A woman who attempted to demolish a shantytown on land off Bacardi Road she allegedly leases from the government is calling on the Davis administration to deal with the issue of shantytowns in the country.

"I need to know the government's next steps, then I will know how to move on," Jestina Curry said yesterday.

Curry, 64, took activist Lincoln Bain and a group of his supporters to the property on Saturday, where they warned residents that they had 15 minutes before a bulldozer would be used to destroy the buildings on the property.

No demolitions took place after Assistant Commissioner of Police B. K. Bonamy intervened.

In an interview with The Nassau Guardian, Curry claimed that she first inquired about the land for farming purposes back in 2007.

She said that at that time, the property had six houses on it, including a farm house with somebody living in it, and a church.

Curry said that in 2013, her Crown land lease was approved.

She said others also received Crown land at the same time.

Curry added that in the years that followed, individuals drifted onto the property and began building.

Today, the shantytown has dozens of homes and there are foundations for at least five homes under construction.

"Some of the houses are developed with solar panels," Curry said. "The houses are painted ... they have cesspits ... I need to know what the government's next steps are from here."

Curry said she appealed to officials over the years for help removing the shantytown residents from the land, but to no avail.

During their attempted demolition on Saturday, Bain showed residents a letter purportedly from the Ministry of Works in Haitian Creole dated November 2020 ordering residents to take down the structures on the property.

Curry also showed The Nassau Guardian a photocopy of what appeared to be unsigned lease agreement for the land.

The agreement names Jestina Curry as the lessee for an initial term of 21 years starting June 1, 2013.

"I surveyed the land, then I started making my lease payments," she said.

Curry denied that she ever collected rent from residents of the shantytown.

"How could you build a house with no permit? I can't put a wall up here without a permit," she also said.

"They would stand right over there and wait until I'm done and knock it down. Look how many years they are giving these people before they move these houses. It's unbelievable. It's wrong."

On Saturday, Curry had tractors ready to tear down the homes.

Curry, Bain and Bain's supporters went door to door in the community warning people that they had 15 minutes to vacate their homes.

Curry thinks that since the structures were constructed without proper permits, government should take responsibility for removing them from the property.

"The government needs to demolish that," she insisted, adding that she already paid money for the demolition that did not happen.

"They take my money [that] I paid the tractors," said Curry. "You have to pay before you start. When they reach on that ground, their clock starts ticking.

"The government needs to deal with their situation. Get the people off the property, or give me the thing for me to go ahead.

"My next step is to claim my property, fence it around."

Curry suggested that the shantytown issue isn't the first time government has sought to regulate people's living conditions.

"Get rid of them, get rid of them," she repeated.

"If they got rid of outside toilets around here, why they can't get rid of shantytowns?

"When you had outside toilets, they said shut it down, shut up your well. I grew up with wells and outside toilets.

"Outside toilet was cleaner than inside toilet. You go in some people house and when you push the door, you could smell the toilet. You never smelt no outside toilet.

"The next step is to go back and demolish them. [Department of] Agriculture telling me I need to get the people off the property, so how will I get them off if I don't start demolishing them? How will I get them off?

"Mr. B.K. Bonamy said stop the demolition when I had the tractor out there. He need to pay for the tractor.

"How they could make squatters claims and I was telling them to get off that before time to make squatters claims?"

Bonamy said on Sunday that Curry has papers that indicated she owns the land. He said police explained to her and to Bain the proper procedure for having people removed from the land.

A court ruling that government's shantytown eradication policy is legal has put pressure on the Davis administration to take action in the unregulated communities.

The shantytown eradication policy was implemented by the Minnis administration, and was put on hold via an injunction while the court considered the legality of the policy.

While Davis announced a hardline approach to shantytowns in a national address more than a week ago, calling for residents of those communities to find alternative housing, he has also said the matter must be addressed humanely, adding that the government must be careful not to create a crisis of homelessness.

PRIME Minister Philip "Brave" Davis said the recent shantytown court outcome allows officials to employ the process to correct those issues within those communities.

