The Tribune

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Tribune Staff Reporter

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

DEMOLITION of an unregulated community in North Andros will affect about 120 structures, Works and Family Island Affairs Minister Clay Sweeting said, as the government continues its crackdown on shanty towns across The Bahamas.

Mr Sweeting said the Unregulated Communities Action Task Force has already served residents with 28-day notices but was unable to say exactly when demolition would begin.

"I think that was last Thursday; they were in Andros. They have placed 28-day notices there, so we can anticipate that thereafter you will see demolition in Andros on that site,” he said yesterday.

"It's like over 100 plus structures. I think it might be like 120 there in Andros or the North Andros.”

The planned demolition follows the recent clearance of the Montgomery Village shanty town off Cowpen Road, where government crews demolished 64 of 67 structures earlier this month.

That operation was marred by a confrontation in which Unregulated Communities Action Task Force chairman Superintendent Stephen Carey was allegedly assaulted by a resident.

Police said the resident was initially arrested on suspicion of making threats of harm and disorderly behaviour after allegedly threatening a Royal Bahamas Defence Force officer. While officers were escorting him to a police bus, he allegedly attacked Superintendent Carey.

Following the incident, Mr Sweeting said authorities are likely to secure future demolition sites before work begins to reduce the risk of similar confrontations.

Mr Sweeting said the Montgomery exercise differed from previous operations because some residents remained in the community until the demolition began despite having received lengthy notice.

He previously said only eight Bahamians were living in the Montgomery community when crews moved in and reiterated that dismantling unregulated communities remains a government priority.

Mr Sweeting said the government provides assistance to Bahamians and legal residents displaced by demolitions, although some decline the help offered.