Freedom of Information Bill, 2015
released
After
more than one hundred amendments to the initial 2012 Act that never came into
force, followed by its replacement with a new draft bill, the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA), 2015 was released
on Monday of this week for public
consultation.
Foreshadowing
the release and outlining the objectives of the new bill was Education Minister
Hon. Jerome Fitzgerald who spoke from the floor of the House
on Wednesday, 13
th
May 2015. Some of the objectives and parameters of the new bill are as follow:
-
Expanding
the right of access to information by bodies with Bahamian interests;
-
Expanding
the class of accessible documents to include certain policy documents;
-
Narrowing
the class of documents that were previously exempt from disclosure;
-
Recommendations
for a stand-alone whistle blowing legislation;
-
A
review of the official Secrecy Act.
-
The
Minister (meaning the cabinet) no longer has veto power over the disclosure of
information.
-
The
bill sets the frame work for the establishment of an independent Information
Commissioner
The
“Whistleblower” section of the bill protects a person from illegal
administrative sanctions or employment related punitive acts of reprisals
(broadly called victimization in The Bahamas) if he or she releases information
in breach of that person’s employment obligation or in violation of company
policy (or general orders) so long as the person was acting in good faith in
protecting the health, safety and welfare of the general public – or more
broadly, acting in the public interest.
Also worthy
of note is the Act does not apply to the judicial functions of a court, the
Customs Department, the Royal Bahamas Police Force, the Royal Bahamas Defence Force,
the Financial Intelligence Unit and the Immigration Department in relation to
their strategic and operational intelligence gathering activities. This
structure is ostensibly in the interest of country’s national security.
Overall,
the objectives of the FIOA are to give further effect to certain fundamental
principles underlying the system of constitutional democracy – mainly
government accountability, transparency and public participation in national
decision making by granting the public greater freedom and rights to access
public records.
The Office of the Attorney General plans to
host a series of town hall meetings to educate and actively engage the public
on this important piece of legislation.
PM Christie on the passing on Mizpah
Tertullien
She
enjoyed a long and fruitful life well into her eighties and touching many lives
along the way, but nothing can fully prepare us for the inevitability of death.
The nation was saddened this week to learn of the passing of former Senator,
popular psychologist, commentator and columnist of the famed “Psychologically
Speaking,” Mrs. Mizpah Tertullien.
Expressing
condolences on behalf of the government and people of The Bahamas was Prime
Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry Christie who recognized her national service and remembered
the former Senator’s engaging personality, erudition, eloquence and patriotism and
one who embraced the finality of death the way she embraced life – with grace
and dignity.
“Mrs.
Tertullien endured a lengthy illness with grace and dignity” said the Prime
Minister. “Although she had not been a
part of public life for many years, Mrs. Tertullien will be remembered for her
engaging personality, erudition, eloquence, and patriotism. She was a respected commentator on a wide
range of matters affecting the social and mental health of our nation. She was
well positioned to do so based on her training and practice as a psychologist
and family counselor.” May her soul rest in peace.
This week in Parliament
Debate in
the House began
on Wednesday of this week on the Petroleum Act and the
Sovereign Wealth Fund Act and attendant regulations. The mover and lead speaker
was the Minister for the Environment and Housing, the Hon. Kenred Dorsett who
told House members that while these pieces of legislation seek to modernize and
reform the country’s upstream petroleum sector, the regulations apply only to
off shore oil drilling.
During his
communication, Minister Dorsett advised the House of a number of amendments to
the bill he wishes to include during the committal stage. The Opposition wished
to have sight of the amendments prior to their debate so the leader of
government’s business in the House so moved for a suspension of the House until
Tuesday, 26
th
May 2015 at
10am.
The Speaker
took the opportunity to lobby for increases in the constituency allowances and
allocations for constituency projects. Members of Parliament have had to
routinely foot constituency bills from their own pockets to “subsidize
representation.” Both allowances stand at $18,000 and $50,000 per annum
respectively. The Prime Minister responded that the Speaker’s request was duly
noted and will be taken into active consideration during the upcoming budget
preparation. He agreed that the costs to hire staff and keep the utilities on
at constituency offices are “inordinate.”
