ELEUTHERA, Bahamas -- The One Eleuthera Foundation and its partners are gearing up to host a weekend of events honoring Earth Day with the guiding theme “A Celebration of Earth & Partnerships”.

Festivities will commence on Thursday, April 25th with the Inaugural Eleuthera Business Outlook hosted by Eleuthera Chamber of Commerce which will be held at the Leon Levy Native Plant Preserve, followed by a social with the Rotary Club of Eleuthera.

The major events will take place on Saturday, April 27th with the Cancer Society of Eleuthera’s “Fun, Run, Walk” immediately followed by an Open House at the Cancer Society’s Wellness Center to raise funding for and awareness of cancer. This event will be succeeded by an Earth Day festival and celebration of renovations at Ocean Hole Park located in Rock Sound, which will be a fun-filled day for the entire family to include planting trees, swimming, a Junkanoo rush out and local entertainment.

World renowned Ocean Hole Park is currently being refurbished thanks to the One Eleuthera Foundation who successfully acquired a $25,000 grant from Seacology, an international environmental nonprofit organization, for the renovation of existing infrastructure, construction of an observation deck, gazebo and stage, and the purchase and placement of waste receptacles, safety features and highway signage. These enhancements will allow a safer, cleaner, more enjoyable use of Mother Nature’s mystical gift. In addition to funding from Seacology, One Eleuthera also received support from The Nature Conservancy and the Ministry of Tourism for upgrades to Ocean Hole last year.

The festivities will conclude with a Gospel Jam Session featuring local artists beginning at 3:00pm on Sunday, April 28th at the Eleuthera Arts & Cultural Center’s amphitheater in Tarpum Bay.

GOVERNOR'S HARBOUR, Eleuthera -- Prime Minister Rt Hon. Perry Christie will deliver the keynote address to open the first Eleuthera Business Outlook (ELBO) on April 25 at the Leon Levy Preserve, Governor’s Harbour. The theme of ELBO will be “Positioning Eleuthera for Revitalization through Engagement and Productivity” said Joan Albury, President of TCL Group.  “We at TCL Group are most pleased to launch Eleuthera Business Outlook, which is truly history-making and are honoured that the Prime Minister is taking time to give the keynote address, which will set the tone for the event.”

Speakers at the daylong gathering will include government officials, top NGO representatives and notable business and industry leaders from Eleuthera the capital Thomas Sands, President, Eleuthera Chamber of Commerce is slated to give the update and vision, “Our Eleuthera: Today and Tomorrow”. Additional speakers include Hon Damien Gomez, M.P. Minister of State in the Ministry of Legal Affairs; Craig Symonette, Chairman, Bahamas Ferries; Astrid Wynter, IDB, country representative; Eric Carey, Executive Director, Bahamas National Trust; Christel Sands-Feaste, Partner, Higgs and Johnson; Angela Archer, Bahamas Film Commission, and  Shaun Ingraham, One Eleuthera.  Moderating will be Elizabeth Bryan, VP, Eleuthera Chamber of Commerce and Jacqueline H. Gibson, General Manager, Central and South Eleuthera, Ministry of Tourism.

“It is fitting that ELBO is being held in the beautiful Leon Levy Native Plant Preserve, which honours the memory of Leon Levy whose Hatchet Bay dairy farm grounded modern Eleuthera. Eleuthera is the place where the modern Bahamas began and it is due time to schedule Eleuthera amongst the Business Outlooks lineup.  The Business Outlook Series now covers six islands of our archipelago and all of these yearly events have been founded in answer to calls from the respective business communities,” said Joan Albury.

The Hon. Glenys Hanna-Martin
Minister of Transport and Aviation
4th April 2013

I wish to provide an update to my previous statement on the status of the investigation of this tragic incident.

As previously communicated, an investigative team comprising members of the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) and the Air Accident Prevention and Investigation Unit (AAPIU) of the Civil Aviation Department traveled to Mayaguana at 5 a.m. this morning. At this moment that team is on the ground at the airport in Mayaguana conducting an investigation of the facts and circumstances surrounding this tragic accident. In pursuance of this, witnesses are being interviewed and photographic and other pieces of evidence are being collected. I expect to travel to Mayaguana within the hour with the Member of Parliament for MICAL, Hon V. Alfred Gray.

The Bahamas Government is committed to ensuring that emergency capacity is installed in all airports nationwide. As a result of this commitment and under my tenure as Transport Minister between 2002 and 2007, solar powered emergency runway lights were installed at seventeen Family Island airports. This policy initiative eliminated the need for the use of high beam headlights from vehicles to illuminate Family Island airport runways in emergency situations.

The Mayaguana Airport is the subject of a Heads of Agreement with the I Group, a foreign development group which under that agreement were obliged to rehabilitate the airport inclusive of lights and runway resurfacing. That agreement was reviewed by the previous administration for several years and it was only until February 2012 that a revised agreement was finalized between the former Government and the I Group.

