By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

WITH the Davis administration not having committed to launching a commission of inquiry into Hurricane Dorian-related deaths, Free National Movement (FNM) chairman Dr Duane Sands said he still supports such an inquiry, emphasising that some families need closure regarding their missing loved ones.

Sunday marked the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Dorian, the devastating Category 5 storm that killed more than 70 people and displaced hundreds.

When he was the opposition leader, Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis called for an independent inquiry either by outside police investigators or through a commission of inquiry to determine the fate of those missing in Abaco and Grand Bahama after the Category 5 storm.

There was considerable confusion at the time over the number of people still missing after the storm. In June 2020, then National Security Minister Marvin Dames said in a press statement that 279 people were missing. However, then Assistant Commissioner of Police Solomon Cash said only 33 people were still missing.

Last year, Mr Davis said an inquiry had not been ruled out, but he has not definitively said whether one will happen.

Dr Sands said yesterday: “As we memorialise the suffering and loss of that tragic event that impacted the entire country. But most particularly Abaco and Grand Bahama with the huge number of families and persons affected that we still have not yet gotten closure.”

Dr Sands also criticised the progress of a hurricane shelter being built in Abaco. Originally slated for completion in May 2021 at a cost of $1.8m, the shelter remains unfinished, and its cost has risen to $4.5m. Over the weekend, the shelter’s trusses collapsed.

“We can only ask whether the Bahamian people have indeed been getting value for money, and whether or not this administration has taken seriously it’s obligation as it relates to dealing in a sensitive and solemn way with the serious suffering that the people in Abaco have endured,” Dr Sands said.