NASSAU, The Bahamas -- The Bahamas and the Republic of Cuba officially resumed technical discussions on the delimitation of the maritime boundary between the two countries, Monday, September 6, 2010.

Already, two rounds of talks have been held; the first round of preliminary discussions, which established the framework for future meetings, was held in Nassau in 2005.

This was followed up by a technical meeting, which took place in Havana, Cuba on June 12, 2009, when the Bahamian delegation comprised of senior Bahamian officials with technical expertise in the area of law of the sea and maritime affairs, met with Cuban officials.

As was the case at the previous technical meeting, the Bahamian delegation, which participated in this third round of discussions included representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Attorney General’s Office, the Ministry of the Environment, the Department of Marine Resources, the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, the Bahamas National Geographic Information Systems Centre, as well as other senior government officials with expertise and experience in relevant fields.

“The resumption of discussions between The Bahamas and Cuba in order to delimit the maritime boundary between the countries, as required by the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea, is a matter of priority,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

NASSAU, Bahamas -- The Ministry of Public Works & Transport wishes to advise the public of the following traffic management measures that have been put in place in order to facilitate the ongoing road works as they relate to the New Providence Road Improvement Project.  

The measures are intended to improve the safe movement and volume of traffic flow on these roads and channel traffic onto the appropriate roads for better management of traffic through a proper road network system for motorists and pedestrians as construction continues.

 - Effective 31 August 2010, Dolphin Drive from John F. Kennedy Drive is closed.

 - Effective 29 August 2010, Bethel Avenue from Tonique William Drive Highway travelling northbound is closed.

 - Effective 04 September 2010 Bethel Avenue travelling southbound from John F. Kennedy Drive is closed.

 - Effective April 2010 Roberta Drive from Ridgeland Park West to Robinson Road is closed.

 - Effective 06 September 2010, from Claridge Road to Mollie Street is closed to traffic with local access to businesses and residents.

Once the roadworks have been completed, the public can expect to see improved traffic flow, reduced user costs, improved pavement and drainage facilities, safety features including street-lighting, signage and road markings on all of the roads under the project.

The Ministry of Public Works & Transport takes this opportunity to apologize to the businesses, residents and the motoring public for any inconveniences that may be caused as a result of the road closures and requests that the public use alternate routes.

NASSAU, Bahamas -- Bishop Cephas Ferguson presents the Governor General His Excellency Sir Arthur Foulkes with a copy of his book "The Enduring Revolution", which took Bishop Ferguson one-year to write. Pictured from left: Keith Ferguson, Bishop Cephas Ferguson, the Governor General, and ACP John Ferguson.

(BIS photo/Letisha Henderson)

Statement to Parliament on the Baha Mar Development by Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Hubert Ingraham:

THE PRIME MINISTER: Mr. Speaker,

I rise to Table a Resolution meant to garner the position and sense of the representatives of the people on the proposed Resort development by Baha Mar at Cable Beach, New Providence and to ensure that the Bahamian people are fully informed on the requirements, consequences and benefits which are projected to result for The Bahamas if the development proceeds as now proposed by the principals.

The Baha Mar project is to comprise six hotels with approximately 3,500 rooms and condominiums, an approximately 100,000 square foot casino, 200,000 square feet of convention facilities, a twenty acre beach and pool experience, an 18-hole golf course and a 60,000 square-foot retail village and additional residential products.  The total value of the project is estimated at $2.5 billion. A contract for the amount of $1.918,965,693 billion has been negotiated with the China Construction Company as primary contractors for the project.

The Resolution results from the fact that the foreign labour component intended during the construction of the Resort exceeds levels ever experienced in The Bahamas and is beyond anything ever contemplated by my Government.

In the earliest of times in the development of the tourism sector in our country in the 1950s the law and the Government permitted as much as 25% of the labour force in construction and or operation of a tourism development resort to be foreign. The Hotels Encouragement Act 1954 permitted “for the admission into The Bahamas of key personnel and special workmen both during the construction period and operation of the new hotel, subject to the proviso that at all times seventy-five per centum of the total number of persons employed in the construction or operation of the new hotel shall be natives of The Bahamas if such natives of The Bahamas are available to perform the several and respective services required.”