The Hon. Glenys Hanna-Martin
Minister of Transport and Aviation
4th April 2013

In the early hours of this morning I was informed of an aviation accident in Mayaguana resulting in the tragic death of 3 people. I am advised that all 3 persons are residents of the island of Mayaguana.

A preliminary report from the Department of Civil Aviation says that on 4^th April, 2013 at approximately 12:30 a.m. a Cessna C402 owned by Leair Charter Service Limited with a crew of 2 on board was making a landing at night for an emergency evacuation flight with two vehicles strategically placed to outline the useable portion of the runway. It is reported that the aircraft made contact with one of the vehicles resulting in the deaths of the 3 passengers in that vehicle.

An investigative team comprising the Royal Bahamas Police Force and the Air Accident Investigation and Prevention Unit of the Department of Civil Aviation will fly into Mayaguana at 5 a.m. this morning.

I wish to assure that a full investigation will be carried out by the Department of Civil Aviation into the causes and circumstances surrounding this terrible event. I will report further as information permits. Out of respect for the families, the names of the persons killed will not be disclosed until an official release is made by the Royal Bahamas Police Force.

I extend my heartfelt condolences to the families of these beloved persons and to the wider community of Mayaguana who share in this loss.

SOUTH ANDROS, The Bahamas -- Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Works and Urban Development the Hon. Philip Davis thanked residents of South Andros for their patience, as the Government works to settle during its first fiscal year in office, debts and bills that the previous administration had left.

The Deputy Prime Minister led a team of Government Ministers and officials to South Andros to address residents’ concerns at a town meeting, Wednesday, March 27, 2013.

The Deputy Prime Minister told the residents “We want you to understand that come the next fiscal year, you will be seeing what we promised; we will fulfil those promises.”

Minister of Financial Services the Hon. Ryan Pinder; Minister of State for Investments in the Office of The Prime Minister the Hon. Khaalis Rolle; Minister of State in the Ministry of Transport and Aviation the Hon. Hope Strachan; Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Works and Urban Development the Hon. Renward Wells and Member of Parliament for Mangrove Cay, Central and South Andros and The Bahamas Non-Resident High Commissioner to the Caribbean Community His Excellency Picewell Forbes accompanied the Deputy Prime Minister.

The Ministry of Works and Urban Development was given a total budget of $229 million for this Government’s first fiscal year in office, explained the Deputy Prime Minister.

BIMINI, Bahamas—The bulls are running at the historic Bimini Big Game Club Resort & Marina in Alice Town, with management reporting on brisk business and bookings, plans to increase staff and a successful start to the Bimini Bull Run at-the-dock shark encounter.

“We’re already over 30% over last year’s overall year-to-year revenue and I’m spending this week doing interviews to get ramped-up for what we think will be a very strong season,” said General Manager Michael Weber, who plans to increase staff by 35%.

Weber and his wife, Diana, the resort’s marketing director, have spent the last year creating a wave of promotions to build a family-centric facility at the 51-room resort and marina.

“Though Bimini is still primarily a destination for fishing and diving, we’ve worked diligently to add family fun and activities, with the addition of watersports, including backcountry kayaking, stand-up paddle boarding, bicycle rentals and even yoga lessons.”

Weber said the numbers show family business is up by 60-plus%.

“We also have to credit some highly creative marketing with two very successful Wahoo tournaments, visits by celebrities, including the grandson of Ernest Hemingway, Miss February from Playboy and country artist and TV host Craig Morgan” said Weber, who plans to continue bringing in celebrity guests, including 2012 Olympic gold medalist Missy Franklin, who will be on island this weekend participating in the filming of “The Current” documentary.

BIMINI, Bahamas -- Move over Kalik there’s a new brew in Alice Town.  The historic Bimini Big Game Club Resort and Marina has introduced its own private label draft beer— Big Game Club Ale.

“This is yet another step in our continuing efforts to create a unique brand for this property,” said General Manager Michael Weber.  “Certainly, we will continue to serve Kalik (a popular local beer brewed in Nassau) and other popular beers such as Sand’s Beer & High Rock, but having our own label says something about The Big Game Club being distinctively different.”

Weber, who recently approved a deal with Sand’s Brewery in Freeport to import the draft beer, described Big Game Club Ale as an Amber Ale, lightly hopped with a slightly sweet, roasted taste. “So far the new ale has been well received by locals and tourists over the past week that we have been serving the draft,” Weber said.

Weber also said Big Game Club Ale will be sold in the Bimini Big Game Bar & Grill and the new Bimini Bull Run Shark Bar, which is nearly completed and next to the new “Bimini Bull Run” Marina Shark Cage Dive operation.

Photo: The historic Bimini Big Game Club Resort and Marina has introduced its own private label draft beer— Big Game Club Ale.