Tune into Eyewitness News Bahamas LIVE | JANUARY 31ST 2024

A negative narrative those advisories to the baham is now taking its toll we have response from government officials tonight on this also it’s a deadline for business licenses but business owners say they’re challenged and later tonight amendments to the bail act are table we have the latest from debate in the House of

Assembly Eyewitness News starts now good evening everyone I’m Jan no well thanks so much for joining us topping news tonight the Bahamas is safe that’s the message being pushed by government as another country has issued a travel advisory due to crime in the Bahamas Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper who has responsibility for

Tourism and Aviation says the focus is now on moving forward and ensuring that the world knows and understands that this country is a safe place AR Linton Richie Jr has more in our top story tonight another country releasing a travel to exercise caution when traveling to the

Bahamas Canada is now the second country country in the last week to release an advisory for the United States Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper addressing the elephant in the room yes on New Providence we have had very serious domestic crime in incidences which has been a wave in the last few

Weeks this demands our utmost attention Violet activities have marred the the headlines and it’s a situation that cannot be ignored or tolerated none of the 19 victims mentioned in the alert or the 18 mentioned in the alert were visitors I also point out that whilst we have 700 islands and 16 major tourism

Destinations the crimes noted in the alert occurred mainly in pockets of the the advisories though celebrities have come out in the defense of the Bahamas rapper Meek Kill made an Instagram story reading I just left the Bahamas them people do not bother tourists they are respectful and working for a dollar

Somebody in the Bahamas do a review and then there’s Duval who is no stranger to the Bahamas with over 4 million followers he recently made a social media post about the advisory issued that reads man it’s more dangerous going out in your city stop hating on my people yall been getting extorted and

Killed in Mexico for decades and y’all still go there Deputy Prime Minister Cooper notes that the focus is on rewriting what he calls misleading articles that have already been published our objective is to transform a negative narrative into a res founding positive for our nation the recent concerns and reports

Have prompted us to recalibrate our approach focusing on Direct engagement with International media we recognize the need for them to have a better understanding of our geography and a contextualized awareness of the events occurring within our borders the opposition leader Michael pintard alongside other F&M officials stood outside the office of the Prime

Minister Dave ago calling for Action Cooper says now is not the time for political rivalry and today I call on the opposition to assert the kind of nationalism that is required of real leaders during this time real political de demands of us an appreciation that when there are advisories that are adverse to

Us that we recognize that politics ends at the border with the alarming amount of international bad press Cooper says he has no doubt we will conquer I believe the Spate of bad press will pass and rather quickly the Bahamas has weathered many storms before and as always we will emerge stronger than

Ever we will prevail Linton Richie Jr Eyewitness News well those travel advisories also said to be impacting short-term rental properties a local Airbnb property owner reaching out to Eyewitness News Today noting that for the past two years her property a or maintained rather a 97% occupancy since the advisories were

Issued she says she’s had a number of cancellations which is now affecting her livelihood and she says she’s not the only one being impacted emailed me asking questions as to safety and whether they’re going to be harmed and whether I have cameras cameras just a FL of questions because

They’re afraid and I have even had to set up a schedule message to go out to all my guests letting them know you know trying to get them some assurances so the fact that the PM is saying that everything is okay and it’s not going to impact the Bahamas significantly it’s not

True well she’s offering government this advice to try to remedy the problem I think a meeting needs to be had with the US Embassy because it is really disingenuous um for them I’m really really irresponsible I for for them to go out there and make such a statement

Um given the fact that in the United States it’s a huge insurgence of uh mass shootings police brutality paid CRS the Bahamas has never issued a warning to uh their local persons traveling no persons who were schooled abroad so I don’t know where the US get off in making such a statement

Still talking to tourism news tonight Margarita Ville at se cruise that line has made a policy change that does not allow originating a trip from Freeport Grand Bahama into Florida the ministry of Tourism releasing a statement in response saying they are actively engaged with the company to reverse this

Policy as they say it is an essential service to the way of life for the residents of Graham Island now the ministry says they will advise the public on the outcome of these discussions well a blackout period now in effect for scores of hotel workers after they received their marching

Orders from their Union president today to quote stick to the script and also cease and desist from going beyond the call of duty this as days after staging a protest Union officials say their cries have fallen on deaf airs and they’re not taking it lightly our Jose

Aten has the details in this report that belt signaling the beginning of an indefinite blackout period for members of the Bahamas Hotel catering and I like Workers Union to take their industrial action to another level on Wednesday morning days after protesting at the foot of the Sydney poter bridge over

Reported fail negotiations for workers who fall under the tiing category they making extra money they reach over their quarter why is it that they can’t give it us like we making the money and that’s only us so we just like we just want our money you mean to tell me my

Employer who I labored for for the past 25 years giving up my weekends giv up my holidays giv up time away from my children don’t think that I deserve to get this race Union president Darren Woods says workers are sick and tired of waiting in limbo as to whether they

Would get what he says they rightfully deserve they have now widened their takeback to include the members in the non-tip category they indicated to us that um their position was it was the greater than for the tip and only yesterday we found out that as a result

Of the 3% increase that they gave to the non- tip if they want to take that back out of the 8% it’ll be Say it’ll be a cold day in Hell first Woods adds that employers are playing hard ball so he’s giving his workers their marching orders

They will no longer hold two stations if you’re asked to go to another station you leave the other station empty it was here at workers’s house where that blackout period was brought into effect now with Union Executives threatening to take things a bit further could that Force Hotel Executives to sit at the

Table with the union and settle these issues once and for all or could that make things worse afterall president of the hotel employers Association Russell Miller expressed his disappointment with that protest several days ago but wood says he’s standing on business the only thing that was outstanding and I would

Agree would be the finances but when we s and we negotia we we thought we came up with a plan where we were in terms of the wages that was something we thought was behind us so when you say you propose a 8% um um the greater than

Whichever is greater well we we flatly we disagreed with it from day one and in the event that unionized workers suffer some sort of victimization this exercise will be met with Swift and fast retaliation on behalf of this Union at this point Point government is minded to get involved unfortunately we’re still

At an impath and as a result in my role as directive as minister of Labor and public service I’m going to step in um and I hope that I’ll be able to assist them in bringing some resolution within the next 24 to 48 hours but Woods has this one request whatever you’re going

To do do it quickly because I don’t want them believe that people could say hold off let us talk some more when we’ve been talking and are my members the people who I represent are the ones who feel in the brt of what they doing Jose High Witness News well today is the

Deadline for business license renewals but many business owners are physically unable to access the online portal to do so our Tyler simet speaking to some of those frustrated customers today and has this exclusive at the department of Inland Revenue in this report so you so you’ve been getting this for days like

You said this for days but I wanted this is Real Deal thousands of business owners across the country scrambling to try to renew their business licenses as the deadline for renewals is today January 31st 2024 the department of Inland Revenue upgraded their portal for license renewals this year however

Eyewitness News was inundated with calls from frustrated customers who say the system has not worked for days one woman who physically came to the dir to see if she could resolve the issue says this situation is not new their system is always down they they never seem to have

Their system up they always telling you oh you have to come back and come back I guess if I did not go online and then I’m still not getting an answer I’m still not getting an answer even though I’ve already applied online I’m going through the I’m going through on my

Email to see if it’s done because this thing was done from last week I feel as though even though he’s telling me the young man that put this paper in my hand he’s telling me that um my uh if I had applied for um in 2023

My license is up for April whatever but what I’m saying is that the system is so bad she was attempting to renew multiple business licenses for days on end with no success we’re finding it difficult to to get our license renewed we they said

That we have a new system I have it on my phone where I’ve been trying all night and trying to get on it that’s why I came all the way here to make sure it’s not my fault that the government is going to charge me $100 for late fee so

I want to make sure because the service here is tremendous they’re on top of things but they still have to be nice and do their job professionally so that’s why I’m here has been able to speak to officials from the Department of Inland revenue and they say they are

Working diligently to address these system issues they are also telling business owners to fear not as no late fees will be applied at this time going on here so we do acknowledge that we’ve been having a lot of system issues um with the ren of the business license we

Just implemented a new a new site um we are working feverishly and very hard to get the system corrected um and it should be corrected quite shortly as a result of all of these issues there is apply we won’t be be applying any penalties um for filing until

April 2nd until April 2nd so what technically that means now is that taxpayers have until March 31st to to make their payment Tyler simet Eyewitness News meantime the deputy National coordinator for information technology Bay and grown MP Wade Watson providing this explanation for the challenges being experienced with the system at Inland Revenue

Noting that it could be several weeks before the problem is what the V attempted to do was to re back to a prior release so that the resources necessary for the application to run appropriately and would run effectively on the on on the network that presented a challenge we

