The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis suggested on Friday that the government will not immediately move to demolish shanty towns despite the recent lifting of a court injunction, saying it makes no sense “responding to a crisis to create another crisis”.

The other potential crisis to which he referred was the likelihood of thousands of people being displaced and left homeless after the tearing down of their homes.

Mr Davis said the government must have a comprehensive plan to deal with the problem of shanty towns before taking action and added that much “thought” was being given by his administration as to the way forward.

“Shanty towns (are) a challenge and a problem in this country, and we do propose to deal with it, but cannot deal with it by addressing one problem to create another problem,” he said during a press conference to mark the end of the CARICOM meetings in The Bahamas on Friday.

“If we move as quickly as some would wish to take down the shanty towns and destroy them —people are living in these buildings and in the shanty towns so taking down the shanty towns could create the problem of leaving hundreds or thousands of persons homeless and then what we create is another crisis.

“So, it’s no sense responding to a crisis to create another crisis. So, thought has been given as to how best we deal with the shanty towns which is ongoing, and we will, and we are only influenced by the fact that we need to have a response.

“We need to deal with it and that will influence our actions going forward,” he also said.

Mr Davis, who is CARICOM chairman, made the comments when asked how CARICOM’s plans to assist Haiti as it battles mounting economic and political turmoil there would affect local efforts to deal with shanty towns.

An injunction protecting shanty towns in New Providence and parts of Abaco was granted in 2018, but was extended to all of Abaco in 2021 after the Minnis administration began demolishing newly built illegal structures on the island following the devastation of Hurricane Dorian in 2019.

However, that injunction was lifted this month after Justice Cheryl Grant-­Thompson ruled that the Minnis administration’s shanty town eradication policy was lawful, and that demolition of those properties and evictions of residents can now resume.

On Friday, Mr Davis told reporters that the injunction’s removal “was to enable the government to have as many options” as it could to deal with this issue, though he did not go into detail as to what those other options can include.

However, when asked over a week ago about the implications of the ruling Mr Davis said: “What it means is it now allows us to employ the process to correct those issues within the shanty town. There’s a process for removal of any erection of buildings we intend to engage in those and then deal with those issues that impact us in respect to that issue.”

Bahamians have long complained about the issue of shanty towns which have grown in size and numbers over the years due to government’s failure to address it.

The islands of Abaco, North Andros and Eleuthera in particular have been dealing with an increasing number of unregulated communities springing up.

In New Providence, the issue has sparked several protests by a local activist group that believes the country is dealing with an “immigration crisis.”

However, Prime Minister Davis has repeatedly defended his government’s plan to tackle illegal immigration, arguing that officials were doing the best they can.