The Tribune

By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Tribune Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

TOMORROW marks 28 days since occupants of shanty town structures in The Farm in Abaco were told demolition was imminent and Works Minister Desmond Bannister said officials are ready to “do what they have to do”.

In a joint sting operation last month, residents of that unregulated community received notices from the government advising that action was to be taken in instances where people inhabited structures in violation of the Building Regulations Act.

“…We are going into the third phase this week,” Mr Bannister told The Tribune yesterday in response to a question about progress on shanty towns in the country.

“Thursday makes 28 days. We couldn’t go into occupied structures until 28 days had passed and so we are going into the third phase beginning this week.

“Our people are mobilised and ready to do what they have to do.”

The deputy prime minister said he has tried not to speak on the issue publicly in an effort to “protect” the dignity of those involved.

However, he said the law must be enforced.

“I’m very, very concerned about the impact, the health issues impacting our people as a result of what I see out there and you could be assured that in the next week or so you’re going to see some action that is going to happen.”

Last Friday, Fred Smith, QC, who represents 177 shanty town respondents and Respect Our Homes Ltd, appealed to the government to cease further demolition until a judge has ruled on a shanty town judicial review that has lingered on for some time.

In response, Crown attorney Kayla Green-Smith insisted that building had continued despite a court order mandating that construction of unregulated homes cease. She said any action taken now by the government was against people not involved in the ongoing court action.

Mr Bannister agreed. He said there continued to be a violation of the law.

“They raised that before the courts. That is not an issue that impacts this particular situation. The court ordered, and I tabled this in the House of Assembly, the court ordered that nobody was supposed to go and construct any shanty town structures. It was very clear,” he said.

“There is an injunction against building any structures and that’s been in place for almost two years. So how do we get hundreds of structures that people are living in in violation of the law?

“Believe me, if they sit there for a couple years, they are going to be able to go to the Supreme Court and get title to that land and own that land. You as a Bahamian can’t do that. You want to go out there and be able to acquire your land properly, own it properly in accordance with the law and live in a safe manner.”

He continued: “Those structures are not safe. If a hurricane comes around, many of them are going to blow away again. If you have fires again you are going to have problems and challenges. You have faeces seeping into the ground water table, so I am concerned about the health of people in Abaco and other areas.

“We have many challenges with those structures, but every one of those structures, except for 30 of them, there are 30 of them that we won’t touch.

“All of those other structures were built in violation of a direct court order that said nobody was to build any structures or add to them.

“It’s a blatant violation of the law.”

Last month, Mr Bannister defended the sting operation.

He said residents in the Abaco shanty town had continuously broken the law, adding they were able to do so with the help of complicit Bahamians, who will face prosecution if identified.

At the time, he said there were Bahamians who benefited financially by unlawfully providing services to unregulated communities by facilitating breaches of the law.

An example of this he said was the nightly provision of heavy equipment to construct roads, thereby enabling the construction of even more unregulated structures, in addition to unregulated shops and the sale of stolen goods.

He also said people in the community had been stealing electrical wires from Bahamas Power and Light and haphazardly strung them up to provide electricity to shanty houses among other dangerous infractions.