His Excellency Hendrik Schuwer, left, non-resident Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, made a First Arrival Courtesy Call at the Office of the Prime Minister on Friday, May 27, 2016. He is pictured being greeted by Prime Minister and Minister of Finance the Rt. Hon. Perry Christie. (BIS Photo/Peter Ramsay)

Source: Bahamas Information Services

A “major cable fault” was the reason for an island-wide blackout that occurred Sunday afternoon, officials from Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) said.

According to a statement released by BPL’s public relations officer Arnette Ingraham, the cable fault “was responsible for shutting down generation, transmission and distribution networks on the island”.

She said that following an initial investigation, crews began restarting the failed engines and incrementally restoring supply to affected communities.

The blackout occurred shortly before 1pm.

“By 4:30pm, supply had been restored to approximately 70 per cent of BPL customers in New Providence and by 6.30pm supply was fully restored,” the statement said.

The statement added that BPL apologises to its customers affected by the outage on Sunday and a previous island outage that occurred on May 23.

“While neither outage was caused by a lack of generation capacity, BPL assures its customers that it is looking at all areas of its operation to improve system reliability,” the statement said.

Affected customers took to BPL’s Facebook page to vent their frustration.

One said: “The whole Carmichael is down. When will it be back up?”

“Thanks for an awful Sunday, still waiting in Carmichael to have power restored,” another resident said.

Some residents speculated on social media that a passing thunderstorm caused the outage.

The Bahamas Meteorology Department had issued a notice at noon of a mid-to-upper level trough that remained over the Bahamas and would continue to increase the chance of showers over the island.

Isolated showers and thunderstorms were expected in the afternoon for the capital while scatted showers and isolated thunderstorms were expected throughout the southeast Bahamas during Sunday night.

By Lamech Johnson, Tribune Staff Reporter

The Christie administration's decision to float a reboot of its ill-fated mortgage relief program has "delighted" the Democratic National Alliance (DNA), whose economic and financial spokesperson laments the "sketchy" details of the new plan and asserts that the DNA can do better, even going so far as suggesting a DNA government would buy delinquent mortgagees back into the black.

The Central Bank of The Bahamas (CBOB) Quarterly Economic Review report for December 2015 -- the most recent published quarterly report -- notes $3.04 billion in residential mortgages. The CBOB Monthly Economic and Financial Developments report for March 2016 -- the most recent report published -- pegs that number at $3.07 billion.

The CBOB Quarterly Statistical Digest (QSD) for February 2016, which drew its information from quarterly reports from insurance companies, other local financial institutions, commercial banks and the Bahamas Mortgage Corporation, records 5,494 residential mortgages at a value of $634.2 million added since 2012. In terms of commercial mortgages, since 2012 the CBOB reports only 24 have been issued, at a value of $18.5 million.

In a statement on the administration's new mortgage relief plan, DNA Garden Hills candidate Youri Kemp, who speaks for the party on these issues, argued that the mortgage crisis is "a gigantic problem, bigger than anyone can imagine, and is just as much of a catastrophe as the Baha Mar resort or the unyielding crime wave".

Dubbing the administration's plan more of a "homeowner's protection scheme" rather than a mortgage relief plan, Kemp weighed in to elaborate on the DNA's initial mortgage relief proposal, which he urged the administration to take into consideration.

Kemp criticized the administration for reportedly initially ostracizing the bankers and mortgage lenders, arguing that since it is the banks money that homeowners borrowed, and because the banks assessed Bahamians for those mortgages, the banks have a shared responsibility with the government for fixing this problem.

"We also feel that it would be disingenuous for any government to tell the electorate, if the conversation leads in this direction, that they can force the Bahamas court system to indefinitely keep delinquent homeowners in their homes without restructuring the terms of their mortgage; or do so without using the avenues currently provided in the system with the banks and mortgage lender; or without them at least having to pay into the system, if even to just keep the interest current on the mortgage. For any government to act along those lines of reasoning is dangerous at best... and impossible to do, at the worst," he said.

He said the DNA, on the other hand, would work with the banks and mortgage lenders from day one.

"This means several things. For example, we will encourage the banks to identify homes that can be saved right now and give us their listing and their risk matrix, subject to our approval and input as to how far the government wishes to extend itself to facilitate this initiative.

