EDITOR, The Tribune.
I moved to Grand Bahama in 1968 and have worked and lived here ever since. I love the island and Grand Bahamians and have seen them prosper. Now, I fear greatly for their future. I see their Dorian despair firsthand when helping my church distribute food to the residents in the worst hit areas every day.
This is not my first experience of a catastrophic storm. Through business interests on islands in the northern Caribbean, I have helped employees and their families recover from half a dozen catastrophic storms, starting with Hugo’s great damage to the USVI in 1969, followed by Luis and Marilyn in 1995.
I have also seen how islanders go through very understandable responses to the tragic destruction of their homes and island.
Immediately after the storm, survivors are glad to have been spared and they are enthusiastic about cleaning up damage and salvaging their possessions.
After a few days, however, many are exhausted, and they start to go into a decline as they become overwhelmed by the magnitude of the recovery challenge around them.
Disaster assistance arrives and people are fed and temporarily housed. After about two weeks, however, storm victims are increasingly frustrated by the slow pace of recovery and the limited assistance they are being given.
No job, no money and no hope lead to robberies, looting and violence, which if left unchecked encourages good, but desperate people, also to do bad things.
If the island becomes dangerous, relief workers could be pulled out and the island’s economic aid for recovery jeopardised.
I know that after rescue and food, providing good security is the most important task for the islands’ leaders to address.
This prompts me to write my concerns and hopes for Grand Bahama – focusing on indispensable security now.
In the immediate aftermath of Dorian’s destruction it is hard to see that GBI can be transformed from a disaster area to the dynamic, financial engine that will drive the future prosperity of the entire Bahamas.
GBI has begged for positive, dynamic change for many years and perhaps Dorian is more than the disaster the country is dealing with today. Let Dorian be embraced as the cataclysmic event that drives a cataclysmic change of GBI’s fortunes. Make Dorian the trigger to start the rebirth of Grand Bahama.
The First step to make this rebirth and future prosperity possible is to immediately establish an “umbrella of security” that will guarantee the security and safety of residents and aid workers now and in the months ahead by requesting international security assistance now.
Security that would guarantee that Grand Bahama is a safe and responsible recipient of international aid.
What must be done today.
Previous recoveries on islands in the region ravaged by hurricanes were made possible by security from outside entities such as the British Navy, the Dutch and French military and the US National Guard. These entities had the transport, communication and security equipment as well as feet on the ground, extra feet without the equipment just does not work.
These security professionals; were able to supplement each island’s own security forces for a time after each storm to allow for:
• The local Police and Defence Force personnel to attend to their own recovery needs and to replace immobilised vehicles.
• The security of GBI residents and their remaining possessions.
• The security for the aid volunteers to do their work.
Taking executive action today to quickly get guaranteed security on Grand Bahama will ensure that it can be staged and on island in a timely manner.
Waiting to see what might happen is too great a gamble to take.
Some might argue that the Bahamas can handle its own security obligations. Should the security on Grand Bahama not be met by its local forces, however, the failure to address security now would totally fail Grand Bahama’s residents plus severely that failure can set back the future financial and social recovery.
Failing to guarantee security for Grand Bahama now will be a national disaster.
A national disaster that will go down in history as a massive fail by its leaders.
A national disaster that will be far more damaging than Hurricane Dorian.
STEPHEN CRANE
Nassau,
September 23, 2019.
Comments
joeblow 4 years, 6 months ago
Well said!
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID