The Tribune

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Tribune Staff Reporter

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

OLYMPIC gold-medalist Ramon Miller finally has light and water utilities connected to his home after a three-year battle to get the services he expected when the government gifted him land for his athletic achievements.

“I feel like I’m part of the country now,” he said yesterday.

Mr Miller ran the anchor leg for The Bahamas’ gold-winning 4x400 metre relay team during the London Olympic games in 2012.

He completed his home in 2018 but encountered severe roadblocks.

In 2021, he publicised his battle to get his 20,000 sq ft of land in Olympia Heights outfitted with light, water, and telecommunications utilities.

Mr Miller started getting access to public water on March 13, 2023. On July 25, he became a customer of Bahamas Power and Light.

“I felt like I was in the boondocks because I was still running on generator and I could see people down the hill with light,” he said.

“But I’m fully connected to the necessary infrastructure so, of course, my family and myself could live comfortably.”

In March 2022, the government signed a $1.2m contract to install infrastructure and develop Olympia Heights, a subdivision in western New Providence.

The project missed its November deadline.

“I know they had set a deadline,” Mr Miller said yesterday. “But because they were working, I didn’t feel it as bad, you know, because I say man seems like they working, you know.

“Now if they weren’t working then I would feel some type of way, so I was a little lenient in that aspect knowing that some things may have taken longer than I expected.”

For three years, Mr Miller relied on a generator to get running water and electricity into his home.

Mr Miller, a father of two, said the humbling situation has taught his family a valuable lesson.

“I’m glad that I went through that situation so my kids can really see how to manage some stuff in some sense, instead of being so careless with having the light here, having the light on there,” he said.

“So, they would be mindful of turning off the light, making sure this off before we cut that on.”

Mr Miller thanked Works and Utilities Minister Alfred Sears for his efforts in helping him.