He was responding to Friday’s event that found the demolition of shantytown properties and evictions of residents can resume after a Supreme Court Justice lifted a previous injunction when residents failed to prove such actions would be unlawful. # Justice Cheryl Grant-­Thompson ruled on the “matter of national importance” at the conclusion of a legal battle filed in 2018, with 177 shanty town residents represented by Fred Smith, KC, in a bid to stop government intervention and demolition. # Asked what the implications mean moving forward for the government, Mr Davis explained: “What it means is it now allows us to employ the process to correct those issues within the shantytown. There’s a process for removal of any erection of buildings we intend to engage in those and then deal with those issues that impact us in respect to that issue.” # The Prime Minister was also pressed on the justice’s rejection of a judicial review application. # He stated: “It means that the case is now through on that level, I don’t know whether they appeal. I know the other side can appeal. We hope that doesn’t happen and we just sit down and work out these issues.” # The Bahamas has been recently battling with an influx of illegal migration from Haiti and Cuba. There have been calls for the government to do more on the immigration matter with the prime minister arguing again that his administration has been doing the best it can. #“First of all, we do have a plan moving forward. The issue of migration, Haitian migration, is nothing new. It ebbs and flows from pre-emancipation and the challenges with the migration has always been topical. Right, it ebbs and flows,” he said. #“Governments are engaged as best they can in dealing with it. We are dealing with as best we can. We are sending people back home by the thousands and we are intercepting attempts to get into our country and turning them back home. That’s what we need to look at. What are we doing. # “Last year, near 3,500 migrants have returned to Haiti. This year, we all that were intercepted we have returned back to Haiti. Right now, I think we have less than 100 in our detention centre. So we are returning them home as quickly as we can.” # He noted interceptions are continuing. # “They are intercepting - there’s a border wall that’s been almost erected between those three agencies. And it’s very difficult to get by them and it’s been proven very successful over the last year.” # Mr Davis has spoken on an international level about the problems in Haiti, a country facing political instability. The Prime Minister previously stated the crisis in that country poses a substantial threat to The Bahamas due to an increase in irregular migration. # He told a summit in Argentina that with the support and leadership of Haiti, regional counterparts can help Haitians build a path out of the crisis. # He said: “As I said, that’s very topical. Right now, I have to leave because a very important call with the prime minister from Canada who is coming. We’re looking at how we can intervene with their leadership. The Caribbean community itself don’t have the capacity to deal with issue that’s occurring in Haiti at this time, so do we need international help. # “When I was at the OAS, I met with the French ambassador who has indicated their willingness to come and assist. So it’s just a question of crafting the plan for that assistance and getting the legal and moral authority to move in the way that we wish.” # In June 2021, the government was banned from further demolishing shanty town structures across Abaco after a Supreme Court judge rejected its bid to have the island’s shanty towns removed as beneficiaries of a standing injunction centred on demolition of unregulated communities.

He was responding to Friday’s event that found the demolition of shantytown properties and evictions of residents can resume after a Supreme Court Justice lifted a previous injunction when residents failed to prove such actions would be unlawful.

Justice Cheryl Grant-­Thompson ruled on the “matter of national importance” at the conclusion of a legal battle filed in 2018, with 177 shanty town residents represented by Fred Smith, KC, in a bid to stop government intervention and demolition.

Asked what the implications mean moving forward for the government, Mr Davis explained: “What it means is it now allows us to employ the process to correct those issues within the shantytown. There’s a process for removal of any erection of buildings we intend to engage in those and then deal with those issues that impact us in respect to that issue.”

The Prime Minister was also pressed on the justice’s rejection of a judicial review application.

He stated: “It means that the case is now through on that level, I don’t know whether they appeal. I know the other side can appeal. We hope that doesn’t happen and we just sit down and work out these issues.”

The Bahamas has been recently battling with an influx of illegal migration from Haiti and Cuba. There have been calls for the government to do more on the immigration matter with the prime minister arguing again that his administration has been doing the best it can.

“First of all, we do have a plan moving forward. The issue of migration, Haitian migration, is nothing new. It ebbs and flows from pre-emancipation and the challenges with the migration has always been topical. Right, it ebbs and flows,” he said.

“Governments are engaged as best they can in dealing with it. We are dealing with as best we can. We are sending people back home by the thousands and we are intercepting attempts to get into our country and turning them back home. That’s what we need to look at. What are we doing.