Are now in the process of speaking directly with the vendor to see how quick some of the challenges we have also sought to relinquish some of the resources used by other applications on the network that is being done as we speak and we hoping that um Mr Deputy

That as a result of that we will be able to free up some of the resources and make those resources available to the Department of Inland revenues application so that that application can run a little bit more smoothly I do want to apologize to the beaming people and

To all all of the businesses who are trying to interact with the Department of Inland revenue and we ask them to to bear with us to bear with us as we continue to improve the network and as we continue to improve the application but as soon as those resources are made

Available um Mr Deputy we should see uh an improvement in the performance on the department of Inland revenues Network well in another news tonight amendments to the bail act being tabled in Parliament today move of the bill prime minister Philip Davis stressing that while concerns have mounted over these

Amendments he believes this is the right direction to take as far too many lives have been lost one tragedy after another has led to two much loss not just a loss of life terrible enough but a loss of faith in our justice system government hoping to bring an end to what prime minister

Philip Davis described described as a senseless cycle of violence with amendments to the bail act many of the people or who are killed while on bail are often violating the terms of their bail prior to these violent incidents we have individuals accused of murder who are supposed to have restrictions placed on their

Movements traveling to and fro as they please such blatant disregard for the conditions placed on them by the courts as well as their disregard for Public Safety should be met with not a slap on the it’s a strong response that prime minister Davis believes will put a

Dent in the ongoing crime problem but those in the legal fraternity of slamed government for this move stating that it infringes on one’s constitutional right while to that the Prime Minister says arm is play judges retain full discretion to consider whether the person applying for bail is considered a Flight

Risk whether is considered a danger to the community or are in themselves in danger in the original decision to Grant bail when the bail when an application is made the first time the court has discretion take into account all the factors surrounding the incident for which the person is

Accused Tak into account the personal personal circumstance of the accused taking into account the other issues and factors which inform whether to Grant bail or not and exercise that discretion that’s not being taed with at all now he further argues that the Amendments still allow an application for B for

Determination we fully we still fully respect we still the presumption of innocence for the accused as well as the discretion of judges in granting of bail we believe these changes to the law balance our respect for the discretion of the Judiciary with the urgent need to address the violence in our

Communities in those cases where there has been a breach of conditions of bail right and as the bail would have been revoked as we now use the word voided that person is to be remanded to custody and upon their remand they have the right to again apply for

Bail thereby again engaging the Court’s discretion to determine whether is to be granted again and with 40% of murders recorded last year being persons who were out on bail the prime minister is at stake everyone before the courts is still Presumed Innocent unfortunately don’t see that

Way a lot of men who have been presume Innocent by our Judicial System have broken the conditions of their bail paid their fine and walked back out feely only to be executed in the court of Street Justice the evidence is there he adds that we’ve talked about the problem for

Far too long and now he says it’s time for action but this is a fight we must win to secure a brighter tomorrow for all behem what matters now is results what matters now is results well leading debate for the opposition was MP4 St an’s Adrien white

Who said that the amendments were weak and called on the government to be less reactive to a crime crisis now he said only meaningful policy will alleviate and the prosecutorial team Mr Deputy speaker is already overwork that’s why we have a backlog of Trials one attorney

Was in the news this week saying that she still has trials from 2014 the issue with bail Mr Deputy speaker in most instances is that individuals don’t automatically have the right to be back on the street after being charged before the courts with committing an offense the issue with

Bail however is that there is a delay in bringing their trial before the court whether it’s because of a lack of resources uh evidence is still being awaited maybe ballistic testing on weapons um the availability of police officers or the availability of witnesses Mr Deputy speaker and you find

Persons that have been charged with offenses uh spending too much time awaiting the trial well former prime minister Dr Hubert M calling on the Davis Administration to put its foot down and resend the contract given to Metro Security Solutions the company that has been contracted to monitor alleged criminals

Who are out on bail Dr min’s comments coming on the heels of police commissioner Clayton fernander shedding light on incidents where alleged criminals who were being monitored removed their devices and could no longer be tracked while prime minister Philip Davis revealed at a press conference on Tuesday that the

Contracted company could be terminated if they’re found unfit to carry out the task but he gave them no timeline on when his his administration would let the Iron Fist fall it’s an issue the former prime minister addressed in the House of Assembly back in November but two months later Min says the

Government the government had ignored what I said then so that was a two the three La since then so the question is now how many individuals would have been involved in criminal activity in spite of having a ankle bracelet but leaving the ankle bracelet the houses and subsequently go

Into the community and do um engage in criminal activity that’s a possibility the government must take the contract from the existing contractor because it’s quite evident that they are not manage it it calls for advanced and rather changing technology you have to keep with the technology the system that

Was in place under IC had cell phone connectivity um to the the ankle bracelet also so they could have warned the criminals or the individuals in advance that you are and the police be for you in a matter of minutes it had all the technological Advan for the government has that particular contract

And given it to a contractor as far as I’m concerned who don’t do not know how to manage it appropriately while walkabouts with Community leaders and government officials continue in hotspot communities tonight A delegation is in the St Barnabas constituency on Hospital Lane our Khloe Stewart is there live tonight with the details

Chloe good evening Jana we are joining you here live on Sarah Ingram Community Park where church and community members are preparing to do a walkabout in the hospital Lan Community now as we know just yesterday prime minister Philip D conducted a walkabout in the bean and grown Community following a press

Conference that was held at the Royal Bahamas Police Force Headquarters where the country joining me here live is Pastor dros Reed who will tell us a bit more of what’s happening tonight you know first of all we didn’t know that uh the Prime Minister those would have been

This was coming down here yesterday this event that we have uh what be doing the knif was planned uh a couple of weeks ago and uh our goal is to uh come out of the seats and into the streets I believe that people need to see uh particularly

Church people in communities and uh joining us tonight as a number of like Community activists persons that are really concerned about this country and the go goal is to make people feel that there are some people that still care that people that still want to see them succeed some people that care about

What’s going on in our country and in the streets of the country we’re tired of seeing our young persons being slaughtered in the street and rather than sitting down like talking about it we decided that we going to do something about it thank you Dr Caris Reed now

Also joining me here live tonight is Pastor Henry Higgins who would also tell us what’s taking place tonight good evening B so we have today the number of our organizations coming together we have grip of course we have the Brotherhood we have uplifting Men’s Ministry National neighborhood watch all

These organizations of come message we’ve come to reach out to our nation and tell them that Jesus still saves and we believe that a man will have a true Encounter With Jesus so we out to make sure that that encounter happens to share the message of the good news of

The Gospel so that those who don’t know Jesus Christ will come to know him those those who may need to make a commitment to him all over again they can be renewed and we are those who may be hurting may be grieving their mothers in this community who are grieving over the

Loss of their sons over the loss because of this murder situ we want to speak to them we want to pray with them most of we want them to know that we are here for them all right thank you Pastor hins now community and church members are preparing to conduct their Rock about

Just in short order and they will be supported by police officers that’s it for now reporting live here on S ingr community parare and Hospital lean I’m Chloe Stewart sending it right back to you on the Des J thanks so much Chloe well with almost 20 murders recorded for

The month police are not the only ones feeling stretched lorencia Smith has an angle on what Funeral Home industry stakeholders are going through in this next report the crime wave here in the country is not just placing a strain on communities families the Health Care system and the police but also the

Funeral home industry president of the Bahamas Funeral Directors Association kers Ferguson shared with us that the increase in murders is becoming taxing on the industry especially when it comes down to the preparation of the bodies for burial from a scientific standpoint is a strein in terms of employing the

Proper chemicals to preserve these bodies also uh artistically and having these bodies presented for viewing so we find bodies being in our Care at times you have a factor of either decomposition setting in a mold being a factor and other things such as that that we now have to be very mindful of

Having these bodies in our possession the country has reported 19 homicides for the Capital One over in Abaco Ferguson shared despite the burden of the increase in crime on labor on the administrative side there has been minimal impact with the corner involvement the corner has been very straightforward and exact in the

Execution of Duties as far as the corner office is concerned what we would have experienced over the past several months is that the corer has instituted guidelines for us to follow to ensure that there’s fair play straight across the board and a timely execution of her duties as well unfortunately because of

The the corer has to wait on the police to present reports to her so all these things play a factor in how well we able to service families but while at the same time staying within the guidelines outlined by the government the coroner and the legal system Ferguson adds that

While crime is having an effect on the merary business there are other challenges they’re plagued with as well it’s a matter of ourselves or persons in in the industry who are one in the first instance not properly trained or educated to execute duties as a FAL director that has been the biggest

Factor uh that we’ve been facing as of recently and over the years past the industry has been infiltrated by persons imposing as or disguising themselves as a FAL director and taking advantage of the General last year during the speech from the throne government would have indicated plans to regulate the funeral

