for a Republican presidential nominee since Ronald Reagan in 1980, and Jill last supported a Democrat in 1992 when Bill Clinton captured her imagination. Betsy was complaining this week to her friend about RFK Jr. “This guy is crazy. Did you see him up on Capitol Hill the other day? First of all, he was openly disrespectful to and dismissive of several senators from both parties. And his voice? Not sure what’s going on with that, but he sounds awful. And this anti-vax nonsense? Why in the world would you want to make much more difficult the process of protecting your children and society in general from the
worldwide scourge of disease that we in the US have led to charge to defeat? I just don’t get it.
“And by the way, why would Trump appoint such a potentially dangerous and unpopular lightning-rod figure to such a sensitive position? He must have realised RFK Jr’s potential to hurt his agenda, to distract and ultimately alienate MAGA voters, and to weaken GOP chances in next year’s election and beyond. What happens when MAGAns start to see their kids get sick and die because of these idiotic vaccination ideas? Jill, help me out here. Do you understand it?” Jill paused to consider
really focuses on getting back at people who openly disrespect him, who exclude him from their club or circle, or who look down on him. Look at his obsession with avenging himself for Barack Obama’s snide remark at a press gala 15 years ago!
“Trump clearly hates and perhaps envies the wealth and privilege of the Kennedy family. He is certainly aware of their uniform disgust with him and his political success. The Kennedys epitomise almost everything Trump loathes. And except for RFK Jr, they loathe him right back.”
Jill relaxed into her wicker rocking chair, settling comfortably into its soft cushions. She sipped at her iced tea.
“I think appointing RFK Jr gave Trump a chance to poke a figurative finger in the eye of the whole Kennedy clan, and in the process embarrass and even humiliate them, reminding them that he’s in the White House, they’re not, and that he can do basically what he wants to them. He’s magnified the importance of their prodigal son. It’s Trump’s way of punishing them for their scorn. He’s settling another score.”
Betsy nodded thoughtfully. “That actually makes sense to me. But somehow, it doesn’t make me feel any better. Worse, in fact. And it just underlines the sad reality that personal payback and retribution appears to outweigh just about anything else with this president.”
Jill could only nod in agreement.
Trump clearly resented. While Trump was musing that Americans might try to inject bleach into their blood stream to combat the effects of the pandemic, Fauci was steadfastly trying to protect Americans’ health. The contrast between the buffoon and the dedicated expert could not have been starker. Even Trump eventually realised he couldn’t compete, and retreated into criticism and vilification of his leading health spokesman. Upon returning to office, Trump hastened to remove Fauci’s government-provided security protection, a service that had been necessitated in the first place by Trump-incited threats against Fauci and his family. Related effects of all this commotion threaten to impact us in nearby Florida. There, the state’s surgeon general is Dr Joseph Ladapo, a naturalised American who emigrated to the US with his Nigerian family at the age of five, starred as a chemistry major and track star at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, earned a medical degree and PhD in public health at the Harvard Medical School, held increasingly responsible and prestigious public health positions around the country, and said this just a couple of weeks ago:
her friend’s request and clear up her confusion. “Well, I do think that practical politics played a role in this appointment, for sure,” she said. “RFK Jr was never polling very well as a presidential candidate, but earlier last summer no one knew what twists and turns the election process might take. Most observers thought the election would be very close, even after Joe Biden’s candidacy imploded and the Democrats rushed to hand the nomination to his vice president.
“But,” Jill continued, “I think Trump appointed this man as HHS secretary for a different reason. That reason is retribution. Think about it. Trump
But while Trump is getting revenge on some long-time haughty critics, he might be inviting a public health disaster in the United States. One of the most respected institutions in the US is the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. CDC falls under the authority of HHS, and under RFK Jr, the agency has been hollowed out and profoundly weakened. Its ability to serve as a dependable public health monitor and trusted source on health issues has certainly been diminished.
And this administration’s attack on US conventional public health authorities is not limited to getting back at the Kennedy family.
Trump also cannot stop trying to attack and marginalise former CDC director Dr Anthony Fauci, who emerged as a heroic public servant during the worst days of COVID-19 and whose fame and popularity
“Every last (government health or vaccine mandate) is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery. If we want to move toward a perfect world, a better world, we can’t do it by enslaving people in terrible philosophies and taking away people’s freedoms.”
