The Tribune

By KEILE CAMPBELL

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

WORKS and Family Island Affairs Minister Clay Sweeting said the Unregulated Communities Action Task Force (UCATF) will refocus on New Providence shanty towns “throughout the summer” after becoming aware of “quite a number” of them.

After demolishing structures in the Kool Acres and All Saints Way shanty towns of New Providence, the task force turned its attention to complete demolition activities in the Blackwood shanty town of Eleuthera this week.

Assistant Director of Social Services Cherely Kelly said yesterday there were many children and families in the community and the children seemed to be attending school consistently. 

The chief social worker for Eleuthera, Nickal Symonette, said few people applied for assistance, though one person applied for rental assistance.

She said those displaced live with family members or people whose homes remain on Blackwood.  

She said because North Eleuthera has few rental units, people must apply for rental assistance outside the community. 

Mr Sweeting suggested there are no shanty town concerns in Harbour Island.

“There are more complaints in regard to immigration and the challenges with that there than I think in regards with the shanty town,” he said.

“If they give a location then we’ll make an assessment, but when they did an initial assessment there wasn’t any evidence of any shanty town in Harbour Island. There are probably homes where persons of another nationality live, but I wouldn’t say it’s a shanty town.”