Category Archives: Bahamas

Print Wednesday 12th July, 2017 By Angela Ayimbire Accra, July 12, GNA Twelve Ghanaian Athletes will leave for Bahamas on Saturday to participate in the Commonwealth Youth games. Addressing the media on Wednesday, Mr Mawuko Afadzinu, Chef de Mission of the Ghana Olympics Committee said all necessary preparations have been made for the trip. He said the young athletes would have the opportunity to exhibit their talents in By Angela Ayimbire

Accra, July 12, GNA Twelve Ghanaian Athletes will leave for Bahamas on Saturday to participate in the Commonwealth Youth games.

Addressing the media on Wednesday, Mr Mawuko Afadzinu, Chef de Mission of the Ghana Olympics Committee said all necessary preparations have been made for the trip.

He said the young athletes would have the opportunity to exhibit their talents in seven sporting disciplines and possibly come back with medals.

The seven sporting disciplines are swimming, tennis, athletics, beach volley, cycling, boxing and judo.

We want to give our young athletes the feel of what it takes to compete at the international stage. We do so in the knowledge and believe that it would help them to take their preparation, training and mindsets to the level of champions because until they begin to compete with the best and highest performers in the world, it is difficult to leave the threshold of the ordinary.

Our primary objective for going to Bahamas is to pipe up desires in our athletes and to get them performing at the level where the country can get medals as the end product.

After giving them the right level of exposure and sensitizing them to have the mind set of champions, we expect them to return home with medals he said.

He expressed gratitude to the Minister of youth and sports and the Director General of the National Sports Authority for their support.

The team was accompanied 11 officials and a medical officer.

GNA

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Ghanaian Athletes for Bahamas on Saturday - Ghana News Agency

by: Michael Buresh Updated: Jul 12, 2017 - 7:26 AM

July 12, 2017 - The remnants of tropical depression #4 are still moving west/northwest & are approaching the Bahamas but convection has weakened even more. What's left of this wave will cross Southern Florida Thu./Fri. with some enhancement of showers & storms but no serious consequences. Redevelopment of t.d. #4 is not expected.

Shear tendency:

Imagery below courtesy CIMMS shows a newly established "blob" of African Saharan dust (orange & red) continues over the Central & especially E. Atlantic - an indication of the dry air.

The Gulf of Mexico... Caribbean & SW Atlantic:

Water vapor imagery:

Surface analysis centered on the tropical Atlantic:

Surface analysis of the Gulf:

Caribbean:

Wind shear analysis - pretty harsh from the Central Atlantic & much of the Caribbean:

Tropical waves are moving off the coast of Africa but are not particularly impressive. The area is largely being held in check by the Saharan dust plume alluded to earlier.... & the "popcorn" type cloud cover from 10 to 30 degrees N is indicative of stable air. Forecast models - as a whole - have backed off on development eminating from the deep tropics over the next week - 10 days. Even the GFS model which has been very bullish in recent days has "lost" much in the way of development. But the overall environment for tropical cyclones over the deep tropics will become more conducive for tropical development the last 10-12 days of July, so the Central Atlantic will remain an area to watch.

In the E. Pacific.... "Eugene" is spinning down well west/southwest of the Baja of California... while a new tropical cyclone has formed well to the southeast.

2017 Cox Media Group.

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"Talking the Tropics With Mike": Weakening wave approaching ... - ActionNewsJax.com

Patch.com

Coast Guard Interdicts 102 Haitian Migrants Near Bahamas - Miami ... Patch.com Miami Beach, FL - The Coast Guard said that Tuesday's interdiction was the largest in more than a year. US Coast Guard repatriates 102 fleeing Haitian migrants to HaitiMiami Herald Coast Guard repatriates 121 Haitian migrants found at seaFox News More Than 100 Haitian Migrants Found on Crowded Boat Rescued ...NBC 6 South Florida all 7 news articles »

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Coast Guard Interdicts 102 Haitian Migrants Near Bahamas - Miami ... - Patch.com

TEAM Bahamas is all geared up and ready to compete in their opening game of the CentroBasket Tournament today in the British Virgin Islands.

