The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

ROSELYN and her six children slept outside on the ground on Monday after their home was demolished in the unregulated All Saints Way community.

She told The Tribune her family had nowhere to go.

“The situation is stressful,” she said sitting on a bucket near someone else’s home, combing her daughter’s hair as a foul scent polluted the area while demolition activities resumed.

 She declined to give her full name but said her children range in age from two to 22. One had special needs and sat laughing and talking while she explained how much she needed help.

 At least four of her children are school-aged, but did not go to school because of their precarious living situation.

 Another woman in the area was surrounded by her four children, including two, ages five and eleven.

 Last week, the Ministry of Education invited the public to report students missing from school on a newly launched hotline, but some children in shanty town communities affected by eviction or demolition practices regularly miss classes.

 Many residents –– some sad, others angry –– looked in disbelief as bulldozers tore down structures in their community yesterday.

 Kelly, a 34-year-old mother of four and a longtime area resident, blamed the landowner for her predicament, saying he took money from them and gave false hope.

 “For tonight, I don’t know where I going yet,” she said, citing the high cost of living. “From November, I was looking for place to move because I couldn’t take the stress.”

 She claimed a woman went insane after losing her home.

 “It’s sad,” she added.

 Government officials have repeatedly said that living accommodations will only be provided to Bahamians displaced by demolition activities. 

 Social Services Minister Myles Laroda added yesterday that 52 rooms will be made available to displaced Bahamians at the Poinciana Inn on Bernard Road and not just those who were shanty town residents. 

 Mr Laroda said Roselyn, the mother of six, might be a rare case of someone who couldn’t find accommodation and didn’t meet the government’s requirement for assistance.

 He said people who lack status often find housing on their own.

 “When those homes are demolished, the numbers that come to social services are relatively small because they find adequate housing elsewhere, especially if they are illegals,” he said.

 Buildings Control Officer Craig Delancey said the demolition activities should be completed by the end of the week. More than 50 structures are being targeted. Forty have been demolished so far.

He said some indicated they were still looking for a place but packed up and were prepared to move.

 “We have a few that are still saying that they still need more time and we’re trying to urge them to try move on as quickly as possible,” he said.