The Grenville Phillips Column – Hero or Villain

I have been repeatedly pressed to declare how well our Prime Minister performed during tropical storm Dorian.  No matter how many times I have responded, the requests keep coming.  To avoid further requests for a comment, my full response follows.

As the storm approached, our Prime Minister: explained the situation, encouraged people to prepare, closed businesses at a reasonably time, attended drainage clearing sites to verify that the work was being done, and did other similarly important things.

Our Prime Minister appeared to do these things in a calm and decisive manner.  She appeared to competently manage the protocols for a tropical storm.  All Barbadians should feel justifiably proud of our Prime Minister’s heroic performance.  So well done Madam Prime Minister.

What needs to be emphasised, is that our Prime Minister’s actions were appropriate for a tropical storm that should do minor damage.  Had we experienced Hurricane Dorian like the Bahamas, then no one, except the most extreme partisan supporters, would be praising Prime Minister (PM) Mottley’s efforts.

Our homes should be our primary shelters.  If the house is not sufficiently strong, then the occupants should move to a stronger shelter.  In 1993, under PM Sandiford, Barbados finally had a building code to inform homeowners and their contractors how to build strong houses.  It was a very easy-to-understand document, and added little to no additional construction cost.

PM Arthur won the general election in 1994.   In 1995, banks in Barbados started offering 100% mortgages, which started a massive residential building boom.  Fortuitously, Barbados had a new Building Code at the right time.  Regrettably, PM Arthur, who was responsible for Town and Country Planning, did not enforce or actively encourage the Code’s use during his 14-year term.

Part of PM Arthur’s real legacy, is the thousands of unnecessarily sub-standard houses that were built during his administration.  PM Stuart continued PM Arthur’s legacy of overseeing the construction of substandard houses, by not enforcing the Building Code.  However, he unpredictably went a lot further – in the wrong direction.

PM Stuart claimed to be flabbergasted at the fragility of houses in Barbados, after the damage done by Tropical Storm Tomas in 2010.  However, even that did not convince him to actively encourage the use of our Building Code.  Instead, his administration abolished it.  Thus, Barbados, in one of the most hazard prone regions on this planet, became the only nation on Earth to offer no meaningful structural building guidance to its residents.

PM Mottley inherited this unfortunate mess, and seemed well prepared to solve it.  She experienced the devastation caused by Hurricane Gilbert in Jamaica in 1988.  She was aware of the two Category 5 Hurricanes that caused major damage to our Caribbean neighbours in 2017.  Following the General Election in 2018, she declared that Hurricanes were one of the two things she fared most.

We seemed to be in good hands – PM Mottley would play the hero.  She would make building strong and durable houses a priority.  Tragically, she has embraced the damaging legacy of PM Stuart.  This should all but ensure that we will suffer a worse fate than those in other islands, if we experience a similar hurricane.  Why someone, who held such promise, chose such an irresponsible path, is a question that only she can answer.

Our PM still has time to play the hero by doing three simple, but highly effective things.  They will cost her administration no money and very little effort.  First, she should temporarily unabolish the 1993 Barbados National Building Code, for use in the residential construction sector only.  We should never abolish something unless we can replace it with something better.

Second, the 1993 Building Code should be published on the Internet and made freely available to residents.  Third, the Town Planning department should add the following standard condition of approval for residential applications.  “Construction should comply with the structural requirements of the 1993 edition of the Barbados National Building Code”.

Grenville Phillips II is a Chartered Structural Engineer and President of Solutions Barbados.  He can be reached at NextParty246@gmail.com

173 thoughts on “The Grenville Phillips Column – Hero or Villain


  1. @GP

    If I was Mugabe and I thought you would be a serious contender here is what I would do..
    (1) On political items – have the Mugabe Defense Force(MDF) savage you every time you make a strong case — being done
    (2) On non-political items – Have another seemingly unbiased party repeat your message a short period afterwards
    Don’t sit and think that what you are seeing is the normal flow of things.

