THERE will be many who applaud Immigration Minister Elsworth Johnson for firing back at the United Nations over the issue of shanty towns.
He has been bullish in his response after the UN raised concerns over issues of adequate housing, homelessness and poverty.
Mr Johnson criticised people who “live in their ivory towers, they sit all the way where they are and they seek to cast judgements on Third World countries when what exists in their very own country are these issues”.
His response is very much rooted in stirring up feelings about sovereignty and patriotism, as if he’s asking who are these people to be coming over here and telling us we’re not handling these problems right.
It also very much fails to deal with any of the actual concerns that are raised. Snarling at UN experts doesn’t stop what they’re saying from being true.
So ignore the red herring of sovereignty – of course, The Bahamas has sovereignty, no one said it hasn’t. Instead, let’s look at what the experts actually said.
UN officials warned a community of Haitian descendants and migrants of up to 2,000 people is at a serious risk of becoming homeless.
If these homes are destroyed, they have “nowhere else to go”. You don’t need the experts to know that, of course. Abaco is still struggling to repair after Dorian – you know there is no space for 2,000 people suddenly without a roof over their heads.
More to the point, this isn’t something new. Shanty towns have been in The Bahamas for decades. They wouldn’t exist if there was more than enough accommodation for everyone.
Many of those now facing eviction are those who have been affected by Hurricane Dorian in the first place. As the UN team says, “After several months of living in evacuation shelters, many of the survivors had to completely rebuild their homes – it is these that the authorities intend to destroy.”
All this in the middle of a pandemic.
The government is quite right to try to find a way to stop shanty towns being an eternal issue– but it’s going the wrong way about it.
Simply knocking down the buildings without a plan for where the people will go will just see more houses being built and we’re back at square one.
Many of these people have legal status in this country – as a survey in 2018 of shanty towns showed. And many are being employed in Abaco to help rebuild after Dorian. Part of the reason for that is, again, a lack of anywhere to stay for Bahamians. If you’re a builder or a carpenter in Nassau and someone wants to hire you to fix a house in Abaco, where do you sleep at night while you work?
It is absolutely right that people should not be allowed to just start building on a piece of land they do not own – but we need to see why these things happen. Remove the reasons before the problem develops – deal with the cause and not just the symptom.
As for Mr Johnson, well, he goes on to talk about the problems facing Haiti and wanting to know what the UN is saying to “governments who have created the socio-political phenomenon that causes Haiti to be the way she is today” and “What are they saying about the people who are assisting people who are dying on their way to The Bahamas?”
We never hear from Mr Johnson himself on what he suggests The Bahamas do about these issues – Haiti is our neighbour so don’t we have a part in tackling such problems? We don’t hear Mr Johnson talking about Haiti’s sovereignty in that regard.
No, it seems he’s just trying to bark louder than the UN in a fight about sovereignty that doesn’t exist while ignoring the actual problem that needs dealing with.
As the saying goes, there are none so blind as those who will not see.
A real catch
A ROUND of applause for the outcome of a court case in the US. A Florida fisherman was caught illegally fishing in Bahamian waters. The outcome? He has to buy the Royal Bahamas Defence Force a new boat – that can then be used to catch the next illegal fisherman, and the next.
A crime punished, the prospect of others getting away with crime reduced. Let’s have more of that kind of punishment over here – and make the criminals help those who would catch them.
Comments
DDK 2 years, 11 months ago
Tribune are you a BAHAMAS jounnal? I have never heard such poppy cock. You have acutally resorted to supporting non-Bahamian law-breakers. Shame on you! You seem to be missing the point entirely. It is high time this decades old unsafe, illegal nonsense was dealt with. Perhaps you should find a suitable spot along the Eastern Road, or better yet, Lyford Cay, on which to relocate the poor unfortunate shanty folk. Haiti is probably out of the question.
