Last Updated on April 19, 2020, 8:05 AM AST by Anthony Morris
The Bahamians living in the Washington DC area are presently upset regarding the dilapidated condition of the Bahamas Embassy and are deeming the building to be unfit for the use by the people amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
There have been complaints of mould infestation, leaking ceilings, broken crown mouldings and exposed pipes.
Some sources in Washington have said that the Embassy has been in the same state of disrepair since years.
A resident said that as Bahamians living in that area, they are totally embarrassed that the Embassy is in such a dilapidated state and that the Embassy looks the way it does.
The resident added that the residents had tired of complaining about how the Embassy is not fit for humans to be in it and that he is surprised that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not considered fixing the building, as the Government of the Bahamas, after all, owns the building.
The resident continued by saying that the International guests could not be greeted there because of the state of the building is deplorable.
The Bahamas Embassy is at 2220 Massachusetts Avenue, North West, Washington, DC, and the area is known as the Embassy Row.
The property was purchased in 1974.
It is approximately 100 years old and was originally a private home.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Darren Henfield brushed off the concerns.
The Minister said that in the current environment, where the country is managing crisis after crisis during the global pandemic, he does not think that this was the time to be entertaining something about the disrepair of an embassy.
He also said,“It is amazing to me that if Ambassador Collie, who works there, is aware of the existence of mould in his mission that he would not seek to remediate it. I know him better than that. Several companies in the US can do it. We had it done right here at (Ministry of) Foreign Affairs and in other places where we thought there was an existence of mould and we had it scrubbed.”
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
