Davis says more sensitivity required from officials
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Prime Minister Philip Davis said his administration remains committed to bringing closure and a level of dignity for the country as it still grapples with uncertainty over the total number of people lost due to the passage of Hurricane Dorian three years ago.
Davis told Eyewitness News while his top concern has been the mental health of victims, and providing physical relief, efforts will continue to identify the bodies buried in a mass grave and establish a concrete figure on how many are still missing.
The estimated figure of missing people has ranged from 400 to as high as 1,200 people, he said.
When asked about factors that may have contributed to the delay, he said while the storm was unprecedented, the country was both unprepared and its overall response slow.
He spoke on the sidelines of a tour of select public schools in New Providence on Sunday.
The government has received criticism over its week-long slate of events to commemorate Hurricane Dorian from Friday, August 26th to Sunday, September 4th. The announcement of a national concert to be held at Baha Mar featuring American gospel singer Cece Winans as the headliner drew public ire as some questioned why an event would be hosted in Nassau, and whether it was the best vehicle to bring further relief to victims.
Davis later clarified that the concert announcement was taken out of context, suggesting it was not part of the formal slate of memorial activities but added because the event was taking place around the same time.
“He (the press secretary) will be making an announcement on all the activities at the next press conference that he holds,” Davis said at the time.
“It is not just a Nassau-centric matter. I think it is just that there’s a headliner that wanted to come and they’re coming to do a concert.”
While fielding questions from the wider press on Sunday, Davis underscored that sensitivity was critical when engaging with Dorian victims who were deeply traumatized by the deadly Category 5 storm.
“We are commemorating one of the most tragic events that our country has experienced and we need to continue to remind ourselves about those events because people are still healing,” Davis said.
“We still have to identify those bodies that were laid in a mass grave, we’re still trying to sort that out, we lessened the period of time for the presumption of death to bring closure in respect to the person’s bank accounts that family members could access it, to deal with inheritance issues, insurance issues, we did that.”
Davis continued: “That’s one step towards assisting and bringing relief, the more important thing for me in all of this is the mental health of persons traumatized by the events and so we have to be sensitive always. And yes, we get exuberant and carried away with our language at times but words do matter and we need to be careful with the words that we use, and even though it was an unintended consequence, I hope that those know that there are some lessons learnt from the matter in which we speak and that we be sensitive to the healing process people go through, particularly after a traumatic event like Hurricane Dorian.”
Davis said the Ministry of Health is seeking to engage more psychiatrists and psychologists to make them available for storm victims to call and talk through their challenges.
“We are providing relief and we are identifying the areas in which we could lend immediate relief,” Davis said.
“Some of them are more long-term than short-term, for example, housing in Grand Bahama and Abaco are acutely short, particularly in Abaco and so we are starting a housing program…homes are being built there.”
Local talk shows have been asked to focus on Dorian and mental health today.
An official update from the Disaster Reconstruction Authority (DRA) on repairs is slated for tomorrow, along with the release of a special documentary.
A Remembrance Day, when flags will be flown at half-mast, will be held on Thursday, September 1st. There will be an Abaco memorial service and wreath laying ceremony as well as a memorial concert series at Baha Mar. The series will continue on Grand Bahama on Friday, September 2, and on Abaco on Saturday, September 3, with a memorial service and wreath laying ceremony on Grand Bahama on Sunday, September 4th.
