NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Minister of Works Alfred Sears has announced that a new interagency group will be instituted to deal with illegal utility connections in shantytowns across the country.
“I have given a very specific direction to the building control section of the Ministry of Public Works to assemble an interagency group to have and they will be unveiling in due course a systematic approach,” Sears said.
The public has increasingly voiced concerns over growing unregulated communities and their potential impact on wider society.
Last week, the Spanish Wells Commonage Committee sent a letter to officials calling for a ban on upgrading or building any additional illegal structures on their land in Blackwoods, Eleuthera. Committee Chairman Ivanhoe Sweeting expressed additional concern over the illegal electricity connections, which he said were conducted by the Bahamas Power and Light Company.
In order to get to the root of the issue, Sears said they are cooperating with the committee.
“I’ve been to Eleuthera. I have met with the commonage committee in Eleuthera whose land is being used for this purpose, many of the residents work in Spanish Wells and we will be cooperating with the commonage committee in Spanish Wells to deal with the issue,” the works minister said.
The group will be a multi-dimensional public-private partnership according to Sears, to increase efficiency in addressing the various elements of the problem.
“It’s multi-dimensional. It involves issues of national security, issues of immigration, issues of social services, issues of education; because we have children who are compelled by law to be in school and have a right to be in school and it also involves issues with respect to labor.
“But as I’ve stated, we are working and putting together an interagency body which will include both government and private sector partners to deal with this issue, which is a multi-dimensional issue and which will require a multi-dimensional response,” Sears said.
