Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Works Desmond Bannister yesterday dismissed calls from United Nations (UN) human rights experts to halt the demolition of The Farm shantytown on Abaco, and said plans are in place to begin a similar exercise on New Providence "very soon". 

In a statement issued on Friday, the UN called on the government to halt further demolitions in The Farm shantytown on Abaco, arguing that the “forced evictions and demolitions” would force residents, who are primarily Haitian migrants, into “homelessness and extreme poverty”.

But Bannister said the demolition exercise is in the best interest of Bahamians and said that without action, public health issues could arise.

“When I saw that, there were two questions I asked myself,” he told reporters outside Cabinet.

“The first question is, ‘What is in the best interest of the Bahamian people whose interests I am supposed to represent?’

“And then the other question is, ‘What are the consequences of me not doing my job?’

“The consequences of me not doing my job is that we could have a spread of E.coli in Abaco. Innocent people’s water in Abaco might be contaminated and people could be sick. We could have the constant widespread anomie in our country where people decide that they’re going to go on other people’s land and take it over.

“And I can tell you that complaints in New Providence and elsewhere now have increased. I have a number of complaints from Bahamians who are saying that when they go to their property now, they are meeting shanty houses. We are going to have to conduct an exercise in New Providence because of that very soon.”

Bannister said that otherwise, The Bahamas could become “like Haiti”.

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