The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

Long Island MP Dr Andre Rollins told Parliament this week that a scheduled shanty town demolition off Cowpen Road had been cancelled, but the reason he gave for the cancellation was struck from the House record after protests from members of the governing party.

Dr Rollins declined to discuss the matter when contacted by The Tribune yesterday. Works Minister Clay Sweeting, a member of the Unregulated Communities Action Task Force, did not rise in the House of Assembly to dispute the claim that the demolition had been cancelled.

Unregulated Communities Action Task Force chairman Superintendent Stephen Carey denied yesterday that any Cabinet minister intervened to stop the demolition, saying the process had been delayed while officials verified who lived in the area and who had received assistance.

“There were no such allegation,” Mr Carey said. “We were doing our due diligence in regards to persons living in the area, confirming who they were, confirming who took assistance and all those things. There were no calls from no minister.”

Mr Carey acknowledged that there had been delays in the demolition process, but rejected claims that political interference caused them.

He confirmed that a demolition is scheduled for next week, though he said officials would later confirm which unregulated community would be targeted.

Mr Sweeting, meanwhile, insisted the government remains committed to its aggressive approach to dismantling illegal communities, but said officials do not publicly announce demolition dates because of security concerns.

“We never announce the date when we’re going to demo because of security measures,” he told reporters. “You have social services, you have the police, you have immigration, you have all of these different security agencies that are involved in this process, so we'll ensure that we continue with that aggressive approach.”

“You'll see in the next few weeks some shanty town demolition. I'm not going to announce the date, but we've served notices on these locations, and some of these places have been served up to a year, so they've had time to remove whatever they had to do, or make preparations for finding a new location, if they're Bahamian or permanent resident.”

Mr Sweeting said notices have been served in New Providence, and officials are preparing to serve notices in some Family Islands.