Home industry here in the Bahamas and Mr Fergus log with government is ongoing for that process however he did outline some of the recommendations in which the association made we were seeking lure of persons operating directors who have been trained professionally trained by accredited institutions into that we

Were seeking to have uh FAL home rooms regulated uh or monitored by the price Control Commission to ensure consumer protection was in place thirdly we were concerned with the health component of persons who are receiving bodies and preparing bodies for burial lorencia Smith Eyewitness News well if you you

Seen news in the making call the ion news hotline at 397 6397 we also invite you to send your letters to the editor for publication on all of our social media platforms I withness news bahas at gmail.com and if you’re watching on our Facebook or YouTube page share your

Thoughts about today’s stories in the comment section we want to hear from you we are just getting started in Eyewitness News tonight but when we come back road traffic workers getting a change of scenery after some poor working conditions went viral we’ve got more on that after this and later

Tonight the public getting a glimpse of a new creative school in the pipeline more on that right after this break Eyewitness News is brought to you by lucayan car rental great rental great service and great here’s a look at your Eyewitness News gas tracker you’ll be getting the cheapest tonight at rubis

$528 ASO coming in at $530 shell $531 well following days of chaos and unrest at the road tra traffic department services and employees were temporary location today to ease detention our chlo Stewart has this update it’s a smooth transition for 60 Stoppers within the Road Traffic Department main office which was housed

At the Thomas a Robinson Stadium as they were temporarily relocated to the Edwin Smiley basian Corporate Center this morning officials touring the new facility to ensure Services were running steadily for the employees who have endured near hazardous conditions at the Thomas a Robinson National Stadium transport Mario BG noted that

Services will still be provided at other locations despite limited services at the new location we understand that parking here is limited and so there’s only few uh Administration and business aspects that taking place at this at this building and you know we want them to know that inspection has still been

Done at the Thomas Robinson Stadium inspection has been done at kichel and at for and uh we going to be in the mall in the next day or two or sometime next week where we going to be issuing those plates and those uh driver’s license that placs need to collect ble adds that

Staffers are expected to relocate to their permanent location soon well we expected to move in about 40 to 50 days to uh the um the Plaza on tonic darling hallway and that’s where our permanent position is going to be and that should happen in 40 to 50 days as BG asked for

Staff patience he notes that government remain committed to providing services in a safe like to say to the staff you know have have patience with us we want to make sure they comfortable as possible and then in the best waking environment and I know as you can see

Around here this is much improved and the government is going to do all it can to make sure our staff is comfortable despite the hiccups with motorists and police officers Deputy controller at road traffic department Kevin mmar explains that drivers should no longer experience problems with having their

Licenses issued on Monday we met with Chief superintendent St who was the officer in charge of Dr traffic and we explained him that persons who do not have license plates they will have a receipt on the receipt will’ll have a stamp by road traffic and once that

Receipt is stamped that will give him the all clear that vehicle transport Minister Rec commending the public for their lenience as he says governments are ensuring that they will be serviced we thank the public for their patience and we want them to know we can do all

We can to ensure that the service that they are needed and provided in the best of our ability in a short time as possible and so right now today again as you can see it’s a smooth transition and we doing we trying to ensure that the public would get the service’s need chlo

Sart Eyewitness News while some breaking news coming into our Newsroom tonight we understand that a female has been shot on ragged Island Street on Cordo Avenue we do not know any further details at this time other than police are currently we Al also do not know the

Condition of that victim but we can tell you that a female has been shot ragged Island Street and Cordo Avenue we do have a team in route and it’s a story will continue to follow and bring you the latest as it develops onto some other news tonight opposition leader

Michael pintard accusing the Davis administration of threatening the grand bah Port Authority as a public back and forth between government and the authority takes center stage now pinart says he would do any better in acquiring the port and says they should cease and assist from attacking the port authority

To avoid possibly scaring away any potential investors the wrong messages to International investors uh that you know the Govern of the Bahamas could participate in hostile take over and the Davis Administration has created great uncertainty locally and internationally around what investors could expect if they invest in the Bahamas in general

General or in Grand baham in particular they should have from the beginning engaged in one private conversations with the gbpa and all of the stakeholders secondly if there was a problem with those private conversations they could have gone to arbitration they skipped the conversation they skipped the discussion of arbitration and they

Went straight to threatening to take over now that they realize that that approach is Dead on Arrival they have now retreated they knew from the beginning is a provision that has been into the hawkville creek agreement whenever the government and the Port Authority are at an impa so so again

It’s the wrong approach by the Prime Minister aided and abetted by his ministers and most especially the chairman of the plb uh who whose voice does not at all in in Grand Bahama resident and while pintard says the Grand Bahama Port Authority has underperformed he says there is no time

For a war between them and government he’s urging both sides to engage I have said that under both administrations there have been insufficient conversation with all of the stakeholders gbpa the Chamber of Commerce the industrial companies most importantly too is the lenses we should be having conversations with them we

Should be looking at how we can re configure the shareholders of the of the gbpa to involve more bamans and licenses and shareholders we should have a real discussion about who should provide the regulatory functions and whether that should be uh gbpa or it should be a group of set

Up in a different system not the central government regulating U matters in in in Grand bah in Freeport in particular so our approach would be one of dialogue and looking at the best pathway forward we should be talking about whether or not select companies including gbpa has

A a pass on on taxes being applied to them but everybody of taxes these are the conversations are reasonable and sensible government would engage while the ministry of Youth Sports and culture along with jungu officials made the decision that the prodical sons must return the $30,000 seed money or they

Will be asked from sponsorship in this year’s junkan Parade’s questions are now being raised on whether or not the government plans to take legal action if the funds are not returned as requested no there’s no need to go for legal action at this time uh we stand on

On the premises press statement and that they will receive no funding for any further uh parade until they would have shown on a parade uh and that’s in the next 2425 uh parade we would not provide any funding for them until they would have showed on both parade um because

They didn’t do they didn’t show up on the parade in few parades that’s not just last year’s parade this s but um I think that will put them in a position to understand that we very serious now more information that shooting incident that we reported taking place on rag Island Street in

Cordo Avenue we understand that three persons have been shot a male a female we are unsure of the gender of the third victim but we do know that three people have been shot in that Grove area we do not know the circumstances surrounding that shooting one of them have been

Transferred to hospital and they’re receiving treatment for injuries from being shot in the arm again more details coming in from that shooting incident three people being shot more details still to come meantime Central John Pinder asserting tonight that residents in Abaco are pleased with government’s Shanty toown shutdown that is currently

Underway this as Pender has previously voiced his frustrations with the issue and called on immediate action to be taken now officials from the ministry of Works paying a visit to that island and began tearing down structures putting up eviction notices on the front front of the doors asss that it’s the right and

Lawful thing to do the constituents in in Alo very happy to seeing into the farm which is the largest uh shat town we have there uh we must have order we must have all foreigners coming into this country to abide by laws Bahamas is for Bohemians

And we want normality in Alo as well as the rest of the it’s it’s a very um tragic situation for the residents of these Shanty towns given that a lot of them were misled to there but we must have people following um Law and Order one of the large um

Issues in these Shanty towns is the lack of Sanitation and ala’s Water Table spreads across all of Alo and if it’s tainted in one place then it’s then it will affect the drinking water for all of Alo but you see movement on the ground I’m very pleased that Minister

Sing brought the whole shanty town or the unregulated um commission well the Ministry of Education the Ministry of Education making its first steps toward the launch of the Bahamas arts school as they held an official consultation at the Margaritaville Resort this afternoon live entertainment of singing and dancing showcased in the ballroom by

Young talented performers glennis Hanah Martin highlighting the talents of young Bohemians as government makes preparations to expand the orange economy in the country today is a significant first important step and it launches the consultation and we know that our young people are incredibly incredibly gifted it’s ridiculous it’s ridiculous the the level

And and scope and volume of talent of our our young people is just it’s mindboggling and this what we are speaking about today is the way in which we can create the manifesting place for our young people to express who they are to celebrate who they are and their incredible gifts and

Talents prime minister Philip Davis addressing the LA he said that this is an accomplishment and he says he also believes that this initiative can open doors of opportunities for aspiring creatives in our Bahamas we know that we truly are blessed with talent in abundance in fact we have seen our

Sports Heroes transformed into Super worldclass athletes given proper training and investment and so it has been a long cherish ambition here to establish a school to train people for careers in the Performing Arts I believe that in developing and promoting the creative skills and talents of our people we are

Developing a nation better fit and able both to overcome challenges and to seize the opportunities of our time well s to com in a luo will soon have access to new educational opportunities we’ve got that story but first here’s the check on tonight’s weather forecast Johnson insurance agents and Brokers giving you peace of mind I look tonight over the Bahama Resort the temperature right around 74° it’s expected to dip to a cool 63 this is Eyewitness News welcome back while the partnership with Disney Cruise Line continues this time the focus is on

