By RICHARD E. FAWKES
Freeport News Reporter
Minister of Labour and Immigration Vincent Peet has yet to make a public statement on the future of about 120 work permit holders at the recently closed Bahama Star Farm in Treasure Cay.
But according to director of immigration in Abaco, Frederick Bonaby, the minister is considering allowing permit holders of 10 or more years to apply for permanent resident status.
"All of the work permits are still valid," said Mr. Bonaby in a telephone call yesterday, "as the company had renewed them before it closed."
Mr. Bonaby said those persons who have held 10 consecutive annual work permits will be offered the opportunity to apply for residency status. Mr. Bonaby said the minister will also make a ruling on the future of permit holders of less duration, whether they will be granted permission to work elsewhere or required to leave the country.
Of the 120 permit holders, most of whom still reside at the farm community, which is estimated at some 300 with family, including children, it is not known how many are eligible to apply for residency. It is also unclear what work would be available to those persons with work permits if they are allowed to remain in the country.
There seems to be a general consensus, expressed in public discussions, that persons of Haitian background who have been legally in the country for a certain number of years, and children born here, should have their status regularized as a humanitarian gesture and a way of integrating such persons into the larger Bahamian community.
Local officials and citizens have expressed concern over the possibility of the expansion of illegal housing near the farm, with the discovery of over a dozen new homes on a side road near the site in the pine yard a few weeks ago. There is also evidence of fresh-cut clearance and newly built foundations.
Some officials also said there have been unconfirmed reports of some workers occupying abandoned buildings on the farm in the last few days.
