With their newest development, Heritage, the Grand Bahama Development Company (GB Devco) is proving once again that with foresight and careful planning, Grand Bahama can be at the forefront of change and development for the future of The Bahamas.

Heritage is a 400-acre site located on the north side of Settler's Way between Sergeant Major Road and Balao Road. When completed, Heritage will be a comprehensive community with everything from single-family homes, townhouses, schools, commercial areas and an array of neighborhood parks.

When planning the Heritage community, executives from GB Devco outlined their development goals to provide attractive and affordable housing to the local Bahamian community; to create a vibrant and well-balanced community; to create a sense of pride of ownership among residents and to create a safe neighborhood. With more than 115 homes built so far, GB Devco is well on their way to accomplishing these goals.

The preservation of natural vegetation was a main concern for developers of Heritage when they embarked on this mission. While clearing the land, Devco was careful to maintain as much of the natural plant life as possible. The 115 homes in the Heritage community are divided into eight 'sub-neighborhoods' by way of a 100-foot wide natural vegetation buffer. These environmental preserves are not only visual and physical separators but they are also natural habitats for plant life, animals and birds. There is also a 30-foot natural buffer behind every lot. Overtime, as the community matures, trails and paths will be built providing access to nature and will also provide pedestrian links to and from schools and commercial areas.

Another innovative feature of Heritage involves a new method of power distribution. GB Devco worked closely with the Grand Bahama Power Company on a plan to install the majority of power, cable and telephone lines underground. This eliminates the usual visual clutter created by the developments infrastructure.

Through the development of Heritage, the Grand Bahama Development Company is continuing its mission to make affordable land available for Bahamians. Heritage marks a new era in the approach to development in The Bahamas. This community is a shinning example of what good can be done with a balance of environmental concerns and excellent design. Heritage is a unique community that will enhance the quality of life of those living on Grand Bahama.

Ed Rahming assumed the position of Financial Controller for the Grand Bahama Development Company (GB Devco) in August 2004. GB Devco owns over 70,000 acres of land on Grand Bahama Island including 17-miles of pristine beachfront. Devco is responsible for master planning all land zoned areas as tourist/commercial and residential within the Freeport area and undertakes development in its own right as well as selling land to third party Developers.

Through hard work, Rahming will strive to achieve his immediate goals for GB Devco which include leading the financial planning on new Devco land development projects, the implementation of new accounting and human resource IT systems and the execution of a strategic marketing plan geared towards spurring more foreign land development investments in Freeport.

Born in Nassau, Rahming is a native Bahamian. He studied at the College of the Bahamas and Southern Adventist University. In 1996 Rahming passed the Certified Public Accountant examination and received his licence two years later. He admits that like most young people, early on he thought he knew it all! However, he did take the time to listen to some very important words that his mother told him when began his career.

'Early on my mother said these words that had a profound affect on me - 'you can learn from anyone.' Usually, we think that you can only learn from people who are smarter than you but this thinking is wrong. Believing that I can actually learn from anyone has allowed me to keep an open mind, to listen to everyone I meet along the way and to learn as much as I possibly can,' said Rahming.

Rahming has more than eight years of experience most of which was gained while working for Deloitte & Touche's Financial Advisory Services at offices in The Bahamas, Cayman Islands, London and New York. His hobbies are reading, playing basketball and carpentry.

In addition to his leadership role at GB Devco, Rahming is a member of the American Institute of Public Accountants, the Cayman Islands Society of Professional Accountants, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors and the Georgia Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Arthur’s Town, Cat Island -- In honour of legendary rake and scrape artist, the late Tony 'The Obeah Man’ McKay, Bahamians from Grand Bahama through Acklins thronged this town last weekend the seventh annual Cat Island Rake and Scrape Festival. It brought together some of the country’s finest artists, musicians, performers, and culinary connoisseurs in a dynamic expression of things Bahamian.

From the religious to the secular, from the humorous to the serious, from toddlers to seniors, all found room for expression and appreciation here at one the nation’s foremost cultural events. "Culture is very important but, more important is heritage," said Cat Islander Winston Saunders, chairman of the National Cultural Development Commission. "If you preserve your heritage, you’re in good standing because culture changes almost daily. "When you have the heritage, you have the grounding which allows all the various cultures to flow over you but you’re still grounded in your rake and scrape…in your old story telling…even in the old rock oven here. You will never forget it even though you have a microwave."

Cat Island natives are unique. Genetically they are a mixture of the English loyalists, African, Spanish and French peoples. The predominantly racial feature is African. The influence of these cultures is evident in the music, dance, stories, games and foods. The original rake an' scrape band consists mainly of persons playing the accordion of concertina (European in origin), the drum (African) and the carpenter’s saw (a European surrogate for the outlawed African gambee or grooved wood), history shows. Many native musicians created music from whatever indigenous materials that were available – coconut shells, bottles, wash board, tubs, and animal skins.

Rake and scrape band is traditionally used to accompany the Bahamian quadrille and the heel-and-toe polka all relics of the initial mixture of Africa and Europe. Although mainly secular, rake an' scrape music is fast making its way into religious expression as was evident during the religious night. And all this has caught the eye of the Ministry of Tourism whose senior director for Family Islands affairs, Mrs Angela Cleare, lauded the work of the festival committee headed by Allworth Nigel Rolle, assisted by Yvonne Woods, manager of Heritage Tourism. [...]

Master musician, producer and director Fred Ferguson, entertainment consultant at the Ministry of Tourism, hailed Cat Island as "the hub of the rake and scrape music. There is no better place than here to hold such a festival. "Cat Island has laid claim to the birth place of rake an' scrape music. It is the only place that you can get the true sound of rake and scrape – Boar Hog and the Rooters, Offie and the Web Sites. They play it with the most passion." The preponderance of foreign cultural expressions in the Bahamian society "is of major concern to me," said Ferguson, leader of the Tingum Dem band. "That’s why I work so hard with anyone who is interested in preserving our culture.

[Comment: The problem is not the source of the 'cultural expression', i.e., whether they are from a foreign source or a domestic one; but, whether that 'expression' is good or bad in regards to human life.]

"But, we need the leaders to take charge and understand what it is and how important it is to the country and the people. Until we recognize that then we are on a spiraling path to cultural hell." Among the features at the festival this year was Bush Doctor Emily Rolle of Arthur’s Town, now living in the Lot. Her specialty is the 21-gun salute, the efficacy of which she swears by. "This medicine is good for people with various complaints," she said. "If you have pain around your waist…if you’re tired…if you can’t have babies…"

In former days when natives did not have access to modern medicine, they relied on various potions drawn from special leaves, roots and barks. Bush medicine as it came to be known was passed on to succeeding generations. Mrs Rolle learned it from her grand father Sam Web of Arthur’s Town, farmer Rupert Stubbs in Dumfrey’s and Ernest Black, a friend in San Salvador. They are all deceased. "Some of the people I gave this bush medicine to produced twins on the first go," she beamed. Her 21 gun salute includes lignum vitae, man root, Madeira bark, love wine, strong back and five fingers.

"We call it the 21 gun salute because it is so good, the men say when they use it, they salute," she said. "It increases their energy. It gives you a little bit more pep in your step at bed time." [Bahamas Information Services]