Local government in the Bahamas
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At the national level, local government policy is formulated and administered by the Department of Lands and Local Government through the Office of the
History
Local government previously existed in The Bahamas in the form of appointed "Board of Works". Here towns and villages held their influence over these Board of Works, but almost all final decisions were made by the
Districts
The Districts of The Bahamas provide a system of
Since the creation of the system, the question of local government for New Providence has been debated.[citation needed] The Minister responsible for Family Island Affairs has the power to create one or more districts for all or part of New Providence by decree.[11]
As of the 1999 updates, the Second Schedule districts are:
- Cat Island
- Central Abaco
- Central Andros
- Central Eleuthera
- East Grand Bahama
- Exuma
- Long Island
- North Abaco
- North Andros
- South Abaco
- South Andros
- South Eleuthera
- West Grand Bahama
As of the 1999 updates, the Third Schedule districts are:
- Acklins
- Berry Islands
- Bimini
- Black Point
- City of Freeport
- Crooked Island
- Grand Cay
- Harbour Island
- Hope Town
- Inagua
- Long Cay
- Mangrove Cay
- Mayaguana
- Moore's Island
- North Eleuthera
- Ragged Island
- Rum Cay
- San Salvador
- Spanish Wells
New Providence
There are 24 Supervisory Districts.
Supervisory district | Population
(2022)[12] |
Male | Female |
---|---|---|---|
Bain and Grants Town | 10,361 | 4,996 | 5,365 |
Bamboo Town | 13,965 | 6,734 | 7,231 |
Carmichael | 11,931 | 5,753 | 6,178 |
Centreville | 12,817 | 6,180 | 6,637 |
Elizabeth | 13,468 | 6,494 | 6,974 |
Englerston | 12,082 | 5,826 | 6,256 |
Freetown | 12,943 | 6,241 | 6,702 |
Fort Charlotte | 10,809 | 5,212 | 5,597 |
Fox Hill | 13,855 | 6,681 | 7,174 |
Garden Hills | 10,423 | 5,026 | 5,397 |
Golden Gates | 9,924 | 4,785 | 5,139 |
Golden Isles | 16,220 | 7,821 | 8,399 |
Killarney | 17,679 | 8,525 | 9,154 |
Marathon | 11,788 | 5,684 | 6,104 |
Mount Moriah | 10,338 | 4,985 | 5,353 |
Nassau Village | 11,717 | 5,650 | 6,067 |
Pinewood | 10,666 | 5,143 | 5,523 |
Sea Breeze | 12,682 | 6,115 | 6,567 |
South Beach | 12,292 | 5,927 | 6,365 |
Southern Shores | 12,831 | 6,187 | 6,644 |
St Annes | 13,037 | 6,286 | 6,751 |
St Barnabas | 10,570 | 5,097 | 5,473 |
Tall Pines | 15,135 | 7,298 | 7,837 |
Yamacraw | 8,988 | 4,334 | 4,654 |
New Providence | 296,521 | 142,980 | 153,541 |
The Bahamas | 398,916 | 192,546 | 206,370 |
Demographics
Towns
As of the 2022 local elections, the town areas of the Bahamas include:[13]
- Cat Island District
- Arthur's Town
- The Bight
- Central Abaco District
- Marsh Harbour and Spring City
- Murphy Town
- Dundas Town
- Central Andros District
- Behring Point and Cargill Creek
- Fresh Creek
- Staniard Creek
- Central Eleuthera District
- Gregory Town
- Savannah Sound
- James Cistern Town
- Hatchet Bay
- East Grand Bahama District
- McCleans Town and Pelican Point
- Freetown
- Exuma District
- East Exuma
- West Exuma
- Long Island District
- North End
- North Abaco District
- Little Abaco
- Cooper's Town
- Treasure Cay
- North Andros District
- Lowe Sound
- Nicholls Town
- Mastic Point
- South Abaco District
- Crossing Rock
- Sandy Point
- South Andros District
- Deep Creek
- Kemp's Bay
- The Bluff
- Long Bay Cays
- South Eleuthera District
- Wemyss Bight
- West Grand Bahama District
- Eight Mile Rock West
- Pinder's Point
Types of councils
Every district in the Bahamas, with the exception of New Providence, has a district council.[14] A district council is a corporate body with perpetual succession; capable of entering into contracts, of suing and being sued, of acquiring, holding, leasing and disposing of property of any description, and of doing all such things and entering into such transactions that are within the scope of the Local Government Act.[15] District Councillors are elected by the population of that district in accordance with Local Government Act.[16] As stated in The Bahamas Local Government Act 1996, Districts councillors shall within two weeks of their election, elect from among themselves a Chief Councillor.[17] The Chief Councillor is the representative of a Districts Council for all affairs and presides over all meetings and also themselves co-ordinate these meetings.[18]
