Bahamas News

The Bahamas has been rated as the top honeymoon spot in the world by internationally-renowned travel site “Expedia.com:” aside from that ranking, however, The Bahamas failed to make the top ten in any of the other lists, some of which might be surprising.

The destination beat out Barbados, Paris, St. Lucia, the Seychelles and other top destinations around the world in the honeymoon category, including New York, Reykjavik, Venice, Sardinia and Mauritius.

The rating came out of the website’s listing of “Top Tens,” in which destinations were rated in a number of categories, such as “Beach Holidays,” “Hip Hotels,” “Dream Destinations,” and “Film Set Locations,” among others.

Of The Bahamas as a honeymoon destination, Expedia was quite frank.

“Though much of The Bahamas has become built-up from its success at attracting American tourists, there are still plenty of places for seclusion,” the site reads. “Long walks on beautiful beaches and luxurious hotels make this an ideal honeymoon destination.”

In other listings it would seem natural for The Bahamas to score well in, the results were not so positive. The Bahamas was absent, for instance, from the list of the top ten beach holidays, losing out to places like Barbados, Jamaica and the French Riviera, among others.

With two world-class all-inclusives on New Providence, one might be forgiven for expecting The Bahamas to rate in a category like “Top Ten Family All-Inclusive Hotels,” but one would have been mistaken.

The Club Embarcadero Pacifico in Puerto Vallarta (Mexico) took top honours in that category, with all-inclusives in Barbados, Jamaica, St. Lucia, the Dominican Republic and Antigua making the top ten.

And in the category of “Top Ten Dream Destinations,” the results were as scattered across the globe as could be expected, but again, The Bahamas was absent – Australia led the way, with the Amalfi Coast, Egypt, South Africa and the French Riviera all represented at the top.

Interestingly, The Caribbean was also among the top ten “dream destinations,” but no individual islands from the region were names specifically.

The Journal was unable to reach either Tourism Minister Neko Grant, State Minister for Tourism Bran McCartney or Director General of Tourism Vernice Walkine for comment.

Source: Bahama Journal

BTC’s attorney Dr. Lloyd Barnett explained that VoIP allows the licensee to bring in a transmission – in data form – over the Internet and convert it to voice.

BTC is seeking declarations that it has the exclusive right and use of VoIP technology and that it should be free from competition in this area.

Opposing the appeal is the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and System Resources Group Limited (SRG).

Under the Telecommunications Act, the PUC is the regulator with power to grant licenses. It was set up to oversee the telecommunications industry and apply the Bahamas Telecommunications Sector Policy.

SRG, a Bahamian company, was granted a license by the PUC back in 2002 to operate public fixed radio-communications systems. The PUC contends that it is entitled to license both BTC and SRG to provide VoIP.

Essentially, BTC contends that the Public Utilities Commission should not have granted System Resources Group – which operates as Indigo Networks – the right to use Voice over Internet Protocol, which represents a huge chunk of SRG’s business.

On Thursday, Dr. Barnett contended that BTC’s exclusive rights to offer VoIP technology for voice telephony services should not have expired until 24 months after the sale of BTC shares to private investors.

Since the first Ingraham Administration the government has said it wanted to privatize BTC.

According to reports, Indigo Networks is heavily reliant on the use of VoIP technology for its corporate customers.

If BTC succeeds in its appeal to the Privy Council the matter is then expected to go back to the Supreme Court for a ruling on the merits of the case.

BTC wants law lords to declare that it is the only telecom carrier in The Bahamas authorized to use VoIP in the provision of voice telephony services.

Additionally, it is hoping that the Privy Council declares that the Public Utilities Commission did not have the authorization under the Telecommunications Sector Policy to allow Indigo Networks to use VoIP.

The PUC’s attorney Ferron Bethell argued on Thursday that BTC had more than six months to object to SRG’s proposed license during the public consultation process and never did so. He added that the industry was so dynamic that the commission could not hold up SRG due to legal wrangling.

