By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A YEAR after the Chamber of Commerce president in Abaco warned that the housing shortage remains “extremely acute” on the island post-Dorian, Social Services Minister Myles Laroda said he is confident his ministry will provide housing assistance to shanty town residents facing eviction on the island.

Residents say the island lacks housing even for public school teachers, a concern Daphne DeGregory-Miaoulis, the Abaco Chamber of Commerce president, expressed while discussing an unrelated issue with The Tribune last May, saying: “We still have teachers, doctors and civil servants that don’t have affordable housing.”

Ministry of Works officials recently posted over 400 eviction notices across three shanty towns in Abaco, giving residents 28 days to pack up and leave.

Despite the longstanding housing concerns, Mr Laroda said the Department of Housing is confident those needing help will get it.

“Social Services, just as it has made available in Nassau, will make available in Abaco or any of those jurisdictions where people may be adversely affected; some form of temporary housing until the matter can be resolved for the individuals,” he said.

 He said he expects to meet with the director today concerning the issue.

 “If the trends hold up in Abaco as it did in New Providence, the numbers are relatively small, and we know each island turns on its own facts, but we are pretty confident that we’ll be able to handle those affected.”

 Longtime Abaco resident and businessman Nixon Joseph disagrees.

 “I don’t care what they saying, ain’t no way they gon’ find homes for all of those people,” he said yesterday. “There are people right now who can’t come back home because they can’t find no place to stay. They don’t even have a place for their teachers to stay so how could they talk about they have a place to stay?”

 He said people don’t mind renting, but find it difficult to get a place.

 Government officials have repeatedly said that living accommodations will only be provided to Bahamians or legal residents displaced by demolition activities.

  According to a statement from the Ministry of Works, people who fall in this category can get food assistance, up to $1,200 annually for rent or temporary shelter for up to six months.

 The statement said monetary assistance for utility bills also will be available upon request.

 Yesterday, Works Minister Clay Sweeting said the government cannot force people to seek help if they don’t want it.

“We do proper data collection before we take out this exercise,” he said. “So we ensure we know how many Bahamians are located there, how many children, how many permanent residents, how many persons who have permits, how many persons who do not have status.

 “So this is a holistic approach, and I’ve seen in the headlines after every exercise it seems that you see in a headline that this one doesn’t have a home. I can tell you, we do have empathy when we deal with these situations and assistance is provided.”

 Mr Sweeting pushed back against the idea that the impending eviction and demolition exercises will increase homelessness.

 “They’re not left to be homeless because if you don’t have status, then you’re repatriated, because if you don’t have a permit or you don’t have a permanent residence or if you’re not a citizen, then you’re repatriated. Immigration takes care of that issue,” he said.

 The government’s push to demolish shanty towns in Abaco –– where Mr Sweeting said more than 90 per cent of the homes reportedly lack running water –– comes after structures in the Kool Acres, All Saints Way and Area 52 shanty towns of New Providence were destroyed.

 Mr Sweeting said the action is not just a demolition exercise, but one that advises “people to adhere to the law.”