AN OUTSPOKEN businessman says Bahamas Power & Light’s (BPL) latest woes have cost his company “at least $100,000” in generator repairs and related expenses, as he blasted: “You bank on BPL being dreadful, but not all the time.”
Dionisio D’Aguilar, Superwash’s principal, told Tribune Business that when he entered the laundromat industry “I didn’t think I’d also have to go into the generator business”. He revealed that, of his 12 locations, two are presently exposed without generators because one “failed completely” while another is “running hot” because BPL’s more frequent and extended outages have imposed greater “strain” due to their extra use.
Asserting that it is “impossible to operate a business in The Bahamas” without generators, the former minister of tourism and aviation in the Minnis administration’s Cabinet said his business is far from alone in having back-up power difficulties as “everyone is screaming for parts from their suppliers” due to increased wear and tear on their generators.
Describing both energy supply, and just operating a business in The
Outages hit Superwash with ‘at least $100k’ in extra costs
Generators failing, under ‘strain’ due to more and longer use
Bahamas, as “a major nightmare”, Mr D’Aguilar told this newspaper that his days are increasingly “consumed by generator problems, power problems and electrical equipment failures” due to the escalating unreliability of BPL’s supply - outages combined with “dips, spikes, swings and surges” that damage key assets and cause their failure.
And, with the Davis administration’s much-touted energy reforms
Not in Bahamas ‘best interest’ for developer to lot-sell Gov’t land
BY NEIL HARTNELL TRIBUNE Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
A FORMER Bahamas National Trust (BNT) chief yesterday argued it is not in The Bahamas’ “best interests” to allow a US developer to obtain 100 acres of Government land at Eleuthera’s Navy Beach for lot sales to finance his development plans.
Eric Carey, now an environmental consultant who lives on Eleuthera, told Tribune Business that Jeff Jacobs, chairman and chief executive of Jacobs Investments, will likely “run into a problem” and opposition if he follows through with plans to acquire and use that land for lot sales - a portion of which will finance power, water and affordable housing upgrades, in addition to a proposed infrastructure public-private partnership (PPP) with the Government.
He added that it would be “very strange” if the Davis administration were to sell or lease, or approve the use of the 100-acre tract for that purpose, especially given that during his last conversation with Clay Sweeting, the central and south Eleuthera MP, whose constituency also includes Governor’s Harbour, the latter had signalled he was not in favour of Mr Jacobs “leveraging” Crown Land to benefit the proposed 600-acre J Resort project.
Mr Carey told this newspaper that many Governor’s Harbour and Eleuthera residents are opposed to Crown Land being involved in Mr Jacobs’ project, which is pledging to create 200 construction and 500 permanent jobs from a $650m development - which has yet to be approved by the Government - where $450m, or 69 percent, is to be financed via real estate pre-sales.
Developer’s 30% lot sales promise on Eleuthera PPP
Plan includes selling, dividing 100-acres of Gov’t land
Jacobs says monies for affordable housing, better utilities
Tour operator: ‘We catching hell’ and ‘losing money from this’
failing to deliver relief and improvements for Bahamian households and businesses in the short-term, he demanded that the Government “stop selling a story” and instead divert all available resources and state agencies to “fix the problem” so that New Providence receives reliable power supply “99 percent of the time”.
Calling on the Government to find the necessary funding by reducing travel, and seeking savings elsewhere in its Budget, Mr D’Aguilar argued that The Bahamas’ ambitions to attain - and be seen - as a “first world class country” will never be achieved unless it resolves the long-standing weaknesses caused by power being too expensive, too unreliable and too dirty.
Speaking after last Wednesday’s island-wide New Providence outage, the Superwash chief - who was temporarily off-island - said: “My people say it’s a disaster; the power going on
Pledges 100-acre solar farm; no impact for island’s ‘vibe’
BY NEIL HARTNELL TRIBUNE Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
A US developer is pledging that 30 percent of the proceeds from residential lot sales, including 100 acres of Government-owned land, will be devoted to solving central Eleuthera’s power, water and affordable housing woes as well as underwriting an up to $50m infrastructure partnership.
Jeff Jacobs, chairman and chief executive of Jacobs Investments, and head of its Jacobs Entertainment affiliate, unveiled his latest development proposals in separate June and endJuly 2026 updates issued to Governor’s Harbour and Eleuthera residents while promising to Tribune Business that “the vibe and environmental sensitivity” of the historic settlement will not alter.
Rival group urges Potter’s Cay marina
BY NEIL HARTNELL TRIBUNE Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
A RIVAL Bahamian group is arguing that the 25-slip marina proposed for a Nassau harbourfront site just west of Potter’s Cay dock should be rejected because it does not represent the most valuable or strategic use of that location.
Franklyn Robinson, president of LanQi Global Development Company, told Tribune Business that the planned Blu Cay Marina - for which a public consultation was held last week - should
not be allowed to “supersede” his group’s vision for the same site which involves completely reimagining Potter’s Cay to separate the ‘fish dry’ element from mail boat shipping through reclaiming and repurposing land between the two Paradise Island bridges.
While the ‘fish fry’ would be moved east to by the Sir Sidney Poitier ‘on’ bridge, together with a 700-space visitor parking lot, the mail boat and Family Island shipping, cargo and logistics business - according to renderings produced by
No ‘rubber stamp’ eyed for ex-Club Med site’s revival
BY NEIL HARTNELL TRIBUNE Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
A BAHAMIAN-LED group yesterday pledged its redevelopment of Governor’s Harbour’s former Club Med property will produce a “low density” five-star project featuring 40-60 resort suites and villas while reassuring residents it is not seeking their “rubber stamp”.
Myles Ahead, which is headed by Bahamian businessman Anthony Myers, the Bahamas Hot Mix chairman and founder, and James Lyle, founder of Lyford Cay-based investment management firm, Fulmar Advisors, in response to Tribune
Business inquiries said its plans have not been finalised and it is seeking formal community input at this Thursday’s Town Hall meeting with residents.
Describing the planned development, as a boutique five-star resort and residential
Speaking ahead of what he billed as a “master plan concept meeting” with local residents next Thursday, August 13, the US gaming, hospitality and development principal is proposing a public-private partnership (PPP) between Jacobs Entertainment and the Bahamian government to address the area’s utility and housing shortfalls, plus upgrade roadways and beach access.
Mr Jacobs confirmed to this newspaper his company is proposing to finance this PPP via an up to $50m “interest free loan” from capital it will raise during its “next round of financing” with lenders and investors over 2027-2028. His latest message to Eleuthera residents, dated July 31, 2026, suggests that Jacobs Entertainment’s loan will be repaid from the proceeds
plan rejection
community at the former Club Med site that has been abandoned for more than 26 years since Hurricane Floyd’s passage in 1999, Myles Ahead said: “The project is intended to return a long-dormant property to productive use while creating lasting opportunities for the people and businesses of Central Eleuthera.
“Current planning reflects a preliminary construction estimate of several hundred million covering a proposed low-density development on roughly 93 acres, and presently includes approximately 40 to 60 resort suites and villas, together with a private residences component with supporting hospitality, wellness, recreation and service facilities. The development remains subject to public input, government approvals, final design, procurement and construction planning.”
The Central Bank last November described the Myles Ahead
DIONISIO D’AGUILAR
Reforms for Bahamas to lead Caribbean on aviation safety
By RANDY Butler Former aviation safety inspector
FOR more than 40 years I have served Bahamian aviation in several capacities, including airline pilot, aviation safety inspector, national aviation security manager, airport safety manager, accident investigator, airline chief executive, aviation consultant and member of national aviation development committees. During that time I have witnessed both the strengths of our aviation system and the consequences when oversight systems require strengthening.
Today, I believe The Bahamas stands at another important crossroads. Recent public reports concerning personnel licensing, flight operations, aircraft registration matters, aviation occurrences, air traffic control incidents and accident investigations should not be viewed in isolation. Whether every allegation ultimately proves correct is not the central issue. The more important question is this: Does The Bahamas have a mature, integrated State Safety Oversight System capable of identifying and correcting systemic weaknesses before they become international findings or contribute to an accident?
That is the discussion our country should now have.
Safety oversight is more than compliance
Too often aviation oversight is viewed as periodic inspections or preparing for an International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) or Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) audit. Modern aviation safety has moved well beyond that.
ICAO has established a comprehensive framework through Document 9734, the Safety Oversight Manual, together with the eight critical elements of safety oversight and the standards and recommended practices contained
throughout the annexes to the Chicago Convention.
The philosophy is straightforward: A state should continuously monitor its aviation system, identify emerging risks, implement corrective action and verify effectiveness long before external auditors identify deficiencies. This is what mature aviation authorities do.
The ‘Swiss Cheese’ model
Professor James Reason’s internationally-respected ‘Swiss Cheese’ model remains one of the most influential concepts in aviation safety. The model demonstrates that accidents rarely result from a single mistake. Instead, they occur when multiple weaknesses align.
These weaknesses may involve:
• Legislation
• Organisational structure
• Insufficient resources
• Inadequate inspector training
• Licensing systems
• Operational surveillance
• Maintenance oversight
• Air navigation services
• Airport operations
• Reporting systems
• Management decisions
Each weakness represents one “hole” in a layer of defence. Normally those holes do not line up. However, if enough weaknesses exist simultaneously, an accident or significant regulatory failure can occur.
The objective of a State Safety Oversight Programme is therefore simple: Find and close the holes before they align.
Category One status must never be taken for granted
The Bahamas knows from experience that international confidence can be lost. Following the FAA International Aviation Safety Assessment downgrade in 2000, many dedicated aviation professionals worked together to rebuild the state’s oversight capability.
That effort resulted in restoration of FAA Category One status. But that achievement should never be viewed as permanent. Category One is maintained through continuous compliance, continuous surveillance and continuous improvement.
The FAA does not evaluate whether individual airlines are safe. It evaluates whether the state itself possesses the capability to effectively oversee its aviation system.
A National Safety Oversight Programme
In my opinion, The Bahamas should maintain a permanent State Safety Oversight Programme operating in accordance with ICAO Document 9734. Such a programme should continuously evaluate every applicable area of civil aviation, including:
• Annex 1: Personnel Licensing
• Annex 2: Rules of the Air
• Annex 6: Aircraft Operations
• Annex 8: Airworthiness
• Annex 9: Facilitation
• Annex 11: Air Traffic Services
• Annex 13: Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation
• Annex 14: Aerodromes
• Annex 17: Aviation Security
• Annex 19: State Safety Programme and Safety Management Systems
Each area should be measured against ICAO standards and recommended practices through a structured programme of internal audits, surveillance, risk assessment and corrective action. This should become part of the culture rather than preparation for external inspections.
Lessons from aviation registry development
Several years ago I had the privilege of serving on the national committee examining establishment of an Aircraft Mortgage Registry. International experts engaged by the Government conducted an assessment of the Bahamian aviation regulatory framework. The findings extended beyond registry legislation.
The review reportedly identified broader institutional issues requiring attention before an internationally competitive registry could succeed, including legislative authority, implementation of the Cape Town Convention, organisational capacity, qualified human resources, delegated authority, approved maintenance organisations, designee systems and regulatory capability.
These observations illustrate an important principle: International confidence depends not simply upon legislation. It depends upon confidence in the regulatory system itself.
Oversight must remain independent
One of the greatest strengths of international civil aviation is that safety oversight is based upon objective standards rather than personalities. Whether governments change or administrations change, the standards remain the same.
A mature aviation authority should therefore possess:
• Adequate technical staffing
• Continuing inspector training
• Effective surveillance programmes
• Independent accident investigation
• Transparent corrective action systems
• Performance measurement
• Sufficient legal authority, and
• Sustainable financial and organisational resources
These principles protect the travelling public regardless of who occupies public office.
A national opportunity
The Bahamas possesses exceptionally-talented aviation professionals. I have had the privilege of working alongside many of them throughout my career. The question is not whether we have capable people. The question is whether our systems fully support those people in delivering consistent, world class oversight. Rather than waiting for another international audit or a major accident to identify deficiencies, this is an opportunity to strengthen our oversight system now.
Doing so will protect:
• The travelling public
• Bahamian airlines
• Tourism • International confidence
• Foreign investment
• Future aircraft registry initiatives
• And our hard-earned FAA Category One status.
Looking forward
Aviation is one of The Bahamas’ most valuable national assets. It connects our islands, supports our economy, sustains tourism and links us with the world. Protecting it requires more than responding to today’s headlines. It requires building an oversight system that continuously identifies tomorrow’s risks before they become tomorrow’s accidents.
The international framework already exists. The expertise exists. The opportunity exists. The challenge before us is to ensure that our commitment to safety oversight remains as dynamic as the aviation system it is intended to protect. If we achieve that objective, The Bahamas will not simply maintain international compliance. It can become recognised as one of the leading aviation oversight systems in the Caribbean.