According to SRG’s attorney, Brian Moree, SRG invested $4 million plus in its VoIP network. He said telling the company not to use the network would render it inefficient, forcing SRG to rely on alternative “dinosaur” equipment.

“This is all about competition. That’s what it is all really about,” Mr. Moree told the law lords Thursday.

Lord Hope of Craighead said he was grateful to the lawyers for the way in which written and oral submissions were presented.

The law lord previously noted that a ruling in each of the four cases the Privy Council heard this week is not expected to be handed down immediately.

Source: Bahama Journal

The government has officially launched its premier website for the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, an aim to defend the privacy of personal information.

In a ceremony held Monday, Minister of State for Finance Zhivargo Laing underscored the importance of the website.

“In this modern world, governments near and far are challenged to provide avenues to ensure that the privacy rights of its citizens are protected. We in government are also mandated to seek ways to improve efficiency and keep our people safe in a post ‘9/11’ environment,” Mr. Laing said.

He noted that the promotion of privacy rights and safety concerns is paramount, as they are the two main ingredients of focus among data protection and privacy authorities around the world.

With the enactment of the Data Processing (Privacy of Personal Information) Act, 2003, the Government has put in place “a crucial element” with regard to the privacy of personal information, Mr. Laing said.

The Act came into operation on April 27, 2007. Its main purpose is to “protect the privacy of individuals in relation to personal data and to regulate the collection, processing, keeping, use and disclosure of certain information relating to individuals and to provide for matters incidental to or connected with.”

Additionally, the Act is one of three parts of the Government’s E-Commerce package passed in 2003. The other two were the Computer Misuse Act, and the Electronic Communications and Transaction Act.

“This website has been developed to provide the Bahamian public with access to information about the supervision and regulation of the Data Protection Act,” Mr. Laing said.

“The site is also intended to provide the Commissioner with an effective medium to keep the public informed as it relates to government policy and the development of international standards for the use and disclosure of personal information.”

The Commissioner, a form of ombudsman, is a corporation and is independent in the performance of his duties.

His mission is to protect and promote the privacy rights of individuals by administrating and enforcing the provisions of the act, promoting the observance of good practice by data controllers within the requirements of the act, influencing thinking on privacy and processing of personal information matters on local and global basis, and discharging, as the national supervisory authority, various functions relating to or arising from any international obligations The Bahamas may have or is seeking to be a party to, in connection with data protection.

Other features of the website include a section on frequently asked questions, guidance on how to lodge a complaint, and information on Identity Theft.

“This website is intended to provide information on the law and offer a useful point of reference and guidance, while fulfilling its mission to protect and promote the privacy rights of individuals,” Mr. Laing said

He encouraged Bahamians to make maximum use of this facility, as the Government aims to protect their fundamental rights to privacy.

The website can be accessed at www.bahamas.gov.bs/dataprotection.

Source: Bahama Journal

Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham has given the multi billion-dollar Ginn Sur Mer development –a major project negotiated by the Christie PLP – his seal of approval during his first official visit to one of Ginn’s luxury resorts.

“The developers had invited me to see some of their facilities in South Florida and I sought to combine a visit to their property with another visit I was making to Florida to make a speech, which I did,” the prime minister said in an exclusive interview with the Journal.

“I was impressed with their facility and I had lengthy discussions with Bobby Ginn, the chairman of the company. He updated me on what they are doing in Grand Bahama at West End and what they propose to do, their timelines.”

Last Thursday, Mr. Ginn took the prime minister and his delegation – which included National Security Minister Tommy Turnquest – on a familiarisation tour of the Ginn Hammock Beach Resort in Palm Coast, Florida.

The prime minister was in Florida for the annual U.S.-CARICOM Conference on the Caribbean.

According to John Davies, senior vice president of Ginn, last week was the first time the prime minister toured one of Ginn’s property.

