Environment Minister Kenred Dorsett revealed that the government has initiated an investigation into the country’s many shantytowns to finally try and resolve the vexing issue.
A fire at a shantytown off Sir Milo Butler Highway over the weekend has renewed concerns about the crowded communities and the impact they have on neighboring areas.
Dorsett revealed that teams from the Department of Environmental Health Services have begun the process of compiling detailed reports on the shantytowns.
“We’ll be looking at all of these areas to determine which environmental infractions exist and make recommendations as to how we should proceed, and make a determination if any prosecution should also come from what we are able to find as a result of these reports,” Dorsett said.
Last year, former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham revealed that a senior civil servant was collecting rent from many Haitians living in the shantytown formerly known as Mackey Yard.
Ingraham said the prominent person collected the rent, despite the fact that he had no title to the land. That plot of Crown land is now being developed into a government subdivision.
But Dorsett said the work cannot stop there.