The team, which left town on Monday, will be playing against five other teams for one of the three spots that will emerge out of the tournament for the FIFA Womens AmericCup, scheduled for August 6-13 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Today, Team Bahamas will play against Mexico. On Thursday, they will play Jamaica, followed by the Virgin Islands on Friday, Puerto Rico on Saturday and Guatemala on Sunday.

Named to the team are Valerie Nesbitt, Philicia Kelly, Linda Pierre, Shalonda Neely, Samantha Gilbert, Tracy Lewis, Disti Delancy, Joette Fernander, Pamela Bethel, Lashae Rolle and Taneil Poitier.

Yolett McPhee-McCuin is the head coach, assisted by Donnie Culmer and Terrance Red Eye McSweeney. Jurelle Nairn is the team manager and Sasha Ferguson is the trainer.

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Team Bahamas To Face Mexico Today - Bahamas Tribune

By MALCOLM J STRACHAN

IN a court filing last week, China Construction America (CCA) revealed what many Bahamians have been fearing for the past three years that CCA is not currently in a position to complete Baha Mar on yet another schedule that the company itself established.

Last time, they blamed the original developer and said that too many work order changes caused the lengthy delay, an accusation that holds no water with experienced contractors and construction managers.

This time, they are blaming a company that will not sell them lounge chairs, claiming that they are unable to acquire different lounge chairs in the three and a half months before the completion deadline. Who will they blame next?

This absurd excuse is yet another reason why Bahamians do not and should not trust CCA, and continue to balk at the false notion that Baha Mar and its potential economic benefits for The Bahamas can be entrusted to a company with such poor credibility and a track record of being unable to deliver for The Bahamas.

Bahamians remember that CCA is the same company that missed deadline after deadline to complete the project, blew through the budget that it created for the project, and relied on imported labour rather than employ Bahamian construction workers. All of these issues are to blame for the fact that the project still isnt complete!

Beyond this, we have seen first-hand CCAs willingness to engage in worrisome practices with public officials.

Just a few months ago, CCA senior vice president Daniel Liu was exposed as engaging with former Minister Jerome Fitzgerald over awarding contracts to his businesses, in a flagrant breach of Cabinet protocol. What other misdeeds has CCA committed that we do not yet know about?

CCA and its consistent failures have directly cost our country hundreds of millions of dollars in lost tourism revenues and increased unemployment following the mass layoffs at Baha Mar in 2015.

CCAs actions have not only limited economic opportunities for all Bahamian citizens, but also have damaged our reputation among important international organisations, resulting in a downgraded international credit rating for The Bahamas.

Perhaps the only way that CCA could cause further harm to Bahamians would be some sort of catastrophe at Baha Mar. With its awful track record, its not surprising that CCAs construction has accumulated hundreds of on-record work defects that have yet to be addressed.

In fact, CCA has already admitted to using cheaper, inferior materials during the construction of certain parts of the resort. Hopefully, this new FNM government is undertaking the necessary safety inspections of Baha Mar, since we know that we cannot trust CCA to build a safe building on its own.

Does the new government truly intend to wait around for the next three and a half months to see if CCA will make good on its word for the first time? CCAs past actions clearly show that counting on CCA would be a mistake now is the time to say enough is enough with CCA! Its empty promises and continuous failures have had tangible negative affects on the lives of all Bahamians.

To end the damage, our new government must place a moratorium on the sale process until the public is able to properly review all documents associated with the sale of Baha Mar to Chow Tai Fook, importantly including the associated agreements with CCA and the bank and the government. Bahamians deserve to know the full extent of the previous governments despicable concessions to the Chinese.

It is abundantly clear that CCA does not have our interests in mind, only those of Chow Tai Fook, the Export-Import Bank of China, and its cronies.

The completion of Baha Mar in a timely fashion for the benefit of all Bahamians should be the foremost priority for those working on the project.

For CCA, this is clearly not the case. And now is the time to turn that completion over to Bahamians, who, unlike CCA, have the proven commitment to the betterment of The Bahamas.

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Your Say: A Bad Case Of Dj Vu For The Bahamas Cca - Bahamas Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

FLAG raising ceremonies were held in the three districts in Grand Bahama on Friday as part of the countrys celebrations for Independence Day.

