By FARRAH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

THE attorney representing shanty town residents in a judicial review centred on the demolition of unregulated communities yesterday filed an urgent appeal asking the court to consider extending the 2018 injunction that barred the government from evicting shanty town residents and disconnecting services in their communities.

Martin Lundy II said the application, which was filed in January 2020 by Respect Our Homes Ltd and 177 residents and occupants of shanty towns, “concerned a matter of urgency” because if it was not heard, there was a “real possibility” that the government would destroy or seize the homes of applicants in Abaco before the proceedings were heard and adjudicated upon.

He also asked the court to note that the applicants planned to rely on the third affidavit of Stephanie St Fleur, the president of Respect Our Homes Limited.

In a copy of the court documents obtained by The Tribune, Ms St Fleur said the applicants were requesting an “urgent hearing” of their application to extend the injunction due to rising threats of the “imminent demolition” of Abaco residences by government officials.

She explained that 72 of the 177 applicants resided in shanty towns in Abaco and insisted that the 2018 injunction covered all of the land that was occupied by applicants on the island.

Referencing an affidavit filed by another applicant last year, Ms St Fleur stated: “On September 1, 2019, Category 5 Hurricane Dorian struck Abaco, causing significant damage to several communities, including ethnic Haitian organic communities. Since the storm, the respondents, along with other government actors, have made clear their firm intention to eradicate ethnic Haitian organic communities in Abaco.

“In an attempt to justify this, the respondents have resorted to conflating questions of property ownership and building standards with issues of illegal immigration in a manner that continues to discriminate against the applicants who are Abaco residents, as well as other homeowners in the targeted communities.”

Ms St Fleur alleged the government claimed to be clearing up debris when they were actually destroying shanty town communities like the Mud, Sand Banks and Pigeon Pea “without regard to the property rights of the residents” — a move she claimed displaced “at least 2,387 persons”.

She also said they have made their plans to demolish all remaining homes in other unregulated communities like “The Farm” (also called Farm Road) clear.

“Over the last year, and particularly as political campaigning began in earnest at the beginning of 2021 amid speculation that an early election may be called, senior government officials have again ramped up their public remarks regarding their intention to target and eradicate ethnic organic communities,” according to court documents.

“On February 8, 2021, Deputy Prime Minister Desmond Bannister warned that the government would ‘immediately’ begin to deal with homes in The Farm, which he claimed had been recently constructed. I find it significant to note that in this instance, the Deputy Prime Minister’s complaints seem to be that the homes are too well constructed; precisely the opposite of the government’s earlier objection to structures in ethnic organic communities.”

Ms St Fleur said this fact suggests that the government’s ultimate goal was to destroy shanty towns “using whatever expedient justification may be at hand”. She said that recent statements from senior officials indicate that the government intends to proceed with the demolition of shanty town homes since they may be under the impression that some residences “fall outside the current purview of the injunction”.

“In addition to the ravages of Dorian... many persons shared with me...that the government prevented them from returning to their homes to look for or retrieve their belongings and/or to save whatever possessions could be saved or were salvageable and/or to return to many of their homes that were still habitable and or to make temporary repairs,” she said.

“To a very large extent, because of the hasty and deliberate government demolitions and denial of access, they were left homeless, destitute and dispossessed of their homes and belongings.”

Ms St Fleur said if the injunction is not extended to “protect all of the remaining existing ethnic communities in the Abacos”, “hundreds of persons would be destitute and homeless”. She also said the applicants would once again become the victims of “irreparable loss and damage” as they will have nowhere to go.

She continued: “The government could be constructive instead of destructive. It could assist by providing utilities, conducting building inspections, providing sanitation services, sell the land to the occupants and make government revenue instead of being discriminatory, destructive and inhumane.

“In short, in my view, and the claim and the evidence filed thus far in this action makes clear, that it is procedurally unfair, discriminatory, inhuman and degrading to simply bulldoze hundreds of homes and put hundreds of poor people and their children out on the streets as homeless victims of an unconstitutional, discriminatory, anti-Haitian ethnic community government policy...Therefore, the court’s determination of the applicants’ application to extend the injunction is of the utmost urgency at this time.”