Yes the whole of Abaco consists of Shantitown. 100 % cleared.

Officially the govt all there is to clean and can now absolve itself from any other cleaning.

The headline is stupid.

Wow! Absolutely no mention by Melanie Roach of the debris removal costs incurred to date. No compunction whatsoever to account to Bahamian taxpayers for the spending of their tax dollars. Such is her arrogance!

Yeah, no. Works Director Comrade Sister Melanie, needs hop her backside on-board her Abaco dingy to scull off to all see for she self, why the other Abaco islands and cays evidence of a single wheelbarrow debris that's been carted away during the last three months - was done by the residents and volunteers - not government contractors.

This is exactly why I do not like to do telephone interviews with reporters. In future I will go back to issuing written statements.

Firstly I do not write the headlines. At no time did I indicate to the reporter that the majority of the debris had been removed from Abaco. I advised her that contractors were given 3 months to complete their section of the work and depending on their productivity and the need the contracts would be evaluated at that time to see if the contracts need to be extended.

The reporter never asked what had been expended on debris removal but I am happy to advise that up to 16th December, 2019 the Ministry of Public Works has prepared payment certificates for various contractors in Grand Bahama and Abaco for a total value of $6,606,363.19.

Once again the reporter never asked me to comment on the work being done by NGOs and volunteers. The MOPW is very appreciative of the work undertaken by the various NGOs and volunteers as this has greatly eased the financial and administrative burden of this mammoth task. A meeting is held every Wednesday in Abaco between NGOs, MOPW debris removal contractors and government officials to recap the past week, to discuss challenges and to seek solutions to those challenges. TalRussell will be happy to know that I have personally visited Man O War Cay, Green Turtle Cay, and Elbow Cay to meet with the NGO's working on those islands. In addition the MOPW has a Senior Engineer posted in Abaco who continues to monitor the debris removal process by MOPW contractors and to work with the NGOs who are assisting both on the mainland and on the Cays.

As the Prime Minister has said on numerous occasions the work will continue until all affected areas are brought back to a state of normalcy.

The Tribune creates the headlines not the interviewee.

The reporter never asked about the cost of debris removal but as of 16th December, 2019 the Ministry of Public Works has prepared payment certificates totaling $6,606,363.19 for various contractors in Grand Bahama and Abaco. Invoices are submitted on a weekly basis. Checked against the inspection reports and then payment certificates are prepared and processed. Each contractor was given three months to complete their works. Some finished ahead of schedule while others still have many weeks left on their contracts. At the end of the three months the areas will be evaluated to determine the productivity level of the contractors and whether the volume of work remaining requires an extension of the contract.

As the Director of Public Works I have personally visited Green Turtle Cay, Elbow Cay and Man-O-War Cay to meet with the NGOs assisting with debris removal from those Cays. In addition the MOPW has a Senior Engineer posted in Abaco who regularly visits the cays and also meets weekly with all contractors and NGOs involved in the debris removal process. They recap the work completed, balance of work to be done, challenges faced, and solutions to those challenges. Similarly the MOPW office in Grand Bahama daily monitors the work of the debris removal contractors on the island of Grand Bahama and on Waters Cay and Sweetings Cay.

The Government of the Bahamas is very grateful for the invaluable assistance given by the NGOs and this has been communication to them by many means on numerous occasions.

"...debris removal in the shanty town communities in Abaco are almost complete."
For decades these clearly illegal structures grew and grew with illegal generators some half a million cost, these areas have been knows by govt officials even doing census, putting out fires and have some 60 million dollars sent to Haiti from huge clusters of these illegal settlements and others. And now sticking more continuous costs to the nation. At least the Authorities should fire the Authorities who were inept in not years ago removing illegal shanty towns and ot least apply lien on land for land clearing, removing debris.

Doing wrong by minority should not be rewarded at expense by majority law abiding citizens who respect Constitution and laws and no individual or group is above Law and Constitution of the sovereign nation of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas

That carnival is free

This woman is only there to serve her masters. She will say what they tell her to say. In Green Turtle Cay, the Government sent roughly 20,20ft waste management containers to remove the debris off the island and barge it to Nassau. It will take thousands of bins to clean up and two life times to transport it to Nassau. Big contract for someone who knows nothing about Green Turtle Cay. Big money for some MPs. All the Foreign money donated to us will end up Ill spend. It doesn't change...same ole crap. Thank God for American Generosity. Minnis and Brave both been to GTC,they ain't even bring a bottle of water. They come looking for water.

Ministry of Public Works is not responsible for clean up in Green Turtle Cay. That will be dealt with by the Disaster Recovery Authority.