“It was great for the PM and his colleagues to be able to see the kind of product that the Ginn company has on the market and to understand the way we do business,” Mr. Davies said Monday.

“It was a very informative visit for both parties because we learned a little more about the thinking of the government, in terms of their position on development. They were able to learn more about the Ginn company and how we do business.”

In August, Mr. Ingraham announced that his government would honour the agreement struck between Ginn Resorts and the Progressive Liberal Party government.

His comments followed an hour-long presentation by Ginn principals on the proposed multi-billion dollar development for West End, Grand Bahama.

The development, pegged at an estimated $4.9 billion with the first stage to be completed within five to six years, includes a 4,400 condominium/hotel unit, 870 single family residential home sites, two championship golf courses and clubhouses, two large marinas, a private airport and casino, among other amenities.

Between Atlantis Phase III on Paradise Island, Baha Mar on Cable Beach and the Ginn Project in Grand Bahama, the PLP had said their government was responsible for ushering in the greatest boom in direct foreign investment this country has ever seen.

Mr. Ingraham told the Journal that he expects Ginn developers to produce a successful project in Freeport.

“It will be good for The Bahamas and for the West End community both in terms of jobs and in business and entrepreneurial activity for Bahamians,” he said.

Source: Bahama Journal

In an affidavit filed in support of the application, Sir Jack claims that Mr. Smith, who served as counsel for the Port Authority for more than two decades, is involved in a conflict of interest situation as Lady Henrietta’s private attorney.

Lady Henrietta is the widow of Sir Jack’s late business partner, Edward St. George. She and the St. George Estate are involved in an ongoing battle against Sir Jack, who insists that he is a 75 percent owner of the Port and affiliated companies even though Senior Justice Anita Allen has already ruled otherwise.

Sir Jack has appealed to the Court of Appeal, but that is only one of a plethora of legal challenges filed in relation to the Port companies.

Sir Jack says in his affidavit that over the past 23 years, Mr. Smith and Callenders & Co. as the outside counsel of the GBPA and its group of companies, would have come into possession of information confidential to him (Sir Jack) and the other defendants in the ownership dispute.

“All of the information confidential to me and the other defendants herein are being used in a manner adverse to me and the other defendants,” Sir Jack says.

He says that around 1984 the Port Authority was involved in the case of Shangrila (1982) Limited and Mr. St. George suggested to him that the GBPA engage Mr. Smith and Callenders & Co. as outside counsel for the Port and its group of companies.

“Mr. St. George explained to me that it was better to have Mr. Fred Smith fighting from within our tent rather than have him fighting us from outside of our tent,” Sir Jack says. “I agreed and Mr. Fred Smith and Callenders & Co. were engaged around 1985 as outside counsel for the GBPA and its group of companies.

“After being engaged to represent us and our companies, I considered Mr. Smith to be a member of the family of the GBPA. He was especially close to Mr. St. George who considered Mr. Fred Smith almost like a son. Mr. Smith, as our lawyer, was privy to all the confidential information relating to me and Mr. St. George, our business dealings and of the GBPA and its group of companies.”

Sir Jack goes on to say Mr. Smith and Callenders & Co. received an annual retainer of $100,000, exclusive of his billings, which averaged about $1 million to $2 million a year.

He claimed that Mr. Smith over the years insisted that Callenders & Co. be treated as the “exclusive outside counsel” for the GBPA and its group of companies.

“In addition to serving as the outside counsel for the Port Authority and its group of companies, Mr. St. George and I referred most potential licensees coming into Freeport to do business with Mr. Fred Smith and Callenders & Co.,” Sir Jack adds.

He says he learned in early 2005 that Caroline and Sarah St. George were alleging that their father, Mr. St. George, had stolen their trust funds and were preparing to sue the GBPA.