Education as the cruise line partnered with the University of the Bahamas to strengthen the tourism sector arlingon Richie Jr has the details in this report Disney Cruise Lines is partnering with University of the Bahamas launching a training program Open to take the islands tourism and hospitality industry to new heights president of the

University of the Bahamas Jean hater says UB is no stranger to offering the best training in the sector the leading light program has been developed as a pilot with a cohort model in which UB has drawn on its continu education and job Readiness expertise to deliver made to measure training in tourism and

Hospitality skills and Hospitality leadership at this time in our history we’re honored to be delivering what we do best in such a customized way that best serves the needs of a community of job seekers in elra vice president of academic Affairs at U Dr Maria Woodside oraki notes that The lethality training

Program has two academic paths for students to ensure the efficacy of this program we have meticulously designed two distinct tracks the entry level training and the leadership track in the entry level training participants will acquire essential skills to serve guests with Excellence promote Goodwill and effectively navigate The Daily

Challenges of the dynamic Hospitality sector this includes a strong emphasis on communication time management and crisis communication skills for those with aspirations of assuming leadership roles offers a specialized curriculum tailored to the needs of many participants on this leadership track we will delve into overseeing daily operations conducting analysis effective

Delegation leadership skills problem solving team methodologies Regional director of public affairs for Disney Cruise Lines Joey Jor expressed the importance of a Lutheran being at the Forefront with all of a Lucifer’s growth on the horizon we asked ourselves at Disney Cruise Line are a Lutheran positioned to

Benefit our objective was to bring free basic and Hospitality leadership training to a Lutheran who may not have had access to tertiary level education before Gaskin added that Disney Cruise Lines did not want daily life struggles to prohibit alans from registering we recognize that people already have a lot

On their plates and that everyday costs like gas and food could be prohibitive on an island like Alro with this in mind we incentivized the training and arranged for cash grants on prepaid cards to cover some of those everyday costs the schedule during the day after work hours and on weekends was designed

To serve a diverse audience even something as simple as the program providing uniforms will make a huge difference for someone who might feel that they can’t participate in this training because they do not have the appropriate clothing the first goart is already folded we are not filled and

Will be on boarded in the summer and fall of 2024 for those Al lutherans interested in applying officials are encouraging you to check out ub’s website for more information Linton Richie Jr Eyewitness News well we understand at this hour that the woman who has been shot on ragged Island

Street in Cordo Avenue has been confirmed dead to our news team tonight this marks the 20th murder for the year again A woman has been confirmed dead ragged Island Street Cordo Avenue we do have a team in route be sure to tune into our social media more details on

This latest murder still to come in Eyewitness News our lorencia Smith has your latest check on Sports good evening lorencia good evening Jana one of the biggest track and field meets here in the country can be postpone or even worse cancel I’ll have those details right after this Break this segment of the news is brought to you by Hennessy the spirit of sports in the Bahamas good evening and welcome to another edition of eyewitness Sports I’m laurencia Smith thanks for joining us topping sports tonight wear track side there’s a possibility that the Bahamas Association of Independent secondary schools

Bais track and field championships 2024 can be shelved the popular meet is typically held in February of each year and it has one of the largest local fan base with alumni from longtime Rivals Queens College and St Augustine’s College we spoke with huy head coach ett Frasier who says that there’s no

Official word on whether or not the meet will be cancelled but if it is he shared what impact it would have on athletes kids want to compete and I say on L we just want to compete go just feel atere young especially competing for schools representing the schools um you know

That’s that’s one of the biggest problem now our Sports last evening about the possibility of the cancellation of the meet and we would have made efforts to contact the bis president Perry Cunningham but those calls were unsuccessful according to our sources close to the matter the main reason that

The meet will possibly be cancelled is because it’s one week before before the corupted trials which is set from March 15th through the 17th the original date on the table for the championship we understand was set for February 14th to the 16th and now the new proposed date

Is March 6th to the 8th this alleged claim lines up what what sports Minister Mario bolg would have told the media uh bis says track and field has nothing to do with the ministry or the government uh that is a decision date that is made on them we provide the facility and uh

The availability of the dates for them to use the track in order for them to have their event uh Bas is responsible for a meeting with GSA and bis SS and all other small uh High School associations to determine dates and times that they can have these events um

I know that bis has a problem with their uh event being one week prior to G the trials now eyewitness sport spoke with b3a President jumo Watcher who says that he can’t speak for the bis Association but when asked about the scheduling of the meet this is what he had to say

There are lots of moving Parts when we consider the the schedule what we can say is one of the initial challenge with this year’s uh calendar particularly where kifa is concerned is that kifa falls very early which forces uh a lot of early competitions uh we had the

Opportunity to push our trials back and that gave room for um an extra week it’s a story that we will be closely foll following now let’s head on over to the basketball court four teams advance to the championship round of the Bahamas Association of Independent secondary schools bis playoffs last night while

Their potential opponents square off at this hour over at the Kendall GIC gymnasium the first matchup yesterday was between the St John’s College Giants who destroy the Queen’s College comments 42 to 26 meanwhile in a nailbiter in the junior boys the Queens College com beat the Jordan Prince Williams Falcons by

One point 44- 43 on the senior girls side the two teams who bottle it out in last year championships went up against each other in the playoffs this time around the Giants took down sack big red machines 45 to 26 we spoke with the team’s head coach coach Taylor following the win you

Know played more smarter ball in terms of thinking the game instead of just their abilities and you know with the defense and the offense especially with the offense you know he just move the ball around and left the open man cut get the ball score and in the final

Matchup last night the Kings Way Saints took down the Jordan Prince Williams Falcons in a victory 64 to 57 the sing head coach talked to us about the win they did they they had a focus and they wanted it and so we got to job and

Whatever is I think you guess will have to move um to improve moving on to the next round I think our rebounding and boxing out that was key and especially going against CW Sanders coach Vos is a good coach well that’s what’s making Sports at this hour I’m lorencia Smith

Stay tuned for more news on the other side of the break well has expanded their testing menu we now offer blood work drug screening and so much more our hours of operation are Monday to Friday 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturday 8:00 a.m. you’re watching Eyewitness

News well that wraps up news at this hour of course be sure to tune in to all of our social media PES for the latest on the country’s latest homicide taking place a woman has been shot and killed on ragged Island Street while coming up and Bey on the headlines with shenique

Miller more on those travel advisories issued to the Bahamas that’s coming up and Beyond the headlines it starts right after this that does it for us here at Eyewitness News it’s certainly been a pleasure having you in our company tonight on behalf of the entire news

Team I’m janana W saying good night and be safe everyone the thoughts views and comments expressed by the hosts guests and callers on beyond the headlines are not necessarily those of management ownership or production unit of the Verizon Media Group beyond the headlines is a production of ilv studios and

Cannot be reproduced or represented in part or entirety without Express written permission of the Verizon Media Group beyond the headlines is the intellectual property of the Verizon Media Group copyright 2021 Coming up tonight the Fallout from the Bahamas high crime rate continues tonight we look at the traval travel advisory issued by the government of Canada also the government of the Bahamas maintaining its position of Defense uh today in the House of Assembly minister of Tourism chesta Cooper responded to Canada’s and the

United States travel advisories we take a look also the department of road traffic rolled out a new facility to bring relief to thousands of motorists we also speak with the deputy controller as well this evening this is beyond the headlines good evening I’m shenik Miller it’s great to have you along this

Evening well Canada is the latest country to issue a travel advisory warning its citizens of the risk of traveling to the Bahamas due to the crime The Advisory Wars travelers to exercise a high degree of caution due to the high crime rates especially in the city of Nassau this is Minister of

Tourism Chester Cooper responding to that in Parliament today the recent travel advisory by the United States as well well as the recent precautionary advisory from Canada firstly let me Department’s level two warning on crime in the Bahamas has been in place for a considerable period of time which advises travelers to exercise

Precaution do not wish to diminish the gravity of the situation it is important to note that none of the 19 victims mentioned mentioned in the alert were visitors to quell this sickening wave of violent even safer Bahamas is not only a necessity for our residents but also a vital component of

Maintaining a secure environment for our guests and one of the ways we make our streets safer is with amendments like these that we put forward today bale as pointed out by the previous speakers is a right a Cornerstone of legal system used we must also acknowledge that the

Right exists to Liberty is not absolute especially when it poses a threat to society and individual safety the reason attacks are largely concentrated in inner city areas seldomly frequented by tourists the crime situation in Nassau must be addressed but must not be allowed to cast a shadow over all of our 16 Island

Destinations where Tranquility warm hospitable people and the natural beauty of our country abounds now Linton Richie has been following the story all day he joins me now to talk about the seriousness of these advisories and what they mean for travel and of course our number one industry Linton good evening to you it’s

