Harald Furhmann may have won after all. Spurred by a website posted by the disgruntled German that depicted The Bahamas as a filthy, polluted country, covered in ramshackle buildings, where rodents and insects are prominent, the Government is launching a national cleanup campaign.
Mr. Furhmann recently started posting websites attacking The Bahamas in an effort to pressure the Government and the legal profession over a long-running legal dispute he had to do with real estate in this country.
Ministry of Health Parliamentary Secretary Ron Pinder said Wednesday that seeing the website "fueled" his desire to target rundown areas.
The government has demolished 20 buildings, cleared 50 properties and posted notices to owners to remove derelict vehicles throughout the capital in an effort to tidy up the nation.
Areas where buildings have been torn down include Carmichael and Farm roads, and lots have been cleared in Bain and Grants Town, Marathon, Englerston, Pine Wood and St. Thomas Moore.
"We have heightened our efforts in respect to the maintenance of our environment. We have become more aggressive in our approach and more aggressive in our initiatives," Mr. Pinder said.
The Ministry has appointed a Special Projects Unit to remove abandoned vehicles, clear the lots and demolish dilapidated buildings.
Once a property is cleared, Mr. Pinder said, the owner is notified and if they do not respond and if it is seen as a hazard, the unit has the authority to transform it into a "green space:" the property is cleared and grass planted.
Vehicles are crushed at a site on Marshall Road and exported as scrap metal.
The Ministry has ordered 50 property owners to clear them and they have 14 days to do so.
Mr. Pinder said he has launched a programme to identify abandoned lots, vehicles and buildings in his constituency and is giving the information to the Department of Environmental Health.
"I am going to get my colleagues in the House of Assembly to do the same thing as well, to work with the Ministry and so we can deal with this problem from a broader base," said the Member of Parliament for Marathon.
There is also a 100-person litter pick-up unit that collects litter and debris throughout Nassau, paints sidewalks and shovels up dirt accumulated along the side of the road.
Mr. Pinder said governments have not been vigilant in imposing the laws dealing with littering and dumping poisonous waste.
"I am not one of those persons who is angry at the German tourist. I am not angry in the way to say we should shut down the site. Although it concerns me deeply, I am letting my deep concern fuel our initiatives and heighten them so as to improve the appearance of the environment in The Bahamas," Mr. Pinder said.
Bahamians, he said, must be more vigilant in the way they store garbage and maintain their properties to keep the island clean for Bahamians, and not just for tourists.
By Khashan Poitier, The Nassau Guardian
