Minister of Housing and National Insurance Shane Gibson, in the House of Assembly yesterday, lambasted contractors employed by the Ministry of Housing under the Free National Movement (FNM) administration for the shoddy workmanship of housing projects.
Before he seconded a Resolution in the House of Assembly for the transference of 114 lots located in Bahamia West, in Grand Bahama from the public treasure to the Ministry, Minister Gibson said work by some local contractors was “unconscionable”.
In the case of the Pine Forest Subdivision in Freeport, some homes took more than two years to complete.
“You could imagine paying your deposit two years ago, sitting by patiently waiting for your home to be completed and your home is still not completed,” he said,
Some contractors were given a one year redemptive period before their services were terminated and yet they were still complaining he said.
“It always hurt my heart Mr. Speaker, when I have to terminate contracts because I believe in creating employment, but I think it was unconscionable for contractors…you know we talk about bush mechanics, but these must be bush contractors,” said Mr. Gibson.
With regard to the homes in Pine Forest he said, since he came to office, most of the homes have been completed and others are near completion.
The Ministry is now taking in new applications for persons who want to live in that subdivision.
He said having inspected a home in West End, Grand Bahama, it could easily be described as the epitome of “sub-standard work”.
The ceiling, he said, was some 18 inches from his head, and the floor had not even been poured yet.
“So that means that if the floor was poured, there would be all kind of ducking and dodging. As Minister of Housing, I could not just sit idly by and let things continue like this.”
He said he was disgusted that former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, who was in charge of the Ministry of Housing prior to his taking office last year, could allow something like this to happen.
” He is from Abaco, so I would expect him of all persons to identify with Family Island people. It was really disgusting to see the condition of that particular house,” Mr. Gibson said.
He said when he tapped the walls of the home, the dust and debris started to fall to the floor. Meaning that the walls did not even have any cement in the mixed concrete.
” I had someone who actually came to me and ask me to give this same contractor a chance. But if he did these things that we could see, now imagine if we allowed him to finish the house. That house was already falling apart,” he said.
In other homes, the walls were beginning to crack shortly after new home owners moved in he said.
All these factors posed an inconvenience to these residents who have committed themselves to the purchase of “quality” homes, with mortgage down payments made some two years before they could even move into their houses.
” These were the conditions that we met in place and these are the conditions that we are trying to correct,” Mr. Gibson said.
It also must then be disheartening after the long wait he said, for families to invest their money into homes that are not properly constructed
He further noted that a number of homes in Millennium Gardens also have construction defects, probably because certain contractors were given a heavier workload than they were honestly able to commit to.
Mr. Gibson said Government officials must be more responsible when it comes to assuring that Bahamians will get the value for their money’s worth. Adding that his ministry is in the business of providing quality homes for Bahamians, because they are entitled to such.
By Vanessa C. Rolle, The Nassau Guardian
