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Volume: 121 No.160, July 16, 2024
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PM: Cannabis law ‘long time coming’ Compendium of bills to legalise medical and religious use debated By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Chief Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas moved closer to legalising cannabis for medical and religious use yesterday when parliamentarians debated a compendium of bills in the House of Assembly. The long-awaited debate came after consultation
with interest groups, including the Rastafarian community, pharmaceutical groups, members of a former cannabis commission and the Bahamas Christian Council. Health and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville said the government was satisfied that its legal SEE page two
Cabinet approves Resumption of diplomatic presence in Haiti By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS Tribune Staff Reporter lmunnings@tribunemedia.net FOREIGN Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell said Cabinet has approved resuming the country’s diplomatic presence in Haiti. Bahamian diplomats in Haiti were evacuated in March when security conditions deteriorated amid
gang violence. The Bahamian embassy in Haiti has 11 local staff and nine diplomatic staff members, including Chargé Commander Godfrey Rolle. Mr Rolle said the local staff are at the embassy, but diplomatic duties are at a standstill. Mr Mitchell told SEE page seven
Several members of the Rastafarian community attended the House of Assemebly yesterday during the debate over the bills for legalising marijuana for medical and religious use. Photo: Dante Carrer/Tribune Staff
New four-year industrial agreement signed between BTC and BCPOU By KEILE CAMPBELL Tribune Staff Reporter kcampbell@tribunemedia.net A NEW industrial agreement between the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) and the
Bahamas Communications & Public Officers Union (BCPOU) includes salary increases and lump sum payments. Officials said the fouryear agreement, signed yesterday, came after
heated negotiations that threatened to prevent a deal. BTC’s director of peoples K Darron Turnquest said the new agreement SEE page five
‘Voice note scandal the worst since drug era’ By JADE RUSSELL Tribune Staff Reporter jrussell@tribunemedia.net FORMER Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said the controversy surrounding the Royal Bahamas Police Force after the leak of voice notes is among the most severe corruption scandals the country has faced since the drug era of the 1970s and 1980s.
FORMER Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis The
voice
Privy council greenlights PI crown land appeal By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
purported to capture a financial quid pro-quo arrangement involving a senior police officer, a lawyer and a murdered gang leader. “The allegations we are seeing are some of the most serious in an independent Bahamas,” Dr Minnis said in the House of Assembly. “They are also among the
The Bahamian entrepreneur battling to restore Paradise Island’s lighthouse yesterday thanked the Government for “putting down their gloves” by not opposing his Privy Council appeal. Toby Smith told Tribune Business he was not “having a dig” at the Government but genuinely hoping its approach to the Court of Appeal hearing could pave the way for both sides to “start afresh”.
SEE page four
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