A sweeping government demolition operation targeting an unregulated shanty community off Cowpen Road in Montgomery, The Bahamas, cleared 64 informal structures on Wednesday, capping nearly a year of warnings that pushed displaced residents to salvage what belongings they could along the roadside while grappling with sudden homelessness.
The tense operation marked the latest step in the Davis administration’s ongoing nationwide crackdown on unregulated settlements, a policy that has left hundreds of low-income residents scrambling to find alternative affordable housing. Authorities originally issued eviction notices to roughly 200 area residents in February of last year, granting a 28-day compliance window for occupants to vacate the land.
The day’s confrontation turned violent when a resident attacked Superintendent Stephen Carey, chair of the government’s Unregulated Communities Action Task Force, leaving the senior official requiring three stitches for his injuries. Carey detailed that the altercation began after the resident threatened a member of the Bahamas Defence Force deployed to the site. As the suspect was being escorted to a transport bus for arrest on charges of making threats and disorderly conduct, he knocked Carey to the ground and initiated a physical struggle. The resident was taken into police custody and is scheduled to face formal criminal charges in the coming days. Following the assault, enforcement teams moved displaced residents further back from the demolition zone to secure the work site.
Three structures on the property are still standing, pending official investigation into their claimed legal construction permits. Carey confirmed that full completion of the demolition will take less than a week. He emphasized that authorities had repeatedly followed up with residents to enforce the eviction order, saying, “Up to 7pm yesterday, we had a team inside here and we were asking them, begging, and pleading with them to move. We told them that as of 7am this morning, they will not be permitted back on the premises. They continued to think that we were joking, so now they see that we are serious.”
The operation also yielded one additional arrest on suspicion of dangerous drug possession, Carey confirmed. Going forward, the task force chief warned residents of all other unregulated settlements across the country to evacuate immediately before enforcement teams arrive. “Starting next week, again, we have another area that we are going into. Once those 28-day notices expire, we will be demolishing those structures,” he said. “Start evacuating now, because once we reach there, there’s going to be no extension and no extra time given.”
For the residents displaced by Wednesday’s demolition, the loss of their homes represents a devastating collapse of long-term stability, compounded by a widespread lack of affordable housing across The Bahamas. Tanisla Mitus, a 28-year resident of The Bahamas who lived in the Montgomery community, said sky-high rental costs have left him unable to secure new accommodation. “Expensive, all about I looking for can’t find no money, pay it,” he said. “What happens now? People don’t know where to go. That’s bad. I feelin bad. My heart can’t take it because I don’t go nowhere. When I come to The Bahamas, I’m living there.”
Multiple residents reported additional distress from concurrent immigration operations carried out alongside the demolition. Doxene Cepoudy, speaking through a translator, claimed that several family members were taken into custody as families tried to move their belongings before crews began work, though Carey disputed that account, confirming only one detention related to the immigration sweep. One mother of one, a 10-year resident of the community, said her child’s father was taken into custody, leaving her with nowhere to go. Another long-term resident, who has lived in The Bahamas for 13 years and in Montgomery since 2016, said she and her two children are now homeless. She acknowledged that residents had received advance notice of the demolition, but said she had been unable to find affordable housing, a search made even harder by her limited English proficiency that prevented her from understanding and responding to housing listings.
Wednesday’s operation also resolved recent political uncertainty surrounding the crackdown. Last week, Long Island Member of Parliament Dr Andre Rollins told Parliament that a scheduled shanty town demolition off Cowpen Road had been cancelled, a claim that led government lawmakers to force the reason he gave for the cancellation struck from the official legislative record. Rollins did not name the specific community at the time, and Works Minister Clay Sweeting, a task force member, did not publicly dispute the cancellation claim during the parliamentary debate. On Wednesday, however, Carey firmly denied that any cabinet member had intervened to halt the demolition, explaining the project was only delayed to allow officials to verify occupancy and confirm which residents had received government relocation assistance.
As heavy machinery continued to level structures through the day, residents packed clothing, furniture and personal items, loading what they could into private vehicles while others stood by helplessly, watching the homes they had lived in for years reduced to rubble.