• NB: Captain Randy Butler has served as a former aviation safety inspector (flight operations); acting manager of flight standards, national aviation security manager, airport safety manager, airline chief executive, accident investigator and aviation consultant
CAPTAIN RANDY BUTLER
Fusion queries if cyber attack delayed Spiderman licensing
BY ANNELIA NIXON TRIBUNE Business Reporter anixon@tribunemedia.net
FUSION Superplex has challenged film distributors over whether its failure to secure a licence to screen Spider-Man: Brand New Day is linked to the cyber and ransomware attack that forced several key operating systems off-line earlier this year.
The x entertainment complex, in a statement issued to Tribune Business, said it has yet to obtain an explanation and answer to this from Sony Pictures, the film’s distributor. It added that Sony has thus far declined to licence the movie to Fusion Superplex, and given no reason for doing so, despite the latter’s account being in good standing and carrying no outstanding balance.
“Sony Pictures is the distributor for Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” the company said. “As is standard in the industry, films are licensed to exhibitors, including Fusion Superplex, on a title-by-title basis. “Our international film booker made every effort to secure this film for Friday’s release. For reasons Sony has not communicated to us, the studio has elected not to licence the film to Fusion at this time, despite our account being in good standing with a zero outstanding balance.”
Fusion Superplex said it has sought clarification from Sony on whether the decision is in any way connected to the cyber attack and ransomware incident it suffered earlier this year, which disrupted several of its core systems, including the IMAX theatre, online
BPL chief admits regaining trust needs action, not words
BY FAY SIMMONS
TRIBUNE Business Reporter
jsimmons@tribunemedia.net
BAHAMAS Power & Light’s (BPL) executive chairman yesterday admitted it will take more than promises for the utility to regain customers’ trust after frequent, long-lasting island-wide and community outages spread beyond multiple Family Islands to New Providence. Christina Alston, in apologising to customers after another weekend of power outages across New Providence, stressed that the state-owned utility understands the hardship caused by the disruptions and is working to stabilise an electricity system strained by aging infrastructure, record electricity demand and recent equipment failures.
She also conceded that rebuilding public trust will require results rather than promises. "I know that assurances alone will not restore confidence in BPL," said Ms Alston. "Confidence will come from measurable improvements, greater reliability and clearer communication. We accept that responsibility, and we know the Bahamian people deserve better."
Meanwhile, Christopher Hanna, president of the Bahamas Electrical Utility Managerial Union, which represents BPL’s middle managers, argued that similar scrutiny should be applied to Bahamas Grid Company, the entity that was created to own and manage New Providence’s electricity grid, which has largely escaped attention amid the focus on BPL.
“I listen to the news and I listen to everybody and all the talking,” Mr Hanna said. “But I don’t know why nobody asking what’s happening with Bahamas Grid Company.
“Bahamas Grid Company is actually in charge of T and D, transmission and distribution. I would say you maybe need to talk to the two, but I ain’t hear nobody mention Bahamas Grid Company.”
Speaking in a video message following several days of outages, including last Wednesday's island-wide blackout and continuing interruptions over the Emancipation Day holiday weekend, Ms Alston said investigations into the electrical fire at the Blue Hills power station are continuing while BPL focuses on restoring reliability.
"I understand the frustration," Ms Alston said. "I know that when the power goes off, it's more than just an inconvenience. It affects your ability to work and care for your family, operate your business and feel comfortable in your own home. On behalf of Bahamas Power & Light, I sincerely apologise for the hardship these disruptions have caused."
She said preliminary assessments indicate a suspected fault in one of the underground cables led to the transformer fire that triggered Wednesday's island-wide outage, adding that investigations are continuing to determine exactly what happened and identify measures to reduce the risk of a similar incident.
"The challenges facing BPL did not develop overnight," said Ms Alston. "We are operating with aging generation equipment and a grid that has been under strain for many years."
She added that record-breaking heat, equipment failures and recent fires have placed even greater pressure on the electricity system, contributing to widespread outages.
Ms Alston acknowledged that contingency plans have their limits when multiple major events occur in quick succession, but said BPL's immediate priority is to stabilise the system, safely return equipment to service and reduce both the frequency and duration of outages while continuing longer-term investments to modernise the grid.
Her comments came days after BPL chief operating officer, Anthony Christie, warned that record electricity demand had pushed parts
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ticketing systems and internal operations.
“We did inquire whether this decision was in any way related to the recent cyber attack and ransomware incident, and we are still awaiting a response from the studio,” it added.
“As it stands, the film is currently available only at a single boutique cinema, making it inaccessible to the vast majority of Bahamians who would ordinarily enjoy it at our nine-screen entertainment complex.”
Despite the setback, Fusion said it remains optimistic the film will be made available to it for screening to its customers. “Nonetheless, we remain patient and hopeful that the film will be made available to us for release on August 7, 2026,” it added.
The company apologised to customers disappointed by the delay,
of New Providence's network close to capacity, with overloaded circuits and transformers increasing the risk of outages during the holiday weekend.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Mr Christie said BPL was dealing with multiple equipment issues across New Providence, including a cable fault affecting western New Providence from Albany through the airport and Coral Harbour, as well as a transformer overload in the Palmdale area.
"We have a number of areas experiencing overloads," said Mr Christie. "We're in a period of high temperatures and high demand on our system, so we're seeing outages that aren't common during the summer. Our teams are working to restore service to all customers, but it is a challenge right now."
Mr Christie said the utility has seen demand continue to rise over recent months, and urged customers to reduce electricity consumption, particularly air conditioning use, while also calling on large commercial customers and government agencies to help lower demand on the grid.
"We've seen an increase in demand, and we're approaching our capacity," he said. "Many of our circuits are overloaded, and some transformers are operating at peak capacity. We're balancing the load
ELECTRIFY - See Page B5
and encouraged patrons to continue supporting its current film line-up, which includes The Odyssey, distributed by Universal Pictures, as well as Disney releases, Toy Story 5 and Moana.
Last week, Fusion first notified customers via social media that Spider-Man: Brand New Day would not be available for its scheduled release because of what it described as a “distribution delay”.
“Due to a distribution delay, Spider-Man: Brand New Day isn’t swinging into Fusion just yet. We know many of you have been looking forward to it, and we truly appreciate your patience while we work to bring it to our screens,” the company posted.
Fusion Superplex also moved to counter misinformation circulating online after a fake promotional
graphic falsely claimed the film would be screened in IMAX.
“We have been made aware of a fake graphic currently circulating online containing false information about the showing of Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” the company said.
“Please disregard it. For accurate and verified updates, rely only on information shared through Fusion Superplex’s official Facebook and Instagram pages.”
The licensing issue comes just months after Fusion disclosed that it had been targeted in a sophisticated cyber attack carried out by the Russian-linked Qilin ransomware group. At the time, Fusion said its online ticketing platform had been taken offline as a precaution to protect customer data while recovery efforts were completed, although the cinema remained open and continued operating through in-person ticket sales.
FUSION SUPERPLEX
Green Turtle Cay EIA
call undermines trust
AN advocacy group has warned that the decision not to require an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the proposed Gillam Bay project on Green Turtle Cay threatens to further undermine transparency and trust in regulatory processes.
Save Exuma Alliance, in a statement, warned that Green Turtle Cay residents are being ignored by the planning process following a ruling that the project presented by developer Ronald Curry did need an EIA. More than 1,500 people have signed a petition seeking to protect Gillam Bay, which calls the site “not only a place of extraordinary natural beauty but also
- from page B1
However, Mr Jacobs, in his July 31, 2026, message to Governor’s Harbour and Eleuthera residents, said
one of significant ecological importance”.
The Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP) determined that an EIA was not required because the project involves construction on pilings rather than excavation, mining and marine works. A Certificate of Environmental Clearance (CEC) has been granted, allowing the developer to proceed.
“With so much public concern about this development and its likely impact on the environment, it is hard to understand why an EIA would be waived,” said Save Exuma Alliance (SEA).
he planned to use the Government’s 100-acre Navy Beach tract - as well as 175 acres he and his Jacobs Entertainment Company own near the airport - to generate lot sales.
He also promised that 20 percent of the revenues raised will be used to fund water and energy upgrades, including a 100acre solar farm, with a further 10 percent directed to affordable rental housing development. And,
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“The people of Green Turtle Cay and Abaco know this area better than anyone. They shouldn't have to depend on an official in an office elsewhere deciding the environmental impact isn't worth assessing. What residents need is confidence that every decision is made with the best interests of the area at heart, and a full EIA is how that confidence is earned.”
SEA added: “We've been through this ourselves in a similar situation in Exuma where we have campaigned for transparency in the planning process. An EIA would allow a proper assessment of how this would affect the environment, while also triggering a formal public
detailing a further use of the lot sales proceeds, Mr Jacobs said they would also be used to repay a $50m “interest free” loan that Jacobs Entertainment proposes to finance the PPP, which includes the energy and water improvements, with,
Mr Carey, though, said many local residents he has spoken to are against Crown or government land being used “to ensure Mr Jacobs’ success”. He added: “The MP, Clay Sweeting, who is minister of works and Family Island affairs, he was also of that opinion at the the time. But I have not spoken to Mr Sweeting since Mr Jacobs released his most recent plans in the last week or so.
“Mr Sweeting did say he was not in favour of Crown Land being used in this project. There isn’t a lot of Crown Land on Eleuthera, while Exuma, Andros and others have hundredseven thousands - of acres available. He [Mr Jacobs[ is going to run into a problem. I don’t think we should leverage public land to help him finance his project That doesn’t seem reasonable to me.
“I also don’t see the Government agreeing to that. I would find it very strange if they agree to that part of his deal. The PPP agreement should be limited to
consultation process that would give Bahamians and local residents an opportunity to review the proposal and provide informed public comments.
“By not requiring an EIA, the public, particularly the local community most directly affected, is denied the opportunity to weigh in on a development that impacts their environment, livelihoods and quality of life. This leaves residents unheard when it comes to stating their case on the development.”
The move comes amid recent proposed changes to the Environmental Impact Assessment (Amendments) Regulations 2026, which have seen a shift away from
restoration of the airport if he is going into a PPP with the Government. The Government could put up the airport, infrastructure and everything they are doing in terms of investment, and Mr Jacobs through his financing could further improve that facility to offer better access to his development,” Mr Carey added.
“I don’t see where it’s in the best interests of our country to throw in that Navy Beach land to guarantee sales for his development. I think Mr Jacobs ought to reconsider that. I don’t think the Government should agree to that. To use our land as an asset for him to make money to pay back a loan. I don’t think government land should be used for that.
“All of that, if it goes through, should happen from his land and Government land should be excluded. Government land should be left available for options for local people to benefit from. That land shouldn’t be thrown into the development. The next conversation I have with Mr Jacobs I will share that opinion.”
Mr Carey, who said the US developer has always been responsive to his questions and queries whenever they meet, said feelings and opinions about Mr Jacobs’
mandatory public consultation and toward greater administrative discretion.
Earlier this month, SEA warned: “We must be very careful that we don’t weaken the need for consultation, especially in cases where there are genuine concerns over the impact of proposed developments on the environment. Striking the right balance between the interest of developers and communities cannot happen if we further reduce the opportunity for people to have a say.”
project ahead of the public consultation next Thursday, August 13, are “mixed”. He added that many, including himself, are apprehensive about the “sheer size and scale” of the planned 600acre project which “has always been a concern to the community” including Bahamians and foreign second homeowners.
Another concern, the ex-BNT executive director said, is the extra strain the development will impose on Eleuthera’s already-struggling energy grid - with near-constant outages still occurring daily - and water supply. “It’s going to further threaten the grid,” Mr Carey said of other fears.
“We don’t have reliable power in any island in our country, and also fresh water supply. Fresh water is limited, and sometimes residents don’t have fresh water. Demand on utilities is a concern now.”
However, Mr Carey cited two “positives” as Mr Jacobs’ plans to address central Eleuthera’s utility challenges through developing a 100-acre solar farm and constructing a water plant for the project.
“If you look at what Mr Jacobs is proposing, he’s saying he’s going to do a full solar farm so that there will be no drain on the grid,” he told Tribune Business.
“He says he’s going to produce surplus power that will feed into the grid, and is not going to be a net user of electricity.
“He says he’s going to supply his own fresh water
SEA added of the Green Turtle Cay case: “The goal must always be to make sure that communities are included and feel their views have been adequately considered. Not all development is bad development - and the likelihood of good development is all the greater if the views of those who know the area, who know the environment, the landscape and the wildlife, are taken into account. We support the residents in calling for every step necessary to make sure that the right outcome is reached.”
and will have no impact on local supply. He says he should produce sufficient water to be a net contributor. The golf course is also 100 percent off the table and he’s repurposing that land for the solar farm.”
