Devastation in Abaco after Hurricane Dorian.
By KHRISNA RUSSELL
Deputy Chief Reporter
krussell@tribunemedia.net
COMPLETE restoration in Abaco will take a "massive" effort, former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham has said, adding insurance payouts in the hurricane devastated islands could be between $500m-$600m.
While Mr Ingraham told reporters he did not know how long it could take to rebuild Abaco, he said there were "several low hanging fruits" that could work to the advantage of the island.
"The vast majority of that will be money spent back to restore Abaco," Mr Ingraham said at a press conference on Wednesday.
"You know there was a hurricane in Grand Bahama where I think that the amount of money paid out was more. About $100m of that was for the Grand Lucayan hotel but that hundred million dollars went straight back to China where it came from in the first place.
"In the case of Abaco you do not have any big hotel that's been destroyed. It's mostly homes and business and generally speaking it's going to be used for the benefit of those in Abaco and the same thing applies to Grand Bahama, quite frankly because the damage down there was not as substantial as the damage in Abaco."
Former Prime Minister Perry Christie said the same level of focus will be needed in Grand Bahama with an appropriate person leading the charge.
Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis has appointed Jack Thompson and Algernon Cargill as hurricane relief and redevelopment coordinators in Abaco while Senate President Kay Forbes Smith has been appointed coordinator for Grand Bahama.
Regarding rebuilding efforts in Abaco, Mr Ingraham said: "There are a couple of low hanging fruits. We were in Grand Cay today (Wednesday), that's a community of about 350 to 400 people.
"It has central electricity, it has reverse osmosis so the community has water. It doesn't take very much to get the electricity restored or to get the water operational.
"The owner of Walker's Cay next door has resources (and) manpower. He told me that he has already put together nearly $1m for the restoration of Grand Cay.
"If they were given permission or if BPL could go and restore the couple poles and the two transformers and the fuses that are damaged his generation capacity would be able to hook in and generate electricity for Grand Cay and they could be up and running in a matter of days."
Comments
Well_mudda_take_sic 4 years, 7 months ago
Ask yourself: Why is Hubiggity so inclined to low-ball the estimate of insurance claim payouts by touting the ridiculously low amounts being put out to the public by representatives of the property and casualty insurance industry?
For decades Hubiggity and Vomit Christie were a tag team in emasculating middle-class Bahamians by supporting or turning a blind eye to many corrupt schemes that saw themselves and their select few cronies amass great wealth at the expense of the financial standing of our country and the vast majority of Bahamians.
Chucky 4 years, 7 months ago
Let’s not forget people that banks will not allow the rebuilding of mortgages homes in Abaco in cases where the home owner depended on a local job to qualify and pay the mortgage.
Ie. the bank is first payable from home insurance when there is a loss and the homeowner has a mortgage
The bank will choose to be paid out.
Example: $250,000 home with a 50% mortgage. Bank will take the mortgage balance out of the insurance payout. As , if the bank allowed the home owner to rebuild with the full insurance payout, the homeowner will still require the mortgage. A mortgage they no longer qualify for since their job is gone. Since the town is wiped out. All the poor / low income people will be left behind after this disaster is sorted out.
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