The Tribune

By TANYA SMITH-CARTWRIGHT

tsmith-cartwright@tribunemedia.net

SENIORS and disabled people are top priority to receive the 46 homes donated by Discovery Land Company Foundation to Abaco residents, an official from the Disaster Reconstruction Authority said yesterday.

Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis made the announcement of the donated homes during his wrap up of the budget debate in the House of Assembly on Monday.

Kay Forbes-Smith, DRA managing director, spoke to The Tribune about the criteria for eligibility to receive those donated houses. Construction on the homes is set to begin in August after the Attorney General's Office vets the land agreement.

"We have a criteria now that we are using for the temporary housing that we have to provide in the communities," Ms Forbes-Smith explained. "So what we do is look at that jointly with the donor and decide how people will be selected.

"The first half of the criteria is people's homes would have to have been destroyed in Hurricane Dorian. They would have to be Bahamian. We are looking (at) senior citizens, the disabled and we are looking at families with minor children."

The donation of the 46 homes from Discovery Land Company Foundation comes on the heels of Abaco residents continuously expressing frustration with the slow recovery to their island. In an earlier interview with The Tribune, Ms Forbes-Smith acknowledged the frustration of the residents of Abaco.

She continued by explaining why senior citizens and the disabled are prioritised in receiving the homes donated by the Abaco-based, Baker's Bay foundation.

"Now the reason we obviously are looking at those demographics (senior citizens and disabled) first is because with the devastation of Dorian when you have people who are senior citizens whose homes were destroyed, they don't have an opportunity to rebuild," she explained. "The same goes for the disabled. Many of them are living off small pensions. So there are very obvious reasons why we would have senior citizens and those who are disabled at the top of the list. The whole idea is to give to the most vulnerable in the community."

This criteria is not only for the new homes to be built, but is also used by the DRA for the selection of recipients of domes/tents and other temporary housing that it is putting in Abaco.

"We bring that criteria to the table with the donor and we figure out what we do next," Ms Forbes-Smith continued. "It is a joint discussion with the donor as well. We want to start the 46 homes that the donor, Discovery Land Company Foundation is to provide, in August of this year.

"What we are doing now is, the land agreement between the DRA, representing the government, and the Discovery Land Company Foundation, is at the Attorney General's Office for vetting."

Ms Forbes-Smith is hopeful that by the time August rolls around, the DRA and Discovery Land Company Foundation would have a land agreement that has been signed and agreed upon and both parties will have the selection process defined with other criteria.