President of the League of Haitian Pastors Pastor Jean Paul Charles said he has asked the government to give shantytown residents first preference to purchase land in those communities.
Shantytown residents have until August 10 to leave those communities. Once the deadline passes, those communities are expected to be demolished. Pastor Charles said the league has visited the 11 shantytowns on New Providence identified by the government on a weekly basis to meet with residents and hear their concerns.
Asked about those residents who intend to take the government to court, Charles said, “I know people said they would take the government to court but I don’t think that will make any difference. I think the government would do what it is willing to do.”
Charles said he hopes the “the government gives the Haitians who live in those places the first preference if they want to buy that piece of land and to rebuild it, up to code, properly”.
“We asked the government and they said they would look into that and get back to us,” he said. Haitian Embassy First Assistant Secretary Karl Henri Chatelier reportedly made a similar suggestion on ZNS.
He said that leasing the land is another option the Bahamian government can undertake instead of evicting those residents.
But the Ministry of Foreign Affair said his comments were out of line and that he had interfered in the domestic affairs of The Bahamas.
