Bahamas News

Bahamas Waterkeeper President Joseph Darville Addresses 2016 Annual Waterkeeper Alliance Conference

Published

7 years ago

June 23, 2016

Rising Sea Levels, Hotter Temperatures, Extreme Storms

On Horizon for The Bahamas
Save The Bays Chairman, Bahamas Waterkeeper President Joseph Darville Addresses Country’s Most Pressing Environmental Concerns at 2016 Annual Waterkeeper Alliance Conference in North Carolina

According to the U.S. National Weather Service, if you live anywhere near the Atlantic Ocean, this isn’t the best year to let your guard down while you soak up the sun.

With a record three named storms already on the books since the start of hurricane season on June 1, the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season is projected to be among the most active ever with as many as 14 named storms and six hurricanes before the season ends November 30. Moreover, experts predict at least two of those hurricanes could be major, reaching Category 3 or stronger on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, suggesting “devastating damage” could occur.

With 80 percent of the land mass in The Bahamas essentially at or slightly above sea level, the country is even more vulnerable to devastation than most when catastrophic storm systems rise up out of the Atlantic.

“Massive flooding from rising sea levels poses a very real threat to one of the most, if not the most beautiful, spots on this planet,” said Save the Bays Chairman and Bahamas Waterkeeper President Joseph Darville during a recent presentation at the 2016 Annual Waterkeeper Alliance Conference in Wilmington, N.C.

Headed by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who was reelected for another two terms as president at this year’s conference, Waterkeeper Alliance is recognized as “the voice of the world’s waters.” With volunteers of licensed Waterkeeper affiliates monitoring rivers, lakes, oceans, ponds and wetlands in dozens of countries, Waterkeeper Alliance is among the largest and fastest growing non-profit organizations, its sole focus on clean water. The four-day conference in North Carolina brought together 295 waterbody stewards from every corner of the world to discuss the effects of the global warming crisis on their communities.

“Probably the most frightening of our concerns over climate change is the increase of tropical storms, which are now spawning right in our waters,” Darville said, citing the destruction wrought in the southern Bahamas last October by Hurricane Joaquin. “They no longer have to originate off the west coast of Africa.”

According to Darville, unregulated development is one of the largest contributing factors to the accelerated rate at which the shores of The Bahamas is eroding, further escalating the chance of cataclysmic flooding when powerful storms strike.

“This erosion results not only from the sea level rise, heavier storms and storm surge, but is dramatically associated with unregulated and basically unsound major developments,” Darville said. “Whether it’s the absence of qualified marine engineers, or simply an ignorance of the nature of our coastal geography, structures and walls are built without the slightest knowledge of how winds and tides naturally flow.”

Additionally, Darville points to developers’ insatiable desire for oceanfront golf courses as further compounding environmental hazards created by rampant and unrestricted development.

“They are usually plunked right along the sea front, resulting in the run off of all the chemicals which just glory in the destruction and death of our coral reefs,” Darville said. “We have lost hundreds and hundreds of acres of what used to be a scene of magnificent beauty. They also once served as significant barriers for storms and storm surges.”

Darville’s greatest long-term concern – an issue that could affect the ability to inhabit The Bahamas — is the looming loss of the country’s drinkable water. Because the fresh water lens in The Bahamas is only around three to four feet from the land surface, any erosion of land increases salt water intrusion into the water tables.

“Already after major hurricanes, we have had to wait months before the water was potable due to the infusion of salt water,” Darville said. “As the sea level continues to rise, and are exacerbated by major storms, we face real danger of a nation being in a constant state of thirst.”

Bahamas News

Husband Murder Plot foiled in The Bahamas; Wife and two others arrested

Published

5 days ago

August 5, 2023

Deandrea Hamilton

Rashaed Esson

Staff Writer

#TheBahamas, August 5, 2023 – An American woman has been arrested in The Bahamas, accused of conspiring with two men, one of them alleged to be her lover, to murder her estranged husband.

The woman, 36 year old Lindsay Shiver and the two men, 28-year-old Terrance Bethel, the alleged lover and 29 year old Faron Newbold, were taken into custody last week following police investigation of a reported burglary at Grabbers Bar and Grill restaurant on Great Guana Cay.

The police looked into their cell phones and found WhatsApp messages detailing the assassination plot to kill her husband.

