Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis announced yesterday the government will redevelop the area from Arawak Cay to Junkanoo Beach into an entertainment and cultural center, that would be a tax-free zone and include amenities such as a skybridge and water taxis.

The development is still in the planning phase as the government conducts stakeholder meetings with various groups.

“To help boost Bahamian ownership in the tourism sector and to significantly boost spending by Bahamians and cruise ship passengers, we are proposing the redevelopment of the area from Fish Fry to Junkanoo Beach, to Long Wharf,” said Minnis as he contributed to the budget debate.

Employers that have not paid employee contributions to the National Insurance Board (NIB) could face prosecution, Minister of Public Service and National Insurance Brensil Rolle said yesterday.

“The next step is to move forward to prosecute these individuals who have not made their payments to the NIB or lived up to the commitment or agreement that they made with NIB to pay,” Rolle said outside Cabinet.

Rolle revealed during his budget contribution earlier this week that as much as $17 million in contributions are owed to NIB from employers who have failed to keep up to date with their employees’ contributions.

He said yesterday that most of the companies that owe funds already have payment agreements with NIB, but have not been living up to them.

 

IRAM Lewis, parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Public Works, said that the closure of the road along the seaside in Smith’s Point is for public safety and will reopen as soon as the railing is installed on the newly constructed seawall. He said the absence of a railing poses a risk to the motoring public and he is asking Grand Bahama residents and the public to have a little more patience.

IRAM Lewis, parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Public Works, said that the closure of the road along the seaside in Smith’s Point is for public safety and will reopen as soon as the railing is installed on the newly constructed seawall.

He said the absence of a railing poses a risk to the motoring public and he is asking Grand Bahama residents and the public to have a little more patience.

 

 

WITHIN the next “week or two,” representatives of a cannabis committee that Cabinet has established will receive their terms of references and begin exploring public opinion on the issue, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said Saturday. The committee flows from widespread consideration of the impact criminalising the drug has had on Caribbean communities. A key CARICOM report released last month called for the end of prohibition against the plant. The commission found that an early 20th century move to designate the drug as dangerous and without value took place absent of scientific or medical data and has since been proven to be inaccurate.

WITHIN the next “week or two,” representatives of a cannabis committee that Cabinet has established will receive their terms of references and begin exploring public opinion on the issue, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said Saturday.

The committee flows from widespread consideration of the impact criminalising the drug has had on Caribbean communities. A key CARICOM report released last month called for the end of prohibition against the plant. The commission found that an early 20th century move to designate the drug as dangerous and without value took place absent of scientific or medical data and has since been proven to be inaccurate.