The Tribune

URBAN Renewal is expected to soon start small home repairs on about 2,500 homes in the northern Bahamas.

Deputy director of Urban Renewal Senator Kirkland Russell said Urban Renewal Revitalisation will enhance several areas to improve the lives and bring relief to residents of the northern Bahamas.

Senator Russell said when the team at Urban Renewal did walkabouts in Grand Bahama and Abaco, they discovered thousands of residents whose living conditions were still compromised nearly three years after Hurricane Dorian.

“Some may have received assistance from various NGOs and the like, but they are still in homes with leaky roofs and homes that are still compromised on the inside,” he said at a recent press conference.

He pointed to stacks of files on a table in front of him, saying they represented hundreds of the files of applicants and there were hundreds more, he said, in another room.

There are more in Abaco and Bimini who have also submitted applications.

“We intend to launch a programme to repair at least 2,500 homes and the programme will employ at its maximum about 800 Bahamians. And so this initiative is the first of its kind when you talk about the size of it,” he said on Thursday.

The programme is scheduled to begin in a matter of weeks, if not days, he said.

Another programme recently launched is the Beautification and Street Maintenance Programme.

“We intend to beautify especially areas outside the city of Freeport,” Senator Russell said. “We want those areas to be just as refined, just as beautiful, and well-kept as any area throughout The Bahamas. We believe that if we do what we ought to do, not just clean up, but beautifying and causing this to be a sustainable programme, we believe this will provoke and stimulate economic growth in these areas.”

Urban Renewal is also launching a GED initiative for those who have left school without a diploma and plans to introduce sporting programmes such as tennis, golf, swimming, basketball, track and field and baseball to its offerings for young people.

All Urban Renewal centres will be open and functioning by the end of this week in Grand Bahama, Abaco and Bimini, it was announced.