Bahamas: The political back and forth on Urban Renewal... Whence cometh Rev. C.B. Moss' authority to speak about urban renewal, the idea and not simply the specific program?

Getting real on urban renewal

By Simon

thenassauguardian

Nassau, The Bahamas

The political back and forth on Urban Renewal is counterproductive.  The launch of the program by the PLP administration of Perry Christie was a progressive and important step in the right direction to address a host of social ills.

FNMs and others should recognize and applaud the intent and various aspects of urban renewal with consideration of expanding its reach.

Meanwhile, PLPs should stop pretending that the program has been dismantled or of its efficacy in fighting crime in the manner in which the party often boasts.

Both parties should pay more attention to Rev. C.B. Moss, founding pastor of the Mount Olive Baptist Church and executive director of Bahamas Against Crime (BAC).  Whence cometh his authority to speak about urban renewal, the idea and not simply the specific program?

His understanding of the many dimensions - roots and branches - of urban renewal and the limitations of urban renewal is more expansive than much of the current thinking by many.  While many think in terms of programs, Rev. Moss is on a mission of transformation.

He is armed and fortified for this mission with the wisdom and vantage point of paradox. Rev. Moss is tough-headed and tender-hearted, street smart and book-learned with fluency in the language and the vocabulary of both, and a man of progressive ideas and traditional values. He is also not without some showmanship and clever at grabbing media attention to press his causes.

 

JOURNEYS

To understand where Rev. Moss has come to and what is required of people of faith in The Bahamas to help heal the land, is to appreciate the journeys of other men of the cloth; men like Reinhold Niebuhr whose theology is built on paradox, irony and Christian realism, and Walter Rauschenbusch and his theology of the social gospel.

Through a life’s journey and with a deep sense of the history of The Bahamas, Rev. Moss knows the depths of the valleys and the heights of the mountaintops.

He understands the addictions of which we are all heir, of power, drugs, money, possessions, fundamentalist certainty and many more.  He also appreciates too the power of service and altruism.

They are saving graces which can liberate us from the tyranny of the mess we often make of our lives and the self-righteous judgment we inflict on others projecting our personal demons onto our favorite scapegoats be they individuals or entire groups.

So when he faces the issue of crime and the death penalty, he is clear about criminals being held responsible for their crimes as well as society being held responsible for the role it plays in fostering and sustaining a criminal culture by commission or omission.

Unlike many of his fundamentalist colleagues, Rev. Moss is deeply uncomfortable with capital punishment, recognizing its limits as a deterrent. He sees through the scapegoating, the all too easy panaceas, and the “vengeance is mine” mentality.

His theological reflections are seasoned with sociological realities unlike so many pastors stuck in a rigid Old Testament mind set, untouched or liberated by the Gospel of Jesus Christ whose sermon on the mount and parables have barely penetrated the spirits of those more comfortable with fire and brimstone.

 

THE CROSS

From his vantage point sitting outside Mount Olive Baptist Church in Bain Town, at the crossroads of Meadow and Augusta Streets, and of much that ails our society, Rev. Moss understands why on an issue like capital punishment, Christians must hold firm to both arms of the cross with the message of Christ at the center.

Those arms include care and compassion for the families of murder victims.  It demands seeking the redemption of those who murder.  It requires also compassion and care for the families of murderers.  In this, Rev. Moss is a spiritual companion of Sr. Helen Prejean, CSJ, whose ministry of forgiveness and transformation on the most capital of punishments was chronicled in the film Dead Man Walking.

He knows too that this same spirit is required for genuine renewal of our urban communities and inner city.  A call to renewal which will require not just house repairs, clean-ups and better community policing, but more fundamentally conversion of hearts and minds.

A resident of an over the hill community noted that urban renewal will not become real solely by people coming into his community and doing things for him and other residents.  He was clear that urban renewal will only become more genuine when the people of his community are truly engaged in rebuilding their lives and community.

In essence, he offers the essential mission and ambition for more effective urban renewal of which the major parties might take note.  In so doing there are many models for such a mission.  One of them is Afro Reggae.

The Afro Reggae cultural group arose from a slum, the Vigário Geral favela in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro in response to violence spawned by drugs and related criminal activity.  The group opened its first Culture Community Center in 1993 initially offering workshops in dance, percussion, garbage recycling, soccer and capoeira, which became foundations for various social projects.

The center had as its mission: “To offer a cultural and artistic education for adolescents living in slums by affording local youth more chances of strengthening their citizenship” and providing them “a viable path away from entanglement in the prevalent drug trade”.  Over the years Afro Reggae has expanded the number of its centers and programs.