Mr Carey, meanwhile, said that - besides those Governor’s Harbour and Eleuthera residents who view Mr Jacobs plans’ as “too big” - others, especially local business owners, are more supportive provided the economic benefits reach them and trickle down into the local community.
“Other people, especially business people, entrepreneurs, their only concern is if the development brings significant economic opportunities for local people,” he added. “They are not thinking so much about the environment and the impact on the traditional way of life. They are more concerned with significant economic benefits accruing to the communities.
“Some were asking today what my position will be at the meeting. I’m not sure what it will be. I still think the project is too big, but I have to acknowledge that Jacobs has made some positive moves - to introduce an element of sustainability with a solar farm to produce his own electricity and not impact the water table. He’s going to create water from his own reverse osmosis plant so no impact on the water table. Those are positives.”
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BY FAY SIMMONS TRIBUNE Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net
A MARINA operator last week's public consultation on the proposed Blu Cay Marina left him convinced it will worsen congestion around Potter's Cay, arguing the meeting failed to resolve concerns over traffic and parking and whether it is being held to the same standards as other operators.
Peter Maury, operator of Bay Street Marina, said his position remains unchanged despite presentations by the project's consultants and assurances by representatives of the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP).
"I still have the same position," said Mr Maury. "I think it's going to be a disaster. They're trying to fit 20 parking spaces, an office, bathrooms and a marina on to a site that's about 120 feet by 50 feet. The proposal just isn't realistic." His comments come after a public consultation where traffic congestion and parking dominated residents' concerns over the proposed 25-slip marina near Potter's Cay. During the meeting, environmental consultants said the developer had secured access to an additional lease area that could provide about 80 parking spaces to support the project. However, Mr Maury argued the additional parking would do
little to ease congestion in the area.
"I run both a restaurant and a marina, and people always want to park right in front of where they're going," he said. "Having additional parking elsewhere isn't going to change that. Potter's Cay is already difficult to access, and this project will only make that situation worse."
Mr Maury, who said he regularly visits Potter's Cay to collect seafood delivered from the Family Islands for his businesses, argued the area is already heavily congested because of commercial activity, ferry traffic and limited parking.
"As someone who lives and works in Freetown, I can tell you traffic at the foot of the bridge is already
Academy graduates highlight maritime sector’s growing role
BY ANNELIA NIXON TRIBUNE Business Reporter anixon@tribunemedia.net
THE LJM Maritime Academy highlighted the industry’s growing significance for the Bahamian economy as it celebrated the graduation of its 2023 and 2024 cadet classes while also holding a pre-sea passing out ceremony for those in the latter year.
Dr Richard Wiefelspuett, the Academy’s president, told graduates, faculty, industry representatives and family members that it continues to expand its capacity to prepare Bahamians for careers in one of the country’s most important economic sectors.
“The maritime industry continues to offer tremendous opportunities for Bahamians as the National Maritime Academy (LJM Maritime Academy) is proud to prepare the skilled officers, engineers and maritime professionals who will support our country’s growing economy, and to represent The Bahamas with distinction around the world,” he said.
Mr Wiefelspuett said the Academy has made significant progress over the past year through the expansion of internationally-recognised training programmes, stronger industry partnerships and continued investment in facilities designed to benefit both students and the wider maritime sector.
“The past year has been one of remarkable progress
for the Academy,” he said. “We have expanded our internationally-recognised training programmes, strengthened our industry partnerships and continued investing in facilities and opportunities that will benefit both our students and the wider maritime sector.”
Delivering the keynote address, Bernique Pople, community engagement manager for Royal Caribbean (Bahamas), encouraged graduates to embrace continuous learning, adding that technical knowledge alone is not enough to build a successful career.
“A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to spend some time with some of you during your simulator session,” she said. “I was very impressed, not just by the technology or the equipment, but by you - your focus, teamwork, professionalism and, what stood out to me, wasn’t how much you knew;, it was how much you were willing to learn.”
Ms Pople reminded graduates that every successful maritime professional begins as a novice. “The truth is, nobody starts out knowing everything - not me, your instructors, or the leaders you look up to. Every expert was once a beginner. Every captain was once a cadet,” she added. Employers, the Royal Caribbean executive said, increasingly value qualities such as resilience, integrity and adaptability alongside technical competence.
“What I saw was more than technical skill,” she said. “I saw leadership, resilience and potential. Skills can be taught and procedures can be learned, but character and a willingness to keep growing is what will carry you through your career.”
Ms Pople also encouraged graduates to think beyond traditional on-board ship careers, pointing to the expanding range of opportunities within the maritime economy.
“Some of you will find yourselves on the bridge, navigating vessels across the world’s oceans,” she said. “Some of you will work in engineering, solving problems and keeping operations running safely and efficiently. Others may find opportunities in logistics, sustainability, technology, business, education, law or fields you haven’t even considered yet.”
Ms Pople added that Royal Caribbean has seen Bahamians excel across multiple disciplines, both at sea and ashore. “One of the things I’ve learned during my career is that this industry is much bigger than most people realise,” she said.
“When many people think about maritime careers, they think about captains and engineers. There are also opportunities in sustainability, finance, logistics, hospitality, communications, technology, community engagement and so much more.”
Ms Pople said the cruise line remains committed
a nightmare, especially during shift changes," he said. "Add the traffic from Potter's Cay and the Family Island shipping operations, and this development will only make things worse."
Beyond traffic concerns, Mr Maury questioned whether the project is being subjected to the same planning, environmental and operational requirements imposed on other marina developments.
"When I built Bay Street Marina, I had to install environmental pump-out facilities, complete environmental and traffic studies and build infrastructure that emergency vehicles could access," he said. "This project appears to require none of that. If one marina has to
to investing in Bahamian talent through partnerships with institutions such as LJM Maritime Academy.
“Excellence isn’t just something we talk about; it’s something we live and build, and it’s something I believe every one of you is capable of achieving,” she said. “That’s one reason why we’re proud to support institutions like LJM Maritime Academy, because we
PETER MAURY
meet those standards, then every marina should."
Mr Maury also said he was disappointed the developer did not attend the consultation, arguing residents deserved the opportunity to raise questions directly with the person behind the project.
"If you're proposing a development that's going to affect the surrounding community, you should be there to answer residents' questions yourself," he said. "At Bay Street Marina, I could explain every aspect of my operation because I know
believe in investing in the next generation of Bahamian talent.”
the business. I think the developer should have done the same."
He also questioned whether presenters had sufficient knowledge of the area to address residents' concerns.
"One of the presenters admitted she wasn't familiar with the area," Mr Maury said. "If that's the case, how can meaningful conclusions be reached without properly understanding the existing traffic and conditions?"
While acknowledging he supports marina development, Mr Maury said projects should be designed in a way that protects surrounding businesses and applies the same regulatory standards to every operator.
"I'm all for marinas and hospitality development, but not this way," he said. "Every major marina in The Bahamas has had to meet environmental and safety requirements. This proposal shouldn't be treated differently."
Ms Pople added that graduates should remain open to wherever their careers may lead. “Whether your path leads to the bridge, the engine room, shore-side operations, sustainability initiatives, business leadership, or somewhere completely unexpected, know that opportunities exist for those who are willing to pursue them, and perhaps one day Royal Caribbean group may become a part of your journey as well,” she said.
BPL union chief urges Bahamas Grid scrutiny
ELECTRIFY - from page B3
and monitoring the system closely.”
Asked whether load shedding could occur over the holiday weekend, Mr Christie said BPL was monitoring the system closely but could not predict whether it would become necessary.
However, BPL announced rotational load shedding on Saturday to facilitate repairs to a damaged cable affecting
western New Providence. The utility said customers in several western areas would lose power between noon and 4pm, while other areas would be without electricity between 4pm and 8pm. BPL said the schedule was intended to allow Coral Harbour, which had been without electricity for an extended period, to receive power while repair work continued.
Meanwhile, Verron Darville, deputy director of
The Academy’s continued expansion comes as The Bahamas seeks to strengthen its position within the global maritime industry and develop its marine or ‘blue’ economy.
energy in the Ministry of Energy, Utilities and Aviation, said the Government has asked ministries and agencies to switch to back-up generators during periods of peak demand to free-up electricity for residential customers and small businesses.
Mr Darville said the ministry has also spent the past three years conducting energy audits for government agencies and large private consumers, with recommendations tailored to each facility’s energy use to help reduce demand on the national grid.
D’Aguilar: ‘Stop selling a story and just fix this’
and off. We’ve had generators fail, and my management team saying the Internet is going down. It’s impossible to operate.
“In The Bahamas, in the business I’m in, I need 12 generators [for each laundromat location]. You cannot operate a business in The Bahamas without a generator. You have the cost of buying a generator, purchasing fuel for the generator, maintaining the generator and, because the power is off for so long and so frequently, generators are being over-used and everyone is screaming for replacement parts from their suppliers.
“Generators are failing because they are getting significant use of late. They are pieces of equipment that fail. You are having the stress, you are having the strain of dealing with BPL power loss, having to keep 12 generators operational, equipment failing, having to source parts because they are failing more frequently because they are having to be used more often for extended periods of time,”
Mr D’Aguilar added.
“It’s amazing how impactful this is on business. You have brown-outs, you have surges; it’s a total nightmare operating a business in The Bahamas with equipment that has as many electrical parts as modern
machines do.. It’s so annoying and such a cost.”
Asked about the toll inflicted on Superwash by the latest BPL outages, Mr D’Aguilar pegged the cost at “at least $100,000”. He added: “I’ve got one generator that is completely down now, finished, and one that has been running hot because it has been used for an extended period of time. We are having to source parts to fix them.
“When you go into the laundromat business you don’t think you are going into the generator business…. More and more of my day seems to be consumed by generator problems, power problems, equipment being blown, electrical equipment failing because of surges and spikes, dips and swings, and nobody cares.
“It’s like the cost of doing business, and then they say don’t be late with your VAT payment or light billl because we will cut you off or come after you. If only people could appreciate how difficult it is to do business in this country, if only they could appreciate.”
The Davis administration recently touted the latest phase of its energy reforms at the ground-breaking facility for the Clifton Pier liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification terminal, jointly owned by BISXlisted FOCOL Holdings and multinational energy giant, Shell. This was hailed a key step in transitioning
New Providence’s baseload energy generation, to be operated by FOCOL and its affiliates, to LNG as a cheaper, cleaner fuel source to boost affordability.
Meanwhile, Bahamas Grid Company, the entity 40 percent owned by BPL, and to whom New Providence’s electricity grid assets were supposed to have been transferred, is now responsible for maintaining the transmission and distribution network. Some $130m worth of “foundational” grid upgrades were supposed to have been completed by end-June, aided by US electrical utility provider, Pike, but it is understood the grid asset transfer has yet to be completed.
And Anthony Christie, BPL’s chief operating officer, last week appealed
to customers to slash their electricity consumption and usage because New Providence’s energy grid is nearing full capacity, with circuits and transformers overloaded due to greater-than-expected demand due to the extra summer heat.
Mr D’Aguilar, meanwhile, said he and many others are tired of “excuses” from BPL and the Government.
“We are tired of complaining,” he added, “because, at the end of the day, no one care. The civil servants get paid no matter what, the taxman collects money no matter what. No one fixes the problem.
“To operate a business in The Bahamas, you have to have a generator. The power goes off, systems don’t come back on. It’s just a major nightmare; it really is. It’s never been this bad. We are so sick of it and we have to incur all these extra costs.
“If we can see light at the end of the tunnel, can see it getting better, and all the bills and taxes being collected making life and business better, we don’t mind paying it, but we are paying more and it’s not getting better. The people at BPL should be ashamed of themselves. The only people getting screwed are BPL’s customers,” Mr D’Aguilar blasted.
“All we want is reliable, clean power supply. After 53 years of Independence, I don’t think we’ve done that. You bank on BPL being dreadful, but not being dreadful all the time. There are dips and swings, and spikes and surges. It’s an awful company, but there’s a law that says you have to use them.
“I’m tired of hearing the problems, tired of hearing of the excuses. We want power on 99 percent of the time, we want it to be reliable, we want it to be clean and we want it to be consistent. I ain’t into no story any more. I just don’t care. People will always say ‘Dionisio D’Aguilar can afford it, what’s he bitching about?’ But nobody is
trying to make it better. It’s always: ‘We’re coming, we’re fixing it’. When you tell the same story ten times’ and it’s not getting better, just fix it. Until then, shut up.”
