Monthly Archives: May 2017

In the hubbub of ministers, military officials and tourists in flowery shirts, I manage to spot Dr Nicola Virgill-Rolle the head of national planning in the Bahamian Prime Ministers Office.

Were at a global summit that could only be in the Bahamas. UN experts and government officials are inside discussing climate change, sustainable development, and citizen engagement. Just out of the window, we can see tourists drinking rum, dancing and playing volleyball.

Its a wonderful destination, but the conversation is serious: small island states face a challenging future. Climate change threatens their very existence; their economies are reliant on globalisation; and they have dispersed communities that can lack healthcare or education provision.

In the Bahamas, Virgill-Rolle overseas a new plan thats intended to mitigate some of these problems. GovInsider caught up with her to understand how this nation is learning from governments across the world.

The need for reform

The government has faced many challenges in the past few years, she says. In 2015 and 2016, the archipelago was ravaged by serious hurricanes, causing billions of dollars worth of damage.

With a dispersed rural population, government officials can take a long time to understand the damage that these hurricanes have caused and respond.

Equally, there are day-to-day challenges: keeping citizens engaged; ensuring adequate standards of service delivery; ensuring strong rural healthcare and education.

This year, the government has decided to centralise control of these initiatives into a dedicated Delivery Unit. Inspired by similar units in governments from Britain to Colombia, the Bahamas is overhauling its structures to create greater efficiency.

The plan

Virgill-Rolles team will employ 10 15 people in the Delivery Unit from a number of ministries with great project management skills and different types of expertise, she says. They will also train project managers to work within key departments, who will report back to the centre of government on their progress.

The Unit will be based in the Prime Ministers Office, which is responsible for the governments National Development Plan. This Plan has key metrics tied to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2030 which the Bahamas intends to achieve. That gives the project managers concrete objectives to push for within their host departments. Meanwhile, the central Delivery Unit will track progress against a dashboard and interject when there are delays.

The project began in January, and is intended to launch officially in August. Theres process to ensure that the political level is sensitised to the project, the public service is sensitised to what this change means, and we are looking at getting the various job descriptions and organisational structures put in place, she says.

Learning from others

Delivery units are cropping up around the world. Malaysia has one, for example, while the UAE has taken the same processes and condensed them into day-long workshops.

In South America, the methodology is dubbed a Centre of Government Approach, and its being promoted by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Virgill-Rolle was inspired by this approach at a summit in Washington last year, and particularly how it has transformed government in Colombia.

The country had a big problem with phone theft, she says, which sounds simple but is linked to so many security issues in their country. The government set very precise targets for their police forces to achieve, and then measured results across the country to share success stories and find the best ways to tackle this problem. That is an amazing story we learned from, Virgill-Rolle says.

Tech for good

The Bahamas Delivery Unit project is also part of a bigger scheme, funded by the IDB, to improve national procurement, accounting and statistics. A dedicated IT platform is being built to support this initiative. Recently, CrimsonLogic a Singaporean supplier won the tender.

More broadly, tech is crucial for future development, Virgill-Rolle believes. This is particularly true for education and healthcare, which can be improved in rural areas with video conferencing and better data, she notes. The government also intends to find new ways to include rural citizens views in the policy making process.

Within the government, a coordinating board will pull together project feedback from across departments. IT is handled by the Ministry of Finance, but in keeping with many island states such as Singapore policy control is being taken on by the Prime Ministers Office. This ensures that small nations can adapt quickly and leapfrog larger countries.

We exchange business cards and I lose Virgill-Rolle in the throng of international delegations. The annual Small Island Development States (SIDS) Summit from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs is bustling and hectic, with delegates sharing success stories and discussing the new Sustainable Development Goals.

Meanwhile, I head out to the poolside, order an ice tea, and start typing up this story. Only in the Bahamas.

