A young woman is still nursing serious wounds more than 48 hours after she was thrown from a jet ski she was riding.
According to Inspector Walter Evans, press liaison officer for The Royal Bahamas Police Force, the accident occurred sometime before 7 p.m. on Sunday. "A 21-year-old female was riding a jet ski near Rose Island when she hit an object in the water," said Insp Evans. "As a result of that she received injuries in the hip area."
Authorities have yet to reveal the identity of the victim but they did say she was immediately taken to hospital and is currently listed in serious condition.
Meanwhile, the country's watersport industry and its lack of regulation has come under fire in recent years after the 2002 death of a British toddler who was struck by a speedboat while his family was vacationing on a Paradise Island beach. Two-year-old Paul Gallagher died after he had been hit by a 19-foot, 200 horsepower speedboat. The craft was said to have travelled more than 20 feet up the beach before it struck the little boy. The child was transported to Doctors Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries on August 10, 2002. The pathologist listed the cause of death as blunt force trauma to the head causing a fractured skull, haemorrhaging and brain lacerations.
Now almost four years later the government, this month, introduced to Parliament the Commercial Recreational Watercraft Bill. The Bill seeks to impose stiff penalties, including a $5,000 fine or up to two years in prison, on individuals who operate jet skis without licences. At the time, Transport and Aviation Minister, Glenys Hanna-Martin said while the Bill has been long in coming, this has not underscored its importance. One provision of the Bill mandates that all persons, who own a craft within the industry, obtain liability insurance coverage. "I am pleased to say that after lengthy and intense discussions by my ministry, with the Registrar General's Department and the insurance industry, insurance coverage to the limit of $2.5 million in respect of any one claim has been agreed with at least one registered broker," the minister said.
By: JASMIN BONIMY, The Nassau Guardian