“To assist our lawyer, Mr. Fred Smith, in preparing to protect my interests and the GBPA and its group of companies, I gave Mr. Fred Smith access to the company files as well as all of my personal files and documents in or about April 2005,” Sir Jack adds.

“The attitude of Mr. Fred Smith became hostile towards the GBPA in early 2006 after the chairman of the GBPA and [Port Group Limited], Mr. Hannes Babak, decided to give some of the Port Authority’s legal work to Mr. Gregory Moss as another outside counsel.

“When it became apparent to me that Mr. Fred Smith was acting for the St. George Estate against the GBPA and PGL, I wrote Mr. Smith a letter dated the 20th of October, 2006 bringing to his attention that having represented the GBPA and its group of companies for over 23 years he was conflicted from representing the St. George Estate against me, the GBPA and its group of companies.”

Sir Jack says Mr. Smith wrote him on October 31 saying that he did not consider that there was a conflict because he considered Sir Jack an equal shareholder in the St. George Estate and he was engaged to defend the GBPA and its group of companies against claims brought by third parties.

Mr. Smith then resigned as outside counsel for the Port.

According to Sir Jack, in the resignation letter, Mr. Smith said his firm remained available to represent the Port Authority or any specific group company subject to resolution of the dispute between Sir Jack and the St. George Estate, and that Mr. Babak no longer had any affiliation with the Grand Bahama Port Authority.

Source: Bahama Journal

The two men were identified as Graham Knowles, who is in his early 20s, and Calvin Knowles, who is in his 50s.

Mr. Lloyd told the Bahama Journal on Monday that information was received 7pm Sunday of three people having swum ashore in the Yamacraw area.

He explained that the three, who claimed to be from a vessel that had departed with five people on board, were at sea to do a test from the Yamacraw Beach area, although he did not specify what the test was.

“They had gone straight south approximately five miles and by 11:30pm the vessel had sunk,” Mr. Lloyd said. “Unfortunately, two of the persons on board were non-swimmers and last known to be holding on to the hull of the vessel.

“The bow had an air pocket in it and was floating and so it is possible that the missing persons are holding on to a white cooler. Three persons were able to leave the sunken vessel and proceeded with the current. They swam to the shore, but were not able to get in until eight to nine hours later and raise the alarm.”

Mr. Lloyd said the Defence Force and BASRA received information regarding the incident and attempted to send a vessel into the unknown area, but the operation had to be aborted because of bad weather and total darkness.

He added that on Monday morning, the Defence Force and BASRA sent a vessel out after talking with the owner of the sunken vessel, Omar Roberts.

“Calls were also received [Monday morning] in the Yamacraw/Treasure Cove area where it was reported that an object could be seen from the shoreline sticking out of the water.”

He explained that an investigation took place as a result of the calls and it revealed that the object was actually the bow of the vessel.

Mr. Lloyd also explained that because the bow was found, a search begun for survivors in the same area but results were negative.

“An aircraft was dispatched by BASRA to do a search of the area of south New Providence and offshore since there were two non-swimmers and no lifejackets on board the vessel. The aircraft just got in and the vessel has been recovered and towed into Yamacraw,” he said early Monday afternoon.

Mr. Lloyd said the boat was towed in to check whether there was no anyone trapped on board, but there was no one trapped.

“The vessel had no safety equipment and no flares,” Mr. Lloyd said.

He urged anyone in the area, even though the waters were choppy, to keep a look out as RBDF and BASRA officials are hoping that the men are still alive.

“The vessel did drift into Nassau so we are hoping that they have come ashore and are working their way along the shoreline or in the bushes,” Mr. Lloyd said. “If they got separated from the boat or cooler in the drift being non-swimmers and without life jackets, that’s not a good sign.”

The 26 foot vessel – “Don Rebel” – is powered by two 200 Yamaha engines and has a white hull and black bottom and is registered in Eleuthera, according to Mr. Lloyd.

