By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

FIFTY families have joined forces to launch legal action to block the government’s first round of shanty town evictions.

Shanty town residents - primarily from the Golden Isles and Bacardi Road area - are being represented by human rights group Rights Bahamas (RB), which has been canvassing communities across New Providence in recent weeks and expects to file the legal action this week.

RB legal director and its former president Fred Smith said the number of families that have signed on to bring class action through a general constitutional motion is likely to swell.

He accused the government of seeking to short-cut social issues that have been incubating for decades, and continuing the policy of “ethnic cleansing” initiated by the former Progressive Liberal Party government.

“I urge the government to remember they are subject to the rule of law,” he said.

“If they think someone is breaking the law, go to court, and if it’s a criminal matter give a fair hearing under tribunal. If it’s a civil matter, just like any other landlord who needs to get a tenant out – they need to issue a writ of possession and get an order from court.

“We are not living in a banana republic,” Mr Smith continued, “just like immigration can’t indiscriminately and illegally stop, detain, arrest, and deport, the government can’t simply demand people leave their homes.

“What law have they broken that thousands of white Bahamians in Albany and Lyford Cay haven’t when they build without a permit? All of these gated communities are expanding and building without permit.”

Mr Smith added: “Why are they picking on communities of Haitian ethnic background? I urge the government to have their building and health inspectors do their jobs, identify specific houses that are unsanitary or that are unsafe and then proceed according to the Planning and Subdivision Act or Building Regulations Act or any other act like the Environmental Health Services Act. There are proper procedures to follow. Every government seems to want to take an illegal shortcut to deal with social issues that have been decades in the making. It is unconscionable, it is immoral and also illegal for the government to simply destroy people’s homes.”

Mr Smith referred to the legal principle of “jus tertia” which asserts that landowners or persons claiming legal title must go to court to remove persons in possession or residing on the property.

He also noted the notices issued thus far have been prospective in nature, and did not address persons who have lived in these communities for decades.

Yesterday, Attorney General Carl Bethel acknowledged there may be a handful of persons who may be able to mount a legal challenge but expressed doubts whether RB will be able to successfully bring a class action.

He also pushed back against RB’s claim the government was subverting due process, insisting the government was acting in accordance with statute law by giving appropriate notice both generally and to specific households.

However, he said the government will always encourage persons to explore their legal entitlements, adding there was an impartial judiciary to adjudicate credible disputes.

“We’re not upset about that but the issue plainly is that the government has long announced this policy,” Mr Bethel said, “we are going about it in the most humane way and pursuant to statute law. We’re not opposed to people exploring legal rights, we have a duty to protect the Bahamian people from hazards, dangers, risks.

Mr Bethel continued: “The people that live in these shanty towns, you may find one or two who invoke sympathies if you look hard enough but let’s talk about the children who are abused, the people who are sick, the quality of life, let’s talk about that. The government takes up the position to clean up these areas for the benefit of residents and those surrounding communities - that’s our duty. When this happens and the lives of persons who live in shanty towns are improved - isn’t that a right?

“Why should some persons be in a special category, allowed to violate every rule and principle?” Mr Bethel said.

“There can be no excuse for violating all social, regulatory, and zoning norms, creating a potential health or fire disaster for all law-abiding communities around you –- no excuse for that. We are seeking to address a perennial problem, and we’re not going to be swatted aside by a human rights group seeking a cause célèbre.”

Mr Bethel said: “What constitutional right could anyone possibly have to do that? This is what Rights Bahamas is arguing for, that there is a certain breed or class of persons in this society who are not bound by rules and regulations that bind everybody else, and because they have been allowed to continue in this state in the shadows of society that they should continue to be allowed to do that.”

Yesterday, Mr Smith insisted his group and shanty town residents were not against the government moving to address illegality in shanty town communities. He accused the government of perpetuating the myth that there are only “ghetto shacks” in a concerted effort to strip residents of generational home ownership. He claimed that some landowners were prominent members of the Free National Movement, and questioned whether the government would hold anyone accountable for collecting rent.

“The government is not backing up,” he said, “I have asked the government to give undertakings that they will not demolish homes and focus on individual unsanitary or dilapidated buildings - they have not given it. So people are shocked, people who are saying they voted for, worked for, and supported this FNM government, they don’t understand how the government is going to destroy their homes.

“This government has an obstinate fortress mentality,” he added, “they don’t want to talk, so we’ll meet them in court.”

Notices given to shanty town residents in New Providence last month mandated that residents or landowners with an approved building permit or occupancy certificate had two weeks to have their documents verified by the Ministry of Public Works.

The Minnis administration has set a July 31 deadline for New Providence shanty town evictions.