An American pensioner who has held a lease on Umbrella Cay in the Abacos for over 50 years has been told that the government is to repossess the land without any recompense.
Dana Hodgon, 83, from Washington DC, claims that without any notification being issued to him, the government of The Bahamas stopped accepting his lease payments. Mr. Hodgon says he now finds himself in a mystifying position where, as he views it, government has effectively exiled him from the Cay for no apparent reason. He had been trying to find a qualified buyer for the lease but says all his questions to the government regarding a possible sale were ignored. “This was the second time I had a qualified buyer, and for years, the government wouldn’t respond to my questions as to whether I could sell it,” discloses Mr.Hodgon.
“Then my realtor got a letter from the government saying that the [cay] was being remanded!”
He contacted his lawyers, locally and internationally and advised them that he has grown old and that the Umbrella Cay lease was his only remaining asset. Hence, his urgency to transfer the lease, hoping he would somehow manage to make enough from the transaction to last for the rest of his lifetime. Mr. Hodgon told the Guardian how, right in the middle of a promising lease transference, he received a letter from the Prime Minister’s Office stating that the government was repossessing the Cay. However, the inquiring letters from his lawyers have been, according to Mr. Hodgon, continuously ignored and his calls unanswered. He said: “I’m tired, I’m not getting any younger, nor am I getting any richer to continue this fight,” said Hodgon.
Mr. Hodgon says for the past two years he has been trying to find out how and why the government can repossess his, or anyone else’s, property without any explanation or any compensation. He says his quest for answers has taken him through all facets of the Bahamian government, including Ambassador Joshua Sears in Washington, D.C. “I’ve done all I can think of,” said Hodgon. “But 1 just keep [being] ignored.”
Hodgon reveals that he had hoped his sons would want to take over the island lease, but after finding no interest there, he regrettably put his lease, and all the memories that are associated therewith, up for sale. He recalls a time in the 1960’s when a hurricane, which passed over The Bahamas, tore down the small vacation house and dock he built on the [cay] for himself and his family. Hodgon admits that in many aspects, transferring his lease has not been an easy task.
The Guardian attempted to make contact with the PM’s office for a response on the matter, but in the process of doing so, it was shuffled from person to person. At the end of the day, no one provided an answer as to why the dilemma continues to remain unresolved.
Hodgon still has approximately 49-years left on the lease and is hoping that the dilemma of ‘repossession without explanation,’ will be settled soon.
By INDERIA SAUNDERS Guardian Staff Reporter