“In conjunction with workshops in music, capoeira, theater, hip hop and dance”, Afro Reggae helps “preschool kids through programs aimed at socializing and literacy”.  Participant children’s parents also take part in weekly meetings where subjects such as domestic violence and personal hygiene are discussed; they also receive basic-food baskets.

 

TRANSFORMED

But it is through the power of the arts, entertainment and film and documentary production that Afro Reggae has transformed the lives of thousands and helped to sustain itself.  It has transformed minds and hearts by providing career paths, and new horizons and friendships for teens tempted to drugs, early sexual encounters, bullying, crime and anti-social behavior.

Through well-honed experiential learning and edutainment models, Afro Reggae has broken the cycle of poverty for many and restored community while giving voice to cultural expression.  The program is targeted for young people but engages their parents and others in its program of transformation.

Afro Reggae’s offerings have expanded to include circus arts, a theatrical group, community service to the elderly, choirs, a newspaper, radio programs, and an internet site dedicated to Afro-Brazilian culture.

Its health program is conducted by a theatrical group comprised of adolescents that utilize the performance arts to educate and inform their peers on a range of adolescent development issues.

Afro Reggae has plowed through the viciousness and violence and rampant criminality of a number of the favelas in Brazil.  Through its inspiring hard work and success, it has saved lives that may have been lost to communities in despair.

The problems in Brazil’s cities and favelas with millions of people are much broader and complex than those of our urban centers.

Surely, by employing the creativity and will of models such as Afro Reggae we can stem much of our social decay through a sociology hope.  This is the message of Rev. C. B. Moss whose voice on these matters we ignore at our own peril.

 

Oct 04, 2011

frontporchguardian@gmail.com

www.bahamapundit.com

Bahamas Blog International

Nassau - NP - The Bahamas: The City of New Providence

The City of New Providence
by Simon


Nassau is often used as a shortcut or synecdoche for New Providence. There is a logic and history behind this: For most of its history the majority of its residents lived in the City of Nassau and its immediate environs. Understandably, they more easily identified with the town in which they lived rather than the expanse beyond the actual and imagined town-limits.

We call residents of Nassau, Nassuvians. Yet, unlike Abaconians, Cat Islanders and Inaguans, what is the demonym for those of us who live at New Providence?

During the 20th century the population of Nassau climbed significantly through a combination of high birth rates among Bahamians and an influx of immigrants from Haiti who also tended to have high birth rates. The influx of Family Islanders also boosted the capital island’s numbers.

Beginning around the middle of the last century, the mutual forces of majority rule and black economic empowerment ignited an urban expansion. With considerable rapidity, the majority of the island’s population shifted beyond Nassau.

Urbanization has engendered many benefits as well as significant challenges for New Providence. These varied challenges include ongoing infrastructural needs in the areas of housing, ground transportation networks, public services and facilities, and reliable utilities, among others.

There are also a complex of sociological challenges including increased crime and violence, social alienation by some and the changing nature of social networks such as neighbourhoods. The environmental and health challenges related to urbanization are also significant.

What we are continuing to get our hands and collective imagination around are a broad variety of interrelated challenges cum master questions. The questions have been provoked by the transition from the City of Nassau to the City of New Providence, a geographical reality and an idea that is coming of age. To face the challenges of urban development, design and renewal, we have to think and plan in terms of an extended city.

URBAN ADVENTURE

A fitting metaphor for this transition is those motorists on New Providence’s roads who drive at a pace more appropriate to some of our more leisurely Family Islands. We can extend the metaphor to those who recklessly go way beyond the speed limit.

Our task is to get the speed and tempo of New Providence right, maintaining much of an island flavour and the capital island’s historic identity while embracing necessary change. In this urban adventure we might borrow a question from I.M. Pei, one of the masters of modern architecture: “Can we make the past serve the present?”

The journey from Carmichael to Saunder’s Beach may now take as little as 15 minutes courtesy of the new road corridor connecting north to south. Many residents from the eastern end of the island commute daily to jobs on the western end and vice versa.

This road network is one of many networks, which, over several decades resulted in New Providence developing into a highly integrated city. This integration will continue to intensify. It will do so in ways not immediately expected.

Even as more of their grandparents and parents retire to the Family Islands, a younger generation of Bahamians, excited about city living, will imagine, design and build the City of New Providence.

Their enthusiasm will extend to Nassau, Over-the-Hill and areas such as Chippingham and the Fort Hill. They will be joined by Bahamians returning home, who, after living abroad, often in cities, may find city living in Nassau more to their taste.

