Minister of Youth, Sports and Housing Neville Wisdom said the government has reached an “amicable” agreement with the residents of the community to have the issues surrounding the illegal use of the land cleared up.
Minister Wisdom said as his department plans to continue building affordable housing for Bahamians in the Fire Trail area, those Bahamians and non-Bahamians illegally living on the land would have to vacate it. But Minister Wisdom said the government of The Bahamas doesn’t want Bahamians squatting on the land to be indiscriminately displaced and put on the streets; they will ensure that they have a roof over their heads.
“Bahamians who have structures on the land and have met Bahamian building codes as established by the Ministry of Works, those people would be allowed to purchase the property and they would also have to pay utility costs to have their homes fully regularised,” he explained.
“And then those [Bahamians] who found themselves in a position where their structures did not meet the codes and could not be adapted to meet the codes, I made the offer to assist them with government-assisted housing. And thirdly, those people who are illegal immigrants, I told them that there was nothing that I could do for them, they would have to leave.”
Earlier this month, the squatters were given until last Friday to get off the property as the government continues its low cost home building project. Figures from the Ministry of Housing indicate that 25 of the illegally erected houses were built by Bahamians and one, by a Haitian family.
The numbers also showed that only 10 of the homes met Bahamian building codes, and the owners will be required to pay the $20,000 per household to stay on that land. The numbers further indicated that 15 Bahamian families were living in substandard households. Housing officials added that a “Haitian village” has also been set-up in the area but will be dealt with “in the immediate future.” Minister Wisdom said the government is planning to continue with its community building.
By: IANTHIA SMITH, The Nassau Guardian