Images by the University of the Bahamas; Office of the Prime Minister, Bahamas; Ricardo Mangual CC BY 2.0

https://govinsider.asia/connected-gov/exclusive-inside-the-bahamas-delivery-unit/

Originally posted here:

Exclusive: Inside the Bahamas Delivery Unit - GovInsider

SHOWN (l-r) are Damian Blackburn, Chief ALIV Officer, Vashni Thompson, of Special Olympics Bahamas, Bianca Bethel Sawyer, ALIV Events, Sponsorship and Community Manager, Gilbert Williams, National Director Special Olympics Bahamas, Deron Forbes, 400m Specialist Special Olympics Bahamas, Diana Sands, ALIV Public Relations Manager and Johnny Ingle, Chief ALIV Champion

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

SPECIAL Olympics Bahamas has partnered with Aliv to enhance the development of its initiatives to better prepare the athletes to represent the country on the international stage.

Both organisations officially announced the partnership during a press conference yesterday and the $45,000 three-year sponsorship moving forward.

Gilbert Williams, national director of Special Olympics Bahamas, said the organisation will benefit exponentially from Alivs contribution.

This is indeed a very special moment for us at Special Olympics Bahamas. We have had a number of sponsors in the past and we will continue to seek out additional sponsors, but this is the first partnership since the programme officially came to the Bahamas in 1978.

Aliv is a new company but obviously theyre not prepared to take a backseat to anybody by being the first to take on this partnership, he said. Aliv is committed to the cause of Special Olympics Bahamas and we believe what we have here is a win-win situation.

Aliv wins because wherever we go we will carry the Aliv name with us, Special Olympics Bahamas wins because we have been looking for this type of funding to be able to create and innovate new programmes, the public wins because they now get to see what athletes with special needs can do. They will now get to know these athletes up close and personal. Athletes like Deron Forbes or Vashni Thompson, and that is our hope that our athletes become the face and the voice of Special Olympics Bahamas. Our athletes win because they will benefit from improved and expanding programming.

Special Olympics Bahamas is set to hold its annual Track and Field Nationals on Saturday (May 27) in the original Thomas A Robinson stadium. Athletes from Abaco, Eleuthera, Grand Bahama and New Providence are expected to compete.

Damian Blackburn, Chief ALIV Officer, said the sponsorship falls in line with his companys community-building efforts.

We believe in working with the community and have created programmes, and partnered with organisations directed at areas that will have the most sustainable and positive impact on the country. Undoubtedly, fostering an environment for people with special needs is important and the company is dedicated to helping advance the athletic pursuits for people of all ages and backgrounds. The importance of an organization such as Special Olympics Bahamas is fundamental to the growth of the country. I myself have assisted with Special Olympics committees throughout the region and was delighted when this opportunity presented itself here in The Bahamas. We at ALIV are extremely proud and happy to assist Special Olympics Bahamas with all their events, beginning as the title sponsor for the national track and field meet this Saturday. We will also be sponsoring Christmas events in Grand Bahama and Abaco later this year., he said, Special Olympics is a global organization, serving more than 4.2 million athletes in 170 nations, and it is right here, at the local level, where interested athletes, families, volunteers and supporters come together to promote health and fitness, change lives, and create communities of inclusion and acceptance. Our goal is to always meet and surpass expectations and we believe this partnership with Special Olympics Bahamas will allow us to do just that.

In 2015, 23 Bahamians competed in the Special Olympics World Summer Games. The contingent captured a total of 25 medals 11 gold, 10 silver and four bronze.

The Special Olympics has provided an opportunity for those with intellectual disabilities to showcase their talents in sports for 47 years. This year, more than 6,500 athletes from 165 countries competed in 25 Olympic-type sports.

As people, outside of our professional commitment have been deeply embedded in the empowerment of those less fortunate in ourselves. We believe in the power of sport and we all firmly believe that anyone involved in the Olympics everyone has the right to be a true Olympian and thats a fundamental concept, Johnny Ingle, Chief ALIV Champion, said, Nobody should be precluded from striving for the best, from having the support to be the best and to carry a medal.