At 9am, all the local radio stations played the national anthem simultaneously.

Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Michael Pintard and Minister of State for Grand Bahama Kwasi Thompson spoke at the Harold DeGregory Government Complex in Freeport.

Mr Pintard saluted those Bahamians who had the courage 44 years ago to obtain independence and to govern their own affairs and sit at the international table of the world as equal partners.

The achievement of independence in 1973 was an acknowledgment that we were to be the main architects designing our own future and managing the growth and development of our country. We accepted the challenge undergirded by the faith in God and confidence in our collective ability as a people, he said.

Mr Pintard indicated the country had accomplished a great deal, despite many challenges.

He also said the Bahamas had made incredible contributions to the world by continuing to produce many Rhodes scholars in the field of science, technology and medicine.

Many of our scholars have sat international standard exams and have done better than others who hail from around the globe; we are as good as anyone else, anywhere else in the world, he said.

He also noted that Bahamians have also made significant achievements in sports.

Our athletes have made a difference and made us proud and have made the world take note, he said.

As we raise the flag, we salute all nation builders on whose shoulders we stand. But we also acknowledge there are many unrealised dreams that we have set and some issues that threaten the gains we have made thus far.

Meanwhile. Mr Thompson said that the Bahamas is the best country in the world.

We are privileged to live in the best country in the world, but even more so, we are privileged to live on the best island in the Bahamas Grand Bahama, he said.

We have been challenged, but we are not giving up; we may have difficult times, but will not lose; We will continue to fight until the island is fully recovered, he said.

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Flag Raised For Grand Bahama Celebrations - Bahamas Tribune

Posted on 11 July 2017. by Jones Bahamas

Top investment agency Moodys has placed the Baa3 bond and issuer ratings of the government of the Bahamas on review for downgrade.

Moodys, in a recent statement, said the decision to place the ratings on review was prompted by official statements that the Bahamas fiscal position was weaker than previously estimated and that the governments debt ratios will continue to worsen over the coming years.

This diverged from Moodys expectation that the governments debt ratios would stabilize in fiscal 2017, thus supporting the Bahamas Baa3 rating and stable outlook.

Moodys said their review will focus on evaluating the credit risks posed by ongoing economic and fiscal challenges, taking into consideration the recent revelations of fiscal deterioration as well as the new governments proposals to arrest this during the review.

Moodys will also assess how the Bahamas overall credit profile will evolve compared with those of sovereigns rated in the Baa and Ba categories.

The Bahamas long-term local-currency bond and bank deposit country ceiling remain unchanged at A2. The long-term foreign-currency bond and bank deposits ceilings remain unchanged at Baa1 and Baa3, respectively.

The short-term foreign currency bond and bank deposits ceilings remain unchanged at P-2 and P-3 respectively.

As presented in the 2017/18 Budget, the fiscal deficit is expected to fall from an estimated 5.5 percent of the GDP in 2016/17 to 1.0 percent of the GDP by 2019/20 in a no-policy change scenario.

Given the economys weak state, Moodys expects that it will be difficult to meet this deficit target.

While the introduction of a value-added tax has contributed significantly to bolstering the governments revenue base, curbing expenditures remains challenging.

The Bahamas susceptibility to climate-related events such as hurricanes also increases the risks of fiscal slippage, as was the case in 2015 and 2016.

During the review, Moodys will assess the details of the governments fiscal consolidation plan, which the budget communication stated would be developed in the short-term.

In addition to the proposed expenditure and revenue measures that the government will seek to implement to reduce the fiscal deficit, Moodys will assess measures to address the rising sovereign risk posed by contingent liabilities stemming from the broader non-financial public sector, with a stock of debt representing over 17 percent of the GDP, of which about half carries an explicit government guarantee.

In February, Moodys forecasted that the Bahamas fiscal deficit will remain above $300 million for this current budget period, with Hurricane Matthew blowing it slightly higher than the prior year.

The international credit rating agency, in its quarterly assessment of the Bahamas sovereign creditworthiness, gave an insight into the extent of Matthews impact on the governments finances by projecting a deficit equivalent to 3.6 percent of the GDP for 2016-2017.