Mr. Lloyd urged the boating public to always take into consideration safety measures when going out to sea.

“Anytime you go to sea, you need life jackets for everyone on board and not just onboard but they need to be accessible,” he said. “At night, we strongly advise putting the life jackets on in advance of anything happening, especially in choppy conditions.”

Mr. Lloyd explained that while on the sea, things could go wrong very, very quickly.

“You also need a working radio so you can [make] a distress call,” he added.

“If the persons who swam to shore [weren’t able to swim] and raise the alarm then no one would actually know [the men were missing].”

Mr. Lloyd explained that if a test is being done there is a good chance of something going wrong, so people should do their tests along the shore in shallow waters where the shore is accessible or an anchor can be dropped

“Safety equipment, a radio, filing a float plan that shows where you are going and sticking to it, accessible life jackets and just respect for the sea are all necessary,” Mr. Lloyd said.

Source: Bahama Journal

The late son of reality TV star Anna Nicole Smith was killed by a combination of methadone and the antidepressants Zoloft and Lexapro — a cocktail that would have turned lethal after about five hours — a pathologist testified Monday.

The conclusion by Dr. Govinda Raju, who performed the official autopsy on Daniel Smith, confirms the findings of a private doctor who examined the 20-year-old’s body after he died Sept. 10, 2006 in the Bahamas.

On the third day of an inquest into Smith’s death, Raju said the young man had five other drugs in his system — including two that medical personnel used in an attempt to revive him after he collapsed while visiting his celebrity mother at a Nassau hospital.

The former Playboy playmate herself collapsed and died Feb. 8 in Florida from an overdose of drugs.

A lawyer for Anna Nicole Smith’s attorney-turned-boyfriend Howard K. Stern, who was also in the hospital room the day Daniel died, said the drugs he was taking were all for either depression or back pain.

“Once you boil it all down, these were medicines treating either pain or depression,” said the attorney, Wayne Munroe.

Zoloft and Lexapro, which a U.S. doctor had prescribed, are antidepressants commonly used to treat anxiety and panic. Methadone is prescribed as a pain reliever and is also used to suppress symptoms drug users experience when going through withdrawal from heroin and other opiates.

Cyril Wecht, the doctor who performed a second autopsy at the request of Smith’s family, has said the other drugs in Daniel’s system included a third antidepressant, the sleep medication Ambien and an over-the-counter cold medicine. He said they did not play a role in his death.

Daniel Smith had bruises on his back and shoulders, but Raju said these could have been caused by medics who tried to revive him. Police have said there is no evidence of homicide.

Police believe he arrived in the Bahamas the night before his death and went directly to the hospital where his mother had given birth two days earlier. He spent the night in a room with his mother, Stern and newborn half-sister before losing consciousness.

Testimony is scheduled to resume Tuesday.

Source: AP

Baha Mar appears to be moving forward with a new phase of its Cable Beach redevelopment, preparing to shut down the Nassau Beach Hotel in January, a move that has its flagship tenant charging the company has failed to make good on “promises” of alternative space during and after construction.

On Saturday, the developer’s reservations department confirmed that it has now stopped taking any bookings for the Nassau Beach past Dec. 2. According to its original plans that property is to be demolished in order to make way for a new facility. In the process, the adjacent Cafe Johnny Canoe will also be torn down as part of that early plan.

Co-owner of the restaurant Harry Pikramenos told Guardian Business Saturday that Baha Mar handed him a final eviction notice last month putting an end to his company’s 15-year relationship with the hotel.

The restaurant must be moved out of the premises by the end of next month, almost three months earlier than Baha Mar had earlier suggested, he said.

“We’ve been the anchor tenant that has kept this hotel open,” said Pikramenos, a Bahamian entrepreneur sharing the business with his brother Mike. “We had been negotiating with these people for the last two to three years — they assured us that we would be offered a space in the new property and given an interim location for our restaurant during the construction.