All of these city enthusiasts will not only play and recreate in downtown Nassau’s hotspots, restaurants and other entertainment venues. They will also begin to live in apartments, condos and cooperatives in historic Nassau and its environs.

Imagine, a group of young Bahamian professionals investing in a cooperative housing development somewhere in historic Nassau and its environs. Of course, this gentrification will be driven by more than a passion for city living. It will also be driven by economics, by supply and demand.

As prices continue to climb for suburban property and the amount of that land decreases, younger Bahamians will look to available land in unexpected areas. This will carry over to long-term investments, with younger Bahamians buying real estate in currently lower income areas of New Providence. Over time a number of these areas will be redeveloped.


COMMUNITY GARDENS

As we only have so much land at New Providence, we will have to think creatively about how it is developed over time. Critical to that development is the use of urban design to respond to two long-term challenges: crime and urban poverty.

Of course, these challenges will require a myriad of responses from economic empowerment to education. But, the way we refashion and redesign New Providence will make an enormous difference.

Take for example the idea of community gardens. Not only do they provide open green spaces, they also have the potential to renew community life while providing young people opportunities for positive alternative activities.

What if, for example, the government made available to a community association part of the large track of land east of Market Street where City Market once had a store?

The idea would be to use the allocated space as a community garden, where residents from Grant’s Town and Bain Town might grow vegetables and other produce for their own consumption and possibly for sale. Students form C.R. Walker may also be granted some space for that school’s agricultural programme.

Similarly, space for community gardens throughout New Providence may have various beneficial effects. So might land set aside for the development of community centres. These centres would host a variety of functions, including space for the development of local government councils and community development associations.

OPEN SPACES

The centres may also host a broad variety of activities related to the arts, youth development, health and well-being, after-school homework and mentoring programmes and parenting classes, among others.

Of course, all of the aforementioned would have to be properly conceptualized and managed. But if we are interested in genuine urban development and community renewal the way we build will help to determine what we build in terms of community life and a shared future.

Our multifaceted approach to crime and violence will have to include preventing such crime, including through various social programmes and alternative sentencing avenues. These programmes need space in our urban landscape, both imaginative and physical.

Despite the number of gated communities we have built, crime has not abated, and we all remain at risk even in some of the supposedly securer areas of New Providence. In that light, in addition to our protective fortresses, we may consider also using open spaces and community gathering places as crime prevention measures.

The contours of the new City of New Providence are emerging. It will include a blend of historic Nassau and the concept of town centres built during a previous administration of Prime Minister Ingraham. It will also include the unprecedented infrastructural investment undertaken by the current Ingraham administration.

As importantly, it will include the reimagining of New Providence by its residents inclusive of various community-based groups, artists and businesses, all working to fashion at New Providence a city with an outstanding quality of life. If we work hard at it, that quality of life will make New Providence one of the more liveable, coolest, funkiest, and safest cities in the Caribbean.

bahamapundit

Bahamas Blog International

Bahamas: Opposition Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Chairman Bradley Roberts insists Urban Renewal changes led to rise in crime

By ALISON LOWE:
Tribune Staff Reporter -
alowe@tribunemedia.net:


PLP Chairman Bradley Roberts yesterday branded claims that changes to the Urban Renewal programme did not lead to a rising tide of crime as a "wicked bold-faced lie".

He further charged that had Urban Renewal not been "watered down" under the FNM, the "blatant daytime robbery of some 18 tourists at Chippingham would likely not have occurred".

Mr Roberts claimed that for the Commissioner of Police to try to deny that adjustments to the programme did not result in an upsurge "in serious crime in 'over the hill' areas where the Urban Renewal Programme once flourished, is evidence that the Commissioner is clearly out of touch with the extent of crime and the harsh realities facing locals and visitors alike".

"As the Police Staff Association has now expressed, 'Commissioner Reginald Ferguson's retirement is a step in the right direction'," said Mr Roberts.

It was announced last week that Mr Ferguson is to retire from the force in January 2010.

Mr Roberts' comments come after the Commissioner reacted to statements that have been continually made by the Opposition PLP about the impact of alterations to Urban Renewal on crime.

Commissioner Ferguson told The Tribune that, contrary to claims made by the Opposition, he had seen "no empirical evidence" to show that changes to the initiative have caused an upsurge in crime in the country.

He added that allegations that "Urban Renewal is dead" as has often been asserted by the government's detractors are "a lie".

In yesterday's release, Mr Roberts quoted statistics which, he said, would provide the evidence Mr Ferguson suggested was lacking as proof that the FNM "made a fatal mistake in cancelling/reducing the Urban Renewal Programme".