Road Traffic Department to be fully
automated
The
contracts to modernize the vehicular registration, inspection and drivers
licenses systems were signed
on Wednesday of this week. The price tag is $8.3
million and the project’s duration is eighteen months. Specifically, the Road
Traffic Department entered into agreements with the New Zealand based
Information Technology and revenue management group Datatorque and the group
local Network Security Consultancy Group. The contractual agreements cover a
master service agreement, a project management consultancy and a project
initiation contract.
Touting this
upgrade as the most significant developmental initiative undertaken by the Road
Traffic Department since its establishment was Minister of Transport and
Aviation, the Hon. Glenys Hanna-Martin.
“Over the
years has been a great deal of tinkering with the operation with various
products, but this the first time an absolutely radical intervention in terms
of overhauling the operational procedures of the Road Traffic Department.”
Explaining
how this new system of automation will improve operational efficiency,
accountability, reduce operating costs, and strengthen the management and
internal controls regime was State Minister for Finance, Hon. Michael Halkitis.
“The Road
Traffic modernization project will streamline road traffic department
operations, realize significant cost savings; strengthen management controls
and reports, generate increased revenue and facilitate integration,
particularly in the area of information sharing between the Road Traffic
Department and its internal and external stake holders.” These stakeholders
include the police, banks, the office of the Attorney General, the courts,
insurance companies and the Customs Department.
PM: Eleuthera “poised” for greater
economic opportunities.
With some
28 operating hotels in Eleuthera and a robust second home market outpaced only
by Abaco, Eleuthera has as many second home rooms in its rental inventory as
hotel rooms. Further, there are great entrepreneurial opportunities in the
areas of dining, retail shopping and sporting activities for young Bahamian
investors to take advantage of. This was the message of Bahamas Prime Minister
the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie as he addressed delegates at the 3
rd
annual Eleuthera Business Outlook (EBO) at the French Leave Resort in Governor’s
Harbour, Eleuthera
on Thursday of the week.
“Eleuthera is ideally suited to this new niche
product type, many of which, throughout The Bahamas, are Bahamian-owned” said
Mr. Christie. “In fact, with 28 operating hotels, Eleuthera currently has as
much second home room rental inventory as hotel rooms.
“When
these home rentals are combined with newer resort developments such as the Cove
and the Four Seasons, the Shaner Group here in Governor’s Harbour and other
locally owned establishments, it will undoubtedly accelerate consumer demand
for a plethora of commercial and retail enterprises to service this sector.
“There
is, even now, a need for more cafes and dining and entertainment venues,
sporting facilities, retail shops, food stores, etcetera; all of which deliver
the kind of critical mass needed to generate economic activity and satisfy
pent-up demand for more vacation experiences from consumers and Eleuthera is,
now, certainly poised to provide these kinds of economic opportunities for its
young entrepreneurs” said the Prime Minister.
The theme
of the EBO was
“Securing Eleuthera
through Planning, Partnership and Productivity”.
PM Christie discusses BEC
During his
trip to Governor’s Harbour, Eleuthera
on Thursday of this week to deliver the
keynote address the Economic Outlook, Prime Minister Christie took the
opportunity to discuss the way forward for BEC, especially the strategy for
tackling and retiring the corporation’s $470 million debt going forward.
“It might be
four hundred now and seventy and money counting and that we have been negotiating
with about five different banks the basis of a rate reduction on that will in
fact absorb that money and have it amortized over many years and people will
pay for it by adding a cent of two to each of their bills” said the Prime
Minister.
Concerning the
management agreement itself and the government’s expectations, Mr. Christie
confirmed that his government is engaged in “very advanced discussions” in settling
the management agreement with PowerSecure and only added that PowerSecure “knows
the importance for us moving (forward) because - I don’t want to talk out of
hand – we have a particular principle in identifying someone to manage BEC as
to how we want them to go about dealing with what people pay and that’s a
matter for final negations” said the Prime Minister.