You really couldn’t make up this stuff. A seemingly distinguished, well-educated and experienced, admirable public servant is talking this way, and has been for nearly four years. Dr Ladapo is now proposing to eliminate all school vaccine mandates in Florida, and it’s not likely that the state’s GOPdominated legislature will go against this suggestion, particularly since Governor Ron DeSantis has supported it in the past. Assuming this dangerous initiative is enacted, what will be the likely effects in the Sunshine State? Will there be outbreaks of childhood diseases like the measles epidemic in similarly public health-casual Texas just a few months ago? Will we need to wear masks all the time when visiting Florida? Who knows? But travelling there just got potentially riskier.
with Charlie Harper
HEALTH and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr., appears before the Senate Finance Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, on September 4, 2025.
Photo: J Scott Applewhite/AP
and we defer to them. We will deal with the reality, and we’ll give information to Washington based on the reality, but we defer to them.”
The comment comes after the US State Department listed Nassau as a processing site while routine visa services in Port-au-Prince remain
suspended amid Haiti’s instability. Ms Canaan noted Nassau has long handled Haitian applications — both for residents of The Bahamas and Haiti — and said the designation reflects operational realities, similar to arrangements that saw Warsaw process Russian applicants and Bogotá handle Venezuelan cases.
The US paused issuance of new visas to Haitian
nationals on June 9, citing security conditions and overstay rates. The suspension primarily affects non-immigrant categories such as visitor and student visas, with limited exceptions for certain immigrant visas, particularly family reunification.
“Haitians who already had valid visas, those weren’t canceled,” Ms Canaan said. “So, Haitians who had valid visas and
were outside the US as of June 9 are still able to travel to the US. That decision is made at the discretion of our Customs and Border Protection officials.”
She added: “There’s not a total ban on entry of Haitian nationals to the US. It’s a suspension of issuing new visas, with the exception of certain immigrant visa categories.”
Ms Canaan said the embassy’s priority remains
LEVELLING UP LEADERS
THE inaugural LevelUp Leaders 360
Student Empowerment Workshop brought together more than 30 junior high, senior high, and university students on August 30 at The Cancer Society in Nassau.
The programme focused on personal growth, academic discipline, financial literacy, leadership readiness, mental health awareness, and other areas.
Students participated in two
intergenerational round table discussions and heard from speakers, including Edison Sumner, Dr Debbie Bartlett, Pastor Shamron Munroe, among others.
“Our goal is to prepare students to think bigger, dream bolder, and lead with confidence,” said Koschina L Marshall, founder of LevelUp Leaders 360.
For more information about the organisation, visit www.levelupleaders360.com.
US: BAHAMAS DECIDES WHO IT ADMITS TO NATION
ensuring appointment availability for Bahamians and residents, adding that expedited requests can be accommodated and that non-resident third-country nationals may apply subject to limited availability. She encouraged the public to rely on official sources such as travel.state.gov for updates.
Last week, the Office of the Prime Minister said Washington’s June
restrictions mean there will be “no additional entries to The Bahamas for the purpose of US visa applications”. Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis reiterated that Nassau will not be used as a venue for Haitian visa processing, noting Haitian nationals already require Bahamian visas and that entry rules are under review, with further tightening expected.
FUSION HOPEFUL NEW DEMON SLAYER MOVIE WILL BE APPROVED
beheadings, and claiming it lacked a comprehensible plot. The decision blocked its release and drew criticism from Fusion executives, who argued the restriction exceeded the board’s authority and unfairly limited adult access. Fans, meanwhile, described the ruling as excessive and warned it set a troubling precedent, especially given that earlier titles in the series had been screened locally without issue.
Now Fusion is promoting the newest film, pending review. If cleared, it could appear in theatres as early as tonight. The company teased the release with a TikTok video captioned, “You asked ‘over and over’… we listened,” which has drawn over 18,000 views and thousands of
shares, underscoring strong anticipation. Fusion’s chief legal officer, Tecoyo Bridgewater, confirmed the movie is part of the same franchise but stressed it differs from last year’s banned title. “We have booked the movie. The Film Board has started to review the movie, and then they will give their feedback on a rating of that movie,” he said. Pressed on whether the content might trigger similar objections, Mr Bridgewater said: “I can’t say, but it is a different movie, even though it’s a part of the franchise. They may have had a perspective on the previous movie. Maybe the content of that movie, this movie has different content. Goes on a case-by-case basis.”