Good to have you here on the show I know you did a whole story in the news but it’s good for you to just come and let’s just kind of discuss it really um uh you heard the minister of Tourism talk about you know sort of his response again

Basically repeating what the office of the Prime Minister said and the Prime Minister had to say as well earlier this week um um um what can you tell us though about this advisory you know well to begin I think it’s fair that we look at when the first US Travel um advisory

Warning was issued to its citizens that happened on January 24th which was just a week ago and then in the second the travel advisory one was bumped up to level two on January 26 which is just two days in between the 24th and the 26th they bumped it up to level two now

For those you know who don’t know the US has four levels of a um travel advisory warning level one is um exercise and normal precautions level two is um exercising increased caution level three is where they recommend to consider travel and level four is where they say

Do not travel at all right and we’re at a level two in two days now I think it’s fair that we note that between January 24th and 26 there were no murders but the travel advisory was bumped up to level two and then before the 24th when the initial travel advisory warning was

Issued um there no murder no murder happened before the last murder took place on January 21st excuse me so I think you know um it’s fair to say that it is happening fast and swiftly they acting swiftly and put I I hear you and I know many people are saying come on

United States excuse me I mean take the take the beam out of your own eye that’s how it goes right that’s saying um before you can say that and yes uh perhaps no homicides happened uh but the point is their thing is and and we take

The defense of saying look at the look at the crime in your own Nation how dare you talk about sort of the the the this this 19 homicides in in the Bahamas in a month whereas in one city or in one state you have that perhaps in a week

And and and God forbid any murder is just one too many but the thing about it is uh when you compare population size when you compare that this is a tourist destination that we sell heavily on and we depend heavily on they have a right

To want to want to put their citizens on guard correct yes um going back to you know the point that you made about you know population size and Country and all that stuff you know it’s fair to say you know in states such as Miami Chicago New York San Francisco States like that

You know crime is very high in those States correct but I feel like you know the the eye is on the Bahamas because number one we’re very small number two we sell tourism that’s our number one industry I mean for God’s sake exactly I mean it employs more than half of the

Nation you understand so I feel like this us travel advisory one could affect us in in some way shape or form and for in people’s decisions and in fact you have been and I I know cuz uh we talked about it earlier today in The Newsroom you have been following this really

Since morning cuz we spoke since early this morning then again in The Newsroom this afternoon uh but the point is you’ve seen some sort of responses like that um on various social media posts hav’t you yes correct um I think it’s important to note that um International

Media Outlets such as like CNN ABC News Fox New York Times post even as early as yesterday released um a travel advisory article on the bah and I do believe that some of these could be a little misleading I would say um because you know they speak about free port and

Allegic crimes that happens there and in my head I had to think to myself well um did I miss something yeah no no some of it some of it has some of it have been erroneous uh reporting in fact over the weekend uh L TR raming the communications director and the office

Of the Prime Minister uh reached out to the Daily Mail and say listen you must correct this this didn’t happen here um and and he got it corrected which is good to that he was persistent in doing that and so yes a lot of it see and the

Thing is but they they don’t listen we know how it is to kind of go after a story sometimes you’re not privy to all of the information so we we we put the story together so so their thing is though it’s already been put out there

And it just looks bad entirely even if they’re off by one or by an incident it still reflects poorly on This Nation correct and I mean you know once again I think we all speak in this nation of how powerful of a tool social media is it’s

Very powerful so you have these Tik toks um and these Facebook posts and these uh Twitter articles going out there stating you know the Bahamas travel advisory war in very dangerous um murders happening just um couple days into the New Year all these things I mean it is bad press

Which initially it alarmed me as a citizen because you have you know our Deputy Prime Minister ches Cooper weeks ago he reported that um he doesn’t think that right he doesn’t think that it will impact our nation and I mean to me I was at first I was like okay let’s see where

This goes but now we are seeing the impact I mean for God’s sakes you have people on commenting on these articles in these videos that are being made by people that have 50,000 followers on Tik Tok 70,000 followers almost 100,000 followers on these social media platforms and they’re saying they’re

Canceling their trips or they’re afraid wa wait you’ve seen see because I’ll tell you this and I I need I want to slow you down there because last evening on this show we also talked about that the Fallout and uh C was on that uh show as part of my panelist and the

Discussion and he said that there was a New York New York congressman who traveled here to personally has his guest um with a family member and he overheard people saying that and the flight the Delta flight obviously usually full was was not even half full and and and he overheard people

Basically expressing their concerns about traveling or being here so you have saying with your own eyes youve seen people on the social media posts in response basically saying the same thing correct I mean we could roll the the Tik Tok video right let’s roll the Tik Tok

Video with um worldwide travel guide was the account I believe that posted the Tik Tok and then you have persons in the comments stating that you know they have canceled their trips but then also I mean on the good side of things you do are people acknowledging no let’s let’s

Hear this person then we talk about there are people who coming in defense correct of the Bahamas so uh if if chance um has that broad daylight Tory gang violence has plagued this area and now it’s starting to affect us travel they also added a concern about short-term rentals here saying that they

Don’t have the private security force that they do at most hotels in The Advisory it says that gang violence can happen in the resort areas as well as outside of it the highest rate of crime is reportedly past Shirley Street anything past this street can be very dangerous to tourists they also mention

Recreational watercraft Vehicles these tours that they take you on are barely ever regulated this means a lot of bad things can happen a lot of these operators do not have safety certifications and they also have watercraft that is poorly maintained always be on the lookout for red flags

When you’re traveling to naso the Bahamas Commissioner of police has yet to release a statement regarding this issue you can read the full travel advisory on the US state Department’s official website don’t let this information discourage you if you are going but always stay safe stay safe

Stay informed and follow me for the latest travel news very much chance for that now that’s damaging uh what how many followers you said well how many views did that video have well I’m not sure on the amount of views but I know the account itself that posted the video has

Over 50,000 followers and that video received over 30,000 likes and that was earlier this morning we’re now at evening I mean Tik Tok is it doesn’t stop no it doesn’t stop and so what are some of the the comments on the on the video yeah well you know you have some

People that are frantic they are worried they’re saying they’re canceling their trips to the Bahamas someone said that they were supposed to come next month they have to reconsider that then you do have some people on the other end of the spectrum stating that you know well I

Don’t I don’t think it’s it’s not like that or they may say um I remember one guy said that I was from I’m from Baltimore this is this is a usual you know stuff like that so you do have people watch and I do want to point out for you watching wherever you’re

Watching and we have the audience it goes beyond the Bahamas so I want to say a lot of that video is is um you know when you take Liberties and being over sensationalized yes yes a lot of it is true it is however there were some things mentioned that’s totally

Sensationalism correct I think that you know once again like you said a lot of those stuff are true I I don’t think anyone’s here to say it’s not true it’s all false no no one is saying that but I do believe that some of it is being

Exaggerated I mean for instance you just heard you just heard him yesterday I mean not yesterday you just heard him a few moments ago in the Tik Tok video basically saying not even the hotels are safe I mean which is untrue exactly Atlantis Bahama like security levels it’s it’s

Very high there you understand what I mean I mean you even have people there um Walking The Halls doing all these different things so um um up the security measures however now if we do want to speak about you know him I’m talking about rental properties such as

Like airbnbs and things of that sort I mean we cannot control that unfortunately you know what I mean and I feel like that’s for anywhere in the world once again anywhere in the world airbnbs are it’s an unregulated industry it’s still relatively new anywhere in

The world exactly so you can go we we bamans can go and travel somewhere and you know go on Airbnb and rent and you know rent a rental property and we are not exactly sure of the neighborhood that we are staying in so the same thinking goes for here and the Bahamas

So I do believe that you know some of it once again is true but a l a lot of it can be misleading I mean come on now we can’t try and bring down our hotels as well I think that’s a bit absurd if you

Ask me it absolutely is and you know uh Linton you did an excellent job following this throughout the day your news story was very thorough I thank you for also being thorough here this evening um as we discuss this because I’ll tell you we don’t need to bury our

Head in the Sands about it ignore it and wish it away it has to be addressed headon correct and and with tougher measures as well yes we there were some measures introduced and talked about by the Prime Minister even last evening he he along with uh several high level

Police officers and others walked through the Bane and grown Comm constituency um but there’s so much more that needs to be done CU this reputation needs to be salvaged corre the country’s reputation must be salvaged correct and I think too you know it’s also good to acknowledge you know the TPM this

Morning in House of Assembly stating that these crimes these violent acts that are happening they aren’t happening in tourist areas I mean as a local I will say that I mean the murders that have been occurring they were in Camp Road lily of the valley Carmichael East

