The Tribune

By JADE RUSSELL 

and EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporters

ABACO residents who lost homes, possessions and years of stability after Hurricane Dorian accused the Davis administration of insulting storm-ravaged mainland communities by wiping electricity bills for Grand Cay and Moore’s Island residents two weeks before the general election, while others remain without comparable relief.

Residents in Marsh Harbour, Dundas Town and Spring City said the move felt unfair to mainland Abaco residents who also suffered severe losses, carried large utility burdens and received little direct help after Dorian.

Neulessa Major, a Marsh Harbour resident, said her home was severely damaged in the storm. She said her $55,000 roof was destroyed, her belongings were ruined, and she could not move back home until 2022.

“I was surprised when I learned that persons were getting their bills paid off here and there, but they were selecting people for this,” she said yesterday. “I'm thinking that the whole of central Abaco who had these enormous bills and people who have businesses should have been a part of this.”

“That was very shocking to me that a cay bill was paid off, and then the people in Central Abaco, they just assume everything is okay. I do service in the community, and six years into this, we still have people in tents. We still have people in domes. We still have people fixing the interior of their house. The exterior may look good, but if you go inside, no tiles.”

The backlash comes after electricity bills for Grand Cay and Moore’s Island residents were wiped to zero two weeks before the general election, after Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis visited Grand Cay and promised relief.

The government said it intervened to resolve a long-standing billing issue stemming from disruptions caused by Hurricane Dorian and the COVID-19 pandemic. It said residents faced hardship, limited banking access and restrictions on travel and business activity and that accumulated balances were caused by circumstances beyond consumers’ control.

The government said balances would be absorbed through an offsetting arrangement with Bahamas Power and Light.

However, several Abaco residents questioned why the same relief was not extended to other storm-hit communities.

Ms Major cited Marsh Harbour, Dundas Town, Spring City and Murphy Town as areas where people are still struggling. She said many Marsh Harbour residents did not wait for government assistance to rebuild their homes and businesses.

“Everyone have astronomical bills,” she said. “That was a slap in the face to everybody here.”

She questioned what the Progressive Liberal Party has done for Abaco, pointing to the bill relief and the government-funded gift certificate programme reported by The Tribune last week.

“I'm trying to figure out because they didn't do anything for Abaco,” she said. “They pay off Grand Cay and they came give out some $300 gift certificate for Premier Importers after six years. What the hell $300 could do?”

The Tribune previously reported that the government — not the PLP — funded more than $200,000 in gift certificates issued to Abaco residents bearing the signatures of PLP officials who do not work for the government.

Ms Major said some people may forget poor treatment after receiving a gift card, but she is not easily bought.

“A lot of people are celebrating the $300,” she said. “I'm just not one of them. We were offered $500 at my door when they came around, $500, not three. We didn't take it because we told them, we don't do money. What are you going to do to the community?”

She claimed her nephew was offered the money when he opened the door. She said she refuses to go to the door for any candidate.

Lorane Burrows, a Dundas Town resident, also criticised the government. She said her home was damaged during Dorian, but she was still billed by Water and Sewerage and had to pay.

“If I tired of them,” she screamed. “They need to get out.”

She described the Grand Cay bill relief as a “slap in the face”.

“They did nothing for Abaco, especially for people like me,” she said. “They failed Abaco by not doing anything for the people. There are people down here hurting.”

She said she is not voting for the PLP, adding that there are eight votes in her household.

Donna Ferguson, a Spring City resident, described the PLP’s actions as disheartening. She said she lost her home in Dorian and in a previous storm.

Rochelle Lightbourn, 55, who lost the rented Spring City home where she lived during Dorian, said she believes the PLP is trying to regain support in areas where it is politically vulnerable.

“I feel that they're doing it because they know they're gonna lose in those areas, and so they're trying to gain those people back or keep them on the good foot, but I don't think that's gonna work,” she said.

Ms Lightbourn said she lost all her belongings in a rented home, although she was safe because she sheltered at Maxwell’s Supermarket, where she works.

She said she still has not replaced everything she lost.

Lottie Williams, 64, of Spring City, said the relief should have gone to everyone on Abaco who was affected by the storm.

“I cannot see just Moore's Island and and Grand Cay,” she said. “I understand they're on the outer skirts. They are off island. They had not done the support or the protection of any other part of the island. Everything would hit them went directly to them.

“I don't even know if they had the same type of damages that we had but I know when I was there fighting for my life, come get knocked down, come home, try to build back again, try to clean up and I didn't get any help from them. So even if they had helped us in other ways, how you could turn around and write off there light bill? You know high light bill is? They need to spread that out. It ain't fair.”

Ms Williams said 95 percent of the homes in Spring City were destroyed.

She said the back section of her house, including a bedroom, was destroyed within about two hours of the hurricane’s arrival. She said the roof, part of a wall and the interior of the house were damaged, and a window exploded, sending glass into the walls.

She said her family had to be rescued from the house. When she returned, she said, the ceiling was gone, the inside was destroyed and the back section of the home was gone.

She said some people were trapped in damaged homes for days because trees blocked access.

Ms Williams said some people had no electricity bill to pay immediately after Dorian because their homes were gone. She said getting power restored was difficult, with residents asked to provide documents even though the island is a small community where homes and occupants were known.

She said her own bill was up to date except for the final bill before the storm.

Danny Sawyer, 68, of Marsh Harbour, said he had to replace his roof and everything inside his home after Dorian. He said he was on generator power for close to a year before electricity was restored.

He said Dorian was followed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which worsened hardship in Abaco.