THE STRAW Market Authority has established a summer programme for vendors' children to provide wholesome and productive activities on site while their parents are at work.

FREEPORT, Grand Bahama -- The Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) has partnered with the Bahamas Government to fund the construction of a student dormitory and multipurpose facility at the College of The Bahamas Northern Campus. During a press conference on Thursday, the GBPA announced that through its agreement with the Government, it has pledged to contribute 50 acres of land near the campus in East Grand Bahama and $3 million toward the cost of construction.
"This is a happy illustration of the enduring partnership between the Government of the Bahamas and the Grand Bahama Port Authority to promote education, employment and job opportunities for our talented young Grand Bahamians," GBPA Vice Chairman Sarah St. George said.
The proposed dormitory will accommodate 88 students and include 14 rooms, a courtyard, communal kitchen, offices and a health clinic. The student housing project, which will be built by the Almaco Group, is anticipated to provide 30 to 50 construction jobs and is slated to begin in early 2016.
The housing facility is expected to accommodate rising enrollment at the College of The Bahamas and attract prospective students from neighbouring islands in the north, as well as Grand Bahamians that reside in outlying settlements.
Acknowledging Grand Bahama as the industrial capital of The Bahamas, GBPA President Ian Rolle said that the introduction of student housing for the northern campus would enable the campus to draw students across The Bahamas and abroad for specialised industry programmes.

A MAN and a woman were taken into police custody late on Wednesday night following a shooting incident that left a family of five in hospital, including two young children - one of whom was shot in the back of the head.

Free National Movement (FNM) Chairman Michael Pintard said yesterday that all parties involved in the Baha Mar saga need to lower the temperature of exchanges and try to find a suitable consensus on the issue.

Pintard's comments came a day after Baha Mar CEO Sarkis Izmirlian spoke out on the Star 106.5 FM talk show "Jeffrey", saying that Prime Minister Perry Christie is not doing what is best for The Bahamas.

"There is entirely too much energy and good will being expended in the media, whereas all of these parties should be around the table and in private rooms having meaningful discussions," Pintard said. "And at an agreed time they should then share the salient point of those discussions with the Bahamian people, who are presently in many ways anxiety stricken because of this impasse."

Talks involving Baha Mar, China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC), the Export-Import (EXIM) Bank of China and the government ended in Beijing on Tuesday without the parties reaching an agreement. A government statement said the remaining "major point of difference between the parties is Baha Mar's refusal to provide its part of a guarantee required by EXIM to secure a commitment of additional lending to enable completion of the project".

Pintard said after hearing several inflammatory remarks from government officials, including the prime minister, and the developer, he believes the government needs to carefully manage the situation instead of inflaming it. He said that in order for this to happen, the government should have functioned as an honest broker and an impartial party in the discussions.

"When the government decides to take sides it should be the side of the Bahamian people," Pintard said. "At present it appears as if the government has already chosen a side in this unfortunate conflict." "And so the government must extricate itself from one side and reposition itself as a mediator."

"Now quite frankly I think it is too late for that so at a minimum the government should do no harm, which means it should lower the temperature of the discussion and discontinue with the unfortunate exchange in the media as it relates to the developer."

Pintard went on to say that moving forward, the government ought to be more transparent with the behind the scenes discussions and be more forthcoming with information.

"I think what the public wants is an explanation of what factors account for the legal action taken by government," he said. "Were there other options available and were those other options exhausted, which forced the government to take, in the minds of many, an extreme path?"

The government recently filed a winding up petition of Baha Mar in the Supreme Court. The government is seeking the appointment of a provisional liquidator to manage Baha Mar's affairs with a view to getting the project completed and operational. Justice Ian Winder will hear the petition today.

"For the government to engage in a provisional winding up arrangement is once again an extreme decision that we're concerned may send a wrong message to the international community about actions future Bahamian governments may take when there is an impasse between two private entities," Pintard said.

"Certainly, the Free National Movement wishes for the developer to pay all of the resources owed to the Bahamian people, but we believe that, that objective could be accomplished through negotiations and other pressures other than what the Progressive Liberal Party is pursuing at the moment.

"What happens with Baha Mar is really a kind of a template that other developers are likely to examine when considering making an investment in The Bahamas, so how we handle this has broad implications for future arrangements. Unfortunately the government is not doing a good job in that regard."