BY DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

About 1,000 derelict vehicles have been removed so far on Grand Bahama as part of a major clean-up initiative underway in Freeport to restore ‘the second city’ back to a state of cleanliness it was once known for.

The initiative has been spearheaded by the Grand Bahama Port Authority after an estimated 2,500 vehicles were destroyed during Hurricane Dorian, which devastated the island last September and left tons of debris and derelict vehicles in its wake. 

Many of those vehicles have been dumped in the civic industrial/commercial area of Freeport and left abandoned in private subdivisions severely impacted by storm surge. 

Troy McIntosh, deputy director, and city manager at the Grand Bahama Port Authority, said they have moved some 500 derelict vehicles, which along with other private entities, totals somewhere around 1,000. 

He indicated that an additional 1,500 vehicles are still left in the Freeport area.

At an update on debris removal at the Disaster Reconstruction Authority on Wednesday, Mr McIntosh said restoring Freeport back to being a “Garden City,” is a priority. The Port Authority, along with Sanitation Services, he noted has already removed 100,000 tons of hurricane debris to date.

The derelict vehicle removal programme will resume on Thursday in the civic industrial area at Milton Street and Greenville Drive, where some remaining 37 of 92 vehicles will be removed from a site, opposite the old Solomon’s Wholesale.

“Once we move those vehicles, the next site is Kent Motors, and the third location in the civic area is Forest Avenue and Mahogany Street, where there are another 140 plus vehicles,” he said.

The fourth step will be derelict vehicle removal from within subdivisions, Mr McIntosh said.

“We have a derelict vehicle programme which requires us to tag the vehicle and give the homeowners a seven-day notice. On the expiration of the final notice of another seven days, the vehicle will be moved to a new disposal site off Thackery Street, and then for exportation,” he explained.

“Right now, within Freeport there are another 1,000 to 1,500 vehicles to be moved, not including the Lucaya area. We hope the Disaster Reconstruction Authority (DRA) will partner with us to assist in the Lucaya area, and other private subdivisions such as Hudson Estates, where there are a tremendous amount of vehicles in the verge of these areas.” 

According to Mr McIntosh, the clean-up of the illegal derelict vehicle dumping along the verge at the Queens Cove Subdivision was completed last Saturday.

“These are a few of the things we have to do to get back to normalcy. As you would have known with Matthew it took us a full year to get back to normalcy. We assume Dorian was two and four times worse and we are hoping it does not take us that long. With the partnership (with DRA) we do see some acceleration in things we need to do to get the city back up and running,” McIntosh said.

To deter illegal indiscriminate dumping, Mr McIntosh said their Freeport Report App allows residents to make complaints, which are cataloged and acknowledged within 48 hours.

Once matters are resolved, he said, they send a message to the sender that the complaint or matter has been resolved.

“We are asking residents to sign up for the App with us, it is free of charge,” he said.