All districts councils are classed as first-schedule councils. The first-schedule is further sub-divided into two types of councils: two tier second-schedule district councils that have town committees within their jurisdiction, and unitary third-tier district councils.[19] Second-schedule districts have the following statutory boards and committees:
- Road Traffic Licensing Authority
- Port and Harbour Authority
- Hotel Licensing Board
- Liquor and Shop Licensing
- Town Planning Committee
Town committees are sub-structures of the second-schedule district councils, but are also corporate bodies themselves. They share responsibility with second-schedule district councils for a number of the schedule local government functions. They also have statutory responsibility for local regulation and licensing within their jurisdiction.[20] Third-schedule districts councils are unique within the Bahamas because they combine the responsibilities of the second-schedule districts and of the town committees. Both second- and third-schedule district councils carry out a building control function.[21]
Island Group
|
2nd tier | 3rd tier | Town
(+1,000) |
Population[12] |
---|---|---|---|---|
New Providence | 0 | 0 | 1 | 296,521 |
Abaco islands
|
2 | 0 | 4 | 16,587 |
Acklins | 0 | 1 | 0 | 692 |
Andros Island | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7,780 |
Berry Islands | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1,016 |
Bimini | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2,418 |
Cat Island | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1,601 |
Crooked Island | 0 | 1 | 0 | 305 |
Grand Bahama | 2 | 3 | 2 | 47,076 |
Eleuthera | 2 | 2 | 2 | 12,717 |
Exuma and Cays | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7,293 |
Inagua | 0 | 1 | 0 | 856 |
Long Island | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2,887 |
Mayaguana | 0 | 1 | 0 | 208 |
Ragged Island | 0 | 1 | 0 | 44 |
Rum Cay | 0 | 1 | 0 | 90 |
San Salvador | 0 | 1 | 0 | 825 |
TOTAL | 13 | 19 | 351,461 |
Elections
Local government elections take place once every three years in the Bahamas
For both types of district councils the Chief Councillors and their deputies are indirectly elected from amongst the elected officials. They serve for the lifetime of the council and the Minister of Local Government determines their stipend. Second-schedule district councils' statutory boards also elect chairpersons and their deputies from amongst their members.[25]
Major islands
Island's name | Capital (or largest settlement) | Population | Area (km2) |
---|---|---|---|
Abaco | Marsh Harbour[28] | 17,224 | 1,681 |
Acklins | Spring Point[29] | 565 | 497 |
Andros |
Andros Town | 7,490 | 5,957 |
Berry Islands | Nicholls Town | 807 | 31 |
Bimini | Alice Town | 1,988 | 23 |
Cat Island | Arthur's Town[30] | 1,522 | 389 |
Crooked Island |
Colonel Hill[31] | 330 | 241 |
Eleuthera | Governor's Harbour[32] | 8,202 | 484 |
Exuma and Cays |
George Town | 6,928 | 250 |
Grand Bahama | Freeport City[33] |
51,368 | 1,373 |
Harbour Island | Dunmore Town | 1,762 | 8 |
Inagua | Matthew Town[34] | 913 | 1,551 |
Long Island | Clarence Town[35] | 3,094 | 596 |
Mayaguana | Abraham's Bay | 277 | 285 |
New Providence | Nassau | 248,329 | 207 |
Ragged | Duncan Town[36] | 72 | 36 |
Rum Cay | Port Nelson | 99 | 78 |
San Salvador | Cockburn Town[37] | 940 | 163 |
Spanish Wells | Spanish Wells | 1,551 | 26 |
The Bahamas | Nassau | 351,461[38] | 13,943 |
See also
- Chief Councillor
- Hope Town District Council
- Constituencies of the Bahamas
- ISO 3166-2:BS
- List of Caribbean First-level Subdivisions by Total Area
- List of newspapers in the Bahamas
- Commonwealth Local Government Forum-Americas
References
- ^ Chapter 37, Local Government, Statute Law of the Bahamas
- ^ "The Local Government System in the Bahamas". Commonwealth Local Government Forum.