Street Pinewood I mean none of those are I I I kind of I kind of don’t want to Rejoice over that yes we’re happy that our tourists and and I’ll tell you the police are coming up later because they’ll they we’ll get an update on some of those sexual assaults that happened

At the weekend hopefully but but the point is you don’t want to say and we’re happy that tourists have not been in the caught in the crossfire corre but theeman also deserve to feel safe correct to be protected and to live a good quality of life agreed we are

Living here this is our country so I do feel is though once again that we shouldn’t the whole um topic surrounding crime I don’t think it should be so focused on just making sure that our tourists are safe cuz like you said we live here 24 hours a day 365 days a year

We are the citizens we ought to feel safe in our country as well so I do think it’s time you know to for us to shift the focus and let’s talk about the citizens of the Bahamas the ones who live here how are we ensuring that we

Can be safe we can go about our daily Affairs and not have to worry about you know something happening to one of us so I do believe that you know we need to maybe not not don’t look at you know the tourism industry and how crime affects

It but let’s double down on us as Bohemians our when and when we do that then we know certainly the tourists are safe exactly and those reports don’t have to go out there because now it’s Canada it’s the United States it’s it’s the United Kingdom and I’m not sure

Wherever else in fact I thought somebody said they saw a report emanating out of Australia and so we don’t listen listen we will make headlines yes but not for this because after all tourism will all is a main stay it has been a main stay in this nation since before independence

We want that to continue while we develop other Industries but that certainly of course is the foundation um of our economy and to keep it going correct and I mean in good news you have celebrities out there who are frequent visitors to our country who own homes in

Our country and you know they say the Bahamas is say some of these things are misleading you know stop like posting these false reports and some of them aren’t necessarily false but you know just parking up the right exactly you know they’re parking up the country and

Saying that exactly and I think that is good cuz when you have I mean for example I can say like Lali is a comedian Entertainer M Miller rapper very two frequent visitors to the Bahamas and they have over 27 million followers combin so exactly so for them

To speak out on something like this and you know post something to their Pages what millions of people follow I do believe that it’s good for us you know what I mean you have people out there who are stating that hey yes the Bahamas is safe I haven’t experienced this when

I’ve been there beautiful country great state great experience and I mean once again just one thing could we out a thousand BS one good thing can we out a th000 BS yeah yeah I I absolutely agree with you I thank you very much Linton because you do you spent an an

Incredible amount of time uh all day today really uh bringing all the pieces together and following all of the different the different sort of reports and and and what was said in the house of Parliament and all the rest of it and I thank you very much for sticking

Around and um um I’m having this discussion with me this evening thank you definitely thank you so much even uh that’s Linton Richie of course one of our reporters here at eyewitness news thank you once again don’t go anywhere because when we come back we’re going to

Take a look at Family Island policing and also the policing in the northern part of New Providence which includes Paradise Island but but family Island and the reason I said that you see what’s been taking shape in Abaco you see in certain parts of U through you even heard the minister of National

Security talk about that of of just those hot spots and so we’ll talk about we’ll speak with rather the assistant commissioners of police who are in charge of those areas um and hear their plans to get it back in control this is beond the headlines we’re back right after this Welcome back to beyond the headlines well this evening we’re going to shift our Focus really continue on the issue of crime and restoring the Bahamas reputation and speak with the officers the very senior officers in charge of some key areas in this nation areas that have started to have their own issues

With crime and criminality of course we’re talking about Abaco and in some hot spots in elra and even one of the senior officers who is in charge of a portion of New Providence as well while being in charge of the family islands and so welcome to be on the headlines

Assistant commissioners of police here with me uh assistant Commissioner of police Kenwood Taylor and also assistant Commissioner of police in charge of Gran Bahama Abaco and bimy Shanta noes good evening to both of you uh good evening shenik uh thank you for having me good evening yes good evening yes absolutely

And I want to say congratulations permit me sir I just need to tell the luthra girl uh congratulations to her um of course everybody is saying hey the first female officer in charge of the northern Bahamas is fantastic and so congratulations to you thank you thank

You yes now I will start with you because you have your hands full yes you in charge of you’re in Gran Bahama you’re based there now and you are in charge of Gran Bahama but you are having quite the issue um in Abaco uh um um in

Fact it’s it’s quite worrisome how how crime is is is unfolding there uh can you please give us an idea of what’s happening and and the plan to get that Island back into the wonderful peaceful tranquil Paradise it once was well shenik I’ll tell you that I do

Believe that Abaco is still the peaceful tranquil Paradise that you say it was I believe it still is um we’ve had some issues on Abaco we’ve had two shooting incidents on Abaco we know that uh those incidents are isolated incidents one resulted in the death of a young man

That matter is still under investigation and we are following significant leads into that matter uh that is still open we will continue to work our communities and by the way the community is assisting us with information and we want to say thank you you in a second

Incident we have taken a young man into custody and he has been arraigned before the magistrates Court in connection with that incident again an isolated incident uh that uh is a is as a result of people not making um right choices making poor choices and not being able to resolve

Their conflicts but instead resorting to violence um I have commissioned my offices on Abaco to get back back into the streets we know that the commissioner has asked all of us and and from time to time you will see him I believe on the streets and so

I’ve asked my officers to get back on the streets into Abaco get into the communities all the communities no exception and partner with the people so that they would uh trust us so that they would uh give us information that would help us to make their Community safer or

Or or reduce the fair of crime in their Community I do believe that that is our biggest challenge the fair of crime rather than crime itself in our community yes and if we if we can certainly keep our offices out on the streets be visible then that will

Certainly reduce the fair of crime on our streets how important is it for you to get those uh community members many of whom just as you said are fearful I I spoke could have been last week after the the the the first homicide in Abaco um happened uh I spoke with the family

Members and one of them said Shen this is why I mov from New Providence for this piece for this one and now just as you said uh ACP that people are driving around Abaco looking over their shoulders because it’s it’s other levels of crime as well that’s developed and

They feel as though obviously it’s the new faces you know how you know how the family Island go but they feel as though listen now they are uncomfortable uh they’re they’re looking over their shoulder Etc so how how are your offices and how are you directing them one to

Infiltrate to become sort of that one with the community again and then to help diffuse that fa of crime that’s crept up in Abaco you know shenik it’s important for the people of Abaco and and any Community to know that you just can’t just sit back and allow a few

Young Thugs for lack of a better word at this time to create such Havoc or fear in our community someone must take a stand the police is standing and so we ask them to stand with us do not be afraid we will protect you as best as we

Can but we need the information to get these people off the streets and we can’t do it without the community and so we ask the people in Abaco who may have information about what is going on the illegal activity that may be going on in

Avoco to reach out to us and give us the information we’re not asking you to come into our station and be seen but give us a call there is a commander in a chief superintendent art and there are three Chief uh sorry three superintendents there on that island

They are all in the community so tap them on the shoulder and say I want to talk to you give me your telephone number I want to send you some information that can help to solve this issue that is happening in my community um and so until we get full partnership

From the community instead of people saying that we are so afraid and I can understand people saying that but we need to be brave enough to get out now and help the police create safer communities yes yes ma’am uh yes ACP well I’ll tell you ACP Taylor you

Outside of the very northern islands that ACP uh shanton NS is in charge of you were in charge of the family Islands um and then which includes El luthro where um she was credited with doing a good job I don’t know if she had an issue with hatched Bay at the time she

Was there but I want to ask you ACB Taylor because the minister of National Security on this show singled out Hatchet Bay and one or two other areas in he Lu through that that that is that began having issues uh what what are you planning on doing sir to to help restore

The wonderful peaceful nature of what ilra used to be used to boast about being and also the wider Bahamas what I’d like to say that um what we’ve already started doing commissioner uh Clayton Fernando always speak about predictive policing and to be able to be able to prevent these matters we’ve

Stepped up up to the plate and I have um Chief superintendent henfield he is currently just yesterday M he was in the hatchet Bay Area um he had a town meeting and doing walkabouts and meeting with the citizenry in that area another Hotpot area we we had and have is the um

The north of that no just no um could you could you pause yeah no no no wait wait let’s just go on you mean in you mean in North El Lu area is that my my apology no that’s fine Commissioner of police would have communicated um with

His senior executive team and what we have done already is to be very predictive and we are in the business of preventing these incidents so Hatchet Bay was one of the areas where we would have had a um town meeting and walk about that is very good I want to

Commend you on that sir first because I and the reason I say that is because the Lu an have reached out and the lutherans have expressed concern and no and of course as I said the minister of National Security himself zeroed in on hatet Bay being an issue but El

Lutherans have been uh in that area quite concerned about the level of violence uh we know we had even a homicide I think sometime last year and just just multiple violent acts that have happened now Harbor Island is a surprise yes I know it’s issue with immigration and other issues that it’s

