Nassau, Bahamas - The following is a statement by Kenred Dorsett, MP, Minister of the Environment and Housing:

The fact of the matter is that my statements in the House of Assembly concerning the manner in which the former administration built and assigned houses illegally are correct. The Planning and Subdivisions Act section 62 (1) clearly states, “Any conveyance made after the Act comes into effect regarding lots not granted prior Subdivision Approval shall be null and void.” All conveyances issued for homes from the time of the enactment of this legislation to when subdivision approval was received are null and void. As I stated in my contribution those homeowners who find themselves in this position should contact my ministry so that they can obtain confirmatory conveyances.

It should be noted that the fact that the homes where built on government land is of no consequence as the act does not distinguish and "binds the Crown". As minister responsible for housing and a real estate attorney by profession, I thought it prudent to act in accordance with the law of this country. This meant that conveyances were not granted by my ministry until approval was received for the various subdivisions. The FNM and Brensil Rolle have clearly proven that they have no respect for the law. They did not comply with the law and created the mess we are in today.

Mr. Rolle sat in the House of Assembly as a policy maker. He voted for this legislation which would have directly affected the ministry in which he held the position of Parliamentary Secretary no less and now that the FNM's total mismanagement of The Bahamas has been illuminated once again he now seeks to justify this colossal oversight and breach of law.

The homes built by the FNM also had no infrastructural provision and no funding was allotted to for it. The houses were built before there were access roads or utility provisions installed. So the last 20 months we had to access the funding and complete the infrastructural work to get the necessary legal approvals to be able to execute Conveyances and Mortgages.

Had the former administration not left the country in a fiscally broken state homes could have been built faster. Had the former administration ensured that the law was followed, installed infrastructure in Sunset Close, Strachan's Hill and Firetrail, conveyances could have been issued sooner and people could be in their homes now. Had the former administration governed this country in a way that was not so reckless ALL Bahamians would be in a better state but alas we find ourselves cleaning up the former administration's many messes.