The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net 

RESIDENTS of Moore’s Island, Abaco, say they want more assistance from the government as there has been little work done to restore the island to normalcy more than a year after Hurricane Dorian hit.

“Our docking facilities are in terrible shape. Our roads are in terrible shape. It’s falling apart. It’s a bunch of things that are going on here,” said Bishop Nixon Simms, a long-time resident in the community.

“There’s no work being done on the (dock) building for months now. The government dock is in terrible condition. I mean that’s a hazard. We need help, we need attention.”

While some progress has been made since Dorian, there are still certain essential services that remain absent in some communities.

In Moore’s Island, the situation is no different, where residents say there is a need for major upgrades to basic infrastructure in the community like its clinic, airport and roads.

Some of these vexing issues, Bishop Simms added, are not entirely new problems for the island and its residents, but were exacerbated by the deadly storm last year.

However, he said the cries of the islanders have fallen on deaf ears and there is now a strong sense of neglect and disappointment in the community.

“We had some problems with this stuff before Dorian, but it worsened after that,” he told The Tribune yesterday. “The government, they’re supposed to do better governance than that. They’re supposed to have representatives that should see what needs to be done and start working on it, you know.”

He added: “With the docking facility, you should have a standard for the docking facility. Sandy Point has a good docking facility there, so let’s set that as a standard so when you come to these other Family Islands, you’ll be able to see that type of standard in the docking facility.

“Then there should be a good healthcare centre. There should be a standard for that. The terminal buildings on these small islands, it should be a standard for that. Bring your island up to a certain standard, bring your people up.”

The religious leader said that while he is grateful for the food assistance provided by the government in recent weeks, he still believes more can be done, especially as it relates to the restoration efforts.

“The government did bring in food every weekend for the past few months so we are thankful for that… but since Dorian, we haven’t received one nail from the government as far as the repairs. “Some homes were totally destroyed. Some are still living with tarps on their roofs,” he said.

Ruthamae Rolle-Davis, another local in the community, also expressed dissatisfaction to this newspaper over the lack of attention given to Moore’s Island residents by the government to further rebuilding efforts there.

She said: “Persons are still waiting to receive assistance and to be honest with you some people have just given up on the DRA (Disaster Reconstruction Authority) coming in to give any assistance. I was just speaking to a lady the other day where we have to just get whatever little we can get our hands on and start buying materials at a time until we have enough to do our repairs.”

Mrs Rolle-Davis also pointed to problems with the community’s water supply, which she says has been inconsistent and poses a major inconvenience to workers there.

“I’m not sure where the problem lies, but we’ve been getting intermittent service with water. Last night was the first time we had water straight through for I think maybe about two months now so we have been challenged with water,” Mrs Rolle-Davis said.

Meanwhile, Bishop Simms added: “The water supply is up and down. Sometimes at night, it goes off and can’t come back on until morning.”

Central and South Abaco MP James Albury, when contacted by The Tribune yesterday, said he was aware of all the concerns expressed by residents in Moore’s Island and is actively trying to address and resolve the issues.

“So many of these issues are all issues that I’m aware of and actively trying to resolve. I would’ve brought it to the relevant minister’s attention the issues that they’re facing there,” he said.

“As you were aware, Minister (of Works Desmond) Bannister was supposed to make a visit to Abaco, but unfortunately he tested positive (for COVID-19) and he was coming to Abaco and one of the areas I was hoping we would visit was in fact Moore’s Island to deal with the infrastructure concerns.”

As it relates to issues with the water supply, Mr Albury added: “From what I understand, new pumps were sent over and that’s something I’m following up now to see how that process is going.

“Several of the other matters, such as the runway lights, I’ve brought it to the minister of aviation’s attention so unfortunately, there are a lot of issues there. The public dock is also in some bad need of repairs, I would have paid for out of my constituency capital grant a local contractor who would’ve cleaned the debris and made some minor repairs, but the project is a little beyond my ability to tackle just out of my capital grant budget.

“It’s still in need of repairs, but to put in a nutshell, these are matters that I’m very much aware of. I’m working with the chief councilor (of Moore’s Island) and he’s aware of that and we have an open line of communication,” Mr Albury said.