Five months after the government hosted a special donors pledge conference, we still waiting to hear what happened to the $1.8 billion in pledges the government said it received for Hurricane Dorian relief.
The government tried to make it seem like that hefty sum was donated to the Bahamas but it turns out that the lion’s share - $975 million to be exact - was actually a LOAN offer from American firm The P3 Group. This means taxpayers, who already catching eternal hell, would have to repay that money with interest.
In March, Disaster Reconstruction Authority boss Kay Forbes-Smith said, “The breakdown includes the following: $41 million; public-private partnerships, $1.3 billion; technical assistance, $51 million; other forms of assistance, $400 million; cash and deposits, $364,000.”
“Now, these pledges line up this way according to our seven priorities. The economy – $102 million; education – $6 million; the environment – $1 million; health – $670 million; housing – $51 million; infrastructure – $155 million.”
Forbes-Smith never said which offers the DRA would accept because the authority hadn’t “dug deep enough into any of the pledges.”
So much for accountability.
With the above normal 2020 hurricane season officially upon us, don’t hold your breath waiting on that!
NEMA and the DRA waited until THE DAY BEFORE this hurricane season to hold a press conference to urge the public to be prepared and to outline its five-step strategic plan, which Captain Stephen Russell said is a working plan.
Disaster Minister, turned lockdown fitness coach, Iram Lewis took off his sweats long enough to announce a team in Abaco is ensuring facilities are ready and they are engaging 16 contractors on Grand Bahama this week to ensure the island’s schools are ready to serve as shelters, if necessary.
Would’ve been nice if they had done that before this hurricane season.