NATIONAL NOTES

July 2001 Table of Contents

NATIONAL NOTES

Flamingo Born: The first flamingo born in captivity in The Bahamas cracked its egg open on 2nd June at Ardastra Gardens Zoo in Nassau. The Ardastra flamingo flock have been laying eggs since 1990 and there are 11 more eggs set to hatch soon. Let's hope some of them provide the fluffy newborn with some playmates.

Three Straight, Please: The Central Council of the ruling Free National Movement Party voted overwhelmingly on 11th June to invite Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham to stand again as party leader in the next general election. Mr Ingraham had indicated previously that he would only stand for two terms. There is no legal or constitutional impediment to Mr Ingrahaman choosing to stand for another term. Or two. Or three.

Bahamas Blacklisting Lifted: The Bahamas, along with the Cayman Islands and Panama, has been removed from an international blacklist of jurisdictions which were uncooperative towards money laundering. A series of bills which were passed through Parliament during the past year led to the change in status. INHERITANCE BILLS

The most talked about social matter in the country recently has been the proposed introduction of new Inheritance Bills by the FNM government which would replace the Wills Act of 1837. The new Inheritance Act would:

Provide for all children of a marriage to inherit from their parents, mother or father, in equal parts as opposed to then present law which grants such property to the eldest son only;

Provide for a surviving spouse to inherit one half of the property, money and other personal effects of a deceased spouse as opposed to the current law which grants only a dower for life in real property to a surviving female spouse;

Remove the last vestiges of discrimination against women in the distribution of property on intestacy;

Remove discrimination between children of a marriage as regards age or sex;

Abolish dower for women marrying after the coming into operation of the new law and replace the dower right with a half legal interest in all properties left by the deceased spouse;

Abolish the right of the government to come into ownership of property by way of escheat, that is, that the deceased had no living relative who could inherit;

Grant authority to the Supreme Court to provide for the maintenance of a spouse, children and dependants, notwithstanding that such provisions may not have been made in the will of the deceased;

Permit the children of an unmarried mother or father to inherit equally in the property of the deceased father or mother; provided (a) such a father has been adjudged by a court during his lifetime to be the father of the child or children; or (b) the father had acknowledged, by affidavit or affirmation filed in the Public Registry of Records in The Bahamas, that the child was his. CHOIR SUCCESS

Abaco Central High School gained extraordinary success at the 2001 National Arts Festival by winning four first place awards. The school won the prestigious Gospel Choir section, Junkanoo Bands, Female Gospel with the Night-in-Gales and in addition their director, Mr Alfred Dean, won the position of Top M

July 2001 Table of Contents