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Bahamas Faces Possible Downgrade - The Bahama Journal

A boat that was found in Jamaican waters last week was reportedly stolen in the Bahamas.

The Portland Police and the Marine Police haveintensified their probe into the case that began unfolding about 1:00 pmlast Wednesday, July 5, when four men two Jamaicans and two Bahamians were found aboard a 30-foot Jupiter Contender vessel that was intercepted by the Jamaica Defence Force Coast Guard offshore Portland.

"The men were handed over to the officers at the Port Antonio Marine Outpost, who during subsequent investigations, found that there were discrepancies between the documents presented for the vessel and the information the men gave," said the Jamaica Constabulary Force's corporate communications arm in a news release.

The men reportedly also failed to properly account for their presence in Jamaican coastal waters.

According to local police, theBahamian authorities were contacted and it was revealed that the boat had been stolen in that country.

The probe continues as detectives have called in the Passport Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) for assistance, as it is believed that the men may be concealing their true identities, the news release said.

The four menremain in Police custody on suspicion of breaches of the Customs Act, the Maritime Act and the Immigration Restriction on Commonwealth Citizen Act.

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Boat stolen in Bahamas found in Jamaica; four men arrested - Loop Jamaica

The Bahamas is celebrating 44 years of independence from the UK. Here are a few quirky facts about these fascinating islands.

Many people talk about The Ukraine, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, The Maldives and The Netherlands. These are all wrong. Only two nations officially start with The. The Bahamas is one (the name means shallow water, FYI). Do you know the other?

Big Major Cay or Pig Beach is renowned for its porcine residents, who spend their time wallowing in the shallows. The porkers are victims of their own cuteness, however. Earlier this year several were found dead, with tourists blamed for overfeeding them.

Telegraph Travel spoke to the astronaut Chris Hadfield, best known for his Bowie rendition on the ISS, in January, and asked him which Earthly place looked most beautiful from his lofty orbit. The Bahamas are gorgeous, he replied. The deep trench in the ocean floor called the Tongue of the Ocean, which comes between the islands, is the most beautiful deep indigo colour.

The Bahamas has a weight problem even more so than the US. Almost 35 per cent of the adult population are considered obese, according to the CIA's World Factbook. For the US the figure is 33 per cent (in Britain its 27 per cent). Only 12 places are fatter, with American Samoa taking the biscuit (so to speak) on a whopping 74.6 per cent.

Thanks to sprinters like Pauline Davis-Thompson, Tonique Williams-Darling and Shaunae Miller, The Bahamas has won 14 Olympic medals. That works out at 33.9 per million residents only Finland, Sweden and Hungary have a better per capita strike rate.

OK, so The Bahamas might only have around 10 branches. But with a population of 390,000, that works out at more than 26 per million residents. Only three countries, the US, Canada and Monaco, have more Starbucks per capita.

The aquarium at the garish Atlantis Paradise Island resort encompasses 14 lagoons, eight million gallons of water and more than 50,000 aquatic animals from 250 species. Theres even a water slide that runs through the middle of it.

The Bahamas needs you. Almost 20 per cent of its GDP comes from tourism, a higher percentage than all but six places (Macau, Maldives, British Virgin Islands, Aruba, Seychelles and Anguilla). In fact, the country attracts 3.7 overseas visitors each year for every resident, making it one of 51 nations where tourists outnumber locals.

And its named, rather unimaginatively, Pink Sands. Noelle Nicolls, our expert on The Bahamas, says: Some visitors suffer disappointment when they realise the beach is not entirely pink as some doctored photos suggest. A unique mix of coral, broken shells, miniature rocks and calcium carbonate speckles the sand with pink fragments.

Dean's Blue Hole, off Long Island, is the second deepest salt water sinkhole on Earth, plunging 202 metres. Only Dragon Hole, in the South China Sea, with a depth of 300.89 metres, can top it.

The Bahamas is the third most expensive country in the world to live, according to Numbeo's annual cost of living survey, which takes into account the price of around 50 items, including a wide variety of accommodation, food and drink from both supermarkets and restaurants, clothing, taxi fares, leisure activities, utility, internet and mobile phone bills. Only Bermuda and Switzerland are costlier.

