BRIDGETOWN – The Board of Directors of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) on December 13, 2018, approved funding for a project which will see 30,500 existing street lights replaced with energy-efficient light-emitting diode (LED) lighting. The project is expected to reduce the cost of street lighting to the Government of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas by about 20 percent when it is implemented, saving the country approximately USD3 million a year.

CDB is providing USD14.5 million through a loan to the Government which will cover project preparation assistance, infrastructure works, engineering services, goods and project management associated with the initiative. USD8.9 million of the funding comes from resources provided to CDB by the European Investment Bank (EIB) under the Climate Action Line of Credit (CALC). The Bahamas Power and Light Company (BPL) will implement the project.

CDB Director of Projects, Daniel Best noted that street lighting makes up a significant portion of the Government’s electricity consumption and costs.

“Currently, street lighting accounts for more than 30 percent of the Bahamian Government’s electricity consumption and in fact, takes up 3 percent  of the country’s overall consumption. By implementing energy-efficient street lighting, The Bahamas will be able to save money, reduce its fuel import bill and cut its greenhouse gas emissions,” said Best. The Bahamas becomes the sixth CDB Borrowing Member Country (BMC) to benefit from the Bank’s financing of energy-efficient street lighting projects. Antigua and Barbuda, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Suriname have received a combined USD59.3 million to support their shift to more energy-efficient public lighting….[+]

JOHANNESBURG– South Africa has issued an arrest warrant for Zimbabwe’s former first lady Grace Mugabe over an alleged assault in an upmarket district of Johannesburg last year, a police spokesman said yesterday. After the alleged assault with an electric cable came to light in August 2017, the South African government granted Grace Mugabe diplomatic immunity.

That immunity was overturned by a South African court this year after the alleged victim, model Gabriella Engels, challenged the decision. “I can confirm that a warrant for the arrest of Grace Mugabe was issued last Thursday,” South African Police Service spokesman Vishnu Naidoo said, adding that police were seeking Interpol’s help to enforce the warrant. There was no immediate comment from Mrs Mugabe or from authorities in Harare.

Mrs Mugabe was seen as a potential successor to her 94-year-old husband Robert, who ruled Zimbabwe from 1980 until he was ousted in a coup late last year, at the time of the incident in a luxury hotel in Johannesburg’s Sandton district.(Reuters)…[+]

KINGSTON — The police are investigating the death of a United States resident, who turned up at a gas station with a gunshot wound in Mammee Bay, St Ann earlier today.

He has been identified as thirty-four-year-old Kevin Mechado of Mango Walk, St James and Pine Wood Court, Florida.  It has been reported that about 1:00 am, Mechado drove to the service station suffering from a gunshot wound to his right leg. According to the police, he subsequently fell out of the car clutching a firearm. He was assisted to hospital where he was pronounced dead. The police said a post mortem exercise will be conducted to determine the cause of death.

Investigations are ongoing.(Jamaica Observer)…[+]