The Tribune

By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

FIVE families still rely on housing assistance from the government after a fire blazed through the Porgy Bay settlement of Bimini last month.

The March 27 fire left 22 residents displaced. The fire destroyed some homes and caused smoke and water damage to the remaining structures.

Bimini Island administrator Desiree Ferguson said ten residents returned to their homes earlier this month after the government completed repairs to their structures.

“Their living condition is fine (now), so they are back in those facilities,” she said.

She said five households consisting of two people each still receive government assistance.

“One (person) is saying that his granddaughter and his son lives with him, but it was only two, so that’s how the number got up to 22. They are now placed in other facilities like the Airbnb and they are getting assistance from Social Services for rental assistance,” Ms Ferguson said.

She said the families getting assistance applied for six months of aid, allowing them to stay in buildings at the government’s expense.

She said: “I spoke to one, Stephen Smith, and he said that sometimes when he gets exhausted (he’ll say) let me go home to go sleep in my bed, but then he finds out that there’s no bed there for him to go.

But he went off the island and he will be off for the next two months. I don’t know if he went to the US, but I know he isn’t in The Bahamas.”

The residents whose homes were destroyed still struggle to adjust to their reality. Ms Ferguson said many fire victims miss the comfort of their homes.

The fire highlighted the lack of functional firefighting equipment on Bimini.

Social Services Minister Obie Wilchcombe said he was startled to learn that local government is responsible for maintaining firefighting equipment on Family Islands, not the police.

Asked for an update on the fire equipment, Ms Ferguson said the fire truck is back up but officials are awaiting a needed battery.

“The battery is supposed to have been on the island last week,” she said. “But I think it will be on the island by this week. So it’s up, it will be up and running soon.”