The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THE government has reported it is aware of concerns of a new shanty town in Murphy Town, Abaco.

The comments came after a video recorded by a candidate who lost in the last election circulated.

Cay Mills, of the Coalition of Independents, complained about more than a dozen buildings near an old car junkyard in Abaco.

Last October, a special committee was formed under the auspices of the Ministry of Works to look into and investigate these irregular communities.

When contacted on Wednesday about recent concerns of the new shanty town in Murphy Town, Permanent Secretary Luther Smith told The Tribune that the government is aware of the situation.

“We are aware of reports of shanty town development in Abaco and elsewhere in The Bahamas, and the ministry is pursuing to establish a plan to deal with the shanty towns, and an official position will be made public soon.”

Frustration and concern about the shanty towns have been an ongoing issue for Abaconians, who want the government to take action.

Some 52 arrests were made last year as a result of an operation that exposed the scope of the worsening shanty town problem.

A local government official of the Marsh Harbour/ Spring City Township previously noted the situation had got out of hand and demanded action.

However, he also warned many shanty town dwellers are Bahamians of Haitian descent who have no place to go due to the housing crisis since Hurricane Dorian. Mr Thompson noted the government needs to find a suitable area to develop a housing subdivision and make it affordable.

After Hurricane Dorian decimated the shanty towns across Abaco in 2019, the government issued an immediate ban on the construction of any new buildings in the four major shanty towns on Abaco and later began demolition exercises of newly built structures there.

Those exercises were stopped after Supreme Court Justice Cheryl Grant-Thompson ordered the government to cease and desist further interference with those communities until the judicial review of the matter had been completed.

Officials were also ordered to get approval from the court before demolishing any further structures.