PM to address nation today during joint press conference
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Sandra Cooper, 42, said what she needs to prepare for a complete lockdown in New Providence is not more time, but more income.
She worked with a takeaway business, but the service has been discontinued in compliance with the recent emergency orders that only permit essential services to operate.
Her husband, a hotelier of Atlantis, is among thousands of employees who have been out of work since the resort closed its doors in March.
He has been unable to find supplemental income, but has applied to the National Insurance Board and the Department of Social Services for assistance.
Her teenage daughter provides the single source of income for the home at current, “getting couple dollars doing packing” at Super Value.
Her son celebrated just celebrate his fourth birthday.
As he played in the front yard of their apartment off Wulff Road, Cooper said the boy remains largely unaware of the challenges in the home and those facing the nation.
She said she does her best to limit interaction with the public, but it has not been easy having to visit public institutions where there have been large crowds.
“We don’t hardly have enough, but we try,” Cooper told Eyewitness News.
When asked if she had enough food in the home, she responded: “No. no. no. We still need groceries.
“We don’t have enough and my husband doesn’t work, you know. We don’t have it since the job had to close with the hotel because all hotels closed. I work from [a] takeaway, but I don’t do it anymore.
“I just got one little girl who does packing. She only gets couple dollars. We buy corn beef and things like that, and [canned] mackerel.”
Cooper’s husband, Jean Charles, an experienced drywall installer and security guard, claimed despite applying for benefits from NIB he has yet to receive assistance.
“In five months, there has been none, nothing,” said the 62-year-old. “I get nothing from National Insurance.”
Asked whether the family has received food assistance from the government’s National Distribution Task Force, Charles said: “Nothing, nothing coming.”
“It’s hard for us because I can’t get work,” he continued.
“I worked in the hotel before it closed, and the hotel closed for five months.
“Nobody is working. I can’t pay my rent.
“I go National Insurance and National Insurance said no money.
“I can’t pay the rent. I can’t pay nothing.
“I can’t buy water. I can’t buy nothing for my house.”
Last Tuesday, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, the competent authority, reversed his decision to imposed an immediate seven-day complete lockdown, to allow people time to prepare.
More time was the general plea among residents, some of whom bitterly protested against the measure and stood off with police officers in areas such as Windsor Lane, leading to the arrests of at least 39 people.
The prime minister will address the nation today at 5pm in a joint health press conference.
There is a widely held view, even among some government parliamentarians, another lockdown will be announced.
Meanwhile, Charles said his message to the government is to speed up the process for assistance, noting that despite the additional time to prepare, he still does not know how he and his family will make it.
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