Minister of Works and Family Island Affairs and Member of Parliament for Central and South Eleuthera, the Hon. Clay Sweeting defended the work being done to alleviate the utility challenges being experienced in his constituency.  Sweeting was fielding questions at a press briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister on Wednesday.

Eleutherans were without electricity as recent as this past weekend.  Sweeting said, “the challenge on this weekend was in regards to transmission and distribution, not generation.”

Though Eleuthera’s utility issues have left residents without electricity and water for days on end for the past year, Sweeting emphasized that there are also good things happening on the island.  He said, “you haven’t spoke about the new health care facility that’s under construction.  You haven’t spoke about the 163 miles of road that being paved in Eleuthera.  You haven’t spoke about BTVI, the first campus in a family island opened in Eleuthera.  You haven’t spoken about, for the first time, low cost housing being built in Rock Sound.”

The Minister also foreshadowed the construction of docks in Tarpum Bay and James Cistern.  “So you look at all of these things that the government has done in a constituency that has been neglected for years.”

On Eleuthera’s  continuing utility challenges Sweeting said, “I won’t come with excuses but what I will say is that this is an issue that we must fix quickly.”