Having but what what are you noticing there as a friend well we have noticed um migrants have surfaced at that and on that island and so what we have stepped up uh Patrols in that area uh walkabouts and you’re going to see some significant um police presence in that area what we

Realize shenique is visibility is key people want to see the police they want to be able to interact with the police and so we have stepped up our patrols we’ve stepped up our road checks you know that we’ve had um several fatalities in that area so our presence

On our streets is is going to be stepped up yeah um um ACP knows you too um in in Abaco unfortunately uh you know these islands like elra Abaco too is long and the roads are are um mainly nice um and so people tend to take advantage of that

With these long drives and speeding and and and unfortunately it hasn’t always ended well and so yes we have had fatalities in one fatality so far on Avo but we know that there were fatalities last year too many and then of course here on Grand Bahama and certainly we

Know that because of the fair road conditions people drivers take advantage of that and so my officers have been conducting Road checks uh a lot of people complain that we are out there and we are hampering their movement or that we are you find that I I was told

That we are trying to make the treasury Rich that is not the case we are certainly trying to educate people but we also want to enforce the laws as we do so um in the past week we have had operations here on Grand Bahama and and

And and on Abaco which resulted in uh us issuing fixed penalty notices here in Grand Bahama and the majority of them are for persons who are speeding who are driving in excess of the speed limit on our streets yeah and then of course on Abaco we’ve issued um reports because we

Don’t have fixed penalty notices there so we have to issue reports and again it’s for the same reason but we are out there and we’re checking and and while we’re doing that we are uh checking suspicious Vehicles yesterday um in one of these operations our officers on

Abaco were able to take someone into custody who was in possession of a illegal firearm and dangerous drugs so I do know that my officer off on are out there and are giving their best to our community I I just wanted to say um an ACP NOS would have mentioned

Reporting on the family island of uthra some 227 TOS were issued to persons who are Traffic Offenders also just recently a few weeks ago so you all are really because El Lu need just like Luther need that firm hand on on traffic violators just recently uh us counterparts American the American

Embassy would have donated some six jaws of life and I I’m happy to say that the commissioner has instructed that the family Island receive four of those jaws of life and so elra which would have had those two fatalities back to back is the recipient of one of those jaws of life

So we feel that we can save lives um by having that appar at that location and even but just just discourage people from speeding to begin with and I know it’s so tempting on those islands truly it is like El Luther like um um um Abaco and and Long Island another Island where

There’s a huge stretch of roadway uh but certainly of course it’s good to know that you all are are just how the police here has work on your nerve and in terms of traffic you all are doing the same thing uh there on those islands which is

Super important I’ll I’ll ask you uh in a minute um ACP knows about your policing plan and I know bimin is quite unique in between Abaco and Grand Bahama you’re doing one thing there Bim is a whole different thing to police uh we’ll find out what’s your plan there but ACP

Taylor I’d like to ask you first of all you’re in charge of the rest of the family islands like like like um what what’s your plan to keep because you see our reputation getting a a hit so hard internationally to keep this wonderful pristine beautiful Bahamas um um um

Outside of new New Providence the way it is and have people enjoy it Bohemians and visitors alike and then I want to ask you about New Providence um but what’s your plan for the for 2024 and keeping the the rest of this country safe communicating with I’ll speak to

The family Island now we operate by way of Zoom we realize that in a few weeks we’re going to have a lot of Spring Breakers they’re not just going to come to Nassau yes they’re going to come to the family Island so our objective is to

Ensure that they are safe they are able to be um to have fun to be able to enjoy our sun Sand and Sea and so we have stepped up our operations on all of the family Islands we’re predictive we we’re looking at areas our hotpots um that you

Know just two or three of our Islands have major hot spots and our objective is just to ensure that we have saturation Patrols in those areas because we once they’re there tourist wants to go and they want to get the the beaming con salad the fish fry and all

Of that they want to be able to feel safe so our objective is to ensure that they are safe we I’m responsible for the tourism Port I’m responsible for Central Division AR Key Porter ski and for a Charlotte and so and Paradise Island you are you have a heavy load beside the

Rest of the nation like this um outside of of ACP NOS perview you have the rest of the nation like this and some key areas here in the capital so let’s talk about that um this this perhaps will be sensitive um you can say as much as you

Can or or not um but of course we know unfortunately two visitors and thank God this isn’t this isn’t you know this isn’t the Focus right now but two female visitors were sexually violated over the weekend one of them an 80 year 81 year old woman um any update on those

Investigations um have people been taken into C yes um the one that with respect to the 81y old we have a suspect in custody and I’d like to commend the officers of the Paradise Island police station shortly after that incident took place they were able to take that

Suspect into custody and hand him over to the C Vision that um that suspect should be going before the court very soon we also have an identification with respect to the the other um female victim yeah um so we she was from Mexico right that’s correct is from Mexico

That’s correct and so we are circulating wanted posters you should be getting that that person is still wanted that’s correct we should have that person and we know who the suspect is and so our objective is to have him in custody wonderful investigators wow and so you’re going to you’re going to send

That bulletin out that’s correct okay and so in those areas officers have um because you know spring break is big in those areas and so those divisions work in collaboration with each other we have an operation team that is out and about we also have ceasefire that’s checking all of the

Nightclubs because we realize that you know tourists will want to visit the the nightclubs and the hotspot they don’t want to remain within the hotel parameter and so you have the assistant Commissioners we’re out and about also supporting yes supporting our offic you are there with your team yeah supporting

Our officers because you remember ACP of the area one of the areas in which you have preview and like it’s it’s that another hot spot you mentioned the fact that spring break is Right Upon Us yeah Senor frogs uh during the whole December January period that big fight that broke

Out yes and my God that was disturbing to see all the chairs and bottles and all the stuff flying all over and the tourist sitting there like what what wild wild west is this very much so and we have are licensing the inspection team are checking all of these

Businesses just to ensure that they’re Li licenses are up to date okay and where there are infractions we um um report them accordingly yes sir so oh well it sounds good you both are doing great um ACP NOS I’d like to ask you about bimin which is

Quite unique I think Guan baham and abako may have a bit more in common bimin is a little different in that the fact that it’s it it’s made up differently it it looks differently I I I what presents there um um in terms of what you’re noticing and your officers

Well I’ll tell you the good thing about it is so far for the year we’ve only had one matter of concern coming out of Demon and that was the matter involving the young child um who it is alleged that that child had um ingested um digested uh edible um gummies which may

Have been laced with marijuana some THC product um so Chief superintendent Brian Ru and his team are certainly on the ground in Bim um making checks of all of those areas that may be concerned to the people of bimin making checks of the especially around the tourist areas to

Ensure that Law and Order is kept and to ensure that our tourists can enjoy the beauty of bimy and so again we know that there are issues coming out of bimy and in up in partnership with our Royal Bahamas Defense Force and uh our us counterparts we are policing the waters

Around bimy also yeah that that’s initiatives have been in place for a while and they certainly will continue because we we know what could happen if if we uh rest a little on our Laurels I agree and so certainly um Mr Taylor talk about um the the things or or some of

The ideas that he and his team are doing here or or on gr on New Providence and in the family Islands well we are mirroring the very same things here on Grand Bahama and in abako we are looking at prolific offenders we are targeting them we are monitoring incidents that

Occur um even minor incidents and dealing with them swiftly so that those minor incidents don’t mushroom into bigger problems in our community um recently we had a matter involving a juvenile or involving juveniles we were able to take a juvenile maale into custody um unfortunately we had to put

Them before the courts but that matter could have turned out worse if we had not intervened and so we are paying attention to the nightclubs where if you’ve been also paying attention you know that so far for the year we’ve had two deaths of young men in our community

And the presence of fentanyl was found in their system wow and so we are working our community here on Grand Bahama to find those who are responsible or who in possession of dangerous drugs so that we can get them off our streets and save the lives of our young people

And that’s something ACP noes and Taylor we don’t want to see become an issue here those opioids that’s what theol is of we certainly don’t want to see that be common on the streets CU then that’s a whole different level of problems should that become regular and so we do have someone before

The court for a matter last year and shortly we will be putting someone else before the courts here in Grand Bahama in connection with one of those Debs wow but again we continue to work our streets I have a strong team from the rapid response unit here on Grand Bahama

Who are making sure that their presence are felt on the streets of Grand Bahama at night time I have a team here at CID who will not rest until they are sure that their matters are completed and thoroughly uh investigated and put before the courts I have a very strong

Traffic team who are ensuring that the rules of the roads are enforced and that we educate people as we do so then there’s my urban renewal team who’s out in a about in our communities let me just say that on Friday at 3 p.m. we will be walking the community of pendis

Point it is important for us to walk every Community I boast about El because of course that is home as you know um but for the months that I’ve been there I’ve walked every settlement on elro Wow the importance of that is so that the people in each settlement will know