Read the rest here:

Special Olympics Bahamas Partners With Aliv - Bahamas Tribune

MANCHESTER, N.H.

Coast Guard officials on Thursday night suspended the search for survivors from a plane piloted by a New Hampshire man that vanished in the Bermuda Triangle.

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The plane lost contact Monday about 40 miles east of the Bahamas.

A Coast Guard helicopter crew on Tuesday located a fuel sheen and a debris field 15 miles east of Eleuthera, Bahamas.

The helicopter crew lowered a rescue swimmer, who retrieved some of the debris. The Coast Guard said recovered debris matches the style of the aircraft.

Nahan Ulrich, 52, of Lee, was the pilot of the plane carrying New York City businesswoman Jennifer Blumin and her two young sons when the plane disappeared.

The Coast Guard suspended the search at 8:45 p.m. Thursday.

"This was a swift and significant loss and its impact has reverberated through everyone that participated in the search," said Christopher Eddy, search and rescue mission coordinator. "Our hearts and prayers go out to all of the families involved."

The U.S. Air Force, Customs and Border Patrol and the Royal Bahamas Defense Force also assisted with the search.

A National Transportation Safety Board accident investigator has been assigned to this case to determine the probable cause of this accident.

WEBVTT THE COAST GUARD SAYS IT IS NOTGIVING UP THE SEARCH FORSURVIVORS FROM A PLANE PILOTEDBY A NEW HAMPSHIRE MAN THATVANISHED IN THE BERMUDATRIANGLE.THE PLANE LOST CONTACT MONDAYABOUT 40 MILES EAST OF THEBAHAMAS.THE COAST GUARD SAYS THIS DEBRISIT RECOVERED MATCHES THE STYLEOF THE AIRCRAFT.52-YEAR-OLD NATHAN ULRICH, OFLEE, WAS FLYING NEW YORK CITYBUSINESS WOMAN, JENNIFER BLUMIN,AND HER TWO YOUNG SONS WHEN THE

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Search suspended for NH man, 3 others after plane vanishes over Bahamas - WMUR Manchester

Step onto the white-sand beaches of the Exumasa chain of more than 365 tiny Bahamian islands and sleepy cays and you'll be struck with the feeling that you're the first to discover this remarkable corner of the planet.

Here it's iguana tails, not human footprints, that leave marks in the sand, and stumbling upon a gleaming pink conch shell the size of your head is as common as having a new shade of blue catch your eye each time you survey the surrounding waters.

But as your boat approaches Big Major Cay, you're awoken from this daydream by some rather boorish inhabitants: loud, snorting pigs paddling out to greet you like a jolly bunch of golden retrievers rushing to the door when their owner finally gets home from a long day of work.

The locals at Big Major's Pig Beachare transplants rather than native islanders, just like many of the people you'll meet in the area. And though they've clearly taken to their tropical digs and rising popularity spurred in part by a dramatic appearance on The Bachelorand more than a few well-liked Instagram posts the rewards of fame (read: free food) have come at a cost.

At least seven pigs were found dead in February, and while many reports speculated booze-wielding tourists did them in, government officials blamed sand ingestion after receiving autopsy results.

Since human visitors have become a fixture on the island, the pigs have mostly abandoned foraging in the forest in favor ofeating the food that's thrown to them from boats and on the shore. Swallowing sand amidst the feeding frenzies, coupled with a dry January that depleted their already limited supply of fresh drinking water, was likely the true cause of death, a Humane Society inspector told National Geographic. Healthy pigs have been brought in to replace their fallen comrades, and the friendly sunbathers are still splashing their way onto the bucket lists of animal-loving travelers everywhere.

Here's what we learned on a recent visit, including how to get there, what to expect, where to stay, and, of course, how to responsibly interact with the animals.

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Everything you want to know about swimming with pigs in the Bahamas - Travel+Leisure