The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE FIRE at the city dump is about 90 to 95 per cent extinguished, Tall Pines MP Leslie Miller said yesterday, adding that 95 per cent of Jubilee Gardens residents are back in their homes.

“The smoke is billowing from the belly of the fire from down below because it’s like 60 feet underground. There’s nothing you could do about it. It has to burn itself out and people are still using the fire retardant from the airplanes to deal with the issue. It’s an expensive exercise but we got to do it,” he told The Tribune.

Mr Miller also participated in a town hall meeting in the area last night concerning the fire problem. Tensions were high. When Mr Miller called the fire situation “untenable”, a man repeatedly shouted: “What y’all gon do about it?”

Mr Miller said in response: “You stay there and listen okay?”

When the man kept voicing his objections, Mr Miller responded: “Brother, stop making noise out here man.”

At the meeting, papers were disseminated appealing to people who want to bring a lawsuit against the government.

“Well, everybody has the right to bring a lawsuit against anyone else, including the government of the Bahamas,” Mr Miller said. “We just have to decide in our own minds, what I always do, what is in the best interest of my constituents.”

Some people arrived at the event clothed in political party paraphernalia, causing friction between themselves and those who did not want the meeting to turn into a political event.

Representatives from the Free National Movement, Democratic National Alliance, the Progressive Liberal Party, and the Bahamas Constitution Party, were given an opportunity to speak.

One resident, Samone Williams, suggested that locals will seek to hold someone liable for financial loss associated with the fire. “We need to document every aspect of this last situation,” she said.

“Take pictures when we go to the doctor regarding our situation. We need to keep our receipts. We are not going away. Some people feel like if the smoke go away, we will go away. We will not.

“We still have mortgages to pay, light bills to pay and doctor bills to pay. The effects of the smoke is longstanding. I’ve heard doctor reports that this could possibly affect us for the next ten years with respiratory issues.”

“I have an asthmatic daughter and for three weeks she hasn’t been able to come home and sleep in her bed,” another woman said. “We need this situation resolved.”

Jubilee Gardens residents were evacuated after a “massive” blaze erupted at the city dump on March 5. It sent plumes of choking smoke billowing over parts of New Providence for many days.

Walter Evans, the Fire Chief, did not respond to The Tribune when contacted for a progress report yesterday.