He added that Fusion hopes the board issues a rating that recognises the
film’s adult audience. “We just want, and hope that the Film Board does not refuse the movie, and understand that adults will be watching the movie and they present a reasonable expectation of allowing us to show it, because the fans want it and we want it,” he said.
Last year’s dispute also reignited concerns about enforcement of age restrictions. A Board member questioned whether Fusion could prevent minors from accessing restricted films. At the time, Mr Bridgewater rejected the claim, insisting the theatre strictly enforces ratings, with C-rated films sold only to patrons 18 and older.
He also argued that the law permits restrictions only when a film offends public order, decency, or broader public interest, not because of subjective concerns about content or language.
15 years in jail for abusing girl man knew since she was a baby
By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net
A MAN has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl in Grand Bahama, a child he knew since she was a baby.
Prosecutors said 39-yearold Carlton Mott had sexual intercourse with the girl in a bushy area near Port Lucaya Marketplace on June 25, 2021.
That same day, Mott had taken the girl and her siblings to celebrate her drive-by graduation.
The victim testified that she felt uncomfortable
earlier in the day when Mott touched her inappropriately during a car ride alone.
The court heard that Mott had known the girl since she was ten months old.
The victim said he began molesting her at age ten and continued until the 2021 incident.
She only came forward in 2023, leading to charges against her mother for failing to report child abuse.
A jury found Mott guilty of unlawful sexual intercourse by a vote of 8–1 before Justice Petra HannaAdderley. He was acquitted of a second count.
Despite the conviction, Mott maintained his innocence. Probation officer Laish Boyd Jr reported that he showed no remorse while incarcerated and resisted rehabilitation efforts.
The victim’s mother told the probation officer she felt she had failed her daughter. She revealed that she had also been abused as a child.
That case continues in Magistrate’s Court with a hearing set for October. He told officials he was distressed about no longer being able to provide for his ten children after his imprisonment.
PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS ORDERED IN GUN CASE
By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net
A MAN was remanded to prison yesterday for psychological evaluation after being accused of possessing a loaded gun earlier this week.
Prosecutors allege that 28-year-old Alexander Pennerman was found with a black and silver Taurus pistol and two .380 rounds on September 8 in New Providence. He was charged before Magistrate Lennox Coleby with possession of an unlicensed firearm and possession of ammunition.
$5,000 BAIL
By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net
A MAN was granted $5,000 bail on Tuesday after he was accused of breaking into a woman’s home on McKinney Avenue earlier this week.
After Pennerman’s sister told the court he suffers from mental health issues, a not guilty plea was entered on his behalf. He was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services until September 30, where he will undergo psychological evaluation.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Lincoln McKenzie prosecuted the case.
FOR MAN ACCUSED OF BREAK-IN
Prosecutors allege that 26-year-old Erin Wilson broke into the residence of Danalee Stuart on September 8. Wilson was charged with housebreaking before Senior Magistrate Kendra Kelly-Burrows. He pleaded not guilty. Bail was set at $5,000 with one or two sureties. As a condition, Wilson must sign in at the Grove Police Station every Thursday by 6pm. He was also warned not to interfere with the complainant or any witnesses. Wilson is scheduled to return to court on November 5. Sergeant Vernon Pyfrom prosecuted the case.
Holness returned to power as violent crimes decline
JAMAICANS voted
Andrew Holness, the leader of the centre-right Jamaica Labour party (JLP), into power for a third consecutive term on September 3.
Holness beat Mark Golding of the People’s National party (PNP) in a tight election, with the JLP winning 34 seats and the PNP 29.
A head of state winning a third straight term is a rare feat in a participatory democracy. There are several factors that have contributed to Holness’s enduring appeal before the voters.
Jamaica’s economy has improved since Holness
first took office in 2016.
Public debt fell from more than 140% of GDP in 2013 to 73.4% by 2024, while the World Bank expects the economy to grow by 1.7% in 2025.
At the same time, Holness has sought to upgrade and improve public access to beaches across Jamaica.
Most of the country’s beaches are gated and held in the hands of hoteliers, expats and private companies.
The Holness government introduced an initiative in 2024 to create new “beach parks” for ordinary Jamaicans. It also strengthened regulations to prevent private developments from blocking public access to beaches.
But what is likely to have contributed most to Holness’s victory are his crime-busting policies. Jamaica has been reeling under gang violence for the past 25 years. As recently as 2023, Jamaica had the second-highest rate of homicide in the Caribbean region – behind only Haiti.
Holness has overseen a steady decline in the country’s murder rate since then.
