IT has been 18 months since the passage of Hurricane Dorian and 15 months since the Restoring Industries, Sustaining Employment (RISE) initiative journey began.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Government of The Bahamas have partnered in a $20 million loan contract to help reduce the morbidity and mortality caused by COVID-19 and to lessen its impact on public health.

Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis signed a loan programme to strengthen the Ministry of Health’s response management, improve case detection and monitoring, support the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines and the vaccination plan, assist the actions to break the illness's transmission chain and improve service delivery capacity.

“We congratulate the Government of The Bahamas for its unyielding efforts to protect the population. This vaccination facility is an opportunity to better position The Bahamas’ health sector to more rapidly and resiliently respond to the challenges of COVID-19,” said IDB Country Representative Daniela Carrera-Marquis. “The global pandemic is not over, so strengthening the nation’s health system has to remain a priority. The IDB remains committed to supporting the government in changing the trajectory of the pandemic and bolstering the economy.”

This Programme has four components, which include strengthening the response leadership at the country level by enhancing decision-making capabilities, surveillance, assessment, public health management, and multisectoral coordination. The programme will improve case detection and monitoring by expanding the Ministry of Health's capacity for screening, case detection, contact tracing, and tracking of Covid-19 cases. It will also support the Covid-19 Vaccination Strategic Plan to reach the target vaccination of the prioritized groups as well as the procurement of vaccines, the design, and implementation of a public communications campaign, epidemiological surveillance at entry points, and the necessary supplies. These actions will break the chain of transmission of the illness. Lastly, the programme is expected to bolster service delivery capacity for COVID-19 cases and strengthen essential care services continuity.

The programme will be executed in two years and will benefit the Bahamian population through supporting the actions to mitigate the Covid-19 spread, facilitating vaccine uptake, and increasing access to essential care.

The past four days will be a period that The Bahamas senior men’s national soccer team will want to forget as they lost 4-0 again, this time to Guyana. The teams played on neutral ground in what was a home game for Guyana in the FIFA (International Federation of Association Football) 2022 World Cup Qualifiers for the CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football) region at the Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

That loss yesterday afternoon comes off another 4-0 loss that The Bahamas suffered – at the hands of St. Kitts and Nevis at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium this past Saturday night.

It is a rough start to Team Bahamas’ campaign for the world cup qualifiers.

Team captain Lesly St. Fleur said although the team started the game slow, they were able to get more shots than in the game against the Kittitians.

“We had a slow start and during the game we started to play our game. We had more shots than the last game. We just have to work extra hard and follow the instructions that are given to us and we must believe,” St. Fleur said.

Known as one of the best goal scorers in the Caribbean, St. Fleur was unable to find the back of the net for a second straight game.

The Bahamas collapsed just seven minutes into the game as the Guyanese squad got on the scoreboard thanks to a goal from Terence Vancooten in the eighth minute. The League Two Stevenage defender was able to get the ball past Bahamian goalkeeper Ian Lowe to give his team the early lead.

Both teams were unable to score for the next 30-plus minutes before referee, Guatemalan Sergio Reyna, blew the half-time whistle with Guyana holding a slim lead.  For the second straight game, Team Bahamas was also down 1-0 at the half.

Less than 10 minutes into the second half, Guyana struck again. This time it was Kadell Daniel who plays professionally in Greece for Kingstonian. He scored in the 54th minute.

In the 70th minute, substitute Omari Glasgow scored his maiden goal in his second appearance for the Guyana Golden Jaguars to put his team up 3-0.

The ball did not bounce in favor of The Bahamas in this game, similar to what happened in the game against St. Kitts and Nevis. Guyanese Emery Wilson, who plays professionally for Israeli Club Hapoel Ra’anana, scored an insurance goal for his squad in the 81st minute. It was déjà vu for The Bahamas and Head Coach Nesley Jean as they gave up three goals in the second half again.

The final nine-plus minutes of the game yielded no goals for The Bahamas ‘Junkanoo Boys’. Their chance of advancing to the next round is now very slim.

A look at the Group F standings shows that The Bahamas is the only team looking for points as they sit in fifth position with no wins in two games. They have a -8 goal difference.

St. Kitts and Nevis leads the group with a 2-0 win/loss record, scoring six points. Trinidad and Tobago sits in second place with four points after recording a win and a loss. Guyana moved up to third place with a 1-1 win/loss record, scoring three points. Puerto Rico is just ahead of The Bahamas in fourth position with one point after a draw and a loss.

Only the winner of the group will advance to the second round of the world cup qualifiers.

Team Bahamas continues group play on Wednesday June 2 in an away game against Puerto Rico. Their final group game is a home game against Trinidad and Tobago set for Saturday June 6 at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium. No times have been provided for either game as yet.

Nassau Guardian

A middle-income mother, encouraged by the prospect that her two young adult children could actually have a clear and realistic path to land ownership through a plan Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis announced last week for the development of a residential community in western New Providence for young professionals, got us thinking on a deeper level whether such enthusiasm is misplaced.

After all, we are in a political climate, Minnis does have an election to win and the proposal as currently presented with scant details, does seem like a half-baked proposition from a man who is widely known to be the seller of dreams — the most common characteristic of a politician seeking to win at the polls.

The initiative as presented by the prime minister in the House of Assembly will involve the sale of 83 acres of public land, located north of John F. Kennedy Drive, between Prospect Ridge and the Ministry of Public Works, to young Bahamian professionals (individuals 18 to 45).

Minnis said the government will put all of the infrastructure in place “such that the lots would be worth $150,000 with all of the infrastructure installed”. 

He said 40 percent of the lots will be multi-family, available for purchase at $50,000, and 60 percent of the lots will be single-family, sold for $40,000. 

The prime minister also announced that a number of banks have said that once they determine the land is worth $150,000 or more, “the equity is such a vast amount that individuals would not have to come up with any down payment to construct their homes”.