The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Chief Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

WORKS Minister Clay Sweeting yesterday committed to removing debris from demolished shanty towns in Abaco amid continued public frustration about repeated fires at the site that residents say pose serious health hazards.

His comments follow Sunday’s blaze at the Gaza shanty town, the latest in a series of fires in recent months.

The site was cleared of more than 60 structures in February 2024, but debris and hundreds of derelict cars remain.

Residents say repeated fires now force them to breathe fumes and live with constant flare-ups.

Yesterday, Mr Sweeting blamed the recent fires on deliberate arson, but said his ministry is committed to clearing the area, though he did not give a timeline.

“It’s  a very large area so I think we'll just go in and clean it up and then you know whether if it's crown land, Land and Surveys will  deem what's necessary for them to do with the property,” he told reporters yesterday.

When asked if anyone has been rebuilding in the area, Mr Sweeting said he could not speak to that specific site but acknowledged that unregulated communities remain a challenge.

“So persons continue to build, and we'll continue to do what we can to monitor and to demolish and to warn those that feel it's okay to build without permits on land that doesn't belong to them, without the proper protocols.”

He added that the shanty town taskforce will soon target Abaco, Andros, and Eleuthera for demolition operations in the coming weeks.

More than 100 eviction notices have been issued for Andros, and over 200 for Abaco.

This follows a recent exercise at an unregulated site off Fire Trail Road that saw four structures destroyed. The homes housed between 30 to 50 residents.

The demolition of shanty towns has been a contentious issue. Successive governments have cited health concerns, illegal land use, and building code violations to justify the removals, yet critics argue the approach lacks compassion and fails to address housing shortages.

Since ramping up efforts in November 2023, the Davis administration has reported the demolition of nearly 500 unregulated structures across several islands.