Stats on shanty towns revealed as eviction deadline nears

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Shanty town residents in New Providence, most of whom are of Haitian decent, expressed anxiety and hopelessness Wednesday, as they spoke to Eyewitness News about their plight to find new homes before the end of July.

Many refused to speak on camera out of fear of deportation, but the ones who did said, they will be homeless at the end of July because they simply have nowhere to go.

An Eyewitness News team canvassed several shanty towns yesterday and spoke with several residents who are pleading with the government for assistance.

The Shanty Town Action Task Force (SATF) conducted a survey of all the shanty’s in New Providence over a four week period.

In a press release yesterday, Labour Minister Dion Foulkes said, a building assessment was also conducted and that the report will be made public next week.

“The Shanty Towns are located in the Elizabeth, Carmichael (Garden Hills) and Golden Isles constituencies. The results reveal that there are 1,410 residents residing in the illegal communities and a total of 428 households,” the statement read.

“Thirty-eight per cent or 536 of the residents are under the age of 18 and 62 per cent or 874, are adults. Among the 428 heads of households who were interviewed, 71 per cent had legal status, 23 per cent are unknown and 6 per cent were undocumented. Sixty-eight per cent or 600 of the adult population reported working in the last six months and 76 per cent of the households reported total weekly income of under $400.”