The couple, who built a life in South Georgia have three children and are home owners on the island in the Abacos.

News outlets throughout the US have reported on the scandalous story, including that a nasty court battle over the couple’s reported, $5 Million dollar fortune and three children was underway. Shiver, an entrepreneur is a former beauty Alabama queen, her husband a former football player was an insurance executive.

According to US media, the husband, Robert, recently filed for divorce from Shivers after a decade of marriage upon discovering she had an alleged extra-martial affair with Bethel whom she met in The Bahamas.

While the husband claims infidelity on the part of his wife, the wife claims he was abusive.

The suspects Shiver, Bethel and Newbold appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Roberto Reckley on Friday July 28th. Their next court date is set for October 5th.

Bahamas News

Alarming Sexual Assault cases raising fears in The Bahamas

Published

5 days ago

August 5, 2023

Deandrea Hamilton

Rashaed Esson

Staff Writer

#TheBahamas, August 5, 2023 – The Bahamas is now facing an unfortunate reality as sexual assault has become and is a growing issue since 2023. Women and girls are said to be living in fear for their safety from these perpetrators.

The Royal Bahamas Police force has reported on instances of assault in press releases found on their Facebook page.

One report spoke of a 50 year old they were searching for after he burglarized a home and sexually assaulted an elderly woman, 82 years old. She was reported to be asleep when he woke and assaulted her.

This took place on Tuesday July 11th, 2023 at the home in the Centreville area of Nassau.

There is another incident that took place on July 17th, 2023 which the police are seeking in catching the suspect as they investigate. It involves a man believed to the perpetrator in for an armed robbery and sexual assault.

According to preliminary data, he approached the victim, a female, with a firearm, robbed her and sexually assaulted her. He proceeded to enter the house and robbed a male and escaped. This happened in the Cowpen Road area; also in Nassau.

The assaults continue to grow in number as the police reported that they were investigating two other incidents that took place on July 24th.

The first had to do with a female, 30 years old who reported she was driving on West on Marshall Road when two men approached her after she slowed down near Faith Avenue. One of the males with a firearm, forced her from her vehicle and took her to nearby bushes where they sexually assaulted her after which they escaped.

The second incident involved à 32 year old woman who was sexually assaulted by a male known to her. It is reported that she was walking in the Fleming Street area when she accepted transportation from the suspect, who drove her to a dirt road off Gladstone Road where he presented a firearm and proceeded to rape her.

Furthermore, another assault, this time involving a 9 year old girl, was reported. As revealed by preliminary information, the victim was playing with friends outside where she lives on Saturday July 29th, 2023 when the suspect, a 42 year old male of Summerset Estate, driving a white Nissan Skyline, arrived and gestured to her to enter the car.

She entered the car after which he took her to an unknown location, threatened her and sexually assaulted her. She was later found somewhere in Spikenard Road; this also happened in Nassau.

Fortunately, he was caught and arrested for abduction and sexual assault on Sunday July 30th by officers affiliated with the Drug Enforcement Unit.

There are other reports of sexual assault throughout The Bahamas as well as rape and attempted rape during the earlier parts of the year, dating back to as early as February.

CAPTION: Women Leaders, including Ann Marie Davis, wife of the Prime Minister filled the gallery of The Bahamas Senate this week as members of the upper chamber debated the Protection Against Violence Bill 2023. The debate came just as the country experiences a spike in sexual assaults against women and girls. Photo by Patrick Hanna, BIS.

Bahamas News

Premier Misick received a courtesy call from the Bahamas Leader of the Opposition

Published

5 days ago

August 5, 2023

Deandrea Hamilton

#TurksandCaicos, August 5, 2023 – On August 3rd, 2023, Premier Misick met with the Leader of the Opposition of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, the Honorable Michael Pintard. The discussion was highly productive, and they delved into matters of mutual concern between their neighboring nations. Hon. Pintard was accompanied by other opposition members, including Senator the Honorable Darren Handfield and Mr. Joshua Sears.

Group photo caption:

From Left to Right: Mr. Joshua Sears, Senator Hon. Darren Hendfield, Premier Hon. Charles Washington Misick, Bahamas Leader of the Bahamas Hon. Michael Pintard and Deputy Premier Hon. Erwin J. Saunders.