Govt cautioned on lifting quarantine

 

 Dr. Sabriquet Pinder-Butler

The Nassau Guardian

Consultant Physicians Staff Association (CPSA) President Dr. Sabriquet Pinder-Butler is cautioning against the lifting of the quarantine requirement for domestic and international travelers without an adequate alternative in place.

Pinder-Butler said especially given that contact tracers are currently overwhelmed, it is a decision that requires serious thought.

“We have to be careful when we remove measures, that we think about what else we’re going to put in place,” she said.

“Are we going to have persons being tested when they come in the country?

“Are we going to be able to further sustain our contact tracing so that if someone becomes ill quickly, or even their test becomes positive, we’re going to be able to quickly identify them and notify all persons that they came in contact with in a timely fashion?

“We know that one of our rate-limiting steps is the timeliness with which we’re able to actually trace these contacts. And that’s because our numbers have far surpassed what it is that we’re able to trace for a small country.”  Read more >>

Lost To Lightning

 

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

LIGHTNING struck Timothy Sweeting in the “twinkling of an eye” last week Monday and changed his family forever.

The 55-year-old was pronounced dead at Princess Margaret Hospital on Thursday, several days after he was airlifted from Harbour Island.

His death brought an abrupt end to the 25-year marriage he had with Adrianna Sweeting, the 54-year-old mother who rescued his body from the water and is now struggling to cope with his death.

“Everything happened so fast,” she recalled yesterday. “I haven’t faced reality yet.”

In anticipation of inclement weather, Mr Sweeting and his wife left home early to secure his boat at the dock.

“It was only raining at that point and knowing him, if he knew the lightning was coming he wouldn’t go into the water,” Mrs Sweeting said.

“He’s been a fisherman all his life and he knows about those kinds of things. This happened in the twinkling of an eye.”  Read more >>

China will offer approved vaccine to The Bahamas

 

Royston Jones Jr.

Eyewitness News

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — As part of its growing bilateral relations, The Bahamas will be among the beneficiaries of China’s COVID-19 vaccine when approved for general use, according to Counselor at the Chinese Embassy Haigang Yin.

In an interview with Eyewitness News, Yin said China has provided The Bahamas with five separate donations of medical supplies, and technical support, including treatment protocols for the novel coronavirus.

Two weeks ago, Minister of Health Renward Wells confirmed the government committed $2 million to inoculate at least 20 percent of its population when an approved vaccine becomes available through the World Health Organization’s, and Pan American Health Organization’s, COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) Facility

Asked whether the country could also benefit directly from an approved vaccine in China, many of which have advanced to the final phase of clinical trials, Yin said: “Of course.”  Read more >>

Min. Thompson calls Re-opening of Bahamian Brewery Production Facility a “Success Story”

 

Minister of State for Grand Bahama, Senator Kwasi Thompson (centre) stands in the newly renovated and expanded warehouse at Bahamian Brewery, during a tour of the facility by Minister Thompson on Friday, September 25, 2020. Standing with Minister Thompson is James Sands, President of Bahamian Brewery (right) and Ian Rolle, President of the Grand Bahama Port Authority. (BIS Photo/Andrew Coakley)

ZNS Bahamas

Min. of State for Grand Bahama, Sen. Kwasi Thompson says the reopening of the Bahamian Brewery Company’s production facility is an example of what it means to go through hard and difficult times and come back out bigger and better.

The Minister’s comments came during a private tour of Bahamian Brewery on Friday morning, September 25, where president of the company James Sands took Minister Thompson, along with Ian Rolle, president of the Grand Bahama Port Authority, on a tour of the renovation of the facility, which is expected to restart the production of their line of products on Monday, September 28, 2020.  Read more >>

Immigration Officer who suppose to be in quarantine rights off a vehicle 2 am in the morning drunk!

Inagua: We have an incident in Inagua. A bad accident on the island early this morning.

A Immigration Officer, who tested positive for covid19 and was suppose to be home in quarantine, was out and about until 2 am in the morning spreading the COVID to the party-goers and he drunk himself into deep dunken-ness into the morning hours.

The officer on his way home 2 am Sunday with he gal when he crashed into the vehicle of the manager of Island Luck.  Read more >>

GB Power Company’s SRS charges delayed

 

SRS DELAYED – The Grand Bahama Power Company (GBPC) and its regulator, the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) announced that the proposed Storm Recovery and Stabilization (SRS) charge will be delayed to January 2021. Pictured (insert) is GBPC Corporate Communications Manager Cleopatra Russell. (PHOTO: TFN FILES)

FN Night Editor Barbara Walkin

After coming under attack in the past several months for the proposed Storm Recovery and Stabilization (SRS) charge, expected to be added to customers’ bills, a Grand Bahama Power Company (GBPC) executive sat with this daily for a candid interview recently.

GBPC Corporate Communications Manager Cleopatra Russell explained (Tuesday, September 22) that the Storm Recovery and Stabilization (SRS) charge, in part, allows the company to recoup the cost for restoration after Hurricane Dorian, for assets that were not insured.

“During Dorian, much like most of the island, we had substantial damage to our infrastructure, to our buildings, our generation facility, our transmission and distribution system and our vehicles.

“Our buildings and our energy plants, those were insured because that’s physical assets. Our transmission and distribution system, we are not able to get insurance for those assets. Nowhere in the western hemisphere are you able to get insurance for those assets,” she said.

“As per our regulatory framework we would apply to our regulator (Grand Bahama Port Authority) to have those costs recouped. That was approved in February (2020) for implementation on April 1, 2020.

“With the pandemic and the first set of lockdowns coming into effect in March, we made a decision, after consultation with the regulator, to delay the implementation of the charge,” Russell noted.

She added that at present the implementation of the charge is still delayed.  Read more >>

Bahamas strengthens legal framework in fight against financial crime

 

Christopher Copper-Ind

International Investment

The Bahamas has said it has strengthened its anti-money laundering measures, and addressed the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) ‘Action Plan', as part of a wide range of reforms designed to meet regulator concerns at countering financial crime.

In a statement released on Friday the Caribbean jurisdiction said that it was fully committed to maintaining "a high level of readiness in addressing regulatory and best practice challenges."

The Central Bank of The Bahamas established an anti-money laundering Analytical Unit in 2018, and the Securities Commission of The Bahamas and the Insurance Commission of The Bahamas also established AML Analytical Units to ensure compliance, according to the statement.  Read more >>