Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said 'The grief we will bear as a country begins with the families who have lost loved ones'.
By KHRISNA RUSSELL
Deputy Chief Reporter
krussell@tribunemedia.net
AS THE Hurricane Dorian death toll has now rocketed to a “catastrophic” 43, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said the country’s grief begins with all of the families who have lost loved ones.
In a statement released Friday night following a Cabinet meeting, the prime minister said the official death count is 35 in Abaco and eight in Grand Bahama. Up to Thursday officials had said 30 people had perished in the storm.
This, he said, was one of the stark realities the country faced in the aftermath of Dorian.
Unfortunately, Dr Minnis said many remain missing and the number of casualties will significantly increase.
“The loss of life we are experiencing is catastrophic and devastating,” Dr Minnis said. “The grief we will bear as a country begins with the families who have lost loved ones. We will meet them in this time of sorrow with open arms and walk by their sides every step of the way.
“To those who have lost loved ones, I know there is absolutely nothing we can say that will lessen your pain and loss. We offer you our shoulders to cry on, our prayers of comfort and our promise that your loved ones will never be forgotten.”
“I ask the media and the country to respect the loss of life. The families need to grieve.
“We will provide accurate, timely information on the loss of life as it is available. We will first and foremost put the priority on notifying families and giving them the help they need to grieve.
“I ask the Bahamian people to join me in grieving this horrible loss.
“Let us pray for the dead and their families,” the prime minister continued.
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Comments
TalRussell 5 years, 1 month ago
Is the Tribune's comment section?
Right about now the Colony of Out Islands Comrade Prime Minister and members his Imperialists red cabinet are about as popular as the Grim Reaper walking in shadows after dark past the graveyard behind done stiff frightened Abacoians and Grand Bahamalaners, yes, no ...... Can't just make this up how Out Islanders have taken to whistling in the dark ....
Well_mudda_take_sic 5 years, 1 month ago
Here we see Minnis tabling the 'grief card' in a way most political leaders usually do whenever they believe doing so has a chance of distracting the public's attention away from their own serious shortcomings before, during and after a major crisis event. Unfortunately there will be many more than the announced 43 for Minnis (and our entire country) to grieve about in the coming weeks. Meanwhile family members of those survivors who are still alive in Central & North Abaco only want to know about the measures being taken right now on an urgent basis to help ensure their loved ones don't get added to Minnis's future death toll announcements. And while Minnis goes about periodically up dating the death toll, the press and other media outlets naturally want to know whether the government has compiled and is keeping an up to date official list of individuals believed to be still missing that eventually could be used to give the public some indication of the total number of souls that may have been lost as a result of Hurricane Dorian. Surely by now the house-to-house (building-to-building) search for survivors has been completed.
joeblow 5 years, 1 month ago
... Minnis is also getting ready to give crown land for homes to non-Bahamians in Abaco in his efforts to milk this situation for political gain!
Well_mudda_take_sic 5 years, 1 month ago
Four words always come to mind: Deceitful, Arrogant, Nasty and Incompetent.
Chucky 5 years, 1 month ago
Real death toll exceeds a thousand people and the government knows it.
Well_mudda_take_sic 5 years, 1 month ago
You're probably right Chucky.
Well_mudda_take_sic 5 years, 1 month ago
Repost:
What part of the well publicized and documented fact that all of Central and Northern Abaco has been completely decimated do they not get? The same goes for much of Grand Bahama. These insurance vultures should simply be cutting cheques to the insured individuals and businesses for the maximum amount of losses covered by their insurance policies, save for third party liability coverages. Instead these insurance vultures want to delay the claims settlement process in the hope of being able to persuade traumatized and desperate survivors, who have lost everything, to sign a piece of paper evidencing their agreement to accept claim settlement amounts that are much lower than they are truly entitled to receive.
The extensive aerial video coverage that has been made public of the complete and utter destruction caused by this cataclysmic event is plently evidence enough that the insurance adjusters and catastrophe experts really have nothing at all to do in the case of the vast majority of the insurance policies. The last thing insured traumatized survivors who have lost everything need right now is stress and pressure tactics from greedy insurers seeking to minimize their insurance claim settlements.
The Insurance Commissioner of The Bahamas needs to get off of her well endowed derrière and immediately make certain expected and warranted public announcements aimed at protecting insured individuals and businesses from the well known predatory practices of property and casualty insurers. These announcements should include full page notices in The Tribune, The Nassau Guardian and The Punch, as well as public announcements on the two main local TV stations (JCN not being one of them). The announcements should also appear on the Insurance Commission's official website.
The Insurance Commission must set up a special 'Dorian' unit within her official Office to handle inquiries and complaints of aggrieved policyholders who have good reason to believe they may be victims of predatory insurance practices aimed at depriving them of the claim settlement proceeds to which they are entitled to receive at the earliest possible time. Insurers found to be engaged in predatory practices should face appropriate penalties including the possibility of their insurance underwriting capabilities being suspended pending the outcome of an investigation of their conduct by the Commissioner's Office.
Callcotter@sbcglobal.net 5 years, 1 month ago
I lived in Abaco in 2014 and love the land and the warm reverent Abaconian Bahamian people. I fear many dear friends have perished. 20% of the people of the Bahamian nation are without homes. PM Minnis is a good godly man that graciously thanked President Trump and other world leaders for their quick and decisive rescue support actions. After rescue operations are complete we must all work to rebuild the beautiful islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama. At present we must pray for Gods grace over the Bahamas. I’m just a conchy Joe who loves Abaco.
Well_mudda_take_sic 5 years, 1 month ago
A good Godly man who likes to preach and read scripture is not what we needed....we are a Christian nation and have plenty of clergy to assist us with prayers during our time of grieving and great spiritual need...WHAT WE NEEDED MOST WAS THE STRENGTH, COMPETENCE AND QUICK DECISION MAKING ABILITY OF A NATIONAL LEADER..... THE MAJORITY OF BAHAMIAN VOTERS THOUGHT THEY HAD ELECTED SUCH A LEADER IN MAY 2017.......THEY HAVE SADLY NOW DISCOVERED HE IS NOT AT ALL THE LEADER HE FEIGNED TO BE.....PRECIOUS LIVES HAVE UNNECESSARILY PERISHED IN THE AFTERMATH OF HURRICANE DORIAN AS A RESULT.....TRULY A SAD STATE OF AFFAIRS.
Well_mudda_take_sic 5 years, 1 month ago
Sadly NEMA has proven itself to just another one of our many useless government agencies. It sorely lacked the preparedness and resources to play a meaningful role in the search, rescue, recovery and relief efforts. In fact NEMA officials actually got in the way of the efforts of competent and well resourced early responders from other nations who quickly realized unnecessary additional lives would be lost if swift measures and actions were not taken. Precious life saving time was needlessly lost by capable foreign responders in the earliest days of the crisis as they sought to circumvent red tape issues and the frustratingly slow pace of Bahamian government officials who seemed to be in a dazed and confused state. The spin 'doctors' within the incompetent Minnis-led FNM government appeared to be much more concerned with controlling the message to Bahamians and the outside world than they were about saving the survivors left clinging to life by a thread in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian.
SP 5 years, 1 month ago
Based on Dr. Minnis's campaign promises, the majority of Bahamian voters thought they had finally elected a leader with the moral compass to deal with the nations two biggest problems. Across the board political corruption and the illegal Haitian dilemma.
Unfortunately, we were duped again by trusting "It's the peoples' time" campaign slogan.
As long as the PLP or FNM are elected, the Bahamas will remain in this mess they "lead" us into!
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