“Last year, near 3,500 migrants have returned to Haiti. This year, we all that were intercepted we have returned back to Haiti. Right now, I think we have less than 100 in our detention centre. So we are returning them home as quickly as we can.”

He noted interceptions are continuing.

“They are intercepting - there’s a border wall that’s been almost erected between those three agencies. And it’s very difficult to get by them and it’s been proven very successful over the last year.”

Mr Davis has spoken on an international level about the problems in Haiti, a country facing political instability. The Prime Minister previously stated the crisis in that country poses a substantial threat to The Bahamas due to an increase in irregular migration.

He told a summit in Argentina that with the support and leadership of Haiti, regional counterparts can help Haitians build a path out of the crisis.

He said: “As I said, that’s very topical. Right now, I have to leave because a very important call with the prime minister from Canada who is coming. We’re looking at how we can intervene with their leadership. The Caribbean community itself don’t have the capacity to deal with issue that’s occurring in Haiti at this time, so do we need international help.

“When I was at the OAS, I met with the French ambassador who has indicated their willingness to come and assist. So it’s just a question of crafting the plan for that assistance and getting the legal and moral authority to move in the way that we wish.”

In June 2021, the government was banned from further demolishing shanty town structures across Abaco after a Supreme Court judge rejected its bid to have the island’s shanty towns removed as beneficiaries of a standing injunction centred on demolition of unregulated communities.

 

The Real Estate industry closed out a successful 2022 with the continued rise of two luxury market agents from Condo Vikings and its sister company Jolie Luxury Home. Lazar Delorenzo Charlton and Linnea Chisholm were crowned top producers and kept the growing real estate companies in high ranks by selling millions of dollars in real estate to both local and international investors last year. The pair saw record company sales despite fears of a worldwide recession and alarming national inflation rates, deftly navigating the market for potential buyers in a market with sometimes challenging inventory. Lazar Delorenzo Charlton, top producer 2021 & 2022 commented, “It really has been a fantastic past two years for real estate, not only for our company but for the industry. Our company saw a 36% increase in luxury sales in 2022 with a steady stream of new clientele gliding us into 2023. Amid the speculation of a contracting market and the curve ball of the implosion of crypto giant FTX, myself and the rest of my colleagues kept our footing and delivered superior service to our clients which translated into the numbers. We’re looking forward to an equally strong first quarter in 2023.” Linnea Chisholm, top sales producer 2022, added, “The incredibly successful third and fourth quarter that we had last year is a great indicator of the continued strength of the market well into this year. The increased activity by luxury developers in the western quadrant of the island is quelling concerns about inventory and some of the options that are materializing will be accessible to a larger number of Bahamians as well which I know industry professionals are looking forward to.”

The Real Estate industry closed out a successful 2022 with the continued rise of two luxury market agents from Condo Vikings and its sister company Jolie Luxury Home. Lazar Delorenzo Charlton and Linnea Chisholm were crowned top producers and kept the growing real estate companies in high ranks by selling millions of dollars in real estate to both local and international investors last year. The pair saw record company sales despite fears of a worldwide recession and alarming national inflation rates, deftly navigating the market for potential buyers in a market with sometimes challenging inventory.

Lazar Delorenzo Charlton, top producer 2021 & 2022 commented, “It really has been a fantastic past two years for real estate, not only for our company but for the industry. Our company saw a 36% increase in luxury sales in 2022 with a steady stream of new clientele gliding us into 2023. Amid the speculation of a contracting market and the curve ball of the implosion of crypto giant FTX, myself and the rest of my colleagues kept our footing and delivered superior service to our clients which translated into the numbers. We’re looking forward to an equally strong first quarter in 2023.”

Linnea Chisholm, top sales producer 2022, added, “The incredibly successful third and fourth quarter that we had last year is a great indicator of the continued strength of the market well into this year. The increased activity by luxury developers in the western quadrant of the island is quelling concerns about inventory and some of the options that are materializing will be accessible to a larger number of Bahamians as well which I know industry professionals are looking forward to.”

 

DISASTER Reconstruction Authority Chairman Alex Storr said there were several options for temporary housing after Hurricane Dorian, adding that if there had been practical thought, the results would have the former government spending a "fraction" of the $4.6m it expended on domes in Abaco.