The Davis administration has inherited BPL’s, and the wider energy sector’s, long-standing deficiencies which date back to the first Christie administration when the then-minister responsible, the late Bradley Roberts, and the late Al Jarrett, its chairman, cut the base rate portion of its tariff below cost. This meant BPL’s parent, BEC, was selling electricity below the cost it took to produce it, which ultimately plunged the latter into $20m-plus annual losses and left no maintenance budget.
Successive administrations promised, but ultimately failed, to BEC and BPL, giving the Davis administration - which has been in office almost five years across two terms - its chance. However, the energy reforms it has promised have yet to take effect or be felt, leading many Bahamians to adopt a ‘believe it when I see it’ attitude.
Mr D’Aguilar called on the Government to allocate every available resource and dollar to fixing BPL’s energy crisis given electricity’s fundamental importance to commerce and daily life - even if it means drawing from other areas of the Budget or halting/suspending “pork barrel” projects.
“I don’t care what else you do,” he slammed. “Fix the power supply. I don’t care how much money you have to throw at it. Fix it. You have to have reliable power supply to be a firstworld class country. If we want to be a third world country, carry on.
“They [the Government] are running on with this and that, and we don’t have reliable power supply. They are selling a story, running on with this and that. Just fix it, man, and bring all the agencies of state to focus on this one particular item. If they can fix the power supply
to the point where it’s 99.9 percent reliable, then we’ll be eternally thankful. It’s not as if the power supply has blown just on New Providence; it’s blown on multiple islands.
“Let’s focus on this. We want reliable power. Drop all the unnecessary programmes and focus on the power. I’m sure the pundits will say ‘D’Aguilar, shut up’. But you just get so sick of it. You take it, take it. You ask yourself: Will it get better?” Other businesses have experienced similar challenges. Cheryl Cambridge, proprietor of Cheryl’s Bahamas Taxi & Tours, said repeated outages have disrupted daily operations and increased labour costs.
“We catching hell,” she said. Ms Cambridge explained that without electricity her office was unable to print driver schedules or airport pick-up signs, forcing employees to remain at work long after normal hours in the hope power would return.
“My staff had to work overtime, waiting for it to come on,” she said. “It didn’t come on. So we couldn’t print the spreadsheet for the drivers and for the airport. And we couldn’t print all of our signs to put out at the airport.”
The outages also left the company’s office without air conditioning and prevented staff from properly setting the security alarm. “It’s costing us a lot of money,” Ms Cambridge said. “And what they need to do, they need to buy some brand new damn generators.”
The outages have also disrupted retail activity.
On Friday, Quality Home Centre was forced to turn away customers after losing power during business hours. Tribune Business was also turned away from a Super Value location recently after its generator failed to kick-in amid a BPL outage to leave the store without power.
BPL’s Mr Christie last week said: “We’ve seen an increase in demand, and we’re approaching our capacity. A lot of our circuits are overloaded. Transformers are at their peak capacity.” He added that BPL was balancing loads and relieving circuits where necessary as it responded to outages that he described as uncommon during the summer.
“We do have a number of other areas that have some overloading situations, and again, we’re in a period of high temperatures, high demand on our systems so we’re seeing some outages occur that are not common or not frequently seen by us during the summer period,” Mr Christie said.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE BAHAMAS IN THE SUPREME COURT Common Law and Equity Division 2014/CLE/gen/00947
IN THE MATTER of the property comprised in a Deed of Mortgage dated the 17th day of September A.D., 2002 and Further Charge dated the 28th day of January A.D., 2004 made between Dawn Othnell Rolle as a Borrower and Scotiabank (Bahamas) Limited as Lender.
AND IN THE MATTER of the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act, Chapter 138 of the Revised Statute Laws of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.
BETWEEN
GATEWAY ASCENDANCY LIMITED Claimant AND DAWN OTHNELL ROLLE Defendant
LEGAL NOTICE OF JUDGEMENT
PURSUANT to an Order of The Honourable Justice Camille Darville Gomez dated the 23rd day of March 2026. IT IS THIS DAY ADJUDGED THAT: -
1. The Defendant do pay the Claimant the total sum of $171,259.99 as at the 15th day of January 2026 with interest continuing to accrue at the contractual rate of 9% per annum from the 16th day of January 2026 and thereafter at the statu tory rate of 6.25 from the date of Judgement until paid in full; and
2. The sum of $40,883.12 owing as at the 15th day of January 2026 with interest accrued at the contractual rate of 13.75% from the 16th day of January 2026 to the 22nd of March 2026 and thereafter at the statutory rate of 6.25 from the 23rd day of March 2026 until paid in full;
3. The Defendant is to pay the Claimant’s costs in the amount of $7,050.00. MITRE COURT Chambers Suite 227, 2nd Floor, Island Lane Building Olde Towne, Sandyport, West Bay Street New Providence, The Bahamas Attorneys for the Claimant
BAHAMAS POWER & LIGHT’S (BPL) HQ
Lot sales to refund developer’s ‘interest free’ $50m PPP loan
of lot sales to international real estate buyers.
These lot sales, according to the 24-page booklet sent to locals, will be generated from dividing up a 175-acre parcel that Jacobs Entertainment owns near Governor’s Harbour airport plus a further 100-acre parcel on Navy Beach that is currently owned by the Government.
And, besides helping to repay his $50m PPP loan, Mr Jacobs is also pledging that 20 percent of revenue proceeds generated by these lot sales be employed to fund infrastructure upgradesincluding a 100-acre solar energy farm and water generation plant - with a further 10 percent directed to “affordable housing rental projects” including accommodation for staff of the proposed J Resort.
Those percentages represent a doubling of the 10 percent and 5 percent of lot sales proceeds, respectively, that Mr Jacobs promised to devote to these initiatives just one month earlier in his June message to Governor’s Harbour residents. And he pledged that the 300 highend homes projected to be constructed by these lot buyers will be sufficiently spread out to ensure the project is low density, and does not detract from what attracts investors and visitors to the area in the first place.
Suggesting that his $650m project, of which $450m or 69 percent is to be financed from real estate sales, will take between one to two
decades to fully build-out, Mr Jacobs told Tribune Business: “Ten to 20-year projects evolve over time based on many factors, including market demand and community input.
“For example, we originally planned on a golf course. For a variety of reasons, including community input, those 170 acres are now proposed to be contributed to an infrastructure PPP with the Government of the Bahamas. Our intent is to sell ocean front lots in a new development, with a percentage of lot sale proceeds directed by the PPP towards the improvement of public infrastructure, including water, power and vehicle/pedestrian circulation….
“Spreading 300 residences across 10 miles between Governor’s Harbour and Navy Beach comes out to developing 30 homes per mile, with most of those unseen from Queens Highway. The vibe and environmental sensitivity of Governor’s Harbour will not change,” he promised.
“What will change is the creation of 500 new full-time jobs providing the opportunity for young people to return to Eleuthera, the creation of locally-owned businesses, the introduction of affordable housing, and the increase in the quality of people’s lives through significant improvements in pedestrian circulation, as well as water and power generation and distribution.”
Mr Jacobs did not directly respond when asked by Tribune Business whether
FCC chairman defends actions against ABC, says broadcasters must
operate ‘in the public interest’
By JOCELYN NOVECK
AP National Writer
FEDERAL Communications Commission
Chairman Brendan Carr on Friday defended his agency’s recent actions against ABC, saying broadcasters have a duty to “operate in the public interest” and the FCC is merely trying to restore that standard.
Broadcasters like ABC, Carr said in an interview on the Fox Business Network, “struck a deal with the American people. You broadcasters get subsidized access, free access to a valuable public resource, the airwaves, worth billions of dollars. In exchange, you have to operate in the public interest.”
“Look, as a country, we should have a trusted, respected news media, and we’re not there,” Carr told anchor Maria Bartiromo.
“So I hope more broadcasters return to their public interest obligations.”
The remarks came a day after ABC, issuing another salvo in an ever-escalating battle with President Donald Trump’s FCC, again accused the agency of a brazen attempt to chill its constitutionally protected free speech — and by extension, that of every media outlet in the country. ABC accused the agency of retaliating against it simply because it doesn’t like the political content of ABC’s shows.
his lot sales plans could be viewed as land speculation to underwrite the $50m PPP loan as well as finance his other Governor’s Harbour ambitions. He said: “I would add that the Eleuthera development is not what is referred to by my lenders as a ‘permitted use’ of funds.
“It will be added to Jacobs Entertainment’s next round of financing. Nevertheless, I have invested tens of millions of dollars of my personal funds acquiring property in preparation for this exciting development.”
However, many Governor’s Harbour and Eleuthera residents are unlikely to be impressed.
Eric Carey, the former Bahamas National Trust (BNT) executive director who now lives on the island and works as an environmental consultant, told Tribune Business yesterday it did not seem to be in The Bahamas’ “best interests” for Mr Jacobs to obtain and then “leverage” the Government’s 100-acre Navy Beach parcel for lot sales to fund his ambitions (see other article Page 1B).
Opponents have also established a website, ourgovernorsharbour.org, which asserts: “We support responsible growth, not a project that remakes Governor’s Harbour beyond recognition.
“Governor’s Harbour is one of the oldest settlements in The Bahamas. Founded in the 1600s, it has been continuously inhabited for over 350 years. This is a living, breathing community with deep generational roots, a rich Bahamian heritage and a
The network’s new comments came in its latest filing to the agency, expressing its formal opposition to the FCC’s early review, launched in April, of eight ABC local broadcast licenses well before they expire.
“There is no question why the Commission is singling out these eight stations,” the filing said. “Each is owned by ABC, and the Administration has openly and repeatedly called for the revocation of ABC’s licenses, because it dislikes the content and viewpoints expressed on ABC network programs.”
“The retaliation against ABC is a signal to every media company in the country,” it continued. “Accommodate the Administration’s view of what news coverage should look like or pay the price. … The tools vary; the objective does not: a media industry too fearful of official reprisal to report the news freely. “
unique character that has drawn visitors and families for decades.
“We are not anti-development. We are for development that fits the scale, values and infrastructure realities of a Family Island, and respects the historic town of Governor’s Harbour.” And questions have also been raised over “the sheer scale and size” of Mr Jacobs’ proposal, amid concerns that it represents the failed development model of large so-called ‘anchor’ resorts on the Family Islands.
Others, meanwhile, are also challenging whether the US developer has made good on his previous commitments to revive areas of Cleveland and Reno, Nevada, with new development and construction. And they are also suggesting that the Eleuthera project is being used to make Jacobs Entertainment look more appealing in the eyes of investors ahead of $600m worth of corporate debt, or bonds, coming due for repayment to investors in February 2029.
Mr Jacobs, though, in his latest message to Eleuthera and Governor’s Harbour residents signalled that he expects the company to complete a 2027-2028 refinancing before that payment deadline is hit.
“Jacobs Entertainment’s upcoming refinance will include language allowing Jacobs Entertainment’s central Eleuthera development to be a specifically accepted use of funds going forward, providing Jacobs Entertainment with traditional publicly traded sources of debt funding - including
The license review is only one part of a long-simmering confrontation between ABC and the FCC. The network is also battling Carr’s efforts to make “The View,” a talk show whose hosts and guests have frequently angered Trump, subject to equal-time rules
US pension funds and insurance companies - for Central Eleuthera development efforts,” he wrote. “It will also include the ability for Jacobs Entertainment to make $25m to $50m in interest free loans to a proposed PPP with the Government of The Bahamas.” Outlining the PPP’s objectives, Mr Jacobs said: “As is the case with many of the Family Islands of The Bahamas, the current status of power, water and road circulation in Central Eleuthera at times is quite difficult for residents and visitors alike.
“Jacobs Entertainment is proposing that a PPP be formed between Jacobs Entertainment and the Government of The Bahamas to creatively upgrade this infrastructure by harvesting the tremendous value entrenched along central Eleuthera’s Atlantic beachfronts.
“Specifically, Jacobs Entertainment proposes creating resort residential lots for sale on Jacobs Entertainment’s 175 acres near the Governor’s Harbour airport, as well as the Government of The Bahamas’ 100-plus acres on Navy Beach.”
“Another 10 percent of these lot sales would be directed to affordable housing rental projects, including free staff housing for J Resort employees. These lot sales can be used to pay off the up to $50m interest-free infrastructure loan, which Jacobs Entertainment is prepared to begin to advance in 2028 in an effort to move infrastructure improvements forward.”
Mr Jacobs told Tribune Business he is committed to full transparency and disclosing to Governor’s Harbour and Eleuthera residents all changes and updates as the 600-acre project progresses.
“Projects like this do evolve, and we are committing to the Central Eleuthera community that as we are granted various permits for various components of the project, we will not start construction on those components until we have further community conversations either in community meetings or online,” he said in e-mailed replies. “We always believe that the best projects include transparency and communication. We all learn from communicating with each other.