In the statistics which Mr Roberts provides as evidence of rising crime, he quotes figures for murder, manslaughter, armed robbery, rape, unlawful sex intercourse, burglary, housebreaking, shop breaking and stolen vehicles for 2007, 2008 and for some, 2009.

In the first five categories - violent crimes against the person - the statistics from Mr Roberts show that in the first two years of the FNM administration, incidences dropped.

However, in the last four categories, all crimes against property, incidences rose.

Overall, given the greater rise in the number of property crimes, which are generally more frequent that serious violent crimes year on year, vis-a-vis the less significant drop in crimes against the person, the figures quoted by Mr Roberts show that the number of crimes increased during the FNM's latest term in government, from 6,850 to 7,225.

The FNM has also recently released selected figures from 1999 to 2006 which it says show "the truth about Urban Renewal", comparing crime levels up to the end of the previous FNM administration in 2001, and under the PLP, when Urban Renewal was initiated, until 2006.

"The annual rate of serious crimes, such as murder, armed robbery and housebreaking at all times under their era of Urban Renewal remained higher than it was during the pre-Urban Renewal year 2001; and the murder and housebreaking rates were on the increase in 2006, the last full year of Urban Renewal on their watch," the party notes.

Reports appearing in the US and UK media over the last year indicate that rises in crime levels in those countries, particularly crimes against property, have been linked to recessionary economic conditions.

tribune242

Bahamas Caribbean Blog International

Bahamas: Policing before Farm Road

BEFORE the Farm Road Project was started in June 2002 -- which later evolved into Urban Renewal -- active community policing was making itself felt. So much so that the Eastern Division Pacesetters, launched from the Elizabeth Estates Police Station, had already won the first international police award for the Bahamas.

The presentation --in which the Bahamas placed second in the competition -- was made by the Association of Caribbean Commissioners of Police in 2001.

The Tribune was also presented with a plaque as the first partner to join the Pacesetters and introduce them to the public. Other newspapers and many other partners followed.

And so we can write with first hand knowledge about the Pacesetters and their programme to promote "The Police are my friends!" theme and take active door-to-door policing to a community. It was an initiative of which the whole community was aware and from which it saw positive results.

"The Police are my friends!" initiative was first introduced by ASP Shannondor Evans in 1998 in Freeport where he was Officer in Charge of the Eastern Division of the Grand Bahama District.

He was later transferred to Nassau and posted at the Eastern Division-- Elizabeth Estates Police Station. It was here that the Eastern Division Pacesetters was born. The object was to promote through many initiatives the idea that the police were the friends of the community. It was an effort to build a partnership between the police and the community.

Mr Evans had the ingredients of a successful programme, but he had to find a vehicle from which to launch it. One day he arrived at The Tribune and met with Godfrey Arthur, our advertising manager. Mr Evans, is an officer one has to take seriously. So fired with enthusiasm was he that he immediately caught Mr Arthur's attention. The idea was then brought to us and in no time The Tribune was on board with a weekly programme that lasted over a year. At first it started small with weekly announcements of meetings. Then it branched out into space given to introduce, with photographs, the various police officers in the programme and different members of the community who agreed that the police were indeed their friends. It caught the public's attention.

The object was to train the community to become aware of and accept the fact that 4,000 police officers, members of the Reserves and civilians could not police 300,000 people adequately, unless the people wanted to be policed and were an integral part of the project.

After spending four months training his officers, ASP Evans and his men took to the streets. They visited every home and business in the Eastern Division -- a total of 8,512 homes.

As a result of increased housebreaking complaints occurring in the eastern area, ASP Evans launched an initiative to ensure the presence of more police officers on the streets, through track roads and in the bushes. He planned to conduct the exercise one day a week for five weeks. Between 30 to 40 officers were deployed each week and their orders were to take an "aggressive approach toward preventing crimes."

His appeal for financial support was copied to leading residents in the eastern division. One of the names on the list was that of Dr Bernard Nottage -- and so no one could say this programme was politically motivated because those of all political persuasions cooperated.

ASP Evans had committed himself to providing lunch for the officers to prevent them leaving the area. He was, therefore, appealing to leading citizens in his division for "lunch" money. In his letter of appeal he announced that the late Roger Carron, The Tribune's director, had already provided lunch for the first day out. Others followed.

Mr Francis Cancino of the Amoury company recalls one weekend sitting with his family on his porch when up rolled Mr Evans and his team on bicycles. Mr Evans introduced himself and explained the team's mission. "He impressed me quite a bit," Mr Cancino will tell you today. "He gave out pamphlets with very good tips for the homeowner," Mr Cancino said. These were brochures with crime tips and a questionnaire. As a result Mr Cancino was also a supporter and helped with donations, among them computers. Deputy Prime Minister Brent Symonette and his wife, Robin, were also enthusiastic backers, giving of their time and finances. Mrs Symonette worked closely with the children, and provided gifts at Christmas.