- ^ Chapter 37, Part III, Statute Law of the Bahamas.
- ^ Chapter 37, Part IV, Statute Law of the Bahamas.
- ^ Chapter 37, Part III, Statute Law of the Bahamas.
- ^ Chapter 37, Part IV, Statute Law of the Bahamas.
- ^ Chapter 37, Section 14, Statute Law of the Bahamas.
- ^ "The Local Government System in the Bahamas:Ministerial oversight". Commonwealth Local Government Forum.
- ^ "West Indies". The Hope Town District Council. Archived from the original on 26 October 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
- ^ "Laws and Acts". Retrieved 20 December 2010.
- ^ Chapter 37, Section 4b, Statute Law of the Bahamas.
- ^ a b c "Census of The Bahamas 2022" (PDF).
- ^ Local Government 2022 FORM R Results Town Committees
- ^ Bahamas Local Government Act 1996, Part IV, Section 10:1 Retrieved 27 November 2010.
- ^ Bahamas Local Government Act 1996, Part IV, 10:2 Retrieved 27 November 2010.
- ^ Bahamas Local Government Act 1996, Part IV, 10:4 Retrieved 27 November 2010.
- ^ Bahamas Local Government Act 1996, Part IV, 11 Retrieved 27 November 2010.
- ^ Bahamas Local Government Act 1996, Part IV, 11:2 Retrieved 27 November 2010.
- ^ "The Local Government System in the Bahamas:Council Types". Commonwealth Local Government Forum.
- ^ "The Local Government System in the Bahamas:Council Types:Second-schedule District Councils&Town Committees". Commonwealth Local Government Forum.
- ^ "The Local Government System in the Bahamas:Council Types:Third-Schedule Districts". Commonwealth Local Government Forum.
- ^ Gibbs, Gena (25 June 2011). "Local Government holds national elections in Family Islands". Bahamas Information Services.
- ^ Russell, Khrisna (9 December 2021). "January 27 for local elections". Tribune. Nassau. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
- ^ BahamasLocal (2 June 2020). "Ministry of Transport and Local Government announces the postponement of Local Government Elections". Retrieved 6 January 2024.
- ^ "The Local Government System in the Bahamas:Elections". Commonwealth Local Government Forum.
- ^ "Reference map for the Islands of the Bahamas". Retrieved 20 December 2010.
- ^ "The Commonwealth of the Bahamas". Retrieved 20 December 2010.
- ^ "DeBora's Dreamscape". Archived from the original on 20 March 2008. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
- ^ "Acklins / Crooked Island Activities and Attractions". Archived from the original on 24 March 2006. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
- ^ "Majestic Holidays". Archived from the original on 22 May 2010. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Acklins Island and Crooked Island, Bahamas". Retrieved 20 December 2010.
- ^ "Med Point". Archived from the original on 27 June 2007. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
- ^ "Grand Bahama - an impartial guide to the Island". Archived from the original on 29 November 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
- ^ "The Inaguas". Archived from the original on 20 June 2006. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
- ^ "Bahamas Gateway Yellow Pages -- Hotels". Archived from the original on 17 August 2002. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
- ^ "DeBora's Dreamscape". Archived from the original on 22 March 2008. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
- ^ "San Salvador Bahamas: Christopher Columbus First Landfall". Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
- ^ "Comparison between the 2000 and 2010 Population Censuses and Percentage Change" (PDF). Retrieved 20 December 2010.
External links
- Bahamas Official government website
- "Family Island District Councillors & Town Committee Members". Archived from the original on 14 November 2009. Retrieved 11 November 2009.