By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

IRAM Lewis, the new minister of state for disaster preparedness, recovery and reconstruction, said the government will contract companies to remove debris from The Mudd and Pigeon Peas.

Three weeks after Hurricane Dorian ravaged the Abaco shanty town communities, rubble is all that remains in the areas. Some fear human and animal corpses lay underneath the rubble, yet to be retrieved. 

With reconnaissance work completed, Mr Lewis said within a month companies will move in to clear the debris under the watchful eyes of law enforcement officers and undertakers.

“Contracts are being prepared, equipment and manpower have already been mobilised,” he said. “We are as we speak in the process of moving things in Abaco. We’re going to use all the Bahamian companies and do an inventory of all the machines we have. That’s being formulated because we’ve never done this before. We will go layer by layer in the areas just in case we do find bodies. Undertakers and the police will be escorting us at all times because of what we might find.”

When the grim work begins, Mr Lewis said it will be important for civilians not to hinder workers. 

“Persons must not be allowed to inhabit areas where we are working,” he said. “For example, in Abaco where we have to clean obviously The Mudd and Pigeon Peas where we don’t know what we are going to find when we take the debris out, it will be very tedious process, it’s going to be very sensitive, there will be exposure to a lot of dangerous chemicals so we don’t know what will be on the ground. In order to keep people safe and do our work, it is paramount that we have the area clear. It is difficult to renovate a room when the room isn’t clear. We won’t force anybody out but we will ensure that whatever is needed for us to be effective, will happen.”

Mr Lewis, the Central Grand Bahama MP, was previously the parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Works. He was sworn in as the country’s newest state minister at a ceremony at Government House yesterday.