Said Godfrey Arthur, who lives in the Eastern Division: "You could see the morale of the Elizabeth Estates station improve. After Mr Evans' transfer to the Police College we have seen an increase in petty theft and home invasions in our area. When he was in charge there was a policeman in your area every hour on the hour. He attended all the town meetings and was present for all the Crime Watch committee meetings. His team was responsible for the decrease in petty crime -- the man was on the job day and night. He made certain that his division was patrolled."

Today, said Mr Arthur, "we no longer even see the 'Police are our friends!' signs in our district."

However, this is the type of programme that each division needs if a dent is to be made in crime.

November 24, 2009

tribune242

Bahamas Caribbean Blog International

Bahamas: Politicians 'highjacked' community policing

WE TALKED with several Bahamians this weekend about Urban Renewal and its effectiveness. There were many opinions, but all agreed that the programme was doomed from the beginning because it was bogged down in politics.

"You must remember," said one sarcastically, "what is now Urban Renewal started as the Farm Road project when a few policemen were strategically placed to impress the people. No Urban Renewal was on anyone's mind when that happened. The Farm Road project was solely to secure a seat for a politician."

In fact, said another Bahamian, community policing was "highjacked" by the politicians.

It was only when the police went into Farm Road and discovered such squalor in some of the homes that urban renewal was born and eventually the programme spread to other inner cities.

Instead of the police going into communities and discovering what was wrong and instructing the responsible government department to correct it, police found themselves directing home repairs, cleaning up garbage, and generally being involved in non-police work.

Another person did not see much change in the Urban Renewal programme when it came under the FNM-- other than the police being removed from school campuses.

The person felt that it was the parents' responsibility --not that of the police -- to make certain that their child did not go to school with a weapon.

"A lie is being foisted on the Bahamian people that Urban Renewal is dead. This is simply not true," said one police officer. "The programme has not been stopped, however, it has been changed."

He said the police had been providing the leadership.

However, when other organisations took their rightful place in the programme, the police stepped back and returned to their policing duties.

However, they continued to support the programme wherever their assistance was required.

The officer did not agree that the police should have ever been on the school campus. "It undermines the authority of the school principal and the school's staff," he said. However, although no police officer is stationed on the campus, an effective school programme with the police involved is still in place.

Each school has direct contact with the nearest police station and the police are on call whenever needed.

There are also programmes in place to give children police protection early in the morning when they arrive at school and in the afternoon when they are leaving. Police also supervise children who have been suspended from class. The police contact the parents, and have a programme to which the parents take their child for police supervision for as long as they have been banned from the classroom. These children are not wandering the streets. They are very much under police control.

But for politicians to say that Urban Renewal is dead or that protection is not being given to the schools, "is just intellectual dishonesty," was this officer's opinion.

However, another Bahamian saw what should have been a 24-hour community service being turned into a 9am to 5pm job for a civil servant. "They took the police out and flooded us with all these experts," he said. "In the social services you'd be surprised how many hands a request has to go through just to get one thing approved. In every department the public service is very weak."

What this country needs is dedicated community policing where police and people come together, united by a common goal.

Community policing was started long before politicians conjured up the controversial urban renewal programme. It was launched and managed by the police and in the areas where it was being developed, it was very successful.

We were intimately involved with the Nassau programme and gave considerable news space to a similar programme organised in Cat Island.

There was ASP Shannondor Evans, spearheading a programme from the police station in Elizabeth Estates, and Supt. Stephen Dean organising a student band and youth clubs in Cat Island. Both programmes were successful -- regardless of political affiliation residents were working with the police towards a common goal.

Cat Island, we were told, was a good example of how community programmes could make a difference. Faculty and staff at the Cat Island school commented on how the music programmes in particular had helped improve students' grades. It was thought that because of these programmes, students had become more focused.

Tomorrow we shall describe in more detail Mr Evans' successful programme in the Eastern division. This area included Prince Charles, Sea Breeze, Fox Hill Road and the Eastern Road.

There are probably many police men and women who are well versed in community policing. We know of two -- ASP Evans, and Superintendent Dean, who represents the Bahamas on the community policing committee of the International Association of Caribbean Commissioners of Police. And we have heard of a third -- Supt. Carolyn Bowe.

These are the people whose skills and enthusiasm should be utilised in helping to coordinate and spread such programmes.

November 23, 2009

tribune242

Bahamas Caribbean Blog International