    “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t after you.” ― Joseph Heller


  2. David
    Trust me, this was always in the works. What GP II, given his narrow thinking, constantly ignores are the wider strategic issues associated with a building code besides hurricane and earthquake resistance. The building code MUST also robustly address wheelchair accessibility/friendly (both internally and externally), climate adaptation through sustainable drainage, green walls, green and blue roofs, fire resistant materials and energy efficiency etc. Here are some extracts from the BLP manifesto:

    Provide concessional financing to property owners upgrading their homes in accordance with approved, climate resilient designs or methods.
    Encourage hurricane-resilient design, especially roof design, through concessional financing and legislation.
    We will work with the construction industry to promote the transition to climate-resilient (hurricane and earthquake resistant) buildings,
    accessing capital for such work through
    international climate funds.


  3. THE LIES THAT GOVERNMENTS, THE UNITED NATIONS, AND THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND TELL ABOUT THE CLIMATE ARE ABOUT THE MONEY THEY CAN EXTRACT FROM CITIZENS WHO MUST BE KEPT FRIGHTENED ENOUGH TO PAY TAXES ON THEIR USE OF ENERGY.
    These days, when some world leader or politician speaks of the climate—the weather is what is happening right now wherever you are—they are not talking about sunshine or rain. THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT A DEVILISHLY OBSCENE WAY OF RAISING MONEY.

    IF, A GOVERNMENT CAN TAX THE USE OF ENERGY, IT STANDS TO MAKE A LOT OF MONEY. That is why carbon taxes have been introduced in some nations and why the nearly useless “clean energy” options of wind and solar have been introduced even though they both require the backup of traditional coal, natural gas and nuclear energy plants because they cannot produce electricity if the wind isn’t blowing and the sun is obscured by clouds.

    Fortunately, every effort to introduce a carbon tax has been defeated by the U.S. Congress, but that it has shelled out billions for “climate research” over the years.

    THE NEED OF GOVERNMENTS TO FRIGHTEN THEIR CITIZENS ABOUT THE CLIMATE IN ORDER TO RAISE MONEY IS INTERNATIONAL IN SCOPE.

    IN LATE JULY, REUTERS REPORTED THAT CHRISTINE LAGARDE, THE CHAIR OF THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, (IMF) OPINED IN HER NEW BOOK THAT “ENERGY TAXES IN MUCH OF THE WORLD ARE FAR BELOW WHAT THEY SHOULD BE TO REFLECT THE HARMFUL ENVIRONMENTAL AND HEALTH IMPACT OF FOSSIL FUELS USE.”

    Please pay no attention to the billions of dollars that coal, oil and natural gas already generate for the nations in which they are found. Nations such as India and China are building COAL-FIRED PLANTS as fast as possible to provide the electricity every modern nation needs to expand its economy, provide more employment, and improve their citizen’s lives in every way imaginable.

    Reuters reported, “the IMF laid out exactly what it views as appropriate taxes on coal, natural gas, gasoline, and diesel in 156 countries to factor in the fuel’s overall costs, which include carbon dioxide emissions, air pollution, congestion and traffic accidents.” THE PROBLEM WITH THIS IS THAT THE COSTS CITED ARE BOGUS.

    RE “We will work with the construction industry to promote the transition to climate-resilient (hurricane and earthquake resistant) buildings, accessing capital for such work through international climate funds.”

    YOU WOULD SELL YOUR SOVEREIGNTY FOR A HANDOUT!

    https://www.facebook.com/137261216449365/photos/a.137269969781823/1322700621238746/?type=3&theater


  4. They stealing Grenville’s thunder.

    JULY 24, 2015 · 7:34 PM

    “It is a national disgrace that strains the limits of irresponsibility that the Government of Barbados, against all expert advice, allowed an entirely unregulated 14-year building boom with respect to building standards. Of the thousands of houses built, almost all of them are vulnerable to collapse in a major earthquake. It is to Barbados’ tragic misfortune that it would not have cost any additional money to have constructed the life-saving shear walls that the Building Code specified.”

    Grenville Phillips II

    Every Bajan or foreigner living in Barbados should attend at Grenville’s Weighed in the Balance website and have a read of Put Your House in Order.


  5. @Enuff

    GP’s approach isn’t “narrow” as you put it, he is advocating for an upgraded building code that will assist in future weather challenges, he is not drafting a law that is what the 30-0 people are supposed to do.

    Interestingly I note you use “We will”, Freudian slip? I thought you weren’t a politician but just a cheerleader for the Gov’t.


  6. A happy Good Morning to all of Barbados.

    It will be a tough day for me.
    Wife and Mother, both want\ my help
    I think they both keep scores and I am barely passing on their score sheets.
    Have to find a way to satisfy both,,,,
    And you thought you had problems

    Have a Great Day Barbados


  7. ” According to President of the Barbados Association of Professional Engineers (BAPE), Lieutenant Colonel Trevor Browne, even the weakest of hurricanes could cause tremendous damage if Government fails to enforce the use of certain techniques and materials in construction.”


  8. RE..David September 7, 2019 9:14 AM @ enuff

    “Many of us just want to see the thing started. Time to do.”

    IF WERE TALKING ABOUT MEDICINE AND ITS TIME TO START TAKING MEDICINE, YOU ARE RECOMMENDING USING ARSENIC TO JUMP START THE PROCESS WHILE KILLING THE HOST!

    UNFORTUNATELY YOUR MIND HAS NOT BEEN AWAKENED YOU ARE REPEATING WHAT YOU ARE TAUGHT TO THINK!

    BE LEAD BY THE LIGHT OF CHRIST WITHIN YOU (JOHN 1)

    HAVE AN INQUIRING MIND AND DESIRE TO KNOW AND UNDERSTAND BY FIRST FORMULATING AND ASKING THE QUESTION… SEEK AND YE SHALL FIND KNOCK AND THE DOOR WILL BE OPENED…(MATHEW 7:7)

    https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b2/9c/23/b29c236f807496fa730337d80b329357.jpg


    • Why do people ;ike you categorize people as left and right? Both are equally extreme in ideology espoused. It is about being pragmatic. How do you explain the defection by members of Jognson’s [arty? They are leftest too?

      #steuspe


  9. @ Enuff September 7, 2019 9:02 AM
    “Provide concessional financing to property owners upgrading their homes in accordance with approved, climate resilient designs or methods.
    Encourage hurricane-resilient design, especially roof design, through concessional financing and legislation.

    We will work with the construction industry to promote the transition to climate-resilient (hurricane and earthquake resistant) buildings,
    accessing capital for such work through
    international climate funds.
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    What we want to hear from both Grenville P the No.2 and the current BLP administration are the plans for upgrading- to hurricane-resistant standards- the thousands of semi-dilapidated wooden structures with galvanized roofs which are occupied by thousands of low-income Bajans; with many of them ‘housing’ not only the long-term unemployed aka the “voluntary idle” but also children and the elderly.

    Why not get out of your air-conditioned tinted-windows luxury vehicles and survey the many poor housing stock that can be found not only in the socially and economically depressed shanty town of Bridgetown but also in the greater St. Michael housing areas and even in many rural districts?

    Even Hal Asstin the bullshi***ter from the ‘back’ of the now depressed Ivy can see the necessity for proper social housing in the St. Michael ‘conurbation’ if the current practice of glaring housing apartheid is to addressed in light of the increasing risks posed by hurricanes and other potential disasters associated with the perceived global warming.