The Prime
Minister also expressed confidence in PowerSecure’s ability to generate
alternative and cheaper forms of energy, especially in the family islands. He
also referenced the Carbon War Room with whom his government has entered into a
Memorandum of Understanding for the production of 20MW alternative power
generation plants in eleven family islands to assist with the reduction in the
cost of electricity and in the emission of greenhouse gases from fossil fuels.
Government presents single largest
regatta subvention
It was all
smiles today at the Island Traders Building on Bay Street when the Minister of
Agriculture, Marine Resources and Local Government the Hon. V. Alfred Gray
announced that the government will assist the All Eleuthera Regatta Committee
this year to the tune of $45,000, the single largest public subvention to date
for family island regattas. This year’s regatta will be held at Governor’s
Harbour during the week leading up to the annual Independence Day celebrations.
“Let me say
that regattas are very important to the economic landscape of these family
islands” said Minister Gray, highlighting the government’s deepening commitment
to this important cultural, economic and historic event. Minister Gray promised
that as the Minister with responsibility for regattas, he will be “ensuring
that this regatta be the biggest regatta in the history of Eleuthera.”
Minister
Gray also took the opportunity to appeal to food vendors and restaurant operators
to be especially sensitive to the financial circumstances of the participants
in these regattas, pointing out that the allotted per diem for the boaters is
around twenty-five dollars per day and the pricing schedule of some of the
restaurants and vendors is prohibitive which creates challenges for the
boaters.
Overall, few
will argue that family island regattas have become the dominant domestic
tourism product, stimulating the economies of virtually every major family
island.
On hand for
the presentation was Central and South Eleuthera Member of Parliament the Hon.
Damian Gomez who went further, stating that the all Eleuthera regatta is part
of an overall strategic plan to market Eleuthera as a family oriented water
sports tourism destination.
“It’s
intended that we will be promoting Eleuthera as a family water sports
destination and regattas help to pass that message along and that’s what we
hope to promote from a water sports tourism point of view” said Mr. Gomez. He
also envisions a cultural component to this marketing strategy with junkanoo
and marching band competitions all as a prelude and build up to the country’s
42
nd
independence celebrations on
July 10
th
of this
year.
The committee for the Mangrove Cay regatta was
also on hand to receive their government sponsorship of $5,500; their regatta
begins
this Friday, 22
nd
May.
BAMSI inks SUPER marketing deal
The
commercial component of the Bahamas Agriculture Marine and Science Institute
(BAMSI) just got a huge shot in the arm when BAMSI recently inked a marketing
and distribution deal with the nation’s largest supermarket chain, Super Value.
Under the agreement, Super Value would sell large quantities of BAMSI’s
produce.
Structurally,
BAMSI’s associated farmers grow a wide variety of vegetables and fruits to
BAMSI’s specifications. BAMSI collects, quantifies, sorts, grades, packages,
distributes and markets the produce in addition to the ones grown on its
commercial farm. Additionally, BAMSI offers technical assistance to its
associated farmers.
Explaining
the inherent “encumbrances” of reliability, uncertainty and quality that exist in
the local agricultural industry and how BAMSI is determined to overcome these
challenges was President of BAMSI, Godfrey Eneas.
“One of the
encumbrances Bahamian producers have experienced is that even though you have
producers like (Roberts) and George Meyers – and other local buyers – they had
real issues with reliability, quality, dependability and sustainability” said
Mr. Eneas who believes that with BAMSI’s structure and processes in place, the
institute will eliminate uncertainties from the value chain.
Touting
BAMSI’s competitive advantages was CEO of Super Value Rupert Roberts who
believes that the freshness of the produce, the fact that the food is locally
grown and the foreign exchange retention potential all add up to a win-win
situation.
