Wednesday, October 14, 2026

Eleuthera residents threaten to stop paying their power bills over persistent outages, Treasure Cay’s $177 million sale is “well on its way” to closing, East End cracks conch at the 54th McLean’s Town festival, and in Nassau a beach-access fight in Yamacraw, fishermen squeezed by diesel, school closures, and a “Miracle Baby” gets a motorised wheelchair.

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Exuma: Business Outlook is tomorrow

The Exuma Business Outlook is tomorrow, Thursday, October 15, at the St. Andrew’s Anglican Church Community Centre in George Town, with Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper among the speakers. Source: The Tribune

Sampson Cay status: still no ruling.

The far south and the central islands: quiet

Inagua, Mayaguana, Acklins, Crooked Island and Ragged Island: no new local headlines this afternoon.

Long Island status only: residents are still waiting on an answer about the mailboat delays and empty shelves. Source: Our News

Cat Island, San Salvador and Rum Cay: quiet.

Eleuthera: residents threaten to stop paying BPL bills

The threat. Eleuthera residents are threatening to withhold Bahamas Power & Light bill payments in protest over persistent outages, mounting appliance damage and what they describe as long delays, or no resolution at all, when they seek compensation. Source: The Tribune

Claims that go nowhere. Aldred Albury, former local government representative for The Current, says he has heard many residents say they filled out the form, provided all the documents and still got no resolution. He said he could not say whether BPL is deliberately withholding compensation, noting some people were eventually reimbursed, but called on the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) to investigate if the problem is widespread.

Four fridges and a dishwasher. Doon McKinney of Governor’s Harbour says she has lost four refrigerators and a dishwasher to power surges over about a year and a half, despite a whole-house surge protector and individual protectors on her appliances. She says the power goes off several times a day, sometimes for as long as ten hours, that water pumps fail when it does, and that elderly residents and people with medical conditions are hit hardest. Her Airbnb has lost business because guests will not stay without air conditioning, and she questions how the island’s grid can handle major new developments while current customers suffer.

No phone, no sleep. In Hatchet Bay, Yuwanda Roberts says some nights she cannot charge her phone or sleep with the power off before an early start at work.

What BPL has said. In recent updates on its WhatsApp channel, BPL announced rotational supply schedules and pointed to a problem at the Rock Sound power station, faults with generating equipment at Hatchet Bay power station, and temporary rental generation units with limited capacity.

After outages over the holiday weekend, a Cabinet minister who represents an Eleuthera constituency has also pledged to keep pressing for more reliable power for his constituents.

For the calendar. This Saturday, October 17, Olympian Devynne Charlton’s free Barrier Breakers hurdles clinic comes to Preston H. Albury High School in Rock Sound. Source: Our News

Andros, the Berry Islands and Bimini: no new local headlines this afternoon.

Abaco: Treasure Cay’s $177m deal “well on its way” to closing

Bahamas Investment Authority director Phylicia Woods-Hanna says the Meister family, as vendors, and the buyer, Jacksonville-based GreenePointe Holdings and its principal Edward Burr, are working through the final checklist of closing items, which could be completed this month. Pre-construction and demolition permits have been issued, the plans are done, and the developer has been advised to roll the project out publicly with community meetings. Source: The Tribune

Former Abaco Chamber of Commerce president Daphne DeGregory-Miaoulis says the news sounds more positive, but she is “not going to the bank on it” yet, adding that North Abaco desperately needs Treasure Cay revived after Hurricane Dorian. Bill McLean of the Beach Villas home owners says there have been unobtrusive signs of progress in what is a complex, multi-parcel title deal.

Grand Bahama: East End cracks conch

A resounding success. The 54th Annual McLean’s Town Conch Cracking Festival in East End drew residents, returning natives and visitors. MP Kwasi Thompson and Minister Ginger Moxey attended, the conch-cracking competition was on, and the Ministry of Tourism provided complimentary buses. Source: The Tribune

Twenty Pearls. The Pi Upsilon Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha held its 39th Twenty Pearls pinning on Grand Bahama, welcoming 46 young women into its mentorship programme. Congratulations!

Reminders. Union leader Obie Ferguson’s Friday deadline for former Grand Lucayan workers to be paid is two days away. And 75-year-old Lynda Pinder of Lewis Yard is still missing; please keep sharing, and if you have seen her, call the police.

Nassau: the fight over a wall near Stokes Beach

Beaches and Parks Authority chairman Jamal Strachan has defended construction of a boundary wall near Stokes Beach in Yamacraw. He says the Ministry of Works issued a valid permit and that the property owner is building along a corrected boundary after an error was found in an earlier survey. “It’s not a privatisation of any access,” he said, adding that the access route may shift but a way to the shoreline will remain. Source: The Tribune

Beach-access advocacy group Dis We Beach says work on the wall was halted over safety concerns and the lack of Ministry of the Environment clearance, that the wall was intended to extend to the high-water mark, and that Yamacraw MP and Environment Minister Zane Lightbourne had also raised safety concerns. The group is calling for national legislation protecting Bahamians’ access to the beach by land, not just by sea.

Fishermen squeezed by diesel

National Fisheries Association president Keith Carroll says fishermen are being squeezed by diesel at about $7.44 a gallon and cannot pass the cost on to buyers. Because unprepared food is VAT-exempt rather than zero-rated, fishermen cannot recover the VAT they pay on fuel, about $3,000 on $30,000 of fuel. Lobster season has been good, he says, but only 10 to 15 percent of the catch stays in The Bahamas, and US tariffs have risen from 10 to 12 percent.

Schools: closures threaten learning recovery, union warns

Bahamas Educators Managerial Union (BEMU) president Stephen McPhee warns that repeated school closures, over impetigo outbreaks and electrical and plumbing problems, threaten students’ learning recovery. Sadie Curtis and E.P. Roberts had early dismissals last week. He says the Ministry of Education is excluding administrators from discussions, wants Health Minister Dr Michael Darville to launch a public education campaign on impetigo, and says some 29 to 36 schools are without substantive principals, as the union’s Supreme Court injunction fight with the government continues in the background.

Good news: a “Miracle Baby” on wheels

For years, Anna Thompson carried her daughter, 10-year-old Naveah Strachan, to and from Columbus Primary School. Naveah was born with osteogenesis imperfecta, also known as brittle bone disease, and cannot walk. On Tuesday, at a school assembly, BEMU donated a motorised wheelchair, and for the first time Naveah moved around on her own, alongside her mother, as classmates cheered. Ms Thompson, wiping away tears of joy, calls her the “Miracle Baby.” Guidance counsellor Gregory Cash, who also uses a motorised wheelchair, said he was overwhelmed with joy and hopes they can one day have a race. Source: The Tribune

Weather and tropical outlook

New Providence on Wednesday: warm, with a high near 86°F, a low around 77°F, a breeze up to about 9 mph and about a 20 percent chance of a shower. Thursday: a high near 88°F, a low around 77°F, about a 26 percent chance of a passing shower and winds around 10 mph (Open-Meteo). The U.S. National Hurricane Center reports tropical cyclone formation is not expected over the next 7 days.

Our advice

If a power surge damages your appliances, take photos, keep your receipts, file your claim in writing and keep a copy, and follow up if you get no answer. Impetigo spreads easily among children: wash hands often, keep cuts and sores clean and covered, do not share towels, and see a doctor about any sore that will not heal.