The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

WHILE shanty towns continue to be of concern to Bahamians, the government is faced with the challenge of resettling persons who will be displaced following eviction, according to Prime Minister Perry Christie yesterday.

And officials are concerned about the spread of communicable diseases that have quickened the government’s response in cracking down on the illegal villages, he said.

Mr Christie was speaking to reporters amid criticism of his administration over the absence of a clear cut indication of its plans in dealing with the illegal land dwellers.

“There are some human situations,” Mr Christie said, “that exist out there with children who were born and grew up in a place like that. So the whole question of resettling people is not an easy issue. What we are trying to do now is make an assessment as to how we go about minimising the negative impacts.

“People are confronted with, from the point of view of good public health practices, and (when it) becomes questionable. When it becomes questionable in a country like the Bahamas, it means that we have a real challenge to ensure that best health practices are employed. That is what is driving everything. To be able to ensure that people, while they are here, they are treated properly.

“It is not an overnight decision to just pick up and move people out. But (we want) to take the right approach to settle this issue.”

Mr Christie’s latest admission comes just two days after the land owners of a shanty town off Joe Farrington Road said the threat of legal action from the government was not a major concern to them.

According to John Bostwick II, his clients were simply waiting for the government to resolve the situation.

Officials issued notices of compliance to the land owners more than a month ago stating that they would face penalties if the residents did not bring their housing structures up to standard.

Minister of Housing and the Environment Kenred Dorsett told The Tribune that the government intends to crack down on shanty towns in New Providence first before their efforts spread to the family islands.