The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

OPPOSITION Deputy Leader Peter Turnquest expressed concern yesterday that Urban Renewal is being used as a campaign tool for the Progressive Liberal Party during Hurricane Matthew recovery efforts.

Prime Minister Perry Christie announced on Monday that Urban Renewal is being expanded in the wake of the storm to all constituencies of the country.

They will work with area parliamentarians and function like a command centre that will address the issues faced by people in communities, complementing the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

However, Mr Turnquest said evidence exists that suggests Urban Renewal is too politically compromised to play this role.

“If you were to go onto Pineridge’s page,” he said, referring to Pineridge MP Michael Darville, “you’ll see what I’m talking about. You can’t tell me or the Bahamian people that Urban Renewal officers - and including seniors officers - were not out actively campaigning, before the storm, after the storm. The pictures were there so I stand by my comment.”

Mr Turnquest clarified to The Tribune that he was referring to pictures on the Facebook page of Dr Darville that were taken before the storm, showing numerous people wearing gold, PLP shirts, carrying items throughout the Grand Bahama community.

Those photographed, he said, included the Deputy Director for Urban Renewal in Grand Bahama, Michelle Reckley, and her centre managers.

“They were dressed in PLP shirts handing out items saying they were from the Minister of Grand Bahama,” he said.

Mr Turnquest’s comments came amid a broader critique in the House of Assembly of the government’s recent strategies, including appointing Shane Gibson ‘hurricane czar’.

Regarding the borrowing of $150m to help cover the costs of recovery, he said: “We are concerned about the control and management of these borrowed funds under the management of Cabinet minister as the hurricane czar. What oversight is there to ensure that once funds are placed in the consolidated fund that those funds will be spent on ‘qualified’ restoration projects without unfair political influence or partisan contracting and beneficiaries?

“Will funds be granted to residents and business suffering damage from the hurricane only as opposed to neglect of maintenance or will these be zero per cent loans or low percentage loans to be repaid to the Bahamian people? We are concerned that this hurricane restoration effort is not being overseen by NEMA and its director rather than a Cabinet minister facing an upcoming general election.”

The government has sought to emphasise the independence with which Urban Renewal will operate.

Englerston MP Glenys Hanna Martin defended Urban Renewal, for instance, saying: “I don’t know about the political side because I have very little involvement in their day-to-day activities. They are on the ground for years.

“They have programmes in place with the elderly, with the young. They do walkabouts. They know the community like the back of their hands. It’s an existing vehicle that is very valuable and I want to commend the Prime Minister. I think it was an excellent decision to use an established vehicle, headed by the police force and the urban commission, that will get out in the community as they have done all these years without fear or favour, meeting the needs of these communities.”

Nonetheless, not all of Mr Turnquest’s statements were negative.

In a move that prompted applause from members of the governing side, he congratulated Mr Christie for his efforts prior to the storm to warn people.

“I congratulate the Prime Minister for his attempts to prepare the people of the country for the incoming hurricane. Quite frankly I think what he did was a magnificent job in the leading up.”

However, Mr Turnquest added that not enough was done to prepare the country for the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.

“We had situations where people had to be rescued, where we had panics, situations where heaps of lives were either turned away or frustrated in some instances. Now is not the time so I believe and I hope this again serves as a direct lesson for all of us.”