  10. David
    Aren’t they out tuh all doing? We keep forgetting the magnitude of the to do list.

    Sargeant
    Boss, the “We will….” is as I said an extract from the BLP manifesto, not my words. Stop trying to prove that I am a politician, I am not!. You too are narrow, if you can’t understand that the building code needs to do more than address hurricane and earthquake resilience. All yuh feel wunna dealing wid a amateur nuh. If only wunna knew.🤣🤣

    Miller
    I only pulled some of the promises, but there is one relating to the upgrade of the urban housing stock too and another bout new housing altogether for overcrowded NHC units, which are also in need of repair. I don’t sit in Bay or Roebuck Street but I read.🤣🤣


  11. @Enuff

    I am no fan of GP but because he focused on one aspect of the building code is not a reason to describe his approach as “narrow”. We expect Gov’ts to be more comprehensive when they draft legislation, however since the BLP manifesto is your Bible could we revisit in a few years to see what promises were kept and what plans were shelved?


  12. David September 7, 2019 9:53 AM

    RE…’Why do people ;ike you categorize people as left and right? Both are equally extreme in ideology espoused. It is about being pragmatic. How do you explain the defection by members of Jognson’s [arty? They are leftest too?…

    THE ONES JOHNSON EXPELLED YES ARE LEFTIST TOO, THEY ARE ALWAYS THOSE WILLING TO GIVE UP THEIR SOVEREIGNTY AND THAT IS THE DIFFERENCE LEFT AND RIGHT!

    https://www.facebook.com/Breitbart/photos/a.10159587164165354/10163325413710354/?type=3&theater


  13. Sargeant
    Stupse! Narrow means limited in extent or scope, so I don’t get your point. You seem to be confusing narrow with bad or wrong. You also seem to think that my comments reflect what the government plans to do rather than what in my opinion should be done. But of course my comments must be viewed through party political lens, including the independent party members. The building code should be comprehensive and not narrow…periodt!! Sue me.


  14. The article below will clear up any misconceptions or doubts that Freedom Crier may have concerning climate change. It also confirms my statement from last week that the Caribbean region is the most endangered environmental location in the world. I will go further and state categorically that the Caribbean will see a huge migration of her population due to the poor governance of her leaders in their inability to have an adequate master plan in place to mitigate against climate change.

    https://www.bahamapundit.com/2010/03/the-impact-of-rising-sea-levels-on-the-bahamas.html


    • They are speculating an unknown number of people have been washed out to sea during the hurricane and may never be recovered.


  15. David
    September 7, 2019 4:05 PM

    They are speculating an unknown number of people have been washed out to sea during the hurricane and may never be recovered.

    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Estimated homeless at 70,000.

    In Florida there is mandatory evacuation, when you are told to leave you leave.

    Florida has building codes … they got serious after Andrew.

    Hurrricane Andrew doesn’t happen every year, so codes are important even though depending on the hurricane, they can be meaningless..


  16. TLSN September 7, 2019 3:32 PM…RE “misconceptions or doubts concerning Climate Change”…

    YOU HAVE BOUGHT THE LIES

    1989 UN report: ‘By 2000, coastal cities will be underwater’

    Angela Brow… Ahhh the U.N… The same ones who came up with Agenda 21 / 2030… A plan to destroy the national sovereignty of every country, so they could usher in their new world order, one-world government!

    https://awarenessact.com/agenda-21-depopulation-of-95-percent-of-the-world-by-the-year-2030-is-now-underwayy2/?=ta

    http://endtimesherald.com/1989-un-report-by-2000-coastal-cities-will-be-underwater/

    NO PROBLEM LIVING NEAR THE WATER WITH THE SUPPOSED HIGH TIDES RISING DO TO CLIMATE CRAP!

    A PRIME EXAMPLE OF THE HYPOCRISY OF THE LEFT!

    https://www.facebook.com/turningpointusa/photos/a.376802782368444/2425807780801257/?type=3&theater


  17. @Enuff

    I wasn’t going to respond, however don’t try to infer that I didn’t understand what narrow meant in the context of the discussion.You should observe that I included the word comprehensive in my expectation of how legislation should be drafted by Gov’t which is the opposite of “narrow” when used in some descriptions.