“They are
going to be big growers and of course are going to have plentiful fresh – and
fresh is the key word here – product that is picked today and on the boat to us
tomorrow.” He went on to say that his team is “really looking forward to not
only encouraging our customers to buy Bahamian, we’re buying Bahamian and we’re
selling Bahamian, and instead of California being the breadbasket of The
Bahamas, Andros is.
“And that money
stays home to circulate and re-circulate among ourselves. It’s a win-win
situation” said Roberts.
AEG to manage Bahamas’ national
stadium
Building on
the success of its public private sector partnership (PPP) policy that worked
well at the Lynden Pindling International Airport and is being applied to
reform BEC, the Bahamas government entered into an agreement with the Anschutz
Entertainment Group (AEG) to manage and market the Thomas A. Robinson Stadium
as an entertainment and sports brand. AEG is a wholly owned subsidiary of the
Anschutz Company that owns the Staples Center, Sprint Center, Citizen’s Bank
Arena and Oracle Arena as part of a collection of companies. The agreement was
two years in the making.
The
agreement calls for AEG to promote and brand The Bahamas as a global sports and
entertainment destination, effectively diversifying the country’s tourism
product offerings. Having attracted major events to The Bahamas such as the
Bahamas IAAF World Relays and Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Popeye Bowl
football game, the government is looking to build on this success.
Explaining
his government’s vision to diversify the country’s tourism product, driven by
culture and sports was Prime Minister Christie.
“In The
Bahamas we began our journey by expanding junkanoo into junkanoo carnival, and
we found it was received in an extraordinary way by the Bahamian people and
others who came in for it. The Ministry of Tourism articulated a vision for
sports tourism, and so AEG tells me it is important for the sports authority,
musicians’ union, aspiring musicians and sporting personalities to know we are
establishing a platform on which they can build.”
On hand to
sign the agreement was AEG representative Charles Steadman. Signing for The
Bahamas was National Sports Authority Chairman Leroy Archer. Also on hand were
Youth and Sports Minister, Hon. Daniel Johnson; National Sports Authority Board
Member, Eldece Clarke; Financial Secretary, John Rolle; and Musicians and
Entertainers Union President Percival Sweeting.
Services to the poor just got simpler
With the
approval of an additional 1,501 clients from the Horseshoe Drive office of
Social Services, life just got easier for the more than 4,000 persons on the
government’s food assistance program. Specifically, there are 780 clients
registered at the Wulff Road office; 874 at the Fox Hill office; and 1,660 at
the Robinson Road office, bringing the total to 4,365 persons in possession of
the pre-paid debit card for food assistance.
According to
Social Services Minister Hon. Melanie Griffin, the debit card affords the needy
“the ability to shop for needed food items with ease and comfort.”
“It was a
long, hard road getting to this point, but with the addition of each center, we
gained more experience and improved the process involved,” said Minister
Griffin.
In addressing
the Horseshoe Drive clients the Minister reiterated that the debit cards are
not to be used in the numbers shops, the beauty shops, and hair and nail salons,
but are intended to purchase healthy nutritious foods.
The implementation
process is already underway in Grand Bahama as the focus of her ministry now
shifts its attention to the needs in Grand Bahama and the family islands.
In Passing…
The
Department of Immigration was busy this week in Grand Bahama conducting
inspection exercises. Twenty-eight illegal immigrants were interdicted and
transferred to the Carmichael Road Detention Center for further processing.
Thirteen Brazilian nationals were interdicted in three separate hotel rooms.
They claimed that they were awaiting transfer to the United States.
The Cyber
Tech training institute is currently offering certificate courses in the allied
health field in the run up to the implementation of NHI scheduled for January
2016.
Foreign
Affairs Minister Hon. Fred Mitchell joined other CARICOM foreign ministers in
St. Lucia this week to attend the 18
th
meeting of the Council for
Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR) at Runaway Bay. COFCOR is the Foreign
Affairs organ of CARICOM.
Accompany
Mitchell was CARICOM High Commissioner HE Picewell Forbes.
Freedom of Information Bill, 2015
released
After
more than one hundred amendments to the initial 2012 Act that never came into
force, followed by its replacement with a new draft bill, the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA), 2015 was released
on Monday of this week for public
consultation.
