PM promises Urban Renewal expansion after Matthew

Tue, Oct 18th 2016, 12:00 PM


Urban Renewal Co-Chair Cynthia "Mother" Pratt (left) and Prime Minister Perry Christie (center) speak with Adelaide Village resident Dorothy Moxey during a tour of the community yesterday. (Photo: Torrell Glinton)

Prime Minister Perry Christie announced yesterday that Urban Renewal will be introduced in every constituency in New Providence to aid in the relief effort for Hurricane Matthew victims.

"We feel that is the best way to organize the response [to Hurricane Matthew]," Christie said, while on a tour of Adelaide Village, which is still in bad shape after the storm.

"To be able to have a police officer-led response team in the community and to have them accountable and to demonstrate and be seen to have institutional leadership which removes the element of... you're subjective, you're being unfair or you're politically discriminating."

Hurricane Matthew was the first storm to directly hit New Providence since 1929.

Many residents suffered severe flooding and extensive damage to homes, cars, furniture and other personal belongings.

Several residents have not had power or running water for almost two weeks.

Last week, Christie appointed Minister of Labour Shane Gibson as the national coordinator for Hurricane Matthew relief and recovery efforts.

Gibson who was also on the tour with the prime minister yesterday, said the structure of Urban Renewal was easier to duplicate as a plan of action for relief for Matthew victims.

"When you look at the structure that Urban Renewal had in place already, they already had nine centers open supplying the needs of the 23 constituencies in Nassau, so it was much easier for us to use that structure and complement what is happening at NEMA with Urban Renewal, who knows the areas already," Gibson said.

"You have the police officers, the Social Service workers, the Department of Environmental Health, all these persons on the ground already, they know the ground.

"Urban Renewal has the structure in place already and we are now using them to complement what exists with NEMA along with other persons as well as volunteers and persons from the private sector, and the idea is to try and do this as quickly as possible but always recognizing that we have to put a structure in place that allows for accountability and transparency."

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has been investigating the use of funds in the government's Urban Renewal 2.0 plan since it was formed in 2012.

PAC Chairman Hubert Chipman said last month that the committee will submit the long-awaited Urban Renewal report at the next sitting of the House of Assembly.

The House of Assembly is expected to meet tomorrow.

Sloan Smith, Guardian Staff Reporter

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