  18. I will go further and state categorically that the Caribbean will see a huge migration of her population due to the poor governance of her leaders

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Where will this population go?

    The Bahamas is/was “the richest country in the West Indies and the third wealthiest in the Americas”!!

    That part is now out of wiki!!

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_Bahamas

    “The Bahamian economy is almost entirely dependent on tourism and financial services to generate foreign exchange earnings. The European Union lists the Bahamas as one of several Caribbean “uncooperative jurisdictions” because it fails to meet tax fairness and transparency benchmarks.[6]”

    Haitians who know only too well of the poor governance by their leaders have chosen there as one destination.

    CARICOM, a product of these leaders, dead ducks, is looking to assist one of its members, Bahamas.

    Meanwhile thousands try to flee the hurricane devastated Bahamas.

    https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/thousands-try-to-flee-hurricane-devastated-bahamas-islands


  19. Wicked, lying Caribbean governments who never know when to stop, even in the face of MASS DEATH of their own people, their only interest is keeping the tourism/bondage dependency alive and well…nothing else….no matter how destructive, no matter how many lies, how much destruction to majority black populations it causes….as long as there is a ccover up.

    But the PEOPLE…are AWAKE…how bout that.

    https://www.facebook.com/groups/1832542123658358/permalink/2500411876871376/


  20. Freedom Crier & John,

    I read somewhere that “In The Bahamas, if the sea level rises some five feet, 80 percent of the country would disappear.”

    John, over the last decade China has invested heavily in The Bahamas and recently built a huge port in the Grand Bahama region. These countries especially America will not be investing in a group of small islands that are in the front line of climate change. With the hurricane season just commencing there is a possibility that a large chunk of The Bahamas could be wiped off from the face of the earth.

    The tourist model that The Bahamas has adopted is simply unsustainable. All of those multi-million dollar, foreign-owned properties that are lining her coastline have lost their value overnight.

    And what of little England? An island that is a fraction more elevated than The Bahamas. Barbados has a population of 300,000 and measures 166 square miles; whilst Singapore has a population of 5,000,000 and measures 276 square miles. Yet, our glorious leader, Mia believes that the size of Barbados population should reflect the size of Singapore!

    John, I am trying to convey to you that the Caribbean region is a part of the world that is endangered by climate change. These countries do not have the capacity to keep on rebuilding after every hurricane. The secret is to avoid low lying land when planning the countries infrastructure and to relocate the population to higher grounds. By all means we should be building our houses to the highest possible building codes. But we have to recognise that the majority of our populations will need to migrate to other parts of this globe.


  21. I wonder after the mass devastation caused by sea surge if Mua idea of having a hotel corridor along the South Coast still remains one of her gladiator goals
    Many investors afterseeing the devastation of storm surge on Abaco island would be rethinking cost and investment


  22. ORLANDO, Fla. — Tropical Storm Humberto will be the next named storm, and it could form from a tropical wave that is approaching the Caribbean in the next five days.

    The system now located about 100 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands is projected to be about 400 miles off the Leeward Islands in five days, which was a little closer than Hurricane Dorian when it became a tropical depression. The National Hurricane Center said the topical wave is producing disorganized showers and thunderstorms.

    “Gradual development of this system is possible and a tropical depression could form by the middle of next week while the system moves westward across the eastern and central tropical Atlantic Ocean,” the NHC said in its 8 a.m. EDT advisory.

    It puts the chances that the 9th tropical depression of the Atlantic hurricane season will form at 10% in the next 48 hours and 60% in the next five days.

