By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

A HAITIAN father of three said his family must sleep “like a dog” in his truck after bulldozers destroyed his home of more than 20 years in a New Providence shanty town yesterday.

Matny Fren screamed as his house was demolished, one of several people who reacted emotionally.

Many residents were dragging pillowcases filled with clothes, toiletries, cooking supplies, and other necessities when The Tribune visited the area yesterday. One woman sat on the muddy ground while tears swelled in her eyes as she watched her house get torn down.

Buildings Control Officer Craig Delancey told reporters there were over 70 unregulated structures in the Coral Harbour community known as Area 52. Over 100 people were estimated to be living in the homes.

The eviction notices were issued over a month ago and Mr Delancey confirmed they were told to demolish the buildings themselves or have the government do it.

 Mr Fren complained that 28 days was not enough time to find another place to live. He said he went to the Ministry of Social Services for help, but was told he needed a Bahamian passport and residency. The Davis administration has said only Bahamians in shanty town communities will be given living accommodations.

 “I don’t blame what they doing right now because this ain’t our land,” Mr Fren said as his wife held their six-year-old child. “My point is you have to give a chance. I know PLP and FNM. My daughter is a Bahamian. She got a Bahamian passport, and my son got a Bahamian passport.”

 Asked where he and his family would stay, he said: “See that truck with everything on that? My furniture, stove, fridge, everything right there. My wife is right there, so we got to sleep right there.”

 He said he wasn’t leasing or renting the property he lived on. He added that there was a lack of support from Haitian leaders in the lead up to the demolition exercises, with no one standing up for shanty town residents.

 Pastor Jean Donet Ambrevil said he had no choice but to take in homeless people.

 “I can’t leave them there, I have to look and find a place to put them,” he said.

 He said he had been visiting the shanty town since 2018 to share Christian teachings, adding that many other pastors haven’t visited because they don’t care about the people.

 Another resident, Choubert Louis, said he has been in The Bahamas since he was 15. A construction worker, he said he doesn’t make enough to afford a place to rent.