The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THE Pinder’s Point/Lewis Yard Environmental Committee staged a protest on Tuesday in front of the Harold DeGregory Government Complex in Grand Bahama, where they continued calls for the relocation of residents from the five settlements near the industrial plants.

Bertram Pinder, chairman of the Pinder’s Point/Lewis Yard Environmental Committee (PPLYEC), and Shuffel Hepburn, committee member, led a small group of protestors who demonstrated and sang “We Shall Overcome” in the rain around noon along the Mall Drive.

Motorists honked their horns in support of the group, which plans to carry out a series of protests over the next three weeks in Grand Bahama to highlight the plight of alleged ongoing chemical emissions.

The committee does not accept the findings of an environmental and health assessment study conducted in 2015 by the World Health Organisation/Pan American Health Organisation that the industrial plants pose no health risks to the residents of Seaco Town, Pinder’s Point, Lewis Yard, Hunters, and the Mack Town settlements, as well as the Hawksbill Subdivision.

“This is our second round of demonstrations against the government of the Bahamas, particularly the Office of the Minister for Grand Bahama because we have sent them notices about our non-acceptance of the report and the need for relocating the residents,” Mr Pinder said.

He said the group also plans to hold a demonstration next week in front of the Grand Bahama Port Authority Building on the Mall Drive.

And on the third week, they will demonstrate at the Freeport Industrial Park on February 28.

“We are just going to continue our fight, and even though we have few in numbers today we will continue every week for the next three weeks with our protests against the industrial plants, the government, and the Grand Bahama Port Authority concerning the relocation of residents,” Mr Pinder said.

Protestor Jackie Russell, a resident of Hunters, said she has lived in the settlement for the past 52 years.

“I can remember far back as the early ’80s attending Catholic High School and sometimes the stench was so noxious from one of those plants, either BORCO or Syntex. Sometimes school would be dismissed and we would have to go home.”

Ms Russell said that the chemical odours are still in the area.

“We are going to hold the government accountable for this; they need to do something for the residents,” she said.