The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune

The Tribune of April, 28 2020 carried a story under the headline, “Man Fined $500 for Helping Out His Great Grandfather”. The reporter stated that a young man was fined $500 or 3 months in jail for breaking curfew. The young man told the Magistrate that he lived with his great-grandfather, who frequently used the bathroom in the evening. His Great-Grandfather had defecated on the floor. The young man told the court that “he took a chance”. He was going to the pump to get water to clean the floor so that his Great-Grandfather would not slip and fall in his faeces. Undoubtedly, the Magistrate’s hands were tied. Legislators have determined the sentences for curfew violators. If his reason for violating the curfew is true, we must ask ourselves, have we really become so heartless?

I again implore our decision makers to tap into our Urban Renewal centres to find ways to allow people with no running water in their homes to go to the pump to obtain water during curfews and lockdowns. The experts at the Urban Renewal centres, who know the homeless in the area, can ensure that they stay in the area in which they “reside”. As, creatively, we find ways for lawyers and doctors to open their offices, and others to do business, we can find ways for poor people to go to the corner pump to get water. Why would we make people who don’t have running water in their homes “take a chance” of water or 3 months in prison? Are we comfortable fining or imprisoning people for being homeless?

We know that physical distancing and hand washing decrease the spread of COVID19. Again, how could it make sense to urge handwashing on the one hand and prevent access to water on the other? How could it be fair to put anyone, especially a disadvantaged person, in a Catch 22 situation – damned if you do and damned if you don’t?

We are a people who achieve the “impossible”. I celebrate Bahamian boldness. I’m reminded of the statement in a recent Harvard T.C. Chan School of Public Health Zoom meeting – “…what was considered impossible 2 weeks ago is now inevitable…”. I continue to pray that, as a part of recovery, our policy makers boldly determine that by 31st December 2020, all homes in New Providence must have running water and that our legislators boldly will pass the necessary laws and regulations to support that decision. For the Family Islands, with less dense populations,

the timeline could be extended to sometime in the first half of 2021. Perhaps the Recovery Committee could consider the number of jobs that would immediately be created by this bold step and add to its deliberations the quantifiable socio-economic benefit to society of running water in every home.

Thank you to all people on the front line of the anti-COVID19 war. At great personal sacrifice, you are working hard to keep us safe. Thank you and your families. God bless you and keep you and your families safe and healthy.

Allyson Maynard-Gibson

Nassau

April 28