JANNAH Khalfani, President of the Bahamas Nurses Union, last night criticised the government for its lack of action on reconstruction of the islands in the wake of Hurricane Joaquin and urged that it needed to do better. She was concerned that the psychological damage of the devastating storm has yet to be seen.
On a relief flight back from Long Island, Ms Khalfani, an oncology nurse, told The Tribune: “I am going through a myriad of feelings at this moment. I’m very sad that I’m going home to the comfort of my home and leaving what I’ve seen in Long Island. “These are our people; we are now two weeks post Hurricane Joaquin and I have yet to see where the government of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas has consolidated the primary organisations to rebuild Long Island. I am not understanding that.
“What I have seen in Long Island in terms of the non-rebuilding is the same in Crooked Island and the other islands that were so heavily affected by this hurricane. This makes my heart extremely heavy. Because if it takes the private sectors, private people, families of the residents of these islands, I am going to speak to Long Island because I’m leaving Long Island now, the families who live outside of Long Island could come back in to get that island back to some kind of normality.
“And we have to do that because there is also a psychological element to this. When you go through the settlements you see where this hurricane has psychologically affected a great deal of people and its only a matter of time before we really start to see the real effects in terms of how this hurricane has affected these people.
“And today our government hasn’t even got together to deal with the reconstruction and now we are going to have this third stage dealing with the psychological well being of these people. Because when the reality hits, that’s going to be the real struggle right there.
“And so I can say to the government of The Bahamas ‘We need to do better, we need to do better’.
“But that’s okay because the Bahamian people too have stepped up a grand way and are making sure that our citizens down at the southern end of this archipelago that was affected by the hurricane will be okay.”
Comments
SP 8 years, 5 months ago
................................. No doubt Government sucks....BUT..................................
Whereas i'm sure we can all understand Ms. JANNAH Khalfani's frustration and very justified lack of trust, in all fairness to the government, it is totally unreasonable to expect them to mount a proper restoration campaign so soon especially considering such mass destruction on several Islands.
Assessments of the overall damage alone will take quite some time before even beginning to formulate a comprehensive rebuilding plan to firstly include not just replacement, but in most if not all cases upgrading of preexisting infrastructures, also compensating for growth and expansion.
Successive governments have performed so far under-pare, made so many unkept promises and made so many stupid, asinine decisions that the people have no faith, and certainly no hope or trust that this PLP government is capable of acting in the best interest of the people and country.
It is a sad indictment on the government and equally embarrassing for them to suddenly be exposed internationally in the aftermath of the worst disaster to affect the Bahamas in living memory as a government that has totally lost touch and all trust of the entire country.
43 years of political stupidity, shenanigans, corrupt friends, family and lovers dealings now come to fruition. Exposing them internationally as a useless, untrustworthy bunch of idiots that led the Bahamas to ruin and drove their own people away from them.
NOW they understand only too well, and too late, the meaning of this scripture!
Proverbs 22:1 (BBE) - A good name is more to be desired than great wealth, and to be respected is better than silver and gold.
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