At least two shantytowns on New Providence have been cleared of the majority of makeshift structures and their occupants, The Nassau Guardian observed yesterday.
Numerous structures have been demolished at a Seabreeze Lane shantytown and another such community off Carmichael Road, west of Gladstone Road.
Authorities have also started demolishing structures at a third shantytown off Joe Farrington Road.
Minister of State for the Environment Kenred Dorsett claimed the majority of residents who have cleared out of those communities have either begun renting legally or are in the process of doing so.
He was responding to a question from The Guardian about whether residents being cleared out are simply moving to other shantytowns.
"We have not seen an increase in population of any other shantytown that is in the process of being addressed," Dorsett told reporters.
"Social services has been instrumental in ensuring that those who remove themselves from these facilities are moving into proper rental accommodations."
He said the Department of Environmental Health Services (DEHS) and the Department of Social Services are "closely monitoring the movement of people" in all shantytowns on New Providence.
A report on shantytowns released in July revealed that there are at least 15 Haitian shantytowns on New Providence.
According to Dorsett, more than 30 structures have been demolished at the Joe Farrington Road shantytown, which contained an estimated 350 structures up to last month.
Hundreds more have been marked for demolition in the coming days.
In July, at least 30 structures were destroyed in a fire at the Joe Farrington Road shantytown.
At the Seabreeze Lane shantytown, only four of the more than 30 structures remain.
And just three structures stand at the Carmichael Road community. Around 20 structures and 90 residents previously occupied that land, according to officials.
However, landowner, Cynthia Mitchell, 70, suggested that she reluctantly forced residents living on her property to move.
Having collected rent for more than a decade up to last year, Mitchell said she did not have a problem with the shantytown.
"Government said they had to move, so I had to go along with the government," she said.
Lennard Miller, head of the Shantytown Unit in the Ministry of the Environment and Housing, said the demolition and relocation process has not been easy, but the government is getting results.
He said the demolition process at the Sir Milo Butler Highway shantytown is expected to begin within six weeks.
Dorsett said the cost of demolition has been minimal to date, although he could not provide figures.
He said his ministry has all the necessary equipment and dumps to carry out the work without much additional cost.
Dorsett said the government intends to clear all shantytowns of illegal residents and improper structures.
The environment minister said he could not say when this process would be completed.
Several shanty homes remain occupied in the Carmichael Road area despite the crackdown on illegal shantytown houses by the Ministry of the Environment and Housing. ­­

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