The Tribune

By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Tribune Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

RAGGED Island MP Chester Cooper said yesterday his constituents were angered by Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis’ appearance on American television show 60 Minutes.

He said since Hurricane Irma devastated the island in September 2017, residents felt very little has been done to return them to normal life.

On Sunday, Dr Minnis made an appearance on 60 Minutes where he told journalist Bill Whitaker that the goal still remained to convert Ragged Island into a sustainable “green” community. He said government also intended to expand the effort.

Dr Minnis’ presence on the show was nothing more than a public relations exercise, Progressive Liberal Party Leader Philip “Brave” Davis claimed.

“I think his discussion on Ragged Island was quite shameless, quite frankly,” Mr Cooper said yesterday. “I don’t know that it was much of an interview per se. It appeared to be more of a promo to sell solar panels.

“We still don’t know a lot about Salt Energy LLC, the company who is doing the project in Ragged Island. I would certainly like to know more about them and I ask the government to do is provide us some more details with respect to this company who has been contracted to do the project.”

He continued: “The people of Ragged Island were very annoyed by the prime minister’s comments in relation to Ragged Island. They still don’t have a school. They don’t know when there will be a teacher. They don’t know whether school will be open for them in September. They don’t have a clinic. They don’t have a nurse.

“Some construction has started on the school which is of great concern to me as the member of Parliament (for the area) because as construction goes on, there is still no nurse. Someone can get hurt very easily. Someone can die unnecessarily so I have raised this matter with the minister of health. I have raised it with the minister of works. I urged them to get a nurse on the ground.

“I, along with the residents, repaired a house in Ragged Island that might be used as a temporary clinic,” he also said. “This must be done as a matter or urgency and as a matter of public concern.

“So three years after Hurricane Irma very little has been done and the residents of Ragged Island are very angry about it. They say that they wish the prime minister would keep the name of Ragged Island out of his mouth.”

He said residents were very dismayed by the lack of progress and were urging the government to expedite the response to provide temporary solutions for the school and other essential services.