NASSAU, BAHAMAS- The Ministry of Works has announced that starting today it will begin its demolition exercise to remove illegal structures that received notices in the Kool Acres and All Saints communities, with the 28-day notice period concluding today.
The Ministry said in a statement that, “Following the conclusion of the 28-day period, and pursuant to section 4(3) of the Act the Minister of Works will proceed with demolishing any of the notified structures that were not removed by their owners. This demolition exercise aims to address critical safety concerns within unregulated communities in The Bahamas.”
It added, “To ensure that the process was carried out humanely, the Unregulated Communities Action Task Force in particular the Ministry of Health and Wellness and the Department of Social Services conducted a comprehensive outreach campaign in the All Saints Way and Kool Acres unregulated communities.”
In February, Supreme Court Justice Cheryl Grant-Thompson discharged an injunction that previously barred the government from demolishing structures in shanty towns in New Providence and Abaco. The injunction stemmed from a judicial review application brought by shanty town residents in 2018 into whether their removal is unconstitutional.
