|
From:TheBahamasWeekly.com Grand Bahama
Freeport, Grand Bahama Island - On Easter Sunday April 21, 2019 Michael Pintard MP for Marco City and Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources along with Freeport City Chief Councilor Kendal Culmer took Robert Kennedy Jr. President of the Waterkeeper Alliance along with Joseph Darville, President of Waterkeepers Bahamas and Frederick R.M. Smith, QC of Save The Bays and Waterkeepers Bahamas on a tour of several communities and homes in Grand Bahama including Marco City which lacked access to running water. Pintard who has for more than a decade been helping residents in Nassau and Grand Bahama access potable water and electricity wanted to enlist the help of more partners who could help change the living condition of some residents. On the heels of Mr. Kennedy’s talk highlighting access to clean water as a basic human right, Pintard requested the tour in an effort to garner assistance from Waterkeeper Alliance in facilitating remedial measures for residents lacking water. Residents were happy to meet the team, especially in light of the fact that some of the homes are through unpaved roads and without street lights.
Pintard also took the team to visit Bishop Washington Williams at his New Canaan Baptist Church on Balao Rd. The church is approximately 100 hundred feet away from city water and need to bridge that gap to connect. The Bishop was assured by Pintard that help is on the way. The team viewed the Fiddlers Green area which for Pintard is a crucial area to continue the water lines installation and eventually work with residents to agitate for and work towards paved roads. The team also visited Freeport Ridge, Gladstone Terrace and Winchester Circle. Pintard’s non-profit LAWN (Lïght and Water Now) is concerned about communities that don’t have city water infrastructure; and families who can’t afford electric pumps; as well as others whose bathroom and or Kitchen lacked water and haven’t had it for an extended period. Robert Kennedy’s passionate commitment to ensuring that persons around the world have access to potable water and waterways in general demonstrated deep concern for persons in need of helpful intervention that would enable them to enjoy their basic right to fresh, clean, affordable water. It is for this reason that Minister Pintard found it prudent to take Mr. Kennedy and his Waterkeeper Alliance team out to see the conditions that some are living in first hand.
|
