By KEILE CAMPBELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

MINISTER of Social Services Myles Laroda said the government is making progress on two domestic violence shelters - and said he was disappointed by calls for proof in the Senate over the status of those facilities.

Mr LaRoda said one facility, in Chippingham and operated in collaboration with the Royal Bahamas Police Force, has been completed and can accommodate 22 residents.

“The other shelter that has been completed, we are just waiting for that to be furnished,” Mr LaRoda said. “The other shelter that we purchased, a contractor has been contracted, contract signed, so we are just looking at the mobilisation for that shelter.”

The second facility, bought in January, will not have its location publicly disclosed, Mr LaRoda said, citing safety concerns for survivors.

“For obvious reasons, we are not going to give the location,” he said. “But I would say to the Bahamian people, if they do not want to take the Minister for Social Services’ word, they could have a word with the police, and they could confirm they have toured a completed version of a set of buildings that will be domestic violence centre housing.”

Questions were raised during a recent Senate debate about whether the government had delivered on its promise of two shelters. Mr Laroda said the request for proof was “quite disappointing”.