The Nassau Guardian
FNM deputy concerned over Urban Renewal home survey
Free National Movement (FNM) Deputy Leader Loretta Butler-Turner yesterday expressed concern over Urban Renewal’s proposed canvassing of New Providence communities.
Urban Renewal Co-Chair Cynthia ‘Mother’ Pratt said the canvassing will begin in areas that have Urban Renewal centers and then expand to other communities throughout New Providence.
But Butler-Turner said the initiative seems to be poorly planned.
“I don’t know these people,” she said.
“When I say know them, obviously where I live I don’t know of any urban centers around here. I will not be welcoming any strangers into my home.”
She said, “I think it’s an ill thought out plan.
“I think the government is truly grasping at straws. I noted in the prime minister’s crime platform that, that was the last bullet point in his crime fight, clearly demonstrating to me that he is not confident in Urban Renewal 2.0 because that was supposed to be their panacea for crime.”
Prime Minister Perry Christie announced that the government has instructed officials of Urban Renewal to launch the data collection program.
Pratt said officials will get information on the needs of people throughout the island, particularly those from poor backgrounds, and examine how their circumstances connect to crime.
The initiative was set to begin on Monday, according to Pratt.
Superintendent Stephen Dean, officer-in-charge of Urban Renewal, said yesterday the exercise is expected to officially launch later this week.
“It would help the police and it would help advise public policy,” he noted.
“We would be able to say more definitively what is going on in some of these communities.”
Dean said police officers along with staff from the Department of Social Services and other departments will conduct the canvassing.
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