There was an 18.7% decline in homicides in Jamaica from 2023 to 2024, while the island registered an even greater drop of 43% between 2024 and 2025.
Like in nearby gang-infested Haiti, criminality and violence has long thrived in Jamaica owing to political patronage. Most homicides there are carried out by gangs known as “posses”. These groups have in the past been linked to major Jamaican political parties.
The JLP and PNP both fostered the development of posses in inner-cities and deprived areas by providing them with weapons and a free hand to run protection rackets in exchange for political support. Jamaican politicians have on occasion also allegedly paid gangsters to carry out crimes for political gain.
In the 2010s, an article in the Irish Independent accused Bruce Golding, the then-Jamaican JLP prime minister, of openly using the powerful “Shower Posse” gang to intimidate opposition voters in elections three years earlier. Shower
Posse was led by Christopher “Dudus” Coke, a convicted drug kingpin who is now jailed in the US Golding “categorically denied” the claims at the time, and called them part of a conspiracy to undermine his government. However, regardless of the accuracy of these specific allegations, collusion between criminals and political elites turned Jamaica into a hotbed of criminality and spiralling violence.
Responsive governance
Holness’s success in fighting crime rests on three pillars: fighting urban poverty, clamping down on the drugs trade and putting tight restrictions on the importation of firearms. One of his main focuses has been enhancing social programmes to reduce the allure of gang membership. His government has put in place a social pension, while also raising the minimum wage. These policies contributed to the national poverty rate falling to 8.2% in 2023 – its lowest level since measurements began in 1989.
Holness also amended Jamaica’s 2014 Gang Suppression Act in 2021, a year into his second term. This gave the police and military more power to combat criminality and was followed by the launch of an anti-gang task force in 2022. The task force oversaw direct combat with national and transnational gangs operating within Jamaica. That same year, Holness
launched his “Get Every Illegal Gun” campaign. This initiative was accompanied by severe penalties for those found in possession of illegal weapons. The countrywide illegal firearms crackdown is widely attributed as having brought down rates of violence across Jamaica.
However, while Holness’s zero tolerance stance towards criminality has successfully tackled crime rates, there are some concerns about his approach. His critics often cite human rights violations associated with the introduction of a state of emergency in parts of the capital Kingston and 14 other parishes in 2022. The measure enabled the authorities to arrest people and search buildings without a warrant.
Holness justified the move by saying gang violence had forced Jamaicans “to hide under their beds, hide their daughters, can’t go to church, and they see their sons and their boyfriends and husbands killed. That’s the reality”.
The election of Holness for a third time is by no means a guarantee that Jamaica will complete its transition from rampant violence to peace. His populist economic promises, such as lowering income tax rate from 25% to 15% earned him much-needed votes. But it is unlikely that such promises can be sustained in the long run.
Jamaican society has also not been completely freed from the ravages of its violent past. Parts of
the country, such as Tivoli Gardens, Grants Pen and Trench Town in Kingston, Rose Heights, Flankers and Norwood in the city of Montego Bay, and the most of Spanish Town
(colloquially known as the valley of death), still reel from vendetta violence. It is these lingering fears that may have motivated a voter turnout of just 39.5% in the recent election
– a turnout far lower than when Jamaicans last went to the polls in 2020.
from
vision
Holness’s
of “a stronger, safer, more prosperous Jamaica” is still a long way
the finishing line.
PRIME MINISTER Andrew Holness, leader of the Jamaica Labour Party, celebrates his reelection in Kingston, Jamaica, Wednesday, September 3, 2025.
Photo: Collin Reid/AP
Charlie Kirk dies after being shot at Utah college event
By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM, ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and MARK SHERMAN Associated Press
CHARLIE Kirk, a conservative activist and close ally of President Donald Trump, was shot and killed Wednesday at a Utah college event in an act that drew renewed attention to the threat of political violence across the United States.
The death was announced on social media by Trump, who praised the 31-yearold Kirk, the co-founder and CEO of the youth organization Turning Point USA, as “Great, and even Legendary.”
“No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,” Trump posted on his Truth Social account.
The suspected shooter has not been arrested,
Orem, Utah, Mayor David Young said. A person who was taken into custody by law enforcement at the university where Kirk was speaking was not the suspect, according to a person familiar with the investigation who was not authorized to speak publicly. Videos posted to social media from Utah Valley University show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone while sitting under a white tent emblazoned with the slogans “The American Comeback” and “Prove Me Wrong.”