    The NHC stopped tracking a second system that had been brewing closer to the Caribbean, so now the tropical outlook includes this potential system, Hurricane Dorian located off the U.S. East Coast and Tropical Storm Gabrielle spinning about 1,000 miles west-southwest of the Azores, but not expected to threaten land.

    The potential tropical system, if it grows into a depression and maintains sustained winds of at least 39 mph, it would become Tropical Storm Humberto.

    Hurricane Dorian grew into depression strength about 800 miles east of the Leeward Islands back on Aug. 24.


  23. Obama just spent $15 million buying a property in Martha’s Vineyard at the forefront of “climate change”.

    Clearly he doesn’t believe the climate change promoters.

    Perhaps he is going with the Green New Deal of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Beto and believes the world only has 12 years left so he could as well blow his stash!!

    The Bahamas will be just fine, like Martha’s Vineyard.

    Did you know the name “Martha’s Vineyard” (1602) is the eighth oldest surviving English name in the United States?

    It easily beats “New Barbados Neck” (1668) had it survived by about 66 years!!

    Do we really have 12 years left?


  24. The tourist model that The Bahamas has adopted is simply unsustainable. All of those multi-million dollar, foreign-owned properties that are lining her coastline have lost their value overnight.

    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Some of the tourism plant in the Bahamas has been damaged (and will be replaced), the rest remains open for business.

    What is unsustainable about that?


  25. @ Mariposa September 8, 2019 6:37 AM
    “I wonder after the mass devastation caused by sea surge if Mua idea of having a hotel corridor along the South Coast still remains one of her gladiator goals
    Many investors afterseeing the devastation of storm surge on Abaco island would be rethinking cost and investment..”
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Occasionally, from the pea-sized brain of the multi-headed DLP yard bird, can come a nugget of enviable wisdom.

    So where does this leave the Hyatt mirage for a hotel lying idle on the storm-surge vulnerable shores of the south western coast of the atoll called Barbados?

    Let me say to you without fear of contradiction. There were never any ‘real investors’ behind the Hyatt facade. Just a pipedream of an erection to scam taxpayers, again.
    Ask your buddy Stinkliar if you doubt the miller.

    BTW, when is your friend Mia going to demand from Mark the Mal Money fella the duties and taxes which should have been paid on the Mercedes imported for a ghost working at an imaginary hotel?

    Shouldn’t your PM be insisting that this long overdue payment be made as his much needed contribution towards the tourism-desecrated people of Abaco Island to help them to rise like a Caribbean phoenix even outdoing his invisible spire of the Hyatt mausoleum?

    He has done his remorseful bit for the medical students of the hurricane-ravaged Ross University. Now is his turn, again, to play the role of Saint Bernard to the stricken people of Abaco and its nearby atolls of hedonism.


  26. “So where does this leave the Hyatt mirage for a hotel lying idle on the storm-surge vulnerable shores of the south western coast of the atoll called Barbados?”

    As long as they do not allow tiefing Maloney et al to put their dirty hands on taxpayer’s and pensioners money to build the SSS Hyatt….they can ALL sail away ON A STORM SURGE…15 stories high…they are simultaneously a waste of oxygen, time and other people’s money.

    Only the bribetaking ministers and lawyers would miss any of them.


  27. But miller did you not get the memo where business were awarded the prestigious medal of honour of receiving tax waivers and vat taxes
    But please allow me to sweeten your idea that (being) all of those including Mia father who have received tax cuts waivers and a gift of not paying vat taxes in the spirit of patriotism return all monies to the treasury


  28. https://barbadostoday.bb/2019/09/08/effort-to-boost-insurance-pool-for-disasters/

    more SHITE TALK…

    Mia needs to STOP…attempting to dip hands into other people’s.. money…

    When YALL TIEF taxpayer’s and PENSIONER’S MONEY…it puts the PEOPLE at risk in TIMES OF DISASTERS….making any RECOVERY that much harder…