"Secondly, we will cause there to be a remortgaging of these mortgages and any borrower in default due to difficulties that can be rationally explained and verified, the government will pony up the funding to the point where they are brought back into the black, at the very least; and if the case may be, structure it in a way that gives them a common-sense grace period before payments kick back in.

"The banks do this now on their own without government intervention, but in many instances the graces and leniency have been exhausted for many homeowners and as a stop-gap measure we feel it necessary that the government kicks in to give them one more chance," he said.

Kemp said the DNA would capitalize banks to co-administer this initiative with the government through either direct loan from the central government, partnership with the NIB fund and/or a bond issuance.

"The other core problem with the first attempt at mortgage relief from this current administration was that they went it alone and persons ended up indebted to the central government, and did not have a chance to be re-invested into the economy," he said.

He highlighted the DNA proposal for eliminating adjustable rate mortgages for homes under a certain threshold.

"During our research we have found that many persons that are in mortgage-related trouble now, and have lost their homes just recently, were victims of adjustable rate mortgages that came due at the worst possible time," he said.

Kemp referenced several other "key proposals" the DNA has made, including the proposal to cut the Central Bank rate, to put recently evicted persons back into their homes under the same terms and to engage development and insurance companies and other investors with regard to purchasing and repackaging bad mortgages, whether persons are in the homes, want to move back into their homes, or want to move into a home previous owned.

"The DNA also wishes to reject the lazy rhetoric coming out of certain quarters with regard to some copping out of helping homeowners by saying that jobs and employment is the only thing that can help this mortgage crisis. The Bahamas has a problem now, and waiting on this administration to create good paying jobs will not happen any time soon... and in addition, smoothing payments out in the short term until they find new or better employment is a part of the dynamic of a Bahamian mortgage relief programme," Kemp said, urging the Christie Administration to "put their backs into the effort and do premium work for Bahamians."

Bahamian speedster Shaunae Miller poses with her mother after her victory in the women's 400m at the Prefontaine Classic Diamond League Meet in Eugene, Oregon, on Saturday. She won in 50.15 seconds. (Photo: Mae Miller)

Shaunae Miller remains unbeaten in the women's 400 meters (m) this season after another impressive run. She claimed the quarter-mile title at the Prefontaine Classic Diamond League Meet in Eugene, Oregon, USA, on Saturday, winning in 50.15 seconds. American World Champion from a year ago, Allyson Felix, was a late pull due to a right ankle sprain, and in her absence, Miller took full advantage.

Francena McCorory, of the United States, finished second behind Miller, in 50.23 seconds; and her countrywoman Natasha Hastings was third, in 50.86 seconds. Jamaican Stephenie Ann McPherson was fourth, in 51.07 seconds, just ahead of her countrywoman Shericka Jackson, the bronze medalist from last year's world championships. Jackson was timed in 51.34 seconds. Former World and Olympic Champion Sanya Richards-Ross, of the United States, faded to seventh, finishing in 52.16

Miller still holds on to the world-lead, a time of 49.69 seconds that was run at the Chris Brown Bahamas Invitational (CBBI) here in Nassau, The Bahamas, last month. She is a triple qualifier in the sprints for the Olympics.

The Summer Olympics is set for August 5-21 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The other Bahamian medalist from the Beijing World Championships last year, Jeffery Gibson, also saw action in Eugene over the weekend.

Gibson finished fourth in the men's 400m hurdles in a modest time for him, 49.16 seconds.

It was an American 1-2-3 sweep in that event. Diamond League leader Michael Tinsley took the tape in a season's best time of 48.74 seconds. Kerron Clement was second in a season's best time for him, 48.87 seconds, and Bershawn "Bat Man" Jackson finished third in 49.04 seconds.

Bahamian Steven Gardiner continues to struggle.

The 20-year-old Bahamian finished seventh in the men's 400m in 46.80 seconds. Kirani James, of Grenada, won in 44.22 seconds. American LaShawn Merritt settled for second, in 44.39 seconds, and Isaac Makwala, of Botswana, was a distant third, finishing in 45.37 seconds.

The year's fifth Diamond League meet, the Golden Gala, is just a few days away, set for Thursday June 2, in Rome, Italy.

Sheldon Longley, Guardian Sports Editor