“Another modification we have made since June is to include in our J Resort project utility grid a separate pipe for BPL to operate solar powered energy for the community if they so wish.”
Promising to ensure the sales proceeds benefit the local community, Mr Jacobs added: “Jacobs Entertainment proposes that 20 percent of all the resort residential lot sales from these properties be dedicated towards project roadway circulation, including the proposed community pathway, as well as water and power project grids that will reduce current and future water and power demand on the Government of The Bahamas’ existing water and power infrastructure.
— a question ABC says the agency itself resolved more than two decades ago. The rules require granting equal airtime to competing candidates for office. Bona fide news programs are exempt. The FCC qualified the show as such in a 2002 decision.
Trump has also repeatedly called for late-night host Jimmy Kimmel to be fired. When the FCC launched its early review of ABC’s licenses in April, it came amid a fight with Kimmel over a joke that offended Trump.
Competitor argues its proposal better despite financing search
Mr Robinson and his group - would remain on the western side totally segregated from all other activities. Some 700 feet of dock space would be available to accommodate eight mail boats, each 40 foot wide and 220 feet long, at the same time.
Mr Robinson told this newspaper that the group’s reimagining of Potter’s Cay, which would also involve the removal of the existing Water & Sewerage Corporation assets on East Bay Street, was part of a larger $1.6bn package to revive downtown Nassau and Bay Street - details of which he did not disclose. He also asserted that the number of jobs that would be created would “probably be as much as Atlantis and Baha Mar combined” - a figure that would exceed 11,000.
However, Mr Robinson and his group have yet to secure financiers and lenders to back their project in an effort that has now stretched into its third year. Until that occus, they will not be entertained by the Government, and he said they have altered strategy to break the $1.6bn down into more manageable chunks.
“If you look at what the ro-ro (roll on/roll off shipping) guys have to take on their vessels, the proper facilities for that are not there,” Mr Robinson said
of Potter’s Cay’s current conditions for mail boat shipping. “If you pass there when they are busy, you have up to 14-15 ro-ro vessels with their ramps extended down.
“Potter’s Cay’s expansion should have been something already on the table. I don’t see how Blu Cay Marina’s development can come in and supersede any further development of Potter’s Caty. I don’t understand that. There should have been plans in place for Potter’s Cay’s expansion 40-50 years ago. Part of our plan is to move the public away from that [shipping] traffic on the other side to proper parking and bathroom facilities.”
Mr Robinson, though, said the Government’s message to his group has been “find the funder and then come and talk to us”.
He admitted: “That hasn’t happened yet. We haven’t officially approached the Government on it. The Government has said to everybody: ‘Don’t come to us unless you have the funding partner lined up’.
“We’ve spent the last two years trying to do that, and it’s been a real challenge finding someone to bite on that. It’s a $1.6bn project. Our objection [to Blu Cay Marina] is our proposal offers a number of upgrades to infrastructure, particularly infrastructure dealing with the floodwater issue.”
Asked about the prospects of raising such a huge
Ghana parliament backs tough cocoa farm protections, with up to 20 years in prison
By EDWARD ACQUAH Associated Press
sum, Mr Robinson replied: “We have agents all over the world in Dubai, Canada, the US. There was a group interested here but we fell out with them. It was not in the terms we were looking for. Our role in the development is governance and origination. People want to come in and change the concept.”
Suggesting the Middle East conflict may create fresh financing opportunities, he added: “We have been talking with people directly in the past few months. Interest has increased. Every day we have a meeting. We had a meeting this morning with a group. We’ve had a substantial uptick in interest in the past few weeks from Middle Eastern entities and American entities.
“It’s been three years now. The figure is $1.6bn. What we’ve done is to change strategy on how we approach the funding. We’ve broken it down to $700m in capital and will do the balance in debt. That’s been the advice we’ve received before. But the reality is it looks like we have to do it. We have to split it. The $700m may be an easier figure for four to five different entities, and the second phase we will have to finance. By then we should have some pre-sales, so should have some additional equity in the project by then.”
Mr Robinson, in the group’s objection to Blu
Cay Marina receiving the necessary permits, wrote that their proposal is “the more appropriate strategic use of the affected waterfront: An integrated expansion of Potter’s Cay’s freight, ro-ro, Family Island logistics, native food market and public waterfront functions”.
He added: “Potter’s Cay is not merely a restaurant and vending location. It is an essential national transportation and supply facility connecting New Providence with the Family Islands.
Evidence presented during public discussion confirms that the existing facility is operating under severe pressure. Freight vehicles, private cars, vendors, pedestrians, passengers and marine operations compete within a confined and increasingly dysfunctional space.
“The Family Island economy is not static. As population, tourism, construction and commerce expand across the Family Islands, the movement of freight, food, building materials, equipment and household goods through Nassau must also expand. Potter’s Cay has not been comprehensively enlarged or reorganised to meet that growth,” Mr Robinson continued.
“The adjoining waterfront should therefore be regarded as part of the strategic expansion area of Potter’s Cay, not as an isolated parcel available for
an unrelated recreational marina…. Approval would risk fragmenting land that should be planned as one operational district.
“The opportunity cost must be assessed. Once the property is developed, leased and operational, recovering it for Potter’s Cay’s future expansion may become legally difficult, financially expensive or practically impossible.”
Turning to his group’s alternative plan, which has yet to secure the necessary financing, Mr Robinson said: “The Charles Towne plan establishes a secure fence and operational buffer separating the logistics yard from the public fish fry and market areas. This addresses one of Potter’s Cay’s most serious existing problems - the unsafe and inefficient mixing of trucks, freight, pedestrians, vendors, diners and private vehicles.
“The public portion retains Potter’s Cay’s Bahamian identity and upgrades it. The objective is not to remove Potter’s Cay vendors. It is to provide them with infrastructure, dignity, sanitation, commercial opportunity and an improved public environment.
“The plan includes a 700-space public parking area supporting the Native Market and Fish Fry, together with controlled pedestrian and vehicular access. This is materially different from inserting a small
marina whose patrons may compete with existing users for already inadequate parking.”
As a result, Mr Robinson told the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP) and other government regulators: “Potter’s Cay has outgrown the physical and operational conditions under which it is presently required to function. It requires more space, not less.
“It requires expanded freight berths, loading areas, truck staging, Customs facilities, parking, sanitation, public amenities and organised access. It requires a master plan capable of serving an expanding Family Island economy for the next generation.
“The land adjoining Potter’s Cay should therefore not be considered merely as a disturbed waterfront site available for another private marina. It must be understood as part of the strategic expansion area of a nationally-important working waterfront. The Government must first determine whether approving Blu Cay would obstruct a more important national use. In my opinion, it would.”
The new measure was passed on Thursday, but the contents of the law were not made public until late Sunday. President John Mahama has not yet signed the law. The legislation would give all cocoa farms protected status, making it a
GHANA’S parliament passed a bill that could send cocoa farmers to prison for up to 20 years if they convert their farms to other uses without government approval, according to a copy of the bill seen by The Associated Press.
criminal offense to repurpose them for anything else without authorization, drawing criticism from farmers.
“If the law stands as it is now, it’s not fair,” said Moses Djan Asiedu, administrator of the Ghana Cooperative Cocoa Farmers and Marketing Association Limited and a cocoa farmer.
Many farmers invest their own money to acquire land, clear it and maintain cocoa farms for years before earning any income, yet receive little government support, said Asiedu.
“If cocoa is a national asset, then the farmer should also be supported to cover some of the cost of production,” he said.
The toughest penalties target illegal gold mining, with a prison sentence of between 10 and 20 years, and a heavy fine for each affected cocoa tree.
Hundreds of thousands of farmers in West Africa rely on cocoa farming for a living. In neighboring Ivory Coast, cocoa bean exports make up 40% of the total
export revenue. In Ghana, they make up nearly 15%.
Government regulators set a fixed price for the cocoa bean at the beginning of every planting season, and the majority of the beans are sold through government-licensed parties to protect farmers from price fluctuations on the international market.
However, after a surge in cocoa futures in 2024 on international markets, the futures — a contract to buy a commodity at an agreedupon price on a future date — reached more than $12,000 per metric ton, the highest in decades. Then it crashed to around $4,000 as supply outstripped demand.
NOTICE is hereby given that I MANISE SAINT PHAT of Allen Drive, New Providence, Bahamas, applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 4th day of August, 2026 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
NOTICE is hereby given that I ROCHENEL DUVERSE of Bowe Avenue, Montel Heights, New Providence, Bahamas, applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 31st day of July, 2026 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
MANU YAW FOFIE, a cocoa farmer, walks through his farm in Kona, Ghana, Friday, March 6, 2026. Photo:Tsraha Yaw/AP
Developer confirms legal action with nearby resort
project as having an all-in cost or value of $180.1m, including the hotel and residential components, along with supporting infrastructure, soft costs at market value and land acquisition expenses. That figure, though, was not confirmed by the developer.
Myles Ahead, meanwhile, pledged to preserve beach access and rights of way for Bahamians and the local community after concerns over this issue again resurfaced over the weekend. And it also confirmed that it is in a legal fight with the nearby French Leave Resort over allegations relating to “dune destruction” and property access, although it declined to give further details.
“For clarity, Myles Ahead has no intention of eliminating public beach access.
Public access to the beach will be maintained as part of the proposed development. Our intention is to provide access in an environmentally-responsible manner, including properly designed elevated wooden walkways over sensitive dune areas. This will allow residents and visitors to reach the beach without trampling vegetation, destabilising the dunes or contributing to further erosion,” Myles Ahead said. “On the question of legal action involving French Leave Resort, there is a matter presently before the courts relating to dune destruction and access across the property. As it remains before the courts, it would not be appropriate for us to comment further on it at this time.” These issues were raised in an e-mail sent to Tribune Business by Leila Williams, who described herself as a “concerned Eleutheran”
Trump overhaul
and raised questions over public beach access along the Haynes Avenue road way. This access point generated concerns in the Governor’s Harbour com munity earlier this year after it was temporar ily closed to enable dune restoration.
area prior to Myles Ahead’s arrival, Haynes Avenue is clearly visible. So the question is why is it not on Myles Ahead’s plan of the area?” Ms Wil liams wrote. “What is the Department of Envi ronmental Planning and Protection position on this?
when the local govern ment had [them] told that it was a public access beach, and for that I am grate ful but why didn’t the local government reopen Haynes Avenue to the beach if the concern was truly environ mental? If the concern is
could gut Head Start preschool standards, leaving states to set the rules
By MORIAH BALINGIT
AP Education Writer
PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s administration is planning a dramatic overhaul of Head Start that would gut its quality standards, upending the hallmarks of the early education program for impoverished children, two people familiar with the deliberations said.
Head Start, established in the 1960s to help fight poverty, has long been considered by experts to be a gold standard early learning program. Its regulations, which stretch more than 100 pages, outline requirements on everything from childto-teacher ratios and child health screenings to family engagement.
Trump’s Republican administration would replace those regulations with around a dozen pages of rules, leaving most of the specifics up to state and local law, said the people familiar with the deliberations, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss information that was not yet public and because they feared reprisal.
In a post on X on Saturday night, the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees Head Start, said to expect a rule to be published this week. The administration “remains committed to strengthening Head Start by preserving federal investment in the program while advancing reforms that expand access, increase local flexibility, reduce unnecessary administrative burden, and ensure
services are delivered effectively to children and families in need,” department spokesperson Emily Hilliard said Monday in an email. The draft rules would require more documentation from parents who are homeless or unemployed, the people familiar with the deliberations told The Associated Press. An early version of the proposal also would have barred parents who are in the United States illegally from enrolling their children, even if the children are U.S. citizens. It’s unclear whether those provisions will make the final draft.
Head Start, which operates in all 50 states, has long enjoyed robust bipartisan support. But some prominent conservatives in recent years have called for its elimination, saying the federal government should get out of the education business at every level. Deregulating the program would deliver a win for them and aligns with the Trump administration’s goals of scrapping rules it views as onerous or unnecessary.
Head Start is designed to target poverty, experts say
Head Start serves more than half a million low-income babies, toddlers and preschoolers nationwide. For families that qualify, it offers free preschool and screenings to identify developmental delays. It also offers supports for families.
If the changes take effect, they could make Head Start unrecognizable, said Khari Garvin, who ran the Office of Head Start under President Joe Biden, a Democrat.
“We’d have the carcass of Head Start,” Garvin said.
“You might have a program that’s called Head Start, but in substance it will not be.”
The proposed rules were originally reported in The Bulwark.