    STOP COLLUDING WITH BUSINESS PEOPLE TO STEAL FROM YA OWN PEOPLE…and during times of disaster like in Bahamas…ya won’t have to run begging hither, tither and yon..outside of what is availabel for disasters.

    the leaders who DO NOT LIVE to rob their own people…mobilize so much BETTER and QUICKER…when there is a natural disaster…one week later and people in Bahamas still cannot get food and water…despite the best efforts of the international community…so the problem on that is WEAK GOVERNMENTS…..not global warming..

    in the 16-1800 centuries there was no global warming and hurricanes destroyed whole islands anyway…..global warming just makes it that worse…and TIEFING GOVERNMENTS makes the effects and experiences of a disaster even worse when the resources belonging to the people…are STOLEN BY THIEVES…


  29. Gettign RID of DELIBERATE…government CREATED…ghettos and shanty towns within the majoirty population is a START..if yall would STOP TIEFING the largest portions of the PEOPLE’S tax and pension DOLLARS…ya would find the money to eliminate the poverty…YALL maliciously keep alive to ENRICH YASELVES and ya BRIBERS….economics 101.

    https://videos.dailymail.co.uk/video/mol/2019/09/06/2892836954974960732/640x360_MP4_2892836954974960732.mp4


  30. Small island nastiness from petty leaders, all of them drank from the same poison chalice…i have no clue who these small minded governments think is admiring them, you c ontinue to keep YOUR OWN people in BONDAGE, only surrounded by THEIVES.. and believe that makes you what exactly…but the people are awake.,,and ya NEED THEIR VOTES to keep up the PRETENSE.

    “The Charge d’Affairs for Haiti in the Bahamas, Dorval Darlier, says the only figures he has are those the Bahamian authorities have confirmed which he doubts. With so many living in shantytowns across the Abaco Islands, he told Le Nouvelliste “they, [Bahamian authorities], just do not want to tell the truth… it is only thanks to the support of the U.S. government that the Bahamian authorities are providing assistance to these victims.”
    Samuel Maxime

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    The Charge d’Affaires for Haiti in the Bahamas does not know how many Haitians, especially those undocumented, that are dead or injured after the Category 5 Hurricane Dorian. “We have dead and injured but we can not specify the number,” said Dorval Darlier.

    The diplomat says the Haitian government has given him the green light to do everything in his power to help our compatriots. “I am going to rent a charter plane to go to Abaco and Freeport who have been the most affected to provide assistance to Haitian nationals,” he said.

    Mr. Darlier plans to transport the most vulnerable to the capital, which he said was spared. “I have already had discussions with social services on the possibility of temporary shelter, said the diplomat. The chargé d’affaires confirmed the presence of a strong community in the area called “The Mudd” in Abaco. “This area has been completely submerged. The water had reached several meters in height,” said Dorval Darlier.

    Haitians living legally in the Bahamas are estimated at about 200,000, not counting the illegal ones. Dorval Darlier, however, does not intend to differentiate between Haitians living legally and those living illegally in the Bahamas. “For now, we do not make any difference between legal and illegal,” he says.

    He rejects the information that the Haitian victims are the ones who, for the most part, lived illegally in the Bahamas and refused to follow the instructions. “They would be victims no matter where they were,” said Dorval Darlier, for whom more than 85% of homes Abacco and Freeport were destroyed. “This is a place to build and not to rebuild,” said the charge d’affaires Haitian.”


  31. This is why i WARNED Bajans about listening to the Mia rhetoric about giving money to the Barbados government to send to Bahamas…there is no GUARANTEE the money will ever reach the people you intended to help…but if the money was sent THROUGH a reputable relief organization directly and is STOLEN….someone would go to prison, as things stand CASH only sent though shady governments…CANNOT BE TRACED.

    https://www.facebook.com/100005986451739/posts/1112186382324233/


    • The money donated was deposited to accounts controlled by CDEMA, a regional agency. The blogmaster is willing to be corrected.

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