The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A Cabinet minister yesterday said the government will have to give a "deadline" for several of the Abaco cays that have pledged to finance the provision of underground utility cables post-Dorian.

Desmond Bannister, minister of works, told Tribune Business that several of the storm-ravaged islands off Abaco's mainland - which he declined to name - had indicated a desire to help fund the underground restoration of Bahamas Power & Light's (BPL) transmission and distribution (T&D) network.

Locations such as Treasure Cay, Hope Town and Great Guana Cay are home to wealthy, multi-millionaire investors, but Mr Bannister said the government could not wait for ever for any promised funding to materialise.

"The challenge with the cays is they want underground utilities," Mr Bannister confirmed to this newspaper, "and the government is going to have to give them a deadline as that's an expensive process.

"They've indicated they want to assist in providing the financing for it. We're going to have to give them a deadline. If they don't come through we have to proceed with the electrification process for the cays. They've spoken to us in confidence, and it's best for me not to discuss that further until we have some confirmation from them."

The government anticipates incurring $80m worth of costs to restore BPL's Abaco electricity supply, with half that sum - some $40m - incurred this fiscal year. Mr Bannister said power has now been restored to north and south Abaco, and "one or two of the cays", as he identified Marsh Harbour and the island's central district as the utility's main "challenge".

Nevertheless, the minister said: "It's moving at a good pace. They have restored power to the government complex, they have restored power to the clinic, and they are working assiduously to get to the large commercial structures.

"BPL has to bring some more workers into Abaco than they currently have. I know they've made arrangements to accommodate them in Abaco. That has been one of the major challenges, so I look forward to that aspect of it."

Mr Bannister, who visited Abaco late last week to view how debris clearance and reconstruction is progressing, confirmed to Tribune Business that the Government was "looking at" the development of a masterplan to guide the rebuilding of Marsh Harbour and all surrounding communities that have been levelled by Dorian.

"Looking at that area, The Mudd, it is ideal for creating a new township," the minister said, referring to the former shanty town flattened during the storm. "We have to look at everything and see how we can ensure development that is orderly and meets the needs of the community."

He added that the Government's ability to cope with all the construction permit and inspection applications that will be generated by post-Dorian rebuilding was "a reasonable question" given existing concerns over the pace at which the Ministry of Works and its Building Control Department process the present volume of submissions.

Besides increasing the number of inspectors, Mr Bannister indicated that the Government was open to requests from the Bahamas Society of Engineers (BSE), Institute of Bahamian Architects (IBA) and the Bahamian Contractors Association (BCA) for private sector construction industry expertise to be employed in assisting the Dorian rebuild.

Mr Bannister revealed to Tribune Business: "What is happening is that the Building Control Department is in the process of hiring a number of new inspectors throughout the country. We expect we're going to boost the complement of inspectors significantly. It's going to have to be done in stages but we anticipate it's going to be a big increase.

"The second component of that is architects and engineers are very interested to be part of the process. You may look forward to us amending the legislation to include more professionals that we are now."

While declining to identify the laws that need to be changed, Mr Bannister said Iram Lewis, the newly-appointed minister of state for disaster preparedness, recovery and reconstruction, was working with a Building Control team and the private sector to ensure persons are no longer able "to get through the net" when it comes to Bahamas Building Code compliance.

"People have been building, been doing all kinds of thing, making additions to buildings and getting away with all sorts of things," he told Tribune Business. "It's been proven not to be safe.... The whole process [of permitting] we'd started reviewing earlier, and were looking at making it computerised and a lot quicker. The whole process has to improve; it's just too archaic."

The assessment of the category five storm's financial impact, produced by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and other multilateral agencies, estimated that it had left almost 3,000 homes "uninhabitable", and some 7,339 "severely damaged", as it inflicted $1.487bn worth of damage on the housing sector in Abaco and Grand Bahama.

Housing was identified as the sector most impacted by Dorian with around 9,000 homes - representing more than 11 million square feet of physical property - damaged to some degree by its winds, storm surge, falling trees and flying debris.

"Approximately 9,000 homes, and in excess of 11 million square feet of structures, have sustained some damage on the two islands. On Abaco, more than 75 percent of the dwellings were somehow affected, and approximately 57 percent of the houses were severely damaged. Central Abaco (Marsh Harbour), Treasure Cay, and Hope Town were the most affected locations," the joint report found.

"Damage to the housing sector on the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama is estimated at $1.48bn, 88.9 percent of which took place on Abaco. Losses in the housing sector are attributed to the interruption of accommodation and rental services due to severe damage or destruction of the house, making it temporarily or permanently uninhabitable. The assessment team estimated losses at $56.8m resulting from 2,894 homes left uninhabitable after the hurricane."

Mr Bannister, meanwhile, pledged that himself and the Ministry of Works will not be distracted by Dorian from infrastructure projects and capital upgrades already earmarked for other islands prior to the storm's passage.

"The country has moved very slowly with much-needed infrastructure over the last decade or so, and I'm looking to move forward with my agenda," he said. "We have a number of Family Islands with roads that are in a terrible state.

"We're asking the Ministry of Finance to continue with those projects and fund other projects. The Bahamian people can't put their lives on hold because of Dorian. We're a strong people and have to continue to focus on where we're going."

Mr Bannister said the funding required for expansion, and improvements, to several main road corridors in New Providence, was already in place and allocated up to end-June 2020 when the fiscal year ends.