Tommy Sheridan, deputy director of the National Head Start Association, said the organization has yet to see the proposed rules. But he said the poten tial for a massive overhaul has left the organization on edge.
“We’re very anxious,” Sheridan said. “When it does come out ... we’ll be ready to fight back where we need to fight back.”
Still, he emphasized that Head Start centers might not be impacted for months,
America In Focus: US economy expands at sluggish pace, mortgage rate hit the highest level in a year
By MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writer
The economy, inflation and how those forces could impact the lives of Americans were front and center over the past week. Trips to the grocery store and gas station are more painful than they were last year, and rising costs are impacting the decisions of both households and businesses.
Here’s a snapshot of prominent economic data and news that occurred over the past week and what it potentially means for you.
US economy grows a sluggish 1.5% in second quarter
The U.S. economy expanded at a sluggish 1.5% pace from April through June as rising imports weighed on growth. But
consumer spending rose. And the Federal Reserve’s favored measure of inflation grew more slowly last month, but remained above the central bank’s 2% target.
The Commerce Department reported this week that growth in U.S. gross domestic product — the nation’s output of goods and services — decelerated from 2.1% in the first three months of 2026 and came in below economists’ expectations. But consumer spending — which accounts for about 70% of U.S. economic activity — increased at a 3.2% annual clip, up from 0.5% in the January-March period.
Business investment, excluding housing, rose at an 8.4% pace, down from 10.6% from January through March but strong, reflecting a surge
Japan’s Nissan sees profit for latest quarter but warns of Middle East and China woes
By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer
NISSAN Motor Corp. reported Monday that it returned to profit in the first quarter of the fiscal year, helped by cost cutting measures and improved sales in some markets.
Nissan, based in the port city of Yokohama, said it recorded a 3.8 billion yen ($24 million) net profit from April to June, a reversal from the 115.8 billion yen loss it racked up in the same period of 2025.
Quarterly sales totaled 2.96 trillion yen ($19 billion), up 9.5% from 2.7 trillion yen a year earlier.
Nissan has been in the red for the last two fiscal years, posting billions of dollars in losses, but its leadership has promised to return it to profit in this fiscal year, which ends in March 2027.
Chief Executive Ivan Espinosa told reporters cost reduction efforts were gaining momentum. But difficulties remain in some global markets like the Middle East, while sales were growing in the U.S. and Japan, he said.
“We are managing disruption where it exists, building momentum where we see opportunity,” Espinosa said.
The war in Iran has recently effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for Japan’s exports to the Middle East.
Nissan’s sales have suffered in China because of fierce competition from Chinese automakers that
have taken the lead in electrification.
The maker of Leaf electric vehicles and Infiniti luxury models lowered its annual sales projection to 3.15 million vehicles, on a par with the year before and down from an earlier forecast of 3.3 million units, largely because of the problems in China.
Nissan is allied with Renault SA of France and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. of Japan and also has a partnership with Japanese rival Honda Motor Co., sharing technology and some parts. Espinosa said production lines were partially stalled due to the magnitude 7.1 earthquake that struck Kumamoto, southwestern Japan, last week. But no employees were hurt and no facilities, including those of Nissan’s partners, were damaged.
The disruption is expected to last until Wednesday and affect 5,000 vehicles, he said.
In the U.S., Japanese automakers are dealing with the negative impact from tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump. After negotiations the tariffs were lowered to 15% from an initial 27.5% rate. They remain higher than the earlier 2.5% rate. Higher material costs are another challenge.
Nissan stuck to its earlier forecasts for a 20 billion yen ($127 million) profit on 13 trillion yen ($83 billion) in sales in this fiscal year.
in investment in artificial intelligence.
Average 30-year US mortgage rate reaches highest point in a year
The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate rose for the fourth consecutive week to its highest level in a year, another setback for prospective homebuyers hoping for a break from elevated home loan borrowing costs.
The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate rose to 6.66% from 6.58% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. One year ago, the average rate was 6.72%.
Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, often sought by borrowers refinancing a home loan, also rose this week. That average rate increased to 6.04% from
5.96% last week. A year ago, it was at 5.85%, Freddie Mac said.
Americans confidence in the US economy stalls
Americans’ confidence in the economy fell this month as gas prices ticked up along with the fighting between the U.S. and Iran.
The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell to 90.8 in July from 92.2 in June. That’s essentially the same tepid range its been in since the beginning of the year. In late 2024 and early 2025 the readings were well above 100.
Consumer attitudes had improved modestly in June as gas prices came down to around $3.70 a gallon. from more than $4.50 a gallon in late April and early May. But as fighting in the Middle East escalated, the
average price for a gallon of regular gas in the U.S. started to rise again. Prices ticked up again overnight to $4.11 per gallon, according to the auto club AAA.
Stocks swing as Wall Street wraps up wild July
The U.S. stock market swung wildly but ended the week with gains. Amazon leapt, Apple sank, and rising oil prices added to worries about inflation already squeezing the bond market.
Questions remain about when crude will again flow freely again from the Middle East.
The price for a barrel of Brent crude rose 2.1% to $88.68 after careening between $72 and $102 earlier in July.
Higher oil prices have pushed the cost for a gallon of regular gasoline to an average of nearly $4.11
across
Federal Reserve leaves interest rate unchanged
The Federal Reserve left its key interest rate unchanged Wednesday, although three officials dissented in favor of higher rates as the central bank wrestles with how to deal with persistently high inflation.
The Fed’s rate-setting committee reached its decision after two days of deliberations, marking the fifth straight meeting at which the benchmark rate was kept at around 3.6%.
Some economists and Wall Street analysts had predicted the Fed would hike its rate by a quarter point. But while the decision to stand pat could be seen as good news for consumers, they might not feel much relief with the average credit card rate still near 20% and mortgage rates the highest since last August.
Falling oil prices help calm worries about inflation, and Wall Street rallies
By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer
OIL prices are easing on Monday and helping to calm Wall Street’s worries that inflation could get even worse. That has U.S. stock indexes rallying, though sharp swings are continuing to roil underneath the surface.
The S&P 500 rose 1.2% following its wild July, where it swung up and down as oil prices shot higher because of the war with Iran and other worries. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 569 points, or 1.1%, as of 11 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.8% higher.
Stocks got a lift as the price for a barrel of Brent crude sank 4.9% to $83.59. It dropped after President Donald Trump said over the weekend that he decided to hold off on new strikes against Iran at the urging of allies in the region.
Brent’s price careened between $72 and $102 last month as worries rose and fell about when the war with Iran would allow oil tankers to freely exit the Persian Gulf again to deliver crude to customers worldwide. The latest acquiescence by Trump on Iran helped to ease worries about the global flow of crude, and Treasury yields correspondingly fell in the bond market.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury sank to 4.68% from 4.75% late Friday. It, though, remains well above its 3.97% level from before the war with Iran.
Higher yields threaten to undercut prices for stocks and other investments, while slowing the economy by making borrowing more expensive for U.S. households and businesses. The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate has already leaped to its highest level in a year.
FBI investigates as Michigan joins Minnesota in reporting cyberattacks on its water systems
By MICHAEL CASEY Associated Press
Michigan on Saturday joined Minnesota in reporting cyberattacks on nine of the state’s water systems but an official said all systems were operating “safely.” Earlier this week, authorities said cyberattacks targeted over 30 water systems in Minnesota. The source of the attacks is being investigated, but they came amid warnings that Iranian hackers have been focused on such systems.
The reports in Michigan surfaced after the state received a federal
cyber alert Tuesday about attempts to tamper with operational technology at water systems.
Soon after, the state received “a small number of reports from Michigan communities indicating activity consistent with what federal agencies described,” said Dale George, the director of communications at the state’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. He later said nine systems were impacted.
“All systems continued to operate safely, issues were addressed by local operators, and there are no known impacts that
posed a public health concern,” George said in an statement.
The FBI, which is investigating, has not publicly identified a culprit and a spokesperson declined to say Thursday who the bureau thought might be responsible. The FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and other agencies warned in an advisory last week that Iranian hackers have been targeting water and wastewater systems and the operational controls of other critical infrastructure sectors.
“The FBI is aware of recent public reporting
Monday’s ease in oil prices helped airlines and other companies with big fuel bills lead the market. United Airlines flew 6.7% higher, while American Airlines climbed 6.7%. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings steamed 3.1% higher.
Tyson Foods rose 3% after the meat company reported a slightly stronger profit for the spring than analysts expected. CEO Donnie King said strength is continuing in the company’s chicken business and its prepared foods, which includes brands like Jimmy Dean and Hillshire Farm.
It joined a lengthening list of big U.S. companies to deliver a bigger profit for the spring than analysts expected. That’s imperative for Wall Street because stock prices tend to follow the path of corporate earnings over the long term, and worries were rising that stock prices may have already shot too high.
Companies in the S&P 500 are on track to deliver
around Water and Wastewater (WWS) sectors,” the agency said in a statement Saturday. “The FBI and our interagency partners are fully engaged to protect critical infrastructure and we remain well-equipped to protect against cyber threats of all varieties.”
Digital warfare has become ingrained in military conflict, and local water plants or healthcare facilities often lack the funds and know-how to install the latest software patches or take other security steps. That has made them a favorite target, both because of the relative ease of penetrating them and because of the panic such disruptions can cause.
Iran’s interest in the operations of water systems inside the U.S. dates back years. In 2016, the Justice
earnings per share for the spring that are 47% higher than a year before, according to FactSet, with more than half of the companies having already reported.
If that ends up being the case, it would be the strongest growth since the spring of 2021, when the economy was roaring out of the COVID pandemic.
Also offering encouragement for profits was a report on Monday showing that growth for U.S. manufacturing accelerated to its strongest level since 2022.
Keeping Wall Street unsettled, though, were swings for stocks of companies that make computer chips. They’ve been veering up and down for weeks on worries about whether their surging revenues because of the artificial-intelligence boom are sustainable.
If AI ends up producing less profit and productivity than hoped, Big Tech companies could curtail their spending sprees on data centers that have helped
Department charged a group of Iranian hackers in connection with a cyberattack targeting a small dam near New York City. Minnesota IT Services said that as of Thursday, there were no active requests from Minnesota communities for residents to modify usage of their drinking water. The state agency said most of the confirmed attacks involved technology that water systems use to remotely monitor and control equipment. It said that being impacted meant investigators confirmed there was malicious activity involving the system’s technology and didn’t mean every impacted community had their water service disrupted.
For a few hours on Monday, the city of Braham asked residents to minimize
chip stocks soar to tremendous heights. Micron Technology went from a drop of 6.4% to a gain of 0.7% during Monday’s first 90 minutes of trading, for example. It’s still up roughly 190% for the year so far.
The manic swings for AI stocks have been most dramatic in South Korea, where the Kospi index is dominated by just two tech titans, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.
Seoul’s Kospi fell 5.1% Monday, coming off Friday’s 17.9% surge that was its best day in history. In neighboring Japan, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.9% after the United States and Japan confirmed they had moved together to to prop up the value of the Japanese yen against the dollar. A stronger yen would help to limit inflation in Japan, but it could also potentially hurt Japan’s exporters.
water use as they tried to determine why the water plant was offline. The city of about 1,700 people, located about 70 miles (113 kilometers) north of Minneapolis, said in a news release that the water plant outage was due to a cyberattack, but it didn’t cause any issue with water quality.
The city said the attackers shut down the operating controls that shut down the well and water treatment plant. That left the city for a time only able to provide residents with the water held in the water tower. In Plymouth, a city of about 80,000 located outside of Minneapolis, officials said on social media that their water infrastructure communications had been restored by Tuesday afternoon following a cyberattack.
A TRADER works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, July 30, 2026, in New York.
Photo:Yuki Iwamura/AP
SIGN carrying the corporate logo stands outside a Nissan dealership Monday, July 27, 2026, in Highlands Ranch, Colo. Photo:David Zalubowski/AP
Bahamian Innovation earns International Award for Pioneering Health Intelligence Infrastructure
THE Bahamas recently received international recognition for helping advance what many believe will be the next evolution of healthcare.
Remember2, Inc. (Rm2. ai) has been named “AI Health Intelligence Senior Monitoring Platform of the Year 2026” by Elder Care Review, an honour that recognises the company’s leadership in pioneering Health Intelligence Infrastructure - an emerging approach that seeks to transform healthcare from reactive treatment to continuous health awareness.
While the award recognises Rm2.ai’s technology, it also acknowledges a broader vision: creating the infrastructure that enables healthcare systems, governments, providers, insurers, employers, caregivers, and individuals to gain earlier visibility into changing health conditions before they become medical crises.
“Healthcare has historically begun when someone walks into a doctor’s office, emergency room, or hospital,” said Corlette Deveaux, CEO and Co-Founder of Remember2, Inc.