Foreshadowing
the release and outlining the objectives of the new bill was Education Minister
Hon. Jerome Fitzgerald who spoke from the floor of the House
on Wednesday, 13
th
May 2015. Some of the objectives and parameters of the new bill are as follow:
-
Expanding
the right of access to information by bodies with Bahamian interests;
-
Expanding
the class of accessible documents to include certain policy documents;
-
Narrowing
the class of documents that were previously exempt from disclosure;
-
Recommendations
for a stand-alone whistle blowing legislation;
-
A
review of the official Secrecy Act.
-
The
Minister (meaning the cabinet) no longer has veto power over the disclosure of
information.
-
The
bill sets the frame work for the establishment of an independent Information
Commissioner
The
“Whistleblower” section of the bill protects a person from illegal
administrative sanctions or employment related punitive acts of reprisals
(broadly called victimization in The Bahamas) if he or she releases information
in breach of that person’s employment obligation or in violation of company
policy (or general orders) so long as the person was acting in good faith in
protecting the health, safety and welfare of the general public – or more
broadly, acting in the public interest.
Also worthy
of note is the Act does not apply to the judicial functions of a court, the
Customs Department, the Royal Bahamas Police Force, the Royal Bahamas Defence Force,
the Financial Intelligence Unit and the Immigration Department in relation to
their strategic and operational intelligence gathering activities. This
structure is ostensibly in the interest of country’s national security.
Overall,
the objectives of the FIOA are to give further effect to certain fundamental
principles underlying the system of constitutional democracy – mainly
government accountability, transparency and public participation in national
decision making by granting the public greater freedom and rights to access
public records.
The Office of the Attorney General plans to
host a series of town hall meetings to educate and actively engage the public
on this important piece of legislation.
PM Christie on the passing on Mizpah
Tertullien
She
enjoyed a long and fruitful life well into her eighties and touching many lives
along the way, but nothing can fully prepare us for the inevitability of death.
The nation was saddened this week to learn of the passing of former Senator,
popular psychologist, commentator and columnist of the famed “Psychologically
Speaking,” Mrs. Mizpah Tertullien.
Expressing
condolences on behalf of the government and people of The Bahamas was Prime
Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry Christie who recognized her national service and remembered
the former Senator’s engaging personality, erudition, eloquence and patriotism and
one who embraced the finality of death the way she embraced life – with grace
and dignity.
“Mrs.
Tertullien endured a lengthy illness with grace and dignity” said the Prime
Minister. “Although she had not been a
part of public life for many years, Mrs. Tertullien will be remembered for her
engaging personality, erudition, eloquence, and patriotism. She was a respected commentator on a wide
range of matters affecting the social and mental health of our nation. She was
well positioned to do so based on her training and practice as a psychologist
and family counselor.” May her soul rest in peace.
This week in Parliament
Debate in
the House began
on Wednesday of this week on the Petroleum Act and the
Sovereign Wealth Fund Act and attendant regulations. The mover and lead speaker
was the Minister for the Environment and Housing, the Hon. Kenred Dorsett who
told House members that while these pieces of legislation seek to modernize and
reform the country’s upstream petroleum sector, the regulations apply only to
off shore oil drilling.
During his
communication, Minister Dorsett advised the House of a number of amendments to
the bill he wishes to include during the committal stage. The Opposition wished
to have sight of the amendments prior to their debate so the leader of
government’s business in the House so moved for a suspension of the House until
Tuesday, 26
th
May 2015 at
10am.
The Speaker
took the opportunity to lobby for increases in the constituency allowances and
allocations for constituency projects. Members of Parliament have had to
routinely foot constituency bills from their own pockets to “subsidize
representation.” Both allowances stand at $18,000 and $50,000 per annum
respectively. The Prime Minister responded that the Speaker’s request was duly
noted and will be taken into active consideration during the upcoming budget
preparation. He agreed that the costs to hire staff and keep the utilities on
at constituency offices are “inordinate.”