While that provision remained in the law, following Majority Rule a move toward Bahamianization of the work force brought change.  Beginning in the 1980s the practice evolved where large foreign components were engaged in the construction of hotels, and a smaller number of foreigners were allowed to work in the hotel upon completion.

Honourable Members will recall the substantial foreign work force engaged to construct the Crystal Palace Resort and casino, today the Wyndham Crystal Palace Resort and the US Departure Terminal at the then Nassau International Airport. At those two projects Indian, Brazilian and other foreign nationals far out-numbered Bahamian nationals on the work force.

Click HERE to read more and watch a video of the Prime Minister in Parliament

GREAT ABACO, Bahamas -- Thanks to the generosity of Schooner Bay, the Bahamas National Trust now has a southern office on the island of Abaco.

The office can be used by researchers studying the Bahama Parrot and is an excellent base for Warden David Knowles when he is spending the day in the south conducting work in the Abaco National Park.

Pictured from left are: David Knowles, BNT, Caroline Stahala, Parrot Biologist and Keith Bishop, Schooner Bay.

NASSAU, Bahamas -- Just as the deep sea fisherman was about to cut the hook from the shark’s wide open mouth and let him go, out jumped a human foot.  “Everything was intact from the knee down,” said Bahamian investment banker Humphrey Simmons, “it was mangled, but there was still flesh on the bone.”

That ended a day of fishing for Mr Simmons and his two companions who spent most of the morning trying to get away from sharks.

By the time the unusually heavy Tiger shark was landed at the Defence Force’s Coral Harbour base and his distended body cut open, the body of a man, minus his head, was found. The leg that the shark had regurgitated was the man’s left leg. Inside was his severed right leg, two severed arms and a torso in two sections.

Obviously, as Mr Simmons’ 10-year-old daughter observed, this shark had its prey all to himself. There was no sign that another shark had fought over the body. It is believed that the man had drowned before the shark swallowed him.

Mr Simmons, of Cable Beach, a banker with Xanthos Investment, and his two deep sea fishing companions — Keith Ferguson and Stanley Bernard — left Marshall Road, South Beach before 6am Saturday in Mr Simmons 30-foot Pursuit, Azulardo.  “We went 35 miles south of Nassau and started fishing about 7.45am,” said Mr Simmons. “After about 45 minutes we pulled up a fish, and a shark took it.  We left the area and went two miles further south and let out the lines again. Keith pulled up his line and before reaching the surface the shark had broken the line.”

The weather was calm with winds about 4mph blowing from the southwest.  “I always watch that before I go out,” Mr Simmons laughed.

Trying to get rid of the sharks, Mr Simmons moved again, this time about two to three miles further south. By then they were about 38 miles from Nassau.  “While pulling up my line,” he said, “I noticed that it was extra heavy. I called “Boy” (Stanley Bernard) and asked him to go get the shot gun.”

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FREEPORT, Grand Bahama -- Going back to school is an exciting time for children. They are eager to learn, ready to play and thrilled about showing off their new school gear. Of course, it can also be a nervous time of year but something as simple as a new backpack goes a long way in building a child’s self-confidence on the first day of school.

Kelly’s Freeport Ltd. has donated new backpacks to all of the students at the Grand Bahama Children’s Home. The backpacks were selected specifically for each child depending on their age, grade level and gender. The preschool students were surprised with character backpacks which included The Princess and the Frog, Spiderman, Toy Story and other fun designs.

“We are very happy to donate these backpacks to the Grand Bahama Children’s Home. Our hope is that each child will feel a bit more special carrying their new backpack into school on the first day,” said Lynne Fraino, HR & Marketing Manager at Kelly’s Freeport Ltd. “Sometimes a little act of kindness goes a long way and we are happy to do our part to assist in making this a great school year for these wonderful children.”

The Grand Bahama Children’s Home relies heavily on contributions from the business community as well as donations from individuals. Currently, the Home is taking care of nearly 30 children and preparing the students for back to school is challenging.

“We are grateful to Kelly’s for the donation of backpacks and we plead with the Grand Bahama community to remember to donate to the Children’s Home during this back-to-school time,” said Sarah Kirkby, Executive Committee Member of the Grand Bahama Children’s Home. “We are in need of snacks, toiletries, underclothes, socks and even volunteers to read and do homework with our children.”