“Our vision is to help create a future where health intelligence is continuous, providing earlier awareness that supports better decisions, healthier lives, and more sustainable healthcare systems. This award validates that vision.”
Unlike traditional remote monitoring systems that primarily collect health data, Rm2.ai’s Early Warning Health Intelligence platform is designed to create continuous health visibility between healthcare visits. By combining wearable technology, artificial intelligence, real-time physiologic trends, intelligent alerts, geo-fencing, fall detection, medication reminders, and caregiver connectivity, the platform provides a new layer of health intelligence that supports proactive care and earlier intervention. The international recognition follows the successful completion of a landmark government-supported research study conducted
in The Bahamas with the Bahamas Ministry of Health and Wellness and Minister Dr Michael Darville. The results evaluated the impact of continuous health intelligence among older adults with the primary objective looking at the technology’s ability to reduce hospitalisations.
The study was led by Principal Investigator Dr Krystle Rolle, with the support of Dr Keith Rivers, and was overseen by Dr Indira Grimes. Their leadership helped ensure the scientific integrity of one of the region’s first evaluations of AI-enabled continuous health intelligence.
The study demonstrated encouraging outcomes,
Hannah Foster-Middleton
including reductions in reported health incidents and hospitalisations among participants, improved caregiver engagement, and high levels of participant satisfaction.
Economic modeling associated with the study projected that broader implementation of this approach could potentially reduce avoidable hospitalisations and generate approximately $138 million in annual healthcare savings for The Bahamas through earlier identification of health deterioration and more timely intervention.
For Deveaux, the study represents far more than a successful pilot.
“Having this research conducted here in The Bahamas demonstrates that our country is not simply adopting healthcare innovation, we are helping create it,” she said.
“The work of Dr Rolle, Dr Rivers, Dr Grimes, our research partners, and our entire team has positioned The Bahamas as a contributor to the future of Health Intelligence.”
As healthcare systems worldwide face aging populations, increasing chronic disease, workforce shortages, and rising healthcare expenditures, experts are increasingly recognising the need for earlier operational visibility and accessibility into health. Rather than waiting until illness progresses to hospitalisation, Health Intelligence Infrastructure enables continuous awareness that can support clinicians, caregivers, health systems, and policymakers with more timely information to guide intervention and intelligent decisions.
The company’s work has attracted growing interest from healthcare organisations, insurers, employers, senior living providers, and government agencies throughout the United States and the Caribbean.
Rm2.ai has also presented its Health Intelligence vision at major international healthcare conferences
Can a laser really help your balance?
When people think about physiotherapy, they usually picture stretches, resistance bands or maybe a massage table. The last thing they expect to see is a small laser attached to a headband while someone carefully traces circles, figure eights or zigzags on a wall.
It sounds a little futuristic, but there's some very solid science behind it.
As a physiotherapist, I'm always looking for treatments that help people not only recover from pain but also regain confidence in their movement. One of the most interesting additions to vestibular rehabilitation is laser-guided head movement training. Although it may look simple, it can be remarkably effective for people struggling with dizziness, balance problems or neck-related vertigo.
Your Balance is a Team Effort
Most of us assume that balance comes entirely from our inner ears. In reality, your brain is constantly gathering information from three different systems.
The first is your eyes, which tell your brain where you are in relation to the world around you.
The second is the vestibular system inside your inner ear, which detects movement, acceleration and changes in head position.
The third—and often forgotten—system is proprioception. This is your body's ability to sense where it is in space. Tiny sensors in your muscles and joints are continually sending information to your brain, and some of the most important of these sensors are found in your neck.
Your brain compares information from all three
systems thousands of times every day. If all three agree, your balance feels effortless. If one system starts sending inaccurate information, that's when dizziness, unsteadiness or a feeling of being "off" can develop.
Why the Neck Matters
Many people are surprised to learn that neck pain can actually contribute to dizziness. After a whiplash injury, prolonged poor posture, arthritis or chronic neck stiffness, the tiny position sensors in the neck don't always communicate as accurately as they should.
The result can be a mismatch between what your eyes, inner ear and neck are telling your brain This is one reason some people describe feeling lightheaded, unsteady or as though they're walking on a boat, even when scans of their brain and inner ear appear normal. This type of dizziness is often referred to as cervicogenic dizziness, meaning the neck is contributing to the symptoms.
So Where Does the Laser Come In?
This is where laserguided exercises become so clever.
A lightweight laser is attached to a headband, projecting a small dot onto a target on the wall.
Patients are asked to slowly trace lines, circles, letters or other patterns simply by moving their head.
At first glance it looks easy.
Then most people try it.
The little red dot has an annoying habit of wobbling all over the place.
That's actually the point.
The laser gives instant visual feedback. Every tiny movement of the head is reflected on the wall, allowing both the patient and the therapist to see how accurately the neck is controlling movement.
Over time, the movements become smoother, more controlled and much more precise.
Retraining the Brain
These exercises aren't strengthening muscles in the traditional sense. Instead, they're retraining the communication between the neck, eyes and brain.
Think of it like recalibrating the GPS system in your car after it's lost its signal.
The brain begins trusting the information coming from the neck again, and the different balance systems become better coordinated.
For many patients, this means less dizziness, improved confidence and smoother movement.
It's Not Just for Vertigo
Although these exercises are commonly used during vestibular rehabilitation, they can also benefit people with:
Persistent neck pain
· Whiplash injuries
· Poor posture
· Chronic headaches
· Balance problems after concussion
· Older adults with reduced balance confidence
· Athletes recovering from head or neck injuries
Because the exercises are gentle and highly controlled, they can usually be tailored to each person's ability.
Confidence is Part of Recovery
One thing I see regularly in clinic is that people with dizziness begin avoiding movement. They stop turning their head quickly. They avoid busy shopping centres. They become nervous on stairs.
Some even stop driving.
While this is completely understandable, avoiding movement often makes the problem worse because the brain loses opportunities to adapt.
Laser-guided exercises provide a safe, controlled way of rebuilding confidence. Patients learn that they can move their head again without fear, and that confidence often carries over into everyday activities.
and continues to expand collaborations focused on prevention, population health, and healthcare system resilience.
The award also comes on the heels of another milestone for Deveaux, whose recently released book, “The Care Code: Where Prevention Meets AI,” became an Amazon #1 New Release further advancing the conversation around the future of prevention and artificial intelligence in healthcare.
Although the company has earned international recognition, Deveaux says its mission remains firmly rooted in improving lives.
“Our goal has never simply been to build another healthcare technology company,” she said.
“Our goal is to help build the Health Intelligence Infrastructure that supports healthier communities, strengthens healthcare systems, empowers caregivers, and gives people the opportunity to receive help earlier. We believe this represents one of the next great advancements in healthcare.”
As nations around the world continue searching for more sustainable healthcare models, Rm2. ai’s recognition signals that innovation emerging from The Bahamas can play a meaningful role in shaping the future of global health.
A Word of Caution
It's important to remember that dizziness has many possible causes.
For example, one of the most common causes of vertigo is Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV), where tiny calcium crystals become displaced inside the inner ear. This condition is usually treated with specific repositioning manoeuvres rather than laser exercises.
That's why a thorough physiotherapy assessment is so important. Before beginning any balance programme, we need to identify exactly which system is causing the problem.
The Bottom Line
Sometimes the most effective rehabilitation doesn't involve complicated machines or expensive technology.
Sometimes it's simply a tiny red dot moving across a wall. Behind that dot, however, something remarkable is happening. The brain is learning. The neck is providing clearer information. The eyes are coordinating more effectively. Balance begins to improve, confidence grows, and everyday activities become easier again.
For many people living with dizziness or neck-related balance problems, that's a very bright light at the end of the tunnel.
• For questions and comments, call Hannah Foster-Middleton at 356 4806, e-mail genesisphysiotherapy@gmail.com, or visit www.physiotherapybahamas.com.
What to know about postpartum psychosis and affects on a new mom’s sense of reality
By LAURA UNGAR AP Medical Writer
A KEY question in a Massachusetts murder trial is whether postpartum psychosis drove a mother to kill her three children. Last week, a jury heard opening statements in the trial of Lindsay Clancy, a former labour and delivery nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital. Both sides agree she strangled her children aged five and younger in 2023. But they
A novel AI model can use information collected during routine sleep studies to identify patients’ longterm health risks, according to a new study published in Nature Communications.
Developed by a multidisciplinary research team that included Cleveland Clinic, the model uncovered hidden sleep patterns linked to risks including heart disease, cognitive decline and death.
The findings also suggest that routine medical tests may contain substantially more physiologic information than current clinical practice extracts from them. In this case, AI identified meaningful signals in standard overnight sleep study data that are not captured by conventional summary measures alone.
The research revealed clinically meaningful patient subtypes with sharply different long-term health risks. Patients in the highest-risk group had twice the mortality risk over the next five years compared to those in the lowest-risk group, a distinc tion that was not captured by the standard clinical measure used to assess sleep apnea severity, the apnea-hypopnea index.
disagree over whether she should be held criminally responsible. Clancy and her ex-husband, Patrick Clancy, filed lawsuits accusing her medical providers of failing to properly diagnose and treat her condition. Here’s what to know about the disorder.
Postpartum psychosis is rare and dangerous It's estimated to afflict only 1 to 2 per 1,000 women after delivery. Experts at the Cleveland
Each year, an estimated 1 to 4 million polysomnograms, or in-lab sleep studies, are performed in the United States, typically to evaluate sleep apnea. While these studies collect rich data on each patient’s brains, lungs, muscles and heart, clinicians historically have focused on a small subset of that information to grade sleep apnea severity.
“For decades we have distilled an overnight sleep study into a handful of summary measures,” said Reena Mehra, M.D., professor of medicine at the University of Washington and the study’s senior clinical author. “AI gives us the opportunity to move beyond those summaries and learn from the full richness of sleep physiology.”
Clinic describe it as a mental health emergency affecting someone’s sense of reality. It can happen to anyone after giving birth, but the chances are higher for people with certain mental health conditions. In a journal article on the subject in 2023, researchers at the Medical University of Lublin in Poland said about half of people with postpartum psychosis have a previous history of psychiatric problems and the most common risk factor
associated with the condition is bipolar affective disorder, which causes extreme mood swings. Though most people with postpartum psychosis don’t harm their children, mothers with severe cases may try to do so, and also may try to harm themselves.
Experts say it’s important to seek immediate help if you or your partner or family member show signs of postpartum psychosis.
Signs of postpartum psychosis
Postpartum psychosis usually happens within several days of giving birth but can occur up to six weeks afterwards.
Symptoms may include hallucinations, delusions, paranoia or other behaviour changes.
A woman may also have mood changes, such as mania or depression, disorganised thinking or behavior, insomnia, irritability or agitation.
It’s not the same as postpartum depression or baby blues
Postpartum depression is a mood disorder that can also be dangerous but is much more common. One 2024 study found that US rates reached 19 per cent in 2021. Baby blues is a lot milder and affects about 8 in 10 new moms shortly after delivery. With baby blues, crying jags and feelings of sadness aren’t enough to interfere with normal life and moms should still be able to care for themselves and their babies. If sadness lingers for more than two weeks, that
AI identifies previously unrecognised health insights in routine sleep studies
The model was developed by a collaborative team of sleep physicians, AI researchers, data scientists sciences through AI and quantum computing.
Using data from the Cleveland Clinic Sleep Signals, Testing, and Reports Linked to Patient Traits (STARLIT) registry, the researchers grouped patients into five risk categories. The model also
recover much more of the information contained in a night’s worth of sleep physiology, revealing clinically meaningful patient groups with very different long-term health risks,” said Jeffrey Rogers, Ph.D., the corresponding author and professor adjunct, neurosurgery, Yale School of Medicine. “These findings demonstrate that routine medical tests can contain
detect latent physiologic features invisible to the human eye and extract prognostic biomarkers that help stratify risk for cardiovascular and neurologic disease, and survival, opening the door to earlier and more personalized care.
“Sleep is foundational to health and wellness,” said Matheus Lima Diniz Araujo, Ph.D., a sleep researcher at Cleveland
can be a sign of postpartum depression. Other signs include intense feelings of despair, anxiety, loss of interest, feelings of guilt and worthlessness, low energy and decreased concentration and appetite. Moms may worry constantly about their babies, be unable to sleep, or stop showering for days. They may even have thoughts of harming themselves.
Postpartum psychosis is the most severe postpartum psychiatric illness.
Treatment for postpartum psychosis
Moms with the condition need inpatient mental healthcare, which can include involuntary hospitalisation. Treatments include medications or electroconvulsive therapy, a procedure done under anesthesia in which small electric currents pass through the brain, intentionally causing a brief seizure.