A single shot rings out and Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as a large volume of blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators are heard gasping and screaming before people start to run away. The AP was able to confirm the videos were taken at Sorensen Center courtyard on the Utah Valley University campus.
“We are confirming that he was shot and we are praying for Charlie,” said Aubrey Laitsch, public relations manager for Turning Point USA Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by his nonprofit political organization. Immediately before the shooting, Kirk was taking questions for an audience member about mass shootings and gun violence.
“Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?” an audience members asked. Kirk responded: “Too many.”
The questioner followed up: “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?”
“Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk asked.
Then a single shot rang out.
The event had been met with divided opinions on
HEZBOLLA H WARNS GULF COUNTRIES ARE NEXT IF ISRAEL DEFEATS MILITANTS
By BASSEM MROUE and KAREEM CHEHAYEB Associated Press
THE leader of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group said Wednesday that Israel’s strike on Qatar is a warning to oil-rich Gulf countries that they would not be spared in the future if militant groups in the region are defeated.
Naim Kassem’s comments came a day after Israel struck the Palestinian Hamas militant group’s political leadership in the capital of Qatar, whose government has been a key mediator in the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli airstrikes did not kill Hamas leaders, but five lower-ranking members and a Qatari security officer lost their lives in the strikes.
“We are on the side of Qatar that was subjected to an aggression and we also stand with the Palestinian resistance,” Kassem said. He added that the Israeli strike is part of its attempts to create a “Greater Israel” in large parts of the Middle East.
Kassem’s comments came days after the Lebanese government approved a military proposal to disarm
the Iran-backed Hezbollah, which suffered significant damage in its own 14-month war with Israel that ended in November with a US-brokered ceasefire. Kassem said the reason Israel has not been able to achieve its expansionist goals is the presence of militant groups in Lebanon, Gaza and other parts of the Middle East. He added that oil-rich Gulf countries should back militant groups in the region financially, politically and socially. If the enemy defeats the resistance, and it will not be able to, your turn will be next,” Kassem said, referring to Gulf countries that have normal relations with Israel, such as Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
Speaking about Lebanon, Kassem said that the ceasefire that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war did not achieve its goals and Israel keeps violating the truce. Since the ceasefire went into effect, Israel has carried almost daily airstrikes on Lebanon, mainly targeting Hezbollah members. Israel says that Hezbollah is trying to rebuild its capabilities after the war that left much
by
of the group’s political and military leadership dead.
Kassem called for national unity in Lebanon, adding that Hezbollah is not ready to discuss the issue of its weapons outside a “national security strategy.”
Hezbollah officials, including Kassem, have refused to discuss the disarming of the group before Israel withdraws from five hills it is occupying inside Lebanon and stops its airstrikes on the country.
The Israel-Hezbollah war killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon, including hundreds of civilians, and caused destruction worth $11 billion, according to the World Bank. In Israel, 127 people died, including 80 soldiers.
The war started when Hezbollah began firing rockets across the border on Oct. 8, 2023, a day after a deadly Hamas-led incursion into southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza. Israel responded with shelling and airstrikes in Lebanon, and the two sides became locked in an escalating conflict that became a full-blown war in late September 2024.
campus. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures. The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry, and constructive dialogue.”
Last week, Kirk posted on X images of news clips showing his visit to Utah colleges was sparking controversy. He wrote, “What’s going on in Utah?”
Trump and a host of Republican and Democratic elected officials decried the shooting and offered prayers for Kirk on social media.
“We must all pray for Charlie Kirk, who has been shot. A great guy from top to bottom. GOD BLESS HIM!” Trump posted on Truth Social. The shooting comes amid a spike in political violence in the United States across all parts of the
ideological spectrum. The attacks include the assassination of a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband at their house in June, the firebombing of a Colorado parade to demand Hamas release hostages, and a fire set at the house of Pennsylvania’s governor, who is Jewish, in April. The most notorious of these events is the shooting of Trump during a campaign rally last year.
Former Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz, a Republican who was at the event, said in an interview on Fox News Channel that he heard one shot and saw Kirk go back.
It seemed like it was a close shot,” Chaffetz said, who seemed shaken as he spoke. He said there was a light police presence at the event and Kirk had some security but not enough.
“Utah is one of the safest places on the planet,” he said. “And so we just don’t
have these types of things.”
