Former East Grand Bahama MP Peter Turnquest said yesterday the statement made a day earlier by Disaster Construction Authority (DRA) Chairman Alex Storr that hurricane debris post-Dorian had not been sorted, but just dumped, was simply not true because he witnessed with his own eyes that sorting had in fact been done.

“In my observation of the three sites that were set up to stage the debris before it was moved on to its final disposal site, all three sites were very well organized, very well laid out and materials were in fact separated … that is, the white waste, the vegetation, the other solid waste as well as the vehicles,” said Turnquest, who is also the former deputy prime minister and minister of finance.

“They were all very neatly done. I know that there was a decommissioning of one of the sites in particular and maybe that’s what the chairman is looking at, what is left at that site and making some assumptions. But again, from what I know and what I have seen with my own eyes, those sites are very well laid out, so I was a little confused by [his statement].”

While claiming on Wednesday that much more money was paid out for storm clean up work on Grand Bahama than on Abaco, although much less work was done, Storr told The Nassau Guardian, “… The debris seems to have simply been dumped on a vacant lot. There was no type of sorting. On Abaco, there is at least some type of sorting. Even at the worst sites, I can see that some attempts were being made to sort.”

Storr made the comment after visiting the East Grand Bahama sites this week. 

Two of the sites were managed byTycoon Waste Management Ltd., whose principal, Ed Curling, also insisted that sorting work was done.

Curling’s contract with the DRA came to an end in September 2020 after the DRA decided to close the debris management sties in East Grand Bahama.

The contract concerns raised this week by Storr cast a spotlight on the work of the DRA and brought its operations under scrutiny.

Storr claimed that various work had not been completed at a satisfactory level — a claim Curling shot down.

While he would not speak to whether he thought the Bahamian people were getting value for money from the various companies the Minnis administration and the DRA engaged after Hurricane Dorian, Turnquest yesterday acknowledged that many East Grand Bahama residents were left frustrated, and suggested the DRA ought to have focused more on rebuilding efforts.

“When you’ve lost everything, obviously it was a very difficult situation and the help that you hoped would come may not come in the form or the speed that you want and so there was tremendous frustration all around,” he said.

“I know that persons were helped to the extent that the parameters were set by the DRA and the government as to the maximum amounts that people could be helped with. Some people, obviously, will require more to get themselves back, if they’ve had a complete loss, for instance.

“And so, people will be disappointed that they didn’t get more to put themselves back into the shape that they were in before, but I think it would be a mistake to say that people weren’t helped, that assessments weren’t done and people categorized accordingly.

“There’s always room for improvement as lessons are learnt from the disasters. Certainly there were lessons learnt from Matthew and also with Joaquin, and so, I’m sure there will be lessons learnt from this disaster.”

Turnquest added, “… I believe that we probably could have allocated more toward to the rebuilding of people’s lives in terms of being so concerned in particular about the debris removal. But again, I leave that to the professionals, [including] the environmentalists who were very much involved in the management of those sites and determining what needed to be done to remediate the various communities.”

The DRA’s Small Home Repair Programme made up to $10,000 available to qualified homeowners for the purchase of materials and labor necessary to repair damaged homes.

Asked specifically whether there was value for money given that tens of millions of dollars was paid out to contractors for debris processing and other work after the storm, the former finance minister, who resigned from the Minnis Cabinet in November 2020, responded that the assessment would need to be made by the various ministries involved and by the DRA.

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