DRA financial statements tabled at Parliament show that Brickell Management Group (BMG) received $4.6m of $6.4m for infrastructure and construction of 213 domes on storm ravaged Abaco, but discontinued the work having only completed about 16 percent of the structures. # Mr Storr suggested that the best possible solution was not capitalised upon. # However, Mr Storr said Sebas Bastian’s BMG should not carry the blame alone, blaming the former administration. # While the DRA has determined that no further money was owed to the company, BMG’s initial position was that they were owed $1,129,182. # They were prepared to settle for a sum of $1m, which was further reduced to $600,000, the audit said. # But the chairman yesterday maintained that the DRA board said it owed nothing more to BMG. # “I would say this, since I have been chair, I have been pitched several proposals for temporary housing that would have been far more suitable, more comfortable at a fraction of the cost,” Mr Storr said yesterday when he was asked if the undertaking was a waste of taxpayer funds. #“With some practical thought more could have been done to get the best possible solution for the residents in those disaster zones. We are working feverishly to plan and research to avoid making similar pitfalls in the future.” # Asked about the money in dispute, he said the conversations “seemed to have stalled.” # “The board has taken a position that we feel that we don’t owe them anything based on what was done, what was paid out, what we received and what we were able to locate,” he said. # “They were contracted to build some 200 odd domes and only built a small percentage of that but received the lion’s share of the money so that was the big issue.” # Asked whether there were plans to recover some of the money from BMG, Mr Storr said the company should not carry the blame alone. # “Part of it and don’t put any of the blame on Brickell. Part of it was the former administration that was in place and the DRA received items and inventory from Brickell that can’t be accounted for. So, we can’t say that we received those. Brickell may have turned over goods and a fair amount at that, but we can’t locate it and that is a big part of the problem and some of the kitchen items that were located were a part of that. # “Stuff could be floating around someplace in Abaco and we still have the forensic audit that may bring up even more items that may go forward for investigation. So, even with the completion of the financial audit there is a lot out there and a lot will be done, and the chips will fall where they may when it’s over.”

DRA financial statements tabled at Parliament show that Brickell Management Group (BMG) received $4.6m of $6.4m for infrastructure and construction of 213 domes on storm ravaged Abaco, but discontinued the work having only completed about 16 percent of the structures.

Mr Storr suggested that the best possible solution was not capitalised upon.

However, Mr Storr said Sebas Bastian’s BMG should not carry the blame alone, blaming the former administration.

While the DRA has determined that no further money was owed to the company, BMG’s initial position was that they were owed $1,129,182.

They were prepared to settle for a sum of $1m, which was further reduced to $600,000, the audit said.

But the chairman yesterday maintained that the DRA board said it owed nothing more to BMG.

“I would say this, since I have been chair, I have been pitched several proposals for temporary housing that would have been far more suitable, more comfortable at a fraction of the cost,” Mr Storr said yesterday when he was asked if the undertaking was a waste of taxpayer funds.

“With some practical thought more could have been done to get the best possible solution for the residents in those disaster zones. We are working feverishly to plan and research to avoid making similar pitfalls in the future.”

Asked about the money in dispute, he said the conversations “seemed to have stalled.”

“The board has taken a position that we feel that we don’t owe them anything based on what was done, what was paid out, what we received and what we were able to locate,” he said.

“They were contracted to build some 200 odd domes and only built a small percentage of that but received the lion’s share of the money so that was the big issue.”

Asked whether there were plans to recover some of the money from BMG, Mr Storr said the company should not carry the blame alone.

“Part of it and don’t put any of the blame on Brickell. Part of it was the former administration that was in place and the DRA received items and inventory from Brickell that can’t be accounted for. So, we can’t say that we received those. Brickell may have turned over goods and a fair amount at that, but we can’t locate it and that is a big part of the problem and some of the kitchen items that were located were a part of that.

“Stuff could be floating around someplace in Abaco and we still have the forensic audit that may bring up even more items that may go forward for investigation. So, even with the completion of the financial audit there is a lot out there and a lot will be done, and the chips will fall where they may when it’s over.”