By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis expressed grave concern over the lack of enforcement of proper building codes in the construction of houses that were severely damaged by a tornado in a Freeport subdivision.

Dr Minnis also said the government was successful in its hurricane response in terms of evacuations of affected areas, but said a few errors were made. He pledged that in the future, things will be done better.

The prime minister and several members of his Cabinet traveled to the northern Bahamas on Thursday, first stopping in Bimini and then in Grand Bahama to inspect the damage caused by Hurricane Irma.

He arrived in Freeport around noon, first stopping in the Imperial Park Subdivision where five homes were extensively damaged last Sunday. He also went to a house on Tamarind Street, and to the Imperial Gardens Apartment Building on East Beach Drive.

After talking with the affected homeowners and assessing the damage, Dr Minnis spoke with the media at the Pelican Bay Resort.

He said he and his team had observed that the hurricane straps in the damaged homes at Imperial Park had not been properly installed.

“Most importantly here in Grand Bahama, we viewed the area that was struck by the tornado and what was most evident is that a lot of the hurricane straps were not placed in properly. There were places in some straps for three nails, and only one was in place.”

He also reported that they had observed issues with the trusses as well.

“When we viewed and looked at the trusses we noticed that some might have been four inches thick and others were two inches thick,” Dr Minnis said.

“So what that points out to me is that we possibly have excellent (building) codes, but our enforcement is not in place; we must improve on our inspection, and that is very serious.

“And it was essential for the Leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition (Philip ‘Brave’ Davis) to be here with us because he also noted the same problems. We came together as a team to move forward and to improve the infrastructure of our facilities,” the nation’s leader said.

Minister of Social Services and Urban Development Lanisha Rolle, Minister of Health Dr Duane Sands, Minister of Financial Services, Trade and Industry and Immigration Brent Symonette, Minister of Transport and Local Government Frankie Campbell, Minister of Tourism, Aviation and Bahamasair Dionisio D'Aguilar, State Minister for Grand Bahama Kwasi Thompson, and Grand Bahama MPs Michael Pintard, minister of youth, sports and culture; Pakesia Parker-Edgecombe, Fredrick McAlpine, and Iram Lewis, and various government department heads and officials, and the president of the Bahamas Christian Council Bishop Delton Fernander accompanied the prime minister in Grand Bahama.

In Bimini, Dr Minnis stated that they also noticed some damage to docks, homes, and foam floating in the water.

“Those are matters that we must investigate and see what may have contributed to it so that those events would not occur again,” he said.

“All of us will work together with NEMA; we have one job, and one purpose and that is to improve the lives of Bahamians and improve the quality of life of Bahamians.

“It is a learning experience, and whoever is in power would have the responsibility to ensure that enforcements are there, and whoever is in power it is essential that they too know what are the issues so we can correct them moving forward.”

He stressed the importance of teamwork between the government, opposition, and various government agencies and department in times of natural disaster.

“What this has demonstrated is once we work together as a team we could make it happen,” he said. ‘Who would have thought as a team that the Bahamas as small as we are would succeed in evacuating individuals from throughout the Bahamas by airlift? It’s never been done before, and we were first to go down in history to be successful.

“We would have made a few errors, and we would have noted that some things could have been done better, and believe me as we move forward, it would be done better. And working together we will most certainly have a much powerful, strong, beautiful Bahamas,” he said.

On Monday, Dr Minnis began his tour of the hurricane damaged areas in the southern islands of the Bahamas, which were hardest hit by Irma. He ended his tour with visits to Bimini and Grand Bahama.