Road Traffic Department to be fully
automated
The
contracts to modernize the vehicular registration, inspection and drivers
licenses systems were signed
on Wednesday of this week. The price tag is $8.3
million and the project’s duration is eighteen months. Specifically, the Road
Traffic Department entered into agreements with the New Zealand based
Information Technology and revenue management group Datatorque and the group
local Network Security Consultancy Group. The contractual agreements cover a
master service agreement, a project management consultancy and a project
initiation contract.
Touting this
upgrade as the most significant developmental initiative undertaken by the Road
Traffic Department since its establishment was Minister of Transport and
Aviation, the Hon. Glenys Hanna-Martin.
“Over the
years has been a great deal of tinkering with the operation with various
products, but this the first time an absolutely radical intervention in terms
of overhauling the operational procedures of the Road Traffic Department.”
Explaining
how this new system of automation will improve operational efficiency,
accountability, reduce operating costs, and strengthen the management and
internal controls regime was State Minister for Finance, Hon. Michael Halkitis.
“The Road
Traffic modernization project will streamline road traffic department
operations, realize significant cost savings; strengthen management controls
and reports, generate increased revenue and facilitate integration,
particularly in the area of information sharing between the Road Traffic
Department and its internal and external stake holders.” These stakeholders
include the police, banks, the office of the Attorney General, the courts,
insurance companies and the Customs Department.
PM: Eleuthera “poised” for greater
economic opportunities.
With some
28 operating hotels in Eleuthera and a robust second home market outpaced only
by Abaco, Eleuthera has as many second home rooms in its rental inventory as
hotel rooms. Further, there are great entrepreneurial opportunities in the
areas of dining, retail shopping and sporting activities for young Bahamian
investors to take advantage of. This was the message of Bahamas Prime Minister
the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie as he addressed delegates at the 3
rd
annual Eleuthera Business Outlook (EBO) at the French Leave Resort in Governor’s
Harbour, Eleuthera
on Thursday of the week.
“Eleuthera is ideally suited to this new niche
product type, many of which, throughout The Bahamas, are Bahamian-owned” said
Mr. Christie. “In fact, with 28 operating hotels, Eleuthera currently has as
much second home room rental inventory as hotel rooms.
“When
these home rentals are combined with newer resort developments such as the Cove
and the Four Seasons, the Shaner Group here in Governor’s Harbour and other
locally owned establishments, it will undoubtedly accelerate consumer demand
for a plethora of commercial and retail enterprises to service this sector.
“There
is, even now, a need for more cafes and dining and entertainment venues,
sporting facilities, retail shops, food stores, etcetera; all of which deliver
the kind of critical mass needed to generate economic activity and satisfy
pent-up demand for more vacation experiences from consumers and Eleuthera is,
now, certainly poised to provide these kinds of economic opportunities for its
young entrepreneurs” said the Prime Minister.
The theme
of the EBO was
“Securing Eleuthera
through Planning, Partnership and Productivity”.
PM Christie discusses BEC
During his
trip to Governor’s Harbour, Eleuthera
on Thursday of this week to deliver the
keynote address the Economic Outlook, Prime Minister Christie took the
opportunity to discuss the way forward for BEC, especially the strategy for
tackling and retiring the corporation’s $470 million debt going forward.
“It might be
four hundred now and seventy and money counting and that we have been negotiating
with about five different banks the basis of a rate reduction on that will in
fact absorb that money and have it amortized over many years and people will
pay for it by adding a cent of two to each of their bills” said the Prime
Minister.
Concerning the
management agreement itself and the government’s expectations, Mr. Christie
confirmed that his government is engaged in “very advanced discussions” in settling
the management agreement with PowerSecure and only added that PowerSecure “knows
the importance for us moving (forward) because - I don’t want to talk out of
hand – we have a particular principle in identifying someone to manage BEC as
to how we want them to go about dealing with what people pay and that’s a
matter for final negations” said the Prime Minister.