Turning Point was founded in suburban Chicago in 2012 by Kirk, then 18, and William Montgomery, a tea party activist, to proselytize on college campuses for low taxes and limited government. It was not an immediate success.
But Kirk’s zeal for confronting liberals in academia eventually won over an influential set of conservative financiers.
Despite early misgivings, Turning Point enthusiastically backed Trump after he clinched the GOP nomination in 2016. Kirk served as a personal aide to Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, during the general election campaign. Soon, Kirk was a regular presence on cable TV, where he leaned into the culture wars and heaped praise on the then-president. Trump and his son were equally effusive and often spoke at Turning Point conferences.
Trump’s deportation plans result in 320,000 fewer immigrants and slower population growth, CBO says
By STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press
PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s plans for mass deportations and other hardline immigration measures will result in roughly 320,000 people removed from the United States over the next ten years, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday in a report that also projected that the US population will grow more slowly than it had previously projected.
Trump’s tax and spending law, passed by Congress and signed in July, included roughly $150 billion to ramp up his mass deportation agenda over the next four years. This includes funding for everything from an extension of the United States’ southern border
wall to detention centres and thousands of additional law enforcement staff. The CBO found that 290,000 immigrants could be removed through those measures, and an additional 30,000 people could leave the US voluntarily.
Coupled with a lower fertility rate in the US, the reduction in immigration means that the CBO’s projection of the US population will be 4.5 million people lower by 2035 than the nonpartisan office had projected in January. It cautioned that its population projections are “highly uncertain,” but estimated that the US will have 367 million people in 2055. Lower immigration to the US could have implications for the nation’s economy and the government’s budget. The report
did not directly address those issues, but it noted that the projected population would have “fewer people ages 25 to 54 — the age group that is most likely to participate in the labour force — than the agency previously projected.”
Democrats in Congress have been warning that mass deportations could harm the US economy and lead to higher prices on groceries and other goods.
In the White House, Trump has said he wants to see a “baby boom” in the US and his administration has bandied about ideas for encouraging Americans to have more children. But the CBO found no indication that would happen.
“Deaths are projected to exceed births in 2031, two years earlier than previously projected,” it noted.
SHEIKH NAIM KASSEM, previously Hezbollah’s deputy leader, listens to a speech
then-leader Hassan Nasrallah on a screen in southern Beirut, on June 19, 2024.
Photo: Bilal Hussein /AP
THIS image from video provided by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement via DVIDS shows manufacturing plant employees being escorted outside the Hyundai Motor Group’s electric vehicle plant, September 4, 2025, in Ellabell, Georgia.
Photo: Corey Bullard / AP
CHARLIE Kirk speaks before he is shot during Turning Point’s visit to Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, yesterdy.
Photo: Tess Crowley/AP
US Coast Guard holds joint training exercise with RBDF and RBPF
IN a joint training exercise earlier this week, US Coast Guard rescue swimmers taught water survival skills to members of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) and the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) in Nassau.
The multi-day session, part of Operation
Bahamas Turks and Caicos (OPBAT), focused on Shallow Water Egress Training (SWET). This training is designed to enhance the safety of Bahamian personnel who regularly fly on US Coast Guard helicopters for joint counter-drug, search and rescue, and maritime security missions.
According to Petty Officer Second Class Cole Johnson of the US Coast Guard, 31 participants “exceeded the standards” set for the event, strengthening the collaboration between the US and Bahamian agencies.
Photos: US Embassy
GOVERNOR General Dame Cynthia ‘Mother’ Pratt received Rev Claire K Robinson, the first female president and bishop elect of The Bahamas and Turks & Caicos Islands Conference of the Methodist Church of the Caribbean and the Americas, in a courtesy call on September 5, 2025 at Government House. Along with Rev Robinson were outgoing president Bishop Theophilus N Rolle, vice-president elect Esther Joy Sargent, and other executives. Pictured from left: Rev Kelli Jolly, Reverend Claire K Robinson, Bishop Theophilus Rolle, Dame Cynthia Pratt, Bishop Juan Simpson, Sister Ester Joy Sargent, and Jerry Rolle.
Photos: Letisha Henderson/BIS
GOVERNOR General Dame Cynthia ‘Mother’ Pratt welcomed students of Programme S.U.R.E. along with their teacher in a courtesy call at Government House on September 4, 2025. Programme S.U.R.E. provides students who are experiencing challenges in the regular school system with an alternative, supportive educational environment for improved learning. Photo: Letisha Henderson/BIS