BY DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

Over 160 derelict vehicles in Freeport residential areas are under notice for removal to a designated disposal site identified by the Grand Bahama Port Authority.

This City Management Section of the Grand Bahama Port Authority has embarked on a major cleanup initiative that was launched following the devastation caused by Hurricane Dorian last September when an estimated 2,500 vehicles were destroyed.

Troy McIntosh, Deputy Director & City Manager of Building and Development Services at the GBPA, reported that the removal of derelict vehicles is progressing in the Civic Industrial Area, and that they will be moving in the residential areas next.

Derelict vehicles were abandoned in the commercial and residential areas, and along the roadside in the Freeport and Lucaya areas.

“The work is ongoing in the Civic Industrial Area,” McIntosh said. “Once completed, the City Management Section will move onto Freeport residential areas where approximately 164 vehicles are currently under notice to be removed by owners before we take action to move them at the owners’ expense.”

Lucaya is another residential area they will be focusing on. McIntosh hopes they can partner with Lucaya Service Company to assist them with the removal of derelict vehicles in subdivisions there too.

To date, GBPA has completed clean-up of abandoned vehicles in the area of Queens Cove and at Poor Man's Auto, located near Solomon's food store on Queens Highway.

Progress has also been made in cleaning up Freeport’s roadways.

The City Management Section will erect signs to discourage the dumping of derelict vehicles throughout Freeport’s residential and commercial communities.

Ian Rolle, president of the GBPA, commended persons in the community who are assisting them in this initiative.

“The GBPA is grateful to Mr. Dudley Seide and his team at Reach Out Youth Ministries, who are contracted as a part of Sanitation Service Company litter crew, for their assistance with clean-up of litter and other small vehicular debris along our streets,” he said.

With the help of four tow trucks supplied by licensees (Self Made Towing), Mr McIntosh said the team was able to move onto Kent Motors to rid that area of abandoned vehicles.

“Once we have completed our work there, Mr. Seide and his team will provide detailed cleaning of the area, and we’ll post signage to dissuade others from further illegal dumping,” he said.

When the clean up is finished at Kent Motors, Mr McIntosh noted that the clearing of vehicles will continue on Forest Avenue and Mahogany Street opposite Dolly Madison.

The initiative to rid Freeport of the unsanitary and unsightly problem of derelict vehicles in and around residential and commercial areas and on verges commenced in June.

Mr Rolle noted that the GBPA partnered with the Royal Bahamas Police Force and Department of Environmental Health to bring resolve to the ongoing issue of illegal dumping of vehicles.

He noted that they had also at the time designated land in the Civic Industrial Area for the temporary disposal of vehicles destroyed by floodwaters during Hurricane Dorian. The vehicles will be shipped to a US-based facility for crushing, he said.

Residents who have questions about the proper disposal of vehicles or other debris should contact the GBPA’s City Management Department at 816-4030.