Who their Commander is but more importantly know who their officers are and know that we are in partnership with them the I the idea is for them to feel comfortable enough for us for them to be able to communicate with us anything at any time and so we will be in pendis

Point on Friday um to build partnership with the members of the community of pendis point today I had the pleasure of meeting with heads of departments here government departments here on Grand Bahama to to strengthen the relationship between uh the police force and those other departments we have a relationship but

Of course you know with transfers we must introduce ourselves and strengthen the partnership between our organizations and I’m pleased with that with the meeting today and I I look for great things to come from Grand Bahama I look for great things in terms of us um

Ensuring that we can reduce the fair of crime in our community and support those vulnerable people out there who need our help yes my I tell you so much and I I I’m happy you even mentioned urban renewal and I know ACP Taylor a urban renewal is a part of what you’re doing

As well but it’s so important because um um just even earlier today and it’s a show that I’m going to bring next week uh a lady stopped here this afternoon to see me to talk about the level of poverty she’s noticing and I certainly want to have that discussion discussion

With her so that she can begin linking with urban renewal to help make things happen because you both certainly obviously you know in your vast experience that that also is sometimes it an area how crime festers and and grows and so uh I I thank you both and I

Know that you’re super busy you have a lot particularly now going on on in your both of your plates um and what you’re responsible for but for stopping by because this needs to get out to the International Community as well the fact that you know this nation needs to work

Over time in sending the message that the Bahamas is safe that our police force active and making things happen and addressing very aggressively a new word that you all love using very aggressively any issue that pops up and so I want to give each of you an

Opportunity um as we wrap up to to to speak to the International Community or the regional because we have we have viewers in the region and and obviously the United States and Beyond to speak to them out there about about that the fact that the Bahamas is a wonderful place to

Visit perhaps is experiencing some social social issues like anywhere else but our police force remains remains steadfast and certainly available and able to serve and make things uh happen and get back in alignment and so um I guess I I’ll let her go first and then

You ACP okay so go ahead ACP an thank you very much um it is important that we let the world know that the Bahamas is still a beautiful place we are still the paradise here um for our visitors to come we’ve had uh minor incidents or well sorry we’ve had incidences here in

Our country but nothing like you said nothing that other people have not experienced in their country I can guarantee you that the Northern District of the Bahamas certainly the Bahamas in total but the Northern District of the Bahamas where I am now in charge is a

Place that you can come and feel free to come at any time our offices are on the streets um the fair of crime we can feel that the fair of crime is diminishing because of the presence of the police because of partnership with our communities and so

I say to our tourists come on down to the Bahamas um you’ll never get this experience anywhere else our beautiful sand our beautiful beaches the beautiful people here in the Bahamas we certainly will take good care of you our officers of the Royal Bahamas police force we understand the importance of our tourism

Industry and certainly will and of course the importance of protection of our own people and certainly we will work to ensure that everyone is protected yes absolutely shenik I I’m an officer I have 38 plus years I’ve been privileged to travel extensively throughout the world and I’ve never seen

Any place as safe as the Bahamas we have our hotpots um when you look at our statistical data last year um our murders we’ve had um 60% of those were solved our commissioner has taken an approach where we going to be in a preventive mood and so thus you see us

Out and about just ensure that our visitors feel safe and they able to enjoy themselves the Sun the sand and the Sea the Bahamas is a very safe place and we encourage them to visit thank you I thank you may I add that I do know that the commissioner at

Some point will have his Meet the Press and so I encourage you to listen to the statistics that are coming out of Grand Bahama especially and you will see that the officers here have certainly put in uh a lot of work here on Grand Bahama and you will be pleased with what the

Statistics especially one portion of it that came from Grand that is going to come from Van baham and so I want to say certainly want to say thank you to the officers for Grand Bahama uh Grand Bahama especially for the awesome work that they have been doing and and

Certainly for the year 2023 positive outlook for 2024 absolutely and we and we support you I’ll tell you that uh we support you both you here in Grand Bahama of course ACP Taylor here in New Providence and of course his his portfolio which covers the rest of the

Bahamas and our Royal Bahamas police force we certainly do because because when you succeed the country succeeds and so we certainly support each of you continue the excellent work that you’re doing obviously great messages that you’ve sent out to the world this evening and certainly of course again

The Bahamas is behind our Royal Bahamas police force thank you all very much it’s a message that’s so needed locally here and abroad uh of course assistant commissioners of police are here beside me uh kenw Taylor and of course out of Freeport Gran Bahama assistant commissioner police Shanta noes thank

You both thank you don’t go anywhere because when we come back we going to uh tackle another Hot Topic and hot button issue that’s been sort of Brewing recently and that is the road traffic department some good news there stay exactly where you are be on the headlines is back after this Welcome back to beyond the headlines well relief is in sight for thousands of motorists who over the last several days have had quite the issue of whether licensing their vehicles Towing long lines trying to get access to renew their driver’s license well the department of road traffic earlier today

Rolled out a new facility on University Boulevard where they are certainly promising that it’s going to be a different story in the days to come for so so many motorists who are seeking to have those very important Services done we are happy to have the deputy controller of road traffic the

Department of road traffic Kevin mmore joining us this evening Mr mmore good evening to you welcome to be on the headlines it’s good to have you here sir and and you know what I can say this congratulations for for this quick response and getting things done and and

Back on the right path for motorists good evening Shenika and good evening Bahamas um yes it is relief um I must say that um the minister along with the permanent secretary put out all stops to ensure that um we get back to business um at a greater part of the assisting

The motoring public um with vehicle licensing uming plates receiving driver’s license so I must say that the road traffic team did an outstanding job from Friday to the day you bet right cuz immediately you all you all shut down the stadium location and have this so

This location is bigger and I know of course our news team was there earlier today you all saw the story uh uh just a while ago on the newscast but you are saying that it’s a it’s it’s bigger it’s more conducive for the staff very much

Get the work done for the staff and for the general public so I must say that um thanks to the ministry of works for permitting us to use that building which is only temporary at this time um you know we are in P in process of moving into our official permanent resident yes

On um Tony D highway so that’s good then this is this I I commend I commend you the minister the team because you move to a temporary location while the permanent location is still under under works and that so that is good well let’s talk about what’s available now

Because a number of things were going on and lacking you mentioned something that’s very key and that is the the the renewing of drivers licenses is that available now yes what happened now is the used it was always available it’s just that um it took between three to 5 days in some inst

Before you got the driver’s license um but um since that process started um late last year persons are not coming to collect their driver’s license so we have an excess of probably 2,500 driver’s license that are waiting to be issued and you know the minister in know

Along with the PS they met and um decided that next week Friday and Saturday and I think Minister Mario B was the acting minister of energy and house and and transport indicated that we will be at the mall at Marathon oh okay um we will be doing a um

Distribution of vehicle plates and we have an excess of 2200 plates to be issued so that’s that’s because I’ll tell and it’s good that you said that earlier today I was told oh shenique there are no license plates either and I’m like no no no there are license

Plates available so you were saying right now Deputy controller that there are license plates available and next week Friday and Saturday yes ma’am that you will you have to go to the mall at Marathon for the distribution to be able to collect yours all those who would

Have applied prior yes those would have been issued because what we did we recognized that persons although we were not able to get the plates persons were be able to have the vehicle’s license so we met with Chief superintendent St from road traffic department Ro Traffic Division sorry from the police

Department Ro Traffic Division and he indicated and we shared similar comments with him um consultant um vanan Newman that persons were issued once they would have paid they issue with a receipt from Ro traffic once they he the stump and sign he would accept that as the vehicle

To be license and would not be reported so persons who had vehicles license but didn’t have plates still had a document to present to the police to avoid being reported tiet you buy cuz when was he told of this cuz you know he came on I

Think it could have been Monday and said listen if you are caught uh in violation of the law and any which way the traffic laws no driver’s license Etc you will be ticketed uh yes I think it came on on Friday okay and we met at him on Monday

Okay right and very the same the the same for your driver’s license you would have paid for your driver license you have your receipt um you present your receipt to the police officer and you’re not ticket it so let’s talk about that the hard copy then of and so by the way

You all understand that the driver’s license plates uh the license plates are available they will be distributed this uh next week next Friday and Saturday at the mall at Marathon any times um we’re going to go from 9:00 to 5:00 from 9: to 5:00 you heard that now next week that’s

Friday and Saturday go collect your plates they available the police ain’t giv you a break after that what about the hard copies of the driver’s license itself what is the issue with the machine that this machine has been out of operation now for quite a number of months well the machine in New

Providence um has been out for a few months but um it did not neglect the fact of us getting driver’s license here but in the 3 to 5 days period like I indicated that machine is now being serviced um the person

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