“Currently, I think, they have no intention of asking Johnny Canoe to come back and there has been no space finalized for the interim location.”

Guardian Business calls to Baha Mar — both in Nassau and Florida — were not returned last weekend.

The absence of a formal deal between the developer and Pikramenos’s Bahamian-themed restaurant means it will likely be forced to let go of its remaining 50 to 60 employees when operations cease in the last half of January.

Reactivating those jobs depends on Johnny Canoe finding suitable accommodations off the strip, something Pikramenos has been scrambling to do. The brothers, also owners of the El Greco hotel, have had little success finding a location that would allow them to duplicate the restaurant’s winning formula of combining native cuisine with a Junkanoo atmosphere, replete with a group of rushers. The eatery is a favorite of both locals and tourists, alike.

Its strategy has been duplicated across the island — even at the restaurant attached to El Greco. Ironically that space, leased only months ago, is now unavailable to the Pikramenoses.

The family argues there was no real need to find space for Johnny Canoe off Cable Beach given what it charges was Baha Mar’s earlier promise to put the restaurant in premises now housing a deli within the adjacent casino complex. Pikramenos said he has no written conformation.

Still, he said that the development company indicated the restaurant would later become an anchor for a Marina Village-style entertainment center — “Pompeii.” A promenade, not unlike that at Atlantis, would link restaurants and shops, creating a destination in and of itself.

Baha Mar’s planned shutdown of the Nassau Beach is the latest indication it and partner Harrah’s Entertainment intend to move ahead with their $2.3 billion project focused on transforming the hotel strip.

So far they have largely restricted themselves to undertaking cosmetic work — some of it still ongoing — at the neighboring Sheraton and Wyndham properties.

Outside of announcing government approval for a key road diversion project, both sides of the negotiating table have been mum on the progress of talks designed to produce a supplemental heads of agreement.

The previous government stopped short of signing such a deal months before the May election, charging it wasn’t prepared to agree to the full host of concessions sought by the development partners.

While the prime minister’s office has indicated it remains in negotiations with Baha Mar, no announcement about a successful conclusion to those key talks has yet been announced.

The absence of that deal and others has led to concerns across the construction sector that the economy has hit a snag.

The IMF, in fact, lowered its own forecasts for GDP growth in The Bahamas this year. It was a decision based, in part, on the apparent lack of progress at what is slated to be the single-largest development project the country has ever seen.

Baha Mar readying to close the Nassau Beach may mean that it has finally won the concessions it sought from government. If so, it will likely face immediate calls to make the terms of that deal public.

But that may do little to resolve the uncertainty now facing Pikramenos as he prepares to end a lease that has arguably been the hotel’s most important.

“Anything that you create and then is taken away from you that hurts,” he said Saturday. “Baha Mar wants us out.

“That blows my mind.”

Source: Nassau Guardian

Based on what we saw on television, in the newspapers and on the internet, the photographs were simply distasteful and grossly offensive. The display offended the sensibilities of many Bahamians, especially those who are practicing Christians.

As one story puts it, “When members of the public went to view Mr. Taylor’s body on Friday, they got an unusual surprise. Mr. Taylor was not laid out in a coffin as customary in The Bahamas, he was sitting upright behind a desk.”

This tableau emanated from the mind of Ted Sweeting. As Sweeting said, “This is something that I have had in mind for a long time.”

As a consequence of this man’s morbidly creative work, many right-thinking Bahamians are today shocked beyond words.

There are some others like ourselves who know that someone went too far when they sought to put on a garishly obscene tableau, purporting the same to be representative of the life that once belonged to Harl Taylor.

While it is argued that changes occur in each generation, the Bahamas Christian Council – as presently constituted – runs the risk of becoming irrelevant in a Bahamas that is in full flight from its senses.

We make this point against the backdrop of an issue that begs for their input.

Here the reference has to do with some of the antics, shenanigans and brouhaha surrounding the death and display of the mortal remains of the late Harl Taylor.

