NASSAU, The Bahamas — Social Workers from the Department of Social Services will be deployed to all 16 Urban Renewal Centres that have been established in New Providence and Grand Bahama, Minister of Social Services and Community Development Melanie S. Griffin said Wednesday.
Mrs. Griffin said Urban Renewal is one of the most significant programmes to fight crime and the many social ills impacting the country. She said the benefits of stationing Social Workers in the Urban Renewal Centres are numerous.
The Centres in New Providence are located at Farm Road, Bain Town, Fort Charlotte, St. Cecilia’s, Pinewood, Grants Town, Englerston, Kemp Road/Okra Hill, Nassau Village and Fox Hill. Centres in Grand Bahama are located in West End, Marco City, Pineridge, Eight Mile Rock, Lucaya and High Rock.
“Stationing Social Workers at all of the centres will allow the teams to be in the communities where they will have hands-on interaction with our people,” Mrs. Griffin said.
“When you talk about People-to-People, that’s what Urban Renewal is all about. Dealing with people. Infrastructure is fine but get to the heart of the matter. And the heart of the matter is the people in these communities. That’s what bring communities alive, the people who live in them
“Our people are hurting. As we walk through the neighbourhoods, we are able to see the conditions in which many of our people live; there are so many homes in poor conditions. There is no place you can go where people are not walking up to you trying to find help, trying to find some relief for the hurt they are going through.
“We will be ensuring that we have timely and efficient, hands-on contact where we are able to deal with the social issues as well as assist the Police. We will re-introduce all of the successful programmes that were utilised in the past and even more.”
Mrs. Griffin said she anticipates that Urban Renewal 2.0 will be even more effective than its predecessor. The Social Services Minister said officials have already identified a Social Services Manager for New Providence and are in the process of identifying one for Grand Bahama.
“The opportunity to bring together all of the arms of Government into a cohesive partnership with civic organisations, church groups and the community etcetera, bodes well for the success of the programme,” Mrs. Griffin added.
By Matt Maura
Bahamas Information Services
