The Tribune

IT IS sad to see the debate over shanty towns descend to the level of scaremongering.

And yet, that is where we are at, it would seem. In response to the United Nations raising concerns about the government’s planned demolition of houses in The Farm shanty town in Abaco, Works Minister Desmond Bannister has asked if we want to live in a country like Haiti with “dirt, garbage, shanty towns all over the place”.

Aside from the casual demonising of an entire country that Mr Bannister engaged in with that comment, what he might focus on is the importance of the rule of law.

The UN raised human rights concerns, saying that the planned forced evictions constituted a “serious violation of the human right to adequate housing and would result in arbitrary internal displacement”.

What did the UN officials ask the Bahamian government to do? Well, simply to “follow due legal process and respect existing judicial orders. This includes not only waiting for the outcome of the Supreme Court full review of the government’s policy to demolish informal settlements, but also to ensure full adherence to international human rights standards governing relocations, evictions, and internal displacement”.

Is that so hard? Follow the law? Respect the agreements we have signed up to? After all, we even hold the vice presidency right now of the Human Rights Council – this isn’t just something we signed up to, we are meant to be leading the way.

Mr Bannister talks about the risk of “the consequences of me not doing my job” including that “we could have a spread of E.Coli in Abaco. Water could be contaminated and people could be sick”.

Well, what does he think is going to happen if hundreds of people are made homeless and end up living in whatever conditions they find? That’s not going to be good for public health either, especially in a pandemic.

Mr Bannister, and Elsworth Johnson who has also been in the news this week criticising the UN, continue to miss one very particular point.

If you knock down these houses, these people won’t just disappear into thin air. So where will they go? What is the plan to relocate them? Mr Johnson claimed that many of them wanted to return to Haiti – fine, where is the plane arranged to carry them?

Mr Bannister is absolutely right that we don’t want people living in filthy conditions and with poor sewerage or water supplies. So where are our housing programmes to build affordable accommodation? And let’s not be up in arms saying why are we building properties for illegal migrants – let’s remember that surveys by this very FNM government have shown the majority of residents of shanty towns have legal status to be here, whether through being born in the country or having work or spousal permits. This is about Bahamians as well as migrants.

Where will people go? It’s a question that seems to be being ignored – and without an answer to it, then the likely answer is that another shanty town will pop up a month or two from now, and we’ll be back to the start.

If we really want to look across at Haiti, one of the problems it’s facing right now is the political chaos engulfing the country. Following the rule of law is how we avoid that. Should people be living in illegally built properties? Absolutely not – and the court ruling will decide on that. Let’s hear what the court has to say.

But what are we doing to encourage people not to build these shanty towns in the first place? Come up with a whole plan, not just bring out the bulldozers and then walk away afterwards. Tell us where these people will go, and then we might believe you when you say you want to get rid of shanty towns for good, rather than just for a while.

Get the jab

Another 33,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine landed yesterday, and this week has seen Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis get his second shot and Opposition leader Philip ‘Brave’ Davis planning to get his. They will be among the first in the country to be fully vaccinated.

And yet, now it appears we are facing a problem of more supplies than there is demand. This is literally the key to unlocking our country’s future, and yet people aren’t lining up to get their shots.

Part of the problem perhaps is the circulation of scare stories and fake news on social media about vaccines. Well, Dr Duane Sands has a suggestion for that – a full-on push to encourage immunisation. Infomercials, town hall events, publicity everywhere.

It won’t be long until the leaders of this country will be asking you for your vote, to put your faith in them to lead the country.

Well, the two likeliest contenders to lead the next government both have their second jabs – they’re leading the way. Won’t you follow?

Across the country, politicians, medical experts, economic experts, businesses, community leaders, voluntary organisations… all of these are leading the way and encouraging vaccination. Do you rely want to trust that message being shared on Facebook instead of all of those? Go on. Get the jab. Let’s put this behind us.