We are also – for the record- convinced that the Bahamas Christian Council should step into the light and let the Bahamian people know what they have to say about this shameful mockery. We must arrest this wrongdoing before it becomes a part of our culture. If it is not arrested, bodies laid out in homes, could be repositioned in chairs in the future.

What we saw depicted in the photographs was grossly obscene, thoroughly disgusting and a most crude breach of etiquette in a country where so very many people routinely profess Christianity.

Today tens of thousands of Bahamians and an untold number of other people around the world are reeling and wallowing as they flail about in disbelief at what they saw depicted in a certain tableau; that one depicting Harl Taylor as he could not look when life was his to live and enjoy.

It was a contemptible piece of mockery and a most complete affront to decency and good order in a so-called Christian society.

Sadly, we are hearing say that this ghoulish idea was conjured up and concocted by Ted Sweeting, Funeral Director of Sweetings Colonial Mortuary and Crematorium.

This is something Mr. Sweeting said he always wanted to do.

To make matters worse for Mr. Sweeting, we are told that he was egged into this disaster by two children – his two sons, Damien and Dominic.

As encouragement to their good father, the boys allegedly said, ‘Daddy do it now’.

The rest of that story is now a part of the miserably painful history of these times in The Bahamas.

As explanation, this is just not good enough.

We insist that like tens of thousands of other Bahamians, we were flabbergasted and bowled over when we saw the pictures of what had been done with the mortal remains of this once so promising young man.

But before we get down to certain other specifics, let it be known that in life and in public, Harl Taylor was highly regarded for his creative way with materials, and for his talent as a fashion designer. In time, this young Black man went on to distinguish himself as a consummate bon vivant.

He lived out his thirty seven years on earth as a person who had a gift and who did leave his mark on this society that was home to him.

Even now, we continue to commiserate with all who mourn the furious passage of this young man. But as we join those who mourn, we must part company with any number of our fellow-Bahamians who conspired among themselves to make a near total mockery of all that this man stood for.

It was a terrifyingly stupid error made by people who should have known better.

Compounding the matter is that there were others who could have and should have made it their business to call a screeching halt to that foolishness.

Source: Bahama Journal

There are more than 125,000 registered vehicles on the roads of New Providence.

According to Road Traffic Controller Jack Thompson, officials are trying to get drivers to use alternative means to reduce traffic congestion like car-pooling.

At the beginning of the year, the Advance Logistics Group (ALG) out of Spain submitted some recommendations to the Department of Road Traffic for alleviating the traffic congestion problems here on the island.

Mr. Thompson was attending the National Road Safety Youth Symposium at Workers House yesterday when he told the Bahama Journal that the Department of Road Traffic might have to put in place a restriction on the number of cars registered to each household.

“I don’t think New Providence will forever be able to sustain the number of vehicles which we have coming here on a daily basis,” said Mr. Thompson.

He said if these vehicles were shipped to the other Family Islands, there would be less traffic issues on the island of New Providence.

Mr. Thompson said the crux of the matter is the need for a good public transportation system.

It was recommended by the ALG and is something the ministry will look into shortly, said Mr. Thompson.

He added that having a good transportation system would create a proper mode of transportation for many individuals.

He also addressed the issue on the toxic exhaust coming from various vehicles on the road.

Mr. Thompson said he asked the Transportation Planning Unit to give urgent attention to the emissions.

“This is a very vexing situation and the merchants of Bay Street are constantly talking about the problem. Their walls are plastered with black dirt from the exhaust,” Mr. Thompson explained.

He said many of these vehicles use diesel, and the Road Traffic inspectors are trying to alleviate the problem by enforcing transportation inspection more strictly.

Mr. Thompson said the traffic fatality count stands at 39 so far for the year.

Most of the victims have been between the ages of 25 and 35.

Source: Bahama Journal