The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

A GRAND Bahama resident whose home sustained severe damage in 2019 during Hurricane Dorian is fed up and frustrated over the long delay in assistance from the Disaster Reconstruction Authority (DRA).

William Humes, a resident of East Grand Bahama, said the windows and walls of his house were also badly damaged during the storm. He applied several times to DRA for assistance from the Small Homes Repair Programme.

“My home was ravaged from the storm, and pretty much a lot of the windows are still badly damaged,” he said yesterday. “There are cracks in them from the storm, and cracks on the walls.

“I applied a few times to DRA and some persons came and took a survey, but I never got any return calls, and no one has come out to do any work.

“Under the previous administration, I got some help. But under the new administration, they sent people to the house and took a survey, and nothing has happened.

“I feel bad, and to be honest I feel like the government, the PLP and FNM, they don’t want the Bahamian people to succeed. They want to keep us enslaved to the system.”

On April 27, Senator Kirkland Russell, deputy director of Urban Renewal, said the PLP administration intended to launch a programme shortly to repair at least 2,500 homes in the northern Bahamas.

And this week, DRA announced it has launched a new home repair programme geared towards assisting Abaco and Grand Bahama residents with post Hurricane Dorian reconstruction.

The new programme, called HARP (Homeowners Assistance and Relief Programme) will replace the former administration’s small home repair initiative and will focus on roof, window siding, plumbing and electrical repairs. Some $2m has been allocated so far for the new programme, which is being launched in phases.

There are many people in Grand Bahama whose homes need repairs.

Mr Humes accused the government of putting its priority on other things.

“As important as hurricane shelters, we know government put a lot of funds into areas that are not priorities like having a celebration concert for the victims in Abaco and GB. But at the end of day, I know a whole lot of persons who are still living in really bad, dilapidated conditions in EGB,” Mr Humes said, referring to a concert series to mark the storm’s anniversary.

“We don’t even have hurricane shelters that are fit or in the right location. Some are in low-lying areas, and we have seen that with Dorian.

“I want the government to care more about the Bahamian people and our safety,” said Mr Humes.

He said that he is currently on another island because things are so slow.

“I left Grand Bahama to find work, and they having a party - it is horrible.

“I am very convinced that the PLP nor FNM care about us. I think the whole Bahamas is seeing this now, and you hearing it all over the streets that the government don’t care,” he said.

When contacted for comment, Kwasi Thompson, MP for East Grand Bahama, said he was concerned with the number of outstanding people who are waiting for home repairs.

He noted that many people have been approved and are still awaiting assistance from the Small Homes Repair Programme.

“Unfortunately, the Small Homes Repair had come to a halt right after the election, and we have still not seen enough persons being provided with the assistance that is needed,” Mr Thompson said.

Mr Thompson acknowledged that Urban Renewal and Social Services programmes have started and that there are a few persons who have received assistance in East Grand Bahama.

However, he noted that the DRA programme, which is more significant, has not assisted persons since the election.

“There are persons in Sweeting’s Cay, in McLeans Town, and all of the eastern settlements that were badly damaged and mostly affected by the storm. They must be priority. And so, we continue to appeal to the government to assist these persons as soon as possible and as best as possible.”

The East Grand Bahama MP said the FNM started the programme and assisted hundreds of persons during its tenure. “We had approved persons and were in the process of delivering assistance to these persons. Unfortunately, after the election that assistance was paused,” he explained.

“We are appealing, and I have been in communication with the DRA and with the Urban Renewal and Social Services programme for them to continue to assist those persons who were approved by the previous government,” he said.