More than $18 million has been earmarked for hurricane victims, The Guardian can reveal today.
The figures include over $5m from private voluntary contributions. The money is to be used for victims of last year’s two devastating Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne. The fund is separate from the Hurricane Wilma relief effort.
“The amount of contributions for [victims of] Frances and Jeanne was slightly over $5 million dollars,” a government official told The Guardian. “The government spent $18.5m so far. That peaked virtually around February of this year. After February or March very little more contributions came in. This means the major contributor to the relief efforts has been the government of The Bahamas.”
Yesterday The Grand Bahama Human Rights Association (GBHRA) called on the government to release detailed financial information about hurricane relief.
Frederick Smith, member of the GBHRA said that the government “must stop its talking and promising.”
“The association calls upon the government to fulfil its repeated promise to publish an accounting of its receipt of many millions of dollars in Hurricane aid for Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne,” he said. “The government must stop its talking and promising and needs to account to the Grand Bahamian public.
“The association asks, what is the problem with giving an accounting,” he continued. “Ironically this government is enacting legislation for non-governmental organisations to have their books audited of their activities but it refuses to give an accounting itself.”
Mr Smith insisted that his group was not looking to the National Emergency Manage-ment Agency (NEMA) for the financial information.
“The association does not call for an account from NEMA because as the public knows NEMA does not lawfully exist,” he said. “It is this government that needs to give an accounting to the Bahamian people, especially the people of Grand Bahama. As the Minister of Finance, James Smith and the Prime Minister have admitted, the reconstruction post Hurricanes Francis and Jeanne was completed everywhere else except Grand Bahama and now we have been hit with hurricane Wilma.” He added that the lack of detailed financial information has kept some Bahamians from donating to hurricane relief funds.
“The association has received calls from many people who would have been prepared to donate to the government for the Hurricane Wilma relief effort but they have refused to do so because they are anxious about where the money has gone which has been collected for the last two hurricanes,” he said.
By: JASMIN BONIMY, The Nassau Guardian
