NATIONAL NOTES

September 2000 Table of Contents

NATIONAL NOTES

G-7 Assault: The House of Assembly was busy during August passing a new Evidence (Proceedings in Other Jurisdictions) Act which would permit banks in The Bahamas to provide information for matters pending before a court or where proceedings are contemplated. That last provision was looked upon by some as enabling the Justice Department of the USA and other agencies the right to "go fishing" for information. A similar act had been passed earlier this year but was found not to be satisfactory to the Financial Action Task Force of the G-7 nations. Until the passing of that Act, The Bahamas was operating on an 1856 law.

Teenager Drowns: The Emancipation Day holiday on 7th August turned out to be tragic instead of happy for the Rolle family of Grand Bahama. At about 8.45 pm, Alrick Rolle was taking his two sons home from a beach party at Barbary Beach. The boat developed engine problems and started to take on water. Mr Rolle was able to swim to shore with his youngest son but 16 year old Alrick Rolle Jr tried to make sure and drowned. His body was found floating offshore early on the morning of 9th August.

12 Year Old Drowns: A 12 year old boy, Chad Humpheys of Kendall FL, drowned in the Atlantis Resort's Paradise Lagoon while snorkeling there on 8th August. It was reported that he had apparently been accidently sucked into a submerged intake pipe and a team of divers was able to free the boy only after he had been under water for four hours. Paradise Lagoon is the world's largest open air aquarium, holding 11 million gallons of salt water. Approximately four million gallons of water are pumped into and out of the lagoon four times a day. The lagoon has been closed to the public until the matter has been fully investigated. The boy's mother is reported to be suing the resort through a US lawyer.

AIDS Statistics Decline: 125 new HIV cases and 59 AIDS cases have been reported for the first three month of 2000, according to Dr Perry Gomez who was speaking at a National Consultation on HIV/AIDS in the Workplace on 16th August. Although these statistics show a slight decline the public should not become complacent of the dangers of the epidemic, said Dr Gomez.

National Murder Figures Reach 50: A young Haitian male was shot dead in a Nassau laundromat on 16th August to bring the number of murders in The Bahamas during the year 2000 to 50. There were 65 murders in 1999, the highest annual total to date.

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