Experts say getting help early increases the odds of a good outcome.
approach to sleep medicine, by potentially expanding the value of routine sleep testing and reinforcing the key role sleep plays in chronic disease.”
Carl Saab, Ph.D., a professor of biomedical engineering and Chief Scientist of Cleveland Clinic’s Discovery Accelerator, said, “The next step is to validate these findings in diverse populations and expand collaborations among medical and technical experts, industry partners and professional society stakeholders.”
“Sleep is increasingly recognized as a critical component of health, yet the physiological information captured during sleep remains largely underused,” said Erhan Bilal, Ph.D., lead author of the study.
“Because everyone sleeps, sleep studies offer a remarkable window into human health that extends
unlock the richness of these
Lindsay Clancy waits for the judge to call a prospective jury member into court in her murder trial where she is charged in the 2023 killing of her three children, Wednesday, July 22, 2026, in Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth, Mass.
Photo: Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger/ AP, Pool
Ariana Grande withdraws from London musical and will take a break
LONDON (AP) —
Ariana Grande has pulled out of an upcoming stage musical in London, producers said, and plans to withdraw from the public eye for a break from the intense scrutiny she faces. Grande had been due to star alongside her “Wicked” co-star Jonathan Bailey in a production of Stephen Sondheim’s “Sunday in the Park With George” at the Barbican theater in 2027.
Empire Street Productions said Sunday that Grande will no longer be part of the London production. A representative for Grande told People magazine that the 33-year-old singer “will be taking a step back from visibility after she completes the Eternal Sunshine Tour.”
“She looks forward to finishing the tour and ending it on a high note, both healthily and happily, and then taking a
much-deserved break from public-facing work and appearances, which has led to endless, ongoing public scrutiny,” the statement said. A representative
for Grande did not offer further comment to The Associated Press. With Grande’s recent breakup from “Wicked” co-star Ethan Slater, the
ongoing tour and last week’s release of the album “Petal,” attention has swelled, fueling rampant speculation online about her health and appearance.
Grande has previously expressed discomfort with public discourse around her weight.
“I think we should be gentler and less
‘From Whence We Came’ Fashion Show celebrates African Heritage and the Bahamian Journey
Fashion-From page B16
Several of the designs featured custom fabrics created by Bahamian designers, including Empress Verda Gardiner's original "Eleuthera Pineapple" and "Eleuthera Regatta" prints, as well as African-inspired prints in Bahamian colours designed by Danielle Morley, further blending African traditions with Bahamian creativity. Many of the fabrics featured in the fashion show are available at Commonwealth Fabrics. The ensembles were further enhanced by handcrafted handbags, straw belts and other accessories by Keesha Johnson of Estre-Ja Unique – The Look of Different, adding a distinctive Bahamian touch to the collection. The programme then transitioned to a celebration of Bahamian identity. As Priscilla Rollins' stirring "Independence Morning Song" filled the auditorium, models returned to the runway wearing Bahamian-inspired creations that paid tribute to the nation's cultural journey from Emancipation to Independence. The evening concluded with a grand finale featuring designers, models and presenters, earning enthusiastic applause from an appreciative audience.
Gardiner acknowledged the generous support of sponsors and contributors whose partnership helped bring the production to life, including major sponsor Commonwealth Fabrics; Bahama Sweet Teez; Empress Alterations and Designs; Baha Mania Fabrics; Cupid's Cay Ital; Lotus Gems, Jewelry and Medicinal Herbs; Estre-Ja Unique – The Look of Different; Irie Delights Catering; Claudie's Island Fritters; Platinum Band Graphics and Designs; Three Kings Photography; Dream Beauty Studio; Phil's Sewing Machines; and Thomas Robinson Innovative Media. Gardiner said a portion of the proceeds from the Emancipation fashion show will benefit her inaugural programme she is designing for PACE School, where she wants to teach pregnant teenagers sewing and garment construction skills. She is also a noted sewing instructor in the Ministry of Social Services Empowerment Hour Programme, Fox Hill and Flamingo Gardens Centers, where she has shared her skills for this community programme that empowers everyday Bahamians with money making skills. She has also served in the Ministry of Social Services National Parenting Programme, instructing in anger and
comfortable commenting on people’s bodies, no matter what,” she said in a 2023 TikTok video.
Late last year, while promoting “Wicked: For Good,” she re-shared a 2024 interview in which she said it was uncomfortable having being picked apart for her appearance since she was a teenager. In the December social media post, she called the clip a “loving reminder to all.” Grande found fame as a child performer on Nickelodeon before releasing her debut album, “Yours Truly,” in 2013. She has won three Grammy Awards and was nominated for a supporting actress Oscar for her role as Glinda in “Wicked.” Grande's next concert is Monday in Chicago. Her tour is due to wrap up in London on September 1.
“We know this cannot have been an easy decision, and she makes it with our complete understanding and support,” Empire Street Productions said. The company said “Sunday in the Park With George” will open next summer as planned, and that casting would be announced “in due course.”
stress management and finance management. More than a fashion show, "From Whence We Came" served as a celebration of heritage, reminding audiences that the traditions, symbols, music and cultural expressions carried from Africa continue to shape the identity of the Bahamian people. Through fashion, history and storytelling, the production honoured the resilience of the ancestors while inspiring a deeper appreciation for the rich cultural legacy they passed on to future generations. Those wishing to join Empress Verda Gardiner's sewing classes, contact her at 242-524-0005.
at The Barker Hanger in Santa
Photo: Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File
Woman gives birth to rare identical quadruplet girls
By LAURA UNGAR Associated Press
A WOMAN has given birth to identical quadruplet girls after a pregnancy doctors described as incredibly rare.
Jenitar Sau Na’amoana, who is 34 years old and already had four children, delivered the babies last week at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital in Queensland, Australia.
“We are very excited to be able to care for this amazing little family, a big family now,” Dr. Alexa Bendall, a maternal fetal medicine specialist who cared for Na’amoana, said in an interview released by the hospital.
The babies were conceived naturally and came from one fertilized egg that split into four, “which was incredible,” Bendall said.
“We think the figures are probably around 1 in 15 million for a case like this to be spontaneously
conceived,” she said. “We don’t think it’s ever happened in Australia.”
Overall, experts say, the chance of conceiving quadruplets naturally is only 1 in 700,000; most are conceived with the assistance of medical technology.
Hospital officials said Na’amoana and her husband, Jortham, hadn’t planned to have more children and were quite surprised when she became pregnant with the quadruplets.
Na’amoana faced a high risk of complications, especially given the fetuses shared one placenta. In
IN this image taken from video taken on July 15, 2026, one of the quadruplets born at Metro North Health hospital lies in an incubator in Brisbane, Australia.
Photo: Metro North Health/AP
general, being pregnant with any multiple fetuses puts a mom at increased risk for problems such as preterm birth, miscarriage and birth defects, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Na’amoana was monitored by a large medical team at the hospital since 10 weeks gestation and
THE WEATHER REPORT
was admitted as an inpatient at 25 weeks so she could be monitored, hospital officials said. She delivered the babies by cesarean section on July 14.
“The fact that we’ve got four beautiful, healthy babies born at 28 weeks and four days is incredible,” Bendall said. “Mum did lose a little bit of blood but not an excessive amount for having quads, and she’s doing well.”
“From an academic perspective, it’s really interesting,” she said. “But also from a human perspective, to be able to be part of the family’s journey and come out with four beautiful babies and a healthy mum is very precious.”
The babies are doing well in the neonatal intensive care unit. Their names are Emily, Harriet, Catherine and Alexa, in honor of Bendall. The doctor called the name a “beautiful tribute,” and said she feels privileged to have helped bring these children into the world.
'From Whence We Came' Fashion Show celebrates African Heritage and the Bahamian Journey
THE rich tapestry of African heritage and its enduring influence on Bahamian culture came alive through fashion, storytelling and Junkanoo during the 2026 Emancipation Day Fashion Show, "From Whence We Came: Celebrating Our Heritage, Artistry and Roots," held on Saturday, at the All Saints Anglican Church Auditorium.
The evening took patrons on a visual and educational journey from Africa to present-day Bahamas, celebrating the resilience, creativity and cultural identity of a people whose traditions continue to shape the nation.
As guests entered the auditorium, they were greeted by a massive offthe-shoulder Junkanoo costume piece designed in the vibrant colours of the Bahamian flag – setting the tone for a celebration of national pride and cultural heritage. Through fashion, music and historical presentations, the production transformed the runway into a living classroom of African and Bahamian heritage.
Organised by Empress Verda Gardiner, who also served as the show's head fashion designer and seamstress, the production featured more than 20 original designs created by Gardiner, with additional garments designed by Empress Lashan Hall.
Hosted by Empress Zelrona Mackey, the event blended fashion with storytelling, history and cultural performances to commemorate Emancipation while celebrating the enduring legacy of African influence on Bahamian identity.
Presentations throughout the evening enriched the audience's appreciation of the nation's history and culture. Empress Dr Novia Carter-Lookie, in her presentation, The Bahamian Journey: Post Emancipation to Present Day, explored the evolution of Bahamian
dress from the post-Emancipation era to modern times.
Using clothing as a reflection of the nation's social and cultural development, she encouraged the audience to embrace the knowledge of their past as an essential part of understanding who they are today.
Quoting Emperor Haile Selassie, she reminded patrons that preserving the history of a people is essential to preserving their identity and future.
Representing Angelique McKay, "The Junkanoo Goddess," Tonya Sampson explored the historic
Veteran Junkanoo icon Randolph "Boy La-La" Coakley captivated the audience with a nostalgic portrayal of Junkanoo's early evolution. Dressed in a traditional costume featuring sponge, newspaper fringe trousers and a coconut branch hat, Coakley transported patrons back in time while illustrating how the festival evolved from humble beginnings into the vibrant cultural expression celebrated throughout The Bahamas today.
Empress Felicity Darville, in her presentation, "Threads of Freedom: From Africa to The Bahamas," guided the audience through the rich traditions of African fashion, highlighting the history and symbolism of textiles including Ghana's Kente cloth, Mali's Bogolanfini, or Mud Cloth, and Nigeria's Aso Oke fabric.
and cultural connection between Ghana and The Bahamas through Junkanoo. Sampson recounted her own experience as the first Bahamian to rush in a Bahamian Junkanoo costume on Ghanaian soil, a symbolic milestone celebrating the reconnection of Bahamian traditions with their African roots.
She also shared that Angelique McKay, a fellow Bahamian, was crowned a Queen Mother in the Ahanta Region of Ghana, further strengthening the cultural ties between the two nations.
She also explained the significance of traditional headwraps such as the Gele, Duku, Doek and Dhuku, along with the meanings behind Adinkra symbols including Sankofa and Gye Nyame, while exploring the importance of African jewellery, beads and cowrie shells as expressions of identity, spirituality, status and heritage.
The educational presentations complemented the runway showcase as models first appeared in African-inspired fashions reflecting the beauty, symbolism and craftsmanship of the continent's diverse cultures.
Fashion - See page B14
By CARA HUNT Tribune Features Writer cbrennen@tribunemedia.net
This summer make a statement everywhere you go by carrying one of the season’s hottest yet functional pieces.
Beaded handbags are all the rage, and no, we aren’t talking about those little evening clutches used only for weddings and formal events that our grandmas pulled out back in the day.
We also aren’t talking about those amazingly detailed and fabulous Judith Leiber evening bags that cost the arm you want to carry it on.
No, this season’s best beaded looks are designed to brighten every day existence, in sizes that easily fit all the every day essentials in a girl’s life because who says that you can’t have a little arm candy as you run around doing Saturday errands.
And they are in price points that mean fashionistas from all walks of life can flaunt their own bag.
The beaded bags are also combine some of the other hot trends of summer- seafood and fruit. Who knows why, but sardines, tuna and shellfish remain hot this summer as do cherries, and lemons and berries.
So you can literally carry all your trends around in one go.
This ticks so many boxes- are you a lover of everything vintage- drawn to the dainty looks carried by the ladies of the twenties of a century ago- or are you a flower child drawn to the hippe looks that draw inspiration from being one with the earth.
Maybe your style leans to bold and eclectic, or you just love creating a high fashion glam look.
There are a myriad of styles that work for everyone.
Beaded bags can come in variety of shapes sizes, colour ways and of course
These bags are meant to be seen and adored, not left to rot in the darkest parts of your closet. They can be worn day and night- formally or informally and with any type of outfit.
Pair a cute multi coloured bag with a white teen jeans and a pair of tennis for a practical and stylish travel day outfit or with short romper and sandals to run errands. The classic little black dress can get a bold boost with a fun beaded clutch, making you shine at date night.