The Prime
Minister also expressed confidence in PowerSecure’s ability to generate
alternative and cheaper forms of energy, especially in the family islands. He
also referenced the Carbon War Room with whom his government has entered into a
Memorandum of Understanding for the production of 20MW alternative power
generation plants in eleven family islands to assist with the reduction in the
cost of electricity and in the emission of greenhouse gases from fossil fuels.
Government presents single largest
regatta subvention
It was all
smiles today at the Island Traders Building on Bay Street when the Minister of
Agriculture, Marine Resources and Local Government the Hon. V. Alfred Gray
announced that the government will assist the All Eleuthera Regatta Committee
this year to the tune of $45,000, the single largest public subvention to date
for family island regattas. This year’s regatta will be held at Governor’s
Harbour during the week leading up to the annual Independence Day celebrations.
“Let me say
that regattas are very important to the economic landscape of these family
islands” said Minister Gray, highlighting the government’s deepening commitment
to this important cultural, economic and historic event. Minister Gray promised
that as the Minister with responsibility for regattas, he will be “ensuring
that this regatta be the biggest regatta in the history of Eleuthera.”
Minister
Gray also took the opportunity to appeal to food vendors and restaurant operators
to be especially sensitive to the financial circumstances of the participants
in these regattas, pointing out that the allotted per diem for the boaters is
around twenty-five dollars per day and the pricing schedule of some of the
restaurants and vendors is prohibitive which creates challenges for the
boaters.
Overall, few
will argue that family island regattas have become the dominant domestic
tourism product, stimulating the economies of virtually every major family
island.
On hand for
the presentation was Central and South Eleuthera Member of Parliament the Hon.
Damian Gomez who went further, stating that the all Eleuthera regatta is part
of an overall strategic plan to market Eleuthera as a family oriented water
sports tourism destination.
“It’s
intended that we will be promoting Eleuthera as a family water sports
destination and regattas help to pass that message along and that’s what we
hope to promote from a water sports tourism point of view” said Mr. Gomez. He
also envisions a cultural component to this marketing strategy with junkanoo
and marching band competitions all as a prelude and build up to the country’s
42
nd
independence celebrations on
July 10
th
of this
year.
The committee for the Mangrove Cay regatta was
also on hand to receive their government sponsorship of $5,500; their regatta
begins
this Friday, 22
nd
May.
BAMSI inks SUPER marketing deal
The
commercial component of the Bahamas Agriculture Marine and Science Institute
(BAMSI) just got a huge shot in the arm when BAMSI recently inked a marketing
and distribution deal with the nation’s largest supermarket chain, Super Value.
Under the agreement, Super Value would sell large quantities of BAMSI’s
produce.
Structurally,
BAMSI’s associated farmers grow a wide variety of vegetables and fruits to
BAMSI’s specifications. BAMSI collects, quantifies, sorts, grades, packages,
distributes and markets the produce in addition to the ones grown on its
commercial farm. Additionally, BAMSI offers technical assistance to its
associated farmers.
Explaining
the inherent “encumbrances” of reliability, uncertainty and quality that exist in
the local agricultural industry and how BAMSI is determined to overcome these
challenges was President of BAMSI, Godfrey Eneas.
“One of the
encumbrances Bahamian producers have experienced is that even though you have
producers like (Roberts) and George Meyers – and other local buyers – they had
real issues with reliability, quality, dependability and sustainability” said
Mr. Eneas who believes that with BAMSI’s structure and processes in place, the
institute will eliminate uncertainties from the value chain.
Touting
BAMSI’s competitive advantages was CEO of Super Value Rupert Roberts who
believes that the freshness of the produce, the fact that the food is locally
grown and the foreign exchange retention potential all add up to a win-win
situation.
“They are
going to be big growers and of course are going to have plentiful fresh – and
fresh is the key word here – product that is picked today and on the boat to us
tomorrow.” He went on to say that his team is “really looking forward to not
only encouraging our customers to buy Bahamian, we’re buying Bahamian and we’re
selling Bahamian, and instead of California being the breadbasket of The
Bahamas, Andros is.
