The Bahamas needs long-term financial planning to address its climate vulnerability and economic dependence on tourism

“The Bahamas needs long-term financial planning to address its climate vulnerability and economic dependence on tourism,” says UN Independent Expert on foreign debt, international financial obligations and human rights

The Bahamas: UN expert calls for long-term financial planning to address climate change

NASSAU (31 August 2023)- A UN expert today called on the international community to step up support for The Bahamas and small island States at high risk of natural disasters due to climate change.

“The Bahamas needs long-term financial planning to address its climate vulnerability and economic dependence on tourism,” said Attiya Waris, the UN Independent Expert on foreign debt, international financial obligations and human rights, in a statement at the end of a 10-day visit to the country.

Waris noted that The Bahamas’ high-income status limits its access to international financial institution loans and development aid.  “The reality is that they should be supported by the international community, including international financial institutions and development banks,” she said.

The expert urged The Bahamas and the international community to adopt a comparative indicator other than Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, noting that the country has unique challenges that require more resources than most States, including a high cost of living and a constant risk of devastating climate-related disasters.

The Bahamas’ economy is heavily dependent on tourism, Waris said.  After five major hurricanes in the past decade, The Bahamas was most recently hit by Hurricane Dorian in 2019, which caused USD 3.4 billion in damage, nearly 25 per cent of the country’s GDP.

“The impact of Hurricane Dorian, COVID-19 and the decline in tourism was devastating for both the population and the country’s economy,” the expert said.  “The country is still repaying the debt incurred for reconstruction and will continue to do so for many years to come.”

The Independent Expert urged the Government to consider long-term economic planning that considers the consequences of climate change and explore the diversification of its economy to become less dependent on tourism, increase its food security and use local innovation.

“The collective responsibility of the international community towards climate change and its consequences should not be forgotten,” Waris said.

The expert will present her report to the Human Rights Council in March 2024.

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Hurricane Irene wreaks havoc in The Islands

Irene wreaks havoc

By KRYSTEL ROLLE
Guardian Staff Reporter
krystel@nasguard.com

Hurricane Irene started its exit from The Bahamas last night, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.

While New Providence and Grand Bahama were spared the full force of the storm, many Family Islands, particularly the southeastern and central islands, were pummelled, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) reported.

The center of the storm passed over Eleuthera and Abaco for much of yesterday.

Power lines and telecommunications lines went down in some islands as the category three storm roared across the archipelago.

But no loss of life or injuries were reported.

Damage on Cat Island, Rum Cay, Crooked Island, Acklins and Mayaguana is expected to be in the millions of dollars, as hundreds of homes, churches, other buildings and infrastructure were either damaged or destroyed.

According to NEMA reports, all the islands were impacted in some way.

In New Providence, fallen trees and damaged roofs constituted most of the damage.

In Lovely Bay, Acklins, 90 percent of the settlement is reportedly gone, according to NEMA.

“House roofs and several homes [were] blown away.  Power lines and trees went down in the roads, and the shelter’s population increased,” said a NEMA statement.

Communication on that island was limited yesterday.

Meteorologist Godfrey Burnside said the Automatic Weather Station in Arthur’s Town, Cat Island, recorded gusts of 140 miles per hour around 2 a.m. yesterday, and Moss Town, Exuma, recorded gusts up to 127 miles per hour.

“That is significant and that is why you hear all the damage taking place,” Burnside said.

Just over two inches of rain had fallen at Lynden Pindling International Airport at 9 a.m. yesterday, and more was expected.

NEMA said it received reports that 40 houses received major damage in the communities of Betsy Bay, Pirate Wells and Abraham’s Bay on Mayaguana.

Concerns were also expressed by the Assistant Commissioner of Police John Ferguson in reference to three people detained at a police station there, NEMA said.

On Cat Island, hurricane force winds brought down scores of power lines and left the island without any form of telecommunication, NEMA reported.

NEMA also received reports that the administrator’s home in north Cat Island lost its roof.

Areas in Arthur’s Town and Dumfries flooded.  The roof of the police station in Arthur’s Town was blown off and police vehicles were flooded.  St. Andrew’s Church also lost its roof, NEMA reported.

In Rum Cay, which is home to about 100 people, NEMA received a report that homes have major damage, roads are impassable due to fallen trees and the bridge in Port Nelson is lost.

According to the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC), residents in most islands with the exception of Inagua — where power was restored to the majority of customers — continued to experience outages up to last night due to controlled power station shut downs or downed power lines.

NEMA said at least one school was damaged on Crooked Island.

The school in Colonel Hill lost its roof and two classroom blocks.  Additionally, St. John’s Baptist Church and several other buildings also lost their roofs.

That island experienced winds around 120 miles per hour, according to NEMA.

Long Island Administrator Jordan Ritchie said the main concern was flooding in Clarence Town.

However, a number of homes and St. Paul’s Anglican Church received roof damage.

Meantime, Central Eleuthera Administrator Chrisfield Johnson said based on initial reports, Eleuthera fared relatively well.

“So far we haven’t had loss of life.  There is some structural damage to buildings but we haven’t done an assessment so we don’t know the extent,” he told The Nassau Guardian yesterday evening.

It was still too dangerous to go out, he said.

“The only thing that remains is to do an assessment of the environment,” Johnson said.

“There is a tremendous amount of debris on the roads.  Our first priority is to clear the streets, so we’re putting together a team of workers to clear the streets to give us access.”

He said he would determine the severity of the impact of Irene sometime today, when he expects to be able to conduct a door-to-door assessment.

NEMA Director Captain Stephen Russell said NEMA is still determining how it will access the affected islands, as transportation may be limited over the next few days.

NEMA is expected to release a more detailed statement on the damage caused by Irene sometime today.

Aug 26, 2011

thenassauguardian

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