by Adrian Gibson
Long Island is in desperate need of governmental assistance and year-round economic stimulus but, unfortunately, its economy has stalled.
Before last October’s Hurricane Joaquin disrupted the way of life of Long Islanders and caused the island to suffer an infrastructural setback that it has yet to recover from, settlements south of Clarence Town in the south and O’neils in the north had, unfortunately, become ghost towns. Many of the residents there are either elderly, dying out or have relocated to other parts of the island or moved to New Providence and elsewhere. This is unfortunate because there is little incentive for these Long Islanders to return home.
Long Island suffers from high unemployment and underemployment. I have yet to hear this government propose a plan for Long Island, instead treating it as an unsupportive out island post that they could not be bothered to support. We Long Islanders pay taxes like everyone else, yet our island is left to linger in the dark ages.
I often travel to Long Island to visit family and attend to my business interests and I can attest to the fact that the hurricane’s impact on the island has been life altering.
Whenever I speak to people like Bernard Adderley and Elias Cartwright (Deadman’s Cay) and Edward Gibson (Bunches) and so many other Long Islanders, I am convinced that they all believe that the central government, with all their pathetic self-praise in the House of Assembly, could care less. That is sad and unacceptable. The government continues to strike the wrong note.
The Administrator’s Offices in Clarence Town (the capital) and Simms are crumbling ignominies.
The roads - particularly in places like O’neils, Salt Pond and Deep South - are pothole ridden. The side roads are a crying shame and one could easily catch a severe back pain upon riding them. One such rugged side road leads to Dean’s Blue Hole, one of the wonders of the world and a site were world diving competitions are held. Yet that track road remains unpaved. At the blue hole, there is no concession stand, no cabanas, no nothing!
What’s more, the beach in Clarence Town is a mess, with uprooted trees strewn along the beach and items from the sunken El Faro cargo ship littering the shoreline. These items range from needles to bottles and so on. There has been no effort to properly clean up that beach or cut the trees.
I was heartbroken when I discovered that until recently, a family who lost their house in the hurricane were living and sleeping in their boat - a small skiff. They purportedly cooked on three rocks. Today, I am informed that they have only recently been provided with a mobile home. This is shameful.
Unlike Exuma, Abaco and several of the other major islands, Long Island does not have an international airport. What a disgrace! As it stands, Bahamasair and Southern Air fly into Deadman’s Cay once per day and Southern Air flies into Stella Maris once per day. Both airports are rundown and face logistical challenges, ranging from a short runway to flooding to swampland. A new airport is long overdue. I have long proposed that a new airport should be constructed in Grays, a relatively central location where there are large swaths of crown land. A new international airport would greatly assist in the turnaround of Long Island’s economy.
The dock in Salt Pond is also problematic, with the mail boat unable to access it at low tide. There is a need for dredging at that port of entry.
I am reliably informed that although the mail boat Mia Dean purportedly has the contract to service Clarence Town and although weekly radio announcements state that that boat is “taking in freight”, another boat - KCP (owned by Tom Hanna) - travels to Long Island with a trailer. Long Islanders tell me that the Mia Dean hasn’t been to Long Island in nearly ten years. So, who receives the government’s subsidy? Does the department with oversight of these mail boats not inspect them? I am told that anyone travelling to Clarence Town by mail boat would not be able to purchase water or snacks as none are available unless they bring it onboard themselves.
Where are the ambulances and fire trucks? Given the length of Long Island, there should be two of each, one situated at either end.
The medical clinics are deteriorating day by day. Prior to the storm, there was a dentist who catered to the entire island. However, the government never provided him with transportation and, after the hurricane, he left.
Interestingly, neither the Health Centre in the south nor the Simms Clinic in the north have consistent supplies of medication. In recent months, the local pharmacist died and Long Islanders, I am told, are again forced to send to Nassau for medication. What’s more, islanders must spend $220 on a round-trip ticket to visit a medical lab because the local clinics cannot perform simple blood tests. And yet the government talks about NHI and splurges our hard earned tax dollars on Junkanoo Carnival!
The dumps in Deadman’s Cay and O’neils pose a serious environmental and health hazard to residents. In Deadman’s Cay, the public dump sits on wetlands, poisoning the water table and destroying the habitats of all the organisms that live there. After the hurricane, the dump at Deadman’s Cay extended nearly to the main road. Only recently, it was pushed back using a tractor. In O’neils, mounds of garbage have piled up. What’s more, residents of that and surrounding northern settlements must rely on well water as Water and Sewerage has yet to extend its services further north. Here again, the dump is close to the main road. Tractors are used to pile up and flatten the garbage, which is dangerous given the fact that combustible items such as old refrigerators with compressors are all tossed on these sites.
Why was the bridge from Newton Cay to Long Island never re-constructed after it collapsed? It has been 15 to 20 years now.
I am told that the police in Long Island are desperately in need of leadership. When will a no-nonsense Superintendent be sent to oversee policing on Long Island?
One resident told me that for police officers, it’s like “a free ride up here”. I am told that there are several retired officers on Long Island who have returned to the force on year to year contracts and who “do nothing except live off the fat of the land and enjoy a pension and a salary”. Perhaps, the Commissioner of Police should make urgent inquiries.
I am told that, recently, there was a celebrated opening of a purported new police station in Deadman’s Cay. By all accounts, a new police station was not constructed. Rather, the governing PLP purportedly rented and renovated the island home of Forrester Carroll, Bahamas Consul General at New York and a staunch PLP. Apparently, the building formerly utilised by the police was also owned by Mr Carroll. Although the police have now been provided with a fully air conditioned station, I am told that there has been little to no improvement in service.
The Royal Bahamas Defence Force has, since the hurricane, deployed a number of officers to assist with Long Island’s recovery. Some islanders have complained to me about “questionable behaviour” on the part of these officers as it relates to the distribution of hurricane relief supplies. What’s more, I am informed that the rebuilding process is moving at a snail’s pace as there are a number of homes in south Long Island with blue tarpaulins on the roofs, nearly one year later. This includes 93-year-old Edner Wells, whose roof was damaged in the hurricane and she has not returned home since.
I recall writing to the administrator and reporting that my grandfather’s church roof was damaged in the hurricane. Based on what I’m told, none of the assessors ever visited him.
Although we are in hurricane season, the government learned nothing from last year’s devastating storm. Many of the essential service providers in Long Island still do not have satellite phones. When will the clinics, police, utility companies and other essential service providers be outfitted with these much needed phones?
Long Islanders just want fair and equal treatment. No more, no less.
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First published in the The Tribune under the byline, Young Man's View, here…
View Adrian Gibson's archive here…
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