“And that money
stays home to circulate and re-circulate among ourselves. It’s a win-win
situation” said Roberts.
AEG to manage Bahamas’ national
stadium
Building on
the success of its public private sector partnership (PPP) policy that worked
well at the Lynden Pindling International Airport and is being applied to
reform BEC, the Bahamas government entered into an agreement with the Anschutz
Entertainment Group (AEG) to manage and market the Thomas A. Robinson Stadium
as an entertainment and sports brand. AEG is a wholly owned subsidiary of the
Anschutz Company that owns the Staples Center, Sprint Center, Citizen’s Bank
Arena and Oracle Arena as part of a collection of companies. The agreement was
two years in the making.
The
agreement calls for AEG to promote and brand The Bahamas as a global sports and
entertainment destination, effectively diversifying the country’s tourism
product offerings. Having attracted major events to The Bahamas such as the
Bahamas IAAF World Relays and Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Popeye Bowl
football game, the government is looking to build on this success.
Explaining
his government’s vision to diversify the country’s tourism product, driven by
culture and sports was Prime Minister Christie.
“In The
Bahamas we began our journey by expanding junkanoo into junkanoo carnival, and
we found it was received in an extraordinary way by the Bahamian people and
others who came in for it. The Ministry of Tourism articulated a vision for
sports tourism, and so AEG tells me it is important for the sports authority,
musicians’ union, aspiring musicians and sporting personalities to know we are
establishing a platform on which they can build.”
On hand to
sign the agreement was AEG representative Charles Steadman. Signing for The
Bahamas was National Sports Authority Chairman Leroy Archer. Also on hand were
Youth and Sports Minister, Hon. Daniel Johnson; National Sports Authority Board
Member, Eldece Clarke; Financial Secretary, John Rolle; and Musicians and
Entertainers Union President Percival Sweeting.
Services to the poor just got simpler
With the
approval of an additional 1,501 clients from the Horseshoe Drive office of
Social Services, life just got easier for the more than 4,000 persons on the
government’s food assistance program. Specifically, there are 780 clients
registered at the Wulff Road office; 874 at the Fox Hill office; and 1,660 at
the Robinson Road office, bringing the total to 4,365 persons in possession of
the pre-paid debit card for food assistance.
According to
Social Services Minister Hon. Melanie Griffin, the debit card affords the needy
“the ability to shop for needed food items with ease and comfort.”
“It was a
long, hard road getting to this point, but with the addition of each center, we
gained more experience and improved the process involved,” said Minister
Griffin.
In addressing
the Horseshoe Drive clients the Minister reiterated that the debit cards are
not to be used in the numbers shops, the beauty shops, and hair and nail salons,
but are intended to purchase healthy nutritious foods.
The implementation
process is already underway in Grand Bahama as the focus of her ministry now
shifts its attention to the needs in Grand Bahama and the family islands.
In Passing…
The
Department of Immigration was busy this week in Grand Bahama conducting
inspection exercises. Twenty-eight illegal immigrants were interdicted and
transferred to the Carmichael Road Detention Center for further processing.
Thirteen Brazilian nationals were interdicted in three separate hotel rooms.
They claimed that they were awaiting transfer to the United States.
The Cyber
Tech training institute is currently offering certificate courses in the allied
health field in the run up to the implementation of NHI scheduled for January
2016.
Foreign
Affairs Minister Hon. Fred Mitchell joined other CARICOM foreign ministers in
St. Lucia this week to attend the 18
th
meeting of the Council for
Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR) at Runaway Bay. COFCOR is the Foreign
Affairs organ of CARICOM.
Accompany
Mitchell was CARICOM High Commissioner HE Picewell Forbes.
About the author: Elcott Coleby is a Deputy Director at the
Bahamas Information Services. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in
Chemistry (B.Sc) and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA). He provides
frequent commentary on public policy and communicates the works of the
government. Address all comments to the following email:
egcoleby44@gmail.com