By Candia Dames


21 November 2005



The government will block any effort to build new structures in the Marsh Harbour shantytown devastated by fire on Thursday night, Prime Minister Perry Christie said Sunday.

The prime minister told reporters that his government will move once and for all to address the problem of squatting in Abaco, where mostly Haitian immigrants thrive in The Mud, the site of the blaze, and nearby Pigeon Pea.

"Governments in the past have refused or failed to deal with the issue and there has just been an accumulative effect, more and more people coming in," said Mr. Christie, who held a press conference before leaving for London – and then it’s on to Malta for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting.

"Now that we’ve had this message, this reminder that it is a potential disaster every day, we cannot allow any expansion of that community and as a matter of strict policy we are going to prohibit any reconstruction in that area which means therefore that we have to find another way of dealing with the issue of people who are living there."

But the prime minister noted that the government intends to take other steps in what he has indicated is a serious approach toward the illegal immigration dilemma in the country.

"This is going to be an opportunity for us to determine their status, their entitlements to additional accommodation in The Bahamas and be able to once and for all begin the process of adjustments that have to take place in Abaco," he said.

"Most certainly, this is going to be a concerted effort, public sector partnership in this regard and it will involve all of the agencies like the police."

The prime minister said that Acting Prime Minister Cynthia Pratt will make a communication to parliament on Wednesday regarding the fire in The Mud. She will also make a communication regarding a new acting governor general who will assume the position on the retirement of Dame Ivy Dumont at the end of this month.

On Friday night, Prime Minister Christie told delegates at the closing of his party’s national convention that this country’s cup "runneth over" as it relates to the illegal immigration problem.

On Sunday he again pointed to the national dilemma.

The Abaco fire resulted in more than 100 houses being destroyed and also caused the death of an elderly woman.

Mr. Christie said at this point, the government is concerned with bringing "sustained relief" for the hundreds of people impacted by the fire.

But he also spoke of "systemic change" that will come about.

Minister of Housing and National Insurance Shane Gibson reported that three churches have been opened as shelters for the fire victims, but he said only two families showed up on Friday and Saturday nights and neither wished to stay.

By Monday, he said Camp Abaco, owned by Assemblies of God, will be made available for the people left displaced by the fire.

"We have not really taken a decision on those homes that were not affected by the fire, but I did announce to the residents in Abaco on Friday that we will not be allowing them to rebuild on that particular spot," said Minister Gibson, who was at Nassau International Airport to see the prime minister off.