DDK 2 years, 11 months ago
While the U. S. based U. N. seems to be meddling in our affairs, I do wish The Tribune would enlighten its readers as to what exactly gives with The Bahamas, Haitian and United States Governments vis a vis the ongoing Hatianization of OUR Nation.
tribanon 2 years, 11 months ago
True to form, The Tribune's chief editor has the audacity to suggest that Bahamians who want these illegal and unsafe shanty towns eradicated are inhumane. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the very opposite is true. It is inhumane to permit these shanty towns to exist. They are an electrical hazard, a fire hazard, a raw sewerage hazard, a dumping ground of hazardous material and contaminants, and so on. Frankly they are among the most over-crowded, dangerous and filthy places for adults to live, let alone young children.
And the problem is an ever growing one unless something is done about it once and for all. But The Tribune's chief editor seems to prefer nothing at all be done about the problem unless our bankrupt country somehow finds or builds suitable alternative housing for all of these law breaking shanty town dwellers. No recognition is given by Tribune's chief editor to the fact that doing so would only serve to invite many other impoverished foreign nationals to our shores for similar free housing, free education, free health care, etc., etc.
And of course The Tribune's chief editor turns a blind eye to the fact that in today's Bahamas there are many law abiding Bahamians who have it just as tough as these shanty town dwellers as they go about stuggling day in and day out, living with all of the uncertainties and misery that severe poverty usually brings. Nevertheless, the vast majority of these under privileged Bahamians thankfully do their best to abide by our country's laws and respect the property rights of others. If the employers of many of these exploited shanty town labourers are not willing to do more for or by them, then they will have to learn to do without them.
The Tribune's editorial staff need to open their eyes and realise that the teary-eyed-sympathy card they are always inclined to play in matters like this one only serves to exacerbate the problem. We live in world that is harsh to many, but none of us should be trying to make it harsher for others to come by making unreasonable and/or unrealistic suggestions, or simply by arguing for letting things remain as they are.
thomas 2 years, 11 months ago
TRIBUNE..We done see which horse you hitched your wagon to.
trueBahamian 2 years, 11 months ago
Interesting that the housing conversation is focused on those in shantytowns. There are Bahamians living on the streets, living in cars, etc. No need to find them adequate housing, right?
Let's stop playing games. Laws are laws are laws. They need to be enforced. If you know your structure is not up to code and that you should not rebuild it, why be surprised when it's torn down. Before you rebuilt, where were you? You had to be staying somewhere, right?
Can things be done in a better way? Perhaps. But, let's not play this game where we're supposed to look the other way in certain circumstances. It's sad that people have to live in poor housing. It's sad that people suffer financially, are illegal, are forced to survive the best way they can. It's extremely unfortunate. But, we can't help with our limited resources. The UN makes a statement. How many countries in the world have a budget to improve the lives of illegal immigrants or everyone in need of proper housing?
bogart 2 years, 11 months ago
A more obvious critical issue in this nation vigorously battling the COVID -19 Pandemic crisis is the Protocols and Vaccines in these illegal shantytowns.
Bahamas govt has to regain control of these huge areas of shantytown land with close knit populations whether they are Haitians, Bahamians, wid or widdout Papers. These areas which Bahamas govt never seem to have legally controlled, Police cars cant even go into the narrow paths, ambulances cont go into the area, no firetruck. Govt seems to lost ability to obtain Govt Taxes for Business Licence business shops etc. No Health controls, no controls pigs, animals for human consumption, Govt no honey truck to empty cesspits etc Census unlikely to include amounts of criminals escaped periodically from Haiti prison escapes and thr list of govt failures to regulate these land masses for decades. Bahamas govt needs to have testicular fortitude to regain control of these large areas which they have lost control of Bahamas govt laws and regulations for decaeds. Full bettering of Bahamas nation must be regulated control of all populated geographic areas of the Bahamas.
Covid -19 needs govt to regain control all shantytowns populated areas while massive Bahamas govt efforts are in place for the rest of the nation.
sheeprunner12 2 years, 11 months ago
It is hard to believe Ellsworth Johnson .......... he lives in a glass house (on Cowpen Road).
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