Its not just piggies. Noelle Nicolls explains: Sandy Cay (also known as White Cay) is an uninhabited island at the southern tip of the Exuma chain. Easily accessible from Long Island, it's a beautiful sanctuary for critically endangered White Cay Rock Iguanas. When you arrive, the iguanas come crawling out of the native bush to greet you on the beach or along the rocky part of the shoreline. They are harmless and will run away if you step towards them too suddenly.

Pirates, privateers and buccaneers infested the area from the early 1600s to the 1700s, wrote Ben Fogle for The Telegraph in 2015. The shallow waters provided the perfect place for experienced pirates to lure heavily laden merchant ships and Spanish galleons on to the reefs, where they were wrecked and relieved of their cargos.

The most famous pirate was Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, who was appointed magistrate of the self-declared Pirates Republic, a stronghold in Nassau which brought 11 years of havoc to the region.

Learn more at the Pirates of Nassau Museum or on an Islandz Rum Tour.

Thunderball Grotto is an accessible underwater cave that sits in the middle of a little island (probably better categorised as a big rock) in The Exumas, says Noelle Nicolls. It gets its name from the James Bond film Thunderball, which used the cave for underwater battle scenes. When you drop anchor, the entrance to the cave is not readily visible as most of it is underwater. Getting in is intimidating, but once you do, you can swim and breathe on the surface of the water as you snorkel around the hollowed-out chamber.

You cant drive on the Bimini Road, as its underwater and is actually a rock formation. Some believe it to be part of the legendary lost city of Atlantis. They are wrong. It is just a rock formation.

A sombre note to finish on. The Bahamas is one of 58 countries that still have the death penalty. It is, however, considered abolitionist in practice, with the last execution taking place in 2000 (unlike Iran, for example, where more than 977 took place in 2015).

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16 things you didn't know about The Bahamas, a land of sinkholes and swimming pigs - Telegraph.co.uk

Coca-Colas bottling partner in the Bahamas, Caribbean Bottling Company, has announced investment of $1.8 million in a solar installation at its factory in Nassau.

The company has predicted that the panels will lower its overall energy bill by 30%, the equivalent of between $250,000 and $300,000 a year.With that level of saving, the panels will essentially pay for themselves within seven years of being installed.

According to the Bahamas Tribune newspaper, work on the panels will begin this month on a portion of the bottlers 92,000-square-foot roof, in the south east of the capital.

Weve paid a deposit for the equipment and it is now being shipped, Caribbean Bottling Company chief executive Walter Wells was quoted as saying by the Tribune.Im told it is on the way to us now, and I expect them to start installing it on our building later this month.

We hope to complete it before the end of this year. It should hopefully generate between 25-30% of our requirements. It pays for itself in around six-seven years, and has a life expectancy of between 20-25 years. It will also reduce our carbon footprint all those good things.

The panels will generate more than 1,100kW of energy, helping to save almost 25,000 tons of CO2 over the full 25-year life of the installation.

The investment has been helped by a $1 million loan from the Inter-American Investment Corporation.

Its part of a range of measures undertaken by Coca-Cola bottlers worldwide to reduce the soft drinks companys CO2 emissions and increase the proportion of energy used in its manufacturing operations from renewable sources.

In May, Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP) started sourcing all of the electricity needed for its UK operations from renewable sources.

By making the switch, the bottler claimed it was demonstrating its commitment to sustainable manufacturing across the whole of its UK operations.

The solar farm covers eight hectares and will produce up to 5mW of energy at full capacity. In 2014, a 1 million combined heat and power system was also launched at CCEPs Wakefield site, helping to save 1,500 tons of 2 a year across the factorys operations.

Coca-Cola Femsa had already invested in a sustainable plant in Brazil, which combined technologies for energy efficiency, water treatment and solar power generation.

The factory came complete with a system for the harvesting of rainwater, and was the result of more than $250 millions worth of investment.

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Caribbean Coke bottler upgrades to solar power in the Bahamas - FoodBev.com